by Tony Thomas
Rita looked into the back seat. Sharn was still huddled in the foot well in front of Max’s seat, she was sobbing and hugging her knees. Max had his hand on his sister’s shoulder, trying to comfort her. He was looking pale and lost.
Rita undid her seat belt. She climbed into the back seat, pulled Sharn and Max to her and held them. All three hugged, Sharn was sobbing and soon they all joined her. After a few minutes, the sobbing slowed. Rita continued to hold them and said, ‘I’m so sorry kids. Your Dad is gone.’
‘But, Mum, he was walking. What’s wrong with him?’ Max asked.
‘Mate, I don’t know. He died, I’m sure of it. Then he came back and tried to hurt Sharn. You know Dad would never do that if he was himself.’
Sharn grabbed Rita tightly. ‘I know he wouldn’t want to hurt me, Mum, but you kicked him in the head!’
‘I couldn’t think of how else to make him let you go Sharnie. Are you okay?’ Rita was suddenly terrified that Brick had bitten or scratched Sharn. ‘Can you show me your leg, is it okay?’
Sharn leaned away, she pulled her pants up and showed her leg to her mother. ‘It’s okay, Mum, he was just holding me.’
Rita breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Okay guys. I think we need to make a move. I’m just going to call Auntie Gen real quick and then we’ll get going. Max, can you and Sharnie check the trailer is okay while I call her?’
‘Okay, Mum,’ Max said, he quickly opened the door and jumped out. Sharn followed suit on the driver’s side. Rita climbed out, stood, and looked back along the road before calling Gen.
‘Rita, are you okay? What happened?’
‘Brick attacked some people in another car. While he was distracted we found the keys and got away.’
‘So what will you do? Are you still going to try for Rocky Hall?’
‘I thought you’d try to talk me into coming back there.’
‘You mustn’t have heard what I said earlier Rita. Our street is overrun with zombies. They literally are coming back from the dead. We’re going to stay holed up but I really doubt you could get here safely.’
‘Gen, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear that. A couple of hours ago I wouldn’t have believed you. Then Brick died and came back to life right in front of me. I suppose he must be a zombie. I don’t know if I can get to Rocky Hall, but I know I can’t stay here. We’ve got the camping gear. I guess we’ll find somewhere to go. The kids are checking the trailer is all secure—Brick collapsed before he finished packing it up.’
‘Rita, I can’t believe you’re so calm. Are you sure you’re okay?’
Rita paused. ‘Maybe I’m in shock, I don’t know. All I know is that I have to keep going for the kids. I don’t want to think about what happened to Brick. I have to try for something.’
‘I understand. Please call me though. I’ll be worrying about you.’
‘I’m not sure what will happen but I’ll definitely keep in touch,’ Rita said. She ended the call, looked around, and called, ‘Come on kids, let’s get to Auntie Sue’s!’
10:30 AEST: Sydney
Dan wondered how long the Internet would keep working as his group call started with Ian and Piotr. As he waited for them to respond, he connected his phone to his PC and started to copy the video across. After the initial hellos, Dan launched in to what he had seen. ‘Guys, I went outside to check on whether the bodies had moved. I think Piotr is right. If it’s not zombies, it’s something so similar it makes no difference.’
Piotr replied, ‘What did you see, Dan?’
‘Gen and I went outside to see if we could work out how the bodies I saw had been killed. While we were out there, a mob of people attacked the house next door. Someone shot three of them and they all got back up and kept going. It was just like they were zombies.’ Dan noticed that the copy of the video had finished.
‘Bullshit,’ Ian blurted.
‘Not a word of a lie, mate. We couldn’t see who was shooting but a group of about a dozen people were walking down the road towards the house next door. We heard a burst of rifle fire and three of them fell. All of them got back up. One of them had a bloody great hole in his chest. There’s no way a normal person could have got back up. They didn’t scream or yell. They just got back on their feet and kept moving towards the house.’
‘What of the bodies you said you saw when you went for the gun? Could you see how they were killed?’ Piotr asked.
