When The Dead Rise (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Fraser, D. K.

  “So, this shutting down of transportation is basically a quarantine? Why now if this has been happening for weeks?” Mason asked.

  Dimitri nodded, “Belarus, Russia, and most of eastern Europe has been doing pretty well isolating and keeping the infection from spreading, implementing methods that have worked successfully in other countries at slowing down the spread of the virus. Only in the last twenty-four hours since it erupted in America has the world gone into panic mode shutting down transportation and completely closing off borders,” Dimitri finished.

  “You said successfully? Are there countries that have been unsuccessful?” Alex asked.

  Dimitri nodded somberly “There have been a lot but the virus itself is one thing, the things people are doing to each other and what's coming afterwards is much worse,” Dimitri said as the Jeep slowed to a halt.

  Nick

  They train been traveling for what seemed like hours, but Nick knew by the scenery that they weren’t too far outside of Seattle. The current state of events and failure to control what was going on wasn’t confined to just Seattle. Nick had seen dozens of plumes of smoke and fires from the train window as it raced along the tracks. Sitting back in his chair closing his eyes closed, Nick thought over scenario after scenario in his head. Each scenario he ran though came with it dozens of questions.

  Mainly, how he could find out what caused this? How contagious was it? How was the government handling it? And how long before it was under control? Everything had happened so fast in the last twenty-four hours. Had the lack of sleep and nerves about the meeting made Nick overreact in his decisions? Then he thought about the homeless man getting shot, the guy in the room next door, and the military's presence. No, the danger and severity of the situation was very much real.

  Nick knew he had to remain as calm and as level headed as he could. He’d prepped for something like this. In fact, this is why most people like him prepped! To be prepared for when something happens to cause shit to hit the fan. From what Nick had witnessed and seen on the news it was definitely hitting the fan hard. He knew his main priority was his wife and daughter. He knew that in survival situations every decision was a big one. Lives could be changed, lost or saved in the blink of an eye. He’d remembered reading that somewhere as he slipped off to sleep.

  When Nick woke up the train was at a full stop on the tracks. He wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep but stretched out his arms, looking around. The youngish old lady was sitting knitting away while the boy was next to him was tapping away on some handheld video game. The blonde girl wasn’t in her seat, though. The lady tilted her head down peering at him over the top of her glasses. “Enjoy your nap?” The lady said with a chuckle,

  “Yeah, I didn’t sleep that great last night,” he said still stretching.

  Nick was unsure why this lady seemed so normal and seemingly oblivious to the events unfolding. “How long was I asleep? We’ve stopped,” he said looking out the window trying to pinpoint where they were. Looking at scenery outside all Nick could see was just trees and grass. The lady put her needles down and looked out the window. “Oh, I’m not too sure,” she said with a puzzled look. “We’ve stopped and started up again a few times, not going very far,” the lady said. “My name's Agnes,” the lady said, reaching out her hand.

  “That’s Michael, my little brother and my sister Heidi is at the food car,” Agnes said.

  “Nick!” He said shaking her hand and was taken off guard by this lady telling him they were brothers and sisters. This lady dressed and the knitting had made Nick assume Agnes was the Mom or Aunty. As Nick went to shake her hand the girl jumped in front of them both and into her seat. The girl was laughing with a drink in her hand, “Yeah, she’s our sister but dresses like our grandma and acts it, too,” the girl said.

  Nick wanted to smile as the girl was just saying what he was thinking. He didn’t want to offend Agnes, though, who was clearly getting agitated glaring at the younger sister.

  “Could I have a drink of your coffee?” Agnes asked.

  The young girl smiled back, “Of course, but it’s not coffee, they guy said they didn’t have time to stock up at the station, so I got soda,” Heidi said handing the older sister the cup.

  “That to wash some xannies down, sis? Take the edge off having to deal with your rebellious siblings?” Heidi said laughing handing over the soda.

  Sure enough, Agnes swallowed some pills before taking a drink and handing it back.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact I do need medicine to help me cope with the stress you put on this family, sending you and your brother to that camp was supposed to bring you closer to our Lord and your family” Agnes said, glaring at Heidi. The younger sister just rolled her eyes, crossed her legs, and turned looking out the window.

  “Do you have any kids, Nick?” Agnes asked him. He noticed Heidi glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. “Yeah I have a little girl, her name’s Amber,” he said, smiling. Before they could say any more about his baby girl, a member of the train staff came into the carriage. The man’s badge said conductor.

  “Attention, please!” The conductor said loudly, getting the car’s attention.

  “We apologize for the delay but for some reason we’re having problems contacting the next station and without communication on the signals we have to remain here, sorry for any inconvenience we will keep you posted,” the conductor said.

  The conductor continued walking through to the next carriage ignoring questions passengers were trying to ask. Nick couldn’t help noticing how badly the conductor was sweating. Not only that but why did he come through the cars instead of using the intercom. Nick got out of his seat; he knew he had to find out what was going on. Every second that they were stopped was more time away from his wife and daughter. More time that the situation was probably getting worse, judging by FEMA and the government's track record.

