I lean over and give her a kiss, “You are the best, Lynda, you know that.”
She shrugs, “I try.” She pushes herself off the bed as she waddles out of the room.
I get out of bed as I go into the bathroom to wash up for dinner. As I walk out into the living room, I see Lynda standing in front of the television, shaking her head. I walk up to her, “Everything okay?”
She shakes her head, “Now, the Zombie-like creatures have made it to Africa. They’re spreading.” She looks at me with concern in her eyes, “What do you think the chances are that they’ll come here?”
I shake my head as I honestly answer, “I really don’t know, Lynda. I don’t know.”
“But what about Blakelyn? How will we be able to protect her?”
I continue shaking my head with a feeling of uncertainty inside me, “I honestly don’t know. I guess we’ll have to figure it out. I’ll talk to Mac when I get to work and see what he has to say. He studies up on viruses, hopefully he’ll have some kind of answer for me. And then, I’ll be able to come up with a plan for us, just in case they do make it to the United States.”
Lynda and I go into the kitchen to plate up our dinners. Then we sit down at the table, in silence. I sure hope that Mac has some kind of answer for me, something that will help me. I feel so helpless right now. How am I going to protect my pregnant wife and my future baby daughter against Zombies? Will our house be safe to stay in, or will we have to leave? And if we have to leave, where will we go?
After I’m done eating dinner, I get ready to leave for work. I walk out of the bedroom and into the living room where Lynda is sitting on the couch, watching television. I sit down next to her and put my hand on her leg, “I’m going to head into work early and talk to Mac before my shift starts. I want to get as much information from him on what’s going on, or at least how much I can, that way I’ll know better on how to handle things.”
Lynda leans up against me as she puts her head on my shoulder, “Do what you have to do.”
I kiss her forehead, “Keep the doors and windows locked. If you notice anything suspicious, call me immediately.”
She looks up at me with concern in her eyes, “I will. I promise.”
I lean towards her and plant my lips on hers. Then I lean down and kiss her belly, “You take care of mommy, okay, Blakelyn?”
Lynda wraps her arms around my neck as she hugs me, “Please take care out there.”
“I will, babe. I’ll do everything I can to get things figured out for our family.” I give her one last kiss on the lips before I head out the door.
*******************
Sally and Parker Gibson
I open up his bedroom door and peek my head in, “Parker, sweetie, it’s time to get up for school.”
Parker is my fifteen year old son. His dad was killed in a car accident a few years ago by a drunk driver, leaving me to raise our son alone. I had gone to nursing school right out of high school, then I met Peter, my husband, we got married and had Parker and I kind of never fulfilled my dream of being a nurse. Peter had a good job as a welder for a big construction company and he told me that I didn’t need to work, and I could stay home and take care of our son, which I loved the idea of. Then, when he was killed, and I was left raising our son alone, I decided to finish nursing school and get my degree. So, here I am, working as an Emergency Room nurse at Gatewood Hospital. I love my job.
I go into the kitchen to make Parker his breakfast. He likes eggs, bacon and three waffles, definitely a growing boy.
Parker walks into the kitchen, “Hey mom.”
I look at him and smile, he is looking more and more like his dad every day. “Hey Parker, breakfast is almost ready.”
Parker sits down at the table and smiles, “Thanks mom.”
I fill his plate with breakfast, then I turn around and set it on the table in front of him, “Here you go, Parker.” I sit down across from him as I continue drinking my coffee, “So, were you going to go trick r treating with your friends tonight?”
Parker looks at me with a disgusted look on his face as he laughs, “No…mom…I haven’t trick r treated in like two years, that’s for babies. I’m fifteen now.”
I shrug my shoulders, “I don’t know. My friends and I used to trick r treat at fourteen, or fifteen. It’s free candy. I thought all kids like free candy.” I reply with a chuckle.
Parker shakes his head as he laughs, “That was back in the day, mom.”
“Oh…back in the day…huh. You guys don’t like free candy anymore?”
