My Zombie's Keeper

A Zombie Apocalypse Fan-Fiction
By Sheida McCall

Prologue:
First Infections

Henry Ford Hospital
Detroit, Michigan
Circa October 2009

"What do you think it is, Doctor?" the nurse asked after sedating the patient, "I've never encountered anything like it before."

"I'm sure you've seen something similar," the doctor countered matter-of-factly, "It is rabies."

"Rabies?" the nurse raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "Impossible! As deadly as it is, even that couldn't alter someone's behavior so radically like this poor man."

The doctor did not bother to argue with her as he began to walk out of the hospital for a smoke. Instead, he just handed her the lab report so that she could see for herself. She looked over the papers skeptically at first, then her eyes went wide with horror. According to the TOX, it really was rabies that had afflicted the young man strapped to his bed, but it was not the common strand that humankind was familiar with. The symptoms were relatively the same: swollen brain, high fever, hydrophobia, violent behavior, vomiting…except for the odd petechial hemorrhaging all over the unnaturally white, pasty skin and the random bursts of strength when the patient tried to break his bonds before being put under.

"Wha—what does this mean?" the nurse stammered.

"Something has caused the rabies virus to mutate," the doctor explained as he lit his cigarette, "That 'something' could have been in the patient himself or in an animal he night have been bitten by. Hell, he could have gotten it from contaminated food for all we know. Either way, we'll have to keep him quarantined for an indefinite time."

"Can we…cure him? Can we even treat him?"

The doctor shrugged; "There's no telling," he said taking a long drag off his cigarette and exhaled, creating smoke circles as he often did in such contemplative situations, "It's not likely the current rabies vaccine will have any effect, considering how rare a rabies outbreak is, and it could take months—maybe years—to perfect it enough to treat this new strain. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how quickly the virus can spread, and that means that no matter how quickly we find a cure, we'll never be able to produce enough to account for all those who become infected."

As the doctor continued puffing on his cigarette, the nurse covered her mouth in horrific realization; "And if it was contracted through food," she said in a tight voice, "then our John Doe may not have even been the first case…"

The doctor shook his head; "I can't say for sure if he's the first," he said as he stomped his cigarette out, "but I can promise you he won't be the last."

"There's a comforting thought," the nurse responded sarcastically.

The two of them walked back into the hospital and towards their quarantined patient's room to observe his progress. Maybe we're wrong, the nurse hoped silently, maybe this really is just an isolated case. Yeah…there's no way this virus can be widespread already without us knowing about it, could it? No, of course not! The entire nation would be in a state of panic if that were so! We caught this early enough…we can fix it! No sooner had the nurse completed her thoughts that the sound of wild screams began echoing through the halls of the hospital! Instinctively, the doctor and nurse ran towards these screams which seemed to have been coming from the Emergency Ward. Their pace quickened double-time at the deafening sound of repeating gunfire!

"What's going on in here?!" the doctor demanded when they entered the room.

Two security guards quickly grabbed them and pulled them into the safety of one of the cubicles; "Stay down," one ordered, "Two extremely sick people came in begging to see a doctor, but before the receptionist could even admit them, they just went crazy! I don't know what got into them, but they attacked the poor woman in such a way that can only be described as cannibalistic!"

"Cannibalism?!" the nurse shrieked, "You mean they ate her?"

"Or at least effectively tore her to shreds," the guard answered, "her and about three guards, a nurse, and a couple of L and D's."

"My God!" the nurse whimpered, "This can't be rabies…it just can't be!"

"It's worse than I thought," the doctor sighed, ignoring the woman's outburst, "The virus and its effects have spread so rapidly that our chances of even beginning to find a cure have just dropped to zero! These people are already in the advanced stages of psychosis—they're nothing more than mindless, raging monsters now!"

Just then, the second security guard began swaying weakly; "Ooh…man, I don't feel so good," he moaned, then collapsed in his partner's arms.

"You okay, bud?" the first guard asked worriedly.

The second guard only moaned louder in response, like he was in pain. The doctor knelt beside him and began examining him. He found human bite marks on the young man's forearm which prompted him to give a hopeless look to the other guard.

"You're friend's been infected," he said, "I don't know how long it will take for him to succumb to the virus, but judging by your account of those two who attacked you, I wager it will be within minutes…he'll turn on us."

