Chapter 42, Australia, land of the Z's?

Looking back at the sun, Karl cursed is luck; there was a solar flare that would last for at least 37 hours.  He was well within the 13 first but the flare was so strong that it prevented any communication.  His high-tech satellite phone was useless.  So was his gps ICE locator.  Raising himself to get in position, Karl almost fell from his high position.  His ankle made a sharp SNAP noise and he fell on the rock.  Waves of agonising pain rolled up his spine and flowed his brain.  Through the tears, he saw that he had dislocated his ankle.  Making a snap judgment, he grabbed the foot with both hands and gave a sharp thug.  The ankle went back in its socket and the pain subsided a little.

Taking a survey of the Zombies approach, he calculated that he had the time to dress his sprained ankle and did so as fast as he could.  Using small branches, he made an improvised splint binding his ankle with gauze from his emergency kit.  3 Tylenol and 3 Advil was all he could afford if he wanted to keep a clear head.  He stood back up and Went to the edge of the rock.  The first Z was just reaching the bottom of it, its ugly head turned toward Karl uttering this debeliting moan.

Down and fast went the spear, catching the undead just under the jaw.  It was not a killing blow but it forced the head on the side, exposing the eyes the soft tissue on the side of the head.  AS fast and as hard as he could, the man strucked again.  This time, the blade went straight in and killed the Z.  It was almost over right there as the weight of the corpse almost overthrew Karl to the ground and made him loose his grip on his weapon.  Only pure luck and fast reflexes kept the man on the ledge and desperation gave him the strength to keep his weapon.  

Taking a deep breath, Karl tried to keep the panic at bay.  If he panicked he knew he was dead.  So, he sat, took a comfortable position, one that would allow for maximum strike power while keeping him seated with his good leg giving him a solid anchor.  Looking toward the horizon, he saw that more of the beast's coming his way.  He knew that he would soon be in a world of pain and danger.

Sidney, Australia.

Roxane Michaud, a Canadian veteran of many missions in the Army had been sent to help with the Australian Search and Rescue team.  The fact that she was a Dark Blood Hunter had been kept a secret.  Though she was petite and looked sweet as an angel, she packed a mean left hook and could hold her liquor like no other.  At 27, she had seen more fighting than most and only the aware Zombies in her force had had more experience than her...they had the unfair advantage of being immortals.  So, when the call for an emergency extraction was made, she did not panic.  She kissed her boyfriend goodbye, wishing him luck in his surfing competition and went to gather her gear.  45 minutes later, she was attending a briefing that put a frown on her face.  

17 hours ago, Karl Main had gone trekking in the outback.  No problem there.  The problem was that his chosen destination and itinerary had put him near a swarm of almost 86 Z's.  That was Trouble.  With the solar flare, there was no way to find him using technology.  Thankfully, the satellites monitoring such swarm had detected a strong change in the swarm predicted trajectory and had warned the response team.  Using enhanced pictures, they had been able to spot the architect and his position.  Now, it was time for the S&R to go and save the man.

Captain Michaud took 5 minutes to choose her team; their mission was to rescue, not kill the Z's.  That would be left to another team.  So she chooses her best pilot, Mirage, an aborigine that could land a chopper on a dime during a force 5 gale.  She took the St-Arneaud tweens.  Both sharp shooters and quite gifted with a Gatling gun.  Finally, she took Sam Berger, French descendent who could go down and up a rope faster than anyone alive.  They took some first aid material and on an afterthought, Michaud added a set of incendiary grenades.  Just in case they could "mark the spot" the S&D team.

Within 80 minutes of receiving the call, the chopper was in the air flying in direction of the possible location of the man. If they did not find him before night fall or if the swarm made any student change in direction, they would return to base assuming the man lost and dead...or worst, undead.

