The Great War (Surviving the Zombie Nightmare Book 5) (8 page)

“Yes!” the first soldier said, “Kill her now before something really bad happens. You know how she is! We have studied her! Kill her now! Move out of the way and I'll do it.”

The second spoke up, “Would you stop it for god's sake? She clearly is out of it and can't even keep her thoughts together. We need to find more out about Bayne anyway. Destiny,” he said stepping forward, “Where is Bayne now?”

Destiny couldn’t believe that nobody asked her why Bayne would ever fight anyone alongside a zombie. Apparently they were all a little distracted or at least thought she was too loony from her beating to know what she was saying. “Huh?” she asked and then sat up quickly as if she suddenly remembered something. “The truck,” she looked down the hill, “I attacked him and forced him to crash. I,” she closed her eyes, “I guess he was knocked out or something and I woke up enough to crawl up here. I can't remember anything else.” She looked at the soldiers again, “Take me in alive please. I know Cain has a price on my head or at least wants me dead or something probably but I can't fight Organic Ascendancy anymore. I'd rather be a willing prisoner within those walls than spend another moment out here doing this or running from Bayne. Christ, he is a monster. Is,” she put on a very worried expression, “Is he still out cold? Where are the zombies? Demons?”

The third finally found his voice and used it though he kept staring at her body in the process, “Be calm and remain still Destiny. We have not checked the truck yet. There are no zombies or demons with our patrol, just the two trucks. Stay here and we'll take care of the situation. You'll guard her,” he said to the first soldier, “But do not kill her unless she attacks you.”

“Whatever you say.”

Destiny couldn't say what the other two were doing until the second truck suddenly sped off. That was a problem she might have to deal with later as long as the rest of her plan went according to the way it should. By her count there were four soldiers in this truck. One wanted to kill her and while that could be a problem, it did help her narrow down the search that was currently ongoing in her head.

“I swear if you even so much as look at me in a threatening way I'll decorate the pavement with your brain pretty lady. No amount of skin will distract me,” the soldier said in a stern voice.

Destiny smirked a little bit and toyed with her bra, pulling the strap off of one shoulder. She looked at him, “No amount of skin?”

He pointed the gun at her face, “Don't!”

She waved her hand tiredly at him and watched the other three. They were walking down to check on the truck. Destiny was so excited about this plan that she could barely contain herself. She was a professional however and hid her preparations quite well. The other three were carefully approaching the truck where Bayne was waiting. Though she was relaxed and nonthreatening on the outside, her muscles were tensed and waiting for the four moves she had already planned to make when she got the signal from Bayne.

Two of the three soldiers stood at the back of the truck with weapons trained on it while the one who had recently been between her legs slowly walked to the driver’s side. First he peeked into the back windows. He motioned towards the windows and gave a sign that she recognized as O.A. shorthand to let the others know there were weapons in the truck. He also motioned for them to remain where they were. As slowly and cautiously as she could remember any soldier moving, he slowly crept forward about one step every five seconds.

Finally his gun was poking forward just into the side window where Bayne would be. Destiny didn't know exactly what Eric was planning or where he would be but she knew that she would know the sign when she saw it. A quick glance at the soldier guarding her showed that he was looking as closely towards what was going on at the truck as she was. Looking back she saw that even through those several seconds the soldier hadn't made much progress. He was poking his weapon blindly into the window for some reason. Clearly the fear of possibly meeting face to face with Eric Bayne was effecting his training as much as being caught between her thighs had moments ago.

Then in a flash of movement, everything changed.

The weapon seemingly was sucked into the window by nothing at all. Then, as the O.A. soldier moved quickly after his weapon and shoved his head into the window, a sword flew out of the window twisting and turning just right so that it would fit through the window and the soldier's neck. All of that happened in a matter of seconds. The soldier guarding her made a gasping sound but was still staring in that direction. It looked like Eric was just going to sit inside the truck and wait on another victim which would give Destiny time to make sure one of the two remaining O.A. men near to Eric stayed alive.

The soldier turned towards her and said, “You set us up!”

Destiny was coiled and ready to spring upwards when he turned. The force of her leap added power behind her kick which landed with a boot directly on the point of his chin. He clearly was out on his feet as he started to stumble around. Destiny snatched the gun from his hand, turned it around and ended his misery with a burst of bullets in the chest.

She had to move again before he hit the ground because she noticed both of the other soldiers advancing towards the front of the truck Eric was hiding in. One was on either side as they planned to likely have at least one of them take him out. His sword was outside the truck which meant nothing at all with his incredible powers but the fact that it was lying there still suggested he had something else in mind. The only problem with that was that whatever he had in his plan might not work with what was in hers. She needed the right soldier left alive for her plan to work so she made two quick decisions.

