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Zombies! Episode 3.8: Castaways
by Ivan Turner
Ratings:
153 pages2 hours
Summary
Somewhere off the map, on an Earth that even Google doesn't know about, there is a remote island. On that island, a prominent company set up a research facility. It was destroyed by the dead. Cleansed and rebuilt, it has now been populated by the infected, those people who rely on the medicine Olexynil to stave off the zombie infection. The great big secret here, though, is not that these people have been shunned, exiled to this far away place, but that the system is working. They are building lives for themselves, forging relationships, becoming whole again. It almost all seems too good to be true.
And it is...
Karen Weston has brought her passengers to the island, each with a different agenda. For Abby Benjamin, the goal is to be reunited with her husband. For Heintz, the goal is to find out what the government plans on doing with the residents of the island. On the island itself, those who are infected are going through their day to day lives, developing their routines while those in charge have their own agendas. When the first of the infected finally turns, the question is not why, but how. How does a young, healthy woman taking Olexynil become a zombie? The answer is buried under layers and layers of conspiracy.
Publisher: Ivan TurnerReleased: May 31, 2017ISBN: 1370116551Format: book
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Zombies! Episode 3.8 - Ivan Turner
Turner
Chapter I
The island had come into range overnight, its tiny hills poking up above the nighttime sea mist. The view had been magnificent, just this insignificant piece of land growing out of nothing off the starboard bow. Martin had been drinking at dinner that evening, celebrating his previous life with a group of friends who were also celebrating very similar previous lives. He had slept through the early approach.
Now, at dawn, he stood at the front of the ship, hangover free, and leaning on the rail. The island was completely visible as the Floating Olympus eased its way closer and closer. Just past the hills on his right, he could see the city. It was small, but the buildings gleamed in the sunlight. They had been entirely refurbished, all evidence of the horrible things that had happened there and the zombies that had, for so long, populated the island wiped away. Martin almost wished they would have left something. Just enough to remind him that he was their prisoner.
Someone came up behind him and clapped him on the shoulder. Beautiful, isn't it?
Martin nodded, although he didn't think so.
Chin up, Martin. It’s the start of your new life.
Martin had met Don McCrorie even before the Floating Olympus had left port in New York. He had been in a dark mood and made straight for the bar. Truth to tell, he'd been looking to get a little drunk and start a fight. He’d wondered what they would do with him if he was uncooperative. Having left Abby and Sam, and ultimately Lily behind, he had no one left to protect except himself. He wasn't all that interested in protecting himself. Don was the kind of person that liked a project better than a friend. He’d zeroed in on Martin right away, identifying his mood, his motives, and his ultimate goal with flawless accuracy.
I'll bet you could kick the shit out of me,
Don had said, ordering a beer. He was right. Martin wasn't particularly tall, but Don was shorter. He didn't have any of Martin’s stocky strength either. There was no way he'd be able to rip free a bed post.
Is that why you've come over here?
You're English.
Martin had finished his drink and ordered another.
If you're looking to fight someone, I'll be happy to oblige,
Don had said. Just remember that the blood you'll be spilling is just as infected as your own.
Martin hadn't even looked at him. He'd just put out his hand and introduced himself.
They had been the best of friends for the three days since.
Elijah Hope found his over to them and leaned on the rail next to Martin. Elijah was a quiet man. In fact, he'd said little more than his name in three days. At dinner the first night, when Martin and Don had sat with a group of other people, Elijah had wandered over and sat with them, attaching himself to Martin like a kid brother. Martin had found his presence irritating at first, but later began to recognize Elijah as a lost soul, someone who needed protecting. As always, he said nothing now. He stared at the island as it grew closer and closer.
Are we going to explore it together or is this the end of our friendship?
Don asked suddenly.
Martin was taken aback, but not offended. He remembered university, how he and some other freshmen had found each other during orientation and latched on to each other for security. They had called it a friendship, but it didn't last. When university was no longer new, they discovered that they’d had little else in common. They had drifted apart and found real friends.
Let’s not give it up just yet,
Martin said. I might still like you tomorrow.
Don laughed loudly at that. Martin envied him his sense of humor. More than that, though, he envied Don’s freedom. He was a single man in his early thirties. He had no parents and no siblings. Hell, he'd barely had a permanent address. Getting sent to zombie island was just another adventure for him. Right now, that attitude was good for Martin. In a while, he might grow to resent it. With a little luck, he and Don might find some real kinship before that happened.
And you, Elijah?
Don asked. Will you be heading off to conquer the island?
Elijah passed him a look, but said nothing.
