Infestation
Chicago
By: Nathan A. Smith
Copyright © 2014 Nathan Smith
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1496019783
ISBN-10: 1496019784
Dedication
Dedicated to my dearest wife Vivian
Her continuing support and love
Has made everything possible
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination, or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Chapter 1 – Meanwhile in Chicago
Pg. 7
Chapter 2 – 1000 Miles
Pg. 22
Chapter 3 – Flashback
Pg. 54
Chapter 4 – Highway Robbery
Pg. 66
Chapter 5 – Separated
Pg. 86
Chapter 6 – Good Boy
Pg. 115
Chapter 7 – Street War
Pg. 129
Chapter 8 – In the Army Now
Pg. 146
Chapter 9 – Silent Night
Pg. 162
Chapter 10 – The Chicago Way
Pg. 180
Chapter 11 – Stadium Showdown
Pg. 192
Chapter 12 – Is it Goodbye
Pg. 209
Contents
Acknowledgments
I would like to acknowledge all of my family and give thanks to all of you for the never ending support. Special thanks to Amanda, for without her this book would never have been possible.
Chapter 1 – Meanwhile in Chicago
It was understandable that Samantha couldn’t relate to her daughter being teased for being ugly at school, and in turn, her daughter running home because of it. Sam was always the beautiful one, even in high school. Back then she had short blonde hair, wore the smallest clothing she could find and every curve of her body was an obsession for someone. She wasn’t considered a slut, and was anything but easy to ‘get’ for the boys but that never stopped the boys from trying to be around her near perfect body. Even now, at her work in Chicago Medical, her patients always commented on how beautiful she looked wearing the long white doctor coat she always had on. To Samantha, her daughter Sarah was always a beautiful little girl. She knew she wouldn’t be able to leave work, especially since it wasn’t an emergency, but she wished she could. She hoped her ex-husband would comfort Sarah somehow. He used to be made fun of a lot in high school for being considered “ugly” and Samantha knew he would be able to help. She stood at the reception desk fiddling with the phone cord as she waited for her ex-husband to pick up the phone. Ring after ring she waited, growing more impatient by the second. Around her, in the corridor, doctors and hospital personnel rushed by as the emergency room was bombarded with emergency after emergency.
“I am never going to be able to leave today,” Sam mumbled to herself, “Please answer the phone.” Her breathing became faster and faster as more people arrived at the hospital, which was already short staffed today. She hung up the phone and began to walk away frustrated when her good friend, Pauline greeted her from behind the reception desk.
“Hey Sam!” Pauline called out, cheerful as always, “No luck huh?” she was fully aware of the situation developing with Sam’s daughter. Sam smiled and with a slight shrug attempted to walk down the hospital corridor away from the emergency room. “Was it a full moon last night or something?” Pauline continued. Pauline was an older woman with long greyish hair and deep wrinkly skin. Her dark black skin, probably the darkest Sam had ever seen, accented the blue lab coat she wore. She always seemed to be wearing the same outfit and didn’t care what anyone thought about her. Sam had known her for nearly 10 years, but recently they hadn’t had time to ‘catch up’ because of work.
“What do you mean?” Sam said with a slight chuckle while reaching into her white coat and pulling out a pen.
“You know that guy they brought in last night? The … weird one” Pauline attempted to speak quietly and leaned closer toward Sam. Talking about patients was frowned upon, unless it was to help in their treatment. Sam walked up to the counter and leaned over some papers laying on it. She pretended to fill them out so nobody would interrupt their conversation.
“Homeless bite guy?” Sam replied quietly. “What about him?” A man had been brought in last night with a bite on his wrist and was screaming about a homeless man who had done it to him. He was suffering a massive fever and when he spoke, he made little sense about anything.
“Well it turns out he bashed that homeless guy’s head in after being bitten.” Pauline nodded while speaking as Sam shook her head in disbelief. “Cops are here wanting to talk to him right now, but can’t.”
Sam stopped pretending to write and looked at Pauline.
“Why not?” Sam asked, half expecting for this to be some farfetched story Pauline was making up again. Pauline did enjoy making up stories, and Sam somewhat enjoyed hearing them, especially if they had some mystery in them.
“He is unconscious, transferred to I.C.U. middle of the night.” Pauline answered turning to her computer and typing on a keyboard.
“Over a bite on the hand?” Sam asked with disbelief. “You sure it’s the same guy?” Pauline rolled her eyes at the question. She had been working at Chicago Medical for ten years, and was always sure about everything that happened with each patient. She had never had a single clerical error the whole time she was working. “Right … sorry.” Sam said quietly while placing the pen back in her pocket. “What does it say about him now?” she continued leaning in to see the computer monitor.
“Well …” Pauline said slowly before pausing. “Well, it looks like he is suffering some sort of infection from the bite. Also he is vomiting, has diarrhea and.”
