Part 3

This is the third part of the Outbreak. Emmett and his family continue their road trip to the north while he has to answer some questions about his knowledge on the infection.

Three days earlier: They were getting low on fuel and the girls needed a break. “Can we stop soon?” Alexis asked, not complaining but her legs were starting to cramp. Jane still had not said anything since the incident with George yesterday.

“Yes honey we will, I need find somewhere to get fuel then we can stop.” Emmett said feeling a bit tired himself. They drove for another fifteen minutes then the GPS told them they were only a mile from Hersham. Emmett had been there before and it would be a perfect place to stop and fuel up. It was a small town with only a few people.

They rolled to a stop at the top of the hill looking down on the town. Emmett pulled a pair of 10x42 binoculars from the glove box and knew right way that the town had been infected. He could see cars in the middle of the road, bodies lying dead on the main road, and smoke rising from some places. But worst of all he could see the infected milling about the town. Emmett put the truck back into drive and headed towards town.

“Alexis, you and Jane stay in the car no matter what, it is reinforced enough that no infected will be able to get in. I will get out and clear the fuel station then you two can get out and stretch your legs.” Emmett said as they pulled up to a pump at the fuel station near the start of town. He counted three infected around the station. He pulled out one of his Berettas and a suppressor out of the inside of his duster lying on the passenger seat.  He opened the door and exited the truck immediately going into a crouch and screwing the suppressor on the end of the handgun. The three infected were shambling towards the truck, attracted to it when they heard it pull up.

Emmett rolled under the truck and lay on his belly facing out the passenger side at the three infected coming. The nearest one was still about 10 yards out; Emmett took aim at the head. Gripping his handgun with both hands he squeezed the trigger. The first infected fell to the ground a bullet hole in its head, the other two took no notice and continued walking. They soon joined the first one on the ground each sporting the same size hole in their heads.

Emmett rolled out from under the truck and quickly looked around making sure there were no more threats. There was nothing he could see so he walked over to the pump and opened the fuel cover to the tank on his truck. He took the pump off the rest and put it into his tank he squeezed the lever but nothing came out. He shook his head as he looked at the pump and the sticker that read, “Prepay or credit card only.”

Alexis rolled down the window a shocked expression on her face, “Are they… dead? Is it safe?”

“Yes they are now and it is as safe as can be.” Emmett replied.

“Dad I really have to use the restroom.”

 “I have to go in and turn the pump on anyway, so you can come with me. Here I have a few presents for you in the back.” Emmett said walking towards the bed of the truck opening the topper and the tailgate. He hopped up into the bed and opened one of the drawers on the bolted down cabinet. He withdrew a box from the drawer and backed out of the bed of the truck. He stood next to the tailgate and handed the box to his daughter, who had gotten out of the truck. “Here this is for you.”

Alexis took the box opening it up and withdrew a beautiful handgun. It was a Walther P99 9mm with an 18 round mag, painted in a purple, black, and white digital camo. Alexis looked at the gun in awe and surprise; it was the same type of gun she always shot with her dad at the shooting range. She loved the feel of the gun, how it shot, and the weight, everything about it she was perfect. “Thank you so much!” she said giving her father a hug. For a moment in her father’s arms she forgot about where they were. She felt safe, secure, and comforted; it was just like it used to be before the world went crazy. But the feelings did not last, not with the vivid picture in her mind of her dad shooting the three infected. She knew they weren’t human anymore, she could tell that much by how they looked and moved. But it was still horrible seeing this all take place.

She ended the embrace and stepped back looking up into her father’s brown eyes seeing a deep love for her and also a strength that she knew would never fail. “Thank you dad I love it.” She said smiling and looking down at her handgun once more.

“Your very welcome honey, I knew you would and here this goes with it.” He said pulling a tactical belt with a few pockets and places for extra mags. He handed it to her, along with three extra mags. “The belt has some survival items in the right rear pouch and some first aid items in the left rear one. There is a Leatherman in the left side pocket, a suppressor in the right side pocket, and a tactical knife in the rear sheath. Also the mag in the gun is fully loaded, I assume you remember to work the handgun?” She put the black belt on and slipped the mags into the slots on the belt. Then she chambered a round and slipped the safety on.

“I remember.” She said smiling; she was already feeling safer by the moment. She had a handgun she knew how to shoot well and she had her father with her who had a whole arsenal.

“Now you are properly prepared, here take this too.” He said handing her a Benelli M4 12 gauge pump action shotgun with collapsible butt stock, pistol grip, and flashlight on the front. “It only has some 2 ½” birdshot shells in it, so it won’t have a very far range or knock down power. But if you hit them in the head at close range it will drop them. That is the main thing, hit them in the head, they won’t go down otherwise. You can do this honey, I know you can.” Emmett said as he walked around the side of the car and to the passenger side where his M4 with suppressor awaited him.

