When the Dead Rise (Book 1): The Beginning (10 page)

"You can't do that!" Hugo sounded like he was crying when he spoke. "That's my wife."

"Your wife is gone Mr. Farner," Dr. Nguyen said softly. "That is only her corpse." There was a thump on the floor and everyone turned; Hugo had passed out.

A door opened and the camera turned back to the room as the orderly crept towards the corpse, who was now leaning forward, thrashing against her bonds and clacking her teeth together. A loud pop echoed in the room and the corpse jerked forward, halting Stu in his tracks. He looked warily through the glass, his eyes pleading for Dr. Alvarez to call him back.

"She just dislocated her shoulder," Dr. Alvarez spoke through the intercom. "Go on Stu; the faster you get the gag in her mouth the sooner you can come back out."

Stu's jaw clenched, but he turned back to the corpse who was leaning awkwardly away from the bed as she gnashed her teeth at him. He'd only taken three more steps and was reaching forward with the gag between his hands, when the sound of shattering bones filled the room. Suddenly the corpses left arm was free. . Her mangled hand appeared to have several broken the bones, allowing it to slip free from the bonds. Even with a dislocated shoulder and a broken hand, the forward momentum and additional freedom allowed Mrs. Farner to swing her body into Stu's. The shock and surprise, along with her dead weight, toppled the man to the floor. Mrs. Farner flopped on top of him, searching for purchase with her teeth.

Both doctors gasped and the other orderlies rushed forward. "Don't," Dr. Nguyen ordered and they came to a faltering halt. Stu screamed when the corpse bit into the flesh of his left side. "It's too late for him now," she said resignedly.

Stu thrashed, trying to push the dead woman off of him but only succeeded in pushing her further down his body. She bit down again, this time on his inner thigh and dark blood gushed from his leg.

"The femoral artery," Dr. Alvarez said with a sigh. "We won't be able to study Stu's change now and soon we won't even be able to get into the room. We can monitor how long between attack and reanimation at least."

"Are you serious?" one of the orderlies shouted just before Dr. Alvarez's small frame was lifted into the air and slammed against the glass. "You were the one who sent Stu in there, you cold-hearted bastard."

Pulled from the hand holding it, the camera was set none too gently down on the table. A white lab coat fluttered into view and Dr. Nguyen shouted, "Put him down Jacob. Let him go." There was a grunt and Dr. Nguyen fell to the floor, leaving only Dr. Alvarez's thrashing legs in the view; gasps could be heard from the floor where she lay.

"Shut that thing off," Jacob snapped, and after a few brisk steps heard coming towards the camera, the screen went dark.

Sab...

Allegra's head was light and a calming warmth spread out from her belly; the tequila bottle sat empty beside her and she needed more smokes. She'd just watched the scoop of the century if it was true, but she couldn't bring herself to believe what she'd witnessed. The dead didn't walk - couldn't walk - and yet somewhere deep inside, she couldn't fully disbelieve either. What was this drug the doctor mentioned, "Obsepire," she said after referencing her notes. There were too many questions to be asked but no one to ask them to, especially if Hugo and Sabrina were dead.
Is Sabrina really dead?

Opening her email client, Allegra hit reply to Sabrina's email and furiously typed. "I have questions," she said aloud as her fingers flew across the keyboard, "questions that I need answers to, if I'm going to release this to the public. Call me or email me back if you can." She signed her name and hit send, praying Sabrina would receive it.

With a sigh, Allegra opened the final video titled 'Sab' and sat back to watch, hoping the woman would provide at least some answers to her many questions.

The woman from the first video, the one who discovered Hugo's cowardly way out, sat at Hugo's desk still wearing the brightly coloured dress. The lights were on in the office but the sun had already set in the world beyond. Her once neatly tied back hair hung limply around her face and her dark eyes kept darting from the camera to the door. She began to speak in hushed tones.

"Hello Allegra. I'm Sabrina Manahan. I'm sorry we didn't have the opportunity to meet in person. I now wish I'd had the courage to tell you what was going on at Synergy Pharmaceuticals when you approached me two years ago." Sabrina's shoulders slumped. "Perhaps this could have been avoided back then, but it's too late now. The genie's out of the bottle and no one can seem to stop it; the spread is too quick. I hope that with this video, I'll be able to answer some of the questions I'm sure you have since I won't be here to answer them myself.

