Zombpocalypse (Book 1): Contingency

by Mariah Lynde

  In this, I was interested to see what Robbie had to say. There was no way I would be vouching for Cal, I barely knew the guy.

  “As you can tell, you haven’t really made the best impression on our little group, Mr. Mitty. Personally, I’m wondering why we should even consider allowing you to tag along with us when you chose to leave out some key information when we talked earlier.” Robbie had gotten right down to the brass tacks of the matter. I chose not to say anything as I took another drag from the cigarette and watched Cal while he spoke with the others.

  “I don’t understand why our conversation earlier is important. If I had told you what happened, you would have been more worried than you already were. I figured it would be better coming from her.” Cal spoke softly, as if unsure just what he should say to make the others see his point of view.

  That was the beauty of interaction on the internet. No matter what you wanted to portray, the lack of familiarity and physical interaction stood to cause a lot of misunderstandings. On the other side of things, when you wanted to know and understand just what it was you were dealing with in the personality of others, you were left completely in the dark. There was no way of knowing just who or what the person on the other end of the conversation happened to be thinking.

  Now, while he awaited judgment from Robbie, I could see that Cal seemed just as discomforted as I felt in having him here. Whatever his objective, he acted as if whatever Robbie said would have an effect on the outcome he wanted. Which begged the question, had he come here seeking a place with my group because he had no one of his own? That particular question began to plague me as I took another drag from my cigarette.

  Why would he focus on me? Why think that I could lead him to any group that meant safety? Surely he didn’t think that I was a sure bet just because I clocked some chick with a fire extinguisher when she turned.

  Then again, much like everyone else in that lobby he’d seemed to be at a loss for words. While everyone else had struggled to come to grips with what they were seeing, I had jumped into action. It could be argued that doing so hadpresented me as one of the mentally unstable in acting first and asking questions later. More often than not that got you in more trouble than anything.

  “Whether you think that conversation matters or not, it does. Had we known that the zombie she had been dealing with happened to be outside her own house, we could have spent the time she was asleep asking you what had happened. Not to mention the fact that this particular event makes two sightings in under a day right there near her. That has meaning.” Robbie said in an even voice. At that point not even I could tell where he was going with this.

  “What meaning could that possibly have?” Cal asked the very question that I had been starting to kick around. Why would Robbie think that particular event had any meaning? Don’t get me wrong, I had my own reasons for believing such a thing happened to be noteworthy, but I was curious as to what others thought about it.

  “Much as I hate to say it… It matters because it means that Angel is right about everything going on right now.” Robbie said softly. The words almost whispered so that even I had a problem hearing them despite the absolute silence that seemed to settle over the call.

  Staring blankly at the screen to my computer, I forgot the presence of the male beside me. I forgot about the gaggle of improvised weapons stored in the back of my car. All I knew in that moment was shock. Staring at the screen I could only wonder just what part they all considered me to be right about.

  Chapter Twenty-Three – Clarification

  It seemed then, that the whole world had gone silent. No one, not myself or anyone else on the call seemed able to talk. Robbie’s words, whispered though they might have been − seemed to bring a whole new focus to the lot of us.

  Much like any moment where some life changing realization comes about, it ended with one person blurting out.

  “Right about what?” This time, the guy who interjected with a pointless question was Alec.

  “About the fact that this time, we’re not looking at a false start. This whole situation is going to get ugly and fast.” Robbie spoke again, this time, using his normal tone of voice so that everyone could hear him clearly.

  “You’re really that sure? I mean, don’t you think they could just be a couple of random encounters?” Ray spoke softly. Of everyone in our group, she happened to be a nominal voice of reason in most cases. As such, it did not surprise me one bit that in this particular scenario she would be the one we had to convince. Honestly, I was halfway there with her.

  Despite the fact that I had been the one to call high alert on all of this, there was a healthy amount of doubt that I could be right. What were the chances that an actual zombie outbreak would happen?

  Even I had to admit that it was a long shot. While some people would have considered it slightly insane, I had to speak on Ray’s behalf in this instance.

  “I hate to be Betty Naysayer, but Ray’s right. There’s no way to know it’s just not a couple of random encounters based on my shitty luck. I mean, it’s not like we’re getting reports about people being overrun in cities and towns.” Finishing what I said as I leaned forward to snuff out the cigarette I had forgotten several moments before.

  “Seriously?” Robbie sounded almost annoyed. Much as I wanted to get down to business about everything, it amused me to know that after everything I could still drive him a little bit bonkers. A small laugh escaped my lips before I replied.

  “Yes, seriously.” I answered back and shook my head a little. “While I would love nothing more than to be able to sit here and do my victory dance over being right, we all know that I have a standing history of crying wolf and overreacting to things that are just random chance events. This could be no different.”

  Again, self-doubt could be a true pain in the ass, but I couldn’t discount the fact that Ray just might be right. At least this time I was willing to own up to my possible misinterpretation so that we all didn’t go off the deep end.

