Outbreak

by Paul Carberry

“Tomorrow!” Jason said defiantly.

  “We’ll see. Just get some rest for now.” Nick hovered over his friend.

  “Did Eric make it?” Jason suddenly remembered leaving Eric alone at the hospital. All of those zombies running onto the roof was scary, they multiplied so fast. The whole world had plunged into chaos in an instant.

  “He’s asleep in the bedroom. Eric hurt his ankle, but he’s fine,” Nick reassured him.

  “Thank God.” Jason felt better knowing his friend was okay, now he just had to save his family. “Do you think my parents made it out of town?”

  “A lot of people made it out.” Nick squeezed Jason’s shoulder.

  “What about your parents bud?”

  “They were at their cabin in Howley when this all went down. I am going there once we find out what’s going on here.”

  Dana walked into the kitchen from outside, the sound of the door closing was like thunder to Jason. His headache pulsated as the noise rattled his eardrum.

  “Hey Dana.” Nick’s voice was too loud for Jason’s liking.

  “Hey.”

  “Where are Eric’s parents?” Jason wanted to thank them for letting him stay here.

  “They just headed out to get some gas from the gas station across the lake.” Dana walked over to the cupboard and took down a mug. “They said we need to start getting things ready for the winter, and they were worried that the gas would go fast.” Dana poured water over a teabag to make herself a cup of tea. “Is Eric up yet?”

  “Don’t think so,” Nick replied. Dana walked over to the bedroom door and disappeared inside.

  Jason should probably be hungry but the pain overpowered any appetite he may have had. Jason couldn’t imagine eating anything right now, his cracked lips burned as he drew breath. He could not see out of his right eye and the room began to spin, Jason managed to lay back down seconds before he blacked out.

  ***

  Crouched down as low as he could, Frank did his best not to make any noise. He slowly crept up behind his old friend, who relentlessly pounded at the door. Doctor Winston could be heard shouting at the creature from inside the cabin.

  THUD THUD THUD THUD

  The creature that used to be Byron just kept slamming his fist into the wooden door, Frank could hear the wood beginning to splinter under the constant pressure. Frank gripped the axe in his hand tightly as he crept closer, knowing what he had to do.

  Byron’s head snapped back, Frank could swear he was sniffing the air. Frank’s muscles began to tense up as the creature slowly started to turn his head towards him. Frank sprang to his feet and raised the axe above his head. Before the cold dead eyes could turn to stare at Frank, he drove the axe down into Byron’s skull, blood quickly staining Byron’s white hair as the axe blade sank deep in the brain.

  Frank let go of the axe and stepped backwards, the corpse of his oldest friend crumpled into a heap on the porch, blood oozing from the wide gash on its head.

  The door swung open and Doctor Winston looked down at the gruesome creature. “You saved my life!” Dr. Winston looked up at Frank. “What the fuck is going on?”

  “Come with me, I’ll explain everything.” Frank grasped a hold of the axe handle, it was stuck Byron’s skull. Frank placed his foot on the dead creature’s shoulder, yanking the axe out of the deep gash. Blood gurgled out of the wound as the axe blade became free.

  Doctor Winston looked on in disgust as blood dripped from the axe.

  ***

  Tina lay on the cold linoleum floor. She crawled into the corner as far away from the dead body as she could. The two man had left just minutes ago, but they had left her defenceless. Her wrists ached from the rough rope, and the way her feet were tied up she was unable to stand up. The blood from the corpse had begun to thicken now as it cooled, the trickle of blood slowed to a halt just a few inches from her feet. During her several attempts to stand up her shoes entered the puddle, causing them to become slippery.

  The sound of a car engine grew closer. Tina began to panic, maybe the two men had returned to finish her off? Maybe it was a couple of strangers? Would they set her free? Her mind raced with the possibilities, most of them ended badly for her. Tina could hear the car pull up alongside the pumps, a light behind the counter illuminated next to the words pump two. A familiar voice could be heard from outside, but she could not quite pick it out.

