The Nidus Initiative: Chapter 3

  Brewster Sutton woke up in a park about a block from where he lived.  He was sitting on a bench and there was the headless body of a man face down in a pool of blood in the dirt at his feet.  He recoiled at the sight and dry heaved a few times before getting control of himself.  He wiped spittle off his mouth, but gagged again when he saw that there was blood all over his hands.  He looked around the park for anyone or anything else.  The man's head was behind the bench.  Brewster recognized him as a homeless man who slept in the park.  He felt bad that he didn't even know his name.
  He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.  There was no answer.  He dragged the body, weighing eight pounds lighter, behind a bush and put his jacket over it.  Brewster was still quite disoriented.  He had no recollection of how he came to be at the park.  He didn't know what happened to the homeless guy.  As a matter of fact, the last thing he remembered was putting his son to bed and lying down in his own bed.  Then something clicked into place inside him.  He had left little Oliver at home all alone.
  Brewster began to make his way out of the park.  As he made it to the street, he noticed smoke coming from a house down the road.  There were several cars on the road at odd angles.  Some had shattered windshields.  Some had blood all over them.  Off in the distance, he heard a dog bark.  He also noticed several dead bodies lying on sidewalks and in the street.  There was a growing sense of dread in the pit of his stomach.  He needed to get back home to his baby.
  He broke into a sprint and was about half-way there when he was attacked.  A crazed man ran from between two houses and tackled Brewster painfully on the asphalt.  It was the father of a classmate of Oliver's.  Brewster punched him in the side repeatedly until his grip loosened, then he grabbed his pants and offset his balance, causing him to fall face down.  When the man made to get up, Brewster kicked him in the side and the man stayed down.  Now the coast was clear.  Brewster ran into his front door and into his son's room.  The bloody mattress told him all he needed to know, except where his son's body was.

The Nidus Initiative: Chapter 2

  Schmidtke and Svetlana Dombrowski were watching television in their living room when they started hearing loud noises from outside.  There was the sound of people running.  People were screaming.  Somewhere in the distance there was a siren.  The closest sound was some screeching tires and the next thing they knew, a car came crashing through the living room wall.
  Svetlana was knocked off the couch by the motion of the car smashing into it.  Schmidtke jumped out of his seat and rushed to his wife's aid.  She was momentarily disoriented, but not physically damaged.  The person in the car opened his door and was immediately set upon by a deranged attacker.  Schmidtke shielded his wife's eyes as he witnessed in horror the bloody barrage of biting and clawing.  Within seconds, the unfortunate driver was reduced to a quivering mass of gore and torn flesh.
  Schmidtke grabbed a coffee table book full of photographs of nebulae and used it as a baseball bat to the head of the silent attacker.  This stunned him for a moment and he fell to the floor groggily.  Schmidtke  used this temporary upper hand to find a better weapon in the kitchen.  The carving knife was an excellent choice.  Just then, he heard a scuffle in the living room.
  He went back out there.  The attacker had regained full mobility and was attacking his wife.  Schmidtke went in for the kill, slashing at the attacker's exposed back.  One well-placed thrust sunk the blade between the ribs and into the heart.  Instant kill.  The attacker fell to the floor motionless.  Svetlana had her hands clenching her throat.  Even applying pressure, jettisons of blood were shooting out between her fingers.  Schmidtke grabbed the phone and dialed 911.  He got a busy signal.
  Meanwhile, the bleeding was slowing.  This was not a good thing.  It was not an indication that the wound was clotting, it was a sign that her heart was failing.  The large puddles of darkening liquid stood in silent testimony to his dying wife.  Schmidtke never got through to the police.  Whatever was going on out there was bigger than he knew.  In his den was a glass display containing a shotgun and several cases of shells.  He grabbed those and loaded up.  If the police weren't going to help him, it was time to take matters into his own hands.

