The ZWD Trilogy (Book 1): Zombie World Dominance [The Destruction Begins] (16 page)

 She
continued, “It appears that when they move, they’re very uncoordinated. They stagger
and jerk, and drag themselves forward, rather than walk. Their skin seems to be
colored dark, like molding or decomposing flesh. It’s also been reported that
they have a smell about them like that of decaying, rotting flesh or gangrene
that reminds people of the smell of death.” She grimaced slightly.

“Many
people have said that they look as if they were once human. Their faces contain
some human features. They wear human-style clothing, although it’s shredded,
but this is where the similarity ends. These creatures stand hunched over, and
reports from people who have been able to observe them over a period of time say
that their posture continually worsens until they can no longer stand upright,
and they begin to crawl. Some people say that this is a result of being exposed
to the elements.” She shook her head slightly. “No way to know for sure.”

She
glanced at her notes. “People around the world have been calling them
creatures, but in my opinion, what we are witnessing is more like the legendary
zombie, and we should start referring to them zombies. It’s been reported that
every attack on an individual, no matter how slight the injury, has resulted in
that person’s rapid death, even if the person only received a slight scratch or
a nick from the zombie.”

Zoe
stopped and gathered herself. “Our station has the first ever documented
coverage of a healthy human changing into a zombie. It was reported to us by
Kimberly Zink on location in Riverside. We have footage that her news crew took
of one of their own crew members as he transformed into a zombie. Thomas Miller
was his name, and he slowly changed from a human into a zombie. As his
transformation progressed, he shuffled away from her team. We have not been
able to communicate with Kimberly since yesterday; Kimberly Zink and her crew
are now listed as missing and presumed to be dead.

“This
has been Zoe Manderal, Investigative Reporter, with NBC News, Riverside,
California. Thank you for watching. Please be safe.”

Kimberly
and her crew had decided that they would go as far as they could in the
daylight towards Palmdale. As it got later in the afternoon. The heavy traffic
coupled with all the abandoned vehicles meant they were only able to get as far
as Llano, about 15 to 20 miles southwest of Palmdale. As Jason was driving, he told
Kimberly, “It’s starting to get dark. I think we need to start looking for a
place to stay the night. What do you think?”

“Jason,
whatever you think is fine with me. But you’re right, it’s getting late in the
day. We need to find somewhere safe to stop for the night. I don’t trust the
motels or hotels. Look for an abandoned building, hopefully with a garage where
we can pull the van inside.”

“Okay.
After that, we can get set up for the night. I think until we know what is
going on around us, we should have one person up at all times, keeping watch. I
also think we should get up when the sun rises. Wherever we’re going, we need
to keep moving.”

“You’re
right. Find us a safe place. We’ll have everyone, including me, stand watch
until morning. Then we’ll get back on the road again.”

Jason
drove for another twenty minutes until he saw an abandoned gas station with a
garage on the north side of Llano. He pulled up to the doors. Floyd got out of
the van and opened the overhead door for Jason to drive inside. Floyd pulled
the door down behind the van, pulled the door down and locked it.

Everyone
climbed out of the van and stretched as they looked for a suitable place to lay
out their blankets. The gas station’s office was as good as they could ask for.
They cleaned it up a little, then they all took their time to before lying
down.

Floyd
was the first to stand watch. He would wake Jason in two hours. It would go
that way with a different person on watch every two hours.

As
Kimberly laid down to get some sleep, she thought about her husband Henry. As they
drove, she tried to call Henry a number of times, but he never answered his
cell phone. She called every number that the station had. No one answered any
of her calls.

She
was worried about the baby that was growing in her womb. What kind of life would
he or she have in this new, frightening world where there was a good chance that
death was around every corner? Kimberly fell asleep with these two thoughts
chasing each other around in her mind.

She
had wanted to stay close to Riverside in case they could get back. She needed
to know what happened to her husband. She hoped her crew would accept the idea
of staying in this abandoned gas station for a few days, if they could fortify
it and make it safe. It was 1:00 PM when she called her crew together. Kimberly
stood and began to talk to her crew.

