The Z-Day Trilogy (Book 0): Creation of the Living Dead Read online

  Creation of the Living Dead

  By

  Mark Cusco Ailes

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  Chapter One

  General Wilbur Poe found himself hard-pressed to keep the gnashing teeth and fingernails at bay. He fell heavily onto his back as the zombie tackled him, and his sidearm went flying from his grip, clattering to the pavement behind him. The two struggled for a short while, neither gaining an edge. The zombie, frustrated with its prey, leaned in close and roared point-blank in General Poe’s face. He abruptly awoke from his nightmarish hell, sweat streaming down his face. He looked around the room in a panic. He wiped his brow with his blanket and got out of bed. He was sleeping restlessly these days. He had a test taking place in a few hours involving his newly created smart zombies. The government had poured millions of dollars of taxpayer’s hard earned money into the smart zombie program, and he wanted to prove it was going to revolutionize the way wars would be fought in the future.

  He recalled the nightmare he just had. It seemed so real, as if he was really there. He remembered standing amongst his creations, watching as they devoured the enemy without flinching or showing any sign of weakness. He watched as flesh was being torn away from bone, appendages being removed with no anesthetic, and entrails being removed and devoured in a feeding frenzy. It was the way war was supposed to be fought–by eating the enemy alive. It was the only sure method to use to make sure your enemy suffered for their crimes against humanity.

  General Poe never used to be so uncaring about people; he had grown tired of the constant attacks on the American people. He had become tired of watching terrorists behead people and nothing being done to put an end to it. All he could think about now was finding a sure way of protecting America and its citizens against the terrorists who threatened them on a daily basis. He was done worrying about all of it. It was now time to make crucial changes, and his smart zombie program would accomplish it.

  When he had first approached President Thomas Andrews about the program, he shot it down without hearing all the details. He had then turned to Gerald Thornton, the President’s advisor, who convinced the president the program was solid and had the potential to finally put an end to terrorism.

  Professors Nicholas and Kathy Hollman had been hired to develop the serum that would be used to create the smart zombies, who would be used to destroy the terrorists groups. Their son, Ted, had also come on board after putting his obligations on hold to assist his parents, who bickered and fought over how the serum was going to be developed. Unbeknownst to General Poe, this would be the Hollman’s final test. They planned on getting a divorce once they had created the serum.

  Ted had become tired of hearing them argue over every little detail. It was causing all their tests to fail, costing the government more of the taxpayer’s money than it was willing to invest.

  Only because of the perseverance of General Poe had the White House continued to finance the program, but they wanted results and they wanted them yesterday.

  To save money on paying volunteers to be injected with the current serum, the general had sent his specialized team to search for the undesirable people living on the streets and were now using them as human guinea pigs. He felt no remorse over this decision; he knew nobody would notice or even care.

  Everything seemed to be progressing on schedule until the day of the first test. The results were nothing like they expected.

  Chapter Two

  “Carlton, you have to hold him down!” screamed Professor Nicholas Hollman. “I’m not going to be able to inject him with the serum if you don’t.”

  Carlton Ross was in charge of the operations concerning all newly created zombies. Thus far, he had one in the back area of the lab locked in a cage. It had been their first mishap, almost taking a healthy bite from his neck. They all had learned a great deal from the first zombie created at the lab. The main thing they had learned was the formula for the serum was flawed. Nicholas blamed his wife, Kathy, for the failure and in return, she blamed him. Carlton, on the other hand, blamed both of them for not working together.

  Carlton grabbed the homeless man’s arms and held them firmly against his body. He was fortunate the man was weak from being malnourished. The professor found a vein and stuck the man with the syringe until all the liquid had emptied. He pulled the syringe out and backed away from him.

  “Carlton, take him to the back and lock him in one of the cages. It might take a while for the serum to take effect.”

  “I’ll help you, Carlton,” said Professor Kathy Hollman.

  “No need for your help, professor. I can manage. This one isn’t strong enough to get away from me.” He helped the man to the back and locked him in a cage.

  General Poe entered the lab and watched as the Hollmans were writing something down in two separate journals. Ted saw him first and moved to the other side of the room. He didn’t trust or even like the general. He knew he had a different agenda for the smart zombie program than he was saying. He knew it had to do with more than just fighting terrorists groups. It had to do with profit. Somehow, he knew the general was going to be well compensated for the zombies. He watched as he approached his parents.

  “How soon can we perform the tests? Washington wants the results ASAP.”

  “I wouldn’t be in a hurry to report anything to them,” said Nicholas. “This is not like baking a cake. Nobody has ever tried doing what we’re doing here. We can’t rush or we’re going to make more mistakes.”

  “We can’t afford more mistakes. If we don’t get this right, we’re going to lose our funding. That means neither of you will continue to get paid.” He looked at Ted hiding on the other side of the room. “Put your boy to work. I’m not paying him to cower from me.”

