by Kadin, Karri
After the Outbreak
Karri Kadin
Wicked Tales Press, LLC
Copyright © 2020 by Wicked Tales Press, LLC
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2020
ISBN 978-1-7349399-0-3
Wicked Tales Press, LLC
PO Box 503
Newalla, Oklahoma 74857
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Cover design by www.brokencandlebookdesigns.com
Edited by Nathan Winfrey
www.nathanwinfrey.com
Thank you to my wonderful critique group, Write Club, and my family for all of your support. This book wouldn’t exist without you.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Afterword
About the Author
Chapter One
Allison
Blood-curdling screams cut through the upbeat dance music like a hunter’s skinning knife slicing through flesh. Allison bolted upright. Tortured cries propelled the hair on the back of her neck to attention. The shock to her sleep-fogged mind caused her to roll off the log onto the damp, leaf-covered ground. What the hell is happening? Overhead, colorful lights danced across the dark treetops in beat with the music. I’m at the Beta Nu Fall Bash with Gabby. The party was obscured from Allison’s view, but between the horrific shrieks and cries for help she knew a nightmare was unfolding only a few yards away.
She pressed to the ground, body stiff and flat. The bark dug into her, leaving snake-skin impressions in her arm, as she pushed her slender frame against the log. Her mind raced with the potential scenarios unfolding on the other side. Are there gunmen? The music blared, spotted with cries of agony like a soundtrack in a horror movie. No gunshots. Car tires spinning, stuck in the thick mud, added to the flurry of noises surrounding her. Animal attack? Screams, crashes, and the roar of multiple engines echoed through the trees. No animal sounds. Allison reached out for her purse on the ground in front of her, barely snagging the strap with her fingertips as she inched it closer.
The crash of metal falling onto the forest floor brought a sudden end to the music. Without it to muffle the sounds, the cries of death and torture echoed through the trees. Shouts for help, howls of pain, and whimpers of surrender engulfed her. Her stomach rolled as the feeling of one thousand June bugs trying to escape her belly at once rushed over her in a wave. She pressed her face into her arm as her body convulsed in a gag.
“Please, please don’t kill me!” a man cried. “Stop, just stop!” A deep human-like snarl answered the man’s plea, followed by a thud, the rip of fabric, then the slurry of well-sauced spaghetti noodles plopping onto the ground. The man stopped screaming, but distant shouts continued as the sweet metallic stench of blood filled her nostrils.
Allison’s skin tingled as goosebumps raced down her spine, sending her body into an irrepressible shiver. I don’t want to die here. She had to do something, so she opened her purse to retrieve her phone. She dug through it with shaking hands, dumping her treasured MAC makeup and Gucci wallet into the mud. No phone. Shit! This is the day I forget my phone. Her breath quickened and shallowed. Her head swam in a haze of terror as the pulsing of her heart in her ears deafened out all surrounding noise.
She dropped her head to the ground and clutched at the mud, filling her fists with the wet earth. Her eyes closed as she took deep breaths in through her nose and blew them out of her mouth. Slow, steady breaths. She opened her eyes as she exhaled and focused her sight on a pebble pressed into the mud right in front of her. The whirling in her head subsided but her heart continued to race, banging against her chest wall like a wild animal in a cage. What do I do?
Mass violence situation. What do I do? Her mind raced back to the mandatory freshman class Violence Prevention and Response. The memory was a blur, clouded by craft beer. As the adrenaline flooded her system she realized she had three choices: flee, hide, or fight. She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to think. What do I do? She dug deeper into the memory pushing away the fog floating in her brain. Her eyes sprung open. She had it. First step, she needed to identify the threat. Here goes nothing. She took a deep breath, rose to a squat, and peered over the log.
The scene was mass chaos. By the crumbled DJ booth lay a man with a disheveled person bent over him, their hands inside the man’s abdomen scooping his guts out and bringing them to their lips. Bloody intestines lay in a heap on the ground near them with a few strands still clinging to the man’s torn belly. The man was covered in blood, eyes open, empty of life. His face was twisted in agony as his mouth hung open in a silent scream. His light blue shirt, ripped, stained a deep red; his left shoe missing. Allison’s stomach twisted with anguish. She brought her hands to her face, enclosing them tightly across her mouth as her body jerked with a gag. The acid burned her throat as it rose, trying to escape her lips. She swallowed hard, forcing it back.
What is happening? Where is Gabby? Fear pulsed through her body, clouding her thoughts and making her shiver. Her muscles trembled, wanting to run but unable to move her limbs.
The attacker looked up, face covered in bits of flesh as it scanned the fleeing crowd. Allison could now see the attacker was a woman. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair full of sticks and fallen leaves, her mouth full of bloody flesh from the man’s abdomen. The woman let out an alarming shriek, temporarily distracted from her meal. Allison upchucked all the beer she’d drank earlier, before the party had turned into a horror show, onto her strappy white sandals. Warm vomit seeped between her toes.
