The Outbreak

by Shetty, Krishan

  An hour had passed since the shift began.

  A soft thud behind him cracked his concentration as he pulled his gaze away.

  Kiara lay on the ground. Motionless.

  “Kiara, Kiara!” Greg hissed kneeling down. When he saw no response he immediately went to check her pulse.

  She’s alive he gulped.

  Greg felt the foggy arms of an intense evil crawl up his back. His body refused to turn. His feet dampened. His fingers twitched violently as his neck forced itself to swivel around his frozen torso. His heartbeat pounded against his eardrums at an intensity that he thought would deafen him.

  Nothing.

  That’s what was behind him. He drank in a gallon of the cold night air to replenish his starved lungs. Profusely sweating, he wiped his brow and began to turn towards the unconscious Kiara. What met his gaze instead of an Indian beauty was a grotesque being, a being straight out of the depths of the abyss. He saw it, albeit for a moment.

  It had ghastly pale skin with tiny craters like the moon. Veins with a wicked tinge of purple mapped it’s body. It seemed especially prominent around it’s abysmal eyes. It wasn’t big. In fact it was smaller than an average human. It’s jagged teeth was far from friendly and it was further complemented by a feral growl.

  Greg’s eyes bulged. It’s breath was as putrid as it was grotesque to look at. He wanted to scream. A large lump in his throat barricaded his voice. His mouth opened into a slow, silent O. The light flickered again. But this time around, he didn’t see the shadows dance. Instead little stars danced wildly in front of him as he embraced the darkness.

  His consciousness faded to black.

  Greg was awoken by a cocktail of voices pulling him away from the dark depths of unconsciousness.

  “Greg, you okay?” Randy asked with worry lines running across his large forehead. Joanne hovered above him with a bottle of water next to Chester. Professor Westwood shuffled from one foot to another, arms folded, thoughtfully adjusting his glasses but avoiding direct eye contact with anyone.

  “Where’s Kiara?” Greg asked ignoring the question sitting up.

  His blurry vision straightened out. Sean and Dana stood at a distance in front of the flickering tube light. Josh stood with a hand over his mouth.

  “Where’s Kiara?” he asked again demandingly. “Why isn’t anyone answering? I asked you a question!”

  Greg stood up on one knee. His knee wobbled under his weight. “Where is she?”

  Sean looked at Randy and then Dana and paused for a moment. Dana nodded and they both stepped aside to reveal the flickering tube light.

  During the brief moment of illumination, the light highlighted a body dangling upside down suspended from the false ceiling by a metal chord. Drops of blood dribbled down to the cold, white floor sending with it a wave of gut wrenching odour of iron.

  Josh buried his head in his hands turning away from the gruesome sight. For Greg, it wasn’t as gruesome as it was soul crushing.

  CHAPTER 4

  Staggering to his feet, Greg examined the body of his dead compatriot. But he was unable to look at the corpse for more than a mere moment. He wanted to hurl. Everyone stood silent. “What happened?” he finally asked. His voice calm. He already knew what had occurred before his lights went out. What happened after was the mystery.

  Randy shot Joanne a surprised look. They probably expected an outburst, a moment of self loathing and cursing. Like the one Chester threw not too long ago. Randy thought about Greg’s mental health at this point. Maybe it’s hit him so hard he’s unable to cry?

  “I woke up at the end of your shift to find you out cold on the floor and Kiara....well dead,” Sean said picking his words carefully. “I was the first one awake. I immediately woke the others up.”

  Greg listened intently. His gaze tracing itself across the pool of blood accumulating at the spot below her corpse to her face. Her eyes were untouched. An ear was missing. Every other part seemed intact.

  “It’s my fault,” Greg spoke almost in a whisper. Everyone remained silent. “I had seen something else apart from the cafeteria staff. I thought I was imagining things. I thought I could handle it...and now she’s dead,” his voice calm and dry..

  “Why didn’t you wake us up?”

