Apocalyptic Pathogen (Full Version)

Chapter 14: Transmission

The armored transport was forced to stop as some of the trailing edges of the zombie horde were taking notices of the vehicle moving down the street and were turning toward it. A top hatch opened and a soldier carrying binoculars directed his enhanced vision toward the building where Anna and Wayne had taken refuge.

"That has to be one of the last working transports in the city," Wayne remarked. "They must be really determined to get us if they sent it on this hunt. There has to be a way to communicate with them."

"Maybe this will help," Anna suggested. She'd found a large marker board and a supply of markers with a surprising amount of ink remaining.

"Good idea," Wayne praised.

Anna quickly wrote a message on the board and held it up against the window.

"What did you tell them?" Wayne asked.

"We're safe. Go home," Anna told him.

Wayne got an idea as a zombie shuffled past him. Taking hold of the zombie, he guided it over to the window where the strike team could see it. Using its rotting hand, Wayne waved to the soldiers below before letting the zombie go with a gentle push to make it stagger away. Wayne stood in the open and waved his own hand this time to prove he was in no danger.

The soldier watching through the binoculars stared motionless for a time until the zombies began to get too close. Lowering the vision enhancing gear, the soldier waved back at Wayne before vanishing into the armored belly of the vehicle, slamming the upper hatch tight. The transport backed up until a wide place in the road allowed it to turn around and head back to the barrier entrance.

"Looks liked they believed us," Wayne marveled.

"I wonder if the Council will," Anna added. "I also wonder what the Council will do to the soldiers to keep them quiet about what they've seen."

"Maybe we can do something about that," he suggested. "When we were heading here, I noticed a radio tower on the roof. Let's see if we can fire it up."

Leaving the bags they carried behind, Wayne and Anna made their way up the stairs, occasionally having to usher a zombie out of their way. Fortunately, the undead were completely docile around them, allowing the pair to progress unhindered and unharmed.

A small radio station was located on the 18th floor, but because of their revived state, the climb only took Wayne and Anna's time and not their energy. The moment Wayne stepped out of the stairwell, he stared at the main entrance, transfixed. Anna was about to ask what was wrong when she noticed it too.

"How is that light still working/" Anna asked in reference to a single bulb burning brightly over the matching glass doors leading into the radio station.

"I don't know," Wayne admitted. "But if the light is on, maybe the radio still works too. Let's find out."

They entered through the double doors, their footsteps muted on the plush carpeting of rich green. In the manager's office, Anna spotted something amid the papers scattered across the desk.

"Look at this," Anna said, pulling out the picture and holding it up for Wayne to see. The image was a computer generated depiction of the building with solar panels running down the east and west sides of the structure between the columns of office windows.

"A greener, more stable world awaits," Wayne read the caption at the top. "Now we know why the station still has power. We need to reach the transmission system before the strike team get home."

Leaving the office, they continued looking through every unlocked door in the place until they found the broadcast booth in the back of the radio station.

"Do you know how to work this thing?" Wayne asked.

"Not a clue," Anna told him. "How about you?"

"Your guess would be as good as mine," Wayne admitted. He looked over all the controls on the complex board. Illuminated and dark buttons, sliders, needle gauges, and a host of nobs created a confusion of control options Wayne couldn't decipher. Most of the notations on the board were abbreviations, and without knowing what the original word was supposed to be, the shorter words might as well have been written in a foreign script.

Anna tapped the microphone attached to the control board, and one of the needles on a dial flicked momentarily to one side, catching Wayne and Anna's attention.

"Do that again," Wayne instructed. He moved various sliders and dials around while Anna tapped on the mic until the noise was projected through the studio speakers.

"That's good," Anna praised. "But, how do we make sure the message is being broadcast and not just repeated in here?"

"Look for a manual," Wayne suggested. "There has to be one around here someplace."

Wayne and Anna started a thorough search, but they didn't find anything, suspecting it was in one of the many file cabinets or computers in the various offices of the station. They were certain it would be too late before they found what they were looking for, so they had to try blindly and hope for the best.

Wayne adjusted a few of the main switches, flipping them on and off again while watching the results. When he threw a lever on the right hand side of the board, Anna tapped him on the shoulder and pointed toward the ceiling where a bulb had come on to light up a sign reading ON AIR.

Anna smiled at Wayne and gestured toward the microphone. He swallowed while wondering what he would say. Deciding on what was the most relevant information needing to be sent, he began transmitting.

"To anyone who may be listening," he said, clearly and firmly. "My name is Wayne Dunn, formerly a scientist working on a cure to the zombie plague that has ravaged our world. My wife and I have found a way to restore the undead and will be working to do so as quickly as our limited supplies allow. As more are brought back to life, we'll have additional workers to gather more resources and speed the process along. Although it may take time, humanity will be restored upon the Earth. Let all who hear my voice know this, there is hope."