Dead States
Year Zero
Nebraska
By: Marty Brockschmidt
© 2017 Marty Brockschmidt
Preface
As a reader I have always gravitated to the what if nature of the science fiction and fantasy genres. As a storyteller the zombie apocalypse has so many what if scenarios to explore. For me topping that list is the questions, where would you go, who would you bring with you, and how do you approach strangers.
The Dead States series is the combined format of the Heartland Zombie Apocalypse ebook series. Combining the ebooks into a year by year view of this post apocalyptic world. Each story gets to be read in as contiguous format, in the manner the story arc was imagined. In addition each book focuses on a heartland state, so its geography becomes part of the story.
Year Zero Nebraska, is the first year of the apocalypse and tells the stories of individuals struggling to adapt to this altered reality. The zombies are only one part of the apocalypse. The other is how some individuals are quick to take advantage of a lawless world.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Escape
Chapter 2 - Refuge
Chapter 3 - Supplies
Chapter 4 – Security
Chapter 5 - Know your enemy
Chapter 6 - People
Chapter 7 - Friend or Foe
Chapter 8 - Strike Back
Chapter 9 - Harvest
Chapter 10 - A Bigger World
Chapter 11 – Seasons End
Chapter 12 – Best Laid Plans
Chapter 13 – When The Devil Calls
Chapter 14 - Alone
Chapter 15 – The Price
Chapter 16 – The Lord of Death
Chapter 17 - Change
Chapter 18 – The Noose
Chapter 19 – The Road
Chapter 20 – Wrath
Chapter 21 – Stranglehold
Epilogue
Chapter 1 - Escape
Crystal Innes paced around the small makeshift quarantine that had been here home these past three days. The phrase 'Today is the first day of the rest of your life', never seemed more poignant. Crystal had always thought it a stupid saying, just something for motivational speakers to spin as a call for change. Today things certainly have changed and not in any way that Crystal could have imagined.
At twenty three she was a little later in life than some to be starting college, but extra income was always tight on the Innes family farm. However, Crystal had always dreamed of being a big city journalist and moving away from her small hometown in Iowa.
In between helping her parents with the farm and part time jobs, Crystal took as many credit hours as she could afford at the local community college and eventually earned here associate degree. Like a gift from heaven one of the articles she had submitted won her a scholarship to the university in Sioux City.
Three days ago Crystal and her mother were packing the car to travel to Sioux City. Crystal needed to secure an apartment before fall classes began. Mother and daughter were just about ready to leave when their neighbor Charles Sanderson came stumbling up the drive. His movements were jerky and his gait more a shuffle than his usual fast paced walk. His clothes were covered in blood and his eyes had a strange far away look.
Meg Innes ran to him to help, “Sandy my God what happened to you?”
As she reached him he grabbed her and bit down hard. Crystal watched in horror as her kindly neighbor ripped the flesh from her mother's shoulder. In shock the only thing Crystal could make herself do is scream for her father as Mr. Sanderson took another bite from her mom. Walt Innes came out of the barn at a run and pulled Charlie Sanderson off of his wife.
“Sandy what the hell is wrong with you?”, Walt yelled.
Charlie Sanderson barely reacted just grabbed Walt's arm and bit down pulling out a mouthful of flesh and muscle. Walt acting on instinct grabbed the knife he always carried and plunged it into the base of Charlie Sanderson's head, just as he was going in for another mouthful.
Walt Innes, always calm in a crisis called “Crystal snap out of it get something to bandage these bites before we bleed out and call 911.”
Crystal ran to the house to grab some towels while dialing 911 on her cell phone. Instead of an operator all Crystal got was a recording stating that all operators were busy and to call back in a few minutes. When Crystal got back her father had removed his T shirt and was using it to staunch the bleeding from his wife's shoulder. Crystal bandaged her father's arm and handed him a towel to help slow the bleeding from her mother.
“Pa we need to get in the car and drive to the hospital, I can't reach anybody.”, Crystal stated trying to match her fathers calm.
Crystal sped towards the hospital and continued, without success, to call 911. Traffic was never a problem in their small town, but there was absolutely no traffic on the roads. Just before they got to the hospital they found the road closed by a roadblock manned by National Guard soldiers. When they saw Crystal's parents in the back seat they became very agitated. One soldier began talking rapidly into a radio pointing frequently at the back of the car. Another soldier, holding a clipboard, came up to the car and addressed Crystal through the window.
“Ma'am your name please”, the soldier said in a flat tone.
“Crystal Innes. Uhm what's going on here? I need to get my parents to the hospital.”, Crystal replied showing a bit of annoyance in her voice.
“Lets not get ahead of ourselves miss. Your folks were they bit?”, the soldier asked not willing to be rushed.
“Yes they were. Our neighbor was out of his mind or something. My father had … had to stop him. I don't know why your here, but you need to understand my parents need help.”, Crystal answered raising her voice as her irritation rose.
