Dead Strain

by Giesler, W. A.

  "Hey are you alright?" Jameson asked reaching over, placing his hand on her arm.

  Sara felt the touch on her arm and quickly pulled back still dealing with her fear but quickly realized that it was Jameson and that he was asking her a question. "Uh, I'm sorry. What did you say?"

  "Are you alright?" he asked once again, knowing how terrified she must be. These infected people, with how they were acting, scared the hell out of him, also.

  "Yeah, I'm fine. Just having to deal with my fears on my own terms," she replied, placing her hand on top of his. "Thanks for caring."

  The pair smiled at each other before settling back in their seats watching the scenery flash by the truck as they raced toward Horner.

  CHAPTER 4 – THE UGLY TRUTH

  The pickup zipped past the sign indicating that they were entering the town limits of Horner, and the scene was no different from what they had seen earlier. Body parts littered the street, along with blood and debris, but thankfully for the moment, there were no zombies around. Turning onto the main road through town, Connor cruised at a slower speed while they all surveyed the town hoping to see some signs of life. The entire area appeared deserted, which for them was a bad sign since Horner was one of the bigger towns in the area and most populated. With the lack of life, the groups hope for finding a safe haven dropped with each passing mile.

  Connor looked over at Sheriff Hobart, "Well, what next? This place seems to have no safe places to hide from the looks of it."

  "I have a ranch not too far from here, and it has a large fenced area around the house; maybe we can hold up there–at least until this is over," he explained to the three.

  "Which way is it?" Connor asked.

  "Wait, what about my family?" Sara interjected, annoyed that they were only thinking of their survival and not of the family left behind.

  Connor nodded, "I agree. We need to go get them and bring them along."

  Hobart grabbed his cell phone from his pocket, "Here, call them and see if they are even there before we drive all the way back; besides, we have no idea if they are even alive," he told them, not even trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

  Sara was the first to grab the phone, quickly dialing her home number and waiting for an answer. The phone rang a few times and was answered by a female who sounded vaguely like her mother, but she was not sure. "Who is this?" Sara asked.

  The voice on the other end was breathing hard but managed to squeak out, "Sara, is that you?"

  "MOM, are you alright?" she asked.

  "No, I'm not. Your dad attacked me. He was acting odd, and when I went to check on him, he bit me, but I managed to get away and lock myself inside."

  The others could see the news was not good. Tears began to flow down her cheek as she listened to her mother explain what had occurred.

  "Sara, there are several people outside of the house, and they are not looking all that good. The man on the news said we should all stay inside and avoid anyone acting out of the ordinary." Her mother paused, and she could hear her fumbling around with something on the other end. "Wow, the bleeding will not stop, and my entire body hurts," she muttered.

  Sara looked over at her friends. "She's been bitten, and my dad is the one that did it," she told them.

  "I'm sorry, Sara; she and your dad are infected. There is nothing we can do to save them," Hobart told her. He could see the fear and anger grow on her face but could also tell she knew he was right.

  "Mom, are you still there?" she asked but no response came. She listened for a minute before hearing a moan from the other end of the line. "Mom, hello, are you there?"

  "What is it?" Connor asked her.

  "She isn't answering, and I hear moaning," she told him, bursting into tears. "She is one of them now, isn't she?"

  Hobart took the phone from her and listened instantly knowing she had indeed changed and fallen victim to whatever was causing this. "Yes, dear, I'm afraid she is; I am so sorry," he told her as he disconnected the call.

  "My mom and dad, gone…" she whispered. "What am I supposed to do now?"

  Connor placed his hand on her arm. "You can stay with us," he told her.

  She leaned over, buried her head into his chest and cried, knowing she had lost her family to this mysterious disease.

  "Jameson, call Dad and see if he is alright," he told his brother as he put his arm around Sara, trying to give her the comfort she needed.

  Grabbing the phone from Hobart, Jameson quickly dialed the number and waited as the phone rang several times before someone answered, "Hello?"

  "Dad, I'm so glad to hear your voice. Are you alright?"

  "Yeah, kiddo, I'm fine. Where did you kids get off to this morning?" he asked.

  "Connor and I went to the city to grab some supplies, but we ran into some trouble along the way."

  Having not listened to any kind of newscast today, he was oblivious to the ongoing viral outbreak causing the dead to rise. "What kind of trouble?"

  Jameson went on to explain the people they had encountered and the way they were acting. He also went on to tell him they were heading for a safe place to ride out the infection. "Dad, if we give you directions, can you drive here?"

  "Listen, Jameson, I have lived a long time in this house, and nobody or no bug is going to force me to leave. You kids stick together. I will make sure I am safe here, and when this all blows over, you come and get me."

  Jameson covered the mouthpiece of the phone, turning to Connor, "Dad isn't coming. He does not want to leave the house.

  When this is over, he said for us to come and get him."

  "Give me that," Connor said as he grabbed the phone. "Dad, if you are not going to come to us, then we will come and get you," he yelled into the mouthpiece.

  "Connor, you need to stop and listen. First off, I am your father, so you will do as I ask. Secondly, you and your brother need to find that safe place, and keep out of harm's way until this is all over with, understand?"

