Plentiful Poison

by Lybeck, Kyle

  The Milkmaid, an oil-on-canvas painting, would be on loan to the museum from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam for two months, along with some of their other less famous paintings.

  Abby almost couldn’t believe her eyes, taking a step backwards after she turned it back over from scanning the tracking bar code. Having held the famous painting, her hands were slightly shaking as she placed the scanner on another bench. Never in her life did she think it possible to able to hold a Vermeer.

  “Wow, that’s beautiful,” Constance said, walking over to stand next to Abby.

  “It’s amazing. I can’t believe I was just holding that. The fact that we were able to get it here on loan, makes today one of my best days working here.

  “You got it here. That was all you, Abby. Job well done, a lot of people around here are going to love it.”

  Constance went back to unpacking the crate as Abby continued to look over the painting. The way the paint caressed the canvas, the intricacies of the woman’s hands. Absolutely immersed with the painting, Abby barely heard the screams from outside the room.

  “What… the hell was that?” Constance said.

  “Huh? What was what?”

  “You didn’t hear that? The screams?”

  “No, what screams?”

  “I just heard two loud screams from outside the room.” Constance said, moving towards the door.

  Reaching the door, she put her ear against it in hopes of hearing something on the other side. Not hearing anything alarming, she slowly opened it a crack. Still hearing nothing, she opened the door wider and walked out into the hallway.

  It was then from around the corner towards the dock area, that Fred appeared. He stood, obsidian eyes full of rage staring down Constance.

  “Fred? What’s going on? Are you okay?”

  Fred did not verbally respond. Instead he went into a full sprint towards the doorway Constance had jumped back through, quickly trying to close the door behind her. She was almost successful, but at the last moment Fred’s left hand found its way into the crack and kept the door from being shut. Shoving the door back, Constance fell in a heap to the ground as Fred stood tall in the doorway.

  “What the fuck, Fred?” she said, trying to raise herself from the vinyl flooring. She made it to her knees before Fred tackled her back into the room, the two slamming into the table with the Vermeer. Breaking the painting in half, Fred bashed her against the corner of the table, then threw her against the opposite wall with an audible thwump.

  The entire time, Abby stood in awe at what was occurring before her. It was only when Fred began to rip fistfuls of intestine from Constance’s midsection, that Abby’s limbs jumped into gear as she ran from the room. She slammed the door behind her, continuing down to her office.

  Quickly, she stripped out of the coveralls and tried to dial 9-1-1 from her desk phone. The line was busy, with a pre-recorded message to stay on the line for the next dispatcher.

  How the heck is 9-1-1 busy? Abby thought to herself.

  Grabbing her purse from the hook on the wall, she ran out into the hallway and back towards the employee entrance that would lead to the parking lot. From behind her, she heard multiple loud growling noises and screaming for help. She turned to see Constance covered in blood, lower intestines hanging to the ground at her feet, staring at her from the clean room’s entrance.

  Abby paused, not believing her eyes that her boss, her friend, could be standing in front of her. It was impossible, it wasn’t physically attainable in her current state. Even so, Constance tried to run at Abby, only to be tripped up by her own innards. As she fell to the ground in a heap, Abby hurriedly continued to the exit of the building.

  Reaching the outside parking lot, Abby removed the key fob from her purse, clicking the unlock icon for the SUV. From within her purse she could hear her cell phone ringing incessantly. Opening the door to the Ford, she threw her purse on the passenger seat while climbing inside. After locking the door, she quickly retrieved the phone from her purse and held it in front of her to see who was calling.

  A single nickname flashed on the screen. Honey Pie.

  Chapter 10

  The Streets of Casper

  “Honey, are you okay?”

  “Mom, are you there? I can barely hear you!”

  Abby spoke louder into her cell phone, cupping the base to hold her voice in more.

  “I said are you okay? Where are you and your brother?”

