CHAPTER 6
FOUR DAYS LATER...
Agent Greg Clayton walked down the corridor in the hospital. He was wearing a smart black suit, just like a typical FBI agent. He entered ward 11 and stood next to a patient's bed. He looked at the patient, then a nurse nearby. "Excuse me, is this patient the one brought in yesterday?"
"There where a few brought in, but yes, he was brought in yesterday." the nurse replied.
"How is he?"
"He's fine, just sleeping." The nurse returned to what she was doing. Agent Clayton looked at the patients records at the end of his bed. The name read Jacob Foreman. The agent walked along the row, looking at each patients records.
Jake woke up. He sat up slightly, then the agent walked up to him. "Good morning, Mr Foreman." he said, then showed Jake his badge. "I'm Agent Clayton with the FBI."
"What are you doing here?" asked Jake.
"Routine. You were found by a chopper in the middle of the Pacific. I'm here to find out what you were doing there with no food, water or anything with another 3 people."
"We took a wrong turn."
"I took the time to check your files,"
"Well, ain't that sweet."
"As I understand it, three of the four on board, including you, are marines. Your last mission was to investigate the island Johnston Atoll where strange goings on had been reported, including another team of marines to dissapear. After contact with your team was lost, the island was vapourized, and there where only 4 survivors out of a whole island-full. What happened?"
"Look, I don't know. My mind is blank. I have no idea." The agent looked at Jake, knowing he was lying, then walked away. Jake watches him leave, then calls the nurse over. "Hey, where are the others?"
"What others?" asked the nurse.
"The other three I was brought in with?"
"Oh, the two women are fine, but I'm afraid the other man died in the hospital. I'm sorry." Jake looked disturbed.
"How did he die?"
"It's strange, he just started to... decompose. Nobody knows why."
"Where's the body?"
"They're doing a post-mortam now."
"You have to burn the body."
"Excuse me?"
"You must destroy it. It's important. If you don't, thousands will die."
"Sir, lie down. You're still tired. You need rest." The nurse suddenly injected Jake's arm. He started to feel drowsy, then fell asleep.
The coroner stood over the body of Stuart Miller. He clicked record on the tape recorder. "Today is the 28th of July, 2000. Time is... 11:32 AM. The body was once a Stuart Miller. He seems to have decomposed rapidly, I've never seen this before." The coroner takes a scalpel from the tray. "I'm now about to make an incision along the arm..."
Suddenly, Stuart's arm grabed the coroner by the throat and threw him against the wall. Stuart stood up off the table and tried to grab the coroner. The coroner tried to swing the scalpel at Stuart, but the dead body raised it's arm. The scalpel dug into the rotting flesh, poking out of the other side of the arm. Stuart didn't even flinch, and bit the coroners arm. He screamed in pain as Stuart tore a chunk of flesh from the coroners arm.
Two guards burst into the room and raised there guns at Stuart. "Freeze! Don't move!" shouted the first guard. Stuart walked towards them, and both guards fired at him. The bullets tore through his chest, but he kept on walkingtowards his targets. The second guard finally shot Stuart in the face, and the body dropped to the floor like a sack. They looked at the coroner.
"Are you alright?" asked the second gaurd.
"Yeah, I'll live." answered the coroner, bandaging his wound. He looked at Stuarts body, confused.
Agent Clayton returned to Jake's ward as soon as he heard the news. He stood next to his bed. "Your friend just managed to wake up from the dead, Jake." he said. Jake looked at him suddenly. "What's the real story behind Johnston Atoll?" Jake swallowed hard.
"Is Stuart dead?"
"We think so. After you die once, then return to the living, it's hard to figure out your status."
"How did you stop him?"
"A guard shot him. Headshot."
"He's dead."
"What the hell is going on?"
"The next plague."
"What?"
"Look, did anyone get bitten?"
"The coroner, Luke Hitcher. I think."
"You must kill him, too."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"When we went to Johnston Atoll the entire island was infected with a disease that basicaly turned the victim into a zombie. The island was destroyed by a crazed scientist, so nobody could get any evidence. We killed him, but if that disease is left alone, it will spread so quickly you won't be able to stop it."
"This may sound slightly plausable, if it wasn't the same as a nutcase's story." Jake looks at the agent, confused.
"What are you on about?"
"Michelle Hays, one of the survivors, said exactly the same."
"Because it happened."
"She was realesed from an asylum two weeks ago. Or should I say escaped?"
"What?"
"That's right. Your friend is a lunatic. So's the other one. Anna Hawthorn. Same story."
"It happened!" Jake shouted.
"I think you may be insane as well." Jake jumped up and pushed Agent Clayton backwards.
"Stop wasting time by pissing me off and kill the coroner, or we all die!" The agent punched Jake in the face, sending him flying.
"Looks like all three of you are going back to an asylum. Hope you like it."
Luke Hitcher got into his car and started it up. He rubbed his wound, and drove out of the car park. He drove down the road, and got to the end before feeling enormously sick. He stopped the car and got out, running to the bush. He threw up hard. His legs felt weak, and he collapsed. He felt his whole body weaken, then slowly passed out.
A truck stopped next to the car. The driver got out and walked over to the body nearby. "Hey, buddy, are you alright?" Suddenly the body grabbed the driver's leg, and bit it. The driver yelled in pain, kicked the body, and limped back to the truck. He got in and sped off, holding his bleeding wound.
