Outbreak of the Living Dead

by Aaron Guerra

  “That hurt!” she had said to herself while staring at the turned over vehicle. It started to shake violently as Billy continued to smack his hands against the doors. She got up and grabbed the large knife and ran back to the old car. Sarah noticed that the engine wasn’t running when she knew she left it on. “What?!” she yelled out loud while staring at the dashboard. “Please no! This can‘t be happening!” This time the engine didn’t want to start up like it did before. As she continued to try to turn the vehicle on, she heard yelling coming from Erik’s truck. “What the hell was that?” she had thought to herself. The banging continued for a few more seconds before she heard glass shattering. Her eyes had widened when Erik came crawling out of the window that was facing up towards the sky. He fell off the truck and landed on his head first which caused him to be motionless. She tried to start the car, but it still wouldn’t come back to life. Erik’s body began to twitch before he stood back up on his feet with his head tilting to the side. The lack of muscles in his neck kept his head from staying up. Sarah locked the door and made sure the window was rolled up all the way. The monstrous version of Erik had walked over towards the vehicle she was hiding in. Quickly, she slid to the passenger side like last time. Yet this time Erik was able to break through the window and jump at her like a wild animal. One of his hands firmly grabbed her pony tail and tried to yank her closer to his mouth. Sarah started to scream as she struggled to keep her head away from his bloody teeth that kept chomping down. She then used the knife in her hand to cut her long blonde tail off, causing him to fall out of the window from the force of his pull. Finally, she was able to escape from passenger’s door of the car. The officer started to run down the road as Erik continued to follow after her with his head flopping around to the side. Tears and sweat were streaming down her face during the escape for her life. She could feel the burning in her legs from the long run while hearing him grunt and snarl behind her.

  Sarah, tired and exhausted emotionally, found an abandoned house that was old and run down. With new hope, she made her way to the old structure with the knife being gripped tightly in her hand. The sounds of Erik groaning behind her made her legs pick up the pace. She made it to the front porch, forcing herself inside and slamming the door shut. Erik came up to the house and slammed his hands against the wooden door. Sarah did her best to keep the door closed tight from his attacks. The man’s head had broken through the rotted wood with the stench entering the house. Sarah watched as he struggled to push himself through the hole. His eyes were white with blood dripping from his mouth as he bit numerous times in her direction.

  “What’s happened to you?!” she had screamed out. “Stop it please!” Her words couldn’t reach him anymore. The smell almost made her pass out after her outburst, but she wasn’t going to die there, not alone. She still needed to help out the two from yesterday that she took to the hospital. While Erik was stuck in place. Sarah quickly grabbed the large hunting knife she had dropped and rammed it deep inside his skull, causing him to stop moving altogether. His head had slid out of the hole with a heavy thud being made from outside. She slowly walked backwards till her body bumped into a large shelf full of dishes in the kitchen. She slid down and started to cry from everything that had just happened to her.

  The Sheriff finally arrived at the police station in his truck that was covered in dirt. He slammed his foot against the breaks cause he came in pretty fast. The sound of his tires screeching near the department startled some of the officers that were outside during their break. He undid his seat belt and walked up the stairs with a death glare coming from his eyes. The tired looking man had walked inside the building and went over to one of the older officers.

  “Mark, have you heard from Harvey or Sarah?” he had asked. The very large older man turned in his chair to face his superior, in which turning caused the chair to squeak from his over weight body. He gently slapped his stomach like a comedian and shook his head.

  “Sorry Sheriff,” the man had said in a deep scratchy voice. “They haven’t reported anything since Sarah went over there with George. Last thing we know is that Erik was suppose to have gone out there to meet with them. Oh right! I almost forgot!” Bruce looked down as he began to stroke his thick silver moustache.

  “What is it?” he asked with his patience already running thin.

  “I believe it was Sarah that contacted me a few minutes ago. Something about sending some paramedics out there because of some survivors?” said Mark. The sheriff thought hard with his fingers scratching his fuzzy moustache.

  “Well have you notified them?“ asked Bruce.

  “Oh, no I haven’t.“

  “Why the hell not? Isn’t that part of your job?” said the sheriff.

  “I had to go to the bathroom and…pretty much forgot. I’m sorry.”

  Mark had looked down at his desk to avoid eye contact. He was in his old years, but that shouldn’t have slowed him down from the responsibility of his job.

  “Alright then!” said the sheriff before he turned away. “Mark, let me know if you hear anything from them. Don’t forget to contact the paramedics or I’m going to shove my boot so far up your ass!”

  The large officer forced himself off the chair and nodded in agreement.

  He said in a professional way, “Will do Sheriff!” The man threw a wrapper away in a trash bin beside his desk. “I’m about to get some crackers from the machines,” he said while facing the sheriff. “Would you like anything from the break room?” Bruce had yawned and shook his head while stretching his arms out.

  “No thank you,” he replied. “I’ll just grab a bite to eat with my wife later today.” He smiled and walked away as Mark went down the hall towards the vending machines. Ryan and Jen were talking in the rest area, laughing away when the large officer came grumbling in. Ryan couldn’t keep it to himself, so he turned to the over weight cop and asked him a few questions.

