Z Strain

by SJ Morris

  I was pregnant with Lance before our first wedding anniversary. I was pregnant with Tyler before Lance was one and Allycia followed three years later. It all happened fairly quickly, but we were happy together and we both got the family we had always wanted.

  I wish I had known I was only going to get sixteen years with Jack.

  We might have gotten married even sooner.

  Jack was a great firefighter. So great, it’s what ended up killing him.

  His department was called to a neighboring town to assist with a fully involved apartment fire. Jack and his partner, Justin, went to the third floor where a mother and her two young daughters were hanging from a window. The rest of the crews were helping run water lines to the house and get the ladder up to the third floor.

  Jack grabbed the two little girls and Justin had the mother. They had them huddled close to the floor away from the darkening smoke and giving them oxygen as they waited for the ladder to be posted at the window.

  The stairs were far too unstable to attempt getting out that way and there was a problem with the ladder, so it was taking longer than normal. The floor beneath them was beginning to buckle under the heat of the fire and the weight of the water being used to extinguish the blaze.

  Finally, the ladder arrived.

  Justin was the closest to the window so he went out first. He perched himself at the top of the ladder and pulled the woman out with him. He wanted the girls to feel safe, climbing out to their mother and not just onto a huge ladder with a man in full turnout gear and oxygen mask.

  Kids are always scared getting on the ladder and Justin’s trick worked with the oldest girl but the younger one was not going to be so easy.

  She got up to the edge of the window with Jack encouraging her to go out to her mother and sister but she jumped around Jack, screaming that she couldn’t leave her teddy bear behind. Jack went after her but not before he ordered Justin to wait on the ladder and not to enter the house again because the floor was going to give way at any minute. Justin reluctantly waited on the ladder for Jack and the little girl to return.

  There were loud cracks and snaps from inside the building. The mother began to scream for her little girl and just as a huge crashing sound erupted from the structure the little girl appeared at the window. She was blackened with ash and had her teddy bear squeezed tightly against her chest. Jack pushed her into Justin's arms.

  “Tell my family I love them very much,”He said, just as the floor gave way.

  The building buckled in on itself and in an instant, Jack was gone. He was buried under tons of burning debris. The girls, the mother and the rest of Jack’s crew were safe.

  Jack wouldn’t have had it any other way.

  That was the man I fell in love with, the man I planned on growing old with. He gave up everything to save someone else. I could lie and say I was only proud of how selfless he was but that’s just not how I am.

  I’m a creature of truth so I will always tell you how it is and I was angry.

  I was mad at him for leaving his children, his brothers at the fire department and in the military, his friends, and mostly me.

  He gave it all up, all for some little girl he didn’t even know. I eventually realized how wrong I had been for being mad at him. Especially since if I was ever in that situation, not that I thought I would be in a million years, I would have done the exact same thing.

  Soon after Jack passed, I found out he had been hiding a lot from me.

  It wasn’t necessarily dire information that dealt crushing blows to our now fractured family, but it was a little shocking to find out he doubled the life insurance policy on both of us a few years after our first child was born.

  Granted, now the benefits I received more than covered the mortgage on the house in Hamilton as well as the cabin in Pine Lakes, New Jersey. The kids’college funds were taken care of with his firefighter’s pension and the money from the military took care of the rest.

  However, the financial relief was little solace and thus, the surprise eclipsed any sense of alleviation I might have experienced, had I known about the arrangement Jack made.

  When Jack died I quit my job to spend time with my kids, since it seemed like the right thing to do.

  We always said if we ever had enough money to live off of without working that we were going to do it right away to spend time with each other and our family. It’s just sad that it took his death for me to be able to follow through with our dream.

  In the beginning, I was strong for the kids and when I went to bed at night, alone, would think to myself; What is the purpose without Jack?

  Something would always happen to pull me out of my reverie, like the dog would start barking at the window or Allycia would come in, asking to sleep with me and it felt as if Jack was there with me, in some shape or form making sure I didn't keep those thoughts for very long.

  It might sound stupid, but I sure hope he is with me every now and again. I know, weird coming from a person of science, huh?

  I was shaken from my memories by my cell phone buzzing loudly in my pocket, which was weird since everyone that normally would be calling was with me.

  Both of my parents died in a car accident when I was 20 and I didn’t have any family that I’ve seen or talked to since Jack’s funeral. Jack was an only child and his parents had moved to Australia right after we got married.

  So, when I fished the phone out of my pocket I was not surprised that I didn't recognize the number.

  “Hello?”I answered quickly.

  “Abbigail, Abbigail Norrington?”

  “Yes, this is she, who is this?”

  “This is Troy. We worked together in Atlanta a while ago. I have to keep this brief and I'm sorry, but I hope you listen to me. Your husband Jack kept in touch with me after we were released from Atlanta. He made me promise to tell you when it got out again if he wasn’t around to do so himself. This is me keeping my promise, so please listen to everything I have to say before you ask any questions.”

  “Wait, what? Troy, from the CDC?”

