Survivor

Prologue

"We now go to Ray in the traffic chopper for an update at the Hospital."

  After a slight delay, Ray Mills began to report on the chaos below him. "As you stated Emit, late yesterday afternoon a group of victims were transported to the hospital as they all seemed to be suffering from the same virus. Something happened overnight as the virus somehow spread to the rest of the wing of the hospital. The center is now being evacuated."

    "What does it look like Ray?"

    "Evacuated is a tame way of putting it, it's utter chaos. All intersections are blocked by violent accidents, and most people have resorted to running away from the-" Ray grew silent as he saw what the people were running from.

    "From what Ray?" Emit's voice came over his headset.

    "I have no way of putting it Emit... I don't know if this word is professional enough for radio... they're like... Zombies."

    "I'm told the police are arriving now, is that true Ray?"

    Ray, silenced by what he saw below, watched in horror as the ghouls attacked people around the hospital. They all descended upon their victims, biting at their flesh like meat.

    "We must be having technical difficulties ladies and gentleman, so we'll return to the studio as we have an official quote from the Chief of Orange City Police..." Ray's headset filled with static.

Survivor

Part 1: Destination Unknown

Chapter 1

Friday- 1-14-14

05:36

    I flipped a switch, silencing the small alarm clock. Although I would have normally stayed in bed, listening to the music from Rock 107.3, I rose quickly, alert as I listened intently to the broadcast. I didn't need a citywide evacuation message to send me tearing through my room, throwing the most comfortable, warm clothing that I could find into a duffel bag, all the while donning a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. I grabbed my aluminum baseball bat as I ran out of my room.

    Though I had never driven alone before, I snatched the keys to the work truck and rushed out the garage door. I loaded the bag into the passenger seat and went back into the house. A small backpack I loaded with any household items I could use as a weapon. I only just grabbed my dad's emergency credit card and my copy of Max Brook's Zombie Survival Guide as I ran out the door.

Damn me for not wanting to read it earlier, I thought.

I threw that into the cab with the large case of dog food in the garage. My dog, Marvin, was waiting inside, excited, wondering at all the commotion. He eagerly jumped into the truck when I called for him.

I'm not leaving you boy.

I shut the garage door after I grabbed the machete and pickaxe off the tool rack.

Doors locked, alarm armed, and utterly empty stood my house as I drove away. For the first time I was unsure as to whether or not I would return.

Oddly, I was happy suddenly. I knew that my family had stayed the night down south for my younger brother's doctor's visit. I hoped that they were safe.

I almost hoped more that I had enough gas to go wherever I was headed. I actually had no idea where I was going. I knew one thing though. No matter whether this was a short epidemic in the area or a global catastrophe, I would survive.

My name is Alex Stone, I'm seventeen, and I'll be damned if I let some pathetic undead cut my life short.

   

Chapter 2

Friday- 1-14-14

05:49

    Despite the chaos ensuing but a few miles away, Blue Springs Avenue was as it had been the past month. It was dark, cold and quiet. Most people on that small street still lay in their beds, tugging at the last few minutes of sleep they could manage out of their alarm clocks.

    Yet the eight cylinders of the heavy Ford speeding down the street tore the sublime silence. Though the speed limit was thirty-five miles per hour, the driver pushed the truck to over fifty miles per hour, disregarding most conventional safety laws. The driver only narrowly pulled the vehicle to a stop as another car drove through the intersection, obviously having the right-of-way.

It sped the short distance to the main intersection to the highway and watched as a few cars sped away from the hospital to the south, most turning onto small residential roads, hoping that the monsters at the hospital hadn't reached their loved ones. Its tires screeched as it pulled onto the northbound lane of the highway.

Chapter 3

Friday- 1-14-14

05:51

    Mark Williams gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles paled. The sweat dripped from his brow and mixed with tears making his eyes hurt and sting. The gurney holding his wife's body rattled in the back of his large van as he weaved through lanes.

    "It's alright Bridget, don't worry honey. I'll get us home. Don't worry." he repeated to her through his sobs. He knew she wouldn't answer; she had been unconscious since he evacuated her from the hospital a few minutes before.

    Mark ignored the red light as he sped through an intersection, a large white truck narrowly stopping to let him by. He only looked forward, struggling to think straight in light of what happened. He looked forward so intently that he didn't notice his wife's corpse start to move. It crawled at him in the driver's seat, one hand clutching the headrest; the other grasped a tuft of Mark's hair. He screamed as he turned to see his wife, pale as a rotting corpse, grab at his neck and pull her open mouth to his face. Her teeth sunk in, and he screamed even louder as hot blood began to stream down his neck. Mark struggled to turn and stop her from ripping off a bit of his cheek. One hand jerked off the steering wheel and fumbled with his seatbelt, trying to free him from the locked restraint.