  “Trust me; he’s doing his part,” said Kathy. “He just doesn’t trust the government. Let him be, he’s fine where he’s at.”

  He turned his attention away from Ted and headed for the back area to find Carlton. He found him feeding the first zombie with some goats he had in a pen.

  “Why are you feeding it? It doesn’t need to be fed.”

  Carlton stopped what he was doing and looked at the general. “You don’t have to tell me that. This is Kathy’s doing. She cares about these creatures. She’s upset we’re using the homeless for this program. She won’t admit it, but I can tell. She’s the one who insisted on the goats and feeding the zombies.”

  General Poe thought about it for a moment. “All right, go ahead and feed them. If it makes her happy, then I know she’ll continue her research.” He made his way over to the cage where Carlton had put the injected homeless person. “This one doesn’t look good.”

  “He just got injected. No one has any idea how long it takes them to turn. It took the first one nearly twenty minutes. Kathy says they’re fixing the formula so it won’t take as long for them to turn.”

  General Poe glanced at his watch. “So you’re telling me we should have another zombie soon.”

  “If my calculations are correct.”

  “Good. This is the one I want to test in the field. I need to see if it will follow orders.”

  Carlton looked at him curiously. “Do you really think that will be possible? I really don’t think you can control a zombie. Look at this one. It keeps reaching through the bars to try to grab me. It would rip me apart if it could.”
r />   “Then don’t stand so close to the cage. After all, I’m not paying you any hazardous pay.”

  “Don’t I know it,” said Carlton. “You don’t have to worry about me. I have a lot of experience working with lions and panthers. This thing isn’t any different from those wild cats.”

  General Poe stared at him. “Just come get me once he changes. I’ll have the truck on standby to take him into the woods.”

  “I will let you know as soon as he does.”

  General Poe was surrounded by Washington’s top advisors including Gerald Thornton, who General Poe was familiar with. Gerald looked at the general wondering if this program was going to be beneficial to the military.

  “I see by the look on your face that you have doubts, Gerald,” said General Poe. “I’m sure your doubts will be erased once you’ve seen a demonstration.”

  “I hope you’re right. Washington has invested a lot of money in this program. I would hate to have to report to the President of the United States that the taxpayer’s dollars were wasted.”

  “Trust me, Gerald; your worries are premature. I’m certain once you’ve seen the demonstration, you’re going to want us to create an entire army of zombies.”

  Gerald didn’t look amused. “Let me be the judge of that. I mean, this program seems farfetched to me. I honestly can’t believe we’re standing here today discussing this. We’re only here because the smart zombie program piqued our interest.”

  They were interrupted by the sound of a deuce and a half truck coming up the dirt road. General Poe looked at it and back to Gerald. “I guess we’ll know in a minute. Our test subjects have arrived.”

  Gerald watched as the truck parked several feet away from him and three people jumped out of the cab and joined the general. General Poe turned to Gerald.

  “These are the people involved with the program. Let me introduce you to the Hollman family. This is Dr. Nicholas Hollman, his wife, Dr. Kathy Hollman, and their son, Dr. Ted Hollman. You’ll be directing all your questions to them. They are the ones who are responsible for the whole program and know every detail involving it.”

  He was interrupted by the sound of agitated zombies and Carlton barking orders from the back of the truck. Carlton jumped down from the back and went over to Kathy and whispered something in her ear. She looked at him and followed him back to the truck and waited as he jumped back aboard.

  General Poe looked at Nicholas alarmed. “Is there anything I should be worried about?”

  Nicholas was staring in the direction of the truck. “I don’t think so. I don’t know what Carlton wanted with my wife.”

  “Well, go find out. We need to get this demonstration moving forward.”

  Nicholas joined his wife at the back of the truck. The zombies were agitated and were banging against the cage inside the truck. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” said Kathy. “Carlton is worried about the demonstration. He thinks the zombies are too agitated.”

  Nicholas jumped on the back of the truck with Carlton who was looking at the three zombies in the cage. He saw the female zombie was wearing a tattered wedding dress. He turned to look at Carlton.

  “I thought I told you to take that dress off of her before she turned. She looks ridiculous in it. I don’t understand why she’s wearing it in the first place.”

  “I suppose either it had a significant meaning for her, or it was the only thing she had to wear while she was homeless. Why does it matter to you anyway? She’s a zombie now. Nobody is going to care what she’s wearing. Besides, we have other issues to worry about.”

  “Like what?” asked Nicholas. “The zombies look fine to me.”

  “I don’t think I can control them. These zombies aren’t smart. I thought you said we will be able to control them.”

  “Look!” screamed Nicholas. “If you can’t control them, then I will hire somebody who can! You’re the reason they can’t be controlled!” He paused and looked at General Poe who was glaring at him to keep his voice down. He then looked at his wife.

