When The Dead Rise (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Fraser, D. K.

  Jake pushed through some people as he headed to the back of the store where sporting goods was. He noticed there were no employees, but there were pallets of merchandise strewn in the aisles like they were halfway through unloading when this mob of people hit. Jake got to sporting goods but just like the rest of the store, it was crammed with people. Apparently, a lot of people had the same idea. The shelves were starting to be picked clean as were the pallets and merchandise was lying all over the floor. He saw a crowd of people around the ammo case with an employee behind the counter selling the ammo. This was the only employee he’d seen; the poor kid was being heckled and bombarded with handfuls of cash. Jake bypassed the crowd heading into the camping and survival aisle. Jake had lay in bed most of the night thinking about stuff they’d need. Propane or other items for fire starting, things that could be used for purifying water as, even though the park had well water, right now he didn’t trust that. The aisle, like the rest, was packed with people. A big huge tank of a man who Jake recognized stood in the middle of the aisle looking at a shelf of thermos flasks. The man saw Jake then nodded in acknowledgement. Jake was always reminded of a giant Viking when he saw this guy around the trailer park. He was over seven feet tall with a bald head and huge long grey and black wizard biker type beard.

  Jake returned the nod as he headed for the propane which the man also had arm full of, he noticed. He wasn’t able to get a basket and the store was too hectic for him to have grabbed a cart. Jake grabbed a few in one hand then got the last couple of Lifestraws off a peg.

  Jake had read about them with some great reviews and looking at what was left those, and some purification tablets were his only option.

  There was a scream that grabbed his attention away from the camping water supplies. He looked at the end of the aisle where there was a flashlight display. It was a young Hispanic boy maybe around his boy’s age struggling with a large rich looking white guy in slacks. The guy had grey curly hair with a flushed red face. The guy obviously didn’t work here, and the boy was looking around. The boy seemed to be looking for help as the man tugged at the flashlight they were both holding. Jake rushed towards them, “Hey, let go!” he said.

  The flushed faced man just grunted pulling the flashlight out the boys hand with a fierce tug sending the boy tumbling to the ground.

  “You back the fuck up, mister!” the man snarled, pointing a finger at Jake. Jake looked at the man’s arm. There was bandaged showing under his shirt sleeve with blood spots seeping through.

  Jake helped the boy up and heard someone walking up behind him. Glancing over his shoulder it was the big guy from his park. The big guy stepped past Jake,

  “The fuck’s your problem dude!” the big guy said to the man, “He’s a kid,” The big guy continued looking down at the man who was still pointing at Jake.

  “I saw it first! He snatched it before I could get it,” the man whined.

  Looking at the display Jake could see there were no more flashlights. “Where’s your parents?” he asked the boy who was visibly shaking and seemed scared.

  The boy looked over towards the other side of the store, “My dad went to get water and told me I could get a toy, but I didn’t want a toy, I wanted a flashlight,” The boy said meekly. Jake nodded putting his hand on the kids shoulder as they backed away from the man.

  “Hey, kid!” the big guy shouted as they both began walking away, “here you go, better than anything here” The big guy threw the kid a small black flashlight, “it’s five thousand lumens, glass breaking rim and strobe, spot and wide beam settings,” The man told the boy seeming proud of the functions.

  The boy took it then looked up at the man, “Thank you, but don’t you need it?” the boy asked.

  The giant let out a deep laugh, “Nah, I got tons of them,” the man said.

  “Got some your kids can have too, always see them zipping around the park on their bikes. You guys might need them when the power goes out,” The giant said matter-of-factly.

  Jake smiled then before he could say they were interrupted by gunshots that rang out from the end of the aisle. Looking back, he saw the guy who the boy was struggling with was laying on the ground. There was a man standing pointing a gun at the body on the ground.

  “He was infected!” The man said popping off three more shots.

  The shots started off a chain reaction as the whole store went crazy. People began scrambling towards the front of the store. Jake saw people tripping over each other and displays as more shots rang out, echoing through the store. Jake grabbed the back of the boy’s shirt as they started running for the exit. The big guy ran in front of them pushing a path through the sea of people.

