Chapter Five

Chapter 5





“Keep the line moving people, hey you- hurry it up!” Sergeant Tyrell Keyes’ voice boomed as he shoved a sluggish man forward. The yuppie had a tie wrapped around a bloodied arm and was tending to it as he was caught off guard and tripped forward into a woman.

“Watch it, asshole!” The woman snapped back at the man. The sergeant was growing tired and desperately needed rest, the fatigue of the job really settling in. The remainder of his team had been ordered to help a second team and a few remaining police officers to evacuate any remaining civilians via helicopters with an office building as the checkpoint. Tyrell losing his cool, which was something that he didn’t like to happen. Numerous thoughts crossed his mind as he tried to follow out his orders. While he was busy helping ungrateful New Yorkers, he couldn’t help but wonder how his own family was doing. Were they safe? Did his two kids make it home from school alright? Did his wife remember where he kept their home defense revolver?

“I hope you’re ok, Abigail.” He said to himself. He had tried calling earlier back at the park encampment, but the lines were busy. His train of thought was interrupted as fat, balding man stumbled up to him. He recognized him from earlier, Officer Garcia.

“Sergeant.” The cop addressed him as he shoved the rest of his donut in his mouth. He wiped an incing filled hand on his pants and swallowed. “we need to hurry things along. Those… things outside are all gathering towards this building. We can’t hold them back much longer.” Garcia informed him. Tyrell shook his head.

“We’re moving things along as fast as we can, we’re cramming the elevators to maximum capacity. Nobody is willing to trek up twenty-five stories up the stairs.”

“What if they reach this building?”

“That’s shatterproof glass, correct?” The balding cop nodded his fat head.

“Good. Order your men to pull back. My men will reinforce this lobby. Nothing will get through.”

“Alright, I hope you’re right Sergeant…” The cop hobbled away towards the entrance, where two soldiers stood guard, their rifles held tight to their chests. Keyes turned back to the mass of people still waiting in line for the elevators. The had to be about two hundred frantic people waiting. It would take hours to get them all up with only four elevators.

“Damn it,” Keyes unclipped his radio. “Private Sven, bring me a megaphone.”

“Yes sir.” His radio garbled back.

It was going to be a long night.


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Nick Barron clenched the steering wheel as he swerved the car to avoid another of the infected. As the car sped by his eyes locked with the zombie as it looked up at the vehicle, its mouth wet with blood as it feasted on the flesh of its victim. In the rearview mirror he saw it slowly stand up and start advancing in the direction of the car.

“This can‘t be happening…” He whispered to himself. The city had gone to hell in less then a day. As he sped down the abandoned streets more of the creatures began shambling out of shadows and stores, all with the same intent. Looking up into the sky past a burning building he saw the last remnants of sun gleaming down; he flipped on the headlights, the glow of their beams lighting up the street. He was grateful that the soldier had been there, if he hadn’t been there he would have probably… ended up like his wife.

“Oh, Carrie!” Nick cried, slamming on the breaks as tears flowed down his face. He couldn’t keep it in any longer. The car came to a screeching halt as he began crying hysterically, the reality of the situation finally settling. He would never see her again. They would never have that family they’d always wanted, never have a romantic evening out, never feel the warmth of each other’s skin again. He felt the woman’s hands on his shoulders, heard the soldier trying to calm him down. Nick didn’t care, he’d lost the most important person in his life today.

“Officer, we need to move now!” The soldier yelled. Between sobs he looked up and saw three zombies shuffling towards the squad car. Rage crept through his veins as he snatched the shotgun and handgun and got stepped out into the street.

“Barron!” Private Williams yelled. Nick pumped the shotgun and fired at the zombies as they reached out for him, desperate for another meal. All three zombies were blasted by a hail of buckshot as he pumped and fired again, sending them all flying back.

“You mother fuckers!” He cried, hot tears streaming down his face as he spun and blasted another just as it stepped outside of a shop, sending it back inside and to back to hell. The gunfire attracted more of them, he saw more of them appearing in the streets and making their way towards him.

