Outbreak - Kara

My neck almost broke as the bus slammed into a hoard of those brain dead… “things”. I threw the bus in reverse to keep from getting overwhelmed by them. These “things” recently took Knoxville by storm and… I don’t know. They just follow you around. They’re really slow but if they catch you, they eat you.

It’s actually pretty terrifying, to be honest. The thought of being chased down like food makes me feel like I’m some kind of gazelle in Africa.

I was at work when I started noticing odd things going on. Just small things here and there, like people staggering into the bathroom and customers complaining about homeless people loitering around outside.

Then this customer just started leaning on the counter looking like he was going to throw up. I touched his shoulder to see if he was going to be okay and then the guy had the nerve to throw up right on me! Things started to get real when the customer literally climbed over the counter and attacked my manager. He bit him and broke skin! What a freak, right? That’s what I thought at first, too. I didn’t know it was a disease making the guy do it or something.

We managed to get the situation under control by tying the guy up in the back. My manager tried calling the police but the line was busy. He ended up just closing the store completely and going to the hospital. I haven’t seen him since.

I called my mom to see if she could come pick me up, but no one answered the house phone. I was a bit hesitant to ride the bus covered in throw up so I called the house again. Still no answer. I guess I would just suck it up and wait for the bus. When I got on the bus, I quietly took a seat in the back by myself.

We were almost to my stop when one of the older men towards the front of the bus started seizing. The woman across from him jumped from her seat and held the man’s arm.

She pointed at me. “Call an ambulance!”

For a second I was too stunned to react but the bus coming to an abrupt stop had me scrambling for my phone. I clumsily keyed in the right numbers as the bus driver got out of his seat to help his seizing patron. The ringing in my ear was just a distant hum as I watched on in horror as the old man suddenly pounced on the woman aiding him.

Like a cheetah on its prey, the man went wild. In a vain attempt to play the hero, the bus driver wrenched the old man off the woman.

“She’s helping you! She’s helping you!” The bus driver yelled as the old man turned on him.

The woman did nothing but lay against the seat and cry. Her sobs made it difficult to hear the automated voice on the phone. The line was busy. I held my breath and dialed again. 

By then the bus driver was wrestling the old man off the bus. He managed to get the door open and pin the man to the side of the road. The woman started to push herself off the seat and limp to the bus driver’s aid.

That’s real courage, I thought. Trying to help someone out even while you’re injured. I wasn’t hurt at all and I still wasn’t going out there. Call me a coward, but I’m not trying to get killed. That was one crazy old guy.

As soon as the woman stepped off the bus, another man approached the three of them. I couldn’t see him very well through the bus’s tinted windows, but I could sure see that he didn’t look good.

The woman called to him, I guess she was asking for help. The man didn’t seem to acknowledge her cries as he slowly reached for her. I held my mouth while I watched two people become dinner.

I felt a surge of urgency when I realized that the door was still open on the bus. Those “things” might try to board the bus. I sprang out of my seat and searched the control center for some kind of button to shut the doors.  I just started mashing buttons. The windshield wipers came on, then the air conditioner shut off, and then I somehow managed to turn off the little fan over the drivers’ seat. I couldn’t believe how complicated it was just to close a door.

My frantic motions must have alerted the little cannibals because they stopped their meals and moaned at me.

Like, sorry. Excuse me for interrupting your meal.

By some crazy stroke of luck, the doors finally slammed shut. That didn’t seem to faze the men as they just banged on the doors. I decided it probably wasn’t a great idea to let them in.

I’m not a licensed driver, but I revved the engine anyway. I had to get out of there and I would have rather taken my chances with a ticket than crazy people.

I sped away before I could get a first hand lesson in cannibalism.