Outbreak The Beginning (The Outbreak Series Book 1)

by Kristal, Deausha

  I gun the gas and head down the road to the school. Forty-five miles an hour isn’t going to cut it so I accelerate to eighty-five. I see Hank pull into the driveway to their house. Wow, driving this fast on this road is horrible, they really need to fix this road. Yeah, who am I kidding, they sure aren’t going to fix anything anymore. Coming up to the stop sign I turn right and there’s traffic on this street they are all headed to the school or so it seems. There’s no traffic going the other way.

  As I drive down Duck Creek Rd I hear sirens, a lot of them, maybe they are going to the school too. Passing some of the houses, I notice some are boarded up. Wow, that’s weird, why would they be doing …I know the answer to that? They are trying to keep people out. Hitting the gas a bit harder I get to the end of the road. Damn I’m third in line to turn. I shoot a text to Nate telling him I’m ten min’s away and I’ll honk like crazy to let him know I’m there.

  Finally it’s my turn. I make the turn but someone shoots right out in front of me. I swerve, to miss them. Looking out my rear view mirror, I see it’s a kid with blood all over them. Shit, I almost nailed him. Rubbing the back of my neck, I need to get a grip. I have to get to the school, fetch my boys, get home and get the house ready. I don’t think this is going to go away. I think this is going to be how it will be for the rest of our lives. I just have this feeling in my gut and I’m usually never wrong.

  There’s the school. Oh holy shit it’s a cluster fuck. There’s cars everywhere, parked all other the place, they are even driving on the grass people are running every which way. There’s kids running and screaming, some are covered in blood. Some are huddled on the ground, crying and holding what looks to be their entrails from spilling out. Worse still are the people and kids eating them, shaking I wipe a tear from my eyes. I can’t believe this is happening. I know we all liked to joke about something like this. And yes, I thought it would be really cool but I was so wrong, so very wrong.

  I hit the gas and race around the building with a screech as kids are grabbing hold of my SUV and begging me to stop. I can’t, I have to get to my boys. I turn the corner around the building. And I see where I need to be but there are those things all over the place. Grabbing the gun on the seat next to me, I pull up and start beeping my horn. Laying on it. I look to the building where my boys should be coming out at. I jump out of my SUV. I stand with my gun up and ready to shoot. Shit, aiming my gun, I start hitting anyone in the way of that door. All that matters is my kids are safe. One of them starts running straight at me. I aim and shoot right to the heart, it jerks and keeps coming. Shit, I aim again. I’m not playing around this time and shoot it right in the head. The thing falls and doesn’t get back up. I take out another one the same way and it stays down too. I hear other shots being fired, looking around I see two state troopers doing the same thing.

  The door to the woodshop opens up and Liam and Nate come running out. They’re dodging and jumping over them things. I see they are starting to get noticed by those monsters and raise my gun to start taking them out. I hesitate, I never had to shoot that close to my kids. What if I miss and hit them? Shaking my head, I can’t think like that. This is life or death!! On the radio I hear the song. “I Can Transform YA” really? I start tapping my foot and take aim. The first one was just about to grab Liam, I aim and shoot it, down it goes. I see the boys looking right at me. Nate has a grin on his face, shaking his head he keeps running towards me. I aim and take out two more, they go down.

  “Nate, Liam, stop screwing around and move it!!!”

  They run faster to the SUV and I see them yelling at me and pointing behind me. I whip around and someone slams into me, knocking the wind out of me. I drop my gun. Shit, it’s one of them, I throw my hands up on its shoulders trying to keep it from biting me. Gagging, oh my God they really stink, I think I’m going to be sick. I’m really struggling to keep this thing from biting me. He’s way bigger then my 105 lbs.

  The thing’s mouth is drooling and getting closer to my neck. Shit, I’ve done it now, all of a sudden Mr. Hutch comes and throws the thing off of me. Looking into his eyes I see the love in them, I wish I could return it to him but it’s just not there. I’m not saying he’s not amazing but the feelings are just not there, it was supposed to be a mutual thing. Whipping around I see the boys are at the SUV and they jump inside.

