Art/Story by  CoyoteJeeper7
-REVISED-
Chapter One: Day Zero

The epidemic swept the nation. In a matter of days, it had reached from coast to coast. The East coast was hit first. Unexpectedly folks got horrible fevers they couldn't get under control. Ice baths, acetaminophen, saline IVs...nothing worked. Reports stated that some fevers spiked at 120 degrees. Everyone effected burned up and withered away. They never died, clinically speaking. Just stopped responding. Went comatose. For a little while, anyway.

I remember when it reached us like it was yesterday. You never forget something like that, I guess. A couple friends and I were preparing for a little Dirt Every Day trip out West. We were going to load up a couple Jeeps and a support truck and live independently for a couple of weeks. Camping, wheeling, fishing, breaking and fixing shit, exploring dirt roads and rural highways. The idea was to meet up at my friend Diesel's shop, spend the day bullshitting and doing final inspections on the trucks before taking off. On the drive up I realized I had forgotten to remove my compound bow after I had it out on the range the previous day. I meant to leave it at home, but it was sitting there in the back seat, right where I had left it. Damn I always hated forgetting things like that.

I arrived at the shop early in the morning and the door was already unlocked. I walked through the lobby and onto the shop floor to open one of the bay doors so I could pull my Jeep in. Diesel and Kaji were working on our support truck, an old square body GMC 3/4 ton. As I walked by I said, "Radiator again?" to which they both responded, "Yup."
I asked, "You ever get the front axle sorted out?" and Diesel replied, "No, that's what you're here for."
I pulled my Jeep in and closed the bay door behind it. I began unpacking everything for the trip so I could double check and re-organize as needed. I set the bow and quiver aside, debating whether to leave it here or take it along for some campsite entertainment. Once I was done inventorying my camping gear I would check the Jeep over. Fluid levels, coolant pH, tire wear, look for leaks, grease the front end, check for bushing fatigue. I was going to be living out of this Jeep for a couple weeks, so I didn't want anything to go wrong with it. I also took inventory of my spare parts. Tie rod, axle shafts, U joints, spare front drive shaft. I checked my trail tools to make sure I wouldn't have to borrow anything from the shop before leaving. I also had a crate of MREs in case our primary food supply was compromised.

Once I was more or less satisfied with my Jeep, I turned my attention to the Dana 60 on the front of the support truck. It was making some sort of clunking noise on the driver's side. One quick look confirmed my initial suspiscions, as the U-joint was broken. Luckily he had some in stock so I could just get to work on it instead of chasing parts around. I lifted the truck up on the two-post it was already parked in and set to work. In about an hour I had both axle shafts out and took them over to the arbor press to pull the U joints out. I heard a faint thump in the lobby. I turned and asked the other two, "Is someone else here?"
Diesel responded, "I don't think so," and walked over to the window to look into the lobby. "I don't see any-AH FUCK!"
Someone was there, all right. They had jumped up and slammed into the window, cracking it. They were thrashing around and kept trying to come through the window, clawing at it and shouting incoherently. There was blood smeared all over the window from their hands and face...they were pretty well soaked in it. As quickly as they had started lashing out, they stopped again. We couldn't see them through the broken and filthy glass, but we could hear them breathing. Wheezing was more like it; labored but not shallow. Diesel motioned me and Kaji closer and stuck his head around the doorway and began speaking to them, "Hey man, you okay? Do I need to call somebody?"
They didn't look up. No response at all. "I'm gonna get you some help, okay? Just, you know, sit tight."
"We probably better get an ambulance or at least a cop here soon. He's not right in the head."
That was the understatement of the century. Diesel picked up his phone and dialed 911. I could hear it ring...and ring...and ring...and ring. An automated message answered instead of the operator, stating that there was an unusually high call volume and to try again later. He hung up and said, "Are you fuckin' kidding me? Now of all times?"
Kaji tried and got the same thing, and so did I. Great. What do we do now?

