Outbreak of the Living Dead (Book 1)

by Guerra, Aaron

  “What?! I forgot! I already told you that!” Valerie had defended herself. Velski quickly snatched the machine gun from the girl’s hand before hopping over the coffin that they just placed down. She started to open fire at the creature’s weak spots to take them down easily. One after another they dropped to the floor with black blood spilling out of their wounds.

  “Coast is clear, let’s go,” said Velski.

  The woman tossed the gun back to the owner. Tristan rubbed the back of his head while staring at all the disgusting bodies in the hallway. “I could’ve done that too,” he said to himself.

  Chapter 6

  Freddy had finished cleaning up his rifle when the sounds of yelling could be heard from down below. He was high up on the rooftop to the factory that they were stationed in.

  “What the hell is going on?” he asked himself. The man ran over to each end of the building to see what was going on. From the south side he could see a large beastly monster heading their way with a small army of the dead around it. “That‘s what killed off our guys earlier. I need to warn the others,” he said in a hurry. The man quickly ran back to the door that lead to the stairs. He went down as fast as he could until he finally made it to the large machinery room where everyone was. “Guys, we’ve got a situation!” he said out loud. The leader shook his head before turning to face him.

  “That’s already old news! You were suppose to be our lookout! Where the hell were you?!” the leader asked in a demanding voice. Freddy messed up again. He didn’t want to admit that he was cleaning his weapon instead of doing what he was suppose to.

  “Sir, what are we going to do? The thing that wiped out Team-C is heading this way. I don’t think we have enough firepower to take it down at this time,” Freddy said. The larger man had grabbed the sniper by the neck to lift him up off the floor. He struggled for a bit but was soon released.

  “Don’t be such a candy-ass-wimp. Now go find Cindy and Christine. Tell them to get that civilian to safety before joining in on the action. Now MOVE IT!” he had ordered. The leader pushed Freddy back before turning away with his shotgun in his hand.

  The man ran to where he last saw the women, but they were no where to be found. He tried to think where they could’ve gone during that time.

  “Come on guys, where in the heck did you two go?” he thought to himself. He searched high and low but couldn’t find any trace of them. Freddy was startled when he heard the creatures banging against the windows. They were rubbing their rotting faces against the glass while smacking against it hard. Small cracks started to form before they shattered into pieces. The man quickly equipped his sidearm and started to fire down at the ones that had climbed through the window. “I need some help here!” he said out loud.

  The walkie-talkie located on his left leg started to make noise which caught the creature’s attention.

  “Hey!” he said in surprise. Freddy backed up out of the room and slammed the door shut. Pressing the button firmly down and bringing it up to his face, he began to speak into it. “Is anyone there? Cindy?! Over!” he shouted through the device. There was nothing but static coming from it which made him feel alone. “Cindy! Christine! Does anyone read me? Over!” he had said to the walkie-talkie. No answer. The door behind him was being beaten against as the dead tried to push through it with their many numbers. “ANYONE?!” Freddy said as he trembled. The static ended on the device until someone’s voice finally came through. It put him to ease to hear his friend Christine coming out.

  “Freddy? What’s going on up there? Over.” she had asked through the device. The man looked around the room that he was in until he noticed the creature’s hands smacking against the windows to his right.

  “I don’t think…I’m going to make it out of this. Over.” he said in a low whisper through the walkie-talkie.

  Christine tossed the walkie-talkie over to Cindy while turning back.

  “He needs my help! All of them up there do,” she said with a frown showing on her face. The three women were in the lower section of the Factory that connected to the Sewers underneath. They planned to walk safely through it to cover more ground without running into the dead that were up above. But they could hear constant gun fire above them. Kim walked over to Christine while holding the Walkie-talkie to her chest.

  “Please, we need your help,” Kim said to her. The woman patted the girl on her head while undoing her belt. She pulled out her large 13 inch hunting knife and handed it to her.

  “This kept me alive when my Team was wiped out earlier. I’m sure it’ll keep you safe. But you two go on. I’m going to try and save Freddy at least,” Christine said. She quickly ran back down the dark path until she couldn’t be seen anymore. Kim held the large blade tightly in her hand while staring down at the initials on it.

  “C.H.” she read out. She turned to face the only person with her with a slight confused look on her face. “What is Christine’s last name?” Kim asked. Cindy continued to march on with the flashlight in her hand. It was the only thing they had to help them see down there.

  “Harris, Christine Harris is her name. Those are her Initials,” said Cindy.

  The two women that were underground had walked for ten minutes straight without any interruptions. A familiar loud roar caught the young one off guard as she bumped into Cindy from behind. She quickly turned back to face where they just came from.

  “It’s him. How does he know that we’re down here?” Kim said as her body trembled. Cindy held out her machine gun and aimed it towards the darkness.

  “Here!” Cindy quickly said. She gave Kim the flashlight to see what was following after them down there. It was quiet. Too quiet.

  Another roar echoed throughout the sewer’s system. Rats could be seen running out from the direction they were facing.

