Thick slimy drool ran down the ladies twisted torn open face as Nick slammed the knife into an eye socket. The jaws stopped snapping instantly as the ladies whole body went limp like the legs that had been dragging. Staring down at the body, Nick slipped back to his habit of making up back stories for people. This lady seemed really young, was in a nice dress, she may have been on her way to something important. Then was attacked by infected people or just simply in a bad accident then set upon by infected people. Nick was brought back to reality when his attention was brought back to the train passengers screaming. Passengers began to scatter as shapes of more people were rounding the corner of the tracks behind the train.
Mason
The girls were fast asleep in the back of the Jeep which was good as Dimitri had been explaining some of the videos, he’d seen in news broadcasts. Mason had no idea this had been going on for so long. “At first there was a curfew, which right now we’re past! Then there was martial law in the cities. No one was allowed on the streets unless with armed designated escorts. Then today…today was when there was collapse. This has taken time to hit us but had been happening in other countries much sooner. A few days ago, when the army presence increased, I sent my family home to our village just across the border. I’d hear the soldiers talking about places like Korea and China that had tried to curb the spread by isolating town centers. Removing nails and teeth. Most of this wasn’t on the news. I think for the same reason as I was ordered to stay, to not show weakness to the people. I think eventually this virus will destroy the countries from within. Now armies are bombing and attacking their own cities. That’s what I was watching on the news right before you got caught in that access hallway,” Dimitri said.
“So, any advice on what to do next?” Mason asked.
“We’re almost at the border, once there, my village is just down the road, you can drop me off and I can give you directions to where you want to go from there,” Dimitri said.
There was some stirring in the back seats, so Mason looked back to make sure everything was okay with the girls. Alex was sitting up awake looking out the window while still holding on to the children. “Where are we going?” Alex asked.
“Dimitri’s hometown across the border in Poland,” Mason told his wife.
Alex nodded then snuggled up tight with the girls keeping them warm. Mason could feel it was starting to get cold. The weather here was definitely unlike the heat wave they had just left back in the US. The road started to get a little rough as the Jeep was rocking with every bounce on the beat-up road. Both girls woke up with Abby screaming at the top of her lungs. In a small confined space like the Jeep the crying was almost unbearable. Sarah immediately started to comfort her baby sister. “It’s okay, baby Abby, Mommy’s here and Daddy, see!” Sarah said to Abby while patting the baby’s back.
This melted Mason’s heart, seeing his daughter being brave taking care of her baby sister. “Scenic route?” he asked Dimitri rhetorically. The road evened out again as Mason reached in the back to pick up the baby out of her car seat.
“C’mon, come to daddy, little lady,” Mason said in his best baby voice. Glancing at Alex he was surprised to see his wife asleep again. Feeling a little uneasy he felt his wife’s forehead which was clammy with sweat. “Dimitri, I have to change her diaper, you might want to hold your nose” He said to the driver smiling.
“No problem here, and we’ve arrived” Dimitri said motioning at a border crossing blockade that was dead ahead.
Mason nodded as the Jeep slowed in the middle of the road to a stop.
“Sarah, can you pass me the diaper bag, honey?” Mason asked his older daughter.
Sarah pulled the diaper satchel off the Jeep’s floor then passed it forward to him. Abby started to cry as Mason laid the baby in his lap then pulled the dirty diaper off. As he wiped then put a clean diaper back under the little girl, he heard Dimitri muttering something.
“What’s going on?” Mason asked attaching the Velcro on both sides of the diaper.
“There was something in the trees, probably attracted by the sound of the girl. A baby’s cry can mimic several different animals cries for help or mating or to anyone infected it’s just an attraction,” Dimitri explained.
Mason began patting Abby’s back as he lifted her up into the crevice of his neck to comfort the baby. He could see in the rear-view mirror Sarah was snuggled up with her mom.
“Dimitri this virus…what are the symptoms? How do you get it? And why did you say infected are attracted to noise?” He asked.
Dimitri reached back putting a hand on Alex’s temple. “Don’t worry your wife's not infected if that’s what you’re worried about,” Dimitri reassured him.
Mason didn’t want to say it out loud but since the airport his wife had barely spoken a word, was starting to develop a fever and seemed to have little or no energy. He’d assumed it was jet lag or shock from what had happened at the airport.
“The virus itself, many have speculated where it came from. The most popular theory as you know is that it’s an American designed super virus. The news said it’s contracted like an STD or via any kind of bodily fluids. The army was instructed not to touch or come into close contact with anyone infected. So, I’m not sure if that means it’s airborne or not but if your wife or any of your children were infected, they would be burning up with fever right now. Other symptoms reported are violent outbursts, skin breaking, and bleeding easily.” Dimitri said while constantly looking nervously outside of the Jeep.
