Hybrid Z: Siege Volume Ii

By Paul Bednar

In 1906, Edward Keane traveled across the Atlantic Ocean when he met a mysterious woman named Tindra. By the time the voyage was over, she had seduced him and changed him into a vampire, damning him forever. With her as his mentor and lover, Edward adapted to living a vampire’s life of feeding and murder while still trying to blend in as a human businessman. After Tindra is taken by an evil, ancient vampire known as Boris Dalca, Edward’s crushing guilt and a distaste for killing humans increased. Eventually, he fed only from willing and human companions and continued his other life as a wealthy and mysterious publishing magnate.
The illustrious Ghost team led by Captain Jack “The Rip” Taylor have been eliminating zombies infected by the Necro virus since the beginning of the US Afghanistan war. They had finally eliminated the last of the undead… except for one dead child called Zboy who was very different than the rest of the zombies. Jack returns to USAMRIID with the dead boy and begins his new career as security chief at the Necro virus research facility where he falls for Karen Heeler, the civilian leader of the Necro scientists and Daughter-in-law of Colonel Joseph Wagner in charge of the facility.
These two worlds collide when Boris Dalca returns and forces Edward to assist in a raid to steal the Necro virus. During the raid, Edward is infected by the virus and Dalca escapes with Zboy and Karen Heeler. Edward survives the infection but becomes a creature that is half-vampire and half-zombie… a Hybrid Z. Although transformed into a new being, Edward joins forces with Jack, the Ghost team and a secret cadre of demon hunters. Together they attempt to kill the ancient vampire, rescue Karen and stop a zombie apocalypse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532093609

Paul Bednar

Paul Bednar is a lifelong New England resident and lives with his wife, Michelle, in a recently emptied nest in central Connecticut. His debut novel, Hybrid Z: Origins, follows his children’s book, The First Mouse in Space, which he wrote and illustrated.

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Copyright © 2020 Paul Bednarczyk.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-9359-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9361-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9360-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020902065

iUniverse rev. date:  01/31/2020

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1     Excerpts From Edward Keane’s Personal

Diary, November 2016

Chapter 2     November 2016, USAMRIID, Fort

Detrick, Maryland

Chapter 3     Excerpts From Edward Keane’s Personal

Diary, November 2016

Chapter 4     November 2016, USAMRIID, Fort

Detrick, Maryland

Chapter 5     November 2016, Somewhere Near

Frederick, Maryland

Chapter 6     November 2016, USAMRIID, Fort

Detrick, Maryland

Chapter 7     Thanksgiving Day 2016, Usamriid,

Fort Detrick, Maryland

Chapter 8     November 2016, Lancaster County, Virginia

Chapter 9     November 2016, Somewhere over the

Atlantic Ocean

Chapter 10   November 2016, USAMRIID, Fort

Detrick, Maryland

Chapter 11   December 2016, Chateau Mont Oublie,

French /Austrian Alps

Chapter 12   December 2016, USAMRIID, Fort

Detrick, Maryland

Chapter 13   Excerpt From Edward Keane’s Personal

Diary, December 2016,

Chapter 14   December 2016, Chateau Mont Oublie,

French/Austrian Alps

Chapter 15   December 2016, Innsbruck Airport,

Western Austria

Chapter 16   December 2016, Chateau Mont Oublie,

French /Austrian Alps

Chapter 17   December 2016, Innsbruck Airport,

Western Austria

Chapter 18   December 2016, Somewhere over the Mid-

Atlantic Ocean

About The Author

HYBRID Z

PAUL BEDNAR

CHAPTER 1

EXCERPTS FROM EDWARD KEANE’S

PERSONAL DIARY, NOVEMBER 2016

It has been a very unusual week. It seems quite evident that my past has finally caught up with me, with a terrible vengeance. My beloved Tindra has reappeared along with her maker, the egotistical and malevolent elder of the undead, Boris Dalca. His presence here has permeated my entire household with apprehension and trepidation. But no matter how much I fear the oldest-known vampire, I will do what I can to get Tindra back into my life.

