A Hard Reset_The Disruption Book Zero

by C. A. Huggins

  "I agree with Nelly. Nobody is coming for us." He turned toward Nathan. "You know the campus, right?"

  Nathan was silent as he watched the creatures ripping apart the cop.

  Marcus talked louder. "Nathan! Pay attention. We need you." It was the type of yelling Ali and Vic were all too familiar with. "You know your away around this place, right?"

  "Yeah...yeah. Well, for the most part," Nathan said.

  "Well do you or don't you?" Marcus said.

  "I've only been a tour guide for three weeks," Nathan said.

  Charles shook his head. "And that's who you want to trust to get us out of here?" He pointed at Nathan and nervously laughed.

  "Fuck you," Nathan said.

  "I spent some of the best years of my life on this campus," Charles said. "I can get you where you need to go."

  "You think this campus is the same as it was in the 80s?" Nathan shot back.

  "1992," Charles said.

  "Don't listen to him," Marcus said to Nathan. “Three weeks? Well that means all of your training is fresh in your head. And you've retained most of it. I bet you're a smart kid."

  Nathan shrugged in response. Being a college professor meant Marcus knew exactly what buttons to push in order to instill confidence in a young person Nathan's age.

  "You're gonna help us all get off this campus and get back safely to our homes. I'm parked over by the stadium," Marcus said. "How far is that from here?"

  Nathan looked around. "Um...that's about a seven minute walk that way." He pointed north.

  Marcus rubbed his chin. "Seven minutes?"

  Nathan nodded.

  Marcus turned to Nelly, "Where's your car?"

  "I'm in Lot 97," Nelly said.

  They both looked at Nathan.

  "That's a little closer. I'd say four minutes," Nathan said pointing in the same direction. "If we run, that's three, maybe."

  “What kind of car do you have? Can it hold all of us?" Marcus asked Nelly.

  She thought for a minute, I don't remember what kind of car I rented.

  “We got a Kia Sorento," Clara chimed in. She remembered because Nelly bargained with her that she could drive it on the way back from the campus visit today if she shared a twin bed with Phil. Since she was only four months into having her learner's permit, she jumped at any and all opportunities to get behind the wheel.

  A surprised Nelly looked over at her daughter, and Clara waved back to let them know the younger survivors could and had been listening to their entire conversation.

  "That can't fit all of us," Charles said.

  "Us?" Marcus said with a smile. “You're coming now?”

  "You wanna leave me up here alone with my boy?" Charles said. His fear of being left alone on the roof was much greater than following somebody else’s plan and it failing.

  "We can make it work" Marcus said. "I have a Camry. Your car is a lot better. And if anything happens, we can steal another car or improvise along the way. Since you're now coming, where's your car?"

  "The head coach sent a car to pick us up at our hotel," Charles said.

  Marcus quietly gasped. He felt these few interactions so far with Charles foreshadowed how helpful he should expect him to be. I’m just happy his negative attitude is no longer an obstacle we have to deal with, Marcus thought.

  Charles still wasn't sure he wanted to go with the group as he was positive they all couldn't fit in Nelly's car. He decided to go with them, because he knew he didn't have any other alternative plan and was sure that the entire group would not make it to the car alive thus thinning out the numbers.

  "Okay, so I guess that's our plan. Go to Nelly's car and drive out of here."

  "Doesn't sound like much of a plan," Reggie said.

  "We can use all the manpower we can get," Nelly said. "If we move fast enough, we can make it."

  "Right," Marcus said. "But we gotta keep moving. No matter what we see out there. No matter what happens."

  "I know a short cut," Nathan said. "If we cut across the grass and stay off the road, we can shave at least thirty seconds off our travel time."

  Ali reached into his backpack. "Here’s my brochure and map." He handed it to Marcus who shrugged. "In case we get separated, so everyone knows where to go."

  "Great idea," Nelly said.

  "I have mine too," Reggie said

  "Here's mine," Phil said.

  "Any extras?" Marcus asked Nathan.

