Infected World Trilogy (Books 1-3): They Only Come Out At Night

by Guenther, David

  Walking out to the parking lot, she saw two teens sitting in her convertible. They both grinned evilly at her when she looked their way.

  “Yo, you have the keys to our convertible, lady?” A girl of perhaps sixteen asked from behind the steering wheel. The boy next to the girl laughed while not taking his eyes off Gloria.

  Gloria quickly replaced a flash of anger with a huge belly laugh. “Sure kids, I just need to get something out of the truck and it’s all yours.” She gave them a big genuine smile.

  “You don’t understand lady, we’re taking the car,” the boy said menacingly.

  “Sweetie, I said you can have the car. I just need to get some personal items out of the trunk and it’s all yours. Now you just sit there and figure out how you’re going to say ‘thanks’ to me.” Gloria walked close enough to the car to see neither appeared to be armed as she proceeded to the trunk and pulled out the last box of guns she had not transferred to the RV earlier. When she slammed the trunk, the boy’s eyes seemed to bulge at the number of rifle barrels sticking out of the box.

  “That’s my box, bitch, it was in my car. You just drop it in the back seat and I’ll let you walk away.” The boy was now on his knees in the front seat facing back at her. His face was red with anger. These kids are going to be the death of me yet—or themselves.

  “Both of you get the hell out of my car now.” Gloria’s voice had iron in it, both kids practically jumped at her command when they saw her 9mm aimed at them. She softened a little before she continued, “Kids, good manners are always important, especially these days. I was courteous to the both of you and you called me a bitch. Now I’m a girl raised in the south, my first inclination is to shoot the pair of you, not for trying to carjack me, but because of your atrocious manners. Now, both of you get on your knees in front of me,” Gloria looked down at the girl, “is that your boyfriend, sweetie?”

  “No, he’s my brother. Lady, we just want to get away from the city before it gets dark. We lost our mom the first night of whatever is going on and we lost our dad last night. He managed to hold back the creatures as we ran out a back door.” The girl’s voice broke as she continued with her story, “We plan to go north, maybe find a group to join.”

  “You even know how to shoot that gun, lady? Maybe I should hold it for you.” The boy started to rise up off the concrete. Gloria rapidly fired three times into the car tire. The boy dropped back to his knees and a dark spot spread from his crotch.

  “I was going to let you have my car. You just had to keep pushing it didn’t you, boy. If your sister wasn’t here, I’d of dropped you already. Now listen the hell up. I was also going to tell you where my group is so that you could join us. That’s way off the table now. Boy, take off your shoes, now!”

  The boy rolled back from his knees and sat on his butt as he quickly untied his shoes. He glared at her in as he removed his shoes.

  “Boy, you just don’t learn, now take off your pants.” Gloria aimed at the center of his head as he lost all color in his face. She fired into the side of the car and gas began to leak out of the hole. Gloria ripped the pants from the boy’s hands and used it to sponge up the gas until they were saturated.

  “Now the two of you sit still for a moment, I’ll be right back.” She walked quickly back into the shop and set the pants on top of the keys. She lit a piece of paper and tossed it at the pants. A small ‘whoosh’ sound was made as the pants caught fire. Gloria turned and walked back to the kids.

  “I was going to let you have my car because I’m taking that truck there. Inside the building, there are a couple dozen more sets of keys for all the trucks out here. Until I set them on fire with your pants. Now you need to drop the gangsta crap and start using your heads. Just a little courtesy and manners will take you a long way. Now start walking towards the 303 and head north. If I see you again I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  The two kids were thirty feet away when Gloria could hear them arguing and suppressed a laugh. She set the box of weapons on the back of her convertible and fished out a box of 9mm cartridges. She began to insert the rounds into a spare magazine while still watching the kids loudly arguing with an occasional shove at each other. With the new magazine ready, she released the magazine from her M17 and was astonished to see it was empty. After loading the new magazine into the weapon, she partially pulled back the slide and saw a round in the chamber. Damn, I need to pay closer attention to how many shots I’m taking. She had a quick flashback to zombies chasing her, with her empty pistol’s slide locked back as she carried young Oliver. Get your behind in gear, girl! Check out your new truck.

  Gloria carried her box of guns and ammo to the pickup truck and dropped them in the cargo bed before climbing up the side of the monster to unlock the door and climb in. Expecting the interior to bleed machismo, she was pleasantly surprised to see instead it was all brown leather with an automatic transmission. Gloria turned the key and wanted to cry with joy when the engine turned over. She gave one last look at her convertible sitting with two flat tires in a puddle of gas before pulling out to head towards Luke AFB to get some things done.

