“Building is clear, sir,” called one of the soldiers. He walked back across the workshop and cut through the circle of exes. He gave one a casual whap on the back of the head, and it swayed back and forth for a moment.
“Does it look like she was able to sabotage the suit?”
Truman picked the laptop up off the floor and studied it. “Nothing visible, sir. Looks clean. Probably want to check the software before they test it, though.”
“I know how this works,” Danielle said. “You’ve got to have some sort of protocol in case the Nests fail. Just put it into effect so you’ll be ready.”
“The ex-soldiers have been operational without a single failure for six months now,” said Kennedy. “What makes you think they’re all going to stop working now?”
“I didn’t say they’re going to stop working,” snapped Danielle. “I’m trying to tell you they’ve never worked. They’re not working now. There’s been someone else controlling them all this time.”
“That’s your answer to all this?” said Freedom. “There’s been a supervillain here at Krypton all this time and no one’s noticed?”
She looked back as they dragged her outside. One of the exes winked at her.
*
“Ahhh,” said the ex. “Too bad.”
St. George punched through the zombie’s head and the gurney beneath it, twisting steel tubes out of the way. Dark blood and brains poured out of the ruined skull through the hole and splattered on the ground.”
“Fugg yuu, yuu dumm fugg raggen maahh,” another ex growled around its bit.
The hero snapped the leather band and yanked the dowel out, taking a few teeth with it. “Hope that stung,” he said. “What’d you do to her?”
“Nothing,” spat the ex. “She got nabbed by the man. Stealth beat up the colonel, huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Sounds like someone can’t keep his bitches in line,” laughed the dead man.
St. George turned to Sorensen. “Are you going to help me? I need to know whose side you’re on.”
The older man nodded. “I’ll help,” he sighed.
“Doc,” said the ex, “you know the deal. You help them, I don’t tell you where your kid is.”
Sorensen looked at the dead man. “You’ve never looked for her.” He hooked his glasses back over his ears. “Just like Shelly. None of you even looked. You all just think I’m mad.”
St. George brought his fist down and shattered the ex’s skull. A few steps took him to the next gurney and he moved down the line. When he’d killed the other three exes he grabbed a bright blue towel and wiped the gore from his knuckles. “Are there any more of them in here?”
The doctor shook his head. “Those were the only exes in this section of the base, as far as I know.”
“Yeah,” said St. George, “that’s the bit that worries me. How far is it to where you’re keeping Zzzap?”
Chapter 24
NOW
The ex pushed open the workshop door and looked outside. There were a few soldiers off in the distance, but none close enough to recognize it for what it was. He’d chosen the body because it was less decayed than most of the ex-soldiers, and it had the most complete uniform.
It looked back over its shoulder and had the dead soldiers around the armor adjust their feet. After a bit of shuffling, it was hard to tell one of them had walked away. By the time anyone noticed, it’d be too late.
The ex tugged his headgear down to shade his eyes, stuck his hands in his pants pockets, and tried to whistle as he crossed the road. It took too much effort, so he gave up after a few steps. A soldier at the end of the block turned his way, and he pulled out a hand and gave a quick, casual salute. The soldier gave an acknowledging salute and turned back to his duties.
Just like that, he was across the street. A zombie walking around in broad daylight. He stepped into the shrinking shade of the Tomb.
The main door was still crimped where Cerberus had forced it open the other day, but they’d beaten it back into shape enough for it to lock shut. They were idiots. Locking the door so he couldn’t get out, but they’d typed in the codes right in front of him dozens of times. He knew half the codes and passwords for the whole base.
Stiff fingers tapped the keys. He opened the access door. Inside, he saw himself through one hundred and fifty sets of eyes. A company’s worth of dead soldiers grinned back at him.
He’d wanted to wait a little longer. Shelly and Sorensen had planned to process another three hundred ex-soldiers in the next few months, but who knew if that would happen now. His hopes of getting a few of the super-soldiers infected were fading fast. The damned heroes were messing things up again.
He held out his hand and one of the exes gave him the wadded up paper he’d hidden in its pocket. He crammed it into the door frame so the lock couldn’t engage. They tried the door from both sides, and then he walked down the street to set more of himself free.
*