When The Dead Rise (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Fraser, D. K.

  Jake raised his eyebrows, “Oh they were pissed! Still are,” he told Benny and they both laughed. It was a trailer park for the elderly, no kids were allowed and all the trailers that could be seen looked very well taken care off.

  This had been another reason why they had moved here. The only neighbors at that time were the people in their park and this other park that was adjacent to theirs and full of rich old people who kept to themselves with a big empty field that separated them.

  Benny looked at him and laughed “Emily had a list of pros and cons to moving here?” Benny asked trying to hold in his laughter.

  Jake looked at him and sighed, “Yeah,” he said in a dull tone and they both laughed as they headed towards I-205 which would take them to Battle Ground, Washington where they worked.

  It was close to nine o’clock when they pulled into Vitality Health and Rehab where they worked. It was a posh name for what it was, a glorified old people’s home. A lot of the residents checked in after having an injury and not many of them checked back out either due to families not being able to properly care for them or just not wanting to anymore.

  He always thought it sad that life had gotten so busy for people that caring for the elderly, the people who cared for them as they grew from a baby had become an inconvenience.

  They hopped out the truck and noticed an ambulance parked at the side fire exit, this usually meant a resident had passed, neither of them wanted to think who it could be as there was a lot of residents who were very sick right now. As they entered the lobby, they both looked at each other and Benny muttered, “Uh oh,” as he noticed the piano in the corner of the room was vacant and the air silent. Ms. Munroe would be playing that thing every morning from around 8:00 am right up until lunch at 11.

  They both swiped their time cards and headed for the morning meeting which was held every day at the main nurse’s station in the center of the complex beside the main dining hall.

  They passed several rooms. with residents inside watching TV or reading, some still asleep. The complex was divided into three halls. 1 and 2 for regular patients with injuries and the third was locked and secured as it was full of what Benny liked to call “the crazies”, he didn’t really like Benny’s term as he knew most of them suffered from dementia, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, and other age related mental illnesses. He knew they couldn’t help but come across as “crazy”, but he didn’t like them being labeled as that, even jokingly.

  The main dining hall and nurse’s station was located right beside the entrance to hall 3. The hall 3 entrance was two wide heavy fire doors with only a small glass pane on each about half a foot wide to let you see inside and there was an illuminated keypad on the side.

  They could see some paramedic equipment on the floor beside the doors, this let both men know that whoever had passed during the night had been from hall 3.

  They walked into the meeting room and everyone was already there who hadn’t called in sick, he walked away from Benny towards Sandra the day shift supervisor “It’s going to be another long day?” he asked as he collected his charts from the table then looked around the room trying to eyeball who wasn’t there. Sandra nodded, “We’ve had six call ins, another two possible no call no shows and three residents passed last night.” Her eyes were cloudy with sadness. He was stunned by being told three, he wanted to ask who, but he knew once the meeting started in a few minutes he would find out. He took his and Benny’s charts and gave Sandra a somber nod.

  Benny was busy chatting to a young girl whose name he couldn’t remember when he walked over, she had only been at the facility for a week or so, she was on some kind of training placement from her college. He handed Benny his charts, “Three gone,” he told him quietly so he would be ready for it getting announced in the meeting. The girl’s giggling stopped, and he looked down at her name tag. “Michelle.”

  Benny’s flirty behavior changed, “Oh shit, three in 24 hours means the state will be getting involved and investigating, man our day – no, our week just got a whole lot fucking worse,” Benny sighed.

  Michelle looked at Benny and asked, “Why what does the state do?” Benny started to explain that once more than two residents passed in a 48 hour period then the state would send a team in to audit and investigate the facility to make sure it was operating correctly and 100% to state safety codes, essentially they would be under a microscope until the team the state sent out had reported back that everything was 100% by the book. This would not be fun for anyone, not the nurses, residents, or even visiting families.

