A Sample Chapter from "The Early Days"

A good friend of mine asked me to post a sample chapter of "The Early Days" I have been asking my friends to share and like my facebook page for the series. She asked me to share some of the nook so I have something to show when trying to gain fans early.

Please comment on this post. It would truly mean a lot to me to receive some feedback.

Surviving Population X on facebook.

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Flynn stood in the doorway of his cousin’s control room. He watched as Kurt rolled his chair around the room checking computer monitors, flipping switches, and turning knobs on different radios.

Kurt was attempting to find a channel that might be broadcasting information about the military choppers that flew overhead moments ago. There hasn’t been any luck so far but he hadn’t been searching long.

“You find anything?” Flynn asked, curious about the choppers himself. This is the first time Flynn has stepped foot into the barn in years. His eyes move rapidly between computer screens and radios. There is so much more in here than he had thought.

Kurt rolled to a computer along the far wall, “Not yet, but the computers are still scanning.” Kurt had written a program that would scan through the radio channels automatically. When a channel had activity, a window would open on another monitor indicating the activity. “Something is bound to come up.”

Flynn watched as his cousin did his thing. It was fascinating to watch Kurt move in his rolling rhythm. “What are you looking for exactly?”

“Anything, I am scanning through both police and military. Someone has to be talking about or to the choppers.” There was a long pause as Kurt stared at the monitors. “Like that,” he said pointing at one of the screens. “That’s a police channel.” Kurt rolled over to one of the radios and turned a dial to match the channel that was displayed on the monitor.

“It’s a military issue now Bernie, get your ass back here!” shouts a female voice through the radio.

“I can’t run and let all these people just die waiting for the military to pull their heads out of their asses.” He squawks back to the woman on dispatch. “I’m not going to do it!”

The two cousins just stared at each other not quite understanding the entirety of the conversation they are hearing over the radio. “Did he say people are dying?” Flynn asks and Cooper if fanning his hand in the air as to hush him.

“You aren’t safe out there alone,” she protested.

“I can’t let these people rip each other apart!” the officer cries into the mic “I can’t jus….”

“Bernie!” she shouts “Bernie! Are you there? Bernie!” by the sound in her voice you can hear she is terrified. “Bernie!”

“Where was that signal coming from?”

“I think it is up north, possibly Terre Haute,” Kurt answered back.

“He said people are ripping each other apart”

“Shush!” Kurt demanded, “Let me see what I can find out.”

He quickly rolls over to another radio flipping switches on the way. Then stops and twists the channel dial a few rotations and keys the microphone in front of it. “Dispatcher, can you hear me?” No answer. He rotates the dial moving to another channel. “Dispatcher, can you hear me?”

A tearful voice came over the radio, “Who’s this?”

“My name is Kurt ma’am” he said trying to stay calm, figuring in his head if he was calm she might calm down as well. “Can you please tell me exactly what is going on?”

“Sir, Kurt you said, I am not authorized at this time to tell you what is going on.” She said firmly. You can still hear the cracks in her voice as she tries to compose herself. “Everyone is ordered to stay indoors and lock their doors and windows.”

Kurt quickly came back to the mic, “Ma’am this is Sergeant Major Kurtis Hyde with the United States Army, it is urgent that you tell me what is happening and where you are located.”

This was a complete lie. Neither of them has ever served in the military. In addition, their last name isn’t even Hyde. “Are you looking to go to jail Kurt?”

The voice came back over the radio. “What are you guys doing to help us? People are dying and you’re doing nothing to help!” she cried into the mic. You can clearly hear that she started crying again.

“Ma’am in order to resolve the situation we must know exactly what is going on,” Kurt continued “Please take a minute to compose yourself and tell me where you are.”

“I am at the station in Terre Haute.” She said with a little more calmness to her voice.

“Ma’am can you please tell me what you know about the situation there in Terre Haute.”

“I don’t know exactly, I am at the station.” She said, “I have lost contact with all officers on duty, I know Bernie, I mean Officer Daily, said people were chasing each other around and killing each other, ripping each other apart.”

“Ma’am, are you safe there?” Kurt asked. “Is anyone in the building with you?”

“I’m alright,” she replied. “Nobody can get in here once the doors are locked.”

“Alright Ma’am, can you walk to a window and look outside and tell me what you see?”

The two sat in silence while the dispatcher went to check things out. Something strange was going on and they needed to figure it out. “What do you think this is all about?”

