Infection

by Simon Smith-Wilson

  ***

  ‘We are approaching the city,’ said Eddie.

  Nicky could see how shaky his hands were, as he flicked through the paperwork on his lap. Nicky’s eyes scanned the darkness below them. It was hard to believe a city was somewhere down there. Cloud cover was hindering visibility, but the power outage made spotting the city practically impossible. Every now and then she would spot the glow of a raging fire when the clouds broke.

  ‘I don’t know if I can do this,’ announced Eddie.

  ‘You can leave the cockpit at any time,’ replied Nicky.

  ‘There are innocent men, women, and children down there.’

  ‘Yes there are, but if we allow this infection to spread then billions more innocent people will die.’

  ‘Killing people for the greater good isn’t right.’

  ‘We are soldiers. Killing people is what we were trained to do.’

  ‘Not our own people and certainly not children.’

  ‘If you are too weak to follow this through then you can leave now.’

  ‘Nicky, I don’t think I can let you do this,’ Eddie pulled out a sidearm and pointed it at the pilot. ‘I think it’s time you turned the plane around and took us home.’

  ‘You really are being fucking stupid.’

  ***

  ‘Fuck off!’ Megan bellowed as the shotgun kicked. A boy no older than fourteen years of age was splattered on the pavement. Her feet were moving before her brain was engaged. She reached into her bag and rummaged around for shotgun shells. She was down to the last six. The infected appeared at the end of the street, which inspired a quick detour through a narrow alleyway. It was a cut through to help navigate the cul-de-sacs. Megan had spent a lot of her youth in the streets around her granddad's home. She knew this place like the back of her hand. The alleyway led out onto the main road. It was where you found all the posh bungalows. She was about half a mile from the nearest landmark. Megan spun and fired both barrels of the shotgun into the alleyway. Tired legs were meaning that the infected were getting closer and closer. Both barrels hit a young woman in the chest. Her screams filled the air as she hit the ground, bringing several of the others down with her. Megan ran into the road and then stopped. Her life momentarily flashed before her eyes, as a car skidded to a stop directly in front of her. She looked at the woman and boy in the car, her eyes full of fear, but begging for help.

  ‘Get it!’ Fran yelled out the window.

  Megan did not need telling twice.

  ***

  ‘I’m Fran. This is James.’

  ‘I’m Megan,’ said Megan, reloading the shotgun. ‘Where are you heading?’

  ‘My husband works in a shop just down the road. We can lock it up nice and tight and stay there.’ Megan liked the sound of that idea. Fran’s car headed straight towards the toll bridge. It was the quickest route across the river if you wanted to avoid traffic. ‘STOP,’ Megan screamed in her ear. The wheels screeched to the emergency halt. All three of them looked through the windscreen and the queue of cars parks on the toll bridge. Army trucks blocked off the end of the bridge, as helicopters circled above. Men in white biohazards suits were walking amongst the cars. Assault rifles roared into the air, as the men opened fire on the innocent people trying to cross the bridge. ‘Go back. Go back now.’

  Fran put it in reverse and started to accelerate.

  They all screamed as bullets pierced the windscreen and the bonnet.

  Fran swung the car around, put it into gear and headed off the bridge.

  It was time to find a different route.

  ***

  ‘What should I do?’ asked Fran, as they bounced through a series of front gardens. The road was jammed bumper to bumper, but there didn’t appear to be anyone in the cars. At the far end of the road were three police cars blocking the way. The sirens were not on, but red and blue flashing lights brought colour to this dark town. They could see dead bodies in police uniforms on the floor, but no police officers were in sight.

  ‘Crash through it,’ said James.

  ‘Do it,’ said Megan, putting on a seat belt.

  ‘Okay,’ replied Fran, increasing their speed.

  The car shuddered, and a metallic crack filled the air, as she clipped the bonnet of one of the police cars. Thankfully, her car was petit enough to squeeze through the makeshift road block with having to cause too much damage. James looked out the side window at the horde of infected filling the side streets. It appeared that burning cars had caught their attention. Eyes filled with blood looked back at James as the sound of the car’s engine echoed down the road.

