by B. T. Wright
“Okay,” Tyler said. “But seriously, how is this happening?”
“Let’s just get inside. Call everyone you know and tell them to stay indoors and not to answer the door for anyone. Tell them it’s life-and-death.”
The three of them got out of the car and hurried toward the house.
Jess said, “I’ve got to make sure my sister and nephew made it home from the ballpark.”
Jake pulled out his phone and opened his contact list. “I have to call my brother.”
4
The house was quiet. Everything was quiet. Jake walked over to the window and lifted the shade. Dusk was working its way across the sky. There was zero movement out on the street. His mind still couldn’t comprehend the situation. How the world could go from harmony to chaos in a matter of days just didn’t make sense. And Emily had said there was no military left. Could it be a coincidence that whatever was happening here to all these people had started there? With America’s defense system? How was it even possible?
He pulled his phone from his pocket. Though it had been a while since he and his brother had been close, he had to warn him. Make sure he was taking the Beritrix too. Make sure he gave it to his family. The first thing Jake had done was administer a dose to both Jess and Tyler. He hoped it would be enough.
As he scrolled through his contacts to his brother’s name, the night Jake’s and Colt’s parents died flashed in his head. It always did when he thought of his brother. Colt had handled it a lot better than fifteen-year-old Jake. Much better, in fact, because Jake still hadn’t gotten over it. It was probably the reason he and his older brother had grown apart, which was still odd even fourteen years later. Before that, they had always been so close. Inseparable until that night. Colt had tried to reach out and help Jake with his grief, but Jake had been too stubborn, and it had cost him his best friend in the process.
He shook the sorrow from his mind and dialed his brother.
“Hello?” A young boy answered.
“Dylan? That you?”
“Hey Uncle Jake! What are––”
“Dylan I’m sorry I don’t have time to talk,” Jake cut him off. “I need to talk to your dad. It’s important.”
“But––”
“Now, Dylan!”
The line went quiet. Jake waited, and as he did, thoughts of what he was going to say spun in his mind. It wasn’t a conversation a person ever thought they would have, so there was no way to be prepared for it. There was no way to be prepared for anything that was happening for that matter.
There was a shuffling sound, and Colt finally answered, “Jacob. Long time, no talk.”
“Where are you?”
There was no time for pleasantries. Not that Jake had any to offer. But it was good to hear Colt’s voice. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he was truly home.
“Hello to you too, soldier.”
“Colt, are you with Anna and the boys?”
“Jacob, what the hell is going on? You sound like you’re hiding from a ghost.”
“Colt! Listen to me. Get Anna and the boys and lock up, don’t let anyone in or out until you hear from me again. There’s some sort of disease or something that has spread. Millions of people are already infected—”
“What are you talking about?” Colt interrupted. “What disease? You mean like the flu?”
“I mean like it’s airborne. And if you get it, you’re dead. But still alive. You—”
“Do you realize what you sound like?”
Jake couldn’t get the words out fast enough.
“Colt, would you just listen to me for once and do what I’m saying? Make sure you keep taking Beritrix. And make sure you give it to Anna, and keep giving it to the boys too. You hear me? It will keep you alive for now.”
“Jacob, where are you? What’s going on? It sounds like you’re talking about some sort of apocalypse. Walking dead, stay inside, give everyone Beritrix—”
“I know what it sounds like, Colt. You don’t think it sounds crazy to me too? But I just watched a man chew the Adam’s apple out of a kid’s throat right in front of me. I had to literally smash his brains in to stop him from doing the same to me. Get Anna and the boys to safety and lock everything up. Give them Beritrix, grab any weapon you can, and when I get more information, I’ll call you. Got it?”
Complete silence.
“Colt?”
Some rustling on the other end.
“Colt!”
Jake could hear Colt, but he wasn’t talking into the phone.
Then there was nothing.
“Colt! Colt, are you there?”
Jess and Tyler came rushing into the living room.
“Colt!”
He was gone. Jake stood staring blankly at the screen that read call ended.
“Everything okay?” Jess asked, giving him a caring squeeze of his arm.
“I don’t know.”
Jake took one last look out the window. The light was fading fast. So too was his hope that he would ever see his brother again.
Tyler tried to change the subject. “Looks like we’ve got plenty of food. For a few days, anyway.”
Jake snapped out of his trance and looked first at Tyler’s face, then to his stomach, which was stretching out his Star Wars T-shirt over the belt of his jeans. “Only a few days? You sure about that?”
Tyler smiled. “Ha-ha. That’s right. I’m fat. Still plenty of food, asshole.”
“So . . .” Jess took her time. “Now what?”
Jake had been forming a plan in his head. It was second nature. A Special Forces soldier is always adapting in his mind. It was no different here. Even though he’d flown halfway around the world to get a break from war, it seemed war had found him anyway. And he knew this battle would be the fight of his life. For now, though, it was just another mission. And every mission needed a plan.
“First and foremost, we need more Beritrix. We don’t know how long this epidemic––or whatever it is––might last, so we have to be prepared.”
“How much Beritrix do you have?” Tyler asked.
“If this lasts more than a couple days and with all three of us using it? Not enough.”