“I can’t figure that out yet,” Flynn muttered, still in shock from what they have learned already. “Did she say people are out there killing each other?”

“That’s what I heard.”

“I wonder if this has to do with the riots that have been breaking out in other cities.”

“That seems logical,” Kurt replied. “But why?”

“The news hasn’t given a reason for the riots, the news just keeps reporting them, and they keep popping up everywhere.”

“Sergeant Major?” the familiar voice came back through the radio. “Are you still there?”

“I’m here Ma’am,” Kurt assured her “Are you still alright?”

“I’m as alright as I could be, they didn’t kill me.” She whispered.

“Ma’am who are they?” Kurt asked leaning towards the radio.

“The dead,” she whispered. “They are the dead”

Kurt rose in his seat now looking back at Flynn who is standing directly behind him and he lipped the words “The dead” Flynn nodded his head in affirmation he heard the same thing.

“Can you please tell me what you mean by ‘the dead’ ma’am?”

“How many definitions of dead do you know of?” she snapped.

“How are the dead trying to kill you?” Kurt asked lifting an eyebrow.

“Listen,” she interrupted. “I looked out some the windows around here and didn’t see anyone fighting. There are people walking around but none fighting. I saw a woman fleeing from three men and a man lying dead on the ground with his stomach ripped open.”

The woman stopped talking and there was a long pause. “What makes you believe they are dead?” Kurt asked the woman on dispatch.

“The man,” she started to say then paused again. “The man with his chest ripped open, he got up and joined the chase after the woman.”

Flynn and Kurt just stared at each other. “This woman is crazy,” Flynn decided.

“What if she’s for real? What if the dead are rising?”

“They must have heard me,” the voice said coming over the radio. They could hear glass breaking in the background. “They’re coming through the windows.”

“Can you get somewhere safe?” Kurt asked in a panic. “Ma’am can you find somewhere to hide?”

“Yeah, you need to come help me.”

“Get a walkie-talkie and hide I can find your frequency, if you try to contact me, hurry, and hide.”

“You think she’s still alright? Flynn asked walking over to the desk where the radios are lined. “Do you think she made it?”

“There is no telling yet,” he replied. “We have to wait and see.”

“Let me know if you hear something, I’m going to go up to the house and switch on the news,” Flynn informed him. “We need to know if they have anything new to say about what’s going on.”

*** ***

Flynn stood against the desk in his office watching the television. He flipped through the numerous news channels watching the violence and savagery play out live.

The local news channels only had reporters playing video feeds from around other cities. They had no live feed at all. The situation appeared to be bad.

It was just like the dispatch woman said. People were running around tearing each other into pieces. Some of the people stopped to eat the meat from the downed bodies. Watching the news Flynn could see that the people that were attacking the others we injured, some to the point that they shouldn’t be on their feet at all.

There were no reporters on the ground. All of them were reporting from above in helicopters trying to get their coverage. Below were large crowds of these attackers. The reporters were saying that this was a viral infection and if anyone suffering symptoms is to report to a hospital immediately for treatment.

The CDC had said that the virus was somehow self-mutating. The virus was different depending on the host. They are unsure how it is contracted other than those who are attacked are infected with the virus.

Flynn picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the extension for his cousins control room.

“What’s up cousin?” Kurt asked answering the phone.

“You should hear what’s going on,” he started. “The CDC said there’s a virus spreading causing hallucinations and rage. They are saying it has all the symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.”

“CJD doesn't bring the dead back to life.”

“Same symptoms,” Flynn said. “It is faster spreading and more lethal.”

“That’s insane. There has been a lot more chatter on the radios too. People are talking about this everywhere.”

“What are they saying?”

“Most people are saying they are zombies and your fine unless you get bit.”

“As ridiculous as that sounds, I can believe it from what’s on TV.”

“It’s that bad, huh?”

“Yeah, there isn't going to be safety in the city for a while.”

“That isn't good at all.” Kurt decided.

Flynn flipped through channels on his TV. Cities everywhere around the world were under siege. Fires have broken out in most of the major cities. People trying to loot, pillage for survival only to be chased down, and chewed into by the infected.

They displayed images of the military attempting to shoot their way through the hordes only to be pushed back and swept away by their attackers. Some of the greater cities were the infection has been running for days were being bombed. The military was trying everything to eradicate this infection and they continued to fail.

