Charon's Blight: Day Two (the Rotting Souls series Book 2) Read online

  Was there someone behind the scenes moving things around like pieces on a chessboard, bringing them all together like that? Though he wanted to believe it, he just couldn’t. To prescribe to a theory like that would also open himself up to the revelation that if that were true; that same chess player had put things in motion that had brought his horrid event into being. That a being capable of such power existed and had allowed all those monsters to roam the earth, eating their way through everything that was once beautiful in the world; was a hideous notion that his heart fought strongly against.

  Was this truly the will of a God? Or had some beast of hell finally broken free and released his minions from the bowels of the earth on a mission to devour their entire existence in a violent last act of teeth and flesh?

  Now, as he sat at the table in their Strategy Room, he couldn’t help but notice how macabre his thoughts ran in the early hours of the morning and hoped that one day his sleep, which he had always taken for granted until now, would somehow return to normal. But he doubted that would be anytime soon.

  As his friend squirmed on his seat, not able to get himself in a position that wouldn’t be painful, he had to ask Casey, “ass hurting?”

  “Dude, you have no fucking idea,” the man replied, grimacing through a forced smile. The man had the luck of a cat, only he would get shot in the one place that wouldn’t do any serious damage or be a very long bout of recovery.

  Even after getting no sleep, he felt like laughing, and only the constant threat of what he saw every time he closed his eyes kept him from giving into it.

  Sean was sitting across from him, his head in both hands, stroking his temples. A glass of Alka-Seltzer was foaming by his right hand and he knew the hangover had to be rough. He had come in last and was so far evading any attempt Todd made to take him aside and finish the discussion they started the night before. He hated secrets and he vowed that eventually he’d root them out; no matter how long it took.

  He probably could have waited to call them together, but it needed to be done. From the looks of the others seated around him, they’d gotten just as much sleep as he did. None of them were eager to start the conversation, they were all still reeling after the events of the day before; trying to regain their balance.

  However, there would always be something new coming, some new event that would make it seem like a bad time to talk. He knew they had to push through it, keep taking that step forward, or they’d never survive this. Sulking in their rooms did not make the world out there go back to normal; it only made them vulnerable to what it wanted to throw at them next.

  Ben had his phone on the table and his eyes kept diverting to make sure that he wasn’t missing a call. The computer was sending him updates as well, so that if anything major was happening he’d instantly know about it. He was ragged from the lack of sleep and Todd would have to find the time to let the young boy unplug for a bit and get some rest; if there was such a thing at a time like this.

  “Anything else on the radio waves?” he asked him.

  Ben shook his head. “Other than the occasional chatter from the military bands, nothing has been broadcasted since the President’s speech last night.

  “How is that even possible?” Sean asked through his hands. He reached out and took the glass of seltzer and drained part of it. The expression on his face made it clear that he wished that it was brandy in that glass instead and Todd didn’t think the man would last long before delving back into the drunken delirium he had displayed the day before.

  “There should be shit everywhere,” Sean continued. “The net, the radio, TV waves, everything should be flooded with news about what’s happening out there. How the hell does all that just go away? Either we’re out of range of their transmissions or you’re not looking in the right places. It’s insane to think nobody is out there talking. We just have to find a way to listen.”

  He could tell from the others’ faces that they had all thought the same thing; even he found it odd that even the local do-it-yourself DJ’s weren’t on the air.

  The only one that didn’t wear a confused expression was Ben, who cracked a can of Mt. Dew, took a long drink, and then leaned forward to speak. “It’s a guess, but it’s a damn good one; it fits. In an event such as this, there has to be protocols in place at the higher levels of government. Like, if this happens, go to section 4D and proceed, or open the red envelope and follow the instructions given. They have think tanks and every possible scenario is thought of in advance, no matter how outrageous it sounds when spoken out loud. If an alien vessel lands in Central Park and a large behemoth emerges from the craft, takes a shit in the pond, mates with a deer, and then flies off, this is what to do and how to handle it. That kind of shit. Don’t think for a minute it’s not possible, because with the advances in artificial intelligence and the storage capacity of computers, they can literally have millions of scenarios game planned out and ready to call up with a few simple keywords.”

  “So, in this case, an Admiral goes to his computer analyst and tells him to key in zombie outbreak and boom! There is a long list of what to do and how to go about it. I can tell you that the first report I got of this shit happening came out of Vegas. There was an increase in military chatter in the area and an order to send a unit to a television station that was about to go live with the news of a biological attack. That’s when I sent the mass text. I saw what was really going on from the cameras on the Strip and that shit was no bio weapon.”