Jake woke up suddenly and found himself in a padded cell. He looked around, and realised where he was. "Oh shit." he thought aloud, then ran over to the door. He looked through the gap. "Hey! Hey! Anybody?" A gaurd stepped in front of the door.
"What?" he asked, bluntly.
"I shouldn't be here..."
"I've heard that before."
"No, look... I'm a US Marine, you gotta let me out."
"Sure you are."
"If you don't let me out, everyone will die!"
"Right, yeah. Sure thing." The gaurd walked off. Jake banged against the door.
"Come back! You gotta let me out!" Jake gave up, walked to the back of the cell and sat down.
The next day, the patients could walk around a certain area. Jake walked out of his cell and towards the main room. He walked into it, looking for his two friends.
"Jake!" Anna called from the other side of the room. He walked over to her, hugged her and kissed her.
"You alright?" Jake asked. She nodded.
"Yeah. What are we doing here?" she asked.
"That pain in the ass Clayton decided we where insane."
"Why?"
"Well, one factor is the story of what happened on the island, and the other is the fact that Michelle busted out of an asylumn recently."
"What, our Michelle?"
"Yup." Anna smiled.
"Well, that explains some things." Suddenly Michelle ran over to them.
"Hey, guys!" she said excitedly. Jake gave her a strange look.
"You didn't tell us you've been to one of these before." he said.
"I know. You didn't ask."
"We should have known, though." Anna told her. Michelle looked confused.
"Why? Oh, never mind. This place isn't so bad. Lighten up a little!"
"Then why'd you try to escape?" Jake asked. Michelle shrugged.
"I'm supposed to be insane. You know, do strange things, stuff like that. Anyway, where's Stu?"
"Dead." Jake said bluntly. "Also, he was a zombie. The disease is spreading right now. And we're stuck in this hell-hole."
"Well, it's not that bad. At least we're relativly safe." Michelle told them.
"Actually, we're trapped. When the zombies come along, we're screwed." Anna answered. Michelle's happy expresion vanished.
"That's not so good." she said.
Henry Rabin sat down at his desk, and looked at the report. He was a luitenant for the LAPD. He looked at the photos. People had been found bitten to death, and were decomposing. The photos were pretty sick, but Henry had seen plenty of sick crimes. Though none like this. He checked through it, and found a file about someone admitted to a hospitol showing the symptoms. He looked at the name, Stuart Miller. He also saw that he'd been found with three other people. Jake Foreman, Anna Hawthorne and Michelle Hays. He saw they were transfered to a nearby mental institution. He took his coat and headed for the exit.
He reached his car in the car park. It was dark, deserted and silent. Except for a shuffling noise and moaning. Henry looked around to see who was there. He saw nobody. But the noise continued. "Who is that?" he asked. "Are you alright?"
A shodowy figure caught his attention by the corner. He looked at the man. It was to dark to see his features, so Henry ignored him and got in his car, closing the door behind him. He casualy placed the key in the ignition and twisted them. The engine roared to life just as the man outside smacked his hand on the window next to Henry.
Henry looked at the man, and he looked like death on legs. In fact, like one of the recent murder victims. His skin was hanging off in flaps, bite marks in his arms. He looked like a zombie. "Oh, shit..." Henry said to himself, then slammed the accelerator down. The car flew fowards, knocking the zombie off-balance. He sped through the car-park.
In front of the exit was another three zombies. They noticed the oncoming car, but instead of moving out of the way, they staggered towards it. Henry didn't slow down, and smashed through them at high speed. They seemed to burst, blood and limbs covering the walls, floor and car. Henry sped down the road, towards the asylum.
Jake was sleeping in his cell when he heard an alarm ring out. He could faintly hear screaming. He ran over to the door and looked out through the gap. "Hey!" he called. "What's going on?" He knew the answer already, but there was no reply. Stepped back, and checked for the hundreth time to see if there was a way to escape. There wasn't.
The lock on the door suddenly clicked, and the door opened. Outside where Anna and Michelle. Jake looked at them. "How...?"
"I've done this before, remember?" Michelle said.
"They're here." Anna told him.
"Thought so." replied Jake. "Let's go." He walked out of the cell, then they ran down the corridor.
They turned the corner to see a zombie eating one of the guards. "Oh, shit." Jake said. The zombie looked up at them, and groaned a reply. It stood up and staggered towards them. They took a step back and turned around to face two more. They were trapped.
A gunshot rang out, and the three humans turned around to see the lone zombie drop to the ground. Someone was at the other end of the corridor with a gun. "Come on, let's go!" he called. The three ran down the corridor towards him. The man shot another three zombies round the corner.
They reached the man, who handed Jake a gun. "You're Jake Forman, right?" he asked.
"Yeah." Jake answered.
"I'm Luitenant Henry Rabin. LAPD. I'm here because I need your help."
"Ok." Jake said, shooting a zombie. "They're zombies. Don't get bitten, or contaminated with their blood. That way you stay human. Aim for the head, they dont seem to feel pain. If you see a family member, or a friend, who are a zombie, shoot them. They're already dead. Any questions?"
"No. That was a nice round-up, thanks." Henry answered, shooting two more zombies. "Shall we leave?"
The four humans made their way past the zombies, and got to Henry's car. They got in it, and Henry drove away fast. Jake looked at Henry. "How did you find us?"
"This is my case. I found your story, and came over to question you three. Instead, I saved your lives."
"Thanks." Jake told him. "Anyway, there's gonna be thousands of them things, so we need weapons. Stop at a weapon shop, will ya?"
