Dead (Series) -- Book One -- "Dead-Hope/Dead-Lands" by Alex Sharpe
COPYRIGHT:
!ATTENTION! -- THIS PIECE OF WORK IS COPYRIGHT UNDER THE UNITED STATES FEDERAL LAW, AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED BY ANYONE OTHER THAN THE AUTHOR, UNLESS OTHERWISE
PROLOGUE:
(MAN'S VOICE):
"It all happened so fast. At first, it was occurring in small, uncommon districts, areas -- in hospitals and homeless shelters. Then the government let it get out of hand. Complete fucking loss of control. It started appearing almost everywhere. It was on the streets, on the news, and finally -- at our own front doors.
It was a virus... A virus that could have easily been killed off at the start. But no, our government let it mutate. By the third week, there were dead bodies lying everywhere in heaps and piles along the streets and roads.
The air smelled foul -- full of the stench of rotting flesh in the blazing summer heat -- along with smoke and other toxic chemicals. It was just something that you could not get away from. Either you were trying to secure yourself from or against the American government, other people, or you were trying to survive, not only the virus, but also what the virus had created.
Not only that, but also the gunfire and gunshots -- ringing throughout the city day and night constantly -- that really just turned your gut and eardrums. So many people just using every tool, object, and weapon they could get their hands on to fight with -- so many fails. So many died. I even saw this one guy with a lamp in one hand and a katana sword in the other. They went by, killing every infected they saw. Most failed miserably.
By this time, only local and out-of-city officials were helping out, but in just another week -- the government and army stepped into help. But by the time that they did, it was almost far too late.
It was called Haggard. Haggard was a virus... a very deadly virus. It is so God-Damn cruel, so hasty, so... just down-right complex. No doctor, or even scientist could figure it out.
Haggard was spread like rabies -- and, in fact -- scientists still do not know for sure if it was in fact an evolved form of rabies.
Spreading through bodily fluids, feces, vomiting, the bites. It caused aggression in everyone who was infected, they would through fits of rage, and bite everything they saw.
Haggard caused extremely watery, bloodshot eyes -- that was the first sign of infection. Later on, after about a two day period, loss of color from body -- turning pale. Soon after -- jaundice, bodily pain, high fevers, vomiting, headaches, diarrhea -- later on organ failure and/or deterioration. Then, after the second day, seizure, coma, then death.
But that isn't all. After about thirty seconds after death, the dead infected would awake. Once Haggard enters the body system, it would travel directly and immediately to the host's brain.The infected's brains would run on one cell, called a "Leaker Cell". These cells would reanimate the human brain after death. Once the Leaker Cells reanimate the brain/body of it's host/victim, it creates trillions and trillions of these Leaker cells, which then travel throughout the entire blood stream, gelatanizing all of the blood -- and then -- ever so slowly, eating away the skin from inside-out, causing deterioration. Leaker cells need no oxygen, blood, or water to survive, just food and bacteria. Drool would come out of their mouths, biting, vomiting, skin loss, flailing arms, extremely blood shot eyes. After a while, an infected's skin would begin to bubble up with pustules -- and turn grey.
The officials were telling everyone to be careful of what you touched, they said that the infection could live on a surface for weeks.
Morbids -- that's what they called them -- sparking the nickname for the virus, "Morbidium" -- Morbids tried to kill and infect every-single living, moving, breathing thing they saw. Even creepier yet, when they couldn't see, they heard -- and when they could not see or hear -- they smelled.
Haggard not only threatened humans, but birds, livestock, farm animals, and cattle as well.
Haggard was said to be created in an illegal underground research facility in Utah. Apparently, there was an incident with a newly created viral contagion that was recently being held there.
The security and lock-down strategy and/or procedures of the facility failed, and let the Haggard virus escape.
It is/was said that Haggard's first victims outside the laboratory was a(n) Bald Eagle.
Then it eventually spread to a human host. In just two weeks afterwards, Haggard became a very serious threat.
It had the capability to spread through humans, pets, livestock, and cattle.
Haggard spread through open wounds -- and even shortly through the air.
"It all happened so fast. At first, it was occurring in small, uncommon districts, areas -- in hospitals and homeless shelters. Then the government let it get out of hand. Complete fucking loss of control. It started appearing almost everywhere. It was on the streets, on the news, and finally -- at our own front doors.
It was a virus... A virus that could have easily been killed off at the start. But no, our government let it mutate. By the third week, there were dead bodies lying everywhere in heaps and piles along the streets and roads.
The air smelled foul -- full of the stench of rotting flesh in the blazing summer heat -- along with smoke and other toxic chemicals. It was just something that you could not get away from. Either you were trying to secure yourself from or against the American government, other people, or you were trying to survive, not only the virus, but also what the virus had created.
Not only that, but also the gunfire and gunshots -- ringing throughout the city day and night constantly -- that really just turned your gut and eardrums. So many people just using every tool, object, and weapon they could get their hands on to fight with -- so many fails. So many died. I even saw this one guy with a lamp in one hand and a katana sword in the other. They went by, killing every infected they saw. Most failed miserably.
By this time, only local and out-of-city officials were helping out, but in just another week -- the government and army stepped into help. But by the time that they did, it was almost far too late.
It was called Haggard. Haggard was a virus... a very deadly virus. It is so God-Damn cruel, so hasty, so... just down-right complex. No doctor, or even scientist could figure it out.
Haggard was spread like rabies -- and, in fact -- scientists still do not know for sure if it was in fact an evolved form of rabies.
Spreading through bodily fluids, feces, vomiting, the bites. It caused aggression in everyone who was infected, they would through fits of rage, and bite everything they saw.
Haggard caused extremely watery, bloodshot eyes -- that was the first sign of infection. Later on, after about a two day period, loss of color from body -- turning pale. Soon after -- jaundice, bodily pain, high fevers, vomiting, headaches, diarrhea -- later on organ failure and/or deterioration. Then, after the second day, seizure, coma, then death.
But that isn't all. After about thirty seconds after death, the dead infected would awake. Once Haggard enters the body system, it would travel directly and immediately to the host's brain.The infected's brains would run on one cell, called a "Leaker Cell". These cells would reanimate the human brain after death. Once the Leaker Cells reanimate the brain/body of it's host/victim, it creates trillions and trillions of these Leaker cells, which then travel throughout the entire blood stream, gelatanizing all of the blood -- and then -- ever so slowly, eating away the skin from inside-out, causing deterioration. Leaker cells need no oxygen, blood, or water to survive, just food and bacteria. Drool would come out of their mouths, biting, vomiting, skin loss, flailing arms, extremely blood shot eyes. After a while, an infected's skin would begin to bubble up with pustules -- and turn grey.
The officials were telling everyone to be careful of what you touched, they said that the infection could live on a surface for weeks.
Morbids -- that's what they called them -- sparking the nickname for the virus, "Morbidium" -- Morbids tried to kill and infect every-single living, moving, breathing thing they saw. Even creepier yet, when they couldn't see, they heard -- and when they could not see or hear -- they smelled.
Haggard not only threatened humans, but birds, livestock, farm animals, and cattle as well.
Haggard was said to be created in an illegal underground research facility in Utah. Apparently, there was an incident with a newly created viral contagion that was recently being held there.
The security and lock-down strategy and/or procedures of the facility failed, and let the Haggard virus escape.
It is/was said that Haggard's first victims outside the laboratory was a(n) Bald Eagle.
Then it eventually spread to a human host. In just two weeks afterwards, Haggard became a very serious threat.
It had the capability to spread through humans, pets, livestock, and cattle.
Haggard spread through open wounds -- and even shortly through the air.
Sneezes, coughing -- touched surface. That was the worst part. If an infected -- at any stage of infection -- were to touch a guard rail after touching their face, or any other part of their body -- all of those things -- even using a public restroom. Any contact with bodily fluids -- and you were infected.
Every single day, the infection rate tripled. It tripled, and tripled, and tripled until it spread across the whole God-Damn planet..
Nobody was prepared. How were we supposed to be? These types of things weren't even supposed to exist, right?
It was like that everywhere -- people saying that they were prepared -- when what they were really saying was -- I am a tight-ass bitch who stole everything I could from other people and places and think I am the best because of that.
Fucking uptight bastards. Survival was actually easy, if you knew how to do it, had good supplies, and knew how to ration.
