Infection Z [Books 1-3]

by Chesla, Gary

  “Maybe you should consult your zombie manual for a solution to our problem,” Doc replied, “because, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m either getting old or my mind is just not what it used to be.”

  “The absurdity of the situation we find ourselves in is enough to make us all to start doubting everything we thought we knew or believed in,” the Captain said. “The normal laws of nature seem to no longer to apply to what has been going on around us.”

  “But that’s just it, from what I have seen, the laws of science have applied to everything that has happened. It just seems that my mind has been slow to see it,” Doc replied.

  “How so?” the Captain asked.

  “First, when Doctor Anderson called me when our people first started to become infected. He identified the Russian Z virus right off while I missed it completely. It was right there in front of me, but I didn’t see it.

  Then when the virus killed the body, I focused on how the virus effected the body. The original virus was designed to affect the human mind. If I would have started with the brain, as I should have, I may have known at the start of this why some of the infected seemed to be affected by gunfire while others weren’t. It is my theory that part of the brain remains under control of the virus, like the virus was programmed to do, and sends out low impulse signals to control the body. How it does that, of course I don’t know, but the first place I should have looked when the dead began to move, was the brain. The brain is the control center of the body. The body cannot do anything unless the brain instructs the muscles to do it.

  I’ve missed so many obvious signs, things that I would have never overlooked before.

  I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

  I’m sure there is a simple solution to the problem we are facing, but I just can’t focus. I don’t seem to see what I should be seeing until after the fact.”

  “Under normal conditions,” the Captain said, “but what we are seeing around us is anything but normal. I know you Doc, you are one of the smartest men I’ve known. Just stay with it, I’m sure it will start making sense to you. Maybe you just need a break.”

  “We don’t have time for a break,” Doc replied. “This thing is spiraling out of control. I don’t think we have much time left.”

  “I agree with you about that,” the Captain sighed. “It seems that everything we’ve tried hasn’t worked.”

  The Captain thought for a second.

  “Doc, do you mind if I run something by you. It isn’t the kind of thing you normally deal with, so maybe it will tweak your mind and you will have some clear thoughts about what my problem is.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it, but sure, what is it?” Doc replied.

  “It has to do with defending the base against the infected,” the Captain said. “When that first group attacked the base, we tried riot gear, which was a disaster. Then we tried rifles, without much success. Then we tried automatic weapons and explosives, and as you pointed out quickly, only made the situation worse. You were right at the start about what we were facing. You foresaw all the problems then before anyone else did.”

  “But I should have had some solutions, all of this was right in front of me,” Doc sighed.

  “I’m hoping you might have some ideas now,” the Captain added. “The Military decided that the best way to confront the infected was to attack the infected before they reached our bases. I admit that it sounded good to me at the time, but after observing our attack on the infected near Reno, I see some serious flaws in the plan.”

  “You mean that you aren’t going to have enough bombs to stop the dead before they reach the base!” Doc said. “You aren’t going to be able to replace the bombs and get enough jet fuel to keep pace with the infection.”

  “Exactly,” the Captain said. “It sounds like your mind is working fine to me.”

  “It seemed logical to me,” Doc replied. “I knew once the infection spread through the cities where our bombs are made, you would not be able to replace the ordnance we were using. It was just a simple fact of how fast the infection was spreading versus a diminishing supply of weapons. Has command also realized this yet?”

  “I’m sure they have, but probably a little too late, you see I haven’t been able to contact command since midafternoon yesterday,” the Captain replied. “I can only guess why, but I have to assume that until I am informed otherwise, we are on our own.”

  “I hate to add to your burden,” Doc said, “But we have lost over half of our personnel to the infection. Despite all our efforts to avoid getting infected, we are still losing ten percent of our men every day. If we don’t find a solution in the next day or two, we are going to lose the base within a week.”

  “I realized that was a possibility, but we have an even more pressing problem,” the Captain said. “There are two large masses of the infected heading our way. I project that they will be here in less than two days. My last orders were to send out search and destroy missions to bomb the dead before they reached the base. However, the infected travel in loosely configured groups. Dropping bombs on them in this kind of configuration doesn’t stop near enough of the infected to justify the amount of ordinance we are using.

  If we used all the bombs we have left in our inventory, we wouldn’t stop enough of them to make a difference. I know my orders, but I feel I have to change those orders if we are going to survive.

  I was considering waiting until the infected got closer to the base before using our weapons. I am hoping that as they get closer and focus on the base, that they will start to reorganize into tighter formations, making our bombing runs more effective.

  I just wanted to run this by you and ask if you see any downside or flaws in my thinking. You saw all the flaws in our previous plans, since we might only have one more chance to fend off the infected, I’m trying to take in all the different opinions of my plan into account now instead of after the fact.”

