SHTF (NOLA Zombie Book 0)

by Zane, Gillian

  The infected and Alicia tumbled back, the woman now on top of my sister. Alicia tried to roll out from under the woman, but the infected woman held on tight. When the infected's teeth began to snap, trying to bite her, Alicia began to scream.

  "Tim! Tim!" she yelled my name. I couldn't get to her side quick enough, almost tripping over spilled blueberry muffins that must have gone down in the attack.

  I stood over Alicia and the infected woman and grabbed the woman by the back of the shirt. I yanked hard, pulling her from Alicia and causing both of them to slide across the floor. I yanked harder and managed to fling the woman off of Alicia and into a shelf full of sliced bread. The whole shelf came crashing to the ground, bread flying everywhere.

  Was I too late?

  Had she bitten Alicia?

  Alicia whimpered in pain and my whole insides clenched. She was bitten, she would turn. I couldn't deal with this.

  The infected woman got up fast and slammed into me from behind. I fell forward, twisting around to keep her face away from my skin. Alicia was still on her ass in the middle of the floor. Trying to avoid her and fight off this woman was becoming a little too much.

  "Get out of the way!" I screamed at Alicia who didn't get up, she just pushed back with her feet until she scooted across the floor and made contact with the pastry display.

  I didn't want to hurt the woman, but her attack was proving too much for me. I couldn't take her down without doing serious damage. I kept thinking of the woman from last night's leg and how she had walked on it, not caring about the pain, all she wanted to do was get to me.

  Someone pulled the woman off of me and I nodded gratefully to a man who had yanked her from me and thrown her across the aisle. We both turned as the woman got back up and this time went for the newcomer. He didn't do as good of a job protecting his skin and the moment she got him on the floor her teeth were snapping at him.

  "Watch out!" I cried, but I was too late.

  The woman bit down on the man's arm and he screamed in pain and fell back, the infected woman turning to straddle him as his back hit the floor. She went for his face. She bit into him, yanking and pulling like a carnivore devouring its prey. Pieces of his cheek ripped away and blood sprayed as I watched in horror.

  The man screamed as the woman moved down his body in a horrific parody of sex and went for his guts. He was still screaming as she ripped him apart, chewing into his stomach and pulling his intestines out to munch on.

  Other patrons were pressing closer to witness the bloodbath. Women held hands to their mouths as the horror played out. I watched as a man vomited, but still stared at the carnage in sick fascination. Everyone was frozen, enraptured by the scene.

  I pushed myself off the floor and my heart sped up as I noticed two other people, walking oddly from the back of the store. They were both dressed in the vests that declared them employees, but you could barely see the Costco logo because they were so completely covered in blood. One, a young female, who couldn't even be old enough to drink, was shuffling forward in an odd gait. Something was seriously wrong with her and it took me a moment to figure out what it was. Her intestines were dragging behind her, leaving a bloody trail in their wake. Every now and again they would snag on something and it would cause a hitch in her step. The man was a little cleaner, but there was an obvious bite wound on his arm.

  The two infected dropped to their knees when they got to the Good Samaritan and they too began to feast. They ate him alive as he screamed his final breaths and all I could do was stare.

  When the first person began to scream, a woman, clutching a child to her chest, the three infected looked up from their meal, their sightless eyes focused on the noise. They stood as one and began walking in the direction of the scream. They were in pursuit of their next meal.

  I looked back to the man that had saved me; he was a bloody mess of limbs and pieces, abandoned on the floor. When his leg twitched and he rolled toward me, his mouth chomping, and his arms reaching, I knew I had seen enough. The shit had hit the fan. I needed to get the fuck out of there. I yanked Alicia off the floor and began to run. It was time to face facts; it was the fucking end of the world.

  Fourteen

  Selfish Mother F*****

  COSTCO was officially a war zone. It was utter and complete chaos. Shoppers were screaming their heads off and running at a full sprint to the front of the store. The ones that hadn't witnessed the scene from the back didn't need an explanation to panic; they just took off for the exits.