The Nidus Initiative: Chapter 1

  It was a nightmare.  Brewster Sutton had put his child to bed only minutes before.  He had tucked his son Oliver into bed and was just sitting at his laptop to maintain his online import/export business when the boy charged him from out of nowhere.  Brewster was a single father and his relationship with his only child was a good one so this vicious attack seemed out of the ordinary.  Five-year-old Oliver was being truly savage.  He seemed as if he was really trying to hurt Brewster with his fingernails and teeth.
  Brewster had little trouble in neutralizing the threat by wrapping his son in a bear hug, but Oliver was still trying to scratch or bite anything in reach.  Brewster was able to see his son's eyes.  They were moving around rapidly.  Was this an indication that Oliver was asleep?  So was this just a particularly horrific episode of somnambulism?
  Oliver was allergic to bees and so he had an epinephrine kit.  Brewster made his way to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, dragging his son along kicking and screaming.  He lay his son down and straddled him, pinning him to the floor.  He prepared the hypodermic needle and carefully injected his son in the leg.  After a moment, the struggling abated and Brewster cautiously eased off his son.
  Oliver was now calm, though confused.  "Daddy, how did I get in the bathroom?"
  Brewster sighed.  "I don't know, Pooper.  You were sleep walking and daddy woke you up."  Oliver still didn't understand and neither did Brewster.
  Brewster was shaken up by the episode and knew he wouldn't get any work done that night.  He also knew Oliver wouldn't be able to sleep for a while after the injection so he set him up with a movie to watch in the living room and he went to his bedroom to get some sleep so that he could make up for lost work time in the morning.  Quickly, he drifted off to sleep.  It was a nightmare.

The Greater Number 3: The Simian Connection part 9

  All over the world, Sasquatch of all shapes, colors and sizes worked together to help rid the planet of the living dead.  Humanity, though not perfect, was capable of love.  The living dead were soulless and gave nothing while destroying everything in their paths.  There was no love or hate within the undead.  They merely killed and ate the flesh of human beings.  Humans, who were often destructive, nevertheless, were a part of Earth's ecology.  They did not deserve to die such meaningless and unnatural deaths.  The undead were an abomination.  Ironically, many of the Sasquatch had been called 'Abominable' by the humans.  The Sasquatch, being pure of heart, were not ones to hold a grudge.  In protecting humanity, they were protecting the planet.
  On top of having legendary big feet, they also have big hands.  They could palm an undead head like a basketball and remove it from undead shoulders like pulling weeds.  They could pull undead arms out of their sockets without the prerequisite loss of a chess game provocation.  They had strength, speed and agility on their side.  The undead were always the greater number.
  On occasion, a large group of the living dead was able to take down a Sasquatch, but he would usually take down a few of the dead with him even while they were ripping his flesh to shreds.  Fighting to the end is how they went out.  Not a single one died a coward.
  The Hand of Karma had grown in ranks to number in the thousands.  They had followed Hadji to Oregon.  They were expecting another improvised safe haven to lay siege to, but instead stood witness to a large scale war between creatures they had only read about in books and monsters they had only seen in nightmares.  What was the true prize to be won here?  Why had their leader brought them to this bloody battlefield?  He spoke of the evils of humanity, but not a single living human being was in sight.
  As the battle raged on all about them, many became fearful for their lives.  They were accustomed to having the upper hand in every situation.  Lately, their leader didn't seem to have any aim or direction.  It was every person for themselves.  Even with all the bloodshed going on, it was noticed that the large furry humanoids never attacked the living.  The living were very grateful for that.
  Once in Oregon, Hadji had his followers set up his usual podium and microphone.  He gave his usual spiel about how humanity was destroying this planet.  The only difference now was that no one was listening.  What humanity was he talking about?  All anyone could see were bigfoot and zombies.  His followers were the only living human beings to be seen anywhere.  That was about to change.
  One day, while Hadji was on his soap box, a man came with a microphone of his own.
  Darion brought the microphone to his mouth and addressed the crowd.  "Hand of Karma, I know you must be confused.  You were probably told that there was a military base full of people here for you to take your anger out on.  Where are those people?  I tell you, they are already dead.  The zombies took care of them days ago.  All you have here are and army of Sasquatch fighting a horde of the undead."
  Many from the crowd were nodding their heads.  This was what they were noticing.  This man seemed to know what he was talking about.
  Darion continued.  "Who I am is of no consequence.  I will tell you this, though.  This army of Sasquatch is fighting for you.  Up until now you have been fighting against an enemy that was not an enemy.  I will tell you who your true enemy is.  It is these hordes of the undead that you have been travelling with."
  He let that sink in for a moment and looked around at the crowd.  They seemed more scared than hateful or angry.  Most of them had probably lost friends and family to this cause they thought they were fighting for.  "I tell you now that some time tomorrow, the rays from a distant supernova will reach the earth.  The consequences of this will be that the zombies will become intelligent."
  He began to see fear in earnest in the eyes of a few at first, then more.  "Imagine with how dangerous they are as mindless, eating machines.  Now add to that a mind that can plan and make strategy.  How long do you think it will be before we are being bred like cattle?  They are the greater number."
  Darion could see that people were listening.  "While there are still friends and family out there, let us stand together.  While there is still love out there, let us fight together.  Let us unite against a soulless, flesh-hungry enemy who doesn't care if you are good or bad.  Who doesn't care if you go to church, get straight A's, pay your taxes or floss your teeth."
  Hadji in a rage, grabbed a sword and stood facing at Darion.  A nearby Sasquatch stopped its struggle with a zombie to see if he could help his king.  The zombie lurched over to where Hadji was holding the sword above his head.  It grabbed his arm and took a nice chunk out of his wrist, causing him to drop his sword.  Once Hadji had fallen to the ground in agony, the zombie crouched over him and ripped out his throat.
  The fake that they had been following was gone.  They had the same cause, but a new enemy to fight.  A cry rose up amongst the crowd.  Cheers arose and tears were shed.  Most already had weapons.  These very weapons had taken human lives.  They were used for this purpose no longer and were now utilized on the walking dead.  The fighting went well into the night.
  As the sun rose the next morning, there were not many undead left.  Battle weary, but proud from victory, the Sasquatch and the people destroyed what was left of the zombie masses.  Measures were taken to prevent another outbreak.  The Shangri helped in that effort, as well as in the rebuilding that took place in the wake of the worst destruction anyone had ever seen.
  Edger and Cyril Holts, Father Mucker and Liam Moor decided to move to Shangri La permanently.  Darion Morris, the 32nd king of Shangri La performed the ceremony to marry Julianne Davenport and Beau Ottoman.  All the bride's maids were blue.  A space craft whizzed them off to their honeymoon afterward.
  Yorren and his family moved back north to the Washington area.  Awoona is now pregnant again and Rahrah can't wait to have a brand new Sasquatch brother or sister!
  The Ng and Fen-Chang families moved back to Marble Cliffs, Arizona.  The first thing Hewlett did when he got back into town was to lay some flowers on the grave of Sierra Dophlet.