    Yet he was too slow, and Bridget's teeth sunk through his cheek, tearing off a chunk. The one hand still on the steering wheel jerked, and the car began to veer, and finally found its path directly into a concrete pillar that held a stoplight.

Chapter 4

Friday- 1-14-14

06:02

    I watched in horror as the van I pulled behind began to swerve, gaining speed and violently veering off the road and into a concrete pillar. The windshield broke and a body was jettisoned twenty feet onto the pavement on front of the van.

    I slammed on the brakes and pulled off the road near the crash. The baseball bat next to me slid and fell onto the floor of the cab. I put the truck into park and grabbed it as I jumped out and ran to the body. I slowed when I saw the bloody trail that followed where the body had slid. Though it lay facedown, I saw that it was a heavyset man, wearing jeans and a torn shirt. I slowly reached down, my hand shaking, and rolled him over.

    I shrieked and fell backwards, tripping over the baseball bat that fell from my grasp. I had played violent video games, seen horror flicks, but none of that prepared me to see the congealed mess of bone and blood where the man's face should have been. I began to hyperventilate as I continued to look at the corpse. I finally gagged and vomited onto the sidewalk next to me.

    Forcing myself to look away, I turned to the van, its front end destroyed in the crash. I saw another body hanging over the hood. My knees shaking, I slowly got up and stumbled over to the body. It was a woman with red hair wearing a torn hospital gown. Yet again, I reached toward the body, my hand shaking violently.

    I shrieked louder this time when one arm snatched up and grabbed mine when I touched her shoulder. Instinctively I pulled my other arm up and punched the arm that weakly held on to me. I ripped free from her grip and stumbled backward. She looked up and began to flail her arms at me, reaching with all her might, a moan escaping her broken jaw that hung slack to one side. She did not move however and when I blinked back the tears that I had only just noticed in my eyes, I saw why.

A shard of the windshield impaled her abdomen and held her there like a piece of paper on a nail. Yet still she reached for me, as if trying to force her arms to extend. Unfortunately for me, I didn't know what zombies could and could not do, so I scrambled away and found my bat. As I slowly approached her, she let out another moan.

I brought the bat down on her skull in the same manner I had been taught to do when chopping wood a week earlier. I brought it over my head with both hands, and flexed my core, legs and arms as I brought it down. The metal bat connected and caved in the back of her head. Blood splattered onto my shoes.

Chapter 6

Friday 1-14-14

06:14

    When I first rose from bed this morning, as I tore through my house, packing supplies and weapons into the truck, I honestly had no idea why I was leaving. Even as I drove away from my empty house, I still vaguely questioned the feeling in the back of my head. It just felt right, I thought.

Now that I stood over the corpse of a monster that once was human, I knew why. I knew I had to get as far away from the hospital but a few miles from my house as I could. I had to get away at least long enough to think, to contact my family, and to prepare myself for the reality of the situation. If it really was just a central Florida issue, then I trusted the military to eliminate the Zombies. But, if it was what I had read about in Sci-fi books and seen in campy zombie flicks, I had to prepare myself for a total collapse of society. A Class 4 as I would come to know it.

My dog Marvin roused me from my thoughts when he began to whimper anxiously. I returned to the truck and let him out to use the bathroom and to walk around as I examined the body of the man on the concrete. His wallet held 44 dollars and a few credit cards. His ID told me he was named Mark J Williams. He was 49 years old and an organ donor.

Thank you Mark. I truly appreciate your assistance in my survival.

Marvin climbed back into the back of the truck and I shut the door. Using the keys I found on Mark, I opened the back of his van. A gurney stood in the center of the aisle, soaked in old blood. Along either side were racks of equipment for what I guessed was some sort of computer-repair business. I walked back to the truck, grabbed my duffel bag, and came back to fill it with two laptops and an AC converter. I also collected a package of networking cable and a few routers. Unfortunately for me though, spare hard drives and CO2 blowers weren't of any use in a zombie apocalypse. I returned the bag to the truck and came back to check the glove box. A gasp escaped my mouth when I opened it. A .32 caliber revolver lay in among a few papers and maps. With it were nine rounds plus three in the loader. I stow it in my jacket and search eagerly for a few spare rounds. My heart jumped again when my hand bumped three more rounds on the floorboard.

