Outbreak of the Living Dead

by Aaron Guerra

  The sound of gunfire could be heard from within the hospital. The remaining ten survivors were crouched down near the parked ambulances in the parking lot. Velski snuck around one of the vehicles to take out one of the few rotting monsters that was near by. After it was disposed of, the rest of the group quickly ran over to the ladder that lead up to the helicopter‘s location.

  “Everyone stay alert. We don’t know if the people here are friendly or hostile. I’m going to check it out first to see if it’s safe,” said Sarah.

  She went up the ladder first with the machinegun hanging to her side. She stopped for a moment to peak through one of the windows to the second floor. Some of the monsters were feasting on a nurse that tried to fight back. There was an older man in the corner of the hallway. He shot one of the creatures in the head with his rifle. The creature’s body immediately jumped onto him with a black tar like substance landing on the old man’s face. He screamed in agony when the alien life form forced it’s way into the man’s body. Sarah shook her head to get the sight out of her mind before continuing climbing up. Her face came in contact with the barrel of a rifle when she had finally reached the top of the roof.

  “Get on up here!” a man had told her. Sarah slowly climbed up to the top with her hands up in the air. There were four of them with some heavy looking weapons on them.

  “William!” A man in his fifties called out to the youngest looking one of the group. “Go and get that fancy weapon off of her!” he told him. Sarah kept her hands up high while the one known as William removed the gun from her side.

  “Dad, she looks familiar to me,” William said. The man on the left side moved in closer to get a better look at her face.

  “Shit! Are you kidding me?” the person said.

  They lowered their weapons slowly with some laughter escaping from them. Her hands stayed up due to not knowing if they were going to shoot her at any random moment.

  “Do I know you?” she asked them. The man on the left came closer with his eyes gazing up and down at her figure.

  “I’m offended that you don’t, officer. If I recall, you were the one that put my friend in jail for having a little too much fun at the bar,” said the man on her left. The incident was familiar, but their faces weren’t coming to her at all.

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember. What was his name?” she asked him. The man slapped her across the face to where she fell down on the roof. He pointed his gun down to her head while licking his lips.

  “His name was Kenneth!” he barked in her ear. She placed a hand to the spot that was hit while slowly getting up from the hard surface.

  “I take it that he was your lover?” she said in an offensive tone. The youngest one started to laugh which pissed off the other man in front of her.

  “William! If you make another peep again, I’m going to feed you to those things downstairs like grandpa Joe.” The eldest man slowly came up to Sarah with the end of the shotgun being placed under her chin. He moved her head up to face him while the smile on his face grew wider.

  “Hot damn, she is a good looking one for a cop. Are you alone honey?” he had asked her. She slowly moved the barrel of the gun out of her face with the fierce gaze of a tiger coming from her eyes.

  “I don’t have time for this. There is a military missile coming here in less than fifteen minutes. I suggest you people get on out of here before it arrives,” she had told them. The man on the right pointed over to the fancy hospital helicopter.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but that there is ours. If you came here in hoping to take it then you’re shit out of luck,” he said. The oldest looking man turned to face the one that just spoke out.

  “Joey! Let the woman speak before you run your mouth,” the elder said.

  Sarah pointed to the direction of where the missile was coming from and why it was on it’s way.

  “So you’re saying aliens have come to invade earth? That is total horseshit!” The man had said. “I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself. My name is Scott,” he said to her face. The man quickly grabbed the woman by the hair to bring her back down to her knees. He was pretty strong for an old man. “I never really did respect the cops here in this town. But since you’re a woman, we can’t likely just get rid of you now can we? My boys here need some special company if you catch my drift. So you’ll be coming with us on this helicopter,” Scott said with a wicked smile on his face.