Wiping it from her mouth with her arm, Allison scanned the crowd for Gabby. People darted into the trees around the open meadow, which only a few minutes prior had been the dance floor for the biggest party of the semester, as others with blood dripping from their mouths gave chase. Red plastic cups and corpses littered the ground. Some had chunks of meat missing from their arms and legs, the wounds oozing into red puddles around the bodies. A group of frat boys bolted from the tree line making a run for the clearing where the cars were parked. Nick, Gabby’s date, was with them. Blood splattered across his polo shirt and chiseled face. But Gabby was nowhere in sight. Attackers poured from the woods causing the panicked frat brothers to separate, each running off in different directions. Allison lost sight of Nick in the fleeing crowd of drunk college students.
Allison looked toward the makeshift parking lot, but her view was blocked by trees and the mob of fleeing people. She slid back onto her stomach, sinking into the cool mud as she crawled, using the log for cover. Rocks and sticks dug deep into her skin, sending sharp pains into her shak
y muscles as she moved. She reached the edge of the log and peered around the corner. There was Gabby’s car, bloody handprints on the hood, but no Gabby.
A gurgling screech pierced the air, sending an icy wave down Allison’s back. She shuddered as her heart again quickened to a frantic pace. Allison’s fingers intertwined in her hair, pulling at it as she propped up on her elbows, head in her hands. Flee, hide, fight? A blank look covered her face as she scanned the area near her. What do you do when people are fucking eating each other!
Her breathing hastened as nervous sweat dripped down the back of her neck, causing the back of her dress to cling to her skin. Get it together, you don’t want to die out here. She looked over to the man with the lifeless eyes, his innards spread out around him. Allison locked eyes with the screeching woman who was eating him. Bloody chunks of flesh and bone dropped from her mouth as she let out another high-pitched shriek. The woman then lunged in a sprint toward Allison. The choice was made for her.
Flee.
Allison jumped to her feet and dashed into the forest. The flesh-hungry woman mere feet behind her. Allison’s form-hugging dress was not fit for intense power walking while shopping, let alone running for her life. The white sandals flew off her feet causing her to stumble. She remained upright, ignoring the pain caused by the uneven ground beneath her bare feet, and continued to run.
The pounding of the woman’s footsteps grew louder and louder as she was shortening the distance between them. As Allison ran, she forced her legs out in front of her further and further with each step until the dress ripped at the side seams allowing her to take longer strides. The glow from the party was fading; shadows overtook the forest. Shit, I’m going to die here.
The shrieking woman was so close that Allison felt a flash of air on her neck as the woman’s hand reached out and swiped at her short hair. Moonlight peeked through the leafy canopy and shined on a fallen tree to her right. Allison veered toward the giant, rotting log as her legs burned with each step. She jumped, barely making it over. She landed on quivering limbs, then sprinted forward. The shrieking woman hit the log, flipping over it and landing hard on the ground. A cry of pain echoed through the trees as she thrashed on the ground and then the woman was still. Allison stopped running and braced against a tree.
Her breath was ragged, sweat coating her body. Every muscle in her body shook, threatening to give out on her at any second. She kept her gaze locked on the unmoving body of the woman.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Allison stammered. Her body trembled as tears flowed from her eyes and a stream of warm urine leaked down her leg forming a yellow-tinted puddle at her feet.
The woman bolted up. She let out a barbaric sound of frustration and glared at Allison, her pupils large and alert. Blood dripped from her crushed nose. A large gash across her forehead, plastered with dirt and hair, seeped blood into her eyes. In a fluid motion, the woman leaped to her feet and took off in Allison’s direction again.
“Oh shit!” Allison turned and ran. Her chest was heavy and she struggled to breathe. Her legs burned with each step; her body could not continue much longer. Then she saw it, like an answer to a prayer. In front of her, drenched in moonlight, was an old wooden ladder leaning against a tree. In the branches above the ladder was a wooden platform, a hunter’s stand, perched among the sparse autumn leaves. She had to make it there.
Allison took off in the ladder’s direction as fast as her painful calves would allow. A burst of energy shot through her body, pushing her feet forward. It was not enough to outrun the wild woman; she ran like an Olympian on steroids, covering ground twice as fast as Allison’s fatigued muscles carried her.
Allison reached the ladder with the shrieking woman just steps behind her. Allison leaped; her feet landed on the third rung of the ladder. She grasped its weathered sides, splinters pierced beneath her skin as she scrambled up toward the wooden platform. Her muscles shuddered with exhaustion and she knew there were only moments before her body would give out, leaving her a defenseless lump of flesh on the ground.
