Infected (Book 1): Mission: New York

by Jack Walker

  He never realised that someone had been watching him the whole time. She had hidden earlier up in the roof. Nobody had really missed her at all; Judith did not like her, and she scowled at the thought of Judith lording it over her. She had had enough, and just wanted to get out, to try and make her own way out there. She knew it would not be easy, but if she had a gun then she could protect herself surely? She had been woken by the hubbub of everyone arguing about the man and she realised that she had missed everything that had happened. She looked puzzled at the tied up man, and then heard the reason why he had been tied up like a turkey. Her eyes changed; the emotion draining out of them then. She remembered. Her decision was easy to make, and disgustedly she watched as he stared at someone in the crowd, and watched his erection tent his trousers. She growled softly, not letting her voice travel; as she realised what he was. She had been raped as a girl, and she saw the signs of lust and evil. The bonds holding him started to fray, and she saw that he was reaching over to untie the other arm; then he would be free. That made her mind up as she sighted along the barrel, breathed in and squeezed the trigger. The man's head exploded, the bullet travelled through the crown of his head, through his torso and out into the floor. She realised that she had just given herself away; and no escape would be forthcoming now. She climbed down out of the air duct, and swore loudly as she landed on her feet. The smoking gun in her hand was still hot.

  The shot stopped everyone arguing immediately, and they all looked at the prisoner, who had been shot from above. Ella climbed out of the vent above where the man had been tied up, and everyone looked at her in amazement. Ella looked at everybody in confusion, as she saw their mouths moving, but nothing was coming out. Her ears were ringing loudly and she realised that she had been deafened temporarily; that was why she heard nothing. Everyone crowded around her then; some clapping her back, some stayed back. Simon strode up to her, grabbing her arm and then realised she could not hear his questions. He calmed down, and walked her over to the counter where he sat her down, and grabbed a notebook and a pen.

  Writing out what he wanted to say, Simon had to think carefully about where this conversation would lead. 'Why did you shoot him?' 'Where did you get the gun?' 'Why were you in the ducts?'

  She read then started to speak, but decided to write down her replies as she could not gauge how loud she was talking. She read the questions again, and her responses were: 'He was going to get free, and he was not going to rape anyone else again.'

  Simon read the answer and his eyebrows shot up, realising that she had heard about the girls. He nodded and then pointed at the second question, waiting while she scribbled her answer: 'I had the gun earlier when you guys found me, I just did not tell you I had it. I am sorry.'

  Simon nodded again, and pointed at the third question: 'I was thinking of getting out of here, and was going to slip out when you were all asleep.'

  Again Simon looked at her questioningly. He grabbed the pen and scribbled: 'Elaborate'

  She sighed, taking the paper from him and wrote down one name: 'Judith'

  Nodding in comprehension Simon also realised that he had not been wrong; the animosity between the two had been palpable during the day. He sighed and wrote down on the notepad: What is it about Judith that is causing friction?'

  Writing quickly, she scribbled: 'She thinks that I am after you. I am not after you but I do like you. Not in that way though. I like girls. I think Judith is HOT!'

  She saw Simon laugh, watched as his chest rose and fell, his shoulders following suit, then he started to really belly laugh. He was doubled up like that for a few minutes, and everyone was wondering what was going on. He wiped away a tear from his eyes as he struggled to get himself back under control.

  She watched as he took the notebook and scribbled on it just to clarify: 'You like girls, and you like Judith?'

  She nodded, and pretended to make a kissing motion in the air, and then looked over at Judith pointedly. Her smile grew; and she blew a kiss at Judith, who gasped and blushed a deep scarlet. She walked over and looked at Simon. He had erupted into another fit of giggles, shaking his head trying to stop laughing, but he just carried on.

  Judith looked down at the notebook, and saw her name there along with the last entry: 'I like Judith' and she drew a heart behind the name. Judith gasped and looked at Ella in fascination. Ella smiled at her, and winked. Simon erupted again as he saw the lascivious wink directed at Judith who had blushed again.

  Judith took the notebook and wrote there carefully: 'Maybe..... I have been known to have a fling with a girl before.' and she drew a big kiss after her sentence. Judith glared at Simon; the bent over, and took Ella's cheeks, and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. They broke apart and both smiled; then looked at Simon and winked. That stopped Simon laughing; and the look of utter incredulity on his face made Judith and Ella laugh uproariously at his expression; hugged each other tightly, and shook hands. They got up together, and Judith, still holding her hand, led Ella to the counter to make her a nice coffee.

  Chapter Twelve

  Now that the tension had been broken between them, Judith was now trying to make up for her earlier rudeness to Ella. Judith just looked at the girl, and smiled at her. She winked a slow seductive wink, and sipped her coffee. Ella saw the wink, and laughed. She shook her head; looking at Judith again with a new found respect. She knew that Simon had just been fooled by a real woman. Judith's acting had been spot on, and had made Simon think that he was on the losing end. They both looked over at where Simon still sat, stunned by what he had just seen, and looked over at the two of them as they stood there, sipping coffee. Both of them waved, and blew a kiss in his direction. The rest of the group had seen this little bit of action and had gathered that there had been a shifting of hostilities within the two women.

