Surviving the Apocalypse

Crystal

This time around, Hanna had explicit targets in mind, getting to them far in advance of what they had managed last time, as they didn’t waste time clearing areas they didn’t intend to ransack immediately. She managed to clear the entire research lab a full 2 weeks before Crystal and her team made it there, the walls they had erected removed from the path that Camp Epsilon was forced to take because of their location.

When the emerged from the building, Hanna was sitting there waiting for them, fully aware that she had taken every bit of data they had needed. They were already well on their way to the second lab near the airbase, as she had no idea what was contained in it from the last time she did this. This time, she was determined to correct her mistakes.

“What do you want? We have nothing of value.” Crystal declared seeing the 10 people surrounding them with weapons leveled.

“I want answers, if you give them you are free to go. If not, you and your men die here and now.” Hanna answered evenly.

“What makes you think I have them?” Crystal asked nervously.

“Oh you may not have them. Even if you don’t, so long as you cooperate, you leave here alive. Even if it is empty handed. If I do much as suspect you are lying to me, you die. Fair enough for you?” Hanna asked patiently.

“You think you know me well enough to determine if I am lying or not?” Crystal scoffed as Hanna had one of the scientists step forward.

“I might, I find it much easier to employ people that have the ability to detect lies however. So much faster than a lie detector, as well as far more accurate. First question, who among those in your group here belong to the Second Dawn?” She asked as Crystal shrugged.

“Him, him and her.” Doctor Patrice Williams said as their involuntary reactions to the question had revealed them. Without hesitation Hanna killed them with her gun, the rest of her group raising their hands.

“Relax, the rest of you passed the test. Next question, is your father a member of the Second Dawn, or is he just a patsy without a clue?”

Crystal nodded to that one not trusting her voice at the moment as she looked at the three corpses that had been part of her assigned team. “He is also a patsy, but he is a true believer in their cause. I however have morals and refuse to join them.”

“True.” Patsy said.

“You only need to tell me if she is lying. Was General Ramon Storm rescued?” she asked making Crystal laugh.

“They tried, but he was killed in the bombs that fell on the jail. Nothing left but ashes.” Crystal said while still laughing as she recalled finding his dog tags.

“Last question, are you willing to abandon the Second Dawn and their perverted ways to fight for what is left of humanity?” Hanna asked them.

4 of them stepped forward without question as Crystal and the other dozen hesitated. “I won’t abandon my father to them, my ability is the only thing saving him from certain death among the military morons.” She said.

“Even with you there he will be dead in 10 days time from a heart attack your Camp doesn’t have the ability to treat. Remaining would be a waste of your skills and talents, especially if you don’t believe in their cause of evolution at any cost.” Hanna said seriously making Crystals loyalty waver.

Crystal saw she was serious, wondering how in the hell the woman in front of her could possibly know that. “How do you know my father has a heart condition? How do you know he is going to die?” she asked frustrated.

“Because this isn’t my first rodeo, to me it is knowledge as common as your Camp doesn’t have a single qualified doctor, even with 5,000 people living in that s**t hole. Last time I saved the Camp with my Uncle Ramon’s help, this time I will gladly watch it burn with the Second Dawn inside.” Hanna told her. “This will be your only chance at escaping that sad fate, as I won’t come rescue you when it happens.”

Crystal was torn between loyalty to her father, and what she believed was the best opportunity to get out from under the thumb of the Second Dawn that she was being constantly pressured to join. “They will send people to look for us if we don’t return.” She finally said.

Hanna shrugged as she pointed at the bodies. “I doubt it, even if they make it this far they will assume you were overwhelmed by the zombies. These three will join that pile right over there before they are torched. If they are even halfway resourceful they will find the dog tags in the ashes and assume the rest of you were killed along with them. As far as trying to rescue you, they have no idea where my Camp even is. Even if they did, knowing it’s location and invading it are two very different things. Last chance, come with us now or go back to that joke the Second Dawn calls a survivor Camp. Without serious help it likely won’t last the winter.” She told them without humor or remorse.

