"Hope Inhuman"
by TheOrangutan
Come the morning, there was a zombie looking at her through the window of the old camper van. It had been the best shelter she could find as the sun had gone down, and an old tin of peaches stashed at the back of one of the cupboards had been an unexpected joy.
Karen rose silently, boots already on, rifle handy, rucksack packed and ready to go.
Dead white eyes continued to stare through the window and through her. As long as she didn't make a sound she'd be okay.
Gathering her sleeping bag, Karen tied it quickly to the top of her rucksack and stood carefully in the confines of the old Type 2 VW. It was a darker blue than her parents old one had been, but the pop top had still worked when she put it up, and it had remained dry despite the rain. But the doors creaked, and the side door was a slider, guaranteed to make a noise. She paused with her hand on the door handle and turned back to face the zombie.
It was just one.
She had a clear field of vision of about fifty yards to the woods beyond the car park. Nothing else was moving or making a sound that she could hear through the canvas roof.
The single shot of her handgun took the zed through the forehead, the grey sunken face collapsing from view as the spume of jellylike blood and grey matter ballooned from its head, the driver's side window exploding outwards in sprinkling shards of glass. She wrinkled her nose in disgust as the smell hit her, the zed hitting the tarmac of the disused car park with a dull thud. But as the birds in the nearby trees took flight, a chorus of stuttering moans broke the gun shot silence.
"Dammit." Karen swore, rammed her pistol back in its holster, grabbed her rifle and bolted from the camper van, the old sliding door screeching in rusty protest as the hunting call of the zeds rose anew. More answered from a different part of the woods, and Karen altered her course to steer away from as many of them as she could.
~
An hour later, she stopped, breathing heavily and looked at the valley below her. She'd quickly lost the zombies, their shambling canter no match for Karen's long distance runner stamina. From a granite outcrop, she looked through her binoculars at the town, eyes alert for movement of any sort.
Happy she was out of danger for the moment, Karen laid her rifle on the grass, removed her rucksack and unpacked the small gas stove and her army rations. As the pan bubbled to the boil she hand cranked the power on her clockwork radio and called in to base.
"Hello base? This is Scout 2, do you read me?"
"Morning Scout 2, Mal here, how's it going?"
Karen grinned, Mal was one of her favourite operatives, calm, unflappable and usually up for a pint in the old army canteen at base. "All good here Mal, although I nearly came unstuck this morning when I had to shoot a zed before breakfast."
"He forgot the milk?"
"Aye, the service was terrible. Although I did find a tin of peaches last night. The woods were full of zombies though so I had a bit of an early morning jog."
"Peaches? Nasty. Now tinned pineapple, that's more like it. I love tinned pineapple. You shot him with a gun?"
"Yes, my crossbow broke a couple of days ago, otherwise it wouldn't have been so noisy."
"What's your current situation?"
"Still no milk, just cooking breakfast."
Mal sighed deliberately over the radio, and Karen grinned as he continued. "Your status clever clogs; where are you, what's going on, are you in mortal peril? etc etc."
Karen looked south towards the sea. "I'm currently sat on the edge of Dartmoor, getting closer to the military base in Plymouth. I reckon another day and I'll be there. Country is pretty woolly, but that's not changed since I lived here as a kid, so no problem there. Food is ok, one weapon down, but otherwise good."
"Okay, roger that Karen. We'll talk to you tomorrow then, hope you make good progress today. Watch out for dead guys, they're only interested in your brains not your body."
"Thanks for the warning Mal, I have no intention of waking up with a straw in my ear yet. Over and out."
There was no camper van that night, and thankfully no zombies either. Karen woke to birdsong and the smell of decaying leaf mould just out of zombie reach in a tree on the edge of an old golf course. The old club house had been picked dry of food and drink, but she found a few tins of food in the back of an old Volvo next to the skeleton of the man who'd obviously done his shopping on the way into the golf club.
A tin of dog food wasn't her favourite start to the day, but food was food.
The radio hissed static at her as she finished the tin and she grimaced.
"Scout 2, here."