  “It’s getting closer. Kim, get the gun from my back and prepare to defend yourself,” Cindy ordered. The girl quickly moved behind the soldier to reached down for the black handgun.

  Kim noticed something else that was more useful beside the handgun. She had pulled out one of the grenades that was attached to her belt.

  “Wait, what’re you doing?! That thing is dangerous!” Cindy said to her.

  Kim pulled the pin out and tossed it as far as she could within the darkness. She then grabbed Cindy and pushed her down with her near one of the walls. The loud explosion shook the area with the ceiling closing them off from whatever was following after them. The light to the flashlight was used to check on the area to make sure that there wasn’t any other way for the monsters to get through.

  “That was reckless and stupid! What the hell were you even thinking?!” Cindy asked her in anger. Kim slowly stood up with the memory of Susan appearing in her mind.

  “That bastard killed a friend of mine…along with your teammates,” she said. Cindy stood up from the dirty floor before dusting herself off. She quickly followed after the girl that decided to lead the way with the flashlight.

  “So who was this friend of yours? Did you two know each other long?” Cindy asked her out of curiosity. Kim held onto the knife tightly while using the flashlight to shine their way through the dark.

  “I met her the other day with the man that’s with your friend, Velski. They rescued me from those monsters outside. She was just a teenager, someone that was still in High School. I recall that she lost her family before meeting with him,” she said.

  The images of Susan’s cold expression to her brought a smile on her face.

  “She didn’t like me at first, but I think she started to near the end,” said Kim. Cindy placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder to comfort her, but the hand was removed from a simple shrug of the shoulder. “I decided to split us up when we were chased by a lot of those creatures. Something I wish I could take back. If I had her come with me instead of going off on her own, she’d probably still be alive! It’s my fault she’s dead,” she said with sadness in her voice. Cindy stopped Kim from advancing and turned
the girl to face her.

  “Listen, don’t be so down on yourself. I had to make plenty of difficult choices when I first started this job. A lot of friends that I made years ago are gone now. Maybe if I was smarter, stronger, faster, I could’ve prevented their deaths,” said Cindy. Kim had a puzzled look on her face.

  “Years ago? Cindy? How long…have these type of monsters been around?!” she had asked. Kim slowly took a step away from her while holding the knife out.

  “Whoa, easy there kitten. This is my first time going against this type of enemy. People coming back from the dead isn’t something you see everyday. We were ordered to come and destroy something that lurks inside that beast. The people in charge believe that this thing is controlling the dead,” Cindy explained. Kim lowered the blade while leaning against the wall behind her.

  “Something is keeping them alive? What is this? A sci-fi movie? You’re talking as if this thing is from outer space or something!” she joked with a chuckle escaping from her.

  Cindy continued to walk as Kim following behind.

  “Well? What do you think?” Kim asked. Cindy waved her hand a bit when she was asked that.

  “I don’t know. I’m just here to take that thing down,” said Cindy. Kim caught up to the soldier, now walking side by side.

  “Do you know what this ‘thing’ looks like?” she asked. The soldier in black shrugged as she walked.

  “They just told us it was black like tar or something. The big monster that took out Team-C and your friend. He was a scientist back at our company’s science division. He came in contact with that stuff and went berserk. We were able to contain him with a few casualties but no one was fatally injured. The meeting we had before coming here stated that the one transporting him to a different location to be destroyed, had an accident. They found her in Crimson Falls Police Department while that thing wreaked havoc upon the city. It was too late for us to be sent there, so they decided to wipe the entire place out just recently,” she explained to her. The woman imitated a missile going down while whistling to create a better picture for Kim.

  “They destroyed Crimson Falls?! But what about the people that were still alive over there?!” she said in shock. Cindy turned away as she stopped walking for a moment.

  “We all make hard decisions,” said Cindy.

  The rain poured heavily down against the town outside with the thunder roaring across the sky. Lighting strikes came down and completely toasted a few of the creatures messing with an antenna. The two lovers were on the rooftop of the hospital, sitting inside the helicopter. They were resting up as much as they could before they would attempt to escape this nightmare once again.

  “Hey!” Marilyn said softly. Matthew slowly opened his eyes to see his love laying on top of his chest. She was listening to his heart pound softly inside while trailing her fingertip in circles against his black shirt. “Think you’ve had enough sleep, mister,” she told him. He slowly sat up while looking around the inside of the helicopter.

  “So it wasn’t a dream?” he asked himself.

  Matthew placed a hand on his face while trying to remember everything that happened. The green shirt she was wearing finally kicked his memory back into focus.

  “Right! We finally made it to the Helicopter, but we don’t know how to fly the damn thing,” Matthew said. She couldn’t help but chuckle from that, but the thought of them being alone together wasn’t so bad.

  “We either have to find a pilot that can use this thing, or find another way out of here. I’m starting to think that the second option is what we have going for us,” she said. Marilyn opened the sliding door to see the outside better. The cool breeze that came in relaxed her, but the dead hands reaching inside didn’t. Matthew quickly shut the door as hard as he could which severed the arms.

