Zombie Chick, page 18
“I’m telling you, someone let Bubbles out of his cage. Those are not regular bunny tracks.” Agent Homes argued, pointing at the tracks in the dust.
“And everyone knows he’s not allowed out when there’s a field trial. It skews the results.” Agent Buckley countered.
“You two knock it off. If Bubbles is out, we’ll deal with it if or when he shows up. Otherwise, it doesn’t really matter.” Agent Dave said.
“What if he eats the zombies? Won’t that ruin the test?” asked Agent Homes.
“What?” asked Dave.
“If the trainees have no zombies to kill, we could be here indefinitely.”
“Well, that’s just great,” Dave grumbled.
Police Commissioner
Police Commissioner Amanda Stone stayed at her desk, watching as Officer Docklund left. She sat there for a few moments more, staring at his gun and badge, still lying on her desk beside the thick folder. Except for the documents she’d needed for the meeting, the folder was filled with junk.
She felt conflicted. She liked Officer Docklund. He was a good officer, but she’d sacrificed too much to help Braul all these years to get the f451 off the ground to let her feelings get in the way of progress now.
How did she even end up here? She wondered if helping Braul would ever pay off. He always asked for more time and kept telling her that the f451 wasn’t ready.
She’d met Braul in University, where she studied law enforcement and he was studying more esoteric pursuits. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t remember exactly what it was he studied in school. Business, surely? He was the heir to Bumfinger Holdings after his father died. She thought she remembered something about nursing so he could help his mother, who suffered from a rare and horrible genetic disorder that Braul himself was now suffering from.
Whatever. School didn’t matter anymore, but loyalty to your friends did, so she helped him when he needed her to. They were good friends. Braul had wanted to pursue a more romantic relationship when they were younger, but Mandy was too focused on her career and had neither the time nor inclination.
Old loyalties counted for something, didn’t they?
She would do whatever it took to protect Braul and his research. He was doing good work at his facility. Work that was already benefiting a lot of people. If he got the f451 to work, it would help everyone, well, everyone who could afford it at any rate, she amended.
Amanda gathered up Officer Docklund’s effects. She crossed the room and put them in the safe reserved for the storage of the badges and guns of suspended officers. His were the only current occupants. Slamming the door of the safe, Amanda brushed imaginary crumbs from her hands and got on with the rest of her day.
Bryant
Bryant and Noir were following the Zombie Horde Prevention Task Force agents and their trainees. They’d been at it for a couple of hours. There was complete radio silence from Trigger and Jackson, which could only mean they hadn’t found Eddy yet.
“They don’t seem to be very efficient,” Noir said, commenting on the meandering, unorganized search the trainees were leading.
“Who knows what kind of training program they have? They’re obviously letting the trainees run the show.” The strike team followed the oblivious Agents in silence for another hour, when the radio crackled to life in Bryant’s ear.
“Finally! What’ve you got?”
Trigger’s voice came over the com channel. “We see Eddy. Want us to nab him?”
“What’s your location?” Trigger told him. “Okay, that’s not too far from where we are. Give us a minute to get into position. I’ll give you the go-”
Trigger cut him off abruptly. “He’s moving towards your position! Fast!”
Field Trial
Storky was in the lead. Unster stood beside him, with Jock and Janice behind them. The Agents lagged, fanned out in defensive positions.
They hadn’t seen anything the least bit exciting all day. A bit of trash blowing listlessly across the street was the only thing apparently moving in the abandoned town.
Jock was hot and tired. Janice’s vigilance abated and she no longer carried a spray bomb in her hand, ready to torch attackers. Instead, they nestled in her bandoleer.
The Agents hung back far enough that casual conversation with them was impossible. They were essentially on their own.
“I thought we were going to be inundated with hostile enemies. So far, I’m just hot and bored.” Jock complained.
“My feet hurt.” Janice commiserated.
Storky was about to ask if anyone had any ideas of what else they could try when Unster stopped suddenly. She put up a hand, and the team stopped as well. She sniffed.
“What is it?” Storky asked her.
“Neh nies.” She said.
“Impossible. I don’t smell any.”
Unster didn’t answer except to point at a street ahead of them.
Bryant
“She stopped, and she’s pointing toward your position. Is he still there?” Bryant asked Trigger over the com.
“Yeah. He stopped moving and went rigid, like a pointer. Want us to nab him now?”
“We’re almost in position. I’ll give you the signal in a moment. Sit tight.” Bryant motioned for Noir to follow him.
They slid past the Agents unseen. They were on either side of Unster and Storky. Still hidden for the moment, Bryant called Trigger. “We’re in position,” he whispered. “Everything’s still clear on your end?”
“Yeah, he’s still standing like some kind of freaky pointer, staring at your position. This should be easy-peasy.”
“All right. Go!” Bryant ordered. He and Noir moved in on Storky and Unster.
Unster
I stood there in the middle of the street, smelling the faint aroma of French fries and something else that made me feel afraid. I didn’t know what it was, but it was coming from a street just ahead of us.
