Autumn's Calling (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Michelle Weese

  “We don’t have time for that. She’s not going to give up until she gets to all of us. She’s injured Henry and will do the same to the police. Look at her. She’s dead already,” my voice rose as I became more frightened. Leland gave me a frightened look, then turned towards the undead woman. She groaned loudly and pulled herself up the steps slowly. I guess he finally understood what I was saying, because he planted his feet and poised the butt of the gun on his shoulder, sighting down the barrel. He squeezed the trigger and shot her in the upper chest. Viscera blew in bloody strings from her body.

  He lowered the gun and glanced at me, but my eyes were still fixed on the zombie. She still attempted climbing the stairs, just with a gaping hole in her chest now. I knew then I had to be right. We were witnessing the impossible. This thing was still “alive” and sighted in on us. She wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted.

  “The head. Shoot her in the head!” I screamed at Leland. So he raised the gun again, found his target and pulled the trigger again. The shot made my ears roar, but it did the job. The top of her head exploded into bits of brain and bone and rained all over the steps around her. She finally collapsed and didn’t move. We stood there holding our breath for a long moment to be sure. After seeing no movement at all, we exhaled and relaxed.

  “What the hell is that thing? I’ve never seen something so hard to kill in all my years,” Henry complained in a tense voice. He looked pale and stricken, sweat rolling down his face. Bea was still putting pressure on the wounded hand.

  “I know this sounds completely insane but I think it’s a zombie,” I explained, hoping they would take me seriously and not think I was out of my mind.

  “A zombie? But how can that be? I’ve never heard of such a thing outside of science fiction movies,” Bea exclaimed, staring at me with shock in her eyes.

  “I don’t know for sure, but it’s the only explanation I’ve been able to come up with. Nobody could withstand that many injuries, even on the strongest of drugs, and get up walking like that. She kept coming even after being shot in the chest for God sakes,” I shrieked at them.

  “Um, I think we need to get inside guys. It looks like she brought company with her and they must’ve heard the gunshots. Now they’re heading this way,” Leland said and pointed at the orchard, “And there are a lot of them from what I can see.”

  We looked out to see a horde of shambling bodies coming straight for us. At least twenty-five or thirty of them spilled out of the orchard. My heart started to race frantically and I grabbed Leland’s hand, heading for the door behind the lit archway which still twinkled like a Christmas tree. When we first stepped out here it felt like a fairy tale, it quickly became a horrible nightmare instead.

  We hurried inside, locking the doors and placing tables and chairs up against them. Their staff stood in the cafe with frightened looks on their faces. Bea introduced them as Rita the cook and Wanda the housekeeper, who also helped with the cooking. I found Daisy hiding in the corner of the indoor cafe, shaking and whining. I know it was the gunshots that scared her, otherwise she would never leave my side. In attempt to calm her, I ran my hand through her fur, and whispered softly to her that everything was okay. Even though everything was NOT okay. It was light years from being okay. But Daisy didn’t need to know that.

  Chapter 10

  Rita, Wanda, Leland and I darted around the entire place; locking windows and doors then placing chairs, tables, desks, whatever we could find to put against them. Bea took Henry to their large bedroom in the corner of the main floor. I found the first aid kit in a closet Bea told me to look in and started for their bedroom to tend to Henry’s wound. She managed to get him in their queen size canopy bed as I went to sit by him. He continued to look worse as time went by. His face paled as white as the sheets on the bed and he skin ran cold and clammy to the touch. I began pulling things from the first aid kit and found a thermometer to place under his tongue. The cloth napkin around his hand showed blood, so I removed it to look at the bite. It was red and angry with a greenish, yellow fluid seeping slowly along the blood. I poured alcohol onto a gauze pad from the kit and gently dabbed at his hand to clean it. He shrieked in pain and spit out the thermometer.

  “I’m so sorry, Henry, but I have to get it cleaned before I can rewrap it. Just please bear with me, I know it hurts,” I said to him in a calming voice. The thermometer revealed his temperature had skyrocketed to 104 degrees. “Oh my God. Bea, he’s burning up. Go get me some ice or cold packs if you have them, we have to get his temperature back down.”

