“What’s up?”
“Haven’t you heard? There’s something weird going on in Asia,” one of the accountants said. Now, was her name Julie or Julia, Xander never could remember.
“There’s always something weird going on there. It’s Asia after all,” Xander deadpanned.
“No, Julie is right. The riots are weird, not your typical anti-globalization stuff, but reports of crazy stuff. The internet is abuzz with rumours about it. And it’s supposedly happening all over the place,” Rich, one of the marketing guys, replied.
“There’s always violence in Asia…aren’t there a couple wars going on over there right now?” Xander said.
“Yeah, I guess. It might even be happening here. Police have a couple of hospitals and medi-centres around the city sealed off, with no one allowed to come within fifty metres,” Deirdre, the receptionist, said.
“Sounds like a lot of bullshit to me. Whatever, I’m outta here,” Xander said, walking to the warehouse.
The shipping office was empty. He punched in on the time clock and looked around. The basket where the orders were usually kept was empty too. What the hell? He walked out into the warehouse and went looking for his co-workers. All the powerjacks and forklifts were still sitting against the wall, quietly recharging their batteries. After fifteen minutes of looking, he couldn’t find anyone.
Puzzled, he walked back out into the office. The group was still clustered around Deirdre's desk.
“Where the hell is everyone?” Xander asked.
“Well, one of the VPs came in, looked at his email and then told everyone they could go home if they wanted. So most everyone did,” Rich said. “Later he told me that corporate is worried about the bottom line and wanted hours cut. Did you want to go home, or do you want to hang around here? We can probably find something for you to do, like sweeping the warehouse or something else.”
“No, thanks, I don’t need the money that much. I’ll just go home,” Xander replied.
Xander drove home, stopping on the way to pick up a six pack of Sleeman's at the liquor store and some takeout Chinese from T&T Supermarket.
-------
Dan and Ed were sitting in a room with a dozen or so other cops, getting their daily briefing before they headed out on their patrols.
“Last but not least, let’s all be careful out there when responding to these ‘rabies’ attacks that started popping up this past weekend. Constables Adams, Norris, and Smythe were bitten this weekend and are still in hospital under observation. Don’t be a hero out there, call for backup if confronted by one. All of the cars now have riot shields and helmets in the trunk, as well as medical gloves. If you’ve got a latex allergy, I suggest grabbing a pair of leather ones from the supply officer on your way out today,” the sergeant at the front of the room said. “Treat everyone like a biohazard.”
The police officers got up and began filing out of the room.
"Dan and Ed, you're riding desks for the next week or so," the shift commander growled.
"Hey, Dan I understand, but why me, Sarge?" Ed protested.
"Because you were there when Dan fired his weapon," Sarge responded.
"That blows!"
“Suck it up, buttercup!" Sarge grinned at Ed.
"Any idea how long it will take to clear it up, Sarge?" Dan asked.
"The Commission usually takes its sweet time about these things, interviewing anybody and everybody. Don't worry, I read your action report. I'm sure it'll be ruled a Justified Discharge. But until then, you both ride a desk. You can help out at the front if it gets busy."
Despite the sergeant’s promise that they would sit at a desk all day long, they both wound up having to go out on the road just before lunchtime, as more and more quarantines were created at facilities around the city.
Dan’s cell phone chirped that he had a text message. He flipped it open and read.
“Looks like they’re mobilizing the Militia.”
“That’s not a good sign,” Ed replied.
“Nope,” Dan still held the rank of sergeant in the reserves, but given how short the EPS was, there was no way he’d be able to muster in with his buddies in the Loyal Eddies.
Dan and Ed spent most of the afternoon standing guard at the Northgate Lions Seniors Centre, which had been under quarantine since early Saturday morning, when an elderly patient’s visitor had died. Shortly thereafter, everyone was evacuated. Several people had been infected, and the building sealed shut from the outside. Several nurses on another floor had been locked in with their patients accidentally. They were told to lock the stairwell doors and barricade themselves in. It didn’t matter as the infected eventually broke through and infected them as well. Now, they all pawed at the window, seeking fresh victims outside. However, the building was over thirty years old, built of bricks and steel, with shatterproof windows, so they weren’t going anywhere.