For a split second, I guess whether it's ok that I'm just taking this stuff. But then I think about that it would be like if some lunatic found the gun, or even worse, a zombie smart enough to fire it!

No, I need it if I'm ever to make it to my family.

As I merged back onto the highway I began to think. Maybe it was the gun in my lap that gave me the security to do so, but I finally felt a clear head. That clear head told me two things. I needed a destination to contact my family, and as my stomach ached, I needed food.

I hoped that people at the nearby Dunkin Donuts hadn't listened to their radio as I pulled around the drive-thru. The lazy voice over the intercom sounded like Christ himself.

"Would you like to try a new mocha iced-frappe for only-"

"Yes I need fifteen sausage-egg muffins, two dozen glazed donuts and six large coffees." I practically yelled at the half-asleep teenager behind the comm.

"Umm- Uh- Fifteen Umm- Uh- and six large coffees?"

"Yes. I don't care about the price I'm coming around" I pulled the truck as fast as I could to the window and shoved the credit card in the kids face.

"That'll be seventy-" He started.

"Take. The. Card."

He fumbled with the card and quickly handed it back with the receipt. The food followed two agonizing minutes later.

"Listen man, what's your name?" I ask as I put the truck in drive.

"Andy"

"Andy, I want you to leave work right now. I want you to go home, gather your family, and run."

"Run from what?"

"Turn on the damn radio." I shout as I drive off.

Chapter 7

Friday 1-14-14

07:04

    The fact that I almost missed the entrance to TigerBay mad me feel even more secure. So as I pulled into the empty national park and hunting range, I let out a sigh of relief. The pounding headache started to subside, and I felt slightly less angry at the world.

    I can't believe their evacuating south! South! What makes them think those vessels will stay clean? What makes them believe they can stop this? It's already all over the US; Florida was just the last state hit!

    I turned the radio down until it was hardly audible when I heard that. The official sounding man following the disaster alarm told me that this was a countywide evacuation. He said that south was the way to flee. I knew he was a fool, if not just an automated message repeated across the Country while the important officials went underground, hoping to just wait this mess out.

    I only found comfort when I decided to head north for my hiding spot. I drove to TigerBay, a place my friends and I used to come driving. It was quiet, lonely and out of the way of all the highways and interstates. Already the roads were hell. I saw three accidents within ten minutes of the evacuation notice.

I decided to wait to eat my food, but I gave Marvin two of the muffins. I waited till I was about a quarter mile into the dirt roads to turn the truck around, turn off the engine, and eat. My phone was still off, as I had decided to save the battery till I could focus. Although the little Nokia had the battery-life of a car, I doubted I would be anywhere near a wall charger for a while.

    The minute he little phone hummed to life it began ringing. I answered quickly.

--

"Hello?"

"Hello, Alex?!? Alex are you there son?"

"Yeah. Dad. I'm sorry I didn't call you yet, I just needed to get out of the house."

"Don't worry. Where are you? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. I took the work truck to TigerBay in Deland"

"I know where that is"

"I decided to get away and find someplace safe before I contacted you."

"And the Zombies?"

"They're around. Not as much as they will be but the day is still young." I let out a stifled chuckle.

"Yeah. It is..." His voice trails off.

"What about you guys?"

"They're having us evacuate north, they say it's safe there-"

"North?!? They're sending you north?" I laugh in disbelief.

"Yeah we'll be heading there soon"

"Dad, they're sending us south..."

"What?"

"Yeah, they say here that the rest of the US has been hit, that there are Navy Vessels waiting to evacuate us off-shore."

"Oh my God..."

"Yeah."

He paused for a second. "I know it'll be hell for us to get there, but we'll meet you in Stewart."

"Where?"

"Stewart. Yeah, we'll meet at Roosevelt Bridge. Emily says you can't miss it."

"Ok."

"Yeah, take I-95 straight through, exit 101, north to US-1 and there'sRoosevelt Bridge. We'll meet in two weeks."

"Alright, RooseveltBridge, Two Weeks. Got it. I have to go-"

"Yeah. We do too. We'll turn on our phones every two days at noon. If anything comes up, get at us then."

"Alright, thanks Dad."

"You're welcome. I love you son."

"Love you too, Dad. See you in two weeks."

