Infection Chapter 10

Chapter 10

My stomach churned and I could feel my jaw hit the floor. This can not be happening. I was caught somewhere between joy and absolute terror. It was Stephanie. The girl whose mother and sister broke into my house back before my parents died. I have not spoken to her in a month. Her phone was never on; I just assumed her family died. Yet here she was on the other end of the line, back from the dead. I wanted to scream with joy but I didn’t. I only felt nauseous.

 “Stephanie, what is the matter?”

“My sister and I,” she gasped into the phone “we are locked in a room at this hotel.” She seemed panicked; her breath was heavy and fast. In the background there were sounds of crying. My leg shook as I stood there trying to understand the incoherent ramblings and broken sentences.

“Steph calm down. Tell me exactly what happened.”

“My sister and I are locked in some hotel room alone.”

“Where is your mother?”

“Gone, she left us to go get food and then there was a crash and we heard her scream.”

“Did you go to check if she was still alive?”

“She told us not to leave the room.” It would not have mattered either way. If she was not dead before, she is dead now.

“Where are you?”

“In some hotel, I told you”

“I know that but is there anything in the room that tells where the hotel is?”

There was a shuffling sound as Stephanie put down the phone and searched the room for anything that might help.

“The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Brookestone NJ,”

“I have been there!”

“Really?”

“I know exactly where you are, I will be there tomorrow, and please Steph don’t move and do not open the door for anything or anyone.” There was a silence on the other end. I stared at my phone and the call was lost. Sean stood in the door behind me.

“Who was that?”

“Oh, no one” I replied with a smile “Just Lucas”

Sean was not convinced and to be honest neither was I but I needed to say something that would stop this from becoming a Sean lead conversation. His desire to be a hero would have lead to a fight between us. A fight which I wanted to avoid, his chivalry made me a little bit sick. Not because I dislike chivalry but it is how Sean says it, like he is super important and amazing because he is chivalrous. He tends to shove his beliefs in people’s faces on anything. From things as big as his taste in music and chivalry to his favorite foods, if he likes it and believes it, it must be right.

Sean did not question my motives, he knew there was no point, and he was not going to get anywhere. Instead he changed the subject to some light banter and we let the time pass us by, until Sean had to go to bed.

I sat and watched time pass on the wall. I just found myself contemplating every little detail of Stephanie’s face and body. Her face was perfectly rounded with rosy cheeks that seemed to always glimmer with a half smile which was coy and secretive. Her long brown curly hair flowed down her back and seemed to wrap around itself naturally creating elegant shapes and braids. Her almost pale white skin hid a curvaceous body that seemed symmetrical with each graceful step changing the way her body looked, different yet always perfect. I closed my eyes and held her in my arms. Vibrations. I opened them to see that it was just my phone.

My stiff muscles creaked to life as I wobbled over and picked up the phone.

“Hello”

“Sam it is Brandon, we are outside.” My eyes shifted to the clock on the wall, the hands read 4:35.

“I will be right out.”  I hung up and moved towards the hospital P.A “Wake up everybody.” There was a silence. “Everybody up now!”

The shuffle of feet echoed across the halls. Everyone was irritable and complained in the darkness. I wanted to but that would seem rude. So I swallowed my emotions and turned on the lights. The dark room flooded with white slowly fading into the shapes of seven people each one very distinct.

“Brandon is outside,” There is a collective yet silent sigh that rolls through the room. “I am going to let him in.”

Another sigh,

“Can we pretend to be happy?” There was no response. “Well, I am going to go get them and we will all meet and be happy.”

I walked out into the darkness of the night. The center of the yard held a red glow around the embers of the dying flame. I walked towards the gate. My hand rested on the sheathed blade of my knife as the door slowly swung open. There in the darkness stood Brandon and Nikki. There outfits were dirty covered in a mixture of sweat and blood. It Nikki’s dark red hair was a mess of knots and split ends. She was in tears.

Inside we all sat by the broken door and spoke waiting for Nikki and Brandon to get cleaned up. There was a tension in the air that made my stomach churn with anticipation. I wanted to get out of this disgusting hospital immediately. The walls made me want to vomit but I could not bring myself to do it.

Brandon pulled up a chair next to Matt who moved over just an inch. Nikki followed Brandon closely like a baby duck behind her mother. Nikki’s wet hair dripped slowly onto her chest. I could not help but notice Sean staring at the water droplets as they found a way toward Nikki’s cleavage. His curious gaze was met by the piercing eyes of an overly protective older brother.

“So Brandon where are you from?” Nicole broke the silence.

“New York” Brandon’s eyes were still locked on Sean.

“So how do you know Sam?”

“Camp”

“What happened to your dad?” I asked. Brandon’s eyes caught mine.

“He” Brandon stopped, “He-“

“He died” Nikki burst into tears “He fell off of the roof and broke both of his legs.” She collapsed onto Brandon’s Shoulder. He did not even notice her. His eyes blankly followed the pattern of the floor.

“Well, you guys came at a good time. We are leaving this morning and we could use the extra hands.”

