When The Dead Rise (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Fraser, D. K.

  Nick walked over to the service desk. “Hey, a lot quieter than earlier, huh?” Nick said trying to make small talk. “I was wanting to go get some food, is there any stores or anything near here?” he asked. The receptionist gave him a weird look and pointed at the wall behind her.

  “If you go outside and follow the sidewalk to 6th and keep going there’s a Target, it’s after nine, though, most restaurants are closed already” The receptionist told him.

  Nick nodded, turning to walk away then stopped and turned back, “Hey, so earlier-” he began but was cut off.

  “I’m afraid hotel policy is I can’t discuss it, but we can email a discount voucher for a future stay for any inconvenience caused,” The receptionist said. He could tell she was trying to sound as professional as she could. Nick could see the cloudiness in her eyes like something was wrong, so he didn’t push it further.

  “Thanks, have a good rest of your night” he said walking out of the hotel lobby, puzzled. He must have been lying on the bed for longer than he thought.

  As he stepped out into the fresh Seattle air the cold crispness hit him immediately. Definitely a big change from the heat and humidity he had been subjected to earlier. He saw a couple walk by the caution tape and peer at the blood-soaked ground, the only evidence that anything had happened was the caution tape and red stained pavement, which surprised him.

  The couple was looking up at the hotel. Nick did too as he past the scene. He couldn’t tell which room was his, but he could see a gaping smashed window. The rooms curtains were blowing in the wind. The window still hadn’t been boarded up since it had happened. Obviously wasn’t a priority he thought as he turned and continued walking on his way.

  He followed the receptionist’s directions and could see the Target logo in the distance. It was maybe six or seven blocks. He could hear sirens again. Does this city ever sleep? he thought to himself. He could hear shouting from the other side of the street. He looked over to see some tables and chairs that was some kind of restaurant's outside patio. A group of people were jumping on the tables while others kicked the chairs swearing and shouting. Nick shook his head and just kept on walking.

  As he got closer to the Target store, he could see red and blue lights bouncing off the buildings.

  He could see a large gathering of people in the street which seemed to be where the police lights were coming from. As he got closer, he could see several police cars and police bikes with officers. They were on both sides of the streets controlling the large crowd. Traffic was stopped and there was an ambulance in the middle of the street at the four way stop. The four-way stop was the only thing between Target and him.

  He crossed, making his way slowly through the crowd. He told himself not to look and be drawn into more craziness. He could hear the people on the street throwing insults at the police. The crowd was so big it spilled onto the road. He could feel the tension as he waded through.

  Cars were slowly passing around the people and honking their horns. The people just shouted and threw up angry fists and made rude gestures. Curiosity got the better of him as he was just about to enter the store. He turned around trying to peer over the heads in the crowd. The side he had just crossed onto was filling with more people. The street on the other side was, too. He could see caution tape on both sides with police and EMT's on the road. His first thought was that someone had been hit by a car. There was constant honking here in Seattle with pedestrians walking across the road anytime and thinking cars would stop. Drivers weren’t much better as they seemed to think pedestrians didn’t exist.

  He turned and walked through the Target’s revolving doors. He picked up a basket as he entered. He overheard two ladies who were standing inside watching through the huge glass windows. He heard one of them say “He must have been on drugs!”

  It was what the other lady said made him realize it wasn’t an accident. “He was shot so many times!”

  Nick froze for a second and pushed it to the back of his head. This is what he had been hearing on the news all week. This is why they were protesting in Portland and all across the country.

  This along with the incident earlier wasn’t anything he wanted to dwell on. He walked around the store grabbing the essentials he needed. Nick was a survivalist so always thought of worst-case scenarios. Even when grocery shopping, that played a big part in what he bought. Everything he put into his basket didn’t need refrigeration and had pretty far out expiration dates. All very high in protein like nuts and jerky. For dinner he grabbed a salad with a pack of cooked chicken breast. Then he grabbed some bottles of water as he got into the checkout line.

  He looked past the cashier at the view outside the window. The crowd gathered looked like it had gotten bigger, but the police presence remained the same,

  As he left the store his phone started to vibrate in his pocket. He knew it was his wife before he answered.

  “ Hi honey!” he said, answering. He knew hearing his wife’s cheery voice would take his mind away from the worst-case scenarios running through his head.

  “Hi, babe,” she didn’t sound so happy, however.

  This let Nick know something wasn’t right, “Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing, just miss you,” his wife was hesitating but continued. “Have you seen the news? They’re telling everyone not to travel.” Valerie said with a jab. His wife had asked him to wait to travel for the food cart meeting. She had told him all the stuff on the news was making her worried. He wanted the ball rolling, so he’d insisted he had to go, that she was just being paranoid.

  He stepped off the curb to cross the street to move away from the crowd. Away from the noise so he could hear his wife better. He wanted to give her his full attention without worrying her more.

  “Really-” He began to ask about the news reports when a loud gunshot interrupted him.

