S2E04:
They drove on and on down the same road Murphy had gone down with Cassandra and Wrecking Ball in the stolen Dodge Dart. The time to do nothing but think wasn't good for Bailey as her mind spun around opening that damn door and seeing Mack open his white eyes and start snarling. Addy was using the time better distracting herself by braiding Bailey's hair again, this time in a long single fishtail.
"Murphy isn't worth this." Bailey finally said, her frustrations getting the best of her. "Mack's life was worth more. All of our lives are worth more." She felt Addy pause in her braiding before she resumed again and Bailey saw Warren let out a long deep breath.
"But is saving the last of humanity worth it?" Warren asked keeping her voice calm and Bailey got the impression she'd probably thought these things before, but the chance of a cure always won out in her mind.
"If all survivors are like Murphy? No." Bailey responded and the coldness in her tone made Addy and Warren share a worried look. Then Warren looked out the rearview mirror and Bailey saw the corner of her mouth twitch, like a poker player who just drew the card that would win them millions.
"What about survivors like 10K?" she asked and Bailey's eyes snapped to Addy who had finished her braid and was suddenly very interested in the nothingness that passed out the window.
"Addy, you're dead." Bailey muttered under her breath and she could tell the red head was pretending not to have heard her. Then she turned and saw a wide smile on Warren's face.
"Why?" she asked clearly having heard Bailey's fake threat, "Addy didn't say anything." Bailey's face fell.
"Crap." she whispered looking at Warren, "Don't tell me it's that obvious?"
"To a woman? A little. To a man, well. . . men can be pretty clueless sometimes."
«»
They pulled up to a building that looked like a big white warehouse with smaller greenhouses around it all surrounded by high fences. Bailey followed Addy out the passenger's side door as everyone else jumped out of the truck. There was a guard behind the fence in a white shirt with a green marijuana leaf on it with a Z in the center. He had a beard like Doc's but his was darker and thicker.
"You guys harvesters here for the cure?" he asked.
"Yeah, that's right." Warren said, she just neglected to tell him that the cure they were after was blue and walking around.
"You're armed." He said sounding surprised.
"Uh, yeah." Addy said and Bailey could see her resisting the strong urge to say duh.
"Good." He said opening the gate and they walked in behind Warren, "Harvesters wait in the garage until you're called. The others inside will give you the rundown." He said as they passed him and made their way in.
"You think Murphy's here?" Addy asked Warren from beside Bailey as the guard closed the gate behind them too far away to hear.
"Yeah he's here, I can smell him." Warren said and Bailey shuddered at the thought of smelling Murphy.
"I think you're smelling the Z-weed." Doc said nodding across the facility to where men were loading huge packs of Z-weed into a van.
"Help me!" came a sudden shout, "Get it off!" They turned to see a woman crawling out of one of the greenhouses, she looked only a few years older than Addy and had blonde hair that was falling in her face from the scuffle, "Help me somebody!" she shouted again and they ran over and saw the woman covered in vines as a green skinned zombie pulled her by her ankle trying to make her it's meal, "Somebody help! Somebody help me! Somebody please! Get it off!"
Vasquez got there first and shot the Z in the head but it kept going for the woman.
"Here." Bailey said handing him her hatchet which he took and sliced the Z's head to mush. It finally stopped moving and the others pulled the woman free, tugging the vines off her.
"Thanks." Vasquez said handing Bailey back her weapon covered in green slime. Bailey only looked at it disgusted and didn't make a move to take it back. Getting the hint Vasquez pulled a rag from his pocket and cleaned off the goo before handing it back to Bailey again, this time she accepted it.
"You're welcome."
"Hey!" the guard said rushing over to them, "I told you people to move into the garage where it's safe."
"Safety first huh?" Doc asked and he and the guard faced off for a bit before Vasquez ushered Doc into the warehouse. Warren cast a glare at the guard before following with Bailey and Addy behind, 10K brought up the back helping the woman they'd just saved.
Third Person POV
"Good. . .shit." Cassandra sighed as she took another puff from the vape.
"Uh, thanks, that's our new hybrid." The scientist in charge, Odegard said as she passed him back the vape, "Oh that's okay, you keep that." He said seeming nervous that he might catch whatever Cassandra had that made her act so strangely.