  Chapter 7

  Highway 59, Wyoming. April 5, 2029

  Caleb found the music distracting and turned it off as he contemplated his future. He’d no longer be stuck behind a monitor day in and day out; instead he was now an officer. Lives, not tasks, were going to be in his hands. He was going to be giving orders to people who were older and, until yesterday, senior in rank to him. They knew what the hell they were doing and would have to listen to him make noise in front of them the same way he’d listened to dumb shits that were clueless give him orders. Maybe I should just keep on driving.

  Ahead he could see there was activity on the side of the road in the parking lot of a diner. He could smell the food cooking, even at a distance and it smelled good. Time to meet the natives. Dang, I’m hungry all of a sudden.

  As he pulled into the parking lot, the locals ignored him as they all went into the diner. Caleb felt goose bumps on his arms and sensed that there was a lot of anger and fear, luckily none directed at him. There was the definite presence of infected close by. The hotel behind the diner was their daytime resting place. He could sense at least thirty, likely even more. He couldn’t sense while they were asleep.

  Caleb grabbed his M4 and adjusted the sling so it looked non-threatening, but easily brought to bear quickly if needed. He could see through the windows that there were between twenty or thirty people sitting in the diner.

  Before the door could close behind him, folks from different tables were inviting him to join them. He accepted the invitation of an old couple that reminded him of his parents. An old man who didn’t look happy to see Caleb accompanied them.

  “Son, you want some coffee?” The old man had identified himself as Oscar Karlsson. He took a sip of coffee in his left hand while holding his wife Maria Jose’s hand with his other. His brother Axel just glared at Caleb.

  “That’s be nice, thank you sir.” Caleb felt exposed sitting at the table with his back to the rest of the diner. He tried not to be obvious when he glanced at a picture so that he could see the reflection of the diner behind him. “I’m surprised this place is still open,” Caleb said as he took a sip of coffee an older lady brought him.

  “That was Axel’s wife Agnes that brought you that coffee. Our group opened up the diner this morning. Since the power never went out here in Wyoming, we’ve become gypsies going on down the road and salvaging what we could from places like this, then spending the nights away from any cities. We’re from just outside Denver. The rest of the folks here just sorta followed us after we started passing out guns. It didn’t hurt that Axel and I owned our own gun shop before the apocalypse. The big box stores never did hurt our business. We had our own ranges, plus Axel and I know a thing or two about fixing guns.”

  “If you want to put down roots, there’s a town south of here that’s been cleared out called Douglas. They’re sti
ll cleaning it up, but you can have electricity, clean running water, and the largest detachment of both the Army and Air Force in the States to protect you. That is the center of the move to reclaim the USA.” Caleb hadn’t noticed he’d raised his voice a little as he spoke, the realization of what was going to be done had, at that moment, been driven home for him.

  “They’re not grabbing guns and locking folks up behind razor wire for their own safety, are they?” Axel asked. His single bushy eyebrow seemed to take on a life of its own as he narrowed his eyes accusingly.

  “Axel, you remind me of my Uncle John, he was always worried about government conspiracies, airplane contrails and fluoride in the drinking water. I’d bet my last dollar, if it was worth anything, that he’s sitting all this out in his bunker back in --,” Caleb sensed a group of infected nearby that were all excited about adding more to their group; their signal was blasting at him. “We’ve got Zs close by, about to attack!” He sprinted from the table as those in the diner stared.

  “Oh my God! He’s running to where the kids are playing outside!” A woman screamed. The rest were on their feet chasing after him. The building behind the diner was a huge hotel. The side door was laying on the ground, Caleb could hear the kids laughing and screaming at each other to open the doors to the rooms. He got inside and hollered at the kids, “Get the hell out of here now!” He gestured with his M4 towards the exit door the same time the first of the parents caught up with him as the kids were running out the exit.

  “Where the hell do you get off, screaming and swearing at my boy!” a mother screeched at Caleb the same moment a door burst open and a dozen shrieking infected charged towards them from down the hallway.

  “Run!” Caleb shouted, as he made sure they were out the door and then followed. The closest infected almost made it into the sunlight before he stopped himself. The ones behind him were not able to stop and bounced into him, forcing him forward and into the sun’s rays. A heartbreaking shriek escaped his lips as he turned and managed to get back into the cover of the hotel, an anguished cry from the others followed him as the rest of the infected followed him back towards their lair. Caleb could sense the pain and he pitied the poor creature, at least it was still alive and would recover.

  Their parents separated the six kids, some were being scolded while others were being hugged desperately. All the kids still had a look of terror on their faces.

  “I don’t know how you did what you did there, Lieutenant. If I were a praying man, I’d say you were some type of angel, but I’m not. How did you know the kids were in danger from the Z?” Oscar asked. Caleb could sense he was scared and those around him were suspicious of him, all still had guns drawn. Aww crap, nothing like a lynch mob for saving some kids from the infected.

