The bottom end of the sun began to touch the horizon of the Earth. With that, light began to dim over the surface of the grassy areas and the sand. A dirt road ran past, very narrow, almost like a back road to get to someone's house in the country. It wasn't the trees that blocked the last of the sunlight but the smoke that billowed high from the wreckage. The wings were barely intact, the engine died on impact and debris scattered about fifty feet in all directions. The fire was still burning from the leftover oil and gasoline that leaked out of the broken lines. The passenger cabin and cockpit were miraculously not damaged in the crash. Several windows shattered. On one side was a gaping hole. The metal was burnt around the edges and even more odd was how the edges bent inward into the passenger section. The red paint, still faded from Eduardo's constant use, was still there, running around the entirety of the plane's central body. Near the gaping hole where the metal bent inward, was a large pile of chairs that weren't sucked out from the pressure drop after the explosion. A body lay under this large pile of chairs. Their hand stuck out of the pile of chairs, a pencil lay next to it and further from the pencil was a black leather journal, covered in blood. Arnold's journal.

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Hey Zombies

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How The Tables Turn

Arnold continued to pace around in his cell, Sid sat on the cot occasionally glancing out of the window that jutted from the corner space in the cell wall. You would think Arnold and Sid could just crawl their way out to freedom, but this was a window with small metal bars spaced about six inches apart. This continued to disappoint Sid as it only destroyed more hope for Sid and his friends to be free. All Sid could think about was how he let himself get corrupted by escaped criminals who promised safety. Eventually he'd promise them "salvation" in return for robbing supplies. The murders were just a bonus…Sid continued to grip his hands tighter as he thought deeper and deeper about his immoral behavior. Suddenly, visions of Chet flashed through his third eye, the gunshot, Chet bleeding on the floor, his eyes with a dead but surprised look. It took Sid killing a man to finally snap out of it, realizing that he wasn't what he convinced himself to be. There was a voice in his head that drew him forward toward corruption.

Gunshots interrupted Sid's thoughts as he and Arnold peaked through the bars to see feet stomping around. Completely oblivious to the invasion at the east gate, the window in Sid and Arnold's cell faced west, the opposite direction. The gun fire continued to roar as Gerald stood up and approached his cell door,

"The hell was that?" Gerald piped up.

Gerald didn't get a response. Arnold continued to look outside, feet continued to cross his vision at a rapid pace. Across the way he could see the foundation of the hangar, where the base of the hangar walls met the ground. More feet sped past, wearing combat boots and the gunfire only seemed to intensify.

"Hey!" Gerald hollered. Arnold and Sid turned back toward Gerald in the cell, "Mind keeping me in the loop?" He said.

"Sounds like FTi's got a situation out there." Arnold said.

"Infected?"

"Can't say, this window's too small and the gun fire sounds like it's coming from the other way."

"Use your vision thing!" Charlie added. Arnold looked at him in confusion, "That mind thing you do where you can see the future or whatever?"

"Charlie that comes randomly, how am I supposed to do it on command?"

"It's worth a shot Arnold. It helped you find me and Helga," Charlie gestured to Helga in the cell next to Arnold and Sid whom were impeded from seeing her by the concrete wall that divided them.

Arnold looked around in the gritty concrete walls of his cell, pondering, "Okay fine, I'll give it a shot." He said as he sat down on his cot and shut his eyes, "Nobody say a word." Arnold added.

"Not a problem football head." Helga said.

