The Scourge (Book 1): The Dead Don't Turn

by Maxey, Phil

Three days. Try and keep these people alive, and then I can head east.

  As he walked down the stairs, a stout man he recognized as the mayor was waiting for him at the bottom.

  “Mr… Garret, I would like to thank you on behalf—”

  Joel raised his hand, looking at the various small groups of worried-looking people who were trying not to look back at him. “I need coffee.” He walked into the dining area, which was empty of people, including no sign of Marina which he was glad for.

  Claire appeared from the kitchen. “Coffee?”

  Joel nodded and sat at a table along the wall.

  The mayor appeared, walked along the channel between the tables, and sat opposite Joel, who sighed.

  “What can I do for you, Mayor.”

  Hardin leaned forward. “Is the government still functioning? Is the army coming?”

  “I’m going to go with no, and no.”

  Hardin sat back nodding to himself. “So, we’re back to pre-civil war days. It’s going to be every town and city for itself.”

  Joel frowned. “Well, you got —”

  “A vampire problem! And how you going to help with that?”

  “— I was going to say if you haven’t already, you need to gather up as much of the supplies as you can from people. Whoever has too much. Ask for donations, buy it from them if needed. Then you’re going to need to store it somewhere, so it’s there to help those that don’t have anything when theirs runs out.”

  Hardin nodded. “That’s a good idea. You see, that’s why you need to be the new sheriff!”

  A wave of disbelief ran across Joel’s mind. “What?”

  “With Jim recovering, you’re the only bona fide lawman we got! It will just be temporary, of course, until Jim’s back on his feet.”

  Joel shook his head.

  Claire appeared with a jug and poured the coffee into a mug placing it on the table.

  “Any breakfast? I’ll take whatever you got.” His hunger was growing, and he hoped real food might put a dent in it.

  “Sure, I’ll get you some eggs.” She looked at the Mayor, frowned, then moved back to the kitchen.

  “I’m happy to help out for a few days, but then I need to be moving on.”

  The mayor looked as if calculations were running through his mind. “Fine. Hopefully, Jim will be back by then.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a leather wallet with a gold star badge on it.

  Joel raised his hand. “I really don’t need that.”

  Harden slid it across the table, then got to his feet. “I’m going to need you to address those of us that are left. Give them some words of encouragement. Folks are getting pretty downhearted since what happened to Jim and the others.”

  Joel nodded. “Tell them I’ll be right in.”

  Joel used the time drinking his coffee and eating the eggs to get his head around some kind of plan to keep the town alive. He wasn’t rescuing hostages but, in some way, it was the same situation. The town was being held hostage by the scourge.

  He placed his knife and fork on the plate. He still felt hungry, but he knew he had just eaten a good breakfast and he hoped his body could get some use from it. Taking a deep breath, he stood then walked into the foyer. The space was still packed, and hush descended upon them when he appeared.

  Hardin stood up from a stool and walked over to Joel, placing an unwanted hand on his shoulder. “Joel Garret is the new temporary sheriff until Jim is ready to resume his duties!”

  Whispers and silence greeted the announcement. Hardin looked at the crowd and then to Joel with a look of concern.

  Joel cleared his throat. “I know none of you know me. That all you do know about me is that I’m some guy who wandered into your town in the dead of night. Well, I’m actually an agent of the FBI—”

  “Are there more law officers coming? Is the army coming to help us?” said a woman in the crowd.

  “We’re on our own… for now.” The last part was a lie. Joel expected there never would be any help, but that’s not what they needed to hear.

  “So, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that if you work together you will all get through this—” Another lie. “— The bad, is that for that to happen, you’re going to have to give up some of your stuff…”

  A ripple of discomfort ran around the room.

  “Settle down, everyone,” said Hardin. “No one’s going to forcibly take anything from anyone, Sheriff Garret is just talking about voluntary contributions. Food and things you don’t need.”