  His eyes remained a shade of the calmest blue. Although a little trouble loomed under the calm blue sea. Like the calm before a storm. He looked up.

  “The thing was after us. If I were to wake you guys up, it would make you potential targets. As long as it was the two of us....I thought I could win this,” he said meekly. “Clearly, I was wrong.”

  “Wrong? WRONG? Kiara’s dead because you were WRONG!” Josh blurted flailing his arms wildly. Greg remained silent. “Get real! This isn’t a fucking game! You cannot WIN this! There is no VICTORY! You just gambled away a person’s life just so you can ‘win this’ you stupid son of a bitch!”

  Each word felt like he was being stabbed by a rapier. A familiar feeling found Greg again. A lump had formed again arresting any sound that may have wanted to escape his lips. But he had no excuse. No snarky retort. No jokes. Nothing could compensate for a person’s life. He knew it well. He was supposed to be the string that held the group together. What happens when the string itself breaks? Get a new string? Dispose of the old one? Give it another chance? Strengthen it?

  The calm blue sea had come to a standstill, it began to evaporate slowly. Josh continued to bellow, unleashing his rage and rightfully so.

  “Josh that’s enough,” Joanne finally spoke grabbing his arm with a vice like grip. She looked around at everyone. “If her loss affects anyone the most, It’s Greg. He was on guard when she died. Blaming him isn’t going to bring her back.”

  “So what? We wait and sit around till more mistakes happen?” Josh spat venomously.

  An air of unease encircled the group. Dana seemed to be in a state of reflection. Sean licked his upper lip with his tongue and swallowed. Randy stood changeless watching Joanne as she covered for Greg. Chester chose to be a spectator, not wishing to add salt to injury.

  After all the loss of a friend was irreplaceable, unfathomable even.

  “ENOUGH,” Randy commanded. And everyone stopped. “Are we going to sit here and blame each other all day? She’s dead! There’s nothing we can do about it now can we?”

  “Yeah that’s perfect. There’s nothing we can do about it! Is that the best you got? You are in the same boat too. You left Lendl to die. Don’t think we’ve forgotten,” Josh hissed menacingly walking towards Randy.

  “What about you huh Josh? What have you done apart from be a pain in everyone’s ass? All you’ve done is complain and moan about everything. It should have been you in the mech-“

  Dana caught Randy’s arm before he could say anymore. His frustration simmered down and retracted.

  Sean coughed. “This may not be my place to speak...but I think Randy and Joanne are right here. There’s nothing we can do about it except live on and carry the consequences with us,” he said, his voice unruffled.

  “I concur with Sean. Nothing will come of bickering amongst ourselves. It will only lead to mutiny. If anything, we must strengthen the fabric of our relationship. It’s in these trying times that these bonds, this.....fabric is tested,” Professor Westwood spoke. His words had a seemingly midas touch to it. Maybe it was the wise old man vibe. It was the first time that Professor Westwood displayed and cemented his role as a weather beaten and rational person. The group almost immediately accepted this.

  “The world has changed. The rules have changed. In fact there are no rules,” he added adjusting his glasses.

  “Besides, there is something weird going on,” Dana spoke looking at Greg.

  Greg looked at her confused and tired. “What?” he asked lowly, eyes half closed.

  “Do you hear that?” Randy asked.

  Quietude proceeded to take over.

  Greg still seemed half dazed. His ears scanned for any atypical noises. But
he picked nothing. “I don’t hear anything,” he said eyes flashing between Randy and Dana. To him it seemed trivial.

  “Exactly!” Randy said as if it was supposed to mean something.

  Greg didn’t seem moved.

  Taking a deep breath Randy said. “Remember before the mechanical lab door was brought down, the gonerz outside were dead silent?”

  The blue sea was beginning to move, albeit slowly.

  His eyes bulged as he connected the dots. There’s no noise from the darned monsters. It’s almost as if... He swiftly looked towards the direction of the door. There was no clamouring of the gonerz. The door remained unperturbed.

  “So you’ve noticed,” Randy spoke, his voice splashed with newfound clarity.

