Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:26:27 -0600 From: John Ashton <johnashton07@gmail.com> Subject: Outbreak New York 6 This story is based in a timeline which the population of New York City has been infected with a virus that causes them to become zombies. This work is fiction and any resemblance to people real or imaginary is coincidental. Due to the nature of the story real places may be portrayed. This is not a reflection on these places or the people of New York City. This story contains violence and, at times, gruesome descriptions of zombies and attacks. There are also relations between same-sex couples. If this disturbs you then this story is not for you. Comments and suggestions are always appreciated. If you would like to contact me, E-mails may be sent to johnashton07@gmail.com Lucas' sleep was not as sound as he had wished for. His head was throbbing and when periodic times of sleep did find him his dreams were never pleasant. When he finally felt rested enough he got up and went to his kitchen. He made a pack of ramen and sat on the couch. "After all that trouble I am still eating fucking ramen" Lucas thought to himself. Lucas jumped slightly when he heard a knock on his door. He put his dishes in his sink before answering. "Oh, hey. I thought you should be up by now." Travis said. "Can I come in?" "Yeah, come in." Lucas said. The two of them made their way over to the couch. Lucas flopped into the seat and immediately regretted not being more careful. His head throbbed and a bolt of pain shot through his arm. "Are you alright, Lucas?" Travis said. "Yeah.. No.. I don't know. My head is pounding, and my arm. Fucking Samantha." Lucas said. Travis stood up and walked to the unit's kitchen. He grabbed a towel and opened the freezer. He pulled out a few ice cubes and made a makeshift ice pack. He pressed it to the back of Lucas' neck. "You have to take it easy for a while, Lucas. I shouldn't have taken you with us last night. Your arm and head need a break." Travis said sitting down again. "I'm sorry." "It isn't your fault." Lucas said. "I'm not mad at you man." "There were still a couple cans of tuna in the jeep, about ten. At least it wasn't for nothing right?" Travis said, lamely. "Yeah.." Lucas said leaning his head back slowly. "Fucking tuna." "Listen, Eric wants to get everyone together for a meeting. People are getting together in the lobby. We should probably get down there." Travis said. Travis stood up and helped Lucas up. The two of them walked down the hall. Voices in the lobby made their way up to them. No one was yelling, but the combination of voices made Lucas' head throb even more. They walked down the stairs and sat on the last step. "What were you two doing up there? What took so long?" Eric said as he saw the two of them take a seat. "Scratch that, I don't want to know." "Piss off Eric." Travis said. "I got him, ok?" "Whatever. Alright, now that we are all here, we have to agree on some things." Eric said. "We need to set some ground rules that we agree on so that we don't have a repeat of this morning." "Why do I get the feeling this is another 'Eric says' time?" Samantha muttered. "I realize that I have taken the lead a lot in the past few days, but it is clear we need to agree on this." Eric said, trying to hide his annoyance. "And I won't force anything this time I guess." "How about not going out while it is dark? There is too much added risk at night." Bradley said to a murmured agreement. "Good one. And I would think pretty obvious." Eric said. "Eric? Control?" Amanda said elbowing Eric in the side. Eric simply huffed. "I think the keys to vehicles need to be kept in a public area. We are not prisoners here." Samantha said. "If we need a vehicle we shouldn't have to come begging to someone." "I agree with that. The armory would be a better place." Amanda said. "I thought that was a tad extreme" "Under the condition that I am told when you are leaving and where you are going." Eric said. "No. We are not your prisoners. We are not going to hunt you down to ask permission to go anywhere." Travis said. "Now Travis, no one is keeping anyone locked up here. All that needs to happen is that at least someone knows where and when you come and go. It doesn't have to be Eric." Amanda said elbowing her husband. "Errm, right. Tell someone where you are going." Eric said. "And always take a radio with you. And don't go out alone." Adrian said. "Alright. So now we can ensure some common sense. Glad we all agree on that." Eric said. "Now on to a bit more touchy of a subject. Rationing." "What about it?" Adrian said. Rationing was a touchy subject for him as he tended to eat through his quickly. "We need to be sure there is enough supplies and food for everyone. Until we can get food growing here, we have to live off what we can find. That means we have to ration carefully. You will all get the supplies you are used to as long as stocks stay up. However there will be no more double dipping, or taking extras." Eric said. "This is only temporary, but it is needed." Amanda said. "That seems reasonable?" Samantha said. "We need a team to go get more