This story contains at times graphic depictions of a zombie apocalypse. In later chapters there will be relations between gay couple/s. If either of these are not your cup of tea you are reading the wrong story.
This story is in a timeline in which law enforcement is not able to react, or are out of the picture entirely. Do not take anything in this story as a suggestion to break any laws of your local, state, or federal governments. They are the law and there are consequences for breaking them in real life.
This story is the second in the Outbreak series. The first, Outbreak New York, is set in the same time frame as this one. Reading the other story is not necessary to understand this one, however there may, and probably will be, references to the other story from time to time. Outbreak New York can be found in the Scifi section of the Nifty Archive.
Comments and suggestions are always welcome and appreciated. I try hard to respond to everyone in a timely manner, and always love to know that people read these. If you would like to comment, or even just say "hey I read your story" my e-mail is johnashton07@gmail.com .
Josh sat up in his bed and looked at his cell phone. The light from the screen was magnified by how dark the room was. The clock read 2:30am and he flopped back on the pillow.
"God damn it Kelly, it is 2 in the morning." Josh thought to himself.
The noise from the living room continued. There was a loud cackle, which could either be a scream or a laugh. It was hard to tell the difference, but Kelly only had one volume setting; insanely loud. Josh got out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts. He stood just shy of six feet tall, and was nicely built. Some muscle tone, but nothing over the top. As he opened the door the noise and light spilled in. He walked around the hallway and saw that Kelly had a couple friends over.
"Damn it Kelly, I have to work in the morning. Would you keep it down?" Josh moaned.
"Yeah, sure. Sorry Josh, I didn't realize we were being loud." Kelly said in a slightly quieter volume. Kelly was in her late twenties. She had dark skin and her hair was put into braids. She was of average build, but tended to lean on the heavier side. Her smile was infectious, which made it difficult to stay mad at her.
Josh had been living with her only a few months. She had let him stay with her after he moved to the area while he got settled into the town. She often had friends over to drink, or to smoke weed.
"Alright, I am going back to bed." Josh said.
"Here, hit this first, it will knock you out." Kelly said handing Josh a pipe with weed in it. "It is really good."
Josh took a couple hits, then went back to his room. Kelly was right; it was strong. He was asleep before he knew it, and didn't wake up until his alarm went off at 9:30. He woke up and went to the bathroom for a shower. He turned on the water, but the pipes ran dry.
"Fuck.. When was the bill due?" Josh mumbled to himself. "I thought we just paid that."
He turned off the faucet and walked to his room. He grabbed a pair of pants and a black shirt and threw them on. He put on a bit of black eyeliner and put some wax into his black and pink hair. He headed back out to the living room when it was suitable. He considered laying down on the couch for a little while since he now had an extra 45 minutes, but even if he wanted to there was too much noise coming from the apartment above him. The neighbors were always fighting about something. A bang or a crash was never out of place.
Eventually he decided that it would be best just to head to work. He worked at the mall, if you could even call it that. It was more a sparse collection of stores filling the spaces between the empty units. It used to be nice until the management let the whole thing slide and jacked up the rent. Now what stores are left are just waiting until their leases are up. It is kind of sad, really.
Josh pulls into the parking lot and notices there are a lot of vehicles in the parking lot for a Tuesday. Looks like it could be a good day after all, at least for his paycheck. He gets out of his car and walks into the mall. The walkways are filled with tables that are all set up with discounted items. Every store was supposed to set out three tables, to make it look like the mall was fuller than it really was. Josh walks into his store, "Heated Subject", and clocks in. Heated Subject is a store that caters to more of a gothic crowd. There are a lot of band memorabilia, and clothing as well as odd ends that the gothic culture is drawn to.
"You are early, what a surprise. And what is with you and the black eyeliner. Too much man." a young man says walking from the back room. He stood at least 6' 5" and was average size. Ears were pierced, and gauged to a 2g. He had a black kiss screen print shirt on, and black and blue pants with chains hanging from them.