We looked back across the shop and our new acquaintance had found the doorway, and was shuffling awkwardly towards us. Drooling. Wheezing. Still dripping with blood. Fuck everything. "Back off, man! I don't wanna hurt you, but you need to stay in there until we can get you some help! You understand?"
I could see now it was a male cat. He stopped and looked at Diesel, but not as if to comply More like to size him up. He growled softly in that creepy feline growl and out of nowhere jumped at Diesel. He countered the crazed cat and threw him partway across the shop floor. "Don't fuckin' do that again!"
The cat had already returned to his feet and pounced, knocking Diesel on his back and trying to claw at him. Diesel grabbed a hold of the cat's wrists, and responded to the clawing by swinging a series of short punches, disorienting the screaming cat. I was taking note of nearby blunt objects and waiting to see if I was going to be needed. These two have probably been through this more than I have. Kaji ran up, jumped and grabbed one of the support arms on a nearby lift, and kicked the cat square in the chest, knocking him back off Diesel. He looked up at me and called, "Tape!"
There was a roll of duct tape on the bench next to me, so I tossed it to him. He unwound some of it and wrapped several layers around the cat's wrists while Diesel kept him pinned down. They dragged him to the corner and deposited him against the brick wall. "Stay down!" Diesel shouted at him.
They both took several steps away to compose themselves. Diesel towards the truck and Kaji walked towards me. I told him that was some intense shit. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his smokes and lit one up. "Ohh, that's better," he exhaled.
He looked at me and started to ask, "What do you make of that shi-"
"Look out!" I cut him off as the damn cat was back at it, running across the floor right at us. Out of nowhere, a white and black blur tackled the cat, carried him about 12 feet, and slammed him right into a large tool cabinet, caving in one of the doors. Diesel could be heard shouting again, "I fucking told you! Stay the fuck down!"
That didn't look like it was going to happen, as he started thrashing about again, hissing and rowling. I noticed the cabinet door that didn't get damaged was ajar, and it was lined with aerosol cans. I said, "I got an idea. Hold him down for a minute."
I ran to the welding station and grabbed a leather glove and a few rags. I went back to the cabinet and grabbed a can of starting fluid. I soaked the rag in it and covered the cat's nose and mouth with it. He tried to bite my hand a couple times through the glove, but started slowing down within a few seconds. He became docile and eventually passed out. Once again, Diesel dragged him to the corner and he and Kaji taped the cat's feet together, too. I said they should probably hog-tie the little bastard.

We all needed a breather. We headed for the front door, but didn't go through it. There was a car wreck right down the street from the shop, not even 50 feet. One driver was laid out on the ground, and there were four others hunched over them. There was blood everywhere. I knew what I was seeing, but didn't want it to register. My mind wouldn't let it register. It was impossible. Absurd. No way was I seeing this. One of them was facing the general direction of the shop and popped up with something that looked like a long, bloody tube. Briefly the terom 'small intestine' flashed in my mind. N; not that. It began frantically eathing what it had pulled out. There was no denying any more. Someone was being eaten outside in the street. Someone was dragged from their car and eaten alive.
We all backed away slowly, Diesel locking the door. We looked at each other as if to say, 'Did we all just see the same thing?'
And we did see it. We stepped out the back door this time, into the junk yard. The sounds we heard didn't exactly help the shock we were in. Sirens. Gunshots. Helicopters. Panic. Chaos. Disarray. There was a radio in the small shelter where parts were cleaned and stripped before they were used in the shop. Kaji turned it on but every station was broadcasting the emergency tone. He kept it on so we could hear if any reports were broadcast. We were all shaken and felt out of place. At least I did. I hate not knowing what's going on.

Finally the tone was broken by an announcement from Washington. I still remember the impact of that speech, as it was so full of shit the radio could have fertilized an entire bean field.
"My fellow Americans; These are trying times. Over the last several hours, there has been an outbreak of sorts. An illness which affects one's ability to think or act rationally. Preliminary reports from the CDC indicate that anyone infected may show signs of unusual behavior, and in some rare cases, aggression. It is imperative to our state of civility that you must heed the following: It has been brought to my attention that some citizens out there have resorted to unnecessary violence when confronted by these sick people. Need I remind you that these are your neighbors, friends, family; And if not yours, someone else's. These individuals are sick, in pain, and in need of your help. There is no need to resort to violence. If they seem aggressive, do not approach them. Simply call 911 and report the incident to your local authorities. The National Guard has been dispatched to give ground aid and help get these people the help they need. They will also be keeping an eye out for those resorting to vigilante actions, as anyone who uses such force will be placed under arrest. I repeat, if you use unnecessary violence against anyone based on strange behavior, you will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. If you have a secure shelter, I advise you to stay put until this outbreak is brought under control, and I assure you we will get it under control. Be safe, and take care of those around you."

"Rare cases of aggression. Rare?" I said.
"Yeah, five for five so far," Kaji replied.
A disease? Some sort of outbreak? What kind of disease? How is it transmitted? Don't you suppose those should have been important points of information rather than just saying, 'let us handle it, no need to think for yourself.'
Diesel spoke next, "I think I know what's happening, but you're gonna think I'm crazy. I think this is the end of the world. It's like the T-Virus or something."
I wanted to disagree, but I couldn't. People were running around attacking and trying to - and in some cases managing to - eat others. Kaji looked thoughtful and said, "If that's the case, we're going to need to stop by my shop soon. It's locked up tight, but it'll be a target for looting. I sell blades, guns, ammo, Kevlar by the yard, survival gear. I don't have much in stock, but it'll do us a lot of good."
"In the mean time, we should decontaminate. We've been in contact with one of them but we don't know if this spreads or how it spreads. We might contract it if we aren't careful. I think we should probably lay low for a day or two and see if things improve. If things don't look better by tomorrow, we'll have to make a move."

We walked back into the shop and scrubbed anything the looked like blood off of us in the big basin sink. We took some commercial cleaner and cleaned the blood from the window and floor as best we could. The whole while we speculated on symptoms and, after application of some more ether, investigated the cat that was still surprisingly where we left him. He was burning up, so fever went on the list. Both the whites and irises of his eyes were a reddish shade of beige and badly bloodshot. I grabbed a pen light and shined it into the pupil a few times but it didn't contract. There were no signs of bite marks or scratches, so this case didn't originate from outside contamination that we could tell. It almost seemed that it was like a strain of the flu. Maybe that was what the CDC was hoping for. As high was the fever was and as bad as his motor skills were, I wagered on brain damage. We really weren't sure what to do with him, but we sure didn't want him in here with us. We each tried 911 again but this time it didn't even ring. Kaji asked, "Over the fence?"
We agreed it was probably best. I didn't see him magically getting better on us, so we ethered him again, cut the tape off, and we tossed him over the junk yard fence. If things did get better, we didn't see a damn thing.

Well, things didn't get better. It was the same old song and dance the next day. The remains of the car crash victim were still being picked clean out front, the president was still full of shit, the cat had disappeared, and the sounds of panic in the streets still echoed. The helicopters could also be heard, but the sirens had stopped. That seemed an ominous sign, so we prepared to take off. We had decided we couldn't stay near a major city for long, as the population figures would stunt our chances severely even if infection rates were fairly low. I suggested checking in with anyone we knew who lived in the country and maybe fortifying a farm or something. We could always play it by ear. I mean, it's not like we do this sort of thing every day.

We knew we would need weapons and have to use them if need be. I wasn't planning on becoming anyone's lunch, so I knew what I had to do. Kaji was out back in the junkyard imporivsing something. Diesel settled on the biggest combination wrench he could find, and I not only had my compound bow, but also my Mini-14 rifle. I figured it would be handy for keeping ferals at bay while camping, but it was about to get a whole lot handier. I checked the magazines and they were both full, so I added them to my cargo pockets. I found my kukri slung with my camping gear and decided it would be ideal to carry as well. Kaji walked back into the shop with a testament to his ingenuity: It was a steel radiator fan bolted to an axe handle, wrapped in barbed wire. I couldn't describe it...it was like art. Functional art, as each blade was put on a bench grinder and had an edge put on it.

We left the shop planning on taking Diesel's Jeep which was already parked out front. The small group that was still enjoying their manwich by the wrecked car immedately turned to us and began advancing. The first one got it's skull caved in at Diesel's hand as I shot the one behind it with the compound. Kaji approached the next one and swung the fan-axe hard enough to take it's arm most of the way off with one blade and slash it's gut wide open with two other blades. Diesel had one pinned to the ground and was about to finish it off. Kaji's target fell to it's knees in shock as he readied for a killshot. I already had my bow drawn and was on the lookout for others approaching. None did; not even the cat. Guess he wandered off to find someone else to munch on. Since the street was clear, we loaded up and headed off to arm up.

From Left to Right:
 schrocatboy Diesel,  CoyoteJeeper7 J.D.  ChaosWolf13 Kaji