"Hugo had a top secret project he was working on and since I was his admin, I saw a lot more than I'm sure he intended. There were confidential emails and letters sent from an unknown branch of the military on a drug called Obsepire. Apparently, it was supposed to create a type of super solider, one who could withstand or perhaps not feel any pain. I don't know much more than that on who commissioned and paid for the project. Hugo was very careful to destroy any evidence linking back to the people he reported to.

"Clifford Holbrook was the lead scientist on the project and he somehow combined the drug with two viral strains. I don't know the details, but I think it was a form of chicken pox along with meningitis. Hugo kept praising Cliff on his ingenious use of the viral strains because they couldn't be cured or tainted by antibiotics." Sabrina ducked her head. "All of it is way above my pay grade so I don't understand enough of it to explain it to you properly.

"Cliff somehow became infected with the virus and is currently sealed in the secondary biohazard quarantine unit in Synergy's basement, and while he's still alive, I don't think his prognosis is good. The unit he's in is now in lockdown as there was a breach in the lobby early this morning. We've been stuck in the building for the past two days but at least we were safe until some idiot smashed open a lobby window." Sabrina blinked back tears and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"It could have been contained with Cliff, but an orderly was bitten before going home for his shift. I don't think anyone could have foreseen what happened, but the orderly died the following day. He began biting people who in turn bit others and now these monsters have overrun the city. I know the army was here, but I think they've fallen back now - I haven't seen any of their vehicles in the past twenty four hours.

"I've been trapped in Hugo's office for the past twelve hours now and had to listen to the screams as other people, barricaded in offices, are found and killed by..." Sabrina shuddered, "them." Banging started on the door to Hugo's office and Sabrina's eyes went wide, as she stared beyond the webcam; she began to speak rapidly as she searched for something amongst the papers on Hugo's desk.

"The doctors from the second video are dead. Hugo told me that the orderlies locked them in the white room, before taking off. He was pretty shaken up when he brought the camera back to his office." The banging continued more frantically in the background and Sabrina fell to her knees, searching the floor.

"The only way to kill them is to destroy the brain. This can be accomplished with severe blunt force trauma to the head but..." she visibly sighed in relief when she found what she'd been looking for. Sabrina struggled back up into the chair and held up a gun in shaking hands as the banging on the door intensified, "but a bullet to the head works best."

She placed the gun beside her on the desk and began typing at the keyboard while she went on. "The phones and internet have been shut down city wide - I'm not sure how the government managed that, but they did. I think they are hoping to contain it in San Antonio. I don't believe that they can stop it here, however; it spreads too quickly. The only way I'm able to send this information to you now is because Hugo had an independent link to a Synergy Global satellite that I was able to find the access codes to."

Sabrina's eyes filled with tears when a splintering sound came from the door; she took in a shuddering breath before continuing. "You have to spread the word Allegra; to warn people and tell them to gather what supplies they can and get away from the city centers. I believe the cities will be the first to fall because of the condensed populations and how quickly the virus is spread. All it takes is a single bite. I don't have much time left and need to get this sent before they get into the office. Goodbye and God's speed." With those final words the video ended, leaving Allegra in silence.

Searching for the truth...

After checking her email, disappointed she hadn't yet received a response from Sabrina, Allegra began to search the internet about disturbances in the San Antonio area; not surprised when she found nothing. She pulled up the San Antonio local newspaper, the San Antonio Express-News, but they hadn't updated their site in over three days. The lack of new news confirmed what Allegra had begun to fear - this wasn't a hoax, this was real, it was happening. She was possibly the only person outside of San Antonio and the government who knew what was coming.

After twenty minutes of scouring the Express-News website, Allegra finally found a link to an article that held promise. It was titled 'Bizarre outbreak at local hospital', but when Allegra clicked on the link it came up with a page cannot be displayed error. Allegra frowned, clicking back on her browser, but when the page loaded, the link was gone.

"What the hell?" Allegra refreshed the page, knowing she hadn't been seeing things. "Gone," she whispered, as she closed the browser confused by the article's disappearance. Opening a new page, Allegra Googled the paper a second time and clicked on the first link to the paper's main page. This time, it didn't load the news, even the four-day-old news, now it redirected to a page that claimed the site was undergoing maintenance.