Tindra … she brings back so many memories. When I first met her, I was young and naïve, and I had fallen for the silver-haired beauty as soon as I saw her. It didn’t take long for her to seduce me and place me under a vampire spell. After involving me in the murder of a member of the Brotherhood of Demon Hunters (Fraternitas Daemonis Venatoris), she turned me into a vampire, damning me for eternity. But she didn’t forsake me; she took me under her wing and became my mentor in the ways of vampire hunting and feeding. We murdered at will, and I soon became a monstrous serial killer … and liked it.

We were living a happy and carefree life as vampires, making love and sleeping during the daylight hours and hunting and feeding during the night. We traveled between New York and Boston, where I blended in with the humans and worked in my uncle’s publishing business. It was a wonderful time in my life. I was in love. I didn’t know whether it was true love or just the natural attraction a new vampire feels for his or her maker. I didn’t care. I loved her no matter what the reason was, and she said she loved me.

But then everything fell apart. After returning from a night of drinking on the town, we came back to find a stranger in my living room, who had just killed Tindra’s manservant in the most gruesome way—decapitation. But he wasn’t a stranger to Tindra. It was Boris Dalca, the evil vampire who had turned her many years before. Apparently, she had escaped him after suffering years of imprisonment and abuse. I confronted him, but he soon showed me how pathetically weak I was compared to him. He could have killed me, but he let me live. Had I not been a viable vampire, I’m sure he would have taken my head also. He then took Tindra away from me, promising to kill me if I ever came looking for her.

Heartbroken, I spent the next several decades living my two lives. One was the human who ran the publishing business I had eventually inherited from Uncle William. I was very successful, partly due to my improving vampire persuasion skills, and I became extremely wealthy. To the human world, I was just another mysterious and eccentric loner. My other life, however—one of murder, blood, and feeding—was deteriorating steadily. One night I drained a dying woman injured in a nightclub fire and surprisingly felt pity for her. To say the least, it was an unusual feeling for me after decades of murdering without regard for my victims. For reasons unknown to me, I began experiencing crippling guilt after each subsequent feeding. These feelings of remorse increased until I fed only to sustain myself, and still I couldn’t shake the horrible regret. I was a broken vampire.

Eventually, I solved this dilemma thanks to Lizzy, the daughter of my much-persuaded human protégé in the publishing business, Jonathan Weiss. Lizzy was a young maid in my mansion when she discovered my true persona as a bloodsucking killer. However, she accepted me for what I was and allowed me to feed from her exclusively. It was by Lizzie’s love and understanding that I was able to sustain myself without the racking guilt of committing murder. Eventually, her daughter, Susan, assumed the task of sustaining me and becoming my common-law wife.

With a stable source of nourishment, I was able to regulate my consumption of blood and could age myself appropriately for my human persona. I have since aged, died, and assumed the role of my sons, who had naturally taken over the family business. I am now the grandson of the original Edward Keane. Having amassed huge amounts of wealth, I retired from the publishing industry and quietly live in this spacious mansion above the banks of the Potomac River. That is, until Boris Dalca and Tindra suddenly appeared a week ago.

Tindra appeared to me first, surprising me as I relaxed on my massive deck. Although still beautiful, she seemed like just a ghostly shadow of her former self. I could tell she had been damaged psychologically after decades of abuse from Boris. He appeared then, announcing his intent to fulfill a maniacal plan he had recently formulated. Evidently, this plan involved thievery of some kind, and Boris asked for my assistance. Although our previous meeting was adversarial, he tried to convince me that all debts were canceled and that we should let bygones be bygones. The reward he offered for my assistance with his nefarious caper was the unconditional release of Tindra, my maker and erstwhile lover.

Of course, being extremely skeptical of Boris’s intentions, I tried to resist his offer, but after he threatened to kill Tindra and Susan and send me to my true death, I pathetically conceded to his will and eventually agreed. Not only that, but he convinced me to let him stay here at my own residence until his little escapade was finished. I was weak. Once again, I let this foul man browbeat me into submission with embarrassing ease. There was no doubt that he had amazing skills of persuasion against humans and vampires alike. But whatever humiliations I may have to endure, it will all be worth it to once again be with Tindra.