“Of course, we do. But we don’t like to dress up and go door to door for it.”
I shake my head, wow, he’s growing up so fast. His dad would totally crack up over him. I sure do miss Peter, I miss him every single day.
I stand up and walk over to the stove as I clean up my breakfast mess. Then I turn sideways towards him as I’m cleaning up, “Parker, you know those Zombie creatures I was telling you about that’s going on in Europe and such?”
Parker nods, “Yeah, that’s pretty cool, don’t you think?”
I look at him dumbfounded, “No…it’s not cool, Parker. You know that if you were to see one, to run the opposite direction and get help, right?”
“Mom, I know. But I still think it’s pretty cool. You only see them in movies and video games. That’d be pretty cool to see one in person, though.”
“Parker, they eat people. It’s not cool.” I shake my head, “Listen to me, if you see one, run…run fast. Get help. Don’t try to talk to it, take pictures of it, fight it. Just run.”
“I know, I know. Don’t worry about me, I’m a fast runner.”
“Okay, I just want to make sure that you understand.”
“Do you think they’ll come here?”
I shake my head, “I really don’t know, Parker. It’s always a possibility. I’m sure that the government, military and the International Disease Administration is working on keeping them out of the United States, but I wouldn’t rule it out. I just want to make sure that you know to stay away from them. Just…if you see anything suspicious, just run please.”
Parker nods, “Okay, no problem mom.”
I walk up to him, put my hands on his face as I pull his face up towards me, “I love you, Parker, I love you very much. I’ve already lost your dad and I really do not want to lose you.” I give him a kiss on his forehead, “Now, hurry up and finish your breakfast, your bus will be here soon, and I need to get to work.”
“Yes, mom, and I love you too.”
I smile at him, “I’m going to finish getting ready for work. I should be home by four.”
Parker nods, “Okay mom. I’ll see you after school.”
“I love you, Parker.” I say as I’m walking towards my bedroom.
********************
Blake
I walk into Gatewood Hospital, where I work. I take the elevator to the third floor where Mac Barber has a hematology lab. He studies the different diseases and viruses in blood.
I open the door to his lab, he turns around and looks at me, “Hey Blake, how are you? How’s the wife and baby?”
I walk in nodding, “Good, good. So, how’s everything with you?”
“Same old, same old. So, what’s up?”
“Um…have you been watching the news over the last day or so?”
He looks at me and nods, “Oh, yeah, the Zombies, that’s what your asking about, isn’t it?”
I nod, “Yeah, it is. What’s going on with that?”
He turns his whole body towards me as he gets a serious look on his face, “Well, I’ve been communicating with Virus Specialists in Europe, trying to figure out how this could be happening. I’ve also been communicating with the Specialists from the International Disease Administration, trying to information about the virus, how it spreads, is there a cure, are they working on a cure, how do we contain this, but…the communication signals have been so off and on, it’s been very hard getting t
hrough.”
“So, have they said anything?”
“Well, we’re not sure if it’s airborne or not, but it seems to definitely be through contact, bodily fluids. The information I’ve received is that once the Zombie bites you, the virus rushes through your blood stream, which makes you sick with fever as it begins to shut down your organs as it slowly kills you, then when you die, you turn into a Zombie.”
I shake my head in disbelief, “Wow, that’s it? So, why are so many people contracting the virus? Can’t they just kill the Zombie before it has a chance to bite you?”
“Well, the problem is, that people don’t always realize that someone has turned into a Zombie, until it’s too late. Plus, the Zombies are strong, so if you come face to face with one, you need to make sure you kill it before it bites you.”
“So, you just kill it. Like a stake through the heart?”
“Not the heart, the brain. That’s what I’ve been told by the Specialists in Europe. They’ve managed to capture a couple of the Zombies and immediately started investigating them.”
I nod, “Okay, this is all very helpful. So, what do you think the chances of them making it to the United States?”
