Chapter 1

         Katie glanced up at the clock on the wall. Seven am, seemed like a good time for a break. It was a particularly uneventful morning at the Lenox Hill Morgue. Her shift started at six and she had been proof reading reports and filing ever since. She leaned back in her chair stretching her arms. Katie stood up and brushed her reddish brown hair into a ponytail.
         She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. As the elevator ascended she looked through her messages on her phone and hummed along to the elevator music.
         Stepping out of the elevator, she walked through the hospital lobby and down the hallway towards the cafeteria. As she passed by the emergency room she noticed it seemed busier than usual. The chairs in the waiting room were filled and people were pacing the aisles. She took note quickly of some of the wounds. Some seemed minor, cuts and bruises, while a few more looked to be far more serious.Others seemed to be experiencing an illness of some sort, with coughing and sneezing.
         She stopped in her tracks. She had to look again, unable to believe what she thought she saw. A man stood facing her, sweating and unusually pale. His eyes were downcast and he pressed a blood-soaked cloth to his shoulder. When he removed the cloth she noticed the large chunk of his flesh missing. He looked up and their eyes met. Although Katie didn't feel he actually saw her, she began to feel afraid. She continued walking, albeit a step faster now.
        Katie grabbed a juice and a bagel, her thoughts still lingering on that man, and sat down at one of the tables in front of the large wall mounted TV. The news was on as usual but today something was different. The reporter was talking hastily about a sudden illness that was spreading rapidly. The first case had begun around twenty-four hours ago, and since then, cases had begun showing up all over. Reports were coming in from China, Russia, England, Canada, Mexico and the U.S. The same illness all over the world.
       "It's still too early to determine the cause of this illness," said a balding man in a suit. "As soon as we know something, you will know something. We encourage you not to panic and if possible remain indoors!"
       The reporter flashed back on screen. "Those with ill family members just want to know what is going on and those who are not ill are just trying to prevent the illness and stay safe. Hopefully in the coming hours, scientists will be able to offer more. Back to you Jim."
       The bald man, who Katie assumes is Jim, continued. "So far reported symptoms are fever, chill, joint pain, vomiting, and slight dementia. These symptoms rapidly progress to severe dementia and loss of motor functions. Remember the cause for this is unknown at the time of this broadcast. It does appear to be transmitted by bodily fluid however."
       Towards the end of the broadcast, Katie's friends Tyler and Dave joined her at the table. They were both nurses in the ER. They were also classmates of Katie's from college, yet they couldn't have been more different in both looks and personality. Dave was stoic and studious; his brown hair cut short like a marine and his green eyes pale and calculating. Tyler was more sociable and talkative. Behind his black hair there were blue eyes. Smart as well, but more attuned to people's hearts rather than their wounds.
      "Can you believe this?" Katie asked as the anchorman switched to another headline.
      "This crap?" asked Tyler, shrugging in the general direction of the television. "It's probably just another flu outbreak"
      "They always blow this stuff out of proportion." Dave chimed in.
       They discussed other possibilities for the illness and when they finished their breakfast they parted ways.
       Several hours later, Katie looked up from the report nervously, she thought she heard something unusual. She moved cautiously to investigate. It seemed quiet, the silence making each noise louder, more brutal. Something just didn't feel right. The TV caught her attention and she reached for the remote turning up the volume. The news coverage of the outbreak, as it was now being called, appeared to be on every channel. The reporter was outside of a hospital.
      "We've received reports of several deaths associated with the outbreak, both locally and globally." Just as the doors behind the reporter burst open, Katie heard screaming from the floor above. She ran to the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor frantically, all the while the screaming continued.
       Working with the coroner prepares you for blood and gore but not to the extent Katie was about to witness. Blood covered the walls and floor and there were torn bodies everywhere. Limbs of various size scattered like toys strewn from a toy box.
       "Oh my God! What's going on?!" she cried.
       There was an almost violent shriek from somewhere down the hall and then stillness. A sudden movement to her right caught her attention and from around the corner a small girl stumbled, holding her bleeding arm. She was pale and her white scrubs were sprayed with blood. She was shaking violently and then she collapsed to the ground.
       "What the hell is going on here?" asked Katie but the girl would not answer, her eyes frozen as though lost. Katie knelt by her. The badge attached to her uniform read Tiffany. "Tell me what's going on Tiffany."
        The sound of her own name snapped her from her stare and she looked to Katie, fear alive in her eyes.
        "I don't know. We had one patient waiting for transport to the morgue and Dr. Keese had just pronounced another one, when the first one started to....." She stopped and began to shake, slamming her eyes shut, holding back tears.
         "Began to what?!" Katie pressed to no avail. "Tiffany! Began to what?!"
         "Move. She had been dead for about twenty minutes and just started moving. Dr. Keese tried to get her vitals and she...she...she just bit his face off! Just tore it right the fuck off! And he was screaming and there was so much blood!" She was sobbing loudly. Katie shook her, she needed her attention. She needed to know what happened.
         "What happened next Tiffany?"
         "Me and Dave tried to pull her off of him but she just kept going! That's when I got bit and Dave told me to get the hell out of there!" Tiffany sobbed "What's going on?!"
         "I don't know"
         From down the hallway they hear a door close. Katie shushed Tiffany and they hid behind the nurses' station. Katie heard the steps slapping down the hallway. Closer and closer came the footsteps, loudly shuffling until they seemed to be right in front of them. They struggled to keep silent. She could hear the slow breathing of whatever was on the other side of the counter. She looked over to Tiffany, whose mouth was clenched shut, holding back a scream of terror. Before a terrified scream could escape, Katie pressed her hand over Tiffany's mouth. Quiet, Katie said with only a look. Tiffany was shuddering but she understood. The steps continued on down the hall.
         Without wasting a moment, Katie grabbed Tiffany's arm and ran back towards the elevator. Katie pressed the B Button and repeatedly hit the door close button.
         "We need to get out of here!" Katie said.
         The elevator went directly to the morgue. Katie used it everyday while at work. When the door opened she ran to her desk, looking for her bag and her keys. She grabbed some first aid supplies to bandage up Tiffany's arm. It wasn't looking good.
         Tiffany complained, "My head is killing me."
         The news was still on but there was no reporter in sight. Infecteds passed the camera every so often. Katie stopped to stare at the screen. She couldn't believe her eyes. Their steps were slow as though they had lost control of their legs. Their heads were slung forwards. They looked like corpses, their skin pale. Scenes flashed the same in other cities around the world. A voice over announced, "Reports are coming in from all across the country of widespread chaos. Everyone is in a panic, people have begun looting. A National State of Emergency has been declared and the National Guard and other military forces have been deployed throughout the country. The terror alert has been raised to RED and the president is preparing to address the nation."
         "Come on, we'll go out this way" Katie told Tiffany as they headed toward the emergency exit. They ran across the parking lot towards Katie's Jeep. Before Tiffany had even closed her door, the car was started and the sped out onto the street. She headed for her apartment a few blocks away and couldn't help thinking; Thank God I didn't walk to work today.