“All
right, we had a rough day. Today, from our van, we witnessed more deaths than
we normally do in a year. I think the best thing for us now is to hole up here
in this abandoned gas station for a while. Maybe four or five days, maybe a week,
until we can see where this zombie thing is going. We’re not far from
Riverside. If we can keep safe, then we should stay here to get our heads
together on what we should do or where we have to go. What do you think?”

“Kimberly,
you’re my boss,” said Jason. “You tell me what you want done and I’ll do it.
Don't start by asking me what I think we should do. If you say we need to be
here a few days, then we stay. If you say we go, we go. I do recommend that we find
a place to get gas in the morning. Maybe we want to think about stripping all
the extra gear out of the van to lighten the load.”

“Thank
you, Jason. What about you, Floyd? Stay or go?”

“Please
don’t make me make that kind of decision for you. I know you want to be close
to Riverside because of Henry. Yeah, the majority of the station knows that you
guys are married.”

“Damn,
Floyd. When did you find that out? We’ve tried hard not to be obvious about it.
Some secret. Who else knows?”

“If
you ask me, I think the entire station broadcast floor back in the studio
knows. No one cares because you get your job done.”

“I
guess we didn’t hide our marriage all that well, did we, Thomas? Fine. I want
to stay here for a few days to see if this crap will blow over so we can get
back home. Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving.”

With
that secret out of the bag, Kimberly felt better now that everyone on her crew
knows about Henry. “I’m hungry. What do you have to eat, Jason?” she asked.

The
next morning, they’d try to see if this zombie crap has started to settle down
a bit.

They
would be running again.

Saudi
Press Agency 

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

ADZ
+30h

When
the outbreak began, the citizens of Saudi Arabia had been captivated by the
broadcasts of the killings around the world by their government-controlled
monitors. At any hour of the day, people could be found gathering in large
groups around the public displays. The majority of the citizens of Saudi Arabia
could not afford private monitors for themselves. They gathered in public to
follow the news. The unfortunate thing was that the creatures started to
associate the monitors with their victims. In war, this is referred to as a
target-rich environment. For the creatures, it was simply good hunting.

Through
the Saudi government’s permission, the Saudi Press Agency rebroadcasted many of
the reports covering the zombie outbreak from around the world. This included
the reports from Riverside, California and London, England.

Gafar
Rahal had been working for the Saudi Press Agency for the last 15 years. He had
been born in Hafar Al-Batin, located 72 kilometers from the border of Kuwait.
While growing up in Hafar Al Batin, he began his broadcasting career working
for a small local television station after he graduated from high school. His
first job was as a helper on a mobile broadcast van. Gafar worked hard working
his way up through the various positions from helper to reporter.

While
Gafar was working for the station, his mother and father were killed in a car
crash. Feeling alone in the world without his parents, his aunt, Tijah Naifeh,
took him in to live with her.

As a
reporter, he had covered the oil wars that occurred as the countries on the
Arabian Peninsula isolated themselves from the rest of the world. The
management at the Saudi Press Agency took notice of Gafar’s reporting. The
station director, Kamal Saab, and the production manager, Ahmed Samara, drove
the 400 kilometers to Hafar Al-Batin to meet with Gafar. At the end of their
meeting, they offered him a job with their station. The job was at a higher
salary that included his own broadcast van and crew.

Gafar
was single, his only ties to his town being his aunt, since both of his parents
were gone. He quickly accepted their job offer, moving to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
within the week to start his new job.

Gafar
had the job he had only dreamed of, the key to what he thought would be the
perfect life. Then he received the news that his aunt, Tijah, that had cared
for him following his parents’ death, had died as well. Gafar put everything on
hold to return to Hafar Al-Batin to attend his aunt’s funeral. After that, he
no longer had any ties to the town of his birth. He was free to pursue his
dreams.

Shortly
after his return to Riyadh, Gafar met his future wife, Raina, while covering a
news story about the robbery of her parent’s store. They soon began
seeing
each other
dating only to discover that
and discovered
they had a lot in common.

There
came a day when Gafar scheduled a meeting with Raina’s father. As Saudi custom
dictated, a prospective suitor had to ask the girl’s father for his permission
to marry. Gafar was very nervous as the two men sat together having tea.
Raina’s father had a feeling that he knew why Gafar had asked for this time
with him. He asked Gafar many difficult questions so he could watch him
struggle before giving Gafar his blessing to marry his daughter.

