Infection: P.O.T.U.S Read online

  Infection: P.O.T.U.S

  By Simon Smith-Wilson

  Copyright © 2017

  Infection: P.O.T.U.S

  Simon Smith-Wilson

  Books by Simon Smith-Wilson

  ***

  (City of Sin Series)

  Five Days Notice

  Hand of God

  Last Tomorrow

  All those Yesterdays

  Blood for Blood

  (Prisoner 3-57 Series)

  Prisoner 3-57: Ghost

  Prisoner 3-57: Nuke Town

  Prisoner 3-57: Phantom Soldier

  Prisoner 3-57: Trilogy

  (Zombies Series)

  Zombies

  Zombies: Black Rock

  Zombies: Death Squad

  Zombies: Hell Dimension

  (Generation Series)

  Personal Apocalypse

  The Curse of Meredith Holmes

  Erasing Creation

  (Heroes of Magic Series)

  The Legend of the Hermit Master

  The Last Magic Dog

  Liquid Crystal

  Star Slayer

  (Beast Trainer Series)

  Beast Trainer: King’s City

  (Infection Series)

  Infection

  Infection: P.O.T.U.S

  (Novels)

  Tokyo Terror

  Money, Men and Murder

  I Believe

  The Arrangement

  Killers

  Bridge to the Moon

  Attack of the Sprouts

  Winter is Coming

  (Short Stories)

  Princess Amber and the Unicorn Valley

  The Owl

  Before the Dawn

  An airborne virus spreads throughout the United States turning the population into violent, mindless psychopaths. Love is the trigger. The government warns civilians to protect their families by staying as far away from them as possible, but how can you protect your loved ones in this time of horror from a distance? The President is trapped by angry protesters and the bloodthirsty monsters. The Whitehouse has fallen, and his family is gone. The country falls into chaos as the President fights for his life, but who will save the man who fired nuclear weapons on his own people? Michael is a cop with a frightened family caught in the centre of the violence. Does he stay away as the government says or fight his way back in the hope to save his children? Action and madness spiral into this cocktail of violence in this bloodthirsty survival adventure.

  Sarah paced back and forth across the living room, as she wiped away the tears from her cheeks. Sore eyes were transfixed on the television screen, as the mayhem and madness were flashed across the news networks. She held her mobile to her ear, as the phone went straight to Michael’s answer machine. Sarah hung up and dialled him again. ‘The terrorist virus has spread into downtown New York,’ announced the news report. Images of people running between parked cars appeared on the screen. In the background, a cop could be seen firing indescribably into a crowd of people. ‘The army is moving into contain the contagion, but there has been no word from President Archer.’ The image returned to a pretty female news reporter in the studio.

  ‘The President has been condemned for his extreme measures of containing the virus. In three weeks he has ordered the complete destruction of three cities.’ The news report showed grainy footage acquired from a tourist that survived the explosion. The jolted camera showed a cityscape on a lovely sunny day. A bright white light appeared, the camera shook, people screamed, and then a mushroom cloud roared into the sky.

  Something exploded down the road from Sarah.

  The television cut out.

  The lights cut out.

  She yelped in fright, as she rushed to the windows of her apartment. Wide eyes looked down to the street far below. Men, women, and children were running through the streets, attacking other men, women, and children. They were striking them, biting them, kicking and scratching them. The sun hadn’t quite set, giving Sarah just enough light to watch the horror below. She drew the curtains and stepped away from the window.

  ‘Sarah?’ Michael finally answered his phone.

  ‘Michael, where are you? I’m so scared.’

  ‘I’m at the station.’

  ‘I need you here. I don’t know what to do.’

  ‘I can’t come home. They are telling us to stay away from our families. Where are the children?’

  ‘In their rooms, like you told me.’

  ‘Good,’ he sighed, relieved. ‘I don’t know what to do either.’

  ‘Please come home.’

  There was a pause, whilst he thought what was best to do. ‘Okay. I will come straight home.’

