New York Dead Zone

[garnetfrog]

Hank sat in his patrol car with his partner, Joe. They sipped coffee while they watched the few civilians who hadn't gotten home for curfew yet. They all wore surgical masks and hurried along with their heads down, as if trying to not draw attention to themselves. Seeing New York with so few people out and about was still a bit of a shock to Hank, he was used to it being so crowded. Now the streets were devoid of running cars, other than his own, so that emergency vehicles could get around unhindered. People only came out for groceries, school, and doctor appointments now.

Hank's radio burst to life, "There is a home invasion in progress at 475 48th Avenue, several apartments are calling in distress, claiming people are trying to break in." Hank turned to Joe and shrugged. They were only a couple of blocks away from there. Joe flipped on the sirens while Hank drove the car toward the apartments. Several similar reports came on over the radio in other places, none of which were any closer. Joe called in that they were going to 58th just as Hank pulled up to the building.

[Mihkul]

Rafe pulled his hood up over his head, one arm cradling the quart beer bottle underneath his hoodie. The corner liqor store was always an easy target for shoplifting and the old man running it was half blind. He bought a fifty cent bag of peanuts as a cover and the old man never saw the bulge in his jacket.

It was always street rules for him, especially since he lost his job on the docks. He was unloading a shipment of I-Pods and one of the crates was broken open. Thinking they would never miss just one of them he pocketed it, not realizing his boss was watching him. Well, screw it! He didn't need the job anyway.

He walked a little faster as curfew approached. No one knew exactly what was going on- some kind of epidemic or something- but the city had put a ten o clock curfew on all the residents. He didn't want no dealings with the law. He'd had enough of that all his life and didn't need the hassle.

He heard the wail of a police siren and he ducked into the alley as they sped by. It was a common thing, lately, to see the po-po around town but it was instinct for him to stay out of sight. He stood in the shadows until they were clear but he heard the noise and turned. The alley was dark and he figured the noise was coming from some homelesss person. They would probably kill him for this bottle of beer, he thought.

He heard a scream, like someone was really in pain, and he quietly moved closer. He saw the shadowed figure against the dumpster as it knelt over another figure. It was the one on the bottom that was doing all the screaming. It looked like someone was beating the other. Normally he wouldn't have even gotten involved but maybe it was some poor bastard getting mugged.

"Hey, you," he shouted. "What the hell's going on?" Maybe he could at least interrupt him and the poor guy on the bottom could get free. The hunched figure stood up and turned. In the darkness he couldn't see much but as he got closer he saw the blank eyes and distorted face staring at him. Blood covered the figure's mouth and it looked like it had been eating the poor guy.

Rafe stood frozen for a moment, then his natural survival instinct kicked in and he ran. He dropped the bottle of beer but didn't bother to pick it up. He just ran and didn't stop running until he was safe inside his apartment.

[NightlightNinja]

Maya sat behind the wheel of her sleek, champagne car, driving it through a deserted street. People hardly drove any more, unless the places they had to be at were unreasonably far away, like her school. She had stayed late there to finish up some work, and the sky was now dark. There was still time before the curfew though, the one set for everyone still in the city after the sudden ban on traffic in and out of it. She was still confident that she would make it home on time. Considering that her parents were currently stuck outside the city, the house would be quiet, as quiet as the car that she was in. Maya liked her silent drives home and never turned on the radio.

Something was then caught in her headlights. It appeared to be someone limping across the road. Maya slowed her car down as she approached the figure, which stopped and turned to look right at her. Before she had time to think, the said figure had leapt onto her windshield, clawing it while letting out savage shrieks. Maya jumped in her seat, staring in horror at the face covered in fresh wounds, with milky white pupils and blood flowing from the gaping mouth. In panic, she picked up the speed and began to swerve violently in an attempt to throw the aggressive person off, who was eventually flung into a road sign, its sharp edge cutting right through their skull. As Maya regained her view of what was in front of her, all she saw was a concrete wall before everything went black.