  “We’re hiding across the street from the school. There are teachers and strangers going around killing other people. Bodies of kids are all over the front steps of the school. What is going on?”

  “I don’t know, I just got in the car. I’m going to come get you, hold tight.”

  “Please hurry mom, I don’t want to kill another one of these people.”

  Abby sat silent, letting those words sink in.

  “Don’t worry honey, I’m coming. I’ll call you again when I’m close, okay?”

  “Okay mom, I love you.”

  “Love you too, be strong for your brother.”

  Abby hung up the phone, pushing the start button for the SUV as her phone rang again. The engine roared to life as she looked at the screen. Hubby.

  “Oh my god, Will. What is happening over near you? Fred just killed Constance, I think, and the kids are saying people are being murdered over at the school.”

  “The same thing is happening here. I have fuck-all of an idea what is going on. Most of our office was either attacked and killed or became one of those things after being attacked.”

  “Where are you now? I’m just leaving the parking lot of the museum, heading to the school to get the kids.”

  “I’m almost to your work, I was coming to find you so we could get out of here. I just passed south Durbin Street coming down east 2nd. Pick me up at the library, I’ll hunker down here.”

  “I’ll be there in just a second,” Abby said, pulling onto east Collins Drive in front of the museum. Dodging groups of bloody, running individuals in the roads, she made it to Will in less than two minutes.

  Abby unlocked the doors as she came to a screeching halt in front of the library. Will yanked the passenger door open and leapt inside. A growling woman slammed herself into the side of the SUV just as he had finished closing the door, her bloody hands streaking bright red down the window.

  Startled, Abby jumped in her seat.

  “Jesus Christ, what the hell is going on!”

  She punched her foot on the gas to escape the woman.

  “I’m still trying to figure it out. So far I’ve gathered that these people, these things are fast as hell. Like abnormally fast. I’ve seen a few come down the street so fast and attack other people it was literally a blur of red.”

  “What would cause this, though? This makes no logical sense!”

  “I saw a woman who wasn’t even attacked, but near someone who was fighting against one of these things, get sprayed with its blood. She started screaming, and her skin started bubbling like she’d put it to a hot iron. Then all of a sudden she became just like them.”

  Trying her best to dodge more people, but clipping a few along the way, Abby drove down to south Wolcott like she would on a normal school morning to drop off the kids. Streaks of blood crept their way up the hood.

  “This has to be some sort of dream. This is insane, Will.”

  “Maybe the news was right. Maybe this is exactly what was happening down in Colorado but they kept stuffing the story down out of the public eye. If this could have been what was happening there, I wonder if it really was true that they dropped a nuke.” Will pondered, staring out the window as the sidewalk flew by.

  “What could have started something like this? There is no way this is natural. Some crazy person had to have cooked this up in a lab somewhere and somehow it got loose. Just like everyone worried years ago that the CDC was bringing in an Ebola patient to their facility.”

  “Maybe. Or some sort of mutation fro
m something that went haywire.”

  Will leaned forward, turning up the volume on the radio and changing to the news station.

  “…exclusive with General Strand, thank you for joining us on the air, sir.”

  “My pleasure, Mike.”

  “So you’re calling these things ragers, is that correct?”

  “That is correct, Mike. Not a name I gave them, but a name their creators gave them. A group of thugs down in Denver were trying to create a human killing machine.”

  “This all started in Denver. Is what everyone saying true, that our own government dropped nukes to try and stop this, infection?”

  “That is right, it is a viral infection and spreads like wildfire. One-hundred percent infection rate. We have determined that people can become infected by fluids or bites. Individuals can turn into these ragers not in a matter of minutes or hours, but ten or fifteen seconds. Those infected, are not truly dead as it turns out. Their hearts keep working, but their brains essentially have stopped functioning. They are extremely fast, blood still pumps through their veins, and they are mercilessly ruthless. They need meat, protein, to survive. We have captured one and it died within a day through starvation.”

  “Sir, you haven’t answered my question about the nukes.”

  The airwaves went silent, before General Strand brought his raspy voice back.

  “Citizens of the area, whatever you do, avoid contact with any that are infected. Seek shelter in your homes or places of business and do not let anyone inside. If for some reason you must defend yourselves, the brain is your best option to attack. It will stop them in their tracks. The United States military is working its best with the CDC to try and contain further spread of the infection.”

  “General, sir, how far has this infection truly spread? It started in Denver, we are now receiving reports from the following cities through our sources: Casper, Wyoming. Provo, Utah. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Even all the way to Wichita, Kansas.”

  Once again silence over the airwaves.

  “I’m sorry folks, it looks like General Strand has now ended our phone call. I wish we could have gotten an answer out…”

  Will turned the volume back down.

  “Ragers, huh? Manmade killing machines gone bad. Sounds like something out of a bad horror movie.”

  “Well it’s not a horror movie, it’s become real life,” Abby said, maneuvering to get around cars stopped in the road. She took the turn for west 12th street.

  Will reflexively put his hands against the dashboard as Abby almost hit a woman crossing the street.

  “Okay, we’re close, can you call Caroline? I hope they stayed across the street from the school like she said.”

  Picking his cell phone up from the cup holder, Will dialed his daughter’s phone.

  “Dad! Are you with mom? Are you guys close?”

  “Yes honey, I’m with mom. We’re right down the street. Are you still across the street from the school?”

  “No, we had to keep moving, there were too many people attacking other people, I got scared. We’re a few blocks down at the coffee shop. Casper’s. Hiding behind a dumpster out back so no one can see us.”

  “Abby, keep going past the school, take a left on Spruce, right on 15th. They’re at Casper’s.”

  “What the heck are they down there for?”

  “Too many people trying to attack them.”

  Will turned his attention back to the cell phone.

  “It’s okay honey, you guys stay right where you are. I’m going to stay on the phone with you until we get to Casper’s, all right?”

  “Okay, we will. Dad?”

  “Yeah sweetheart?”

  “Ben peed his pants.”

  Will couldn’t help but chuckle, despite the situation in no way calling for it.

  “Tell him that’s okay, it happens when people are scared. We’ll get him a new pair at the house.”

  Will could hear Caroline telling Ben, his crying heard through the cell phone. He could tell she was doing her best to console him and keep him quiet, so that other people would not hear them.

  “You’re doing great, honey. Just keep him calm.”

  “Thanks, dad. I’m doing my best. Are you and mom almost here?”

  “Just a block away now, get ready. We’ll have the doors unlocked so just run out and get in.”

  Caroline stayed silent, waiting for the SUV to pull into the parking lot. As it did, she pulled Ben’s hand, leading him away from the dumpster and to the waiting safety of their parents.

  Pulling the door open for her brother, Ben jumped inside to the leather seats. As Caroline began to climb in, she was yanked backwards by her backpack onto the concrete. Everyone was screaming her name from inside the vehicle as a man stood over her, black eyes staring down.

  Caroline instantly rolled to the side, scrambling to her feet. She ran to the opposite side, opening the door, with the rager hot on her heals. She threw herself inside, slamming the door shut just as it tried to grab her again. Abby pushed the gas pedal into the floor, spinning the tires in her best drag racer impression, the Ford leaping back out onto the main road. The former man took chase, but gave up after only two blocks.

  The Baker’s were safe and alive, on their way home.

  Chapter 11

  Home

  Abby put the Ford on two wheels as she took the corner onto north 6th avenue. Screeching into the driveway, she hit the brake pedal before driving straight through the garage door.

  “Everyone out, let’s go, get your belongings we discussed.”

  Exiting the vehicle, Will paused to listen. He couldn’t hear any screaming, gunshots, or growling, as they had on their way to the house. Breathing a hesitant sigh of relief, he quickly followed his family into the house.

