Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 01 Read online

  "Hey girls. Would you mind waiting right over there in that corner? I need to talk to this man about something. Wait right there, okay?" Alex nudged the girls slightly in the direction he indicated, then turned to face the man behind the counter. "So how about those boxes?" he asked as he crossed the room.

  "Listen," commanded the shop owner. "I told you that we were all out of those. So if you wouldn't mind..." His hand moved to his hip and the pistol holstered there.

  Faster than the man could react, Alex reached across the counter and grabbed the shop owner by the front of his shirt. Alex yanked the man off balance and reached behind his back for the revolver stuck in his belt. The metal of the gun flashed in the light as Alex brought the barrel to the man's forehead. The smell of urine hit Alex's nostrils and he winced. "I would like to purchase some ammo from your fine establishment. Do you think you could help me?" The shop owners eyes were crossed as he tried to focus on the barrel of the gun pressed against his forehead. After a moments hesitation he nodded his head in agreement. "Good. Now, slowly take the gun and place it on the counter." The man hesitated a moment, his eyes flicking to Alex. "I don't want your gun. I just want to make sure you don't use it." The shop owner slowly removed the pistol from the holster and gently placed it on the counter. Alex released the man's shirt and straightened.

  "Alright. Now, I need ten boxes each of .38 special, .22 hollow-point, and .410 shotgun." Alex reached and picked up the pistol from the counter, setting down the revolver in his right hand. With a practiced hand Alex released the clip, checking its contents and slipping the clip back into the gun. "Oh," Alex said almost absently, "and I'll need a couple of boxes of ammo for this. I think it's a .357?" The jaw of the shop owner dropped. "What? You think I'd actually point a loaded gun at another person? I'm desperate, not crazy."

  -----

  The plastic bags banged up against Alex's leg with every step he took. Gemma held her dad's hand and Becky held Gemma's. The girls walked in silence taking two steps for every one of Alex's. They had been walking for almost an hour now and neither of them had said a word since leaving the gun store. Alex's attempts to engage the girls in small talk had been futile and pointless, each of them too scared of Alex and terrified from what had happened throughout the day to have anything to say. In reality, Alex wasn't much for talking at the moment. He was too embarrassed by his actions back at the store and didn't feel like trying to make small talk with anyone.

  "We're almost there," Alex said as a matter of fact. The sky was quickly getting darker and the street lights were beginning to hum to life, spilling their warm light and illuminating the shadows. Gun shots could still be heard in the distance and there were cars speeding everywhere. The sight of Alex and the two girls walking almost calmly down the sidewalk on their way home was nothing less than surreal. The world around them was falling apart.

  The apartment complex came into view as the trio rounded the corner of the block. The sight of home lightened everyone's step and they all moved a little quicker. "We're almost home," one of the girls whispered quietly, the first thing that either of them had said in a long while.

  Alex smiled down at the two. "Almost there," he said, an overwhelming sound of relief clouding his voice. "I bet your moms are going to he happy to see you." He tugged at Gemma's hand. "You ready to see momma?" Gemma's face scrunched up and she began to cry. Alex knelt down and put his hands on Gemma's shoulders. "What's wrong, baby? What's the matter? We're almost home."

  "I wanna see momma!" Gemma wailed throwing her arms around her father's neck. Becky couldn't contain herself either and began crying too. Alex dropped the bags he'd been carrying and reached out to pull Becky into his arms. The two girls cried uncontrollably into Alex's neck and it was soon too much for even him. Alex started to cry as well, the three of them overcome by the events of the day.

  After a few minutes for release Alex hugged the girls a little harder and pulled away. "You girls okay?" he asked through the tears. Each of the girl nodded their agreement in their own time, sniffling and hiccuping after their crying jag. Alex wiped away the last of the tears off of their faces and reached to pick up the bags at his feet, hanging them in the crook of his elbow. "Okay," Alex said taking their hands. "Lets go home." The three turned towards the apartment complex and walked quickly home.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Outbreak

  "I don't give a damn what you think, Morgan. Get on the phone and call them," Alex's anger was at the tipping point. Something was very wrong with what was happening downtown and Alex couldn't wait on the city officials to fess up to what was really going on.