"Sure thing."
They parked near a gun-shop. The street was deserted as they walked in. So was the shop. Everyone was cautious. "Where the hell is everyone?" Michelle asked.
"I have no idea." Jake replied, walking behind the counter. He took his gun and smashed the glass casing, and took out another two pistols. He threw them to Anna and Michelle, and they caught them. He and Henry took four more, handing two the the women. They took a shotgun each, and two boxes of bullets each. They loaded the weapons, then grabbed some more weapons, putting it in a nearby bag.
"This should do." Henry said, and they returned to the car.
Agent Greg Clayton looked around as the FBI building was attacked by an army of zombies. He had shot four of them, the rest being taken out by the other agents. It was a full-scale war in there. He and three other agents ran to the back of the building, away from the zombies. They reached an elevator and squeezed in. Greg slammed the button to get to the bottom of the building.
The doors opened, and the four agents were greeted by a dozen more zombies. They shot them all, but more came. They ran out of the elevator, down the corridor. They could see the exit. They took out more zombies as they ran. They reached the exit, and burst through the doors. There was another 20 zombies outside, all of them coming towards them. The four humans ran towards Greg's car, and got in. Greg started it up at the same time as closing the door, and sped down the road, running over a few zombies in the process.
"Oh, shit. What the hell is going on?" asked Dave, one of the agents. Greg sat in silence. He already knew. Jake was right. He just didn't believe him. He thought it was his own fault this was happening.
Something landed on the car's roof, smashing through it. It was big, definatly not a zombie. It landed on one agent, killing him instantly. The others screamed, just before the thing smashed it's fists into both of them, sending them straight through the door. It then grabbed Greg's skull, and threw him through the windshield. He fell under the wheels of the car, crushing him to death.
"So, this disease, what exactly does it do?" asked Henry. They'd seen a fair few zombies, but were driving to fast to be attacked.
"Basically turns you into a zombie." Jake answered.
"It doesn't just affect humans, either." Anna added.
"Yeah, there was this shark-thing when we were escaping. It nearly killed us all, and not to mention things like dogs. And giant cocroaches. And dinosaurs." Michelle said.
"Huh?" asked Henry. "Dinosaurs? Giant cocroaches? We aren't gonna run into those things, are we?"
"I hope not." Jake told him. "But... Oh, shit! Watch out!" A car came speeding round the corner, almost taking them out. The other car swerved, and smashed into the nearby lamp-post. Henry stopped the car and quickly got out. So did the others. They ran over to the car, and shot at the zombies. They'd also noticed another human.
Henry opened the door. The woman inside was dazed, but otherwise fine. He pulled her out of the car while the others held off the horde of the undead. He helped her over to their car, and everyone got back in. Henry hit the gas before the zombies could reach them.
Jake took over driving while Henry tried to get the woman to talk. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"No. Not really." replied the woman. "Who are you?"
"Henry Rabin, LAPD. This is Jake, Anna and Michelle. Who are you?"
"Lucy Numan. What's going on?"
"A virus has attacked L.A. and it's turning everyone into zombies." Anna told her.
"That's impossible." Lucy protested.
"No, it's real. We've seen it before." Jake said. "Anyway," he said to Henry. "Where to now?"
"I don't know. Airport, I guess."
"Sounds fine to me."
The Marine group landed in the centre of the park. The 10 Marines jumped off the helicopter, and it flew away into the distance. They were armed with machine-guns, pistols, knives and grenades. They'd been briefed on the mission only an hour earlier. They were told to execute anyone they see, no questions asked. They followed their orders, firing at a group of 4 people. They looked strange, but they'd been told that they'd been infected with some kind of disease, turning them into a zombie-like state. The Marines thought it was a little far-fetched, but it obviously wasn't.
Their second objective was to locate three people. They would not be infected, due to them having previously been given the antidote. They may not know this, but it was important that they found them quickly. They needed to know if the antidote actually worked.
The Marines shot another group of zombies, before splitting up into two groups. They ran down seperate roads, shooting anyone they saw.
Jake took a drag on his cigarette, before throwing the butt out of the window. They'd found a packet in the glove-box. Jake peered ahead of them. The night seemed, well, darker. The lamposts were not working, so the car's headlights were the only thing lighting up the road ahead. The streets were still inhabitated by the zombies, but they weren't much of a bother at the minuite. Best to save ammo.
Suddenly, something very, very big landed in the road in front of them. "Oh, shit!" Jake shouted, as he swerved to avoid it. The car smashed through a gate, down a gravely path, and through a large bush. The vehicle came to rest shortly after.
"Is everyone okay?" Henry asked. Everyone said yes, and they all got out of the car. They looked around.
"Where are we?" Michelle asked. Jake looked at the house nearby. It was fairly big.
"Let's check that place out. Maybe get some food and rest." he said.
"Good idea." Henry replied. They walked over to it, and tried the front door. It was locked."
"Try the back." Anna suggested. They walked round the back of the house, but that door was locked as well. Jake looked up. A window was slightly open. It was above the shed next to it.
"I'll try there." he said, pointing to the window. He climbed on top of the shed, put his fingers through the small gap in between the frame and wall, and pulled it open. He climbed inside. He looked around, but the house seemed to be deserted. He walked out of the room, across the landing and down the stairs. He walked to the back door, and looked at the lock. Their was a key in it. Jake turned it, and the door unlocked. He openedit and peered outside. The others were still there.
"Is it empty?" Henry asked.
