Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2012 23:00:11 -0500 From: John Ashton <johnashton07@gmail.com> Subject: Outbreak iowa ch 3 This story contains at times graphic depictions of zombie attacks. It also contains relations between same-sexed couples. If this offends you, this is the wrong story for you. If you are not of age to read material of this type you have been warned. This story takes place in a time frame in which law enforcement is unable to react. Nothing in this story is suggesting that any actions be replicated in real life. Be smart and take reasonability for your own actions. If you enjoy this story, or others from the Nifty Archive, please consider a donation to the website. Donations keep the archive free for authors and readers. http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated. If you would like to contact me, send an E-Mail to johnashton07@gmail.com . I have had quite a few people write to me asking for the link to Outbreak New York. It is http://www.nifty.org/nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/outbreak-new-york . September 26 I can't believe we made it out of there. I don't even know where to begin writing. I guess it all started when we saw the car pulling into the drive just after noon. --- ----- --- "Hey guys! There is someone here!" Gale yelled through the living room to the dining room. "What? Who is it?" Tara said standing up from her chair. "I don't know. There is a man just sitting in the car. A woman is coming to the door." Gale said. Gale pushed his face against the opening in the boards covering the window. Through the cracks he could clearly see a woman walking to the door. She was pale and had messy, brown hair. She seemed to be exhausted. She was a heavier build and on the shorter side, 5'4" or something near that. The man stepped out of the car showing that he was a bit older. His hair was covered by a green and white cap. He stood about six inches taller than the woman, and about the same build. His skin was flushed red, and sweat was falling from his brow. A few seconds later there was a knock at the door. Josh and Jason got up and headed to the living room as well. "Anyone in there? Please, let us in!" The woman said. "What do you want?" Jason said through the door. "Oh thank god! You have to let us in. They aren't far behind!" The woman said. "Who isn't? What do you want?" Jason repeated. "We just need to hide somewhere, they won't be far behind. We ran into town to get some food, but those things were all over the town. PLEASE!" The woman said. "We are unarmed and there can't be much time." "What do we do?" Josh asked quietly. "We can't just leave them to die." "The hell we can't. We don't owe them anything." Jason said. "Remember the last time we decided to be nice?" "So we are just going to let them get eaten." Josh said. "No! You have to let us in! Please!" The woman pleaded. "Just let them in. I don't want to watch them die." Tara said pushing Jason aside. "Step back, we are going to let you in, but don't make any sudden movements." Gale stepped to the door holding his rifle at the ready. Tara pulled the door open and motioned the two guests to enter. The moved silently into the living room where Gale motioned them to sit on the couch. "Ok, so who are you?" Gale said. "I am David, and this is Ellen. We have been camped out on the other side of town." David said eyeing the gun nervously. "Thanks for letting us in." "Who was after you?" Jason said stepping back into the living room carrying a rifle of his own. "Those things! The zombies!" Ellen said. "They are everywhere now!" "And you said that they were following you? Where are they?" Josh asked. "Well they were following us. I think we lost them again about a mile back, but this happened before. It only took them about an hour and they had tracked us down again." Ellen said. "What do you mean `tracked you down'?" Jason asked. "These things can track?" "I don't know how they do it." David said. "Are you going to let us stay here?" Ellen asked. "I don't know. For now you can hold up here, but don't get comfortable." Jason said. "It is not a permanent arrangement." "Well could we talk; without the guns?" Ellen asked. "We aren't going to do anything." "Yeah, I guess" Gale said lowering his rifle. Jason lowered his as well, but kept it in his hands just in case. --- ----- Josh's Journal --- We talked for a few hours before Ellen and David asked to lay down somewhere. Jason took them to a bedroom and locked them in. I was not sure it was necessary at that point, but he has some issues with strangers these days. I guess we all should. They were up there until dinner time. After dinner we all sat in the living room to decide what to do at this point. --- ----- --- "Well I don't think they are coming." Jason said taking another look out the window. "Thank god. I thought we would never lose them. I can't tell you how thankful I am that you let us in." Ellen said. "I think you guys better stay here until morning. It probably isn't smart to be out and about in the dark." Josh said. "I agree. They seem to be a bit more active after