Someone left themselves logged into the computer so he helped himself to scanning for information. I quickly grabbed the procedure book and stuffed it into the neck of my suit and it fell through to my feet. At least I would have a souvenir to take home with me. Chang found something that grabbed his interest and quickly emailed the files to himself. I was sure we had found enough information to post but I didn’t want to forget anything. We needed to get to the execution room so we could have some good, solid evidence to support our claims.
“Achem!” A booming voice behind us rang.
“Oh excuse me doctor, I needed the computer for a moment. I was just finishing up and I’ll be out of your way,” Chang’s voice was muffled but he sounded sure of himself. He didn’t give away the fact that he looked to me like he was going to throw up. The tall doctor stood there impatiently waiting and I quickly turned around to see his tag. His name was Dr. Kent Williams.
We exited the room in a hurry. I thought at that moment that my heart would beat out of my chest. Would he recognize that we were intruders? We would need to get out of there quickly. We sped walked down the hall taking a right and then a left. We were approaching what looked like rooms with big windows. In the windows you could see people who were transforming into zombies. These must be the rooms they wanted people to see.
The very last window we passed had a man in it. He looked like he was young, probably in his early twenties. His lifeless eyes told me a story. He was changing and it was almost complete. He had an aura of fear around him that I could strongly sense. He clawed at the glass suddenly and startled me. He was craving my flesh. I knew he couldn’t get to me but it didn’t stop the adrenaline from shooting through my veins. No matter how many times I’ve had these things so close to me, they still had the same effect. Fight or flight.
At the end of the hall was a room labeled Exam room. There was a sign that said no one was allowed in there. I knew by looking at it that it wasn’t your average exam room. Chang, ahead of me now, opened the door. We stepped right in. After a short hallway, there was another door.
“This room is sound proof. I think this is it,” Chang exclaimed.
“Let’s go. The more info, the better.”
Chang attempted to open the door and it was locked. How long could we stand there waiting for someone to open the door before we were noticed? I was sure there were tons of cameras in this place, just waiting to catch intruders like us. Just then the door clicked. A man in a different uniform asked us for our clearance badges. Chang balled his fist and faster then I could comprehend, he knocked the guy onto the floor with an uppercut. The guard lay there twitching and we ran through the door.
We needed to get our proof and get it fast. There was no stalling. At a quick glance I noticed the room had stalls. Each stall had a set of handcuffs attached to the wall. There were live zombies struggling to get out of some of them. On the other side of the building were executioners with guns in their hands waiting for the kill. He paused. One, two, three seconds passed and then BOOM. He dropped the zombie to the floor.
Just then we hear the sound of an alarm. WHEEOOO, WHEEOOOO, WHEEOOO. I knew we were busted. My heart jumped in my chest as Chang grabbed my arm and headed for a side exit. I could hear the bloody guard yelling behind us, “STOP THEM!” We were able to get out of the exit right before a gun was fired in our direction. The bullet ricocheted off of the door handle that just seconds ago my hand was on.
Chang and I ran as fast as our feet would let us to the Suburban. I clicked the door unlock button and we jumped in as fast as we could. Chang drove with such ferocious speed that everything passed us with a blur. We turned around a curve and I could hear our tires burn as smoke came pouring from them. We were peeling out. Chang was able to get the car back into his control in the nick of time, right before we were to hit a telephone pole.
Chang seemed to know his way around Fresno because he took side road after side road to get us to safety. We were lucky to make it out of there alive. We were finally able to breathe and then we laughed like crazy people.
“WHEW! We did it!” Chang cried.
“I can’t believe it,” I replied.
I started to remove my rubber suit to find the manual at my feet. It was still there an intact. “Chang. Look,” I commanded.
He sat there with a look of awe on his face. He pulled the car over and just sat there staring at me.
“Crap! You did it. You got all the evidence we need. I can’t believe it. Brooke is going to be thrilled.”
We sat there for a few minutes skimming through. It was a complete manual. Mom would be so happy.
CHAPTER 25
BREANNE
Chang and Zoe had done much better than any of us would have imagined. After looking at the footage we realized that just seeing the executioner in action was all we really needed.
Chang pulled up some of the records of admittees out of his email. He had tens of thousands of names, Aunt Brooke’s being one of them.
The manual Zoe was able to get was a huge plus. Inside were procedures on how to eliminate zombies as well as preparing them for burial or incineration. It explained some of the details on the incubation period for the virus and how to clean up after a zombie was around.
Aunt Brooke was busy with Selena getting her information together for her next broadcast. She planned on airing tomorrow. Her website was getting millions of hits daily with viewers begging for more information.
Brian and Kyle were editing the footage to prepare for the webisode and the children were happily playing Monopoly with Chris and Seth.
I knew that this information would give the government even more reason to hunt Aunt Brooke down but she didn’t seem to care. She was giddy with excitement. It was like she was a little kid in a candy store. No one would convince her not to publish the findings.