"So how'd you get into the Z-weed business anyway?" Murphy asked rifling through Odegard's stuff.
"I stumbled on this place. The cannabis was growing out of control. All I had to do was harvest it and get the word out. Needless to say it was a blockbuster product."
"And what about Batch 47? What makes it so special?" Murphy asked.
"That greenhouse hid a top secret crash program to develop an herbal vaccine against the zombie virus. They were growing all these dangerous plants in all these different kinds of zombie compost."
"And to think we were worried about genetically modified tomatoes." Murphy scoffed sniffing a small potted plant.
"When this place was overrun plants grew out of control. The workers were trapped inside." Odegard explained.
"Becoming phytozombies." Murphy said putting the pieces together, "Gotta love the post –apoc world."
"We haven't been able to get close enough to Batch 47 to get a proper sample." Odegard said suiting up in a helmet and a yellow rubber coat and pants.
"So how many harvesters have. . . gone before me?" Murphy asked delicately phrasing the question.
"Rounded to the nearest ten? Too many. You might be the one."
"Yeah. I've heard that one before." Murphy muttered thinking back to that witch doctor Merch, not to mention the mad scientist Kurian.
Bailey POV
10K helped the woman onto a bunk in the warehouse, there was already a little girl in an orange sweater clutching a toy tiger as she slept there but this was apparently their shared space according to the woman who'd introduced herself as Mariah.
"You alright?" Warren asked as 10K helped her sit.
"Yeah I think so." She said as Doc took out an Always pad and folded it over to patch up a wound on Mariah's leg.
"Mama." The little girl said as she woke up.
"Hey baby. Hey. Mama's here. I came back to you just like I promised." Mariah said stroking the girl's cheek.
"Did you find it?" the girl asked sounding pretty weak.
"Not yet sweetie, but we're getting close." She tapped the girl's nose but it wasn't enough to cheer her up, "Okay. You need to lie down." Mariah said as the little girl went back to sleep as her mother kept brushing her fingers through her hair.
"How's she doing?" Doc asked picking up that the girl was sick just as Bailey had.
"She's burning up. I can't keep her fever down." Mariah said sadly.
"Have you tried antibiotics?" Doc questioned.
"Nothing worked, drug resistant bacteria of some kind." She shrugged. "I don't think she has much longer."
"Is that why you became a harvester?" Warren asked bringing her hands to her hips.
Mariah nodded, "I had to mercy her father in front of her after he turned Z. She made me promise not to let that happen to her."
"You're a good mom." Addy said comfortingly putting her hand on Mariah's shoulder.
"That's the funny thing. I'm not her mom." She admitted turning away from the girl and looking to Addy beside her. "Her mom's dead. Her whole family's dead. So is mine. All we have is each other," she looked back at the girl. "and even not that for long." She got up off the bunk and paced the floor, "All these folks need what's in that greenhouse."
"Even if it kills them." Doc said and they heard a two note whistle and turned to where 10K was standing by a long thin open space between two pieces of wall.
"What's up?" Warren asked as they made their way over to him leaving Addy with Mariah and the girl.
"I think I know where Murphy is." 10K said turning back to the wall and pointing through the space. Across the way was a greenhouse, the same one Mariah had been hurt in. Outside were two men with guns but they looked nervously at a girl crouched by their feet in Wrecking Ball's red jacket – Cassandra. 10K was right, Murphy had to be near.
"Cassandra." Warren said.
"Kid's right, Murphy won't be far. Must be in the greenhouse." Vasquez said.
"What's he doing in there?" Warren said slowly and suspiciously knowing Murphy wouldn't have stopped here just for the Z-weed.
"Leave it to me." Bailey said as she turned to head out of the warehouse.
"What are you going to do?" 10K asked and she turned on her foot to face them as she continued to walk backwards to the exit.
"I'm going to pull a Forman." She said casually.
"Are you sure you don't need backup?" Warren asked concerned for her but she just kept heading for the garage door.
"Hey, it worked at the FU-Bar." Doc said with a shrug before he gave her a thumbs-up.
"I'll keep an eye on her." 10K told Warren as Bailey disappeared. She walked over to where Cassandra was sitting.
