I place my hand on the door knob and twist it firmly, but it is locked. I can hear sounds inside the room, it almost sounds like whimpering. I try the door again, the handle won’t budge. The whimpering is getting louder. I take a step backwards and kick the door in, I am no longer a victim to my fear, and instead my body is running off adrenaline.
I charge into the room, my gun ready to fire, my flashlight frantically searching the room for anything that could be making the noise. The room seems empty, at least nothing has jumped out attacking me yet. I continue to scan the pink room. This was certainly a little girl’s room. Dolls are scattered all over the floor, a small table set up for a tea party sits in front of a large window. Against the left wall sits a rather large day bed, covered with hot pink blankets and flowery pillows disseminated all over the bed. I catch a small reflective surface at the end of the bed. I move my light away slowly, realizing the surface is a pair of eyes.
“Who’s in here?” I ask gruffly.
No answer from the sparkling eyes.
“I don’t want to shoot,” I call out, “but I will if you don’t identify yourself right now!”
The eyes rise above the side of the bed revealing a scared face of a little girl. I recognize the face as the girl from the pictures downstairs.
“Are you here to save us?” She asks in a scared voice.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help,” I say as I offer her my hand.
“Did you find my mommy and daddy yet?” she asks walking over to me slowly.
“Not yet,” I lie, “we can talk more downstairs ok?”
She nods her head, her eyes are red and puffy and I could tell she has been crying. She is wearing a long pink nightshirt that goes down to her feet. Her hair is a mess, and she has her thumb placed in her mouth. She reaches my hand, and hesitantly places her small hand in mine. I pull her close, examining her eyes, checking to see if I can spot anything remotely zombie like. She seems clean, but what do I know.
“How long have you been in this room?” I ask curiously.
“A couple of days,” She answers softly. She looks dehydrated and hungry, she must have been in here a while alone. “Daddy heard a noise downstairs and told me to wait in here with the door locked … he said he’d be right back.”
“Why don’t we get you downstairs, I have a friend who can check you out and make sure you’re ok,” I wink at her.
“Is your friend nice?” She asks shyly.
“Yeah, she is one of the nicest people I have ever met,” I say with a smile, “with a gentle touch and amazing smile.”
“Ok, if you say she’s nice,” the girl agrees.
“By the way my name is Damian,” I say holding her hand as I walk her out into the hallway.
“My name is Haleigh,” she says following me down the stairs.
We make it down the stairs and I walk her over to Kennedy. Everyone is still sound asleep. I gently shake her shoulder, her eyes opening slowly until she realizes that she fell asleep.
“Oh my goodness,” She gasps, “I didn’t mean to fall asleep, I’m so sorry I…”
“Kennedy,” I interrupt her, “its fine, but I need your help.” I move out of her line of sight and she notices Hayleigh standing behind me scared.
“Who is that?” Kennedy asked slightly scared and confused.
“Her name is Hayleigh, I found her upstairs alone and scared,” I ramble.
` “Wait? You found her upstairs?” Kennedy asked concerned, making sure it wasn’t loud enough to wake Connor.
“Yeah, remember those noises I said I heard earlier, well it was her,” I whisper, not wanting to upset Hayleigh, “we tossed out her father the day we arrived here, and I found… pieces of her mother.”
Kennedy nods understanding that I feel bad for this girl. I can see it in her eyes, she wants to help her too, but both of us are worried about what Connor will say when he finds out.
“Can you check her out? I have to go back upstairs, I found some blankets and clothes that we could use,” I say getting back onto my feet.
“Wait? What do I do if Connor or Penelope wakes up?” Kennedy asks grabbing my arm tightly.
“If Penelope wakes up, tell her the truth,” I answer, “if Connor wakes up… well just don’t let him kill her until I get back.” My words are cold but true, I’m just glad Hayleigh didn’t hear me.