By the end of the first month, the sky was orange and smokey, clouded with heavy and toxic radiation and chemicals. Fear spread throughout the entire planet. People began saying: "Say away from graveyards", "It could be spread through animals", "What if it's airborne"...
Where was our government?
They were called the "unwanted", the "predators", and also -- the most famous nickname -- "THE DEAD" or "THE MORBID". I choose to call them another name -- their real name -- "ZOMBIES".....
Haggard Virus (About)
(3-5 Hours) Stage 1: Circular Rash On Any Part of Body
(6-8 Hours) Stage 2: Itching of Skin, Full Body
(8-10 Hours) Stage 3: Dry Skin, More Rashes
(12-14 Hours) Stage 4: Nervousness, Hyperactivity
(15-16 Hours) Stage 5: Runny Nose
(16-17 Hours) Stage 6: Sneezing, Coughing, Nausea
(17-18 Hours) Stage 7: Ringing in Ears, Amnesia, Slurred Speech, Twitching
(18-19 Hours) Stage 8: Muscle Aches and Pains, Random Temporary Hearing Loss
(19-21 Hours) Stage 9: Watery Eyes, Coughing Up Blood
(21-22 Hours) Stage 10: Psychosis
(22-23 Hours) Stage 11: Screaming, Paranoia, Bloody Noses, Vomiting, Red and Rashy Skin
(24 Hours) Stage 12: Vomiting Up Blood, Extreme Hyperactivity, Shakes, Chills, Extreme Paranoia, Loss of Bowels, Anger, Sweats, Extreme Twitches, Loss of Identity, Uncontrollable Emotions, Fatigue, Unaware of World Around
(29-31 Hours) Stage 13: Dark Red Bloodshot Eyes, Water Mouth, Uncontrollable Anger, Gritting of Teeth, Hemorrhaging from Eyes, Mouth, Nose, Ears.
(31-36 Hours) Stage 14: Seizures, Coma.
Stage 15: Death
Stage 16: Re-Animation of brain, fully new organs, blood-type change, complete memory loss, all human qualities lost.
(6-8 Hours) Stage 2: Itching of Skin, Full Body
(8-10 Hours) Stage 3: Dry Skin, More Rashes
(12-14 Hours) Stage 4: Nervousness, Hyperactivity
(15-16 Hours) Stage 5: Runny Nose
(16-17 Hours) Stage 6: Sneezing, Coughing, Nausea
(17-18 Hours) Stage 7: Ringing in Ears, Amnesia, Slurred Speech, Twitching
(18-19 Hours) Stage 8: Muscle Aches and Pains, Random Temporary Hearing Loss
(19-21 Hours) Stage 9: Watery Eyes, Coughing Up Blood
(21-22 Hours) Stage 10: Psychosis
(22-23 Hours) Stage 11: Screaming, Paranoia, Bloody Noses, Vomiting, Red and Rashy Skin
(24 Hours) Stage 12: Vomiting Up Blood, Extreme Hyperactivity, Shakes, Chills, Extreme Paranoia, Loss of Bowels, Anger, Sweats, Extreme Twitches, Loss of Identity, Uncontrollable Emotions, Fatigue, Unaware of World Around
(29-31 Hours) Stage 13: Dark Red Bloodshot Eyes, Water Mouth, Uncontrollable Anger, Gritting of Teeth, Hemorrhaging from Eyes, Mouth, Nose, Ears.
(31-36 Hours) Stage 14: Seizures, Coma.
Stage 15: Death
Stage 16: Re-Animation of brain, fully new organs, blood-type change, complete memory loss, all human qualities lost.
----------------------------(1: “Stand-Still”)-------------------------
(YEAR): 2016
(The following is a steno-graphed report)
(Interrogator): “What did you see?”
(Paul Stone): “I’m no…” (Cut off)
(Interrogator): “WHAT DID YOU SEE!?” (Yelling)
(Paul Stone): (Sighs deeply) (He sits back in the chair that he is sitting in) “I was with my son… the day that it had happened. My wife was at work, and I was taking my son to his school. He was twelve.” (He sighs again) “I had taken the day off from work that day, and my boss was mad. He called me while we were in the car. I pulled up to the red light. I was yelling… I was in to the conversation.” (He shakes his head slowly as if in regret) “I was so into the conversation. Then the radio started to act up… static and screaming and yelling – gunshots – It was giving me a headache so I turned it off. But it wasn't the radio. The sounds were coming from outside and around us. My son, his name was George, was sitting in the back seat reading this book he liked when it happened. I think he noticed it before me. I dropped my phone and told George to get down. I did not know what was going on. That was the moment when… I don’t know how to say it… there was this man, he sped past us… running the red light that we were stopped at. He was swerving all over the road and honking his horn erratically. I caught a glimpse of his face… it was so frozen with fright. It all happened so fast… He rammed straight into this poor family in their little red car on the other side of the road in front of us. It was bad. I looked around, trying to figure out what was going on… George was the first one to see them…. They were ugly… they were hideous. There were only three of them at first, and then there was about six or seven of them. George started screaming. I told him to stay down and to cover his head. I did not have a straight mind then… I couldn't think. I was caught in the middle of whatever was going on… my instincts were to save my family. Everything was spinning. I stepped on the gas pedal and hit the E-Brake and spun the car around.
(Interrogator): “What did you think? What was on your mind at the time?”
(Paul Stone): “I was worried about George – my wife. It was chaos from the start. Cars were burning, alarms and sirens were blaring, people were running around and screaming. There was this one guy… well… he was one of whatever those things were… He was on fire… Pieces of his skin tore off and stuck to the pavement as he slowly shuffled towards us. Something wasn't right. It justwasn'tright at all. It was...no... It has to be a dream. But itwasn't. Everything moved in fast motion. Even the slow walking – beasts – if you will – seemed to move quickly. I stepped on the gas pedal – we zoomed through some pretty thick smoke coming from the cars next to us. I didn't stop. I did not know if there was going to be a car in front of us… if there would be someone that we would hit… it did not bother me at the time. I didn't stop. I don’t know how fast I was going or where I was going. George was screaming at me: “What do we do?!” “Where are we going to go?!” I could not think. I had no idea what was happening. Maybe it was terrorism? I was heading toward the police station, thinking maybe we could settle things out, learn about what was happening. Whatever it was, it was new, it was fresh – no one knew about it then, and when we pulled up to the police station, they had absolutely no idea what was going on, they knew nothing. I parked the car and gave my Glock 22 pistol to George, I told him to climb into the front seat and lock all of the windows and to honk the horn if anything was wrong, and I went into the building.”
(Interrogator): “You were illegally carrying that pistol?”
(Paul Stone): “Yes, I was.”
(Interrogator): “Why is that?”
(Paul Stone): “The government did so many things wrong. When they passed the law that made it illegal for civilians to carry firearms, and only law enforcement officials, governmental figures, and people of high importance were allowed to carry firearms – they tried to control us man – Just like Hitler. Then, when the infection happened, nobody could defend themselves – everyone simply panicked because they knew that they could not do a thing about it. The only hope was for our government to protect us – but what did they do? They backed away and let us down. I could not let them take control of my humanity – of my life… that is why I had illegally carried that pistol.”
(Interrogator): “So when you went into the police station, did they seem to know about the outbreak yet?”
(Paul Stone): “No, they were completely clueless. I went in there and told them my story, about what had just happened to me… they did not believe one bit of it. They looked at me like I was crazy – one of them I think even said “Yeah right”. Then, one of them got a call on their radio. “All units required immediately to Bieremont County, Los Angeles for bio-hazard containment help" – it said. They all stared at me. I asked them if I could get some help, if they could tell me where to go. They didn't want anything to do with me, so I walked out the door in that instance, and right when I did, George started erratically honking the car horn. There was a man, at least at the age of forty or fifty. He started banging senselessly into the car, asking for help. “Help me, Help me! Please, I am sick!” He said. There was this big red swollen bite mark son his left arm. Blood was scattered all over his white t-shirt that he wore, dripping down to his black pants. His clothes were all ripped and torn. George was huddled in a ball in the car, he was really scared. I called out a loud “Hey” to the man. One of the Police officers came outside and grabbed the man on the shoulder, trying to turn him around to talk to him. The man violently berserked and attacked the police officer, hitting him and biting him. He threw up all over him – clawing at the officer’s face. The police officer pulled out his pistol and blew that man’s brains out. I could hear George crying from inside the car. I ran over to the officer and helped him up, asked him if he was alright. The rest of the six men that were in the building came out side – "What happened?" They said. They helped him out – and they got in their cars."