  “How dare he try to touch you!” he said as he gritted his teeth in anger. He held her close while glaring at the dirty rotting hands on the metal floor. “Stay here, I’m going to clear the roof again from them,” he told her. The girl held him close by the black shirt he found earlier.

  “Be careful…” she said.

  He opened the door and jumped out as she closed it shut right after. In the heavy rain he could see about six of them surrounding the helicopter. They quickly turned to face him, including the armless one. Matthew went over to him first and grabbed him by the back of the neck like a wild dog. He used all the force he could muster to smash it’s head down onto the rough concrete. It’s brains oozed all over while mixing with the rain puddles. The next two that came to him were both forced to head butt each other. He continued to smash their heads into each other until there was nothing there left. The three that came next were a little different from the ones he just killed off. They had crimson red eyes and dark blood spilling out of their mouths. The three were active, violent, and hungry.

  “Ah crap,” he said. Each of them came running to him one after another. Matthew then ducked down into a ball near the ledge of the building which caused the attackers to trip over him. He could hear them scream before landing in the horde of the creatures down below. “I can’t believe that actually worked,” said Matthew. He remembered using that same move on his sister when she was chasing him down for a smartass remark he made about her. She ended up tripping over him when he quickly ducked down into a ball. “Thanks sis,” he said to himself.

  Marilyn opened the door to see three of them on the roof. But the only one she was interested in was her love. She quickly rushed out into the rain to hold him close before inspecting him all over.

  “Did you get bit? Scratched? Harmed in anyway?” she asked him with fear showing on her face. He gave out a light laugh while embracing her close.

  “I’m quite alright my dear! The only problem we have right now is trying to figure out how to escape this Hospital together,” he said to her. They looked down at the edge to see that the dead were still trying to get inside of the building. “I guess they barricaded it from the inside on the first floor. But some of the wounded people that were rushed here must’ve turned and attacked them. This place is filled with medical supplies, but nothing really useful to defend ourselves with,” said Matthew. He patted Marilyn on the head lovingly as the rain started to die off. The cool breeze disappeared as the warm air settled in.

  “Remember that officer that brought us here?” she asked suddenly. Matthew looked down at his love.

  “The one from the other morning? Yes, I do recall her,” he said. He placed an arm around her shoulder while staring down at the creatures trying to reach up to them.

  “I liked her. I wonder if she’s down there with them right now though…” she said with bitter sadness fused within her words.

  An hour passed as the two were sitting in the helicopter once again. Matthew was looking at all the controls that were in the front. He just wanted to start punching them to see if it would start up, but he didn’t want to end up breaking their only escape from the town.

  “Isn’t there a manual in here or something for me to read?” he had said. Marilyn was staring at the radio for awhile, trying to decide if it was for playing music or interacting with others.

  “This,” she said. The girl slid the keys into the ignition and turned it on to start the power. The radio started up with static coming out of the speaker. She handed him the device to speak into. “I’ll mess with the switches until someone comes through. When they do, you tell them what is going on,” she said to him with a smile. He gave her a gentle peck on the check before she started messing with the radio. Nothing but static was coming out which was starting to get on his nerves.

  “Is there anyone there?” he said through the radio. Marilyn looked up at him while mouthing the words, ‘over’ to him. “Over?” he concluded. The static kicked up as someone was getting ready to speak from the other end.

  “I read you loud and clear. Over,” a man’s voice had said. Matthew had a great smile on his face when he finally heard another living person
’s voice.

  “We need someone to rescue us! Over!” he said. There was a brief silent pause between the two.

  “My name is Earl Rogers, and I live nearly 40 miles away from Travis, and 20 miles from Little Bow. Where is your current location? Over,” Earl asked.

  Marilyn took the device away from her lover and clicked down on the red button to speak through it.

  “Hello, my name is Marilyn and I believe we’re in Little Bow. Monsters have overtaken the town and we need help to get out of here! Over!” she had begged through the device. Another brief pause between the two people took place before the static picked up once again.

  “I’m sorry, there is something out there attacking my cattle. I’ll be right back! Over!” he said to them in a hurry.

  Marilyn quickly pressed the button again and started to scream through the device.

  “NO! DON’T GO! DON’T GO!” she cried. Tears formed in her eyes as she broke down. They knew too well that he was already a goner.

  “Hey, it’s going to be alright. He did say that he was 20 miles from here right? That means…those things are out there already. That other town, Travis. We have to get there and warn the others before another outbreak happens,” Matthew said. He grabbed the device from her hand and tried again for the guy. “Earl! Are you there? Over!” he said. Matthew waited for two minutes for the man to respond.

  “We have to keep trying! There must be someone out there with a radio!” said Marilyn. She was about to touch the dial to change it, but the same static came back.

  “You youngster’s still there? Over,” Earl said through the radio. The man sounded out of breath and exhausted from the other end.

  “Yes! Yes we are! Are you alright Earl?! Over!” said Matthew. He looked at the doors that lead into the hospital building. The creatures had forced them down as they started to spill out. “Earl, I repeat. Are you alright? Over,” he asked again.