Free The Lost Journal (A Secret Apocalypse Story) by James Harden Page B

HAZMAT suits piled out. Two of them strapped Franco to a stretcher and got him into the chopper.
    The rest got to work securing the area.
    They located the three other bodies and threw them into a shallow ditch. They doused them in fuel and set them on fire.
    They watched them burn for a few minutes before they got back in the chopper.
    And just like that, they were gone.
    As Franco was airlifted away I watched the helicopter until it disappeared over the horizon. It was headed somewhere towards the military testing site. Complete opposite direction to the hospital. Maybe there was another hospital. Maybe they wanted to keep him separate from the public and the soldiers because he had been bitten. I don't know.
    Everything happened so damn fast. We didn’t get a chance to ask where they were taking him.
    Way off in the distance, I could also see black smoke rising up into to sky. It looked like it was coming from the Unofficial Immigration Center.
    I looked to the east. There was nothing but miles and miles of flat, desolate land. For a fleeting moment I thought about running away, off into the desert.
    Walking away from all this madness.
    But then Drake said, "Come on. We still got a job to do. Stay frosty."
    He patted me on the shoulder and went off to find a spot to watch for anyone else trying to escape the quarantine.
    He was putting on a brave face but I knew he was just as worried.
    Gordon
    It had been a long day.
    Franco’s injury and his immediate evacuation had left me shaken up. And I couldn’t get the image of those old people sprinting across the desert out of my head.
    A cold shiver ran down my spine whenever I thought about it.
    And just how the hell did they break out? How were they running barefoot through the desert?
    It didn’t make sense.
    I needed to talk this over with Gordon. I had to go and see him.
    I asked Drake if he wanted to come to the hospital but he said he was going to grab a shower and get some food because he was starving. I can’t blame him. We’d been out in the sun all day. We hadn’t had much to eat. Normally I’d be starving as well but after what had happened, I’d completely lost my appetite.
    I probably should’ve forced myself to have something. I should’ve at least showered. It had been such a long couple of days. But everything was a mess. And I needed to see Gordon. He was a level headed guy. I needed to hear him speak. I needed him to tell me it was going to be all right.
    I finally found him in an isolated wing of the small hospital of Woomera. It took me awhile though because there were barely any nurses. Looked like they were understaffed. The nurse who did point me in the right direction was extremely stressed out.
    I walked into Gordon’s room. He was lying flat on his back with his eyes closed. His head was bandaged. It sort of looked like his face was drooping on the left side. His head had been shaved. A long line of stitches ran down the side of his scalp. There may have been more but I couldn’t see under the bandage.
    And for some weird reason, his hands and feet were bound to the rail guards of the hospital bed.
    Despite all that he seemed to be in good spirits.
    When he heard me enter the room he opened his eyes and smiled. "Got the afternoon off?" he asked.
    "Yeah. We've been out on patrol all over the place."
    "Jeez. They’re working you to the bone. What's the deal?"
    "I don’t know, man. It’s getting pretty crazy. We’ve been supervising the testing procedures for the town and the immigration centers."
    "Centers?"
    "Yeah, there’s a secondary immigration center. It’s located out in the military testing zone. It's pretty messed up. It’s basically a slum out in the middle of nowhere."
    "Oh wait. Yeah I heard about that," Gordon said. "I had a roommate in here yesterday. He wouldn’t tell me his rank, but I’m guessing he was pretty high up because he seemed to know a lot of stuff. He probably should’ve kept his mouth shut but he was well