Age of Z: A Tale of Survival (3 page)

LS just blinked at her slowly. He still looked disorientated, and Alexa took pity on him. Poor guy–it couldn't be easy to wake up from whatever cocktail of gasses had been in that pod, after who only knew how long. And who knew what else had happened to him while he was here, before all the people left or died or... whatever.

Shaking her head, she moved over to her pack and dug around in it until she found her water bottle, freshly restocked from one of the bathrooms upstairs. LS just watched her, apparently unconcerned that Alexa might pull out some sort of weapon–but then given how he broke out of that pod, Alexa supposed he really had nothing to be afraid of anyway.

“Here,” she said, holding out the bottle to LS. “Drink up, might help.” LS gave her a blank look, and Alexa added, “Don't worry, it's not poisoned or anything. I'm one of the good guys. Besides, poisoning is
so
last generation.”

She grinned. LS didn't react to the joke. Great–she'd rescued a brick wall disguised as a person.

But after a moment LS hesitantly reached out and took the bottle. His first gulp was tentative, but once the water hit his tongue his eyes widened and he drank faster and faster, like a man dying of thirst.

Alexa winced a little at how fast he went through it all–instinct and experience told her water needed to be
conserved
–but LS seemed marginally less agitated when he was done drinking, so Alexa supposed it was a good thing after all.

“Okay,” she said, once LS looked a little less disoriented, and less likely to try and pound her face in. She sat back against one of the consoles to rest, and continued. “So, LS... how long have you been here?”

“I don't know.”

“Um. Okay. Do you know what happened to everybody else here? You're the first living person I've found all day.”

“No.” LS's brows knitted together slightly in a frown of confusion.

Zero for two. They were doing
great
so far. “Alright, well, do you know why you're here?”

At this, LS straightened, shoulders pulling back and expression growing confident and controlled for the first time. “I am LS dash thirty-two. A GALF. A clone created to serve and protect the U.S. and its people from all threats, foreign and domestic.”

Alexa frowned at the words–they sounded almost like a recitation, like something programmed into her companion's head. And what he'd said... a
clone?
Well, that explained the the number she supposed, he was probably the thirty-second attempt.

That last part...
created to serve and protect the U.S....
Alexa winced internally. LS was a little late to
that
party; the U.S. had crumbled years ago and it sounded like the clone didn't even know it.

Maybe, she was wrong and he did know, she'd just have to find out. She tried to find a way to broach the subject, “Oh, so you probably have good endurance then?”

LS frowned at her, as though she were
particularly
dense. “Yes. I am a–”

“Clone, yeah, I got that part,” Alexa cut in hastily. “It's just, that will probably come in handy for all the stuff going on up top.”

LS seemed confused by this. “Stuff up top?”

“You know. Z-day. The walking dead. All that fun stuff.”

“I do not know what you are talking about.”

Alexa frowned again, worried now. Originally she'd just planned to free this guy, but... he really didn't know
anything
about the past three years? Just how long had he been stuck in that pod?

LS seemed to sense her confusion, and his own confused expression deepened again. “What is going on, on the surface? Has someone attacked? Has something dangerous happened?”

Alexa grimaced. This really wasn't how she'd wanted this to go. “Um. You could say that. Actually you could say that's a major understatement. The world's sort of gone to pieces, in fact. Re-animated dead... super dangerous. It all happened three years ago. It's sort of an apocalypse up there.”

It was hard to tell in the dark, but LS seemed to pale a little, and his eyes widened. He looked shell-shocked. “That... has to be wrong,” he said after a moment. “That should not... I would have been activated... why was I not... was my purpose changed?”

He looked so lost and forlorn, the deep frown replaced by something almost disappointed or helpless, that Alexa couldn't help but feel a wave of sympathy for the poor guy. She'd had her own confused questions about what the point of it all was, back when Z-day had first happened; she could relate to the guy's lack of understanding.

LS had to be incredibly confused and upset by now, waking up to a different world than the one he was expecting, unsure of the point of his existence. Alexa disliked seeing the clone down, even though she'd only known him for a few minutes and half of those minutes had consisted of nearly being killed by him.

“Cheer up,” she said, and slapped a hand on LS's back, giving him an encouraging half-hug around the shoulders. LS looked a little uncomfortable with and perplexed by the contact, but Alexa rolled right along.

“Okay, so, maybe things are a little confusing right now, but we'll figure it out! I've got some friends at a colony up the Coast, they might be able to help us get to the bottom of this, and you'll be safe there. In the meantime you can stick with me–I can catch you up on everything that's changed, show you the ropes, teach you some of my tricks. We'll figure all this out together, and then you can decide what you wanna do, once we've gotten some answers.”

LS seemed puzzled by this. “I can... decide?” he asked slowly, as though the concept of making his own decisions was foreign to him.

Inwardly Alexa cringed at the poor guy's confusion. Was it really so hard to accept the fact that he could make his own choices?
Created to serve and protect the U.S. and it's people from all threats, foreign and domestic.
Created as a weapon, more like. Alexa's disgust with Gentech was gradually growing to hatred, the longer she interacted with what was clearly their pet project.

But outwardly she kept her blinding, cheerful grin plastered on her face, and said, “Well, sure! I mean it's your life, right? You get to pick how you want to live it.”

LS seemed to consider this very carefully for a moment, before asking a new question. “Why do you want to help me?”

Alexa was openly shocked by that one. “Well, I
said
I would, for starters,” she said, “and I'm not going to just leave you down here, that's just wrong
.
I mean, we're friends now, right, LS? I pulled you out of a pod and you decided to not punch my brains into mush, which is more than I can say for most of the zoms out there, so, y'know, that pretty much settles that.”