"D-d-don't let th-that happen t-to me!" the sick guard begged his partner as he vomited all over himself, "K-kill me! P-p-please!"

The two argued for about two minutes before the first guard finally agreed to euthanize his friend. The nurse buried her scream into the doctor's shoulder as the shot rang out. Now there was one less person in the world that could spread the infection. Regrettably, that single gunshot to the young man's head alerted the other two infected individuals to their location. Even more unfortunate was the fact that "two" had already become "eight"!

"Son," the doctor addressed the security guard casually when he caught sight of the miniscule horde, "I hope to God you've got enough bullets in that peashooter to go around."

"That's just what I was thinkin', Doc!"

Without another word, the guard aimed his sidearm at the Infected and fired several shots off before having to reload his weapon. Then, grabbing his dead partner's pistol, he ordered the doctor and the nurse to grab something heavy to use for a melee weapon and to get behind him. They complied quickly as a new set of screams reached their ears. The small group of survivors fought their way back into the main hallway of the hospital where the screams mingled with vicious snarls became much louder. Suddenly, the doctor and nurse locked eyes in a terrible realization.

"The John Doe!" they shouted in unison.

"How could we have forgotten about him?" the nurse berated herself and the doctor.

"What are you guys talking about?" the guard asked as he cleared the way to the elevator, completely amazed by the sudden burst of numbers in the zombie horde—it was already up to twenty-five!

"Our first encounter with the virus," the doctor explained once he was able to catch his breath, "was with a John Doe patient in Room 201. Judging by those screams, I'd say he's managed to break out!"

"Well," the guard huffed sarcastically, "things just keep getting better and better, don't they?"

The elevator stopped on the second floor where the trio hoped to stop the spread of the virus in its tracks by taking out John Doe. They were not, however, prepared for what awaited them when the elevator doors opened! A horde of at least twenty new zombie-like infected people sprinted at them, alerted by the "ding" of the elevator. If he had not been scared out of his wits, the doctor would have been scientifically intrigued and curious about how the virus could have possibly spread so quickly and effectively in such a short time. There was certainly no time to ponder that now while they were fighting for their lives. The security guard claimed several perfect headshots whit his dual pistols while the nurse and doctor displayed their almost professional batting skills with the lead pipes they had found earlier. Just when they thought they had defeated all the infected, they felt the entire building shake!

"What the hell's going on now?" the guard shouted over the rumbling, "An earthquake?"

"In Michigan?" the nurse reminded him as she grabbed a hold of a water fountain to sustain her balance.

The rumbling and shaking became more intense and was soon accompanied by a bone-chilling roar of pure ferocity. The survivors did not even have time to think as a massive creature burst into the hallway right in front of them. It was a enormous bulk of a man that could easily shame the Incredible Hulk, his upper lip had receded over his teeth, and his lower jaw appeared to be missing as his swollen tongue hung out dripping with tainted saliva. Although it was impossible to conceive that this thing was ever once a human, the doctor was quick to recognize this mess of muscle as their John Doe. The humans immediately turned tail and ran, but the monster pursued them in a relentless rage. The security guard shot as he ran until both pistols were depleted of ammunition, but it did not seem to do any good whatsoever against their assailant.

"It's like blowing spit wads at an army tank!" he said as he hurled the useless weapons at the large Infected.

There was nothing else they could do now except run! The monster chased them all the way back downstairs to the hospital's lobby where, to their horror, the largest horde of zombies had gathered in wait. They were trapped well, and the zombies began moving in on them. They tried to hold them off, but all they managed to do was attract more and more of the Infected. The monster zombie was still on their tails, too, and before long, the three lone humans were overwhelmed.

"I guess this is good-bye!" the guard shouted frantically, "May God have mercy on us and grant us quick, painless deaths!"

"Amen!" the doctor agreed as he threw down his weapon in defeat.

The nurse—who was Catholic—sobbed silently as she traced the symbol of the cross over her body. Then, the inevitable: the Tank zombie finally caught up with them. With one mighty swing of his arms, he sent the survivors—along with a great many lesser zombies—hurdling across the lobby and crashing into the concrete wall, crushing their bodies, and thus granting them their quick and painless deaths just moments before the rest of the zombies swarmed them and feasted on their flesh.

Thus began the end of the world by a Zombie Apocalypse!