Chapter 7

We rolled out through the gates later that day. The Masons and the HAZMAT team in one van and Shaun, Audrey, Ash, Foxy and I in Ash and Audrey's car. Or at least, that's what Ash had called it when we met. In reality it was some ATV-style vehicle that they'd apparently been given by Governor Killburn when her campaign was attacked. It had been damaged when they'd been captured by Clive and then fixed up to be used by his raiders before they stole it back with the help of Jill while she was undercover there and Ben since Ash had refused to leave without her husband because there was no way she was going to ditch him without divorcing him first. It was a bit cramped, but we all fit just fine even with the weapons Dr Abbey had let us borrow. Of course, I had my favourite .40 handgun, but there was also a KRISS Vector slung across my front now. I'd thought it stupid at first until it was explained to me that we might hit human resistance as well as zombies. Then it made sense.

Most human militias tend to equip themselves against anti-zombie weapons when facing someone expecting zombies. That means they're ready for rifles, shotguns and semi-auto handguns. They tend to be a bit under-prepared for SMGs and assault rifles. That was why Shaun had what we'd first thought was an AK47 but actually turned out to be a Type 56, the Chinese-made knock-off. Apparently they were still just as reliable, although I'd never seen one in action.

Ash had a post-Rising Colt Y0. They'd called it that since it was released just after the post-Rising calendar became known all over the world. It hadn't been one year since the planet was destroyed and began frantically trying to rebuild itself anew. Audrey was also carrying something post-Rising, a T-Cell SMG. We were all carrying something with range other than Foxy, who incidentally also had the biggest gun out of all of us. She was resting a Tavor TS12 across her lap and I couldn't help but wonder how a mad scientist running an illegal underground lab got access to such firepower. Canine reproductive organs were one thing but I would have thought a shotgun which basically re-wrote the zombie survival laws was another thing entirely.

"So since you guys have been in there once already, what can we expect to find?" Shaun asked. Ash turned to glare at him before seeming to realise it was a reasonable question.

"In truth, no idea." She shrugged and double-checked her weapon as she spoke. "Clive had a whole organised operation up and running back in 2040 but that was six years ago and he's apparently dead now. No telling who's running it now and what changes they've made. Whether they created it or not, chances are we'll meet armed resistance." It was a fair point. I could see Audrey was on edge from the way she was driving. It led me to question once again just what had happened in there. But I knew I wouldn't get an answer. It was a story for another time. I wanted to ask what happened to Ben, too. That was another thing which wasn't my place. I was prepared to hold my tongue on that one.

We cruised along as peacefully as we could with Foxy checking and re-checking her shotgun while grinning like a maniac. Clearly she was ready for a 'Take No Prisoners' encounter. It was pretty unnerving to see her buzzing with so much tense energy and I guessed she hadn't been able to kill anything significant since the zombie bear that Shaun was still so pissed over. But the peace itself seemed to be what was troubling everyone. It took me a while to realise: there were no raiders. Someone must have taken over Clive's operation. From the limited information Dr Abbey had given us, the resources there would have been too great to pass up in the event of his death. But if we were going to get raided, it would surely have happened by now.

That was when I noticed something else that was missing too: animals. There were no animals at all.

To this day, there's only one thing I will never confess to Shaun because I'm afraid of what it will do to him mentally: I remember the moments after I died. Between that time and the time I opened my eyes in that CDC facility, it was like a blink. I was reborn in a brief moment of agony. A flash of blinding pain that blew out my eardrums and gave me neck-ache on a magnitude I'd previously found inconceivable. Then total darkness. Total silence. The only other times I'd experienced silence so total were when I was in the field. When we knew there were infected about and we had to listen without even breathing so that we knew which direction they were coming from, keeping every sense open. Aside from the quiet hum of our engine as out ATV rode on, this moment was literally as quiet as death. But this wasn't death. This was cold, solid life and it was happening right now.

"I'm not hearing animals!" I called out as I scanned the tree line. There were no birds, no squirrels or even a butterfly to be seen. Nothing clears out animals like zombies do. Even with the ATV, I would have at least expected to see a fly or a bug of some kind. We didn't even have that right now.

"The facility should be just up ahead." Audrey reported. "Maybe that's what's causing it." I could tell from the tone of her voice that wasn't it. She knew it. I didn't share or see the reason for her optimism and I held my gun closer.

It was a move that paid off as we crested the hill. The vehicle lot of the compound was full of vehicles presumably seized from people they'd snatched both before and after Ash and Audrey's time there. Some were untouched for so long that rust had begun to gather on them. Right off the bat I could see over a hundred reasons why that would be. Every single one of them was sporting boils, staggering around the lot and stank so bad we could just about smell them from the distance we were at. Ash raised her rifle and looked through the scope, scanning the faces of the infected.

"Any chance they're just holding the place to siege?" Shaun asked. From the fact that none of these zombies were dressed for a woodland walk, I think he already knew the answer.

"Nope. See some of those women? Those are my sundresses those bitches are wearing. The only way they could have got those is if they were inside and spilled out from that open door to the right of the lot. I believe that's the same one we escaped through." I cursed inwardly. We'd planned for a lot of outcomes, but I'd definitely been expecting them to have released this virus deliberately. From the scant details Audrey and Ash gave us, they were an organised group. The significance of this outbreak was monumental. Not only had they apparently created the virus, but they'd also accidentally caused an outbreak. To top it all off, enough of their measures must have failed that they were able to infect the others.

