Surviving the Apocalypse

Research Lab 2

A week after absorbing Camp Fury into their ranks, all 5 Scavenger teams has secured a block surrounding the second research lab that had belonged to Ascension Pharmaceuticals. They dealt primarily with vaccine research, which was exactly the type of equipment Dr. Harrington needed to make faster progress on his work. So far he had been making do with equipment not specifically designed for it, which they were about to change as their plan went into action. Just like with the Depot they had secured, they used several bombs to draw the zombies near the perimeter wall away, just to reduce the chance they would try and destroy the walls they had constructed. None of them believed the zombies would be able to actually break them, as most were still only level one ability users. There were so far a rare few zombies who had managed level 2, most of the ones they had encountered being of the speed or strength type that were nearly always using their abilities to have an edge in hunting the few humans that were still alive within the city.

Because of the constant radio transmissions now, they had discovered a dozen other Camps surrounding the city, all of them wanting to join the Alliance that they had created. There were 5 others requesting to join Camp Hope directly, despite the fact that almost none of them were even remotely close to being connected to the corridors they were creating around the edge of the city so they could more easily get to their targets. They were predicting it would be two years before they surrounded the city entirely, so Melissa broke it to them that they wouldn’t be able to join any time soon.

They were able to begin trading supplies for Heart Crystals which they would than turn into Evojuice, their drones able to deliver the supplies as well as pick up the payment they were owed at the same time. This way they were able to ensure as many Camps as possible would have the food they needed to survive the winter that was about to come, their enhanced production now able to support 25,000 people year round. A number that was more than all the people in the Camps combined, as they only had 23,000 between them. Camp Hope and Camp Epsilon being the largest with 12,000 between them. Survivors within the city were becoming fewer and further between, as the zombies were clearly getting stronger the longer they wandered through the streets searching for their elusive prey.

With the supplies going out the way they were now, more of the Camps were gaining the strength to begin fighting the zombies, especially because they were being taught how to fight the zombies most effectively while also being given the ability to make their own Evojuice with the machines Nathaniel was able to make that could process them. The earth and plant abilities were being utilized almost as quickly as they killed the zombies that had them, just so they could grow their own food and make their own buildings as they leveled up those abilities as quickly as possible. Hanna knew they were down to just 7 full weeks left before winter arrived with a vengeance, her Camp already making plows that they would be able to use to clear the streets of snow and zombies alike.

The cold temperatures would make the zombies slower and easier to kill, her hope that it would allow them the opportunity to clear large swarms of the road so they could at least get the data from the labs that much quicker. The party poppers went off over a mile away, the sound loud enough that their ears rang for several seconds even from this distance. Nathaniel was watching the drone feeds from the command center, timing the dropping of the bombs so that they were most effective when the zombies were far enough away to not be attracted to what they were doing here. Especially as the number of zombies at this lab was twice what had been at the first one.

The first wave of bombs dropped leaving the areas directly around the buildings untouched as 30 of them dropped into the blockaded zone. The teams watched as thousands of zombies were dropped faster than they could process it, the wave of heat intense as the air itself seemed to catch fire for a few moments. The second wave was only 15 bombs, dropped a minute later as the zombies who weren’t caught in the first blast moved into the open areas that had been filled with zombies just moments before. Hanna watched as one of them was completely unaffected by the plasma bolts, its hardening ability making the burning copper bolts bounce off before they did any damage to it. The scream from it made it clear it also had a sonic ability that would make killing it that much harder, Hanna knowing it was at least a level 3 that shouldn’t exist yet.

“Looks like we need hearing protection to deal with this one. We will also need to focus our abilities on it as I seriously doubt our weapons will be able to get through its skin. Lightning and fire are going to be our best bet, water if we get its skin red hot, earth to slow its movements.” She told her team who all nodded knowing this was going to be a team effort. “Teams 3, 4 and 5, concentrate on the normal zombies and any lower level ones you happen to encounter. Team 1 will approach from the northwest, team 2 from the southwest. When the party popper goes off at its feet, everyone will hit it with fire or lightning, saving water for when it is glowing hot and quenching it will force it to harden more than it is used too.”

Without another work they all moved into position, the other teams killing everything they encountered as they swept around the buildings while Teams 1 and 2 moved into position and prepared to strike the level 3 with every bit of power they could bring to bear on this thing. Hanna tossed the party popper at it, the zombie catching it in its hand just before it went off. The sound made it stumble dust before 15 bolts of lightning slammed into it and 25 flamethrowers engulfed it as the lightning bolts struck again and again.

Hanna heard the second scream through her ear plugs, glad that it wasn’t unbearable with them as she saw exactly what she was hoping for. It’s entire body was glowing red hot from the sustained heat, her water globe encasing it as she warped the liquid around it with her controlled ability as more of the water users added their own to it. They even pulled all the heat from it, turning the massive globe of water into a massive block of ice that made it so the zombie could barely move. Despite their best efforts though, it was able to smash the frozen globe to shards that came flying at them, their ability to manipulate the shards of ice the only thing saving them from being impaled before the same icicles went flying back at it only to smash against its even harder skin.

