Survivors Chapter 2

Survivors Chapter 2 (PG-13) I have several chapters done.

Author Note: I began writing this in mid-2010, It was long before TWD (TV show) came out. I’m an old guy and was more into Evil Dead, Army of Darkness and Night of the Living dead.

…Running full tilt around a corner, he only got a brief glimpse of a large dark object. Everything instantly blurred beyond recognition, and he could only hear a loud whooshing sound accompanied by a sudden blast of intense heat.  An unbearable pain shot through his head and down his spine before everything went black…

Survivors

  Opening his eyes slowly, afraid too much light would cause his pounding head to finish exploding. He finally managed to look around and could tell this was some kind of medical lab, and not far away were two people looking down at a computer screen. The one standing was a tall black man wearing fatigues with a military rifle slung over his left shoulder. The other one sitting down and was a thin woman wearing what looked to be a mechanics jumpsuit. He went to sit up, but pain shot through his head and spine, and the grunts that followed caused them to look up; the large man quickly came over.

“Hang on buddy take it slow.” the large man gently placing one hand on his shoulder.

“What the hell happen and where am I?” It hurt to bad to resist, so he lay back down.

“Well, you meet me the hard way, sorry about that, and to answer your second question, this is Core-Lab Technologies.”

“I was being chased and I…” he was interrupted by a thin man entering the room wearing a silver jumpsuit with twin metal tanks on his back. The tanks connected to a large barreled gun with two hoses that rested on his hip. He also carried a large-caliber handgun in his left hand and katana was clipped to the left side of the tanks.

“You mean …were being chased, Me and Bic…” {pointing to the metal tanks} “turned those meat-munchers into an extra crispy side item.” he sat down, smiled, and stared intently at him.

“I have one question, are you a Gay?” apparently it was a serious question.

He looked over at the other two “Ahhh?” not quite sure why it mattered and taken back by the question itself.

 “Come on Daniel” the black man began rubbing his forehead as if trying to get rid of a sudden headache.

“Ahhhhh…No, I… am not?” not sure if he was being asked some kind of trick question.

“Shit… 7 billion people kick the bucket, and I‘m the only fucking gay guy left!” he stood briefly, and he threw his arms up, then sat back down pouting.

“Don’t mind him” the small woman got up and walked over, stopping next to the large man who made her look even smaller.

“I’m Professor Minsue Rah, this is Archibald Whitworth, and that annoying person over there is Daniel Learsold” she smiled and handed him some pills and a glass of liquid.

“What is this?” asking as he sat up with Archibald’s help.

“Aspirin and water” she walked back to her computer and sat on the stool before asking a question of her own. “Who may I ask are you?”

“Harold Phillips” he took the pills and gulped down the water. “Everyone just calls me Harry. Can I get some more water?”

“Yeah sure,” Archibald refilled his glass then sat down on a stool next to the bed.

“You were moving pretty quick there bud, what did you do before all this hell broke loose?”  Archibald asks him while also throwing Daniel a bottle of water.

“I was an athletic teacher for Okoee middle school.” He began stretching his arms and shoulders, which were still incredibly sore from the marathon chase from the dead.

“Well, that would explain it” Minsue commented but not looking up from the computer.

“What about all of you?” he took another large gulp of water.

“I was a researcher for WHO World Health Organization and was on a wonderful overdue vacation when all this started.” Minsue answers while grimacing at something on the screen.

“I was a security guard at the First Centennial Bank,”  Archibald replied

“I once owned the best bar in downtown Jacksonville,” Daniel stated proudly and held up his bottle as if making a toast to it.

“Have you run into anyone else?” Hary finishes off the glass of water.

“Yeah there were two others but one was killed just outside Palatka when we ran into some meat people a few weeks ago. We were trying to get some food from a local grocery store. We lost the second one a couple of days later.” Archibald stated coldly unaffected by the loss and did not explain any further.

“Miss Minsue, I have another question for you?”  he asked and she glances up from her computer.

“If you would like an answer, better call me Sue.” with a smirk she looks back down at the screen.

“Ok …Sue, one of those things in a white lab coat actually keyed in a code and opened the door, how is that possible?”

“Some of them actually remember stuff but it’s usually only actions that they did a lot while still human. So he probably came in and out of this building regularly when he was still alive.” She looks back down at the computer screen.

“What are you all doing here?” Harry let his legs drop off the table while still trying to stretch away some of the soreness.

“Well doc here…” Daniel pointed to Sue “is looking for a way to kill these things.”

“Well, they are dead right?” Harry looked a bit puzzled “Won’t they eventually rot away so all we have to do is wait it out?” he could tell by all their reactions they knew something he did not.

“Well, Harry, that is what the governments told everyone because the truth is not very pretty. The disease is what scientists call NLD90, which is short for Necro-Lepromatic Degeneration, is pretty nasty, as we have all already seen firsthand. The disease progresses in stages, and once these things reach stage three, they actually become more tolerant to decomposition and aging. Even though decaying is not very accurate because they are not technically dead, the research we uncovered so far shows us the average meat-person, as Daniel is so fond of calling them, can exist about 100 to 150 years unless, of course, the head, legs, or spine are destroyed.”

