by Matthew Fish
“She’s normal…” I say as I glance over and the display on my glasses shows her as blue. “I… guess.”
“What the fuck then?” Robert says he places a hand over his chest.
We keep moving. She strikes the trunk as we pass her by. She does no damage. We navigate a maze of what I can only describe as pure madness. I make left and right turns to avoid vehicles in the road, overturned cop cars… there are bodies everywhere. People roam the streets; some of them bang on our window and ask for help, others just throw things at us. I feel bad that I am not able to stop and help. However, I know that I cannot trust anyone here. I just can’t afford to.
As we make our way down another long street lined with large office buildings. I see an orange glow from the smoke filled road. A few men armed with guns approach the Aggro as I near. They fire a few shots at him and he runs after them, screaming. I am just glad that he is not after us. As I grow closer, a severed arm crashes against the window—spraying bright red blood across my view.
“He’s angry…” Claire whispers.
“Let’s move a bit faster,” Robert says as the windshield wipers automatically turn on.
The spray of blood smears across the window a few times as a spray of water attempts to clean it. My view is obscured. A large strike comes from my side as the car is literally pushed a few feet to the left.
“Really…” Robert says as he places his pistol in his hand. “Let’s move a bit faster….”
My heart is beating heavily in my chest. This is the worst situation I’ve seen yet. Once the windows finally clear up I begin to move. I see the Aggro in my mirror. He does not chase as.
“I want to go home…” Claire whispers. I look in the rear view mirror and see her rocking back and forth.
“We’ll be out of this soon,” I say. There is not much I can do to make her feel better. I reach for a bottle of water and hand it back to Claire.
“Be… out of this soon.”
“I can’t take much more of this,” Robert says as he buries his head into his hands.
There is so much death everywhere. A body hangs from a pawn shop sign as we drive down another road. I take another bottle of water and begin to hand it to Robert as a spray of bullets bounce against the car. He takes cover; he looks to be on the verge of tears. I cannot blame him.
“Did I mention the car was bullet proof?” I ask, not remembering.
“Doesn’t make it any better…” Robert whispers.
“Any better…” Claire repeats.
My head begins to hurt as I realize I have kept my teeth clenched tightly as we make our way through the carnage. It feels as though I have been holding my breath. The tension and fear of the unknown is nearly enough to cause me to want to into the same states as Robert and Claire. I do not know how I am even managing to keep a modicum of calm within myself. I just know that we have to get through this—with as little incident as possible. Although I’d consider being hit with a baseball bat, having shit thrown at us, being shot at, and pushed by an Aggro pretty massively incidental.
The map keeps changing; I head down a small road that is piled with corpses on each side. All of them burned, charred. The heavy smoke makes every single turn another surprise of horror. We drive by a female Aggro feasting upon the body of a dead man in a black suit. I wonder if he was a Hunter.
I rush my way through the streets. We pass by fires, more gunshots. As I reach the edge of town a shirtless man blocks our path. He holds out a handgun and commands for us to stop. I shake my head. My glasses tell me he is normal. He must just want to steal the car.
He slams an open hand down upon the windshield as he points the gun at my head through the glass.
“Too loud…”
“Get the fuck out of the car,” I can faintly hear the man say. “I’ll kill you.”
I shake my head and the man begins to fire at me. The bullets bounce off harmlessly. This only seems to make him angrier. He begins to strike the window with the butt of his gun.
“Window down,” Robert says as he quickly places his pistol out the window and fires a single shot into the man’s chest. He falls back as he stumbles away from us. “Window up…”
He holds onto his wound as we drive on by. I can’t help but feel that situation could have been avoided somehow. I know Robert did what he felt he had to so that we could keep moving—perhaps he knew I wouldn’t run the man down. I look back… I’m not sure why I do. Moments later I see the man collapse to the ground, dead.
“We can’t afford to stop,” Robert says as he continues to hold onto his weapon. “Not until we are out of this hell.”
“I know,” I say as I nod.
I glance into the back seat and Claire is either fast asleep—or has passed out. I can relate as I kind of feel like doing the latter. Once we pass Stratford the road opens up and we find ourselves in a flat plain. The buildings and subdivisions are now behind us, to my great relief. I begin to drive as fast as I can. I do not want to go through anything like that again.
“Next populated area?”
“Paso Robles… Estimated population around fifteen thousand survivors. Current population Unknown… Multiple routes found that bypass the major areas—would you like to route away from the city. It will add an estimated fifteen minutes to your current drive time.”
“Fuck yes,” Robert answers back.
“Rerouting…”
The flat plains eventually turn into mountains as we snake our way through the tall peaks and follow a river as we complete the final leg of our journey. The smoke clears as we make our way out of the mountains. Ahead, I can see the ocean. It is so brilliantly blue that I almost cannot tell the difference between it and the sky.
We continue on Morro road. We reach a small subdivision that resides by Cabrillo Highway. Things seem much calmer here. Although a little vacant, which makes me feel almost just as uneasy.
“I… I think I know where I am,” Claire whispers as she taps me excitedly on the shoulder. “Go… probably… yeah. Go Straight.”
“I nod as I reach my hand back and place it over hers.
We pass a sign that says Lisa Keiser Park. I notice, through the trees, a baseball field and some playground equipment.”
“We are… really close,” Claire says as she points to continue on. “I used to… my parents use to take me there. I would… I would play baseball?”
“You’re doing great Claire,” I say as I squeeze her hand.
