02: Daybreak

Chloe Reagan & Mike Sanders

The glowing sun shone through the cold, steel bars of my cell from the only window in the hall. A room with a view, I laughed. At least the asshole cop who threw me in here had a sense of humor. An involuntary groan escaped through my nose as I rolled my body to the edge of the cot and rubbed my back to soothe it. I swear these things must be made of the rustiest metals on earth with stiff, old newspaper as stuffing. I’d have been better off sleeping on the floor. A rat scurried passed my foot at the notion and I watched it squeeze through a tiny hole in the wall. On second thought.

Fortunately, my accommodations here at the Fairfax County Jail were about over. Drunken disorderly my ass. Justin was lucky the cops got there before I got my hands on him! Just a minute longer and he’d have been writhing under my boot. And Gwen. Some friend she turned out to be. Bitch. Hunger pangs hit me full on causing an intense knot and rumbling of my stomach to grow with a fierceness that was almost amusing and I realized I hadn’t eaten since about 6:00 p.m. last night. 

The clock on the wall was flashing 12:00. I couldn’t tell if it was the cause of a power outage or if that douchebag was fucking with me again. “Hello?” I yelled, looking over the glass windows that led into the main area of the precinct. No one was answering. And unlike the concert of mixed conversations, phones ringing off the hook and the shuffling of papers that had been last night’s soundtrack, it was eerily quiet. “Yo? Anybody there?” 

I hesitated to stand at the cell door. The last time I did I got a face full of billy club from none other than Captain Fucktard himself. Still, I couldn’t stop my curiosity. “HEY! Am I getting breakfast today or what?” I yelled, still receiving nothing in response. I stood and moved towards the door. Peering through the bars, I couldn’t see anyone sitting at the desks in more than a few offices. What I could see, however, was that the place looked like it had been sucked through a wind tunnel and spit out. It was a wreck! “What the fuck?” I leaned against the bars for a better view and the door slid open with little effort.

“Hello?” I started into the hall. Nervous anxiety tangled in my belly. This wasn’t right. My breathing was short and shallow, fast like my heartbeat which pulsed powerfully in my ears, threatening to make my head burst open. The place reeked of gym socks and rotten cheese and the stench only grew stronger the further in I walked. Darkness stretched endlessly throughout, encompassing everything and making me wary of every shadow I saw. “Hello? Anybody?”

“Oh god…” I nearly lost yesterday’s dinner on my shoes as I stepped into the main hall. There was blood everywhere. It looked like a massacre! An officer was lying just beneath the receptionist desk. He wasn’t moving but considering the amount of blood pooling under him, I didn’t think he was going to. Just beside him was another body, this one a civilian. His eyes were missing and it looked as though his throat had been ripped out. Straight ahead there was more blood behind the desk. I shuddered to think what gruesome act befell the little old lady that worked the phones. I had no idea what the hell was going on but what I did know was I had to get out. The front door was blocked by a barricade of furniture; desks, tables, chairs. I needed to find another way.

“Help…” I heard a low voice grunting somewhere close by. “Hey…over here.” I scanned the room in search of where the sound was coming from finally spotting someone near the rear exit. It was Sergeant Dick Breath himself. He was lying face up beneath an overturned desk staring towards me as I entered the room. “Here,” he whispered excitedly as I inched closer.

“What the hell happened? Why are there dead bodies everywhere?”

“Keep your voice down you idiot! You trying to get us both killed?” Nice to see his attitude had improved. “I’m stuck. Grab the corner of the desk and push it off.”

“You want my help? Really?” I asked, shocked by his level of nerve. The stench of decay was thickest in this room and it made my stomach churn.

“Look, we don’t have time for this. The place is overrun with them. Now are you gonna help? Or just stand around being a bitch?” he asked in a low growl.

“You need my help. I don’t think insulting me is the way to go!”

“Fuck me, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to puncture your fragile self-esteem, princess! Now will you please help?”

