In 100 Days | Book 2

by Grenda, Brian

  Kaden checks the USB cord and both ends are plugged in. Kaden opens a folder on his laptop and clicks on a program inside the folder he just opened. A program starts on Kaden’s laptop, and Kaden says to himself, “I hope this program still works.”

  The program on Kaden’s laptop is running and it gets into the ACT system through the ACT breaker in the Sinclair’s garage.

  Kaden sees that the program is working, and he says quietly to himself, “Liam, you’re a genius.”

  A password prompt shows up on Kaden’s laptop and Kaden isn’t sure what to do as Kaden doesn’t know the password.

  Kaden remembers a password searching program that his friend Dillon made, and Kaden searches his laptop for that program.

  Kaden finds the program and he remembers Dillon telling him that it was a program that could be used to figure out passwords on very secure websites.

  Kaden smiles as he thinks about his friends Liam, Dillon, and Michelle, but he also thinks about using the hacking program that Dillon made and the moral dilemma with using it.

  “They killed my uncle, these fuckers are going to pay,” says Kaden to himself and then Kaden opens the hacking program that his friend Dillon made.

  After about five minutes, Dillon’s hacking program discovers the password and it’s entered into the ACT system and Kaden has access to the ACT system.

  Kaden sees a ton of folders in the ACT system and he notices a folder that has the house number of the Sinclair’s house and Kaden opens the folder.

  Kaden sees hundreds of files in the folder and he clicks on one randomly and he notices that the folder has video files inside it. Kaden clicks on a random video file and he sees a video file of him and Ashlyn talking on the sofa in their living room in their house at Fort Derrick.

  Kaden watches the video file, and he thinks about Ashlyn and he hopes that she is safe.

  Kaden hears Kyle and Kristina walking around inside the house and Kaden worries that he will get caught by Kyle and Kristina.

  Kyle opens the door that leads from the laundry room into the garage and Kyle sees Kaden doing pushups on the garage floor.

  “What are you doing in here?” asks Kyle to Kaden.

  Kaden gets up off the garage floor and answers, “Doing some pushups. I was thinking about going for a run around the neighborhood in a couple minutes.”

  Kyle looks at Kaden and he wonders what he was doing in the garage, but he does not see anything suspicious.

  “Just be careful,” replies Kyle to Kaden.

  “I will, I won’t leave the neighborhood,” responds Kaden.

  Kyle goes back into the house and he closes the door that leads into the laundry room.

  Kaden looks at his laptop and USB cord that he put under a carboard box and Kaden lets out a big exhale.

  Kaden goes into his room, puts his laptop and USB cord away, changes his clothes, and walks back down the stairs.

  “I’m going for a run!” shouts Kaden as he stands at the bottom of the stairs.

  “If you aren’t back in twenty minutes, I’m coming to look for you!” shouts Kristina from the master bedroom.

  “Okay, I’ll be back in fifteen!” shouts Kaden and then Kaden exits the house.

  Kaden looks at his smartwatch and he checks the time, his heart rate, blood pressure, and he turns on some music to play in his wireless earphones.

  Kaden starts jogging away from the house and down the sidewalk.

  It’s a nice afternoon and the sun is shining down on Kaden as he is running down the sidewalk. Kaden passes a couple homes and jogs across the street. Kaden notices that most of the homes and streets are empty of cars and the neighborhood is starting to feel like a ghost town.

  Kaden turns the corner, and he approaches a home to his right. The front door of the home to Kaden’s right is open, Kaden glances at the open front door, thinks nothing of it, and keeps jogging down the sidewalk.

  The song playing on Kaden’s earphones ends and Kaden hears a scream from inside a house to his left.

  Kaden looks around and he hears another scream.

  Adrenaline is pumping through Kaden. Kaden stops jogging and he thinks about where the scream came from.

  Suddenly a middle aged Caucasian woman comes running out of the house that is directly across the street from where Kaden is standing.

  The middle aged Caucasian woman is holding the right side of her neck with her left hand and Kaden sees that blood is all over the woman’s blue shirt, neck, and hand.