(Interrogator): “They left an innocent civilian behind?”
(Paul Stone): “Yep, they did.I turned around that moment and said to myself f... them, they were just like me, except they had guns was all .They weren't any better than me. They did not see what I had seen; they did not know what was happening out there." (He gives out a sigh of frustration) "From there on my memory is not too sharp.”
(Interrogator): "Try”
(Paul Stone): “I remember… I got back in the car… George was crying and screaming, and then all of the sudden there was this very loud explosion. It shook the ground… you could hear car alarms sounding from all around. I believe that explosion was from the car crash we had witness shortly before arriving at the police station, although I am not sure. The smoke cloud rose up. I took a breath, and then I slammed my foot back down onto the gas pedal and took the car around the corner. I turned the radio back on… nothing was clear. I understood about every fifth word or so. There was a lot of static. They were repeating something...” (He takes a sip of water from a water bottle) “Terrorist Attack"… "Static"… "Disease"… "Static"…. "If you were bitten"… If you were bitten?… What the hell did they mean?... They were talking about the bites – the disease.”
(Interrogator): “You did not know about it at that at the time?”
(Paul Stone): “Not at all. It did not make since. Nothing made since. I was confused. I was focused on my wife. I was speeding down the road.”
(Interrogator): “You were heading to her workplace… what were you thinking would happen when you arrived there?”
(Paul Stone): “I had not thought about that at that time. I was heading there, and nothing was going to stop me.” (He sighs again)
(Interrogator): “But something did, didn't it?”
(Paul Stone): “Yes, something did.” (He looks down in sorrow) “We arrived at her work.” (He sighs again, and then looks back up) “She was in her car; it was parked out front like usual… The windshield and some of the windows were broken; there was blood all over the car. I stopped the car, and laid my head into the steering wheel.” (A tear falls down his cheek) “I got out of the car and went up to her car. She was in the front seat. She was covered almost head to toe in blood and vomit… her eyes opened.” (He stops for a moment, asking the men if he could have another bottle of water)
(Interrogator): “Paul, we realize that this is very hard for you right now, but we need to know your story. We need to know what had happened.” (Paul is handed another bottle of water, and he takes a sip of it) (He coughs)
(Paul Stone): “I didn't have a choice… I pulled out my pistol…” (He coughs again) “It was inhumanity. What made me shoot my own wife in the head – Why was all of this happening?... There was nowhere else to go. Everywhere you went was either blocked off or infected. We heard of a couple of plans to quarantine Bieremont, but by that time it had already spread into Los Angeles. We couldn't go home… every place that I have learned to love throughout my entire life no longer existed to me (He takes a breath) When you realize how many people unknowingly were infected so quickly – It had spread like wild-fire. The news media went haywire. Paranoia about things such as nuclear threats and blaming of terrorist attacks… that is all that I can really explain everything at that time… “Paranoid”. When I look back at it now – I wish I could've known more at that time. But what could I have done? I ask myself… “Could I have done better?” (He begins to whimper) “George, my son… What could I have done?”
(Interrogator): “Okay, Paul, slow it down, you are getting too far ahead of yourself. We need the whole story.”
(Paul Stone): “We were going down the highway… There was this dead guy lying in the road… and an M16 assault rifle lay by his side. I stopped and got out of the car and I grabbed the gun.”
(Interrogator): “Did you know yet... about the blood – the fluids?”
(Paul Stone): “I did not know. I grabbed the gun quickly and got back in the car. I could've been infected right then and there, but I got lucky. I guess there were no fluids or blood on the gun. Before I stepped back on the gas pedal, I had said a silent prayer to myself in my head to that man that lay in the road. The gun that he had had been full of bullets. We were on the road again. George began asking me things like “Where do we go now?”
(Interrogator): “Were you prepared for this kind of thing in any way what-so-ever?”
(Paul Stone): “Mindful – Yes... Mentally and physically – Not at all. I believed that such a thing could happen; I did not think it was impossible. I mean I had even made some plans on where to go in the case that this sort of thing would happen.”
(Interrogator): “Did you think about those plans at that time?”
(Paul Stone): “Yes… and I took to them…”
(Interrogator): "Paul where were you planning to go? What was your thought?"
(Paul Stone): "San Nicholas Island. It was just off the coast of California, almost a straight shot from Los Angeles. It was also a naval facility, and mostly uninhabited. At least no local residents, from what I had heard."
(Interrogator): "That was a very large naval complex. They had tons of operations there."
(The following is a steno-graphed report)
(Interrogator): “What did you see?”
(Paul Stone): “I’m no…” (Cut off)
(Interrogator): “WHAT DID YOU SEE!?” (Yelling)
(Paul Stone): (Sighs deeply) (He sits back in the chair that he is sitting in) “I was with my son… the day that it had happened. My wife was at work, and I was taking my son to his school. He was twelve.” (He sighs again) “I had taken the day off from work that day, and my boss was mad. He called me while we were in the car. I pulled up to the red light. I was yelling… I was in to the conversation.” (He shakes his head slowly as if in regret) “I was so into the conversation. Then the radio started to act up… static and screaming and yelling – gunshots – It was giving me a headache so I turned it off. But it wasn't the radio. The sounds were coming from outside and around us. My son, his name was George, was sitting in the back seat reading this book he liked when it happened. I think he noticed it before me. I dropped my phone and told George to get down. I did not know what was going on. That was the moment when… I don’t know how to say it… there was this man, he sped past us… running the red light that we were stopped at. He was swerving all over the road and honking his horn erratically. I caught a glimpse of his face… it was so frozen with fright. It all happened so fast… He rammed straight into this poor family in their little red car on the other side of the road in front of us. It was bad. I looked around, trying to figure out what was going on… George was the first one to see them…. They were ugly… they were hideous. There were only three of them at first, and then there was about six or seven of them. George started screaming. I told him to stay down and to cover his head. I did not have a straight mind then… I couldn't think. I was caught in the middle of whatever was going on… my instincts were to save my family. Everything was spinning. I stepped on the gas pedal and hit the E-Brake and spun the car around.
(Interrogator): “What did you think? What was on your mind at the time?”
(Paul Stone): “I was worried about George – my wife. It was chaos from the start. Cars were burning, alarms and sirens were blaring, people were running around and screaming. There was this one guy… well… he was one of whatever those things were… He was on fire… Pieces of his skin tore off and stuck to the pavement as he slowly shuffled towards us. Something wasn't right. It justwasn'tright at all. It was...no... It has to be a dream. But itwasn't. Everything moved in fast motion. Even the slow walking – beasts – if you will – seemed to move quickly. I stepped on the gas pedal – we zoomed through some pretty thick smoke coming from the cars next to us. I didn't stop. I did not know if there was going to be a car in front of us… if there would be someone that we would hit… it did not bother me at the time. I didn't stop. I don’t know how fast I was going or where I was going. George was screaming at me: “What do we do?!” “Where are we going to go?!” I could not think. I had no idea what was happening. Maybe it was terrorism? I was heading toward the police station, thinking maybe we could settle things out, learn about what was happening. Whatever it was, it was new, it was fresh – no one knew about it then, and when we pulled up to the police station, they had absolutely no idea what was going on, they knew nothing. I parked the car and gave my Glock 22 pistol to George, I told him to climb into the front seat and lock all of the windows and to honk the horn if anything was wrong, and I went into the building.”
(Interrogator): “You were illegally carrying that pistol?”
(Paul Stone): “Yes, I was.”
(Interrogator): “Why is that?”
(Paul Stone): “The government did so many things wrong. When they passed the law that made it illegal for civilians to carry firearms, and only law enforcement officials, governmental figures, and people of high importance were allowed to carry firearms – they tried to control us man – Just like Hitler. Then, when the infection happened, nobody could defend themselves – everyone simply panicked because they knew that they could not do a thing about it. The only hope was for our government to protect us – but what did they do? They backed away and let us down. I could not let them take control of my humanity – of my life… that is why I had illegally carried that pistol.”
(Interrogator): “So when you went into the police station, did they seem to know about the outbreak yet?”
