DEAD: Onset: Book One of the New DEAD series

by TW Brown

  When I finally reached the school, I felt the cramps in my fingers and realized that I’d been white-knuckling the steering wheel during the short drive the past few blocks. I also realized that a lot of people had flocked to this location in hopes of finding safety. The streets were jammed with cars and there was no way in hell that I would be able to park anywhere close.

  A thought came and I turned left and doubled back a few blocks. While it was clear that all of the residences in this area had been gone through (by the military I assumed), the vehicles in the driveways were left unmolested. I chose one and pulled in.

  “What are you doing?” Morey asked, his voice sounding raw and tired. “That soldier told us to get to the school. I don’t think he would be okay with you not doing what he told you.”

  “I’m parking here. The lot is full at the school. I think it is better to be on the outside edge of things…just in case.” I waited for him to ask what just in case scenario I might be thinking about, but he didn’t.

  I climbed out of the truck and watched as Morey seemed to not realize that he needed to get out of the truck as well. The man just sat slumped over in the passenger seat. Chewie did not seem to want to have anything to do with the man all of a sudden. I felt my stomach tighten and hefted my hand axe.

  “Morey?” I called softly.

  There was a heartbeat or two of silence, and then his head sort of lolled over to me. When it came up and the eyes opened, I was already pulling Chewie towards me by the scruff of her neck.

  “Whoa!” he squeaked as I cocked my arm back and prepared to end this poor man’s existence with a blow to the forehead.

  “Are you going to stay in the truck, or can you walk to the school. It’s only a few blocks.”

  The truth was that now I just wanted this guy out of my truck. I didn’t care what the soldiers were screening for, Morey was infected and probably ready to turn into one of those things within the hour. There was no way that I would leave him in the cab with Chewie.

  “Yeah…sorry…must’ve dozed off for a moment.”

  He reached over and, after three or four failed attempts, eventually managed to get the door open. He suddenly vanished from sight and after I helped Chewie back into the cab and shut my door, I went around to find Morey sprawled on the ground. His left arm was extended out above his head and kept flexing and twitching—opening and closing to rip away tufts of the grass that was growing in the little strip between the sidewalk and the house.

  Despite my misgivings, I couldn’t just leave him there on the ground. Moving to his side, I knelt and helped him to his feet. I leaned him against the side of the truck and cracked open the passenger side door. After getting my face slathered with drool from Chewie who was acting like I’d been gone for a week instead of just long enough to walk around the truck and help Morey up, I slid the box with my Ruger under the seat and kissed my dog on the bridge of her large, flat nose.

  I had to figure something out. Were the soldiers so blind to simply following orders that they refused to see what I thought was so clear? And if I brought Morey to the shelter, would I be unleashing a monster? Perhaps I could find somebody there and very covertly hand Morey over to them, explaining that I was almost certain the tracers were a sign of the infection. If nobody would take him, then perhaps I could just stay with him until what I felt had to be the inevitable occurred. All I would need to do then was have the stones to finish him off.

  I moved over beside Morey and slung his arm over my shoulder since he basically seemed out on his feet. We started up the road with the sounds of gunfire at our backs. I had to guess it was the picket sentries taking down all the zombies that had been drawn during my time talking with the sergeant.

  At last we arrived at the rear entrance to the school. Another pair of military Hummers were parked at this entrance as well. The soldiers waved us through without a word and we were directed to a cluster of white tents that were in place on the tennis courts. I could see the football field bathed in the brightness of a series of spotlights in place all the way around the perimeter.

  We were about halfway to the tents where I could see men and women bustling about in white coats. There were even a few in what I had to guess were HAZMAT suits. They looked like spacemen as they wove in and out of all the madness.

  Morey stumbled and then collapsed. I hadn’t been paying attention, and so I ended up tripping over him and falling hard on the pavement of the parking lot. I heard Morey land with a nasty crunch and splat. Getting up to my hands and knees, I rolled him over and saw that his face was a dark mess. It was too dark still in this section of the parking lot to see clearly, but I knew that his face was covered in blood. When his mouth opened, I heard something plink on the ground. He must’ve busted out a few teeth, and I was certain that his nose was destroyed.

  “Can I get some help?” I called.

  I reached over to see if I could help Morey when the first hints of that smell hit my nostrils. I recalled it from the emergency room. It isn’t a smell you can really equate to anything else, and I was certain that I knew what it meant.

  No sooner had I scrambled back when I saw one of Morey’s arms start to twitch. The fingers spasmed a few times and then began to clutch slowly at the air. When his head turned, I could see well enough to know that his eyes were open. A low moan escaped his lips and I backed even further away.

  “How the fuck did one of those things get in?” I heard a voice snap from behind me.

  I glanced over my shoulder to see a woman in one of the white coats standing there with a pair of soldiers who were not carrying rifles, but I did notice leather holsters on their hips. One of them was already drawing his pistol.

  “Step back, sir,” the man said as he strode past me.