The first hour of flight was uneventful.  The weather was clear and they had good visibility. Then, they received a call from base: the man was alive and fighting on some small rocks that put him just about over the zombies.  He was about to be surrounded.  The satellite showed that another swarm was converging on the first one bringing it to a total of 207 corpses.  One of the biggest in Australia.  Michaud swore under her breath.  They would see a lot more action than what she had planned for.  But their mission was clear: save the man not kill the corpses.  So they would save the man...she hoped.

Chapter 41: Survival

Karl knew he was in trouble.  It wasn’t the first time, but he had to admit that this time it was different.  The possibility of his death was more than real.  

Karl was an adventurer.  He enjoyed the great outdoors and he always had his pack and gears ready for whenever he needed a respite from the city.  When the stress, the pollution, the people was too much, he simply grabbed his things, got a bus ticket for the Outback and hiked for 2 or 3 days.  Being one of the most successful architect of Australia helped in allowing him to go out when the desire strucked.

This trip had started as any other.  On last Monday, he had grabbed his pack and left.  On the bus, he had kept an eye for the kangaroo’s.  Contrary to the popular beliefs, these beasts were far from the "cute" Skippy from the popular TV show.  They were wild animals and behaved like so.

Even though, it wasn’t them that had him worried.  Not even the Inland Taipan scared him for he knew how to avoid it and always had the most powerful antivenin available on the market in a specially designed wrist band he could activate with only his mouth if necessary.  The Tasmanian Tigre was almost instinct and avoided humans like a swarm of locust.  Nop.  What had him scrambling for his life was a pack of moaning, shambling and very hungry Zombies.  

Like every human...except probably a few crazy indigenes out there, he had heard of the monsters.  He had also heard how everything was done to protect the world’s population.  He never dreamed that he would meet one outside of their food source area; the city.  Here in the Australian outback, the possibility of meeting one such creature was so ponderous that he never even entertained it.

Let’s face it, thought the 33 year old architect, probable or not, you’re in deep shit this time buddy.  And how does one gets out of a dangerous situation?  He uses his head father, answered Karl.  His dad had been a great outdoor expert, guiding tourist who searched thrills and other endorphin situations.  He had retired five years ago but was still trekking for his pleasure.  He had thought everything he knew to his son who had inherited his passion for adventures and "interesting" situations.  

Keeping his pace steady, he looked behind him.  Yup, they were still coming after him.  Six of these beasts had found his "scent" and were tracking him with their distinctive walk.  They had no expression what so ever and only the constant moan following him allowed Karl to know they were still there.  Otherwise, he would never have known he had been marked to be eaten or worst, become one of them.

Karl was walking in the direction of a small rock formation that would allow for some high ground.  While walking ahead of them, he had picked a sturdy piece of wood that he had shaped in the form of a crude spear.  Using one of his spare knife blade and some paracord, he had attached the blade to the shaft and had tested it against bushes and the ground.  The blade was a bit chipped but the whole thing would withstand the ordeal that was coming up.

Securing up the 3 piece formation, he moved toward the southern side where it would make it impossible for his pursuer to climb after him.  There, he made as much noise as he could, baiting the monsters toward him.  It worked.  The Zombies were fast approaching his position and would be in range not long afterward.  Holding his makeshift weapon, he allowed his mind to wander to another of his father’s lesson.

Karl was 12 years old and he was hunting with his dad.  They had crafted spears from wood, sharp obsidian rock and used their shoe laces to secure the weapon.  Then, they had practiced thrusts, slashes and hoe to use the shaft as both a weapon and a shield.  He has also explained how, whenever possible, using high ground or bushes when hunting or running from predators would allow of either complete protection or at the very least, cover from one side from attacks.  It was solid theory but with the living dead’s there was one factor that his dad could never have anticipated: these predators never got tired.  As long as Karl was there, they would try to get at him.  

Sitting there, he looked at what he was facing: 6 undead who were determined to make him their lunch, him with his gear, most of it useless against undeads, and his spear that would have to hold against God only knew how many thrusts until all of them were actually dead.  Well, sitting there would accomplish nothing.  Hefting his spears, Karl took one last steadying breath and prepares himself to kill...

