Living Dead 2.0

by Radovick, Ronda

  LIVING DEAD 2.0

  Kyle's team was sent into the middle east on this latest operation. He and his team were not given specifics. All he knew was that, he was being sent to an over taken lab dealing with highly sensitive biomeditics. The objective of the mission was to go into this top secret lab for search and rescue of any staff, then set up a perimeter for haz-mat to quarantine the area. There had ben talk that, former medical staff was using people to conduct experiments. The objective; vaccine creation. The rogue staff had been experimenting, by force, on area residents. Reports had been sent to top officials stating that, those who had received the vaccines were attacking other people. Originally, Med-tech Inc. had billion-dollar, international, multi-government contracts to create vaccines and test the accuracy of those vaccines on animal subjects. These allied forces teamed up with the military to create the mother of all vaccines, and cure the world of many of the contagions that they had created in the first place. Instead, a group of them misused their positions and started to conduct heinous experiments on the citizens who lived there. Some, by force. The information given from the last time of contact with superiors, was that the vaccine had mutated. They were told that one of the doctors had left the country, fleeing to Iran. Upon receiving the last report, the government sent in another medical team. The new team arrived without issues. Then, were never heard from again. The Special Ops team, Kyle's team, was sent in to rescue those surviving medical staff because they were more experienced in war time extraction operations. All participants of the Special Ops team were told that they had to stick to protocols at all times, They were also told that, only a “head shot” would count. Kyle thought that this was odd for a laboratory extraction that existed in a rural part of the mid east with no militant hostiles having been reported. The team arrived at the small medical compound just before nightfall. As they exited their vehicles, they all noticed that the security check had no guard. The gate was left open, and the whole compound was in the dark. Except, one row of windows at the end of the building. The Captain took a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. He turned his headlamp on, pointed it at the paper, and studied it. He said, “ Okay, Boys. From what I can see here, that....” He pointed towards the lit up end of the building. “ is where the lab is. On the other side of that set of windows, should be the staff quarters. That is our point of destination, unless we find any staff before hand. We group them together, and set up a perimeter. Then, we call haz-mat in. They take over from there.” One man asked, “ Captain, this place looks like it was attacked. What do they know, that they are not telling us? And, should we be ready for a fire fight?” The Captain answered, “ We are to be ready for anything, as usual. Just, don't break formation.” They headed inside. As they approached the building, they could smell a horrible smell. They all knew the smell of rotting bodies. One man said, “ Okay. I think that I just threw up in my mouth. I don't think that we'll find any survivors in there.” The Captain said, “ Let's get inside.” They tried to get the doors to open, but could not. They tip-toed around the side of the building. One man pointed to another door. As they moved closer to the door, they could see that the magnetic slide that controlled the lock had been damaged. It looked like it had been shot off. “ Cap...” one of them whispered. He pointed to the damage. The Captain slowly pulled open the door. As the door swung open, they noticed that the door had blood smeared all over it, from inside. Kyle and one man looked at it, then exchanged a cautionary look with each other. The Captain pointed forward.

