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The Waking of the Dead


BurnSide

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This has been coming along nicely in my blog for the past week or so, and i decided it was time to show it some light and bring it out into the forums, for your reading pleasure. It is a work-in-progress so it'll be updated with parts every couple days or so.

Please note, the current title is also a Work-in progress, and subject to change once the story is completed. It was originally entitled 'Survival Horror' but, well, i've found it very difficult to name a zombie fiction. laugh.gif

And without further ado...

[EDIT]

I've decided to continually edit this first post to add all the extra parts that are written, so instead of searching through the topic for new parts, you can find them here in this first post, and i'll add a comment when it is updated.

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THE WAKING OF THE DEAD

ONE

Monday, July 11th

12:44 PM

One eye cracked open, followed shortly by the other. Together the eyes starred, unseeing, at the ceiling above them. A groan escaped from the parched throat, low at first but gaining in desire to rise up, to feed and to walk again on the earth. The body rose from it's lying position off the bed stiffly with the sound of knee joins cracking. Dylan sat upright in bed, rubbing at his tired eyes. The heat from the afternoon sun poured into the crack between the curtains, another hot day in the city. He rested his eyes on the clock flashing it's red beams at him, 12:45pm. Fantastic, he was late again.

With a yawn Dylan threw off the blankets, sticky with sweat, and stabbed at the remote, yawning as the picture came into focus. An attractive blonde read to him the weather conditions, like he needed reminding.

"..and that makes it the tenth scortching day in a row in the nations capital today continuing the south western heatwave this summer. Expect temperatures to reach 42-43 degrees celsius with the humidity. Stay in the shade again today folks, it's less than..."

Dylan stabbed at the remote again, deciding to substitute bad news for cartoon violence. On the screen now a squirrel was hitting a goofy looking dog with a spade.

He stood, and threw back the curtains letting the light swim into his bedroom. From here on the 21st floor Dylan could see half of the city. The half with not much to look at though. Under him a highway was clogged with the sounds of angry honks and exhaust fumes. Across the way several more apartment buildings and office blocks and behind them he could barely make out the river. It was a blue streak bordered by a sea of green lush leaves soaking up the sunlight, and suddenly he longed for nothing more than to have a nice cool swim. Dylan slid open his window hoping for a blast of cool air. No such luck, only exhausting heat hit him. In all his 22 years, the city had never been this hot. His black t-shirt stuck to his body as the humid air blew in through the window.

He peeled himself away from the window and headed for the closet. Already about 15 minutes late for work, and work was another 30 mins away plus however long it took him to get ready. He didn't really care all that much about being late, the job was soul sucking and degrading, but work was work and paychecks didn't mail themselves for nothing. He pulled out a pair of jeans from the closet and grumpily pulled them on, thinking about how his job made him feel like a zombie sometimes.

The bathroom door creaked open and Dylan stepped in. He leaned forward and starred at his groggy reflection, watching the green eyes stare directly back. Time for a haircut, he thought as he ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair, it was getting past his ears. With a sigh, he splashed some water on his unshaven face, and started to get ready for work.

3:25 PM

Alexandra was in a really, really bad mood today.

Firstly, she had two customers walk out without paying their bills, which came out of her paycheck. Then of course there was the fat greasy guy who had the nerve to call her 'babe' and 'darlin' while she was taking his order. And, to the delight of the kitchen staff, she'd dropped a tray of glasses, all of which also had to come out of her tips.

She sighed heavily, fastened the laces on her sneakers in the changing room and grabbed her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. With a final glance in the mirror, making sure her red hair was straight and there were no blemishes on her pointy nose, she headed out.

What she needed, Alex thought thinking to herself as she stepped out of Jacks Diner and into the heavy heat of the midday sun, was a good shower, and a couple of cold beers. She walked over to the bus stop brushing a few red locks out of her eyes. The heat was unbearable. She was dressed light in a pair of tight shorts and a tank top but still found the heat almost nauseating. She glanced back at the diner in disgust as the bus pulled up alongside her with a roar of overheating engines. Alex hopped in, flashed the driver her pass, and looked around for a seat. Everyone seemed to be in the same mood as her. Angry and exhausted red faces watched her walk up the middle of the rocking bus as she grabbed a seat next to an old woman who was dozing off, her head bouncing against the window. Alex adjusted her bag to put a little space between her and the snoozing lady, and settled in for the ride.

Someone coughed in the back of the bus, followed shortly by another person coughing up by the front. Gross. Although she couldn't blame people for not feeling well, the heat was killer today. She watched out the window as the houses from the quaint suburbia zipped past. Pastel coloured green and pink houses went by. Trees grasping for water on dry lawns, and kids just finishing school ready to go have a nice swim in their best friends pools. A swim, man that sounded like a good thought right about now.

Cough, cough!

Whoever was coughing was getting on her nerves. It was still going behind her, but raspier now. She shot a frown behind her and saw it was a guy about her age, mid twenties. He was doubled over grasping his stomach and coughing downwards. Several people sitting around him had moved away. Poor guy, probably just needed a cool drink.

Alex turned her attention back to the bus route. She was leaving the subs now, heading for the city. She couldn't wait to get home, have a nice shower. Maybe she'd call Brad, see what he was up to tonight. Thoughts of Brad made her grin sheepishly.