"Cassandra." Bailey said nonchalantly as she approached and the half dead girl's head snapped to the side roughly to look at her. "You look better." Bailey continued in the same casual tone as she got close enough to sit beside her friend. Cassandra seemed to calm down when she realized Bailey wasn't going in the greenhouse which confirmed Vasquez and 10K's theory that that's where Murphy was. The guards didn't kick her out either, both had looks of confusion at how easily she talked to the zombie girl.
"What got into you?" Bailey asked crossing her legs in front of her as Cassandra continued to stare at her. Then she seemed to come to enough to speak.
"Z. . . weed." She said slowly like it took a great deal of effort to form words.
"Is it really that good?" Bailey asked part of her internally jumping for joy that her tricks were working on Murphy's puppet and the other half of her so nervous her heart was hammering in her chest. She knew one word from Murphy or one wrong move and Cassandra would chew her face off and tear her apart, but she kept up with her act. Cassandra reached into the red jacket she now wore, the one Wrecking Ball had had on, and pulled out a vape.
"Oh. . . yeah." She replied looking at it in her hand. Bailey had talked to Addy about how Murphy had given Cassandra Z-weed in the med wagon and she seemed to become herself again for a moment. "She said she'd felt something, and her voice was different." Was what Addy had told her, if she could get Cassandra to smoke some more maybe enough of her would come back long enough for them to get Murphy and get out of here.
"Can I?" Bailey asked holding her hand out for the vape, but instead Cassandra just stared at her while she put it to her mouth and inhaled. Then she leaned forward and blew the smoke into Bailey's face like Murphy had done to her back on the wagon train. Bailey smiled as she inhaled the smoke, she remembered a few times in college when she'd done this with Addy, the Z-weed was much stronger stuff but Bailey acted like it affected her more than it did. It was only a matter of time before Murphy came out of the greenhouse and when he did she didn't want him to see her and run off, but if she appeared to be stoned he'd find her less of an immediate threat. Now she just had to wait.
10K POV
He kept watching Bailey and Cassandra through the space in the warehouse wall. His heart was pounding in his chest, if Cassandra attacked he didn't know if he'd be able to get to Bailey in time. He didn't miss the fact that Cassandra was wearing Wrecking Ball's red jacket and the man was nowhere to be found. Knowing Murphy he'd probably gotten annoyed by the man and had Cassandra kill him, which didn't make it any easier for him to stand there doing nothing while Bailey was so close to a potential danger. Then Murphy came out of the greenhouse and 10K started biting his lip nervously. Murphy paused and just looked at the two girls who were practically mouth to mouth sharing the smoke from the Z-weed, 10K hated the way Murphy looked at them as he stared appreciatively at their behavior.
"Well, look what the apocalypse dragged in." he finally said as Bailey pulled away from Cassandra and looked up at him. "Texas Hatchet Massacre." Murphy said using his old nickname for Bailey, "The others here too?" he asked his tone now becoming serious. Bailey didn't look worried though, she smiled with droopy eyes as she looked at him.
"Hey Murph." Bailey replied sounding unlike herself as Murphy crouched down and rested his elbows on his bent knees.
"Heeyy." He said smiling grabbing her chin between his thumb and forefinger and making her look him in the eye. "Are the others here?" he asked in an even firmer tone trying to convey his seriousness to her stoned mind.
Bailey nodded, the movement a little off like slow motion, "Addy's trying to find a working radio to contact Citizen Z. The others got distracted by a dying little girl."
"Even 10K?" Murphy asked shifting his weight from side to side nervously as he let go of Bailey's chin, her face turning to Cassandra looking for more Z-weed. "I doubt he'd take his eyes off you for a second." He said standing and turning in a circle as 10K ducked out of sight putting his back behind the wall so he wouldn't be seen.
"He's around. . . I guess." Bailey replied with a shrug her attention focused on the Z-weed smoke Cassandra was blowing at her. "Hey he should try some of this." She said and 10K peered out again to see what she was up to. Immediately he saw the wheels in Murphy's head start to spin, 10K might not be able to read people as well as Bailey could but he wasn't an idiot, he knew Murphy didn't like him but the 'savior of the human race' still knew the sniper could be a threat if he wanted to be, if Bailey talked him into getting as stoned as she appeared to be then it would be one less person who could stop Murphy if he decided to run. A blue smile made its way onto Murphy's face as he fell for the suggestion just like Bailey wanted him too.
