by Aaron Guerra
“Ms Gina!” said the cameraman. “Do we really not know the cause of the failures around the county? Isn‘t it a bit strange that this is happening out of no where?” he had said before going back to tweaking the large camera in front of him. The woman shrugged her shoulders before leaving the room.
A different young man that worked the second camera had found her smoking a cigarette in the hallway. She shook her shoulders and blew the smoke in the opposite direction.
“If you want to know more about that shit, then go ask Dave or Steven. They probably know more about that shit then I do at this point.” said Gina.
The young man sighed heavily before he ran past a few others in search for the two that might’ve had more information. Sarah finally entered the old building to see a few people running back and forth in the main hall. She kept an eye out for anyone that seemed to have any authority to the place.
“Excuse me!” said Sarah as she tried to catch their attention. “I’m Officer Sarah Parson from the Little Bow Police Department. This is an emergency! We have to broadcast a serious warning to everyone here!” A few people shook their heads in disbelief as they waved her away. A man in a dark blue suit was leaning against a wall as he overheard her say that to everyone. He slid his hair back and fixed his tie before trying to get her attention.
“Hey baby,” he had said before going on. “Why don’t you go on back to your little job and let us handle the news, okay?” The man had placed his hand on her shoulder while giving her an uncomfortable feeling. Sarah instantly planted her fist into his gut with enough force to cause him to fall to his knees.
“I’m an Officer of the Law, and you will treat me with some damn respect!” she had told him.
James had rushed into the hall where Sarah was standing in. He was accompanied with an older man wearing a light blue business suit.
“Sarah, I found Dave Grant!” James had said. “He’s the man that runs this place! Glad I ran into him when I did.” Sarah sighed with relief as the older man tried to catch his breath from running down the long hall.
“Is it true?” Mr. Grant had asked with concern. “Is there a sickness that causes people to attack each other in our town? I knew my neighbor was acting strange earlier today! The crazy guy was eating some squirrel in his yard!” Sarah watched as the man placed a green handkerchief against his sweaty face. “This-This is a great story, but with a terrible cost!” he had said to himself quietly. “Alright then, I’ll get Steven Reynolds and Gina Beverly on the story right away! Thank you both for letting us know what’s going on! You may have saved us all, if we‘re not too late that is,” said Grant.
The large older man smiled at the young officers before snapping his fingers. The sound caused everyone in the room to look straight at him with their full attention. Even people that were on break in the hall had quickly returned to the camera room. Dave waved to the cops to follow him before he entered the double doors. They went after him as they entered the large room they’ve seen numerous times on the TV. They watched as everyone got ready for the new update to air live.
“Alright now, are you guys absolutely sure this is for real and not some kind of sick prank?! I can’t have false rumors coming from my station!” Dave asked as he looked at the officers. “We’re not like Crimson Falls, they put anything on the air! I remember last week they were doing these silly broadcasts about people killing each other.” He shook his head after hearing his own words leave his mouth. “Oh my god, that was real wasn’t it? I thought it was all a hoax! Oh my god!” Dave stood next to the cameraman that had asked a couple of questions to Gina earlier. Sarah glanced over to the important members that were sitting behind the large desk. Her gaze returned to the man in the light blue suit beside her.
“Sir, we’re wasting valuable time already!” said the concerned cameraman. He looked at his boss as he went on. “Please! We need to let everyone know what’s going on in our town before it‘s too late!” Dave placed his hand firmly on the young man’s shoulder that was behind the camera. He gave the signal for Gina and Steven to get ready to go live.
Jen was standing at the window again to see what the commotion was, but a chill in the air made her return to her seat. Kim was sitting beside her on the light blue carpet floor. The news on the television screen came back on. The same blonde woman was sitting at the large desk with her Co-Anchor to her left. It was Steven Reynolds and Gina Beverly, the main News Reporters that always came on during the evenings.
The woman in front of the camera had glanced down at the papers in her hand, then to the teleprompter as she began to read what was displayed.
“This just in, a serious epidemic has spread across our town without us noticing it,” Gina said aloud. She looked over to Dave Grant, then to the two officers standing beside him. She inhaled the bitter smoke that came from her cigarette before blowing it all out on screen. It was obvious that she was nervous about what she was the about to say live. Steven couldn’t help but nod to the camera with a bright smile before picking up a piece of paper. The man pretended to read what was on there before placing it back down to speak directly to the camera in front of him.
“This incident that’s taking place in our town, may as well have caused the power outages in the other towns near by, but we’re still not 100% sure just yet on that part,” Steven said as he continued to read the report. “We have two of our very own Police Officers here with us. They have come to bring us more details about this sickness.”
Steven brought his hand up for the two officers to come join them on stage. Back at Kim’s house, Jen shook the girl by the shoulder from excitement. Two familiar faces appeared on the small television screen for them to see.
