Quarantine: A Pandora Novel

by McCrohan, Richard

  The café was a large, beautiful, stone structure that served as architectural entranceway, café and landmark. It led under the elevated highway and into the city streets. This sudden spate of gunfire echoed out through the building and into the rest of the neighboring streets. The undead there began to stop and turn. They were trying to pinpoint the origin of the echoing shots. Up above, on the Henry Hudson Parkway, the source of the gunfire was more obvious. The shooters below at the shoreline and the snarling zombies they were firing at were within sight. The zombies on the roadway above began to crowd the edge of the ramp wall, moaning in recognition of prey. As they moaned from above, the zombies in the streets below finally had a location to focus on.

  Running onto the docks and shooting the last two zombies, Austin turned to the moaning emanating from the undead on the elevated highway. “Let’s check these two boats,” he barked. “We are running out of time.”

  Leslie rushed to join him and together they ran to the first boat. It was a small cruiser that contained the bodies of four people. There looked to have been a shootout on board. Bullet holes scarred everything. Unfortunately that included the engine in back also. The next boat was at the very end of the dock and Leslie immediately headed for it. Austin climbed back onto the dock and followed.

  Meanwhile, Jermaine ran back to pick up Jeff. He helped the wounded man up. “Come on buddy,” he said, “our cruise to paradise is getting ready to leave.”

  “Complementary Mai-Tais?” Jeff asked.

  “Only the best,” replied Jermaine as they hobbled to the pier.

  Leslie jumped down onto the deck of the cabin cruiser docked at the end. It looked unscathed.

  Okay, she thought, let’s see if I could figure out how to start this sucker.

  Shouldering her weapon, she opened the cabin door to enter into the bridge. She took a step inside, and three shots rang out. Leslie was knocked back out the door where she fell flat on her back, stunned. Austin had just jumped aboard. He looked shocked when he saw her hit the deck. She laid there, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing like a fish. Swiftly he brought his weapon up, simultaneously thumbing the selector switch to full auto. Screaming curses, he emptied the clip into the open door of the cabin, angrily raking the barrel back and forth. Jermaine and Jeff heard the gunfire as they came up onto the pier. Hurriedly changing mags and stepping inside, Austin fired at any people he saw.

  There were two bodies inside, a man and a woman. Both were literally torn apart by the rounds fired. As the smoke cleared in the dust particles from the destroyed interior settled, Austin saw a small armory stocked inside.

  He turned and ran to Leslie. Kneeling at her side he held her head up. She still looked around uncomprehendingly, a rivulet of blood running down from the side of her mouth. Leslie kept feeling around her body looking for any wounds. Her hands were smeared red and sticky with fresh blood.

  Coughing out gouts of blood, Leslie turned to Austin and said, “What the fuck just happened?”

  “There were people inside,” Austin stammered, “they shot you.”

  As if finally aware for the first time, the young woman looked down at herself. Her uniform blouse was already soaked with blood. “Oh, crap,” she mumbled unbelievably. She grabbed at Austin’s sleeve and, turning toward him, opened her mouth to speak. Suddenly, she started to cough and choke. More blood ran down the side of her face from her lips. Austin raised her head and shoulders up higher. That seemed to help. Now there was blood running from her nose, also. Every time she breathed out, red bubbles formed then popped.

  Leslie’s breath became raspy and after a few more wet, choking coughs, her eyes lost focus and rolled up into her head. Austin felt her go completely limp, her grasping hand falling to the teak decking. The ammonia-like smell of urine rose up from her body.

  Austin gently set her head back down onto the wood. Looking back inside the cabin door he could see the devastation caused by his bullets. This boat would not be traveling anywhere. Smoke was already starting to wisp up from the destroyed instrumentation. Austin quickly got up and with a final, mournful look toward Leslie; he climbed back onto the dock and jogged down to where Jermaine and Jeff were standing.

  “What are we doing?” asked Jermaine.

  “Nothing,” Austin replied, “both boats are a no go.”

  “Both of them?” asked Jeff. “Where’s Leslie?” Austin looked at his two friends and shook his head sadly.