She heard the guy cough again, and again. She whipped her head around in time with everyone else to check in and see what was going on. A woman was standing up and staring down at the guy, a concerned look resting on her features.

"Are you alright?" the woman standing asked him. He was spluttering everywhere, trying to catch his breath. He lifted a shaky hand and pulled the yellow cord above him, still coughing. The stop bell rang out and the bus screeched to a halt, throwing some people off balance. Before anyone could move, the guy stood up, grasping his stomach, a look of sheer pain and torment on his coughing face. The woman who was standing fell back into a seat, startled.

Alex saw him coming her way, realizing he would need to pass her to get off the back door. She squeezed into the seat to let him pass. The guy coughed again as he stumbled past her to the door, brushing against her leg. Then suddenly, the door was open and he was gone, running down a side street still clutching his stomach in pain. Alex watched him run off, feeling a little shocked. She looked around the bus to see the same expressions on the faces of everyone else. What the hell just happened?

A murmur of voices rose up around Alex as the bus took off again. They were understandably discussing the bizarre event. She starred, stunned, out the window at the buildings zipping by again. The small suburban houses had given away to large office complexes and clothes stores.

The old woman beside her was still dozing peacefully. Thank god she was almost home, that shower was starting to look really good now.She looked down at her knee, it was starting to sting. The coughing guy had grazed it slightly as he'd past, a small cut but nothing to worry about. Thankfully her apartment was right on the bus route. She'd be in the shower in no time, scrubbing at it.

What a bad day. Alex was incredibly hot and grumpy, she almost quit again having lost half her paycheck, and now some sick guy had thrown a coughing fit on the bus and run off, cutting her leg. Hopefully, she thought, the rest of the week wouldn't be this bad. Surely it couldn't get much worse.

It does make for an interesting tale to tell Brad, though. She smiled again, and continued to watch the city buildings and cars zip by outside the bus windows.

9:54 PM

With the setting sun each night in the summer came a cool relief to the city. The nights were warm, but bearable and friendly compared to the festering intensive heat from the sun over the last several days. Beers clanked over the drone of entertaining conversation on wooden bar patios as Dylan trudged his way home. He longed to join them, to wash away the sweat and labour of another hard days work. The street was only starting to dim and a cool breeze wafted through his untidy hair. He closed his eyes and welcomed it. Only another 5 minutes or so until he got home, maybe he'd call a few of the guys, see what they were up to tonight. It may be Monday, but damn it he needed a drink. Dylan turned off Main Street and crossed the road over to Alburn Lane, spotting the apartment building looming in the distance. High above, dark clouds slowly closed in, threatening rain. A refreshing change that would be to the dry humidity they were suffering through.

He fumbled around in his pocket for his keys, and pulled them out, turning onto the brick path that lead up to the door of his apartment building. His ears tuned into someone coughing somewhere out of sight, whoever it was needed a cool drink really bad. He paid it no further attention and slid his key into the lock. The lobby door swung open and Dylan stepped inside. Several people were standing in a circle around something. That’s weird. He made for the crowd, eager to investigate, only half aware of the growing sound of sirens in the distance.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked the crowd of seven or eight tired looking tenants. A pretty red head turned to him. He knew her as Alex, she lived across the hall from him. They'd made chit chat a few times in the elevator before, but not much more than that. "This guy just started coughing, and then he passed out," she told him as he peered over the crowd. "Someone called an ambulance. I think he had a heart attack or something." The sirens grew louder outside, it was probably the ambulance coming for this guy.

Sure enough, as Dylan moved in for a closer look he saw an elderly man in a jogging getup. His eyes were tightly closed with an expression of pain. His skin was completely white. It didn't look good, poor guy.

"I'm sure he'll be okay. Sounds like the ambulance is here too," said Dylan, turning back to face Alex. At that moment the lobby flashed blue as the ambulance pulled up outside the building. The sirens shut off and he heard a few doors slamming.

He turned away from the mumbling crowd and stabbed the elevator up button. Alex joined him, flashing her green eyes back at the old man with an expression of concern. He noticed she was wearing flip flops, and had painted her toe nails blue. She was holding a stack of letters.

"Going up?" he asked her.

"Yeah. I was just grabbing my mail, and then i saw him start coughing, and collapse. Just like that. How awful." she paused for a few moments to watch the elevator floor numbers tick down. Dylan watched her adjust a strap of her tank top nervously. "It's strange," she continued, "I saw a guy almost cough up a lung on the bus today too." She thumbed at her mail, lost in thought.

"Must be something going around" replied Dylan. The elevator doors slid open with an annoying 'ding' and they both stepped inside. He punched the button for the 21st floor and took a final look back at the crowd as the doors slid closed.

10:04 PM

"See you later then," Alex told Dylan as she unlocked her apartment door and stepped inside. She watched him nod and smile at her before closing the door and turning the latch. Nice guy, she enjoyed randomly catching him in the elevator. She kicked off her flip flops and threw her mail down on the counter. Phew, what a day! She was glad it was over. Mondays never seemed to agree with her. A pitter patter of rain erupted against her open window suddenly. She smiled, and crossed the room to close the open window before the carpet got soaked. The window swung closed with a lazy click. She loved rain, especially in the summer, it sounded so refreshing. The sky outside was growing darker with the rain clouds casting a ominous shadow across the concrete jungle, the city she loved. Alex stood at the window and watched tiny car headlights dance between buildings far below, people on the street opening umbrellas and lights flicker on in other buildings. Her world seemed to let out a sigh of relief with the coming rain.