  The group were all muttering, looking at the body lying there on the floor, crumpled and the blood seeping onto the floor. Simon eventually stood, and walked over to a few people in the group and asked them to help him remove and tidy up after the body had been moved. The small group quickly got the body and wrapped it up in a couple of the tablecloths, and used another to try soak up all of the blood. Simon had then wondered about the body, and how they could get it out without exposing them to danger. Among themselves the group had managed to drag the sheet covered body into a corner for now; but knew that it would need to be removed completely. In a few days it would start to really smell and they could easily pick up disease from the body of the dead man. He looked over at the two girls now scribbling furiously on the notepad they had liberated from Simon; they had become friends or similar. Shaking his head he spoke to the small group, and they had suggested placing the body in the Prius and sending the body out with someone to get it away from the Shop. Simon had eagerly nodded his assent, and they had approached George to see if he would go out and dispose of the body. They dragged the body toward the back loading door to try getting it inside the car. After they had taken all the supplies out of the car, they had moved it to the back, where the loading door was, and had managed to get it out of the way.

  Simon made sure that there were people standing with guns at the ready; just in case there was something out there. He had then grabbed one end, and George the other end, and opened the door cautiously.

  Nothing was skulking out there to attack them, and they hastily got the body of the man into the back of the Prius. George asked Simon to head out with him as trying to manhandle the body out alone would be difficult. That was when Dawson came over and said she would be joining them as well. She explained briefly that she wanted to get a feel for the city, and see if there were any major clumps of infected around. After grabbing coats and jackets; making sure they had enough ammunition for the AR-15's they would be taking; they climbed into the car. Simon saw Judith heading in his direction with Ella in tow. Judith bent down and pressed her lips to Simon's ear, and whispered; 'We will be waiting for your return, Stud.' She giggled and stood u
p, then went back inside the shop. His face lit up like a Neon sign.

  George saw the look on Simon's face and grinned then laughed, smacking Simon on the shoulder, and chuckled again. Dawson had also laughed out loud at the performance, and nodded quietly to herself. George started the car up; switched the lights on and drove out of the alley behind the shop. He looked at Simon and asked where they should head for. Simon had looked flustered at George then had pointed toward the docks. They headed out toward the docks, which were only a few blocks away and should be easily accessible if nobody was around. They drove silently, using the electric motors to drive the car onward, the lights splashing on the bodies scattered ahead of them. As they passed Simon looked pensively out the window at them, and wondered how long it would take before the shop would not be so safe to hide out in. He was thinking of the diseases; the rats that would soon be feasting on the bodies and the dangers that the bodies would pose. Dawson tapped him on the shoulder and said quietly to him that they had arrived. They looked at the gate that was open, and proceeded cautiously toward the one of the piers sticking out into the dark water. The sky was slightly cloudy with a thin sliver of a moon in the sky that did not really do much to light anything up. Harsh glare emitted from the lights as they approached the start of a pier. Here there were relatively few bodies, and Simon wondered if there had been many people inside the fenced off dockyard that morning. He hoped that there was not a large contingent of the infected hiding out ready to attack them at the first opportunity. George drove out slowly onto the Pier, and stopped about half way down. He looked at the boat that was anchored there and turned to Simon saying that he thought this would be good enough to put the dead man into the water. The three of them climbed out and Simon helped George with the body; while Dawson watched for any movement. Moving quickly but silently they dispatched the body into the water, and watched as it hit the water and sank slowly out of sight. There would be no flesh left soon Simon mused; the fish and crabs would see to that soon enough. They got back into the car, and slowly drove off with their lights on, tracing their route back to the shop. Fortunately there were no surprises for them on the way back, and they made it safely back indoors to where they were safe.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Their welcome back was unsurprisingly by Judith and Ella rushing up to Simon and kissing him one on either cheek. His blushing made everyone laugh and giggle. He stammered that they had been fortunate enough to not encounter anything dangerous, infected or not; out there as they had driven down to the docks. Everybody had eaten a small meal, and had laid out the sleeping bags that George had scrounged up earlier in the day. Judith had gone back to their makeshift kitchen, where she prepared a hot meal for the three of them returning from their body disposal. She had also managed to get hold of a camping stove; barely big enough to feed their small group, but would be adequate for now. She looked at Simon and smiled, then laughed as he reddened again, thinking about earlier. Walking over to her she reached for his hand, and squeezed it gently, placed the food in his hand and made him sit and eat it. Dawson and George also made their way over and got a plate of food from Judith, then sat down at another space. He had not realised how hungry he was until he started eating the delicious food she had managed to make from some of their provisions. He looked over at her suspiciously as she sipped some of the water she was drinking from the tap, and saw her mischievous grin.

  "What is so damned funny?" he asked her seriously.

