E-Virus: Emily's Journey

by Ward, Jessica

  Emily’s Journey

  Copyright ©Jessica Ward 2016

  Cover by Nixxi Rose

  The right of Jessica Ward to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All Rights Reserved

  No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

  No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended).

  Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damage.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents originate from the writer’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Jessica was born in Lincolnshire, however she moved to Cheshire at the age of five.

  Jessica spent the majority of her childhood residing in Bramhall. She now lives in a lovely little apartment in Wilmslow, the area which inspired her first novel.

  Jessica works full-time for a Recruitment Consultancy firm in the heart of Manchester City Centre. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, shopping, going out with friends and tending to her adorable yet mischievous house bunny named Honey.

  Emily is a highly intelligent, yet socially inept young scientist. Residing in the city, she was just beginning her career within Marine Biology.

  Boris couldn't be more different from Emily. He had always been a drifter, floating from one job to another. He was confident and he could talk the talk, he just didn't want to.

  We follow this unlikely duo, as they journey through the city centre, a treacherous route packed with members of the undead, as they attempt to reach Emily’s uncle, another scientist who may just have all the answers they have been searching for.

  Can they cross the city unscathed? And will they find Emily’s uncle in time?

  Chapter 1

  Emily opened her eyes. She had been sleeping rough for the past month. She had been living alone, in a tiny one bedroom apartment, in a crappy area near the centre of Manchester. When the first of the evacuation warnings started, it had already been a little too late for Emily.

  Emily had been living in Manchester for just over a year now, it was her career that drove her into the city centre. She was working on a project which involved monitoring the water quality of the Manchester Ship Canal.

  It was not a job that she enjoyed, or one that she looked forward to getting up in the morning for. However, she knew that she was lucky to be given the opportunity, even if it meant spending her days on a boat, sat in the cold and surrounded by revolting, sewerage smelling water. The poor girl wasn’t even very well paid, in fact she was barely scraping by on minimum wage.

  She had recently completed her studies in Bangor University where she gained an Msc in Marine Biology. Emily was an incredibly bright and intelligent girl. The passion for science seemed to run in her blood. After all, her father was an Environmental Scientist and her uncle was a highly-respected Professor who was currently working within the pharmaceutical industry. She and her family had always remained extremely close.

  Emily had always been drawn to Marine Biology, ever since she was a little girl. She was always known as the water baby of the family. Whenever the Hyatt’s went on a family holiday together, Emily was always the first in the sea, and the last person out. She loved being in and around the water. Sea life fascinated her. Even as a child she had been an incredibly strong swimmer. She would try to chase any fish that swam near her, although, she never really wanted to catch them, she simply wanted to see if she could keep up with them.

  The sea didn’t just fascinate Emily, but it soothed her as well. Whenever she felt stressed or restless, she would close her eyes and imagine she was sitting at the bottom of the ocean, watching the waves roll over her, as the suns reflection bounced off the surface water. This was something she seemed to be doing more frequently as the days went on.

  Let’s fast forward to today. Emily had been seeking refuge in an abandoned double decker bus. It had been her home for the past three weeks. The exterior of the bus laid claims of free Wi-Fi and low fares. It was one of many navy-blue Magic Buses that clogged up the busy roads in rush hour, leading in and out of Manchester. This particular bus didn’t look like it had been in service for some time. The interior of the bus was relatively clean, however, the exterior seemed to paint a completely different picture altogether. Red handprints smeared the glass on the lower levels, while chunks of decaying flesh encased the large rubber tyres, putrefying in the morning sun.

  None of these gruesome details seemed to bother Emily in the slightest. She had seen her fair share of disturbing images long before the E-Virus tore through the city. She was a scientist after all, she had dissected and studied the insides of many marine and freshwater animals, since she began her research. She had seen all kinds of parasites that infected animals, everything from ringworm to flesh eating bacteria.

  Emily stretched out her arms and legs as she let out a mighty yawn. She had sprawled out across the back seats of the bus on the upper level. The windows closest to her had already steamed over. She pulled back the manky, rough, and tattered blanket she had wrapped herself in, as she wiped down a tiny corner of the window nearest to her.

  The street beneath her seemed quiet. Rubbish littered the roads and pavements, empty take away containers and old newspapers floated freely in the wind. She squinted as she looked further afield, to the park across the road. A group of pigeons had gathered by the children’s play area as they fought with one another to claim the rights to whatever morsel of food had stolen their interest.

  Emily gazed further into the park. A drunk, homeless man stumbled down the path, his arms outstretched as he headed towards the birds. Emily followed the man with her gaze as she watched him set upon the pigeons. A mass of grey feathers filled the air as the man fell to the floor, amid the commotion that he himself had caused.

  Great, the first zombie of the day. Emily thought to herself. She sighed, but she could not help but stare as she continued to look on.