  Connor hated having his father talk to him like this. Knowing that he was right made no difference, just that he was going to get his way, and he was going to have to listen to him. Reluctantly he agreed. "We will come and get you as soon as it is safe to travel. Please, Dad, stay inside and keep safe." Before hanging up, he passed along the cell phone number for the sheriff's phone and then disconnected.

  "What's going on? Is he coming?" Jameson asked.

  Lowering his head, shaking it from side to side slowly, "No, he is not. We need to get moving; it's not going to be safe here for much longer," he told his brother, starting the truck. Slamming his hands on the steering wheel in anger he paused to gather himself before looking over at Hobart, "Which way, Sheriff?"

  Hobart looked out the windshield and pointed down the roadway. "That way but from the look of it," he said referring to the numerous infected that were filling the roadway, " we may have to take an alternate route."

  Nodding his head, Connor put the truck in drive and turned off the roadway into the adjacent field, "I guess we go off-road," he said, picking up speed as he raced away from the oncoming horde of dead. As he sped through the field, which sent them flying about in the cab of the truck, he took note of more and more of the dead appearing all around them. "What now? They are everywhere."

  "If you can't go around them, then go through the things. We need to get away from them!" Hobart yelled.

  As much as it bothered him, he once again slammed the pedal to the floor and did his best to miss the people but to no avail, crashing into several of the slow moving creatures as he made his way through the field. The blood and body debris splashed across the windshield from the first few that he hit, so he quickly turned on the windshield wipers in an attempt to clear his view. The blood smeared across the glass in front of him causing him and the others to fight to keep from vomiting from the gruesome sight.

  As they continued to race through the field, they left a horrifying path of body parts, blood pools and bodies strewn
about as they headed for safety away from the hordes of walking dead. Bouncing along, Connor struggled to steer the truck toward a roadway on the far side of the field, but with each impact, his view decreased from the spray of blood and guts, and steering became more and more difficult as debris tangled in the tires and undercarriage.

  "There," Hobart yelled pointing in the direction of the road, "that should take us away from the town."

  Connor nodded and turned the wheel, moving quickly away from the dead. "We are going to have to find another way because through the town, isn't going to happen," he told the sheriff.

  "I agree, kid, but for now, let's concentrate on getting some distance between us and them."

  "No problem," he replied. The truck bounced across a shallow drainage ditch, hopping onto the paved road. Connor let out a yell in relief and slammed down on the gas pedal, racing down the roadway away from the swarming creatures.

  CHAPTER 5 – SUPPLIES

  Connor slowed down as the infected disappeared from his rearview mirror. Looking over at the others, he could see the fear and disbelief on their faces after what they had just encountered. He stared at Sara wondering what she was going through and saw that she was staring off into the distance with her entire body shaking and tears streaming down both cheeks. Reaching over he placed his hand on her arm, and she quickly pulled away. "Sorry, I just wanted to see if you were alright," he quietly said to her.

  The tears flowed harder, and her body convulsed as the fear in her burst forth. "No…no…no…I'm not alright," she whispered. "OH MY GOD! THEY ARE ALL DEAD!" she screamed.

  "Hey, relax, Sara, we are safe," Jameson interjected, reaching over placing his arm around her and pulling her in close. "We won't let anything happen to you."

  While they attempted to calm her, Hobart sat forward. "Hey, maybe we should try and find some shelter before dark. How about in there?" pointing out the front window, aiming his finger in the direction of a small country store. "We need food and water and what better place to park it for the night."

  "Alright, let's head there," Connor said, turning the truck in that direction. "Keep an eye out for any unwelcome company."

  Pulling up in front of the store, the truck stopped and the four sat quietly inside while they surveyed the area around the building looking for any signs of trouble. Hobart sat back in his seat taking a deep breath, relaxing for the first time since this all started when he and the others were startled by a thud from behind them. Quickly turning around, he came face to face with one of the dead as it drew back its arm pausing for a quick moment before smashing it through the window.

  Sara started screaming as the hand of the man tried to grab onto her while it struggled with Hobart in the back seat.

  With one hand on the man's neck and the other reaching down for his gun, Hobart struggled to keep this thing from biting him. "Give me a hand; I can't get to my gun," he yelled, hoping one of the three in the front seat would come to his aid.

  Connor turned and grabbed the arm that was reaching for Sara pulling at it, trying to gain some measure of control over it until the sheriff could get to his weapon. As they struggled, none of them saw Sara reach down, grabbing a large screwdriver that the boys had in the truck and raise it. Turning back, the look of fear was gone, replaced with a look of vengeance as she pulled back and then slammed the long metal screwdriver down, burying it into the top of the dead man's head. The body went limp and fell onto Hobart as the thick coagulating blood oozed from the mortal wound, which is when they all noticed the man was missing everything from the waist down.

  Jumping out of the truck, Connor opened the back door and pulled the dead man out of the back seat and onto the ground using his booted foot to pull the trailing intestines out of the truck. Looking inside at an obviously rattled Hobart, "You okay, Sheriff?"