                                                                        THE END

The Greater Number 3: The Simian Connection part 8

  Mbu and Hewlett looked at the shiny spacecraft that had just landed in a clearing in the forest.  "Boy, where was this thing when Helen kept yammering on about how we were supposed to lead her to the heavens?  Now I've seen every...Holy Krizmak!  It's a blue guy!" exclaimed Mbu.
  Yorren stepped forward and greeted the Shangri that had flown Darion and the other humans to Oregon from Shangri La.  No one else on board the space craft was exiting.
  Father Ng called into the hovering shiny disc, "Father Fen-Chang.  There's someone out here I'm sure you'll be happy to see!"  Not even a fraction of a second elapsed before Father Fen-Chang stepped off the ramp and gave Hewlett a huge bear hug.  He greeted Father Ng and his family afterward.
  Cautiously, the rest of the humans got off the craft and there were introductions all around.
  Cyril walked up to Darion and looked him in the eye.  "The big guy over there is named Yorren.  He's the leader of a tribe of Sasquatch from this region.  He's asked me to talk to you."
  Darion looked from her to the Sasquatch and back to her.  "Sure, I'll talk to him."
  "Well, unless you speak Sasquatch, you'd best talk to me."
  "It's a long story, but I can hear him too.  No, I don't speak Sasquatch, but I understand his thoughts just as if they were my own."  Cyril shrugged and went to sit by her father.  Darion walked over to Yorren and communicated with him through his thoughts.
  "The girl said you wanted to talk to me," he opened with.
  "I am Yorren and I serve the king."
  "I appreciate that."
  "I have foot soldiers who tell me that the group of the dead is almost here.  Also, the man who leads them is on his way.  There are many humans with him."
  "You have an army?"
  "We are many and we serve the king."
  Darion knew that there would be fighting, but he recalled the words of Shwama Po.  He knew that there was a time for fighting and a time for loving.  He turned to Yorren.  "I need you to destroy the army of the dead.  Do not harm the humans."
  Yorren was able to communicate with his brave brothers and sisters around the world through his mind.  His orders were to kill the dead and leave the living unharmed.  With those words, began a massive worldwide ground battle between the Sasquatch and the hordes of the undead.
  The humans were led to the cave where they would be safe until the Hand of Karma arrived.

