To Live and Die in Louisiana

Friday, September 21, 2007, 7:18 AM CDT

Johnston St., Lafayette, Louisiana

The former inhabitants of the Blue Note Jazz Club drove northeast on Johnston St. in Lafayette, Louisiana. The road arced east. They were heading for the Evangeline Throughway.

The throughway was split into two roads in this part of town. The first road was three lanes wide heading southeast. They wanted the second road, which was three lanes wide heading northwest, but would soon bend north to Interstate 10.

Neil Decelles drove Chuck Williams' truck through the green light at the first road. As they drove through the intersection, Chuck in the front passenger seat and Eric in the rear seat of the crew cab saw a car bombing toward the intersection. It was not slowing for the red light. Eric estimated that it would slam into the van following behind them, the van with the other Blue Note survivors.

Eric could do nothing but watch as the van entered the intersection. At about 50 miles per hour, the car t-boned the van. The car spun off in one direction, the van in another.

"Stop!" yelled Eric. Neil stopped the truck and then turned it around. He drove into the throughway. Eric, Natasha, and Chuck got out. Neil made to get out, too, but Eric told him and Vee to stay in the vehicle. He told Neil to keep the engine running.

Natasha ran for the van, Chuck for the car, and Eric kept watch as he pulled out his gun.

The van was a write-off. Natasha looked inside. Most of the passengers had not been wearing their seat belts, and the old van had no air bags or they didn't work. Phil Lefevre, Natasha's bartender, had a huge piece of glass sticking out of his left eye. He wasn't moving. A severed arm lay in the lap of Lorrie Gannon, one of the college girls. Lorrie's head hung at an impossible angle. The arm belonged to Kelly Defore, Lorrie's friend. Kelly's skull, and more, was exposed. Natasha didn't need to check for a pulse to know that all three were dead.

Natasha fought back rising hysteria. She ran around to the other side of the van. Jack Damphouse, the drummer for the Festive Kennedys, was still. She checked for a pulse; there wasn't one. Harold Barnes, the bassist, was in a bad way. He had a horrible cut on his forehead, his arm appeared to be broken, and god knew what else was wrong. But he was breathing, so there was still a chance he could survive if they could get him to a hospital. Del Bellamy and Tania Jackson, the final band members, were moving around. They were bruised, but okay. Sarena Corrado, the waitress, was already undoing her seat belt and climbing out. She complained of a sore neck. These three had been wearing their seat belts. Natasha helped them get out of the wreck.

Over at the car, Chuck looked inside to see the driver moaning with his head leaning against the deflated air bag. The man was alive. Chuck started to open the door when he noticed the man's arm. A crude bandage was wrapped around a wound. The blood pattern on the bandage suggested bite marks. Chuck slowly backed away from the vehicle. The man was a goner; he only hoped that the man wouldn't turn in the next few minutes. Chuck ran back to the van.

Eric looked around. He heard something, the shuffling of several pairs of feet. Between two houses on the northeast side of the street were half a dozen people shambling towards them. Zombies! Eric yelled for the others to hurry up.

Sarena, Del, and Tania limped to the truck, lowered the tailgate, and climbed onto the truck bed. Chuck and Natasha pulled Harold out of the van, trying very hard not to make his injuries any worse. It looked like Harold might not even make it to a hospital...

Eric fired his gun into the head of the nearest zombie. It crumpled. He fired at the second, missing. He fired again and again, felling the reanimated corpse. More zombies approached.

Natasha and Chuck lifted Harold onto the truck bed, and then slammed the tail gate closed. Eric fired off another three shots, destroying two more zombies.

"Hurry!" yelled Eric.

"Let's go!" cried Chuck.

Eric backed toward the truck, firing off a couple of rounds. Natasha got into the rear seats on the driver's side, pushing Vee into the middle. Chuck ran around to the driver's door and made Neil scoot across to the passenger seat. He tossed Neil his pistol and told him to reload it. As Eric climbed in, Chuck threw the pickup into drive and punched the accelerator. The truck jumped forward, leaving the zombies and the dead behind.

They drove along Johnston St. to the Evangeline Throughway running northwest. Chuck carefully watched for other traffic, scared of another accident.

