‘I am positive, Mr. Jenkins, that they run faster than you do.’ Zurgens smiled when he heard that fifth buckle click. Zurgens told his brother Karl, the driver, to start the engine and, as planned, just as the engine turned over, an alarm sounded over the camp public address system and was immediately followed by a transmission.
At first, there was static, then the sound of machine gun fire in the background. ‘Help! This is Major Tom Ritter—we are taking heavy casualties. We are pinned down at these coordinates.’ He rattled off some longitude and latitude points which Zurgens dutifully seemed to be annotating. The five passengers atop were watching his every move, not sure if this was part of the hunt, or an actual emergency, but enjoying it nonetheless. ‘Zombies are everywhere...we are in extreme danger of being...’ There was an ear piercing scream, heavy bursts of machine gun fire, then more static, and finally a silence that dominated above all else.
‘Folks, I’m sorry,’ Zurgens said to the passengers. ‘Saving these men takes precedence over our hunt. We will lend them all the assistance we can to help them escape the zombie attack. Let’s roll,’ he told his driver as he climbed into the passenger seat. Karl turned the truck around as if they were going in a completely different direction from their original route.
‘Is this real?’ Mr. Weatherford excitedly asked those around him.
‘I don’t know and I don’t care. What I do know is I’m finally going to get some,’ Jenkins said as he rubbed the side of his hunting rifle.
‘I can’t believe we’re really going to do this,’ Henry said. ‘All those times playing zombie vids...I figured that was going to be the best we could ever hope for.’
‘How many times did you die playing those games, Henry?’ Darren asked.
Henry got quiet before answering. ‘More times than I care to admit. But it can’t be that intense, can it? I mean, if all the hunters that ever came down here died, there’d be some sort of outcry, right? I mean, we’d have heard about it.’
‘Who’d be left to tell?’ Darren was smiling.
‘You’re an asshole,’ Henry replied.
‘Look!’ Carla was pointing off into the distance. ‘A fire!’
‘Well, certainly smoke,’ Samuel said.
***
‘Zurgens, this is Jan, please pick up the radio.’
‘Whom did she think I would think it was?’ Zurgens asked Karl. ‘Go ahead...Jan.’ He picked up the microphone.
‘There’s a problem with the batch of zombies we put out today; you’re going to need to divert your hunters.’
‘Problem? How so?’
There was a long pause. The radio was encrypted and of rather short range, but Jan was still hesitant to give too much information over the airwaves. Zurgens was fully aware of how their enterprise worked, and he couldn’t have cared less where their zombies came from. The Reynolds were paying him triple what he could normally expect as a field guide, and no matter what he told the naive clients, there was minimum danger as far as he was concerned. He always knew where the zombies were going to be, unlike wild animals, which had never had the courtesy to cooperate with his plans.
‘The ahh, ‘compound’ was too...weak,’ Jan said as cryptically as she could.
‘Shit.’ Zurgens knew what that meant. It wasn’t the first time it had happened. There were a variety of reasons for a failed batch, contamination, the serum weakened by being exposed to heat or cold, the hosts rejecting their injections...much could go wrong. Didn’t matter. All he knew was that they were currently heading towards a group of very definitely not-zombies. Luckily, when it had happened before, the clients atop the truck had been entirely too trigger happy to give a shit what they were shooting at. ‘This group is not going to take turning around too lightly.’
‘I don’t care, Zurgens. They can not roll up on what is going on out there.’
Zurgens tapped his driver on the shoulder and spun his finger in the air signifying to turn around. Karl looked at him questioningly for a second then shrugged and did as he was told. He was also paid good money to shuttle the rich assholes around; he’d do nothing to jeopardize that.
‘Hey, what the fuck!?’ came from behind and above.
‘Jenkins,’ Zurgens said through gritted teeth. ‘I wish he were a fucking zombie, I’d shoot him myself.
Karl laughed. ‘Ya.’