  ***

  Kat came bounding down the stairs as if her life depended on it. She skidded in the hallway and dropped her rucksack down onto the floor. ‘I’m ready, mom!’ Sonya appeared from the kitchen, holding the cold box they used for camping.

  ‘The food is ready. I will just grab my bag and we can leave.’ They both nearly jumped out of their skin as someone banged on the front door. Kat inched forward. ‘Don’t do it,’ whispered her mom. She pulled back the curtain and looked through the hallway window. ‘NO!’ Sonya lurched forward, as Kat flicked the lock and opened the front door. Levi rushed inside and slammed the front door behind him.

  ‘Levi!’ Kat hugged her boyfriend as tight as she possibly could.

  Sonya was certain she was about to have a heart attacked.

  ‘I was so worried,’ admitted Levi. The fit young man must have run the half a mile from his house, as he was covered in sweat. His eyes dropped on the bags on the floor. ‘You’re leaving?’ Kat nodded. ‘I will come with you.’

  ‘Mom?’

  Sonya looked at her love-struck daughter and then the handsome young man.

  The thought of him coming with them did make her feel slightly more secure.

  ‘Okay, but we leave in five minutes,’ she replied, rushing up towards her bedroom.

  ***

  Bodyguards manhandled him through the doorway and along the corridor. Large and muscular men shouted intimidating commands, as handguns were waved in the faces of any man or woman unfortunate enough to be in the building. President Archer stumbled up the stairs, but several pairs of strong hands kept him grounded and moving forward. He caught a glimpse of the scenes outside, as he was shoved by an open window. Thousands of angry protestors were rushing the building. His limousine was on fire, and several of his security detachment was being attacked by armed protestors. It was another three more floors before Archer was shoved into a room with two of his bodyguards.

  ‘Don’t let him anyone in this room,’ ordered Davis, the senior security officer, before closing the door on them. It would be the last time they would see the man alive. President Archer grabbed a handful of his hair, as he found a wooden office chair to sit down on. Everything was getting out of hand. It had been like this since he ordered the nuclear strikes, but it had been the only way to control the infection. If he allowed it to spread then, it would be total extinction for the human race. The best scientists in the country had said that the human population would die with this generation. Ordering the murderer of tens of millions of people didn’t come easy, but it had to be done. Why couldn’t these people understand that?

  ‘Have you heard from my family?’ asked President Archer.

  ‘No, Sir,’ replied Adam’s. Adam’s was young and new to the team.

  ‘Did the protestors get into the White House?’

  ‘We don’t know, Mr. President,’ answered Suarez. ‘We lost contact with the White House ten minutes ago.’

  ‘My family...’ Archer instantly thought the worst. The last report he had heard were that protes
tors armed with sub-machine guns had attacked the White House to make him pay for his crimes against humanity. It was all getting out of hand.

  ***

  Sonya was stood in the bedroom in nothing more than her bra and panties when Levi snuck into the room. The handsome young man was smiling from ear to ear. ‘What are you doing in here?’ she asked, in a hushed whisper.

  ‘I came to see you.’

  ‘Where is Kat?’

  Levi closed the bedroom door.

  ‘She is searching for family photos.’

  ‘She can’t know about us. And now is not the time to be doing this.’

  ‘She doesn’t know about us, and there is always time to indulge in my girlfriend’s hot mom,’ he replied, walking across the bedroom towards her. Sonya didn’t even attempt to cover herself up, as the young man looked her up and down and down and up again with lustful eyes. She absolutely loved the way he looked at her. Sonya knew it was wrong. It was wrong in many ways. She was practically twice his age, and he was dating her daughter, but a woman had needs. Levi was very good at satisfying those needs, especially with that gifted tongue of his. The secret affair had been going on for months now. It has all started after an alcohol-fuelled party, but it was a party Sonya set up to get this young man into bed. Since then the two of them had been at it like rabbits. Any chance they got would lead to a quick fuck behind closed doors.

  ‘Okay, but only a kiss and make it quick.’