  Michelle just nodded as Benny explained all of this and Jake looked out the window on the other side of the dining room. He could see the parking lot of the high school that was next to them and there were trucks pulling in with long white trailers.

  Caleb

  Caleb’s farmhouse sat on a hill on the huge plot of land he owned in Amboy, Washington. He loved being a little bit away from the hustle and bustle of the people in town and not having to deal with much drama. He stood in the kitchen of his custom-built three-story home sipping a beer while his wife Janice and two girls, Madison and Haley, were in the living room adjacent laying on the huge luxurious couch big enough for ten people watching a movie. Nate, his son came in rushing into the kitchen grabbing his attention

  “Dad, there’s two cars coming!” Nate blurted out. They lived out of the way in the country and didn’t get many visitors unless invited and certainly weren’t expecting any. Caleb finished off his beer and tossed the bottle into the recycling bag hanging from a cupboard door. He dragged his sleeve across his face wiping his lips then walked into the huge living room which took up one whole corner of the second floor of the house. Windows ran along both walls, he looked outside at the panoramic view of the hills and trees that surrounded them. Far off in the distance he could see some smoke, it was south and pretty far for him to be worried about. He knew his crops or family were in no danger, but he had heard on the news about the craziness going on across the country. He walked towards the spiral staircase smiling at his girls as he passed through. They were both in their twenties, but he still sheltered them as best he could, his little girls were his world. He went down the stairs that led to the front door and opened it. He stepped outside onto the gravel driveway that snaked from the house all the way to the road about three hundred yards to the edge of the property. Then the gravel drive turned into a road that ran all the way into town. The bottom floor of his house was a large three car garage and behind the garage was his wife's interior greenhouse. Above the garages was a large balcony that spanned the width of the house, it had two doors leading onto it. One from the living room, the another from his master bedroom. Linda, his wife, walked out from the living room door looking at the cars coming down the driveway then at Caleb, “You expecting anyone, honey?” His wife asked.

  He could see two cars flying up the driveway, a Camaro and an Escalade he knew right away who it was, he had thought the last time he had a visit like this the man was just ranting and raving being high on whatever but he knew now most of what he had been told before was starting to come true from what he was seeing on the news.

  Victor Chenkov was his neighbor on the property beside his, but he rarely saw the man or his “Family” that resided in the collection of trailers next to the man’s four-bedroom house that was on a property half the size of Caleb’s. Caleb’s driveway ran past Victor’s property and he always saw different cars outside the trailers that littered the field beside Victor’s place.

  Nate always joked that he thought Victor was either a drug lord or a gang leader because of all the riff raff that would be loitering on the property but after his recent unannounced visit Caleb wasn’t sure those were so far fetched ideas.

  FOUR WEEKS EARLIER -

  Caleb swung the axe and it came crashing down splitting the log in two, sending the halves splintering off to the side. He picked up another block setting it on top of the stump that lay beside his gravel
driveway. As he raised the axe above his head, he saw a car coming down his driveway. It was a yellow Camaro that belonged to his neighbor Victor Chenkov who rarely spoke to him.

  The Camaro pulled up and Victor stepped out resting his hand on the car door. Caleb noticed the Russian Hammer and Sickle tattooed on Victor’s hand between his thumb and index finger. Victor stood there looking around for a moment with the trademark solemn stone look the man always had then suddenly flashed a smile at Caleb. Victor was a short man with grey hair in a buzz cut all over. Victor had thick arms and looked muscular. Even though he looked to be in his fifties the man looked in shape. “Victor, what can I do for you?” Caleb asked the surprise visitor then Victor threw his arms. out.

  “Caleb! Neighbor!” Victor said loudly, Caleb looked at the man’s dilated pupils. Victor was no doubt probably high on something. He had heard rumors of Victor and his drug dealing from various people at the casinos in Amboy, but he chose to ignore it as Victor had never bothered Caleb or his girls but showing up here high could be the end of that.

  “I wanted to come see you Caleb, I think we can help each other out, my friend” Victor said still smiling and walking over with his arms. outstretched.