Taking a corner of the large desk in my hands, I pushed with all my strength as far as I could. It barely allowed much wiggle room for him to push up on his elbows and he wasn’t shy about letting me know. “I’m doing my best here!” I huffed. “The fucking thing is heavy, what more do you want?” The officer groaned as the solid oak desk came tumbling back on top of him.

A scraping sound, sort of like something being dragged, echoed in the hall and I stood up holding my breath. “What was that?”

“The reason you should hurry!” he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

“What the fuck is going on around here?”

“I told you! Something is out there. They took out the entire fucking precinct like it was nothing! I watched the fucking things take three shots to the chest and still keep moving!”

“What!? The hell with this! I’m not risking my life for yours,” I said and started for the door.

“HEY! The doors are all locked. You’re not getting out of here without me. So please, get this thing off of me!” he begged, waving at me in desperate fashion.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Give me your gun.”

“What? I’m not gonna fucking give you my gun!” he yelled in a low voice.

“If I’m in danger I need something to protect myself!”

“You’re insane! Push this thing off of me so we can get the fuck out of here!” He urged. Out in the hall I again heard movement. Something was coming closer. Straining my eyes I saw a figure shuffle behind the opaque glass panel, stumbling into chairs, desk lamps and other office equipment cluttering the room. 

“Holy shit! Is that…?” I gasped at last realizing the officer’s desperation to be freed. Zombie was the only word that came to mind as I stared at the man…or the rotting remains of one. He was bleeding from head to toe. His clothes were tattered and worn, his exposed flesh was graying and scaly. Behind him he dragged his broken leg as he moved. His jaw hung on by a sliver of skin. Saliva dribbled from his open mouth, exposing a set of yellowing teeth and blackened gums. I could see what Deputy Dipshit meant. He looked as though he’d taken a bullet or two but was somehow still standing and at this moment staggering towards me.

A deep moan erupted from its exposed throat as it saw us. Head jerking up, arms outstretched, it locked eyes on me and started making a direct line forward. It reached out, causing me to stumble over a fallen chair. I tried to crawl away but the fucking thing was quick. With a lightning fast attack it snared me, tangling its fingers in my hair, trying to pull me forward. For a man with a face half shot to shit, he proved to be unusually strong. 

Pain burned like sharp pricks of pins and needles surging from the top of my head. It rolled down the length of my neck and into my back as the bony, rotting hand twisted deeper within my hair. I clenched my teeth to quiet my screams, I didn’t need more of them finding me. Using the desk in front of me as leverage, I kicked off, moving with the hand instead of against it to get it off. The zombie fell back, his grip in my hair enduring but in this position, I was able to roll to my belly and pull myself free. I jerked back, losing a clump of hair in the process.

Fumbling for the first thing I could find, my fingers closed around a large desk lamp and I swiftly smashed it into its face. Blood and pus flowed into its eye from wounds left by what I could only assume to be a bullet. I didn’t care. I hit it again and again until the fucking thing stopped moving. 

I heard the cop scream behind me and turned to look. Another zombie had entered from the back door. I thought they were all locked? It hurled itself over the desk onto the floor, dragging his face down along the officer’s arm, shredding muscle and flesh, leaving teeth and fragments of bone embedded in his skin. Slipping into unconsciousness and death, shock replaced the terror stiffening his brow. His eyes turned up at me, blaming me for leaving him trapped beneath that desk. I staggered to my feet, unable to contain my disbelief. He was being eaten alive by a dead man!

The sprinklers triggered above me and suddenly I realized the room was being engulfed in flames. A spark from the lamp I’d used to take out the first zombie must have ignited his clothes. Barely able to breathe, I started into the hall, choking on fumes. I stumbled down a smoke-filled hallway. My lungs screamed. My head reeled. The smoke had become so thick I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I paused, inhaling two deep breaths of polluted air, and staggered. I needed to find an exit. I steadied myself against the wall, using it as a guide back towards the cells.