‘You think we’d get in trouble if we just dropped these shit birds off here?’
‘Ya.’
‘Why are we turning around?!’ There was more grumbling from the passengers.
Zurgens had Karl pull over. ‘I’m sorry folks, he said as he climbed out of the truck. We’ve been informed that the situation is entirely too dangerous. The military personnel have been completely overrun.’
‘That’s all the more reason we should be heading that way!’ Jenkins said. His friends nodded their heads in unison.
‘We could help them,’ Henry added.
‘It’s far too late for that,’ Zurgens informed them.
‘You’re telling me we can’t get two hundred yards from the damn zombies and just start blasting them away?’ Jenkins asked.
‘I have been informed from command that the situation is entirely too volatile. Your safety is of my utmost concern. I cannot endanger lives as important as yours.’ Zurgens almost coughed when he said that last part. But he knew well that the rich tended to believe in their own self-importance and the best way to appease them would be to use their arrogance against them. Feed them what they wanted to hear, then offer booze. ‘We are going to call in more military personnel to bring the situation under control. We will resume our hunt tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow?’
Let the grousing begin, Zurgens thought sourly. And it did, even browbeaten Samuel got in on the bellyaching. Zurgens let it go on for ten minutes or so, nodding at the appropriate times as they vented. ‘Listen folks, we’ll be back out tomorrow. In the meantime, we’ll return to camp where you can eat and drink on the management’s bill to your heart’s content.’ He knew Jan would not be too thrilled with his generosity, but she wasn’t out here dealing with these jackasses. A couple of hundred in expensed bar tab was infinitely better than the bad PR these people could generate if they left this place with a sour taste in their mouths.
‘Free food?’ Darren asked.
‘There’s booze flowing and all Darren can think about is finger foods,’ Henry said. The group eased up and even laughed a little. That changed the mood for the better; Zurgens was not about to wait for it to change back. He climbed in the truck and had Karl drive to the command center.
‘Jan we’re heading back in, you might want to get the wait staff hopping and lay out some food. And, oh yeah, I told them the bar was open.’
‘That’s fine.’ Jan said before clicking off.
‘Must be a fuck-fest out there,’ Zurgens said to Karl. ‘She didn’t give me any shit about the alcohol.’
‘Ya,’ Karl said.
CHAPTER FIVE
Within a couple of hours, the guests were full and speeding quickly to a full blown buzz, especially the Americans, who had even taken the usually quiet Samuel under their wing. The small man had become extraordinarily loud and boisterous. His wife seemed to like the take-charge change in her husband, judging by the way she was rubbing herself suggestively all over him.
‘They say alcohol isn’t the answer,’ Zurgens said as he watched everything play out from the sidelines. ‘But then again neither is milk. Of course, that depends on the question, right, brother?’
Karl was sitting next to him, drinking a beer out of a large water carafe. ‘Ya,’ he agreed.
‘Sometimes I wish you’d just shut up Karl, that incessant yapping gets old.’
Karl laughed and swigged down nearly a third of his drink.
‘Thank you,’ Jan said as she came up alongside Zurgens.
‘That’s what you pay me for.’ He was watching the Americans disinterestedly.
‘We hav
e a problem.’
‘Other than what you’ve already told me?’
‘You could say that.’
‘Don’t tell me. Something we’re not going to be able to take care of with more free booze.’
‘I’m afraid not,’ Jan said flatly.
Zurgens turned to look at her. ‘I’m listening.’
‘We had ten prisoners for this hunt...’
‘Had?’ he interrupted. ‘What’s that supposed to mean? You said the injection didn’t hold. Just juice them up again.’
‘For nine it didn’t hold.’
‘Shit...so...you had one zombie among nine sleeping people. How many did he eat?’
Jan said nothing.
‘All of them? Jesus Christ. Couldn’t you get Franz’s crew in there to kill the zed?’
