THE PURPLE ZOMBIE VERSUS DOCTOR TEUFEL'S UNDEAD ARMY
A prose comic book by James Heath Lantz
The past few weeks for Zoro the Purple Zombie have been very interesting. To prove he didn’t commit the crime for which he had been incarcerated, he had escaped prison by feigning his own demise. Doctors Malinsky and Hale took Zoro’s body for their new experiment – a machine that could revive the deceased. Doctor Kimberly Hale wished to use the device to prolong life. However, Malinsky’s intentions were more nefarious. He wanted to rule the living and the dead!
Hale was shot by Malinsky when he learned of his colleague’s evil plans. Zoro, believed to be a bulletproof zombie, strangled Malinsky and those who backed his vicious plot. Police thought Zoro had murdered Doctor Hale, and he was sentenced to the electric chair. Zoro, however, did not meet his end when the switch had been thrown. His skin turned purple, from which his new identity – the Purple Zombie – was born.
Doctor Hale, having only been injured by Malinsky’s bullet, had taken Zoro into his custody. Since then, Hale and the Purple Zombie stopped notorious gang leader Joe Caroza and a mechanical skeleton. The skeleton’s creator, Chico, would have been killed by Zoro had Kim Hale not intervened. Hale and Zoro found more radio-controlled bone men in Chico’s home when they brought him there. Chico revealed their true purpose to Hale and the Purple Zombie.
A death ray had been wreaking havoc all over Europe, prompting Chico to create his mechanical skeleton army. Hale leaves Zoro to protect Chico, only to find that they had gone to destroy the weapon and end its creators’ tyranny. Doctor Hale followed them, and Zoro used the death ray on the dictator who made it. Chico’s skeletons were then given a hero’s burial. Upon flying home, the plane carrying Chico, Kim Hale,, and the Purple Zombie was forced to land in front of Professor Roy Elton’s laboratory.
Elton, whose gravitational beam had grounded their aircraft, had seen what Zoro, Chico, and Hale had done in Europe and needed their aid to perfect his time machine. However, Hale and Zoro are accidentally sent to ancient Rome after Chico falls on the device’s controls. Professor Elton and Chico worked tirelessly on the time machine. Yet, an overloaded wire forces Chico to sacrifice himself for the only two people who were kind to him.
Chico’s death was not in vain. Zoro the Purple Zombie and Doctor Kimberly Hale had returned to Professor Roy Elton’s laboratory. In the days since their voyages through the temporal currents, Zoro had been cleared of the crime of which he had been originally wrongfully accused. The actual perpetrator had confessed to the police.
On a more worldly scale, Pearl Harbor had been attacked by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had declared that the United States would fight. Feeling he should do his part, Zoro had enlisted in the army. Professor Elton and Doctor Hale, meanwhile, had been called upon to create explosives, weapons, and munitions for the government.
Before going to Camp Claremont, where he, Kim Hale, and Roy Elton were to be stationed, Zoro walked the hallowed halls of the state penitentiary’s death house. The man who had framed him had requested to see him one last time before walking the last mile. Zoro looked at him. He was different from the hulking bruiser he had known from his days of living in Irma McGee’s Boarding House. This man in the cell before him was a frail, almost skeletal scarecrow. His head was shaven, and his eyes were sunken in. Sleep and food seemed as alien to him as one of those flying saucers Zoro had read about in science fiction magazines.
Zoro asked, “Why did you ask to see me, John Darrow?”
Darrow’s voice cracked and quivered when he spoke. It was unclear whether it was a fear of death, a fear of Zoro, or a fear of his reasons for wanting to see the Purple Zombie. “I needed to see you before walking the last mile. I couldn’t live with what I did to Mrs. McGee and you. That’s why I confessed to killing her. I can’t get forgiveness from Mrs. McGee, at least on this side of the fence, but I wanted to know if I could get it from you. I’ll need it if I’m going to meet my maker.”
“You murdered a good woman and framed me for your crime. Yet, you ask for my forgiveness?”
“Yeah, I know I don’t deserve it, man.”
“That is true, John Darrow. I spent my time in and out of prison wanting revenge for being framed. Looking at the state you’re currently in shows me that my vendetta has been achieved. I’m not sure if that means a higher power watches over us all or if the adage ‘What goes around comes around’ is true. I do know that I have officially closed the book on my former life as of today. The man you knew is no more. Now, Zoro the Purple Zombie stands in his place.”
“Does that mean you forgive me?”
“If Mrs. McGee were here, she’d want me to forgive you. She’d call it ‘Being the better man’. I do forgive you, John Darrow. That does not mean I’ve forgotten what you’ve done to her and me. The memory of your actions is what will help me make certain no more innocent lives are taken or ruined by crimes such as yours.”
“That’s good enough for me, man.” A priest entered the cell to perform the Last Rites. Zoro turned to leave.
“Hey,” Darrow called, “If we meet in another life, I’ll treat Mrs. McGee and you better.”
Zoro did not respond, for he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure if he believed Darrow or if there was another life after this one. Granted, the line between life and death, the known and the unknown, the natural and the supernatural had been blurred lately because of what he had experienced and learned with Kim Hale. Yet, Zoro could not find the right words to say to Darrow. Plus, he wasn’t sure if Darrow would think they were sincere.
The priest and Darrow walked out of the cell. They traveled the last mile to the electric chair in the opposite direction of Zoro’s destination. Warden John Isabella escorted him out of the penitentiary. A tall bald man in his sixties, Isabella looked sheepishly at Zoro.
“I wish to give you my sincerest of apologies,” Isabella said to Zoro as they stood in the rain.
