The Z Strain

by Matthew Isaiah Crawford

  “Well, glad you made it. Susie here is terrible at every card game known to man, but she can’t stop talking about how well she can play hearts. Do you play?” Taylor asked.

  “I can learn.” Said Andrea with a smile.

  Poudre Valley

  9:56 PM

  Six minutes later Captain Horn and Dr. Beckworth arrived at a red cabin with a clumsily painted white cross on the roof. Their escorts dropped them off and headed back to camp. As they walked through the door to the small cabin it smelled of freshly cut wood. There are several cells that had been constructed in the back of the room. Also appear to have been completed just for him. The floor is covered in sawdust.

  Horn assumed that’s where he was heading and walked directly to the back of the room. The young soldier walked around him and again struggled inserting a key into a lock taking several agonizing moments where he kept shooting glances up towards Horn. Finally, the gate swung open and horn walked a few paces inside. The door slammed shut behind him and the key turned in the lock. Horn backed up to the bars and let the soldier remove the handcuffs. He turned around to face his jailer who was already backing away.

  “May I remove the mask?”

  “The spit mask? Um. Yea. Would you mind leaving on the surgical mask?”

  “Sure thing boss.” Horn said as he removed the mesh spit bag leaving only a powder blue surgical mask. Horn looked around at his meager accommodations that included an uncomfortable looking cot, bedding, and a bucket. He took a seat on the decidedly uncomfortable cot sitting against the wall. It came with the standard issue scratchy army blanket and a thin pillow. To Horn however it looked like paradise. It looked like the first good night’s sleep he’s had in days. He learned on night one that you can’t sleep well with one eye open. He was safe here, he was guarded.

  The medical officer took a seat at the desk facing the bars, removed his sidearm and placed it on top of the desk. He then sat still and stared at Captain Horn for a moment before rising again. He returned with two plastic cups.

  “We’re going to need samples of your urine and stool.”

  “You in a hurry for these?”

  “No. Just, whenever it occurs.” The young soldier stammered. He didn’t mind. Horn set the cups on the ground next to his bed. The soldier returned to his seat and continued to stare at Captain Horn as he made his bed, laid down, and was snoring within a couple of minutes.

  Bitterroot Valley Montana

  10:25 PM Monday August 19th

  Jeff Covemaker had run until his chest was filled with fire. Thrashing blindly through the forest, his face and hands felt shredded. He climbed up a tree and sat quietly waiting in the darkness trying to calm his breath as it seemed to be the only sound in the woods. It seemed like an eternity passed trying to get quiet. When he finally did, he could hear something else crashing towards him through the woods. He stopped moving. Jeff nearly jumped out of his skin when a gunshot resounded mere feet from where he’s hiding. It was quiet for a moment then something started moving again. Jeff could just barely make out someone walking below him. He wasn’t going to say anything until he saw the glint of a silver handgun in the dim moonlight.

  “Psst, who’s down there?” Whomever it was jumped in the darkness.

  “It’s Terry, Terry Whitaker.” He whispered in the darkness, not knowing who or where the voice had come from.

  “Terry shit, look up, it’s me Jeff.” Seconds later Terry was scaling the tree and soon joined Jeff on an adjoining branch.

  “Holy shit Jeff! What the fuck happened back there.”

  “They flowed over the barricades, like water over rocks. It barely slowed them down.” Jeff whispered. His breathing seemed very loud.

  “Fuck, how are you supposed to protect against that? Nothing we did worked.”

  “Don’t know.” Jeff leaned his head back against the limb. “I do know that if they saw us, this tree will not save us.”

  “Did you see anyone else make it out?”

  “Yea, I mean there were six or seven of us that jumped from the sniper nest and ran into the woods, but for the life of me I couldn’t tell you who was standing next to me during that shit. Jesus what a clusterfuck.” Terry explained. His breathing was starting to slow.

  “I ran after I saw the front door give way.” Jeff said with sadness. “All those families.”

