The Outbreak
Page 2
“Run!” said Randy and that’s all he needed to say. The three of them made a break towards another stairwell at the far end of the corridor. People were already making their way to that stairwell when incessant screaming and students started coming back up the stairs froze them in their tracks.
People began to run in the opposite direction towards the man in fear of what they saw. And what they saw truly was terrifying. Making his way up the last step was none other than Professor Nathan Broad.
Or what was left of him.
“Oh my God, It-It’s Professor Broad!” said Joanne stepping back a bit trying to come in terms with what was unfolding before them.
“Shit, it was all true then. I should have believed you! Fuck!” said Greg disgusted with himself.
“Let’s concentrate here, I’m sure none of us wants to die here” said Randy readying himself in a defensive stance.
“We can’t go the other way; I’ll take my chances with the professor here.”
“I agree. We’ll push through him here and make our way down” said Randy nodding to Greg.
“Oh my god, we are gonna die here” started Joanne hysterically.
“Stay calm, class rep” said Greg placing a comforting hand on her arm.
“Right, so uh what’s the plan?” asked Randy without locking eyes with Broad who was making his way towards them with a fiendish growl.
Without warning Greg charged at Broad and threw a tackle at it with all his might. Randy stood thunderstruck for a second or two but regained himself and grabbed Joanne’s hand whose mouth was a silent O.
“Go!” said Greg gathering himself and joining his friends going down the stairs. Professor Broad lay on the ground grunting, like a cockroach on it’s back. Noticing the opening some of the students made a break for the stairwell to escape the man. While some made it through, Professor Broad managed to get back up from the minor setback and got back to attacking fleeing students and teachers. The terror continued as people were caught between two creatures on opposite sides of the hall closing down on the delicious meat in between them. Some even tried jumping out of the window. Some made it, some didn’t and others broke their legs. In this case, losing your legs is as good as being dead. Or so would be the common presumption.
“Let’s take a moment here to gather our wits” Greg sighed brushing his fine brown hair back with trembling fingers.
“What were you thinking?” Joanne screamed slapping Greg on the arm. He simply shrugged it off.
“We can’t afford to waste a single minute, we’ve gotta get help,” replied Randy looking over his shoulder and scouting the surroundings.
“Joanne, are you alright?” Greg said keeping a warm hand on her tense shoulder. “Y-yeah I guess. I just can’t believe what happened back there. Professor squeaky, Meredith all those people-” Joanne cupped her mouth with her hands to silence her sobs as tears streamed down her face meeting the junction between the side of her palm and her face. Before Greg could say anything further, a hand caught hold of Greg’s shoulder prompting a “What the Fu-?” turning around to face the owner of the hand.
“I’m sorry if I startled you guys,” said a lean blonde haired man with dishevelled hair and scared black eyes and next to him stood a gorgeous Indian woman who now had Greg’s undivided attention even amidst the chaos.
“You’re Josh right?” said Randy stepping forward looking straight through Josh.
“Yeah and this is Kiara,” Josh replied pointing to the woman next to him. She managed a sheepish smile. Well that’s a given considering the situation thought Randy. “We saw you get past Professor Broad, so we followed you guys. A lot of others did too. But most didn’t make it I suppose,” Josh said wearing a serious yet saddened look on his face.
“So what do we do now?” Kiara asked in a not so foreign accent, looking nervously looking back and forth between Randy and Greg. “I think we should go to the campus police and ask for help,” replied Randy firmly.
“What if they are infected or whatever already?” Joanne asked looking cynical.
“Well it’s worth a try, and chances are we might find something we could make use of,” answered Greg with a confidence that surprised Joanne.
“No signal,” muttered Randy loud enough for the others to hear.
“Is it a coincidence? I mean, these cannibalistic creatures attacking and there being no cell connectivity? Doesn’t it seem like something is happening here?” asked Josh thoughtfully. “Whatever it is, we don’t have time to think, we have to make it to the campus police post and away from this building,” said Randy looking up at the building noticing the blood drenched windows. They began to run across the perfectly manicured lawn as a cold liquid caught them by surprise to which Joanne let out a surprised yelp.
Cold water from the sprinklers was the relief they all needed from this heated situation. As they reached the gate of the Engineering block, they turned back to notice that the screaming had subsided. An eerie silence swept through the air as the students noticed people descending down the stairwell.
Only it wasn’t people.
“Gonerz,” muttered Greg. “They are coming.”
And this marked the beginning of the outbreak.
Chapter 2
The unlucky ones who jumped from the windows and twisted their legs lay abandoned by their friends when they saw the horde of gonerz descending.
“Please don’t leave me!! I don’t wanna fucking die here! Oh god!” yelled one unlucky pale faced student lying on the ground trying to crawl away from the incoming gonerz.
“We should help him,” Randy said putting one foot forward.
“No, he’s done for. And if we continue to stand here we will be too. We have to get out of here while we still have the chance. They are going to be busy with those unlucky ones for a while” said Josh without a second thought.
