Pandemic Z (Book 1): Pandemic Z Read online

  “I like games, Lena Turner. Do you?” He sneered.

  She didn’t say a word. She didn’t want to be a part of Roy’s horrible game, and she wanted to find whatever it was he wanted her to so she could save the plane from more zombies.

  “Little Lena can’t find it. Oh, how poor.”

  The frightened passengers slipped further away from the oily man, and the once delicious smell of oranges now made Lena taste the acidic bile in the back of her throat. Suddenly, the smell of rotting zombie was better than Roy’s deceptive stench. The mob of raging guests huddled closer to the rear of the cabin, getting farther away as they watched Roy taunt Lena.

  “Little Lena can’t find the little, hidden piece. Little Lena can’t find the little, hidden piece.” He attempted to sing the words at her without looking up from his game.

  Lena tried to block to sound of his voice as she made her way around the zombie’s head. She was determined to find whatever it was Roy had hidden. She shifted the zombie onto its side and saw a small sliver of metal on the base of his neck.

  “Well, hello there,” she mumbled as she pushed the dead zombie onto its front. She studied the metal for a moment as Barry squatted beside her.

  “What is it?” Barry asked.

  “Oh! Lena Turner, you hit the big bucks,” the oily man said.

  “Lena, focus on me, okay?” Barry said.

  Lena quickly turned her head back to Barry and the zombie on the floor. “It’s a chip.”

  Lena looked at his sad eyes. He looked even more exhausted than before, and the bags under his eyes looked dark and everlasting, like no matter how much rest he got after all this, they would never be bright again. He forced a smile before turning to the chip on the zombie.

  “A chip?” he asked.

  “Yes, they’re being controlled,” she whispered.

  “Ding, ding! We have a winner!” Roy chuckled maniacally as he tapped at the screen.

  “Ignore him, Lena.” Barry tried to distract her, but the two of them were now more focused on the greasy man controlling the zombies.

  “Lena Turner, you figured it out. The little storybook monsters are being controlled.”

  “And you’re the one controlling them?” she said, already knowing the answer.

  “Let us play another little game, Lena Turner.”

  “Quit saying my name, Roy!” she barked at him.

  All he could do was cackle like a witch in a cheesy, low-budget movie from the ‘80s. “Oh, poor little Lena Turner,” he said, sticking his lower lip out and pouting.

  Lena stood tall and faced Roy. “Stop this right now.”

  “No.” His voice was low and dark.

  “People are dying!” she said, trying to reason with him.

  “This is all part of the plan, Lena Turner.”

  “What plan, Roy?”

  “The rebirth of civilization,” he said dramatically.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked, disgusted by his casual reaction to the death of so many people.

  “It’s all part of the plan,” he repeated.

  “Really? Parents losing their children, spouses being torn apart, friends losing those they love… That’s all part of your plan?” Barry spat angrily at Roy.

  “Yes,” Roy replied calmly

  “What the fuck are you? Have you lost your bloody humanity?” Barry screamed.

  “Barry, calm down and let me handle this.” Lena pushed Barry back before he got violent.

  Roy sniffed and chuckled under his breath. The smell of oranges was overpowering. Without a doubt, she knew she would never buy another orange or anything that smelled like them ever again. She didn’t want to be reminded of this sadistic man.

  “What rebirth?” she asked as calmly as she could.

  “The rebirth of civilization, Lena Turner.”

  “Yeah, okay, got that. What about it?”

  He shrugged. “You will see.”

  “Stop it. Stop killing these people with these monsters.”

  “No, Lena Turner. It has started and now must run its course.”

  “So, there is no way for us to stop it?” she asked.

  “The rebirth has begun,” he repeated, tapping the tablet screen ominously.

  “Stop it, or you’ll be charged with murder,” she threatened.

  “The rebirth has begun, Lena Turner.”