“Friends,” LS repeated slowly.

“Yeah. Friends. People who look out for each other and help each other out,” Alexa said, her exasperation lightly laced with sarcasm.

“I know the definition,” LS said. There was a slight growl to his tone, which was a little scary, but it was also the first sign of personality that Alexa had seen in him. His voice softened after a moment, and he added, “I just... I'm not sure why...” A pause. “Do you really think I could find answers at this... colony you mentioned?”

“Sure,” Alexa said. She hoped, anyway. Of course, she'd have to bring something to increase their odds, because she was pretty sure there would be no remote-hacking this facility that had clearly been off the grid even before Z-day happened.

She started searching the computer console in front of the now-shattered pod, adding, “If anybody can find answers, it's my buddy up at the island refuge. He's got experience with this stuff. And you'll get out of this place too, to somewhere safe. You can meet more people, see how the world is... let it help you figure out what you want to do.”

Aha, jackpot
–Alexa grinned when she found a discarded, dusty flash-drive wedged in between two of the consoles. Hopefully this would have the information they needed, because there was no way she could bring the console back with her. She pocketed the drive on her person–too valuable to put anywhere else–and turned to her companion, still grinning. “So? Whadya say?”

LS stared at her for a moment, but then nodded, and offered an almost tentative smile, like he wasn't exactly sure how to form one yet because he'd never done it before. Based on everything she'd learned, Alexa wouldn't be surprised to learn this was the case. “Alright. I will travel with you... what do we need to do?”

“For starters,
you
need new clothes,” Alexa said, eyeing LS critically. “That whatever it is–”

“Stasis suit.” LS interrupted immediately.

“Whatever,” Alexa said. “It stands out. We don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Most of the time it's just the zombies we need to look out for, but you do occasionally get these roving bands of, well, bandits, that like to take advantage of the chaos, and you really don't want to catch their attention either...”

LS frowned. “Why don't you just fight them?” he asked, with a hint of disdain and impatience.

“Because
I
can't crack concrete with my bare hands and bullets make me really dead,” Alexa answered instantly. “Look, just trust me on this–new clothes. You absolutely need them. I think there was a locker room on one of the upper levels, we can check that out. C'mon.”

She snatched up her bag, retrieved her crowbar from where it lay forgotten on the floor after LS first attacked her, and turned back to the odd round door, turning sideways to slip through it.

She made it a half dozen paces before she realized LS wasn't following. Puzzled, she turned back to find LS standing a few feet from the door, staring at it.

“It won't bite you,” Alexa said, smirking a little. When LS didn't move, she added more seriously, “Okay look, I know the dead creatures everywhere thing is, like, straight out of a horror movie, but I'm pretty sure it's safe, and we're sort of living in a horror movie now anyway
.
”

But LS shook his head after a moment, and said slowly, “I have... never been outside this room before.”

Oh.
Ouch.
Alexa felt her heart pang in sympathy.

LS looked about Alexa's age, maybe a little older, and he was clearly intelligent and capable, but in some ways he was already reminding Alexa of a child. If she ever met who was in charge of this operation she was definitely going to punch the jerk in the face for messing with her new buddy.

Or maybe he was a zombie... Alexa almost hoped he was. Then she'd be fully justified with taking the guy's head off with her crowbar. Messy, but
totally
worth it.

All she said out loud was, “Oh. Well, it's... not really all that different, actually. Same weird things. Gets less creepy higher up.” And then a little softer, “You don't have to stay in there anymore, remember? You're allowed to come out and see the world, if you want to.”

That seemed to harden LS's resolve. He strode forward, eyes narrowed, and threw the massive round door open with a tortured squeal from its rusted hinges. “I
want
to leave,” LS growled. “I don't want to stay here anymore. I want
answers.
”

“I noticed,” Alexa said, eyebrows raised high. Yikes, he'd moved that solid metal door like it was made of cardboard! Clearly this was going to take a little getting used to.

LS made a rather silent travel companion as they worked their way back up many,
many
sub-levels. Which was good, because after close to twenty stories Alexa was feeling a little out of breath, fit and healthy or not, and wouldn't have made for much conversation anyway.

After a little backtracking Alexa managed to find the locker-room she'd spotted earlier, and after a little digging she scrounged up a few things that might fit the clone. LS obediently changed into the slightly baggy jeans, worn but serviceable belt, and army surplus boots that might have belonged to a security guard without complaint, but glowered at the dark gray
Washington Redskins
T-shirt with clear distaste.

“There's nothing else?” he asked. Alexa raised an eyebrow, and was about to point out that he was getting awful picky for a guy unable to make a decision an hour ago, until she saw the clone plucking unhappily at the designation on the stasis suit now in his hands.
Oh.
So this was an identity thing, not a personal taste thing.

“It's the only thing that fits you here,” Alexa said. “Sorry. Um... we can try checking shops later, on the way, for something you like better.”

LS looked disappointed, but grudgingly pulled the football shirt on over his head. It was also slightly baggy, but Alexa hadn't found anything else in here large enough for somebody of LS's size. He'd just have to deal with it for now.

Alexa did, however, manage to scrounge up a second bag–it looked like an old school backpack–and offered it to LS to put the stasis suit in, just in case. LS seemed surprised by the offer at first, but nodded a quite thanks to Alexa a second later, and stowed his only possession away.

“Okay,” Alexa said, “Now that that's all taken care of, I think we'll probably have to stay down here tonight. It's definitely dark up top by now and we don't want to be traveling at night, not with the walking dead out there waiting for us, but it seems safe enough down here.”