Scarlet Memories (Book 1) (11 page)

He hit the button send on his bosses contact profile. The symbol for the call to start raced across the screen of his cell and he placed it to his ear. At that moment, Roland heard a blood-curddeling cry come from behind him. Roland swiftly turned around and saw a giant group of people coming towards him. Roland began to step backwards towards the front gate of the fence.
Why were they coming at him like that?
Something caught Roland’s attention out of the corner of his left eye. Something was moving towards him quickly. It was the man who had eaten Dixie.

‘But, your dead!’ Cried Roland. His voice was cracking. He could not believe his eyes. He thought he had seen bazzar tonight already. But, this…Roland wasn’t sure what he thought. Roland held out the shovel at the man.

‘Don’t come any closer…Or I’ll defend myself! I swear it!’ Roland yelled. But, the man wouldn’t stop coming at him. It was the same deal as before. It was no use talking to him. Roland swung the shovel at the man just as he was a couple of feet away from him. The shovel landed right in the middle of the guys head. The blow seemed to stun the man but, he was still getting back up.

‘What are you?’ Roland asked. He knew he had to do something quick. That large group of people was heading right for them. And he didn’t want to be around to find out what they were doing or why they were even here. He wanted to get out. Roland took the shovel and raised it high above his head. He came down hard with the sharp edge landing between the mans shoulders and neck. His head toppled to the ground and rolled a few feet away from him. His body stayed sitting upright, suspended in the air as if he were still alive. Finally, after several seconds it crumpled to the ground. Roland knew he had no time to spare. He needed to run.

Roland ran towards the front gate. He clutched at the metal as he pulled the heavy gate open just enough for him to squeeze through. He shoved it back into place and put the lock on. Roland looked up and saw that the people were still following him. They were much closer this time. Roland’s heart was beating so fast. If he was only a bit older, he would be worried about having a heart attack. He quickly pushed passed the stables and headed for the FFA building. He could atleast lock himself in there. It would be harder for them to get him without a key. They built this building similar to the school. There were no windows to where someone could climb through. They were much higher off of the ground than your average school window.

Roland made it to the front door of the FFA building. He turned around again to check how much time he had left to get inside and  lock the door. The people where even closer this time. They pushed through that gate like it was nothing. What was more odd, was that  a few people were left tangled in the barbed wire. None of the others were stopping to help them break free.
Why would they no help?
Rolan pushed his hands into his pockets and fumbled for the keys. After a few seconds of trying he felt the keys in his pants and pulled them out. He searched for the right key to open this particular building. He knew it was the one with the yellow rubber casing on it. The keys that the school gave him were all color coded. So, it was easier to get a hold of the right one without all of the hassel of checking each one, since they were all made by the same company.

He found the right key and plugged it into the keyhole of the front door. It fit nicely so he turned the key to the right and tugged on the door handle. It came open with a little bit of effort. I thad been closed for the better part of the month. He hadn’t needed to open it until today. All of his supplies for the horses were stored out there. Roland jumped inside and promptly slammed the door shut and locked it. He backed away from the front door. He didn’t want to be near it at all. He knew that as long as he was inside he would be safe.

The peolple finally made it to the FFA building. By this point Roland had already jumped behind a desk in one of the classrooms. He could still see the front door from where he hid. He wanted to be able to make sure that if they came in, he would know right away. Immediately afterwards he began to hear loud thuds at the front door. The people were banging on it very roughly. He wondered why they were so angry and were they all like that other guy he had to kill. Necessarily he didn’t actually kill the guy if he was already dead. He wasn’t all too entirely convinced that he had hit him hard enough to die in the first place. Roland menuevered himself so that he could get a better view of the door. As he did, he was able to see some of the people. One woman had her mouth open on the glass. It seemed as though she was trying to bite onto the glass?! Was he seeing this right?

