When The Dead Rise (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Fraser, D. K.

  “Daddy!” His other daughter said tugging at his arm to get his attention. “Why are you smiling, Daddy?” Sarah asked.

  Sarah was his other daughter and was very, very smart for a four-year-old. Mason just smiled more.

  “Well, we were supposed to stop at Minsk for a three-hour layover before the plane took off again for Edinburgh. Now hopefully we’ll get there sooner as your little sister isn’t having a good time,” he whispered to his little girl. Sarah nodded like she fully understood then got back to coloring her book. This trip had been eye opening for both Alex and him. He’d wanted to take his girls to Scotland to visit his home. They had planned to go long before now, but the girls had put a stop to that. Both girls were a little bigger now so they figured they would give it a shot. They had assumed both girls would be restless maybe with a tantrum or two. They thought they had planned ahead accordingly with snacks and distractions. They hadn’t helped Abby at all who cried most of the first part of the flight. The surprise had been how good Sarah had been at acting like a big sister.

  Mason’s heart had melted when Abby had started crying when the plane took off and Sarah immediately came to her little sister’s aid. Sarah had offered Abby some candy then a crayon to help color which had calmed the baby for all of about two minutes

  He’d thought that was a nice surprise and now they were bypassing the Minsk stop. Hopefully this would get them to their vacation destination sooner. If there were more pleasant surprises with this trip, then he’d be okay with that. He could hear some people in the seats behind him complaining to a stewardess.

  One guy about the missed stop then another guy that they weren’t getting any Wi-Fi signal.

  Pulling out his call phone Mason unlocked it to see for himself. Sure enough, there was no service on his phone. The last thing he saw on Facebook was his news feed filling up with both Pro- and Anti-Police posts. So not having Wi-Fi___33 wasn’t too much of a problem for him at all.

  The intercom chimed again causing most of the cabin to go silent, waiting to hear more from the Captain.

  “Hello again, ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain again. I wanted to let you all know that shortly we’ll be landing at Brest International Airport. For those of you who had Minsk as a final destination you will be transferred from here. I will keep you updated with info as I receive it,” The captain finished then the intercom chimed off. This seemed to set a lot of passengers at ease which hopefully meant it would get a little quieter again.

  “What’s happening?” Alex asked rubbing her eyes trying to wake up.

  “It’s okay, honey, you can go back to sleep. We’re not laying over in Minsk anymore, instead it’ll be another airport in Belarus,” He told her brushing the hair away from his wife’s half open eyes.

  Alex smiled then closed her eyes drifting back off to sleep again he thought.

  Two flight attendants rushed down the aisle past their seats towards the front of the plane. It must have caught his daughters attention, too, as Sarah was looking up from her book down the aisle. A man came through the curtains at the front of the cabin pushing past the two attendants. They were trying to talk to the man who was well dressed in a suit. The man shouted past the attendants into the cabin.

  “Please! Does anyone have a phone I can use?” the man asked looking around.

  The man flapped his arms in disappointment then a male attendant grabbed the man. The man spun, pushing the attendant over into some seats then pointed a finger at the female attendant.

  “Why won’t you let me use the plane’s phone?” the man asked frantically. Another man dressed in jeans and tight white t- shirt walked up to the man in the suit flashing a badge.

  “Is he a cop?” Sarah blurted out.

  “Nah, honey that’s an Air Marshal, they’re on every plane,” he told her, rubbing her head.

  “Marshall like from Paw Patrol?” Sarah giggled.

  “Yeah, kinda, does the same kind of job, now go back to coloring, sweetie” he told her trying to keep her calm.

  The Marshal pulled the man back through the curtain towards the front of the plane. This had been where the man had come from, near the front. Mason settled back into his seat then Sarah cuddled into his arm making him feel suddenly at ease.

  He was woken up by a loud overhead announcement telling everyone to prepare to land. Yawning, he looked over to see Alex feeding Abby. He must have been more tired than he thought as he hadn't even been woken up by them. He helped get Abby into her car seat to prepare for the landing. He wasn’t sure how long they’d have to wait at the airport to reboard the plane or if they’d even have to get off this plane.

  A flight attendant began walking past checking seat belts, so he waved her close.

  “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know if we’ll be changing planes when we land would you? Or are we just staying on this one?” He asked.

  The stewardess smiled at him and he could tell it was forced. “Yes, everyone will have to disembark the plane then head into the main terminal sir, from there you’ll be directed what to do next,” The lady told him, checking his seat belt.

  “Okay, thanks,” he replied back with a forced smirk of his own.

  Once the plane came to a full stop, they grabbed what carry-on luggage they had brought on. From the plane to the main terminal building it was a short walk on old beat up asphalt with planes parked everywhere. As they entered the main terminal, Mason was surprised how packed it was with people. Everyone was standing looking at either TVs showing the news or the huge flight information boards up on a wall. He was holding Abby’s car seat that she was in, asleep, seat with one hand and his other had their two carry on duffle bags. He looked at Sarah who was stuck tight to Alex’s leg. Normally Sarah would always want to be independent, walking beside them everywhere they went, refusing to hold either of their hands. He could tell Sarah was overwhelmed by the amount of people crammed into the terminal.

