SurvivorZ: Grave Harbor

4

EVE

Eve Cutler had to hand it to Carmine DiMarco. The mob boss tackled the daunting prospect of survival with the same coldblooded determination he once employed to build his drug cartel on the east coast.

Having learned his lesson about the perils of using drugs to create fast, semi-intelligent, undead super soldiers, he now devoted his every waking moment to guarding against similar threats from outside. After sending Carl Graves up north to fetch additional men, he promptly put them to work securing the mansion.

They cleared out the hidden room in his mansion basement first, removing numerous bodies and other vestiges of his ill-founded experiment. By the time Graves invited her downstairs to begin her survival training, two days later, the only sign of the carnage that nearly cost them their lives were the bullet holes remaining in the drywall.

Taking advantage of the soundproof space, they remade the chamber into a shooting range. A divider separated it from the rotating group of workers toiling around the clock at the back workbench. They rarely looked up from their busy jobs of creating ammunition to supplement the group's already impressive arsenal.

Once work on the basement was complete, Carmine had his men procure truckloads of rebar. Workers spent days burying the long bars into the ground along the stone fence, more than doubling the size of the wall around the mansion. Welders affixed metal crossbeams into the structure to hold them in place.

He brought in heavy machinery, not to help with the work, but to roll over any zombies attracted by the noise. He plowed down neighboring properties and filled their basements with broken corpses, then used the wreckage of their homes as kindling in fire pits, removing both the stench of death and the residences obstructing their view.

His men procured truckloads of food and tanker trucks full of drinkable water, generators with enough gasoline to keep them functional for months, and enough weapons to hold off a small army. They came back with beds, turning the family's huge guesthouse by the pool into a flophouse. Portable toilets lined the back corner of the mansion, overwhelming the scent of the fall-blooming azaleas. They even brought in a radio receiver, assigning someone to monitor the military bands for news of further action against the undead enemy occupying Boston.

Carmine had thought of everything. Though his empire was substantially smaller than the one he used to run, it was no less impressive, under the circumstances.

Heading down the main drive in the passenger seat of Carl's procured army Humvee, Eve could hardly believe how much the compound had changed in the two weeks since her arrival. The elegant estate draped in lush grass and flowers was gone. In its place stood a fortress prepared for war behind a stone and iron wall. Crushed flowerbeds withered under the tires of the many vehicles now using the front lawn as a parking lot. Though the defenses were a comfort, she couldn't help but feel saddened by the loss.

Graves anxiously tapped his fingers on the wheel while the guards buzzed open the front gate to let them out. It was just the two of them going on this excursion. When she asked if Tommy DiMarco would be joining them, he told her that the don's son was busy overseeing the compound's defenses.

Looking around, she had to wonder how much more preparation was needed. Even the canny zombies they faced in the mansion basement would have a time getting in here now. She suspected there was more to it than the old hitman was letting on, but she knew that pressing him on the matter would be a waste of time.

She eyed his tapping fingers. After spending practically every minute together for the past two weeks, while he taught her all about handling a gun, she had begun to read his moods well. He was nervous about something, and it didn't take a genius to figure out what.