Gary watched the horde move on. In their wake, nothing of their hapless victim was left.
“Is this for real, Gary? Are these real zombies?” Reggie asked.
Gary felt clammy and cold. Sweat beaded his forehead and words failed him. On the television, the anchor continued his report. The footage was gone and the newscaster stared, shell shocked into the camera.
“What has caused this activity and why this is happening are questions we simply cannot answer at this time. We can tell you that what we are seeing now, appears to have had its origins in Colorado. The fact that there has been an almost total media blackout in Colorado and the imposition of travel restrictions to and from that state has been a story we have been trying to follow. We can only speculate as to the link between those events and… what we are seeing here, but it appears… Well, we are going to show you some footage now that hit the wire several days ago, footage that at first, because of its fantastical nature was dismissed by every reputable news organization as a hoax, but now… now looks to be entirely truthful.”
The image on the screen changed from the newscaster to jostling images from a handheld digital camera as the operator tried to get his shot. When the footage settled down, images of some slow moving people were seen. They shuffled along, seemingly mindless. Their expression was wide eyed and slack jawed. The News anchor tried to offer commentary.
“This footage, I am told, is from Golden, Colorado. Golden is a town West of Denver… What we have learned is that some kind of infection or disease is spreading among the populace at a rate never before seen. It appears to be transmitted by human… bite. This is a developing story with precious little that we can confirm from official sources, but it seems that once infected, a person becomes highly aggressive and will attack anyone around them. After the attack, which seems to universally involve the infected viciously biting their victim, the infected appear to grow calm and return to normal. Reports coming in seem to indicate that at some point thereafter, within minutes, but certainly no longer than several hours, the subject then enters into… well, I’ve said it just a moment ago, a zombie like state. What you are seeing here is the disease in its early stages. This is some of the first footage of the contagion we have, but it appears that as the disease takes hold of its victim, it turns them from these slow moving wanderers to… to what we just witnessed moments ago…”
As the newscaster fell silent and the video played, Beverly approached.
“I still can’t get through to the police. I—”
Jason Johnson looked over at Beverly as the words caught in her throat.
“I know. It's unbelievable. Like something from the movies,” he said.
Beverly stared at the screen.
“Those people… they have the same look as the woman I hit with my car,” she said.
All eyes turned to look at Beverly. On the television, the scene cut back to the anchor who stared blankly into the camera.
We are now confirming… that is to say… to our viewing audience… what has happened in Colorado and surrounding regions… appears to have reached our very doorstep. The footage we are about to show you is from downtown Woodford. I will tell you, this footage is raw and uncut, so those of delicate nature might very well want to look away.”
All eyes turned back to the television as an elevated camera angle showed images of slack jawed, wide-eyed people moving in the street below. In the background could be seen Liberty Bell Stadium.
Two
“Everybody just calm down!” Jason Johnson shouted as he stared into four sets of panicked eyes.
“There is some crazy stuff happening and you all want to get home to be with your families, I get it, but right now the authorities are out there trying to get a handle on all of this and that’s going to be a lot harder if the lights go off. We’re not your average business enterprise, people. We’re the electric company and while I’m not asking you to put that before your loved ones, I am asking that you help me make sure that whatever happens out there doesn’t affect what happens in here.”
Johnson took a breath, feeling somewhat more confident that he had forestalled a complete mutiny, at least momentarily.
“Okay, now, we can’t leave the station unattended,” he continued. Panic again flared in the eyes of Mack and Reggie. Jason Johnson saw it and stayed their protests.
“I’ll stay,” he said.
Mack and Reggie immediately calmed down.
“All I ask is that you help me get this place turning and burning at full capacity. Mack and Reggie, Number Two generator needs to be back on-line. I know you guys like to work by the hour, but how long ‘till you can get it up and running, no bullshit?” Johnson said.
Reggie and Mack shifted their feet and looked sheepishly at each other, then Reggie looked at Johnson.
“I think we can get the new parts in and have it running in a couple of hours,” he said.
Johnson nodded and looked to Gary and Beverly. “Gary, I’ve got to do the Nightly Safety Report, make sure there is nothing that could cause a power failure, but that means walking this whole facility. I need you to man your station until I get back, okay?”
Gary nodded. Johnson looked at Beverly.
“Beverly, honestly, I don’t see much need for updating old files tonight, so you’re free to go,” he said.
Beverly breathed a sigh of relief and started to gather up her things. Johnson picked up the phone and dialed the extension for the guard shack. Receiving no answer, he grabbed a walkie.
“Carl, you there, pick up,” Johnson said. He waited several seconds, then tried again.
“Carl, this is Johnson! I need you to pick up! I need you to do a security sweep of the facility! This place needs to be on lockdown! Carl!”
Johnson tossed the walkie onto his desk and muttered to himself.
“Old coot.”
He looked up as Beverly was headed for the door.
“Hold on a second, Bev. I may need you to stay,” he said.