“I understand Ma'am and what about you, have you been bitten?”, the soldier asked flatly.
“No just my damn parents. Now let me through to the hospital.”, Crystal replied angrily revving the engine.
The soldier who had been talking on the radio spoke briefly with the man that had been questioning Crystal then came to address her, “Ma'am I'm sorry for the confusion. There is an epidemic of sorts and the hospital is getting overwhelmed. We are doing a first level of triage. Billings and Marshall here will take your parents up to the hospital. They can cut the red tape to get your parents the care they need. I need you to leave with Samuels, she will take you to a nearby quarantine facility. I know you have a lot of questions, but I am short on answers. I do promise you and your parents will be looked after.”
Once in the office converted into a makeshift quarantine facility a female soldier checked Crystal over for bites and scratches, then took her temperature and vitals. The woman informed Crystal that she would need to be watched for a couple of days for symptoms of the illness. When Crystal asked about her parents the woman said that she would do her best to get some information, but asked Crystal to be patient as things were crazy right now. Crystal tried to sleep, but worry over her parents consumed her, especially since she was pretty sure heard a couple of shots as her car was being driven towards the hospital.
Crystal spent the next two days in quarantine and with the exception of the female soldier, she had not seen another person. The woman always wore a surgical mask and gloves, so Crystal had yet to see much of her face. The woman was a few inches taller than Crystal and had a more statuesque frame. The woman's green eyes were expressive and Crystal always felt the woman was smiling kindly at her from behind the mask. The woman's hair was cropped close under her standard issue fatigue cap, but still Crystal could tell it was a fiery red.
This time after the so
ldier finished checking Crystal's temperature she was assured that Crystal wasn't coming down with whatever had taken over poor Charlie Sanderson. The soldier asked Crystal to follow her out of the room. Crystal was lead to another room where already seated were two somewhat banged up young men, maybe seventeen or eighteen years old and an older gentleman that Crystal recognized as Dr. Lindermann. The only other person in the room was a soldier identified on his uniform as Andrews and Crystal knew enough to understand that the chevron on his shoulder identified him as staff sergeant.
As Crystal took a seat the sergeant turned to her, “Ma'am I'm sorry, but your parents have succumbed to the disease. Please accept my sincerest condolences.”
Crystal was half expecting she was going to get this news, still it shook her to her core. In a fog she tried to comprehend what this meant for her. Does she sell the farm, does she give up on finishing school, how does she go about making funeral arrangements for her parents?
“Thank you Sergeant. When can I have my parents bodies to arrange for their funeral?”, Crystal asked feeling alone and overwhelmed.
Andrew replied, “Miss you don't understand with the exception of you four and a few other survivors, there is no one else left alive in this town.”
Dr. Lindermann turned to Crystal and speaking in a flat voice, “Just a few days ago we had a couple of victims die in the ER. As the attending staff began the process of recording time and cause of death and preparing the bodies to be moved to the morgue, the dead got up and began feeding on my staff. Half of the ER staff were bit. Finally we got out as many as we could and locked the rest in the ER. Then some of the bite victims died and the whole mess started all over. We had to lock off a whole wing of the hospital. I ordered patients to be left in there beds. The only thing I could do was listen to their screams.”
As the doctors voice became almost a scream Andrews jumped in to take control, “Folks I have no answers as to why this is going on. All I know is, it's like a switch got flipped and the dead don't stay dead. The living are outnumbered a 100 to 1, hell maybe a 1000 to 1. If the dead bite you, you contract a fever and die soon after. When you die your body reanimates. The only way to stop them is to take out the brain. You people are the last survivors my squad has come across. We are leaving shortly to join our unit. Your best option is to leave with us.”
Crystal balked, how does the world go from taking a little drive with your mom, to abandoning her hometown, “I'm sorry, but what in the hell are you talking about. I can't leave, this is my home. Besides I've been wearing the same clothes for three days. I need things.”
“Miss I understand this is a lot to take in. Lets go outside. This will be shocking, but you either internalize the reality and survive or you don't and you die.”, Sergeant Andrews replied.
They all moved outside to the fenced off parking lot. Outside of the fence the dead, or Dee's as the soldiers called them, were gathered in a mass of about fifty. As the Dee's began crowding up against the fence, there was no mistaking them as living beings, other than the fact they were moving. The soldiers began mechanically shooting the Dee's in their heads. Watching this Crystal recalled thinking she heard shots as her parents were being driven to the hospital. She couldn't help but wonder if this was how they had succumbed.
In short order the soldiers had cleared the Dee's from the fence and gate. A jeep and humvee were waiting, each with a 50 caliber machine gun mounted in the back. With no further convincing needed they were loaded into the back of the Humvee. Sgt. Andrews asked if any of them could handle a firearm. The two boys, Bill and Ed, quickly acknowledged they could, and Crystal admitted that she had been shooting with her dad since she was 10. The sergeant handed each of them a holstered pistol and cautioned them to keep the gun in the holster unless they absolutely had to draw it. In silence Dr. Lindermann just shook his head when he was offered a pistol.