  Lena took a step back and looked down the aisle to the crowd at the back of the cabin. Sherri, the flight attendant, cried again, and Emily passed her tissues from a small packet. The man with the Dwindling Fire t-shirt on had stopped recording everything and now scribbled in a small notebook.

  Dude had his hands clenched tightly together and stared up at the top of the plane like he was praying for safety. The men in the jerseys were solemn and silent, and the teenage boy, Levi, hid beside his mother. His fascination had melted away to show a terrified young man who valued life.

  Lena looked down the other side of the aisle towards premiere class. Barry paced up and down the aisle, occasionally kicking at a seat, and he looked frustrated and annoyed at Roy and his determination to kill. The groans and screams had died down but still came from the front of the aircraft.

  “Please stop,” she asked with a sigh.

  “No, Lena Turner. I am beyond your power,” he snorted back at her.

  “Roy, they did nothing wrong,” she said, trying again.

  “No, Lena Turner. It is beyond that judgment now. This is Asher Brannick’s plan for the rebirth of humanity, and it is now in full effect.”

  Lena paused, racking her brain.

  “That does it!” Barry cried as he stomped to where they stood. Barry ripped the tablet out from under Roy’s tapping fingers. “You may be beyond Lena’s powers, but not mine.” He smacked the screen with his index finger.

  “I doubt it, Barry Harrison.”

  “How do you know our names?” Lena asked again. She wondered if he’d overheard them introduce themselves, but that didn’t seem his style. This guy knew from some other way.

  “I know all about you, Lena Turner.”

  “Fuck, FUCK. No, not now!” Barry grunted at the tablet.

  Roy rested his head back against the headrest and held his hands carefully in front of him. They were upright, and only the tips of the fingers on his right hand touched those on the left. He stared straight ahead at the seatbelt sign and no smoking symbol.

  He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. He smiled to himself and raised his eyebrows so they arched menacingly towards his rough hairline. He fitted his fingers together and let them rest gently on the table in front of him. Lena didn’t know what to do. He looked like he was just out to tea with his friends.

  “Barry?” Lena spoke from the corner of her mouth, not wanting to break her gaze from the odd man controlling the monsters.

  “Not now,” he muttered back.

  “Barry Harrison, you cannot stop them.” Roy didn’t move as he spoke.

  “Watch me.”

  “Hmph.” Roy scoffed, his eyes still closed.

  The faint groans and grumbles began to creep closer. The sounds grew louder, and the ever-receding mob of guests began to creep back again. They were crammed into the back of the aircraft like sardines in a can.

  “They’re coming, Lena Turner,” Roy said, breathing out a particularly strong scent of oranges.

  Lena gripped the empty gun and turned to face the division between premiere and economy class.

  “Celebrity zombies are coming,” Barry joked tightly, holding the tablet to his chest.

  “Get behind me,” Lena told him.

  “Lena Turner, you cannot beat them,” Roy predicted.

  She didn’t reply to the crazy man as the sounds grew dangerously close. The first zombie emerged from premiere class. The attack from the celebrity zombies had begun.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The first zombie burst through the divider separating premiere and economy class. The tall man was
dressed in an expensive suit, well-tailored and immaculate even in his zombie state. Lena searched the plane’s cabin, hoping to find some bullets.

  “Lena Turner, you have no hope.” Roy slid the words out, carefully pausing after each word.

  “There is always hope,” she told him, not breaking stride from her search. “No matter how small, there is always hope.”

  Lena repeated the words her mother had always told her. She had never agreed with Lena joining the military and hated the idea of losing her child in the face of battle. After Lena’s first tour, her mother had relaxed more about her daughter being in the forces. She encouraged Lena to better herself and to always look for hope in whatever she was doing. No matter how bad the situation was, there was always hope.

  As the first zombie closed in, Lena saw bullets rolling underneath a battered chair a few rows in front of her. She remembered the bullets that had fallen from the air marshal’s hand in their previous encounter. His blood-soaked hands had made the bullets slick when handing them to her. She hadn’t even noticed them rolling around on the floor.