  She rushed out the door, calling Leland to help her. Daisy strolled into the room, giving me worried eyes. I knew she wanted the comfort of being close to me, so I called her to sit on the floor by my feet. She leaned up against my leg and laid her head on my knee, rolling her eyes to Henry and whining. “It’s okay girl,” I said to her, “Henry will be okay, we just have to get him bandaged and cooled down so he can get some rest.”

  Henry groaned and winced every time I dabbed at the bite wound with the alcohol soaked gauze. I cleaned it the best I could, then smeared some ointment on it with a Q-tip and wrapped it in clean white gauze. Leland and Mrs. Bea bursted into the room with a bucket of ice and towels. Bea placed the only cold pack they had on Henry’s forehead as we filled the towels with ice and packed it around him. He shivered uncontrollably, his teeth chattering, while the fever tried to break.

  “My poor Henry,” Bea whispered softly as she sat down beside him holding his uninjured hand. She looked up at us, “I can’t believe this is happening. He hasn’t been injured since the war. Back then he helped all of the local families rebuild and managed to get himself hurt pretty bad. He was standing on one of those dangerous scaffolds trying to put siding on a damaged home. One of the workers accidentally knocked into it while trying to carry buckets of paint. The poorly built scaffold crumbled underneath him and he fell three stories and broke his arm, collar bone and gashed open his stomach. Still has the scars to prove it. He scared me out of my wits.” She patted his hand and gave Henry a sympathetic look.

  “Well, if he can pull through that many injuries, I’m sure he’ll be alright with just a measly little bite wound,” I assured her, glancing at Henry with a small smile. He still shivered and began sweating profusely at the same time. I felt such pity for him, I just wanted to give him a great big hug and tell him he would be just fine.

  “Yes, I know he will. He’s the strongest man I know,” Bea said proudly, like she considered herself lucky to call him her’s, and I’m sure she is. Henry seemed like a good man in the short time I’d known him, which was all of two hours now.

  “So tell me Bea, what did you used to do before the war pushed you guys this way?” I hoped to keep everyone calm with idle chit-chat, plus I really did want to know more about them. They were such sweet people and I’m sure they both have some great stories to tell.

  “Well, for the most part, I was just a housewife. But I taught knitting classes and volunteered at the local elementary school when need be. I lived an easy life thanks to my Henry, still do,” she said lovingly, rubbing his arm back and forth to comfort him. “He worked so hard to keep a roof over our heads and food on our table. He pulled every job he could find back then; construction, newspaper route, lawn maintenance. You name it, he probably did it. I wanted to get a job to help out but he always told me that it was his place to take care of me. So I made sure to always have a hot meal ready for him when he came home, he’s happy with just the small things in life. I couldn’t ask for a better man to spend it with.”

  I looked at her and envied the years she’s lived. No matter how hard things got for them, at the end of the day, their love for each other remained all they needed. One day I hoped to find that. I thought I had it with Luke, but that turned out to be just a pretty faced lie. My eyes landed on Leland. He sat in a bedside chair, mindlessly stroking Daisy’s fur while staring through the window at the shambling dead. I hadn’t even noticed
she left my side to go to him. A glimpse of jealousy nagged at me for a second then I swallowed it down. It made me happy that Daisy took to him as fast as she did.

  “Well, I have to say, I envy the love you two have for one another. I hope one day I’m as lucky to find my own true love,” I witnessed to Bea. Leland glanced my way and gave me those gorgeous eyes with a serious look in them. I returned it with my own steamy gaze and a smile.

  “No worries, dear. You are way too beautiful to not find a lovely gentleman to sweep you off your feet. Give it time, you’re still young,” she remarked, giving me a secret wink. I chuckled at her. It seemed my small talk finally calmed everyone’s nerves; even Henry seemed to be resting now. His breathing slowed to normal and he finally stopped shivering. I patted his arm and smiled at Bea.

  “See, I think Henry will be alright,” I told her in a soft voice, trying not to disturb him.