"Control. Morning Karen, Mal again. How's it going?"
"In position. I'm about two miles from the target. Just trying to keep my dog food down."
"Nasty. Could be worse, could be creamed spinach, that stuff is nasty. If you have to eat shit, best not to nibble. Bite, chew, swallow, repeat. It goes quicker."
"Thanks Mal, I'll try and remember to bring you a tin back so you can share the joy."
"I'm on a diet Karen, no need to bother. But I'll buy you a pint anyway when you get back." There was a pause as if instructions were being relayed at the other end of the conversation and Karen waited patiently.
"Scout 2, you still there?"
"Yes Mal, still here."
"Okay, new orders. As before, you'll be recceing the area for signs of zombie activity, checking the suspected weapons bunker in the dockyard if you can, and seeing if there's any salvageable equipment, but you'll also be looking for a girl."
"A what now? I mean, please repeat Control."
"A girl. Smaller human person, a teenager to be precise."
"Mal, are you serious?"
"Absolutely. I have Captain Summers standing next to me looking stern and everything. As soon as you get to the location, please report in."
"Okay Control, shall do. Scout 2 out."
Karen rocked back on her heels, the taste of dog food forgotten for a moment. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and straightened up, her back complaining about sleeping in a tree. Hefting her pack, she looked south and started to walk.
~
"Control, this is Scout 2. I'm in position. Over."
"Hi Scout 2, this is Control, Mal here. Captain Summers is also listening in. What can you see?"
"I'm on top of a hill about quarter of a mile north of the military docks. There's some zed activity down there, mainly in the open areas between the buildings. Do we have any more information I should be aware of before I get closer?"
There was a sustained few minutes of silence and then a new voice came over the radio.
"Hi Karen, this is Captain Summers. We have drone footage from that area from about a month ago from Gareth, Scout 1. It appears to show a girl living in the docks area."
"How did he spot her?"
"She was out in the open walking amongst the zeds."
"She what? But are we sure she's not a zombie?"
"As the drone went over she looked up and waved at it."
"She waved?" Karen breathed deeply and forced calm into her voice. "Sorry Captain, I didn't mean to shout."
"Don't worry Karen, we're still finding this one hard to believe ourselves. The footage came in just after you'd left and we've been looking at it over and over again since. Now that you've made it there, we're changing your mission. What you need to do now if you can is make contact, and if possible get her the hell out of there. If she's somehow immune to the zeds then we need to get her here so our doctors can talk to her."
"Immune," whispered Karen, her mind ablaze with curiosity, fear, and a welter of possibilities.
"Scout 2?"
"Sorry Captain, I'm still here. I was just thinking. Do we have any intel on a best way in to the base there?"
"Yes Scout 2, front gate. It's open enough to squeeze through, and may explain why the zeds are still there as they can't easily get out and disperse. It's probably full of ex-military personnel and site staff who couldn't get out. But that does mean the base may not have been heavily pillaged for supplies and equipment, so keep an eye out for gear too please. If there's enough there we may mount a recovery expedition."
"Understood Captain, I'll get moving and call you later in the day with news."
"Okay Scout 2. I'll leave you in the capable hands of Mal."
"Hi Karen, Mal here. I'm going to be here all day if you need me okay? Good luck."
"Thanks Mal, talk to you later. Scout 2, over and out."
~
Zombies in uniform was a new experience for Karen. She lay on top of a long flat-roofed building inside the walled military complex, with stiff walking zeds patrolling the grounds sightlessly below, their non-blinking eyes dust scarred and irrelevant. She'd learned patience as a scout, but anxiety gnawed at her now a girl's life was at stake. Her eyes drifted back to the open gates of the compound. That was her only real escape route should something go wrong and as long as she could stand, then she could outrun them. Unless there were too many.
She counted bodies and noted several hundred staggering undead.
"Where are you kid?" she muttered under her breath. Seagulls screamed at her, mocking her quiet desperation and she decided to move on to check a different area of the dockyard.