Alex plunked down in the couch behind her, listening to the pitter patter against her windows. The TV flashed on with a click of the remote and she found herself greeted by a rock band, jumping around on a brightly lit stage screaming lyrics she couldn't decipher. Another click of a button took her to a couple of yellow cartoon characters having a conversation. Click. An anchorman talking about deaths due to the heat wave. Click. A wife yelling at her husband for something. She frowned, and clicked to the previous channel, leaning in to pay attention.

"...so far because of the heat wave, which has claimed the lives of twelve people in the city." The anchorman said with a look of boredom on his wrinkled brow. "Once again there is a heat alert issued currently asking that everyone stay out of the sun as much as possible in the days to come, especially children and the elderly." Alex watched the news reader shuffle his notes, and then he continued. "Several citizens in the southern area of the city called 911 today reporting a disturbance on the Smith and Westedge crossroads. Calls referred to a small group of trouble makers attacking bystanders by the Transitway station. No arrests were made as the group had dispersed by the time law enforcement officials arrived. Witnesses say the trouble makers were acting..."

RING RING!!

The phone rang, making Alex jump. Why was she so edgy today? She smiled at herself and reached for the phone.

"Brad! Hi! How are you?"

Looks like she was going to have a good night afterall.

TWO

Tuesday, July 12th

8:12 AM

"Sorry, the line is closed" said the conductor, pulling shut the train station gate. It slammed with a metalic clang and locked into place.

Brad was furious. He always took the transit train to work, now what was he supposed to do? He banged a fist softly against the gate. They couldn't just close the damn transit line!

"Why is the line closed!?" he yelled out.

"Body on the tracks" replied the conductor, stuffing a gold pocket watch back into his navy blue pants. "Nothing we can do until the police give us the clear. I'm sorry."

"Body on the tracks?" said Brad, more to himself than anything else. How did a dead person wind up on the transit line?

"Yup. Probably a suicide, that's what they're saying at the station. City has closed all the trains on the line for the time being." The conductor turned and slumped away from the gate, removing his cap and mumbling something about train security.

Unbelievable, Brad thought to himself as he looked around and saw the same grim expressions on several other early morning train riders. Now he'd have to take the bus, and that would take him a good hour at least. He flicked a few strands of dark curly hair out of his blue eyes and turned towards the bus stop.

The morning sun had not yet reared it's head from behind the black rain clouds still lingering from the night before. A fierce storm had attacked overnight, giving the city a much needed bath to wash away some of the summer dirt and humidity. Everything felt fresher and cooler than it had in a couple weeks, although it was supposed to be a really hot day again. Thunder rolled over the horizon as Brad walked stiffly over to the bus stop, sticking his hands in his jeans. Several other people followed suit and came to stand at the stop, mostly dressed in business attire and all looking just as annoyed as he. Some of them, he noticed, were looking abit pale and let out a few coughs here and there, a strained look in their eyes. Then again, maybe it was just the poor light, it was a grey and dull sort of morning, compared to the bright sunny mornings of the previous several days.

Body on the tracks, Brad thought. Just what he needed to get a good start to the day. And the bus wouldn't arrive for another 5 minutes yet.

Really he wasn't even supposed to be working today. But both Jay and Eric had called in sick complaining of headaches and the usual crap, so the boss ordered him to come in. He kicked a pebble off the sidewalk into the road in impatience and cast a glance around at the other people waiting. A woman wearing a pink blouse had an open newspaper to her nose. The front page headline read "Mutilated Remains Found!" in big block lettering. Brad, ever curious, leaned his head in to read the first paragraph.

"At around 10pm last night the grizzly remains of a 30-year-old woman's body were found by a passer-by on the left bank of Arclay River in the older district of the city. Police officals refuse to comment at this time of the nature of the attack, but did confirm that, disturbingly, human teeth marks were found along her mutilated arms and left foot that show considerable power. Police are asking for anyone who has information of..."

The woman reading the paper folded it in half and stuck it into her purse as the bus pulled up alongside Brad and opened it's doors with a squeak. As Brad stepped onto the bus he couldn't help but wonder if the body on the tracks and the mutilated womans remains were part of the same thing. Afterall, it was abit unusual to have two suspicious deaths in the same day. It was only a small city. He took a seat at the back of the bus as it left the stop and starred out the window, lost in thought.

3:04 PM

It had been yet another long, hard and exhaustingly hot day for Alex. The sun beat menacingly at the windows of Jacks Diner through lingering rain clouds as she neared the end of her shift.

She was still tired from all of yesterday's incidents, and from staying up little too late on the phone with Brad. He was so funny, they had talked for hours and she had completely lost track of time. Now she was paying for it. Alex yawned again with tiredness and bent over a recently vacated table to wipe it down. Work was, as usual, nothing more than a hassle she didn't need. If it wasn't for the money she would have been out of here long ago but the tips were good and Jack paid pretty well. And at least it was air conditioned.

