Zombie Fever: Evolution by B.M. Hodges Page B

laboratories on C-deck in search of Eli Henry. Aside from the lab geeks, the rest of the crew avoided C-deck like the plague - because, literally, it was full of plague. Since the christening of the VIRaL, Vitura employees, defense contractors and ship crew made it a point to step a bit faster on the landing of C-deck on their way to the decks below. Stories of human experimentation and vivisection floated along the currents of rumor. There were sea tales of dumping masses of bodies in the churning ocean waters. And there were eye-witness reports of zombies being put through the paces in obstacle courses and used as targets in weapons calibration exercises in the antechamber formerly used as a mess hall for the three thousand plus military personnel that used to inhabit the ship. C-deck made it extra difficult, psychologically, to remain on the vessel for yearlong contracted deployments.
    Private Vines kept her eyes forward as they marched down the hallway, letting Sergeant Jayden scan the interiors of the rooms for Eli Henry.
    Vines was one of the instructors who took civilian personnel assigned to the ship through an intensive, mandatory six-week program to whip them into shape and give them some emergency training in the event the ship ran into trouble on the high seas or one of the many bio-hazards were accidentally released.
    She remembered Eli well.
    Eli was one of the worst specimens she had ever taught. He trailed behind the other trainees during physical activities and had a notably sour disposition when it came to classroom training. Eli acted as though he were above it and intentionally failed each day’s worth of exercises and instruction. She had recommended his immediate dismissal from the ship, citing his lack of physical ability and insolent attitude. But, lo and behold, he was put through anyway. Either he has a unique skill that the Vitura higher-ups require or this is a serious case of nepotism, she had thought at the time.
    Even more troubling, Eli had taken an interest in the Hopper theory of flight. One month into their latest deployment, Eli decided he wanted to be trained on a Hopper and, as Vines was the only Master Hopper Certification Instructor, she was assigned to train him. Vines spent every Thursday and Tuesday evening teaching him the controls and how to analyze vectors. On the day very day he completed the last of his virtual training on the Hopper module, he quit, saying he was too busy to actually fly one.
    What a coward .
    “There.” Jayden pointed past an open door to a row of desks. She could make out Eli’s greasy red hair and greasier face. He was leaning back on a chair staring at a screen filled with numbers in one of the cubicles, spooning gobs of Neapolitan ice cream from an oversized bucket into his gaping maw.
    “I’ll get him.”
    Vines walked up behind him and slapped the back of his head with the back of her gloved hand. Ice cream and spoon went flying into the screen, the spoon ricocheting off the top of the monitor and smacking against the back wall of his cubicle. He turned around, more afraid than angry, rubbing the back of his head. “Jeez, Vines. You really had to do that?”
    “Get up. Time you earned your wings.” She slapped down an order sheet in the event he became resistant. “This is where you earn your salary, Eli. You’re hopping with us into Singapore to retrieve samples. Read your orders before you start whining.”
    Eli read the sheet, his red complexion turning a ghostly pale, “But Vines, I’ve never taken one on a real flight. You know that. Going on a night flight into zombie territory is too much. If the hop doesn’t kill me, I’m sure to be viciously torn apart and eaten. I can’t go. I won’t go. I need to make a call.” He snatched a com-link from the desk and shoved it in his ear. Vines smacked him up the side of the head again and the com-link flew across the desk.
    “No time for that Eli. We’re on a deadline. Get your lazy ass