The Silent Chronicles: Silent Birth

So this is the first mini book in a series I'm calling The Silent Chronicles that follows our main character, whose name you'll find out later, and her quest for survival during a zombie invasion. This first book (chapter) contains no sex so don't expect any. I wanted to build the story first before adding in that bit; maybe Book Two will have it. Feedback and comments are greatly appreciated!

Enjoy!

xxxYL21

The Silent Chronicles Book One

Silent Birth

Chapter One

This was not how I envisioned shopping for baby clothes to turn out. I put the silencer on the 9mm in my hand and pulled back the trigger. I shoved up against the side door of the Babies R Us until there was enough room to squeeze inside; my large pregnant belly nearly trapping me in the door way. I turn on my flashlight and started forward as silently as I could. The goal for this outing was more clothes and a baby monitor. I had already stocked up on formula and diapers. I crept slowly from the back storage room and onto the main sales floor. It was dusk and shadows played along the floor and walls of the store. I walked past cribs and bassinets and knocked over rocking chairs making my way towards the clothes section. As I turned into the aisle I stopped quickly and held my breath.

There was a body of an employee laying on the floor its legs hidden under a rack of maternity dresses. The eyes were closed and its mouth was hanging open. Her chest had been ripped out; there was a large puddle of blood surrounding her, a crimson aura. There was dried blood under her nails and she was bare foot. You could tell that she had once been pretty with high cheekbones and pouty lips. Her once blonde and curly was now flat, matted with blood. I waited and stared at her. I couldn't be sure she was truly dead or one of them.

I reached into my knee pocket on my cargo pants and pulled out a marble. I kept a handful of them with me at all times. Crouching down I tossed the emerald-green marble and watched it bounce upon the floor and roll straight towards the body and collide with her hand with a soft tap. I stood still, my 9mm held in my hand, aimed straight at her head. First nothing happened and it was quiet so quiet. My nerves were wired and if so much as a feather touched me I would have jumped and screamed like someone was ax murdering me.

I stayed focused, ready to shoot. Then it happened...the fingers twitch; first once then again. The eyes shot open and a strangled, gurgling moan escaped the employees blue tinged lips. On twisted, broken legs it pulled itself off the floor, its dead eyes were trained on me. What was left of her guts spilling out slowly and ran down her chest to the floor. It paralyzed me and I could feel the bile filling up my throat. Then she shuffled forward and my mind switched back on. I fired 3 shots aimed at the bitch's head. Two hit her straight in the forehead the other just missing and struck a display of glass bottles causing them to burst and crack open. Her eyes rolled back and she collapsed, truly dead. I turn my head just in time and promptly spewed up my lunch of a power bar, cookies and sprite all over a pregnant mannequin. I coughed and wiped my mouth on the back of my hand. Composing myself I walked up to the body a hand cradling my ever-growing stomach, my other hand holding the gun pointed at the corpse. I approached her slowly and read her name tag.

"Sorry Sarah."

I moved past the body and headed straight to the infant clothes. Where there was one Lurker there was certainly another and I sure as hell wasn't going to stick around to run into it. I made it to the racks a couple of feet away and pulled of my camouflage pack and started stuffing clothes inside. Every couple of seconds I'd glance back at the body, paranoia haunting me. I walked out of the clothes section and approached the front of the store. The guest service counter was directly in front of my with the cash registered off to my right. There was blood all over the counters and floors. I noticed a few bodies by the entrances to the double, sliding doors but I wasn't worried their spines had been ripped out and one of the guys, maybe Spanish, had his head hanging off. He looked like a Pez dispenser. I shuffled quickly to my left; I could see the baby monitors on the racks. I grabbed one with a video feed and one of the old-fashioned ones. That's when I heard a squeak and then a deep sigh. I spun around, my hands up and out ready to shoot.