“Alright well,” Sam interrupted Pauline attempting to stop the conversation. Being anxious about her daughter was getting to her. She didn’t have time to look into what was going on with the bitten man, or to stand around and chat anymore. “Have Doctor Winslow page me if anyone needs me. I have to run home for a bit O.K.?” she started to walk away but then stopped. “Real quickly, why would this have anything to do with a full moon?” Pauline stopped typing and looked around her. Then she stood up, leaned across the counter and replied.
“He is the fifth one brought in yesterday from being attacked by a homeless guy. Also he was the third to be sent to I.C.U over it.” Pauline continued typing once more, “That stuff just doesn’t happen.”
Sam looked out at the patients waiting in the emergency room, the room was filled. Sam thought it looked like something they would normally see in a war movie. Most of them were cut slightly or sweating and coughing. She couldn’t remember a time it had been so busy, or felt so creepy.
“Well if my ex Paul calls, tell him I am on my way home so I will deal with Sarah O.K?”
Pauline nodded in agreement as Sam walked away toward the emergency room. She knew these people needed serious help but her daughter had to come first. Normally she wouldn’t have chosen to leave when everything was so hectic, but this felt somehow different to her. Like there was nothing she could really do for most of them.
Suddenly the automatic doors leading into the emergency room slid open and a man carrying a young girl stumbled into the waiting room.
“I need help!” The man screamed. He was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt, but most of him was covered in blood. The little girl had
on shorts and a t-shirt. She was so covered in blood it was hard to tell what color her hair was. Sam could barely see the color in the clothing. Not that it mattered what color they were. “Please!” He screamed loudly.
“What happened?” Sam asked rushing up to him. “I’m a doctor, let me take a look.” Sam checked the little girls face to see if she was awake. Her eyes were closed but she was clearly breathing heavily. She then pointed to a nearby gurney. “Set her down here.” she commanded. Sam was always able to take charge of the situation. The man laid the little girl down on the gurney and stammered to speak while slowly backing away.
“I … I don’t …” Was all he could get out. Sam nudged him to the side as he wasn’t moving away quickly enough and placed her stethoscope on the girl’s chest while nurses rushed in to help her. The little girl suddenly stopped breathing! Sam felt a familiar sinking in her stomach and her hands slightly shook. With all the stress of her daughter and with how busy everything had been lately her nerves were on edge.
“I have no heartbeat!” Sam shouted. She let the stethoscope slip onto the floor beside the gurney and began to do chest compressions on the girl. The nurses attached a blood pressure monitor and other electronic devices to the girl very quickly. Then the girl coughed, showing she was trying to breathe. It was a relieving sound for Sam to hear and she gently rolled the little girl onto her side. The little girl didn’t open her eyes but resumed breathing heavily like she was earlier. Then Sam saw it. There was a gash going half way down her back and a smaller one on her shoulder. “What caused this?” Sam asked looking back at the man. He just stood there staring at his hands drenched in blood.
“Sir! I need to know what happened so I can help her!”
The man just stood there sobbing slightly. A male nurse placed his hand in front of the little girl’s mouth to feel for breathing.
“She stopped breathing again!” The male nurse shouted.
Within seconds, it was followed by a piercing scream which echoed in the emergency room. The little girl had suddenly lunged forward and sank her teeth into the male nurse’s palm. He struggled to pull away put couldn’t. The little girl lifted one hand up and wrapped it tightly around his wrist as blood poured out from his hand.
“It’s O.K.” Sam said leaning over the girl, “We aren’t hurting you.” She attempted to reassure the girl to calm her down and let the nurse go.
“Stop!” Sam began to command as the little girl ignored her. Sam smacked the little girl’s arms with her fist lightly. She didn’t want to injure the girl but she made sure it would hurt. The girl growled loudly causing Sam to hit her arm even harder, this time freeing the nurse’s wrist from her hand.
The girl twisted her head and tore a piece of flesh off the nurse’s hand before he finally fell backwards onto the ground.
The girl rolled off the gurney and grabbed ahold of Sam’s ankle. She held on with such an incredible strength Sam had never seen before. She couldn’t pull away; the terror inside washed over her. She didn’t know what exactly was happening.
The girl let go quickly as she was suddenly struck from the side. The man who had brought the girl in covered in blood had just kicked her in the head! Sam fell back landing on the floor hard, and watched in horror as the man relentlessly stomped on the little girls head over and over again. Nurses and Aides rushed toward him and tackled him to the ground but it was too late. The little girl’s head was caved in and her face was unrecognizable. Sam stood up horrified and walked to the man who was struggling with the nurses to be freed.
“We could have handled it Sir! Calm down!” Sam yelled.
People waiting in the emergency room cautiously muttered to each other as the man grunted and struggled to be free.
A cop suddenly emerged from outside. His face was badly cut, and his eyes were completely and unnaturally white.
“That’s him!” The man on the ground yelled. “Get away from him - you don’t understand!” The man sobbed as he tried to break free from the people holding him.