ZNN Breaking news!!!

In an unprecedented turn of event and after months of research, a Belgian scientist has made a most needed breakthrough.  Francesca DeLamare, biologist has documented how the virus actually progress in the human host and how it corrupts the cells.  

Using volunteers who were already infected in a most secure facility, and never more than one infected at the time, Dr DeLamare and her team were able to observe in real time the way a human host becomes a Zombie.  As soon as the "Turning" was finished, the infected was disposed of with a bullet through the brain and the body cremated.  

- We have been able to understand the process through which a human becomes a Zombie.  It is amazing how tis virus not only resists to every drug we used.  It is even immune to radioactivity at least at the levels where it is still safe to use on a living human.  At higher level, the virus dies as does the host.  

The virus starts by invading every organs of the human body.  Strangely, the brain is the last organ to be corrupted.  Once the virus is entrenched in a host, it starts to mutate the whole body.  First, it kills the nerves, rendering the body unresponsive to pain signals.  Once it has complete control of the nervous system, it moves through the blood stream to mutate the other organs.  This process creates intense fever and hallucinations.  

The way it works is that every organ is separated from the body and the blood flowing to it is stopped.  The brain becomes self-sufficient.  Higher functions are destroyed and only the most basic functions are kept.  The brain is then a separated organ that is both self-sufficient and deadly.  The only goal is reproduction.  But not reproduction as we see it.  We are taking about a virus here, not a sentient being.  The means it uses to reproduce are the most basic of functions.  

1- It finds a prey using every sense.  Smell being the most efficient for it.  

2- By signalling to other infected where to find food.

3- By biting a possible host and transferring a portion of itself to the new host.

I am fully aware that the way the virus behaves is more akin to a parasite than a virus in the traditional sense of the definition thus we repeated this experiment 1000 time.  We had the exact same result each time.  The main difference is in the time it takes for the virus to finish transforming the host in a full fledge zombie.  The shortest time was 3 hours while the longest and most painful was 24 hours.  

There is still no cure for this virus.  It is 100% contagious and no one is immune to it.  We are still trying to find a vaccine.  A cure is still far out of our goals.  This virus mutates with every drugs or treatment we try making it the most deadly strain of virus ever.  Compared to it, the Ebola virus looks like a bad flue.

We thank you for your time.  For now, keep observing the official directives from your government and local law enforcement forces.  Remember, a dead hero becomes a living zombie.

Chapter 39 - World and Zombies part II

Liz was at her aunt weeding when things got wrong. The first sign was the loud moan. Then the edge surrounding the huge property started to shake. One arm got through then another. The adults started to panic. Liz, in her pink dress started to run toward her mom when she got knocked down and almost trampled by her panicked relatives. A knee to the head made her lose any sense of self, time and space. She felt like she was floating toward the dark sky.

When she came to, she saw that she was on the roof of the house. Around here were the other children. Someone screamed to throw the ladder down and that whatever happened, they must not look down. Liz was near the edge of the roof and she had a first class view of what happened next. About 30 Zombies surrounded the partygoers. Her mom and dad were trying to fight them with kitchen knives and other tools but to no avails. After maybe 2 hours, the ranks of the monsters had swell to double their numbers. Liz had seen her dad brought down and eaten alive while her mother had tried her best to save him only to get caught by her long brown hair, preventing her from getting her throat away from the hungry teeth ripping it open. A fountain of blood had surged from the wound and while she lay there, on her back, dying, her eyes had found those of her daughter and she had managed a smile before dying. Now, the Zombies were moving around the house, aware that somewhere on the roof, fresh food waited for them.

At 9, Elizabeth or Liz as she preferred to be called was the second oldest of the children stranded on the roof. Alexander, a cousin was 13 and had taken charge of their survival. First, he had moved everyone away from the edge to prevent accidental falling. Then, using a rope made of their cloth, he had gone in the house to get supply. Thankfully, the monsters hadn’t made it in at that time. Moving as fast as he could, he had gathered food and more importantly, rigged a hose to the top most faucet so they would have water for a while. At least, until help came. Then, he had had to beat a hasty retreat before the Z’s got to him. He had made it in the nick of time, monsters fast on his trail.

