Nano Z: Oblivion - DropPDF1.droppdf.com/files/nbEgK/nano-z-book-3-oblivion-knight... · 2015. 10. 2. · Oblivion by Brad Knight. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places

NanoZ:Oblivion

byBradKnight

Thisisaworkoffiction.Names,characters,placesandincidentseitherareproductsoftheauthor’simaginationorareusedfictitiously.Any

resemblancetoactualeventsorlocalesorpersons,living

ordead,isentirelycoincidental.

Copyright©2015.

Nopartofthisbookmaybe

reproducedinanyformorbyanyelectronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,withoutwrittenpermissionfromtheauthor,exceptfortheuseofbriefquotationsin

bookreviews.

TableofContentsChapter1:BullHarborChapter2:RoadtoHavenChapter3:ArkChapter4:TheFallofShanghaiChapter5:ChurchChapter6:LandfallChapter7:GalateaAirChapter8:BorroloolaChapter9:Maluku

Chapter10:CrashandBurnChapter11:DejaVuChapter12:BookofRevelationChapter13:EscalationChapter14:FateChapter15:ExtinguishedChapter16:TheWastelandChapter17:WildThingsChapter18:LazarusChapter19:Perfection

Chapter1:BullHarborGetting to the island of

Bull Harbor, BritishColumbia, was tough. Theshortsummercametoanend,andcoldrainandevencolderwinds pelted Mack, AmberandStephanieastheyutilizeda metal canoe to cross theQueenCharlotteSound.

Why did they go to anobscure island in BritishColumbia, Canada? Aftertheir fight with Galatea inOregon, none of them reallyknew what to do. Theyheadednorth,carefultoavoidtowns and cities. Basicallyanywhere that could haveplayed host to large numbersof meat puppets werecircumvented.

When they got to

Washington state, the trio ofsurvivors started seeingpieces of maps stapled ornailed to telephonepolesandtrees. They were all ofWesternCanada,andeachofthem had the island of BullHarborcircled in redmarker.Below those was the singleword:“Haven”.

Obviously,giventheirpastexperiences with placesmeant to be safe sanctuaries,

theyweren'tallthatinterestedintheclaimsofrefuge.Inthenew post infection world, ifsomething seemed too goodto be true, it was. Instead offollowingthemaps,theykeptwanderingnorthward.

After a month in thewilderness of NorthAmerica's Pacific Northwest,the trioof survivors facedanuncomfortable truth. Therewas no life to be had out on

their own. If they were tohave a decent andcomfortable existence theyneeded help, they needed acommunity.Andtheyneededtodosofast,becauseGalateahadn'tforgottenaboutthem.

On three separateoccasions, small hit squadsbearing Galatea uniformsfound and tried to kill them.They all failed.Most of thatwas due to a new found

viciousnessinMack.Ever since recovering

from his fight with the lateCEOofGalateaSystems,TedGorman, Mack changed. Hewas still the protective andcaringmanwhodidwhateverit took to keep Amber andStephanie safe, but whatchangedwasthewayhedealtwith those interpreted as athreat. The level of violenceheusedscaredhistwofellow

companions.Stephanie was the one to

suggest that they shouldcheck out the supposedHaven. She hoped that beingaround people again wouldtemper the rage fueled fireinside him.Perhaps if he gotsome semblance of a normallife, he'd turn back into theman she met back in therodeoarenainOklahoma.

At first,Mack resisted the

idea of trying to findHaven.He'd been burned too manytimesbefore.Inhismind,theuninfected were even moredangerous than the meatpuppets. The latter at leastmade it pretty clear theywanted to kill you from thegetgo.

It took some convincingbut eventually Stephaniemanaged to convince the bigman that he needed Haven.

Oratleastheneededthehopeoffindingit.Hopewassorelymissingintheirlives.

Instead of passing by thepiecesofmap,thetriostartedgathering them. After a littlework theywere able to get arough idea where the islandand Haven was. Theirproblemwasthattheyhadnoidea where they themselveswere.

Mackhadmadeapoint to

avoidanyof the lastvestigesof civilization. Doing somade it hard to reallypinpoint their exact location.They had no landmarks orsignstoinformthem,sotheydid what a person should dowhenlostinthejungle.First,find a body of water andfollow its shores to a villageor city. It didn't take longbeforetheyreachedaninlet.

After following the inlet

for a couple of hours, theyreached a settlement.Margaret Bay, BritishColumbia was a small townthat as luck would have itwasn't far from Bull Harbor.Therewereafewdozenmeatpuppets to take care of, butthe trio got rid of themwithease.Once they knew itwassafe theybegan to look for away across the QueenCharlotteSound.

The citizens of MargaretBay must've had the sameidea as the trio and escapedby sea. Problem was, theytook their boats with them.That left Mack, Amber andStephaniebetweenarockandahardplace.

Outside the lighthouse,Amber found an aluminumcanoe.Ittookanafternoonofwork to patch up any leaksand make it sea worthy.

While Mack fixed the smallvessel, the other twoscavengedforfood,waterandweapons.

BeforesettingoutforBullHarbor, they got a goodnight'ssleepinthelighthouse.Or at least Amber andStephanie did. The big guywasupallnightlookingoverthe litany of maps andalmanacs in the lighthousekeeper'soffice.

AlthoughMack knew thatBull Harbor and Havenwasn't far, he was no sailor.The man didn't really knowhowtonavigateonthewater.Floating aimlessly in thePacific wasn't an appealingprospect, especially not in adamncanoe.

***What I wouldn't have

given to live here once. It'sbothgorgeousanddepressing

at the same time.Timehasafunny way of slowing downwhen you're waiting forsomething.Mackstoodatthetop of the Margaret Baylighthouse looking out overthedarkwater.Hewaitedforthe sun to come up.When itdid,heplannedonwakingupthe rest of his adoptivefamily. The thick fog andstormcloudsmadeitdifficulttospot theriseofEarth's life

givingstar.The gray and dark blue

skyturnedintoacolorcloserto white. It was Mack's cue.He headed for the spiralstaircasethat leddowntothegroundfloorofthelighthousewhere Amber and Stephanieslept. Halfway down hesmelledcoffee.

“Did you get any sleep?”asked Stephanie as shepouredMackacup.

“Him? He doesn't needany sleep. Just plug him intothewallforacoupleofhoursand he's good to go,”remarkedAmber.

“Ifonlyitwerethateasy,”helaughed.

Stephanie handed him hiscoffee. “You should havetriedtogetsomerest.”Therewasconcerninhervoice.

“That'soneofthebenefitsofbeinginfected.Idon'tneed

much. Those little machinesin my blood take care of allthat.”

“If you say so.” Shepoured out the left overcoffeeinthepotshefoundinthelighthousekeeper'soffice.

Mack savored every lastdrop of the hot beverage.Hewas a convenience storecoffee kind of guy, so hethoroughlyenjoyedit.

Once their breakfast of

coffee and snack cakes wasover, theypackedupandleftthe lighthouse. They headedfor the canoe which theystashed close by in somebushes. True, there wasn'tanyonearoundtosteal it,butoldhabitsdiehard.

Stephanie was the first toclimbintothecanoethatwashalf in the water, half in thesand. She helped Amber in,and as they settled into the

small vessel, Mack broughtovertheoars.Theywereabitrotted but seemed sturdyenough.

Mackusedoneoftheoarsto push off the shore. Hisback was to the direction inwhich the canoe headed, andStephanienavigated from theother end. In the middle,Amberwasjustalongfor theride.

After being on the water

for less than five minutes, itstarted to rain. Frigid windscarried the icydrops.At firstit was cold. Quickly theprecipitation started to stingatthetrio'sexposedfaces.Allofthemquietlywishedfortheshelterofthelighthouse.

Rowing a canoe fromMargaretBay toBullHarborwasn't an easy feat. Theyweren't quite as close as themaps made them think.

Roughly thirty three milesstood between the twolocations. And canoes don'tmoveallthatfast.

Itwasn'tuntil thesixhourmark that they got a glimpseof Bull Harbor. Through thefog they could see a thickconiferous forest. The closerthey got, the more wild anduntamedtheislandlooked.

NotonlydidStephanienotsee anything that could have

been the Haven they wereseeking, she didn't see anysigns of human habitation atall. That didn't necessarilydisappointher.Acommunitywith other human beingswould do them all good,especially Mack. But nohumans meant no undeadpeople.

For hours, Mack's armsand back burned. It wascausedbyabuildupoflactic

acidinhismuscles.Nonstoprowing like he did wouldn'thave been possible for mostmen. An unnatural staminawasoneof thegiftsprovidedby the nanites in his blood,but even with thoseenhancementshewasclosetohislimit.

“I see it. It's just upahead,” said Stephanie.Instead of pointing, shenodded her head in the

directionoftheisland.“Youknowwhatwouldbe

reallygreat?”askedAmber.“What's that?” Mack

managed to answer despitebeing so out of breath, soexhausted.

“Ifwedon'tcrashtheboatthistime.”

“I'dbehappyifwemakeitthere.Crashornot.”

“You need me to takeover?” Stephanie very

carefully rose off the plankthatservedasacanoeseat.

“I'll be fi-” Mack feltsomething tear in hisshoulder. He didn't screamout in pain or even grunt,though his face did scrunchup into a grimace. Stephanienoticed.

“You've been rowing forhours. Even with yourabilities,therearelimits.”Shestepped around Amber. The

canoe seemed like it wasgoingtooverturnacoupleoftimesonherwaytohim.

Mackdidn'tputupafight.He letgoof theoarsandgotup. Both his knees achedfrom sitting in the sameposition too long. After abriefmomenttryingtofigurehow to switchplaces, he andStephaniedidso.It'salmosthaunting.Mack

stared at Bull Harbor. The

settlement, located on thecoast of New Hope Island,didn'tlooktobepopulatedbymany people. There wereonly a few buildings to beseen.Acoupleofsmallboatsfloatedonasmalldock.This is where we'll find

Haven? From the looks ofthingswewon'tfindanythinghere. Mack was less thanenthusiastic about theprospects of Bull Harbor

before they set off fromMargaret Bay. Seeing it justconfirmedthereservationshehadaboutStephanie'splan.

“Are those walruses?”Amber pointed at somebrownblobslaidoutonsomerocksnear theshore.Anoisethat sounded like amix of aroarandmoancouldbeheardoverthebreakingwavesfromthedirectionofthoseblobs.