  Nathan shook his head. "Everything is on an iPad." That was not a lie, but Nathan also dropped a handful of maps as he ran for safety. He took the map. Vic handed him a Sharpie. "We're here. We need to get here. So we're going to get out of the building. Duck around here, then make a beeline to the parking lot."

  "When do we leave?" Nelly asked.

  "Now. Or as soon as possible," Charles said. "It's only gonna get worse, right?"

  "Good point," Marcus said.

  Charles smiled as if he needed the validation for his confidence. Which he did.

  "Let's grab all the weapons we can," Marcus said.

  Marcus, Ali, and Vic lifted their various pieces of sports equipment. Charles and Reggie both had wooden 4x4s. Nelly had a lead pipe she found on the roof. Clara and Phil were weaponless. They doled out the three maps to Marcus, Nelly, and Charles.

  Twenty-five minutes later, part of which was waiting for their route to clear up, but mostly stalling to muster up the courage to thrust themselves back into the thick of the savagery taking place below, it was time to move.

  "Let's go," Vic said. "We've waited long enough."

  Nathan peered off the roof. "Let's give it a few more minutes."

  “He’s right," Nelly said looking at Vic.

  "We stay here any longer, who knows if we'll be out there in total darkness." Marcus walked over to Nathan, faced him and put his hands on both of his shoulders. "You can do this. Just lead us there."

  Marcus wasn't convinced Nathan could do it. And Nathan wasn't sure he could do it either. In fact, the more everybody told him he could do it, the more he doubted himself.

  Clara turned to Nelly. “Mom, you have your keys?"

  She reached in her pocket. "Oh." She scanned the roof and spotted her pocketbook over by an air conditioning vent. She grabbed the pocketbook, reached inside, and pulled out her keys.

  That would’ve been fucked up, Ali thought.

  And by the look on Nelly’s face, everyone could tell she acknowledged how badly that would’ve turned out.

  “Come on,” Marcus said. “We gotta move. Remember, hit them in the head. And do not stop moving. No matter how tired you get.”

  Marcus, Charles, and Nathan pushed the freezer away from the door.

  “Hold on,” Charles said. He leaned into the door. There was no sound. “Clear…I think.” He removed the latch from the door. Then, he looked at Marcus and tilted his head toward the door waiting for him to open it.

  Marcus smirked. What an asshole, he thought. He opened the door. Nothing.

  “Let’s go,” Charles said. He led the group down the steps holding his 4x4 tightly.

  The red emergency light on the stairwell flickered, but the lights were bright enough the group could see a few feet in front, along with the blood smeared on the walls. The group was silent as they moved swiftly to the ground floor.

  A creature roamed around the broken window Marcus, Ali, and Vic used to enter the building. Charles crept up behind the monster and cocked his arm ready to whack it in the skull. Marcus grabbed his arm. As the creature was already leaving it made no sense to cause a disturbance as he was not a threat. The beast galloped out of the building.

  Charles nodded to acknowledge Marcus made the right call. The group raced out of the rec building. The immediate area appeared to be clear for the most part. There were no humans in sight, but there were some creatures about one hundred and fifty yards to the right of them. Fires and flipped-over vehicles were intermittently placed, as if the campus was a carefully crafted obstacl
e course.

  The group moved swiftly under Nathan’s direction. Marcus joined Nathan in the front of the pack with Ali and Vic. Marcus didn’t move as fast as he could have. He knew everyone might not be able to keep up with his pace due to his endurance built from cycling to the university in Morningside Heights every day.

  Ali tried his best to keep up, even though Timberlands have never been the best shoes for running. For the first time ever, he had actually tied his laces while preparing on the roof. They ran past the crashed cop car as the sirens still flashed.

  “Mine!” Charles shouted.

  The group looked around confused. Charles spotted a handgun lying to the left of their path. The same one that belonged to the cop who met his demise after crashing his car. He snatched up the handgun which only delayed him momentarily.

  Nathan directed them to the right. The group followed at a brisk pace in the shadows. They only needed to slow down slightly for Clara and Phil to catch their breaths. But as soon as they looked okay, the group sped up again.

  “Dad,” Ali said softly.

  “Not now,” Marcus said. “We’re not stopping again.”

