Lena pushed back against the door, almost tripping over the broken lamp in her haste to get away from the carnage. Martinez was the only one out of the three that looked relatively calm.
"What are we supposed to do?" Martinez asked as he came up next to me and looked down at the woman on the floor.
"We have to get her help," I said.
"Well, if the emergency line isn't answering, I don't know what we can do, we can't put her in a car like that," Martinez responded.
"I can't just leave her like this." I looked down at the girl that I had just met tonight, she looked nothing like the sexy girl in the red dress from earlier. "She'll die. I have her roommate tied up in the bedroom, she's worse than this one. Both of them will die if we leave them."
"Brother, she looks dead already. We can't get her in a car, we won't even be able to get her down the steps. She needs to be restrained on a stretcher and hauled out of here. We need an ambulance. And if the other one is worse, how would we handle that?"
"I feel like I'm failing them if we leave, this isn't cool at all. I've never seen anything like this," I said.
"Romeo, we can't help them, we're not equipped to save them. If we have to drive to the hospital and tell them in person, let's do that. But, right now, I just need to get out of here." Lena's voice was shaky with fear.
"Fine, let's get out of here and I'll keep trying to get nine-one-one. Hopefully, someone can come and get her,” I gave in. I knew I was giving up easily, I knew I was being a pussy, but they had a point. These girls couldn’t be controlled, there was nothing we could do.
"Best idea, ever," Lena said.
Five
Friday Night Fever
AFTER about ten minutes nine-one-one finally picked up. Ten minutes of redialing, over and over again. This city needed an overhaul of its emergency services.
"Nine One One, can I help you?" a woman's harried voice answered.
"Yeah, I have two infected women locked in their condo at The View Complex on Tchoupitoulas. We couldn't transport them, they were too far gone. It’s apartment two fifty-six, send an ambulance, two ambulances.”
"What symptoms were they showing, sir?"
"Their skin went gray, eyes bloodshot and then they fucking tried to eat me. We couldn't restrain one of them, she broke her leg in the attack though and can't walk. The other one I tied to a chair in the bedroom, but I don't know how long that will hold her. If you send the paramedics, let them know they'll be attacked when they go in there."
"You broke her leg, sir? And tied one of them up? Are they dangerous?"
"Yes! She was trying to attack me, both of them were. Well, the first one attacked her roommate, and then the roommate got up and attacked me. That's how I broke her leg," I said guiltily.
"And now you left them in the condo without supervision?" I could sense the judgment in her voice.
"It was either that or let them eat me. I chose to lock them in the condo. You'll need restraints and a stretcher to get them out of there. I mean it.”
"Our emergency personnel are backed up at the moment, is there any way you can get the women to the hospital?”
"No," I said emphatically. In their current state, I would end up hurting her a lot worse than a broken leg trying to wrestle her down the stairs and into a car.
"Okay, sir. What is your name for our records? We'll send an ambulance as soon as we can." I disconnected the line. They would probably have my phone number on record, this phone wasn’t a burner, but I didn't want to make it easy.
"They're coming for her," I said as I slipped my phone in my pocket. Lena was wringing her hands and Martinez was looking tense, Charles just looked out of it.
"That's a fucking infection? What that woman had was a viral infection?" Martinez shook his head.
"One of the reports I read said it was something like Mad Cow, the people infected go insane, I'm assuming that is what was going on with her. The virus drives them to attack so they can spread the infection," I added.
"Shit, you fucked her, right?" Martinez took a step back and I could have punched him in the face.
"I used a condom," I shrugged.
"Gross," Lena rolled her eyes.
"I think it's transmitted through a bite. The roommate had a wound on her back, and she attacked and bit the one on the floor. I saw on the news that the first sign of infection is a fever, then your skin goes gray," I added. "I guess if I get a fever, we'll know. Tie me up or something.”
"Through bite? I've never heard of anything like that before." Martinez pulled his phone out and started keying something in.
"Mad Cow is transmitted by eating infected feed or meat, but this is the opposite," I said. "You can get Hepatitis or things like Tetanus through a bite, though, so maybe this is some weird mutation of those diseases. If this is what is running rampant in New York and Miami, things must be really bad. Could you imagine a hospital full of people like those women?" The thought was horrifying. They wouldn't have enough restraints to hold that many people down and if they were all trying to attack their caregivers it would be chaos, they wouldn't be able to get to the patients to treat them. Paramedics would show up and be attacked and then infected with the virus, leading to even more infected and no first responders to help out.
Lena looked up from her phone and held it up for us to see. The headline read, ‘iKPV virus detected in L.A. and Las Vegas’. "I found this on some tiny news blog. They aren't posting about this on any of the major news outlets. CNN is reporting that it's under control. And nothing about it being found in New Orleans."
"It must be really bad then if there is a media blackout. I think we should probably go home, it might not be that safe to be out and about," Martinez said.
"I don't want to go back to my hotel room," Lena said, her eyes were huge.
"I have to get out of here," Charles whined, looking around, the panic still etched across his features. "I'm going to go home tonight. I can make it to Florida by morning. Come with me, Lena, Dad will be happy to see you."
