by Volante, KT
I took hold of Jeff’s arm and started to run again. As we turned a corner, I saw one of those things. He is or was a janitor. He ran after us. When he got closer, Jeff kicked the janitor in his knee and he fell. But that didn’t stop that thing. It was still determined to get Jeff. The thing started to crawl toward us.
“Let’s go!” I said.
We started to run again. We reached the exit door without any further delays. Harrison stopped at the door.
“Open the door!” I commanded.
“Let’s look first.”
Does it matter? I thought. Those things are behind us. We have no choice but to go forward.
Harrison looked and said, “Lacey, run fast.”
Like he had to tell me that! The parking lot was two city blocks away from the truck docks, and inside the parking lot, I had parked on the far side. Thank goodness it was a small parking lot. We started out, but not even fifty feet out of the door, more of those things came toward us. They looked like hospital workers, but I didn’t want to check IDs. Harrison and Jeff went to stop them. One grabbed Harrison and pushed him against a telephone pole. She lifted him off the ground like he was a rag doll. She snapped her teeth at Harrison’s face. Harrison’s hands were around her throat, holding her off. Jeff ran to them and punched her in the kidneys. It didn’t faze her. Then Jeff punched her in the temple. She dropped Harrison. They turned to run when another one of those things reached for Jeff. Harrison punched that one right in the face.
“There, that’s my car,” I said, pointing.
I hit the car remote and heard the doors unlock. We all jumped in. I started the car and sped out. It was quiet on the streets—too quiet. We did see people, but it didn’t look right, and it sure didn’t feel right. I stopped the car a few blocks away.
“Okay, now what?”
No answer. When I turned to look, they were all on their cell phones. Good idea, I thought. “Anyone…? Helllllooooooo!”
“No answer at my kids’ school,” Patricia reported.
“My wife’s phone went right to voicemail,” added Harrison.
“Same here. My girlfriend’s phone goes right to voicemail,” Jeff said.
I grabbed my phone and called Ben, my husband. Like the others, it went straight to voicemail.
“Okay, so let’s not panic. Right now, we need to get to our homes and then find our loved ones.” I tried to stay focused and calm.
“Where is everyone parked?”
Patricia was the first to answer. “I take the bus, but I really don’t want to do that now.”
Jeff and Harrison said they had parked on opposite sides of the hospital.
“I’ll take you home, Patricia; no worries. First, I’ll drop the two of them off. Harrison, you’re first.”
I drove to the security office parking lot. Dozens of those things were in the area. They attacked anything that moved. I slammed on the brakes.
“Oh, shit!” said Harrison.
“I second that,” added Patricia.
Several hospital workers were on top of cars. They hoped a higher elevation would save them from those things. Some kicked at the infected until one of the infected grabbed one of the kickers’ feet and pulled him down. Awful screams came from that man and his friends on the car roofs. My heart pounded again. Those poor souls!
Harrison opened his window and waved his hands, then yelled, “Jump car to car to the fence, then over the fence. We’ll meet you.”
The infected heard Harrison and came at us at a pretty good clip.
Jeff yelled, “Close the window! Close the window!”
“Back it up, Lacey; get outta here. Get to that fence!” Harrison yelled.
I turned the car sharply. We watched the survivors jump from one car to the next. And one by one, either they fell into the mob of the infected or the infected caught a leg. There was no need to go to the fence. We all cried.
“This is crazy. This is insane! This isn’t the damn flu!” I yelled.
It took a few minutes for us to gather our wits.
“Lacey, I’m parked in the Smith Street lot,” Jeff said quietly. We saw more of those things on the way to Jeff’s car. When we got to Jeff’s car, he didn’t move.
“Not to be rude, but we can’t stay here for long,” I said, sounding harsher than I intended.
“Yeah. Yeah. But…but I live in an apartment complex. I’m not sure it’s the best place to be.”
“Jeff, follow me home and stay with me,” I replied.