Crystal nodded as she looked at the people who trusted her, these being the only ones in Command that weren’t part of the Second Dawn. “We will come with you.” Crystal said before Hanna turned and walked to their trucks.

“What is your Camp called?” one of the girls asked.

“Camp Hope, last bastion of hope for humanity to survive this nightmare the Second Dawn caused.” Hanna told them as they loaded into the vehicles. “You will have to forgive me, but for now you won’t be allowed to know where our Camp is. Until you can be trusted not to betray us to those bastards, we will find things inside Camp for you to do.” She said closing and securing the canvas on the one truck they brought. 3 of her Squad joining them in the back for the ride home.

Hanna let them listen to the voice from Camp Epsilon every evening during the broadcast, the tenth evening the voice changing as it announced the death of their previous Commander as the new temporary one started. Hanna used the programmed response warning the survivors that Camp Epsilon was barely better than the zombie hell they faced, especially when Camp Hope was ten times better anyway.

They had been doing it for weeks now, each of the Camps telling people where there was safety from the zombies. Each of them proclaiming to be the best option, despite the fact that almost none of them could support the number of people they had within them. Camp Hope didn’t boast about it, as Hanna knew they were the best Camp in the entire valley. They would be using the winter roads to deliver the emergency supplies the Camps would need, as Hanna planned to play a game so long that Second Dawn would never see them coming.

A month after rescuing them, Crystal entered the office that Hanna used outside the bunker, clearly nervous about what she was about to do. “I need to talk to you.” She said closing the door that normally stayed open.

“My door is open to anyone that needs to talk, what can I do for you?” Hanna asked.

“For now, listen. I need to tell you what the Second Dawn is planning with these Camps, and why we need to rescue the people in them. Soon their Commanding Officer will arrive to appoint the new Commander of Camp Epsilon, which will further cement the foundation of what they will eventually do.” Crystal said before she launched into the details that they would use the residents of these Camps as lab rats when the time came.

Hanna listened to every word and even took notes when Crystal revealed things she didn’t know, the attention making Crystal feel her limited contribution was valuable. When she finished Hanna looked at her curious, as a question had arose during her confession. “If you weren’t a member, why would they trust you with this knowledge?”

Crystal smiled as she looked at Hanna. “I actually wasn’t old enough, as they require new members to be 25. My father believed my joining was inevitable, so he told me the secrets that he was a part of. He never suspected I didn’t believe we should force evolution at any cost, especially not one as high as this damn virus caused.” She admitted openly.

Hanna didn’t detect any sense of betrayal on her part, glad that she wouldn’t have to watch her anymore. “Well, that leaves my only question being are you willing to join the fight to put an end to their madness?” she asked as Crystal smiled and pulled out a flash drive.

“That is part of why I am here, if they knew I had this, they would hunt me to the ends of the earth for it. Fortunately they don’t know I used my father’s login credentials to take it, and with luck they believe I am dead now.” She said putting it on the table.

Hanna didn’t hesitate to plug it into a laptop that has nothing but the most basic operating system installed. It most certainly wasn’t connected to the small network they had either, as she wasn’t about to take any chances. It no longer mattered how much she trusted the person, most of her cards were kept close to the chest and only revealed to those that absolutely had to know. When the file loaded, she realized it was a list of coordinates by latitude and longitude all over the globe. Each site with a symbol next to it that made Hanna curious. “What exactly am I looking at?”

Crystal grinned as she looked at Hanna. “That is a list of their operations centers across the globe. The sword is Camps or bases under the control of General Paxton. The shield is Camps or bases under the control of Colonel Sharp now, General Storm having been arrested and killed before he could be rescued. The vial is research stations under the control of one Doctor Nicolas Flemming. The Crown the leadership bunkers under their own command. This however isn’t all of them, as the true leadership of the Second Dawn sits above all this. Unfortunately my father didn’t have access to those locations, as it is very sensitive and the command structure is generally far more fragmented than this. My fathers company however was responsible for supplies for many years, his records even for the Second Dawn thorough enough to pinpoint the locations.” She explained.

