Apocalypso x-3 Read online

  “Don’t count on it,” Brenda said.

  They tried contacting other people in the building, buzzing all the units from the lobby, but either there was no one home or no one wanted company. It was a very select membership, Moguls Only: politicians, religious leaders, business magnates, all of them living incognito, privacy being one of the building’s premium selling points. Odd that they would have all left town at once. But it was just as well: Ray had nothing to offer them but tea and sympathy-and the tea was running low.

  The cavalry finally arrived.

  It started with a promising sound: the tinkling of an ice-cream truck. How wonderful it was to hear such familiar, friendly music-it sounded like summer. Looking down from the balcony, they watched as the truck passed directly below, towing a trailer full of caged women.

  “What the hell is that?” Apollo asked.

  From what Ray could see, the women were clearly not Xombies. If it was true that the plague mainly struck women, as the Emergency Broadcast had implied, then why were these not infected? Perhaps they were being kept in the cage for their own safety… although it certainly didn’t look like that. It looked more like some kind of twisted freak show with Xombies as the prime audience.

  As the truck reached the far end of the street, it released the trailer and sped away. Brenda and Apollo argued about what to do, but there was really nothing to be done because the Xombies were there, swarming over the cage like maggots. Screaming, Brenda covered her ears and fled from the window, and Apollo dragged Ray away as well, so they all missed the brilliant explosion that followed.

  There was nothing left to console them. It was all too obvious what was going on and what that meant for the future of the human race. No women, no babies, in which case this really was the end of everything.

  When the fires died down, the loudspeakers started up:

  “THIS IS A MESSAGE TO ALL LOYAL AMERICANS: YOU ARE CALLED UPON TO JOIN IN THE FIGHT AGAINST EVIL. JOIN OUR VICTORIOUS CAMPAIGN, AND HELP BANISH THE SCOURGE OF AGENT X. HAVE NO FEAR-THE HELLIONS ARE ON THE RUN. COME FORTH AND STAND WITH US. WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS, AND WE BRING GOOD NEWS. THE WORST IS OVER. SHARE OUR FOOD, MEDICINE, FELLOWSHIP, AND SAFE REFUGE. COME FORTH, COME FORTH, ALL YE FAITHFUL. THE HOLY AVENGERS OF ADAM WANT YOU.”

  “What the hell’s the Avengers of Adam?” asked Brenda.

  “Sounds like a comic book,” said Ray.

  The crusaders were systematically searching the city and arresting any survivors. What was remarkable was the sudden absence of Xombies; the city was temporarily free of ghouls. And there were surprisingly many human holdouts, quick-thinking folks who had hidden in attics, basements, and bomb shelters-mostly men, but also a few women. With brusque efficiency, the soldiers bagged their captives and drove them away, sealing off each building as it was cleared. There was not much resistance. Brenda had no interest in joining those refugees, and Ray and Apollo were in full agreement with her.

  Day after day, hour after hour, they kept waiting for help to arrive, some legitimate entity of the U.S. government, like the National Guard, or perhaps the Red Cross. The Boy Scouts of America-anything. Panic set in as it became clear that nothing was going to happen in time to save them: The Holy Avengers of Adam were starting on their block. Very soon, the lobby’s heavy security doors would be broken down, the building would be invaded, and they would be dragged outside to join the prisoners on those trucks… bound for whatever fate the HAA had in store.

  “We have to get you out of here,” Apollo said at last.

  “Thank God,” Brenda said. “I’m about ready to join the Xombies at this point.”

  “That’s the trouble-there’s no place to go. Even if we got past those whack jobs, we’d just be running right smack into an even bigger problem. I’m sure the countryside is still crawling.”

  “Out of the frying pan and into the fire,” commented Ray, dishing out scrambled eggs.

  “Maybe not,” Apollo said. “Not if we can get to Sandoval’s defense plant like we were originally supposed to.”

  “A little late for that, don’t you think? It’s way down in South County, and the roads will be even more impassable than they were before. Not to mention, the place has probably been overrun.”