She was a little surprised when her dad handed her the shotgun. She had shot them before, but never at anything living, not that these were living anymore. Her dad believed in her, but she wasn’t so sure she believed in herself. The handgun her dad got her was one thing, but he was really expecting her to be able to kill them and she didn’t know what to think about that.

Emmett slid his Beretta into his shoulder holster as he pulled the M4 off the seat and chambered a round. Putting the gun to his shoulder he closed the door and started towards the gas station. “Honey you can come with me, just stay behind me and stay alert. Watch my six and keep your eyes and ears open. Jane you stay in the truck, we will be right back when it is safe.” Emmett moved towards the front door of the fuel station in a half crouch. Alexis followed behind him in the same stance slipping her Walther into the holster on her right left hip. As they walked forward she kept close to her dad and looked around for any movement.

Emmett reached the door and looked through the window to the abandoned inside of the station. He could see one body on the floor but there was enough blood there for two or three people. The goods were strewn about the floor, and half of the shelves had fallen over. Emmett took all this in in a second, but what caught his eye was the counter to the left of the doorway and the switches he knew would be behind the counter to turn on the pumps. He turned to his left where Alexis was looking through the big glass window at the inside. “Are you ready honey? Remember what I told you aim for the head and don’t get bitten.”

Alexis turned to her father horror plain on her face after seeing all the blood and dead bodies. “You don’t have to worry honey I will be right here, and they are not alive anymore, remember that.”

 “I guess I’m ready,” she said unsure of herself. She turned back to look through the window one last time at the horror inside. Suddenly a bloody hand smacked against the other side of the glass. Alexis jumped back bringing up her shotgun, she pulled the trigger on the shotgun but nothing happened. She had forgotten to chamber a round!

Emmett pushed the door open already aiming to the left and down. Emmett took one look at the eyes and knew it was infected, he fired his M4. The body of the infected hitting the floor was louder than the actual shot with the suppressor and subsonic rounds.

Alexis just stood there looking at the bloody hand print, this was more than she could handle. It had freaked her out more than a little. She chambered a round into the shotgun as Emmett moved inside to the counter. She started forward to the open door, telling herself to be strong and be brave. She had he dad here with her and as long as he was here she would be safe. She kept telling herself as she hesitantly walked inside the station.

Emmett walked over to the body and put another round in its head for good measure. He walked over to the counter keeping his eyes peeled for movement. He glanced over the counter and saw a body lying face down and it started to stir when he moved near. He shot it twice in the head, not needing to see its eyes he could tell by the look and smell it was infected. He hopped over the counter and found the switch on the wall; he flipped all the pumps on. “I’m good to go over here,” Emmett said to his daughter who was standing on the other side of the counter keeping her eyes on the rest of the station. “I’ll clear this and then you may use the restroom. Get behind the counter and make sure nothing gets out past me or inside through the door.”

Emmett moved down the aisle reaching a body lying on the floor. He put a round in its head and moved on to the door leading to the back. He eased the door open and moved into the hallway with three doors going off it. He checked the first one but it was locked, moving onto the women’s restroom he entered there. Handgun up to his chest he moved around the corner, there were only two stalls. Surprisingly the bathroom was cleaner than the rest of the station considering there was no blood or dead bodies. He checked both the stalls and they were clear, he made sure there was no other hiding place or entrances and moved back outside to the hallway. He enter the men’s restroom next, this one did have blood on the floor and a half eaten body resting in the corner. He walked up to it and saw that half its head was already missing so he did not waste a round. He checked the stall and the rest was clear, he moved back out to the main part of the station.

“The restrooms are clear, use the woman’s as it is clean; don’t go into the men’s.” Emmett told Alexis as he moved past her to the door. Emmett walked out to the truck and started to fuel up checking the surrounding area again, it was still clear.

Alexis was alone in the station now, and she surely felt alone. She knew he dad was just outside and wouldn’t leave her if he didn’t absolutely think it was safe. But that did little to help her now and she had to use all of her self control and determination to move from behind the counter. She walked to the back door and eased it open with the tip of her gun. There was nothing there so she moved to the woman’s restroom. Her hands were shaking when she opened the door, even though she knew it was safe. She walked inside quickly looking around everywhere keeping the gun pointed ahead. She did not fully relax till she had checked both stalls.

The lever clicked off indicating the tank was full so Emmett topped it off and hung up the nozzle.  He knew this would be hard for his daughter leaving her alone in there, but she needed to get used to this. He would not always be around to protect her and if he wanted her to survive she would need to harden up. Alexis came out the door of the station walking towards the truck, a little more sure of herself.