“Bring it!“ He blasted a zombie through a shop’s window. “You want me?” He fired the shotgun again, decapitating a former mailman. “You want to eat me?!” He pumped the shotgun and blasted another, the gun empty now. He tossed it aside and pulled his .40 handgun out of its holster, aiming it at the closest zombie. “Then come fucking get me you sons of bitches!” The handgun jumped in his hands as he emptied the entire magazine into the zombie; its body jerking as the rounds slammed into it. “Argh!” As the zombie hit the ground, he jumped on top of it and started slamming the butt of the gun into its skull. One, two, three slams and the skull cracked.

“Die!” Four, five slams and brain matter was spilling into the street.

“Nick, get yourself together! You’re going to get us all fucking killed!” The soldier grabbed him from behind.

“You bastards!” Nick spat as he managed to get a final kick into the bloody mess in front of him as he was pulled back to the car.

“Kathy, open the door!” Tom yelled as he restrained Nick. Nick wept as he was tossed in the backseat and Tom got behind the wheel while Kathy hopped in shotgun. Tom slammed on the gas, barely speeding through a small crowd of undead that was gathering around the scene.


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“Move your asses! Double-time it people!” Sergeant Keyes yelled as he pushed a lounge couch on its side and helped one of his men set up an M60 machinegun.

“Private, once they break through, give ‘em hell!” Keyes barked. The scared soldier nodded and gave a crisp salute as he manned the heavy machinegun and ran over to find the head of command for the police. “Out of my way!” He growled as he shoved a young man out of his path, he didn’t have time to be polite anymore, within a few minutes the creatures would break through. A quick glance over his shoulder only heightened his state of fear; hundreds of shamblers had gathered outside the business complex. The police had failed to hold the checkpoint and were forced to retreat back in the building, many of them were wounded. Former New Yorker’s viciously slammed against the shatterproof glass, desperately trying to force their way in, the reward of a buffet of survivors too tempting to resist.

“Garcia!” The cop spun around, his handgun clenched in sweaty hands as he waved another group of people into the elevators. The people were loaded in shoulder-to-shoulder, packed in like sardines. Garcia turned and said something to one of his men before rushing over to the Sergeant.

“Keyes! We need about another half hour!” Garcia said as they met in the middle of the lobby.

“We don’t have that kind of time officer, we’ve got five, maybe ten minutes tops before those fuckers break through.” The balding cop’s head was beaded with droplets of sweat. He ran a hand over his head and flicked it down on the freshly waxed tile.

“Shit! We already have both of the station’s choppers helping out with the evacuations along with one from the hospital, can’t you order any more Chinooks over to help?”

“No can do, our forces are spread out all over this city. We’re fighting a battle we can’t win here. Our best bet is to evacuate and figure out a strategy from there.” As Keyes finished, a large cracking noise was heard. In unison, the cop and soldier both turned just in time to see a large crack spread out across the glass windows. The shamblers outside snarled in rage as they pounded their fist and bodies against it, leaving greasy, bloody smears against the large windows. Another cracked formed above the other one. The moans of the undead were growing now as one of the windows looked like it was about to give in.

“Oh no…” Officer Garcia trailed off, transfixed on the shamblers.

“Get a hold of yourself Garcia. Get all of your men up here, we’re going to need all of the firepower we can get. I gave four men up on the roof helping with evacuations, I’ll get two of them down here. There’s also one in each elevator… they don’t need to be there…”

“Right… I’ll go get my men prepped…” Garcia glanced back at the shamblers before scurrying away. Keyes saw another large crack appear, which got him moving. He strolled over to Private Sven who was chatting up the lobby receptionist.

“Sven!” The Private turned and saluted.

“Sir!”

“You can chat up civilians later.” He glared at the receptionist, who quickly nodded before walking towards the elevators.

“Good luck!” She called back.

“No, wait- ugh…” Sven called after her before looking back at his Sergeant.

“I need you to hitch a ride to the roof, get two men down here along with our men in the elevators. We need to hold this lobby for a bit longer before those things completely overrun it.”

“Yes sir!” Sven pushed his way through a group of people, making his way to the front of the line. The Sergeant turned away and jogged over to a group of his men, who were nervously chatting amongst themselves, their rifles shaking in their hands.