  “Let’s go check the information board see if our flight is on it,” he said to his wife.

  Alex didn’t reply, his wife was staring at the TV’s on the walls along with most of the other people around in the terminal. He looked up to see news broadcasts on all of the TVs that were scattered around the terminal. They weren’t all showing the exact same footage but definitely all of this was happening here in Europe. He could tell even though he didn’t speak Russian which is what the native language in Belarus was, that the people around him were worried.

  He also couldn’t read any of the writing that was appearing on most of the TV’s, but he got the point that something big was happening. There was footage of planes getting loaded with missiles. Another had footage of riots in the streets of some European city with a name he wouldn’t even try to pronounce.

  “Oh my…that’s Kiev,” a man standing behind him said in English.

  He could tell the man was referring to footage being shown of protesters clashing with police.

  Alex must have heard the man too.

  “Where’s that?” Alex asked whispering to him.

  Looking at his wife he replied “It’s a city in Ukraine not far from Minsk”

  Granted it was across the border so the riots happening there probably weren’t the reason the plane had been diverted. There were similar protests happening back in America that hopefully weren’t turning into riots like these.

  It seemed a bit of a coincidence that they were having problems this side of the globe, too.

  He’d hoped after showing his family the place he grew up that they would want to move to Scotland. He loved America but the political extremes and increasing civil unrest had made him think of a fresh start for his family. Just as he was about to reassure his wife that the riots and the diversion from Minsk was just a coincidence, shouting filled the air. They looked over to where all the angry sounding voices were coming from. They weren’t speaking English, but the anger came through all the same. As did the gestures of closed fists that he was glad his wi
fe and daughter were too short to see. The people were crowded round the flight information boards that had security guards holding rifles standing at the bottom. The guards were signaling people to get back.

  “What’s going on?” His wife asked scared.

  Looking at the information boards he could see what everyone was getting so angry about.

  Every outgoing flight said “SUSPENDED” next to it. On the arrival screen theirs was the last plan scheduled for some reason and it was still early.

  Their flight along with the other incoming flights listed all said “LANDED”

  He was confused as to why the plane had been diverted from Minsk only to be grounded here. The shouting coming the people wanting to know about their flights was getting louder and more intense. With his lack of fluent Russian, it could definitely become a problem if things escalated quickly.

  “C’mon” he said to his wife nodding towards the far end of the terminal.

  As they moved through the crowded terminal, he noticed more and more soldiers. He’d never seen so many armed men in an airport before. Granted, he hadn’t been to many European airports, but the number of armed soldiers just didn’t seem right. The soldiers were setting up barriers throughout the terminal which seemed the size of a pitch with the same big arching roof overhead.

  Looking up, he saw a sign with an arrow, it wasn’t English but seemed like a universal sign for exit which told him they were headed in the right direction. He noted that as he caught sight of another universal sign that he was looking for.

  As they approached the circular Information kiosk there were three female staff members manning the booth. They seemed to be struggling, trying to help the small crowd of a dozen gathered around. Looking at them, they were dressed in black slacks, aqua blue polo shirts with the Belarus flag embroidered onto the chest pocket. This was something he’d expect tourist information workers to wear, not airport information officials.

  He was about to tell Alex to wait with his daughters near the kiosk while he found an airport employee, but he froze. The noise was deafening, he wasn’t sure if it was echoing or repeating as more shots were being fired. The gunshots drowned out the sea of people who were fussing and complaining seconds before. Those same people were now a sea of screams and crying as the airport terminal erupted into chaos.

  Nick

  Inside the Seattle train station, the atmosphere was completely different than the chaos going on at the entrance. The station was pretty full, but he couldn’t see any staff walking around. The big board above the door leading out to the tracks only had seven trains up for the whole day. Usually there would have been almost two dozen. Nick looked at a poster on the wall, it was a “germs info” poster about covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze with some advice on washing hands. Nick made his way to the bag check in where the ticket desk was so he could hopefully exchange his ticket.

  He hadn’t thought this far ahead and was just winging it at this point. Entering the room where the ticket help desk was, he greeted with an empty kiosk. Nick looked at the guy at the next kiosk which was for checking bags in. The guy seemed a little distant, coughing and sweating profusely. The man’s face was dark red with beads of sweat dripping down onto whatever the man was zoning out at on the desk. The bright red face reminded Nick of someone who had a drinking problem and were a natural flushed. Nick walked up to the window, tapping it gently to get the man's attention without startling the guy.

  “Hey, can you help me? I need to change my ticket,” Nick asked.

  The guy wiped his forehead with a rag that was on the desk. “No,” the man said blankly.

  “There’s no ticket alterations today, we may be closed tomorrow and looking like the next few days,” the man said before going into a coughing fit.

  Nick looked the man who obviously wasn’t in the best shape, the guy had sweat beads all over his face. Nick knew that was enough information for him. “Okay, okay thanks” he said nodding as he slowly walked backwards away from the glass.

