The Outbreak

by Shetty, Krishan

  “How did these gonerz come to be?” asked a brown haired, bespectacled man. He looked fairly aged. Probably a professor he thought. “I’m Professor Westwood,” he said extending his right arm forward whilst his left adjusted his glasses at the bridge of his nose.

  “Randall McReed, pleased to meet you Professor.”

  It was a sloppy handshake. The professor’s hand was drenched in sweat. Either he’s absolutely terrified or he has one of those sweaty palm conditions thought Randy forcing his lips to curl into what he thought was a smile.

  “What do you teach professor?” asked Randy nonchalantly.

  “Economics,” answered the professor readjusting his glasses. He spoke with a British accent.

  The sounds outside began to dull down a bit. The thumping stopped as if the gonerz realised that the door was too much of a challenge for them to overcome. Josh finally returned with the sodas and the chips. He tossed a can at Greg and Randy.

  “Cherry? Ugh,” said Greg with disgust.

  “We don’t have the luxury of choice,” said Joanne opening up her soda can. Josh began gulping it down without wasting any time. Kiara scooted over to Greg’s side to which Greg promptly smiled. Joanne’s face twitched slightly at the sight. An overbearing silence took over only to be disturbed by the occasional slurping and crunching noises.

  “It’s been over 3 hours now since the outbreak began,” began Randy breaking the silence.

  “I wonder if my parents are okay,” sobbed a girl in a grey sweater. The other survivors began to comfort her. “Do you think this....this outbreak is a global thing or is it just happening here?” said Chester.

  “Hard to say. Everything seemed fine up until after lunch break. Then the crazy stuff began.”

  “Crazy stuff?” asked Lendl and Chester together.

  “Yeah I saw a....a goner eating into one of our professors. I totally freaked out. No one believed me of course. I mean it is sort of hard to believe if you say that a person is being eaten right? I suppose that’s when it started,” said Randy closing his eyes as if to forget what he saw. Some of the survivors shuddered on hearing this revelation.

  “So we could say the man eating your professor was patient zero?” asked Westwood raising an eyebrow.

  “Assumptions are all we have right now. Since we have no means of contacting the outside world, it’s hard to say if this...this outbreak started here or not,” Greg chimed. “Also the gonerz seem capable of running. That’s something we all must be wary of.”

  “Can they see? Hear? Smell?” asked the grey sweater girl.

  “When we ran towards the mechanical block, the sounds of our steps were muffled by the grass. And the gonerz were at a fair distance too. It’s impossible to say. Either they possess enhanced hearing or they can see. Personally I’m willing to bet they can see,” said Joanne with a sigh.

  “And if by some luck somebody managed to contact the outside world, there would the police or the army trying to get this situation under control,” added Westwood.

  “Precisely,” replied Greg looking blankly at the floor.

  “So help isn’t coming?” asked another survivor clad in a yellow tracksuit with a high ponytail and a pale face, on the verge of tears.

  “It’s hard to say anything at this point honestly. The entire situation has thrown logic and common sense out of the window. I mean the undead preying on the living? These are the kinds of things Hollywood loves. It isn’t supposed to be real,” said Lendl flailing his hands in the air.

  “Well it is. This is reality,” said Chester grimly.

  “No network a-and the telephones are dead. Don’t you think this whole thing is an engineered plot?” said Josh looking at everyone with widened eyes. “I’m telling you, this is a part of something bigger.”

  Lendl stared at him, “Easy there bucko. You might need that thing on your shoulders.”

  Josh’s mouth opened to respond but nothing came out.

  “First things first, we need something to defend ourselves with,” said Chester looking at the newly acquired baton Randy had in his possession.

  “I agree,” added Greg.

  “We all need something to defend ourselves with,” said a black haired girl with a generous amount of freckles.

  “Yes Michelle. But we don’t really have anything here to make use of,” said Lendl.

  “You’re wrong. This is a mechanical lab. I’m sure there’s always something to make use of,” said Randy.