Many more came to the door. They began pressing their bodies against it. Roland was quite confident that it would hold. You could see their hands on the glass scratching at it with their unusually dirty and bloody nails. The longer he stared at them, the more he became convinced that something was wrong with them. They must be sick…All that Roland knew was that he had to stay put. He would be safe here. He sat down underneath the  desk. The people outside still scratching at the door outside. He tried to ignore them. Eventually, he tuned them out.

Chapter Seven: Trapped

Sam stared into the bathroom mirror infront of her. She took her hands and rubbed her face vigorously; she then turned the faucet on to luke-warm water and splashed her face with a handful. She didn’t get a wink of sleep last night. How could she when she knew there were monsters outside? This kind of thinking had her mind going back to when she was a little girl. She was so scared of monsters getting her she would sing as loud as she could. Her singing would fight back at the monsters and drive them away… Or so she thought. No amount of singing could make this particular variety of monster turn at the heel. But, she could wish couldn’t she? Sam ran a little bit of water through her hair. Her hair was short and mixing that  with tossing and turning…Well let’s just say the result is frizz.

Sam heard a flush behind her. Susan opened the stall door and walked next to Sam.

‘Hi there.’Sam told Susan. She gave her a half-hearted smile.

‘Hello.’ Susan said.

Her face had a few lines embedded into the skin from laying on a seam. It looked like she had pretty good sleep last night.

‘You sleep alright?’ Sam said.

She was half joking, trying to lighten the mood.

‘Oh yeah, I am a million times better now that Jaime is here with me. I would have died right then and there if I couldn’t have found him at the hotel.’ Susan lowered her head.

‘If you hadn’t of been there taking care of him…’ She trailed off.

‘Look, you would have done the same for me. I’m just glad that your all ok.’ Sam said placing a hand ontop of her shoulder.

Sam turned to the paper towel dispenser and pulled a few pieces from the roll. She wiped her hands with them and then threw them into the trash underneath the sink area.

‘I’m going to check out the food situation.’ Sam told Susan. She watched as Susan nodded back at her and began washing her hands with the soap that was on the sink.

‘I’ll see you later.’ Susan called to Sam as she walked out of the bathroom.

The door slowly closed behind her.

Sam walked down the staircase to the first floor. She met a few of the origional group downstairs and got directions to the kitchen. It was on the other side of the building.
Great! I’m going to hate walking so far in  the mornings
. Sam thought. She shuffled passed the empty administrative offices and rounded a few corners before she made it to the cafeteria. She pushed the double doors open and walked inside. There she saw Ian and Jeremy counting food in the back.

‘Hey!’ Ian called to Sam.

He watched as she came through the cafeteria doors. He and Jeremy were sorting out the canned foods and meats. From  the looks of things they had enough to last them months. Half a year infact. That was if they rationed the food out. But, they were planning on having a big dinner tonight. The two wanted to lift the spirits of the group. They all needed it. And plus, everyone was pretty hungry after yesterday. Most of them went to bed hungry last night.

‘So, I think we can afford to make this ‘cookout’ tonight and still be fine for a few months. And maybe by then we will be ok to go outside. Maybe those things will die out there by then.’ Jeremy said picking up a can of pineapples.

‘Sam?’ Ian said walking up to her.

‘Would you mind spreading the word for us? We will get one of the kitchen cooks from the set to come back here. Dinner will be served at 5pm.’ He told her.

She nodded her head and walked out of the cafeteria.

Ian placed his clip board onto the table next to the food. They had set out all of the cans in order of fruits and veggies then meats. Oddly enough, Ian found that there was also canned meats… He knew now why he hated Cafeteria food. It was all cheap. And it seems that since he had been in school it had gotten worse. Which was a long time ago.

The school did have running water. But, it was up to Ian and Jeremy to find out where the source came from. In Texas, a lot of the water in this area came from wells. And it was the middle of Summer. They were being hopeful that it wouldn’t. So, any water that was bottled in the building would be kept safe until it was needed. It wouldn’t last long. They really only had what they brought with them. And what was left in the vending machines. They would have to open those up somehow to find out. May have to get Jerry’s help with that.

