Infestation (Book 1): Infestation Iowa (A Zombie Survival Series)

by Nathan A. Smith

  “You said we won? Victory sex is so- Over!” she then stormed up the stairs to find her clothes. The others stared at Eric with their heads lowered.

  “What?” Eric said turning to go back upstairs to find the rest of his own clothes. Destiny and David chuckled and both looked out the peep hole as Holiday fired his shotgun wildly.

  “I’m Destiny.” She said in between the sound of gun shots. Smiling, David looked at her amused by her name.

  “David,” He nodded out the peep hole towards Holiday, “And that is our sheriff Holiday.” Destiny’s smile grew wider as Holiday screamed profanity at the zombies who were falling almost faster than they could count. “He has been through a lot today.” David said,

  “Everyone has been,” Destiny replied her smile fading. “Did you know Bartley? The guy who owned this place?”

  “Ya, since I was a kid.”

  “We lost him last night, he went out to help-” Destiny tried to continue but went silent.

  “Ya that would be Bartley!” David said proudly. They moved back as Holiday pushed the door open breathing very quickly. He turned around and held the door closed as zombies from outside banged against it. Eric and Jane ran back down the stairs this time fully dressed. Destiny and David lunged themselves beside Holiday and held the door.

  “Eric! Grab the hammer!” Destiny screamed. Eric looked around, his eyes searching wildly for the hammer but he could not see it. Everything had been moved around since David and Holiday came in. Weapons were all over the table and floor and no longer on the rack.

  “Where is it?” He screamed as he kicked away some guns in front of him with his feet. He got on his hands and knees and began sweeping with his hands frantically looking for the hammer.

  “Here it is!” Jane screamed as she ran to the table by the chair. It sat under another shotgun. She grabbed the hammer and pulled it out fast. The shotgun fell to the ground and fired off a massive burst of pellets hitting Holiday and Destiny in the leg. Holiday fell forward screaming in pain. Destiny looked at her leg, she was barely hit but it still stung. She shook it off and pressed against the door harder than ever.

  “Sheriff!” David screamed as he bent down, still up against the door as it pulsed with the bangs from outside. Holiday rolled around slightly as he held his leg. Blood squirted out everywhere from his lower leg. Jane held the hammer tightly in front of her chest horrified.

  “Oh My God! I am so sorry!” She yelled nearly crying as always. Eric got to his feet and rushed over to her. He grabbed the hammer out of her hand and grabbed a pail filled with nails from behind the table. Then Eric started pounding nails into the frame of the door, securing it with the boards already on the door.

  “That should hold it!” he shouted. David and Destiny moved away from the door watching it. It continued shaking but seemed to be holding strong. They bent down to Holiday; David held his shoulders as Destiny pried Holiday’s hand off his leg to get a better look. As she did even more blood gushed out. She released his hand and he clasped back onto it in agony. Destiny shook her head at David, suggesting that Holiday wouldn’t make it. Suddenly, the banging on the door stopped. Eric rushed toward it and looked out the peep hole. “They are moving away.” He whispered.

  “They gave up?” Jane asked confused. For once everyone shared in her confusion.

  Then a loud crash of glass and boards snapped causing them to jump. The window on the wall over by the empty rack, slowly seemed to be sucked away. Boards flew outside as something pulled at them. The same roar they had been hearing all over town earlier filled the store.

  Chapter 5 –The Beast

  A massive arm reached into the window. The length of the arm itself was nearly as tall as David and it was as wide as Holiday. It brimmed with bright red skin and the light glistened off its muscles upon muscles. It ripped out the final board from the window with its wide human-like hand. A large snarl followed as the hand receded through the window, slowly scratching the border with its claw-like nails. A head crept inside looking around with sharp movements left and right. The head was small compared to the arm; about the size of a normal man’s head but with an abnormally thick neck. It had no skin they could see; just muscle lining its face with tiny black sockets for eyes. It had no lips and bared menacing razor sharp teeth. Holiday began sliding toward the back room. The fear of seeing the creature had silenced his agony. David slowly picked up Holiday’s shotgun as Destiny stared in disbelief at the monstrosity emerging from outside. The sun began to set, slowly dimming the light behind the creature. The generators in the shop still ran strong, powering the lights, so they could easily see what happened next.

