Hey Zombies

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Safety

Tick tock echoed in Arnold's head. It felt like an omniscient presence leaned over him with an Earth sized clock. The scenario didn't seem to make sense to him. While this almighty clock ticked, Arnold stood in the midst of the Nevada desert, rain pouring around him but he couldn't hear sound. The wet sand around him began to pool and well from the consistent rainfall. Before long he'd be unable to move his feet. But horror froze Arnold from the images that surrounded him. The rain pooled on top of the plane wreckage. A small river formed from the top of the plane hull and flowed down the outside metal like a river.

Bodies lay on the ground in front of him. Laying over each corpse was an infected individual, feeding on the bodies that sunk into the mud. Some bodies proceeded to thrash about, their arms lifted to the sky but were pulled back down only to be chewed on by more infected that swarmed over them. If there were screams, Arnold couldn't hear them. He felt deaf, but couldn't figure out why.

Each body was distinguished by its face. Arnold could see his parents leaning against the side of the plane, holding hands as the infected swarmed around them, the rain getting thicker and heavier. Arnold's clothes began to soak and stick to his skin.

Suddenly, something gripped his leg. Arnold looked down to see a hand gripping his ankle. The hand looked small and feminine in size. He couldn't scream. All he could do was choke on his spit and the rain that slid into his throat as he stared into Helga's eyes. Her hand squeezed Arnold's ankle as an infected man chewed on her hip-The cold sweat sent chills down Arnold's spine as he opened his eyes. His shoulders and back ached the most from the pain that washed over his body. Bright white light sunk between his eyelids as he blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the room he woke up in from his nightmare.

He could feel restraints on his arms and legs. With every joint he tried to move, another wave of pain shot through his body. At the moment, all he could rely on were his eyes to observe his surroundings. Several beeps echoed in his ears, sometimes syncing up every few seconds, almost to the rate of a heartbeat. Around him he could make out two beds in front of him, and one to each side of his own. There appeared to be a body laying on top of each. The pain stopped him from moving.

"You're a lucky man Colonel." A voice echoed, "We found you in the nick of time it seems." The voice came from Arnold's left. He tried his best to turn his neck, fighting the needles of pain that tickled at his neck and shoulders. He saw a large burly man standing over the bed to his left. The burly man was blurred in figure but his clothes were a mesh of brown and dark green. He could hear more voices, but couldn't recognize them. He let the two blurred figures have their conversation while he attempted to turn to his right. The figure in the right bed looked like a mesh of yellow, black, and white.

Arnold attempted to focus his eyes and the figure began to take shape. He could see a black ski cap laying on the bed, the yellow formed the hair, and the white flattened out into a blanket that wrapped the unconscious figure in comfort. Turned out it was Helga. A small red cut was plastered on her forehead.

Arnold attempted to speak words but he could only squeak and croak with his vocal chords.

"And you! Mr. Shortman." The burly voice said as it approached Arnold's bed. He looked at him, and saw a face he never thought he'd see again, Marshall Goose, in his brown and green army outfit, arms wrapped behind his back.

"Lieutenant Major Goose?"

"Well, General Goose now, call me Marshall kid, you're old enough. Been a long time Arnold. Your father says you've been a tough kid! You helped several survivors out of Hillwood, and somehow traveled hundreds of miles without a single scratch on any of your group? Outstanding!"

"Thank you sir." Arnold couldn't say anything, the questions that wanted to spill out of his mind seemed to cram against one another, like they were shoved into a jammed funnel.

"You've had a rough night son, we'll let you rest up here in the infirmary for another day or so and when Doctor Krieg says so; we'll turn you loose." Goose said, still smiling. It was a funny sight seeing him smile. Flashbacks to when Mr. Simmons left their elementary class sped through Arnold's head like a flipbook. His third eye felt nostalgic.

"Where is everybody?" was the only question Arnold could squeeze out.

"Everybody is fine, get some rest son." said another familiar voice. Arnold turned to see his father standing on the opposite side, having gotten up from the bed he had been resting on.

"You've earned it." Miles said.

"Dad...Gerald, find Gerald."

"Need something brother?" said yet another familiar voice. Arnold turned toward the door, Gerald stood there, Phoebe by his side. Their hands were locked in intimacy as they walked into the room. Arnold smiled, warmth not from the blankets took over his body. He tried his best to sit up.

