She shook her head as she was having a hard time wrapping her head around this. “You mean you saw a real-life eater, and it almost killed Barry?”
Andrew nodded his head and slurped up more soup. He carried on, "Wait there's more — As we were about to get ourselves out of there, and a horde of eaters came barreling down on us…”
“How, many, were, there,” Jupiter asked.
“Ten, maybe twelve. They were coming from rooftops, behind buildings, and what seemed to be the ground.”
“What, did, you, guys, do?”
“We started blasting; we wasted them all. These eaters were different than in the past. We’ve been seeing them occasionally, but they’re usually alone, or maybe with one other eater. This, this horde wasn’t anything we hadn’t seen since the first wave came, before the air-raids. Of course, we were all too young to remember that."
“I remember,” she said.
God Created Man, Man Created Zombies
The day had come that Jessica had been waiting for… her thirteenth birthday. She sat in her overcrowded classroom, waiting for the bell to ring, as her teacher, Ms. Jennings, was finishing up her science lesson on plant cells. It wasn't easy to concentrate on the lesson at hand because she knew she was going out for a birthday dinner when her father got home from work. She thought of her presents and hoped that her parent's listened to her when she hinted at the fact she wanted a new cellphone.
Before she knew it, time got away from her, and the bell rang. She looked down at her notebook and realized she hadn't taken any notes, as she was daydreaming most of the period. She looked up at the whiteboard and scurried to copy down what was on it that Ms. Jennings had scribed. Her efforts were for naught when Ms. Jennings sprayed the cleaning solution on the board. Jessica watched as the words slowly dripped, and slid down the white glossy backdrop. Then the final kill came when her teacher wiped away the notes forever.
Jessica knew it was hopeless, and she couldn't go up to her teacher, and tell her she didn't get the notes because she wasn't paying attention. She did remember that her friend Stacie, took really good notes, and maybe she could copy them if she asked really nice. No longer interested in her attempt to copy the smeared notes, she packed up her things and headed out of the classroom.
Outside was another beautiful afternoon in May, with the sun shining, the temperature was not too warm, and a slight breeze that refreshed, sung through the air. Jessica headed home, deciding to skip the bus ride, and walk instead. Her house wasn't too far from school anyhow, and for sure it was in walking distance on days such as this. She walked, and again thought about all the fun she was going to have later on that night with her little sister Lilly, and her parents.
Jessica arrived home to her mother folding laundry on the couch in the living. This was a chore that both she and her mother hated doing. Jess tossed her school bag to the floor, kicked off her shoes, and headed over to help her mother. "Hey mom," she said gleefully.
Her mother looked up for a moment from folding to smile, and replied, “Happy birthday baby. How was school?”
“It was good.”
“What did you do?”
“The usual. Is daddy coming home early tonight?”
"Why does someone have a big night planned for herself," she jokingly asked, as she folded a blue towel.
Jessica at this point was already folding a towel, and replied, “Maybe... so is he?”
“Maybe.”
Just then, Jessica heard her father's car pulling into the driveway. "He's here," she said, and then tossed the towel to the side, and briskly walked to greet her father at the main entrance, as he came in. SLAM went his car door as he closed it. She knew he was close because she could see him through the window.
He made his way to the front door, and before he could get his keys out, the door flung open. Jessica was standing there smiling, and with arms wide open. She took two steps and landed in his embrace. "Whoa, easy there," he said, as he almost tumbled over. Jessica squeezed, for just a moment, and then released her grasp, and stepped backward.
“Did you have a good day,” she asked.
“Yes, very good. How about you?”
“Eh, it was okay,” she said, as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Would a present make you happier,” asked.
“Ah huh.”
Her father raised his briefcase and leveled it off using both hands. He unlatched the clasps with a CLICK, and then he opened it. Jessica couldn’t wait to see what her father had gotten her. He removed from his case a small gift, wrapped in satiny red paper, and a small white bow that was tied to it. He placed the gift down in her outstretched hands, pulled it to her chest, and clutched it.