There was 2 more dead employees in front of me and what looked like a ups delivery man in front of my. The two employees were white, one with dirty blond hair and a tribal neck tattoo just visible above his purple Babies R Us shirt. Wearing the standard khakis and black sneakers you couldn't tell he was even dead except for the fact that his right arm was ripped off and a portion of his fibula was dangling from what was left of his elbow. The bile rushed up into my mouth again and I swallowed it back down, ugh gross. The other employee had half his face shredded so I couldn't really tell what he looked like apart from his bald head and a wedding ring on his hand. Their name tags indicated that the armless one was named John and the other Samuel. The UPS driver wore brown shirt and shorts was an average looking black dude, nothing special. He had a large bite mark on his calf and scratch marks on his legs and arms.

I knew I only had 3 more rounds in my 9mm, maybe 4 if I was luckily. I couldn't take these three out. I could take down one maybe two before the 3 one was upon me teeth barred aiming for my jugular. And being nearly 7 months pregnant I knew I couldn't out maneuver them. S o I took a deep breath and fired one shot at the one armless John catching his just above his right. I shifted and fired two shots in quick succession into the chest of Samuel and the ups guy. The bullets whooshed through the air and hit them each in the chest they grunted and stumbled back from the force of the impact. And that's when I ran for it. Holding my belly, I belted to the right and ran straight up the aisle headed for the swinging double doors of the storage are. One the way out I saw a cool looking army green stroller with a car seat in it and quickly grabbed the handle, swung my pack into the car seat and picked up the pace. I could hear the town remaining Lurkers shuffling towards me, speed walking my way. Lurkers couldn't run but they didn't get tired either. They'd follow you for miles before losing interested and my pregnant ass couldn't run for miles. I skidded into the back of the store and came to the door I had squeezed into before and came to a crashing halt "shit!!" I turned from the door and went towards the docking doors used for unloading trucks. Running to the side I hit the button for the lift and watched as the bay door creaked and rose painfully slow. The Lurkers turn the corner and continued shuffling towards me. When the door was high enough for me to duck under I pushed the carriage off the dock my pack and all and sat down on the ground at the edge of the bay. It was some 4 feet high and I couldn't jump it.

I scooted to the edge and lowered myself down my back towards the Lurkers. I felt a tug on my hair and I screamed. One of them had my ponytail and came along for the jump down it lost its grip and the ups driver fell forward on its face, hitting the concrete hard breaking its neck. I ran to the carriage and righted it and took off at a jogging pace. Looking over my shoulder I saw the other employee fall over the bay edge, stand up and continue following me. I stopped for a second and looked straight ahead. If I made it across the parking lot and around the corner the Lurker would lose sight and interest. Placing a hand on the top of my belly I took a deep breath and stirred the carriage toward the entrance to the parking lot, littered with cars and dead bodies. "Ok little one let's do this" I reloaded my 9 and picked up the speed. All I had to do was make it across the lot. Fuck.

Chapter Two

I pulled down the grate to the U-Haul storage unit 54 and locked it from the inside. I stepped down the breaks to the baby carriage and collapsed into the brown recliner I had drug into the storage unit I now called home. I kicked off my sneakers and pulled the latch releasing the foot rest. I sighed and closed my eyes. It had been almost a year since life as we knew it ended. Some weird unknown virus found its way into cases of Poland spring bottled water and killed anyone who drank it within 72 hours. They'd get an upset stomach and start vomiting before suffering from severe dehydration. A fever would set in and eventually they'd have a stroke and die. But the problem was they didn't stay dead. The bodied reanimated, turned into bloodthirsty cannibals; just without a pulse. No one knows what caused it or how the water was contaminated. But the zombie apocalypse came true and nearly everyone died.

The army was slow to mobilize and was slaughtered on their bases before they could coordinate any kinds of attack. Hospitals became death traps for anyone dumb enough to enter the ER. The infection spread and everything was over. I was at the super market when the infection hit Boston. I was standing in front of the deli trying to decide on what type of cheese to get when some woman ran in screaming. Everyone's head turned and a swarm of gangly zombies (or lurkers as I call them now) came shuffling in and started tearing people apart. I booked it and hauled ass to the other side of the store and out the other entrance.