With his enhanced vision,

Mack could see what shepointed at. They were sealions. He'd never seen oneoutsideofazoo.What reallymattered wasn't what theywere but the fact that theydidn't look to be infected.Thatmeant thechancesweregood that the island wasnanitevirusfree.Butitwasn'taguarantee.

“They're sea lions,” hesaid,informingAmber.

“Sea lions, huh? Don'tthink I've ever seen a sealion.”

“They look a lot likewalruses.”

Amber didn't reply. Shekept her gaze on themammals, eager for a closerlook.Beforetheoutbreak,shewas a fan of animals. Somuchsothatwhenshewasabit younger she wantednothingmorethantoworkat

a zoo. That of course wasbefore the onset of pubertyand death of herprepubescencelife.

“Slowitdown,”instructedMack.He could feel that thecanoe was being carried bythewater towards theharbor.Anymore rowingwould justbe a pointless losing fightagainstnature.

Thereweretwooptionsforthe trio for where to come

ashore. They could either goforthedockswhichtheywerealready heading straight for,ortheycouldaimfortheboatrampandsimplygetout.Theobviouschoicewasthelatter.Mack told Stephanie to puttheoarsbackinthewaterandchange their course justenough so that they were ontarget.

He felt the vibrations asthe bottom of the canoe

ground against the concreteboat ramp. The vessel cameto a stop pretty quickly. Allthreegingerlygotout.

Stephanie was the onlyone who manged to avoidgettingwet.Shestayeddryastheother twogot there shoesandpantssoakedbythechillynorth Pacific. They didn'treally care.All thatmatteredwasthattheydidn'tdrown.It's like a Middletown

island.Macklookedoutoverthe tiny ghost town that wasBull Harbor. There were ahandfulofbuildingsthatwereboarded up and weatherworn.Foodwrappers,bottles,and cans remained as somesigns of past humanhabitation.Other than that, itmight as well have beenruins.

“Hey guys! Over here!”Amber was the one to find

anotherpieceofmap.Stephanie andMack went

over to her, standing in frontof a brick building. Nailedintothemortarwasapieceofa map of New Hope Island.The other end of the islandwas circled with redmarker.Theywerenear.

“Well... what are wewaiting for?” Amber toredown the piece of map andstartedfollowingit.Stephanie

wasclosebehind.Mack tookup the rear, still wary aboutthe prospects of a safesanctuary.

Chapter2:RoadtoHaven

New Hope Island wasmuchbiggerthenwhatMackanticipated. To make thingsworse, none of them reallyknewwheretheyweregoing.Alltheyhadtogoonwasthered circle on the map theyfoundbackinBullHarbor.

According to this pieceofpaper, Haven was on theopposite side of the island.Mack decided to follow thecoast as best they couldinsteadofcrossingthemiddleof the island.NewHopewasaroughplace.Weatheraside,the terrain was less thanfriendly. Rocks and densetrees/vegetation would havemadeprogresslaborious.

Unfortunately, they

couldn'tjustfollowthecoast.Theystillhadtocontendwiththeharshnessofof theislandwhile keeping the water inview.Progresswasslow.What was that? Mack

stopped trudging throughbushes and other forest floorvegetation.Hehearda soundhebecamefamiliarwithsincethe outbreak. It washelicopterrotors.

Through the trees Mack

barely got a couple ofglimpses of a half a dozenhelicopters.All but two flewpast. Instinctively, he knewhis little group of survivorswereintrouble.

Before Mack could warnor reach Amber andStephanie, the forest aroundhim exploded into splintersand sharp wooden shards.One of the helicopters hadopenedfirewithit'smini-gun,

which always struck him asan odd name for a really bigmachinegun.

Thebulletsfiredatthematsuch a fevered pace weretracer rounds. Intended tobenefit the person firing, theprojectiles contained brightburning phosphorous thatwereeasytosee.TheyhelpedMacksortofdodgethemandreach Amber and Stephaniewho were completely taken

offguardandconfused.“What in the…?”

Stephanie had no idea whatwas happening. Before shecould finish her question,Mackgrabbedherbythearm.With Amber in his otherhand, they went deeper intothewoods.

“Run, just run!Don't lookback!”Mackwas faster thanbothofthem.Ifhewasonhisown, the bullets wouldn't

have had any chance ofcatching up to him, but hehad to worry about his twoladies.

Hebarelyfelttheshrapnelfrom the shredding trees.Splintersdugintoandcutanyexposed flesh.Hewas awareenough to know that thosefast little pieces of flyingwood could do seriousdamage to Amber andStephanie, and they didn't

have the ability to healthemselves.

Thetrioranforacoupleofminutes swerving back andforth in a serpentine motionto try and avoid the hail ofgunfire from above. Problemwas,itwascatchingup.Mackspottedwhat looked tobe anoverhang of rock. He pulledAmber and Stephanieunderneathit.

“Who the hell is it!? And

why are they shooting atus!?” asked Amber, loudenough to be heard over thesoundofthemini-gun.Piecesof rock rained down in frontofthegroup.

“I'mnotsurebutifIhadtoguess...”answeredMack.

“Galatea. It has to be.”Stephanie knew that thecompany hadn't given uptrying to take them out. Itmust have been a result of

killingtheirCEO.“The real question is

whethertheyfollowedusorifthey were after Haven?”Mackasked thequestion thatStephanie and Amber werethinking.

“Does it matter?” Amberwinced as she pulled littlepiecesofpine treeoutof theskinonherarms.

After half an hour of nogunfire, Mack peered out

from under the overhang tosee if it was safe to exit.There wasn't a helicopter insight. Even though hewasn'tcompletely sure that thatmeant the coast was clear,they couldn't stay under theoverhangforever.Not if theywantedtogettoHaven.

Likeninjascreepinginthenight, theymoved as silentlyas possible through theconifer forest. They were

mindful of every fallenbranchand leaf. Justbecausethe helicoptersweren't flyingoverhead didn't mean theywereoutofdanger.

In the distance they couldhear gunfire and explosions.There was a fight occurring.Noneof themdoubted that itwas between Galatea andwhoeverlivedinHaven.Fucking... not now. Mack

heartheunmistakablescreech

of meat puppets. It wasunquestionably closer thanthe gunfire. The monsterswerelikelytheretohunthim,AmberandStephanie.Let's see. We got two

pistols with less than a fullclip each. We have knives.I've got a trench shovel.That's about it. I guess wecould pick up some rocks.Mack made a quick mentalinventory of his group's

weapons.Itdidn'tlookgood.Fiveminutes afterhearing

themeatpuppets,hesawone.He thought after all thecreatures he'd seen since theoutbreak, he'd seen them all.He was wrong. To makemattersmore shitty, theyhaduniformed Galatea keepers;fourofthem.

The skin on the heads ofthe three meat puppets washalf rotted off. Underneath

there was muscle and othertissue that was almost blackand metallic. Their eyesglowed an intense blue. Setsof sharp metal teeth thatresembled bear traps lookedlike theywere implanted,nota result of nanite virusevolution.

None of the creatures hadarms. Instead they had alimbless torso covered bywhat looked like cuirasses

made of putrid dead flesh.Chains lined with razor wirehung from hooks in theabominations'backs.

The strangest part of thearmless meat puppets weretheir legs. From their shapetheydidn'tresembleanythinghuman. Fully formed fromstainless steel, the legs wereshaped kind of like acheetah's. Looking at them itwas clear that the

monstrosities were made torun.

Mackdidn'tknowhowfastthe armless monsters were,but he knew that they wereprobably faster than himself.Trying tooutrun themwasn'treally an option in hismind.Sowhatcouldtheydo?We're going to have to

fightifwe'regoingtogetoutof this alive. Or at least I'mgoing to. He stopped Amber

and Stephanie. He lookedthembothintheireyes.

“Keep out of sight andkeepmoving.I'lltryandslowthese things down and buyyou two some time. Move,now!”Mackdidn'tgivethemtime to argue with him. Assoonashestoppedtalking,heheaded straight for thearmless meat puppets andtheirkeepers.

Armed with a trench

shovel, knife and pistolbearing five rounds,heknewhe'd have to approach thesituation tactically. Thereweremoreofthemsohehadto utilize his one and onlyadvantage;hishealingability.Unlikehisfoes,hecouldtakeabeatingandkeeponticking.

As Mack tried to figureout how he was going toapproach the group, hisenemies took the initiative.

With a screech, each of thearmless puppets sprintedtowards Amber andStephanie, completelyignoring or not noticing thebigViking.Oh no you fucking don't!

Mack had to get the armlessbrutesattention.Allhehadtoworkwithwashispistol.

Without an alternative, heopenedfire.Hehitoneinthehead,takingitout.Hisbullets

did their job and got thecreatures' attentions.Unfortunately the GalateaSecurity members alsonoticed.

Before he knew whathappened,twoGalateabulletsripped through Mack'sshoulder and chest.He couldhear the other projectileswhizbyhishead. Ithurt,buttherewasnotimetodwellonhisinjuries.Therewasafight

coming,fastandswift.The first armless meat

puppet to reach Mackrammedintohimheadfirst.Ithappened so quickly that hecouldn't dodge it or intercepttheattackwithaswingofhistrench shovel. Caughtcompletely off guard, it feltlike a baseball bat to hischest.Alltheairwasknockedoutofhislungs.

Mack justmanaged to see

and dodge the jaws of thesecond armless meat puppet.But he couldn't avoid therazorwirelinedchainsasthesame puppet quickly turned.Thebladesmostlyjustrippedhis jacket, but he stillreceived a couple of smallcuts.

The second pass at Mackwasn'tassuccessfulforthem.After ramming him the firsttime,oneofthemeatpuppets

received a blow to its headfrom a sharp edged trenchshovel. Itwasn't a fatal blowbutdidmanagetostaggerthecreature.That'snotgood.Mackwas

in disbelief after he tried tostab the second armlessmonster in its gaping mouthwith his trench as it rushedhim. The creature bit downright away and snapped thetool in half. It proceeded to

spitouttheotherend.Mack reached for his

knife. One of the meatpuppets pounced on him,metal feet first. Mack felldown to the mud and fallenpineneedles.

Immediatelyafterdodgingan attempt to bite his throat,hemanagedtograbhisknife.When the creature on top ofhimtriedtobitehimagain,hestabbed it in the side of its

head. It was enough to takeouthissecondattacker.

Sharp crushing painscreamed up through Mack'sbody from his leg. Theremaining armless monsterhadaholdofhisankle.Therewasnodoubtinhismindthatitwasbroken.Thatpainonlygot worse as the creatureliftedhimupbyonelegthenbegantodraghim.

