Original Stories Fan Fiction / Horror Fan Fiction ❯ Plague 11: The Outbreak ❯ End of the Line ( Chapter 10 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter 10: End of the Line
As expected, the state border wasn't far. By the night, John and his friends had crossed the marker that welcomed them to the state of California. They had achieved part of their goal. The only thing left to do was get to the coast. But walking was also an annoying task that they'd been at for hours. So there was an understandable relief when they came across a small subdivision.

There were only three houses. John looked at them slowly. Checking each house would be both dangerous and a waste of time. Lauren looked in the driveways. She saw no cars. The group discussed which house to go inside. When the decision was made, they began walking toward the second house. John didn't know why, but it seemed like the best choice.

John drew his shotgun as he neared the front door. Andrews followed closely with his own weapon in hand. With a forceful kick, John knocked the door open. He slowly stepped in and looked around. The house was poorly lit on the inside. Lauren slipped inside with them and looked around. A sound caught John's ear. It was a rattling that came from the kitchen area. John and Andrews walked quickly and quietly to the doorway and peeked inside.

They saw a now familiar sight. A zombie was hunched over a body, digging in on its guts. Lauren followed them over to the doorway. Only for a second did she not see the edge of a table. Her hip bumped it lightly, but t was enough to make a knocking sound on the wall. John squinted his eyes as the sound traveled through the wall and into the zombie's ears. Its head jerked up to look at John and Andrews. Not wasting time, John fired a loud shot from his shotgun, causing and echo to rattled the surroundings.

With the zombie dead, they moved through the house quickly. Andrews checked the kitchen, Lauren went upstairs, and John searched the living room. As he looked around the room for anything of use, something shiny caught attention. He looked and saw a small decorative Native American blade. He set his gun down and and grabbed the knife. It was engraved with sloppy carvings and had a handle made out of animal hyde. Next to it, he found the sheeth, also made from the same hyde. But soon his attention switched from the blade to a sound from behind him. It was a low moaning combined with gurgling. John spun around and came face to face with a lone zombie. Judging from the holes in its torso, John judged that it was the feast of the previous zombie. Naturally, John readied his gun. But there was a problem this time around. John's gun wasn't near him.

The zombie gave a howl and charged at him. John was slammed into the shelves forcefully as the infected ceature drooled and bit at him. John tried pushing it off, but was angled in such a way that his movements were limited. He fidgeted and squirmed as his attacker tried hard to sink its teeth into him somehow. John squeezed the handle of the knife hard, trying to move. Then he realized that he was, in fact, holding a knife. With one powerful swing, he planted the blade directly into the zombie's head with a squish and a splash of blood. The zombie went stiff and stopped snapping. John shoved it off and ran across the room to his gun. Lauren came running into the room as fast as she could. She looked at John with an anxious face. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," John said, "I'm fine. Just got attacked by the first creep's snack."

"Why didn't you shoot it?" Lauren asked.

"Well, I would have. But my gun was over here. And I was over there. I had to kill the damn thing with this." he said, holding un the knife. Looking at it one more time, he spoke again, "I think I'll take this with me. It may come in handy in a tight situation like this."

John and Lauren picked up their heads when they heard Andrews' voice. They followed it through the kitchen and found an open door. Inside, Andrews was standing next to a small, dusty sedan. John stepped down two stairs and looked at it for a minute. "Does it even work? What about keys?" he asked.

Andrews smiled a clever grin and held up the keys, dangling them so they'd chime together. The situation didn't cal for it, but Andrew's attitude made John utter a slight chuckle. He crossed the garage to the car and opened the door. He threw his gun and knife inside and turned to Andrews with another question. "Who gets to drive?"

By now, the racket they caused had alerted many infected in the area. They all sped toward the house. One changed its course when it saw the garage door open. It ducked under the arge metal gate and darted inside. Seconds later it flew back out, slamming its head against the low door. A few more zombies followed the example. But when the door was about halfway up, the sedan flew from the garage like a bullet out of a gun. John sat behind the steering wheel and swerved to drive out of the driveway. The car crushed more zombies as it made its way down the street and back onto the country road. John pushed the accelerator down as hard as he could, jetting down the straight road. They had to make it to the coast as soon as possible.

John looked at a sign on the side of the road. It indicated that they were headed south. That wasn't the way he wanted to go. As soon as he could, he'd head west. The only destination for him was the coast. And he would get there, one way or another. He looked out in the direction he wanted to go. There were mountains and trees all around. The car rolled past many amazing views and sights. The road soon led into the mountainous forest. Out in this wilderness it would be quite strange to run into any zombies. But John had to keep the car moving fast at all times. But doing that in the mountains would be near impossible. If any zombies attacked them while they were in the mountains, they wouldn't be so lucky.