  “I saw Marla die Terry.”

  “I know, I saw it too.” Terry checked the magazine in his handgun, he only had five rounds left. “I’m glad you made it out Jeff.”

  “Me too man.” Jeff said. “Do you think it’d be safe to smoke?”

  “Let’s wait a few minutes, I did just fire a gun a minute ago, they might be drawn by the sound.” Terry said looking around.

  “No, you’re right. I’m just stressed. All that adrenaline. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my whole life.”

  “I know, me too.” Terry said. “We’re going to need to find some supplies, do you think we should see if we can make it back to the compound?”

  “I think that’s probably not a good idea. We should head out to Sam Tomkins’ place. His place is up north about ten miles. He’s got a lot of guns, and a pretty substantial stockpile. There’s also a well out there we can.” Jeff stopped mid-sentence. A rustling can be heard in the distance. Terry’s heart jumps up into his throat when he realizes that there are dozens of them. Stomping through the woods, searching for something. Searching for them. He held his breath and put his hand on his pistol. He knew if they noticed them, there would be no way to escape, and they would never stop trying to get at them.

  Jeff looked over at Terry who was sitting as still as possible looking down at the crowd passing beneath them. The constant moan of the collective echoed through the woods. The sound made the hair on both of their arms stand up.

  Several tense minutes passed before they had moved out of the area. Terry was the first to talk, and he did so in a whisper.

  “I think we’re okay.”

  A loud crash came from nearby that startled Jeff. As he jumped, he lost his balance and was falling out of the tree. Terry lunged for him reaching out for his hind.

  11:57 PM Sunday August 18th

  Poudre Valley Colorado

  Andrea’s new roommates Susie and Taylor had grilled her about every detail of her life for the last two hours. They played hearts, and Susie was pretty good, she shot the moon twice. Andrea learned that Susie was single, she had a new puppy and was working in Ft. Collins at a real estate brokerage as a file clerk. She said she knew the guy hired her for her tits, but it was still twenty bucks an hour, and he was a nice enough guy overall. Taylor was in a relationship, she had been with the guy since high school. She worked at an organic grocery, and he owned a landscaping company. When she told the story about how he was bitten she cried. The other girls huddled around her, and they all had a moment of silence for all the loved ones lost.

  Emotionally exhausted, and just exhausted in general they all headed to bed. Andrea only took a few seconds to throw her bedsheets on and fell into bed exhausted. She was asleep in seconds.

  Seemingly seconds later Andrea was aroused by a very loud horn outside. She could hear Susie and Taylor moving around the house.

  “Andrea?” Taylor called from the hallway.

  “Coming. What is that?” She asked while pulling on her shoes.

  “Perimeter alarm. Means all hands on deck.”

  As she jogged out into the hallway, she saw Taylor pulling automatic rifles out of a green chest in the foyer. She hadn’t noticed the chest there when she had first arrived. Taylor was holding out a rifle, she handed it to Susie along with a handful of clips of ammunition. She waved to Andrea to come over. She pulled the same out of the chest and shoved them into Andrea’s arms. She then retrieved a weapon and clips of her own. Andrea waited for the bin to close and Taylor to get to her feet before speaking.

  “Are we in danger?” Andrea was stuffing the clips into her back po
ckets.

  “It means they’re passed the snipers and are into the valley.” Taylor said.

  “They, the zombies?”

  “Yes!” Taylor yelled obviously scared.

  “Our orders are to meet at the yellow line, it’s down the road about two hundred feet.” Said Susie.

  “Then what?”

  “We are the last line of defense. If they get past us, the valley is lost.”

  “If they make it to us, it means all the soldiers are dead and all is lost anyway.” Taylor complained.

  “How many soldiers are there?” Andrea asked.

  “I don’t know, a couple thousand. They also have some tanks, and heavy artillery.” Susie said. Andrea thought it would make her feel better to know, but it didn’t.