Sam walked toward the cop cautiously. “I need Haldol or Ativan out here NOW!” she yelled over her shoulder as she assessed the situation. Shortly after she yelled, one of the nurses ran into a supply room nearby and quickly came out with a needle.
“No!” The blood soaked man screamed as he tried to break away. The nurse bent down and took the safety cap off the syringe which would put the man to sleep once injected.
“Are you O.K. officer?” Sam said walking even closer to the cop. The cop lunged forward and bit down on her neck. Blood gushed out as she cried in pain. Everyone around her screamed and those able to run did. People fell over top of each other. Even the nurses started to panic. They let go of the man on the ground and as panic ensued and they all rushed off in different directions.
Sam grabbed the cop and pushed him away, barely freeing herself. She fell once again to the ground while the cop moaned and lunged for a patient with one leg in a cast. He was trying to hobble his way outside and was nearing the door. The cop pounced on him and began biting viciously. Sam watched as the cop flailed around beating and biting the patient wildly. Three more people entered the emergency room and began to attack people, one was completely naked and moved incredibly slow, the others moved faster than anything she had ever seen.
Sam’s only thought turned to her daughter and then to everyone around her. She suddenly worried about herself for the first time ever. Everything started to get dark as she began to pass out.
Chapter 2 – 1000 Miles
As the sun hung in the sky, David had a bad nagging feeling wash over him. The car was louder than before. David noticed it started almost thirty minutes after they had left Iowa City. He feared it might die at the worst time possible but it had gotten them this far. It sputtered occasionally and seemed to be having difficulty going faster than thirty miles per hour. Destiny sat in the passenger seat beside David, calmly leaning her head out of the window watching the long road in front of them. The road stretched on for as far as they could see. Trees lined each side of the road with small gaps in-between them, occasionally showing a farm or a field of some kind on the other side. Holiday was sprawled out on the back bucket seat sleeping, with his sheriff hat covering his face. Occasionally he would say something incoherent. David held the steering wheel of the 1977 Plymouth Volare Station Wagon very tightly. He had never learned how to drive, living in Lone Tree. He had never had the need for it.
“Destiny, How much farther until the gas station?” David asked staring at his fuel gauge before quickly returning his gaze to the road ahead. Destiny brought her head inside and opened the glove compartment. She pulled out a folded up old map which was badly wrinkled and worn.
“Ten minutes or so?” She replied unsure. “I think we are here.” She placed her finger on the map and paused for a moment. “Or maybe we are here?” She said sliding her finger on the map and sounding even more uncertain than before. “Yeah, definitely here.”
“I will pull over and check,” David said snappily. “Holiday!” he shouted in a failed attempt to wake him up. “Holiday!” He shouted louder causing Holiday to sit up quickly.
“What’s wrong?” Holiday said alarmed.
“Nothing,” Destiny said reassuringly, “We are pulling over for a minute so be on guard.” Holiday nodded in agreement while picking up his shotgun from the floor. David slowly pulled the car to the side of the road and shut it off. The quietness made him uneasy. Even while living in the country his entire life, it was never as quiet as it was now.
“Let me see the map,” David said while Destiny still searched the paper for any clues as to their whereabouts. “Please?” David said appeasingly.
Destiny handed him the map and crossed her arms reluctantly admitting defeat.
“Wow, this map sucks.” David said trying to cheer her up. “No wonder you couldn’t tell where we were.” He was just being nice; he instantly knew where they were once his eyes looked at the map. “About ten min
utes, seems right.” He said handing the map back to her.
“Two seconds,” Holiday said before jumping out of the car without his shotgun, “Gotta drain the mongoose!” He yelled and jogged into the nearby tree line.
“That’s real charming sheriff!” David yelled back.
In the bush Holiday grunted loudly as he unzipped his jeans. He mocked David’s words under his breath before tilting his head back, closing his eyes and finally relieving his bladder.
A loud snap in the trees forced his head forward and eyes to open widely. He stared around at the trees cautiously while shaking his privates quickly as if it would help him finish faster.
A zombie lunged out from a tree right beside him. Its arms swung past him as Holiday flew back with a loud scream barely seeing it disappear again behind the tree
David and Destiny rushed out of the car and were at Holiday’s side within seconds. Destiny had both her pistols in her hands, only one had any bullets left. David held the massive pistol given to him by Holiday back when everything started. He himself only had two bullets left.
Before leaving Iowa City, the private security of Trinity Corporation had taken almost all of their ammo and supplies. The group was lucky to be allowed to keep anything, especially their weapons.
“What is it?” David asked Holiday while looking around the trees. Holiday, covered in piss, stood up and zipped his fly up.
“Over there,” Holiday said quietly while pointing toward a nearby tree. “On the other side of that tree.” David and Destiny, with their guns raised, slowly approached the tree Holiday pointed to. The zombie again emerged from out behind the tree and swung wildly.
Infestation Chicago: A Zombie Survival Series (Volume 2) Page 1