Pestilence

Chapter 2

September 24

17:00 hours

It takes me exactly three minutes to stuff my duffle bag with clothes and other provisions. I count the seconds in my mind to keep myself on task. After i zip the duffle bag I crouch down in my closet and punch in the code on my safe. It pops open and I pull out my gun bag. Praise God for the second amendment. While knifing that thing in the head had worked in a pinch, guns would be way more effective. In addition to my guns I also have an assortment of hunting knives. While in my closet I briefly contemplate throwing on my fatigues. They would probably make people listen to me if I got into a bind, but I also didn't want the military to think I was going AWOL, but aren't I? No. I just need to get out of the city. I'm no good to anybody trapped in this building. I settle for putting on my combat boots and the Kevlar vest that I wore while on active duty. Sure it's meant to protect from knife and bullet wounds, but I am willing to bet that it can hold off rabid teeth nicely as well.

Silly as it is, I can't bring myself to utter the one word that I know describes the thing in my living room perfectly. In my mind there is still a possibility that this is just a weird fluke, but if I speak what I fear is happening than it makes it far more real than I care to think about right now. I pull on a clean t-shirt and throw my tough leather jacket over that. This jacket is my only defense between me and what lies outside my door. I zip it up and sling both bags over my shoulder before securing my leather gloves and grabbing my motorcycle helmet from off the nightstand in the corner of my room. As I walk through my apartment I try to ignore the smell of rot that is seeping from the dead body and into my carpet. I snatch my keys off the key ring and stuff them in my pocket. Out of habit the first gun I pull out of the bag is my standard issue Beretta M9 along with an extra magazine. The magazine goes in my other jacket pocket and I train my gun on the door before approaching it cautiously. Deep Breath. Concentrate.

I throw the door open. Already this pandemic has taken its toll on my apartment building. Blood streaks the walls and gathers in dark pools on the floor. The lights flicker, shifting between darkness and light. Somewhere down the hall drifts the steady noise of dripping. I can only assume the worst about that. I step into the hallway, shut my appartment door, and lock it. Although I am not sure that I will be coming back any time soon. If this thing keeps spreading like it already has, there may be nothing left for me to come back to. I slowly creep down the hall with my gun raised. A few doors are ajar, revealing horrifying sights. From within one of the apartments I can hear a crunching noise combined with the moans of a dying human. I take a deep breath and keep moving. When I turn the corner, I freeze, at the other end of the hallway one of the residents is standing still, swaying slightly. I can't tell from this distance whether or not they are living or not. But when it starts to lurch towards me I raise my gun and fire a single shot. The creature falls backwards. Blood and brain matter paint the wall behind him.

I start to run. The noise of my gun has attracted a lot of unwanted attention. The building comes alive with the shrieking and growing of an impossible predator. One appears out of a dark doorway directly to my left. It snaps it's teeth in the air before making a move towards me. I put a bullet in its head and keep running. The only confirmation of my accuracy is the sound of a lifeless body hitting the floor like a sack of potatoes. I reach the door to the streets and freeze. It is worse than I could have imagined. People are running and screaming. Cars are flipped, piled on top of each other like a child's playthings. Fire consumes the buildings across the street from mine. The stench of death is heavy in the air. How had things escalated this quickly? The panic this has caused is just as destructive as the creatures themselves.

I survey my best possible route to get to my bike that is parked behind the building. The ally directly to the right of the building is blocked off with a chain link fence. I'm hoping that that fence has kept people, the living and the dead, out of that ally. I raise my gun and kick open the door. My feet carry me faster than I thought possible. Just as I had predicted the Ally is nearly deserted. I put my foot in the links and heave myself up, only to be yanked back down. It is all I can do to remain standing as a body slams me up against the fence, I pivot my upper body so I can get my gun between my attacker and myself. Human eyes stare at me. They are wild, this person has lost all reason. I bring my elbow up sharply into the man's nose. He stumbles backward and right into the outstretched arms of one of the monsters. His sharp scream of pain slices through the air as the thing clamps its jaw into his shoulder and pulls off a stringy slab of muscle.

With the nearest one occupied, I turn back to the fence and pull myself over it. When I look back to the street the man who had attacked me is now being swarmed by ravenous creatures. He can no longer scream from his ruined throat, so he just opens and closes his mouth like a dying fish. Concentrate. I turn my back on the street and sprint down the all and around the corner. My bike is still there, thank God. If it had been stolen than getting out of the city would be a lot harder. I jump onto the seat and put my keys in the ignition, it roars to life. I pull up the kickstand and squeeze down on the clutch. As soon as I release it I rocket down the ally. I make a sharp turn at the entrance to the street, my tires slip on the blood soaked asphalt. Mayhem has taken over Chicago in a matter of minutes. I speed down the street, swerving to avoid car wrecks and rabid humans. My bike has seemed to draw attention my way. Inhuman cries grow louder and more frequent by the minute. Whatever this is people are turning fast. I slam on my breaks, nearly avoiding hitting a young girl who has run into the street with desperate eyes,

"Please help me." She sobs.

I quickly asses her, she doesn't look like she has been bitten, but I have to be sure, "Were you bit?" I ask urgently.

She shakes her head, "No, just please help me." I nod, "Ok, get on and hold on."

She climbs onto my bike, here small frame trembling. As soon as she wraps her arms tightly around my chest I growl, "Hang on." before she can reply I ease up on the clutch and we fly forward. She lets out a started cry and holds onto me tighter. As the mass destruction blurs by us I can't help but be thankful that I at least have another living person with me. Even if she is a teenage girl, at least she won't try to tear my throat open every chance she gets. We get to a relatively deserted gas station and I pull in to refuel the bike. It looks like the destruction has yet to spread this way. Thankfully we managed to get out early. We have had enough gas to get out of the thick of things, but if we're going to get away from the city we'll need a full tank, "What's your name?" I ask the girl. She stands quietly beside my bike staring at the ground with wide eyes, she can't be more than sixteen,

"Skylar." she mumbles. I've been in the military long enough to be able to spot the early stages of shock, obviously she is not handling this well, not that I would expect her to,

"Skylar, I'm Liam. It's nice to meet you." She doesn't reply, "We are going to be okay, I promise you. We just need to get out of the city. Once we get somewhere with less people things will get better." she looks at me doubtfully,

"How do you know?" I square my jaw and look away from her to scan the surroundings, if there is one thing I hate it is being questioned,

"I just do." Her lip quivers and her big eyes fill with tears,

"What's happening Liam?" I stand up and run a hand over my short hair. I can't deny it any longer. Things are bad and they are only getting worse,

"It's the dead. They have risen."