“Where are we going?” Matt asks

“Vermont, we are going to meet up with Lucas and Danielle”

“When are we leaving?” Nicole asked

“As soon as we are done packing” I stood up from my chair “We are going to strip this entire place down, leave nothing bolted down. If we can remove it remove it. After everything is in the first truck we will put the dogs in the second truck. We will separate a section of that truck for any form of food. Finally we will have Sarah, Nicole and Nikki on the roof playing sniper so we can move without worry of the Infection.” I watched all of the blank faces allowing for a pregnant pause filled with yawns and a single sniffle. “What questions are there?” I cautiously ask

“Sam,” Freddie meekly raises his hand like a child in elementary school. “What are we going to use to take stuff apart? Do we have any tools?” I turned and looked at the closet door that says tools. Everyone’s eyes follow mine.

“Any other questions?” Silence filled the air. “Let’s get it done.” A flurry of bodies began moving around me in an orchestra of tools spinning smashing and tearing our temporary home apart bit by bit. The only thing that bothered me was the two people sitting in their seats. Brandon and Nikki sat whispering at each other the occasional glance in my general direction.

“Sam, Nikki is kind of not really up to holding a gun or sitting on a roof.” I glanced at Nikki out of the corner of my eye. She was in tears again.

“Fine, Nikki I guess that means you will be preparing our last meal here.” I brought Nikki to the storage room and gave her 5 cans of wet dog food. “Open these and put them in the fire.” I turned and walked out of the room. I tried to catch Brandon’s eyes as I walked past him but he looked down towards the floor.

“Excuse me,” Freddie and Sean rushed by with the door to an office. Work went by pretty quickly and within hours we were done. We even had just enough time to enjoy the sunrise on the roof while we ate our last meal. It was both magical and haunting as the world existed somewhere in between disaster and serenity. After we finished eating we got into our newly packed vehicles, my car headed the pack, followed by Matt and Nicole in truck one, Sarah and Freddie in Truck two, Sean in truck three, and finally Brandon and Nikki held the rear in their S.U.V.

Leaving the hospital was bitter sweet there was so much for us, but out there, out there, there is more. More food, more supplies, most importantly. There are more people. People who need help need homes. They need us. We pulled out of the parking lot at seven in the morning, the last thing I would call us is bright eyed and bushy tailed. My hands seem to tremble as I grip the steering wheel caught somewhere between excited and terrified.

As my ipod began to play through the speakers certain serenity caught over me. I felt my body get lost somewhere in the subwoofer as the heavy jungle drum beat of “When They Come for Me” by Linkin Park banged against the car.

I got into my best rap voice singing along the lyrics

“I am not a pattern to be followed. The pill that I am on is a tough one to swallow” As we began weaving in between the crushed and stalled cars that littered the road. The daunting task was almost painful to watch through my rearview. As we came up to the entrance of the turnpike the road became much more empty and easier to manage. The entrance to the parkway was empty but that was about all that was empty. The once bustling highway was a disaster zone of torn up cars and damage. We found ourselves in territory that was not going to be easy to navigate. Some cars were on their sides others stood where they were left many appeared to have been abandoned or destroyed Either way it was obvious to see we were not going to get through this. I sat in my car looking at the wreckage trying to piece together a solution that could actually work. There are eight people, three trucks and two cars. This means that we are able to have three people get out and move the cars. While the rest of us drive. This will take hours. I stop and get out of the Escape and walk towards the first truck which Freddie is driving.

“Freddie, can you let Sarah drive I need you to help move all of these cars.”

Freddie looked at Sarah; she sighed and got out of the truck.

“I will do it.” Sarah walked over towards me. I looked at Freddie and shook my head with obvious disappointment. He smiled awkwardly. I then moved down the line recruiting Matt and Brandon. I then got back into the Escape and we began the slow painful process of moving each of the cars out of the way. Sarah steered while Matt and Brandon pushed. I would then squeak through. The others would then follow. We did this for about two and a half hours, before finally stopping. I was hungry and those three looked tired. I feel the best thing to do would be to stop and eat. We should also feed and walk the dogs. We had only traveled four miles out of the twenty mile drive towards Stephanie and Carly.

            We stopped in a crowded area of broken cars. That sat underneath the warm summer sun. Freddie Nikki and I created a barrier with the broken down vehicles. Inside it Sean and Nicole began walking and feeding the dogs. Sarah Matt and Brandon collapsed on the warm asphalt; they were so tired I could not blame them.

            I opened a bag of potato chips and smiled, for the past few days all we had been eating was either dog, or dog food and something about the smeel of the chips seemed natural, normal even. I took one out and bit into it. This was followed by many more, eventually Sean and Freddie joined in and we ate the entire family sized bag ourselves. We could not stay long so we only sat for an hour or so, making sure we were rested enough to continue.

            The rest of the trail was worse every few hours we had to stop and switch drivers, just to keep our bodies fresh. To make matters worse it was one of the hottest days of the years. Our clothes immediately began to stick to us when we left the cars and I was concerned about wasting gas so I suggested light use of our air conditioners. It was a train wreck and I feared what the rest of our trip would look like if we could hardly make a short trip. In the distance the sun was beginning to set behind the trees. We were tired and I knew that there was no time to stop. I saw the exit in the distance and as me made the long winding turn I saw one of the greatest things I had seen in years. It was the bright lights of neon atop a building the lights were in poor condition but you could still read out two of the best words ever Crowne Plaza. I pulled into the parking lot and turned the car off. My body pulsed with nervousness and anticipation. Not in fear of the zombies but fear of Stephanie and my friends neither of which knew exactly what my plans were. Leila licked the side of my cheek and I rubbed the top of her head.

“You three will stay here for a little while ok?” The animals looked at me and continued on without any care or response. I smiled and got out of the car. I grabbed the Woodpecker scythe out of the back and entered the parking lot. The trucks all pulled in and everyone else got out, into the darkness.

