by Gayle Katz
“I saw you standing by the door. What happened? Was someone giving you flak for using the computers?”
“Nah. I think it was just the librarian. She asked me to sign up for a library card.”
“Ha. You’re serious? That’s pretty funny.”
“She scared the crap outta me though.”
“I can imagine.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to get to the park?”
“Five to seven minutes maybe.”
“I hope he sees our message. And I hope he isn’t part of this zombie conspiracy or else we’re really screwed.”
“Didn’t you just say we need to stay positive because everything will work out?”
“Yeah. Yeah. I’m just thinking aloud. Ignore me.”
As I stare forward, I can see Chris smiling in my peripheral view. I know Chris probably thinks I’m crazy, but what’s a girl to do when she’s got the zombie virus. He should just be glad I’m in my right mind. It wasn’t long ago he shot me in the shoulder because I was snacking on Laura. I still can’t believe that happened, but I’ve the scars to prove it and so does Laura.
“You seem deep in thought,” Chris questions. “Anything you want to talk about?”
“Nah. I’m fine. Just thinking about the past and how I can’t seem to remember a time before zombies were a part of my life. It sounds crazy. Like we’re in a bad B movie.”
“I know what you mean, but maybe we’ll finally be able to put an end to this zombie epidemic.”
As soon as Chris finishes his sentence, I hear a clunk and look out the right car window. A zombie crashes face first into the car window.
“Ah!” I scream.
“What? Oh shit! Where did he come from?”
“He’s banging his head against the window. It’s gonna break.”
“No. No. No. We just gotta get him off.”
“How are you gonna do that?”
“I’m gonna swipe the side of the car into a building or a tree.”
“Are you crazy? You could kill us!”
“Do you have any other ideas cause if we don’t do anything, we’re gonna be his dinner. This car can only take so much abuse.”
“Fine! Do it.”
“Ah! A bank drive-through. That’ll work. Time to make a deposit! Hold on to something!”
I double-check to make sure my seat belt is latched and I reach for the grab handle. Chris is speeding up and the bank drive-through is getting closer. I close my eyes. We drive quickly between the pillars separating the drive-through lanes and hear a thud. I open my eyes and look behind. The zombie hit the first pillar and is lying on the ground.
“That was exciting,” I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Yeah. Enough distractions. We gotta get to the park and meet Aaron.”
A few more minutes pass and we turn into the parking lot. There are a few cars parked, and a handful of people walking around the track getting fresh air and stretching their legs. I guess they’re practicing their cardio in the event a zombie horde starts chasing them. We drive in and park the car.
“Now what do we do?” I ask.
“We wait.”
“I hate waiting.”
“Me too, but you won’t be bored.”
“And why is that?”
“Because we’re getting out of the car to keep an eye on what’s happening around us. The last thing we need is to be ambushed.”
“OK.”
“You stand on that side. I’ll stand here. Keep your eyes open and stay alert.”
“Will do.”
I walk to the other side of the vehicle and scan the area. I didn’t wear my watch, so I have no idea how much time is passing. It feels like we’ve been standing here for an eternity, but my guess is that it’s only been a few minutes.
Just when my feet are getting tired of standing and walking around the vehicle, I see a luxury car pull into the parking lot. The windows are tinted so I can’t see who’s inside.
“Chris!” I point.
“I see it,” he acknowledges.
The car continues forward and pulls into the spot next to us. The mysterious car door opens and it’s Aaron Maddock!
“Mr. Maddock,” I race to greet him.
“Yes, but call me Aaron. Are you Jane?”
“Uh-huh. Thank you for coming. You got my message I assume?”
“I did. I don’t have much time. Tell me more about this big story.”
“We believe there’s a global zombie conspiracy happening.”
“I know there have been a lot of outbreaks popping up, but a conspiracy? What makes you say that?”
“We’ve gotten wind of a secret quarantine area or underground testing facility two floors down in Scarlet Peak General Hospital. We saw it with our own eyes. They’re testing on lots of innocent people. And we believe lots of high-ranking people from all over are involved. Government officials, military officers, doctors, and maybe more are hiding things from the public.”
“What proof do you have?”
“We found this document in the hospital administrator’s office. It’s somewhat vague, but it instructs all hospitals in their network to document the path of the virus from the initial stages through a person’s complete transition into a zombie. There are thousands of hospitals in this hospital’s network.”
“OK. Keep talking.”
“Well, think about it, how do you document the initial stages of a zombie virus?”
“I don’t know. I’m a journalist, not a doctor.”
“Funny. You have to infect someone to see what happens. We believe that’s what they’re doing.”
“Shit. That’s crazy. Are you serious? We’ve gotten news stories of outbreaks happening across the country and around the world. I guess I just thought it was a coincidence, but you’re saying these bigwigs are orchestrating it? Why?”
“We don’t know. Maybe someone stands to make a lot of money off of treating people or even curing this infection. Some Colonel at the military base also intimidated us. He threatened that we wouldn’t live long enough to tell anybody what we’ve learned. He was pretty pissed, which tells me he’s hiding something.”