  Tina heard the door open. “Hello!” A man’s voice called out. Tina tried her best to scream out but her cries were muffled by the gag in her mouth. “Anybody in here?” Tina could hear the footsteps approaching the other side of the counter. “Stella stay out!”

  It was the owner of the cabin.

  Jack peered over the counter at the two bodies on the floor. “Holy Fuck! You okay?” Jack’s voice full of panic. “Kenny, I need your help in here!”

  Jack ran behind the counter and stared at the dead body on the floor. “Oh fuck, Jeremy!” Jack bent down to check on the dead man. Jack turned towards Tina, his eyes wide with terror. Kenny barged in behind the counter and joined Jack’s gaze at Tina.

  Tina’s eyes grew large as she watched in horror in the danger that lurked behind Kenny. She wanted to warn him, but the gag stifled her shrill screams.

  Tina recoiled in terror as she watched Jeremy’s eyes open, his heinous, milky glazed eyes fixed on Kenny. The zombie started to decrepitly drag its body across the tile floor.

  A low moan left his mouth, a cruel disturbing smile on the monster’s face as it opened its jaw. Jack removed the gag too late, Tina’s scream wasn’t able to warn Kenny of the danger that loomed behind him.

  The zombie’s teeth sank into Kenny’s calf muscle, blood poured from the wound like paint spilling from a can. Kenny screamed out in agony, he kicked his leg trying to knock the jaw loose.

  “FFUUUUCCCCKKKK!”

  Jack reached up and grabbed the cash register from the counter, and sent it crashing into Jeremy’s head.

  “Jesus Christ!” The fresh red blood from Kenny’s leg mixed with rotting brownish blood from the zombie’s skull.

  “You’re going to be okay.” Jack grabbed a t-shirt from the rack and knelt down to apply pressure to Kenny’s wound.

  “Please, untie me!” Tina begged Jack, she held her arms up as much as the rope would allow. The threads digging into her skin made the motion awkward and painful. Jack reached over to untie her wrists.

  “What’s going on!” Stella screamed as she entered the store.

  “Jesus Christ, I told you to stay out!” Jack snapped back.

  “Help!” Tina cried out. “Kenny needs help now!”

  “Help the girl, I’ll be fine.” Kenny applied pressure to his wound. Jack untied the restraints from Tina’s feet allow her to stand up.

  “Thank you!” Tina bawled. A sense of relief washed over her and she could no longer contain her emotions, tears streamed down her face. Tina had narrowly avoided death, if they had not shown up when they did, the zombie would have eaten her alive.

  “You’re going to be ok honey, we just need to get you to the car.” Stella tried to help Jack carry Kenny. The tendon on the back of Kenny’s leg was torn in half, dangling out of the bloody hole in his leg.

  “Help us!” Stella was distraught. “You need to go back to the cabin and get help!” Stella started searching for something better to stop the bleeding. “Here, take the keys to my car.” Stella tossed the keys at Tina. “Hurry!”

  “I’ll be fine everybody, it’s just a scratch.” Kenny tried to sound brave, pain washed over his face.

  Tina did not hesitate to leave, she ran out the front of the building towards the car. Tina drove away in such a hurry she never even noticed the gas handle still in the gas tank. The handle ripped from the pump leaving the nozzle attached to the car, gas spewing from the severed line as it dangled from the pump. Tina darted across the highway and onto the dirt road that led towards the cabin, leaving the nightmare behind her.

  ***

  E
ric awoke from his sleep. The pain in his ankle was almost gone, the swelling had subsided. Dana sat on the edge of the bed, Eric reached out his hand and rubbed the small of her back.

  “Good morning.”

  “Morning.” Dana laid back and put her head on Eric’s chest. “You feeling any better?”

  “Much better, thanks.” Eric ran his hand through Dana’s hair, it was full of knots. “How’s Jason?”

  “He woke up earlier, but he’s sleeping again. He’s in a lot of pain.” She tilted her head to look at Eric. “Kenny wants to see you.”

  “Really? Why?” Eric could not think of a reason why Kenny would need Eric.

  “Those people you came back with are fighting over what to do with the helicopter.” Eric could tell by the look on Dana’s face she was serious.

