Hopefully whatever news they got from the radio would calm her a little bit.
After a few minutes of tuning, he finally got something, and both their eyes widened.
“This is an emergency broadcast for Clark county! Please remain where you are and do not attempt to travel. If you are not a resident of Clark county and have nowhere to go, please head to the nearest FEMA or Red Cross relief shelter, where you will get further instruction. Please remain indoors and limit contact to people only in your immediate vicinity. If you or anyone you know has been in contact or injured someone showing symptoms of having aggressive outbursts, please isolate and avoid further contact. Symptoms of a sign of infection include high fevers or muscle spasms. FEMA and Red Cross shelters are being set up locally at schools and large venues. Please make no attempt to travel unless absolutely necessary. Local law enforcement will be conducting wellness checks for their areas.”
“It’s an automated message,” he told his wife as it began replaying. There was a noise of someone on the gravel and they both turned to see Nate standing.
“What are we going to do about Mark?” Nate asked
“Where is he?” he asked his son. Nate pointed over his shoulder back into the garage.
“He’s in there, Hayley’s with him…why?” Nate asked.
His expression must have told Nate what he needed to know as his son turned and ran back towards the garage. Janice let go of his arm as he took off towards the garage, too.
He caught up with Nate at the door and they both walked in. Hayley was sitting beside Mark with a glass in her hand with a straw in it. The look on their faces must have took her by surprise.
“What’s wrong?” she asked putting the glass down “I wasn’t going to smoke anything Dad,” Hayley told them.
“Honey, just go upstairs okay, help you mother get dinner ready,” he told her, and she got up and handed the cup to Nate. After she walked upstairs, he turned to Nate, “It said on the radio if you’re hurt by someone who’s infected to isolate them” he said sternly to his son.
Nate looked at him and shook his head a little “Dad, I know how zombies work okay, I’m a stoner and I’ve seen a lot of zombie movies” Nate said sarcastically.
‘Nate, this isn’t funny, it’s not like TV or movies we know nothing about these things other than they like to try and eat people,” he said.
Nate widened his eyes, “Liiiike zombies, right?” Nate said again sarcastically.
His son was right, and he knew it, but he hated admitting it. “Okay, yes, these things are like zombies but we don’t know anything about how this virus spreads or how long before he turns into one of them and that’s if he even does,” he said even though he knew saying the word zombies and calling them that sounded so stupid.
“Just keep your eye on him, okay?” he told Nate.
Nate nodded as he left to go upstairs and check on the girls.
Upstairs, Janice was in the kitchen talking to both the girls. “You girls know I love you and I promise nothing's going to happen to you or our family” he told them.
Both Hayley and Madison looked worried still then Madison spoke up “We’re just worried about friends, Dad,” she said meekly.
He hugged her. “I know, honey, we are too, and we can go check on everyone soon as we’re told it’s okay but for right now the radio says to stay where we are,” he told them, emphasizing the point to not leave.
“What about Mark?” Hayley asked, “He was bitten by someone, right?”
He nodded somberly “Yeah and we can’t take him to a hospital so we’re going to have to care for him as best we can,” he said looking at both girls.
Janice looked at him. “What about Victor, you think he knows more about what’s going on?” she asked. He shrugged his shoulders
“Honey I want to avoid contact with that man as much as possible but at least we know we’re pretty safe,” he reassured them all, “on the way out and he has guys overlooking the road so I don’t think any unwelcome visitors will be coming our way.” He knew that was definitely a good thing. Hopefully anyone infected who tried to make their way down the road to his farm would be stopped by Victor’s men.
“Dad! Help!” Nate yelled from downstairs.
Caleb darted towards the stairs grabbing a knife from the knife block as he past it. He heard the girls gasp from behind him. “Stay up here!” he barked.
Downstairs, Mark was thrashing around on the couch and Nate was trying to hold him still.
“I think he’s having a seizure or something, Dad” Nate said in a panic. “What’s the knife for?”
It had been automatic to grab it, but he wasn’t sure if he could really use it on his son’s friend if it came to that.
Before he could explain himself Mark’s eye flashes open and they were all milky white and glossed over. Nate screamed, letting go of Mark then jumping up. Mark rolled off the couch onto the floor and was groaning and snarling.
“Oh fuck” Nate muttered backing away from Mark.
Caleb put his hands out “Mark! Can you hear me?” he asked, and Mark turned to him as if following the sound of his voice. “Mark…we’re trying to help you,” he said but the drool was pouring from Mark’s mouth and his head was glistening with sweat. He began getting up and was still snarling. A scream came from the stairs behind him and he turned to see his wife standing there. Mark started coming towards them and his wife began screaming more. He stepped in front of Mark with the knife out. “Mark, if you can hear me please sit back down,” he asked but Mark was oblivious and was focused on getting to Janice. Just as Mark was about a foot from him a chair came crashing down on his head. Nate hit him a second time with the chair and he fell to the ground. Mark rolled and tried to get up, but Nate brought the chair down again and again.
Mark was still trying to crawl towards Janice who was still screaming hysterically.