  The creature placed its hands on the window frame and with a seemingly effortless pull ripped most of the wall apart. Jane let out a shrill yelp as the others were too petrified to even move, except for Holiday. Slowly, he inched away toward the back room trying to stay unnoticed by the creature. Eric, in complete shock, walked toward Jane. He was afraid she would break out crying and cause the creature to rush inside. The creature stepped a foot into the store cracking the floor with its enormous foot. It stood roughly ten feet tall and was hunched over to see inside more clearly. Its body was roughly the size of a small car and reflected the light off its bright red skin. Its muscles seemed to contract and flinch all over its body. The creature sniffed the air and turned its head once more left and right with a sharp movement.

  David squinted his eyes unsure as to why it did nothing else. He leaned over to Destiny and whispered in her ear.

  “I don’t think it can see us,”

  “Maybe it goes by smell.” She whispered back, “or sound?”

  Eric, now beside Jane, slowly reached for her hand as she stared at the beast in complete terror. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard. Nobody had any idea what to do. “It’s so big!” Destiny continued looking out of the corner of her eye toward the stairs. “If we go slowly upstairs it might not be able to follow us.” She slowly moved to the stairs causing a floor board at her feet to creak loudly. The creature’s head snapped toward her direction. It had clearly heard the floor creak.

  Jane relaxed her grip on Eric’s hand and turned away from the beast, toward Destiny.

  “If it’s deaf,” she said loudly causing the beast to snap its head toward her, “and it can’t see,” the beast moved fully into the room and loomed above Jane blocking the lights above her. “Then we are fine!” She yelled, smiling. Her smile faded fast as she felt the steady breathing of the beast on her head. Eric backed away slowly toward David as Jane’s eyes filled with tears. She let out a horrible cry as the beast roared ferociously. It swatted Jane with its arm and ploughed her into the wall beside the door. It pounced forward and dug its teeth into her chest. Eric let out a high pitched scream but then quickly covered his mouth. The creature snapped its head once again toward the sound. Flesh and bits of clothing hung from its teeth as it chewed while staring. After a few seconds, it turned back to Jane’s body and continued to eat her.

  “Upstairs…” Destiny said in a slight whisper. The creature slightly turned its head but the whisper was not enough to draw its full attention. Eric, with his hands still covering his mouth, nodded in agreement and slowly walked toward the stairs. Again, a floor board creaked. They all froze and stared wide eyed at the creature. It didn’t notice the creak this time. It was too involved with its meal. Jane’s body was nothing more than a pair of legs and some hair from her head at that point. The creature ate very fast and soon would be able to hear them easier.

  Once again they headed toward the stairs but then suddenly Holiday screamed at them.

  “Get outside!” He yelled causing a large growl from the creature as it turned toward him. It roared loudly as Holiday continued. “Come and get me you ugly piece of shit!” David couldn’t believe his ears. Holiday was standing up to the beast; he was laying in the back room after having slid all the way across the main room.

  The creature walked quickly toward
Holiday, the doorway too small for it. “That’s it! Come on beautiful!” Holiday continued his taunts. As the creature grew closer, Eric bolted out the hole in the side wall where the beast had come through. Destiny and David followed quickly. “David! Make sure you get Viv!” Holiday yelled.

  David, Destiny, and Eric rushed outside to the front of the building. They gasped heavily and bent over out of breath. Adrenaline and fear surged through them; they were in slight disbelief at what they had just seen.

  Inside, Holiday laughed loudly as the creature ripped open the doorway to get into the room. Holiday slid back into a corner and reached into the open box lying on the ground. He pulled out a massive firework and grunted slightly. He would have arrested Bartley had he known about these earlier. Now he was glad he hadn’t.

