He kept looking up into the trees, hoping to see what he couldn’t hear. Once, he thought he saw something moving, but it was simply part of the canopy, blowing in the wind. Buck wished he had kept up with his pack and his books. He could thumb through and find out what kind of animals to expect and what to look for; but, somewhere along the way, it had gotten left behind.
As he continued along the creek bank, he felt a tremor in the ground. Similar to what he felt the night before, but different. This didn’t feel like it came from deep in the earth…this felt like it came across the top of the ground. Almost like the ground moved. Buck stopped and looked around. Surely, if there had been any birds in the area, they would have taken flight.
Then it happened. The earth shifted violently. It heaved and rippled as a sound, unlike anything he had ever heard before, violently blew the treetops to the side like a giant sneeze. The action knocked him to his knees and he fell, rolling down the steep embankment and into the creek.
Buck hit the water, and the briskness of it took his breath away. He immediately shot his legs under him to gain purchase, only to realize that the water was much deeper than he would have guessed. The current was stronger than he thought, and he could only guess that the steeper hill he had been climbing had caused the water to increase in speed.
It swept his feet out from under him and carried him farther from his intended destination. Buck fought to keep his head above water and the swirling currents kept pulling him back towards the middle of the running waters. He bobbed to the surface, gulped a mouthful of air, and was swallowed by the water once more. As he came up again for air, he felt his hope vanish when he saw the same hillside with the station pass by…rapidly. He had no idea that the waters were that deep or moving that rapidly.
Buck continued to fight the currents as they carried him farther and farther away, eventually depositing him along the bank, soaked, exhausted, and chilled to the bone. Buck pulled himself half out of the water and lay in the mud, wondering what in the world had just happened.
Again.
* * *
*****
* * *
“I’m not signing a non-disclosure statement,” Candy said. “You saw what they were going to do to those people!”
“Shh!” Hatcher held a finger to his lips. “Look, I don’t disagree with you, I’m just telling you what liver lips told me.”
“Well, I’m not going to do it.” She pulled Skeeter closer.
“I don’t think I will, either,” Hatcher said, thinking of Shelly. “Which means, we need to get the hell out of here.”
Candy sat down and pulled Skeeter next to her. “How are we supposed to do that?”
“We steal a car. Or a truck. Or…”
“If you say a helicopter, then I’ll sign the damned paper.” Candy’s mouth pulled into a tight line. “I doubt you can fly one of those things.”
Hatcher threw her a go-to-hell look. “We get out of here. We just need some kind of distraction.”
“I guess you could shoot old liver lips,” Candy said dryly.
Hatcher chose to ignore her. “Or we could wait for them to start going in after the bombing. Maybe afterward, they’ll be so busy they won’t notice?”
“I’m sure they’ll be wanting to use all of their cars and trucks and other vehicles. You know, to transport all of the survivors.”
The ground shook slightly and Hatcher and Candy’s eyes met. Skeeter pulled away and whimpered Buck’s name. Hatcher stepped out of the tent they were in and looked in the direction of the ranger station. Off to the side, he could see a column of dirt rising into the air. A cheer went up from the majority of the military troops and Hatcher turned to Candy. “I think we may have found our distraction.”
“We’d better be quick about it then.”
The three of them snuck out of the tent and headed back toward the road where the majority of vehicles were parked. Staying low, Hatcher went from vehicle to vehicle looking for something that might be easy to steal. “None of them have keys.”
“They’re military vehicles, Hatch. They don’t use keys.”
“They don’t?” Hatcher gave her a stupid look.
“The heavy-duty ones don’t,” Candy said. “At least, that’s what my brother said.” She pulled him farther down the line. “But we want something fast and nimble.”
She pulled him to a camouflaged Suburban. “Check this one.” She pulled Skeeter aside. Hatcher opened the door and checked.
“Bingo,” he whispered.
Candy opened the back door and scooted Skeeter in, then climbed into the front passenger seat. “Why were you whispering?”
Hatcher shrugged. “I don’t know.” He turned the key and brought the big V-8 to life. He pulled the transmission lever to DRIVE and floored it, throwing gravel as he pulled the huge truck out onto the road and driving away from the staging area. “It just seemed like the thing to do when stealing a car.”
Candy laughed as she craned her neck to look behind them. She couldn’t see much through the dust of the dirt road. She finally relaxed a bit and settled into the seat. “Just take me home, James.”
“The further the better.”
* * *
*****
* * *
Vickers and Dr. LaRue were walking quickly toward the helicopter landing area when a young lieutenant approached. “Colonel!” he called. “Somebody just took one of the Suburbans without proper access. Should we pursue, sir?”
Vickers paused and thought for a moment. He chuckled and shook his head. “Fucking Ranger Rick and the cow.”
“Sir?” the young officer asked.