“I need you all to form a line, use furniture, tables, anything you can to form a makeshift barricade to refortify this position. We’re going to be engaging them any minute now.”

“Permission to speak, sir!” A young red-head said, it was Private Way.

“Permission granted.”

“What’s going to happen to us when they get through?” Keyes could see the worry in the kid’s eyes.

“Once all of the civilians reach the roof we will evacuate.” Keyes said reassuringly. The kid shook his head.

“They’ll overrun us, just like they did at Times Square! I didn’t sign up for this, sir! I don‘t want to die!” Private Way nervously said. Sergeant Keyes grunted.

“Your orders are to hold this position, do you understand Private?”

“But sir-”

“Do you fucking understand, Private?” Keyes boomed, stressing his last word. Private Way nodded.

“Yes sir…”

“Good.” Keyes walked back over to the middle of the lobby, surveying his men set up position. The once tidy lobby was now a mess. Every couch, table, and chair was overturned and a soldier or police officer had their firearms propped up on top of them, adrenaline flowing through their bodies as they waited for death to break through. Glancing back towards the elevators, he saw officer Garcia giving orders to two officers. Behind the cops, only about fifty or so civilians remained. Looking back towards the entrance, he saw the shamblers were still aggressive and persistent, but the glass seemed to be holding, for now anyways.

“Maybe, just maybe we can pull this off.” He said to himself. “Actually…” He ripped open the velcro pouch in his vest and pulled out a cell phone. He had a few moments to spare, he wanted to call his wife. His fingers trembled as they hit redial and the phone. His hand shook with anticipation as he raised it to his ears.

“Come on, baby…” He said to himself. When he heard the dial tone his heart skipped a beat. “Damn it Abbi, pick up!” He said to himself. After a few seconds she did.

“Ty?” She sounded out of it.

“Abigail! Are you ok? Where are you? Where’s Jay and Raquel?” In the background he heard Raquel or Jay screaming and crying, he couldn’t tell.

“I’m ok Ty… were home and safe. I picked the kids up from school earlier today, but one of the teachers bit me… oh Ty please come home, we need you here…” She trailed off, sounding really out of it. His heart sank.

“Abbi how long ago were you bitten?” He asked mournfully, putting a hand over his other ear as the crowd in the lobby became more frantic as more cracks began appearing every second.

“About four hours, but I’m fine baby. Can you come home? We need you here… something isn’t right Ty…” Tyrell Keyes shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes. It took his men about six, maybe seven hours before they turned. His kids didn’t have much time before their mother turned on them.

“Abbi I need you to listen very carefully, ok?”

“Yeah, sure Ty, what is it?”

“Take the kids to Uncle Peter’s house and leave them there.” His heart was beating rapidly as he spoke. “Return home and lock the door, don’t leave the house until I come and get you.”

“I’m fine, really Ty, I am. And I don’t trust Peter with the kids, I don’t like how he keeps all them guns in the house.”

“Abbi, listen to me. They will be safe there. I need you to wait at home for me, ok? Please just do this for me, I don’t have time to explain.” He prayed to God she would listen to him.

“Ok honey… hey hold on someone’s pounding on the door like a jackass.” Sergeant Keyes strained to hear what was going on as he peered over at the glass, it wouldn’t last more then a minute.

“Form a line!” He shouted before listening back on the phone.

“Hello? What do you- ah!” He heard his wife scream as she opened the door. He couldn’t be sure, but he could have sworn he heard a moan followed by a sickening, wet crunch as he heard his wife’s scream cut off by a wet gurgle. The last thing he heard was the phone slip out of her hands and break against the ground. The line went dead just as the glass finally gave in and hundreds of shamblers poured into the lobby.




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Captain Scott Hurdleston took a nice, long drag on his cigar. The smoke settled deep in his lungs before he blew it out of his nose. He was in charge, the man in power. He had full control of the city of New York and it felt great. He always liked having that feeling of power, whether it be in Vietnam and ordering his men to execute all the Vietcong, or here and having the undead bastards mowed down by gunfire. Deep down, he knew that they wouldn’t be able to control this situation at hand. But when that happened, he would have an army at hand that would follow his every order.

