Outbreak of the Living Dead (Book 1)

by Guerra, Aaron

  One hour passed when Erik had finally pulled up beside the two officers with a serious look on his face. The man had opened his door and stepped out into the bright hot sunlight. It could’ve been nearly 99 degrees out there during that time of the morning. Harvey started to wave to him from the distance as Erik started to walk in his direction. He soon passed Sarah and George and entered the tall grass, but before he could take another step in he started to gag.

  “What in rancid hell is that disgusting smell?” Erik had asked as he placed his arm up to his face to cancel out the stench that was lingering in the area. Sarah couldn’t help but let out a soft giggle when Erik complained about the gross scent that was in the air.

  Sarah pointed to the man in the white coat as she said, “Sorry Erik, we should’ve warned you before you went over there.” She waved to him as he gave her the middle finger with a smile on his face.

  “Thanks a lot babe, but next time why don’t you just tell me to bring a hazmat suit,” Erik had said while waving his hand around to blow the stench away. “This stuff could be very hazardous to us you numbskulls!”

  George looked at Sarah and nervously asked if he was joking about that. She just shrugged and smiled. Erik was finally standing near Harvey and found what was causing the terrible odor. The sight of Billy all chewed up was something he wished he could forget already. The officer next to him glanced up at him before looking down to the body again.

  “Well, do you know what kind of animal did this?” asked Harvey. Erik took a step closer so that he was able to see some maggots already wiggling from within the wounds that were inflicted on the corpse.

  He slipped on two latex gloves and knelt down beside it before speaking up, “It does look like an animal attack, but…these wounds up here.” He had pointed at the chest, then moved his finger along the mutilated neck. “To me it looks as though someone bit his neck and removed a chunk of his flesh.” Harvey looked at Erik as he explained that to him.

  “Then what did this?” asked Harvey. “Just look at that large hole in his chest. Would an animal have dug inside there?” he said while staring at the gaping hole.

  Erik moved his hand away from the corpse and stared at Harvey with a confused look on his face.

  The man in the white coat said in a low voice, “It looks like a human did this evil act. Someone must‘ve attacked him, like a cannibal.” Erik stood up, then looked at the body for a moment from a different angle. Harvey turned away from it and waved over to the two officers on the road.

  Harvey asked while standing next to him, “You’re saying a human ate Billy Joe?” The officer had put a hand to his face to cover his eyes from the sight. He continued to talk as he took a step away from Billy’s body. “That’s just insane! Who would do something like that to another human?!” Erik glared at the officer and clenched his fist tightly.

  “Didn’t you understand me the first time?” said Erik as he pointed out to the field. “There’s a psychotic flesh eating person out here!” He looked out at the wide open field while continuing to talk out loud. “Knowing that he could be watching us right now is giving me the creeps!”

  Sarah and George made their way over to hear what the Coroner had to say about Billy and his attacker. Harvey looked at the two officers and shook his head before placing his hand firmly on his gun’s holster. Harvey had spoke out for his two companions to hear what he learned a moment ago.

  “Erik is saying that a human ate Billy Joe. If that‘s true, then he or she might still be around here watching us,” said a frightened Harvey. Erik swiftly reached into his coat’s pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes. The man placed the cigarette between his lips while facing them.

  “That’s right kids, what we have here is a case of cannibalism at it’s finest,” said Erik. “Now, my job is to take the body while you three find this sick freak.” His hands were shaking as he lit the cigarette with his trusty lighter. He said to himself while looking around, “Is it just me, or is it starting to smell like shit out here again?” The smell of death was growing stronger to where George couldn’t help but walk away from the area. Sarah had looked at the two beside her, sighing.

  “He’s got a weak stomach for this kind of stuff,” she said before turning to the one in charge. “Harvey, I’m surprised you’re not feeling like George right now since you also have a weak stomach.” The male officer looked into her eyes with his hand gripping the holster once again.

  He said with his voice being low, “Sarah, trust me. I feel just as bad as George does, but my pure hatred for the monster that did this to Billy is keeping me from showing it.”

  Erik had knelt down beside Billy once more to see if there was anything else that he probably had missed during his first look.

  The man said to himself, “His body is starting to emit a stronger stench now.” He waved his hand over the corpse to blow some of it away from him. That’s when Sarah noticed that one of Billy’s fingers had twitched. It was probably one of his muscles or nerves going off one last time. Harvey decided to kneel down near Billy with his face getting close enough to check on the wounds on the neck. The officer had moved back quickly when he noticed that parts of the flesh in Billy‘s neck started to bubble up from inside.

  “Did you guys see that?” asked Harvey as he had an excited look on his face. Erik and Sarah looked closer at the neck but they couldn’t see anything happening. The female officer had shrugged and shook her head before answering him.

  “No, what did you see?” she had asked before continuing on. “All I see are the bite marks and scratches.”

  Harvey pointed down to the body where he first saw it move. The entire corpse had suddenly started to make an eerie popping sound from within as one of it’s eyes opened up wide. Sarah quickly took a few steps back and started to freak out from the sight. She pointed down at the body a few times while tapping on Harvey’s shoulder.

