[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles

by Watkins, Charles

  “I promise…” Zoey answered after a few seconds had passed.

  Charles seemed satisfied by that he and lay down flat on his back and seemed to drift off to sleep, Zoey picked up Andy and took him into the nearby bathroom where she gave him a bath in the shower as it had been awhile for the both of them and as soon as they were finished, she took Andy back out into the room only to find that Charles was gone; she sat Andy down on his feet and searched around the room near the bed and that was when a loud scream got her attention and her heart sank at the sight of what was now before her—Charles had died and turned, coming back as one of the creatures that stalked the world outside. Zoey watched in horror, helpless to act as what had been the love of her life attacked little Andy sinking its teeth into his flesh causing him to scream in pain; Zoey cried out in terror and grief getting the creatures’ attention from Andy and it started coming after her forcing her into the corner on the other side of the bed—the area was blocked off by a white, blood-stained curtain from the room’s previous occupant and she fell to her ass crying hysterically as the creature that had been Charles continued to try and get to her.

  “C-Charles…I can’t live without you…I’m sorry…” Zoey stated as she took her revolver into her hands and stuck it into her own mouth pulling the trigger.

  The gun fired and everything that had been was gone in the blink of an eye…

  The lights dimmed and then went out completely as a deafening explosion rocked the foundation around the small group of people who huddled inside of the café that they had barricaded against the assailants that had begun attacking people—young 19 year old Chloe Emerson sat bewildered and confused, she had watched several of her family members be killed and eaten in the past few hours and the night of October 20, 2000 had been one for the records; civil and social services had collapsed and it was hard to tell whether or not there was any government left at all. The other people around her had the same story as she did—these creatures had come out of nowhere and attacked people with homicidal aggression killing and eating their flesh and there didn’t seem to be any way to stop them, all of the news networks were deadlocked with the same blue-screen message and it looked like those still alive were completely on their own.

  “I can’t believe that this is happening…” One of the other female survivors named Bebe Trumann stated from nearby where she huddled with her boyfriend Nathan Evers.

  “What are those things…?”

  “They just came out of nowhere and started attacking and eating people!” One of the other female survivors stated from nearby where she sat clutching a thick piece of lumber that was stained with blood on one end.

  Her name was Daphnie Suthers and it looked like she had been at a party or something when the shit had hit the fan so to speak because she seemed a little tipsy and Chloe was surprised that she had even made it this far without becoming a meal to one of those creatures outside—she seemed like she was in a state of denial even though she had obviously encountered the assailants herself from the blood smeared all over the piece of wood she held. One of the other male survivors nearby suddenly called everyone’s attention to a radio that he had found nearby—he fiddled with the buttons and knobs for a few seconds getting only static, a few more seconds passed and then a broadcast came on that sounded like it was coming from a place not too far off.

  “There’s a station in Milwaukee—that’s most likely where it’s coming from…” He stated as he adjusted the volume.

  “At this point persons holing up in private residence or public locations are no longer safe no matter how well stocked they are—martial law has been declared in all fifty states as of half an hour ago; most of the military seems to have been dispatched to the large cities and word has been coming in that massive armies of these creatures have been surging through the cities and the countryside and folks…there doesn’t look like there will be any stopping them. Casualties are piling higher and higher and most of the county hospitals and clinics have already been lost—anyone bitten or scratched by these things develop a high fever shortly afterward and then seemingly die only to reanimate shortly after and anyone around them at that time runs the risk of being attacked and infected themselves if not killed and eaten outright; the only known method of destroying these creatures is to destroy their brains. That can mean either shooting them in the head or severing their spinal column from the brain—spokesmen from the CDC stated earlier that the pattern that this infection is following suggests a viral strain never before encountered; one that seemingly mutates from victim to victim and vaccines or cures being found are highly unlikely.” The news reporter over the radio stated in a muffled voice as the signal was going in and out.

  “We really should consider leaving this place—these barricades won’t hold those things off forever.” Chloe stated as she glanced toward the sound of automatic gunfire from somewhere out in the street.

  “I’m not leaving this place—at least in here we have food and shelter; going out there with those monsters is suicide.” Daphnie stated in a tone that sounded like she was about to crack from the pressure.

  “I agree with her—this place is a deathtrap—sooner or later those fuckers will break in here and I’m not so sure that the seven of us will be able to fight them off…we should leave while we can and find someplace that’s easier to defend.” The man who had found the radio stated as he glanced around at everyone.

  “Okay…suppose we do that—then what?”

  “Those fuckers are everywhere and we don’t even have any real weapons…” Nathan stated in an almost irate tone.

  “Dustin—you had a gun earlier when we first barricaded this place—couldn’t you use it to defend the rest of us?” Bebe asked as her attention focused on the man with the radio.

  “Yeah…but it’s only got like four bullets left and four bullets aren’t gonna protect us from those things out there—there are too damned many of them.” The man with the radio answered casually.

