The Apocalypse Diaries

By Robert Blair

For months, a sinister phenomenon has been unfolding beyond the borders of the United States, a looming terror whose origins remain shrouded in mystery. The global contagion, an enigmatic virus, has cast its relentless shadow over the entire world, yet Americans had, for a time, embraced a false sense of security under the reassurance of their g

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Blair
• Release date: Oct 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798868914720

Robert Blair

Professor Robert Blair is a recognized expert in animal nutrition and feeding, having served as a Principal Scientific Officer with the UK Agricultural Research Council; Director of Nutrition with Swift Canadian Company; Professor of Animal Science and Director, Prairie Swine Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Canada; and Professor and Head (later Professor Emeritus), Department of Animal Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Professor Blair is a Past-President and Board Member of the World Association for Animal Production, Rome, Italy; Fellow of the Agricultural Institute of Canada; and a former Editor-in-Chief , Animal Feed Science and Technology, Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Currently he serves as a member of the International Expert Panel, International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, Tjele, Denmark and as a member of the Expert Database, EFSA (European Food Safety Authority), Parma, Italy.

Book preview

Chapter One

In light of the recent developments covered extensively in the news over the past week, I regret to inform you that our class will be concluding earlier than usual today. I kindly request that all of you ensure the cleanliness and tidiness of your respective laboratory workspaces and, as a matter of utmost importance, return any unused chemicals to the designated storage room.

The chemistry professor, her countenance marked by a somewhat restrained smile, momentarily shifts her attention from her laptop to convey this message before allowing us to conclude our activities for the day.

Following this announcement, my lab partner, Heather, voices her discontent while efficiently gathering her notebooks and arranging them within her backpack. She presents me with a request, stemming from her impending doctor's appointment located across town. Given the unpredictability of traffic, she expresses doubt regarding her ability to arrive punctually.

Understanding her predicament, I readily agreed to assume the responsibility of returning our lab materials. I offered a reassuring smile as she deftly secured her backpack onto her shoulders. As she made her exit from the room, her hurried departure left me with a courteous parting: Thanks, Aiden. Will I have the pleasure of seeing you again next week? Without waiting for my response, she gracefully exited the room, casting a casual wave in my direction as the weighty metal door swung shut behind her.

Yeah, like we'll even be here next week, the guy who sits across from us mumbled under his breath.

Scrunching my eyebrows, I try not to dwell too long on his words, but it is hard not to with everything that has been on the news lately. Six months of government officials talking about how everything is under control hasn't been too reassuring. Especially since the attacks have been happening more frequently, gradually moving from the East Coast over to the West Coast.

Whole cities have gone dark, no more information coming out of them from the government officials, but it is not too hard to find some of the terrifying videos online. Most people think the videos are fake, something that was created by people trying to scare the general public even more.

Someone clearing their throat draws me out of my musings, and looking up, I see that the professor is looking at me over her glasses, a brow raised and a small smile on her face.

Sorry, I mumble, so low that I don't even know if she was able to hear me. But, she nods her head anyway before returning her gaze back to her computer.

With all of the chemicals stacked on my tray, I slip my backpack onto my shoulders before walking out of the room. The hallway is mostly empty, only the occasional student sitting on the ground as they type away at their laptops or cell phones.

My Converse slapping on the tiled flooring is the only sound I can hear, making it sound like I am the only person in this entire building. That theory is put to rest though when I trip over someone's legs just as I reach the counter where the lab storage technician is standing. Consequently, my arms start to flail as I try to catch myself, and the chemicals in my hands go flying everywhere.

Holy shit! a deep voice says, but I am too busy seeing my life flash before my eyes as I fall to the ground to face the guy. Great, it had to be the acid that got spilled all over.

After spilling most of their contents, the glass beakers shatter onto the ground, and I am not coordinated enough to dodge the broken glass and the multiple acids we had used in class today. My shirt gets sopping wet as it soaks in the liquids I had managed to fall in.

Come on, we both have to rinse off now.

A hand reaches down before my face and looking up, I see the lab technician standing over me. My face makes a smock sound when I pull it away from the ground as if it was suctioned to the cold floor. Grimacing, I push myself onto my knees before grabbing the guy's hand. Reading his badge, I see that his name is Skylar.

