E Virus: The Diary of a Modern Day Girl (Book 2): The Path of Destruction

by Ward, Jessica

  The Professor and George quickly found a table and settled down, the last few days had taken its toll on all of us, but they seemed to be feeling it the most.

  “I’m getting too old for all this malarkey” George sighed.

  “As they say, you’re as old as you feel” The Professor replied.

  “In that case, I’m way into triple figures” George chuckled.

  It was nice to see them getting on so well. George and the Professor tended to keep to themselves. I understood why. We were from a completely different generation to them although we all got along; we each had our own different outlook on life. They were both older and a lot more experienced than we were; they probably still saw us “young-uns” as George puts it, as kids.

  “Would anyone like a coffee?” Nick shouted over as he and Paul fiddled with the coffee machine.

  “Babe, I don’t think it will work.” I told him.

  He smiled at me and flicked on the switch. The machine sprang into life. We all looked up astounded.

  “We have electricity?” I asked, still shocked that all of a sudden we had access to such a luxury.

  “It would seem so” The Professor replied getting up off his chair. “I’ll take a black coffee” he shouted over to Nick.

  “George, mate, can I get you anything?” Paul asked.

  “Just a good old fashioned cup of tea would do me.” he said. “But I doubt that’s possible, the milk will be completely out of date by now.”

  Paul rifled through the boxes underneath the machine; he poked his head out and emptied a pile of small UHT milk pods onto the table.

  “Your wish is my command” he joked as he poured boiling water into a cup. “Do you take sugar?” he asked.

  George shook his head. “No thank you, just as it comes.”

  Leon and Ryan sat on another table; Paul came over to them, ready to take their order. He had even found a white apron, which he had already donned, and he was holding a small notepad.

  “And for you fine gentleman?” he asked them.

  Leon and Ryan laughed, they seemed to have perked up since the events at the base. “Nah mate. I’m good thanks” Leon answered as Ryan simply shook his head.

  “Is there any hot chocolate?” Lacey asked.

  “And marshmallows?” I added in.

  “I don’t know, not around here. Check the kitchen baby” Nick shouted over.

  Kitchen? Lacey and I looked at each other. We got up off our table and went to explore.

  We headed around the back of the counter and pushed open the metal door. It was much bigger than I expected. It was very clean, almost clinical. Stainless steel pans hung from the ceiling. A sparkling steel multi-ring burner complete with ovens sat against the wall. The work surfaces were spotless.

  Two steel heavy doors sat at each end of the room. We looked around opening the cupboards underneath the island placed in the centre of the room.

  We were rudely interrupted by a banging sound on one of the heavy duty steel doors at the end of the room.

  We both froze. We stood back up as our gaze met with the source of the sound.

  Peering at us from a small glass window, was what I can only presume was the chef. He had somehow locked himself in the refrigerated chamber once the infection took over. How he managed that, I have no idea.

  As Lacey and I came into view, he seemed to become more animated. The signs of infected were clear. His skin had begun decomposing and looked as if it was being eaten from the inside out.

  Gaps appeared in his cheeks, his teeth visible through the holes.

  No sound could be heard through the door; only the bangs as the door shuddered from the force of him launching himself at the door. Even then the bangs weren’t exactly deafening, it couldn’t be heard at all from outside the kitchen.

  Lacey and I backed up, keeping our gaze on the chef. As soon as we reached the door leading into the café I shouted for the others to come in.

  “Erm, guys… I think you need to see this” I told them opening the door.

  “What is it?” Nick asked.

  “Just come” I replied bluntly.

  “When we get a chance I will.” he whispered in my ear whilst grabbing my bum, clearly mistaking my tone.

  I rolled my eyes. We were way past the “wooing” stage now.

  Although I was now used to the sight of the infected, they were, after all becoming a regular occurrence in our everyday life, their appearance still gave me the chills. They weren’t exactly pleasant to look at; the sight of them still frightened me. It wasn’t just that though, we knew how much of a danger they were. You wouldn’t be thrilled to be sharing your swimming pool with a great white shark, nor would you like to be in the same cage as a lion or a bear. This was no different.

  The boys piled into the room as Lacey, and I pointed to the door. It didn’t take any of them long to figure out what we were so afraid of.

  Strangely enough, it was the Professor who was first to get a close up look of the infected, curiosity must have got the better of him.

  “This is very interesting,” he said to himself.

  “You and I have very different ideas on what interesting is Professor.” I told him.

  “Oh, don’t worry, we are perfectly safe. For one, these doors cannot open from the inside, and two, these doors are incredibly durable, there is no way our friend over here is going anywhere.” He replied.

  It put me at ease, at least for the time being. Leon and Ryan came back into the room holding chairs. They made their way past us and placed them against the door.

  “No harm in adding a few extra precautions.” Leon told us.

  “I think I’d like to study this chap, maybe learn a little more about his characteristics. If it’s ok with the rest of you?” The Professor asked.

  We all looked at each other. George was the first one to speak up.

  “I have no problem with that. On the understanding that this fellow does not leave the chamber, and the chairs stay up against the door” George told him firmly.