  The bullets he dropped are the bullets that will save us, she thought to herself as she dashed under the rows and reached for the blood-crusted bullets.

  Six precious bullets lay oddly arranged in her calloused hand. The skin around her fingers was cracked and dry, and her nails were chipped on the corners. The nail polish had flaked off long ago. Lena sighed in relief as she counted again the lifesaving ammunition in her hand. The zombies came closer and closer. He was proud of the rebirth.

  “Lena!” Barry squeaked.

  Lena shuffled from under the row and jumped up to face the well-dressed zombie. His clothes ruffled as he lumbered his way down the tight walkway towards Lena. She pulled the barrel up, so she pointed the end of the gun towards the fleshy open space of the figure’s forehead.

  Lena pulled the trigger just in time. The zombie fell to the floor but was immediately followed by the next celebrity zombie from business class. Lena knew she only had five bullets left and nineteen more enemies to kill. She knew she couldn’t do it with the gun alone. They would have to be creative.

  “Your hope is about to run dry, Lena Turner,” Roy told her.

  “Not yet!” she yelled back, squeezing the trigger again and taking down the next zombie effortlessly.

  She paced backward, putting distance between her and the oncoming mass of real-life red dots. Roy cackled every time another zombie emerged into the tight space of economy class.

  “Barry, where is Captain Pertus?” she asked, not turning her head from the zombies heading her way.

  She heard movement behind her as she shot the next zombie. Three. Four. Five. Six.

  “Lena, I’m here!” The familiar frightened voice of the pilot sounded in her ear.

  “About bloody time!” she exclaimed, pushing the captain back.

  “What is it?” The captain ignored her sarcasm.

  “Captain, I’m out of bullets, but I have an idea to get rid of these monsters,” she called to him as she continued to step back. She pushed him with her as she went. “We need more turbulence.”

  “We cannot do turbulence on…”

  “Yes, you can. I read all about the vomit comet once. Why not do that?” Barry interrupted the confused captain.

  “The vomit comet?” he asked Barry, confused.

  “Yes, it’s what they used to help train astronauts to deal with the sensation of being in outer space,” Barry explained excitedly, and Captain Pertus nodded along. “They get a plane to fly waves in the sky. Wave diving quickly down and pulling up suddenly creates a small taste of weightlessness. It helps candidates adjust to what they will live in.”

  “So, we just pitch and yaw this baby to do what? Get the zombies accustomed to outer space?” Captain Pertus wasn’t getting the idea.

  Barry shook his head. “No, you control the plane to create waves. It should take the zombies down to the floor where they’ll be easier to kill without exhausting ourselves with a fight.”

  “Tell your copilot to listen to our instructions. When we tell him to dip, he dips,” Lena urgently said.

  “Okay,” the captain said, adjusting his headset so the microphone was over his mouth. “But my copilot is a woman named Crystal,” he added.

  “Just ask her, will you!” Lena snapped, hoping to hurry the process up.

  “Do you trust us?” Barry asked.

  “You’re our only hope.” The Captain gave a serious nod.

  “Save us—”

  “Barry, this is no time for your science fiction quotes!” Lena snapped, pulling the distracted friend back to reality.

  “Crystal, Crystal listen to me,” Captain Pertus spoke quickly into the coiled microphone. He looked around nervously at the cabin. “Crystal, I need you to do something important okay?” He rushed the words out as the zombies came closer.

  “Barry, tell the passengers to be prepared for turbulence again and to strap in,” Lena instructed Barry.

  Barry jogged down the aisle and explained the situation to the other guests. They cooperated quickly this time. They eased out of their tiny nooks and tight spaces and hung onto anything they could in preparation for the turbulence.

  “Lena Turner, your brain never ceases to…” Roy took a pause and stroked his oily chin.

  “Shut up, will you?” she spat at him. She was tired of hearing his creepy voice.

