Age of Decay (Book 1): Contagion (8 page)

As they neared the bridge, they came across more and more groups of abandoned cars. Clearly people were moving in the direction of the bridge, but the traffic snarl was forcing the survivors to give up their vehicles. Trevor wanted to get over the bridge before the sun went down as it would be harder to move in the darkness. He estimated that had three hours left, so the group picked up the pace towards the Port Mann Bridge. As they weaved their way through the mass of cars, they heard the clatter of gunfire in the intersection nearest them.

Trevor motioned for the group to get down. “Action up ahead. Stay close together We don’t know what we are dealing with.” He nodded to his son. “Scout ahead. Tell me what you see, but be careful.”

“Right.”

Jason moved through the abandoned cars. Ahead of him, one of the dead staggered closer, but Trevor dropped it with two quick shots from his AR-15. Trevor gripped his rifle as the gunfire increased to a rapid rate of fire. Whoever was up there was using full auto.

Lauren and Samantha crouched by an SUV a bit behind Trevor, while Ian guarded them. “Can you see anything, lad?” he yelled.

“Not from here. I sent Jason up a bit to see what’s going on. There’s a lot of automatic weapons fire up ahead. Watch our back.”

“Aye.”

Trevor waited for a few anxious minutes, and then he saw Jason up ahead. He yelled out to his son. “What did you see, what’s going on up there?”

Jason jogged back to his dad. ‘It’s complete carnage in the intersection. Looks like an Emergency Response team slugged it out with a bunch of the dead and lost. There’s an ERT vehicle, as well as tons of dead all over the place. I didn’t stick around to look for survivors. There are several of them wandering around, too, but we can clear it.”

Trevor called Ian over. “Listen, we are going to the next intersection, but be prepared for a bit of a fight. We can use the supplies that ERT team had, maybe pick up a few decent weapons, too.”

“I’m help ya,” said Ian.

“Hon,” said Trevor. “Stay close to Samantha. This could get ugly, so I don’t want the two of you to take unnecessary risks.”

“Can’t we just go around?” Lauren adjusted her Hockey helmet. “Damn thing doesn’t fit right.”

“Look, we need these weapons, and the ERT teams have vests, too, they might come in handy.”

“Oh, by all means, my fearless leader,” quipped Lauren, as she motioned forward. “Lead on.”

Trevor grabbed her by the arm and took her to the side away from everyone. “Hey, that was uncalled for. You think this is easy? I’m only doing what is right. I don’t know about you, but intend to survive this mess. You could be more supportive, we have to pull through together!”

“Sorry… I just—”

“Don’t want to lose me or Jason, I know. We’ll make it together, I promise.” He put his arm around her. “Stay tight with Samantha, it’s going to be alright.” He went back to Jason, and the two of them checked their rifles. They would need any supplies they could carry as the rounds for the AR-15s were running lower with each encounter.

The group moved forward with Trevor and Jason at the front. Jason brought up the shotgun. Ian stood at the side with his axe ready to go, while Samantha and Lauren brought up the rear. They weaved through the abandoned cars and trucks and reached the main intersection. Bodies were everywhere on the blood-soaked streets. An ERT vehicle sat in the middle of the street with one door open. Trevor could see several ERT team members dead on the ground. One of the dead pulled sinews of flesh off one of the team members and sat there chewing. Jason moved closer and fired the shotgun into the ghoul’s head, which spattered its brains everywhere. As he fired, the group of dead turned towards their position and began to walk in the now familiar slow gait they were all accustomed to.

Trevor popped two with several well-placed shots, and Jason dropped another one that got too close to the group. Ian moved ahead and got close to a woman with dark hair, her dress ripped and torn. She reached out for him with a blood-soaked mouth, but his axe came down and severed her head from her shoulders in one fluid stroke. The corpse toppled over, and Ian swung again. He cut the arm of off another, and then another swing removed the man’s head. On the ground, one of the dead crawled along with half its body missing near Lauren. Its jaws opened for her as it hissed. Stands of saliva poured from the thing’s mouth and pooled on the ground. She winced at the grisly creature before she buried her hatchet in the thing’s skull, ending its misery. Trevor reloaded his AR-15 and shot two more of the dead before they could threaten the group. It was all over in a few minutes, the small group of dead no match for them. Trevor examined the scene in front of them. There must have been fifty to one hundred bodies all over the intersection. They were literally walking all over the corpses. The stench of shit, blood, vomit, brains, and guts was everywhere. It took a supreme effort to not retch then and there.