[Kicks]

She was helping at the shelter again when she heard the familiar and loudening sound. Her days typically went according to her schedule. She worked for a humanitarian agency that allowed her to choose where to work according to the most need. This month she was working at the homeless shelter.
There was a large demand for these shelters in New York. Not enough people could afford the rent in the city, nor could they find a job. And some of these souls were just unlucky to end up here.
Humanitarian work brought her special joy. If she had ever had the money to go to college she might have become a caseworker.

She was serving soup to the homeless when she heard the wails of the siren. To her this was a normal sound in New York. A lot of crime happened here, and lately it felt like they were on the rise.
It also felt like the number of homeless was dropping. She imagined it was because people were getting sick. She just hoped that whatever people were coming down with was curable. But she also feared for the homeless. They had no insurance, no way to get help.

She decided to take her break upon hearing the sirens.
Though Hailee knew it was none of her business, she still wanted to see where the sirens were heading.
She retired her apron to its rightful hook. After she had, she left the homeless shelter and stepped out onto the sidewalk.
Immediately she put her hand up to shield her eyes of the light. Stepping out of the shelter typically took some time for her eyes to adjust: the shelter had poor lighting.

[garnetfrog]

Hank grabbed the Remmington 870 from between the seats as he left the car, it was loaded with beanbag shells for crowd control. Joe, meanwhile, was putting on a bullet proof vest. Hank looked at him, concerned. "You think we'll need armor?" Joe shrugged. "Better safe than sorry, besides, I never get to wear this thing." Hank raised an eyebrow and shook his head. Loaded up, they moved into the apartment complex. Joe led with his pistol while Hank trailed behind, gripping the 870 tightly. The reports were all on the third floor so they took the stairs up.

Halfway up, they heard the muffled thuds of gunshots. "Shots fired! Shots fired at 475 48th avenue!" Joe yelled into his radio as they began sprinting up the stairs. They burst through the door onto the third floor. "Police!" Hank yelled, announcing themselves. Most of the doors were open in the hallway, splinters on the floor in front of one indicated a forced entry. They could hear people moving around inside. Joe moved to the far side of the door while Hank took the closer side. They both peered inside. The door was broken in half on the floor, an overturned cabinet indicated the owner of the room had tried to barricade the door. They heard two more shots coming from deeper in the apartment.

Joe went in first, gun raised with Hank close behind. They rounded a corner and stopped, a group of people were huddled in a corner moving as though trying to wiggle their way in deeper. "Police! Hands where we can see them!" Hank yelled. The people stopped and spun around. "Holy shit..." Joe said in surprise. The people had been EATING a very bloody man in the corner. A 9mm revolver lay on the floor near him. One of the infected had five bullet holes in its chest. The five infected roared at them and charged. Joe reacted by firing his pistol into the group randomly. Hank, meanwhile, dropped his shotgun and ran in a panic. He didn't even stop when he heard Joe screaming in pain.

[Kicks]

The lights had faded into the distance by the time her eyes fully adjusted to the little amount of light outside. The sirens were gone, and the stillness of the night had replaced the deafening noise.
Hailee still stood there for a minute or two, trying to gather her bearings. New York had become such a weird place as of late, it was hard for her not to feel so unsettled.
But there were still people to tend to and food to serve for the only meal they would probably receive today.

When the bowls were given, the soup had run out, and the homeless had settled in for the night she was ready to hurry home. But it was already so late, and Hailee knew that even without the terrible feeling as of late in the city it would still be a scary walk.
As a humanitarian she saw the best and the worst of New York. She knew the dangers of the night, and to be careful. She knew to keep in the light, if she could, and to keep her keys between her fingers.