  The loud shot was followed by screams. He froze in the middle of the street and turned around to cars stopped in the street. The doors of the cars that were stopped at the intersection started to open. In the middle of the intersection, lit up by head lights of the cars was a homeless looking man. The man was standing in the headlights swaying. Nick squinted then his jaw dropped as he realized who it was. It was the rowdy homeless man from earlier that he saw while in traffic.

  The man was just standing there in the middle of the road. Some officers stood with guns drawn, pointed at the man. Beside them on the pavement he could now see several black body bags. The gunshot had caused most of the crowd to move back. Two more gunshots rang out as two of the officers fired. Blood erupted from the man’s chest as he staggered back then fell, two more officers moved around him with their guns still trained on him.

  There was a groan and the homeless man rolled around on the ground. The man started convulsing then began to get up. A hush fell over the crowd.

  The man fumbled around like a baby trying to get up on its feet. After a few tries he got up looking like someone who had just climbed out of a car wreck. There were blood stains all over his ragged clothes. The officers were screaming orders at him then they let off more shots as he lunged towards them. Protests and cries of objection came from the crowd. People were screaming in shock and disgust at what was happening.

  Nick could hear his wife on the phone asking what was going on, but he couldn’t reply. His voice was stuck in his throat as he stood there in shock. The man staggered and shook with every shot that hit him. Then as a burst of blood erupted from his head the man dropped to the ground. This time the man didn’t get up and the officers circled around him.

  Alice

  Alice sat in her patrol car scrolling down the list of active calls on her computer. She stared in disbelief the amount of open calls. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Even on the busiest nights there hadn’t been this much going on. It seemed like the whole of Vancouver was in trouble tonight. Clicking on a call then grabbing her radio. “Control! This is Boy 32 taking the 126th
street call,” she released the button waiting for the dispatchers reply.

  “Affirmative, Hayward, paramedics just arrived on scene and subject is non-compliant,” The dispatcher answered. The radio crackled off. She started up the engine then turned on her lights.

  “One down and a whole lot more to go,” she thought speeding up. She was only a few minutes away; she knew now this was going to be a busy night. Tomorrow there was definitely going to be overtime in Portland to help with the protests. Looking up, there wasn’t a full moon so that didn’t explain the craziness. The last couple of weeks there had been more and more acts of crime around town. Not just Vancouver but according to the briefings all across the county and state. People seemed to be going crazy, losing their minds. She knew it was happening over in Portland with the protestors blocking roads. The violent acts against police, emergency responders, and even the other members of the public. Still, by looking at the number of calls coming through the craziness had apparently hit Vancouver.

  Alice slowed down as she neared the scene. It was a residential call about an attempted break in. The suspect looked badly injured from what she could see. She pulled up behind the ambulance. The driveway was lit up by the ambulance lights. Both paramedics seemed to be struggling with a man on the ground. She got out slamming her door then rushing over immediately taking charge. “Sir! I’m only going to ask you one time to be compliant with these gentlemen!” she ordered.

  The man, who was lying on his back, was struggling and thrashing around.

  One of the paramedics grabbed the man's feet to stop them from thrashing. The other had the man's shoulders pinned. The man just looked at her, it was nighttime and dark, but she could see his eyes were sunken in and all milky white. The man’s face was covered in blood and he just started snapping his teeth at her like a rabid animal.

  She slammed her hand on the man's forehead. The man’s head was now pinned to the driveway. “Calm the fuck down! These guys are trying to help you!” she shouted. In her peripheral vision, she saw people in the house doorway. The man was still trying to thrash and get free. The paramedic on the guy’s legs shouted to her, “Here grab his legs! I have something in the truck I can give him,” The paramedic told her smiling. She nodded, letting go of the man's head. Then she put her hands on the man's legs while the paramedic ran to the ambulance.

  After fumbling around in the back, the paramedic jumped out. The paramedic was still smiling as he popped the cap off a syringe. “This’ll calm our friend down” The paramedic said to her. The other paramedic pinning the arms nodded in agreement. She didn’t envy the paramedic holding the man's arms.

  The man struggling reeked and his breath was foul. The paramedic slammed the syringe into the man's thigh. Within seconds the struggling ceased as the man's body went limp.

  “Works every time.” The paramedic chuckled removing the syringe. The other paramedic let go of the suspect’s shoulders laughing. The paramedic opened his EMT case and began inspecting the suspect. There was a huge gash on the suspects shoulders.

  “Oh my god…” The paramedic said. The other paramedic knelt down to examine the wound, too.

  Both were talking about the gash and how badly rotten it was. Not a discussion she wanted to be part off. “How long will he be out for?” she asked them.

  They didn’t even look around at her but one of them answered “Oh about an hour, which is good cause trying to clean this up is going to be a bitch,” The paramedic told her.

  They started to remove some of the clothing that was stuck in the gash. The smell was getting to be too much. She got up and headed towards the people standing in the doorway of the house.

  “Sorry about that,” she started, “So could someone explain what happened?” she asked. There was a man probably in his late 50’s standing slack jawed. A woman was beside him holding onto him who looked around the same age. The lady pointed at the suspect who was now being strapped down into a stretcher. “He was wandering up and down the street…for about an hour,” the lady began. “He was going up and down the street. He was going into yards and even pounded on that window,” she said pointing to a house across the street. “Then when he saw us outside looking, he headed to our house.”

