[Bonus Material: Black Jackal Prequel]
The world was as it had always been, everyday life went on and the outside world was oblivious to the plague that would change the face of the world forever…the date was August 9, 2000 and life was normal for Beau & Tiffany Lewis and their six-year old daughter Katie. Beau got up that Wednesday morning and walked out to get the paper; he was preoccupied as he usually was not paying attention to anything but his morning cup of coffee and the sports section of the paper he had just picked up when he suddenly bumped into a tall stranger dressed in black who was standing on the concrete walkway to his house.
“You wanna get outta my way buddy?” Beau stated in an irritated tone as he glared up at the stranger.
“Darkness is ascending on you—all of you—the Day of Reckoning is upon you and you still go about your daily routine…pathetic.” The stranger stated in a cold tone as he stood in Beau’s path to the front door.
“I said get the fuck outta my way!” Beau shouted angrily pushing past the stranger and up the steps.
“What’s going on out here honey?” Tiffany asked as she opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch with a worried look on her face.
“This guy—he…”
“What guy?” Tiffany asked cutting in before he could finish.
Beau turned and looked where the stranger had been standing only to find that he had vanished—into thin air.
“Are you feeling okay baby?” Tiffany asked in a concerned tone as she put her right hand on his forehead.
“I’m fine babe…” Beau answered quickly changing the subject.
“Well, we’ve both got to be at work in an hour and I promised Katie that she could go over to her friend Michael’s house and stay till Saturday.” Tiffany stated as she opened the front door and brought out Katie—who was dressed in her overnight outfit.
“Okay, I’ll see you tonight after work.” Beau stated briefly kissing Tiffany and then Katie on her cheek.
He watched as the two of them left in Tiffany’s small red corvette before heading back into the house. He still couldn’t get the mysterious stranger off his mind—who was he? He started getting ready in his and his wife’s bedroom before turning on the bedroom television to watch the news as he dressed.
“Spokesman for the CDC in Atlanta said this morning that there’s really no reason for citizens around the areas of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania to worry; it seems there was some sort of incident a few weeks ago that has local authorities baffled; this is what the spokesman for the CDC had to say.” The reporter said as it switched over to a scene of a man in a suit standing in front of a podium with press and others all around him.
“Despite what you all may have heard, the incident that took place near Wilkes-Barre a few weeks ago is nothing more than an isolated one; a few people were infected, but those persons have been taken to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta for observation.” The spokesman stated calmly.
“What about the rumors flying around about strange ‘creatures’ appearing in the outlying towns near both cities?” A female reporter shouted as there was a surge of bright flashes from cameras.
“Those are nothing more than rumors I am afraid; little more than the wild imaginations of a few people.” The spokesman answered laughing slightly.
There were more questions, but the spokesman excused himself and the report ended. Beau turned off the television and went out to his car to head into work; it was gonna be another boring day at the army surplus store in Little Rock where he worked as a clerk. Traveling along the interstate to get to his work he listened to some hard rock and bobbed his head up and down as he went; that is until it was interrupted by another news broadcast.
“Damn it…this shit must really be big!” Beau said to himself in an annoyed tone as he turned off the radio and took an off ramp to get to his work—which was just a few blocks away.
He parked his car and went inside—Harold Schuck was the other clerk he worked with and he was at the register talking to a customer when Beau walked in.
“Yeah man, I want something that’s gonna protect me and my girlfriend—ya know? All this shit flyin’ ‘round about a zombies apocalypse and shit…” The customer stated as Harold handed him a sawn-off shotgun he was apparently purchasing.
“Well, this is one of the best shotguns we have in stock—have you decided on what you’re going to buy?” Harold asked in a tone that suggested he thought the customer was an idiot.
“Yeah dude—I’ll take this baby along with three boxes of shells.” The customer answered as he took out his wallet and paid for the items.
Beau listened to the idle chatter a few more seconds and then went into the back room where the lounge was located. He walked over next to the back window and looked out—he just about jumped—there standing about ten feet away staring straight at him was the mysterious man from earlier that morning. He started for the back door, but when he opened it the stranger was nowhere in sight—he had once again vanished into thin air.
“What the fucking hell is going on around here?” Beau said aloud as he looked around the vacant alley that stretched from the back of the store to the rear street.
He was brought out of his thoughts as a gunshot rang out from somewhere nearby; he raced back into the store as more shots rang out—the store was being robbed. He came face to face with a masked man who had a large caliber handgun pointed in Harold’s face—the young man who had been buying the shotgun minutes before lay off to the side on the floor in a pool of blood; the gunman startled, turned and fired hitting Beau in the left shoulder knocking him through the front window and out into the street where he was hit by a passing car that slammed on their breaks once again knocking Beau to the street. The gunman fired another shot into Harold’s chest killing him before grabbing a cloth bag from the counter that was full of the money from the register; he then fled out the back. Once the police and paramedics got to the scene, Beau Lewis was taken to the local hospital in downtown Little Rock while Harold and the young man inside the store were pronounced dead. Tiffany was called at her work not long after and she arrived outside the waiting room and paced back and forth for at least thirty minutes before the doctor arrived to give her the verdict on Beau’s condition.