(Paul Stone): “No, they were completely clueless. I went in there and told them my story, about what had just happened to me… they did not believe one bit of it. They looked at me like I was crazy – one of them I think even said “Yeah right”. Then, one of them got a call on their radio. “All units required immediately to Bieremont County, Los Angeles for bio-hazard containment help" – it said. They all stared at me. I asked them if I could get some help, if they could tell me where to go. They didn't want anything to do with me, so I walked out the door in that instance, and right when I did, George started erratically honking the car horn. There was a man, at least at the age of forty or fifty. He started banging senselessly into the car, asking for help. “Help me, Help me! Please, I am sick!” He said. There was this big red swollen bite mark son his left arm. Blood was scattered all over his white t-shirt that he wore, dripping down to his black pants. His clothes were all ripped and torn. George was huddled in a ball in the car, he was really scared. I called out a loud “Hey” to the man. One of the Police officers came outside and grabbed the man on the shoulder, trying to turn him around to talk to him. The man violently berserked and attacked the police officer, hitting him and biting him. He threw up all over him – clawing at the officer’s face. The police officer pulled out his pistol and blew that man’s brains out. I could hear George crying from inside the car. I ran over to the officer and helped him up, asked him if he was alright. The rest of the six men that were in the building came out side – "What happened?" They said. They helped him out – and they got in their cars."
(Interrogator): “They left an innocent civilian behind?”
(Paul Stone): “Yep, they did.I turned around that moment and said to myself f... them, they were just like me, except they had guns was all .They weren't any better than me. They did not see what I had seen; they did not know what was happening out there." (He gives out a sigh of frustration) "From there on my memory is not too sharp.”
(Interrogator): "Try”
(Paul Stone): “I remember… I got back in the car… George was crying and screaming, and then all of the sudden there was this very loud explosion. It shook the ground… you could hear car alarms sounding from all around. I believe that explosion was from the car crash we had witness shortly before arriving at the police station, although I am not sure. The smoke cloud rose up. I took a breath, and then I slammed my foot back down onto the gas pedal and took the car around the corner. I turned the radio back on… nothing was clear. I understood about every fifth word or so. There was a lot of static. They were repeating something...” (He takes a sip of water from a water bottle) “Terrorist Attack"… "Static"… "Disease"… "Static"…. "If you were bitten"… If you were bitten?… What the hell did they mean?... They were talking about the bites – the disease.”
(Interrogator): “You did not know about it at that at the time?”
(Paul Stone): “Not at all. It did not make since. Nothing made since. I was confused. I was focused on my wife. I was speeding down the road.”
(Interrogator): “You were heading to her workplace… what were you thinking would happen when you arrived there?”
(Paul Stone): “I had not thought about that at that time. I was heading there, and nothing was going to stop me.” (He sighs again)
(Interrogator): “But something did, didn't it?”
(Paul Stone): “Yes, something did.” (He looks down in sorrow) “We arrived at her work.” (He sighs again, and then looks back up) “She was in her car; it was parked out front like usual… The windshield and some of the windows were broken; there was blood all over the car. I stopped the car, and laid my head into the steering wheel.” (A tear falls down his cheek) “I got out of the car and went up to her car. She was in the front seat. She was covered almost head to toe in blood and vomit… her eyes opened.” (He stops for a moment, asking the men if he could have another bottle of water)
(Interrogator): “Paul, we realize that this is very hard for you right now, but we need to know your story. We need to know what had happened.” (Paul is handed another bottle of water, and he takes a sip of it) (He coughs)
(Paul Stone): “I didn't have a choice… I pulled out my pistol…” (He coughs again) “It was inhumanity. What made me shoot my own wife in the head – Why was all of this happening?... There was nowhere else to go. Everywhere you went was either blocked off or infected. We heard of a couple of plans to quarantine Bieremont, but by that time it had already spread into Los Angeles. We couldn't go home… every place that I have learned to love throughout my entire life no longer existed to me (He takes a breath) When you realize how many people unknowingly were infected so quickly – It had spread like wild-fire. The news media went haywire. Paranoia about things such as nuclear threats and blaming of terrorist attacks… that is all that I can really explain everything at that time… “Paranoid”. When I look back at it now – I wish I could've known more at that time. But what could I have done? I ask myself… “Could I have done better?” (He begins to whimper) “George, my son… What could I have done?”
(Interrogator): “Okay, Paul, slow it down, you are getting too far ahead of yourself. We need the whole story.”
(Paul Stone): “We were going down the highway… There was this dead guy lying in the road… and an M16 assault rifle lay by his side. I stopped and got out of the car and I grabbed the gun.”
(Interrogator): “Did you know yet... about the blood – the fluids?”
(Paul Stone): “I did not know. I grabbed the gun quickly and got back in the car. I could've been infected right then and there, but I got lucky. I guess there were no fluids or blood on the gun. Before I stepped back on the gas pedal, I had said a silent prayer to myself in my head to that man that lay in the road. The gun that he had had been full of bullets. We were on the road again. George began asking me things like “Where do we go now?”
(Interrogator): “Were you prepared for this kind of thing in any way what-so-ever?”
(Paul Stone): “Mindful – Yes... Mentally and physically – Not at all. I believed that such a thing could happen; I did not think it was impossible. I mean I had even made some plans on where to go in the case that this sort of thing would happen.”
(Interrogator): “Did you think about those plans at that time?”
(Paul Stone): “Yes… and I took to them…”
(Interrogator): "Paul where were you planning to go? What was your thought?"
(Paul Stone): "San Nicholas Island. It was just off the coast of California, almost a straight shot from Los Angeles. It was also a naval facility, and mostly uninhabited. At least no local residents, from what I had heard."
(Interrogator): "That was a very large naval complex. They had tons of operations there."
--------------------(2: “When the Time Comes”) ----------------
(Interrogator): “Did you have any other family members or friends that you were worried about?”
(Paul Stone): “I tried – my mother was the last closest person to me that I knew… she lived outside the town – in Mosant – about twenty minutes away from Bieremont. We went all of the way there to find out that her town was also overrun by the virus. We searched her house – we couldn't find her. We searched at her neighbor’s houses...(He sighs) She was gone. We drove through the town – People were ravaging what was left of stores – it was the fastest I have ever seen anything spread.”
(Interrogator): “What was?
(Paul Stone): “Both the infection and the paranoia – it all spread so fast… too fast. That was about the time the government finally stepped in. The next morning, they had helicopters and people in these suits with freaking machine guns… they had the United States Army coming in. But it was too late – they came too late… but I do not place too much blame on them because it was new, it was unexpected, how could they learn about it any faster than they did. They did their job, but the problem was, and I place all the blame on them for this part, they were horrible at doing their job. They were lazy. They let it get out of hand. They didn't place evacuations on chart or anything like that. Two days after the initial outbreak we learned that the infection was in the North-East too. By the second week of the infection, it was all over the country. I believe they could have stopped it, but they didn't. Nobody stood a chance, we all relied on our government, they were supposed to be the most powerful thing on the planet, but they let us down, and let the virus rape us all. We've all seen the movies – and it is just like it, except way more gruesome, and way more painful. When you watch a zombie movie, you think “Aim for the head!” “Shoot that damn gun!” “You got the guns; shoot them all, it’s not that hard!” “It is not like that at all. Everything we thought we knew about our greatest fear was false.”
(Interrogator): “Okay Paul, you are not here to tell us the statistics, you’re here to tell us your story. Now continue on.”
(Paul Stone): “After my mind cleared up – after I got through most of the pain of the loss of my wife and mother – I studied the maps – the news – the media. They were saying this thing was everywhere, nowhere is safe. The United States was quarantined…but it had already had spread into Mexico – into Canada. I thought of my options… I thought of Islands. They were our best chance. There was this one island – off the coast of Mexico – this small little island. There were about five other islands that were closer by that I thought of at the time, but none seemed as good and as underpopulated as that one island. It would be a long trip, we would have to go through a lot – a lot to survive. We might even die trying to get there. It was survival… everything turned into survival. When it began to spread through the livestock and cattle – that is when all hell broke loose. Infected meat products spread all over the country – the globe. There was no safe haven – New York City was on the news on the third week… I thought I had seen the worst back at home – but they were talking about MILLIONS of those things... millions infected millions turning into billions and billions… the whole country fell apart – it died. “
(Interrogator): “Okay, let me slow you down a little bit again, what happened after you left your home town, you started this so-called journey? Did you know if the island you were heading to was even safe?”
