Origins of the Outbreak (22 page)

The Mother
, 10:12 a.m.

“I know, isn't it just insane?” Melanie replied.

“Well, my husband is out on that
perimeter. I know he'll do everything he can to keep us safe.”

Several of the women regarded her as if she'd just spoken ill about the Lord.
“Gladys
,
al
l
of our husbands are on the fence line. They all belong to the same unit for Pete's sake,” Camilla retorted icily.

“That's right,” Melanie agreed.
“The Longknife squadron will keep those creatures out and protect their families.”

One of the girls, the young wife of a second lieutenant who was new to the squadron raised her hand and asked, “What if they don't?
I think they'll try their hardest, but at some point won't they just run out of bullets or something?”

Gladys stared down her nose at the interloper.
“I can't believe tha
t
you doub
t
our boys, Kasey! They'll keep those… thos
e
thing
s
out and we'll be safe!”

The wife of the squadron's supply officer downed her wine and held it out unsteadily for a refill.
“Don't you think you should slow down a little, Gladys? It's only ten a.m.,” Melanie stated.

“Don't tell me – I
'm a
t
m
y
house, I'll have a drink if I want to. It helps to calm my nerves.”

“I'd hate to see her sober then,” Kasey said to the girl sitting beside her.

“What was that? What did you just say about me, you little snot?”

Melanie stood up quickly and stepped in front of Kasey.
“Okay, I think this wives’ social is over. In hindsight, we probably shouldn't have stuck so rigidly to the schedule. Ladies, it's time to go back to your homes.”

“Hey, come on!
I didn't mean for everyone to leave,” Gladys said.

As the ladies of the 4th Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment gathered thei
r
things
,
the bitter woman slumped back on her couch. Melanie herded everyone before her out the door. She turned and regarded the host for a moment, then said, “Goodbye, Gladys. We'll see you in a couple of days.”

“Please
, don't go. I don't want to be here alone,” she pleaded.

“I'm sorry, hon.
I've got to go and be with my kids. I only had the babysitter for a couple of hours today,” Melanie said as she gently closed the door behind herself.

Like I'd want to stick around with her at that pity party
!
th
e
squadron commander's wife thought as she walked out to the street where she'd parked her Expedition. Kasey was waiting for her when she got there.

“I'm sorry
, Melanie. I didn't mean to get her so upset,” the younger woman said.

“Oh, don't worry about her.”
Melanie leaned in and placed a hand on her shoulder. “To tell you the truth, she's been a bitter woman ever since her husband got passed over for promotion last year. The Army is forcing him out in a few months.”

“They are?
Oh, that's horrible.”

“Yeah, you say that, but you haven't heard of the ridiculous things that man has done since he got here.
He's lucky they didn't do paperwork on him and kick him out months ago. I can only imagine that the same thing happened at his last assignment too.”

She leaned back and took her hand off Kasey's shoulder.
“You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine.
The dogs are going crazy with all the gunfire though.”

“Well, that's the price of security,” Melanie said.
“We're gonna be okay. Those men and women know what they're doing.”

Kasey nodded her head.
“I know. Just something that Mike said before he left yesterday keeps sticking with me.”

“What was that, honey?”

“He said that all the kick-ass weaponry that the Army has was designed for offense. When it comes to defense, they might as well still be using old rifles and sitting helplessly in trenches like they did in the first World War.”

“Don't worry.
Those things out there are too stupid to make it past those soldiers. Okay?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Kasey said with a forced smile.

The older woman rubbed her shoulder and said, “Okay, I've gotta make it home to my kids before the babysitter abandons them! I'll see you in a couple of days.”

“Goodbye, Melanie!
Be safe!”

“You too, dear
.
Now get home to your dogs before they tear up that house and Mike gets a giant bill from housing!”

Melanie waved to the girl as she pulled away.
She felt bad leaving her standing helplessly on the sidewalk, but she really did have to get home to her kids.

As the squadron commander, her husband had gotten a house along the senior officers' row.
There were plenty of lieutenant colonels who lived on the same block as Gladys with the rest of the field grade officers, but commanders were treated special. The Army went through a big board process to decide who would have the privilege of commanding a unit, so they gave them just a little nicer housing and kept them all along the same street.

Although she took part in the festivities, she couldn't help but feel like she stepped back in time to the Sixties when she turned onto her street.
Normally children sold lemonade in homemade stands, wives sat on the front porches with friends, even the lawns were kept to a meticulous standard. That's one reason why she insisted that they kee
p
the wives’ coffee schedule today. It was expected that the wives – they did have a few male spouses who typically didn't come to any of the events – would carry on, just like their soldier did.

There was a different feel to the street today though.
She checked her truck's thermometer. It was a mild 73 degrees, yet not a single window or door was open as she drove by. Every house had the blinds closed or the shades drawn. It was strange. No kids played in their parents' front yards and nobody walked any pets.  Everyone had taken the message to heart that they needed to stay indoors.

She pulled into the driveway and stared up at the United States flag that flew proudly from their front porch.
“You've stood tall in darker days,” she muttered as she stepped up onto the composite planks of her front porch. In the far off distance, she could hear the guns firing.