My job today was to get pictures of the manual to add to the broadcast. I highlighted the most important points and was finished within the hour. Brian was done fairly quickly too.
Aunt Brooke said she was ready to tape whenever we were ready and we had decided that we tape tonight and air tomorrow. Lots of preparations were being made in a haze. We were excited that Chang and Zoe were able to get that kind of information.
It was production time. We headed back to the basement with all of our equipment. Selena had Aunt Brooke looking amazing as usual and we were ready to roll.
Brian stood behind the camera and said, “Action.”
Selena gave a little giggle and distracted Aunt Brooke. Brian, looking annoyed said, “Action.”
“Hello everyone, this is Brooke here to bring you the “Z” news. I have some rather interesting information for you. Some of my spies were able to get some groundbreaking footage that I thought you might be interested in. This will support my earlier claims. Enjoy.”
She paused. This is the point where Brian would add the footage and Aunt Brooke would close.
“Now isn’t that some rather interesting information? I found it quite ironic that the “Z” clinics were supposed to be helping people but instead they are killing zombies. I also find it interesting that there is a known cure and they still resort to killing instead of using the cure. I also thought that the procedure manual was a nice touch. It just goes to prove that what we seen today was the truth.
“The government is hiding their intentions from us America! They are cold blooded killers, with no interest in sparing life. Something needs to be done and needs to be done now! They must be stopped! Your family members could be healed but they are killing them. What is next? Now will they kill us without the virus? There is nothing stopping them from hurting all of us.
“I am doing my best to get you the best information that I can. I am limited to what I can do. If any of you would like to help with my broadcast and can gather information please find my email on this page
and email me your information. We need to take them down before they take any more of us down! Stop them before it’s too late!”
She finished her web show and now it was up to Brian and Kyle to edit the program since it was to be aired first thing in the morning. I knew it would be a long night without my knight in shining armor but it was more than worth it to expose the government.
Around midnight I found Brian alone at the computer. He was working hard on piecing together the information. I walked up behind him and began giving him a rough neck rub. He turned his swiveling chair around to face me and pulled his face into my abdomen for a hug. He was tired, and I just wanted a minute with the love of my life. He gently kissed my naval through my shirt and sent butterflies through my stomach. I had to smile and walk away or this would end up to be a night where no work would be getting done and it would be my fault. I went to bed alone wishing my man was next to me.
The next morning I awoke to the sounds of kids laughing and jumping on beds. The three youngest were on the bunk beds Kyle built in Brian’s old room, trying to jump without hitting their heads.
“HEY, KNOCK IT OFF IN THERE!” I yelled and beat on the wall so the kids would get the hint. I was happy they were playing with each other but not at 6 in the morning. I couldn’t go back to sleep so I decided to go downstairs to find my husband.
I found him asleep with his head on the desk and a pool of drool under him. “Honey, wake up. You fell asleep at the computer.”
He awoke wild eyed, “Yeah I’m awake!”
“No you weren’t. Why don’t you climb up to bed?”
“Oh I gotta finish. I need to get some coffee.”
“I’ll get it for you, just stay right there.”
I came back with the coffee to find him back to sleep. I laid his coffee next to him and walked away. There was no point in waking that man if I didn’t need to. I’m sure he was up all night with this stuff anyway. I settled into the living room with my cup of coffee. I sat Indian style on the couch while clicking the remote. There was nothing on so I decided to go get a morning workout. We would need to hunt zombies again soon anyway and I needed to keep myself fit.
I threw on my workout clothes and walked out of the backdoor of the manor and headed west to the workout room. I spied something in the distance but I wasn’t quite sure what I was looking at. I ran back in to get my gun, just in case. It was just a wild dog passing by the fence. No worries. I continued to head to the workout room and that’s when it charged at me, a huge Rottweiler with zombie eyes. The dog had half of its head missing and its mouth rained blood. It charged at me with such force that I didn’t think I would have the time to cock my gun.
Click. I managed to get the gun cocked. My heart beat frantically while I tried to steady my hand to aim at the ferocious beast. It was charging closer with every quick breath that I had. I had a good aim at its half brain and I shot. I closed my eyes and waited for it to lunge at me and it didn’t. I heard a PLOP as it fell, a bloody mess to the ground.
The dog laid there and twitched for a minute before it died. I ran to the house to get everyone so they could see what came after me.
“What IS that thing?” Brian exclaimed.
“It’s a dog! A zombie dog! It came after me so I shot it!” I panted.
“You’re kidding me right?” Zoe looked astonished. She stood there with her hands in her face, mouth wide open in shock.
Chang muttered some profanities under his breath.
“That’s not possible. A zombie dog? There’s no way,” Kyle added in disbelief.
“If you don’t believe me, look at the thing for yourself!” I retorted.
The men moved closer to the beast. With each step they took, my heart pounded more. I couldn’t believe it myself. If it hadn’t lunged at me I would have thought it was a stray dog.