“Sam, what are we doing here?” Nicole asked holding the rifle in one hand.

“There are people here.”

“The Infected are here.” Brandon said with an uncaring tone. “The people here are probably dead. Let them be.”

“No I know they are alive and we can save them.” I look at Sarah who smiles slightly.

“Fine then,” Matt started “Let’s get them and get out.”

We all began to walk towards the main entrance in the background Leila was barking and I looked at her, she seemed concerned for our health. I was concerned for hers.

The door which was at one point an automatic sliding door was now forced shut. Its large black metal frame was covered in dents and small splatters of blood. The ground around it is littered with bloody and broken glass. The jagged edges of the door seem to create razor like edges that are quite terrifying. In a single file line we contort our bodies into the lobby stepping on the cracking glass under our feet. The lobby looked almost untouched. Everything just seemed so perfect, even the fake fern in the corner was still left standing. It was creepy, all I was waiting for was the woman behind the desk to pop up saying welcome to Crowne Plaza do you have a reservation. Instead the silence was eerie and mocking the old way of life.

Freddie sneezed. We all looked at him as the slight rumble of life began to echo around us. I started running towards the stairs and threw the door open. Everyone followed behind me. The door slowly closed behind us followed by a large bang. Then another and the door began to open. We began running up the stairs and got out at the first door we found. Sean shut the door behind us. We looked at the door for just a second before running down the long hall towards another set of stairs. We closed the door and held our breath for just a second, waiting, listening for that one sound. There was one long exasperated group gasp. After regaining our composure we began slowly heading up the stairs to the third floor. As the door the scene was a much more natural one for what we were used to. The infected huddled around a corpse tearing the flesh from the bones.

One noticed us and let out a large screech as though it was claiming the food as its own. The other creatures followed in the loud warning. Brandon let the first shot fire. The bullet hit the first one in the head knocking it back, onto the cheesy hotel floor. The other four stood up and began screaming. They charged us and before we could react Brandon gunned down each one until the hallway was a puddle of dark brown blood. I maneuvered my body over the corpses towards the door to room 316 and knocked twice.

            The door flew open quickly and I found myself caught in the lock of familiar arms. Stephanie’s body was warm and comforting. Her body pressed tightly up against my own to the point where I could not breathe.

            “Sam it is so good to see you” She squeezed tighter and I tried to mumble a response but couldn’t. “Oh,” She releases me. “I did not know you brought friends.”

            “Right, Steph these are my friends” I gesture awkwardly to the group of faces behind me, each filled with frustration as they realize what I have done.

            “Well then, Sam, and friends please come in.” Everyone filed in one after another leaving me as the last one in the hall. The room seemed small when filled with ten people. This made sense seeing as this room was meant for four people at most. I looked around and saw the connecting door. I pulled it open. The other side was locked, but the lock was simple and with a little bit of work with my shoe lace and old credit card I managed to slide the lock open. I kicked the door for effect and it flew open hitting a cabinet I turned towards the group brimming with pride and was not greeted by the response I was expecting. I smiled and pointed towards the open door once again exposing the other room.

            All I was greeted with were scowls.

            “You lied to us,” Brandon stares at me. His eyes cut through my skin. “You lied to all of us; you said we were going somewhere safe. Instead we left our home and followed you, just so you could chase some girl!” His voice got louder. “Nikki and I were safe, we had food, weapons, and enough power to last us for another month, but we gave all of that up because you promised us safety.”

            “Brandon-“

“This is not safety Sam.” He moved closer to me. “This is not what I was promised.”

“There is safety in numbers Brandon!” I retaliated “The more useful bodies there are the less stress that this puts on the rest of us.”

“Is that what this is really about or was it because this a way you thought you could get lucky?!” My fist was clenched so tightly I felt my nails dig into the palms of my hands. My body moved much closer to his my chest puffed out like and angry gorilla. I realized I was taller than Brandon but I still would never want to fight him.

“Brandon,” My voice lowered, “I hope you one day know what it feels like to not have anyone.” I was at a near whisper. I hope you one day know the pain that I felt when I realized I was the last of my entire family and that I have nothing to care for me other than a dog and two cats/” I moved my mouth closer to his ear. “When that day comes Brandon, when you finally know the feeling of having nothing left, then and only then can you tell me what I can and can’t do with my group.” I walked towards Stephanie and hugged. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I hugged her tightly. I did not want to let go. She was the closest thing I had left of a family and the idea that I could hold her, made it feel like the whole infection was a distant problem.

A small hand grabbed my wrist and bit it, not hard though, it was more of a shock than anything.

“Hi Sam,” I peered over Stephanie’s shoulder down to the bed, Carly, Steph’s younger was hiding half under the blankets. Her frame had not changed much since I saw her last. She was short with a childish face that still showed remnants of her baby fat. Her hair was in a loose messy ponytail that looked like it was thrown together quickly. She had a white head band pushing her hair back. She looked like the typical twelve year old girl except for the dirty clothes.

“Hello Carly, did we wake you?” I smile with a grin that I hoped resembled my father’s grin.

“No, I was awake for that whole little thing.” She smiled slyly with the overbearing confidence of any preteen who felt like they knew everything.

“Everyone this is Carly. Stephanie and Carly will be joining us for the rest of our trip. We will leave early tomorrow morning. We are going to try to head straight up to Lucas tomorrow without stopping.”