"Yeah great idea." He said before turning to Cassandra, "I'm going back in the lab, stay out here with them." Then he turned and left with a man in a white lab coat as Bailey turned to his hiding place and waved him over.
Bailey POV
10K seemed hesitant as he walked over to where Bailey was sitting with Cassandra. Bailey was on cloud nine, not from the Z-weed but from being able to play 'The Murphy' like a fiddle. He might be able to control zombie minds but his mind was just as easily manipulated. All you needed was a couple of pretty girls and a batch of Z-weed and all of Murphy's defenses went down. The Z-weed was affecting her making her feel like she was lighter than air, but she wasn't anywhere near as stoned as she'd led Murphy to believe – or 10K for that matter. She didn't miss the concerned look he had as he approached them and crouched down next to Bailey.
"Hey Ten."
"Hey Bay." He replied using Addy's nickname for her though he seemed like a parent ready to scold their child. "Enjoying yourself?"
She turned to him so Cassandra couldn't see her face as she inhaled from the vape again and with the zombie girl distracted Bailey let her act drop for a second as she winked at 10K who immediately looked relived that he wouldn't have to take care of a stoned girl with an ax.
"Want some?" she asked and saw him hesitate to answer, "Have you ever. . . " she let the question trail off.
10K shook his head, "Nah, just the occasional cigarette."
"I haven't seen you smoke since Virginia." She said remembering their talk at the Infection Control HQ.
He looked at her with one of those looks that made his green eyes seem so deep, "Well you convinced me to stop." She stared at him for a long time and he stared back, then she felt another set of eyes looking at them and remembered Cassandra.
"So you want some?" she asked him again and he shrugged moving so now he was sitting next to her. He stuck his hand out for the vape but Bailey smiled and turned to Cassandra, she took Cassandra's hand in hers and brought the vape to her lips as she inhaled and Cassandra gave a smile making the bite on her face more prominent. Then Bailey turned to 10K and pulled his face closer to hers, their noses brushed and he opened his mouth as she blew the smoke in his face. He took a deep breath, his eyes closed as he inhaled the Z-weed. He gave a chuckle as he exhaled and pulled back a little.
"That's good stuff." He said opening his eyes.
"That's. . . what I. . . said." Cassandra said slowly as she took another hit making both of them turn to her wondering what effect the Z-weed was having on whatever was left of Cassandra. When she noticed them both looking at her she offered Bailey the vape again, thinking they were looking for more and not contemplating their friend's situation. Not wanting to get on her bad side Bailey faked a smile and took another hit turning to 10K again and resting her hands on either side of his jaw as she leaned in and blew more smoke into his mouth.
Addy POV
"Five, seven, seven, seven, nine, eight, eight, three, four, five, one. . . "
Addy heard as she clicked through radio channels inside the tractor she'd found in the warehouse. The next channel had some static and she adjusted the dial.
"Does anybody copy over? This it –zen Z at Camp Northern Light. Does anyone copy? Over."
"Citizen Z this is Delta X-ray Delta. It's me Addy Carver. Are you there?" she asked grabbing the speaker. "Citizen Z, it's Addy Carver from Delta X-ray Delta. Do you copy?"
"Addy! Yeah, yes I – Delta X-ray Delta this is Citizen Z I copy you."
Addy gave a short laugh, "Copy you Citizen Z. But hey, you're breaking up."
"I'm glad you're alive. Uh, things here are. . . listen I can't talk long. I'm losing the light. Um, do you have an update on Murphy?"
"Murphy is alive."
"Uh, can I talk to him?"
"Uh, he's currently out of contact. But we think we know where he is."
"Is he off mission?"
"Roger that. Murphy is indeed off mission. And getting weird."
"You must get Murphy back on mission. Repeat. You must get Murphy back on mission. The CDC lab in California is still awaiting your arrival. There's still a chance for a vaccine."
"Citizen Z, Citizen Z where. . . ?"
"The last known coordinates for the CDC lab are as follows." He said and she turned to the dirty window of the tractor writing down what she heard, "The last known coordinates are, three four point zero. . . point nine degrees west longitude. . . " then the radio died out.
"Citizen Z? Citizen Z, are you there?" she asked but the signal was lost and she turned back to the window where only a third of their destination was written. She sighed and went back to the radio dial.
Murphy POV
"So how do we know if this stuff works?" Murphy asked as Odegard fiddled with the leaves and seedpod they'd gotten from the greenhouse.
