Outbreak of the Living Dead

by Aaron Guerra

  “I never knew about this! First time seeing a monster was in Little Bow before it was destroyed!” she said. Sarah faced the OPC soldier with her eyes narrowing from the anger building up inside.

  “You’re going to stand there and lie to me? I remember seeing your black helicopters flying to Travis a few days ago! You came from Crimson Falls! Tell me…what exactly are you hiding?!” she had confronted the soldier.

  Matthew stood up to face the foreigner with his fists tightly closing up.

  “You heard the cop! Spill it! You know what was contained at the OPC headquarters in Travis, don’t you?!” he asked her. Velski looked away for a moment before nodding.

  “We were sent to Crimson Falls to retrieve something,” she had revealed. Sarah pushed the woman to the ground with her foot stepping down onto her chest to keep her there.

  “RETRIEVE WHAT?!” she said in anger. Marilyn was too afraid to do or say anything at the moment as she watched them interrogate her. Velski laid there without resisting as she told them their business in Crimson Falls.

  “The scientist that was overtaken by the alien. Rebecca Lee was transporting him to Travis but she had betrayed the OPC. We discovered that she was going to sell the monster to an unknown buyer. The scientist then escaped and caused the outbreak in Crimson Falls,” said Velski. Sarah lifted her foot off of the woman’s chest with her eyes still glaring down at her.

  “You never said what was contained at Travis…” she said. Velski sat up slowly to pull out a crumbled up photo from her pocket. Sarah had snatched the photo from her hands to see it for herself. “W-Who is this?” she said while pointing at the picture.

  It was a picture of a young girl holding a stuffed rabbit. The girl was smiling while holding hands with a scientist by her side.

  “This is his daughter, isn’t it?” she had asked. Matthew and Marilyn looked down to Velski after viewing the photo for themselves. The soldier finally stood up from the ground to dust herself off before replying.

  “Girl’s name is Joanne Anderson. Daughter to Dr. George Anderson, one of the scientists that caused the destruction of both cities. But no, those two are not related. The man in the photo is Dr. Adrian V. Hightower. He was Dr. George Anderson’s best friend and colleague,” she had said. “The girl is what we brought to Travis in the helicopters the other day. She has the alien life form inside of her body as well. But she didn‘t show any signs of deformity or aggression like her father’s partner did,” Velski explained. Matthew and Marilyn turned to face the smoke that was coming from the destroyed town.

  “So Crimson Falls looks like this too?” he asked himself. Marilyn took his hand for comfort when the image of her mother as a monster came suddenly to her. He felt the tight grip she had and knew already what it was that caused her to do that. “She’s gone. No more suffering,” he told her. Matthew gently kissed her cheek before facing the destroyed city once more. “Come on, we need to head to Travis. I assume the others are there already,” he said.

  Sarah held the picture out for Velski to retrieve.

  “The little girl…does she know what her father and his friend have done?” she asked her. The OPC soldier stood beside the truck while resting her hands on the hot metal surface to feel the burn.

  “Dr. Anderson used his daughter as a test subject. All the pain and suffering she endured was unknown to us until some of our members hacked into his computer when we had suspected him of wrongful experiments. I believe the girl could be the cure to stop the monsters from spreading their virus around. We save the girl, save the world. If she dies, we all die,” Velski said. Marilyn climbed into the back of the truck with Matthew following behind her. They sat together while staring up at the bright blue sky.

  “So the outbreak might’ve already started in Travis. Are you guys ready to enter the nightmare once again?” Matthew had asked them. Sarah looked back to her destroyed city, then to the direction of Travis.

  “I just want this to stop. But if saving a girl is going to give me that, then yes. I’m ready,” she said. She slowly opened the door and entered the vehicle. The engine started up with some smoke shooting out of the exhaust pipe. “Velski, where is Dr. Anderson now? You said it was his friend and daughter that had terrorized Crimson Falls. So, where is this bastard?” she had asked.

  Velski had entered the truck from the side door before taking a seat. She had looked down to her hands, then to the road up ahead. “After my fellow OPC members arrested him and brought him to Travis. He somehow escaped. He didn‘t try to comeback for his daughter. So I don‘t know where he is. He could be the reason why the OPC Head Quarters in Travis was under attack earlier. Dr. Anderson…is an evil man. He could be the buyer that hired Rebecca Lee and her friend Luke Reno to transport Hightower to him for further research,” she had said.

  Sarah gripped the steering wheel tightly when Luke’s name came up. “That bastard…got Luke involved in all this?” she had whispered to herself. Velski saw the hatred look the officer had on her face when she turned over to continue talking. But she decided to stay quiet. “I will find him…and kill him…” Sarah said loud enough for the woman in the passenger seat to hear.

  “So you will help me, Sarah?” Velski had asked her.

  “That’s a stupid question to ask me. We’re heading there right now.”

  “Why the sudden change of heart?”

  “You mentioned my…friend’s name. This Anderson asshole is the reason that I lost so many of my friends. That’s why I’m going. We’re going to find the little girl first, then I will find this bastard and kill him with my own two hands,” Sarah said with a satisfied look.

  The soldier had looked out the window as the Truck started to move. They were finally on their way to Travis. To enter a new nightmare, or to prevent it from affecting it‘s own towns people.

  To be continued…