  “Wha…she’s dead?” they both asked, shocked.

  There were people hiding on board,” explained Austin. “They opened up on us as Leslie boarded the cabin cruiser. Shot her and killed her.”

  Turning and looking up at the roadway overhead, Jermaine said hurriedly, “Then we’ve got to boogie. Those Z’s are going to have this whole place crawling with undead soon.”

  As Austin eyed the crowded roadway overhead and heeded his friend’s warning, they took a hold of Jeff and the two soldiers carried him off between them. They started back up the Hudson River Greenway. The scenic pedestrian road continued uptown along the edge of the river. On the other side were green trees, bushes, foliage and large rocks. Past that was the Henry Hudson Parkway and the rest of New York City.

  The gathering call of the moaning zombies had drawn the undead to their location. The zombies crossed over Riverside Drive and entered the West 79th Street tunnel under the Henry Hudson Parkway and into the boat basin and marina itself. The undead on top of the highway had watched the three soldiers turn and continue up the path. They, too, turned and started moving uptown in the same direction. With Jeff’s arms around their shoulders and Austin and Jermaine’s arms around his waist they continued struggling up the path. When a commotion sounded from behind them, they turned around. The creatures that now poured into the marina had noticed the soldiers up the roadway and had followed. The snarling and growling zombies now started their pursuit.

  But what the three soldiers didn’t know and couldn’t see through the trees, was that the Henry Hudson Parkway was no longer elevated and was returning back to street level as it continued northward. The pursuing undead, previously up above them, were now heading on a collision course as the two roads joined up ahead.

  Rejoining the group in the hallway, Rick said, “We can’t get out into the street again.”

  “Let’s get to the roof,” Amy suggested. “Maybe we can hop over a couple of buildings.”

  Nodding, Rick said, “Okay. Sounds good.”

  Amy turned and glanced back at Nemeeka. The ebony skinned girl looked ill. “Meek, are you all right?” she asked.

  “I’m a bit tired,” Nemeeka replied. “Maybe if I could just sit--” The young artist stumbled and Amy caught her.

  With worried consternation Amy said, “Here. Sit on the stairs.” As she guided her down, she looked at her hand that was around her. In the darkened hallway was hard to tell, but her hand came away wet and sticky. “Meek,” she cried, “you’re bleeding.”

  Nemeeka looked down in the dim light and saw that her blouse was glistening from wetness. Then, in the sudden rush of realization and clarity, as the horrible burning pain kicked in, she gasped. “Oh my God, I’ve been shot.”

  Her cry electrified the group. They all scrambled to see what was wrong.

  “I can’t see, I can’t see,” cried Amy helplessly. “It’s too dark inside here.”

  “Let’s take her up to the roof,” PJ said, “where it’s light.”

  They half carried Nemeeka up the apartment stairs until they reached the roof. Miraculously, the door was unlocked. Stepping out onto the flat gravel roof they set Nemeeka down in the afternoon light. Amy raised the sodden material of her blouse up. Wiping away the blood they could see a hole in the middle of her back. Blood continued to run from the obvious gunshot wound.

  “It must have happened,” Rick said, “when those assholes were all firing at us. There were bullets flying everywhere.”

  Grabbing Amy’s hand, Nemeeka sobbed, “Oh, it
hurts so much.”

  Eileen was trying to stop the bleeding. She took her shirt off and was pressing it tightly against the wound. The cotton material was already becoming drenched with her blood. Turning to look up at Rick, Eileen silently shook her head.

  Amy caught the telling glance and cried, “Isn’t there anything we can do?”

  “She needs a doctor,” Eileen replied. “That bullet has to come out.”

  Amy turned and looked into the pleading eyes of her lover. Then, looking up, her wide eyes moved from person to person. “Then we get her to a doctor,” she said unrealistically.

