Since the mishap in Florida, we’ve been closely monitoring communication lines between UGA (Unnamed Government Agency) agents and their superior commanders. Things have been quiet on that front for the most part, until this past week. Below is the decoded message we intercepted from Agents Smith and Wiggins to the field office in northern Utah.
We are declaring a state of emergency for the South East quadrant. The serum released in May as an in-field study of our ZSF program has mutated and spread beyond what the lab techs predicted. Attempts to keep the attacks have been mostly successful, but we cannot contain this on our own.
Send assistance ASAP.
The field office sent the following reply:
In an effort to remain under the radar, we cannot at the present send additional forces to the South East quadrant without alerting the ZSC to our plans. Dispose of the infected and maintain efforts to keep the media silenced.
Further orders will be sent via usual channels.
We were correct to assume UGA interference in the current rash of strange news hitting the airwaves. What is project ZSF? How far has this serum of theirs spread? Rest assured that your ZSC commanders are looking into this current problem.
Again, we ask that if you witness unusual behavior, please contact local authorities. Double check your weapons and go bags, brigadiers. Plans have been put into motion to counteract the UGA threat. Remain vigilant and hopeful. We will get to the bottom of this.
Once upon a time my life was normal…or as normal as it ever gets for me. Married. Son grown, out on his own and doing well. I had a job, several hobbies and I was finally finding the time to get back to my writing. Then I began hearing quiet rumblings that the end of the world was coming in 2012.
Uh huh. Right.
Again?
Didn’t we just have one a couple years ago? How many apocalypses….apocalypti?…do we get, anyways?
I didn’t believe in the apocalypse, but events began piling up around my ears until I had no choice but to investigate the possibility that one might actually be headed our way. During my investigation I came across a small group of people, led by a woman with an outstanding resume. You can check her out for yourself: Juliette.
I watched as, one by one, people from all over the world began listening to her. Then they began banding together to inform and protect each other, their families, and friends. They became the Zombie Survival Crew. Curious about the members of the group, I checked them out thinking that they were a bunch of lunatics who needed to up the dose on their meds.
That’s not what I found though. Yes, they’re a motley crew and a few really are lunatics but they’re also on the ball, well-informed, armed and ready to face the zombiepocalypse. You’ll find a lot of what I discovered here.
Shortly after joining the Zombie Survival Crew ranks I began to suspect someone within the Command structure itself might be a double agent, or under the control of the Unnamed Government Agency. I dug deeper and profiled the leaders of the ZSC. You can find that report here.
Within days after that report someone hacked into my email. My computer began acting odd and, during a scan for malware and viruses, I discovered spyware and a tracking cookie. I traced the source code but was picked up almost immediately. I managed to catch a few words just before the screen blacked out:
Νέο στέλεχος ενεργοποιηθεί. Απροσδόκητα αποτελέσματα. Πολύ συνέχεια …
Χωρίς άδεια πρόσβασης Ενεργοποίηση αυτοκαταστροφής σκουλήκι.
My computer grumbled, flashed then went dead. Whatever was sent back through my system burnt out the processor and power supply completely destroying my computer and everything on it. The translation of the message that flashed on my computer screen before it died is:
New strain activated. Unexpected results. Much more pow …
Unauthorized Access Enable feedback worm.
That’s all I needed to know. I hit the road and have spent the last month on the run. I’ve had to change identities in order to avoid capture. An unknown entity @Cher_Dawn_ appeared on twitter in my place. She’s not to be trusted and, for all I know, is a member of UGA trying to infiltrate the ZSC presenting herself as me. She’s not. You may be tempted to delete her but perhaps it is wiser if we keep our collective eyes on her activities. And please check to make sure you are following me: @Wulfie_
It was foolish of me, I know but, once I found out that this @Cher_Dawn_ was masquerading as me, I began watching my home. No-one was there but the place had been ransacked and bugged. I grabbed a few things I’d left behind and, on my way out the door found something disturbing. It must have fallen out of someone’s pocket…or been ripped off during a struggle. One thing is clear: UGA is on to me.
Hey Command, if you manage to intercept this message: We are being targeted. The UGA may have originally come only after central command figures, but your Special Agents are now being hunted as well. It is only a matter of time, really, until the UGA takes aim at all the ZSC cadres. But then it’s possible that one of YOU is a double agent, isn’t it? I should’ve expected some sort of treachery.
Grae, if you happen to get this, good work on that last report. Watch your back, pal and trust no-one.
Jinxie_G, if you’re out there. Keep moving. It’s the only way you’ll be safe. Check all your gear for bugs and tracking devices. They’ve found me twice because of a GPS hidden in my cell phone. Be safe, chica.
Anyways, what I found on the floor is a piece of cloth with a design on it. I’ve seen it before but can’t remember where. There’s a little blood on it.
I have to go now. I don’t dare stay in one place long. I’m tired and so hungry that squirrels are starting to look tasty. Will report back when I can.
I knew the day would come. Doing what I do, there are certain risks to be expected. That’s why it didn’t strike me as too big a surprise when the letter slid through my mail slot a few days ago. The envelope had my name printed on it and a postal mark from Omaha. No other way to trace where it came from or who sent it. For the only time in my life, I feared a plain brown envelope.
Ridiculous, huh?
Not if you’re me and especially not if you’re a commander with the Zombie Survival Crew. The last four months turned our lives upside down, sideways, and threw in a few loop-dee-loops for fun. What we thought would be a great way to express our creativity and do some good for humanity became so much more than that. Of course, that’s what happens when you’re approached by a government agency that refuses to give you a name. They tend to make things really difficult. (Ever seen season four of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? We’re talking Initiative-style mayhem here.)
So there I was, sitting cross-legged on the couch in my living room and staring across the burgundy cushions at an envelope that probably held horribly bad news. Or maybe even a psychotropic drug so that Mr. C, and Mr. E. could kidnap me too. They fooled us once with Juliette. Simply asking for a meeting wasn’t going to work with any of us. But drugs, no amount of street smarts or weapons could save us from that.
Okay, even I have to admit that sounds a little paranoid. But you guys haven’t seen first-hand what the UGA is capable of.
I strapped on a facemask, snapped on a pair of latex gloves, and carefully cut open the mystery letter. No white power wafted into the air. No hidden wires were exposed. All that sat in the envelope were two pieces of paper—
From the Joint Terrorism Task Force.
Well… that’s new.
What I understand from all the legal mumbo-jumbo is that they are concerned about my activities on the Internet. Apparently my research materials for the ZSC have been tagged as potentially dangerous to the welfare of US citizens. For a few minutes after I finished reading, I just sat there starting at the first sheet of paper. They had to be kidding, right?
Then I looked at the second paper. Every single website I’d visited since joining the ZSC had been highlighted. It read like a serial killer’s handbook. Weapons galore. Information on how certain poisons and drugs work. Magical resources. Explosive manuals… No wonder they’d tagged me! A sane person couldn’t possibly be looking at all of that and not be planning to do some damage. The JTTF’s vigilance is reassuring, though I’m not sure how to continue my zombie-slaying research without raising their suspicions again. One thing is for sure…I’m turning this over to the Oracle so she can put it under the microscope – we need to find out as much as we can about this new group on our tail.
But on the bright side, it wasn’t the UGA trying to determine my location and abduct me.