“What about weapons?” Jess asked.
Jake smirked, walked across the room, and opened the door to the basement.
“That’s one thing we don’t have to worry about.”
5
“Damn, you weren’t kidding,” Tyler said. His mouth gaped at the closet of weaponry Jake had been collecting since he’d joined the Army.
Jake picked up a hunting rifle.
“Yeah, I got a lot of it from my dad. He was nuts about weapons too.”
As Jake ran his hand along the wood stock of the rifle, a warm memory of his father teaching him and his brother how to shoot came to him. He could smell the wintergreen Skoal in his father’s mouth as his dad leaned over to show him how to lock in a fresh bullet. He could feel the dampness of the wet fall air, and he could even see the turning leaves falling to the ground in the distance the first time he looked through the scope.
“What is this?”
Tyler interrupted Jake’s thoughts, and he looked up to see his friend holding one of his favorites from his collection.
“A compact axe made by Winkler Knives. Custom steel with a Micarta handle. The best there is.”
“What’s the spike on the front of the blade for?”
“Combat.”
Tyler laughed. “Oh, combat. Yeah, ’cause lots of people buy spike-front mini-axes just in case the second civil war breaks out.”
Everyone glanced at each other, all understanding the irony.
It was a handheld axe, only a little over a foot in length, but sharp enough to split hairs. Tyler swung it once, then continued to marvel at it, looking it over as he turned it in his hands. “This is badass. But damn it’s heavy!”
Jake stepped forward and took it from his friend. “Yeah, best we leave this one for a ma
n.”
“I suppose that’s you?” Jess asked with smile. She leaned over and gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
Jake’s smile faltered when he looked back at Tyler. “You grab that twelve gauge. It’ll kick, but I think you can handle it. Take that Chris Reeve knife over there too. Might come in handy.”
“What are we doing?” Jess sounded worried.
“What do you mean?” Jake said.
“Why are we equipping ourselves? You aren’t planning on leaving, are you?”
“Not tonight, Jess, but tomorrow we are going to have to find more Beritrix. We can’t sit around here and wait to turn into whatever those things are out there, can we?”
Jess turned and walked a few feet away.
“Look,” Jake continued, “I know you’re scared, but that doesn’t change what we have to do.”
Jess turned and gave him a stern look. “Jake, this isn’t the Army, and Tyler and I aren’t soldiers. Those things may not scare you, but they sure as hell scare me.”
Jake shook his head. “The thought of you becoming one of those things is what scares me. My brother, his family . . . your family. What do we do? Just sit here and wait to die?”
Tyler said, “Don’t you think they will fix it?”
“Who the hell is they, Ty? The military is gone. The government at this point will be in hiding, trying their best like we are not to get sick.”
“What about that Emily whoever?” Jess said. “Isn’t she working on it?”
“Look,” Jake said, looking intently at both of them, “there’s nothing to work on right now. This came on too fast. When Emily first told me about it in Syria, she said it was like nothing we humans had ever seen. It could take years to—”
“Years?!” Jess was shocked. The fear on her face hit Jake hard. He had to remember that she hadn’t been through what he had. Hadn’t seen the things he’d seen, the horrors.
He walked over to her, tucked her dirty-blonde hair back behind her ear, took her jaw in his hand, and caressed her sharp cheekbone with his thumb.
“Listen, I don’t know what this is. And I don’t know how long, if ever—”
Jess started to turn away, but Jake took her by the shoulders and pulled her back to face him.
“I don’t know how long this will take to figure out, but I promise . . . Look at me.”
Her green eyes sparkled under the basement lights.
“I promise I’ll keep you safe. You hear me?”
Reluctant, she finally nodded. Jake turned to Tyler. “You too, shithead. Okay?”
Tyler nodded, and his dark curly hair wobbled atop his head.
“Shit! I forgot to get the Beritrix or whatever it’s called out of the backseat!”
Jess said, “No you didn’t. Jake just gave us some.”
“That was from what I already had in the house,” Jake said. “Damn it, Ty, I told you it had to be refrigerated.”
Tyler moved over to the stairs. “Calm down. I’ll get it. Get your girl some weapons. And no offense, but she’s gonna look smokin’ hot when she’s outfitted like Lara Croft.”
Jake and Jess watched Tyler bolt up the stairs as fast as a chubby, unathletic, professional gamer could bolt.
Jess finally let a smile cross her lips as she shook her head. “He’s your friend.”
Jake smiled and nodded. Then he walked over and picked up his Beretta. “You know how to shoot a pistol, don’t you?”
“Doesn’t every good Kentucky woman?”
“That’s my girl.”
Jake handed it to her along with a spare magazine.
“Why the backpack?” Jess asked, pointing to the black one on the floor of the closet.
“It’s a go bag.”
“You say that like it’s supposed to mean something to me.”
“Sorry. Delta Forces thing. I keep a go bag ready for emergencies. There’s a few food packs, a box of shells for the shotgun, a box of bullets for the rifle, small med kit, and two spare magazines for my Beretta.”
“Oh, you know, just your basic everyday needs.” Jess smiled.
Jake laughed. “Yeah, exactly.”