Infected the series Book 1 chapter 9

Sarah and I stayed up on the roof and joked until the sun rose. It was beautiful; I have not been this relaxed in such a long time. It was truly wonderful. At about five in the morning we climbed down and got to work. Sarah reminded me that leaders need to lead by example. Which is true, that meant no more sleeping late, even though I really like it. To be the leader I must be the first one up. Even that is not enough, I will have to work hard and be decisive and right now I choose to lead.

For the next two weeks we stayed at Doonsfield Animal Hospital and I was the hardest working person anyone had ever seen. I was the first one up and was finished cleaning and walking all of the dogs before anybody even woke up. I felt great about it. I even began sleeping some nights. Soon others were waking up early with me and cleaning with me. We were suddenly a unit and it was amazing. These two weeks passed as though they were nothing.

Suddenly my phone rang and this whole world which we had built came crashing down.

It was Brandon, his breath was heavy and he sounded tired. In the background I could hear the distant sound of crying.

“Sam” he heaved into the phone, his voice seemed haggard, afraid. It was very unusual for the normally cocky Brandon. “Are Nikki and I still invited?”

“Invited?”

“Yeah Sam, Are Nikki and I still invited?” His voice seemed to be lower than a whisper and his hoarse voice seemed to crash awkwardly into the speaker.

“Invited,” I repeat with a mix of fear and frustration in my voice “Invited to what?”

“Your group”

“Oh, yeah,” really, do I seem that petty? “What happened? Is everything okay Brandon?”

“What is the address?”

“5600 Route 9 South in Doonsfield NJ”

“I will call you when we get there.” That was it I would have kept talking but he hung up on me. I looked up from my chair. Everyone was looking at me. They knew it was something bad. It was hard to hide such a fear. There was something that bothered me about Brandon during that conversation.

“My Friend Brandon and his sister Nikki will be joining us in the next few days.”  Sean’s ears perked up at the mention of a girl. His eyes caught mine and I never saw such excitement on his face. His girlfriend died early on in the infection. He swore he would never love again. Apparently he lied.

“When are they getting here?” Nicole asked in between bites of canned cat food.

“I actually don’t know” I awkwardly smiled trying to make it not seem awkward. I failed, it was obvious that everyone was a little bit uncomfortable with the idea of new people joining our little group, but Brandon and Nikki were very important and provided knowledge, numbers and guns to our little group.

There was an awkward silence which seemed to fill the air. I found myself zoning out in the new fire which cracked under the fresh tinder. It had rained the night before which caused the wet wood to crackle and burn from the water. I don’t think I can stay here anymore it feels like we have waited to long and the Infection will eventually over run the wood boards that hold us away from the outside world. Also there seems to be something going on at the car lot next to us. I have brought Matt Freddie and Sean there twice to look to see if anyone was there but every time it seemed empty. It wasn’t though. I am almost certain of it. There is someone living there. Well at least one person, a young man probably about my age there may be others but I have not seen them yet. The truth is that at a time like this, staying still is not an option.

            My body slowly rose from the old plastic chair and moved silently towards the door. My knees cracked and creaked with each step, as I pushed myself back to the doctors’ office where I have been staying for a while. I collapsed into my chair and rolled over to the computer. I turned it on and wiped the dust off the screen. The internet in here was still active so I checked the stats. 14.3 to 86.7.

I have not spoken to Lucas since we left. He could be gone and this whole trip could be for nothing. So I had to call him up just for a check.

The phone rang once, then again, and a third time. My fingers tapped furiously against the table with each sound in my ear.

“Hey this is Lucas I am not available right now please leave a message after the beep.” His voice was high pitched and childish like when we were younger and for a second I hoped it was a joke. Then finally the long, high pitched beep of the recorder.

I was done after that, I hung up the phone and let my body crumple in my chair. His death meant that this whole trip was a waste of time. I knew that we should have left earlier; I let myself get too comfortable. Now because I failed my best friend is dead, his life a waste and destruction to the power of the Infection.

My body just lied there on the floor for what felt like hours. I don’t care anyway. I failed. My head was screaming at me and I wanted it to explode and cover this room. I closed my eyes and imagined it. Vibrations, I felt vibrations against my leg. It felt nice but it did not seem real or natural. I enjoyed it though, until I heard the crashing sound of plastic hitting the floor. I opened my eyes and saw the vibration was coming from my phone.

“Hello?” My voice trailed off.

“Hi Sam, how are you?”  The voice is clearly a young woman’s she seems like she is at least seventeen.

“I am good,” I wasn’t. I always feel that no one wants to hear anything else and if you tell them otherwise then they feel uncomfortable and hang up while you are talking. So I lied. “How are you?” I realized after I said this that I have no clue who this person is.

“I am great,” Her voice seems to be a little whisper but she sounds genuinely excited. “I am sorry I missed your call. Lucas is taking a little nap.” Suddenly I realized who this was. Danielle, this was Lucas’s girlfriend. I never met her but I knew about her from Lucas. “But yeah,” her voice trailed off for second “He is asleep.”

“Really?”

“Yeah he fell asleep on the couch about half an hour ago.” Really, that lazy easygoing life living lucky jerk, napping, he is napping. I have trouble sleeping and he can just nap the day away without a care in the world. Maybe I am wrong and people are not dying every day and I have nothing to worry about. I want to shout into the phone yet all I can muster is.

