Read Online The Ugly Beginning - 01 by T. W. Brown - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: T. W. Brown
heads’ owners could tell you that they were hearing the song Stranglehold . They simply were able to decide that noise meant the source would satisfy their primal desire.
To feed.
***
Just as the sun was rising for what would, on the surface, be a bright, clear, warm and sunny day, the group all stood on the highest hill of Trashmore Park surveying the surroundings. Sirens and gunfire came from every direction. Cars raced by on the nearby expressway. Plumes of dark smoke rose in various locales. It seemed as if events were unfolding rapidly.
The EBS loop on all the radio stations was warning folks to stay indoors and not allow anyone inside. The current response was that the event currently happening was a virus or disease. Maybe it was. But not like anything the folks in charge would allow themselves to acknowledge.
The sonic roar of a flight of F-16s screamed overhead. In the big picture, they were just one small element of the total chaos. Who would think a global civilization could be dis-mantled so quickly by something that should have been just as quickly containable.
“We need to get out of the city,” Cary said to nobody in particular.
“Before the martial law crap is called for,” Kevin added.
They nodded as a group and headed for their cars. Each had a CB radio tuned to channel four. Single file, they wound their way to the Virginia Beach Expressway and headed west. Their ultimate destination was South Dakota. Kevin had given everybody a route map he printed up on his computer. There were waypoints in case anyone got separated. Outside of Hampton was a Walmart Superstore. Open or not, it would be their first stop. There was a U-Haul rental across the street. It was decided that, again, open or not, they would be acquiring a truck for Cary. He and Mike would handle that while Darrin and Kevin would ‘go shopping.’
***
As they exited the freeway, each felt a surge of adrenaline. The area was more deserted than they could have hoped for. Not a car passed them as they drove down Davis Boulevard. Both parking lots were more or less empty; the exceptions being a couple of lone zombies amidst the stray shopping carts in the Walmart lot. Mike and Cary peeled off, and Darrin led Kevin into the open concrete expanse in front of the store.
Cary had his door open before the El Camino came to a complete stop. A tool bag in hand, he ran to the glass entry door of the main office.
Empty.
Opening the bag, he produced a glass-cutter. Where’d Kevin come up with this crap? It was as if he had spent his life preparing for some sort of apocalypse. Cary attached a suction cup fitted with a handle and cut a large square out of the bottom of the door. No sense busting glass and making a bunch of noise that might attract attention.
A few minutes later, he was in the reception area. Climbing over the counter, he looked at the wall of keys on hooks. Mike came up to the door, slightly out of breath, “One over by a few of the trucks and a couple heading this way from down the street.”
“Okay. What truck am I grabbing?”
“C-26,” Mike said.
Cary scanned the board, found the key he was looking for, and rushed to meet up with Mike in the parking lot. As they threaded their way to the truck, the smell of death teased their nostrils on the gentle morning breeze.
Jumping in the cab, Cary settled in, turned the ignition. A full tank! So far, so good. Mike was already sprinting back towards the El Camino. He was running in the street to avoid the possibility of something lunging out from between the rows of trucks. Meanwhile, Cary shifted into gear and edged up and over the concrete ridge that surrounded a poorly kept flower bed. The two headed for the front entry to Walmart where they would meet up with Darrin and Kevin.
***
With shopping carts brimming, the two ran down aisles scooping things from shelves into the big, blue, plastic baskets. Once a cart was full, they would push it to the
To feed.
***
Just as the sun was rising for what would, on the surface, be a bright, clear, warm and sunny day, the group all stood on the highest hill of Trashmore Park surveying the surroundings. Sirens and gunfire came from every direction. Cars raced by on the nearby expressway. Plumes of dark smoke rose in various locales. It seemed as if events were unfolding rapidly.
The EBS loop on all the radio stations was warning folks to stay indoors and not allow anyone inside. The current response was that the event currently happening was a virus or disease. Maybe it was. But not like anything the folks in charge would allow themselves to acknowledge.
The sonic roar of a flight of F-16s screamed overhead. In the big picture, they were just one small element of the total chaos. Who would think a global civilization could be dis-mantled so quickly by something that should have been just as quickly containable.
“We need to get out of the city,” Cary said to nobody in particular.
“Before the martial law crap is called for,” Kevin added.
They nodded as a group and headed for their cars. Each had a CB radio tuned to channel four. Single file, they wound their way to the Virginia Beach Expressway and headed west. Their ultimate destination was South Dakota. Kevin had given everybody a route map he printed up on his computer. There were waypoints in case anyone got separated. Outside of Hampton was a Walmart Superstore. Open or not, it would be their first stop. There was a U-Haul rental across the street. It was decided that, again, open or not, they would be acquiring a truck for Cary. He and Mike would handle that while Darrin and Kevin would ‘go shopping.’
***
As they exited the freeway, each felt a surge of adrenaline. The area was more deserted than they could have hoped for. Not a car passed them as they drove down Davis Boulevard. Both parking lots were more or less empty; the exceptions being a couple of lone zombies amidst the stray shopping carts in the Walmart lot. Mike and Cary peeled off, and Darrin led Kevin into the open concrete expanse in front of the store.
Cary had his door open before the El Camino came to a complete stop. A tool bag in hand, he ran to the glass entry door of the main office.
Empty.
Opening the bag, he produced a glass-cutter. Where’d Kevin come up with this crap? It was as if he had spent his life preparing for some sort of apocalypse. Cary attached a suction cup fitted with a handle and cut a large square out of the bottom of the door. No sense busting glass and making a bunch of noise that might attract attention.
A few minutes later, he was in the reception area. Climbing over the counter, he looked at the wall of keys on hooks. Mike came up to the door, slightly out of breath, “One over by a few of the trucks and a couple heading this way from down the street.”
“Okay. What truck am I grabbing?”
“C-26,” Mike said.
Cary scanned the board, found the key he was looking for, and rushed to meet up with Mike in the parking lot. As they threaded their way to the truck, the smell of death teased their nostrils on the gentle morning breeze.
Jumping in the cab, Cary settled in, turned the ignition. A full tank! So far, so good. Mike was already sprinting back towards the El Camino. He was running in the street to avoid the possibility of something lunging out from between the rows of trucks. Meanwhile, Cary shifted into gear and edged up and over the concrete ridge that surrounded a poorly kept flower bed. The two headed for the front entry to Walmart where they would meet up with Darrin and Kevin.
***
With shopping carts brimming, the two ran down aisles scooping things from shelves into the big, blue, plastic baskets. Once a cart was full, they would push it to the
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