Storky raised his shield. The homemade chain mace with the padlocks on the end in his other hand. I’d forgotten I had a shield until he nudged my arm. I raised mine as well. The smell vanished. Thinking Storky was right, and I was imagining French fries, I relaxed and that’s when all hell broke loose.
“Go!” someone shouted from the sidewalk.
They’d been hidden behind a low concrete wall that was in front of an old cafe. Shots were fired.
“Agent Dave’s been hit!” Agent Homes yelled out from behind us.
“Protect the trainees!” he shouted.
I was confused, everything was moving so fast.
Storky grabbed my arm, dragging me behind an abandoned car, where he shoved me down to the ground. Janice, Jock, and Agent Buckley joined us. Agent Buckley peered around the car, trying to see who was shooting at us.
“What’s going on?” Janice demanded, holding a can of hairspray and a lighter in front of her.
“Someone’s taking shots at us,” Buckley replied.
“I kind of guessed that part!” she snarled back.
Laying on the ground, where Storky had pushed me, I looked under the car. I could see someone running across the street. They disappeared from view.
Suddenly, the smell of French fries was very close, accompanied by whatever had made me afraid. My skin crawled with terror. I fought it down. This was no time to freeze when my friends were being attacked.
Janice screamed. I could hear the fwoomp of her handmade torch as she blasted someone. At the same time, a hand grabbed my ankle. I kicked out instinctively. I felt it connect.
Suddenly, I heard Storky cry out, “No, you don’t!” followed by a wet, meaty thud.
My ankle was free, and I rolled over. There were some men in combat gear, the same as what we were wearing. One of them held the end of Storky’s homemade mace, engaged in a tug of war with Storky. There were wisps of smoke rising from the man’s arm. Janice must have hit him with one of her flamethrowers. The smell of fries wasn’t coming from him. Jock swung at the man, missed, hitting Agent Buckley instead. I can’t repeat what Jock said.
The smell of fries and the nameless feeling of terror spiked. Something jumped out from the front of the car and tackled the smoking man. The chain was ripped from Storky’s hand. The man went down with a scream. I heard someone yelling “Noir!” More shots were fired.
Agent Dave
Agent Dave was shot. He felt the pain and heard Homes yelling that he’d been hit. He was surprised and angry. This live-fire exercise wasn’t supposed to mean he would get shot. Homes came rushing over and dragged him to cover behind a cement planter.
“It’s nothing.” he winced. “I’m fine. What’s happening?”
“Somebody just ambushed us.”
“I got that part already. Where?”
“I don’t know. Buckley’s with the trainees.” She tried to assess his wound.
“Stop that. I just need to catch my breath. My vest caught the bullet.” he lied through his clenched teeth. “You should go help them.”
Agent Homes looked down at her partner. She knew he was lying about his injury, but didn’t argue. She said, “I can’t just leave you here.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Just go.”
They both looked up when they heard someone shout, “Noir!” and more gunshots.
“Who the hell is Noir?” Homes asked.
“No idea. We don’t have any Agent Noirs that I know of.” Dave replied. “What’s the situation look like?”
Homes took out her mirror and angled it so she could see around the cement planter.
“There’s three men I’ve never seen before. Buckley and the trainees are pinned down behind a car.”
Dave gritted his teeth to combat the nausea and blackness, “Give me the mirror.”
Agent Homes passed it to him and helped him into a better position. He hissed at the pain. He grunted, then said, “I have a bad feeling about this. Something is seriously wrong here.”
“Yeah. You’ve been shot.”
He nodded. “Yeah, by someone who’s not part of the Zombie Horde Prevention Task Force. I know everybody. There is no Agent Noir.” He watched the three strangers. He couldn’t identify them either since they were wearing combat gear, their faces hidden behind the goggles and face protectors, but the way they moved was wholly unfamiliar to him.
He hissed with pain again, handing the mirror back to Agent Homes. He tried to move but stopped when he felt like he was going to blackout. Homes reached out to help him. He pushed her away.
“You’re bleeding.” She accused. “That bullet didn’t hit your vest.”
He looked at her. “I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Really, it’s not as bad as it looks. Trust me, this isn’t the first time I’ve ever been shot.”
She looked skeptical. “You realize if you die, CSI Miami is going to do the investigation?”
He laughed a wheezy weak sound. “No way I’m going to let that happen. Now go, help Buckley.”
With a last glance at Agent Dave, Homes stepped out from behind the planter. He heard her yell, “Freeze!” before he lost consciousness.
Bryant
Bryant was stunned at the speed with which the zombie had tackled Noir. Trigger yelled his name and shot Eddy.
“No! We need them alive, you idiot!” he roared at Trigger. Bryant had his stunner out.
The non-zombie girl shot at Noir with a homemade flamethrower and the gangly boy tried to club Noir with a homemade chain mace. The other one accidentally took out the Agent that was with them, before he had time to fire, instantly improving their odds.
Neither of the DIY weapons had been effective, but the zombie was giving Noir a good fight. They were rolling around on the ground, making it impossible to get a clear shot.
“Grab the girl, Trigger! Jackson! Help Noir!” His subordinates sprang into action, following orders.
Bryant lobbed a gas grenade behind the car where the Agent and trainees were huddled. He wasn’t worried about it affecting his team. They all wore masks with gas filters.
