Ice Cave: Pandemic Survival Fiction Read online

  Ice Cave

  Pandemic Survival Fiction

  By Blaze Eastwood

  Text Copyright © 2016 Blaze Eastwood

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced

  in any form or by any means without the

  prior written permission of the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  More from Blaze Eastwood

  Chapter 1

  It started out just like any other day, but of course, that would all change soon.

  The late-morning sun was peeking through the grayish clouds, which adorned the sky.

  Cody was on his way home from the train station, walking briskly on the icy sidewalk. He stared downward and watched each step carefully to prevent himself from slipping and falling, allowing himself an upward glance only occasionally.

  The bulk of the snow storm was over, but the flakes were still trickling down.

  A sixty year old man briefly stopped shoveling the snow on the sidewalk in front of his house, and waited for Cody to pass through.

  He held the shovel as if it was a cane and leaned on it, irritated that he was being interrupted.

  But when Cody greeted him, the man greeted him back, and he seemed to cheer up slightly. He waited for Cody to pass, then went back to shoveling the snow.

  Temperatures in the area were slightly below the freezing mark, which was average for that time of year.

  Cody's gloves were saving his hands, but his face was becoming increasingly rough from the cold winter air.

  Up ahead, he noticed something strange.

  A group of kids were gathered around in a circle, as if they were in some kind of a huddle. But instead of conversing with each other, they seemed to be staring down at the ground in eerie silence.

  He glanced over in their direction repeatedly, trying to find the source of the commotion, but to no avail.

  Whatever they were staring at remained out of view for him.

  Sirens were roaring off in the distance, disturbing the otherwise eerie silence that enveloped the neighborhood.

  As the sirens got louder, he realized that the ambulance, firetruck, and police car were only a block behind him.

  They pulled up to the circle of kids, then came to a halt.

  Cody wanted to stop and stare to see what was happening, but he felt too awkward to do so. Instead, he slowed down and walked as slow as he could, periodically glancing over his shoulder at the scene.

  He watched long enough to see the paramedics bring out a stretcher and place it at the center of the circle of kids.

  They loaded the stretcher into the ambulance, while the police stayed behind to ask questions.

  Cody kept his eyes pointed forward from that point on, leaving the strange situation behind him.

  * * * * *

  After taking a shortcut through the back alley, he reached the gate to his backyard, not thinking much of the fact that it was open. He was in a hurry that day, and it was possible that he left the gate open, himself.

  When he saw that the back door to his house was also open, he knew something was wrong. He never left the doors to his house open, regardless of how big of a hurry he was in. That was at least one mistake that he never made.

  He slowly ascended the creaky wooden steps that led to the back porch, hoping for the best, but thinking of the worst.

  He approached the back door and listened.

  It was quiet.

  Were they gone?

  Calling the police vaguely occurred to him, but he dismissed the idea when he figured the intruders were most likely gone by now.

  Burglars were usually too paranoid to be that quiet. It was exceedingly difficult to not make noise when people were frantically shuffling through a stranger's house, trying to take as many valuables as they could in as short of a time span as possible.

  They could never be sure of when the owner would return, and for that reason, they had to hurry.

  Cody had been gone for eleven hours that day. Any burglar would have had plenty of time to leave, assuming they broke into the house around the morning to midday hours like they typically did.

  Or maybe he did leave the door open that day. As unlikely as it was, it was still possible. There was a first time for everything.

  He opened the door the rest of the way and cautiously entered the house.

  After walking into the kitchen, he paused to listen again. If armed intruders were in the house, he still had a good chance at being able to escape.

  But it was still silent, and that prompted him to move further into the house after opening the kitchen drawer and pulling out a steak knife.

  There was a loud thud that came from off to the side.

  Cody turned around abruptly and darted his eyes in the direction of the sound.

  A package of stationary had fallen on the floor.

  He sighed and walked into the hallway, looking at the living room just in time to catch a glimpse of a passing shadow.

  He walked into the dining room and stopped.

  The thing he was about to do eluded his mind, and he stood there in frozen indecisiveness.

  After a few long moments, he tightened his grip on the steak knife and rounded the corner of the wall that separated the living room from the dining area.

  Upon entering the living room, he found himself standing face to face with a strange man who was pointing a handgun at him.

  One of the living room lamps was turned upside down on the floor. The light bulb was on, casting silhouettes along the wall.

  Aside from having an armed intruder in his house, Cody noticed that something else was wrong. The man looked like he was in a dazed state of disorientation that bordered between a flu-like plague and insanity.