By the time I reached the exit, my heart was beating so hard that I could feel my pulse in every part of my body. I took another breath and shoved myself into it. Lying piece of shit. The door burst open and I toppled forward and into the path of a speeding car. “OH FUCK!” I froze in fear and watched as the driver made a desperate attempt to avoid slamming into me. 

The car spun around, its engine roaring as it careened through a pile of boxes and crates. The driver fishtailed, swerving around the one lane road before exploding through a bus stop finally coming to rest at the corner of the police station. Flipping it in reverse, the driver raced back towards me, stopping just inches from where I’d fallen. “Jesus! You got a fucking death wish?” he yelled, throwing open the passenger door to stare at me.

“I…I was…”

“Get in!”

“Wha…?” 

“It’s now or never!” he said, directing my attention down the alley. I turned to see dozens of zombies heading our way, their dead eyes pinned on me. They pushed and toppled over each other, foaming at the bit to feed their insatiable hunger. There were far too many for me to take on alone. Finding my legs, I ran to the car and jumped into the passenger seat before the man pressed his foot down on the pedal and we sped forwards.

“Where the hell did you come from?” I asked as I looked in the rearview mirror, watching the dozens of zombies shrink into the distance. 

“Me? What about you?” The man answered. “Who runs out in front of a car like that?”

“It wasn’t on purpose. I was escaping a burning building.”

“You mean the police station?” he asked, glancing over at me in disbelief. “You do that?” 

“Well…not on purpose.” He laughed in a baritone voice and for the first time I turned to look at him. He was young, maybe in his late twenties. His dark brown hair was tucked under a stocking cap and pulled out of his face. And there was something else. Something about his appearance that I recognized all too well: his face was gaunt and pale. His eyes were dry and bloodshot and it made me check out the tips of his fingers. Singed, just as I’d thought. I knew the telltale signs of an addict when I saw one. I’d lived with one for the first 15 years of my life.

Just what I needed. Someone who would likely throw me to those fucking things for the promise of a hit. I shivered and ran my hand down my arm over the goosebumps that had formed. “You cold?” he asked, adjusting the settings on the AC.

“No,” I said, turning to look out the front windshield. “Thanks for stopping.”

“Well it’s not like you gave me a choice,” he grinned, taking a hand off the steering wheel and extending it. “Mike.”

“Chloe,” I said, shaking it. “So where exactly are we headed?” I asked, kicking a small black bag to the side beneath my feet. 

“Hey! No!” he shouted, snatching it from the floor and shoving it between his side and the door. “Cabot Creek; ever been?” I shook my head no and he shrugged. “Me either. But I heard on the news they have safe zones out there. I figured it was my best chance at beating this thing.”

“What do you mean? What’s going on?”

“You mean you don’t know?” he asked, eyeing me as if I’d grown a second head. “The dead are coming back to life and eating people. Those things back there in the alley. Yeah. They were…”

“Zombies, yeah, I got that much. What I’m asking is how did it happen?” He again gave me a look and I sighed, quickly becoming frustrated with his scrutiny. “Look, if you hadn’t noticed, I spent the night in jail. And before the cops picked me up, there weren’t dozens of fucked up cannibals running around eating people. All I’m asking for is a little information.”

“Well I don’t know how it happened all I know is that it did,” he said, turning his attention back to the road. “People were getting sick. They started turning on each other and before long…” his sentence trailed off. “I saw a report on the news last night warning people to stay indoors and to not confront anyone they believed was—infected. After that there was a special report concerning shelters being set up and urging people to try and get there if they needed, hence my impromptu road trip.” 

“Oh.” I said, feeling my tummy rumble again. I needed to get home. I needed a bath and a change of clothes and, most importantly, food. “Hey, can you drop me off at Five Points?”

His eyes widened and he shot me a sideways glance as we sped down the highway. “Five Points? Are you nuts? Why the hell would you want to go there?”

“Because it’s where I live.”

“Not anymore. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you lived anywhere near Emerson or Brooksdale there’s little chance your people made it out alive. Five Points is fucking ground zero for this shit.”