  “Now, let’s say that the government learned of what was going to happen just before I did. Well, they open the folder or call it up on the computer and the first thing it says is—to control panic shut down communications. Well, they employ some of the best hackers in the world, they kind of have to in order to keep their shit secret with so many people trying to hack their servers, and they probably had them create some ninja shit virus that all they had to do was push one single button and this thing snakes out and shuts everything down. Everything is connected; that is the folly of our times. This thing breaks through firewalls, worms its way into the coding of every computer connected to the internet, which is just about every single fucking computer in the United States, and kills it. It rewrites the code, makes the machine inoperable and bam, everything goes down, from the internet servers to the cable networks. Why? Because these days everything is digital, no one does analog anymore. They got rid of all our antennas remember? Radio stations, television stations, the whole lot of them rely on their computers and their constant connection to stay on top of the news and be the first to report it. Well, it backfired yesterday. as that very thing is what left them open enough to be among the first to be shutdown. Sure, other systems took longer, but within the first hour almost everything everywhere was offline.”

  “I realize that it’s a huge concept to grasp for those that aren’t immersed in the cyber world so let me put it this way; they stopped the football game not by turning off the lights, but by making the field they played on disappear from under their feet. And all of us have grown so dependent on that connection, on the power at our fingertips and the wealth of information always available to us, that we totally forgot how to backtrack and do things the old-fashioned way. Mostly, people are just standing around saying—uh, so now what?” Ben mimicked, doing a fair impression of a brain-dead moron.

  Sadly, he remembered that voice, it was the same one he had used when he found that the radio was no longer receiving signals at the gas station the day before. Ben looked at him and for a moment, he had to try and think if he had just said that out loud.

  “When’s the last time you picked up a real book and read it instead of using that Kindle of yours?” Ben directed his way, then continued without waiting for an answer. “Sean, have you ever actually used a typewriter to write your books in the last ten years? Would you immediately think to go back to one if your computer wouldn’t turn on? Did you see the lost looks your kids had when their cells stopped working?” he aske
d Monica. “It was like they were cut off from the world. We have become so dependent on knowing everything that’s going on that the moment it got ripped away from us we stood there immobile, not sure of what to do or where to go next. How many people do you think are out there even now furiously clicking internet explorer or unplugging their routers to try and get that connection back? How many have tried endlessly to call their providers in order to bitch about the service interruption? Of all those panicking about the lack of connection, how many do you think actually went outside, I know, old-fashioned, and took a look around for themselves? And the government planned on that kind of response! Because as long as that idiot is still trying to mess with his router he is not out there on the street looting, causing traffic jams escaping, or getting eaten by zombies and feeding the population of the monsters tearing our nation apart!”

  Ben took another sip of his soda, then continued, “I might have been misleading you when I said that nothing was airing. You asked about the radio, but that is all you asked about. The cable networks have come back on and while not all the channels are broadcasting, there are enough to satisfy the majority of the people out there who are missing their favorite shows. They are now content to just sit on their couches and forget that the world is ending. The news stations are off air and there’s nothing really on other than reruns of shit that people have already seen, but it appeases the masses and makes them think that things are returning to normal. That illusion is purposely being thrust upon them and will make them ignorant of the real danger knocking on their door. There are no morning shows, no talk shows, no news breaks, it’s just the normal syndicated shows having marathons and people are happy to make their breakfast and eat that happy horseshit up. Give them some semblance that everything is fine and the masses will wait it out, oblivious to the horrors displayed outside their bedroom windows.”

  “Here’s another thing, even though most of the landlines are down, just about everyone in the fucking nation got a call this morning from an automated voice telling people that their places of employment were closed for the day and that they were receiving paid leave for the next few days; to enjoy some much-needed vacation on them. Obviously not everyone got that message, and they had to use IRS returns to accomplish something like this, but the majority of the people out there actually think they’re getting paid to sit there and watch TV. They are rejoicing right now as their friends and family are slaughtered by this plague just down the street! How many do you think will leave their houses today? Sure, some people have shopping to do, some are going to try and get fast food, but all those places are closed and they’ll just end up back home with nothing to do but mill about in front of cable reruns of Gilligan’s Island and X-Files. We’re not talking about weeks or days of this shit, we’re just talking one day. It’s too early for people to realize just how bad it is out there, especially when their own government is feeding them this bullshit to keep them sated and immobile. No, they are going to eat it up because the root of the matter is; they want to believe it.”

  Sean was shaking his head, “people aren’t that stupid.”

  “The hell they’re not!” Casey spouted with a wide grin. “You know that those assholes are jerking off in their bedrooms to pornos while their kids play X-Box in the living room and they all enjoy a microwave pizza for dinner.” He had an odd way of putting it, yet it still felt like he hit the mark.

  “No need to let us in on how you spend your nights there Casey,” Monica responded with a smirk.

  “Hey, I left mine at home. So now all I got to look at is you sweet cheeks,” he replied, grinning wider.

  “You’re really looking to get shot again, ain’t ya?” he asked, giving Casey the nastiest look he could manage. He ignored the flippant response his friend had and looked to Ben. “You’re referring to the sleeping giant complex. Like World War II before Pearl Harbor?”