  “Man, aren’t you ever going to lose that weight?” Ryan said in a mean yet joking way. “You make all of us young and healthy cops look bad!” Jen had hit him on his shoulder while glaring at him.

  “That was very rude Ryan!” she had said. “Mark, I’m sure it’ll be great for your health if you did lose some weight.” Jen had smiled at the older officer before going on. “We really want you around for a long time, and I’m sure that your kids feel the same way.” Her pure genuine smile was that of an angel to him.

  Mark couldn’t help but blush from a pretty young thing like her. Yet he made a snarling look to Ryan when glancing back to him.

  “Tell you what darling,” he had said to her. “I’ll head to the gym after work and do some…gym stuff. Hopefully something that won’t send me to the hospital after the first night.” Jen knew he was full of it, but she wasn’t the type of person to say negative stuff to someone’s face.

  “Alright Mark, I’m glad to hear that you’re going to better your health.” She had looked at the two men beside her with a playful smirk on her face. “Well you two play nice while I return to my desk.” Jen had shook her head somewhat when she brought up a different subject. “Apparently some person was seen attacking a young girl last night near the school grounds…but by the time I arrived, I couldn’t find anything but a shoe.” she had said when remembering last night. “The shoe smelled like a dead skunk that was probably making love to it.” The thought of the rancid smell still got to her as her body tensed up from the memory. “It was so disgusting!” she had said with her eyes closed from disgust. Jen waved to the two officers and then went to her desk.

  Ryan watched as the female officer left before he tapped Mark’s stomach a few times.

  “Dude, just lose some weight!” he had said in a rude way. The older officer decided to ignore him this time and left the break room. The young meat headed cop made his way over to the nearest restroom. When he entered it, he noticed that a civilian was using one of the urinals. “Hey, cops only buddy!” said Ryan as he started to laugh to himself. �
�Zip it and take a hike!” Though he was joking, the person started to slouch against the wall as he groaned a little. “Hey man, I was just playing,” said Ryan when he noticed his behavior. “Don’t get so upset about it.” The officer had shaken his head and took a step away to the urinal in the corner. Unzipping his pants, he began to relieve himself from all the coffee and water he gulped down earlier that morning.

  The color of red caught his immediate attention when he turned to see that the person’s face was covered in fresh blood.

  “Whoa! Hey!” he had said as he quickly zipped up his pants and took a step closer. Ryan slowly turned the man around to get a better view of the injury. The officer ran back to the door and shouted out for help. Silently the wounded person snuck up behind Ryan and yanked him back into the bathroom with great strength. The bleeding man angrily placed his mouth over the officer’s face and bit down as hard as he could. Blood started to splash out of Ryan’s face as he tried to push his attacker away.

  A few cops that entered the rest area had heard the screaming coming from the bathroom, but they were too scared to get any closer. Bruce, Mark and Jen swiftly made their way through the crowd to kick the door open. The overweight officer nearly fainted when he saw the man chewing on Ryan’s face in the corner of the bathroom. The Sheriff had ran over to the man on top and threw him off. Ryan was twitching a lot with blood spilling out where his eye originally was before it had been removed. The female officer tried to get close to Ryan, but Mark pulled her back into the hallway.

  “What the hell is going on?!” the sheriff had yelled. Jen quickly ran back to her desk to retrieve her handcuffs and gun from the drawer. She entered the bathroom once again when Mark wasn’t looking. Bruce apprehended the attacker and lifted him off the floor while doing his best to avoid getting bitten by the mad man. He slammed him against the wall and had his arm up to his neck to keep him there. “What the hell were you thinking?!” he had said while staring at the man that was pinned. “You drunk bastard! Quick! Cuff him, then lock his ass up!” Officers rushed into the room after they heard the Sheriff’s orders. They overpowered the seemingly drunk man and turned him around to put the handcuffs on. One of the officers that had him in their grip, started to read him his rights while walking him to the Jail Room that was located in the basement of the building. Jen, Mark and Bruce knelt down by Ryan’s remains in the bathroom. The large officer didn’t like him much, but he never wished for this kind of thing to happen to him. Another female officer came in with a white sheet and placed it gently over the deceased. The blood started to seep through the sheet which made tears run down Jen’s face. The sheriff took his hat off and started to blow away the stench that was in his face. “It smells just like it did out there,” he had said to himself. “Just like shit roasting in the dry sun! Hot damn!”

  It was around 2pm and Sarah was still sitting in the kitchen at the abandoned house. If Erik was able to return after being attacked by those people, then there was a possibility that Harvey and George was going to return as monsters as well. That image started to make her shake to where she didn’t want to move from her spot. But the constant sound of something thumping from upstairs was starting to get to her. This house was suppose to be vacant. But it wouldn’t surprise her at all if she found a few homeless people living here. Maybe one of them could help her with what she had just went through awhile ago. Any interaction with someone would be a big help to calm her down at this point.

