I have gotten quite a response from this story. It seems like a lot of you have been waiting for a zombie apocalypse story to pop up. I am glad that I could satisfy that. As always feel free to contact me with comments or requests or concerns at johnashton07@gmail.com .
I would like to point out that this is a work of fiction, and any places or people are made up in my head, and any resemblance to real people or places is unintentional. This story does take place in an alternate version of New York City, same road work but different places and people. That being said, it has made my mind work better to have a map of the locations I have covered in this story. If it would help you as well, the link to said map is http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=216517044221266819818.0004af9bbad0b0adfd970
They forced open the door and ran to the jeep. Lucas unlocked it and hopped in the driver's seat. Samantha was already in the back with the supplies before Bradley had opened the passenger door. Lucas started the car and drove in the direction that Bradley pointed out to him.
Chapter 3 The Apartments
Lucas drove north on the highway. Traffic had been pretty heavy when the outbreak reached the cars, and there was a lot of weaving required to get through. The three of them were quiet most of the ride. Samantha sniffed or coughed a couple times, but no words were spoken.
"It is right up here, take a left and into the parking garage. Lets just hope they have it cleared out by now." Bradley said. He kept his eyes open for any signs of motion.
They pulled into the garage and someone was walking toward them. It was too dark to see any detail.
"Stay still. Stay quiet" Lucas whispered.
Bradley leaned forward trying to make out who it was.
"Oh for gods sake turn on your lights." She said leaning over the seat and turning them on for him. "There, its just Travis."
Travis walked up to the driver's window and motioned for Lucas to roll it down. Up close Travis looked in his mid twenties. He had slightly messed up brown hair that was left chin length. It accentuated his squared jaw perfectly. He had green eyes that were almost an eerie color that Lucas had not seen many times before. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a pair of jeans that hung at the waist. He was carrying a M6 which made his biceps flex slightly. He was slowly building up a redness to his cheeks that seemed like...
"Roll.. Down.. The window!" Travis yelled through the glass. "Don't just stare at me like a jack ass!"
Lucas shook back to reality and quickly rolled down the window. "Sorry. Sorry... Sorry."
"Great, now you are repeating yourself." Travis said rolling his eyes. "Bradley, Samantha, where have you two been?! We have all been worried sick!"
"Supplies?" Bradley said with a hint of dismissal. "We ran to the store to get some food."
"Alone? Without a gun or radio?" Travis said. "That was not the brightest idea guys. Park somewhere and get inside."
Lucas shook his head again quickly, and pulled into the first available parking spot. They all opened their doors and hopped out. Samantha grabbed the briefcase and box of supplies before hopping down out of the jeep herself. She held the briefcase out to Lucas and walked out of his way. One of the latches on the case was snapped open and Lucas looked over at Samantha who was now hopping about in circles with the box of supplies.
"Samantha? What is going on with you?" Lucas asked quietly when Bradley started toward the building.
"Oh.. Nothing." Samantha said stiffening up and walking to the building.
Lucas followed the three of them into the building. It was a lot larger than it had looked from the outside. There was an elaborate staircase toward the back of the room which lead to the second floor. There was no one new in sight, but he could hear that there were a few people walking around upstairs. The room would have been filled with light from massive windows, had they not been boarded up and the doors chained closed. He walked further into the room and sat his briefcase down on a chair.
"What is this place, a hotel?" Lucas thought out loud.
"An apartment complex, actually." Travis said walking into the room behind them.
"Oh, well its great I guess.." Lucas said.
"It is about as secure as it gets I would say. Everything is boarded up and we have security cameras in case there is a herd of them that comes walking by. We will know about it in enough time to quiet down until they pass." Travis explained. "I am Travis, by the way."
"Lucas," He responded "nice to meet you."
"Yeah. Likewise." Travis said looking past Lucas to Bradley.
"Travis, we were not alone. There were two of us. And you know how good Sam is with a blunt object." Bradley said defensively. His dismissive attitude had disappeared since getting into the building.
"You two left without telling anyone, and had no way to communicate with us. We had just talked about this!" Travis said storming past Lucas.
"We needed supplies." Bradley said sheepishly.
For a second Lucas thought that Travis was going to punch Bradley. His fist was held in his face and they were inches away from each other. However, Travis backed away after a minute and walked out of the room still red in the face.