  The Caucasian woman falls onto her front yard and Kaden, without hesitation, runs over to the woman.

  “Please help my daughter, she’s inside,” says the Caucasian woman to Kaden.

  Kaden thinks about what to do. Should he run into the woman’s house or run back home and get help?

  Kaden hears the cry from a little girl in the house and he decides to run into the house. A sofa is turned over and there is blood on the sofa and floor when Kaden enters the house.

  “Someone help!” screams a little girl from the upstairs of the house that Kaden just entered.

  Kaden runs up the stairs and he sees a person banging on a closed door.

  “Hey!” shouts Kaden to the person that’s banging on the closed door.

  The person turns around and Kaden sees that the person banging on the door is a man and he’s a zombie.

  The male zombie moves away from the door that he was banging on and he staggers towards Kaden.

  Kaden looks into the male zombie’s eyes and he thinks about what to do next. Kaden checks his surroundings, and he doesn’t see anything that could be used as a weapon.

  The male zombie stumbles as he steps on the rug that’s in the center of the upstairs hallway.

  Kaden takes a small step backwards towards the top of the stairs and the male zombie is coming right for Kaden.

  Kaden checks his footing at the top of the stairs, and he tries to stay calm as he sees that the male zombie is coming right for him.

  The male zombie is about three feet away from Kaden and he lunges and reaches towards Kaden.

  Kaden dodges the male zombie’s lunge, and the male zombie tumbles down the stairs face forward and lands on the hardwood floor near the open front door.

  Kaden sees the male zombie lying face down and he smiles.

  Kaden notices the male zombie move and he realizes that he is not dead.

  “Gotta kill the brain,” says Kaden.

  Kaden sees an open bedroom door and he walks inside the open bedroom.

  The male zombie gets to his feet and he starts to walk back up the stairs.

  Kaden, from inside the bedroom, hears the male zombie slip as he staggers up the stairs, but it sounds like the male zombie is making his way back up the stairs.

  Kaden opens the bedroom closet, and he finds a large golf bag filled with a set of golf clubs. Kaden grabs a five iron out of the golf bag, and he exits the bedroom.

  The male zombie is just about to the top of the stairs and Kaden sees the male zombie coming for him again.

  “Just die already,” says Kaden to the male zombie and then Kaden swings back the five iron with both hands over his head and smashes the silver club face into the forehead of the male zombie.

  The golf club gets stuck in the male zombie’s skull and brain and the male zombie falls backwards back down the stairs.

  Kaden looks down the stairs to make sure that the zombie is dead this time, and he sees that the male zombie isn’t moving anymore as the golf club is stuck in the male zombie’s head between his skull and brain.

  Kaden hears a noise from the room that the little girl is in and he walks over to the closed door.

  “Are you okay in there?” asks Kaden as he stands outside of the closed door.

  “Is he gone?” asks the little girl to Kaden.

  Kaden tries to open the closed door, but the door is locked.

  “He’s gone. I took care of him,” says Kaden to the little girl.

  The sound of
vehicle doors opening and then closing is heard outside of the house that Kaden is in.

  Kaden hears the sounds outside of the house and then he hears people enter the house and someone shouts, “Is anyone alive in here?”

  “Up here!” shouts Kaden.

  “Are you hurt?” shouts a man as he starts walking up the stairs.

  “No, I’m not!” shouts Kaden.

  Kaden looks to his right and he sees a male soldier who is dressed in green fatigues and who is aiming an assault rifle at him.

  Kaden raises his arms and says, “I’m unarmed, but there is a little girl in this room.”

  The male soldier lowers his assault rifle and says into his radio, “I have two civilians on the second floor.”

  “Is anyone else up here?” asks the male soldier to Kaden.

  “I don’t know, I only know there is a little girl in this room,” answers Kaden.

  “Okay son let’s go downstairs,” replies the male soldier to Kaden.

  Kaden looks at the soldier’s green fatigues, his helmet, gear, and his rifle as he walks down the stairs with the male soldier.