Mason looked out surveying the border crossing which was locked down and seemed deserted. The four-lane roadway to let traffic through was closed with heavy barriers in place across each of the lanes. The toll booth looking things on each side also had shutters down.
“ How do we get through? Place looks empty” Mason said still rocking baby Abby against his chest.
“We have to get into one of those booths and open a gate manually, as far as I knew the border crossings were still to be manned. They must have had to close the borders if things got too bad,” Dimitri said.
“Yeah, too bad on which side of the border is what I’m worried about” Mason answered back.
“We should leave them in here and us both go out, make it fast” Dimitri said enthusiastically.
Mason nodded laying his daughter who was now asleep in the back seat beside Alex and Sarah. “Daddy, where are you going?” Sarah asked.
“Honey I need you to look after your sister and wake your mommy up if anything happens,” he told the bright-eyed girl.
“Happens? Like what, Daddy?” Sarah asked catching him out.
“Like if your sister wakes up, honey,” he hesitantly replied.
Sarah just nodded then buried her head into Alex again while putting an arm around Abby.
“You feel comfortable using this” Dimitri asked handing him a rifle.
Looking at it Dimitri must have sensed his concern. “If you have to,” Dimitri continued.
Mason took the AK sliding back the bolt then nodded. He understood what Dimitri was referring to. They were about to illegally cross a border and not just any border. This was a Russian military-controlled border crossing that had been locked down. Anyone else that was here probably wasn’t supposed to be since the military had bugged out.
“You know how to get one of those barriers open?” He asked Dimitri who nodded.
The four-lane border checkpoint was gated with each lane having individual barriers as well as steel gates on each lane. “We will head to the gatehouse at that end, check it’s clear then I’ll open one of the middle gates and barrier. You come back and drive through then wait on the other side for me. I will close the gate then come out the other side,” Dimitri said.
“Sounds good” Mason acknowledged.
Mason looked back at his family in the back seat all huddled together. He didn’t know how he would get them out of this or even home. All he knew was that he had to keep them safe and get the
m somewhere safe as quickly as he could. Mason opened his door feeling the chilly wind hit him as stepped out into the cold night. It had been hard to see through the Jeep’s grimy windows but on either side of the border checkpoint was a huge chain link fence. The fence was topped with razor wire that ran with the fence in both directions away from the gates. As he began to walk towards the checkpoint, he heard Dimitri close the Jeep door. On one side of the check point was a small gatehouse then a little further down the road there was a two-story building. The building had a sign outside that Mason couldn’t read. He assumed it was some kind of security or immigration building.
“The switch to open the gates in there, right?” Mason asked
“Yes, in the gatehouse for the steel gate, then in the booth for the barrier,” Dimitri replied.
As Mason cautiously walked towards the gatehouse, he suddenly froze in his tracks fixated by what he saw on the ground.
“Dimitri, I think I know which side of the border stuff went bad on,” he said looking at blood splattered all over the ground. He turned to see Dimitri kneeling down picking something up.
“Shell casings. Lots of them,” Dimitri said.
Before they could elaborate on what could have taken place the Jeep’s horn began to blast causing both of them to jump. Looking over, Mason could see Sarah leaning over into the front of the Jeep pounding the horn with her fist. Then he saw them, dozens of them coming out from the trees. It was too dark to make out details, but they weren’t moving very fast, two of them had already passed the Jeep which is what Sarah must have seen. As the horn kept going off the people that had come from the tree line in his direction had turned towards the Jeep.
“The horn! She’s attracting them to her!” Dimitri blurted out.
Masons heart froze for an instant then he realized he didn’t want it to break as he saw the look of fear on his little girl’s face. Leveling the rifle with the two things shuffling towards him he squeezed the trigger sending blood splattering into the cold night as bullets ripped through both of the bodies. Mason bit his lip and pulled the trigger again when he saw they didn’t fall.
“Dimitri, open that fucking gate!” He screamed, running towards the two people that had just sponged up the bullets.
“The head!” he heard Dimitri yell as he charged forward closing ground fast towards the Jeep. As he got close to the first shape, he swung the AK high like a bat catching the man on the chin. Mason heard a sickening crack as the man fell to the floor with a wet thump. The second man who was in a suit riddled with bullet holes lunged for him. Mason moved to the side avoiding contact with the man who let out a growl. Mason was focused on one thing and that was getting to the Jeep.
A few of these things were already at the Jeep so he aimed the rifle at the feet then let out barrage of bullets sweeping the rifle from left to right and back again. The group all crumpled to the ground then turned towards him. They began clawing their way towards him dragging themselves across the road. Mason had never seen anything like this before at all. He felt sick at the sight of the twisted, shattered, and burst open lower limbs. Raising the rifle to the closest crawler to him he pulled the trigger. A bullet pierced the forehead of the closest crawler sending it limp face down to the ground. They weren’t moving very fast on the ground, so he ran around to the driver side of the Jeep. Once inside Sarah wrapped her arms around him bawling with Alex in the back, holding the baby close. Looking past the girls out the back window, he could see even more of them coming out from the trees. Mason put his foot down as he drove the Jeep towards the gate. One of the middle gates was open but the barrier was still down.
