The Red X Chronicles (Book 1): Emergent Read online

  Emergent

  By

  Robert P. Sullivan

  © 2017 Robert Patrick Sullivan

  Chapter 1

  I never thought of myself as a hero… Hell, I still don’t. So when I heard the police had quarantined off a city block due to the suspicion of an outbreak in our town, I didn’t think too much of it. I mean how was I supposed to know that it was going to be the end of the world? It all just seemed like something that was going to blow over.

  It was still the first days of the outbreak, and everyone was jumping at shadows… I guess they were right in hindsight. I was living in my first place. It was small for a studio-apartment, and a shit hole at that. But still, I was happy to be there, living on my own for the first time in my life. I remember I was taking out the trash when I first saw one of those… things. It was early in the evening, but still dark. I moseyed out my front door and had to shut it behind me with my foot because the garbage bag was so overfilled. I wasn’t in any kind of a hurry when I walked around the corner of the complex and into the alleyway.

  At the end of the dark little street, I could see someone walking towards me. I thought he was drunk by the way that he was stumbling. I lived right next to a bar so shit like that wasn’t uncommon in my neighborhood, and as a result I didn’t pay any mind. Fighting to get the dumpster open when both hands are just trying to keep the garbage from spilling is always a trick, which is why I was taking so long to get it in there. I managed to get the lid of the dumpster open only to have the bag snag on something and tear wide open spilling half of it on the ground. I was so disappointed at the mess I wasn’t even paying attention to the dark figure approaching me.

  I was hunched over trying to pick up the pile of trash when I peeked up to see the face of the advancing zombie for the first time. Its face had just come into the light which peered through the neighbor’s fence slats. I held my gaze on it trying to get a clear picture when it finally passed into the light of the alley. There was blood running down from its torn up mouth, it looked as if it had been mashing its face into what… or, I guess who it was eating, so hard that it had accidentally taken a few bites of its own lips. When my brain finally caught on to what was happening I felt my chest tense. I stood up from the pile of garbage and took a step backward. I was breathing heavily, and my heart was racing. It was panic, and that’s never a good reaction in a life and death situation. I realized it and started asking myself What are you doing standing there? I was trembling as it continued to shuffle towards me. Run… the voice inside called out, but I was still frozen. Run! It was only six feet away when I finally took another step back.

  That’s when things went bad. I stumbled on a piece of garbage that had spilled out from the bag and fell backward on my ass. It would have been embarrassing had it not nearly killed me. The zombie lunged… or maybe I should say fell on me. It pinned me to the ground with its weight. I was just a skinny 18 year old at the time, hardly a man at all, and the monster bearing down on me could have been twice my weight. I grabbed its throat with both hands to keep it from biting. But that didn’t stop it from trying. It kept snapping its teeth at me and clawing at me with its hands. Blood was dripping from the torn lip and painting my face red.

  I struggled with it for nearly half a minute before my muscles were burning. I desperately started to look around for something, anything that could help. And that’s when I caught a glimpse of what had tripped me, it was a plastic bottle. I gave as strong a shove as I could muster, and reached for the bottle in desperation. I just barely grabbed it from the back end, when the zombie pushed back. I jammed the bottle straight down its throat, which was surprisingly effective at neutralizing a zombie’s mouth. It kept biting down on the bottle making a crinkling plastic noise, but it couldn’t bite through it, which had given me the opportunity to force us to roll over. With me on top, I started to punch it in the side of the head. After about five or six I got the impression that it didn’t care, as it just kept on trying to grab at me. So instead of fighting it, I ripped myself from its clutches and clamored to my feet.

  I ran this time, as fast as I could back to my apartment. I didn’t even try to look back. I was just so focused on getting inside. I slammed the door behind me with enough force to shake and rattled the windows, and I collapsed with my back to it. I was gasping for air, trying to calm down and collect myself. I rubbed my face with my hands and stared down at the blood I had just wiped off. My hand was shaking from the adrenaline. I reeled my head back against the door and aimlessly cast my eyes at the ceiling. I shut them and tried to regain my composure. It took a moment before I could think clearly enough to decide what to do. As far as I was concerned, I was just attacked by a strange man who was injured, we were still in denial at those times. I pulled my phone from my pocket and called the cops.

  The phone rang, for longer than I would have liked it to, but someone eventually answered. “911 what’s your emergency?”

  “Someone… just attacked me outside my apartment. I made it inside, but… something isn’t right with the guy who grabbed me.”

  “Sir are you ok?” There was urgency in her voice, but I could tell there was some underlying fear shaking her just a little.

  “Yeah, I think. Listen though the man who grabbed me, he was injured.”

  “How was he injured sir?”

  “He was… I mean… Look half his face was torn off!” The phone fell silent. I asked “Hello?”

  “I’m here, stay on the line sir.” It took a few more seconds for her to get back to me and ask for my information. I told her who I was and where I lived. She was adamant about me staying inside, and not answering the door for anyone but the officer they were sending out. I agreed wholeheartedly and hung up the phone.

