User:MaddaCheeb/Road to Ruin: A Case Zero Novel

"Road To Ruin" Is a story written by me, MaddaCheeb. It explains what happens after Chuck leaves his truck and heads down the road on the bike. It's wrote in first person, as from Chuck's perspective, to gain the full sense of a wrapping story.

I would consider this canon, as frankly, we never knew what happened after Case Zero between it and DR2.

This story is very WIP and I will update this page weekly with new content.

[b]CHAPTER 1: Home[/B]

...After I retrieved the Zombrex and Katey's belongings from the truck, we zoomed off on the road. I hardly remember the drive; I was much over the speed limit. But nobody seemed to care, there was something much more important happening right then. To me, the only thing important was getting my daughter home. Just outside of Nevada, about a mile from it's border, we found a gas station. I had learned from my mistake by that time, and I kept a close eye on the bike as I filled it up. Looking through the windows of the Gas Station, I could see it was abandoned at the moment. Walking the bike over to the entrance, I kept my eyes on it as I entered the store, grabbed a duffel bag from behind the counter, and filled it with water and food. Unfortunately, bad luck hit me yet again. A man bursted out from the Employee room, armed with a shotgun. He yelled at me and my daughter, telling me to drop the bag, leave the bike, and run. That wasn't an option for me. I told Katey to run (Ironically, I had told her the same thing only hours before in Still Creek). I jumped over the counter, flying at the man, just hoping to get lucky. I felt my fist connect with his face, and using my free hand, I wrenched the gun from his hands. He immediately threw his hands in the air, knowing I had just taken his prize possession. He gave me a pleading look. I didn't bother to feel any remorse as I flipped the gun, and bashed his face in with the butt of it. He was out cold. ...Running out of the store with the duffle bag and shotgun in hand, I quickly threw the gun into the bag and tossed the bag over my shoulder, tightening the strap. I remember yelling out Katey's name. She came out from behind the ice bin, she...had the most scared look I've ever seen her have. It's burned in my mind. It reminds me, each and every day, of what I do to protect her. But it's worth it. ...Back to the station. I dropped to my knees and gave her a hug. I told her, that I would never, ever leave her. After that, we got back on the bike and headed for home. "Home" was down in Arizona, in Phoenix. It took almost 8 hours to reach the city limits, and even there the city was at a standstill. Everyone was focusing on the outbreak. No one paid the slightest attention to the man with the blood-splattered jacket on the bike, with his daughter in tow. A few minutes later, we pulled up to our driveway. It was a modest house, in a newer neighborhood that had been built only a few years before. Anyways, we pulled up to our house. Setting down the bike, I held Katey's hand as we walked to the front door. I pulled up the welcome mat and grabbed the spare key to the door, because....I left my wife with the main set back in our hotel room....she didn't made it. We walked into our house. It felt empty...lifeless...no joy. Even Katey had started to figure out that Mom wasn't coming back. I said to her, "Honey, go take a bath. Get cleaned up." She nodded, and walked off to her room, which was down the hallway. I remember sitting down on the couch. Just thinking. Not believing what I had just been through. After what seemed like an eternity, I rose up out of the sofa and went into our bedroom. I walked into the bathroom, and looked at myself in the mirror. I couldn't believe my eyes. My jacket was stained with blood. My stitches on the scar had come off, blood forming at the wound. Dark circles under my eyes. Hair matted down from sweat. I slipped off my jacket. My shirt was in better condition, a few scrapes here and there. I took my jacket, and threw it into the washer. Katey walked out of the bathroom, dressed in her same pajamas as I was heading into the kitchen. I asked her if she was feeling better. "A little" she said back to me. Then she asked when mommy was coming home. "I don't know, honey." I told her. ...I went to look at my watch. it read 3:37 PM. "Katey, want some lunch?" I asked her. She said yes, so I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Grabbed some lunch meat, cheese, and mayo. Got the bread out of the cupboard, and made her a sandwich. As she ate the sandwich, I went over to the TV in the living room and turned it on. "Reports indicate that Las Vegas has been entirely overrun. According to the President, no living person has been seen in over 24 hours. In light of the information, the Military is preparing to firebomb the city tomorrow morning at 8 AM. Stay tuned for more." And that's exactly what I did. All day, I watched the news of the outbreak. They showed a helicopter video of the hotel we were staying at. The valet area was filled with zombies. The streets were worse. A live broadcast from a Channel 6 Helicopter showed the Stratosphere on fire, an explosion apparently devastating it a few hours ago. They also reported that most of the Ijiek Racing Team members from the motocross event we had attended were dead.

They listed me among the known dead from the team.