The sounds Reece was hearing from the cab were garbled by static, but there was definitely a male voice speaking over the semi-truck’s SLX radio.

Reece recalled that the radio was modeled after the obsolete CB radios of the past but with similar technology to the long-range handheld ones that they had been using at Kennedy. It was bulky and therefore vehicle-mounted. However, it had a much greater range than their handhelds and included a large, pull-down video display.

He ran the last couple of steps and jumped into the cab and grabbed the mic off the radio while simultaneously extending the video screen. He then pressed the auto-tune button on the body of the unit and the static gave way to a clear yet bored-sounding voice.

“Zhengzhou, this is Ground Control. The time is O-four-hundred, and this is our eighty-fourth unanswered transmission. Do you copy? Over.”

“Ground Control this is Zhengzhou...well, sort of, but we read you loud and clear,” announced Reece into the mouthpiece, noting that the screen stayed dark.

“Umm, we copy you...uh, just wait right there, be right back,” came the surprised and stumbling reply. “Uh, over.”

“Copy that. Over,” replied Reece as he waited patiently for the voice to come back on.

A few minutes passed before Reece heard a voice over the radio again.

“Hey, is this Pasha? Over,” asked the familiar voice.

“No, sorry Micah, Pasha passed away months ago...but it’s still great to hear your voice. This is...”

“Wait!” cut in Micah. “Can you switch to a secure channel? Over.”

“Let me check,” replied Reece as he inspected the readout on the radio’s information panel above the view screen. “Yeah, looks like I have LX22 and Gb12 encrypted links available for use. Over.”

“Okay, what’s your transponder number? Over,” asked Micah.

Reece checked the readout again and read back the twenty-four-digit transponder number. Micah sent him a join request on the number which Reece accepted.

“Okay, now activate your Gb12 encryption. Over,” instructed Micah.

Reece turned the dial to the encrypted link and the viewscreen came to life. Reece took a moment to check his surroundings, still no incoming enemies in sight.

“Good to finally see you. Over,” said Reece to Micah’s image on the screen.

“You too, oh...Pasha and I set up a couple of identification words,” replied Micah, clearly still suspicious. “Over.”

Reece remembered Pasha had given him the codes and they were still in the pack with the nightcore and a few other items. “Yeah, gimme a second to find them. Over.”

After a minute of rummaging around in the pack, Reece found the list. Micah and Reece exchanged the code words they had set up before they continued their conversation.

“So, I’m Reece Danielson. I’m currently outside of Atlanta. I’m on a mission with a couple of others to finish destroying the Order’s base here. I should have you know, we’re currently in enemy territory and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to stay on the comm. Over.”

“Copy that,” answered Micah. “Then we should give you our transponder number too, so you can securely get back in touch with us. Over.”

“Okay,” replied Reece. “Give me a second to find something to write with.”

Reece looked around the cab, but there wasn’t anything that could be used for writing. He leaned over and popped the glove compartment open. Inside were a couple of old pens and the vehicle’s registration and other paperwork. He found a torn envelope and tried the first pen on it. It was dried out. The second pen was a cartridge variety and it wasn’t working either. Reece worked the cartridge selector and tried the pen a couple more times until he found that red worked just fine.

“Okay,” Reece said over the mic. “I’m ready. Over”

Micah read off Ground Control’s transponder code for Reece as he jotted it down on the back of the envelope. He pulled some old insurance papers out of it, folded it, and jammed it into his pants pocket.

“So, how close are you guys, anyway? Over,” asked Reece over the mic.

“We’re roughly fifty kilometers off the coast,” replied Micah.

“Ahh, you’re on a ship? I seem to recall Pasha mentioning something about that. Over,” replied Reece.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to Pasha?” asked Micah with a hint of pain in his voice. “He was good to talk to, and I feel like we had become friends of a sort. Uh, over.”

“Well, he certainly died a hero,” answered Reece. “When the Zhengzhou came down, we were shadowing it in our last shuttle. He was piloting it and he was amazing. The Order fired missile after missile at us, but Pasha managed to avoid them all, though he was caught by some shrapnel that came in through the windshield. Still, he managed to get us to the ground and even killed the first zombie when we were attacked. Once the zombie was dead, he just bled out from his wounds before we could do anything. He saved us at least twice that day. As I said, he died a hero... Over.”

“Thanks, Reece,” replied Micah, grief heavy in his voice. “That’s...good to hear. Let us know if there’s anything we can do for you. Over”

“Uh, yeah...actually, do you have anyone who can hack encryption?” asked Reece as the thought popped into his head. “We’ve got a hard drive from the station, but most of the files are still heavily encrypted. Pasha and Aika were our software geniuses and I lost them both. There’s a good chance this hard drive holds important info on what is really going on, maybe even something incriminating to release over the airwaves to the survivors.”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but this so-called Order has been spreading propaganda claiming that they’re the saviors of humanity and any remaining survivor’s only hope,” explained Reece. “And worse, people are beginning to believe it. Over.”