‘It happened so fast. We were watching by drone; Franz was over at the southeast sector of the reserve, more than a half hour away. The zombie had ripped into five prisoners in less than ten minutes, all of them in fifteen. By the time Franz got there, every single one was dead.’
‘One zombie is not going to work for this crew, Jan. That big American over there? He’s a Grade-A dickhead. I tell him there’s one zombie for the whole group, he’s going to ‘lose his shit,’ as they say. Just call the prison and get some subjects sent over here.’
‘They’re not expecting to send any more for another two weeks.’
‘Pay them double, Jan, it’ll be worth it. Maybe even throw them a little extra as well, for their troubles.’ He sneered in the direction of Jenkins who was draped all over Tendra, a curvaceous staff member nearly double the man’s age. Zurgens couldn’t tell if she was trying to get away or trying to get closer, but he thought about offering her hazard pay to be that chummy with the American.
‘I wish it were that easy. There are protests being lodged around the world against what we do here. They won’t win, but only because we still have the money on our side. It’s imperative we keep our operation as low key as possible for the sake of our investors, and that’s not going to happen if we take too many prisoners at one time. The Human Rights Defense charter has a group literally camped right outside the prison monitoring all traffic in and out. They’re building a real case against us as we speak. Our man inside has promised to get rid of them as soon as he can, but that’s not going to happen between tonight and tomorrow.’
‘They’re criminals! Why do people give such a damn about them? I bet they’d feel a bit differently if the scum had come into their homes and stolen one of their children. Well...how long, then?’
‘How long until we get more zombie fodder? I don’t think it can be much quicker than a week.’
‘Jenkins will never wait that long.’ Zurgens ran a hand through his shaggy, dirty blonde hair. ‘And the way he drinks, you’ll be broke long before that.’ Zurgens was looking around at the entire group; his gaze settled on Jenkins licking Zendra’s neck when an idea struck. ‘How many wait staff do we have employed?’
‘Why? What does that matter?’
Zurgens looked at her with his piercing stare.
‘Oh God no. You can’t be thinking what I think you are.’
He thumbed towards the table of drunks. ‘How much money do those five clients over there represent?’
‘Nearly four million euros.’
Z-Hunt had increased their fees as soon as they realized they could. As demand had increased so had their costs, and so would their profits. It was simple economics.
‘I think there is significantly more at stake, Jan. We’re not just talking about refunding their money. If they go home and spread the word that we couldn’t deliver what we promised, our reputation will take a dump. We’ll begin to lose financial influence, and when that happens we can say goodbye to the people that insulate our little endeavor: politicians, officials, the police, the military. Everything about us will become public knowledge and they’ll have no choice. Instead of looking out for us, they’ll start looking for us. All of us here will have to go on the run. There aren’t too many places in the world that would accept us with open arms, not with that kind of heat on us. We could very well end up in the prison from which we are currently collecting zombies. How well do you think that’ll turn out, Jan?’
‘Aren’t you being overly dramatic?’
‘You pay me to keep an eye on your affairs. Everything you have built here is an illusion. The doctor’s ‘zombies’: illusion. The scenarios we put the hunters in: illusion. The peace we’ve made with those in power: illusion, and all predicated on money. The money stops, everyone peeks behind the smoke and mirrors and there we are with our peckers in our hands. Figuratively speaking.’
Jan was silent as she looked over the guests and the staff. ‘There are twenty-two on staff. Which ten do you propose to take?’
‘Ten? I’d have to take all of them. There can be no one left behind to question this.’
‘What about family? Won’t these people be missed?’
‘I hired this entire staff. They are all wartime refugees from other countries, their families wiped out. They live here in the compound. I specifically chose them because they would have no one to talk to about what they think might go on here.’
Jan shook her head. ‘This can’t be happening. I need to talk to Dietrich.’
‘I agree. But you’d better make it quick. If this is not something you feel capable of, I need to start making preparations for my brisk departure.’