“What else can you tell me?”
“I’m not sure, but you have to help us get this story out. Once you break the story, our hope is that everything will come out and we’ll learn the whole truth. We’re doing this to save a lot of lives, including our own. Can you help us out? Can you do this?”
“I’ll do my best. Let me call my associate.”
Chris immediately takes Aaron’s phone from his hand and pulls the battery out.
“What are you doing?” Aaron questions.
“We’re not safe here. People are following us. They might be following you now too. We don’t want to help them find us. Drive back to your newsroom and get the story on the air. Lead with it so everyone hears it. We need to expose these bad people and we need to do it fast,” Chris insists.
“I will. Thank you for trusting me with your information. I’ll get it produced and make sure it’s on the early morning news.”
“Good. Now, please be careful. We know these criminals are capable of murdering innocent people, so stay alert.”
Chris shakes Aaron’s hand. I smile and shake it too.
“Thank you for helping us,” Chris vocalizes our appreciation.
“My pleasure,” Aaron bows his head.
We watch him hop back into his expensive car and drive out of the parking lot. Chris and I get back in our vehicle too.
“That went well,” I’m hopeful we just finished running our part of this relay race.
Chris shares my optimism, “Cross your fingers. Tomorrow morning, this could all be over.”
Chapter 10
________________________________________
I roll from my back on to my side, and open my eyes. I rub the sleep out of them and I’m delighted to see Jack is sleeping soundly next to me. He’s sleeping on his back. I can s
ee his chest rising and falling with every breath. I smile knowing he’s OK. He looks so peaceful. I look around and notice that we’re back in our bedroom.
I hear a bang downstairs. It startles me. I immediately sit up. Calm down. It’s probably just Rocky using the house as his plaything, knocking something over. It’s not a big deal. No need for alarm. I put my hand over my heart to try and relax. Jack is sleeping so soundly. I think I’ll join him. As I try to get comfortable and snuggle up to Jack, I hear the same sound in conjunction with other odd, somewhat loud sounds. I look back at Jack and he’s not moving. He’s deep in sleep. No matter, I won’t wake him. I can check out the noises myself.
I put my right foot on the floor, then the left one, and grab my robe. I get up from our bed and slowly walk over to the bedroom door that’s closed. I begin to hear more unusual sounds. The fear inside of me is growing. Maybe I should wake up Jack? Nah. I can handle it. I walk up to the door and put my ear to it. I can hear sounds all over, but I can’t place them. I wrap my fingers around the doorknob and turn it to the right. I take a deep breath in order to help give me strength. I open the door and see grotesque zombies stumbling around the first floor of our house.
Oh no! Why are they here? What are we going to do? How are we going to get out? How many of them are down there? I decide to tiptoe over to the banister overlooking the foyer area of the house to get a better handle on exactly what we’re dealing with. As I carefully begin to walk over to the overlook without being noticed, the floor creaks and I stop in my tracks. I look down at my feet. I feel flush at the sound. I hope they didn’t hear me.
I’m standing there, not moving as I see one of the zombie creatures look up at me. Even from this distance, I can see its white, glazed-over eyes staring at me. I stare back and observe it looks burnt to a crisp, like someone set it on fire. As we stare at each other, I see more of them congregate around the first one. They’re all disgusting. A few have sores and wounds and gashes all over them. Some are actively bleeding while others have black crusty markings, probably from previous injuries and dried blood. Before I realize it, many of those whom were running around are now staring at me.
They look over at the staircase and begin to walk toward it. No. No. No. They can’t come upstairs.
“Go away!” I shout at them. They continue coming and ignore me.
“We won’t let you go. You’re still part of us.”
“What? No. I’m better now.”
“You’re still infected and that means you’re one of us still.”
“No! I’m not one of you.”
I run back to our bedroom, slam the door shut, and block the doorway with a chair. I look back at our bed and Jack is still sound asleep. I run over to him, hop in bed, and try to wake him up. It takes some time, but I manage to rouse him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Zombies are in the house!”
“You’re dreaming. Don’t worry about it. Go back to sleep.”
“I can’t go back to sleep. They’re right outside our door.”
“It’s your imagination.”
“No. No, it’s not!”
I begin to hear banging on the bedroom door. I look and see they haven’t made their way in yet.
“Don’t you hear that?” I turn my attention from the door back to Jack.
“Hear what?”
Quicker than a blink, Jack isn’t Jack anymore. He’s pale again and he’s got those glowing red eyes, staring at me.
“Everything will be alright. This is our destiny. Life is better this way. Embrace it.”
“Embrace what? Being a zombie? Are you crazy? What’s happening to you?”
“You did this to me. Remember? I’m just accepting it into my life now.”
“I said I’m sorry. I’m trying to find a cure to make you better. You just have to hang on a little while longer.”
“I’m done with that life. And you are too,” he moves closer, snuggling up to me in our bed.
“No.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t have a choice.”