  “Yes, I think you might be right. But just in case, someone needs to call and get an ambulance out here so maybe we can get him to a hospital. I don’t want his hand becoming infected.”

  “I’ll go call right now, Bea. I just hope we don’t get anyone else hurt with those things out there,” I responded as I turned to motion out the window. A rush of fear came flowing back at the sight of the “things” outside. So many of them lurched around the edge of the house, hoping to find a way in to us. So far, none of them were smart enough to figure out how to get up steps, which luckily was the only way to get in here. I started for the door to go grab my cell phone and make the call, Daisy right beside me.

  “Wait up, Autumn. I’ll come with you,” Leland called after me. He fell in beside me as we worked our way through the house and up the stairs to my room. I grabbed my phone off the bed and dialed 911.

  “911, what’s your emergency?” a raspy man’s voice asked.

  “We need the police and an ambulance. We are at the Old Colonial Inn on Route 45 in Springsville. A man has been injured and we are being attacked by a large group of… people.” I couldn’t tell the operator that there were zombies walking around outside or he would just laugh and hang up, thinking it was a prank call. “Please send someone as fast as you can, we need help,” I squalled at him, my pulse starting to speed up at the thought of all of them waiting outside.

  “Okay, Miss, calm down. I’m sending out the call now to the local police in your area. They should be there within the hour since you are a little ways out from the main highway. Just please be patient and sit tight. Be sure to stay inside,” the operator told me in a calm, practiced voice.

  “Alright, tell the police there are at least thirty people outside trying to get in here. We think they are on drugs or something because they keep trying to bite us and succeeded with one of the Inn’s owners. So they need to bring as much backup they can get,” I said frantically, beginning to get worked up again. Taking a deep breath, I calmed my nerves so I could continue to help out with Henry until the ambulance got here.

  “Okay. I’ll be sure to forward all information to the police. Just please stay calm and keep the doors locked until they arrive. Do you need me to stay on the phone with you until they do so?” he asked me, part of the protocol with 911 operators.

  “No, I think we can handle it until the cops get here. Thank you,” we hung up. Leland and Daisy lounged on the bed. Daisy had her head in his lap as he stroked his hand down her back to calm her. I was surprised at how fast she took to him. But like he said out in the apple orchard earlier today, dogs can sense when people like them. Leland definitely liked her, I could tell. The tightness in my chest eased a little, knowing that if I had to be stuck in here with him until the police arrived, that he was at least a good person.

  “I’m starting to think that Daisy is giving me up for your affections,” I said with a small laugh. He gave me his turquoise eyes and smirked at me.

  “I don’t think she would give you up for a lifetime supply of ham bones, let alone me. She follows you around like she’s glued to your hip. I’d love to have a companion like that.”

  “Well if we make it out of here alive, then the first place we will go is the pet store and get you a puppy. But until then, I can share my trusty sidekick with you.”

  “Well, I appreciate that, Autumn,” he replied sarcastically.” I can’t believe what is going on. Where did those people… uh, zombies come from?”

  “I have no clue, but maybe we should turn on a radio or TV. The news should know by now what’s going on if these aren’t the only ones out there.” The small TV sat on a wooden stand. I grabbed the remote and hit the power button. The local news channel was covering breaking news on a man biting a store clerk at the local 7-11 gas station.

  The police were on the scene with the “biting” man surrounded. The camera shifted behind the news woman to zoom in on the action. He staggered around like he was drunk and had a large bite wound on his forearm, the skin torn away to show the tendons and muscles underneath. An officer shot him with a taser gun in the back as he lunged at another uniform. It didn’t even faze the zombie. He kept going for the officer in front of him and tackled the man to the ground, quickly sinking his teeth in the cop’s face. The surrounding cops started shooting the zombie in the back but he came away with a huge chunk of flesh from the cop underneath him. The officer’s cheek was ripped clean off. Shots fired again and finally one hit him in the head and put him down.