"He will get over it, I am sure." Bradley said looking over to see a stunned Lucas. "He can play tough and loud sometimes, but that isn't him, really."
"How long have you guys been here?" Lucas asked.
"Since the zombies started showing up 3 days ago." Bradley said sitting on the stairs.
"3 DAYS!?" Lucas said falling back on a chair. "What day is it?"
"It is Sunday, crazy legs. Calm down."
"I was knocked out for a long time. Then that crazy bitch Samantha hit me with a broom and knocked me out again! I have slept for most of three days! What the hell!?" Lucas said. His head started spinning a bit from the stress of his realization.
"Hey, watch who you are calling a crazy bitch. That is my sister you are talking about!" Bradley said, his dismissive attitude back in place.
"Your sister? I thought you two were... together." Lucas said
"Hell no! Umm, I am gay bro. Most of us here are. Well, not Samantha," Bradley said. "I am pretty sure you are as well. What with you moaning `Ethan, Ethan, mmmmm' all last night."
"Fuck you, you don't know anything about me!" Lucas said standing up again.
"Hey, calm down. It is okay. The last few days have been hard enough on all of us, trust me on that. Not all of us got to sleep through the death of most of the town." Bradley said.
Lucas picked up his briefcase, threw the chair he had been sitting in toward Bradley, and stormed out of the room. He heard Bradley chuckling behind him but the noise when away when he slammed the door. He looked around the new room in awe. It was a pool and gym. There were a couple people in the pool swimming. The gym on the other side was separated by a door and large windows. There were a couple treadmills and a weight bench. Lucas could see someone was in there, but they were mostly hidden out of view. He went over and knocked on the door as he went inside.
It was Travis. He looked up as Lucas walked in. He was filling a bottle of water at the fountain and stopped.
"It is the best water in the building. Not many of the other water sources work anymore. I guess this one will stop soon enough." Travis said putting the lid back on the bottle.
"Well there is always the pool" Lucas said, realizing he sounded ridiculous after it had been let out.
"Not the sharpest are you? Pool water is not safe to drink man." Travis said looking at him questioningly.
"I know, it was supposed to be funny." Lucas said sheepishly.
"Ha. I get it. Hey let me show you around since you are new to the place." Travis said.
Travis lead Lucas back out to the pool area.
"This is the pool, obviously. It is a luxury that is going to be gone soon. We can not waste water or resources on it, so enjoy it while you can. When the water goes bad it is being drained and not coming back." Travis said.
Lucas nodded and decided that he should probably not say anything for a while. He kept messing his words up as it was. Travis lead them back into the first room. Bradley had gone and there was no one else in the room.
"The Lobby. Pretty much a commons area for us now. The doors and windows have to be covered and locked to keep anyone from seeing in. " Travis said.
Travis walked over to a door beside the stairs and opened it. Inside the room was a selection of screens all with views of the outside of the complex. There were a couple that showed the lobby and pool room, as well as a few hallways. All the screens were in black and white.
"It is not the most sophisticated security system, but it gets the job done." Travis said.
A man came around the corner of the security room and waved a cup of coffee before sitting down in a chair by the screens.
"Someone is in this room at all times. If a group of zombies walks in our direction it is their job to sound the alert. The security alarms are silent, but a red light will flash in any room. If, sorry, when, that happens get low and stay quiet. They should pass us by. Lights go off, and you are free to go back to normal." Travis explained.
They went up the stairs and into the first room. When the door opened Lucas could see weapons of all kinds.
"Let me guess, the armory?" Lucas said.
"Ah, so maybe you do have some smarts." Travis said with a chuckle. "Yes, the armory. This where we store weapons we have found on supply runs, or we had previously. If we are under attack feel free to help yourself."
Travis closed the door and lead Lucas down the hallway. These were all the apartments where people were currently living. At the end of the hall Travis opened a door.
"This is where you can stay. Your will be delivered every other day. Make that food last because until we get growing some of our own we rely on what comes back from supply runs. That isn't always a lot." Travis said guiding Lucas into a relatively small one bedroom unit. The living room had a kitchen off to the side, and a couch and table.
"Well this looks, cozy. " Lucas said.