Two and a half blocks up the street was a wreck. It looked like all three lanes were blocked. Chuck decided to continue over to South Magnolia — the next major street to the east — and see if it was clear. It connected to the Evangeline Throughway north of the wreck. He drove through the intersection, he passed Plum St. and turned left onto S. Magnolia.

S. Magnolia was clear. Chuck drove along at 40 miles per hour. They travelled two blocks when he saw a woman walking toward the street. He couldn't tell if she was a zombie or not. If he slowed down he risked hitting her. If he stopped she would walk past, but they would be stationary in the street. However, if he floored it he might be able to pass safely in front of her. Chuck floored it.

The truck hit something slick on the road and began to fishtail. Chuck lost control. The truck fishtailed right into the woman, swinging around and hitting her on the driver side just behind the rear tire. She fell out of sight. The truck spun out and hit a parked car. Harold slid around on the truck bed. He hit the side wall of the bed with a sickening crunch. Del, Tania and Sarena cried out.

Chuck threw the truck into reverse. The truck jumped backward and punched into another parked car. The car's bumper jammed together with the truck's. Chuck floored it, trying to pull the truck free of the car. The truck's bumper popped off, and the truck leapt forward. Even though the bumper, with the truck's license plate, was left behind, Chuck did not stop.

Chuck really needed a drink. He pulled out a flask from his jacked pocket, unscrewed it, and took a swig. Natasha saw this. She reached forward, snatched his flask, and took a pull from it herself. She handed it back and Chuck took a long drink.

Eric looked on disapprovingly. He reached forward and grabbed the flask. Chuck let him have it, assuming Eric wanted a drink. He heard Eric lower the truck's window. He looked around in time to see Eric throw the flask out the window.

An incensed Chuck stood on the brakes, bringing the truck to a halt. He yelled at Eric. Eric yelled back. Both pulled out their pistols and pointed them at each other. Vee cried out. Natasha and Neil tried to calm them down.

Someone in the back deck screamed. Everyone in the cab turned around. A woman — the woman Chuck had hit — was pulling herself into the truck bed. She had no legs, and her eyes were lifeless.

Sarena screamed again. She pushed away from the woman, blocking the view — and the line of fire.

The sight of the legless woman was too much for Natasha. She let out a squeal and stared out the back window in frozen horror.

The legless zombie threw herself at Del Bellamy. She grasped Del's neck and gnawed away at it. Blood spurted up in a tall jet. Del let out a gurgling scream. Tania was screaming as well.

Eric slid open the remaining intact window. He grasped Sarena by the shoulders and hauled her into the cab. She kicked as she was pulled in, doing all she could to stay away from the zombie in the back deck. She fell on top of Vee.

Chuck fired. He hit the woman in the head, but the bullet didn't kill — or, rather, deanimate — her. Instead, she flew into the corner near Tania. The legless woman scrambled onto the singer's leg and bit deep into the woman's flesh. Blood oozed from the woman's mouth as Tania tried to shake the zombie from her. Blood continued to gush out of Del.

Eric sat up, aimed his gun, and fired. He hit the zombie between the eyes. The zombie's head exploded. Blood and brains spattered the back deck of the truck bed. The corpse fell still.

Tania lay in the truck bed crying and holding her badly bitten leg. Del's body had stopped pumping blood, but his limbs were still twitching. Eric took very careful aim and shot Tania in the back of the head, ending her life quickly. Del was dead, but was still moving. Eric shot Del in the head, too. Harold wasn't moving. He apparently died either from injuries received in the van, or from further injuries received when the truck crashed against the parked cars. Either way, he had not been infected; he did not rise.

The truck bed was covered in blood; it looked like an open-air abattoir.

More zombies were approaching. Chuck threw the truck into gear and sped up the road.

Eric didn't want to leave the body parts in the back of the truck. As Natasha started to recover and Vee and Sarena held each other, Eric climbed out the window into the bed. He lifted Del's body, pulled it to the side of the truck, and threw it off the vehicle.

The two halves of Evangeline Throughway came together — divided only by a wide grass median — in front of a Super Wal-Mart on their left and a La Quinta Inn and Suites on their right. Wandering on the road in front of them were about three dozen zombies. Some of them wore blue vests of Wal-Mart employees; a couple wore red Wal-Mart manager vests.