  As they got to the front of the store the boy cried out, “Dad!” Breaking free from his grip the boy ran into the arms of a tall Hispanic man. Jake watched the man bend down to kiss the boy's head. “Are you okay?” the man asked the boy.

  The boy nodded, “A guy took my light from me,” the boy told the man who was glaring at Jake but the boy continued, “He pushed me down then these guys helped me and gave me a flashlight…it’s a tactical one,” he said, proud of his new toy. The man smiled, nodding at Jake in thanks.

  The boy waved as the two walked towards the exit of the store with a basket full of food.

  There was still a lot of screaming and shouting as Jake could still see people grabbing things from shelves but no more shots.

  Jake saw Alice smiling, pushing a cart towards them as they stood near the exit. Benny was with her. “Guess everyone panicked. Found ourselves a cart,” Alice said with squinting eyes. Jake realized she was staring at the big guy beside him.

  “Hi, I’m Charlie” the giant said, putting out a huge hand which Alice shook.

  “Alice,” Alice replied.

  Jake could see Charlie eyeballing Alice’s belt.

  “Your boyfriend a cop?” Charlie asked.

  “No, I am! Is yours?” Alice replied back nodding towards Charlie’s waist. Jake looked but didn’t see anything then noticed the bulge near Charlie’s crotch.

  “Laundry day, these pants are too small… it’s a python” Charlie replied.

  “Course it is!” Benny chuckled chiming in.

  Shots rang out from somewhere in the back of the store, “Let’s get the fuck out of here!” Alice said getting no objection from anyone.

  As they walked out of the store there were guys with guns circled around the exit. They were wearing camo and tac vests.

  “Billy!” Charlie shouted waving at one of the guys in camo. A guy with a bucket hat and shades stepped forward smiling.

  “Local militia…Bunch of yahoos,” Charlie whispered as Billy waved a hand signaling the other men to lower their weapons.

  Billy nodded behind them at the store. “ The fucks going on in there? You boys code four? Heard some shots,” Billy barked with a mouthful of chew.

  Charlie nodded “Yeah, guy went off the deep end, think he was infected,” Charlie said.

  “Really?” Billy asked, taking the shades off then spitting the chew out.

  Billy whistled then pointed into the store, four more guys in camo came forward. Billy patted Charlie on the shoulder, “Shit’s hit the fan big guy…Not for everyone, so stay frosty!” Billy said then headed into the store with the other four men.

  The group walked unimpeded past the rest of the men with guns. “Jesus Christ,” Alice muttered.

  “You don’t feel safe with the likes of Bad Ass Billy protecting us, Mrs. Officer?” Charlie joked.

  “Oh man, I love this guy!” Benny said laughing.

  Jake couldn’t help but smile at the attitudes of his friends and neighbor.

  He saw Charlie looking at him, “Things are going to get a lot worse, you better get ready, that family of yours, too! Cause shits about to get real and Billy over there and his piss patrol will do more harm than good,” Charlie said stopping at a huge Ram truck throwing his items in the trailer bed.

  “Yeah, we
’ve seen some scary shit and know there’s no government help coming” Jake said, looking over at Benny.

  Charlie nodded, “Good you know that, the governments a joke, this FEMA and this Red Cross bullshit is a joke, Billy and his crew have the right idea to stick together, it might be awhile before the government gets round to sorting shit out so until that happens people are definitely better sticking together,” Charlie said climbing into the truck.

  Jake nodded then gave the gentle giant a wave as the truck started up.

  Rob

  The dull pain throbbed in Rob’s back reminding him it hadn’t been a dream as he sat with his back against the wire fence of the sectioned-off area he was in. They’d been looked over when they arrived here the night before, both Brandi and he were given a sleeping bag, a bag of food, and told they were safe here until the situation was brought under control. That was the last time any military personnel had spoken to them. Brandi had gone off to talk to other people in the quarantine area to try to get more information on what was happening. Rob had tried to get some rest as they’d been kept up all night by gunfire and screams coming from outside the “safe zone” as they’d heard it being referred to by the soldiers on the way in.

