The Dead Years - ORIGINS - Book Zero (A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller)

by Olah, Jeff

  Not recognizing this man from the building, Randy assumed he’d followed someone here from the market down at the corner and was simply searching for his next victim. His nametag read ‘Peter’ and dragging him to the far end of the hall was no easy task. Peter must have outweighed him by fifty pounds and the rotting flesh made the task all that much more trying.

  Laying the fallen beast against the wall and out of sight, the gentle buzz that rattled the floor beneath, indicated that the elevator was being summoned. Turning to head back, three more infected had rounded the corner, although apparently not focused on him. The gentle movement from below seemed to disorient them and Randy used this to his advantage, quickly reaching his apartment before the group ahead.

  Once inside, Randy secured the three entry points and headed for the bedroom. He used three black duffle bags to begin gathering the mini arsenal he’d collected over the years. Heading for the kitchen, he tossed a frozen burrito into the microwave and grabbed the phone while it cooked. Surprised it was still operational; he dialed an old friend who’d made the transition to civilian life much more seamlessly than he, even if he’d joined a big city police department.

  “Hey it’s me, what’s the status?”

  Pacing the floor while monitoring the city from the oversized window at the rear of his apartment, Randy continued. “Every car with only one patrolman, what’s the point in even leaving the station?”

  “Where’s it headed?”

  “How’s the grid?”

  “Yeah, I know my man. Just get out of the city as quickly as you can. It’s gonna get real nasty tonight and for the next few weeks.”

  “Trust me, there’s no one left for you to protect and serve.”

  “Be safe bud… take care”

  Knowing his friend wouldn’t take the advice; Randy tossed the phone onto the counter. Grabbing the burrito and his laptop, he dropped to the couch, intent on gleaning what he could from the web as the sun fell beneath the horizon, ushering in the first night in hell.

  As the hours escaped, so did his hope. He listened with his head back and eyes closed, as the sounds of the night rose and dissipated with the horrific medleys of tortured souls losing their battle with the infected.

  Never closer than a few miles, Randy shot from the couch as two quick gunshots sounded from the alley below his building. He hadn’t checked the time since closing his laptop, and knew the concept of time stopped mattering hours ago. Hurrying to the window, he struggled for a moment with what he was witnessing as the third shot rang out. What was Mason doing? That alley at this time of night was a death sentence, even before the events of the past day. Tonight it was all but assured.

  Reaching for the nearest pistol, Randy bolted for the door. Racing through the hall and down the many flights of stairs, he needed to reach his friend in time. This situation just turned personal as Mason was like a brother to him. He couldn’t let this happen. Avoiding a growing horde as he breeched the entrance to his building and made his way into the alley, Randy caught a quick glimpse of Mason unmoving with one of those things clawing its way on top.

  Cursing those who permitted the virus to escape into the public and not shutting it down years ago, Randy sprinted the length of the darkened concrete path to his friend. This was never supposed to happen, although he always figured it would… at some point.

  . . .

  As they moved from one area to the next, the hours passed. Sitting in the back seat, watching the complete annihilation of every city they moved through had her heart racing. At times, she felt as though she’d wake from this nightmare in a sweaty, panicked mess. The images at times too graphic to comprehend, Savannah shielded her eyes as the two animals in the front seat appeared to bond over the hell that had fallen to earth that day.

  “We’re here,” Jason said as Savannah slid down into the fetal position, along the rear floorboard once again. “Savannah, you staying here?”

  She didn’t answer; she covered her ears and didn’t look up. Jason snatched the rear door open and knelt to her level. “I probably deserve whatever it is your thinking, although I’m the only one protecting you from those things at this point. You may want to show a little gratitude.”

  The outdoor mall appeared to have escaped the early hours of the infection without too much damage. As night fell, the parking lot wasn’t much different than what would be found in the weeks leading up to a major holiday. Crowds rushing from store to store, grabbing what they could pack into their carts before heading back to their vehicles. Scanning the area, it appeared the infected had already come through the area or they’d be here soon and things were about to get much worse. Either way, the brothers knew what supplies they needed and time was working against them.

  “I’m staying here; I can’t stand to see any more of this… or you,” Savannah said.

  “Your choice,” Jason said. “We’ll be back as soon as we can. Try to stay out of sight.” He slammed the door and the pair headed off toward the stores.

  Rising once again from her position on the floor, she waited until they disappeared into the night and jumped into the front seat. The keys were nowhere to be found, although she wasn’t surprised. While driving off without them would have been nice, she had mentally prepared herself for what she needed to do on the ride over.