Mac shrugs his shoulders, “Well, there’s a lot there. Let’s say, somebody is on an airplane, and they have a heart attack and die. They will turn into a Zombie, probably within ten to fifteen minutes, and they will start attacking people on the plane, turning people into Zombies, plane lands, you have an airplane full of Zombies.”
I shake my head, “But, how does a person have a heart attack, then turn into a Zombie? I thought it was only through the bites?”
Mac shakes his head, “I don’t know how that is happening, but they’ve been experiencing this in Europe and Russia, and my communication with Europe has passed this information to me. Now…we know that it’s passed through the bites, and it doesn’t have the same properties as an airborne kind of virus, though, but for some reason, anybody who dies, turns into a Zombie. They were still trying to figure it out the last time I communicated with them.”
I shake my head in disbelief, “Wow. I need to figure out a safe place for my wife, baby and I.”
“Strong walls. Lots of weapons, food, water. Just be safe out there. I’m not sure about what attracts them yet, I haven’t heard back from Europe in a while, the signals haven’t been working, but be safe.”
I nod, “I will. I have a lot to think about right now.”
Mac nods in agreement, “Yeah, with that baby on the way, you have a lot on your plate with this going on.”
“Yes, I do.” I hold my hand out to Mac, “Thanks for the helpful information, Mac. I really appreciate it.”
“Good luck, Blake. Be sure to be very vigilant of your wife and baby.”
“Trust me, I will.” I turn around and walk towards the door, as I’m about to begin my twelve hour work shift.
********************
The first half of my work shift was pretty uneventful, but the second half, things started getting a little strange. Almost as if there was a full moon out on Friday the thirteenth or something.
The Chief of Staff, my boss, Robert Scanlan, came up to me about ten a.m., two hours before my shift is supposed to end, “Hey, Blake. I know that you’re off in a couple of hours, but if things keep going the way they’ve been going over the last few hours, I might need you to stay on a couple of hours longer.”
I look at him hesitantly, but I know that I should stay longer, because it’s my job. I am one of the head Emergency Room Doctors in our hospital, and I need to set a good example. “That’s fine, I can stay a little while longer, but I would like to get home to my wife, as soon as possible.”
Robert nods, “I understand. I’ll try to have you out of here by two or three.”
“Thank you, sir, I’d really appreciate it.” I turn around and walk away from him. I see my Doctor’s assistant, Sally Gibson. She is the Head Nurse of the Emergency Room and my Assistant. She assists me with all the patients that come into the Emergency Room that I work on. I see her walking out of a room as I’m approaching her. “Hey, Sally, how is the patient?”
Sally looks up at me and nods, “He’s doing okay, I guess.”
“Robert wants me to stay an extra couple of hours, because it’s gotten so crazy busy over the last few hours.”
“Really? Wow, I’m sorry. I’ll stay with you and hopefully I can help you get out of here and home to your pregnant wife.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that. She’s really freaked out about this whole Zombie thing.”
“Yeah, I saw that on the news yesterday. I had to have a discussion with Parker about it. He thinks that it would be fun to have Zombies around. Like it’s a video game or movie or something. I told him that if you see one, run away as fast as you can.”
“Yeah, maybe that’s why people are getting bitten and dying from it. They think it’s like a video game or movie, so they allow themselves to get close to them. Huh…that actually makes sense.”
“All I can say, is if I saw one of those creatures coming near me, I would get the heck out of there!”
“Yeah, me too. Anyway, I’m going to make some rounds, if you’d like to join me.”
“Yes, I’d love to.”
Sally and I make our rounds together, checking up on all the Emergency Room patients, which for some reason, was busier than usual. Towards the end of our rounds, we checked up on a woman who was brought in because of an unusual bite. As I was cleaning up the bite, which looked like an animal bite made with human teeth. I’ve seen human bites and I’ve seen animal bites and this bite was definitely not made by a human, but yet, the teeth marks are human teeth marks. Very strange.
