Chapter 1

My name is Jonathan, although I prefer to be called Jon. I am 23, a high school graduate and had no steady job. I was satisfied to live at home with my parents and play video games, watch anime and TV between jobs. My parents fussed at me about getting a career that I can get involved in and finding an apartment of my own, but I was in no hurry. I don't have any girlfriends and few real friends due to a severe case of shyness around new people. The doctor who had examined me at the vocational rehabilitation center said I had schizoid tendencies and had recommended that I try working as a security guard or some other solitary profession. I took a job as an armed security officer for a remote high security storage site in the hills of northern California not long before the disease hit the second stage die-off. I shared responsibility for the site with two other guards. I was the only guard living on site and worked the 11 PM to 7 AM shift because I was the newest guard. I interacted with the other guards only during shift change when I received my briefing on persons scheduled to enter the site to remove or bring in items.

I woke up from a restless sleep in the small on-site guard's house with a severe fever and headache. In my feverish state I noticed that I had missed my shift start and tried to crawl over to the phone, wondering vaguely why my boss hadn't come to see what had happened. The boss had always called before if I missed the start of my shift by more than five minutes. I finally managed to get out of bed and promptly fell down. By the time I reached the kitchen I realized that I was in serious trouble. Managing to reach the phone I tried to read the phone number of my boss and finally dialed the number. The phone rang and rang without anyone picking up. Finally I gave up his trying to get hold of my boss. I called 911 without an answer.

"Phone's out" I thought vaguely. Grabbing a bottle of water and a handful of ibuprofen I headed back to the bedroom. I fell onto the bed and took two pills, then considering my headache took one more. With my head on the pillow I fell into another uneasy sleep.

When I woke up again I felt weak and starving but had gotten over the headache. Grabbing my water bottle I drained it and managed to use the bathroom to take care of my morning needs. Brushing my teeth I looked at my cell phone and saw the battery had run down. "I thought I recharged this the other day", I thought as I headed toward the kitchen and the phone again. Picking up the telephone I tried to call my boss again and didn't receive an answer. Giving up on my boss, I tried several other numbers and still received no answers. Absently I turned on my computer and saw I had 25 new messages. "More spam", I thought. Opening the refrigerator I got out my normal breakfast of two eggs, bacon and a bagel. Filling the coffee pot, I set the table for breakfast.

After putting the bacon on to cook, I returned to my computer and logged in. Windows came up and as I waited for it to load, I glanced out the window and saw the guard on the 3 to 11 shift lying on the ground. Running out to check I found the guard dead. Feeling scared now, I began to look over the body and took his radio to call for help on the emergency police band. The battery was dead for some reason and I couldn't make the call.

I returned to the house and found the bacon in the pan smoking. Removing the pan from the stove, I sat and wondered what I was supposed to do now. Nothing in my limited training had covered anything like this. The most serious thing I was supposed to take care of was to investigate alarms and notify the police if I found anything wrong. Having armed security was more of a marketing idea than a real necessity. That justified the description of this being a high security storage facility and allowed the owners to charge a premium.

I knew there were always charged batteries and radios in the guard's office but to get in I needed the key. Returning to the body I held my breath and turned him over. The key ring was clipped on to the web belt as the uniform regulation prescribed. I tried not to touch the body and managed to get the keyring off his belt. I managed to get away from the body before throwing up, but just barely. The guard had insects all over the front of his body with maggots beginning to show around the soft tissues. Running back to the guard's office I opened the door and found the office trashed completely. Grabbing a battery from the charger I put it in the radio and again tried to call for police help. I received no answers although I knew the radio was turned on.

I decided to try and contact the police department on their website. Moving my mouse to get rid of the screen saver I opened the Firefox browser and there was the information I needed. "Mysterious Disease hits World Population" was the title of all the news services. I started reading. "Disease of unknown origin has hit world wide population. Death toll in the millions. Authorities restrict all travel between points in attempt to stem spread. Reports out of Asia and Africa put death rate at more than 99% of all cases, US and Europe expect death toll to exceed 90%." There were other stories that reflected the disaster occurring. A well known feminist stated that this was the judgment of the Goddess since more women were being spared than men, "At last women will be able to lead the world in the direction of peace!" One preacher known for his negative view of the way the world was heading urged people to pray for deliverance from the plague afflicting the ungodly population, while another had renounced God for allowing such a plague in the first place. Reports of widespread looting and rapine were occurring everywhere as men who felt they had nothing to lose let their dark emotions have free rein.