"Shut up Helga." Arnold replied playfully. He slipped into silence, taking deep breaths in and deep breaths out. His chest moved with the rhythm of his breathing as his eyes shut tighter. He began to see spots in the darkness of his eyelids. Drawing attention away from them, he concentrated more on his breathing as he attempted to channel some sort of "energy" or whatever he wanted to call it into his brain. Like a muscle, he began to strain his forehead, making his brain throb within his skull. Colors started to cascade over his vision. At first, they sped past his eyes like stripes of a rainbow. He could hear shouts of men, the gunfire outside sounded clearer to him than any banter between his prison mates. It started to hurt, the headaches intensified…

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Elsewhere in the complex, Miles continued to pace in his cell, also wondering what the gunshots were for. It was only an hour ago that Jamie was in there talking to him and Stella about their plan to blow up Eduardo's plane. Stella only sat on the cot, twiddling her thumbs, thinking to herself how she wanted to see her son. Right under their feet, two floors down were the four cells where Gerald, Charlie, Sid, and Helga all continued to patiently wait as Arnold continued to attempt his "ability".

Something felt wrong, Miles thought, rarely did he hear gunfire during his time there at Kappa, and where was the explosion? It's been an hour since Jamie talked to them….something felt very wrong.

"You think maybe…Victor..you know?" Miles looked at Stella, aware of what she was hinting.

"No, Jamie's not that dumb to get caught. If Victor found out about the bomb, he'll come to me first. Trust me hun, he doesn't know yet."

"What makes you so sure?" Stella replied.

"Because Jamie isn't that stupid to compromise everything we had worked on to keep our son and his friends away from that jungle. Trust me; Jamie's got everything under control." Miles hated lying to his own wife.

Right at that moment, as if on cue, the door to the cell room burst open and a body went flying onto the floor. It caught Miles' and Stella's attention as they looked at the body sprawled on the floor, chest still breathing in and out but no sign of consciousness. It was then that Jamie came walking into the room, cleaning the blood off the butt of his gun with the sleeve of his army jacket. He made a b-line right for the cell door, whipped out a chain of several keys and used one to unlock the door.

"Let's go." He said. Miles looked back at Stella.

"See?" Miles said with an innocent smile, playing it off like a lame joke. Stella just rolled her eyes.

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Meanwhile, down a ways from the cell room as Jamie sneaked both Miles and Stella out, Victor and Norrington were busy in the security room.

"Did we ever get the electric fence repaired?" Victor asked frantically as both he and Norrington struggled to contain the situation from their control panels.

"Doctor, we spent all our money on the experiments, none of the defense mechanizations are operational." Norrington replied, subtle yet panicked.

"Send all our troops and get me a connection with one of the stations out west."

"Delta and Gamma both went dark earlier this morning. I tried getting in touch but no response, Alpha's our best bet…" Norrington replied.

Victor grimaced, realizing that if FTi Station Alpha was notified of their situation and Victor's negligence was discovered, his career was over, "Just find me Lieutenant Johannson and get everybody we're holding out to the plane. We leave in one hour, that's an order."

"Wait, sir look quick!" Norrington said, pointing at one of the security monitors. Victor turned back and leaned in closer to look at the security camera that monitored the front lobby. He saw Lieutenant Jamie Johannson, Miles, and Stella as they prepared to escape the research building.

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Jamie said to the others, "On three, follow my lead, we're gonna dash across the yard to the barracks. Stay close, and don't look anywhere else except forward." Miles and Stella nodded in agreement "Okay." Jamie said.

Jamie gripped the handle of his pistol as he pressed his other hand against the door, ready to push.

"One. Two…Three!"

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The vision blurred out again but it was the best Arnold could do before his nose started to bleed.

"Gerald, your brother's rescuing my parents." Arnold said, coughing and clutching his forehead.

"Where are they?"

"Escaping. I heard something about a barracks. Then they opened the door and that's all I could see."

"That's it?" Gerald asked.

"All I can dig up."Arnold said.

"Great..let me know when you actually conjure up something useful" Gerald replied sarcastically.

"What's your problem? You can't except me to figure this vision thing out in a pinch."

"Shut up," Gerald snapped back, "You and your optimism always get us into nothing more than trouble. First, we ended up risking life over limb just to get some gas for vehicles that are now gone or blown to shreds. Then you expect me to believe that going after Charlie when Helga took him was a smart idea when it only got us in deeper trouble with Sid and his 'gang'."

