The BIG Horror Pack 2

by Iain Rob Wright

  “Your nose! Here…” Chris pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it to his partner’s nose. The blood was coming thick and fast.

  Marsh crumpled at the knees. Chris tried to hold him up but was only able to ease him to the ground slowly. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Marsh wasn’t responding. His body was rigid and he was going into some sort of seizure. Chris placed his hands gently behind his partner’s head and cried out for assistance. A moment later, the barista from the coffee shop and several nearby commuters had come to help.

  Chris shouted at them as they stood around gawping. “Call an ambulance.”

  One of the passengers took out their phone and begun dialling. The coffee shop employee dropped down onto his knees beside Chris and went to grab a hold of Marsh’s flailing body.

  Chris shot out his hand. “No! Don’t restrict him. Just let the seizure end on its own.”

  The young barista stared down at Chris’s hand clamped around his wrist. The stained handkerchief was scrunched between his fingers and blood had smeared all over his forearm. “Dude! You got blood on me.”

  Chris withdrew his hand. “I’m sorry. Go get yourself cleaned up.”

  The barista hurried back into the coffee shop, while Chris held onto his partner. Marsh’s seizure was coming to an end, but blood continued leaking from his nose. It had also began to seep from the edges of his eye sockets. The gathered spectators held their mouths and gasped.

  It was then that Chris had a realisation. He has it. He’s caught the virus we’ve been sent here to look for. Shit, Marsh, what the hell have you been up to?

  Then he had another, more frightening thought. He’s infectious. I need to close this whole place down. God knows how many people he’s passed this onto already.

  Chris let go of Marsh, letting his body slump to the ground. He shot to his feet and pulled out his radio. It crackled as he spoke into it. The panic in his voice was obvious. “Dispatch. This is Detective Cox. The virus has spread.”

  BEANS

  “I can’t believe I got that dude’s blood on me,” Danny said to himself as he marched across the car park. His shift had ended at the coffee shop and he’d been heading out. He didn’t even know why he’d stopped to help that guy.

  What else could I do? He was flipping the fuck out.

  Danny had cleaned himself up in the coffee shop’s kitchen and then headed out the back door to the car park. He didn’t want to get drawn in to any of the commotion that was happening out on the station’s platform. There seemed to be some sort of panic going on, which was hardly surprising given the state of the dude having the seizure.

  What the hell was wrong with that guy? Epilepsy?

  Who gives a shit? I gots to gets my party on.

  Danny had been looking forward to seven-o-clock all day. The time where he could finally skip out of work and catch his ride to Birmingham, where Joey would be throwing the party of the century. Joey was one of his best buddies and grew up in a house the size of a supermarket. It had tennis courts, a swimming pool, snooker tables, and everything else his millionaire parents could think to buy. And for the next week, the house was in Joey’s care while his parents were on a cruise. It was going to be the best few days of Danny’s life. A whirlwind of booze, drugs, laughs, and clunge.

  Nirvana baby!

  Danny picked up his pace and headed up the hill towards the bus station. Coming down the road, in the opposite direction, was a police car. Its sirens were on and its driver eyeballed Danny as he passed.

  What you looking at, pig?

  Danny rounded the corner and stopped just outside the bus station. He wasn’t due to catch a bus; Joey would be picking him up in his parent’s Audi. It was a sweet ride and if it was warmer they could have had the top down all the way up the motorway.

  Oh well, can’t have everything.

  Sure enough, Danny spotted Joey idling in the sleek black Audi and quickly dashed towards him. He slung open the door and hopped in.

  “Hey, D-Man, how’s it going?”

  “Yeah, good. Except some dude just bled all over me.”

  Joey looked at him. “For real?”

  Danny shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get this party started.”

  “Hell yes!” Joey gunned the engine and the two of them got going. They sped right past a row of police cars heading towards the train station.

  “You know what all these pigs are doing?” Joey asked him.

  Danny shook his head and looked out of the window. “No. Maybe it had something to do with the dude that collapsed on the platform.”

  “A guy collapsed?”

