Outbreak

by Paul Carberry

  “Of course, change the subject.” The car picked up speed as Sean pulled out of the parking lot. “Apparently we have to quarantine the hospital. Have you been watching the news?”

  Drew shook his head. “No, I’ve been preoccupied.” He had spent most of the day asleep before heading into work, then he met Terra while getting a coffee.

  “Fucking preoccupied!” Sean turned up the radio letting Drew hear about what was happening. At first Drew thought what he was listening to was some new format the radio was trying out. It seemed more like a description of some new book or movie, but after a few moments he realized what he was hearing was really happening.

  “Did you say we have to quarantine the hospital?”

  “Yes, we are all heading that way now. We will probably be late.”

  They drove down Riverside Drive without saying another word to each other. The car radio suddenly started to go off. At first it seemed like all of the officers were battling for control over the frequency, but Drew quickly realized they were all calling for help.

  ***

  “What the hell is going on in this city tonight? Did we not get invited to the party?” Officer Ryan Penny looked out the passenger window to the side of the road. He watched as two drunks stumbled out of an alley next to the local pizza joint. Not too far ahead of them in the park there were three more people stumbling around the field.

  “No idea?” Officer Ash was puzzled. She had not heard about any big community event, but downtown was filled with the drunk and disorderly.

  As the car rumbled down West Street, Officer Ash had to keep an eye on the sidewalks, the drunkards seemed to be headed into the middle of the street.

  “Look out Sally!”

  A drunk man in black t-shirt stumbled out into the road, Sally managed to swerve out of the way, narrowly avoiding striking the man. She looked into the rear view mirror and saw the man staggering towards the car, she slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a halt.

  “Sally, forget about it. We need to get to the hospital.”

  “Forget about it! He’s going to get himself killed!”

  The intoxicated man continued to stagger towards the car, his arms outstretched as if he was trying to grab a hold of them. The man’s shirt seemed soaking wet, Sally pictured the man spilling his drink all over himself, too drunk to lift the glass up to his lips.

  “Ryan, we should take him in. Let him sleep it off in the drunk tank!”

  “We don’t have time for that, don’t you hear the radio?”

  Sally had not been paying attention to the radio. She had been concentrating on the sidewalk, trying to avoid hitting anybody. She listened as cries for help came in over the radio. Officers begging for help, chaos pouring out of the speakers.

  “What the hell is going on?” Sally slammed her foot on the pedal, smoke coming up from the tires as the spun out on the pavement. The back end of the squad car swung to the right before straightening out and tearing down West Street. Sally looked in the rear view mirror one last time to see four more drunks staggering towards the vehicle as she sped away. If she did not know any better, she could have sworn they were trying to follow her.

  ***

  Officer Brake turned the car onto Main Street and was greeted by the red flashing lights of a fire truck. Smoke was billowing out of an open window of a second floor apartment. The old yellow clap board on the building seemed out of date, even for this part of town.

  “Slow down, maybe we should see if they need help?” Officer Pike sat up in his seat.

  Sean eased off the gas and let the squad car pull up behind the fire truck. The radio continued to go off constantly, officers requesting back up.

  “Make it quick!”

  Drew jumped out of the car and ran towards the entrance to the apartment. Drew remained in the car, listening to the commotion on the CB radio.

  “This is Officer Brake, is anyone at the hospital!?”

  Everyone ignored his inquiry. They all seemed to be in dire trouble at various spots around town. Sean had no idea what to do. Should he try and help them, or head to the hospital as ordered?

  A yellow streak caught his eye as it fell from the second story window. Sean looked over and was shocked to see a yellow lump on the pavement in front of the building.

  Sean jumped out of the car and started to run towards the lump on the ground. Sean was sure that the lump belonged to a fire fighter, the yellow jacket a dead giveaway.

  “You okay!?”

  No response. The poor bastard didn’t move, a puddle of blood forming underneath him on the pavement. Sean called for an ambulance.

