Age of Decay (Book 1): Contagion (5 page)

Trevor ran out his front door and was halfway across the street when Ben staggered out into his yard. He held his shoulder, blood oozing between his fingers. Sweat poured down his forehead and his ghostly white face. Ben walked a few more paces, then stood there.

“Chelsea,” he moaned. Ben collapsed onto his knees as more blood seeped from the horrific wound in his shoulder.

Trevor could barely process what he was seeing when out the front door came Chelsea, or what used to be Chelsea. She wore a pink frilly robe with white cotton underwear and a pink tank top. She was pretty once, but now her skin was a pale gray. As Trevor eyes gazed upon her face, he saw the blood there, covering her in a bright smear. She looked to be chewing something in her mouth. Trevor thought back to the times the four of them had been together.
I remember the back yard barbecues, with the girls in their bikinis. We talked, laughed, and drank beer. It’s gone now, isn’t it? All of it is gone, replaced by this madness. I’m going fucking insane!

It took mere seconds for Trevor’s thoughts to go through his brain as Chelsea reached Ben. She bent down and hissed something before she tore a strip of flesh off his arm then began to chew that, too. She looked up for second, with those dead, vacant, white eyes. Ben screamed then toppled over. Before Trevor had his Glock out of the holster, Chelsea had knelt down and buried her teeth into Ben’s stomach. Ben let out a shriek as she shredded away skin, blood, and part of his intestines.

“No!” screamed Trevor as he squeezed the trigger of his pistol. The round slammed into her shoulder, but she barely flinched. In fact, it seemed to get her attention. She stood up and opened her crimson red mouth. Blood tricked down the side as she moved toward him, one hand outstretched as if to greet him with a comforting hand on his shoulder. Trevor’s hand shook, but he squeezed off one more round into the wife of his neighbor. The bullet slammed into her chest, which threw her back some, but she kept on moving.
Why won’t you die!
Chelsea moved across the street, but Trevor raised his pistol, this time aiming for her head. The bullet tore into her forehead then exited the back of her head, taking with it blood, brains, along with portions of her skull. Chelsea collapsed backwards and crashed to the pavement as her head oozed gore onto the concrete.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” said Trevor as he wiped the sweat away from his forehead. “Ben?” He ran across the street and onto the grass, but it was too late. He knelt down to his friend. “Oh, God. Ben, dammit, I’m so sorry.” Trevor closed the eyelids of his friend then went back across the street. Lauren stood there in the front yard her hand over her mouth as she saw the remains of Chelsea.

“She was changed,” said Trevor, his back to the road. “She tried to eat Ben, like those things on the television. I had to kill her, I had to. You have to understand.” Trevor looked at Lauren with a puzzled look. “Hon?”

Lauren’s face had gone white, her eyes were wide. “Ben!” she screamed.

Trevor whirled around. There was Ben standing across the street. His shoulder was a ruined mess, with his arm in tatters where Chelsea had bitten off chunks of flesh. Intestines dangled out of the hole in his stomach, yet somehow he moved across the grass.
How can you move, Ben? You’re supposed to be fucking dead. The dead don’t move!
Today the dead did move, and Ben moved towards them. Ben opened his jaw, spittle dripped from his lips. His eyes. Those cold, dead, eyes.

“Fuck!” Trevor led go another round from the Glock, but his hand shook, and he missed Ben’s head. He squeezed again, and this time the round connected before Ben could get halfway across the street. His head shattered into pieces, and Ben toppled over, forever silent.
I killed my neighbors! But they weren’t your neighbors anymore, Trevor, get that thorough your head. They aren’t human!
Trevor still held the gun out as his arm shook. He lowered it slowly putting his hand over his mouth, trying to keep his guts down.

Lauren rushed over and put her around Trevor. “What are we going to do?”

Trevor looked at his wife. “Do? We are going to get the hell out of here, that is what we are going to do. Get the rest of the stuff, get in the caravan. Now!”

Jason ran out of the front door and up to his father. He backed up as he saw the grisly corpses on the pavement. He bent over, heaved, and up came the milk. He clutched at his stomach for a moment before he stood up. He gasped a bit, wiping his mouth struggling to get the words out. “We have to go get Samantha, she sent me a text message.” He pointed to the corpses. “Her parents have turned into those things, she’s trapped in her bedroom!”

They threw as much gear into the caravan as they could. It would be difficult to make it out with the city falling apart around them, but Trevor was determined to get his family to safety.
We’ll go to the interior somewhere, hide out in the mountains away from this carnage
. He threw the last bag into the back and slammed it shut.

