by Sean Kidd
We walked over together, went inside, and took up seats around the kitchen table. Mr. Smith took off his hat and set it on his knee, “Do you boys have any idea what’s going on?” We both shook our heads “no,” and leaned in to listen. “I’m just going to give you the high lights.” Mr. Smith said. “It seems someone out in Crazy-fornia went and found themselves a case of Ebola. Well, it spread in the air like the flu and worked its way across the world in just few days. The good news is, that as it spread it became less deadly. It mutated so much that for most people, it was nothing more than a case of the sniffles. That’s the good news. It seems the government scientists came up with a magical cure, and without telling anyone, they dumped it in the water supply all over the world. Well, their big plan backfired, and I guess there was some sort of malfunction with the cure. The last time the TV worked, the President addressed the nation. He said that if you mix what’s left of the Ebola sickness with the magic cure in the water, you’ll turn into one of those dead things. So don’t drink the water boys! How is it, you two don’t know any of this? What have you been doing for the last week?” Chevy gave Mr. Smith a bashful look, “I guess we’ve been playing a lot of Xbox.” Mr. Smith looked back and forth at us, “Well, you didn’t drink none of that water did ya?”
“No. I guess we drank a lot of soda.” I said. “Lucky for you two, you’d both be one of the dead if you did. That’s what they’re calling them, you know, Dead!” Chevy broke into the conversation. “What about the government and the Army and stuff! What are they doing?”
“Dammit son!” Mr. Smith barked, “Maybe you should take a break from those video games and watch some news once in a while. There isn’t one, whole Army’s dead. When this thing started, most were getting sick themselves. The government made sure they drank the water first to keep’em safe, must have put it in their canteens. Now most of the soldiers are either dead or the Dead. I’m sorry boys, but it’s a new world now, and it’s not a very nice one.” Silence overtook the room for what seemed like hours. Finally, I broke it, “This sounds like the beginning of the end. I need to find my mother, do you have any idea where she is Mr. Smith.”
Mr. Smith looked down at the shotgun in his lap, wiped away an imaginary piece of lint, “I’m sorry, Ty. She’s gone.” I sat straight up in my chair, “What do you mean she’s gone? Where did she go?” This time when I looked at him, his eyes were wet and glassy. “Some men took her and Sarah. I wanted to help, but they all had guns and were driving around in one of those big Army Humvees. One guy was even on top with a big machine gun. I’m sorry, there was nothing I could do.” I knew exactly who he was talking about, “Don’t worry Mr. Smith. We've seen those men, and they had some girls tied to the back of the Humvee. We wanted to help them too, but we didn’t have any weapons. Now we do! I know my mom is still alive, and we’re going to find her and save all of them.”
CHAPTER 31
October 12th 7:04am
It wasn’t the knocking that woke Sidara. It was the sun coming up over gorgeous Lake Champlain. The heat warmed her face, and the color behind her lids turned from black to orange. She lifted a hand to block the sunlight, and strained to open her eyes.
Sidara worked her way to her feet and reached for the box of cake rolls, peeling back the plastic wrapper and shoving half of it in her mouth. A few chews in, she was startled by a bang in the front of the house. She grabbed her newly acquired .44 Magnum off the kitchen table and ran out into the living room. Someone was smashing against the hallway door loosening the makeshift chair wedge. Sidara reached it too late to secure the chair against the door. It fell away as the door swung open. A dead man pushed his way into the room taking hold of her vest, sending them both backwards over the coffee table. The dead man was on top of her snapping his teeth. She lifted the pistol against the man’s forehead and pulled the trigger. The gun went off blowing the man’s head backward. The uncontrollable recoil of the gun, sent the barrel hurling up, striking Sidara on the cheek, “Ouch!” she yelped, but didn’t hear anything. The sound of the gun left a high pitch ringing her ears.
