I heard a muffled gunshot on the other side of the door; I guess the captain had finally allowed the police to search for survivors. The infected stopped scratching at the door and shrieked as it fled down the hallway. Another gunshot cut through the air, which caused the door to tremble. I heard a loud moan on the floor, and then all was silent again.
A few moments passed, and then there was a heavy knock on the door. How polite. Here we were, in the middle of an apocalypse, and someone still had the decency of a human being. “Anyone there?” the voice asked.
I replied, “Yeah, I’m right here. Don’t shoot; I’m not one of the infected.” I heard a sigh of relief on the other side of the door. “Good, because the sniper outside thought you were a goner. He happened to look through the open blinds and see one of those creatures make its way towards you. It seems he got the shot off just in time. You all right?”
I looked down at the child whom I would never know, then into the face of my dead wife. I answered, “No, but I think I’ll live.” Then he asked me to let him in the room.
I stood up, unlocked the door, and let him in. A young officer came in and looked down onto the floor. “Man, talk about a close call. One second late and you’d be monster chow. I bet you’re glad that thing didn’t get a chance to have its dinner.” I said nothing as I stood there silently; I tried to subdue the anger surging through me at the disrespect the young boy didn’t know he was committing.
He looked at me peculiarly, cleared his throat, and said, “Sir, we have to leave right now. There could still be some infected around here, and I need to get you to safety. Are you ready to go?”
I looked up into his face. He was very young, but he had a warmth to him that made me trust him right away . I took one last look at what was left of my family and said, “Yeah. Let’s get the hell outta’ here.”
He led me back through the darkened hospital. I took a second to look at the creature from the stairs as I stepped over its body. It looked as if it had once been a boy, no older than sixteen. There was a bullet hole in the middle of its forehead where fresh black ooze was seeping out. It had the same look as all the other creatures I’d seen: angry and hungry.
We walked back through the hospital in the dark, moving slowly and cautiously. After a few minutes of this, we made it back to the entrance. We stepped out into the searing daylight and walked into the barricade of police cars. I was greeted by a man in a captain’s uniform. I hated him; he was the guy who refused to help the innocent people trapped inside the hospital and allowed them to be eaten alive.
He was a tall, fat man with a well-trimmed mustache. He wore the uniform with dignity; there wasn’t a dirty spot to be found. His tar black shoes smiled brightly in the sunlight. He proudly bore all of his medals on his uniform to show he was an experienced and capable leader. From my perspective, he was a murderer who let innocent lives be eaten away in the dark hallways of the hospital. He smiled at me proudly and extended his hand towards me for a greeting. I stood there, refusing to return the greeting he had offered. He placed his hand back at his side and said, “I’m glad to see you made it out all right. Most of the officers have returned to report no survivors. We’ve hunted down most of the infected running through the halls. Are you all right? You must’ve gone through quite the ordeal. Do you need anything? Perhaps some food or water?”
I wanted to demand him to bring my family back. I wanted to shout in his face and tell him how all the innocent people that went to the hospital that day were dead because of his decision not to act when they needed help the most. I thought about pushing him to the ground and beating him until he knew the pain I’d felt seeing my family die right in front of me. Instead, I took a moment to collect myself and said, “No, thanks. I just wanna go home.” He replied, “That’s gonna be a problem.”
He continued on, “We need to evacuate the city. Some of the infected escaped the hospital and made it into town. The infection’s spreading rapidly. There won’t be any home to go to.”
I had no home, I had no family, and now I had no hope. I stood there silently as those words circulated about my mind, waiting for the captain to tell me what would happen next.
“We have to take you to the safe zone outside of the city. It’s safe there. First, I’ll need you to be inspected for any bites. If you have any, we’re gonna have to kill you right here and now. I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is in this situation. You’re too dangerous if you become one of those monsters. If you’re not infected, we’ll take you to the base with the other survivors. You’ll be given safe haven there and not have to worry about any more infected trying to eat you alive. Are you ready?”
I nodded reluctantly and followed him to a nearby ambulance with a doctor inside. He inspected me for any bites. My mind began to race and my heart fell like a lead ball into my stomach when I heard an audible “Oh no” leave his mouth, but he said it wasn’t a bite, just an injury. He didn’t find any bites, but he did tell me that I had a dislocated jaw and two broken ribs on my left side from the fall on the stairway. Other than that, I had some minor scrapes and bruises. He helped place my jaw in its proper configuration and bandaged me tightly around the torso. He said I’d be fine after I got some rest and food. He sent me back out to the captain with a clean bill of health.