Luckily, Dr Abbey's tests had quickly revealed that the latent virus died pretty quickly after infection. The airborne particles destabilised and died pretty quick since Y Pestis was never meant to be airborne. Basically we could walk right next to the things and not get infected from it, if they wouldn't have attacked us immediately that is. But it meant they posed no danger to us aside from the traditional infection methods and a mob this big almost certainly wouldn't be needing that. They'd probably decide as one that they didn't need to expand and we would be on the dinner menu rather than the recruitment list. But due to the nature of the virus, amplification would be almost immediate. We couldn't afford even a scratch.

"Okay." Audrey sat up a bit straighter and I got the sense she was looking to take charge. It made sense. If she was EIS then this was technically her op. She would have authority here. "Here's what we need to do: Shaun and Ash, you're going to need to get the attention of a group on the left. As many as you can. Lead them around and start taking them out as they come round the corner. George, you and me will sweep in from the right and start attacking them from behind. While they're confused, we'll add a third front to the fight with Foxy who's going to... Foxy? Where did she go?" We all sat up a bit straighter, the realisation clicking that there were now only four of us.

"What?" Ash looked around frantically. "Did she get snatched?"

"If she got snatched, whatever took her would be standing right next to us and feeding." Shaun seemed to be the only one remaining calm at that moment. "Look." So we looked to see Foxy racing towards the group of zombies, heading right. She vaulted the fence easily and landed in the lot, taking out the first two zombies with shotgun blasts to the head. We all watched in stunned silence as the mob turned to face her and she faced it back, totally unflinching. Fast as a god, she ducked down behind a battered truck and darted along the side before the zombies could even process giving chase. Her gunfire was dropping them several at a time, but even more were coming out through the door. They'd clearly heard her.

"Oh fuck this!" Ash gasped as she jumped from her seat and vaulted over the door, landing gracefully on the ground. "I'm getting in there!"

"You what?" Audrey practically spat, horror lining her face. "Aislinn, get back in this ATV right this second!"

"Sorry, sweetheart." Ash leaned over and grabbed her rifle, landing a kiss on Audrey's lips as she did. "Wait for me, yeah?" And with that, she was off and running while yelling a battle cry and shooting at the thickest parts of the mob. They were so thick as Foxy darted between the vehicles and they furiously tried to pursue her that it was more effort to miss than to hit. That was when Foxy threw a grenade. Out of nowhere, I had a Vietnam-level flashback to Becks as she was dragged down into the throng of zombies in the White House. But there was no Becks this time. There was only a flash and a shower of red as it bloomed outwards while Foxy jumped nimbly onto the roof of a semi truck to start reloading.

"Well, I guess if we're going to get in there anyway..." Shaun muttered as he jumped nimbly from the ATV. I spotted it instantly. That familiar spark of ferocious sadism that lingered in the eyes of every Irwin. He could leave the lifestyle behind all he wanted, but there was no way it was ever going to leave him.

"Go on then." I sighed as I rolled my eyes, knowing it was pointless to stop him. He didn't need any further encouragement. He was out and running before I'd even taken my next breath. I'm not going to lie, part of me was nervous for him. Dr Abbey warned us that his immunity might not protect him this time since it wasn't actually Kellis-Amberlee inducing the amplification. But there was no way I was going to be able to keep him back if I tried. This was Shaun. One thing I knew was that his immunity hadn't made him any less careful.

Had Shaun not shot me when he did, I might have recovered from amplification when I died. I still say he made the right call, even if he doesn't. He doesn't know that I know, either. Thanks to my multi-organ transplant, I now suffer Retinal KA again, just like before. But Shaun isn't keen to test my condition a second time. He does everything he can to keep me away from anything that might cause amplification. Anything I'll allow him to, anyway. I wouldn't let him keep me wrapped in bubble wrap. But he's definitely proven his determination to keep me from amplifying again. He's refused to let me near him in the past because he had a tiny pin-prick's worth of blood on his shirt. That alone reassured me that he was careful enough to keep himself safe now that his main safety barrier was considered nullified.

But I was damned if I was going to let that keep me out of the fight.

"Okay, so there's basically the ultimate power struggle going on with a lot of science stuff that I really don't get. You've got the CDC who did bad things. They're the ones Kitty helped once. She's dead now. So are the people they sent. Some of those people got back up again, too. Then there's the EIS. They're the Epidemic Intelligence Service. I know that because Shannon keeps talking about them. Makes sense. She's one of them. Then there's the other groups they've formed since taking over the CDC like the Epidemic Intelligence Ethics Intervention Organization. They're also known as the EIEIO and I'm willing to bet there's some doctor named McDonald running that one.

All these acronyms are confusing. So is this virus stuff. I don't really get it. All I get is that there are things out there that I need to shoot and now they're getting more and more dangerous. But it's all good. I get some cool guns to do it with. But as Shannon tries to get me off the space lobster juice and back into reality, there's only one thought that keeps going through my head:

I wish I'd had firepower like this back at Evergreen."

From 'Bright Eyes, Bushy Tails and all those FUCKING SCREAMING KIDS!', a journal once kept by Elaine- Foxy- Oldenburg.

Undated.

Unpublished.

Largely Redacted.