  Suddenly the door burst open and Officer Pike stumbled out. He slammed it closed behind him and threw his weight into the door. Suddenly there was a loud thud as something behind Drew banged on the old metal door.

  “Drew?”

  “Get back in the fucking car!” Drew let out a terrified scream. The door jolted again, nearly knocking Drew face first into the pavement.

  “We need to get out of here!” Drew desperately tried to hold the door closed. “These people are fucking nuts!”

  “Drew?”

  Officer Brake stumbled backwards as the door wrenched open, a bloodied arm stuck out of the crack. Suddenly all of those panicked voices on the radio made sense. Everything he had seen in the news was true, and it was happening here in Corner Brook. Sean jumped back into the squad car and slammed the car into reverse. The car shuddered as the right tire crashed into the curb and Sean nearly bumped his head off the roof as the car bounced over the curb.

  “Sean!!!!” Officer Pike jumped out of the way just in time as the car crashed into the door, slamming it shut. Sean looked in the side view mirror at the severed arm as it sat in front of the door, blood smeared all over the white metal door.

  “Get in!”

  ***

  An empty squad car blocked the entrance to the hospital. The lights had been left on, the siren still blaring as Sally positioned her car next to the abandoned vehicle.

  “Where do you think they are?” Ryan asked.

  “I don’t know?” Sally turned her car off. “Look, the window is broken!” Shattered glass was scattered on the pavement next to the car.

  Ryan’s jaw dropped. “Look!” He pointed his finger towards another group of drunks.

  “This is getting out of hand!” Sally stepped out of the car and slammed the door shut.

  “Hey, wait up!” Ryan called out as Sally climbed into the abandoned car.

  Sally was about to turn the siren off when a set of headlights caught her attention. The bright white lights of the car was accompanied by the flashing lights of another squad car. The car barrelled past her before screeching to a stop three feet away from one of the inebriated idiots stumbling towards her.

  “Halt!”

  Sally recognized Drew’s voice as he bellowed at the drunk. Sally turned the siren off and climbed out of the car.

  Ryan ran up to Sally. “Jesus Christ that was close!”

  “Stop or I’ll shoot!”

  “Wow, what the fuck is going on here!” Sally broke out in a jog towards Officer Pike. He had his gun drawn and pointed it directly at the man.

  “Stop!” Officer Pike pleaded with the man as he continued to lurch towards him, arms outstretched.

  As Sally got closer she realized what had Officer Pike so worked up. The man was in a tattered hospital gown. The material was ripped and torn around the mid section, the blue gown caked in gore. The man’s eyes were milky white, and the colour had been drained from his face.

  BANG!

  Officer Pike sent a slug into the man’s chest. His body jolted back for a brief moment as the bullet sank into the man’s chest before he continued to stumble towards Drew. Suddenly the man fell forward, latching onto Drew. They wrestled to the ground and fell out of view behind the car.

  Officer Brake jumped behind the car to assist his partner. As Sally turned the corner, Sean pulled the ma
n off Drew and sent the drunk tumbling face first into the side of the car.

  “What the hell is going on?” Ryan had his gun drawn as he joined them.

  The drunken man awkwardly stood up. It was as if his muscles weren’t functioning properly.

  “How drunk is this man?” Sally found it hard to believe what she was seeing. Two more intoxicated people stumbled out from behind a parked car, heading directly towards the commotion.

  “Drunk?” Officer Brake sounded offended.

  Sally took her cuffs out and started towards the man.

  “What the hell are you doing!?” Officer Brake leaped towards Sally, but he was too late.

  As Sally reached out and grabbed the man by the arm, he jerked his head down to her arm and sank his teeth into her forearm.

  “Ooucchh!”

  Blood bubbled out of the wound, the pain was nearly unbearable.

  “What the fuck!” Sally cried out as Officer Brake tackled the man.