  He pulled out his lighter with an enormous grin and flipped the top open. He struck his Zippo three times, finally lighting it. The beast emerged into the room looking around wildly. Holiday licked his lips and lit the fuse on the firework. The fizzing sound drew the beast’s attention and he threw the firework into a group of boxes at the other end of the room. The beast followed it, roaring loudly. The room erupted in colorful lights and flames engulfing everything inside it. Outside David, Destiny and Eric watched as the building erupted in flames. Small explosions rattled through it as fireworks and ammunition exploded violently.

  “We have to move!” David hollered pointing towards the trees.

  Chapter 6 – Trinity

  They sat down inside a group of bushes at the edge of the park breathing heavily as the sun fully set. Soon they would have to rush across the park and head out of town, needing all of their strength. David had not slept the night prior and was feeling very tired but he intended to continue on and ignore how he felt. They would make a quick stop on the other side of the park at Vivian’s house. If she was anywhere now it would be there. Afterward, he planned on heading anywhere they could be safe.

  “What’s the plan now?” Eric asked catching his breath.

  “Head across the park, get Viv, get out of town and somewhere safe.” David replied checking his gun for ammunition. “How are you guys for ammo?” He continued, “I got three clips.”

  Destiny replied holding up a small black pouch with three ammo clips inside. She fastened it to her arm and asked, “What about you Eric?”

  “Why are we going for this Viv?” Eric asked looking at them confused, than he held up his hammer. “I got this….” He continued.

  “I promised Holiday we would get her,” David said looking sadly at the ground. “Her place is on the way out of town and if she is in trouble we should help.” David looked towards Eric and continued “That hammer will still help if they get too close,” David said trying to be encouraging and at the same time change the subject. “Don’t lose it.”

  “Let’s get going.” Destiny said standing up and adjusting her skirt. The three of them stood up and prepared to walk into the park. The clearing on the other side could hold anything, and they knew they had to be prepared. Anything was better than the street. All at once, with guns and the hammer ready, they rushed forward stepping into the open field of the park. It was a massive field; the size of three city blocks and it was surrounded by trees. To their surprise they couldn’t see a single zombie. Eric had his hammer raised above his head and didn’t relax it even for a moment. David and Destiny both lowered their guns. The park was very dark but they could see well enough to know nothing but a field was there. “What’s that?” Destiny asked pointing toward the center of the field. The three of them peered into the dark but couldn’t make out much. A large building seemed to sit in the center of the park but David and Eric knew that was impossible. They have both lived here for years and knew this park very well.

  “Let’s go,” David said moving forward slowly. The building in the park got slowly clearer as they moved into the park. It was a very large tent surrounded by some sandbags. They approached the tent, David in the lead, watching the tree line all around them for any sign of movement. After a few minutes they reached the tent. It was the size of the first floor of the gun store they were just in. A slight buzzing sound came from inside the tent and then a voice could be faintly heard. They stood outside the tent flap and David leaned over to whisper at Destiny.

  “You stay out here; Eric and I are going to check inside.” Destiny nodded as David quietly explained what he was going to do. Eric stood to one side of the flap and David on the other. Then David rushed inside with his gun drawn. An incredibly bright light blinded him for a moment but his eyes soon adjusted. Nobody was there. The inside of the tent was lit fairly well and he was amazed they could not see it from outside. Eric quickly came in swinging his hammer with his eyes closed. “Eric!” David said loudly, “It’s alright!”

  “You guys O.K.?” Destiny asked from outside.

  “Ya, come on in.” David said searching the ground. The ground was littered with papers and books. A row of hospital beds lined the wall of the tent. In the corner there was a small blue lantern that illuminated the entire tent. Destiny walked inside covering her eyes with her arm as the light hit her face.

