The Grave: A Zombie Novel (4 page)

“Will Forrest, lost for words? I don’t believe it,” said Suzy. She could see him labouring to think of the right thing to say and decided to put him out of his misery. She wanted to talk to him too, but he had to be the one to bring it up first. “Look, Will, I
had a nice time too. You don’t have to explain anything or apologise. You’re busy, I’m busy, that’s the way it is. You’re an honorary New Yorker now, so suck it up.”

“You can take the boy out of Wisconsin, but...” Will realised he was still holding Suzy’s
hand, so he consciously let go. “You look damn good tonight, Suzy.”

“Thanks. Does that mean you’re going to buy me a drink later?”

Will’s face gave away his inner thoughts and Suzy laughed. “Oh come on, I’m not the shy type. I grew up in Brooklyn with two brothers for heaven’s sake. So you wanna get a drink after?”

“You
know, I’ve dated a few women in my time, Suzy Q, but none like you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.
One day, maybe you’ll tell me why you keep calling me Suzy Q. Now shut up, here’s Kelly.”

They waited as the people in front of them were moved along by the security men. The First Lady was only feet away now and still talking with Kelly. A man wearing mirrored shades and a jet black suit suddenly put a hand on Suzy’s shoulder. He had a gun
discreetly holstered inside his jacket and short-cropped blond hair.

“
Ma’am, if you’ll just move along please, over there.”

“Oh no, it’s
okay. I’m with the museum. Kelly Munroe is...”

“
Now,
please, ma’am,” said the man trying to shove Suzy behind the display case.

“
Hey, pal, you heard her, there’s no need for that,” said Will, putting his hand on the security guard. The blond haired man removed his shades and looked at Will with a fierce gaze. “Sir, this is not the time. Move or be moved.”

Will was not for backing down and the men locked eyes. Just when Suzy thought Will was about to throw a punch, Kelly caught her eye.

“Suzy, Will, this is Mrs Richard, the First Lady.”

“An honour to meet you,” said
Suzy, beaming.

Will nodded.
“A pleasure.”

“Mr White, get out of the way
. These people are here for a good time and they’re not doing any harm,” said the President’s wife sternly.

The
blond haired man let go of Will and shuffled backward allowing a clear path for the First Lady. As he did so, his eyes never left Will.

“Kelly was telling me that you are her top man, Mr Forrest. You’re leading a team on this expedition
tomorrow, I believe?”

Now it was
Will’s turn to blush and Suzy enjoyed seeing him squirm. “Yes, yes, well not leading, really. I guess I’m doing my part for the...well, you know, there are a few of us going. It’s going to be...fun.”

“Fun?
I hope you get a lot more out of it than that, Mr Forrest,” said the First Lady, “Kelly was telling me that you have a lot of work to do. For what I’m contributing, I hope we’re going to get a lot more out of this little trip south than
fun
?”

“Absolutely,” said Suzy, unable to watch
Will flounder any longer. The First Lady was clearly teasing him. When it came to research or finding new exhibits for the museum, Will was second to none. When it came to formal situations, expressing emotions or public speaking, he needed a lot of work. “We’re hoping that the newly discovered plant life and nematodes within the Antarctic ice shelf could lead to numerous scientific advances. There’s a lot of research we need to do to develop some of the ideas we have. Seeing it first hand is invaluable. Lake Vostok has been relatively untouched since it was mapped, but we’ve drilled down and already found an abundance of bacteria that we haven’t even been able to chart yet. There are species of algae that...”

“Thank you, Suzy,” said Kelly interjecting before the President’s wife died of boredom. “I can fill you in with some of the more specific details
later, if you wish, Mrs Richard. Right now, I’ll take you to your table. I believe dinner is about to be served.”

“Excellent.
Oh, and Kelly, call me Sophie, please.”

Kelly
led the First Lady away and Will let out a sigh of relief. “Shall we get that drink now?”

“
Oh, Will, you are hopeless.”

“I don’t know how you do it. I just felt so...nervous. Put me in an underground excavation or throw
me out of a plane and I’m fine. Make me do a presentation in front of a room full of people and I crumble.”

“I told you, I grew up in Brooklyn with two brothers.”

Will grinned. “Kinda explains a lot.”

“Don’t get smart again, Mr Forrest. Or should I just call you the ‘
top man
.’ Are you sure you even want to be seen with me? I mean, am I worthy of hanging out with the ‘
top man?
’” asked Suzy mockingly.

“
Ah, Will, you made it, excellent.” Rasmus appeared from behind the sarcophagus with a glass of red wine in hand.

“
Rasmus, you old dog, how’re you keeping?” Will shook Rasmus’ hand vigorously.

“When you get to my
age, dear boy, you’ll know not to ask those sorts of questions anymore. So how did you get on with
Mrs Richard
?”

“
Well, we had to get past her guard dogs first. One of them was getting a bit too heavy with Suzy. However, once we got past him, she seemed quite nice. I mean, I died a death, but Suzy here made a good impression. Well, actually, I don’t know about
good
, but she certainly won’t be forgotten.”

Suzy hit Will on the arm and he pretended to be hurt. “She was
fine, Rasmus. She’s a nice lady and she looked
so
cute in that dress.”

“I don’t know how he managed to snare her, I really don’t,” said Rasmus. “Richard Agnew is a mean son of a bitch.”

Suzy and Will were taken aback. Rasmus was always the gentlemen, even under pressure. They had never heard him swear or say a bad word about anyone before.

“The President?
You probably shouldn’t be saying stuff like that out loud here. The walls have ears,” said Will.

“And guns,” said Suzy remembering Mr White, the
blond haired man from earlier.