dark." David said. "Have you seen a lot of them?" Tara asked. "Well, yeah. They are all over town, and to the north and east. They seem to have been attracted to the pork processing plant up there. Maybe they like bacon?" David said. "Do they attack animals?" Gale asked. "I have never stopped to check... I suppose it is possible." David responded. "Any idea what happened to cause this? Any news?" Josh questioned. "No. We never even made it to a shelter. The National Guard came around but they were overwhelmed shortly after they picked us up." Ellen said. "Oh my god..." Jason said. "I know it was pretty bad..." Ellen said. "What is that..." Jason said looking through the crack in the window. Emerging from the corn field across the road was a man, or maybe a woman. It was difficult to tell. Their body had swollen up to twice its normal size, and the muscles had filled in past the point any normal human's would. Before the others could move to the window to look through the cracks a deafening howl filled the house. The ground started to shake like a train was coming by. Jason jumped from the window and flew flat against the opposite wall. "Get back!" He yelled and the others slowly backed away from the wall just as something massive slammed against it. "What the fuck!" Gale said grabbing his gun which had been left by the couch. "It is huge!" Jason yelled as the beast slammed into the side of the house once more, a picture frame falling from the wall. "This wall isn't going to hold if it keeps slamming into it." Ellen said. "Suggestions?" David asked. One final slam into the wall and it started to fall. "RUN!" Josh said taking off into the kitchen. Gale started shooting behind him and the beast let out another deafening yell. Josh and Tara began ripping the barricades off of the door to the garage. Gale fired his final bullet as the last board was pulled from the door. They poured into the garage and closed the door just as the kitchen table flew at them. "Get in the van! Go!" Jason said holding his gun at the ready. The others ran to the van as the kitchen door was pulled from its hinges and thrown back into the house. The first glance that Josh got at the monster was all he needed to pick up his speed. The beast stood about 10 feet tall and as wide as three of him. It was bleeding pretty badly at this point, having been shot a few times and ramming his way through a few layers of wall and glass. Its eyes were sunken in and its face was flattened. Its arms were as thick as a person. Josh started the van as Jason unloaded his shotgun into the beast, effectively slowing it down enough to load himself into the back of the van. Josh slammed onto the gas and drove through the garage door. The beast followed suit and took chase to the van. "Go left! Go left!" David said. "What the fuck is that! It is still coming!" Tara squealed. Josh took a left onto a country road and floored the gas. The beast fell behind not able to keep up with the van which was nearing 90 mph. --- ----- Josh's Journal --- I drove as fast as I could handle. We left the beast in our dust but we didn't want it following us anytime soon, so we turned a lot and took obscure roads. After about an hour of weaving around the country side Ellen recognized the area and told us to pull into a large farm. We drove down the driveway toward a large house. --- ----- --- "We made it! Oh they are going to be so happy to see us!" Ellen said. "Who?" Jason asked. "This is where our group has been holding up!" Ellen said. "Don't worry they are the nicest bunch, you know?" "Pull into the space there, we will go talk to them." David said. A man in his mid-to-late 20s emerged from the house. His hair was a medium brown and kept short, almost to a military cut. His eyes were almond shaped and even from a distance you could see the green hue to them. He had a slight five-o-clock shadow around his rounded jaw. He was wearing a black muscle shirt that showed off his tattoo on his left shoulder, a black tribal pattern. When he saw Ellen emerging from the van he ran up and gave her a huge hug. "Ellen! David! I thought you guys were dead!" The man said into Ellen's shoulder. "Andrew! We missed you too, but I can't breathe." Ellen said trying to pull away. "Sorry." Andrew said releasing Ellen from the hug. "We all assumed you had been killed. It has been what, 2 weeks? Where were you!?" "We got chased from place to place by these zombies. It has been quite the ride." David said. "How are things here? Everyone still ok?" "They are... Umm who are they?" Andrew said, finally noticing the others in the van. "They are the people who just saved our asses. They lost their home in the process. I figured that they could come back here with us." Ellen said. "Can we trust them?" Andrew asked eyeing the van suspiciously. "We can't just take in strays." "They helped us out, so yes we can trust them." David said sternly. "Alright, come on inside, everyone is going to be thrilled that you guys are alright. It has been a trying week, and it will be nice to have some good news for once." Andrew said walking to the front door. "Come on! We are going