"Neighbors were fighting, again. I figured I would come in a bit early. And I like the eyeliner, so fuck off man. I thought you were off today Jason." Josh said.
"Alicia called in, I owe her so I said I would cover her shift." Jason said. "I hear there is supposed to be a `Temporarily 22' store supposed to open in about a month. Should bring a couple people into the mall."
"I will believe it when I see it, and people who shop there are not going to even glance in here. Why would we care?" Josh said starting to rearrange and fold the screen print shirts.
"Just hoping that this mall doesn't close up. It is nice having it, even if there is nothing here right now." Jason said. "I am going to go outside for a smoke. I will be back in a few minutes."
"Alright, but don't take forever." Josh said finishing his folding and taking a seat behind the counter.
Jason had become one of Josh's favorite co-workers. He became comfortable around him almost immediately. The other people at work could be a bit depressing, but Josh always got a warm feeling from Jason.
A couple people walked by the front of the store, but none of them came in the store. They were focusing on the tables. A couple minutes later a security guard walked in.
"Hey Josh, I just got a call. You need to pull the tables into the store." The guard said.
"What? Why? Is the sale over." Josh said. "What is up Aaron?"
"Just pull the tables in." he said before walking down to the next store.
Josh got up and walked to the front of the store. People were pouring into the mall. Jason was in the mix making his way to the store.
"What is going on?" Josh said. "Aaron just came by and told me to pull the tables into the store. Give me a hand."
Josh and Jason picked up their first table and pulled it toward the store.
"There is a bunch of emergency vehicles outside, they are telling people to get inside. Something about a crash or something? I couldn't really hear what was going on. I just figured I had better get back inside." Jason said as they set the table down and went back for the other two.
"Crash? Why would they tell people to come here? What is going on?" Josh said.
"I told you, I don't really know. Look at all these people! There should be a crash like this every day!" Jason said. "Hey! We are still open for business! 20% off of screen print shirts!"
Josh chuckled to himself as a couple of the by-standers turned into the store to look at the shirts.
"Hey I just folded those!" Josh said playfully shoving Jason.
"If I trip Leslie is not going to want to have to call workers-comp. You are going to get chewed the fuck out." Jason said.
"Watch it, there are customers here." Josh said looking over at a group of teenagers who kept browsing.
A couple hours passed, and people kept pouring into the mall. It was the busiest that Josh had ever seen the place. Soon the mall began getting stuffy because there were so many people. Anywhere to sit had been claimed hours ago, and people were starting to sit on the floor, or wherever there was an empty spot.
"May I have your attention, please!" A voice bellowed from the hall way over a megaphone. "People, please!"
The mall went silent and everyone walked into the hallway. There was a group of people in military uniforms standing in the center of the mall.
"The fuck?" Josh said. Jason just shrugged.
"By order of the Governor of the State of Iowa this is now a shelter, and on lock down. Martial law has been declared. Please remain calm and we will get through this as quick as possible." The man said.
"Where are we supposed to sleep?" "What will we eat?" "What is going on?" "Can they do that!?" "No!" "Where is my daughter!?" "Jessica!" "This is America! You cant do that!" "What about my puppies?" "I need a smoke." "It is them damn terrists aint it?"
Soon no words could be made out, it was just one loud stream of noise. The man with the mega-phone spoke again bellowing louder than the crowd.
"There is no need to panic. This is a measure to keep you safe. Now, if you will please listen I will go over how this is going to work." He yelled into the mega-phone.
He drawled on about the sleeping arrangements, and how food was going to be dispersed. After he had finished his directions a man from the TV Shanty store walked up to him and suggested setting up a TV so that people could watch. The officer agreed and a projector was set up in the middle of the promenade in the middle of the mall. When the projector was turned on it showed a news broadcast. A lady was standing in front of an airport which appeared to have been bombed.