Panicked I called my parents and got the answering machine. When I called my sisters and brothers there was also no answer. I checked my messages and found the answer there, "Jon, I'm the last one alive of the family. I don't know if you will get this or not. For all I know you're dead too. We've been trying to contact you for three days but haven't been able to. Don't come home. There's nothing here anymore for anyone. I'm dying and the town is burning. Be careful if you're alive, there are people killing anyone they see who comes around their locations. Find a secure spot away from everyone else and hide there until the worst of this madness goes away. I love you, Mom." I felt my heart freeze in my chest. I didn't get along with many other people but had always had my family for support. Now I have no one.

I sat at the desk in front of the computer. I tried to stand up and found myself unable to move for a moment. I sat until pressure built up inside me to a point that I began to scream. Grabbing the chair I began to hit it over the monitor until with a crack it exploded into fragments. Breathing deeply, I stared at the monitor, no longer seeing it. I remembered my parents the last time I had seen them, standing in the doorway waving at me as I drove away to this job. I remembered my father's hug and my mother's kiss on the cheek. Dropping the chair I began to cry for my loss.

What brought me out of my depression was the sound of barking. "The dogs!" I had forgotten about the dogs in their kennels behind the on-site guard house. I was responsible for feeding and watering the guard dogs for the storage area. Going out into the back I found the dogs laying around the water bowl and their empty food dishes. All of them looked gaunt and one was so weak that he didn't move. In an automatic movement I began to get them food. Entering the kennel I checked on each dog and found them to be alright. I noticed the first bowls of food were already gone and reminded myself to feed them again in an hour so they wouldn't get sick from eating too much at once. Suddenly I realized that I was hungry too. I had not eaten anything after finding the body of the other guard. Remembering the body I swallowed and knew I had to do something with it before I released the dogs. Pulling out a rope from the shed I tied the arms of the body together and dragged it with the guards golf cart outside the gate.

I didn't really know the other guard but knew he was single, and his family lived somewhere in Sacramento. Thinking that if anyone ever wanted to know what happened to him, I took this badge and wallet out of his pocket. Steeling myself, I removed his hand gun and web belt. I thought of burying the body but I didn't have a shovel. I decided to look into the various storage areas and see if I could find something that would let me bury the guard.

Taking the great grand master key, I began opening the storage areas from the front of the compound going backwards to the kennels. I was amazed at what I found. Instead of the storage sheds being the real storage the mountain behind the sheds had been excavated to make large finished caves behind them. The sheds were little more than loading docks. There were furs, appliances, guns and ammo, vehicles and several locked chests that I thought held jewelry or other valuable merchandise. The one thing I didn't find was any food for me or the dogs. Returning to the guard's house I looked to see how much food I had I had about a week's supply of food for myself and about three days worth for the dogs. I gave the dogs their second feeding and tried to decide what would be the best place to go to pick up supplies. I didn't want to go to any place very large due to the danger of running into one of the people shooting at everyone but I wasn't too sure if a small store would have what I needed.

Finally I shrugged my shoulders and decided to check out the nearby 7-11 and see if it had anything left. If not, I would have to travel to one of the nearest towns, Dunsmuir or Mt. Shasta. I decided that I would take one of the vehicles I had found in one of the storage areas, a Hummer in summer camouflage paint. I picked up my favorite dog, Josh, from the kennel and put him in the back after I refueled at the on-site fueling station. I debated taking money and decided that it was worthless now. I put in an AK47 with a loaded banana clip together with a shotgun loaded with slugs and a box of shot next to me on the seat. I released the dogs to patrol the area while I was gone and made sure the gates were locked and the electric fence was turned on.

I drove to the 7-11 on Interstate 5 and found nothing but a burnt empty shell left. Looking around the area I managed to find some food that had been thrown out after the expiration date in the storage area behind the store. The food was still good, just past its best used by date. Rather than hauling the stuff with me in the Hummer, I decided to leave it there and check out Dunsmuir for supplies. Entering Dunsmuir, I saw that it had not been spared completely. The Thriftway Foods had been hit by fire but had not burned. Several houses nearby had burnt to the ground and I saw several bodies lying on the ground around the town. This was something to which I would become accustomed as the days went by.

I went to the door of Thriftway and found it still locked. I didn't have anything to break the door with so I went to the Do It Best Hardware at Mt Shasta and grabbed a wrecking bar and large bolt cutters. While I was there I checked out Rays Food Place and saw it had been broken into already. I didn't see anyone after looking around. Calling Josh, I sent him in to check out the store before entering. I heard the dog bark and growl and went in to see what he had found. There on the top shelf of a row of shelves was either a large child or a small adult female looking at the guard dog with fear. I checked her to see if she had any weapons and told the dog to sit.