Omega Virus (Book 1): Surviving the Horror

by Mendonca, D. Manuel

  “Marauders,” Kennedy squeals.

  “We have to get out of here,” Connor says.

  “That’s not going to happen,” I object still focused on the men outside.

  I nod to the others who watch with me as the skull faced leader orders two of his men to search the back of the house.

  “We have to hide,” Connor says frantic, “Everyone split up and stay hidden.”

  We all nod and run off in different directions. I manage to grab my bag before slipping through the door leading to the basement. I close the door softly, hearing the front door being kicked in as I slowly back down the stairs.

  “Boss,” I hear the lackey call out, “this fire is still fresh, I think people might be here.”

  I pull my flashlight out of my bag and use the light to guide my way down the stairs. I hadn’t been in the basement yet, none of us have, mostly in respect of Connor’s rule about staying on the ground level of the house, but also because it creeps me out a little. I find a small hole in the wall that is just big enough to rest my bag in as I pull a few other items close, giving me some extra cover. I pull my gun out of my pocket but I know if I had to fire it everyone else in the house would hear it. I can feel my sword with my leg, it’s still attached to my bag. I bend down as quietly as possible and slowly slide the blade free of the sheath and wait. I can hear their heavy footsteps above me, the low rumbling of their deep voices before hearing a blood curling female screech. I tighten my grip on the handle of my sword as I contemplate whether or not I should rush up. I know it’s not worth running up the stairs, I’m out numbered, my sword against their guns. I decide it’s better to listen and wait from my hole in the wall.

  It’s rather quiet as I sit in hiding, just muffled grunts and the occasional thuds coming from upstairs. More time passes before the basement door is opened once again. These marauders have no rules, no structure. I’m surprised they haven’t been attacked by more Zombies. I’m sure they’re not even worried about their repercussions. I’ve heard stories of many marauders thinking they are too tough to be killed, too smart to become infected and too overwhelming to be stopped as a group. I can see the single marauder walking down the stairs through a crack in my cover. He is carry a rifle and not much else. He walks around the basement, a small beam of light coming from around waist high. I can hear boxes being opened, no doubt he is searching for items of value. I can hear him getting closer to my hiding spot. Anxiety is building, I don’t want to die this way, cowering inside a hole in the wall waiting to die. There is a small toy beside the heel of my foot, I kick it as far as I can causing it to make a soft thud near the back wall. I hear the marauder turn and aim his gun unknowing what the noise was. I sneak out of my hiding spot and come out directly behind the intruder and thrust the blade of my sword straight through the back of his neck. I can feel him dying, his body convulsing on the end of my blade. I slide the steel out of his neck and watch as he falls to the floor, dead. I rummage around through his dead body. There isn’t much on him of use besides the rifle. I check the magazine of the rifle before hiding my sword back in the hole with my bag. I glide lightly up the basement stairs, the door is still opened somewhat, just enough to allow me to see back out into the living room. I can see the other two gang members sitting on the floor, both have their masks off revealing one of the men to have a scar running down the right side of his face, the other is bald with the tattoo of a bear showing vibrantly on his head. They are both throwing small bits of food, mostly peanuts at something just out of my view. The skull marked leader is nowhere to be found.

  “What’s wrong baby? Don’t you want some of my nuts?” The bald man asks before laughing.

  “Didn’t Jack tell you to stop wasting your rations?” The man with the scar scolds.

  “Yeah. But I’m not worried,” The bald man gets up and walks just out of sight, “if we get too hungry we can always cook up this little cutey. Like we did with that adorable blonde down in Columbus.”

  I feel sick listening to them talk about eating a person.

  “Hasn’t Tom been gone a while?” The scarred man asks, looking away from his friend.

  “Nah, Jack has him looking in the basement for supplies,” The bald man replies, still out of sight.

  “Where is Jack anyway?” The scarred man asks still looking around, “I don’t know why but this house gives me the creeps.”

  “He’s upstairs with the redhead. He said not to disturb them,” the bald man chuckles.

  I can’t wait any longer I pull the trigger of the rifle. There is a stronger kickback then I expect, the butt of the rifle slams into my shoulder causing me to drop the gun. It thuds loudly all the way down the stairs. I chase after it, hearing the two men heading over towards me. I kick the rifle off to the side and run for my bag, I’m better off with my handgun at this point. I shove the items off away from my hiding space, my shoulder still throbbing from the rifle. I reach down for my bag, grabbing the strap before feeling a strong force hit me on the top of my head.

  I woke up some time later, my clothes stripped from my body and my arms tied together above my head. A rope coming down from the ceiling keeping me from moving. I turn my head and see the purple bruise covering my whole shoulder. On the other side of me I see Kennedy, also tied up and naked. There are cut marks all over her body and hand prints all across her breasts. Her eyes are closed and I can’t tell if she is still alive or not. I can hear struggling come from behind me, I turn myself around and find Nate tied up his back against the wall.

  “Are you ok?” I ask after Nate lifts his head.

  His eyes are wide and full of fear. I can see the tears building up in his eyes, “I am. But they keep touching Kennedy, and the other one, the one with the skull, he took Penelope upstairs.”