  Sonya sighed deeply, as he pressed his lips against her.

  Strong arms hugged around her, pulling her body into his.

  Levi opened his mouth, allowing her tongue inside.

  She did love the way he kissed her.

  Sonya could feel his hardness pressing up against her. It never took him long to get turned on. It was what she liked about him. Levi didn’t mess around. If he wanted her, he took her. Sonya groaned as he placed his hands around her throat. ‘Hey,’ she said, pulling back slightly, ‘you're too rough.’ She looked into his blood soaked eyes. Blood was dripping from Levi’s eye sockets. That gorgeous young man looked like a demon born straight from the depths of hell. His beautiful brown eyes were completely red, dripping with disgusting blood. Sonya gasped, as he strangled the life out of her. Levi screamed like a man that belonged in an insane asylum. They both fell back against the dressing table with a heavy thud, knocking most of the items to the floor. Sonya placed her hands on his face, shoving him away, but Levi was so strong. The edges of her world began to go dark, as she struggled to get the tiniest bit of oxygen into her legs. It felt like her eyes were about to pop out of her head.

  ‘GET OFF MY MOTHER!’ Kat screamed as loud as she could, striking Levi hard from behind.

  The young man hit the floor like a sack of bricks.

  The top of his head was caved in, exposing brain matter.

  Kat was holding one of her mother’s metal angel ornaments in her hand.

  Sonya burst into a fit of tears, as Kat grabbed a handful of clothes off the bed and threw them to her mother. ‘We have to go now,’ she ordered. Kat didn’t even glance at her dead boyfriend, as she rushed out of the room. How could she after what she had just done to him?

  ***

  Michael holstered his sidearm, grabbed his keys off the desk and picked up his rucksack. Andre almost walked into him, as he headed out into the main office area. The long room of small cubicles was practically empty. Only one or two detectives remained, the others were out on calls. Practically every single phone in the place rang, as more murders were reported by the second.

  ‘Where are you going?’ asked Andre, as Michael marched around the cubicles.

  ‘I’m heading home.’

  ‘You know that is a bad idea.’

  ‘I haven’t got a choice. Sarah is in a state.’

  ‘Michael, buddy,’ Andre skipped in front of him, holding up his hands. The large fat man was practically a human wall of lard. ‘I know you love your wife, but this virus is brought on by love and lust. The government is telling us to stay away from our families. You are the biggest threat to them.’

  ‘We must also stay away from people we want to fuck,’ chimed in Abbott, from his desk.

  ‘And people we want to fuck,’ added Andre. ‘You are doing your family no favours by going home. You can do more good staying here and trying to contain the situation.’

  ‘I am going home,’ Michael was not leaving it up for discussion.

  ‘They will have your badge for this, you know that?’

  ‘Fuck my badge,’ said Michael, pushing passed his friend and heading for the elevator. ‘Keep yourself out of trouble, Andre.’ It was the last time he ever saw his friend alive.

  ***

  ‘Genocide! Genocide! Genocide!’ Matt chanted over and over, as he stood shoulder to shoulder with the thousands of other protestors. The President of the United States had taken refuge in an office building used by a distribution company. His limousine burned in the middle of the crowd, the building was surrounded, and the majority of his security team had been beaten by the protestors. Rocks crashed through windows, as burning bottles of unknown liquid crashed off the stone walls, erupting with a glorious fiery effect. ‘Genocide! Genocide! Genocide!’ Matt turned to Wei beside him. His beautiful young Chinese-American girlfriend was smiling from ear to ear, chanting with vigour. They had both talked about changing things. They believed with people power they could do anything. When they heard about the protest, they ran down here as fast as they could. The President would hear their voices.

  ‘I love you,’ she told him, before returning to chanting.