Dan and Ed were backup for the half dozen City of Edmonton Peace Officers onsite. Considered by most cops as wannabes, Peace Officers had some limited police training and the power of arrest, but had no firearms or tasers, and relied on batons and ticket books to enforce the law. Officially, Dan and Ed were there to restrain anyone who might try and escape the quarantine. Unofficially, they were really there to provide deadly force should the infected find some way out of the building.
“Do you think we should call Jessica and Sandra? They could go stay up at our cottage in St. Paul. If this spreads the way everyone thinks, they should be safe there,” Ed said.
“You’re not thinking this is serious, are you?” Dan asked.
“Seems pretty serious if they’ve got us quarantining places like hospitals and old folks’ homes,” Ed answered.
“Odds are, this is just another scare. Remember that swine flu scare a few years ago? Before that it was bird flu, and before that SARS. The media and everyone else have been crowing for years that we’re overdue for a pandemic. None of them ever turned out to be as bad as the media portrayed them. I think the whole thing is just a mistake by a panicky media which our ever so gullible government ate up,” Dan replied.
“So what do you think Jessica and Sandra should do? Nothing?”
“We can both pick up some groceries on the way home, then you guys can drive over to our place. Our place is as solid as a rock, and if needed, they can get first class medical care, which they might not be able to in St. Paul,” Dan said.
“Thought you weren’t worried.” Ed smiled.
“I never said that. There’s no harm in being prepared,” Dan replied. “An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure and all that.”
Chapter 3
September 18th
Jeff and Eileen Sanders sat in the darkened theatre in suburban Toronto. The movie, a horror film called 28 Months Later, was the third in a series of British horror movies. Normally, Eileen wouldn’t watch a movie like this, but as a couple, they had decided early on that each of them would get to choose a movie by turns. Seeing as how she had inflicted such pain and suffering with her last choice (a chick flick starring Jennifer Aniston), Jeff got to pick tonight. With the summer having ended, most of the new flicks in the theatres were second-rate material, as studios always opened the summer blockbusters in May or June and the big winter movies right before Christmas.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff saw the door to the theatre open and someone wander in. He dismissed it as noise, like everyone does in a theatre. Turning his attention back onscreen, a zombie was tearing into a victim. Screams sounded from the speakers and Eileen jumped as if shocked.
The scene reverted to the survivors of the attack huddled in a room, looking for a means of escape. A scream sounded again, but it didn’t match what was happening on screen. Just then, the ozone scent of blood reached Jeff’s nostrils. They flared at the smell and his eyes widened. He slowly turned his head towards the direction of the scream. Someone or something was bent over a chair and was biting one of the moviegoers, a fat loner sitting
in the back row.
Jeff watched life imitate art, as the zombie homeless man gorged itself on its victim. He sat there frozen, transfixed by the horror happening only twenty feet away. The door opened and light poured into the theatre. Several more zombies, one of which looked like the pimply-faced kid who sold Jeff his popcorn, shambled in, looking for other victims. The light woke him from his trance and he shook his wife. “It’s time to go!”
“But it just started,” Eileen replied.
“Look behind you,” Jeff said.
She turned in her seat and after a second or two, let out a bloodcurdling scream that would make any B movie actress jealous. Two zombies glanced their way and headed towards them. Jeff and Eileen grabbed their jackets and ran to the end of the aisle and down the stairs to the emergency exit. Several other patrons glanced in wonderment at them as they fled.
Jeff hammered the door open and they raced to their car. Outside, the Toronto night was rife with sirens and cars racing to and fro. They moved with purpose to their car. When they neared, they saw that Jeff had left the headlights on.
“Dammit,” Jeff groaned.