It had been a funny sort of day so far. Jacks Diner had been usually quiet. Looking around the Diner now she could only see about 6 or 7 people in the green-clad restaurant, all by themselves eating a quick late lunch. Some of the staff were absent today too. Several had called in sick, including Jack himself, and that was very rare. Police cars and ambulances had been whizzing by the windows all day, another odd occurance for this quiet suburban part of the city.

Alex wiped her brow and turned to fetch an order from the kitchen, her red hair locked in a ponytail swishing behind her with each step. A blast of heat and steam and noise hit her as she pushed open the kitchen doors and spied an order of fries up on the counter. The cooks all shouted to each other in a secret lingo and leered her as she quickly fetched the basket of fries and made a quick exit, her heels clicking along the greasy tiles. The kitchen staff were creepy, they always starred at her like she was a piece of meat. The door swung open and Alex was back in the air conditioned comfort of the Diner, shoes now knocking against varnished hardwood. There were definately worse places to work, she had to admit.

"Here is your order sir, is there anything else I can get you?" Alex asked the man in a blue shirt, placing down the basket of fries. He looked up at her, cellphone pressed to one ear, and shook his head. Alex smiled and turned back to the kitchen, when part of the mans conversation attracted her ear. She listened in and walked slowly away.

"....on the tracks you say? You're kidding. What did they say happened?... Suicide? That sounds a little odd..."

She heard no more as the conversation went out of listening range. Sounded like he was talking about the transitway train tracks, Brad took the train to work in the morning. But the suicide? That doesn't usually happen in this city. Another bizarre occurance to add to the so far very odd day.

Cough. Cough, cough...

Alex stopped suddenly, and looked around.

Cough.. cough cough... cough...

The same deep, throaty cough that she heard the day before on the bus. She found their source, a woman in a pink flowery summer dress sitting alone in the corner of the Diner out of the hot afternoon sun. She had her hands to her mouth and was coughing into them. The poor woman seemed to be choking and unable to catch her breath. She coughed again, her body lurching forward with each cough. A couple customers sitting by her stood, and one asked if she was okay. The woman didn't reply, only letting out another hail of harsh coughs. Alex started walking over to the woman. Suddenly, she stood up, the chair going flying out behind her. She grabbed her throat, squeezed it, coughing and spluttering and moaning in agony! Everyone was standing now, starring at the scene unfolding.

"Are you alright? Sit down i'll get some water" said Alex, reaching over to the woman. Her eyes were wide open and wild, fixing on the faces around her. She was sweating, her fingers clawed at her throat as if to make a new hole to breathe through. Another hail of coughs and splutters erupted. One man put is arm around her for support, saying something Alex couldn't make out over the coughing fit.

And then, just like that, blood erupted from the womans mouth. It spewed forth over her pink dress and splashed all over the table and floor. Alex screamed as blood splattered all over her white blouse and apron.

The Diner was suddenly deathly silent. Alex, white as a ghost, stood wide-eyed with her hands clasped to her mouth. All around the room people stood, mouths gaping, starring at the scene. It seemed like an eternity to Alex that they all stood, frozen in time.

Then, the woman let out a gurgling sound and threw up another gush of blood, which splattered to the ground. Her eyes fluttered, and she collapsed forwards onto the table. With a smash and a bang, both the table and the woman lay in a crumpled heap in a pool of blood.

"Ss.. someone call 911..." Alex whispered, lowering her hands. The man in the blue shirt she had delivered the fries too was already dialing it on his cellphone. Another man with long hair who was closest to the poor woman kneeled down to the woman, pushing the upturned table away. No one else moved, or spoke. It took Alex all her strength to just stand there, gazing at the bloody carnage that just took place.

She felt hands on her shoulders and realised how cold she was. The hands were warm, inviting, comfortable. Real in an unreal situation. She turned her head and fixed her bright green eyes on Mitchell, fellow waiter at the Diner. His face was sollem, and he didn't speak but gently leaned Alex into a chair. Her legs gave way and she slumped into it, burying her head in her hands. And there she sat until the ambulance arrived and hoisted the unconcious woman away.

10:33 PM

On the short walk home from work, Dylan felt exhausted. Again. He was certain that the shift work would be the death of him. One day he would work really late and then the next day he'd be working really early. There was no consistency, and he felt tired all the time.

He walked down Main street, the slight breeze wafting through his hair, and was disgusted that the sight of construction materials. Seems as though that road has been under construction for years. When on earth would they finish? Orange pylons lay scattered around holes dug into the road and red barriers around dug-up pipes. He noticed that behind one set of barriers, the sewer was wide open. They could have at least put the lid back on.

Dylan turned the corner off Main St and onto Alburn, his building now in sight. He was looking forward to getting home and crawling into bed with the TV on and a bag of chips. Tomorrow he was working an early day, so he had to make sure to get to sleep as soon as possible. He'd been late to work too much recently, and decided at that point he would start looking for a new job. Tomorrow, if he wasn't to busy at work.

Alburn road was unusually quiet tonight. No cars zoomed past, he couldn't even hear the usual drone of people talking through open windows. He heard a noise coming from an alley to his right, a sort of shuffling sound. It was probably nothing, he couldn't see anything, it was far too dark for investigation. Afterall, you never knew who was hiding out in the alleys these days.

Suddenly, a tall man with a ripped cardigan stumbled out of the darkness towards him. His feet scrapped along the concrete, and he let out a soft, eerie moan.

