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One of the most foul examples of brutality was Micky Wheeler, an ex-con with a penchant for violence. He had been out of prison for seven months when the pandemic erupted across the country. He had spent most of that time amassing a small fortune in cash and stolen goods from a string of robberies and muggings.
He immediately went out and bought all the ammunition he could for his pistol and hunkered down in his fleabag apartment waiting for the storm to blow over. Instead, after a week, he saw the situation get worse, not better, and soon the streets were filled with infected. That led him down to his landlord’s apartment with the intention of stealing his landlord’s car and fleeing the city. When he approached his landlord’s apartment, the door was ajar and his landlord already infected. So Micky killed his landlord and then stole his car. In his haste to flee Edmonton, he ran into a roadblock and totaled the car. Chased by a pack of infected, he fled the scene and took refuge at the University of Alberta. He travelled from building to building, looting anything of value and killing infected along the way. After several days, he took refuge in HUB Mall on campus. HUB Mall was an odd building, with offices at ground level, stores on the second floor, and several floors of apartments stacked on top of everything.
While scavenging in one of the restaurants for food, he met Yumiko Suzuki, a Japanese exchange student who had been trapped on campus by the suddenness of the pandemic. When the FAA closed airspace over North America, she had had no way to get back home and had no friends or family here in Canada to rely on. So she sat in her apartment in abject fear of the chaos outside. Her two roommates, one from Taiwan and the other from South Korea did the same. Micky had stumbled across Yumiko, fighting off an infected with broom. Then Micky did something that was uncharacteristically Micky. He pulled out his pistol and killed the infected, saving Yumiko. She babbled her thanks to him in Japanese and took him back to her apartment, where he was welcomed with open arms.
There he met her two roommates, Hyun Soo and Ling from South Korea and Taiwan respectively, as well as Daisuke, the lone male in the apartment. Daisuke was of average height and build for a Japanese man, and because Micky didn’t like the idea of a potential rival, he casually pulled out his pistol and shot Daisuke several times. Then he dragged the body out into the stairwell and tossed it over the side.
Then he calmly looked at the three horrified women and said, “Now this is the way things are gonna happen. You three are gonna take care of me – in every way possible.”
That night after dinner, he took turns raping each of the three women over and over. After sating his lust, he locked himself inside one of the bedrooms and fell asleep, pistol in hand.
The next few days were more of the same with Micky demanding to be treated like a king, eating the best food, getting massages and sexual favours whenever he wanted. When they were slow to satisfy his demands, he hurt them. One beating left Hyun Soo in bed for days as she recuperated from the vicious beating. When food began to run low, he dragged all three women outside with him to scour the building for food, fearing they might lock him out of the apartment. Of course, that meant dealing with the infected. In one instance, he shot Hyun Soo and left her behind as bait for the infected lurking nearby before raiding several stores.
One by one, the women succumbed to attacks by the infected until finally, only Micky and Yumiko were left. Micky raped and beat her that night to within an inch of her life. Knowing she would never have the strength to give a scumbag like Micky the punishment he deserved, she did the next best thing – she waited until he was passed out drunk and went out into the mall alone to allow an infected person to bite her. Then she fled back to the apartment and pretended everything was normal. Two days later, Yumiko turned, and while Micky was once again passed out, she ripped him apart.
Chapter 10
September 23rd
“So what’s the deal with all these people you brought, Xander?” Steve asked while they chatted in the office with a coffee.
Besides Xander and Steve, there were fifteen other people inside Costco.
“Well, Diane is my sister, and that guy beside her is her husband Donald. The little boy with them is Jared, their son. Diane is really sharp, Jared is great kid, and Donald is flighty and an underachiever to say the least. But you know how it goes with family – it’s a package deal.”
“Yep,” Steve said.
“Jared is a great little guy, really cute, and he’s still too young to be a rebel.”
“Yeah, I really hate those annoying kids who think they know everything,” Steve said.
“You manage a Costco, that must be second nature to you,” Xander joked.
“Why do you think I hate them,” Steve replied.
“The other two other guys are Jack Hunter and Fred Morgan. They both work at the same warehouse as me. Jack and I got laid off last week, but Fred’s seniority meant he kept his job. Fred and his wife Janice are Harley Davidson enthusiasts and spent every free moment they had during Edmonton’s short summer riding. They’ve got a million dollar family; their son Michael is eleven, and their daughter Gina, nine. From what Fred tells me, they’re both pretty good kids who pay attention in school, get good grades and usually don’t get into fights or do anything too wild. He hoped they would both go to university and get the education he never got himself,” Xander said. “Now, who knows?”
“Yeah, life’s a bitch, isn’t it?” Steve muttered.
“Jack is younger than Fred, and he and his wife Shelley have only one child, Candace. They always have her dolled up in frilly little dresses with pigtails – making her look like Shirley Temple. Shelley is a stay-at-home mom and Jack loves paintball.”
“Man, Candace sure is cute,” Steve said.
“Yeah, Jack often at work joked that with Candace, he had to worry about all the pricks in town, instead of only one if he had had a son,” Xander said with a chuckle.