  He saw the long line of people waiting to head out to board a train. Nick looked up at the board to check the platform for the Portland train: G6 it read to Portland. He knew he had to get to G6 and get on that train. There’s no way he could afford to be stuck here for a few days not with how bad the situation was getting. Nick looked around the room to see if there was maybe someone, he could buy a ticket from. Nick’s brain felt like it was going to explode with questions on what to do if no one would sell him one. He walked as if on autopilot towards the line that was formed of people waiting to board trains.

  “Portland!” a man shouted from the front of the line. Nick looked towards the doors leading out to the platforms. There were two men in safety vests standing at the front of the line. One of the men was talking into a walkie-talkie while looking between the platform and the line. The other man was checking tickets of people at the front of the line.

  All he had was his over the shoulder EDC bag and the duffle which could be carried. As he inched his way closer to the front of the line, he heard the man’s radio crackle.

  “Brian! Let them out! Let them get on the trains we have to leave now,” a male voice said. The man with the walkie didn’t reply but instead started checking tickets, too. Another railway worker came over and opened a second set of doors to let people go out and began checking tickets, too. All he needed to do was just make his way past the ticket checker to the doors.

  He could hear angry shouts coming from behind him at the station entrance. Then suddenly shots rang out from outside the station. Nick looked towards the entrance where the shots had come from. There was something going on outside he couldn’t see. The security guards were blocking the view through the huge glass doors. Then two of the guards came inside locking the door behind them. The other guards outside still seemed to be holding people back. The crowd inside the station started to panic as more shots rang out. At the front of the line, Nick could see the guy with the walkie was focused on the front doors. The guy wasn’t even checking and was just waving people past. Nick moved through the line knowing this was his chance. As he neared the front of the line, he moved towards the guy just letting people through. Almost at the front the sound of glass shattering seemed to slow down time. Then screams mixed in with more gunshots filled the air.

  The line Nick was in turned into a wave of people rushing the doors leading outside to the trains. Turning as he passed through the door, he saw a security guard lying on the ground surrounded by broken glass. A crowd of people were pushing through the broken glass panel on the door. “Close those doors! No one is boarding those trains!” a voice said across a bullhorn.

  Nick knew this was his chance and pushed people out the way as he sprinted through the people making a break for the doors! Once outside everyone began scrambling in different directions to get to their train’s platforms. People were running across empty tracks to get to platform G6 for Portland, so he did, too. As Nick climbed up onto the G6 platform, there was a train conductor at a door waving people to get in. As he climbed aboard, he was instantly hit with a wave of heat and the sound of kids crying. Nick made his way through the carriages to the middle where he found some empty chairs facing each other. He sat down after stowing his duffle bag in the spot above the seats. He slid his EDC bag under his seat wanting to keep it close. Slumping into the chair he looked outside to see people still trickling out the station. What looked like soldiers were now trying to grab people which caught him by surprise. His attention was grabbed by some arguing coming his way. It was an older lady with faded red hair tied back, thick glasses, and a long beige cardigan with a brown skirt that went to her ankles. The lady was dressed like a librarian and was bickering with two children she had with her. A boy who must have been around five or six in a Minecraft t-shirt and a girl probably in her late teens in a Seahawks hoodie with holey jeans.

  Quite the happy family, Nick thought feeling sorry for whoever was sat near this trio. Nick look
ed down to notice there was a purse under the seat directly opposite his. The boy in the Minecraft shirt jumped down into the chair next to Nick. Then the two others sat down in Nicks grouping of chairs both still bickering.

  The boy leaned over Nick craning out the window. Nick got a whiff of sweaty child while getting close up of the boys buzz cut. Then the boy turned to Nick, “Anything cool?” The boy asked.

  Before Nick could answer, a voice came over the intercom as the train started to move.

  “Hello everyone and welcome to the early morning Amtrak service from Seattle to Portland, the doors are now locked and due to the present circumstances even though we are due for departure in 8 minutes, we will be departing immediately, unfortunately we may have to bypass some of the stops on our route due to the stations being closed but I will keep you up to date on this info as it happens, I do apologize for the lack of Wi-Fi on this service as it’s currently unavailable,” the voice clicked off.

  As the train was moving there were still people running towards it! They were waving bags and tickets, but the train sped out of the station. The boy turned to Nick again, “We saw a guy get shot on our way to the station this morning, army guys were in the street and just lit him up,” the boy said seeming pleased. The lady with the boy gave a dirty look “Michael! Keep quiet!” the lady snapped.

  Looking at Nick, the lady said, “I’m sorry it’s been a rough morning and he’s a little excited,” the lady told him, glaring at the little boy. The kid didn’t seem to care, though, looking out the window on the other side of the aisle.

  “No problem, there’s a lot going on,” Nick answered with a forced, close-lipped smile. Looking around the cabin there was still a bunch of empty seats so not all the passengers made it. Probably due to the melt down at the train station the driver must have thought it best to maybe just start up and go. Nick wasn’t complaining things were only getting crazier and who knows what was going on with the Army arriving on the scene. Nick was glad he was on his way home, though, despite how crazy it was getting.