  “What about Connor? Have you seen him?” I ask softly.

  “No. I think he left us here to die,” Nate responds, his voice shaky as he talks.

  “He didn’t leave us here. He will be back to save us,” I say barely believing my own words, but we can’t give up hope just yet. Footsteps are heard coming down the hall. “Don’t say anything.” I turn back around taking one last look at Kennedy. I can see her chest rising softly.

  All three men stand in front of me, the bald man and the scarred man stand on either side of the third man who is also holding my sword in his hands. He looks slightly older than all of us, his hair mostly graying. There is a large gash down the left side of his face leaving his left eye damaged and pale.

  He smiles at me as he pulls my sword out of its sheath, “This is a lovely sword. Can I ask who you stole it from?”

  “I didn’t steal it from anyone, I’m not like you,” I respond harshly.

  “You’re more like us than you think. We are all trying to survive, maybe we have different ways of going about it but don’t ever think that you are better than us. Now I’ll ask you again, who did you steal this from?” Jack asks.

  “I didn’t steal it. I found it at a flea market,” I say gritting my teeth.

  “See was that really so difficult? If you just work with me than things will go a lot easier,” Jack smiles as he slaps my face playfully, “your shoulder looks bad, would you like someone to take care of that?”

  “My friend over there studied medicine. Can you cut her down and let her look at it?” I ask trying to free Kennedy.

  “I’m sorry but I can’t. You see my boys here get awfully lonely, and I couldn’t risk letting her get away. It just wouldn’t be fair to them,” Jack says.

  “Then I’m fine,” I reply.

  “Ok than next question, who else is in this house?” Jack asks smacking me again, harder this time.

  “There is no one else. You caught us all,” I lie.

  “No, I don’t think that’s true. Would you like to try again?” Jack scowls.

  “I’m being honest, it was just the four of us,” I try to convince him.

  Jack smiles at me before walking over to Kennedy, he
watches me as his hands run down her body. She shudders as his hands explore every part of her body. I try to turn my head but the two other men force me to watch.

  “This can all stop, all you have to do is be honest with me,” Jack says just as his hands begin to explore her inner thighs.

  “It’s just the four of us, I swear!” I yell, pleading with him to stop.

  “Maybe he’s telling the truth boss,” The scarred man says.

  Jack stops his hands and turns back towards me, his eye looking at both of mine, “or maybe he just needs more motivation.” He runs the back of the sword along Kennedy’s body, I try not to show any emotion. “No? Still nothing? Well you are a cold one aren’t you my friend. Perhaps I just need to try harder.” He moves the blade away from Kennedy and walks over to Nate. He grabs him by one of the ropes and picks him up with his free hand and pushes his soft body firmly against the wall. The other hand moves the blade of the katana close to Nate’s neck. “Now tell me the truth or the kid dies.”

  So many emotions flood my body at the same time. I don’t know what to do or say any more, “He’s innocent in all this, if you feel you have to kill someone than I ask that you kill me.”

  “Nobody is innocent, not even kids,” Jack replies before thrusting the tip of the blade right through Nate’s neck.

  “NO!” I can hear the same gurgling sounds I heard from the man in the basement. Nate’s body starts convulsing against the wall like he is pleading for death. Finally his body stops moving and Jack pulls the blade out of his neck and lets his limp body fall to the ground.

  “Don’t be too sad,” Jack says a he uses Nate’s body to wipe the blood off the blade, “I know you asked to die first, but be assured that you will die and it will be painful. But not before you watch me kill each and every one of your friends first.”

  I struggle to free myself, my teeth clenched together in rage, “that will never happen, because when I get free I’m going to kill you myself. Now look at me again, am I lying?”

  “And how are you going to pull that off?” Jack scoffs.

  “With my help,” Connor’s voice rings out before gunshots are heard. Thuds are heard as both the bald and the scarred man fall dead.

  Jack backs up holding the sword defensively as Connor walks over to me pulling a switch blade out of his pocket and cutting me free.

  “I knew you were lying,” Jack yells at me.

  “Yeah, to bad that’s not going to save you,” I say moving closer to Jack as Connor frees Kennedy, laying her on the ground.

  “Where’s Penelope?” Connor asks me

  “She’s upstairs, probably tied to one of the beds,” I answer, “would you mind freeing her, I promised Jack here his death at my hands.”

  “Wait a minute friend, we’re even. I killed your friend and you killed all of mine,” Jack says trying to save his own life.

  “We are far from even,” I say, Connor handing me his handgun a sly grin on his face before heading off looking for Penelope, “Because from where I see it, I promised that you were going to die and I was going kill you.” I cock the gun and shoot Jack in both of his knees, dropping him to the ground. My sword and sheath slip out of his hands.

  “Come on you’re not really going to kill me are you?” Jack pleads for his life, “please I don’t want die like this.”

  “Would you prefer I tie you up so that you have no way of protecting yourself like our young friend Nate?” I ask full of anger.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. Please show some mercy,” he begs again.

  “I want to know something,” I ask moving the blade of my sword closer to the coward.