Dylan smiled at the man. "Darn drunk," he mumbled to himself and continued on his way home. He hated all the alleyways around these parts, they were always filled with bums, drunks and thugs. Luckily they never had problems at his building, and it's quite rare that anything bad ever happened. It was a nice city afterall, just a little lienient on bums.

A few minutes later Dylan was walking up the steps to the front door of his building, and letting himself in. He punched the elevator call button, and waited impatiently for one of the four elevators to arrive. None of them seemed to be moving, as usual. They had to be the slowest elevators ever. "Well that's just great." Dylan thought to himself.

Finally, after several minutes, the doors opened. He got in with a young couple and two older men who had appeared behind him while he was waiting. The men seemed to be deep into conversation, they were mumbling to each other. He couldn't hear what they were saying, since the young couple were talking over them until they got off on the 8th floor. As the doors closed, Dylan heard one of them say something about someone getting bitten.

But the two stopped their conversation short when he noticed Dylan was listening. They remained quiet until they got off on the 16th floor. Dylan was alone the rest of the way up to his floor, the 21st.

When he stepped off the elevator onto his floor, and headed towards his apartment, he was thinking about that odd conversation those men were having, but didn't think too much of it. Reports of dog bites and attacks were all over the papers in recent months.

Dylan unlocked his front door, and closed it behind him. Finally in his living room, he turned on the television while he made himself a quick snack before bed. There was somekind of breaking news on the local news station, a body was found on the train tracks this morning. That was quite the odd occurence. He listened as they mentioned the name, George Harvey, and played interviews with his devistated family. How disgusting, that they would bother these poor people for publicity, Dylan thought to himself.

With that, he flicked the TV off, and closed his bedroom door behind him, thinking about how tomorrow was just another routine day.

10:54 PM

Alex yawned sleepily in her dark living room. She couldn't sleep, so she'd decided to wrap herself up in a blanket and watch some TV. The light from her 27" silver set bathed her apartment in shadows. She reached her now greasy hand into the bag of cheetos, comfort food, and slid one into her mouth, eyes fixed on the TV.

There was nothing really on at the moment, and she wasn't interested in the slightest bit in the sitcoms and whatnot, but it kept her mind off todays incident. She was actually waiting for the 11 o'clock late night news, just to see if there were any more reports of people coughing up blood or passing out. She was so tired and really just wanted to go to sleep, but just couldn't get the images from the day out of her head. Alex let her eyes droop, and closed them.

Blood.. there was so much blood and it was coming out of the womans mouth, and Alex was screaming, covered in blood, and the woman was on the floor in the blood...

She immediately opened her eyes, and fixed them on the TV again, new tears welling up.

After the woman was taken away Mitchell gave her a ride home in his banged up red Toyota. He'd offered to come up too, but she had much rather be left alone at that point. After throwing her blood-stained white shirt in the trash she'd taken a very long hot shower, and wept.

Nothing had been said on the news about the incident so far, the only thing she'd noted was the body on the tracks they'd found earlier in the morning. Apparently, no one knew the cause of death, or how he got there. Bizarre. Other than that, there were a few reports of heat-related problems with the elderly, nothing special, and of course a small update on that mutilated corpse they found on the bank of the river last night. Gross, she couldn't imagine stumbling across something like that.

Alex yawned again, and stood up holding the blanket around her, and crossed to the window. The sky was clear and black, illuminated by a thousand orange streetlights. But strangely, the highway was pretty quiet. A few cars whizzed by but nothing compared to the usual midnight traffic. Her eyes focused on some flashing blue and red lights parked between a couple highrise office complexes, maybe a bust or accident. And there was the river, a big black area devoid of light and life.

Looking down at the path around the building, she spied about 5 people under a streelamp. They were all kneeling over something, moving their heads around. Odd. Well, she thought, probably just a few people out for a late walk, one of which having dropped a contact lens or something.

Some music played on the TV, making Alex turn her sleepy head to look. The 11 o'clock news was starting, finally. She sat back down, thinking vaguely of ordering pizza, and tuned herself into the TV.

A man in a blue suit sat on the TV now, ruffling some papers and looking a little concerned. A small picture box appeared on the upper left of the screen with a picture of a thirty-something man coughing into his hands. Alex widened her eyes, and leaned in to the TV as the anchorman started to speak.

"Hello and thank you for joining us tonight, tuesday the 12th of July, for news at 11. My name is Derek Martin. Our top stories tonight..."

Alex watched on as a bunch of war scenes from foreign countrys flashed by on the TV narrated by Mr Martin. Then something about a bill being passed, and a scandal at the Parliment Buildings. She wished he'd get to the topic at hand.

"But first," said Derek Martin, resting his arms on the table infront of him, "is the city in the midst of an epidemic? Calls to 911 have increased almost 75% over the past two days from city residents who all appear to be suffering from the same symptoms of illness. These symptoms do include but are not restricted to head and stomach pains, as well as severe coughing fits and loss of conciousness."

Alex started to feel very uneasy. So there is a virus going around. Could she have it from all the blood?

The scene skipped from the anchorman to a panning shot of a main downtown street shortly before dusk. An ambulance, it's lights blarring, sat amidst a crowd of onlookers.