The children had food for about 5 days and water was not an issue. What became fast apparent was that the toddler did not understand the situation. They tried to go down and had to be kept under constant surveillance. They did not have dippers or milk for the youngest and hygiene was becoming an issue. They set a specific spot for their needs, a spot with a natural downward slope to evacuate their feces. After 3 days, the sun had burned most of them. Water was not the issue but if no one came to their help, they were going to die! Liz felt a lot better. Her concussion had healed and she thought that she could make it inside to at least get some curtains to shield them from the heat. Then, as she was discussing her idea with Alexander, one of the youngest screamed with joy: “Momy!!!!”

Turning toward the sound, Liz saw with horror that the monsters had put the ladder up and had come for them. Her own mother came up the stairs and walked toward her, her smile still on her stiff lips. Then as she opened her mouth to bite her, Liz creamed and woke-up.

Her parents were in her room and were trying to comfort the little girl.

- This story is one of the many we have to deal with since the fact that zombies exist has become public. Children who are too young to defend themselves are prone to severe depression. Some of them can’t even set foot outside their home due to the humongous fear the feel. Explained the Psychiatrist Helena Sparni, expert in children behavior. We have to educate them and give them tools to make this sentiment that they are helpless go away. Moreover, the pictures and disturbing images of Zombies attacking people playing on the net and in the news should be preceded of a warning of at least five second to give parents time to change the channel if they believe that their children should not be exposed to the horror of this plague. I do not advocate for hiding our children from the danger, but to prepare them according to their mental development. For example, some preschool have started to teach this song.

 Sung to Twinkle Twinkle little Star 

Zombie Zombie on the street keep your dirty mouth from me
At the school, or in my yard, when I see you home I run 
Zombie Zombie stay away, I don’t want to see you near

Zombie Zombie at the door, stay there while I run up stairs 
While I dial 9-1-1, Mommy, Daddy or Nanny 
They will do their very best, to keep you out from our nest.

Zombie Zombie In my house, you don’t have to come up stairs 
Frighten, scared or just plain bored, not a sound should I speak 
Zombie Zombie in my house, that way you will go away.

- It is a start that prepare them for what may come. And let’s all pray, whatever god you believe in that it will not come to pass…