  Turning around, I take my hand and cup Hutch’s cheek. Looking at his lips I slowly start towards him and just before my lips touch his he stops me. Confused I look up into his eyes and he just shakes his head.

  “Come on John jump in!! Come with us.” I look up, pleading into his eyes.

  He shakes his head and has a sad smile on his lips. “I can’t Egypt.” He lifts his arm so I can see that he’s been bitten.

  “So what, come on, I can clean that up at my house.”

  “NO Egypt, I can’t and you know it. It’s just a matter of time before I become one of those things you’re shooting and killing. You need to go and don’t look back. Don’t stop to help anyone. No matter what! This is everywhere and it’s just going to get worse.” He slowly brings me to him. He wraps his arms around me tenderly.

  I tuck my face into his neck. I inhale deeply. He smells so much like home, I start to cry and he gently kisses me on the side of my lips. Looking into my eyes he pushes me towards the SUV. “GO now.” He whispers, “I love you.”

  Chapter 6

  I sit back into the SUV and he’s looking at me, like it’s the last time he will be able to do that. I shut my door and give him a last look. He takes off to help who he can so I start to pull away. Man I need to get a grip. I look at Nate in the front seat. I ask the boys. “Are you guys ok? Are you hurt?”

  “No I’m good MOM!” says Liam.

  “I’m ok to MOM!” Nate says.

  “Ok, seat belts everyone, this might be a bumpy ride. We may have to go across grass at some point. Nate my 9mm is in the glove box. Get it and keep it with you. Click the safety off.” I look at him. “You know what to do with it. We’re not going to stop for anyone.” I push on the gas and we start forward. “Liam, call your sister and see where she is. Nate, call G-dad tell him we’re leaving the school and going to stop at the gas station if it’s safe to do so. Then we will stop at his house.”

  As we’re driving out of the school parking lot it’s worse than ever, there is more of them. The state troopers are starting to go back to their cars. A few look like their down. But their buddies are waving me forward, so I lock the doors and keep going. We get to the street and its chaos, cars are everywhere. We’re just waiting our turn to get outta here.

  “SHIT MOM GO, GO, GO, they are coming up behind us,” yells Liam.

  Looking into the rear view mirror, I see fifty or sixty of them. I look around and decide to go across the grass. “Hold on boys,” I yell and turn the wheel sharp. We bounce up and down over the grass, coming to the road, the tires squeal, turning left I dodge an oncoming truck, barely missing it. Getting back on the right side of the road, we head for the gas station. I look at the boys. “What do you guys think? Should we stop at the gas station and get what we can? And top up the tank.”

  “Ya we better mom … you’ve stocked up on everything to last two years but still more can’t hurt,” Nate says.

  “I agree mom. What’s the plan?” Liam asks.

  “Well when we get there and if it’s all clear, we will head in. You boys go for the water and other drinks. I will get the food like jerky the junk food and the medicines. Ok, you all know what to do? Oh Nate, start the pump for the gas, we can take it out when we’re done.”

  As we pull up to the gas station everything looks normal, so I stop at a pump. I tell the boys to put the guns in their waist bands and cover them.

  As we walk in I go for what I planned on getting, grabbing all that I could, just about clearing the shelves. I look around for the boys. Liam is doing what he should be. Nate’s outside putting the cases of water in the back of the SUV while Liam is
still grabbing stuff from the cooler. “OK guys hurry up.” I approach the counter. The guy is looking like I’m going crazy buying all this stuff. I tell him, “It’s crazy out there …we would never have made it to a regular store, so we’re stocking up here.” He shakes his head and gives me the total -- over $800.00 dollars. I hand him my credit card and see Nate looking at something in the distance. “Come on Liam lets go.” I snatch my card and rush to the SUV and bundle the stuff in a hurry. Some of it had to go in the back seat with Liam.

  I glance in the direction Nate is pointing to see tons of smoke coming from the way we came.

  “Mom, I think the school’s on fire,” Nate says.

