When The Dead Rise (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Fraser, D. K.

  Debbie's screaming was drowning everything out as Jake ran over to Ms. Long who was now falling out of bed and onto the floor on top of the EMT with blood starting to pool out around them both. She lifted her head snapping her jaws as Jake got closer. Looking at her he could see her eyes seemed empty and white, her face riddled with raised purple and blue veins, looking just like the ones that were on her wrist earlier. Ms. Long jumped toward him but he grabbed her wrists as she came flying forward. He knew this was insane as Ms. Long hadn’t been able to get out of her bed for the last few years let alone be this strong. They both slammed into the wooden drawers behind him with the weight of her body then they fell to the floor.

  Benny was above her pulling her off by the shoulders then wrapped an arm around her neck and pulling her up with a chokehold. Unfazed, Ms. Long she started thrashing then began trying to bite Benny. Benny lifted her clear off the ground “Ms. Long!” Benny exclaimed, “ what the fuck!” as she tried clawing at his arm that was trying to restrain her flailing limbs. Benny turned and threw her across the room sending her body slamming onto her bed. Ms. Long bounced off it against the wall then onto the floor. Benny put out his hand to help Jake up while Michelle had helped Debbie out the room. Jake nodded over to the EMT who was convulsing on the ground. The floor was covered in blood and as they knelt beside him, they heard a growl. They looked round to see Ms. Long clambering over the top of the bed on all fours.

  “Shit!” Benny muttered quietly. They both grabbed an arm of the EMT pulling him up as they dragged him towards the door, Ms. Long jumped from the bed towards them, dragging one of her legs that seem contorted and twisted at an awkward ankle. Jake didn’t have time to look at it too closely though as they slammed the door behind them leaving Ms. Long who was inside growling and pounding on the other side of the door. As they fell to the ground against the wall on the other side of the hall from Ms. Long’s room, they turned to see Michelle walking down the hall with Debbie screaming still holding her wrist.

  “Help!” Michelle was screaming to anyone who could hear her.

  “Let's go!” Benny said as they began to stand up pulling the EMT’s arms around them and began walking him down the hall towards the nurses’ station, where Michelle had sat Debbie in a chair nearby with her phone in her hand and was trying to tell someone what had happened but kept stuttering not being able to get it out clearly.

  “Hey!” Jake shouted to the door of room three where everyone else had gone but the door was closed and there was no response. Benny looked at him and lowered the now unconscious EMT down in a chair beside Debbie. They both walked over to the door to room three and Benny pushed the door open and despite what they had just seen they were definitely not prepared for the scene inside.

  “Holy shit!” Benny exclaimed as they saw Travis laying on the ground with one of the rooms occupants, Mr. Kraft on top of him eating his neck and face while the other EMT was laying on the ground staring at the door. Blood was all around him as he lay lifeless on the floor with teeth exposed from missing most of his lips. Another of the rooms residents, Mr. Webster, was throwing himself against the window and pounding his bloody hands against the thick plexiglass.

  Mr. Webster, hearing the door creak, turned around from the window with the same milky white eyes and veiny face Ms. Long had. He moved towards them snapping his jaws which were covered in blood and was making a gurgling groaning sound.

  Mr. Kraft looked up from eating Travis, growling, then started to crawl towards them. The EMT on the ground began convulsing and thrashing around. Jake backed out of the doorway with Benny behind him as they slammed this room door closed, too.

  Michelle was helping Debbie towards the exit doors of the hall when keypad beeps from someone entering the code in from the other side. Mr. Jones who was sat in his chair in the hallway had seen what had happened in room three and was looking at them.

  “We need to get the fuck outta here, boys!!!” Mr. Jones exclaimed to them both. Benny looked at Mr. Jones and nodded. The doors opened and two nurses came in and began helping Debbie and Michelle out.

  “We called 911 but no one’s picking up!” one of the nurses told them. They all turned as they heard a clunking coming from another room then from the open doorway to that room, they could see someone slowly shambling towards the door. It was Mr. Birch; he was naked under his gown. There were brown streaks down his legs, and he twitched and shuddered as he came out of the room and turned towards them. His skin was a greyish tone with milky eyes wide open like the others had been. The clanging was his IV bag on the wheeled rack dragging behind him, he had the oxygen tubes still in his nose with dried blood all around the nostril connectors.

  Benny put his hands out and began walking towards him “Mr. Birch” Benny tried to whisper but he just kept staggering towards Benny looking like a blind man gazing into the air for the sound of Benny’s voice and as Mr. Birch shambled passed room six, David came out.

  “Foo-” David began to say but was cut off as Mr. Birch flashed his teeth then lunged at David sinking them into David’s neck and shoulders, sending them both toppling to the ground.

  A shriek came from one of the nurses who was helping Michelle,

  “Go! Go! Go!” Jake shouted as he waved the group back towards the doors as a police officer pushed in past the nurses and drew his gun. They looked on in horror as the officer fired three rounds into Mr. Birch who just shuddered as each shot hit him sending him rolling across the ground.