Karen stood quietly and made her way across the roof to an open sky light. Lowering her head through the opening she let her eyes adjust to the gloom inside the building. There was a dead zed in the corner with a bullet hole in his head but otherwise the room was empty. Carefully she lowered herself through the roof light and dropped to the floor below in a crouch. Making sure the door was locked she checked her surroundings. On the wall was an officer's sword and soldier's bayonet, both of which she strapped to her waist, checking the edges of both once she had the scabbards in place. With the sword at her waist, she held the bayonet in one hand and moved to the door.
The click of the loud sounded loud in the silence, but the hallway beyond was empty, thickly carpeted and quiet, and Karen padded along it to the end of the corridor. Stairs led downwards, a cafeteria sign on the wall making her stomach rumble. Quietly making her way down the stairs she peered into the open space beyond, empty tables marching away from the small window through which she peered.
There was a teenage girl sitting in the middle of the room eating what looked like a Pot Noodle.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Karen quietly opened the door and walked into the cafeteria.
The girl's fork stopped in mid-air, her eyes widening as she caught sight of the woman striding toward her with a blade in her hand. As Karen opened her mouth to say something the girl's pistol halted all conversation.
Karen looked down the barrel from a few metres away, raised both hands and then carefully sheathed the bayonet. "I mean you no harm."
"I've heard that before," muttered the teenager, her eyes not leaving Karen's. "What do you want?"
"I want to get you out of here, to a safe place."
"Here's safe. For me at least. For you, not so safe."
"What do you mean?"
As the girl held the gun steady in her right hand, her left pulled back the sleeve. A double set of angry teeth marks marred the otherwise smooth skin of her right arm and Karen gasped in horror, one hand flying to her mouth to choke off the noise.
"I'm one of them now," she said. "No longer human."
"But you were spotted recently by one of my colleagues, a zed bite usually means you've got no more than 48 hours before you turn."
"The drone?"
Karen nodded.
"I wondered who that belonged to. No-one comes in here, too many zeds. I was chased in here by a pack of men who wanted to have some fun with me. I ran faster than they did." The girl sat down again and placed the pistol on the table. "I think a few escaped, but the ones who didn't?" She shrugged. "Their screams didn't last long once they'd run into the zeds outside. I made it up a ladder onto the roof and dropped in through a skylight. Got bitten, grabbed the guy's gun and shot him, passed out for a while, then high-tailed it here. All the rest seem to be outside and I've been eating my way through the stores in the kitchen over there."
She waved a hand at the double doors at the rear of the dining hall. "Help yourself if you want something to eat."
A short time later, the two of them sat in companionable silence, weapons on the table, but food taking priority over conversation as a growing pile of wrappers and plates appeared in front of them. Karen sat back and belched softly and the girl chuckled.
"What's your name?" asked Karen.
"Hope."
"I'm Karen. I work for what's left of the army as a scout. My captain wants me to bring you back to our base up near Bristol."
"Why?"
"Two reasons: you got bitten but you seem to have survived, and we can provide you with a safe place to live."
"They want to make me into a lab rat?"
"I won't let them do that, but they'd certainly want to talk to you and take some blood samples."
Hope shuddered. "I hate needles."
Karen smiled. "I can't say I'm particularly fond of them myself, but there are beds there, food, hot showers, doctors, and a wall to keep out the zeds."
"ok, sounds good. But how do I know I can trust you?"
"You don't. I guess you have to weigh up your options, but I promise you I won't make you come with me if you don't want to."
Hope sat back in her seat, her eyes distant as she stared out of the long line of windows. The shambling form of a long-dead corporal staggered past the cafeteria and she watched him progress slowly on a shattered ankle, the bleached bones sticking out his left leg.
"Hope, I..."
"Wait," hissed Hope. "Look."
She pointed at the window. The zed had stopped moving and as they watched it sniffed the air, and cocked its head as if listening. As it toppled backwards with the flights of a crossbow bolt sticking out of its forehead, Hope grabbed her pistol and bolted for the doors to the stairs, Karen just behind her, pausing long enough only to grab her weapons.