  “I doubt it. The whole plant can be closed off like a fortress in the event of emergency. These guys have specific security requirements just in case of attacks by terrorist hit squads, chemical attacks, even nuclear war. I’m beginning to think it was no accident that Sandoval wanted you there when he did.”

  “What are you saying? That he had advance warning of the plague? If he knew about it, why wouldn’t he tell us? I mean, I sure as hell wouldn’t have been late!”

  “Maybe he didn’t know for sure. Maybe he called in all the families just in case.”

  Ray and Brenda processed this, being familiar with the eccentricities of their “Uncle Jim.” He was not their real uncle but a very wealthy older man who had taken them in when Brenda was a teenager stuck raising her baby brother because their mother had flown the coop. He gave them a place to live and a generous allowance, but beyond that, they rarely saw him, which was perhaps the biggest gift of all. He expected nothing, he asked for nothing… until the day he asked them to show up at the plant. He even sent a car.

  Shit. There was a long pause as minds hardened against hope tried to process this remote possibility. Then Brenda said, “All right. Sure. Yes. Let’s go!”

  The city was quiet at night-quiet and dark and bitter cold. In that deep silence, any noise would have been loud, and this was a loud noise to begin with: the rumble of an electronic garage door. Pulled by a chain drive, heavy steel slats were raised and wrapped around a rotating drum, making an almighty racket. Even before the door was all the way up, a huge black SUV blazed through and up the exit ramp.

  Barreling in zigzags down the empty streets, the car met no obstacles, no opposition from living or dead. It was just too cold. Hurtling down an alley, the vehicle slowed as it approached a glowing tarpaulin at the end-a big tent blocking the way. Shadows could be seen moving inside, sentries roused by the sound of approaching vehicles.

  “Guards!” Brenda yelled. “Go back, go back!”

  “I’m trying!” Apollo said. “We’re blocked from behind.”

  Ray and Brenda craned their necks, horrified to see a large vehicle coming up fast. It was not an ordinary truck but an armored riot vehicle stenciled with daggerlike crucifixes dripping blood. A six-wheeled Deathmobile.

  “Then go forward!” Brenda cried.

  “You got it.” Apollo hit the gas and plowed through the canvas wall. There was a burst of orange embers as the Escalade struck a flaming trash barrel, then a violent crash that caused the air bags to deploy. A loud alarm started going off.

  “Shi-i-it,” Ray said, pushing away the air bag and feeling his nose for blood.

  They had struck a concrete barricade. The force of the crash had knocked one of the blocks over and dragged it under the car for a good ten feet.

  Apollo shouted, “Get out! Get out now!”

  As they abandoned the car, a blaze of tracer fire erupted from the approaching vehicle, cutting through the Escalade’s armor plating as if it were sliced provolone. Windows blew out, tires exploded, and Apollo grunted as he was shot to pieces. Ray braced himself to die, but miraculously no bullet struck him. His sister, however, was hit.

  “Brenda! Oh shit!” He dove to help her, propping her upright against the concrete slab as though it were a chaise. Her face was pale and her eyes very bright, but she didn’t seem to be in pain. Her injury was hidden somewhere under her clothes, just a spreading dark stain running down her side. “Can you walk? We gotta go!”

  Apologetically, she said, “I don’t think I can, Ray. You have to go without me.”

  “No way! You’re coming, if I have to carry you!” He tried to pick her up, but she cried out in sudden agony, shaking her head no. He hurriedly let her down, his sleeves soaked with her steaming-ho
t blood. He didn’t know what to do. His bare hands had touched the enormous rip in her flesh, feeling the slimy tissue hanging out, and he shuddered in terror and grief. Brenda was dying. His big sister was dying. The sister who was his only relative in the world, who had been as much a mother as a sister to him, and whom he had never imagined living without… because without her, he was totally and utterly alone.

  The Deathmobile pulled up to the barricade, and several men got out. They were matter-of-fact about the destruction they had wrought, no strangers to killing. One of them had a flamethrower. “All right, kid,” he said. “Step away from the body so we can purify the area.”

  “Fuck off,” Ray said.