"Well if the dosage is right it should reverse the effects of the zombie virus."
"Yeah and Moe here gonna sing the Star Spangled Banner?" he asked turning to the zombie heads Odegard kept under glass jars.
"Um no." Odegard chuckled acknowledging his joke of calling the first Z Moe like in the Three Stooges since the other two heads looked like Larry and Curly, "I would be happy with any crude sign of latent humanity." He said bringing a tube with a thin nozzle over, "Will you do the honors?" he asked and Murphy removed the jar over first zombie head, "The nasal passage gives me direct access to the brain." He said before he blew a bit in the tube shooting the Batch 47 powder and the zombie's head began to shake and tremble. Murphy quickly put the jar back over the head seconds before it exploded.
"I guess that's a no?" Murphy said as Odegard took notes.
"Subject one. Two grams. Failure due to uncontrolled side effects. I'm going to half the dose." He said turning the nozzle and trying the second head, but after a moment all they heard was snoring, the Z had been put to sleep.
"Nothing not even a zombie buzz." Murphy complained.
"One gram no visible effect. I'm gonna split the difference. This should be just right."
"Okay goldilocks." Murphy said lifting the jar off the final head as Odegard dosed it. After a moment it's eyes shifted, "I think he's looking at us."
"Hmm, need more of a reaction if it's going to be clinically significant." Odegard said.
Then the Z made some gurgling noises until "Br. . .ains."
"Brains! He said brains!" Murphy cheered.
"I knew it! I knew it! Batch 47 has anti zombie properties! Phase one of clinical trials is a success partner." Odegard said with a smile and they shook hands.
"Partner!" Murphy said happily, the possibility that he wouldn't have to be poked and prodded for a cure in his veins making him feel higher than the Z-weed. "Now what?"
"Now we have to harvest the rest of the seedpods. But we're gonna need help." Odegard told him. Immediately Murphy remembered Bailey and Ten Thousand who were outside with Cassandra. The others were here too and he knew if anyone could get a mission like this done it would be them.
"And I have just the people for the job." He said with a smile before he led Odegard from the lab. He walked outside and back to the greenhouse to find Cassandra smoking Z-weed from the vape and Bailey sitting next to Ten Thousand. The sniper was lying on the ground leaning back on his elbows while Texas Hatchet Massacre was resting on her left arm, her right hand holding Ten Thousand's face close to hers as they shared the secondhand smoke. Both of them had their eyes closed and didn't notice his arrival until he spoke up.
"Okay, okay, enough of that." He said clapping his hands and breaking them up. "The sharp shooter needs to stay sharp." They opened their eyes and turned to Murphy seeing his grin, "I've got a job for you." He said rubbing his hands together.
Bailey POV
They got up and followed Murphy into the warehouse where the others were planning a way to get Murphy out of here and get back to their mission. "What do you want to do? Wait for Murphy to come out and jump him?" Vasquez asked.
"No I don't like waiting." Warren said, "Bad things happen when you wait."
"Well, we can take the guards hostage, search the compound for him." Vasquez suggested.
"I like that, we can create a diversion –"
"Or you could just walk up and say hello like civilized people." Murphy said as he entered the garage and the others turned and saw Bailey and 10K come in behind him, Cassandra was behind them looking at their group menacingly.
"Hello my ass." Warren said sternly.
"You know these folks?" Odegard asked.
"Oh we've covered a bit of ground together." Murphy said casually as if he hadn't left them for dead several times, or triggered nuclear explosions all across Northern America.
"Yes we have and dude seriously, I'm getting tired of chasing your bony ass all over the damn apocalypse." Doc spoke up angered.
"What are we messing around for? This man is our prisoner, we're taking him to Californ–" Vasquez said stepping forward but Warren reached out and stopped him holding her arm out.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey." Warren said as Cassandra hissed at Vasquez.
"Chill out Rambo, that ain't gonna happen." Murphy said still at ease.
"Why not?" Vasquez asked.
"Because the whole trip to California won't be necessary. There's a cure for the zombie virus right here in that greenhouse. And all we have to do is go in there and get it." Murphy said like it was simple and Bailey got a bad feeling that it might be a trap.
"Batch 47 is real." Odegard said, "We just tested it. A bona-fide zombie miracle."