“You were a man doing your job,” the Purple Zombie said. “I bear no ill will.”
“But I believed you murdered McGee.”
“Darrow wanted everyone to believe that I was responsible for his crime. It is he who had been the focus of my anger, but as I told him, I’ve forgiven him.”
“You’re a better man than I would have been had I been in your position, Private Zoro. Take care of yourself.”
“And you do the same, warden.”
Zoro left the penitentiary. The bus to Camp Claremont had stopped as the main gate closed behind him. Upon his arrival, Zoro was escorted to the newly commissioned laboratory of Professor Elton and Doctor Hale. Zoro had agreed to let his two scientist friends examine him. Hale himself had not had a chance to study the reasons for Zoro’s purple skin, invulnerability, and superhuman strength until this very moment. Zoro lay upon a table while Elton and Hale unsuccessfully attempted to take samples from him. Even Elton’s diamond-tipped scalpel could not cut Zoro’s impenetrable skin.
“I’m sorry, Professor Elton,” Zoro said as the scalpel’s blade broke on contact with Zoro’s arm.
“Think nothing of it, my boy,” Professor Elton replied in a surprisingly pleased tone. “In fact, I think you may have inadvertently helped our research in your case.”
“And I think I see what went wrong when Doctor Malinsky and I used the Resurrection Invention, as I recently named it, on your body,” Hale interjected. “Malinsky changed some calculations here and there without my knowledge. I recognize his handwriting on some of my notes.”
Elton asked, “It has nothing to do with Zoro being alive instead of dead?”
“The formula would have prolonged his life anyway,” Hale replied. “It also enhanced Zoro’s strength to a superhuman level. The fact that Malinsky wanted an army of the undead is the factor. His figures didn’t account for Zoro’s living tissue. A, for lack of a better term, mutated rigor mortis occurred in Zoro. However, instead of stiffening his body, it made his skin invulnerable. As the days progressed, that invulnerability increased.”
“What about his purple skin color?”
“That could be due to the electric chair’s current reacting to the invention’s formula.”
“I did feel different after the electricity coursed through my body, Kim,” Zoro said. “I felt an energy I had never experienced in my entire life. It was like I was being changed from within. Having never been electrocuted before, I really can’t tell you anything more than that.”
“That actually helps me out a lot, Zoro. You may have just proved my theory.”
“Anything to help, my friend.”
Elton looked at the clock on the wall. He, Kim, and Zoro were due to meet with General Thomas Stern in his office in twenty minutes. They were to discuss their newly created Explosive X, and Zoro was to be assigned a special mission. The details of that would be revealed only by General Stern.
Professor Elton, Doctor Hale, and Zoro met General Stern in his office and followed him into an adjacent briefing room. Stern was a medium-built man in his middle fifties. His black mustache and hair were peppered with flecks of gray. The quartet moved in single file to enter. Three file folders were placed on a polished oak table in front of three chairs. Zoro, Hale, and Elton sat down while General Stern walked to a podium in front of a movie projector’s screen. Stern’s assistant, Major Jane Duffy, a tall, dark-haired woman with glasses, prepared a film for viewing. She then pulled down the room’s shades, locked the door, and checked for any unauthorized recording equipment.
Elton, Hale, and Zoro opened their file folders when ordered to do so by General Stern. The general cleared his throat and said, “What I’m about to share with you is completely confidential. For reasons of national security, you are not to discuss anything said in this room. Do I make myself clear, gentlemen?”
“Yes, sir,” Zoro, Roy, and Kim replied in unison.
“I looked over the notes on the Explosive X spheres you two have created,” Stern said to Elton and Hale. “They will be field tested on Private Zoro’s first mission. Major Duffy, if you wouldn’t mind, could you turn off the lights in here?”
Major Duffy turned off the lights and turned on the film projector. The image of a tall, fearsome man in horn-rimmed glasses and a lab coat appeared. Both sides of his face were scarred from his forehead to his cheeks. The visage of this man brought a chill to Professor Elton and Doctor Hale. Zoro, however, was not shocked at all.
“This is Doctor Traugott Teufel,” General Stern said while pointing to the image. “He is considered one of Hitler’s most brilliant scientists. There are rumors that Mengele learned from him, and that even the Führer fears him. All hearsay, however. What is not hearsay is that he’s been attempting to create an army of zombies under his control.”
“Much like Malinsky tried with my invention,” Hale interjected.
“We recently learned Malinsky was Teufel’s apprentice,” General Stern added. “He had contacted German backers who were agents of Doctor Teufel days before beginning work with you on the experiment that involved Private Zoro here. Once we got wind of what the Purple Zombie, as Zoro has been codenamed, had accomplished after you changed him, it became a top priority to recruit him and you, Doctor Hale. Professor Elton’s scientific knowledge was also integral for us. Zoro’s enlistment in the army provided us with the means to recruit you both for arms, explosives, munitions, and other inventions vital to our war efforts.”
“Now,” Stern continued, “Under normal conditions, Zoro would have to go through proper channels, go on certain missions, and show his commanding officers what he can do on the battlefield. However, these are special circumstances. You’ll see shortly as Doctor Teufel experiments on a corpse.”
Kim asked, “How was this film obtained, General Stern, sir?”
“Major Duffy?”
“One of our operatives with the Third Reich smuggled it to us a few days ago. He gave it to me personally, and I reported this finding to General Stern,” Major Duffy replied while the filmed presentation continued.