  “Okay then—a few of us need to go out and see if we can’t find some weapons, supplies and whatever else we might need and then we need to think about leaving this place and finding somewhere more secure.” Chloe stated folding her arms across her chest.

  “Who put you in charge?” One of the other girls demanded with an angry expression.

  This other girl was a moderately short brunette whose hair was past her shoulders—from what Chloe had gathered in the brief amount of time that the seven of them had been together, her name was Kayla Pierce; she and her boyfriend Brett Nash had joined the group only moments before the doors to the café had been nailed shut and barricaded and they had told tales of running from a church gathering where over two-dozen of those things had busted in and started ripping people to shreds and eating them.

  “Nobody put me in charge—I’m simply trying to help us survive, if that offends you, I’m sorry.” Chloe answered with a dark look.

  “She’s just trying to come up with a means of saving your ass…lay off.” The guy with the radio answered glaring at the brunette girl.

  “I think that there’s a car out back…we might be able to hotwire it and get the fuck outta here…” Nathan stated getting to his feet and heading over into the rear kitchen of the café.

  Chloe stood up with the help of the man with the radio and he smiled at her.

  “My name’s Dustin Radcliff—hopefully we can stay breathing.” He stated folding his arms across his chest.

  “Chloe Emerson…I hope so…I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this city though, those things are everywhere.” Chloe answered casually.

  Seconds later Nathan returned jingling a set of keys and they all followed him through the rear kitchen out back where it looked like the area was protected by a tall wooden fence—the car that he had found was a 1988 Sedan and it looked to be operational; everyone piled into the car and Nathan started t
he engine before driving over to the gate where Dustin and Brent got out and worked to remove the chain and padlock. They had no more gotten the gate open when a surge of assailants tackled Brent and Dustin—Dustin was able to get free and he ran back to the car but Brent cried out of pain as the creatures bit into his flesh tearing it from his body; Kayla Pierce screamed his name and ran to him trying to help him but she too was attacked and killed soon after as the other five watched with horror inside of the car. Nathan gunned the engine and ran several of the creatures over smashing their heads and bodies underneath the wheels of the car and soon after they were heading down the main highway in the direction of southeast—the roadway was littered with wrecked and burning cars and people were here and there scrambling for safety as the creatures chased after them; some of them had killed people and were eating them right in the middle of the road and Nathan was forced to swerve to avoid them.

  “Lansing is toast…we should try and head south and see if we can’t find a military shelter or something.” Dustin stated as he once again started listening to his radio.

  Over the next few months the group bounced from place to place seeing more and more the same as they went, Nathan and Bebe had since died from being attacked and bitten and Dustin was now doing his best to protect Chloe and Daphnie—whom he had recently developed a romance with’ Chloe looked on feeling more alone than she ever had before; she knew though that she had to survive, nothing else mattered at that point. Weeks passed into months, months into years—so much time had passed that she had lost track of it all, Dustin and Daphnie were gone—they had just up and left one morning without so much as a word and Chloe found herself alone; she had grown into somewhat of a good shot and she had found a large-caliber revolver on the body of a dead cop weeks before.

  “I wonder if there’s even anyone out there still alive…” She said to herself one morning.

  She had recently been hiding in an old feed store—she had tied the doors shut with old rope and used black paint to cover the exposed windows, there hadn’t been any signs of anyone else but the dead were getting more and more numerous and any sort of sound drew them down on you like crazy; she had just started cooking herself breakfast over the small fire that she had built when dozens of the dead creatures suddenly smashed through the nearby door and came after her. Chloe grabbed her weapon and gear knowing that she didn’t stand a chance if she stayed and her fight or flight instinct had already kicked in—she fled from the feed store finding a run-down Ford Taurus near the edge of the small town where she had been hiding, she managed to hotwire the car and get the engine started just as the surge of dead started getting really close and she peeled out of there sending rocks and dirt flying behind her; she managed to make it a few miles down the roadway until the engine started to sputter and die and she suddenly found herself in the same situation as what she had fled from.

  “Fuck…I’ve got to get away from here!” She cried as more of the dead started to appear and sprint towards her.

  That was when she spotted something that made her blood run cold—there among them coming straight for her was something that she had never seen before, it was a creature that looked to have multiple faces on a torso that was covered with a thick, stick resin-like substance. The creature moved at an accelerated hobble and it seemed to move even faster once it had spotted her—Chloe took off away from the car with the pack of ghouls on her heels almost and she arrived at a tall chain-linked fence and was forced to climb over it getting scratched and cut up in the process, she dropped down to the ground on the other side and picked herself up as the fence wasn’t stopping her pursuers; she started running in the direction of north—at least that’s what she thought at the time. She ran and ran for what seemed like hours until she stopped momentarily to catch her breath and that was when she looked back and saw that the dead and the other thing were still after her, where she was wearing down from exhaustion—they were not; that was when she spotted what looked like a convoy sitting on the roadway a few hundred feet ahead of her and she picked up running again getting the attention of the people who stood around their vehicles, one man in particular—she ran to him as one of the others of his group called his attention to the creature still approaching in pursuit of her and they all gathered into a firing line and opened fire on the dead as well as the creature. The dead fell to the ground and didn’t get back up but the other creature was still coming and getting closer and closer, one of the other women tossed the man whose arms Chloe had ran into what looked like a grenade launcher and he fired several round into the creatures’ body causing an explosion that destroyed it.

