General Art Canadian Infection- A Zombie Story

[Rishian]

Alright guys... so I haven't ever sat down to really write something meant for others to read.. but a friend of mine convinced me to post it here for others to read it.
Please feel free to leave feedback, but please do not flame me.
Thanks
-Rishian
PS: the site has censored most of the swearing, so ya...

WARNING: This story is rated R for violence, language, and possibly sexuality. The places, names, and ideas brought about in this story are all from my imagination. This story is completely fictional and does not denote any “safe” or “dangerous” places to be during an emergency, nor does it truly denote how the government would respond to such.



Chapter 1- Realization

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Matt was pacing back in forth in his office, a stern look on his face. “What is going on?” he wondered to himself as his mind ran through all of the problems his department had gone through during that week. Not only was there the regular flooding from the Spring thaw in Manitoba and even some in Quebec, but also tornados in both Alberta and Saskatchewan. Matt sighed and shook his head, wondering whom he could blame for his horrible second week as head of National Disaster Relief Canada. There was a knock on the door and Matt took a quick moment to straighten his tie and sit comfortably (or as comfortably as his straight-back chair allowed him) before he called out. “Come in” Matt said, trying to sound as professional and official as possible.
Matt looked surprised as his second in command walked in. “What is it now Chris?” he asked, sighing and leaning back. Chris looked back at Matt, dropping a folder onto his desk. “You’re not going to like this…” Chris stated, opening the folder and jabbing at it with his finger. Matt stood up, grabbed the first page of the report within the folder, and stood beside the marble fireplace within his office, his lips moving as he read the first few sentences mouthing the words. “Wait… does this say what I think it says?” Matt asked, his eyes wide in surprise, mouthing the words ‘unknown viral outbreak in Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada.’
Chris turned away from Matt, his mouth becoming dry. “Yes sir… and it seems to be spreading quickly throughout the population. I need your decision on what to do here”. Chris said, licking his lips, trying to replace the moisture that had left them. Matt looked at the second page of the report, gasping slightly at the projections. “We need to put a stop to this before it gets started… Place a call to the Canadian disease control centre, and place the entire area under a military quarantine. We can’t afford for it to spread anymore, and until we know what we are dealing with I don’t want to take any chances”.

Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada

James looked out his window. ‘Great’ he thought to himself, ‘I finally buy the house I’ve been looking for, and now everyone around here seems sick’. James shook his head and continued to work on his old beat up computer, typing his article to the magazine that he worked for. Suddenly, the radio, which had been playing his favourite song, cut out with the emergency announcement siren. This is the emergency broadcast system. All citizens of Rocky Mountain House are advised to remain in their homes and not to leave for any reason. Rocky Mountain House is now under a military quarantine. I repeat, please do not leave your homes… James turned off the radio. ‘Military quarantine? How bad can people be for the military to be involved?’ James thought to himself, saving and signing out of his E-mail account. James noticed a lot of sirens sounding all over the place, and looked outside his window. He saw people running all over the place, and smoking rising out of a couple houses. Without warning, there was a crash from the back of his house. He opened the drawer to his writing desk and pulled out his Jericho 941F 9mm handgun. Checking the clip quickly, he quietly opened his office door and began to walk down the hall towards the kitchen. “I’m armed!” James called out, hoping that he wouldn’t have to use his gun. He had been an RCMP officer for a few years, but he felt uneasy with some of the parts of the job, so he had pursued his other passion… writing. Just before he reached the door to the kitchen, it burst open, and a man with blood all over his shirt and a blank stare grabbed for James, snarling and gnashing his teeth. James instinctively aimed at the guy’s chest and pulled the trigger twice. Although the man stumbled back, he seemed to recover and moaned at James and began stumbling towards him again. “**** **** ****!” James yelled, back-pedalling and tripping over the edge of the carpet, causing his aim to lift and for him to pull the trigger again, blowing a hole through the eye of the attacker and upwards, taking out a chunk of skull. James lay on the floor on his back, panting. That is when he realized that something was wrong with this guy, other then the fact that his brains were all over the floor. James moved to his knees and looked a little closer. There was a large gash in the guys arm, and it looked clotted and old. “What is wrong with this..? WAIT!” James almost shouted to himself. He had recognized the man lying on the floor. It was the old retired doctor who lived just down the road who spent his time volunteering at the local hospital. James quickly got up and ran upstairs to his bedroom, hearing more screams and sirens outside. Once he reached his room he locked his bedroom door and ripped open his closet, and fumbled with his keys to unlock his gun locker. He grabbed his duffel bag from beside the locker and filled it with a bunch of ammunition and some emergency supplies that he kept like water, food bars, and some rugged clothes that he had. James grabbed his shotgun from the gun locker. It was his father’s old duck hunting gun, a side-by-side double barrel affair, which he had lovingly taken care of. Without further thought, James unlocked his door quietly and made his way to the garage. ‘Hopefully I can make it into the garage without anyone else seeing me…’ James thought, making his way down the hall, past the body still lying on the floor, and slowly opened the door to the garage. He quickly clambered into his SUV and hit the garage door button. The door rose, and James slammed on the gas, turning quickly onto the street and driving quickly away, seeing the chaos reign around him.