“How can you say that? We can’t just leave them like that?” said Joanne, Disgust clearly pasted across her face.
“So what do you suggest? We go try save them and die in the process? There’s no way in hell we will be able to outrun the horde with a person who can’t run!” rebuked Josh.
Greg agreed. “He’s right. We have to use this opportunity to get to the campus police. Let’s go guys.”
Joanne was still in disbelief but then it was too late. The gonerz had begun feasting on the unlucky ones. They screamed as they continued to thrash against the gonerz. They couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be eaten alive, every inch of your flesh being torn off your bones as you lay conscious. She swallowed her anger and nodded. They turned around and made it out of the engineering block. They began to jog at a pace that wouldn’t zap them out of energy too fast. After all, their legs would be instrumental if they were to survive. There was an awkward silence as they ran towards the nearest campus police outpost. It was a small outpost a couple hundred metres away from the engineering block. As they closed in on the outpost they noticed that it was unmanned.
There was nobody.
“It’s empty,” Randy said looking crestfallen. Greg entered the outpost and began to sift through the papers and drawers to search for something they could make use of.
“There’s a phone,” announced Greg. Randy entered the outpost and picked up the phone, dialling emergency services immediately.
There was no dial tone.
“It’s dead. Fuck,” grumbled Randy in frustration. Josh, Kiara and Joanne stood at the edge of the outpost to keep a lookout for any goner movement.
“What did you find?” started Kiara, her eyes nervously fixed at the engineering block.
“A torch and a baton,” answered Greg without looking up.
“A baton? Great,” mumbled Kiara.
Greg was unsure if she was being sarcastic or not, but it didn’t bother him. What did bother him was the fact that there were no walkie talkies.
“We’ll need something to defend ourselves with,” Randy said.
“Yeah, no s
hit,” Josh replied indignantly, becoming tense with each passing moment.
“We should go to the mechanical laboratory,” said Greg breaking the ice.
“Mech lab? But why?” asked Kiara confused.
“Of course!” yelped Joanne. “We could find something in the lab to defend ourselves with.”
“You’re right. It does sound like a viable plan, but-,” Josh butted in “Shouldn’t we go to the main campus police outpost? They’ve got patrol cars and weapons for sure a-and hopefully a working telephone and some cops who aren’t one of them.”
“The main building is at the opposite end of the campus, near the Biological Sciences division. We could run over to the building and get some help right?” asked Joanne quite unsure herself.
“I’m afraid not,” answered Kiara pointing at the Engineering block. The horde of gonerz had begun to spread out in every direction imaginable.
“C’mon, the mechanical lab is that way,” said Randy pointing in the direction away from the engineering block and the biological sciences division.
“We’ve gotta go now!” Josh said hurriedly. They begin to run away from the diverging gonerz maintaining their economical pace. The gonerz moving in their general direction were moving in a slow, retarded manner. As they jogged towards their destination, Josh kept looking over his shoulder to keep an eye on the gonerz. They began to move faster but their pace wasn’t a threat to them, yet.
The grunting noise that they came to associate the gonerz with had grown louder, almost a growl even. Josh looked over his shoulder and what he saw was a sight that nearly caused his knees to buckle.
The gonerz were running. No sprinting towards them!!
“RUN!” Josh yelled loud enough to make the others look over their shoulders. Their reactions were akin to Josh’s. They put everything they had into their legs and ran as fast they could towards the mechanical lab. Just a bit more thought Randy breathing loudly. Making a sharp turn they cut across another well trimmed lawn. They ran up a couple of stairs and were met by a solid door. Randy slammed against the door yelling “Open the door! They are coming! Please!” next Greg and Josh slammed into the door while Joanne and Kiara began to desperately hit the door with the palm of their hand.
“Please let us in! Don’t let us die out here,” yelled Josh almost in tears. The gonerz were nearly there. The next few seconds would decide their fate.
There was a gap of silence as they were filled with despair. Josh dropped to his knees. All hope seemed lost. They were stranded outside the mechanical lab separated from safety by a solid door. They began to come to terms with their fate. Time began to move slower, each second bearing down heavily on them. The skies began to grey, an indication of what was to come perhaps? The clouds cast a shadow on the already greying world. The gonerz were nearly there. They could feel it. The growls grew louder with each passing moment and their chances of survival plummeted.
A loud click pushed back the greyness. One of the two doors opened a crack
“Get in here quick!” said a gruff voice behind the solid door. The voice of God they thought. Wasting not a second they pushed their way inside one by one. The gonerz clambered up the stairs and before they could get inside, the door slammed shut in their faces with a resounding thud followed by a click. The same click that saved their hides. The gonerz must have been trying to get inside as there were loud thuds, growling and scratching. But the door stood firm. They were safe for now. But for how long? Each thud sent a shiver down their spines. They had a close brush with death. Couple of seconds more and they would be gonerz too. Greg looked right up at the ceiling breathing a sigh of relief. He filled his lungs with oxygen. He never imagined the taste of oxygen to be so exquisite. Kiara collapsed to the floor sobbing silently. Joanne held back her tears and put a comforting arm around her. Josh was on all fours murmuring something. Randy rubbed his face with the palm of his hand furiously to calm himself.