  "Don't you dare talk to me like that Alex. This is ridiculous. What am I supposed to tell them, 'My ass of a husband says that we all have to get out of the city. He won't tell me how or why, but goddammit, don't fuck with him 'cause he's the man-with-the-plan?!'," she retorted.

  "Morgan, you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but you just have to trust me. This shit is real and if we don't get out now we're fucked." Alex knew he was only making things worse by losing his temper. He needed to be calm and speak rationally, taking his time to make the right decisions. Yelling at Morgan wasn't going to help anything, but actually confiding in her and telling her what was really happening would really send her off the deep end.

  Alex took a couple of deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.

  "I'm sorry, Morgan. I didn't mean to lose my temper and I'm sorry. I really need you to call your parents and tell them we are leaving the city. I don't know what to tell you to say to them, but we have to get out and we have to get out now." Alex caressed Morgan's shoulders and tried to calm her. "There is something very wrong here. I have an idea what is happening, but I'm afraid if I tell you now you wouldn't believe me. I need you to trust me, please."

  Morgan was still fuming, but turned away from Alex. She grabbed the house phone and began dialing.

  Alex knew this was not over. He would have a lot of explaining to do and a lot of smoothing over to take care of. He and Morgan were already having troubles, he knew, but this could very well end everything. Right now the only thing that mattered to Alex was keeping his family safe. Everything else could be dealt with at a later time.

  Alex continued to pack up the family suitcase, trying to only grab items that would be essential for the short term. Enough clothes for a week, needed medicines and most importantly the rifle and pistol ammunition. Alex cursed himself for not stockpiling more than he already had. Damn redneck right-wingers may have been right. They had been stockpiling ammo every since the Democrats had won the White House again, certain that the left-wing hippies were going to take away their guns. He now wished he had followed their example if not their thought process.

  The phone clicked down in the other room and Alex could hear Morgan coming. He had to keep his calm with her no matter what. Losing his temper would only serve to inflame the situation worse than it already was.

  "So what did they say," Alex asked trying desperately to keep any kind of inflection or tone out of his voice that could even minutely be misconstrued.

  "They say you're insane and they are not going. What next genius?" Morgan stood in the doorway, arms crossed and still furious at Alex.

  "Well, what did you tell them?" Alex could guess any number of things that were probably said about him. He used to be welcome in their house, but these days, they were a little less welcoming.

  "I completely agreed. You are insane and this crap about getting out of town is utter bullshit. Tell me...why is it so damn important that we leave? Huh? Just give me something to believe you with. That's all I ask." Morgan's voice was not quite as venom laced as it had been moments before. Both of them were upset. Upset at what had happened and what was most likely going to happen.

  "You would never believe me if I told you..."

  Morgan interrupted Alex before he could finish. "Believe you! Why the fuck should I believe you?! Our daughter is in her ro
om curled up in the corner of her bed. All she'll do is rock back and forth and mumble things about the bad man. What bad man?! What is she talking about? Start there if you want me to believe you. Start anywhere dammit!" Morgan's voice continued to raised to an almost frantic pitch. Behind them Gemma began to cry, those cries quickly becoming a desperate wail of fear. "Shit!" Morgan cried and once again stormed out of the bedroom.

  Alex ran his hands through his hair and sighed. Alex wondered to himself what he was supposed to tell her. If he said anything about what had happened at the school she would demand that they stay and call the police. If he told her what he thought, no, knew, was really happening she would leave, but Morgan would also take Gemma and leave without him. If he could only get her out of the apartment and on the way to her parent's house, maybe then could he start to confide in her. Maybe.