"I think so." Jake answered. "Come in." They entered the house, and Jake locked the door behind them.
An hour had passed since they'd found the house. The television and radio weren't working, so the house was almost silent. Whoever had been here had left, because their was no vehicles outside. Rain splashed on the glass windows and ground outside. An occasional roar of thunder could be heard. Their had been a zombie in the house, but it was dispatched quickly by a headshot from Anna's gun.
Michelle and Lucy were sleeping while Jake, Anna and Henry stayed up, keeping guard of the house. So far, they hadn't been disturbed by anything. Living or unliving. "So, we decided we'd better keep it secret in case someone tried to find it again. Didn't last long, did it?" Jake said, finishing the story of what happened before.
"So, how come you didn't notice Stuart was bitten?" Henry asked. They shrugged.
"He seemed alright. He'd been shot on the boat, but not bitten. That's what's been bothering me." Jake answered. Suddenly, they heard gunfire. It wasn't very far away, in fact, very close. It woke the two women up, and they ran into the living room.
"What was that?" Lucy asked.
"Someone's in trouble. We'd better help them." Anna answered. They grabbed a gun each and ran out of the house. They looked down the street to see about four people shooting something big. It seemed to be the thing that made them crash earlier. They ran to help them, and got their just as the thing ran away and dissapeared into some nearby bushes.
"You guys alright?" Henry asked. The four men were dressed in Marine gear, and armed to the teeth. Another one was lying on the ground in a messy pulp. Jake, Anna and Michelle didn't feel this was a good sign. The leader looked at them.
"Yeah. We're fine." he said. "Who are you?"
"Henry Rabin, LAPD." he answered, showing his badge. "This is Jake Foreman, Anna Hawthorn, Michelle Hays and Lucy Numan." The Marine looked at them, recognising the names.
"Ex-Marines?" he asked to the group.
"Yeah." Jake replied. "How'd you know?"
"We have orders to retreive you from the L.A. area." he explained. Jake laughed slightly.
"Yeah, right. Why?" he asked.
"That's classified." the leader told him.
"Well, in that case, screw you." Jake responded. The Marines raised their weapons at them.
"You don't have a choice in the matter." the leader declared. Jake just looked at him.
"You really want to shoot us?" he asked. Nobody responded. "All hell is breaking loose around us and all you care about is your orders? We were Marines. We know what orders are. But they got almost everybody killed. So far your's have gotten at least one of your team killed. Ever start to doubt the higher authorities?"
"They want to help you." the leader said. "That's all."
"Why us?" Anna asked. "Before they couldn't wait to lock us away."
"Look, I don't know. We get our orders, we carry them out, everything goes fine. We don't know exactly why they want you, and generally I couldn't care less. Just follow us and you'll be fine." the leader insisted. Before anything else could happen, a group of zombies attacked a Marine at the back. He didn't have a chance to retaliate as the zombies ripped a large chunk out of his neck.
The other three Marines spun round and fired at the zombies, getting the wounded Marine in the process. Pieces of flesh splattered onto the tarmac, and another group of the undead started limping towards them from down the road, attracted by the noise. Jake looked around, and fired at the newer group. Anna, Henry and Michelle did the same.
The first wave of zombies took out another Marine and started feeding on his arm. The Marine screamed in pain and pushed the zombie away. He fired at it's head, and it drooped to the ground. He clutched his bleeding wound whilst firing at more zombies.
Jake looked around, knowing they didn't stand a chance staying where they were. "Everybody, this way!" he shouted over the deafening noise, and ran down the road. He fired at the zombies ahead, and the group fell to the floor. The others followed him, including the remaining three Marines.
Jake led the group until they couldn't see any more zombies. They all stopped to catch their breath. "This anything like what you expected?" Jake asked the Marine leader. He shook his head.
"No." he said. "This is far worse."
"What's your name?" Jake asked.
"George Patton." he replied. He looked at his team, noticing one had been bitten. He walked over to him.
"Damn. We gotta get you to a doctor, Jim." George said, nodding his head slightly at the bleeding hole in his arm.
"Where?" Jim asked. "Everything's screwed. Everybody's dead."
"So are you." Jake told him, bluntly. The Marines looked at him. "Soon. You've been infected with it. The disease." Jim started to freak out.
"No. It can be stopped..." he said, backing away.
"He's right. We've gotta get him to a hospital, now!" George added. Anna looked around and saw a garage.
"There." she said, running over to it. "Get in here, quick!" she ordered. They all ran over to her, including Jim. "The virus has only just been put in your body. We've gotta stop it from spreading inside you." she said, taking a chainsaw from the bench. Jim instantly knew what was happening.
"God, Jesus, no fucking way!" he shouted, trying to get out of the garage. George grabbed him.
"We need to do this. If we don't, you'll probably die." he told him. He was now frantic.
"You're gonna beleive this shit?" he asked. "You don't know these people!"
"We don't have time for this." Jake shouted at him, holding the chainsaw. "You have to trust us." Jim looked at the other two Marines. George grabbed a broom-handle and gave it to Jim.
"Bite on it. Hard." he said. Jim took it, realising he had to go through with it.
"We'd better hurry." Henry said. "Those things'll be here soon." Jim laid on a workbench, letting his infected arm hang over the side. Jake pulled the starting cord of the chainsaw, and it roared into life. Jim clenched his eyelids shut and bit down on the broom handle hard.
"This is gonna hurt." Jake told him. Everyone turned away as Jake lowered the blade towards Jim's shoulder.
