Outbreak (Book 2): The Mutation (37 page)

“That’s what we’re hoping,
”
Wilder said.

“Let’s get to it,
”
Walt said. “How can we help?”

4

Underneath Schoepke Springs

Spicewood, Texas

Butsko was happy to discover that the facility had a state of the art back up generator that immediately came to life when they all entered the facility. As the others loaded the EMP device onto a dolly, Butsko hacked his way into the facility’s computer system to try and find more research on the bomb. He found the trigger sequence and was confident he could safely detonate this weapon and use it to the best of its capabilities.

“How’s it going over there?
”
Mears asked Butsko as he walked over to the computers.

“Couldn’t be better,
”
Butsko said. “The firing sequence isn’t complicated at all. There are no safety switches or even a code on the firing mechanism. The scientists here obviously never got to test this baby before the shit hit the fan.”

“That’s good to hear,
”
Mears said.

From the moment he’d first met Butsko, Mears had been impressed with the man. No matter what the situation, Butsko never panicked, and he never lost his cool. Mears remembered that Butsko had once told him that there’s never a situation you couldn’t think your way out of. With enough time and brainpower, any situation could be figured out.

Mears had met a lot of military brass and higher-ups in his military career, but Butsko was unique. Butsko could think for himself and didn’t just go by the “company line.
”
Mears remembered that Wilder once told him that, in a battle, there’s no one you would want on your side more than Butsko. Now, in a secret underground research facility—where they were surrounded by zombies and about to set off an experimental EMP bomb—Mears couldn’t agree more.

After the bomb was secured on the dolly, the others circled around Butsko.

“This is odd,
”
Butsko said to no one in particular. He turned to see the others around him. “Remember the end of that hallway that broke off to the right and left? I was correct. That’s a new section the Schoepke family built onto the original facility sometime in the mid-1980s.”

“What’s down there?
”
Megan asked.

“I don’t know,
”
Butsko answered as he turned back to the computer screen. “The computer files are organized according to the sections of the facility. We’re currently in section B, which was part of the original building.
”
Butsko pointed to the computer screen to show them the various files in the “Section B
”
computer folder.

“Then there’s Section A,
”
Butsko said as he pointed to a new folder on the computer. “That’s the section where Heinrich continued his nuclear weapon research back in the late 1940s.”

“There’s no nukes or nuclear material down here, is there?
”
Wilder asked.

“As far as I can tell, the Schoepke family abandoned that research decades ago in favor of the EMP research. Heinrich wanted to be the leader of new research, not a follower. He blazed the trail in non-nuclear EMP research.”

“What’s in those files?
”
Fisher asked as she pointed to the folder labeled “Section C.”

“I don’t know,
”
Butsko said. “Those are protected with an even greater level of security. The only thing I know is that Section C is down the right side at that corner, and whatever was being done there was so secretive that Heinrich and his grandson Josef didn’t want anyone to know about it.”

“You don’t think they were experimenting with the bio-nanotechnology that fucked up the world, do you?
”
Mears asked.

“No,
”
Butsko said. “That technology unfortunately came from good old Uncle Sam himself.”

“I know you hate secrets being kept from you,
”
Wilder said, “but we really need to focus on the mission at hand.”

“Way ahead of ya,
”
Butsko said as he looked at Wilder. “I already have an algorithm running on the computer to try and break through the security on the Section C folders.”

“I’m really glad you’re on our side,
”
Wilder said as he squeezed Butsko’s shoulders.

“But won’t the EMP blast fry these computers?
”
asked Megan.

“It is possible,
”
Butsko said, “but if I know the Schoepke’s, they would’ve taken measures to ensure they were the last people on earth with electricity and power. I’ll bet dollars to donuts that they protected themselves from the very weapons they developed.”

Butsko turned in the office chair and stood.

“Excellent,
”
Butsko said as he looked at the EMP bomb. “You have it secured. We need to see if there’s any way we can get this thing to the roof of the house. The more we can get this thing off the ground, the larger an area the blast will have.”

“I think I found something,
”
came a voice from the storage rack where the bomb had been found. Steele walked from the rack and dragged some kind of large device behind him on a different dolly. “I noticed this thing had the same number on it as the EMP bomb, but with a
n
‘A
’
after the number. I figured these two things went together, and we might need it to detonate the bomb.”

Butsko ran over to the computer and opened the Section B folder. He found the number Steele had just mentioned and excitedly smacked the tabletop.

“Excellent work, Steele,
”
Butsko said as he ran over to the man. “You just found the thing that’s gonna give us some height.”

The others gathered around the new device.

“What the hell is that thing?
”
David asked.

“See the grooves on the bomb?
”
asked Butsko. “Now look at the inner ring of Steele’s device.”

The device Steele had wheeled out had an eight foot radius at the base and was circular. In the inner ring were metal bars that looked to stabilize the bomb. There was also a control panel arranged on the base that had a clock on it.

“What you just found, Steele,
”
Butsko said excitedly, “is the launching pad for the EMP bomb. These two things work together to lob the bomb into the atmosphere. Josef figured out how to use magnets to launch this thing.”