Murphy looked around at their disbelieving faces and knew they weren't convinced, "Well think about it. No more relying on me to save the human race. It's a win-win right?"
"No, that's not our fight." Warren said.
"Please!" Mariah asked stepping forward, "If there's any hope."
Warren took a look at the sick girl in the cot and Bailey saw her features soften. She'd been in the National Guard so she could help people, she wasn't going to turn her back on a dying girl, even if it did interfere with their mission.
«»
"Your job is to return to Batch 47 and harvest the rest of the seedpods." Odegard explained as they made their way outside to a table of gardening tools the harvesters used.
"And not get killed right? That's part of the plan?" Doc said making sure the point was highlighted.
"Well it's a secondary consideration but sure." Odegard shrugged, "I have protection for you." He said holding up a helmet.
"That's okay." Warren declined, "I'm gonna go like this. I need to be able to move to fight."
"Yeah I like to be able to run from danger." Doc said as they all turned to the greenhouse.
"I wouldn't take your guns." Odegard said making them pause, "Bullets don't kill plants. I would take these." He said pointing to the garden tools on the table.
"All right, I'll take the garden weasel. I've always wanted one of those." Doc said.
"I still don't know why we're risking our meal ticket here." Vasquez said as the others all grabbed better gear.
"If we don't come back you shoot somebody or something." Warren said pulling out her machete.
"Glad to. Besides, I have allergies." Vasquez said sniffing.
"Warren, I'm going to sit this one out too." Bailey said and Warren turned to see her looking back at the warehouse. She knew Bailey had her mind on the little girl.
"Okay." She said, "Good for you to not be on your own." She said looking to Vasquez, a subtle reminder that they still didn't entirely trust him.
"Good luck." Bailey said turning and heading back to the warehouse. As she passed the table where the others were 10K turned around and stopped her.
"Here," he said as he pulled his rifle off his shoulder and handed it to her before pulling out his slingshot, "remember how to use it?"
She looked at the long gun in her hands unsure of herself, "I could probably use another lesson."
He smirked at her answer, "Okay, when I get back."
"Promise?" she asked and his smirk turned into a small smile revealing his perfect teeth as the corners of his mouth turned upward.
"Promise." He said before heading into the greenhouse with the others and pulling out a gear from his pocket.
«»
Bailey went back into the warehouse where Mariah and her little girl, Harper, were sitting in bed.
"Mama, I'm afraid." She overheard Harper tell her as she clutched her stuffed tiger.
"They're getting close baby." Mariah tried to comfort her stroking her blonde hair.
"I just want to go to Heaven Mama. If I turn God won't let me go. Don't let me turn." She begged and it broke Bailey's heart.
"Shhh." Mariah cooed, trying to keep those thoughts from Harper's mind.
"Even people who turn go to Heaven Harper." Bailey said as she approached them.
"But the zombies kill people." She said with tears in her eyes, "God says people shouldn't kill, if I do he won't let me in Heaven."
"Shhh," Bailey said sitting on the edge of the bed and taking her hand, "Harper even if you turn me and your Mama won't let you hurt anyone, okay? We'll give you mercy and you can go to Heaven." Harper nodded but still didn't look convinced, "Harper any bad thing you've ever done, anything you think you ever did wrong, all you have to do is ask to be forgiven and he'll forgive you."
"Are you sure?" she asked her lip quivering and it broke Bailey's heart.
"Yeah. That's what my mom told me." Bailey said, "Mom's don't lie." She turned to Mariah who smiled at her before turning to Harper.
"See baby? We won't let anything bad happen." She said and Harper turned to Bailey.
"What else did your Mama tell you about Heaven?" she asked and Bailey indulged her hoping it would help the sick little girl.
«»
After Bailey had talked to Harper it wasn't long before the little girl fell sleep. Bailey left Mariah with her as she left the warehouse to look for Vasquez.
"Where have you been?" she asked when she found him and he turned to her.
"I could ask you the same thing." He pointed out though not harshly. Before she could answer there were gunshots in the distance and Bailey and Vasquez went to check it out. They reached the fence and saw two black SUV's pull up, the guard opened the gate and they drove right in. When the vehicle parked men with skeleton masks and bandana's got out. One opened the door for a man who was clearly the boss and Bailey recognized him as the same man she'd seen in Cheyenne with the rocket launcher. He was dressed in the same red button up covered by a black dress jacket. He had a pair of dark sunglasses on and his black hair was slicked back. Bailey saw Vasquez tense up and his eyes narrowed as he watched the boss and his men enter the greenhouse lab where Odegard was working.