The captain escorted me to a police van and put me inside. I sat in the windowless van surrounded by guns and other tools police officers use in the line of duty. Beyond that, all I could see was the back of the captain’s head. He started the car and off we went.
Although I couldn’t see anything, I heard a lot as we drove along. At first, I heard police sirens as we departed from the hospital parking lot. As we drove along the road, I heard numerous shrieks and screams filling the air. I knew there were more creatures out there, looking for people to devour.
At the same time, I never realized the roads through town were so bumpy. I drove them every day back and forth to work, and they were never that bumpy. I asked the captain what was goin’ on out there.
He told me, “You wouldn’t want to see it. The streets are crawling with infected, and whenever they see a moving target, they rush towards it. They’re running all about, looking for something to eat. They’ve been running into the van for a few minutes now, trying to get at me and you.
You know, I used to feel bad about hitting them as I made my way through town carrying survivors. Now, I know it sounds a bit sick, but I want to hit every single one of them. You see, my son became an infected yesterday. The news said that the outbreak started today officially, but for me it all started yesterday.
I was building a cabinet in the backyard when it happened. I heard a huge crash in the house, and I instinctively wanted to find out what it was. My gut told me to take the hammer I was using, so I grasped it in my hand and carried it into the house with me.
I walked into a completely dead house. I was in the kitchen when he attacked me. He tackled me from behind, knocking me to the floor. I turned and saw that my son had become an infected, and his only objective was to eat his dad. The hammer had been knocked from my hand and was on the other side of the island in the middle of the kitchen. My son was glaring at me, daring me to make a move. I broke the silence first.
I threw myself to the other side of the island and grasped my hammer. My son leaped over the island and landed right on top of me. It took one blow to the head to kill him, but I kept on hitting him as he lied limp on the floor. I was crying as I repeatedly bashed his skull with the hammer. After a few minutes, I stopped and threw his body outside. I wrapped him up in sheets and buried his body next to my wife’s ashes underneath our family’s large oak tree. That’s what he would’ve wanted.
I consoled myself by saying that he wasn’t my son anymore. He was a monster, and in that logic, it’s either kill or be killed. After cleaning myself up, I got the call to go into the office. I never told anyone what happened. I don’t even know why I’m telling you now.
Then t
he outbreak happened. I sent forces to go out and find survivors. My duty was to collect them and take them to the safe haven that had been established outside of town. The first few trips were hard as I hit a bunch of infected. I kept thinking that they were once human, and that I was hurting innocent people.
After the fourth trip across the city, my mind returned to my son. He hadn’t been my son, he was a monster. I was killing monsters, and that’s a good thing to do. So, now I want to hit them all. I want to kill all of these monsters that feast on the people we care about and love. I know it’s sick, but I have to do this…...for my son.”
I listened to his story as we made our way to the safe zone. I realized I wasn’t the only one who’d lost everything. My thoughts returned to my family, and I began to understand what he meant.
We sat in silence for the next few minutes. As we drove on, the screams dissipated into the air and could no longer be heard. The road wasn’t bumpy anymore. After a few more minutes of driving, we came to a stop. The captain turned around and said, “We’re here.”
The van doors opened to two rugged looking men and a compound that I recognized as the small army base just outside of town. It was well fortified; There were beige walls at least fifteen feet high laced with barbed wire. There were eight large towers surrounding the compound, and each was stationed with three men holding guns. There were two large buildings that took up much of the compound.
I stepped out of the van and found the captain. He was talking to an older man in an army uniform who looked to be at least fifty. After a moment, the captain turned around and addressed me. He said, “You’re here in the safe zone with the other survivors. The army forces here will take good care of you and provide you with protection, food, and shelter. I have to keep making runs in and out of the city to find more survivors. Thank you for accompanying me and I hope everything will work out for you.”
I thanked the captain for his help, and extended my hand towards him for a goodbye. He met my farewell with a firm handshake. I looked up into his face, meeting his eyes. His hazel eyes held a firm resolve that encouraged me to be strong. I could see that he truly was a capable leader. He stepped into the van and started the vehicle. He sped out of the open gates at the front of the compound and made a right in the direction of the city. I never saw him again.
Tape #4