The embarrassment really sets in when my eyes land on his face. Brown eyes framed by dark lashes, his nose a little small, but it is balanced out by his plump lips. A tingling starts in my chest, and before I can think too long on the sensation, it turns into a burning. Every place where my shirt is wet feels like fire pressed up against my skin.

Aw shit, I say, reaching up my hands to pull the fabric away from my chest.

Come on, Skylar says, putting his hand on the center of my back and hurriedly pushing me around the counter and into the back room where the chemicals are stored. That pain you're feeling would be the acid that got spilled everywhere. Including my chest.

Skylar pushes me over to the corner of the room, where a shower is placed. The burning in my chest gets even more painful, and it starts to travel down to my pants. As soon as Skylar turns the water on, I shuck all my clothes besides my briefs, tossing them in the general direction of the hazardous material bin.

The cool water feels amazing on my burning skin causing a sigh to slip from between my lips before I can help it. Just when my chest is starting to feel a little less on fire, a bottle is being thrust into my hand. Blinking open my eyes, I see Skylar pulling off his own shirt, revealing his toned chest.

Here take this and wash everywhere that the acid touched. It will get any remnants of it off.

Yeah, okay, I say a bit breathlessly, my eyes widening when Skylar joins me in the shower. He moves me a little bit out of the way, that way he can get under the spray of water, too.

With shaky hands, I snap open the bottle, pouring a little into my hand before rubbing it all over my chest and down my legs. My cheeks and chest warm up in embarrassment when I see that I am in my bright pink briefs. The ones my older sister got me as a gag gift on my birthday, and I only ever pull them out when I am in desperate need of doing laundry.

My thoughts are cut short, though, when the lights above us flicker before completely going out. Luckily, we both finish washing before the water shuts off, too.

What the hell? Skylar says from somewhere in front of me. It is nearly impossible to see him in the darkness. The light shining in from one of the windows in the hallway makes it so that I can see his outline but nothing else.

What's going on? I ask, reaching out my hand until I make contact with his back. It's a little comforting to know that I am not the only one here.

I don't know, but the backup generators should kick on soon.

Sure enough, an orange glow is cast around the room as the emergency lights come on, making it possible to see again. Skylar's dark brows are scrunched together as he looks around the room as if trying to see if anything is out of place. After a solid minute of us just standing there, he turns around to grab my hand from where I have it on his back. Come on, I think I have a towel in my locker.

The building is silent as we dodge the tables laid throughout the room and make it to the back wall. Neither of us talks as we towel off, instead trying to catch the sound of what is going on.

Jesus it's cold in here, I say, wrapping my arms around myself as a cold shiver works its way down my body. The room is pretty cool, and standing in just wet underwear isn't helping.

Hold on... Skylar steps away, throwing his towel back into his locker before going over to a door only a few feet in front of us and opening it. It's too dark for me to see what's inside, but Skylar lets out a satisfied, Aha! before reaching inside and grabbing what he was looking for.

What are those? I ask, finding it difficult to see what he is so excited about in the dark.

Some extra scrubs that some of the doctors who work here use. Every once in a while, they go through them a little too quickly, so they started keeping them in the most unlikely storage areas. He closes the distance between us, handing me one of the pajama-like outfits. We're quick to put them on, desperate to escape some of the cold air in the room.

A loud scream from down the hall draws the both of us to a halt. It sounded like it was coming from the hallway that this storage room is connected to. Heavy footsteps, sounding like a group of ten or more people, run down the hall, coming closer to the door that separates us from them.

Skylar holds his arm out when I move to walk towards the noise. He doesn't look away from the door, not even to look over at me when he says a quiet. Stay here. Quickly, he walks over to the door, his footsteps so gentle that I can't hear him over the stampede making its way up the hallway.

A loud growl cuts through the air, making the people outside fasten their footsteps and scream louder. Something crazy is going on out there. The people in the hallway need help. Swallowing back my fear, I run across the room and reach for the door knob, but before I can open the door, Skylar is knocking my hand away.

If you open this door, whatever is out there chasing them will come after us. Reaching down, he locks the door before sliding down it so that his back is pressed up against it.

We can't just leave them out there to die. The screams from outside become louder and in just a matter of seconds, they are right outside the door. Hands pound against the metal and the doorknob jiggles as multiple people try to get into our safe space. I reach for the doorknob again, but just as he did before, Skylar knocks my hand away.