Theagonythathefeltwas

unbelievable. He almostpassed out. Suddenly hewasreleased.Whenhe lookeduphe saw the barrels of assaultriflespointedstraightathim.

“Thistheguy?”askedoneof the Galatea Securitymembers.

“Mr.Sebastiansaidthathewas a big burly fucker. Thisguy is built like a brick shithouse. So yeah, I think itssafe to assume that its him,”

responded one of the othermen.

Another security member,who must've been the leaderof the little group, spoke up.“Well,pickhimup.Let'sgetthe big bastard to Isaac. I'msure there's a hefty rewardwaiting for us.” The otherthreepickedMackupoff theground.As theydraggedhimaway,hefelthisankleslowlypiecingitselfbacktogether.

Despitebeingdetainedandcarried against his willthrough the conifer forests,Mack was happy. StephanieandAmberweren’tanywherein sight. They got away. Inthe end that was all thatmattered.

Twenty minutes passed,and Mack's ankle was fullyhealed. He pretended it wasstill broken, faking wincesand groans, while all the

while he planned his escape.All the options involvedsavagebrutalityandviolence.

Sounds of gunfire andyellsgotlouderthefartherhewas dragged. His plans ofbeating the Galatea Securitymembers to death, probablywiththeirownweapons,wereputonhold.TheyweretakinghimtoHaven.

The density of pine andspruce trees started to thin

out. Through them, Mackcould see more Galatea menengaged in a firefight. Withwhom? There was whatlooked like a huge slightlyrusted freighter that toweredover docks made of rottedwood.Fromportholesandthebridge,peoplefiredback.Well, here we are.

“Haven”wasscribedinlargewhitelettersonthesideofthefreighter.Mack had made it.

Findingwhat he,Amber andStephanielookedforoverthepast couple of weeks shouldhavebeenagoodfeeling.Buthis two ladies were nowheretobefoundandthesanctuarythey were after looked likemoreofthesameshitthey'vedealtwithsincetheoutbreak.If Stephanie was here I'd

tell her, “I told you so”.Mack continued to be pulledalong the ground until he

reached a bald man with hisback turned to the captive.Thismustbethebossman.

“We got em, Mr. Grey,”said one of Mack's captorsright before throwing himdownintothemud.

The bald man turnedaround.Mackknewhe'dseenhim before. It took a fewseconds before he realizedwherehesawhimlast.Itwasa couple of months earlier,

andthemanhadamohawkorsomething ridiculous likethat.

Mr.Greyturnedaround.ItwasIsaac,oneofthelateTedGorman's cronies.Mack wasgenuinely surprised to seehim. He thought for sure hedied outside the bait shopbackinOregon.Thatsurpriseturned to concern. Isaac wasclearly a survivor. Andsurvivors are typically the

most dangerous type ofpersontoruninto.

“I seem to remember Mr.Sebastian's orders were tobringhimthreepeople.Itwasfor a big guy, and teenagegirl,andawoman.Ionlyseea big guy. So where are theother two?” asked Isaacthrough teeth clenched downon a cheap cigar. He didn'teven flinch in spite of thebulletsflyingby.

“They ran,Mr.Grey, sir,”one of Mack's captors wasdumb enough to actuallyanswerthequestion.

Isaac had a sarcasticsurprised look on his face.“They ran huh? Did you, Idon't know, think to chasethem?”

One of Mack's captives,the dumbone, kicked him inthe ribs. “Thisonekilledourraptors. It took all four of us

totakehimdown.”“Four of you? For one

guy?Really?Well, that's justsad.”Isaactookouthispistol.

The dumb captor tookseveralstepsback.

“Relax man, I'm not Mr.Gorman. I'm not a psycho.”Isaac raised his gun andpointed it at the dumb guy'shead. “I'm a marine.” Hepulled the trigger. It wasn'tloaded. Mack's captors

looked like they just soiledtheir pants. “I don't likefailure. Now I would've shotyou butwe need all themenwe can get. These bastardsareduginlikefuckingticks.”

“Yes sir. Sorry sir.Wheredo you need us?” asked oneofthemen.

“Leave him here and gojoin the others on the docks.If you don't die, I'll forgiveyou and we'll forget this

happened.What do ya say?”Isaacloadedhis1911Colt.

“Yes sir, right away.”Mack's captors ran for thedocks even though therewasnothingbutastormofbulletswaiting for them. Theyfigured it was better to riskthepossibilityofdeathratherthan refuse and court certaindeath.

Isaac looked down atMack and smiled.

“Rememberme?”Macknoddedashetriedto

figure out how to disarmIssac and take his pistol. Heknew that his size wouldn'tgive him any kind of leg upon a former marine. Thenagain, he had other abilitiesthat might allowed him toprevail. Whether he tried toget away or not, therewas alot of pain on the way. Thatmuchwasunavoidable.Inthe

end his choice woulddetermine just how muchsufferinghe'dendure.

“Last we met was backduring that shit show inOregon. That was somethingwasn't it. Anyway...” Isaacnoticed the look in Mack'seyes. He'd seen it before inprisoners when he wasworkingaPOWcampinIraq.Heraisedhisarm,resultinginthe barrel of his pistol

pointing straight at Mack'sforehead. “Settle down,buddy.”

“Why?Soitwillbeeasierfor you to killme?”Both ofMack's eyes focused on thedarkofthebarrel.

Isaac laughed. Mackfeared that he was dealingwith another nut job. “Killyou? Nah, I'm not going tokillyou.”Thebaldex-marinelowered his gun. “My boss,

he tasked me with findingyou and bringing you to theSeattle site. He wants toextendyouajoboffer.”Is this guy serious? “A

job?”“As a reward. For killing

Ted Gorman. That guy waswell…outofhisdamnmind.Mr.Sebastianneededhimoutof the way so that Galateacould move on, evolve. Yousee, his ideas about world

domination were a bit farfetched.Insteadofdestroyingtheworld,wewanttorebuildit,better.”

“Is that why you'reattacking those people?”Mack nodded his headtowards the freighter called“Haven”.

“Those people are aproblem. They preachsanctuary but really they'renothing but...” Before Isaac

could finish his sentence abullet exploded through hisside, just below his ribs. Hecursedupastormandalmostfell.That'smygirl.Mackheard

Amber's voice. He saw herskinny little arms motioninghimtojoinherandStephaniebehindsomefernsaboutfortyyardsaway.

Not wanting to leavewithout telling Isaac how

much he appreciated lettinghimlive,MackpunchedIsaacwithall thestrengthhecouldmuster. He knocked the ex-marineontohisass. Itwasn'tthat impressive of a featconsidering theman had justbeen shot. Still, it was verysatisfying.

Mack somehow managednot to get shot as he rantowards the ferns to regroupwith his two friends. They

were just as glad to see himas he was to see them. Buttherewasno time for talk orreunions.Havenwasn'tgoingtowaitforthem.

Amber, Stephanie andMack had less time to reachtheir destination than theyoriginally thought. After aloud blast from its horn, thefreighter's engines startedup.The rather scrappy crewmembers who fought it out

with the Galatea men on thedocks retreated. Theyclimbed up rope laddersrolleddownfromthehull.

“We gotta get to thoseladders before they startmoving,”saidMack.

“What? Through all thoseGalatea douche bags?”Amber's mouth hadn't gottenanycleanersinceshefirstmethim.

“Don't worry. They won't

touchus.”“Why's that exactly?”

asked Stephanie,simultaneously confused andconcerned.

“I'll tellyouabout it later.Just trust me.” Mack tookAmber in one hand andStephanie in the other. Thethree of them sprinted outfrom behind the ferns andmadeforthedocks.

“Don't shoot them! Boss

man...” Isaac coughed andheld his recently acquiredbullet wound. “Boss manwantsthemalive!”

Some of the Galatea mentried to subdue them. Theyeithergotabullet,afist,orashoulder for their trouble.None of them managed totakethetriodown.

Havenstartedtomove.Itsprogresswasslow,butashipthat big didn't take long to

buildup somemomentum. Ifthey didn't hurry theirwindowofopportunitywouldslip away. If that happenedthey would have a brightfuture working for thecompany that almostdestroyed humanity and triedtokillthem.

Mack almost reached theendof thedock,withAmberand Stephanie close behind.Haven's ladders were out of

reach. Those ladders werequickly being retracted bycrew members. If they weregoing to get on the freighter,they'd have to take a leap offaith. Literally, it was theonlywaythey'dreachthem.

Stephanie went first onaccordofherleginjurywhichshe suffered at the hands ofTedbackinOregon.Itwasn'ttoo seriousbutpreventedherfrom getting much of a

running startbefore jumping.She banged her knee againstthe hull of the freighter butmanaged to grab the ropeladder.

Amber was up next. Shehad to wait for Stephanie toclimbhighenoughtogiveherroom. Once that happened,theteeneasilymadetheleap.

Mack looked back at theshore. Isaac stared a hole inhim. After smiling, the big

guy ran to the end of thedocksandjumped.

Chapter3:ArkNew Hope Island started

to fade away into thedistance. Mack couldn't helpbut wonder if he made amistake leaving, especiallysinceheleftbeingatgunpointon land with being atgunpointonareallybigboat.

“Who are you? What do

youwant?Andwhat thehellare you doing on ourfreighter?” asked a middleaged woman with anAustralian accent whopointed a large caliberrevolverathim.

As soon as they reachedthedeckofHaven,theyweremetwithafairbitofhostility.It was understandableconsidering thecircumstances. Not only did

the crew just get donefighting with the Galateahenchmen, but then threestrangers climbed onto theirfreighter. Chances were thenew passengersweren't therefor friendly reasons. Certainprecautionshadtobetaken.

None of the trio said aword.

“Not going to talk huh?”The middle aged womangrinned. She glanced around

at her rather raggedy crew.They lookedas if theyhadn'tbathed in weeks. Their shipwasn't in any better shape.Everysurfacewascoveredincamouflage like patterns ofrust.This is Haven? What a

dump.“Maybe if we toss one of

you overboard your mouthswill loosen up. Josiah.” Themiddle aged woman

motioned for the tall manwithdreadlocksbehindher.

Mack spoke up. “We'reherelookingforHaven,that'sall.”

“Havenhuh?”“That'sright,”saidAmber.

“Ordidyou leave those littlepieces of map for people tofollow just so you can turnthem away. Because if youdid, that would be a dickmove.” It was only a matter

of time till she lost hertemper. She was a teenagerafterall.Theywereespeciallysusceptibletosuchoutbursts.