  “What’s artillery going to do if you have to hit them in the head?” Andrea asked.

  “Jesus, I don’t know Andrea.” Susie said. “They’re prepared, that’s why they brought us to this valley. That’s why they destroyed the entrance. They’re prepared for this.”

  “We’re going to be fine. We’re going to be fine. We’re going to be fine.” Taylor kept repeating.

  12:02 AM

  Captain Horn was awakened in his small holding cell when the alarm went off. So was the medical officer who was tasked to watch him. The soldier immediately ran to a yellow case and removed an m-16 along with several clips of ammunition. He headed back towards the door.

  “Hey! Hey! You can’t leave me here!” Horn yelled from his cage. The medical officer stopped at the doorway and turned towards Captain Horn.

  “I’m Sorry, I can’t let you out of there.” The medical officer didn’t wait for a response, he was out the door disappearing in the darkness.

  Seconds later the sounds of explosions rocked the valley. Horn stood holding fast to the bars, waiting for someone to come, for something to happen. Suddenly gunfire erupted. It sounded like it was right outside the door. The pungent and nostalgic aroma of gun powder fills the cabin. Horn remained standing at the entrance of his cell. He couldn’t see anything, all he could do is listen. He heard the gunfire become less and less. Then the ground started shaking, and the sound of footsteps, thousands and thousands of footsteps. And the moans. The moans filled the valley, reverberating off the rock walls. Soon the sound became deafening.

  A throng of undead crashed into the small cabin. Some entered the doorway walking right up the to the bars. Horn backed away at first, but then these didn’t seem to be hostile. Horn walked closer until he was standing inches away from the dead men standing in front of him. They did not attack. He expected them to come after him, to be clawing and gnashing at the bars, but they weren’t. They turned and moved back to the door rejoining the group moving past outside.

  He realized they didn’t want him anymore because he was one of them. He was infected too.

  The cabin was still shaking like an earthquake. Horn looked up as the bars attached to the roof shook loose of their moorings. He was able to push the bars down and step out of his cell. He stood at the door for a moment watching the crowd of dead pass by. They had to number in the thousands, the entire road was packed with them.

  After a moment of observation Captain horn stepped out of the now dilapidated cabin and joined the infected.

  12:07 AM

  In the darkness Andrea could hear dozens of other people breathing. Some were gulping large breaths of air, others were rapid and shallow, but all were scared and shuddering. In the distance the sides of the canyon were lit up from the constant flashing gunfire and explosions from around the bend.

  Soon the flashes became slower, and slower, and finally stopped. There was a noticeable increase of tension in the air around them once enveloped by silence. Several people could be heard whispering or praying to themselves.

  “Did they stop them?”

  “Do you think we’re going to be okay?”

  “God, I wish we know what was happening.”

  Abruptly a series of floodlights illuminated the entire valley. The lines began breaking before the first zombie was spotted. People were scattering, running for the hills behind them. They began to trickle in at first, soon there was a full-on flood of living dead. The lines erupted with gunfire, people were shouting “aim for the head, shoot them in the head.”

  A series of explosions were detonated in the middle of the approaching hoard, hundreds of zombies were catapulted in the air bouncing off the canyon walls. The people firing didn’t seem nearly as surprised as Andrea was. She had nearly jumped out of her own skin when it happened. Her rifle fell to the ground and she winced again thinking it would go off from the impact. She scooped up her rifle again and brought it up to her shoulder. It occurred to her after the fact that everyone else here had probably been briefed as to what was going to happen should the valley be overrun.

  When the massive horde of undead continued toward them even after the explosions, the firing lines dissolved quickly. People were fleeing down the streets, running into houses, running up the sides of the mountain. One after another almost everyone running was overtaken. Though most of the undead were not as fast as most of the people initially, the undead do not tire.