  Without hesitation, he brought the gun to bear and fired a round into Morey’s forehead.

  I couldn’t help but wince. Maybe some of it was from the sound of the pistol being fired, but I think that, deep down, I was still not totally okay with seeing what basically looked like a human being shot in the head. Despite having put a couple of the things down myself, there still seemed to be a part of me that wanted to refuse this new and harsh reality.

  “We need you to get on your feet, sir,” one of the soldiers barked.

  I looked up to see all the weapons now pointed at me! “Wait a minute! I’m not bit,” I started trying to explain.

  “If you and your friend were supposedly clean, then maybe you can explain what just happened,” another soldier growled as he produced a zip tie and approached me. “Now turn around and place your hands behind your back.”

  “But I’m not—” I started, but was cut off when the butt of the soldiers’ rifle caught me in the gut.

  I dropped to my knees and struggled to get air into my lungs which had been so suddenly and unexpectedly emptied of any and all oxygen. My mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water and tears blurred my vision as I struggled to try and get even the slightest breath.

  “Private Nagel,” a voice barked. “You will step back from that civilian and turn yourself in to the MPs right this minute.”

  A hand gripped my shoulder and I looked up to see the distorted features of what looked like a woman’s face as she knelt in front of me. I opened my mouth, but still nothing came or went.

  “I want to apologize for the private’s behavior, sir,” a female voice spoke, confirming my guess.

  I blinked and some of the tears cleared. I could now make out the very pale features of a woman who looked to be in her fifties. Wisps of gray hair poked from beneath her military cap and her eyes were highlighted by deep creases and the corners of her mouth had serious frown lines.

  “No…problem…” the words slid from my mouth, but I wasn’t sure they were actually understandable.

  “Now, we need to get you to the indoctrination tents for an exam before we can allow you into the shelter. Can you stand?” the female soldier said. I noticed little metal bars pinne
d to her shoulder lapel and figured she must be an officer of some sort, although my lack of military knowledge kept me from having any idea what her rank might be.

  “We have zips over by the fence again, Captain Peele,” a voice from the direction of the tents shouted.

  “And your yelling won’t help the situation,” the female officer said between clenched teeth. “Get some personnel over there to put them down so they don’t build up at the fence and knock it over.”

  I made my way to my feet, but my knees were still a bit wobbly. The first step was the hardest, but it was becoming slightly easier to breathe. I followed the small group of doctors and soldiers to the tents and saw rows of tables and curtained off areas that I assumed were for exams.

  “We’ve had word that the shelter at Tigard High School already fell to these things,” the female officer said conversationally as she escorted me to one of the curtained exam areas and held the flap open, indicating that I should enter. “We only got the message that anybody bitten, no matter how minor, is a candidate for the infection. We are trying to get a quarantine set up here because there were a number of people earlier today who arrived with injuries that were allowed in.”

  I didn’t know why she was sharing all of this with me, but it was interesting information. I kept my mouth shut so that I wouldn’t break her flow and stop her from talking. I had no idea what sorts of information she might let spill, but it would be more than I’d had earlier today. The problem I had was not just blurting, ‘Hey, you people have seen zombie movies, right?’

  “Of course, we’re just the local National Guard Unit. Word has it that regular army is on the way. We will probably all be shuffled out to the perimeter when they arrive.” She laughed bitterly. “Well…not me. I’m an officer, but I am sure they will have no problem finding some sort of shit job to stick me in like they will my men and women.”

  She stopped at the flap to my little cubicle and told me that somebody would be in soon to see me. She started to exit and then paused, turning back to me. “I’d stash that little hand axe if I were you. If you try to go inside with it, it will be confiscated.”

  After over two hours, I had to wonder what her idea of ‘soon’ might be. A last the flap opened.

  “So, do you have any bites or injuries inflicted by an infected individual?” the elderly man asked as he continued to stare down at the clipboard he was making notes on.

  “Umm…no…that was established at the checkpoint.” I didn’t bother to mask the annoyance in my voice.

  “Yes, well it seems that the orders were not transferred out to the sentries until just a few hours ago,” the doctor said, not seeming to notice or care that I was well past the point of impatience.

  “So can I go?” I asked.

  “What?” The doctor’s head suddenly popped up. “Goodness no. I need to have you strip please so that I can inspect you and confirm your status.”

  I opened my mouth to say something rude, but just as quickly clamped it shut. It wasn’t going to do me any good. And honestly, I just wanted to get in and find someplace where I could relax for a couple of hours and try to get my head straight.

  After the most intimate physical in my life which had me on the verge of asking if maybe he would be sending me candy or flowers later, I was told that I could dress and that I was now required to report to the school’s cafeteria with the piece of paper he handed me stating that I was inspected and found to be clean.

  I walked out of the tent and paused to get a look around. I spotted a trio of Dumpsters and paused long enough to slip my axe underneath the middle one. I pushed it just far enough back that it wouldn’t be easily spotted, but not so far that it would take me too long to retrieve. Of course, I had no idea if I would ever be able to grab it. But at least I knew where one available weapon existed if things started to go bad. It was something.