  With the hood release pulled, Savannah moved to the front of the car. Popping the hood, she grabbed a handful of spark plug wire and in one motion ripped it from the vehicle. Craning her neck to the left, she checked for any sign of Jason or Lance and slammed the hood back down. Making a beeline for the trees at the far side of the parking lot, she avoided a gathering horde near the street and randomly tossed the wires into the dumpster near the exit.

  Less than a block from Randy’s apartment, the sound of gunfire nearly knocked her from her feet. She slowed to a light jog and scanned the area, searching for its origination. The streets leading to his building were free of the infected as well as any sign of stranded survivors. She was alone and couldn’t have been more relieved. Figuring she had no more than a fifteen minute buffer, Savanah again picked up the pace and headed across the greenbelt leading to the building.

  A third shot rang out as she ducked into the building and made her way to the elevator. Hitting the call button and waiting for it to make its descent, Savannah chewed her nails. “What’s taking so long?”

  Behind, the familiar slow paced footfalls signaled the first time in hours she’d have to face the infected. Not wasting time to confirm her assumption, Savannah turned and ran for the stairwell at the rear of the building. With each passing floor, her heart paced faster. Not only due to the strain of climbing two steps at a time, but also the anticipation of what waited outside the landing to her cousin’s floor.

  Bursting through the stairwell door, she tumbled to the carpet and slid into the wall. Her imagination was beginning to control her every move. Three infected souls occupied the hall twenty feet beyond the entrance to Randy’s apartment. Savannah reacted only seconds before they did and won the footrace to his apartment. With only seconds to spare she was relived his door was unlocked as she twisted sideways into the foyer and slammed it shut behind her.

  Catching her breath and looking around, she only half expected him to still be here. “Randy.”

  Her cousin was already gone.

  Continue with Volume One Now…

  Or get a special Sneak Peek on the Following pages

  SNEAK PEEK of THRESHOLD

  The Dead Years - Book One

  1

  No one knew how or where it all began. There were only rumors at first, spreading from one city to another. The infection took hold quickly. Many that became victims of the first wave were caught off guard by the unusual behavior of those infected. Millions perished with each day that passed and the number of survivors continued to dwindle as they desperately searched for places free of this hell.

  The devastation was almost immediate. Law enforcement fell,
utilities powered down and civilization was shattered within the first few weeks. With no structure left in the world, the few remaining sought to band together to fight and survive in this new existence.

  They had no other choice…

  Mason looked out over the floor in between sets and was somewhat caught off guard, and also a little amused as one of his favorite songs from high school started up through his headphones. He hadn’t heard this for quite some time and figured his phone must be cycling through the deep reaches of his enormous playlist.

  Just as the chorus set in, the music muted, signaling a call was coming through. Mason pulled the phone from his pocket to check who was calling. “April,” he said aloud. He figured there must be something else she needed to harass him about and he wasn’t going to ruin another workout just to satisfy her need to belittle him. He hit decline and lay back on the floor for another set of crunches.

  Mason ran through his next set like a man on fire and lost all focus on the world around him. He often used his outside frustrations to fuel his high intensity workouts in the gym. This proved to be an effective tool in that he was able to push off his problems and at the same time get into top shape. The downside to all this was that his workouts, coupled with the time spent training clients, fueled the fire that resulted in his and April’s separation three months ago.

  Rolling forward and standing from his final set, Mason was surprised to see the weight room almost empty. He turned and noticed at least thirty people gathered outside the owner’s office and as he got closer, he saw there was at least half that amount inside the office.

  They seemed to be intently debating something as others hurried out the front exits of the gym and were headed for their cars. Mason asked one of the female on-lookers what was happening and just as she began to answer, his phone started to buzz, indicating he was getting a text message.

  Again it was April.

  Looking back at the woman standing directly in front of him, now appearing irritated, Mason said, “I apologize, what did you say?”

  “The old folks home,” she said.

  “Yes…” Mason followed.

  “They’re killing each other… LOOK!”

  Mason pushed his way through the diminishing crowd inside the office to get a glimpse of the television now directly in front of him.

  The reporter standing in the hallway was in the middle of his report when he was overtaken by what appeared to be three individuals, all of whom were at least eighty years old.

  Someone in the crowd said, “I am not sure what the hell they’re taking, but I want some. Damn, I have never seen people that age move so fast.”

  The news station cut away just as the threesome overtook the reporter. The footage was disturbing in that it appeared as though they were not just attacking the reporter, but trying to devour him. The first crazed senior appeared to bite the reporter on the neck or face and just as they cut away it looked as though the others had the same intention.