  “Yes Abby, please just listen. I kept researching that virus your husband’s team came in contact with. I was able to hack into the USAMRIID database and get most of our work back. With Jack's’account of what happened with his team in Africa, I was able to piece a lot of things together and it’s bad, it’s all very bad. I started calling it the Z-Strain since it turns every living cell it touches into what can only be described as a zombie. Weird I know, but just listen. Whatever it touches appears dead but is somehow still animated, as if it were alive. People are infected by the exchange of bodily fluids, bites, scratches, and any blood from an infected person getting in your eyes, mouth, or open wounds. When people are infected they go into a coma-like state, which is what we saw with the soldiers, and then they for all intents and purposes, die. After a very short period of nothing, they reanimate and are highly aggressive. They appear to only have one thing driving them and that’s to kill and infect. It’s awful and it’s out again, Abbigail.”

  This made me take in a breath and interrupt him.

  “How could this be? You have to be misinterpreting what the virus is doing to people. There’s just no way!”

  “Abbigail, I have seen it with my own eyes. I was sent a video of someone who was infected and they were tearing apart a child. It was the woman’s own child, Abigail. It’s happening.”

  “How is this possible?”

  “I was told there was another team of soldiers who encountered the same virus as Jack and his team. They apparently were just as unlucky. Except for, this time, the virus seemed to work much faster and by the time the soldiers got to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany they were extremely violent and completely overtaken by the Z-Strain…and it got out. It’s not bad yet but this thing is extremely dangerous and so are those who are infected. It may still be a matter of weeks before it gets to the states, but thanks to the airports and how fast the virus seems to be killin
g and reanimating people now, I don’t think we’re going to be that lucky. When it gets here, it’s going to get really bad, really quick. Get as much supplies as you can now. I’m talking long-term stuff, not bottled water, but water purifiers. Get medical supplies and food that will not spoil quickly; camping supplies, anything you can get your hands on that will make you self-sufficient. Then, get on the road and get to your cabin up north. It’s in a fairly unpopulated area and you can defend it if needed. Oh, and by the way, the only way you can stop these things is to destroy the brain. I’m sorry I can’t be with you just yet. From what Jack told me, he made sure that when this happened you and your family would be prepared at the cabin, so I will be there as soon as I can after this goes global. He was a good man Abigail and he wanted you and your family safe. Crap…I stayed on too long. I’m sorry, I don’t have time for questions, but don’t tell anyone you talked to me or anything I said, just go. I’ll try to contact you again soon. Good luck.”

  With that, the line went dead. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding in as a tear fell from my eye.

  In the back of my head, I always saw the possibility of whatever the virus was coming back, but I never thought of how bad it could truly get.

  The call from a very nervous Troy put all of that in perspective for me now. I remembered Troy from back in Atlanta. He was the dictionary picture of a nerd. He was tall and skinny, had glasses, a pocket protector, and a notebook to write down any brilliant ideas that might just come to him. He was definitely the smartest one on the team, but also the quietest. The quiet ones are always the ones you have to worry about. How did he know about the cabin, though? He did say he’d worked with Jack after we were released but when could that have happened?

  I still couldn’t grasp what I was just told. My mind believed him but my body wouldn’t fully react. I looked at my phone in my now trembling hand half expecting it to ring again and one of Jack’s old buddies to be on the other line, laughing that he was just kidding and he hoped the family had a great time at the cabin.

  That, unfortunately, didn’t happen.

  Allycia grabbed my shoulder and made an impatient face like she had been calling me and I wasn’t answering her. Her expression changed very quickly once we made eye-contact.

  “What’s wrong, Mom, who was that?”

  “Go get your brothers, please and meet me in the kitchen.”

  “What’s going on, Mom?”

  “Just get your brothers!”I screamed at her without even thinking about it. Allycia actually stepped back like she was frightened I would strike her. I grabbed her shoulders to look her directly in the eyes,“Go get your brothers, please. This is important.”

  She turned and headed for the front door yelling for Lance and Tyler to get to the kitchen. At that moment, I had no idea what I was going to do or say. All I knew right then and there was that my husband had more secrets from me than just doubling the life insurance policies, this was really happening, and I needed to keep my kids safe.

  Chapter 2

  I grabbed Lilly and headed inside. I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and made a mental note to make sure I had my car charger since Troy said he would call again.

  I stopped in the doorway of the kitchen and my three wonderful children looked up at me with fear in their faces. After what happened to their father two years ago, I hoped I would never see that look of despair ever again as I told them the worst news any child could possibly hear, and here I was doing it all over again.

  This time, it was possibly worse news that was going to be about the death of more than just one person they knew. I figured they were old enough to be able to handle something like this so I might as well just get out with it.

  “Do you guys remember the story your dad and I told you about how we met? His platoon got very sick and I was sent in with a team to find out what it was. Daddy got better and when we were released, we started dating.”

  “Yeah, but what does that have to do with you yelling at me and scaring us all half to death?”Allycia said with an attitude.

  “Well, there’s a little more to how we met than that. A lot more actually and something may have happened. Something that makes me feel like it’s a good idea to tell you the rest of it before I explain what might be going to happen in the next few weeks.”