The drive, however, was relaxing. Watching the scenery gace John a chance to forget about all of his troubles for a little while. He stopped remembering the death of his friends and family and wondered about the trees and how they grew so tall. He thought about how long it took to carve some of the mountain sides. They had been around for so much longer than humans. John's thoughts slipped back into darkness as he realized about how humans hadn't been around for nearly as long as the trees or mountains. He thought about Plague 11. Humans were being wiped off of the face of the earth. In man's short existance, they had created so much. But now it was all going away.

John saw animals running along the road. He had always thought of himself as a higher and stronger life than animals. He now saw the folley in that theory. Like rabies, Plague 11 was causing the species to kill each other. He was no better than a squirrel or dog that just hadn't been infected yet. But it was only a matter of time to him. It could be a day later. It could be even a year. But he knew he'd fight it with everything he had. He glanced down at his shotgun. A glint of hope shined in his eyes. The one thing about humans that seperated them from animals: they had weapons. They had tools to defend themselves far better than animal. And as long as he had those tools, he would be fine.

The drive through the mountains was a lengthy journey. It took atwo days to finally clear them. This was only because of the roads. John had to slow down so much. The threat of an attack was much more intimidating then. But finally, they'd cleared the terrain. And not long after that, John found a route that woyuld take them west. Things were looking up, except for the gas meter, which was just above empty. They would have to stop soon. John headed west along the highway. The car passed small houses and stores. He also saw a sign for the San Joaquin River. He'd read about it and knew it was quite the sight. If there was a fueling station, it'd be near there.

John explained the situation to Lauren and Andrews. When a gas station came into view, they pulled into the lot and parked next to a pump. Andrews grabbed his machine gun and slid out the door. Lauren stepped out as well. John walked over to the pump. It was an electronic pump, but John had become quite adept at getting gas by now. He pressed a series of buttons, making the machien believe he would pay afterward, and removed the nozzle. As the car was being filled up, he checked on the others, who were on guard and waiting.

"Should we go check inside the store?" John asked, looking back to the building.

Andrews scanned the highway and land for any enemies. He didn't see anything around except for nature. Turning back, he nodded his head. "Check what's inside. Get some food and drinks if you can." Andrews said.

John nodded back and walked to the shop. He pushed against the door. It didn't move at all. He tried pulling it back. Still nothing. After a momemt of thought, John bent down and picked up a metal trash can sitting next to him. He stepped back and threw the container as hard as he could. As it impacted the window, the glass caved in and shattered. John jumped through the newly made entrance. His shoes crunched as they landed on broken glass. He held his gun up and made his way through the store. There were shelves of food. He found a plastic bag dispencer behind the counter and started filling bags up with snacks and drinks.

Outside, Andrews and Lauren sweated in the California sun. Andrews wiped his forehead and leaned back against the car. Lauren had taken to the same position. But every so often, she would move to look back to the store. Andrews looked at her and back at the store. He decided to break the silence. "So are you and John, like, boyfriend and girlfriend? Cause I've seen the way you look at him and the way he looks at you." he said.

Lauren looked at him quickly and then averted her eyes. "No. We're not in a relationship. We just met not too long ago. We're just friends." she said quickly.

Andrews gave a small laugh and shook his head. "Kids..." he said calmly. He heard the gas pump click. Turning around, he called to John. "Hey, kid! Let's get the hell out of here! Come on!" he yelled.

No answer came from inside. Andrews yelled louder for him. Lauren tried to shut him up, telling him he'd attract attention. But Andrews kept shouting for John. Then he saw him. John stumbled backward toward the broken window. Andrews crossed the car to look closer. Then he saw a zombie infront of John. It was lunging at him quickly. Lauren turned and saw the zombie pounce against him. John fell backwards. He felt a sharp pain in his side as a shard of glass was thrusted into his hip. He screamed in pain as his blood ran down the window. Andrews took aim and fired a spray at the zombie. John opened his eyes and saw the undead's head rupture from the bullets. He tried to move, but another wave of pain shook his body.

Lauren and Andrews ran to his side. John let out a grunt of discomfort as he tried to stay still on his back. The large piece of glass was wedged into his side deeply. Andrews grasped him. "Kid, I'm not gonna lie. This is gonna hurt like a bitch. But you need to take it so we can get out of here." He turned his attention to Lauren. "Hey, go get some first aid stuff from inside."

