OUTBREAK
Chapter 1
Cindy Lennox was late to work again. It was nearly 7:30 when she burst through the front door of J's Bar. She quickly hurried over to the bar as she tied her blue apron over her long black skirt. Her blonde hair hung down over her shoulders, when she was done tying her apron she took a scrunchy that was around her wrist and quickly tied it up in a pony tail. Now that her hair was up and her apron was secured she quickly ducked behind the counter.
"Don't worry about it, I covered for you," a deep voice said to her. She turned around to see her co-worker, will. They had worked the same shift at J's Bar for almost a year. Cindy knew that Will liked her, and she liked him. But neither of them had acted upon it yet. She smiled at him.
"Thanks Will," she said as she grabbed a beer for a customer sitting at the bar. "I owe you won."
"Hey, don't mention it," he replied with a warm smile. She couldn't help but smile back.
About an hour later it seemed to get a little quieter. As Cindy looked around the bar she noticed that there wasn't as many people in the bar. Usually this was about the time of the big evening rush. But tonight there were only a few people in the bar.
Cindy turned around and picked up a tray with a hamburger and a beer on it for a customer sitting in a corner. She held it in her hand and walked behind the counter and toward the table he was sitting at. There was a small dinging sound as the door opened and a customer walked in, but Cindy didn't take time to look at him.
"What a weird customer…" she heard Will say as he walked out from behind the counter to clean a table.
As Cindy passed by the first stool in front of the bar she felt something small and furry brush up against her foot. Looking down she spied a large brown rat crawl by her black heels. Cindy let out a small squeal and threw her hands up in the air causing the platter holding the burger and beer the crash to the ground. The bottle broke when it hit the ground and the hamburger was smeared across the cold tiles.
"Shit…" Cindy muttered under her breath. She looked up to see a large black security officer smiling at her. As she picked up the tray she returned the smile. She noticed his friend was slumped over the bar; he was barely balanced on the stool.
When the tray was in her hand she began to stand up. In front of her she saw Will whipping off a table. A very weird looking man seemed to be approaching him. She gasped at the sight of him. The man was wearing a shirt and pair of jeans, but both garments were torn and he had gashes and splotches of blood all over his body. His skin was pale and ghastly and his hair looked matted and greasy.
Cindy stood and watched the man, she was almost mesmerized by him. Will had just finished whipping down the table and he leaned up. When he stood up fully he looked straight into the mans eyes. Will stopped and stared at him for a second, he too seemed to be taken by the man. Lost in his repulsive attire.
The moment of serenity was broken in an instant. The grungy man leapt forward onto Will, grabbing him by the shoulder. Will yelled out in surprise as the mans cold, clammy hands wrapped around his shoulders. The man bent his head down and dug his decaying teeth into Jim's shoulder. Jim shouted again, this time in pain. He pushed his hands against the man's chest, attempting to push the monster off him. It was no use, though. The man continued to chew into Will's arm and blood began to trickle out of his shoulder.
After pushing hard enough Will managed to pry the strange man off of him. He pushed him backwards and out of the front door. Once the man was outside Will jumped forward and slammed the door closed and locked it. Will staggered backwards and fell on his ass. He neck was bleeding freely now and he was desperately trying to stop the bleeding, but he was too drowsy from the loss of blood.
Cindy could only watch in horror as the events unfolded. She couldn't move, she couldn't scream. She just stood there frozen watching as Will sat on the ground bleeding.
She was shaken out of this when she heard a pounding at the windows of the bar. The man that had watched her drop the tray off food stared at the man outside. He looked like the one that had attacked Will, scraped up and dirty. Behind him there were others, they were walking down the street. Cindy stared in awe of the sight along with the other patrons, everyone seemed to be too scared to move.
The door to Jim's Bar began to shake violently and Cindy heard loud groans coming from outside accompanied by scraping and screaming. Wood splintered as the creatures outside knocked up against the door violently.
Cindy's train of thought was broken when she felt a strong hand grasp her shoulder. She spun around to see the man that smiled at her. He was in a security officers uniform, the tag on it red "Mark".
"We need to leave, now," Mark said to her. "What's your name?"
"C-Cindy," she answered.
"We need to get out of here," Mark said again. He let go of her and looked around. On the other side of the bar was a man in a police officer uniform. "Hey!" Mark shouted to him and ran over towards the officer.
Cindy looked around the bar, desperately trying to think of an exit. Suddenly she remembered the staff room. It wasn't a back exit, but right now it was better than here. There was a large crash in the front of the bar as the men broke the door down and flooded in. Cindy's breathing began to quicken; she felt like a deer in the headlights. She heard Mark and the other man talking, then she heard gunfire.
Taking one last look at the door to the staff room she decided on that rout. She turned around towards Mark and the officer. Standing in front of her was one of the creatures. Cindy screamed and backed away slowly. The man approached her, a hungry look on his face and fire in her eyes. Cindy was scared now, more scared than she had ever been before.
