Apocalypse

How it all began

Prologue

“We’ve lost containment!” screamed Gordon as he raced to hit the button that would lock the facility down. He fell to the floor before he made it. His body convulsed violently and then a pink fluid flowed out of his mouth onto the floor. It was what had once been his lungs.

Dr. Neville came through the door carrying a silver tray as Gordon went down. On the tray was a syringe, and a small bottle marked Supervirus 1127 Antivirus. She grabbed the syringe and jammed it into her arm as she collapsed to the floor.

 

Ozzy

Ninety-nine percent of the world’s population was dead in 24 hours. So much for overcrowding.  And, not a zombie among them. As a prophet, Romero sucked. There were certainly plenty of candidates. The dead were strewn everywhere, but not a single one got back up in a mindless quest for brains.

It happened all at once. There was no warning, except the internet went down.  We didn’t think much of it then. We thought it was an outage, not unusual here in rural California. The government was spouting its usual “terrorists are on the move again” rhetoric and then everyone dropped dead.

Everyone except me that is. I still don’t know why, but it looks like anybody that could answer the question is dead. I know I’m not the only one, none of that “last man on earth” s**t. I heard a plane a few days ago, it was one of those private prop jobs. So I know there are others moving around out there.

The internet never came back on, I suspect the government pulled the plug. Everything else is working though, power, phones. The infrastructure seems to all be there, but no one’s running the show. I guess I won’t have to wait in line at Starbuck’s any more.

I remember when it happened. I was out tending the crop. I grow medical marijuana and I made quite a good living at it. Not quite as good as when I was doing it illegally but we have to roll with the changes. I think there’s a cheesy song about that. I digress.

A person gets used to routine, things always being the same. It took a moment for things to sink in when the workers around me began falling to the ground. The man next to me began convulsing as if he were having  a massive seizure. 

A dizziness swept over me and I fell to my knees and breathing was difficult. I knelt there for some time, but the feeling never got worse. Soon, it released its hold and then went away entirely. I looked over at Tom, the man that had fallen next to me. The convulsing had stopped and there was a pink, Pepto Bismol colored fluid that had rolled out of his mouth onto the ground next to him. It had a distinctly sour odor which made me gag.

I stood up and ran to my house.  Every worker I had now lay dead in a small pool of pink. Inside the story was the same. My housekeeper a Mexican woman with chronic immigration problems had been preparing dinner. She was dead on the floor next to the stove.

It was then I think I went into sort of a shock. I sat down and turned on the television. It was strange, surreal, like an old, bad LSD trip. There were stations broadcasting, empty sets, I assumed the camera operators and commentators had died right there. One station had a beautiful view of the spotlights in the ceiling of the set. Another station kept playing the same episode of “Married with Children” over and over. 

There was no news, no nothing. Even Cramer the yelling stock advisor guy was gone, silent. I thought I saw his hand protruding from behind his desk. There was only one thing left for me to do, I rolled a doobie. It wasn’t like anybody was going to do anything about it now.

The pot helped. I laid back in my chair and stared across at the wall. I looked at the pair of old pistols hanging there that my father had owned. They were Colt Revolvers hung cross-wise in a leather holster. “Yep, this is going to throw us back,” I thought.

I hadn’t used guns much over the years and when I had they weren’t these old antiques, though I knew they were in perfect condition and were quite fireable. Back in the days when I sold drugs illegally I always carried a gun. You never knew what kind of character you were going to have to deal with, I mean this is California after all. 

Most of those characters would be dead now. I couldn’t help thinking on several levels it wasn’t much of a loss. Sure there were going to be some things I’d miss, but on the whole there might be a lot said for hitting the reset button.

Maybe it was just the pot but I was alive. I was a survivor. How or why wasn’t the question. The question was what do I do with it? I wished I could get on my Facebook page. Status update: Still breathing. See if anybody “liked” that. See if there was anybody left to “like” that. The internet. That was the one true great loss. It held all of the information. The years of people Wikiing everything. It was the one true storehouse of knowledge. Sure a lot of it was bullshit, but some of it was invaluable, especially now. If other survivors out there were as isolated as I was, the internet was the place with all of the answers. It was how we had communicated, it was how we had socialized, good god how had we let ourselves come to this.

Information had become digital and disposable. As little as possible had been printed all in the name of saving the trees. I guess the trees are safe now. The internet was everything at our fingertips. Want to know something, Google it. Need to keep up with the news, MSN and Yahoo, pick and choose your interest. It was all out there. It was still out there, just turned off.