  A burning piece of material came floating down and landed on the roof nearby. Suddenly reminded of their surroundings, they all turned toward the street and saw the bright orange flames licking up menacingly from the building across the street. The clothing store became engulfed in flames quickly and the old building soon became a raging inferno. Smoke was already emanating from the apartment windows of the connecting building next to it. Black and gray smoke was billowing up into the bleak sky above. Various bits of fiery clothing material were being cast off by the smoke and flames and falling to the rooftops and ground below. They moved Nemeeka to the far side of the roof away from the falling debris. Setting her to rest as comfortably as they could, Rick then ran to all sides of the roof. Trotting back, he reported his grim news.

  “There’s no fire escape in the back or the front. But, we can get over to the next building easily.” Looking at the burning embers floating down onto the roof from across the street, Rick turned back to them and said, “I think we should at least move to the building next door.”

  As Eileen nodded in agreement he said, “At least, while it’s still light out. Maybe the fire will drive the zombies away. When I looked down onto the street, I could see that a number of them were on fire and staggering around. They wound up banging into one another and setting each other ablaze.”

  “Cool,” sneered PJ, “maybe they’ll solve our problem for us.”

  Looking up from her position next to Nemeeka, Amy said with a concerned voice, “I don’t like the idea of moving Meek around too much.” Nemeeka looked up weakly from the roof.

  “I know,” said Rick. “But what if this roof catches fire? We may not be able to get over there then.”

  Tugging on Amy’s hand clutched in hers, Nemeeka said, “It’s okay, Amy. I can do it. He’s right, we should move.” Biting her lip as she closed her teary eyes Amy nodded.

  They all stood as Rick and PJ gently pick the wounded girl up and started carrying her to the other building. Amy paused and looked down. Her heart came to her throat. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the large pool of blood that was under her partner.

  Walking to the edge of the roof, PJ held Nemeeka as Rick climbed the parapet and jumped to the other side. There was only about a foot separating the two buildings. When he was set, he leaned over and PJ handed Nemeeka over the edge into his arms. The minute she was over, PJ helped Amy, Mora, Eileen and Tomiko over to the next roof. Then he followed. They scurried over and huddled behind the structure the roof access door was housed in.

  The afternoon sun started to sink lower in the sky. They were shielded from the bright flames of the building opposite them. As the sky and surrounding city grew darker, one by one, the physically and emotionally drained survivors succumbed to their exhaustion and fell into an uneasy sleep.

  16

  The trees started to thin and the three fleeing soldiers could now see the major roadway running parallel to them. Looking up ahead they could also see that the Greenway was ending.

  “Where are we going from here?” Jermaine gasped out. They still had Jeff between them as they ran.

  Looking behind them, Austin said, “Wait. Stop a second.”

  Puffing hard, the two sweat drenched soldiers tried desperately to catch their breath. Already both felt a stitch starting in their sides. It seemed to suck all of their air away. They knew they couldn’t keep this up for much longer. Austin looked back at Jeff. He was unconscious. No wonder he’s so heavy, he thought.

  “Listen,” Austin gasped out between breaths, “if we continue to run straight up this Highway the zombies behind and on the side of us are just going to follow. We can’t keep this up. They’re coming closer and closer as we get slower. Soon we won’t be able to run anymore and they’ll reach us. We’re toast.”

  “We have to lose these fuckers,” huffed Jermaine.

  Looking back at their pursuers, and then looking around Austin said, “When this ends, we’ll cut over to the first street we come to. Then we’ll just keep taking turns until we lose them.”

  Jermaine looked around, sweat dripping down his face. “Fuck it,” he said, “let’s go.”

  They hoisted Jeff up to a more stable position and started forward again. While they stopped to catch their breath, the pause only highlighted their bone-weary condition. They didn’t realize it yet, but they were moving at a much slower pace than they were before. Finally reaching the junction of both roadways, they cut right and headed toward West 87th Street. As they crossed the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Drive, they finally saw the full number of undead that was marching down the roadway toward them. Even more frightening was how close the horde was. They were less than a block away.

  Stepping up their pace, they plodded up the block looking for somewhere to hide. They made it all the way up the street without encountering a single zombie (except for the mass of undead that were behind them). Austin decided that they should go up another block before turning left. As they reached Broadway, they came to a crowd of undead that had gathered on the corner of the next block. Seeing the three soldiers, come into view, they growled and started toward them.