  “You never cease to amaze me, Lena Turner.” He finished the sentence, ignoring Lena’s protests.

  Captain Pertus told Crystal exactly what to do, and he nodded as he spoke. He looked hopeful. “You understand that, Crystal? Good, I’ll hand you to Lena Turner now, okay?” Captain Pertus nodded and pulled the headset off.

  Lena put the headset over her ears and pulled the microphone close to her lips. The captain strapped himself into the closest seat and closed his eyes.

  Barry had calmed the crowd, and they were ready for the oncoming turbulence. Roy rested his chin gently on his hands. He had a stoic expression on his face, and his hair was slicked back in an ugly flow.

  “Hey, Crystal. Ready to do some pitching and yawing?” Lena asked into the mounted microphone.

  The headset crackled into life. “Yes, ma’am. Tell me when,” Crystal said enthusiastically with a slight southern accent.

  Lena shuffled next to Barry and gripped the seat tightly. Barry was white as a ghost again, but he gulped and nodded. They were ready.

  “NOW!” Lena screamed the words into the microphone.

  Crystal yelled as she pushed the plane down.

  Lena gripped the chair tightly. It was like being on a bizarre amusement park ride. The plane dove, yanking the zombies upward. They looked confused and discombobulated as they fell heavily to the floor as the plane leveled out. Lena took some quick breaths as the plane quieted down from the first bout of turbulence. Disheveled passengers picked themselves up and brushed off.

  “How was that?” Crystal asked eagerly.

  “The noises you made were the best part,” Lena chuckled as she tried to settle her stomach.

  “I was always told that in flight school, too,” she replied chuckling herself.

  The zombies struggled to their feet, and Roy watched on with excitement. Lena stretched over the row and looked over his shoulder. “That is called hope, you dirty grease bag,” she whispered to him.

  Lena usually prided herself with being civil and courteous even in the face of vile enemies, but there was something different about the orange-scented man. She didn’t mind flinging childish insults at him.

  “The zombies will rise again, Lena Turner,” he assured her.

  “Grease bag? Lena, what is going on out there?” Crystal questioned.

  “Just proving a point.” Lena straightened herself, focusing on the standing zombies. She knew she had to give the order again.

  The monsters began their slow, deathly march down the aisle, and Barry whimpered at their proximity. Lena wai
ted until the perfect moment to give the command again. “Now!” she yelled.

  The copilot let out more amusing noises as the plane dove forward. Lena felt like she was charging headfirst into a medieval battle, wielding a sword and screaming at her foe. Crystal dropped the plane suddenly again and caught them off guard. Lena had to dig her nails into the cushion to stop her from falling over, but the zombies fell harder the second time, and the overhead compartments rattled with the different possessions stored inside.

  Crystal leveled the plane again, and the compartments gave way. Briefcases, duffle bags, and small suitcases cascaded from the opening overhead compartments. Lena ducked into a row to avoid getting attacked by falling luggage.

  “Woah!” Barry cooed as the aisle filled with different items.

  “Perfect!” Lena spoke into the microphone.

  “Thank you!” Crystal politely replied.

  Lena waited as the last duffle bag dropped in the aisle. She took a small moment to admire the artistic chaos of the fallen bags.

  She smiled while jumping carefully over a suitcase into the economy class walkway. She grabbed the first item she laid hands on and swung at a zombie. The heavy, expensive looking briefcase knocked the enemy to the ground. Lena was grateful she had picked a heavy briefcase.

  “Nice shot, Lena!” Barry cheered.

  Lena stepped over the downed zombie and swung at the next one. The unstable figures still struggled to stand from the jolts of turbulence. She continued smacking them back down, and the briefcase proved to be efficient at knocking them over, but they weren’t dead. Only a clean shot to the head could do that.

  “How is it going out there?” Crystal asked.

  Lena struck the closest zombie to her before answering. “Well, the overhead compartments burst open when you dropped the aircraft last time.”

  “I guess that’s good?” Crystal questioned.