“I’m Officer James and this is Officer Sarah Parson. We’ve seen what this sickness can do to you if you’re exposed to it. Now what we‘re going to tell you is the truth,” said James. Sarah slammed her hands against the table with a serious expression on her face.
“We’ve lost a lot of good officers to this sickness from hell! So please, stay in your homes and secure the windows and lock the doors! If you’re outside on the streets and you’re watching this from a television at the shopping district or anywhere else, please go inside the stores and make the owners lock up the shop! Do not go near anyone that has been bitten or looks like they’ve been attacked by a vicious animal! They are no longer human…” Sarah had finished briefing the viewers with some safety tips. She was breathing a little hard with her face turning red. She realized that she was live on TV at the moment.
The man behind the large desk was staring at Sarah with a grim look on his face as he listened very closely to her strange story.
“Clearly this has to be some kind of sick joke,” he had said to her with the papers sliding out of his hands. “Are you seriously going to tell these good people that they’re others out there attacking each other outside? What caused this outbreak? Has the CDC been notified about this?”
Gina looked over to James, then to Sarah while her partner asked the questions. The cigarette in her hand already went out with the ash crumbling onto the desk. James turned Steven to face him with his finger pointing down at him.
“Look! This isn’t some kind of joke!” James couldn’t help but yell at the man. “We don’t know much about what’s going on and I’m sorry for that, but we’re here to help as many people as we can!” Sarah caught Steven’s attention once more before continuing to talk as the camera was still rolling.
“My friends from the Little Bow Police were attacked and killed today because of this evil illness. My partners, Harvey and George were devoured by some of those monsters, just right outside of Route 45!” Sarah had said while shaking slightly. She also remembered the little girl from the old house earlier that day. “I think we’re barely getting this sickness here. It could’ve been in the world for sometime now and we‘re just barely noticing it,” said Sarah.
Mr. Grant had walked onto the stage and stood behind the
four people that were live on the air. The man started to cough heavily into his hand to clear this throat before speaking out.
“Citizens of Little Bow Texas, I‘m here to inform you that this is indeed not a prank. I am Dave Grant, and I wish that all of you take the advice from these two fine officers. Now I repeat, I am Dave Grant of the Little Bow‘s News. This is not a prank of any kind. Please stay safe and tuned in for more regular updates on this crisis,” he said. James slowly walked up to the camera and pointed to it with a serious look on his face.
“Guys, we’re coming for you right now! Get ready to leave the house,” he had said. The news channel started to flicker before it went out throughout the entire town. Jen stood up after turning the TV off by using the remote control. She looked over to Kim to see that she was already standing up with her bag being held firmly against her chest.
“See, now everyone will be safe and we’ll be getting picked up soon to leave!” said Jen. The young woman looked over to her guest and smiled happily from the news they just watched together.
On the other side of town near the public library, a man in his late twenties was running from a group of insane people. He stopped for a moment to swing a pole he found laying at a construction site a few blocks back. With great force he bashed three of the people in the head with it, causing them all to fall down. When they were on the ground, he turned away and continued to run for his life. His hair was short and black and combed to the back while wearing a white T-Shirt with Black jeans.
“I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I’m not going to become a meal for these freaks!” he had said to himself. After running through the yards that belonged to total strangers, he found a teenager standing in the middle of the street by herself. She was holding a handgun with a smile on her face that made him feel a little uncomfortable. The girl had aimed the gun to the man, but she soon brought it back down after realizing that he was just a normal person. “Hey! I’m not infected so don‘t shoot!” he said to her. The man had looked around to see if any of the creatures were still coming after him. Both of them glanced over to the shadows of the street until they were unable to hear nothing coming their way. A small smile grew on her face once she knew the coast was clear. She must’ve been a High School student, from what he assumed by the look of her age.
The girl had long red hair that went past her waist in the back. Suddenly, a few random twigs snapped which caught their attention. It grew silent again a few seconds later which made her feel a bit uneasy. She held the handgun tightly when she heard his voice on her right side.
“Listen, my name is Tristan. I’m being chased…well, was being chased by some cannibalistic freaks,” he said. The man had took a deep breath before asking her two more questions. “Are you alright? Have you been bitten or scratched by any of them?” She ignored the man’s questions as she placed the gun in her front pocket. He watched her walk in the same direction that he just came from. “You don’t want to go that way,” he had said with concern. “That‘s where I left those things behind.” The man grabbed her arm to stop her from advancing forward. “Those flesh eating freaks could still be there. It’s not safe to go in that direction. I only managed to escape after knocking them down.”
She did her best to shrug him off with little interest to his words. Her eyes were half open as the words escaped her mouth in a low sad tone.