Doctor Teufel injected a male cadaver with a serum. The subject had torn his restraints and nearly strangled Teufel. A soldier behind the scientist shot the undead man in the head. Both Major Duffy and General Stern winced at the sight. Roy, Kim, and Zoro, while looking shocked, did not turn away. Zoro especially felt it was important to have as much information as possible, no matter how gruesome or cruel it may be. It would help him know every detail necessary for his missions.
It wasn’t that Zoro didn’t feel anything for the poor, dead man’s plight. All the emotions attached to witnessing such an atrocity, particularly sadness, grief, and a fiery rage, brimmed and boiled within him like water in a tea kettle on a lit stove. He just felt he should keep them in check. He felt that way when he learned of Doctor Malinsky’s plans to create a zombie army. When he lost control of them, they led him to kill Malinsky’s backers and the agents who worked for them. His rage had gotten the better of him.
Did Malinsky and his allies need to be stopped? Yes, they did, but Zoro could have found another way to do so. Granted, he may not have had a choice, much like when he used the European dictator’s death ray against him. He never examined all the options available to him with Malinsky. This proved that sometimes there was no other option. Perhaps that would have been the case with Malinsky had Zoro taken time to ponder such a thing.
“As you can see,” General Stern said, bringing Zoro back to the present, “Doctor Teufel is closer to succeeding in his goal of creating an army of zombies. Time is of the essence. Professor Elton and Doctor Kim, we need your Explosive X to combat these undead creatures.”
“Whatever you need is yours, sir,” Elton responded.
“Private Zoro,” General Stern continued, “After reading reports of how you handled that death ray, the federal government feels you would be best suited to command a special task force to combat such unusual creatures and supernatural forces. Therefore, effective immediately, you shall be promoted to captain.”
“General Stern, sir,” Zoro said in a surprised tone, “While I will fight for the Allies in every way, is it not too soon for a promotion?”
“My superiors at the Pentagon don’t think so, my boy,” General Stern replied. “Tomorrow morning at 0900, you’ll meet the soldiers we have selected for you. After that, you and they will infiltrate enemy lines to stop Doctor Teufel’s undead army.”
“I will do my best to be worthy of the rank you have given me, sir.”
“I have no doubt about that, my boy. Congratulations, Captain Zoro.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Zoro shook General Stern’s hand after the gold bars were placed on his uniform’s collar. Zoro saluted the general, who returned the gesture.
“Good luck, Captain Zoro,” General Stern said, “I know you will bring us closer to victory over the Nazis.”
“Again, thank you, sir.”
“My pleasure, son.” General Stern looked at Elton and Hale. “Dismissed.”
With that, Zoro, Kim, and Roy saluted General Stern and left the briefing room. As evening gave way to night, Zoro was wide awake. Repose had especially been difficult for him since Kim and Malinsky’s experiments. Kim theorized that parts of Zoro’s brain that were dormant during sleep or rest periods were incredibly active after exposure to his invention. The current from the electric chair afterward had made them more awake than before, which is why Zoro had constant insomnia.
Zoro used his superhuman strength to move equipment and supplies for Kim and Roy. While doing this, he noticed that he wasn’t the only night owl. The two scientists worked tirelessly to improve their formula for Explosive X. Their previous concoction had proven unstable, leaving a laboratory full of debris and destroyed machinery. Clean-up efforts had taken quite a few hours.
The rest of the night consisted of putting the Explosive X chemical mixture into black spheres that shone in the laboratory lights. The Purple Zombie guarded the nodules and re-read the folder from the meeting with General Stern. He did these things until the time came to meet the soldiers under his command. He met General Stern as he walked down the corridor. He was also heading for the briefing room where Zoro’s troops were to be. Zoro saluted the general.
“Good morning, Captain,” General Stern said with a cordial smile while returning the salute.
“Good morning, sir,” Zoro replied as they walked to the briefing room.
“Are you ready to meet your new team, Captain Zoro?”
“Yes, sir,” Zoro said with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.
“Before we enter the briefing room,” General Stern added, “I feel I must advise you that this squad you’ll command consists of some very special soldiers.”
“Yes, I read the file from our meeting three times.”
General Stern looked astonished. “Three times?! I wrote the thing, and I could barely get through one reading of it.”
“I wanted to be well informed, sir.”
Stern chuckled as he and Zoro entered the briefing room. Six soldiers – three men and three women – sat at the rectangular table. An African American male was arm wrestling a burly red-haired man. The former looked like a strong wind would make him fly away. Yet, the latter, in spite of his height and weight, could not move his opponent’s arm one single inch.
“Come on, Stonewall,” a medium-built man with his dark hair in a standard military haircut said to the African American. “I got twenty bucks riding on you beating this Irish pork roast!”
The trio of women, an African American, an olive-skinned athletic type with dark hair, and an extremely tall blonde, were talking among themselves and laughing at the men.
“My brother is always showing off,” the African American woman said.
“Let’s hope he and Thunderbolt don’t destroy the briefing room in the process, Torchsong,” the blonde woman said. “Remember what happened last time?”
The dark-haired one spoke. “All six of us had to clean the entire base for a week.”
General Stern and Zoro moved closer to the table. The Purple Zombie noticed that the young man’s skin had a rocky texture. Thunderbolt’s eyes emitted tiny bolts of electricity as he unsuccessfully attempted to move his arm. Stern smiled. He knew soldiers often did such things to pass the time while waiting for their commanders to arrive. He had even been known to horse around on occasion before rising in the ranks of the army.
“Atten-SHUN!,” Stern said in a strongly commanding voice. The men and women stood stiffly at attention upon hearing him. The general let out a low-pitched laugh.