  “We are witnessing live the most recent evidence of a lethal virus outbreak in our area. We have contacted the CDC and they are bringing in officials to try and capture one of the infected safely to run testing. The virus is contracted through being bit by one of the infected. We remain hopeful that a vaccine can be found for this virus so we have no more casualties. Please stay in your homes, lock the doors and windows until the government says otherwise. This is Channel 9 News Live, I’m Shelly Foster. Stay safe out there everyone.” Then the screen went black as Leland grabbed the remote and shut it off.

  Chapter 11

  “I need to call my mom and see if she’s okay,” I announced, dialing her number quickly. She picked up on the second ring.

  “Autumn? Are you okay sweetie? Have you seen the news?” she asked in a frenzy.

  “Yes, I saw the news. I’m okay. I just wanted to check on you. Has anything happened there?”

  “The hospital had a scare with a patient. He went in because he got bit by a homeless man out on the street. He turned ravenous towards the nurses and tried to attack them, but a security guard took him down. They say he shot him four times in the chest and he still kept coming until he put a bullet in his brain. I don’t understand how something like this could happen?”

  “I know mom, me neither. I know this sounds crazy, but I think these people are becoming zombies from the virus. And it’s spreading fast. Please stay home, lock the doors and I’ll come for you as soon as I can.”

  “Zombies?” she squealed. “What town are you in Autumn? How far away are you?”

  I took a deep breath and looked over at Leland, him hearing this won’t make any difference now so I let them both hear the truth. “Mom… I didn’t want to tell you the truth earlier because I knew it would break your heart, but now I feel I have no choice. Luke came home last night acting really strange. I thought he was drunk and didn’t know what he was doing, but now after seeing what’s going on out there, I’m not so sure that’s what it was. He kicked Daisy, so I slapped him, and then he punched me in the face after throwing me into the kitchen island.”

  “What?” Mom screamed at me. But I kept talking so I could get it all out before she lost her marbles and I wouldn’t get a word in edgewise.

  “Yeah, after he hit me, he told me if I ever touched him again that he would kill me, and I believed him. He ran out the back door and didn’t come back. The weirdest part is that he said he was starving so bad it hurt, and grabbed a bloody steak he dropped on the floor before running out of the house. That didn’t make sense at first but now it does. I th
ink Luke got bitten last night and the virus took over him. If that’s true then he’s no longer Luke, just a vessel for the virus to control. Anyways, I grabbed Daisy and a few of my belongings and ran away. I was terrified that he would come back for us. If he was angry enough to hurt us like that, then what else would he be capable of doing? After driving all night, we stopped at a bed and breakfast in Springsville off Route 45. Now we have to find a way out of here so I can get to you, but we’re surrounded by about thirty of those things and can’t get out until the police get here. Also, one of the owner’s is hurt, he’s been bitten by one of the infected, so I need to help with him until the paramedics can get him to the hospital.”

  Then it hit me. “Oh my God, he’s infected now. He’s going to turn into one of them. Mom I have to go, I’ll get to you as soon as I can. I love you and please stay safe until I get there.” She was shouting my name as I hung up the phone, shoved it into my pocket and ran out of the room, Leland already ten steps ahead of me and Daisy on my heels.

  “Leland, wait up,” I called after him trying to catch up but his legs were almost twice as long as mine. A bone chilling scream pierced my ears and put all I could into moving faster. I knew it had to be Mrs. Bea. God, please don’t let her get bitten. At the bottom of the staircase was the shotgun leaning up against the wall where Leland left it while we were locking up the place. I grabbed it and ran for their bedroom.

  “Henry, please stop!” Bea screamed and cried at him. He fell out of bed trying to get to her and was crawling across the floor towards where she ran in the far corner of the room. His skin color turned from ghostly white to a sickening gray in the little time we were upstairs. Leland snuck up behind him and grabbed his legs to pull him back from Bea. The bed sheets tangled around his limbs and he couldn’t figure out how to get away from them. Henry swung around to face us, growling out of frustration of being twisted up in the blanket. His eyes already turned milky and just rolled around in his head with no direction. His glasses lay broken on the floor. I can’t believe how fast the change happened.