Pet From Hell (Infected Series Book 1)

by Justin Gowland

  “Tom mate you look like hammered shit are you okay?” Jamie said looking at Thomas.

  “What? Oh yeah fine just feeling a bit run down mate. Might grab some water and head off to bed.” Thomas replied.

  “Ok well the rest of us are in the sitting room watching Shaun of the Dead on the TV. If you feel any better later on come down.”

  “Ok.” Was all the reply Jamie got.

  Thomas slowly made his way up the stairs to his bedroom. Opening the door he stumbled to his bed letting the door closer shut his door. He never even managed to take his clothes or shoes off as he rolled on to his bed and closed his eyes.

  At the three in the morning Thomas’ eyes flicked open and he rolled on to the floor the room with a thud. The room was dark with very little light coming into it from the small window. You might have been mistaken that Thomas was drunk from the way he climbed to his feet. Shuffling his feet he made his way toward the door and banged his whole body against the door with another thud. This continued for a short while until there came a shout from the other side.

  “Tom, dude you ok?”

  Thomas became slightly more energetic with trying to walk through the door causing it to shake in its frame.

  “Jamie can you get him to fucking stop I need to get up early for class in the morning.” Shouted a female voice.

  “Sara shut the fuck up. He could be having a fit or something in there.” Jamie shouted back.

  The bashing on the door continued and more voices where heard on the other side.

  “Tom I am going to open the door mate. Please if you’re having a wank cover yourself up.” Jamie shouted.

  The door handle turned and Jamie pushed the door open and Thomas fell back on to the floor. Jamie looked into the dark room and could just make out Thomas sat on the floor.

  “Dude you ok?” Jamie asked.

  The last thing that Jamie saw before dying was his friend Thomas launching himself from the floor toward him with his mouth wide open and a mad look in his eyes. The most disturbing part of the image was the green substance flowing out of Thomas’ mouth, nose, ears and the corner of his eyes. After that the whole boarding house was filled with screaming and shouting.

  People from the neighbouring houses dialled for the Police and scrambled to help those inside. If they had not opened the door then maybe they would have been able to contain what was happening but the first police officer on the scene opened the door and was killed by Thomas who seemed to launch himself from the doorway. Followed closely by his house mates who clambered over Thomas and the police officer trying to get to the people gathered on the pavement. So the infection spread from one street to the next very quickly. By the following morning most of Durham City and the surrounding suburbs and small villages were infected.

  Chapter Nine

  I woke with a small amount of light coming through the window on to my face. Rolling over on to my side away from the window I tried to close my eyes and go back to sleep. It never seemed to come back so I swung my legs over the side and sat up. What was I going to do now? Was the only thought that seemed to shout inside my mind. After all I was officially dead and I had no job or anything else for that matter. Jane was trying to help and I was thankful for it but I really did need to sort this out myself. Pulling on the clothes that I had been wearing the day before and my boots. I opened the door and quietly made my way down to the kitchen. Pushing open the door I saw Jane sat at the table with a cup of coffee in her hand and a dour look on her face.

  “Morning Marc.” She said looking up.

  “Morning. What you doing up?” I asked.

  “Probably the same as you. I couldn’t sleep so I thought I would come down here for a warm drink.”

  “Great minds eh?” I said.

  “Something like that.” She said and the dour look returned.

  I walked over to the kettle and flicked it on and turned to look at her.

  “What’s up Doc? I’ve always wanted to say that. ” I said with a small smile.

  “I listened to the local news this morning as I made my coffee.”

  “And?”

  “There’s been a breakout of some kind in and around Durham City and it is spreading very quickly.”

  “Oh shit you don’t think….”

  “Yes I am sure it is the infection from the lab. That cat that you saw must be carrying it and has managed to spread it.”

  “That’s fucking great, just fucking great. I should have kept that fucking door closed.” I said storming round the room.

  “Look Marc you didn’t know what was loose in that Lab or what we were working on. I think, if you had then opening that door would have been the last thing you did.” She said.

  “So what happens now? What are we going to do?” I asked.

  “To be honest with you I don’t know. If the government can get control of this infection quick enough then we just sit here and wait till it is over and then go to the authorities.”

  “Ok, and if they can’t get control of it?”

  “Then it won’t be long before the whole country is either infected or dead.”

  “Well that’s a cheerful thought Doc.” I replied turning to make my coffee.

  I heard a sigh then she said “Look Marc we won’t know what is going to happen just yet. The information I got off of the news was very sketchy at best and we both know that all the doom and gloom they run is all that people watch it.”

  I had to agree every time you turn the news on it is doom and gloom as Jane put it and very little in the way of happy stories.

  “Ok I agree with you on that point.” I said.

  I took my coffee and went to sit at the table. Looking out of the window at the garden and fields beyond I started to drift off in my thoughts. Life had again taken a different turn yet again and I now had to try and figure out what I was going to do about it. Drinking the earthy tasting coffee and watching the clouds move across the light blue sky seemed to lull my thoughts.