“Cool, tell him I called” In a half hearted and half smile, but mostly ready to kill him.

“Alright, bye Sam” She said bye. Yet he way she said it her optimism and joy seemed to make that word less agitating. I hung up the phone and leaned back in my chair. A smile fell across my face as I sat there and kept repeating that word, nap, I laughed, nap, Lucas is taking a nap. I laughed and spun around in my chair.

My ears perked at the sound of feet moving down the hall. There were many of them. At least three people, and by the sounds of the step I am going to guess that it is one girl and two boys. I turn the chair and stare intently at the open door as Sarah, Matt, and Freddie, come into view. Our eyes meet and there is a silence. It is a pretty awkward silence when suddenly Leila sneezes.

“God bless you.” We all remark, and then burst out laughing. Tension disappeared with that. Then suddenly it all rushed back.

“Sam, we don’t want Brandon to join our group.” Matt started off.

“Too bad,”

“We are serious,” Sarah joins in.

“Me too,” I smile.

“None of us know anything about him and we all get along.” Sarah continues.

“Well then we get to meet him and get to know him.”

“Sam!” Matt’s patience look like they are about to run out. “Cut the crap. We all agree we don’t want him here and you can’t just-“

“86 percent of the human population is part of the Infected.” I stand up from my chair and begin walking towards the door. “We need to protect as many as we can and that includes Brandon” Freddie and Sarah seemed to split a small path for me to walk through. I walked through the hall and heard the sound of Leila’s collar clanging behind me. Something about her makes me smile.

We walked outside; I stood by the door and watched as Leila tried to find some piece from Babe as she tried to use the bathroom.  I knew there were more of us, the survivors. There was clearly one following us. He refuses to come closer than where he is now but I know he is there. I just hope he is friendly. People tend to not become cruel and selfish during the Infection. I have seen it. Infighting as everyone wants to exist just like we did beforehand every luxury handed to us on a silver platter. Things like food were easy. People would mock the “third world countries” yet here we are, no different. We call ourselves civilized yet when push comes to shove people will do whatever it takes to survive.

Yet there is power in numbers. I would love to have a few more people. They won’t come to us though. So I believe I will come to them.

I pulled out my phone and went straight into contacts. “HENRY GREENHUT” appeared in black pixels on the screen. A little smirk snuck across my face. Henry was one of my closest friend’s from camp. He also lived the farthest away. Henry was an acrobat and circus freak who spent most of his summer swinging on the camp trapeze. Although He was strong it never really showed as his fun loving and joyous nature always seemed to hide it. Henry. Lived out in California and always came to camp with Brandon and me in Pennsylvania. It was a far flight yet he seemed to enjoy it all. Henry had many noticeable features like his blue green eyes. However, all of the qualities he had seemed to be overshadowed by the one quality he did not have. When Henry was seven he lost his right pinky finger in an accident. The stub was the first thing I noticed when I met him, but that was a long time ago in a distant land where maybe for just a moment I was happy.

I put the speaker to my ear and waited. Each second made my heart skip a beat until finally.

“Yo, Sam.” Henry’s voice rang into the speaker.

“Hey Henry” A smile runs across my face. “Glad to see you are alive.”

“As am I of you good sir” Henry laughs. “So to what do I owe the phone call from the East?”

“Just to see what is going on and let you know that I have creating a group to survive the Infection and I was wondering if you would like to join us?” Henry laughed into the phone as if I was joking. It made me feel dumb for just asking.

“I actually just created my own group of survivors in LA.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, my friend Juddy and I started it.”

“Well we should all meet up in the future.”

“Yeah, keep in touch.”

“I intend too” I smile

“Wonderful” Then he hung up. Leila was standing at my feet with Babe. I knelt down and gave each of them a pat on the head and then walked back inside.

The sounds of barking dogs have almost become second nature to my ears as I walk through the halls. Only to here the sound of breaking glass, panic sets in. I run down the hall with Leila and Babe. The door and wood barricade had been broken down and the Infected have burst in. A large male in a gray suit and bright red tie locks onto me. I am unarmed. My adrenaline kicks in and I run into the doctors’ office and close the glass door and lock it. Leila and Babe have managed to disappear into hiding. I don’t really need to worry too much about those two right now. The mangled body of the Infected is now smashing against the glass I fumble with the P.A system in the hospital until I finally hear the high pitched beep. “Attention we have a break in by the staff lounge we have a break in!” I desperately shouted.

Crash! Glass crackles along the floor as the beast bursts in blood covered its face and its mangled body charged towards me. I felt around and found my gun sitting on the counter. I aimed and shot it in the stomach. The body stumbled back with a grunt, another shot to the head splattered blood and brain matter across the walls. There was a deformed body of what was probably a high school cheerleader in the hall in front of me. I grabbed the woodpecker scythe and prepared to strike when its head fell cleanly from its body. Sean stood behind it with his sword drawn. Then the crack of Matt’s bat against the body of another zombie echoes down the hall. I climbed through the broken door and saw the wave of the undead fighting to break in.

“Guy, get down!” Sarah and Nicole shouted from down the hall. We all dropped to our stomach as Nicole Freddie and Sarah unleashed as many bullets as they could against the undead.

“Matt Help me barricade the door” I tried to shout over the gun fire. Matt and I crawled into the staff lounge and grabbed the large table and propped it up against the broken door. Sean Matt and I held it up as tightly as we could.

