* * * * *
From the Author
I hope you enjoyed Viral Dawn as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'd love to hear your thoughts about the story! Connect with me on Facebook.
About the Author
By day, Skyler Rankin is a mild-mannered school psychologist specializing in helping students with a range of educational and developmental disabilities. By night, Skyler enjoys writing fiction on her laptop in a recliner with a cat on her lap.
Connect with Me Online:
Fiction Blog: https://skylerrankin.blogspot.com/
Coming Soon: Viral Storm
Bonus Excerpt
I stepped on a sharp stone, and stopped for moment to hold my breath. I couldn’t yell out, because we might be heard.
“Are you okay, Casey?” Verna asked.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I just stepped on a rock. These shoes are so thin.”
“Do you want me to look at it?” she asked. Verna was always in her nurse’s role.
“No, it will be fine,” I said, inspecting the red mark on the bottom of my foot.
Verna, Kyle, Jordan, and I had been attempting to escape through the woods for an hour hoping to cross out of the heavily guarded contaminated zone. We carried guns to fight off any infected zombies we might encounter. We had to avoid the deadly virus and evade the authorities who hunted us. We were fugitives now, not just for breaking out of the safe zone and blowing up an army truck, but also for what we knew.
We had evidence that BioGenetics, a chemical and biological weapons manufacturer was deliberately infecting human evacuees with the virus for experimental purposes in their race to develop a vaccine. If we were found, we would be killed. Our only hope was to leave the country. We were on our way to Canada. From there, I hoped to expose BioGenetics for what they were doing. I wanted justice for the innocent, defenseless people they deliberately infected and then viciously mutilated in their research. Mostly, I wanted justice for Harley, my infected friend who we had been forced to euthanize to save her from BioGenetics’ torturous experimentation.
The only good that had come from this situation was that a serum had been developed at the army depot that was successful at treating the infected. They were manufacturing the serum and would begin distributing it in a week. There was hope for many at least.
If only the serum had been developed before the explosion that unleashed the virus, so many would have been saved. I guess that is just the way BioGenetics operated. The company’s chief interest was in developing genetically engineered biological agents to kill; not cure. They hadn’t planned for the possibility that their manufactured virus would mutate and turn people into flesh-eating zombies. Initially, the virus was airborne, infecting anyone who breathed in the contaminated gas. Then, it spread as the zombies attacked though contact with their blood and saliva.
“Everyone, keep it down,” Kyle warned. “We’re not in the clear yet. From here on out, if we’re attacked by zombies, we’ll have to fight them off by hand. Do not discharge your weapons for any reason or we’ll be heard.”
“How can we fight them off by hand?” Jordan asked with disbelief etched all over his face.
“You can use your gun as a club. You can kick, and you can hit them with anything you can get your hands on. Just do not fire, or the army will be onto us,” Kyle instructed.
“Let’s keep moving,” I said. “The sooner we’re past the boundary, the better.”
We continued walking. Kyle led the group, and I covered the rear. It was quiet in the woods, and that made me feel a little more secure. If zombies were around, we would hear them. Their heavy, raspy breathing and horrible screams were unmistakable. I felt a rock in my shoe and stopped again to empty it.
It happened without warning. I was knocked to the ground by the force of a zombie barreling out of the trees. It pinned me to the ground with inhuman strength. It sunk its rotting teeth into my shoulder. “Help me!” I called out.
The butt of Kyle’s gun slammed into the zombie’s head so hard that it went flying into the woods. He pulled the decomposing body off me and crouched down beside me. “Casey! You’re bleeding!” he said.
“It bit me,” I cried “It came from out of nowhere without making a sound!” I looked into Kyle’s face. He was pale. He moved toward me. “Stay away!” I said frantically. I was infected.
Immediately, I knew what I had to do. “Go on without me,” I said. “Verna, take this money.” I pulled the money I’d been keeping out of my pocket and gave it to her. “You’ve got to get to Canada and let everyone know what Biogenetics did. Take those records from the files to an attorney. You’ve got to tell the truth!”
Verna protectively placed her hand over her pocket that was holding the documents she’d taken from the research laboratory.
“We’re not going anywhere without you,” Jordan said.
“You need us,” said Verna. “We can get you to the army depot and get the serum.”
“No you can’t,” I said. “They’ll kill you. They’ll kill us all.” I could tell by their expressions that they weren’t listening to me. I had to make them understand I was serious. I picked up my gun and pointed it into the air. “Leave!” I said. “Leave now, or I’ll fire this gun, and the army will come. I swear I’ll do it!” It broke my heart to see the hurt on their faces.
“Okay,” Verna said gently. “We’ll go. Just take it easy. I’m going to leave some of this money with you just in case you need it.”
“I won’t need it,” I protested. “I’m not going to make it.”
“Yes you will, Casey Williams!” Verna said sternly. “You're going to get up off your butt and get to the depot where you can get the serum.” She divided the money and handed half of it to Kyle.
“I’m staying with you, Casey,” he said.
“You can’t…”
Kyle pulled me toward him and kissed me hard on the lips. I felt tears stinging my eyes and rolling down my cheeks.