FOUR DAYS LATER...
Agent Greg Clayton walked down the corridor in the hospital. He was wearing a smart black suit, just like a typical FBI agent. He entered ward 11 and stood next to a patient's bed. He looked at the patient, then a nurse nearby. "Excuse me, is this patient the one brought in yesterday?"
"There where a few brought in, but yes, he was brought in yesterday." the nurse replied.
"How is he?"
"He's fine, just sleeping." The nurse returned to what she was doing. Agent Clayton looked at the patients records at the end of his bed. The name read Jacob Foreman. The agent walked along the row, looking at each patients records.
Jake woke up. He sat up slightly, then the agent walked up to him. "Good morning, Mr Foreman." he said, then showed Jake his badge. "I'm Agent Clayton with the FBI."
"What are you doing here?" asked Jake.
"Routine. You were found by a chopper in the middle of the Pacific. I'm here to find out what you were doing there with no food, water or anything with another 3 people."
"We took a wrong turn."
"I took the time to check your files,"
"Well, ain't that sweet."
"As I understand it, three of the four on board, including you, are marines. Your last mission was to investigate the island Johnston Atoll where strange goings on had been reported, including another team of marines to dissapear. After contact with your team was lost, the island was vapourized, and there where only 4 survivors out of a whole island-full. What happened?"
"Look, I don't know. My mind is blank. I have no idea." The agent looked at Jake, knowing he was lying, then walked away. Jake watches him leave, then calls the nurse over. "Hey, where are the others?"
"What others?" asked the nurse.
"The other three I was brought in with?"
"Oh, the two women are fine, but I'm afraid the other man died in the hospital. I'm sorry." Jake looked disturbed.
"How did he die?"
"It's strange, he just started to... decompose. Nobody knows why."
"Where's the body?"
"They're doing a post-mortam now."
"You have to burn the body."
"Excuse me?"
"You must destroy it. It's important. If you don't, thousands will die."
"Sir, lie down. You're still tired. You need rest." The nurse suddenly injected Jake's arm. He started to feel drowsy, then fell asleep.
The coroner stood over the body of Stuart Miller. He clicked record on the tape recorder. "Today is the 28th of July, 2000. Time is... 11:32 AM. The body was once a Stuart Miller. He seems to have decomposed rapidly, I've never seen this before." The coroner takes a scalpel from the tray. "I'm now about to make an incision along the arm..."
Suddenly, Stuart's arm grabed the coroner by the throat and threw him against the wall. Stuart stood up off the table and tried to grab the coroner. The coroner tried to swing the scalpel at Stuart, but the dead body raised it's arm. The scalpel dug into the rotting flesh, poking out of the other side of the arm. Stuart didn't even flinch, and bit the coroners arm. He screamed in pain as Stuart tore a chunk of flesh from the coroners arm.
Two guards burst into the room and raised there guns at Stuart. "Freeze! Don't move!" shouted the first guard. Stuart walked towards them, and both guards fired at him. The bullets tore through his chest, but he kept on walkingtowards his targets. The second guard finally shot Stuart in the face, and the body dropped to the floor like a sack. They looked at the coroner.
"Are you alright?" asked the second gaurd.
"Yeah, I'll live." answered the coroner, bandaging his wound. He looked at Stuarts body, confused.
Agent Clayton returned to Jake's ward as soon as he heard the news. He stood next to his bed. "Your friend just managed to wake up from the dead, Jake." he said. Jake looked at him suddenly. "What's the real story behind Johnston Atoll?" Jake swallowed hard.
"Is Stuart dead?"
"We think so. After you die once, then return to the living, it's hard to figure out your status."
"How did you stop him?"
"A guard shot him. Headshot."
"He's dead."
"What the hell is going on?"
"The next plague."
"What?"
"Look, did anyone get bitten?"
"The coroner, Luke Hitcher. I think."
"You must kill him, too."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"When we went to Johnston Atoll the entire island was infected with a disease that basicaly turned the victim into a zombie. The island was destroyed by a crazed scientist, so nobody could get any evidence. We killed him, but if that disease is left alone, it will spread so quickly you won't be able to stop it."
"This may sound slightly plausable, if it wasn't the same as a nutcase's story." Jake looks at the agent, confused.
"What are you on about?"
"Michelle Hays, one of the survivors, said exactly the same."
"Because it happened."
"She was realesed from an asylum two weeks ago. Or should I say escaped?"
"What?"
"That's right. Your friend is a lunatic. So's the other one. Anna Hawthorn. Same story."
"It happened!" Jake shouted.
"I think you may be insane as well." Jake jumped up and pushed Agent Clayton backwards.
"Stop wasting time by pissing me off and kill the coroner, or we all die!" The agent punched Jake in the face, sending him flying.
"Looks like all three of you are going back to an asylum. Hope you like it."
Luke Hitcher got into his car and started it up. He rubbed his wound, and drove out of the car park. He drove down the road, and got to the end before feeling enormously sick. He stopped the car and got out, running to the bush. He threw up hard. His legs felt weak, and he collapsed. He felt his whole body weaken, then slowly passed out.
A truck stopped next to the car. The driver got out and walked over to the body nearby. "Hey, buddy, are you alright?" Suddenly the body grabbed the driver's leg, and bit it. The driver yelled in pain, kicked the body, and limped back to the truck. He got in and sped off, holding his bleeding wound.
