Dead Life (Book 3) (2 page)

              In late September, that all changed. One of the men in my section was monitoring Facebook postings coming out of Saudi Arabia. He found, as it turned out, what the NSA had been waiting to find for the past two days. Since the technician monitoring middle eastern countries was in my section the alert came to my desk.

              A video feed depicting several Caucasian subjects attacking Arab locals came up on my monitor. “What's this Jenkins              ?”

              “I don't know sir. They had me targeting words like biting, eating, violence, and riots when this came up. I didn't send out an alert. It came up on it's own.”

              Before I could say another word Major Stevens was at my desk. He went to my keyboard, typed in a few commands and the screen went blank. The sight had been shut down. “Walk with me Downs. The rest of you keep working.” The Major took me to his office and we sat down.

              “I'm going to tell you what I can from the little I know. Two days ago test subjects contaminated with a new virus escaped from a medical facility. The virus causes violent behavior and is 100% infectious.”

              “Is the virus deadly sir?”

              “We can't discuss that Lieutenant. All you need to know is that these postings are going to increase in frequency. As soon as they come on-line they are to be shut down, traced back to point of origin, and the source is to be taken off-line.”

              “How will we do that sir?”

              “I have a memorandum here showing the procedure. You saw what I did on your computer. It's only a few key strokes.”

              “Yes sir.”

              “My office is secure. I had it swept for listening devices a few minutes before I came to your desk. I'm going to tell you more than I should. You'll have to keep this to yourself. Starting tomorrow we're going on twelve hour shifts; twelve hours on, twelve hours off; seven days a week. Don't try to tell anybody about this. They're listening. Before you leave here today your cell phone will be shut down. When you get home, your land line will be out of service. Within the next few days our sector is bugging out. I don't know where we're going yet. I should know something by tomorrow.”

              “This virus is bad news. As of now it's not in the U.S. It will be soon. They say there is no way to contain it. The government is trying to keep the general population from a full blown panic. Sounds more like a cover-up to me. Whether we agree with protocol or not, our job is to follow orders. Do you understand?”

              I nodded.

              “I have a list of things I need requisitioned from supply. I'd like you to take it down and have the order filled for me. Then take the supplies out to my car. Here's the keys.”

              “Yes sir. Thank you for taking me into your confidence sir.”

              “You're welcome Lieutenant. You're dismissed.”

              I left the Major's office in a state of shock. If things were this bad, did it mean that everyone was going to get the virus? Was the world coming to an end? I needed to get in touch with my family. Mom would be impossible to get to. They were back in Hawaii and I had no idea how I'd be able to contact her. Dad was a different story. I looked at the Majors list. He was requisitioning two pistols and some ammunition along with some MREs. He had a wife at home and I guess he was going to get some supplies to her before our unit bugged out. I added two sat phones for myself to the list.

              When I left work that day, I went straight home and switched the sat phones from military frequency to civilian. Then I used my phone to make a recording telling dad I'd be calling him. I down loaded the recording on an SD card and put it with one of the sat phones. I left the house and went to the store and bought a prepaid Visa card. Then I went to the library and used one of their computers to buy 500 minutes for each of the phones using the prepaid card. After that, I went to the post office and had the phone with the SD card over-nighted to Dads house.

              When I got back home that night, I ate dinner and had a few beers. I was worried. Was this really the end? Surely the CDC was working on a cure for the virus. I was having a hard time accepting the fact that we were covering this up and that I was part of it. I fell asleep that night to thoughts of being attacked by the infected.  

Chapter 3

              We found an empty house a little further down the road.  Al and I cleared the house and we all went in to get cleaned up.  Al said Rick could take the first watch since he was “rested up.”  I liked Al and thought he was a great asset to have with us.  It was just that he could be a real asshole at times.  He thought he was funny.  Most of the time, he was but be could be a little insensitive to other people's feelings sometimes.  Rick was upset and thought it was his fault Rita had died.  In all honesty, both of us had dropped the ball.  I'd just been a lot luckier than Rick.

              The power was still on at this house.  We were able to have a hot breakfast, coffee, and most importantly, hot showers.  I finished my shower and went into the front room.  Al was outside on watch.  The other three were sitting in front of the television.  There was nothing on except static.

              “What's going on?”  I asked.

              “Just getting the weather report for the day.  Looks like snow.”  Cindy said.

              I went over to the television and turned it off.  “Alright then...”  I guess hard habits are hard to break.  People were just going to have to find a way to give up their old lives.  Television, radio, computers, all the things we'd come to accept as part of everyday life were gone.  “Let's get going.”

              Rick and Cindy got up and headed out the door.  “What was that all about?”  I asked Gina.

              “I don't know.  Rick turned the television on and Cindy and I just sat down.  Seemed almost normal.”

              We went outside and Cindy and Rick were standing on the porch.  They were watching Al.  He'd walked down the driveway and was out in the street.  He had a baseball bat and was enjoying his own brand of entertainment.  There were two zombies coming at him and three lying dead in the road.  I started down the driveway.  By the time I got to Al, he'd already finished beating the last two zombies to death. 

              “Having fun?”

              “Yeah, there were only a few of them so I just took care of them by myself.”  Al replied.

              “Don't you think you should have let us know what you were up to?”

              “No, they were busy.  I didn't want to bother them.  And you were in the shower.  I sure as hell wasn't coming in there to get you.”