“Whywouldn't they shootyou?” asked themiddle agedwoman, after completelyignoringtheteengirl.

“I'm not sure, seeing as Ikilledtheirboss,”saidMack.

Thewomangavealookofdisbelief. It wasn't the kindthat one might give if they

saw something unbelievable.Itwas thekind thatyougivesomeonewhotoldanobviouslie and tried to pass it off asthetruth.

“You killed TedGorman?” asked the middleaged woman with oneeyebrow raised. “That's…frankly that's a little hard tobelieve.”

“What do you want?Proof?Youwannaknowhow

Ididit?”“If what you say is true,

why wouldn't they want tokillyou?”

“The man was a crazyperson. They were happy toberidofhim.Hell,Ididthema favor.” Mack's eyes neverstopped staring into thewoman'speepers.Everywordhe spoke was withconfidence.

“You really killed him,

didn't you.” The womanloweredhergun.

“I really did.” Mack andthe woman stared at eachother for almost a minute.Both were trying to read theother'sface.

Finally, the middle agedwoman laughed. “Lower youguns.” All the men andwomen on the deck didexactly as she ordered. “Inthatcase,welcometoHaven.

Let'sgetyouthreesomethingtoeat.”Be wary, Mack. Who

knows what these peoplewant? All three followed thewoman towards a thick steeldoor.

“I'm JeanineCastle. Iwaselectedtoleadthecrewhere.”

“Mack.”Hepointedathisown chest. Then he pointedbehind him. “Stephanie andAmber.”

Jeanine stopped to lookbackatthem.Sheshookalloftheirhands.“Pleasuretomeetyou. Sorry about the wholepointing guns at you thing.We have to be careful thesedays. I'm sure youunderstand.”More than you can

possiblyknow.“Anyway.” Jeanine

grabbedthehatchtothesteeldoor and opened it. There

was a slight groan as theslightlyrustedhingespivoted.“If you followed those mapsthan I'm sure that you guyshave a lot of questions. I'mguessing first on your list isthat you want to know whatHaven is. Follow me, I'llshowyou.”

They traversed somenarrow hallways andprecarious metal staircasesbeforereachingthebowelsof

Haven. There they found aminiature city. It was bothimpressiveandsurreal.

What struck the trio firstwas the smell and sounds ofwhat lay ahead. It smelledlike cooking food, cigarettesand body odor. The aromawasn't terrible, but it wasstrong. They heard whatalmost sounded like a busymarketfullofvoices.

Packed tightly together

were little tents and shacksbuiltaroundandintotheship.Men and women mingled,some worked, other walkedaround the narrow paths thatcut through the makeshifthomes. Children could beheard playing and runningaround.Therewereevendogsand cats wandering freely,like they belonged toeveryone.Itwasahot,humidand crowded shanty town on

thewater.Surprisingly,itfeltinviting.

“These are the livingquarters. I know there isn'tmuch room, but it seems towork. We haven't had anyproblems so far. Everyonehere is civil and doing theirbest under difficultcircumstances. You'll noticethatisanongoingthemehereatHaven.

“Everyone here works in

some way shape or form.They either help keep theengines running,work in thekitchens, work security orhelpcleanuptheship.It'sourbeliefherethatidlehandsareindeedthedevil'splaythings.”Jeanine led them off theelevated walkway over thelivingquartersand intomoreclaustrophobichallways.This is soundinga lot like

the Golden Pony. I don't

knowifthat'sagoodthingorabadthing.

ThetourofHavenstoppednext at a spacious kitchen.Some crew members cutvegetables and fruit. Otherswatched and mixed big potsfull of soups and/or boilingfood. At the far end, next tothestoves,variousmeatsandbreaddoughswereprepared.

“Not bad huh?” askedJeaninewithatoothysmile.

“It's... impressive,”answeredStephanie.

“Waituntilyou seewherewegetall thatfood.BeforeIshowyouthat,Iwanttotakeyouguystotheengineroom.So if you'll follow me...”Jeanine guided them out ofthekitchenandback into theapparentlyendlesshallways.

The engine roomwashellonearth,ortheseaasitwere.It was much hotter and

cramped than the livingquarters. Amber andStephanie almost threw upfrom the overpowering smellofheavyfueloil.Mackcoulddetecthintsofsulfurinit.

“Iknow,it'snotpretty,butit'snecessarywork.Wedon'thaveanyonewho'sworkedonboat engines before. It's alittle touch and go. Despitesome... difficulties, we makeit work. I guess it would be

toomuchtoexpectforoneofyou to have experience withsuchthings?”Jeanineaskedaquestionshealreadyknewtheanswerto.

“You guessed right,”answeredMack.

“That's too bad. For methat is. It's actually a goodthing for you because that'sthe worse job on the ship. Ihate it in here. Let's moveon.”

Instead of going down,Jeanine led the trio uptowards the deck. None ofthemknewwhere themiddleaged leader of Haven washeading. They had no doubtthat it would be anothersurprise.Everythingaboutthefloatingcommunitywas.

When Jeanine opened thedoorthatleduptothedeck,ablindingly bright lightshowered her and her new

arrivals.Averywelcomecoolbreeze barreled through thecozyconfinesofthestairwell.Amber was especially happyto get out of the stuffyinnardsofHaven.

Out on the deck, on theopposite side from wherethey boarded, was a virtualfarm.Therewererowsofdirtwithgrowingcropsplantedinthem. Carrots, onions,tomatoes, potatoes and

several different kinds ofherbsallgrewonthedeckofa freighter that once heldshipping containers full ofelectronic goods and cheapclothes.

More impressive than thecrops was the livestock. TheHaven crew somehowmanaged to raise and keeppigs, cows and chickens.From what Mack could tell,the animals looked to be in

great shape. They munchedawayongrassandfeed.

“As you can see, we're aselfsustainedcommunity.Allwe need from dry land isfresh water and fuel.Otherwise we can sail outhere for months. We're safefrom the undead, fromGalatea, and safe fromraiders. In short, we are asanctuary. Congratulationsfriends, you've made it.”

Jeanine was very pleasedwith herself and thecommunityshecreated.That must've been why

theywereatNewHopeIslandand Bull Harbor. Theyneeded to restock. Thosemaps were a bonus. Noreasonwhy theycan'trecruittoo.Judgingbytheirsecurity,they probably don't need toworrysomuchaboutanybadelements.

What do you know. Wefound ourselves a utopia.They got their own food,plenty of water and they arefar from land. So what's thecatch? There's always acatch. There's no such thingas paradise. Not before theoutbreak, and certainly notafter.

“I'll leave you three to it.Marshall will find you andshow you to your quarters.

That's customary. Newarrivals get their own privatebunks until they get adjustedto life here. Tomorrowmorning there's a service uphereon thedeck.Attendanceismandatory.”Jeaninesmiledatthemwarmlyandleftthemtotheirowndevices.I knew therewas a catch.

MackwatchedJeaninetillshedisappeared below deck. Heturned to Stephanie and

Amber.“You see what I saw?”

askedAmber.Mackshrugged.“Notsure.

Whatdidyousee?”“I see a boat full of

strangers,” said Stephanie.“We should probably get tochanging that.” She lookedoutovertheedgeofthedeckat New Hope Island. Thecold, miserable clump ofrocks and conifers quickly

faded away from view. “Itlooks like we're going to behereforawhile.”

“We'll get right on that.We will. But first, Amber,youweresaying?”

“They all wore crosses.Theyhad themonnecklaces,their clothes, some even hadtattoos.”Amber'sobservationwasrightonthebutton.Allofthem wore that all toofamiliar religious

iconography.Only theyweredifferent than the gardenvariety crucifixes. A triangleconnectedthetopthreepointsonallofthem.

“Indeed they do. Goodeyes, girlie girl.” He waspleasedwithhisward's skillsofobservation.

“You think they're somereligious freaks?” Amberasked.

“Yeah.No.Maybe. Thing

isnomatterwhattheyare,weneedtomakethiswork.Thisisallweeverwanted.Andifit turns out it isn't?We'll getoffthenexttimeitstops.”

Amber and Stephaniedidn't verbally agree, butfrom their body language itwas clear that they were onthesamepage.

A short but strongly builtbalding bearded man foundthem standing on the deck.

His name was MarshallStokes.Heservedastheheadof Haven security, a generaland the chief of police. Theman's demeanor and attitudescreamed that he was not tobemessedwith.

Marshall took them backthrough the bowels of theship to a hallway that led towhatwasonce the freighter'sproper crew quarters. Therewere only a couple of other

residents in the relativelyluxurious living space. Theywere families that featurednewmothers and otherswhowere sick and needed to beseparatedfromthecrowdsofthecommunallivingarea.

To the sounds of cryingbabies and coughing, the trioof survivors settled into theirsmall cabin. When Mackstood in the middle of theonly room, he could touch

both walls just by extendinghis arms, left and right. Thatdidn't matter. The only thingthatdidwerethebunks.

Afteralongdayofrowingacross the Queen MargaretSound, traversing the coldrocky forests of New HopeIsland and fighting Galateayet again, he was exhausted.As soon as his head hit thepillow, he fell asleep. Hehopedthatanew,saferreality

awaitedthemonHaven.***

That better be the rightman. We need him. It's theonly way we'll survive.Jeanine wondered whethershe welcomed Haven'smessiah onto the freighter asshe left the new arrivals onthedeck.Whilewalkingbacktothedoorthatleddownintothe hull, she tried to figureout how she would get what

shewanted.It's in his blood.We need

his blood. It's our destiny.God wills it. Jeanine couldhear her own footsteps echoas she descended the metalstaircase.Shetookthewalkietalkie off her worn leatherbelt.

“Marshall?ThisisMother.Do you read me? Over.”Jeaninetriedtoraiseherrighthandman,MarshallStokes.

Jeanineheardthesignaturebeep from her walkie talkie.“This isMarshall. I hearyouloud and clear, Mother.Over.”

“Meet our new guests upinthegardens.Showthemtothecabins.Makesureyougetthem anything they need. Iwantthemtobecomfortable.Over.” Jeanine walked thehallways,scheming.

“Yesm'am.”

“Put some people on bothentrancestothecabins.Don'twant anyone leaving orentering that area untiltomorrow.Over.”

“Understood. Over andout.” Marshall, havingreceived his orders,endeavored to see themthrough.Dr.Yenwillknowwhat to

do. She'll know what'sneeded.Let'shopeshe'sinthe

lab. Jeanine'sdestination, themakeshift lab, was locatednear the very bottom of thefreighter. There, in secret, ateamofscientistsanddoctorsworkedhardon the futureoftheirutopia.