“Thank you for letting us in,” started Greg extending his hand towards the man behind the gruff voice.
“Don’t thank me, thank Chester. He’s the one who chose to let you in.”
Greg turned to face Chester.
“Gregory Maroni?” asked Chester looking for clarification.
“Yeah, that’s me,” Greg replied raising an eyebrow.
“I’m Chester Charles, from school? Remember?” said Chester, a smug smile breaking across his face. Chester was about as tall as Greg. A rounded face with dark unamusing eyes, petite nose, clean shaved head, high cheekbones and a French beard. An ear ring pierced his right ear. His lips had unnaturally darkened, presumably due to a certain nicotine addiction. He was the definition of a delinquent.
Greg thought for a moment, “Chessie!” exclaimed Greg after placing him, embracing Chester in a warm, brotherly hug. “I had no idea you were studying at Hale.”
“Yeah well, Hale is a big place. I and Lendl here study Law,” replied Chester proudly puffing his chest. Greg’s blue eyes seemed to have simmered down on meeting an old friend.
“Not the best of times to meet I suppose,” joked Greg laughing feebly.
“No kidding,” replied Chester exhaling loudly.
“These are my friends. The one with the red hood and short spiked hair is Randy, the nerdy looking Blondie is Joanne, The blonde dude’s Josh and the chick next to Joanne is Kiara,” said Greg pointing at them in the respective order as he introduced them.
Randy sat up running his twitchy fingers through his short black hair. “Hey thanks for letting us in,” Randy piped in. “But tell me, how did you law students end up in a mechanical lab?” Randy enquired now on his feet.
“Well, we were a bit late for class today. Had a bit too much to drink last night,” he chuckled. “You do know that the law college building is between the engineering and the biological sciences right? So while we were walking towards our building from the boy’s dormitory, we have to walk past the mech lab and the engineering block. That’s when we saw what was happening at the engineering block.”
“That freaked us the hell out!” Lendl pitched in. Lendl was a bespectacled black man of average build and height. He wore a purple sweater over a white collared shirt and dark slacks and loafers. “When we saw blood splattered on the windows and all the screaming, we were like fuck it! I’m outta here!” said Lendl with one hand in his pocket and using the other to make gestures to go along with his words.
“The mech lab seemed closest and the best option and it wouldn’t be the first time we would miss class too,” he joked. Randy and Greg managed to laugh at what they thought was an attempt at a joke.
Lendl and Chester seemed like pretty chilled out guys. That was the general summary the guys drew after their brief conversations.
“Are there other survivors?” asked Randy.
“Yeah quite of few of ‘em actually. They are near a big ass machine in the workshop,” said Chester.
“The CNC, you mean?” replied Greg with a light chuckle.
Kiara, Joanne and Josh had picked themselves off of the ground and followed the three men into the workshop. Greg let out a low whistle “Quite a few of ‘em indeed.” The survivors took note of the newbies. Some of them they could recognize some they couldn’t. Chester spoke out, “These guys are also survivors. I hope we all get along.”
Chester must be the de facto leader here thought Randy.
”Hey guys!” said Greg cheerfully.
“What are you so happy about?” spat one of the survivors.
“Well, we are alive aren’t we?” answered Greg hands spread out. “That’s something to be happy about for me. I don’t know about you.”
The one who spat mellowed down upon hearing his rather optimistic reply.
“I didn’t know you were good with words,” whispered Kiara.
“I’m good at a whole lot of other things too y’know,” replied Greg with a devilish smile accompanied by a wink.
Kiara giggled, “I’m sure you are.”
“Is there any food around? I’m kind of...hungry,” said Josh looking at Chester.
“Well there are a couple of vending machines there. You could get some sodas and some snacks. But that’s about it,” said Chester pointing at 2 vending machines near the tool station.
“You guys want something?” asked Josh, eyes darting between Kiara, Joanne, Randy and Greg.
“Get us all a soda and something to eat,” answered Greg chin up.
As Josh went to acquire the treats to replenish their depleted energy reserves, the guys sat on the floor along with the survivors hoping to mingle with them. “How long are we gonna stay here?” began a student looking at Chester and Lendl. Lendl simply looked at Chester for an answer. Chester sighed “I don’t know. But we can’t stay here forever. We don’t have enough food to last and......those creatures are out there too.”
“Gonerz,” interrupted Greg.
“Gonerz?”
“Yeah. It’s safe to assume that if you get bitten by those things you’d be a goner.”
“How do you know that?” asked Chester intrigued.
“I saw those things feeding on humans. So It wouldn’t be farfetched to assume that if you get bitten you’d become one of them,” added Randy.
“Gonerz,” Greg coughed.
“Yes, gonerz,” replied Randy shooting Greg an annoyed look.