by Morris, SJ
However, he did not slow in his attempt to get to the woman running for him. The cops stopped firing, and the boy kept coming. The woman threw herself at the feet of the boy, sobbing. The boy reached out in what looked could be his last tender moment with someone who had to be his mother.
Then, the unthinkable happened.
The boy grabbed the kneeling woman by her hair and pulled her face up to his where he barred his bloody teeth and took a ravenous bite from her face.
An audible gasp was heard from the newswoman’s microphone, and the helicopter pilot started screaming, “Oh my God, did you just see that?”
The first bite seemed to excite the boy, and he went into what could only be explained as a feeding frenzy.
Soon after, more shuffling people showed up on the screen, all heading towards the freshly spilled blood.
The police opened fire again, and one bullet caught the boy in the forehead. Brain matter and black blood sprayed the white concrete sidewalk behind him as he fell, lifeless, over the woman’s now torn body.
The others showed up moments later and began digging through each other to get to the woman’s flesh.
Some had their attention pulled away and began heading for the crowd of people who seemed frozen from watching the heart-wrenching scene that had just unfolded.
These people, or things, let out a collective wailing moan and reached for the crowds of scattering people. That was enough to get everyone running again, but for some, it was too late.
Men, women, and children of all ages, colors, and creeds were pulled into the mouths of these lifeless creatures and devoured on national television.
I guess Troy was right. You had to kill the brain to kill the beast. At least I didn’t have to find out the hard way that it worked. I just had to hold out hope that I’d never have to end one of those things.
Something told me I wasn’t going to be able to hold onto that hope for very much longer.
The kids walked through the front door as the scene on the television was unfolding into a massacre. The newswoman didn’t seem to have words to describe what we were looking at.
The kids came in, and each stopped to stare just as the TV came into their view.
“Oh my God!” Allycia gasped as she spoke, and tears immediately filled her eyes.
“Where is this, Mom?”
“It’s the Chinese International Airport, in Beijing.”
“This is so much worse than I expected. All of those people, they’re... they’re...” Allycia stammered her words as she watched the horrors on the news.
“They’re being eaten, Allycia. The Z-Strain is out in full force in China. They’ve shut down almost every major airport across the globe to try and stop this, but I’d safely say that it’s pretty much everywhere already. If not, it will be very soon. Even if just one of those people gets away with a scratch or gets infected blood in their eyes, it’s only a matter of time before they die from the virus and reanimate to infect everyone around them.” I responded, bowing my head in despair.
Allycia seemed to be falling apart, pacing in the living room, “This is terrible. We have to get out of here, now. We have to get away from, from, well, everything!”
“Calm down, guys, everything will be fine. We just have to make sure we stay calm, suit up, and get on our way to the cabin. There’s no one up there for miles around, so we’ll be less likely to come in contact with anyone that might be infected. I don’t know how long this could last, but we have to be prepared for it as long as possible.”
“Everything will be fine? Are you sure you can say that, Mom? I mean, look at the TV. People are eating other people. They’re not just eating them; they’re tearing them to pieces with their bare hands.”
“I shouldn’t say that everything will be fine. I’m sorry, but what I can say with absolute certainty is that I’ll do anything and everything in my power and fight to the death, to keep you guys safe.”
Allycia jumped into my arms with tears streaming down her face. Lance pulled Troy into the hug with all of us, and we had another honest to goodness family moment.
Two in one day!
This was turning out to be one of the worst days in the history of mankind, but at least my family still had each other.
“Let’s go, guys. It looks like we’re now running out of time. People are going to start to get crazy now that almost everyone just saw what was on the news.
Let’s get suited up. I want everyone to put everything we bought on, and I will duct tape the gloves to the jacket and the pant cuffs to the boots. I’m worried about the separation between the jacket and the pants. We can’t really duct tape that.”
Lance started tucking in his shirt and grabbed for the leather pants, “I guess we just have to make sure we tuck our shirts into our pants, and we know to protect ourselves there should we get into a bind.”
We all got dressed and taped each other up. As soon as we were finished, we all kind of looked at each other and something amazing happened. We all just started laughing at each other.
We laughed until we cried, and then we laughed some more. We looked like a family of road warriors, all dressed in black until your eyes were drawn to the silver duct tape.
However, when Lilly started barking from downstairs, the shrill insistence of her warning sobered us up from our laughter immediately.
“Everyone, quiet.”
Lilly continued to bark ferociously. She only got like that when there was someone at the door she didn’t know, which worried me since she was at the back door to the yard. “I’m going downstairs to see what Lilly’s barking at. Everyone stays here. The keys to the truck are hung up by the front door. Grab your helmets and be ready to head to the truck really quick if I say so. Understand?”
I received serious nods from each of my children before I walked out of the room.
I got downstairs, and the dog was at the door to the patio. Lilly stopped barking as I got close to her. She looked up at me and then looked back at the door.
“You got to go outside, Lil? Is that it? I sure fucking hope that’s all this is.”