  “It’s exactly as it was in the mechanical lab,” Sean added.

  Greg’s mind reeled in contemplation. It’s just as I thought. There are different types of them. The ones outside I suspect are the lowest while the one that....I encountered was a superior one. That explains it’s behaviour, playing with the prey. So the superior has a certain degree of intelligence.

  The mysterious fog surrounding the gonerz just grew thicker. There’s more than meets the eye.

  “Greg, was the goner that attacked you the same one from the lab? The one behind that demonic roar? ” Randy asked. His eyes probing.

  Greg thought hard for a moment. “No. This was...different...It didn’t sound anything like the one from the lab...This was more like a....”

  “A what?” Randy pressed.

  “Predator.”

  Professor Westwood looked up.

  “Predator?” Joanne asked puzzled.

  “Yeah, it was playing around with us, almost as if it enjoyed it. It isn’t like the ones out there. From the mechanical lab and what happened here, I think...there are different types of gonerz.”

  Chester stroked his French beard while Joanne explored the possibility. Randy seemed convinced. Sean thought about it. Professor Westwood pressed his lips into a tight line. Josh simply snorted.

  “Did you see it?” Sean asked.

  Greg felt like someone punched him in the gut. Hard.

  He narrowed his eyes and taking a deep breath said “Yeah, it was pale and a bit smaller than the other gonerz, almost like a hunchback. It reeked of wickedness. It also had purplish veins pushing against the surface of it’s skin. It’s eyes were...dark...empty.”

  “How did you lose consciousness?” Chester quizzed still stroking his beard.

  “I stared into the abyss longer than I should have. I’m not sure what happened after that. It’s almost as if the abyss swallowed me.”

  Everyone stood weighing the weight of his words.

  “Whether it knocked you out on purpose or not, we are now in a deep pile of shit,” Chester said.

  “Now we know for sure there are different types of ‘em. There might be more types we don’t know about,” Randy spoke distinctly.

  “That thing could still be here,” Dana said looking about nervously.

  “I doubt it. It seemed opportunistic, cunning from what Greg’s told,” Westwood spoke, his hand ruffling inside his coat pocket. He pulled out a pipe. It had seen a good number of days. He proceeded to pull out a matchbox and randomly picked a matchstick. He lit up his pipe and exhaled in solace.

  It seemed the pressure was getting to the professor as well. Or he decided it’s time to have a good smoke. The professor was an aged man, not overly so but the group estimated him to be in the mid fifties.

  Greg silently praised the professor’s intuition.

  The smell of tobacco drifted through the air. plumes of smoke rose into the air and melted into the darkness.

  Before any more words could be exchanged, a familiar grunting noise found them. Only this time it wasn’t from the outside.

  “Kiara,” Dana gasped.

  Except it wasn’t Kiara anymore. Her eyes had faded to the murky depths of the abyss. She grunted again trying to free herself from her binding that her attacker had left her in. She wailed her hands around wildly. Each passing moment increasing the intensity of the grunting.

  Josh gasped in terror as she grabbed the bottom of his shirt. He tried to get her to unhand him, trying to pry her hands off of him. Her physical strength exceeded that of an average human. Her mouth opened to let out a ghastly screech and tugged violently at Josh’s shirt. Sean and Randy jumped in to pull him away from her clutches. Chester took the moment to bring his hammer down on her extended arm, breaking it. The crunch of her bones made Greg’s stomach churn. He staggered to his feet and clutched his axe tightly. Chester got ready to swing at her again. This time for the face.

  “Wait, I’ll do it,” Greg interrupted.

  “What? You? Are you sure?” Chester asked, taken aback, his hammer frozen in mid air.

  “Yeah,” he said mentally convincing himself.

  Kiara was gone completely by now. It’s gaze now turned towards Greg. He found himself staring right back into it’s eyes. Into the abyss. He felt it again. The bottomless abyss which sucks in everything. The blue sea began to flow, defying the abyss.

