Particle Z (Book 1) (16 page)
The bottom floors of the bunker were set aside for Congress to conduct business and provide for the continuity of the American government, all while being sheltered from nuclear war. There were multiple areas on the bottom level. They had dormitory-style living quarters along with a Congressional assembly area every bit as formal and well-appointed as those found in Washington D.C. Neatly tucked away was a kitchen that rivaled any found in an elite New York City restaurant. There was even a room set aside for Presidential addresses during any perceived time of crisis. The floors were all finished with smooth concrete and the walls were decorated with finely framed depictions of major events from the United States’ storied past.
Mike spotted everything ranging from George Washington crossing the Delaware River to images of the Apollo Space Mission and man’s first step on the moon. He lost himself in the moment, wondering if George Washington could have ever imagined the country he was pivotal in building would land a man on the moon less than two hundred years later.
“Mike! Stop daydreaming and stay alert,” Eric said, jolting Mike back to the present.
Mike sheepishly smiled and got back on task. Trust Eric to watch his back even while he was not looking after his own self.
After a good twenty minutes of searching the lower level, Julian sounded the all clear and the rest of the group found its way downstairs, except for Marlee, who refused to leave the communication room until she had gathered as much information as she could.
After the others had a chance to explore their new surroundings, they soon found themselves sitting around a large conference table off the main Congressional Assembly Chamber. They only numbered ten now because of the prior days’ losses.
Mike whispered to himself the names of each person present. “Julian, Marlee, Eric, Reid, Davis, Aggeles, Shrader, Daniels, and Garcia.”
Julian, as was his penchant, took charge.
Must be the CEO in him
, Mike thought as the businessman began speaking. “We have some important decisions to make and they need to be considered and decided upon as a whole. I checked the railway under the bunker and it looks operational, but I have no way of knowing what may await us at the other end of the line. I don’t even know if the military is operational.”
“Are you saying there may not be any help for Marlee or even us for that matter?” Mike asked, sounding perplexed.
“I don’t know what to expect anymore. I doubt people are waiting around to see who may walk through the door needing help while they themselves are in survival mode. They’re probably out looking to protect loved ones or make it to the next day for all we know,” Julian said, laying out the sobering truth.
“He’s right, the world is a bloodbath right now,” Marlee said, sounding somber as she relayed what she had seen broadcast by multiple new agencies from nations around the world. “It’s the same everywhere; people are being overrun by the Changed. Government response is spotty at best, and the military was hard hit just like the general population. They stopped setting up safety zones because it was a magnet for the Changed. People are told to hunker down and fend for themselves as best they can for now. Major metro areas were the hardest hit, but the unpredictable nature of the event has left even the smallest of towns decimated.”
Marlee’s announcement was digested in stunned silence.
“So, Julian … what does that research of yours predict will occur next? Are we doomed?” Mike asked half-jokingly, but genuinely concerned about the response he would receive to his question.
“Our time has come to an end. What happens to mankind largely depends on how we handle this crisis. Many will believe this to be a cleansing and reset. Our way of life is gone and it’s up to people like us to rebuild. I’ve been preparing for this eventuality.”
Mike could plainly see the dismay etched on each face.
It was Julian’s man Garcia who broke the silence. “Julian, is Terra Corp gone?”
Mike felt like reaching out to the young man and telling him it would be okay, but he knew it wouldn’t. Right now wasn’t the time for false hope or the painting of pretty pictures that had no basis in reality.
“What about my wife and little girl? She’s only three and my wife doesn’t have any friends close to our home to help them. Our family is all in Puerto Rico,” Garcia asked in a broken voice, finally facing a demon that he had been keeping at bay for days now.
Mike felt the heartache and tears well up within him. The young man’s emotions were so raw and unfiltered that it tugged on his heartstrings. Davis and Aggeles stood up then and walked over to Garcia. Mike was prepared to stop any public humiliation suffered upon the young man, but he needn’t have worried. The gruff and hardened men put their hands on his shoulders and stood silently behind him like two anchors bracing him while the emotional storm he was experiencing ravaged his soul. Davis then leaned in and whispered something in the distraught man’s ears that seemed to calm him down. Garcia rose slowly from the table, allowing Aggeles to walk him to a private place where he could be alone with his worst fears.