Trevor went over to his son. “Good work. I want you to check the ERT members and pick up any weapons, ammo, and vests that you can. We can use whatever you can find. I’m gonna go check the truck, see what’s inside.”

“Okay.”

Trevor went over to the truck, but heard a low moan from the other side. He pulled his Glock from the holster and went around to the other side of the truck. Several dead lay against the side in a heap. The moan came from underneath them. He moved the bodies out of the way and found an ERT member underneath the pile, his pistol still in his hand. The man coughed heavily, his legs covered in bite marks, a huge gash was present on his right thigh. He was changing into one of them before Trevor’s eyes.

The man coughed again. “Came… at us in waves…” He rested his head against the back of the vehicle. “Lost… the whole team…”

The dead on top of the man had shielded him from being eaten by the remainder of the ghouls that wandered around after the battle, but it didn’t matter, he was already dead. He would slowly turn and then, take his place among them.

Trevor found it difficult to hold back the tears for the officer. He had battled hard, but in the end lost like so many on this horrific day. The dead would just keep coming and along with it, consume those that remained. “Hey what’s your name?” Trevor asked. He raised his Glock towards the man who coughed again in a fit, his skin turning gray as sweat poured down his cheeks.

He coughed, chocking on his words. “Paul… It’s… Paul…”

“Thanks for your service, Paul,” said Trevor as he pulled the trigger. The round slammed into his skull and sprayed the side of the vehicle in blood, ending the misery the officer was going through.

Ian ran around to the side as he heard the shot. He put his hand on Trevor’s arm as the two of them stared at the officer slumped against the vehicle.

“She’s right, you know,” said Trevor. He took off his hockey helmet wiping away the grime, sweat, and tears there. “Dammit, I’m sick of all this killing, too.”

They found several decent weapons that they took from the dead ERT team members including a C8 carbine, two Heckler & Koch MP5A3s, as well as a couple of sidearms. Trevor and Jason replaced their hockey gear with ERT vests and helmets, which would offer more protection from bites. Inside the vehicle, Trevor picked up extra magazines of ammunition for the group. They were now fairly well-armed, but Trevor knew it just wouldn’t be enough. They needed to get to the other side of the city and make it through the towns there before they reached Hope, if they even made it that far, as society crumbled around them.

They moved down the last leg of United Boulevard towards the Trans-Canada Highway, which would get them onto the bridge and across to the other side. The Boulevard was crammed with cars, all trying to flee the city just like Trevor and his family. They made their way onto the highway and could see the bridge in the distance. In the air, they noticed several helicopters, as well as columns of thick black smoke near the bridge from burning vehicles. They passed several of the dead as they made their way down the highway, but these weren’t a problem for them. They either ran ahead and ignored them or quickly dispatched the slow-moving ghouls. The road ahead was tightly packed with vehicles, so they had to stay near the side to get by.

Trevor adjusted the strap on his helmet. “The bridge is just up ahead about a couple of miles or so. Everyone stay close. Looks like everyone is trying to do the same thing we are, so keep your eyes open.”

Ahead, they saw movement—up about 200 yards. Trevor raised his MP5A3, then he heard the scream of a female. They moved closer until Trevor motioned for them to hold their position. They saw two men holding down the woman. One of them held her head down with a well-muscled arm, while the other one stood behind her, his pants down as he pounded hard into her.

“Yeah, give it to her!” said the main holding the woman down. “Hurry up, when is it my turn?” He slapped the woman in the head. “Shut up, bitch, you’ll bring those things over here!”

Trevor moved behind a car near them. The men were preoccupied and didn’t see him sneaking up towards them. He raised the rifle and took aim. “That’s enough. Let her go!”

“Hey, mister.” The man kneeling down got up in a hurry. “We were just having a little fun, it’s the end of the world!”

“Not on my watch,” said Trevor. “You behind her, best zip it up, or I’ll blow the fucking thing off.”

The other man had raised his hands about halfway, but Trevor noticed the black handle he had tucked into his waistband. The man made a move for the pistol, but it was the wrong one. He barely got his hand over it when Trevor hit him with three rounds from his rifle. They slammed into the man’s chest, and he tumbled backwards.

“Get ‘em up, or you’ll end up like your buddy there.” Trevor pulled the half-naked man backwards as Lauren ran up to the woman who was slowly getting up off the ground.