Toget tothelabs,Jeaninehad to pass through sevendifferent doors, three ofwhich required a key shepossessedtoopen.Otherthanthedoors,shehadtofindher

way through a maze likecollection of dark and damphallways.ThefloorofHaveninwhich the labwas locatedhad no lights (with theexceptionofthelaboratories).

A water tight bulkheaddoorservedasathick,sturdyand cold gatekeeper for thelaboratories. It also servedasa prison guard, because notone of the people beyond itwere there voluntarily. They

were prisoners forced intoservice.

ItwastruethateverytimeHaven made port that thecrew went out and foundsupplies. But those suppliesweren'tlimitedtofood,water,weaponsandtools.Theyalsosalvaged people. Not all ofthemwerevolunteers.

Four months before theirvisit toBullHarborandNewHopeIsland,thefreighterwas

in the Yellow Sea off theEasternCoastofChina.Theydidn't just happen to end upthere, they went for apurpose. Their purpose putthem at odds with a postoutbreak organization thattranslated from Mandarin as“ThePhoenix”.

Under the employ of ThePhoenix were the bestsurviving scientists from allof Asia. They kept them in

one of the few major citiesleft intact, Shanghai. At thecost of twenty eight crewmembers, the denizens ofHaven were able to kidnapsome of those scientists andbasicallyenslavethem.

“Ms. Castle. What is ittoday?” asked Dr. Mei Yen.The thirty five year oldscientist had on a dirty labcoat and similarly shabbyclothes underneath. Her

glasses were taped together.A thick chain and amanaclebound her to some nearbypipes.

Jeanine walked throughtheopenwatertightbulkheaddoor. In the labs beyond itthere were eight scientistprisoners. Understandablynone of them were happy toseetheircaptor.Atleastmostofthemweren't.

One of the prisoners, a

chemist from Mumbai, waspleasedtoseeJeanineCastle.Itwasn'tbecausehelikedheror in any way forgave her.The prisoner planned to killher.Allthatneededtohappenwas the Mother of Havengettingwithinarmsreach.

“Today? Today is a fineday, Dr. Yen. For the Lordfinally got us what youneeded to finish your work.Well,sortof.”Jeaninesmiled

and spoke with a tone thatwould suggest friendliness.Haven's prisoners knewbetter. There was nothingfriendlyaboutJeanineCastle.The manacles and chainswereproofofthat.

“TedGorman?” askedDr.Yen.

“Better, we got the guywhokilledhim.”

Dr. Yen was confused.“The guy who killed him?

Whatgooddoesthatdous?”“He's infected with the

same strain of the virus.”Jeanine sauntered around thelab. She wasn't evenrespectful enough to look atDr.Yenasshedidso.

“Howdoyouknow?”“That's really not

important.”“What do you have?

Blood?Saliva?Hair?”Jeanine got closer to the

shiv wielding chemist. Butnotcloseenoughtobeinanyreal danger. The Mother ofHaven picked up and lookedat random pieces of labequipment scavenged intownsacrosstheworld.Afterexaminingthem,sheputthemback down where she foundthem.

“We don't have any ofthose.”

“Thenwhyareyou-”

“I wanted you to knowthat we were close. And Iwantedyoutoprepare.You'llgetasampleofhisbloodlatertoday.” Jeanine opened adrawer.Shetookoutacoupleof syringes. “I expect someresults before we reachAustralia.”

“Ms.Castle,I'mnotsureIcan...”

Jeanine interrupted herprisoner.“Sureyoucan.You

have to. Or I can guaranteethat you'll never step foot onland again.” The Mother ofHavenwaseerilycalmasshethreatened to end Dr. Yen'slife.

Sensing his opportunity,the shiv wielding chemistcame at Jeanine with hismakeshiftweapon. In a flashshe grabbed his arm andtwisted it back behind hisback. What he didn't know

was that she was a prisonguard for twelve years. Andinallher timeshewasnevera victim of one of herinmates. He had themisfortune of finding outwhy. The chemist wasdisarmedandathermercy.

Able but not willing tolose one of her scientists,Jeaninedecidednottokillthewould be assassin. Insteadshe shoved him into one of

the nearby tables. He fell ontheway down, slamming hisshoulderintotheedgeofone.

“Get ready. It's almosttime for you to finally startdoing the Lord's work,” saidJeanine, just before leavingthe labs and shutting thewater tight bulk head doorbehindher.

Chapter4:TheFallofShanghai

Lookat them.Theyaresodesperate for safety andcivilization. So few of themwill get through. None ofthem have the courage to dowhat needs to be done.Instead theywait in line andhopetobesaved.Pathetic.

Suresh Devi looked outover the high walls ofShanghai. Below, he saw asea of refugees clamoring tobeletin.Armedguardsatthecommand of General Xinlinedthetopofthewallsandpointedtheirgunsdown.

Deviknewthatnoonewasgettinginsideunlesstheyhadsomethingtocontribute.Thatwas the way of the moderngreat walled city. There was

no heart of sympathyinvolved. Survival andrebuilding managed muchmore than sympathy.Bringing your baby andtryingtohandittotheguardsat the gate didn't work. Thepleas would be met bynothingbutstonestillfaces.Whenwilltheygiveupand

focus on trying to survive?Noneof themseemtorealizewhat is coming, right on

schedule. Devi knew whatwas imminent. At nightfall,every day, infected from allaroundthecitytriedtoattackthewalls.Theyalwaysfailed,but each time they displayedmoreorganizationalskillsandferocity. Each time theyslaughtered the refugees thatstood between them and thedoors. He knew that thissunsetwouldbenodifferent.

Devi heard the infected

screeches. The soundslaunched the refugees into apanicked frenzy. Most ofthem realized that they werein a bad spot. Either theyretreatedandtriedtohideintothe remains of theneighboring city ofMinghang, or they couldcontinue their futile attemptstoenterShanghai.Chancesofliving through the oncomingonslaught were extremely

slim, nomatterwhich optiontheychose.

AtfirstallthatDevicouldseewereshapes.That'showitalways started. Darksilhouettes appeared in thelight between buildings,staying off the open streets.Again,onlyatfirst.

The undead evolveddifferently depending onwhere they were wheninfected. Those in the

Shanghai area were faster,swifter and fiercer than theirAmerican cousins. Theymoved in coordinated packsand were controlled with ahive mind. It made themconsiderablymoredangerous,butalsomorepredictable.

When they heard the re-animateddead, theguardsonthewallknewexactlywhattodo. Each man and womanloaded and checked their

guns.Thosewhomanned theflamethrowers set up alongthe wall every forty to fiftyfeet poured fuel into thedangerous incendiaryweapons.

All that was left was towait for them to get withinrange. That meant watchingand witnessing the killing ofthe refugees who didn't andcouldn'tescapeintime.Noneof them were authorized to

assist, not unless theircommandingofficers orderedthemto“openfire”.

Divorcing emotion fromtheir duty was the only wayfor the Shanghai way of lifeto work. Especially if youworked on top of the citywalls. The horrors of theoutside world had to roll offtheir shoulders. If not, theirjob would have beenimpossible.

Devi heard screams ofterror and agony in the ruinslaid out before him. Hecaught brief glimpses of thecarnage. It was gruesome.And it was bloody, verybloody. The refugees weretornapart.Poor bastards. Bad luck.

Devididn'tfeeladamnthingas he watched innocentpeople get massacred. Theonly thing he feltwas amix

of anticipation andadrenaline. For the undeadkept coming after finishingtherefugees.

“Steady!” yelled a mannamed Alexei who was incommandoftheguards.

Devi was ultimately incharge of every man andwoman on the wall. Thatincluded Alexei. But he sawno reason togiveanyorders.Theyneedednodirection.His

menknewexactlywhattodo.The same thing went downevery day, andmost of themwere just going through themotions.

The undead got withinrange, and over a hundredpairs of glowing orange eyesreached the first rows ofbarbed and razor wire thatstartedseventyyardsfromthewall.More rowswere put inplace every ten yards after

that.Asmallnarrowwalkwaytothefrontgatemadefortheonlyobstaclefreeapproach.

“Openfire!”yelledAlexei.All thegunsalong the top

of the Shanghaiwall eruptedinto gunfire. The infecteddidn'tstandachance.Mostofthem got caught up in thewire alongside the long deadand decayed corpses of thecreatures who previouslytried an assault on the city.

The majority of those endedup being macabre ornamentsnext to the rotted remains ofthe ones who failed beforethem.

Some of the infectedquickly advanced past thewire and headed straight forthe gates. Of course theguards were ready for that.Positioned just above themain gates was aflamethrower,anditwasused

togreateffect.Fire didn't immediately

stop them. The creaturesbashed on the gate door, andtheytriedtoclimbthesmoothwallswhichpurposefullyhadno hand holds of any kind.Predictability, none of themmademuchprogress.

Thefirstwaveofcreatureswere destroyed, but none ofthe guards on the wallrelaxed. A meager force of

basicworkerbeetypeundeadweren'tthemainthreat.

Much louder and moreguttural noises accompaniedmore screeches in thedistance. Four massivemonsters stepped out of theshadows, making theirpresence known. They wereintimidating, even to thoseveterans on the wall who'dsenthembefore.

What the massive

monsters were before beinginfectedwasamystery.Whatwas known was that theywere almost as big aselephants and walked on allfours.Metalspikes juttedoutof their bear-like heads thatkind of resembled atriceratops.

The scariest aspect of themassive monsters were thatthey were mounts for themost dangerous undead ever

observed.Thoseontopofthemassive beasts didn't haveany scraps of rotting skin orclothes left. Their bodieswere wrapped in metalmuscles. Their eyes glowedyellow. And theycommunicated with eachotherthroughshrillscreeches.

“Reload!”yelledAlexeiashe kept his eyes on theundeadriders.

There was a stare down

between the guards on thewall and the undead riders.The latter's intense glowingeyes surveyed the walllooking for any weaknesses.After a good five minutes,one of them raised its arms.It's mouth stretched open sofar that its bottom jawreachedmid chest level. Outof it came a screech thatwould've shattered glass ifthere was any left intact

anywherenearit.A living tsunami of

infected came rumbling frombehind the riders. The sheeramount of them made thegroundshake.Neverhadanyoftheguardsseensomanyofthe monsters attack at once.There was a seeminglyunendingamount.That's new.And that's not

good.Devididn'tstickaroundtowatch too long.Ashe left

his viewpoint he heardAlexei.