  ‘I love you, too...’ this was the moment Matt died. It was like a switch went off in his mind. One moment he was feeling such joy and love in his heart and the next there was darkness. He wasn’t even capable of thought. One moment he was the young man with big dreams of change and the next he was a mindless monster. Matt dived on Wei, punching her repeatedly in the side of the head, as he bit into her shoulder, ripping out chunks of flesh. Her scream was silenced by the chanting crowd. Only those nearest to them tried to turn and run, but there was nowhere to go. The mass of bodies had pinned them in. Throughout the crowd, more people started to turn, as the chants of change turned to screams of death.

  ***

  Sarah slid her back down the wall and rested her bum on the hallway floor. Manic screams could be heard coming from the hallway outside of her apartment, as crashing and banging echoed through the halls. She didn’t dare look through the peephole. She wasn’t sure she could handle seeing what was out there.

  ‘Mommy, can I come out now?’ asked Rebecca.

  ‘No, baby,’ said Sarah, talking to her seven-year-old daughter through the locked bedroom door.

  ‘Have we done something wrong?’ Jamie’s voice came from the master bedroom.

  ‘No. You are both mommy’s angels. You haven’t done anything wrong.’

  ‘Why can’t we come out? All the noise is scary,’ added Rebecca.

  ‘I know it is, but there is a....’ Sarah tried to pick her words. How did she explain this to a seven-year-old and six-year-old? ‘There is an illness going around. It makes people very poorly and very angry. The doctors have said we must not be near people we love because that is how people get sick.’

  ‘They get sick through love?’ Rebecca sounded confused.

  ‘They do, baby.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ muttered her son.

  Someone went charging by the front door of the apartment. For a moment in time, Sarah thought they were trying to get into her home. Only now did she realise she was crying again. Her children were only on the other side of the bedroom doors, but they felt a million miles away. The news reports were telling parents to do this. It was the only way to keep her children safe. Strong feelings of love could turn parents into mindless monsters. She didn’t want the possibility that she could turn and harm them.

  ‘It will be ok. Daddy will be home soon. He will know wh
at to do.’

  ***

  Kat carried the bags out to the car and tossed everything into the boot. Sonya came hopping out of the front door, pulling on some random trousers she had grabbed from the back of her drawer. Not a single word was spoken between mother and daughter as they got into the car. In the distance was the skyline of the city. They could see smoke billowing from the tops of buildings, and they could hear the sirens and gunshots from here. Kat climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Sonya took one last look at the house. She was still in shock. How could that have just happened? One moment Levi had been happy and flirting and the next he was trying to kill her. She would be dead right now if it wasn’t for her daughter's quick thinking. In the distance, beyond the tree line, something exploded. Sonya could see the glow of the fire and the screams of the injured. She quickly got into the car. Kat applied pressure to the pedal and sped off down the road. Several of their neighbours were lying dead in the street, as others could be seen attacking their own families through the windows. People attempting to wave them down, pleading for help, but Kat didn’t stop. They had to keep going until they were safe, but was there anywhere safe anymore?

  ***

  ‘My God...’ President Archer exhaled. He was sat on the edge of a wooden desk, watching the small television screen. The news networks were playing CCTV footage of the infected charging through a bagging area of an airport. The headline at the bottom of the screen announced that the first outbreak of the infection had reached France. Suarez had his back to the wall. He opened the blind with the tip of his index finger and looked out at the protestors below. The pit of his stomach twisted at the sight of the infected mingled in with the crowd, but the masses appeared oblivious because all they wanted was the blood of the president. Agent Adam’s pulled a filing cabinet away from the wall and pushed it in front of the door. Suarez came to his aid, trying to barricade themselves into the room. President Archer just sat in shocked silence, as he watched the images replay on the news. Only he knew the thoughts inside his head. He had ordered tactical nuclear strikes on three American cities to contain this infection. Tens of millions of people had died at his command. They were tens of millions of his people and for what reason? Men, women, and children had died in their masses. At the time he truly believed that it was the right thing to do. Scientists were saying that this virus had the power to exterminate the entire human race in a single generation. He had ordered the nuclear strikes, but it hadn’t even slowed the infection down. The people outside were right. He was a mass murdering bastard. He was a monster.