Stonewall was the first to speak. “Sorry, sir,” He said, “The team and I needed something to do while waiting.”
“No harm done, sergeant,” Stern turned to Zoro. “Ladies and Gentlemen, and I use that term loosely in Thunderbolt’s case, allow me to introduce your new captain.”
Stonewall was the first to approach Zoro. “I’m Stonewall. You’re that Purple Zombie guy, aren’t you? His arm and hand changed back to their fleshy state. He shook Zoro’s hand. “I read about what you did to Joe Caroza in the camp newspaper. That scum killed my father.”
“I’m so sorry about your father, Stonewall.”
“It’s okay, sir. He had a good life and a family that loved him. That’s all anyone could ask for.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
Zoro went around the room as General Stern introduced each person and described their individual superpowers. Sergeant Edward Jones’ skin could turn to stone, making it impenetrable, hence the name Stonewall. In his rock form, he became immovable, and his fingers could lengthen and become weapons used to cut and impale enemies. His twin sister, Private Emma Jones, could create fire with her voice and control its direction and intensity.
Private Daniel O’Grady could absorb electricity and emit it as Thunderbolt. Vincent “Vinnie” Torelli, the Brooklyn native, could change his shape and disguise himself as anyone or anything. He simply called himself Guise. The olive-skinned Private Maria Thomas could change into fog and move air and clouds, creating it to use as a veil to move herself and those around her. In fact, her codename was Veil. The tall blonde Sergeant Annie Porter could telepathically enter a person’s mind to control them. She used the moniker, Puppeteer. Zoro looked at her. He noticed her eyes were an eerie silver color.
The Purple Zombie looked over the entire team. He liked what he saw when each person demonstrated their superhuman abilities. Puppeteer had taken control of Thunderbolt with his permission. He thereby used his power to strike a target on a rifle range just outside the briefing room. Torchsong sang a note whose small fire lit General Stern’s pipe. Guise changed himself into Zoro, much to the Purple Zombie’s delight and surprise. Veil created a fog as thick as pea soup in the briefing room. This made it impossible for anyone to see. Stonewall placed Zoro in a rocky grip from which he couldn’t break free.
“You all have very impressive abilities,” Zoro said. “I look forward to working with you.”
“We call ourselves the Uncanny Commandos, Captain Zoro, sir,” Stonewall said.
“I like that name, Sergeant Stonewall.”
“Our previous captain gave us that name. He was killed by a Nazi monster. We managed to kill it before it could attack a village of innocent people.”
“Now that we’ve got the introductions and pleasantries out of the way,” General Stern said, “Let’s talk about your first mission under Captain Zoro’s command.”
Stern called Major Duffy into the briefing room, showed the same film he had on Doctor Teufel, and passed file folders to the Uncanny Commandos before continuing. “Simply put, you are to infiltrate enemy lines and prevent Doctor Traugott Teufel and whatever monstrosities he’s created from attacking Allied forces by any means necessary. Should any of you be captured, the United States government will deny your existence.”
“With all due respect, sir,” Thunderbolt said, “How come nobody’s roasted this German turkey yet?”
“All attempts at killing Doctor Teufel have ended with the soldier assigned disappearing in unknown circumstances. It is our theory that Teufel uses them for his experiments.”
This sent a shudder of cold fear through the team. Even Zoro was phased by this.
“We’ve all been put through the wringer,” Torchsong said to Zoro. “We all agreed to be a part of the Operation Super Army program after Roosevelt declared war. The pain we went through was rough. Some involved didn’t even survive that, but if it meant making the world safe for our friends and family, that’s all that really mattered.”
“I suppose you’re right, Torchsong. I just wonder how such evils live.”
“We all do, captain. That’s why the Uncanny Commandos fight them.”
“According to our undercover agents,” General Stern continued, “Doctor Teufel’s laboratory is located just outside the German village of Flagendorf. Its citizens are too afraid of Teufel to do anything. A group of German rebels has agreed to fly the Uncanny Commandos there under the guise of a cargo plane. The cover of night and Veil’s fogging ability will hide you all. Once you have landed, there will be no contact with you whatsoever. You all leave in an hour when our pilot in the resistance arrives. Now, if there are no questions, I bid you all Godspeed.”
Zoro took the time to get to know the people under his new command. He had only led Chico’s mechanical skeletons during the death ray battle. Being with a group of people, even one such as the Uncanny Commandos, was new to him. He felt this was an opportunity to learn all about the rest of the team.
Puppeteer’s husband and father were the scientists who created the Operation Super Army serum. The chemicals reacted differently in each body they were injected into, but the end results were men and women with various types of superhuman abilities. When a German soldier posed as an American in the top-secret project, he gained a gargantuan body and superhuman strength. He had broken the necks of the entire staff, including Puppeteer’s family. In a fit of anger, she used her powers to control the Nazi spy and make his brain hemorrhage.
Veil and Guise lived on the streets and had no family before joining Operation Super Army and the Uncanny Commandos. Thunderbolt’s wife, Edith, and son Richard are waiting for him to come home to Dawn Island, Ireland, after the war ends. He learned of his powers when he visited them on Edith’s birthday last month. Surprisingly enough, they were not afraid and accepted them. Richard even commented that Thunderbolt was like the superheroes he saw in comic books. He let out a boisterous laugh when he heard that and said, “You may be right, lad.”
Those who received the Operation Super Army serum had left the project’s facility and joined various military groups to fight the Axis. Captain Steven Hodge, a man who could fly and shoot lasers from his eyes, led a group consisting of Stonewall, Torchsong Thunderbolt, Puppeteer, Veil, and Guise on various secret missions until his death some weeks ago.