  “That’s right. You are from the technical institute. You would know a thing or two about what to do here,” said Westwood. His words were filled with hope and it seemed contagious because the other’s eyes lit up. They sensed a ray of hope in this grim situation.

  “Necessity is the mother of all inventions,” Said Westwood. His every word now seemed to have a dramatic effect on the others. They seemed to think Randy and co. could somehow dramatically tip the scales in their favour.

  “Don’t expect a ray gun,” joked Greg.

  “This isn’t the time to be joking,” hissed Joanne pinching Greg on the arm. Greg winced or at least he pretended to. Kiara simply giggled.

  The mechanical lab wasn’t huge although it was populated with a number of lathes, hydraulic equipments, heat and mass transfer equipments, a basic workshop with bench vices, a welding station, a forging lab and of course the CNC lathe.

  “We could use the sledgehammers in the Forging Lab,” said Joanne pointing towards the lab.

  “Sledgehammers?” asked Michelle. “Wouldn’t something sharp be better rather than a blunt tool?”

  “Actually sledgehammers make for excellent weapons. The long handles make it perfect to get a good swing and bludgeon someone. Don’t you watch pro-wrestling?” said Greg. Michelle wasn’t amused in the slightest.

  “We can also use the acetylene gas welding equipment as a makeshift flamethrower,” added Randy looking at the rest.

  “Is it portable?” asked the grey sweater girl.

  “Yeah it is. Acetylene is stored in tanks and is portable......uh....”

  “It’s Dana. Dana Yung,” said the grey sweater girl. She had straight black silky hair. She was of Asian descent. She was of average height and Randy couldn’t quite place her build. The sweatshirt and loose trousers mystified that.

  “I’m Randall McReed. My friends call me Randy,” said Randy in the friendliest voice possible extending his hand. She shook his hands with a gentle firmness. Her hands are smooth as glass, Randy thought trying to maintain eye contact but oddly finding it hard to do so.

  “Oh I nearly forgot. We’ve got a nail gun and an axe too in the carpentry section upstairs. I’m not really sure why they have an axe though,” said Joanne pointing up. Randy taking this chance excused himself from his predicament and proceeded to go towards the carpentry section leaving Dana standing. He made his way up. The carpentry section was right next to the welding station. The sight of unfinished furniture and neatly arranged tools greeted him. The nail gun and the axe lay hanging on a wall. The carpentry section was right next to the welding station; the welding station was at the end and was the only room on the first floor with a window. He ran his hand along the length of the axe. But his attention was drawn towards the window. He walked over to the welding station with anticipated steps, his heart beating loudly enough to echo in his ears. For the first time since taking refuge in the lab, he would peek into what the world had become. His concentration was great; so great in fact; he failed to notice his foot was caught by something that bought him down to the dusty floors-hard. “Oomph,” he cried before he began to notice the dust around him had begun to settle. He immediately turned back to see what had assaulted him. His heartbeat pounding against his ear drums, he turned back. Much to his annoyance and relief, he had tripped over a ladder. Where did the ladder come from? He thought thankful that nobody witnessed this clumsy incident. Picking up the ladder he kept it slanting against the wall. Brushing the dirt off of his clothes, he scanned
the floors to make sure no more surprises lay for him before he made it to the window. The sun had begun to set. The skies were painted in a fiery orange with a touch of red. Its brilliance reflected off of his eyes. He had never observed the skies before. Not to this extent at least. He looked down. There were gonerz, but not as much as one would expect. The welding station was at the back of the building. I suppose they must be trying the front door he pondered.

  “Randy, did you find the nail gun and the axe?” asked Lendl from afar. His voice echoing as it found it’s way to his ears.

  “Yeah I’ve got ‘em,” replied Randy slowly stepping away from the window, his gaze fixed at the gonerz. He ran down with the axe and nail gun in either hand.

  “That’s a nail gun?” asked Dana wide eyed. “That’s gonna kill those things out there?”

  “Yeah, this nail gun shoots 2 inch nails and has a closed circuit nitrogen gas system. So that means you don’t have to bother with cartridges. It’s pretty handy for putting a couple of gonerz down for good,” he grinned.