  We all agreed with George. We couldn’t risk him getting out. He was still a danger, plus, given the way he was looking at us, should he escape we would all be on the menu.

  “I wonder what’s behind door number 2.” Paul said changing the subject; he was trying to keep things a little more upbeat.

  He peered through the frosted glass.

  “I think that’s the freezer” I pointed out.

  Without warning, he opened the door. We all stood back waiting for another infected to jump out.

  “Paul, what the hell do you think you’re doing” Lacey scorned.

  “Relax, there’s no one here, I already checked.” he said, “chill babe, its fine” he added.

  Lacey still wasn’t convinced. She peered into the room. Paul quickly navigated past her and into the room. It was piled high with different meats, breads and even cakes.

  We immediately set to work unpacking the freezer and placing the foods on the counter behind us.

  I started assessing the different foods we now had access to. It was starting to look like, for the first time since the infection took over, we were going to have a proper meal.

  “Right then, who fancies a Full English?” I asked the rest of the group.

  “What? Really? You have to ask?” Ryan said smiling. I hadn’t seen him this happy since our time at the base; he had a nice smile. It was miles better than the brooding, end of the world look he had seemed to master. He was starting to become more himself.

  Lacey and I got to work. We had already found the pantry. We opened an industrial sized can of baked beans and piled a mountain of bacon onto a plate and threw it in the microwave on the defrost setting.

  We had everything you could possibly need for a decent fry up. We had bacon, sausages, black pudding, baked beans and even hash browns. The only downside was we didn’t have any eggs or butter. They would be rotting away with our chef friend in the fridge.

  I
t didn’t take long to have all the food prepared. Although to the boys it was hours. They were so impatient, constantly coming in and out the kitchen. All we heard was “Is it ready yet?”

  Lacey had snapped before I did.

  “Well, the more you ask us, the longer it’s going to take, carry on, and you can make it yourselves.” she said as she told them all off.

  Although Paul and Lacey never had children, I always thought she would make a great mum. She certainly had a good head on her shoulders; well she had to, to keep Paul in check.

  She had patience, but she knew where the line was, and if anyone crossed it they would know about it.

  Once the food was finally prepared and on the table we all tucked in. That day we felt like we ate like kings. We each had a plate so full; it would probably feed the 5,000.

  The Boys had put a huge teapot on each table, so we pretty much drank tea until it came out our noses.

  Once our plates were almost clear, and our stomachs ready to pop, we just sat there. We were comfortably full, and exhaustion was now starting to take over.

  Chapter 9 – Undead Peter

  “I'm sooo full.” Lacey moaned.

  “I know, me too. I’m sooo tired as well.” I replied.

  “That was the best fry up I’ve ever had.” Nick said. The others quickly agreed.

  “That was amazing, well worth the wait.” Paul joked.

  He was met with a disconcerting gaze by Lacey and Me.

  “Well in that case, you can do the washing up” Lacey fired back to him.

  Paul looked around the room, hoping for some support from his fellow comrades, he was met with silence.

  “But babe, I can’t move.” he complained.

  “No, that’s fine. When you’re ready you know where to go.” she replied smiling. She was always quick off the mark; she had won this one.

  Leon and Ryan were the first to get up. Ryan patted him on the back as they stood. “Thanks for doing the washing mate, really appreciate it.” Ryan grinned.

  We all followed suit.

  “Yeah, thanks Paul” we said as we quickly hurried out before he had a chance to rope any of us into helping out.

  We left Paul alone in the café.

  “Cheers for the support guys” he shouted as we left the room. A few seconds later we heard the clinking of cutlery as he cleared away the tables.

  We all headed into the observatory, the place Nick and I first gazed at the stars together.

  We switched on the lights as it illuminated the circular room. Cinema like chairs encased the room. We sat in the comfiest chairs we could find as Leon and Ryan attempted to work the projector.

  After a while, the Professor went over. Within minutes, he had the system up and running. We dimmed the lights as a calming male voice came on over the speaker system, and we gazed up at the stars.

  With the voice pointing out the stars in the solar system, in the dark room, exhaustion was starting to get the better of me. Within no time, I was asleep in Nick’s arms.

  I awoke a few hours later. The stars were still glowing above us, but the voice no longer guided us through the solar system.

  I looked around at the others. They were all fast asleep. Nick was even beginning to snore. He didn’t do it very often; we had been together long enough for me to know he only did it when he was extremely tired. They all looked so peaceful; Paul must have joined us part way through as him and Lacey were fast asleep, she was curled up in his arms the same way I was with Nick.

  I looked over to Ryan and Leon. They had both sprawled out on the chairs, and they too were fast asleep. Even George was snoring away.

  I sat up trying to find where the Professor was. He wasn’t in the room with us. I slowly pulled myself out of Nick’s arms, trying very carefully not to wake him.

  I sneaked back to the observatory entrance and snuck out, closing the door as quietly as I could behind me, so as not to wake the others.