Chapter 2- Plans in the Making

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Matt read report after report on his computer and tried to comprehend what was going on. They were strange reports from the border guards of the quarantine area and from the Canadian disease control centre science geeks. Bodies seem to reanimate and attack living persons, read one, while another started with Conventional weapons seem ineffective against victims of this virus. Noted have been cases of major trauma to the torso or limbs without effect. He was worried and it showed on his face, his brown eyes showing the concern even now. He had to give a report to the Prime Minister on the situation, and without fully understanding it. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. ‘Well… at least it’s contained…’ Matt thought to himself, getting up and placing all of his papers into the folder.
“Chris is supposed to have met me in my office before we went down… where is he?” Matt wondered aloud as he opened the door to his office and began the long trek from his office down to the Prime Minister’s offices. As he walked past the break room he saw something that made his heart drop. On the television was a news reporter reporting from Sylvan Lake, a place where normally people would go during the summer to relax on the beaches. However, what Matt saw on the screen made his skin crawl. People were chasing people, and attacking them with an almost animal fury. Matt entered the break room and his eyes widened. “… people attacking people, blood is everywhere Tim. The local police are attempting to restore order and are asking residents to remain in their homes and lock all doors and windows. Once again, civil unrest in a once peaceful area is baffling both police and social psychologists alike…” Matt left the room, breathing heavily and loosening his tie. ‘Wow… **** has hit the fan now!’ Matt thought to himself as walked up to the security desk to be let in to the Prime Minister’s offices. Security was definitely heightened since the news broke, soldiers in full combat gear were further down the hall watching everyone through hooded eyes, their M16’s at the ready. Once Matt was cleared at the desk, he walked past the soldiers who looked at him intently, as if trying to X-ray him with their eyes. He walked past them and knocked on the door to the Prime Minister’s office. Another soldier opened the door for him and he entered, coming upon a scene of intense busyness, people running to and from other offices that were connected to this one, and more soldiers around the room near the walls, watching.
“Matt! Come in, we need to talk. What is going on out there?” Prime Minister Dechant asked from the side of the room, having just been watching the same report that Matt had seen in the break room, his slight French accent coming through more clearly because of the stress that was clearly showing on his weathered face. Matt walked over to the Prime Minister and led him to his desk. “You might want to sit down sir…” Matt told him as he placed the file with all of the information on this epidemic down in front of the seat. Prime Minister Dechant sat down behind his richly appointed oak desk, something he had made them move into his office when he won the election, and pulled the file towards him and began reading. Matt sat down across from him and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. “I know we’re not supposed to smoke inside government buildings but do you think…” the PM cut him off “don’t worry about it, the rules are changing and we’re going to be running to catch up from the looks of things.” Matt lit a cigarette with his lighter, a gift from his grandfather who had worked in the government as well as Minister for Health.
The Prime Minister sighed and dropped the folder onto his desk after reading the last page, the pages scattering and some falling to the floor. The Prime Minister did not even attempt to pick them up. “So even after sealing Rocky Mountain House, this has spread to other areas? And the doctors from the Canadian disease control centre say that it is spreading rapidly, and is 100% fatal?” Matt nodded his head sadly, “Not only that sir, but everyone who dies after being exposed seems to get back up and begin to attack anyone who is not infected with a near animal ferocity”. Dechant stood up and paced behind his desk, his lips pursed in that way he always did whenever he was coming up on a challenge that could cost people their lives. The Prime Minister suddenly stopped and looked at Matt, his eyes shining, slight tears welling up in the deep blueness of them, “Matt… just before you came... I got a phone call from the President of the United States. It seems as though the same type of problem has begun there as well. Also…” The Prime Minister sighed and his head dropped, “My family was in Rocky Mountain House visiting my wife’s family, and I haven’t heard from them since…”
Matt looked at the PM, stood up, and circled the desk, holding his shoulder. “Don’t worry sir… we’ll get them out of there…”