  Sarah finally stood up off the kitchen floor with her body calming down from the shakes. The hunting knife was still in Erik’s head outside the front porch. No way was she going to retrieve it. The smell was strong enough to reach her from where she was standing. She walked over to the kitchen sink to search for something she could use. The officer opened a few of the pantries, but she didn’t find anything that was useful. She then opened a drawer near the sink to find a smaller kitchen knife.

  “This was probably used to peel potatoes,” she had said to herself. “Hopefully it can be used for other things as well.” The thought of food made her stomach growl, since she had to skip breakfast.

  Ignoring her hunger for the time being, Sarah decided to enter a door that brought her to a hallway. It wasn’t long until she found the stairs that led up to the second floor where the noise was coming from. The officer was afraid, but it was time to find her way back to the station to get help.

  “Hello?” she had called out as she walked up the stairs. “Is there anyone up here?” Another loud thump caught her by surprise. She slowly brought her hand up to her chest to try and calm her heart down.

  The woman had said loud enough for anyone within the house to hear, “I’m Officer Sarah Parson! I’m from the Little Bow Police Department.” There was no answer, so she continued to call out for someone. “I need your help! Please, is there anyone here?” She made it up to the second floor to see that all the doors were boarded up in the hall. Sarah slowly approached one of the doors before cautiously putting her ear to it. The sound of someone or something scratching the wall could be heard from inside the room. Suddenly more thumping and banging started to happen as she took a step towards the hall. Her foot made one of the rotting floors start to creek. Each door was being forced upon as the wood and nails on the outside began to loosen up. She didn’t want to stick around anymore. Soon as she turned to face the stairs, a little girl was standing there with a large bloody hatchet in her hand. Sarah got that bad feeling again in the pit of her stomach. “Hey sweet heart!” she had said in a careful way. “What’s going on here? Where are your parents?” The little girl took a step closer, not even flinching from the sounds that were coming from the doors around her. “I’m a police officer from Little Bow. Would you like to come with me?” The officer held out a hand with a smile on her face, but the strange look that the little girl was giving her, made Sarah retreat. The young child had brought the hatchet down before speaking out.

  “You’re going to die too,” she said as she took a step closer. “Just like everyone else.” Sarah took a step back. She didn’t want to believe what the child said to her. She couldn’t have been more than eleven years old.

  “W-What do you mean honey?” asked Sarah as she kept a close eye on her. “What happened here sweet heart?” The little girl took a step closer again as the hatchet was kept close to her little body.

  “Mommy and Daddy got sick and died.” said the young girl. “My brothers died, so will you too. All the grown ups tend to die when I’m around.”

  Sarah didn’t like the predicament that she was in, not one bit.

  The officer asked, “What’s your name?” She told the girl her name with a false smile on. “My name is Sarah, Sarah Parson.” The girl started to laugh as she swung her hatchet towards the officer. A clean cut appeared on Sarah’s uniform. Her bare stomach could be seen now with the little girl giggling to herself. It was like a game to her.

  “Do you want to play with me?” asked the girl as she swung the hatchet around playfully. “Daddy played with me for only a little while before he died like mommy did.” The officer took another step back into the hallway. Shredded and decayed arms came bursting through the doors. They tried to reach out for her, but she was safe for now in the middle. That disgusting god awful stench of death got to her again when the arms continued to reach around. It was so strong, yet she couldn’t smell anything until just now.

  “N-No! This isn’t a game,” said the officer. “Now I want you to put that weapon down right now!” The girl was still smiling even more as she attempted to swing the bloody hatchet again. This time it got stuck in the wall near one of the doors. She tried to pull it out, but Sarah quickly made her way down the stairs before she had the chance to free it. The female officer tripped over something that wasn’t there before. She turned instantly to see a young boy with knives in his back and a large gash in the side of his head. Must’ve been one of her older brothers that she mentioned earlier. Maybe he came to help Sarah when sh
e was calling out earlier, but instead he got caught and killed.

  The woman stopped herself from crying when she grabbed the biggest knife from his back and dropped the small one she was carrying. Sarah ran through the living room and opened the front door to get some fresh air. She couldn’t find any vehicles that were in the garage when she went to check.

  “Damn! There must be something I could use!” Sarah had thought to herself as she walked to the road. to see a few people walking in her direction where all that mess had started. She didn’t want to believe it, but it was her friends and the others that she left behind. The little girl could be heard from inside the house, screaming her head off from the frustration of not being able to pull the hatchet out. “Oh no…” the officer heard those words echo through her mind when she heard the girls loud screams. The screaming had alerted the ones that were far off. They started to make gruesome groaning sounds that could be heard from the distance. Her two fellow officers started to sprint towards the house as Sarah started to run in the direction of the town with all the strength she had left in her body.

  Jen was sitting in her desk when they had carried Ryan’s body away. She was just talking to him not that long ago, and just like that he was gone. Mark came walking towards her, placing his hand on her shoulder with a heavy sigh escaping from him.

  “I’m so sorry Jennifer,” said Mark as he tried to comfort her. “I know you two were close,” he said.