Jake woke up suddenly and found himself in a padded cell. He looked around, and realised where he was. "Oh shit." he thought aloud, then ran over to the door. He looked through the gap. "Hey! Hey! Anybody?" A gaurd stepped in front of the door.
"What?" he asked, bluntly.
"I shouldn't be here..."
"I've heard that before."
"No, look... I'm a US Marine, you gotta let me out."
"Sure you are."
"If you don't let me out, everyone will die!"
"Right, yeah. Sure thing." The gaurd walked off. Jake banged against the door.
"Come back! You gotta let me out!" Jake gave up, walked to the back of the cell and sat down.
The next day, the patients could walk around a certain area. Jake walked out of his cell and towards the main room. He walked into it, looking for his two friends.
"Jake!" Anna called from the other side of the room. He walked over to her, hugged her and kissed her.
"You alright?" Jake asked. She nodded.
"Yeah. What are we doing here?" she asked.
"That pain in the ass Clayton decided we where insane."
"Why?"
"Well, one factor is the story of what happened on the island, and the other is the fact that Michelle busted out of an asylumn recently."
"What, our Michelle?"
"Yup." Anna smiled.
"Well, that explains some things." Suddenly Michelle ran over to them.
"Hey, guys!" she said excitedly. Jake gave her a strange look.
"You didn't tell us you've been to one of these before." he said.
"I know. You didn't ask."
"We should have known, though." Anna told her. Michelle looked confused.
"Why? Oh, never mind. This place isn't so bad. Lighten up a little!"
"Then why'd you try to escape?" Jake asked. Michelle shrugged.
"I'm supposed to be insane. You know, do strange things, stuff like that. Anyway, where's Stu?"
"Dead." Jake said bluntly. "Also, he was a zombie. The disease is spreading right now. And we're stuck in this hell-hole."
"Well, it's not that bad. At least we're relativly safe." Michelle told them.
"Actually, we're trapped. When the zombies come along, we're screwed." Anna answered. Michelle's happy expresion vanished.
"That's not so good." she said.
Henry Rabin sat down at his desk, and looked at the report. He was a luitenant for the LAPD. He looked at the photos. People had been found bitten to death, and were decomposing. The photos were pretty sick, but Henry had seen plenty of sick crimes. Though none like this. He checked through it, and found a file about someone admitted to a hospitol showing the symptoms. He looked at the name, Stuart Miller. He also saw that he'd been found with three other people. Jake Foreman, Anna Hawthorne and Michelle Hays. He saw they were transfered to a nearby mental institution. He took his coat and headed for the exit.
He reached his car in the car park. It was dark, deserted and silent. Except for a shuffling noise and moaning. Henry looked around to see who was there. He saw nobody. But the noise continued. "Who is that?" he asked. "Are you alright?"
A shodowy figure caught his attention by the corner. He looked at the man. It was to dark to see his features, so Henry ignored him and got in his car, closing the door behind him. He casualy placed the key in the ignition and twisted them. The engine roared to life just as the man outside smacked his hand on the window next to Henry.
Henry looked at the man, and he looked like death on legs. In fact, like one of the recent murder victims. His skin was hanging off in flaps, bite marks in his arms. He looked like a zombie. "Oh, shit..." Henry said to himself, then slammed the accelerator down. The car flew fowards, knocking the zombie off-balance. He sped through the car-park.
In front of the exit was another three zombies. They noticed the oncoming car, but instead of moving out of the way, they staggered towards it. Henry didn't slow down, and smashed through them at high speed. They seemed to burst, blood and limbs covering the walls, floor and car. Henry sped down the road, towards the asylum.
Jake was sleeping in his cell when he heard an alarm ring out. He could faintly hear screaming. He ran over to the door and looked out through the gap. "Hey!" he called. "What's going on?" He knew the answer already, but there was no reply. Stepped back, and checked for the hundreth time to see if there was a way to escape. There wasn't.
The lock on the door suddenly clicked, and the door opened. Outside where Anna and Michelle. Jake looked at them. "How...?"
"I've done this before, remember?" Michelle said.
"They're here." Anna told him.
"Thought so." replied Jake. "Let's go." He walked out of the cell, then they ran down the corridor.
They turned the corner to see a zombie eating one of the guards. "Oh, shit." Jake said. The zombie looked up at them, and groaned a reply. It stood up and staggered towards them. They took a step back and turned around to face two more. They were trapped.
A gunshot rang out, and the three humans turned around to see the lone zombie drop to the ground. Someone was at the other end of the corridor with a gun. "Come on, let's go!" he called. The three ran down the corridor towards him. The man shot another three zombies round the corner.
They reached the man, who handed Jake a gun. "You're Jake Forman, right?" he asked.
"Yeah." Jake answered.
"I'm Luitenant Henry Rabin. LAPD. I'm here because I need your help."
"Ok." Jake said, shooting a zombie. "They're zombies. Don't get bitten, or contaminated with their blood. That way you stay human. Aim for the head, they dont seem to feel pain. If you see a family member, or a friend, who are a zombie, shoot them. They're already dead. Any questions?"
"No. That was a nice round-up, thanks." Henry answered, shooting two more zombies. "Shall we leave?"
The four humans made their way past the zombies, and got to Henry's car. They got in it, and Henry drove away fast. Jake looked at Henry. "How did you find us?"
"This is my case. I found your story, and came over to question you three. Instead, I saved your lives."
"Thanks." Jake told him. "Anyway, there's gonna be thousands of them things, so we need weapons. Stop at a weapon shop, will ya?"
"Sure thing."