Jeremy called Ian over to him. Ian saw that Jeremy was working on tonight’s menu. So far it looked like a good line up.

‘So, since your going to be my right hand man, I had an office fixed up for you upstairs near mine. I want you to store this information that you get today in there. And anything else we might be arranging in the future. That way people can also come to you with their problems and issues.’

‘Oh, ok.’ Ian said.

He wasn’t exactly sure yet why Jeremy was already setting up some sort of government without the rest of the group knowing about it.

‘You think it’s wise to be making choices like that without everyone voting on it?’ Ian asked. He flashed a smile so that Jeremy didn’t feel threatended by his question.

‘I think most of these people here are grateful that the both of us have gotten them this far. I really don’t think they mind us taking over.’ Jeremy said in a matter of fact tone.

Ian was starting to see more of the change in Jeremy that he was beginning to see last night. It was as if he were getting drunk with power. It was only the second day.

‘Ok, man. I just didn’t want anyone upset. But, if you think they will be fine with this I will be.’Ian said.

He decided he would take a break from counting. He was pretty much done anyway.

‘I’m going to the bathroom I’ll be right back.’He said leaving the room. He really wanted fresh air. But, right now that was impossible. So, he would settle for just leaving the room. He went do the hall. As he did he noticed that there was  a room labeled multimedia. Ian figured that the school probably had some computers in there and wanted to check the internet for any updates that might be floating out there right now.

He opened the door and flicked on the light switch. There was indeed about ten computers in this room. He closed the door behind him. He wanted privacy as he did this. Ian couldn’t afford for anything to prematurely leak out. No need for panic. He sat down and turned on one of the computers. It took a minute to boot. But, it finally started. Ian used the mouse to click on the internet icon. It opened up and he punched in and typed in a news weblink that he remembered from the site that the first viewd the undead footage yesterday. The site pulled up slowly. It seemed that the internet was being sluggish. It might be all of the extra housing of the school. Might block out some of the wireless signal.

What did load on the page, was a couple of new videos. If Ian could get the video’s up and running with this slow wifi connection, he would be able to watch the updates. He clicked onto the first video at the top of the page. An eggtimer popped up in the frame of the video. Ian waited for the video to load. It took about five minutes but, eventually loaded. The video started out in a medical tent. Much like beginning of the very first video. There were four doctors centered around a large metal slabbed table. There was a man who looked as though he were sedated ontop of it. You could see his lungs inflating and deflating deeply underneath his hospital gown. The doctors watched as the man’s  breathing became more labored overtime. Eventually, the man stopped breathing altogether. The doctors around the slab exchanged looks of concern. This concern mixed with fear. Ian watched as the doctors pulled the iv’s back away from the man’s dead body. They never unhooked him from the machines. A nurse from behind where the camera angle was not facing, came into view of the video. She was carrying a large syringe.

The nurse held the rather large syringe slightly abover her head. She pressed up on the bottom of the syringe and watched as a tiny bit of whatever liquid was inside of it squirt out. The nurse took the syringe and watched as the other doctors held the arm down of the dead body.

Why would they be holding the arm down if he is dead?
Ian thought. The dread of finding out cramped his stomach up. He watched as the video continued on. The nurse injected the  contents of the shot into the man’s arm. The nurse quickly backed up and watched as the doctors began to strap down the dead body. It did not take them long. It seemed as though they were well rehearsed in doing this. Ian watched as the body sat alone  pinned down to the metal slab.

The lighting in the video was very bright. Ian could see every change in motion easily. The body lay completely motionless for around 3 minutes. Suddenly, it seemed the whole body began to shiver. Sweat broke out all over the man. If he had sweat he was alive..Right? Ian thought. One by one the limbs of the man began to jerk at the doctors. It was as if the virus or whatever it was that was injected into this man; operated each body part individually. One side of his body jerked towards each of the four doctors. It was a horrendous sight to see. It was if the body were splitting apart trying to get at each of the doctors.