The
marriage ceremony was beautiful. They honeymooned for a week in Al-Jubail on
the coast of the Persian Gulf. Married life was good for the both of them. They
lived in Hafar Al-Batin for another ten years. Gafar and Raina had two
children.

As of this
day, it had been 30 hours since the first news reports of Australia Day Zero
out of Melbourne, and Gafar was on location reporting on the latest zombie
killings in Riyadh.

“This
is Gafar Rahal with the Saudi Press Agency in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We are near
the King Fahd Security College on Prince Bandar Bin Abdulaziz Road behind the
Riyadh Bank. We are covering another horrible killing by the zombies. Our
camera is focused on the victim. You can see that the victim has been covered
with a sheet by the police. There is so much blood and carnage on the ground
that the sheet cannot even cover all of it. The sheet was white, but now it is
dark red as it has soaked up so much blood.” His face was dark with emotion.

“I
spoke with a police officer about what had happened, but the officer did not
want to comment publicly about the killing. It is department policy that would
not allow police officers to comment on a killing until the report has been
closed. I will try to find another person who observed what happened that would
be willing to talk to us.”

Gafar
walked over to a group of people that had gathered near the body.

“Excuse
me. I am Gafar Rahal with the Saudi Press Agency. Was anyone here when the
killing started? Yes, you were here? Are you willing to talk to us about the
killing? Thank you. If you will please state your name, what you know about
what happened looking directly into the camera. Please try to give us as much
detail as you feel comfortable with.”

“I am
Husayn Nagi. I was working behind the bank when this beast or zombie or
whatever they want to call it, came out from the alley back there. It grabbed
the first person it could. It was a woman who was grabbed from behind. It bit
into the side of her neck. As the zombie had a large bite of her neck, it
twisted its head, ripping a hunk of her neck off. The zombie spit the torn part
of her neck onto the ground. As quick as it ripped her neck apart, it turned
back to her neck again, taking another bite. There was so much blood running
down her body to the ground that I did not think she had any more blood to
lose. I could even see her spine from where I was standing.”

After a
pause, Husayn continued. “I looked at her eyes. She had the look of sheer
terror in them. She could not scream. She could not say anything. Her neck was
damaged that much. All she did was look down at her body watching her own blood
flow down her body onto the street. She looked up one more time. As we made eye
contact again. I could see that she was terrified. I wanted to do something,
anything to help her. As we looked at each other, we both knew that she was
dying. Her eyes told me that she knew that she was already dead. The only thing
that she had to do was to allow herself to die. With a simple nod of her head,
she closed her eyes and slumped to the ground, dead. It was like the ground was
welcoming her body, allowing her to die as she fell.”

He
continued, “The zombie let her limp body drop to the ground, falling into the
pool of her own blood. This was sickening to watch. Everyone including myself
who had watched her die just stood where they were unable to move. No one could
utter a sound. No one could move. My feet were frozen to the ground. It took me
a moment to get my feet to move. When the zombie looked up at us. I was able to
move. I turned away from the zombie running as fast as I could. I had got
across the parking lot and looked back to where the woman had been killed. The
zombie was gone. It must have gone back into the shadows. I don’t ever want to
see such a thing again as long as I have life on this earth. Allah give me
peace.”

“Thank
you, Husayn. I am now being waved over to the police officer that I first
talked to. Officer Hani, how can I help you?”

“My
sergeant asked me to tell you that this is not the first zombie killing we have
been called to today. All of the killings by the zombies are being turned over
to the GDI. They may ask for a copy of your tape for their investigation.”

“If
they request it, I will gladly make a copy for them. Here is my card. They can
call me at any time. Once I get back to my studio, I will make a copy which
they can pick up at any time.”

He
turned back to the camera. “For our viewers who may not know, GDI stands for the
General Directorate of Investigation. They do not rush through an incident.
They take their time to do an in-depth investigation before they issue their
report. We may or may not be given a copy of their report when they are done.
If I do get a copy, I will report what is in it to my viewers. In closing, I am
Gafar Rahal with the Saudi Press Agency in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia reporting to
you.”

