Apocalypse Empire (Book 1): Apocalypse Origins (3 page)

He walked down a short hallway and found himself in a lobby
area. There was an information desk and a few comfortable looking chairs. The
room was completely empty and Greg sighed a breath of relief. Sneaking through
the building may have almost been as bad as if he'd had to fight his way
through. The thought that one of those creatures could be around the next
corner had kept him on edge the entire trip down.

"Let's catch our breath," he said.

Carol nodded and sat on one of the chairs. She let out a
shaky breath. "That was intense. I just knew one of those things was
lurking around."

Greg nodded. "I felt the same way but it looks like
we're okay for the moment." He glanced towards the exit. It was a set of
glass double doors. He'd be able to see how things were outside and hopefully
nothing would see him in the process. He approached the doors and looked
around.

The parking lot for the building was completely empty. Looks
like no one made it in to work today. He looked towards his building and saw
his car in the lot. A quick sprint could see them there. They'd probably have
to deal with those two creatures from the alley though. He glanced at his
spear. Hopefully it would be up to the task.

He walked back to Carol. We're gonna make a run for my
car."

Carol nodded. "What about staying here though? No one
else is here so we should be safe."

Greg shook his head. "That works for the short term but
not for the long haul. If one of those things breaks inside we'll be in the
same boat all over again."

He looked at the exit. "Even if we could barricade the
door, what about food? We can't stay here forever, Carol."

Carol sighed. "I know. Just...it would've been nice to
be safe for awhile."

"I don't think we'll be safe here. Two of those things
are probably still in that alley."

"Alright," Carol said, "you're right."

"I know this is a lot to deal with," Greg said,
"i don't even know how I'm not going crazy right now. But we'll get
through this."

Carol nodded. "Okay. I'm ready when you are."

Greg led her over to the door and fished in his pants
pocket. "Here," he said taking out his keys.

"I want you to run for my car and start it up. Think
you can drive right now?"

Carol nodded. she was scared out of her mind but she had no
intention of dying. If Greg needed her to drive then that's what she'd do.
"I'm fine. Just keep them away from me."

Greg nodded. "I'll open the door and we're gonna run
for the car. If those things show up I'll keep them busy."

Carol nodded as she took the keys from Greg. She took a deep
breath. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Alright. On three. One, two, three." Greg pushed
the door open and ran towards his car, Carol right on his heels. They heard
roaring as they passed the alley. Greg glanced and saw two creatures looking up
from the remains of the man from earlier. They immediately got up and started
running after them.

There was still a little distance left, Greg wasn't sure if
they'd make it in time. "Get to the car!" Greg stopped running and
prepared to fight.

The two creatures came barreling around the corner and
headed towards him. Greg waited until there were nearly on him and struck with
his spear, as he made contact he stepped to his left and put himself out of
reach of the second creature. Before the first creature could recover, he
struck again, scoring a hit on its side. He jumped back as the second creature
swiped a blood covered hand at him. He responded with a jab towards his stomach
but didn't get a solid hit.

The first creature approached and swung at him again. Greg
blocked with the staff but heard a crack. It wouldn't last much longer. Greg
kicked it in its chest and sent it sprawling onto the ground. He turned to face
the second creature and just managed to duck a swing at his head. He spun away
from the creature and swung low with his staff. The creature landed on its back
with a thud. Greg quickly approached and thrust the spear into its neck. The
force of the blow caused the spear to break and Greg stumbled and fell to his
knee.

He looked over his shoulder and saw the first creature
charging towards him. The creature leapt and Greg threw himself into a roll to
get out of the way. The creature roared in frustration and took off towards him
again. Greg scrambled back to his feet. The sound of an engine heading his way
caught his attention. That must be Carol. That was good. He didn't need to
finish this one off then. He waited until the creature started its leap and
then dodged to the side. Before it could recover Greg ran forward and kicked it
in the back, sending it crashing to the ground.

