Chapter 5

     The further we move into the city, the worse the scenery gets. New York City doesn't even look recognizable anymore.

Stores are raided for everything they have, cars abandoned and or totaled. The amount of bodies triple as we enter the heart of the city.

The amount of ash in the air is so thick it's acting as a fog, I have to turn on my brights just to see well enough to drive.

"Thank you, again." Cassie says, to break the silence. "I don't believe I would've made it out of that school if it weren't for you."

"Are you kidding me? You could've taken on the world with that broken broom stick. I was scared to even come near you!" I say with a smile.

Chuckling, she says, "Yeah, I was pretty bad ass wasn't I?"

"Got that right." We both laugh.

"But, seriously, thank you." She says again.

"No problem, and besides, you saved my ass right after so everything is copacetic."

"So, what's your story, Mr. Jack?"

"Oh, please, I'm only 27, just call me Jack. Well, I was born in Lumberton, North Carolina. I stayed there for about six months before my parents decided to move to Conway, South Carolina. That's where I lived most of life." I pause, letting that soak in.

"At 18 I signed to the Marines. I was in the reserves for about a year, then I was deployed in Iraq. I was honorably discharged at the age of 24. I went back home to Conway, met a girl named Lauren." I pause. Saying her name sent a knife through my heart.

"Hey, it's okay, you don't have to explain anymore if you don't want too."

"No, it's okay." I regain composure and continue.

"We wanted to get out of the country so, for her 25th birthday I surprised her with two plane tickets to New York City where our new house awaited our arrival. I landed a job with the NYPD, loved every bit of that job." I pause again, preparing myself for the next part.

"Every bit besides the ending of it. Six months ago I was involved in a bank robbery. I had apprehended every suspect but one. Lauren was also at the bank being held hostage. The last suspect standing had Lauren held as a human body shield. He had a bomb strapped to him that was connected to a dead mans switch. Lauren bit him and she, him, and three other people died that day..." I stop talking, the knife in my heart being wrenched left and right.

"I'm so sorry." Was all Cassie said. The next few minutes of the car ride everything was silent besides the sound of the engine.

"What about you?" I finally ask.

"Me?" She asks, "There's not much to my story at all. I grew up here in the big apple. I'm... I was a senior in high school. I was the lead cheerleader. Won three state championships, by the way. Anyways, yeah, that's pretty much all I have in my book."

"Sounds pretty interesting book to me."

"Don't kiss my ass." She says with a smile.

The car starts to sputter as we pull up to a Shell gas station. Two cars sit at two adjacent pumps. The gas nozzle still in one. All of the front windows of the station are busted out.

The shelves knocked over in a desperate attempt to stockpile food. The lights inside flicker. I pull to an open pump and cut the engine.

"Wait here, I'll make sure the coast it clear."

"I'm not a little kid, Jack."

"Fine, just don't make any noise." She rolls her eyes and opens her door, taking the shotgun with her.

As we're nearing the building the sounds of sloshing and chewing become audible. I hold a hand up, signaling for Cassie to stop.

The sounds continue. I point two fingers to my eyes and do a circle over my head, signaling her to keep a watch out. She nods and I step through the busted out door while trying not to step on any glass.

It would be like ringing the dinner bell. I step over knocked down shelves and any items left after the raiding of this station. That's when I see it. A zombie bent over a woman's body laying on its back.

Her right arm is nothing but bones, half of her face is peeled away and sitting on the floor next to the zombie. Cartilage and muscle tissue hang from the woman's neck. Her left leg is only hanging on be her ACL.

The zombie's entire back is gone. The only thing remaining is the spine and a few pieces of muscle here and there. It's heart is visible, but it's not beating at all.

So they really are dead, I thought to myself. It's lungs weren't even expanding and contracting. One of its feet isn't attached anymore, it's just a stub at the ankle.

I pull out my knife. I had seen enough. I slowly creep up behind the zombie and send my blade through its temple.

It drops the intestine it was holding and falls face first into its meal. That's when things start to click.

Cole was bitten, he died and turned into one these things, so did the paramedics. Danny was bit and before he died he turned.

This is a virus that reanimates the dead or kills the victim to bring them back.

That doesn't make much sense to me though. In order for the virus to live, the host has to live. The virus is committing suicide to pass its deadliness to another? What kind of fucked up shit is going on here?

I walk over to the cash register, press the button for pump number five and input that I'm paying for thirty dollars worth of gas. The drawer opens and I close it.