“I have to get out of here…my family was killed in front of me not that long ago. There‘s nothing here for me anymore,” she finally said. She stopped struggling against his hold as she remembered the reanimated faces of her family. “My Dad attacked my brother and I when we went outside our house. He was there, covered in wounds all over.” Tristan sighed heavily as he looked away before releasing her slender arm.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said quietly. Slowly he moved his hand up to her face so that he could make her look up to him. “Then come with me!” Tristan said. “We can escape together before this place is totally overrun with them. It’ll be better if the both of us stick together from now on,” he said. She looked down at his shirt to see that it had some fresh blood stains on it. He must’ve been able to defend himself for awhile if he’s still in once piece with high spirit.
“Alright then, lets get out of here together. But I’m keeping my father’s gun, you can’t use it,” she said to the man as a light smile appeared on her face.
Tristan had walked back to where she was first standing when he ran into her. From there he was able to see a pile of mutilated bodies laying in front of a house with the lights still on. The smell was horrible, but he still went over there to check them out. She followed after him while covering her nose from the strong stench.
“That’s my father,” her voice was cracking somewhat, but she held it together. The sight of the two laying there didn’t bring her down like it did awhile ago. He knelt down beside the large officer to check his belt for anything he could use. Tristan pulled the handgun out of it’s holster along with two clips of ammunition for it. He looked up to her while explaining one little rule he learned.
“One thing I learned from action movies when growing up. Always check the bodies of your enemy for anything useful,” he said to her.
The girl couldn’t help but smile at his random side that he revealed. Yet the frown on her face soon returned when she had glanced back to her family that was laying beside each other.
“My name is Susan, Susan Hill,” she had said to him. He held out his hand to feel her slender fingers slide against his palm before giving each other a firm yet comforting handshake.
“Tristan,” he said with a warm smile. He easily loaded a clip into the pistol that he just found on the dead officer.
“So your name is Tristan? What’s your last name?” Susan asked. She was a little curious now, since she told him her full name. But Tristan stood up and smiled again while putting the gun in his back pocket.
“First, let’s find us a way out of this town before we get too familiar with each other,” said the young man. Susan punched his shoulder playfully as she started to walk in a new direction. “You know, that kind of hurt!” he said jokingly. The man followed after her while rubbing the area that she hit.
Many people that were working at the News Station ran to the telephones that were located in the separate offices. They tried to get a hold of their loved ones to see if they were safe and inside their homes. Sarah was walking with James to one of the nearest exits in the building. When he opened the door, a pale woman with long black hair came at him from the darkness outside. The smell was overbearing when more of the infected came rushing inside the doorway. Sarah quickly pulled James away from the woman that tried to bite his arm. The thing opened it’s mouth wide with black blood oozing out through the open holes across her face. She tried to bite James’s arm once again but he jolted back in time for her to miss. Some of the workers were too scared out of their mind to move. They were standing still as the infected came pouring into the building, one after the other.
Finally some of the workers were able to run past the creatures in the doorway to escape outside. But when they got to the parking lot a horde of flesh eaters were already waiting for them. Their screams echoed down the hallway where the other employees that didn’t run, could hear clearly.
“Sarah, we have to get this door shut before anymore of those things try to get inside!” said James. She grabbed the nearest chair that was placed against the wall behind her. The female officer had picked it up fast before smashing it against the infected woman’s head with a powerful swing. Blood had splashed on the white floor as she fell over from the strong hit that she just received. The ghoulish creature wasn’t finished quite just yet. The thing had grabbed Sarah’s leg tightly from the floor. With all of it’s strength, it yanked her hard to where she lost her balance to stand.
Sarah tried to break free from her attacker, but the creature’s hold was too strong. It’s mouth stretched open as far as it cou
ld as the infected lady tried to take a chunk out of the officer’s ankle. Thankfully, James managed to lift the rotting woman off of his partner in time to save her life. It tried to reach around to bite his hands, but he kept a safe distance from where her mouth which was chomping vigorously in the air. A few of the ones staggering inside the hall came at them now when James struggled with just one of them. Sarah got up from the floor and ran over to the door behind creatures that led to the outside. She had turned back to see that they were mainly focused on James, since they didn’t try to reach out for her like they usually would have.
When Sarah looked out the exit door, she felt a great deal of fear freeze her entire body. There must’ve been more than forty of the flesh eaters out there devouring the workers that had tried to escape to their vehicles. Some of the infected beasts had dropped the limbs they were chewing on and began to walk towards her. A few that were laying on the ground had meat still sticking out of their mouth with their cold white eyes staring at the female officer in the doorway.
Sarah swiftly grabbed the bar that was connected to the door to tightly shut it. From the other side, she could hear them banging hard against the door trying to get inside. She turned around to see that James was still fighting off the others that were in the hallway with them. The male officer threw the hungry rotting woman at the other three heading his way. Their cold bodies collided against each other which caused them to lay flat across the cold floor below. James had turned around to run to the News Room where they had broadcasted the warning. He then placed his hand against his gun’s holster that was attached to his belt. His eye’s opened up from the sudden realization of remembering that he left his handgun along with Sarah’s shotgun in the large room before they went live in front of the camera.