They parked near a gun-shop. The street was deserted as they walked in. So was the shop. Everyone was cautious. "Where the hell is everyone?" Michelle asked.
"I have no idea." Jake replied, walking behind the counter. He took his gun and smashed the glass casing, and took out another two pistols. He threw them to Anna and Michelle, and they caught them. He and Henry took four more, handing two the the women. They took a shotgun each, and two boxes of bullets each. They loaded the weapons, then grabbed some more weapons, putting it in a nearby bag.
"This should do." Henry said, and they returned to the car.
Agent Greg Clayton looked around as the FBI building was attacked by an army of zombies. He had shot four of them, the rest being taken out by the other agents. It was a full-scale war in there. He and three other agents ran to the back of the building, away from the zombies. They reached an elevator and squeezed in. Greg slammed the button to get to the bottom of the building.
The doors opened, and the four agents were greeted by a dozen more zombies. They shot them all, but more came. They ran out of the elevator, down the corridor. They could see the exit. They took out more zombies as they ran. They reached the exit, and burst through the doors. There was another 20 zombies outside, all of them coming towards them. The four humans ran towards Greg's car, and got in. Greg started it up at the same time as closing the door, and sped down the road, running over a few zombies in the process.
"Oh, shit. What the hell is going on?" asked Dave, one of the agents. Greg sat in silence. He already knew. Jake was right. He just didn't believe him. He thought it was his own fault this was happening.
Something landed on the car's roof, smashing through it. It was big, definatly not a zombie. It landed on one agent, killing him instantly. The others screamed, just before the thing smashed it's fists into both of them, sending them straight through the door. It then grabbed Greg's skull, and threw him through the windshield. He fell under the wheels of the car, crushing him to death.
"So, this disease, what exactly does it do?" asked Henry. They'd seen a fair few zombies, but were driving to fast to be attacked.
"Basically turns you into a zombie." Jake answered.
"It doesn't just affect humans, either." Anna added.
"Yeah, there was this shark-thing when we were escaping. It nearly killed us all, and not to mention things like dogs. And giant cocroaches. And dinosaurs." Michelle said.
"Huh?" asked Henry. "Dinosaurs? Giant cocroaches? We aren't gonna run into those things, are we?"
"I hope not." Jake told him. "But... Oh, shit! Watch out!" A car came speeding round the corner, almost taking them out. The other car swerved, and smashed into the nearby lamp-post. Henry stopped the car and quickly got out. So did the others. They ran over to the car, and shot at the zombies. They'd also noticed another human.
Henry opened the door. The woman inside was dazed, but otherwise fine. He pulled her out of the car while the others held off the horde of the undead. He helped her over to their car, and everyone got back in. Henry hit the gas before the zombies could reach them.
Jake took over driving while Henry tried to get the woman to talk. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"No. Not really." replied the woman. "Who are you?"
"Henry Rabin, LAPD. This is Jake, Anna and Michelle. Who are you?"
"Lucy Numan. What's going on?"
"A virus has attacked L.A. and it's turning everyone into zombies." Anna told her.
"That's impossible." Lucy protested.
"No, it's real. We've seen it before." Jake said. "Anyway," he said to Henry. "Where to now?"
"I don't know. Airport, I guess."
"Sounds fine to me."
The Marine group landed in the centre of the park. The 10 Marines jumped off the helicopter, and it flew away into the distance. They were armed with machine-guns, pistols, knives and grenades. They'd been briefed on the mission only an hour earlier. They were told to execute anyone they see, no questions asked. They followed their orders, firing at a group of 4 people. They looked strange, but they'd been told that they'd been infected with some kind of disease, turning them into a zombie-like state. The Marines thought it was a little far-fetched, but it obviously wasn't.
Their second objective was to locate three people. They would not be infected, due to them having previously been given the antidote. They may not know this, but it was important that they found them quickly. They needed to know if the antidote actually worked.
The Marines shot another group of zombies, before splitting up into two groups. They ran down seperate roads, shooting anyone they saw.
Jake took a drag on his cigarette, before throwing the butt out of the window. They'd found a packet in the glove-box. Jake peered ahead of them. The night seemed, well, darker. The lamposts were not working, so the car's headlights were the only thing lighting up the road ahead. The streets were still inhabitated by the zombies, but they weren't much of a bother at the minuite. Best to save ammo.
Suddenly, something very, very big landed in the road in front of them. "Oh, shit!" Jake shouted, as he swerved to avoid it. The car smashed through a gate, down a gravely path, and through a large bush. The vehicle came to rest shortly after.
"Is everyone okay?" Henry asked. Everyone said yes, and they all got out of the car. They looked around.
"Where are we?" Michelle asked. Jake looked at the house nearby. It was fairly big.
"Let's check that place out. Maybe get some food and rest." he said.
"Good idea." Henry replied. They walked over to it, and tried the front door. It was locked."
"Try the back." Anna suggested. They walked round the back of the house, but that door was locked as well. Jake looked up. A window was slightly open. It was above the shed next to it.
"I'll try there." he said, pointing to the window. He climbed on top of the shed, put his fingers through the small gap in between the frame and wall, and pulled it open. He climbed inside. He looked around, but the house seemed to be deserted. He walked out of the room, across the landing and down the stairs. He walked to the back door, and looked at the lock. Their was a key in it. Jake turned it, and the door unlocked. He openedit and peered outside. The others were still there.
"Is it empty?" Henry asked.