Lauren returned with bandages and cleaning items. Andrews told John to brace himself. He wrapped his arms around John and had Lauren get ready with a lot of bandages. He counted to three and in one pull, lifted John off of the glass. The teen screamed bloody murder as he was pulled from the window. Lauren wrapped the bandage around his torso a few times and tied it tightly. Meanwhile, Andrews jumped inside the building and garbbed both shotgun and the food that John had bagged. They helped John to the car, where he layed in the back. Andrews jumped in to the driver's seat and they took off.

The car drove across a small bridge that spanned the San Joaquin River. As the sun set on this day, their goal to get to the coast was coming closer to reality. Around noon, the next day, they saw a sign marking Oakland as the closest city. They decided as a group to go through Oakland as fast as they could and use the Bay Bridge to get to San Fransisco. As they neared Oakland, they stopped for planning. But as they stepped out, Lauren went into an immediate defense. She had spotted out of the corner of her eye a figure walking toward her. She turned and aimed her pistol. The man jumped back, stumbling onto the ground. Andrews walked around the car and aimed at the man. John pushed his door open and stepped outside slowly. He pulled out his shotgun and took aim with his friends.

"Whoa! Wait! I'm human! My name is Simon Romero! Please don't shoot!" he cried out.

Andrews studied him for a moment. He lowered his gun and walked back to the car. "Come on, guys. We need to figure out a way through Oakland." he explained.

Simon Romero stood up and walked over to them. "You don't want to go to Oakland. The place is a battlefield." he said.

"How do you know?" Lauren asked.

"Hell, I just came from there." Simon replied. "Your best option would be to head south from here and get to San Diego. It's a hell of a drive, but I hear the military's got that place locked down."

Andrews approached him quickly. "Listen, pal, I don't know you. So I'd suggest you get the hell out of here before I kick your sorry ass. We're not looking for the whimp's way out. We need speed." he barked.

John stepped up and spoke slightly softer. "What my friend is saying is that we already have a plan and a destination. So we don't think we'll be changing it. Sorry."

Simon stood up and started walking off in the direction he showed. He yelled back to them. "Just remember that I warned you!"

The group reformed and made a plan to get through the city, drawing on an old map they had found in the glove box of the car. After the plan was set, they jumped back into the car and took off again. Within an hour or so, they had reached the city limits. Signs of the battlefield that Simon Romero had told them of were becoming clear. Buildings were on fire and people were running in the streets. The only way they could determine alive from undead was that the humans had weapons. Following the less populated streets, they deepened themselves into the city. Gun shots and explosion sounds filled their ears. Oakland wasn't destroyed like some cities, but it wasn't habitable. It was the kind of city that would be next to go.

As they passed through streets, debris, zombies, and even humans hit the car. It had become banged up very badly. The numbers of enemies wasn't too bad. As they pulled into one street, however, zombies seemed to run out from every alley way and crevice. They flooded the street and crowded the car, shaking it violently. As they hit the windows, the glass broke apart and rained down on them. John stuck the shotgun out the window and fired a blast into the swarm. Andrews fired several spurts of bullets into the hordes as well. The car had slowed to a crawl and was soon overtaken by the almost limitless infected people. As hand reached in to grab him, John curled up in the middle and closed his eyes tightly. He wanted everything to go back. As the car shook and swung around, he wished with all of his might that when hje opened his eyes, he would be in his bed. He would have woken up from the night of celebrating his graduation to an empty house. He would hear from his parents and then go hang out with his friends, Trent and Luis.

The sound of machine guns firing drew Andrews' and Lauren's attention. John opened his eyes as well when he heard this sudden sound. They looked through the holes in the crowd and saw military helicopters flying overhead. Soldiers were dropping onto roof tops and firing into the zombie infested streets. Soon, the sea of undead monsters was emptied. John spoke fast, with a clearly annoyed tone in his voice. "Andrews, start the damn car up!"

Andrews gave a laugh. "Yes, Sir!" he said, punching the accelerator.

The car motored down the city streets. Almost every street was barren from the rain of fire from the army. The car finally pulled into a street where the Bay Bridge became very visible. As they rolled out of Oakland and began the final stretch toward the bridge. People were running from the bridge toward the city as if being chased. Andrews stopped the car and John stepped out. He stopped someone and asked them why everyone was running.

"Are you nuts? The army's gonna blow up the bridge. They're trying to hold San Fransisco safely. I'm getting the hell out of here." he said, running.