Beverly was about to protest, but Johnson was already looking at Gary.
“Gary, I can’t get Carl on the phone or radio. I need to find him and make sure he initiates lockdown procedures. Things would go a lot quicker if you could do the safety walk while I’m waking Carl up,” Johnson said.
Gary nodded.
“Beverly, I know you need to get out of here and your job is just to push papers, but while we’re gone, it would be great if you stayed topside and kept an eye on the dials and man the phones in case we get a call from Homeland? It will only be while we get this place battened down, Okay?” he said.
Beverly swallowed her anxious desire to leave, and nodded.
“I could stay for a little while,” she said.
“Good girl. Gary, just walk her through what she has to look for,” Johnson said.
Gary nodded. “Sure, yeah. I’ll give her the basic course,” Gary said.
“Okay. We do this right and fast, make sure the dark is not one more thing folks have to be scared of tonight and then you get to go home, deal?” Johnson asked.
Four faces, no less panicked, but showing measured resolve, nodded.
“Alright then, let’s go,” Johnson said.
Everyone dispersed to their appointed tasks.
* * *
Beverly’s anxiety had grown by the minute. She finally had to turn off the television. She had tried to call, to let Mark know that she would be coming home just as soon as she could, but the phone lines were overloaded and she couldn’t get through. With the lines jammed, it meant Mark couldn’t call her either. It also meant that one of the reasons she was sitting here was gone. If she couldn’t call out and Mark couldn’t call in, nobody else could either. She sat in taut frustration, her patience stretching to hair thin. She kept looking at the clock on the wall, 15 minutes… 30 minutes… 45 minutes… How much loyalty did she really owe to this place. She only took the job to help pay bills and take care of her family and now something
was happening that seemingly put her family in jeopardy and she had to sit in a chair staring at some dials? The thin strand that was left of her patience snapped and she jumped out of her seat and grabbed her things.
“Screw this!” she said, turning to leave.
She came up short, as standing in the doorway was Jason Johnson.
“Oh, thank goodness! Mr. Johnson, I’m glad you’re back. I have to go, okay. The phones are all down…” Beverly’s word’s trailed off as she looked at Johnson. “Mr. Johnson, are you okay?” she asked.
Jason Johnson glared at Beverly. He felt like his brain was being cooked. As the heat was turned up in his mind, he could sense himself fading from his own consciousness, like the theater lights going dark at the Act Break. As his own self faded, he could feel an intense longing take its place. He stared at Beverly. It was as if nothing else mattered. She was now the thing to be desired above all else, for which he would do anything to simply possess her, … to be one with her! As the feeling consumed him and his brain cooked, his own self uttered its last gasping breath in his mind, … I’m so hot…” Jason Johnson took a step towards Beverly.
Beverly clutched her coat to her chest, as if trying to build a layer between her and the man that stood before her. When he took a step toward her, she instinctively stepped back, her own subconscious mind telling her she needed as many things and as much space between them as possible, a cue that her conscious mind wanted to dismiss but instantly began to doubt it could.
“Like I said, Mr. Johnson, the phones are down and the gages all seem to be normal…”
Jason Johnson continued to glare at her. Beverly’s eyes flitted past him, to the door and her escape. She took another step back and Johnson’s eyes flared at her movement.
“I, uh… I turned off the television. I just couldn’t sit here and listen to all of that, you know…” Beverly said.
She took a step to the side and her breath caught as she saw Johnson’s head turn to keep his eyes on her. She started towards the door, trying to flank him but he moved quickly, again blocking her access. Beverly stared into Johnson’s eyes and she knew he was not there. She threw her coat at him as he charged her.
Beverly turned and ran across the room. She hurdled over the couch in the lounge area, trying to get space and things between them.
Johnson’s eyes focused like a laser beam as he came at her. He stumbled over the couch and fell, but quickly rose. As his hands thrust out for her, he pawed at the television, sending it crashing to the floor.
Beverly screamed and raced towards the door. She almost made it, but Johnson cut her off. She screamed again as she was forced to retreat back across the room.
Down in the pits, Reggie and Mack were replacing the access cover on the Number Two generator when they heard what sounded like a distant crash emanating down the gangway from above. The two men looked at each other for a second, their eyes growing large upon hearing the scream.
“Hey, did that sound like—” Mack began before Reggie cut him off.
“A scream? Yeah.”
The two men finished replacing the access panel then made their way towards the gangway leading up to the control room. Half way there, their pace picked up as a second, more pronounced and desperate scream met their ears.
Reggie and Mack rushed up the gangway and into the control room. They stood, shocked at the sight before them. On her back on the floor was Beverly. Her face was contorted and red. Her hands were around Johnson’s neck and she was trying to push him off of her.
Johnson’s eyes were bloodshot and sweat poured off him as he worked his jaw, trying to bite her.
Beverly was so focused on keeping Johnson off of her that she did not notice Reggie and Mack standing there. As the shock of what they were seeing washed over them, they recovered. Both men rushed over to Johnson and hauled him off of Beverly, throwing him back in the process.