  “M-Maybe there’s a rodent or something in him!” she had said frantically. “T-That’s got to be why his body was making those popping sounds! Am I right?!” They could tell from her trembling that the eye opening up frightened her quite a bit.

  George was leaning against his squad car when he heard Sarah talking pretty loud with excitement showing on her face.

  “I wonder what’s going on over there,” he said to himself. “Maybe a field mouse came running by and it turned her pure white?” He had slowly looked down to the road, but something new had caught his attention from the corner of his eye. The officer had noticed a few unknown people walking to them from a good distance in the tall grass. They were walking at a very slow pace from what he could tell. George had whistled to his friends to catch their attention before pointing towards the people heading their way. “Hey guys, I think we have company coming!” George said while facing the other people. “It could be the very survivors we were searching for!”

  Erik and Harvey both stood up to see a few people heading towards them from the open field. They were limping and stumbling around from the heavy wounds that were inflicted on their bodies. Sarah had walked back to George’s vehicle and opened the door to get inside. She quickly grabbed the device that was attached to the radio and pressed the button hard to reach someone on the other end.

  “This is Officer Sarah Parson! We need medical assistance out here on route 45! We have wounded survivors from a car wreck. I repeat, we need Medical Assistance. This is Officer Sarah Parson,” she explained through the radio, but all that she could hear was static coming from the other end of the machine. She continued a couple of more tries until someone finally answered her.

  “Sarah,” a man’s voice had said through the radio. “We’ll be sending someone over there shortly with the paramedics. There seems to be a lot of prank calls going on in town right now about crazy people acting out in public. I think it’s those damn teenagers from the High School again.” The man was quiet for a brief moment, until he asked, “Do you think the Sheriff’s boy is responsible for this
as well?” Sarah gripped the device in her hand tightly and pressed the button down harder than before.

  “Listen! We’ll deal with them when we get back into town!” she had said when raising her voice. “Just tell them to hurry up!” She placed the radio piece back where it belonged before getting out of the car to stand beside George.

  Harvey was the first one to head over to the people that were in need of serious help. But the officer couldn’t help but stop in his tracks when that god awful smell kicked in again. He placed a hand over his mouth and waved at the people that were getting closer.

  “Hello there,” said the officer as he took another step. “I‘m Deputy Harvey Santos from the Little Bow Police Department. I want you to know that the medics are on their way!” Erik ran off to his truck to retrieve the large black bag to store Billy’s body inside. While the coroner was putting the remains in the large bag, Sarah watched as the few people got closer to Harvey. Though something didn’t add up for her. She glanced over at the pool of blood by the wrecked vehicles, then to the wounded people in the tall grass. Sarah could see how damaged their bodies looked from where she was standing. But how were they able to walk around like it was nothing? Some of their bones were sticking out of their flesh.

  Slowly, Harvey walked closer to them while putting his pistol back in it’s holster. He brought his hand up to reach out to the tall man in black that was standing in front of him. The officer had looked at the disfigured form that stood before him. The tall man was covered in cuts and bruises with dried blood on his mouth.

  The only words that he could muster was, “What the fuck?”

  Back at the vehicles, Sarah tapped on her fellow officer’s shoulder and asked him something that was bugging her still.

  “Hey George,” she said when facing the man. “I don’t get it. Why were they hiding when we’ve been out here this whole time? Wouldn’t it be wise to stay by the wreckage for someone passing by to help? Why did they leave?” Sarah made a good point, which made George feel a little uneasy now. He decided to go after Harvey to back him up incase that gut feeling was right. George undid the two buttons on his holster to pull out his gun, which was firmly in his hand when he stood right beside Harvey. Sarah watched Erik stuff two legs into a black bag before he zipped it up.

  She politely asked, “Do you need any help over there?” The man flicked her off and threw his cigarette down to the ground before stomping it out.

  “No thanks,” he had said while holding the black bag in his hands. “I think I’ve got every bit of Billy now. Oh wait, here’s an ear!” The man had knelt down to pick it up before he waved it around for her to see. He yelled to her with a smile on his face, “I got it!” Sarah couldn’t help but roll her eyes after he did that to Billy. The woman lowered her hands to her side when she replied to him.

  “You’re so immature Erik! Why don‘t you grow up already?” The man gave a hearty laugh as he carried the body bag over his shoulder to the truck.

  “Could you be a dear and open the back for me?” he asked while standing on the road impatiently. “I don’t want to stick around anymore since it’s so freaking hot!” She did what she was asked and opened the double doors to the back of the white vehicle. Erik placed the large black bag inside and closed the doors, leaving her outside on her own.

  The two officers stood there and watched as the wounded people had stumbled over a large pole that was on the ground. Each of them landed on their face with their bare backs being revealed to them. They were terribly burned in the back with most of their spinal cords and bones sticking out. The stench that they brought with them was surprisingly overwhelming compared to Billy’s body. George was standing beside Harvey with his gun aiming down to them.

  “Harvey, something isn’t right about them,” said George as he watched their movements very carefully. “I think they’re the ones that did that to Billy Joe! Just look at the guy in front of us! He’s got dried blood on his mouth! I mean come on! Is-Is that a piece of skin sticking out of his lips?!”

