What Remains (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Barrett, Tyler

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  The group had left the relative safety of their rooftop retreat, making the journey down the flights of stairs. They took a short break halfway down the building, not wanting to exhaust themselves before they even got to the bottom of the building.

  Knight envied the younger pilot and his fellow squadmate, Carter. They, at least, had the vigor that made them able to keep going up and down stairs as if they were playing a game. Knight would never admit it to his squad, but he was starting to feel the toll of years of service, having received several wounds. Some of which still plagued him in the field, not enough to hinder him just to annoy him.

  Maybe that was what made him such a strong leader. His ability to not even let his old battle wounds affect his missions. He also had a very strategic mind, able to help prevent bad situations from happening during his missions that others normally didn’t think about. Sure, he was a little tough on the men time to time, but he didn’t act that way towards them out of malice. It was more to push them to their brink and change it to where their brink was farther and farther from where they began; to make them stronger than even they, themselves, thought possible.

  He wanted more than anything for his men to succeed, but he also wouldn’t push them so far, they couldn’t come back. He had seen officers who pushed their men to the point of no return in the field. Normally, when pushed it led to dire consequences, and sometimes claimed a life. It wasn’t like any moral compass society could fix that; sometimes men did what they had to do out in the world that they couldn’t take back. Knight had been in those situations before.

  Knight understood that there was a certain threshold, and once crossed it changed everything. He had refused such an order long ago, and it had cost him a rank. He was glad that he knew that consciously he didn’t have that moral scar and had only walked away with a demotion. Knight hoped that he could spare his men from such scars, but in doing so, he knew that he might have to take those scars for them.

  He recognized that he would become the thing that he was trying to avoid, to save his men. After having the leadership of a squad for a couple of years, he understood that he would take on the responsibilities of hard, life-changing, decisions to keep the blood off his men’s hands. Little did he know that his actions defined his men and would lead to his hands covered in blood.

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  As the group heading down the stairs took a break, Daniels and Evans sat quietly next to each other. Evans looked out over the expanse of the roof, still trying to mentally shield herself from the truth that she was alive in all this. She felt as though she and Daniels knew more than all the others about what was happening in the city, yet, there were no words to describe it.

  Evans sat up and walked over to the edge of the building, taking in the view before her. She looked out towards the sea where the ship and everyone she had known in the military was either dead or stuck out at sea. A few miles out from the city she saw the storm that several hours before seemed like the worst news she had heard in a while. The lightning strikes made the sky over the ocean appear brightly for only a second.

  She counted the seconds in between the flashes and the thunder reaching her to tell the distance of the storm. She only got to the tenth second before the boom of thunder shook her, and the building she was on. She closed her eyes and remembered listening to similar storms approach her house when she was little. Her dad would sit outside on their porch with her and wait for the storms to approach. He was even the one to teach her the counting trick to tell the distance of the storm.

  She could feel the intensity of the storm’s approach. It was going to be a massive storm; she hoped that it wouldn’t be too intense, or they might have to find shelter below. She felt someone come up from behind her. She turned to see Daniels standing next to her, with the same grim attitude she had. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak to her, but no words came out. Instead, he closed his mouth and watched the raging storm approach.

  Daniels felt that the storm was coming to wash away his guilt. Maybe if he were lucky, it would also carry away all the bad in the city. Start everything anew and fresh. Perhaps, it would instead leave more destruction and chaos in its wake. You could never tell if a storm was there to usher in a clean beginning or the wave of chaos with it.

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  They were almost to the sixth floor when the heard the boom of thunder as it shook the building. The squad had forgotten all about the storm that was coming. The squad pressed on eager to make it as far as they could before the storm landed. The squad made their way to the ground floor landing and piled out into the lobby.

  Looking out of the giant glass doors, out into the street they could see that it hadn’t started to rain just yet. They still had a few minutes before the storm showered them. Taking the forward momentum, they rushed out into the street.

  As they ran across the block, Carter looked again at the burnt-out husk that used to be a helicopter. He felt a sliver of fear creep up on him, noting that people who had gone crazy were the cause of this. His mind quickly changed to a hard determination that he was going to prove that he had what it took to be in this squad of men. He decided right there that he wouldn’t allow the infected to get him or anyone else, he would terminate with extreme prejudice.

  The fires around the helicopter had gone out, thankfully. They had donned their night vision goggles in the stairwell. The fire would have blinded them and left them completely in the dark, ironically. The rain was coming now as a slight drizzle, tinkling off cars and the buildings around them. They silently made their way down the block as fast as they could. They made sure to check their sides as they went down the street. Vigilant of the dangers that could lurk in every doorway and alley.

  They made it to the road they were supposed to take down to the crash site. As the squad turned onto the street, the rain started to come down in sheets. It soaked the men almost instantly, but they didn’t take shelter. Knight held up his hand as a fist, the rest of the men stopped in their tracks. He signaled them all to fall into him, and they complied making a small circle around him.

