Z Chronicles: The Beginning

by A. L. White

  “I don’t see why we would have to go,” Lori stated. “You have a lot of supplies here and my father built up a nice little stash too.”

  Bob wasn’t so sure in his head that they could pull off getting supplies from Lori’s house. He had already begun moving his supplies to the back of his truck when he went out to help the girls yesterday. That was just moving them from his house to the garage, not going inside a house that could be the new residence of whatever the other thing out there was, not to mention being in the open where they could attract the herds.

  “We only need our arrows and the tools to make the arrows,” Virginia said.

  “Leave our home Virginia?!”

  “Momma always said a house was a building, a home was wherever we were at as long as we were together.”

  They parked near the entrance of a J.C. Penny. Willie had parked the van as close to the door as he could while leaving them in a relatively empty spot so that there was a pretty clear line of sight in all directions. Good for those staying with the van and not so good for anyone going inside. Jack, Sam and the Sergeant made their way up a lane that went straight to the large glass doors. Nothing here looked out of place, it could have been any ordinary shopping day. Deep down Sam had hoped that they would find people inside doing just that, shopping.

  “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if….” he started to say as the Sergeant shushed him with a stern look, causing everyone to freeze in their tracks. Sam had even earned himself a very stern, if not rare, disapproving look from Jack that stung him back to the reality of their situation. Then they were motioned to continue following the Sarge.

  If the parking lot had looked normal, the store was anything but. The racks of clothing were thrown around in disarray. Dried blood and partial remains were preceded by dried bloody footprints. At first Jack thought he was going to vomit but by the middle of the store he had become numb to it. He liked to think he was desensitized to anything he could possibly see. At least that is what he would tell anyone who would listen in the past. Sam on the other hand looked as though he was trapped in a nightmare that would never end. Jack was worried that he could lose it at any moment. That was when they heard a low cry for help and then a whimper of someone calling out to their mother. They froze when the Sergeant did and watched as he slowly made a circle as if he were a human radar dish. He stopped and then pointed toward the mall and proceeded in that direction. He moved with purpose yet cautiously forward, only stopping when Sam tripped over a leg lying across the aisle causing him to go flying into one of the few shelving units still standing with a loud crash.

  The Sarge snapped around with his gun aimed at Sam’s head, motioning him to be more careful and keep up. He turned back toward the mall entrance and listened for movement. When he was satisfied they carried on toward the cries. They were growing louder now and Jack hoped whoever it was wasn’t very much further. He didn’t like being in here now that he was here. The mall wasn’t dark thanks to the skylights, but it wasn’t very bright either. There were shadow areas all over the place that were giving Jack the heebie-jeebies. Anything could be hiding in the shadows. He moved closer to the Sergeant, only stopping when he got a “too close look” that backed him off.

  Then they saw it; a young man in the middle of the floor surrounded by blood and mostly eaten corpses. He saw the three and began to call out louder. Sam ran forward to help the boy without thinking. The Sergeant tried to grab Sam as he went past but only managed to grasp the air. He turned to Jack and said “I don’t like it,” followed by something that Jack couldn’t make out because as soon as Sam reached the boy he screamed out. What Sam found was that most of the boy’s flesh had been eaten down to the bone. It was a miracle that he was alive at all. That was when the trap closed on the three.

  From off to the left four figures came out of the shadows with lightning speed. As soon as Jack noticed them they were all over Sam. Then BLAM, BLAM, BLAM as the sergeant shot three of them in the head leaving the forth still alive ripping Sam’s throat. The Sergeant took aim to kill this one but then suddenly swung to the right and opened up another salvo and several more figures fell to the ground. He then turned and grabbed Jack dragging him back toward J.C. Penny, stopping to fire off three or four round bursts. Then he would drag Jack five or six feet and repeat the whole process until they reached just inside the Penny’s entrance. He let loose of Jack who fell to the ground with a thud.

  “Is that what you were looking for Doc?” he asked in a loud whisper as he made that slow circle again looking like a radar dish. Consumed by fear as he was, the riddle took over and allowed Jack to start functioning again. The Sarge knew people and he knew from this past week that when it came to riddles Jack was a savant. Before he could reply the Sarge had them up and moving toward the parking lot. Just when Jack felt that they had reached the safety of the sunlight the Sarge turned and opened fire. Jack hit the ground before the Sarge yelled at him to get up and keep moving.

  Jack did get up and move, probably the fastest he had ever moved in his life, out into the parking lot and up the aisle toward where the van had been. Then he heard the honking behind him. Willie had heard the shots fired and moved the van up by the door. Jack turned around and headed toward the van as Willie climbed out from behind the driver’s seat and started shattering the glass doors with bursts of fire. Jack climbed into the van’s side door and hit the ground. From the time he hit the floor of the van until it sped away he could hear Willie’s rounds, then silence replaced by the horrible screams. The van did not stop. Jack tried to process everything he had just been through. It made him sick to his stomach just thinking about what he had seen.