"I can't do that, Charles. I want to stay around here, just in case. I just don't want to go back into the French Quarter." She shivered.
"I have a spare room for my sister, if you are insistent on staying in New Orleans," I said. "You're more than welcome to bunk there for the night. But, I think it might be a good idea for you to go home, or do you have family or close friends that you can visit? I don't know if New Orleans or L.A. are the safest places, a little vacation might be a good idea."
"You're right. Maybe visiting family might be a good idea. I do have family in Colorado and it’s been awhile since I've been home for a visit," she said and I could almost see the stress fade from her face. I hadn't realized how scared she was. Martinez and I were used to dealing with stressful situations. People trying to attack us was nothing new, but Lena and Charles were just civilians and they were pampered civilian at that. This was not normal for them.
"What are you going to do, Martinez?" I asked him.
"I'm going to the office. I think I'll bunk there and hook up with James in the morning. We might need to run triage."
"Smart, if this gets worse, I'll hook up with y'all there. I just want to get my family secured. Charles, did you drive here, can you give us a ride before you head out?"
He nodded and motioned to a car parked at the curb.
"I'm just a few blocks away, I'll hoof it, you guys be safe," Martinez said.
"Good luck, brother." I grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into a one-armed man hug. He turned, pulled Lena into a hug and whispered something in her ear that made her smile sadly, then he turned headed toward the office in a fast trot. After what I had experienced earlier, my breath hitched waiting for an infected person to jump out at him, or us as we stood on the street, exposed, but Martinez rounded the corner and faded out of sight without incident.
Charles had started the car and was hurriedly waving for us to get in. The whole night seemed like one crazy ba
d dream, but my gut was telling me this was only the beginning. And my gut was never wrong.
Six
Sweeter Than You Look
WHEN I got into the back seat of Charles's compact eco-friendly hybrid, I had to scoot down low in the seat so I could fit. These cars weren't friendly to anyone over six-feet tall. Especially in the backseat.
Charles fiddled with the radio and tuned in to a talk station, the announcer immediately started spouting off nonsense about the end of days and the coming apocalypse prophesied in the bible.
"Damn, that's the news station," he laughed, but it was a nervous laugh. He switched the channel again and we all quieted down as an official sounding announcer began to read off a bulletin.
"The City of New Orleans is business as usual, the mayor reports. Only a few cases of the iPKV virus have been reported and all of those are now quarantined at the medical complex, where our cities infectious disease unit is helping them to a speedy recovery. The mayor urges residents to avoid large public gatherings like fairs and festivals this weekend, but to not be afraid to go about your normal routine. All residents are urged to go to work and keep an eye out for anyone that looks infected, even though the chances are very low that this will happen."
"Well, we know that's bullshit," Lena laughed.
"It usually is," I said under my breath. I was quite aware of how the media, under the government's guidance, pushed false narratives to control the people.
We all fell into an uncomfortable silence as Charles drove us to my house. My home was located in Mid-City, a neighborhood of New Orleans located smack in the center, near the largest park in the area, called City Park. I directed Charles to pull up to the curb and he barely let us exit before he was pulling off and tearing down my street, without even a farewell to Lena.
"Ouch," she said in response to Charles's speedy exit.
"He's just scared," I reassured her and let her into my home.
I wasn't used to having anyone over to my house, except for my family members, so when Lena walked through the door I was immediately on the defensive. I had tried to make it as much of a home as I could for the times that Alicia stayed over, but I wasn't much of a decorator. There were pictures of my family on every available surface, along with images of me and my fellow Marines. Most of the pictures showed us in our battle dress, gripping big weapons in some toilet bowl of a country.
"I didn't really expect this," she said looking at the over-stuffed sofa and large dining table that took up the majority of the great room.
"What did you expect?"
"Pin-up posters and beer cans," she said and laughed.
"I'm not that shallow," I laughed with her.
"I think you want people to think you are." She smiled that dazzling smile again.
"Fancy yourself a shrink?" I said, my tone a little harsher than I expected.
"No, just making an observation," she yawned and I took that as my cue to get her settled.
"Alicia's room is right back here." I led her to the back of the house.
"This is nice," she remarked, taking in the deep red walls of the kitchen as we passed it.
"Thanks. My sister is probably about your size, so if you need some clothes, she won't mind. I think she has a few outfits here. She'll probably freak out when I tell her who stayed in her bed. She's a big fan of those movies you did with the guy that looks perpetually constipated."
"That could be a few of my movies," she laughed.
"I'm sorry, I'm not big into movies, I think it was based on a book or series or something, she was telling me about it, but I can't remember."
"Yeah, The Lost Times, those basically made me famous," she said and smiled. "How old is your sister?"
"She's about to turn fifteen. She wants me to have full custody of her, probably because I'm more laid back than my brother and his wife. She probably also thinks she would get away with more with me, than with Hank and Barbara, she's really been acting up this past year. But, I just can't, I'm out of the country too much, but when I'm here, I let her stay over."
"That's sweet of you," she said, looking around the room that I had painted in purple and teal stripes.
"She's been through a lot, it's the least I can do."
"Did you lose your parents?"
"Yeah, a few years ago, drunk driver."