              “They were watching the television.”

              “I know.  Anything good on?”

              “It was just static.”

              “That's the best show on now.  That's one thing I won't miss.”  Al said.

              “What's that?”

              “Television.  People sitting in front of those things.  Mindless drones turning their minds to mush, if you ask me.”

              “Hey, come on.  That's enough.  It's over with anyway.  It's all gone.  Let's get the hell out of here.”  I said.

              “I'm sorry, man.  It just pissed me off when I saw Rick turn that damn thing on.”

              We walked up the driveway.  Everyone was already in the vehicles.  It looked like Rick was riding with Gina and me.  He was probably afraid to get in the truck with Al.  I couldn't say as I blamed him.  We drove back through town.  There was a gun shop in town so we stopped to check it out.  Al and I got out of the vehicles and went to the door.  I tried the handle and it was open so Al and I walked in.  When we got inside, I could understand why the door was unlocked.  The shop was completely empty.  There wasn't a single bullet left in the place.  The only thing left in the sore was the cash register.  It was open and full of money.  Whoever had emptied this place out knew there was no reason to bother with the money.  Cash and carry was a thing of the past.  The only things with value in this new world were food, water, and weapons.  Luckily, we had plenty of all three.

              “This was a waste.'  I said.

              Al looked around and nodded his head.  “We may as well head out.  Are you ready for some highway driving?”

              “I can't wait.  Gonna hang my head out the window and let my hair blow back.”  I said.

              “I was meaning to talk to you about that.  I've got some shears in the back of the truck.  Want me to clean that mess up for you?”

              “You're not touching me with those clippers.  The ladies love these curly locks.”

              “Yeah, I can see how they flock to you.”  Al chuckled.  “Quite a few of these zombie ladies really seemed to notice.” 

              “That's right.  When I walk into a room full of zombies, heads turn.”

              “In all honesty Steve, I get the same attention from the female zombies.  It's called animal magnetism.  You either got it or you don't.  Take it from me brother, you don't.”

              “He don't what?”  Rick asked.  He met us as we were walking out of the gun shop.

              “I don't have animal magnetism.  Al's got enough for both of us.  All I've got is this incredible head of hair.”  I said.

              “You want a haircut?  There's some clippers in the back of the truck.  It does look to be getting a bit long.  I'd be happy to do it.”  Rick said.

              Al and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.  “No thanks.  That would leave me with nothing.”

              “What the hell's so funny?”  Rick asked.

              “Nothing.  Don't worry about it, Rick.  Steve thinks he's a ladies' man.  Let him think what he wants.  We know the truth though.  Don't we?”

              “I guess so.”  Rick said.  He walked away mumbling to himself.  “Assholes think they're funny.  I'd like to show them what...”

              “What's his problem?”  I asked Al.

              “He thinks you're an asshole.  That's the problem.  Actually Steve, I don't think you're an asshole.”

              “Well, thanks Al.”

              “I know you are.”  Al ran for the truck as he said this.  He was avoiding a kick in the ass.

              “It's going to be years before you're fast enough to give me a kick in the ass, kid.”  Al shouted back at me.

              We got back to the vehicles and Gina and Cindy were waiting for us at the back of the truck.  Gina had a little black box in her hand.

              “What's that baby?”  I asked.

              “Rick said you wanted a haircut so I got these out.”

              Rick stood in the back of the truck looking down at me with a big grin on his face.  “Samson, I think you've met your Delilah.”

              “That's funny.  The power's out though and we need to get on the road.  So, let's quit horsing around and get going.”  I said.

              “Those clippers are battery operated.”  Al said.  “So, find a place to sit your ass down and let's get this over with.”

              “Fine.  There's a bench over there.  Just don't go too short.  Okay honey, have your fun.”

              “Poor baby, you can have a sucker when we're done.”  Gina teased.

              “Oh you're going to give me a sucker alright.  It's just going to be later tonight.”

              When it was over, I had to admit.  I felt better.  My hair was getting too long and now I wouldn't have to mess with it so much.  We got out on the highway finally and made pretty good time for the first few miles.  There were few cars at first and no zombies in the road.  I'm sure Al was disappointed that he had nothing to run over but he'd just have to make do.  Then we came to a five car pile-up.  I could see where traffic had gone off the highway to get around the accident.  There were tire tracks in the median and a tractor trailer lying on it's side.  The median had a slight slope to it and the driver of the truck hadn't been very successful in getting through.  We were probably lucky the tractor trailer was blocking our path.  If Al would have tried to get by with the U-Haul, he most likely would have ended up flipping it over. 

              Al's voice came over the walkie talkie.  “Looks like you get to try that winch out, buddy.”

              I pulled the Hummer up in front of the truck and got out to take a look at the accident.  Al and Rick joined me while Gina and Cindy started working on preparing our lunch.  It took the three of us about an hour but we were finally able to pry the cars apart.  It was a bad accident with at least four fatalities.  One person had crawled from the wreckage only to be finished off by the zombies.  He was lucky they'd done enough damage that he didn't turn.  The other three bodies were still in the vehicles. There were two in one car and another in a different car.  My guess would be that no one walked away from this alive.  The drivers and whatever passengers were in the other three vehicles most likely had joined the ranks of the undead.  There was a lot of blood on the highway.  Not all of it could have been from the poor bastard lying dead on the side of the road.