“Can I open it now dad?”
“It is your birthday,” he answered.
Jessica closed her eyes, as her fingers first unwrapped the white bow. Once it was off, she lifted the top off of the present unveiling bright white orbs strung together. A smile donned her face, as she realized it was a real pearl necklace, just like her mother wore.
“Do you like it,” her father asked.
"Oh dad, it's perfect," she replied and hugged him.
Later on, that evening they went out to dinner and had a nice time. They ate cake, opened gifts, and watched a movie in their living room. During the movie, her father's phone rang. He looked at the caller I.D. and noticed it was a number from work. He excused himself from the viewing and headed into his office. Now that he was alone, he could answer his phone.
While talking to the person on the other end, he began to shuffle the papers on his desk. His expression seemed to be growing that of concern. Just a couple of minutes passed before the conversation ended. He put his phone away in his pocket, composed himself, and headed to the living room. Once he walked in, Jessica could see his tension through his body language. She sat up in the chair and looked into her father's eyes. Jessica knew something was wrong.
“I have to go to work, there’s an emergency that I need to attend to.”
“Dad, do you have to go… tonight, really?”
He walked over to her, as Lilly climbed up on her lap. He then knelt down beside the chair that she was sitting in and gently cupped Jessica's hand. "Listen, darling, I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
“But dad, it’s my birthday.”
“I know Jess, but I wouldn’t leave if it wasn’t this important.”
She hugged him. He kissed both Lilly and her on the tops of their heads. He kissed his wife on the lips and grabbed his coat from the coatrack. After putting it on, he looked his family over, waived goodbye, and left. The door closed behind him, as he made his way to the driveway. Jessica watched out the window, as he backed out of his spot. Both she and Lilly waived to him through the closed window, as he sped away down the street into the night.
His drive only lasted ten minutes, but the entire way, he looked over files on his smartphone. While trying to get a file pulled up, he fumbled his phone, as it fell to the floor, and bounced around. His car swerved, and his tires squealed when he leaned over to try to pick it up. Headlights from the oncoming traffic shined brightly into the cabin of his car, as their horns blared. It was good the lights were bright, and the horns loud, because it caused him to jolt upright, and he noticed that he was veering off into oncoming traffic.
He gripped his steering wheel tightly with white knuckles and yanked it with great force back to his right. The vehicle responded swiftly, as it corrected his projected path into traffic. His heart raced, but he settled down, now that he was back in his correct lane. He abandoned the phone on the floor, adjusted his rearview mirror, and continued on his path.
His headlights shined on a green sign that read, Sigfred Base: 5 Miles. He knew he was close, so he tromped on the accelerator, and sped off in the direction of the base. Five miles went by rather quickly, he arrived at the front gate of the base in record time. Once he was close enough to see the fences, and entrance gate, he slowe
d his car down to a rolling stop, where a large metal bar that was outstretched across the entrance lane, just nearly kissed the grill of his vehicle.
A guard dressed in army fatigues came out of his outpost holding a flashlight, and a clipboard. A handgun was holstered to his right hip. Jessica's father rolled down his window and held up an I.D. badge. The soldier looked it over, wrote on the paper on his clipboard, and pressed a button causing the metal arm to lift up.
Her father drove his vehicle into the facility. Military vehicles were parked all about the grounds. A large building set up ahead of him had many lights on. He pulled into a parking spot, opened his door, and got out, leaving his phone behind. While he walked to the front doors of the building, he clipped his badge onto his shirt, which allowed him to walk right past the security at the front desk.
He stood at the elevators and furiously kept pushing the down button. He knew that this wouldn't make the elevator come faster, but it was helping to keep his wits about him. Finally, the elevator did come, and it came with a friendly DING. The doors opened, he got into the elevator, which was empty, and selected the button for the lower level. Then the doors closed, and he descended downward.