  The Doc thought over what the Captain had said, “I think waiting until the infected get closer so they will be grouped closer together is a good point, however you know that the infected won’t be afraid of the bombs and will keep coming at the base. Even if the bombing runs are effective at close range, a large number will still get through and reach the base. In two days, with the infection continuing to run wild through our troops, I’m not sure how many healthy men we will have left to fight off those that get through.

  In order to have a chance to survive, whatever you do will have to reduce the number of the infected that reach the base to a minimal number. Even then, fighting the infected on the base will rapidly increase the spread of the infection among our men.”

  “I agree,” the Captain replied grimly. “There are two groups coming our way. If I used all our weapons to achieve the needed reduction in the infected for our remaining men to hold them off, when the second group reaches the base, we would be basically defenseless.”

  “How much jet fuel do we have left?” the doctor asked.

  “At this point, jet fuel isn’t a problem. Our bomb inventory will be long gone before our fuel becomes critical,” the Captain replied.

  “Have you thought of sending out the heavy construction crew to dig trenches out beyond the boundaries of the base. This will cause the infected to get bogged down and bunched up in one area. If you spray the infected with jet fuel and ignite it, you might be able to destroy them in that manner. The virus itself seems to be able to survive the high temperatures, but it will destroy the infected bodies.”

  “Between the bombs and the fire, it might just work,” the Captain said. “The amount of the dead that get through all of that should be manageable, especially since we now know to limit our shots to headshots.”

  “Again, I see a problem,” the Doc said.

  “There is always a problem,” the Captain grinned. “Which one are you thinking about?”

  “We still have a limited supply of bombs and jet fuel,” Doc replied.

  “Yes, aft
er we fend off the two waves of the infected, we won’t have much left,” the Captain sighed. “We will be defenseless against any further attacks and I know there will be more. But right now, all we can do is try to survive for another day.”

  “Just make sure you save enough fuel for a few helicopters in the event we lose the base,” Doc said. “By that time, a few helicopters will hold what is left of our men. Maybe we can abandon the base and go somewhere else.”

  “But go where?” the Captain asked.

  “Somewhere we can survive for another day,” Doc replied.

  “Well Doc, I hope you’re right and a solution to our problem will end up being something simple,” the Captain said.

  “You say we have maybe two days to find a solution?” Doc asked.

  “I’m afraid so,” the Captain replied. “Thanks for giving me your opinion. I hope the change of subject helped you clear your mind. As you well know, we are about out of time, Doc.”

  “I hope we didn’t run out of time a week ago and we just don’t know it yet,” Doc said as he got up and left the Captain’s office.

  Chapter 22

  Monday, May 10th, Johnstown, Pennsylvania

  Linda woke to a loud crashing sound.

  She quickly sat up in bed and looked around her trying to figure out what it was she had heard.

  She looked down, feeling relieved to see Jamie and George were still asleep at her side.

  The last Linda remembered was that she was lying in the dark, listening to the endless moaning as she tried to get Jamie to go to sleep.

  Even after Jamie fell asleep, Linda continued to listen for any sounds that would tell her she was in danger.

  She knew she was in danger, but for the last day, she and Jamie had managed to find a safe haven, just out of reach of the grisly creatures that had attacked the neighborhood.

  She had tried to stay awake as long as she could to make sure they would be safe a little longer, but due to the stress from yesterday’s attack and narrow escape, she had collapsed into a deep sleep.

  “What the hell was that?” Linda asked herself as she looked around the room.

  She was still groggy and it hadn’t sunk in yet where she was and why she was here.

  The warm sun was shining in through her bedroom window as if promising it was going to be a great day.

  But that feeling didn’t last long.

  “Shit, Mike’s dresser!” Linda thought as she slid out of bed and ran to the door where she had pushed her dresser to block the door.

  She placed her ear to the wall by the door and listened.

  She jumped when something bumped into the other side of the wall from her ear.

  Then the familiar sound of scraping across the wall and against the door told Linda that Mike’s dresser had fallen over, as she had feared it would, and the dead were now upstairs and right outside her door.

  Linda returned to the bed and sat at the bottom and nervously watched the door.

  She kept glancing at the bedroom window that overlooked the roof of the garage.

  She didn’t want to think about her, Jamie and George balancing on the peak of the roof.

  The cat was probably the only one of them that wouldn’t roll off the roof.

  But they soon may not have anywhere else to go.

  Linda walked over to the window and glanced outside to see what the neighborhood was like this morning.

  She returned to the bed and sat back down, wishing she hadn’t been tempted to look outside.

  The streets around the house reminded her of an ant hill as hundreds of dark repulsive creatures staggered around aimlessly.

  Linda sat and stared, overcome with a feeling of dread when the phone in her pocket buzzed, surprising her.

  Linda quickly dug the phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen to see who it was.

  She didn’t recognize the number, but then she hadn’t recognized the number the last time it rang and had been Mike.

  She quickly swiped the phone and held it to her ear and whispered, “Hello.”

  “Linda, thank God you’re OK,” Mike said.