  As he entered the next carriage, he could hear loud, harsh coughing. It was an elderly man sitting in the first row of seats having a coughing fit. There was an elderly woman beside the man trying to give him water. The crowd in this car were shouting questions at the conductor. They weren’t taking it as nicely as car six that Nick was in. The conductor had his hands up as question after question was hurled at him. Nick walked down the aisle towards the conductor but just squeezed past heading to the area between cars where he waited.

  Not wanting to join in with flurry of questions the guy was being bombarded with, Nick wanted to get him one on one. He knew he would get better answers directly and not in a carriage full of sweaty, pissed off passengers. As the conductor got to the doorway leading into the area where Nick, was a lady stopped the conductor. Nick heard the lady ask why her sister couldn’t get on the train and why they had left. The conductor ignored the lady and continued into the area where Nick was waiting.

  As the door slid shut with a hiss and the conductor walked towards him Nick moved to block the narrow walkway.

  “Hey” Nick said as the conductor stopped in front of him. “I’m not an idiot! I would like some answers,” he told the conductor.

  “What?” the conductor asked, shrugging his shoulders.

  “Why are we stopped? Why’s it so hot in here and why didn’t you use the intercom?” Nick hadn’t noticed until now, but it was extremely hot. The conductor looked at the ground then at Nick with a confused look on his face. “We have no power, it keeps going out, we drive a bit then have to stop to let it recharge,” the conductor said then looked up above them. “A/C uses a lot and the intercom works when it wants to,” the conductor finished.

  Nick nodded, satisfied with the answers even though they weren’t the answers to the questions he was looking for. He started to move out the conductors way then stopped asking, “That lady said her sister didn’t get on the train?”

  The conductor turned and looked at the lady through the glass door. The lady was sitting with her face on her hand, looking out the window. Nick leaned in clos
e to the conductor so he could talk quietly. “This train was cancelled, too, wasn’t it? I heard the shots and saw the army arrive just as we were leaving,” Nick whispered. Nick stepped passed the conductor and as he did, said, “You're going to want to start being honest and giving these people some answers before they start demanding answers,” as Nick finished, the door opened to the carriage and the train shuddered and started to move again.

  As Nick made his way back to his car, he could see the lady who was helping the man with the ghastly cough before. The lady looked worried and was standing at the end of the carriage outside the restroom door. As he got closer, Nick could hear her talking to the door. Nick looked down and the seats where the coughing man had been. The man’s seat was empty, so he must be who was in the restroom Nick thought. As Nick got closer the lady started knocking on the door. “Alan? Alan! Are you okay? I still can’t find your inhaler, dear!” the lady exclaimed.

  Nick had to squeeze past the lady to get into the carriage his seat was in. As he walked towards his seat, Heidi got up and headed back the way Nick had just come. As he past her the girl flashed him a smile. Nick sat down then Agnes smiled at him, “On the move again,” Agnes said. Nick smiled looking out the window, the Xanax had obviously kicked in, he thought.

  Just as Nick sat down laying his head on the headrest there was a scream!

  Nick looked down the aisle to see Heidi screaming! The old lady was in the doorway to the restroom wrestling with the old, coughing guy. Nick could see from his seat the man's eyes were all milky white and his face was red with dark veins throbbing. A man got up from his seat and pulled the old lady out of the restroom doorway away from the elderly man. The elderly man came out of the restroom swinging his arms at the old lady. The man who had saved the old lady threw a punch, sending the old man back. The old man then fell into Heidi who started screaming again. Somehow this set off the old man who turned, trying to grab and bite Heidi!

  The old lady that was with the man initially stumbled up the aisle past Nick’s seat. The lady was holding her face with blood coming through her fingers. The man who had punched the crazy guy grabbed the old man's jacket from the back. The guy swung the old man away from Heidi and back into the bathroom. “What the fuck, dude?!” The man yelled.

  The elderly man didn’t seem to hear, or care instead just pounced forwards. The man put his arm up to defend himself, but the old man sank his teeth into the guys arm!

  The guy let out a grunt then slammed the arm with old guy still attached into the wall. The old man was still biting down trying to scratch and claw! The guy slammed the old man again and again into the wall but still the old guy wouldn’t let up. Blood was running from the man's arm over the old guy’s face and dripping onto the ground. Heidi was screaming and began hitting the old guy to try make him let go. Nothing was helping and people were out of their seats either screaming or watching in shock. Nick knew something had to be done fast! Getting out of his seat, he took one of Agnes’ knitting needles from her hand. Nick stormed at a fast paced to the end of the car where he slammed the needle into the old man's head! The old guy let the man's arm go then turned towards Nick with jaws snapping! Nick quickly pulled the needle out then swept the old man's arms aside, thrusting the needle deep into the old man's eye socket.

  The old man went limp then slumped down to the floor lifeless. The other guy was cradling his arm covering a huge gash. Nick just stood there not sure what had come over him then Heidi slammed herself against him, wrapping her arms around him, burying her head in his chest sobbing.

  Jake

  Jake stood in the kitchen in silence gazing out the window. It was still hot outside but there was no smoke in the sky anymore that he could see. He heard Emily walking up behind him,

  “I love you,” Emily said, resting her head on his back. “So, you want to leave?”