  As the birds flew away and the feathers began to settle, Emily could see the man a lot more clearly. He had caught one of the pigeons and he seemed to be fumbling around, trying to grab the small plastic tag attached to the pigeon’s foot. Once he had steadied the pigeon long enough to read the numbers along the tag, with a disgruntled look, he launched the pigeon into the sky. The confused pigeon flapped it’s wings and flew off into the distance. Once he had discarded the pigeon he carried on down the path, away from the bus.

  What the actual fuck? Emily gasped aloud. She had automatically assumed this man was infected. He moved in the same manner they did, and from what she could see of his appearance he could easily be mistaken for a member of the undead. But not only that, she had not come across another person in weeks. She was starting to fear that she was the only human being left on this earth.

  She raced towards the front of the bus and down the steps. In her haste, she pried open the doors, catching her finger as the door folded back. She cried out in pain, but she did not slow. She raced towards the park entrance.

  “Wait, stop, please.” She begged as she chased after the homeless looking man.

  Upon seeing this strange young woman hurtling towards him, the homeless man instinctively ran. Emily chased him half way around the park before he gave in and slowed to a stop.

  “What?” He turned around and snapped rather abruptly.

  Emily was a little taken aback. She didn’t a
ctually know why she wanted him to stop so badly, she just knew that she was tired of doing everything on her own.

  “What’s your name?” she asked rather weakly.

  “Boris. What’s it to you?” the man slurred. He was clearly a drunk. His breath stunk of stale whiskey.

  Emily was never very good when it came to communicating with people. Social interactions were not on her list of strong points. “Uh, I guess, I mean, I just wanted to know.” She stuttered.

  “You chased me half way around the park for that? What on earth is wrong with you?”

  Emily looked at him with such deflation in her eyes. At that moment, Boris realised that this girl was of no threat to him.

  He softened his tone. “Where did you come from little girl?”

  Emily was used to being mistaken for being a lot younger than she was. She had a dark blonde, almost mousey brown, shoulder length fine hair which she always kept up in a messy ponytail. She did not care for wearing make-up, nor for keeping up appearances, which meant she rarely looked after her skin. She was only a small girl, no taller than 5”2. She was slim but she did not have much of a figure.

  She looked more like a fifteen-year-old girl than she did a twenty-five-year-old woman.

  Emily hesitated, she was beginning to grow wary of this strange bearded man. She didn’t want him to know how vulnerable she was, or that she was alone. What if he’s a rapist? She asked herself, or even worse, a serial killer? She was beginning to regret her split-second decision to go chasing after this stranger.

  “I’ve been staying nearby.” She finally mustered. “My name is Emily.” She added in for good measure.

  A familiar howling in the nearby trees cut their conversation short. “Oh bollocks. Come on then Missy, I know where we can go” Boris said as he tried to push past his drunken haze.

  Chapter 2

  Emily didn’t have time to weigh up her options. As far as she was concerned the infected were a far greater threat than any human being. She had seen first-hand what they were capable of, and she knew whole heartedly that she did not want that to be her future. She followed Boris as he ran ahead. He seemed to sober up pretty quickly. They exited the park as they ran, staying as close to cover as possible. After a few minutes, Boris turned down one of the residential streets and into an abandoned kebab shop.

  Classy, Emily thought.

  “This way.” Boris gestured towards the back of the shop. Emily hesitated for a second, but as the howling in the distance grew closer, she followed him just as he had requested.

  She followed him through the kitchen area and up a narrow set of a stairs, into a small box room above the shop. A dirty mattress lay in the corner of the room covered in blankets. Crates of Pepsi, Fanta and 7up were stacked from floor to ceiling on the other side of the room, a camping chair sat facing the window. Emily was appalled, this looked more like a crack den with light refreshments than it did someone’s home.

  “I found this place a few days ago,” Boris explained sensing her disapproval, the effects of the alcohol were starting to wear off. “Here, take a seat. Can I offer you a drink?” Boris asked motioning to the camp chair and handing her a can of Pepsi.

  “Thank you.” She mumbled as she took a seat next to the window. Boris seated himself on the dirt ridden mattress. He pulled a tattered rucksack from underneath the blanket and dragged out a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels. He held it up as an offering to Emily, but she shook her head. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she questioned him.

  “Probably not.” Boris shrugged as he tucked the bottle back into his bag.

  Unsure of what to do, Emily began to bite the skin from the side of her nails, a reaction she had whenever she was feeling nervous or scared. It happened a lot around new people. They both sat in the dank room, sipping their lukewarm pop, neither one of them uttering a single word.

  “Where are you from then, Emily is it?” Boris asked, his best attempt at making small talk. Boris was not really a people person either, but in an entirely different way to Emily. He knew how to talk to people, and he had the social skills, he just didn’t want to use them. Boris hated people. He had always been somewhat of a recluse.