HYBRID Z

PAUL BEDNAR

CHAPTER 2

NOVEMBER 2016, USAMRIID,

FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND

Jack The Rip Taylor took the first sip of coffee from his oversized mug and sighed with pleasure. He had finally gotten a real drip coffee maker in his office instead of purchasing the vile brew from the vending machine down the hall. He leaned back in his chair and surveyed his surroundings. The small office he occupied was indistinct with only a few plaques on the wall and a small bookcase. The office was fairly neat except for his desk, which was cluttered with stacks of unfiled reports, staff schedules, and personal items.

He was still getting used to a desk job after having been in the Afghanistan bush for most of his adult life. To Jack, it wasn’t a priority to keep his files tidy; he knew where everything was. But with a pang of guilt, he decided he really should do something with the untidy mess. With a sigh, he set his mug down and slowly began straightening the clutter. As he neatened his desk, he moved a framed photo of himself with the Jawbreaker Sixth Special Forces Unit from one side to the other, next to his desk plaque, which said, Jack Taylor—Security Chief. He stroked the stubble on his eternal five o’clock shadow as he looked at the photo of his old comrades. The smiling young faces looked back at him, totally unaware of what will happen to them. It had been quite the journey since then, Jack thought.

They had been a fairly green unit back then, marching across the Afghanistan mountains and searching for Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels. The Jawbreaker Sixth would paint the rebels’ positions with laser scopes to enable the US Air Force to target them with extreme prejudice. Jack sighed. Those were the simple days, but then they got much more complicated.

The complication, of course, was the discovery of roaming dead people across the Afghan landscape. Jack combed his fingers through his dark hair. Man, we were so clueless back then! On their last mission as Jawbreakers, Jack’s unit had been approached by what they thought were injured locals. But the ragged men weren’t injured; they were Zs. Zombies. The walking dead. The Zs attacked Jack’s two commanding officers before they were eventually put down for good. One CO died immediately from injuries suffered in the attack, and the other lingered with sickness for a while before he succumbed to death. Both later resurrected as Zs, and one attacked and infected their medic. That’s when things got real for Jack. They were never the same after that.

After the Z threat was verified, it was assessed that the walking dead weren’t a continental problem but more of a regional phenomenon, contained mostly in southeast Afghanistan and portions of Pakistan. The Jawbreaker Sixth was retrained, rearmed, and transformed into the Ghost Team, a specialized unit with only one objective: eliminating the Z threat. Jack commanded the Ghost Team over the next fifteen years, killing Zs and sometimes capturing them for experimental purposes back in the States. Jack smiled to himself. He used to call the main Necro scientist back then Dr. Frankenstein. Little did he know at the time that the good doctor would turn out to be his current lover and significant other, Dr. Karen Heeler.

After a decade and a half, the Ghost Team eliminated what they thought were all the Zs in country. Their daily excursions to find the walking corpses were coming up dry for weeks on end until they happened upon Abdul Rahim Haqqani’s compound. The Ghost Team had gotten intel that Haqqani had information about the Zs, and one day they approached his compound to scope out the area. When they arrived, Haqqani was having an argument with other local militants and entered a long building set into a rocky cliff. The Ghost Team was going to wait it out until Haqqani was alone, but then another team of unidentifiable soldiers stormed the building. A firefight ensued. One of the unidentified soldiers exited the building and was killed by a Z.

Because of the Z sighting, the Ghost Team raided the building and put down a small army of Zs, who had been incarcerated within the building, consisting of several barred cells. The unidentified soldiers had all been killed, and upon further examination, it was discovered that they all had matching tattoos on their forearms.

Haqqani was captured and told the Ghost Team about a king of the undead, who sent souls rejected by Allah back to earth to seek redemption. Haqqani was killed when he tried to stab Jack, and soon after, the Ghost Team opened a secret cell carved into the mountain. Within that cell was something Jack had never seen before, a child Z with seemingly higher intelligence and a much less savage disposition. They named him Zboy.

