Read Online The Zombie Virus (Book 1) by Paul Hetzer - Free Book Online

I
realized that once I left the Facility I wouldn’t be wearing the
hat of the scientist any longer. Out in that new terrifying world I
was going to have to be husband and father, protector and provider.
I wasn’t sure I could do that. I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid
taking more lives like I had just done, not without endangering my
family. Could I man up and do that or, like now, was I going to be
incapacitated with the shock and horror of my actions?
    I tried to console myself that that dead man
out in the hallway was no longer human, that the Loonies were
nothing more than rabid dogs that should be put down with extreme
prejudice. If not, they would continue to kill and infect those of
us who were survivors of this plague. I prayed that I could
continue to do this for the sake of Holly and Jeremy.
    I took a deep breath and went back out to the
body of the Marine security guard. I removed his holster and gun, a
9mm Beretta M9. The magazine carried fifteen rounds plus the one in
the chamber. I grabbed the two magazine holders off of his belt
that held another fifteen round magazine each. Forty-six rounds,
not a lot for what I expected to face.
    I found a pocket knife clipped to his BDUs
and recognized it as a Gerber ‘Answer’ assisted opening knife. I
pocketed it, hoping to never again be close enough to one of the
infected to have to use it. I checked around the security kiosk for
more ammo but there was nothing. Usually one of the guards carried
a rifle, although if Ronny had one it was not where I could find
it.
    I was armed now, which raised my chances
appreciably. I sat down at the kiosk and carefully scanned the
security monitors overlooking the perimeter of the Facility,
including the parking lot.
    The lot was mostly empty except for maybe a
dozen cars scattered here and there. My car sat off in a corner by
itself. I couldn’t see any sign of life in the lot. Then I caught
movement out on the road. Three Loonies were aimlessly walking in
the street, going nowhere. They acted like they were unaware of
each other.
    I could hear the generator rumbling nearby.
It reminded me that my time at this place was limited. Once the
generators quit a battery bank would supply enough power to do a
lock and sterilize. Anyone or anything caught below in the labs
would be terminated. It was time to leave the Facility.
    I had been surviving on vending machine food,
which was nearly gone, and the generator only had forty-eight
hours’ worth of fuel, not enough time to accomplish any more major
tasks in my lab. I missed my family. I had been away from them too
long already.
    Millions of people lived within fifty miles
of our home, most of whom would now be infected or dead. This meant
that home couldn’t be my final destination. I would stay there long
enough to gather my family and supplies and then move on. If not,
at some point we would be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the
infected.
    We owned a small, isolated farm high in the
mountains of southwestern Virginia that we used as a weekend
getaway. The population density there was low enough that we could
hopefully defend it indefinitely against these mindless animals. If
we could get there.
    I conceded that it was time to go home and
get my family. At some point, I told myself, when things had
settled down, I could come back and finish my work. The lab would
still be here. I could bring in diesel for the generators. That had
to be my goal after securing my family. How long could the Loonies
survive? Maybe a year or two. Probably not even through their first
winter.
    I had left my cell phone in the car. If I was
going to make a dash for the car with the Loonies wandering around
out there, I needed to secure the lab first and gather my
notebooks. I wasn’t planning on returning any time soon. It was sad
to think that all of my work may have been in vain. That there may
not be enough people left in this world to save. I had to
concentrate on my family now, keeping them