Chuck swung the pickup into the median. The pickup bounced around and slid back and forth. Eric, in the truck bed, lost his footing. He fell into the blood and gore, soaking his pants and shirt. He got back on his feet and slid over to the legless woman. He threw her body off the truck. Chuck sped past the mob of zombies as Eric threw Tania and Harold out of the truck. Chuck maneuvered the truck back onto the road.

Eric slid over to the cooler in the truck bed. In the cooler were bottles of beer. He pulled off his shirt and soaked it in the icy water. He used his shirt to clean the blood and tissue from his hands and arms. He poured cold water over himself and scrubbed at the blood. When he was done he threw away the shirt.

Chuck slowed down as they got to the interstate. The road ahead of them turned into I-49 and took them to Alexandria. I-10 would get them to Baton Rouge if they went east and Lake Charles — and eventually Houston — if they went west. They decided to go east as Baton Rouge was only an hour away and on the other side of the Mississippi. They thought having the Mississippi between them and the zombies was a good idea.

Eric climbed back into the truck as it turned onto the east bound ramp of I-10. The road was very quiet for a Friday morning rush hour. In fact, the only vehicle they saw was a panel truck with Texas plates racing along the fast lane. Chuck cut the speed down to 40 mph. He thought that it would be too dangerous to drive along the highway too quickly.

After twenty minutes the road became an elevated highway supported by concrete pillars, the Atchafalaya Swamp Freeway. All around them was southern Louisiana swamp country. The east and west bound lanes were separated by a gap about twenty feet wide.

Chuck saw traffic ahead of them. The nearest vehicles had their brakes on. Most did not, as they were parked. People stood between the vehicles. As Chuck slowed down he flicked his lights and hit the horn. People turned around to look at them. They reacted like humans, and not zombies. Chuck brought his pickup to a stop.

Far in front they could just make out a military roadblock consisting of Humvees and Bradley IFVs. Armed troops in NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) suits moved about the vehicles. They were funneling people toward the edge of road and through a checkpoint, but not before giving them a thorough inspection.

A man and a woman, both in business attire, spoke to each other. Another woman — in a tight t-shirt and jeans — got out of her car and walked back toward them. A man, armed with a pistol stuck in his belt got out of a car that just pulled up beside the pickup. The car had Louisiana plates and a University of Louisiana at Lafayette Rajin' Cajun bumper sticker. "It's the Apocalypse, I tell you!" yelled the man as he got out of the car. "The dead are rising!" The other drivers looked at him.

Chuck had seen enough. He backed up the truck, then turned it around. He drove along the shoulder beside the fast lane and drove back down the highway, going the wrong way. Surprisingly, no cars approached them.

After they got out of the swamp area, Chuck drove over the median and into the west bound lanes. They saw no traffic in either direction. They discussed their next moves. They could try to head for Houston, but it was likely that I-10 was blocked in that direction, too, as there was no traffic coming toward them. Eric was adamant that they should not surrender to the army. He thought they would likely throw them in some sort of cage until inspected, particularly since he was covered in blood. That would leave them incredibly vulnerable if someone in the cage changed into a zombie.

They had no idea where the zombie outbreak started. They did know that last evening Alexandria was peaceful and, apparently, uninfected. They decided to head up I-49 to Alexandria, then on to Shreveport. They would decide what to do after they got to Shreveport.

They drove back to Lafayette, pulled off I-10 and onto I-49 north. Twenty minutes later, at Chuck's reduced speed, they came to Opelousas. Sirens and gunshots rang out from somewhere in the small city. They passed a broken down car with a zombie trapped within it, it's face pressed against the window. The occasional mobile deceased walked along the side of the road. Several wrecks with blood and gore splattered around them lay along the highway. Chuck weaved his way through the wrecks and north out of Opelousas.

Less than 15 miles later, they came to yet another traffic jam. They could see Humvees at the front of the line. The army was busy here, too.