--

    The phone call ended almost too quickly. I pressed and held the end button so that my cell phone turned off. Two weeks seemed too long at first, but I would soon know that two weeks was barely enough time to get to our meeting point. I would also soon know that the phone call I just had might have been the last time I ever heard my father's voice.

Chapter 8

Friday 1-14-14

07:21

    Yet again Marvin roused me from my thoughts. This time though, he barked and began to whimper and growl. Before I could react, a hand swung over the door to the truck and into the open window. I jumped in terror as another zombie, this one dressed as a hunter, tried to climb into the truck at me. I blindly fumbled for the revolver on the seat next to me as I kicked the hand. For the split second that I turned my head to grab the firearm I felt the stony grip descend upon my ankle. I felt the monster begin to pull at me, its teeth slipping over my shoes. It nearly bit down on my ankle when I pointed the revolver at the zombie's head, and pulled the trigger.

    The bark of the revolver cut the silence of the forest like a sword, and the sound of the ghoul hitting the ground, dead again, sounded just as loud. Shaking so hard my eyes hurt, I pulled my leg back into the cab and looked down at the zombie. It was a man in camouflaged clothing with a crossbow strapped to his back. I climbed out of the truck and gathered what I could from him. He had six bolts for the crossbow, and I hoped I was strong enough to pull it back when the time came to use it. He had a hunting knife in his boot, and nothing else of concern. Again, I looked to his wallet. This time Shaun Mumford was the one to help me. I thanked him as I did the man before.

    The whole encounter still shook me to the core. I knew the stories; get bit and become one of them. I never wanted to come that close again. So as if the place itself was cursed, I started the truck again and drove out of TigerBay.

Driving out was oddly different. In twenty minutes, the roads went from hell to the lake of fire. I had to drive around an accident just to get back on the road and I was one of fifty cars on that stretch of the highway. The cars were moving so I continued towards the interstate.

Within ten minutes, I heard sirens in the distance behind me. I looked in my rear-view mirror to see a large ambulance speeding down the grass median next to the road. It passed me and the situation quickly got terrible. A truck a few cars ahead swerved out in front of the ambulance and the two collided. The truck was spun violently off the road, and the ambulance pitched forward and rolled onto its side. Cars swerved and stopped near it to avoid it as it slid across the median and into a tree. I swerved off the road and jumped out of the car, revolver in hand, and began to sprint to the wreckage.

What looked like people began to crawl out the open hatch, but I noticed at the same time as all the cars around me that these weren't people. The ambulance was full of at least a dozen ghouls that began to walk and crawl to the cars stopped to gaze at the wreck.

    The lake of fire immediately turned to an ocean of sulphur.

    Chaos broke out as every car sped to escape the wreck, and those that got out of their cars to help as I had, sprinted back to their vehicles. Two cars collided within ten seconds and I struggled to weave my way around the cars that had resorted to driving off the lanes to get away, some even turning around completely.

    I struggled even more to spot the truck among the chaos. Then I saw it. Two men opened the doors of my truck. One tried to get into the drivers seat and jumped out again as he noticed Marvin. He opened the back door and let my dog out who still barked at the men and backed away. I dashed to the truck, one hand reaching for the revolver in my pocket. But I wasn't fast enough. The truck skidded in reverse and eventually turned around and sped away. Too many other cars swerved around it for me even to shoot at it. So instead I rushed to Marvin pulled him by his collar towards the trees of the forest. He ran with me and further into the brush. Grabbing his collar again, I stopped my dog and held him close. Tears streamed down my face as a lump quickly grew in my stomach.

    Someone stole the truck! It hardly seemed real to me. The men probably thought it was in the way and simply drove it off. Doom descended onto me and I crouched holding my dog for almost three minutes before I turned. The chaos continued as more cars sped away. Less had resorted to driving on the median so I led Marvin back to the edge of the forest. We ran the same way the cars went, away from the ghouls around the wreckage. I ran almost blindly, barely aware of my dog who ran while barking behind me, and the doom I felt in my heart.

A few cars had seen misfortune and not been able to escape. They hardly knew how to react when the monsters walked to their vehicles, began climbing and grabbing through windows, and tearing them apart. We ran to the parking lot of a Sears and I led Marvin into an empty Taco Bell. It was abandoned minutes ago, and some of the stoves still ran. The smell of burning food prevailed in the room as I led Marvin behind the counter to hide. We slid under the counter, pushed past the stacks of cups and hid from the Hell outside.

