Stray Cat Strut Chapter Fifty-Three - Z-Word

Chapter Fifty-Three - Z-Word

The survivors of the first mass Incursion, most of them Aricans living in Ohio, were lauded as heroes. Their accounts were big news, their stories shared by millions.

The survivors of the next incursion didnt get the sa attention.

Those who made it through the third barely got any notice.

By the fourth, most insurance companies had lobbied to add alien invasions from the acts of god category. They ca away from it traumatized, destitute, and with no one there to help them.

Things havent gotten better.

--Excerpt from John Delancys Three Tis Unto the Breach. A Noted survivor of three of the earliest incursions. 2026

***

Id never been keen on horror gas.

Oh, sure, Id tried a few. The orphanage had a VR room for a few weeks at one point until soone broke in and stole the gear wed been donated. It was old even when we got it, but it worked. So of the more tech-savvy kids had pirated all sorts of shitty little gas. They also got into a heap of shit for breaking DRMs, but that was besides the point.

Point was, Id played a few gas, usually with Lucy nearby and clinging onto whenever sothing popped out from around a corner screaming like a banshee.

Wed even tried so full-dive stuff at our school, but the machine to connect to shSpace was an old decrepit thing, and the few horror movies wed watched all felt terribly gimmicky when seen in glorious 30 fras per second.

Crawling through a rats nest of maintenance corridors, following a set of red lights that were guiding us deeper and deeper in towards a shelter that we couldnt see was way higher on the creepy scale.

Monroe and his boys turned this way and that, lighting up sections of the corrior in flashes that passed as soon as they turned. You guys seem nervous, I said.

I think, maam, that its because we are, Monroe returned with a whisper.

I swung my crossbow around towards so movent, only to realize it was a moth being stupid next to one of the lights. I think Im going to file a complaint to whover took out half the damned lights, I said.

Ill help you with that, Monroe agreed.

My drone skittered ahead to the edge of the next corridor, then tipped forwards just enough to see around the corner. A mont later a tiny box in the corner of my vision showed yet another drab grey corridor. Only this one, at last, had a door.

Shelters ahead, I murmured.

Got it, Monroe said. Well fan out by the entrance. Can you negotiate?

I might not have to, I said as I frowned. The vault door was open.

It was one of those real vaults, with a door that was a foot thick chunk of steel with enough hydraulic doodads to let it move in and out of its place. Probably not enough to stop one of the bigger xenos, but more than enough for any of those Id encountered so far.

It wouldnt stop anything if left open though.

Light was pouring out of the shelter and onto the pipe-covered wall opposite. I paused by the corner and listened as hard as I could. No voices, but the swishing of clothes rubbing together and the occasional cough and mutter.

Were they just being quiet? Maybe the door failed? But if that was the case, why leave the lights on?

Dumbass, I muttered. Go check.

The drone bobbed up and down in what I assud was a yes maam before darting ahead. Halfway to the door the drone went invisible.

Worth every point, that one.

With a twitch of my eye the drones vision grew larger across one of my eyes and I took in a perfect, ground-level view of the approaching shelter. It reached the door and skittered to the front of it, its little body turning to face the entrance.

I swallowed.

The people we were there to save were all present. Sixty or so bodies, all sitting on the ground, or laying down and sotis swaying. They were clumped together as one big group, their eyes staring vacantly, so with drool leaking out of their mouths.

There was blood across the ground, and the crushed bodies of so smaller aliens that I didnt recognize right away. They were smaller than the Model Ones, more worms with little legs than anything I could match to a normal animal.

What the fuck? I whispered.

The drone panned to the side, revealing a trio of security guards who were still ard. All three had their heads blown off, and judging by the way they were positioned, theyd done the deed themselves.

Myalis? I hissed.

Model Sevens. One of the stranger kinds of Antithesis. Also, arguably, the least threatening to a Samurai. They can burrow into a humans body and sprout roots that take over their nervous system. It can take hours for a perfect connection to be established. Mostly theyll walk these bodies back to the nearest hive for consumption, but they have been used as ambush troops before. The psychological aspects are probably not understood by the Antithesis, but they are nonetheless effective.

Jesus fuck, I said. Id heard of them, of course. There was a nostalgic return of zombie flicks when I was small. Theyd been really unpopular with people who knew what a Model Seven was. I didnt know the grisly details though.

The humans are most likely dead already. Soon the Model Sevens within them will begin to modify their base biology, so will be turned into breeders for more Model Sevens and others will be modified to fulfil various tasks.

What do you an by most likely dead? I asked. You an they might still be alive? No one had ever covered that part for before.

Maam? Monroe asked.

Model Sevens, I said.

The soldiers all tensed for just a mont before spinning around. They looked up and down, searching every nook and cranny around us as if it would start spewing worm-shaped body horror nightmares.

Maam, do you have Seven pills?

I blinked at the question.

Model Seven Proofing pills are a nanite pill that prevents Model Sevens from being able to suborn a humans nervous system. They cost one point for a pack of ten. You might not need one, though it wouldnt hurt to take one anyway. Your companions arent offered the sa protection.

Hurry it up then, I said.

New Purchase: Model Seven Proofing Pill

Points Reduced to... 936!

The pills ca in a little wrapper thing, just like bubble gum only with off-green tablets instead of sothing chewable. I felt like every teen in a classroom who had gum as I popped a tab for each of the soldiers, then took one myself.

Those are good for twelve to fourteen hours. Taking more than one tablet in that period is unadvised.

The people in there? I asked.

Myalis actually took a mont to reply.

They would need to be verified. If the Model Sevens roots have reached their brains, then its too late. So people take longer to be taken over than others. There is a dical utility you could use to perform the scans yourself, but I would advise you instead modify your drone to be able to do the scans itself. This function would cost you fifty points.

Do it, I said. Being stuck in a body that was no longer under your control... that was Lucys nightmare, and it was one that I could sympathize with.

New Purchase: Short Range Drone-Operated dical Scanner

Points Reduced to... 886

The box that appeared was no bigger than a pack of cigarettes. I had hardly picked it up before my drone reappeared by my side, turned around, and opened up its back to expose a bunch of empty slots.

The scanner was a plastic cartridge that was surprisingly heavy for its size. It fit into one of the slots as if it was ant to go there. Dumbass froze for a mont, then shivered.

Ill take that as a sign its ready, I said. Okay. lets go play nurse with so zombies.

I hope we wont be entering CQC with them, maam, Monroe said.

I shook my head. Nah. Dumbass here can now tell us which zombie is... a zombie and which is still a person. Were saving those we can. Its why we ca.

Uh. Yes maam.

We entered the room to be greeted by a few heads soundlessly jerking our way. It eclipsed the poorly lit corridors on the creepy scale.

Dumbass, start with the nearest, I said. So of the zombies started to climb to their feet. And you guys stay down, I warned.

If they are that mobile, its too late for them.

One of them made it to their feet and lurched in our direction, movents jerky at first but smoothing out a few steps later. Their jaw opened wide, too wide, revealing a mouth full of white worms, pushing up from the gums between too-human teeth, swaying like grass in a breeze.

I closed my eyes.

Sotis I hated how callous I was. Other tis it was the only thing keeping sane.

Whisper ca up. A faint sound, like soone exhaling, burst out from the crossbow-rifle. One of the zombies collapsed to the ground. Then it exploded, sending bits of human and white vine-like tendrils all over the room. The worst part, after I ducked under a bit of office worker, was the silence from the explosion.

Then the air filled with eau de dead guy and I reconsidered what the worst part was.

Oh fuck, Im going to be sick, I muttered. And then I was.