  “Alright, I want us to move slow now, with this storm. We won’t be able to see as well either,” Hissed Knight. As if to answer him, the storm let out some more lightning, making it seem like a day for a second, and blinding them in the process. “Shit, let’s get rid of the night vision, and go old school.”

  They all pushed their night vision goggles up and repeatedly blinked, trying to gain their vision back. Everything was a blur, the cars in the street and buildings looked like monsters coming to eat them. Dark shapes that were moving to get them. As their visions corrected itself, they realized that with the storm they could not see more than twenty feet ahead of them.

  It wasn’t good; the storm was hindering their progress to making it to the downed helicopter. Knight knew they couldn’t stay on the streets during the storm; it was too risky. Their visibility dampened, and they were already soaked. They needed to find shelter to wait out the worst of the storm.

  Chapter 13

  Pitter Patter

  The pilot sat on what was once the side of the helicopter. He had tried to open the ramp to the helicopter, but it was damaged. It had opened about a foot and a half. He cursed up and down at the ramp, but it didn’t care what he said it wasn’t going to open any further. Eventually, he had decided to just sit there against the ‘wall,’ which was the top of the helicopter.

  He had also removed his co-pilot from his seat and laid him on the ground. He seemed to be completely out cold, but he feared to move him any more than he had since he couldn’t tell if anything was wrong with him. Instead, the pilot talked to his co-pilot about what he was going to do once he got out of the helicopter and finished the mission.

  Twenty minutes later he felt the ground shake with the rumble of thunder. He knew the storm was coming; he just did not know when it was going to hit land. As if to answer his question the pitter patter of
rain started to hit the helicopter, quickly rising in intensity. There was now a steady downpour of water rushing to the ground that wasn’t bothered by the helicopter in its way.

  The pilot closed the ramp and listened to the rain reverberate within the fuselage. Thunder and lightning were heard and seen every couple of seconds. It was going to be one hell of a storm. At least, he was safe from it inside. The rain soothed him, and he started to feel the heaviness of sleep come to claim him. He lay against the ‘wall’ and started to feel his eyes droop.

  He was just about to drift off when a loud thud echoed inside the helicopter. He immediately was pulled back to his body from his mind, alert. Another thud, and another, the sound picked up, faster and faster. Great, he thought, it's hailing outside. The storm must be a bad one; he just hoped that it wouldn’t break the cockpit glass. Sure, it was supposed to withstand small arms fire, but he wasn’t sure if it could withstand constant hail damage.

  The thudding noise had risen to a chorus. The rain was coming down so hard the pilot couldn’t see the hail through the window. He sighed and decided to try drifting off again, hoping that he was tired enough not to let the sound bother him. As he turned his head away from the cockpit window, a hand slammed into the glass. The pilot did not notice it and kept his eyes closed; trying to ignore the ‘hail,’ he was hearing.

  Chapter 14

  Martial Law

  The next few days were insane. They had left the apartment to see the movie. Kenji told her about the video he had seen, how real it felt and looked. Kiyomi agreed that it was very strange, but they shouldn’t worry about it. Clearly, the military was handling the unrest that was happening. They both decided to go and see the movie, spend time together, and he wanted to get his mind off the video.

  Kenji promised that he wouldn’t worry about the video and what it showed. However, it crept into his mind every so often. He was helpless to get it out of his mind, even during the movie. Sure, he enjoyed the movie and spending time with his now fiancée. They shared popcorn and a drink, laughing together at the cheesy lines and bad acting, but it haunted the back of his mind nonetheless.

  Afterward, they walked towards the bus stop and waited. There weren’t as many people as there should have been on the street. They both noticed it, they looked up and down the street, only seeing a few people here and there. Kenji thought it was probably from the scare of the riots, unsure of whether to leave their homes.

  He didn’t mind the quietness of the city, the lack of people everywhere in the crowded city. It meant more time alone with Kiyomi, not only that, but they wouldn’t have to fight the crowds to get on the bus. They talked and laughed at the bus stop enjoying each other’s company. The bus showed up fifteen minutes later.

  The bus pulled up to the stop, opened the door, and they climbed aboard. The driver leaned over and spoke rather loudly at them. “Be glad you made this bus; it’s the last one for today!”

  Kenji asked the driver why not understanding what the driver meant since it was still afternoon. The buses ran until midnight. He opened his mouth to ask the driver, but the driver told him he needed to sit down so they could move along. Kenji found a seat towards the front. They both sat next to each other unsure why this was the last bus.

  Both contemplated what the reasons could be. Was it some holiday they had forgotten about? No, surely the driver would have been more pleasant. Maybe on just today, the buses stopped going early. That had to be it; there was no other explanation.

  The bus pulled up to the stop not far from his apartment, and they both got out hurriedly. They wanted to find out what was going on, and surely it would be on the TV. As they crossed the street a military convoy trucks, laden with troops and guns drove past in a hurry. It was a very odd thing to see outside of where he lived. He stared at the convoy finally drove past them before he continued inside.