“I wouldn’t trust that man if my life depended on it,” said Rasmus. His face was set in a frown and he looked angry. “Sophie Agnew is the nicest woman you could hope to meet, I agree with you there, but her husband? Don’t get me started on him.”

Suzy was eager to change the topic. “Let’s go eat. Will, can you find our table please? Rasmus, come on, let’s just enjoy tonight. We’re up early tomorrow so you might want to ease off on the red wine.”

“You’re right, of course.” Rasmus handed his glass to Will. “Lead on, dear boy. Tomorrow is the start of an adventure. It’s not without
danger, so forgive me if I indulge in a glass or two of Shiraz. It seems the budget has well and truly been blown. We must be in prestigious company tonight.”

As they walked toward the dining area where the tables had been laid out, Suzy quietly asked Will, “What does he mean danger?
He’s not going to pop a hip, is he?”

“Ha, no,” said Will. “It’s quite safe. This is your first
trip, isn’t it?”

“
My first with the museum, yes. I had a few field trips back when I was at University. Spring break doesn’t really count, does it?”

Will
smirked at her joke. “He’s talking about getting there. Once we reach base camp, we’ll be fine. Cold, but fine. The most dangerous part of the expedition is getting there, but you needn’t worry about that. We’ll be fine. Kelly has sourced the best pilots for us. Just stick by me, you’ll be okay.”

They reached their table and sat down just as applause broke out. President Agnew’s wife watched on as Kelly stepped up to begin her welcoming speech
and the lights dimmed. It would be the last time Kelly gave a speech at the museum.

TWO

Dr Kelly Munroe swallowed the last of the mints Rasmus had given her and felt her ears ‘pop’ as they adjusted to the pressure. No matter how often she flew, she still could not get used to it. Taking off wasn’t so bad. The landing is what aggravated her sinuses more. It was going to be a long flight and she settled in. She had brought some old copies of the museum’s regular monthly journal with her to kill the time and settled on one from October 2154, twenty years before Kelly had started working for the museum herself.

She
opened the journal and flicked through the pages, glancing at the headlines until she found something she wanted to read. It was a piece written by her father, Cedric Munroe, who had worked at the museum until his heart attack when she was twelve. She had fought hard all her life to be able to live up to her father and she had recently been awarded the post of Associate Director, the same title her father had carried before his death. He had articles in every journal, but the one she happened upon now seemed most apt.

They were en route from New York to LA where they were going to pick up Dr Josef Jahn, a freelancer who specialised in biogenetics, and
Wilfred Kravern, an expert in Antarctic geology, who was cutting short his vacation to join them. Kelly had booked business class seats months ago to ensure they all got there as rested as possible. Last night had been a tumultuous affair and she had ended up not getting to bed until well after midnight. She stretched out and reclined her seat as the lights dimmed. Looking around, she could see Will, Suzy and Rasmus already asleep. Tricia and Claire were behind her, lost in a movie, whilst Mark in front was deeply involved in a thick paperback. Tug was staring out the window, holding a glass of water and swirling the ice around. The flight was due into LA late in the evening and they were then due to catch a connecting flight to Jakarta before onto American Samoa. From there she had organised a small charter to their final destination, Scott Base in Antarctica.

Kelly
was tired. She yawned, but refused to sleep yet. She wanted to read this article first. Rasmus and Tug had mentioned something about the route they were taking and she wanted to know more. She had heard of The Grave and she was keen to learn more about the history of the island. She had a scattered knowledge of it, but it was a secret the world tried to keep quiet about. History lessons were brief. Quietly, she was equally eager to see how her father had reported on it.

‘THE CULTURE OF DEATH’

A report by
Cedric Munroe, Ph.D.

‘We live in a time of fear. When they grew in number, they were given many names: The Broken Ones, The Perished, The Chosen, God’s People; even The Devil’s People. The name that stuck was the one simply that summed them up most accurately: The Deathless.

They divided opinion starkly
and still do. It is only four years since our world changed forever with the advent of this new race. The fact they are a man-made race is either a cause for celebration or a curse. The only agreement the governments of the world have managed to reach is that these people were dangerous;
are still
dangerous
. These men and women (or perhaps ‘creatures,’ depending on your point of view) are now protected and in the last few years have all been transported to a remote island where they are safely monitored and contained. We are told we are completely safe. Animals and birds can carry the disease, however, that infects these people, so the island has been cut off from the outside world by land, air and ocean equally.

Originally,
the ruling party of this island attempted to slow the progress of this deadly infection. At first, they killed them. Towns were bombed and destroyed. When that failed, they isolated them. Small towns were covered by glass domes that spanned dozens of kilometres, huge bubbles over the land that wrapped the towns in a kind of protective bubble-wrap. The domes failed though and the outbreak continued. The domes were doomed to failure from the start; the materials and resources available meant isolation was impossible. The cost was too great and the Deathless were far enough spread that closing off one town was pointless. Rats and mice easily found their way out under the domes. It was decided to stop and simply build huge barricaded fences around the island instead.

Huge fences have
now been erected all along the island’s coastline and there is a strong military presence surveying and monitoring the country. It is an isolated country, one naturally protected by its mountains and oceans. Any birds flying in, out or through airspace close to The Grave would be shot down by the ever-watching military around the coastline. That was another reason New Zealand was chosen as the new land for the Deathless; most of its birds were flightless and the country did not have the mass migrations and flocks so prone to warmer countries. Te Ika-a-Maui was closed down and shut off. Te Waipounamu was abandoned. It was too close to be safe enough to inhabit and so it too was protected like Te Ika-a-Maui with its huge fences and UN ships guarding the waters.