“There, it’s settled,” he whispered. “I’m infected too. Now I have to go with you.”
“You idiot!” I sobbed. I wanted to hit him. I wanted to hold him. I was furious and touched all at once.
“You two go on,” Kyle said to Jordan and Verna. “I’ll take care of Casey.”
Verna’s face was red, and she was wiping tears from her eyes. “I’ll never forget you two,” she said.
“We will find you again when all of this is over,” Jordan said.
“You’d better go now,” I said. “We’re wasting time.”
Kyle helped me to my feet, and we watched Jordan and Verna disappear into the woods.
“What now, soldier?” I asked, my voice sounding funny because of my stopped up nose from crying.
“We head back to the van and drive as far as we can toward the army depot. We’ve got to get that serum.” We turned and started back-tracking.
“Kyle, we can’t just walk in there. Remember, they took our photos for identification back at the compound. They’ve probably sent our pictures to all the bases. We’ll be recognized.”
“Yeah,” he said, running his fingers through my long blonde tangle of hair. “It’s a shame this is going to have to go. We’ll have to cut your hair and dye it. It makes you stand out.”
“We should do yours too,” I said. Fortunately, they hadn’t had the opportunity to give him a military buzz back at the compound. Otherwise, he would look too much like a soldier. Instead, his sandy hair hung well below the collar of his t-shirt. “We should find other pants too,” I said. Kyle was still wearing military pants, and I still had on the khaki scrubs from the safe zone. ‘Safe zone’ the thought made me laugh bitterly to myself. We had been so hopeful when we heard the army had a safe zone where we could take refuge from the zombie outbreak. We couldn’t have imagined the horror we found when we realized we were trapped there and were being held captive for
BioGenetics’ research. Now, here we were, forced to walk right back into their clutches.
We had been walking since dawn, and I was tired. We couldn’t stop to rest though, because neither of us knew how long we had before the virus took us down. The virus was unpredictable. In some people, it caused an outbreak of bleeding sores within hours. In others it took days. The fever would come along with seizures. Eventually, the virus caused a death-like state while it incubated and took over its victim. Then the zombie would reanimate and come back to life as it decomposed. Zombies were strong and fast, and they had an insatiable appetite for flesh.
“Kyle, you have to promise me something,” I said. “If we don’t make it in time, I want you to kill me. I don’t want to change into one of them.”
Kyle just looked at me. “We’re going to make it,” he said.
“Just promise me,” I insisted.
He touched my cheek. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll do it. Then I’ll kill myself."
I nodded somberly. It was the only answer.
It was after noon when we made it back to the van. We hadn’t made very good time. We were tired, and the events of the last few days were beginning to wear us down.
“We should get something on that bite,” Kyle said.
He took me around to the side door of the van, opened it up, and found the antiseptic wipes. I pulled the t-shirt up and removed my arm from the sleeve. My shoulder throbbed with pain, and a burning sensation was creeping down my arm. A bruise had already formed, and my skin was torn. Kyle carefully cleaned the wound with a wipe. It stung, and I winced. “Sorry,” he said.
“It’s okay,” I responded. “Just do what you have to do to get it cleaned.”
He pulled a first aid kit from one of the bags in the back and dabbed some antibacterial ointment onto the bite marks. He pulled out a roll of gauze and cut a square large enough to cover the area with a pair of scissors. He pressed the gauze against the wound and secured it in place with medical tape. “We should probably go ahead and cut your hair in case we’re seen,” he said.
I said nothing, but nodded in agreement. I stood out in the grass while he cut my hair. I watched as the long strands fell softly down to the ground. When he’d finished, he reached down and scooped up the hair. He stepped into the woods and buried it under a pile of leaves and twigs. “Wouldn’t want anyone driving by to see it,” he said.
“I’ll drive,” I said, climbing into the driver’s seat.
“Are you sure you feel like driving with that shoulder?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I want to drive while I still can.” I looked at my hair in the rearview mirror. I looked like a completely different person. Maybe Kyle was right. With hair coloring, no one would recognize me. “You’ll need to give me directions,” I said as Kyle sat down in the passenger seat and closed the door.
He pulled out the map and studied it for a minute. “You’ll need to take us back the way we came to the main highway.”
I started the engine and pulled back onto the road we’d traveled last night. I was glad to be driving. It took my mind off the fact that I was now a virus carrier racing against time.
We had driven about 50 miles when Kyle asked if I was hungry. I wasn’t. In fact, my stomach felt a little sick. I didn’t tell him that because I didn’t want him to worry. It might not be the effects of the virus after all. It could be just nerves.
“We should eat anyway,” he insisted. “We’ve got to keep our strength up.”
He was right, of course, but I wasn’t sure if I would be able to eat without throwing up. He got some cans of potted meat from the back of the van and brought us a couple of plastic spoons. He opened a can and handed it to me. I took it hesitantly.
“Something wrong?” he asked perceptively.
“No,” I lied. I carefully juggled the steering wheel, the can, and the spoon. I took a bite and swallowed.
****
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends