Infected: They Will Eat You!: A Story of Family Survival in a Zombie Apocalypse (6 page)

“
Ryan?
” the anchors tone was that of concern. A look of fear and anxiety filled her face. “
Ryan, are you there?
” she looked off camera then looked back.

“
We will have more on the situation in a moment.
” her voice quivered as she tried to continue, “T
o repeat what…….um, Ryan Dickson just reported….there is currently fighting along the……we have Ryan…
” she cupped her left hand to her ear. “
Ryan is OK. We are in contact with Ryan and his crew and they are all OK. An explosion happened within a hundred yards of them and they had to quickly leave the area.
” she seemed to be repeating what someone was telling her in her earpiece.

“
Ryan and the crew are fine and will check back in with us once they feel their situation is safe.

“
To recap recent events, an apparent highly infectious virus is ravaging Israel, no travel in or out of the country is being enforced. Quarantine areas continue to be set up as well as refugee sites. What little video we have from inside Israel shows scenes of what are apparently infected people attacking others. Military and police having to shoot the infected. Power is out in most of the country making communication difficult. Surrounding countries have refused to allow refugee camps to be set up within their borders and we have seen where anyone trying to cross out of Israel is being shot.

“
Celebrations have been going on in some countries since yesterday primarily in the Middle East but some elsewhere around the world including in the United States and England.

“
Conflicts between Muslim extremist groups in Lebanon and Syria are taking place. We will forward any additional information on this and the other events as soon as we receive it.

“
Right now we will show a portion of a press conference that happened about 11 p.m. last night. This is Dr. Alak Munshi who is with the Center for Disease Control’s Office of Infectious Diseases.
”

The scene switched to the press conference.

“
From the sample we obtained from the attempted bombing in Jasim it appears this is a virus strain that causes a form of encephalitis, a swelling of the brain. We believe that this strain goes beyond swelling of the brain and inhibits normal reasoning while heightening primal human urges.
” Dr. Munshi was interrupted before completely reading his statement.

“
What does that mean?
” a reporter yelled out.

A deluge of questions followed this one. It was obvious he was not ready for questions and tried to continue reading his statement but was too flustered. A suited man stepped up leaning in front of Dr. Munshi and spoke into the mic, “
A brief question and answer session will take place after Dr. Munshi has read his statement.”

It was too late, the press conference was in disarray. The scene switched to a panel discussing the statement and events. The names of the four on the screen were listed below them; Aaron Bosh, FOX News, Dr. Rene Millem, Doctor of infectious Diseases, John Hopkins Medical Center, Ret. Brigadier General Harold Jameson U. S. Army, and Dr. Bill Swan, FOX News special contributor.

“
Doctor Millem, what do you take from the Dr. Munshi’s statement, short as it was?
” questioned Bosh.

“
We didn’t get much information from his statement but what we did learn and have learned through speaking with sources is that we are seeing a viral epidemic caused by the release of a mutated virus.
” the doctor answered, “T
he virus inhibits the Prefrontal Cortex in effect shutting down any form of judgment, such as
good
or
bad
, and any emotional connection we may have to our actions. It apparently also puts the host into a rage where it attacks those around it.
”

“
But in the video accounts we have seen it seems that the infected are not attacking each other,
” said Bosh, “
they are attacking those who appear uninfected
.”

“
We do not have enough information to know why this may occur.
” answered Dr. Millem, “
We do…
..”

“
Excuse me doctor but in everything that we have seen it looks like packs of infected attacking the uninfected and not each other.
” interrupted Bosh, “
Saying that it
may
occur is confusing
.”

“
I say ‘seems’ because we have little firsthand knowledge and very limited video footage.
” answered Dr. Millem, “
It is difficult to say what was happening in the events we have seen and what happened afterward. Right now we have very limited knowledge.
”

“
General Jameson,
” said Bosh, “
we have seen the Israeli military setting up quarantine areas and shooting what appear to be infected citizen as they charge barricades, is this something that the normal soldier is trained and ready to do?
”

“
Militaries are trained to fight troops much like themselves.
” the General answered, “
However, they are certainly more than prepared to handle situations like this one. Modern military training includes civilian interaction and urban combat.
”

“
But firing on civilians must be different than someone with a gun shooting at you…
.” said Bosh.

“
Whether it’s a gun or knife or hands or a virus you are carrying makes little difference,
” said the General, “
any solder is trained to do his job to the best of his ability. And I will add that the Israeli military is one of the best in the world at doing its job.
”

“
Doctor Swan,
” started Bosh, “
you have worked at the CDC and advised various organizations around the world on the potential of mutated viral outbreaks, including those made in laboratories, and their use in chemical weapons, are we seeing the type of attack you have been warning about?
”

“
This is the exact type of attack my collogues and I envisioned and warned about as recently as last year.
” Swan said, “
The continued discovery of laboratories and chemicals in Iraq and the weapons that could be used to deliver them has been a major concern.
”

“
Doctor Swan,
” Bosh started a question very hesitantly, “
you are saying that chemical weapons have been found in Iraq?”

“
Reports of laboratories and chemical weapons have been out since 2008. While some laboratories were small and the weapons of delivery were dismantled they do in fact exist
.” said Swan in a matter of fact manor, “
While buried deep in the reports and perhaps difficult for the general public to decipher, U. N. reports include accounts of these discoveries and their destruction
.”