  “I’m sorry,” he muttered and took a giant swing with his axe. The weight of the axe suddenly seemed enormous. Heavier than the feeling in his heart. Before he could bring his axe down upon her, something remarkable stopped him in his tracks.

  “il........e....se...” goner Kiara gargled. It seemed for a brief moment, the abysmal look in her eyes had softened. Just as quickly the viciousness returned. Feeling distraught, Greg tried to make sense of what was happening. He closed his eyes. A shiny drop of tear slowly made it’s way down his cheek.

  He bought his axe down upon it. The force separated it’s head from the body. The room fell silent.

  It was over.

  Greg let the axe meet the ground with a heavy clunk. It’s weight apparently too much for him. The blue sea had been split in the middle.

  “It’s what she would have wanted,” Randy spoke sympathetically.

  Greg nodded slowly trying to figure out what just happened.

  Everyone observed a minute of silence for their fallen friend.

  “Lendl and Kiara’s death have taught us something very important,” Randy said. “The value of a human life. They fought to protect us till the bitter end. We cannot let their sacrifices be for nothing. We will push on. We will survive.”

  These words appealed to the deepest part of the subconscious where the will to live was in deep slumber. It renewed faith, even if it was just a little.

  Greg’s fire had nearly been doused out. But everyone’s support rekindled the flame. A loud thud against the fatigued door drew their attention. The door expanded and then contracted almost instantaneously, like it was breathing. Sean ran and jammed the door handle with a stool. The door expanded again. If it weren’t for Sean’s quick thinking, they would’ve been gonerz too. The door parted slightly in the middle allowing a hand to find it’s way through. The hand undoubtedly did not belong to a sane person. A wild screech blasted through the gap in the middle. The gonerz that were silent up until now were suddenly all charged up.

  “We gotta go. Now!” Sean yelled stepping away from the door lest a stray hand should grab him.

  “Through the back. Let’s go!” Randy commanded.

  As everyone made way to the kitchen, the stool was nearing it’s limit. It’s limbs bending steadily.

  In the kitchen, Greg turned on the gas, lit the stove and disconnected some of the pipes to let the gas fill the room. The stool finally gave in and the gonerz came gushing into the cafeteria, frantically searching for their meal. Randy opened the back door and waited by the side door as he ushered everyone out. One by one, everyone exited the cafeteria as Randy held his cover position. The gas began to fill the cafeteria rapidly. The odour began filling Randy’s lungs. The gonerz rushed into the kitchen only to be put down by Randy’s nail gun. When the numbers began to overwhelm him, he closed the book door shut and broke into a
sprint. His friends had covered a fair distance to safety.

  Gonerz roaming the campus noticed the ruckus and rushed towards them. They all broke into sprint and made their way to the Engineering block circling back to the front.

  A bright flash followed by a deafening boom tore through the silence of the night as a majestic yellow ball of fire rose into the sky. The explosion distracted several of the gonerz. “There’s too many of ‘em out here! Let’s go through the engineering block!” Randy yelled over the sound of falling debris and the crackling fire. Randy bought the rear of the group while Sean and Chester took the front. Greg, Joanne and Dana comprised of the central portion. Over at a distance, they observed a group of people running away from the same things pursuing them. There are still people alive. That’s a good sign. Greg huffed and thought to himself.

  They took a sharp right turn entering the place where it all had begun. It was a chance they were taking but they were counting on the fact that the gonerz had spread out to look for food and the halls made it easier for them to defend themselves. Besides running in the open to the Biological Sciences building would be suicide. There was a river of gonerz standing between them and the Biological Sciences block.

  Huffing and panting they entered the block climbing the stairs, taking two at a time. Chester and Sean scanned the hallways for any activity. The halls were dark. The lights should have been working but it seemed as though there wasn’t any power. Then there were the gonerz. Not too many of them though. The gonerz noticed their guests and as the hospitable hosts that they were they rushed to greet them, with open arms. Chester, Sean and now Greg formed the vanguard, clutching their weapons as tightly as humanly possible.