Swamp water to their bootstraps and sweat dripping from their foreheads, the group marched on, following Richtofen's orders. The others preferred to stay away from Richtofen, but for fear they may betray him, he kept them as close as possible. The storage hut was just up ahead, and with great timing as well. Nikolai's vodka was half empty.

“Hey Richtofen, vodka is running short. Mind passing some more my way?”

“Nein.”

“Nine bottles! I'm no capitalist, but hey-”

“No! Nein as in no. You will get another bottle later, when you need- wait, do you hear that?”

The group came to a halt beside a wooden fence just beside the storage hut, lush with plant life just as dead as the people here. Dempsey was agitated by the constant halting, which only further muddied his pants in the swamp water.

“Hear what? The fucking splashing water? These FUCKING MOSQUITOS?!”

Dempsey chopped at the air trying to swat away the little nuisances. Richtofen, meanwhile, ignored the commotion, and listened to the low hum just out of earshot, coming from outside the fenced area. Then it came into view. A rock. Not just any stone or pebble, but a meteor made up of Element 115 as evidenced by the red glow and low hum. Even at this distance, Richtofen could feel the radiation burning the hairs on his skin. The others soon joined Richtofen's side to revel in the meteorite's wake.

“I wonder if that rock brought those freakbags...”

“You are not so far off, Dempsey. This is a very rare element with incredible power. So sad we do not have the proper tools and it is so...large.”

“Why would you possibly need this thing? So you can make more of those walking pus-buckets? You have something you're hiding...?”

“Nein, let's go, enough sight-seeing.”

Richtofen clapped his hands twice and continued to the hut, oblivious to the fact Nikolai had snatched a bottle of vodka right from his satchel.

Nikolai downed several ounces before offering Dempsey a sip.

“No thanks, Nikolai, I prefer killing sober, then wallowing in sadness sometime shortly after.”

“What if I told you you could kill and wallow at same time?”

“Still gonna have to pass. Need to save room for more of these Perk-a-whatever-Richtofen-calls-them.”

Takeo appeared concerned. Not even Richtofen knew where these drinks came from, and what exactly they do. He would let the foolish American or the Russian test them first in the future.

Up at the storage hut, lifted up above the water, Richtofen pushed the double doors aside and watched as two perk-a-cola machines cycled back and forth, before the orange machine fell to the floor. Double Tap Root Beer.

“Root beer?! This day gets better and better all the time.”

Dempsey pressed the button and a drink dispensed from the machine. He unscrewed the cap and downed a hearty sip of the concoction.

“It's uhh....whew...how do I put this...chewy? Not the root beer I know, some kind of cheap German knock-off.”

As he spoke, Dempsey could feel his fingers twitching, and he eventually lost grip of the bottle, shattering it on the floor. His fingers began to rapidly flex over and over again.

Over the sound of insects buzzing and Nikolai's heavy breathing, splashing could be heard outside the hut. Takeo, Nikolai, and Dempsey scrambled to the door, weapons at the ready as Richtofen grabbed several assorted items in the shed to put in his bag. The splashing continued in the swamp water, and soon several dozen bodies began pulling themselves from the mud, setting their sights on the soldiers. Dempsey put the perk-a-cola's effects to good use, pressing the trigger of his Thompson faster, pumping out lead with more efficiency than when the gun fired automatically. Takeo and Nikolai joined in the slaughter, before realizing they were heavily outnumbered.

“Richtofen! Get over here and...whoa.”

Dempsey fumbled over his words at the sight of the Wunderwaffe DG-2. Elegant and seemingly factory-new, the weapon emitted a low buzz as the electricity flowed between the tesla coils.

“Okay, what the fu-”

Richtofen pulled the trigger on his invention, sending a bolt directly into the chest of a nearby zombie, as Richtofen cackled in celebration. Electricity surged throughout the zombie's body and out of its eyeholes, cooking it internally. The electricity pulsed between several nearby zombies to the same effect, and the electricity cooked anything stood within the murky water.

As the smell of seared flesh and gurgle of blood came to settle, Richtofen fell to his knees in triumph.

“I have dreamed of this moment since I was a little boy! Ha ha ha!”

Richtofen let in a large whiff of the cooked flesh and hugged the Wunderwaffe as if it were his own son. The others lowered their weapons in the awkwardness, Dempsey being particularly disturbed.

“Talk about a problem child.”

The moment did not last, however, as several zombies began to pile in from the back of the shed, and more undead appeared from the ground in the area.

“Time to move boys!”

Dempsey, Takeo, and Nikolai drudged through the muddy water towards the main facility, guns blazing, as Richtofen stayed behind giggling with joy at each kill with his Wunderwaffe.

 

Inside the main building, dozens of zombies were piling in and charging before meeting their end. Dempsey headed the charge towards the Doctor's Quarters where they hoped to take refuge from the zombies. In all the commotion, Nikolai chose a different path, towards the fishing hut they had arrived from initially. His fate looked grim, and his ammo was depleting rapidly. Above the main gate to the facility was an odd contraption: two wooden logs attached at two ends of a gyrating pole, each log armed with spikes and caked in coagulated blood. On the fence was a red switch and a small bulb lit up green. This can only have fun results.

Nikolai pulled the switch and watched as the device slowly began to spin in the small entryway. The foolish zombies continued their trot towards Nikolai despite the imminent danger. They met a swift fate as the logs slammed into them, sending them flying in Nikolai's direction, forcing him to dodge a few. Nikolai chugged another bottle of vodka as the entire horde died off one by one.

 

“Wait, Takeo, where's Nikolai?”

“We must forget him, we have our own troubles ahead.”

Dempsey and Takeo marched to the doorway of the Doctor's Quarters, there was nothing to barricade the building with, and more zombies began jumping through the windows.

“Time to take a chance!”

The mystery weapon box was still there, awaiting their arrival. Dempsey opened the box in a panic while Takeo covered him. Things were promising, until the laugh came. Dempsey had to cover his ears as the young girl's voice giggled from another dimension, and the teddy bear floated away along with the box itself.

“Fuck!”

The two stood back to back firing at the dead soldiers charging from all directions. As Takeo sent the last round of his Type-100 towards the enemy, he reached for his Katana knocking off the limbs of any demon that came close.

“We can't do this forever, we need a way out!”

Still back to back, Takeo and Dempsey moved outside the building, slaughtering everything in sight. By the water was a zipline for transporting cargo, and a switch to move it between the upper floor of the main building and the Doctor's Quarters.

“Let's hope this thing can hold the both of us. Guess it's a good thing Nikolai bailed.”

Dempsey flipped the switch and the platform creaked slowly over to them. The wood it was made of seemed flimsy and ready to fall apart at any time. Not to mention it was likely meant for holding medical supplies, not two grown men. This was no time for thinking things through, however. Takeo gripped the rusty switch and sent the two of them towards the facility. As it lifted off the ground, the zipline dipped them lower than likely intended, but it held together. Dozens of zombies swung ravenously at the air above trying to reach them. Before the lift eventually came to a stop at the top of the facility, Dempsey pulled the pin on a German hand grenade, and dropped it into the horde below. Limbs and heads flew through the air, many landing next to them. The screams of the damned came to a close, allowing time for the two of them to calm.

“Tak, I'm thinking we need a vacation.”

“Rest is certainly in order.”