Flesh-Eater (Book 1): Fear the Fever (6 page)

“W
hat was wrong with him?”  Millie sniffed, looking over Zeke’s shoulder at the lifeless body on the ground.

“He was sick, Millie.”

“He looked so scary, like he… wasn’t real.  There was something not right with his eyes.”

“I know.  My father looked the same when I left him in the hospital.”

“What?  Your dad was in hospital?”  She pulled back to look him in the eyes.  “I’m so sorry, Zeke.”  Fresh tears spilled over her long lashes.  “Is he okay?”

Zeke looked over at the car.  He shook his head.

“No.  He’s not okay.”  He swallowed back tears.  “I think Ma has it too,” he whispered.  Millie followed his gaze.  She hadn’t noticed Mary sitting in the passenger seat.  She looked like she was sleeping.

“Why is she here then?  Shouldn’t she be in the hospital too?”

“Millie, I did something terrible.”

“Zeke, whatever it is, I’m here for you.  I’m sure you had your reasons.”  She stroked his hand, her ordeal not seeming so important anymore.  Zeke looked at her with such grief in his eyes.

“I killed him,” he whispered.  Millie was confused.

“That man?  I know, Zeke.  He was going to hurt me, I’m sure of it.”

“No, not him.  I mean, I did kill him, but…”  He took a deep breath.  “I killed my father.”

Millie blinked, taken aback by his confession.

“He attacked Ma.  I had to make him stop.”  He snapped his head up.  “Ma!  I need to check on her.”  He jumped to his feet before Millie could say anything.  Striding towards the car, his trepidation building with every step, Zeke made a silent prayer that she would be spared.

“Zeke, wait!”  Millie ran to catch up to him.

“If she has it too, you need to be ready to run, okay?”

“Okay,” she said warily.

“I mean it, Millie.”  He stopped to look at her.  “Dad died, then he came back to life and bit her.  I don’t doubt that the man chasing you was the same.  I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe me.”

Millie stood there, unable to process this information.  It didn’t make sense.  This kind of thing didn’t happen.  And yet, something in his eyes told her he was telling the truth.  She nodded.

“I believe you.”

Zeke approached the car cautiously.  He motioned for her to stay where she was.  He didn’t want to risk her being assaulted a second time.  As he got closer, he realised that Mary was no longer in the passenger seat, where he had left her.

The door was ajar.  Panic rising, Zeke turned to check if Millie was still okay.  She frowned, raising her hands in question.

“She’s gone,” he mouthed, not wanting to draw attention.  Millie’s eyes grew wide as she started scanning the area around them, turning in a slow circle.  Zeke edged towards the back of the car.  His eyes flicked between Millie, and the rear bumper.  A thought occurred to him.  If she was around the car somewhere, he would be able to see her if he looked underneath.  Ever so slowly, he dropped down to his knees, still keeping watch over Millie as he did so.  He placed his hands on the ground in front of him and leaned forward until he could see through to the other side.  A flicker of movement caught his eye, just as Millie let out a scream.

He scrambled to his feet just in time to see Mary leap forward from her spot behind the car.  Her sights set on Millie.

“Millie, run!” Zeke cried out as he ran after her.  Mary was growling, baring her teeth as she bounded towards Millie.  He had never seen her run so fast before.  She was nearly on top of Millie, when he remembered the shot gun.  He fired into the air, hoping to buy some time.

Mary turned to face him.  Her once beautiful face twisted into a grotesque mask.  Her red eyes glared at him, as she licked her lips, before peeling them back into a snarl.

“Ma!  It’s me, Zeke!  You don’t wanna hurt me, do you?” he pleaded.  She turned her head to the side, as if she was considering what he had said.  He thought he saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes.  “Ma?” he asked again.

She reached her hand out to him, a tear trickling slowly down her face.

“Ma?  You’re still in there aren’t you?” he said softly, taking a step closer.

“Zeke, what are you doing?” Millie screamed.  “Run!”

“I don’t think she wants to hurt me.  Do you?”  He took another step closer, his gun lowered.

Mary held her hand up to stop him.  “Don’t,” she growled.

“It’s okay, Ma.  You won’t hurt me.”  He took another step.

Her head snapped up, her teeth bared once more.

“Run!” she spat out, before her body convulsed and she started towards him.

Zeke stumbled backwards, tripping.  The gun flew out of his hands.  He clambered towards it, his eyes riveted to his mother’s.  His fingers found the cold metal of the barrel.  He pointed the gun at her, tears running down his face.

“Please don’t make me do this,” he cried.  She was almost on him, the hint of his mother no longer visible.  “Please.”

She snarled as she crouched down low, ready to pounce.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out as she leapt into the air, and his finger pulled on the trigger.

T
hrowing his keys on the table, Caleb kicked off his shoes, before walking into the kitchen to make a coffee.  He had had the executives of Farrelly Pharmaceuticals watching his every move for the last few days and quite frankly, it was getting old.

He knew they were after results, but he couldn’t just pull them out of thin air.  He was doing everything he could, and they had made some good progress; obviously not fast enough though.  He had been fighting all day to stop them from pumping those poor mice with even more chemicals.  All that mattered to them, were their precious deadlines.  They didn’t seem to get that sometimes, you just have to wait it out.

Coffee in hand, Caleb plonked down on the couch, grabbing a magazine to flick through.  His neck was aching from hovering over the cages all day and he really just wanted to sleep.  He put his feet up on the coffee table, and leaned back, nestling his head in the soft cushion of the couch.  His eyes closed before he even opened the first page.

The sound of the television blaring woke him from his slumber.

“Have you seen this?” his flatmate Colton, asked.

“Hmm?”

“This.  On the news.”  He motioned to the screen.  “It’s been all I’ve heard for the past few hours.  I can’t believe you haven’t been watching.”

“Why?  What’s going on?”  Caleb sat up, rubbing his eyes.

Colton sat down on the couch next to him, turning up the volume.

“There’s some sort of virus spreading through Ohio.”  Opening a bag of chips, he continued.  “It’s crazy, man.  They’re like, eating each other.  It’s some pretty fucked up shit.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Nah, man, I’m serious.  Look.”  He pointed at the screen again.

Footage of people running into the hospital screaming, covered in blood, limbs hanging lifelessly, flickered in front of his eyes.

“…People have been flooding into the Worthington General Hospital with what looks to be bite marks and various other serious flesh wounds.  It seems that the infected show signs similar to that of the flu, before passing out and re-generating into something that can only be described as horrific.  They appear to be in a zombie-like state, eating the flesh of their loved ones.  Doctors are urging people who believe they may be infected, to make their way to the hospital for assessment.  For those who are not ill, please stay in-doors and away from public places.  Doctors are unsure what the cause of this is, but will be working around the clock to find a cure.”

Colton pressed pause, a half-crazed looking woman’s face frozen on the screen.

“Pretty crazy eh?”  He turned to Caleb.  “Where are you going?”

“Back to the lab.  I can’t sit here while something like that is going on.  What if it’s spread to other cities?  Other states?  I need to do something!”

“You heard the lady.  They don’t even know what it is, man.  Where are you even gonna start?”

“I don’t know yet.  But I have to try.”

“Well, I’m coming with you then.”

“Colton, you don’t have clearance to be there, you know that.”  He paused, looking at his friend.  “Start getting an emergency pack together, just in case.  We may have to leave the city.”

“Okay.  But if you’re not back before then, I’m coming to find you.”

“Deal.”  Caleb offered a small smile before grabbing his coat from where he had left it only minutes before.  “Keep me posted if there are any developments on there.”  He pointed at the television, then turned and walked out the door.

C
arrying Coach had turned out to be a lot harder than they had first thought.  He had not yet regained consciousness, so was a complete dead weight.  His body lolling about in their arms with every step they took.

Billy had been dragging his heels a bit too.  He wouldn’t admit it, but Chad was certain he had the fever.  He’d been keeping an eye on him whenever they switched places in carrying the load.  They were all sweating from the exertion, but Billy more-so than the others.  His eyes had dulled and he had been stumbling.  They had very nearly dropped Coach several times.  In the end, Chad and Zuckerman had taken over carrying Coach full time.

As Billy had yet another coughing fit, Chad and Zuckerman shared an uneasy look.  They both knew what was coming and neither one knew what to do about it.

“Guys,” Billy rasped.  “I… can’t…keep…”  He doubled over, struggling to catch his breath.

“Hey man, we’re nearly there.  We can get you to the hospital.  Maybe they can fix you up,” Chad offered, though he didn’t really believe his own words.  Billy would be lucky to make it to the town limits before passing out.

“No.”  Billy looked up, his eyes seeming to have sunk into his skull even further.  “You… go.”  He waved his arm in front of him.  “Get help… for Coach,” he broke off, coughing and spluttering.  “I… can’t… go… on,” he panted, dropping to his knees.

“We can’t just leave you,” Chad said.

“Chad, he’s holding us back,” Zuckerman stated.  “We can go much faster without him.”

“You can’t be serious?  He’s our friend.”

“And we can get him help sooner if we leave him here.”  Zuckerman looked around.  “Look, we can sit him over there by that tree, he’ll be hidden there.  And we’ll leave him the hammer in case he needs it.”

“He’s… right.  Leave… me,” Billy spluttered.

Chad considered their options.  He really didn’t want to leave their friend in the middle of nowhere with all these flesh-eaters around, but he
was
slowing them down.  If they could get to the hospital, maybe they could get a cure and bring it back to him before he turned.

“Okay,” he sighed.  “Let’s do it.”  They carefully laid Coach down and helped Billy get over to the tree.  Zuckerman handed him the hammer, and Chad gave him a bottle of water.  “Hang in there, okay.  Fight it as long as you can.  We’ll come back for you.”  He rested his hand on Billy’s shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze.  “I’m sorry,” he said, before walking back to the heap on the road that was Coach.

They hoisted him back up into their arms, and with one final look at their friend, they began walking once more.

“I don’t get it,” Zuckerman said after a while.

“Hmm?” Chad asked, deep in thought himself.

“I checked him.  He hadn’t been bitten.  I’m sure of it.”

“I was thinking about that too.  Maybe it was a small bite and we missed it?”

“Why wouldn’t he say anything though?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe he didn’t know he had been bitten?”

“No.”  Zuckerman pursed his lips.  “No, something doesn’t feel right.”

They walked on in silence.

“How do you not realise you’ve been bitten?” Zuckerman asked.

“I don’t know!”

“It just doesn’t make sense,” he paused.  “In all of the movies they scream in agony, they
know
they’ve been bitten.”

“I hate to break it to ya, but this isn’t a movie.”

“Yeah yeah, I know that smartarse!  You’re missing the point.”  He stopped walking.  “What if you don’t have to be bitten to become one?”

“So how do you think it happens then?”

“I don’t know!  I can’t come up with all the answers!” Zuckerman yelled in frustration.  “All I’m saying is, Billy wasn’t bitten, but he is definitely turning.  You saw him, he looks just like Ross did before it all turned to shit.”

Chad nodded.  Zuckerman was right, he had looked the same.  But if Billy was going to become one of them without being bitten, then what did that mean?  There was no hope?  And why hadn’t they fallen ill themselves?

“So what do we do now?”

“I think we keep going.  We need to get to the hospital and get some answers.”

At that moment, Coach’s head snapped up.

“Coach?” Chad said.  “Glad to have you back with us.  We’re almost back in town, we can get some help for your leg.”

Coach turned his head slowly.  His red eyes almost glowing against his pallid complexion.  Chad stumbled just as Coach began to growl, his lips curling.  They had been so preoccupied with Billy that neither of them had noticed Coach hadn’t actually just passed out from the pain of the ‘operation’, but that he was becoming one of
them
.  They had been carrying a flesh-eater this whole time!

“Jesus!” Chad yelled out, letting go of Coach, sending him flailing to the ground.  “Run!”

Zuckerman didn’t need to be told twice.  They took off, heading for the cover of the corn fields again.  Coach began dragging his crippled body towards them, a gurgling snarl coming from his throat.

Once inside the safety of the corn husks, they slowed to a walk.

“Thank God we cut his leg off,” Zuckerman stated.

“I think we should stick to the fields until we get closer to town,” Chad added, ignoring the comment.

“Good call, we should probably move faster though.  We might not be the only ones in hiding.”

Chad hadn’t thought of that.  Walking more cautiously, completely aware of his surroundings, he strained his ears, listening for any out of the ordinary sounds.  Other than the faint snarl from Coach, and Zuckerman’s laboured breathing, he could hear nothing.

“I think we’re okay,” he said quietly, not keen to make any more noise than necessary.

They had been walking for ten minutes when a gun shot fired in the distance, making them both jump.  They looked at each other, panic in their eyes.

“Maybe we should move a little faster,” Chad whispered as they picked up their pace.  It was becoming harder to ignore that this
thing
was spreading, and fast.  Their only hope was getting to the hospital.  They would know what was going on.  They would have a cure.  Wouldn’t they?