Kennedy smiles at Hayleigh as I walk away, I can hear her asking her some routine questions as she shuffles through her bag. I head back up the stairs, the blankets and clothes still lying in the middle of the hallway. I can see into Hayleigh’s room, her door still wide open. I walk back into her room and pull open her dresser drawers, throwing clothes out into a pile on the floor. When the drawers are empty I throw open the closet door searching until I come across a pink backpack. There is a picture of a princess on the bag, her name stitched across the top in black letters. I shove a few articles of clothes into the bag before heading back out into the hallway. I don’t hear any shouting, Connor must still be asleep. I sweep the pile up into my arms and head back down the stairs.
I drop the pile of clothes and blankets on the floor when I re-enter the living room. Hayleigh is repeating the alphabet to Kennedy. Nate, Penelope, and Connor are still asleep. I look down at my watch, we were supposed to wake them up fifteen minutes ago.
“We have to wake the others up,” I announce.
“Are you sure that’s smart?” Kennedy asks, “I mean you saw how Connor re-acted to Nate.”
“If we don’t wake him up and deal with him now, you can bet your ass that it will be worse if he wakes up and finds out on his own,” I say sternly.
Kennedy looks at me with an angry and concerned face, “you know I hate it when you’re right.”
“You think I enjoy it?” I ask walking over to our sleeping friends, “well I do.” I smile, turning back to her.
I decide to wake Connor up first, I figure I might as well get it over with. I shake Connor ferociously until his eyes shoot open. I manage to dodge his first swing, but my chin catches the second, his punch knocking me to the ground.
“I’m sorry,” Connor says realizing it was me who he had just punched.
“Its fine,” I reply rubbing my jaw as I get back to my feet, “I may have deserved it this time anyway.”
“What do you mean?” Connor replies angrily, as he sits up.
“Don’t be mad,” I start off, backing away slowly, “but I broke a few rules tonight.”
“What do you mean you broke a few rules? Which ones? Why?” his voice rubles slightly, waking Penelope and Nate from their sound slumbers.
“I went upstairs, alone. I had Kennedy wait down here, I don’t want you to get mad at her,” I say with harsh voice.
“Why would you go upstairs? That could have been suicide,” Connor growls, “or worse you could have gotten us all killed.”
“Or I could have ignored the noises I heard coming from upstairs and something could have come down here and killed us. Or worse, she could be dead,” I say pointing back to Hayleigh.
“You found another one?” Connor asked, his voice more concerned than angry.
“Yeah,” I said softly, “and I’m sorry, but rules or no rules I’m glad I went up there because that little girl deserves the same chances as you or me.”
“He’s right,” Penelope’s voice chimes in, “if we can find life, we need to do everything within our power to try and keep it alive.”
“And if they are infected?” Connor strikes back.
“Then at least we know we tried,” Penelope says before walking Nate over to Kennedy and Hayleigh.
I start to walk over to the others before stopping short. I turn back to Connor and reach into my pocket, pulling out the pieces of wire and the few tools. I toss the handful of scraps to the ground beside Connor, “I found those in a drawer upstairs. I thought it might help you fix the radio you’ve been working on, but I don’t know why you would even want to bother. Not if you ca
n’t understand how sacred life is. Especially in hell.”
Chapter 5
August 31st,
2037
It’s been a tense couple of days. Connor hasn’t said much to the rest of us, and we haven’t tried to say much to him either. The only words we can seem to say to each other is when it is absolutely necessary. We haven’t left Hayleigh’s house yet, I think we are all worried about what would happen if we actually went outside. I hate admitting it, but Connor really is our strength. He always has a plan, keeping us moving all around New England just to make sure we stay safe. Hell it was even his idea to check out the neighbor’s houses for extra rations. My words just seem to be running in circles, I know that I have to apologize to him but it just seems hard.
Penelope and Kennedy are asleep on top of the pile of blankets, Nate and Hayleigh are nestled in beside them. Connor and I are wide awake on watch. I’m cradled in the corner of the back wall close to the girls and kids. Connor is clear across the room, working on the radio. He has been working on it since I threw down the spare parts. He’d never admit it, but I can almost sense his feeling of loneliness.
I get up from my spot, making sure not to wake the others up. I make my way to my bag, which luckily is sitting close to Connor.
“Any luck with the radio?” I ask softly as I shuffle through my bag.
