Dusk of the Living
Chapter One
Atlanta, GA 12:00 p.m.
It was a cool day outside. Terrell Jamison sat in his 10th grade Algebra 2 class idly watching the clock. Mrs. Carson, a 25 year veteran at Cooke High school, was in the middle of explaining cubed roots, when the intercom buzzed on. "All teachers and administrators please report to the front office immediately." Mrs. Carson set down the textbook and commanded, "Read chapter 24 while I am gone," she lowered her voice, "Nobody moves an inch."
Mrs. Carson hurriedly left the classroom. After a few seconds Richard, who was repeating the 10th grade, asked to no one in particular, "So what do you think that was all about?" Soon everyone in class was whispering and joking to one another. I just sat in my chair getting drowsy. After about 5 minutes the intercom came on again. "All faculty and students report to the gymnasium." "Hey T, we might get out of school early!" chirped James Evers, one of my good friends. I nodded and replied with a hopeful laugh.
I walked to the gymnasium surrounded by a sea of students surging forward. When I stepped inside all the teachers were at doors. Cooke has a fairly large gymnasium with an NBA sized basketball court. The stands were filling up, so I took a seat next to Maxine, a freshman.
After all 1500 students were inside the teachers closed the doors and the principal stood at the center of the court. The conversations ceased after a moment and Ms. Jones cleared her throat. "Students! There has been an accident downtown! The authorities believe that there may be chemical contamination. I have been instructed to send all of you home early today. There will be NO school tomorrow!" Some of my peers looked happy, others looked very nervous. I walked home. There were no cars in sight.
I called my parents when I got home. They are in Hawaii on their anniversary vacation. I didn't tell them about the chemical spill; it was fun being home alone. After a few hours I dozed off on the couch. I awoke around 9:30 p.m. with the TV blaring. I opened yawned and turned down the volume. There was an emergency broadcast. News anchor Tim Donald was talking. He looked frightened.
Hello my fellow Americans. Earlier this day there was a massive explosion at a research facility. All of the scientists were presumed dead. Unfortunately 10 minutes after the explosion the scientists came pouring out of the rubble attacking bystanders. Behind him was a live feed of downtown. It showed people covered in blood attacking pedestrians, and pulling people out of cars. One man was attacked by a group and had all of his limbs torn from his torso. Many buildings were on fire. Hundreds of people were running through the streets. Many people were being trampled. The police were backed up to the only bridge leading out of the area the chaos was occurring. The police and SWAT were trying to contain the masses. Many people were being shot. Suddenly a group of people wearing lab coats jumped the policeman. After a few seconds there were hundreds of people running across the bridge. Many were being tackled and bitten
The victims of the explosion have been infected with a very powerful biological chemical that was engineered to help re-grow organs faster and cheaper than stem cells. The virus stops all brain functions, killing the body, but its effects reactivate the primal part of the brain which says eat. The infection is transferred through blood and saliva. The only thing the un-dead victims' brains can process is eating human flesh. The National Guard is blocking all highways and streets that lead from the city. Starting now Atlanta is on quarantine.
The screen panned to show highways guarded by thousands of soldiers. The army was killing anyone who looked like a threat. Before the camera turned a way I saw a 4 year old with one arm get torn apart by M16's. I was speechless.