Deadstock

                                    

                                              
Submitted for Challenge #5 - Rock On Zombie by WattZombie
Prompt details here: http://my.w.tt/UiNb/Vhy07OTBOE
                          


                          
It started with the bottled water. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

                          
On the usual conspiracy sub-Reddits, there was speculation that the Input/Output (I/O) Festival outbreak was a false flag incident, orchestrated by crisis actors to distract the public from the Real Issues. Meanwhile, the fringe nutjobs on local talk radio spoke in panicked tones about "unholy creatures" summoned by "eldritch spells" hidden in Mona Lisa Overdrive's fell electropunk music.
                          
To the best of my knowledge, Patient Zero was actually Kent Longstreth, who drove to the Council Park concert grounds to see twee indie collective A Kissing Book. Around 2:30pm, he was chilling out to Cleveland Steamer's set at the Wired Stage (Powered by GameHub) when he began to feel nauseated. A pair of kind Samaritans carried him to the medical tent near the east gate. That's where my team and I promptly witness his vital signs drop.
                          
Longstreth reported drinking a bottle of the unbranded water given to all festival guests shortly before falling ill. He said it looked "kinda milky" but it was sealed, so he figured it was safe.
                          
We received a directive from the organizers shortly afterward: don't let word get out about the dead kid. The show must go on.
                          
A quarter hour later, as we waited for county police to arrive, Kent's corpse sat upright and tore out the throat of a volunteer medic. Within minutes, security rushed to the scene, tazing Longstreth. But it was too late: whatever happened to him (viral infection? genetic mutation?) was spreading at a rapid pace.
                          
By that point, the security team's radios were buzzing with reports about strange, violent behavior throughout the festival site:
                          
Megalopolis' performance on the Main Stage was interrupted after crazed fans started biting other concert-goers.
                          
A group of 'hostiles' were ransacking the artisan juice bar.
                          
Cave And Shadows' roadie was eating their drummer's face backstage.
                          
Mass hysteria quickly spread through I/O. The undead wreaked havoc amid the crowd. Guests trampled over each other, leaving behind the slow or injured to be ripped apart by the growing horde.
                          
I grabbed a first aid kit and moved toward the exit near Atlantic. I was breathless and kinda out of shape, so I held my medical ID aloft. Sure enough, I quickly found some allies.
                          
First came Rashad, a videographer for Audiocandy, who managed to fly his gore-stained quad-copter drone through a horde of infected. Against the odds, its camera remained in tact.
                          
Next up was Cassie. Her parkour skills and knowledge of krav maga got us out of a close scrape with a lone zombie near the portable toilets.
                          
It became clear that authorities had locked down the festival site; nobody got in or out without state clearance. We barricaded ourselves in the former Wave Telecom sponsor booth, a repurposed shipping container. That's where we were joined by JT, with her vital solar battery charger.
                          
So began the longest, most agonizing 43 hours of our wasted youth.