  Alex reached into the suitcase and brought out the gun he had take from the man at the school. He turned it over, briefly wondering if he would have, or could have done anything different if he had only known that the gun was empty. Everything had happened so quickly. The panic and chaos had overcome so many faster than Alex could have thought possible. There wasn't anything else he could have done he told himself. There was no way to know the gun was empty; no way to know that the man was at the moment Alex killed him, harmless.

  Footsteps from down the hallway brought Alex back to the present. "What's that?" Morgan said with barely concealed alarm. "Where did you get that?"

  "I'll explain later. How's Gemma?" Their five-year-old daughter clung tightly to her mother's neck. Her body moved in slight motions up and down, silently crying.

  "How do you think she's doing? We're going to my parents..."

  "Let me finish this and I'll get the car loaded." Alex wasn't going to let this opportunity go by. They may not be out of the city, but at least they were farther away from the problem.

  "No, Alex. I don't want you to come. If you can't tell me what's going on then I don't want you around us. You're not welcome." There was a finality in her voice that struck Alex deeply.

  "I'll explain on the way, but I have to get a couple more things." Alex moved from the bed, heading for the closet and trying to look as busy as he could to keep Morgan's objections at bay. She started to protest.

  "Listen, I don't think you understand. I don't want..." Her voice trailed off as Alex brought a shotgun and two rifles out from behind a pile of clothes in his closet. Morgan sputtered and tried to find words.

  "What the hell are those? Where did they come from? Alex..."

  "They were my grandfather's, okay? I never told you because you would never have allowed them in the house. When my grandmother was cleaning out his things she asked me if I would like them and I said yes, okay? I wanted them...they were the only things left of him." Alex laid the rifles down on the bed next to the suitcase and ran his had down each rifle almost reverently. Every time he handled them he remembered back to hunting squirrels in the woods with his grandfather. It was in those times that he could forget about the problems his own parents were having back home.

  "You don't have bullets for those things, do you?" Morgan glanced to the suitcase. Under the shirts and socks already packed she glimpsed the corner of a cardboard ammo box. "Dammit, Alex! I said we would not have anything like that in this home and you lied to me. You fucking went behind my back and lied to me, then hid them where our daughter to find them. I don't believe you!" Morgan turned to leave and Alex grabbed her arm, forcible stopping her in the doorway.

  "Yes, I lied and no, I never told you because I knew this is exactly how you would overreact. The guns are safe and have never been loaded in the apartment. Each one has a trigger guard and only I have the key. The ammo isn't even kept in the same room as the guns and are kept in a locked case. No one is in danger so knock off the dramatics. We are going to your parents as soon as things are packed, and yes I mean WE! You are not walking out on me...not tonight." Morgan wrenched her arm away from Alex and backed down the hallway.

  "I'm leaving!" she cried as tears streamed down her face. Alex watched as she ran down the hallway with Gemma still clutched tightly to her. Frantically she searched for the keys to her car, desperate to get away from the man she used to trust. After a few moments of searching, Alex removed the bundle of keys from his pocket and showed them to her.

  "I was afraid you'd try and leave. I'm sorry, but I can't let you go. I need to protect you from what's coming. I'll explain everything in time." Morgan backed against the counter, shock and horror spreading across her face. "Give me a minute and we'll be on our way."

  -----

  Morgan never said a word during their drive to her parents house. The drive normally took thirty five minutes, but today it seemed an eternity.

  Alex couldn't take the silent treatment anymore. "They aren't telling us the truth, Morgan. The police and city officials are trying to fool everyone, and they don't understand what they are dealing with..."

  "And you do?! What makes you think you know better than anyone else?" Morgan was livid, and had every right to be. Alex knew this, but he still had to do what he thought was right for her and his daughter. He knew this would never be able to mend things with her...there was too much distrust and resentment now. But at least he could keep them safe.

  "Listen, you would never believe me if I told you what I thought was happening, but would you agree to listen to what I know the officials in charge are going to say? And if I'm right, could you possibly give me some credibility that I might just be right?" Alex looked at Morgan, a desperation in his eyes that he could not hide. Alex wanted her to believe him, even if he did not want to believe himself.