Jeff leaped out of my car. His long legs reached his car in three steps. He started his car and nodded to me. We left the hospital and just drove away. I stopped a few blocks away and grabbed my cell phone.
“Lacey, we have to go. Drive,” said Harrison as he squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll call him for you.”
He tried Ben’s office. No answer. He tried our home. No answer. I drove slower now, stunned, confused, and scared. Jeff followed me closely. Patricia called her kids’ school again without any success. Harrison couldn’t get his wife either. I wanted to scream, cry—do something to vent my frustration—when Harrison spoke.
“Lacey, drive to the school where Patricia’s kids are; then drive me home.”
I nodded.
“Has anyone got through on a cell phone?” I asked.
“No,” Patricia replied.
“Harrison, call my husband again please,” I requested with a shaky voice.
He called Ben, and then shook his head.
“His cell phone may not be working, or the battery is dead,” I tried to rationalize.
“Sure. Sure. Of course! I’m sure he’s okay and probably on his way home,” added Patricia.
Patricia didn’t live far from the hospital. Her kids went to school just blocks away from her home. As we got closer to her home, we heard police and fire sirens. I drove down the main road; we saw people running in a panic. Not here also, I thought.
“Oh, shit!” yelled Patricia. “That’s my neighbor…. Oh, my God. Look, look that’s her boyfriend. He, he’s one of them!”
She started to cry. Then we heard more of the familiar noise: screams, cries, and gunshots.
“It’s not just in the hospital,” I whispered.
“Patricia, where are your kids?” asked Harrison in a very forceful voice.
“School, in school,” she cried.
“Where’s the school? What street?”
“My kids!” she cried.
“Yes, we want to get them; where are they?” he asked in a calm, quieter voice than I would have been able to use.
She directed me to the elementary school. And it wasn’t good!
Teachers and kids were in a fenced playground, running in all directions. All we heard were screams and cries. Then we noticed why.
“Shit!” Harrison exclaimed.
“What do we do?” I asked in a very panicked voice.
“Save as many as we can!” yelled Harrison.
“How?” I asked, which was what I initially meant to say.
Patricia was out of the car before I stopped it.
“Jeremiah! Calley! Jeremiah! Calley!”
She ran off, lost in a sea of bodies. Parents tried to rescue their kids. The infected were in a feeding frenzy. Some people tried to kill those things. I saw one man with a baseball bat. He was hitting those things in the head, and they didn’t get back up. However, his luck ran out when three of those things attacked him at once. Mothers held their children, tightly protecting them with their bodies, only to be attacked. Some children managed to get away, but not for long. In the frenzy, some kids stood still, becoming easy targets for those things. Bodies were on the ground, in pools of blood.
I started to get out when Jeff turned to me, “No! Stay with the car. We may need a quick exit.”
“But, I—”
“Stay here!” he yelled.
I sat back in the car.
I saw Patricia holding a boy’s hand. Both were running toward the car. There w
ere so many people it was hard for them to run. They were just a few yards from the car when a big man grabbed her shoulders and buried his face in her neck. The boy fell to the ground, looked at his mother, and screamed. The man brought his head up with a large mouth full of skin. Blood shot out of her neck and Patricia yelled in a higher-pitched voice. Her hands shook and she fell to her knees. The man followed her down and took another bite. I couldn’t breathe; my mouth opened, but nothing came out. The boy was on the ground. He scooted backwards. The man saw him and tossed Patricia to the side. Blood pulsated out of her neck; her eyes rolled back in her head; she started to have a seizure.
The man went after the child.
“Hell, no!” I screamed. I jumped out of the car and ran to the boy. The man was bent down with a tight grip on the child. As it opened its mouth, out spilled Patricia’s blood and skin. I kicked the man hard in the head. I heard the snap of his neck. He tumbled backwards and hit the ground. I heard a crack that I was sure was his skull. The attacker was dead. I grabbed the child and ran to the car. I opened the back door of my car and Patricia’s son jumped in. When I turned around, that thing was only a few steps from me.