Skylar just shakes his head, his eyes wide and a finger over his mouth as he tells me to be silent. Angry, I try to open the door anyway. My hand is just making contact with the metal knob when strong arms wrap around me, keeping my arms pinned against my sides.

They're terrified. We have to try and help them, I whisper, struggling against Skylar's strong grip.

We can't- He is cut off by a weird screeching sound that makes the both of us wince. It sounds as if someone is trying to cut glass, only much louder.

Skylar's arms drop away from me so that he can cover his ears, and I do the same. My ears feel as is they are about to burst, and just when I think that I am going to lose my hearing for good, the noise dies down. Instead of the screeching, whatever is out there makes an odd clicking sound.

Oh god, please no!

Somebody help us!

Let us in!

Please-

The voices are slowly replaced with screams, and then silence, a couple of thumps against the door indicating that they fell against it when they died.

Skylar and I look at each other, both with wide eyes. The clicking starts up again, but this time there are two different sets, one stopping when the other one starts. There have to be two of the creatures out there, and it sounds like they are communicating with one another.

The coldness of the room causes me to shiver, and my teeth start to chatter. Within a second, Skylar is standing next to me, one hand on the back of my head while the other holds my jaw still. I hold my breath, trying to tell if the beasts outside heard me or not, but we are only met with silence on the other side of the door.

Chapter Two

A whole minute passes with us standing there silently, trying to listen for anything in the hallway. The clicking starts up again, this time more incessant than before, but it becomes quieter as the beasts must be moving away from the door.

Finally, after what feels like forever, Skylar looks down at me. What's your name again?

This time, it is me who raises a brow at him, my eyes flicking between his brown eyes and the hand he has holding my mouth closed. Skylar scrunches his eyebrows together before finally understanding that I cannot talk with his hand holding my jaw closed.

Oh, sorry about that, he says a little bashfully. He pulls his hands away from my jaw and head, and I reach up, rubbing where his hand had been.

It's fine. Cracking my jaw, I look back over to where my backpack is lying. The keys to my car and my apartment are in there; two very important things at the moment. Those beasts could be back any minute, and we should get out of here while we can. The thought of them returning has me hustling over to my dark blue backpack.

The sound of Skylar clearing his throat causes me to pause in my search of my keys and look over my shoulder at him. He has his arm stretched over his shoulder as he scratches the back of his head and gives me a hesitant smile. Your name?

Aiden Hale. He nods his head holding his hand out to me. It takes me a second to realize that he wants me to shake his hand. Oh. My hand shoots out so quickly to grab his that I end up slapping his hand pretty hard when ours meet. Wincing, I try to give him an apologetic smile. Looking up, I see that he has a wider smile than before on his face.

I'm Skylar Foster. He gives my hand a brusque shake and a squeeze before letting go. What were you doing here? I thought all classes were canceled today because of what has been going on.

Ah, well, my professor didn't want to get behind in her planning, so she had us come in anyway. She ended up letting us out earlier than usual, but I think it was only because she was too busy doing something on her computer. My eyebrows scrunch in confusion as I look around the room. What are you doing here if there were supposed to be no classes today? I thought the people who are in the storage department only worked on days that there are classes.

Skylar grimaces for a second before hesitantly meeting my eyes. Ah, yeah, well that's how it's usually supposed to work, but since my professor wasn't too happy about the prank my friend and I played, I was stuck working today. He looks around the semi-cluttered room. He was supposed to be here, too, but he never showed up. We were supposed to organize everything in here.

My brows raise minutely as I follow where his eyes are tracking across the room. Didn't get too far, hm?

Skylar opens his mouth to protest my words, but the sounds of approaching footsteps stop both of us in our tracks. Skylar gestures for me to stay where I am again, but I just narrow my eyes at him. Together, we walk silently back to the door, standing only a few feet away from it. Something is coming, and it is not going to be good.

A shadow from the other side peeks in through the crack between the floor and the door. As quietly as I can, I lower myself down, laying my face flat onto the cold linoleum. The crack in the underneath the door is just big enough so that I can see the feet of the figure that stopped outside the door.

Quickly, I stand back up, backing quietly away from the door. Skylar's eyes track down my trembling body. The fear must be showing in my eyes because as soon as his meet mine, he jerks away from the door.