The back of Cindy's foot bumped up against something and before she could regain her balance she toppled over backwards. Cindy hit the ground with a dump. She looked down to see what she had fallen over.
It was the man that had been sitting next to Mark. He was laying on the floor now, not breathing, not moving. Cindy did not care about him now, all she cared about was the man approaching her. With a quick move of her legs she scooted backwards and picked herself off the floor.
The man was still approaching her, and she still had nothing to defend her self. She looked down and saw a small black pistol on the mans belt. Cindy didn't take any time to think about it, she quickly dove forward and unhooked the gun from his belt. She quickly pointed it at the man. Her finger wrapped around the trigger and with a quick pull the gun fired. There was a dry pop and a bullet shot out of the barrel of the gun and soared through air. It penetrated the mans chest. When it made contact there was a small spray of blood.
Although Cindy had never shot a gun before, she had hit in square in the chest, but the man continued to advance towards her. Her mouth was hanging open as the man continued to stumble towards her. Cindy pointed the gun at him again and raised her index finger to the trigger again. Before she could pull the trigger the man leapt at her with amazing speed and strength. His hands pushed her backwards and they both toppled to the floor.
He was on top of her, holding her shoulders, preventing her from resisting him or pointing the gun at him. There was a low groan from his chest as he bent his head down towards her neck. Cindy screamed and writhed under him, but her resistance had no effect.
Before the man reached Cindy's neck she heard a loud bang and felt a cold spray on her face. She looked over to see the man that had been attacking her laying on the ground, a large wound in his right temple. There was blood and parts of his brain seeping out of the hold and onto the ground, pooling around her body. She quickly sat up and looked to her right. The police officer was standing there, a smoking pistol in his hand. He walked over to her and helped her up onto her feet.
"Are you okay?" he asked her.
"Y…yeah, I'm fine," she replied.
"Good, where's the key to that door over there? Its locked and we don't have a lot of time," he asked her. "By the way, the name's Kevin."
"I'm Cindy. I think the keys over by the register," she said.
"Go get it and unlock the door. We can't hold them off much longer," Kevin said. "Wait, you got a little something on your face," he said. He pulled a napkin off the bar and whipped her face off. When he pulled the napkin away there was the blood of the man that had attacked her on it. Cindy quickly nodded and ran behind the counter.
Once Cindy got behind the bar she threw open the register. She reached deep into the register and groped around until she felt her fingers brush up against a piece of cold metal. Wrapping her fingers around it, Cindy ripped the key out of the register. Once it was in her hand she ran past the bar and towards the door to the staff room.
When she got their she found both Mark and Kevin standing at the door with worried looks on their faces.
"Got it!" Cindy yipped. Mark and Kevin moved out of the way to let Cindy get to the door. Without hesitating Cindy slipped the key into the keyhole and turned it clockwise. They all heard a click and Cindy turned the knob and pushed the door forward. She held it open and Mark and Kevin ran inside. Before running in behind them Cindy looked back at the bar. There were 5 of those things wandering around the bar, they seemed to not have noticed her. Blood was smeared all around and there were several bodies laying on the ground and slumped over tables. Cindy took a deep breath and run inside the door.
Once she was inside she slammed the door closed the locked it. She through the key onto the ground and turned around. In front of her was a flight of stairs. Mark and Kevin were both looking at her.
"Come on!" Mark said.
Cindy took a deep breath and jogged up the stairs; her skirt and heels not making things easier. When she reached Mark and Kevin they followed suit until the reached the top of the stairs.
When they reached the top of the stairs Cindy stopped jogging and began to walk across the small pause toward the second flight that lead to the staff room. As Cindy walked by a pair of large windows it shattered. Cindy screamed as one of creatures burst through the window and lunged at her. She crashed to the ground in front of the staircase.
With a quick motion of her hand Cindy raised her gun and pointed it at the man. With 3 quick snaps of her finger the gun fired 3 times. All 3 of the bullets connected with him chest, the 3rd knocking him off balance and sending him crashing off the fire escape that he had been standing on. Kevin ran over to Cindy and helped her up off her ass. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up.
"You okay?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, a little more confidence in her voice.
She ran over towards the second set of stairs and jogged up them with Kevin and Mark trailing closely behind her. When she reached the top she readied her gun, ready to shoot at anything that moved. Mark ran up beside her as she stood there.
"Is there a way out of here, or are you just leading us to a dead end?" Mark asked her.
"There's access to the roof. We could probably find a way out from there," Cindy replied.
"Good, you lead the way," Mark said.
Cindy nodded and ran around a corner that lead to a wide hallway. She walked down the hallway, then turned to her left through a passage way and into another short hallway.
"That door on the right is the roof access," Cindy said and pointed at the door.
"Good, lets go," Kevin said as he ran over to the door.
"I'll be right there, I'm get going to get something out of my locker. I'll be right there," Cindy said as she ran to a door on the left of the hallway before either of the cops could respond she entered the room.
