by Brown, Derek
“Hey why don’t we drive around and check the back door. We drove all the way here, we might as well try.” So we drove around to the back and discovered that whoever had left the store last must have done so in haste and accidently left the back door open. So got out and slowly entered the store at the back entrance. It was almost like we were kids in a toy store as we both began exploring the store and finding so much good stuff. We grabbed four compound bows, two cross bows, several knives of various shapes and designs. Then we grabbed the guns that we could get without breaking the gun cases so we managed to get two shotguns, three rifles, one sniper rifle, and four pistols. We found a huge box filled with all sorts of ammo and we grabbed that. Then we started looking for camping supplies a couple tents, sleeping bags, climbing gear, and fishing equipment. We both agreed that we should get as much stuff as we could fit in the truck. He even found an outdoor portable stove that used little propane tanks to cook food with seven extra propane tanks. Then we both heard a sound like someone yanking on the doors to get in coming from the front of the store. They seemed pretty determined to get in so as quietly as we could we made our way out towards the back door. As we exited we found ourselves face to face with three men. One was tall about 6’5” and skinning, another was average height and build, and then there was the third man who just carried himself like someone who thought everyone should follow his every lead with a wide belly that almost gave him the appearance of waddling, he was a fat little man.
“Well, Well, Well what do we have here? Two thieves in the night, who, came to steal our equipment, we have claimed this store as ours?” He waddled over and looked in the back of the truck and with a wicked smile that lit his face up like the devil he turned towards us. “Well I suppose I could be persuaded to not call the Cops but I would need you to hand over the keys to the truck now.” He said with the terrible curve to his mouth. I looked at him meeting his brown eyes with a dangerous glint to my eyes.
“We aren’t giving you the keys but there is plenty in there for you to get. So we are gonna leave now and you can do whatever you want with whatever is in there.” I spoke up and I calmly moved towards if as if I were going to shake his hand and I hoped Anthony knew what I was about to do. As I extended my hand out to shake his hand, I accelerated quickly and closed the gap of distance between us and with full force I slammed my elbow into his nose and I felt the cartilage collapse and he let out a scream of pain. Then Anthony as if reading my mind lunged and tackled the tall man at the knees and the man folded like an accordion. Anthony rolled on to one knee then jumped on top of the tall man and started raining blows down on the guy’s head. As the man in front of me began to shake off the sense of confusion I brought my knee to his groin then as he bent over in pain I brought my right elbow and I connected to his left temple and he collapsed to the ground. Then just as I went to turn I felt a fist come in contact with my cheek and I fell over from the force of the hit and I felt the ground meet my back as I looked up. The third man was standing over me and he had a look in his eyes that told me he was planning on hurting me. I saw the little man get up and move towards Anthony out of the corner of my eye. But the man in front of me hit me in the face and I felt the stars erupt in my vision I could barely see straight. He kicked me in the ribs and I crumpled in pain from the blow. I looked over to see Anthony being held by one of the other men as the little fat fucker kept hitting Anthony. They were going to kill him; I tried to scream for them to stop but the man over me kicked me hard and knocked the wind out of me. I saw blood begin to cloud my vision and the around the edge of my eyes I began to see blackness. Then out of the shop came from the back door something came out the door. It looked like man except it looked like a man who had been hit by a car his left femur was crushed and he was covered in blood. He moved towards us with jerky movements quietly and none of the three men seemed to notice him. His skin was a ghastly yellow and his eyes were glassed over brown and it looked like his mind wasn’t working. He was glaring at the man’s back who was standing over me gloating, with something akin to anticipation. The third man was still standing over me and hadn’t noticed the intruder behind him. The brown man limped and shuffled and slowly made his way towards us. Then when he was two steps away he began to stiff the air and without warning he leaped and dug his black claws into the third man’s back and bit into his neck dragging him down. I could the skin being peeled away like a snake shedding his skin as the teeth tore into his cheek. The man was rolling around on the ground with the thing on his back and began to scream a blood chilling scream that sent shivers down my spine. I shouted.
“Anthony get to the truck now!” Then I rolled onto my right knee but it gave out and I collapsed to the ground. I kept crawling towards the truck and I yanked the keys out of my pocket. It felt like it took an entirety to make it the three feet to the door. I opened the truck door climbing in and I pushed the keys into the ignition and the V-6 engine roared to life as Anthony managed to disengage himself from the tall man who had pulled away and was now wrestling with the thing that was clawing and biting his friend. As we started to drive the little man I had first hit began banging on the window for us to let him in he was running away as the tall man was fighting to save his friend. At first he was just asking then he began to pound on the window frantically begging us to let him in. I coldly looked over at him and through my black eye and split lip I waved goodbye and tried to manage a smile but it turned into a grimace from pain. So I pushed down on the gas and we sped away into the streets, just trying to get us away from the screams that seemed to echo in my mind still. I was panting and bleeding all over the place. Anthony was in much worse shaped and he looked like he had passed out his face was covered in bruises. I was breathing so hard and my heart was pumping so ferociously I really thought that it was going to explode from my chest. For the first time in my life I was truly scared of what was happening and I was beginning to doubt myself and my actions. We made it home after what seemed forever and we stumbled to the door and we both collapsed and I barely managed a knock before I passed out from the pain.