  In reality, it was more like a fenced off compound about the size of two football fields. The area they were in was about half of the compound. It comprised of people who’d been rounded up and brought here. From what he’d heard, it was the same for most people. They were put into the back of a vehicle; told they were being taken to a joint FEMA/Military safe zone until the virus had been brought under control. As they entered, they were all given a brief exam then given a bag with toothpaste, toothbrush, cereal, milk and a protein bar. Rob had seen some people separated on the way in. Those people were taken to the quarantine tents which he summarized were for people who were infected.

  The compound was right beside the I-205 bridge from Vancouver to Portland. It was surrounded by an eight-foot fence. The bridge itself had barricades and a roadblock on both sides, he’d seen the bridge being blocked off when they arrived here. He rubbed his back as best he could, blaming the ground he’d chosen to sleep on. There were tents inside the area they were in, but he felt uneasy being enclosed in a tent after what he’d seen. He was starting to nod off when a boot dug into his side. Looking up it was a soldier.

  “You okay?” the soldier asked.

  Rob nodded, “Didn’t get much sleep,” he told the soldier.

  “Well get up and head over to the gate, they’re giving out lunch sacks,” The soldier told him then wandered over to another guy who was snoozing away.

  He got up to make his way over to the large gate where the lines were forming to get some lunch.

  “Rob!” Brandi shouted. Brandi was with two hillbilly looking guys who were giving him a weird vibe. “You make some friends?” He asked sarcastically.

  Brandi smiled, “This is Tommy, he went to my school,” Brandi said gesturing at one of the men with her. The guy was of small frame with square shaped forehead and curly red hair.

  “Nice to meet you,” Rob said politely.

  “Likewise,” Tommy said, “This is my cousin Gus, we were brought here this morning. Apparently for our safety until order’s restored and back to normal,” Tommy said.

  “Yeah, us, too” Rob replied.

  “Thing is, we don’t think it’s going to be brought under control. It's gotten crazy overnight and we were safer where we were at than in here.” Tommy said.

  Rob knew where this was going, he’d seen plenty of guys like Tommy. Instigators, troublemakers not content with the pace things were going.

  “Gus and me…we’re thinking of trying to get out. Tonight, or maybe tomorrow.” Tommy said.

  Rob knew instantly this was a bad idea, he’d seen the soldiers mow people down last night. They may have been infected or zombies he understood that. The distance they had been from some of those people, especially on the drive here, there is no way the soldiers could have known for sure.

  “You’re telling me why?” Rob asked. He wanted to make it completely clear he wanted nothing to do with it.

  “We could use some more muscle. You’re a big guy,” Gus said stepping in front of Tommy.

  Rob let out a snigger then looked at them both in the eyes. “There is no way in hell I’m going to do something stupid that could get me shot,” he told them smiling.

  Rob could tell this wasn’t going over too well as Tommy had clenched fists. Part of Rob’s job was to access people and how they were feeling to best deal with a situation. Right now, he could tell Tommy didn’t like his position on an escape attempt.

  “No worries dude, just figured a guy like you didn’t want to be cooped up in here while family and friends are being taken advantage of,” Gus said, walking away.

  Tommy stood for a few moments still staring at him, “If you change your mind, let us know. Brandi knows what tent we’re in,” Tommy said dryly before following Gus.

  Brandi was looking at him, “You want to stay here? Really?” Brandi asked.

  “You think it’s any better out there right now?” He replied back. He knew these people were scared. He understood why but he also knew that for the US Army to be setting up FEMA shelters and shooting up hospitals then the situation outside of these camp walls must have been spiraling out of control. “It’s not, not if there’s places like this being set up on American soil,” he told her.

  Brandi nodded then forced a smile “I’m glad you're here with me,” Brandi said.

  “Me too, now let's go get some food,” he told her, putting his arm around her in reassurance.

