Day 02: Infected

“Everyone get away from the windows!” Johnathan Young instructed as the sound of screeching tires echoed through the walls. Another car joined the pile of twisted metal on the end of the highway in a large fireball that lit up the sky. Countless residents wandered the streets, screaming and running from other townies that appeared injured and disoriented. They were attacking without provocation; biting and scratching innocent bystanders and tearing through car windows and front doors.

“They’re insane!” Liz Parnell shrieked as she stood up from her favorite corner booth and moved closer to the action. “All of them! Look at their eyes! They’re like animals.”

“We need to board ourselves up. Keep them from getting inside,” Johnathan rationalized as he pulled his 10-year-old daughter Nina with him towards the back of the restaurant. “You! Help me move this table.” He motioned towards a man seated near the door with his laptop but got no response.

“Daddy?” Nina cried, grabbing his hand and holding him close.

“Stay here, sweetheart, I’ll be right back.”

“Those people need help out there,” Liz whimpered, watching a pregnant woman bleeding as she stumbled down the street. “They’re hurt.”

“They’re not people,” Johnathan replied softly as he dragged a table towards the entrance. “Not anymore.”

“What the hell does that mean, they’re not people?” Fadil Görkem asked, standing from his table as he stared out the window at the number of panicky men and women running through the neighborhood. It was total chaos and the amount of injuries seemed to increase within seconds of another.

“It means they’ve been changed. They’re not breathing, they don’t understand or speak English, they have no control over their cognitive behavior; basically they aren’t alive.”

“That…that doesn’t even make sense. Of course they’re alive, they’re walking around! They’re just scared!” Liz replied and started for the door. Johnathan quickly pushed her away and blocked the entrance.

“No, please, you have to listen to me. We need to board this place up and secure it from those people outside and I’m going to need your help. I can’t do it alone!”

The delivery entrance in the kitchen opened and Johnathan turned quickly to see a middle-aged man walk into the restaurant. “What the hell is going on?” Reggie Kemp asked, setting a box of fresh vegetables down on the countertop. 

“Close that back door!” Johnathan yelled and rushed past the man and into the kitchen. He threw his body against the door, closing it just before a blood-crazed motorist entered inside. “Who are you?”

“Excuse me? What the hell you mean who am I? I’m Reggie, as in Reggie’s Roadhouse! You’re standing in my restaurant. Who the hell are you?”

“John,” he sighed and wiped at his brow, “Johnathan Young. Were you bitten? Scratched?”

“What? No! They ‘bout damn near got me though. I get out to the farmer’s market thinking there was some kind of sale, people running all over each other, clawing and scraping like damn fools. When I saw the blood I grabbed my stuff and got the hell outta there quick! Then I get back here to find you in here rearranging furniture. What the hell has gotten into everybody today? And where is my staff?”

Reggie walked into the lounge towards Liz and Nina standing in the middle of the room staring out the window. He peered through the glass at the hysteria and destruction that amassed just outside his front door and gazed in shock. “Can someone please explain just what the hell is going on?” he again asked, turning towards Johnathan who seemed to understand more than anyone else.

All eyes were on him as everyone waited for him to account for his actions and the immediate awareness he had for their current situation. “It’s hard to explain, but I’ll try. I work for BioCore which, as you may know, is the leader in pharmaceuticals. A year ago we were in competition with Lovast Pharmaceuticals to create a way to combat diseases caused by aging and promote the beneficial effects of youth. We beat them to the market with the drug Gravaxil, but clinical trials were not performing as expected.”

“The drug was being recalled and a tanker truck was on the way back with the liquidated solution from the east. Earlier this morning there was a chemical spill one town over in Fairhaven and the toxins quickly became airborne. The CDC worked tirelessly to clean up the spill but, several residents along the Cabot Creek/Fairhaven border were infected.”

“The drug has the ability to reanimate dead tissue, restoring it to full capacity and it worked! The regenerative capabilities of Gravaxil were beyond expectation and the lab results, phenomenal. No one expected the complications that arose from the actual chemical ingredient itself causing that same dead tissue to attack the healthy cells in the body as well, turning it all into decaying flesh. That is what is happening to everyone outside.”

“Wait a minute, are you telling us you created some kind of walking dead people?” Reggie asked completely dumbstruck as his eyes fell to the luggage sitting beside Johnathan’s foot. “And it looks like you were on your way out of town before the shit hit the fan. What happened? Your pet project blew up the roads before you could get the hell out of dodge? You coward motherfucker.”

Johnathan nodded his head somberly before falling into the chair behind him. “It was a mistake…a huge miscalculation. But once we discovered what the drug actually did it was immediately shipped off to be destroyed. We never anticipated the weather conditions causing a chemical spill!” He hung his head and rested it on his knees.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Liz gasped as John finished his story.

“I don’t think so, listen to this,” Fadil replied, turning the volume up on his computer so the others could hear.

“Authorities are encouraging all residents to remain in their homes and avoid contact with the infected at all costs! Again if you’re just joining us, the Centers for Disease Control has released a statement concerning the sudden viral outbreak in the cities of Fairhaven, Cabot Creek, Lost Cove, Newtown Shire and Southbridge. If you reside in any of these places, you are being urged to remain calm as Hazmat teams are dispatched to clean up the poisonous conditions.”

“Whoa! This would make a great movie!” Liz grinned, staring at the computer screen.

“You’re joking, right?” Fadil rolled his eyes. 

Nina planted her nose to the glass of the front window, crying as more and more injured residents ran screaming by. “Daddy,” she called, unable to move as her whine caught the attention of a man dragging his leg behind him. He was dripping in blood and the side of his face was burnt, revealing his teeth through his cheek. Much of his clothing had been ripped from his body and she could see countless wounds. Fresh blood squirted out of his open chest and her sobs turned to whimpers as the adults continued arguing in the background. “Daddy!”

“Nina! Come away from the…” The deformed figure threw itself at the door, attempting to break the glass and she screamed. Two more turned in the direction of the sound, thrusting themselves against the barricaded door and the group stared in shock, fearing they would get in.

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