  The station went to a commercial and Tom the owner switched to another station covering a mysterious virus plaguing an emergency room with the same sort of crazy behavior; this time it wasn’t senior citizens. The cameraperson appeared to be running from the hospital and dropped the camera just as he was trapped on all sides by the angry horde.

  Mason looked over at Tom and watched as the remaining members either headed toward the doors or to the locker room, fearing the unknown. Tom stared at the screen a minute longer watching as the cameraman was torn to shreds by nothing more than the hands and mouths of the rabid individuals.

  “Tom!”

  “Yeah, what?” Tom said as though coming out of a fog.

  “What the hell is happening?”

  “How on earth would I know? It’s on every damn station though… check it out.”

  As Tom flipped from one station to the next, every station—even the local cable channels—had coverage of these bizarre events taking place. Some of the network channels had started to go dark and this appeared to concern Tom.

  “Mason, I’m closing up for the day. I need to get home; my wife is probably flipping out. I’m surprised she hasn’t called yet. If you want to stay you can lock up, otherwise let’s go.”

  “That’s fine,” Mason said. “I’m going to grab my bag and I’ll just be a few minutes behind you.”

  Heading back toward the locker room, Mason turned and looked as Tom reached the front door.

  “Tom, take care, I’ll call you later.”

  Mason pulled the phone from his pocket and looked down remembering he had put April on ignore. “Great,” he said.

  Opening April’s text, it read: Check the news, I am really scared – PLEASE CALL ME!!!

  Mason sat in front of his locker and dialed April. Being the only remaining soul inside the gym felt a little creepy and not just because of the earlier images he had seen on the news. He always hated being here alone, especially when it was dead silent, and being here mid-afternoon with the place empty was just weird.

  “Mason!” April answered on the forth ring.

  “I’m just leaving the gym now,” Mason said.

  “Where are you headed?”

  “Home… why?”

  “Can you come here?” April asked. “I’m really scared and I need you.”

  “Where is Justin?” Mason asked.

  “He’s in school; I just checked out the window and everything is quiet.”

  Mason had never heard April this worried. He figured he would try to set her mind at ease. “I’m on my way to your place. Stay put and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  “I will,” April said, sounding a little less stressed.

  “Mason?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I just spoke to my Dad.”

  “Oh yeah, what did HE have to say about this?”

  “He didn’t say very much, although he made me promise him that we would get out of the city. TODAY!”

  2

  April hung up the phone and walked to the oversized bay window in her master bedroom. The home she had purchased eight years ago with Mason was supposed to be her dream home. Instead, it now reminded her of how hard she had been on him and how much she had let her father influence those bad times.

  Thinking back to the better memories they shared, she remembered that they had decided on this home in particular because it overlooked not only the elementary, but also the middle and high schools. She persuaded Mason that if they stuck to the budget she outlined, they could literally watch their son grow from kindergarten to high school. She was sure her being overprotective did nothing to help their marriage. Mason would constantly let her know she needed to “loosen the reigns,” especially since Justin was only a few months shy of his fourteenth birthday.

  She desperately hoped Mason would arrive soon as she was freaked out after watching the news all day and talking to dear old dad.

  “I guess we were spared,” April said aloud as she looked out the window surveying both campuses, half trying to convince herself that she had nothing to worry about. No frantic people running around; in fact, the area seemed overly calm.

  April made her way downstairs and into the kitchen just as the phone rang. She was sure it was Mason with some sort of an update, although upon checking the caller ID she noticed the call was coming from Justin’s cell.

  “Hello?” she quickly answered, trying to sounds as if she had not a care in the world.

  “Mom, something weird is happening.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “All the teachers and staff were called to an emergency meeting and they haven’t been back to the classrooms. It’s been almost an hour now.”

  “Where are you?” April said.

  “I walked out into the gym because the rest of the school is too loud. The other students are kind of just running around the halls. Mom, some of my friends are saying that there is a war that was started.”

  “Justin, I think they’re just
trying to scare you.”

  “Well, what IS going on? Why are all the teachers gone? Why haven’t they come back?”

  “I’m sure it’s nothing. Just go back to cl…”

  “Mom they’re coming back, I gotta go.”

  April set the phone down and leaned back against the counter. She wanted Justin home and had to talk herself out of walking across the street to get him. She knew it would embarrass him and probably her as well.

  April decided she would head back to the bedroom and sit at the window and watch, that way she could ease her mind and at the same time she would be ready to move if anything changed.