  “What is this place?” Destiny asked

  “Never seen it before,” Eric replied looking around at the room. “It wasn’t here a few days ago.” They walked around looking at all the papers. There were a bunch of medical tubes and I.V. bags lying on some beds, by the lantern there was a computer desk. Then they heard it again: the voice from earlier and then some buzzing. It was louder now but they could see no one. David walked over to the computer desk and looked at the paper on top of it.

  “These say Trinity.” David said holding up a few pages. “Think they were trying to help?” Eric walked up to David and grabbed a paper from off the desk.

  “$10 bucks says these mother-fuckers are behind this shit!” Eric said throwing the paper on the ground. David rolled his eyes and bent down to pick up the paper. There were two kinds of people in the world when it came to Trinity, people who thought they were evil and people who thought they were the greatest thing ever. David heard a lot of stories about Trinity Corp but nothing ever bad, so he thought they were great. Eric on the other hand was one of the ones who thought they were evil. Eric grabbed the lantern and walked into the center of the room, the light illuminated the tent even more. A shadowy spot beside the computer desk lit up, showing a dead body sitting in front of the paper David was picking up. David backed away and held his gun toward the body. The body didn’t move; it was a man none of them had ever seen before. He wore a long white coat with a name badge and had glasses on his face. Above his glasses, blood oozed from a hole in the top of his head. He held a gun in one hand very loosely and a paper in the other. David lowered his weapon and got closer to the man. He grabbed the paper the man was holding and checked his name tag. It was covered with dried blood. He couldn’t make out what it said. The paper he took had some blood on it too but he could read most of it.

  “Request to help unknown infection.” David said as he read the paper out loud. “The unknown infection seems to work more like a parasite then a disease,” Destiny sat down on a bed as David continued to read out loud. “It mutates quickly by itself but seems to mutate more quickly when an infected patient ingests any amount of blood. The more blood it ingests the worse the mutation.” David paused and looked at the others.

  “That’s why some are faster than others.” Destiny said.

  “Let’s not forget Hulk on steroids out there.” Eric said, sitting down beside her. David continued reading,

  “The actual cause of the infection is unknown and spreads to new patients by saliva and blood contact. Antibiotics only increase the aggression in patients and it is recommended to quarantine and terminate any who are infected.” David dropped the page and walked to a nearby bed. He sat down and set his gun down beside him. With no adrenaline pumping massively through him he started feeling more and more tired. He knew he had to rest but he also knew
he didn’t have time to.

  “We should get moving,” Destiny said standing up. No sooner had she finished talking, they once again heard buzzing and the voice from earlier.

  “Come in fourteen!” A woman’s voice echoed with static. The dead man sitting beside the computer desk had a two way radio beside his foot. That was the sound they had been hearing. David reached out and picked it up; with a shrug to the others he pressed the button on the side.

  “Hello?” David said curiously.

  “Hello! Fourteen it’s good to hear your voice. Any news of-” her voice faded off and was replaced with static.

  “Didn’t catch that last part,” David said hearing only static as a reply. “This is David; we found this radio and heard your voice.” Still static was all they heard. Then after a few seconds of waiting the woman’s voice came back over the radio.

  “David?” the woman asked, “The Gregors kid?” David’s face turned to confusion.

  “How…how do you know that?” He asked, anxiously waiting for a reply.

  “I knew your parents …. If you’re at field tent fourteen, then that means you’re in Lone Tree. Only David I know there is the Gregors boy.” Static seemed to follow every word she said. “This line is about to go out David, can you get to your parents’ old place?” Static grew louder as she finished

  “Yes, I live there!” He shouted into the radio.

  “Get – there…We will – someone to– you.” The static interrupted a lot of what she tried to say and David could only make out a few of the words.

  “Wait!” David yelled into the radio, “How did you know my parents? What’s going on!?” He waited for a response but soon there wasn’t even static. The line was completely dead.

  “Great!” Eric yelled enthusiastically, “We are gonna get out of here!” He jumped with joy raising his hand to Destiny for a high five but got only a cold stare. He lowered his hand and turned to David “So where do you live? How far away?”