  I made my way back into the café. The tables had already been cleared. There was still evidence of our last meal on the table. Paul hadn’t wiped the tables down. I made a mental note just so I could wind him up later. A few baked beans that hadn’t quite made it on the plates sat sad and alone, their next destination, the bin.

  I started to feel sorry for the baked beans. I felt bad they wouldn’t ever reach their full potential, and that their whole lives had been a waste. It reminded me of the Ribena advert, the one year’s ago with the cute little blackcurrants with faces, racing to the Ribena factory to fulfill their destiny.

  I knew then my emotions were starting to get the better of me. I was feeling genuinely sad; my eyes had even started to water slightly. All because of the baked beans left behind on the table.

  I quickly snapped myself out of it. I headed towards the kitchen. I had a feeling the Professor would be watching over our chef friend locked away in the freezer.

  “Professor, I thought you might be in here.” I said opening the door.

  I looked around the room. Wow, how long had I been asleep for? Papers covered the counters. What surprised me the most was that none of the pages were blank. He had already written down pages and pages of theories and findings. It would take me days to get through that much work. The room was already starting to look more like a lab than a kitchen.

  He was stood against the counter frantically scribbling down more information as he referred to other pages sprawled across the room.

  “Ah, hello my dear, I trust you had a pleasant sleep?” he asked, looking up from his notes.

  “Yes I did thank you.” I said, still taken aback from the amount of work he had done.

  It was now completely dark outside. I must have been asleep for a good few hours.

  “How long have you been in here?” I asked, trying to figure out what time it was.

  “Oh, a few hours dear. I found a stash of pens and paper in the discovery centre along with this” he said holding up his clipboard.

  “Great, what are your findings so far?” I asked.

  The Professor looked at me, he seemed genuinely excited. It was like I asked a child what they wanted for Christmas.

  “I’m glad you asked. Well, notice how our friend Peter over here reacts to your presence. He is certainly excitable, wouldn’t you say?”

  “Well yes, but, Professor... Peter?” I was already getting so confused, he named it?

  “Yes dear. Oh, don’t worry I haven’t gone mad. I found a few documents here in the kitchen relating to health and safety; it lists the head chef as a chap called Peter. I just assumed this was Peter” he said pointing to the undead chef.

  “Oh, ok. But Peter has always done that?” I questioned.

  “Ahhh, but that’s precisely it. He hasn’t; I have been with him for a few hours now. After an hour of being in his presence, he calmed down. It’s as if he knew he couldn’t get to me, and he became accustomed my being. He no longer felt the urge to attempt an escape.” He stated. “That is until he saw more fresh meat” he added looking straight at me.

  “Stay for a while, you’ll see for yourself. I’d put my money on him doing the same thing with you. Don’t worry your perfectly safe. Peter isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.” The Professor sat down staring intently at his new found friend.

  I really didn’t know where he was going with this. Also, it didn’t seem right referring to the undead by name. Whoever Peter was, what he did, what his interests were, it didn’t matter. This thing locked in the freezer definitely wasn’t him. It was just using his body. Peter was long gone.

  It all seemed a little strange. Undead Peter had me on edge. I felt very uneasy him being in such close quarters of him. There was still so much we had to learn about them, and I wasn’t any closer to understanding their behaviours or thoughts; that is if they even had any.

  Still, I stayed with the Professor. Curiosity was getting the better of me. I wanted to find out more about these things, don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t out of inte
rest. I needed to know how to protect myself and the others. After all, there is a saying, keep your friend's close and your enemies closer.

  Eventually, undead Peter did just as the Professor predicted. He calmed down. He was now stood by the glass, barely moving. He just stared at us. His eyes followed us as we moved around the room; he was keen to see what we were doing at all times. He was showing an emotion I had never seen of the infected before, curiosity.

  “Professor, what else do you know about those things?” I asked pointing over to undead Peter.

  “I know that as they get older, their intelligence seems to grow considerably. We cannot come up with any conclusive evidence until I have access to a lab, and some specimens to work with. But I can make an educated guess.”

  Well, an educated guess is better than nothing. He had been so secretive with his findings; he waited until we asked the questions before providing us with any sort of information.

  “Well, I couldn’t help but notice the behaviour. That’s what I am most worried about. Professor, I may sound silly. But I’ve seen all the films. I’ve watched the likes of Zombieland, 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead. I thought I knew what I was dealing with. I know they’re films, and not at all real. But I figured what was happening out there, was the same to a certain extent. But it’s not. Whatever they are, they aren’t your normal zombies. I don’t even know if it’s right to class them as zombies? Professor am I even making any sense?”

  I knew I was babbling; I had so many questions and more than anything I wanted answers. I knew the Professor wouldn’t have them all, but a few would be nice. At this point, none of us truly knew what we were up against.

  “Yes dear, please don’t fret. I understand your worries. We all have them. To answer your question, I am afraid I simply do not know. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand where you’re coming from, it’s just that I have never seen any of the films you mention, nor had I any intention of doing so before this chaotic mess began. I suppose you can call them what you like. The term zombie can mean a great many things.”