  She tried her best to push him away but Joey came over to lift her up by her legs. The one that had smacked her was named Brandon, and he helped carry her over to the helicopter as well. Young William went over to the ladder to look down to see if there were any more creatures surrounding the building. That’s when a hand had came up and grabbed him by the shirt. He screamed for his family as he was easily thrown off the rooftop. His body landed on the sidewalk which caught the attention of the monsters beside the building. They started to turn around and walk to him with their boney rotting hands reaching out.

  Scott frantically ran over to where his youngest son was just at with his shotgun in his hand.

  “How the hell did that happen?!” he said to himself. Blood sprayed up into the air when the bullets pierced the man’s head from below. His large body tripped over the ledge and landed down onto the mob of creatures that were already feasting. The two brothers held Sarah down while aiming their guns over where their father was just at.

  “Who’s there?! Come out or this cop’s brains will be all over the roof!” Brandon said as he brought his rifle up. A man in a black uniform came up from the ladder. It was Freddy.

  “Take it easy! I’m a member of the OPC. We’re only here to help the civilians,” he had told them. Joey pushed his knee down on the back of Sarah’s neck which was making it harder for her to breath.

  “You lying son of a bitch! You killed our dad!” Brandon had said in a loud outburst. Freddy shook his head with his hands up in the air still.

  “That wasn’t me! I promise you,” Freddy said with a small smile. Brandon took aim with his rifle and fired at the man that was near the ledge. Freddy’s voice echoed throughout the area as he collapsed to the side. Blood was coming out of his shoulder where the wound was located. “Shit! I told dad I wasn’t use to this damn gun! Was aiming for his head!” he said in anger.

  Velski suddenly came up from the ladder with the machinegun going off. Brandon fell back with his blood pouring out of the bullet holes that covered his chest. Joey was going to fire at the woman but Sarah managed to knock him off his feet. Velski watched as Sarah punched Joey multiple times in the face until he was finally knocked out.

  “Freddy!” Sarah called out. She ran over to help him up from the rocky roof. “Are you okay?!” she asked the inured soldier. The others started to come up from the ladder one by one to see the two bodies near the helicopter. Tristan knelt down to Brandon’s body to see if he was still holding on to life.

  “He’s gone,” said Tristan. He put his hands into Brandon’s pockets to find some baseball cards and a set of keys. “This must be how they got here. There must be a vehicle down there that belongs to them,” he said to himself. He stood up to face the others as the keys jingled in his hand. “Guys, we might have a car to take the rest of us out of here!” he said with a smile.

  Velski’s eyes widened all of the sudden when Tristan had fell to his knees. Tristan looked down to see his own blood coming out of his chest. It was Joey. He came out from behind with a large knife that was covered in fresh blood. Everyone watched as Tristan’s body collapsed onto the roof with his blood pooling underneath. Velski ran to the killer with her eyes full of rage. Joey tried to stab her in the chest but he was too slow. She easily caught his wrist and snapped it like a twig. The weapon fell out of his grasp as he yelled out in pain. They watched when the woman slammed him against the helicopter. Joey begged her to stop. She ignored his pleas and lifted him up off the roof with all of her strength and carried him over to the ledge of t
he building. Cindy opened her eyes to see that Tristan was on the roof’s surface, bleeding out. Kim and Marilyn were kneeling beside the man while Freddy was being treated by Sarah and Christine to her right.

  “You…die for hurting him!” Velski had yelled out. She punched the man one last time before releasing him from her hold. He fell down three stories until his body landed next to a burning ambulance. The sight of him being surrounded by the creatures wasn’t enough for her. She then turned around and rushed to Tristan’s side. “Tristan…you can’t die!” she said to him as a frown was trying to surface. He coughed up some blood when he tried not to laugh.

  “You need to…talk normal from now on. I know you can…do it,” he said in a weakened state. Valerie and little Susan watched the two nearby with tears streaming down their faces. “You keep on…fighting,” he told her. She placed her hands firmly around his as his eyes slowly started to close for the last time. The woman started to cry out when he finally let go from all of his suffering. All that was left was a smile on his face with his eyes finally closed.