“Son of a bitch!”
I braced my back on the car, brought my foot up, and kicked him in the gut as hard as I could. He fell back once again. This time, I didn’t wait for him to get up. I jumped into the car and locked the doors. He got up again! I was amazed. Don’t these damn things die? I thought. He got up and ran into the car so hard he rocked it. He scratched at the windows with his dirty, bloody fingers. I screamed and the boy cried.
A loud crash of metal on metal came from down the street. Two cars collided. One of the drivers stumbled out of his car with a bloody face. The noise got my assailants’ attention, as well as that of many other infected. They attacked the driver. More bloodcurdling screams came from the driver. That was more than I could take; I was going to be sick. I started to open the door to vomit, but the boy’s call for his mother pulled me away from my nausea to focus on him.
“Jeremiah, are you Jeremiah? Where is your sister?”
He was crying so hard he couldn’t understand me. I let it go. I put my hand over his eyes and turned his head away from the view of his mother. Tears ran down my face as fast as his. I searched the area for Harrison and Jeff. I didn’t see either.
“Where are you guys? Don’t leave me,” I said out loud.
Two kids, a boy and a girl, started to climb the eight-foot-high chain-link fence to get away from the danger. Other kids saw them and did the same. Sadly, it was like picking fruit from a tree; the infected reached up and plucked the kids from the fence.
Jeff called to the two kids highest on the fence. He told them to climb faster, and then go over the top and jump to him. He promised to catch them. Jeff came to the car with the two kids. I unlocked the door and Jeff and the kids jumped into the backseat. He looked back at the playground, as if he would leave the car again, but then thought better of it.
The kids screamed as they saw adults and kids get ripped apart. They called out to their friends and teachers. This was beyond horror. I noticed more infected behind us; they would be at my car soon.
“Where’s Harrison?”
Jeff shook his head. I dropped my head to the steering wheel and banged my hands on it. Then we felt the car shake again and I saw Harrison pounding on the window.
“Open the fucking doors!” Harrison screamed.
I hit the unlock button. He jumped in as an arm from somewhere stopped the door. He opened the door wide and kicked the arm’s owner in the stomach. He slammed the door.
“Get us the hell out of here!”
I started the engine and drove off. I hit two people as I pulled away. I stopped suddenly and looked back.
“No, no keep going!” Jeff ordered.
“What if they’re hurt, not infected?”
“Drive!” Jeff and Harrison yelled in unison, barely audible over the kids’ cries.
Tears blurred my vision, but I drove. About a mile away, I pulled into a strip mall that looked empty. I turned to look at the car full of terrorized passengers. I couldn’t go on. Harrison looked around.
“Lacey, I’ll drive; you scoot over and I’ll go around to your side.”
I shook my head violently.
“No one is around. It’s okay. I’ll be outside for just a few seconds.”
I shook my head again.
“Jeff, move her when I get out.”
Harrison left the car and I jumped to the passenger’s seat.
I’m barely 5’ 1” so the car seat was as forward as it could go. Harrison was tall, over six feet. He tried to get into the car but no way. He got out of the car, adjusted the seat, and reentered the car. He took a deep breath.
“Anyone hurt?” Harrison asked.
His answer was sobs.
“Anyone hurt?”
“No,” Jeff replied. “Nothing I can see.”
Jeff tried to calm the kids with reassurance. The kids were calmer, but they still cried.
Harrison asked in a low voice, “Patricia?”
I shook my head.
Harrison looked at my car radio. The same emergency alert tones were on every station. He stopped when we heard this broadcast.
“A state of emergency has been declared. Stay indoors. Do not leave your homes, place of work, or school. Police will arrest anyone on the streets. Stay inside. Do not let anyone who is sick into your home.”