Melanie paused.
Something was definitely not right. This morning, the guns had been much closer as her husband's unit had occupied the fields less than a mile from their house. These guns sounded like they were all the way on the other side of post, by the old PX. That meant….

She twisted her key in the lock and rushed inside.
“Caleb, Ashley! Are you guys alright?”

“Hi, Mrs. Dunn!
”
Caitlin, their exuberant teenage babysitter, shouted from the top of the stairs.

Melanie locked the doors behind her.
“Are the children okay?”

“Of course.
We're just upstairs playing.”

“Caitlin, you need to go home now!”

“What's wrong, Mrs. Dunn?”

“I don't know.
The 3CR soldiers have stopped shooting. I don't know what that means. You need to go while you still can. Shit –”

Melanie's hand flew to her mouth and she said, “I'm sorry, Caitlin.
Is your mom at home?”

“No, she went to my grandma's house last week,” the girl answered.

“Okay, you're staying here then. Come help me close the blinds.”

Caitlin started to jog down the stairs and Caleb appeared behind her.
“Mommy, there's a parade outside!”

Melanie
didn’t even think, she just bounded up the stairs and caught Caitlin halfway. “Get back upstairs, now!” she hissed. “Take the children in my closet and stay away from the windows.”

“You're starting to scare me, Mrs. Dunn,” the babysitter told her.

“You better be scared. They've broken through the fence. Get the kids hidden while I try to close the curtains without being seen.”

Caitlin's eyes shot wide.
She finally understood what had Melanie so excited. The girl nodded her head and called for Ashley quietly as she scooped up Caleb and took him into the master bedroom closet.

Melanie darted low into Caleb's room and flattened herself against the wall by the window.
She knew that if she moved fast, that would attract more attention than if she moved slowly and deliberately, so she craned her neck out and slowly inched towards the window.

Below, her perfect street, a throwback to the Americana of yesteryear, was filled with the undead.
They bumped and jostled one another as they moved towards the distant sound of gunfire. The creatures tripped and fell repeatedly over her garden statue of Saint Francis of Assisi, the so-called patron saint of animals. Disgusting blackness oozed from open wounds on their bodies and everything they touched became tainted with it.

She pulled back from the window and crept into her bedroom.
“We have to stay here. We cannot – I repeat, cannot go downstairs or near the windows. Do you hear me children?”

“Yes
, mommy,” they replied in unison.

“Mommy, where's daddy?” Ashley asked.

“I don't know, honey. I'm gonna send him a text message and see where he is.”

“Oh, he always answers your test message.
Then we'll know.”

Melanie leaned in and kissed her on the head.
“That's right, sweetie.” She took a ragged breath and said, “Then we'll know.”

She sent close to forty text messages over the course of two hours, but there was no response from her husband.
She knew that he was gone. Gone like so many good people, so many families destroyed by this scourge
.
It's not happening to my kids
!
sh
e
told herself.

She snuck back into Caleb's room.
The mass had passed and the street seemed relatively empty. Her Saint Francis statue peered up at her, his face covered in gore and several of the animals at his feet had been broken off. Then an overwhelming urge hit her.

They had to leave.
They had to leave now!

She didn't know why, but she knew that she had to obey
.  They needed to get away as soon as possible. She ran into the bedroom and grabbed Caleb. “Caitlin, take Ashley. We have to leave now!”

“What's wrong?
I thought you said that we had to stay hidden.”

“Something just told me that we had to go.
Something very bad is going to happen – worse than what's already happened.”

The girl considered her words for a moment and then said, “Come on Ashley, we're going on a car ride!”

“Is daddy coming? Did he answer your test message?” the tiny girl asked.

“Honey, he's
gonna try to meet us when we get there, okay?”

Her daughter's face perked up, “Okay!”

“It's important that we stay quiet, okay?”

“Yes, mommy.”

They crept down the stairs and she pulled aside the thin linen curtains that covered the door's side window. The way seemed clear so she tapped the unlock button twice on her key fob to make sure the truck was open.

“Don't worry about strapping them in.
Just get in the back with the kids and do it as we drive,” Melanie told the babysitter.

“Okay.
Hope we don't get stopped.”

“We won't.
Trust me.”

She went over the plan to open the back driver's side door an
d
al
l
three of the children were to go through that. It would save time running around the truck; plus, they had no way of knowing what was on the other side.

Melanie unlocked the front door as quietly as she could
.
“On three
.
Ready?”

Caitlin nodded and Melanie whispered out her count.
When she got to three, she threw the door wide and ran to the car. She heard Ashley scream behind her and she opened the door to the Expedition.

Melanie literally threw Caleb inside and whirled around as Caitlin and Ashley jumped in.
A zombie lurched towards her family. It was a soldier, someone wearing the 3CR patch of her husband's unit. Now she knew for sure that they’d been overrun.

Her mind processed her options faster than any computer would ever be able to match.
If she opened the car door, the creature would likely be on her before she could get inside. On the ground, less than a foot away, was her Saint Francis of Assisi statue.