March 7, 2014
After I finally woke up and I recalled what had happened it was like looking into a distorted mirror and while it was a blur I had a vague recollection of what occurred. I remember Scarlett and Danielle screaming and dragging us into the house. I was in so much pain but I remember them patching us up and trying to get us to talk to them and take some pain medications. They also kept asking us what happened but neither of us was quite up to the task yet. They said they spent the next few days tending to us and treating our injuries. Through it all I barely moved and I didn’t wake up until yesterday. Anthony was still resting in the other room when I woke, and so I told them what had happened then I suddenly remembered the gear in the truck and shot up. The sudden movement turned out to be a mistake that and caused an intense wave of pain to engulfed me, and I thought I might faint right there and then. My wife put a restraining hand on my arm as she said.
“Relax Danielle and I already unloaded everything and put it in the garage.” It was as if she was reading my mind. She was special like that, she and I shared a very special bond and it was almost as if we could read each other’s mind. After she reassured me that they had gotten everything I drifted off to a very troubled sleep.
March 8, 2014
When Anthony and I finally did come around and we were met with some grim news. The world as we know was sliding further into chaos and madness as wide spread reports of rioting in Los Angeles was on the news. Between the riots and the plague spreading the death toll was too high to even calculate at this point officials were just calling it one the greatest losses of lives since World War 2. Reported cases of the Night Fury 6 plague were coming in so rapidly that hospitals were now issuing statements telling would be patients to stay at home and not come in due to overcrowding. The National Guard in all affected states were activated and they were setting up triage sites and with the assistance of the
Red Cross they had set up multiple sites for the sick and injured. Quarantine sites were being set up all over the state. Government officials were urging everyone to go to these sites because they offered protection and medical aid. It was at 15:00 hours that the local FOX news network located in Fresno broadcasted news that the NF6 bacterial infection had been observed in patients in New York, Miami, and even Ryan, Oklahoma a small town. It was spreading and the news station felt that in light of these events it was canceling the regular news program. It was the first time in the history of the FOX news channel that they were shutting down. The reporter a middle age man who had dark circles under his eyes and looked tired and worn out stated that in all his years broadcasting he had never seen anything like what was happening now. He said he had to confess that he was frightened for us all and he broke down crying then with a sad look and proclaimed that the world was ending he said farewell and good luck to all. Then the screen went black and grey static creep unto the screen. Within hours all the other news channels were showing images of riots happening not only in Los Angeles but also across the nation and the world even. There was one program showing the video of mass suicides in Japan where people were getting on top of buildings and just jumping to the ground rather than face the reality of what was going on around them. On CNN they reported that France was being overrun by individuals infected with the Night Fury 6 Bacteria. All over the world the news was the same story of people getting sick then becoming aggressive and attacking and killing others. Some were suggesting that once infected you began to turn to cannibalism as a way to sustain your energy because the bacteria was making your body run at such high temperatures. Then news of a plane disappearing in Thailand, it had just completely vanished, was creating worldwide panic even further and all flights were grounded. The news stations began slowly at first then more rapidly shutting down and as we all sat around the Television watching the news we were all holding our breaths waiting for the match that would lite it all on fire. The last station finally said goodbye it was PBS and now we were officially isolated from everyone. I sat there holding Scarlett while Anthony and Danielle clung to Dallas and each other finding comfort in one another.
March 10, 2014
Today I killed a man; although my day began as planned it very quickly diverted from the normal… I sat Scarlett down and began to speak to her.
”After the events of the last few days it has become apparent that we must prepare for the worst and that we were on our own. So I think that I need to go out to get food and water, Anthony is still too hurt to go. I know that most likely I will be facing other scavengers but I plan on being better prepared this time around. I know you don’t want me to go but we need as much as we can get right now.” I looked into her eyes knowing what she was thinking. I pulled out the Army uniform that I had taken from Michael’s wife and I gathered some supplies. I made sure I grabbed my twin matching Kukri blades which are like large curved knives they had a sheath that wrapped around my shoulders like a hostler with their handles facing down making them easier to grab. Then I got my compound bow and grabbed my quiver of arrows that accompanied it and slipped that over my shoulder. I also made sure to bring a flashlight along with some first aid supplies. As I was getting ready I was thinking that if I didn’t get supplies now than I did not know how long we could hold out here in our house. I tried to call my daughter’s mother again and still no answer, I fear for my daughter. The phone signal went down on my last call and I can’t even get a dial tone now. I swear that as soon as things are stable here I am going to go for her. I can’t imagine my life without her that would be a fate worse than death. I am so scared of everything that is going on right now. I don’t know how I am going to protect everyone, I don’t know if I can protect my family, I don’t know anything anymore the world is in chaos and I feel the madness pressing down like a weight on my chest. It is slowly crushing me and making me gasp for air as it presses the air out of my lungs. I just want to curl up in a ball and wake up from this nightmare. All the dangers that wait at every twist and turn Death is lurking in the dark waiting for me to make a mistake, I can feel his gaze upon me. But I must go on, I have to there is simply no other option, so I will struggle and I will fall but I will get back up. I got packed and ready to go, I kissed my wife not a goodbye kiss but I’ll be right back kiss. “I swear I will be back, besides I couldn’t leave you alone to face the apocalypse.” I smiled at her as I hugged her.