Mark grabbed a hold of his leg and opened his mouth exposing his teeth. He panicked and brought the knife down into the back of Mark’s neck at the base of his skull. He pulled his foot away as he did. As soon as he drew the knife out Mark started snapping his teeth again. Nate slammed the chair onto the top of Mark’s head and finally Mark went limp. Nate threw the chair on the ground then slumped down with his back against the couch. He looked around at his wife to tell her to go make sure the girls were okay but both girls were standing there behind his wife. “Girls go…go back upstairs, please,” he stammered.
The girls, both shaken, helped their Mom back up the stairs. He looked over at Nate. “We gotta move him, you okay?” he asked, and Nate just nodded with wide eyes not blinking but filled up with tears.
“You think he’s dead?” Nate asked without looking away from the body.
Biting his lip he wanted to tell his son no but the fact they had hit him that many times then stabbed him and probably smashed his skull it was a definite yes “No, Nate, we didn’t kill him, Josh did,” he told his son, “That wasn’t Mark son that was something else.”
Jake
They pulled off of the dusty back road they had taken from Battleground past the quarry. The rock quarry was on the corner. It was usually bustling with trucks hauling rock and machines smoking but it was all closed up. Across the street the Walmart parking lot was just as busy as usual.
He could feel Benny looking at him as they turned into the park.
“You’ll be okay?” Benny asked him.
Without looking up from the blood on the floor mat he nodded. The truck came to a stop at his driveway and Benny put his arm on his, “Tell Emily and the kids I love them”
He smiled nodding again, he knew after the day they both had just went through that this kind of statement meant something different now than it would have before.
“Let me know you get home safe,” he asked Benny.
“Will do,” Benny replied.
He got out taking in a deep breath. The truck pulled away, horn honking. He looked down at his scrubs to
see the blood splattered all over them.
Looking up Emily was standing on the porch looking at him. Emily’s eyes got wide looking at him then she looked back to the house to see if the boys could see.
“Oh…my god” she gasped. He nodded, pulling his shirt off over his head then put it in the trash.
He climbed the steps to their front porch to his wife. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and tell her how much he loved her. “I’m going to go around back and in the door. I don’t want the boys to see me” he told her.
Emily just nodded staring at him “Are you okay?” she asked.
He looked down for a second trying to hold back the tears “I will be…I love you,” he said.
“Oh, honey, I love you, too! We all do. You’re scaring me” she said brushing a hand across his cheek.
Once in the back door and unnoticed he headed into the bathroom. He pulled the trash can out from under the sink and began removing the blood-stained clothing he still had on, throwing it in there. Turning on the sink tap, he put his hands in to soak the blood off. Looking up at the mirror and wiping off the condensation he looked like shit. The steam from the shower was filling the room and it felt good. He stepped into the shower and turned the water as hot as it would go. The water seared his skin, but he just zoned out thinking the day over wondering if he could have done things differently. It took him a minute, but he realized he was crying but knew he had to get himself under control. All the people and what had happened; how could things turn around from that? He realized no matter how bad things got he had to protect his family. If whatever infected those people and turned them into crazy cannibals reached them, he had to do whatever it would take. He knew inside that would probably mean taking another life if he had to.
Stepping out of the shower and into the bedroom, he put on some crisp, clean clothes. Despite not having the blood-soaked scrubs on, he still felt dirty like he was still wearing them. As he walked into the living room both boys were sitting focused on the TV.
“Hi, Dad!” Paul said not taking his eyes off the TV.
“Hey, buddy,” he said as he walked towards his wife who was in the kitchen.
“I made you some tea, honey,” Emily said, forcing a smile. He could tell she was trying to act as normal as she could for the boys’ sake. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tight and smelling her hair.
“I love you so much,” he said and started to kiss her.
“Get a room!” Jeff shouted from the living room. This was the boys’ favorite phrase lately.
Emily chuckled and he smiled “Hey, you boys have a room, why don’t you go play in it till dinners ready?” he told them. Both boys got up grumbling and walked into their bedroom.
“So, you want to tell me about your day?” Emily asked, putting an arm around him. He was trying to act like he was okay but clearly, he wasn’t doing a very good job. “I guess this virus that’s been on the news…it’s worse than they’re saying. A lot of people died today at the home.” He wanted to go into detail, but it was hurting too much. He didn’t want to cry in front of his wife or scare her too much with what he’d seen or done.
He kept glancing towards the hallway to make sure the boys weren’t listening as he definitely didn’t want them scared by any of this.
“Outside of my work there was a guy who the police must have been trying to arrest…” Emily’s voice started to crack as she spoke. He could tell she was trying to hold back emotions too and not get upset. “They kept shooting him, but he kept trying to get to them like he was possessed,” Emily’s eyes started to gloss over as she teared up. He pulled her close and hugged her.
“I got a call from the boys’ school asked all parents who could go and pick up their children, so I did and drove them straight home,” Emily said wiping her eyes, “They were still shooting him as I left the parking lot”
“It’ll be okay, honey,” he reassured her. He decided not to tell her about the FEMA people trying to round them up or the police blockade. Especially not him killing Mr. Preston, at least not yet.