  “I’d ask instead why in the world you’re putting those kids in danger every day like this? Especially being this close to the town of Douglas and getting back to a normal life. What type of people are you to subject your children and families to this? You realize the state is under martial law? I could order you to report to Douglas, but if you’re too stupid to realize for yourselves what that means, perhaps it’s better you keep moving until you finally win a Darwin Award and your genes are removed from the gene pool. As far as hearing your kids in trouble, that’s called situational awareness. This is the fricking zombie apocalypse; you don’t sit down to breakfast and not stay alert, or at least post guards to protect your families. This is a new world. Try to learn from today and keep your families safe if you’re not going to take them somewhere safe. Excuse me as I get back on the road. I hope at least some of you were listening.”

  Caleb pushed through the small crowd as a few parents reached out to thank him. Once in his truck he began to shake and sweat as he looked into the rearview mirror, seeing his fully dilated eyes peering back at him. That was too damn close. Damn norms are more dangerous to me than Zs.

  Across the highway he noticed there was a train that was so long he couldn’t see the end of it. Without a second thought, he went to investigate. A small road took him west and then under the railroad tracks. To the north he could see half a dozen buildings. The sign along the road declared it was the Union Pacific Crew Change Station. Pulling into the parking lot he could sense there were norms and Zs that were aware of him. He didn’t feel any danger or threat, though.

  Caleb approached the station, “Hello? Can you come out and talk with me, please?” Caleb made a point to drop his carbine so it hung by his side and didn’t appear as threatening.

  “What do you want, Army?” Caleb immediately could tell the person was shouting from the second floor of the largest building in view. A large window was open but no one was visible.

  “Sir, if you could come down from up there I just have some questions about the trains here. I’m new to the area.”

  “You part of the crew that took over the airport and murdered the infected over in Douglas?” A woman asked as she came out from the doorway to a building to his left. A shotgun cradled in her arms.

  “Wow, you’re good! You took me completely by surprise. Yes, I’m part of the detachment out at the airport. We’re pretty much all that’s left of the Army and the Air Force. I wouldn’t call it murder for what happened to the infected, but I’ll agree I wish there’d been another way. I was still down in Colorado when that happened. What’s your story?” Caleb sensed her anger but didn’t feel threatened, even as she held her shogun in his general direction.

  “When everything happened, I was waiting in my truck here for my husband. He’s an engineer. Everything just struck so fast, there were about a dozen people here, two relief crews, waiting for their trains to come in, and the team that’s assigned to run the station. At first, I could see the crews standing around the door to the station just normal like. The next moment I looked up, they were either brawling or chasing each other. I thought at first it was just some grab ass until I saw the blood on some of them. I put my truck in drive and headed for the diner and hotel across the highway. It was happening there, too. I tried to call 911 and only received a busy tone. I tried to drive back to Douglas and the streets were full of people rioting. I managed to get away and drove out of town and just parked away from everything. I saw people driving and just stayed away from them, too. The next day everything seemed to be over. I went back to the station and was almost attacked inside. Jack pulled me out of the building and told me the infected stayed out of the sunlight. He unlocked a side door and when he opened it a couple that were trapped in the room just screamed and finally died horribly in front of us when the sunlight hit them and they couldn’t get away. They’re sick and need help, not to be shot down in the street like a rabid dog.”

  “In Douglas, that was the only way to stop the spread of the disease. I share your view, but it’s not like they can be locked up and taken care of. Ninety percent of the population is infected; there are not enough people or resources to help. I have a better understanding of what’s going on than anyone.” Caleb removed his sunglasses and let her see his eyes. “I’ve gone into buildings where the infected rest, I even ran with them one night. The only thing they want to do is spread the infection to those that are not infected. I was infected and somehow did not turn like the others. I can sense when they are nearby and even know when they are about to attack ‘normals’ to spread the infection. When they are stopped or someone fights back, it’s scary ugly.”

  The woman took a step back and looked like she was about to faint when another man came up from behind her, his shotgun aimed at the center of Caleb’s chest.

  “Son, now we don’t want any trouble. You get back into your truck and just make yourself gone. There’s nothing here for you to stay around and bother us over.” The old man was not menacing but he was scared.

  “Sir, I need to find someone that can drive this coal to the power plants, they have to be running low soon. If we lose power, food will spoil; people on life support will die. We don’t want to go bac
k to the Dark Ages if we can help it. Do you know anyone that can drive the train to the power plants?”

  “Damn it, boy.” The old man lowered the shotgun and cradled it in the crook of his elbow like the hunters Caleb had grown up with, it felt non-threatening. “I have a list of crews that live in the area. It was my job to notify crews in the event we had no-shows. That can get expensive, I tell ya. Let me go and see if I can get through to them while we still have phone service. I’ll tell them to report to the airport. I’d recommend you keep those shades on, I know lots of angry folks that’d shoot first, then ask about your eyes.” The woman stood next to the old man and said nothing as she pondered the fate of her husband, new hope rising as she watched the young soldier get into his truck.