Chapter 3: Der Riese
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaagh!" came a demonic voice.
"Here we go, more freakbags." Dempsey complained.
"Oh no! I think I'm sobering up!" Nikolai shouted. "WHERES MY VODKA!"
Richtofen climbed up the stairs and onto the platform. The others followed. At the top, there was a metal circle that seemed to be spinning. It had all kinds of circuitry and mechanics around it.
In front of the metal circle was a large machine that said Pack a Punch. "What the heck is that?" Dempsey asked.
"It's the Pack a Punch, now shut up and kills some zombies!" Richtofen ordered.
"More questions!" Takeo screamed. "No time!"
They could see the whole facility from this spot. They seemed to be in a courtyard. To their left was a huge door with a symbol that looked like a vault door on it. To the right was another huge door. Straight in front of them was a building that met between the doors.
The screams of zombies rang beyond the doors. "Alright, here is ze plan. I vill explain later, but ve need to open these doors that lead to the mechanisms. Since all ze children are beyond those doors, that vill be a problem. NO! Ve kill zombies!" Richtofen commanded. Without thought, he pressed his hand into a button by the pack a punch machine.
The big doors slowly rose. The zombies got louder and louder. Everyone but Richtofen's eyes widened. They all raised their guns and prepared. Once the doors got to each zombie's neck level, they began running out. From both sides hundreds of zombies poured in.
As many gunshots were fired, the zombies still seemed like a lot. Dempsey threw a grenade, blowing up only about ten zombies. They began reaching the stairs. "Now, ve run! Follow me!" Richtofen yelled. He jumped off the platform. The others followed, Nikolai released one last shot.
Richtofen ran to the door on the right. Dempsey and Richtofen shot the zombies that stayed by the door. The other zombies turned around and began coming at them. Dempsey kept shooting, and threw another grenade. "Reloading!" he yelled. He walked backwards past the door.
They were in a new room that was very large. It was filled with machinery, obviously a factory room. There was a staircase to the left. The four of them divided to different machines. The three with guns shot the faster zombies that got into the room first.
Takeo looked at the machine he crouched behind. It was a drill, with a gun on it's table. This gun was like a pistol. It had a strange shape and a glowing blue canister for a magazine. He grabbed it and fired. A green light flashed from the barrel. A ball of lighting hit a zombie, causing it to fall right to the ground. He fired rapidly. Tons more zombies fell.
Richtofen stared at Takeo and smiled. He began laughing as he ran up the staircase. The other three stood up and defended Richtofen as he climbed the stairs. There was door at the top. The Nazi kicked it down, and the others ran through. A few zombies reached the stairs. Takeo shot them down, giving them a bit of time.
"Alright…" Dempsey said taking a breath, "Were are we, and how… do you know your way around…"
"Alright, time to explain a bit." Richtofen whispered. "So, all this, is ze reason zombies exist."
"I thought it was the meteorite!" Takeo exclaimed.
"Vell, it all started ven the Tunguska meteor exploded over Russia. Parts of it traveled to Earth, all carrying Element 115." Richtofen explained. "So, Nazi scientists were sent to check it out."
"Wait, what is Element 115?" Nikolai asked.
"It is Ununpetium, the heaviest element in group 10 on the periodic table. It has the longest life of any Element. The kicker is that it has a special molecule altering agent within it." Richtofen added.
"So it turns people into zombies?" Dempsey asked.
"No, not exactly." Richtofen commented. "You see, Nazi scientists, group 93…" Richtofen was interrupted by zombies entering the room. Takeo shot one, then noticed he was out of ammo.
Richtofen jumped out the window of the room. The others widened their eyes at the sight of Richtofen doing that. They ran to the window and looked out. The Nazi stood on the ground. Below them were a bridge and some sort of generator.
The other three took turns jumping out the window. When they all were by Richtofen, more zombies reached that area. Dempsey threw a grenade , killing many zombies. "Zeres a Vundavaffe here!" Richtofen exclaimed.
"A teddy bear better not take it away this time." Dempsey moaned. Richtofen stepped towards the generator. Near it was a box like the one in Shi No Numa. He opened it, and pulled out the Wunderwaffe.
"Uh oh…" Came a little girl's voice. Everyone looked around themselves.
"Who said that?" Dempsey roared. Richtofen aimed the Wunderwaffe at the zombies. He waited a second to fire. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. A cord shot from the barrel and attached to the zombie.
"What the heck. It's just a taser!" Dempsey said. Suddenly, lightning zapped the zombie from the cord. It went from one zombie to another. Each zombie it his lit up in flames and exploded. The lighting spread to each zombie. The area was now zombie free.
Everyone stared at Richtofen. It was quiet for a while. Suddenly, Dempsey yelled "Oohrah soldier! That was sweet!" They all began to laugh.
"You bring great honor!" Takeo stated. "Now, tell us the rest of the story."
"Alright guys, so, I vas part of the secret group 935. Ve vorked on ze Element 115 in this facility, Der Riese. Ve used it vith veapons, like ze Vundervaffe and the gun Takeo used before. Next up, ve used teleporters." Richtofen explained. "My partner, Dr. Ludvig Maxis, and I noticed that the teleporter killed people and turned them into zombies. So, that's how this all started."
"I knew we couldn't trust you!" Dempsey yelled. "You made the zombies!"
"Now, now, I didn't make zombies, I made weapons!" Richtofen said. "So do you vant to kill me, or have me as an extra fighter. Plus, I know Der Riese better than any of you."
"He makes good point." Nikolai commented. "And I'm sober now."
"I won't have it, but hey, the zombies are already here, so what more can he do?" Dempsey mumbled.
"Great, veve come to a conclusion. So, let's get those teleporters on!" Richtofen said as he flipped a switch on the generator.
