In Hiding: A Survivors Journal of the Great Outbreak Read Free

Funny thing is that despite all of the airtime, there were
still very few actual facts.

 
    I
mean the only real warning I can remember hearing was to avoid anyone who was
showing signs of being ill and to stay alert. Great advice. Yet, despite all
the evidence of what was happening out there most people were still having a
hard time understanding just how serious this whole thing had become. I heard
that some people actually tried driving family members that had been infected
to the hospital. Knowing what I know now, I can’t even imagine what that ride
must have been like. No matter how many times people saw the videos or the
pictures, I don’t think that anyone really understood the true severity of what
we were dealing with at the time.

 
    But
that would all change with the Columbia incident. Columbia, South Carolina was
where the entire country finally had a chance to see and understand what we
were up against. A local newscaster was reporting from in front of one those
medical camps that had been set up by the National Guard. She was in the middle
of her report when all hell broke loose behind her. Doctors, nurses, soldiers
all began running out of the main tent. The cameraman had the perfect angle to
catch everything as it unfolded behind the reporter. What followed them out of
the tent was a few dozen of the infected. They all reminded me of that guy from
the video in Ohio. As slow as they moved and as clumsy as they looked, they
still managed to grab a hold of some of the medical staff. They caught a few of
them and dragged some of those poor people to the ground. Then it looked like
they were biting them. It looked like they were trying to eat them.

 
    That
was when the soldiers opened fire. That was brutal in itself, but the most
horrifying thing was the footage that followed. The bullets didn’t seem to stop
them. Some of the infected fell to the ground as the bullets hit them, but then
they got back to their feet and just kept walking towards the soldiers. It
looked like the shots had no affect on them whatsoever. The news feed ended
abruptly at that point. Apparently the networks felt what followed was too
violent to show on television. I can’t imagine what was worse then what we had
already seen. That footage was broadcast across the country and what followed
could only be described as total chaos.

 
    It
was about that time when I first heard the term Zed used to describe the
infected. The term had originated on the Internet as a way to generalize those
who had succumbed to the virus. I guess it was short for zombie and it was
mainly used by those of us that could see the similarities between the infected
and the zombies of movies and books. Besides, using the word zombie was pretty
much taboo at that point. Anytime anyone used the zombie word in relation to
the virus they were immediately ridiculed for it. It seemed like everyone
wanted to ignore the glaring similarities. Maybe they weren’t zombies, but they
were pretty damn close if you ask me.

 
    Anyway,
after what transpired in Columbia, panic started to rip through society, as
people grew more and more afraid of the virus. There were a lot of accidental
shootings in those days. Not only did people have to fear the Zeds, but the
people who might mistake them for one. Walking around at night became so
dangerous, my city and many others put a strict curfew in place. Everyone had
to be home before dark or face possible jail time or fines. But the shootings
just didn’t happen at night and not all of them were simply a case of
misidentification. Things had started to fall apart.

 
    It
didn’t take me long to realize that the virus wasn’t the only thing to be
worried about. I knew that I had to protect myself from other people and what
they might do. Panic was starting to set in and I needed to be vigilant. People
were capable of strange things when they were scared. So I started barricading
my door each night before I went to bed. I