He climbed into the driver’s side and tore out of the driveway, spinning his wheels. Down the road, more of the dead began to appear. They walked around aimlessly, looking to feed.

“Call Samantha on your phone. Get her to move away from her door. I want her to lie down on the ground and pull her mattress over top of her. I don’t want her to move until she hears my voice, understand?”

“Yeah,” said Jason. “Sent the message.”

“What are you planning?” asked Lauren.

“I don’t want any of my rounds going through the wall and potentially hitting her if I miss. Plus, if those things somehow get through her door, she may have a few more minutes, enough time for me to get her out.”

“Got a message. She understands.”

“Good, now let’s just get there. It’s two blocks from here, right?”

“Yeah, take a right at the next intersection.”

As they went around the corner, they saw a grisly sight. A man bent over another man and pulled out his guts in thick strands. He looked their way, but kept chewing, intent on finishing his gory meal. The pavement was stained with the blood of his victim.

“Oh, God,” said Lauren.

“Who was that?” said Jason.

“Old man Hendricks,” said Trevor. “I used to talk to him all the time, he had a nice German Shepherd. His son was in Afghanistan, just go back a little while before the flu happened.” Trevor was lost in thought. “Damn.”
It’s all gone, what the hell are we gonna do?

“Look out!” screamed Lauren.

Trevor slammed the caravan to the right, narrowing missing a car that sped past him. The driver lost control, and the car barreled into another one, sending debris all over the road. “Shit, that was close. These roads are going to be clogged soon, so I don’t know how long we can stay on them. These things are going to be everywhere.”

“Where are we going?” said Jason

“The interior, if we can, once we get Samantha.”

“What? That’s miles away, we’ll never make it.”

“You have a better idea?” Trevor yelled. “Or would you rather stay in the city and become the next meal of one of those.” He pointed to the driver as they passed her. The woman that staggered around in a daze.

“No.”

“Trevor, don’t be so hard on him, he’s only trying to help.”

“Sorry, but I just killed my goddamn neighbors who tried to tear my throat out. I’m entitled to be on edge!”
I just want this to end, this horrid nightmare I can’t wake up from!

“Down the next street,” said Jason.
Just get there, if anything happens to her
. “There, white house with blue flowers, next to the gray Mazda.”

Trevor drove into driveway then jumped out of the vehicle, grabbing the AR-15.

“I’m going with you,” said Jason.

“No. Stay here, and look after your mother.”

“But—”

“Look, I need you to do what I say, okay? Watch your mother. Get the hell out of here if those things arrive, don’t wait for me. Got me?”

“Alright.”

“Good. I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

“Be careful,” said Lauren.

“Here,” said Trevor. He grabbed a crowbar out of the back of the truck and handed it to Lauren. “Use this if you have to. Remember, aim for the head. That seems to be the only way to stop them. Watch the road.”

Trevor opened the door slowly in case any of them were by the door. He didn’t know how many may be inside. It might just be Samantha’s parents or there might be more of them. He scanned left and right before he went inside. The television was still on with news reports playing about what was going on. He saw the headline.

“Vancouver Hospital overwhelmed by crazed flu patients. Dozens of officers killed. Attacks occurring across the city. Lock your doors stay inside as authorities address crisis.”

“Shit,” he said under his breath.

In front of him were the stairs covered in bloody footprints. He could hear faint moaning upstairs and a slow steady thumping sound. Trevor checked his weapon and slowly walked up the stairs. As he went around the corner he could see them near the far door. One of them turned around and began to slowly walk toward Trevor. He had to swallow to keep his stomach down.
The father
. The man was missing half his stomach. He could see the ribcage and the remains of the guts. The front of his shirt was no more than a few tatters now, shredded and ripped. Pools of blood stained the once pristine light blue carpet by the door. Samantha’s mother also turned toward him, her mouth was a red bloody gore with the front of her blue robe stained in the same horrific way. They both stumbled slowly towards him. Trevor wasted no time, he squeezed off two rounds towards the man first. The rounds exited the back of his head and splattered the wall in brains and chunks of skull. He fell to the carpet, a grisly ruined mess. The female open her jaw, but it was the last movement she made as his rounds tore into her neck and head to silence her. She crashed into the wall and left a bloody smear as she slid down.

Trevor lowered his weapon. “Samantha? I’m coming into your room, it’s Jason’s father. Just hang on.” He opened her door and saw the mattress on the floor. The young girl sobbed under it. He pulled the mattress away. Samantha got up and wiped her eyes. Her mascara was smeared all over her face. She put her arms around him and hugged him.

“Samantha listen to me, you have to get some clothes. We have to leave right now. Do you have a school backpack or something else you can use?”