Hanna printed it out so that it could be scanned by her AI to put the locations on the global map, as she had suspected from before, Camp Epsilon the only location on this half of the continent. “Did the Second Dawn create this Camp, or did your father do it and they took advantage?” she asked.

“My father was in the process of building it when the outbreak happened. As a devout follower, he created it just for them to show that we could use the zombies to make ourselves even better.” She answered as Hanna smiled.

“Well he was right about that, but I don’t think he realized just how accurate it would be.” She said taking out a vial of the Evojuice. “Any idea what this is?”

Crystal shook her head no, as she honestly had no clue what it could possibly be. “Not a clue.”

“Well for the moment I am not going to explain what it does. I assume you are aware of the crystals that form next to the hearts of zombies?”

“I do.” Crystal replied nodding in confirmation.

“Patrice, I need you to come to my exterior office please.” Hanna said into the radios they used in the Camp. “This is extracted from those Crystals, so in a way your father was absolutely correct that the zombies would help us evolve to face this threat. He however didn’t realize that someone not part of the Second Dawn would discover it long before they did, and would use every advantage we could get.” She explained before Patrice walked in. “So, if you want into the real battle, Patrice will swear you in. However you should be warned, once she does, if you betray us it will cause your death. In a way that is far from pleasant I might add.”

“If I can help the fight against these zombies and destroy the Second Dawn in the process, I will do whatever it takes.” Crystal replied.

“Take my hand.” Patrice said as she grabbed Crystals wrist. “Do you swear to faithfully serve Camp Hope in our crusade against the zombies and any other threat to humanity? That you will keep our secrets until your dying breath?” Patrice asked her stiffly.

“I swear I will serve Camp Hope with faith and devotion, never betraying any member or secret entrusted to my care.” Crystal answered as a flash from Patrice’s palm made the symbol on her wrist like a tattoo they all carried before Patrice dropped her hand.

“Welcome to Camp Hope, if the others of your group wish to be entrusted as you now are, they to must give the oath. I will be ready whenever they make their decision.” Patrice said before she walked out after nodding to Hanna who returned it.

“Drink this.” Hanna said placing a larger vial on her desk.

“Is this a test of loyalty?” Crystal asked.

“Not exactly, just not sure you would believe me if I told you it will give you a fire ability.” Hanna replied as Crystal looked at her before shrugging and downing the vial in a few swallows.

Crystal’s eyes widened in shock as she felt like her blood was boiling and her skin felt like it was on fire. Despite her best efforts to contain it, she screamed as the power courses through her, burning its way to her heart before it suddenly stopped. She looked at her hands that felt hot, and began shaking them when she realized they were actually on fire. When it went out and didn’t leave a mark, she made a fist and concentrated to make the flames appear again.

“Like I said, not sure you would believe me. Now that you are a full member of the Camp, you are expected to join training each morning and evening. You will be given one dose of Evojuice per day as part of your compensation, and will be allowed to purchase an additional one out of your points if you wish to focus on upgrading your abilities. Any more abilities you wish to obtain must be obtained by you personally by killing the zombie that possesses it, or purchased through our members market. So your father was correct, the zombies will help us evolve, I don’t think he suspected it would be turned against the Second Dawn in the way we have found.” Hanna told her.

“Wow, I never would have suspected that this was possible.” She said snapping her fingers to make a small lighter type flame.

“We can even harvest the abilities from fallen humans. That particular ability from the Second Dawn member we killed at the lab where we encountered you. Nothing goes to waste here, especially not abilities. The only down side being they don’t develop the second Crystal unless they actually turn into zombies.”

“What about the Crystals from zombies without abilities?”

“They are purified and used to level up our abilities. Far faster than use alone like your father probably suspected.” Hanna answered easily now that she know that any hint of betrayal would cause her death because of the ability Patrice had used to form the pact that all members of Camp Hope took this time around.