The same message was repeated on many stations. Finally, Harrison found a live news broadcast.
“The governor has declared a state of emergency. Please, please stay in your home. Lock your doors and windows. If you are at work or school, stay there. Do not leave. We have limited official information. What we do know is there is a widespread infection going through the state. It starts as the flu but mutates quickly. Those infected quickly become very strong and violent. Again, stay inside and lock your doors. Anyone sick with the flu should be isolated.
“We expect an update from the governor in two hours. It is rumored the military will be arriving to assist with this emergency. Anyone at work or in school should stay there. Again, lock your doors and windows and stay inside.” There was a brief pause. Then he continued.
“We have tried to get someone from the governor’s office to provide more information. They are declining to say anything more than this official statement, as they are overwhelmed with this emergency. Stay tuned for more updates.” Again a brief pause before he continued.
“I was just told we are going to the live interview from the city center police station in Seattle. I was told it is very busy there so background noise may interfere with what is being said. Okay. Here we go. Sam Dayton, can you hear me? Sam?”
“This is Sam. Dennis, I have to tell you it’s like all hell is breaking loose here. All of the police are in full riot gear; barriers have been placed around the building and on many roads. Shots are ringing out from everywhere. The infected are attacking anyone who gets close to them. I saw one infected attack a dog! It’s like Armageddon! I’m in a police station, but I don’t feel—” Then the sound of gunshots and screams.
“Sam, Sam, are you okay? Are you there? Get the connection back. At this time, we lost Sam. I pray he is safe.
“We’ve been getting phone calls asking if this is a gag. No, it is not! Let me repeat: This is real. This is not a joke! Protect yourselves; lock your doors and windows.”
I turned the radio off and then called my husband again. Still nothing.
“I want to go home. Now!” I said. “I don’t want to be out here.”
“What do we do with the kids?” asked Jeff. He turned to the kids and asked, “What are your names? Do you know where you live?”
Harrison broke in with, “I think we should take them with us. Figure something out tomorrow. Hopefully, things will calm down. Or bring them to the cops in the morning. I’m not going house to house looking for parents or dropping
the kids off without knowing what’s inside their homes.”
Jeff looked stunned and said, “Can we say kidnapping?”
“No, it’s not. The kids were in a fenced-in area and those things were attacking…. Can we say buffet?”
“Enough!” I yelled. “We don’t know what’s going on or where it’s safe or anything else.”
“I wanna go home,” said the red-haired boy. “I know where I live. I want my daddy.”
“Let’s take them to the cops now,” I suggested. “The cops can drive the kids home.”
Harrison started the car and drove toward the police station.
“We are a small town miles away from Seattle. The cops will know what to do. It can’t be as bad as where the radio broadcast is coming from,” Harrison said.
* * *
Car crashes blocked some streets. People were running in every direction. Everyone had the same goal: escape the infected. When we finally got to the police station, cars were barricaded up against the building.
Harrison said, “Lacey, Jeff, go inside. I’ll stay with the kids.”
We were back within five minutes.
“The police are crazy busy,” Jeff explained. “They won’t take the kids. No social services and they are too busy to watch them or drive them home. They recommend we keep the kids with us.”
Then I added, “It’s mayhem in there. All the police are in riot gear, carrying rifles. It was hard getting someone to talk with us. Everyone’s running in all directions. I don’t think they know how to deal with this. And I wasn’t convinced the kids would be safe there anyway, so I’m happy they’re staying with us.”
While Jeff and I had been inside the police station, Harrison had taken the time to talk to the kids. He hoped doing so would calm them down and let him get to know them. Besides, he didn’t want to sit there while the kids cried. When we got back into the car, Harrison was just giving tissues to the kids. Then he made the introductions.
“Kids, this is Lacey and this is Jeff. Guys, this is Kevin—he’s seven—and Lucy—she’s nine. They’re brother and sister. And this is Jeremiah, but you know that.”