While Zoro identified most with Veil and Guise, he found the entire group of Uncanny Commandos to be a joy to be around. He knew he could count on them to perform their tasks accurately during their upcoming mission. He knew this upon reading their last mission’s report. The Uncanny Commandos were truly a squad upon whom the Purple Zombie could trust.
An hour had passed. The Uncanny Commandos were about to board their airplane when Hale and Elton had given them sacks full of Explosive X nodules before they boarded their airplane.
“You never know if you’ll need these, Zoro,” Kim said.
“We’ve needed bombs for other missions, Cap,” Guise told Zoro. “They came in handy when we rescued Torchsong from some Japanese soldiers.”
“Thank you, Guise, and thank you, too, Kim.”
“Be careful, Uncanny Commandos,” Roy Elton, who was behind Kim, said.
“Don’t worry, Doc,” Guise said, “We’ll come back in one piece and have a drink together before you know it.”
Elton smiled. He liked Guise’s confidence in the mission’s success. The scientist in him had made him a realist, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hope Guise was right. “I don’t doubt that for a second, my boy,” He said with a chuckle. “Goodbye, commandos.”
As the Uncanny Commandos flew to their destination, they were unaware that their objective, Doctor Traugott Teufel, was working hard on improvements to his army of the undead. He had used notes pilfered from various scientific geniuses, including Hale. Yet, the current additions to his zombie soldiers were his focus.
A dead husband and wife were restrained on a pair of tables. These were modified versions of the same apparatus that Malinsky and Hale had used on Zoro’s body. The man and woman had been prisoners who had perished from starvation in the nearby concentration camp. They were perfect for Doctor Teufel’s needs. He injected the formula into both cadavers. A pair of guards whom Teufel had summoned earlier in that moment entered the lab.
“Hold the bodies down while I work on them,” Doctor Teufel ordered.
The bodies had awakened and snarled with a throaty growl. It took all the guards’ force to hold them down. Doctor Teufel noted an increase in his subjects’ strength as he placed onyx-like collars around their necks. The female had bitten the man who had restrained her. He fell to the floor screaming in excruciating pain. Doctor Teufel laughed gleefully as he witnessed the macabre scene. He regained his composure when he saw the dead man and woman walk around his lab.
The bitten guard’s joints and limbs stiffened, and his movements changed from quick fluidity to rigid shambles. His screams ceased, having been replaced by the same noises as the recently undead couple. Doctor Teufel observed that their eyes and the guard’s eyes were clouded, as if they were visually impaired. He had taken a third collar from a nearby table and somehow, by luck or chance, placed it on the soldier’s neck.
Doctor Teufel ran to his desk. He searched the drawers for the remote control he had put together just days before he had begun this experiment. He found it in the largest of the group in the center. The large, polished silver device fit perfectly in his hand. Teufel chuckled as he pressed the large red button located in its heart. Its antenna emitted a small sound that brought the reanimated prisoners and the transformed German soldier into a frenzy.
The remote’s noise grew stronger, causing the trio of the dead to surround the living guard. He begged and pleaded to no avail. The rotting flesh on their hands grabbed him and tore him apart. The end result was three zombies feeding on the poor man’s limbs while the laughter of a crazed scientist echoed throughout the laboratory. Doctor Traugott Teufel had succeeded in creating warriors in his army of the undead.
All the creatures, particularly the ones taken from the concentration camp, fed on human flesh. The trio in Teufel’s lab still fed upon the dead guard. This was understandable given how underfed the prisoners were. Still, Teufel couldn’t contain his sadistic joy at the sight. He was impatient to show Colonel Von Schtrapp, the camp’s commanding officer, his new soldiers. He also had a plan for Von Schtrapp. He just needed him to come to Teufel’s laboratory.
As if some being were reading his thoughts, Colonel Otto Von Schtrapp entered the laboratory. The tall, husky man in his sixties seemed revolted by the sight of the three zombies feeding on the dismembered guard. He had seen much worse come from Doctor Teufel’s torturous experiments. Yet, they still turned his stomach. He understood why military gossip claimed that Hitler himself feared Doctor Traugott Teufel. Still, the results of Teufel’s work were what had mattered to Von Schtrapp and his superiors. The apprehension and disgust only meant they were effective and would lead Germany to victory.
The male zombie’s teeth barely missed biting Von Schtrapp. He told Teufel to keep his new pets under control. The evil scientist’s reply was to press the red button on the remote control once again. The trio of the living dead went into a dormant state afterward. Von Schtrapp breathed a sigh of relief. He would have hated to be on the receiving end of Doctor Teufel’s scalpel blade. That would be a fate worse than death for him.
Von Schtrapp regained his composure, cleared his throat, and spoke. “I take it from the look on your face, Herr Doctor, you were successful in your endeavors,” He said.
“Quite so, Herr Colonel,” Doctor Teufel replied, “We will be able to use fallen soldiers as the living dead. The collars you see can control them. When the red button on my remote control is pushed, a radio frequency enters their clouded brain, creating an irresistible hunger for human flesh. I have also created a control room behind me that works on the dead on a grander scale with a longer range. When used on the battlefield, my undead army will feed on our adversaries. If we continue to use the prisoners in camp to produce the collars, the creatures should be ready to fight the Allies within days.”
Von Schtrapp, having expected Doctor Teufel to take longer, asked in surprise, “Days?”
“Many of our men were killed recently, Herr Colonel. I have many subjects to choose from in the refrigerated basement below my lab.”