The woman wore a ripped hospital nurse’s uniform. She wiped blood away from her mouth and rubbed a red mark around her chin where one of the men had hit her. She made no effort to conceal her body as she moved over to the man beside Trevor. She slammed her foot into his balls twice. The man cried out in pain and doubled over.

Trevor made no effort to help him, but he did smile. “Nice kick.”

“Thanks.” She nodded over at Lauren. “I don’t suppose you have any spare clothes in that pack of yours, there?”

“Yeah, I think I have something that just may fit.”

“Tough lass,” Ian said to Trevor in a whisper.

Lauren brought out a pair of jeans along with a sweatshirt and a pair of underwear. The woman was smaller than Lauren, but the clothes would at least fit for the time being. She pulled the sweatshirt on and flung her light, long brown hair back. She went back over to the man who was bent over holding his balls with his hand.

“Fucking bitch!” he moaned.

“Oh, your troubles are just beginning, buddy,” she said. She looked over at Trevor. “You got a knife or something I can cut with?”

“Yeah, sure.” He handed her his hunting knife.

Jason stood near the man laughing at him, his shotgun pointed at the man’s chest. “I think you’re in for a bad day.”

“Pull off the jeans,” she told him.

“What?”

Jason pointed the shotgun. “Do as she says.”

The man took his shoes off and removed his jeans. The woman cut off strips of fabric from her uniform as well as the man’s jeans. She picked up the pistol the other man had been carrying and pointed it at his head. “Get your naked ass and that sad little dick of yours over to that car over there.”

Trevor stood back and let the woman do whatever she was going to do. It was clear she meant business and knew how to use the pistol. She opened the door of the car and gestured for him to get inside. The man hobbled over to the car and sat down in the seat. The woman put the pistol up against his chin then yanked his hair back. Trevor simply watched as she took the pistol and slammed the handle into his nose, sending blood streaming down his face.

“What the fuck!” he screamed.

“Way I figure,” she said. “Your buddy there is going to get up real soon. When he does, he’s going to be hungry.” She took the strips of cloth and wrapped them around his hands, trying him to the steering wheel. She made sure everything was nice and tight. “The blood will attract him.”

“Shit!” He tried to work his hands free, but it was no use. She had tied him tightly to the steering wheel. “Can’t leave me here!”

She stood back and raised the pistol. “Maybe you should have thought about that before you raped me.” She fired the gun into his knee which sprayed blood over the front seat.
Now you can’t hurt anyone, ever again
.

He howled in pain. “Fucking Christ!”

She pointed towards his friend lying in the grass, the friend that would rise. “God won’t judge you,” she said. “He will.”

“Best we move away from here,” said Trevor. “You’re welcome to come with us. We are trying to get across the Port Mann.”

“Sure. The traffic got thick a couple of miles back. I ran for my life until I ran into these two. Things are going to shit fast, was following the crowds headed for the bridge.”

“Glad we could help,” said Trevor.

They walked further away from the two men. “Not sure I would’ve handled it the way you did,” said Lauren.

“Just how would you handle it?” said the woman. “Not every day you get raped when the world is coming apart now, is it? Might be my own brand of justice, but its justice for me.”

“Yeah,” said Trevor. “Gone to hell is right.”

“He’s still human,” said Lauren.

“No,” said the woman. “That’s where you are wrong. He was never human. Guys like that are just waiting for Armageddon. The breakdown of society so they could do every sick thing imaginable. It’s only going to get worse.”

“There are those that want to go on living and those that want to take advantage of the situation. Between that situation, the dead,” said Trevor.

“Yeah, the hard part will be figuring out who to trust,” said the woman. She looked at the group of them and laughed. “What are you guys supposed to be anyways, the keystone cops and the hockey rejects?”

Trevor tapped his vest. “Protection from the bites. I’m Trevor, that’s my wife Lauren.” He pointed his son. “That’s my son Jason.”

Ian came up to her. “Ian, lass. The little girl is Samantha.”

The woman nodded. ‘Well, nice to meet you all, my name is Erica. I suppose I’m with you now. I want to get out of the city as much as you do. The day hasn’t turned out well for any of us.”

“What hospital were you working at?” asked Trevor.