After Garcia was escorted out, they went around the room to see who had loved ones out there trying to survive this nightmare. Daniels had a wife in California; she had family to hunker down with, but remarkably, there were no additional spouses or children to worry about. This didn’t stop them from talking about parents, grandparents, siblings, and even pets. Every person sitting at the table was worried about losing family, but little could be done other than pray for their safety. It was a gut-wrenching feeling of helplessness. The grim reality was they would probably never set eyes on their loved ones again.
Marlee decided to take charge and instructed each person to head up to the communication room one at a time to see if they could make calls to loved ones using the bunker’s secure phone lines. They already knew cell phones were useless beneath so much concrete. Amazingly, the internet was still largely functional so they would try sending emails and check social media as well. Doing something always felt better than giving up hope or doing nothing at all. They counted themselves among the fortunate, as they were safe for the moment. Most people were not so lucky; Marlee knew that for certain, as she had watched the carnage raging across the world.
A few days’ rest had everyone’s spirits back up, as much as they could be considering their circumstances, and decisions had to be made. Mike had spent as much time with Marlee as possible while Julian was teaching her how to control the color of her eyes. She seemed to have it down now, and Mike was happy to see the woman he fell in love with staring back at him. He suspected Julian was probing Marlee while teaching her the eye trick to uncover other
abilities
, but he trusted Julian enough now and knew Marlee was aware of his interests as well. Perhaps Julian should be cautious around Marlee.
They had explored the bunker, an underground fortress really, for days now and it really was quite impressive. Mike was amazed it had managed to stay hidden from the public for so long. He considered this proof positive of the lengths the government was willing to go to keep its secret programs secret. Other than Aggeles, who had risked it all to grab his drone from the MRAP, no one else had ventured outside. That adventure resulted in a scathing lecture from Julian.
Aggeles brought back grim news after his outing. The exit they had used to bring in the others was now overrun with the Changed, and they had even swarmed the MRAP. The chances of using that vehicle again were close to non-existent. With only ten souls remaining in their group there was no way they were going to risk it. Julian was convinced keeping the MRAP fueled would be a liability with its ammo now depleted. Not to mention with the noise it generated it would attract the dead from miles away. Mike was in full agreement with this assessment. With Julian’s corporate and personal resources, Mike was sure he had access to additional equipment. What Mike did not know was where that equipment might be, and Julian hadn’t mentioned it during any of their conversations.
In addition to the research Marlee was doing on the outbreak, she had also done some snooping around on Julian and Terra Corp while holed up in the COMM room. Considering they were living in the information age, there was very little she was able to lean about Julian other than a corporate profile of Terra Corp and a few bios from various business magazines providing very little detailed background on Julian himself. She did come across an older article wherein Julian described himself as an avid prepper. At one point in the article, he even joked about having a plan for everything, even building a new society based on human decency, faith, and community. Strange words from a mega-wealthy CEO. Terra Corp itself owned or controlled holdings all over the world, and operated, for the most part, out of sight. Marlee didn’t find anything questionable or shady online, but maybe Julian simply ran a tight ship.
They had the rail system under the bunker, and while this had been the primary goal, the news reports clearly showed D.C. was a mess and exceedingly dangerous. There were large concentrations of military and law enforcement in the D.C. metro area, but the sheer numbers of Changed ultimately dwarfed them. It was neighborhood-by-neighborhood warfare for survival in the streets of the Capital.
Mike and his group had discussed the choices open to them and had decided to set out in search of Garcia’s wife and daughter. Julian wasn’t opposed to the idea, he just didn’t know if it was the wisest course of action. Garcia’s family, if they were still alive, were relatively close to the bunker near the town of Lewisburg. Mike understood this would have been an easy drive a couple of weeks ago, but wasn’t sure how long it would take in the sickly world beyond the fortified walls of the bunker. Everyone was going to meet later to discuss options.