“Jane, do you need to use the restroom?” Emmett asked her through the window. She did not answer him she just looked at him with hate, grief plain in her eyes.

Alexis walked up and opened the rear door on the driver’s side, “Mom, let’s go, I’ll take you. It is actually very clean.” Alexis helped her mom out of the door and they both walked back inside the station. Emmett stood by the pump waiting, thinking if he needed any of the supplies from inside. After going through a mental checklist he realized he had everything he needed that he could think of. He did walk back inside though and got some cold drinks and some snacks: chips, cookies, candies and the like. He had plenty of survival food but he thought the girls might like this better. He was leaning against the truck reloading his magazine when the girls came out of the restroom. It had taken them over fifteen minutes and Jane looked like she had been crying. Emmett guessed they had had a girl talk while in there, girls loved to use the bathroom for that sort of thing he thought

“Are you two ready? I have some food and drinks inside.” Emmett said as he finished reloading his magazine and slid it back into the Beretta.

“Yes.” Jane replied venom dripping from her voice. At least it was an improvement considering she would not talk to him before. They loaded into the truck and Emmett drove back onto the road and headed towards town.

~*~

They drove all through the day and into the night. They were now north of Oklahoma City, having taken a detour around the capital. “Can we stop for the night?” Jane asked. Emmett knew from when they were married that she could not sleep in a moving vehicle.

“Yes, we just need to find a good spot,” Emmett replied having been thinking the same thing and looking for a spot for the past few minutes. They were on a highway and were seeing a bit of traffic, but not much, they were one of the few vehicles on the road.

“Dad, why are we going north? Why not just back to your house?” Alexis asked suppressing a yawn.

“Because honey I have a… fortified building north and it has everything we need. You will even have your own room.” Emmett replied trying to get a smile out of his daughter.

He did, she smiled saying, “You think of everything. But why north, why to that house?”

“Because honey the infection does not do so well in the colder weather and neither do the infected.”

“So how far north are we going?” Looking in the rearview mirror Emmett could see Jane wanted these same questions answered.

“Alaska. The further north we get from here the better.” Alexis and Jane looked a little shocked at that response.

“What? You show up throw us in the car, shoot my husband and expect us to go all the way to Alaska with you?” Jane had been silent for too long, she was pissed now and wanted Emmett to know it.

“Would you rather I left you there in the capable hands of your ignorant husband?”

“You b*****d! You never liked him, you always wanted him dead!”

“No I never did like him, and wouldn’t have wasted a bullet on him if he wasn’t infected. But he was so I did what I will do to every infected I see. Get used to it not dear, because it’s only going to get worse.”

“Enough! Must you two always fight?” Alexis asked tired of seeing her parents this way. She loved them both dearly but they had some unresolved issues to work out. “Why are we going all that way? I thought we were just leaving Oklahoma, maybe to Montana at the furthest. Is it that serious?” Alexis asked getting back on topic. Emmett couldn’t help but chuckle at that question. But he stopped himself short; they didn’t know what he did so he couldn’t expect them to understand.

“Yes honey, it is very serious. Right now it is just in Oklahoma in a few places, but the infection will spread. Within a few days the places infected will outnumber the ones not. Then in a few weeks we can expect the whole of the USA to be infected a few months all of North America. After that who knows what will happen.” All was silent for a few minutes and he could tell the girls were trying to digest what he had told them.

“How do you know all of this?” Jane fumed suspicion clear in her voice. She wanting to scream at him but kept her composer for her daughter. Emmett had been wondering when the questions would come to this one. Now he faced a dilemma tell them or keep it a secret, at least for now.

“That, I cannot tell you. I can tell you one thing however, because soon enough it will be all over the news. Your father’s company is involved Jane, I… discovered something while working security there. Something that alarmed me greatly, and made me do some digging.”

“You’re a liar my father would never do anything like this! I can see now what happened between you two.” Jane said just now realizing it had been more than the divorce. Albert and Emmett had always been close, but something had happened around the time of the divorce and Emmett quitting had put them at odds.

“Believe what you want, you will realize there is more to LifeWorks than you think a lot more.” Emmett said thinking back to a time that seemed like a lifetime ago. “Here, there is a rest stop up ahead. We will stop there for the night.”

Emmett had his choice of parking spots as there were no other cars to be seen. He pulled into the parking space right in front of the restrooms. There were lights all around and he could see for a good twenty yards in all directions. “Now honey, concerning your handgun you need to be careful. Some people will try and take it from you, best to wear your long jacket when in public. But make sure you do keep it close, we never know how far the infection will reach or who is infected.”