Sgt. Andrews got behind the wheel of the jeep, another soldier got into the Humvee, the female soldier got into the back of the jeep picked up a rifle and began shooting the dead that were further off. Eventually, it was clear and the final soldier opened the gate and climbed into the back of the Humvee and they took off down the road.
They rounded the corner to head out of town only to be confronted by another herd of the dead. The two vehicles moved side by side and the soldier in back of each vehicle opened up with the big 50 caliber machine guns. This time they didn't bother with head shots they just let the big bullets do enough damage to the dead to incapacitate them and open a hole to drive through.
With the herd passed and open road ahead they began to relax a little, though the soldier in the Humvee continued to watch alertly ahead. All of a sudden Bill jumps up as a grisly hand sneaks up along side him. Slowly a Dee that had somehow caught hold of the Humvee pulled itself up. The Dee was missing a large portion of its side where the machine gun round had ripped through and its right foot was nearly ground away from being dragged on the pavement.
Bill was the first to draw his Beretta and pulled the trigger. Probably getting most of his firearm training from video games Bill hadn't released the safety. By the time Crystal pulled out her pistol and prepared to shoot, the Dee was tearing away at Bill's throat. Crystal fired point blank into the Dee's skull and pushed it out of the Humvee. As blood gushed from Bill's shredded throat Dr. Lindermann picked up the pistol Bill dropped, released the safety and shot Bill in the head.
Dr. Lindermann spoke almost inaudibly, “I took an oath to save lives, now all I can do is keep them from turning into another of the risen dead.”
The soldier pulled out a blanket to cover Bill, saying they would bury him at the first stop. He dampened a towel and handed it to Crystal to clean off the blood spatter. Finally he picked up the spent cartridge, pulled a multi-tool from a vest pouch and began to work on the cartridge as he went back to keep watch.
About a 30 minutes later the soldier turned to Crystal, “Miss we have a tradition in our unit that once you've proven yourself you get your unit name.”
He pulled out his dog tags which had a shell casing attached to it. “Mine is Slinger, I guess they thought I was a little trigger happy. I picked out a unit name for you and put it on this casing.”
Slinger handed Crystal the casing now strung on a piece of twine. On the casing was written 'ICE', “Miss you gotta have ice water in your veins to stay that cool with one of those things coming at you. Make sure you wear that so the other soldiers can see it, they'll recognize you as someone they can trust.”
Slinger continued on, “This thing snowballed so fast that we just don't have enough troops to keep up. In the matter of a few days the majority of the population of every city had turned into Dee's.”
Wearily Slinger drifted off, after a couple of minutes he handed Crystal his rifle. “I haven't slept in days, Ice can you take watch while I grab some shut eye”.
They continued on without further incident, avoiding cities and towns. Stopping just before dark they refueled from supplies brought with them. They buried Bill in a shallow grave with little ceremony, then in silence ate a quick meal of MRE's. Driving on through out the night they came upon the encampment of the main group shortly after daybreak. The camp was in an opened field, vehicles circled like wagons and neat rows of tents inside the circle.
Touching the shell casing with her new name on it helped to make Crystal feel less alone and more part of the group. However, she also realized that she needed to act to take care of herself and not wait for someone else. As they pulled up to the circle of trucks one moved to make an opening so they could pull inside.
Climbing from the vehicle Slinger began introducing Crystal to the other members of the squad. “Ice our driver here is Blade, he's got a thing for knives.”
Blade looked at the pistol Crystal had holstered to her hip and pulled a knife from his pack, “ I see Andrews has given you a pistol, this here is one of my spares, keep it sharp and it will never let you down.”
Crystal th
anked him for the survival knife and then Slinger introduced her to the female soldier, “Ice say hello to Flame.”
The woman laughed as he said her name, “Landers, Amy Landers, I'm glad we got a chance to get acquainted proper like. The boys all say they call me Flame because I'm demolitions, but I think its because I'm too hot to handle.” Amy paused a minute and considered Crystal's appearance, “Honey, your clothes are a mess and a little to dainty for what's coming up. I've got some spare fatigues. I think we're close enough to the same size.”
As Amy handed Crystal the clothes Sgt. Andrews approached, “Miss, Flame will take you to get changed and then you can join us for breakfast and then the Colonel will let us know whats next.”
Crystal hadn't showered in days and all she was able to do at the latrine was give herself a quick sponge bath. Her blonde hair was streaked with blood and brains and when she washed her face some of her freckles turned out to be dried blood too. Crystal was a little concerned about getting infected, but none of the soldiers she was with had shown concern so hopefully she would be okay.
After changing Crystal met Amy outside, being left handed Crystal had the pistol on her left hip and the survival knife just behind it. Amy had Crystal switch the knife to her right hip saying, “If you get into a pack of Dee's your going to want to be able to fill both hands.”
Dead States | Year Zero | Nebraska Page 1