supplies, then." Travis said. "We only got 10 cans of tuna in the last run." "Me and Adrian will be going out when we are done here to restock." Eric said. "I'm coming too." Travis said. "No you are staying here and manning the security room. You earned some time in there for the stunt this morning." Eric said. "Just stay here man. We have it under control. We know a shop with tons of stuff. Pre-planning and such goes a long way." Adrian said. "It wasn't out fault that there were maniacs in the mall! No one could have guessed that!" Travis shouted. "It is done!" Amanda said. "Arguing about the past is not going to change it." "Now, if anyone is not able to follow these simple guidelines speak up now." Eric said. No one spoke up. "Simple enough." Bradley said. "Alright, I am glad we all agree." Eric said. "Now that we have all agreed, if anyone breaks these rules you are out on your own. We can not risk everyone's safety because you decide to go do something stupid, and don't expect to be welcomed back. If you do something stupid, you are dead. Whether or not you really are dead is none of our concern at that point." The room stayed quiet for a minute. "Are you ready to go?" Adrian said standing up. "Yeah." Eric said. "We are going to get supplies." Adrian and Eric left the lobby, and slowly people walked back to their units. Soon only Lucas and Travis were left in the lobby. Travis stood up and walked toward the security room behind the staircase. He sat down in the chair by the screens. Lucas walked in behind him and sat in the other chair. "You don't have to be in here too, you know." Travis said looking over the screens for movement. He watched as a truck pulled out of the garage and past a few cameras and out of view. "I know. I thought I would keep you company." Lucas said. "Would suck to have to sit here with nothing to do but watch some fuzzy pictures of outside. "It gets pretty boring." Travis said. "I guess I had it coming." "You tried to get food." Lucas said. "No one saw any signs of trouble until it was too late." "Right?" Travis said, his voice picking up in intensity. "And Adrian, who the hell does he think he is? 'Pre-planning and such goes a long way.'" "They will calm down. Give it time." Lucas said. "Whatever." Travis said. "Try to help people. Sheesh." Travis leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes for a moment. Lucas looked Travis over. Travis' white shirt was hugging his body tightly and was nearly transparent. His jeans fit just right. Lucas leaned over and put his hand on Travis' leg. Travis opened his eyes and jerked slightly. "Woah. What are you doing?" Travis said. "Sorry." Lucas said pulling back and blushing. Travis leaned forward and pulled Lucas into a kiss. Lucas pulled from his lips and kissed at his neck. The two of them stood up still exchanging kisses. "I still owe you." Lucas said between kisses. Lucas reached down and pulled at the button to Travis' jeans. He unzipped them and pulled them and his underwear down. Travis was already hard. His dick was eight inches easy. Lucas licked at the head before taking the whole thing in his mouth. Travis moaned as he began to thrust back and forth into Lucas' mouth. Lucas moaned onto Travis' dick, causing vibrations which made Travis' knees weak. Travis sat back down and Lucas went back to sucking. Travis let out a moan and grabbed the back of Lucas' head, pushing him further down. It was not long before Travis' dick started to spasm and his seed shot into Lucas' mouth. Lucas swallowed the sweet-salty juice and gave Travis' cock one more lick before pulling away. "Lucas? That was great." Travis said fully relaxed. "Would you put yourself away, please." Samantha said coming into the doorway and backing out again. "Shit!" Travis said, pulling his pants back up. Lucas got back up into the chair as Travis pulled his shirt down. They tried to look as casual as they could. Samantha came back around into the room and laughed. "You guys crack me up. Any word from Eric or Adrian?" She said trying to keep from laughing again. "Honestly, you guys can not pull off fake casual to save your lives." Just then the radio crackled in. "Travis, come in. Travis are you there?" Travis grabbed the mic. "Travis here, whats up? Over." "We are on our way back. The shop had already been hit, but we got a few things. Food mostly. Over." Eric's voice bellowed out. "Any trouble? Over" Travis said. "A couple spitters, No injuries. Over." Eric said. "Spitters?" Travis said. "The ones that spit gunk. You know what I mean. Wait?" Eric said. "There is? oh shit!" --- ----- --- Eric swerved just in time to miss him. He came out of nowhere and ran into the street. Eric stopped the truck and grabbed a gun. Adrian had his in his hands already. They both opened their doors and stepped out of the truck. "Please! You have to help me!" A man said stumbling toward them. "Stay right there!" Adrian said. "Please." The man pointed to the door across the street. "What do we do?" Adrian said. "Who are you?" Eric said. "My name is Will." The man said standing up straight. "Please, you are the first people I have seen still alive." "Are