Authors: Nick Mariano
Dawn of a New Day (7 page)
The mysterious box was brought up from the ocean’s floor on May 15
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, 2015, and the first person infected, Harold Strauss, would attack people at the local hospital less than a week later. Special Agent Max Taylor would arrive in Kuala Lumpur on May 20
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and become known as Passenger Zero in Asia. The Asian variety of the super virus would get underway shortly thereafter and by the end of May several hundred people would become exposed to the virus by means of person-to-person contact. By the beginning of June the virus was spreading in the United States but at a much slower pace than Asia because of enforced government controls. As June started in Kuala Lumpur the entire town was on lock down although infectees wondered through the malls and had overrun the streets of the city and China Town. As the month progressed another type of mutation or change occurred within the infectees. Previously they had tended to roam the streets alone or in groups of two or three. Suddenly authorities noticed that they were now organizing themselves in larger hordes making it much more difficult for authorities to confront and stop them. Another startling change was also noted. Besides organizing into hordes, as zombie groups would now be called, they were starting to display added mobility and motor functions. The infectees, who didn’t die after being infected, were now becoming faster in their pace and some could even open doors when confronted with them. This enabled them to enter buildings and houses that previously they would be locked out of. The authorities and CDC were baffled by these new developments since these characteristics were never noted during the New York outbreak and only isolated incidents of these abilities were reported in the U.S.
Police authorities decided to equipment their men with full riot type gear, as this gave them some added protection during an attack. Automatic weapons were also issued and police and military were instructed to shoot and ask questions later. The Government had issued strict instructions that people were not to leave their homes, so if someone was seen on the street; police should assume it was an infectee.
The CDC and scientists at Fort Detrick were also experimenting with alternative means to stop infectees. Various gases were tried on captured infectees but so far none had a permanent effect on them. Electric shock devices were given a try and although they did temporarily disable the infectee, they did not kill him. Presently it appeared that only disrupting the person’s brain by either shooting him in the head or driving an object through it, was the only guarantee of stopping a person once he turned. In the U.S. the X554 vaccine seemed to have brought things under control better than in Asia. Scientists thought the fact that many of the Asian sampling had respiratory infections played a major role in trying to control the virus there. Some new infections in the U.S. were noted but things were more controlled at the moment.
Other Asian countries were reporting new infections, as were some European countries. The outbreaks were much smaller than Malaysia, however, it didn’t take many infectees to get the epidemic going once they got out among the population. Only South America and some of the island nations remained infection free and many of these nations had closed off all outside transportation until the crises was resolved. Most countries, infected or not, had fully mobilized their militaries and were following the advise of the CDC and Fort Detrick on how they should tackle possible infectees.
In Kuala Lumpur it was a sunny and warm day and despite warnings from the government, people were starting to get cabin fever from being cooped up for too many days. People strolled down the streets and some of the local restaurants had decided to open up, as their businesses were being hit hard during the crises. Most hadn’t been open in over a week. Although the military and police were constantly patrolling the areas, many looked the other way so that people could try to get back to normal. Many areas appeared to have been totally cleared of infectees, however, no one knew where they might pop up next or if they were hiding some place. Police kept a constant watch and some cities were now using drones to fly over cities and look for hordes that might be roaming the streets. So far no major incidents were reported any where in Kuala Lumpur and people relaxed and ate at sidewalk cafes and even some mall restaurants that were open. Suddenly, as the day started to change into evening, several hordes appeared on the drone screens at police headquarters. Authorities radioed street patrols but it was already too late. In several areas the hordes had somehow communicated among themselves and had begun to converge on several restaurants from varying directions, completely encircling the people within. Several hundred infectees appeared and the police quickly realized that they were outnumbered but made a brave effort to protect both themselves and the people outside. Raging battles began to take place throughout the city and additional reinforcements were brought in but the areas of conflict multiplied quicker than the authorities could direct men to them. After several hours of conflict and havoc several hundred people were either dead or now part of the infectee army that was rapidly growing within the city. Only one or two police and military patrols had been successful in fending off the roving hordes. As quick as the hordes appeared, they also vanished. Medical crews and military troops were dispatched to the areas with the worst casualties, however, rather than a rescue effort, it quickly became a cleanup operation. The local news stations that night reported on the horrific events of the day and people were again told to stay indoors until the authorities said otherwise.