“Mrs. Lewis?” The doctor asked as he removed the green mask from his face and held a clipboard with his other hand.
“Yes?” Tiffany asked rushing over to him anxious to hear of her husband’s condition.
“Your husband has lost a lot of blood and he’s sustained a dislocated shoulder and three broken ribs—but he should recover. I’ll go ahead and let you see him, and then it’ll be your choice on whether or not you want to spend the night with him tonight.” The doctor stated.
“How long is he going to be here?” Tiffany asked looking around with worry.
“We’ll have to keep him here overnight, why do you ask?” The doctor answered.
“Well, my daughter Katie—I’m not sure how long she should be kept away from us—she’s with a friend right now.” Tiffany answered.
“I understand, if you want to give your daughter a call, feel free—we’ll see how your husband is feeling in the morning and we’ll determine whether or not he can go home.” The doctor answered.
Tiffany went into the room where Beau was lying in a hospital bed with the IV hooked up to him as well as having the cuts and scrapes bandaged up; she sat down next to him and started asking him how he was even though he was out of it due to the medication. That’s when two men entered the room wearing rain jackets over somewhat snappy looking suits.
“Mrs. Lewis—I’m Agent Conway, this is Agent Rogers—FBI…we’d just like to ask you and your husband some questions about the incident.” The first man stated.
“Well…I don’t really know much, and my husband is out cold due to the medi
cation…all I know is what I was told over the phone before I came here; he was shot by an armed gunman at the army surplus store where he works.” Tiffany answered as she got to her feet.
“Mrs. Lewis—has there been any strange people hanging around your house as of late?” Agent Rogers asked abruptly.
“Well…come to think of it my husband said he spoke with a strange man dressed in black this morning when he was outside in our yard—I didn’t see this man, he mysteriously vanished by the time I came outside; Beau was very agitated though, so I know he didn’t make it up.” Tiffany answered with a hint of worry in her voice.
“I see…if you see anyone you find suspicious hanging around, please notify us—here’s my card.” Agent Conway stated handing Tiffany a paper card with his name and information on it before the two of them left the room.
Once outside in the hall, Agent Conway turned to Agent Rogers.
“It indeed sounds like Bowman, but what could he be doing in Little Rock—and why is he bothering one man and his family?” Agent Conway asked in a low voice.
“I don’t know, but we better report this sighting—it’s possible that this could be connected to the Cobb Incident as well as the incident in Wilkes-Barre.” Agent Rogers stated before the both of them started down the hall and disappeared into an elevator.
Hours later the two agents were sitting in their Chevy Suburban stuck in a traffic jam on the interstate just outside of Little Rock; there appeared to be a bad wreck somewhere up ahead.
“This is Agent Rogers—we’re sitting on interstate 40 in some sort of traffic jam…any word on what’s going on up there?” Agent Rogers stated over the CB radio.
“Reports at this time are skeptic, but it seems there was some sort of chemical spill up ahead…” A female voice answered on the other end of the radio.
“Damn it—looks like we’re gonna be sitting here for a while until they get whatever mess is up ahead cleaned up.” Agent Conway stated in an aggravated tone.
Several more minutes passed and the two agents were about to turn around and find a side street when suddenly the sounds of explosions and screaming rang out from the roadway ahead; they both got out of the vehicle and ran ahead toward the fires which could be seen burning out of control—drawing their weapons they raced forward around a thick cloud of black smoke that was coming off a fuel fire and stopped dead in their tracks at the sight that was before them. People were attacking other people along the sides of the roadway and the two agents looked on in disbelief as those same people tore into their victims’ flesh eating it like rabid, wild animals.
“Freeze!”
“Don’t come any fucking closer!” Agent Conway shouted as he pointed his revolver at what looked like a male commuter who was covered with traces of blood.
The man screamed an almost inhuman scream and the two agents opened fire on him with their weapons—their screams could be heard over a mile away as a surge of the same creatures plowed through the area heading toward the city of Little Rock. The next morning came quickly and Tiffany woke to the phone ringing beside of the bed, she brushed the hair out of her eyes and picked up the receiver putting it to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Hello—Mrs. Lewis?” A female voice asked on the other end.
“Yes, this is Mrs. Lewis…what can I do for you?” Tiffany asked sitting up in bed.
“Your husband is ready to come home; his injuries have stabilized enough to allow him to be discharged—we’re swamped with a lot of injuries at the moment so the sooner you can come get him the better.” The female voice answered.
“I’ll be there shortly.” Tiffany answered as she hung up the phone getting out of bed to get dressed.