"You know those guys?" Bailey read from his slight reaction. Vasquez looked at her out of the corner of his eye hesitant to answer but eventually muttered.
"Zeros."
Not much later Warren and the group came out of the greenhouse as the Zeros dragged Odegard from his lab. The leader walked right up to Warren as his men flanked him with their guns ready.
"Who are you?" Warren said not nervously but not rudely either.
"My name is Hector Alvarez. My friends call me Escorpion." He introduced himself. "I'm the Vice President in charge of sales for the Cero Cartel. How can I help you today?"
"Well, uh, you can start by telling us what the hell is going on." Warren said in a tone that easily earned her respect, more respect than Odegard anyway.
"This? Just a little business between friends. I see you've been harvesting. Let me guess. Batch 47?" Escorpion said looking at the sacks hanging from Warren and Doc. He took Warren's hard expression as a yes. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to give it to me."
There was a tense moment before Warren turned to the others and nodded her head. They all took their bags from around their shoulders but Bailey noticed Doc stuff a few leaves into his pocket – Escorpion didn't. They passed over the bags and Escorpion turned to Odegard.
"So this is the cure everyone is talking about huh? Reminds me of the crocodillo we used to sell back in the day." He turned and said something in Spanish to the other Zeros then he turned back to Odegard, "Step one, we need a fresh zombie." Then one of the Zeros shot a man and he collapsed. Escorpion immediately yelled at his man in Spanish.
"I am very sorry about that." He said in English to the others, "Good help is hard to find these days." He snapped at the Zero who had fired his gun.
"I've only ever tested it on a zombie." Odegard said in defense. "I have no idea what a safe or effective dose on a human is."
"There's only one way to find out." Escorpion said as his men grabbed Odegard and Escorpion gave him a dose through a vape he pulled out of his jacket.
"Wow! I feel good!" Odegard said sounding out of it.
"Good. Bring the zombie. A bite and we'll know for sure." Escorpion said turning to the Zeros but when he turned back and Odegard lifted his head his skin was green like a phyto.
"Odegard? Did you see him die?" Escorpion asked his men before turning to the former scientist. "What are you some kind of living zombie? Yeah, the world needs that like a hole in the head." He said pulling his gun and shooting Odegard then he turned to shoot the other Z. "So much for Batch 47. Grab the Z-weed. Let's get out of here."
Then another Zero pushed a man forward from the crowd. He was wearing a black hoodie but when Escorpion pulled it down Bailey recognized the doctor from the lab in Colorado, only now half of his face looked like it had been burned in a furnace.
"Dr. Kurian?" Escorpion asked.
"Hello Hector."
"What happened to your face? That looks like my mom's chicharrones."
"It's a long story." Kurian said a bit defensive.
"You can tell it to La Reina." Escorpion said and one of his men hit Kurian in the back of the head, "Put him in the trunk." He ordered then turned to two more Zeros, "You two are in charge now."
"Si Senor."
"Si Senor." They replied automatically, like robots.
"Burn the greenhouse down with Batch 47. We need to get back to our core mission. You understand me?" Escorpion asked.
"Si Senor."
"Si Senor."
"Vamos." He said before taking one last look back at Warren's group before he got in the SUV and the Zeros drove off. The other two he'd left in charge grabbed cans of gasoline and started dousing the greenhouses before lighting them on fire. Smoke billowed out and soon there was a shout.
"Warren!" Bailey turned to see Murphy covered in vines rushing out of the greenhouse, "I can't control it!" he shouted and not a second later a large phytozombie came charging out of the greenery. Bailey rushed forward with the others and grabbed whatever they could of Murphy either one of his limbs or the vines that covered him. Bailey and Warren started cutting away the vines as the others tried to fight off the Phyto-Z. The other harvesters of the facility all ran as chaos erupted around them.
"Oh shit." Warren said as the Phyto just kept on coming.
"I tried to save you!" Murphy shouted at it.
"Dude it doesn't care." Doc said helping them with the vines.
