When the Future Ended

by David Spell

  “That fourth van you told me about just attacked the Braves Stadium. There's a 7:00 game and they're attacking the crowd trying to get in. Some of the terrorists managed to get inside the stadium. They have an active shooter situation and there are reports of several officers down. I need to pull some of our people from here and send them over there.

  "The scene here is pretty much contained. You guys are going to be on your own clearing the park. I'll keep a few officers here for containment."

  In the end, Chuck was able to get the lieutenant to give him five of the officers that had been on containment duty. That would allow him to have two four man teams. He pulled Luis and Terrance aside and made the introductions. Terrence had put on his black SWAT uniform. He had on his heavy body armor designed to stop rifle rounds and a zombie’s teeth. He was carrying a suppressed H&K MP5 submachine gun. A fourth officer, carrying a pump action shotgun, walked up and said, “I was told to report to you. I’m Jason Wood.”

  Another four officers came walking over. McCain huddled them up and told them what he wanted. They needed to clear the park, from front to back, as throughly as they could.

  “Here are the rules of engagement. Any aggressive or violent infected person, give them a verbal command if you can, but put them down if they don’t respond. Head shots only. Don't get bit! Injured, non-aggressive people, let’s try and get them some help, or if they're mobile point them towards the exit. Just understand, this virus causes some people to turn quickly and others seem to take longer.

  “An officer near the children’s area just reported being overrun by a group of fifteen or so. That was that last group of shots. He said they got the paramedics and another officer and that he'd been bitten. He was running and talking. Let’s go see if we can help him.”

  Someone gave Chuck a map of the park and the eight men huddled around it. Chuck and his team would move towards the injured officer's last location. The other team would take the same route Luis had taken earlier and work their way towards the back of the park.

  Arbor Place Mall, Friday, 1830 hours

  The scene in the parking lot of the mall was even more chaotic than Rebecca had imagined. The police had blocked all entrances and only emergency personnel were allowed to pass through. Eddie had told her where to meet him.

  The command post was centrally located the middle of the parking lot. Teams of officers were working through the parking area, continuing to eliminate threats. The occasional shot rang out as an officer had to dispatch one of the infected people turned zombies. People who, just an hour before, were peacefully shopping had been turned into killers.

  Paramedics were attending to gunshot victims who had managed to get outside. They also were treating non-violent bite victims. The ambulances she saw seemed to be loading up, racing to the hospitals nearby, unloading the victims, and heading back for more due to the sheer numbers involved. Emergency Management Services had protocols for dealing with many different types of emergencies. Handling a large-scale outbreak of a zombie virus was not one of them.

  Eddie, Jimmy, and a young white guy were talking to a police captain when Rebecca pulled up in the Suburban. Marshall walked over as she got out of the SUV.

  “Hey, boss. I quit. I just want to go back to chasing serial killers and drug dealers,” he said with a smile.

  “I'm glad you guys are ok, Eddie. What happened?”

  He recounted their story. He pointed out Chris Rogers and told her how he had assisted them. When he finished, Johnson walked over to the police captain in charge and introduced herself.

  “Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Captain Dan Fowler, with the City of Douglasville PD. Your guys did a great job. They took down all six of those terrorists. The problem now, though, is inside the mall itself. It hasn't been cleared. We probably have a lot more injured people in there and more of those zombie things.”

  “So, what’s next, Captain? How can we help?”

  “I’m stretched pretty thin on manpower, ma’am. That incident on the interstate has a lot of our people tied up. Do you have any more officers that can join us?”

  Johnson shook her head. “Two of my officers are being transported to the hospital with gunshot wounds from down on the interstate. My other two are dealing with another incident like this one at Six Flags. Do you have a SWAT Team that could help us clear the mall?”

  “I've requested that they be activated. Several of these officers in the parking lot are SWAT officers but, as you can see, we're still trying to secure the area outside of the mall. We have at least twelve people dead in the parking lot and another twenty or thirty injured. From what your guys said, there are probably five times those numbers on the inside.”

  Rebecca walked over to where Marshall, Jones, and Rogers were standing. She introduced herself to Chris.

  “I hear that you really helped these guys out. Thank you.”

  “Right place, wrong time or wrong place, right time. I’m just glad I was able to make a difference.”

  “Would you like to jump back in, Chris? I know it's a lot to ask but we need to clear the mall and get to those who are injured. I'm trying to get a few more officers from the captain but he said they don't have many available. We could really use you, if you're willing. There still may be people inside that need to be rescued.”

  Chris looked at Eddie and Jimmy. They nodded at him. It was clear that they had already accepted him.

  “Yes, ma’am. I'll do whatever you need me to do. I’m almost out of ammo, though, and will need some more .40 caliber and maybe some body armor and a jacket. This t-shirt doesn't offer much protection if one of those things tries to bite me.”

  “That shouldn't be a problem. Let me go have another little chat with Captain Fowler.”

