Storm of the Dead

by D. P. Sloan

  Michaels shook his head and felt he let down Maria and also his family. Here he was now inside Drumchapel, which seemed to be overrun by the dead and also the army. He got in to the town and now he needed to get out. He looked through the living room window, down onto the street below. He saw the dead at the foot of the outside stairs, he looked up the street and then down the street – the place was still so deathly quiet. He turned and began looking about for anything that would be useful in case he came in to contact with the dead or more soldiers. He searched the most important and best place first – the kitchen.

  He entered and started going through the drawers, he found knives in one and a hammer, screwdriver and nails in another along with parcel tape and duct tape in the last drawer. He found a rucksack lying on the chest freezer and placed the items he found into it. Placing the rucksack on his back, he turned and left the flat bowing his head at Maria’s dead parents and that of the soldiers.

  He raced down the stairs two at a time and out into the street. He turned right and began running down the road only to come to a complete halt and dived into the shadows of a parked van, because in front of him walking down Kinfauns drive was something he wasn’t ready for or even see.

  CHAPTER 20

  AUGUST 11TH – 0602HRS

  The four teenagers’ sourced knives, hammers, screwdrivers and Gregg grabbed his father’s cordless drill.

  “Are we ready?” Gregg asked his friends and girlfriend.

  The other three nodded in unison.

  “Okay,” Gregg began, “when we leave here, there is no turning back. We have seen our fair share of death and carnage and probably there is a lot more to see. We will head up Kinfauns drive to Canniesburn road and get out that way. Now it’s a twenty-minute walk, is everyone up for it?”

  The three other teens nodded in unison again and put their weapons into bags that Gregg pulled out from his cupboard in his bedroom. They all left Gregg’s flat and headed down to the streets. The place was a ghost town but in the distance, they could hear the screams of the living and the screams of the dead.

  Screams of, ‘Foooooooooodddddddddd.’

  Screams of, ‘Help us please!’

  Cody and Rosie were about to go and help those that were injured, trapped or were being stalked by the dead. But Gregg put both of his hands on their shoulders, “No, best to leave them be!”

  Cody and Rosie nodded and walked close by Gregg and Katy. As they neared the top of Peel Glen road they began to suspect something wasn’t right apart from the obvious. The screams that they heard were of the dead and of the living; however, it wasn’t the dead chasing the living. What they saw questioned what really was going on.

  There on the field where once tenement flats stood, was a ring of steel fencing. Outside staring into the fence were armed soldiers. Gregg and the group stopped and starred puzzled at what they were seeing. The screams echoed loud from within the ring of steel. Katy pulled out her mobile phone, selected camera and zoomed in.

  “Oh my God!” Katy gasped.

  “What’s going on babe?” Gregg asked.

  “Not what we expected put it that way!” Katy replied.

  She handed the phone to Gregg so he could see. He looked at the screen.

  “Fuck this!” Gregg said, “Let’s just get out of this town now!”

  What they saw was weird to say the least. Inside the ring of steel fencing were a group of survivors cowered together at one side of the ring and four walking dead on the other side on chains held by soldiers. The soldiers were laughing.

  “Let those undead bastards go. Let’s have some fun!” shouted one of the soldiers.

  The soldiers holding the chains let them go and watched as the dead lurched forward, screaming, groaning. Groaning for food. Food that was right in front of them. The living survivors screamed again in unison, “Let us out!” but the soldiers either ignored them or laughed.

  Then the undead were on top of them, tearing at them, biting them. The screams of the survivors turned to painful cries as within minutes, the survivors were eaten alive.

  “Yesssssssss!” cheered the crowd of soldiers.

  Gregg and his friends watched on as a black BMW pulled up at the foot of the grassy hill where the ring of steel stood. The driver got out and then opened the back door, they watched as a man stepped out and marched up to the ring of steel. He wore what could only be described as a lab coat from where Gregg was standing.

  “What the Hell is going on?” Gregg muttered to himself. The rest just looked on.

  The man in the lab coat was exchanging words with the soldiers and nodding, from Gregg’s point of view, he was pointing to the carnage in the cage, the soldiers nodded and the lab coat man walked back to the car and got back in. The soldiers opened up the ring of steel and entered; they grabbed hold of the chains and pulled the undead away from the dead bodies. The undead turned and looked at their captors but didn’t attack instead just walked out of the fencing and down the grassy hill where on arrival an army truck pulled up behind the BMW. The soldiers guided the undead into the back of it and closed the doors. The BMW pulled away from the side of the road, followed closely by the truck.

  Gregg and his mates ducked out of sight as the car and truck passed by them heading down Kinfauns drive towards the shopping centre. Once the vehicles were out of sight all four of the teens got back to their feet and started walking up Kinfauns drive.

  “What do you think all that was about?” Katy asked.

  Cody shook his head, “Don’t know and I don’t wish to find out!”

  “I thought the army were here to help us, to save us?” Rosie chimed in.

  “Well obviously they are not,” Gregg answered. “Look let’s just get going I want out of this town as soon as possible.”

  They all agreed as they continued on their journey to Canniesburn road.