  So I told them everything about how their father and I met, about what I saw and did for the government in Georgia. I tried to not leave out any details because I didn’t know if one of the smallest pieces of information I shared would eventually mean life or death for one of my children.

  It took a while to get through the whole thing and when I finally stopped talking the children each had the same, holy shit stare.

  The look on their faces made me want to cry, but I had to keep it together for them and thankfully Lance broke the silence.

  “So let me do a quick recap, Mom. The reason you and dad met was because the military came across some crazy virus and when things were supposedly all clear, even though you never found out what it was or how to cure it, you were bound to secrecy. You lived happily ever after until now and you felt the need to tell us all of this even though you could be sent to Gitmo for the rest of your life for doing so, why?”

  “I just got a call from a man named Troy. Troy was on the team with me in Georgia and apparently he never stopped looking for answers on the virus and daddy knew or was helping him somehow.”This little jewel of information got a lot of different reactions from the kids. Allycia's mouth fell open; Lance’s eyes bugged out of his head and Tyler pulled his eyebrows in angrily.

  “I know it seems weird that daddy would be involved in this without telling us, but apparently there were a few things your father was involved in that he kept secret, even from me... but I am sure we’ll find out soon, it was all with good reason.”

  Allycia grabbed a seat at the breakfast table and looked up at me. The look of fear on her face made her look like she was a little girl again. She had no idea what any of this meant and I knew she was going to need some extra care to get through this. I just hoped she was going to let me help her.

  Tyler jumped in,“What did this Troy guy have to say, why are you telling us this now, Mom?”

  “Well…”I had to take a breath;“There's a strong possibility thingsare going to change in the next few weeks... Maybe even sooner. Things are going to be different forever, I think. Troy told me the virus we saw years ago is out again and it’s not quarantined with the government this time. It got out and it’s spreading quickly. It started overseas but it will be here by us in the states very soon, so we have to prepare ourselves for what’s coming.”

  Lance seemed confused,“So what do you mean? Like we have to buy plastic wrap and duct tape to close up the house? Stock up on antibiotics and wash our hands every ten minutes? What are we talking about here, Mom?”

  “Well, I wish it were that easy. This virus instead of making people sick, it makes them violent and... cannibalistic.”

  “Zombies?”Yelled Tyler.

  “Yes, I guess you could say that. That’s actually what Troy said he was calling the virus, the Z-Strain. The‘Z’being for zombie.”

  “This is a joke and you’re just making fun of me because I don’t want to go on your stupid camping trip to the cabin, isn’t it?”Yelled Allycia.

  I looked at her with the most serious face I could muster since all I wanted to do was hold them.

  “No sweetie. I wish it was a joke, but I always feared something like this would happen. I never thought it would be in our lifetimes and I’m sorry it is. Now that it is, or it might be, we have to do something to ensure we’re all safe.”

  “Like what? Batten down the hatches and never talk to anyone again? Should we do what they did in that movie and make our way to the mall and hang out until the shit hits the fan and lock ourselves in?”Lance seemed to be angry at what I was telling them. Which is understandable, he woke up this morning thinking we were just going
camping.

  Now, I was telling him there was a real possibility that a virus might be in the process of taking down the human race. It’s a lot to take in for a teenager whose biggest worry until now was if his mom was going to find the porno stashed under his mattress.

  “No Lance we’re not going to lock down the house or go to a mall. We’re going to the cabin, as planned like nothing is wrong. We don’t want to tell anyone what we know, not even your closest friends. If this gets contained and doesn’t make it to the states, then we can’t be the ones that started a mass panic or they’ll put you guys in a loony bin and me in a military prison. Tell no one!”

  “Mom, you can see how we would be a little hesitant to follow along with this and not be able to tell anyone right?”Lance said with a little less panic in his voice.

  “Yes, I understand how this seems. If I hadn’t been in that lab and saw what the virus was capable of, I wouldn’t believe it either. I assure you that this is quite possible and due to the tone of Troy’s voice, this is probably happening and soon. The small amount of time I spent with Troy made me understand he knew what he was doing and he was incredibly intelligent. I’m willing to go out on a limb on this one, guys, and you’re coming with me, like it or not.”

  “Okay Mom, we're with you on this. So what do we do?”Tyler made the quick turnaround from, what the hell to I’m on board, but this was no time to over-analyze.

  “Well, first we should plan for long term, just in case. If this happens in a worst-case scenario, then we’re not going to have access to everyday things needed to keep ourselves fed, hydrated and clothed. We need to take what we know we can use to survive, not stuff that’s going to make things easy and be used up quickly.”

  Allycia seemed to have something click in her head and spoke up.

  “So I should take my sewing machine and all my extra needles with thread instead of a crapload of clothes?”

  “Yes exactly... Well, as long as it’s the foot pedal one I got you a long time ago when you wanted to be a fashion designer. If it runs on electricity, I wouldn’t bring it. We have the solar panels at the cabin but I don’t know how much power they can put out, so I wouldn’t count on them for vital things.”