“Whatshouldwedo,sir?”asked the panicked, nervousman.

“Fightanddieifyouhaveto. None of those get in. Doyouhearme?Noneofthem!”Devi gave the orders andproceeded to abandon thewall. He needed to alertGeneral Xin and get him tomobilize his troops. They

were the only chanceShanghai had to stay undeadfree.

Alexeididn'tknowwhattodo. He didn't notice Deviclimbing down the laddersand scaffolding to the city.His mouth couldn't andtherefore didn't give theorders to fire on thewaveofmonsters.

One of the other guardsgave the order instead. All

anyone could hear for mileswere their gunshots. Each ofthem atop the wall gaveeverything they had, but itwouldn't be enough. At leastthey stemmed the tide ofthem.Foralittlewhile.

***I'll never see them again.

Mytimeassheriffofourlittletown is over. Still, I can dothis one last thing. Then I'llbe done. Which is fine, I'll

live.That'sallthatmatters.By the time the second

wave of undead camescreeching towards theShanghaiwall,thecitizensofPhoenix's city were scared.Fear led to confusion, whichledtopanic,asoftenwasthecasewithpeople.Theyfinallyrealized that their little sliceof safety and comfort hadreacheditsexpirationdate.Idiots.Noneof themstand

a chance. Running aroundlikechickenswiththeirheadscutoffwilldo themnogood.The chaos around Devidisgusted him. Sure he wasafraid.He'd have to be crazynot tobe.Unlike the citizensof Shanghai though, he hadanescapeplan.Aboatwaitedforhimat theport, and fromthere he'd escape to YellowSea and out to somewhereremote, somewhere he could

startanew.First,Devihadtoreachthe

port. It wouldn't be an easytask. The wall was on theopposite side of the city.True, the new Shanghai wasnowherenearasbigasitsfullsized ancestor, but the waterwasstillacouplemilesaway.Add streets clogged byhysterical people and itturned into a formidablejourney. One that he eagerly

started.Devimadeitamilebefore

he noticed the gunshots hadstopped. It was an ominoussign.He had to hurry.Eitherthe guards ran out of bulletsor the infectedoverran them.No matter which was true,timewasoftheessence.

InthestreetsbetweenDeviandthewall,carnageensued.The infectedhadmanaged toscale the wall using their

brethrenasstools.Thoughtheguards were brave andskilled, they didn't stand achance.

Under theguidanceof theundead riders, the hordeeasily overtook the wall andthemeageramountofguards.From there, there was onlyone place else to go. Theyjumped down into a pen fulloffreshmeatandhadatit.

Most of the citizens of

Shanghai were useless in afight. None of them offeredany significant resistance.Theyservedascannonfodderas the smart ran for theirlives.

Devi didn't see any of theinfected, but he heard them.He heard the wet rippingsound of them rending flesh.He heard screams ofdesperate and intense agony.He heard random gunfire

from those who had enoughsense to keep their guns. Heheard the end of warmshowers and comfy beds.Heheard the end of that chapterofhislife.Good riddance. Devi

acceptedthelossofShanghaiashepushedhiswaythroughthe throngs of fleeingcitizens. His nose picked upthearomaof thesea.Hewasclose. All he had to do was

keepmoving.That can't be good. Devi

and every other remainingdenizen of Shanghai heard aloud crashing noise. It waslikeahighspeedcarcrashora twin engine plane hitting amountain. The street belowhisfeetshook.

What Devi didn't knowwas thatan infected thatwasonce an elephant bargedthrough the city's wall. The

gaping hole in the defensesnot only allowed in more ofthe creatures at a faster rate,but it alsopaved theway fortheriders.

Therewasn'ttimeforDevitoworryaboutwhat the loudcrashing noise was. Heneededtogettotheport.Ifhedidn't there was a goodchance his ride would leavewithout him. After all, mostpeoplevaluedtheirownlives

overaquickbuck(orluxurieslost post outbreak). By hisestimationhehad less thanahalf an hour before he wasstrandedandleftfordead.That's not going to

happen. I'm not like thesepeople. I'm better. I deserveto survive. Devi literallystepped over other denizensof Shanghai. Nothing andnobody was going to stophim.

TheportwaswithinDevi'sview. He saw the boat withGeneral Xin and Dr. KatyaIvanova waiting for him.They were the trinity of thePhoenix.GeneralXinalreadyknew.

He reacted the same way Idid. He's just trying to getout. That cold bastard willleavewithoutme.Ineedto…Devi felt a sharp pain in thesmall of his back. His arms

reachedbehindhimand triedtotouchwhateverhithim.Hefelt what bore a strikingresemblancetosteelcables.Abarb,notmuchdifferentfromthatfoundonaharpoon,wasembedded less than acentimeterfromhisspine.

Beforehecouldeventhinkof what to do, Devi waspulled off his feet. Theformer head of security forPhoenix run Shanghai

slammed face first onto thestreet.Hewasingoodshape,relatively young and fit, buttherewasnothinghecoulddoabout being draggedbackwards away from theport and his ticket out of thecity.

Without knowing whathad a hold of him, Devireached for his sidearm. Ashe was dragged, he rolledover tohisbackandtriedhis

best to ignore the almostblinding pain. What he sawwhenherolledovermadehisbloodgocold.

One of the undead riderssat atop its spike ladenmount. The cable that wasstuck in Devi's back wasretractingintotherider'sarm.It stared at him withemotionless yellow eyes. Inthem there was no pity, nomercy,norespectforlife.

Devi opened fire. Everyfired bulletwas accurate.Hecould tell by the sparkscreated from each impact ontheundeadrider'sbody.Noneof them had any effect, noteven when he emptied hiswholeclip.Thisisit.Realizingthathe

couldn't even use it to killhimself,Devithrewawayhispistol. There was no morerunning. He was fucked and

heknewit.When it's prey was close

enough, the undead ridergrabbed Devi by his throatand held him there. Theformer RAW (Indian CIA)agent tried to yell out whenthe harpoon and cable toreoutofhisback.Atightmetalhand around his throatprevented him from makingmuchnoise.

General Xin watched the

head of Phoenix intelligenceget his neck snapped by anundeadrider.Thoughitmighthave appeared otherwise, hefelt the loss of not only avaluable asset but one of thefew people he considered afriend. It saddened him.Neverthelessheneededmoveon. If he was to die there inShanghai, then the wholeorganization would crumble.Seeingthathebelieveditwas

the only hope for mankind,that was unacceptable. Deviand theothers left in thecitywould die somankindmightlive.

“Fiveminutes,sir!”yelledthe driver of the small boatGeneralXinandDr. Ivanovaescaped on. Before being re-purposed it was a modestfishingvessel. Itwasnothingspecial but was enough totransport them to their new

home.The last operational

aircraft carrier in what wasonce the Chinese Navywaited for its General. Xindidn't even lookat thevesselironically named “Jiangshi”.Hewastoobusywatchingallhis hard work get decimatedbylegionsoftheinfected.Never again.General Xin

swore not to lose anothercolony. Humanity's morale

couldn'ttakemuchmore.Norcould his. If people weregoing to survive in thenightmare the world hadbecome, they would need toadapt,change.

“Floaters!” yelled thesolder at the helm of one ofthe dozen or so boats thatmadeitoutofthecity.Damn.Ididn'tevennotice.

Having been brought to hisandeveryoneelseonaboat's

attention, General Xin sawthe floaters. They wereinfected who were bloated.Their extended belliesprotruded above the waterwhile serving as gruesomebuoys.

“Don't shoot them if theyget too close!” orderedGeneralXin.

Floaters were infectedmines. When shot theirbellies exploded, sending a

mist full of the nanite virusintothesurroundingair.Thatwasn't the only threat theyposed.Ifaboattouchedthemtheywouldspring to lifeandtrytoboardthevessel.

Xintookouthispistolandstarted shooting the floaters.They popped like balloonsreleasing their infectiousinnards. The creatureswouldn't of posed a seriousthreat if it wasn't for their

numbers.Itdidn'tmatterhowhis fishing boat maneuvered,he and the other passengerswould have to run into anddestroysome.There is no survival

without risk. General Xinknewwhathehadtodo.“Putonyourmasks!Now!”

Keptinsatchelsthateveryhigh level member ofPhoenixhadattached to theirwaist at all times were gas

masks. Just in case the viruswentairborne theyneeded tobeprepared,protected.

Dr. Ivanova and the threeother soldiers with her andthe General shot any floater,whether it got close or not.Their gas masks gave themtheprotection theotherboatsdidn't have, but that wasn'tenough.

Twofloatersclimbedontothe fishing vessel almost

capsizing it. They werequickly dispatched by wellaimed bullets. Infected gutssplattered but didn't infect.Thesamecouldn'tbesaidfortheothers.

General Xin watched asfloatersclimbedontosomeofthe other boats. In a panicthey shot at the creatures.Normally that would've beentherightthingtodo,butwithfloatersalltheydidwasdoom

themselves.After watching men and

women under his commandand protection get infecteddue to a simple desire tosurvive, Xin had aresponsibility.He had to endthembeforetheyaddedtotheenemies' numbers. Intent ondoing it himself, he didn'tgiveanorder.Insteadheputabullet in the head of everynewly infected denizen of

Shanghaionthewater.Regrettable but necessary.

IvanovaandXingot clearofthe bloated undead. TheGenerallookedbackandsawallbut twoof theotherboatsstrugglingtomakeitthrough.Hepickeduphisradio.

“Jiangshi?” General Xinradioedtheaircraftcarrier.

“This is Captain Long ofJiangshi,” answered a voiceontheotherendoftheradio.

“Admiral, this is GeneralXin.”

“Sir,whereareyou?”“Do any of you have a

flashlight?” Xin asked theotherpassengersonhisboat.

Ivanovahadone.Shetookit out of her go bag andhanded it over. The Generalturned it on andpointed it atthe Jiangshi. With his freehandhecoveredthelightandmoved it in a pattern

signalingthecarrier.“We see you, sir. Do you

needabirdtopickyouup?”“We won't require a pick

up, Captain. I need you toflatten the city and burn thewater behind me.” GeneralXin knew that it was over.There was no point leavingall those potential recruits tobecomeinfected.

GeneralXinandeveryoneaboard his fishing boat

coveredtheirears.Theyknewwhatwascoming.Anditwasloud, the teeth rattlingvariety.

The massive guns of theJiangshi blasted the beach.Shells as big as adolescentsflew over General Xin, Dr.Ivanova and the rest of theirshipmates. On impact theyexploded,sendingfire,debrisanddevastatingblastwaves.

