The red truck powered down the narrow county lane, the world little more than an abyss beyond its bright headlights.
Lacey shifted nervously in her seat and glanced back.
Dylan had moved to the far other end of the truck, sitting alone in its expansive space, staring down angrily with her arms crossed.
Dane leaned over. "Why don't you see if you can get her to come up here, where there's cushions and seatbelts and whatnot?"
"I doubt she'll listen to me," Lacey said. "She doesn't even listen to reason on a good day."
"Maybe she'll surprise you," he said encouragingly. "Go on and get her. We got time yet before we get to the base."
Lacey exhaled, unbuckled, and began clambering over the seats, grunting as she stumbled her way toward the back.
Dylan glanced over, watched for a moment, then willfully ignored her.
Lacey sat across from her. "Hey," she said. "Won't you come sit with us? It's safer."
"I'm fine where I am," she muttered. Quietly adding, "Not that you'd get that."
"I wasn't trying to hurt you," Lacey said. "I just, I see our future and I'm not sure what's going to happen."
"So? Take off."
"I'm just worried things are going to be the same when I know they can be better."
Dylan shook her head and glared sharply. "I'm not fucking stupid, Lacey!" she shouted. "I know exactly what you're talking about! You think I'm shit because I just want to play video games and be with you. Like I don't notice all your shitty little remarks about how I'm not ambitious enough. I hear all that shit! So what if I don't care about having a career? Maybe I like my fucking stupid job! That's all I need to be happy! But you don't fucking get that. You act like I'm fucking up your life or something! And you know what, just because it's not my thing doesn't mean I don't think it's awesome that you study and like having a nice house! I like it because that's who you are! You know what you really told me? That you don't respect me and you never will! So, just… fuck off already!"
Lacey trembled.
Dylan glared at her for a moment longer, then gave up and looked away, toward the dark space at her side.
Lacey gradually got up and made her way back to the front seat. She shuddered. "See?" Tears welled in her eyes. "She hates me."
Dane exhaled and shook his head. "Sorry about that, kitten. I really am," he said. "But I'm gonna need you to get your game face on. We're here."
*~*~*
They approached the gate.
Pankow Advanced Research Lab, established in 1957, used to be a U.S. Army Air Force base. The quiet and unobtrusive medical research laboratory, affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense, also served as a military training site and regional departure point.
Dane's red Ford came to a stop ahead of the guard station and barrier blocking the lane.
Lacey had expected someone to be there, imagining nothing less than whole platoons marching on alert and helicopters taking flight would be waiting for them, but there was no one. And the lights were out. All of the lights. The base was illuminated only by the moon, and the strange pulse of blue light flashing across the night sky, brighter here than anywhere else.
"Where is everybody?" Dylan asked, climbing into the back seat.
"Now just sit tight," Dane said, putting the truck into park. "I'll take a look."
Dane got out of the truck. Lacey watched as he searched around them and into the base, looking and listening for friend and foe alike.
Dylan bounced in place, clutching the driver's seat, and with a groan suddenly sprang out of the truck.
Lacey gestured to stop her, to say something, but hesitated, knowing it wouldn't do any good.
The door slammed shut. Dylan approached Dane, stopping a step behind him.
Dane lifted the barrier by hand.
"Why don't you drive us on through, kiddo?" he said.
Dylan nodded. "Yes, sir."
She got behind the wheel. Lacey looked at her optimistically, but Dylan kept her focus ahead, deliberately refusing to acknowledge her. She drove the truck onto the base and stopped. Dane searched into the distance a last time as he lowered the barrier. Dylan vacated the seat for him and went into the back.
Dane returned and drove them slowly ahead. The gravel crunching under the tires was the loudest sound on the base.
The facility soon appeared, a flat, rectangular building, beige and dark brown, with taut shrubbery and stark, plain numbering. A faint light from deep within glowed through its single door.
Dane stopped in front of the building.
"Now, I'm thinking zombies are gonna be following behind us, the way they followed you to the cabin," he said. "I'll stay out here and keep an eye out for them. You go and see if you can find anyone. And if you don't find anyone, come right back here."
"You can't stay out here alone," Lacey said.
"Yeah, come with us!" Dylan said. "We need you."
Dane smiled warmly at their concern. "You're the quick youngsters. I'm the wily old man," he said, kindly. "Godspeed, girls."
Lacey nodded and glanced at Dylan. Dylan simply exhaled. And they both got out of the truck.
Dylan lingered for a moment, and Dane gave her a wink. A reassured smirk flashed on her face, and Lacey was glad to see it.
She started toward the entrance.
And together, they went inside.
*~*~*
An eeriness pervaded in the dimly lit dark of the military research facility.
It looked like an ordinary clinic, with a bland foyer, tidy reception desk, and waiting area. There was even a coffee maker on a small table with some old magazines, and a flat-screen mounted at the top corner of the room.
Nothing suggested that anyone was around, though. Anyone living.
With Dylan at her side, Lacey approached the door marked Authorized Personnel Only hanging open before them, and stepped into a stark hallway illuminated by xenon emergency lights.
