Daisy and the Dead (Book 5): Daisy and the Beginning

by Bale, Sarah

  The old airport looked ominous in the distance. The multi-level parking garage had collapsed long ago, crushing any vehicles left behind. The building itself had major damage. I remembered Elijah telling me he thought about making the airport his home at one point. Looking at it now, I was glad he hadn’t.

  Kat turned and said, “They’re following us again, but they’re hanging back.”

  “Hopefully they stay away.”

  Kat let out a snort, sounding like Grey. “Don’t count on it.”

  I pulled up next to the building and grabbed my bag. When everyone was out, I locked the car and tucked the key in my bra for safe keeping. We turned our flashlights on and went into the old terminal. Being in here was like stepping into the past. Everything was frozen in time. The posters. The planes outside. Everything. The only thing that stood out was the giant hole in the building, making it look like a war zone.

  “I hope Marshall was right about the building being empty,” Nikki said.

  She was right. The last thing we needed was to run into other people or, worse, the Dead.

  I replied, “He said there was a pile of biters on the runway. Other than that, it’s empty.”

  Kat said, “I agree with Nikki. It’d be just our luck to cross paths with more people.”

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I moved further into the building. We passed the old security checkpoint. I snorted.

  “It’s ironic. One of the last places I visited before the outbreak was an airport.”

  Just thinking about my former life made me feel weird, like I was two separate people. Normal Daisy and Apocalypse Daisy.

  Kat pointed. “There’s the door to the tower.”

  We climbed up the stairs. From this viewpoint we could see for miles. It was crazy to realize how much mother nature had taken back since the apocalypse had begun.

  “Is it smart for us to stay up there? What if they trap us inside?” Nikki asked.

  She made a good point. There was only one way in and out.

  I said, “Let’s scope the place and see if there’s anywhere else we can stay.”

  We walked through the building, finally agreeing to use the old USO room. It had two exits, doors that locked, windows looking out, and space that we could start a fire for the night to stay warm without killing ourselves.

  Kat said, “Wonder how Marshall missed this?”

  “Maybe he thought the viewpoint would give us an advantage?”

  Kat shrugged and went back into the terminal to gather supplies for the fire.

  Nikki said, “I hope they don’t come in here. There’s not a whole lot we can do to fight them off if they outnumber us.”

  “They’re probably waiting to see what we’re doing.”

  I hoped that was true. What if they were going to get more people? What would we do then? Marshall said he’d be our eyes in the sky, but what if something happened to them, too? Would they be able to alert us before it was too late?

  Nikki said, “I haven’t been this nervous since the apocalypse began. It’s like having PTSD.”

  “I know. Being here makes it worse, I think. It’s a huge reminder of a part of our old lives that we’ll never get back.”

  Kat came back, putting some old wood into a pile.

  She said, “Sure do miss my baby girl right now.”

  “Is this the first time you’ve been away from her?” Nikki asked.

  “Sure is. I pumped enough milk to last her a few days, so she’ll be fine.” She frowned. “Speaking of, hand me my bag. I need to pump.”

  I handed her the black backpack she’d brought. She pulled out a small handheld pump and unbuttoned her shirt. When she was finished, she emptied the contents into an old waste bin.

  “I hate to waste this.”

  Echoing Elijah’s words, I said, “We’ll be home soon enough.”

  Kat simply made a face at me, letting me know she didn’t believe a word coming out of my mouth.

  We spent the rest of the morning taking turns looking outside. The three trucks remained outside, about one hundred feet from where our car was parked. They never got out, though.

  At one point, Nikki came back and said, “They’ve switched. Now there’s a dune buggy and two cars. Looks like Air is out there.”

  I said, “We need to make sure they can’t get into this room.”

  Kat replied, “If they want in there’s not much we can do.” She pulled a flare from her backpack. “Grey thought we might need these. I was thinking that if we set them off outside, they’ll think we’re signaling someone.”

  “Brilliant.”

  Kat grabbed two flares and we made our way to the hole in the building. I did a quick scan of the area. Air’s men were watching us.

  “Toss it toward the runway.”

  “On it.”

  Kat lit the flare and threw it through the hole. She then waved her arms and jumped up and down. After a few minutes we went back to our room, locking the door behind us.

  Nikki asked, “Think they bought it?”

  “Time will tell.”

  As the day went on, we each took turns setting off flares. By the time the sun went down, there were five of Air’s men on the runway, as if waiting to see who we were summoning.

  I tossed the flare onto the runway and waited a few minutes before going back to the room. Nikki was sitting next to the fire looking quite pleased with herself.

  “I’ve never started a fire with flint before.”

  I asked, “How did you start it before? A match or lighter?”

  She snorted. “You’ve seen the guys I’m with. They’ve just recently let me take on dangerous tasks.”

  We heated up some beans and I handed out the bread I’d brought. We sat around the campfire, warming our hands. It had been a long time since we hadn’t had the safety of the hospital. I didn’t like it at all.

  Kat said, “Didn’t think I’d be doing this ever again.”

  “We just need to lay low for a day. When Marshall comes to get us, we’ll head back,” I said, trying to sound reassuring.