  1

  They all followed his lead. Every place they walked through, was empty. There was dried blood all over the floor and walls. It was dark, but they could still see it. The smell was stronger, it was horrible. The Captain, Kyle, and the men crept along the dark hallway in anticipation of a military attack. One of them whispered, “ I don't like this. We need to radio the Base. We don't even know what happened here. We could breath in whatever is floating around this place, and get infected, too. We would not even know it.” They could hear something in the distance. The Captain stopped, and bent his arm up to the side, motioning for them to stop. They all froze, and stared towards the odd sounds. Kyle, and one of the men exchanged a glance, as if to ask each other, what the hell was that? All of the men had their thermo-imaging lenses in place. They had their weapons aimed high. They could hear more noise. It was coming closer to them. It was growling, and it came from down the hall. Two of the men exchanged a fearful glance. One soldier asked, “ Is that growling?” Another said, “ I got a bad feeling about this.” Kyle turned, “ Sh!” They saw someone in the distance. Because it was dark, they could only see a silhouette. It was a man. He moved as though he was injured. Then, they could see the silhouette of more people further in the background. The Captain said, “ This is the United States Special Forces. Identify yourself.” The sound of the growling became multiplied. Now confused, the men started to frantically exchange looks with each other. Even though it was dark, they could see how the silhouette of the man moved. They could also see, in the distance, the silhouette of a group. One man said, “ There must be something wrong with my thermo-view. I am not seeing them like I should through the lens. Kyle said, “ Then, there is something wrong with mine, too.” One of them blurted out, “ What the hell is going on?” They all waited a few seconds, as the man said nothing, but kept moving towards them. The Captain said, “ Sir. Identify yourself. Are you hurt?” One officer said, “ I don't think that he can speak.” The Captain said, “ We need to find out what that growling noise is, first. Hold back.” They all stayed put. Then, he addressed the man staggering in his direction, again.“Are you injured? We're going to get you some help.” It was clear that the injured man was growling. The man was now a few feet in front of them. Even though it was dark, they saw enough to realize that the man had a contorted look on his face. He raised his arms up towards them. He was reaching for them. “Why isn't he talking?” someone whispered. The man staggered closer towards them, arms still raised. The Captain, again tried to ask, “ Sir.....?” He saw the man's face, clearer now. It looked like much of his face had been removed. The Captain stopped talking. He stared at the staggering man in shock. They all noticed that their Captain had stopped speaking. Then, saw why he had become silent. They watched in shock, as the man continued to stagger. Even though, he was much closer to them. They all heard gurgling and snarling. They all saw it, too. One officer pointed his flashlight at the man's face. Half of his face was missing. The part of his face that was in tact, looked rotted. He had dried blood all over him. One of them yelled, “ Whoa!” Another blurted out, “ Holy crap!” Some else yelled, “ Get back!” He growled and lunged for the Captain, biting him on the arm. They all fired on the man, at the same time. Kyle yanked the Captain back. The attacker fell dead. One officer blurted out, “ Did you guys see that? He bit him!” They could hear a multitude of growls from a distance. Another said, “ He looked like he was possessed!” They were in a panic. One man blurted out, “Did you men see his face? This is no ordinary search and rescue op. ” Another officer protested, “We should not go any further. Look.” he pointed down the hallway. They could see that the group at end of the hall was moving the same way. They were also growling.

  2

  Captain Shultz, wiped the blood off of his arm. He blurted out in disbelief, “ That son of a bitch bit me! We go a little further. Cover each other. If the rest are like him, shoot first, ask questions, later. We may abort, and go back.” All of the sudden, their attention was averted to the sounds coming towards them. They could hear the others growling louder, in the distance. It sounded like a group of feral animals that were riled up. Another officer yelled, “He's getting up!” He pointed towards the man that they had
just shot down. The man was up on one foot. They all started firing, again. This time, one of them got a head shot in. That is what killed him. He dropped back down to the floor. They all looked down at the corpse. They could not believe what he looked like. The growling crowd was getting closer. The Captain studied them. He said, “Okay. We go halfway down the hall.... Just a little further. If they look this crazy, and my gut says that they will.... “ He pointed towards the end of the hallway. “Make your first shot, a head shot. We get what medical staff that we can find, and get out. Then, secure the outer perimeters for haz-mat.” They reluctantly, tip-toed down the hallway, towards the staggering, growling-silhouette. The group-silhouette became a mob of rabid, 7-Dimensional corpses. The corpses growled and staggered right for them. Now, with their headlamps shining at the coming mob, they could see that they all looked like they were rotting. Some had parts of their bodies missing. They were all covered in blood. It was like a real time Halloween prank. One man yelled, “ What the hell?” The mob came right at them. Even though guns were aimed at them, they didn't hesitate to try to attack the team. The Captain blurted out, “Shoot them!” They all fired on the staggering mob. One stood back up, then two, three, four. They staggered towards them, again. “Head shot! Head shot!” the Captain yelled. “Make it a head shot, or they'll get back up!”as he fired, too. Now, the mob lay on the floor. The beams of light from their head lamps revealed the gory view of partially eaten corpses, that lay in front of them. A few feet away, they saw something crawling along the floor. They heard the same snarl. As they turned their attention to the movement and noise, the multiple beams of light coming from their head lamps, revealed a half eaten person. The half eaten person was crawling towards them. They could see that she was wearing a torn lab coat. She had leathery skin. Her lips still revealed the pink lipstick that she was wearing on her now, cracked lips. It was obvious that, she had been dead for a while. She had maggots crawling from her waist area. The bottom half of her body was gone. It looked like it had been torn from the top half of her body. One man turned around, and vommitted. They were all sickened. One man asked, “Captain... What is going on here?” Kyle answered, “ I don't think this was supposed to be a return mission, Boys.” Two of the men, exchanged a discerning glance. The Sergeant said, “ Okay. We look a little further. Any more of this and we'll have to call for reinforcements.” One man disagreed, “ What if there are more of these things, in bigger numbers? We could get trapped and held down.” The Captain said, “ A little further. Then, we turn back.” The men could see that the Captain was feeling uneasy about this mission, now. They started to move, again. They came to an open room. A cafeteria. They heard slopping and grunting noises. The Captain peeked around the corner. He didn't say anything. He took a step back. He closed his eyes, opened them back up, and took another look. He looked terrified. Then, appeared to be getting nauseous. The look on his face, changed back to terror, again. He slapped his own face. As though, he was trying to wake up from a nightmare. The others studied him. Kyle peeked around the corner. He stared in shock. The Captain asked, “ Morgan, what do you see?” Kyle did not answer him. He was horrified. He saw a dead body laying on the floor. There was a lot of blood surrounding the body.