The camera cuts out and the video ends. Ian tried to load the next video. This one took a lot more time. Ian checked over his shoulder at the door to the room. No one was looking inside on him. That was good. He had more time. The video is finally done  buffering and ready to veiw. Ian pressed play. It begins in a helicopter out over the city. Ian is unsure of which city until he sees the whitehouse’s front lawn  come into view. The camera focuses on the whitehouse. Moments later, you see the camera focus down onto the front lawn. A group of people come out of the front door. They are running rather fast. You can see that there are a few people running much faster than the others. Seconds later a few begin tackleing down other people running from the building. Once one went down, a pile of them jumped ontop of the downed man. It looked like they were tearing and eating away on the person’s flesh. They were the undead alright. There was no mistaking it.

This definitely is not the kind of news he wanted getting into the wrong hands at this point in the game. He needed Jeremy to see it though. This meant that rescue was more than likely going to be delayed. Ian logged out of the computer and then shut it down. He wanted it to look as it did before he stepped into the room. Just in case someone decided to pop in. He closed the door and headed back to the cafeteria.

Ian rushed into the lunch room and found Jeremy sorting more food they had found while Ian was away in the Multi media room. He held out a hand to grab at Jeremy’s shoulder.

‘A word?’ Ian asked. Ian gave Jeremy a nod towards the front of the cafeteria.

‘Yeah, sure.’ Jeremy told him. He had a surprised look on his face. Jeremy rushed to Ian’s side.

‘What is it?’ He asked Ian. He could feel his blood pressure rising.

‘Not here. I don’t want to cause trouble.’

Ian walked out of the double doors and waited for Jeremy to catch up. As soon as he did he walked down the hall and found the Multi-Media room again. Shortly afterwards Jeremy falls in behind him. Ian opened the door and held it for Jeremy.

‘Come in. I need to show you something.’ Ian said motioning to one of the many chairs in the room.

Jeremy came in and looked around the room.

‘What did you find?’ Jeremy asked sitting down at one of the computers.

Ian sat next to him and turned the computer on. He logged in and got back onto the internet. He still had one more video to watch.  And he was pretty sure that Jeremy needed to see it after watching the second video.

‘I found this on the same website that we saw the video from yesterday on. It takes a minute to load.’ Ian said.

He stepped back from the computer station and let Jeremy watch the video of  the White House. He watched as Jeremy’s glare changed to horror in a matter of seconds.

‘I waited to watch the next one until you came in here.’ Ian said after the video had finished.

‘This means…’ Jeremy trailed off.

He looked down at the floor. You could see the worry coming off of him.

‘It means that we are going to be here for a long time. So, we need to make a long-term plan.’ Ian said.

He clicked on the next and final video. Like the others, it took a while to load. The video begins in the streets of the city. Ian and Jeremy could not tell which city that it was. But, it was in the United States, of that they could tell. In this video you can see the military shooting at civilians. It seemed that they opened fire on any and everyone. Even the undead. The video suddenly cuts off in the middle of the video. The person filming it must have gotten injured and had to stop filming.

‘This isn’t good. We now have to worry about the Military taking out it’s own people. What could have possessed the government to do such a thing?’ Ian asked.

He sat down in the chair next to Jeremy. He didn’t much feel like standing at the moment. This video changed things drastically. No longer would the group be waiting for someone to come and rescue them. They had to rescue themselves. On the upside of things, they were in a safe place. They couldn’t be in a better position to survive this thing.

‘I think that we should stock up on more food while we have the chance. Before things get worse. The longer those things are out there, the more people die. So, we should probably send out scouts for more food and definitely water. That’s our main priority.’ Jeremy said.