“General Hawkmeyer did not exaggerate about your efficiency, Doctor Teufel.”
“Thank you,” Doctor Teufel said humbly.
Colonel Von Schtrapp turned his back to Doctor Teufel. The scientist giggled madly. A syringe was in his right hand. Von Schtrapp rambled on about something unimportant to Teufel. He plunged the needle into the back of the colonel’s neck. Von Schtrapp screamed and clutched his head. The serum administered by Doctor Teufel burned his insides. He felt a transformation overtake his body. Fluidly moving limbs gave way to stiffness that smelled of decay. Pinkish skin turned to a mixture of brown, black, and gray. His normally commanding voice changed to the croak of someone taking his last breath as he struggled to utter the question that would be his last words among those of the living.
“What... have you... done to me...?”
“Why, Herr Colonel,” Doctor Teufel sneered with delight, “I’ve yet to test my serum on living tissue. You are going to be a soldier in my undead army. All I have to do now is lead you to the lab table behind me and place a collar around your neck.”
Colonel Von Schtrapp wanted to protest, but his voice had disappeared. In its place came groans, moans, cracks, and growls. The commander of the concentration camp, who was considered one of the Führer’s best officers, had now been reduced to a shambling mass of living death. Upon placing the control collar upon Von Schtrapp’s person, Doctor Traugott Teufel cackled maniacally at his success. He could now turn any living being into a zombie soldier. The sky was the limit for him, and his undead army would be his means of conquering the world. Not even the Führer himself will be able to stop him.
As Doctor Teufel gloated and plotted, the cargo plane carrying the Purple Zombie and the Uncanny Commandos had landed in a secluded airfield located in a thickly wooded area some miles south of Flagendorf. Zoro looked at his team. He had gotten to know each person and found them all surprisingly welcoming. They had lost their previous captain. Yet, they understood that it was an awful part of the war. They all only knew Zoro from what newspapers and dossiers had written about him before actually meeting him. However, he was much like them – a person with superhuman gifts looking to make the world better for future generations. That made Captain Zoro a new important member of a special family.
Torchsong and Stonewall helped keep Zoro apprised of previous Uncanny Commandos missions and how the team works. This helped him greatly as everyone prepared for whatever awaited them in Doctor Teufel’s laboratory and the concentration camp where it was located. Zoro had hoped to liberate the prisoners in the process of stopping Teufel. There were men and women in the resistance who could help with that while the Uncanny Commandos fought whatever creatures Teufel had created.
The plan was for resistance fighters to create a diversion while the Uncanny Commandos searched for Doctor Teufel’s laboratory. The rebels and the Uncanny Commandos moved stealthily through the woods. Zoro and his superpowered comrades led the pack in case their abilities were needed to stop Nazis in the area.
“You know, Cap,” Stonewall whispered to Zoro, “I have to admit I’m scared. I get that way every mission.”
“We’re all scared, Stonewall. Fear is a normal emotion. I would worry if someone in this group didn’t feel afraid.”
“I never thought of it that way, sir. Thank you.”
“Anytime, my friend,” Zoro said with a smile.
As the troops neared a secluded area in the east not far from the concentration camp, Zoro gestured to Veil. She created an extra-thick fog bank that served as cover, allowing her and her allies to move unnoticed. Everyone walked silently, all the same. Every precaution had to be taken to avoid detection by the enemy.
Zoro stopped walking suddenly. His enhanced senses allowed him to hear low, throaty growls and moans alongside chewing and crunching noises. He raised his hand to command the others to stop. The new leader of the Uncanny Commandos sniffed the air. The stench of blood and death assaulted his sensitive nostrils. He wondered what the cause was.
A young bearded man named Eldrich asked Zoro, “You smell it, too?”
“Actually, the odor hit me a few kilometers back.”
“It is death, my friend. We are nearing the concentration camp.”
“And the sounds?”
“Those I do not know, but they make my skin crawl.”
“They could be an animal chewing on prey it has hunted,” Zoro tried to reassure Eldrich.
“No animals would dare come near this abattoir, purple one, unless they wanted to be a part of Doctor Teufel’s cruel experiments.”
This made Zoro think about Doctor Teufel. What made this man so sadistic? In general, he didn’t understand humanity’s ability to commit countless atrocities against each other and innocent animals. Such crimes should not go unpunished. That is why Zoro enlisted in the army, to right the wrongs of the Axis Powers.
The noises Zoro had heard before grew stronger. Veil’s fog became less dense in front of him while it camouflaged the rest of the group. Zoro could neither believe his eyes nor contain his horror. What seemed to be a malnourished male prisoner with decaying skin and the smell of rot had knelt before the partially devoured corpse of a Nazi guard. He was chewing on the back of the dead man’s left leg when Zoro’s troops arrived. Eldrich vomited. Zoro continued to look in shock. The Purple Zombie was now face-to-face with an actual flesh-eating zombie.
Stonewall’s index finger became a stone spike and impaled the creature in the forehead. It had fallen over when Thunderbolt noted the onyx-like collar around the zombie’s neck. Guise had pointed out more noise like a colony of those that came from the monster Stonewall, impaled. Zoro’s group had approached the concentration camp’s fence when a violently macabre sight had stung their eyes. The grounds were overrun by those who were reanimated. Doctor Traugott Teufel had succeeded in creating an army of the undead.
Zoro and the Uncanny Commandos observed the scene more closely. Nazi and prisoner alike were transformed into the living dead. A large group of the creatures converged on the main fence. One had managed to tear a hole in it and bite Stonewall. Fortunately, his skin had been in its rock form at the time. The monster had only succeeded in breaking his own jaw. He still tried to attack Stonewall afterward. Thunderbolt had absorbed electricity from the area. He used it to electrocute the zombie who tried to eat Stonewall, along with others in the herd.