  “DON’T GO! DON’T GO! DON’T LEAVE ME!” Velski demanded the dead man. She began to beat down on his chest as she continued to cry her heart out in front of the others. Freddy slowly got up with the help of Sarah and Christine on his sides. Velski picked up the keys that Tristan had in his hand before standing up to face them. “I’ll find the vehicle. Christine, prepare the helicopter. We leave now,” said Velski.

  Christine ran over to the open door before climbing inside the chopper to start it up. Valerie and Susan entered the back with Cindy being carried by Matthew. He set her down gently before going back outside to reunite with his love.

  “So who else goes up? Room for one in the front and one more in the back,” Christine said. Sarah pointed to Kim and Freddy after she said that.

  “You two go with them and head to Travis. We’ll be right behind you guys in the vehicle that Velski is bringing. Kim shook her head to refuse.

  “No! I think everyone should go in the helicopter! I just know that we can all fit! I know we can!” Kim had said. Sarah started to walk towards the girl with a small smile growing on her face.

  “Listen, you and Freddy get on the chopper before it‘s too late. I don’t have any time to argue with you,” she said with a smile. Sarah slowly reached for her back pocket to pull out a picture that contained Sarah, Jen and James smiling together in front of a police car. “I want you to have this,” said Sarah. Kim took the picture before she felt Sarah’s lips pressed against her forehead. The woman messed up her hair like a big sister would have before stepping away.

  Freddy was standing in front of Sarah while covering his wounded shoulder with a rag.

  “You sure you won’t come with us? You don’t know if Velski will be able to find that transport down there,” he asked her with worry in his eyes. But the sound of an old familiar car horn could be heard from down below. “That woman always seems to find a way,” he said. Sarah couldn’t help but laugh, but the laughter was cut short.

  He entered the passenger side of the helicopter before closing the door. Kim turned around to see Marilyn, Matthew and Sarah walking towards the escape ladder.

  “I better see you three at Travis! Including Velski!” she said to them. The three waved to the girl before going down the metal ladder one by one. Marilyn wanted to go in the helicopter, but she was afraid that it could’ve went down like the rescue team did earlier.

  “So officer, how much time left do you think we have until the city is cleansed?” Marilyn asked. Sarah ignored what she said when she dropped down to the ground as soon as she was close to it. Some creatures came up from the devoured men to set their sights on the survivors in front of them. Sarah kicked one of them back while waiting for the two to get down to help out. Marilyn landed first before putting three of flesh eaters down with her gun. The other rotting beasts shuffled across the parking lot with their bloody mouths opening up. Matthew dropped down before rushing over to them with his fists closed tightly. He punched one of them hard enough to knock it’s head clean off. The others near by were just kicked back to the ground to save them some bullets.

  Velski came around the building in a old looking pickup truck. Sarah couldn’t believe her eyes from the sight of it.

  “That’s my dad’s truck!” she happily said. Velski hopped out of the vehicle to push some of the flesh eaters out of the way. Sarah ran over to the driver’s side to climb in. Matthew and Marilyn hopped in the back where they were a few mornings ago. Velski climbed into the passenger’s side of the truck before slamming the door shut. The dead tried to reach over for the two in the back but their hands couldn’t quite make it to them. Sarah pressed down on the gas pedal to drive forward to escape the mob of the dead behind them. Marilyn and Matthew watched the creatures chase after them with their screams echoing throughout the parking lot. They held each other close when the sight of a silver object up above had caught their eyes. It was a missile that came crashing down into the police station first. The explosion was enough to wipe out the entire area around it with all the creatures in uniforms getting caught within the blast. A few more missiles entered the city which then split up to hit their own designations. Sarah did her best to drive down the one road that lead out of town before more unmentioned missiles had made it to Little Bow. Yet the amount of dead people blocking their way was making it quite difficult. Matthew and Marilyn had to stand up and shoot at the ones in the front to make it easier for Sarah to drive through. Another missile landed down at the hospital which shook the truck from the explosion. Velski was relieved to see the helicopter flying above them.

