Chapter 2
"This is project HOPE, a last minute scramble put together by the U.S. Government to try and stop those monsters in their tracks." The dark haired man said to the group that had gathered at a MESS hall table. The table was cold and metal and it stretched down the room so that everyone could find a seat. The dark haired man had addressed himself as Sgt. Ashton Wilkers, the leader of the military personnel.
There were three other military men that sat behind Wilkers as he spoke. Two of them were the blondes that had found the foursome in the first place. The first of the two was Wilson, a mid-thirties man with a growing beard and dark blue eyes. There was something about the look in his eyes made Ana cringe. The second one was named Phil, a slightly smaller guy than Wilson. Ana thought that he looked a lot like Michael only he had blonde hair. The fact that he resembled a recently desist man that she'd started to fall for made her upset.
The third of the military personnel was much younger than the others and seemed to be slightly excluded from the rest. He had short red-brown that made him look younger than he was. Although he was in his mid- twenties, he looked like he was only eighteen.
All of the men wore assault rifles around their necks and black jumpsuits that made them blend in with the dark surroundings. The silo was much like a cave that had been colonized in that the walls were mostly made of dark rock and the ground was very much the same. Few lights hung from the ceiling that gave off just enough light to make the surroundings very eerie.
There were two scientists that sat closer to the four survivors than to anyone else. One was an elderly man, Dr. Jason Moran, in his sixties. He had silver hair and a widow's peak that made him look like a grandpa that you'd see sitting on a porch. His white lab coat almost diminished the old man effect and made him look more like a science teacher. Wearing a big, dopey smile that looked like it'd been painted on, he twiddled his thumbs as Wilkers gave his speech.
The other of the two scientists was a very attractive female in her late twenties. She had called herself Dr. Juliet Jones and seemed to put emphasis on the doctor part. She too wore a lab coat, although hers clung tightly to her body. She had long, wavy brown hair that showed blonde streaks that ran from top to bottom. She was very beautiful and watched Wilkers and his crew with a strange gaze in her eyes.
"We are all a member of Project HOPE, including you"; he pointed at the foursome. His eyes stuck on Kenneth for just a second longer than everyone else. "We've done many experiments and lost many men to the monsters outside. Don't you think for one Goddamn second that I won't put a bullet in your heads if you don't pull your weight around here."
He took a seat at the head of the table just as Dr. Jones stood up. "As most of you know, today will mark the fourth month of our stay here in the silo and it is time for us to review what progress we've made." She turned to face Dr. Moran. "Although Dr. Jason Moran and I have differences in opinions, we both agree that we are only months away from closing in on the key to our survival."
"Are you telling us that you've found a way to blast those motherfuckers to hell?" Phil looked overly eager. The look in his eyes was a mix of pain and joy, terror and glee.
"I'll let you take a look at our review videos and you can make your own minds up. Please, everyone take notes and I will answer any questions at the end of the tape." She walked off into the darkness and returned with a rolling stand that had a television perched on top. She popped a videocassette into a VCR that sat on the television.
After hitting the play button, Dr. Jones sat back in her seat and watched with everyone else. The TV started to play a blue screen with a few words spread across. "Test Number 12", the words made it obvious as to what the video was.
Terry put his arm around Nicole and she rest her head on his shoulder; they weren't worried about taking notes. Kenneth looked over at Ana and noticed that she looked extraordinarily tired. He shook it off and turned his attention back to the TV.
The screen jumped to a group of those things, wandering around. Suddenly a dog walked into the view of the camera and the monsters didn't seem to notice. The Crossroad survivors had found out long ago that the monsters didn't seem to care about dogs very much. This test was proven by Chips, the dog that Nicole brought with them to the silo.
"We called this the Kamikaze K-9 test"; Dr. Jones piped in from her seat. The name along made Nicole turn into Terry's shoulder, taking her eyes away from the TV as she did so. The dog on the screen wore a large pack around its back that had a few wires dangling from it in random places.
Just as the dog was in the center of the mass of monsters the pack made a high-pitched beep noise and then the pack exploded in a large blast of orange and red. Most of the monsters went down in flames but a few still walked around will on fire.
"This test was proven a failure due to the fact that there aren't enough dogs to breed and not nearly enough explosives. This is much like the first problem that we encountered. We can't just go outside and start 'blasting them away' due to the fact that we don't have enough ammunition."
The tape went to another blue screen and the words "Test Subject 13". "Our next test was our first human causality." She said. "In the beginning we thought that the 're-animated people' were picking live humans through pheromones, a chemical given off by the living but not from the dead. In a rush to test this theory we covered our test subject, Private Young, in a scent that counter acts pheromones and sent him outside. We were too confident that this test would work."
Ana looked away, Nicole kept her head turned, Terry squinted his eyes in disgust, and Kenneth was the only one that didn't show any emotion to the video. He'd seen a lot of people die and in a lot worse ways than being eaten alive. One of the many occupational hazards of being a police officer is becoming emotional devoid.
