Zombie Theorem (Book 1): The Culling, page 2
“Good job Matt, do me a favor, go back to your desk and act like you’re working but pay attention and let Dan know if anything changes. I need to finish this call up privately. “
“Ok I’ll do that. Thanks Gunther bye.” Matt left my office and headed back toward his desk.
“Dan, get me off the speaker phone.”
“Yeah Gunther.” I picked up the handset and turned off the speaker phone.
“I gotta get going, but do me a favor, pay attention to the office and watch out. If things start to get too much, I want you to take whoever will listen and get out of that building. For now, stay there. I’ll call again later and keep you updated of any new procedures.” Gunther explained.
“Great. I think I can keep them busy, I don’t want anyone to panic and I am pretty sure it’s safer here than anywhere else at this time. I have your cell number if it gets worse.” I said my thanks and disconnected the call, sat back in my chair and noticed I hadn’t touched my coffee in a bit. I downed the rapidly cooling cup and refreshed it from the heated pot. I sat there for a good 30 minutes staring at my monitor and not really reading the words in front of me. “Well time to do something Dan” I grabbed my hot coffee and left my office. Might as well walk the floor.
I caught Matt’s eye and nodded my head at the office. He got out of his chair and started to follow me. As I walked around for the next hour, I would stop and say hi to a couple of people, and make small talk. I had this nagging feeling like maybe, I was making a mistake by not telling these people what was going on. I stopped dead in my tracks causing Matt to walk into me. I stood there surveying the people I was responsible for.
“Matt I can’t do this. These people need to go home to their families or at least have a choice. Call everyone to the main conference room. I need to talk to them.” Matt looked frantic and to tell you the truth a little sick, like he had a cold. Maybe it’s just stress I thought. Matt nodded yes and took off to round everyone up. I headed to the front to tell Stacey, the receptionist, about the meeting.
I entered the lobby, and found Stacey’s station empty, her purse and cellphone missing. I figured she had decided on her own to leave. I went back through the lobby doors locking them up, so no one would come in while we were in our meeting. While coming up to the conference room I peered through the windows, it was already crowded. I opened the door and made my way to the front of the large oblong oak table. I looked around for Matt and found he was just walking in with two more coworkers. He caught my stare and nodded that he had everyone.
I cleared my throat and took my time looking everyone in the eye. I was taking leadership classes and this was something my trainer made sure was pounded into our heads. I love data, I love my job, but God, standing in front of people and public speaking scared the shit out of me. I cleared my throat and swallowed the lump that had decided to try and choke me. “Everyone listen up, I want to give you an update about what is going on inside the company and outside our own doors. After speaking to corporate security and our New York office, Matt and I have been alerted to some pretty scary stuff. It seems that the news has been reporting on a virus or flu going around that is causing some disturbing things. According to the news, the “flu” has a fast incubation period and it is incredibly infectious. Vice President of Operations Salazar closed the New York office down this morning, so they wouldn’t spread the bug around. It has also come to my attention that the FAA has shutdown flights from and to the east coast. So we are not sure if the “flu” has made it out here yet. The popular opinion is that it hasn’t yet. As you have noticed most of the office did not show up to work today. The morning crew has not had the manpower to run their projects last night, and with the New York office closed we don’t have the support we need to fix that. I’ve been asked not to alarm you guys but in good faith I cannot lie to you. I’m giving you the decision to do what you think is best for you and your family. I am going to stay here in the office and see what I can do to keep us from falling further and further behind once we can get this operation back up and running. Anyone who wants to stay, can, whoever wants to go is free to do so. I will not hold anything against you.”
I looked around and made eye contact again. “Let me tell you, this thing is bad, according to the news and a couple of sources I have talked to. So that’s it, if you want to go I would suggest for you to get going. Be safe in your decision and we’ll let you know when we expect you back. Just sign a sheet I’ll post on my door and indicate your decision and a contact number. Thanks for listening ladies and gentlemen and again stay safe.” Matt had already disappeared from the office and I knew he was posting the paper on my door. I watched as everyone started filing out of the room. I took a big sip of my coffee and frowned. It was cold again.