 

[*M i d n a*]

Excellent piece of writing, Rishian. I wonder why you were having second thoughts about posting this, this is great. I didn't see any typos and your sentencing structuring was awesome, not to mention description, so great job, the story starts out great as the RE movies I have seen. I will keep my eye on this story. ^^

 

[Zeruda]

Pretty interesting. I like how you're showing two points of view... wonder if you'll be adding more views? I liked the good amount of description on Matt's part. James' part jumped straight into action, which was good, but it seemed that he too readily shot the intruder. Most people don't just shoot, and the fact that he was an RCMP previously makes me wonder why he was so quick to shoot. Most police forces are trained to avoid firing unless absolutely necessary... he didn't fight back or try to talk to the intruder at all, so it felt a little rushed there.

In any case, I'm really liking it. Skipping back over to Matt again, you make up for previous flaws by going into some pretty decent detail without overdoing it. I did like how you described the soldiers' "hooded eyes".. good imagery there. The talk with the PM and the breaking of rules to smoke a cigar really underlines that a lot is changing due to the virus, and not for the better.

Keep it up!

 

[Rishian]

Chapter 3- Horrors

Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada

James drove erratically, swerving around wrecked cars, seeing the immensity of the situation. Houses burned, people ran panicked away from groups of others who were slouching in groups, and emergency vehicles drove around trying to restore order. As James drove, he was forced to turn suddenly as a mob of moaning; injured people suddenly appeared in front of him. James swore loudly as his SUV left the road and he heard a loud CRACK! as he came to a rolling stop. “****… now what am I going to do?” James asked himself as he pushed open his door and grabbed his duffel and shotgun from the passenger seat. He looked around, trying to find a place that was a bit quieter than his current surroundings. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind. Quickly turning, he raised his shotgun and was just about to fire when he noticed that the person who had grabbed him was crying. It was a fair women, no more than twenty years old, with long blond hair and wide, green eyes. She was wearing kakis and a tee shirt that said, “Fight for your life”. James chuckled inside his head, noticing the irony of her shirt. James grabbed her hand and pulled her into a dead run, running towards an old shop, two stories tall, the windows covered with security bars and the front door, made of painted steel, standing slightly open. He pushed the girl inside and came in behind her, closing and locking the door behind them. James quickly went through the store, making sure it was secure and that no one else was inside the front area where customers would be. He then came back and found the girl sitting on the counter, sobbing slightly, her shoulders shuttering with every sob.
“Hey now… it’ll be ok… we’re safe now. What’s your name?” James asked the girl, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’m…” she sniffed loudly, “I’m Sarah…” “Hello Sarah, I’m James. Now… we’re going to hide here for a while and try to figure out what to do. Are you injured?” he asked, his eyes quickly scanning over her, his finger still inside the trigger guard on the shotgun. “No…” She said quietly, her eyes closed, her breaths coming in ragged, short gasps. Satisfied with what he saw as just a scared girl, James went about making sure the door and all of the security bars over the windows were closed, locked and secured. By the time he went back to check on her, she had already grabbed a clipboard from the counter and had begun writing down everything she had found, making a tally. Her red eyes, dry and irritated from crying, looked up as he approached her. “Hey Sarah… what are you doing?” James asked, looking over her shoulder as she wrote more on the paper. “Oh… well you said we would be here for a while right? I’m just making a list of what we have so we know what we are short on, and what we have a lot of…” Sarah smiled a little, her cheeks still red and blotchy from the tears that had been streaming down only a short while before. “Good thinking Sarah!” James said, a large smile on his face. ‘This is good’ he thought, ‘I was worried I was going to have to play babysitter while trying to figure out how to get out of town’.
“So…” James started, not quite sure how to ask what he was going to ask her. “I know what your wondering…” Sarah said, almost as if she could read his mind with those emerald green eyes, “I was with my father and brother… but…” her eyes started welling up with tears again. James cut her off, “It’s ok… we don’t have to talk about it” he said, understanding almost immediately what must have happened. Sarah suddenly shot out her arms and before James could react she was holding him, shuttering slightly again, but not sobbing as before. “Thank… thank you,” she said, her head against his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around his midsection. James, having not had someone to care for in quite some time took a moment before he finally put his arms around her and held her close to him. Sarah let go of him almost as suddenly as she had grabbed him and went about checking the store for more supplies. James finally took a moment to look around the store himself, noting for the first time that this seemed to be one of those family owned stores, having a little of everything, but nothing in large quantities. He looked behind the counter and found two places where guns could be. One, obviously a shortened shotgun of some kind was missing, but the small pistol was not. He took the pistol and quickly checked it over. It was loaded, 9mm quite like his, but quite a bit smaller. He looked over at Sarah, whose back was to him as she was digging through