It made me angry. Those a******s had turned it off, all in the name of their paranoid delusions that if we couldn’t communicate, we couldn’t organize. S**t people have been organizing long before there was an internet.

The problem is we allowed it to become a receptacle. We dumped all of our knowledge and experiences and feelings into it as we went on with our ever racing lives and forgot the basics of living, survival. In other words we dumped all of our eggs into one basket, one really big basket and now it was gone.

I had read an article somewhere, probably online, that if the internet were shut down, it would have to be done through the individual service providers. A law was passed that when the world came down, the plug was pulled, the servers shut off. This was all done under the guise of homeland security and the assurance that it would be brought back online as soon as the danger passed. The idea was to keep terrorists from communicating. It was always about the terrorists. It was always about fear. It was always about power and control.

My doobie had gone out while I had stood contemplating my new place in the universe. I shook myself back to reality, but one thought stuck with me. The internet, All of that information and I couldn’t get to it. All it had to do was get it turned back on. It would be a massive job, but with Icarus it might be possible.

If I targeted what had been major population centers, I’d be able to reach the most survivors. Whether they might be individuals or in pockets, the medical information alone was invaluable. There was certainly nothing to hold me here. I wanted to see, I wanted to know what happened. I wanted to rise above it all and with Icarus I could do that.

Author's Note

This is a rough draft. Comments are invited.

Reviews

[kmcelroy]

Wonderful read. This being a rough draft I'm sure you will polish up the flow a bit. Some sentences were a little wordy but nothing that took away from the content. Not once did I have to reread anything so that is always a plus! Too bad there are no zombies though, end of the world should always have zombies. Can't wait to see where this is going!

Grammar/Mechanics:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It had a distinctly sour odor, COMMA which made me gag.

Inside, COMMA the story was the same.

My housekeeper, COMMA a Mexican woman with chronic immigration problems, COMMA had been preparing dinner.

You never knew what kind of character you were going to have to deal with; SEMICOLON I mean, COMMA this is California after all.

Sure, COMMA there were going to be some things I’d miss, but on the whole there might be a lot said for hitting the reset button.

Maybe it was just the pot, COMMA but I was alive.

Sure, COMMA a lot of it was bullshit, but some of it was invaluable, especially now.

As little as possible had been printed all in the name of saving the trees. ** “had been printed”- passive voice.

In other words, COMMA we dumped all of our eggs into one basket, one really big basket and now it was gone.

A law was passed that when the world came down, the plug was pulled, the servers shut off. ** “was passed” – passive voice

The internet, All of that information and I couldn’t get to it. ** All needs to be all.

[Ms. Gruye]

I was curious to read a book that someone is posting here. I thank you for subjecting such a young work to us! I usually am not certain if I like a story until I get a good feel for the characters. Until I know them like a good friend. I did not get enough of a sense of Ozzy's personality here to know if I would want to read more about him. Perhaps that will come in the next few chapters.

I am also uncertain what set this zombie apocalypse story aside from The Stand or 28 Days later, but I am sure there are surprises on their way. You did a great job of establishing a setting in the first few pages. best wishes as you continue on.

Viva la

[arlery]

This was brilliant. Great job, it had me hooked till the last sentence. Especially the part about humans organizing long before the internet. Will definitely be waiting for the continuation.

[Shawn Pfister]

I'm left to wonder if, since the pink stuff is lung matter, if smokers would have it somewhat blackened...probably shouldn't think about it though.

Grammar's pretty good here, I didn't find myself getting caught up anywhere and you know me.

It's a good beginning to a story and I will definitely read more when you put it out, but I withhold judgment until I get more to read.

[patricia]

I thought that was brilliant. Thats why I never get rid of my books and keep printed copies of most things...if the electric ever goes we'll all be in big trouble but its ok - a few of us will still have the written word. Your a superb writer Mikel. Thanks

[~Lizzy♬]

I loved the excitement and suspense throughout the chapter. The details were very well written also. This chapter brought a very good start for a book to start. Great job! :)

~Bookers~ (Lizzard)

[Michael.]

Where'd you get the idea for this?

[Tommy]

Yes, I did enjoy the read! It brings to mind many things, which are so true in the nature of the world and how we get by these days. I like how his mind went to the guns; although I would not be using those old things when the nearest gun store is full of ammo and fire power. I don't know if I would be smoking pot either, but that's because it never agreed with me. All in all I think you have a great start to something that has great potential to grow.

Thanks for sharing!
RLG,
Tommy