Karl waited silently until Jan walked away. From his seat, he bumped his carafe holding hand against Zurgens’ leg and looked up to the other man with a questioning stare.
‘You’re my brother, Karl, I think you’re safe. Anyway, who would drive the assholes around?’
‘Ya.’ He finished off his drink and stood to go get another one.
‘Oh yeah, and just because the guests are drinking for free, doesn’t mean you are.’
Karl turned from the bar and headed for his hut and bunk.
‘Thought you’d see it that way. Keep your radio on; I might need you a little later.’
‘Ya.’ Karl threw his hand over his head in a waving gesture.
***
‘Dietrich, I don’t know how I feel about this. I know all of them; they’re good people.’ She had called her husband and recapped Zurgens’ plan to him.
‘He’s right, Jan. The judge is in our pocket but he’s still hearing out the zombie rights activist arguments. Even if everything goes perfectly on your end, I don’t know how much longer we’re going to be able to continue what we’re doing. A couple of years at the most. If it goes south now and we lose that money, we won’t be able to pay off the officials what we’ve promised, and you could easily shave a year off that timeline. We need to make our money while we can, buy that island we’ve been talking about, and retire. It’s our only way out. I wish I was there honey; I know you’re in a tough spot. Let Zurgens earn some of that huge salary we’re paying him.’
‘This is a little different from turning rapists and murderers into zombies, Dietrich. These are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. They’re war survivors; they deserve better.’
There was long pause on the other end.
‘What aren’t you telling me?’ she asked her husband.
‘We’ve nearly depleted the entire viable prison population. Nearly six months ago, in fact, Jan.’
‘What? What are you talking about? We haven’t missed a single hunt!’
‘I knew you wouldn’t be onboard, and I didn’t want to upset you.’
‘Wait. Just who have we been hunting then?’
Another pause.
‘Dietrich...tell me.’
‘Mostly vagrants and the insane we’ve collected from the streets.’
Jan sat down heavily on her bed. She was feeling light-headed all of a sudden. ‘Jesus, Dietrich, we’re murdering people.’
‘They’re indigent and psychotic.’
‘Oh! That makes it okay. Silly m
e, I should have realized that.’
‘James Jenkins is U.S. Senator Jenkins’ son, in case you don’t remember. If this hunt doesn’t go well, he tells dear old daddy and we lose one of our biggest supporters in the most influential country in the world. That happens and the watchdogs close right in. Zurgens is right. We could be on the run, wanted for crimes I can’t even begin to list. We’re in too deep.’
Panic flared in Jan’s voice. ‘When did this become okay? How could I have signed off on this?’
‘Just give Zurgens the order. Get some sleep, it will all be over tomorrow. The next hunt isn’t for another week; by then our regular supply will have started back up.’
‘Supply? You make it sound so antiseptic.’
‘It’s a business, Jan. And it’s our business.’
‘Serving pancakes is a business, selling furniture is a business. We are murderers, Dietrich. Do you think the people getting shot in the forehead view it as just a business?’
Dietrich stayed on the line for a few more minutes trying to calm and console his wife. When he hung up, he immediately called Zurgens.
***
‘Yes, Mr. Reynolds, I will take care of everything. No need to worry sir, all will be handled. I’ve already run it by the doctor, he’s ready to go whenever I am.’
‘And my wife?’
‘What of her, sir?’
‘I am under the impression she is at her breaking point Zurgens...she could be a liability.’
‘I’m not sure what you’re asking of me Mr. Reynolds.’
Silence stretched out into minutes. Finally, Dietrich cleared his throat and spoke clearly without pause. ‘Disguise her to the point where she is unrecognizable and release her on the hunt.’
‘The hunt?’ Zurgens was taken aback but recovered. ‘With all due respect sir, your wife is nearly six feet tall and shaped like a bikini model. She’s going to be difficult to blend in with the indigenous population.’
‘I don’t give a fuck how you do it, just get it done! I pay you more than you’re worth. How about you earn some of that fucking money?’