I made my way to the little lunch room down the hall and popped my cup in the microwave. I really couldn’t stand re heated coffee but most of my first cup, I had to drink cold. It was time for some warm coffee. One minute had passed when suddenly an alarm went off in the offices and all power went out. I was standing there in the dark shaking my head. “Great, now what the fuck has gone wrong.” I’m really not someone who swears, but my day had started in the crapper and now it felt like it just got flushed. A second later the emergency battery lights kicked on. I opened the microwave and got a small pleasure with my coffee at a warmth I could enjoy. I sighed and stood there for a minute waiting for the power to come back on, I dropped my head in defeat when it didn’t.
I made my way to the main floor and saw people milling about. I strolled over to a desk, picked up the phone handset, but found it was dead. Which was weird as our telephony system was on a separate power source and shouldn’t have gone down.
Matt shoveled more crap onto my pile of issues. “Big problems Dan, whole system is down, even our back up data lines, so the laptops aren’t getting a signal and since there is no power the desktops of course aren’t working. I can ping our servers, since they are on battery backup, but they are a dead end with no internet. And to add insult to injury the phones are also down.”
Someone was shouting from the lobby. I motioned for Matt to follow. We walked out the main doors and found people standing around the elevators. “They aren’t working.” Kim a middle aged, short roundish, Asian girl whined as she kept stabbing at the elevator call button.
“Thanks for the info, but Kim, that’s what they are supposed to do. When there is an emergency they return to the lobby and stop answering calls. The stairs should be fine though.” I informed her and the others standing around.
“That’s 48 floors Dan. I’m not walking down 48 floors.” She started whining even louder.
“Kim, there is nothing I can do about the elevators. And think about it, it’s easy since you’ll be going down” I pushed on the crash bar for the entrance to the stairs and found it wouldn’t open. “What the fuck?” I whispered.
“These stairs are an emergency access and they should never be locked. Matt use your cell to call security and find out what the hell is going on.” I was going to start panicking any second. I mean the only two ways to lock those doors are by barring them or turning on the locking system down in security.
“I’m not getting anything Dan.”
“They aren’t answering? Fine call 911. Let’s get the authorities here and get this settled.” I ran my hands over my bald head. I’m going to need more coffee and maybe something stronger if this keeps rolling downhill toward the abyss.
“No Dan, you don’t understand. I am not getting anything. I have full signal but not able to call out or even getting internet. Anybody else able to get a call out?” Matt asked.
Everyone took out their cellphones out, checking and apparently not getting anywhere. “Do something Dan!” Kim whined louder than before and actually stomped her foot.
“What do you think I can do Kim?” I yelled at her. She shut up and looked stunned that I would talk to her like that.” Ok everyone let’s get back to the office and see if we can’t get something figured out.” I waved everyone out of the lobby.
“Hey Dan, this is getting weird. Why would everything go down at once? Unless it’s on purpose, this cannot be a coincidence. And if it is on purpose then who and why?” Matt seemed to be on to something. I just did not know what yet.
I pondered for a second. “Well think about it this way Matt. We are not the only company in the building. I wonder if something happened and the authorities have decided to quarantine them and in a fashion, us. Or, if we are just shit balling here, maybe there has been a catastrophe. But let’s not go there yet.”
I walked past everyone on the way to my office. I stopped suddenly and Matt walked into me again. I looked toward the windows and made a bee line to them. I stood there looking over the bay and Treasure Island, looking for something out of the ordinary. Nothing though seemed to be happening. “Someone go over to the other side and look out the windows. See if anything is going on. The bay bridge looks fine, there are some cars moving around out there” Matt and a couple of other people went running to the other side and shouted back that everything seemed fine.