“Never mind, lieutenant. Negative. Just continue with the OP as planned,” Vickers said. “I have to escort Dr. LaRue to Washington on a matter of national security. Major Chappell is now in charge.”
The young officer snapped a salute that Vickers ignored. He quickly boarded the chopper with Dr. LaRue and took off away from the dust and vapor cloud.
* * *
*****
* * *
The large flat screen mounted to the wall displayed all of the carnage taking place up and down the West Coast. People running rampant in the streets, fires burning out of control, planes falling from the skies, emergency services shut down, the West Coast was in ruins.
The talking heads were doing their best to keep up with the horrible accounts. “From Vancouver Island to Baja, California, the number of people infected with the blood borne pathogen now called the ‘rage virus’ by internet bloggers and gamers has been estimated to have surpassed the thirty million mark—”
Click.
“Mexico has sealed its borders and the drug cartels have joined forces with—”
Click.
“South America is now feeling the full effects of the ‘rage virus’ as travelers from the north try in vain to escape—”
Click.
“The European Union has declared a state of emergency and suspended all air travel until—”
Click.
The screen went black as the tall gentleman sighed and rocked in his high-backed leather chair. With a sigh he set down the remote and poured another glass of scotch. A side door opened to the office and a man entered in a rumpled three-piece suit. “Sir? It’s time.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir.” He pulls a memo from a briefcase. “It’s official. The virus has spread across the country, sir. It’s not just on the West Coast any longer. The Eastern Seaboard is infected.”
“Good heavens,” the gentleman sighed as he set the scotch down.
“Mr. President, we need to get you to a secure location.”
“Is any place secure now?”
“Yes, sir. We have several,” the aid replied. “And we have an expert standing by to advise you on this epidemic, sir.”
“An expert? Who the hell could be an expert on something like this?”
“He’s a colonel from Fort Collins, sir. The militar
y attaché for the CDC’s New Vector-Borne Infectious Disease Laboratory,” the aide said. “His name is Vickers.”
* * *
To Be Continued in “Return to Yellowstone”
Caldera The Series
For years, the biggest threat that Yellowstone was thought to offer was in the form of its semi-dormant super volcano. Little did anyone realize the threat was real and slowly working its way to the surface, but not in the form of magma. Lying deep within the bowels of the earth itself, an ancient virus waited.
Recently credited with the extinction of Neanderthal man, the virus erupts into a crowded Yellowstone. The park is packed with sight seers and party goers during a benefit concert who are all now fodder for the ancient rage virus.
Follow along as Park Rangers and local Sheriff’s find themselves overwhelmed with a park full of infected human cannibals.
Recently credited with wiping out the Neanderthals, an ancient virus is released within Yellowstone National Park and quickly spreads. A desperate plea for assistance reaches the military, but are they coming to help those battling for their lives or to wipe out every living thing in an effort to prevent a second mass extinction?
Follow along with a select group of individuals as they fight for survival. Can they avoid the infected? Can they evade the military called in to help? Can they trust each other?
Will humanity survive the raging cannibals that erupt from within?
Months after an ancient rage virus erupts from the depths of Yellowstone, survivors find themselves scattered. Clinging to life in clusters, hiding from the infected and scavenging from the remnants of humanity, life has evolved to mere survival.
The United States government has attempted to reestablish itself in the last safe place on earth…an offshore flotilla of naval vessels. The last of the CDC’s disease researchers work tirelessly to find a cure, but the virus keeps mutating. They need the original strain from Yellowstone.
Only one man knows the park well enough to escort the military to the source of the virus. Daniel Hatcher is called upon once more to face the threat of Yellowstone. Follow along as they try to survive ground zero.
Months after an ancient rage virus erupts from the depths of Yellowstone, survivors find themselves battling not only the infected, but each other. Predators prey on the weak and strength comes only in numbers.
Government researchers are working tirelessly to find a cure, but time is running out. Over 90% of the world’s population is dead or infected and the number climbs daily.
Follow a select group of survivors as they fight to carve out an existence while defending themselves from rage fueled cannibals and roving bands of marauders.
About the Author
Heath Stallcup was born in Salinas, California and relocated to Tupelo, Oklahoma in his tween years. He joined the US Navy and was stationed in Charleston, SC and Bangor, WA shortly after junior college. After his second tour he attended East Central University where he obtained BS degrees in Biology and Chemistry. He then served ten years with the State of Oklahoma as a Compliance and Enforcement Officer while moonlighting nights and weekends with his local Sheriff's Office. He still lives in the small township of Tupelo, Oklahoma with his wife and three of his seven children. He steals time to write between household duties, going to ballgames, being a grandfather to five and being the pet of numerous animals that have taken over his home. Visit him at heathstallcup.com or Facebook.com for news of his upcoming releases.