“Magnets?
”
Megan asked.

“Have you ever put the similar poles of magnets together?
”
Butsko asked. “When you do, the magnets are repelled. Josef developed a way to harness that repelling force and unleash it on command. The bomb fits into these slots,
”
Butsko said as he pointed to the magnetic bars on the launch pad, “and is locked into place. There are magnets in the launch pad, and in the bomb are more magnets with the same pole.”

“Ah,
”
said Cheryl. “So the bomb is locked into place and that force builds up. Then the bomb is unlocked from the launch pad and shoots up into the atmosphere.”

“Like I said before,
”
Wilder said as he smiled, “you and Melvin would’ve gotten along great.”

“How far up will it fire the bomb?
”
asked Mears.

Butsko was back on the computer tapping away on the keyboard.

“Unknown,
”
Butsko answered. “The launch pad was never tested.
”

Butsko looked up at all the concerned faces, and before anyone could say anything, continued with, “But it doesn’t matter. We were going to set this thing off regardless. If it shoots into the air, that’ll be great. If it just sits in the damn thing and goes off, it’ll still destroy those bastards.”

“Once we get out there, where should we set this thing up?
”
asked Wilder.

“I think we need to get back to the front gate,
”
Butsko suggested. “There’s a lot of room there, and there’s a lot of the infected.”

“Assuming those bastards are still on the other side of the gate,
”
Steele added.

The research room fell silent.

“I’m not gonna lie,
”
Wilder said. “There’s a good chance those yellow-eyed creatures are all over the property by now, but that doesn’t change a thing. We need to get up there and detonate this thing. If it works, there are two more of them we can use to help a lot of other people.”

“Let’s do this,
”
Fisher said.

5

Before they headed to the elevator to take them back to the ground level, the group went over their weapon and ammo situation.

Wilder was down to one-hundred rounds in his carbine; Butsko, Megan, and Fisher each had one magazine left in their Beretta's, and Steele and Mears were completely out. Steele and Walt admired each other’s weapons of choice.

“This is starting to feel like a last stand,
”
Fisher said as she tried to smile.

“It is a last stand,
”
Wilder said, “for those bastards. If you’re standing here, then all of you have faced the infected and beat them down. We just need to do this one more time. If this bomb does what we think it will do, we’ll turn the tide on this war and have the upper hand.”

“But those yellow-eyed creatures are even stronger and faster than the other infected,
”
Megan said.

“It doesn’t matter,
”
Wilder continued. “Before coming down here, we all saw that even those yellow-eyed bastards can die. We just need to be smarter and deadlier than they are.”

“Steele and Megan,
”
Butsko said as he stepped forward, “you pull the dolly with the launch pad on it. Try and set it on as flat a piece of land you can find.
”
Butsko then turned to the others. “Fisher and Mears, you pull the EMP bomb out there, and get it as close to the launch pad as you can.”

The four checked their weapons and nodded to let Butsko know they understood.

“The rest of us will guard the four of you,
”
Butsko continued, “and Wilder and David will help place the bomb onto the launch pad.”

“We’ve got ourselves a plan,
”
Mears said as he walked to the EMP device.

*****

Butsko had the group take a thirty-minute break so they could eat something and get a quick rest. After their break, the group gathered their equipment and headed to the elevator. When they reached the “T
”
in the corridor, Butsko looked down the long, dark hallway that led to Section C.

What the hell is down there
? Butsko wondered. He hated that there was information within his reach that eluded him.

When they reached the elevator, Steele, Megan, Mears, and Fisher placed the bomb and launch pad near the far wall. Walt, Butsko, Wilder, Cheryl, and David were to be the first ones out of the elevator so they could create a protective barrier against the yellow-eyed creatures and give them an easy path towards the gate.

“We don’t know what to expect when this door opens up there,
”
Wilder said as he nodded upward. “Fisher, Megan and I will be weapons ready when this door opens. Shoot anything that’s right around us.”

Butsko pushed the button and the elevator began to ascend.

“We got this, everyone,
”
Butsko said. “Today is the day we take the upper hand in this war.”

6

Schoepke Springs Front Gate

Spicewood, Texas

Fi looked around at her fallen fellow yellow-eyed creatures. She wondered what could have happened here to kill so many of her kind.

Fi knew how weak and vulnerable the other infected creatures were compared to herself and her yellow-eyed brethren. Fi knew they were something entirely different.

To compare the yellow-eyed creatures to the other infected was like comparing human beings to apes. There may be traces of one in the other, but the former were more developed and complex.

Fi watched as a few of the yellow-eyed creatures slowly moved the truck away from the gate. They weren’t solely after the humans, although they would have fun hunting them down and playing with them afterward.

No, they moved the truck because they were on their way to The Discovery. Creatures had come from as far away as California and New Jersey as they’d felt the pull. The yellow-eyed creatures had been created for something more than just the wanton destruction of the world and all the humans in it. There was a higher purpose at work, and every one of the yellow-eyed creatures needed to discover what that purpose was.