  “Where the hell are you?” Linda asked frantically. “I thought you said you were on your way home yesterday?”

  “I’m trying,” Mike answered. “Are you and Jamie safe?”

  “We were, but those damn, I don’t know what to call them, they look like something out of a damn horror movie, things are getting upstairs. I have my dresser pushed up against the bedroom door, but I don’t know if that will keep them out. I’m so scared. Where are you?”

  “I think they call those things zombies,” Mike replied. “Tony and I got chased by a bunch of them and we had to hide in a house overnight in a little town called Cherry Tree. But we found a car and just got back on the road. I should be home in a few hours.”

  “Zombies?” Linda asked. “What the hell are you talking about. Are you serious?”

  “Look Linda, I don’t know what the hell is going on, but they are crawling all over the place. I thought it was just up here at the cabin until I called you yesterday. The battery in the phone I found went dead before we finished talking. We couldn’t get to a car in the dark last night, but I’m on my way home now. So, you and Jamie are safe in the bedroom? Do you think you will safe there until I get home?”

  “I don’t know, I guess so, but they are out in the hallway now. I don’t know what we’ll do if they start to get in here. We might have to go out on the garage roof, I don’t like heights and we’ll all probably fall off the roof. I looked out the window a few minutes ago and the neighborhood is crawling with those things,” Linda said as the phone beeped in her ear.

  She quickly pulled the phone away from her ear and saw ‘low battery’ flashing on the screen.

  “Mike, my battery is going dead, I don’t know how much longer it will last.

  “OK relax and listen to me,” Mike said. “remember when I put that ceiling fan in our bedroom?”

  “Yeah,” Linda nervously replied.

  “I cut a hole in the closet ceiling to get up in the attic,” Mike said. “I never got around to fixing the ceiling. I just laid a piece of plasterboard over the hole. If you are worried that they are going to get in the bedroom, I want you to push the board aside and take Jamie up into the attic. I don’t think those things can climb, you should be safe up in the attic until I get home. Put the board back over the hole and just be quiet. I’m on my…...”

  “How much longer? Linda asked, but there was no response.

  The screen on her phone was dark, the battery was dead.

  Linda wanted to sit down and cry, but the pounding against the door made her focus.

  They had heard her talking on the phone and now they knew where she was.

  She glanced at the window and then over at the closet door.

  It wasn’t much of a choice, but at least she still had a choice.

  If Mike said to go up to the attic, she would take his advice. After all, as hard of a time as those creatures had getting up the steps, she was sure it would be almost impossible for them to climb up and get through a hole in the attic ceiling. Besides, Mike said he was on his way home, but he had said the same thing yesterday. If Mike didn’t make it home today, she and Jamie would have a better chance in the attic than out on that roof.

  Linda got up, ran over to the closet and threw open the door.

  She looked up at the ceiling in the closet.

  She had looked in this closet many times, but had never noticed that Mike hadn’t fixed the ceiling after he installed the ceiling fan she had been asking for, for the last two years. She had assumed he had finished the job, but she wasn’t really surprised.

  Home improvement projects weren’t Mike’s thing.

  He did his best, but he could never make a living as a handy man.

  She was just happy the fan worked after he was done.

  Linda got on her tip toes and reached for the ceiling.

  “Too H
igh,” Linda thought and turned to look around the room.

  When her eyes settled on the chair by her bed, she ran over and dragged the chair into the closet and climbed up on the chair and reached for the ceiling.

  “I think I can push Jamie up into the attic, but the opening is still too far up for me to climb up,” she thought. “First things first.”

  Linda put her palms on the board and began to slide it to the left side of the hole.

  Linda stared up into the dimly lit attic, shifting her attention to the noise on the other side of the bedroom door.

  “If I wait to see if the door is going to keep the zombies, that’s what Mike had called them, zombies,” Linda thought, but it was hard to think of those things as zombies. “Zombies were imaginary things in horror movies, but they certainly looked like zombies and worse yet, they acted like zombies. Stop it Linda, it doesn’t matter what you call those things, if you sit around here and wait for them to get in the room before you do something, it is going to be too late!”

  Linda ran over to the bed and gently pulled George out of Jamie’s arms, then shook Jamie’s shoulder, “Jamie, wake up.”

  Jamie stirred, rolled over on her back and opened her eyes.

  “Come on kiddo, we have to go up to the attic,” Linda said softly, trying not to scare her little girl.

  “We get to go up in the attic!” Jamie said excitedly, “Cool! When Daddy went up in the attic to put up the fan, I wanted to go up with him but he wouldn’t let me. I bet it is really neat up there.”

  “Well I’m glad that one of us is excited about going up to the attic,” Linda thought then looked down at George as he purred. “I guess that is two of us that think going up in the attic is cool.”

  “Come on, we have to hurry,” Linda whispered.

  Jamie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and hopped off the bed. The first thing she did was run over to the closet and look up through the hole in the closet ceiling as a big smile spread across her face.