  “They’re safe! We need to make it out as well!” said Velski.

  Sarah turned to the left to enter a different street since the other one was filled with the dead. When she had exited the tiny street between the two tall buildings, the sight of a large alien blob like creature could be seen to their left. It was swallowing up any creatures that it could get it’s ugly disgusting hands on.

  “I hope it can’t move much with it’s ass that big!” Sarah said. The officer turned right to drive away from it. But the thing noticed the vehicle driving away. It’s long arms had stretched out to grab onto the buildings nearby. It started to hop from one spot to another which shook the area once it made contact to the road. Matthew and Marilyn almost fell out of the truck because of the massive quake it made.

  “It’s coming for us! Go faster!” Matthew told Sarah as he smacked against the back of the window to get her attention. Sarah was already on it. She kept driving past some walking corpses and destroyed vehicles on the road. Another missile was lowering down before flying over the truck. It had collided with the large alien which caused it’s body to explode all over the buildings surrounding it. The green thick slime began to shrivel up from the intense heat that was swallowing it up. The buildings started to shake until they all came crashing down to form dust clouds behind the speeding truck. Everyone screamed at the top of their lungs when the old truck finally made it out of the city and into the light. A couple of more missiles came out of the sky to finish off the remaining parts of Little Bow. Marilyn and Matthew watched as the place was covered in flames and large explosions.

  They were one mile away from the town when a large black missile flew above them in the sky. Sarah knew that this one was probably the last they were going to see.

  “Everyone! Hold on!” Sarah had yelled. The two in the back closed their eyes and looked away when the light of the blast that came to be. The powerful force that was summoned from the final explosion shook the truck around. When the light died down, they were able to open their eyes to see the destruction left behind. “The OPC don‘t mess around with this kind of shit. That’s good to know,” she said. Sarah rubbed her face while continuing down the long lonely road to Travis. Marilyn held Matthew as they began to kiss each other passionately in the back of the moving vehicle. Velski looked out the window to see Tristan’s smi
ling face in the sky which caused a single tear to slide down her cheek.

  “Stupid boy,” she whispered.

  Sarah gently placed a hand on Velski’s to hold before speaking up.

  “I’m sorry about Tristan. If I only had killed that man instead of beating him…he’d still be alive,” she told her. Velski slowly removed her hand when facing the woman that was driving.

  “Wasn’t your fault. Tristan…let his guard down,” said Velski. Sarah sighed behind the steering wheel with her weary green eyes narrowing somewhat.

  “James, Roxanne, Jen, Sammie…Luke,” she said their names to herself quietly. She slowly pulled over to the side before exiting the truck. The others watched as the woman started to scream out to the open sky while falling to her knees. Velski followed after her with Tristan’s voice echoing through her mind. The tears were contagious since they started to escape from her blue eyes.

  “Sarah…we must go. My people need our help,” Velski said to Sarah. The officer put her hand into the dirt below to scoop some up before releasing it into the gentle wind.

  “What can we do? We barely escaped from that place…” Sarah said with a defeated look. Matthew and Marilyn hopped off the truck to stand beside the other two. He knelt down beside Sarah to relax on the cool dirt as the sun shined down on them.

  “Marilyn and I escaped that nightmare twice and somehow we’re still alive. We had each other to help stay alive, like you do with us now,” he told her. Matthew slowly placed his hand on the woman’s shoulder to try and comfort her.

  “He’s right! Once we make it to Travis! We can tell everyone what happened to Crimson Falls and Little Bow! We can prepare everyone before it starts again!” Marilyn said in a confident stance. Sarah stood up to face the three that were behind her.

  “Didn’t you hear Velski’s boss on the walkie-talkie? Something else that they were containing got loose! God only knows how long the CDC or the OPC have had this kind of evil locked up in a Laboratory!” she said to them. Velski shook her head before placing a hand gently on her own chest.