“Freddie go into the supply closet and get the biggest nails you can find!” I shout with in seconds he was back with them and one of my war hammers smashing the nails into the broken door frame. After all was said and done we had gone through twenty bullets and forty five nails. We could no longer stay here and live this comfortable life we had all become so accustomed to. Bodies litter the hallway and blood has covered the light walls to a dirty brown color. I look around at the group; we all share the same stupid expression of fear. The hall echoes the sounds of our heavy panting. Babe rubs up against my leg and I almost jump from shock. All eyes are now on me, we have been put in a very tough situation. Brandon is on his way and the sun is going down. We can not just up and leave it would not be safe. This place has provided us with a lot, food, medical supplies, and shelter. To just up and leave all this in a rush would be suicide. Yet to pretend like this place would be a lie.

If I make the wrong decision we all die. All the eyes seem to be stabbing at me waiting for my next words.

“Guys lets get cleaned up and get ready for dinner.” I say with as much command in my voice as I could muster. “Let us get this cleaned up and ready. Tonight we are going to have one person guarding this area at a time. Every two hours the person will change.  That means that you need to sleep when it is not your turn. I will take the first shift. Let’s get started.” Everyone still stood there dumbfounded by my decision. “Now,” I whispered. All the bodies began to move and rush through as they cleaned the corpses out of the hall. I stood by the door with my woodpecker scythe and pistol ready. Time passed and I was alone sitting in a chair bored and waiting. I looked at the clock along the wall. It had been a whole twenty minutes. Time was not my friend. As I sat in that chair the rotation of the earth began to make me nauseous. The barricade we made out of the large table in the staff lounge seemed to hold tight.

“Hey Sam, brought you dinner.” I heard a voice from behind me. It was obvious that it was Sean. His light sneakers made very little sound across the crimson colored floor. I turned around in my chair and saw him standing there with a steaming can of cat food. I did not want to eat the cat food. It made me sick.

“Sean can I ask you a question” I smile. Sean looks at me with a worry in is eyes. “What is up with that blade on your back?” He feels around and finds the sheath that has been sitting on his back for as long as we have been traveling. “You never even use it.” His hand clutches the handle but does not remove the blade. Then he lets go and brings his attention back to me.

“It is my prized possession,” Hey says with pride. “It is called a Buster Blade and honestly I have no need to use it yet.” The blade sheath covers Sean’s back yet he moves remarkably quickly with it. I wish I could see him wield this weapon. “Anyway, I am here to replace you.” I look at the clock and it has actually been two hours which surprised me.

“Do you mind if I stay with you, I am not really tired?” Sean shrugs as he takes is seat by the door. I grabbed my chair and rolled down the hall towards Sean.

I felt a vibration from my pocket followed by the sounds of my phone ringing in a loud upbeat tone. 732-453-8857 the number is new to me.

“Hello?” I delicately say into the phone. There is a sound of ruffling on the other end. “Hello?” The ruffling continues until finally I hear a light yet terrified whisper.

“Sam it is me, I need help” My jaw dropped and I began to feel nauseous. I can not believe this. Sean looks at me through his periphery then back at the door. I stand up and run into an exam room and close the door. “Sam, are you there?”

Infected the series Book 1 chapter 8

            I woke to the blaring sound of my phone exploding in my ear. It was too early to move. I fumbled with it as is screamed and shook in my hands. The front read out “KAYLEIGH.” Why is she calling so early?

            “Hello?” I dribble onto the phone.

            “You forgot to call me!!” Kayleigh voice shouted through the speaker. “Do you know how worried I was?! I did not sleep, I did not eat. What happened to calling us when you got to the Hospital?”  I did forget to call her but she is definitely overreacting. I still blame hormones. “I was going to send Casey and Erik out to see if you guys were safe, and then kill you.” I know that she worries but this is still a bit too much.

            “Kayleigh” She continues to babble. “Kayleigh”

            “God it is like dealing with a little kid”

            “KAYLEIGH!” Suddenly she goes quiet. “Thank you for worrying, I am sorry I forgot to call, things got pretty hectic last night.” My tone is calming and soft. I did not intend for it to be like that, I am just that tired. “We are all here and safe. How is everyone with you?” Who is everyone?

            “You mean Erik and Casey?” She is almost as confused as I am “They were worried, Casey was ready to leave and go find you guys.”

            “Why didn’t you call?” There is an awkward silence odds are Kayleigh did not think of it. When she gets excited or angry or upset she sometimes forgets stuff like that.

            “That is not the point Sam.” She definitely forgot “Whatever, as long as you guys are safe that is fine.”

            “Alright Kayleigh well I have to go make breakfast, talk to you later.” The Conversation ended. My head hit the pillow hard. The sun shined onto the back of my neck. It was warm and tingled on my hairs. I could not help but smile at the delicate feeling like fingers running softly down my neck. A beautiful voice of a woman whispers my name softly. I turned and no one there. The clock on the wall read out eleven A.M. In the distance the sound of dogs barking and jumping slammed up the hallway. My body slowly began to twinge to life and rise off of my tattered mattress of dogs beds that seemed to fallen apart along the floor. I can see a light reflection of myself in the window. I look ratty my face is developing a few zits and stubble. There are some bags under my eyes but the worst of all are my clothes. They were caked with blood dirt and mud. I have not changed at all since our trip began. My clothes smell, I smell.