Outside was chaos with people screaming, some getting mauled, cars crashing into each other. It was madness. I ran towards my car, opened the door and got in. But before I could start it someone pulled my door open and stuck me in the head. My world went black and when I woke up I was in the back seat of my car on some side street in Roxbury with the front end wrapped around a light pole. Sitting up I felt this horrible shooting pain in my lower abdomen and looked down. My jeans were gone and my underwear was around one of my ankles. I felt between my legs and winced. My fingers had blood on them and what looked like semen on them too. Who the hell would rape someone during a zombie takeover? I found my pants thrown on the front seat and gently shimmed into them. As I did tears started falling from my face. Everything that had happened since god knows how many hours earlier was just too much. And now on top of the unbelievable reality of zombies I had also been assaulted. But I didn't have time for tears or pain or guilt. I had to get somewhere safe and fast.

The street that I was on was St Paul. I recognized that and knew that it led to Washington Ave. So I got out of the car and started walking, barefoot and in pain. I heard screaming and now and then a car would zoom past but nobody and nothing was on the street. I kept to the side-walk and ducked behind trash bins and cars when I heard anything suspicious. From watching movies I knew that out in the open was not a good place to be. Stepping onto Washington Ave was like walking onto the set of a horror movie. Cars were on fire and people lay dead or dying all around me. I picked up a pipe that was on the ground near me. I saw lurkers shuffling around and groans but everyone was dead. They had made quick work. The shock was too much and I gasped a couple of Lurkers turned towards the direction of the sound and started towards me. Some of them where missing limbs while others were torn open. I screamed and ran up the street. I passed a U-Haul storage rental place and I ran into the office. It was empty. They had to keep the keys to the units somewhere. I found them in a drawer and grabbed the first one. It said 54. I ran out of the office and past the lurkers searching for number 54. Once I found it I stumbled with the lock and dropped the keys a few times but I eventually made it inside and locked it. I fell to the floor and this time I couldn't hold back the tears, the guilt, and the pain.

It was 3 months later I realized I was pregnant. I had turned the storage space into my home. I got a pregnancy test from a Walgreens down the street once I started throwing up almost constantly and my period stopped. My routine from then on in was scavenging at night and trying to get things ready for the baby. Having a baby in itself was mind blowing but being pregnant when zombies roamed the streets and constantly fighting for your life was enough to drive you insane. So many times I had broken down and almost committed suicide because it was all too much to take in. But somehow I found the strength to keep going. As the days wore on the time between seeing regular uninfected people grew longer and longer until the city seemed completely deserted.

My nerves were shot and the pregnancy only increased my anxiety. I was alone in a big city without any friends or family. How was I supposed to survive and bring this baby into the world? I started searching for pregnancy books and I found a few medical books at a nearby library about home births. I read as much as I could to get prepared since I figured I'd be delivery my baby by myself. I raided stores for formula and diapers, bottles, pacifiers and anything else I thought I would need. This brings me back to the present...

I eventually got up from the chair and waddled over to my pack. My ankles were fat and swollen and by back was cramping. The running had taken a toll on me. I pulled out the baby clothes and the monitors and set them on the table near the electric stove and portable dvd/tv player. The storage unit was a decent size. I had enough room for a single bed, 2 tables, a small fridge, my recliner and a crib that was squeezed in the corner at the foot of my mattress. Under the table I had stacked all the things for the baby. I added the clothes to the pile and went to the fridge. I took out a can of tuna, opened it and lay down on the bed to eat it. Leaning up against the wall with my feet out in front of me, sitting sideways on the bed I sat the can on my round bell that I often used as a table top, and dug in. I picked up a can of mountain dew near me and downed its contents. I was looking around the room and running off a checklist in my head of things I still had to get when the baby kicked. The can of tuna rolled off my belly and onto the floor.

"Hey what ya doin in there little one huh? I'm trying to eat here." I rubbed my belly and reached for the can.

The baby kicked again. I held my belly and pulled up my old navy t-shirt just in time to see a small foot push against my belly. I gasped. The foot was so small and perfect. The baby shifted and this time what looked like a hand was visible.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed. I was like a kid in a candy store; I was so excited. But then my heart sank when I realized there was no one in this world to share this tremendous occasion with. I was completely alone. I crashed back to earth hard and wrapped my army around my swollen belly I laid on the bed and rocked myself to sleep, silent tears cascading down my face.