"It may not be much, but you will have a bed to sleep in and food to eat." Travis said. "My apartment is right across the hall if you need anything."
"Yeah. Thanks." Lucas said.
Travis walked out of the unit and closed the door. Lucas sat down on the couch. For the first time since he had woken up in that closet at the airport he was able to think. Memories of what had happened came rushing back to him and his emotions were overwhelmed. His thoughts flashed to Ethan. He was laying dead in their old apartment.
Suddenly a knock on the door brought him back to reality. Lucas stood up and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He walked to the door and opened it. Samantha stood there looking at him.
"Have you been crying?" She said as she pushed her way by him.
"Well hello too, and yes you may come in." Lucas said ignoring her question.
"I know what is in that briefcase you carry around with you." Samantha said with an evil smirk on her face.
"That is because you are a sneak thief." Lucas said. "What do you want?"
"I won't deny that I can be sneaky at times, but you have to admit, it is pretty damn good stuff. What do you want for more?" Samantha said. She unbuttoned the top button of her blouse.
"Whoa, hold up. Leave your shirt on." Lucas said surprised.
"Awe damn. Your gay too? What does a girl have to do to get some action here!" Samantha said buttoning her blouse back up. "what about your `white bitch'?"
"My what?" Lucas said.
"Your coke man, your coke!" Samantha said. "You are new at this aren't you? What do you want for it?"
"It isn't mine. It was my boyfriend's. I don't even know what it is worth." Lucas said, thinking he should have left the last part off when he saw the smile that Samantha had growing on her face.
"Just give me a line. Maybe I will set you up with that stud across the hall. Travis?" Samantha said.
"I can handle myself. I will come up with a price, just remember this." Lucas said.
He opened the case and pulled out the bag. He laid out a nice sized line, though admittedly he was not sure what he was doing. He only went by the reaction on Sam's face. She took the line and hopped up. Lucas closed the briefcase and set it to the side.
"Thanks buddy!" She said giving him a hug. She left the unit without saying anything else.
"Well that was awkward." Lucas thought to himself.
Samantha had left the door open, and a man carrying a box stood at the doorway. He walked in slightly and cleared his throat to get Lucas' attention.
"You are Lucas right? The new guy." The man said setting the box on the counter of the kitchen area. "I'm Adrian."
"Hi Adrian. What do you have there?" Lucas said standing up.
"48 hours of supplies. Make them last man. It sucks to run out and have nothing to eat for a couple meals." Adrian said turning back to Lucas.
Adrian had short black hair and wore blue jeans and a jersey. He was heavy set and looked like he was pretty hungry.
"Whoa, you look pretty bad man. What happened to your arm?" Adrian said.
"That bitch Samantha knocked me into a china shelf. It is cut up pretty bad under these bandages." Lucas said.
"She can be a bit crazy at times. I will give you that." Adrian said.
"Yeah." Lucas responded.
"Well, there are your supplies. Like I said take it easy on them. They are picky about giving out more off schedule." Adrian said before walking out. "Take care of that arm." He closed the door behind him.
Lucas walked over to the box of supplies. There was a box of crackers, a bottle of juice, 2 packs of ramen noodles, a can of soup, and a bag of sunflower seeds.
"What the fuck kind of supplies are these!?" Lucas said to himself.
Lucas picked up the box and went across the hall. He walked up close enough to knock on the door but stopped when he heard voices.
"He should have been checked! What if he is infected!?"
"He is fine. He would have been turned by now."
"You can not just bring people in and not go through me!"
"He is fine!"
"What is with the bandages on his arm huh?"
"He was cut in the store, we have been with him since yesterday afternoon. Nothing has bitten him."
"Enjoying your spying Lucas?" Travis said walking up behind him.
The door to the unit opened and a man red in the face was standing in the door way. Bradley was standing back in the unit.
"Uh, hi. I was just leaving." Lucas said trying to turn around.
"Stop there. I want to talk with you." The man said pulling him back. "Come inside."
Lucas did not have much of a choice as the man practically dragged him into the unit. The unit was a replica of the one Lucas was given. Travis followed them in as well and closed the door.
"What happened to your arm?" Eric said taking the bandaged arm in his hand.
