The Z Contingency

Chapter 58

 “Good Morning!” The beaming man said in his best affectation of a French accent. “We are Zee Fighters! Welcome to our humble abode.” Spreading his arms wide, he did a half-turn in either direction, gesturing to the expanse of the former prison, as he laughed heartily. The others who were with him also laughed, and soon Bubba and the Z Contingency members were laughing as well.

“Thank you. We appreciate your accommodating us,” Simon replied without any hint of mirth.

The man who greeted them turned serious, and reverted to his usual voice, having just a trace of a Midwestern accent. “You’re welcome. Now tell us, just what has been going on? Is it true? There really is a zombie apocalypse here in the U.S.?”

“Looks that way,” Bubba replied. “Who would have thought, right?” He shared a knowing look with the leader of the Z Fighters. These groups were largely formed as social organizations with civic service in mind. They married this with their love of the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres and fashioned themselves as zombie preparedness groups, but none of them really thought that zombies could actually exist. “We can bring you up to speed about what we’ve seen out there over breakfast, and then we’ll be on our way. We still have a long way to go.”

“Right. Follow me.” The group was led into the building that used to serve as the prison cafeteria. A full breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast was waiting for them.

Tyler sat down next to an attractive redhead at a table closest to the steam table where the food had been placed. He smiled at her and took a bite of the eggs. “Tastes like powdered,” muttered Tyler. She scowled back, and retorted “They are powdered, and in case you haven’t noticed, fresh egg deliveries have stopped, along with pretty much everything else. And another thing; several of us got up early to make those powdered eggs for you.” She abruptly got up and moved to another table, leaving Tyler alone.

The various other members of the group interspersed themselves among the Z Fighters members. Natalie asked Mary to watch Amanda, while Simon, Gary, Natalie, and Bubba joined the leaders of the Z Fighters at a table farther from the others. “So, explain to us, just what is it we’re facing?” asked one of their hosts.

Simon related a sanitized version of the events that had unfolded, careful to leave out any mention of the virus actually having been created at CDC or that he was somehow responsible for the virus getting out. Gary and Natalie added their thoughts on the virulence of the outbreak, and the importance of getting to the lab quickly so they could start working on the cure. Bubba commented on the horrors they had encountered so far, complete with descriptions of the zombies and bone-crunching details of how Natalie had plowed through a horde of them to save the others.

The Leader let out a slow whistle, “It’s worse than I thought.” Then looking at Gary and Natalie, “So you two may possibly be the only hope this country has, or maybe even the entire planet. It seems that there have been reports of outbreaks from all over the world.”

Gary and Natalie looked at each other, each reading the other’s thoughts. How can that be? Shocked, they remained silent, and were thankful when Simon changed subjects, moving the discussion to the route that Bubba had been planning to take in order to get them the rest of the way to Hamilton, Montana. Little did they know, Simon also had motivation not to have too detailed a conversation about what was going on in other parts of the world.

“The Zombie Preppers near Logan, Utah was the only group I could get in touch with that was within a couple hundred miles of where we’re going to need to stop,” Bubba remarked. “They didn’t say we couldn’t shelter with them, but….” Bubba trailed off.

“Be careful with them,” the Z Fighter who had done the French impersonation cautioned. “We’ve met quite a few of their members at past zombie crawls and conventions, and they always took the zombie apocalypse thing far more seriously than anyone else did. I think there’s a fair number of anarchists amongst them, too. I wouldn’t mention being with the Feds, if I were you,” he cautioned, nodding at Simon. After a moment’s thought, he offered “Your whole group is welcome to stop and stay with us. We’ve got plenty of room, and there’s strength in numbers, you know.”

“Thank you all the same, but we need to get to a properly equipped laboratory to work on the cure,” Simon said, sweeping his hand around to gesture at Gary, Natalie, and himself. “We can let the others know of your generous offer, though.”

“Bubba?” Natalie asked. “What about you and the Z Contingency folks? Do you want to stay here with them?”

Bubba grinned at Natalie, and remarked “You’re not getting rid of us that easily. We’re your friends Natalie. Of course we’re going to stick with you.”

Natalie was touched at her friend’s remark. “Thank you,” she replied, the relief clear in her voice. “Let’s finish up, and get back on the road.” 

With the warning about their next host still in their minds, the group made their final preparations to depart the compound. Grover Cleveland, who had only just joined them, decided that he would rather take his chances with the Z Fighters, so he elected to stay. All of the Z Contingency members, and the people rescued from the hospital in Ocoee elected to continue on. The little girl, Amanda, had grown quite attached to Natalie and Gary, so even if she did not possibly hold a secret to a cure for this disease, there would not have been any thought of leaving her behind, especially after what she had experienced seeing her father and sister taken from her.