Carol screeched to a halt behind him. He ran over to the car
and got in. "Let's go!" he yelled. Carol sped out of the parking lot
while the creature ran behind them, screaming its frustration.

"Where are we going?" Carol asked as she turned
out of the parking lot.

"We'll head to my house," he replied. "I have
weapons and a few supplies there. He pointed at turn coming up. "You can
take that road right there. It'll take us to the expressway."

Carol nodded and took the turn. "You know," she
began with a grin, "there are easier ways of getting me to your
place."

Greg chuckled. There'd always been this tension between them
but Greg had never wanted to act on it. He'd always felt it would be unethical
since he was her employer. Though, if he was being really honest, he wasn't
sure he'd be able to replace her. But, getting chased by crazed people that
wanted to kill you had a way of putting things in perspective. Today showed him
that life was short. Granted, right now maybe wasn't the best time to explore a
relationship but when all this was over...

"Well, I figured we'd skip the whole awkward first date
and all."

Carol smiled. "You could've warned me. I would've put
on something nice."

Greg deliberately gave her a once over. "That'll do.
You won't be wearing it long."

Carol chuckled again. "Is that so? What makes you think
it'll be that easy?"

"You're madly in love with me. You can't help yourself
really. I am pretty amazing."

Carol laughed aloud. "Really? Someone thinks pretty
highly of themself."

Greg chuckled. It seemed a bit weird to be joking around
given everything they'd been through this morning. But maybe that was just what
they needed. She'd been so afraid back there. And who wouldn't be? He was
scared himself. If not for his training in krav maga he probably wouldn't have
survived. So maybe some laughter is just what they needed. He glanced at the
clock on the dash. Nine thirty. All that they went through and only an hour and
a half had passed since the day started.

"There. Expressway entrance is right there."

Carol nodded. She took the on ramp and merged with traffic.
It was still pretty light which meant a lot of people were probably taking the
warning to stay in their homes seriously. Fifteen minutes went by and Greg
pointed out the exit that would take them to his house. They'd seen no signs of
those creatures on the expressway. It was as if what happened at the office
occurred in its own little world.

A few side streets later and Carol was turning onto Greg's
street. He pointed out his house and she pulled the car into the driveway. Greg
hit the garage opener and Carol pulled the car into the garage. They got out of
the car and Greg hit the button again to close the garage.

Carol leaned against the car. "I didn't see anything on
the way in. Are we safe here?"

"For now I guess. Maybe it started downtown so it just
hasn't spread this far yet. Probably just a matter of time though."

Carol nodded.

"Come on," Greg said, "let's get
inside."

Greg led the way inside and showed Carol to the living room.
"Something to drink?" he asked?

Carol nodded. "Sure. Maybe some food too. Running for
your life leaves you famished. Great workout plan though. I'll finally get rid
of those few pesky pounds if this keeps up."

Greg chuckled as he headed towards the kitchen. Greg
rummaged in the refrigerator a bit to see what he had on hand. "Beer,
water, or iced tea?"

"Water's fine," Carol replied.

Greg filled to glasses with ice and filled them both with
water from the tap. A beer would be great right now but this wasn't the time to
get buzzed. He needed to keep a clear head they were gonna survive all this. He
didn't know how long they'd be safe here.

He sat down on the couch next to her and handed her the
glass. "Food wise I can do some sandwiches. Anything else and I'd need to
cook."

Carol nodded. "That's fine. I could eat a shoe right
now."

Greg chuckled again. "How about some roast beef
instead? I mean you'd get more fiber from the shoe I guess but the beef will go
down easier."

Carol smiled back. "I guess that makes sense. Maybe for
dessert?"

Greg laughed as headed back towards the kitchen. He got all
the necessary ingredients and set about making their food. They continued to
make small talk and then returned to the living room after Greg was done making
their sandwiches. They ate quickly, both of them being more hungry than they
realized. 

"Either that was good, or I was really hungry,"
Carol said.

"Hey now," Greg said, "I make a mean
sandwich."

Carol smiled and nodded towards the t.v. "Want to see
if they're saying anything new?"

