Zombie Fever: Evolution by B.M. Hodges

back at Vines lying helpless and vulnerable. “Nothing I can’t handle. Keep an eye on Delta 1’s readings. Alert me if you see any changes.” He paused and then risking insubordination charges, asked, “Are we on a secure line?”
    “Of course,” Crawford answered. Like Jayden, his loyalties to the company only went so far as the terms of his employment contract.
    Jayden whispered quickly into the com, “I’ll lead another party in to retrieve Delta 1 after the mission, over. Prep a drone. Remove the ordinance and make room in the payload bays for three warm bodies. In and out, over.”
    There was another pause on the other side, “Affirmative, Jayden. Watch yourself. My prayers are with you.”
    He did a hasty recon of the rooftop to ensure that there was no else around to harm his injured colleague. Then he barricaded the two stairwell doors leading to the floors below with air-conditioning units he’d ripped out off their platforms.
    As he was checking the south end of the rooftop, he happened to glance across at the other five rooftops that made up the block of flats and noticed movement on the furthest of them. He pulled down his visor and switched on augmented visuals. The visor came online, reading where his eyes were focused and adjusting the night vision and magnification accordingly.
    There was a small mob gathered in a semicircle, most of them armed with kitchen knives, frying pans and chair legs. Inside the circle and leaning against the low wall lining the edge of the roof were four women, two men and a child huddled together in a state of terror.
    Three men from the mob rushed forward, grabbed one of the women and heaved her over the wall and off the roof. She plunged down the fifteen stories. Jayden could hear her scream abruptly cut off when she hit the pavement below.
    He continued to watch, not able to pull away as the rest of the mob rushed their remaining captives and pushed them all over the side. When they were finished, they dispersed and disappeared down the stairwells into the darkened building.
    Jayden looked more closely at the ground below and saw bodies, too many to count, strewn along the ground like broken fruit.
    He scanned further in the distance at the sidewalks and driveways surrounding the multitude of apartment buildings. By now, everyone on the island suspected there was contagion spreading through the populace and that those infected with it were attacking the healthy, biting and consuming their flesh. Those who were bit and survived the attacks quickly turned into flesh-eaters themselves. It was a nightmare scenario for Singaporeans and they were taking no chances. As he had witnessed, they were killing family members and neighbors that showed signs of flu-like symptoms, just in case they were infected with the contagion.
    Unsure how to process this information, Jayden decided it was time to move. He crossed back to where Vines lay, gave her a kiss on the forehead and left her lying there beside the man who may have condemned her to a pointless death.
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    Vitura International Research Laboratory Ship
    Singapore Strait/International Waters
     
    Supervisor Bertrand took a sip of water, scanning the faces of Singapore’s bureaucracy huddled in their tidy conference room deep underground.
    Prime Minister Cheung, such a strong jaw on him , waved his hands wildly in the air and the rest of his cabinet nodded as he spoke. His military chiefs were also nodding, but Bertrand saw those eagle eyes locking with one another as though they had a private conversation going at the same time.
    Bertrand sneered and waived his hand at them dismissively.
    Thank God for the holoscope, he thought. I couldn’t imagine actually having to sit among them, cloistered in what could very well be their tomb if they don’t agree with the WHO directive to evacuate the country’s leaders before nuclear hellfire consumed on their piss-ant country.
    He activated his side of