The Infected (Book 2): Karen's First Day (5 page)

Karen pressed end after her call from Jim. She fought the
urge to cry. Crying would not help. Her mind raced. She needed to focus and
calm down. None of this made any sense.

How did a dead person come back?

They are dead.

Dead is dead.

She turned off the TV and stepped hastily over to the
sliding glass door, closed and locked it. She pulled the blinds shut and turned
off the light in the playroom. The back of Karen’s place faced a fence made of
tall trees. There was nothing else back there. No people or other apartments to
look in on them. It was one of the few things Karen liked about the place. It
felt private. Even though she lived with hundreds of other people in the complex,
the trees made it so she could walk around the living room in the nude and not
worry about someone seeing her.

A large window sat above the couch in the living room.
She dropped the blinds and closed the curtains. Karen turned off the floor lamp
in the corner.

"What are you doing, Mama?" Valerie looked up
at her from the couch.

What am I doing?

How do you explain this to her?

"We're going to play in the bedroom. You wanna play
with the computer?"

"Yeah!" she perked right up. Valerie never got
to play with the laptop. Karen knew that if she put on one of those kid’s games
it would keep her and Robin busy for a while.

"Come on girls," Karen said as she picked up
the computer and took them to the bedroom.

She set it up on the bed and got an Internet game going.

"You guys play sweet, okay?" Karen made sure
the bedroom window was locked then she closed the blinds. She peeked out the
window into the parking lot.

It looked clear. Nothing weird was going on.

Maybe it is only in Portland?

She clicked the Internet app on her phone and typed, “Portland
infection” in the search bar. There were already thousands of posts. She clicked
the first one. It was a photo from the top of a hospital. The shot was of the main
emergency entrance. There were so many bodies lying dead on the ground. From
this angle and height they were only human shaped blood spots.

The next photo was a close up from the inside of a car. A
rage filled infected human was pressed against the other side of the glass. Its
eyes were black and teeth stained red. The thing’s bottom lip was torn and hung
lower than its jaw. She quickly read over the articles. Some said they couldn’t
be killed. Others said to shoot them in the brain. The next photo was of a
young girl, maybe ten and she was eating the guts out of a man’s stomach. He
could have been her father.

Karen closed the Internet app. There was no need for her to
see that kind of gore. Karen did not even like horror movies. After watching
one, the intense imagery would keep her up all night. She called her Mom. She
had to warn her. The phone rang and rang, but Penny did not answer. Her call
went to voicemail.

"Mom, call me right away. I love you." Karen’s
phone beeped. The battery was at twenty percent. She clicked it in to the charger
next to the bed. Karen caught her reflection in the full-length mirror. It was
spring so she had worn a pair of shorts, a tank top and flip-flops. She needed
to get more clothes on. She pulled her new jeans from the dryer. Grabbed a pair
of Jim's athletic socks and her leather boots that covered her shins.

"Where we going?" Valerie noticed her Mama
getting dressed.

"Nowhere baby. Mama needs to put more clothes on
that's all. Play your game."

Karen put on her sports bra and a workout tank top. She
wanted a thick shirt to cover her arms but all of her clothes were weak
designer fabrics intended to only look good, not protect her from the harsh
elements outside. She pulled down one of Jim's old thick cotton button up
shirts. The shirt smelled like Jim and that made Karen feel warm all over.

High on the shelf in the closet was a black box. She pulled
it down. The word Ruger was molded into the hard plastic lid. She popped it
open. A handgun and two magazines rested on the foam padding. She had shot the
thing twice at a range and it freaked her out.

Jim's brother Don helped them pick it out and get a good deal
on it two years ago. Karen picked it up. It was heavier than she remembered.
She grabbed the magazine and slid it into the bottom of the gun. It clicked
into place. She remembered that she needed to pull back on the slide. Click,
clack and it was ready.

She slid the other magazine into her back pocket. They had
bought the holster that went with it. She hooked it to her belt and slid
the gun into position. She pulled out her old leather jacket and two jackets
for the children. Karen tossed them onto the corner of the bed.