Later, as he was helping Emily make dinner, he finally decided to put the TV on. He’d put it off to try and keep some kind of feeling of normality in the house. He knew something this big and crazy would change a lot and like Benny had said it was huge for FEMA and Red Cross to get involved. He knew he had to at some point though so picked up the remote and turned on the TV.
The news was on, but it was some kind of emergency announcement. The news anchor was reading from a paper on the anchor desk.
“Do not travel if you do not have to, please remain indoors, isolate anyone who is infected,” the anchor said. There was information bulletin on the screen listing symptoms.
- Aggressive behavior
- Fever
- Lesions
- Discoloration of eyes and skin
- Rapid dehydration
The anchor continued to speak while the symptoms still remained on the screen,
“The authorities have declared a state of emergency in the following states,” the anchor said while the states scrolled across the bottom. The anchor continued “Emergency services are asking you to follow these steps.” The information changed to huge capital letters A,D, and D, beside each one an instruction appeared which the anchor also read out.
- A - avoid “Please avoid contact with anyone showing symptoms or anyone not in your immediate location.”
- D - Deny, “Deny access to anyone trying to enter your property or immediate location,”
- D - Defend “If people try to force their way into your property, defend yourself by any means necessary but avoid contact with the bodily fluids of your assailants. If contact is made isolate the persons who came into contact with the fluids and await medical response.”
The screen changed again to a list of schools and facilities. Beside each was either Red Cross/FEMA help center or the words “ON STANDBY” Battle ground high school had “FEMA Center” next to it but the boys’ school had “ON STANDBY” next to it. The news anchor continued “Due to displacement and congested travel routes, the Red Cross has set up temporary shelters at schools and facilities where you can stay until it is recommended to travel. Local authorities are working to secure your county and make it safe to travel again. They will be making every effort to make this happen as fast as possible,” The anchor said in a monotone voice, obviously reading a script.
He looked at Emily who stood at the sink gaping at the TV. Paul and Greg walked out from the bedroom. “Is dinner ready yet?” Paul asked.
Then Greg chimed in, “They said school was off tomorrow and the next day, hopefully it’ll be off for a few the next day so we get a long weekend,” and Paul laughed in agreement.
Before he could say anything to them the screen changed to a live feed and a news anchor in a street. The lady looked terrified and there was a car on fire in the background.
“We’re still awaiting the arrival of the National Guard! The rioters have begun setting vehicles on fire and people carrying firearms have opened fire on each other” The lady was shaking and standing close to the camera. Behind her silhouettes could be seen walking through the flames.
The anchor continued “We’ve seen people be brutally injured and continue fighting and attacking each other! The police and emergency services are being stretched very thin! I have never seen anything like this before! Arrgghh!” the anchor screamed then the feed was cut off.
Returning to the news studio the presenter sat silent for a few moments. “I’m sorry…we will try and get back to our anchor Sophie as soon as possible to make sure everything's okay.”
The presenter touched her earpiece, “Again we will update information as soon as we receive it but until then please follow the guidelines that we’ll keep cycling on screen”
The screen cut back to the list of symptoms.
Jake turned and headed to the kitchen window. It was getting dark outside, but he c
ould see a red glow in the sky and several plumes of smoke in the distance somewhere. “I don’t think you boys will be back at school for a while”
Nick
Nick opened his eyes when he heard a loud thud that startled him. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been laying there been in there, but it was getting dark outside. Realizing he had lost track of time he got up. He walked over to pull the large curtains closed and was tempted to look down at the ground below but stopped himself.
He wondered what the loud thump had been that startled him. After what he had seen earlier, he hoped it wasn’t anything too crazy. Maybe it was from people repairing the window or the room if it had been damaged too, he thought. Nick’s stomach growled, he realized he was pretty hungry. His hunger subsided though when he looked at the room service prices. He grabbed his jacket deciding he would venture out to eat. Seattle was known for its fresh food and wide variety. On his way out he was going to stop by the front desk. Getting more info on what happened would ease his anxiety. He grabbed his phone from the charger so he could call his wife. It would be nice talking to Valerie as he took in the sights of downtown Seattle.
Stepping out from his room into the eerily empty hallway was a stark contrast to how busy the lobby was earlier. As the door shut behind him, he heard a loud thump much like the one earlier. He turned to look at the door next to his. He swore it came from in there, but it was gone. After a few minutes of standing in silence he walked over to the door. Not something he would do every day but due to present circumstances, his gut giving him a weird feeling. He pressed his ear against it and waited. Nothing. He turned and walked towards the elevator shook away his sense of paranoia.
It wasn’t every day two people fell from one of the top floors of a hotel so he knew this would be on the news soon enough. Calling his wife to fill her in on the details before she saw it on the news was a good idea. The way the lobby had been earlier he could only imagine the groups feeding into it for a small slice of media attention. He was surprised when the bell chimed, and the doors opened. The lobby was completely empty except for the person manning one of the check-in desks. He could see through the window the yellow caution tape that had sectioned off part of the pavement was there but no crowds or any news crew.
When The Dead Rise (Book 1): The Outbreak Page 8