  Sally fell hard onto her backside as Officer Brake wrestled with the man. Officer Pike rushed to his side to help him subdue the man. Sally looked down as the blood flowed out of wound, a large flap of flesh hung from her arm. Before she knew what was happening, Ryan was knelt down beside her, applying pressure to the wound.

  “Jesus Christ!” Ryan wrapped the wound on Sally’s arm with the sleeve from his jacket. “Hold this, I need to help them.”

  Sally kept pressure on the wound, but the blood continued to spill out, dripping onto the pavement. Sally watched as the three officers struggled to subdue the man. His jaw snapping at the closest piece of flesh. It did not seem to matter who it was, he just wanted to taste anything that came within reach of his jaw.

  Sally struggled to her feet and headed to the trunk of her squad car. She retrieved her shotgun and loaded a bean bag bullet into the chamber. She raised the gun and aimed it directly at the man’s chest.

  “Get out of the way!” Sally yelled at her fellow officers. They are ducked out of the way and Sally fired the bean bag into the man’s chest. As the bean bag crashed into his chest, he stumbled backwards and fell hard onto the ground.

  In all of the commotion, Sally did not see the man staggering towards her. Before anyone could warn her, the man grabbed her from behind. His cold hands dug into her neck as he pulled her backwards, his warm breath on her neck.

  A gurgled scream left Sally’s throat as the man chomped into her neck. The life force quickly drained from her, her knees giving out as she collapsed to the ground. The man crashed on top of her, never once letting go of her. As the searing pain reached its threshold, her vision faded and the last thing she heard was Officer Pike screaming for them to fall back to the hospital.

  Chapter 24

  Chaos

  “Kenny, is there any way you could drop us off at Pinchgut Lake? The city is going to be too dangerous,” Eric said over the headset.

  “After the shit I’ve seen you’re probably right. Sure I can set you down there, but what about your pals. Looks like they need some medical attention,” Kenny said, pointing out the obvious.

  Eric knew that Jason would overcome his injuries in time. Gary however was an entirely different story. As more time passed, the bandage around his torso became heavily soaked in vital fluids. The gunky liquid that oozed out of his stomach was alarming, and without professional medical attention things looked grim for Gary. Maybe he would get lucky and he would be able to get help brought to Gary, but bringing him into town would be suicide now. The city would soon be swarming with zombies, and the hospital would be ground zero.

  “I don’t know… looks like we need a miracle.”

  “You know I was a combat medic during my time in the army, I could probably keep him alive until we could find real help.” The helicopter skimmed the trees as Kenny expertly navigated his way towards town.

  “Anything you can’t do?” A god damn combat medic, and he waited until now to pass along the information. This man was an enigma.

  “Not much!” Kenny’s laugh was exuberant. With all that was happening around him he was taking this grim situation with astonishing pleasantness. It was like some awesome video game to him that he wanted to play. “We are almost to town. You sure you don’t want to try the hospital?”

  Eric could not think of a choice he could make that would not put them all at risk. They both needed medical attention for sure, and Gary’s situation was more pressing. If they landed at the hospital they could all be at risk, but if they flew past the hospital, Gary would almost certainly die. This was a grievous situation with no right choice. “I tried reaching the station, no answer. The hospital may be overrun, but I have no way to know for sure.”

  “There is one way.” What was Kenny getting at?

  “Really?” Eric listened for the reply.

  “I drop you off, and you go down and check it out. If it’s safe we come in, if not I fly us out of there.” Kenny was like some cowboy from the old west, concocting some courageous plan to ride into the Alamo and save the day.

  Eric thought of the alternatives, but could not think of a better plan than the one Kenny had come up with. It could be a hazardous and reckless plan, but it was the only real chance to save Gary. Maybe the hospital could still be fully operational, he would be a fool not to try.

  “Alright! We do this your way.”

  “Awesome.” Kenny handed Eric a walkie talkie. “You can message me on this, I’ll keep this chopper running in case we need to make a hasty exit.”