  “Yeah I think your right,” I say. We all stand there and watch it for a while. Shaking my head I tell the boys to pile in and we take off down the road towards home. “Nate what’s going on with G-dad and Mimi?”

  “Mimi is freaking out that we we’re going to the gas station and G-dad is waiting outside for us,” Nate says.

  “Ok great. Mimi always worries … guys it will be OK,” I say.

  “Mom, Tabitha is 5 minutes away, I told her to go right in but lock everything as she’s going in … that we will open it when we get there,” Liam says.

  “Ok great. You guys did amazing.”

  As we turn on Berlin Station RD, that same house is still burning, as we continue to drive down the road we pass our house. You really can’t see it with that 12 foot fence all the way around it. HAH!! People thought I was crazy for doing that, just to keep dogs out and ours in. Well the laughs on them now because we will be safe in there. I turn left into my parent’s driveway. Hank is up by the house. We park the SUV and get out.

  The boys run up to Hank, hug him and start telling him, play by play, what happened all the way up to when we got here. I stopped unpacking some of the water and pop to look at them. Hank glances at me while the boys tell him how I shot those things in the head. I hear Hank tell the boys to carry the stuff into the house and to make sure Mimi is doing ok. He walks over to me and gives me a big hug. I start to cry harder and harder, I guess I needed to get this off my chest. He just holds me until I’m done crying. Moving away I start grabbing some more stuff out of the trunk.

  “Stop feeling sorry for yourself … you’re a strong woman. You’re the one that will get us all through this … so tell me, why did you bring this stuff down?” Hank says.

  “Well, I know you guys won’t come down and stay with us, so I thought you could use the extra stuff to get you through for a little while,” I say.

  “Yes, we’ll stay put. We will be safe, for the time being anyway,” Hank says.

  The boys exit the house, we say goodbye to Hank and get back into the SUV. Driving off, I see Hank grabbing the last of the water and head into the house. Well for now they should be safe. They do however have huge windows and probably didn’t have enough wood to cover them all. Unlike me I have a fence all around my yard but I’m still at some point going to cover the windows. Heading down to the house I look at myself and groan at all the blood. UGH!! We’re all going to have to take showers and burn the clothes to be safe. As we near the driveway I hit the button to open the gates. I slow down to make sure they close and no one gets in. I pull up next to Tabitha’s truck and turn the SUV off. The boys jump out and head inside. I rest my head on the steering wheel and try to make sense of it all. Grabbing the keys out of the ignition, I open the door and hop out. The air smells so clean. There’s a gentle breeze coming from the west. Looking up at the sky I wonder if it’s going to rain, it’s been sunny all day. I look out to where you can still see the dark black smoke rising in plumes. I’m glad that nightmare is over. But I knew we’re stepping into a new nightmare that just won’t end.

  Chapter 7

  Entering the house, the dogs are barking, bending down I rub each of them. Baby Herk is jumping around giving me kisses. I smile at him. He’s an amazing dog, goofy and sometimes acts stupid but still all the same, loveable. Then there’s Rufus, I’ve had him since he was born. Now that’s my baby, he’s 14 years old, he’s my old man. I stand up while they are still jumping up on me. I know they smell the blood. I really need to go shower away this day. Walking into the living room I see Tabitha watching the news. From what I can see, it looks like Hell on Earth. Buildings are burning, hospitals are overflowing with the sick and they are telling you to stay home and don’t go out.

  “Hey mom, oh holy shit you look horrible,” Tabitha says.

  “Yeah well I feel like it too. Are the boys taking showers? I need to go take one then we can talk about everything once we’re all together. Is John here?” I ask.

  John is Tabitha’s boyfriend, they have been living together for almost 2 years. They have a cute little apartment in Salem, south of us. It’s where you have to go if you want to the major stores. Berlin Center only has 2 gas stations and nothing else. Can you say Hicksville!!

  “Yes the boys are taking showers, they looked like you!! And yes John’s here, he’s outback,” she said.