  Jane left the room and closed the door behind her leaving me to my thoughts. It was probably good that I no longer had any immediate family left. Because if Jane was right and if this thing spread quickly then everyone was going to be in danger. Slowly the coffee cooled in my hands and I got up to pour it down the sink. What was I going to do if this did get worse? What was Jane going to do? Again thoughts seemed to rush in and then just as quickly rush out of my head leaving no information that I could cling to. I heard the TV through the wall and left to kitchen to go and see what was being said if anything. Jane was sat on the edge of the couch raptly watching the TV. So I chose to sit in the single chair and watch.

  Because the TV was just an old set it only had the standard five channels and no news channels. We both sat and waited for one of them to have the hourly news so that we could find out what was going on. I was getting nervous as the clock ticked its way to the hour.

  Jane changed the channel just as the news had started.

  A woman in her late forties, dressed in a pale cream jacket sat looking at the camera.

  “Good morning I am Gillian Goodweather and welcome to the News on the BBC. The time is 10 a.m. on Monday the 2nd. The top news story this hour is the riots and violence in the North East. Early this morning police were called to a suburb of Durham City to find a whole street in uproar. This violence seemed to spread quickly throughout the city and outwards to various villages and towns. We have now been reliably informed that violence has also started in several other large towns and cities in the North East. The government have yet to comment on the violence but the local police have said that it seemed to be spreading quite quickly.” She said.

  “We can go to our Newcastle reporter Michael James at St James’ Park. What’s happening there Michael?”

  “Well Gillian as far as we know at 3 or 4a.m. this morning there seemed to be some kind of riot in Durham City. Now reports seemed to say that it had all started at a student boarding house in the suburbs and sp
read quickly throughout the city. Now we don’t know why it started or by whom but what we do know is that ordinary people have joined with the students in the violence. Police had managed to cordon off the area where it first started but soon after came under attack by the mob. We have had eyewitness reports to say that police officers have also been sighted amongst the rioters but we have not been able to get an answer from the authorities on that. Not long ago we were informed that several fights had broken out here in Newcastle and the latest was here at St James’ Park. As you can see behind us the police have raised road blocks and have deployed their riot gear in response.”

  The cameraman changed angle to look over the reporters shoulder to show a line of police with riot shields and batons. In front of them slowly shambling down the road were men, women and what looked to be children. Each of these people seemed to find it hard to walk but there were a lot of them.

  The voice of the reporter came back but the cameraman kept the camera pointed at the slowly approaching crowd.

  “As you can see Gillian the police are attempting to bar the rioters from entering the rest of the city. Apparently all attempts to establish dialogue with them has failed and they have been warned that all defensive measures will be used if they do not disperse.”

  The crowd were no more than twenty meters away from the police lines. The cameraman must have dialled up the zoom because the picture changed to a close up of a man at the front. He must have been about forty and was wearing the remains of a dark grey suit. The thing that stood out the most was the lack of lower jaw and the tongue flopping up and down with each step. His white shirt was covered from the neck down in dark brown blood. Green slime or something had run in lines from his eyes and ears to the bloody collar of his shirt. You could see the cameraman must has started to shake because the image jumped around the screen. It was just as that was happening that we heard a retching sound coming from somewhere off screen. The image managed to stabilize and then zoom back to show the police line waiting. A huge growling moan seemed to issue from the TV speakers and we saw the rioters break into a sort of shambling trot toward the police. An officer stood behind the main line started to shout orders as the crowd got closer and closer. The line of police raised their shields to take on the first line thinking that they would stop but the crowd just kept coming. Those behind the first line seemed to crush the ones in front in a desperate need to get at the police in front of them. Two of the police were brought down and then it was like all hell had broken loose. Blood and gore seemed to fly in all directions the screams of those men being torn apart vibrated the whole TV on its stand.

  Jane jumped up and slapped at the off button on the front before turning and running into my arms with tears running down her face and her breath hitching with sobs. Guiding her slowly to the couch, we sat down beside each other and I held her close as she cried. We sat holding each other for what seemed like an age but was actually just ten minutes. Before Jane leaned away from me and rubbed her hands over her face.

  “Marc, what are we going to do? That infection it’s from the cat isn’t it?” She asked.

  “Yeah, Jane I think we can safely say that it’s what that cat passed on to Tony.” I replied.

  I sat looking into her eyes and I could see the fear behind them. I was trying to come up with ways to get out of this mess but all I could think of was to hide out somewhere. Jane had stopped crying and was slumped back on the couch looking tired and drawn.

  “Jane why don’t you go have a lie down and we can think of what to do after you get up. You and I are not going to be able to think of anything whilst we are both upset.” I said to her.

  Sitting forward so that she perched on the edge of the couch she turned and gave me light kiss on my cheek stood up and walked out of the room. My skin tingled where she had kissed me and I’m pretty sure I blushed after she had left the room.