  Kathy shook her head. She had the feeling they weren’t ready for a field test, but Nicholas insisted they were. They had a lengthy heated argument over it, and in the end, he went behind her back and informed General Poe they were ready for testing. She turned and glared at her husband. “The reason they can’t be controlled is because you’re stubborn. I warned you this would happen, and guess what, it’s happening!” She turned to Carlton who was looking down at them from the back of the truck. “Carlton, do the best you can and bring one of them to the testing area. If we’re lucky, everything will go according to plan. If not, I’m sure we’re going to lose our funding.”

  Nicholas threw his hands up in the air and walked away from her in disgust. He had heard enough of her negativity. He stormed over to General Poe who stared at him curiously.

  “Is everything all right? Is there going to be a problem with the test? If there is, I need to know because further funding is on the line here.”

  “Everything is going to be fine, general. Kathy is just being her usual self. I told you having us work together wasn’t a good idea. All she does is get in the way.”

  The general grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him farther away from the others. “I understand you two are having marital problems, but I need you to work with her. The entire nation is counting on the both of you to get along. There isn’t anybody else I can trust this project to. And don’t mention Dr. Krage in Nevada. He’s busy with another project right now. I don’t want to bring him into this project unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

  Ted joined them, agitated by his parent’s constant fighting. “I will help them get along. Carlton is bringing one of the smart zombies from the truck. Let’s get everything prepared for the test.”

  He watched as Ted took his father back to the truck and he turned to motion to a soldier standing near a military jeep. The soldier forced a man who was blindfolded from the jeep. He was wearing soiled and tattered clothes, and his hands were handcuffed behind his back. General Poe motioned for the soldier to take the homeless man to the staging area where the test would be performed. He then turned his attention to Carlton who was struggling to bring over a female zombie dressed in a wedding dress. She had a noose secured around her neck attached to a catch pole held by Carlton. He forced her over to the stage area as she hissed and grabbed at the air in front of her. He got her into position and looked at General Poe waiting for the orders to release her. The general made his way to the front of the gathered group and cleared his throat.

  “Gentlemen, today we’re about to make history. Today we’ve taken the fantasy world and made it real. We’ve done what others have said cannot be done. We’ve made the perfect, obedient fighting machine. As you can see, we’ve developed a super soldier–a smart zombie soldier. One who will effectively kill without any remorse and who will kill until the enemy is eliminated, and who will kill without questioning any orders given. This will be the new era of fighting wars. My team of scientists has worked painstakingly to bring this into reality. I’m about to prove to you the effectiveness of the smart zombie program and why it’s essential we have further funding to develop the perfect army.” He turned and nodded at Carlton who relinquished his hold on the catch pole while Nicholas, standing nearby, barked orders to the zombie to come to attention and wait for further orders.

  Instead of listening to the orders given by Nicholas, the zombie charged forward on unsteady legs and knocked the homeless man to the ground. She ripped open his face and feasted upon it like he was the main course at a four-star restaurant.

  Nicholas ran over to her and barked several orders for her to retreat and stand at attention. She ignored him and continued devouring the homeless man. Carlton approached her and put the barrel of his sidearm to the base of her skull and fired a single shot. With a hole in the back of her head, she crumpled sideways and hit the ground. He glared at Nicholas and turned and walked back toward the de
uce and a half. He met Kathy half way and pushed past her. “I told you we weren’t ready. Nobody is ever going to be able to control any of those things.”

  General Poe stood over the fallen zombie’s body unhappy about the results of the test. He wasn’t anticipating failure. He was positive his scientists would succeed according to plan. Gerald stood behind him.

  “I just want to know one thing before I take this back to President Andrews. Is creating a smart zombie army actually possible? Forget what we saw here today. What I need to know is, with more time, can we achieve this zombie army?”

  “Are you telling me there is a chance we can proceed with our project?”

  “Even though your test failed, I’m keeping one thing in mind. You actually created a zombie. Nobody has ever accomplished that before. I’m confident with time you’ll be able to create a controllable zombie army. I’m going to recommend to President Andrews we fund your project. Don’t get me wrong, General Poe, I still have my doubts and I think you’re playing God, but I think the zombies can be beneficial in fighting wars.”

  “Thank you, Gerald.”

  “Don’t thank me yet. I still want to see results. I will give you some more time, but don’t abuse it. We can only provide you with funding while progress is being made.”

  “I understand. When can I expect the money?”

  “And right to the point,” laughed Gerald. “Don’t worry; the check is in the mail.”

  He walked away and got into a jeep. General Poe excitedly made his way over to Nicholas to inform him they were being further funded.

  “I’m sorry about the test, general,” said Carlton. “I told everybody we weren’t ready.”

  “It doesn’t matter now, Carlton, we have the money we need and the time we need for further work on the project. I’m sure if Nicholas and Kathy work together, we can make this project a success.”

  Kathy looked at Nicholas and walked away to join her son. She knew she had a rocky road ahead of her. She was heading into a battle of her own–one she knew was going to be hard fought. If they were going to succeed with the project, she would have to work on parts of it behind Nicholas’ back.