She also found an old buck knife that her father gave her
when she was a teen. She popped open the blade. It was a four-inch stainless steel
knife that locked into position with a snap. Karen ran her thumb up the
blade. It was still razor sharp after all these years. She closed the knife and
slipped it into her back pocket next to the extra magazine.

Karen went around to the rest of the rooms and checked
the windows and flipped off all the lights. She put the chain into the lock on
the front door. The little chain would not do much to stop anyone. They had the
apartment install it to make sure that the kids could not walk out the front
door on their own, but Karen had broken it last summer. She had forgotten to
take the chain off, pulled open the door and ripped it right off the wall. The
only thing holding it together was a wound copper wire.

Karen and Jim did not have a ton of furniture in
the apartment. When they had to short sale their home they knew they would need
to downsize everything. The apartment was half as big as their old place so
they put the big beautiful leather couches and chairs up on Craigslist. They
parted with the entire kitchen table, eight matching chairs and the marble
topped buffet that they were so proud of. It was just as heartbreaking to lose
all of their prized possessions, as it was to lose the house.

In the front closet was an old backpack. She dragged it
into the kitchen. She plucked canned fruit, chili, soup and the girls’ favorite
snacks. She also took all of the vitamins out of the cupboard. There were a
few ibuprofen and Tylenol bottles in there so she grabbed
them too. Karen filled the bag, muscled it closed and dropped it off
by the bed. The girls continued to play their game. They didn’t look up
from the screen as she came and went. That was why they did not let them play
on the computer. It made it so the children couldn’t hear anything you said to
them. She would have to turn the damn thing off just to get their attention.

Karen checked her phone. No calls. Not from anyone.

Where the hell was her Mom?

Penny was in her sixties and had a bad shoulder. She
could neither outrun nor fight one of those things and survive. Karen couldn't
think like that. She had to stay focused and think about what she needed to get
done next. Her purse was on the bed. She checked it to make sure the car keys
and wallet were there. She put a few extra pairs of underwear and socks for
herself and the children into the purse. No telling what Jim's plan would be.
Did he want to stay here or make a run for it? Should she pack for a long trip
or hang out with the kids?

She looked again at her phone and wished he would give
her another call or get his ass here quick. Her phone was fully charged and she
had both kids dressed. Robin did not think about taking her clothes off as long
as the game was on the computer. Karen sat next to the girls on the bed. She
smiled at them as she ran her hand through Valerie’s soft hair.

“It’s a fun game,” Valerie said as she leaned into the
gentle touches from her Mama.

“That’s good,” Karen gave each of them a kiss on the top
of their heads.

A scream from outside sent ice down Karen’s spine. She
hustled over to the bedroom window but the screams were not coming from this
side of the building. It was from the back of the apartment.

“Girls, stay here!”

Karen raced out into the living room and tried to peek
outside without moving the curtains. It was the maintenance man, Steve. He was
on the ground fighting two men. A ladder lay on its side at Steve’s feet. Karen
watched in horror as one of the men bit into Steve’s forearm and the other bit
his leg.

Steve shrieked.

Before she knew it Karen had popped the lock, removed the
dowel from the sliding glass door and pushed it wide open. Steve kicked the guy
off his leg and its body rolled across the grass. The infected man’s incisors
ripped deeper into Steve’s flesh and they ground along the bone in his forearm.
The infected man was like a rabid dog. His jaw was locked and would not let go.

Karen’s body was turbo charged with adrenaline. She pulled
the gun from its holster and desperately tried to remember her lessons from two
years ago. Her thumb clumsily found the safety and clicked it off. Steve was
only ten feet away but as juiced as Karen was with excitement it might as well
have been a hundred. The gun shook outrageously in her dominant hand. She
raised her other hand to the bottom of the gun to support it. Steve punched his
attackers face over and over, but it would not let go. Karen focused in on the
black eyes that sat lazily in the dead man’s face. She tried to calm her breath
and squeezed the trigger.

BOOM!