"Sid's with us now Gerald. You need to calm down!"

The last bit of calmness slipped from Gerald's mind as he charged directly at the jail bars, slamming his hands against them as if he wished they were Arnold's face.

"This is NOT THE TIME TO CALM DOWN! You trusted those creeps, and look where they got us, MORE TROUBLE! I am DONE listening, you are not gonna talk me into following another one of your plans." Gerald angrily exclaimed.

The others, although they had surprise and shock on their face, it wasn't Gerald's little outburst that got them that way. In fact, Helga who was in the cell across from Gerald and Arnold and Sid who were in the cell diagonal from Gerald only looked at Gerald's hands, still gripping the bars which he slammed against, only his hands started to glow an orange-red color. Steam began to emit from his grip, and a hissing noise came with it.

"Gerald…how're you doing that?" Arnold asked in shock and amazement. Gerald could hardly speak.

"I…I don't know…." Gerald responded. A couple seconds of silence before he loosened his grip. His hands ceased glowing and the leftover heat was given off by the bars where Gerald had gripped them.

"Wai-wait! Grab them again." Arnold said.

"Arnold, you gotta be kidding me."

"You're angry at me, and I can see that. You wanna hate me for it? Put my face in those bars. Come on! Just try it, burn my face off!" Arnold said, attempting to egg him on. Gerald could just chuckle at Arnold's diligence as he held on to the bars once more.

The glow returned, only not as strong as before, "Come on Gerald, get angry! You wanna get out of here? You wanna see Phoebe again!" Arnold only got more aggressive. It appeared to help as Gerald gritted his teeth and the heat came back. Before long, his hands weren't the only things glowing. The bars began to glow with the intense heat and more steam was given off.

"Come on Gerald! Get us out of here!" Sid cried. Arnold and the others looked in his direction. Sid was on his feet, standing tall, having casted his problems aside. Arnold smiled as he realized the old Sid was back.

"Let's go Gerald! Sid said so!" Arnold hollered, matching Sid's shout level.

The cheering appeared to help as well. Before long, Gerald could feel the bars melting from being so intensely hot, yet it terrified him how the heat didn't affect his hands. In fact, it was his hands that were causing the intense heat. He realized the bars were soft enough to be bent. With a good grip, he pulled the bars in opposite directions. Carefully, he slipped through the open gap, watching his clothes, keeping them away from the still burning metal that glowed brightly orange.

Realizing it would be odd for the guards to see him out of his cell, Gerald quickly ducked and approached Helga's cell across from his. He went through the same process, Phoebe's face and voice in his head helped him as he proceeded to melt the bars on Helga's cell. Before long, she was out as well. Gerald walked over to Arnold's cell where he rinsed and repeated.

"As weird as I would consider this," Gerald said before preparing to pull the cell bars, releasing Arnold, "You're the one who can see shit in your head so I won't question the situation." With that, he began to heat the metal, this time it was easier, having realized his potential; Gerald became more confident with his newly found ability which seemed to come out of nowhere. By the end, Gerald was breathing with exhaustion. The entire group was huddled around the door, occasionally glancing out the window embedded in the door at the top to look out and evaluate the situation.

"So now what?" Helga asked.

"Now, we get those guards in here." Arnold said as he stood up and walked back into his cell.

"Arnold you crazy? They've got rifles and pistols that shoot bullets. What've we got?" Gerald asked.

Arnold replied by slamming his foot into his cot, shattering it into small pieces. He tossed the cloth aside and picked up the various pieces of the wooden frame, handing a piece to each of the others.

"We're gonna beat them to death?" Charlie asked.

"Not to death," Arnold said, "Just a good whack on the back of the neck, knock them right out. Here's the plan." He said as they all crouched down.

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"Who do you have watching them?" Stella asked as she paced around in the barracks. The room was a bit too tight for comfort but it was the safest way for them to hide, as long as no one opened the door.

Jamie continued the conversation, as Stella, Miles, and now Phil, Bob, and Suzie listened in, all crammed in the single dorm room. "There are only two soldiers in there now, Victor's got everyone else watching the eastern border. The infected aren't letting up. They're gonna keep coming until that fence breaks down."

"What about protocol? Doesn't Victor have a failsafe for these situations?" Miles asked.

"He would, if he used his funding for it. He's been too focused on his San Lorenzo trip that every last bit of defense we had in this place we lost from lack of investment. Victor brought this on himself no doubt."

"What about the plane?"

"That…could've gone a little better, there was a bit of a misstep in the plan that I had to take care of." Jamie replied. He felt a thump against his heel and he quickly retaliated with swinging his foot back under his bed. A muffled grunt was the reply to his strike. Jamie smiled. He proceeded to kneel down, grab the ankle of the unknown figure and dragged him out from under the bed. It was Curly, bound at the waist with tape strapped around his entire mouth and neck. He proceeded to struggle as he looked at everybody with glaring eyes.

"Bastard found the bomb and disarmed it. Then he came to me to threaten you guys before he pulled a gun. He got a little too close for comfort and well….let's just say I got the better of him."

"Curly…you were Arnold's class mate!" Phil said, Curly looked at him in awe. Phil knelt down and spoke in a deep low voice.

"You guys used to be close friends…now look at you…" To Phil, Curly looked pathetic. It was so hard to believe someone so innocent and enthusiastic all those years ago became traitorous and scheming.

"Where's the bomb now?" Miles asked.

"Curly took out the detonator and made me take off the bomb, it was only when he had his back turned to toss the detonator away that I got the better of him."

"Good, where is it now? The bomb."

"Still in the hangar but it's useless without the detonator."

"We'll rewire it, because we're using the plane to get out of here."

"What? Eduardo's plane?" Stella asked, "It's still here?"

"Victor's trying to go back to San Lorenzo, and he needs as many of Arnold's classmates as possible, who knows how many of them were exposed when they went there for their fieldtrip."

"Miles that was ten years ago…" Stella replied.

"Listen we can't talk about this now. We need to get Arnold and his friends out of the research building."

"Wait wait, slow your horse there Shortman," Bob piped up, "You're telling me that slimebag suited prick is going after my daughter?" He asked.

"That is if she's not here already." Miles replied.

"What kind of military do you work for?!" Bob asked frantically

"Everything I've told you is all you can know Pataki." Miles replied. Bob just stood there, still dumbfounded but in awe. Suzie stood next to him.

"If I can make a suggestion, it's probably safer in there than it is here." Jamie chimed in.

"Why not here? What happened to the lockdown procedure?"

"Victor altered it in the last couple years, off the books so no one would notice. He felt his research was more important than human life." Jamie explained, "For one thing, we have no means of getting supplied if we end up getting stuck when that barrier breaks. And remember orders for emergency protocol?" Jamie reminds Miles.

Miles just gritted his teeth and walked backwards in frustration.

"What happens?" Suzie asked.

"Shoot escaped prisoners on site." Miles said, practically quoting the emergency procedures right out of the books. "Dad, Bob, Suzie, you're with us now."

"Wouldn't have it any other way son." Phil said with a smile. He began coughing again and cupped his mouth with his hand. Taking it away from his lips, Phil saw more red dots on his palm and quickly smeared them away to avoid suspicion.

"We're just gonna b-line it right for the front door? Isn't that psycho doctor in there?" Bob said.

"I can take care of him." Jamie said as he walked up to the door to prepare leaving the barracks, handing Miles a radio, "I'll go in, take care of the two guards and find Victor. I'll need some backup though." He said, turning back toward his bed where he pulled Curly from under the bed and set him on his feet. Curly grunted with pain and glared into Jamie's eyes, "I'll radio you when it's clear to move."

Miles nodded, "Find your brother Jamie, and get my son if he's not with him." Jamie nodded in assurance.

"A horrible plan is better than no plan. Let's do it." Bob replied.

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To Be Continued