I pick up the clipboard as I take a close look at it. I look over at the patient, “Ms. Conrad, um…what bit you?”
“Why…my husband did.” She simply stated.
I look at her confused, “Your husband did this to you?”
She nodded, “Yes, my husband did. He was taking a nap on our bed, and I thought that he was taking an awfully long nap. So, I go into the bedroom to wake him up, and when he sat up, he grabbed my arm and bit me. I was so scared that I started batting him away and I ran out of the bedroom, shutting the bedroom door, then I ran over to the neighbor’s house to call the police on him. After forty years of being married to him, I’ve never been bitten by him or had to call the cops on him. I don’t know what came over him.” She sits there shaking her head.
I look at Sally and we both stare at each other dumbfounded. “Um…Ms. Conrad, did you notice anything else different about your husband?”
She looks like she’s thinking about it. “Yes…he was making a strange grunting noise.” She replies as she begins fanning herself, “I’m not feeling so well.”
I look over at Sally as she just shrugs her shoulders as she walks over to Ms. Conrad, then Sally looks up at me, “She’s burning up.” She takes a thermometer out of her pocket then scans it across Ms. Conrad’s forehead. Sally looks at me with panic in her eyes, “It’s one-o-five.”
I think for a moment, then I pull Sally aside and whisper loudly, “Let’s think about this for a moment. Her husband takes a long nap. Then he wakes up and bites her while he’s making a grunting noise.”
Sally just looks at me with concern in her eyes, “You don’t think…”
“Actually, I was thinking.” I reply adamantly.
Sally looks at me side-eyed, “You think that her husband turned into a Zombie and bit her?”
I nod, “Yep. I think that her husband died while he was taking a nap, then woke up as a Zombie and bit her. Look at all the signs. The bite looks like a vicious animal attacked her but with human teeth marks, and the grunting. Mac also said that after you’re bitten by a Zombie, you will get a fever, and she has a fever. Come on, look at that bite, human teeth bit into her, but the bite itself, looks like an animal bit her.” I say as I point at the bite.
Sally just stares at the b
ite with deer in headlight eyes, shaking her head, “So…what do we do?”
I look at Ms. Conrad with empathetic eyes, “Kill her before she dies, turns into a Zombie and starts biting people here.”
Sally looks at me with frantic eyes as she whispers loudly, “You want us to kill her!”
I put my hands on Sally arms as I look in her in the eyes, “We have to. We have no other choice! If she dies, she will turn into a Zombie and start biting and eating people here in the hospital. Do you want that to happen? There will be widespread havoc. Everybody will start turning into Zombies.”
“How do you know that will even happen?”
“I talked to Mac Barber in Hematology. He told me how they believe this virus is spread. He also says that to kill the Zombie, you have to kill them in the brain. So, we’ll have to somehow stab Ms. Conrad in her brain.”
Sally just stares at me with deer eyes, “You want us to stab her in her brain?”
I nod as I simply say, “Yes.”
“And how do you intend for us to do this?”
I think for a moment, “How about we make her comfortable. Give her some morphine, enough morphine to put her to sleep. Then I’ll stab her in the back of her head, right through her cerebellum with a scalpel.”
“Wow, you’ve really thought this through, haven’t you?”
I shrug my shoulders, “Not really, I’m a doctor, I have to think quickly in stressful situations like this.”
Sally looks at Ms. Conrad with empathetic eyes, then back at me, “If you really think that she was bitten by her Zombie husband and if you really think that she’s going to turn into a Zombie and start attacking people here in the hospital, I’m behind you on this.”
I nod, “Yes, I really believe that’s what happened.”
Sally nods, “Okay, I’ll go get some morphine and I’ll be back.” Sally turns around and walks out of the room.
I stand there, looking at Ms. Conrad as she’s sleeping right now. I look over at the monitor screen as it starts going off. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP….
She’s dead! I grab a scalpel as I hold it up towards her, waiting to see what happens to her now.
Zombie Havoc (Book 1): In The Beginning Page 4