Beginning of the Apocalypse

I've been on the road for a while now and thankfully with my head start I haven't run into any traffic that I expect will happen when people start to try and evacuate. Humans are creatures of habit and when something comes along that threatens that normalcy they don't know how to respond rationally. Maybe I'm the strange for being able to think things through rationally during such times.

I need to swap vehicles though, this one is low on gas and my local currency got left at the base. I only had time to grab my m27 with a 3 extra mags, and my 9mm beretta with 3 extra mags for it as well. Both come equipped with a silencer and the m27 has a laser and a hybrid scope of a red dot sight and a standard acog. The beretta does have a small under barrel flashlight, but I don't really consider that an attachment.

Another mile down the road I see a gas station with a few car parked there filling up. I pull in on the opposite of the pump to a jeep and slip out the truck. I pretend to begin pumping my own gas until I hear the guy finishing pumping his own and I pop around the pump with my beretta held tight to my side, hidden from other eyes.

"Give me your keys and cell phone and then I suggest you flee to the countryside if you can." I command in a thick Sinaloan accent, to blend in you have to have more than just knowledge of the language. If you still sound like a high schooler sounding out his words then you're done for. The man look terrified and nodded rapidly while handing me his keys and pulling out an iphone.

With a quick swipe I grab the items and push past him, hopping into the driver's seat and peeling out of the gas station. I immediately begin dialing Haley's number while speeding down the highway, passing cars when I was able. The phone rang once, twice as just as it started to ring the 3rd time it picked up.

"David?" A faint smile crossed my face at the sound of her voice coming through the phone. It might not seem likely for her to guess that it was me that called, but she knew I was in Mexico.

"Haley, it's me. God it's good to hear your voice. Are you okay?" I rattle out as I zip around a slow moving van.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What the hell is going on? The news… the news is saying some crazy things. When will you be home? Please tell me you'll be home soon." For one of the few times in our 10 years of knowing each other, and 5 of them married, she had distress evident in her voice.

"It's the apocalypse Hal, it's not looking good. I'm making my way out of Mexico and into Texas. I gotta make sure Joel, Sarah, and Tommy are alright. Then I'm going to bring them with me to the house. I need you to lock everything up and don't let a fucking soul inside. This… this infection is brutal, it changes people."

Silence filled the line as I finished speaking and I waited a few moments before her voice came back over the speaker.

"I'm scared, David." My heart sank at her words, a time when she needs me most and I'm weaving through desert highways in Mexico.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. I'm about 5 hours out from the border and it will be another couple hours into Austin. Just please Hal, stay safe and don't go outside or let anyone in." I stressed over the phone again hearing the shaky breath from her in end come through

"I love you, David." The shaky words brought another smile to lips.

"I love you too, Hal. Alright I gotta hang up, and see if I can't get a hold of Joel or Tommy. I'll be home as soon as I can." She didn't say anything for a long while but eventually breathed out a reply.

"I'll be waiting." And with that we hung up and I immediately tried calling Joel. It was late and he was usually a fairly early sleeper, but I was hoping he would hear the rings and wake up. After the the 5th ring I gave and decided to try Tommy. It rang all the way through once but when I called the second time it picked up right away.

"Who is this!" Tommy yelled with a bit of franticness in his voice, but I just felt relieved.

"Tommy, it's David. I'm coming up from Mexico to get you and our older brother. I'll be there in about 5 hours or so, I need you all to stay safe. I'm going to take you all with me to my farm in Mississippi." I rattle off in a commanding voice only wincing after the fact realizing I had sounded like a drill sergeant.

"I don't know how that's going to work David. It's hell up here and I still can't get ahold of Joel or Sarah." He called back over the phone and a bit of foreign anxiety tried to crawl in when I heard he couldn't get a hold of them either, but I beat it down and let out a breath.

"Alright, well you keep trying to get a hold of them. I'll be there as quick as I can." We hung up and I focused on driving. It wouldn't do for me to meet my fate by wrecking on a Mexican highway.

[Several Hours Later] [Austin, Texas]

The morning light was beginning to stream over the horizon, but years in the special forces has enabled me to fight off sleep for days if needed. The roads were packed with abandoned cars and the jeep I hijacked joined them as it could no longer pass the crashed vehicles. I holstered my pistol, and kept my rifle pointed down, but ready.

My uniform for this op had been a black combat suit, the pants shirt were similar to military fatigues, but weren't quite the same. I had a Kevlar vest which went under the shirt, a combat knife with the handle pointing down strapped to my chest. And black combat boots that would normally crunch the rocks and broken glass under my feet if not for my training. My usually shirt black hair was getting a little long, with my bangs trying to fall into my eyes from the Texas heat making me sweat.

I paused behind cover and pulled off the baseball cap they had allowed me to wear on the op, I brushed my hair backwards and then slid my hat back on. Now the hair wouldn't fall into my eyes, and I continued my trek to Joel's house. Unlike the highways most of the side streets seemed to be deserted and Joel's was no different. I kept the ever dwindling shadows of trees and houses and saw that his truck was still in the driveway.