  “Who are you?” The man asked looking her over closely.

  “M-My name is Chloe Emerson…I’m from what used to be Lansing, Michigan…yesterday I fled from where I had been hiding because it was overrun and I hotwired a car and made it most of the way here but then the car ran out of gas and I was forced to flee on foot—those things have been chasing me ever since I ditched the car!” Chloe answered in a panic filled voice.

  “Well, you’re safe now.” He answered as he eyed the blood on her clothes closely.

  Chloe smiled, for somehow, she knew in her heart that she would be safe from then on…

  Melanie Roberts walked from her car to the front of her family’s three-storied house in the rural outskirts of the town of Bainbridge, Georgia—she had been away from home for several months at college and the date was October 21, 2000; she was tired and hoping for some relaxation before heading back to school. She opened the front door and stepped inside meeting her mother, father and two younger brothers in a hug—she noticed though that they seemed worried about something and she could hear the television in the living room blaring the news; it sounded like the same thing that she had heard at school before leaving.

  “I sure hope that this mess doesn’t affect us here…” Her father stated as he returned to the recliner in the corner that faced the TV.

  Melanie excused herself and her worries and headed for the stairs, her mother called after her that dinner would be ready soon and she caught something about hunting squirrels from her younger brothers—the chatter from them only sounded half-hearted though as the news was no doubt affecting them too; she got to her bedroom and opened the door sitting her things down in the corner, it seemed really good to be home after such a long time. Trying to settle her own fears, she began unpacking and soon after went down to eat dinner with her family, afterward she returned to her room and soon after fell asleep—the next morning seemed to come rather quickly and she woke to strange sounds coming from other parts of the house; fearful at what could possibly be making the sounds, Melanie cautiously opened her bedroom door and headed down the hall toward the stairs. Descending one step at a time, she soon arrived in the living room and noticed that things were in shambles—objects were scattered all over the floor and glass as well as traces of a red substance were all over the floor; that was when she heard a horrible scream and turned to see what looked like her mother standing facing her in the kitchen—except she didn’t look like herself, her upper torso and arms were covered with the same red substance that Melanie now realized was blood and she looked dead. The creature that had been her mother suddenly lunged at her but Melanie was able to dodge and move out of the way as what had been her mother fell through the nearby glass coffee table—she glanced at another sound and seen what had been her father and two younger brothers, but they were all in the same state as her mother; her father had a large chunk of flesh missing from his upper chest and he was missing his left arm from the elbow down, her two brothers were covered with blood and looked to have been both eaten alive. Melanie cried out in horror at the realization at what was before her and what had befallen her family, but she forced herself to flee from them out the front door where she ran to her car climbing inside and fumbling with the keys in her pocket that were still there from the previous day—she managed to get the en
gine started just as what had been her family struck the outside of her driver’s side window trying to get in at her, she floored it and sped away from everything that she had known heading toward the main part of town. Elsewhere at that same time, the town minister—a man named Eddie Sykes worked to make the members of his congregation comfortable; many of them had came to his doors seeking shelter and safety from something that had started to happen outside. Many of the people he was caring for sported deep wounds that looked like bites, while others were clearly sick, having what he could only describe as a raging fever; he went into his office at the opposite end of his church to answer the phone but only made it halfway there before the sounds of breaking glass and screaming brought him back out. He locked eyes with over a dozen of the assailants that had broken through the door and side window and he glanced around as several of the people whom he had been caring for were now just like the ones that had broken in—more of them were rising to their feet in the same state and he knew that they were all lost, just as this place was; he turned and ran into his office shutting and locking the door behind him as the creatures on the other side started pounding on the door. Eddie turned and grabbed a chair from nearby tossing it through the stained glass window behind him, he then climbed up and jumped out of the window landing on the lawn rolling down the small hill a few feet before he stopped and attempted to get to his feet—he grimaced in pain as it appeared that he had twisted his ankle; getting to his feet with some trouble, he hobbled away from his doomed flock as they were now coming after him in a sprint. He headed toward the wooded areas of town hoping to find a safe place to hide while on the other side of town, two teenagers named Alan York and Carla Bloom were busy—engaged in the nasty, romping around on his bed at his backwoods place; loud grunge music blared out of the nearby stereo and it kept them from hearing the pounding sounds that were coming from the outside of the bedroom window and seconds later, the glass shattered and several of the infected assailants entered the room and attacked them.