Flesh-Eater (Book 1): Fear the Fever (11 page)

“N
ooooooooooo!” Harper screamed, fighting against his hold.  “Nooooooo!”

What was taking so long?  He had the gun in his hands, it should’ve been an easy…

The unmistakable sound of a shot being fired, rang through the air, making the windows shake in their frames.

“Nooooooooooo!” Harper cried.  She went limp, a guttural cry coming from deep inside as she slowly slid to the floor in a heap.  “My baby sister…” she kept muttering over and over as she rocked herself back and forth.

Chad and Zuckerman stared at her, unsure how to handle the situation.  Tammy got down on all fours, whispering softly, “Shhhh.  It’s gonna be okay,” she soothed as she stroked her hair.  Harper looked up at her with such anguish in her eyes.  Crawling onto Tammy’s lap, she cried until there were no more tears.

“What’s going on out there?” he asked Zuckerman quietly so as not to disturb the girls on the floor.

“I think he knew her,” Zuckerman said, pointing out the window.  Zeke was almost mirroring Harper’s body language, his head in his hands.

“Poor guy.”

“Yeah.”

As they watched, Zeke sat up, bracing his hands on his knees, before clambering to his feet.  He walked over to the tiny body of the girl.  Crouching down beside her, he brushed his hand over her face, closing her eyes.  He traced a finger down her cheek, dropping his head for a moment.  He positioned his arms under her knees and neck, lifting her into his arms.

“What’s he doing?” Zuckerman asked, following Zeke with his eyes.  He was carrying her over to a large oak tree by the shed.  He lay her down.  Standing back up, he walked into the shed, coming back out with a shovel.

“He’s burying her,” Chad said.  “Come on, we should go and help.”

They stepped past the two girls. Harper’s cries had reduced to silent tears.  Tammy just nodded at them as she continued the gentle stroking of her hair.

Zeke was already digging when they joined him with shovels of their own.  No one spoke, they just worked quietly side-by-side.  Once one hole had been made, Zeke started on another one next to it.  Without a word, Chad dropped his shovel and ran to where the body of Zeke’s mother lay.  He ever so gently lifted her up, cradling her head against his chest.  He carried her over to the tree and lay her next to Millie.

Zeke regarded Chad, a look of appreciation in his eyes.  He nodded, then went back to the hole he was digging.

Once it was finished, he dropped the shovel, wiping the sheen of sweat from his brow.  He looked over at the house.

“You want me to go get her?” Chad asked.

“Yeah.  Thanks.”

He jogged back to the house, opening the door gingerly.

“It’s time, isn’t it?” Harper said in a voice so small, he had to strain to hear it.

Nodding, he replied, “Yeah, it’s time.”

She uncurled her feet from beneath her and stood.  Grabbing Tammy’s hand, she slowly walked out the door.

Instead of following them, Chad ran to the linen cupboard, grabbing a couple of sheets.  With those firmly in hand, he made his way out to where the others waited.  On his way, he stopped to pick a handful of flowers from the garden.

“I thought you might want to…” he motioned at the bodies and the sheets.

“Thanks, that’s a good idea.”  Zeke grabbed a sheet from his hands and spread it out next to his mother.  Zuckerman gave him a hand to lift her onto the centre of the sheet.  They wrapped it around her, and then did the same with Millie.

Harper stood, chewing her fingernails as she watched.  Tammy had her arm around her, giving a gentle squeeze.  She couldn’t imagine what she was going through right now.

The boys carefully lowered each body into a hole.  A single flower was placed on top of each.

Zeke stood with his hands clasped in front of him, staring blankly at the bundles.

“The world lost two of its brightest stars today,” he said softly.  “Two of my favourite people.”  He sniffed, and took a deep breath.  “I love you, Ma.  More than words can say.  I don’t know how I’m going to survive this without you or Dad by my side.” Tears ran down his face as he continued.  “At least now you can find each other again.  Maybe check in on me from time to time.”  He paused, turning to the second bundle.  “Millie.  My sweet Millie.  You were my light.  You made even the darkest days bearable…  I’m lost without you.”

Harper watched as Zeke broke down, his body dropping to the ground.  All the anger she had for what he had done to her sister, drained away as she watched him mourn the girl they both loved.  Slowly, she walked over to him.  Getting down on her knees, she turned him to face her.  She pulled him into her arms and together they cried, clinging to each other.

Chad and Zuckerman retrieved their shovels and began to fill in the graves.  Tammy stood behind Zeke and Harper, her hands resting on their shoulders.  And with the last rays of the sun fading away, she began to sing:

“Oh, sweet angel, fly free,

O’er the hills and to the sea.

No need to fight,

No need to fear.

Find your peace,

In the clouds there.