The shrieking woman clawed up the ladder behind Allison, snagging her heels while she climbed the rungs. She reached the wooden stand and heaved her body up onto it. Her legs barely held her anymore, quivering beneath her as her body hit the weather-beaten planks. She rolled onto her back, and using the last of her energy she kicked at the ladder. It bounced back a few inches only to fall back into place against the platform.
The shrieking woman’s hand reached up and sank black nails into Allison’s calf, carving out strips of flesh. Allison’s scream of agony pierced the air. Deep red blood poured out, soaking into the wood beneath her.
The woman’s dirt-covered face appeared at the top of the ladder. Eyes full of anger and drive flickered with cunningness. A blood-stained smile spread across her face, showing teeth spotted with bits of flesh. The whites of her eyes now crimson with her own blood. She again seized Allison’s injured leg and pulled, digging her nails into the fresh wound. Allison reached behind her head, grasping the edge of the platform firmly with her fingers. She held on tightly as the woman pulled, dragging Allison closer. The woman let out a deep grumble as she clawed at Allison.
“Let go of me!” Allison kicked again, landing her bare foot in the woman’s mouth, her heel splitting open on the woman’s bloody teeth. Blood sprayed the woman’s face like red freckles on her soiled skin.
The woman growled, revealing shattered front teeth, some stringy bits of Allison’s tissue still embedded in bloody gums. She released Allison’s leg. Blood mixed with white foam ran out the corners of her mouth as she snarled. The woman’s bloodshot eyes fixed on Allison in a fiery stare.
Allison’s final kick landed on the woman’s nose, crushing it even further and causing blood to gush like river rapids down her naked body. She lost her grip, arms flung in the air as she teetered on the rungs. The woman fell backward as she reached for the ladder in a final attempt to regain her balance. The unsecured ladder leaned back as the woman did. She hit the ground with a thud, a confetti of autumn leaves falling around her. The ladder rested on her still body.
Allison timidly peered over the side of the perch. The woman was motionless, her limbs twisted and bent in areas that shouldn’t bend, the moon shining on her like a spotlight. Her eyes were empty. The leaves framed her body in the colors of fall. Tears welled in Allison’s eyes, her throat burned as she sobbed. I’ve killed someone. Her stomach churned and she hurled bile off the side of the platform. Her body trembled as tears soaked her face in a confusion of relief and guilt.
Allison stared at the lifeless body below her. Did she have a family? What was her name? What was wrong with her? Allison’s body ached. This can’t be real. This isn’t real. She averted her eyes from the broken body she had caused. She rolled to her back, shifting her gaze to the stars. But the burning in her throat continued, and her tears increased. She’d killed someone and she could never, ever take it back.
Allison’s leg was on fire. The blood from her wound pooled beneath her in a warm, sticky puddle. She ripped her dress, using a strip of the fabric as a makeshift tourniquet to slow the bleeding. Her injured leg was the color of Red Hots with purple veins pulsating beneath the surface. The purple in her veins was spreading, first to her calf, then her knee, and continued up her thigh. Her wounds were raw, warm, and turning black. Her exhausted body was shaking, and sweat further soaked her clothes as the pain in her leg intensified. Allison let out a sound resembling the cries of a birthing woman and the screams of a car crash victim combined. A stinging sensation spread from the wound on her leg like bites from fire ants working their way up her body. Allison pressed her hands on the wound, wrapping her fingers around her leg, leaving fingernail indentations in her skin as she squeezed. She hoped that applying pressure would magically make the pain disappear. Please stop, please stop. A haze fell over her mind as she struggled to make sense of her thoughts and her vision blurred. The pain spread and Allison fell into blissful un
consciousness to the sound of her own voice screaming in unfathomable pain.
Chapter Two
Allison
Allison’s head felt as if she had been grinding her teeth together for hours. Her temples were tense. Her body ached, and hard, rough bumps protruded into her back. Allison wanted an Advil, but no amount of medication would take away this pain.
She opened her eyes despite the throbbing in her head that begged her not to. Tiny streams of sun peeked out from between green leaves in the treetops. Her skin tingled as a warm, soft breeze spread over her body. The wind touched her in places that she only reserved for lovers and her gynecologist. She sat up and looked at herself. She didn’t have a stitch of clothing on. Her bare skin was coated in a thick layer of black dirt. She laughed. It must have been some party.
She thought back to drinking microbrews while watching frat boys play beer pong. What happened next? She tried to remember more, but her memories eluded her. How much did I drink? Her auburn hair fell over her chest, almost covering her breasts in a tangled mess intertwined with sticks and hard clumps of dirt. What the hell?
Allison stood up, her head swimming as the trees started spinning around her. She stumbled back, trying to find her footing on the uneven landscape, catching herself on a tree before she fell back to the earth. She leaned against the tree and looked down. Large roots covered the ground at the base where she had been laying. This explained the bumps that had been tormenting her back.