“Yeah, we have a couple of people with those skills,” answered Micah. “And yeah, we’ve been hearing the broadcasts too. We’re working on a plan right now to fight back against their propaganda schemes. Over.”

“That’s great to hear,” said Reece. “Look, I’m going to have to let you go for now, but I’ll be in touch. It’s good to hear you guys are still in the fight. Over and out.”

“Copy that,” replied Micah with a touch of relief in his voice. “Don’t be a stranger now. Over and out.”

Reece hung up the mic and hopped out of the cab. He began heading back to the trailer as he scanned the horizon. He was still expecting to see someone from the Order come out and check on the position that hadn’t radioed in. He was skeptical that they bought his ‘bad connection’ performance. Even if they did, he figured they’d still want to fix the issue ASAP.

Despite his misgivings, he was still elated that he had finally gotten in contact with Ground Control after so many weeks and that they seemed to be doing okay. Smiling about the unexpected good news, he hopped up into the trailer to tell the ladies.

“You won’t believe this, but I just received a broadcast over the truck’s comms unit. It was from the Ground Control folks that we had been communicating with on the station,” informed Reece. “We now have a secure way of staying in touch with them.”

The three women were sitting near the railguns to keep an eye on both directions from the trailer and had apparently been in the middle of a serious discussion. Ciera was watching her side while Karina was watching hers. Naeva looked up at him from her spot between them and took a deep breath to clear her thoughts.

“That’s great,” she responded, smiling weakly. “What did they have to say?”

“They are doing okay. I spoke with Micah and told him what happened to Pasha and Aika,” replied Reece somberly before cheering up. “They also have people who can decrypt the files on the hard drive once we get it to them.”

“That sounds like good news,” cut in Karina. “First, we have a base of vermin to cleanse though. Right?”

“Right,” replied Reece as he scratched his head, uncomfortable with his next question. “So, uh...Naeva...how are you doing?”

“Oh, you mean other than being mortified?” she asked somewhat angrily.

“Wait a second. How is this my fault?” asked Reece. “I’m not even really sure what is going on, and besides...you asked me for the kiss, love.”

Karina gave him a quick look, her eyes narrowing for just a moment. She went back to scanning the horizon that he thought he might have imagined it.

“Well, it seems like you have an ability similar to mine,” quickly cut in Ciera before the uncomfortable silence had a chance to get any worse. “Similar, but not the same. My ability is focused on seduction as a means of survival. Yours seems to be both stronger in power and broader in scope.”

“I think it was there before,” added Naeva, blushing again. “But it’s become much more intense since the last time you and I did anything like that....”

“I think that’s enough,” said Karina, cutting her off. “We don’t need his male ego to grow any bigger than it already has. However, since we’ve determined that you have some ability to influence people, we need to use it to our advantage.”

“Fine,” said Reece as he observed Naeva’s demeanor before looking at Karina and Ciera too. “But what does this mean for Karina and Ciera? If I’m not human anymore, how will you two sustain yourselves?”

“Well,” replied Karina. “I can survive off any human, but I chose you. For Ciera it's different. She does need you specifically. However, I don’t think there will be a problem in either case. I’ve drank your blood and from your kiss, I believe that whatever changes you may have undergone, you seem to be an even better source of nutrients for us both than even a typical human.”

“Also, I want to clarify something. I’ve been around a long time, so I know what I’m talking about. All of us here are human. We’re not different species or any nonsense like that, regardless of what the legends say. It is said that the gods of old loved wonderous variety. Earlier forms of tribalism, nationalism, and racism led us to fight amongst each other, and eventually what we think of as humans won out and either eliminated or forced into hiding all the other races of humanity.”

“It’s kind of ironic, even after essentially eliminating everyone different from themselves,” continued Karina. “The last race of humanity found ways of discriminating against minor regional differences such as skin color and eye-shape of all things. As if those things have anything to do with what makes up the essence of a person. It’s sad really.”

“I think I’m starting to understand now,” said Reece as he considered her words. “At least, more than I did before. Even with all the information that we have at our fingertips, some of the old racial biases still hang on. But what you’re telling me is that there was or is a whole other level of racism that has been lost to history.”

“That’s right,” added Naeva. “Our tribe has legends from the age of bronze where we were hunted down and eliminated for centuries by those in power. They made up stories to vilify us, justifying their cruelty and merciless slaughter of us, from our warriors to our babes. Still, we don’t hate them all, because we believe the vast majority of them are good and decent. Unfortunately, in this world, the corrupt often rise to power by cheating the just or through simple selfishness.”

“Yeah,” added Reece. “I think the state of the world right now testifies to that fact... And on that note, how about we go and do something about it?”