            I needed to shower. All we had was a dog bath. It would have to do, as I changed into a clean pair of cargo shorts and a red shirt. Down the hall was the bathing room. It also served as a storage room for cat and dog food. In the corner sat a large stainless steel tub. On the side of it is a long hose that is hooked up to a series of shampoos and soaps. I began to pull off my shirt when I suddenly noticed. The door was glass. Anyone could clearly see me from the hall.

            I ran and grabbed a large sheet and two towels from the laundry room. I draped the thin white sheet it across the glass door. Finally away from the outside world I stripped out of my clothing and climbed into the tub. It was bitterly cold. The bright stainless steel stuck to my body and sent shivers up my back. I turned the handle and water began to flow out of the hose and onto my legs. The water was cold; it was not a nice cold like my shower back home. It was degrading almost as if I was not even human enough for some warm water. I sat there and sprayed myself down with water and soap. It all came from the same hose and it all smelled horrible. I hated every moment of this. I lifted myself out of the tub which groaned with every movement I made.

            After toweling off and dressing up I went out to the back where everyone sat around a new fire. They all turned to me and smiled. I was the last one out. Even Cleo, Leila and Babe made it out before me. They were all eating from cans of what looked to be dog food. Sean handed me a can, its lead read chicken and rice. I opened it and tossed it into the fire where it cooked and bubbled.

            There was an awkward silence about this meal. It seemed like no person wanted to say something. Sarah looked at me then quickly away. She was hiding something. I don’t know what but she definitely was not telling me something.

            I won’t question it. It is not worth it, I will find out eventually. “So, I am thinking that after we eat we should walk all the dogs.” I break the silence as I carefully pull my steaming can from the pit of flames.

            “Already did,” Matt nonchalantly remarks as he shoves a piece of mystery meat into his mouth. “We cleaned all the cages and fed every animal too.” He did not even look at me. It was no big deal to Matt, not one at all.

            I wanted to say something, something witty and smart. I wanted to really let him know that I don’t even care that they don’t need me but all I could muster was “Oh, ok”

            I sat there and looked at the burned label hanging onto the can, there was a phone number printed onto the charred white paper. Suddenly something came to me.

            “I will be right back” I jumped out of my seat and ran towards the door ignoring the sound of my chair falling over onto the ground. My body flew through the halls and hit the wall as I slid around the corner. My cell phone flew into the air and landed back into my hands.  My back collapsed onto one of the chairs and in a frenzy of fingers, the phone rang. My fingers impatiently tapped against the desk.

            “Hello?” a feminine voice rang from my speaker. My face lit up with excitement, on the other line was my friend Nikki. Nikki was a short girl, with a dark hair that seemed to be lost somewhere between red and brown. I had not seen her for a while so my idea of exactly what she looks like may be off by about two years.

            “Hey Nikki, it is Sam,” I start off the conversation with excited whisper. There is a lot of static on the other end of the line but barely made out her say,

            “Sam who?” Well with that my heart sank. She did not remember me, and to top it all off that means she also deleted me from her phone contacts.

            “Sam, from camp.”

            “Oh Sam, it has been so long, how are you?” I am great my family is dead, zombies are destroying the human race, I live off the flesh of dogs and cats, but other than all that I am just perfect.

            “Good, I actually called to talk with Brandon is he…” My voice trailed off I don’t want to say is he alive. “around?” the static on the other end of the phone seems to be getting louder and more violent I can hardly hear Nikki’s response.

            “He is outside, with my dad,” the sound is barely legible I’ll go get him wait here.”

            “I am not going anywhere” I half heartedly respond.

            “Hello?” The voice on the phone now is much more masculine. I knew it was Brandon’s he had something very distinct in his voice that made it very noticeable. Brandon and I were in the same cabin at camp as long as I could remember. He was short with blonde hair and very large muscles. He worked out a lot and it was very intimidating. His personality was completely different though, he was a very exciting and vibrant guy. He was more often than not in a really good mood.

            “Hey Brandon, it is Sam from camp.”

            “Oh, hey man”  His deep voice echoes confusion “What is up?”

            “I have been working on getting a group of people together; do you want to join us?” Suddenly a series barrage of static slapped against my ear.

            “Sorry my dad and I are up on the roof playing a game of target practice against the infected.” So the gun shots must have been creating all of the static. See this is why we could really use someone like Brandon. His father worked for the Department of Homeland Security before the Infection broke out. Brandon was strong and it was a very noticeable strength. Even when were kids at camp he always seemed to have these huge muscles that seemed to rise out of his pale white skin. It was how he was raised living around weight training and guns. He could shoot really well and could operate any gun proficiently. That is why we need him.

            “So, do you want to come with us?” There seemed to be a long silence. Brandon was definitely talking with his father and that is never a good sign. If I was Brandon’s dad I would not let him go.

            “No man,” his voice dropped to a near whisper, “I’ll talk to you bout it later man,” Suddenly the conversation ended. ‘I’ll talk to you about it later’ what does that mean.

            I sat there in silence, just thinking about what Brandon said for what felt like hours, now what. Clearly my group did not need me with them. So I just sat there. When, the hospital phone rang. It caught me by surprise as I walked over to the little black box. I pushed the speaker phone. It seemed we were not the only ones who thought of this place.

            “AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” The speaker blasted the deep screams of terror through the room. There was a shuffling like the sounds of running and screaming as a random man who seemed to be trying and make a last ditch effort to find safety from me. The sound was so shocking it knocked me straight onto the ground. My body trembled at the horrible sounds that seemed to float about the room. I wanted to hang up but I didn’t. It was intriguing. Foreign yet so primal and close to us. Those sounds of fear as we desperately try to cling to life, we all know it. There is something amazingly beautiful.