“Looks like I owe you another one, Thunderbolt,” Stonewall said.
“Buy me a couple of beers, and we’ll call it even, Boss,” Thunderbolt said with a gleeful laugh.
Some of the undead people remained standing as the Uncanny Commandos and the rebels entered the camp. Those in the resistance used their weapons - pistols, rifles, knives, and even pitchforks – to kill, if that could be an accurate term to use on one who had already been deceased, those who were assaulting them.
“Fight these creatures and find Doctor Teufel,” Eldrich said to Zoro. “I’ll take a few men to search for survivors.”
Zoro, the Uncanny Commandos, and a large group of resistance soldiers did as Eldrich said, while Eldrich himself and a dozen men went in another direction. Puppeteer noticed the onyx collars around the zombies’ necks. However, she had been so focused on them that she didn’t hear one behind her until it had grabbed her arms. Veil had changed her body into a fog as the creature’s mouth opened. The mist she became clogged her prey’s lungs, allowing Guise to stab the zombie in the head before Puppeteer could be bitten. Upon the undead being’s body falling, Veil exited it and returned to her human form.
“Thanks, guys,” Puppeteer said. “I was so taken with looking at their collars, I didn’t pay attention to what went on behind me. Anyhow, I need to enter the mind of one of those poor souls to learn about those collars. I need you two to watch over me while I do that.”
Puppeteer, Veil, and Guise moved fluidly through a small group of zombies. Guise even changed into one of the creatures. He took the lead, which allowed Veil and Puppeteer to move without being bitten or scratched. Guise noted that the undead seemed confused by seeing one of their own with the living.
Puppeteer entered the reanimated mind of an undead woman. She saw the torture and brutality Doctor Teufel had put her through to make her one of his zombie soldiers. The collar was attached to the woman, allowing Teufel to use his remote control. The prisoners in the concentration camp had helped mass-produce the onyx-like devices under duress. Once they were placed on those, Teufel had brought them back from the dead. The madman had used a much larger apparatus to influence the larger groups of his defunct soldiers.
“Help me,” a woman’s voice said to Puppeteer’s mind.
Puppeteer asked, “How?”
“Use me to help stop the one who did this to us all. I know you can do that for me, for us. There’s no way to bring us back, but we can be avenged.”
As Puppeteer considered her options, the Purple Zombie, Torchsong, Stonewall, and Thunderbolt, meanwhile, were cutting, shooting, stabbing, and strangling their way through a much larger herd to get to the building where Eldrich had said Doctor Teufel’s laboratory was located. Puppeteer had used her mental powers to communicate her plan to Zoro and the others.
Her intention was to possess and control one of the zombies while Guise impersonates a Nazi soldier to lead her to Doctor Teufel. They planned to tell the insanely sadistic scientist that the living dead person’s collar was malfunctioning. Hopefully, Doctor Teufel will believe that. It certainly was plausible given the amount of battle and carnage tonight.
“It could work to buy us time to get to Teufel’s lab,” Zoro said. “Go for it, Puppeteer.”
Veil waited outside with Puppeteer’s dormant body for the rest of the Uncanny Commandos to arrive as a disguised Guise, and the female zombie controlled by Puppeteer entered the laboratory. Guise had been able to pass without suspicion. A Nazi soldier bolted the door behind him before joining the battle outside. Guise held one of the creature’s arms while leading her at gunpoint. The two Uncanny Commandos were astounded to find themselves in a control room whose buttons, switches, cables, and monitors filled its entire space. What Guise and Puppeteer saw made their blood turn cold. It was something they had expected. Yet, nothing could have properly prepared them. In a chair at the heart of the chamber sat Doctor Traugott Teufel. His scarred face wore a mad, demented sneer that made him seem like an evil clown.
“Well,” Doctor Teufel hissed, “What do you want, soldier?”
“Stick to the plan, Guise,” Puppeteer said mentally, sensing the fear in her teammate.
Guise regained his composure, “This one wandered away from the ones fighting the rebel pigs, Herr Doctor.”
“In fact,” Doctor Teufel replied, “I didn’t see this naughty girl on the monitors. Her collar must not be working.”
Puppeteer wanted to cringe as Doctor Teufel got closer to her. However, the one whose mind she currently shared gave her the strength to keep her resolve. She figured if someone who had been through such pain and had witnessed all the death and darkest aspects of humanity could continue to be strong, Puppeteer could do the same. She owed that to those Doctor Teufel had harmed and to the other Uncanny Commandos.
“All of the collar’s exterior parts seem to be intact,” Doctor Teufel said upon closer inspection. “Perhaps a wire is loose.” Teufel turned to Guise. “Hold the creature while I check.”
“Puppeteer, look,” Guise said telepathically.
Doctor Teufel was so taken with examining Puppeteer’s host body that he failed to look at one of his monitors. The Uncanny Commandos, led by the Purple Zombie and overrun by a horde of Teufel’s undead army, had stormed the laboratory. While Veil remained behind to guard Puppeteer, the other soldiers used their individual powers to fight the creatures. A lightning stream from Thunderbolt, flames from Torchsong’s voice, and Stonewall’s rocky digits impaling them brought down some of the flesh eaters. Yet, an enraged Zoro’s superhuman strength dealt with the monsters in perhaps the most memorable way.