When the elevator slowed to a halt, the doors opened, and he finally got out. Just down the hallway, was his work area. He hustled as to make up lost time for the long drive. A taller older man with white hair dressed in a shirt and tie stepped out from an office and called out to him.
“Jim,” the man said.
He stopped, and turned around. He was pleased to see it was his assistant Gordy. Jim jogged over to him, and asked, "What happened?" Gordy brushed his fingers through his hair and shook his head back, and forth ever so slowly.
“I’m sorry Jim.”
“Gordy, you have to tell me, what happened?”
“It was the virus from the weapons division.”
“What about,” Jim coached.
“Terrorist hit the containers that held the stockpile over near the docks.”
“What did they get Gordy?”
“They got it all.”
“I thought those containers were securely locked, and heavily guarded.”
“They are… were.”
“When you called, you mentioned something about our serum. What about it Gordy?”
“The terrorist organization hacked into our systems, and cleaned out all our files.”
“What about samples that we were working on in the lab?”
“I don’t know Jim, I suddenly don’t have the clearance to get in there.”
Jim turned and began to run towards the doors for the laboratory that he worked in. Once at the doors, he swiped his badge, entered his password into the keypad, and the doors parted as they slid open. Jim hurried his way in, and the lights automatically came on, as they were motion sensitive, and followed his movement.
He looked to where the samples should've been while the dull hum of the florescent lighting filled the air. There they were, just two vials of yellow liquid, sitting neatly in their stands, along with a small injection gun, and some empty cartridges. Jim immediately hurried over to them, and carefully opened the glass container that they were encased in.
Jim looked around and found a black nylon bag on one of the desks. He picked it up, opened, and turned his attention back to the serums. With a guided hand, he slowly, and carefully removed each vial, and placed them into the bag. Then he picked up the injection gun, and the empty cartridges, and placed them too into the bag.
Before he could zipper the bag, a knocking at the doors behind him distracted him. Startled though just a bit, he turned around, and as he did that, one of the vials of yellow serum fell out of the bag, and onto the floor. The delicate glass container shattered easily under the force of the impact. Jim looked down to see the serum in a pool on the floor, now he knew he had only one left, the only container left in the world.
There was the knocking at the doors again that had caused him to lose a vial. He focused his attention to the doors. It was Gordy, and he looked anxious. Jim could see that he was yelling something but it was too faint to make out, so he got up from his chair and made his way closer to the doors. As he approached, he could begin to hear what it was that Gordy was shouting.
“We have to get out of here now,” Gordy hollered.
Jim stopped for a moment and zipped up the bag to secure the last of the serum. Then he slid his badge through the slot of the lock, pressed his password into the keypad, and the doors opened. Once they were released, Jim questioned Gordy, "What? Why?"
“The base is under attack.”
That’s when the lights went to back up generated ones, and flashing red lights began to strobe. As the red lighting bounced off the walls, Jim placed the bag’s strap over his shoulder. “Gordy, what’s the fastest way out of here with no elevators?”
Gordy pointed to the gray door at the end of the corridor.
"Thanks, Gordy. You coming?"
“No, I feel safer down here in the basement.”
Jim said his goodbyes to Gordy and made his way through the gray door. Behind the door was a set of steel stairs. Quickly he ascended them towards the door that led outside at the top of the staircase. With each step, the clunking of his shoes echoed throughout the cement stairwell. Finally, he reached the top and was standing in front of the door. He didn't know what was behind it, but he had no choice but to open it.
His hand gripped the metal handle, and he slowly pulled down on it, until he heard it CLICK. He only opened it about a quarter of the way and peered out of it to assess the situation. On the other side of the door, outside, it was now raining. To him, things looked normal, nothing out of the ordinary that he could blatantly see.
With his right shoulder, he pushed the door open, and then he snaked his body out of the doorway. The door shut with a SLAM, as it closed securely behind him, but with the heavy rain going on around him, the SLAM was muffled to a quiet POP. There were no immediate threats that he could see. Besides, he knew his car was only just around the building. He knew he could make it there with ease, but he still had the serum that he couldn't be spotted with, so he had to make sure that it was tucked away.