“Of course I have a choice.”
I move away from Jack Zombie and accidentally fall on the floor. When I get back to my feet, the bedroom door bursts open and all the zombies from before rush in, blocking my way to the bedroom window, my only other escape route.
Jack gets out of bed and makes his way through the general zombie crowd toward me.
“We’ll be together forever. That’s what you want, right?”
“Yes, but not like this. Not like that.”
He gets closer. I back away. He rushes up to me and bites my neck. I feel my hot blood run down my shoulder and onto my chest. I look at my hands and they’re covered in my blood. I’m freaking out.
Chapter 11
________________________________________
My eyes pop open and I realize that I’m back in the safe house. My breathing is erratic and I can’t sleep. Staring at the ceiling, I turn on my side and look at Jack lying next to me, just like in my dream. I can’t even look at him at first. I’m his wife for god sakes. The one person in this world who’s supposed to love and care for him until death do us part and I fucking bite him. What was I thinking?
No! I can’t let my mind wander there. I have to believe it wasn’t me who bit him. It was the sickness. Yeah, it was the sickness. It was Jane Zombie. It wasn’t me. We have to find a cure. Aaron has to break the story. He just has to.
I can’t lie here anymore. I’m restless. I get up out of bed, turn on the TV, and keep the sound low. Just because I can’t sleep is no reason to wake up anyone else. Sleep is a good thing. I look around to see if I disturbed anyone. Good thing we have some heavy sleepers here.
Sitting right in front of the TV, I manually turn to channel 23. Wow! That’s a blast from the past. I smile to myself. I can’t remember the last time I changed the channel by turning a nob. The morning news normally starts at 4:00 am. That’s the early edition. According to the TV, it’s approaching four now.
“Come on, Aaron,” I whisper to the TV. “Save us.”
I close my eyes and think good thoughts. I’m not a religious person, but God, if you can hear me, we really need a helping hand right now.
The rerun of whatever golden oldie TV show ends and the news begins.
“Here we go!” I say a little louder.
As the visuals pop on the screen, I see a breaking news banner appear. That’s got to be our story. It just has to be. I continue watching anxiously as the news program begins.
“Good morning, Scarlet Peak. Breaking news. Our beloved anchor and reporter, Aaron Maddock, was found dead by his car early this morning. His body was covered with multiple zombie bite marks and his skull was smashed.
“According to sources, he was working on a developing story about zombie foul play. From what we know at this time, Chris Ailis, a former member of the military and currently a fugitive from justice is the last person who saw Maddock alive. He’s the prime person of interest in his murder. Authorities are on the lookout for him as he is allegedly responsible for Maddock’s death and also tied to local terror organizations that may have mutated the zombie virus, making it immune to current treatments.
“If you see him, you’re urged to contact the police as he’s armed and dangerous. There’s a reward of $500,000 if your tip leads to his capture. More on this breaking story as we learn more. Please join us for a moment of silence as we remember Aaron Maddock and all the wonderful contributions he’s made to this station and our community.”
“What?” I say to the TV. “No. No. No. This is a nightmare.” I’m spellbound by the news. My hand is covering my mouth. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
I hear a faint noise behind me. I quickly turn around and see Chris behind me. He’s got his head in his hands.
“What are we going to do?” I ask.
“I don’t know, but $500,000 is a lot of money.”
“They’re trying to frame you for this mess
. That’s not right. How can they do that?”
“Apparently they can do anything they want.”
“I don’t believe that.”
All I know is that we can’t trust anyone now.”
“Was someone watching us?”
“I don’t know.”
“If they were watching us, why not just grab us? Why kill an innocent reporter?”
“If I’m accused of murder, more people will be on the lookout for me, which means we need to be even more careful. These people mean business. They’re just tying up loose ends.”
“Aaron was a loose end?”
“They’re telling us we’re vulnerable. That they can get us whenever they want.”
“We’re running out of options.”
“Yes, we are. Yes, we are.”
We just sit there. Staring. Thinking about what to do next. How are we going to save the people we love and ourselves?
“Hand me one of the burner cells,” Chris insists. “I’m going to call my boss. Uh. I guess former boss now.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? We didn’t leave him on the best terms, if you remember. You might have burned that bridge.”
“Maybe, but do you have a better idea? Jack and Laura need treatment to survive and who knows what’s happening with you. Are you cured or will you relapse at some point? What about all the other people walking around with this sickness growing inside of them? Ready to explode at any moment and turn into a mindless zombie only wanting to feed. This whole thing is larger than you and me now. It’s larger than all of us.”
I hand Chris the burner cell.
He punches in his boss’s cell phone number. It’s on speakerphone.
“Hello?”
“Joe. It’s Chris.”
“Chris. What are you doing calling me?”
“I don’t have many options left. I need your help.”
“You should have thought about that before you held us at gunpoint.”
“They were going to kill an innocent girl. I couldn’t let that happen and I can’t believe you would either.”
“It’s called following orders, but I’m not sure you know much about that now.”