  "Fine. Go ahead. You know that there is nothing you could say right now that would make me believe you. You just kidnapped your wife and daughter, you know." She didn't even try to hide the scorn and contempt in her voice.

  Alex took a deep breath and sighed. "The government is going to lose control of the situation very soon now. They will start to quarantine larger and larger areas, starting with downtown, calling it an outbreak of some highly infectious disease. The highly infectious part will actually be right, but the disease will be a lie. Curfew will be placed on the city soon after." Alex knew what he sounded like, but continued anyway.

  "This city is going to be locked down due to a virus outbreak that no one has any idea how to contain. It will spread outside of the quarantine zone within a day if not in a matter of hours. Panic is going to take over and this county will fall into chaos."

  "Jesus Christ, Alex. Are you listening to yourself? You've completely gone off the deep end, and now you've kidnapped two people..."

  Alex interrupted her. "Just shut up and listen. I told you that you wouldn't believe me, but if you'll just wait it will happen. Give it twelve hours tops, and if you still don't believe me I'll leave. No fights; no argument. I will grab what's mine and leave." Alex realized there was nothing else he could do. This was his last ditch effort to get Morgan to understand.

  Alex was facing Morgan, trying to force understanding and acceptance into her. Blaring horns brought Alex's attention back to the road. Alex and Morgan looked back at the same time and saw the cars, the man in the middle of the road. "Look out!" screamed Morgan. There was only a car's length between them and the man, traveling at 70 mph. Alex barely had time to step on the brakes before the car slammed into the man.

  The windshield spidered as the man's head slammed into it. The car jerk left and Alex fought to maintain control, desperately trying to keep from crashing into any other vehicle on the road. In a moment Alex thought of the seconds that had just past. The shambling gait; the unwavering focus ahead of him. Alex glanced in the rear view mirror and stepped on the gas.

  "What the fuck are you doing?! Stop the damn car, Alex! You just hit someone!" Morgan was panicking, shifting back and forth in her seat and looking around her as if she could stop the car by her will alone. "Stop this car no
w!" She began hitting Alex, venting all of the frustrations of the last few hours in the blows now raining down on Alex's shoulders and arm.

  With an effort Alex was able to shove Morgan back into her chair. "Stop hitting me, I'm trying to drive!"

  "A lot of good you are doing too. Stop the car!" Morgan resumed her assault on Alex's shoulder, trying the only thing she could think of to stop him in his mad dash away from the scene of the accident.

  "Stop it, Morgan! I've seen and done too much today and you are not helping the situation." Morgan drew back as if she had been hit. "This is the start of everything...we need to get to your parents."

  "What..." Morgan started to protest.

  "I killed a man today. I killed a man at Gemma's school. Everyone was panicked and I had to kill someone to get Gemma and Becky out of the school." Alex turned to look at Morgan for a moment. She could see he was telling her the truth. And it terrified her.

  "What are you saying..."

  "He murdered Gemma's teacher and killed another man. I saw him do it and he was trying to hurt Gemma." Alex looked ahead of them again. "I had to do something to get us out."

  -----

  Alex pulled into the driveway of Morgan's parents. She had been crying uncontrollably ever since Alex had confessed what had happened at the school. Turning off the engine Alex touched Morgan's knee. She recoiled slightly away from his touch. "We need to get inside. Things are going to get bad soon." Morgan, red-eyed and crying, could only look at Alex with fear and contempt in her eyes.

  The front door opened and Morgan's mother came running out. Panic and fear laced her voice as she ran to the car demanding to know what had happened and if everyone was okay. Morgan started to open the door when Alex stopped her. "You need to get out on this side. There is blood covering that side of the car and it could be infected. You'll need to crawl through to this side."

  The look on Morgan's face was of shock and disbelief. Was he serious? Had this really happened? Did he really just tell her that the car was covered with infected blood? Morgan moved to open the door again and Alex grabbed her wrist, pulling her hard to his side of the car. Kicking and fighting, Morgan was dragged from the car.