Inside there were several lockers. Cindy ran over to the second one and entered her combination. Inside were several shirts and her purse. She pushed through all off the stuff and reached in the bottom of her locker. There was a small first aid kid. She opened it up and grabbed out some gauze and packets of Neosporin. She shoved them into her pocket then turned around to exit the room.
In the hallway Kevin and Mark were standing waiting for her.
"Come on! That door won't hold them forever," Kevin said to her.
Cindy nodded and ran over to the door. She grabbed the door knob and attempted to turn it, but the door was locked.
"Crap, its locked. I think my boss has a key in his locker…" Cindy said, turning towards the door to her bosses office.
From downstairs they heard the door leading to the staff room break and loud groans echoed through the stairs.
"There's no time!" Kevin said. He ran over to the door and raised his foot. With a swift kick he knocked the door open. Kevin ran inside and Cindy and Mark followed. The three of them ran up another flight of stairs and Mark threw open a door that lay at the top of the stairs. They all ran inside.
The room they entered was filled wall to wall with different types of wine.
"I thought you said this lead to the roof," Mark said to Cindy.
"It does, follow me," Cindy said. She ran past the racks of wine and rounded a corner. She continued to run until she reached what seemed to be a loading and unloading zone. There was a forklift in the corner and a large metallic shutter.
"The roof is right through here," Cindy said pointing at the shutter.
"Gotcha," Mark said. He ran up to the shutter and bent his heavy body down. He slipped his gun into his belt and then grabbed the shutter with both hands. With one motion he threw it open. Cindy and Kevin ran over towards the shutter and they all ran under it.
The shutter lead to a flight of stairs. They were outside now, a warm breeze filled the air and Cindy could faintly hear the sound of crickets chirping over the sound of fires and destruction. Cindy ran up the stairs and when she reached the top she was on the roof. She looked around, taking in the sights.
Cindy ran across the roof and she soon reached a fenced off cat walk. She looked the her left and saw another roof. Mark and Kevin had caught up with her.
"That's the roof to an apartment building! We can get out from over there," Cindy said ecstatically. "We need to get on this cat walk." she said grabbing the fence.
"No problem," Kevin said. He walked over to the fence and gave it a swift kick. The part of the fence that he kicked fell down onto the catwalk. Cindy climbed up onto the cat walk and ran to the end.
At the end of the catwalk there was a small gap between the two roofs. Below the gap was a large drop that lead to an alley below. Cindy took a deep breath and backed up a little, and then ran forward. When she reached the end she jumped across the gap. She landed on the other side and fell over. She quickly pulled herself up and looked over. Kevin had just backed up and ran forward. He jumped over the gab and landed on the other side safe and sound.
Mark was next. He backed up and then ran forward, but his jump wasn't long enough. Mark missed the ledge and shot his hand out, grabbing the roof and holding on with all his might. He let out a small grunt as he tried to pull himself up.
"Mark!" Cindy yelled. Her and Kevin ran forward and grabbed Mark. They pulled at his arm until his upper body was on the ledge, and then he managed to crawl all the way up.
"Jesus Mark, are you okay?" Kevin asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine, lets just get out of here," Mark replied.
The three of them ran over to a small building and opened the roof access door. They entered to an unpleasant sight. Inside the cramped room where 3 zombies at the end of the room, just down the hall from an elevator.
"We have to get to the elevator," Kevin said. "We don't have enough firepower to take them out, I'm almost out of bullets."
"O…okay," Cindy said with a nervous twang in her voice.
"Right," Mark said.
"Okay. GO!" Kevin said. Kevin ran forward, followed by Cindy and Mark. The zombies saw them move and slowly shuffled toward them. When Kevin reached the elevator he slammed the down button several times. He looked to his left to see the zombies approaching steadily.
It seemed like an eternity until the elevator doors opened. Kevin and Cindy bolted into the elevator and turned around. The zombies where right in front of the elevator now, blocking Mark's passage into the elevator. He raised his pistol and fired a shot into the chest of one of the zombies. He emptied 2 more shots into the zombie and it fell to the ground. He aimed at one of the other zombies and pulled the trigger.
He heard a click from his gun. The elevator doors had started to close. Kevin jammed the door close button and the door opened again.
"Come on, Mark!" Kevin shouted.
Mark put his head down and charged into the two zombies. They both grabbed onto him and held him back. He grunted and struggled to get into the elevator, but the zombies wouldn't let up. One of them bent its head down and bit into his neck, tearing a large chunk of dark skin from his throat. He yelled out in pain as blood poured out of his neck and drizzled down his shoulders. Cindy started to scream
"Get out of here!" he yelled as he continued to try and shrug off the zombies. The other zombie bit into the other side of his neck and he yelled again. Kevin hit the door close button and the 2 doors began to shut. They both watched as they saw Mark fall to the ground, blood pouring out of his neck until the doors shut and the elevator began to go down.