“VGH, before it all went to hell this morning. Damn flu patients just got up then attacked everyone. Two cops helped us escape, but they died in the hospital. Made it to my car, but a group of those things killed my friend. It’s crazy where I came from. Damn lucky just to make it this far. I saw a lot of others that didn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” said Lauren. “We lost our next door neighbors. Samantha there lost both her parents.”

“Yeah,” said Erica. “These things, or whatever they are, don’t discriminate. Saw a nurse get a bite and shortly later she turned into one of these things. That means if anyone of us gets bitten, it’s all over for us.”

“We need to make a pact that if anyone in this group gets bitten, we have to do the right thing,” Trevor indicated.

“No!” said Lauren. “I won’t have you killing my son or that little girl! Dammit, there has to be some sort of cure for this.”

“Hon, it would be no use. Do you want to watch our son turn into one of those things?”

“I… just want this to end.” Lauren walked off and went over to her son who was walking with Samantha.

“Sorry, she’s taking this rough,” said Trevor. “I worry about her, that maybe she isn’t strong enough. Damn, I don’t know if I am!”

“We all just have to carry on, do the best we can,” said Erica as she adjusted her sweater.

Trevor took the C-8 carbine off his shoulder. “You seem to be good with a pistol, maybe you could use this.” He handed her the weapon along with a couple of spare magazines.

“Thanks.”

“Hopefully we can pick up some more ammunition along the way. I have a feeling we’re going to be needing it in the near future.”

“Yeah,” said Erica. “I want to thank you for what you did back there. Those guys would’ve killed me if you hadn’t passed by.”

“It’s okay, any other guy would’ve done the same thing.”

Erica slung the weapon over her shoulder. “Don’t be too sure of that.”

Trevor could see the bridge in the distance now. There was plenty of activity near it as another helicopter flew overhead. The smell of smoke was thick in the air as vehicles burned. “Looks like there’s something going on at the bridge. I better check on my wife.”

“Sure.”

Trevor reached his wife up ahead who walked with Ian and the two kids. Lauren seemed distant, and she didn’t turn to him when he arrived. She walked faster ahead of them, leaving Trevor with the others.

“What’s with her?” Trevor asked Ian.

“See’s you talking with that other woman, lad.”

“Just trying to get to know her, is all.”

“Jealousy, lad.”

“Well, there’s nothing to be jealous about.”

“Hey, I like her,” said Jason. “She’s tough, not like Mom.”

Trevor stopped in his tracks. “Don’t you talk about your mother like that! I don’t want to hear that type of talk from you, understood?”

“Yeah, whatever. I’ll be at the back with Erica.”
All hail our fearless leader, my dad!

Trevor turned to Ian. “What’s going on here?”

“Sorry, lad, you’ll have to work this all out between yourselves. I won’t interfere, it’s not my place. But if ya want my opinion, go to your wife. She needs ya now more than ever.”

“Maybe you’re right, thanks.” Trevor went into a jog to catch up with his wife who was about a hundred yards ahead of them.

“Hey, hon, slow down it’s not safe.”

Lauren turned to him as he approached. “What do you want? I thought you were talking with Erica back there. I wouldn’t want you to miss anything important.”
She pretty, isn’t she Trevor?

Trevor put his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. “Hon, I love you, I always have. Nothing can take that away, not anyone. Do you understand?”

Lauren removed her helmet and wiped her eyes. “I… needed to hear that. There’s so much that has gone on. All of this, what is the future for us?”

“Don’t know that yet. I’m just focused on getting out of this city.” Trevor put his arm around her. “It’s going to be fine, we’ll all get through this.”

He looked towards the bridge in the distance and watched the helicopter buzz overhead. The bridge seemed like where all the action was, and that is where he intended to go. He didn’t know what he would find there, but it was all he had to go on. Get out of the city, and save his family from the chaos and the death. They weaved their way through the masses of cars, debris, and garbage littering the highway. In the near distance, they began to see groups of people moving towards the bridge like they were. Some carried a bag over their shoulders or cradled an infant.

“Lad,” said Ian. “Look ahead. Seems others have the same idea we do.”

Trevor checked his weapon. “All I know is we came this far. Time to get the hell out of this city.” He stopped and looked at the group. “Everyone, let’s stick together here. I don’t know what we are going to find up ahead. We need to be ready for anything.” They approached the bridge together and like many others on this grim day, searched for answers as to what had happened to the world in such a short time. They were together, but ahead, dark clouds of uncertainty awaited them.

Erica turned and smiled as she heard the scream. Justice had been served.