Respect the Dead. Shawn McLain
to the conference room. Before the the door shut Devin heard, “Miller, its Martin, what the hell are you gonna do to help us out?”
Devin's thoughts were scattered. So he focused on the task at hand. Getting the the Control center up and running. “The control center, what joke!” He frowned stopped outside a door. He glanced up. An old sign hung out over the door, it read Cafeteria. Pushing the door open he could still smell the old grease. Now that he was in the darkened room he looked around at the blue glow of the monitors set up around the room.
The monitors were fed by the five traffic cameras that had been placed around town. Devin glanced at the large logo of the local TV station. It was lit up. A chair and tripod sat in front of it. The station had helped pay for the cameras. This of course was done so the station could use the cameras for “exclusive” traffic reports. This always made Devin laugh, "They are the only TV station in town of course it was exclusive." The other two stations were in the bigger towns Twenty miles to the east so why would they even care out this town's traffic?
Shaking the thoughts out of his mind he focused his attention on the main camera. It showed the interchange for the connecting road to the highway Devin slumped onto a chair. “What is the best way out of town for Cheryl and the kids?” He pondered.
“It must have hit the news.” Devin breathed. The traffic heading out of the city seemed to have doubled in the brief time he sat there. He glanced around at the other monitors. Something caught his eye. He couldn't help but stare at the screen in wonder.
The downtown square was full of people. The square had been empty for the last two days as people hid themselves away to avoid getting sick. It was never this full on a Monday even when everyone was healthy.
“What are you all doing do there?” Devin asked the monitor. The crowd was acting strange. They were just milling about. No one seemed to be talking to each other just walking around, some even bumping into each other but they didn’t seem to notice. Devin thought back to what he had heard from Philly and Pittsburgh about violence and rioting. People here just seemed confused.
Picking up the phone he pressed the three digit extension for the Mayor and waited, “What have you got Dev?”
“I…well it is already getting bad. People are streaming out of town, we should open up the incoming lanes to outgoing traffic…Also, and this is weird, the square is full of people." Devin stood to get a better look at the scene. "It’s really strange they just seem to be wandering around, you know bumping into each other but no one is fighting. Not like we heard about in Philly.”
“Shit” The mayor gasped. “Get SWAT down there as fast as..”
“No!, they aren’t rioting they are, well they are just, they’re, they look drunk.” Devin tried to reassure his boss. “They are just wandering around and stumbling over each other." Devin spoke fast. "If we send in more people it might start a riot. Or do you think they'll get worked up and start attacking each other?” Devin blurted now unsure what to do.
“Dammit Devin! Figure out a way to get people out of town." Griggs yelled over Devin's growing panic. "Make sure you avoid the square! We’ll send the police to block off the area. Get barricades set up in a one block radius. They won’t hurt each other but God help anyone who goes near them!” The phone clicked dead, Devin stared at the silent receiver and returned it to the cradle.
“What is going on?" He spoke to the empty room fear bubbling in his stomach. "What did he mean they won’t hurt each other but will hurt anyone who gets near? ” He asked the monitor. His attention, captivated by the people in the square, did not allow him to see the screen in the lower left. It showed a car barreling toward the camera.
A woman was desperately fighting a thrashing child. I clawed at her. Pure rage on its small face as it fought against its restraint. The woman’s silent scream not observed as the child lurched forward ripping free of the seat belt. The screen suddenly went blue. The words no signal appeared in the corner.
End of a Chapter
Beth realized she had been staring at the first three words at the beginning of the new chapter for about ten minutes. “This is ridiculous!” She thought slamming the book shut. “Everything is going to be fine! This is no different from Swine Flu, West Nile, SARS and all those other Epidemics or Pandemics or whatever. This is America we don’t die from that kind of stuff.” Beth told herself fighting the thoughts of death.
Giving up on reading she lay on her bed staring at the cover. A smile crossed her face as the words she had just thought met her ears from the TV in the other room. “Damn right.” She breathed. Reopening the book she found her place. It was at the beginning of the chapter. Five minutes later she had made it half a paragraph in.
“Errgh!” Roughly stuffing a book mark between the pages she slammed the book shut. IN frustration she sat up exclaiming to the stuffed rabbit beside her. “I’ve had enough of this. I’m going over there and settle this. His Stepdad is sick but he’ll be fine. Just like when Dad and Steve get sick. They are men." She grabbed the bunny by the shoulders staring it right in the eyes. "They act tough until they get the sniffles then they need all the help they can get. We’ll load him up and head out of town until this all settles down.”
She dropped the bunny when she got up. She grabbed her backpack off the floor slipped the book inside. "Hey Dad, I’m going to walk over to Wes’s and hang out for a little bit.” She yelled down the hall. She threw on her jacket and about to grab the backpack.
“I really don’t want….” the crash of shattering glass interrupted her father's response. “Who the hell are you?” Her father yelled. “Get the hell out of my house!”
Beth ran into the living room. Her sneakers skidded to a halt at the entry. She stood frozen as thhe scene before her eyes was impossible. Two men, covered in blood, were wrestling with her father. A woman stumbled through the shattered sliding glass door after them. Her bare feet crunched and cracked the broken glass. It was their neighbor Mrs. McGee, but there was something very wrong. Her face was torn and bloody, her arm had a piece missing and blood oozed from her cut feet with each step. She walked slowly, seemingly unaware of any of her injuries. The commotion of the struggle caught her attention. She turned. The bloodied woman shuffled quickly towards Beth’s father to join the others in the attack.
“Beth! Run! Get out! Get out!” Her father screamed. One of his attackers bit him in the face. Mr. McDaniel threw the man off. The body crashed onto the coffee table sending broken wood splintering across the room. Beth screamed. She took a step toward her father. He turned, pointed behind her. “BETH RUN!” He screamed with ferocity.
Mrs. McGee turned her grey eyes on Beth lunging at her. The woman who had once been her baby sitter, the woman who never missed Beth’s birthday, waved at her as she left each morning, was now coming at her with teeth bared. Her face was a mask of anger and hunger.
Mrs. McGee raised her arms reaching out for Beth. As the limbs came up her left arm cracked at the elbow. Beth cried out as Ms. McGee's forearm fell free of her shirt to the floor. Beth was pressed against the wall Beth. She saw past the approaching woman to her father. The man who had been thrown on the coffee table had a large chunk of wood sticking out of his shoulder. He leaned in and sunk his teeth into Mr. McDaniel’s throat. ;“Beth…Gooooo ARRRGG.” Blood sprayed the white living room wall. It looked like the two men were ripping him apart even as he fought them.
If it wasn't for Mrs. McGee’s fingers pulling at Beth’s hair she would have stood there watching the horror. Her heart pounding in terror Beth ran for the front door. She heard more glass breaking. Her head turned to the sound. In Steve's room she saw a girl from down the block trying to getting through the window. This girl was also covered in blood. Beth's shaking fingers fumbled with the dead bolt. It clicked free. Beth threw open the door to immediately freeze at the scene from war movie before her eyes.
Cars screamed down the street, people were running from their homes. Some people stumbled about bleeding. Across the street there were three people crouched over a fourth