“Daddy, go! Go! Please!” Sarah begged.
Looking out he couldn’t see any sign of Dimitri. He didn’t want to leave him, but those things were getting closer. “Alex put Abby down and come up front!” He said to his wife.
“Wh-why?” Alex asked anxiously.
“Look, pass Abby to Sarah and hop up front, I need to go open the barrier. Soon as I do that, floor it through, okay? I’ll meet you over there,” he told them.
“Daddy, no! Don’t go! Please stay!” Sarah said, crying hysterically.
Mason pulled her in close kissing her on the head and taking a big smell of his daughter’s hair.
“Daddy will be right back, honey, trust me I’m going nowhere, I promise,” he said before opening the door then jumping out. As he did Alex hopped up front while he watched as Sarah held Abby close while not taking her swollen eyes filled with tears off him. He’d never felt so powerless yet so responsible before.
He ran into the toll booth with the barrier of the lane the Jeep was sitting in. The door was already open with blood all over the ground. As he looked in at the desk where someone must usually sit, he could see some buttons. “Fuck,” Mason muttered to himself as all the button descriptions were in another language. He was about to start pushing every button when he heard something behind him right at his back. Mason whirled round with rifle up pointing directly at Dimitri who was standing with hands in the air. One of the hands had some keys dangling.
“They’re for the barrier,” Dimitri said as Mason moved out the way.
Mason moved back outside the booth and fired more shots at the oncoming group of people who seemed more like mindless zombies than people. It worked and the group turned from heading towards the Jeep to heading towards Dimitri and him. A buzzer went off as the barrier raised then the Jeep flew through the gate and across a bridge on the other side of the checkpoint gates. Mason hadn’t seen the bridge while the gate was closed.
“We gotta go!” Dimitri shouted as the buzzer went off again. The barrier came back down with a thud. The steel gate slammed shut stopping any of the infected people from following the Jeep. They instead turned their attention towards him then Dimitri pulled his arm towards the door leading out the other side of the checkpoint gateway onto the bridge.
Jake
As they drove towards the trailer park, Jake could see down the road to the apartments. The road was completely clear of cars, which was unusual. Jake could see the people at the apartments were pretty busy.
They were pushing cars out onto the road creating a makeshift barrier. The barrier blocked off the small two-lane road that connected the apartments, trailer park, and the big wide main road.
Pretty smart, Jake thought looking past the jerry-rigged blockade to the four-lane road leading to the freeway and downtown.
As they turned the corner into the trailer park, Jake could see the assistant manager was outside a trailer on a ladder. Ken had been the assistant manager since Jake had moved in here. Ken did more than the actual managers did which Jake respected. Both Ken’s trailer and the manager’s trailers sat at the entrance as you drove into the park. The only time Jake or Emily had seen the managers was when they were out around the park handing out notices. Ken was in his early sixties but a picture of health with short white hair and well-trimmed beard. Ken definitely didn’t look in the sixties, but Ken’s wife Marcy did. Marcy rarely left the house, spending a lot of time on the porch reading.
Pulling into the driveway both boys were working on their bikes. Emily was on the steps with Marcus standing beside her. This made Jake feel a little more normal than the trip to Wally World had made him feel. “How was it?” Emily asked walking towards them.
“It was fine, but we won’t be going back to Wal-Mart anytime soon so have to make what we have last” he said. Emily looked a little shocked, so he kept going “We met one of our neighbors, the big biker Viking guy who lives around the corner, his name's Charlie” he told Emily with a smile.
They said goodbye to Benny, Marcus, and Alice who said they would try to check in every couple of days. “Stay safe!” Jake said and Benny nodded.
“Honey, I think when they come to check in if things aren’t better then we should leave,” Jake said as they took the supplies into the house.
Emily didn’t say anything so Jake knew he would have to explain to
his wife his reasoning if it came down to it. He’d thought it over while coming back from Wal-Mart.
Jake thought about how many people were in this trailer park.
If someone here got infected then turned into one of those zombies, then the whole park could get infected in no time. This confirmed his idea he’d had to leave, to travel as far away as possible. He remembered in history class that they did a project on the black plague.
When it hit small towns, most successful people who survived had isolated themselves. They traveled out in the wilderness away from people. The hard part he remembered learning was they would kill anyone who came close. They couldn’t risk the chance of infection from outsiders. Jake knew that wasn’t something he could do. He also didn’t know much about this virus or how it was spread.
When The Dead Rise (Book 1): The Outbreak Page 22