  She told the captain that she and her four-person team would start clearing the mall. She turned on her charm and was able to get him to release three more officers to help them. He also pulled an extra soft body armor out of his trunk and a heavy police jacket. He couldn't help with extra ammunition, though. His officers carried 9mm.

  Rebecca gave the items to Chris. He had less than one full magazine for his Glock 23. That wasn't going to be enough. He was off duty when the chaos had started and was simply shopping in the mall. He normally only carried one extra magazine when he wasn't working.

  “The captain doesn't have any .40 ammo but how about a suppressed Colt M4? I happen to have a couple of those and plenty of loaded magazines.”

  Chris’ eyes lit up. “That would be even better. Everybody knows a pistol is only to hold the bad guys off until you can grab your rifle.”

  Rebecca walked Chris over to the Suburban and handed him a rifle. Rogers slung Andy’s M4 over his shoulder and loaded it with a thirty round magazine. He pulled the charging handle to the rear and let it go forward and then set the selector to "safe." Chris put several extra magazines in the pockets of the police jacket he was wearing.

  Rebecca grabbed her own rifle, chambered a round, and slung it over her chest. She was a big fan of the M4. It had gotten her out of more than one scrape in the war on terror.

  She placed a call to the FBI and requested them to respond. She also called Dr. Martin at the CDC and let him know about the situation. This was turning into a full-blown crisis at the mall but it was going to get bigger as it spread from infected people who had managed to get away. She asked that Dr. Martin send whatever resources he could to assist the emergency services dealing with the incident. She also told him what was going on at Six Flags so they could send personnel there, too.

  The three additional officers promised by Captain Fowler joined them. Rebecca was in charge but Eddie, Jimmy, and Chris had been inside the mall. She hadn’t.

  “Eddie, how do you think we should handle it?”

  “I think we go in the main entrance on the upper level. Being high will let us pick off zombies on the lower level from a tactical advantage. I'd also recommend that we stick together. We work our way down the
right side of the mall. When we get to a small store, two guys clear it. A big store, we take five in. We'll need two people to guard the entrance on the big stores so that nothing sneaks in or out behind us.

  “When we get to the end of the mall, we come back down the other side. It's going to take a while to do this right so we have to stay focused.”

  Johnson nodded. That was as good a plan as any.

  “What if we find injured victims?” one of the new officers asked.

  “Let’s hope we do,” Rebecca said. “If we find any, and they're mobile, two of us will escort them out. If they're not mobile, two of us will go to the closest exit and bring in the paramedics. For now, let’s say you and you,” she said, pointing to the two youngest police officers.

  “And guys,” Eddie said, looking at the three police officers that had just joined them. “It's bad in there. We had a group of five and another group of ten infected that tried to attack us. Head shots are the only thing that will stop them. Don’t let yourself get bitten! I know it doesn’t feel right to shoot unarmed people, but these people are already dead. There's no cure for this virus so the best thing that we can do is eliminate the ones that we find inside.”

  “Any questions?” Rebecca asked.

  No one said anything. “Ok, it's getting late,” she said. “Let’s get started.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Putting the Fire Out

  Arbor Place Mall, Friday, 2215 hours

  “That’s it. The mall's secure,” Rebecca said.

  The six exhausted officers sat down on benches near the exit. The process of searching a building is physically and emotionally draining. They had returned to the doors where they had begun clearing the mall. Everybody needed to catch their breath before heading back out into the parking lot. It had taken them over three hours to clear the upper level of the mall.

  An hour into their search, the local SWAT Team had shown up and had cleared the lower level. They had more men and moved faster, finishing in less than two hours. Rebecca’s team was made up of herself and her two experienced warriors, an off-duty officer, and three local police officers. Having never worked together as a team, they took their time, making sure they were thorough in their search.

  Johnson’s team had shot twenty-six zombies. They found eighteen bodies. Some had been shot and killed by the terrorists and others appeared to have succumbed to the virus. Another twenty-two people were found alive. Thirteen people had hidden themselves when the shooting started and stayed hidden, waiting to be rescued.

  The other nine live people that they rescued had various injuries. Six had been injured by gunfire. Three had been bitten but had not become zombies. They would probably die, Rebecca knew, but she was surprised that they were still alive and had not turned. They must have strong immune systems.

  The incident commander, Captain Fowler, was on the phone in the command post when Rebecca walked up. Another older man was standing with him. When the captain finished his phone call, he introduced the Chief of Police, Gerald White.

  “Ms. Johnson, Captain Fowler has told me that we owe you and your men a debt of gratitude. This is a terrible incident, but the quick response of your men kept it from being much worse.”

  Rebecca thanked him and briefed them on what they had seen and done. The SWAT Commander joined them in the CP. He said that his officers had shot nineteen zombies and had rescued eleven people. They had found twenty-seven bodies.

  At that point, the death toll was at ninety. Many of those who had been transported to local hospitals had been infected by the virus and would probably not make it, pushing the death toll even higher.