  The line moved pretty fast for them to get some food which they took and sat down by the fence. Rob looked inside his brown paper bag at the squished, sweaty sandwich that was shrink wrapped and the badly bruised banana. Brandi made noise in disgust at the contents of her bag that made him laugh. “What!” Brandi asked.

  Rob shrugged his shoulders, “I figured you were high maintenance but didn’t figure you were this bad,” he told her unwrapping his sandwich slowly like it was a delicacy.

  He laughed again as Brandi squinted her eyes at how he was savoring the unwrapping of the sandwich. The moment was cut short by a woman screaming from the other side of the fence.

  “Please No! Nooo!” a woman yelled.

  Both of them were sitting with their backs against the fence and turned to see what was going on.

  The other side of the fence was the compound where the soldiers and FEMA wandered freely between tents. The lady who had been screaming was standing in front of two soldiers. Behind the soldiers Rob could see some FEMA people or doctors in white coats dragging a young girl away. The lady tried to run past the soldiers but one of them tackled the lady throwing her to the ground. Rob wasn’t the only one who noticed what was going on as people on his side of the fence lined it to watch what was unfolding. The other soldier must have noticed as he raised his rifle at the fence. “Like they’re going to topple this fence,” Brandi said quietly.

  The lady scrambled again to try and get past the soldiers to the child being dragged away but more soldiers appeared.

  There was another scream but not from the lady. This time it was a man that screamed then the child who had been dragged away came running around a tent corner back into view. The child had blood around her mouth and was growling, snapping her jaws. The soldiers seemed frozen in place as the lady pushed past them to the small child. As the lady got close to little girl Rob could hear her talking softly to the child. This was cut short when after a loud boom, the child's head erupted in an explosion of blood and brain matter. The lady seemed frozen in place with outstretched arms covered in blood. The little girl’s body slumped to the ground as cries went up from the people watching on their side of the fence. More soldiers were appearing with guns drawn walking towards the fence.

  “BACK AWAY FROM THE FENCE!” a voice boomed across a bull horn.

  The two soldiers
who had been involved in the altercation with the lady were ordered to drop their weapons. Rob stepped back away from the fence keeping Brandi close but also kept his eye on what was going on. The two soldiers along with two doctors who had been dragging the little girl were marched away towards a large white tent. The large white tent was where he’d noticed a lot of people being taken since they arrived. There was a sign outside marked “quarantine.”

  The lady was surrounded by soldiers as was the child's body and Rob couldn’t see what was going on. He felt sick to his stomach at what he’d just seen, and he could hear Brandi sniffing back tears.

  “C’mon let's go take a walk,” he told her, guiding her away from the fence and the horror that had just unfolded. As they began walking away the other people on his side of the fence didn’t seem to share his want to get away from the situation. The fence was clanging as people banged things against the steel, shouting and screaming in anger at the soldier on the other side.

  The tension was rising fast, so he hurried Brandi past some tents away from what was going on at the fence. The angry mob got a little quieter the further into the city of tents FEMA had erected on their side of the fence.

  Rob took Brandi into a tent, thinking they could find a quiet spot to gather their thoughts. That idea was short lived when gunfire started to fill the air. Brandi squeezed him tight as what sounded like rain on a roof magnified by a lot was a hail of gunfire.

  He didn’t want to think about what was going on at that fence line but knew he would have no choice once it crossed into their side of the fence.

  Over the echo of gunfire Rob heard scuffling coming from outside the tent. “Stay here!” he told Brandi sitting her down in a camp chair. Brandi shook her head terrified as tears streamed down her face. “You’ll be safe in here! I need to see what's going on,” he told her quietly with hands out for her to stay seated. “I’ll be right back, I promise,” he told her.

  Brandi nodded wiping tears away.

  Rob peered out the tent door to see a soldier lying on the ground between tents being kicked and stomped by a group of men. There were three of them and Rob didn’t need to think twice, he ran out and pushed them away from the soldier. The soldier rolled over and Rob could see it was the one who told him to get food earlier.