by SJ Morris
Troy had only told me about the Z-Strain initially getting out in Germany a few short hours ago and it had made its way to China already. It was spreading pretty quickly. I grabbed my cell phone out of my pocket to make sure I hadn’t missed a call from Troy or maybe even Justin by now since it had hit the news, but there was nothing. My cell still showed the picture of all five of us at the Fall Firehouse Bake Sale two years ago. We were all smiles back then.
I figured I’d heard enough. We could put the news on at home while we got all geared up to head out to the cabin and get just as much information then as I would now with my kids waiting in the truck, unprotected. I think I walked a little faster than I wanted on my way back to the truck and hopped in after Lance unlocked it.
“What's wrong, Mom? You have a look and you were running.”
“I was not running and I don't have a look... Do I?”
“Yes, you have a look and it’s scaring me.”
“I’m sorry guys, but I’m pretty sure it’s starting. There was a TV in the store and the news is reporting an unknown viral outbreak in China. The news is talking about it but the pictures and video they’re trying to show are being censored.”
“Censored, what do you mean censored? It’s the news, isn’t it? They show everything!”
“Well, I am guessing the government doesn't want to start a panic in the States so they are somehow not allowing the news to broadcast them. They can’t stop them from talking about it altogether because people will hear about it somehow, but I guess they’re still trying to do as much damage control as possible while they try and contain this.”
“So,this is really happening? This isn’t some made up storyor some really sick joke you’re playing on us?”
“No, I’m sorry Tyler, it’s not a joke. I wish it was.”
“Well, then I’m glad we got all this shopping crap over and done with.”
“Me too. I was thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to get as much gas as we can and bring it with us to the cabin too. I don’t know how much longer things are going to stay normal and gas is going to become the new gold in a few weeks.”
“Okay, great idea, Mom, but where are we going to put it? We’re out of room in the truck as it is.”
“I thought about that already. We need to go home anyway to get suited up for the drive up to the cabin. Let’s hook up the Johnboat to the truck, fill up the motor and buy as many gas cans we can fit under the boat’s cover and fill them up. It shouldn’t get too crazy around here before we make it up to the cabin, so traveling with that much gas won’t be too dangerous. What do you think?”
“Um, I don’t know if I’m comfortable with us driving that far with a possible bomb hitched to the back of the truck.”
“You’re right. Maybe we just worry about it when we get there.”
“Well, it wasn’t all a bad idea. I think we should take the boat so we can fish for food if we need to. I also think we should buy as many gas cans as we can fit under the tarp and take them with us. I just think we might not want to fill them up until we hit the last gas station before the cabin. This way we minimize our risk of getting blown up.”
“You’re such a smart boy, Lance!”I grabbed him from the passenger seat and hugged him tightly. He stiffened like he didn’t know what to do, but he didn’t want to hurt my feelings by pulling away either. Lance was seventeen, almost a man, and he went out of his way to make sure I knew it. With Jack gone, he took it upon himself to take out the recycling and garbage every week. He mowed the lawn without anyone asking him to. I think if he had the money he would insist on paying the bills too. He wanted to make sure that in his father’s absence we were all still taken care of which was sweet, but it made him grow up a lot faster than he should have.
The drive home was still pretty normal. Nothing had changed in the world around us from the outside, but I was sure the panic was starting to set in as more and more people sat down to watch television and were told of what was going on around the world. We pulled into the driveway and the boys went to jump out and hook up the boat, but I locked the doors and stopped them.
“Wait! We need to be sure there’s nothing out there that can hurt you before you go running around.”
“Mom, you said so yourself that it could take weeks and they are only reporting it in China so far. We’ll be fine. Especially since we already know you have to smash the zombies in the head!”
“Tyler Anthony Norrington! I said it COULD take weeks and I only saw a few seconds of the news before I walked out. There could be more going on than you know. What if someone down the block had just got back from China on a business trip and was scratched by an infected? Plus, what are you going to do huh? Bash in the brains of one of your neighbors with a stick? You have no weapons and you have no idea what it’s like to have to defend yourself against someone. You think about that before you let another thought like that slip out of your mouth! This is serious and before it’s over, a lot of people are going to be dead!”The children just stared at me wide-eyed for a few seconds.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just want to help get us ready to go to the cabin.”
“No, I’m sorry Tyler, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. This is a serious situation and you were just trying to make light of it. We just have to remember to be careful. You can joke all you want but don’t be careless. You guys are all I have left and I love you all very much.”
I hadn't planned on this being an end of the world, I love you, moment but it felt right to tell them and it seemed to have the positive effect I was hoping it would. Everyone smiled and Lance even reached over to hug me. Tyler joined in and so did Allycia after a few seconds. For that brief moment it was just my kids and I and there was nothing else in the world that mattered.
“Let me get out first and just check the side of the house and the yard to make sure that there isn’t anything out of the ordinary. I’ll be right back.”
“That’s what they say in every horror movie before someone gets attacked, nice choice of words, Mom.”Tyler laughed after saying this bringing some levity back into what became very serious, very quick.
I fake laughed as I hopped out of the truck and took a good look around. There didn’t seem to be that many people around. There were some kids down at the end of the block playing basketball in the circle. The old lady that lived three houses down was elbow deep in her flower bed, getting it planted for spring. Other than that, it looked as if it was business as usual, so I went around the side of the house to check the yard where the boat was.
“Hey, Abby! Beautiful day to start the camping trip huh?”
“Oh my God Mark, you scared the shit out of me! Ugh, yes, it is a really nice day.”
“Going to take the boat with you and do some fishing?”
“Yes, we are. It should be a lot of fun.”I felt a little bad not telling Mark about what was probably going to happen. He had a wonderful wife and two grown boys of his own. They had been our neighbors since we moved here seventeen years ago, right before Lance was born. I just hoped it wouldn’t get here and all of my neighbors would be safe. This thought sobered me a little. I scanned the neighborhood before looking for threats. It was now that I realized I was looking around at all the people I had seen over the last few years on an almost daily basis and their lives were about to change dramatically.
It made me mad at myself that I couldn’t find a cure for this damn virus when I had the chance.
“I’m going to go get the boys to hook up the trailer. You take care of yourself, Mark.”
“Sure, you too, Abby. See you when you guys get home!”
I turned and walked back to the truck with tears in my eyes and motioned for the kids to come on out.
“Mark is in his yard but everything’s okay. Just make sure you act like everything is normal, okay? I mean it, we don’t want to start a panic.”
“We understand, Mom.”
“Allycia, will you
help me get everything laid out inside so we can get suited up? We need duct tape to seal any gaps in the clothing. Can you get it out of daddy’s tool box in the basement, please?”
“Sure thing, Mom.”
I walked in the front door and turned on the TV in the family room. I didn’t need to look too hard, it seemed like every channel had interrupted their regularly scheduled programming to broadcast what was going on overseas. This was not good.
The first video I saw was of the airports in China being shut down and quarantined. It was a madhouse. People with white masks over their mouths clamoring to keep their families together and armed guards in SWAT gear, with full gas masks, trying to keep the people from the terminals in lines that led to plastic tubes ending with white quarantine tents. The newscaster was saying there were over three thousand people in the airport when they made the decision to shut it down and that all airports that had received passengers from China in the last twenty-four hours were being shut down and quarantined to stop the possible spread.
So, that’s the story the government was using to get the airports shut down; saying they are trying to stop the possible spread of some virus and blame it on one country. This way all you had to do to shut down another airport was say they received passengers that were from China and there you go, instant shutdown. It was nice that they weren’t saying anything about Germany and how the outbreak started there.
I presumed the reason for that was China was an easy target. Even that couple from the gas station had no problem blaming them since we have seen so many different flu and other viruses come from that region. It crossed my mind that maybe it didn’t just show up in China, that maybe it was only introduced in China since it was a more believable culprit than Germany for the outbreak. All this was beginning to be a bit too much.
I need a drink!
Allycia broke my thoughts as she came running in with two rolls of duct tape in each hand.
“This is all the duct tape that was down there, Mom. There are a lot of tools down there too and Daddy’s ax. Don’t you think we should bring them?”
“We probably should, shouldn’t we? It feels like there's just so much that’s important to take. But we definitely might need tools and I don’t think your dad kept any at the cabin. So why don't you grab the basics? The ax, a flat and Phillips head screwdriver, pliers, saw nails, and screws. Get the basics, no specialty tools. Sound good?”
“Yep, here’s the duct tape. I’m going to grab your little pink toolbox dad got you and put stuff in there.”
“Great idea, it’s small but unmistakably a toolbox.”This made me smile.
I remembered Jack giving that pink toolbox to me for Mother’s Day a few years ago. He gave it to me with a huge smile on his face and I asked him when I was ever going to use it.
“You never know when it might come in handy,”He told me.
It’s eerie when you think about how right he actually was.
I grabbed all the motorcycle store bags from the truck and laid out the pants, jackets, helmets, and gloves. They looked funny, all laid out over the couches in our living room, but what they would possibly protect us from was not funny in the least.
Allycia came upstairs with the ax in one hand and my pink toolbox in the other. She smiled at me and went out to put them in the truck.
I stared up at the television and they were now doing a shot from a helicopter over the airports that were shut down. The caption on the first shot showed it was LAX, then they switched to Newark, NJ which made me catch my breath but it looked as orderly as Newark ever looked. They switched to one in Sydney Australia, which seemed rather calm and then it went to Beijing Capital International Airport in China; there, it was pandemonium.
It looked like someone had poured acid in an anthill. People were pouring out of every entrance and exit in the building, headed away as quickly as possible.