Jeff hit the button on his key fob that unlocked his doors. They both piled in and Jeff tried to start the car. The engine whirred and whimpered, refusing to start.
Glancing up, Eileen saw that the two zombies had followed them out of the theatre. They moved towards the stranded couple. Jeff turned off the lights.
“We have to wait for a few seconds,” Jeff said.
“Why? Just get us out of here!” Eileen screamed hysterically.
The seconds ticked by and the pair of zombies moved inexorably closer, stumbling slowly but surely in their direction.
“Jeff, let’s go!” Eileen shrieked.
“If I try it again and it doesn’t start, it might kill the battery. Be patient, fifteen more seconds,” Jeff replied.
The zombies got closer and closer.
Forty feet.
Then thirty feet.
Soon they were within twenty feet of the parked car.
“Okay, let’s try it,” Jeff mumbled. Eileen sat beside him praying quietly. Jeff turned the key and the engine sputtered and sputtered, then finally caught. He gave it some gas and the engine revved. He shifted from park to first and the car started moving. One of the zombies had made it to the side of the car and pounded on the window as the car roared past. The window shattered onto Eileen and she screamed as the glass shards cut her skin in a dozen places. Jeff shifted into second and then third, leaving the horror behind them.
Jeff neared an intersection and slowed stopping as the light turned red. Jeff was so focused on the traffic that he never noticed the zombie lurking in the bushes. It leapt at Eileen through the open window and his teeth sank into Eileen’s arm. She screamed out in pain and Jeff reacted, flooring it.
A bus moving north through the intersection almost immediately hit his car, sending it careening off a parked car into a streetlight, caving in the right side of the car. The zombie was crushed instantly and the car spun out of control. His airbag deployed and his head bounced off the back of his seat. Jeff blacked out for an instant.
When he came to, he had a huge headache and blood was dripping from his forehead. He looked over at Eileen. She was pinned in her seat, badly hurt. The blood leaking from her arm was the least of her worries now and she was bawling in pain. Jeff ran his hand through her hair and said, “It’s going to be all right.”
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911, surprised by the busy signal. He hung up and tried again. Still busy. The third time was the charm and he got through. He gave the operator the location and asked for an ambulance right away. The operator muttered something indistinct and hung up on him.
He looked back at Eileen. Her eyelids were drooping and she was becoming quieter and quieter.
“Honey, stay awake! You have to stay awake,” Jeff pleaded.
Eileen let out a long, soft sigh and slowly died.
Jeff buried his head in his hands and began sobbing. Soon, his whole body was wracked by them. The minutes ticked by, Jeff still in disbelief at what had just happened.
Eileen’s head slowly raised and she grinned lopsidedly. Jeff slowly shook out of his sorrow as he realized she wasn’t dead after all. As he reached out to comfort her, she let out a low growl and bit down hard on his arm, tearing off a huge chunk.
Jeff screamed in shock and struggled to escape, but his seatbelt held him fast. He thrashed about, trying to unlock his seatbelt with his left hand. She chewed on his flesh and just as Jeff got his seatbelt undone, she tore off another chunk of meat from his arm. He ripped what remained of his arm away from Eileen and pulled himself out of the wreckage. Eileen growled and moaned at being left behind.
Onlookers sitting on the bus had seen all that had just transpired and were horrified. Jeff went to the trunk of the car and opened it. With his left hand, he dug around until he found what he was looking for, his handgun, a Beretta 92-F. He had bought it years ago and used it for occasional target practice and not much else.
As a conservative in Toronto, he was an oddity. When he bought it, the liberals he worked with were aghast at his purchase. It was totally illegal to carry his pistol around in his car, as his travel permit only allowed transport to and from the gun range he shot at.
Nevertheless, with all the hype about violent crime in the past few months, he cared less about a police officer finding it and more about being able to defend himself in a dangerous situation. As he had often told people, he’d rather be judged by twelve than carried by six.
He jammed a magazine into the gun, put several others into his pocket, and then moved back to the open car door.