Karen’s ears stung with a high pitch whine. The recoil
was so shocking she almost dropped the damn thing, but she hit her target. The
bullet ripped in and out of the man’s skull. Steve pried the mouth off his arm.
The other infected man was back on his feet. Steve pushed the dead body off of him
and looked to see who fired the shot.

“Mrs. Blackmore!” he cried as he fought to get off the
ground.

“Come on!” She called to him as she tried to line up a second
shot, but the infected walked with such a bad limp. Its head bobbed and weaved
so much she couldn’t get a bead on it. Steve got to his feet and he leaped over
the short fence into Karen’s back porch. She got him into the apartment,
slammed the door shut and locked it. The infected man stumbled over the doggy
fence and fell to its face. Its nose smashed against the concrete.

Karen dropped the dowel into the track of the door. It
crawled over and pounded its bloody hand against the glass. She knew it was
there but it still made her jump.

“I gotta get this cleaned!” Steve clutched his wound.

Karen stepped away from the door and pulled Steve into
the kitchen. She fired up the faucet and yanked the towel drawer out of the
cabinet. The towels fell to the floor. In her haste she laid the gun down on
the range and picked up two handfuls of towels. Steve splashed water on his
face and carefully dipped the open wound under the faucet.

“What was that?! I was working on a vent and out of nowhere
those guys pulled me down off the ladder!” He took a towel from her and ran it
under the water.

“You haven’t seen the news?” Karen asked. She watched the
blood run all over the linoleum. The bite on his leg drained blood everywhere.

“I’ve been fixing stuff all day. What the fucks going
on?!”

“Mama?” Valerie stood at the edge of the kitchen with a
baby doll tucked under her arm. Her face showed just how confused she was. She
might be young but she knew what blood was and she had never seen that much
before.

“Go back to the bedroom!” Karen pointed for her to leave,
but kids never listen. Robin was right behind her big sister. The monster at
the backdoor was up on its feet and it pounded at the glass with both fists.

“What happened to his arm? Why is he all red with blood?”
Valerie’s tongue stuck out as she said blood. The sight of it made her start to
gag.

“It’s okay. I’m fine. I hurt myself with a work tool and
your Mama is nice enough to help me clean it,” he said as he struggled to
smile.  

“What was that loud noise?” Valerie looked to the back
door. Karen rushed the two children back to the bedroom.

“Mama is he okay?” Valerie dragged her feet on the
carpet.

“Yes baby. He is going to be okay. I need to help fix him
up.”

“Who’s at the door? Why won’t you let him in?”

Karen pushed the two children back up onto the bed, “Hey,
question box. Stay in here and play your game okay?”

“Why Mama?”

“Because I said so!” Karen couldn’t help but yell it. She
just shot someone in the fucking face. Plus a man was bleeding to death in her
kitchen.

Karen gasped.

She just realized he was infected now and that she had to
get him out of the apartment!

“Mama, are you okay?”

Karen took a big breath and battled the urge to scream.
“Mama’s okay,” she lied, “I need you to be a big girl and stay in here with
your sister. That way I know where you are and that you’re okay. Okay?” her faux
smile shined brightly at the little ones.

“Okay Mama. Mama, I got a secret,” Valerie called her
mother closer with her index finger so she could whisper it in her ear. Karen
complied and leaned forward. Every second that passed made Karen anxious. Her
ear sat next to the little girl’s mouth.

“I think he’s handsome.” Valerie confessed. Karen pulled
back. Valerie’s face looked like she had dished the juiciest of gossip. Karen rubbed
Valerie’s little shoulder.

“That’s a good secret. I won’t tell anyone. Now I have to
go help him.” Karen turned and headed out of the bedroom.

When she got back to the kitchen Steve was slumped over
the sink. His injured arm hung at his side. The bite mark had risen and become
swollen. The tear in his skin had darkened in color and black lines had spread
up his forearm. It added to the intensity of the tattoo that spiraled up into
the sleeve of his blood soaked shirt. The water poured out onto the back of his
head. Steam rose off him. It must have been blistering hot. The infected
monster banged at the back window. Karen couldn’t think straight.