The girl sniffled. “Yeah.”

“Good, get some clothes as quickly as you can. I’m going to look around the house. Make sure there’s no more of them. Be as quick as you can, okay?” I’ll close this door, don’t leave your room.”

“My parents?”

“They are gone, honey.”

She began to sob again, holding onto her dresser for support. “No! Mom? My dad? No!”

“Samantha,” he said. ‘You have to be strong, can you be strong for me? We have got to get out of here. It’s happening everywhere.”

“Yes,” she said, through her sobs. She wiped tears from her eyes. “I’ll get my things.”

Trevor went downstairs for a moment, but the house was clear.
Thank God
. He noticed a liquor cabinet and went over to it. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a glass and quickly downed a shot.
Got to keep it together. This madness gonna tear out my soul. How can I deal with this horror?
He downed another shot, then another. The liquor quickly became an old friend.

***

Lauren waited patiently in the caravan, her hand gripped the crowbar tightly beside her chair. She looked outside and saw Jason standing here, his AR-15 over his shoulder just like a soldier.
What a way to grow up fast. Now it’s us against the world.
She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes for a moment.
I wish it was back to normal, just like before when we were one happy family.
When she opened them, Jason was gone. “Jason!” she screamed. She saw him standing by the trees relieving himself, and she sighed with relief until she saw it coming up behind him. The man with the torn shirt, the pale gray skin, the hungry open mouth. She grabbed the crowbar and leaped out of the vehicle. She ran up behind the thing then slammed the crowbar into the back of it.
You won’t hurt my son damn you, damn all of you. Go back to hell where you came from!
The ghoul lunged for her, but she brought the crowbar down upon its head. The bar buried into its skull, and it collapsed onto the grass. She brought the crowbar up then slammed it down again and again, pounding it into the thing’s head until it was a bloody pile of gore.

Jason whirled around reaching for his weapon. “Mom, you alright? Thanks, I didn’t see it.”

She wiped the sweat off her forehead. “They got our neighbors. I won’t let them get you.” She looked down at the blood-soaked crowbar.
I’m a killer now
.

“Shit,” said Jason. “Over there!” Down the road about twenty of the ghouls shambled slowly towards them.

***

Inside, Trevor went back up the stairs and opened Samantha’s door.

“Come on, let’s go. We have to get out of here now!”

He helped her get the last of her things when he heard the gunfire outside. “Come on. Close your eyes, I’ll help you down the stairs.
She doesn’t need to see the remains of her parents, holy fuck! It’s a nightmare!
He put his arm around her and grabbed her bag. They ran down the stairs and out the door.

“Samantha,” Jason said as he ran over to her.

“Get her in!” Trevor aimed carefully and dropped the nearest of the dead with AR-15 rounds as they shambled towards them. They jumped in, and Trevor gunned the engine, backing up out of the driveway. He backed into one of the dead before peeling away out of the neighborhood, which was being quickly overrun by a horde of the dead.

Samantha collapsed into the backseat with her arms around Jason.

“Gonna be difficult to get out of the city,” said Trevor. “This thing is spreading fast.”

“Which way are we gonna go?” asked Jason.

“Need to make the Port Mann Bridge, if it’s not blocked. Have to get across the Fraser River, then the Trans-Canada highway through the Fraser Valley. Normally, that’s a piece of cake. Now, not so much.”

“Are you thinking of going to your uncle in Hope?” said Lauren.

“Yeah, if he’s okay. We can go and hide out in the mountains. Try to figure out what we’re going to do.”

“You okay?” Trevor asked Samantha.

Samantha put her head into Jason’s shoulder, her tears stained his shirt. “My mom just sat there in the kitchen. She chewed and… chewed. Dad... she ate—”

“It’s gonna be fine, we’ll get out of here, I promise.” They passed a bunch of burning shops. Bodies littered the ground outside, a few of the dead staggered around aimlessly. “See, all of it has gone to shit. This flu was wiping us out slowly, and with those things, its complete insanity now. They’ve all gone crazy.”

“You change if you get bit?” asked Lauren. “Ben got up after Chelsea bit him.”

“Yeah,” said Trevor. “They must pass the virus on to you.”

“Why aren’t we sick?” said Jason.

“Immunity. Some of us have natural immunity to things. I don’t think it will matter much now, with those things out there. Like me, I never get the flu, I haven’t had it since I was young.”

“The dead,” said Jason.

“What do you mean?” said Lauren.

“That’s what they are,” said Jason. “We are the living, and they are the dead.”

“Yeah,” said Trevor, as he swallowed hard. “For now.”