“Complete control.” He grinned as he inhaled another puff. He planned on retaking the city eventually, but for the time being he would gain control of a place a bit smaller before the undead reached it, if they hadn’t already. From their he could set up his base of operations, and move from there. Just the thought was getting him excited. A blood curdling scream outside his tent shook him from his little daydream.

“God damn it, now what.” He mumbled as he grabbed his radio and ordered his guard in. Nobody replied. Gunshots began erupting from all around outside. “What the fuck is going on?” He flipped on the radio. “Someone answer me!” He growled; nothing. “Useless peons.” He stood up and walked over to the tent’s flap, not bothering to grab his M9 handgun on the desk. He stepped outside and saw his men engaged with the undead.

“What the-” He was cut off as one of the undead suddenly appeared from the side of the tent. His hand reached down to his holster, and cursed himself for leaving his gun in the tent. He noticed the zombie was his tent guard, bite marks could be seen all over his body. Before the Captain could react, the snarling guard grabbed him by the shoulders and tore a large chunk out of his neck. The Captain cried out as he fell to the ground, his dream and his life fading away as the guard bit down on his throat. His vision faded to black, and Captain Scott Hurdleston thought no more.




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Private Tom Williams slowed the car down as he neared the outpost. He so desperately craved for some sort of sense of relief. He was tired, his muscles ached and his body groaned. His stomach had been growling for the last few hours, the thought of a meal hurt. Glancing in the rearview mirror he saw Katharina comforting Nick, who was silent now. He hadn’t spoken a word since he lost it. Poor guy lost the most important person in his life today.

Tom had tried not thinking what was going on to his relatives and family, but he hoped they were ok. He himself had even been forming a sort of plan in his mind if all hell really was breaking lose across the entire world. If this couldn’t be contained, then they were royally screwed. If the army lost all control, he planned on abandoning his post and driving straight to his grandfather’s house in Pennsylvania. He had never known somebody with more firepower in his life. He had everything from a WWII Thompson machinegun to a modern day tactical target rifle. If shit really did hit the fan, he figured that his house would be the safest bet.

Looking back in the rearview mirror he noticed Katharina again, a long strand of hair drooping down over her face. Another day, another time… he wish he knew her before the outbreak. She looked away from Nick and glanced up at him, their eyes locking. Tom quickly looked away and focused on the road again. He looked back in the mirror a second later and saw a slight smile on her face as she rubbed Nick’s back.

“There, there…” She cooed. Tom looked away and back at the road again, his military training kicking in upon remembering the situation. He could worry about his personal life later, the situation they were dealing with was a far bigger concern. As the squad car crept into the park, he heard gunshots. Lots of them.

“Awe no…” He murmured, speeding up a bit, inwardly noticing that the two guards that were at the makeshift guard station at all times were nowhere to be found. The Private did not notice a streak of blood by a nearby bush, leading to a corpse of a fellow soldier hidden by the bush. As the main checkpoint and evacuation center came into view, his heart sank. Flames burned tents set up by the army. Utter chaos and destruction was everywhere, scared soldiers firing blindly as the undead attacked from all directions, grabbing whoever they could get their rotten hands on. He looked down at the medical tents and saw undead pouring out of them, the bandages they all wore soaked with blood. He saw a frightened nurse trip over her own feet. A second later one of the undead grabbed her by her ponytail, bringing her head up to its drooling face. It bit her nose off, blood spraying everywhere.

His eyes glanced over at a news van, three shamblers feasted on a downed reporter as a cameraman used his large camera to bludgeon one of them.

Further down, a soldier blasted a round into one of his comrade’s legs. The other soldier cried out as he collapsed and was instantly surrounded by the undead, they piled on him like a group of football players jumping on a receiver. The soldier that fired ran away, throwing his rifle to the side and disappearing around some trees.

Up above, he saw one of the Chinooks swerving out of control, lights flashing and a loud whirling sound filled the air. A small group of soldiers that seemed to have their position secure stopped firing and looked up in fear as the Chinook slammed down into them, ending their lives instantly and exploding in a ball of fire, consuming both the living and the dead in a wall of flames. From the wreckage, flaming shamblers began climbing out, the fire burning off their clothes and melting their skin.

“Oh shit…” Tom breathed.