  Emily looked up and faced Boris. He was a tall yet lanky man. He had blonde hair, only a shade or two lighter than hers yet he had a thick bushy ginger beard. His faced seemed very weathered and dark lines surrounded his eyes. He wore a long khaki leather trench coat, teamed with black baggy jeans and hiking boots.

  He was not the sort of person Emily found approachable. In fact, he scared her a little bit.

  “Shrewsbury originally, but I went to Uni in Bangor, and I moved up here about a year ago,” she answered. “What about you?” she asked not wanting to be rude.

  “Oh, I’ve been around these parts for a while. I lived in town, but, like you did I guess, I had to get out quick when those things took over.”

  Emily nodded. The infection spread like wildfire. She remembered the first infected person she saw. At first, she thought it was just a mentally unstable crazy person, which isn’t exactly unheard of, especially in a busy city. He was shouting something incomprehensible in the street and throwing himself into passers-by.

  She noticed him straight away and simply crossed the road, trying her best to avoid making any eye contact. As she passed by, she noticed a crowd of people running in his direction, but she thought nothing more of it, at least he is being taken care of, she thought to herself.

  “What were you doing with those pigeons?” Emily asked. She had found his behaviour rather odd that morning.

  “I used to keep racing pigeons. I’ve been waiting for them to come back.” Boris answered.

  Before Emily could ask anymore, a loud screech echoed from the street directly beneath them. “Shit, they found us. Get down!” Boris hissed.

  Emily’s chest tightened, the horrifying screams of the undead made Emily’s blood run cold. They both sat together in the corner of the room, neither one of them brave enough to take even the quickest of glances out of the window.

  Everything seemed quiet for a moment or two. Eventually, Emily felt her body begin to relax. Just as the fear began to drain from Emily’s body, they heard a faint barking. A stray dog must have gotten loose. It grew louder as the dog came closer to the shop. As the dog neared, the barking soon turned to whimpering, and then a strange strangled yelp, and finally, silence.

  Boris cautiously made his way to the window. What he saw made his stomach churn. A small yet rotund Arabic woman, covered in thick gold bangles and dressed in a Sari was bent over the lifeless canine, pulling away it’s fur and greedily gnawing her way through the bloodied sinew still clinging to the bone.

  A few paces behind her a young Arab boy, presumably her son, watched on with eager anticipation. He too was infected. Remnants of clothing clung to his small undead torso. He looked to be no older than seven or eight. His tanned skin seemed to take on a greyish tinge. Chunks of flesh were missing from his face and arms. He watched his mother as he cautiously edged closer to her. She paid him no attention as she greedily fed on her recent catch. He crawled next to her as he began to pick at the bloodied scraps surrounding her kill.

  Boris could not bear to watch anymore, he slumped back on the rotten mattress as Emily looked on. He hadn’t notice Emily climb next to him, as she too peered out of the window. Unlike Boris, Emily found the behaviour of the infected fascinating.

  The infected frightened her, yet as a Marine Biologist, she had been taught to study the behaviour of marine life taking into consideration changes in habitat and other varying factors. Emily viewed the infected just as she would any marine wildlife.

  “Disgusting creatures.” Boris mumbled.

  “I find them fascinating.” Emily gawked.

  Boris stared at her, a perplexed expression covered his face. “How the hell can you find these things bloody fascinating. They are dangerous. You know what they do. Strange girl.”

  “I find sh
arks fascinating, a lot of people do. It is perfectly acceptable to find a species fascinating and yet be fully aware of the danger they present.” She argued.

  “They aren’t a species though are they sweetheart, they are a fucking plague.” Boris fought back.

  “I suppose it’s all a matter of perspective.” Emily finished.

  Chapter 3

  After a few hours had passed and the infected had finished their meal and moved on, leaving only a pile of picked bones and fur behind them, Emily felt her own stomach begin to rumble.

  “We ain’t got any food here I’m afraid.” Boris said upon hearing Emily’s stomach. Emily folded her arms across her belly in embarrassment. “We will have to go out on a bit of a forage. This place was cleaned out long ago, all that was left was growing things.”

  Emily was used to going out and finding her own food and water. She didn’t have much by way of supplies. Everything she owned was on the bus.

  “There isn’t much around here anymore.” Boris heaved a sigh.

  “I’ve been staying on the other side of the park. In a bus.” Emily admitted to him. Boris seemed harmless enough and her previous reservations were beginning to drift away.

  “Does it work?” Boris asked. “I have no idea, I can’t drive.” Emily confessed. “The keys are in there though. I can show you where it is?”

  Luckily for Emily, Boris could drive. One of his previous job titles included HGV driver. He had only lasted in this role for about eight months, he didn’t really feel that life on the road was for him. He had always been a bit of a drifter, he had never lasted more than a few years in any job he had been in.

  “Can you take me to it?” Boris asked. “We can go now, as long as we’re careful.”

  Emily agreed and they both set off back towards the bus. They walked together in relative silence. Emily led the way towards her makeshift home.