  Andrea could see by the new light that there was a shallow area in the river next to her. She chose to head across and up the side of the mountain. Her hope was that they may not have sure footing trying to scale the shale rock walls of the Rocky Mountain canyon. Scurrying up the mountainside as fast as she could in the dark was no easy task in itself. Her hands and knees were getting shredded, and she had jammed her left-hand ring finger hard against a boulder. She could hear something clambering up the hill behind her, and she couldn’t tell in the darkness weather it was the living or the dead. Her hands fell upon a downed tree branch, she decided to confront her pursuer. She picked up the branch and turned, raising the branch above her head.

  “Jesus Andrea it’s me Taylor!” She said stopping and putting her hand up in front of her face.

  “You scared the shit out of me, I thought you were one of them.” Andrea scream whispered.

  “When everyone started running, I saw you crossing the river and decided to follow.” Taylor explained. Screams echo from the valley below.

  “Come on, we have to keep moving.” Andrea said getting back to her feet.

  12: 18 AM

  Captain Horn walked slowly with the flow of undead for a bit, watching as they picked off more stragglers up the road. He had just decided to separate from the crowd, the stench was beginning to get to him. It was something that he didn’t recall ever being mentioned in a zombie movie. That when you die, your muscles relax voiding your bowl and bladder. There was an overwhelming stench of human waste. He maneuvered his way to the edge of the road and sat down on a rock. He was still incredibly sore from all of the bites.

  An explosion back near the entrance of the canyon erupted in the silence and sent a shockwave through the canyon. The undead did a 180 and turned back towards the sound. Horn sat and watched the heard turn north, watched as they marched past him. Some were disfigured or missing limbs. He decided to join them and make the walk back to the canyon entrance. He suddenly realized that he was as safe now as he had been in the cell. He was guarded.

  It took about twenty minutes to make the trek back to the canyon entrance and all of his wounds were seeping again. The dark blood patches on his clothing added to the camouflage effect of his deceased brethren. As they were making their way through the tent city, they stepped over numerous fallen soldiers and a pile of undead at the face of the canyon.

  The trek to the top of the barricade was a long and painful journey. Captain Horn found it hard to find his footing. And the dead had no consideration of space or personal injury. Captain Horn was stepped on and knocked over several times on the climb to the top.

  Horn stood atop the peak of the barricade, and the scene below was nothing he could have ever imagined.

  The canyon entrance was all lit up with spotl
ights. The road was filled with tractor trailers, dozens of them, each one had a few people standing on top. He watched as the front row of the trailers filled up with the dead. A metal slide was brought down, killing a few in the process. It appeared that the trailer gates were sharp to it would sever whatever may be in the way. Just as soon as the doors closed another man popped out of a hatch up near the cab of the truck. The truck they were standing on pulls away. As they pass the one waiting just behind it, the two men jump to the next trailer. As that semi drove away a man was lowered into the awaiting trailer and the process was repeated. Horn watched as these men for better than an hour. They were all dressed in uniform, and they worked very efficiently to collect all the undead. Only when the last of the dead was collected did the semis depart, leaving Captain Horn alone on the ridge.

  Horn got up and began to head back down into camp to gather supplies. About halfway down the hill he started to move faster when he heard the sounds of an approaching helicopter.

  7:03 AM

  Poudre Valley

  Once they had finally decided that they were clear of the undead, Andrea Martin and her new friend Taylor found an outcropping to take shelter under. The wind had begun to pick up as an early morning storm was rolling through. Andrea had been sleeping on and off when her eyes shot open. A sound was coming from just below them. Andrea pulled out her assault rifle and took aim.

  A soldier came into view, he had blood on the front of his uniform. He had a long narrow face, and a nose that had been broken at least once in the past. He had 5 o’clock shadow, and his eyes were sunken and tired.

  “Are you bit?” Andrea asked. The soldier started at the sound. He froze in place and looked around for the source of the sound. It took him a moment to find where it had come from. He smiled when he finally spotted two women crouched under an outcropping of rocks even though one of them had an assault rifle pointed at him.