Chapter 38 World and Zombies

Today, in an unexpected move, the ONU have voted a motion giving unlimited power, resources and rights in every and all countries to an armed force. Among the surprises was China and North Korea who supported de motion. This task force is charged with the suppression of all enemies forces using any and all means deemed necessary. The Enemy has been acknowledging for the first time under the common name: Zombie. At the same time, a special team of scientist using the latest technology has been tasked with the colossal job of finding a cure or a vaccine against the “IPFS-1” death inducing virus. The preliminary reports came and were given to the press stating that at this time, there was no cure and no effective mean to stop the propagation of the virus once it entered a human host. Fortunately, animals were impervious to the virus in the sense that it killed them and did not changed them in zombie’s animals. The problem was that this characteristic made it impossible to do any animal testing of a cure since even the faintest trace of the viruse killed the host. Human testing was out of the question as it transformed the host in a full fledge Zombie thus creating a carrier for the disease. The armed force was ready to be deployed 27\7 with an hour notice. It could be sent anywhere within 4 hours of a confirmed threat. A threat was a menace that the police/regular forces could not suppress. In the same motion, an official Zombie Survival pamphlet had been issued; a course on Zombie protection and identification had been created and made mandatory for every law enforcement corps and medical staff around the globe. These measures had been implemented to provide the citizen of the world with a mean to fend for themselves in the unlikely event of a Zombie invasion. Each country had the responsibility to amend the information from the pamphlet to reflect cultural and social reality in said country. Finally, a global emergency state had been voted with laws preventing the raise of prices on essentials goods. In reaction to these measures, most countries issued statements following the broad lines of the measures instated by the ONU. Special Forces to deal with the Zombies, extended resources to medical researches and increased emergency measures ranging from curfew to martial law. A mutual promess was issued from all parties present to help and give assistance to the nations without the means to implement these measures and protect their citizens. At the exact moment these measures were announced, armed forces were deployed all around the world. In Bogotá, the Colombian army helped with the local militia was in place just in time to stop a riot from starting. In Karachi, Pakistan, the newly formed army with the help of the police kept an eye on things but it was quite calm. In Chicago, one of USA most traveled through city, it was mass panic. The coast guards, the army and the police all worked together to stop looters and mass hysteria. People in Chicago only registered one thing: the Zombies were real. In four hours, more poor drunken SOD’s were shot down by hysteric housewife than anywhere in the world. The mayor had to pass a law preventing bars from serving more than 2 drinks per persons and limit the amount of liquor available to 1 bottle per person. When asked about it, he said: “I’d rather have the return of the prohibition than having Zombies NOT shot down due to the fact that you can’t make the difference between a drunk and it until IT tries to bite your head off”. All around the world, to prevent the events described in what was now called: The book of truth, World War Z, extremes measures were taken to stop diseased people from moving out of their countries. Sadly, dogs and other creatures simply went crazy when put in the presence of an infected so were not useful since the mere presence of the smell of an infected on a person sent them in frenzy. In Africa, nations had had to deal with more wars, civil wars, massacres and violence than almost anywhere in the world and took this new menace with calm. One African war lord, when asked why he was helping the army answered: “I’d rather help my enemy now so that one day, my children live than killing him only to feed my nation to the hungry moans of these devils.” The last statement was to make The Bringers of Light, humanity’s enemy. Anyone who was associated with them was to be detained, questioned and arrested for crimes against humanity. The trials were to be held at the ONU’s court. - And may whatever God, divinity or other power there is out here help us and protect us. Because today, what we do is not only for us, but for the very survival of the human race. We are NOT invaded yet. The vigilance and constant work of our military around the world made certain of that. But today, the threat is stronger than ever. Let us pray that we can find a solution soon.