  “There is a little girl in the first room to the left of the stairs, but I don’t know about the rest of the rooms up there,” says the male soldier to another male soldier as he walks down the stairs behind Kaden.

  “The first floor is clear, we’ll go check upstairs,” replies the male soldier to the male soldier that escorted Kaden downstairs.

  “What happened here?” asks the male soldier to Kaden as they stand inside the house near the open front door.

  Kaden sees two different soldiers place the Caucasian woman onto a stretcher and into a van.

  “What’s going to happen to that woman?” asks Kaden as he watches the van drive away from the house.

  Kaden gets a call over his smartwatch and he looks at the soldier.

  “Who’s calling you?” asks the male soldier to Kaden.

  Kaden sees that Kristina is calling him and Kaden answers the male soldier, “It’s my mom.”

  “You better answer that,” replies the male soldier to Kaden.

  Kaden answers Kristina’s call over his smartwatch and he tells her where he is and what happened.

  Kristina starts to freak out, and she tells him that she is coming there.

  Kaden looks at the soldier and he says, “My mom is coming here.”

  “So what happened here?” asks the male soldier to Kaden.

  Kaden notices the name badge on the soldiers left chest and Kaden answers the soldier, “Well Lynch, I was jogging, and I heard a scream and saw the woman that was just taken away in that van come running out of this house. I ran into the house and saw the male zombie upstairs and then the male zombie fell down the stairs and I killed it with a golf club.”

  “Please open the door Kelsie!” shouts a male soldier as he stands outside of the closed upstairs door.

  Lynch sees Kaden look up the stairs and Lynch says to Kaden, “Don’t worry son, they have it under control.”

  “I’m sure that little girl is scared,” says Kaden to Lynch.

  “My son is in there!” shouts Kristina to two soldiers that have stopped Kyle and Kristina from entering the house.

  Kaden exits the house, and he runs over to Kyle and Kristina.

  “Are you okay K?” asks Kyle to Kaden.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” answers Kaden.

  Kristina sees Lynch look at her from inside the house and Lynch says to the two soldiers that stopped Kyle and Kristina, “Let’s get this dead one out of here.”

  The two soldiers walk away from Kristina and Kyle and they walk into the house.

  “What happened?” asks Kyle to Kaden.

  Before Kaden can answer Kyle, the Sinclair’s hear Kelsie crying and screaming as a soldier carries her out of the house.

  “What are you doing to her?” shouts Kyle.

  Kaden sees Kelsie being carried out by the soldier and she is kicking, screaming, and crying as the male soldier is carrying her in front of his body with both hands.

  Kelsie kicks the soldier in his shin, and she is able to get away from the soldier’s grasp.

  “What the hell is going on out here McHale?” shouts Lynch as he exits the house and stands on the front porch.

  “Where is my mom?” asks Kelsie as she looks around her front yard.

  The Sinclair’s look at Kelsie and they don’t know what to say.

  “I’m going to need a pickup here in the neighborhood at 995,” says Lynch into his radio.

  “For how many?” asks the female voice over the radio to Lynch.

  “One civilian and one dead one,” answers Lynch into his radio.

  “Are they both dead?” asks the female voice over the radio to Lynch.

  “One is dead, and the other is alive,” answers Lynch into his radio.

  “Sending them out now. ETA of two minutes,” replies the female voice over the radio.

  Kristina and Kaden try to comfort Kelsie, but they aren’t sure how to comfort her.

  “Where is my mom?” asks Kelsie to Kristina and Kaden.

  Kyle looks around the street and at the nearby homes and he sees several people standing outside of their homes and looking at what is going on at house 995.

  An electric four door sedan and a military truck come driving down the street and both vehicles park in front of house 995.

  Two soldiers carry the dead male zombie out of the house and Kristina sees the dead male zombie.

  “Should we leave the golf club in his head?” asks a male soldier to Lynch.

  Kristina looks closer at the dead male zombie and she recognizes the man. It’s Emerson, the man that Kristina talked with in the truck when everyone got tested at Fort Derrick.