"Get down!" Vasquez shouted before he shot his gun and Murphy screamed in pain as if he'd been shot. Addy and 10K both charged it from behind and stabbed it but it reared back and flung them away. Vasquez and Bailey then ran at it and started stabbing and slashing it in the face, Vasquez brought his knife down on its skull and Bailey brought her knife up under its jaw but it pushed them back too making them land a good few feet away.
"What the hell?" Bailey groaned getting to her knees.
"It must be interconnected by the plants." Vasquez said leaning up on his elbows. She saw Cassandra jump at it but even with her strength she was knocked over too.
"10K the vines help me." Addy said as they got up. They pulled at the vines that were around the phyto until they had enough to throw into a large fan that ventilated the greenhouse. The large blades were strong enough to pull the Z back away from Murphy and the others. The Z's feet dragged across the ground as it tried to fight but the fan was able to pull it back and slice it to pieces.
Addy and 10K were both wide eyed and open mouthed in shock at their own plan and 10K lifted his fist which Addy bumped with hers still in a daze. Doc and Warren pulled Murphy up to his feet.
"10K help Murphy, Addy, Bailey I need you." Doc said as 10K took his place supporting Murphy as the others headed to the second SUV the Zeros had left with their two men who were now caught up in the chaos of burning greenhouses and flying phytozombie pieces.
"All right, we'll meet you." Warren said as Doc, Addy and Bailey rushed into the warehouse and found Harper lying on the floor, her head in Mariah's lap.
"Hey how is she doing?" Addy asked.
"It won't be long now." Mariah said holding back tears.
"Did they find the cure yet?" Harper asked.
"Here I managed to save some. Just have her chew on the leaves." Doc said pulling the small bits of green from his pocket, "They're not concentrated so she won't overdose."
"Thank you." Mariah said gratefully, "Honey it's here, Batch 47. The doctor said you just have to chew on the leaves okay?"
"We got to go." Doc said tapping the other girls on the shoulder.
"Hey good luck." Addy said and Bailey gave the woman a hug whispering to her to stay strong. She knew Harper would still die but at least now she wouldn't turn. It was a small blessing and Bailey hoped the little girl would see her family when she opened her eyes again. The SUV pulled up and they hopped in, Bailey got in the back with 10K and Cassandra while Doc hopped in the middle next to Murphy and Vasquez and Addy took shotgun as they drove off.
"Well that was fun." Doc said miserably as they drove down the road.
"You shouldn't have killed him." Murphy muttered.
"You're alive aren't you?" Vasquez said reminding Murphy that the phyto was trying to kill him.
"Why are we headed south? Shouldn't we be going west?" Murphy asked changing the subject.
"Still too much fallout west." Vasquez said.
"We can turn west south of Missouri." Warren said from the driver's seat. "What the hell is some woman doing out here by herself?" she asked and everyone tried to get a look out the windshield.
"It can't be. It's Serena." Addy said recognizing the woman from the Sisters of Mercy.
"No way. Murphy is that your pie girl?" Doc asked astonished.
"Pie girl?" Vasquez questioned like the old man had gone crazy.
"Pie girl." 10K smirked as Bailey shuddered remembering Murphy's history with the woman.
"Boy is she pregnant." Warren said.
"Pregnant?!" Murphy asked now very worried.
"Yeah like ten months pregnant." Doc added and Bailey did the math in her head. That didn't make sense. It didn't add up, but Serena would have at least been showing if she was pregnant before meeting Murphy.
"No, no, you're not stopping for her are you?" Murphy asked and Bailey reached forward and smacked him in the back of the head.
"Uh-huh. Yeah." Addy told him as Warren came to a stop.
"No, drive. Go, go, go, go, go, go." Murphy muttered but no one listened to him.
"Serena!" Addy shouted getting out of the car.
"Addy!" Serena cried with a smile rushing forward to hug her.
"Hey! Wow where are you going?" Addy asked.
"We're just looking for our baby daddy." Serena said before turning to the car and her face dropped, "Daddy? Daddy? Is that you? Is that really you?" she asked rushing over to Murphy's window.
"Hey." Murphy said pretending to be excited to see her.
"He's here baba." Serena said rubbing her large stomach, "Daddy's here." She said and then there were two little bumps that looked like hands pushing from the inside. Then there was suddenly the impression of a baby's face and they all jumped back.