  “He’s the only one who can fly it, it’s his choice.” Eric didn’t want to deal with this. All he knew was what he was going to do. He was not sure he wanted to worry about all of those other strangers.

  “Well dear, you’re a police officer, they are going to look to you for help.” Dana was right. People would still rely on him. Eric didn’t know if the laws of society were still intact. The world was going to shit, maybe he needed to do his job whether he wanted to or not. Eric knew he had to protect his family, but was not sure if he could protect all of these people.

  “Shit!” Eric shook his head. “Where is everyone?”

  “Nick and Jason are out in the living room. Your parents left with Kenny to try and get gas. That young girl took a walk up the beach and hasn’t been back since. Everyone else is outside.”

  “Alright, I guess I should get out there.” Eric opened the dresser drawer to get some clean clothes. “You think I should wear my uniform?”

  “Seriously? You going to work today?” Dana chuckled.

  “You’re right.” Eric pulled a heavy hoodie over his head. It was bright orange with the local baseball team’s logo embroidered in the middle. He always wore it out to the cabin in case he went out into the woods so people would easily be able to spot him. Eric tugged on an old baggy pair of blue jeans, he reached for his holster, but remembered he dropped his gun at the hospital. Eric decided to leave it on the dresser for now, even though yesterday was the first time he used his gun, he felt naked without it.

  “I’ll wash your uniform for you when you get the generator running.” Dana wrapped herself up in the sheets.

  “You going to sleep?” Eric questioned. The sun was high in the sky now, it had to be past noon.

  “Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep last night.” Dana nuzzled her head into the pillow.

  Eric leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll wake you for supper.”

  Eric left the bedroom, Jason was sound asleep on the couch. His face had swollen drastically since the last time he had seen him. The bruises on his face were now a deep purple that encompassed his whole right eye socket, the edges of the bruises were yellow, his lips were swollen and cracked. Eric looked around the room for Nick, but he wasn’t there. Outside the group of survivors had gathered around the helicopter. Ted waved for Eric to come outside. Eric slid the glass door open and stepped outside into the cold air, it shocked him, made him feel more alert. Nick was standing in the middle of the group.

  “What’s up?” Eric called out as he approached the group.

  Ted spoke up first. “I need to get to the boat in Port aux Basques.”

  “We can’t let him take the helicopter. What if it gets stuck out there?” Calvin voiced his concern.

  “Whoa! Calm down. Kenny is the only one capable of flying this thing. It’s up to him,” Eric interjected.

  “Well… Ted what if we got you a car? You think you could drive there?” Nick looked over at Ted.

  “Yeah… but what if the boats are already gone?” Ted looked over at his children. “I need to get them to safety.”

  “We don’t even know if the boats are still running now!” Calvin shouted at Ted.

  “Hey! Let’s keep things calm. We can’t afford to fight amongst ourselves. We need to work together.” Eric was trying to keep things from escalating, but he was afraid Calvin was not going to let this go.

  “So what, give him the helicopter?” Calvin seemed disgusted at the notion. “We should stick it out here, where it’s safe.”

  “It’s not safe here!” Ted snarled back. “I don’t want to wait here to die.”

  “No one’s going to die here.” Eric refused to pick sides.

  “We don’t have enough food to eat, and even if we did, do you want to wait here for those things to come get us? We don’t have any guns!” Ted interrupted.

  “We can get some food and guns, but if you want to leave I’ll do my best to help you.” Eric knew Ted was right, they would need lots of food and weapons. Heading back into town would be a dangerous task. The police station should have plenty of guns locked away with plenty of ammo. Food would be a little harder to scavenge, but surely they would find enough to survive.

  “So, why can’t he use the helicopter to fly me out?” Ted was pleading with Eric for help.

  “What if the place is overrun, then you risk losing the helicopter all for nothing?” Calvin ignored Eric and only seemed to be interested in stopping Ted.

  “Calm the fuck down Calvin.” Eric was getting pissed off with the stubborn man, Calvin turned his anger towards Eric and grabbed a handful of sweater. Eric knocked Calvin’s arm down and resisted the urge to throw a punch.