“
Doctor Millem, are you familiar with these reports?
” asked Bosh.

“
I am not.
” responded Millem.

“
General Jameson, are you?
” asked Bosh turning toward the General.

“No,
I am not.
” said Jameson.

“
Doctor Swan, how is it that we have not heard of this before?
” asked Bosh.

“
The reports are available
.” started Swan, “
There is a catalogue of everything that has been discovered and video of its destruction. There are reports of convoys moving entire laboratories into Syria before Bagdad fell. Negotiations with Syria have been ongoing since…
.”

Swan was interrupted by and areal scene of London, grey and black smoke pouring from the city. A voice started without introduction, “
This scene is of downtown London where there have been two explosions just blocks from Parliament. Carry Anderson is on live near where the explosions occurred. Carry….?
”

“
There is chaos in the streets of London right now in fear that this attack is like that of the ones in Israel. People are running from the area and….
.” an explosion was heard then silence.

“
Carry?
” the voice on TV asked, “
Carry are you there? We will return to Carry once we have her back.”

“
You are watching scenes of downtown London where a number of explosions have just occurred. We have lost contact with……..
” another explosion could be seen on TV. There was silence.

A male voice came on “
Just moments ago multiple explosions occurred in London. We have no reports yet to the extent of the damage but will keep you informed once new information is available. In just a few minutes the President will speak.”

Christine came down the stairs and stood watching. I got up and headed to the kitchen for more coffee. I kissed her as I passed.

“What is happening?” she asked.

“Not good.” I said.

“What?’ she asked. The concern in her voice was evident.

I started fixing us both coffee and could hear the president speaking. “
In the past few days we have seen multiple attacks on Israel and Great Britain. These attacks have been unprovoked and have targeted civilians.
”

Christine was still standing in the same spot as when I had gone to get coffee. I handed her a cup and went to the basement.

“Don’t you want to hear this?” she asked.

“I’ll turn it on downstairs or listen to the reporters summarize what he says afterwards.” I answered.

“Can’t you stay here with me.” she was worried.

“I have work to do.” I answered.

I went down to my office, turned on the TV and sat at the computer. I could hear the president going on about the bombings saying nothing that we hadn’t already learned from news reports and then….did I just hear him say
vaccine
?

“…
.around the world. The first shipment has already reached Tel-Aviv and London. More is being sent to cities around the world along with the resources for the vaccine to be produced in centralized locations.
”

I thought you needed to know what something was
before
making a vaccine. They just found out it was a virus yesterday.

“
In the United States we will begin a vaccination program immediately. Facilities are being set up and with good fortune will start being operational by this afternoon
.”

This is really scary I thought. I headed upstairs.

“Are you hearing this?” I hadn’t reached the living room before Christine asked.

“Yeah.” I answered.

“They want to vaccinate everyone? What’s in the vaccine?” she questioned.

“How did they come up with it so fast?” I asked.

The President was still speaking about national security and stopping a world plague before it started.

“Let’s hold off on getting this.” I said as I left the room, got more coffee and headed back to my office.

By now the President was done talking and his Press Secretary was taking questions. Not much new information was being given. Politicians are skilled at making a show and saying nothing. Their support personnel are masters of eating time and saying less. After ten or so minutes the circus was over and the recap started, reporters talking about what had been said, what was meant and debating it all.

The internet was full of stories about the events most included the same information we were being fed on TV. It was difficult to find anything new.

It was light outside so I got dressed and went out to look around the yard. I walked the block just looking and breathing. It does a mind good to get away from a situation. It was too early for anyone to be out so it was fairly quiet. I’m sure those who were awake were glued to the TV.

When I got home the boys were on the couch with Christine watching the events of the past day. Caleb looked up as I entered the room, “Zombies.” he said.

“Yeah.” I answered.

I turned and headed to the backyard.
Do not be anxious about anything
popped into my head.
Do not fear
followed. I went outside to the garage.

I pulled a lawn chair out of the garage and sat down facing the house contemplating our situation. The house was not very defensible, the stairs to the balcony had to come down, the basement windows are a blind spot. Once the doors and windows were boarded up it would be better but it wouldn’t take long for a group of determined looters to get in. The zombies I thought we can hold off.

I took a sip of coffee. The first trouble would probably come from people, thugs and looters who don’t get it. That would happen once the U. S. government restricted travel and supply lines got choked. Food and water would get scarce. If we lose power water would be a major issue.

I pulled out my note pad and jotted a few on a new page:

Get collection barrels set up to catch rain.

Get dark cloth to keep light from showing through windows and doors.

Get a couple solar panels to help run lights and charge batteries.

Print a couple google map pics of the house and determine defensive positions.

Timeline for evacuation

Evacuation rout

Where would we go?

Caleb came outside with my phone to his ear. “It’s Grammie.” he said walking toward me, “Here’s my dad.” he handed the phone to me.

“Hi.” I said.

“Hi.” she responded, “Boy, he wasn’t very talkative.”

“He’s tired.” I told her, “We’ve been working to get things ready just in case.”

“Can you believe what is happening?” she said.

“Looks like a movie.” I answered, “People are idiots.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Whoever did this, they didn’t think it through.” I said.

“It was the Muslims, they attacked Israel.” she said.

“It was the
nut-jobs
. It was bound to happen.” I answered, “How are you guys doing?”

“We are worried sick.” she said, “What if what is happening there happens in the States?”