(Paul Stone): “No, all I had were my hopes that it was not infected. It seemed our only chance. We heard on the radio… and it shocked us both… news reports saying they could “Swim”… “They could breathe under water.” "They don't die when you destroy their heart. “WHAT THE HELL?” “Eventually I started believing that it was the second coming, and God would be the cure. I still believe that it was the second coming. Within the first week of the infection, we had only gotten about three hours away from Bieremont… the traffic… it was literally at a dead stop. The interstates were deadly. It took us such a long time just to get an hour away. It was unimaginable. My main thought was to get as far away from Los Angeles as possible. We had a half a tank of gas left in our truck.”
(Interrogator): “Just to know, what kind of truck were you driving?”
(Paul Stone): “A Chevrolet Exance – I thought of gas… itcouldn'tall be gone yet…But I was completely wrong, I waited to late… we must’ve went by at least fifty gas stations, all were either blown up or destroyed, or siphoned dry.”
(Interrogator): “Did you stop any – for food or for restroom breaks?”
(Paul Stone): “Wedidn't. We stopped a couple of times, not completely, when George or I had to get sick and throw up, I just rolled down the window. I told him just to use a bottle or something when he had to go to the bathroom, I did not want to take any risks.”
(Interrogator): “What about when he had to make a bowel movement?”
(Paul Stone): “He had a lunch box... I told him to use that. He used it twice, and we ended up throwing it out the window. For hunger and thirst… We were starving… we were dehydrated. On the third day… about seven hours away from Bieremont… We stopped at this 7/11 gas station in this little town. I grabbed the assault rifle, gave George the Glock, and we both got out and went it. We were starving, wecouldn'ttake it anymore. There were four of those things in there -- we seen them… they darted for us. They were pretty fast. Theyweren'texactly running, but they were trying. One tried to go for George, the other three went for me. It all ended pretty quickly, I killed them all off, but what worried me was the gun shots. I thought back to the old zombie movies, and just said to myself in my head “There will be more coming.” We went into the small little gas station, there was barely anything left. There was some bread – some energy drinks, a carton of eggs… that’s about it. We took everything we could and loaded it into the truck. I had found these large water containment jugs… they had no water in them, but I figured that we could use them to piss in. They would last us a while. George had never shot a gun before… and I did not know when I would have the time or mind to teach him how to.”
(Interrogator): “You mean that after all that you had went through, how many times you gave George the gun, and hedidn'teven know how to shoot one!?”
(Paul Stone): “Yep, but at least hewasn'tscared to carry one. He knew guns were dangerous, he knew they were alright. I taught him his whole life about gun safety – I was going to let him shoot his first gun for his thirteenth birthday. But when the gun law passed that year, a promise became unfulfilled. He asked me once while we were on the journey – “Dad, when are you going to teach me how to shoot this?” I told him – I promised him that I would teach him.”
(Interrogator): “Did you lose faith in God at any point?”
(Paul Stone): “No, but I did lose faith in America, in humanity. I believed that God would come in some way or another. Near the end of the third day of our journey, about ten hours or somewhat away from Bieremont, we had run out of gas. We were in the middle of nowhere, next to some farms and fields. We had to abandon the car. My son’s backpack and a few bags was all that we had to carry things with. We brought the guns, we brought what was left of the rationed food… we brought what money we had left just because you never know what you might need that costs money, even without humans such as gas and things. I felt like I was turning into an animal. George and I both needed clean clothes. The sun was blazing hot. We were only about ten percent of the way through our journey and we had to walk the rest of the way… that was the turning point… the ultimate test of our faith… our endurance. Ihadn'tslept one second since the outbreak, Georgehadn'teither, although he slept a couple hours in the car. But now neither of us could sleep. We had to keep moving, we had no energy left at all, we were out of food, we were dehydrated. We were about to die. Then we saw this house – this farm house, it was half burned to the ground, there did not seem to be any infected inside or around it. I thought about checking through the house, but I was not concentrating on the house… there was this underground storm shelter in the field by that house… it was quite decent, the door was made of heavy metal. My greatest hopes were that there would be food inside, and finally, there was… about a year’s worth of water and food, batteries, there was a couple of gas tanks… although we had left the car behind long ago. It was nice… everything seemed perfect… there was no one in or around it… it was ours."
(Interrogator): “Nobody had found it yet?”
(Paul Stone): “Oh, not at all. We drank and ate all that we felt the need to have. We healed ourselves best that we could with the med-kits that were in there… finally… we had the chance to lie down, rest, sleep... mourn. There was this really old television; it used a crank for power. It was such an awesome feeling to find that. Neither my son nor I had seen news, well, it felt like the longest time, but in reality it had only been about six days. There were only a few channels that were on air at that time, all of them were news stations. We picked up five of them. We saw the devastation and the scenes from New York. It was near the end of the sixth day since the start of the infection, that we heard the President address the nation.
(Interrogator): “Okay, Paul, we are going to pause you for a moment. We will get back to your story in a minute. Now, we are going to be asking more in depth questions than before. We are going to be a little harsher on you. Paul, would you like a cigarette or a cigar?” (Paul sighs and takes a deep breath)
(Paul Stone): “No thank you, I don’t smoke – Can I ask you what your name is sir?”
(Interrogator): “No, you are not allowed to be told that information.”
(Paul Stone): “But you’re allowed to hear mine?”
(Interrogator): “That’s right.” (The interrogator lights up a Marlboro Light) “Alright, let’s get back to the story. Now Paul, you stayed in this shelter for quite a while, am I correct?”
(Paul Stone): “Why leave?”
(Interrogator): “You said the President addressed the nation? What did he say – What was it like for you – for George?”
(Paul Stone): “It spun my gut. George was actually asleep at the time. I was eating a small piece of bread. It came on the television.”
(Interrogator): “There were a lot of places still unaffected by the virus,weren'tthere?”
(Paul Stone): “Some, but not a whole lot. The President of the United States was freaking surrendering! There was no hope at all left. Our country had failed. All it took really was one little tiny tiny virus to break our country into pieces.”
(Interrogator): “It was the paranoia,wasn'tit?”
(Paul Stone): “Yes, it was. When one person panics, all the people around that person panic. Then, the whole entire state panics, causing all of the states around it to panic, and then eventually the whole entire freaking country panics, leading to world panic. I sat there and watched the President of our Country fail and back down... it made me sick. The room that we were in was damp and wet and it smelled like a basement. George and I were both getting sick. Wehadn'tseen any sunlight in about three days; we could barely take it anymore.”
(Interrogator): “Paul, would you like some beer?”
(Paul Stone): “No, I don’t drink either.”
(Interrogator): “Continue on then.”
(Paul Stone): “I figured that we could either stay in that room and slowly wither away and die, or we could keep going on our journey. At least the shelter we were in housed baseball bats, a couple of other lethal tools – such as a shovel, an axe. It was the best we could do then.”
(Interrogator): “Paul do you believe that if the American government would have not taken all of the weapons and firearms away from civilians, that the infection could have been more easily stopped?”
(Paul Stone): “Definitely, if they had not have passed that law, I bet you a million dollars we could've stopped it right then and there. But sadly, Americadidn'thave a chance."
(Paul Stone): “I tried – my mother was the last closest person to me that I knew… she lived outside the town – in Mosant – about twenty minutes away from Bieremont. We went all of the way there to find out that her town was also overrun by the virus. We searched her house – we couldn't find her. We searched at her neighbor’s houses...(He sighs) She was gone. We drove through the town – People were ravaging what was left of stores – it was the fastest I have ever seen anything spread.”
(Interrogator): “What was?
