Z-Day: Load Up ~ Part 5

Word Count: 2064

Jerry sighed rubbing his temple from the headache that he was developing. He was struck suddenly with inspiration. “World War Z. Son of Bitch!” Jerry slammed his hand down on the dash of the truck.

“What?!What is it?” Roy asked, looking at Jerry with concern.

“When you were fighting the crazies did they seem to have any kind of intelligence?I know that the few I fought were stupid, lethargic, and clumsy.”

“Alright, I agree with you; but, what are you getting at?”

“They only seem to have one motive.Kill, eat, and move on.Take what happened to Ben and imagine that you were watching it on a TV.What does it look like?”

Roy thought about it for a second and his eyes widened in realization.“Son of a Bitch,” Roy whispered.

“What?What's going on?” Beth asked.Her face appearing beside Jake's in the small window.

“The people that we've been seeing.They're acting like zombies,” Jerry explained.

“Fuck!I've been watching zombie movies all my life!How'd I not see it?!” Jake cried.

“We've all been pretty freaked out in the last twenty-four hours,” Roy commented.

“It wasn't until Beth said World War Z that it hit me,” Jerry said.

“You're telling me that it's Z-Day?” Beth asked.

“I don't know.But, it's a theory,” Jerry responded, shaking his head.

“How the hell did it start?” Jake asked.

“What does every zombie movie in history tell you?No one knows.I'll bet it's the same in this instance too.”

“So what do we do?” Beth asked.

“We survive,” Roy blatantly stated.“We keep moving.We gather all the supplies that we can and we survive.Maybe we can outlast them.”

“Every zombie movie that they did that they didn't last for long,” Jake said.“But in reality, what else can we do?It isn't like we can declare war on them.”

“We'll have to hope that this isn't like the movies and that there is a cure.That being said, we need to be extremely cautious.We don't know how this thing is transferred,” Roy said.

“Well, I figured that we would assume bites.That is the most common one in the movies.”

“Yeah; but, in that series, what the hell was it?Walking Dead.Everyone already had the virus.They were just waiting to die before they would turn.”

“Yeah, I guess you're right,” Jake said.

“Jake we aren't shutting down your idea,” Jerry said, quickly.“But we do need to look at all the angles.If we only assume that you only become a zombie from bites and we're wrong then that's going to put us in a world of hurt.”Jake nodded and Beth sat back down.“What we do know is that there is a signal in New Mexico and we are heading that way so that we can try to get information.”

“We should be there within the hour.You guys might want to get your pistols reloaded,” Roy commented.

Driving through the relatively large town only seemed to solidify the idea of 'zombie' in their minds.Shambling corpses would reach out for them as they passed by.A few of the better shape ones would run after the truck before disappearing or slamming head first into a wrecked car.“Does this nightmare ever end?” Beth asked, quietly.

“I really hope so,” Jerry said.

“The base is just around the bend.Keep your eyes open.Jake, I want you to watch the back and make sure nothing tries to climb in,” Roy ordered.The chain link fence came into view with the small organization of buildings close behind.“That isn't very promising.”The shack that marked the entrance through the perimeter was covered in blood.The black and yellow striped beam that would normally signal for someone to stop was scattered about the road and only the splintered stump remained.Roy paused by the shack trying to see through the spray of blood that covered the windows.A man dressed in a military uniform threw himself against the glass and tried to claw his way through to the people in the truck.His left hand only a bloody stump that smeared more crimson fluids across the glass.

Continuing down the road at a slow pace the truck passed between a pair of two-story buildings that mirrored each other.“Looks like no one is he...” Jerry commented before he was cut off by bullets ricocheting off of the metal plates that covered the cab.Jerry and Roy covered up in the cab as the others in the back pressed themselves up against the stacks of boxes for protection.

Roy snatched the mic for the radio and turned it to the all channel alert frequency.“Hold your fire! Hold your fire! We're friendlies!” Roy yelled.The bullets stopped a moment after and Roy slowly sat up looking through his window.Four silhouettes stood on the roof of the building with assault rifles aimed at the truck.Glancing about to make sure that there were no zombies about, Roy chanced getting out of the truck.“We got a signal on the Blue Force Tracker!Was that you guys?!”

“Yeah, that was us.I'm surprised anyone got it,” a heavier built man in digital gray camo said.The quartet lowered their guns.“Where's the rest of your platoon?”

“I'm sorry, man.No platoon.Just five civilians.What's the story here?”

“Most of the buildings are overrun.We have weapons and ammo, but that's about it.Any clue what's going on?”

“Actually, we were hoping there was some information here.You guys better join up with us.Staying in one place too long attracts them.”The small group rushed from the rooftop to the truck, piling into the back.

“I'm Senior Airman Bryan Holster, United States Air Force.These guys are a few civilian techs that were working here when this shit hit the fan.Dave, Greg, and Pat,” Bryan said.Everyone quickly introduced themselves and the small convoy got back on the road.

“Hey, is he bleeding?” Beth asked, pointing to a bloody bandage on Pat's thigh.He looked feverish and didn't seem to be quite all there.

“Yeah, he's been shot and I think he's got an infection.You guys have any antibiotics?” Bryan responded.