  “I said calm down.”

  “Or what?” Calvin was challenging Eric now.

  Eric was about to grab a hold of Calvin when he was interrupted by the sound of a car horn. The whole group looked towards the urgent noise that was coming from the driveway around the back of the cabin. Eric rushed to the car, wondering why his parents were so worked up only to find Tina behind the wheel. She was in a panic, her eyes wide with terror. Something had gone horribly wrong for her to end up behind the wheel of his parents’ car.

  Chapter 29

  Grief and Misery

  Tina hammered the horn drawing the attention of everyone at the cabin. Eric ran around the corner first, limping slightly as he rushed towards the car, she knew that he was going to be angry to learn about Kenny. Of course he was the one to get injured, he was the only person who could fly that helicopter. If she had not wandered off alone he would still be fine, during the drive down, she had worried about what Eric would think once he found out.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Eric yelled out to her as he knocked on the window of the car, Tina rolled down the window. “Where are my parents?”

  “Kenny has been bit.” Tina would not look Eric in the face. It was horrible, devastating news that would only lead to grief and misery.

  “FUCK!” Eric yanked the door open. “Where is he?”

  “The gas station!” Tina cowered in the driver’s seat, not sure what to do.

  “Nick!” Eric called out to his friend as he raced over to the shed. “Get the ambulance, we got to go get him.” Eric returned from the shed with an axe in hand. Nick ran inside the cabin. “Where’s my mother?” Eric pointed the axe in Tina’s direction.

  “She stayed at the gas station with your father.” Tears were forming in her eyes.

  “You left them there?” Eric was wild with anger.

  “Your parents stayed behind to look after Kenny. Your mother sent me to get you.” Tina felt like she was pleading for her life.

  Nick ran out the back door of the cabin with the keys in his hands. “Let’s go,” he called out to Eric as he started the ambulance.

  “Calvin you’re coming with us,” Eric shouted at Calvin. “Might need your muscle.” Eric threw the axe to Calvin.

  Calvin caught the axe in his massive hands and looked down at it, admiring the blade. “Alright, let’s go.” Calvin shot Ted a glare before stepping into the ambulance.

  Tina looked over at Ted as he went back towards the front of the cabin
. Tina got out of the car and started to walk towards the cabin, when she rounded the corner she saw Ted standing there. He had a strange look in his eye, he was struggling with some terrible thought.

  “Tina, I have to go with them. Please keep the girls inside the cabin until I get back!” The two young girls ran into the cabin, Tina looked at Ted as he rushed towards the ambulance, he had a tire iron in his hand.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Calvin barked at Ted.

  “Making sure this situation gets dealt with properly!” Ted lashed out. The ambulance spun its tires in the muddy driveway before speeding off down the road.

  ***

  Eric leaned his head back into the headrest.

  “Fuck… Fuck… fuck.”

  He just kept muttering it over and over again to himself. The whole drive to the gas station passed by in a blur, Eric knew that there was little chance of saving Kenny now. He had seen what a zombie bite will do, if you were bitten and died, you turned into one of those creatures.

  “FUCK!” Eric slammed his fist into the dashboard.

  “Everything is going to be ok man.” Nick tried to calm Eric down.

  “Yeah man, we’ll get there in time.” Calvin was sat behind Eric.

  “Man don’t you get it! We may already be too late. If he dies, he is going to become one of those… things.” Eric slammed his fist into the dash again. “God damn it!” Eric knew that if Kenny died, the helicopter would be nothing but a fancy lawn decoration.

  “You got to hold it together man.” Nick turned off the dirt road onto the highway.

  “Listen we need to get my parents out of there.” Eric wasn’t sure if they were too late, what if Kenny had already turned into one of those monsters. Would they be able to handle it, or was it too much for them?

  “Sure thing, we will do whatever we have to do man.” Calvin put his hand on Eric’s shoulder as a sign of support.

  Eric brushed Calvin’s hand away. “Don’t!” The gesture only fuelled the fire that was burning inside of him. Eric clenched his jaw and thrust his fist into the dashboard again. “Just don’t!” Eric was in no mood to deal with this shit.