05: Outbreak

Nicole Parker

Sunlight shot into my eyes like daggers, blinding me momentarily. Reflexively, I shut them and pointed my face towards the sky. It was a good sensation, even if only temporary. These days, there was no time to sit and bask in the warmth. These days were all about survival and doing your best to even make it to another.

A cool breeze brushed against my face, and I almost felt at peace as I breathed it in…almost. The sound of drawling moans rumbled behind me; time to run again. Grabbing my bag from the ground, I made my way towards the clearing and the road. There has to be others out here—alive.

Dozens of wrecked or abandoned cars littered the streets. Many of them still contained useful items—it’s where I’d collected much of my supply. Weapons, water bottles and if I was really lucky something to snack on. The stores had already been raided. And those that weren’t picked clean were too infested with zombies to make a successful run.

Too many behind me to stop and rummage. For now I gotta keep moving, stopping for too long could mean the difference between life and death. I felt my heart pounding against my chest as the burning in my legs quickened with my every breath. I am not now nor have I ever been some major athlete and running was definitely not my thing. Before all this went down I was lucky to get in even 30 minutes of exercise a week but now, running was the only thing keeping me alive. 

I can’t believe this. Three days ago I was lying on my couch watching television and fighting the battle of the yawns. And now my life had become some surreal trip inside of a violent video game where nothing and no one could be trusted. I grabbed the water bottle from my bag and took a slow sip. Shit. I was almost out. If my luck didn’t change soon I was gonna find myself on the wrong side of dehydration and starvation.

I turned another corner. The small horde of monsters that had picked up my scent from the woods was slowly starting to fall back. Still, I wouldn’t be safe until I found cover…and food. Up ahead in about twenty more yards I would be coming to a large 10-car pileup. I remembered that from yesterday’s trip down Main Street. There I should be able to hide for a little while…at least until I could collect my bearings.

I pumped my legs harder, pushing myself forward and just like clockwork, the scene appeared on the horizon. From what I could tell a school bus had careened headlong into the opposite lane of traffic and from there it was the chain reaction that had left this corner of town stacked with one wrecked vehicle after the next.

The bus, I’d hoped, would be just the place to lay low. Gazing into the window, I checked for any signs of movement. Another thing yesterday’s trip proved was that I was very low on ammo and close-quarters combat was quickly becoming my friend. Nothing; perfect. Slowly and quietly I cracked open the door. The hinges pulled apart with a soft squeak and I froze in place and checked out my surroundings. Still clear but I needed to hurry. I wriggled my body through the small gap between the doors and climbed up the three steps to the aisle. Retrieving my knife, I took each row one at a time, checking for any crawlers or other nasty surprises. By the time I’d reached the back row, I’d spotted about nine backpacks and two lunchboxes. With any luck some of the lunches would still be viable.

The first box was full of maggots and gnats. God. I did not need more rotted stench to fill my nose. Tossing it to the side, I tried my luck with the next. Inside I found an apple, a juice box, an unopened candy bar and a can of soup. Who packs soup cans for a child’s lunch? Oh well. It will definitely come in handy later. Turning my attention to the backpacks, I started sorting through them one-by-one. Most had very little useful items but as luck would have it, I did end up with two bottles of water, and a pocket knife. Sneaky little bastard had it tucked in the bottom zipper of his backpack.

Tucking the items into my own bag, I checked the outside of the bus before making me way up to the front. It would be night soon and I had to find a place to hole up before that happened. I could hear Yolanda in my head as I planned the best route for escape out of this area and back to the church on Vincentia. Stop being so vanilla and live a little, she’d say about my need to micromanage and plan nearly every step of my day.

I paused for a moment as I exited the bus’ front door and stared at the picture. A young woman with dark brown eyes and shoulder-length brown hair laughed at the camera. It was a picture I’d seen hundreds of times over the years, but it never managed to squeeze my heart as much as it did today. I blinked away a tear.

Photography was Yolanda’s passion. She always had a camera in her hands and never hesitated to pose for a shot herself. She drove her dad’s old beat up Chevy pickup with a lead foot. Her favorite color was orange, and she was a real adrenaline junkie. We were like sisters. And after my Mom passed away, she was the closest thing I had left to family.

I swallowed the bitter chunk of grief rising in my throat. Yolanda was forever etched in my mind. I wouldn’t lose her. I couldn’t. With a final glance at the photo in my hand, I slipped it back into my pocket and exhaled a deep breath. The steel skeleton of the Joe Mason Bridge stood in the distance.  And while the concrete and tar of the road was tarnished by the stains of the dead and the dying’s constant dragging their bloody limbs over it, the tall structure seemed to outlast the destruction its lower half endured.

This perpetual discordant hum of apocalyptic music had become a trigger for when the zombies drew near. I could always hear their overlapping wails even before they made an appearance. It was much easier without the suppressing noises of the city’s car horns and traffic. In speaking of which…

The motor of an approaching vehicle made me turn. I could see it but I couldn’t believe it. The fading sunlight sparkled off the roof of a moving car. There was someone else…someone out here on the road trying to escape this madness. Jumping on top of one of the abandoned vehicles pushed off to the side of the road, I frantically waved my arms, calling for the driver in hopes that he or she would stop.

“Hey! Hey! Help!” I yelled, moving my arms faster the closer they came. They saw me, I know they saw me. But they didn’t stop. No one stops. The world isn’t what it used to be anymore. Shit. Unfortunately they weren’t the only ones that saw me. A group of those undead bastards heard my desperate shouts for rescue and were now heading straight for me!

Great. Now I have to figure a way out of this mess before it’s too late. Needless to say, life isn’t exactly going as planned.

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*Author’s Note:  That concludes the last of the biographies. If you were looking for a particular character that was not featured in Quarantine and are curious as to why, the biographies featured here were chosen via coin toss (nope, not kidding). If you want to know more about the 12 new upcoming characters, check out the Extinction Bio page. They will be listed at the bottom under the heading “Introducing.”

Thank you again to everyone who submitted a sim for the story and to all of my readers. I’m looking forward to seeing what these new characters bring :)

~ Daijah

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