They went right back to hitting it with lightning and fire, this time the scream from the zombie one of frustration and pain as it could barely move. Unlike the first time however, once it began glowing hot Hanna prepared another icicle, using all of her strength to make it as large as possible before she flung it right at the forehead of the massive zombie. Instead of shattering this time, it punched right into the eye of the zombie, destroying its brain before it collapsed from the combined effort of 40 people cooking it alive. Every one of them had used every bit of strength and power they had, glad they only used the Evojuice when they needed it for situations just like this.

Because despite their best efforts, hundreds more burst free from one of the buildings, the sounds of battle and smell of human flesh drawing them out. Fortunately they had all managed to drink their dose, the boost of power enabling them to use not just their weapons, but their abilities as well. Despite the preparations, for nearly two hours they massacred the zombies that came at them. Even the other three teams managed to clear their zones before coming back to help with the last ones that flooded the area they had killed the massive zombie in. By the time they finished, all 5 teams were utterly spent from the sustained effort of battle.

“Holy s**t, that hardening ability is no joke apparently.” Lucas said as he dropped into a sitting position and used his second dose of Evojuice to recover his strength as everyone else copied him.

“At level 3 it is like wearing plate armor that is an inch thick flexible steel. Fortunately the eyes, ears and mouth are weak points, if you can get an object through the mouth while it screams. As you can see, heating it also helps make the ability weaker, as the skin literally becomes like steel.” Hanna said drinking her second dose of Evojuice as well.

“That thrown with the ice spear was perfect through the eye.” Hammond said as he poked at it before cutting the Crystals free from it. When he held up four ability Crystals that were the size of golf balls, Hanna knew they had gotten luckier than they should have been. There only saving grace was the fact that their lowest level ability was a level 4, as this zombie had also had a fire ability that would have blocked the heat otherwise.

“Let us hope this monster is the only surprise in here.” Hanna said as he dropped them into her palm so she could store them properly.

20 minutes later they split up to search and clear the 5 buildings at the same time, team 5 taking the one that had emptied out of most of the zombies after they had battled the boss of this area. They were the newest and weakest team, so it made sense they cleared the easiest building as the trucks pulled into the lot to begin gathering the corpses into piles that could be easily burnt.

Team one room the main lab, as it was the largest and most secure of the buildings in this complex. They were also the strongest team, as they had been out in the wilds the most out of all of the teams by several weeks. That however didn’t mean they took unnecessary risks, each squad clearing rooms in the same hallway and helping each other as the leap frogged past one another. Hanna was taking the longest as she collected the equipment, materials and supplies from each of the rooms for Dr. Harrington and Pierce who needed it for their own lab. Fortunately the biggest surprise for them was 50 more survivors on the top two floors, stocked with enough supplies they would have lasted another two months before they were forced to try and escape.

That night Hanna walked into her office completely exhausted, all of the supplies and equipment being fought over between the two doctors that both needed it. She didn’t even have the energy to tell them to share the equipment, as neither one of them would need to use it every moment of the day. Fortunately Melissa took charge as she walked out, her voice carrying for a ways as she told the two doctors to grow up and share the equipment. The plain and simple fact that it would have to be in the secure lab, just because it would be used to process the vaccine as quickly as they could make it. Despite how slow the progress was going.

At dinner however, the people they rescued proved to be mostly virologists that would make the work towards a vaccine that much faster. They had even fully sequenced the zombie virus from the samples they had carefully retrieved, boosting the progress Harrington needed by weeks as he had yet to finish even that task. They however had no idea how to move forward beyond that point, as they had never seen the zombie virus before it had combined with the Coronavirus that had made it so lethal.

“It is still going to take several weeks to finish the mapping of the original virus’ so we can see exactly how the mutations effect both of them. So far from the samples we have collected, it seems once they combined it completely stabilized both virus’. If we had the time, we might even be able to develop a vaccine for the disease these Coronavirus mutations are causing without eliminating the abilities it is responsible for.” Harrington told everyone at the table where Hanna was sitting.

“Doc, the Coronavirus is the least of our concerns. We can deal with that if and when it becomes an issue, although I don’t see how it could at this point. If that changes however, you will be the first to know about it.” Hanna assured him making almost everyone laugh as they ate their food. The new researchers were amazed at how much variety there was here, despite it clearly being the apocalypse.

“How long do you think it will take Doctor Harrington?” Doctor Eliza Morgan asked him. She was one of the virologists that had just joined his team.

“With 20 new people that can do more than follow directions, I am hoping no more than a decade now. A lot of things can happen in that timeframe though, so don’t take that to the bank just yet. It could easily take twice that amount of time if we experience setbacks.”

Hanna stood and tapped her glass to get everyone’s attention. “Thanks to the tireless efforts of everyone in Camp Hope, we have secured the second lab that will benefit not just us, but all survivors of humanity. Especially since we have now added another 50 members to our Camp, 20 of which can focus their efforts on finding a way to protect us all from the fate of so many others. On top of that, Peter and James inform me that we now have full access to all 6 levels of the bunker, as mining for the seventh level begins tomorrow. With each passing week it seems our Camp comes just a bit closer to living life as if the apocalypse never happened, despite the fact that our Scavengers spend every day clearing the city of the filth that plagues our nightmares. To Hope, and what we bring to humanity day by day.” She said as everyone in the Camp toasted with her.