Not human? he mouths.

I shake my head in answer. The feet I saw were definitely not human. The sickly green pallor of them and the way they are gnarled tells me that they may have once been human, but they no longer are anymore.

A crashing sound snaps our eyes back to the now trembling door. Before we have any time to respond, another succession of slams come, making the entire door shake in its frame.

That door isn't going to last long. Skylar doesn't even bother to whisper anymore. It's too late for that; the beast out there somehow knows we're in here.

There's no other way out of here, I say, voice catching a little bit. It's going to kill us.

Not if I can help it. Skylar rushes over to the side of the room where a large bookcase is placed. He gets behind it, pushing with all of his might, but it isn't budging. His muscles strain and his face starts to turn red with the amount of effort he is putting in to move the stubborn piece of furniture. A little help here, Aiden?

His words snap me out of the trance I had somehow fallen into. The hinges on the door are straining by the time we push the heavy shelf in front of it. Both of us move around the room, piling anything that we can move around the bookcase.

Heaving, I try to catch my breath. Placing a hand on my heart, I hope to slow it down from its current galloping pace. The thought of the inevitability of that creature getting in is not helping me to calm down.

Aiden, come on. I think I found a way out. Skylar grabs my arm, pulling me over to the back of the room.

Really? I say, the hope clear in my voice. It is shot to hell, though, when Skylar points up at the ceiling. He has an encouraging look on his face, but it isn't too reassuring when he flinches every time the door makes a creaking sound whenever the creature throws itself against it. You want us to climb through the vents?

Yeah.

Are you sure we're going to fit?

If the maintenance guy with a beer belly can slide himself around in there, then we should be fine.

How are we even supposed to get up there? This ceiling is at least ten to twelve feet high.

You climb on my shoulders and you can haul yourself up. He bends down, balancing himself with his hands as he stays in a crouched position. He looks back up at me. Then once you're up there, you can help to pull me up.

I don't think this is going to work, I say but straddle his shoulders anyway.

We don't have much choice, now, do we?

God, you're so freaking bossy.

If you think I'm bossy now, you should see me in b- His words are cut off by the sound of one of the hinges on the door snapping off. The metal makes a groaning sound as it bends in on itself from the weight of the slams raining down on it.

Less talking, more escaping, Skylar says. I almost lose my balance when he stands up quickly but manage to catch myself at the last minute. Ow! Those are my eyes, Aiden. Ah, so that's why the skin under my hands is a little squishy.

Maybe you should've given me some warning before standing.

Skylar mumbles something under his breath at my words but continues to stand up.

With him standing as straight as he can, I am still barely able to reach the vent that is supposed to lead to our survival.

Can you reach it? Skylar asks. The ridges of the vent just brush my fingertips.

Not quite; hold on. Stretching as far as I can, I lift myself off of Skylar's shoulders a couple of inches, making it possible for me to lift the vent away. I got it! I got it!

In my excitement, I lose my balance a little bit, almost sending the both of us tumbling to the ground. The vent clanks down onto the ground when I let go of it in order to once again grip onto Skylar's face. Luckily, Skylar is quick enough and manages to keep himself standing and me on top of his shoulders.

I swear to God, I am going to go blind from your fingers gouging into my eyes, he says, reaching up a hand to pry mine away from his face. Instead, I move one to his hair and the other to his shoulder.

Sorry.

The sound of the door being completely ripped off of its hinges pushes us both into overdrive.

Okay, Aiden. Get into that vent. Skylar pushes himself up into his tip toes, allowing me to grip the edge of the ceiling and pull myself up. My arms strain under the weight of hauling my body into the vent. Pull ups were always my least favorite thing to do in high school gym class.

The sound of furniture being shoved around causes a surge of adrenaline to flow throughout my body. Somehow, in just a matter of seconds, I am able to pull myself into the vent.

I reach my arm back through the hole, signaling Skylar that I am ready for him. Skylar backs away from me, his eyes never wavering from my hand. Taking a deep breath, he pushes himself away from the wall behind him and runs as quickly as he can, jumping at the last minute to reach my hand.

A huff of air rushes out of my body when my arm absorbs the force of his jump and all of his weight. My feet are hooked onto an edge in the vent, making it possible for me to use both my hands to haul Skylar up into the air vent.