The waves will wash your pain away,

Until we meet again someday.

Fly, sweet angel, fly so high,

I promise you, I will not cry.”

W
ith the dark of night setting in, and the wary looks on the faces around him, Zeke suggested that they stay the night at his place.

Zuckerman had got to work cutting some kindling to start the fire, while Chad helped to drag bedding out to the lounge.  They had decided that sleeping all in the one room was the best idea, so they could each take turns keeping watch.

Zeke stood in the kitchen surrounded by his mother’s baking.  It was hard to believe that it had only been this morning that she had been standing in this very spot, whipping up all of these treats for the bake sale.  It seemed so trivial now.

Knowing that she would hate to see it go to waste, he loaded up a selection of goodies to take through to everyone.  It went down a treat.  Not one crumb remained.  Zeke hadn’t realised how hungry he was until he had sat down with the rest of them.  It appeared that no-one had eaten much, and given the circumstances that wasn’t really a surprise.

With their bellies full, they sat around the fire, an awkward silence falling over them.  Now that all the drama was over – for the time being at least – they had gone back to being strangers.

“Don’t everybody talk at once,” Zuckerman joked, breaking the ice.

“I ah, I don’t think we actually had a chance to introduce ourselves.  I’m Chad, this is Zuckerman and Tammy.”  He pointed at each person in turn.

Zeke laughed, “You think you need an introduction?  I think everyone in town knows the starting quarterback.”  He grinned, feeling strangely normal.

“What about me?” Zuckerman asked, puffing out his chest.  “Did you know who I was?”

“Ah, yeah, sure,” Zeke humoured him.  “Obviously, by now you know that I’m Zeke.  And that’s Harper.”  He nodded in her direction.  She was already curled in a ball by the fire, the day having exhausted her.  “That was her sister we buried, in case you hadn’t figured it out already,” he paused.  “What did you guys mean when you said you were looking for me?  What did you need me for?”

Tammy looked at Chad, “We uh…”

“We wanted to ask you about your dad,” Zuckerman blurted out.

“But we can talk about it in the morning,” Tammy said, “It’s been a long day, I’m sure you want to get some rest.”

“No, it’s okay,” he smiled his thanks at her.  “What did you want to know?”

“Well, we think that maybe he was the first one to… catch whatever this is.  We wondered if you had any ideas about how he got sick,” Chad said.

“Not anything concrete.  Someone said they thought he’d poisoned himself when we did the crop dusting the other night.  But I’m not buying it.  Dad was always so careful.  Safety first, and all that.”  He scratched his neck as he thought.  “What we use to spray our crops is harmless to us, just not for the…” he stopped, snapping his head up.  “The mice!
They
carry all sorts of diseases, don’t they?  He was bitten by one before he got sick!  Maybe that’s where it came from?”

“Seems feasible.”

“Ma asked me to set traps yesterday, before we got the call… about Dad.  I never actually got round to doing it…”

“Hey, at least we have somewhere to start now.  We can search the shed in the morning and set some traps too,” Chad said, finally feeling as though something was going their way.  “We should probably get some sleep while we can.  I can take first watch if you like,” he offered.

“Nah.  You rest.  I’ll do it.  I don’t know if I’ll get much sleep tonight,” Zeke said pensively.

“If you’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Thanks, man.  Wake me in a few hours to take over,” Chad said with a yawn.  He stretched out on the mattress that Tammy was perched on.  She peeked at him through her lashes.  “Come on,” he said, patting the bed.  “I’ll be the perfect gentleman, I promise.”  He held up three fingers like a Boy Scout salute, a grin spreading across his face.

Tammy giggled and curled up next to him, her back nestled into his torso.  He wrapped an arm around her waist and settled in to sleep.

Zuckerman rolled his eyes.  Trust Chad to hook up in the middle of a Goddamn apocalypse!  He leaned back in his chair, letting it stop in its reclined position, before closing his eyes.  Within a matter of minutes, they were all sleeping soundly.

Zeke sat in the large window seat that his mother had loved so much.  If she wasn’t baking, she was sitting there, reading in the sun.  On more than one occasion he had come home to find her sleeping there, her book dropped in her lap.  It had been one of her favourite spots in the whole house.

He rested his head against the frame, staring up at the stars, wondering if she was up there looking down on him.  He hoped that his parents
had
found each other and that they were looking after Millie.

He still couldn’t believe that they were all gone.  He kept expecting to see them walk through the door, and had to remind himself that it wasn’t going to happen.

He was all alone in this crazy world now.

“O
pen the gate, man!” Colton’s voice came through the static of the intercom.

“Colton?  What are you doing here?” Caleb asked.

“Just open the fucking gate!”