(Paul Stone): “Both the infection and the paranoia – it all spread so fast… too fast. That was about the time the government finally stepped in. The next morning, they had helicopters and people in these suits with freaking machine guns… they had the United States Army coming in. But it was too late – they came too late… but I do not place too much blame on them because it was new, it was unexpected, how could they learn about it any faster than they did. They did their job, but the problem was, and I place all the blame on them for this part, they were horrible at doing their job. They were lazy. They let it get out of hand. They didn't place evacuations on chart or anything like that. Two days after the initial outbreak we learned that the infection was in the North-East too. By the second week of the infection, it was all over the country. I believe they could have stopped it, but they didn't. Nobody stood a chance, we all relied on our government, they were supposed to be the most powerful thing on the planet, but they let us down, and let the virus rape us all. We've all seen the movies – and it is just like it, except way more gruesome, and way more painful. When you watch a zombie movie, you think “Aim for the head!” “Shoot that damn gun!” “You got the guns; shoot them all, it’s not that hard!” “It is not like that at all. Everything we thought we knew about our greatest fear was false.”
(Interrogator): “Okay Paul, you are not here to tell us the statistics, you’re here to tell us your story. Now continue on.”
(Paul Stone): “After my mind cleared up – after I got through most of the pain of the loss of my wife and mother – I studied the maps – the news – the media. They were saying this thing was everywhere, nowhere is safe. The United States was quarantined…but it had already had spread into Mexico – into Canada. I thought of my options… I thought of Islands. They were our best chance. There was this one island – off the coast of Mexico – this small little island. There were about five other islands that were closer by that I thought of at the time, but none seemed as good and as underpopulated as that one island. It would be a long trip, we would have to go through a lot – a lot to survive. We might even die trying to get there. It was survival… everything turned into survival. When it began to spread through the livestock and cattle – that is when all hell broke loose. Infected meat products spread all over the country – the globe. There was no safe haven – New York City was on the news on the third week… I thought I had seen the worst back at home – but they were talking about MILLIONS of those things... millions infected millions turning into billions and billions… the whole country fell apart – it died. “
(Interrogator): “Okay, let me slow you down a little bit again, what happened after you left your home town, you started this so-called journey? Did you know if the island you were heading to was even safe?”
(Paul Stone): “No, all I had were my hopes that it was not infected. It seemed our only chance. We heard on the radio… and it shocked us both… news reports saying they could “Swim”… “They could breathe under water.” "They don't die when you destroy their heart. “WHAT THE HELL?” “Eventually I started believing that it was the second coming, and God would be the cure. I still believe that it was the second coming. Within the first week of the infection, we had only gotten about three hours away from Bieremont… the traffic… it was literally at a dead stop. The interstates were deadly. It took us such a long time just to get an hour away. It was unimaginable. My main thought was to get as far away from Los Angeles as possible. We had a half a tank of gas left in our truck.”
(Interrogator): “Just to know, what kind of truck were you driving?”
(Paul Stone): “A Chevrolet Exance – I thought of gas… itcouldn'tall be gone yet…But I was completely wrong, I waited to late… we must’ve went by at least fifty gas stations, all were either blown up or destroyed, or siphoned dry.”
(Interrogator): “Did you stop any – for food or for restroom breaks?”
(Paul Stone): “Wedidn't. We stopped a couple of times, not completely, when George or I had to get sick and throw up, I just rolled down the window. I told him just to use a bottle or something when he had to go to the bathroom, I did not want to take any risks.”
(Interrogator): “What about when he had to make a bowel movement?”
(Paul Stone): “He had a lunch box... I told him to use that. He used it twice, and we ended up throwing it out the window. For hunger and thirst… We were starving… we were dehydrated. On the third day… about seven hours away from Bieremont… We stopped at this 7/11 gas station in this little town. I grabbed the assault rifle, gave George the Glock, and we both got out and went it. We were starving, wecouldn'ttake it anymore. There were four of those things in there -- we seen them… they darted for us. They were pretty fast. Theyweren'texactly running, but they were trying. One tried to go for George, the other three went for me. It all ended pretty quickly, I killed them all off, but what worried me was the gun shots. I thought back to the old zombie movies, and just said to myself in my head “There will be more coming.” We went into the small little gas station, there was barely anything left. There was some bread – some energy drinks, a carton of eggs… that’s about it. We took everything we could and loaded it into the truck. I had found these large water containment jugs… they had no water in them, but I figured that we could use them to piss in. They would last us a while. George had never shot a gun before… and I did not know when I would have the time or mind to teach him how to.”
(Interrogator): “You mean that after all that you had went through, how many times you gave George the gun, and hedidn'teven know how to shoot one!?”
(Paul Stone): “Yep, but at least hewasn'tscared to carry one. He knew guns were dangerous, he knew they were alright. I taught him his whole life about gun safety – I was going to let him shoot his first gun for his thirteenth birthday. But when the gun law passed that year, a promise became unfulfilled. He asked me once while we were on the journey – “Dad, when are you going to teach me how to shoot this?” I told him – I promised him that I would teach him.”
(Interrogator): “Did you lose faith in God at any point?”
(Paul Stone): “No, but I did lose faith in America, in humanity. I believed that God would come in some way or another. Near the end of the third day of our journey, about ten hours or somewhat away from Bieremont, we had run out of gas. We were in the middle of nowhere, next to some farms and fields. We had to abandon the car. My son’s backpack and a few bags was all that we had to carry things with. We brought the guns, we brought what was left of the rationed food… we brought what money we had left just because you never know what you might need that costs money, even without humans such as gas and things. I felt like I was turning into an animal. George and I both needed clean clothes. The sun was blazing hot. We were only about ten percent of the way through our journey and we had to walk the rest of the way… that was the turning point… the ultimate test of our faith… our endurance. Ihadn'tslept one second since the outbreak, Georgehadn'teither, although he slept a couple hours in the car. But now neither of us could sleep. We had to keep moving, we had no energy left at all, we were out of food, we were dehydrated. We were about to die. Then we saw this house – this farm house, it was half burned to the ground, there did not seem to be any infected inside or around it. I thought about checking through the house, but I was not concentrating on the house… there was this underground storm shelter in the field by that house… it was quite decent, the door was made of heavy metal. My greatest hopes were that there would be food inside, and finally, there was… about a year’s worth of water and food, batteries, there was a couple of gas tanks… although we had left the car behind long ago. It was nice… everything seemed perfect… there was no one in or around it… it was ours."
(Interrogator): “Nobody had found it yet?”
(Paul Stone): “Oh, not at all. We drank and ate all that we felt the need to have. We healed ourselves best that we could with the med-kits that were in there… finally… we had the chance to lie down, rest, sleep... mourn. There was this really old television; it used a crank for power. It was such an awesome feeling to find that. Neither my son nor I had seen news, well, it felt like the longest time, but in reality it had only been about six days. There were only a few channels that were on air at that time, all of them were news stations. We picked up five of them. We saw the devastation and the scenes from New York. It was near the end of the sixth day since the start of the infection, that we heard the President address the nation.
(Interrogator): “Okay, Paul, we are going to pause you for a moment. We will get back to your story in a minute. Now, we are going to be asking more in depth questions than before. We are going to be a little harsher on you. Paul, would you like a cigarette or a cigar?” (Paul sighs and takes a deep breath)
(Paul Stone): “No thank you, I don’t smoke – Can I ask you what your name is sir?”
(Interrogator): “No, you are not allowed to be told that information.”
(Paul Stone): “But you’re allowed to hear mine?”
(Interrogator): “That’s right.” (The interrogator lights up a Marlboro Light) “Alright, let’s get back to the story. Now Paul, you stayed in this shelter for quite a while, am I correct?”
(Paul Stone): “Why leave?”
(Interrogator): “You said the President addressed the nation? What did he say – What was it like for you – for George?”
(Paul Stone): “It spun my gut. George was actually asleep at the time. I was eating a small piece of bread. It came on the television.”
(Interrogator): “There were a lot of places still unaffected by the virus,weren'tthere?”
(Paul Stone): “Some, but not a whole lot. The President of the United States was freaking surrendering! There was no hope at all left. Our country had failed. All it took really was one little tiny tiny virus to break our country into pieces.”
(Interrogator): “It was the paranoia,wasn'tit?”
(Paul Stone): “Yes, it was. When one person panics, all the people around that person panic. Then, the whole entire state panics, causing all of the states around it to panic, and then eventually the whole entire freaking country panics, leading to world panic. I sat there and watched the President of our Country fail and back down... it made me sick. The room that we were in was damp and wet and it smelled like a basement. George and I were both getting sick. Wehadn'tseen any sunlight in about three days; we could barely take it anymore.”
(Interrogator): “Paul, would you like some beer?”
(Paul Stone): “No, I don’t drink either.”
(Interrogator): “Continue on then.”