Alexis threw on her jacket and got out of the truck looking nervously around the rest stop. Emmett got out and walked towards the restroom building. Inside he checked both bathrooms, they were clear, no blood and no dead bodies. Alexis and Jane went into the restrooms to freshen up before bed. Emmett unstuffed two of the three sleeping bags in the bed of the truck and laid them each on the mattress. He took the other one up onto the roof of the topper and laid it out next to the shooting platform. The girls came out and looked at the bed with the sleeping bags and mattress.

“Is this for us?” Alexis asked surprised that they would actually be able to sleep in something that resembled a bed.

“Of course,” Emmett said smiling, enjoying her surprised reaction. “I’ll keep a watch from up here; just make sure all the windows are closed back there. And you will see the tailgate and topper can be opened and closed from the inside.” They climbed into the bed of the truck and sealed the tailgate and topper. Emmett heard the latch lock and knew they were safe inside. He crawled into his sleeping bag his M4 always within reach. He closed his eyes, going into a Marine’s light sleep. He knew the smallest sound of danger would wake him. He did not dream that night.

He woke up early the next morning sore and stiff from sleeping on the roof of the topper. He was not as young as he once was, he lamented to himself. He looked around at the rest stop; it was the same as the night before. He grabbed his M4 and climbed down off the topper, careful not to wake the girls up. He walked into the bathroom used the toilet and splashing cold water on his face to wake himself up. He exited the restroom feeling rested, awake and ready to start the day. He walked over to the truck and knocked on the topper window, “Girls, it’s time to wake up.”

He could hear the girls groaning from inside and knew they did not want to wake up. Emmett grabbed his .308 from the weapons rack and climbed up on the roof of the topper. He sat down in the chair there and rested his gun on the little desk attached to the chair and kept an eye out for any movement. The girls got out of the truck and went right into the bathrooms first thing. They came out only a few minutes later, surprising Emmett. He had lived with them for years and never seen them get ready this fast, I guess the apocalypse really did change people.

They retrieved their things from the bed of the truck and hopped into the backseat. Jane immediately laid her head against the window and closed her eyes. Alexis rested her shotgun in the middle of the backseat and buckled up. Emmett did one final scan then climbed down off the roof, stored the rifle on the rack, and got into the driver’s seat. A minute later they were back on the highway driving north.

 

Author's Note

This is a rough draft and subject to change at anytime. When I first put this up it will be a little rough around the edges. Bare with me and I will do my best to get a better corrected version up ASAP. Thanks and enjoy!

Reviews

[Katiya K]

Hi! Glad to see Emmet back in this chapter! If I were ever in a zombie apocalypse I would love to be teamed up with Emmet! I'm really quite curious about this character. With of course the most obvious question being how does he know so much about the infected and how the heck does he have so much ammunition?? I'm sure the answers will be cleared up in the next parts so I'm not worrying about this.

Your writing style is so very realistic. It doesn't feel like a movie at all - it feels like real life!

But your characters seem a little just a little flat to me. Alexis has unconditional love for her father but I would have liked to see a little comedy relief when she is presented with all the hard core ammunition and supplies to survive. I mean she is a girl after all. Wouldn't one be too overwhelmed? Or Jane wouldn't she be fighting back questions and accusations towards Emmit? Maybe that's just my opinion. (hope you don't think I'm being too harsh?)

There is a lot more detail in the action rather than to the human element I think. Although your story is quite original I think what the Walking Dead and other zombie movies like Zombieland use to their advantage to grab the audience's attention is the human element that is relatable.

Any ways, I like the development of the story and how the secrets are beginning to sprout!! Can't wait to read on and see what you have in store!

[Joshua Hunter]

Thank you for this review it is very helpful and had hammered in some issues I was having with it too. I Agree with the characters being flat that is true, I think I have Emmett exactly how I want him, but with the girls... I agree I was thinking about a way to make them seem more real. I just have a hard time with them, but I will think about what I want them to be like and start working on that. Thanks again this is way helpful!

[Katiya K]

You're welcome! I enjoy Emmett's character as well and I can't wait to see what you have in store for him. I'm glad I was able to help :)

[Katiya K]

Hi!

You've improved a lot in character development! Now I get a better sense of Alexis's personality and character and I feel like Jane's actions and bitterness towards her ex-husband makes more sense than what you had up previously!

I'm also starting to like Alexis. She seems like one of those good pure characters in a book that shines through all the destruction.

[Joshua Hunter]

Thanks! After you said something the first time I knew you were right so I changed a bit. I'm really excited for the next chapter with them as I know a more what I want her to be like going into it! Thanks again so much you really helped develop those two characters and helped with the whole story when it comes together!

[Katiya K]

I'm glad I could help!! I'm looking forward to seeing how you will mold these characters. You already have such a great plot and story line. Who can deny their love for a good zombie story? Haha keep up the amazing work!

[Joshua Hunter]

Thanks again! I can't wait to see what becomes of them too as I will just write and let them grow on their own!