  Crossing the threshold into the dark entryway, he could hear the footsteps of the children racing up the stairs. What he heard next took him a moment to comprehend. Walking into the kitchen he found Abby, crying into her hands, kneeling on the hardwood.

  “Babe it’s okay,” Will knelt down to console her in a warm embrace. “We’ve made it this far, now we just have to pack everything up and get out of here.”

  Abby struggled to catch her breath in-between sobs.

  “I… I just…” she said, wiping her nose with her shirt sleeve.

  “I know it’s frightening, I’m scared too. I already threw up once before you picked me up. We have to be strong for the kids, they’re going to be looking up to us throughout this.”

  “I saw people being attacked, Will. Eaten in front of me. Missing limbs, healing of wounds and then becoming those things. It was complete insanity.”

  “I know, it was. I had to go through the same thing at the office. Blood everywhere, and it was as if they were starting to work together as I was making my way to you. That was the scariest part. But, we made it through all of that though. That has to count for something. We’re meant to move on and escape all of this.

  “We need to head northwest, towards the ocean. Or maybe one of the islands in Washington. Somewhere away from the epicenter of all this, where we can barricade ourselves.”

  “That’s a long way to go, Will.”

  “I know, but I’m hoping we can get ahead of this damn infection. Get to a point where all of this hasn’t taken hold, it will be easier to get around and find a place.”

  “I sure hope you’re right. I just want everything to be safe for the kids.”

  Will helped his wife to her feet. Giving her a strong hug and kiss on the top of her head, while pushing himself back to give her a strong smile.

  “We can do it, I know we can. Let’s go pack up what we can upstairs, then we’ll fill the coolers with everything we can from the fridge.”

  Releasing themselves from a moment of peace, each walked upstairs to find the kids already having packed suitcases and duffel bags full of clothes, toys, and their electronics.

  “When you kids are all packed, go ahead and sta
rt putting it downstairs. Do not go outside though, we’ll all go together. Okay?”

  Each of them nodded to him, grabbing their belongings and heading towards the stairs.

  Pulling their own suitcases from the hall closet, Will brought them into the master bedroom. He set them on the bed, unzipping each of them and then opening the door for the walk-in closet. He took turns with Abby going in and out, grabbing armfuls of shirts, pants, and jackets.

  Three suitcases full, one to go, they opened the manrobe and cleared it of underwear, socks, and extra shoes. Zipping them back up, each took two and headed towards the stairs. At the bottom, they put them with the others that the kids had placed near the door.

  Will then walked down the hallway and through the door to the two car garage. Bringing two coolers back into the house, Abby and the kids began to fill them with all the food they could. Will went back and brought in a third, along with a few bags of ice from the chest freezer in the garage.

  Bags of frozen chicken, steaks, along with leftovers, cheeses, and condiments were all crammed into the three coolers and placed near the front door.

  Opening all the cupboards for bags of crackers, chips, along with rice and pasta, Abby filled extra plastic grocery bags they kept under the kitchen sink.

  “Okay, are we missing anything?” Abby asked, placing the bags of food along with everything else by the door.

  Will snapped his fingers as a lightbulb went off in his head.

  “The camping and outdoor cooking gear,” he said, running back out to the garage. Keeping the door open, Will threw out bags of gear to the others who shuffled them along in an assembly line to the pile of other things.

  “Now are we missing anything?” she asked again.

  Will surveyed the large pile of everything they’d need to survive on a long trip west.

  “Guns. We cannot forget those, and anything else to protect us. Caroline, grab anything you might have from your martial arts weapons.”

  “Don’t worry dad, I already have all of that stuff packed.”

  Will smiled at his daughter as he turned and rushed upstairs to the gun safe. Retrieving the Mossberg 12-gauge along with the Smith & Wesson 9mm, and all the ammo he could fit into his gun bag that he always took to the range, Will slung the bag over his shoulder, carrying it all downstairs.