  Shaking his head bitterly, Austin murmured, “Oh, this just gets better and better.” They continued straight ahead. A zombie stepped out from behind a parked car ahead of them. Austin pulled out a .45 that he had strapped on in the quarantine zone. Not stopping, he pointed it and shot the lurching zombie in the head.

  “I… I don’t think... I can continue much further,” Jermaine gasped.

  Austin spotted a construction site on the left corner. There were high wooden walls built around it with lumber and plywood. Attached to part of the long wooden fencing was a large collection of notes, pictures and lost and found posters of people of all types. These with the missing infected who never made it home.

  Scaffolding was erected along part of the wall. Austin and Jermaine came up to the wooden barrier. There was a peephole in one of the plywood panels and Austin looked through. They had taken down the corner buildings and had the foundations in for the new one. Austin also noticed a loose board on the bottom. He pried it open and Jermaine crawled through. He then reached out and Austin pushed the limp Jeff through the opening. Looking back, he saw the approaching undead were close. As he stood, Austin kicked the board shut with the toe of his combat boot.

  Austin then stepped out into the street so all could see. Putting his rifle to his shoulder, he fired off two rounds hitting the two closest zombies in the head. Now he had their full attention. He backed away, then turned and ran on for another fifty feet. Veering sharply to the wall again, the soldier turned and began climbing the scaffolding. Once he reached the top of the wooden barrier surrounding the construction site, Austin climbed over and let himself drop to the other side. Jermaine saw him coming over and ran to make sure he landed safely.

  The snarling undead converged on the spot where the wily soldier had disappeared. Confused and frustrated they hammered on the wooden panels, clawing at the rough wood and leaving long, bloody marks in the heavy plywood. Seeing their ilk attacking the barrier, the others drawing near turned and did the same all across the barrier walls of the site. While it caused a terrible racket, it also thinned the ranks, spreading them across the construction site walls and not pressing all of their numbers in one location.

  Austin and Jermaine carried Jeff further into the s
ite for safety. They sat him down close to the contractor’s trailer.

  “We’ll stay outside, unless it rains,” instructed Austin. “I don’t want to be inside in case they somehow breakthrough. This way we’ll know way ahead of time.”

  The sky was getting dark. The tall buildings of the city stood like dark monoliths looking both eerie and alien in the dim light. Looking up at some of the windows in the towering apartment buildings, they could see flickering lights in some of the windows. But too many remain dark. And dead.

  Jermaine rolled a metal barrel over and through some scrap wood into it. They found a newspaper in the trailer after breaking the lock. Austin looked at the month old newspaper. The lurid headlines screamed THE DEAD WALK-- Europe and Asia Overwhelmed. Looking over, Jermaine said, “Yeah, no shit.”

  Austin chuckled, crumpling up the front page and threw it in the barrel. Using his lighter, Jermaine ignited the newsprint and soon had a nice fire going. While the day was very warm, there was a cool breeze tonight. The fire would feel good. The barrier was high enough that it wouldn’t be noticed by the zombies. Who knows, Jermaine thought, maybe they’ll get bored and leave?

  Checking on Jeff, Austin saw that his breathing was very shallow. His pale sunken cheeks were clammy with perspiration. Still unconscious, he was coughing softly, his lips darkened by the black blood he kept bringing up.

  Jermaine had propped himself up against the trailer. Man, he wished he had a cigarette. Austin came beside him and plopped down next to him. Both men were totally spent. Looking at Jeff lying on the other side of the fire barrel, Jermaine turned to Austin.

  “How is he doing?”

  Shaking his head slowly, Austin said, “Bad. Real bad. I don’t think he’ll last the night.”

  “I guess we’ll deal with him when he turns, huh?” Jermaine said.

  Austin nodded. They sat in silence for a while. The constant hammering of undead hands on the barrier, along with their increasing moaning and growling was becoming just a never ending drone to the two weary soldiers.