  One of the CDC’s Clean Up Teams had arrived. They would be helping the local crime scene teams process the scene, as well as assisting with the body disposal. The second Clean Up Team was at Six Flags Over Georgia and would be working with the locals there.

  Dr. Charles Martin, Assistant Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at the CDC, had arrived with a team to monitor and assist the local emergency workers. While this crisis was different than anything that they had ever handled, the CDC did have a protocol that they would try and implement to contain the virus. Another emergency management team was enroute to Six Flags.

  The media was out in full force. A section of the mall parking lot had been allotted to them. Captain Fowler had been keeping them updated and it was a reporter from one of the local television channels who had told Fowler about the attacks in other American cities. He had been busy with the crisis at the mall and had not heard that New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, and New Orleans had all been hit by similar attacks.

  Fowler shared what he had heard with Rebecca, who visibly paled. We've failed, she thought. It's going to be impossible to contain this now. It's going to spread and wipe out millions of people. Everything is going to change.

  While Eddie and Jimmy were giving their statements to responding FBI agents, Rebecca walked over to Chris Rogers. He was waiting for his turn to give his own statement.

  “Chris, you really were a God-send today. Thanks for being willing to jump in and help us.”

  “My pleasure, ma’am. This was one of those things that you train for but pray will never happen. It was really something working with you and your guys.”

  “Well, interesting that you should say that. We have some openings and I think that you would be a good fit. You got a pretty good idea of what we do today. Thankfully, everyday isn't like this. But the zombie virus is our biggest case right now.”

  They talked for a while longer. Chris had some questions about working for the CDC but seemed very interested. Rebecca gave him a card and asked him to send her his résumé.

  Westside Hospital, Emergency Room, Friday, 1935 hours

  Scotty and Andy were transported to the hospital in the same ambulance. The young, attractive paramedic, who had been worried about their rifles, was in the back with them and was all business. She was especially concerned with the gunshot to Andy’s side. It continued to bleed and she had an IV going on him within minutes.

  As a paramedic himself, Scotty had performed the initial assessment of Fleming’s wound and determined that it wasn't that serious. It appeared to him to be just a bullet fragment. It did not appear to have hit anything vital and should be easy to remove.

  “Do you think I'm going to make it?” Scotty called over to the paramedic, adding a note of fear to his voice. She was checking the flow on Fleming's IV.

  Smith had caught some glass fragments in the face which had caused several small cuts. An AK-47 bullet had also ripped across his left shoulder. It was a nasty, bloody gash but, as gunshot wounds go, this one wasn't very serious, either.

  Her name tag identified the paramedic as Emily Clark. She slid over to Scotty to check his wounds.

  “Are they going to have to amputate my arm?” he asked her innocently.

  “No, you're going to be fine,” she said, lifting up the compression bandage he was holding over the wound so she could see if the bleeding had slowed. “Just keep putting pressure on it.”

  “I’m going to be fine?”

  “Yes. You're going to be ok, I promise.”

  “Will I be fine like you?” Scotty asked, flashing his best smile.

  Emily blushed and smiled. Fleming glanced over and rolled his eyes at Smith.

  “Hey, Emily, do you like to eat?” Scotty asked.

  “Sure, why?”

  “I like to eat, too! Maybe we could eat together sometime? Especially since you think I'm going to live and all.”

  She looked down and shook her head, trying to suppress another smile. “I don’t know…”

  “Oh come on, please. I mean we have so much in common. We both like to eat. I get shot and you patch me up. At least think about it. Maybe you could give me your phone number and I’ll call you. We can talk and you'll find out what a great guy I am.”

  The two men lay next to each other on
gurneys in the emergency room. News of the attacks was filtering in and other victims began turning up at the ER. A television on the wall was also showing chaotic scenes from the different cities that had been attacked. Andy and Scotty watched in silence, knowing their work was about to get even harder.

  An ER nurse checked on both men and wrote her notes down in their files. A harried ER doctor came in to meet them. It wasn’t everyday that he had two wounded police officers fresh from a shootout with terrorists and zombies in his emergency room. He noticed that they were still wearing their pistols. That was completely against hospital regulations. A look into their eyes, though, convinced him that it wasn't worth pushing the issue.

  Doctor Schuler’s assessment agreed with Scotty’s about Andy’s wound. It was not serious or life-threatening. The bullet fragment would need to be removed and should not be a very complicated procedure. He hoped to do it just using a local anesthetic.

  “So, tell me about this zombie virus,” the doctor said. “With these attacks today and what sounds like similar attacks in other cities, it looks like this thing is getting out of control.”

  “Well, Doc,” Andy said. “I'd recommend using restraints on everyone that gets brought in from these incidents. If just one of those people who got bit turns zombie in here, it's going to be a bad night for all of us."

  "And let the CDC know if you even suspect that one of your patients is infected," said Scotty. "Also, you're going to want to have some armed security. Think about getting an off-duty police officer, but one who can really shoot. I know this isn't normal hospital protocol, but the only thing we've seen that stops an infected person who has reanimated is a bullet or some other traumatic injury to the brain."