The narration continued. "Earlier today nearly 100 people were rusted to hospitals all over the city in critical condition after apparently suffering from coughing fits and losing conciousness. Reports also indicated that in some cases the victim vomited blood. No patients have yet been reported dead but many are on life support and hospitals are crowded. However, authorities are requesting that everyone go about their daily routines, but to simply take extra precaution."

The TV now skipped back to the anchorman as Alex watched, horrified. So it wasn't just her bad luck, it was happening all over the city.

"Medical officials have yet to clearly define what is causing this string of illness, but request that anyone who is feeling ill and experiencing any kind of pain or coughing to stay in their homes and call 911 immediately to stop the spread of what can only be described as, a viral outbreak.

We will have more on this story as it develops, stay tuned to CHRO, your local news station, for more information as we recieve it."

He then suffled a few papers around and the picture box changed to a soldier from the middle-east.

Alex sat back in the couch, feeling her heart flutter a little bit. Did he really say that? A viral outbreak? She thought back to the SARS epidemic a couple of years ago. A lot of people died, but the media overplayed it quite a bit. But this seems quite different. Her mind wondered to her co-workers who had called in sick today, and how it was unusually quiet it was, both at work and on the highway. No way that many people could be infected with whatever it was, that would be thousands of people.

Well, the anchorman did say no one had died, maybe it isn't as bad as all that. She looked out the window into the night sky, hoping to whatever being that may be watching she didn't get infected herself.

THREE

Wednesday, July 13th

6:37 AM

Alex could barely open her eyes. She was so tired, and wasn't even sure what time it had been last night when she turned off the TV and dragged herself into bed. And on top of the lack of sleep, she had nightmares all night...

People screaming and dying all over the city, throwing up blood and it was just everywhere, everything was covered red. It was all over the ground, and on their hands and in their hair...

Alex shook the nightmare from her foggy mind and forced herself to get up, she had to leave for work soon. She stumbled into her tiny bathroom, went up to the sink and ran the cold water, spashing some on her face in an attempt to wake herself up a little. Looking in the mirror, Alex immediately noticed the huge bags under her eyes. Not even make-up could hide this, she thought to herself. She felt like crap, and certainly didn't look much better.

She switched off the tap and walked into the living room. The curtains were drawn over her windows overlooking the city. She didn't feel like letting the morning sun flood into her apartment yet, and decided to leave them closed. With a click of a button the TV turned on. She wanted to avoid the news, so she turned on the weather channel. Still warm out, but it does look like it's cooling down a little. That was something at least. Looks like they're forcasting rain for later today.

Now, for some breakfast. In the kitchen she grabbed a box of cheerios, and poured some into a bowl along with milk and a couple chopped up banana slices. Hopefully that'll make her feel better. She took a couple of spoonfuls, only to be greeted by an unpleasent feeling in her stomach. She then ran to the bathroom as fast as she could, getting to the toilet just in time to throw up. Well, there goes breakfast, she thought.

After cleaning up and brushing her teeth, she went and picked up the phone. There was no way she was going into work today. As if the whole ordeal yesterday hadn't been enough, she wasn't feeling well enough for Jacks Diner today.

After a couple rings, the answer machine picked up. That's odd, someone always answered the phone there, usually. Jacks icy voice spoke to her through the machine.

"Thank you for calling Jacks Diner. All the staff are currently unavailable to take your call at the moment, but feel free to leave a message, and we'll get back to you shortly." Followed by a beeep.

"Hi, it's Alex. I won't be coming in today. I'm not feeling that well."

7:41 AM

It was far, far too early for Dylan.

He was a late sleeper, one of those people who could stay awake to any hour of the night with ease, but always had trouble getting up in the morning no matter what time he went to sleep the night before.

He yawned grumpily and pushed open the front door of the apartment building, steping out into the cool morning air and squinting at the brightness of the newly risen sun.

Dylan adjusted the straps of his rucksack for comfort and walked down the path onto the road, heading for work. It was a quiet morning, a few birds sang to each other through the camouflage of green foliage, and every now and then he heard a car roar by in the distance, but no other sounds at all. He could see up Alburn road all the way past the construction site to Main street, and as far as he could tell, there wasn't a single other person or vehicle at all. Dylan frowned, that was very odd. Probably just a coincidence though, and after all it was pretty early.

A cool breeze blew his untidy hair slightly and bent the untrimmed grass of several lawns as Dylan trekked on. He could ear a car alarm buzzing somewhere about a block away, and wished someone would turn it off. He hated car alarms. He passed the Alburn road Quick-Easy Mart, and noticed it was dark inside. No sign of life. It usually opened really early, so it was a surprise to see it still closed. Dylan knew one of the clerks who worked there full time really well. John-Paul, who went by JP. Nice guy, and one of Dylan’s closest mates. He was lazy as hell and a bit of a slob though. Many a night had been passed at Dylan’s apartment with JP, drinking and eating pizza and playing video games until the sun came up.

Something rustled in a heavy green bush between two cream coloured houses, enough to have been caused by more than just the wind. Dylan stopped, and eyed the bush suspiciously. He once again became horribly aware of how quiet and still the morning is, he still hadn't seen a single other person on the streets yet.

The bush shook again and suddenly an orange tabby cat jumped out, meowing at Dylan in a lazy attention-seeking tone. Dylan almost laughed for being so paranoid. He bent down and scratched one orange furry ear, and then continued his walk.