From a distance both Jess and Jake heard someone shout. When they looked at each other, they wore the same fearful look. It sounded like Tyler, and he sounded like he was in trouble. Jake kicked himself for letting Tyler go up alone. Jake ran for the stairs, axe in hand.
“Bring the pistol!” he shouted.
Jake quickly ascended the stairs and sprinted for the front door. When he opened it, he was not prepared for what he saw. Moving in front of the last of the orange sunset were at least a dozen of the infected in the street. Jake looked to his left and saw three surrounding the car, Tyler standing on top of it. He was kicking at them and swinging the rifle, trying to keep them back.
“Jake! Help!”
“Shoot them!” Jake shouted.
“I can’t! If I don’t swing it at them, they’ll grab my foot!”
Jake took another look at the street. The infected seemed to notice Tyler shouting. They keyed in on his voice and began heading toward the car.
“Stop screaming! They can hear you!”
If Jake didn’t hurry, Tyler would be overrun. And he couldn’t let that happen. Jake tightened his grip on the axe and steeled his nerves. The fight had come to them quicker than he’d thought it would. But he was ready. His entire adult life had been preparing him for this.
War.
6
Just before Jake jumped into the fray, one of the infected, the fat one wearing a white tank and a pair of gray sweatpants, had finally gotten a grip on Tyler and yanked him by the leg to his ass on top of the car.
“Jake!” The fear in his voice was palpable.
Jake turned to Jess and pointed at the street. “Keep them off me if you can.”
“Go!” she shouted as she extended the pistol in front of her.
Jake spun the axe once in his hand and bolted down the front porch. From the two encounters at the ballpark, the only thing Jake knew for certain killed these things was making sure their brain could no longer communicate with the heart. That’s why when he brought the axe back the only place to swing for was the neck. And with one powerful blow, Jake severed the fat man’s head from his body like cutting through a wet piece of firewood.
Tyler was able to shake his leg free of the headless infected and stood back up on the car. He raised his gun to shoot, but Jake stopped him.
“Not the shotgun!”
“What? But more of them are coming!”
Jake front-kicked an infected woman in a flower print dress, creating some space to swing his axe. He hesitated for a moment. This was someone’s mother, maybe someone’s girlfriend or sister. How could this be happening? He couldn’t kill her. What if they find a way to reverse—
The infected woman cocked her head to the side, blinked, and stared at Jake for a moment. Her coal-black eyes felt like they were reaching inside of him. Pulling something from him. It was the oddest feeling he’d ever had. Was there more to these things?
The woman jumped toward him, faster than she should have been able to. Fortunately, Jake already had his axe in position to swing, and he jumped back as he whipped his arms forward, lopping the creature’s head clean off its shoulders. Then he turned 360 degrees and slid his blade through the throat of an infected man in a suit who was behind the infected woman in the dress.
“Go now, Tyler! Get in the house!”
Tyler slid off the roof of the car and bolted for the house. Gunshots ripped through the air from the porch. Jess was firing into the crowd of infected, trying to give Jake time to get back to the house.
“Stop shooting!” Jake heard a man’s voice shout behind him.
When he looked back toward the house, he watched a man dive at Jess and knock her off her feet.
“Help!” Just before Jake turned to help Jess, a young female voice shouted from the street.
Jake swung his axe once more, this
time through the neck of a young man still wearing a bathrobe. He looked back and a man was holding Jess in his arms. She was fighting against his grip.
“Help me! Please!” He heard the young girl again.
He finally caught sight of her in the crowd of infected out on the street. She was backing herself into the wooded area across from the houses. Several infected were moving in on her, fast. Jake pulled his Beretta from the small of his back and fired six shots into the air. The noise froze the infected on the street, as well as the man who had a hold of Jess. Jake stared at him for a moment, but when the man’s glare moved beyond Jake to the street it focused him, and he turned to help the young girl.
“Jake, no!” Jess shouted from the house.
He had no time to look again; he raised his pistol and began firing at the oncoming infected. There were at least twenty of them now. The girl was screaming, which drew half of the infected to her. Jake shot two in the forehead who were running toward him. A sea of black-eyed monsters. Two shots rang out from behind him, dropping two more infected. Jake glanced back; the strange man had moved forward with him to help.
Jake fired twice more, two more infected dropped, and as he made it to the end of the driveway, he tucked his empty Beretta in his pants and began to swing away. The man behind him kept firing as they made a path to the girl, who was now pinned against a tree. She had dodged the infected as long as she could. The dying light was just enough to let Jake chop through three more infected, the last one being a man in a construction vest who was reaching for the girl. A bullet ripped through a crazed woman who had just grabbed the girl, and Jake scooped the girl up with his left arm. The fear in her eyes drove the reality of the situation even further home.
“Hold on tight!”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. Jake made his way back to the house. The salt-and-pepper-haired man, who had only a moment ago tackled Jess, was now helping to clear a path for Jake and the girl. With only one free hand, Jake swung the axe, chopping off a reaching arm. The girl screamed. He swung once more, taking off the head of the body he’d just removed the arm from. The infected were closing in around the porch. He wasn’t going to make it if he couldn’t fight freely.