‘All of the ones I could see were really badly mangled. The soldiers had been torn apart. They were literally in pieces, it was like some feral animal had torn them apart. To be honest, I’m still struggling with that, I didn’t really tell Gen how it was, but I nearly threw up. The bloke from next door. . .’
‘The one that was sick?’ Ian interrupted.
‘No, the house on the other side. He’d been shot in the face and the back of his skull was gone. An old lady who lives up the road had her head nearly torn off. I couldn’t tell from looking at her what had happened.’
‘I’m more interested in the ones that got back up,’ Ian said. ‘Could you see where they were hit?’
‘Like I said, one got shot in the chest. He was the slowest to get back up. I could see there was some blood coming from the gunshot, but not much. It was a pretty big hole right over his sternum. Another one was shot in the gut. Every movie I ever saw, someone is shot in the gut they’re in a huge amount of pain. This guy just got back up and started walking again. He didn’t make a sound I could hear.’
‘Were they making any noise? You know, moaning or anything?’ Ian asked.
‘Moans and groans, no yelling or howling. Just before we came back inside, I heard some moaning close to the fence. I didn’t see who or what it was, we more or less ran back inside.’ Dan paused and double clicked the copy of the video file from his phone. ‘I took some video on my phone of what I saw. I’ve copied it onto my laptop. Just starting it now.’
‘You got video?’ Ian said. ‘I’d like to see that—frankly I have to admit I’m finding it hard to believe your story, I mean, I’m sure you aren’t bullshitting but I just can’t really believe it.’
Piotr interjected, ‘Ian, we agreed we were to gather more information. There are many hundreds of videos on the Internet of zombie attacks. The amount of evidence is very big. It will not be long before it is acknowledged by news services and governments.’
‘I must have been looking at different news services,’ Ian replied. ‘There are no reports on any Australia or New Zealand news sites about zombies.’
‘Not on our news either. Still, there are very many stories on YouTube.’
Dan interrupted, ‘It looks okay. I’ll play it and share it before I upload it.’
‘Go for it,’ Ian said.
‘I’m ready,’ Piotr said.
Dan started the video and shared his screen. Within a few moments, the video was panning over the people who had been killed in the yard.
‘Jesus. Not even an animal would do that to people,’ Ian said.
‘Yeah it didn’t look good,’ said Dan. ‘Sorry about the commentary.’
‘It is not a problem Dan,’ said Piotr. ‘Have you seen enough, Ian? Do you believe now?’
Dan interrupted. ‘Wait till they get shot and get back up, Piotr.’
They watched in silence for another few minutes.
‘No fucking way!’ Ian exploded. ‘That’s unbelievable. They really are zombies. Shit!’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Dan said. ‘So what do we do now?’
10:30 AEST: Hordern Pavilion
‘Jim, I’m on a charger now. Is everything okay?’
‘C’mon Dad! It’s only been thirty minutes. We’re fine.’
‘Have you heard any more news? We’re getting nothing here.’
‘Well Fox has started talking zombies. They say that you have to sever the spine to stop them. I always thought it was shoot them in the head.’
Jeff couldn’t help but feel a little irritated by Jim’s flippant attitude. ‘Jim,
are you serious? The news is actually reporting zombies?’
‘Yep, Fox is reporting zombies. It hasn’t come up on any of the other news channels yet, but we already knew about it from Facebook. They say that the only way to stop them is to break their necks. Otherwise they keep moving.’
‘So are the guys still there with you?’
‘Yeah, we’re all still here. We’ve decided to stay here as long as we can. We’re still in the basement.’
‘Have you seen anything?’
‘Nope. We’ve stayed hidden like you said. I haven’t looked out the windows upstairs for a couple of hours.’
‘Maybe it’s time to have a look?’
‘Are you serious, Dad? You’re the one that told us to lay low.’
‘I know, but you must be wondering what’s happening around you.’
‘Nope. We know it’s bad. The last thing we want to do is risk one of them seeing us. I did tell you there’s two stages didn’t I?’