Two more dead came charging into the living room. Sidara jumped to her feet and headed for the kitchen. There was nowhere to go, but the pantry. She slung her rifle around her neck and closed the bi-fold doors behind her. The two dead smashed through the kitchen door, she watched them walking around through the slats in the door. One of them was a woman making a loud sniffing sound, lifting her head as she did it. The woman smelled again and turned toward the bi-fold door. “They can smell me.” she whispered as she looked through the pantry for a way to escape. About to give up, she looked at the ceiling and saw a framed in square. That had to be an attic access. She used the food shelves as a ladder and climbed her way to the top. A light push against the ceiling tile and it popped right out. She climbed up a little further and stuck her head though the hole. Cool attic air swept across her face. She climbed up into the attic and replaced the piece of sheet rock masking her escape. Below, the dead woman smashed through the bi-fold door looking for the scent.
The attic was relatively nice at one time. It had gray hard wood floors, and three sides had decorative windows. Sidara knew she was still in danger when she saw a set of stairs at the opposite end of the attic leading down to the main floor. It was just a matter of time before the dead found her. She crept to the window and opened it. Looking out she could see a rose trellis which ran all the way to the ground. The roses had long since died with the cold October nights, revealing white pickets that would make a perfect ladder. Sidara reached out clinging on as she swung her body through the window. With her feet firmly secured, she carefully maneuvered herself down. Not quite halfway, the persistent sniffing woman was back, looking down from the window and moaning at Sidara. The woman reached for Sidara and toppled out of the window. The falling woman’s leg caught the back of Sidara’s MOLLE vest, taking her along for the ride. Sidara landed flat on her back and felt like she’d been hit by a car. The woman was lying next to her with her, head caved in from landing face first on a paver stone.
Sidara rolled off her back and up onto her knees. The noise of the crash brought a small horde of dead around from the front of the house. She brought up her M4 and started firing at the dead. Every time one dropped, another took its place. Sidara continued to fire as they backed her into the corner. The horde had grown and more were coming faster than she could pull the trigger. Sidara knew this was a battle she would not be walking away from. She started thinking about her mom and sister, trying to find peace.
CHAPTER 32
October 11th 11:15am
Bob walked in and flipped on the fluorescent lights in the isolation room. Sophie was lying there with her eyes open. She turned her head to him. He was taking a big bite of a sandwich he was holding. She watched a glob of mayonnaise drip on his shirt. “You want half?” he asked. Sophie threw her legs over the side of the gurney and sat up. Her belly was rumbling, but finding out the test results was the only thing on her mind, “So what’s the verdict?”
Bob held up his index finger, silently asking her to hold on while he finished chewing. The waiting was agony for Sophie. She watched as he continued to chew and finally swallowed.
“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” he asked. Sophie glared at him. “Wow! If looks could kill. Okay, you’re fine! The EMapp is a success. The tests show the virus has been totally eradicated from your cells, and the EMapp is showing no signs of post cellular regeneration! You’re in the clear!”
Bob typed in a five-digit code on the glass door’s keypad and hit a large green open button. Huge fans inside the room kicked on evacuating the air from the room. Ten seconds later, the glass door slid open. Sophie ran out into Bob’s arms. “You’re going to be okay!” he said, feeling a tear roll down his cheek. Sophie held onto him and didn’t want to let go. She buried her head in Bob’s chest. He put his hands on both of her cheeks, lifting her head and pulling it closer. He closed his eyes as their l
ips met. Sophie broke from the kiss and questioned Bob, “So what’s the bad news?”
“Dr. Marcil wants you in the lab right away. He needs your help processing the serum. We need to have it in Atlanta in 48 hours.”
CHAPTER 33
October 12th 2:15am
Mr. Smith stood up and put on his Indiana Jones hat, “I’m sorry boys. I'd like to go with you, but I’m afraid I’d just slow you down.” I rose to shake his hand, “I understand Mr. Smith. Do you have everything you need? There are plenty of weapons in the basement, and the house is full of groceries.”