  ‘Were here,’ said Fran.

  The car bumped up onto the curb as they skidded to a stop outside of a convenience store.

  The lights were out, but she knew that Sam was still inside.

  ***

  Helen stood in the shadows holding the bloody scissors, as someone banged on the glass doorway into the store. ‘Sam, it's me, open up!’ Fran yelled as she peered through the glass. In the background, the manic howls of the infected were growing louder. ‘Sam, open up!’

  ‘We have to hurry,’ said James.

  Helen wanted to open the door and let them in, but she was so scared.

  She had just murdered a man.

  She had just killed someone with her own hands.

  They couldn’t find out.

  They would think she was a killer.

  ‘Blow it,’ ordered Fran.

  Another woman stepped up to the window, aimed a shotgun and fired. Glass erupted into the interior of the shop. Helen squealed, she didn’t mean to and instantly regretted it as it gave away her position. ‘Helen?’ asked Fran, stepping through the broken doorway. ‘Where is Sam?’

  ‘He...’ Helen stuttered. ‘He...’

  ‘We have to hide!’ ordered Megan.

  ‘This way,’ Helen led the way to the stockroom and the others followed. A million and one different thoughts were bouncing away within the inside of her head. There was one question that was causing her the most disturbance. How was she going to explain to Fran that she had killed her husband?

  ***

  Vomit leapt forth from Andre’s mouth and covered the inside of his visor. He could hear one or two of the others throwing up. One of the men was crying. Andre looked across the bridge. Bullet holes had punctured every single civilian car. The dead bodies of men, women, and children lay slumped here, there and everywhere. Several of them had tried to flee back to the city, but they had gunned them down. They were under orders. No one was allowed to leave. All civilians were infected even if they hadn’t turned yet. They all had to be put down. It was for the greater good of the nation.

  ‘Let’s move out,’ ordered a voice from the truck.

  ‘What have I done?’ asked one of the other soldiers.

  Andre looked at the assault rifle in his hand. Unconsciously, he dropped it to the floor.

  How many people had he just killed?

  This wasn’t what he signed up for.

  This was wrong.

  He pulled his sidearm, placed it against the side of his head and fired.

  ***

  ‘What did you do? What did you DO!?’ Fran screamed at the top of her voice. Megan and James grabbed her by the elbows, as she threw herself at Helen. ‘WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT DID YOU DO?’ Helen backed away, sobbing her heart out.

  ‘You have to keep your voice down,’ hushed Megan.

  ‘They will hear us,’ said James, looking towards the front of the shop.

  One or two infected had already entered through the smashed entranceway. The internal doors had been locked, which should keep them out. Fran dropped to her knees and knelt beside Sam’s dead body. They had dragged him out of the shop floor and placed a blanket over his body.

  ‘He tried to rape me,’ said Helen.

  ‘He wouldn’t do that.’

  ‘He did. I swear. I begged him to stop, but he was acting really insane.’

  ‘His
eyes are full of blood,’ said James.

  ‘NO!’ Fran growled the word. ‘He loves me. He only loves me. He wouldn’t be turned on by her.’

  Megan looked Helen up and down. Helen was hot. She could see the appeal.

  ‘Sam. Why did you do it, Sam?’ Fran hugged him tight, as she cried out her heart.

  ***

  The screams of the infected could be heard in the streets outside. Fran continued to sit beside Sam’s lifeless body, as James looked out through the delivery hatch window. The more he watched the infected, the less fear he was feeling. It was like watching animals in a zoo. They appeared to act on pure instinct. They attacked the non-infected with brutal effectiveness but fucked each other like horny bunnies. It was like sex and violence were all they existed for. Megan moved through the stockroom stuffing canned food into a backpack she found in the staffroom.

  ‘What are you doing?’ asked Helen, following her.

  ‘I am getting supplies.’

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘My aunt lives outside of the city. She has a farm. I can hold up there until we know what is happening.’