a bin. “Hey Sarah, I found something for you” he called, and she walked over to the counter. “Have you ever fired one of these before?” James asked her, placing the gun on the counter, but keeping a hand on it for a moment. “Yes… my dad…” her eyes watered a little, but she didn’t cry out “…he taught me how to shoot at the range we went to every Saturday”. “Good” James said, smiling, “take this, it’s loaded. I’m going to go upstairs and make sure that that area is secure as well” he turned and began to walk away towards the back of the store, where there was a door marked ‘private’ where he was sure to find the stairs to the upper part of this two story building. “Have fun with your search!” Sarah called, “I’m just going to be here making a shopping list”. James, startled by this, turned his head and called back, “Just be careful alright? Call me if you need anything or you find anything strange”. “I will” she replied as she went back to going through boxes and shelves in the store.
James opened the door quietly and looked inside. What he found was an old office area, papers littering the floor, with old wooden stairs leading up into a darkened hallway. “Just as I thought” James said to himself quietly as he quickly went through the office. There was a door, probably leading outside, but it was closed, locked, and barred, the office desk having been pushed up against it as well. ‘Well at least whoever owned this shop knew something about securing it’ James thought to himself, ‘but it doesn’t explain why they left the front door open…’. James crept up the stairs and into the darkened hallway, as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he quickly noticed something was not quite right. There were two doors, one at the end of the hall, and one just a short way down the hall to the right. This second door, the one at the end of the hall is what caught his eye. It looked as if it had been blocked up with boards and nails. ‘Well, I guess I’ll just check this one first…’ James thought as he snuck down the hall to the door on his right. He opened it, and slowly moved in, the barrel of his double barrel shotgun leading the way. What he found was nothing short of horrific. The living room, which is what this must have been, was covered in blood, and there were three bodies on the floor. James listened for a moment, and checked the bodies. In the hand of the man was a bible, and the shotgun rested just below what had once been his head. On the floor were two children, one small girl clutching a teddy bear, it’s stuffing coming out from where some of the buckshot must have connected with it, and a slightly older boy, also holding a bible, his shirt covered in his blood, reading The Lord is My Shephard. James quickly turned around and vomited in the corner for several moments. Standing shakily, he turned around and looked at the scene once again, his eyes avoiding the bodies as he looked around the room. There was a large crucifix on the wall above the television, the picture nothing but static now, and some pictures on a shelf beside that. James walked over to the picture and looked at it. The picture was of a happy family, this family, before the disaster had begun. The three children were smiling brightly as their parents looked down at them, beaming. Parents, plural. James realized this almost immediately. ‘****’ He thought to himself, ‘does that mean that mom is still somewhere around? Or had she been somewhere else when this began?’ James placed the picture back down on the shelf and left the room, closing the door gently behind him. James made his way down the hall, listening every few steps. When he reached the end of the hall he placed his gun against the wall and begun to pry the boards off the door. He had considered just leaving it boarded up, but had decided against it just in case there was something there that he did not want to either leave behind, or to leave behind him. Once all of the boards were down he slowly took hold of the brass handle and turned it, the door opening softly. It was even darker in this room, and as his eyes begun to allow him to see more detail, he saw the man's wife, strapped to the bed with leather belts, snapping and moaning at him, as if saying, hey… life is hard… you don’t need to worry about anything if you join us… just join us… James took hold of his shotgun and looked down at the poor woman, a small bite on the back of her hand apparent by the slight swelling which had to have occurred before she passed away and came back. She strained at the belts that held her to the bed and moaned louder. James aimed at her head with the shotgun and closed his eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry… I wish there was another way… I hope you find peace…” he said, almost in a whisper. Then he pulled the trigger, his eyes snapping open from the shot. James quickly took hold of a blanket and pulled it over her. As he was walking down the hall Sarah came bolting up the stairs, gun at the ready, her eyes wild.
“What’s going on? Are you alright?” she asked, looking him over. “Yes… I’m fine…” he stated, “just go back downstairs alright?” She looked at him again, her eyes searching, but turned and began to go back down the stairs, her steps creaking slightly. James re-entered the living room and grabbed some sheets from a closet and covered up each of the bodies. He felt like a ghoul, but he knew that Sarah and him needed that shotgun that the father still had propped against his chest. He took it and whispered a thank you as he covered the man. He quickly went into the hall and closed the door, leaning against it and sliding down until he was sitting. James sat with his head between his knees, both shotguns lying on the floor beside him, and breathed deeply. “James?” He heard Sarah call from the bottom of the stairs. James stood up and shook his head as if trying to make the memories of what he had just seen leave his mind, “I’m coming Sarah” he called back quietly, “I’m coming…”