Connor looks up at me, I can almost see the shock in his face that I spoke to him, “I don’t know. I’ve replaced most of the wires, knobs, and made a makeshift antenna. But I still don’t know if I can get a signal, or even if it will work.”
“Is there any way we can check it out?” I ask amazed by his progress.
“With some luck the satellites are still up and working, than all I would need is a battery,” Connor says with a sigh.
“That doesn’t sound so hard,” I say slightly excited, “I saw some in a drawer in the kitchen. What kind do you need?”
“It’s not that simple. I need a car battery,” Connor replies.
“It just keeps getting easier doesn’t it?” I nod.
“Yeah,” he chuckles. It the first time I’ve seen him smile in days, “maybe in the morning we can figure it out.”
“That would require us finding a car that works. Half of them have been torched or crashed,” I ramble.
“Well, then I guess we have to have a little faith don’t we?” Connor says.
“Easier said than done,” I reply.
“Hey, you can’t start thinking like that,” Connor says, punching me playfully in the arm, “I know I haven’t been the most welcoming person when it comes to strangers, at least children. But I don’t mean it, I swear. It’s just hard.”
“Why?” I ask softly.
“It’s hard to talk about,” Connor says closing his eyes, a stray tear rolls down his cheek.
“It’s harder keeping it in,” I say trying to comfort him.
He looks away from me as he wipes away his tears. He reaches into the breast pocket of his shirt and pulls out a worn out picture. In the picture Connor is dressed in military greens. A little girl sits on his lap and an adorable lady standing beside him, her hand on his shoulder. There is a park in the background. They seem happy, he seems happy. “That was my wife Jeanette and our daughter Tabitha. Jeanette was diagnosed with lung cancer, three weeks after that picture was taken. At the time doctors said that the cancer had spread too far and removal was almost impossible. I refused to believe it was untreatable. I had a friend who was an army surgeon, he told me about this new experiment they were trying. That a scientist had developed a way to assist in surgeries. It was still in the experimental stages, but he assured me that it would work.”
“What experiment?” I ask when Connor takes a breath.
“The Omega Strain,” Connor replies with an evil look in his eyes, “I didn’t know what it was at that time, I don’t even remember questioning it. All I knew is I didn’t want to lose my wife. I talked to her about the experimental procedure, she was less than reluctant, but I talked her into it. We flew to D.C. and she was admitted. Sixteen hours I waited as they performed surgery on her, our daughter with me the whole time. I can still remember when the doctor came into the waiting room and sat down with us. I was terrified that it was bad news, and then the doctor looked at me and smiled. He told me that the surgery had been a big success and I could see Jeanette in the morning. Tabitha and I walked in to that room the next morning, she had just been served breakfast and Tabitha was thrilled to see her. I was thrilled. But that feeling soon went away. Jeanette started to code, her hand clinging to her chest. I watched the life fade out of her eyes.”
“I’m sorry,” I say sadly.
“Don’t be,” Connor growled, “she didn’t die. The Omega Strain that they injected her with kept her alive, but not herself.”
“Are you telling me that she was a Zombie?” I ask confused.
“I don’t know honestly,” Connor sighs, “She wasn’t alive, but she didn’t look like one of the Zombies we’ve been facing. The doctors did what they could for her, but she was too much for them. She ripped, bit, and clawed her way free… I couldn’t make it to Tabitha in time. I froze as I watched her rip out our daughter’s jugular with her teeth. That’s when I snapped, I blacked out. I don’t even remember what I did, but when I woke my wife was dead in the corner and my little girl’s dead body laid in my arms.”
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea,” I say apologetically.
“Don’t be,” Connor says waving me off.
Our attention is turned from each other to the group, huddled together by the fire place. Hayleigh is tossing back and forth. Moaning sounds can be heard before she wakes up crying. Kennedy, Penelope, and Nate wake up from Hayleigh’s stirring around.
“Honey what’s wrong?” Kennedy asks rubbing her back.
Connor and I get up and walk over to the rest of the group.
“I hurt,” Hayleigh says between her tears.