“There's a first aid kit in the box on your left,” Roy called through the small window.Getting a dose of penicillin, Bryan injected it into Pat's arm.Beth started to redress Pat's wound as Bryan moved to the small window.“Have you guys heard anything from anywhere else?We came from Phoenix and we aren't doing too well right now.”

“I guess we should keep heading East,” Bryan said stepping up to the small window.“Sounds like things West aren't any good.You have any leads as to what's happening?”

“Well, we have a theory,” Jerry mentioned.“How many zombie movies have you seen?”

“You're fucking with me right?” Bryan asked, perplexed.

“Right, now it's our only theory.They fit the stereotypical profile.”

“Well, there's a CDC installation in Texas.Maybe we should head there.”

“As good a call as any,” Roy said.

“Hey guys,” Beth called.The concern in her voice could not be mistaken.“This doesn't look like a gunshot.”Jerry looked through the small window to the bleeding wound in Pat's thigh.

“Those look like teeth marks.Were you bitten?” Jerry asked.

“It all happened so fast I couldn't tell you what happened,” Pat snapped.

Jerry sighed, looking to Roy.“Thus far I haven't seen any of the crazies with bite marks like that.My receptionist didn't have a mark on her.What do you think?”

“Bandage him up, Beth,” Roy called.“Until we know exactly what we're dealing with I'm going to pretend like everyone in this truck is a survivor.We'll keep an eye on him and make sure that he doesn't become dangerous.”

Pat gave a relieved sigh and laid his head back against the side of the truck.“Hey, do you normally see things if you've lost a lot of blood?”

“You're in shock.Hallucinations are a possible symptom,” Bryan explained.

“Okay good.I didn't want to start panicking if it was nothing,” Pat said lazily.

“You should lay down Pat.Will you give him some water, Jake?” Bryan asked.Jake nodded and pulled out one of the many bottles of water that they had collected from the gas station.Pat would periodically take sips from the plastic container.“We need to get him to a hospital.”

“No hospitals,” Jerry said quickly.“When all of this started people flocked to the hospitals trying to be diagnosed.There will be more crazies there.”

“He's right,” Roy agreed.“I've seen it first hand.Hell, even the CDC might be overrun.”

“I guess we'll find out when we get th...” Bryan said before being cut off by a blood curdling scream.

Pat had lunged up and bit into Jake's neck.Ripping off a large piece of flesh and exposing the muscle and veins underneath.His neck would spit out a jet of his life-giving blood in a steady rhythm.Beth screamed as Pat stood up in a crazed state.Snarling and thrashing about like an animal.Jumping on Jane as she turned to protect her screaming baby.Biting through her shoulder and feasting on her limp neck as she quickly bled out.

Rushing into the fray Bryan wrapped his arm around Pat's neck and pulled him away from Jane.Pat clawed at Bryan's arm leaving scratches on his skin and snarling as he was pulled away from his meal.Grunting in effort, Bryan and Dave threw Pat out of the back of the truck.His body rolling and going end over end down the asphalt before coming to a halt.Panting, the pair of them sat back against the walls.“You alright?” Dave asked Bryan.“You're bleeding.”

“No I'm not,” Bryan said, “It's not my blood.”He grabbed a rag to wipe off his arm and pulled down the sleeves of his jacket.

“Is everyone alright?” Jerry called through the small window.

“Jake and the Hispanic woman are dead,” Bryan said.Beth rolled Jane away and picked up her screaming baby, attempting to calm her.“What the hell happened?”

“Was Pat hurt in any other way than the bite?” Roy asked.

“Not that I know of, and he wasn't allowed to leave the base until the job was done so he didn't bring anything with him,” Pat responded.

“Alright.Everyone's thinking it.I'm just saying it.Looks like we're dealing with zombies,” Roy said.

“If bites transfer the disease then we can't have Jake and Jane's bodies in the back like that,” Jerry said quietly.

Roy nodded in agreement.“I'll take care of it,” Bryan said dragging the two corpses to the back of the truck and dropping them out the back into the darkness.

“What are we gonna do about Jane's baby?” Beth asked.The baby suckled quietly on a pacifier, her eyes drowsy and slowly closing.

“Give her here,” Jerry said, holding out his hands.Beth carefully passed the baby through the small window to Jerry.He cradled her to him feeling the familiar weight of a child in his arms.The baby looked up at him and gave him a wide smile around the pacifier.Jerry couldn't help but smile back.“I'll look after you,” he whispered.

“You're gonna need to give her a name,” Roy said gently.“One we can pronounce.”

Jerry chuckled and stared into her brown eyes.“Marian,” he said.He held her close and never wanted to let go.Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he was using her to cope with the loss of his family.That this little girl would fill the hole that he had in his chest.But they needed each other.At least, that's how his mind justified it.

Roy smiled as he reached over and turned on the radio to the familiar hiss of static.He quickly started to turn it hoping for a voice to suddenly appear over the radio.“Wait!Go back!” Beth cried.Roy paused and slowly turned the dial back.

A small glimmer of hope washed over the small group of survivors, and it came in the form of two static covered words.“...... Safety.......... Dallas..........”