  "Your reaction at our little 'show' earlier, and the shock on your face." she quipped with a laugh in her voice. "It was absolutely hilarious."

  Reddening again, he spoke "So you two have now made up? Are you friends now or more?" he asked nervously.

  Laughing, she said "No, silly, we are just friends now, nothing else. Unless..." she trailed off, her voice dropping to a husky tone, "you really wanted us to..you know, get Frisky."

  Simon gaped, his fork halfway to his mouth. "Wha..what? I mean..uhm, okay...I suppose.." he chuckled uncomfortably, as he saw Ella join them and hugged Judith. She sat down next to him and spoke softly, joining the conversation.

  "Simon, we were just teasing you. There will be nothing going on between Judith and I. That I promised to Judith while you were out. We sorted out a few things between us and we are now firm friends." she said happily. "Judith does however think you are a bit of a catch."

  Simon nearly choked as he listened to what Ella said to him then. He coughed and spluttered and they clapped him on the back, making sure he did not choke. He blushed again and looked at Judith wide-eyed at the comment.

  "Really, you like me? I mean, like me?" he stammered, "Uh okay, what now?"

  "Well, Simon, we are going to have a threesome!" Judith blurted out and her and Ella exploded into a fit of giggles. "We are sexually frustrated, and need your help!" they lamented, watching as his face turned even redder.

  Simon gaped at them, then realised he was being teased by these two, and suddenly it hit him; Judith did like him after all. Maybe he was in with a chance after all, not that he was actually looking for a romance right now; but if they survived long enough he could pursue that avenue. Smiling he joined in their laughter, and they talked more, Simon eventually finishing his food. They finally all climbed into their sleeping bags; Simon's had been placed conveniently in between the two girls sleeping bags, and they had crawled into them and fallen asleep quickly. Simon did not fall asleep straight away; he lay there and replayed the events of today in his mind. He could not believe that they had survived so much already in such a short period of time. He also pondered the thought of Judith, and he smiled as he looked over at her, her soft, gentle breathing calming him and he felt a wave of growing feeling of tenderness. He thought of the people that he had seen slaughtered outside the shop; how quickly the savage people had destroyed so many lives. He shook his head in utter dismay. Lying there, listening to the group as they softly rustled in their sleeping bags, snored or made other noises; he smiled, knowing that he was indeed doing a good deed by helping them survive whatever this outbreak was. He had used his head, and had tried to act like a leader, but if he had not had the help of Dawson and the others, he would have been much worse off. Looking out over them all, he saw a hunched figure with a sleeping bag draped over her, sitting on a chair near the front door. Speaking softly he asked who it was, and was not surprised it was Dawson.

  Dawson had realised that if everybody slept there would be nobody watching in case anything happened. She had taken the role of watchman, and had set up a chair so she could easily get to the drapes to move them slightly and see out the window into the street. She spoke softly to Simon saying that she would happily do a few hours watch, then she would wake him to take over until they could set up a watch rotation. Simon had nodded and had silently cursed himself for not thinking of that earlier. Dawson heard him cursing and had just chuckled. How had he expected to think of absolutely everything when he had never been placed in a situation like this or any other before? He had nodded and said that that statement was very true indeed, and he had not really asked people if he should be in charge, but had assumed the responsibility on his own. Acknowledging that he was now their defacto leader was an important step he realised, and would have to consult Dawson more the next day to see if there was anything else that she could think of to help them in their current situation. Finally he drifted off, falling into a deep sleep where he had the most erotic dream about Judith Ella and himself.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The infected was walking down a passage, a long passage lined with mirrors that showed her reflection with his mottled skin and ragged, torn clothes. Her teeth were rotten, broken and blood-stained. She could practically smell his rotten, fetid breath that stank with the smell of rotting flesh. His hands were bony claws that wanted to rip out guts and stuff them into her rotten maw. The prey was at the end of the passage, and he started screaming; although he was making no noise but he could see her rotten milky eyes. H
e started to shuffle toward her, he could not believe she was an infected; not Judith, but as much as he staggered and stumbled, he made no progress toward her. His shattered legs made no progress towards her, no progress at all.

  *****

  Interlude One

  The infected had spread out to the north of the city, from patient zero who had walked out of the UN, and had managed to infect more people as he had staggered toward the concert that was in Central Park. That had been his target; the loudest source of noise he could find in the city. He by now did not know why he was drawn to the noise, just that he knew he could find food there. As he staggered along and people tried to help him he had bitten them, and they would fall down dying, then get up again and follow him. By the time the pack had gotten to Central Park; the group was already two thousand strong. The people at the concert had no chance as they were enjoying the music too much, and did not notice the disturbance at the back of the crowd until it was way too late to do anything to stop it. The orgy of feasting by the crowd as they became infected was the tipping point. Morning came, revealing a grisly scene of mangled bodies; half consumed corpses; and stumbling shambling infected. The speakers hummed with the feedback as microphones were scattered across the stage, and the band Megadeath ceased to be human. They were now indeed Mega dead. New York City was born, the city of infected.