Other guns on top of the

Jiangshi riddled the waterbehind the General's boat.The other vessels wererendered into nothing butsplinters. Their passengersturnedtochum.

The Jiangshi didn't stopfiring until General Xin gotaboard. He was silent as heclimbed the ladder onto thefloating machine of war.From there he had a clearview of the remains of his

city. A lesser man would'vecried or at least teared up. Itwas in shambles, and smokerose from burning buildingsand bodies both. Undeadscreechesreplacedthesoundsof the once bustling city.Therewasnothingleft.

The Jiangshi representedhope. General Xin wasdetermined to propagate justthat,despitethehorribleblowthat hope took that evening.

So he turned away fromShanghai and turned towardsthefuture.Itwasallhecoulddo.

Chapter5:ChurchThe last thing thatAmber

remembered was laying herhead down on a pillow.Beforesheknewitshewasn'taboardHaven. Shewas backinDallas,atherhouse.

Amber's parents did allright for themselves, but herdadwasaskinflint.Insteadof

gettinganicehousewithtwofloorswheremaybeshe'dgetsome privacy, he chose alittle ranch home. She hatedit.

Amber's house had thinwalls. She could heareverything. Often she heardher parents arguing. That alltoo familiar scenario waswhere she once again foundherself.Shewasinadimlylitversionofherroom.

Thewalls of her bedroomwerecoveredinposters.Mostwere of her favorite bands.Some were from classichorror movies. She couldn'tread any of the writing onthem. They almost lookedlike they were written insome unknown language.What was on her walls wasunimportant. Itwaswhat sheheardthroughthem.

Though she couldn't hear

exactly what they werearguing about, Amber couldhear the muffled sounds oftheiryells.She tried tomoveand leave her room but herlimbs felt like they weremoving underwater. It madeithardforhertoputonefootinfrontoftheother.

After some significanteffort, she managed to exitherbedroom.As soonas shecrossedthethresholdintothe

hallway her parents' arguingstopped.Itwasdeadsilent.Asense of unease crept up onher.Somethingwasn'tright.

Therewas a lamp that satatop a small stand in thehallway. It was the onlysource of light. The closerAmbergottoit,thedimmeritshined. By the time shereached it, it went outcompletely.

“Hey honey.” Amber

heardherdad'svoice.Butforthe life of her she couldn'tfigure out where it camefrom.

Acoldslightlyslimyhandgrabbed Amber's arm. Shetried to wrench it free. Shecouldn't. Another firmlygrabbedherankles.

Unseen by her, a forcepushed her over onto herback.Suddenlyshewasbackin her room. She tried to get

up but couldn't. That's whenshe noticed that she wasbeing held down by hershoulders. When she lookedupatwhatwasrestraininghershe saw the severely rottedcorpse of hermother smilingdown. A centipede crawledoutof the toothlessmouthofher dead mom and fell ontotheteen'sface.

As horrific as having herdeadmompinningher toher

bedroom floor was, it wasonly thebeginning.Herdeaddecaying father crawled upout of the hardwood andclimbed on top of hisdaughter.

For the first time sincebefore the outbreak, Amberfelt something she hoped tonever feel again. It was anauseating sensation deep inher guts. There was also anoverwhelming helplessness.

Thatmixonlycamewhenherfather would “visit” her atnight.

Ambercringedatherdad'stouch.Hemadehiswayuptoher head. She made eyecontact with the deadgelatinous spheres in hissockets. The horror leanedforward to kiss her on theforehead. There was nothingshecoulddotoavoidit.

Beforewhatwasleftofhis

lips touched her, his wholebodyturnedintobullets.Theycascaded over her.Hermomno longer restrained her. Infact,shewasgone.

Amberslowlygotup.Shelookedaroundandmadesurethere weren't anymoresurprises waiting for her.Therewasn't.Norwasshe inherbedroomanymore.

Looking at her ownsleepingself,Ambersawshe

was in their cabin aboardHaven. It wasn't only herselfthat slumbered, but hercompanions too. She tried tosay something, anything. Nowords came out no matterhowhardshetried.

Shewatchedasashadowyfigure entered the cabin. Itwas as if shadows mergedtogether to make somethingthat resembled a human'sform. A pair of meat puppet

redeyesturnedtowardsher.The shadow person held

up one of its hands. ItpresenteditforAmbertosee.That hand's fingers morphedintotheshapeofsyringes.

She tried to warn Mackthat the shadow personapproached, but Amber stillcouldn't muster a word. Allshecoulddowaswatch.

Theshadowpersonclosedhis syringe laden fist leaving

onlyhisindexfinger(needle)extended. It took that fingerand stuck it into one ofMack'sarms.Whileitdidso,theshadowslaughed.

***Amber was woken up

abruptly. Doing so to ateenager was never a goodidea. They tend not to bejovial or understandingwhenforcefully shaken loose fromtheir slumber.Agrowinggal

needsherbeautysleep,right?Whatthehell?Where'sthe

fire? The sound of feetagainstmetalfloorswaswhatawoke her. She looked outthe always open door-lessdoorway. People hurried by,and it was clear that theywere going somewhere. Thequestionwaswhere?

Amber groaned as sheforced herself up out of herbunk.Shecouldn'tsitupvery

farconsideringshepickedthetop bed. Her foreheadbumpedagainstthecoldgrayceiling.Stupidwall.

When the sleep clearedfrom her eyes, she could seethat shewas the last one up.Stephanie and Mack weresittingonthebunkbelowhertalking. She heard them butwasstilltootiredtomakeanysenseoftheirconversation.

The smell of coffee filled

their cramped crew quartersaboard Haven. Shortly afterwaking up, Stephanie hadmanaged to find her way tothe mess hall and grabbed acouple of cups. She also gotAmber an orange juice boxand some toasted homemadebread.

“Yousureyoudidn'thavethat before?” askedStephanie. Her and Mack'svoices were low as to not

wake up their teenagecompanion.

“I'm sure,” Mackanswered.

“Maybe you got bit bysomething back on theisland?”

“It would've healed bynow. I'm tellingyou, it lookslike a needlemark.Someonestuck me with something.They must have done it justbefore I woke up, because

thislooksfresh.”Amber looked over the

edgeofherbunk.Shesawhertwocompanions'legs.Mack'sarm was held out forStephanietosee.Therewasared dot with a little driedblooddrippingoffofit.

“I don't knowwhat to tellyou.Youmightberight.Butif someone did stick you,wouldn't one of us had seenthem?”Italmostsoundedlike

Stephanie was trying toconvinceherself.Should I say something?

Will they think I'm a crazyperson? Amber couldn'tdecide whether she shouldinform Mack of her dream.The memory of it quicklyfaded, but remained freshenough that she rememberedtheshadowman.

Someone knocked on thewall just outside the trio's

cabin. In unison they alllookedtoseewhoitwas.Thetallmanwithdreadlockstheysaw when first boardingHaven, Josiah, appeared inthedoorway.

“Good morning. I hopeyou all slept well.” Heoffered pleasantries from hismoutheventhoughtherestofhis face didn't convey thesamepleasantness.

“We slept fine,” answered

Stephanie, as she handedAmber her orange juice anddanish.

“I'mgladtohearit.Nowifyoucangetready,theserviceisabouttostart.”

“Service?”askedMack.“Yes. The mother gives a

sermon every Sunday.Attendanceismandatory.”The service? Sermon? Is

this guy talking aboutchurch? We're not going to

freaking church. Do we looklike church goers? Thesepeoplemustbecrazy.There'snowaywe'regoingto…

“Sure.Give us aminute,”saidMack.Hegotupoff thebottombunk.

“Of course.” Josiahpatientlywaitedwithhisbackturnedtothecabin.

“What!?” yelled Amberbefore jumping off the topbunk. Orange juice and

danishesbedamned.“Calm down.” Mack

wanted to avoid a scene infrontofJosiah.

“Why? You don't believein any of that crap. Andneither do you.” She pointedfirst at Mack and then atStephanie.

“No, we don't,” saidStephaniequietly.

“Thanwhy!?”“These people obviously

take their religion seriously.We'retheirguests.Weshouldtry not to piss them off.”Mackfinishedhiscoffeethencrumpled up his styrofoamcup. “C'mon. Let's get hisoverwith.”

Amber reluctantlyfollowedthem.Itwasasilenttrip up to the deck, on theopposite side of the gardensandlivestock.Amberbroughtup the rear of their tiny

caravan,draggingherfeet.From the lack of other

crew members in thehallways, they figured theymust'vebeenlate.

Finally the trio ofsurvivors led by Josiahreached the deck of Haven.Every member of the crewstoodoutinfrontofaslightlyelevated podium. Theircollective attention wasfocused squarely on Jeanine,

whowasbehind theplatformpreaching. The tall dreadedJosiah ushered them into theback of the “congregation”then joined his boss at thefront.Thisissomeutterbullshit.

Amberrolledhereyesasshelistened to the mother ofHaven go on and on aboutJesus.Intheworldshe'slivedin since birth it seemed veryunlikely that there was a

lovingGodupintheheavenssomewhere looking out forhumanity. Even though she'dbeen alive for less than twodecades, she'd seen moremisery and suffered morethan most who have liveddoublethat.

Halfwaythroughthehourplus sermon, Ambercompletely tuned outJeanine's voice. Instead, shefocusedontheopenwaterall

around them. She wonderedwhere they were and wherethey were going. Then shespotted a dark blob in thewater.

Bored by Jeanine andcurious about what was outthere swimming around, shewandered away from thecrowdtowardstheedgeoftheship. Even then she wasn'tclose enough to get a goodlook.Sowhenshesawapair

of binoculars just laying onthefloornexttotheedgeshepickedthemup.Itmusthaveofbeenprovidence.

Amber didn't know whatshe expected to see, but itwasn't an infected orca. Thewhale undead was chasingoneofitsuninfectedkin.Justas thescenegot toofarawayfor her to see, evenwith thebinoculars, the creaturedecided to cannibalize its

relative.As Amber drifted off,

Mack paid close attention toevery word Jeanine said. Hewanted tomake sure that theresidents of Haven were justvery religious and not a cult,because as strong as hewas,hewouldn'tbeabletofightashipfullofzealots.

“Again we face a greatflood. This time there are nogreat rains. There is no

natural catastrophe. This is aflood of mans' own making!It was men who made thevirus! It was men whoreleased it! It was men whothought they could playGod!” Jeanine had a wildlook in her eyes as sheventured into wrath of Godterritory.