The machine closes the order and I walk back outside. Cassie looks at me and I nod. She walks back to the car and gets in. I open the gas tank door, untwist the cap and remove the nozzle from the pump.

The numbers on the electronic dial begin to count up.

A nearby bank's digital clock reads 1:48 AM. This has been one hell of a day, if there was an award for having the worst day, I'm sure I'd be waking up the red carpet right now.

An explosion rings out in the distance followed by a few pops from a small firearm, maybe a .22. The pump begins to slow as the dial comes closer to the thirty dollar mark.

I pull the nozzle from my tank and close everything up. I open the door and turn the engine over, the gas arrow rises until it reaches the F on the gauge.

I pull out of the gas station and get on 10th avenue, which is the road that chief lives on. I pull into his driveway and cut the car off.

"What are we doing here?" Cassie asks.

"Remember how I told you I worked for the NYPD? This is where the chief of police lives. I was at a crime scene where on of the infected was loose this morning. Before he left he handed me the radio and the twelve gauge. We decided to meet here."

     "I thought we were going to find my parents."

     "I don't believe we're staying here, Cassie. Just using this place to crash for the night. Well, what remains of it." She nods, but she's clearly upset.

     "I promise you, as soon as the sun rises, we'll look for your parents."

     "Okay, I'm holding you to it."

     I smile, grab my bag and climb out of the car. The street is surprisingly empty, not a car or person in sight. Only the occasional piece of litter here and there.

     I walk up to chiefs door and knock. He doesn't answer, I try twisting the knob and the door swings open.

     "Hey, chief, its Jack." No answer. I walk inside, Cassie right behind me, shotgun in hand. The T.V is on, but turned down so low it's almost inaudible.

     The wall opposite of it flashes different colors as it changes scenes. I walk to the recliner in front of the T.V, chief is sitting in the chair with a half pack of raw hamburger meat sitting in his lap. His skin is deathly pale and his breathing is shallow.

     "Chief?" I put a hand on his shoulder and his eyes snap wide open. They're a color mixed between his usual green and a light white.

     "Oh, Jack, its about time you got here..." a short and low moan interrupts his sentence. "Got hungry. Too lazy to..." another moan, "cook."

     "Chief, you're not looking too hot"

     "Don't be silly. I'm fine." A guttural moan, coming from deep within him escapes his throat. His eyes close for a few seconds and then snap right back open, now fully white.

     I take a step back, completely shocked. He slowly turns his head towards me and a nasty smile crosses face, bits of hamburger meat stuck between his teeth.

     "Chief... no..." my voice shakes, I unholster my pistol. He slowly gets to his feet.

     "You know... I still remember the first day I joined the force. You thought I was just some washed up marine." He takes a step forward. "Maybe I was, but you seem something in me. Something that I couldn't see myself."

     Another step forward. "I'll never forget you, chief. It was an honor protecting this city beside you. Goodbye."

     He raises his hands and puts them on my shoulders, bringing his jaw closer to my neck. I put the gun under his chin and pull the trigger. A single tear cuts a line down my cheek and drips off my jaw.

      Cassie looks at the ground, silently crying. Not because she knew chief, or because she knew of our friendship. There was just a heavy feeling falling on the room.

     "Come on, Cassie. We're sleeping in the car tonight." She walks to the door, wiping tears from her face. I take a few minutes to pay my respects.

     Chief was a good man, he had a heart of gold under that serious demeanor. He was the first person to show up at the hospital after I woke up from the coma, and he was the last to leave.

      I stand at attention and salute him. He was never in the military, but it just felt right. "Goodbye, chief." I said one last time before leaving the living room and walking to my car.

     "I'm sorry, Ja..."

     "Don't." I say as I turn the car on. She looks out the window.

      I figure the best place to go is a parking lot, very open and easy to see anything coming.

     I pull into a Morton Williams Supermarket and turn the car off.

     "Throw my bag in the floor boards and you can lay down in the back seat. We're going to have to take watch. I'll do first shift. In about three hours I'll wake you up and then it'll be your turn. Okay?"

     "Okay." Is all she says. She crawls into the back seat. After a few minutes of silence she says, "Good night, Jack."

     "Good night, Cassie." Not too long after that she is sound asleep. I lay my head back against the head rest, the events of today on repeat in my head. All four of the toughest and greatest men I've ever come to know died.

      In one day, all by the same exact thing. This fucking virus. I swear to you, Dale, Danny, Cole, and Chief, I'll kill every last one of them.

     My eye lids become heavy, and eventually the perpetual darkness of sleep consumes me.