*** ***

“Sergeant Major?” the voice echoed through the room “Sergeant Major? Are you there?”

Kurt popped up as if he was never asleep at all, pressed in the key on the mic “Good morning sunshine.”

“You can call me Rose,” the voice said through the radio.

“Alright Rose, are you alright? He asked.

“I’m fine,” she said back still whispering into the mic. “I have a few bangs and bruises but nothing that won’t heal up pretty fast.”

“What happened last night?” Kurt asked waiting to hear another story about living dead people.

“Nothing to interesting,” she said sarcastically “Those monsters came in the window and I ran and locked myself in the gun cage.”

“Can you escape? Kurt asked. “Is it safe for you to get out of there?”

“Unfortunately, no.” she began “For one, I don’t have the key to open the door. Second there are three of these things reaching through the gate.”

“You should probably kill them if you can,” he replied.

“I tried. I shot them several times they just won’t go down.”

“Don’t you watch TV?” he said sarcastically. “You got to shoot them in the head.”

“HA, you’re talking like these are zombies.” She said laughing.

“Aren’t you the one who said you saw the dead get up and attack the living?”

“Holy shit, I hadn’t even thought of that until now,” she said. “I mean, I know those people got up, but how do we know they were for sure dead?”

“You said the one man had his chest open, people can’t just get up and chase others with those injuries,” he retorted.

“That is true,” she replied defensively. “If there are zombies, then wouldn’t the noise attract more?”

“I would have to assume that it would, but since these are clearly real and the books are fiction, who knows what can be considered true. Do you have anything you can kill them with quietly?”

Rose searched around inside the cage. There were dozens of lockers to go through, any of which might have something useable for the situation. Rose came across a couple things that could be useful if the holes were larger in the cage. There was nothing small enough to fit through the grating of the cage door.

“I found nothing,” she said after a while. “There isn’t anything in here small enough to fit through the mesh of the door.”

“There isn’t anything you can break apart in there?” Kurt replied. “There has to be something you can tear apart, like a shelf or something.”

“Everything is built solid, there isn’t anything in here.” She sighed.

“What guns are in there?” he asked.

“There is a crap ton of guns, but I can’t shoot them remember?”

“You’re not thinking outside the box Rose,” he said back. “If you can break down a bigger gun you can use the barrel through the mesh right? Break down a rifle and jam the barrel into the eye socket, which should do it.”

“You’re brilliant!” she exclaimed. “I would never had thought of that.”

Rose didn’t rush to take apart the rifle she took from one of the lockers. She was locked safely in the cage and couldn’t be reached. There was no reason to hurry. She would still be locked in after the zombies outside the door were killed.

Meanwhile, Kurt sat in his control room studying the map pinned on the wall. He was trying to find a way to get to the city, without crossing through any major areas. Flynn had told him this outbreak was bad and if there zombies roaming around hunting, he wanted to make sure that he missed them.

Studying the map, if he were to stay on only the back roads and make his way north, he could reach the outskirts of the city in approximately three hours. There were plenty of open fields he could drive through that could shave off some time, but the travel was the least of his concerns.

What was he going to do when he reached the city?

“You’re thinking about going on a rescue, aren’t you?” Flynn asked his cousin from the doorway.

“Thinking about it,” he replied. “If I take the buggy I can stick to side roads and fields and make it there in less than two hours.”

“How do you plan to make it through the city?”

“That’s what I am trying to figure out now,” he said. “Going through the streets is going to be dangerous if they are all spread out.”

“Wouldn't that make it safer?”

“I think if they’re spread out, like everywhere, then I could run into them more often and have larger amounts following me. But, if they are already grouped up in areas maybe I can bypass those and move around them.”

“It has only been two days since it hit the city, they are going to be spread around, there is no way to know for sure, but it is a safe bet.” Flynn said.

“That’s why I am trying to figure a way through and around to get to the station without drawing too much attention.” Kurt replied.

“I have been watching the telly. They seem to be more docile during the night, when it is dark. Some of the areas they have been covering show them calmer at night.”

“That is good news,” he said looking back to the map. “If I can travel this route around on foot, stay to house areas, I can travel through yards. The fences should help give cover and slow any approaching down.”

“Sound like you have it planned out pretty good,” Flynn replied. “One question though.”

“Yeah,” he said look over to Flynn standing in the doorway.

“When do we leave?”