  “I’ll tell you anything I swear,” Jack cries out.

  “How could you turn your back on your own kind? The world has gone to hell, LITERALLY, and yet instead of helping others you choose to turn a blind eye to them and worry about just yourself. But when the time comes and it’s you facing down the blade, you think it’s acceptable to beg for your life, is that fair?” I ask.

  “You want the honest truth?” Jack asks, his whole tone changing as he answers, “it doesn’t matter if the world is full of Zombies or humans, the only thing that ever matters is looking after yourself because no one is going to ever truly have your back.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong Jack,” I say, “my friends saved me without knowing me. They became my family, and they have never let me down. You would have done better to know that lesson.” I thrust the blade deep into his abdomen. He groans in pain as I shove the blade deeper into him. I look him in the eye, watching as the life fades away. I rip the blade back out and watch the rest of his body fall flat against the ground. “But I guess now it’s too late.”

  Connor and Penelope come back down the stairs, Penelope’s face is red and puffy and she is wrapped up in a blanket.

  “Are you Ok?” I ask.

  “As well as can be expected,” Penelope answers, “but I’d definitely be happier with some clothes.”

  Penelope, Kennedy, and Nate’s bags are all lying against the wall beside the front door. I grab both Penelope and Kennedy’s bag and go to reach for Nate’s before remembering that Nate was murdered. I hand Penelope her bag and place Kennedy’s beside her.

  “After you get dressed would you mind covering up Kennedy? I’m sure she’d prefer it from you than one of us,” I ask.

  “Yeah, no problem,” She replies.

  “Thanks. We’ll wait for you in the kitchen,” I say pulling Connor away with me.

  “Are you ok?” Connor asks when we get into the kitchen.

  “I’m fine,” I lie, “we’re all fine thanks to you. Where did you learn how to surprise your enemy like that? It was pretty bad ass.” I force a smile.

  “I was in special forces for five years. The government trained me well to kill people,” Connor smirks.

  “Well I guess that explains why you’re so good at leading us,” I say.

  “Who said I was leading you?” Connor asks confused.

  “I just assumed you were the Del facto leader of our group. I mean you came up with the rules, you rescued us all, and you never stop,” I reply, “face it you are our leader whether you like it or not.”

  “No I’m not, I might do a lot of killing but I’m no leader. I as trained to follow orders, not give them. I did try once to be the leader of this group but I realized something, you are the real leader. The girls follow you without question, you make hard decisions but still have a good heart when it counts,” Connor winks at me.

  I had never actually thought of myself as any sort of leader, I have always spent more time trying to stay alive than anything else. Connor and I continue to sit in silence until Penelope calls us back out to the living room. Penelope is wearing a pair of jeans that are ripped up the back of the left leg. She also has on a black t-shirt that she covers up partially with her faded green jacket. Kennedy is still lying on the floor unconscious, Penelope has dressed her in black jeans that are frayed around her shins. She has on a black and gray striped shirt that looks cleaner than anything else we have. She still has no shoes on her feet revealing her mismatched green and blue socks.

  “What are we going to do if she doesn’t wake up?” Penelope asks, her voice slightly raspy.

  Connor looks at me, smiling, “what do you think?”

  “I don’t know,” I hesitate, closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath, “Penelope, why don’t you get some sleep. Connor and I will take first shift.”

  “Are you sure?” Penelope questions.

  “Yeah. After everything that has happened you need you’re rest,” I reply, comforting her with my answer.

  “What about Kennedy?” She asks after laying down on the floor.

  “We’ll wait. No need to make hasty decisions. If she won’t wake up in the morning we’ll have to come up with a plan,” I answer.

  The night passes without any more excitement. Connor and I allowed the girls to sleep the rest of the night
while we stayed awake. Penelope woke up with the sun while Kennedy continued to rest peacefully on the floor. I wish Kennedy was the one awake, I could really use some of her medical advice at this moment.

  “We need to make a decision soon,” Connor whispers to me.

  “I don’t know what to do,” I admit to him.

  “What does your gut say?” he asks.

  “It’s telling me to give her more time, that she will wake up soon,” I mumble.

  Kennedy shakes slightly, a scared look washes onto her face. The three of us rush to her side. Penelope kneels down at her head and rests it in her lap. I place her hand in both of mine stroking it gently as she continues to tremor.

  “You need to wake up,” I mutter under my breath, “none of us would even be here if it wasn’t for you taking care of us. We don’t know what to do, we need your help. Please wake up.” Her hand squeezes mine lightly as her eyes struggle to open.

  She fights to lift her head as she gasps for air. Connor hobbles over to his bag and pulls out his canteen of water and rushes back over to Kennedy. He holds the canteen to her mouth and helps her chug the water slowly, most of it slides out the side of her mouth. When she finishes the water she goes back to gasping for air.

  “What happened?” She forces out between gasps.

  “We were attacked by marauders,” Connor reminds her, “they found you, Penelope, and Nate.”

  “They tried to get sexual with us,” Penelope says joining in, “luckily the guys got to us before anything serious happened.”

  “How did I pass out?” Kennedy asks.