Due to the strange and sentient-like behavior of Zboy, Jack decided to bring him back to base camp for eventual experimentation, along with a stainless steel canister of what they thought was tear gas, which was also found in Zboy’s cell. A short time later during evac, one of Jack’s men was murdered, and the canister was stolen by an extremely athletic man with a scar on his face. The Ghost Team’s helicopter pilot, Chuck, found the man with his spotlight and eventually shot him. The canister was recovered, but the scarred man somehow escaped, even after the team medic declared him dead. Jack thought the scarred man’s amazing physical exploits during the chase and subsequent escape were very suspicious. Just in case, he took a sample of the man’s spilled blood for possible experimentation.

Haqqani’s compound turned out to be the nerve center for all the Z resurrections. Jack’s team had done it; they had destroyed the Z threat down to the last walking corpse, except for Zboy. It seemed pointless at this point to retain a fighting force in Afghanistan to fight a nonexistent threat. The Ghost Team was decommissioned, but Jack and his men were re-assigned as the new security team for the not-so-secret Necro lab, which lay below the military buildings at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID). Here was where Jack met Colonel Wagner, the military head of the Necro project, his daughter-in-law Karen Heeler and her scientific associates, who were desperately trying to find a vaccine for the Necro virus and perform experiments on a number of Z test subjects.

In the short time he’s been here, Jack has adjusted well to his new post. Although, he had to admit, his job is not nearly as exciting as it used to be. Being an overblown zookeeper for a bunch of Zs is not as much fun as capturing them in the field, that was for sure. But one must adapt, mustn’t one? Jack looked at the old photo of Jawbreaker 6th again, set it down with a sigh and took another sip of coffee. He began to straighten his untidy files and place them in neat piles, just like a good desk jockey. Yep … quite the journey.

HYBRID Z

PAUL BEDNAR

CHAPTER 3

EXCERPTS FROM EDWARD KEANE’S

PERSONAL DIARY, NOVEMBER 2016

I write these words now in early dawn as the darkness lightens to gray. Tindra has gone to sleep just minutes ago. I look upon her eternally young face and lithe body, and am once again enamored with her beauty, just as I was as a young man and a new vampire over a century ago. I have no doubt that I am still strongly connected to her emotionally due to the fact that she is my maker and mentor. However, the bond is not as strong as it once was. Although she confesses to me that all she wants in this world is to be with me for eternity, her conviction seemed less enthusiastic, a bit more hollow sounding than what it once was.

In fact, everything about Tindra now seems to be paler and less vibrant than before. This, I’m sure, is caused by the years of abuse she endured at the hands of Boris Dalca. I do not like to contemplate what she must have gone through in all those years of servitude to that monster. Now she seems … damaged, running a bit slower like she has little juice left in her battery.

In addition to the emotional abuse Tindra has suffered, she is also lacking physical strength. She is weak and pale, and she has been uncharacteristically lethargic. She refuses to go out and feed, stating that she doesn’t want to hunt in a strange place. Fearing for Tindra’s health, I convinced her to lightly feed from Susan to keep her strength up. The reluctant Susan was fearful at first, never having anyone but me feed on her, but she eventually allowed Tindra to consume a few ounces of blood from her. Tindra respected my wishes and was gentle with Susan, tenderly extracting the warm blood from a tiny slice on her wrist. Afterward, Tindra seemed to improve immediately in the physical sense but still seemed distant and emotionally crippled.

Nonetheless, I am grateful that I have another chance to live with the woman I love, no matter how damaged she is now. I’m sure that after Boris’s little caper is over and we resume our life together, Tindra will become herself once again. We just need to get past this commitment I have made to Boris, and we can be rid of him forever—that is, of course, if he holds up his end of the bargain. I do not trust him in the least. Every nerve in my body is on edge, anticipating a double cross from the elder vampire. However, in the week or so since he’s been here, he has not shown any indications that he doesn’t intend to fulfill his promise to release Tindra to me. Since she has arrived, we have spent practically every moment together. Boris doesn’t appear to be bothered by our reunion; he genuinely seems to be beyond his previous obsession with the Scandinavian beauty.