Steve chuckled a bit too, then added, “Who’s the young lady?”
“Evelyn, she’s from out of town. We met at the bar a week ago, and then out of the blue, she called me up and asked me out again. She’s been living at my place ever since.”
“You dog!” Steve joked.
Still laughing, Xander asked, “So what’s the word on your crew?”
“That chubby slob over there is Patricia Horton, the night manager here. She’s got a degree in Economics and some experience, but she just started working here a couple months ago. She’s pretty smart, but she’s kind of anti-social and never hangs out with the staff or anyone here. Most of the staff doesn’t like her much and that’s why she gets to work nights.
“The two young girls are Jessica Dawson and Katie Ward, both are stock people here. They walk among the racks and find spots that are empty or near empty and mark them, so that forklift drivers can restock them right away. They also do other tedious jobs like collecting carts in the parking lot, folding clothes, that kind of crap.”
“They’re both really hot, you ever tap that?” Xander asked.
“God, no! Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to nail either one of them, but neither one has ever shown any interest. Word around the store is Jessica is saving herself for marriage and Katie is a bit of slut. Of course, as manager, I don’t condone hearsay or innuendo,” Steve said.
“A slut huh…” Xander said sarcastically.
“Keep it in your pants, big guy – besides, you brought a pretty girl to this party already,” Steve replied.
“The two forklift guys tonight are Todd Wilson and Gary O’Neill. Todd is working his way through university, trying to get a Pharmacy degree. Gary’s doing the same thing, but he’s working on getting a plumber’s ticket. They both seem to be pretty good for kids their age – neither one has called in sick from the 40 oz. flu or slacked when they’re working.”
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After everyone had taken off their packs and gotten settled a bit, Steve got on the intercom system and asked everyone to meet i
n the electronics section near the front of the store.
Once everyone had congregated near the TVs, Steve climbed up on a shelf and addressed the crowd.
“Hi, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Steve Penney and I’m the manager of this Costco. Now, head office authorized us to close for the duration of the crisis a day ago, but we actually were open yesterday, and as you can see, some of the shelves are rather empty. However, there is still plenty of food and it should last us several months if some steps are taken to ration it. I hope that everyone will do their share to help us make it through this difficult time,” he said.
Steve continued, “First off, I want all the emergency exits blocked. Todd, Gary, you take a pair of forklifts and drop pallets of heavy appliances and furniture in front of them. Todd, take the south wall, and Gary, you take the north wall. Only one gate on the loading dock – that’s Gate 3 with the trailer – will remain unblocked. Whichever one of you finishes first can do that.”
“Gotcha,” they both replied and left.
“Next, I want the food organized. Jessica, run to the office and print out a detailed inventory. After that, I need to know what’s on the trailer at Bay 3,” Steve said.
“Okay, Steve,” Jessica said as she headed for the office.
“First off, we want to make sure that we eat all the perishables first. That means, refrigerated fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy have to be eaten first. Next, the frozen stuff. Only then do we dig into canned items,” Steve said to the assembled crowd.
“Why not eat the frozen stuff first?” Donald asked.
“Even if we lose power, the freezer will keep it cold for several days, but the produce and meat will go bad right away,” Steve replied.
“I need some volunteers to assemble emergency supplies,” Steve said next.
“Like what?” someone in the crowd asked.
“I want first aid kits scattered around the building, flashlights with spare batteries, that sort of thing. That way, we’ll be prepared for anything,” Steve said.
“We’ll do it,” Diane said, pointing to herself and her husband.
“Okay. Next things next, I want a barrier of shopping carts in the entranceway. We’ll open one door and as long as the coast is clear, fill that hallway with overturned carts. It won’t totally stop intruders, but it should slow them down,” Steve said.
“I’ll do that,” Xander said. “Want to help, Jack?”
“Sure, why not.”
“Once we get that done, we’ll block the front doors just like the exits,” Steve paused. “Okay, let’s get to work everyone.”
“Evelyn, will you look after the little ones?” Xander asked.
“Sure. Okay, kids, let’s go watch a movie.”
She shepherded all four over to the electronics section where she turned on a TV and popped in a Disney DVD.
Xander and Jack went to the front door and lifted it up. Xander peered out.
“Looks okay,” he said.
“It always does whenever you watch a horror movie,” Jack replied.
“This isn’t a movie, Jack,” Xander replied.
“A case could be made for a horror movie, Xander,” Jack said.
“Yeah, I suppose so,” Xander agreed.
Xander and Jack both got behind a row of carts and heaved. They headed out the doors and moved to the entrance, Xander heading north and Jack heading south. Each slapped a crude sign on the door that read “Out of food! Closed permanently!” Then Xander and Jack both tied the doors together with a heavy chain and clamped on a solid-looking lock. Xander pulled out the front cart and shoved it towards the entrance. It rolled for about ten feet and then toppled over. He repeated it until the doors were buried in carts. Then he picked one up and tossed it on top. He glanced down the hallway and could see Jack was doing the same. Already, both had dumped maybe two dozen carts helter-skelter. After a few minutes, Xander got tired but kept moving his arms. Before he knew it, he was out of carts. The door looked all but impassable to any person, although a car or truck would shove them aside easily enough.