  I watched as opportunists took advantage of the panic and threw things into their baskets that were definitely not provisions. They didn't care who they ran over as long as they got “theirs.”

  I saw two men push a woman out of the way as they made a dash with a sixty inch television. She fell to her knees and I reached down and pulled her up, handing her the purse she had been carrying.

  "You okay?" I asked.

  "Yeah, assholes," she muttered.

  "You need to get out of here, ma'am, there are infected in the back." Her eyes got huge and she nodded, went straight for the exit, pushing her basket in front of her with all her unpaid items.

  "Is that what that was?" Alicia asked. She was jogging alongside me stunned, in a state of shock.

  "Yes."

  "So, this infection really is a zombie virus? I thought it was just like a metaphor or something."

  "Seems it's rather literal." I shrugged as I pulled her out of the way of another group of looters. We ducked behind a display as a group of shoppers lost control of their baskets and they came barreling in our direction. When I peered out from behind the protective barrier, I realized the cause for their alarm. More infected were shuffling behind them.

  "Come on, this way."

  There was a side exit that I had just noticed. The inside of this store was a death trap. Between the shoppers gone mad and the infected, it would be almost impossible to get out of the front doors.

  "Where's Hank and Barbara?" Alicia asked.

  "Hopefully by the SUV." We passed through the home improvement section to get to the exit and I noticed a bin of multi-tool shovels. I grabbed two, handing one to Alicia by the hilt.

  "What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked.

  "Defense," I shot back and I saw her face go pale, but she gripped the tool with white knuckles.

  I didn't stop. I just slammed into the exit door, hoping that it would be unlocked. An emergency alarm sounded, but the door slammed open without an issue. The bright light of day had me blinking in rapid succession to acclimate my eyes to the change in light. I looked around and took stock in my surroundings. We were on the side of the building, but actually closer to where we had parked, near the interstate. I pushed the cart in front of me and reached back with a hand to keep Alicia behind me, staying close to the concrete wall in case we were spotted.

  "So are they sick, or are they dead like real zombies?" Alicia asked in a whisper.

  "I have no idea, Leesh, that guy had his guts ripped out. I don't know anyone that can live through that. That's not a living person with a virus."

  "And a bite? Is that what does it?" I turned to her and she was gripping her arm protectively, against her body.

  "Did that woman bite you?" I asked, stopping short, remembering her cry of pain. I held the shovel tightly against me, instinctively and her eyes got big and she shook her head rapidly.

  "No, she just sort of scratched me." She moved her hand to show a bright red scratch down her arm. “She had nasty long nails, will that turn me into a zombie?"

  "I don't think so, Alicia, you're fine." She nodded shakily and I turned back to face the parking lot. Scanning the lot I saw our SUV in the back and what looked to be Barbara and Hank loading supplies into it. "Fast, I need you to be fast, Alicia...let's run to the car and get out of here, okay?"

  "Okay," she said and we both sprinted across the parking lot, Alicia faster than me since I was forced to push the basket filled with food
.

  I only paused for a second when I noticed a group of people all converged in the center of the lot. I took in their demeanor and movements. They were infected. There were infected in the parking lot, I had to get us out of here.

  They were crowded around a body on the concrete, blood pooling around their knees as they feasted on the intestines of what used to be a living, breathing human. When we ran past them, their heads shot up and one got to its feet to follow us.

  "Go to the SUV, Alicia!" I pushed her forward and stopped in my tracks to face the infected. But again she froze in place and stared at them stupidly, obviously her fight or flight reactions were broken, she just froze.

  The infected man ambled toward me. It was obviously injured. There was a bite wound on its face, its cheek bloody and ripped open. It was a male, but small in stature and its clothing was so covered in so much blood that I couldn't tell its age. The skin had the tell-tale sign of the infection, that gray, deathly tone that looked like dead skin. Its eyes were the worst though, those vacant eyes focused on me and they didn't see me, they only saw food. When it realized I was viable prey its pace increased. It came for me, arms outstretched, reaching to take me down. Its mouth opened wide and those teeth began to clamp open and shut as if it could almost taste me.