"I'm sorry," she said and her face made that sad, pitying look that I was used to whenever I mentioned my parents’ death.
"Thank you." It was all you could really say.
"You really are sweeter than you look, Romeo." She placed her hand on my chest and reached up on her tip-toes...I thought at first she would kiss me and I was going through a million reaction scenarios to figure out what I would do in that split second. Should I kiss her back? Should I step back and give her my spiel about client relations...or should I just say fuck it, how many times do you get the chance to hook-up with a movie star? But, she didn't give me the opportunity, she didn't try to kiss me, or at least she didn't try to kiss me on the lips. She left a chaste kiss on my cheek and then she turned around.
"Night, Romeo," she murmured before the door gently shut.
Well, that solves that problem.
Seven
World Gone Mad
THERE was no way I was going to sleep. Not with everything that had happened tonight and the fact that I had a movie star sleeping in the bedroom down the hall.
No sleep for me.
I went to the front room and turned on the television and began scrolling through newscast after newscast. Lena was right, the national news channels were spinning stories of small outbreaks in only New York, Atlanta, and Miami. There was nothing about New Orleans and they were all saying that the infections were quarantined at the hospitals. It was contained and the patients were in recovery. Bullshit.
There was nothing on the national news about a Los Angeles, or Las Vegas outbreak. Nothing about crazy roommates in New Orleans that were trying to eat people. Nothing about the infection causing victims to attack anything that moved. They spun it like it was an unknown transmission and the infected were quietly riding out the virus in a hospital bed.
The local news was no better, just more of the same, just like that radio broadcast from earlier. They were reporting on a possible infection in the area, and that the emergency broadcasts went a bit overboard. The mayor was quoted as saying, "we just wanted to be cautious" and that there would be a press conference tomorrow morning. There was nothing to worry about. More bullshit.
Obviously, mainstream media wasn't going to cut it. I wasn't a tech guru like Flip, but I could make my way around a website. I started trolling the conservative, right-wing sites first. They were always happy to post a conspiracy theory and while I never agreed with their conclusion, their sources and facts usually had some truth to them, if you could wade through the crazy. I had a knack for spotting the truth.
There was nothing on the conservative blogs. Posts were dated from three days ago, which struck me as odd–and like Martinez had mentioned earlier, the big ones that had reputable names were giving up 503 errors, meaning their servers were down.
I got on Twitter and sought out a few of the hacktivists accounts that weren't any better than the right-wingers, as far as conclusions, and their sources were sometimes skewed...but they had good information on occasion. The major account hadn't tweeted in twenty-four hours. Something very wrong there. Their last tweet teased "infected footage" to come.
I started searching Twitter for "infected" and "virus" and that got much better results. A lot of the Twitter accounts looked brand new, all sporting the Twitter egg, usually untrustworthy, but if what I suspected was true–Twitter accounts were being shut down faster than they could be created, which was why the new “egg head” accounts.
The buzz topic, that all these accounts seemed to have in common, was a frightening and unbelievable theory. Each one seemed to be circling back to one word, one answer for the victim's behavior–zombie.
Most tweets were claiming it was the zombie apocalypse. Four hours ago I would have been scoffing and calling these people nut jobs. But now I wasn't so sure.
I clicked a few links and managed to get working sites. Reports from hospital officials flashed across my screen. No cure was posted over and over again. Reports that it was spreading faster than it could be contained and that the government was being overrun and couldn't handle the outbreak. This was in direct opposition to the more mainstream blogs that kept reiterating that the outbreak was under control and it was just a nasty bug that was going around.
I was leaning a lot more to the crazy zombie posts, because if a hospital just had five cases like the girls from tonight, it would be mass chaos. If those five cases bit just one of the emergency responders that would spawn five more and then those would attack more. It would be a pyramid effect of rapid infection. A nurse with just a tiny bite would go home and infect her family, those people would take down their neighbors...it was an endless cycle that had nasty consequences.
It was the SHTF scenario that me and my fellow Marines had always planned for. The worst possible scenario that we trained for, but never really expected to experience. Shit Hit The Fan, otherwise known as the breakdown of the chain of command, or when a disaster of epic proportions hits. A zombie apocalypse was definitely the shit hitting the fan.
I didn't want to overreact though. I could just be blowing it out of proportion in my head. The shit I witnessed today was all sorts of screwed...it was definitely throwing a black shroud on this whole situation for me. It had PTSD written all over it. It couldn't be as bad as what these posts were saying. If this was the case, we were doomed. I dug deeper, looking for footage, any kind of video of the infected, to see if Red Dress had been a typical case.
When I clicked on the videos I was met with black boxes and warnings that the videos were removed because of content issues. YouTube was pulling the footage. I finally found one that would play and it showed a patient in a hospital bed. The skin of the man was gray like Red Dress and her roommate. I focused on the eyes, red rimmed and the same vacant look. There was no one home. Blood seeped out from its mouth and ears and it thrashed at the bindings that held him. It was a horrible sight…and I grimaced as I watched it yank apart the weak bindings that held it to the bed and fall upon the nurse.
SHTF (NOLA Zombie Book 0) Page 4