  “What the fuck?!” Jake shouted out loud. Mr. Jones wheeled his chair towards Mr. Birch

  “ You mother fucker!” he screamed as he rolled towards the man covered in blood from eating Mr. Jones roommate David. The IV rack clanged to the ground as Mr. Birch writhed around now tangled in oxygen hoses. The milky white eyes were locked on Mr. Jones who was wheeling up beside the ghoulish frame on the ground. Mr. Birch grabbed Mr. Jones’ legs, pulling him from his wheelchair and onto the ground. Mr. Jones fought and cursed as he tumbled out his chair.

  The officer ran over to the two on the ground then turned to the group gathered at the doors

  “Get out! Now!” he ordered them as they all backed up through the double doors closing them after they were out. Jake stopped once the doors closed and turned as more shots rang from the other side of the doors. He looked through the glass panels and saw Mr. Jones’ chair sideways on the ground and a wheel spinning. Then the view was obstructed as blood spattered across the glass panes then the shots stopped. It went quiet on the other side of the doors and

  he wasn’t sure how long he had been standing there as everything sounded like his head was underwater. He was snapped back to reality when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder pulling him towards the dining hall. Then more chaos hit him as he could see residents being herded into their rooms by men in white jumpsuits with FEMA armbands on. Three of the men came over and began pulling their collars down checking their necks and wrists.

  “Any of you injured?” asked one of these men standing in front of him, an older man with grey curly hair and glasses. The two men behind him just stared at the group, examining them up and down with their eyes

  “No!” Benny said aggressively looking at the man with grey hair and glasses who was doing the talking

  “What's going on? “ Benny asked the man “You guys need to get in there! They need help!”

  The older man in charge stepped past them and stared at the blood on the window panes. He shook his head “No, there’s nothing we can do for anyone in there,” the man said coldly then turned around to them and gestured towards the dining hall “I’m going to have to ask all of the staff to head in there,” he said, pointing them into the dining hall.

  Still in shock, the group did what was asked but Debbie was taken off down hall 2 by one of the people in a jumpsuit. Jake walked slowly into the dining hall with Michelle and Benny behind him and the rest of the staff were already in there minus Karen.

  The man who appeared to be in charg
e looked around the room then raised his hands.

  “I apologize for the rash entry and change of plans, but the virus is escalating more quickly than had been predicted and until we’re sure you’re all completely clear of symptoms we’re going to keep you all isolated here while we conduct our tests.” The man said this, and objections went up around the room.

  The man raised his hands higher as if that was going to calm the room “I understand how you feel and the urgency to get back to your families, but this is safer for them! You were all given the chance to leave, right?” he looked around the room then continued. “If you leave now without knowing if you’re infected you could risk the chance of infecting loved ones and the way things are going, they’ll probably be headed to one of our camps anyway”

  The staff was still objecting, and Jake could feel the tension rising in the room, a scream came from behind a FEMA man standing at the entrance to hall 2. They all looked as Mrs. Schaeffer, one of the residents ran into the dining hall with blood on her shirt. Out of breath she pointed out into the hall where banging and crashing could be heard. Two more FEMA entered the room walking over to Mrs. Schaffer. They pulled her collar down looking at her neck then they pulled the dining room’s large double doors closed. The man in charge pulled a radio from his pocket.

  “Simon? What’s going on” he asked into the radio as it crackled then a voice answered back. “We’re getting it under control now, sir, the guards are on their way in”

  The man in charge nodded then the radio crackled again “The nurse from hall 3 was put in a room and the occupant of the room was in the final stage then turned, we have it contained now.” the voice said but chaos could be heard in the background and from behind the double doors.

  Benny looked at him “Contained? Turned? I call bullshit,” Benny said then nodded towards the fire exit. Michelle caught onto the nod and ran for it.

  “Wait!” Jake shouted knowing they should wait for the right moment, but she pushed the double emergency doors open setting off the fire alarm.

  “Shit! Go now!” he shouted to the room and all at once they rushed to the door spilling out into the car park.

  Caleb

  Caleb was putting his pistol in the glove box when the trio of boys came rambling out the house. “You boys all set?” he asked. The three boys all nodded wearily. “We’ll drop Tim off on the way to town, Mark you can head home soon as we get there,” he told them. They all clambered into his Jeep. He turned the key and the Jeep growled to life. He looked up at the balcony to see Janice leaning over looking at them. He gave her a wave then pulled out from the front of the house. As he drove down the long driveway, he couldn’t help but think what if what Victor had said was true. What if it was as bad as he said? The fact he’d given them free ammo and a semi-automatic machine gun said a lot.

  They drove along the dusty road leading from his farm to the main road. As they passed Victor’s place, he squinted through the trees to get a look into the Russian’s property. He could see Victor’s big three-story house pretty clear with men bustling about. The men seemed to be unloading boxes from some vans parked. There were also several cars parked out on the grass along with two large RVs. Victor’s place was packed, that’s for sure, he thought to himself. Then looking at the roof of one of the RVs he could see a man standing with a rifle. The man looked at them turning his head in sync with them as they passed. “Creepy,” Nate commented.

  At least he knew the road to his farm was being defended and monitored he thought to himself. Turning onto the main road they would hit a gas station before getting into town. This is where they would drop Tim off and he could ask one of the guys who worked there if they knew of anything going down before heading into town. Mark muttered from the back seat then when he looked at him in the rear-view Marcus held up his phone. “I’m still not getting any service,” Mark said, annoyed.

  His girls had been complaining about spotty service all morning, too. Right before Victor showed up, they had lost their cable and internet connection.

  As they neared the gas station there was a bunch of cars at the pumps and he could see it was pretty busy inside.

  “Man, it’s packed,” Nate commented.

  He pulled over just outside of the gas station forecourt to avoid the congestion at the pumps and they all got out. “I’ll see you guys later,” Tim said with a wave as he took off. The boy only lived a block away from the gas station. Walking onto the forecourt he could see all six pumps were being used with a couple of cars waiting, too. This gas station was right off the freeway, but he’d never seen it this busy on a weekday. He noticed an orange truck parked at one of the pumps, it was an older Ford flatbed that belonged to Bill Chalmers.

  They entered the gas station and saw the line at the cash register that was being staffed by one guy. The news was on a TV behind the counter. Looking at it, he could tell there was definitely something big going on. There was a red banner along the bottom that said “News Flash” then directions scrolled along the bottom detailing symptoms.

  One of the employees who Caleb recognized came out of the back room carrying a case of water. “Hey, Josh!” Caleb said waving to the boy. The boy nodded as he headed towards the cash register counter. “What’s up, bro?” Nate asked the boy.

  The boy set the case down on the counter for the man at the front of the line then turned towards them. Josh walked over wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Man, this fucking virus has people spooked! They think they’re going to declare a national emergency and that’ll mean martial law,” the boy blurted out to Nate.

  “We’re running out of everything and more and more people are coming in from the freeway bulk buying up all our stock wiping us out,” Josh said, out of breath.

  Caleb looked around the store for Bill, he knew Bill lived with his wife who wasn’t doing too good.

  “So, what’s the deal, bro, what are they saying’s going on?” Nate asked Josh.

  Josh looked around then leaned in towards Nate. “A sheriff came by early this morning,” Josh started to tell them in a low whisper, “said they were being ordered to block the freeway entrance and exits while more had to go to the high school to help set up a shelter,” Josh’s pupils were huge and the boy stunk of weed. This whole situation was definitely weird and getting weirder, he realized.

  “They said this virus was released by the Koreans and was engineered to turn us into rabies infected zombies,” Josh said. The boy’s imagination was clearly on a drug infused rollercoaster Caleb thought to himself.

  “Hey, you guys only got one register open?” A man near the front of the line complained, glaring at Josh. Josh puffed his chest out but before he could say anything the static of the gas station’s speaker came to life. The cashier was looking out into the forecourt and leaning into the microphone.

  “Mr. Chalmers,” the attendant said into the intercom “Mr. Chalmers, you okay? Do you need someone to come help you pump your gas?” the boy at the register asked into the microphone.

  Caleb walked over to the window and looked out at Bill’s truck but didn’t see anything.

  “Hey, Josh!” The cashier shouted “Go check see if the old guy’s okay, would you? His gas is paid for but not pumped yet.”

  Josh nodded then headed out the door onto the fore court.

  He could see Josh walking over to Bill’s truck but there was no sign of Bill. Then his attention was grabbed by a woman screaming. It was a high-pitched shriek that cut through the chatter and talking of the other patrons inside the gas station. He looked over to a lady who was standing outside the bathroom door with her hands over her mouth. The lady was staring down at the bottom of the door. He moved closer to see what she was staring at as did a few of the other customers. The cashier pushed through to the front and the boys jaw dropped. Caleb was taken aback when he saw what they were now all staring at. A pool of blood was coming from under the bathroom door. The lady had her hands covering her mouth and was starting to ge
t hysterical.

  “Lady!“ a man in a trucker hat and red flannel said stepping up to her. The man grabbed her by the shoulders “Calm down! Do you know who’s in there?” the trucker asked.

  The lady was shaking and nodded nervously “My… my son and his cousin” she said.

  Caleb watched the cashier fiddling with a set of keys trying to find the right one. The boy’s hand was shaking as he put them into the handle to unlock the door. When the door clicked signaling it was unlocked, he could hear everyone holding their breaths. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife as the door opened. Gasps went up from the group gathered around the restroom door. On the ground was a teenage boy laying against the wall with a younger boy sat on the lifeless boy’s chest. The younger boys face was buried in the older boys shoulder with blood pouring out. The boy was making snarling noises like a rabid animal feeding. The young boy stopped then looked up at the onlookers flashing his blood-stained teeth. The boy then pounced for the person closest which just happened to be the child's mom. She fell to the ground with a shriek and the little demon climbed on top of her. The boy began tearing shreds of flesh from her forearms with his teeth as she tried to defend herself. The guy in the trucker hat tried to pull the boy off. Caleb knew this situation was not going to end well. The kid was fast and turned, biting the man's hand then growled, turning back to his mother.

  “Oh shit,” Caleb heard Nate muttered.

  “This must be the virus the news is talking about?” he said.

  Then he looked down to see the boy who had been lying on the ground lifeless as his eyes flashed open.