  Ali grabbed Marcus’s shoulder. “Look!”

  Marcus turned around and a pack of beasts spotted them. They ran in their direction.

  “Move!” Marcus said. The group began a full sprint.

  Phil screamed as he fell over. Nelly yanked him to his feet.

  “How much further do we have?” Charles asked Nathan.

  “A…minute,” Nathan said in between his panting.

  The beasts were more fleet of foot than expected, and unlike the members of the group, especially the younger ones, they didn’t tire.

  “Maybe we should split up. Confuse them,” Charles said.

  “No,” Marcus responded.

  They reached the parking lot to find total disarray as the creatures patrolled in every direction.

  It seemed as though all nine sets of eyes shot toward Nelly. At least that’s how she felt as she searched for her car.

  “We’re in row G,” she said as she repeatedly clicked the keyless entry remote.

  Ali looked on the ground and saw a torn down H sign. “This must’ve been H.”

  “Mom,” Clara said. “Over there.”

  The red Kia Sorento was parked untouched as when they left it hours ago. The beasts remained in pursuit. The entire group made a beeline for the car, and Charles and Reggie led the way.

  “Slow down,” Charles shouted to an overzealous Reggie who had sprinted ahead of the pack.

  Reggie turned around, and a monster sprung up out of the bed of a parked truck. It leapfrogged out of the truck and landed on top of him. He dropped his 4x4 when the beast startled him. Reggie wrapped his massive hands around its throat as its pulsating green eyes stared him right in the face. The husky all-state athlete was no match for the monster. It snarled right before it buried its head into his chest cavity.

  “No!” Charles shouted as he ran to his son’s aid.

  The rest of the group followed him. Charles smacked the attacker off of Reggie with the 4x4, but not before the beast left a gaping hole in his chest and devoured most of his heart. A wide-eyed and lifeless Reggie laid on the asphalt in an expanding puddle of his own blood.

  The group observed, not knowing what to do, but even that brief moment enabled the pack of creatures to catch up with them.

  “Come on,” Marcus shouted at Charles who tried to revive his son. Marcus knew he would’ve done the same if it were Ali or Vic. But he also knew he had to keep moving or else he would be in the same situation as Charles. He took off with Ali and Vic and ran towards Nathan.

  “Listen,” Nelly screamed at Charles. “You’re gonna die with him.”

  Charles lifted up his head and looked at Nelly as tears streamed down his face and his son’s blood covered the white lettering on his Stanford sweatshirt. His face turned dark red as he rose to his feet. He held the gun at his side as he sized up the approaching creatures.

  Nelly turned towards her kids, “To the car.”

  The creatures closed in. Charles swung his 4x4 and whacked a creature in the head. Another one stepped up, and he decapitated it with an even more spirited swing.

  The rest of the group reached the car.

  Charles swung at another monster and the 4x4 split in two. He looked at the group and back pedaled towards them. Two beasts jumped on Reggie’s body and devoured him. As he watched his son’s body get desecrated, he charged back into the fray with the gun pointed at the two creatures. Three more creatures came at him from the side.

  He pulled the trigger. Nothing. He pulled again. The same result. All five of the monsters dove on top of Charles and ripped him limb from limb.

  His cries could be heard by the group as they looked back. Nelly placed her hands over Phil’s ears, but that only muffled the horror. The group piled into the car with Nelly driving, Marcus in the passenger seat, and the four kids and Nathan jumped into the two rear rows.

  Nelly backed out of the parking spot and ran over three of the monsters. Then she took off out of the parking lot.

  “Where are you going?” Marcus asked.

  “I don’t know,” Nelly said with a frantic look on her face. How am I supposed to know? she thought.

  Marcus spun around and asked Nathan, “Now where?”

  “Straight ahead to the road,” Nathan said.

  Nelly did as she was told and sped onto the main road.

  “Fuck,” Nelly said.

  The road was gridlocked with creatures and immobilized vehicles. It looked as if they were driving head-on into a parade. She drove through a pack of creatures. The car bounced around like a pinball as it hit and drove over monsters. She turned on the windshield wipers to clean off the guts and blood, but it only smeared grossness.