  Ten minutes had passed when Gregg made them all stop in their tracks just at the foot of Tallant road, because coming towards them was something far worse than what they had just seen.

  From across the field Katy saw someone run and dive behind some bushes.

  “Quick over here!” she told the group as they raced over the grassland towards where the person was hiding.

  They got to the bushes just in time for the parade to pass by them. As they got to the bushes, the person hiding there told them to get down and stay hidden.

  “What the Hell is going on?” Katy whispered.

  “If I knew that, I would be telling you. Now quiet please,” said the man in the bushes.

  They all continued watching as the parade passed by them.

  “What is going on?” Gregg asked puzzled.

  “I think they are rounding up the dead from outside of this town and bringing them all in here.” The man said to the group, “there is something strange going on here.”

  “Yeah we saw a fenced off area where they had the dead fighting the living. The dead were on chains held by these soldiers and this family cowered in fear at one side of the fence before the dead were on them eating them. Then this black BMW pulled up and out steps a man in a lab coat. He ordered them about but we couldn’t hear what he was saying. Then the dead were ushered into an army truck. They didn’t even attack the soldiers!” Katy answered him.

  “I’m telling you there are strange things happening here.” Cody told the group.

  The parade of soldiers, the undead and an army convoy all headed down Kinfauns drive heading to the shopping centre.

  Once they were out of sight. The whole group stood up.

  The man turned to the group, “Hi my name is Ryan Michaels. I was a police officer until I walked out of the station and was fired. My wife and two kids are in a safe place and I will be meeting them soon.”

  “Are they in here?” Katy asked him.

  Michaels shook his head, “No I left them outside. I came in here to find a family but sadly the family were no more.”

  “Left them outside? What do
you mean?” Gregg asked.

  Michaels smiled, “You know outside the fencing.”

  The group looked puzzled.

  “What fencing? Rosie asked.

  “Eh – the fencing that surrounds the whole of Drumchapel. Have you not seen it yet?” Michaels asked. “I mean you can’t miss it. It surrounds the whole of Drumchapel and is topped off by barbed wire. At that entrance up there leading to Canniesburn road is a solid door way guarded heavily with soldiers wielding guns.”

  “So, if Drumchapel is surrounded by a steel fence and heavily guarded – then how did you get in?” Gregg asked.

  “There was a cut in the fence which I bent up and squeezed myself through,” Michaels told the teen.

  “So, we head back there and get out!” Rosie added.

  “Eh guys,” Katy spoke up, “I don’t think that’s going to be possible now. Look.”

  All heads turned to where Michaels came through the fence and their eyes went wide with shock as they heard the electric drone course through the chain link concrete enforced barbed wired fence.

  “What are they doing?” Rosie asked puzzled by what the noise was.

  “They are electrifying the fence,” Michaels told her.

  “Why?” Rosie asked.

  “To put it simply,” Michaels began, “No one is getting in – and we are not getting out!”

  “So, what do we do now officer?” Gregg asked.

  Michaels breathed deeply, putting together the words in his head before he told the teens. He breathed deeply again, “We find a place to hide. We come up with a plan and we figure out what they are doing in here.”

  “And when and if we get out,” Katy asked, “what next?”

  “You come with me and my family on our plane and we leave Glasgow. But first let’s get to know each other name wise first then we hide.”

  CHAPTER 21

  ONE YEAR EARLIER

  “So how is the testing coming along?” the voice on the phone spoke.

  “Well as agreed sir it’s coming on fine,” came the reply, “We have made steady progress.”

  “And does your partner know anything that is going on?” the voice asked.

  “Ha-ha him?” came the answer, “he still believes Elvis is alive. Honestly I have it all in place come next December.”

  “And you are alright on being the test subject?” the voice asked.

  “Of course. I created the antidote and we have a time frame of around 30 hours before I literally go bat-shit crazy!”

  “I’ll send round one of my team to retrieve the antidote from you. We will meet at the safe zone – Dunkenny square in the centre of Drumchapel shopping centre at 1800 hours tonight. Please avoid drawing attention to yourself and my associate,” the voice spoke.

  “And after the thing is released. What happens next?” the voice questioned.

  “We quarantine the town – no one gets in and no one gets out. Once everyone is infected we will round them up and bring them into town. Our experiment will start almost immediately and our plan to eradicate a majority of the population of Glasgow will be what the Government ordered,” came the answer.

  “Answer me this though. Why Glasgow?” came the next question.

  “That my friend is classified. So, don’t you worry your little cotton socks off. Once we catch you before the thirty hours is up, you will be safe then our scientists will extract blood from you and do various tests.”

  “You will make sure that me and my family are fine?”

  “Ha-ha, what do you care about? Your family? Or the five million pounds that was delivered to your account this morning?”

  “Obviously the money” came the reply, “but I just need to know that my family will be okay when this all takes place.”

  “The only thing that will stand in your family’s way to be safe is you. If you turn on them and well start to eat them, then that is down to your fault and your fault only.”

  “Soooooooo?”

  “So, don’t fucking eat your family!”

  “Ha-ha okay I won’t.”

  “Tell me have you come up with a name for this, this virus?”