inside." Ellen said motioning for the others to get out of the van. Josh, Jason, Tara, and Gale all stepped out of the car and followed the others into the house. --- ----- --- September 28 This new place is great! There are a lot more people here, which is nice. I was getting a little bit fed up with the idea of only having three people to talk to for the rest of my life. Tara seems to appreciate the social interaction as well. She has really mellowed out since we got here. The house is huge, and amazingly well stocked. I would have never expected this house to be in the middle of nowhere Iowa. The basement is amazing. There is a fully stocked bar and home theatre, as well as 3 freezers packed with meat. Deer, rabbit, fowl, you name it. The ground floor is mostly the kitchen and dining room, as well as a small living room area, and a bathroom. The bedrooms are all upstairs, of which there are four. This house is great! The people are pretty friendly, once they got used to the idea of us being here. It took a good day of talking with them to get them to open up a bit. There is Andrew, the cute guy who ushered us in. Then Wanda and Clarence, they are like the mom and dad of the house. I haven't quite figured out if they actually own it or if they just act like they do, but they are like big fluffy teddy bears most of the time. They opened up to us right off the bat when they learned how we helped Ellen and David. I am sure that Josie is nice if she is sober, but I have yet to see that. Victoria is kind of a snob, but she can be nice to talk to one on one. She is very statuesque, the glamorous beauty of a century ago. There is also the dog, Felix. He is a rottweiler, and the nicest dog out there. Then there is Andrew, or have I mentioned him yet? Oh yes, I am glad we came here. There is just one thing. --- ---- --- "This has to be the most amazing house in the state. What a place to stay in a crisis." Josh said. "It is pretty nice. I guess you get used to it over time, I have been here since the day it all started." Andrew said. "What movie are we watching next?" Ellen said. "It is my turn to pick it out. I don't think I can handle another 007 movie. Six in a row is enough." Andrew said getting up and walking over to the movie case. He bent over to check the bottom row. Josh did his best to not be obvious about checking out Andrew's butt as he bent down, but it was perfectly firm in his jeans and Josh's eyes couldn't pass the chance to catch a glance. He must have stared too long because Gale nudged him from behind and let out a silent laugh. "How about `Men in Jeans'" Josh suggested, leaning down and petting Felix, who was lying at his feet. "What?" Andrew said. "The hell is that?" "Men in Black? You've never heard of it?" Josh asked suspiciously. "You said men in jeans..." Andrew said, turning back to sift through the movies. "Freudian slip?" Gale whispered, chuckling. Andrew gave his butt a slight wiggle, to which Josh just rolled his eyes. Andrew pulled out a movie and put it into the DVD player. He walked back to the couch and took a seat between Gale and Josh. "What movie?" Ellen asked. "Ok, so you have to give this one a shot. It may not be the best movie, but it is a pretty good one to quote from. Like Super Troopers, or Napoleon Dynamite." Andrew said. "I hated Napoleon Dynamite..." Ellen said, slightly put off. "Just watch it, I didn't complain when you put in the fourth or fifth James Bond movie in a row." Andrew said. "Another James Bond?" Jason said, coming too in his huge recliner. "No. It is called Idiocracy. Just watch it." Andrew said. "Drink Brondo!" Josh said slapping Andrew on the thigh. "I love this movie!" The movie played for about half an hour before they realized that the movie itself sucked, and Ellen started to get restless. "Hey, where are Gage and Anne? I haven't seen them since we got back." Ellen asked. Andrew paused the movie and sat quiet for a while. Ellen repeated her question. "They are dead." Andrew said. "What happened? Did they get eaten? When?" Ellen said perking up. "No, they were shot. They went on a stock run into town. We didn't hear from them for a couple days. We sent Victoria, Wanda, and Clarence to get supplies and they found them shot in a parking lot." Andrew said. "Oh god. That is horrible. They were so nice." Ellen said sitting back. Gale and Josh glanced at each other. They were both thinking the same thing. The woman and boy who had attacked them outside Costco. "Yeah." Andrew said. --- ----- Later that Night --- "We have to get out of here!" Tara said in a hushed voice. "They are going to freak out when they find out." "Keep it down Tara, they don't know anything." Gale said. "For all we know it could have been someone else. We don't know anything for sure." Jason said. "No, it was them. It just makes sense." Tara said moving to the door. "And now they are going to kill us." "Now wait up. No one knows what happened and they are not going to find out." Josh said stepping into Tara's way. "And this is the best place we know of for now. Just where do you plan on going?" "I don't know." Tara said. "Josh has a point. There