Apocalyptic Beginning Ch1:What's Wrong

         He walks down the street admiring the life of the city and for once he was not worried about whether or not he would make ends meet next month. He had just received a raise and a promotion from his boss at the power plant today and couldn't wait to tell his wife Susan that all his hard work and all of their patience was finally paying off. His name was Robert Jennings, but his friends called him Rob. He had just been promoted to floor manager for his section and it was wonderful. He could now treat his wife the way he thought she deserved to be treated, Rob was hoping that this news would bring Susan over a bad case of the flu that she was having.
         Rob decided to go through the park on his way and go by the toy store on the other side to buy the action figure his son Jackson wanted so badly but they couldn't afford to buy. Half way through the park he sits down to rest and enjoy the view, and a few minutes later a jogger comes by and sits down. She looked nice enough so he didn't mind, and he thought he might enjoy her company for a while. " Hey, how 're you doing," he asked.
" I'm good, out of shape and sick, but good. You?"
" I can't complain. If you're sick why are running?"
" I thought I might be okay but it's getting worse."
" Water not helping you?"
" N-,"ugh, ugh " I feel rea- awwww!!!" She bent over and clutched her chest
" What's wrong? Is it a heart attack!?" She fell off of the bench, and he grabbed his phone dialing and talking to the lady at the same time." 911, hello, 911, yes a lady here is having a heart attack at the-" he didn't get any farther as the lady reached up and grabbed him by the arm and he dropped the phone on the sidewalk, he later realized that some part of his mind registered the phone hitting the ground and cracking. She came up with a blank stare in her eyes and she reached for his throat to grab and throttle him, but he was able to break her grasp and lean back, as he did so the bench flipped backwards. He hit his head on the ground and felt dazed then he saw her come around the bench and heard police sirens at the same time then he rolls to the right and tries to stand up but his head throbbed then he fell back to his knees, and crawled away until she grabbed his ankles. She started to drag him backwards, but Rob was no weakling, head injury or not, and fought his way ought of her grasp grabbed a stick off of the ground, turned and swung away. He felt a connection to something hard and heard an "oomph" then a crash. After he cleared his vision he saw that she was on the ground breathing heavily with blood gushing out of her nose with a fairly deep gash on her temple with blood flowing freely.
         The officers came up to them and checked the lady and then loaded her on the ambulance. The police let him go after some questions and he went home. He got there and decided to wait for his wife to get home so he turned on the t.v. and watched the news. The first thing he saw was the last thing he wanted to see." Breaking news: Widespread reports of sudden bursts of insanity in people have been coming in for the last hour and a half from all across the tri-state area. We have received images of these people including a few that have been hospitalized. We have been told by local authorities that while some have been captured and others killed the majority of them are still on the lose and killing people on site. These people have already left behind a pile of dead that has been counted at 23 dead so far." Rob was standing up staring at the screen as bloody and blurry images of people with that same blank stare, they were running around aimlessly for the most part. He saw a picture of the lady he had fought in the park but now she was in the hospital cuffed to a bed. He grabbed the house phone and dialed his wifes' cell number. He waited tirelessly as that time passing music played and then "Hello?"
" Susan? Are you alright? Have you heard the news?"
" I'm fine honey. What news? What's up?"
" People are going crazy and a lady attacked me and tried to kill me."
" Oh my God. Are you alright? Did she hurt you?"
" I'm fine. I'm a little shaken up but otherwise o.k."
The newscaster was talking again " The police have just said that everyone should get inside and stay there until further notice."
" Honey, come home right now." Rob was starting to think of end of the world books he read as a teen.
" O.k. I'm coming home now anyways I'll be there in about five minutes. Bye."
" Bye." He hung up the phone and looked around. He was now glad that he was a gun owner. He went downstairs looked at his gun cabinet and grabbed the key on top of it. He unlocked the glass door and reached down to grab the .44 revolver he had laying on the bottom of it. He spun out the chamber made sure it was loaded and pushed it back in, next he grabbed the five boxes of 50 rounds each that he had been saving for a home invasion or riot. He put the items on the end table next to the cabinet and reached in and grabbed his two rifles a .30-.30 and a .22, he made sure that these were loaded to and grabbed the 4 boxes of 20 rounds each for both rifles (he had these rifles for his occasional hunting trips in Maine but he hadn't gone lately so he had plenty of ammo). He strapped the rifles across his back in the shape of an "x" and grabbed the belt holster he had and slipped the .44 in one of the two slots on his belt and put the ammo in a backpack. As he walked upstairs he heard the door open and pulled his .44 and held it in front of him ready to shoot if necessary and turned the corner at the top of the stairs.
" Oh my God, Honey put that away." It was his wife.
" Sorry, I guess I'm a bit on edge."
" It's alright sweetie." He took the guns off and placed then on the table and the backpack of ammo too.
" Are you ready for war yet Rambo?" His wife was trying to lighten the mood, unsuccessful as it was it was still an attempt.
" No, but I'm getting ready for the worst."
The news came back from commercial break and the news anchor said " Pandemonium has struck as buildings are now going up in flames as the insanity spreads to the point that we are now on the verge of an apocalypse. It seems the world has been struck by this plague as reports are all over the globe and increasing in number. We have just received word that there is a state-wide evacuation. Police recommend having at least one gun per group and plenty of ammo. This is the last televised broadcast until the end of this epidemic. This is Charles Johnson signing off, goodbye and good luck." Rob clicked off the t.v. and looked at his wife.
" Are you still sick or are you alright?"
" Rob, I told you last night that I felt fine, otherwise i wouldn't have gone to work today."
" O.k., then we have to leave. Get a backpack put two sets of extra clothes in it and 4 water bottles. I'll do the same. Maybe we can break into a gun store and pick up some more things. Honey, do you think any of our neighbors might have guns?"
" Umm... Yeah, I think Mrs. Stevenson said her husband was a big gun nut."
" Really. I would never have thought that about him." They swarmed around and got what he had said to then got out of the house. As soon as he did he could smell the smoke of the burning buildings, and wondered how close the fires were. As they got off the lawn he realized that he could hear gunfire fairly well and the next thing he knew he was off his feet rolling in the air then he hit the ground and his ears were ringing from the sound of the explosion. He could feel the heat and knew the fire was close but he had to get his wife first. He found her on the ground starting to stand up, and he helped her then said " We are going to go to the Stevensons' house and then to the daycare to get Jackson alright?" She just nodded. They got across the street and saw the house went towards the door and pulled his .44 and reached for the handle.