“Thanks you boys, but this is all I need.” Mr. Smith said as he lifted his arm up displaying his shotgun. “Please let me know if you find Sarah. We’ve been close since her husband died. She’s really all I have left in the world.”
“You’ve got it Mr. Smith!” Chevy said with a handshake.
They watched as the old man left, guns ready, until he walked into his house. Chevy locked the door and asked me, “Who the hell is Sarah?”
“She’s the lady who lives in the house across the street.” Confused, Chevy asked, “I thought that was Mrs. Harper?” “Yeah, Chev! She’s Sarah. Sarah Harper!”
Chevy’s head rocked back like he finally understood, but I could see he was still trying to figure it out in his mind.
I sat back down at the kitchen table and picked up my mom’s cell phone again, scrolling through the messages. The rest were all mine. My dad had no idea what was going on here. I used the cell phone to try calling him again. I pulled up his name and hit the call button. A picture of he and my mom on their honeymoon popped up on the screen, with the words, Calling Sean plastered across their faces.
Nothing happened. I looked at the phone and waited as it tried to connect. Chevy saw the look of concern on my face and asked what was up. “The phone’s not working.” I handed it to Chevy. He looked at it and then spun the screen back at me, “There’s no service. Look at the top. No signal bars and no Internet symbol. The phones must have finally shit the bed.” Angry, I threw the phone on the kitchen counter. “Dude, chill! We need to take care of this ourselves and stay focused. What do you want to do now?” I shot Chevy a look, still mad. “What the hell do you think I want to do? I want to get my mom and dad back, and I don’t care if I have to kill someone to do it!” I ranted. “Well my friend, we may just have to do that.”
Chevy was right! We needed to stop screwing around and come up with a good plan. “So let’s stop fucking around and take care of business! What’s the plan?”
Chevy thought for a minute and answered, “It’s not safe to go out in the dark. The sun should be up in about five hours. We’ll finish stocking up on supplies and get a couple of hours of sleep. We’re out the door the second the sun comes up. We’ll find those guys and get your mom back. Sarah too, if we can find her.”
CHAPTER 34
October 12th 7:15am
Chevy and I were out the door just after seven, not really knowing where we were going. I guess the half-ass plan was to walk around until we spotted the Humvee. Then follow it and save mom.
“Which way?” Chevy asked.
“I’m not really sure. The last time we saw the Humvee, it turned west on Cornelia Street. So I guess we’ll head west, maybe we’ll get lucky.”
Shots rang out a few houses away. Chevy and I took off running toward the sound. It sounded like a high-powered rifle, loaded with high-capacity magazines judging from the amount of shots between reloads. The shots were just a few yards away now, “Chevy slow down! It might be those guys!” He stopped running and looked at me like I had just saved him from making a deadly mistake. The shots were ringing out in the backyard of the house across the street. The yard was surrounded by a new white vinyl fence that still wasn’t completely finished. I couldn’t see over it, “Hold this!” I handed Chevy my AR-15 and climbed up a few feet on a red maple tree that was covered with purple leaves. If there was a threat on the other side of the fence, I’d have the advantage. It would be hard for them to see me though all those leaves. I climbed high enough to look over the fence, “Chevy, it looks like some sort of military girl. She’s being attacked by a bunch of dead. Hand me my rifle!”
Sidara knew it was over. She had just fired the last round from the M4 and there was no time to reload. The last thing she was going to do was let a bunch of dead eat her for breakfast, or take a chance of turning into one of them. As a last resort, she reached into her MOLLE vest and pulled out one of the grenades she had taken from the dead soldier outside of town. She slid her finger through the grenade pin and took a deep breath. This was it! She watched her hand shake as she started to pull the pin. Loud bangs rang out from the other side of the fence. The dead woman closest to her fell dead, landing on top of her.