“All of us here are thechosenfew.Wearethefutureof mankind. Here on this

great ark we continue ourvoyage that rivals Moseshimself. I can assure everylastoneofyouthatwhenthisstorm finally passes,we'll bethe ones building a betterworld. No matter what wehave to do. That is God'swill...”

Mack looked down at hisarm. The needle mark waslong gone, but the dry bloodwas still there. No matter

what,huh?“That is our will!” said

Jeanine and the entirecongregationinunison.

“Before we get to ourdaily duties, let's read apassage from Psalms...”Jeanine instructed thecongregationtoopenuptheirbibles and read aloud withher. Thatwas about the timethatMackhadheardenough.

He looked behind him in

order to make sure thatAmber was still there. Shewasn't.Hedidn'tpanicbuthewasanxioustofindher.Where'd you go, girlie

girl? Mack didn't have tolook for long. Amber stoodneartheedgeofthedeckwitha pair of binoculars, lookingoutattheocean.

“What are you lookingat?”heaskedashewalkedupto her. At first she couldn't

hear him over the sound ofrecitedbibleverses.

“Amber?”“Yeah?”“Whatyalookingat?”“Anything but that crazy

ladyupthere.”Mack smiled. “She does

lay it on a bit thick, doesn'tshe?”

Amber turned to him.From her eye contact andvoice, he could tell that she

was being serious. “I got areally bad feeling about thisplace.Something'snotright.”You and me both kiddo.

“Wasn't coming here yourandStephanie'sidea?”

It was a rhetoricalquestion.Amberknewit.

“Yeahbut thatwasbeforewe know that these peoplewerecrazybiblethumpers.”

“Fairenough.Butwecan'tleave.Wherearewegoingto

go? Look around us. There'snothing but ocean open inevery direction. We have todeal with it until this thingdocks somewhere.” Macktried to rationalize thesituation. The truth was thathe didn't want to admit toAmber that he too had areally bad feeling aboutHaven.

“We need to be ready,”Amber said as she looked

backoutovertheedgeofthedeckattheseeminglyendlessocean.

“Iagree,”saidMack.Both of themwatched the

waves. Neither of themnoticed that Stephanie wasstill watching Jeanine. Shewasinterested.

Chapter6:LandfallThe Jiangshi traveled

across the Yellow Sea intothePacificOcean.Fromthereit crossed the Banda andArafura Sea. It brieflystopped in Indonesia andNew Guinea for fuel andmorefood.ThenitwasontoOz.

Nestled in the Gulf ofCarpentaria thirtymiles fromthe northern coast was theAustraliancityofBorroloola.It wasn't a paradise but thatwasn'tthepoint.Thecitywasisolated and it didn't host alarge population. Combinethat with the size of thecountry,thefactthatitwasanisland, and the Phoenix basethere, made it an ideal placetostartanew.Alltheyhadto

dowasgetthere.Phoenixwasn'tnecessarily

looking to build a newShanghai in NorthernAustralia. Or at least not inBorroloola. It had a hot aridclimatewithalimitednumberofresourcesneededtostartanewworld.But itwasa safeplace to begin. In the end,that was what was mostimportant.Thesoonerwegetoff this

ship, the better. General Xinwasn't fond of being out onthe ocean. He didn't get seasickoranythinglikethat.Hejustdidn'tlikeit.

Xin stood on the inclinedend of the Jiangshi deck.Originally itwas designed tolaunchairplanes.Withoutanyplanes it was just a goodplacetobealoneandlookoutupon the new world he wasabouttoarrivein.

Thewaters in the Gulf ofCarpentaria were a beautifulturquoise. From the lightercolor it was clear to theGeneral that the water wasshallow. That was whyCaptain Long insisted thatthey drop anchor and notmove an inch closer to thebeaches of NorthernAustralia.

High above the slowlychurning waters of the gulf,

General Xin could see theshoreline. Despite being alittle rough, the coast hadplenty of places for him andhis men to come ashore andunload their supplies. Butthey needed to get to it. Theheatanddaylightschemed tospoilthoseplans.

Shanghai, where Xin wasborn and raised, got hot attimes. During the summerespecially it became a rough

placetowalkaroundoutside.That said, it had nothing onAustralia in November. Theaverage was thirty degreesCelsius (eighty six degreesFahrenheit). The day of theirarrivalwasn'tanaverageday.AthermometeronthedeckoftheJiangshireadfortysix.

Refusing to take off hisuniform, even though therewas no more People'sLiberation Army, General

Xin slowly roasted under acloudless sky. He believedthat itwas important to keepup appearances. If he wasgoing to lead the remains ofthe Phoenix Organization,thanheshouldlookthepart.Is that them? It better be.

And they better have a goodexcuse as to what took themso long.GeneralXin spottedthe dingy containing thescouts he sent to make sure

theshorewassecure.Hesentthemfivehoursearlier.

Xin walked down theslopedendof theJiangshi.Ashort but strong and grizzledman waited for him. It wasCaptainLong.Hehadmadeitquite clear since the GeneralgavehimorderstoleaveAsiathathewasnothappy.Thingwas, that didn't matter. Likeany good military man, hefollowedordersissuedtohim

fromahigherrankedofficer.“The scout team is on its

way back. I need them backupontheJiangshiasquickaspossible so they can bedebriefed. I need you tooversee the transport ofsupplies onto the beach.”General Xin spouted ordersas soon as he got withinearshotofCaptainLong.

“Sir,mayIspeakfreely?”General Xin sighed. “Of

course,Captain.”“Might I suggest that we

wait until tomorrowmorningbefore unloading onto theshore.”Captain Long, you are so

predictable. Always thecareful option. Look wherecareful has gotten us. Nomatter how safewe thinkweare,thecreaturesalwaysfindus.We will not run.We willnot cower.Wewill not show

fear.Neveragain.“While I appreciate your

input Captain, I do not planonspendinganothernightonthis ship. Neither will mymen. Now, make sure thosescoutsgetbackonboardandoversee the supply transport.That is an order.” GeneralXin walked away beforeLong had a chance to sayanything.

Unable todisobeyadirect

order, Captain Long walkedaway fuming. He did asGeneral Xin said. The firstthinghehad todowasmakesure the scout team got backaboardsafely.

It was a considerabledistancefromthewatertothedeck of the Jiangshi. A longrope ladder was the easiestand quickest way for sailorsto get back on board. SoCaptain Long ordered one to

bedeployed.Theyhadtofight thesurf,

but the scout team in thedingymanagedtosteadytheirraft and start climbing theladder. Immediately CaptainLong noticed something waswrong.Therewereonlyfour,insteadofthefivescoutsthatXinsentout.

General Xin had theunnervingabilityandhabitofsneaking up behind people.

One wouldn't know he waseven there unless he spoke.Hequietlywatched the scoutteam climb onto the Jiangshifrom behind Captain Long.And he didn’t like what hesaw.

“What took you so long?This was meant to be a twohour long reconnaissancemission. And where is yourlieutenant?” asked GeneralXin.

“We losthimshortlyafterlanding,sir,”answeredoneofthe members of the scoutteam.

“Youlosthim?”“A snake, sir. It bit him

minutes after landing. Thesnake was infected. We didwhat we had to do. Once hewas dead we followedprotocol and burnt the bodyand buried his remains. Ittooklongerthanweexpected,

sir.”So the virus has reached

every corner of the planet.This is not unexpected, butstilldisappointing.

“Understoodsoldier.Whatofthebeach?”

“It is safe, sir. Other thantheinfectedwildlife,thereareno infected humans withinmiles. We were not able tosearch the town, but wescanned and did not get any

hitsonthermals.Thebeachisclear.”

“Good. We make for theshore.” General Xin walkedaway, rightly expecting hismentofollowhiscommand.

***The sun started to set

before the move from theJiangshi to the beaches ofBorroloola began.Andwhenitdidgetunderway,progresswas slow. There weren't

many transportation optionsatPhoenix'sdisposal.

Withwhatlittleboatstheyhad, theremnantsofPhoenixmade for the beach. GeneralXin was in the lead boat,alongsidehisnumberone,Dr.Ivanova. His crew kept theireyes on the water. The lastthinganyofthemwantedwasto get attacked by infectedwildlife. They were all buthelpless in that stretch of

water.We need to move faster.

They will catch up with ussoon.Icannotletanyofthemknow we are in danger.Unlikehismen,GeneralXin'sattention was not on thewater. He knew where therealthreatcamefrom.

Hours before the fall ofShanghai, the Generalreceiveda call.Notonlyhadno one called him on his

satellite phone for months,butwhowasontheotherendwasunexpected.

For years before theoutbreak, Phoenix (whichwas then a corporation whodeveloped and producedchemical weapons forcountries across the world)and Galatea werecompetitors. They competedfor military contracts andinfluence in the Asia, Africa

and the Americas. It was acompetitionthatPhoenixwaswinning.

There were theoriesfloating around among thosein the know that Galateareleased thenanitevirus as alastditchattempt toovertaketheirrivals.Theideawasthattheyreleasedavirusthatonlythey had the cure for. Thosetheories were wrong. Theydidn't take into account a

crazed CEO who thought hecouldbuildabetterworld.

Wrong or right, theconspiracy theories aboutGalatea and the nanite viruspersisted. Eventually theyreached the ears of Phoenix,whojoinedaunionofChina,India, Russia and Japanagainstthegrowinghordesofinfected. Together theyfought against and destroyedGalatea bases across the

continent.It didn't take long before

Galatea was at war with theworld. The thing was, theywon. Crazy as he was, TedGorman was brilliant.Strategic placing ofheadquarters and virusdelivery systems made themnearly impossible to destroy.Combine that with theirunparalleledunderstandingofthe nanite virus and

formidable force ofmercenaries andother armiesfor hire, and the world wasfaced with a seeminglyinsurmountablefoe.

A man who identifiedhimself as Sebastian madeGeneralXinanoffer throughtheir satellite phoneconversation. It was simplereally. Either Phoenixcompletely surrendered andgotfoldedintoGalatea,orhe

promised to burn their jewel,their crowning achievement,Shanghai, to theground.TheGeneralrefused.

Though technically,General Xin ordered theJiangshi todestroyShanghai,it was only due to beingoverrun by infected. Itappeared that Sebastian kepthis promise to see the cityrazed.And theGeneralknewthat Galatea was unlikely to

just let him and the remainsof Phoenix go free. It wasonly a matter of time beforetheycameforthem.

GeneralXin kept his eyeson the air and distant water.He