‘Uh, I’m not sure,’ Jeff said, a little taken aback.
‘Dad, I told you. When you first get infected it’s like you’ve got rabies or something. You go ape shit crazy, attack anything that moves. Then you keep moving and infecting people. The fresh ones don’t try to eat people, they just hit them and bite them until they’re infected and then chase someone else. They can still run and they keep going and going, not eating or sleeping.’ Jim paused.
‘How do you know this?’ Jeff spluttered.
‘After a while the fast ones slow down and die. Only they don’t stay dead,’ Jim said. ‘Even the ones that get shot in the chest or gut. They get back up. Then they’re slow, but that’s even more scary. They keep coming, walking, and moaning. If they catch someone they try to eat them. The only thing that can stop them once they’re like that is to break their necks. At least that’s what Fox News is reporting.’
‘Jim, was all this on the news or did you get it from somewhere else? Can you trust it?’
‘We heard it on Fox, but we had heard most of it already from YouTube and Facebook. Too many people are saying the same thing for it to be total bullshit.’
‘Shit, Jim. Okay, stay in the basement. Have you tried to call for help at all?’
‘Who can we call Dad? We tried 911, it’s not answering. I think we have to wait it out and see what happens.’
‘Okay, I guess so. You should probably lock yourself in the basement somehow. The thing that worries me is power and phone connections. Neither of them can last forever.’ Jeff touched the wood of the table to ward off bad luck as he spoke to Jim. He wasn’t normally superstitious but this crisis was bringing out the worst in him.
‘It’s okay, Dad. We found a pad bolt and put it on the door to the basement from the inside so we can keep the door locked. We are taking this really seriously now. I don’t think we can do anything about power or phone.’
‘Yeah, I know,’ said Jeff. ‘You are doing really well and I am very proud of you. I’ll call you again soon to touch base. I’m going to see if I can find out anything about what’s happening here, and whether I can get home.’
‘That’s a long trip, Dad. I’d kind of prefer you to be where I can talk to you if you know what I mean.’
‘I hear you Jim. I love you. If I can get home I will, but just know, I love you and I want you to stay safe.’
‘I love you too, Dad. Talk to you soon.’
10:45 AEST: BA275
‘I don’t think it’s safe to land at LHR Captain,’ David observed.
‘Agreed, crashed and burning aircraft tend to suggest it’s not a good place to put down,’ James said wryly.
They had agreed on a low altitude fly-past of the airport. Other aircraft they had contacted had suggested it was not a safe place to land, but both had wanted to see for themselves. The few aircraft they had spoken to were looking to return where they had come from, if they had sufficient fuel, or just finding anywhere to put down if they couldn’t.
Both pilots had been shocked to learn that almost all of the aircraft they encountered had infected people on board. They had discussed the ethics of bringing a plane full of infected people down to earth—but short of suiciding they had no choice.
‘Okay Dave, what’s our next port of call then?’ James said, as he pulled the plane into a climb back to a low, but safer, altitude.
‘Well we know the Channel Islands are a bust. The runways are too short for us. The closest good size airfield that could still be safe is RAF Brize Norton—it’s the primary RAF airfield for tankers and Hercules. The runway will be plenty long enough.’
‘Set the new heading, we’ll try to radio on approach.’
‘Yes sir.’’
The 747 banked to the West to approach the Oxfordshire military base. James turned to David ‘Doesn’t look like any of the lights have gone out over London,’ he said.
Dave looked up from his chart, ‘No, looks pretty normal, although not a lot of houses are lit up,’ he peered forward. ‘Holy shit! That’s a fucking missile!’ Dave screamed pointing straight ahead.
James dropped the plane in a sharp bank to the left, but the lumbering 747 had no chance. The missile ripped into the nearside starboard engine. The engine exploded on impact, shattering the wing. With no starboard thrust or lift, the 747 spun to the right and started to fall nose first.
James had no control. He turned to David and said, ‘I’m sorry Dave, but at least none of these bastards will hurt anyone else.’