  They raced inside his building and up to his floor. Kenji unlocked the door, threw it open, and slammed it closed, locking the deadbolt. Kiyomi had rushed past him into the living room and was turning on the TV. The click of his old tube TV powering up whined, and the news was on. They turned up the volume; it was a special news bulletin. The banner at the bottom of the screen was listing city and town names. A great many flew past, before starting over.

  The news anchor was telling everyone that they had just received word an hour before that Tokyo had been placed under martial law starting tonight. There would be a hold on all public services, which explained the bus, and a curfew. Anyone caught outside during the curfew was to be considered dangerous, and the military would take appropriate action. The situation was serious, and he knew that the video wasn't a joke now.

  They both looked at each other and understood this was real, and they were right in the middle of it. It hadn’t seemed real until martial law was announced on live TV. It didn’t affect them until now, so they didn’t think twice about it. His mind raced, he thought about his parents. His parents! How could he have forgotten about them, they needed to be warned about what was happening.

  Luckily, they were out of the ever-expanding zone of cities under martial law. However, the town wasn’t exactly modern; they had a couple of phones for the whole town. Most residences didn’t believe in modern day electronics. They just didn’t have the money or time for them. Kenji picked up his cell phone and tried his parent’s neighbors who normally were nearby their phone. It rang.

  Again, it rang.

  He was starting to worry now.

  It rang a third time.

  A fourth… the click of the line finally connecting.

  “Hello?”

  He let out a sigh of relief; he asked if they knew anything about what was going on, to which they replied they had heard nothing. Quickly, he told them that they needed to warn the town about the riots and that most of the surrounding area was under martial law. At first, the person on the phone seemed disbelieving but agreed to do as he asked. He told them to tell his parents that he loved them before disconnecting.

  Kenji hoped that he would see them again, so he could tell them in person that he loved them. He wished that he had never left them alone; they were old and could have used him there. He knew that with Martial Law in effect he would not be able to leave the city without proper government approval. As it stood, the government was doing everything it could to control the riots, as well as, trying to cover up what was shown on the news. Martial Law had was in effect, and the government seemed to be doing everything in its power to keep its citizens safe.

  Kenji sat down on the couch, feeling drained and trying to formulate a plan. If the riots were going to transpire here who knows what could happen, there was nothing he could leave to chance if he could help it. For all he knew the government could collapse. He got up and decided that they needed to go to the food market and buy as much as they could just in case. He didn’t like the idea of being trapped in his home without food.

  Kenji told her where they needed to go, and Kiyomi agreed. She stopped him, asking why he was so worried. The government was still functioning, and they still had lives to live, jobs to go to. Kenji looked her in the eyes and told her that maybe it would be safer if they didn’t go to their jobs for a couple of days just to be safe. Kiyomi agreed that she wouldn’t go to hers since her place was on the other side of town, and all public transportation had been shut down.

  They left the apartment once again, but, this time, more cautious of other people. Kenji understood that it was highly unlikely that most people were part of the ‘rioters,’ but he didn’t want to take any chances. Luckily, for them, the store was only five blocks away, just a short walk. They still didn’t see many people like before, only a few people who like them seemed to want to keep their distance.

  Turning the corner where the store was, they stopped dead in their tracks. They were not the only ones with the idea of stocking up on food. A small crowd was grabbing anything and everything in the store, the line to pay for the food was enormo
us. Kenji chortled to himself at the things people were grabbing, and their sheer ability to panic as they were at the mention of a government collapse. Some grabbed things such as carts of alcohol, others cleaning supplies, afraid they wouldn’t be able to clean their homes.

  They both went into the store and started to grab nonperishable food, batteries, and water bottles. Kenji picked up a small radio that was crank powered, just in case they broadcasted some news over the airwaves. They piled all they had into a small shopping cart; they easily had enough food and water to last them two weeks. He remembered suddenly that his neighbor across the hall was an old woman who would most likely not be able to make it out to the store.

  Kenji went back through and grabbed a few extra things for her, so she wouldn’t have to make the trip. She was a nice old lady, and he didn’t want her to be out in this craziness. Returning to the line, he heard shouting; it was a couple of men, one was accusing the other of cutting him in line. He couldn’t make out much of what they were saying.

  Kenji saw a flash of metal come from the pocket of the accused man. It took his mind a moment to comprehend what it was. The man stood there and held a gun to the other man, threatening to shoot him. The gunman shouted to everyone that he wasn’t going to let this line be the death of him. His eyes darted around the room; they held the look of a desperate man.

  The man in line behind the gunman took a chance and attempted to grab the gun and wrestle it away. In the struggle the sound of a gunshot was clear, most people ducked down momentarily, others ran out of the store some taking off with things and others just their lives. A few women screamed, and the man with the gun looked around, backing away from where the man he had just shot was laying on the ground bleeding out. The gunman looked at the man on the ground with wide eyes now and decided that he shouldn’t be here anymore. He ran out of the store; no one tried to stop him.