He passed the construction site, an ugly thorn sticking up in the road. The manhole was still open, surrounded by baricades, but no sign of any construction crew. It'll probably take the city months just to fix a pipe or whatever they're doing there, as usual. He felt for the houses lining the construction area, must be noisy. He glanced up at the windows of one wood-paneled three story home and noticed one of the windows was smashed outwards.

Dylan stopped and turned around suddenly. Was that a scream he just heard? It was very faint, but it definitely sounded like someone screaming. He squinted down the road and saw someone standing, right in the middle of the road. Not moving, just standing there, just outside where his apartment building was. Why were they just standing there? Maybe they dropped something.

Dylan was starting to get a little freaked out. All the houses around him were deathly silent, not filled with their usual morning bustle of showers and conversation. He turned back to the sidewalk leading up to Main street, his heart starting to beat just a little faster. Was that another scream he just heard, or was he imagining things? Maybe it was just a bird. Like the first noise. Had to be, why would someone be screaming?

A car zoomed past in front of him on Main street with a roar of the engine. Way to fast for the speed limit on the road. Dylan glanced up and saw that the lights were red, that car just ran a red light. Then there was a sound like glass smashing from somewhere out of sight, making Dylan jump a little. He whipped his head around, searching for where the sound came from, but everything was still and quiet again.

He was starting to think going to work today would be a bad idea.

Nevertheless, he continued towards work, turning onto Main street. Besides being in an older part of the city, this street was usually pretty busy even at 8 in the morning. Again, the street was pretty much empty. He did see a few people just up the road on Main however, two or three people kneeling down in the road. Maybe there had been an accident on the street? They'd closed of the roads? He was going that way anyway so he'd see when he got there.

He passed by a white old looking house and noticed the door was wide open, creaking slowly in the slight breeze. Something red was smeared all over the door and path...

THUMP!

Something hit Dylan from behind. He fell foward onto the sidewalk, landing hard on his hands letting out an annoyed 'oof!'. Looking up he saw a girl in black pants running as fast as she could up the street, without even looking back. She crossed and dissapeared down a small alley. Dylan pushed himself up off the ground, noticed his palms were grazed. He took a look behind him but didn't see what she could have been running from. The street was completely devoid of life in that direction as far as he could see, just a few cars parked along the gutter.

What the hell was going on today? Something was seriously wrong in this city. Should he go home? What would his excuse be for not going into work?

Sorry i didn't come in to work, it was quiet out and someone ran past me, and i got scared and went home.

No, he'd go to work. He crossed over the deserted road and continued on, keeping a sharp eye out for odd goings on.

Edited by BurnSide
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wow. just wow. that is awesome. so freakin PRO!!!

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Thank you Nemesis, very much appreciated. grin2.gif

The next part is coming along nicely, and it will NOT dissapoint, i promise. Stay turned. grin2.gif

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NEW PART!

(ADDED to MAIN FIRST POST)

---------------------------

3:04 PM

It had been yet another long, hard day for Alex. The sun beat menacingly at the windows of Jacks Diner through lingering rain clouds as she neared the end of her shift.

She was still tired from all of yesterday's incidents, and from staying up little too late on the phone with Brad. He was so funny, they had talked for hours and she had completely lost track of time. Now she was paying for it. Alex yawned again with tiredness and bent over a recently vacated table to wipe it down. Work was, as usual, nothing more than a hassle she didn't need. If it wasn't for the money she would have been out of here long ago but the tips were good and Jack paid pretty well. And at least it was air conditioned.

It had been a funny sort of day so far. Jacks Diner had been usually quiet. Looking around the Diner now she could only see about 6 or 7 people in the green-clad restaurant, all by themselves eating a quick late lunch. Some of the staff were absent today too. Several had called in sick, including Jack himself, and that was very rare. Police cars and ambulances had been whizzing by the windows all day, another odd occurance for this quiet suburban part of the city.

Alex wiped her brow and turned to fetch an order from the kitchen, her red hair locked in a ponytail swishing behind her with each step. A blast of heat and steam and noise hit her as she pushed open the kitchen doors and spied an order of fries up on the counter. The cooks all shouted to each other in a secret lingo and leered her as she quickly fetched the basket of fries and made a quick exit, her heels clicking along the greasy tiles. The kitchen staff were creepy, they always starred at her like she was a piece of meat. The door swung open and Alex was back in the air conditioned comfort of the Diner, shoes now knocking against varnished hardwood. There were definately worse places to work, she had to admit.

"Here is your order sir, is there anything else I can get you?" Alex asked the man in a blue shirt, placing down the basket of fries. He looked up at her, cellphone pressed to one ear, and shook his head. Alex smiled and turned back to the kitchen, when part of the mans conversation attracted her ear. She listened in and walked slowly away.

"....on the tracks you say? You're kidding. What did they say happened?... Suicide? That sounds a little odd..."

She heard no more as the conversation went out of listening range. Sounded like he was talking about the transitway train tracks, Brad took the train to work in the morning. But the suicide? That doesn't usually happen in this city. Another bizarre occurance to add to the so far very odd day.

Cough. Cough, cough...

Alex stopped suddenly, and looked around.

Cough.. cough cough... cough...