  I stood my ground and held the shovel across my chest in an attack stance. This was a person, an infected, dangerous person that wanted to kill me and my family, but before it was bitten, it was just an innocent human being. It was no more aware of what it was doing than a rabid dog. But, it was him or me and I was a selfish motherfucker. When it got close enough for me to reach it, I took a swing. I aimed for the head and slammed it hard against the temple. It went down, but it got right back up. Arms again outstretched for me, feet shuffling forward in an ambling pace.

  I swung again, this time not with the flat of the shovel, but with the blade end. I aimed it for the temple and it went in with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed everywhere as the shovel decimated the person's head. I almost scalped it I swung so hard and this time it went down hard. I didn't stick around to see if it would get up again. I ran for the SUV, pulling Alicia behind me.

  Barbara and Hank had already loaded up their provisions and Hank was behind the wheel looking nervous. He had the vehicle idling, waiting for me and Alicia. I just picked up the boxes of food and threw them into the back of SUV quickly, then I slid into the back with Alicia and shouted, "Get out of here now!" before the door was even shut.

  Hank was so desperate to leave the parking lot, now full of screaming people, that he spun the tires and nearly crashed us into another fleeing vehicle. He had to put it in reverse and back-up to get around the obstacle. I turned around in the seat to look back at the shopping center. People were running from the building and I cringed as I saw other limping figures jump on them and bring them down. The amount of infected must have increased significantly in the last ten minutes, they were everywhere. It had only taken a few minutes for the man in the baked good section to get up and start to attack. At this rate, the infection could spread across the city in just a few days. I didn't like these implications. It looked like the worst case scenario was in full effect.

  Fifteen

  Fubar

  I held on for dear life as Hank showed off his extreme driving skills. They were shit and I restrained myself from back-seat driving him into more stress. I loved my brother, but he needed to be taught some serious life skills.

  My phone started ringing as we barreled down Carrolton Avenue and tried to merge into the ever thickening traffic. Looks like everyone had the same idea as we did. In just a few blocks, the traffic had us puttering to a crawl and I craned my neck back and forth scanning the area. Anyone who was walking along the street, out on their porch, or in the cars around us could be infected and a possible threat.

  I accepted the call and brought it to my ear.

  "Romeo," Zach said gruffly when I answered.

  "James," I replied.

  "I just watched a man eat a fucking old lady. He sat there and chomped on her in the middle of the street." Zach's voice didn't convey the stress that his words were hinting at, but I knew it was there.

  "You should see Costco, it's like an all you can eat buffet." I regretted my words when Alicia started to sniffle next to me. I patted her knee awkwardly. I was never very good with the "children present" restraint.

  "I'm official freaked the fuck out. I'm assuming since you've been at Costco you didn't go straight to the compound. What's your ETA?"

  "One hour, if everything goes as planned."

  "Good. I'm rounding up a few stragglers. I have Kirk, Tillman, and Martinez with me. We're at the uptown office. Have you spoken to Miller? Do you know where the fuck he is? Looks like he was here, but left, I can't believe he would leave, he knows protocol for FUBAR situations." Blake Miller, the M in MJ Security and notorious loose cannon. He was the instinct and Zach was the logic. Zach always said if we were playing poker, Miller was playing blackjack. But there was no denying that Blake Miller always led you right and had your well-being in mind. I would follow him to the ends of the Earth. He had saved my ass too many times to count. I just wouldn't want to be his partner, or the guy that wanted him to play by the rules.

  "Haven't seen him since I left the office Friday morning," I said honestly.