The newswoman began to explain,“We have received confirmation from our helicopter crew that there are now gunshots coming from inside the airport. It’s currently unknown what is causing the violent disturbance. Please be aware that the images we are showing are graphic and disturbing.”
She grew silent as the helicopter hovered around for another pass at the main entrance to the airport. The images were of the same masked people I saw before but there was now extreme fear in their faces as they ran away from the building, screaming.
Shot after disturbing shot seemed to shift from scared people just running, to people covered in blood, trying their hardest to escape with their lives.
The police officers I had seen before wearing gas masks came out in a sudden rush, turning every few seconds to fire at something I couldn’t see yet.
Suddenly, there was nothing.
It was just the visual of no one going in or out of the main doors to the airport, the sound of the helicopter rotors, and screaming people in the distance with sporadic, automatic gunfire amid mass hysteria
Then, it happened.
The first one came into view. It was very blurry on the shaky camera. The camera operator refocused and zoomed in. It was a little boy, shuffling towards where everyone had run from just seconds before. He had a white paper face-mask dangling from his left ear and blood covered his mouth.
The helicopter continued to swing around to the left and showed the boy was missing his right arm from just below his shoulder. There was dark, black-colored blood dripping from the wound where the muscle was dangling.
The little boy walked with a gait, very slowly. However, it seemed that once he heard the screaming again he picked up the pace and stretched out his remaining arm towards the people that were pushing each other to get away.
A woman broke free from the mass of people that were clogging up the street and screamed as she reached and ran for the boy.
One of the officers tried to grab her but she was running so fast he couldn’t get a hold of her.
The other officers opened fire on the little boy. It was a heartbreaking scene to watch as this little boy that couldn't be any more than eight or nine was just pummeled with bullets.
However, he did not slow in his attempt to get to the woman running for him. The cops stopped firing and the boy kept coming. The woman threw herself at the feet of the boy and she was sobbing. The boy reached out in what looked could be his last tender moment with someone who had to be his mother.
Then, the unthinkable happened.
The boy grabbed the kneeling woman by her hair and pulled her face up to his where he barred his bloody teeth and took a ravenous bite from her face.
An audible gasp was heard from the newswoman's microphone and the helicopter pilot started screaming,“Oh my God, did you just see that?”
The first bite seemed to excite the boy and he went into what could only be explained as a feeding frenzy.
Soon after, more shuffling people showed up on screen, all heading towards the freshly spilled blood.
The police opened fire again and one bullet caught the boy in the forehead. Brain matter and black blood sprayed the white concrete sidewalk behind him and he fell lifeless, over the woman’s now torn body.
The others showed up moments later and began digging through each other to get to the flesh.
Some had their attention pulled away and began heading for the crowd of people who seemed frozen from watching the heart-wrenching scene that had just unfolded.
These people, or things, let out a collective wailing moan and reached for the crowds of scattering people. That was enough to get everyone running again, but for some, it was too late.
Men, women, and children of all ages colors and creeds were pulled into the mouths of these lifeless creatures and devoured on national television.
I guess Troy was right. You had to kill the brain to kill the beast. At least I didn’t have to find out the hard way that it worked. I just had to hope I would never have to end one of those things. Something told me I was not going to be able to hold onto that hope for
very much longer.
The kids walked through the front door and the scene on the television was unfolding to be a massacre. The newswoman didn’t seem to have words to describe what we were seeing.
The kids came in and each stopped to stare just as the TV came into their view.
“Oh my God!”Allycia grabbed her throat as she spoke and tears immediately filled her eyes.
“Where is this Mom?”
“It’s the Chinese International Airport, in Beijing.”
“This is so much worse than I expected. All of those people, they’re... they’re...”Allycia stammered her words as she watched the horrors on the news.
“They are being eaten, Allycia. The Z-Strain is out in full in China. They’ve shut down almost every major airport across the globe, it seems, to try and stop this, but I would safely say that it’s pretty much everywhere already. If not, it will be very soon. Even if just one of those people gets away with just a scratch or gets infected blood in their eyes, it’s only a matter of time before they die from the virus and reanimate to infect everyone around them.”I responded bowing my head in despair.
“This is terrible. We have to get out of here, now, and get away from, from, well everything!”Allycia said, starting to fall apart.
“Calm down guys, everything will be fine. We just have to make sure we stay calm, suit up, and get on our way to the cabin. There's no one up there for miles around so we’ll be less likely to come in contact with anyone that might be infected. I don’t know how long this could last but we have to be prepared for as long as possible.”
“Everything will be fine? Are you sure you can say that, Mom? I mean look at the TV. People are eating other people; they're not just eating them they are tearing them to pieces with their bare hands.”
“I shouldn’t say that everything will be fine, I’m sorry but what I can say with absolute certainty is that I will do anything and everything in my power and fight, to the death, to keep you guys safe.”