“Do you need a ride home?” One of the other volunteers asked her. But she had refused the invitation, feeling like a burden if she were to take it. Besides, they would have a family to get home too.
She was one of the youngest volunteers working at the shelter this month. All of the people, aside from her, had a family to go home too. She was able to return to her cat. For this, she did not want to burden those with families. They should hurry home too! They had children to attend to, wives and husbands to kiss, animals to hug.
“I’m fine.” She said gently, “You get home safely and quickly. I bet your wife is missing you.”

When she had gathered up her things and pressed her keys in between her fingers, she headed out the door. Behind her, the homeless would sleep with semi-full bellies. She was a bit concerned about a few of them though. One or two of them hadn’t been looking so good when she left.
She thought about staying behind to attend to them, maybe find some more soup for them. Maybe finding some medication. But it was already so late and she was already so nervous about walking home.

Hailee left the homeless shelter. She kept her head up as she walked with a quick, yet purposeful stride. She had to walk powerfully, not with her head down, for fear of falling victim to whatever lie in the night. Burglars, rapists, criminals... She was terrified of coming across any of them.

[MysticOtaku]

Tayla scrubbed her hands carefully in the deep sink. The strong smell of chemical soap stung her nose, though she should have been used to it by now. Working in New York had gotten a lot weirder as of late. New cases were turning up out of the blue, and they had grown more frequent in the past few days. They were all so similar, but none of the symptoms added up. What was even weirder was that lower level medical staff like Layla had not been told anything about this new illness, only to treat the symptoms as they came. All Layla could do was calm fevers, warm chills and hand out sick bags. Her shift was just ending, and Layla was excited to get home. Though, the streets of New York had grown ever more violent and menacing. Perhaps it was the private vehicle ban. Driving the rapid response vehicles lined in neat, uniform rows in the garage made Layla feel quite special, very few people lately could be seen driving and it suffocated the city in an eerie atmosphere like a thick fog.

Layla weaved her way through the bright white and red vehicles as she did every day, eventually making it to the garage door leading onto the street outside. She slung her rucksack over her right shoulder, reaching her left hand into her pocket to hug the flick-blade she carried with her. Layla was not fooled by the quiet of the streets. She knew something was happening, and she would not risk a step outside without a weapon any more. Feeling this almost instinct to defend herself saddened Layla, she had enjoyed her mildly stressful job and quiet social life prior to all of... this. Passing a towering apartment block barely 5 minutes from her own apartment, Layla paused at a load crashing sound. She span on her heels to look a few metres away from where she had just walked. There, she found a small car crashed head on into a brick wall. Without even thinking, Layla took of at a sprint towards the car. Once she had reached it though, she could tell the situation was bad. There was ust one person in the car, slumped at the driving wheel, unconscious. Layla swore to herself outload before moving to the back of the car, sliding over the trunk and reaching for the door. She wouldn't be able to move the girl right away, first she looked around and inspected the driving area for injuries

Then, when Layla found nothing extremely bad, she wove her arms under the poor girls shoulders before carefully pulling her out of the car. The windscreen was bust, so Layla did her best to keep her out of the glass before laying her down softly on a patch of grass not to far from the smashed up car. The girl looked pale and had a small gash on her forehead but apart from that Layla couldn't seen any terrible injuries, just more cuts and bruises. So, she pulled her coat from her own shoulders, shivering as the evening wind caught her and layed it under and around the girl, doing her best to insulate her from the cold. "Excuse me, Miss!" Layla spoke loud and confidently, hoping she would open her eyes. "My name is Layla, you've had an accident, can you hear me?" Layla asked, checking her pulse, breathing and tapping forcefully on her collar bone, with two fingers each side. Her training had taught her many ways to test for conciousness, she often used this one. With no response, she moved onto her back up, selecting a patch of skin around the same collarbone area, Layla pinched and gently twisted, muttering an apology. She hoped this would wake her, so that she could evaluate the extent of any head injuries.