I stood there a while not really focusing on anything. Just letting my mind run and work on this little mystery. I sighed, stepped back from the window and walked to my office. Thirty-five names were on the sheet, pinned to my door, indicating they wanted to leave. That left five of us that said they would stay, including me. I felt like I was out of answers at this point and out of ideas. “Ok everyone, I don’t have any answers right now. Keep trying the phones, cells, and computers. Let’s see if the power comes back up. Like I always say I want solutions not problems or whining. Let’s work this out.” Everyone seemed to like that and went back to talking and working on the problem.
I sat heavily in my chair and closed my eyes, a migraine had decided to erupt in glorious fashion at this point. Shit I wish I would’ve came up with the idea to leave earlier. Then most of us wouldn’t be stuck. I felt useless, no data to work with, no phones and no internet. I had nothing! So I just sat there with my eyes closed and felt myself starting to relax. When I was in college, I found if I just sat back and let my subconscious work on my problems, answers would magically come to me. Twenty minutes flew by, I opened my eyes in frustration. Nothing was coming to me except for more pain.
Matt sneaked into my office at this point and closed my door. “Hey Matt leave that open, I don’t want people to think we have secrets here.”
“Dan, I’ve got something I don’t think you want anyone else to hear right now.” Matt said with a degree of intensity I rarely saw from him. He stood there wiping his sweaty hands on his pants.
I pointed to the chairs in front of my desk. He plopped down and started talking. “You know Marco right? He’s that new data analyst we hired three weeks ago?” I nodded my head yes and gave him the go on sign with my hand. “Well he is from New York and went home over the weekend, seems he got out before they shut down the flights. I saw him this morning in the office but didn’t think about it till I was going over the sign out sheet and didn’t see his name anywhere. I also remember him complaining to Stacey as he came through the front doors that he wasn’t feeling very good, but I haven’t seen him again. Someone said they thought they saw him heading to the restroom earlier. I went in there and saw one of the stall doors was shut and locked. I called out to him but got nothing.”
“Shit!” I blew out explosively. I shook my head and couldn’t believe all this was happening. This has got to be a nightmare I thought to myself. “Ok get me some first aid rubber gloves. Grab some for you too. I’m going to need your help.” He jumped up and left my office in a hurry. I got up and started on my way to the restrooms. Everyone turned to watch me but I just kept my head low and kept up a non-hurried pace. I got to the bathroom door and waited for Matt to catch up. He handed me a pair of gloves. He put his on while I donned mine. I opened the door to the restroom and stepped in. I saw the stall Matt was pointing at. It was closed. I walked up and started knocking on it. “Marco is that you? It’s Dan, do you need help? Is everything ok? Marco come on, please answer me.”
There was no sound. My heart started to pound so hard it felt like it was going to rip out of my chest. Hell, I could hear my pulse in my ears like someone was playing drums. My hands started to sweat under my gloves. “Matt, look under the door, see if you can see his feet.”
Matt dropped down but I knew he wasn’t happy about it. He looked under the stall, duck walked backwards then got up quickly. “Uhm yup, he’s there. Uhm I’m not sure if I want to do this Dan.” He kept stepping back. He backed up till he bumped into the sinks and let out a little yelp. He was about to start hyper ventilating soon with how hard he was breathing.
“Matt relax, please. He needs our help. I can’t do this by myself.” I said trying to not show my fear, but damn I felt like I was going to faint.
He took a step toward me. A tentative small step, but I was counting on it. He seemed to be swallowing his fear and stepping up. “Good job Matt, now let’s get this over.” I turned and kicked the door near the latch point, almost knocking it off its flimsy hinges. I looked in and almost started gagging. It wasn’t the normal bathroom smell, it was Marco sitting there, his head rolled back, resting against the back wall, tongue hanging out of his mouth. I could tell he had bit it at some point but no blood was oozing out and that is never a good sign. Usually that means the heart was not pumping anymore. I reached out and touched Marco’s neck, like they do in all those medical TV shows, looking for a pulse and not finding one. I tried something else from those shows and opened one of his eye lids. A yelp escaped my lips as I jumped back a step. His entire eye was filled with blood. Now it was my turn to start breathing hard. Matt reached out and touched my arm.