Chuck drove onto the grassy median and then north on the nearest shoulder of the southbound lanes. He didn't get far before he saw another army roadblock. There were more troops in NBC suits. Cars heading southbound were being turned off at exit 40. Those like Chuck, who had swung into the southbound lanes to go north, were being taken from their vehicles and herded through the block into an area of tents and makeshift fences.

"Turn around!" said Eric.

Chuck pointed out that behind them were zombies. Eric told him to head back toward Opelousas anyway, while they figured out what to do. They passed more cars that tried to do what they did: switching to the southbound lanes to go north. They moved carefully past these cars and slowly headed southward.

Neil dug around in Chuck's glove compartment. He found a Louisiana road map. Chuck stopped and they studied the map.

If they got off the road at exit 27 they could take Louisiana Road #10 to Lebeau, LA 361 to Big Cane, Goudeau, and Evergreen, then LA 115 to Bunkie. From Bunkie they could take US 71 into Alexandria, as it ran parallel to I-49. They agreed on the route and started back down the highway.

They got off I-49 at exit 27 and drove into Lebeau. They saw a police cruiser stopped at the side of the road. Chuck made sure to drive carefully. They continued to Big Cane. There wasn't much here except a gas station and a Family Dollar store. They tanked up the car, and then Chuck ran into Family Dollar. Chuck came out with a cheap sweat suit for Eric to wear. Eric stripped off his blood soaked clothes, threw them away, and put on the sweat suit.

They drove through Goudeau and Evergreen. Not long after, they came to Bunkie. They drove past another police cruiser. They weren't speeding, but the car started moving, the lights came on, and car pulled up right behind them. Eric guessed it was because they were driving without a bumper or a license plate.

The police officer walked up to the truck casually, but he then glanced into the truck bed, and then he drew his gun. The officer spoke into his microphone before yelling at the vehicle's occupants to keep their hands where he could see them.

The escapees from Lafayette showed the officer their hands. Chuck was quick to tell the officer that they had weapons in the vehicle, but that the weapons were not concealed. No one wanted to worry the policeman more than he already was. Carrying pistols in the car was not illegal. Having a truck bed splattered in blood was not illegal (except if they were hunting without a license). Driving without a license plate was illegal, but a pretty minor offense. The blood, the weapons and the license plate were suspicious enough to let the officer take them in for questioning. Added to this was Chuck's breath. The officer could smell alcohol on it, though it was likely that Chuck would pass a breathalizer test by this point.

Another cruiser appeared. In short order they were arrested and shoved into the two police cars. Vee, Sarena and Neil were put in one car, Natasha, Eric and Chuck in the other.

"I havent been in a police car before," said Natasha.

"I havent been in a civilian police car before," added Eric.

"I havent been in this police car before," stated Chuck.

They were taken to the police station in Bunkie for questioning. The station was small, with a couple of interrogation rooms, a communal jail, and a couple of meeting rooms. They were kept as separate as possible, and then they were questioned individually. They were asked about the license plate and the guns, but in particular about the blood. Each one of them said essentially the same thing: people infected by some horrible brain disease attacked them, and Eric had no choice but to shoot the people in self defence. Natasha stated this while in near hysterics. Chuck and Eric were much more calm about it. Vee, Sarena and Neil corroborated the story.

They had essentially stated that Eric had killed multiple people during a riot, supposedly to protect their lives. Eric even confessed. This was a serious crime, one that overrode Chuck's DUI charge (which wouldn't hold water as Chuck passed the breathalizer test).

They waited while the Bunkie police contacted the Lafayette police. An hour went by. Then two. Then three. Then four. All the time, the police officers ran in and out of the station. Eric demanded his phone call. A police officer said he would get him to a phone, but it was clear the police were harried. Something was going on in nearby Opelousas.

The officer pulled them out of the jail cell and took them to a meeting room. This was a curious move. Apparently they were having more and more trouble getting in touch with Lafayette. Perhaps they were finding out just what was happening south of them. Perhaps they were realizing that this far-fetched story wasn't so far-fetched, or rare, as they thought. What could this small police force, being pulled in multiple directions at once, do when law and order in Lafayette had apparently dissolved? The Bunkie police contacted the state police and were waiting for help.