  Then, a loud boom noise. The left front tire blew out. Nelly panicked as she tried to maintain control of the vehicle, but she veered off the road into a grassy, thickly wooded knoll. Then the car crashed into an oak tree.

  Marcus pushed the deployed airbag out of his face. “Ali, Vic… are you okay?”

  “Yes,” Ali said.

  “Yeah,” Vic said.

  Marcus looked at Nelly. Her head was planted into the airbag. He gently shook her shoulders. She sat back, and her eyes opened.

  “I’m good,” Nelly said.

  “Everybody out!” Marcus shouted.

  The group exited the car. Everybody appeared to have escaped the crash unharmed.

  “Look, a train station,” Vic said. He pointed across the knoll. Lights flashed on the train platform.

  “Run!” Marcus shouted.

  The creatures attacked from behind the trees. Marcus took two of them out with a swift blow from his bat. Vic killed another one. Nelly smacked a creature in the arm with a pipe. It fell to the ground.

  “The head,” Vic screamed at Nelly.

  She crushed the monster’s head when it attempted to get back on its feet.

  They dashed toward the train platform as the lights from a train approached. They were still a hundred feet away.

  Marcus, Ali, and Vic were ahead of the pack. Nathan followed while Nelly and her family were close behind him.

  Phil stumbled again and crashed to the ground. “Mom,” he screamed as a monster closed in on him. Nathan looked back for a second but decided to keep running.

  Vic doubled back, swinging his bat.

  “Vic…No!” Marcus screamed.

  Vic knocked down one creature with the bat, and then he chopped another in the side of the neck. Nelly hoisted Phil up off the ground. Vic fought off the creatures until Marcus and Ali reached his side. Together they cleared out the group.

  By the time they were done, Nathan reached the platform as the train arrived. He turned around to gauge their progress. When he turned back to run toward the train, a creature sprang from behind a Sierra Mist vending machine and grabbed hold of his neck. He gasped for air right be
fore a slight pop and his head came off like a broken Pez dispenser.

  The rest of the group reached the train platform as the train started to pull off. They ran the train down as the creatures galloped after them. Marcus jumped onto the train first. Ali and Vic followed. Nelly, Clara, and Phil ran on the platform as the train began to pick up seed. Nelly struggled to keep up as she carried Phil.

  Marcus held out his hand. Clara grabbed it. And he pulled her onto the train.

  One beast advanced ahead of the pack and clawed at Nelly. It grazed her arm and entire left side as she tried to yank Phil away from its blow.

  Ali flung his field hockey stick at the monster. It struck the beast in the head sending it tumbling to the ground. An exhausted Nelly mustered all of her strength and tossed Phil at the train. Marcus snagged him out of the air like a pop fly.

  “You can do it,” Ali yelled at Nelly.

  Two other creatures caught her and dragged her down to the ground.

  “Mommy!” Phil shouted.

  “No!” Clara screamed as she reached out and almost fell off the train, but Vic wrapped his arms around her waist.

  The monsters trampled Nelly as the train sped off down the tracks until the only sight was her bloodied arm reaching for her children.

  Phil and Clara laid on the floor of the empty train car together in a ball, sobbing hysterically.

  Ali glanced at Vic. Neither knew how they should approach the mourning children. How could they? They were both boys. And Marcus, an intelligent adult, wasn’t equipped to deal with what happened either. They could not enjoy even a slight reprieve from escaping their nightmare.

  Ali looked at Marcus, “Is this headed home?” He didn’t want to be insensitive to Phil and Clara, but it was still a concern of his as it was to Marcus and Vic as well.

  Marcus shrugged. They were alone in the train car.

  “Let’s move forward,” Marcus said.

  They advanced through the train car by car. The next two cars were barren. They looked just like a normal commuter train, clean with no signs of beasts.

  Marcus thought it was too peculiar. “Stay alert,” he warned.

  A still frenzied Phil lagged behind with his sister.

  “Listen, you’re gonna have to try your best to keep him quiet,” Ali whispered to Clara.