  ‘What is all this? Why did Sam try to kill me?’

  ‘It is a chemical weapon. That is what the government is saying.’

  ‘I didn’t want to hurt him. You have to believe me.’

  ‘I know. I have seen the kindest people I know do horrific things.’

  They walked in silence for a moment, as Megan loaded up her bag.

  ‘Can I come with you?’

  ‘Yes. We can all leave together,’ explained Megan.

  ‘When are you leaving?’

  ‘I am going now. I am not waiting here. It is too dangerous.’

  ‘I’m staying,’ said Fran, she had her back to them, but could hear the conversation.

  ‘I think that would be a bad idea.’

  ‘The army or someone will come and save us.’

  ‘You saw what they were doing to people on the bridge,’ said Megan.

  ‘I don’t know what I saw, but I will be staying here.’

  James walked up to the group. He looked at Megan and then down at his teacher. ‘I will stay too.’

  ‘Okay,’ nodded Megan. ‘I won’t force you to come with me.’

  ***

  The car sped through the streets with blistering pace. Blood and gore smeared the cracked windscreen. Megan wasn’t stopping for a second. If the infected stepped out then, she drove through them. It was clear. She wasn’t going to stop until she left the city.

  ‘Something isn’t right,’ said Megan.

  Her eyes scanned the skylight.

  The military helicopters were gone.

  Her eyes scanned the bridge, as she headed for the duel carriageway.

  The military trucks had pulled out. The barricade was gone.

  ‘What is that?’ Helen pointed up at the large plane heading over the city.

  ‘I don’t know. I don’t like the feel of this. I don’t like the feel of this at all.’

  ***

  ‘Put it away, Eddie,’ said Nicky, as he pressed the barrel of his gun into her ribs.

  ‘I won’t ask you a second time. Turn the plane around.’

  ‘If you do this then millions of people will die,’ she explained. ‘We have to stop the infection now.’

  ‘We are not killing innocent people. This is not what we do?’

  ‘Just look down there. These are not innocent people. They are monsters. They are not human now.’

  Eddie glanced at the window, which gave Nicky the small opening to slam her hand down on the release button. The nuclear bomb dropped from beneath the plane, gravity cradled the bomb in its palms and dragged it down towards the Earth. Unconsciously, Eddie pulled on the trigger and the gun kicked, blowing her insides over the plane’s control. Nicky grabbed the controls, as she spat blood. The plane lurched to the side and dipped down towards the city below. Eddie grabbed the controls, but Nicky was determined to take this fucker with her. The top levels of towering buildings came into view, as alarms filled the cockpit. ‘Let go you stupid fucking bitch!’

  ‘FUCK YOU,’ Nicky screamed as they flew straight into the upper floor of an office block.

  ***

  ‘You should have gone with them,’ mumbled Fran.

  ‘We are sticking together,’ replied James, offering her his hand.

  Fran smiled at the young boy in the school uniform.

  She placed her palm onto his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

  ‘You are a good boy. Thank you, James.’

  These were the last word either of them would ever hear again.

  ***

  The car skidded around a roundabout, preceded down a ramp and joined on to the motorway. There wasn’t a car to be seen for miles around. The engine revved as Megan forced the car to give them everything that it had. The military jet exploded in a glorious fashion in the background, as he took over the top several floors of an office block. Helen looked back at the object that had detached from the plane. A bright white light consumed the skyline. Helen flung herself back into her seat, shielding her eyes. The explosion was so loud that they could feel the vibrations through their very bones. A howling wind roared over the landscape incinerating everything that it touched. Death and destruction billowed up into the sky in the form of a mushroom cloud. Megan didn’t even dare look back at the tactical nuclear strike. The city was gone. In a blink of an eye, it had been wiped off the map. Millions of people were killed instantly. Dust and debris polluted the skyline, as the earth shook beneath the car. Megan kept her eyes forward. She was looking towards the open road. There was no going back now.

  ***

  Twenty-four hours later.