  “I don’t really get all the technical babble, but if you say so,” she responded with a hearty smile. Randy blushed like a dork. He wasn’t really good around girls, well maybe except for Joanne. Greg though- he was smooth with the ladies, or at least he seemed to think so.

  “Glad to see you kids are getting along,” interrupted Greg with an idiotic grin.

  “All right guys we have got to brace ourselves for the night. We don’t have a lot of food so we gonna have to share alright?” said Chester interrupting their conversation. The others nodded slowly in unison. Greg caught Chester’s arm and dragged him away from the others.

  “There’s not a lot of food and drinks left. Come tomorrow we’ll have to starve.”

  “I know but at least we have a safe place to sleep tonight. We can think about tomorrow, tomorrow right?” responded Chester positively patting him on the shoulder and walking off. The positivity seemed to weird out even Greg.

  “Greg, we need to talk,” said Randy, worry lines ran across his forehead.

  “Sure, what’s going on?”

  “The number of gonerz at the back are significantly lesser than the ones out front. I saw through the window in the welding station. There’s even a ladder to make use of.”

  “And you are telling me this because-?”

  “If we need to escape we could use the ladder and get out of here.”

  “Speaking of windows- They can’t come in through the windows right?”

  “If they could, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” answered Randy cocking an eyebrow.

  “We are pretty low on food too. We won’t be able to stay here for much longer. We should try the cafeteria or the biological sciences building. We might find some answers there.”

  “It’s risky. The cafeteria might already be overrun as far as we know. The biological science building is pretty far. We have gotta run through those freaks. Without a proper meal and rest, it’ll be hard to make it to the biological sciences building while avoiding becoming a goner ourselves.”

  “Mind if I join in?” interrupted Kiara with her eyebrows raised.

  “Kiara! We were just discussing how to save the world,” Greg exclaimed with a loud laugh quickly changing the topic.

  Joanne stared at Greg, eyes throwing daggers prompting Greg to clear his throat.

  “Right, so what’s for dinner? I’d love some cheese Doritos,” Greg exclaimed maintaining his cheerfulness. Randy glanced at the rest sitting down once again as Lendl and Professor Westwood fetched food from the vending machines, distributing it to everyone as if it were ration. The vending machines had done it’s duty. It was now empty. He gazed at the survivors, his eye catching a student reading the bible. Legs folded and fixed, his body rocked back and forth steadily as he silently murmured lines from the holy script. Another survivor with a University issued black hoodie with folded sleeves and faded jeans sat with his legs stretched out; back resting against the CNC machine. He was listening to music judging by the headphones connected to his Smartphone. Probably trying to calm his nerves, well we are in deep shit thought Randy.

  “Here, these are for you guys. You’ll have to share,” said Lendl curtly.

  “Of course,” replied Randy hoping Lendl wouldn’t sniff the grimness in his voice.

  “Two packets of Doritos and three sodas for the five of us. Well could be worse,” said Greg trying to sound as optimistic as possible. Josh clearly wasn’t in a mood to share. Although he didn’t utter a single word, his face spoke for him. It is pretty meagre for five adults thought Greg flashing his best smile. After finishing their meal, everyone sat around to discuss their next plan of action.

  “I think we ought to stay here till help comes,” said Michelle.

  “When’s that coming? It’s nearly midnight and nobody has come to rescue us,” retorted Dana.

  “Maybe the world has already been devoured by those gonerz. Or else we wouldn’t be stuck here,” said Kiara wide eyed, probing the packet for a chip.

  “I’m telling you people, this is all a part of some grand scheme. Think about it!” Josh spoke quickly.

  Professor Westwood merely adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat “It could be a lot of things but what matters is survival. If we survive long enough, we may actually find out what caused this.”

  “This is god’s wrath. We have all sinned and must pay the ultimate price. It’s the apocalypse! Why else would the undead rise from their graves to drag the living back to hell?” babbled the bible wielding chubby guy, his fanatical gaze meeting everyone’s.