Allegra's honed journalistic sense told her that someone, most likely the government, was covering up what was happening. Her determination to blow the whole thing open, grew with each unsuccessful click. They - whoever they were - were going to be blindsided when Allegra spread the word of the virus and intentional cover-up. She knew the American people didn't take kindly to being kept in the dark, especially if it meant the difference between their survival and possible death.

Opening her email client again, Allegra forwarded Sabrina's email to her most trusted colleague; another investigative journalist named Paul Davis. She began to type.

Paul,

Watch the videos but don't do anything with them until you hear back from me. I need someone I trust to know the truth - I can't be the only one who knows. I'm going to San Antonio to try and get into Synergy and find some more answers. I also want firsthand accounts and pictures for when we share this with the public. If you don't hear from me within ten days, assume I didn't get back out of the city and blow this thing wide open. Do NOT come after me. I don't know what it's like in there or what, if anything, I'll find.

They're trying to cover it up, so be careful with whom you trust this information to. Make sure you have several secure backups just in case your computer and servers are somehow compromised. I'm pretty sure they have someone searching for and destroying all evidence of the information I'm sending to you - just look online and you'll realize the same truth I've found.

Allegra

After hitting send, Allegra began to pack for the trip, unsure what she'd find in San Antonio. She was sure that it wouldn't be good.

Volume 5: Class Dismembered

Floresville, TX - population 6,574...

Marcus Tanners taught Physical Education. He was a big city boy living in a small town; relocating from Philadelphia to Floresville after accepting a teaching position at the local high school. He'd taught at the school for five years now and found he enjoyed small town life. He loved how he could walk down the street and say hello to his neighbours or run into friends and acquaintances each time he went out to the diner. He enjoyed his early morning two-mile runs into the countryside - something he'd never been able to do in Philly - but also sympathised with the teens when they complained about the lack of entertainment in the small town.

The day everything changed, began like any other for Marcus. He woke up at 5:15 AM, ran his usual mile route out to the San Antonio River and back, jumped in the shower, had breakfast, and was in his office off the gymnasium by 6:45 AM. The cross-country training began promptly at 7 AM followed by regular classes straight through until lunch. Fifth period, however, didn't go as planned, turning everyone's life upside down forever.

The end of the fifth period...

Marcus stood at the gymnasium doors as winded students filed back inside after their track and field lessons. While he hadn't noticed on the field, Marcus now realized that three of the classes known slackers, were missing. "Where are Mark, Eddie and Trina?" Marcus asked the last student through the doors.

Diego shrugged. "I think they went to the fence for a smoke."

Rolling his eyes, Marcus thought,
Of course, they stopped for a cigarette.
Irritated, he turned to the gym full of students. "Stretch and hit the locker rooms; good job today everyone." As Marcus made his way along the back of the school, heading towards the fence, he heard the groans of his students and couldn't help but smile. Despite all of their complaining, they were hard working kids.

Marcus rounded the corner of the school and stopped dead. Twenty or so paces from the fence he saw Trina sprawled face down on the grass while a group huddled over two more prone figures next to the fence line. Fearing the worst Marcus sprinted towards the figures. "What happened?" he called, as he approached Trina. The figures didn't respond.

He knelt beside the unmoving girl, noticing the spray of blood tinting the grass and the patch of skin torn away from her neck. His fingers trembled as he pressed them to the unmarked side of her neck... there was no pulse. Marcus' heart broke; she was only fifteen.

"Hey!" Marcus shouted to the figures, as he stood unsteadily to his feet looking at the group of five adults hunched over the sprawled bodies of Mark and Eddie. Shocked when he recognized the long dark ponytail and blue custodial uniform, Marcus started towards the group. "Lonzo what happened?" When Lonzo didn't acknowledge Marcus, he called out to the boys. "Eddie? Mark? Are you guys okay?" Still no response.

Now that he was closer, Marcus could see that the people huddled around the boys were reaching down and bringing something red up to their mouths. "What's going on?" he asked, as one of the people turned towards the sound of his approach. The woman's eyes were milky and she clutched a piece of long glistening rope in her hands. Red liquid dripped from her chin and Marcus could see her chewing. It took a moment for his brain to register what he was witnessing, and when it finally did, he bent and retched.