The screen turned to a man in a black jumpsuit walking outside from the metal shed. The camera was obviously a security camera on top of the barn and it was a little fuzzy and hard to see. Walking out to the re- animated people, Private Young looked so nervous it seemed he might cry. It looked good at first but things turned bad quickly as ten or more of those things jumped on him, sinking their teeth into his flesh and ripping at the jumpsuit.
"These were the entire test that I've followed though with but I have many theories that are close to testing stage. Before the other seven Project Hope stations fell they were sending us telegraphs of test they were running. None of their experiments seemed worth looking at to me but Dr. Moran feels differently." Ana noticed that there was a bit of hostility on the last little part of that.
Sitting down as she spoke, Dr. Jones kept her eyes on Dr. Moran, as did everyone else. Hostility filled everyone's eyes as the watched him carefully.
"So Frankenstein, what the fuck can you tell us?" Wilkins said.
Dr. Moran stood as he looked at the new members of the group. "I would first like to say welcome to our new guest."
"Get on with it you fucker", said Wilkins.
His eyes turned back to the leader of the military group and the smile vanished from his face. "Very well then. As much as you people hate to admit that my methods just might be worth pursuing, I have successfully taught two of the re-animated to perform simple tasks such as brushing their hair and holding small tools. In addition to that, my two subjects have become less hostile towards me and I can actually make physical contact with them and not have to be worried that they are going to turn on me."
"What?" Wilkins didn't bother hiding his disgust. "I want them to fucking die; I don't want them to do tricks!" He screamed the last part as he slammed his fist down into the table.
"If we can teach them to serve us, if we can teach them to obey us, we can use them to help us fight against the more hostile ones."
"How have you taught them?" Ana asked. Something about the whole idea of it intrigued her.
It seemed to surprise him that someone was actually interested in what he was doing. He spun around and the smile returned to his face. "Well, it is very complicated. The re-animated people have residual memories that, if taped into, can be used to bring back a part of their lives before they were turned."
Wilkins quickly interrupted him. "I'm giving you one week, just one week, to show me some kind of results that will help us kill the sons-of- bitches. After that I'm gonna terminate your funding and you'll be working under Dr. Jones, doing what she wants you to do."
Kenneth leaned over so that the other three of the Crossroads survivors could hear him. "What kind of hell have we gotten ourselves into?"
"This is project HOPE, a last minute scramble put together by the U.S. Government to try and stop those monsters in their tracks." The dark haired man said to the group that had gathered at a MESS hall table. The table was cold and metal and it stretched down the room so that everyone could find a seat. The dark haired man had addressed himself as Sgt. Ashton Wilkers, the leader of the military personnel.
There were three other military men that sat behind Wilkers as he spoke. Two of them were the blondes that had found the foursome in the first place. The first of the two was Wilson, a mid-thirties man with a growing beard and dark blue eyes. There was something about the look in his eyes made Ana cringe. The second one was named Phil, a slightly smaller guy than Wilson. Ana thought that he looked a lot like Michael only he had blonde hair. The fact that he resembled a recently desist man that she'd started to fall for made her upset.
The third of the military personnel was much younger than the others and seemed to be slightly excluded from the rest. He had short red-brown that made him look younger than he was. Although he was in his mid- twenties, he looked like he was only eighteen.
All of the men wore assault rifles around their necks and black jumpsuits that made them blend in with the dark surroundings. The silo was much like a cave that had been colonized in that the walls were mostly made of dark rock and the ground was very much the same. Few lights hung from the ceiling that gave off just enough light to make the surroundings very eerie.
There were two scientists that sat closer to the four survivors than to anyone else. One was an elderly man, Dr. Jason Moran, in his sixties. He had silver hair and a widow's peak that made him look like a grandpa that you'd see sitting on a porch. His white lab coat almost diminished the old man effect and made him look more like a science teacher. Wearing a big, dopey smile that looked like it'd been painted on, he twiddled his thumbs as Wilkers gave his speech.
The other of the two scientists was a very attractive female in her late twenties. She had called herself Dr. Juliet Jones and seemed to put emphasis on the doctor part. She too wore a lab coat, although hers clung tightly to her body. She had long, wavy brown hair that showed blonde streaks that ran from top to bottom. She was very beautiful and watched Wilkers and his crew with a strange gaze in her eyes.
"We are all a member of Project HOPE, including you"; he pointed at the foursome. His eyes stuck on Kenneth for just a second longer than everyone else. "We've done many experiments and lost many men to the monsters outside. Don't you think for one Goddamn second that I won't put a bullet in your heads if you don't pull your weight around here."