“Where do you hurt?” Penelope asks her.
“My tummy and chest,” Hayleigh says wrapping her arms around herself.
Hayleigh starts to breathe heavily, choking with each big breath she takes. Blood begins to come out with each cough, Kennedy bends her forward. Hayleigh grunts and groans as more blood comes out of her mouth before she falls forward, her face landing in the pile of blood.
Kennedy rolls her over as she checks for a pulse, “She’s dead.”
Everyone stares at each other, Connor starts to back away slowly. Hayleigh’s eyes open slowly, her eyes once full of life now a milky white. The rest of us now scramble to get up. Hayleigh raises her head, her nose sniffing, looking for us.
“Get down!” Connor yells out.
We all drop back down to the ground, the sound of Connor’s gun firing off, one round, two round, three round. When I look up I can see Hayleigh’s body laying back on the ground, her cloudy white eyes looking in my direction.
“I’m sorry,” I hear Connor say before I see the blade of his machete cutting through Hayleigh’s neck. Connor drops the machete. The sound of the handle hitting the ground is surpassed by the loud thud Connor’s knees make as he falls down beside her lifeless body.
None of us say a word. I don’t think there is anything we could say even if we wanted, instead we just continue to stare at Hayleigh’s young body laying lifeless on the ground. None of us sleep the rest of the night. We all stay awake with thoughts rushing through each of our heads. Each of us has killed a family member, but this is the first time we had to kill a member of our group, of our new family. It hurts even more that she was just a little girl, she should have had her whole life ahead of her.
When the sun finally does rise we pack up our belongings and begin to move out. The girls take Nate outside as Connor and I prep the house for the fire. I can hear noises coming from the living room. I look back through the doorway and watch as Connor wraps Hayleigh’s body up firmly in the blankets on the floor, her head nestled inside with her bod
y. I slide back into the kitchen, leaving Connor on his knees besides her rocking back and forth. I finish my half of the preparation and wait outside with Nate and the girls. None of us say a word as we wait for Connor to join us outside. We can see the fire burning through the windows, each one of us hanging our head, our thoughts going out to Hayleigh one last time.
Chapter 6
September 3rd, 2037
It took us some time to find a suitable safe house, Zombies have kept us on the move the last couple of days. The September air has also kept us on our toes, with cool breezes and a slight chill at night you can almost feel summer fleeing just as we need it most.
“We have to go south,” Penelope argues as we all sit on the floor of our latest safe house.
“I agree with Penelope,” I say softly looking at the others.
“I’m not saying it isn’t a good idea,” Connor snarls, “I’m just saying it’s too unpredictable.”
“Yeah, but it’s not hard to predict what will happen to us if we stay here during the winter months,” Penelope reasons.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay here,” Nate says in a whisper. His first words in days, sometimes I forget he’s even there.
“Even Nate knows that it’s stupid to stay here,” Kennedy smiles as she pats Nate on the head.
“Out there we have a better chance of survival,” I urge him.
“Why is it I have a very hard time believing that we can survive out there,” Connor sighs.
“Together we can,” Penelope says placing her hand on his knee.
“It’s going to be a hell of a walk,” I say matter-of-factly.
“And we may not always find a safe house,” Connor adds.
Quiet ensues after our heated debate. Our thoughts are only derailed buy the sound of a low rumble.
“Thunder?” Penelope asks.
“It can’t be,” Kennedy responds, “it sounds to close.”
We all get to our feet, worried what the sound could be. Penelope is the first to get to the window, her face fraught with terror as she drops back down to the floor, her head huddled under her arms. The rest of us look out the window trying to figure out what has Penelope so scared. I peer through the blinds and catch a glimpse of three rugged looking men, each on dressed in faded black leather. Each one is sitting on a motorcycle, the engines roaring each time they turn the throttle. They each have on motorcycle helmets with visors concealing their faces. I catch one walking past the others, a skull painted on his helmet. He seems to be the leader of the group, certainly the biggest of the group, a sawed off shotgun thrown over his shoulder.
Omega Virus (Book 1): Surviving the Horror Page 4