[NightlightNinja]

Maya awoke to some discomfort near her collarbone, flinching as her hand landed over the one pinching her flesh. Oh no, please don't be one of them... Opening her eyes to see the face of a young woman against the darkening sky, she sighed in relief. She assumed that the blonde was here to help, since she looked nothing like that- that thing that attacked her. Did that really happen? How strange...

She sat up, still in a bit of a daze, and looked around her, trying to recall more of the events that took place before her blackout. She recognised her car in the state it was in some distance away. That's right, she must have driven it into that wall after... She then scanned more of her surroundings, spotting a dead infected lying right next to a road sign. Did she... do that? What in the world was going on?

Turning back to the blonde stranger, Maya saw the concern written on her face, realising that she was probably anticipating a response from her. She nodded at her before looking down at the leather jacket that she was wrapped in. Assuming that it belonged to the young woman, who was in a pale purple tank top, she handed it back to her.

"Thank you..." Maya mumbled to her.

[MysticOtaku]

Layla kept her eyes on the girl and sighed with relief when she began to come around. When she looked off towards the road sign Layla followed her gaze and froze. Was that, a DEAD PERSON!? Layla swallowed gently, trying to keep calm. Surely her eyes were playing tricks on her. When the girl handed her back her coat, she simply put it on the grass beside her, returning her gaze to the girl still sat on the damp grass. "No problem..." Layla muttered while she held the girl in a stare. She did her best in the dim lighting to assess her pupil dilation for any signs of brain injury, then blushed as she saw none. "Sorry, I'm a Paramedic, just a routine check" Layla smiled nervously, flicking her gaze back to the street sign.

"I don't want to sound accusing, but... what on earth happened here?" Layla spoke as calmly as she could, though her voice wavered and her eyebrows creased in worry. "Because, from my angle..." Layla continued, still looking at the dead body. What had gone on here? And why had this girl ended up first face in a brick wall? Layla shivered half from the cold and half from the situation as a whole. She gently looked down to find her coat and pulled it around her bare shoulders. Then, she looked back to the girl and held her gaze, awaiting an explanation.

[garnetfrog]

Hank sprinted down the stairs as fast as he could, Joe's screams of agony stopping abruptly when he reached the first floor. Hank leaned against a wall, breathing heavily. "What... What the... Fuck... Just... What..." He mumbled in a panic. He heard more sirens approaching. The sirens, unfortunately, drowned out the noise of an infected sprinting down the stairs after him. Hank was suddenly knocked onto the ground forcefully from behind, his pistol, which had always been a little loose in its holster, slid out and clattered away.

Hank rolled over onto his back in time to put his arm up, defending himself from his attacker. He held the infected's shirt with his left arm while his right arm searched for his gun. The infected snarled at him, trying to push itself closer to him while battering him with flailing arms. Unable to find his gun, Hank punched the infected in the side of the head as hard as he could. He became aware of someone screaming as he punched the diseased man a second time. The infected loosened its grip enough for Hank to shove it. Back a bit and get a leg under it. He kicked with all his might, sending the half dead man flying backward.

He scooted back on the floor, trying to distance himself from the thing. Suddenly, a shotgun went off. The infected, having regained its footing, spasmed as 12 gauge pellets nearly tore its arm off. More gunshots followed as officers opened fire, the bullets punching through the man's semi rotten flesh. A second shotgun blast took off the infected's head, causing it to fall to its knees, then onto its side.

Hank realized suddenly that he had been screaming, so he shut his mouth and instead lay on the floor gasping for breath. "Shit, did you see how many times we shot this fucker?" One of the officers said, advancing on the corpse. "Language, Bill." Another said. "Hey, you alright? Where's your partner?" A third officer asked. Shakily, Hank pointed up. "Third... Third floor." He said. "I... Panicked... He's... He's dead... Probably." He said. One of the officers shouted in alarm as another infected threw him to the floor. Hank picked himself up off the floor and looked around for his gun as the other officers tried to pull the infected off of Bill. The. Infected bit several of them.