  The school grounds were barely recognizable from what I’d known just this morning. Military trucks and a handful of the drab, tan Hummers with the machine guns mounted on them were parked around the lot amidst all the cars that were crammed in as tight as possible. The spotlights added an even more surreal atmosphere as they all pointed down to the football field. And then I spied it. A large structure at the far end of the field where I knew a massive Walmart Supercenter sat just on the other side of the fence that ran along the southern border of the campus.

  I could not help but veer that direction to take a look. I was almost to the lip where I could get a better view of what was down there when a voice froze me in my tracks.

  “That’s far enough. You need to return to the main building or I am going to shoot.” There was an edge that was more fear than authority in that voice.

  I turned around with my hands in the air. “I was just curious,” I said with a forced chuckle. “Sorry…didn’t realize there were any out-of-bounds areas.”

  “Nobody is permitted down there near the pens,” the young man replied. I could see as well as hear him relax when he realized that I wasn’t going to try and challenge his authority.

  “The pens?” I asked. If I couldn’t go see for myself, then perhaps he would confirm what I thought I’d seen.

  “We’ve had to put a few of the people who fell to the infection down there in the pens. Gotta keep them away from the rest of you for your own good.”

  “Hey, sounds like a great idea. I’ve seen them things in action and would just as soon not get torn apart.”

  “You’d be surprised at how many people can’t stop seeing them as their friends and loved ones.” He paused and let out a long, tired breath that had no business coming from somebody so young. “Sad really. One lady threw herself at one of those things, insisting it was her husband and that he didn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

  “Didn’t end well, I take it?”

  “Zombies don’t see us as anything but something to eat.”

  I cocked my head at the word. I’d thought it...and of course Carl had thrown it out there without hesitation, but this felt different.

  “Zombies?” I let that question sound just a bit skeptical, but not enough that I might embarrass the young man. I wanted him to talk…maybe defend his position.

  “What else can you call something that actually and literally died, and then gets back up and attacks the living. And no, they don’t attack each other. Hell, they walk in little groups and barely notice each other. But let some warm-blooded, living person cross their path and it’s game on.”

  I nodded.

  “Now I think you should go inside, sir.”

  I’d been called ‘sir’ more in the past few hours than I think I had my entire life. I decided that I didn’t care for it very much.

  “The name’s Evan.” I stuck out a hand. At first I didn’t think he was going to shake it, but at last, the kid stepped forward and clasped my offered hand.

  “Brian McGrady.”

  “Nice to meet you…just lousy circumstances,” I said, repeating a phrase I remember hearing my grandfather use a lot.

  I turned and headed for the main building. I was pretty sure that every light in the place was on. I hadn’t really paid that much attention, but now that I did, I was able to see a lot of movement. The place was well past the fire marshal approved capacity, of that I had no doubt.

  I climbed the stone step to the metal doors and opened them to find a half dozen soldiers standing around with their weapons slung across their bodies. The halls were full of people and I was hit by the overwhelming heat and mugginess of so many bodies confined in this building.

  I could actually see some people stretched out on bedrolls on the floor of the hallway. Despite there being so many people, it was actually pretty hushed as folks spoke in voices that were barely above a whisper.

  “You need to report to the cafeteria,” one of the soldiers said in a bored, monotone voice.

  I began to weave through the throng of people. As I did, I found myself pausing from time to time. At first
I thought it was just my imagination, but after the third or fourth time, I was certain. I could smell it.

  The smell of infection.

  I paused once to try and casually observe a group of people all clustered around a lone figure lying on a cot. I could hear their hushed whispers. They knew, and yet they were trying deny what was right before their own eyes. That is just one problem with us as a species: we always believe right to the very end that it certainly “won’t happen to me” when bad things crop up. It is always going to be somebody else. Not this time, folks, I thought as I moved on.

  Changing my focus, I started scanning faces. More specifically, I was looking at people’s eyes. I was almost positive that was the sign. By the time I’d reached the cafeteria, I had spotted seven people with the tracers starting to show. Once, when I made eye contact with one of them, they looked away hurriedly and I was almost certain that person knew.

  That started to make me angry. If somebody knew they had this…this…whatever it was, how could they allow themselves to be around other people?

  I finally reached the cafeteria, but I’d already made up my mind that I was going to be finding a way out of this place as soon as I could. I fell into one of the five lines and prepared to wait my turn when I heard a familiar voice.

  “Hey, friend.”

  5

  No Rest for the Weary

  I flopped down on my assigned cot and looked around the gymnasium. The faces all around me wore expressions of fear, loss, confusion, and uncertainty. Personally, I just felt numb. I don’t know if I have had time to truly digest the past day.

  That realization was a punch in the gut all by itself. It had taken less than twenty-four hours for my entire world to be turned upside-down. No matter what happened next, I did not believe that it was possible for me to ever recover from this day.