“What?” Speechless. I fell back into my seat. I didn’t know what to think. If he was telling the truth that meant everyone I knew was gone. Suddenly I felt very ill. My mouth was dry, my tummy ached. The pounding in my head grew harder. I took two calming breaths but they did little to ease the drumming of my heart. It hammered so fast I thought it would shatter my rib cage.

“Hey? You ok over there?” Mike asked, taking his eyes off the road again. “You look like you’re gonna blow chunks. Do you need me to pull over?”

“No. I’m fine. Just…keep driving.”

He fumbled with the radio for a moment, trying to find a decent station to listen to. Getting nothing but static he quickly turned it off and sighed. “So, what’s your story? What morally depraved act did you commit that got you thrown in jail?”

“What makes you think I did anything wrong?” He didn’t say anything. Instead, he shot me a look that made my face heat up and despite myself I smiled. “I found my good for nothing boyfriend in bed with my skank of an ex-best friend. After handing her the beatdown of her miserable life, his chicken-shit ass called the cops. Told them I was drunk and broke into his home.”

“Were you and did you?”

“No and hell no! I paid the fucking rent there. Asshole. He was lucky I hadn’t thrown him out already. But, not like it mattered. Asshole cops took him at his word and before I knew it I was being hauled off for drunken disorderly; made me ‘dry off’ overnight in a fucking rat infested cell. Man! It would be too perfect if his precious little face got chomped off by one of those things like that asshole that cuffed me.”

“Yeah but it would be better if your friend turned and did the deed instead.”

His comment made me laugh and for the first time since waking up in that cell I felt a little at ease. “So what’s in the bag?” I asked, noticing the way he clung to it like gold.

“Survival.” He replied, never taking his eyes off the road. We were coming up to the Joe Mason Bridge and I could see the extent of the damage that had been done to the city. Geez. How long was I out? Cars littered the streets on both sides of the road making it nearly impossible to navigate at a high rate of speed. Bodies, blood, glass and other debris crowded the roadside, obvious signs of people fighting for their lives. My eyes continued searching, taking in the carnage. And that’s when I saw her. Frantically waving her arms trying to flag us down. Surely Mike saw it too but he continued down the road, passing the abandoned school bus and another flock of zombies.

“Hey, didn’t you see that? Someone back there needs help.”

“And they can keep needing it. I’m not stopping. Stopping gets you killed.”

“Gee, I guess that makes me the lucky one then. If you hadn’t stopped and let me in, I don’t know where I’d be right now.”

“Like I said, I had no choice in the matter, what with you nearly tossing yourself on top of my hood.”

“‘Your hood’?” I asked, pointing to a set of exposed wires beneath the dash.

“Well…it’s mine now.” He leaned over with a smirk, pulling a water bottle from that safeguarded bag of his and taking a swig. 

“How long were you out here by yourself?” I asked as he sped around a corner to avoid a forming group of zombies.

“Pretty much since the news of the outbreak, but that’s nothing new. I’ve been alone for some time now, even before all of…this.”

“Yeah well, I know how that goes,” I replied. He took another turn with just as much speed as the last two and I fell from one side to the other. Judging by the way he drove I may have been safer off taking my chances with the walking dead. “You got any more of that?” I asked, pointing to the bottle situated between his legs.

He grabbed another half-empty bottle from his bag and handed it to me. I twisted the cap off and gulped it down. It had been a while since I had a drink; it wasn’t food but still it was satisfying. “Thirsty?” he snickered, screwing the lid back on his own water. Rummaging through his pack again, he tossed a bag of Ruffles potato chips at me. Damn. This dude wasn’t kidding about that thing it really was survival.

“Thanks,” I said after devouring more than half the bag.

“Don’t mention it,” he said, shooting me another sideways glance and a smile. “You might wanna go easy on that. It’ll be a while before we reach Cabot Creek and I don’t have endless supplies.”

“Then I hope we make it soon.”

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