Their steps echoed around them as they followed the hall to its first intersection. Then they halted. To their side, the hall was broadly painted red with blood, and at its far end a perforated body was slumped against the wall.
Lacey went pale, stomach sinking. Dylan simply stared at it blankly, then continued forward with a loud scoff.
"Don't be such a big girl's blouse."
Lacey hastily followed after her. "He's dead."
"That's why you need to play more video games, so you get used to this shit," Dylan said. "And cause this shit."
Lacey smiled, glad Dylan was talking to her again, especially in this place.
They continued down the long corridor, searching for some kind of assistance while also remaining alert for undead intruders, passing door after door to offices that were dark or vacant, until they found themselves standing before one marked SGT. JOHN COLLIER.
Dylan and Lacey exchanged glances.
Lacey rapped her knuckle on the door and then opened it. "Hello?" she called, peering inside.
A loud gasp sounded from the room, a deep laugh of relief followed by sobs. "Oh! Oh, thank God!"
Collier climbed from behind the desk, pistol in hand, and stood.
"Someone…" His overjoyed expression became one of confusion and disappointment. "You? But what are you two doing here? You can't be here!"
His panic took Lacey by surprise.
"We thought we'd be safe here," Lacey explained. "Can you help us?" she asked, her tone not too hopeful.
Collier raced urgently from behind his desk and pushed past them. He looked into the hall, down both directions, then closed the door hard, pressing his head against it after. "Maybe they know you're here. Maybe they don't. They don't do so well with doors. But I don't think there's anyone left to take their attention away from us, so your guess is as good as mine," he muttered.
He marched back to the far wall and tapped his pistol against its painted surface. "Concrete brick," he said. "They won't be getting through that. Not unless any of them have ordinance training. That's just, just…"
Collier collapsed hard into his chair, staring out. And rested his pistol against his temple.
Lacey gasped. "No, wait!"
Collier jolted in his seat, spooked out of his momentary despair, and looked at his weapon.
"Oh. Sorry. It's out of rounds. Bullets don't stop them. Nothing stops them. A steamroller might do it." He scoffed. "A steamroller!"
"We know," Dylan said. "We've seen them up close. They're running roughshod over the whole fucking city, man."
"Sergeant Collier," Lacey said. "Do you know what's going on?"
He nodded listlessly. "I made them," he said. "I did it. I had the idea. I championed it. I made it happen. And it worked! It's the accomplishment of a lifetime. I'm the man who ended the world." A tear streaked down his cheek as he grinned. "A modern-day Oppenheimer!"
"I don't understand," Lacey said.
"I'm glad you two are here. I like you both. You're a cute couple. You'll probably suffer less here than out on the streets…"
Dylan growled as she stomped forward and kicked Collier's desk, its metallic twang ringing around them. Collier bolted upright in his seat.
"Fucking just tell us what you did!" Dylan shouted.
Collier blinked and shook his head, brought out of his fugue. "I designed and implemented a radio wave capable of reanimating the dead. I call it the Z-Ray," he said. "There are just so many dead, I thought it could be an asset. Activate Z-Ray, and use our fallen, their fallen, as our agents. We tested it here tonight, at twenty-two hundred hours, and it worked. Subject One became animated. But…" A look of shame swept over his face.
"What went wrong?" Lacey asked.
"I didn't calibrate the Z-Ray correctly," he said. "It over-reached, blanketing the base and the woods, and extending into the city. And I made the programming too broad. Just one word. Kill. Find and kill, that's all they do."
"So fucking call someone and get this shit sorted," Dylan said.
"We're cut off," Collier said. "The Z-Ray nullifies all radio waves and phone lines."
Dylan gaped incredulously. "Well, fuck," she grumbled. "Good one."
Lacey rolled her eyes. "Isn't there something you can do to stop them?"
"Another burst of Z-Rays. But with an inverted resonance. Maybe. Possibly," Collier said, without much conviction.
"Then let's do it," Lacey said. "Let's stop these things."
"You don't understand. It has to be reprogrammed manually, at the tower console. And there are a hundred undead out there."
"Jesus!" Dylan exclaimed. "How? We're out in the middle of fucking nowhere!"
Collier shrugged. "They just started coming out of the woods."
"Where's the tower?" Lacey asked.
"It's at the center of the base, the tallest structure here. You can't miss it. Its top is pulsing bright blue."
"We can do it," Lacey said pleadingly. "I can help. I'm studying to be an engineer. I've read about broadcast systems and electrical systems."
Collier just shook his head. "They tore through my staff. Everyone," he said. "Our bullets went right through them and killed more of us."
Dylan groaned. "Whatever!" She looked over at Lacey. "Come on. Let's get this shit done so we can get back to our lives."
She walked away, threw open the door, and stormed from the office. "Thanks for nothing, Sergeant Dork!" she shouted back.
Lacey looked back at Collier. The man was still lost in his misery, too far gone to be of any greater help.
She left the office, closing the door behind her and hurrying after Dylan, worrying she was so angry she was going to get herself killed.