They paused in the stairwell and carefully looked out of a window into the compound of the military base. A group of five men were making cautious and steady progress through the zeds using crossbows to silently take them down.
"That's the group who were chasing me," said Hope, her voice dull with despair. "They must have been watching the place and saw me at the same time your drone did."
"They're making sure they're staying downwind to mask their smell, and silent weapons to reduce the risk of being caught by the zeds."
"So we're kinda screwed then," noted Hope.
"Hell no." Karen turned and grinned at her. "The game's only just started Hope, trust me, I've been in far worse situations than this. But the only way to win the game is by making sure we make the rules. They're definitely the ones who came after you?"
"Yes."
"Which one's the leader?"
"The big bearded guy at the front."
Karen unslung her rifle, chambered a bullet, took aim and shot him in the leg.
As the other men scattered, seeking cover, the leader screamed in agony and fell to the ground. A moan went up from the remaining zombies in the compound and three quickly closed in on the injured man. Karen picked off two more of the men as they ran for cover, the other zeds making short work of them.
The sound of breaking glass came from the area of the Cafeteria and Hope glanced down the stairs. "Time to move, the zeds are on the hunt for you too now."
"Roof," ordered Karen, and the two of them made their way back to the dead officer's room where Karen had first entered the building.
Once inside, they barricaded the door swiftly with some furniture and moved the desk under the skylight. Karen boosted Hope up through the hatch, passed up her rucksack and rifle, and then hauled herself up as zombies started pushing frantically at the office door. She rolled onto the gravel of the roof and closed the hatch as firmly as she could, hammering the stock of her rifle at the hinges to make it as difficult to open as possible.
"Where to now Hope?" she gasped.
The girl had picked up Karen's sword from the roof but instead of handing it to Karen she pointed to the far end of the roof where two men had staggered onto the gravel. "That may depend a little on them."
Karen knelt, chambered a round and shot one of the men, the force of the bullet sending him staggering off the roof to impact the concrete below.
She aimed again, but this time got a click instead of a bang.
"Dammit," she swore, and shouldered her rifle. "This is where it gets interesting."
A steely rasp broke the silence, the sword's scabbard hit the gravel, and Hope set off at a dead run, Karen's liberated sword held high. The remaining man froze for a second, then raised his crossbow. She screamed at him, a blood curdling cry of pure anger and rage and, startled, he rushed his shot, the bolt pinging off the low wall surrounding the roof top. He frantically started to wind back the arms for another shot, but before he could she was on him, the sword flashing through his neck. Hope hacked at the body, sobbing in rage and terror until gentle hands restrained her and she turned into Karen's hug.
"C'mon Hope, we'd better get moving, we've still gotta get out of this zed infested hole."
"I'm sorry Karen, I just saw red." Hope handed back the sword, and Karen strapped the scabbard back to her waist, cleaning the blade on the dead man's clothing.
"Don't worry, we all lose control occasionally. You're a brave lady."
"My dad always said I was a lion in teenager's clothing," she smiled. "Okay, let's get out of here. I think I fancy being a lab rat in clean clothing for a bit."
The two of them made their way carefully to the metal fire escape the two men had used to get to the roof. The way below was clear of zeds.
"Quietly now," whispered Karen, her sword held tightly in her right hand.
The courtyard through which the men had entered was a mess of twitching zombies, some down and lying in pools of gore, others staggering around mindlessly.
"Watch your step," warned Karen, then staggered a few steps as she trod on a dismembered hand. "Oops." She flashed a grin at Hope, then groaned in pain as teeth slammed into her calf muscle. Reaction kicked in and she slashed her sword though the neck of the zed that had bitten her. "Oh damn."
Hope was wide-eyed, her hands clasped to her mouth.
"Hope," whispered Karen and slumped to the concrete. "Hope."
The girl's arms encircled her and she looked into the dirty face of young woman she'd saved.
"Don't let me become one of them. Get out of here and head to Bristol. Ask for Captain Summer. There's a map in my rucksack. Promise me."
The girl nodded mutely. One of the zeds nearby had stopped and was sniffing the air.