(Paul Stone): “I figured that we could either stay in that room and slowly wither away and die, or we could keep going on our journey. At least the shelter we were in housed baseball bats, a couple of other lethal tools – such as a shovel, an axe. It was the best we could do then.”
(Interrogator): “Paul do you believe that if the American government would have not taken all of the weapons and firearms away from civilians, that the infection could have been more easily stopped?”
(Paul Stone): “Definitely, if they had not have passed that law, I bet you a million dollars we could've stopped it right then and there. But sadly, Americadidn'thave a chance."
------------------(3: “Everything Dies Eventually”) -------------
(Paul Stone): “America has always been on a very slow decline ever since the beginning, no one likes to admit it, but it is true. The day came that they eventually went too far, and that one slip up caused the entire planet to fail. Humanity collapsed because of one mistake made by the American government. Everybody turned to scientists to figure it out, but I knew that theydidn'tknow what to do. It takes years to get a cure just for a regular flu virus… but an alien-like engineered masterpiece… I knew it would be at least ten years until they even found a cure, and I’m sure all those scientists knew that as well.”
(Interrogator): “So you did not believe in a cure?”
(Paul Stone): “No, not at all. I also knew that the worst was yet to come. The paranoia and the infection itself was bad, yes, but when half of the planet’s nuclear power plants and facilities are left unattended for more than three weeks… Nuclear hell… We had five freaking nuclear power plants around us, and we were not going to survive the results where we were. I thought to myself then about how the nuclear radiation would affect the virus – the infected people when it all went down. I knew that every single second we waited in that bunker meant each second we were getting closer to our deaths. We had to keep going, get out of the possibility of danger. So, I started plotting out our route, our statistics, and our rations.”
(Interrogator): “Can you tell us what you were worried about then?”
(Paul Stone): “I was worried... about my son, how we could make it, what would happen when we made it. I was worried about... humanity… we can survive anything right?
(Silence fills the room for a short moment. Paul takes out his Glock pistol and sits it on the desk in front of him. It is covered in stains and scratches)
(Paul Stone): "This little buddy saved my life. It had never really even let me down once, asides from human errors. This one gun saved my life, now just imagine how many other lives would have of been saved if that gun law did not pass. Think of five billion people with guns... why? Humanity has come this far--learned so much--but for what? What is the point of humanity if God just wipes us out?"
(Interrogator): "Keep it clean Paul."
(Paul Stone): "I sat to myself in that cold, damp room, wondering if humanity would survive, wondering where every poor soul that died went, and about all of those poorer souls that didn't die... mindlessly roaming the Earth in pain and hopelessness...in...nothing. I wrote a poem this one day while we were in that shelter. Would you like to hear it."
(Interrogator): "Sure, go for it."
(Paul Stone): "One day gone by, two days gone by. The fish they still swim -- while everyone dies. A world of pain and anguish is what I see in their eyes. One week gone by, two weeks gone by -- the fish -- they still feed, while everybody dies. A path of destruction and devastation is what I see in their eyes. One month gone by, two months gone by -- the fish -- they are dead -- while everything dies. The last of the mad starve to death. The smell of meat and rot is what I smell on their breath. The ground they walk on -- it crawls with death, and every single day, I get sick of running, and I run out of breath."
(The room goes awkwardly silent for a moment)
(Paul Stone): "Alright, so back to the story now. It was about the sixth day since the start of the infection when we had left that shelter. I grabbed all of the food that we could carry -- all of the materials that we needed, and packed it all up and got ready to leave. I got George up; he grabbed what he could and this steel baseball bat for his protection. I took out my pistol, put my back pack on, and unhinged the door, telling George to get ready just in case. I pushed... The door didn't budge, we couldn't get out. I had pushed and pushed but the door didn't budge. I did not want to kick it open, because I did not want to attract any attention to ourselves on our way out. I didn't know what was blocking the door, and I really did not want to know. The door was heavy enough to open itself. I knew something was in the way of the door, it was not just stuck. George sat back down and I had begun to lose hope of leaving. But then, magically, George said he "felt" something. I walked over to him and he said "look". There was a crease in the corner of the room on the floor. I dusted off the floor to unveil a second door. It didn't have a handle so we had to do some work to get it open, but we eventually got it open. When we opened it, cold and moist air and the smell of wet dirt and ash filled the room. Itmustn'tled up to the house -- I should've known. George and I picked our stuff back up and I turned on the flash-light and aimed it down there. It looked clear, although I could see very little, but I knew we didn't really have a choice, it was our only way out. The sound of flies buzzing around frantically caught my attention. "Best be really careful" I said to George. We both slowly crawled down into the hole, and I slowly aimed my flashlight in front, George stood behind me.There were four dead bodies. Two of them looked likeMorbids-- full on -- and the other two looked like the owners of the house. They were elderly; they looked defenseless, even if the old man was holding a revolver in his hand. I did not touch it, there appeared to be blood all over the gun. I told George to just walk slow and stick by me. We both covered our mouths as we stepped over the bodies. I had pictured the whole incident in my head. The old man and his wife were watching the television. They see the news of the infection, but are not bothered by it because of their isolated location. Then, one day, they hear the sound of one of their windows breaking -- the old man gets up and grabs his gun and then his wife. They go down to the cellar -- while twoMorbidsbreak into their house -- tear open the wooden cellar door leading into the tunnel. They chase after the elderly couple. The infected then tackle them -- one takes down his wife -- the husband shoots the one infected off of his wife -- then shoots the one infected trying to go for him. His wife turns -- he shoots her. He has one bullet left -- he shoots himself."
(Interrogator): "Wow, you have a very interesting mind, Paul."
(Paul Stone): "After all of the hell and inhumanity that I have seen and went through, yes I do. We opened up the broken wooden entrance, and came up into the house. The old house creaked with our weight. It was night-time. We could see holes in the walls and ceilings throughout the house from the fire that had burnt through it. It was amazing that it was still standing. Large holes in the wall created an awkward airflow in the building. I peered out a large hole in the wall and my instant reaction was to grab my son and get down to the floor. I covered his mouth to stop him from making any possible noise. I quickly gave him the signal to tell him that there was an infected out there."
(Interrogator): "Signal?"
(Paul Stone): "Yes, uh, George and I made this sign up to quietly tell each-other if there was an infected nearby. It was, uh, the pinkie finger and the ring finger would be bent downward as to represent legs walking, and the index finger and the middle finger would be held out straight and parallel to each-other to depict a walking person -- in this case, a zombie." (Paul makes this sign with his hand as showing to the interrogator)
(Interrogator): "So you signaled George that there was an infected... and?"
(Paul Stone): "George quickly slipped me the Glock pistol. He got down and covered his head as I slowly rose up. I shot the bastard three times. Two in the head and one in the chest. He fell to the ground with a squish. From the ear-piercing gun shots rolled in an eerie silence, with a howling wind blowing past my face, sending a chill down my spine. It was at least midnight, and the night sky was covered with ghostly grey clouds with a bright white full moon lighting them up. The air was moist, almost irritating to the touch, but it was warm, probably in the 80's. I felt the mosquitoes out, and the air was mostly filled with mist and dew produced by the fields and weeds around us, creating a low-lying layer of fog."
(Interrogator): "Did you ever figure out why you could not get out of the cellar?"
(Paul Stone): "Yeah, uh, there was an infected nibbling on a rotting dead cow that lay on the cellar door."
(Interrogator): "Go on."
(Paul Stone): "Well, I signaled George again to tell him that everything was alright and that he could come out. He ran out of the burnt farm house. We headed for the road. Once we had reached the road, we had felt we were pretty much safe, well, as safe as you could get in the situation where we were in. About thirty minutes of walking later and we had struck jackpot once again. It was an overtaken army roadblock, or more of barricade, because they had more than just the roads blocked off. Approaching it, spike-strips lay scattered around the barricade. There was a burned out tank, two Humvee, and a dirt-bike which I can not really explain, but it was pretty much useless as well. On the ground, scattered around, lay five dead masked men in containment suits. One more I found in the Humvee on the left side of the barricade. I wanted to check it out, but I could not take the risk. Blood and bodily fluids were all over the inside of the Humvee. Besides, there was another chance, another Humvee on the right that I could check out. The Humvee on my right appeared clean, so I decided to look through it. I checked the front seat and I found another flashlight, an area map, a dead radio, and a note, which I will get to in a minute."