  In fact, the man looked so far gone that Cody was having his doubts about his capability of pulling the trigger. Nevertheless, he remained cautious and refrained from making any sudden movements, as he continued to stare back at him.

  Although the gun was steadily pointed at Cody, the intruder's eyes were lingering past him, toward the wall.

  The moments were ticking by.

  “I don't have a whole lot of valuables in this house,” Cody said, finally managing to get some words out there.

  After noticing the red spots on the floor, it was evident that the intruder was bleeding, and upon closer inspection, Cody saw speckles of blood on the intruder's hands and neck.

  “You'd be better off simply leaving, before you do something that you'll really regret.”

  The intruder shot Cody a bone-chilling look that seemed to pierce right through him in a horrific way.

  “I can give you some money,” Cody said, slowly reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. “I'm just reaching for my wallet.” He opened his wallet and pulled out twenty dollars, placing it on the television stand, next to where the intruder was standing. “Here.”

  The intruder briefly glanced at the money, lowering the gun slightly. Then he mumbled something that sounded like gibberish.

  “Just take it and go.”

  The intruder showed no interest in the money. Instead,
he looked back at the wall in front of him and started crying.

  At this point, Cody was just a little bit more than perplexed. “Look, buddy. You look like you're injured. Let me get you some help, okay? Let me call the police, and then they can get you to a hospital or something. Just put the gun down.”

  The intruder was still not responding. He continued to weep.

  Cody reached for his phone and started dialing. As he did so, he noticed that the intruder appeared to grow increasingly agitated. “What's the matter?”

  The intruder started raising the gun again.

  “Take it easy. I'm just trying to get you some help because you look injured.”

  The intruder now wept uncontrollably, as he raised the gun to his own head.

  Cody hung up the phone and tossed it onto the couch. “Alright. If you don't want me to call for help, then I won't. Just put down the—

  It was too late.

  The gunshot had already gone off, splattering a trail of red onto the floor, walls, and ceiling.

  Cody's ears rang from the blast, as he looked down at the grisly scene in front of him, shuddering in disbelief.

  Chapter 2

  Cody was surprised to find that the police did not ask him to come back to the station for more questions.

  Apparently, they were too overwhelmed by similar occurrences that were happening all over the area.

  “We're not sure what's happening,” one of the officers said on his way out. “All we know at this point is that there are a whole lot of people doing inexplicable things.”

  “Have there been any other deaths?” Cody asked.

  “There's been everything. There's been homicides, burglaries, kidnappings, disappearances; you name it. A rise in crime has definitely sprung up over the past several hours or so. If I were you, I would just be careful. Hopefully, this whole thing will be over soon; whatever it is.”

  “When will the forensic investigators be here?”

  “Not until later. With all the stuff that's been happening, they are extremely busy. In the meantime, we need to protect the crime scene, so you might want to stay at a hotel or something tonight. Do you have a spare key we can use?”

  “Yeah, take this one,” Cody said, removing one of the keys from his key chain and handing it over.

  “We'll be in touch.”

  With that, the officer joined his partner, who was waiting for him outside in the patrol car. Less than a minute later, they were gone.

  Cody glanced at the yellow tape surrounding the crime seen in his living room, and cringed. He didn't want to be in the house, anyway, especially not in the living room.

  He packed a suitcase and took off, leaving the front porch light on for the investigators.

  * * * * *

  After checking into the downtown hotel, Cody entered the eleventh-floor room and set his suitcase down onto the floor.

  He took a minute to study the fire escape plan on the back of the door, then turned on the T.V.

  The usual, familiar news anchors flashed onto the screen. It was a large screen because the only rooms left at last minute's notice were the expensive luxury suites. Breaking news was broadcasting on nearly every major channel.

  The citizens being interviewed by the reporters were displaying their fearful reactions.

  “I just can't believe this is happening, one of them said. It takes the wind out of you. I don't even know what else to say.

  They cut to another citizen being interviewed:

  I've never seen anything like this before. I mean, a stranger walks up to my car and tries to get inside. When he realized that the door was locked, he smashes through the window and reaches for the car keys in the ignition switch. His other hand was reaching for my throat. If my keys had been in my pocket, I might not have been able to drive away in time.

  Do you think having your keys in the ignition saved your life today?

  Oh yeah. I certainly think so.

  They cut back to the news anchor.

  Some of these criminals have managed to escape after committing their crimes, while others were killed by the people they were attacking. Authorities are unsure of exactly how far this has spread, but there are dozens of other towns across the country that are experiencing the same thing. Although some are saying that the attacks might be linked to social media, the motives of the criminals remain unclear, and investigators insist that any answers provided at this time are based on speculation.