  The waiting was miserable. I took the few minutes I had to go into the kitchen and wash my face and hands clean of the blood. I noticed that my shirt had been stained from the attack when I could see the police cruiser pull up through my kitchen window. The officer who got out was about six feet tall with black hair. He seemed very nervous about what was going on. He kept his hand on his gun ready to use it at a moment’s notice. He walked over to the side of the apartment where I had been attacked and pulled out his flashlight. I could see him shining it, looking for anything that could be a threat. When he was satisfied that whatever had done this was gone he seemed to relax a bit. He took his hand off his gun and finally came to knock on my door.

  I answered, and when he saw the blood on my shirt he stepped back. “Sir, you haven’t been bitten have you?” He wouldn’t look me in the eyes. He was too focused on the blood stained shirt I was wearing.

  “I don’t think so.“ I responded, but I still didn’t really understand the weight of the situation. I took a small step forward.

  “Sir!” He had become more forceful in his words, and it was obvious he didn’t appreciate my actions. He reached for the grip of his gun. “Have you been bitten?”

  I stopped for a second to give a careful response. “No, I wasn’t bitten. The man who attacked me tried to bite me, but this blood-“ I pinched at the soaked collar of my shirt before I continued “was his… His face was really shredded.”

  “You’re sure?” He was still hesitant.

  “Yes, I shoved a bottle in his mouth and got away.” His tension melted slowly, and he pulled his hand off his gun. He took a deep breath. “Why… does it matter?”

  “I think that’s a question best answered at the station. It’s Mark right? Mark Williams?” I nodded in agreement. “I have orders to bring you in.”

  “Why I didn’t do anything?”

  “It’s not abou
t…” He was frustrated. “Look, you didn’t do anything wrong, we’re just getting a lot of reports… Just come with me please.”

  “Alright, I guess that’s ok.” I grabbed my keys and wallet off the end table and locked the door as we left.

  He opened the back of the squad car and said, “Get in.”

  “Do I have to get in the back?”

  The officer rolled his eyes and spoke under his breath. “Why do people always ask that?” It was then that I started to notice his unprofessionalism. It’s not that he struck me as someone who was impersonating an officer, it was more that he seemed distressed. He returned his voice to normal before continuing. “Yes, don’t worry about it. It’s just standard procedure.” I got in the car and he closed the door behind me. After he walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat we drove off.

  Chapter 2

  The seat was horribly uncomfortable, and the radio was chattering the whole time we were driving, it was constant police codes and addresses, though I didn’t really pay it much mind, that is until it said something I understood. “Officer down!”

  “Shit!” The cop said not taking his eyes from the road. “That’s the fourth one tonight.”

  I looked at his face in the rear view mirror, he was on the edge of panic but didn’t want to show it. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s nothing we can’t handle.” I could hear the uncertainty in his words, but it was still comforting to hear them, whether or not he believed they were true. I looked out the side window and tried to determine how long it was going to be till we got to the police station. We were about half way there.

  I tried to ease the situation. “So, a police officer huh?”

  His focus was elsewhere. “What?”

  “I was just asking, what it’s like to be a cop?” He glanced up at me in the mirror, then back to the road.

  “Yeah, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

  I adjusted my position in an incredibly ineffective attempt to get comfortable. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Well…” He was trying to find the right words to answer. “I guess you sign on thinking about the honor and justice of it. But when reality sets in it’s just another job, and sometimes a dangerous one at that.”

  “I thought a lot of people become cops to try and serve the community?”

  “That’s a better reason than why I signed up-” I felt the car slowing down. “Hold on.” He was looking out the front window in an attempt to make out the figures before him. He pulled the car over and flicked on the lights. “I’ll be right back.” He opened the door and stepped outside. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, his words were muffled, but I did notice him reaching for his gun again. I could only see flickers of what was going on in front of the car. The lights flashed over a few hunched figures in the dark. I squinted to try and make out the scene. I couldn’t get a good view of it till the officer pulled out his flashlight and shined it on the small group of people.

  I saw blood, entrails, and body parts strewn across the ground in a mess. Two men and a woman were devouring what I could only assume was once a person. I saw the officer rear back in disgust, and that’s when they started to get up. He pulled his gun from its holster and pointed it at the people coming toward him. He waved it between them as they advanced, shouting louder as they got closer. He fired at the first one, planting a round right in its chest. Then a second shot, and a third. I could barely make out his words when he said “What the fuck?” He started to retreat towards the car never taking his eyes off his assailants. He aimed again, this time putting one in its head. It fell to the ground by the time he made it back to the car door. He aimed one more time, but nothing happened. He dropped the flashlight and tried to mess with his gun. After a few seconds passed he looked up at his opponents. Instead of firing again he opened the door and got back in the car slamming it behind him. “Of all the times to fuckin’ stovepipe!”