Chapter Three

The next night I readied myself for another midnight outing. This time I was headed for a community health center about 2 miles away. I needed some medical supplies for when the baby came. I shoved my swollen feet into my Nikes and strapped on my pack. I picked up my 9 off the table and checked the clip, full. I had found a bunch of guns n bullets in the back of a tricked out Escalade...thank God for drug dealers. I put a spare mag in my pocket and unlocked the grate. I stepped back and got ready to shoot if there were any lurkers out front but there wasn't. I walked up onto the avenue slowly, partially from being alert and partially from my throbbing feet.

It was silent as a cemetery as usual. The Lurkers were more active during the day surprisingly; I guess dying and coming back didn't gift them with night vision. I made it to the Health Center pretty easily. I encountered a dozen or so Lurkers but they never saw me and I got around them quickly. Dane Health Center was a fairly new community building made of red brick. It was pretty standard with a roundabout in the front and a small parking lot on in the back off the side street. I decided to enter from the lot instead of marching through the front doors. I found the back entrance and gently pulled open the door and stepping inside.

There was a long tunnel that led straight until it abruptly changed course and turned a sharp corner. I couldn't see around it. I walked slowly my pistol raised. I crept down the tunnel military style crossing my legs out in front of me as I walked. I near the corner and turned fast ready to blow a hole in anything that was in front of which turned out to be absolutely nothing. I let out a deep breath and strode on. There was a glass door ahead of me which led into the main part of the building. I walked through and avoiding the elevator I went to the stairway that led to what I assumed was the lobby and the upper floors. I came to the lobby door and looked out the small window. I saw several Lurkers, some staff others just ordinary people. I saw a sign that said OB/GYN and pediatrics with and arrow pointed up. So I went up another flight.

I came out in a hall across from a reception desk. A few dead bodies littered the floor but they were long dead and rotting so I knew they were truly dead. I walked down the hall on the left headed for the exam rooms and storage. I reached into my pocket and tossed my marbled down the hallway; the pinging sound reverberating loudly throughout the office. A moan sounded a head of me and a Lurker, the size of a football player turned the corner. Damn he was big. And wearing a janitor's uniform which looked comical on him. He was over 6 feet tall, Spanish, with his hair cropped close to his head. He had a hole ripped in him that allowed you to see right through him to the wall covered in pictures of patient newborns behind him. Nausea slammed into me and I fought back the urge to gag.

Being pregnant while coming face to face with the undead was not a walk in the park in the least. I was scared shitless. I never got used to seeing Lurkers up close. All torn to pieces, covered in blood and stinking to high heaven. Panic froze me still as usual and I just stared at the Lurker taking in all the gory detail. He let out a groan and came at me, and pretty fast too. I wasn't prepared for his burst of speed I stumbled back and screamed. I raised my pistol and fired over and over hoping they hit him. He fell to the floor and I stopped screaming. But I stared in horror as he started to get back up. I stepped forward and quickly emptied the rest of my clip into his head then jumped back waiting to see if he rose again. After a couple of minutes I realized he was down for good and reloaded my weapon.

I continued on my search and found what I was looking for. I found some towels, pre-natal vitamins, boxes of gloves, a blood pressure cuff, some local anesthetics and some antibiotics. I also found a pair of sutures and medical thread which I also put in my back. After scrounging for whatever I could find I ran into a cracked open vending machine. There were sodas, NutriGrain bars and some Sobe drinks. I grabbed a hospital tote bag and piled what I could carry inside. I damn near took everything...except the water of course I didn't trust it.

I turned to go into the pediatric ward and stopped dead in my tracks. I dropped the bag of vending machine spoils on the floor. Before me was the most gruesome and heart numbing thing I had ever witnessed: someone had tried to hide the kids and bar the doors but they'd obviously didn't hold, all around me where corpses of little children. Some looked as young as 2 years old; barely able to walk. I let out a high pitch scream as I staggered to the wall after stepping on the little hand of a child. I clutched at my belly and backed out with one hand over my mouth. I picked up the bag I dropped and ran to the stirs and out the hospital.