“I’m ok, just wasn’t expecting that. Jesus, I think he’s dead. What are we going to do with him? We can’t call anyone and we can’t leave him here, people have to use the restroom.” I was biting back my fear but couldn’t get my mind settled. I haven’t smoked in six years but right now I could happily light up and smoke an entire pack.
Thank God for Matt. It was his turn to step up and take the reins. “Let’s put him in the supply closet, no one is going to be going in there, since no one is working anyway.”
“Damn good idea. Ok I’ll stay here, see if anyone will come and help. Make sure they have gloves. Actually just go grab Brian, he’s ex-military and I’ll explain it to him when he gets here. Thanks again Matt for everything. You have been more then helpful today.” I patted him on the back. He gave me an awkward “awe shucks look” and took off.
I decided It was stupid hanging out alone in the bathroom with Marco’s body so I stepped outside the door into the hallway. I tried breathing deep but then noticed I had the damn mask on. I went to take it off then remembered I had touched Marco’s eye and neck. I stood against the door and waited as patiently as I could. “Maybe I can learn to breathe through my eyes.”
Soon Brian came around the corner and down the hall. Brian is a mountain of a man. Easily standing 6 foot 7 and I swear he was either a runt Sasquatch or a big bear. He had blonde hair but kept it short. His beard reached down to his chest. The man’s forearms made my thighs look small. You would think he was a really mean guy, but in reality was the nicest guy you would ever meet.
“Brian, Mathew and I need some help. I don’t want to freak out the office but we found Marco in the bathroom. I can’t find a pulse and pretty sure he’s expired. We need your help to move him to the supply closet. Think you can help us out?”
Brian dropped his head and shook it a little. “Fuck, I was just thinking about how Marco had gone back to New York to see family. I walked by his desk but didn’t see him so figured he didn’t come in. Well like my Master Sargent use to say, nothing to do but get to it.” Matt came up and handed the gloves to Brian, he was already wearing a medical mask.
“Dan, I grabbed the key out of your office, that way we can lock the door and no one can go in and be surprised or get infected, if they can with a corpse.” Matt dangled the key at me.
“Ok, go unlock the door and come back here to hold this door for us. We are using the one on this side of the building right?”
“Yeah Dan, no problem. Be right back.” He took off jogging down the hall.
Bryan opened the bathroom door and motioned for me to go first. I walked in and over to Marco, I stood there staring at him. “What’s up boss? You seem vexed.” Brian asked looking at me then back to Marco.
I ignored Brian for a second and kept staring at Marco. What is wrong with me I thought, what am I missing? Then it hit me, Marco’s head was laying forward on his chest. I could swear it was back against the wall. At that point Matt came in, I motioned him over. “Matt, wasn’t Marco’s head lying against the wall when we found him?” I asked
“Yeah it was. That’s weird. Maybe when you checked his eyes and jumped back, his head rolled forward.” He answered logically.
“Yeah ok that sounds believable. Damn my head is really hurting today. Need more coffee or something stronger. Ok Brian let’s do this thing.” I headed toward the body.
“Hey Boss, take his feet and I’ll take his shoulders and head. That’s the heaviest and well I am kinda bigger.” That was the biggest understatement of the year.
Man was he bigger. I stood five and half feet tall, one hundred and eighty pounds and he towered over me. I shook my head and moved so Brian could get in the stall first. Once he had a good grip I came in, grabbed Marco’s feet and we lifted. Holy shit I thought my back was going to just give out right then. I groaned out loud but was able to do the job. Brian looked like he was lifting no more than a bouquet of flowers. He shook his head at me and we started toward the hallway where Matt held the door for us. After five intense minutes of back breaking work we got Marco to the closet. So far, so good, no one had seen us. I let go of the legs and Brian dragged Marco to the back and laid him down. “I suggest we leave these gloves and masks in here with the body. We don’t want to risk contamination. Matt can you get us new masks? And hey Boss, I really think we should tape that stall closed and put an out of order sign on it. What do you think?”