From the desk of Heath Stallcup
A personal note-
Thank you so much for investing your time in reading my story. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment and leave a review. I realize that it may be an inconvenience, but reviews mean the world to authors…
Also, I love hearing from my readers. You can reach me at my blog: http://heathstallcup.com/ or via email at [email protected]
Feel free to check out my Facebook page for information on upcoming releases: https://www.facebook.com/heathstallcup find me on Twitter at @HeathStallcup, Goodreads or via my Author Page at Amazon.
Also by Heath Stallcup
My stories so far: The Monster Squad Series
The first saga:
* * *
Humanity has spent its time enjoying a peace that can only be had through blissful ignorance. For centuries, stories of things that go “bump” in the night have been passed down and shared. When creatures of the night proved to be real, the best of America’s military came together to form an elite band of rapid response teams. Their mission: to keep the civilian populace safe from those threats and hide all evidence of their existence.
This time, they face the largest threat ever to rise against mankind as it prepares its own twisted Apocalypse. The only thing standing in its way is the Monster Squad. Man and monster will fight side by side in an epic battle to the death to try to defeat an evil so great, it could only have been created by the hand of God Himself.
The second saga:
* * *
An ancient evil is awakened by a naïve pawn. Planned centuries in advance by fallen angels, the reign of Lilith is put into motion. With a legion of demons at her command, she plans to enact her revenge upon the world’s largest religious group before thrusting herself center stage and taking her seat upon the throne as Queen of the World.
With threats coming at them from every angle, the Monster Squad turns to an ex-member to form a new team—a team made up of the most unlikely warriors to hunt down and face the Demon Queen.
However, when it comes time to remove the Queen in this grand game of chess, will they be able to sacrifice their own game pieces to do it?
Caldera Trilogy
* * *
For years, the biggest threat Yellowstone was thought to offer was in the form of its semi-dormant super volcano. Little did anyone realize the threat was real and slowly working its way to the surface, but not in the form of magma. Lying deep within the bowels of the earth itself, an ancient virus waited.
Recently credited with wiping out the Neanderthals, the virus is released within the park and quickly spreads. A desperate plea for assistance reaches the military, but are they coming to help those battling for their lives or to wipe out every living thing in an effort to prevent a second mass extinction? Can humanity survive the raging cannibals that erupt from within?
Whispers Trilogy
* * *
How does a sheriff’s department from a small North Texas community stop a brutal murderer who is already dead and buried?
When grave robbers disturb the tomb of Sheriff James ‘Two Guns’ Tolbert searching for Old West relics, a vengeful spirit is unleashed, hell bent for blood. Over a hundred years in the making, a vengeful spirit hunts for its killers. If those responsible couldn't be made to pay, then their progeny would.
Even when aided by a Texas Ranger and UCLA Paranormal Investigators, can modern-day law enforcement stop a spirit destined to fulfill an oath made in death? An oath fueled by passion from a love cut down before its time?
Forneus Corson
* * *
Nothing comes easy and nothing is ever truly free. When Steve Wilson stumbles upon the best-kept secret of history’s most successful writers, he can’t help but take advantage of it. Little did he know it would come back to haunt him in ways he’d never have dreamt… even in his worst nightmares.
With his life turned upside down, his name discredited, his friends persecuted, the authorities chasing him for something he didn’t do, Steve finds himself on the run with nothing but his wits and his best friend by his side. When a man finds himself hitting rock bottom, he thinks there’s little else he can do but go up… unless he’s facing an evil willing to dig the hole deeper. An evil in the business of pitting men against odds so great, they risk losing their very souls in the attempt to escape…
Mind Trip
* * *
These are just some of the dark and twisted ideas that have run through the mind of Heath St
allcup over the years. Join him in a journey to the darker side of short story fiction. Mobsters intent on ruling the world reveals that sometimes you just can’t go home. The release of a zombie virus and the ramifications of trying to hide it. Sometimes reality isn’t what you think it is. Those noises in the attic may not be rats… Dwelling on the past can be introspective but refusing to let go will skew your reality. You know you are about to die. You want nothing more than to protect your loved ones. In a fever induced delirium you lead the threat away from those you care most about.Hunter Trilogy
* * *
Born of Viking stock, careered into the Swedish Navy, Sven Ericsson finds himself in the fabled New World. Away from the restraints of society, the young Northman is dragged into long nights of debauchery; nights that lead him into the waiting arms of a dark beauty who will change his very nature forever. Fighting his new unnatural status, Sven steers clear of humanity, skulking along the fringe of society, and filling his inhuman need with the blood of the outcasts or the easily forgotten. A shadow among the shadows...until extraordinary events, centuries later, force him to emerge from the dark. A mishap of his own making pits Sven Ericsson into a moral quandary that will remind him what it means to be a warrior. He is a killer. A fighter.
Caldera Book 2: Out Of The Fire Page 21