you injured?" Eric asked, looking the Will over. He had blood from a tear in his jeans, but other than that he seemed in fit condition. "Only a cut, I swear!" Will said backing away slightly. "Adrian, you are going to ride in the back with Will here. If he tries anything shoot him." Eric said. "Got it." Adrian said. Will and Adrian hopped in the back of the truck with the supplies while Eric got back in the driver's seat and started the truck. "Come in! Come in! Eric!" The radio crackled with Travis' voice. "Everything is under control, we are on our way back, over." Eric said into the radio. "What the fuck happened?" Travis said. "Over." "Picked up a stray, we will be back in a minute." Eric said, looking over his shoulder out the back window at Adrian holding the gun at Will. "Over." The radio's battery cut out and it went silent. --- ----- --- "Picked up a stray? What the fuck does he mean by that?" Travis said throwing the radio mic to the desk. "Are we getting a puppy?" Samantha said, looking half hopeful. "Doubt it." Travis said. "Well a girl can dream cant she? I will let you two get cleaned up. I will cover the security room for a while, seeing as you two are unable to stay decent in a public area." Samantha said. Travis and Lucas looked at each other and neither could respond. Still embarrassed from being caught they simply stood up and walked out of the room. They heard the gate to the garage opening and the truck pull in. The door burst open and Eric and Adrian rushed through carrying? another person? Lucas and Travis looked at each other questioningly. They were pushed a part as Eric and Adrian rushed through. "I cant believe you! Go get the med pack from my room. GO!" Eric said lowering the man to the ground. The man had blood running from his shoulder and a cut to his knee through his pants. His eyes were open but he wasn't moving much. "He shot me? He shot me? He fucking shot me.." The man kept saying. "Yes, he fucking shot you. Would you shut up?" Eric said holding a bloodied piece of cloth to his arm. "What happened? Who is that?" Travis said rushing over to help. "Put pressure on that and don't let go." Eric said pulling Travis' hand to the cloth. "ADRIAN HURRY THE FUCK UP!" Adrian came around the corner and down the stairs faster than Lucas had ever seen him move. He dropped the medical kit by Eric and stood there dumbfounded on what to do next. "Out of the way." Eric said pushing Adrian aside. "Travis, take the cloth away for a second would you?" Travis pulled the cloth away and sure enough, there was a gun shot wound. Blood was flowing from it but not as much as Lucas would have expected. "Will, this is going to hurt, but we need to get that bullet before we close the wound." Eric said. "What!?" the man, Will, said. "Good, you can say something besides 'he shot me!' " Eric said. "Lucas! Come over here and help hold him down. Lucas skipped over and knelt on the shoulder that was uninjured. Travis moved to hold down his other side while Eric got a pair of grabbers from the medical kit. "FUCK!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!" Will screamed out and struggled beneath Travis and Lucas. "There it is? there it is? there it is?" Eric mumbled. "Hold him still I almost have it!" Will let out more yells. Doors opened and people started to fill the lobby to see what was happening. "Got it!" Eric said pulling the bullet from Will's arm. "Travis, I need you to clean the wound, I am going to have to cauterize that." "Got it." Travis said. He took a clean bandage and soaked it in antiseptic. "This is going to sting, man. Sorry." "Damn you all!" Will yelled as the bandage was dabbed onto his shoulder. "Just a little more." Travis said wiping the wound of blood. Eric nudged Travis out of the way and took a piece of hot metal and seared the wound shut. Will went silent. Eric disinfected and bandaged the wound. "We hit a pot hole. I didn't know" Adrian said from behind. "You shouldn't have been pointing a gun in a moving vehicle Adrian. He was unarmed." Eric said. "What the hell happened? Who is this?" Travis said. Eric explained how Will had stopped them and asked for help. Apparently shortly after the radio cut out the truck had hit a pot hole and Adrian had accidentally shot the newcomer. "Should we move him?" Lucas said. "No. I am going to stay here until he comes to. Best not to jar that wound as much as possible." Eric said. "You guys get the truck unloaded." --- ----- --- Lucas sat up in his bed, his arm throbbing. He looked over at his clock, which read 3:00am. He stood up and walked over to the light switch. He flipped it up and the room was filled with light. Looking down at his arm he saw that it was wet with blood. Slowly he unwrapped his arm and looked at the cuts. Most of the smaller cuts had fully scabbed over and some had faded into light scars. The larger cut, however, was oozing blood and puss. He touched at the skin next to the cut and felt a sharp pain before he jerked away. "Shit." He muttered to himself. Lucas opened his door and walked lazily down the hall toward Eric's unit. As he passed the stairs he looked down and saw that the lobby