"I think so." Jake answered. "Come in." They entered the house, and Jake locked the door behind them.
An hour had passed since they'd found the house. The television and radio weren't working, so the house was almost silent. Whoever had been here had left, because their was no vehicles outside. Rain splashed on the glass windows and ground outside. An occasional roar of thunder could be heard. Their had been a zombie in the house, but it was dispatched quickly by a headshot from Anna's gun.
Michelle and Lucy were sleeping while Jake, Anna and Henry stayed up, keeping guard of the house. So far, they hadn't been disturbed by anything. Living or unliving. "So, we decided we'd better keep it secret in case someone tried to find it again. Didn't last long, did it?" Jake said, finishing the story of what happened before.
"So, how come you didn't notice Stuart was bitten?" Henry asked. They shrugged.
"He seemed alright. He'd been shot on the boat, but not bitten. That's what's been bothering me." Jake answered. Suddenly, they heard gunfire. It wasn't very far away, in fact, very close. It woke the two women up, and they ran into the living room.
"What was that?" Lucy asked.
"Someone's in trouble. We'd better help them." Anna answered. They grabbed a gun each and ran out of the house. They looked down the street to see about four people shooting something big. It seemed to be the thing that made them crash earlier. They ran to help them, and got their just as the thing ran away and dissapeared into some nearby bushes.
"You guys alright?" Henry asked. The four men were dressed in Marine gear, and armed to the teeth. Another one was lying on the ground in a messy pulp. Jake, Anna and Michelle didn't feel this was a good sign. The leader looked at them.
"Yeah. We're fine." he said. "Who are you?"
"Henry Rabin, LAPD." he answered, showing his badge. "This is Jake Foreman, Anna Hawthorn, Michelle Hays and Lucy Numan." The Marine looked at them, recognising the names.
"Ex-Marines?" he asked to the group.
"Yeah." Jake replied. "How'd you know?"
"We have orders to retreive you from the L.A. area." he explained. Jake laughed slightly.
"Yeah, right. Why?" he asked.
"That's classified." the leader told him.
"Well, in that case, screw you." Jake responded. The Marines raised their weapons at them.
"You don't have a choice in the matter." the leader declared. Jake just looked at him.
"You really want to shoot us?" he asked. Nobody responded. "All hell is breaking loose around us and all you care about is your orders? We were Marines. We know what orders are. But they got almost everybody killed. So far your's have gotten at least one of your team killed. Ever start to doubt the higher authorities?"
"They want to help you." the leader said. "That's all."
"Why us?" Anna asked. "Before they couldn't wait to lock us away."
"Look, I don't know. We get our orders, we carry them out, everything goes fine. We don't know exactly why they want you, and generally I couldn't care less. Just follow us and you'll be fine." the leader insisted. Before anything else could happen, a group of zombies attacked a Marine at the back. He didn't have a chance to retaliate as the zombies ripped a large chunk out of his neck.
The other three Marines spun round and fired at the zombies, getting the wounded Marine in the process. Pieces of flesh splattered onto the tarmac, and another group of the undead started limping towards them from down the road, attracted by the noise. Jake looked around, and fired at the newer group. Anna, Henry and Michelle did the same.
The first wave of zombies took out another Marine and started feeding on his arm. The Marine screamed in pain and pushed the zombie away. He fired at it's head, and it drooped to the ground. He clutched his bleeding wound whilst firing at more zombies.
Jake looked around, knowing they didn't stand a chance staying where they were. "Everybody, this way!" he shouted over the deafening noise, and ran down the road. He fired at the zombies ahead, and the group fell to the floor. The others followed him, including the remaining three Marines.
Jake led the group until they couldn't see any more zombies. They all stopped to catch their breath. "This anything like what you expected?" Jake asked the Marine leader. He shook his head.
"No." he said. "This is far worse."
"What's your name?" Jake asked.
"George Patton." he replied. He looked at his team, noticing one had been bitten. He walked over to him.
"Damn. We gotta get you to a doctor, Jim." George said, nodding his head slightly at the bleeding hole in his arm.
"Where?" Jim asked. "Everything's screwed. Everybody's dead."
"So are you." Jake told him, bluntly. The Marines looked at him. "Soon. You've been infected with it. The disease." Jim started to freak out.
"No. It can be stopped..." he said, backing away.
"He's right. We've gotta get him to a hospital, now!" George added. Anna looked around and saw a garage.
"There." she said, running over to it. "Get in here, quick!" she ordered. They all ran over to her, including Jim. "The virus has only just been put in your body. We've gotta stop it from spreading inside you." she said, taking a chainsaw from the bench. Jim instantly knew what was happening.
"God, Jesus, no fucking way!" he shouted, trying to get out of the garage. George grabbed him.
"We need to do this. If we don't, you'll probably die." he told him. He was now frantic.
"You're gonna beleive this shit?" he asked. "You don't know these people!"
"We don't have time for this." Jake shouted at him, holding the chainsaw. "You have to trust us." Jim looked at the other two Marines. George grabbed a broom-handle and gave it to Jim.
"Bite on it. Hard." he said. Jim took it, realising he had to go through with it.
"We'd better hurry." Henry said. "Those things'll be here soon." Jim laid on a workbench, letting his infected arm hang over the side. Jake pulled the starting cord of the chainsaw, and it roared into life. Jim clenched his eyelids shut and bit down on the broom handle hard.
"This is gonna hurt." Jake told him. Everyone turned away as Jake lowered the blade towards Jim's shoulder.