So no I sat there and let the tears roll down my mind’s eye as I imagined this man he could not be more than twenty three. I bet he was tall, probably with brown hair and eyes. I bet he had not shaven in weeks but his gruff beard seemed clean and fresh, not gross and dirty like his shirt. I feel like it must have been a dark blue covered with the scent of blood and fresh, with raw tears in it. I sat there as it became eerily silent. I waited on the ground for about a minute waiting for some last minute closure, there wasn’t any.

With that I stood up and walked over to the little black phone with the red flashing light and pushed “END.” I was not alone in the room. There was this feeling of another person here with me. I turned and Sarah was just standing there looking at me. I caught her eyes. There seemed to be a little bit of fear in them, something I rarely saw from someone like Sarah.

“How long were you standing there Sarah?”

“Just for a little while, I heard the entire thing though.”

“There was nothing we could for him”

“You did not even want to”

“Even if I did, then what?”

“We could have gotten to him-”

“Just in time to need to kill him as part of this Infection. We need to protect ourselves. I can’t let us just go out and get ourselves killed for nothing.”

“So that is it?” Sarah looks to be getting angry. “We just let everyone else die and just care about ourselves?”

“Yes” Boom! Sarah’s fist hit my face hard and knocked me to the ground.

“I don’t know what happened to you Sam but I don’t like it.” Sarah stormed out of the office. I felt a little bit of blood drip from my mouth. I spit it up on the ground and stood up. She really just hit me. Has the whole world gone crazy?! Are we not in the middle of the zombie apocalypse? It is only one in the afternoon and I have been disowned as leader forgotten by my friends and hit. I sat them grumbling on the floor for hours. Until I finally just made myself tired and fell asleep.

I woke up, my jaw was throbbing the darkness of an empty room. It was cold, the hair on my neck stood up on end. I felt a hand on my back but there was no one there. I was not alone. I reached for my knife but it was gone. So were the war hammers, chain whip and knuckleduster. In the distance there was glimmer of light that seemed to flicker like a small dying flame. My legs began to move towards the light when something blindsided me. I hit the ground and saw my shadow standing over me with all of my weaponry in hand. Slowly his form came into shape his eyes similar to mine. He smiled quietly and just watched me. Jacob wrestled with his shadows back in Genesis. It was a battle to destroy fear. Fear of his brother and of himself. Jacob was one of the founding fathers and he was afraid, of himself. The battle lasted all night but Jacob came out victorious with two broken ribs and a broken hip. The next day Jacob confronted his brother who was just happy to see him. Jacob was stronger from his victory. A man wrestled with god and won.

The night held a new feeling for me, a feeling of growth and comfort. I am here and I am who I am. The clock read that it was one in the morning, I was not tired anymore. I am not going to fall asleep for the rest of the night. In the corner my bag glowed in the darkness. I grabbed my bible and looked for a place to read. The hospital seemed to be unbearably warm. I can’t stay in this building any longer, I am burning up.

I climbed the ladder up to the roof. It was a little bit chillier out here but best of all a slight breeze flew through the air. There was a small light placed perfectly along the wall that provided just enough light for me to sit there and read. Exodus1-1 “-“

“Sam?” I turned and Sarah stood halfway through the door “what are you doing up here?” I held the book up in the air to show her exactly what I am doing. She smiles and pulls herself up onto the roof. She was in a bright pink tank top and sweats and shivered at the chilly wind that comfortably caressed my skin. “Sorry about before”

“No, you were right.” I smiled from the pages of my book. See it was almost always like this with Sarah and I. People used to think that we would end up dating but, that would never happen. She was like my sister and our relationship was something compared to an old married couple. We would always joke laugh and argue, most times the arguments were stupid. I remember I once told her to suck on a railroad spike, I don’t know why but I did. The thing that I think I liked most about Sarah was that she was always willing to let me know when I was being an idiot, which was often.

“So, why are you up here reading?”

“Well, I am not tired and I did not want to bother anyone.” She is not really focusing me as much as the wind in the distance. Are you okay Sarah?” she turned to look at me. “You seem a little bit nervous.”

“Nervous,” surprise runs over her face “Sam, we have all lost so much” she paused “how can I not be worried about losing anything else.”

“We are all nervous Sarah”

“You never seem nervous” Really I thought that everyone else saw me as an emotional wreck. I did not answer that with words, I could not find the words without ruining the moment. I just hugged her. She squeezed me back tightly. It was honestly a slightly awkward hug. Sarah was shorter than me so I could clearly see over her head.

That is when I saw him in the distance. His bright red hair stood out along the black of the night sky. A young man stood atop the roof of the car lot. He just stood there watching us; his eyes seemed glassy and sparkled in the pale moon light. There was no expression on this guy’s freckly face which shattered the silhouette of calm in the air. He seemed to be in a light leather jacket and jeans which hung over the side of the building.

“Sarah, do you see that guy over there?’ Her body cautiously turned towards the boy’s location but when she looked up he was gone. Sarah eyes gave me a curious and worried look. A wind blew by creating flaps in my tee shirt and sent loose leaves swirling through the air. I know I saw him there but I must have been wrong. I shrugged it off as my mind playing tricks on me. That was all it was.