While they waited, the Blue Note survivors were joined by another man brought in by the police. This man had apparently wrecked his car nearby. He was pale, sweating, and shivering. He also had a bad cut on his arm. It looked like a bite...

The survivors moved away from the man. Natasha and Chuck loudly cried out for the police to lock the guy in a jail cell. Eric said the same thing, but in a more controlled tone. The police officer said that the man could not be put in a cell because he needed medical attention. Chuck asked to be moved to a separate room, perhaps an interrogation room. The police officer obliged. Natasha also asked to be removed. She was put into a different room. This left Neil, Sarena, Vee, Eric, and the police officer in the room with the man. Eric saw that the man had stopped breathing.

Eric got the police officer's attention as the man started to move. The man got up and rushed for the nearest person... Eric. He lunged at Eric. Eric jumped out of the way. The police officer demanded that the man sit down. He did not. Instead he lunged toward the police officer while emitting an unearthly moan. Vee cried out. Sarena swore and stood on her chair. Neil looked around for a weapon.

The police officer pulled out his mace and fired into the man's face. Eric told the officer that it wouldn't have any effect. Eric was right.

The officer then fired his taser at the man. Eric said that this wouldn't work either, that the officer would have to shoot the man in the head. Eric was right, the taser did nothing.

Finally, the police officer drew his gun, all the time yelling at the man. Eric was behind and a little to the left of the police officer. Eric told the officer to fire at the man's head. Instead, the cop fired into the man's center mass. The man fell down. And then he got back up and came after the cop. The cop fired again, and the man went down again, and then got back up. Eric grabbed a chair made of metal tubing and a plastic seat and back.

"Shoot his head!" yelled Eric. This time the officer did as Eric suggested. A single bullet shot away part of the man's skull, exposing the brain. The man kept coming on. The police officer's mouth dropped open, and then he ran out of the room in terror. The man came after Eric.

Eric hit the man with the chair, but it didn't seem to do anything. He tried to kick the zombie with a martial arts move, but he missed. The zombie grabbed at him. Eric tried to dodge, but the zombie was too fast. It got a good hold of Eric... and bit him in the neck.

Eric cried out, then pushed off the zombie. He did a spinning kick to the zombie's head, sinking his foot into the wound created by the cop's bullet. His foot sunk in deep. The zombie dropped to the floor.

Ignoring Neil and the women, Eric ran into a nearby restroom. He found some hand sanitizer. He poured it into the wound. So far he didn't feel anything strange, just the sting of the sanitizer. Nevertheless, as far as he knew he was a goner. Soon he'd die... and then his body would reanimate.

He left the bathroom. The other officer came into the room. He saw the dead man lying on the floor, and then saw Eric and his wound.

At that moment, a military truck pulled up at the police station. Three men in NBC suits and M-16 assault rifles ran into the station. "There was a wounded man in here?" they asked. They saw the dead man on the floor. They saw Eric. They immediately pointed their weapons at the ex-Force Recon Marine and ordered him to come with them.

The next thing Eric knew, he was being escorted out of the building by the men in the NBC suits. He strongly suspected that he was being taken somewhere to be euthanized. He really didn't want that to happen. If he was going to turn into a zombie he was capable of killing himself before that happened. Otherwise, he wanted to see if the sanitizer worked.

As they escorted him out of the building Eric saw a National Guardsman — without an NBC suit — walking toward the station. As the guardsman passed, Eric swung around and elbowed the Guardsman in the face. The guardsman started to fall. Before the troopers in the NBC suits could react, Eric swung the guardsman onto his back and ran out the door.

Two of the NBC soldiers fired. Their bullets slammed into the Guardsman's flak vest. Eric continued to run. There was a stand of trees nearby. If he could make it that far, he could drop the guardsman and escape into the nearby cotton field. Okay, the cotton plants were only about waist high at the most, but he'd at least have a chance if he got that far.

The troopers knelt and fired three rounds each. Nine bullets slammed into Eric's left leg. There was no pain as the leg went numb and he went down.

Eric was pinned under the weight of the guardsman. The other troopers came up to him. Without speaking one of them aimed the M-16 at Eric's skull. The trooper fired. The bullet tore into Eric's brain, killing him instantly.