  “Yeah, yeah. Brother Matt, come get this kid, will you?”

  “You got it, chief.” Brother Matt stepped over the barricade and raised his boot to kick Ray off Brenda, but before he could deliver the blow, his body jerked rigid and he made a strangled noise from the back of his throat. His eyes bulged and his tongue popped out, and all of a sudden his torso twisted apart at the waist.

  Apollo rose into the light. He was a shot-up wreck, an animated blue monstrosity, but a Xombie was still a Xombie, and his big hands gleamed red, clutching pieces of Brother Matt’s severed spine.

  The other men opened fire, but even before they pulled the triggers, more Xombies materialized out of thin air, literally falling upon them from windows overlooking the street. In an instant, every man was down. Their radios crackled with anxious queries.

  Brenda touched Ray’s hand. Her fingers were ice-cold. “Go, honey,” she said. It took her great effort to say it, and she didn’t have much left. “Please.”

  Not knowing what he was doing, Ray crawled away from her. He would later realize he never kissed her good-bye, never told her he loved her, and this would torment him during the long voyage on the submarine. There was a wine store a few feet away, and he went inside. The Xombies didn’t seem to notice. Ray walked through the store and out the back door into an alley. No one saw him; no one followed. A few blocks away, he found a motor scooter lying on its side. It was a nice Vespa, just abandoned, with the keys still in it.

  It started right up.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  GULAG

  Todd pushed the hooded prisoner in front of him, trying to look brusque as he approached the sentries. The two Brethren sat in a huge riot vehicle, the Deathmobile, one at the wheel and the other manning a rooftop machine gun. The gunner trained his weapon on the approaching pair.

  “State your business,” he called.

  “This woman just surrendered to me outside. She says the Hellions won’t touch her.”

  The driver sat up. “No shit? You know, there’s a bounty on Munies. If she’s for real, you get a promotion. Where’s your incident report?”

  “Right here.”

  The man barely glanced at the paper. “Why haven’t I seen you before?”

  “I’m new. I’ve been assigned to the hotel.”

  “You’re not one of those guys who rode in on bikes?”

  “That’s right.”

  “Cool. And you weren’t even anointed? No protection at all?”

  “No. Can we get through this?”

  “Be done in a sec. Whose side are you on, the Prophet or the Apostle?”

  “The Prophet.”

  “Bad idea, if you ask me. Odds are with the Living Saint, two to one. This is one horse race you want to be sure to bet on the favorite.”

  “Amen to that, brother.”

  The man at the gun seemed to be studying the prisoner closely.

  Todd suddenly felt very stupid to think this plan could work. Sneaking a dress, a wig, and some cosmetics from the mall stores, Todd had watched as Ray tried to create a look that was feminine without being overly fussy-apocalypse chic. “That’ll work, that’ll work,” Todd kept muttering doubtfully. It was all a bad joke. At best, Ray looked like a soot-smudged female impersonator.

  But it seemed to be good enough. The guard gave the okay, and Ray was allowed through the gate of the compound and released from his bonds. Todd was dismissed.

  Peace, bro, he thought.

  Unhooded, Ray found himself standing alongside a row of portable toilets. Straight ahead were ranks of brand-new recreational vehicles, dozens of them, with an open space in the center. In that clearing, he could see a group of women sitting at several picnic tables, playing cards.

  Before Agent X, Ray had come here every Fourth of July. It was nice: Bands played and people brought beach chairs to watch fireworks over the State House. With the trailers and fences and huddled figures, it now looked more like a gulag.

  The group at the table waved him over. There were about ten of them, anonymous figures with scarves wrapped around their heads. They looked like old homeless ladies, bundled in whatever the men supplied them with from Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, or Bed, Bath amp; Beyond. Heart hammering, Ray started over to them, wondering how he was going to pull this off.

  From off to the side, a man’s voice called, “Ray…? Oh my God, is that you?”

  “Uncle Jim!” Ray said.

  He rushed to embrace the man and was held off by a warning look. In a low voice, Sandoval said, “No touchee. It’s the rules.” Looking askance at Ray, he asked, “What the hell are you wearing?”