Driving into the city fifteen minutes later she soon after arrived at the hospital and picked up Beau who seemed to be awake and aware of what was going on—as they were leaving Tiffany couldn’t help but notice that the people inside of the hospital seemed to be in a regular state of hysteria; the trip home they both noticed large numbers of police out and about as well as what looked like National Guard and CDC officials—there were some streets and areas of the city that were blocked off entirely. She got Beau back home and dropped him off at the house before leaving again to go pick up Katie from Michael’s house and she had no more gotten into town again and was stopping at an intersection when she came upon an overturned car and a wrecked ambulance—getting out of her car she ran forward looking for possible survivors and that was when she spotted the body of a person lying in the road, blood was everywhere and she couldn’t tell if the person was alive or dead; she knelt down over the body seconds later and started examining it when suddenly the person reared up biting into Tiffany’s right arm causing her to scream out in pain as she watched the person’s teeth tear away a large chunk of her flesh. The person started to get up off the pavement but Tiffany fought them off and returned to her car speeding away from the scene, wrapping a tissue paper around her wound to stop the bleeding she continued on to her daughter’s location; it took her around fifteen minutes to reach Michael’s house where she was soon after approached by his mother.
“Excuse me, Tiffany?” The woman asked with a warm smile.
“Yes?” Tiffany asked not really being able to focus too well.
Tiffany felt like she was starting to run a fever and it was hard for her to concentrate on what the woman was saying.
“Can you please take my son with you over to your house and watch him for a few hours?”
“My husband has to be in Oklahoma City at the hospital—seems there are a lot of hurt people flooding into the area.” The woman stated with the same warm smile.
“Yeah—sure.” Tiffany answered as she waited until Katie and Michael got into the backseat of her corvette.
The woman waved at her son and then them as Tiffany pulled away and it didn’t take long for her to get back to her house where she shortly after went in to check on Beau who appeared to be doing well as he was back on his feet; Tiffany felt of her forehead noticing that it was very hot—she was running a fever. She lay down on the sofa for a while hoping to get to feeling better as Katie and Michael went outside to play—minutes had only passed when the kids playing outside suddenly caught sight of a strange acting dog that they had seen around the neighborhood before; Katie whistled and made kissing sounds at the animal but it growled and started toward them grabbing hold of Katie’s arm with its teeth. Beau heard their cries of fear and he stepped out onto the porch with his .30-30 rifle and fired at the dog hitting it in the chest, only seconds later the dog got back up and charged at Michael at blinding speed jumping up and tearing into his jugular vein with its teeth—Michael seeing his own blood spurt out collapsed to the grass as Katie screamed for Beau to help them; Beau still not believing that his first bullet had not killed the animal aimed at it again and fired this time hitting it in the head. The animal was sent flying backward into the nearby fence where it lay motionless as it made a large puddle of blood in the grass, shortly afterward Beau roused Tiffany getting her, Katie and Michael all into her red corvette—getting behind the wheel he started the engine and sped out of their driveway heading toward the hospital; they were about halfway there when a news report suddenly came on over the radio.
“This is the emergency broadcast system reporting on the situation in downtown Little Rock—the hospital there has been lost, it’s being overrun by these…these creatures that attack and devour the flesh of anyone they come into contact with; stay away from the Little Rock hospital and get the hell out of the city—I repeat—stay away from the hospital!” The news reporter over the radio shouted.
“Well—I’ve got to take them somewhere…maybe we can sneak into the back door or something.” Beau said to himself as he continued driving.
He got there shortly afterward and seen just what the emergency broadcast had been talking about—these things were
all over the place and they were attacking, killing and eating their victims; Beau had to look away as he turned their car around and headed for the interstate that would lead them to Oklahoma City—he knew that he had to get his family help or else they would die. They had passed the ten-mile marker along the interstate when Tiffany suddenly sat up and insisted on driving.
“You don’t seem like you’re up to driving, baby—just relax and I’ll get us there.” Beau protested as she got out and stumbled over to his side of the car.
“No—I’m responsible for Michael and I’ll get us to the hospital in Oklahoma City; his parents are already there.” Tiffany stated as she opened the driver’s side door and waited as Beau slowly got out and walked around to the passenger side getting back into the car.
She started driving and all seemed to be going okay until they had gotten around 22 miles away from Little Rock when Tiffany suddenly passed out at the wheel quickly losing control of the car crashing headlong into a ditch; Beau hadn’t been wearing his seat belt and he flew through the windshield landing at least 15 feet out in the dirt of a nearby field—it took him several long minutes to regain his composure due to the force of flying through the windshield and the impact of landing out on the ground as well as his own injuries which hadn’t healed yet. He managed to hobble over to Tiffany’s side of the car and he opened the door with some trouble to check on her but that was when she raised up snarling at him with pasty, white eyes and blood running out of her mouth—she couldn’t get to him at the moment due to her seat belt restraining her and he glanced at his daughter Katie and Michael in the back seat and they had become the same way; knowing that he had to flee he slammed the door shut and ran for it away from his doomed family. Days later Beau managed to make it back to his house where he had lived with his family—he had luckily been able to evade the creatures that had turned the city and the surrounding countryside into a nightmare and there was no doubt in his mind now that the earlier reports of a impending zombie apocalypse were very true; he barricaded himself inside of the house and soon after sank into a deep depression—flashbacks of his wife Tiffany and their daughter Katie would go through his mind as he sat there against the bedroom wall with the bottle of vodka in his hands and he seemed to just set there lost in thought for days and it wasn’t until the third day had passed since his arrival back home that he seemed to snap out of his depression and come to terms with where he was, what had happened and what he needed to do in order to survive.
[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles Page 99