As
Gafar’s crew started breaking down their equipment. Gafar received a call from
their station director assigning them another location to report from. Yet
again, it was a zombie incident; this time, however, it was more than just another
killing. It was a major battle between the zombies and the police.

“Listen
up, everyone,” Gafar said to the crew. “We have another assignment. There is a
major battle going on, with a large group of zombies fighting against the
police. We need to get there as rapidly as we can. This is the biggest story to
date. Our destination is the backside of the King Fahd International Stadium.
Where we need to be is on Shaikh Isa Ben Salman Al Khalifah Road, near Ashaikh
Jaber Alahmed Alsabah Road. I was told that there is a battle being fought between
the stadium security guards and local police, who are trying to drive a large
number of zombies away from the stadium, perhaps as many as 60 to 80 zombies.
We are only six or seven blocks away. The battle is occurring as we speak. We
need to go now. Kamal wants to get as much footage as we can. He is going to
put it on the air live without any network editing.”

He
spoke to his driver. “Shamz, drive like the wind. We needed to be there five
minutes ago. I need you to make sure that you get us as close to the battle as
you can. We don’t want to be so close that we will be part of the battle. I do
not want to be attacked by the zombies.”

He
turned to his technician. “Rizwan, I want you to establish a strong signal to
the station so they will receive our footage when we send it. When we arrive, I
want you to get the generators running and make sure that our signal is strong
at all times.”

To the
two cameramen, Moiz and Tetsuo, he gave detailed instructions. “Moiz, get the
handheld camera. We will send them whatever we can on the way there. When we
get there, be sure to keep filming until the production camera is set up.”

“Yes,
sir,” said Moiz.

“Tetsuo,
as soon as we stop, I want you to get the production camera set up for Moiz. We
don’t want to miss a single second of coverage. As soon as the camera is ready,
let Moiz know and he will give you the handheld. I want you to use it to get additional
footage of what is going on around us. We will transmit both pieces back to the
studio.”

Taha
was the audio technician on the crew. “I want you to strive for the very best
sound quality you have ever produced in your career. I want our viewers to hear
the gunshots, the people shouting, the last sound that people make as they are
dying. Record anything and everything that makes any type of sound connected
with this battle.”

“Understood,”
said Taha.

“Tetsuo,
as you are filming keep your head on a swivel for anyone who needs an extra
hand. Drop the handheld to help them. Then go back to filming.”

“Right!”
said Tetsuo.

“Rizwan,
I want you and Shamz to keep a lookout for wandering zombies that get too close
to us. I don’t want any of this crew to be on the news.”

He
looked around at his crew. “Okay, everyone. You each have a job to do, and you
need to do it. Our first job is to work safely, and to keep each other safe
while we get the very best news that we can. Remember, it is being broadcast
live; watch what comes out of your mouth. You can be fined or even fired for
swearing.”

On the
drive to the stadium, Shamz drove like a madman. He dodged cars, he drove on
the sidewalks, he swerved around anything that was in their way. As they got
closer, he cried out, “Gafar, we are close. I have my window open; I can hear
the gunfire, and I can hear people screaming. Open your window, you should be
able to hear them. People are dying over there.”

“I
hear them,” said Gafar. “Look over there, between those buildings we’re
passing. I can see the battle between them. Drive over that way. Get us between
those buildings. Those building look like they are above the parking lot where
they are fighting. We will be able to get great shots from there. That is where
we will broadcast from. Shamz, don’t worry about the abandoned cars. Drive as
fast as you can, even if you have to cross sidewalks or fields do so. If you
bump an empty car, keep going. We have a job to do. This story needs to be
told,
now.
Rizwan, do you still have a good signal to the station?”

“I do.
They have received everything that Moiz has transmitted since we left our last
location. Our signal will stay strong. When we stop, I will bounce our signal
off of the stadium’s towers for better strength.”

“All
right, Gafar, across the grounds we go. Hold on to something, everyone. It’s
going to get rough.”

Shamz
drove like the broadcast van was on fire.

“Gafar,
are these the buildings you were talking about?”

“This
is perfect, Shamz. We all know what our job is. Let’s get going. I want
everyone to be on top of things. The most important thing is that I want to
leave here with everyone that I came with. Be safe.”