The Week of the Dead

The Week of the Dead

Viktor Longfellow

Copyright © 2016 Viktor Longfellow
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 1535403888
ISBN 13: 9781535403887

Acknowledgments

I
would like to thank everyone who was involved with this book. I’m sure most of you are tired of hearing me talk about it.ell, I did it. I would like to thank the Internet for the maps and whatever kind of coffee I was drinking while I wrote this. This goes out to my family and anyone who told me to set my mind on something and do it.

“Keep your head low and aim for theirs.”

—Viktor Longfellow

Contents

Prologue Present Day

Good Morning Chapter 1 Monday 0630 CST Memphis

Neighbors Chapter 2 Monday 0830 EST Philadelphia

The Date Chapter 3 Monday 0930 CST St. Louis

Unexpected Guests Chapter 4 Monday 0845 EST Philadelphia

Time for Work Chapter 5 Monday 0700 CST Memphis

No News Chapter 6 Monday 0900 EST Philadelphia

Jeff and Henry Chapter 7 Monday 1100 CST Ohio

The Ivans Chapter 8 Monday 1130 CST Memphis

Escape Chapter 9 Monday 1135 CST Memphis

The Text Chapter 10 Monday 1215 CST Memphis

Devin’s Neighborhood Chapter 11 Monday 1245 CST Memphis

A Knight in Shoulder Pads Chapter 12 Monday 1045 EST Philadelphia

Second Base Chapter 13 Monday 1300 CST Kentucky

The Garage Chapter 14 Monday 1059 EST Philadelphia

The House Chapter 15 Monday 1400 CST Memphis

Coffee Break Chapter 16 Monday 1455 CST Memphis

Steam Rolling Chapter 17 Monday 1108 EST Philadelphia

Getting Out of Town Chapter 18 Monday 1500 CST Memphis

Class Chapter 19 Monday 1324 CST Memphis

The Gas Station Chapter 20 Monday 1505 CST Memphis

A New Ride Chapter 21 Monday 1110 EST Philadelphia

Channel 7 Chapter 22 Monday 1400 CST Memphis

The Cleansing Chapter 23 Monday 1200 CST Millington

The Microwave Chapter 24 Tuesday 0200 CST Memphis

Southern Hospitality Chapter 25 Tuesday 0230 CST Memphis

Noise at the Door Chapter 26 Tuesday 0800 CST Memphis

Junk Food Chapter 27 Tuesday 0630 Millington

Biology Chapter 28 Tuesday 0800 Memphis

Armor Chapter 29 2100 EST Pennsylvania

Mud Island Chapter 30 Tuesday 1100 CST Memphis

The Farmhouse Chapter 31 Tuesday, 1700 CST Millington

Danny’s Apartment Chapter 32 Monday 1500 CST St. Louis

Answers Chapter 33 Tuesday 2130 CST Memphis

Children Chapter 34 Monday 1500 CST St. Louis

The Prison Chapter 35 Monday 2000 MDT Idaho

Darwin Chapter 36 Tuesday 2200 CST Memphis

Revenge Chapter 37 Tuesday 0930 CST St. Louis

Base Chapter 38 Tuesday 0400 Fort Knox

Rooftop Access Chapter 39 Wednesday 0300 St. Louis

Darkness Chapter 40 Tuesday 2300 CST Millington

Daddy Issues Chapter 41 Tuesday 2300 Memphis

A New Evil Chapter 42 Tuesday 2310 Millington

The Song of the Dead Chapter 43 Wednesday 0018 Memphis

Inbound Chapter 44 Tuesday 2230 CST Fort Knox

Honor Chapter 45 Wednesday 0045 Memphis

The Attack Chapter 46 Wednesday 0100 CST Memphis

The Mall Chapter 47 Wednesday 0150 CST Millington

In the Ditch Chapter 48 Wednesday 0156 CST Millington

Safety Check Chapter 49 Wednesday 0300 Kentucky

The Vikings Elite Chapter 50 Wednesday 0900 Millington

Playing Defense Chapter 51 Wednesday 0700 Fort Knox

The Relic Chapter 52 Wednesday 0600 CST Fort Knox

Road Trip Chapter 53 Wednesday 0650 CST Millington

The Changing Chapter 54 Wednesday 0900 CST Fort Knox

Rainstorm Chapter 55 Wednesday 1400 CST Brownsville

Casual Business Chapter 56 Wednesday 1900 CST Fort Knox

The Hospital Chapter 57 Wednesday 1530 Brownsville

Something is Coming Chapter 58 Thursday 00:45 Fort Knox

The Meet Up Chapter 59 Wednesday 1700 CST Brownsville

The Wall Chapter 60 Thursday 0228 CST Fort Knox

A Game of Pickup Chapter 61 Wednesday 1600 CST Milan

Breach Chapter 62 Thursday 0245 CST Fort Knox

The Depot Chapter 63 Wednesday 1615 CST Milan

The Exodus Chapter 64 Thursday 0350 CST Fort Knox

Sacrifice Chapter 65 Thursday 0700 CST Clarksville

Back on the Road Chapter 66 Thursday 1300 CST Elizabethtown

The Vault Chapter 67 Thursday 0900 Fort Knox

Dinner Party Chapter 68 Thursday 1700 Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge

Artillery Chapter 69 Friday 0400 CST Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge

Sneaky Bastards Chapter 70 Friday 0930 CST Elizabethtown

CB Radio Chapter 71 Friday 0925 CST Elizabethtown

Richard’s Plan Chapter 72 Thursday 1600 CST Virginia

The Rescue Chapter 73 Friday 0935 CST Elizabethtown

Playing in the Woods Chapter 74 Friday 1000 CST Elizabethtown

Louie’s Chapter 75 Friday 1500 CST Elizabethtown

The House is Buying Chapter 76 Friday 1930 CST Elizabethtown

Serious Downtime Chapter 77 Friday 2345 CST Elizabethtown

The Next Day Chapter 78 Saturday 0650 CST Elizabethtown

The Ground Quaketh Chapter 79 Saturday 1037 CST Elizabethtown

The Church Chapter 80 Saturday 0800 CST Mississippi

The Silence Chapter 81 Saturday 1038 CST Elizabethtown

The Town Chapter 82 Saturday 1445 CST Glasgow

Horsing Around Chapter 83 Saturday 1500 CST Glasgow

The Drive-In Chapter 84 Saturday 1600 CST Glasgow

The Tour Chapter 85 Saturday 1630 CST Glasgow

Epilogue Saturday 2213 CST Glasgow

Prologue

Present Day

C
aptain Colin Jackson ran his cargo ship,
Presence.
He watched the starboard side. He looked at the GPS and found his bearings. They were off the coast of California. The freight liner had been contracted by a third party. “What are these?” First Mate Osh asked as he went over the manifest. Jackson’s crew had been paid to drop these crates into the water around the major populated cities.

“I didn’t ask, but I think it’s some kind of new radar buoy,” Captain Jackson responded.

“They look like a bunch of shit,” Osh said as he looked to the deck full of crates.

“The weather’s looking bad,” Jackson said as he looked to the sky, trying to change the subject.

“Aye, sir, a storm be brewin’.”

Jackson looked at his watch. “Let’s just dump this shit and go home. Whoever is paying us promised $1 million and more contracts in the future. So let’s get it done and make it home in time for dinner,” Jackson said.

On deck, greenhorns Tim and Jerome were keeping pace. Every ten meters, they would drop a crate off the side of the ship. Osh came down and counted the cargo. “What do you think these are?” Tim asked.

“Captain said ‘don’t ask, don’t tell.’ Let’s get this done and get inside.”

The greenhorns went back to work. Jerome thought it was strange. He saw the crates were made of something he had never seen before. They looked like Styrofoam, but the ones behind the ship weren’t floating, and they were dissolving and leaving a white cloud on top of the water.

As night fell, the storm was getting closer. The waves were beginning to crash over the bow of the ship. There were only twelve crates left. Osh called on the speaker and asked Captain Jackson to speed it up. “Twenty knots!” he called back. Osh went down to the deck to check on his greenhorns. When Osh closed the hatch to the deck, a wave washed over the side. He held on to the handrail as lightning struck within eyesight. His vision came back as he saw white muck wash around the deck. There was an outline of someone coming toward him. Osh screamed in fear as he saw the naked woman covered in blood and walking toward him.

Meanwhile, Captain Jackson was standing in the wheelhouse. He tried to maneuver the
Presence
out of the storm. He heard the door open behind him. As the wind rushed in the cabin, Jackson called out. “Osh! Close the door!” he said as he never took his eyes off the waves crashing onto his ship. “Osh! I’m trying to drive here.” Over the wind and the crash of thunder, Jackson heard wet footsteps coming toward him. “Are you deaf?” He said as he turned around to see his crew followed by naked people staring at him with red eyes. “What th—” were the last words the captain spoke before a set of teeth sunk into his windpipe.