is no where else for us to go. We just have to be cool about this and we will be fine." Gale said. "Besides, it was Gale who shot them, they will just kill him. We are fine." Jason said. "Now shut up, dick. Fuck you!" Gale said pushing Jason enough that he fell into the bed. "Hey I am just sayin'!" Jason said. The four of them began to relax, and the yawns came pretty quickly. Jason and Tara lay down in bed, while Gale made himself comfortable on the couch along the wall. Josh attempted to make a cot of blankets on the floor, but sleep did not come easily. He tossed and turned for a few minutes before deciding that he needed to find a more comfortable place to sleep. He grabbed a pillow and blanket and headed for a couch in the living room that was calling his name. Josh walked down the stairs and noticed that the light was on in the kitchen. He came around the corner to see Andrew digging through the fridge. He watched him dig around for a while before Andrew noticed him. "Hey. Just looking for the honey, I swear there was some in here earlier." Andrew said standing up. "This?" Josh said grabbing the bear shaped bottle from the counter beside him. "Yes, thanks." Andrew said. "Tea?" "Umm, sure. Thanks." Josh said. "I haven't had tea since I was a kid. At least hot tea." "What are you doing up this late?" Andrew asked. "I can't sleep on the floor again tonight. It almost killed my back last night. I figured I would sleep on the couch down here." Josh said. "Isn't it late for you?" "Nah, I tend to be awake most of the night." Andrew said. "Been a night owl since I was a little kid." Andrew grabbed a couple mugs from the cupboard and put them on the counter. He poured the steaming water into the cups and fetched the teabags. After adding a little honey to sweeten, he handed one cup to Josh and led him into the living room. "So what is your deal?" Andrew asked taking a seat on the couch. "What do you mean?" Josh said taking a seat next to him. "I mean, what is your story? What makes you tick?" Andrew said. "Well I... I don't know." Josh said taking a sip of his tea. "Ouch! That is really hot!" "Well it was boiling about 10 seconds ago..." Andrew said with a chuckle, setting his cup down on the coffee table. "Yeah." Josh said slightly embarrassed. "I worked retail before this all happened. I don't know. I am just a normal guy I guess." "Did you have a... girlfriend?" Andrew asked. "Yeah... umm. No. I didn't have a girlfriend." Josh said awkwardly. "Boyfriend?" Andrew said, taking a sip of his tea. "What?" Josh said suddenly. "I didn't mean nothing by it. Sorry. I just, you seemed kind of... Wow I am digging myself into a hole here." Andrew said trying to diffuse a situation. "No, no it is alright. Yeah, I am gay. Was it that obvious?" Josh asked with a nervous chuckle. "No, you are the epitome of straight. I think you still have some eye liner on, by the way." Andrew said. "Really? I scrubbed at that for an hour, I need to remember this brand." Josh said quietly. "I'm gay too, if it makes you feel more comfortable. I guess I should have said that before." Andrew said with a smile. "It does." Josh said smiling back. "Well how did a regular guy from retail end up surviving the apocalypse?" Andrew asked. "I don't know. I ask myself that every day. I guess just sticking together and having some smart people around me." Josh said. "What about you? What are you all about?" "Me... Yeah. I was a chef, or at least studying to be one." Andrew said. "A chef? You don't really remind me much of a chef. You seem more like a trainer or dancer or something more physical." Josh said. "No" Andrew chuckled. "Really? No. That isn't me. I exercise enough to stay looking nice, but nothing to that extreme. I don't even have abs." He added with another chuckle. "I don't believe you." Josh said with a smile. "No? Here." Andrew said standing up and pulling his shirt over his head. Andrew was tanned and had an amazing body. It was lean, but not overly muscular as he had said. His stomach was flat and smooth. His chest was, however, nicely defined. His nipples were the perfect size and the whole chest was hairless. "See? No abs." Andrew said. Josh just sat there. He looked Andrew up and down, and again. "See? No abs..." Andrew repeated. "Earth to Josh..." "Sorry. I was... thinking. What was that?" Josh said shaking back to reality. "You are a riot man." Andrew said, sitting back down. "Well let's see you." "What?" Josh said fully coming back to reality. "You have seen me. It is only fair." Andrew said with a smile. "Come on." Josh stood up and pulled his shirt off. His skin was pale but his features were nice. He was skinny enough that what muscle he had was pretty defined. He turned a shade of red from being exposed unexpectedly, and he sat back down. "You are really cute when you blush." Andrew said. He took another drink of his tea. Josh took another drink as well and turned a shade redder. "You are really cute too." Josh said. "Am I?" Andrew said with a sly smile. He leaned in and planted a kiss on Josh's lips. "Yup, SO glad we came here." Josh thought to himself as he returned the kiss.