  CHAPTER 4

  They arrived at the storage facility after a brief stop at their house. The large gate was electronically operated so Bob cut through the locking mechanism and drug it open. The whole time Lori stood guard on one side of the truck while Virginia and the Lads took the other side. She was starting to notice how protective the Lads were becoming of Virginia and how safe Virginia felt with them on either side of her.

  When Bob drug the huge gate open the Lads went through the gate first checking out the way for them. No sound or smell went unnoticed or uninvestigated before they came back to the truck. Once through the gate, Bob pulled it back to the closed position and they made their way past the rows of storage boxes to where all the RV’s were parked. There in front sat a 1969 yellow and white Winnebago motorhome that looked to Lori like it had seen better years and was ready to be put out to pasture. Bob noticed Lori and said, “Like me she has a few miles on her but she will get us where we are going and a lot more comfortably than the truck will.” He motioned off to a small trailer that had been used to haul dirt bikes or snowmobiles by someone. “I don’t think the owner would mind us borrowing that do you? Haul some of the supplies behind us instead of on top of us.”

  Lori nodded in agreement and helped Bob pull the trailer over behind the Winnie and hook it up. The loading went surprisingly fast with Virginia even helping for as long as she could, then settling down in the shade of the Winnie with Perseus lying next to her. She petted his big head causing him to bury his head in her leg and roll over like a puppy.

  “Where did Zeus go?” she asked Bob.

  “Oh, old Zeus likes to stretch his legs a bit now and then. He will be back before we go.”

  Zeus had gone for a walk around the storage yard and found something that he didn’t like. It was the smell of danger and he was doing his best to isolate and find it but it seemed to be everywhere. The scent wasn’t there when they first came here but it was definitely here now and growing stronger all the time. Zeus could feel it in his bones, as well as smell it, the further west he moved and then he found it. There was a gaping hole in the fence and the herd was flooding through it. He growled a low terrifying growl and all the hair on his back rose as he tried to make himself look bigger and meaner, but the crush of zombies kept surging forward. Zeus slowly backed up keepin
g himself between the zombies and his people until he felt the distance was safe enough and then he ran back to them. Bob saw Zeus charging back to them at a full run and knew this wasn’t a good sign. He ordered Lori, Virginia and the Lads into the Winnie following them inside. He pulled out a large brief case, laid it on the table and opened it.

  Putting his hand on Lori’s shoulder he said, “In here is everything you need to know to get to safety. This red circle here is where I want you to go to first, following the yellow highlighted route as much as possible.”

  Lori didn’t understand what was going on but she could tell that Bob was scared and she didn’t like that.

  “Why are you telling me this……..” she began as they all saw the herd coming around the corner of the furthest storage shed aisle.

  “I am going to buy us a little time and then I will meet you where that red circle is okay?” Bob said, but Lori didn’t reply. “I said okay young lady, do YOU understand me!”

  Lori shook her head yes. “Good, now get up there behind the wheel and get this thing moving. I will be in front of you in the truck until we get to the gate. I will open it and you just head for that circled spot.” Lori shook her head that she understood. She wanted to say something but the words just were not there.

  Bob handed Virginia the map and said “You are in charge of navigating and the Lads.” Virginia nodded her head yes. “Ok then let’s go before it is too late,” Bob said as he exited the Winnie and climbed into the truck. The crush of zombies was near now; near enough that you could smell the rotting flesh like it was on board the Winnie. Lori turned the key and the old engine fired to life. Bob had already headed to the gate and she followed him as close as she felt comfortable. As they neared the entrance there was a sea of zombies waiting for them. Bob floored the truck, mowing over them and crashing through the gate creating a path for the Winnie to follow through. When he reached Theodore Street he pulled off into the grass and scrambled out of the truck. Lori stopped and he angrily waved her on yelling “To that spot now, DON’T STOP!”

  In the rearview mirror Lori could see Bob shooting into the herd. She was sure that he was hitting something with every shot - it would be hard to miss. When they turned on to fifty-nine she could still hear the gunfire. By the time she reached the next stoplight the sound of the shots were no more. Now there was only the Winnie’s motor and the Lads’ panting.

  CHAPTER 5

  Jack came to as his head smacked the metal floor of the van feeling like his head had exploded. For a few minutes he just laid there listening to all the sounds around him. He desperately wanted to hear Sam point out something that was obvious to everyone in that way he did when he felt he had figured something out or that they had all just been extremely lucky. He knew that couldn’t happen, not now, not ever again. He slowly raised his head but still couldn’t see anything; the front row of seats was blocking his view. He fought the aches and pains that seemed to cover his entire body and rose up from the floor onto the seat near him, expecting to see the Sergeant or Willie driving but finding the mute woman up there. They were alone in the van, just himself and her. Jack felt the wind being knocked out of him - he was alone with the crazy lady who didn’t speak.

  “I was wondering if I should just throw you out the side door a few minutes ago,” she stated.

  “You speak?”

  “When I have something to say,” she replied pulling the van over onto the road’s shoulder and then turning to face him.

  “Why did they find you naked and covered in blood?” Jack asked.

  She laughed at him and turned away so as not to blush. “Really? Is that what you want to be asking me right now?”