Good Morning

Chapter 1

Monday 0630 CST

Memphis

“W
ell, today is gonna suck,” said Devin, as he looked in the mirror with bed-tossed hair. Devin put on his jumpsuit and jumped in his beater car. “Fantastic day in Memphis traffic.” He huffed and tapped his fingers against his steering wheel, trying to keep calm. As Devin went to work, he took one last look at the sun, taking in the brief amount of sunshine, and then drove to the shop.

Neighbors

Chapter 2

Monday 0830 EST

Philadelphia

P
hil Donaldson, a Pittsburg native, sat on the balcony of his third-story apartment. As he watched the city awaken with light and motion, he turned to see the young boy sleeping on his couch. His son, Paul, was completely covered in blankets, except for a piece of hair and a small foot that stuck out from beyond the covers. Today, Phil was going to take Paul to his first Eagles game. Today was the first time Phil has seen his son since the divorce. This weekend was all he was looking forward to.

Across the hall from Phil and his sleeping son was Mr. Harrison. He kept to himself most of the time. After his wife of twenty-seven years died in an automobile accident, he locked himself away in his home, away from the world. As a retiree, he planned to live out his days as a freed man—free from the stress of his job. Mr. Harrison was once employed as an architect. Since the new millennium, he has been replaced by computers and young kids who knew how to use them. Mr. Harrison had always drawn sketches by hand. A natural left-handed man, he loved to draw and build models, from airplanes to buildings to skyscrapers. After his wife died, he became depressed. Six months went by as he lived alone: waking up alone in a queen-sized bed, eating breakfast alone, looking at a picture of his late wife at the kitchen table.

This morning, he had brought graph paper to the table, once for his hobby; however, instead of arcs, angles, and lines, he wrote words. On the graph paper, he wrote a letter, addressed to his children. “
Hello, David and Julie
,” he wrote. “
It’s been six months since we lost your mother from this world, and I don’t plan to go another day. I leave you all my worldly possessions and the knowledge that I have passed down to you. Keep this knowledge. I want you to know that I am happy. I have nothing to fear anymore. I love you both. I hope to watch you from above. I wish for my body to be buried in a garden. Plant a tree for me.
” And he signed it, put it in an envelope, sealed it, and wrote their names on the front. Mr. Harrison put on his nicest suit and his wife’s favorite tie. He went to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror. He opened the medicine cabinet to find a prescription bottle from his last back surgery.

As an architect he spent many long hours hunched over his desk at work. Over time his back began to ache. He went to his doctor and came to find out that he had ruptured a vertebra in his lower back. Being old and not wanting to ruin the rest of the life he had planned out, he had a surgery done on his back; afterward, the doctor wrote him a prescription for the pain. Mr. Harrison never took any of the pills, because he didn’t know how they made him feel. Today was different. As he poured himself a glass of water, he took the pill bottle to his favorite recliner, and as he opened the bottle of pills, he heard a scream through the walls of his apartment.

The Date

Chapter 3

Monday 0930 CST

St. Louis

S
t. Louis was once a peaceful city. There were tourists coming from everywhere to see the Arch—they might even catch a baseball game or two. Tricia and Danny were dating. She was a gym freak. She always wore yoga pants and sports bras. She drank energy drinks or tea. She ate kale or some other form of organic food. They met at the gym. Danny came sporting his firefighter shirt, while she was “training,” and they hit it off with a flirt and a gentle caress.

Last night was only their second date. He had spent the night at her apartment. He awoke first. His life of being a firefighter had always made him a light sleeper. He rolled over to find the soft dark hair of his bedmate. She was facing the opposite direction and seemed to remain asleep. The alarming feeling of having to urinate suddenly rushed into his mind. He slowly got up and made his way to the bathroom. His sleepy eyes were focused on making it to the toilet. He was in his early forties, so when he had to go, he had to go. While he was draining his bladder, he leaned his head up to the ceiling and released a calm moan. It felt good to pee in the morning. As he was leaning on the wall, something fell into his hair. He quickly exchanged hands on his penis and wiped the hot amber from the back of his neck. Again, something fell from the ceiling, so he opened his good eye and brought his boxers back up. He watched as the entire bathroom ceiling began to bubble. “Babe! Get up!” he said as he ran to the bedroom and started shaking her. Her first instinct was to fight him. So she gave him a good slap to the face. She recanted when she saw it was him. “Sorry,” she said as she pulled the bed sheet back over her chest. “No time, get dressed! We got to get out of here!” Danny began dialing 911. He rested the phone in between his shoulder and his face as he put his pants on. Tricia didn’t want to move, so he threw her clothes at her. “Fuck! It’s not working!” Danny said as he pocketed his cell phone. “Bitch! Get dressed! Your apartment is on fire!”