  “That’s exactly it—”

  “Why you need it?” said a burly man, with a thick beard.

  Others echoed his sentiment.

  “If the time comes when supplies start to run out, we will have a store of goods, water, food, and the like to keep us all going. Think of it as a community store of supplies to be used when, and if, necessary.”

  People around the room started to nod to each other.

  “What about guns?” said the bearded man.

  “Especially guns. Obviously, you should stay well stocked with your own weapons and ammo, but if you have anything to spare, that might help out a lot in the future.” Joel looked at the Mayor. “We’re going to need somewhere secure to keep it all.”

  Hardin stood in thought.

  “What about the school?” said the burly man.

  Joel remembered passing the large red brick building on his way to Bill’s. He looked at Hardin. “That’s a good choice.” Hardin nodded.

  “Okay, I’m going to need a few people to help me organize,” said Joel. He looked around the room, but most heads and eyes turned slightly away from his own.

  “I’ll help,” said Kelly.

  “And me,” said Marina, walking down the stairs. “As long as Jess can come along.”

  Joel’s heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way. “That’s fine.” He looked out to the men around the room. “Anyone else?”

  The grouchy man who was concerned about the guns, stood. “Yeah, count me in. I’m Reggie McClure. But just call me Reg. I got a pickup, we can pile some of the stuff in it.”

  Joel looked around the rest of those in the room. “Go back to your residences, see what you can spare, and have it ready to be picked up within the next few hours.”

  “What about the things in the mine?” said an especially gray-skinned woman.

  “I’m working on that problem.” He smiled, and went to address the volunteers, but stopped looking back to everyone else getting to their feet. “We should probably all meet back here once a day at 9 a.m. for updates. Everyone okay with that?”

  Everyone showed their acceptance of the idea, then started leaving. Joel looked at Reg. “We’ll give people a few hours then start making rounds and taking it back to the school. For now, you two—” He looked at Kelly and Reg. “Get the keys to the school and start getting it ready.” They nodded and headed off.

  Marina looked at Joel with a questioning look. “And what are we going to be doing?”

  “First, we visit the actual sheriff.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  The silence in the police pickup was deafening for Joel, as he, Marina, Jess, and Flint drove the short distance to the medical center. Images of Russell forced their way through Joel's mind no matter how hard he tried to keep them out. It wasn't helping that his hunger was growing inside him.

  Soon they were pulling into the center’s parking lot, the same ambulance was parked in the same position from the night before. In the daylight, Joel realized that it had large smears of blood across its side and headlights.

  He was happy to see the glass doors at the entrance rather than the metal shutters, and they parked up, then all got out and walked inside. A nurse sat behind a counter, but Joel walked straight past her moving towards the room which housed Jim. Jess was given Flint to look after, and they both sat in the waiting area. Joel glanced back at Flint as the dog sat just a foot away from the girl, then Joel and her mot
her walked down the hall.

  He tried to not look at the children’s drawings which lined the walls. There was no place in the world anymore for such optimism.

  Inside a small room, Dr. Faraday was standing next to Jim who was sitting up. Jim saw them and beckoned Joel and Marina inside.

  As Joel opened the door, a smell of disinfectant wafted out.

  “I knew you wouldn't leave,” said Jim, forcing a brief smile.

  He doesn't remember.

  “Yeah, things have kind of changed on that front.” Joel pulled out the badge.

  “That didn’t take long,” said Jim. He looked away. “But what do you expect when you get both your deputies killed… and yourself.”

  Joel went to respond but Anna beat him to it. “So, you’re the sheriff now?” she said to Joel, her confusion obvious. “You just got here two days ago—” She looked back at her patient. “— Anyway, Jim should be back on his feet within a few days.”

  “To hell with that—” Jim pushed himself up. “— I’ll be out today.”