  The man then chimed in, “Once he started coming over, we could see he had blood all on him, so we came in the house. We locked the door then called you guys. We could see he was hurt and when we tried to talk to him through the door he started growling. Like he was on drugs or something,” the man said, not taking his eyes from the paramedics.

  Alice nodded as she took details in her notebook.

  “Well you guys did the right thing not coming into direct contact with him, if he is on drugs then it’s possible he could have something. By the way he acted with the EMT’s trying to help him, he probably wasn’t going to be too friendly.” She turned as the EMT’s shouted to her

  “Hey! We’re good to go, you want to meet us there?” The paramedic asked. She nodded as she still had some details to get.

  One of the paramedics hopped in the front of the ambulance, starting it up. She watched as the other one was in the back. The doors were still open. This one was checking the straps they had put on the suspect. The man was lying lifeless and calm. Then as the paramedic was checking the suspects vitals she jumped. The suspects eyes darted open and he turned biting the EMT”S wrist. “Fuck!” the EMT yelled trying to pry the suspects mouth from his wrist.

  Alice ran over and jumped into the back of the ambulance. She grabbed the suspects head trying to squeeze his cheeks to loosen the bite. The EMT broke free falling against a drawer of medical tools sending them clanking to the floor.

  “What the hell?” the other EMT said from up front. Alice stared at the suspect writhing around on the stretcher. The wheels were locked but the suspect was thrashing about so much they were jittering about. “Few hours, huh?” she commented hopping down out of the ambulance. She walked towards her cruiser, opened her trunk, and pulled out a bag. The EMT driver got in the back of the ambulance. She could hear them talking.

  “You okay?” the driver asked. The EMT was cradling his arm and nodded.

  “Fuckin’ dick bit me! Hurts like hell, too!” The EMT said.

  Alice hopped back into the ambulance wrapping a mask around the suspects face.

  “It’s to stop the spitters, hate getting saliva all over the back of the car or my head,” she told them smiling. The two people were still in their doorway watching.

  “We’re good,” she said giving the old couple a thumbs up. The suspect was still thrashing around on the stretcher. As the driver was bandaging and cleaning the other EMT”S forearm he looked at her. “He should have been out for at least forty-five minutes” The driver said in disbelief.

  The other EMT chimed in “Whatever he’s on, it must be pretty strong.”

  She nodded in agreement looking the suspect over. The suspects eyes were all white even the pupil. The veins sticking out on his face were purple and green. She looked down at the man's ankle.

  It was twisted and contorted at a weird unnatural angle. She’d gotten emails at work about individuals who had these same symptoms attacking people. They were extremely violent and hard to restrain. They were still looking into it, but officers had been warned in the email to have as little contact as possible. To avoid bodily fluids from these individuals as whatever they had taken could be transferred. They could exhibit extreme tolerance to pain and seemed incoherent.

  “We’ve had emails about cases like this” she said staring down at the suspect who was still flailing around.

  The EMT with the now bandaged arm looked up at her. “Yeah so did we, I have to go get tested and monitored now,” the EMT said disappointedly, giving the stretcher a kick.

  “I’ll finish up here and catch up with you guys at Southwest,” she told them, getting out of the ambulance.

  She headed back to the couple standing in their doorway. The woman started to walk towards Al
ice.

  “Is he okay?” the lady asked, Alice nodded and forced a small smile, looking back over her shoulder she watched the ambulance drive off.

  “My sister was in the dollar store today and said she saw a man bite a small boy,” the old lady told her.

  Alice raised her eyebrows. “Yeah there seems to be some new drug or something going about, let’s get this wrapped up and I’ll let you folks get back to enjoying your night,” she said, whipping out her notebook.

  After she was done getting the couples info, Alice said goodnight. She sat in her cruiser checking the computer. Dozens more calls were now active. Taking a few gulps of her energy drink she knew it was going to be a long night. She had agreed to a second shift in the AM which she was now regretting. Officers from her precinct had gone over to Portland to help with riot control.

  She still needed to go to Southwest for the suspect’s info. She needed that before she could actually charge him and close the call. She’d stop at any active calls en route to Southwest she thought as she started the engine.

  Alice turned off 126th and headed down Mill Plain Boulevard. It was a straight shot down to Southwest that was on 86th. As she was driving past a strip mall lot that had a Safeway, she looked over and there was a group gathered. They were kicking someone on the ground. She fired up the lights and did a U-turn, driving over the median in the middle of the road to get to the other side. Her cruiser flew into the lot then pulled to a halt. Alice turned on the spotlight on her wing mirror. Aiming it at the group they paused and backed up from the man on the ground. The man on the ground was spasming and convulsing. The man slowly started to get to his knees. He looked right at her car and she froze. This man had the same vacant spaced outlook the last guy had. His eyes were all milky white with red stains around his mouth. The man's clothes were all torn and covered in blood.