For their first day, they would have no more responsibility than to check in and find their homes. In the morning, they were required to report for work. Martin had been given the job of software maintenance engineer in the administrative building. It was a top job, he'd learned. He wasn't sure if it had come his way because of his skill or because of his role during the battle of Lion’s Run. Either way, he didn't flaunt it. Most people were doing labor work. There was an outstanding promise that major corporations were going to bring offices to the islands, offering clerical and management jobs to the residents. For the life of him, Martin couldn't see why anyone would want to bring his business to the kind of closed environment that was being created there.
The three men stood on deck while the boat moved into port and docked. Others came to watch, but left to see to their belongings. Many came to say hello and goodbye. Martin, Don, and Elijah represented a powerful triumvirate on board ship. It seemed the combination of outgoing, brooding, and mysteriously silent was socially appealing to a lot of people. They had made many friends.
After disembarking, they stayed together, finding their things among the stacked luggage. Martin’s belongings consisted of what he had brought with him to the apartment that he had shared with Lily. The cops who'd arrested him had been generally good natured and swung by there on the way to the registration center. One of them had been on duty three years before while his wife and two children had been trying to board a bus at the Lion’s Run depot.
Martin, Don, and Elijah boarded the shuttle bus together, residence instructions in hand, and watched out the window as they were brought to their new homes.
Chapter II
The work was challenging. Martin threw himself into it like a man possessed. For the moment, there was no internet connection. That meant the people on the island were virtually cut off from the mainland. There was no cell service either. What they had, though, was an island intranet. During the refurbishing, technicians had wired the whole island together so that software engineers could create a digital microcosm for the residents. Smart phones were available, but could only call other phones on the island and connect to the intranet. The intranet looked like the web and, in fact used the same software, but was limited. There was news, but it was all written in house. Anything that came from the world at large was reported through the government officials on the island. Who they were and whether or not they were infected was a question that was not to be asked.
Martin’s job was directly related to maintaining the intranet. As a software engineer, he was given access to just about every page that went up onto the servers. His job was to scan for flaws and, more importantly, vulnerabilities that could bring down the whole system. Not having a background in systems security, Martin had a lot to learn. He enjoyed the challenge.
For the first week, he worked long hours. There always seemed to be a pile of things to do and none of it could wait. He was out the door of his small apartment early in the morning and usually home late in the evening. He often met Don and Elijah for lunch. Don, who had been in retail on the mainland, had been given a janitor’s job in one of the recreation centers. He talked about his job as if it was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. He’d never realized just how much he hated dealing with customers. Elijah, on the other hand, was working in the island’s accounting center. Apparently, there was still some question about the economy of these tiny societies. If the governments of the world wanted to lure companies to the islands, the residents would have to have actual currency. For the moment, everyone had been housed, was being fed, and had a recreational allowance. In his own way, Elijah expressed that the accounting offices were a hotbed of activity and he spent most of his days arguing numbers with people who were so much dumber than he was.
During the second week, things seemed to calm down. As people became more acclimated to their schedules and their surroundings, many of the important and imminent tasks at everyone’s place of work seemed to dry up. People had time for recreation. The three friends could now go out for dinner or for drinks and see a movie or play some darts.
During the third week, Don met a woman and dropped out of sight. Martin felt like he was back in high school, remembering how his friends had disappeared at the first sight of a girl. As someone who had always been cautious with his relationships, he had often found himself left out in the cold. It had irritated him then and it did so now. Especially since it wasn't likely that he would be finding a girlfriend anytime in the future. He was a married man and refused to acknowledge his separation from his family as anything but temporary.
The worst part was his friendship with Elijah. Still attached to him, the accountant was as quiet as ever. They would have dinner together and sit in almost utter silence while they ate. It became clear to Martin that, while Elijah wasn't going to go away of his own accord, they needed Don in between them.
On the Friday of the third week, Don called Martin and asked if there was room at the table for him and his girlfriend. Martin jumped on it.
Georgia was a little older than Don was, but not quite as old as Martin. She was almost as tall as Martin, which gave her a couple of inches on Don. She was also built thick, but Martin attributed it to muscle. Her hands showed the scars of many years of hard work. On the island, she had been assigned the job of structural inspector. She had spent the first two weeks going from building to building making sure that they were all up to code.
"What represents code on this island?" Martin asked.
That’s a damned good question,
Georgia said, her accent thick with midwest articulation. "I've been kind of writing it as I go. I've worked in a lot of cities and I've got my own ideas about what’s safe and what’s not. I've
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