  Jack felt ashamed but it was the part of the story that didn’t fit in. Why would someone fighting for their life simply strip off all their clothes to fight? And in Jack’s world, anything that didn’t fit in needed an answer before he could move on.

  She could see his mind working and thought ‘What the Hell?’ “If you must know, I was taking a shower when it all happened and never got a chance to pause and dress for the occasion,” she said smiling.

  Well okay Jack thought. Now that makes sense; it should have been part of the story from the beginning. He made his way up to the passenger seat and stared out the front window.

  “Where are we?”

  “In the middle of farm country by the looks of it,” she replied.

  “I can see that - why are we in the middle of nowhere?”

  She mused for a few seconds and then replied, “I thought we needed a little time in a safe area for a while, until you came to, or didn’t.”

  This wasn’t part of Jack’s plan, the one stored up in his mental rolodex that he would follow as if it was the Bible. There was nothing worse in Jack’s head than changing a plan on the fly. If you were going to do that, why plan at all?

  “I need to see specimens if I am going to make a difference.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh at him. She tried hard not to but he sure didn’t make it easy.

  “I think you have unintentionally seen enough live specimens for today, don’t you?”

  “Listen Miss…”

  “Julie,” she said.

  “Listen Julie, I am on a scientific mission of the utmost importance!”

  “You are on a fool’s errand working on getting yourself killed like the rest of them.”

  Jack was shocked! Who was this Julie to talk to him like that! He was over twice her age and was a noted genius when it came to finding and killing exotic diseases.

  “Now if you would listen for five minutes, I will do more to help you solve your case than any dead or nearly dead creature out there. I am afraid that you may not like what you hear though.”

  Jack stopped himself before he said another word that could possibly make the situation worse that he felt it already was. He had in fact lost the closest person he had to be real family and two soldiers this morning. Like it or not his options were the crazy lady Julie, or being alone and he surely did not want that now or later.

  “We had live specimens in the lab and we did isolate the cause, well what we thought was the cause anyway.”

  “That would be wonderful if you had any data to back that up. Excuse me if I don’t jump at the word of a woman that I am not entirely certain isn’t quite mad.”

  She was starting to like him; in his own way he reminded Julie of her father. She started to pull back onto the road and said, “I am taking you to the data - just don’t know what we will find when we get there.”

  Jack shook his head in disbelief. She was truly mad after all. There wasn’t any reality left to her thoughts. “The way I heard it, the lab that you were at was burnt to the ground.”

  “Yes, that was what the soldiers said, but they lied. A bunch of kids who were freaked out over the sight of me and the sight inside the lab. They just wanted to get as far away from there as they could. The lab was still standing when we drove away. It was then that I knew it could very well be a lost cause. The very people I was counting on to save me didn’t want any part of it or me.”

  “You can’t be serious! They said the data was destroyed in the fire or what was it, by the damage already done to the lab.” If Sam was still alive he would know how to break this all down for me, Jack thought. He knew that sometimes he was so busy seeing puzzles and riddles that a sudden change to the rules threw him into a tailspin.

  They pulled up to a stoplight at a corner with a sign that said “US 30” and an arrow pointing to the left. Julie turned left and drove for a while before she began telling her story.

  “Our facility is considerably larger than your is. Ours was an old juvenile prison that had been hastily converted. All of the class rooms were converted into labs and the cells were turned into sleeping quarters, mostly separated by what your profession was and what your job there was. There was little privacy, but even less time to need privacy.” She paused to look over and see if he was listening. />
  “We had live specimens from the onset; we were the hospital most thought they were going to. I can tell you, seeing data and seeing the real thing happen in front of you is like seeing a full moon and a sunrise.” A cold chill ran through her body and she instinctively folded one arm across her chest. “Did you know that there are two types of dead?” she asked Jack who didn’t answer. “Of course not, because any data like that was restricted to Homeland Security only, or us.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t remember the exact figures but like one in every five-hundred or a thousand is the second type. I guess you could call them the less-dead zombies.”

  “There are no such things as zombies - as a medical professional you of all people should know that!” Jack stated matter of fact.

  She laughed at him again and that was driving him crazy to say the least.

  “You call them whatever you want Doctor! I can tell you this and it is rooted in facts that were way above your security and pay level. This whole thing is proof that life came to the Earth from out there someplace by hitching a ride on an asteroid or meteor. A couple decades back a piece of one broke off and hit in the Ural Mountains. The same thing happened to the village near there that is happening now. You may have heard on the news or seen something about the rest of it exploding over the Pacific. Surely you saw something on it?”

  To be honest Jack hadn’t seen a thing. Not really the sort of thing he would have paid the slightest bit of attention to at all.

  “Anyway, forget that I am getting off the point. I dissected the brains and it is a parasite that takes over the whole system. It shuts everything down except what it needs to survive. That’s not even the amazing part; the amazing part is the lucky one out of a thousand! In those cases the parasite hasn’t killed off the rest of the brain, only the parts that make you and me who we are. In those cases it is learning, using our own brain against us in a different way than the others. That is why they can walk normal, run, climb and stalk.”