  3

  He saw a woman sitting on her knees, and she was hunched over the dead body. Kyle watched, as the woman was actually eating the man that lay on the floor. The man's mouth was moving. But, no sound came from his lips. The crazy woman was wearing a white lab coat that was covered in blood. Kyle said, “ I think that he is still alive.” He stepped out into the woman's view. She stopped eating the man, and looked up at Kyle. She growled, stood up, and started to limp towards Kyle. He could see why she was limping. Her foot was gone. It looked like it had been chewed off. She was walking on a bloody, boney, stump. “ Ma'am. Get back!” Kyle raised his gun up into the air. The men stepped out, now. They started yelling, “ Shoot her, Kyle!” She kept limping. She was growling. He aimed.“Ma'am! Please, get back!” When he realized that she was not going to stop, he shot her in the head. She fell to the floor. They all stared down at her, in disbelief. Kyle walked over to the man. He bent down and felt the man's neck for a pulse. It was very faint. He said, “ He 's barely alive. We need an E-vac, now.”

  They could not believe the scene. One officer, afraid that there could be more rotting attackers to come, kept looking over his shoulder. He nervously, asked, “ What the hell happened here? Captain, I think that we should call for E-vac, now.” One officer called for help, in the background. The Captain said, “ We have to look for survivors. We'll come back for him.” He pointed to the dying man that lay on the floor. Kyle said, “ Yes, Sir.” They walked back into the hallway. Kyle was wishing that he had not been assigned this mission. They tip-toed through the whole building. No one was in sight. They stopped in a conference room. The Captain said, “ Haney, radio back to base. Tell them that there is no survivors. Have them send haz-mat. Let's get ready to move out. The official story here is that everyone was dead when we made it here. If not, we'll be quarantined. And, everyone..... watch your six.” The young officer complied, “ Yes Sir.” Relieved, he linked up to the satellite “ Base this is C-flock. No survivors. No one else alive on the premises. We need that E-vac. Any other orders?” A voice came back, “ Secure the perimeter, and haz-mat will be there within the hour. You'll get further briefing at that time.” Later, haz-mat came. They led the Captain to a tent. After haz-mat entered the building, an E-vac crew was sent in. A Major Sansa summoned the unit. When they all entered his tent, he asked, “Was anyone injured? Any bites?” Everyone knew that the Captain was bitten. But, did not admit it. The Captain said, “ No Sir. We found bodies.” The Captain had covered his bite with his shirt sleeve. The Major replied, “All of you submit your reports. Then, you'll be given your next assignment. I want to stress to all of you that, any talk of what happened during this operation will get you court martialed. ” The soldiers exchanged glances. In sync with each other, they all said, “ Yes, Sir.” The angry looking Major, turned and walked out. The crew submitted their assessment, and were guided to a plane. The Captain was the last one to board plane. After the plane was in the air, Kyle looked out through his window. Below, he could see what looked like ten thousand people walking along an old road. They were moving slow. In the distance, he could see what looked like a small village. He could see large plumes of smoke. It looked like much of the village was on fire. Why weren't there any vehicles moving along the road also? he asked himself. He had not heard anything about any conflict in the area. He shrugged it off and hoped that everyone was okay. After they landed back in the states, Kyle was sent on other similar missions, but with different units. First, in New York, where the infected acted the same as those had on his last unforgettable mission. Then, Chicago. Then, in Indiana. Now, the unit that he was working with, was ordered to start closing off whole sections of cities. He kept thinking about the last place that he had been. The dead were attacking people. His Superiors warned all of the men not to get bitten. He thought of Captain Schultz. He knew that whatever this was, was not going away. By the time that he was able to try to call his family, they were not answering the phone.

