Dead Life by D. Harrison Schleicher Read Free Book Online

the street.
                  Two hospitals, one in Cincinnati and another in Atlanta, had to be shut down because of an “infectious outbreak.”  The CDC had been called and the news media was awaiting further details.  Until further notice the FAA had suspended all air traffic.  There was rioting at several airports.
                  Al said he thought it was mostly just pissed off people.  It was obvious to Al and I that the outbreak had definitely begun.  It wouldn’t be long before the infection would spread to St. Charles and we’d need to get going if we were going to beat it.
                  “Al, I need to talk to Gina.  Do you think we’re almost done for the day?”
                  “Yeah, I’m beat.  I need to figure a way to seal off the hole we made in the cab of that truck.  I’ll figure out something and fix it up tomorrow.  You need to get your girl convinced and have her here tomorrow afternoon.  I think it’s time to get out of Dodge.”
                  “Can I borrow that flash drive?  I was going to show her that.  If it doesn’t convince her then nothing will.”
                  “I was thinking the same thing.  I’ve got it right here.  You take that and get over to her place.  Call me and let me know how it goes.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”
                  Al took the U-haul over to his place so he could work on it over there.  I went in to take a shower.  It was already eight o’clock and I needed to get over to Gina’s place before she went to work that night.  When I called her apartment there was no answer.  I tried her cell phone and it went straight to voicemail.  I left her a message asking her to call me back.  If she didn’t, I’d try her at work later that night.  I spent the next few hours watching the news and browsing the internet.  We’d be lucky to make it until tomorrow.   And even though it was apparent the news wasn’t telling the whole story, I could tell the outbreak was everywhere.  Time was running out fast.
                  I called Al and told him I hadn’t been able to reach Gina.
                  “All you can do is keep trying.  Have you been watching the news?”
                  “Yeah, it doesn’t look good.  Pretty soon they’re going to have to start telling the whole story.”
                  “CNN already is.  One of the news anchors even used the word zombies.  The story was out of Chicago.  It showed footage of a cop and a fireman.  The cop was eating the firefighter.”
                  “I’m going up to the store.  I’ll wait for Gina to get there.”
                  “Did you see the story on the local news about your store?  They closed at eight and weren’t re-opening until nine tomorrow morning.”
                  “No, I didn’t see that.  I’m going up there anyway.  Maybe she’s already there.”
                  “Okay.  I found an air bladder to put between the cab and box of the U-Haul.  I’ll finish putting that in.  Call me when you know something.”
                  “Yeah, I will.  Talk to you later.”
                  “Steve, take a gun.”
                  “You think?”
                  “Yeah, and get one of those ball bats while you’re at it.”
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 12
                  On my way up to Meyers I called the help desk.  I wanted to let them know I was going in so I wouldn’t set off any alarms.
                  “Help desk, this is Marty.  Can I help you?”
                  “Hi Marty.  This is Steve Downs, badge number SD315.  I need to break the perimeter at St. Charles 725.”
                  “Okay, hang on a second.”
                  By the time Marty came