The woman dropped the meat she held in her hands, staggering to her feet with arms outstretched. Marcus took a stumbling step backwards. The group of adults were eating his students, he realized with dawning horror. The thought punched Marcus in the gut and he felt bile rise in his throat. "What have you done?" his voice cracked when he spoke.

The woman's belly puffed out and a long, low moan emanated from her lips. Four more sets of eyes turned towards Marcus and the chorus of moans gave the stunned teacher chills. They dropped their meal and lumbered to their feet as Marcus backed further away. He could see a chunk of skin missing from the janitor's cheek and his bloody shirt, torn to shreds, revealed more missing flesh. His skin was sallow and his vacant eyes remained unblinking, as he stumbled forward. An innate sense warned Marcus that these people weren't right, that something vital within them had been destroyed, leaving behind a monster.

Turning to run, Marcus tripped over something, which sent him sprawling face first onto the ground. Cold hands clutch at his exposed ankles and he quickly scrambled to his feet. Spinning around to see what he'd tripped over, Marcus watched in horror, as Trina struggled to her feet. Her eyes were the same milky color as the others and he could see the skin on her neck had been torn away, revealing the muscles beneath. She reached out, as if she were going to embrace Marcus, her teeth clacking together. She took a stumbling step forward, not in full control of her limbs.

"But you're dead." He'd meant to shout, but the words came out as a whisper. Behind Trina and the five stumbling adults, he noticed that Eddie and Mark begin to move as well. Marcus turned, his flight response taking over his body, and sprinted towards the school swallowing the urge to vomit a second time.

When he rounded the corner, Marcus saw one of his students standing in the open door of the gymnasium. "Close that door," he shouted.

The student started, giving him a bewildered look. "I just needed to speak to you about..."

Marcus cut her off, "Close the God damn door," he stopped beside another rear entrance, waving for the girl to go, "and don't open it for anyone. Keep the rest of the student in the gym. I have to go to the office and I'll be there shortly." The girl stood for a moment with her mouth hanging open. Turning, Marcus saw Trina and Lonzo stumble around the corner of the school. "Go!" he screamed. Relief washed over him as he watched the girl hurry back inside and close the door behind her.

Bolting up the three steps to the door, Marcus flung the first set of fire doors open and pulled it closed behind him just as Lonzo appeared at the bottom of the steps. Awkwardly, the janitor managed to reach the top step, stumbling only once, and collided with the door; Trina was close behind. Lonzo pressed his face against the glass, clacking his teeth together, as his hands left bloody streaks down the window. Obviously, the janitor no longer understood that he only needed to reach down and pull on the handle to open the door. It was clear that he wanted to make Marcus his next meal.

Going through the second set of fire doors, Marcus finally took a moment to process what he'd just witnessed.
This is a dream; I'm asleep and this is all a horrible, horrible nightmare.
Putting his hands to his knees, Marcus dropped his head allowed himself a short moment to breathe. For someone who ran every day, he was winded from the short sprint from the fence. He had a stitch in his side and his heart felt like it was about to explode out of his chest or just stop all together.

I'm going to die from a heart attack!
The thought sprung, unbidden, to his mind. "It's just the adrenaline," Marcus reminded himself aloud. His body's reaction was simply from fear and given the circumstances, a completely normal response.

Loud banging on the outer door made Marcus look up. All the flesh-eating monsters were pressing together, slamming their hands and heads against the glass.

"Okay, they can't get through the fire glass." Marcus tried to reassure himself. A loud crack echoed down the hallway and Marcus saw the glass spider web into a million tiny fractures. "Or maybe they can..."

There was another bang and the glass bulged inward, crackling further beneath the blow. After a third blow, the wire mesh holding the glass in place gave an audible pop and an arm broke through. Marcus could see long, deep gouges in the skin from the mesh, but no blood flowed from the wounds. When the owner of the arm attempted to pull it back the door opened slightly and grasping fingers reached through the crack. To his relief, it shut with a bang from the weight of the others pressing against the door. The reaching fingers broke with a muffled snap and dropped to the floor; the expected cry of agony didn't come. The things might not have enough sense to pull open the door but they'd eventually get in with sheer luck and persistence.

Marcus closed his eyes and swallowed hard. If he vomited now, he'd have to clean up the mess since the janitor was one of the bodies pressing against the door. "Now that's a pleasant thought," he mumbled.