  Ben nodded. “One person isn’t stupid; a group of people however are dumber than a herd of cows. Keep them fed, paid, and entertained and you can march them straight into that slaughterhouse and they won’t protest the blade even as it takes off their heads. Even lying on the ground looking up at their bodies it still won’t dawn on them that they were misled. This is not the man on a bow of a ship entering a savage world for conquest; those times are gone. This is the age of Man where people are used to being taken care of, where every grievance is heard and dealt with down to how hot their coffee is at a fast food joint. Where we are so interconnected that everyone feels that they can just stay in their homes and never have to leave. You can order everything you want online and have it shipped to your house; you don’t have to go to the store and bother looking, just point and click. Kids used to go outside to play, now they stay in and play video games, use their tablets, and talk to all their friends through text messages and emails. Have your kids even gone outside for any period of time, ever?” he asked Todd, then glanced in Sam’s direction. She had been quiet most of the morning and the bags under her eyes told him how much sleep she’d gotten.

  He should have slept with her, maybe they could have been restless together.

  “You’re one to talk,” Lucy said and that got the young boy smiling.

  It was hard to imagine, having grown up as he did, but now that he reflected on it, he saw the boy’s point. “No, they usually are working on their school work or playing video games.”

  “That’s my point!” Ben said, slapping the table. “With all the crap in the world now with kidnappings, child molesters, school shootings, and terrorist attacks, we are so paranoid about letting our children outside to do anything without direct supervision. How hard is it to even let them walk up to the corner store to buy a fountain drink? You can’t tell me you’re not nervous the entire time they’re gone. That you aren’t watching the clock calculating exactly how long it takes, wanting to go find them if it takes five minutes longer than you thought it should. You enjoy that they want to play those games, because if they are staying in there’s less worry about some psycho snatching them right off your front lawn.”

  “As long as people are happy playing with their toys, they’re not feeding the zombies roaming the streets and increasing their numbers, right?” Sam asked, her fingers playing with the bottlecap to her bottle of tea.

  “Exactly!” Ben answered, taking another sip of his soda.

  “Might want to lay off that some,” Casey piped in.

  Ben shook his head. “What’s it going to do, kill me? I think I’ll take my chances.”

  The laughter that followed was light, but it seemed to relieve the tension in the room. It was amazing that they were still capable of that with all the shit going on around them. “I still can’t wrap my mind around the fact that no one out there is trying to get the word out,” he said, trying to drive them back to topic.

  The laughter petered out.

  Ben brought his laptop up and laid it on the table, flipping it open. He clicked an icon and his Facebook page began to load. It loaded quickly and there looked to be recent updates on his news feed. “Did I mention the internet is back up?”

  Monica gasped. “If they are trying to keep people from making things public, that’s a bad way to do it. I don’t understand why they’d allow the internet to come back up.”

  Ben laughed. “You don’t get it. It may be back up, but the posting time has quadrupled from what it used to be. Most of the time it just times out and says connection lost. That is, if you post something that interferes with the government’s idea of status quo.”

  “What was that?” Casey asked, leaning forward and wincing, trying to lift his ass cheek to keep the pressure off it.

  Ben smiled like there was some secret joke that only he was privy too. “I’m using this to illustrate my point, but be aware, every site on the internet responds the same way. It’s been hacked.”

  There was a long moment of silence.

  “Huh?” Sean finally asked, his pounding headache apparently
not letting much through his roaring mind.

  The young boy nodded as if he was expecting that kind of response. “I know it sounds crazy, but it goes back to that blackout from yesterday. I’ve been trying to figure out how something like that was possible, then I realized that there are a lot smarter people out there than me and began to look at the big picture. It’s staggering. Look, everything is connected, right? People don’t carry real money anymore, it’s all electronic. Banks, restaurants, stores, everything has pretty much gone digital. That goes for utilities, communications, the military; it’s all in the cloud! Sure, there are still buttons you have to push, but how many after hitting the power button? Most of America is automated. Some of you have seen Person of Interest, you know, the AI that uses everything from cells to traffic cams to monitor everything a person does all moments of the day. It’s like that. If everything is connected, then it can be controlled.

  “There are firewalls and security measures—,” Monica observed out loud, thinking of Norton and other things she used to keep her computer safe.

  Ben was shaking his head. “We aren’t talking about keeping you safe from a hacker; we’re talking about keeping you safe from the people that run the show; the government. They have hands in everything and since 9/11 they have made it their life’s purpose to know everything about everyone; it’s their idea of control. Do you think they don’t know how to get through any system, that they’d allow anyone to have a computer system better than their own? Hell, they create most of the shit we use, so you know they have backdoors into it. Those hackers I mentioned earlier? You know they have large groups of them for no other purpose than to police everything that is ever said or done. They no longer need code words. Used to be if you used certain phrases in conjunction you got flagged. When people realized that, they changed how they said things, but they couldn’t change their meanings. The more sophisticated the system of avoidance, the more they built up to fight it. You are not alone; ever.”