He took a seat at the head of the table just as Dr. Jones stood up. "As most of you know, today will mark the fourth month of our stay here in the silo and it is time for us to review what progress we've made." She turned to face Dr. Moran. "Although Dr. Jason Moran and I have differences in opinions, we both agree that we are only months away from closing in on the key to our survival."
"Are you telling us that you've found a way to blast those motherfuckers to hell?" Phil looked overly eager. The look in his eyes was a mix of pain and joy, terror and glee.
"I'll let you take a look at our review videos and you can make your own minds up. Please, everyone take notes and I will answer any questions at the end of the tape." She walked off into the darkness and returned with a rolling stand that had a television perched on top. She popped a videocassette into a VCR that sat on the television.
After hitting the play button, Dr. Jones sat back in her seat and watched with everyone else. The TV started to play a blue screen with a few words spread across. "Test Number 12", the words made it obvious as to what the video was.
Terry put his arm around Nicole and she rest her head on his shoulder; they weren't worried about taking notes. Kenneth looked over at Ana and noticed that she looked extraordinarily tired. He shook it off and turned his attention back to the TV.
The screen jumped to a group of those things, wandering around. Suddenly a dog walked into the view of the camera and the monsters didn't seem to notice. The Crossroad survivors had found out long ago that the monsters didn't seem to care about dogs very much. This test was proven by Chips, the dog that Nicole brought with them to the silo.
"We called this the Kamikaze K-9 test"; Dr. Jones piped in from her seat. The name along made Nicole turn into Terry's shoulder, taking her eyes away from the TV as she did so. The dog on the screen wore a large pack around its back that had a few wires dangling from it in random places.
Just as the dog was in the center of the mass of monsters the pack made a high-pitched beep noise and then the pack exploded in a large blast of orange and red. Most of the monsters went down in flames but a few still walked around will on fire.
"This test was proven a failure due to the fact that there aren't enough dogs to breed and not nearly enough explosives. This is much like the first problem that we encountered. We can't just go outside and start 'blasting them away' due to the fact that we don't have enough ammunition."
The tape went to another blue screen and the words "Test Subject 13". "Our next test was our first human causality." She said. "In the beginning we thought that the 're-animated people' were picking live humans through pheromones, a chemical given off by the living but not from the dead. In a rush to test this theory we covered our test subject, Private Young, in a scent that counter acts pheromones and sent him outside. We were too confident that this test would work."
Ana looked away, Nicole kept her head turned, Terry squinted his eyes in disgust, and Kenneth was the only one that didn't show any emotion to the video. He'd seen a lot of people die and in a lot worse ways than being eaten alive. One of the many occupational hazards of being a police officer is becoming emotional devoid.
The screen turned to a man in a black jumpsuit walking outside from the metal shed. The camera was obviously a security camera on top of the barn and it was a little fuzzy and hard to see. Walking out to the re- animated people, Private Young looked so nervous it seemed he might cry. It looked good at first but things turned bad quickly as ten or more of those things jumped on him, sinking their teeth into his flesh and ripping at the jumpsuit.
"These were the entire test that I've followed though with but I have many theories that are close to testing stage. Before the other seven Project Hope stations fell they were sending us telegraphs of test they were running. None of their experiments seemed worth looking at to me but Dr. Moran feels differently." Ana noticed that there was a bit of hostility on the last little part of that.
Sitting down as she spoke, Dr. Jones kept her eyes on Dr. Moran, as did everyone else. Hostility filled everyone's eyes as the watched him carefully.
"So Frankenstein, what the fuck can you tell us?" Wilkins said.
Dr. Moran stood as he looked at the new members of the group. "I would first like to say welcome to our new guest."
"Get on with it you fucker", said Wilkins.
His eyes turned back to the leader of the military group and the smile vanished from his face. "Very well then. As much as you people hate to admit that my methods just might be worth pursuing, I have successfully taught two of the re-animated to perform simple tasks such as brushing their hair and holding small tools. In addition to that, my two subjects have become less hostile towards me and I can actually make physical contact with them and not have to be worried that they are going to turn on me."
"What?" Wilkins didn't bother hiding his disgust. "I want them to fucking die; I don't want them to do tricks!" He screamed the last part as he slammed his fist down into the table.
"If we can teach them to serve us, if we can teach them to obey us, we can use them to help us fight against the more hostile ones."
"How have you taught them?" Ana asked. Something about the whole idea of it intrigued her.
It seemed to surprise him that someone was actually interested in what he was doing. He spun around and the smile returned to his face. "Well, it is very complicated. The re-animated people have residual memories that, if taped into, can be used to bring back a part of their lives before they were turned."
Wilkins quickly interrupted him. "I'm giving you one week, just one week, to show me some kind of results that will help us kill the sons-of- bitches. After that I'm gonna terminate your funding and you'll be working under Dr. Jones, doing what she wants you to do."
Kenneth leaned over so that the other three of the Crossroads survivors could hear him. "What kind of hell have we gotten ourselves into?"