  Harvey had moved in front of George to lower the officer’s weapon. The man in front of the gun shook his head slowly.

  “Hey,” the deputy said when facing George. “Let’s just get them back over there and question them first before we start accusing them for something they might’ve not even did! Can‘t you tell they‘re in pain from the groans they keep making?” Harvey turned around to look at the tall man with the many wounds on his body. “Just look at them! They‘re obviously in a lot of pain,” he said.

  The officer tried to lower George’s gun again, but it wasn’t going to happen. Harvey quickly removed his pistol from it’s holster and aimed it to George’s side, ordering him once again to lower his weapon. George started to sweat as the four people facing him got back up onto their feet with black blood oozing out of their mouths. Their pupils were missing, same as Billy’s when the eye suddenly opened up. The two injured females started to bite the air with their jaws making cracking sounds each time they did it. The other two larger males had groaned louder with blood spilling out of their mouths. The smell of death grew stronger the closer they got to the officers. George and Harvey had tried their best to block off the smell, but it was to the point where it began to burn their eyes and cause them to constantly cough.

  Erik got out of the drivers side of the large white vehicle and stood next to Sarah with another cigarette between the corner of his mouth. He offered her a cigarette but she nicely declined.

  “What, too good for a smoke with me?” he said in a joking manner. “Didn‘t you use to smoke back in High School with the cool kids?” She shook her head and waved her hand to the side to forget that part of her life.

  “That’s not it,” Sarah said while looking down at her fingers. “I’ve just never been into smoking, period.” That was a complete lie.

  He let out a soft chuckle before lighting his cigarette. Sarah felt a sharp pain in her stomach when she turned back to see the four injured people jump on top of her friends. She could hear them screaming out for help as the people began to bite down into their skull’s with such great strength. Erik felt his back hitting against his truck as he watched the nightmarish event take place right before his very eyes. Without thinking, Sarah ran to them with her gun in her hands. She started to fire at the tall one in black but the bullets weren’t doing anything to it at all. It stood up with George’s brains in it’s bloody hands near it’s face. It continued to chew on it for a moment before it snarled at her sight.

  She pulled the trigger again, but the clip was already empty. Sarah started to walk backwards as the cannibalistic man in black stood tall once again. It began to limp towards her with his bloody hands reaching for her body. The other three stayed behind to devour the two fallen officers. Sarah decided to retreat back to the vehicles before it could get a hold of her. The man in black groaned louder with his face covered in fresh blood. Erik got into his large truck when the woman was running back to him. The man franticly stabbed his key inside the slot and started the engine up. By the time she got to the road, he sped off to town without her. Quickly, she made her way to George’s car to escape, but when she got into the vehicle she noticed that the key’s weren’t in there like they usually were. She remembered that she told him to stop leaving the keys in the ignition. The woman looked over to where his body was and knew that the key was most likely in his pocket.

  Sarah couldn’t help but shout out, “Shit! Now what?!” She looked in the car to see if she could find another spare he might‘ve left behind. When she got back up from searching under the passenger’s seat, she noticed that the man in black was too close to the car. She slammed the door shut and locked it with the window being rolled up. The sight of him pressing against the glass was like nightmare fuel. He had rubbed his bloody disfigured face all over the clear glass, as he tried to find his way inside to get to her. She couldn’t help but scream each time he smashed his fists against the window. A few seconds passed befo
re she started to crawl to the passenger’s side. While the man continued to beat on the window, she went out the other door to escape. The brain eating man started to walk around the car with his eyes fixated on her body. Sarah made her way over to Billy Joe’s old heap and entered the vehicle. Her prayers were answered when she had placed her hand against the ignition to feel the key. Without further hesitation, she turned it on and started the car while rolling up the window. Before the one that killed George got any closer to her, she had pressed down on the gas pedal hard and drove off in the same direction that Erik went. The car may have been old and slow, but it was a life saver at this point.

  Sarah was driving down the long lonesome road for a couple of minutes when she suddenly slowed down to see that Erik’s truck had flipped over on it’s side. She decided to look around inside of the car that she was inside of for anything she could use as a weapon. Sarah slowly reached under the passenger’s seat to find a large hunting knife that belonged to Billy. With that in her possession, she then exited the car to see if Erik was badly injured from the accident. But before exiting the old car, she decided to leave the vehicle running. Just incase she needed to make a quick escape from there.

  Her heart started to beat heavily within her chest the closer she came closer to the turned over vehicle. When she opened the doors in the back, she stood there with her mouth opening to scream, yet nothing came out. Erik was twitching on the floor with blood covering his white coat. The sight of Billy biting down into his neck caused her to fall back onto the road. Blood had splashed out of his jaws with some of it landing on Sarah’s uniform. Finally a scream was able to escape from her which caught Billy’s attention. The pale man got up on his hands and started to crawl towards her. She stood up fast and grabbed both of the door handles before slamming them shut to keep him from escaping. The woman had tripped on a small rock that was on the road, which caused her to land flat on her ass again.