  “Yeah, was bleeding everywhere like a stuck pig.”

  “Gross.”

  Danny let out a long breath as he thought about getting the guy’s blood on him. “Yeah, gross.”

  “Well, I’ll be doing some pretty gross things with Stephanie later tonight. If I can get it up, that is, with all of the booze I’m gonna drink.”

  Danny smiled. “Tonight is going to be hardcore.”

  Joey bashed the car’s horn three times. “Hard-fuckin’-core!”

  Danny sneezed.

  Joey opened the electric windows on both sides. “Dude, I can’t be doing with getting sick. You gonna start sneezing and shit, do it out the window. I can’t be driving three hours with Mr Sniffles.”

  Danny wiped his nose with the back of his forearm. “Sorry, man. I don’t think I’m getting sick. I feel fine.”

  Then he sneezed again.

  PARASITES

  Stephanie had just given Joey the shag of his life and he felt epic. His friends were having fun all around and it was all because of him. He would go down as a legend for this.

  The motherfucking party master.

  Joey slid off his bed and got dressed while Stephanie used the shower in the en suite. The thought of her all wet and naked was enough to get him aroused all over again. But there would be time for that later. He had to play host; make sure his guests were having a time they would never forget.

  He checked his watch. It was two-thirty in the morning. The night was still young.

  He headed out onto the landing, passing by necking couples and chatting friends. They all gave Joey the thumbs-up as he passed them. Someone handed him a beer and he broke the tab merrily. He had never felt so good.

  Except for the headache.

  And a sore throat.

  That git, Danny. I knew his sneezing was gonna get me sick.

  Joey headed down the stairs, shoving people back against the wall if they dared get in his way. He knew it was stupid to blame his friend for passing on a harmless bug, but it was the worst timing. So much planning had gone into this party that he would kick off big style if he wasn’t able to enjoy it.

  I’ll wring his bleedin’ neck.

  He knew he would find Danny in the billiards room. The guy was a whiz with a cue and would no doubt be hustling the other guys out of their money.

  Someone was coughing nearby. Somebody else sneezed.

  Goddamn it. Did Danny catch the lergy or something?

  The billiards room was just up ahead, off from the main lounge. Joey headed inside and spotted Danny on a stool behind the bar. He was chewing on some girl’s neck.

  “Danny!” Joey shouted.

  Danny moved the girl aside and looked over at him. “Hey, dude. How’s it going?”

  Joey marched across the room. The girl that had been with Danny left, sporting a huge hickey on her neck.

  Classy.

  Danny headed behind the bar and stood in front of his friend, who was teetering unsteadily on the stool.

  “What’s up?” Danny asked him.

  Joey examined his buddy. He looked like hell. His eyes were swollen and red. His nose was dripping snot. Even his lips seemed sore.

  Great, what the hell has he passed onto me?

  “You don’t look good, man.”

  Joey laughed. “I’m so
und, mate. I’ve done so much coke tonight that I could shake off a stab wound like it was a mosquito bite.”

  “Well, you passed whatever you have to me, you dirty little shit. I can’t be doing with feeling rough, man.”

  Danny leant forward on his stool and almost fell off it. He put his hand on Joey’s shoulder. “I have the cure, dude. Don’t you worry.” He held up a small baggie of white powder.

  Joey snatched the baggie and grinned. “Don’t go thinking this means I’ve forgiven you.”

  He tipped the baggie upside down and emptied the powder onto the bar. Immediately, others in the billiards room drew in closer.

  Coke parasites. Flash a bit of powder and they come out of the woodwork like lice.

  Joey was pleased to find that there was enough in the bag for half-a-dozen lines. Enough to share and still get a buzz on. When he accidently sneezed on the powder and reduced the amount by one line, he was pretty pissed off. The anger only lasted a moment, though, as he and five others took a hit.

  All of them got more than they bargained for.

  DAWN OF THE DEAD TIRED

  Gaz was exhausted. The coke he’d done at Joey’s had worn off and now he felt like shit. In fact, everyone at the party was generally feeling like shit. When he’d finally left, people had been puking all over the place or lying on the floor with a bad case of the sniffles.