“How in the world can an animal turn into a zombie? Is that even possible?” Aunt Brooke asked.
“I don’t know. All I know is this thing tried to eat me. It was seriously fast. I barely had time to cock the gun.”
“How did it even get in the fence?” Chris enquired.
“From the looks of it, it wedged through the bars of the fence. Its whole left side is crushed and its intestines are hanging out,” Brian stated.
“Great, now we have to worry about animals too? What the heck!” Zoe exclaimed.
We stood there in amazement for the longest time. We couldn’t figure out these new mysteries in life. How did this animal become a zombie? And now we were living in fear of them getting through the fence. We had our work cut out for us.
CHAPTER 26
ZOE
We stood there looking at the bloody dog corpse. Its facial features were mangled and gory. The whole left side of the creature was wide open for us to see. It had torn the skin off of its body to wedge through the fence at its next meal. It was a good thing that Bre was paying attention or she would have been dog meat. Literally.
We didn’t know what to make of the whole situation but there was a new air of fear running around the manor. We assembled the children and told them not to trust even man’s best friend. Now Fido was man’s worst nightmare. The children understood and promised to obey us. Rudy didn’t seem as afraid as the others but I was sure he would listen. After all, it was his life on the line.
After discussing our newest development we decided that we needed full time security at the secret place on the roof and in the tree house. We would continue taking our shifts but just rearranging a bit. Everyone was on board with our new plan.
Tonight was my first shift on the roof. It brought back fond memories to be up here gazing at the stars. It was cold though, my toes were permanently frozen and the air that exited my lungs was visible. I remembered that as a child I would breathe out and pretend I was smoking. I didn’t know any child that didn’t do that.
The night was uneventful for the most part and I was thankful for that. The two pairs of socks I wore were barely keeping me warm and I was worried that if I moved I might freeze to death.
Chang came up at about 4 in the morning to bring me some hot coffee. I was entirely grateful to him for his kindness. He stayed up with me for a while to keep me company.
“Why aren’t you going back to bed?”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
“Thanks for the coffee,” I said as I gave him a playful punch at the shoulder. He smiled a big bright smile and looked away from me.
His body stiffened and he asked me for the binoculars.
“Why? What is it?” I asked.
“There’s something running down the street.”
He looked into the binoculars and I wasn’t sure what he saw, but his body language was telling a story. “Come on!” He exclaimed as he grabbed me by the wrist.
We quickly descended the stairs and headed towards the front lawn of the manor. It was still dark and I almost tripped into one of the bushes. Panting I asked, “What is it?”
“Look! There’s a lady running, screaming, right there!”
I took a closer look in the darkness and then I heard her.
She screamed, “HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!” Chang ran to the fence and punched in the code.
“QUICK! IN HERE!” He yelled.
The gangly woman ran as fast as she could but the creature was quickly overtaking her. I pointed my gun in the darkness but I couldn’t get a clear shot. I held my breath and closed my eyes for a minute to regain my composure. She ran a few strides ahead of the zombie and I had one second of hope. I had a small window. If I didn’t shoot now we would all be toast. Well, we would be some creature’s dinner. I took the chance and rained a bullet. It dropped the creature before the creature could drop the woman. The body lay there just ten feet from us, moaning. I got a decent shot at it but I didn’t kill it. I took a few steps closer and popped a ca
p in its brain. There was no way it was alive after that shot.
“You saved me!” The woman panted.
“What are you doing roaming around at 4 in the morning?” Chang grilled her.
“It got in my house while I was sleeping. I had booby traps up at my windows. I got some old cans and tied them to the windows and doors so that if someone or something came in I would hear it. I heard it and it was trying to climb through my window. So I ran out my back door and it started chasing me. It could run almost as fast as I can! I couldn’t believe it. I thought they were slow. Anyway, I live just down the street. Thank you so much for saving me!” She plopped down on the dewy grass and attempted to catch her breath.
“How far down do you live?” I asked her.
“About a half a mile.”
“Do you have somewhere safe to go? I can drive you if you need me to.”
“No. I tried to stay at home as long as I could but I knew I could go to the government and live at the safe building if I ever needed to.”
“I can drop you off if you want. We can go by your house and get some of your belongings if you want too,” I offered.
“Yeah. Would you please? I need someone to watch my back. Who knows if any more of them have gotten in my house!” She shrieked, obviously angry that her home had been compromised.
“Sure. I’m on watch for the next hour and then I can take you if you don’t mind hanging out that long.”
“It sure beats the alternative.”
I offered for her to come in for coffee but she didn’t want any. She sat in the grass, right where she started and didn’t move. Chang took her some coffee and she seemed pretty grateful for it.
Once my watch was over Chang and I climbed into the Suburban with Tami. She sat in the back seat wringing her hands in fear. Chang and I weren’t worried about her. We had several weapons at our disposal. We reached the quarter of a mile and she asked us to turn down her dirt driveway.