Regardless of the meeting’s outcome, Mike had already decided he would go. The idea of not knowing your family’s fate and not doing what you could do to save them wasn’t something he was going to be able to leave behind. He had discussed this with Eric, Reid, and Marlee, and they each felt the same way. Davis and Aggeles would do what Julian commanded, and Mike was sure the two junior guys would slip out the first chance they got. He knew he would if his family’s fate was uncertain.
During the exploration of the bunker’s lower level, they had discovered small private sleeping quarters reserved for Congressional leadership. It was in one of these small but comfortable rooms that Mike found Eric with a map of the local area splayed out across a small desk in the corner of the room. He was intently studying information on local businesses that Marlee had pulled off the web from the COMM room.
“I see you’ve been busy,” Mike said as he entered and glanced around the small room.
Eric nodded, then said, “I’ve been mapping out possible locations of supplies and transportation that will see us through to the Garcia family’s last know location.”
“How’s it looking?”
“Difficult. This is a rural area and everything is spread out. If we can commandeer a couple of vehicles from a local dealership then we can run and gun until we get close to their location.”
“Where is the nearest dealership?” Mike asked, hoping it was close. He didn’t want to trudge through the countryside low on supplies without at least a truck or car to use as some level of protection from the Changed and the elements.
“Heritage Truck Sales is about eight miles from here, and they have heavy-duty trucks, mostly diesel, showing in inventory. Then we have Colonial Ford. They’re nine point seven miles out and will have some of everything. I think the Ford dealer is our best bet; unleaded fuel will be easier to come by and more plentiful.”
“Makes sense to me,” Mike said after thinking about it for a few seconds. “Now we just need a way to get there without becoming Z-bait. Maybe Julian can show us another one of those tunnels of his that doesn’t have any Changed waiting at the opposite end.”
“Maybe, but I’m not sure he intends to go with us. I get the feeling he has bigger fish to fry than chasing after a few people that’re probably long gone or worse, regardless how noble the cause is.”
Mike sat down on the edge of the bed and thought about Eric’s words. He was right, there was no guarantee Julian would go with them, and there was even a smaller chance they would locate Garcia’s family. Mike decided he didn’t care; they had to try. He was also quietly concerned that Julian would try to stop Marlee from going. He knew the man was highly interested in her new capabilities.
Eric sighed.
Mike, sensing something was on his friend’s mind, asked, “Why the long face?”
“What’s next, Mike?”
“Next?” Mike asked, not really understanding where Eric was going with the conversation.
“Yeah, after we find Garcia’s people or wherever we eventually land in this fucked-up world, what then? Those fucking monstrosities are everywhere now. Is anywhere we go safe, unless it’s a place like this? I don’t think I could stand to be locked underground for the remainder of my days,” Eric said with a shudder.
“I have no idea what we’ll face out there, but we need to establish some semblance of a community at some point. We can’t run forever.”
“I think we will be running for the foreseeable future …”
“Mike … Mike!” Marlee said breathlessly as she came flying into the small room. “They just nuked Switzerland! The whole fucking place is gone, wiped off the face of the planet.”
“Are you sure? Why would they nuke Switzerland?” Eric asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“The Large Hadron Collider,” Mike guessed, thinking about Julian’s theory. “Someone must have decided to shut the pace down permanently. Did you tell Julian?”
“No, I came straight to you. Do you think they’ll start nuking other places to try to stop the spread of this shit?” Marlee asked anxiously.
“I would hope not, but for once, since this mess started, we’re in the right place at the right time. Let’s go find Julian and see if he can shed some light on anything the news may not be aware of.”
Minutes later they found Julian holed up in another room similar to the one Eric had been using. He looked up at the group, and from the looks on their faces knew something was up.
“What happened?” he asked
“They nuked Switzerland,” Marlee promptly informed him.
“Nuked Switzerland? Doubtful. If anything the Collider went up because there was nobody there to maintain it properly. The Collider houses, or housed now, I guess, more volatile and toxic materials than you can possibly imagine. It must have finally gone up and taken a large chuck of the area with it. This changes things.”
“What do you mean this changes things?” Mike asked curiously.