"Just take it easy son, we've got the best doctor around keeping an eye on you." Goose said. Arnold successfully sat up to where his back was leaning against the frame behind him. Miles and Goose proceeded to leave the room as Gerald swarmed Arnold, patting his shoulder.

Arnold started, "Gerald, listen, about-"

"It was all me." Gerald interrupted. Arnold just looked at him.

"It all happened so fast, the escape, Curly going berserk, the plane crash. We had been fine up to that point, nothing went wrong, and yet, I let my guard down. Jamie's gone and I can't change that. I should've helped you in the attack…If Victor wasn't still locked up, those things could've…"

"It's okay, Gerald. We're safe now. Goose's soldiers got us all out right?" Arnold said. Gerald just nodded in subtle agreement.

As soon as Miles and Goose left the room, Miles pulled Goose up to the wall, "Sir, you have to do me a favor."

"What is it Miles?"

"You can't tell them how the plane went down." Goose just stood there in silence, "They've been through enough. These kids thought battling the infected was hard enough without the living being a threat." Goose continued to stay silent, looking to his left and right monitoring for others, realizing that Miles was aware of the situation.

"Victor was trying to reactivate the Hades Initiative." He said.

Miles looked at him in surprise, "How do you know?"

"Some of Arnold's other friends, we picked them up traveling west somewhere in Pennsylvania."

"What the hell were Alpha soldiers doing all the way out there?"

"Omega fell in the initial outbreak and we've heard from no one else for weeks Miles. I had to take action for the sake of everyone else. If they weren't commencing protocol, I had to. You need to look into Victor's case. Arnold's friends are in my quarters. I planned to meet with them, but you'll be able to explain things easier. Understood?"

"Yes sir." Miles responded, and the two men parted ways.

Goose took several turns through the mazes of FTi Alpha. Several minutes later, he arrived at the containment room. The lights inside cast a shade of green over the cells that interlocked with one another. A majority of them were empty save for one in the far corner. Goose walked up to it, and looked down.

Victor was curled up beside his cot, not laying on top of it, his arms were crossed, one covering the other. His torn dress shirt, and worn out pants showed signs of a successful man torn down from his prime. His plans in ruin, and the shoe on the other foot. He shook violently, his skin was a pasty white. Sweat beaded on his forehead.

"General." Victor said, acknowledging Goose's presence. His voice shivered as his vocal chords vibrated.

"Hello Victor." Goose said, "I'm gonna make this quick, I expect full detail, or you'll find yourself in a court marshal, clearly not something you can handle in your current condition."

"Oh harsh. Civil punishment in the midst of an epidemic killing hundreds of thousands of people every day. I don't deserve such honor." He said sarcastically, coughing. Spittles of blood and phlegm were in the ejected fluids.

"That's enough Victor."

"When is it ever not enough General Goose? How can you expect me to help you when you have over a dozen people here who would be more than willing to see my head on a spike?"

"Your science team is gone. Kappa is in ruins, and you haven't reported back in two months. What's happened?" Goose asked, ignoring Victor's manipulative pleas.

"I accidentally discovered dry ice cream..." Victor snapped, "I was too excited to share my results with you, I decided to go independent."

"You're on thin ice Victor. If you won't give us any answers, it'll be harder for you in the long run." Goose said, "Now talk to me, what the hell were you thinking, trying to reinitiate the Hades Initiative."

Victor was silent.

"We have several young adults with injuries, another in critical condition, and the fate of mankind could've been destroyed by your hand."

"Oh so everyone's already pointing the finger eh? The incident at Omega, that was my fault from several thousand miles across the country?"

"You authorized human testing for Shadow-1, an order you were brewing up behind my back... you didn't even give any word to Colonel Shortman before action was taken, nor in the reports Miles was able to retrieve from Kappa that you planned on reversing the condition of tested subjects." Victor was silent again, "Talk to me Victor, it may have been an accident that Shadow-1 broke out, but you had to have found an answer."

Victor looked up at Goose for the first time since they began talking. He uncrossed his arms and held up the one that was covered up. The infection spreading from his finger gripped the veins in his wrist, turning them into purple vines. From the center, a small green glow seeped through his skin. The pain from his hand fighting gravity caused it to shake vigorously.

"You want answers General? Here it is."

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To Be Continued