  He threw the car in gear and smashed on the gas pedal hard enough that I could hear it hit the floorboard. The tires screeched violently as the car lurched forward running into the two zombies that were in front of the car. The woman smashed into the glass hard enough to make a thunk noise, while the man went under the tires. I could hear him squish and fumble around under the car. As we picked up speed he dislodged himself from the under carriage, but the woman was clawing at the window, till we reached the intersection which split off in a ‘T’ to the left and right. The officer slammed on the breaks sending the woman flying. The top half of her hit a window, while the bottom smashed into the brick wall that the window was mounted in. Her legs flipped up after the impact, causing her to tumble inside.

  We both sat there waiting for a second, wide eyed, just to make sure she was down. She stumbled back into the light, with large shards of glass stuck in her body. Several large gashes disfigured her face. She tripped over the bricks that her legs had hit just a moment earlier. “Holy crap!” The officer exclaimed. “How the hell is she still moving?” He put the car in reverse and pulled back enough to turn the car to the right. He put the car back in gear and took off down the road till he felt we had gotten a safe distance away.

  “What the hell was that?” I asked frantically.

  “I don’t know! Drugs maybe…? Nah, that doesn’t sound right.” He wiped his forehead bringing his hand down to cover one eye. “That shit’s just not right. Someone hopped up on the right drugs might be able to shake off bullets for a minute or two, but that’s usually just one guy tweaked out of his mind. I’ve never seen it affect a whole group of people like that. I guess this explains what’s going o-“ He was cut off by the sound of shrieking tires when a car clipped the back corner of ours at high speed. It wasn’t a direct impact. The driver of the other car tried to swerve out of the way, but it still tore the trunk wide open, spilling various equipment on the ground, and turning the car nearly sideways in the road. “Shit!” He looked at the other car which had lost control and plowed into a stop light. The driver looked at us only for a second before he pulled his car back, and sped off like it never happened. “Are you ok?” the cop asked looking back at me.

  I had been thrown to the other side of the car from the impact, but after a second or two I had assessed myself. “I’m fine.”

  He grabbed the radio’s receiver and pulled it to his mouth hesitantly. He hadn’t pressed the button to talk yet when a voice on the other line came through. “We have another officer down, I repeat offi-“ It cut to static then quiet.

  He put the radio back down and got out of the car. He walked over to where we had been hit and crouched down to get a better look at the tire. After a few seconds, he got back in. “I think it’s only cosmetic damage, the car should drive fine.”

  “Ok, so what are we doing? Still going to the station right?” He grabbed at the radio again, but his eyes caught the attention of a few more shadowy figures coming our way out of the darkness.

  “More of ‘em?” He said. We both looked around and could see about six of them coming toward the car, slowly shambling. He pushed the button to speak over the radio, but our eyes locked in the rear view mirror. He slowly released the button, hung up the receiver, and started driving instead. “Nobody wants to say it kid, but this town is going to hell… and fast.”

  I looked out the window as we drove. “We just passed the turn off to the police station?” I questioned him to gauge whether or not he knew.

  “Yeah… I know.”

  “So where the hell are we going?” I leaned forward in the seat trying to get his attention, but his eyes were fixed on the road.

  “You heard the radio right? Did you watch the news? Whatever the fuck this is, is already out of control. We didn’t have enough officers to even maintain the quarantine zone. But this shit? It’s too much.”

  “So what? We’re just not going back?”

  “I’m saying, we’ve already lost control. I don’t know if this is a virus, or some kind o
f terrorist attack, or who the fuck cares what it is! It’s spreading too fast for anyone to figure out what. And I’m not dying for this shit!”

  “You’re just going to cut and run?” It didn’t sit well with me that someone who was sworn to protect and serve was so willing to abandon the people. But he was quick to call me out for feeling the same way.

  “You want to get out of the car? Be my guest! But, the military is probably going to roll into Ashville any minute and set up a quarantine around the whole city. If we’re lucky we can beat ‘em.” There wasn’t a whole lot I could say to that. If things were as bad as he suspected, then he was right, getting out of town before we got locked in would drastically increase our chances of survival.

  I sat in the back of the car waiting as we kept on rolling to the edge of town. I caught brief glimpses of terrible things out of the window as we drove. When about three minutes had passed since the silence between us set in, I looked out the window and noticed the small coffee shop that I worked at. It was open, with those monsters slowly making their way down the street to it. “Officer! Stop the car!” I yelled startling the man behind the wheel, and causing him to cover one ear with his hand and jump in his seat.

  He cocked his head back toward me to respond. “Shit don’t yell kid! I’m sitting right here.” He took his hand from his ear. “My name is John, by the way, John Maxton. No matter what happens I probably won’t be a cop after this, so just use my name.”

  “Sure whatever, turn the car around John. We have to go back.”

  “No Mark, I’m not stopping to save every random person in trouble along the way, we don’t even have the time, or room for more than two or three more people anyway.”

  “It’s not some random person, it’s someone I know.” We were silent for a few seconds before I continued. “It’s my coworker.”

  “Listen, I don’t care if it’s your cousin, brother, or even your grandma! We’ve got to go.” He was checking back in the mirror every couple of seconds to gauge my reaction.