Apparently, Boris has a new obsession now, the upcoming heist he has planned. It seems to be the only thing he thinks about. He has been here over a week but has been scarcely seen. He leaves the estate just after sundown every day and doesn’t return until just before dawn. No doubt he is making final preparations for his mysterious caper. If he is feeding, he has done it stealthily. I have not heard of any disappearances or unsolved murders in the news these last few days. When Boris returns in the predawn hours, he spends the remainder of the morning in my darkened office room, making phone calls in a low voice. Obviously, he is keeping me ignorant in regard to the upcoming heist. When I make any inquiries as to my role in the caper, he merely says I just need to do what he tells me when the time comes.

Obviously, this situation is intolerable. I’m still completely clueless as to the nature and scope of Boris’s plan. Due to his ruthless nature, I fear there will be many deaths involved in Boris’s scheme, although he has assured me that if all goes as planned, there will be no violence. I cannot believe this; even the best-laid plans go awry. Therefore, I have been preparing myself emotionally to be thrust once again into the killing fields. I hesitate greatly to be involved in this madness but keep telling myself the means will justify the end. I just hope my conscience will forgive me afterward.

Tindra has told me she is as much in the dark about the heist as I am. She claims Boris has not discussed it with her, and she is oblivious about the time, place, and object of the heist. I believe her to a certain extent but feel she is keeping information from me. I cannot say for certain that Boris has persuaded her to feign ignorance, but I have a strong suspicion that he still has an emotional grip on her that restricts her from discussing his plans.

However, his persuasion didn’t extend to her recent past. She hesitantly told me the story of the last several decades of her life. For the most part, she was kept in a filthy cage as punishment for her previous escape. Occasionally, Boris came to her cell to beat and rape her. At other times he was gentle and sympathetic, promising her freedom someday and holding her as she wept for forgiveness. Sometimes during his better days, he even brought her a small child to feed on. But her freedom didn’t come for a long time … not until recently. It wasn’t until Boris became obsessed with this latest plot that he eventually let her out of her cage and let her roam freely through the chateau she had been imprisoned in for decades.

Tindra said she had noticed a change in Boris over the years. He was becoming more and more unstable, his emotions swaying from one extreme to the other, especially in times of stress. He had always had a problem keeping his violent temper in check, but it seemed to have gotten worse. She seemed to think he was slowly succumbing to a form of vampire psychosis, and he knew it too. I only hope Boris can stay sane long enough to fulfill his promise of freedom for us.

After our discussion, Tindra looked around suspiciously and then produced an object from her pocket. She pressed it into my hand and told me to hide it in a safe place. She whispered to me that it contained the location and other information about Boris Dalca’s chateau and that it may be useful someday. I took it and stashed it in my bedside table.

At this moment I hear Boris in my office space, diligently planning the upcoming heist. The time is drawing near, and my anxiety grows with each passing hour. My only wish is for Tindra and me to survive the next few days so we can rebuild our life together.

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Boris Dalca replaced the receiver back on the phone and leaned back into his chair. He folded his fingers behind his head and allowed himself a wide grin. He was extremely pleased. The last piece of his plan had just fallen into place.

At long last! I now have the capability to change the world into a vampire’s paradise, a world full of human death and suffering. The world will be mine!

HYBRID Z

PAUL BEDNAR

CHAPTER 4

NOVEMBER 2016, USAMRIID,

FORT DETRICK, MARYLAND

The day shift at the Necro facility was coming to an end. Jack sipped his coffee as he watched the surveillance cameras showing the last few civilian scientists passing security and shuffling out to the parking garage. He shut down his PC with a few clicks of the mouse but kept the security monitors on. It was Wednesday afternoon on the day before Thanksgiving. Many of the civilian scientists were absent from the facility today to get an early start on holiday plans, and the place had been like a ghost town all day. But, Jack thought, besides the lack of personnel, it had been a fairly typical day. Well, as typical as a day in this nuthouse can get.