  She snorted. “We both know we might have to rely on ourselves to get home.”

  Nikki went to the window, looking out. “They’re still out there.”

  Kat asked, “Have they messed with the car?”

  “Not that I can tell. Hopefully they don’t figure out how to pry the gas cap open.”

  I replied, “If they want to fuck with the car, they’ll do more than tamper with our gas. No, they’re waiting to see what we’re doing.”

  Nikki sighed. “I’m going to go crazy if we just sit here all night.”

  “What do you propose we do?” Kat asked.

  “Anything.” She paused. “What were you doing when the outbreak began? In the beginning?”

  I smiled at her question. “Me? I was with my cousin when the outbreak began. In New York City.”

  Blinking, it was like I was right back in the hotel in New York City. My parents hadn’t wanted Lilly and I to go on a trip without them, but my mom finally got my dad to give in. He actually had tears in his eyes as Lilly and I boarded the plane. That’s how I’d always remember him, too. Not the monster my cousin turned him in to.

  I said to Nikki, “When the plane landed in New York, my dad sent a text. I’ll never forget what it said. Be a good girl. Don’t get in trouble. Daddy loves you. He was so scared we were going to get into trouble there.”

  Nikki smiled. “But he still let you go?”

  “Yeah. It’s because my mom reminded him of a trip they took together at the same age. Said we deserved our own fun.” I pause. “The crazy thing is that tip was so ordinary. Until the world went to shit.”

  Lilly and I had done normal touristy things. Saw the Statue of Liberty. Went to Times Square. Ate pizza until we were sick. It was everything I’d hoped it would be.

  We’d noticed people walking around in surgical masks, but didn’t think anything of it until a woman grabbed Lilly’s arm on the str
eet, telling us we needed to be more careful, that the end of the world was near.

  “There was one moment right before the news stations started covering the outbreak when I wondered if other people knew what was about to happen.”

  Nikki asked, “What do you mean?”

  “We saw people wearing surgical masks, which wasn’t too odd considering the number of international travelers in the area. But then we noticed men with gas masks and big guns. My cousin joked that there must have been some sort of convention in town or something.”

  The answer made us laugh at the time.

  “One of the men told my cousin that there was virus spreading across the world. One that had never been seen before. Said the only way to stop it was to shoot the infected in the head.” There was a faint tremor in my voice as I went on, “I asked him how he knew, and he showed us a video on his phone. It was a biter in South America. Someone had caught it and locked it in a cage.”

  Kat’s eyebrows rose. “Damn. That had to be freaky as hell to see.”

  “Lilly thought it was fake, a prop for a television show, but I wasn’t so sure. She got so mad when I told her I wanted to go home. She’d met a guy the night before and wanted to get a drink with him.”

  Lilly had said I was being a baby. Maybe I was, but I couldn’t ignore the knot in my gut. While she got ready for her date, I called my mom. I just needed to hear her voice. What she said didn’t reassure me.

  “I called my mom that night. Before I could even mention the strange men and the video, she’d asked if I’d watched the news. I told her I hadn’t.”

  When I turned the T.V. on, I was shocked at the images being shown. People falling ill and dying.”

  Kat nodded. “I remember seeing a news report right before the outbreak. It was like being in a movie.”

  And it had. The anchorman looked as panicked as I felt. He said to remain indoors if possible. Lilly and I went a store down the street and bought as much canned food as we could carry. If we’d been smart, we would have got the hell out of town.

  “When the Civil Authority interrupted the news broadcast, I knew things were bad.”

  The automated voice came on and said that the Civil Authority had issued a contagious disease warning for the entire state of New York including a list of cities I couldn’t remember even if I tried. I wasn’t from the state, so none of it made sense, except for when they said New York City. Lilly and I exchanged worried looks.

  They said travel to all surrounding states was discouraged. To avoid people with certain symptoms, like fever, sweating, confusion, and erratic behavior. Don’t approach anyone who appeared hostile. They said to stay inside and wait for further instructions. We should have listened.

  Six

  Daisy

  Nikki rubbed her hands together, leaning closer to the fire. “Keep talking. It helps keep my mind off the cold.”

  I smiled. “I think we all know the rest, for the most part.”

  I didn’t like thinking about things after that because that’s when my world changed.

  “How did you get out of New York?”

  This made me frown. Maybe it was time I finally told this part of my journey aloud.

  “It wasn’t easy. Lilly and I bickered for about a week. The day the phones went down, we decided it was time to get the fuck out of New York. There were still a few flights leaving and, if we could get on one, it would be better than sitting in a hotel room not doing anything.”

  We left our room, holding hands. Lilly had her luggage and I had a backpack with some canned foods. Neither one of us had weapons. We were so stupid and lucky at the same time. A woman opened her door across the hall from us, saying we needed to get back inside. We didn’t listen. We made our way down the stairs, in the dark. I kept hearing noises below us and was scared to go first. Lilly rolled her eyes and went first, but she made sure to hold my hand, so maybe she was scared, too.