Dave barely had time to think let alone reply, as their still low altitude from their Heathrow fly-past meant they crashed within seconds of the missile impact, exploding in a fireball through the farmland a few kilometres short of the military base they had hoped would save them.
08:45 SST (10:45 AEST): Singapore
Weaving ropes out of sheets and doona cases seemed like a good idea in theory but the practice seemed a lot more challenging. After some testing and trial and error, Chris resorted to a quick Google search followed by a YouTube video. They now had nearly 20 metres of braided rope, with only small knots at the joins. Mick had tested it by looping it over the door to the bathroom and suspending his weight on it—no problem at all. As Chris finished weaving the rope, Mick started to pace. ‘We could make this a whole lot longer if we had the sheets and covers Linc and Lara are using.’
Chris looked at his watch, ‘Well, I know we said two hours shifts, but we did wake them up a couple of times.’
‘I don’t know how they could sleep anyway,’ Mick said as he flopped down on the lounge. He started to flick between channels. After only two or three changes he stopped and gasped, ‘Fucking hell.’
‘Whatsup?’ Chris asked, then looked from Mick to the TV. ‘Oh crap,’ he said.
Mick stood up. ‘I’m waking Linc,’ he said. He walked over to the bedroom door knocked twice and shouted. ‘Linc! Lara! Wake up. You need to see this!’
He walked back to the lounge and picked up the remote. Lincoln stumbled out of the room, followed a moment later by Lara.
‘What’s going on Mick?’ Lincoln asked looking around the room and seeing the broken desk, curtain rods, and what looked like a long white rope on the floor.
Mick simply said, ‘Watch’ and turned the volume up. A talking head was centred on the screen with a banner under her which proclaimed ‘ZOMBIE PLAGUE’. The scroll banner underneath seemed to be listing the status of various cities, most of which were followed by the word ‘under attack’.
‘By what we believe are the undead. The footage you are watching demonstrates that this “sickness” is more than just a disease turning people into attackers. Fox News reporters have learned that most people infected with this disease search for, attack, and then infect people until they collapse from exhaustion or are killed.’
‘Soon after death, the infected reanimate. They no longer run or move quickly. They have only one focus, looking for living flesh to eat. They become what can only be called “zombies”.’
‘Is this on any other channel?’ Lara asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Mick said. ‘I kinda stuck here once I saw this.’
‘Maybe we should flick through and see if it’s being reported somewhere else? Fox isn’t exactly the most reliable news agency,’ said Lincoln.
‘. . .no response from the government. As far as we can tell no other news agency is reporting what we at Fox know to be facts.
We have proof that. . .’
‘I guess that means we aren’t going to see it on other channels.’
‘Let’s look anyway Mick,’ Lincoln said.
Mick started to scroll through the channels. All the news networks were still running reports of cities in flames and mass riots. When he hit Star World, he stopped. There was a banner proclaiming ‘THE DEAD WALK.’
10:50 AEST: Sydney
Dan, Ian, and Piotr kept the Skype link open while they furiously posted on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. While they were searching for information Dan had even found a Wikipedia article on the zombie outbreak. He had updated it with links to his footage. While he was uploading the file, he heard Piotr mutter something in Polish.
‘What did you say, Piotr?’ Ian asked.
‘I am sorry—I was a little shocked. I just saw a Twitter message that the BBC are reporting a zombie plague, I’m looking at their website now.’
Dan changed his TV to BBC World. ‘Guys—I’ve just tuned to BBC world—there’s an announcement.’
‘Home Office confirms that the current violence has been made worse by the apparent reanimation of dead bodies. The announcement comes in a far reaching statement from the prime minister, covering the current violence and its causes.
‘The prime minister told a press conference that the virus spreading as a pandemic worldwide has been dubbed the Severe Psychotic Syndrome or SPS by the World Health Organisation. The WHO report that the virus shares some traits with rabies and suspect it may have been genetically engineered. It has not been determined who created or released SPS, but at this time there is no medical treatment available. The SPS virus is extremely infectious and can be transmitted through scratches, cuts, or bites.