THE X VIRUS

It's a sunny day in Galaxy City and the streets looked completely deserted except the papers and magazines been blown up and down the street like it is been controlled by some unseen force. The city look messed up more like a war zone as smoke was rising from sky scrappers in different part of the city.

Cars were parked carelessly everywhere with some of them having their doors opened like the owners seems to leave it in a hurry. Some have blood stains on their windshield with scratches on their body.

Bodies lay on the floor carelessly and the smell of decay and burnt flesh hit my nose from every angle.

You might be wondering who I am. Richard Williams, that's my name. A special Force in the US military with two tours in Afghanistan and one in Iraq.

It's been three weeks since the virus broke out, three weeks since I got separated from my wife and daughter. The thought of them brought a sad look on my face, one soon which to that of fright when I heard a loud scream close by. It was followed by a gunshot and then another. The screams and gunshots echoed across the street and I wondered who the fool was. A gunshot is enough to draw the attention of the whole infected in the area, not to talk of multiple shots.

The burst of an automatic rifle jolt me out of my thoughts, that was when I made up my mind to go take a look. The shots and screams were coming from the building close to a pharmacy, by the road that leads to Starlight City.

I drew my machete in one hand and my Beretta in the other. I won't have to use the gun until it's necessary. I moved stealthily to the back of the building to take a look at what's going on. Lo and behold, I was alarmed by the horde of infected before me. I spotted the cause of the attraction close by. Five people were there trying to fight their way through the horde of infected.

There was a black guy with a submachine gun shooting sporadically at the horde and two other guys each armed with a pistol. A woman was there also trying to protect her kid from getting hurt. He looks just like the age of my daughter, probably nine or ten years of age. He's crying and holding tightly to the woman and I could guess she's his mother.

Machete is of no use here, I thought as I returned it back to it's sheath which was attached to my belt. Without wasting time, I slipped out the magazine of my Beretta to check if I still have bullets in it. Satisfied, I jammed it back in, flipped the safety off and started picking off my targets with each pop from my gun, straight headshots.

Damn! I love doing this to those fuckers. The group's gaze moved towards me as I eventually cleared a path and got to where they were all packed.

I grinned stupidly at the black guy as I slammed another magazine into my Beretta. I scanned the environment for an escape route as the infected kept pouring in. We can't hold them off anymore and I fear we might be overrun if we don't think of something else other than to shoot at them.

I looked behind me and spot an alleyway with no sign of infected from there. ‘How stupid are these guys,’ I thought to myself.

"Hey big guy" I called at the black dude and cocked my head towards the alleyway.

"Gotta make a run for it,” I said and he nodded. There's a building down the alley and we have to make a run for it. Hopefully, it’d keep us safe till morning or till the horde disperse 'cause it's getting late already.

"Gary!" The black guy called a man armed with a Glock-17 pistol. He seems to be in his mid fifties though. He shot me a glance and followed the black dude's pointing hand down the alley.

"You take Nancy and Nick with you, Joe, I and...." He paused and searched with his eyes for an answer, but I only grinned back like an idiot.

"The three of us would cover your backs,” he said and we immediately swung into action with Gary leading the way.

Nancy also has a Glock-17 in her right hand with her left hand clutching Nick tightly. We got to the building in no time but the main door was locked.

"Shit!" I cursed under my breath as I spotted the heavy chains and giant padlock used in securing the door

Joe and I went around the building to see if it's free from infected and also to see if there's any other way to get into the building as the infected kept closing in on us. We can't take any chance.

Luck smiled on us when I spot an open window at the back of the building. The window opened to the kitchen and I smiled at Joe who couldn't help but smile back.

"Go get the rest," I told him and he jogged off. He soon returned with the rest of the group catching up closely behind him. Black dude patted me on the shoulder when he saw the opened window and In no time we assisted each other in climbing up the window into the building.

Black dude and I volunteered to sweep the building to be sure it’s completely safe, while the rest stayed with Gary who was trying to seal the kitchen's window in order to keep the infected out. We moved cautiously to the living room with our weapons drawn.

I have my machete ready in hand while Black dude armed himself with a baseball bat he got from the kitchen. We took the stairs and discovered the building has four rooms. We came back to meet the rest of the group in the living room.

"It's all clear,” Black dude announced and glanced at me with an appreciative look on his face.

"Thanks for saving our ass out there,” he said and I nodded. I've been expecting this from him, I thought with a smile. I looked at Nick and he returned a shy smile at me. I patted his little head and ruffled his hair a little.

I dropped my bag and provided a granola bar which I handed over to him.

"Thank you,” he said full of smiles. I smiled back in return and nodded twice.

"I'm Wayne,” Black dude said and extended his hand for a shake.

"I'm Richard,” said taking his hand, “Richard Williams of the United States Special Forces at your service" I added military like, standing at attention. A gasp escaped Nick's mouth as he looked at me with surprise written all over his face. Yeah, the show wasn’t necessary, but I felt a necessity to make the environment more fun.

"Oh, cool,” Wayne said as he sized me up with his eyes in amazement.

"Gary there was a cop before all this started" he said pointing at him.

"Nancy worked at G.C.H (Galaxy City Hospital) as a nurse in the city" Wayne said pointing to each person he introduced.

"Where are you headed?" Gary asked while taking his seat on one of the couch in the living room.

"I'm actually looking for supplies when I heard the shots,” I said. I dropped my bag and brought out some canned beef and granola bars.

"That's all I got before seeing you guys" I said dropping them on the table. I brought out my water bottle and drank a little from it.

"We have a house few miles from here,” Wayne said

"Our vehicle broke down and I was trying to repair it when the infected started pouring in" Joe added.

"You can come with us if you want,” Nancy chipped in with a smile and I just nodded.

I didn't tell them about my family for now. They need me just like I need them.

We blocked the main entrance with some furnitures and refrigerator in other to feel more secure since it's obvious we're going to spend the night here.

We all had dinner and settled to sleep. We went upstairs and slept in the rooms there. I settled on a bed in one of the rooms, while reminiscing on my tours in Afghanistan as sleep eventually took me away.