was now empty. Will must have come to. As Lucas approached Eric's unit he could hear that people were talking inside. He knocked on the door and was surprised when Travis opened it. "Hey, what are you doing awake?" Travis said stepping aside to let Lucas inside. "I cant sleep. My arm. I think it is getting worse." Lucas said. "Where is Eric?" "He is dealing with the baby in the other room. You would think he had his arm ripped off." Travis said gesturing to one of the bedrooms. "Will woke up about half an hour ago and we moved him here so that Eric could keep an eye on him." "Well I need him to look at this." Lucas said. "I can check it if you would like." Travis said. "Let me see." "Do you have medical experience?" Lucas said sarcastically. "Not a doctor, but I almost graduated medical school. Why do you think I am always helping Eric out?" Travis said, a bit annoyed. "Really?" Lucas said. "Alright then, if you insist." Travis unwrapped the bandaging and looked closely at the cut. He poked it lightly and Lucas winced and pulled his arm away. "You are going to have to hold still Lucas. I am sure it isn't comfortable but I have to look inside the cut, and I have to move it a bit to do that." Travis said grabbing onto the arm a bit more firmly. He pulled slightly at the cut and pulled back. "You definitely have an infection, I would say bacterial." He said. "Well?" Lucas said expectantly. "We have some antibiotics. It should clear up with a bit of penicillin." Travis said. "Is it safe? Isn't that pretty strong?" Lucas said. "It is safer than just sitting here watching your arm get infected." Travis said. "You aren't allergic are you?" "No. I don't think so at least." Lucas said holding his arm close to his chest. "You should be fine." Travis said grabbing a bottle of pills from a cabinet. Lucas took one and got up to leave. Travis grabbed on to his uninjured arm and held him back. "I want you to stay here for a bit to make sure you don't have a reaction." Travis said. "We need to get you new bandaging anyway." Lucas sat back down and held out his arm. Travis grabbed a bottle of disinfectant and put some on a pad of cotton. He applied it to Lucas' cuts and put a new gauze pad on. "How is your head?" Travis said as he wrapped a new bandage around his arm. "Major headache, but nothing unbearable." Lucas said. "Are you sure? You have had a rough week with head injuries." Travis said. "I have been told I am thick headed. I guess they were right." Lucas said with a chuckle. "Ha. Well take it easy for a while anyway. You don't need a cracked skull in the best of times, let alone now." Travis said throwing a smile in. "How long do I have to stay here?" Lucas said. "Until I tell you to go; an hour should do it. You don't want to have a reaction and not be able to get here." Travis said. "I am going to check on Eric. Just relax here." Travis opened the door to the next room and walked in. Will's voice filled the room and Lucas couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. "I got shot! Have you ever been shot? It fucking hurts!" Will was shouting. "I realize it hurts, but what do you want me to do about it? I gave you percocet, that is the best I have." Eric said. "Complaining is not going to make you feel better. "Well you can't have your goons go around shooting people." Will said. "Adrian shot you on accident. We don't have to keep you here. Do you want to see how helpful the zombies will be?" Travis said. Will went quiet and seemed to take in his situation with a new clarity. "Well, can I get another percocet?" Will asked quietly. "In another hour." Eric said. "Thanks Travis. What is Lucas doing here?" "He has an infection in two of his cuts. I gave him penicillin and he is staying here for a bit to be sure he doesn't have a reaction." Travis said. "You should have got me. He could go into shock or something." Eric said. "Eric please. I have people training, don't insult me like that. You Mr. Fancy with your veterinarian training." Travis said rolling his eyes. "What if Lucas is allergic, what do you give him?" Eric said. "Antihistamines and keep his airway open." Travis said. "You forget I am, was 3 weeks from graduating and working on my own." "I am right here, please don't talk like I can't hear you guys." Lucas said kicking the wall behind him. "Sorry Lucas. How is your arm." Eric said coming into the room. "It is cut up and infected." Lucas said lamely. "Ah, yes. Well are you feeling dizzy, any itching yet?" Eric said. "Breathing alright?" "Nothing. I think it is fine." Lucas said. "Travis, I think he can go. He would have symptoms by now. It doesn't take too long" Eric said. "You can go, too. I have this under control." Travis and Lucas walked out of the unit and went down to the lobby. Samantha walked out of the security room and joined them in. "Hey guys. Hows the head Lucas?" Samantha said. "It is fine. Arm is problematic, though." Lucas said. "I am eternally grateful to you for that." "Hey I am sorry alright." Samantha said defensively. "You were walking to your gun, what would you have done?" "I guess the same thing. Whatever." Lucas said. "Anyway, Lucas I was wondering