"The plane crashed during landing. No news as to the cause of the crash, though what is clear is that it collided with the terminal causing the fire you see behind me. The plane left JFK airport around 10:30 this morning. This would have made it the last flight to leave JFK before the riot there started, resulting in the electric blackout in the state of New York. Only bits and pieces have been reported from the state, but it appears that the riots have grown in intensity, causing the national guard to put the state on lockdown. Reporting for YRTS channel 1, this is Roxanne. Back to you."
The screen changed back to a news anchor desk and the anchor turned to the camera.
"Thank you Roxanne. As most of you are aware, the state has been put into martial law, fearing that a disease may have started the riots, and may have been involved in the crash of flight 123. If you have not already, please go to your nearest shelter. Shelter locations can be found on our website, at YRTS.com/omfgweareallgoingto..." The officer put in a kids movie about a frog and a talking mushroom and turned the volume down slightly.
Surprisingly there was not a strong reaction to the news. People moved about the mall, some to settle into a spot, and others just to move for the sake of moving.
"The hell is going on out there?" Jason said.
"That is some crazy shit. What the hell is going on in New York? Have you heard about that?" Josh said.
"Nah man. But you know how those people over there like to stir things." Jason said.
"But what about it being a disease? What?" Josh said.
"Dude, YRTS is a Fox News affiliate, you cant trust that shit." Jason said. "Give it a day, maybe. It will be done, and this mall will go back to being as empty as it always is."
"You're right. I'm going to find somewhere to smoke." Josh said.
Josh walked down to the end of the hallway by the entrance. A bunch of people had started to smoke in the entry way, between the doors on the inside and out. It was dark outside now. It was difficult to see outside, but there were people moving out there. They were all in military gear and none of them paid much attention to the people inside. He sat on one of the benches and dragged on his cigarette. When he had finished he walked back into the main hallway and saw that people were starting to settle in for the night. He headed back to Jason. Jason was settling in with a girl Josh had never seen before.
"Hey man. Do you mind if I stick with you? I don't see anyone else that I know in here." Josh said.
"Yeah, it has to suck being new around here when this shit happens. Couldn't imagine. This is Tara, by the way. Tara, this is Josh. He works with me. He is cool." Jason said.
"Nice to meet you Josh." Tara said holding out her hand. Josh shook it.
"So you are the girlfriend?" Josh said.
"And you are the gay co-worker?" Tara said with a smile.
"Uhh.. Sure." Josh said, looking slightly annoyed.
"It is a joke. The eyeliner... The hair... What is up with that?" Tara said flicking the pink in his hair.
"I work at Heated Subject. What is it to ya?" Josh said.
"No, its cool. Just have to pick on ya." Tara said. "I have a gay cousin."
"Awesome." Josh said.
"Josh is from Florida, Tara, isn't that cool?" Justin said changing the subject.
The three of them sat on the ground and talked for a while about nothing before each deciding to try to fall asleep. It was difficult with so many people crammed into the small mall but eventually sleep came. It must have been a couple hours before he was woken up by someone taking a seat next to him.
"Josh, are you awake? What is going on here?" A woman said poking him in the side.
"Uhhh... What the fuck?" Josh said sitting up. "Kelly? The hell are you doing?"
"I was on my way back from Des Moines when I got pulled over. I thought I was going to get busted. I have.." Kelly's voice went quiet to a whisper "weed in my purse."
"The fuck? This is the wrong place to have that!" Josh whispered.
"I know! Some military man put me in his jeep and took me here. What is going on?" Kelly said holding her purse in her lap.
"Martial law, something about a plane crash, riots in New York. I don't know." Josh said tiredly.
"Yeah well wait till I tell you what else happened. Some dude tried to kill me in Des Moines! He got all cray cray and bit my ankle! What the fuck right?" Kelly said. "It wouldn't stop bleeding, but I wrapped it with my scarf, see?"