“It’s funny,” added in Ciera. “I’ve been around the powerful most of my life. They were always the easiest to seduce and they offered me many earthly luxuries. It often sickened me, but I would tell myself that there was nothing I could do, that it was just the way the world worked. You three have shown me that maybe I was wrong after all and that makes me glad. So, let’s go and show them the error of their ways. I hope it’s not too little, too late.”

“I think we’re all on the same page,” finished Reece.

The ladies all nodded. Then they all prepared for stage two of the plan, buttoning up the trailer and getting into their positions. With Karina’s considerable help, Reece removed one of the rail guns from the trailer’s bed and remounted it to the top of the trailer. Naeva got back into the driver’s seat and Reece rode shotgun this time around. As they drove along the highway, Reece looked to the right and noticed a recently used dirt road leading into a large copse of tall pine trees.

Reece could see the wreckage of something huge sticking up out of the evergreen trees in the distance. He guessed it was the remains of the Zhengzhou that easily marked the hidden base, making it easy to spot. The highway ahead was blocked off with abandoned vehicles, so he pointed out the dirt road to Naeva who simply nodded and turned the semi-truck down it. The road dipped down quickly below the highway as it led away and into what turned out to be thick pine trees.

Once they had driven two hundred meters or so into the forest, they came upon a metal barrier across the road. It looked solid and was about three meters tall and disappeared into the trees on either side of the road. On the road itself, there was a gate built into the wall and four uniforms sat on platforms on either side. It was like the gate they had come across at the other Order base where they had liberated Naeva, only quite a bit more robust.

One by one, in quick succession, the four uniforms slumped in their chairs as Ciera took them all out with Reece’s Spear rifle. She had been strapped to the top of the trailer, giving her a great view of what they were driving into, and didn’t waste a second in taking out the guards. Naeva brought the semi to a stop just in front of the gate as Karina’s small figure leaped from the top of the cab to the top of the gate. She hopped down out of view and a minute later, the gate opened for them.

The lilitu rejoined them, hopping onto the top of the trailer, as they continued down into a huge hollowed-out bowl in the middle of the forest. They saw the remains of what was indeed the Zhengzhou on the other end of a huge two-story non-descript office building. The tan building itself looked nearly destroyed. However, on the end closest to them sat a huge metal blast door set into a large bunker that led underground. Naeva stopped the semi-truck near the door.

“Well, fuck,” said Reece as he considered the imposing barrier. “I guess we can try the rail gun.”

Reece called out to Ciera who set down her rifle in favor of the rail gun they had just affixed to the top of the semi-trailer, after their battle with the zombie line. She fired several rounds at the door, hitting the same spot each time, but they barely made a dent in the thick steel door.

“Hmmm,” said Reece to himself before yelling up to the two on top of the trailer. “I may have another idea. Hold up.”

Reece grabbed the mic and pressed its button as he spoke, “Ground Control, do you copy? Over.”

“This is Ground Control, we copy you. Over,” came the reply from an unfamiliar voice through the still encrypted link.

“We have a small problem that you may be able to help with. We’re sitting in front of the Order’s Atlanta base and have tried knocking, but with no luck,” Reece explained. “I was wondering, do you have any artillery that could reach this far. You can use this rig’s transponder to guide your munitions. We’re basically sitting right on top of the bunker’s entrance. Over.”

“Ah, copy that,” came the reply. “Give me a few minutes to get authorization before I get back to you. Do you copy? Over.”

“I copy you. Standing by,” replied Reece as he shrugged to Naeva and hung the mic back up.

“Don’t you think that’s overkill?” asked a smiling Naeva.

“Yeah, maybe...but do you have a better idea? I mean, we don’t have anything heavier than the rail guns,” argued Reece.

Naeva laughed and looked Reece in his eyes. “I guess we need to sacrifice the truck. Oh, bummer. You’ll have to take the bike back with little Karina snuggled up in front of you, pressing her hot, tight body against yours. Oh, poor baby, whatever will you do?”

“Ha ha,” said Reece flatly. “I guess I’ll try to contain myself.”

“You can’t fool me,” said Naeva as she became serious. “I can tell you’re in love with her. I don’t know why you keep depriving the both of you of what you really want.”

“Whatever,” replied Reece, not wanting any part of the conversation.

“Come on, it was blatantly obvious when Ciera was trying to seduce you. You wouldn’t have ever agreed without Karina’s permission and acceptance,” complained Naeva. “We’re all consenting adults here, even Karina. You know the people that created these dumb rules are the same assholes that are trying to remake the world, right? To Hades with their bullshit. All these rules were created to control us. Screw that! Man-up Reece and show us you’re not a fucking sheep in wolf’s clothing.”

“Wow, alright...I didn’t mean to rile you up like that, and I get it,” said Reece. “I know I’ve been conditioned just like everyone else to behave certain ways, even if there’s no good explanation for it...”

Their conversation was cut short when a voice came over the radio again. “We have authorization.”