Reaching forward with her hand and her telepathic powers, she pulled the soldier she wanted alive backwards. He stumbled to the ground just about the time she put two bursts of ammo into the other soldier and several rounds exploded through the window he had been walking towards. If not for her pulling the soldier backwards, he would have been killed easily by Eric's shots.

Like a house on fire, Eric leaped out of the truck and trained a weapon on the downed but living soldier. Destiny shouted, “No! Eric don't! I need him alive! We need one alive to get in!”

“You stole my kill!” Eric yelled as he dropped the weapon, “I should shoot you instead!”

Destiny smirked as she walked forwards, “Maybe later lover-boy. Right now we need to get this one hoisted up into the truck and let him know what he is about to help us do.”

Groggily the soldier sat up, “I'm not helping you do anything but die.”

Destiny turned her weapon around and slammed him in the crown of his head with the butt of the gun. He dropped like a stone. She smiled down at his unconscious form, “That's cute but you couldn't kill me if I decided to let you. Plus, I'm already dead remember?” She stood and motioned to the unconscious soldier, “Eric, we need to put him in the truck and get out of here before someone comes to find out why they are no longer reporting anything happening.”

“You put his ass in there,” he said as he walked back towards the truck, “You're the one that knocked him out after all.”

Destiny sighed at his irritating attitude but leaned down to try and lift the heavy body. She didn't want to use her telepathy for this because it would use up more than she needed to waste in a non-battle situation. Her hands were just under the armpits of the guy when his body suddenly rose up so fast that his shoulder slammed into Destiny's chin. The soldier's unconscious body lifted a few feet into the air and then was slammed into the truck. She glared at Eric.

He shrugged, “What?”

She rubbed her chin where the man's shoulder had hit her, “I'm gonna kick your ass for that.”

“You might want to wait on that,” Eric said, “And you might want to drive through that trail in the woods right there because I hear the distant sound of engines.”

Destiny could hear it too when she listened closely enough. She looked up, “I would have already heard that if my ears weren't ringing from taking a shot in the chin.” She walked around to climb into the driver’s seat and started the quick but careful off-road trip Eric had indicated. She hadn't even noticed the trail there before but it appeared to be an old logging road that probably lead to either a defunct logging business or maybe a dirt pit of some kind. They were long gone before any other vehicle came near enough to follow them.

Eric broke the silence with a laugh. Destiny glared at him, “What”

“I hit you with a guy!” he held his stomach and laughed harder, “Right in the face!”

Destiny shook her head in disgust and looked out her window to hide a slight grin.

Mandy sat on her bed in what was probably the most comfortable quarters in the entire Organic Ascendancy facility other than those of Dr. Cain. Also in the room was Admiral Bullosky who was taking a call from Dr. Cain about something she was sure was drastically important. From the tone of the conversation and the side she heard of it, Mandy could basically figure out what was going on.

Finally when he closed off the chat Mandy said, “They're still kicking ass aren't they?”

“Who?” Bullosky asked.

“Oh, please,” Mandy scooted back against the wall and rubbed the small baby bump in her stomach, “I was there remember? I know they were working together to survive and I am not stupid enough to believe they are dead. What'd they do this time?”

Bullosky sighed which Mandy was certain was something she had not seen the demon do, even in his human form. “A team of O.A. soldiers found an abandoned truck with dead soldiers all around it. There is no way to be sure who,” he paused at the expression she was giving him and finished, “Well, yeah we know who did it. But don't tell anyone else around here. Some of these people still idolize Destiny or are in love with her. Bayne's a legend in his own time.”

Mandy smiled as she continued to rub her baby bump, “Tell me about it.”

“Okay,” Bullosky said, “What's wrong? Having second thoughts or something? You chose to side with us and become this 'new mother of the human race' remember?”

“Oh, I know full well what choice I made,” Mandy said. Without pausing or blinking she looked up to the demon, “I ran away from the angelic morons who continued to bother me day and night about the ways I could take care of Eric. They are the bastards I turned on. Eric is an idealist in some ways and also very tough to be around most of the time because of being the reluctant but chosen savior of us all but he is not who I left. I also know better than to think that he is easily killed. Honestly, I'm scared of what he will do to me when he sees me. I don't think you'll be able to stop him. Then when he finds me, I think he's going to kill me.”

“You are underestimating us Mandy,” Bullosky said calmly.

Mandy scowled, “Eric has already beaten tons of demons, hordes of zombies and zombie-demon cross-breeds. How can you stand there and tell me that you have anything that can stop him and the only human being on earth that was able to best him once or twice?”