  Cody was experiencing a painful mixture of emotions that surged through him like an electric current.

  The news was becoming too much to listen to. He turned off the T.V.

  To his right were three tall windows that overlooked the lake. The snow was starting to pick up, creating a fascinating effect on the already interesting outdoor scenery.

  His face was slightly red from stress, and he was sitting perfectly straight in the chair, all of the tension making his posture appear almost rigid. He also found that he had been tightening up his fists without realizing it.

  He tried to sit back, only to find himself tensing back up again. . . and again.

  He turned his chair around to face the windows. Vivid flashbacks raced through his mind, disallowing him to enjoy the snowy scenery.

  It persisted.

  Flash after flash, he pictured the intruder pulling the trigger in vivid detail.

  Cody stood up from the chair and walked closer to the window. He extended one arm outward and used it lean forward against the glass, as he looked outward at the passing snow flakes.

  Every moment felt long, but somehow the minutes were going by.

  He was still trying to digest it, and he was almost uncertain that it even happened.

  He tried to remain confident, telling himself that this was all going to be over soon, and then everything would go back to the way it was.

  A car accident in the street momentarily caught his eye. From what he saw, it looked like someone ran across the street and got hit by a cab.

  It was close to midnight, so there was no heavy traffic. Accidents at that time were rare.

  One of the last things he needed to see right now was another strange occurrence involving a violent crime. He had enough for one day.

  The person in the street got up and staggered forward, as he watched the cab take off without even stopping.

  Cody could see the man waving his arms in the air, as if to taunt the hit-and-run driver.

  It was an inconceivable thing to have happened, but Cody was glad that it wasn't worse. He sat back down and stared out the window, this time looking toward the lake. If he got at least a few hours of sleep that night, he would consider himself lucky.

  Chapter 3

  Six hours of sleep is what he estimated he had gotten, but he had woken up every hour; a restless sleep indeed.

  He had woken up for the last time that morning when he heard a loud thud coming from somewhere in the building or within the vicinity outside.

  Breakfast was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.

  Cody checked the clock. It was still an hour and a half before checkout time, and he never called for room service, so there was no apparent reason for anyone to be knocking on the door.

  He ignored it the first couple of times, hoping to send the visitor away. But when the knocking erupted a third time, Cody reluctantly approached the door.

  One of the hotel staff members stood in the doorway. “Sorry to bother you, sir. But you should know that we are asking everyone to stay in their rooms at this time. There are armed criminals in the building, and a gunshot was fired.”

  “So that's what that was. I knew I heard something earlier.”

  “Well, the police are here, but they haven't been able to take anyone into custody yet. They are sweeping through the building. So we're are just asking that everyone stay put for now. We'll let you know when it's okay to come out of your room.”

  “I understand.”

  “Thanks for your coop
eration.” The staff member walked across the hall and knocked on the next door.

  Cody closed the door and locked it.

  * * * * *

  Three hours later, someone knocked on the door again. Cody eagerly answered, hoping to hear from the staff member again.

  But it wasn't the staff member. Instead, an impatient-looking man who appeared to be in his early thirties stood in the doorway.

  “Hi, my name is Eric. I'm staying in the suite right across the hall. I was wondering if you can spare any water bottles. Since everything is on lock down, room service isn't delivering.”

  The man was wired, and his fast-paced speech showed it.

  “Sure,” Cody said, heading over to the fridge. “How many do you need?”

  “One would help a lot, but I'll take as many as you can spare.”

  “I only have a few.”

  “Just one is fine then.”

  Cody handed him the water bottle. “Any idea how much longer this lock down is going to be in effect? Have you heard anything?”

  “Nope. I have a feeling that there's something else happening, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don't think they're keeping us locked in our rooms for our own protection. I think it's for their protection. They're keeping us in here until the police or army or whatever come and drag us all off to some type of quarantine. They think everyone in this hotel is infected.”

  Cody looked doubtful, and he dismissed the man's comments as little more than paranoia.

  “Infected?”

  “Yeah, it was on the news this morning. There's a pandemic spreading throughout the area, making people unstable.”

  Cody looked puzzled.

  The man was shocked. “You didn't hear about that?”

  Cody shook his head. “I haven't listened to the news since last night.” He took the remote from off the counter top, then turned on the T.V.

  Sure enough, the news of the pandemic flooded the screen.

  City officials are asking everyone to go to their nearest hospital for testing to determine whether or not they may be affected by the pandemic, the news anchor said. Everyone is required to do so. Failure to comply can lead to a visit from the police.