  Gaz had a headache and a sharp pain in his chest. His vision was also a little blurry. The thing he wanted now more than anything else in the world was his bed. But getting there might not be so easy.

  At the back door to his house, Gaz checked the time on his phone: 06:00. The sun was just rising. He used his key to unlock the door and gently clasped the handle to go inside. When he stepped through into the kitchen, his mother was there waiting for him.

  “Where the hell have you been?” she demanded.

  He rolled his eyes and let the door close behind him. “At a friend’s.”

  “All night long? Doing what?”

  “Nothing. Just watching movies.”

  She stood in front of him and stared into his eyes. “You’ve been doing drugs, haven’t you?”

  “Mom, just give it a rest. What’s your problem?”

  “My problem,” her voice began to break into sobs, “is that my fifteen year old son is out all night doing God knows what. I can’t cope with you anymore. You’re going to have to go live with your dad.”

  Gaz went to the fridge and pulled out a pint of milk. “I’d rather live on the street.”

  “Then do that, then. You can’t stay here if you’re not going to do what I tell you.”

  Gaz swigged the milk and enjoyed the way it felt against his sore throat. It did nothing for his aching stomach, though.

  “Look, mom, I-”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” she said, covering her mouth and starting to cry. “Just go to bed.”

  Gaz nodded. He was too tired to argue with her. She never gave up with the nagging.

  Annoying cow.

  Gaz left his mother crying in the kitchen and headed upstairs. He took the milk with him. If he didn’t get at least twelve hours sleep then he was going to be absolutely lagging. The only way to get through the down effects of coke and booze was to sleep through them and that was exactly what he intended to do.

  He stomped up the stairs feeling heavier and heavier as he ascended. For a moment, he wondered if he could even make it to the top. He had to heave and push himself just to keep his knees working.

  The light on the landing was switched on and the first door on the left was ajar; a black rectangle of shadow between the door and the frame. A small white face peered out at Gaz.

  “Jordan, what are you doing up?”

  Gaz’s little brother had a sleepy glaze over his eyes but seemed happy to see him. “Where have you been?”

  “Not you, too,” Gaz said. “Why is everybody so interested in my life?”

  “Sorry.”

  Gaz gave his brother a pat on the head. “I’ve just been at Joey’s. I’m going to bed now. You should get another couple hours as well or you’ll be tired at school.”

  Jordan nodded his head dreamily. “Okay.”

  Gaz patted his little brother on the head again and headed to his own room. Before he got there, Jordan called out to him.

  “Hey, can I have the rest of that milk, Gaz? I’m thirsty.”

  Gaz turned around. He took one short swig and then handed the rest of the milk over. “Sure thing, bro. Drink it and then go back to bed. Have a good day at school.”

  “I will,” said Jordan, swigging from the milk and gasping. “See you later.”

  But he never would see his brother again.

  THE CIRCLE OF DEATH

  Jordan wanted to go home. He felt sick in his tummy and his eyes were itchy. He wanted to lie on the sofa with mommy and watch cartoons, but the teacher wouldn’t believe him when he said he was sick. It was because he was always fibbing and trying to go home. He hated school and missed his mommy. Today, though, he wasn’t lying. He really was poorly.

  It was the last break of the day and there was only English class to sit through before he could go home. He didn’t mind English – it was much better than Math. Maybe, if he wasn’t feeling better later, mommy would let him have tomorrow off.

  His friend, James, was nearby, playing games on his mobile phone. James’s dad worked in a phone shop so James always had the latest ones that were out.

  “Can I have a go, please?” he asked.

  James smiled and handed the phone right over. James was a good friend.

  “You still feeling poorly?”

  Jordan tapped at the touchscreen and nodded. “Yeah. I want to go home, but the teacher won’t let me.”

  “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Jordan started a puzzle game with fruits. The flashing colours hurt his eyes slightly but he didn’t mind. He wanted to play.