John slid back into the car and told them the bad news. "Do we turn back?" Lauren asked.

"We can't. We have to push through. We'll make it!" Andrews assured her.

The car rolled forward and began its trek across the Bay Bridge. It smashed through the toll booth and flew across the lanes, avoiding other cars and obstacles. John, Lauren, and Andrews heard the screeching of military jet bombers flying through the sky. Andrews pressed the gas pedal all the way down, gripping the steering wheel tightly. It was beginning.

Surprisingly, the bridge wasn't filled at all. It was almost empty. As they flew across the metal structure, jets soared above. The four bombers circled back to the front of the bridge. The first one took off and released its bomb. Shockwaves shook the bridge hard as the portion of the bridge was blown away. Andrews kept speeding the car across the almost four mile bridge. More and more bombs dropped and more and more parts of the bridge crumbled into the water. The entire frame began to wobble and shake. As it shook about, it finally started falling away.

All three of them could see the end of the bridge. The last jet flew overhead with a loud scream. It dropped its present and flew away. This bomb was too close. As it impacted the bridge, a huge fireball blasted after the car. John could feel the fire around them as they closed in on the exit. Citizens in San Fransisco watched as the Bay Bridge broke apart into nothing but rubble and scrap metal. A group of National Guard soldiers stood by the city limits. The cloud of smoke and dust covered a large area. They looked around, but couldn't see far with all of the smoke. Then, one of them saw something. It was gliding through the cloud. As it came closer, he saw it was a car. A horribly damaged sedan had pulled up. After a minute of silence, a loud cursing came from the driver's seat. Three doors opened and out stepped two men and a woman.

John stumbled around. He searched his person for a weapon, but could only find his new knife. Andrews walked out of the dust as well, also empty handed. Lauren followed them, holding her pistol. They were covered in dust and ash. John walked up to a soldier and looked him in the eye. He shook his whole body and sent a cloud of dust into the air. "Is this San Fransisco?" he asked.

The soldier nodded and looked at his partner. They informed John and his friends of the situation. The army had sectioned off San Fransisco as an escape port. Not only that, but there was a ship that was leaving the country. The two soldiers led them to a convoy nearby. It was headed to the harbor soon. John couldn't believe he had made it this far. He walked with Andrews and Lauren to the convoy. There, more soldiers were loading people into a large pick-up truck for transport.

As John descended toward the convoy, a howl echoed through the air. Everyone looked up as hundreds of infected stormed the hillside, running for the convoy and the city. John and his friends ran to the truck. John helped Lauren into the car and then climbed in. He turned back to Andrews, who was standing away from the truck. "Andrews! Let's go!" he shouted desperately.

The truck's engine started up. John and Lauren called to Andrews again. He held out his arm and rolled his sleev up, revealing a bite mark under his shoulder. "Lauren, can I borrow that gun?" he asked calmly, nodding to her pistol.

Lauren was surprised when she felt tears roll down her face. She had hated Andrews when they had met. But she couldn't help feeling sad for him. She handed the gun to him and simply said, "There's only three shots left."

"Great!" Andrews laughed, "Two for some unlucky zombies and one more for me. You two take care of yourselves." He began walking toward the crowd of zombies closing in on them.

The truck started pulling away. John looked at him one last time. "Are you sure about this, Andrews?" he asked.

Andrews gave him a wave. "My name's Tim!" he said before turning and running at the zombies. He jumped into the mess of undead monsters. He fired one shot, killing a zombie. He spun around and fired a second, which traveked through two heads. With one last laugh, he yelled to the infected one last time. "Come and get me, you freaks!" he screamed. As he yelled into the sky, the zombies around him jumped. The tackled him and sank their teeth into him. Tim Andrew put the barrel of the gun to his temple.

As John looked back into the horizon, a single, final gunshot rang out. John sat back down next to Lauren. They looked forward, to the harbor. They arrived at the docks to find a miniature cruise liner waiting for passangers. John and Lauren boarded the vessel. Finally, after everything that happened, they were safe. A few hours passed and the boat began to take off. John remembered hearing that no wrod had come on the status of other countries. It was an uncertainty that he would have to deal with. He leaned on the railing next to Lauren and thought back to the events that had transpired in the past two and a half weeks. He had come close to death, but managed to survive. John turned to the open view of the sea. He saw the setting sun on the shores of America as the ship pulled farther and farther away.

John put his arm around Lauren and took a long restful breathe. He spoke quietly and soft. "We made it."