  “Yeah, I think we should,” he said nodding to himself. “Pete had the right idea, babe, I’ve seen what people are like out there, they’re scared, and this virus is seriously dangerous,” he said.

  They’d talked about it in bed while trying to get to sleep amongst all the sirens and booms going off. Emily had eventually taken some sleeping pills to help her get to sleep. Then Jake had spent a lot of the night staring at the ceiling wishing this was a bad dream. The boys had been awake most of the night, too. He’d heard them chattering in the other room about what was going outside all around them.

  Emily ducted under his arms to get between him and the kitchen window.

  “Okay, honey, whatever you say, but are you okay? You seem kind of distant,” Emily asked.

  He wanted to cry, he wanted to just wake up from this. He wasn’t sure why he felt this confused and conflicted. It was affecting him, and he knew it but couldn't figure out why. He did know if there was anyone, he could talk to it was his wife.

  “When I was at work…” he began, “I killed someone, it was Mr. Parsons...” he blurted out.

  Once he’d told her about Mr. Parsons the rest of the story came out no problem. The outbreak of the virus and everything that had happened in Hall 3, everyone turning into zombies, fighting with FEMA soldiers in the car park, Mr. Parsons trying to bite him as he was getting in the truck.

  He didn’t realize it at the time but there were tears rolling down his face. Emily kissed him on the lips and reassured him it was okay. That he did what he had to do to stay safe and get back to his family in one piece.

  “That's why I think we should leave,” he told her “I think we would be safer on our own with no one else,” he said.

  “Where would we go?” Emily asked and he could tell she was shocked with his idea.

  “I heard Alaska's nice,” he said with a lighthearted chuckle. “Seriously, though, it’s sparsely populated, huge area and the cold should be a good defense against a virus,” he said.

  Emily just nodded and he could tell his wife wasn’t into the idea of traveling across the country.

  He couldn’t blame her; all her family was here in Washington and who knows how bad it was out there.

  “We’ll think about it” Emily said.

  There was a knock on the front door and both boys came running through the trailer to answer it. “Uncle Benny!” both boys screamed excitedly. As Jake walked into the living room to greet his friend, he saw Marcus and Alice were with Benny.

  “Hey guys!” he greeted them then noticed the serious looks on Alice and Marcus’s faces. Benny herded the boys back towards the hallway and their bedroom with the promise of playing some Minecraft.

  Alice walked into the kitchen and began staring out the window much like he had been doing.

  “All that haze from the smoke…” Alice muttered as he walked over to the window.

  “Alice, are you okay?” Emily asked but Alice just stared out the window. Jake saw her eyes tearing up. Benny came into the kitchen and patted him on the back before taking a seat at the breakfast bar.

  “Shots?” Benny asked. Jake nodded and knew this meant things were about to get more serious, especially with Alice here. Alice was a cop and was usually always cheery around Marcus and Benny. Right now, however, Alice was just staring out the window dressed in jeans, a loose shirt, and her police belt with holster.

  Jake grabbed some vodka from the cupboard above the stove and some shot glasses. Marcus shook his head, but Jake poured them for Benny, Alice, and himself. They cheered and Jake looked at Benny as he took his shot.

  “Alice wants to go back to Victory to talk with the FEMA docs,” Benny said seriously picking up the vodka bottle and pouring everyone another round of shots. Jake couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  He shook his head “We both know that’s not going to happen, we barely made it out ourselves! That and they were blocking off all the entry and exits to Battleground” he told them.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Marcus blurted out.

  “I’m sorry...I...I…I just don’t see how you are standing here taking s
hots while outside the world is going to shit!” Marcus buried his head in his hands. Benny patted Marcus’s back while looking at Jake. Jake knew how Marcus was feeling, he’d felt this way too since yesterday.

  “We have to find out what’s going on,” Alice said waving her hand at the window.

  Jake turned on the TV to a red screen with “SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS” on the top of the screen. Below it was the A.D.D. acronym with the writing beside each big letter.

  A - Avoid contact with anyone other than emergency services, Law enforcement, FEMA or the Military Aid in your area.

  D- Denied entry to your place of residence or location from anyone other than the groups listed above.

  D- Defend your location and place of residence from anyone trying to gain entry other than the groups listed above.

  The screen switched to the list of updated FEMA camps with the one at the boys school near the top. “The boys school is five minutes down the road,” he said.

  “Soldiers told us on the way here that it had been redirected.” Benny said.

  “Yet, it’s still listed as a safe place to go?” Jake said puzzled.

  “Fuckers are lying! Just like everything else.” Alice said angrily.

  The news cut from the FEMA aid and shelter locations list to a news studio. Even though this was a local news station this wasn’t the Portland studio like it was normally. This was the same affiliate but not the local state channel advertised. Two broadcasters sat at a desk looking at the camera.

  “Again as has been reiterated earlier,” one of them began, an elderly plump man with a bald, shiny head and thick grey moustache, “Please do not travel, avoid all major routes and highways if you must travel, then avoid high traffic areas,” the man looked at the other anchor who looked at the papers on the desk. This guy was a lot thinner with long pointy nose and long black hair swept to the side.