  I open the sliding glass doors. The dogs decide they need to go out. Steeping onto the deck I watch the dogs run around the yard. John walks over to me and stands beside me. I look at him from the corner of my eye, I know he wants to say something, I just don’t know why he doesn’t come out and say it already, it’s not like he’s shy. I finally break the silence. “What’s up?”

  He looks so glum. “It’s finally happening isn’t it Egypt? Those things are fucking zombies!! They’re eating people. The world’s coming to an end isn’t it? We’re all going to ….”

  I stop him from saying anymore. “Listen John, I’m tired, I’m stressed, I’m hungry and I stink!! So tell you what … yes something is happening, it’s not official that they are zombies … as of right now they’re still calling it the flu. Personally, yes I’d say that’s what they are. And last but not least, it’s not the end of the world and we’re not going to die. Do you hear me? We are not going to die! Now I need to get cleaned up, so why don’t you go unpack Tabitha’s truck and my SUV and store the stuff in the house. DO NOT open the outside gate for anyone unless it’s my mom and dad got it?”

  “Yeah I got it! What room do you want us to take?”

  “Take the one downstairs on the far side of the basement. Because believe it or not I think we will have more family coming in the next few days and weeks. I want to keep the extra one upstairs for mom and Hank.” Turning around, I walk back into the house. Shit I forgot the dogs. I yell for Rufus and Baby Herk, they come running in and I shut the screen door. I see that Tabby is still watching the TV. “Hey Tabby, why don’t you go make us a snack while I jump into the shower?”

  “Ok Mom, just give me a second.”

  I look into her eyes and I can tell she’s really afraid. It breaks my heart that I can’t make this all go away. Turning, I walk right into Nate.

  “Hey Mom, you taking a shower?”

  “Yep sure am … hey can you watch out front, while I take a shower?” I look him in the eyes and I know he knows what I mean. He pats his lower back and winks. I nod approval and start walking down the hallway. I enter my room, my private heaven!! My bed is piled high with purple and pink pillows and man that comforter is thick and silky. I have a little night stand next to my bed then there’s a door that leads to my office. Right after that in the corner are two windows, in front of them there is an oversized chair with a little table and light with crystals hanging from it. Then there’s a door to the left of that. That leads to a private patio with a water fountain. I have my favorite wicker set out there. Then there’s a huge bookshelf with tons of books that I need to be reading, well now it looks like I’ll get the time to read soon. Rubbing my hands down my face I walk into the bathroom, I reach in and turn the shower on. I know I will have hot water because I have three hot water tanks -- one for this bathroom, one for the hallway bathroom and the other one for the downstairs one. I hate running out of hot water and the boys are always taking sho
wers and then there’s the endless mounds of laundry that needs to be done. It’s comforting to think of mundane things.

  I start to take my boots off, man these are trashed too, I take off my shirt and unbutton my jeans. These really stink, I hate having to burn them, they are my favorite jeans. I strip naked and check the water temperature, it’s perfect, stepping in I sigh, man this feels good. Lifting my face to the water, I let it run down my body. Putting my hands on the wall I start to relax, thinking back to what I’ve seen today, I’d say it sucked. Grabbing the body wash I scrub myself down to remove the blood then next the shampoo.

  Ok I’ve spent enough time in here, there’s so much to do. I start drying myself off. I wrap a towel around my hair and wrap the other around myself. Walking back into my bedroom I go to the closet to get some clothes, this time I pick out a black t shirt, that says “I don’t bite much” and a pair of skinny jeans. I go to my dresser and grab a hot pink bra and matching undies. Slipping into them I get my jeans and fight to get the t shirt on. Guess I better dry off better next time. Walking back to the bathroom I grab my brush and sit on my bed. I start brushing my hair out once that’s done I go the bathroom to look in the mirror my hair still looks good, this time it’s black with blue ends, I love doing weird things with my hair. I grab a hair tie and head to for my shoes. Go figure they are flip-flops that flap down the hallway while I pull my hair up into a ponytail.

  Looking around as I get to the dining room I see all the kids sitting in the living room watching the TV. I lean up against the wall and start watching it too.