  “While normally I would give what you’re saying a lot more weight, this time I can’t. You’ve not only seen, but come into contact with two highly infected individuals in less than a day, sweety.” As Robbie spoke I found my fingers itching to grab that pack of cigarettes once more. Just to give me something to do.

  If there were one word to describe my current state it would be fidgety. On the whole, my nerves were stretched thin and I expected another attack to come at any moment. As horrible as that sounds, I cannot even tell you how much more horrible it was to experience.

  “Again, it could just be mere coincidence. I mean, one was at work and one was here. There’s no way the two are connected.” I replied, turning my head to see Cal peering up at me.

  “Even if those two were coincidences, at this point they indicate something worse and you know it.” Robbie shot back, the tone of his voice sharp and biting. When you took into account the fact that he was probably the most laid back person I ever met, that particular tone had me sitting up to pay attention. When I realized just how high a state of alert he had triggered, Johnny interjected as proof that I was not the only one to take notice.

  “How do you figure, Robbie?” Gone was Johnny’s normally mirthful tone. Instead, there were hints of concerned undertone that one would not normally hear from him.

  “Angel said it herself - she encountered one of these things at her office and one at home. What most of you aren’t aware of is that right there indicates a huge problem. Angel works at an office in the city. It’s a twenty minute commute for her to go to or from work because she chose to live in a small sedate little town. Not a suburb just outside the city. We can explain having multiple run-in’s while she’s at work in the city, however, one there and twenty-four hours later encountering another one miles away in a less densely populated area? Not to mention the fact there is a curfew in place? Sorry, that points to all the signs that things are getting out of hand and whoever is responsible is losing contro
l of the situation.”

  Hearing Robbie put things in those terms, made me grateful I had him as a line of support. Where I’d been mired in my own thoughts about the horrors I’d encountered, I had lost sight in thinking objectively. My own emotions had crowded in and allowed me to indulge in a healthy amount of self-doubt and disbelief.

  Now that Robbie had spoken the words I needed to hear, I could look at the events of the last day with more of an outsider’s perspective. Stepping back to look at things as an observer would, I focused on my last encounter and what exactly that meant.

  My best friend was right. I could buy having two encounters close together in a highly populated area like the city. However, one encounter in the city and one in a small town about thirty miles away that could barely be considered a blip on the map? Something like that could only happen if things were slipping. Whatever had happened to be causing this outbreak had begun to rapidly spin out of control.

  “Shit.” I muttered as another realization made itself known.

  “What?” Mack piped up, his voice echoing with that strange sound of distance between himself and Ray’s microphone.

  “Well, it partly has to do with what Robbie just said, and a lot to do with me thinking about the zombie I faced this afternoon. The woman in the lobby at work yesterday was a lot different than the male zombie I went postal on tonight.” As soon as I finished speaking, I heard the soft intake of air next to me. While Cal Mitty could be considered many things, stupid did not happen to be one of them.

  Turning my head to peer at him once more, I noticed that the pallor of his skin had become a sickly gray. All color had fled from his cheeks and gray eyes had widened with a look akin to absolute horror. He knew exactly what it was that I had realized and the implications behind that were too damning to speak of aloud comfortably.

  “For the love of god, what?” Jay’s voice bellowed over the speaker, causing me to jump and look away from Cal as I reached for the box of cigarettes in front of me.

  “Basically, now I have to admit that Robbie is right. Things are actually a lot worse than we figured.” Putting a cigarette between my lips and lighting it, I drew in a deep breath. This time, the stale smoke brought a sense of calm that I desperately needed.

  “Why, because he pointed out there were two of them you faced in a short amount of time?” Dave said with a somewhat amused tone of voice.

  “No. God, I’d give anything if it were something that easily dismissed.” I muttered softly. Watching as one large, masculine hand slipped in front of me to grab the pack of cigarettes off the desk. I whipped my head to the side, intending to kick the hell out of him for trying to throw away my little box of vices. Surprisingly, when my eyes fell on his visage it was to see him lifting a cigarette to his mouth before moving to grab my lighter for his own personal use. Watching as Cal took a deep breath to inhale the first release of smoke, I waited. When he spoke, his next words left me cold.

  “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em ladies and gents, it is officially the end of the world as we know it.” His voice echoed in the small space of my nerd cave and left me feeling more than a little creeped out.

  Now, I would love to say that I’m of an intelligence that deems me unworthy not to have little quips or remarks. Sadly, that is not the case. In mid-puff from my cigarette, Cal’s last words actually had me pausing to stare at him as if he’d grown a second head before I burst out laughing.

  Fortunately for me, I was not alone. Robbie and several others that were in the call joined in and I could see the look on Cal’s face. Staring at me as if I’d lost my mind, the cigarette he had taken was secured at the corner of his lips before he frowned and mumbled, “What the hell is so funny?”

  Between gasped breaths and a healthy amount of guffawing, I lifted my free hand to wipe at the tears rolling down my cheeks. Robbie cackled a little in the back ground, while several others worked to stifle their own laughter. Shaking my head, I turned to peer at the man beside me with barely contained humor.