  When we reached the first floor, we discovered the hotel was a ghost town except for a man sitting in the lobby, looking outside. He eyed us as we approached. Lilly asked what he was doing, and he said watching the show. Then he wanted to know what we were up to. When Lilly told him our destination, he looked her up and down in a different way. Said he could give us a ride.

  I said, “The first guy we met when we left the hotel should have been a warning about the world we lived in now. He offered us a ride, but only if Lilly slept with him. He was so much older than us, but she agreed.”

  Kat shook her head. “Fucking prick. If I had been there, things would have gone differently.”

  I smiled. “I wish you’d been there.”

  “Did your cousin do it? Did she sleep with him for a ride?” Nikki asked.

  “She did. I stayed in the hallway while it happened. When they came out, she couldn’t look me in the eyes, and I didn’t know what to do to make her feel better. He had been so rough with her. Even with no experience, I knew it wasn’t supposed to be like that.” I shook my head. “The guy was at least honest about the ride and got us as far as Brooklyn, before saying it was too crazy and made us get out of the car.”

  The streets had been pure chaos. People running. Cars stalled. And glimpses of people who looked strange. Later, I realized they were biters.

  “We walked three blocks when we ran into the next couple. A man and a woman heading to the airport, too. They were in a van. Looking back, I don’t think that’s where they were headed. I think they just told us that so we would get inside.”

  Lilly didn’t wait for them to ask for sex and offered it outright. A fuck for a ride, she’d said. The man and woman looked at each other before agreeing. When the man asked why I wasn’t joining in, I’d felt fear. I wanted to get home, but I didn’t want my first time to be like that. Lilly told him to ignore me and proceeded to let him screw her. It was the most uncomfortable thing I’d ever sat through.

  When they were done, we headed toward the airport. But, again, the roads became too crowded and the man kept leering at me, so Lilly and I got out. The last man we encountered was the worst. In retrospect, he was either sick or bitten. Neither was good. When he cut Lilly’s neck, I thought she was dead, so I fled.

  I went on, “I wish we’d left before it all began. Or found a different way to get out of town. I really think my dad would have found a way to get us home, but I told him in our last conversation that we were headed to the airport.”

  Nikki touched my arm. “I’m sorry, Daisy.”

  “Don’t be. When I left New York City I ended up meeting a couple who reminded me of my parents. They, too, were in town on vacation and were trying to get back to Arkansas. They couldn’t get me all the way to Fort Worth, but they could get me to Little Rock.”

  And when they died, I met another group who helped me. There were still kind people out there, even if it was hard to see at times.

  Kat stirred the fire and said, “Sounds like we both had rough starts in this new world.”

  Kat didn’t talk about her past much, so I was curious.

  “What happened to you when it all began?”

  She looked into the flames. “Grey’s the only other person who knows any of this.” She inhaled. “I was married before the outbreak. Had a husband who loved the hell out of me. He was the first person I saw turn into a biter.”

  Kat

  Saying the words out loud still made me feel sick. My poor Harry didn’t deserve to die the way he did, but it was kind of a blessing. He was too kind and wouldn’t have survived in the new world.

  “What happened?” Daisy asked.

  “Unlike you, we were right here in Oklahoma when all shit broke loose. The news had been covering the occurrences, as they called them, but nothing had happened in the state.” I shook my head. “My Harry knew that it would eventually happen, though, and made sure we had plenty of supplies.”

  I’d laughed at him when he came home from the surplus store with so many canned goods that it filled the back of his t
ruck. By the time we got them unloaded, half of our dining room was full. He went out again to get toilet paper, lanterns, tents, and other camping supplies. I asked him what he thought we were going to do, live outside. He said that they would come in handy one day. And they did. But, he never saw the fruits of his labor.

  “Our house was in a rural area, so we weren’t worried about people seeing all the supplies we had. But, then he went around and told our nearest neighbors that we had supplies and if they needed anything to come on over. That was probably Harry’s biggest flaw, to be honest. He was too kind and trusting.”

  By the time the news stations stopped reporting, we had made a safe home for the two of us. As most things are, it was too good to be true.

  “A huge storm came through a few days after the Civil Authority alert. It was bad, but the worst part was the biters it drew out. I hadn’t seen one until that point and it was freaky as hell. Harry took it hard when he realized one of the biters was our elderly neighbor.”

  The old biter stumbled past our window. When we saw its jacket, we looked at each other in horror. Harry’s green eyes filled with tears as he asked what we were supposed to do. I knew the answer, but also knew he couldn’t handle it. I’d told him to go into our bedroom. When he was gone, I took a knife from the kitchen and slipped out the back door.

  The biter sniffed the air, catching a whiff of me. It snapped its teeth together and stumbled forward. This monster looked nothing like the man whose body he’d taken over. I had to force myself to remember that. Lifting the knife, I struck him through the temple. He crumbled to the ground with a thud as dark blood oozed onto our white deck.

  My hands shook as I tried to pull the knife out. When it wouldn’t budge, I had to use my foot. My shoe sunk into his head, making a sticky mess. Harry gasped from behind me, asking what I’d done.

  Daisy asked, “Was he glad you took it down?”