  Looking himself over checking for bites or scratches and thankfully finding none, he nodded back at Connor, "Yeah, kid, I'm fine." Turning to Sara, "Thanks, you saved my ass there." Patting her on the shoulder, he climbed out of the truck, stopping to stare down at the dead creature. "Poor bastard… looks like they ate a lot of him before he turned."

  The others climbed out, scanning the area once again, before moving away from the truck. Looking up at the sky, they could tell they did not have much more sunlight now that the days were shorter with the winter months upon them.

  "Alright, let's head inside and see if there is anyone or anything home," Hobart said as he pulled his weapon. Cautiously he moved toward the entrance to the small store, stopping just outside the door and peering inside through the window looking for trouble before stepping inside. "Appears all clear in there… keep close, and watch for any of those things," he told them as he stepped in through the doorway.

  Connor followed him inside with Jameson and Sara right behind. The dimly lit store was, for the moment, free of anyone living or dead. Merchandise was strewn about the place as though there had been a struggle with traces of blood on several surfaces but no signs of a body.

  "Keep alert; we may have company," Hobart whispered as he crept further inside. Thankfully, for them all, the store was not very big with only two aisles running the length of the building, so there were not many places to hide. Turning back, Hobart pointed at Jameson and Sara, "You two, go up that side while we check this side, and be careful."

  Jameson nodded and grabbed Sara's hand, "Come on," as he reached for an axe with his free hand.

  "Give me one of those," Sara whispered to him. She grabbed the axe from him and then nodded, "I'm ready."

  The pair headed up the left side of the center aisle, slowly checking any possible hiding spot and praying that they didn't run into any trouble along the way. Sara was following closely behind Jameson when she spotted some movement coming from a side doorway covered with a curtain. At first she felt fear surge through her, and she wanted to run and hide, but before she could, one of the dead burst through the curtain, turning in her direction. The blood covered face of the creature made her want to scream in horror, but she resisted, and her survival instincts took over.

  Jameson saw the man burst from behind the curtain, but before he could do anything to stop the attack, Sara had leapt into action, springing to her feet and swinging the axe. He watched as though it was in slow motion as the axe arced through the air on its deadly course, aimed directly at the head of the creature before them. The head of the axe landed hard on the top of the man's head, sinking deep into his skull with a sickening sound, splitting its skull down the middle, sending out a light spray of blood and brain.

  Sara stood silently in front of the creature as its white eyes turned upward, and it fell back landing hard on the floor with the axe still protruding from its head. She wanted to scream as she watched this unfold in front of her but held it in, not wanting to alert anymore of those things that may be around.

  Jameson stood up next to her, "Nice job," he whispered, "here, take my axe; you seem to be much better with it than I am," emitting a quiet laugh as he handed the weapon to her.

  Hearing him say this brought a smile to her face, relieving some of the horror and fear that coursed through her. Turning to him, she leaned in kissing him gently on the cheek, "Thanks," she whispered to him.

  Hobart and Connor turned the corner in front of them, looking down at their handy work, "There is time for that later; keep moving," Hobart said, smiling at the young couple.

  Connor just smiled at his brother before turning to continue his search.

  As the foursome continued on, they finished their survey of the store thankfully finding no other people suffering from the infection. They had only come across remnants of some others that had ventured into the store and met a gruesome end at the hands of the now fully deceased zombie.

  "Alright, everyone pick a door, and do your best to secure it. Check all the windows; close and lock them; we need to make sure this place is locked down tight for the night," Hobart ordered the group who all quickly went on t
heir way. Heading to the front of the store, he closed the glass door and locked it. Looking around the small store, he searched for something more to secure the door with. The window would not slow down the dead for long if they wanted to get inside.

  Connor was the first to come back to the front of the store. "The back is secure. The door is steel, so we don't have to worry about that entrance." Looking at the front door, he turned to Hobart, "This one, on the other hand, could be a problem if they find out we are in here." He joined the sheriff looking around for another means of securing the door, knowing that the dead would easily break through the glass.

  "Over there," Hobart said pointing at a large rack full of canned goods. "We can push it in front of the door. If they do try and get in, it should slow them down long enough for us to get out of here."

  "Agreed, but I think we may need the others to help move this thing."

  Hobart walked over to the rack, stepping behind it and putting some pressure on it. Immediately he knew that Connor was right. It weighed a lot and was going to be difficult to move. "I guess you are right, kid; this thing weighs a ton and is not going to be easy to push."

  "Take the cans off of it, and it will be easier," Sara said from behind them as she and Jameson approached. "Boys always want to do things the hard way," letting out a laugh.

  Connor and Jameson could not help but laugh with her, especially seeing the irritation on the sheriff's face. Hobart, annoyed at first, tried to hide it but eventually softened, coming to realize that it was her way of dealing with the stress of what was happening, so he finally broke out in laughter.

  After a few minutes, the four gathered themselves and began pulling the cans off the shelves, wanting to secure the door before the sun dipped below the horizon and bathed the area in darkness. As soon as the shelves were empty, Hobart, Connor and Jameson moved behind the metal shelf and began pushing slowly toward the door. "Hold on," Sara announced as she moved in front of them, "We might want to close the blinds; it will help keep us concealed."