  “What lesson do you have next?” James asked.

  Jordan didn’t reply. He was too engrossed with the flashing fruit. Usually he found games like this boring, but somehow the movement held him captive. His hearing went dull.

  “Hey, Jordan, did you hear me?”

  Jordan was busy. He moved the fruit about, matching colours and winning points. Time seemed to slip away as a headache took over the small spaces inside his skull.

  The movement. I like the movement. I like things that move.

  When the lesson bell sounded, Jordan didn’t hear it. Neither did he hear James ask for his phone back. When the other boy snatched at the phone, to take back what was his, Jordan was surprised by the rage that filled him. He leapt at James and managed to catch his finger between his teeth. James pulled his hand back and immediately started crying.

  I’ll kill you…

  What…what am I doing?

  Jordan put his hand out in desperation as his friend ran off to tell the teacher. He didn’t know what had happened. He had just felt so…mad. Something inside of him had made him bite his friend and now that it had happened he felt dizzy. His headache had suddenly gone, leaving behind an all over numbness. His vision had gone a funny colour, too, and it was hard to catch a breath. Most of all, though, Jordan just felt scared.

  He curled up on the floor and started to cry. He didn’t know what was happening to him as he waited for the teacher to come and tell him off for biting James. He just wanted his mommy to make it all better.

  But she never would.

  CLOSURE

  Treadwell examined the bank of television monitors displaying news feeds from all four corners of the Earth. The explosion of the Spirit of Kirkpatrick in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea was an unforeseen complication. The spread of the nano-virus throughout mainland Europe had been vastly hindered by the ship’s failure to reach land – but the Easter-Virus had managed to get out anyway. Its eventual spread would be unstoppable. The ominous news reports flashing on the television screens made this clear.
<
br />   It will be unstoppable.

  Most of the news station were reporting early occurrences of the virus, but they were yet to understand the full ramifications of what it could do. They had no idea what the Easter-Virus was designed for – what it was engineered for. The self-replicating nano-delivery system was working perfectly, making sure that every single victim got a massive and immediate dose. Symptoms would occur in less than one hour in most cases. Full presentation of symptoms would take up to a full twenty-four hours, though. That was when the virus would become truly unstoppable. That was when patients would start to actively hunt down anyone healthy and deliberately infect them. The virus would become less infectious in itself at that stage, but its carriers would become far, far more deadly. Even killing them would not stop them – the nano-virus was programmed to maintain a clumsy, yet effective control over the carrier’s motor functions even after death.

  It is a true marvel. Man’s greatest inventions.

  Treadwell smiled and rubbed at the coarse black stubble on his chin. The death toll had not even started yet, but once it did it would rise and rise until the world population dwindled. Then New Dynasty could begin its real work. Rebuilding the world as a utopia. A world without famine, war, greed, and laziness. It would be a productive world full of marvels, instead of the corporate mess the current one was. Gluttonous companies like Black Remedy, TBD PharmaTech, and Christoil would have no place in the new world. Their death grip on the international economy and its Governments was about to come to an end. New Dynasty were poised to take over.

  But before that could happen there would be a period of slumber. Beneath the Earth, the members of New Dynasty would lie in wait while the virus did its work above. Soon every nation on Earth would be cleansed, while the future leaders of the new world lay safely in bunkers that had been three decades in the making.

  In less than one year the world’s population would total just ninety thousand – and all of those people would eventually rise from their bunkers like phoenix from the ashes. Treadwell felt honoured to be amongst that small number.

  His legacy of software engineering, along with his unrivalled fortune and his willingness to share it with the needy, had bought him a place in the Scottish bunker, buried deep beneath the Highlands. He commanded the five thousand personnel that would go on to represent the British Republic. When the virus was confirmed in America, Africa, and Asia, members of the Dynasty in those countries would also go into hiding. In just the last ten minutes, Treadwell had received word that their American payload had been released in Texas inside a convention centre. Soon the greatest nation on Earth would begin to fall. Soon, everywhere else would fall, too. New nations would rise, led by the Dynastic Council.