“Only that any data on the experiments they were running and the things they did to cause this disaster are now lost forever. Future generations will have no blueprint to start humanity back down the right path by reversing some of the harm perpetrated in that facility. Assuming Man ever gets back to that point. Once the power goes out we’ll find ourselves in the Dark Ages for the second time in history.”
Eric nudged Mike. “Remind me to remind you not to ask Julian questions anymore. He never seems to have any good news.”
They all shared a small chuckle at Eric’s sarcasm, but deep down they knew he was right. Civilization was headed backwards and life promised to be more dangerous than at any time in man’s long and sordid past. They had not been topside for days now, but knew they would head back out sooner than later. What they would face was unimaginable. Between the more common yet still massively violent and bloodthirsty Changed and the unpredictable and nightmarish Mingled, the world was awash in zombie filth that would snuff them out without a moment’s thought. To make matters worse, Man himself had a tendency to fall back into barbaric mannerisms with the loss of law and order. Life was going to suck.
“I’ll head up in a minute before we meet and see if I can raise anyone on the emergency channels. Maybe if we can get some information on the local area it will go a long way in figuring out what we need to do,” Julian said as he rose to head upstairs.
“Julian, do you think there’s any hope left of finding Garcia’s family out there?” Eric asked pointblank.
“Little to none,” he responded briskly. They weren’t sure if his curt response was due to feeling powerless to provide hope to one of his men or because he thought the attempt was futile. They didn’t get a chance to find out because he was gone before anyone could say another word.
Mike looked at his friends and said, “I don’t think Julian expected this event to go down like it did or as fast as it did. He seems to be searching for his own answers.”
“I think you’re right; he was in the middle of searching for answers when this shit went viral. Now he’s stuck in the same soup as the rest of us, better prepared but stuck nonetheless,” Eric said, speculating on Julian’s mindset.
“We need to at least make an attempt to find Garcia’s family, and if that ends like Julian predicts we’ll need to find a safe place outside to start looking for good people to add to our group. We’ll need them to defend ourselves while trying to regain some form of safety and community,” Mike said, even though he didn’t know if he even believed that was possible any longer.
More than likely, they would spend most of their time fighting off Zs and unsavory humans. The worst of society always seemed to survive in adverse and deplorable conditions. Mike figured it was because they lived on a razor’s edge anyways so when things went south it wasn’t that long of a trip for them.
“I’ll go find Reid, he’s probably sleeping again,” Eric said with a knowing smile as he pushed himself off the bed, grunting at the pop of muscles and joints protesting his vertical aspirations.
“Okay,” Mike and Marlee said in unison, laughing at each other when it happened. For just a few heartbeats, they were lost in the moment and the rest of their problems faded away. Just for a moment.
The conference room they had been using for group meetings was filled. Even Reid had managed to make it and he looked rested, showered, and interested in what they were going to discuss. The room took on a tense and serious tone, made even more formal by the ornate wood table and black leather chairs they were sitting in. The Presidential portraits lining the wall helped to add a sense of importance to the meeting.
Julian started things off. “We need to discuss the reality of the situation and decide which way we want to go as a group or whether we even stay together as a group.”
Everyone looked up at that. This was going to be a serious discussion indeed, and it looked like all options were on the table.
Continuing, Julian said, “I think we’ve all seen the news by now. The world as we know it has gone to shit, and we’re in a dog-eat-dog situation at the moment. We need to weigh the risk of searching for the family members of Garcia against the risk of losing more of us.”
His opening statement raised eyebrows, but Mike understood where he was coming from. “We need to decide as a group what to do and we need to do it quickly. Eric, Reid, and I have discussed the next step and we’ll go look for Garcia’s family.” Mike paused to see how the rest of the room would react.
It wasn’t Julian who answered first, surprisingly, but Davis. “We’ll go with you,” he said without hesitation, nodding toward Aggeles and Shrader.
Garcia looked relieved and was smiling now. Mike only hoped they were still smiling when or if his family was found. In fact, Mike hoped they were all still around and smiling when and if they found Garcia’s family.