There hadn’t been too much activity today. Zboy had been moved only twice, to the imaging lab and then back to his containment cell. No other test subjects needed to be moved for any reason. The only visitor to the facility was a lab safety inspector, who had deemed the BSL-4 lab fit for duty. There were no issues with any of the security equipment. There had been a few glitches with the automatic locking components when the entire security system came online, but the problems were minor, and Lieutenant Amador had straightened them out over the last few days.

Jack finished his coffee as he watched the last of the scientists enter their vehicles and drive up the long exit ramp to security checkpoint one. He sat up, stretched, and crushed the empty paper coffee cup. He tossed it at the garbage pail on the way out of his office. It bounced off the rim but still made it in. He crossed the security center toward a busy-looking Lieutenant Amador, who was tapping away on a keyboard. Colorful schematics of security layouts flashed across his screen. He was alone in the security room. Mac and Grady were probably making their final rounds, and who knew where Lazlo was, probably cleaning up in the med lab. He’d better not be late for his rounds again. Sergeant Preston wasn’t due in for another fifteen minutes.

How’s it looking, Lieutenant Amador? Jack said to the man’s back.

Startled by the unexpected voice, the Latino lieutenant jumped in his seat and quickly changed to a main menu on his screen. He turned to Jack. Uh, good, sir. No problems, the lieutenant said with a slight shake of his head. The man looked at Jack with tired eyes. Uh … except for vehicle maintenance. They were supposed to deliver the containment truck at sixteen hundred hours, but the repairs were delayed due to a parts shortage. I got an e-mail from them a little while ago. They will deliver the truck at nineteen hundred hours instead. Besides that, nothing else to report.

Jack noticed the exhausted look on the face of his security expert. He wasn’t surprised Lieutenant Amador looked tired. The man had been putting in long hours completing the installations and testing the security equipment. Roger that. Make sure that security checkpoint one and Sergeant Preston are informed. And track down Lazlo. Somebody has to be on the floor at all times.

Yes, sir.

All set for the security team briefing? Jack asked. The weary Lieutenant Amador was to deliver the briefing to the rest of the security team later on this evening. With the BSL-4 lab completed, security procedures in the case of a biological breach would need to be discussed.

Since the team had been split up between day shift and night shift now, it was decided to schedule the security briefing during the changing of the guards when both teams were in the facility at the same time. The night shift started at eighteen hundred hours. The day shift would stay late for the briefing at nineteen hundred hours. A skeleton crew consisting of Sergeant Preston in the security center and one guard on rounds would man the facility during the short meeting. There had been a lot of griping about the scheduling of the briefing on the day before a holiday, but Colonel Wagner wanted all security personnel trained on the BSL-4 emergency procedures before it came online. He had already blown a fuse because it hadn’t happened yet.

Yes, sir, I’m ready, Lieutenant Amador replied. Are you going to be attending the briefing, Captain?

Oh, I don’t think so, Jack said, pulling his jacket on. I’ve already gone over the material. I will leave the briefing in your capable hands, Lieutenant. Good night.

Yes, sir. Good night, sir.

Jack turned and passed a bank of monitors on the way out of the security center. He noticed that some of the night shift security personnel were already coming down the ramp into the parking garage. The former Ghost Team members were no longer restricted to base living and had found housing in the suburbs surrounding Fort Detrick. They now commuted to the facility; it was one of the perks Jack had bargained for when the Necro security force was being formed. The men entering the garage were probably Doherty and Rodriguez. Surprisingly, they had actually volunteered for the night shift. Doherty chose the night hours because he could start attending classes during the day at a nearby college. Rodriguez said he didn’t really care about the hours; he hardly slept at night anyway. So far, they had handled the night work with no problems, but Jack was waiting for them to start griping about the graveyard hours any day now.

The other Ghost Team members were also getting used to their new routine at the facility. Grady and Mac were the heavy hitters during the day. They did most of the transferring and handling of the Zs during the daylight hours. Lazlo was also on the day shift as a regular guard, but during his spare time, he has been assisting the civilian scientists with their research. Karen said his medical background was proving to be beneficial with the various tasks they had given to him. Lazlo had voiced an interest in gaining further medical degrees and perhaps