  Chapter Ten

  Sitting there I needed to come up with a way for us to either survive what was coming or to get somewhere safer. At the rate the infection was spreading it wouldn’t be long before the whole country had it and things would get out of control at that point. So with those thoughts at the front of my brain I stood up and went to the kitchen. Looking in the cupboards I saw that we had enough food to last maybe a week if we stretched it. To be on the safe side we needed more and we also needed other stuff. I walked to the bottom of the stairs and called up to Jane.

  “Jane we are going to need some more supplies is there any big shops in the area?” I said.

  “There is only a small Co-Op in the village and a few small independent shops. If you can hold on I’ll come with you.” She answered.

  “No you stay there and rest I think you need it.”

  “If you are sure. Do you know where the village is?”

  “Yes I am sure and no I’ve never been down this way before.”

  “I keep forgetting that. Just turn left out of the drive and follow the road to the next junction. Its sign posted from there to the village. Marc will you please be careful whilst you’re out there?”

  “I should be ok, is there anything that you might need?”

  “I’m embarrassed to say but could you get me some feminine hygiene products please and some shampoo?”

  “It’s ok I’ll do my best. I won’t be long so whatever you do, please don’t let anyone in the house that you don’t know. Or better still if anyone comes knocking just hide somewhere pretend there is no one here.”

  “Ok I will.”

  I grabbed my car keys and opened the front door stepped outside closing it behind me. I walked over to my car and climbed into the driver’s seat. Turning the ignition the car rumbled to life, looking at the gauges I saw we had just under three quarters of a tank. That should be ok for the time being as long as we didn’t have to go very far. Turning the car round I headed down the drive to the main road and turned left like Jane had said and after about five minutes came to the junction she had mentioned. The sign at the junction point out that to the left was Thirsk and the right was Catterick Army Garrison.

  I knew Catterick was close by but I never thought it was so close that made me feel slightly better what with the Army being so close. Taking the left turn I followed the winding country road and came to the outskirts of Thirsk village. I drove into the village square and found a place to park. Everything here looked like normal and everyone looked as though they were going about their daily chores. Looking around I saw that the village had a few small shops ranging from the Co-Op to an opticians. The priority was food so I headed into the Co-Op grabbed a trolley and started to load up on dry and tinned food not forgetting the feminine hygiene products that Jane had asked for. I also grabbed as much bottled water as I thought we might need. Whilst trying to look like I wasn’t trying to horde stuff. I paid for it all and loaded it into the back of the car. Once the boot was closed I looked round and saw an ironmongers and headed over that way hoping they might have the other items we might need.

  I pushed the door open and walked inside a dark interior of shelves cluttered with all kinds of items. Behind the counter near the door stood an old man in his fifties with iron grey hair wearing blue overalls.

  “Hello young man how can I help you?” He said.

  “Oh hi have you got any camping gear?” I asked.

  “Camping gear? I think there might be a few items in the back right hand corner. There’s not much but you’re welcome to have a look.”

  “Thanks.”

  Walking down the in between the shelves I glanced at the items on some of them. His stock seemed to range from screwdrivers to plastic water guns. I could swear that someone had grabbed a hand full of junk and just threw it into the shop. I came to the corner the old man had mentioned and saw only a few items that I thought I could use. I grabbed the two wind up lanterns, a small gas cooker and half a dozen gas canisters. Out the corner of my eye I caught sight of two large old looking backpacks and a couple of sleeping
bags. If we had to move from where we were now I knew that we needed all of these things so being the person I am I grabbed them and made my way back to the desk at the front of the shop.

  “Haven’t seen you around before.” The old man said as I loaded the things I wanted on to the desk.

  “No been spending a few days with a friend just outside of the village.” I replied.

  “Looks like you have been watching the news, eh?”

  Now that caught me off guard and I couldn’t find the right thing to say.

  “Don’t worry young’un. I won’t tell anyone but you might want to think of something to defend yourselves with. Grab yourself a couple of them long handle axes.” He said pointing to an old oil can that had long wooden handles sticking out of the open top.

  I nodded and grabbed two handles and lifted out the axes then carried them over to the desk.

  “Thanks how much do I owe you?” I said.

  “Call it twenty pound.” He said smiling.

  “There’s more than twenty quid’s worth of gear here.” I said slightly shocked.

  “Yes there is but to tell you the truth if what is happening spreads to far then money isn’t going to be worth shit soon.” He replied with a short laugh.

  “If you’re sure.” I said fumbling for my wallet.

  “All I ask is that you look after whoever it is with you and keep them safe.” He said as I passed him the twenty pound note.

  “Thanks.” I said shaking his hand.

  Chapter Eleven

  I gathered up the gear and put it into the two backpacks and walked back to my car. Opening the door I threw the two packs on the back seat and climbed in. I hadn’t thought that I might have to defend myself or Jane but the old man had given me something to think about. Driving back to the house was a little bit of hit and miss. I passed the drive before I realised that I had past it and had to turn round in the road and head back. Pulling up the drive I saw a strange car on the paved drive and a man stood at the front door with his back to me, stopping the car I reached into the back seat and pulled out one of the axes and got out of the car.