if you could help me out?" Samantha said softly. "With what?" Lucas asked. "I have not had a smoke in a week now. I am dieing here. I know you could help a girl out." Samantha said. "What are you talking about?" Travis said. "Samantha?" Lucas said. "What is she talking about Lucas. You don't smoke cigarettes." Travis said. "Come on Lucas. I know you had some pot in your case. You can't have smoked it all yet." Samantha said. "Samantha! Honestly!" Lucas said. "You have pot here!?" Travis said. "I can't believe you! What were you?" "It isn't mine. It was Ethan's" Lucas said. Even saying his name felt weird now. So much had changed in a week, and he wasn't sure what his feelings were anymore. "I don't know why I even still have it anymore!" Lucas said, lying. "Don't know why you have it anymore!? You do have some!?" Travis said, growing red in the face. "I can't believe you!" "I'll get rid of it, whatever!" Lucas said getting angry and defensive. "Wait, no, who are you to judge me?" "Who is judging you!?" Travis yelled. "Stop getting angry psycho!" "What?" Lucas said. "Wow?" Samantha said. "Sorry to bring it up." "Why would you get rid of it? If you are looking to trash it I will take it off your hands. I haven't smoked in so long!" Travis said. "What?" Lucas said. "Wait, you smoke?" "Yeah, who doesn't?" Travis said. "Not all the time, but yeah." "Well lets go up to my unit. I don't want everyone to know I have it." Lucas said. The three of them walked up the stairs, a bit faster than was unsuspicious. They headed down to Lucas' unit and locked the door behind them. Lucas went over to the closet and pulled out his briefcase. He opened it and pulled out the bag of weed. "Holy shit man, what was Ethan doing with that much weed?" Travis said. Lucas could not help but get angry at Travis talking about Ethan. It felt wrong and made his feelings get all mixed up. "He.. Um. He sold it. He picked this stuff up the day? He just restocked." Lucas said. "Oh.. Hey I am sorry." Travis said. "Just leave it." Travis said. He loaded a bowl and handed it to Samantha. "Green?" "Don't mind if I do." Samantha said pulling out a lighter. No one spoke while the pipe was passed around from person to person. They just enjoyed the feelings of relaxation that came over them. All of the worries from the world outside the room faded away and they were able to enjoy the company of each other without words for a few minutes. "I think it is cashed." Samantha said passing the pipe to Travis. "Then why are you passing that shit to me?" Travis said with a slight chuckle. Samantha shrugged and giggled a bit. She leaned back in the couch and closed her eyes. "If you fall asleep there I am drawing shit on your face." Travis said pulling a marker out of the briefcase. "I am not sleeping. I am just relaxed." Samantha said. "How are you feeling Lucas?" "Good." Lucas said. "Really good." Travis looked over at Lucas and let out a laugh. While Samantha had just leaned into the back of the couch, Lucas was completely slumped into the couch. "You are ridiculous Lucas! Haha!" Travis said poking at Lucas' side. "That tickles man!" Lucas said pulling away and smiling. He sat up and focused his eyes again. "I used to get high all the time. I would just lay outside and watch the clouds and enjoy the feeling of being alive." Samantha said. "It really made you feel like you were supposed to be right where you were, ya know?" "Yeah.." Travis said. "You guys ever been on top of a mountain and gotten high?" Lucas asked. "No, I bet that would be amazing." Travis said. "It was. Too bad there are no mountains around here." Lucas said. "You could see for miles, and there is nothing but nature." "Wow.." Samantha said sleepily. She closed her eyes, and they did not open again. "When were you on a mountain?" Travis asked. "I lived in Alaska for a while, when I was in school." Lucas said. "Really? That is pretty awesome." Travis said. "No, not really. I mean, it is a lot like everywhere else. At least where I lived." Lucas responded. "It is pretty cool to look back and realize I lived on the side of a mountain though. I guess it was alright." "Why did you leave?" Travis asked. "I met Ethan. He moved here, and I followed him." Lucas said, looking up at the ceiling. "I guess he is really gone?" "I am sorry man." Travis said awkwardly. "I just have to accept it, I guess." Lucas said, tears welling in his eyes. "Funny how things never work out." "Life is shit, but what can you do?" Travis said. "How long were you guys together?" "4 months; I guess it seems like a short time. I guess it was." Lucas said. "Yeah." Travis said. "Sorry, we can change the subject." Lucas said. "No. I better head to sleep. It is almost 5. I want to get up somewhat normally in the morning." "Oh. Ok. Yeah." Lucas said. Travis got up and looked at Lucas. He bent over and kissed his forehead and turned and walked out of the unit. Lucas looked at the door for a while, and decided to go lay in the bed. Sleep found him faster than he would have thought. Being high must have helped with that. The dreams that found him that night were as mixed up and troubled as he was feeling.