  "Dammit, I want to head to the compound, but I'm not going until I get a lock on Miller. I can't find Ito either, and Graff's team is still in Mexico, I don't even know what to do with that. If this infection reaches critical mass they'll close the borders. Baby checked in this morning, she's heading in too, so that's one less grunt to worry about," he sighed and I heard the voices of the other men in the background.

  "It'll be fine, James, just head to the compound when you're ready. I'll meet you there. We have a better communication system there anyway. Grab Miller, I'm sure he's at his house. He's probably fighting with his wife on what to pack. Bet you the bitch has him all strung out."

  "You're right. Fuck, I don't want to be holed up with Clara for God knows how long." I laughed at his honesty, none of us liked Blake's wife. Well, maybe Martinez, but he liked everyone. "Look, I've noticed cell phones are starting to get spotty, check in when you get to the compound. I'll be on channel three if you can't get a signal."

  "Will do," I said.

  "And Romeo," he said, worry in his voice, "Be safe. We've been through some shit together, hell, I thought I'd seen it all. But this is a new level of FUBAR."

  "Oohrah, James. You too." I hung up the phone and looked over at my sister who was clutching her scratched arm. James was right. We had seen some shit during our time in the Marines, some really screwed up shit, but seeing a man get his intestines chomped on by a shopper at Costco was fucked up beyond all recognition.

  Sixteen

  The Enemy

  "WE'RE sitting ducks here," Hank said nervously, peering out the window at all the traffic. We were at a standstill. "I was going to take it through City Park, but Carrolton is all backed up. I'm going to get on the interstate," Hank said making a hard right and cutting off the car next to him to pull onto the ramp that read ‘To Slidell’.

  Interstates weren't always the best place to be in a time of crisis. I didn't know if this was a good idea. I had an intrinsic fear of being locked down on an exit ramp, nowhere to go but over.

  "It might be worse," I warned, but it was too late. He was committed. He got onto the Slidell onramp and executed a very aggressive merge to get us heading east. The interstate widened and traffic began to flow above a crawl as the interstate morphed into a four-lane highway. When we passed downtown New Orleans and all the exit ramps that led west, traffic was flowing at a good clip. Not many people were going east, this was always the case. For some reason, people's natural inclination was to go west toward Texas.

  Barbara, sitting in the passenger seat, played with the radio until she found an emergency broadcast. She turned up the volume and a man's v
oice announced calmly:

  "Governor Juneux has declared a state of emergency for the State of Louisiana and is sending New Orleans’ Mayor, Falcon Mitchum the national guard he requested. The Mayor has instituted a mandatory curfew for the city of New Orleans and similar curfews have been enacted for the outlying parishes, including Jefferson Parish, Saint Charles and Saint Tammany parishes. Citizens are urged to shelter in place. Please stay in your homes and only travel if it is an emergency. Vehicles and pedestrians seen out after curfew will be arrested and brought to a holding facility. It is not recommended that you travel outside of the city. If infection is suspected, you will be remanded to an emergency medical facility."

  "They've instituted a quarantine. I wonder if it's just Orleans parish, or if they have it set up outside of Jefferson," I said.

  "How do you know that?" Barbara asked.

  "The part about 'It is not recommended that you travel outside of the city.' Recommendations aren't used during martial law. If you try to leave the city, you'll be turned around. They'll have the Guard watching exit points from the city. I'm guessing they'll set up on the Twin Span, the Causeway, most likely they'll have something set up on the spillway–unless Jefferson Parish is still clean. Then they'll just put checkpoints at the 17th Street canal, Airline Highway, Jefferson and River Road and Crescent City Connection. They're probably trying to contain infection at this point. This doesn't bode well for New Orleans."

  "I think you're just being paranoid again," Hank said, glancing back at Alicia with a worried look. The teen hadn't said anything since Costco.

  "I'm tired of you two throwing around that word. When your asses are safe, without infection, you'll be thanking me. It's my job to be paranoid. Paranoia saves lives. Shut up and deal with it. If they do have a quarantine up, it won't affect us. We're not leaving the city. And the curfew will keep people off the streets."