“There is something you are unaware of my dear,” Bullosky said with a rare smile on his twisted face. “You are correct that he has shown the ability to do away with such beings as those. They do slow him down and could best him eventually but what we have planned is something that is sure to succeed.”

Mandy shook her head, “Just stop, would you? Unless you're going to throw the load of shit you're full of at him, he's going to mow through all of you and find me. Then he will kill me.”

Bullosky went to the door and opened it, “Come with me.”

“I need to rest before my death, thank you. I'll stay right here,” Mandy said.

“Come with me now or I'll kill you myself,” Bullosky demanded, “If you lose all hope of us winning then what is the point anyway? There is something you need to see. Consider it a privilege of your uniquely powerful position in our plan or just consider it a favor, but bring yourself over here and follow me!”

Reluctantly Mandy slid off of the bed and walked over to the door. She paused there for a moment and looked up at him, “I'm not afraid of you.”

“I know,” he said, “Just come with me and I won't have to kill you.”

“Fine,” she shrugged, “Lead the way.”

The walk was a quiet one. Mandy had nothing to say and it seemed that for a moment at least, Admiral Bullosky was perfectly fine with being quiet. Bullosky had made one good point. Mandy certainly felt that she didn't have to follow the same rules as everyone else. After all, she was the bearer of the child that they at least assumed would have the same superior genes as Eric. It wasn't difficult to figure it out at any rate. She was given the best quarters of anyone other than the president of the company herself. It didn't matter what she wore and that had been a proven point as well.

She had her reasons for turning her back on Eric but one of them was not how weak he was. As she followed silently to the left rear of Bullosky, Mandy wondered why these people were deceiving themselves into thinking that they really could best someone with the incredible skill-set of Eric. Here she was, assuming that she would be protected or placed somewhere that Eric could not get to her and all they did was put her in a room in the one place that Eric would assume she would be. Someone had suggested that Eric wouldn’t care one way or the other about her anymore because he was hanging around with Destiny now. Mandy didn't really care for that line of thought because it suggested that Eric was basically just using her instead of her using him. She understood that the truth of the matter was likely that they both used each other. The fact that Mandy had been the one to desert him however was what made her feel more in control in the situation. All of that being how it was, she would be fine if she never had to see him again for a myriad of reasons.

Finally her thoughts were interrupted by the demonic admiral stopping in a hallway. For that moment all Mandy saw were walls, floor and ceiling so she just shrugged, “What? If you made me walk all this way for nothing I'm going to kill myself before you have the chance to and take you with me. I
am
pregnant you know?”

Bullosky scowled at her comment but true to form, allowed more from her than he would anyone else because of who she was carrying inside. He said, “If you will close your mouth and be patient for once human, you'll see something other than what you think you see.”

Mandy quickly shot back, “If I was good at being patient, I would still be hanging out with Bayne.”

Bullosky ignored her words and began to run his hands over the wall in a specific pattern. Though she didn't try to remember it, she did notice that it was something he seemed to know very well as he didn't have to concentrate at all to do whatever it was. One thing for sure, it was a pattern. Finally something happened. The wall of the hallway cracked. Literally a slight hint of light began to peek through a crack that had been created in the wall in the form of a rectangle.

“I'll be damned,” she said with no pun intended, “It’s a door.”

“The door is of little consequence after you see what is on the other side,” Bullosky said proudly as the section of wall slid back and revealed a hidden corridor. The corridor looked more like a hospital basement than anything else with pipes and odd electrical looking lines running all over the place. Instead of the blank hallway that they had just left, this one had windows and doors all along the walls. Bullosky smirked as he turned to walk down the corridor, “This way.”

Mandy was so interested in what was going on in this hidden section of O.A. that she forgot about being nauseous tor the first time in over a week. The first room they came to that she could see into via the window was completely empty. The second window on the opposite side of the corridor showed two gurneys with bodies covered by a sheet. Whether this was the morgue or something more was up for discussion but it damn sure was interesting. Still, Mandy couldn't see how Bullosky planned to earn her trust in the situation just by displaying hidden medical corridors and morgues.

The more she expected Bullosky to stop and start the grand tour, the more he kept walking. She passed another window on her right. That room was slammed full of zombies who at least appeared to still be alive. The next room on the left had only one zombie with tons of medical equipment hooked up to him. As the kept walking down the corridor, around corners and further into the secretive section of O.A., Mandy saw everything from zombie-demons, regular zombies, empty rooms and one covered gurney that appeared to have female human hair hanging off the side. All total there were five gurneys with sheets covering them that she figured could be human or at least human-like figures. After several turns and more mysterious windows she couldn't take it anymore, “What is this place? Did I see humans back there?”