I looked around, and the only thing I found to possibly defend myself was a broom. I grabbed it and pulled the door open a little to peek outside. Lilly her nose shoved in the tiny crack of the door, and she was pushing on it to get out. She might have been fifteen pounds, but she was strong when she wanted to be, and I had to keep a lot of force on the door to not let her push her way out. Nothing seemed to be around, and I didn’t hear anything except her sniffing at the crack, trying to get out.
“Lilly, back it up! Get your damn nose out of the door, so I can make sure there’s nothing out there that’s going to eat you, stupid!”
I know it’s dumb to talk to a dog, but it sure as hell made me feel better to say these things out loud. I guess it made me more comfortable with the fact that I had my leather pants and jacket taped closed. It made me feel less crazy oddly enough. I grabbed my helmet and put it on as I shoved the dog behind me and quickly slipped through the door without her. Lilly began scratching at the door that was now closed, and I stood with the broomstick in my hands, ready to go at the first sign of an attack.
Now that I was outside, I could hear the sounds of a typical neighborhood, muffled of course, since I had my helmet on. I strained to listen better before I moved from my position against the door. I heard a lawnmower going somewhere, kids laughing and yelling at one another down the block, and then I heard a scurrying sound that I could tell was much closer.
It sounded like when Lilly was trying to gain traction on the tile floor in the laundry room, but this would start and then stop, start, and then stop.
Then, there was a loud meowing that accompanied the sound, so I was going to assume it was a cat, but you know what people say about making assumptions, right?
I was not about to make a meal out of my ass in this case, so I slowly followed the sound around to the shed. I peeked around the corner, and there it
was, a scared cat trying, unsuccessfully, to climb our six-foot fence.
Its nails dragged incessantly against the plastic panel, unable to gain any kind of hold. The cat was going back and forth from the left of the panel to the right, trying to get over.
It must have heard one of my steps because it turned around quickly and let out a meow that sounded more like a scream. It backed up against the corner of the fencepost and arched its back in a way that made it look like it was folded in two. Its tail stood straight up, and the animal looked more scared than angry. It must have been exhausted because it was foaming at the mouth and panting heavily.
I didn’t know if the virus could pass from humans to animals, so I was taking no chances with this. I put my head back around the corner I was peeking from very slowly and started backing up towards the door I came from.
Suddenly, I heard the same scrambling of the cat’s claws on the fence again, so I guessed the cat felt no need to attack me, only the drive to continue to try and get away. I turned and ran for the door, using the bottom of the broom to block Lilly from coming out as I opened it and rushed inside, slamming it shut behind me.
The kids were all standing there with their helmets on in the hallway as I bent over to pick up Lilly. She was squirming because she wanted to go outside so badly, so it took a few seconds for me to secure her and take off my helmet. Once I took mine off, the kids all pulled there’s off and almost in unison asked what was outside.
“Well, it wasn’t one of them. At least, I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean you don’t think so? Was it, or wasn’t it?” Allycia said in a whisper as if talking quietly would save us.
“I don’t know if the virus can cross into animals, and it was a scared cat trying to jump the fence behind the shed. Normally, this virus makes people very aggressive, but this cat wanted nothing to do with me. So, either it just makes animals’ flight instinct kick into overdrive, or it could have just been some dumb, scared cat from the neighborhood. Worst case scenario is the cat had been in contact with someone that was infected and had been running away, only to get trapped in our yard.”
“If we’re looking at the worst case, that means whoever scared the cat was from around here,” said Lance, whispering like his sister.
“Not necessarily. I’ve never seen that cat before, which could mean one of two things. The cat could have been from far away, and it just kept running, or it could mean it was an indoor cat, and its owner never let him out until he or she tried to eat him. I say we err on the side of caution and get the heck out of dodge now.”
“What are we waiting for? Let’s get the hell out of here!” Troy was rearing to go as he turned around to head back up the stairs jumping them two at a time.
We all followed him, and I did a quick triple check of the house to make sure we didn’t forget something important. I checked to be sure all the doors and windows were locked, and the water was turned off. We might be taking everything we thought we’d need, but I still hoped that we’d be returning home sometime soon, and I didn’t want to come back to a flooded basement.
After about fifteen minutes, we were all ready to go. We stood at the front door with our helmets in our hands, and I had Lilly in my arms.
I looked back one last time to the foyer where a large family portrait was hung of all of us on the beach.
It was sad to think it might be the last time I saw this portrait, but I took my mental picture, headed out the door, and locked up the house behind us.
Chapter 5
The boat was hooked up to the truck, and we were finally on our way. We stopped at the first gas station we hit, and I grabbed five gas cans with no incident, which was odd since I was all dressed up in my biker gear, topped off with duct tape.
It was still kind of chilly for April though, so no one really noticed. I guess they just figured I was riding a motorcycle. Yet, as far as I could tell, they also neglected to put two and two together. I was buying gas cans and if I were on a bike, I would have nowhere to put them.