  “How so, Victor?” Caleb replied

  Victor lowered his arms and put a knee on the picnic bench at the side of the driveway in a Captain Morgan like pose then lit a cigarette, “Well,” Victor began then paused taking a big inhale. “back in my home country of Russia things are happening, things that may very well happen over here, not good things, my friend” Victor then went on about governments collapsing and things being in high demand in not just Russia but other countries that Victor had “friends” in.

  Caleb just kept pretending to listen as the man appeared to be rambling on. Victor kept taking puffs of his cigarette between stories of how bad things could get then he finally got to the point.

  “So, what I’m getting at Caleb is we’re neighbors and your wife has a lot of fruit and vegetables and you have all these animals,” Victor said sweeping his hand around in the direction of Caleb’s fields. “In exchange for sharing some of that with me, I’ll provide you with more than enough protection against anyone who comes looking to try and take it,” Victor said tossing the cigarette butt into the gravel and squashing it like a bug with a big bulky boot. Caleb couldn't help but take note that Victor’s “offer” was seeming more and more like a threat than a good deed.

  Caleb looked out over at his fields with cows and horses grazing away without a care in the world. If anything as far-fetched as what Victor was saying was to happen, he definitely wouldn’t let anything happen to his home and to get rid of this drugged out lunatic fast he just nodded his head in agreement. “Sure, Victor that would be great,” he said with a forced smile and Victor walked over putting his hand out. Caleb shook Victor’s hand, looking down at the tattoo. Victor smiled and turned his hand over so the full tattoo could be seen.

  “ I used to be in Russian military.” Victor said then turned and headed back to his car. “I promise your family will be safe, as will you,” he said without turning. Victor got into his car then honked his horn as the Camaro drove off down the driveway.

  Ever since Victor had driven off that day, Caleb had tried to put the conversation to the back of his head. After all it had probably just been due to Victor bring high on drugs, some of the stuff Nate had come out with while high on weed had been paranoid comedy gold. The one thing had nagged at the back of Caleb’s mind since that day was his curiosity of Victor's past, an ex-Russian military man now living in a farmhouse in Amboy Washington.

  Now here he was, four weeks later, standing outside again with Victor’s Camaro coming back down his driveway. Only this time Victor had company and most of what he had described about what was going on in the world was beginning to appear on the news. All the information he had seen on the news had all been saying the same thing, that there was civil unrest all over the world. Here in the US, violent acts against police officers had increased and caused nationwide protests that appeared to be getting out of hand. Then there was some super flu virus that was hitting everybody hard. Caleb had a feeling any questions he had about Victor’s stories last time he visited were about to be answered as he didn’t have a very good feeling in his stomach.

  Jake

  “Okay! Attention everyone” Sandra got everyone’s attention for the meeting to start, Jake looked around the room; there seemed more people missing than what Sandra had told him. He listened as Sandra gave her usual daily brief on lunch and dinner options for residents. She told them that there would be no patient therapy today which would definitely lighten the workload as not pulling people to take patients to and from therapy. This was probably so they could play catch up for an audit but then Sandra told them all that it was indefinite until further notice.

  Sandra covered who would be covering the missing staff’s duties then the dining room door opened, and everyone turned their attention to see the head of the facility Karen walk in.

  She was a small red headed woman who was never at meetings but always scrutinizing things around the facility. Karen stood beside Sandra and looked around the room.

  Karen was friendly enough if you did your job correctly but her being here meant something was wrong.

  Karan stood beside Sandra like two parents about to give their children some bad news

  “Good morning everyone,” she began “First off, I want to thank you all for coming in, both I and the residents appreciate it” Karen paused clearly, she was upset and struggling to find the words she wanted to say. “I have received emails over the past few days on certain new procedures we have to implement, I have asked for clarification on these procedures as I’m very confused. I’m addressing this today in a conference call with several of the regional team who oversee other facilities and clinics like this one.” Karen looked around the room

  “If any of you have friends or family at other facilities and heard of these procedures, I would appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself. We will have another meeting in here after lunch as I will have clarification on what we’re being asked to do”

  He could hear Benny beside him mutter “What the fuck is going on?” as the room was filled with a lot of puzzled faces.

  “See you all at one thirty, have a good day.” Karen finished and left the room.

  Sandra cleared her throat “As you probably all know by now, some of our residents passed last night. These were Mr. Glisan, Mrs. Walsh and Mr. Boyd, who a lot of you liked to call Frank”

  Mr. Glisan and Mrs. Walsh were no surprise to him as they had been very, very sick with the flu and usually when people their age get the flu or a virus that bad it’s hard to keep them hydrated but Frank… Frank was only sixty, he was in hall three with the other two because he liked to try and escape the facility in his wheelchair to try and “chase the ladies” as Frank called it.

  Frank was a flirty old man who had flown a plane most of his life until he crashed his motorcycle five years ago and lost a leg. Frank’s family dropped him off here but never collected him as they said they couldn’t give him the proper care at home.

  The usual cop out families used when they realized life was easier without the elderly members of the family to take care of. Sad sighs went up around the room as everyone loved Frank, Frank was the most popular resident that they all talked about, but the most surprising thing was that he hadn’t had the flu the night before in fact he remembered Frank had been just fine.

  Sandra continued “ Mr. Moore was thought to have passed but when EMTs arrived it appeared he wasn’t deceased despite the night staff in hall 3 stating they called 911 after finding him deceased and non-responsive after performing CPR unsuccessfully. This will be investigated and so I urge you all to be very accurate and diligent when checking vitals”

  Sandra was trying not to cry as she even had a soft spot for Frank. Blinking back the tears she continued “Unfortunately, however Mr.
Moore did attack one of the EMTs and his roommate, they were both taken to hospital where Frank... Mr. Boyd later died due to his injuries.” The tears could be seen on Sandra’s face, she stopped to wipe her eyes and the sadness could be felt around the room.

  This answered the question as to how Frank had died. Sandra breathed in and started again “Mr. Moore was taken to the hospital also, so please if you’re in hall 3 don’t talk about this near any of the residents,” she closed the meeting with a thank you again and telling them all to be back at one thirty for the afternoon meeting with Karen. There was no mention of the state getting involved which was probably the only positive outcome of the morning meeting.

  Jake spent most of his morning going around the rooms , checking on the residents in halls 1 and 2 who were all either engrossed in daytime TV or shuffling around between rooms. to visit their friends. The news of what had happened the night before hadn’t reached them yet. That was good as these people were old and didn’t need to be reminded they were on the last part of their journey that was life. Jake finished up in hall 2 and then headed towards the two large doors to enter hall 3. When a resident died the air always felt weird to him in the room they had been in and he would be heading to Ms. Long’s room which was next door to Frank’s and Mr. Moore’s.

  He punched in the key code, changing the illuminated pad from red to green. Glancing through the windows to make sure the coast was clear, he pushed the door open. People like Frank and Mr. Jones were always trying to escape into hall two to get to “the ladies” which had always made him smile, as he hoped when he was older Emily and him would be just as frisky.

  The hall was empty like usual, unlike the rest of the facility where residents wheeled and buzzed around. This hall the residents mainly stayed in their rooms, so it was kept bare, a small dining room just for this hall’s residents sat at the far end of the hall with some tables so they could sometimes do activities and a wall mounted TV. He approached the nurse’s station at the foot of the long hallway and could see Travis sitting at the desk scribbling notes. Travis was hall three’s daytime doctor who was solely on this hall. This must have been especially hard on him as he spent all of his time here. Travis had no family outside of work so the residents in this hall were his family. Travis looked up as he approached and nodded with watery bloodshot eyes. Jake passed one of his charts across the station to Travis to look at and sign off on.