The same deep, throaty cough that she heard the day before on the bus. She found their source, a woman in a pink flowery summer dress sitting alone in the corner of the Diner out of the hot afternoon sun. She had her hands to her mouth and was coughing into them. The poor woman seemed to be choking and unable to catch her breath. She coughed again, her body lurching forward with each cough. A couple customers sitting by her stood, and one asked if she was okay. The woman didn't reply, only letting out another hail of harsh coughs. Alex started walking over to the woman. Suddenly, she stood up, the chair going flying out behind her. She grabbed her throat, squeezed it, coughing and spluttering and moaning in agony! Everyone was standing now, starring at the scene unfold.

"Are you alright? Sit down i'll get some water" said Alex, reaching over to the woman. Her eyes were wide open and wild, fixing on the faces around her. She was sweating, her fingers clawed at her throat as if to make a new hole to breathe through. Another hail of coughs and splutters erupted. One man put is arm around her for support, saying something Alex couldn't make out over the coughing fit.

And then, just like that, blood erupted from the womans mouth. It spewed forth over her pink dress and splashed all over the table and floor. Alex screamed as blood splattered all over her white blouse and apron.

The Diner was suddenly deathly silent. Alex, white as a ghost, stood wide-eyed with her hands clasped to her mouth. All around the room people stood, mouths gaping, starring at the scene. It seemed like an eternity to Alex that they all stood, frozen in time.

Then, the woman let out a gurgling sound and threw up another gush of blood, which splattered to the ground. Her eyes fluttered, and she collapsed forwards onto the table. With a smash and a bang, both the table and the woman lay in a crumpled heap in a pool of blood.

"Ss.. someone call 911..." Alex whispered, lowering her hands. The man in the blue shirt she had delivered the fries too was already dialing it on his cellphone. Another man with long hair who was closest to the poor woman kneeled down to the woman, pushing the upturned table away. No one else moved, or spoke. It took Alex all her strength to just stand there, gazing at the bloody carnage that just took place.

She felt hands on her shoulders and realised how cold she was. The hands were warm, inviting, comfortable. Real in an unreal situation. She turned her head and fixed her bright green eyes on Mitchell, fellow waiter at the Diner. His face was sollem, and he didn't speak but gently leaned Alex into a chair. Her legs gave way and she slumped into it, burying her head in her hands. And there she sat until the ambulance arrived and hoisted the unconcious woman away.

Edited by BurnSide
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WOW! thats really awesome! great story! thumbsup.gif

Edited by ~Nemesis~
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Wow. that was awsome. very intense and graphic description. i imagined the whole thing in my head as i read it. It seems like it could really happen, which is why i loved this part ,especially, so far. i cant wait until the next part. Great job! thumbsup.gif

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Awesome feedback, thanks guys.

I do myself especially like this part, and all credit goes to my lovely Disinterested who actually wrote out the whole draft for it. I just edited it and added description. original.gif

This part pretty much signifies the start of the whole fiasco, as we are finally introduced to the first 'turning'...

Stay tuned peeps, more to come!!

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Well, then props to Disinterested too! original.gif you are both fantastic writers.

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have you thought about publishing, i wrote my book and i could help you out if you need some publishers.

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I haven't really. It's just abit of fun for the most part, nothing professional. I guess once it's complete i could see if any publishers like it. *shrugs*

Did you read it? What did you think?

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ohmy.gif I love it! Fantastic yet again, Burnsy! Such good description, i could just see all the blood...
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Thanks Star! Glad you liked the latest part. grin2.gif Dis is the lady responsible for this part, i just added the description and detail.

I will hopefully have the next part posted tonight!

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Well done to Dis aswell then! thumbsup.gif

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We're having a little difficulty in which direction we should take the story, so it wont be posted tonight.

I'm sure it will be up shortly though. original.gif

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Dude, no problem! If you leave us hanging on, then we will be more excited when it comes out tongue.gif

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haha well i'll be sure not to leave you hanging TOO long. original.gif

It's going to be a long story it seems. It's already pretty long, and it's barely even started!

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SOOOOOOO awesome!!!!

yes.gif

I love the way we know what's happening, but they don't.

I also like the sutle things, like the people cougthing near the bus station.

yes.gif SO AWESOME! laugh.gif

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That would be Brads part? Yeah i like to add little things to keep the readers on their toes. The reader knows. grin2.gif

What about the part after with Alex? That's the real kicker.

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Uh-huh.

The blood part was real discriptive. Icky. I like it.

(I'm going to call it a night. Goodnight)

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No kidding, it's what, 2:30 for you? tongue.gif

The next part should be ready by the time you're up tomorrow. I'm writing it now. grin2.gif

Thanks for reading.

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Yes! new part! i cant wait to read it. is there gonna be a lot more happeneing in the next part?

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Not nessesarily.

A main incident has happened three times with Alex now, she she is starting to figure out that something is going on. Dylan, and to a lesser extent Brad, however, are not really aware. So i'm still building up the story with them.

The main stuff will start to happen towards the end of the next day.

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Well, thats still really good. It really builds up the suspense of the whole thing, which you are doing really well with so far, i might add.

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Wow! It leaves me on the end of my seat! Great story so far, Dis and BurnSide! clap.giforiginal.gif

Need more... tongue.gif

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