“I do not like this plan.” Doctor Delveccio sounded annoyed rather than fearful. For this I was thankful. Zombies still scared me.

“Well, do you have any better ideas?” asked Sam. His excitement in being able to finally use the combat suit to shoot zombies should probably concern me more. I was not sure precisely why I felt that way.

“No. Fighting them in the cargo hold would be stupid.”

“It would be like the docks all over again. We’d be swarmed in minutes.”

“But we have guns now! There’s no way a purely animalistic foe could overcome sufficient firepower.” I frowned at that.

“Tell that to Earth,” the catgirl retorted. “They had tank divisions.”

“That still doesn’t make any sense, though. How the hell can zombies win against armor? They’re basically just humans, right?”

“Humans managed to become the apex predator of the entire solar system, Sam. I’ll grant you that zombies are in no way as adaptable and intelligent, though. Something else is going on here.”

“That’s something that I have been thinking on, myself,” I broke in before Sam could speak again. “When the outbreak first started spreading no one could get a handle on just how it broke out, over and over again.

“The virus broke quarantine every time. Officials would think they had it under control, only to find new infected popping up everywhere. Humanity has dealt with infectious diseases for its entire history on planet Earth. Modern technology not only extended our lifespans, it also gave us even more tools to keep ourselves healthy and fit well into our second century.

“Practically speaking, for now, we’re going to have to be very careful aboard the ship. I’m reasonably confident that I won’t be infected absent a massive amount of the virus entering my body. Let me examine the engine room terminals before we start waking the ship back up, first.”

“What, you think the virus lives in machines, too? That’s fucked up, man.”

“The nanites I found in the other ship concern me. I don’t know what sort of defense the average person has against nanite intrusion-”

“Practically nil, Doc Z. You’re a freak in that respect.” Doctor Delveccio sounded more pleased than disgusted with that fact, strangely enough.

“Which is all the more reason to be careful. There is also the variant zombies to be aware of, like the fast implant zombie. It’s quiet, can dodge bullets, and very sneaky. Or the giant zombie that nearly crushed me to death if I hadn’t caught it in a stasis field. Or the strange weak one that hid, but had a much larger population of nanites inside it.”

“Abnormal zombies? Do you think the virus is changing them somehow?”

“Perhaps. I believe it more likely that the implants and modifications that the infected had when they were human affect the kind of zombie that results once the virus takes over.”

“So, a zombie takes over a boosted, implant heavy soldier...”

“That would probably be bad.”

“Very bad. I’ve heard of some of the black programs that the terrestrial governments were into, before the outbreak. I may have just been a veterinarian, but one hears things. Even out in the far settlements.”

“We’re coming up on the ship now. Does everyone remember the plan?”

“Yeah.”

“Told you once already, these ears ain’t just for show.” I could easily imagine the dismissive ear flick that accompanied that statement.

My companions decelerated towards the ship smoothly. I hit the jets a fraction too late and grunted with the sudden g force. The Wampus Cat murmured complaints from atop my head, digging its claws into my scalp.

The tiny furrball had refused all my attempts to pass it off to Doctor Delveccio before we left. The doctor also called the scratches I got for trying ‘self inflicted wounds.’ Thus, the tiny kitten remained with me inside the MHU.

I entered the airlock first. With two big exosuits between us, only one would fit at a time. The possible threat of nanite infection was probably the only reason he had not argued with me over it. Much.

The interior controls allowed me in without having to hack them. That made sense for a commercial freighter. Inside the corridor was dark. A few emergency lights flickered on in the distance, providing small islands of light.

A body floated half in one of those circles of light. Like most I’d found so far, it had been stripped to the bone. Every other patch of light illuminated familiar a by now pattern of debris.

“Don’t count on all the zombies being in the cargo hold. There may also be a horde wherever the mess hall is in this ship.”

“Deck two. That way,” Sam entered behind me, scanning both directions. “Nothing but a few bodies in this corridor. Main cargo is the way you’re facing. You find any of those zombie nanites?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, let me know when you do. I don’t want to go zombie, man.”

“I will.”

The lock cycled once more and I proceeded down the corridor. This wasn’t the first time I’d found myself running towards a horde. As before, there were good reasons for it. Or at least, reasons that I considered good.

I arced around the body, missing it easily as it had long since stopped moving. I didn’t have the sensors that the combat suit had, but the low light filter on the MHU was more than adequate.

“How’d he do that?” I heard Sam ask quietly.

“That’s what thousands of hours in microgravity get you. Assuming you keep your bone density and muscle tone with regular exercise, that is. Don’t tell me the navy doesn’t train you in micro.”

“They do,” he replied defensively. “Just, they don’t make it look that easy. And in a cargo handler no less.”

“Do most anything for a thousand hours and you’ll probably get pretty good at it, I’d imagine,” Doctor Delveccio whispered back.

I was not certain of just how sensitive zombie hearing was. It was highly likely that the noise from the suit jets and radios was below the level that would cause them to wake early. At least, that was my hope. I kept my mouth shut, just to be on the safe side.

The corridor opened directly into the cargo hold. I stopped above a stairway leading down. The hold itself was much darker than the corridor had been, but I could see the zombies in the distance.

“Sam. Remember to save your grenades, please.”

“I got you. Time to wake the dead!”