Oh well, the fewer people who paid attention, the less I had to explain.
The next station we arrived at, I grabbed the three gas cans that were left, and I got another four at the next one, to make our total twelve.
I couldn’t really fit anymore under the boat cover without stacking them, and I didn’t think traveling with them filled and stacked on top of one another was the smartest move.
Plus, at the last gas station, the attendant looked at me pretty funny when he saw how many we had under the boat cover. This suspicion caused him to notice, with unwanted interest, the truck packed full of gear too.
“You going camping long term, ma’am?”
“You could say that. It’s our first time camping, so, I’m guessing by your expression, that we packed too much, huh?”
“Well, since it’s your first time, I suppose you’ll just have to find out how much work it is to unload all that stuff the hard way. It’ll help you be all the wiser when you pack for your next trip,” the attendant said as he spat a gob of tobacco goo out of his mouth.
“Thank you, sir. I bet we end up not unpacking half of this stuff if you’re right,” I said with a smile. I hoped my excuse would throw the guy off and it seemed to work. He just thought we were silly city folk, over-packing for a camping trip. As for the motorcycle gear, I had taped at the wrists and ankles; he just kind of looked at me sideways as I walked away.
I laughed nervously, “I’m really allergic to poison ivy,” I said as I continued walking. “I overpack and over-prepare!”
I was worried he would get braver and ask more questions, so I felt the need to come up with an explanation for the outfit. It worked, though. He just kind of laughed and waved me off.
Whew.
It’s funny how little interactions like that could get the old blood pumping.
I wondered how I’d react to coming in contact with my first infected if just this guy’s question got me going this much. I figured I’d be in a world of trouble when that happened.
I got all shaky lying to a gas attendant about what we were doing, how the hell was I going to keep my cool with a bloodthirsty, 250-pound, undead thing trying to chew on my face? I needed to get my shit together and start preparing for that to happen right away. I knew that I couldn’t be scared around the kids.
Thinking of the kids... that helped. It made me instantly angry to think about some zombie trying to attack my kids and I stopped shaking.
That’s it, think about what I have to live for and who I have to protect. That’ll get me ready to go up against anything.
I thought about sharing my epiphany with the kids when I got back in the truck, but I figured we had enough touchy-feely moments today.
Instead, I’d let this be my silent weapon against my fear. I’m a mother, hear me roar!
Yeah, whatever. I just didn’t want the kids making fun of me the rest of the way up to the cabin.
Back on the road, I made sure to have the GPS exclude all of the highways and toll roads. I only wanted to take back roads.
If the shit really did hit the fan, as I expected it would pretty soon with what we saw on the news a few hours ago, I did not want to be on a highway as it clogged with people trying to flee the mass-populated areas in New Jersey, which there are a lot of.
People in Jersey already drive like assholes. Add excited hysteria to the mix, and there’s bound to be more than a few accidents.
One could only assume that the police, fire, and EMS would show up to help, and all it would take was one infected to turn the entire highway into a bloodbath. Yeah, I’ll stick to the back roads, even if it gets me there in ten hours instead of four.
The kids were all focused on their thoughts because the car was silent for most of the drive. That was until we came across an overturned pickup truck that looked to be carrying fence posts and chicken wire.
There was no one else around on the quiet, secluded farm road, so I sto
pped the truck about 400 feet from the accident. There were no cars behind me, and the only one in front was the still-smoking pickup that had come to a halt on its roof.
“What do you think happened, Mom?” asked Lance, as he pressed his face to the front, passenger window.
“I don’t know, but I don’t see anyone around, so I think maybe we should just keep going. The driver probably went to get help already, or someone possibly stopped to give the driver a ride to the hospital. That’s why there’s only one car and no one else around.”
“Are you sure, Mom? We can only see the back of the truck. What if the driver’s trapped, unconscious, or what if he was ejected into the woods? Don’t you think we should at least check? I’d want someone to check if it was you,” said Allycia quietly.
“I guess so, sweetie. But what if it’s the Z-Strain, what if it was someone that was infected who caused this and the driver is there, and he’s one of them? I don’t want to risk your safety to that possibility.”
“Then, I’ll get out and check,” demanded Lance.
“No way!” I yelled as I locked the doors, even though they were already locked. “No one is getting out of this car. Not if we have no idea what’s out there.”
Lance looked at me angrily, “Well, what are you going to do, just drive away and not help someone that could really use it? That’s definitely not what Dad would have done!”
“Dad’s not here, is he? And I will not just leave. I’m going to drive around the truck slowly so we can see the front of it. Then, we’ll be able to tell exactly what happened and if there’s anyone there that needs help. This way, no one gets out and no one gets hurt. If someone’s there and needs help, I’ll decide what to do then. Understood?”
“Sure, fine. As long as we make sure no one needs help,” Lance insisted.
I think he just wanted to assert himself into the situation. The look on his face told me he was scared out of his mind to go out there, not knowing what could be waiting for him.