  ‘Is that the only one you have?’ asked Richie, as he stood at the shop counter. The doddery old shopkeeper licked his lips and looked at the tin of paint.

  ‘I might have something out the back. Give me a few minutes.’

  ‘More like a few hours,’ muttered Richie, under his breath. He had to get back to the house as soon as possible, or Jane was going to cut off his balls. He said he would finish the painting by the time she got home. A pregnant woman was not someone you wanted to piss off. Richie checked his watch and then walked over to the window. The sun was starting to set. It would be dark by the time the old fool got back out here. He shouldn’t have just bought the one paint tin and came back tomorrow. A battered car pulled up into a car parking space outside of the shop. Unconsciously, he found himself looking the two women up and down and then down and up again, as they stepped out of the car. One was a young lady in a white push up bra and black skirt. The other was a woman wearing a red mini-skirt and a tight white top, which showed off her abdomen and only just about covered his plump breasts. The naughty school girl outfit looked hot. Richie wasn’t aware of the moment he turned. Darkness swept over him. It was like he was being dragged backwards into a never ending pitch black cave. A horrific screamed escaped his lips, as blood poured from his eyes.

  The infection had spread.

  ***

  The End

  Note from Simon Smith-Wilson

  ***

  Thank you for reading my book. I really hope you enjoyed the story. Writing is a passion of mine, and I love coming up with new and interesting ideas. I like to ask questions and put characters in unique situations. I enjoy writing in a broad range of genres because this allows me to create different worlds, characters, and themes. I am very grateful that you took the time to read my book and please feel free to leave a review, as I love to know your thoughts on the story.

  All the best

  Simon Smith-Wilson

  Books by Simon Smith-Wilson

  ***

  (City of Sin Series)

  Five Days Notice

  Hand of God

  Last Tomorrow

  All those Yesterdays

  Blood for Blood

  (Prisoner 3-57 Series)

  Prisoner 3-57: G
host

  Prisoner 3-57: Nuke Town

  Prisoner 3-57: Phantom Soldier

  (Zombies Series)

  Zombies

  Zombies: Black Rock

  Zombies: Death Squad

  (Generation Series)

  Personal Apocalypse

  The Curse of Meredith Holmes

  Erasing Creation

  (Heroes of Magic Series)

  The Legend of the Hermit Master

  The Last Magic Dog

  Liquid Crystal

  Star Slayer

  (Novels)

  I Believe

  The Arrangement

  Killers

  Bridge to the Moon

  Attack of the Sprouts

  Winter is Coming

  (Short Stories)

  Princess Amber and the Unicorn Valley

  The Owl

  Before the Dawn

  Infection

  Prisoner 3-57: Ghost

  ***

  Prisoner 3-57 was convicted of murder on seven counts. For six years, he survived in one of the most brutal and dangerous prisons. He was forced to do things that even cold-hearted killers couldn’t bring themselves to do. He survived through a living hell. Six years and eighty-three days into his sentence the moon colony is attacked without warning. Prisoner 3-57 and a band of survivors are drawn into a galactic war game, spanning the entire multi-verse. It is kill or be killed. Answers are coming. Prisoner 3-57 will learn the shocking truth about his time in prison, and why his dead sister speaks to him. Nightmares from long ago return, as old wounds are ripped open. Prisoner 3-57: Ghost puts you in the centre of an action-packed, psychological, science fiction epic.

  Zombies

  ***

  A deadly evolution of the flu virus has changed the world. The dead don’t stay dead. The zombie apocalypse is here, but within the shadows of the decaying walkers are a new type of zombie. It is a zombie with a fully functioning mind. It is a zombie that retains its personality, memories, and thoughts. Bishop was bitten two hours into the mass outbreak, but he was soon reborn. He returned as one of the talking dead. The recruitment manager is now a one man killing machine as he sets out on a journey of hate and revenge. The hunt for his adulterous wife is on. Natasha will go to any lengths to survive, as this epic adventure of blood, gore and guts gets personal.