"Ouch, careful there killer." Lucas said, immediately regretting his choice of words.
"I am going to take these bandages off. I need to see the wound." Eric said trying to calm himself down.
Eric was older than the rest of the people Lucas had seen here. He seemed in his forties. His hair was turning gray which contrasted with his dark skin. He stood taller than the rest of them and had a strong build which only added to his intimidation level.
He unwrapped the bandage from Lucas' arm and looked at the wound. It had stopped bleeding but was still open. He poked at it lightly, but it was enough to make Lucas try to pull away.
"Ahhh!" Lucas exhaled. "That doesn't feel the greatest man."
"I would expect not. It looks like it has some infection to it. The smaller cuts are healing fine, but this one here is going to need a couple stitches to heal up correctly." Eric said. "Bradley grab the medical kit and bring it here."
Bradley left the room without saying anything. Eric let go of Lucas, who sat down on the couch at the back of the room. Travis followed him over.
"Can I see it." Travis said holding out his hand.
"Sure..." Lucas said holding out his arm.
Travis' touch was gentler than he expected. Compared to Eric's handling anything would be gentle, though. Travis tilted the arm a bit and looked closer.
"I am not seeing any signs of decay Eric. He is clean. A wound like this would have passed the infection quickly." Travis said. His eyes moved from his arm to Lucas' eyes. "You will be fine. A couple stitches and you will be good as new.
Bradley came back in the unit carrying a red duffle bag. He handed it to Eric who opened it up. He took out a bottle and a few cotton balls. He opened the bottle and pored a creamy liquid onto one of the balls.
"This is an antiseptic. It is going to clean the wound, and also numb it a bit." Eric said before touching the wet cotton to his cut.
Lucas winced as the antiseptic stung his arm. Travis had prepared the first stitch and handed it to Eric. Before Lucas realized what was happening Eric was already sewing his skin back together. Three stitches later the wound was held closed. Eric took some new wrapping from the bag and wrapped Lucas' arm up again.
"Keep that clean and if it starts bleeding again let me know, got it kid?" Eric said.
Lucas nodded. Travis picked up the box of supplies by the door and lead Lucas back to his room. He set the supplies on the counter and unpacked the box for him.
"Wow, you got the good supplies this time I see." Travis said.
"You are joking right? Ramen noodles, crackers, soup? Is that all we have?" Lucas said still holding his arm close. He sat down on the couch again.
"Yeah. We make supply runs to stock up, but a lot of the stores around here have been cleared out. We have to make due with what we can. Oh and ration your food out. Poor Adrian got hungry and ate all of his right away. Now Eric won't restock him until tomorrow." Travis said.
"So Eric is in charge?" Lucas said.
"You could say that. He just bosses people around. He barks orders and people listen, but that is the extent of his real authority. He is, was, a vet and so he has some medical experience. It is on animals, but what is the difference really." Travis said.
"Does he live with you?" Lucas said.
"Ha! No way. He has a two bedroom unit at the other end of the hall. His wife and daughter live with him." Travis said. He came over and sat by him on the couch. "Yep, I have that unit to myself."
Lucas looked Travis in the eyes. Their green color had shifted in the light to almost a metallic look to them. Travis blinked, which snapped Lucas back to reality. Travis leaned forward a bit. Lucas followed suit and kissed him. When their lips touched a shock shot through Lucas. He leaned back and broke the kiss. Travis leaned on top of him and took him into another one.
Travis bit playfully at Lucas' neck and slid his hand up his shirt. Lucas reached up and pulled Travis' shirt off of him. Lucas allowed his own shirt to be pulled off and pulled Travis back into a kiss. Travis began to move his kisses down Lucas' neck and onto his shoulders. Travis began to focus his attention on Lucas' nipples, sucking and lightly biting on each of them in turn. Lucas gave a light moan to show his appreciation. Travis could feel Lucas hardening through his pants and gave a slight smile. He went back to kissing Lucas' neck, but he slipped a hand down the front of Lucas' pants.
