Chapter 1
Cast:
Jaxon Timbs, 24.
Allen Stuckey, 32.
Kane Dixon, 26.
Yazmin Murrow, 30.
Ryan Chesapeake, 26.
Zaina House, 30.
Houston Newt, 32.
…
3:23 AM
Fort Owkes Psychiatric Facility
“What the hell you doin’? We don’t even know what that could do to these people!” Dr. Allen Stuckey hissed, snatching the chemical away from Kane, the head of security for the president. It was a compound he had been hired to create for population control.
“That’s why we’re here to test it. Ain’t nobody care about the folks in these psych wards or prisons. That’s where we start. Fort Owkes is the first test, then we expand.” Kane said, cold and calculated.
“That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. We don’t know if this’ll kill them! Dosing a mass amount wasn’t part of the plan! What if it wipes out everyone? What if it’s worse than we thought?” Allen’s voice trembled as he clutched the vial tighter.
“You knew what you signed up for when we asked you to cook this up,” Kane replied, cool as ever.
“I did, but we agreed on testing it on a couple of people, not thousands! If we start small, we can control the damage.”
Kane smirked. “Your job was to create, Doc. Mine’s to control. You’re done here.” He patted Allen on the back and turned to leave.
“I can’t let you do that, Kane,” Allen said, voice shaky but firm.
Kane turned back, his expression hardening. “Let me?” He didn’t hesitate. With the swift motion of his arm, the butt of Kane’s gun connected with the side of Allen’s head, knocking him out cold.
Kane bent down, grabbed the chemical, and pulled out his phone. As he walked out, he dialed a number.
“Yeah, sir. Kane, what you got?” came the voice on the other end.
“I got the chemical and the recipe. Gonna hit the facility’s water supply first, then head to the prisons around Fort Owkes. I’ll give you a report in 90 days.” Kane’s voice was steady, no remorse.
“Good man. I knew I could count on you. Your father would’ve been proud.”
“Thanks, sir. You know I got this.” He hung up, his face emotionless as he walked out into the night.
20 Days Later...
Kane jerked awake to the sound of gunshots, his hand instinctively grabbing the pistol under his pillow. He had crashed in the break room of the precinct after contaminating the last prison yesterday, thinking it was the safest place to lay low.
Another gunshot echoed. Kane shot up, pushing open the door to see Detective Yazmin calmly reloading her gun after putting a bullet in someone’s head. But that wasn’t no regular person—it was something else. The man she shot looked like he had been dead for days, his skin rotting, eyes glazed over.
“What the fuck?” Kane muttered, ducking as a sloppy punch from another dead-looking officer came his way. The thing smelled like death, moaning and reaching for him, like it didn’t feel pain.
Yazmin fired another shot, taking the zombie out. “This ain’t no dream, General.”
Kane stepped over the bodies, still in shock. “What the hell is goin’ on?”
“It’s all over the city,” Yazmin said, her voice steady but shaken. She pulled out a duffel bag, loading it with every weapon she could get her hands on.
“What’s happenin’?” Kane asked, still piecing things together.
She gave him a hard look, her disbelief clear. “I think they’re zombies.”
Kane stared at her, trying to process. “Zombies? You smokin’ crack?”
“I’m serious. They ate my partner right in front of me like it was nothin’. These things came outta nowhere. I was interviewing a witness at Fort Owkes Psych, then bam! Hundreds of ’em swarmed us. I couldn’t get him out in time. They chewed him up like a snack.” She swung the duffel over her shoulder. “Grab some guns, ammo, whatever you can. Let’s roll.”
Kane shook his head, still half-laughing in disbelief but followed her lead. He stuffed an empty duffel with guns, ammo, and grenades. “You really think this some end-of-the-world zombie shit?”
“I ain’t thinkin’. I know. You want to live, don’t you?” she shot back, her tone cutting his laughter short. She didn’t wait for an answer. “Let’s get the hell outta here.”
They made their way out the back of the precinct, stepping over bodies, some of which were barely human anymore. Kane was still trying to wrap his head around it.
“So, you tellin’ me people out here just eatin’ each other? Like, real life zombies?”
“Not people—zombies. Normal folks gettin’ ate by the dead. This ain’t no movie, General. The end of the world is here, whether you like it or not.” Yazmin unlocked her Dodge Charger and popped the trunk, tossing in her weapons. Kane followed suit, still trying to figure out what the hell was happening.
As Yaz went back inside for more weapons, Kane dialed the president’s number, his pulse racing. The phone rang twice before the familiar voice answered. “Kane, thought you were dead.”
“I will be if you don’t get me outta here,” Kane barked, his patience gone.
“The military already put a force shield around Fort Owkes. Ain’t nobody gettin’ in or out until this is over. I can’t risk this spreadin’ to the rest of the country. Anyone who tries to escape dies on impact.”
“You did this! You need to fix it!”
“We did what we had to. After they’re all dead in Fort Owkes, we move on to the next town. It wasn’t what I expected, but it’s still effective. Keep your head up, Kane. If you’re alive when we come back, we’ll take care of you.” The line went dead.
Kane cursed under his breath, shaking his head. “I should’ve fuckin’ known.”
Yazmin came out with two more duffel bags, fully loaded. “We gotta make sure there ain’t no survivors—”
“No, fuck that. We savin’ ourselves.”
“I swore to protect and serve, and that’s what I’m gonna do. You should too. Ain’t nobody comin’ to save us, General. If you wanna survive, you better act like you give a damn about somethin’ more than yourself.”
