Outbreak - Book One

Chapter One - The Pilot

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS HEAVY THEMES OF VIOLENCE, GORE, SUICIDE, DRUG USE, AND DEATH

Four firefighters sat around a long wooden table that had a shiny finish in the office located at the back of the fire department. One of the men was playing solitaire by himself at the end of the table while the other three were having small talk and devouring a box of doughnuts at the opposite end of the table. They were all half wearing their uniforms in case of an emergency, so they could quickly jump into the rest of their firefighting gear without wasting too much time. The man who sat alone wore a pair of circular glasses that had a crack down the middle of the right lens due to a recent rescue mission they were on. His name was Beckham. He was medium height with a skinny but jacked build. Beckham had flowing black hair and blue eyes and just turned 23 the other day. The other three officers were Nelson, Clarence, and Shawn. Nelson had a full beard that was neatly trimmed but slightly scruffy in the areas it existed. His slicked back brown hair complimented his beard perfectly. He was deep in his thirties, 36 to be exact. Nelson was also decently tall, being almost 6 feet in height. Clarence was Nelson's best friend since college and he was the short one. About 5' 9". He had a medium build, but unfortunately that didn't help the fact that Clarence was already balding a little at the young age of 34, but he tried not to let it interfere with his ego. He's always reminded he's cared for though by his wife who doesn't love him for his hair, but for who he is inside. Finally, Shawn was the oldest on the team, he was 46 and was a scary guy you probably wouldn't want to piss off, and he sure acted tough to back it up. He was slightly taller than Clarence, but his hairline was nowhere to be seen. At least that could help Clarence's ego a bit.

"The hell is even a new years resolution anyway?" Nelson bickered with Clarence and Shawn. "A man's gotta have something to work towards other than the usual bullshit." Clarence replied back, taking the opposition in this conversation as he often does with Nelson. "Care to fill us in on what is so much more worse in your life than pointless resolutions." Nelson laughed "Or as you put it, the usual bullshit." He said, poking fun at Clarence. "I don't know, taking care of the kids all the time and making sure the wife doesn't go blaming me for everything every chance she gets." Clarence clapped back. "Hey man, be grateful you even got a wife with that receding hairline you got going on there." Shawn stepped in. "Yeah, maybe put a 'new wig' under your very important resolutions while you're at it." Nelson teased him even more. "Whatever, y'all go fuck yourselves." Replied Clarence as he rose from his seat and snagged one more doughnut before going into the garage with all the trucks so he could eat in peace. Nelson just simply laughed it off. Not even 10 seconds later the loud ring of the fire bell rang throughout the entire station. The four guys all immediately dropped what they were doing and quickly rushed to the lockers that kept their equipment inside. They all simultaneously were putting on their heavy jackets, helmets, boots, and oxygen tank as fast as their arms and legs would allow them. Nelson jumped in the fire engine parked in the middle of the three lanes in the garage as he punched the keys into the ignition and the other firemen got in. The doors slowly crawled open as Nelson slammed on the gas and jerked the steering wheel turning making the tires squeal as they turned onto the road. Clarence made sure to flip on the flashing lights and press the sirens on as they loudly raced down the streets that were no longer busy since every car moved over and stood stationary at either end of the road giving Nelson room and creating a path as he sped in the direction of the emergancy. "UHMMM, 4500 DOUGLAS STREET!" Beckham shouted the address to Nelson over the deafening sirens that rang through their ears. "ISN'T THAT THE SCHOOL?!" Nelson shouted back at him...

Caleb sat in his Math class, last block of the day and he was so tired that anything looked like a comfortable place to rest his head and use as a pillow. "Okay, now what we need to really know here is how we can make this fraction equal to that one." The teacher spoke clearly facing the chalkboard as he scribbled a new problem on the board. Caleb focused on the clock, watching it inch like a tortoise to the big '3' in fancy font that marks his freedom from this hellscape. He tried really hard not to drop his head on the desk and sleep on his pencil case that looked oh so inviting. Every 10 minutes Caleb kept looking over to the clock, but only 1 minute would progress each time he looked, making this lesson feel even more infinitely long. It didn't even appear like the hand was moving at all. The teacher's words slowly started going in one ear and out the other as Caleb started feeling hypnotized by the background noise drowning out the talking and before you know it, his head was submerged in his pencils with his arms hugging around his head.