  Kristina glances at the dead body of Emerson and she notices some red marks and bruising around Emerson’s neck before the two soldiers place his dead body into the back of the military truck.

  Kyle gets a call on his smartwatch and he sees that it’s Dr. Smith.

  “Sweets, we need to go. It’s the doc calling me,” says Kyle to Kristina.

  Kristina doesn’t acknowledge Kyle as Kristina and Kaden watch a man dressed in a suit escort Kelsie into the back of the electric car.

  Kyle walks away from house 995 and answers Dr. Smith’s call.

  “Is it a bad time to talk?” asks Dr. Smith to Kyle over Kyle’s smartwatch.

  “Kind of, but what’s up?” asks Kyle into his smartwatch.

  “I’ve made some contact with that place we talked about and I’m heading over there tomorrow,” answers Dr. Smith over the smartwatch.

  “Are we coming with you?” asks Kyle to Dr. Smith into his smartwatch.

  “Not this time, but I’ll keep you posted about everything. I just wanted to keep you in the loop,” answers Dr. Smith.

  Dr. Smith hears the commotion that is happening around house 995 over Kyle’s smartwatch and Dr. Smith asks, “Where are you? Is everything okay?”

  Kyle sees the electric car and military truck drive away from house 995 and Kyle answers into his smartwatch, “There was a zombie in the neighborhood, but everything is okay now.”

  “Did they breach the walls?” asks Dr. Smith over the smartwatch.

  “I don’t think so, but I’ll look into it and let you know. Keep us posted what you find out with your trip,” answers Kyle into his smartwatch.

  Dr. Smith and Kyle end their call and Kyle walks back over to Kristina and Kaden who are talking with Lynch.

  “Someone may contact you about what happened here today with Kaden,” says Lynch to Kristina.

  “Why? He did nothing wrong,” replies Kristina to Lynch.

  “I know, and I know what Kaden told me, but there may be a further investigation with what happened here,” responds Lynch to Kristina.

  “How did the zombie get in here? Did the zombie get in here or did someone get killed inside here and turned?” asks Kyle to Lynch.

  “No way to tell just y
et, but we’ll be looking into every angle of this,” answers Lynch.

  Kristina, Kyle, and Kaden walk down the sidewalk away from house 995 and Kristina sees a man standing in a driveway across the street from where Kristina, Kyle, and Kaden are walking.

  The man that Kristina saw standing across the street looks at Kyle, Kristina, and Kaden.

  Kristina, while walking behind Kyle and Kaden, recognizes the man that is standing across the street and she remembers talking with that man while she was in line to get tested at Fort Derrick and she remembers that he told her that he thinks Emerson killed his family and that Emerson lives in house 991.

  The man that is standing across the street makes eye contact with Kristina and Kristina feels like the man is giving her a distrusting look.

  Kristina looks away from the man and she sees the house 991 to her left and she stops walking.

  Kaden and Kyle see that Kristina stopped walking and Kyle asks Kristina if everything is okay.

  Kaden looks at the front of house 991 and he notices that house 991 is the house that had the front door open during his jog.

  “What’s up Sweets?” asks Kyle to Kristina.

  Kristina, while looking at the open front door of house 991, answers Kyle, “I think that dead zombie lived here.”

  “How do you know?” asks Kyle as he walks over to Kristina.

  “When we went to get tested, I met this guy named Emerson when we were in the truck,” answers Kristina.

  “The dead zombie was Emerson?” asks Kaden.

  “Yeah, I think so,” answers Kristina.

  “Suicide?” asks Kyle to Kristina.

  “Maybe, but I don’t want you running in the neighborhood anymore K,” answers Kristina.

  As Kristina starts to walk away from house 991 with Kyle and Kaden, she glances back across the street, and she sees the man that told her about Emerson possibly killing his family go into the house that is directly across the street from house 991.

  CHAPTER 16

  DAY 65

  “What did you find at that house?” asks Kyle to Kristina as they sit on their back patio.

  “Not much, it looked to be cleaned recently,” answers Kristina.