The Greater Number 3: The Simian Connection part 7

  On the third night, Darion wanted to know one thing: were there more than just two sixth days?  "Good evening, Alien Formerly Known As King."
  "Your majesty, this is the last night you will be here at Shangri La."
  "Oh yes, I remember.  Then it's off to defeat the bad guys."
  Shwama Po chuckled.  "But before you go, you must be properly armed."
  "Armed?!  What, you guys got a bunch of guns up in here?"
  "Knowledge is your first weapon.  You wanted to know if there were any other sixth days.  The answer to that is 'Not yet'.  As you may recall, on the first sixth day, my planet received intelligence.  On the second sixth day, your planet received intelligence.  Six days from now, the rays of a third supernova will reach us here.  What will happen then is that the zombies will gain intelligence."
  Darion's jaw dropped.  "An intelligent army of flesh-hungry undead.  My Lord."
  "These are very dark times.  There have been prophecies in every culture about this.  The third sixth day makes 666, the number of the beast.  It is also the number of man."
  "What can we do?"
  "As I said earlier, knowledge is your first weapon.  Now that you know, you must arm yourself fully.  Have you figured out the riddle of the gate?"
  "You mean the 'Love is all good people need'?  How does that help?"
  "Do you notice anything that seems to rankle or irk you about that statement?"
  Darion wrung his hands.  "I don't know.  The word 'good' in there seems to be a judgment, whereas true love is unconditional."
  "Your on the right track."
  "So what it should say is 'Love is all people need'."
  "And why is that?"
  "Because we are all equal in the eyes of God.  We are all one."
  "You have answered the riddle."
  "We are all one is the answer?  And now I'm ready to fight zombies?  And Hadji?  And Hand of Karma?"
  "If fighting will bring about love, then fight.  If loving will bring about love, then love."
  The next day, Darion, Father Fen-Chang, Father Mucker, Julianne, Beau and Liam got ready to travel to America where they would face off against the Hand of Karma.  The Shangri led them to what looked like a hangar for an airplane.  In the center of the hangar was a large silver disc.
  Liam tugged on Darion's sleeve.  "Your royaltiness.  That looks like a UFO to me."
  Darion turned to Liam.  "Yes, I had noticed that.  I guess since these are aliens from another planet, the assumption is that they had to get here somehow.  Most likely, it was not on foot, so this transportation we see before us seems the logical deduction."
  Liam let go of his sleeve.  "A simple 'No duh' would have sufficed."
  Darion led the procession up the on ramp to board the space craft.  The seats were spacious and comfy.  Inertial dampers kept them from feeling the movement of the flight.  Before they knew it, the doors opened up to reveal a forest in southern Oregon.  There was a welcoming committee there to greet them as well.

The Greater Number 3: The Simian Connection part 6

  "So you brought us here?" asked Hewlett.
  "No, in a way, you brought me here," intoned Cyril, acting as a translator between Sasquatch and human.
  "I was just trying to escape Hadji and the Hand of Karma."
  "He is not our greatest enemy right now."  Boy that was a hell of a bombshell to drop at this point in the game.  No one spoke for a while.
  Finally, after the news had some time to sink in, Father Ng asked, "So if Hadji isn't our greatest enemy right now, who is?  Why haven't we heard of any additional threat?"
  "I will tell you in good time.  For now, let me tell you about Hadji.  He has lost his lover and his daughter, but he has not properly grieved for them.  Grieving is a process with several stages.  He has not gotten past the stage of anger.  It is this anger which has attracted many other people who, for whatever reason, have a lot of anger in themselves as well.  He has been leading them like a pack.  The people follow him because he allows them to finally express their pent-up anger.  Zombies don't hate, they're just hungry.  The zombies follow him because he leads them to fresh meat."
  "If zombies don't hate, why do they always put on their mean mug when they're attacking?" asked Mbu.
  Cyril continued the story that Rahrah was relating to the group as if she hadn't heard Mbu's little remark.  "You see, so far, Hadji has been acting in the interest of his pack.  But recently, he has led the Hand of Karma into battles with my kind.  What you call, Sasquatch.  And we are quite adept and defeating them with our superior strength and agility."  Hewlett and Mbu high-fived each other.
  "What this is beginning to show the Hand of Karma is that Hadji is no longer acting in their best interests.  Perhaps he never was.  When they see that, they will stop following him.  These people are merely looking for relevance in this world.  They want an identity that is not solely based on negatives.  They will not find that through him.  There are only two emotions: love and fear.  Everything else is just an offshoot of one of those along a spectrum."
  "Hadji's anger is just his fear," interjected Enma.
  Cyril turned to face Enma.  "Yes.  Love and hate are both choices.  Affection, romance, infatuation are all emotions which will eventually pass. That's why love can be forever because our choices are the only things that change destiny."
  "So what's this greater enemy that you spoke of?" asked Father Ng.
  "There has been a supernova years before in a system very distant.  Its rays will be reaching us soon.  I can't explain to you how, but that will bring with it the power to give intelligence to the zombies."