When the doctors and scientists back at Fort Detrick received the news from Malaysia they were shocked and concerned by what was being reported. It appeared that the hordes of zombies were becoming much more organized and somehow were using intellect to devise their attacks on people. They were also amazed that some of the infectees could actually open doors and do other minor motor functions. Fort Detrick and the CDC dispatched several teams to Malaysia so they could autopsy some of the infectees and try to determine what changes had taken place in their makeup since the New York attacks.
Although the spread of the super virus wasn’t as wide spread in the U.S. as it was in Asia, there were however, increasing cases outside of Wilmington. Several of the people infected by the accidental discharge of the virus at the Federal Building had then traveled outside the area before the CDC and police could track them down. The area most affected by these infectees was Washington, D.C., as many of the Federal agencies in Wilmington had employees who traveled regularly between branch offices in Wilmington and Washington in the course of their duties. Washington was a particularly tricky city to tackle the virus since besides the large number of federal agencies there; it was also a mecca for tourists, especially in the summer months. June was Cherry Blossom season in D.C. and thousands of tourists flocked to the city to sightsee and many schools throughout the area made bus trips with their students to visit all the museums and monuments before the end of the school year. Closing the city down was an option but not one that the President wanted to entertain. Even setting up roadblocks and screening visitors as they entered the city would not prevent the spread of the disease since infectees in the early stages were not readily identifiable.
Richard Collins worked for the IRS and spent three days a month at the branch office in Wilmington. Mr. Collins was unfortunate enough to have been at his Wilmington office on May 17
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, the same day that Special Agent Taylor picked up the mysterious box from Mr. Strauss and later placed it in his office’s evidence room. The super virus vapor spread throughout the Federal Building that day via the air conditioning ducts and, except for a faint smell he detected for perhaps 5 seconds, Collins was unaware that anything unusual had occurred that day. He returned home a day later and that evening kissed his wife and daughter, who were always happy to have him at home with them. Both would be immediately infected by virtue of Collins’ kiss and three days later both would also have sore throats and notice some blotchiness on their arms and legs. The same would be true of Collins, however, he would also begin to feel a sense of uneasiness and feel irritable for no particular reason. His daughter was scheduled to go on a class trip to Washington that day and the class would visit the Smithsonian, as well as several monuments throughout the city. Even though she didn’t feel 100%, Melissa Collins got dressed and had her mother drive her to school so she wouldn’t miss the big class trip. She also knew that her boy friend was going on the trip and they planned some together time while the class wondered through the Smithsonian.
After Melissa was dropped off Mrs. Collins, or Marie to her friends, she would stop by the local Food Lion store and get some groceries for dinner that night. When she arrived back at home she was surprised to see that her husband was still asleep in bed. At first she thought he may have had a heart attack and was dead. He never overslept or missed work, but then she saw him stir in bed and decided to let him sleep as just last night he complained of a sore throat and some achiness. She wasn’t feeling all that great either but thought it was just another one of those summer colds that she regularly got. By noon, Richard was still in bed and Marie was getting concerned. She went back upstairs to see how Richard was doing and when she went to shake him, she noticed that his face was a mass of oozing sores. She stepped back from the bed in horror, when suddenly Richard sprang from the bed and attacked her, biting her first on the neck and then moving on to other parts of her body. Within two minutes Marie was dead and Richard sat casually on the floor having his lunch. He didn’t know what was happening to him and in fact he couldn’t really think clearly anymore. All he knew was that he had a massive hunger and after lunching on his wife for a while he decided that he needed something else to feast on. He walked down stairs and noticed that his next-door neighbor Stephanie was outside doing some Spring flower planting and so he opened the front door and staggered over to see her. Stephanie was absorbed in her work, but as Richard approached, she looked up and was startled to see her neighbor in a pair of pajama bottoms and covered with oozing sores on his upper body. Even more disturbing was the fact that his face was covered with blood and gore. She made an effort to get up but Richard grabbed her before she could get upright and bit deeply into her neck. She managed one loud scream before collapsing. The scream was loud enough to get the attention of the neighbor one house over and when he saw what was transpiring outside, he dialed 911. The police responded quickly to the scene and although they hadn’t actually seen any cases of the super virus and its zombie effect, the two responding officers were fairly sure that’s what they were encountering. Everyone at the station had been briefed and even saw photos of what the infected looked like and could do. Without hesitation they both opened fire on both Richard and Stephanie, shooting them both several times in the head for good measure. They then talked to the neighbor who had made the 911 call and found out who and where these people lived. They entered Richard’s house cautiously and just as they began to climb the stairs they saw a bloodied figure standing at the top of the stairs. Their guns were already drawn and they opened fire on the figure as she started to descend on them. The person hesitated for a slight moment before she tumbled down the steps. Both officers had to retreat quickly down the stairs in order not to be fallen on. They called the incident in immediately to their precinct and CDC and military personnel were quickly dispatched to the area. Police officers also closed off the entire area, as authorities didn’t want word of a possible zombie attack in the Capitol making the afternoon news. Later that day authorities would tell the local media that a domestic dispute had resulted in the deaths of two people and an apparent suicide by the shooter.