  4

  AT FIRST

  As Marcus approached his vehicle, he stared at the unbelievable scene taking place in full view of the parking lot. The police had the street blocked off at the corner. City officials had contacted all of the businesses on that street and ordered them to evacuate. Marcus saw several people staggering around in the street. They looked and moved around, as though they had been drinking. They all had blood on their clothes. The woman looked the oddest. She was dressed in a suit. A very dirty suit. The suit was torn on the arm. She was missing a shoe and had a name tag hanging around her neck. She didn't look like the type to get drunk in a bar and take part in some kind of multi-person fight. The whole scene looked creepy and weird. He thought that it was odd for all of the businesses on that street to b
e ordered to evacuate, and to have to send their employees home over a few unruly drunks. So, out of curiosity, he stood outside his vehicle and watched the scene. The police had the people surrounded. The people that they were trying to control were lunging at the police. The police shot two of them. They stepped backwards, then they staggered back towards the officers. Even though, they had been shot. Marcus stood there, just staring at the scene that unfolded in front of him. Before he knew it, he heard snarling coming from behind him. He turned around. As soon as he did, he saw a hideous looking man coming from a nearby alley. As the man reached towards him, he stumbled. He was covered in blood. If not for the shock, Marcus would have tried to help him walk. But, he had never seen a sight like this. The man was in a T-shirt and pajama bottoms. He had bite marks all over his arms. His throat-area, seemed to be ripped away. Whatever had done this to him, tore out his jugular vein. Marcus thought that the blood loss was making the man weak and delusional. Why else would he be staggering like that? he asked himself. It was obvious that the man was not himself. Even though, the look on the man's face was contorted, Marcus didn't want to leave him with no help. He said, “ Whoa, Buddy. Sit down. I'll get you some help.” Marcus turned to call for one of the policemen in the street. Before he could walk to where the police were, the man lunged for him. The man grabbed him and growled at him. “ Hey, Buddy! Get away from me. I'm trying to help you!” He struggled with the man. Before he knew it, the man bit him in the arm. Marcus yelled, “Ouch! What the hell is wrong with you, Buddy?” He pushed the man down to the ground. Before the man could get up, a police officer ran to where he was and tackled the crazed man. Then, another policeman helped him handcuff the man. Another officer arrived and asked Marcus, “n Sir. What is your name and address?” Marcus answered, “ Marcus Gallo. My name is Marcus Gallo. Here, my address is on my Drivers License.” He pulled his wallet from his pocket and pulled his rivers License out. He handed the officer the small card. The officer took his Drivers license and wrote the information down in a small notebook. He asked, “What happened here, Mr. Gallo?” He watched a couple of officers struggle with the man. They had to lift him into a police car. After Marcus answered some questions, the officer told him that he should go home. He informed him that someone from the Police Department would be contacting him. The officer who took hs information seemed exhausted. During his ride, Marcus thought about how the man acted. He was injured, but never complained about any pain. In fact, he never spoke at all. He growled.