“Legs or spine, a headshot like in the movies won’t just do it?” suddenly feeling ill at this newfound knowledge.

“Their minds are still active even though it is at a very primal or even instinctive. There is almost no blood in them, so they must keep moving because their circulatory system is shot. Movement causes circulation and pumps what little fluid is left throughout the body, and the brain keeping them existing since the word alive does not really apply to them anymore. In your case, they would have eventually caught you because the more they move – the more energetic they become.” She smirked as Archibald cut into this story, which he knew all too well.

“I’m going to check the exits, are we about done here, boss?” Daniel jumped up at his comment, pulling the large-caliber handgun back out from its shoulder holster.

“Yeah, the downloads will take about 5 minutes and then we can get moving.” She looked to Archibald “You want to take our new-found friend and give this place a once over, see if we can use anything.”

“It’s done boss, come on let’s go scourging Harry” room by room they went searching but did not find much of anything.

While going through the last office.

“Sue is pretty smart, is that why she seems to be the leader of your group?” Harry asks while going through a desk.

“She is the reason we are still alive and if you want to stay alive, you will listen to her.” Archibald looked over to him from the cabinet “The last two dumb asses are proof of that.” He made a motion with his hands of things eating his face.

“Sue has to be protected at all cost because as long as those things are loose in the world, humanity’s time is coming to an end, my friend. We have to find a way to get rid of them and she is the key.”

Archibald threw Harry a pack of USB flash drives, “Sue needs those things for data storage.”

They came back in as she was putting the laptop into a backpack. They handed her the flash drives and two bottles of some fluid that Archibald pulled from a lab jacket. She looked at it and smiled

 “OH cool, I can use that thanks guys, now let’s get the hell out of Dodge.”

They meet Daniel at an exit different than the one Harry had come though originally he now had a large rifle and was using its large optical sight to survey the courtyard.

“Ok what do we have Dan?” Sue ask as he peered out the door.

 Harry was surprised to see her then pull out the large pistol, double-checking the clip, and tested the laser sight and clearly knew how to handle it.

“Looks like six of them in the far corner and three more over by that city bus. We have three rows of bushes directly outside the door so we should be able to get across the yard without being seen. The wind is coming from their direction so they won’t be able to smell us.”

He looks back at Harry “That handgun you have, what is it?”

“9mm I think, but I do not have any ammo and what do you mean smell us?” He noticed a very intense focus to Daniel’s demeanor that was not there before.

“Well it is a 9mm my friend, we will get you a real weapon soon enough and yeah they can smell you.” Pointing to his nose before turning back to the exit.<BR><BR>

Daniel frowned when he notices how Harry handles the pistol, fumbling a bit to put it back in his coat pocket.

“Ok, you’ll get some gun lessons too; stay close to Archibald, and if we have to go downtown, I will bake some cookies while you peoples run like hell. Harry let Archibald lead because he has the biggest gun…eeeoooowww!”  Dan winking at them, accompanied by a devilish smirk.

“oh jez, Can we go al…..” Archibald started but Dan cut him off while propping the door with a brick

 “Ready, set, and let’s go” He ran to the edge of the bushes where he still had a good view of the dead. Knelt down into a firing pose with the undead clearly in his sights.

Archibald, Harry, and then Sue ran past Dan staying as low as possible the long row of bushes concealing them as they moved across the courtyard. Just before the bushes end, Sue grabs Harry’s arm to hold him back a bit and gives Archibald some room to check the corner.

They did not have to wait long as Daniel came up quickly and silently. Archibald peered around the hedge and saw two dead men walking slowly away from them. An alley just head was clear except for a large dumpster. They slowly moved across the short clearing and entered the alley cautiously.

 Daniel took up point and they were halfway down the alley when Daniel motioned for them all to hold up. They all stepped behind a dumpster at his hand gestured instruction.

“What is it Dan.” Harry whispered.

“Something doesn’t feel right… wait here a sec.” Daniel slid off the metal backpack, and that is when he realized it was a flame thrower. Dan proceeded quietly forward after handing Archibald his rifle and removing his katana from the tanks

“Is he ok?” Harry asked Archibald quietly

“No… not really!” he replied, Sue smiled at the comment.

As he got to the corner, he peered around but then quickly snapped back. Looking back at the smiles and pulls the sword slowly from the sheath.

“Get ready” Sue grabbed the flamethrower.

Daniel quickly vanished around the corner and then a few moments later calmly steps back around waving them forward while wiping off his sword.

As they emerged from the alley, four headless meat-people were lying on the ground. They paused just long enough to let Daniel put his flamethrower back on and was off quickly entering the nearby forest and, after a short run, slowed to an average walking pace.

“Where are we going now?” Harry asked Sue who was pulling out a map.

“We will head downstate road 100 where there is a walk-in clinic. We will check for some medical supplies and then head further south to Bunnell where there should be some food stores. We might be able to restock if there is anything left.“

…to be continued… Chapter 3 Flight From Bunnell

 {previous edits 8-19-11 4-4-2020 / since adding to site 2-11-2021}