 

[*M i d n a*]

Alright, interesting, Rish. Here are a few typos/mistakes you can correct if you want. I enjoyed the story, it really has that scary mood going, specially when James goes upstairs and makes those gruesome discoveries.

quieter then his (the word you want is than)

It was a fair women, no more then twenty years old (again, the word is than)

"The Lord is My Sheperd" (I think it is Shepherd, but I could be wrong.)

and as his eyes begun to allow him to see more detail, he saw the mans wife (man's)

Anyway, just small details, that is all, I know because I commit them too often as well. Keep up the good work, man, story is coming out great.

 

[Rishian]

Thanks for the corrections!
Ya... this is what I get for typing this chapter overnight... ROFL!

 

[Rishian]

I know some of you have been waiting for an update to this story. And I will say this for sure.
There will be an update of at least one chapter by the end of the week!

Thank you everyone for being patient, and please contuine to send/post your comments, edits, and suggestions! I love having them and they help me to become a better writer!

 

[arkvoodle]

Nice story. I like the two way kind of perspective. Is it going to be alternating with each chapter or is it going to be 2 with one character, 3 with the next sort of thing?

Anyway. I like it alot. Brutal and gory. Just my cup of tea.

 

[*M i d n a*]

It was about time, too, Rish. Jk, but yeah, this story was so good I wondered whether you
had given up on it or something. It's good to hear that you are sticking to it. Can't wait for that update.

 

[Rishian]

Chapter 4- Cutoff

Somewhere near Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

Matt stood behind a row of computers inside what had been named Central Command Alpha. There were 5 of these bunkers scattered across Canada, all of which could withstand a nuclear war, and all of which were now operating as control centres for this situation. He watched the monitors as reports came in from all over the country, as more and more cities, towns, and even hamlets began having problems with the infection. The areas that reported infection were shown as red areas on the large screen at the front of the room, which showed a map of Canada. Matt shook his head as the red areas continued to grow, especially those near larger urban centres like Toronto, and Vancouver. Matt had already given the order for the entirety of the country to be placed under a state of emergency and to close the land, sea, and air borders, and was watching as some video he had asked for was patched through. It was video from a surveillance camera at one of the Canadian/American border crossings. There was a line of cars that seemed to stretch all the way to the horizon, and walking between the cars trying to break into them were more of the living dead. Zombies. Matt had finally come to terms with what some of the soldiers could be heard talking about as you walked through the facility about what creatures these people had become. Matt watched as the border guards, along with some American national guardsmen opened fire on the zombies. Soon however, they were overrun, and the video feed was suddenly cut off. “Damn it all…” Matt muttered under his breath as he watched a red spot be added to the map where that border station was.
Suddenly without warning a siren began going off and the lights all went out. Matt could hear the soldiers running around and shouting as the whole room went red with the emergency lighting kicking in. Matt had always hated when they used the red lighting, as it was difficult to make out detail and was never quite as comforting as the brightness of the ‘natural’ lamps that normally operated. A soldier with an assault rifle in his hands ran up to him. “Sir!” the soldier said smartly, his eyes looking dead into Matt’s eyes, “The bunker is under attack by some of those things. It doesn’t seem like they can get in, but they definitely know we are in here. We haven’t heard from the topside exterior gate guards for a little while…”
Matt heard reports coming over the base intercom as the elevators and exits were locked down. He shook his head as the soldier told him the dire news. “Well…” Matt said to no one in particular, “I guess we’re stuck in here, and I sure as hell hope someone can figure this out…”
Another soldier who was manning one of the computers called out to Matt, his tone giving away that something was seriously wrong, “Sir… I think you need to look at this…” Matt strode over and ordered the soldier to place it on the main screen. The map of Canada transferred to one of the smaller screens and a static filled news video came up on the main screen. It showed blurry images from what looked to be France, and from what French Matt knew, it seemed that the infection had made it across the sea.
A phone rang on the wall, it’s glossy red colour shining even in the red emergency lighting. Matt walked over and picked it up. The Prime Minister’s voice sounded frail and shaky. “Matt? This is Dechant. I… I don’t think I am going to be able to make it to another safe place. Central Command Gamma is under heavy attack… they’ve been able to get inside before we locked down the bunker. I just wanted to let you know that…” the last words the Prime Minister said were drowned out in a burst of gunfire and shouting on the other end of the phone. “Sir?? Dechant?? SIR!!” Matt shouted into the receiver as his blood ran cold at the sound of a scream coming through the speaker on the phone. Matt shook his head sadly and let the phone drop beside him, hanging from it’s cord.
“God help us…” Matt said quietly, as he wept silent tears of sadness for not only the Prime Minister, but for all of humanity.

This last one is just a short chapter.. you'll see more as I have more time to write.
Hope you enjoy it!

 

[*M i d n a*]

I did enjoy it, Rish. Lots! And it looks like the Virus has spread overseas. It's looking great, I really enjoyed it, even though it was a short update/chapter. keep it coming. you definitely are a great writer. ^^

 

[Rishian]

Alright. Here is the next instalment of my story. Sorry they are comming so slowly, but between working so much and being sick I have just not had the time to work on it. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5- Refuge

Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada

James awoke to the sound of metal on metal scraping and rustling clothing close beside him. He quickly grabbed the handgun, which he had kept beside him as he slept and scanned the room with it. Sarah grabbed the barrel of the gun and pushed it off to the side. “Hey! Don’t point that at me! You could’ve shot me you know.” She shook her head and continued to work over the small camp stove she had obviously lit. “Breakfast?” She asked James over her shoulder, showing a small smile. “Sure… I would love some” James replied, placing his handgun back into the holster. They ate their food quietly, and once they had cleaned up James went over the inventory list Sarah had made.
“Alright… well one thing is for certain. We can’t stay here Sarah,” James stated, his eyes running over the items on the list again. “I say we pack what we need and find somewhere a little more defendable, at least until we can find another way out of the city.” Sarah nodded quietly and began to pick through items in the store, loading them into a school style backpack she had found in the store as well.
The door lock clicked and before James or Sarah could even turn around the door swung wide open and shut again, the lock being relocked. James and Sarah both looked to see a boy no older then 14 holding a metal baseball bat covered in blood. “Who are you??” The boy screamed as he held the bat up high over his head. James held his handgun, but pointed it slightly down towards the ground. “Calm down son, we’re just leaving, and who…?” Before James could finish his sentence he realized how he recognized this boy. “Do… do you live here?” He asked, watching the boy. The boy slowly lowered his bat and tears began to run down his face. “I… I couldn’t do it… I know dad said it was the only way to not lose my soul, but I couldn’t let him do that to me…” Sarah rushed over, knowing what had happened upstairs after James had calmed down enough to tell her, and held the boy close. “It’s ok. Let it out. What’s your name?” She asked, her eyes meeting his in a motherly way as she held him.
“I’m… I’m Kurtis.” The boy replied, tears still glistening in his eyes, his arms dropping by his sides, baseball bat clattering as it fell to the floor. James watched the scene, knowing that nothing he could say could make Kurtis feel better about the situation. Sarah held Kurtis a bit longer and then let him go, standing up and looking over to James. “James, could we speak for a moment?” Sarah asked, as she reached over, grabbed a food bar from the bag she had been filling. “Sure…” James replied, and they walked just behind the counter, far enough away that Kurtis couldn’t hear their quiet conversation, but close enough to keep an eye on him.
“What do you think Sarah?” James asked, his eyes watching Kurtis carefully, noting his every move as he ate as if he hadn’t been fed in days. “I think that he’s scared, but other then that I think he’s ok… considering what he’s been through...” Sarah replied. Kurtis suddenly stood up and walked over to the pair. “I’m fine…” he said sniffing and wiping his nose on his shirt sleeve. “Can… can I come with you two? I’ve got nothing left…” He continued, looking imploringly into Sarah’s eyes. Sarah looked over to James, who merely shrugged. “Of course you can hun.” Sarah replied, “Of course you can…”
After a few more moments they began to pack everything they could find that could prove useful to them. James pulled out a map of Rocky Mountain House and brandished it like a dagger before putting it on the counter and smoothing it out. “How about city hall or the police station?” Sarah said, looking at the map. “They aren’t far, and they are probably the most defended.” Kurtis shook his head quickly and looked at Sarah, “We can’t go to the police station… it’s all boarded up and I heard screams from it yesterday. They’re all dead… I know it, and City Hall is burning right now, I had to go past it to get here.” James looked back at the map, his eyes travelling over roads and buildings. “How about the old pool building?” James said suddenly. His words washed over Kurtis and Sarah. Slowly, they both nodded. “That could work! It has a flat roof, and I know how to get into the staff areas.” Sarah said simply.
“Alright, that’s the plan then. We get to the pool building.” James said with conviction. Kurtis picked up his bat, James and Sarah loaded and checked their guns, and they all moved towards the door. “Alright, no matter what happens to any of us, we continue towards the pool ok? If one of us gets lost, or cut off, that’s where we meet. Agreed?” James stated. Both Kurtis and Sarah looked at James and gave him a nod. “Of course,” said Kurtis, “we’ll all make it. For sure.” With that they opened the door to the street and took off running.

 

[*M i d n a*]

Dang, again, good job, you left me hanging there. I wonder what is going to happen to them as they try to make it to the pool.
I am a fan of this story, keep it coming, Rishian. I saw several bad uses with the word then, it should have been than, but it's okay, I understood what you wanted to get across. ^^

 

[Rishian]

So here it is! Another update to my story. Be keeping an eye on this thread, I'm hoping to have a bunch more written this week as I actually have two days off!!!



Chapter 6- Orders


Matt held his head in his hands. The whole country was overrun, and from the few reports that were coming in from areas that were not covered in flesh hungry beings, the situation topside was not good. Matt leaned back and stretched his legs under the metal desk he had been sitting at, glancing at the clock as he did so. Matt realized that he had been at his desk for over 3 hours, and had not read one word of the report that was sitting there. One of the army communication engineers had come to him with a bold idea that would boost their crippled communication system back up to full power. When Matt had talked to this eager young man, he had his doubts on whether it was all really worth it. He sighed and cocked his neck to the side, cracking it. Then he picked up the report and started reading it. As he read each line, his lack of hope in the plan was slowly replaced with a realization that could potentially work, and not only for the short term, but over the long term. Matt reached for the phone that was sitting on his desk and called the commander of what remained of the engineering core that was located in the bunker. Within minutes there was a knock on his door, a loud clanging against the steel door that reverberated throughout the room.