I didn't let that sway me though as I didn't see Tommy's vehicle anywhere. Gun hot I made my way up the drive and to a window on the front side of the house and peeked through. I couldn't hear anything and the house was mostly dark inside with very few lights on. I walk to the front door and give it a couple knocks while looking out around me, seeing and hearing no movement I decide to try calling for them. It would do no good if one of them got jumpy and shot me if tried sneaking through the house.

"Joel! Tommy! Sarah! One of you in there?" I yelled loud enough if they were inside they would have heard, but hopefully not loud enough for anyone else. With no answer I slide in through the front door with my rifle raised, I quietly click it shut and begin sweeping the house. I soon come across a body and the broken glass of the sliding door that leads to the backyard.

One look and I realize what's happened, one of them things broke into the house and it seems like it caught a bullet to the head. Thank God, my brothers know how to shoot. I check the mouth of the dead guy to make sure he didn't catch a chunk of them, and exhaled in relief when I saw nothing. The rest of my sweep was much faster as I was sure they had left, and this was confirmed when I came across a note. It was in Sarah's handwriting.

"Uncle David if you're reading this we had to leave. We're gonna try to get out of Austin before it gets any crazier. Dad says to tell you to meet us at y'all's old house when y'all were kids. Good luck Uncle David.

-Sarah"

I folded the note up and put into a pocket at my chest. I went to their cabinets and started loading all their canned foods and things that didn't need to be frozen or kept cool into my rucksack I had brought along. It was obvious to me that they left in a hurry, but any food is going to be a blessing. Thankfully our parents house was on the way to Mississippi in a small town called Bastrop.

With my pack full I throw it into the back seat of Joel's truck and crank it up. As I was backing out one of those infected was walking down the road. At the sound of the truck it took off sprinting towards me, so I leaned out and with one shot dropped it to the ground. No point in leaving one of those things to run around and infect more people after all.

I follow the road out but immediately begin to get slowed down by a traffic jam. I just slowly maneuver around it until I come to a small shopping and eating area. It's not long before I find Tommy's over turned truck and I feel my stomach drop as I throw the truck in park and hop out to investigate.

Thankfully there is no one still in the truck, but I do see some bloodstains and a trail leading away. I run back to grab the keys from the truck, and then I begin to follow the blood trail as best I can. Bodies line the small streets, some with bullet holes and others with chunks of flesh ripped out of them. 2 if the infected came out of an alleyway in the direction the blood trail leads, so with 2 controlled shots I drop them and head into the alley.

The trail is getting fainter, but the possible ways they could go lessened making it easy to figure out where they went. 2 dead bodies were in the alley and a fence that blocked an opening had been forced down. I continued forward with measures steps and eventually reached some kind of restaurant. I stepped past tables to the door with a still glowing "Open" sign hanging above it.

The door was open with one dead body sprawled in the door way. Inside was another dead body, just another 10 feet inside. The door on the opposite side was wide open and I took it quickly, barely sweeping the room as I popped out the door I was met with 3 infected in the street. Because of them I didn't notice the 4 just to my left that lunged at my arm.

My first shot got off clean but the second only grazed the ear of the other as the infected tackled me. We rolled on the ground briefly as I pulled my combat knife from its sheath and drove it through the beast's head. The others charged and pulled out my beretta as I rolled into my back, aimed and pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession. 2 more bodies dropped and I felt my heart rate increase slightly.

I check my body quickly for any wounds and sigh in relief when I don't find any. Jumping back up I grab my rifle and get back to following the trail that leads through a small hole in a short wall. It leads into a grassy and dirt filled area that has boulders and small hills. I can see shoe prints going down the hill and see the red lights of a crashed ambulance.

Halfway up the other side I see 3 bodies, 2 seemingly infected dead bodies and then a 3rd in military gear. Off to the side there is a large pool of blood with disturbances that look like a body had been laying in it. It made my heart sink thinking about what could have happened. It could have only been Sarah as the disturbance to the scene would have been much worse if it was Joel or Tommy.

"Damn it!" I cursed aloud as I kicked a rock. I didn't have time to keep playing detective looking for these 3. I still had Haley I needed to get too. Looking up at the sky I begin to think, it was now early morning of the 27th. I couldn't see any clear trail of where they went.

"Fuck, damn it Joel! Why didn't y'all stay at your house! I could have got you all and taken you with me. Fucking dumbass." I needed to get these emotions out, I had just spent 19 hours driving here and then the last 2 hunting them down just to find this shit. I can't keep looking for them, not until I go back to Mississippi and make sure Haley is alright. The damn phone lines went down already somehow and I don't have any other way to reach her

I just hate to leave my brothers and niece out here in this shitshow. Damn it, Joel. With one last kick of a stone I turn and head back to my truck. With a little maneuvering I was back in the road and heading to Mississippi. It's going to be another 10 hour drive and I didn't like that one bit, this whole day has made that tingling feeling in chest go haywire. I couldn't help but think something really bad has happened and that more terrible things are going to happen.

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First real chapter down. Next chapter will be in Mississippi and then probably a time skip.

See ya then.