  Dana cocked an eyebrow at chubby’s babble “We can worry about what caused it later. Making it out of this alive is our first priority.”

  “IF we make it out alive that is,” said Josh.

  “Anyways, we should get some sleep. Need to conserve our energy. Tomorrow is going to be a long long day,” said Chester trying his best to put out a growing fire.

  Everyone began to settle down to get some sleep. The gonerz were definitely out there. Everyone could feel their presence lingering just outside the door; the only thing keeping them alive at the moment.

  Nobody could sleep. It was hard trying to sleep on the cold hard floors. People tossed, turned and even at times grumbled as the night stretched on. Randy couldn’t sleep either. The night was so silent, the ticking of the watches, the faint growls outside and the incessant chirping of the cicadas were ever so loud. Lucky creatures. At least they don’t have to worry about being eaten alive. He could even hear the sound of his heartbeat. He turned to look at the others carefully so as not to wake the others. He noticed Greg and Kiara were chatting rather quietly in a corner. They seemed rather happy. Joanna slept like a log. It was a bit strange watching the illustrious class rep sleeping so soundly, not a care in the world. Looks like the cold floor doesn’t bother her one bit.

  “Hey,” a voice startled Randy.

  “Oh, Dana. I thought you were asleep?”

  She shook her head, “Yeah, guess I’m not really used to sleeping on the ground.”

  “Me neither. We’ll have to get used to it though.”

  They sat up leaning against a wall away from the rest of the sleeping folk.

  “You know, honestly I don’t think I can sleep under the circumstances. Knowing that the gonerz are right outside. It’s like the whole world’s flipped upside down. It was all normal right up until after lunch. Everything changed after that,” she said. Randy silently listened.

  “I....I saw some of my friends becoming one of them. My friends, my teachers, everyone gone in an instant,” she said grimly, her words heavy with emotion. “This all seems like a big bad nightmare. And I want to wake up.”

  “When I first saw it, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. It was unreal. Every fibre of my being wanted to think I was hallucinating. But that grotesque stench, the screaming, the blood......All of it was as real as I am....as you are,” said Randy lookin
g up with lost eyes. Pondering for a while he said, “I hope my dad is alright.”

  “Your dad?”

  “He’s a soldier in the army. If only I could just call him, just once. Maybe we could get some help down here.”

  Randy felt a warm connection with Dana. Like an invisible chord that linked them.

  “Aren’t you worried about him?”

  “Not really. He’s a tough son of a gun.”

  She giggled, “What about your mom?”

  Randy frowned. “She left us a long time ago. She couldn’t stand my dad being away all the time. Most of the times she wouldn’t know if he was alive or not. He wouldn’t call for weeks at end. In the end, she ended up falling for some rich guy who would come to drop off his son at my school. When my dad returned from his tour and found out, he wasn’t happy. It was ugly, the falling out.”

  “Do you blame your mother?” Dana asked softly.

  Randy shrugged, “At that time, I was pissed at both of ‘em. But I suppose it would be difficult for her too. Dad was always strict. When he would be home, he wouldn’t spend a whole lot of time with me. He’d usually be by himself. He wasn’t abusive or anything but...it wasn’t anything special either. It got worse after the divorce. He’d just isolate himself.”

  “So you aren’t close to your parents huh,” she said.

  He nodded, “Well, I grew up alright didn’t I?”

  “I’d spend my time goin’ over to Greg’s place. His parents were really wonderful people. Their home felt like home. His mom would bake the most amazing apple pie,” he said reminiscing. “There was this time his mom found the stash of porn magazines under his bed. He was so grounded that day,” he laughed.

  She managed a silent snicker. Randy smiled for the first time. A genuine smile. He glanced over at Greg and Kiara. “Look at those two. They are really hitting it off.”

  “She does seem enchanted by him,” Dana responded sarcastically.

  “Greg’s a goofy fellow, but he’s one hell of a guy. He’s the most intelligent person I’ve met. And I’ve met quite a few people in my life,” Randy said, words filled with oodles of admiration.