He leaned in and emptied the magazine into the horror that was once his loving wife. She flailed about under the fire and stopped moving. Jeff sighed to himself. Then Eileen started growling again. She started trying to get her seatbelt off so she could take another bite out of him.
Jeff jammed his second magazine into the gun and took aim carefully. The bullet entered through Eileen’s eye and tore out the back of her head, splattering brain matter everywhere. She slumped back into her seat. Jeff remained wary. Still, she didn’t move.
Satisfied she was finally dead, Jeff stumbled off into the night, bleeding profusely from the gash in his arm. He joined the growing numbers of infected in Toronto less than thirty-six hours later.
Chapter 4
September 19th
When the crisis initially started, the police were handling the quarantined buildings. At first it was easy, guarding a few seniors’ centers and hospitals here and there. Even in a metropolitan area of over a million people, not that many people died every day. Maybe a heart attack here, a car accident there, even things like homicides were relatively rare in Edmonton, usually happening only once every few weeks. As such, most of the quarantines were centered on nursing homes and hospital ICUs.
As time went on, however, more and more infected started appearing outside the quarantined buildings, which led to city blocks and eventually entire sections of the city being sealed off. This of course heavily taxed the Edmonton Police Service. What was worse was that on most occasions when a quarantine zone had grown, a number of police officers had either become infected or stranded in the new, larger quarantine zone. In less than a week, the Edmonton Police Service had lost over two hundred officers and was nearing its breaking point. Early on the morning of September 19th, only five days after the first cases were reported, the Prime Minister appeared on television.
“In light of the rioting and breakdown of civil order that happened in Toronto last night, and the general seriousness of the crisis nationwide, Parliament has voted unanimously to support a curfew of 9 p.m. While we will not declare martial law, crimes against people and property in this time of crisis will be dealt with harshly. Law enforcement agencies have been given directives to maintain peace and order. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Forces are
also mobilizing to assist in every aspect of fighting this epidemic of violence rapidly sweeping the nation. As of yet, no municipality in Canada has requested more than token federal aid.
“The Public Health Agency of Canada, working in conjunction with the World Health Organization, The Centers for Disease Control in the United States and other similar organizations around the world, are working to isolate the virus. Specifically, the Agency’s Centre for Human & Animal Health in Winnipeg is running around the clock. They are optimistic that a vaccine can be developed in short order. I am ordering all public places of entertainment closed for the duration of the crisis. All movie theatres, shopping centres, strip malls, skating rinks, fitness centers, and swimming pools will be closed. Likewise, all schools, colleges, and universities will be closed indefinitely. Offices and other places of employment will also close in the short term. Vital public places, such as grocery stores, will be open for limited hours during the day. Hoarding will not be tolerated and each person will be given limits on how much food they may purchase.
“Local authorities will enact emergency plans. Where necessary, law enforcement organizations will maintain quarantines. Federal authorities will lend support and provide aid to local health and law enforcement authorities,” he continued.
“At this time, no cities or urban centers will be quarantined entirely, but many major cities have medical clinics, seniors’ homes and hospitals that are currently under strict quarantine. Efforts are being made to provide emergency supplies of food, water, and medical supplies to those uninfected inside quarantined buildings and areas. The first priority for our stock of anti-viral drugs is for those being quarantined. Thank you.”
He refused to answer any questions and was hustled off the stage by his aides. The Prime Minister thought of suspending Parliament, but the opposition was adamant that it not be closed during the crisis, and even though he had a majority and could suspend Parliament without the opposition’s consent, he bowed to their wishes to prevent them from scoring points with the media. Instead, as a contingency, he ordered the Deputy PM and several ministers to head to CFB North Bay, where the Canadian Forces were busy reactivating the underground command complex, or by its more colloquial name, the Hole. It had been used during the Cold War and would provide protection for those ensconced inside. There, they would form a ‘shadow government’ in the event the government was overwhelmed by the pandemic sweeping the globe.
Zombie Night in Canada (Book 1): First Period Page 3