Xander headed back inside for more carts. He pushed more carts into the pile until his arms felt like they were going to fall off. After a half hour or so, the entrance was thoroughly plugged. They both quickly filled the main front entrance with carts, too. Then they turned around and went back inside and pulled down the door.
Within a couple of minutes, Steve appeared and locked both gates with padlocks. He unclipped his walkie-talkie and called Todd and Gary over. They wheeled up in their forklifts.
“Drop a few pallets of furniture in front of those doors, too.”
“Gotcha,” they said in unison and peeled away.
Turning to Jack and Xander, he asked, “You two want to take five?”
“Sounds good, my arms feel like rubber,” Xander said.
“I’m going to check on my family,” Jack said.
“There’s coffee and donuts in the break room if you want them,” Steve said.
Jack and Xander wandered off in different directions and Steve resumed his preparations.
Chapter 11
September 24th
Sergeant Dave Ellett was bored out of his skull. He and five other officers had come to the Rossdale plant a week ago, to secure it and maintain its perimeter, allowing the engineers inside to keep providing energy to the city. Each pair spent eight hours working, either watching the security monitors or making random patrols of the gate and the perimeter.
Located near the centre of the city, in the heart of the city’s beautiful river valley park system and literally right on the bank of the North Saskatchewan River, it was a massive eyesore to the residents who lived nearby, but as one of the key providers of power and clean water to a large part of the city, it simply could not shut down. So Ellett and his colleagues had been sent here to keep an eye on things and prevent a breakdown of essential services similar to what had happened in Toronto.
All they had done since they got here was man the front gate, sweep the perimeter once and awhile, and play cards or watch TV with the staff at the plant. So far, he was down almost $100 at Texas Hold’em. Deep down, Ellett felt the effort was a gigantic waste of time. Unlike in other cities around the world, Edmonton had a good grip on the infection. Sure there were quarantine zones, and police officers had on occasion been forced to kill some infected, but the whole thing seemed blown way out of proportion, like Y2K, the bird flu and every other little thing that happened with clockwork regularity in the world today.
The week so far had been pretty uneventful. Occasionally, an infected would show up and loiter around the front gate, but a call would be made and a team would pick him or her up and take them to a medical facility. And with calls over the radio for the past twenty-four hours increasing as the infection began to spread, Ellett wished for some action, instead of this lousy babysitting job.
He glanced at his watch and noted that his shift was just about to start. As the senior officer at the plant, he had taken the afternoon shift that started at 11 a.m., which was, in his opinion, the best shift. He got to sleep in every morning and he didn’t have to stay up late unless he wanted to play cards or watch something. Ellett stood up and tapped his partner on the shoulder, “Let’s go, Scott.”
Constable Scott Arniel nodded and stood, then clipped on his gun belt. They both walked out of the break room and headed to the security room. Ellett knocked on the door and it buzzed open.
“Is it quitting time already?” Constable Francis Pietrangelo asked as they walked in.
“Yep, time for you to go fuck the dog for awhile,” Arniel said.
“There’s a lone infected guy at the gate again, but I called for pickup a few hours ago and they said they’ll be here shortly, which means somewhere between an hour and a day. Other than that, it’s been really quiet.”
“Good work, you two can hit the showers,” Ellett replied.
“Flip you for the office?” Arniel said
.
“Sure,” Ellett replied, pulled a toonie out of his pocket, and flipped it.
“Heads,” Arniel called out.
“Sorry, Scott, it’s tails. You got the gate for the first two hours.”
Scott sighed and walked outside.
Pietrangelo picked up his walkie-talkie and said, “Hey, Wayne, your relief is on its way.”
“Check,” his radio squawked back. Then Pietrangelo left himself.
Ellett plunked himself down in the chair and glanced at the monitors one by one.
Nothing as usual, he thought to himself and sighed. He turned to the computer and began surfing, turning every five minutes or so to glance at the monitors arrayed in front of him. He was careful to keep an eye on the infected man at the gate, but he stood unmoving. Ellett went back to being bored.
After a couple of hours, Ellet glanced at the front gate and saw that there were several infected standing there now.
He scooped up the phone and called the number he had been given to report infected. The phone beeped a fast busy in his ear, and finally he got a message stating, “We’re sorry, all circuits are busy, please try your call again later.”
What the fuck, he thought? He dialed from his cell phone and got the same message. He picked up the radio. “Arniel, run to the car and see if you can reach anyone.”
A few minutes passed and Arniel reported back, “The radio is dead. I can’t get a hold of anyone. Maybe the battery is dead. I’m checking the other cruiser.”
“The radio is going crazy. Reports of infected have gone through the roof. I can hear gunshots in some of the radio calls, and there isn’t anyone answering from central. I think we’re on our own, at least for now.”
“Okay, wait there, Arniel, I’ll be down in a minute. Don’t do anything until I get there!” Ellett replied.
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