(Interrogator): "Alright."
(Paul Stone): "In the back seat lay a few camouflaged jackets, a pair of pants, someM16clips, and a bullet proof vest, which I had taken and put on rather quickly. But the real victor was of what was in the trunk. A decked out M16 assault rifle and all of the pistol ammo that I could carry, and a beautiful chrome encrusted Desert Eagle pistol. I gave it to George, and put the Glock in the backpack. I asked hi (TO BE CONTINUED)
(Interrogator): “So you did not believe in a cure?”
(Paul Stone): “No, not at all. I also knew that the worst was yet to come. The paranoia and the infection itself was bad, yes, but when half of the planet’s nuclear power plants and facilities are left unattended for more than three weeks… Nuclear hell… We had five freaking nuclear power plants around us, and we were not going to survive the results where we were. I thought to myself then about how the nuclear radiation would affect the virus – the infected people when it all went down. I knew that every single second we waited in that bunker meant each second we were getting closer to our deaths. We had to keep going, get out of the possibility of danger. So, I started plotting out our route, our statistics, and our rations.”
(Interrogator): “Can you tell us what you were worried about then?”
(Paul Stone): “I was worried... about my son, how we could make it, what would happen when we made it. I was worried about... humanity… we can survive anything right?
(Silence fills the room for a short moment. Paul takes out his Glock pistol and sits it on the desk in front of him. It is covered in stains and scratches)
(Paul Stone): "This little buddy saved my life. It had never really even let me down once, asides from human errors. This one gun saved my life, now just imagine how many other lives would have of been saved if that gun law did not pass. Think of five billion people with guns... why? Humanity has come this far--learned so much--but for what? What is the point of humanity if God just wipes us out?"
(Interrogator): "Keep it clean Paul."
(Paul Stone): "I sat to myself in that cold, damp room, wondering if humanity would survive, wondering where every poor soul that died went, and about all of those poorer souls that didn't die... mindlessly roaming the Earth in pain and hopelessness...in...nothing. I wrote a poem this one day while we were in that shelter. Would you like to hear it."
(Interrogator): "Sure, go for it."
(Paul Stone): "One day gone by, two days gone by. The fish they still swim -- while everyone dies. A world of pain and anguish is what I see in their eyes. One week gone by, two weeks gone by -- the fish -- they still feed, while everybody dies. A path of destruction and devastation is what I see in their eyes. One month gone by, two months gone by -- the fish -- they are dead -- while everything dies. The last of the mad starve to death. The smell of meat and rot is what I smell on their breath. The ground they walk on -- it crawls with death, and every single day, I get sick of running, and I run out of breath."
(The room goes awkwardly silent for a moment)
(Paul Stone): "Alright, so back to the story now. It was about the sixth day since the start of the infection when we had left that shelter. I grabbed all of the food that we could carry -- all of the materials that we needed, and packed it all up and got ready to leave. I got George up; he grabbed what he could and this steel baseball bat for his protection. I took out my pistol, put my back pack on, and unhinged the door, telling George to get ready just in case. I pushed... The door didn't budge, we couldn't get out. I had pushed and pushed but the door didn't budge. I did not want to kick it open, because I did not want to attract any attention to ourselves on our way out. I didn't know what was blocking the door, and I really did not want to know. The door was heavy enough to open itself. I knew something was in the way of the door, it was not just stuck. George sat back down and I had begun to lose hope of leaving. But then, magically, George said he "felt" something. I walked over to him and he said "look". There was a crease in the corner of the room on the floor. I dusted off the floor to unveil a second door. It didn't have a handle so we had to do some work to get it open, but we eventually got it open. When we opened it, cold and moist air and the smell of wet dirt and ash filled the room. Itmustn'tled up to the house -- I should've known. George and I picked our stuff back up and I turned on the flash-light and aimed it down there. It looked clear, although I could see very little, but I knew we didn't really have a choice, it was our only way out. The sound of flies buzzing around frantically caught my attention. "Best be really careful" I said to George. We both slowly crawled down into the hole, and I slowly aimed my flashlight in front, George stood behind me.There were four dead bodies. Two of them looked likeMorbids-- full on -- and the other two looked like the owners of the house. They were elderly; they looked defenseless, even if the old man was holding a revolver in his hand. I did not touch it, there appeared to be blood all over the gun. I told George to just walk slow and stick by me. We both covered our mouths as we stepped over the bodies. I had pictured the whole incident in my head. The old man and his wife were watching the television. They see the news of the infection, but are not bothered by it because of their isolated location. Then, one day, they hear the sound of one of their windows breaking -- the old man gets up and grabs his gun and then his wife. They go down to the cellar -- while twoMorbidsbreak into their house -- tear open the wooden cellar door leading into the tunnel. They chase after the elderly couple. The infected then tackle them -- one takes down his wife -- the husband shoots the one infected off of his wife -- then shoots the one infected trying to go for him. His wife turns -- he shoots her. He has one bullet left -- he shoots himself."
(Interrogator): "Wow, you have a very interesting mind, Paul."
(Paul Stone): "After all of the hell and inhumanity that I have seen and went through, yes I do. We opened up the broken wooden entrance, and came up into the house. The old house creaked with our weight. It was night-time. We could see holes in the walls and ceilings throughout the house from the fire that had burnt through it. It was amazing that it was still standing. Large holes in the wall created an awkward airflow in the building. I peered out a large hole in the wall and my instant reaction was to grab my son and get down to the floor. I covered his mouth to stop him from making any possible noise. I quickly gave him the signal to tell him that there was an infected out there."
(Interrogator): "Signal?"
(Paul Stone): "Yes, uh, George and I made this sign up to quietly tell each-other if there was an infected nearby. It was, uh, the pinkie finger and the ring finger would be bent downward as to represent legs walking, and the index finger and the middle finger would be held out straight and parallel to each-other to depict a walking person -- in this case, a zombie." (Paul makes this sign with his hand as showing to the interrogator)
(Interrogator): "So you signaled George that there was an infected... and?"
(Paul Stone): "George quickly slipped me the Glock pistol. He got down and covered his head as I slowly rose up. I shot the bastard three times. Two in the head and one in the chest. He fell to the ground with a squish. From the ear-piercing gun shots rolled in an eerie silence, with a howling wind blowing past my face, sending a chill down my spine. It was at least midnight, and the night sky was covered with ghostly grey clouds with a bright white full moon lighting them up. The air was moist, almost irritating to the touch, but it was warm, probably in the 80's. I felt the mosquitoes out, and the air was mostly filled with mist and dew produced by the fields and weeds around us, creating a low-lying layer of fog."
(Interrogator): "Did you ever figure out why you could not get out of the cellar?"
(Paul Stone): "Yeah, uh, there was an infected nibbling on a rotting dead cow that lay on the cellar door."
(Interrogator): "Go on."
(Paul Stone): "Well, I signaled George again to tell him that everything was alright and that he could come out. He ran out of the burnt farm house. We headed for the road. Once we had reached the road, we had felt we were pretty much safe, well, as safe as you could get in the situation where we were in. About thirty minutes of walking later and we had struck jackpot once again. It was an overtaken army roadblock, or more of barricade, because they had more than just the roads blocked off. Approaching it, spike-strips lay scattered around the barricade. There was a burned out tank, two Humvee, and a dirt-bike which I can not really explain, but it was pretty much useless as well. On the ground, scattered around, lay five dead masked men in containment suits. One more I found in the Humvee on the left side of the barricade. I wanted to check it out, but I could not take the risk. Blood and bodily fluids were all over the inside of the Humvee. Besides, there was another chance, another Humvee on the right that I could check out. The Humvee on my right appeared clean, so I decided to look through it. I checked the front seat and I found another flashlight, an area map, a dead radio, and a note, which I will get to in a minute."
(Interrogator): "Alright."
(Paul Stone): "In the back seat lay a few camouflaged jackets, a pair of pants, someM16clips, and a bullet proof vest, which I had taken and put on rather quickly. But the real victor was of what was in the trunk. A decked out M16 assault rifle and all of the pistol ammo that I could carry, and a beautiful chrome encrusted Desert Eagle pistol. I gave it to George, and put the Glock in the backpack. I asked hi (TO BE CONTINUED)
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