“Come in…” Matt stated, still reviewing the file that was in front of him. The door swung open on freshly oiled hinges, which Matt had done as soon as he started using the room as an office, because he hated the loud squeak that a lot of the doors had from years of neglect. A shorter, but very muscular man strode through the door, closing it behind him, and saluted.

“Sir! Engineer Simmons reporting as requested!” Jordan Simmons was 28 years old, with a shaved head and a stature that made him out to look quite a bit older then he was. Anyone who knew him however, knew him as a kidder, but also as a man with a brilliant mind when it came to computers and communication equipment. It was apparent to Matt that Simmons had been hard at work on the communication systems for days, as the usually clean-shaven man had begun to grow quite a bit of facial hair, and stubble had begun to appear across his scalp.

“Sit down son” Matt said, trying to sound as though he had more authority then he felt he had. Although, despite feeling as though he did not have much authority, he was now in charge of the entire country because he was the head of NDRC and could use any asset necessary in order to contain and eliminate the threat. Some of the remaining heads of the military had felt as though this was a sure fire way to just ‘give away the country’ to these rotting corpses that were walking around now, the Prime Minister had been adamant that Matt remain in charge. Simmons sat down, adjusting the holster which hung at his side. The head of the facility security forces had declared that since the threat was directly at the door, that everyone with clearance should be carrying a weapon with them at all times or at least have one within easy reach. Matt felt the heavy weight of being one of those people with clearance and kept his handgun inside of the drawer on the right side of his desk when he was in the office. ‘At least they allowed us to turn the lighting back to normal’ Matt thought as he surveyed the solider across from him. “So I’ve been reading your report and possible solution to our communication problems Simmons...” Matt began, watching Simmons for any reaction. Simmons sat quietly, much less impulsive then Matt would have expected, so he continued, “and I’ve got to say that, although it sounded crazy at first, it looks like it could work! I just have a few questions to ask you before I give you access to our severely limited resource and manpower base.” Simmons nodded, looking as if a great weight had been lifted off of his chest. It was a look that many people within the base had been wearing since the loss of Central Command Gamma and the Prime Minister. Matt knew that each and every man and woman here felt as though the loss of the Prime Minister was a failure to do their duty, and that included himself. Matt shook his head to clear it before mentally going over the plan Simmons had come up with. The plan included sneaking out special teams to get to all of the surrounding cell phone towers and patching them through to the bunkers communication systems. This would not only increase the range of their communications, but would also allow for multiple backups in case one of the towers fell. “First off, how much material are you going to need, along with the manpower for multiple teams? We are running very short on both, and in the event of a breach, we’re going to need every gun we can have here.”

“Well sir, I’ve actually been trying to solve that very problem.” Simmons began, “The material is next to nothing; a couple laptops and some external hard drives, all of which I found in one of the closed off storage rooms. They are a bit old, but they will work for sure and I’ve already been testing all of them to make sure they are all operational. As for the personnel that the plan would require, I think that 3-5 man strike teams would be best. They are small enough to allow them to hopefully sneak past any of the Zombies that are around, but large enough to allow a communication engineer for each group, plus enough support to protect them while they do their job.” Simmons finished, placing his hands down on his lap, and cracking his fingers. Matt nodded and looked back down at his desk. He pulled a piece of paper over to himself, and wrote quickly across the paper, signing with a flourish at the bottom.

“Do it Simmons, it’s the best we can do for now.” Matt said, handing the official orders over. Simmons stood to leave, saluted and opened the door to the hall.
“Oh and Simmons…” Matt said just before Simmons left the room.
“Yes sir?” Simmons asked, turning his head to face Matt.
Matt looked at Simmons, determination on his face. “Your in charge of this operation. Good luck"

 

[Din Akera]

Good job Rishy! I really did enjoy it. You do move quite quickly, but I think that is okay for the type of story that it is. The plot is fast paced to match the action, feelings, etc, of the characters trying to deal with the situation they are in. Good work!

P.s. You got a good smile out of me with James, Sarah, and Kurtis's destination. ^^