Chapter 37: Religion and Zombies

Sitting in their living room, the Martin’s watched this incredible special program. The pope, the Chef Rabbi, the Grand Imam and the Grand Mufti were also present to discuss the view of their religion in relation to the Zombie revelation. The host, a famous American reporter and news anchor was having the prestigious and difficult task of directing the discussion. The rendez-vous point had been kept a secret to avoid terrorist attacks and Z’s menace. There were interprets and security personnel easily visible. - Good Evening, my name is Oliver as most of our American viewers know. For those woo I have the chance to talk to for the very first time, I wish you good evening. Tonight, we will have the pleasure of discussing with the most respected leaders of the 3 most influential religions in the world. Before we start, we did not forget Buddhism, Shintoism, and other religion like these, we will have a special show for these in due time. For now, we will start with a question for the Pope. The pope smile politely and waited for the question. - With the revelation of the Zombie threat, some people wondered if Jesus, a figure proved to have existed due to archeological evidence, was not in fact a Zombie. The fact that he got crucified, speared and tortured to death then came back from the dead, does these evidence point to a Zombie in light of the revelation of their existence? - I am glad you asked the question. Zombies do not show any sign of cognitive intelligence. They are creatures with only one goal and that is to eat and destroy humanity. How could the son of Good be a zombie and still tell his message of love and compassion? He could not have done so. Thus, he was not a zombie. - Thank you. My next question is for the Chef Rabbi: What do you make of the new studies that explain the seven plague of Egypt as being in fact the Zombie Plague propagated by angry Jew’s who went to the extreme to liberate their people from the Egyptians and thus infected every first born with the Zombie plague, forcing the death of hundreds of innocents? - Thank you Oliver, I was hoping for this question. When faced with new revelation that change the way we see the past, people with a grudge will often use these to their advantage. They will turn one of the most sacred miracles of the Torah, the ancient testament for the Christians, and try to light it with this new light to make it horrible. If the Jews of the time had used zombies, or infected blood, they would have risked a global infection and pandemic threat. No one in his right mind would do something like that. No, the seven plagues of Egypt, as they are known was a miracle of God. Not some prehistoric biological warfare. - I see. Now, to our good Imam, I ask my next question. Do you believe that this disease is a way for Allah to punish the none Muslim’s? After talking together for a few minutes, The Grand Imam answered: We do not believe that this plague is sent to punish anyone. Our people have been attacked by this virus and good Muslim died of it. These Djin’s or Zombies as you call them have been there for thousands of years. Why does Allah let them feed on humanity, we do not know. The Grand Mufti continued: but we do know that it is not the Jihad or the end of the world. It only show that in these times of trial, we must unite and forget our differences. Christians, Jews and Muslim must work together. This is the true message we are here to send today. The pope, the Chef Rabbi, the Grand Imam and the Grand Mufti rose and each exchanged with his counterpart religious symbols. The pope gave rosary and accepted the Koran and the David Star offered to him. He placed the later on a chain and displayed it on the front of his robes and placed the Book in his left hand for all to see. The rest of the show was pretty much along the same lines: questions about relation to the sacred books and or dogma and the Zombies, the leaders answering questions and supporting each others. The closing statement was a renew demand from all four man to have a global cease fire and to concentrate the effort of all on this single menace: the Zombies.