Seeing Mack and Reggie, Beverly gasped in a breath and shouted at the two men.
“He tried to bite me!”
Both men turned to look at their boss as he rebounded off the wall and charged them. Without thinking, Reggie and Mack both threw a punch at Johnson’s head. There was a soft thwacking sound like a ball bat hitting a side of beef and Johnson fell, unconscious.
Mack and Reggie turned to Beverly. Reggie ran his hands through his dark hair as Mack swallowed hard.
“What the hell happened up here?!” Reggie shouted.
Beverly, her hands flat on the lunch table, leaned over and struggled to catch her breath.
“I don’t know! The phones were down and I was about to leave when… he was just standing there. He chased me around the room and tried to… bite me!”
Reggie and Mack looked down at their fallen boss. His shirt was soaked in sweat, but other than that he looked like he always did.
“Oh, man! We clocked the boss!” Reggie said.
Mack and Reggie stared at each other. Beverly stood and glared at them.
“We’ve got bigger problems than that, you assholes! He tried to bite me, BITE ME!” she shouted, emphasizing her words.
Both Reggie and Mack stared down at Johnson.
“What should we do, now, Reg?” Mack asked.
Reggie did not reply, only stared at Johnson. Beverly gathered up her things that had been scattered around the room in her effort to get away from Johnson.
“I don’t know what you two are going to do, but I am getting the hell out of here,” Beverly said as she rushed towards the door.
Thinking that was the best idea they had heard in a long time, Mack and Reggie turned to follow Beverly out. Mack stopped and grabbed Reggie’s arms.
“What about him, man?” he said.
Reggie took a final look at Johnson,
“Screw him!” he said.
Both men turned to catch up with Beverly who careened into a running Gary as he came plowing through the door into the control room.
“Dammit Gary, get the hell out of the way!” Mack shouted as Beverly ran into him.
Beverly backed up and sighed, looking at Gary. “It’s all right, Gary. I just have to get out of here. I suggest you do the same,” she said as she tried to maneuver around him.
Gary put out his arm, stopping her and she gave him a hard look.
“Gary, I’ve got to go!” she shouted.
Before Gary could open his mouth to explain himself, Reggie yelled at him.
“The boss is down, looks like he tried to attack Bev, Gary! You need to move your skinny ass—!”
“Wait! You said, Mr. Johnson is down?!” Gary cried, cutting off Reggie.
Gary rushed forward and looked down at the fallen Jason Johnson.
“He came in here, and… I don’t know… he tried to attack me… like those people on the news,” Beverly said.
“Which is why we have to get the hell out of here, man!” Reggie said.
Gary sighed and looked at all three of them. “This is bad, y’all,” he said.
“No shit, Sherlock,” Mack said. Haven’t you heard what we’ve been saying, we’ve got to go!”
Beverly turned back towards the door.
“Look you guys work it out. I’ve got to get home to my family,” she said and made a bee-line for the exit.
“Wait a minute!” Gary yelled. “You might want to hear this.”
Beverly got to the door and was about to leave, when she turned back around and looked at Gary, exasperated. Reggie and Mack stared at him.
“I got about half way through doing the safety walk. I was out by the North end when… I saw them…” Gary’s words trailed off.
Three sets of eyes stared at Gary, who turned and looked down at their boss.
“You saw who, Gary?” Reggie asked, his voice slathered in anger and determination.
Gary looked up at Reggie then glanced around at the others.
“You know… Zombies. The ones I saw were outside the North fence. There couldn’t have been more than three or four.
There’s no access point there, but if Johnson tried to bite you…”
Beverly took a step away from the door, towards Gary.
“What are you saying, Gary?” she asked.
Gary looked back at Johnson and his words came soft and low.
“If Mr. Johnson tried to bite you, then something must have bitten him,” Gary said as he looked into the sinking face of Beverly. “It means Mr. Johnson went outside the gate, or… some of those things got inside the gate. It means…” Gary’s words trailed off, some part of him not wanting to finish the thought.
A panicked Reggie finished the thought for him.
“It means those things are out there ready to eat us, man!”
Three
“Just everybody calm down!” Beverly shouted.
Emotions had taken control and everyone was shouting at each other about what needed to happen. This wasn’t getting Beverly home any quicker and she had had enough. Gary, Mack and Reggie all shut up and looked at her. Beverly gathered herself and resumed a normal tone.
“Okay, listen. Nobody wants to get home faster than I do, but it doesn’t look like we can just waltz out to our cars anymore, so we need to come up with a plan. So, what’s the plan?” she said.
Once again, Gary, Mack, and Reggie all started talking at once. Beverly held up her hands.
“One at a time! Gary, go,” she said.
All eyes turned to Gary. He ran his hands through his hair and took a breath.
Human Extinction Level Loss (Book 2): Substation (The Last Stand of Gary Sykes) Page 2