  Now it was Ray’s turn to lower his voice. “I know, I’m a girl, just go along with it. Call me Raven.”

  “Raven. Right. Right, of course. What are you doing in here?”

  “I came to see you. I had Todd pretend to arrest me.”

  “You jackass! Don’t you realize there’s about to be a holy war? Dixon’s people are crazy!”

  “Why do you think I came? I got your note-are you okay?”

  “I’m all right, considering some nutball tried to stick a knife in me. I’m fine. You really shouldn’t have come in here.”

  “I had to do something.”

  “I know.” Sandoval spoke urgently in Ray’s ear: “Listen, if things go the way I’m hoping, we won’t have to be in here much longer anyway.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “You’ll see. Just play it cool.”

  The women were fascinated and suspicious. “Who’s this, Jim?” one of them called. “You never told us you had a girlfriend on the outside. Why don’t you introduce us? And maybe fetch her a drink. She looks like she needs it.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend, Chandra,” Sandoval said. “She’s my… niece. Raven.”

  The woman looked unconvinced. “Raven. Really. Well, it’s quite the jolly little family reunion, isn’t it? What a fortunate coincidence that you both survived the plague!”

  “Not such a coincidence. Raven and I both escaped on the submarine.”

  “Oh, is that submarine of yours back in town?”

  “Just long enough to drop her off, apparently.”

  Ray said, “That’s right. They didn’t want any women on board, so they put me ashore.”

  “Well, that’s just terrible. You’re certainly welcome with us.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Now there’s just one thing. As you can see, dear, most of us here are old enough to be your mother… or even your grandmother. That suggests that you have an unusual resistance to Agent X for someone your age. You can bear children-possibly immune children. This places you in a very select minority. Has Jim explained to you what that means?”

  “Uh, well-”

  Sandoval jumped in, steering Ray away toward a table of sandwiches and drinks. “All right, all right! Get your minds out of the gutter!”

  The women cackled in their wake.

  “Fucking biddies.” Sandoval poured Ray a glass of lemonade. “Unbelievable.”

  The sound of women’s laughter almost made Ray weep. Taking a bite of a ham sandwich, he asked, “What did you mean when you said we might not be in here much longer?”

  “My people are staging a coup against Chace. If all goes as planned, by this time tomo
rrow, we’ll all be set free.”

  Ray swallowed. “Are you sure? It looked to me like Chace has the popular vote.”

  “They’ve just known him longer; he’s a celebrity. People always like a charismatic yokel, but they’ll jump ship as soon as he stumbles. Which he already has. He thinks they’re all fired up for this war on Washington, but I guarantee you that most of them will bail out at the first opportunity.”

  “What if he kills you first?”

  “He doesn’t dare kill me.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because these women won’t permit it. They remember what these nuts did to them during the Agent X panic. Female survivors were almost exterminated. They’re not about to let that happen again.”

  “But if Chace has all the weapons you mentioned, what’s to stop him from just marching in here and doing whatever the hell he wants? These women are helpless prisoners.”

  “Are they?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, look around you. Who’s out there in the city doing all the grunt work, and who’s in here on the lawn, playing cards and drinking Margaritas?”

  “I… don’t get it. Are you saying these women are somehow in charge?”

  Sandoval grinned.

  “But how?” Ray asked.

  “Because the Evians hold the Sacrament. They are the Munies-the truly immune, not just resistant to Agent X infection, but actually counterinfectious, able to neutralize Xombies. Make them human. In fact, Xombies shun them-I hear you’ve experienced this yourself at one of Chace’s little demonstrations. Well, it’s a tincture of immune blood that makes it possible. That’s how I was restored to my humanity

  … and how we will eventually restore the whole human race.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “At present, however, that goal of Xombie salvation is limited by the small number of available donors. The immunizing effect of the blood serum is temporary, which means there has to be a reliable supply. The living come first, and obviously the supply of vaccine can only increase if the number of Immunes increases. That means having immune babies-as many as possible, preferably females.”