He used the rain, and the dark of night as cover, as he made his way to the front of the building. He hugged the wall of the complex, crouched over, as he shuffled along the side. He was now soaking wet, but the serum and bag were safe. Jim had just one more wall to clear, before he reached the parking lot, and his vehicle.
Before he made his final dash to his car, multiple gunshots RANG out in the night’s sky. Jim retreated a bit down the side of the wall, using it as cover. Then he took a deep breath, got up enough courage, and made a run for his car. Once in the open parking lot, he saw that there were terrorists engaging with the soldiers at the base.
He shielded his head with the black bag, and stayed low, as not to be a sitting duck for the shooters, whether it was by friendly fire or not, he didn't want to get hit. Jim reached his car, pulled out his keys from his pocket, put the key in the door lock, and turned it. The doors unlocked, and Jim opened the door. He slid into the seat and placed the black bag down on the seat next to him.
He started the engine with a ROAR and then put the car in reverse. The vehicle backed up swiftly, and then it pulled away. The bar was down for the exit way, but that didn't stop him. Jim floored the accelerator, and plowed right through the steel bar, causing it to almost fully shatter his glass windshield.
The shattered windshield and the pouring rain made it hard for him to see, but he knew he had to get the serum to a safer location. If the virus was already loose, then it was only a matter of time before the extremists would want the serum. It would be worth a pretty penny to those who would want to control the entire world's fate.
The drive home was a long one, but he rests assured that the serum was safely placed in the seat next to him. Jim's car pulled into the driveway of his home, and at this point, it was too late in the evening for
anyone to be awake. He quickly got out of the car and took the black bag with him. He quietly shut the driver side door, being careful not to wake anyone inside the house, who were already asleep.
He then made his way to his front door, unlocked it, and headed inside. Once inside, he closed the door softly, locked it, and headed for his office. There he placed the bag down on his desk and started to remove the contents one-by-one, each with the greatest care. He took inventory of the items that were on the desk. He counted three empty injection cartridges, one eight-ounce vial of yellow serum, and one silver injection gun.
He sat down in his chair, rolled it closer to the desk, and began to work. Jim picked up the vial and an empty glass cartridge. He uncapped both the serum and the cartridge ever so carefully. With precision, he began to pour an even amount into each of the three cartridges. Once he was satisfied with the levels, he re-capped them and rested them on the desktop. Jim tossed the empty vial that had held the serum in the trash. He took the white trash bag out of the small wastebasket and placed it on the floor. With a single motion, he lowered his foot onto the bag, and moved it back and forth, crushing the glass vial to unrecognizable pieces. He had destroyed the vial, just incase someone came looking for it. There was nothing to do now, but to wait and see what transpires from here.
Months later, and no one had come looking for the untested serum that Jim had been hiding away all this time. During this time, things had changed drastically. The extremist, who had stolen the virus, unleashed it unto the world. No one could have imagined it would have had such a huge impact like it did, in such a short time.
Zombie like creatures inhabited the earth, and soon they outnumbered the uninfected population. Devastation ripped through the lands, from one continent to another, every nation was effected by the outbreak. Now that there was no need for schooling, nor was it safe to go outside, for the most part, Jessica and her family stayed in their home, trying to ride this epidemic out.
Things in their neighborhood were getting to be too unsafe, so they were busy inside packing up what they could. It was only the necessities, that meant furniture stayed, and so did things they could live without, like family pictures, appliances, and dishware. Jess was upstairs with Lilly gathering up their belongings. They were allowed to take with them one toy each. She grabbed her American Girl Doll that her mother had given when she was younger; Cyndi was her name. Then, there was little Lilly who took with her some colored blocks in a clear plastic container. Those blocks reminded Jess of the top glass globe of a gumball machine.
A Regressive World: Book One Page 3