"That's a good idea," Greg said as he grabbed the
remote. Turning the t.v. on they were just in time to catch a newscast from
Shirley O'Hara. They sat in rapt attention as she related that they were
actually facing an outbreak and the infected were very dangerous. 

"Do you think that's true?" Carol asked.
"What she said about the bite?"

"Well, I guess we don't know without seeing it for
ourselves but that makes sense. I fought with 

Mr. Ramsey and I'm not infected. At least I hope not. If it
was just casual contact we'd both be sick I think."

"So what now? Do we just stay here and hope the
government gets things under control?"

Greg frowned in thought. "I'm not sure what we're gonna
do long term just yet. In the short term, we'll head over to James's house
after we rest a bit. I've got a bit a food stored away. Just in case of a
tornado or something. We'll take what I've got and combine it with James and we
should be okay for awhile." Greg paused as he thought for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Carol asked.

"Just wondering about James. I think he had to work
this morning so he would have been out in the middle of this."

"Do you think he's okay?"

"I hope so. But our rest just got canceled. If
something did happen to him, I've gotta get over there and look after Laura and
the kids."

Carol nodded. "Alright. So what do we need to get
going?"

Greg smiled at her willingness to help. You'd think that
just about anyone would be paralyzed from the craziness of the whole situation.
But Carol had a good head on her shoulders. Shame it took something like this
for him to realized it.

"The food I've got is in the garage. There's a few
cases of water and some can goods. Not a whole lot. I'd only bought enough for
a few days."

"Alright. I'll start loading the car."

"We can take what's in the cabinets too. It's not as
much as in the garage but every little bit will help if this goes on."

"Do you think the government will get this under
control?"

"I hope the government will get things under
control," Greg responded. "But let's plan in case they don't."

"That makes sense," Carol replied. "So, I'll
pack up the garage and the kitchen. What will you be doing?"

"I'll get all my weapons together." At Carol's
raised eyebrow he explained further. "James and I game a lot. We usually
go to the E3 conference every year. We like to buy replicas of weapons from our
favorite games. Some of them might actually be functional. He also drags me off
to the gun range now and again so I've got a few handguns around."

"Alright. I won't say that's nerdy ‘cause it'll
actually come in handy," she said with a smile.

Greg chuckled. "Who knew right?" Greg stood up.
"Alright, let's get started. I want to get over to James's house as soon
as we can."

Carol nodded and headed for the kitchen. "You have
boxes or something for the stuff in here?"

"I have some of those canvas bangs underneath the
sink."

Carol nodded and set to work. Greg headed to his bedroom. He
grabbed a gym bag he had lying around and put the two handguns he owned inside.
He had the glock 17 who learned to shoot with and a glock 19 he'd purchased
because James insisted it was better. He also had a box of ammo for that went
in as well. After that, he changed in to a sturdy pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
Next came a comfortable pair of hiking boots. Gym shoes would be more
comfortable but he'd rather have the boots for the added protection. They had a
steel toe so he could also use them offensively if needed.

He threw a few changes of clothes into the bag. After a
moment’s thought, he threw in a few pairs of jogging pants for Carol. They'd be
big on her but would be better than nothing. Next, he examined the weapons he
had around the house. He had a few swords he'd bought over the years. He had a
katana, a gladius, and a few random swords inspired by random video games. None
of them proved to be serviceable however. Most of them were loose in the hilt
and it felt like a solid hit might cause it to break. He didn't want to rely on
these only to have them break. 

Just as he was about to give up on that, he realized he had
something in the garage that might do the job. He quickly headed there and
grabbed a machete off the wall. He gave it a few test swings and felt it should
work. He'd bought it on a whim a year or two ago. He'd thought it be fun to use
on the bushes in the backyard when his neighbors weren't looking. He placed the
machete back into its sheathe and took a few minutes to attach it to his belt.
 That done, he realized his guns were useless right now. They'd do him a
whole lot of good if they ran into trouble on the way to James's house.