Someone had given her the few precious seconds, she needed to jam another mag into the M4. Together, with the other shooter, they mowed down the remaining dead. Sidara dumped another empty mag and inserted a fresh one. She scanned the yard with her rifle. They were all dead now.
I called out from the other side of the fence, “Are you okay?” The girl turned and looked in my direction, “Where are you?”
“I’m in the tree! We’re friends! Hang on, we’ll come over.” Chevy and I walked along the fence line looking for the gate. I opened it and walked through first. The girl was gone. “Hey, where did you go?” On the other side of the house, a fence section had been forced to the ground next to a pile of dirt and a wheel barrel. It looked like the homeowner had been doing some landscaping before all this shit went down. “I’m over here!” she called out. I could see her peeking around the corner of the house, “Why don’t you come out? We promise we’re not going to hurt you.” I waited, but didn’t see any movement. The girl finally spoke, “I don’t know you, and how do I know you’re not going to kill me, like those things?”
I figured I just saved this chick's life, the least she could do was come out and thank me. I looked back and asked Chevy, “What the hell is her problem?” He just shrugged his shoulders, “I’m guess she’s scared, just like we are.” Chevy brought up an interesting point. I mean after all at least we had each other. I turned back toward the girl, “Listen, my name is, Ty. This is Chevy! We are not going to hurt you. My mom was kidnapped by some guys in an Army Humvee, and we are just trying to find her. You can come out, or we can just leave you alone and go away if you want.” The girl finally spoke again, “I’m trying to get to my mom and little sister too. I spent the night in this house, and I woke up to these things trying to kill me.” I chuckled, “Welcome to the club!” I watched as the girl stepped out from behind the house. She had dark hair and looked like she was about the same age as us. She let her guard down and started walking toward us. We walked toward her with our arms in the air and off the weapons, “Hi, I’m Ty. This is Chevy.” I pointed with my thumb, which was still well above my head. The girl looked at us and reached out to shake my hand, “You can put your hands down. I’m Sidara.” With introductions out of the way, I checked out Sidara’s gear, “Looks like you found yourself some weapons. I love that vest. Where did you get it?” Sidara looked down at the vest and then back up at me, “I took it off a dead soldier after I shot him in the eye. Although, in my defense, I only killed him because he was trying to eat me.” I smiled at Sidara, “Yeah, there seems to be a lot of that going around.” Sidara eyed our weapons, “I like your setup. What have you got there?” she said pointing at us. “Well it’s a special holster rig my da-.“
“I wasn’t talking to you Two-gun. I was talking to your friend. What’s that on your leg?” Chevy looked down at the gun on his leg and pulled it from the holster, “This is a MP-9. It shoots a 9mm bullet and has this black thing so it’s not too loud. It has a bunch of other stuff too.”
“Not a gun guy, huh!” Sidara laughed. “No, they’re all Ty’s guns. He’s the expert.” She looked back at me. “So where did you get all the weapons Two-gun?” “My dad is a cop, and he lik
es to collect guns. We grew up shooting them together. Why do you keep calling me Two-gun?” I asked. “Because you look like a modern day cowboy with those two Glocks on your hips. Don’t go getting all self-conscious on me there Two-gun. Take it as a compliment.” All three of our heads snapped around as a dead man came staggering into the backyard with us. Chevy’s MP-9 was already out. He pointed the gun at the dead and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He pulled it again and again. Still nothing happened, “I put bullets in it! It’s broken!” Sidara ripped the MP-9 from Chevy’s hands. In a one-second demonstration she slammed the palm of her hand against the bottom of the magazine. “Tap it!” Then she grabbed the operating bolt and yanked it back letting the spring snap it back into place, “Rack it!” Without looking away from Chevy she pulled the trigger sending the 9mm round through the eye of the dead man. He fell over backwards onto the ground. I stood over the dead man and admired the shot, “What is it with you and eyes?” The sound must have attracted another Dead. I could hear him bouncing his body against the other side of the fence. We all heard his teeth snapping together, “We had better get out of here!”