She looked at me in my eyes. “You promise to come back? No look me in the eyes and you promise me you are coming back in one piece.” She was so serious. I looked into her blue eyes.
“I promise that I am coming back to you. Nothing could stop me. I love you.” As I looked into her eyes I meant every word and I plan to keep that promise. I hugged her and kissed her and I moved to get myself ready. I made sure to lock the door as I left and I looked around seeing if anyone was watching. But it was a ghost town and it is so quiet it was actually very creepy the lack of movement. I stood quietly listening and I heard no cars in the background, I didn’t hear the normal buzzing of life. So I decided that I would move quickly and quietly to the grocery store it was only about 2 miles from where we live. I tried to stick to cover and not to stay too long in exposed areas. When I made it to the main road I stopped in my tracks there were cars everywhere in the road some were crashed into each other or into signs others were simply abandoned, it looked like people were panicked and trying to escape the chaos. I did see some people who must have been killed the in accidents it was a gruesome scene, no help was render to them and no one had even claimed the bodies. I kept walking and staying in the shadows when I saw some people in a group of about ten standing about 100 yards to my right in the middle of the street. I got excited and I wanted to see if they could fill me in on what was going. So I moved towards them hoping maybe they could tell me where I could find supplies or any news of the world since it had been days since we had heard anything. However as I approached I noticed they were staggering around bumping into each other and they weren’t speaking they almost sounded as if they were grunting to one another. As I neared them I saw they had yellowish-green skin and it looked as if more than one had injuries on their bodies. I stopped dead in my tracks and froze trying not to move or even breath. One of them turned and must have seen me because he stopped moving and started stiffing towards my direction. Then he turned his jet black eyes towards me and bore his eyes into me and moved in my direction which caused a ruckus and the entire group moved with him. I turned to run and tripped over my own feet, and fell over face first. I quickly pushed myself up with my arms and my feet were moving before they even touched the ground and I ran for my life….
I was running so fast I couldn’t hear anything expect the roaring of my blood pulsating through my body. I remember turning down a street and running to the first fence I saw it was about five feet tall and it looked sturdy enough to hold my 210 pounds. I ran as fast as I could and threw my arms up to try to vault myself over the fence but my hands got caught on the old sundried wood and it left gashes in both my hands. I finally made it over by kicking my right leg over and I grunted as I flopped over to the other side but my hands were bleeding freely now. I rested my head against the fence for a moment hoping I had lost them. But I felt something begin to scratch on the other side of the fence and then it growled. The scent coming from the other side of the fence was so awful that it caused me to slump over onto my hands and knees and I vomited the entire contents of my stomach unto the ground. I was trying to be quiet and not make a sound hoping they would go away. I don’t know if it was the scent of my blood or the sound of me emptying the contents of my stomach but I heard a furious roar almost akin to a wolf’s howl and I glanced through a hole in the fence and I saw a group of about six were staggering towards the yard I was in while one was standing just on the other side of the fence clawing and scratching on the wood. I could hear his wheezing breath it sounded like the death rattle I had
heard before when being the same room as someone who is about to pass away. Without a second thought I leaped up and tried to run but I was light head and I stumbled into the side of the house and my vision clouded and I saw stars twinkling in front of me. I was trying to hold myself up when a door to the left of me opened and I barely saw the pan coming down on my head as the pain erupted like an angry volcano in my mind and I saw darkness… I awoke to could water being thrown on my face and tied to a chair stripped naked. I tried to loosen whatever had me bound but I was unable to even move an inch. My whole body was so sore and I could feel my muscles cramping from the exhaustion. I felt so weak and I felt like sleeping but I knew that I couldn’t do that right now. So I looked around the room and began to examine it in detail. It was a normal garage with normal items you expect in a garage like bicycles, tools, and storage containers nothing worth noting. Then I saw my clothes and my gear the corner to my right. I got excited and I tried to get my hands and legs freed again but I was still stuck unable to free myself. I was beginning to feel the panic setting in as my pulse was quickening and my breath was becoming shallower. I had to think, I had to calm myself, and I had to bring myself to a time in my mind where I felt truly at peace. I thought about the time my daughter had climbed up next to me while I was playing Batman. I could feel myself relaxing. Then the door opened and man who was about 5’9” with brown hair and dark eyes stepped into the room. He came at me and swung his fist into my face snapping my head backwards.
“That is for bringing them Zombie assholes to my front porch, now you wanna tell me why you did it, and who you are working for?” Then he hit me again in the stomach. “No lying either or you’ll get more where that’s from.” He said with a smile that fully implied he hoped, I lied and he got to give me more of his fist.