"Wait, if these teleporters made the zombies, we don't want to go through them." Takeo said concerned.
"I know how to do it now without zombification." Richtofen commented.
"Are you sure?" Nikolai asked. "I don't want to die, then live, then die again!"
"If I'm lying, may lightning strike me down right here." Richtofen assured. He pressed a button near the power switch on the generator. A large door behind them creaked open. Richtofen's finger was hit by a static shock from the button. "Oh shit!" he screeched.
"What's wrong?" Takeo questioned. Richtofen sucked on his finger in pain.
The Nazi replied, "Oh, nothing, just a sliver…" The door finished opening, revealing the teleporter. It was a large room with all kinds of wires hanging around. In the center of the room was a large cylinder shaped tube, big enough for somebody to go in. Next to it were two glowing rods, teeming with energy.
It was all something they would see in a science fiction movie. Inside the teleporter was a circular plate like down in the courtyard. "Let's power this baby up, ja?" Richtofen happily said. He pressed a button on the side of the teleporter.
It lit up in a blue light. The plate began spinning very quickly. Richtofen beamed with delight. "What's this over here?" Nikolai asked as he pointed towards a work bench near the teleporter.
"Now we don't need to be looking at things." Richtofen pleaded, but it was too late. Nikolai looked at the table and investigated. There was blood on the table, along with a loaded pistol. The most intriguing thing he found was a small tape recorder and a cassette.
"Test 3 Log, sounds interesting." Nikolai said. He inserted the tape and pressed play. Richtofen panicked and pushed Nikolai. The player fell to the ground and continued playing.
"Initiating test number 3," A German voice said, "Subject is in the test chamber, and turning on power."
Then there was a sound of flames bursting and Richtofen's voice, "Oh my God!"
"Get a hold of yourself and clean that up!" the other man's voice ordered, "Test number 3 is unsuccessful, subject reduced to the state of previous subjects. Calibrate the systems, let's do it again!"
"Yes sir" came Richtofen's voice again.
"You killed that man! You just called him a subject!" Takeo yelled, "I lose your honor!"
"You were just that Dr. Maxis guy's assistant." Dempsey laughed, "You weren't special!"
"Let's just link this teleporter to the mainframe." Richtofen ordered. He walked out of the teleporter room. They all noticed that they were now in the area outside the courtyard that mixed the two halves. "The mainframe is just down there," he pointed at the courtyard.
In front of them was another large door, parallel to the mainframe. The door had the vault door symbol on it. They now knew the symbol said "935" the scientist group that made teleporters.
Richtofen pressed a button by the door. I slowly opened, like the last one. Inside was another teleporter. It wasn't this special this time, but of course, Nikolai went looking for cassettes. He went into the corner and disappeared.
"Nikolai, don't get lost!" Dempsey shouted.
"It's just a hallway down there." Richtofen commented.
Nikolai ran back yelling, "Look what I found in some office thing!" he held up the cassette player and a new tape. He inserted it and pressed play again.
"No more please!" Richtofen cried.
"You act like were gonna find something bad, and I really don't care…" Dempsey said.
Dr. Maxis voice buzzed through the player again. "Sophia, this letter is to go to the Reichstag High Command immediately. Gentlemen, it is with the utmost urgency that I draw your attention to the lack of funding being injected into The Giant project. While I believe we are close to realizing the ultimate plan, we still have several years of development before it is ready. It would be folly to cut our expenditure so early in our development. As you know, early tests on the DG-2 have easily outperformed expectations and we fully anticipate mass producing the Wunderwaffe within the next few years. Work on the matter transference has however come to a standstill. We simply do not have enough Element 115 to continue the experiments. The test subjects have survived teleportation but are currently unresponsive to commands and cannot be controlled. If we are to overcome this obstacle we need to increase the frequency and size of the experiment. To this end, I suggest we not only find a regular supply of 115, but that we also find a larger conduit to channel the energy. Our operatives in America have informed us that the US have a large supply of the element at the Nevada base, so time is of the essence if we are to stay ahead of them. This cannot be done if you cut the budget, nor can it be done if you insist on pressuring us into action before we are ready. I am of course available for discussion of the matter but in the meantime, I will continue with the work here and try to win this damned war. Signed etc. etc. Doctor Maxis."
"A large supply of the element in the U.S. Nevada Base, sounds suspicious?" Takeo amazed.
Dempsey's eyes widened, "Umm, teleporter subjects alive but unresponsive, that means that the zombies were made and kept living then released."
"Alright, teleporter on…" Richtofen. "Let's get to that last teleporter." They exited this room and continued across the courtyard. They reached another building like the factory. This one was obviously a laboratory.
There were posters of dogs and humans, showing their anatomy. Blood splattered around the room. "This is just sick, using humans as test subjects." Dempsey muttered.
"Ve didn't always use humans." Richtofen replied, "After the first four deaths ve began using dogs."
"I mean even dogs! Why not a rat?" Dempsey asked.
"Rats are no fun…" Richtofen laughed. Before anybody could make a comment, the reached another teleporter. It was the same thing again. There was cylinder in the center. Nikolai again began running around the room looking for tapes.
"Damn it Nikolai!" Richtofen yelled. He pulled out his pistol and shot at Nikolai. The Russian ducked behind the teleporter. Nikolai raised his hand and approached the Nazi.
"No tape!" Nikolai said. "Don't shoot me!"
"You are seriously afraid of these tapes being played." Dempsey added, "That is really suspicious to me."
"Ve better rest tonight." Richtofen demanded. "Zere vill probably be more zombies later."
"I agree, but one person must stay guard the whole night!" Takeo agreed.
"Alright, but I'm not sleeping in the same room as Richtofen." Dempsey replied.
"Nikolai, you vill stay guard." Richtofen ordered.