Kelly put out her ankle and showed me. She unwrapped the scarf, and the wound looked pretty bad. The scarf was originally red, but Josh noticed it was definitely bloodied when he knew what it was.
"That looks pretty bad. Let me see if any one has some real bandages. I will be right back, keep it covered. Use pressure." Josh said standing up.
Josh walked a ways down the mall where there were a couple men in uniform standing. Why did they have to have guns? He knew it was part of the get-up, but still. He walked closer to them and they turned their attention to him.
"Hey, guys. Um, do you have bandages? My friend over there is hurt kind of bad." Josh said.
"Where?" one of the guards asked.
"Over here." Josh said, leading him back to Kelly.
The guard leaned down and unwrapped the scarf. He jumped back startled and said something into a radio. He then grabbed onto Josh and pulled him away.
"What the hell man?" Josh said. "Let go!" The guard pulled him further away as five other guards swarmed into the area. They grabbed onto Kelly and she began to yell. People all around started waking up with the commotion and more guards cleared a way out of view.
"Where are you taking me!? What is going on! Ow! My leg!" Kelly yelled as she was dragged away. "If this is about the pot I am sorry! It isn't even mine!"
"Area cleared. All clear." The guard holding onto Josh said into the radio.
"Anyone hurt?" A voice came over the radio.
"No, sir. We got to her quick enough. She is in quarantine." The guard responded.
"What is going on! What are you doing with her? She needs medical attention!"
"Uh, Johnson, we need you outside. All guards! Movement to the north!" The voice said.
Seconds later Josh was shoved to the ground and gunshots were heard outside. People all over the mall were waking up now, and some were starting to scream. There was a shatter of glass and a loud yell could be heard through the mall, mixing with the gunshot noises. It wasn't truly a yell, more of a howl, or loud grumble. Screams could be heard from the far side of the mall and people were rushing toward Josh.
Jason and Tara were already on their feet when Josh turned to them. The three of them started running with the crowd of people. The crowd made its way to the glass doors of the entrance, and burst through into the parking lot.
The lot was filled with military vehicles and lights were on, illuminating the parking lot like a noon sun. Guards were all running into the mall, or shooting into the dark.
Josh turned to look behind him shoved down to the ground by twenty people not caring what was going on where they had already been. People ran to their cars and quickly the parking lot became a dangerous place to be. Some were trying to drive through the crowd. Jason and Tara grabbed Josh's arms and dragged him to his feet. Josh turned around just in time to see a man burst through one of the windows of the mall and collapse on top of a woman.
The woman let out a blood curdling scream as the man helped himself to a quite impressive bite of her left breast. People around her kicked at the man, but he paid them no attention. Another man jumped through the same window and began chasing down one of the woman's would be saviors.
"Run!" Josh said.
"Right behind you!" Jason said.
"My car! It can fit all three of us. Right there!" Tara said. She ran ahead of them and opened the driver door. Josh and Jason flew into the back seat and Tara drove off.
There was a huge bump, then another. The car plowed through the parking lot and out onto the street. Three more bumps, and Josh could have sworn that there were a few bangs on the side of the vehicle, before they were clear of the crowd and speeding off through town.
"What the fuck!" Josh yelled at the top of his lungs. "What the fuck!"
"What the hell just happened!?" Jason yelled.
"Do I look like I know? Just shut up I want to get as far away from here as I can!" Tara said, speeding through a stop sign.
In a few minutes the town turned into corn fields. Houses were suddenly very spread out. The darkness became even more dark, and there was no sound but the engine's hum and the rocks beneath the tires.
"Where are we going?" Josh asked.
"My parents' place. They are out of state. I am supposed to be watching it while they are gone. It is not too much further." Tara said.
"Are we going to talk about what just happened back there?" Jason said.
"Just shut up, we are almost there." Tara said, tears falling down her cheeks.
Josh laid back in the seat and closed his eyes. The world just got a lot more fucked up.