  Anna wasn’t sure how to respond. “But…”

  Jim looked at the visitors. “The doctor has informed me I’ve been infected. So, it would seem my time as sheriff would have been limited anyway.” He looked back to Anna. “Just give me a bottle of antibiotics and I’ll be on my way. But I’m not staying in here—” He lifted his arm, pointing. “— while the town’s dying out there.”

  Joel wanted to tell him that he might be able to fight the urges, like he does. But then he had not seen any other of those that had changed, like himself. He didn’t know why he was different.

  Jim looked at Joel. “What happened? The doctor here told me you saved me in the mine? And that Mike and Ryan were dead when you got to the cavern?”

  “There was no sign of Mike, and Ryan was dead. You were trying to protect him when I got there…” Joel could see that the previous day’s events were replaying in Jim’s mind.

  “Was there anyone else with you? I remember a whole lot of gunfire and fighting.”

  “Flint helped, he took a few down.”

  Jim looked surprised. “You train those dogs well in the FBI.”

  Joel smiled, he then set about telling Jim and the doctor the plan for the town, which they approved of. Once he was done, he asked Marina and the doctor if he could have the room, to talk about official business.

  When they were gone, he offered the badge to the man in the bed.

  Jim frowned waving Joel’s hand away.

  “Let’s see how things play out.”

  Joel put the badge away. “I’ve got a plan for the mine and what’s in there.”

  “I sure hope it doesn’t involve anyone going inside.”

  “It doesn’t. Just the opposite. Have you got any explosives? TNT, anything like that?”

  Jim nodded. “You need to talk to Reg. He used to do some blasting up at the mine, still looking for that jackpot. He might have some you could use.” He paused momentarily and smiled. “You want to seal them in?”

  Joel smiled.

  “Throw me my pants and shirt, its time I got back into it.”

  Joel did then left the room, as he did, Anna approached him.

  “Before you go, we need to talk.”

  She led Joel to a small room and closed the door.

  “He’s infected, and I don’t know how long he’s got until he changes. His blood cells are changing, although without better lab equipment I can’t tell more than that. I just know it’s happening.”

  “I presume you have seem others change?”

  “During the early days, this place was full of those that had been attacked. We had no idea how the infection spread at that time, and most showed no symptoms. Everyone was eventually discharged, which… led to more death.”

  She paced around the room. “I’ve seen some change in days, others in weeks, there’s no pattern that I can discern yet, but it will happen.”

  Joel’s mind flashed back to when his own change happened, and how unprepared he was for what came next. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

  He went to leave.

  “What about the dog? Did he get bit?”

  Joel did his best to look surprised at the question. “Animals don’t change.”

  “Okay…”

  Joel, with the others, walked through the open glass doors to the outside.

  Jim closed his eyes and let the sun warm his face. He looked across at the vehicle sitting in the parking lot. “I see you got the company pickup as well!” He smiled.

  Joel passed him the keys.

  Once inside the vehicle, Jim looked at Joel in the passenger’s seat. “Were Bill or Evan at the meeting this morning?”

  “No.”

  Jim clicked on the car radio, holding the mike to his face. “Evan… Bill, either of you out there? Over.”

  A few moments of static passed.

  “Good to hear you back up and around Jim. How are you? Over,” said Bill.

  “Still fighting… Have you heard about Joel’s plan to store some supplies away? Over.”

  “We did. Over.”

  “I know you got a bunker full of stuff down there, I was hoping you have some extra you don’t mind sharing. Over.”

  “I’m sure we can find something to help out. Over.”

  “Thanks, Bill. We’ll be there within the hour. Over.”

  Jim put the mike down, then started the engine. “Before Bill’s, I need to pay a visit to Rachel, Ryan’s wife.”

  *****

  Jim pulled up to his deputy’s house, a modest single-story home which sat behind ten feet of gravel with the occasional cacti. The front door was open. He got out and walked forward over the short path and through the doorway. “Rachel?” he shouted. He moved from room to room, but there was no sign of anyone. Eventually, he returned to the entrance and walked to the side of the house. Joel followed as the others stayed near the pickup.