Jackson waded into the writhing mass that was Eddy. Noir had his hands full, just trying to keep the zombie from killing him. With Jackson’s help, he jammed his stunner into Eddy and got him subdued. Barely.
Bryant saw movement from behind the car and launched another gas grenade there. He moved over to Noir and Jackson, where he shot Eddy with the sedative Braul’s head consultant had assured him would knock out the zombies. It took effect almost instantly.
“Trigger? Have you got the girl?” he asked.
“Almost there.” Came the reply.
Bryant left Jackson and Noir holding Eddy and moved over to the car to see what the holdup was with Trigger.
The source was staring at him. He hadn’t seen her in over a year since that day he went to deal with the aftermath of Eddy murdering her. He hadn’t really believed the reports from their Zombie Horde Prevention Task Force insider that she was completely whole and uninjured. Even with the things he’d seen with the clones. But here she was, right in front of him. The evidence was hard to ignore.
The Agent and the other trainees were unconscious from the gas but she crouched over them, teeth bared at Trigger.
This wasn’t the cowering, mild-mannered creature his spy had reported, nor the easily controlled test subject he remembered. Whatever. He shot her with a tranquillizer dart. Twice. Just to be sure.
“Truss her up, Trigger, and let’s get out of here. Our ride is waiting at the pickup point. Move it.”
“Freeze! Hold it right there!” a female voice yelled at him.
Bryant spun around. Agent Homes was standing in front of them several meters down the sidewalk. A large cement planter behind her. He suspected Agent Dave was there, hopefully fatally wounded after being shot. Bryant didn’t freeze. He was much better at giving orders than taking them. Agent Homes gave no indication that she recognized him. He shot Homes with his remaining tranquillizer dart.
She slapped a hand to her thigh and slumped to the ground.
Braul
“So glad to see you acquired my subjects with so little effort,” Braul said to Bryant as they watched Eddy and Unster in their separate cages.
“So little effort?” Bryant asked, his anger barely suppressed. “Noir was severely mauled. His collarbone got broken in the attack. He could possibly be infected. And need I remind you, we lost Merlot? I had to leave him behind. I hate leaving people behind!”
“Merlot? Wasn’t he the whiny one? No loss, we can easily replace him.” Braul brushed Bryant’s concerns away. “And what’s a broken collarbone compared to what the f451 will do?”
Bryant said nothing, seething.
Task Force
Task Force Agent Jimini, along with Ned, ventured out of Super-Amazing Funland. There had been no word from the team for hours.
They found them unconscious in the fight's wreckage. Unster appeared to be missing.
“Are you all right?” Jimini asked Janice, who was the first to regain consciousness.
She answered him by throwing up on his shoes. He moved on to Storky.
Agent Homes was lying awkwardly in the street where she had fallen. Ned checked her for signs of life and was relieved to find them steady and strong. He saw the dart in her thigh when he rolled her to a better recovery position.
Ned heard a noise from behind the planter. He left Homes to investigate. He held his shield up and cautiously approached, ready to run if it was a zombie. Instead, he found Agent Dave lying in a pool of blood.
“Agent Jimini!” He called, voice on the edge of hysteria. “You need to get over here! Now!”
Aftermath
The test site was swarming with Agents, management and personnel. Agent Dave sat on the bumper of the Zombie Horde Prevention Task Force ambulance, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
Agent Homes came over and handed him a coffee. “You’re sure you’re okay?” she asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “You?” He knew by now she’d been darted with a tranquillizer.
“Yeah, I’m fine. There was kind of a lot of blood.”
He shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “Sometimes it’s those little scratches that bleed more than you would believe.” He took a sip of coffee. “Did they really need to bring him in?” he asked, pointing with his chin.
Agent Homes turned in the direction Dave pointed. CSI Miami was in his glory collecting evidence, his assistant by his side.
“You could just ask her out, you know.”
Dave shook his head. “No.”
“Why not? It’s obvious you’re interested.”
Dave sighed and took another swig of coffee. He swished it around in his mouth before swallowing. “It’s not what you think,” he said.
“What do you mean? You stare at her every chance you get. You get tongue-tied and can’t even talk around her. It’s obvious to everyone that you like her.” Agent Homes rolled her eyes.
He stared down at his cup, fiddling with it. “It’s not what you think,” he repeated, looking up, watching CSI Miami and his assistant. “It’s nothing like that. It’s just, well, she looks like Vivian,” he said quietly, looking down at the cup in his hands again.
“Oh. Oh, I’m so sorry.” was all Agent Homes could think to say.
Agent Orange bustled over at that moment, with Dr. Marten in tow, disrupting the sudden awkwardness.
“Hello, Bill. Marty,” Dave said, acknowledging them.
“You okay?” Bill asked him.
He shrugged. “Sure. Is everyone accounted for?”
“With the exception of Unster and Agent Quill. Eddy seems to have disappeared. Buckley’s got a concussion. The Murdock kid accidentally clocked him with his bat. The Dome has been locked down. Of course, the third zombie has been contained now, so it’s safe to work in here.”
