"This really the border?" 10k asked.
"Two thousand miles of it. No way around. No way over." Vasquez said.
"No way back," I said looking through my scope at all the zombies.
"Here comes the goon squad. Ammo?" Warren asked.
"Half a clip," Vasquez said.
"Three," Addy said.
"Four and three in my pocket," 10k said.
"Don't look at me," Doc said.
"half clip each," I said.
"One. Save your ammo. Murphy. Hey, get up!" She ordered. "Hey! If you are the zombie messiah, now's the time for a miracle." She said pulling his body up.
"You've got to try, man. Remember the mission." Doc urged. He stood up and put his hand out to use his zombie force.
"I can't hold them!" He yelled. An explosion went off and my head looked to it. Ropes were thrown down the walls and people descended them.
"Shit. Zeros" I said to my team.
"Down here!" Escorpion whistled to us coming from a vent.
"You said it was time for a miracle," Doc said.
"Hey, do you wanna die?!" Escorpion yelled.
"Okay, let's go!" Warren said after thinking about it. We went down the vent and climbed down the ladder. It's too dark to see much of anything. The lights came on and Escorpion had two men behind him holding semi-autos.
"In the name of La Reina De Los Muertos, Queen of the Zeros Cartel, I strongly suggest you lower your weapons." He ordered.
"Like the Z Weed Zeros?" Murphy asked.
"That would be us," Hector said.
"Then I believe you are looking for me. I am The Murphy." Murphy stepped beside Warren and Doc.
"This man is our prisoner. That CDC bounty is ours. If you try to take him away from us, I will blow his brains out." Warren said aiming a gun at Murphy's head.
"El Murfi isn't worth a damn if he's dead. Now back off!" She yelled.
"Just want to make sure he's the real Murphy," Hector said.
"You wanna see the scars?" Murphy asked.
"I do."
"Not until you lower your weapons," Warren ordered.
"Put them down," Hector said to his men. Our group's guns never lowered off the three men.
"It is true then. If you lower your weapons, you have my word you will be safe. Look. If I wanted you dead, we would have left you out with the zombies. But La Reina is looking for you. She will give you the reward." Hector explained.
"Remember the mission," Murphy said. Warren nodded and we lowered our guns.
"What is that smell?" Addy asked as we walked down a hallway.
"The future. We've found out a way to pay for the new world. We no longer have enemies. We have resources." Hector explained. He stood next to a metal barrel and knocked his gun against it. Growling from zombies could be heard from within.
"So you just leave your resources down here to rot?" Warren asked.
"We let them compost. Composting creates heat. Heat creates energy." Hector explained.
"Zombies for fuel. Clever." Doc said taking a few strides closer. We walked into a darker room and Hector opened a door to the outside.
"What's this?" Warren asked.
"The future." He said stepping out. "Welcome to Mexico. It's a great privilege for you to see this place. I bet now you're glad we dug tunnels underneath the border, aren't you?" He said. We were in zero's territory. I didn't like this at all.
"We've been tracking you for a while. Every time there's some crazy bullshit going on, it's you, people. It's not hard to follow you. What's hard is guessing what you're gonna do next. Lucky for you, one of our drones spotted you shortly before a zombie knocked it out of the air." He leads us deeper into the manor.
"So this La Reina De Los Muertos, Queen of the Dead, she'll give us the bounty?" Warren asked.
"She will. And it won't be that bullshit bounty the CDC will pay you." He said.
"Then I guess we should meet," Warren said.
"That's a wise choice." Hector led us further into the compound. We were brought to the entrance of the big manor home. A woman was waiting out front and whispered something to Hector.
"La Reina awaits your presence." Hector led us into the garden. "Mi Reina." Hector caught her attention.
"El Murfi. The savior. I have been looking for you for a very long time. And you must be Roberta Warren. Excuse me, Lieutenant Roberta Warren." She walked in front of her.
"I am." She said.
"You are the leader of this group? The one who brought me my Murphy?" La Reina asked.
"Yes."
"Impressive." She laughed and handed Warren a pink rose. "Leave it to Santa Muerte to work for a woman. I've sent dozens of my best men searching for El Murfi to bring him to me. And you're the only one who was able to accomplish this. And you are very slippery prey." She moved to Murphy.
"You said you have been looking for me. Sent your men to hunt and capture me. Care to tell me why?" Murphy asked.
"No. I'd rather show you." She laughed. Addy brought her bat into view and La Reina stopped before her.
"You don't need no weapons here." She said and walked through.
"Don't hurt yourself," Addy said handing her bat to a zero. 10k took his rifle and handed it off, I did the same with mine.
"When the rest of the world descended into chaos, we survived. And we found our true purpose. We have a bounty of resources at our disposal." La Reina said.
"Yeah. Escorpion told us all about your resources." Warren said.
"I wouldn't believe everything that mi Escorpion says. He's prone to exaggerate. And he likes to intimidate people. Perhaps that's why the people look to me for inspiration and hope." La Reina said. She led us farther into another area.
"Hope?" Murphy asked.
"Yes, Mr. Murphy. Hope." She paused. "You see, like me, you too survived for a reason. Please. This way. Your blood is the cure, is it not? What good is a cure if you can't get it to the people? Only the Zeros have the ability to distribute narcotics globally I'll get the vaccine to the people. And restore order to the world. My doctor has been working night and day to develop a cure. We are very very close. This is the heart of all my efforts. All we need is the blood of El Murfi to make my dreams of creating a cure a reality." She said turning and walking into another room.
"Welcome to my laboratory." She said. We walked around and looked at everything. There were vials and bottles filled with substances. A body was on the table and charts were everywhere. A door opened and we all turned to look at it.
"Murphy." A voice said as the matching person walked through the door.
"Kurian," Murphy said.
"Son of a bitch," Addy whispered.
"So this is where the Zeros took you. I thought they were gonna kill you. Glad they didn't. Now I can do it myself." Warren said. Addy pulled her back and La Reina looked disappointed.
"You two know each other?" She asked.
"You hear about the nuclear strike in Colorado?" Warren asked venomously.
"Colorado? That's where you disappeared with all my research and my money?" La Reina said.
"You brought me here to atone. I am atoning. And look. Here he is." Kurian said. Nobody moved or said anything.
"Lieutenant, I understand you. If someone tried to kill me, I would not rest until I took my revenge. But you're not going to kill my doctor, are you?" La Reina asked.
"No," Warren said breathlessly.
"Why not? I would." La Reina said.
"Because you took my gun," Warren said. La Reina laughed.
"Yes, I did. But something tells me, a smart woman like you, a team who've traveled thousands of miles across the country, crossed a border, can make weapons out of just about anything, huh? Yes. So tell me. Why do you not take your revenge?" She pushed.
"Because he might be the only one who can synthesize a cure," Warren said.
"Yes. Very good. I know how frustrating it is. It seems like sometimes to save humanity, we have to put up with a few disagreeable men. Hmmm? That is going to change. Now this one. It is no ordinary man who will sacrifice himself for the sake of humanity. Santa Muerte is going to smile upon you, Mr. Murphy. And you are going to bless us with your presence until the end of our days." She said walking up to him.
"Okay, whoa, whoa. Sacrifice? Kurian, you never said anything-" Murphy panicked.
"I thought you only needed his blood. You're not gonna hurt him, right?" Warren warned.
"I'll try not to," Kurian said.
"Don't listen to him. You're going to be fine. Let's leave them to their work." La Reina took us back to the hallway where we came in through.