  “Yeah! Fucking awesome!” Eric tried his best to sound enthusiastic. This could be a suicide mission but what other choice did he have? Gary’s life was quickly fading away in the back of the helicopter. Eric turned to look at Gary. His chest was rising and falling rapidly as his breathing was beginning to become dangerously shallow. The hospital finally entered their field of vision. The lights stood out like a beacon guiding them to their destination.

  “Finally!”

  The whole city lay before them and the lights were a beautiful sight to see. Everything seemed calm at first but all around town the frantic lights of cars moved in a panic. It painted a vivid scene of chaos that was ordinary so tranquil and calm. As they flew over the rooftops of houses people could be seen packing their cars or running from some hidden danger in the dark shadows. The apocalypse had already started. How many zombies were already lurking amongst the living?

  As Eric examined the streets closer he watched in horror as mobs of the undead creatures chased their prey methodically. Eric did not know if he should tell Kenny to just go on past the hospital. The risk seemed too high, but the failure he faced would be too much to overcome. They approached the hospital without a word spoken between them. As Kenny landed the helicopter on the roof of the hospital Eric knew there was no turning back now.

  “Good luck!” Kenny said enthusiastically.

  Eric stepped out of the helicopter and headed towards the door that would lead to the stairs, and never looked back. With great haste, Eric made his way inside the stairwell and headed down the stairs hoping to find someone who could help him.

  ***

  Tina sat in the chair waiting for her mother. Father Jon had tried to comfort her to no avail. The events of the day were so sudden and devastating that no one would be able to offer her comfort. Her father had succumb to his wounds mere hours after suffering a terrible bite from some sick kid in the cafeteria. Nothing could have prepared her for his death. She felt like her chest was going to cave in under the weight of her sorrow. Her lungs ached from sobbing and her eyes felt like they were on fire from all of the tears. She was a complete wreck, and she felt all alone, even with so many people in the room.

  There was a paramedic who joined them in the waiting room outside of the morgue. He sought comfort in Father Jon unlike her. She could over hear them talking about the events that led him down here. His name was Nick and his partner had suffered a similar death to her own father. His story was disturbing and it left
her unsettled.

  The paramedic walked over and sat beside her. “Sorry to hear about your father.” Nick offered his heartfelt apologies.

  Tina knew she should respond. It was what a normal person would do, but she hardly felt normal anymore. The harrowing ordeal of the day left her drained and almost heartless. She appreciated his concern, but remained unresponsive. She just looked up at him and acknowledged his presence. She looked over to find Father Jon entering the morgue.

  “Is there anything I can get for you? You must be in shock.” Without Tina noticing, Nick had stood up and taken his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders.

  It felt reassuring, the smallest gesture helped console her sorrow enough for her to find her human side once again.

  “Thank you.” The words almost fell out of Tina’s mouth without her knowledge.

  A disturbing scream erupted from the morgue. Some blood curtailing scream that made the hair on Tina’s neck stand on end. Nick rushed over towards the door. As Nick placed his hand on the doorknob, Father Jon collapsed out of the door onto his backside. Tina looked on in horror as she saw the source of all of the commotion. The dead police officer they had just brought down an hour ago had his teeth sank into his sister’s neck, a fountain of blood was spurting out all over the floor. The nurse was pinned on the ground by another paramedic, and Tina’s own father was lurching towards Father Jon. Father Jon kicked the door closed as he scrambled backwards.

  “What the fuck is going on!” Nick screamed.

  “The door, secure the door!” Father Jon screamed hysterically as he got to his feet. Nick slammed his body weight against the door.

  THUD! THUD!

  The pounding on the other side was methodical, and it shook the door as Nick strained to keep it closed.

  “What happened in there?!” Nick was alarmed.

  “The dead have risen!” Father Jon held his cross in his hands.

  “Help me Father!” Nick pleaded.