Bullosky didn't even turn around, “Not for you to know or worry about Mandy. Just know that we are in control in more ways than you know. There are plans, counter-plans, emergency plans and fail-safe plans all in place. Worry if you must about Bayne coming for you but if he ever shows up here, I promise he will be sorry. We are going to the room just up ahead.”

When he finally stopped, the long and winding corridor had finally stopped at a closed door with a keypad. Mandy pointed passed him, “Tell me we're going in there.”

He pointed at a door off to the left, “No. We're going in here.”

“I want to go in there,” Mandy pointed again.

“No!” Bullosky demanded.

“Yes! I want to see what is going on behind that door Admiral!” Mandy demanded.

Bullosky smiled, “Yours is a special place with Organic Ascendancy Mandy, but not that special. You're not ready to see anything going on behind that door. Take my word for it. What you are about to see behind this door is going to be difficult enough. Let's go.”

Mandy crossed her arms and pouted for a minute but there clearly was no changing the demon's mind this time. She walked into the doorway first and saw a short little room with another door and keypad in front of her. Bullosky stepped passed her and entered a code that she couldn't see because he blocked her view. The door opened freely to larger room. As they walked into the room, Mandy thought the whole trip had been some grand scheme to get her into a padded cell. For a moment she actually thought the door would shut behind her and she would be stuck in this large room forever. Thankfully that didn't happen. Unfortunately, what she saw on the other side of the pane of glass that was revealed on one wall of the room was just as unsettling and would be much harder to explain.

It took Mandy a moment to fully grasp what she was looking at. On the other side of the glass was a very large room that looked as much like a laboratory as anything she had ever seen. There were test tubes all over the place of varying sizes. Along one wall was a series of hard steel tables with instruments that would make a dentist wince. A series of columns made it difficult to see all the way across the large room and what might be on the far wall but one thing she knew she saw was a dark haired little boy.

The boy looked to be about age four or five and was apparently sleeping in a bed that was enclosed in a tube. By far the strangest thing about the room was that there were ten little boys just like him in bed tubes stretched between two columns. Mandy was standing next to the glass when she finally found her voice, “What the hell are you doing?”

“I'm so glad you asked,” Bullosky said. “Destiny is a legendary figure around this place and I have a real problem with that. One thing that she did for Organic Ascendancy that cannot be denied however is what she accomplished when she severed Eric Bayne's right hand.”

Mandy gasped and then asked breathlessly, “You cloned Eric from the hand?”

“We cloned the DNA and created cells using creativity and maybe a tiny bit of magic.” Bullosky nodded, “This should let you know that we are capable of doing whatever we need to do in order to win this war. The demons,” he added almost as an afterthought, “And Organic Ascendancy will win this thing. It is all of us against two; one legendary savior in his prime and one likely-wounded and defiant soldier.”

Mandy motioned towards the cloned humans, “I'm not saying that this isn't impressive but you must not really think that this thing will still be going on when they get fully grown. Even if you accelerate their growth somehow, and I do not want to know how you do that, they'll still be grown far too late to do anything but freak Bayne out.”

Bullosky enjoyed a small laugh, “Mandy, we are not planning to stall until these cloned Bayne's are grown. They are a long-term plan and above all else, an experiment.”

“Then how are they supposed to help me feel more positive about our chances? This changes nothing,” Mandy argued.

“True,” Bullosky said flatly, “But we have a few more tricks up our sleeve about four times more powerful and strange as this. We cannot talk about them just yet but make sure you feel certain that we are going to take Bayne down. What we are going to do next to him will do a great deal more than simply freak him out, I assure you. Be patient, wait and you will see.”

Mandy shook her head at what she saw before her, “If you say so. I know this is the weirdest thing I've ever seen. If you have something worse than this, I'll be patient for now.”

Bullosky grabbed her shoulder just sternly enough to turn her to face him and said, “Mandy, I understand why a human like yourself is afraid of what will happen when Eric Bayne finds you. You turned your back on him and tried to kill him in the process. Who wouldn’t be angry at you?”

“This is not helping,” Mandy said dryly.

“Let me finish,” Bullosky said in what sounded almost like a caring voice.

It never ceased to amaze her how differently she was treated just because she was carrying a certain man's child. Mandy sighed, “Okay, shoot.”

“Assuming Bayne stays alive long enough, all will change when he sees our next move. When he sees what we have waiting for him it will drive him to his knees. It will crush his spirit and his very soul. He will have no chance to fight back. When that happens, getting revenge on you will be the very last thing on his mind. Trust me.”