Chapter Fifty-Three - Z-Word

    Chapter Fifty-Three - Z-Word

    The survivors of the first mass Incursion, most of them Americans living in Ohio, were lauded as heroes. Their accounts were big news, their stories shared by millions.

    The survivors of the next incursion didnt get the same attention.

    Those who made it through the third barely got any notice.

    By the fourth, most insurance companies had lobbied to add alien invasions from the acts of god category. They came away from it traumatized, destitute, and with no one there to help them.

    Things havent gotten better.

    --Excerpt from John Delancys Three Times Unto the Breach. A Noted survivor of three of the earliest incursions. 2026

    ***

    Id never been keen on horror games.

    Oh, sure, Id tried a few. The orphanage had a VR room for a few weeks at one point until someone broke in and stole the gear wed been donated. It was old even when we got it, but it worked. Some of the more tech-savvy kids had pirated all sorts of shitty little games. They also got into a heap of shit for breaking DRMs, but that was besides the point.

    Point was, Id played a few games, usually with Lucy nearby and clinging onto me whenever something popped out from around a corner screaming like a banshee.

    Wed even tried some full-dive stuff at our school, but the machine to connect to MeshSpace was an old decrepit thing, and the few horror movies wed watched all felt terribly gimmicky when seen in glorious 30 frames per second.

    Crawling through a rats nest of maintenance corridors, following a set of red lights that were guiding us deeper and deeper in towards a shelter that we couldnt see was way higher on the creepy scale.

    Monroe and his boys turned this way and that, lighting up sections of the corrior in flashes that passed as soon as they turned. You guys seem nervous, I said.

    I think, maam, that its because we are, Monroe returned with a whisper.

    I swung my crossbow around towards some movement, only to realize it was a moth being stupid next to one of the lights. I think Im going to file a complaint to whomever took out half the damned lights, I said.

    Ill help you with that, Monroe agreed.

    My drone skittered ahead to the edge of the next corridor, then tipped forwards just enough to see around the corner. A moment later a tiny box in the corner of my vision showed me yet another drab grey corridor. Only this one, at last, had a door.

    Shelters ahead, I murmured.

    Got it, Monroe said. Well fan out by the entrance. Can you negotiate?

    I might not have to, I said as I frowned. The vault door was open.

    It was one of those real vaults, with a door that was a foot thick chunk of steel with enough hydraulic doodads to let it move in and out of its place. Probably not enough to stop one of the bigger xenos, but more than enough for any of those Id encountered so far.

    It wouldnt stop anything if left open though.

    Points Reduced to... 936!

    The pills came in a little wrapper thing, just like bubble gum only with off-green tablets instead of something chewable. I felt like every teen in a classroom who had gum as I popped a tab for each of the soldiers, then took one myself.

    Those are good for twelve to fourteen hours. Taking more than one tablet in that period is unadvised.

    The people in there? I asked.

    Myalis actually took a moment to reply.

    They would need to be verified. If the Model Sevens roots have reached their brains, then its too late. Some people take longer to be taken over than others. There is a medical utility you could use to perform the scans yourself, but I would advise you instead modify your drone to be able to do the scans itself. This function would cost you fifty points.

    Do it, I said. Being stuck in a body that was no longer under your control... that was Lucys nightmare, and it was one that I could sympathize with.

    New Purchase: Short Range Drone-Operated Medical Scanner

    Points Reduced to... 886

    The box that appeared was no bigger than a pack of cigarettes. I had hardly picked it up before my drone reappeared by my side, turned around, and opened up its back to expose a bunch of empty slots.

    The scanner was a plastic cartridge that was surprisingly heavy for its size. It fit into one of the slots as if it was meant to go there. Dumbass froze for a moment, then shivered.

    Ill take that as a sign its ready, I said. Okay. lets go play nurse with some zombies.

    I hope we wont be entering CQC with them, maam, Monroe said.

    I shook my head. Nah. Dumbass here can now tell us which zombie is... a zombie and which is still a person. Were saving those we can. Its why we came.

    Uh. Yes maam.

    We entered the room to be greeted by a few heads soundlessly jerking our way. It eclipsed the poorly lit corridors on the creepy scale.

    Dumbass, start with the nearest, I said. Some of the zombies started to climb to their feet. And you guys stay down, I warned.

    If they are that mobile, its too late for them.

    One of them made it to their feet and lurched in our direction, movements jerky at first but smoothing out a few steps later. Their jaw opened wide, too wide, revealing a mouth full of white worms, pushing up from the gums between too-human teeth, swaying like grass in a breeze.

    I closed my eyes.

    Sometimes I hated how callous I was. Other times it was the only thing keeping me sane.

    Whisper came up. A faint sound, like someone exhaling, burst out from the crossbow-rifle. One of the zombies collapsed to the ground. Then it exploded, sending bits of human and white vine-like tendrils all over the room. The worst part, after I ducked under a bit of office worker, was the silence from the explosion.

    Then the air filled with eau de dead guy and I reconsidered what the worst part was.

    Oh fuck, Im going to be sick, I muttered. And then I was.