Chapter 36 End or Beginning?

Parkson and her young charge came to the end of their parcour. They were only some 30 meters from the exit through the sewer when Alice made them stop. Facing them, silently and patiently were over 40 Z's. The plan was obvious: wait until Parkson opened the door or until who ever controlled them decided that time was up. Parkson moved back with Yukio until they were hidden from the Z's. - So, here we are. There are not many options. We wait until we have a better idea or we kill ourselves. We cannot allow the Z's to go in Tokyo under any circumstances. Do you understand? - I do. While we wait for the Kami to make their wisdom known to us, would you mind telling me how you became like me? Parkson took some time to formulate her answer. Then, she explained about the trip to the beach, the attack on the family and her surviving. Then, drawn by this young girl not unlike she had been years ago, she explained how she had struggled to be accepted in a society that was not only a secret but also highly elitist. - You have to remember that at that time, women did not have the right to vote. Or only in some rare country. Imagine now a situation where Men are the leaders and some of them have been for centuries. It makes for a long debate until any changes can be accepted. There was one woman who was in their mist and who fought with the best of them. Her name was Chloe and she was from Greece. She fought with a spear, bow and arrows and a Falcate, the Greek sword. She was truly magnificent. And I was there, filled to the brim with anger, rage and an almost suicidal desire to fight. You have to understand, I sought solace for my guilt. I felt responsible for the death of the young ones. Why should I survive and they die? It was so unfair! I felt…unclean and unworthy of my life. So, here I was, pestering the teachers to let me learn to fight and after a month, they let me join the men on the training course. But I was reckless. I sought to learn to fight but I forgot…I knowingly put my friends in jeopardy. I did not do anything to hold my blows; I used underhand techniques and did whatever I could to win. Then, after two or three months, while I was practicing in the training court, she came. She came in the gym wearing combat fatigue. Her brown hairs were gathered in a tail on her back and she wore a silver pendent with a moon speared with a sword. She ignored me and started practicing. I was stunned by her grace, speed and power. Where I was stumbling, she was nimble. Where I screamed with rage, she was deadly silent. Where I looked like a berserker, erm…a barbarian full of rage if you prefer. So, where I looked like a berserker, she was calm and poised. I was…shamed. Here was a woman who did was everything I wanted to be but who refused to let anger rule her world. I moved to talk to her but she kept ignoring me. When I got close, she moved away. I followed her through the gym and finally, getting tired of the game, I stepped in her swing. I looked at her grey eyes as her blade moved toward my neck. I almost smiled, thinking that at least, the end was here. But, with a silent snarl, she held her blade and stopped before slicing my throat and decapitating me. Her eyes held nothing but contempt. Still keeping silence, she started to put away her weapons. I was shocked. Here was another woman, exactly what I was hopping and wishing to be. Obviously respected, accepted in this Male directed world while I had to struggle just to be allowed to learn the basics. I became angry. Which was not too hard in my state. I moved toward her and started yelling at her: “Who do you think you are? We are the only females here and you dare ignore me?” I then made a very stupid move. I Punched her. Alice chuckled, remembering the scene. I was way too slow, uncoordinated and over all under-trained to be able to land a blow on her. She side stepped me, caught my wrist in her hand, moved behind me and with a sharp twist, sent me flying and crashing on the floor. I got up as fast as I could and launched a barrage of punches and kicks. None of them even came close to her. She totally dominated me. When I punched, she blocked, slapped and overall made it impossible for me to hit her. When I kicked, she sidestepped, blocked and threw me on the floor without even breaking a sweat. It was humiliating and mortifying. But I could not stop myself. I tried and tried until I lay exhausted on the floor. Then, to my surprise, I started crying. I was lying on the floor, in a tangle unable to move and unwilling to do so and tears were flowing from my eyes like the Niagara’s snow melt. I felt a hand on my head and a compassionate voice spoke to me: “Let it out. Let it all out. You are not to blame for what happened and you could not have done anything to save them. It wasn’t your fault. I cried harder. I felt that my heart would explode from the pain. I wanted so much to die. But the arms holding me tight would not let me go. The voice kept saying soothing things to me. Finally, I managed to get a hold of myself and the tears stopped. I laid there, resting in her arms totally spent by my tears. I felt a bit better and finally moved away. Still holding my hand, she smiled at me. Without a word, we left the gym and she took me to eat. We talked a lot. She became my teacher, my friend and eventually, with her help, I let go of the anger and hatred. It took a long time, but I finally made peace with who I was and what I had became. Where is chloe now? Asked Yukio. She is dead. She died 30 some years ago in a fire. There were humans trapped with Z’s and some idiot shot an incendiary grenade. Chloe tried to help the survivors but she never made it out and the whole building burned to the ground. We were in India. Fire there was a disaster. No water fountain to help the firefighters, streets to small to let the trucks pass, it destroyed two third of the city before it was contained. What happened to the one who sent the grenade? He… let’s forget this. Now that you know where I’m from, what I went through, I only want to offer you my help. Right now, you are still not processing everything that happened to you and the fact that there are monsters right that way makes it harder for us to… Parkson stopped talking. Something had happened. She could feel it. Yukio turned her head so their eyes met and she too had felt it. “It’s the Kami. They are telling us to make our move.” Without hesitating, she grabbed Parkson and made it to the exit point. There, the Z’s were in a kind of fit. They shook on place. Some tried to raise their gun’s but were stopped by their own body. Other simply stared at the far wall. None of them was able to do much harm as Alice and Yukio made their way to the exit. The young Japanese girl pressed for more speed arguing that the Kami would not be able to contain their enemy for long. Just when Alice thought that her body yould simply crumble under the strain, they reached the extraction point and closed the heavy steel doors behind them. As the door locked with a sharp “click” sound and medics helped them lay down on stretchers, a wail of hatred rose behind them. Obviously, they had made it out alive to the disappointment of whoever controlled these Zombies. Now, with everyone safely out, the counter measure could be applied. As they left the train station on a chopper, a bright white light shown through the dusk. It blinded the two women and a sound like a strong wind was heard. Where once stood the train station there was nothing. A huge crater the size of the station with smoke rising was all that remained. Alice rested her head on the pillow and smiled to Yukio. Her first true smile in a long long time. Well, it looks like we will be together for a while, it you want to? Yukio’s answer was to hold her hand. They made the voyage that way, each taking comfort in the other’s presence.