Kane stared at her, knowing deep down she was right. But the guilt of what he had unleashed weighed heavy.
“Let’s go, General,” Yazmin said, slamming the trunk shut.
Kane nodded, slinging his bag over his shoulder as they prepared to face the chaos outside.
Yazmin slammed the door of the Dodge Charger, glancing at Kane as he strapped in. The engine roared to life, but the streets of Fort Owkes were far from their usual hum of traffic. The city that never slept was now drowning in chaos. Shadows moved in the distance, people—or what used to be people—stumbled aimlessly through the streets. The sound of moaning and shrieks filled the air, carried by the wind like a ghostly echo.
“Where to now?” Kane asked, gripping the gun in his lap like his life depended on it—because it did.
Yazmin shot him a glance. “I told you, we need to find a spot with only two entrances. We can’t watch more than that. A grocery store, maybe an old warehouse.”
“We gonna be out here playin’ defense all night?” Kane’s voice was low, and he was trying to keep calm, but the weight of what he’d done was gnawing at him.
“If that’s what it takes,” Yazmin said, swerving down a side street to avoid a pile-up of cars. “Ain’t no cavalry comin’ for us. Ain’t nobody to call. It’s just you and me until we figure this shit out.”
Kane glanced at the horizon. The skyline looked eerie in the glow of streetlights flickering on and off, casting long shadows across the city. “You think this spreads? I mean, they got a shield around Fort Owkes, but what about the rest of the city?”
Yazmin didn’t answer for a minute, her eyes scanning the road. Finally, she spoke, “If it’s already out of Fort Owkes, it’s too late. We gotta worry about us right now.”
Suddenly, a figure darted into the middle of the street, arms flailing. “Help! Help me!” a woman screamed, waving them down.
Kane tensed up, instinct telling him not to stop. “Keep drivin’. That could be a trap.”
Yazmin hesitated, glancing between the woman and Kane. “She could be one of the last people alive out here. You really wanna leave her to die?”
“I’m sayin’, we don’t know if she’s one of them yet.”
Yazmin shook her head. “Nah, you want redemption or somethin’. You caused this shit. I ain’t cold like you.” Without another word, she hit the brakes, stopping just short of the woman, who collapsed against the hood of the car, sobbing.
Kane cursed under his breath, gripping his gun tighter. “Aight, fine. But if she flips—”
“I got her,” Yazmin cut him off, opening the door and stepping out cautiously. “Hey, you okay?”
The woman was panting hard, her face streaked with tears and dirt. “Please, they—they’re everywhere. My husband...he didn’t make it. They ate him. I...I barely got away.”
“Get in the car,” Yazmin said, pulling open the back door. The woman stumbled in, her eyes darting nervously at Kane, who glared back suspiciously.
“We gotta move, Yaz,” Kane muttered, scanning the area as shadows crept closer. He could feel the presence of more of those things nearby.
Yazmin floored the gas, speeding off before the creatures could catch up. The woman in the back sobbed quietly as they sped through the streets. Kane stared ahead, his mind racing. How long could they keep this up?
“So what’s your name?” Yazmin asked, trying to calm the woman down.
“Ryan ...Ryan Chesapeake,” she sniffed. “I work at Fort Owkes. I’ve seen it all...the experiments, the injections, the bodies. I’ve seen what they were doing.”
Kane’s body tensed. He knew this was about to get ugly.
“What experiments?” Yazmin asked, glancing at Kane, who looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin.
“Population control,” Ryan whispered. “They were testing something, said it would keep people docile. But it went wrong—real wrong. It didn’t calm them down; it turned them into monsters.”
Yazmin’s eyes flicked to Kane again, and she could see the guilt written all over his face. “You knew about this, didn’t you?” she asked, her voice low and accusatory.
Kane didn’t say anything, staring out the window.
Ryan’s sobbing got louder. “They tested it on the patients first...then the prisoners. I thought I could save someone, but...”
Yazmin tightened her grip on the steering wheel. “You really wanna explain yourself, General?”
Kane finally spoke, his voice tight. “I didn’t know it would turn out like this. They promised it was controlled.”
Yazmin slammed on the brakes, pulling the car to a sudden stop. The tires screeched on the pavement, and Ryan yelped from the backseat. Yazmin turned in her seat, staring Kane down with fire in her eyes. “You didn’t know?! You let them turn this city into a freakin’ war zone, and now you wanna say you didn’t know?”
Kane looked away, his jaw clenched. “It wasn’t supposed to go this far.”
“Well, it did!” Yazmin snapped. “And now we’re in it, thanks to you.”
Ryan wiped her tears, eyes wide as she pieced it together. “Wait...you’re part of this?”
Yazmin was about to say something, but Kane cut her off. “I tried to stop it. It’s too late now.”
Ryan backed up against the door, shaking her head. “You—”
“We don’t have time for this!” Kane barked. “Look around. They’re comin’, and we can sit here arguin’, or we can survive.”
Yazmin looked like she was ready to unload on Kane, but he was right. The sounds of the undead were getting closer. She threw the car into gear, speeding off again. Tension hung thick in the air between them, but now they had bigger problems to worry about. As they drove deeper into the chaos, Kane felt the weight of his choices. He didn’t just unleash hell on Fort Owkes—he unleashed it on himself too. And there was no telling how many lives it would claim before this nightmare was over.