Caleb hesitated a second before pushing the button beside the intercom to unlock the gates.  Civilians weren’t allowed in the lab without clearance, but seeing as there was no-one here to stop him, he didn’t see the harm.

When he had arrived the night before, a few others had hung around, but it hadn’t been long before panic began to set in and they all left to be with their families.  He didn’t blame them, he would’ve too if his family was here.

His parents lived upstate in Cleveland.  It had crossed his mind to give up and get on the road to see them, but he knew it would be pointless.  The roads would be gridlocked as people tried to flee from the fever that was spreading like wildfire.

In the end, he had called his mother and told her to be prepared.  If it got that far, they would need to bunker down in their shelter under the house.  It was small, but there was enough room for the two of them to live comfortably for a while.  They had a bed and toilet down there, and his mother liked to keep a fully stocked pantry in her house, so they should be fine for food.

Thinking of them made him all the more determined to find a cure.  There had to be something that could combat it.  He refused to believe that this was the end for mankind.

Grabbing his ID card, he jogged down the stairs to the entrance.  He waved his card at the scanner, allowing him access to the first of the security doors.  He could see Colton’s car parked on a diagonal and him running full speed for the door, three others following in hot pursuit.

Caleb quickly scanned his card again, opening the final security door.  “Run!” he cried, as he realised what was chasing him.  “Hurry!”

Ducking his head, Colton sped up, his arms pumping.  He fell through the door, panting.  “Close it!” he screamed as he lay sprawled on the floor.  Caleb pressed a button, sealing the doors just as his assailants reached them.  They ran head first into the door, their hands pawing at it, trying to find a way in.

“Oh Jesus,” Caleb whispered, staring at their grey, drawn faces.  Their red eyes almost glowing as they flicked between him and his friend.  One had a gash across his face, exposing his jaw.

“Can they get through that?” Colton asked, catching his breath.

“It’s security glass, they shouldn’t be able to.  B-but we should move just in case.”  He backed up to the other door, unable to take his eyes away from the scene in front of him.  He felt around for the scanner and fumbled with his ID card, before the door finally whooshed open.  They stepped through and he again punched a button to seal it.  He pointed down the hall to the elevator shaft.  “This way.”

“It’s crazy out there, man.  People have gone nuts.  They’re looting, and setting fires.  The highways are all backed up, and those things are fucking everywhere man!”  Colton threw his arms around in an arc to make his point.  “They just came out of nowhere.  It happened so fast,” he was rambling, the reality beginning to sink in.  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he whispered, raking his hand through his dishevelled hair.  “The screaming,” he stopped, looking him in the eye, “Caleb, it’s really fucking bad out there.”

Caleb puffed out the breath he hadn’t realised he had been holding.  “Do you know how far it’s spread?” he asked quietly.

“I don’t know, but there are reports that it’s all over Ohio,” he said deflated.  “I’m sorry, man.”

Caleb nodded.  “I told them to be prepared.  You know them, they always have enough food to feed an army.”  He tried to smile, hoping that they had listened to him and took up shelter.

“Yeah, your old man’s a tough old buggar,” Colton agreed.  “They’ll be fine.”  He looked around the lab that Caleb had been holed-up in since he’d last seen him.  “So this is where it all happens, huh?”

“Yup.  Welcome to my sanctuary.”  He fell back into his seat, his arms outstretched.  “Cosy, isn’t it?”

“It’s a helluva lot better than being out there.”  Colton hitched his thumb behind him.  “I figured this place’d be safer than anywhere else.”

“We’ll soon find out, won’t we?”  He turned to the screen on the wall beside the intercom, switching it on.  “We can use this to see around the outside; keep an eye on our friends out there.  Did any others get in the gate?”

“I don’t think so, but you know, I was kinda busy running for my life.  The details are a little fuzzy.”

“As long as no others get through the gate, we should be pretty safe.”

“What about the ones that
are
inside already?”

“Hmm.  I don’t know.  It would be good to get a sample of their blood…”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

Caleb watched them continuously pawing the door on the screen.  “No.  I’m serious.  This could be the only way to find a cure.  I need to study them,” he said with an excitement that scared Colton.  Under different circumstances, this would have been his dream job; finding the cure to a life-threatening disease.

“You know how crazy this sounds, right?  You have a death wish I don’t know about?”

“Come on, think about it.  The only way we can know for sure what we’re dealing with, is if I get some samples.”

“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”

“I’m not sure yet.  How human are they?”

“How human are they?  They’ve come back from the dead and are eating people.  I don’t think that qualifies as
human
,” Colton said incredulously.

“I know
that
,” he said.  “I mean, what can they do?  Do they think like us?  They can obviously run.  Can they climb?” he asked, beginning to pace.  “What are they capable of?  You’ve seen them out there.  Tell me what you know.”