Body parts snapped, and heads were cracked as Zoro fought with a mixture of anger and pity. He knew that he could have been like them had he not succeeded in stopping Malinsky. Teufel continued his apprentice’s work, making innocent bystanders guinea pigs in his sadistic experiments that violated moral and physical laws. And while he knew the reanimated people had no choice but to fight the Uncanny Commandos and feed on the flesh of their victims, Zoro knew the only humane way to save these poor souls was to kill them. He had felt the telepathic link earlier with Puppeteer and the prisoner she controlled. It confirmed Zoro’s actions were right.
“Hey, Boss,” Thunderbolt said to Zoro, “You think that bolted door in front of us will stop us from getting that rat Teufel?”
Crimson mixed with Zoro’s purple skin as zombie blood congealed on him. He took a deep breath and smiled. Thunderbolt and the other Uncanny Commandos were befuddled by their new captain’s reaction. Massive arm muscles tensed, and a three-foot-thick steel bolted door was torn from its hinges. The Purple Zombie tossed it aside as if it were a rag doll.
“I guess that answers your question, Thunderbolt,” Stonewall said.
“Sure enough, Boss,” Thunderbolt replied with a twinkle in his eye.
“I like how he works,” Torchsong said. The others smiled in agreement.
The Purple Zombie and the Uncanny Commandos rushed into Doctor Teufel’s control room. The deranged scientist was about to open the control collar around the zombie/Puppeteer’s neck. Guise changed into his true form when he saw Zoro and his friends. Teufel looked up in surprise, dropping the tweezers he had been using.
“Step away from them, Teufel!” Zoro yelled.
Puppeteer’s mind returned to her body. She and Veil ran into the control room to join the rest of the team. The female zombie wandered aimlessly as if waiting for a command. Guise stabbed her in the head, knowing it was the only humane way to help her poor soul. Meanwhile, Doctor Teufel turned to face the Uncanny Commandos. He looked at Zoro with a devilish grin, happy and evil.
“I know you,” Teufel said to Zoro. “You’re one of Malinsky’s creations. Before you ask, I have no idea where the others are. Even my spies have their limits.”
One of Malinsky’s experiments? Others? What’s this madman talking about? Zoro thought. He could not focus on those questions right now. He had to stop Doctor Teufel. He had an idea on how to do so. It would be poetic justice for those he subjected to his savage cruelty. He just needed to wait for the right moment. That came when Doctor Teufel laughed insanely.
“What do you think you’re doing with these fools?” Teufel laughed while pointing at the Uncanny Commandos. “You should be working with me to rule the world.”
Thunderbolt and most of the Uncanny Commandos wanted to help Zoro. However, Stonewall had ordered them to stay where they were.
“This looks like it’s personal for Captain Zoro. Let him do what he has to,” Stonewall said.
Zoro lifted Doctor Teufel over his head in an unbreakable, vice-like grip. The scarred German scientist’s protests were loud and echoed throughout the laboratory. Yet, they went unheard and unanswered by Zoro. The Purple Zombie strapped Doctor Teufel to the same table where many concentration camp prisoners had been tortured, mutilated, and murdered. The Uncanny Commandos’ new captain recognized it as a modified version of Kim Hale’s invention. It had been in constant activation in the event that the dead on the battlefield tonight could be used as Doctor Traugott Teufel’s living dead soldiers.
Teufel continued to beg and plead as Zoro took a syringe containing the eerie chemicals from a nearby desk. Teufel had used the needle to revive the dead with the invention table. Zoro’s massive hand injected the evil concoction into Doctor Teufel’s neck. The scientist’s body and limbs stiffened, his skin began to rot and decompose, and his speech patterns were replaced with throaty growls, moans, groans, and roars. Doctor Traugott Teufel was now officially a zombie soldier in his own undead army.
“Boss,” Thunderbolt said to Zoro. “The rebels and the Uncanny Commandos placed those Explosive X things your scientist friends made throughout the concentration camp. We found some survivors in another part of the place. They want to join the resistance, and will come with us after we blow this joint to Hades. You’d better come with us.”
Zoro took an ax from the wall behind him and replied. “I’ll be with you shortly, Thunderbolt. There’s one more thing I have to do.”
Thunderbolt was confused, but he left the room anyway. Zoro swung the ax. Its blade struck Doctor Teufel’s neck. Putting the ax down, Zoro grabbed his foe’s severed head. Teufel’s mouth moved to attempt to bite Zoro. The Purple Zombie wrapped it in the white sheet that was under Teufel’s body and carried it like an American football while running out of the laboratory.
Torchsong asked, “What’s that you got, Captain Zoro?”
Zoro unwrapped the sheet. Torchsong winced at the sight of Doctor Teufel’s decapitated zombie head. She regained her composure after a few seconds and said, “He got what he deserved. What are you going to do with him, captain?
Zoro replied, “You’ll see when you and Thunderbolt light the Explosive X.”
The Explosive X spheres were spread out all over the concentration camp. One with a large fuse was located at the edge of the forest where the resistance and the Uncanny Commandos had come from. A pike had been placed near it. Zoro impaled Doctor Teufel’s head on it before Torchsong used her voice to light the bombs. Thunderbolt used his electrical powers on Explosive X nodules at the other end of the camp. A countdown had begun as the Uncanny Commandos, and the rebels ran as far away as possible. While nobody had been hurt, the blast’s shockwave had thrown them a great distance. There had been one great bit of satisfaction through it all, however. Zoro had turned to see the undead head of his enemy blow up with the concentration camp he had used to cause such horror. A crater was now in the place of that area of genocide and terror. It had died with Doctor Traugott Teufel and his undead army.
The End