"Doc Stern can probably explain it," Steve said. "He's the one who retrofitted the chopper with it. He's a medical doctor, but he knows a lot about other stuff too. But basically, it turns their little brains into pudding."
Cold air hissed through the cabin. Frankie shivered, both from the temperature and shock.
Don reached out and squeezed her hand. Smiling weakly, Frankie squeezed back.
Quinn picked up the radio handset.
"Pale Horse, Pale Horse, this is Star Wormwood. Do you copy? Over."
There was a burst of static, and then a voice answered.
"This is Pale Horse. Go ahead, Wormwood. What's your status? Over."
"Pale Horse, be advised we are returning to base with four, I repeat, four live ones. Our ETA is fifteen minutes. Over."
"Ten-four. Understood Wormwood. We'll have a medical team on standby. Out."
"I still don't understand any of this," Don muttered.
Jim's eyes fluttered, and he moaned, "Danny?"
"I'm right here, Daddy."
Jim smiled.
"So five states." Steve turned in his seat. "Sounds like you people have quite a story to tell."
"First," Frankie replied, "tell us where we're going."
Quinn stared straight ahead as he answered her.
"New York City. Specifically Manhattan. Population eight million or so-ninety-nine point nine percent of which are now zombies. Except for a few of us."
He turned his eyes to the instrument panel.
"Even more specifically," Steve finished for him, "we're going to Ramsey Towers, the heart of the city- and possibly the site of humanity's last stand."
Don frowned. "That's a little melodramatic, isn't it?"
The Canadian shrugged.
"Doesn't sound very safe," Frankie said.
Steve lowered his head as he answered.
"Lady, nothing is safe anymore. We're just happy to live one more day."
When he couldn't find a functioning radio to contact his forces at the research facility in Hellertown, Ob sent a host of birds with messages tied to their feet instead. His orders were simple: LEAVE BEHIND SMALL
CONTINGENCY FORCE TO ACT AS RESERVES BRING EVERYTHING ELSE TO NEW YORK
CITY-MAKE EXTREME HASTE-LEAVE NOTHING ALIVE IN YOUR WAKE-ADD TO OUR
NUMBERS AS YOU GO.
He stood on the rooftop and watched them take flight into the pre-dawn sky, dead wings cutting through the air.
"Hurry," he called out to them. "I want the message delivered before the sun sets tonight!"
His black leather trench coat flapped in the wind. Earlier, he'd broken into a clothing boutique and dressed his new body, to help preserve its integrity and protect it from the elements longer. In addition to the coat, he wore a pair of black leather pants, and a simple black
T-shirt. On his feet, he wore a pair of silver-tipped cowboy boots.
A young zombie, once a boy of about six years of age, approached him and bowed. Its flesh was bloated and shiny, and the collar of its tattered T-shirt had sunk into the skin.
"My lord, Ob. It is a pleasure to serve you in this form."
Ob nodded impatiently. "Get on with it. Arise and speak."
"I bring tidings of your two brothers." A tooth dropped out of its mouth as it spoke.
"When did you see them?" Ob asked.
"Three days ago, I was in a place called Tibet. Our kind knew it of old, of course, but that land has changed since we last walked the Earth. Our forces were victorious-the humans were eradicated, as were the other forms of animal life. Nothing lives there now. The entire continent has fallen."
"So the humans in those lands are defeated, eh? That is good news. Their population was among the highest on the planet. Well done. Here, have an eyeball."
He held up a cardboard popcorn bucket, filled to the brim with eyeballs plucked from humans and animals. The zombie took a handful and chewed.
Then it continued.
"Yes, lord. Their numbers were high. Especially in China. But those same numbers also aided us. There were so many of them, and their population was virtually unarmed. The resistance was disorganized and over quickly."
"And yet your body was dispatched?"
The undead boy appeared to grow nervous; Ob found the grimace to be an amusing effect on the decayed face. His teeth showed through one cheek. "I apologize, my lord. There was a battle in a monastery, and-"
"I care not." Ob held up his hand. "Finish with news of my brothers. What tidings from the Void? What did you hear of them while passing through on your way back here?"
"Your brothers grow impatient, especially now that all the flesh on that continent has been corrupted. The Elilum and Teraphim wish to escape the Void as we have. Your brothers ask that you make haste in freeing them from their eternal punishment."
"They know the rules," Ob grunted. "The Elilum cannot begin the corruption of the plants until the corruption of the flesh has been completed. Those are the rules, established long ago and written in sorcery and blood. We cannot change them. I understand their frustration. They are anxious to begin, for it will take some time. The Elilum travel through the roots, so their way is slower than ours. We have the advantage of going from the Void directly into these meat puppets. My brother's kind must go through a vast network."
The zombie nodded. "Yes, lord. To be fair, your brother Api is patient. He restrains the Elilum. But Ab's rage grows stronger by the day. He wishes for the Teraphim to be loosed upon the planet."
"No doubt." Ob sighed. "But he must be patient a while longer as well. We must all follow the rules as set forth after the Morningstar's fall or we risk destruction. Besides, the Elilum only destroy the Creator's plant life and poison the oceans. That is acceptable. We don't need those things in our struggle. But my brother Ab and his Teraphim will drown this planet in fire. It will burn with each step they take, until there is nothing left but cinders. I am not ready for that yet. There are still many of us to be freed and I have not yet sated my thirst for revenge. When we are done, when I have spat in the Creator's face, then my brother and his kind can turn this planet into an inferno. By then, we will be ready to move on to the next one."
The zombie grinned. "Indeed, lord."
Ob tossed a pebble off the roof and watched it fall. Then he turned back to the messenger.
"Come here. Step to the edge and look out upon our Necropolis. Is it not majestic?"
"It is wonderful, my lord Ob."
"I'm glad that you agree." Ob placed an arm around his shoulders. "Now, go and tell my brothers that they must wait a while longer."
The zombie flinched. "Me, lord? But I just got here. I've only been-"
Ob pushed him off the building and watched as he plummeted down, exploding across the pavement in a wet smear.
"I never got along with my brothers."
The sun rose over the city, peeking out from behind a curtain of gray clouds, reluctant to bear witness to the scene unfolding below.