  Pushing on a side gate, he winced, then pushed it open and walked along a gravel path to the back yard. It was just as devoid of life as the house.

  “Could she have packed up and left?” said Joel.

  “No… I don’t think so.” Something then occurred to Jim and he looked back to Joel. “Ryan was dead, right? There’s no way you could have been mistaken?”

  “He was dead.” Technically, it was a lie. Ryan was alive when Joel made it to the cavern, but he couldn’t carry them both out. It was Jim or Ryan, and Joel chose Jim. Joel knew what was on the older man’s mind. If Ryan wasn’t dead, he might have turned, and then come back to his house. That wouldn’t have gone well for his wife.

  Jim looked at him ruefully. “Well, she’s not here, so we might as well go on to Bill’s.”

  The short journey to Bill’s was mostly held in silence. Joel could tell Jim spent most of the drive thinking about the events in the cave before he passed out. At some point, he was probably going to have to come clean about Ryan, but that was a problem for another day.

  They pulled into the parking lot next to the boarded up shop and made their way to the front yard of the house. The door to the fortresslike home was already open, with Bill standing in the doorway. The old man’s face turned from a smile to one of intrepidation on seeing Jim up close.

  Jim spotted his friend’s reaction and smiled. “Yeah, they got me good.”

  “What was you thinking going in there? Just the three of you?”

  “Someone had to do something, Bill.”

  Bill frowned, shaking his head.

  “This is Marina, her kid, Jess, and the dog is Flint, I believe.”

  Bill nodded to all of them and smiled a wide grin on seeing the German shepherd. “Come here, boy!” he said, kneeling. Flint bounded up the steps and was happy to be spoilt with pats and rubs by Bill.

  Evan appeared in the doorway. “We packed up some food and supplies, there’s also some flashlights, and a canister of fuel.”

  “That’s appreciated,” said Jim. He tr
ied to ignore Evan not wanting to meet his glance.

  “I’ll help you take it to the truck,” said the young man.

  Marina and Jess walked up the wooden stairs to the porch.

  “Please, come in. Can you stay for a while? I have food and tea, unless you prefer coffee?”

  Marina looked at Joel, she was glad of the hospitality. Joel nodded, and Marina and her daughter went inside with Bill, as Evan came the other way carrying a wooden crate.

  Jim went to help, but Evan stepped away. “I got this.”

  Joel looked at Jim. “You find somewhere to rest inside, I’ll get the supplies in the pickup.”

  Jim sighed, then nodded, following the others inside.

  Marina looked at the old picture frames, newspapers, and furniture and felt like she had stepped into a museum that was having a garage sale.

  “Mom, come down here,” said Jess from somewhere behind a door in the hallway.

  Marina looked to the kitchen. “Is it okay if we go downstairs?” she enquired to Bill.

  “Ha, of course.”

  Marina opened the plain wood door and walked down the creaking steps to the bottom. She stared, mouth agape, at the banks of computers and bookshelves, and that was just the small part she could see. “Jess?”

  Behind one of the walls she could hear the faint hum of a generator.

  She turned the corner, and looked into a seated area, with a large-screen TV and behind that another smaller room and another door. Through the gap, she could just about make out a single bed. Jess was sat on the sofa, a game controller in her hand, but the screen in front of her was just her reflection.

  More beams creaking alerted her to someone coming down the stairs.

  “We call this the war room,” said Bill, walking down the stairs. He walked past her, to the first computer screen. “We monitored the scourge as it happened from down here.”

  She couldn’t help but see the sadness in his eyes.

  “Saw a lot of death on these screens.” He looked across to Jess. “Everything still works, but we can’t spare the power anymore.”

  Jess gave a faltering smile. “It’s okay.”

  Bill walked to a cupboard, pulling one of the doors open. “But we have lots of board games, if you like that kind of thing?”