    The next two weeks were longer than I thought as I tried to contact my family. But without the truck, I had no supplies, and no transportation. I had a revolver with nine spare rounds, the clothes on my back, and a 130Lb. dog who was more scared than I was.

    My name is Alex Stone. I'm seventeen years old. And my life might be cut short by some pathetic undead. 

Caesar:

Who is it in the press that calls on me?

I hear a tongue shriller than all the music

Cry "Caesar!" Speak, Caesar is turn'd to hear.

Soothsayer:

Beware the ides of March.

Caesar:

What man is that?

Brutus:

A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.

-Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 15-19

Shakespeare

--------------------------------------------

Survivor

Part 3: Ides of March

Chapter 1

Thursday- 3-15-14

01:48 AM

    Considering it has been two weeks since I spoke to a human being, it wouldn't surprise me to know that I'm starting to see things.

    But there she is, again.

    I knew I wasn't crazy, however. Because not only would I have to hallucinate that it was a survivor at all; I would also have to hallucinate her. Exactly as she was, short cropped hair, nimble form, and fair skin. She held a compound bow almost as tall as she was, and stood on the edge of a rooftop a few buildings and a story down from me.

    I came up here often to think, especially before I return to camp from a run into the city. I was three hours in, and tonight would be my last for the month. I had already ran my food and munitions bags, all that was left was the small duffel hidden in the building below me containing spring clothes, shoes, batteries and a few other items. All I ever traveled with was a crowbar, some nylon rope and my .32 revolver.

    Winter always struggles to grasp Florida, especially here in Orlando, and I was reminded of its plight by a swift cold breeze that brought me back to reality. By now the girl had drawn the bow, and fired a sleek bolt down to the street below. Though I watched intently, I rather heard a sharp grunt and a small crash. A shout came out of the alley and I tensed, but she silenced it as well with another bolt. I waited and a split second earlier I heard glass break, and she fired a third arrow. Then silence.

    With practiced precision she bent, disassembled the bow, stowed it in her bag that she slung over her back, and looked at me.

    I knew she did, I saw her eyes and the glimmer of a could-be smile in the moonlight. She faced me, paced backwards casually, and off the side of the building.

Chapter 2: The Chase

Thursday- 3-15-14

01:51 AM

    I am always tense, in the city. Being surrounded by literally tens of thousands of zombies will do that to you, but I had learned to be quick and quiet.

    But I yelled that swear word, and I launched myself with all of my might off of the balcony I stood on. Midair I heard a splash, but it didn't stop me. My feet hit the roof of the next building and I pitched over my left shoulder into a roll. I didn't break momentum as I sprinted across the roof towards her.

    No way is she ok. I though to myself, my heart pounding against my chest. Vaulting over two AC fans and a few ducts, sprinting across the flat roof I went on, no way I'm missing another survivor, even if she's suicidal. I pump my left leg, my right foot connects with the edge of the building. I pump again, hurling my body over the gap between buildings. I reach out and catch the top fire exit of the next building with both hands. For a split second I'm stunned by the intense pain of the iron rail smacking into my body. I pump my arms with all of my strength, pulling my knees to my chest and my hips up over the rail. Without hesitation I continue to run across the rooftop towards where I last saw her. At the next edge I saw what I expected. I rather deep pool sitting atop the next roof down still had wakes in it from where she landed.

    She sat at the edge of the pool, tying a new pair of shoes on. She was beautiful, and I gestured toward her. But she merely laughed and hopped up, her clothes still soaking wet, and scrambled up the ladder to the next roof. She reached the top, turned to look down on me, and pointed at her wrist as if it had a watch and I was late.

    I didn't understand it, but I still gave chase. With a grin on my face I knelt, and lunged off the roof, cleared the pool and rolled in the cold grass next to it. By the time I reached the ladder she was gone, and I pulled myself up as fast as I could. My chest still hurt but I chased her across the roof of four buildings. Jumping, vaulting, climbing and sprinting our way across Orlando's cityscape. Most of the time at least six stories up, neither of us hesitated to leap across the gaps. She was quicker than I was, though I leapt farther than her each time.

    I gained on her, she giggled and it rang across the silent night, bounding off metal and stone. Each time I thought I had caught her, she took some wild turn, or found some random shortcut I had missed, I smiled and though it tired the hell out of me, I hadn't had fun like this since before the Infection. Two months and a day ago, I lost everything, gained it again few weeks ago ,and lost it again. This reminded me of home, I never could dream of this before, but it felt real. We came to another gap and she leapt across, I braced to follow.

And then I fell.