  “You seriously don’t know?” I asked, shaking my head as I moved to put my cigarette down in the ashtray.

  “No. What the hell is so hilarious? Am I missing something?” This time he coughed at the end of his words, the cigarette between his lips finally seeming to have an impact. Fighting to stop myself from laughing more, I pressed my lips together in a firm line. That did not stop the corners of my mouth from twitching upwards in amusement. This poor man was so out of his element. It was only when I finally regained some control I took a breath and started to sing at the same time as Robbie. Our voices echoed over the speakers and caused a small squeak of feedback as we unleashed our mirth.

  “It’s the end of the world as we know it….It’s the end of the world as we know it…It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feeeelllllfinnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.” The words of the classic R.E.M. song rang out and by the end, just about everyone but Cal was singing.

  As far as answers went, he couldn’t have asked for a better one.

  “You people are mentally deranged.” He frowned, but it was easy to see that a bit of color had made its way back into his cheeks. It had come at his expense; seeing that particular sign meant at least this time he wouldn’t be stumbling about blindly to hurt himself with the next revelation about some dastardly sick part of our new reality.

  “That may very well be true, but at least we know what’s happening in the world around us.” Brandon chimed in, and all I could do was smile. He kind of had a point.

  “AAaaaaaannnnnyyyywaaaaayyyyyy,” Johnny interjected, making sure all the laughter died down before he continued, “You were sayin’, Boo?”

  While I admit a part of me wanted to strangle Johnny for calling me that, he was right. We needed to get this out in the open. I needed to impart what knowledge I had while we still had time. God knows, with the events that had already taken place, there really was no telling how long we had before basic things began to break down.

  Stifling my chuckles, I shook my head. Johnny had a point and I needed to let the others know what had finally dawned on me. While to some it wouldn’t seem like much, I knew just how much this small bit of information could mean.

  “Well, I told you about the chick in the lobby. I watched her die and come back. Fresh kill, you know what I mean?” I began, taking another drag off the cigarette while Cal seemed to just flop back on the floor. Turning my head to peer at him, I watched his shoulder’s slump forward while I continued, “Today, that was not the case. If I had to guess, this guy has been dead at least a day. He was all sorts of messed up.”

  “What do you mean messed up? How can you know he’d even been dead all that long? I mean, he might have died in an accident or something. You know that.” Robbie said softly, but just like me, the wheels in his head were turning to try and make sure every possibility had been taken into account.

  “I mean, that guy had been dead at least a day. His wounds weren’t accident related.” I started only to have my explanation cut off by Cal as he leaned forward.

  “The guy today was already stiff. Like, he’d been dead for a while.” Each word was grumbled out softly as he struggled to put what he’d seen into words. Not that I could blame him. I’d been desensitized to most forms of gore and gruesome wounds by my time on the ambulance. Not everyone had that advantage and Cal Mitty certainly didn’t seem to be among those select few who were a part of the exception.

  “Do what?” Robbie asked. His tone of voice made it apparent that this particular revelation had not been something he was expecting.

  “He’s right.” Knowing that this whole explanation would need clarification, I waved Cal off. Taking a drag of my cigarette, I sat back in the chair before I continued, “He’d been dead at least a day. His skin had already turned that sick gray color and the wounds on his face weren’t the result of an accident. Honestly, it looked like he’d been chewed on by some type of animal. As gross as some of the things I have seen could be con
sidered, this was a whole new level of disturbing.”

  “I still don’t understand how this solidifies Robbie’s point.” Brandon chimed in.

  “It basically boils down to the whole idea that they’re losing control and there’s no such thing as coincidence. Like Robbie said, two incidents in a heavily populated area he wouldn’t have thought twice about. However, both of my encounters were miles apart. What makes this ten times worse, is my first encounter yesterday was in a major city, the one today, while it was miles away happened to be with one of these creatures that had been dead at least a day.

  “It means, this guy was this far out yesterday when I was in the city. In turn, we can assume the infection or outbreak or whatever you want to call it, had already escaped from the highly populated areas. If someone infected and dead yesterday stayed hidden this long, who knows how many others there are? More than that, what kind of damage are they doing with this lock down in place? There is also one other thing. I can’t be sure, but this guy didn’t have wounds that said he’d been bitten or attacked, so just how had he gotten infected to come back?” Falling silent, I lifted the cigarette to my lips while I let my words sink in with the others.

  Several gasps resonated over the speakers and I knew my words had delivered the desired impact. No matter how we had wanted to believe otherwise, my initial panicked reaction about this situation being a game changer had now become a reality.

  In light of the fact that the zombie I’d encountered tonight had been dead long enough for his body to begin decomposing to some degree - the whole scope of our beliefs had changed. That particular happenstance meant the zombie I’d faced today had been infected at least a day or two before. It also meant that we had no way of pinpointing just what was causing this whole mess.

  While one would say that shouldn’t be such a problem, the fact that he had died after making his way out of the place he’d been infected from was a huge issue.