The loud screech of the creature bounces off the walls in the room. Skylar looks over at it, and he must not like what he sees, because his eyes widen exponentially before he looks back over at me, the fear clear in his brown eyes. Aiden, haul me up.

I'm trying, I say through gritted teeth. I manage to pull him up a couple of inches by using the ridge in the air shaft as leverage. Weight lifting was never my forte.

You can do it. Just a couple more inches and then I can pull myself up the rest of the way.

The clicking of the creature is coming closer. The thought of that creature getting us, even though I have no idea what said creature looks like, pushes me to levy Skylar up the last couple inches.

He lets go of one of my hands to grip the edge of the ceiling. The combination of both me and himself pulling him up gets him waist high in the vest in only a matter of seconds. The screeching starts up again, but this time it is much closer than before. It sounds like it is only a few feet away, quickly closing the distance between itself and a dangling Skylar.

Come on, come on, I mumble more to myself than to Skylar, but he manages to hear me anyway.

Letting go of my hand, Skylar pulls himself the rest of the way in, letting out a sigh of relief. Both of us try to catch our breath, chests heaving and heart racing from the exertion of having to pull ourselves up into this thing. Our reprieve is brief, unfortunately. The screech of the creature is right below us, and Skylar, rather stupidly, peeks over the edge at it.

It doesn't look like it can jump, but I don't really want to figure that out for myself. He pushes himself away from the edge, looking back over at me. Let's get out of here.

Chapter Three

The cold from earlier is no longer a problem. Crawling around in the air vents really warms a person up. The struggle of trying to crawl around in a slippery tunnel combined with wearing loose medical scrubs, and trying to be quiet so as to not draw the attention of those creatures makes for an exhausting trip.

How close do you think we are to reaching an exit? I ask between my heavy breathing. Reaching up a shaky hand, I try to wipe away the sweat from my forehead. It's useless. My hair is matted to my forehead and my hand is already damp from my previous attempts of wiping away the moisture. We've been crawling around in here forever, and I honestly don't know if I can do this for much longer.

We're almost there. I think that air vent in front of us will take us into one of the side classrooms, and hopefully it will have one of those fire escapes on it so that we can climb down.

Aren't those only on the south side of the building?

Yeah.

Are you certain we're going the right way?

Yeah. He pauses. Well, mostly sure.

Great. There is a seventy-five percent chance that we could be going the wrong way and trapping ourselves even more. But, we can't stay in these vents forever. Eventually, we are going to have to face whatever is out there, again. The feeling of dread settles itself in my stomach, and there is nothing I can do to get rid of it.

Just when I feel as if my arms are going to fall off from all the army crawling we've been doing in here, Skylar let's out a quiet but very excited, Aha!

Are we- gasp -there?

Skylar looks over his shoulder at me with a wide smile on his face. My eyes narrow a little bit when I see that he has barely broken a sweat from the hour or so we have been in these vents. I feel like I am about to die from heat exhaustion and lack of oxygen, and he still looks as good as before.

Yeah. It looks like the classroom below us is empty, and it's a corner room. Corner rooms are good. That means there is a fifty percent chance of there being a fire escape for us to use to, well, escape.

Thank god, I whisper to myself, resting my sweaty forehead on the metal below me.

It wasn't that bad, Skylar says.

Not that bad, says the fitness guy, I mumble, not bothering to look up until I hear Skylar remove the grate.

It takes a minute to situate ourselves so that we don't have to go down through the vent face first. Skylar is able to pull himself to the other side of the hole before swinging his feet down. The way he is able to seamlessly lower himself down to the ground makes it look way too easy.

Peeking my head over the edge, I see him looking around. Seeing that the door is open, he quickly walks over to it, quietly closing it and flipping the lock. The room is practically silent, no sound coming from the hallway and filtering into the room. That is a slight reassurance.

Skylar comes back over to the vent, looking up at me with his hands on his hips. You can come down now, it's safe.

My face turns into a skeptical grimace while looking down at the ground again. Heights have never been my thing, and having to drop down to the ground from an air vent does not rank on my list of fun things to do. I don't know. I'll probably manage to kill myself while trying to get out of this thing.

Skylar gives me a look that very clearly says 'Are you serious?' His arms move away from his hips to cross over his chest. It's not that far of a drop, Aiden. Come on, we need to hurry up before those things find us in here.