  “I’ve called it Trixie-500; my plan is to act as if I am truly scared of this thing and I’m hoping my partner does something stupid.”

  “Remember,” the voice began, “we need fire then we need water, water is the activator so once it mixes with water – its show time!”

  “I know, I know remember I created this.”

  “And we now own it – Mr Summers!”

  “And don’t I know it – Mr Lomax!”

  CHAPTER 22

  DECEMBER 11TH - 0730HRS

  “We have less than thirty-six hours to locate Martin Summers and give him the antidote,” Lomax began. “So, make sure you find him.”

  “Why don’t we just leave him sir?” asked a young soldier by the name of Fraser Campbell. He was a young blue-eyed rookie assigned to this task with around two hundred more soldiers.

  “Because he is valuable to the program,” Lomax told him.

  “I understand that sir,” the rookie began, “and I understand the programs intentions. However, if we’ve got what we wanted and we have the antidote. Drumchapel is the science lab now and –“

  He was cut short.

  “And nothing soldier,” Lomax yelled, “You do not have any say in what we do round here. This comes from higher up; you are nothing but a worthless piece of shit whereas this program is everything. The mission has been top priority for over a year now and everything is in place. So, your views and opinions are best kept to yourself if you wish to succeed in the army son!”

  Just then two other soldiers barged into the disused shop unit in the shopping centre.

  “Sir,” the older of the two began, “sorry for barging in but Myles and Barr have not reported back after their patrol of the Cloan Avenue area.”

  Lomax bowed his head, “Then obviously there is still some dead out there that needs rounded up. So, grab some men and get out there and round them up. We need this program to stay on course. If the Government hear that there is still untrained dead out there then we are all for the chop. So, get out there and round them up. Bring them to the containment area and let the science team train them.”

  “Yes sir,” the two soldiers said in unison then turned on their heels and left the unit.

  Lomax turned back to the young rookie, “Why the fuck are you still here soldier? Move out now!”

  The rookie left quickly.

  Lomax leaned over his desk and picked up the phone, he dialled a number. It rang for a few seconds.

  “Hello Sergeant, is the program on schedule?”

  “Yes, Prime Minister,” Lomax began, “a few hiccups along the way whereas a few of my men were killed and eaten but that was expected to happen. Apart from that the program is on course. We have rounded up a majority of the dead for the next stage in the program and right now I have a team out retrieving Martin Summers.”

  “Good Sergeant,” the Prime Minister replied, “I will check in with you again soon.”

  “Yes, Prime Minister,” Lomax responded, “Oh Mrs Prime Minister.”

  “Yes Sergeant?”

  “What if the program fails?” Lomax asked, “What if the science team can’t train the dead?”

  Silence from the other side until eight simple words are spoken which put a smile across Lomax’s face.

  “We destroy the town, and everything in it!”

  CHAPTER 23

  DECEMBER 11TH – 1000HRS

  Michaels and the teens were in a house in Southdeen Avenue – number sixteen to be precise. The place was a mess but at least the windows and front door were able to shut fully and lock. They all sat in the middle of the floor of the living room trying to figure out what has been happening since the virus came.

  “All I remember was watching someone eat someone in the grounds of the school,” Rosie began, “it was horrible.”

  “Then we had Lee-An
n our friend from school – she tried to escape but was attacked and eventually turned into one of those things!” Cody told the group.

  “The whole school went to Hell especially when the army supposedly came to help!” Katy added.

  Michaels took it all in, “Okay back up. So, the army came into the school?”

  Katy nodded, “Yeah it all started really when Mr Roberts and the other teachers told all the pupils that officials had told us to all stay in the school as the storm was extremely violent and relentless.”

  “What?” Michaels began, “they didn’t say anything about the virus?”

  Katy shook her head, “Nope. They just said it was because of the storm. But I found out more.”

  “What do you mean?” Michaels asked.

  “I followed Mr Roberts and the other teachers to behind the curtains on the stage in the assembly hall,” Katy began, “I hid from sight and listened to their conversation. They had a radio – a walkie-talkie and were communicating with this guy Lomax who was in charge of the Army. Lomax was telling Mr Roberts that everything will be fine and that he was sending in a group of his soldiers to counter the dead breaking into the school.”

  “And did he?” Michaels asked.

  “Yeah, he did,” Katy answered, “although the soldiers were literally all taken out by the dead. While this was happening, we escaped into the hallway and tried to make it to the main entrance, however we didn’t make it. We dived into this other room defending ourselves from the dead before escaping through the window. We decided to run around to the main entrance only to discover there were no Lomax and no Army there to meet and help us. I think and correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it was a set up.”

  “You know what,” Michaels began standing up and pacing back and forward, “I thought it was weird when I was driving here with my family that there was no dead walking the streets of Glasgow. It was as if they had caused havoc then vanished from the streets. Now you tell me you saw a steel fence ring and dead attacking a family while soldiers looked on and cheered at the dead attacking and eating them and then there was the soldiers marching the dead down the road. This isn’t just a simple outbreak; I think it was a planned attack which will lead to something bigger if not worse. I think only a handful of people are behind this – higher up people in the police force, the army, the NHS and I think the Government as well.”