All notion of stealth was torn away as Sam fired into the crowd of zombies. The MHU had no guns, so I stood ready for the next stage of the plan. The zombies responded to the roar of the guns with howls of their own, breaking apart and scattering into a bouncing, clumsy mob.

Sam cursed as be began to miss the newly mobile foe. Still, he was a better shot than me as zombies continued to drift into his line of fire before becoming limp, leaking bags of blood.

“Not yet. Doctor, anything from back up the corridor?”

“Nothing yet. Sounds like you stirred up the hornets nest.”

“Got you! Did you see that Doc Z? Right through the face!” Sam laughed.

The empty space of the cargo hold proved to be just as difficult as I expected- for the zombies. The horde was spread out. Sam engaged the closest ones when he could, and the slowest ones. Those were probably easier to hit.

“Not yet. Let them get closer before we back into the corridor.”

As more and more infected inched closer, Sam became more accurate and more zombies died.

“We got this, Z! See? I told you, superior firepower will always win!”

As if in response to this boast, a basso roar sounded from somewhere deep within the hold.

“What the fuck, Sam? Why’d you have to curse us like that?” A highly displeased feminine voice exclaimed over the radio.

A cargo crate launched out of the darkness. It crashed into a zombie without altering its trajectory, then hit the bulkhead to our right.

“Did that thing just throw a crate at us?”

“Back in the corridor now! Doctor, are we still good to the rear?”

“No zombies! But what the ever loving hell was that?”

Another crate sailed out of the darkness. It spun, bouncing off the ceiling and away. I dodged half a zombie out of reflex as I made my way back to the corridor, trying to keep one eye on Sam and the other on the direction the crates had come from.

“Guys, there’s something-”

I missed the rest as suddenly I found myself tumbling through the air. My ribs hurt like somebody had punched me and the exosuit had new failure lights blinking angrily at me. The Wampus Cat gave a tiny roar of anger at the rough handling and dug its way deeper into my scalp.

“Z! Talk to me, are you okay?!” Doctor Delveccio shouted over the radio. It wasn’t the first time she’d said that, I thought.

“Still here. What happened?”

“Big zombie threw a gas cannister at you. It blew up.”

“Oh. That hurt.”

I looked up and saw the flashes of gunfire coming out of the corridor above me. The explosion had thrown me further away. It appeared the zombies had forgotten about me. Which made sense. If I was dead, they could always eat my corpse later.

“Anything broken? Can you move?”

Correction. Most of the zombies had forgotten about me.

“Hold that thought.”

There wasn’t just one giant zombie this time. There were two. The first one was nearly on me before I noticed it, the second still on its way and roaring in hate and bloodlust. I hit the suit jets to dodge the first one-

Or tried to. Some of that damage was apparently to the jets. I spun and crashed into the deck. The zombie’s claws missed me. It’s kick did not.

I went flying again, not of my own accord. This time was no explosion, so I was able to twist around and get my metal feet behind me to take the impact. I was pushing off just as the first giant crashed into the bulkhead just ten feet away from me.

“Two giant zombies. Suit jets are broken. Situation in the corridor?”

“Hanging on. We’re being attacked from both directions, but between grenades to the rear and gunfire to the front nothing can touch us. Can you lure the big ones closer so Sam can take a crack at them?”

“Maybe.”

The second giant slammed into the bulkhead behind me. The first had rocketed towards me with a furious push off the bulkhead. I triggered the MHU’s mag boots to alter my trajectory slightly, as I was still close to the deck. It punched its claws forward, missing me by a hair as I bent backwards.

I continued the flip, pushing off the deck as hard as I could. Still, the second zombie nearly reached me before I was out of range.

“Ha! Got one!”

The giant zombie’s head snapped back as Sam’s burst drilled into it. Then it roared again.

“What the fuck, man? I shot it in the head! Don’t tell me these things are bulletproof!?”

“Oh. Sorry about that. Pistol bullets bounced off the other one’s head. Body shots only seemed to annoy it.”

“Zeee! You have to tell me these things!”

I tried to launch myself towards the corridor as soon as I touched the ceiling. The second giant zombie hit moments later and hurled itself towards its tormentor as well. It was faster than me.

“Sam, you have incoming! Giant will get to you before I will!”

“How in the ever loving shit did you kill the other one?!”

“I drained it.”

“Not helping!”

“Doctor, is there a side passage or compartment you can retreat to so you are not being attacked fro both sides?”

“Yes, but we have to move now!”

“Go. I’ll see if I can’t handle the other giant and get back to you when I can.”

The conversation had distracted me, but the second giant had also misaligned its leap. It crashed into the ceiling behind me with a roar.

A second after that, something else struck me from behind. That caused me to spin into the ceiling again and my assailant was flung away as we ricocheted off the surface like a stone across a still pond.

A flash of silver was all I managed to see before it was on me again, dodging away as I swiped at it. Another sneaky, fast implant zombie. As soon as it leapt away the giant managed to swipe my leg, causing me to spin towards the deck again.

I engaged the mag boots and manage to at least hit on my feet. The implant zombie was once again nowhere to be seen. The giant crashed down even as I jumped away. Seconds after I jumped, the sneak was on me again, evading my swipes with contemptuous ease.

It only jumped away as the giant drew close once more.

“I may have a bit of a problem here.”

“No shit! Us, too!”