Quickly slamming the top and bottom locks of the inner doors home, Marcus knew he needed to get to the office and warn the students.

"What's going on Mr. Tanners?" a female voice from behind him asked.

Marcus turned and saw one of his first period students standing in an open class door. "Keep everyone back from the windows," he said just before he heard Mrs. Silva from within the classroom say:

"Jacob, come back inside and close the window."

"But there's a bunch of people banging at the back door," Jacob responded. "Hey Luke, isn't that your mom?"

Desk chairs squealed across the floor and Marcus heard a rush of feet heading towards the classroom windows.
Of course the idiots run towards the danger.
He pushed past the girl and into the room. "Get back. All of you get away from the windows," he shouted over the excited chatter of the students but it was too late.

One of the boys hanging out was suddenly pulled through the window and bloodless hands clasped another student's arm. The boy who'd been pulled from the class began to scream and blood spurted from the girl whose arm had been grabbed. The classroom erupted into panicked chaos. Several of the boys rushed towards the girl, pulling her free from the monster's grip. At the sight of the blood, Mrs. Silva's hand fluttered to her chest and her eyes rolled back, as she crumpled to a heap on the floor.

Marcus turned back to the girl who'd come to ask him what was happening. "You need to get the students back from the window. Close them. Get everyone to head down to the gym quietly and in an orderly fashion." The girl's eyes were wide with fright and when he spoke, she only nodded vaguely. He took her by the shoulders and shook none too gently. Snapping out of her shock, the girl tore her eyes from the hands reaching into the classroom. "Do you understand?"

The girl blinked several times before nodding slowly. "Get them back. Get them to the gym." Her eyes flicked back to the windows and Marcus was relieved to see the glaze over her eyes clear. She was still obviously terrified, but Marcus felt reassured that the girl would now follow his instructions.

"Have someone close all the fire doors on your way through the halls but don't lock any of them," he instructed; the girl nodded again. Another student screamed as a window shattered and they were pulled through, flailing helplessly against the groping arms.

The girl turned and with a look of determination, ran to her fellow students. "Get back!" she shouted, pushing those closest to her away from the nightmare outside.

When the bell rings...

Marcus jogged towards the stairwell, which would take him to the office. When he came across curious students poking their heads from the classrooms, he instructed them to get back into their classes, close the door and not to open it for anyone; above all - stay away from the windows. He felt bad he'd left a young girl in charge of rounding up her fellow classmates, but what other choice did he have? Disgust for Mrs. Silva rose in Marcus. It was her responsibility to ensure her student's safety in a crisis and if she hadn't been so weak, the responsibility wouldn't have fallen on a child. He'd been responsible for Trina, Mark and Eddie and now they were dead. Their deaths were on him, and he'd eventually have to face that fact - but not now, not until everyone had been warned and was safe.

Marcus stopped briefly at the bottom of the stairs to release the fire doors, and again at the top, when he reached the main level hallway. The closed doors might be hindrances for the students, who'd have to pull them open to gain access to the stairwell, but at least those things couldn't pull them open for themselves.

"I need to use the PA system Maria," Marcus said when he entered the main office. "We have a situation and I need to tell the students to remain in their classes after the bell."

Maria frowned. She was a sour woman who should have never been given a job working with students; she just didn't have the patience needed to deal with the issues of so many teens on a daily basis. "You will do no such thing without permission from Mr. Hansfield," she said indignantly, rising from her chair behind the long administrative counter in the office.

He glanced at the clock, realizing the bell that would end fifth period, would ring in the next two minutes. "This is an emergency Maria." Marcus balled his hands at his sides, as Maria shook her head and picked up the phone to call the principal. Knowing he didn't have the time to explain, Marcus made his way around the counter and over to the PA system.

"Wait, Mr. Tanners, you can't do that without authorization." The phone clattered in its receiver. Maria snatched the PA mic from Marcus' hands, glaring at him. "I cannot allow you to..." the bell rang, dismissing fifth period.

Doors banged open, echoing down the hallway. The usual bustle of student chatter and lockers opening and closing filtered into the office. A long shrill scream sounded from outside and the noise in the hallway fell silent.

Maria started looking to Marcus with wide eyes. "Wh-what's happening?" she stuttered.