Lucas shuddered as the warm hand touched the head of his errection. Lucas exhaled and pulled Travis up for another kiss. Travis kissed him back with as much force as he could. He pulled at the button to Lucas' pants and unzipped them. He pushed the pants and boxers down to show his errection. Travis broke the kiss and moved down to Lucas' cock. Travis licked at it a couple times causing Lucas to moan in pleasure. He then took it in his mouth and sucked lightly as he moved his mouth down. Lucas squirmed a bit under Travis, and he knew that he would not last long. A couple more motions up and down and Lucas released into Travis' mouth.
Travis looked up at Lucas and smiled.
"Well that went a bit quicker than I had thought." Travis said. "It was nice though."
"Sorry. It has been a rough couple of days, I needed that." Lucas said.
He stood up and pulled his pants back up. As he pulled the zipper back up there was a bright flash of light. The power to the lights cut out, except for a red bulb on the wall that flashed on and off slowly.
"Shit! Get on the floor!" Travis whisper-yelled.
Both of them laid flat on the floor. Travis put his ear to the floor to try to hear what was going on downstairs. There was a loud crash that came from the floor below. A banging sound was next and a crack. Travis stood up and pulled Lucas up.
"They are inside, get to the armory!" He yelled as he pulled Lucas up.
Lucas followed Travis down the hall. Half way down a door opened and Samantha stumbled out with a bat in hand. She fell into step.
"What happened?" She yelled.
"I don't know. There was a crash. I think they broke through a window!" Travis said reaching the door to the armory.
Lucas looked down the stairs and sure enough there was broken glass and splintered wood all over the floor. He did not see anyone down there. Travis handed Lucas a hunting rifle and a pouch of rounds.
"You know how to shoot?" Travis asked.
Lucas nodded. Travis took off down the stairs carrying his M-4 ready to fire. Lucas followed, trying to load the shotgun as he ran downstairs. Samantha was on their tails. They all heard a scream as they rounded the end of the stairs.
"You guys go, I am going to fix this. We cant have more of them getting inside!" Samantha yelled as she picked up a hammer and box of nails that was left by the windows.
Travis pulled Lucas to the first floor hallway. As they turned the corner they smelled something rotting. There was an open door. Travis ran down the hall to the door. A woman jumped out of the room and on top of Travis. As he landed his gun fell out from his grip and flew down the hall misfiring into a wall. There was a scream from the other side of the wall.
The woman's mouth looked like it had been rotting away for a while now. Even if her mouth was closed her teeth would have shown through. It took all of Travis' strength to keep her mouth away from him. He was starting to lose strength when the woman's head fell limp and oozed a brown gunk. Travis had not even heard the gunshot, but looked over and saw Lucas running toward him. He pushed the body of the woman off of him and shuddered. Behind the wall they heard someone moving toward the living room of the open unit.
Lucas helped Travis up and he grabbed his gun. They entered the unit and cautiously opened to door to the bedroom. There was a young girl huddled in the corner crying. Lucas lowered his gun and walked over to her. He knelt down and saw that she was wounded.
"Oh shit, you are hurt." Lucas said.
The girl looked at him and Lucas saw that her eyes were clouded over. She tackled him and Travis had just enough time to kick her off of Lucas. Travis shot a burst at the girl but she stood up. She gapped her mouth wider than was possible for a human. She spat out yellow gunk in Travis' direction. The gunk fell short of him and he aimed again. The bullets caught the young zombie in the mouth and she fell limp.
"The fuck was that!?" Lucas said standing up. "Did she spit at you?"
"I don't know. Stay away from that yellow stuff, it could be infectious." Travis said helping Lucas step over the puddle.
"I think it is burning the carpet, look" Lucas said leaning over.
The gunk was steaming a bit as it seemed to digest the carpet. A few seconds later the mucus tuned black and seemed to solidify. Travis pulled Lucas away and they left the now empty unit. They moved through the rest of the hallway clearing rooms to be sure that no other units were hiding zombies. When they had checked the hallway they met the rest of the occupants of the apartments in the lobby.
"Someone made noise when the alert was up. They knew we were inside." Eric said.
"Is everyone accounted for?" Travis asked looking around.
"Everyone is here." Bradley said.
"No one was bitten." Samantha said. "And the wall is fixed. But this shows we need better fortifications."
"What we need is for people to follow the rules!" Eric said. "Who made noise?"
"No one made noise, Eric. I was listening. It was silent before they broke in." Travis said.
"Then we have problems." Eric said.