Karen reached out a hand and touched Hope's face. "I'm glad we met." Then darkness took her and she slumped to the ground.
~
"Control, this is Scout 2, do you read me?"
"Karen! Where the hell have you been woman? You scared me to death! Gone for a week, no news. We've been worried sick. I've been worried sick." There was a pause. "It's good to hear your voice Scout 2."
"It's good to hear yours too Mal. Listen, I'm not going to be back for a while. I need to make sure it's safe for you and the others."
"Need to make sure what's safe?"
"I got bitten Mal."
"Oh hell. But hang on a moment. When?"
"Last week when I went in to rescue the girl. But she ended up saving me."
"Hang on a moment. I need to get the Captain."
Karen sat in silence for a few moments and looked over at Hope who was eating her way through a tin of pineapple chunks. A zombie staggered past them in the old canteen, and Karen absentmindedly pushed it away. The girl smiled at her and then carried on stuffing her face.
"Scout 2, this is Captain Summers, it's good to hear your voice."
"Thank you sir."
"Sounds like you've had an interesting week."
"Er, yes sir. You could say that. I found the girl you mentioned on the drone footage. She's called Hope. She was bitten, but survived. She'd escaped from a group of men and managed to get into the compound here. Some of the men had died trying to get to her, but others retreated.
"When I got here she'd been living off food in the canteen here. It was as you said sir, the place it pretty much untouched. As I was planning to leave we were attacked by the remaining men who came in quietly and were taking out the zeds with a crossbow."
She patted the stock of the weapon she'd since liberated from one of the dead men and continued. "We stopped them, but I got bitten as we were making our way out. Hope promised not to let me become one of them, but when I passed out after the bite, instead of sticking a bullet in me she bit me instead and I woke up staring down the barrel of a gun."
Karen paused, the memory of waking up after the bite still raw, the insecurity of her current state still gnawing at her.
"So what now Karen?" asked the Captain softly. "Mal mentioned you were going to take a little time to gather yourself."
"Yes sir. I need a bit of time to come to terms with this, but also to make sure I'm not contagious to you, or the others at base. Once I'm happier with that, then I'll come back to you. But there's something else sir."
"Yes?"
"I think there's a nuclear submarine here sir. That and a load of other armaments. Hope and I have been looking around and there's all sorts of gear here. I'm no expert, but if we've got a nuclear reactor, even a small one like on the sub, wouldn't that mean we can generate power from it?"
"Karen, you're a star, well done. Let us know when you're clear and we'll mount an expedition. If you could spend some time cataloguing what's there it would be appreciated."
"Yes sir, but there's something else sir."
"Yes, Karen?"
"When we come back, I need to know we'll be treated like humans, not like lab rats. I expect to be questioned, given a medical and have bloods taken and all that stuff, but if the doctors are intending to stick me in a cell and dissect me then I reckon Hope and I will stay here."
"You have my word Karen. In fact, you and Hope make a rather special team. If you're immune, and the zeds don't notice you, then you can go all sorts of places we can't. That has serious possibilities."
"Thanks Captain."
"Summers out."
"Hi Karen, Mal here again. So I guess that I'm buying you a pint when you get back then?"
"You'd better be, Mal. I'm armed and dangerous again, I have access to a nuclear sub, and more importantly cans of tinned pineapple.
There was a long pause. "Mal?"
"Sorry Karen, I was just having a rather lovely dream about pineapple juice. Don't suppose there's any condensed milk is there?"
"Don't push your luck radio boy."
There was a chuckle from the other side of the ether, and then a brief moment of static.
"Look after yourself kid, I'll see you in a few weeks."
"I look forward to it Mal. Scout 2 out."
Karen switched off the radio and sat back in her chair.
"So what now Karen?" Hope placed the empty tin of pineapple on the table.
"Now? Well if there's a nuclear sub here, I'm wondering what else there is. I've always fancied learning how to drive a tank."
Hope grinned at her. "We do have a slight problem though."
"We do?"
"Yes, we're out of pineapple."