While all this was going on, Collins’ daughter was making her way through Washington with her class, although she was really starting to feel bad. Even her boy friend mentioned that she didn’t look too well and asked what those blotches on her face were. She had tried to cover them up earlier by applying some heavy makeup and initially that had done the job. Now she saw that the blotches were actually starting to swell and she could feel that something was oozing from her body and that one or two wet spots had appeared on her blouse. She was also starting to feel a bit foggy and disoriented and she asked her boy friend to take her back to the bus so she could rest. By the time she reached the bus a feeling of aggressiveness had started to set upon her and just as her boy friend was getting her on the bus, she turned and attacked him. He fell to the ground and she plunged onto him and began to feast on his arm. He screamed in pain and passersby immediately responded, however when they saw what was happening, they quickly retreated and dialed 911. Police units were there in a flash and as soon as they saw what was happening they responded with deadly force. A shower of gunfire hit both Melissa and her body friend while onlookers watched in horror and disbelief.
The news of this incident couldn’t be avoided as easily as the earlier event at the Collins’ house. Several of the onlookers had videoed the whole incident on their smart phones and within ten minutes it was on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Within minutes the video went viral and over 50,000 people watched what was titled “Zombie Attack in DC.” At first many thought it was a prank or practical joke but when the national news media began to interrupt their regular programming, they quickly realized that this was no joke. Many had heard of something happening earlier that month in Wilmington and everyone had seen and heard about what was happening in Asia. No one was however aware that this super virus everyone was talking about was now in the Nations’ Capital and they began to worry that the United States would start to crumble if the problem wasn’t addressed quickly.
That evening the President would again address the nation and acknowledge for the first time that containment of the Nazi virus which had swept through New York State previously and then mysteriously reappeared late last month in Wilmington, NC, had now escaped the confines of that area and showed it face for the first time in the Nations’ Capital. The President went on to say that the National Guard in all fifty states was being mobilized and citizens were requested to contact authorities if anything unusual was noticed in their neighborhoods or if people began to feel ill. The President then turned the speech over to the Head of the CDC, who outlined the characteristics of the virus and the various stages it went through. He said that initially people would get a sore throat or cough, however, this should not be confused with a common cold or the flu. The next stage, the appearance of black and blue spots on parts of the body was the first indication the super virus had actually infected someone. This stage then progressed to the oozing stage where spots began to swell and ooze fluids and even blood from the infected person. The last stage encompassed the person beginning to lose his sense of reasoning and rationalization and even attacking other infected or non-infected people he came in contact with. The CDC Head stressed that it was extremely important for people to seek medical help at the first sign of stage two, the appearance of black and blue sores. Once the virus progressed beyond this stage the ability of medical authorities to cure the disease was greatly hampered. He also stressed that people who had not been inoculated with the X554 vaccine should do so immediately, as this had shown very positive signs of preventing the infection. He ended his talk by advising the public that the White House, in conjunction with the CDC and doctors at the U.S. Army’s Medical Command, were actively working both in the United States and abroad on finding a cure for the deadly disease and again stressed the importance of getting vaccinated immediately. The President went on to say that his National Security Council had recommended, and he had approved, a temporary closing of Washington to all outsiders who were not actually working in the city. Effective this day all tourism was stopped until the spread of the virus could be contained. The President concluded the address by saying that he and the medical resources of the United States were confident that a total cure would be found shortly and that people would be able to get back to a normal life soon.
What neither the President nor the CDC Head told their audience was that once infected doctors had no real cure for the disease. The mortality rate at present was 100%.