We round a corner and the ocean is right beside us. I let out a sigh of relief. We’ve made it to the edge of the country. We follow the path and reach a sign an orange and white barricade that says ‘END’ in large letters upon a yellow sign. A giant, soot black, rock formation juts out of the water as waves break upon it to the right.
“Go… around the sign, follow the sand road,” Claire says as she points to the right. We follow a series of rough roads as Claire directs the way. At the end of one of the roads we come across a gate. Beyond the gate sits a huge house—concrete in structure with tinted dark windows. It is a huge mansion. It seems rather out of place here. I suppose though, that is what makes it the perfect place if you want some security. I look down to the water and spot a large boat. It turns out that Claire was right all along—from as far back as that first week. She did have a boat and it appears to be a very sleek, advanced one. Then again, I would imagine no less from the former president of a leading pharmaceutical company.
“We get out here…” Claire whispers as she nervously begins to tap me on the back.
Robert and I exit the car Claire nearly stumbles as she rushes out. I get into the trunk of the car and get the backpack. I toss the rifle around my shoulder. Robert runs over, assault rifle on his back and hands me the metal case.
“Forget something in the back seat?”
I almost laugh as I shake my head. “You know it’s me forgetting things that got me in trouble with Claire once.”
“I slapped him…”
>
“You’d think he’d learn then?” Robert says as he pats me on the back and grabs a large bag full of food. Claire rolls out her suitcase and begins to head towards the gate.
I follow as I admire the dramatic landscape. It is so beautiful here. I watch as the waves come in against the sandy shore. Outcroppings of lush green plants line the road. Seagulls fly high in the air and circle around us. I cannot believe that we have made it. I know I have doubted so many times that we would—but here we are. The last step… what we do next, that’s a bit more of a leap to figure out. However, at least I know we are safe.
As we stand by the large gate, it’s metal bars rising high into the air and adorned with spear tip like flourishes, Claire places her hand upon the a strip of metal. “Welcome home… Claire Derry.”
With a short clank, the gate opens up. She happily continues on as Robert follows behind her. I pause for a moment and look back to the sleek red Mazda XIII, I feel sad in a way—despite it just being a car. Then again, it wasn’t just a car. It saved our lives more times than I could count. We would not be here without it. “Goodbye,” I whisper as I feel a strange sense of sadness overcome me. I guess I had grown rather attached.
Claire notices me and rushes over. “I’ll miss it as well, you know?”
“Yeah,” I say as I place my arm around her and we begin to walk towards the house. The door shuts behind us.
Claire runs her hand down a strip of metal upon a large arched door that slowly creaks open. The door is massive and has about twenty tiny windows of red glass that paint the large hallway in brilliant shades of crimson and ember. We descend a large staircase and enter a huge open room with white marble floors… Claire looks around, she begins to smile—however, just as soon as the smile spreads across her face, it is gone… just gone. I rush over, dropping my belongings, as she collapses to the floor. I see some dried blood by a black table.
“Claire…” I whisper as her eyes dart back and forth, her breathing is heavy.
“This is… where it happened?” Claire speaks as she closes her eyes. She places a hand to her forehead. “My parents didn’t abandon me… my father… he never abandoned us. Back then… no—he stayed with us. He was so sure that he could cure us. Mother was… different… like me but not the same way. Just different like me, he wouldn’t let them evaluate us. He stayed and took care of us. One day though, after a few years… I don’t know, mom changed. She got angry and I couldn’t calm her down. She… kill… killed my father. I remember running as she came… she was so angry with me. I don’t know… I didn’t know why. I made it out of the gates and the men… in the black suits with the C-Shapes badges and their guns. They came and shot her. They took me. They made me… open up the house so that they could get his body… nobody ever called for help. Dad… he didn’t have time. They were just all there already… all those people from C-Shapes. They… took me away, I don’t know where, and eventually? I forgot?”
“It was the calm,” I whisper. “It made you forget—they wanted you to forget.”
“They… didn’t abandon me.”
“They never did,” I say as I hug her tightly.
“Those C-Shapes were some serious assholes,” Robert says as he shakes his head. “What did they want with her father anyway?”
“He was working on an alternate cure—they wanted his company,” I say as I help Claire back to her feet. “They didn’t want competition… he wouldn’t co-operate… probably didn’t trust them.”
“Typical greed bullshit,” Robert says as he places a hand on Claire’s shoulder. “At least you know the truth. That’s important.”
Claire nods as she wipes away the tears from her eyes. “I’m sad, but… they didn’t abandon me after all—he tried so hard. He didn’t give up on me. Just like you, Ethan. You never gave up on me.”
“That’s what you do for those you love,” I say as I nod. I bring her close to me and kiss her forehead.
At the far edge of the large room, a pair of glass doors leads to a dock. I stand in front of the view knowing that is my future—to be at sea. I just hope Noah doesn’t come and visit me like in my dreams. I already know I have an important message to deliver. Although… I still do not know who will listen.
“So you know how to operate that ship… right?” Robert asks Claire as he pats her on the back. “We’re in a bit of a shit pickle if you aren’t.”
“It’s… I think,” Claire responds as she pauses to think. “It’s like the car—it’s all automated. You just tell it where you want to go. I remember my dad used to teach me… I suppose there’s not much to be taught it is just like the car—memorizing commands.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day,” Robert says.
“Let’s load up what we have here and then come back to the house and search for more supplies,” I say as I open up the door.
We make our way down to the pier. It is a bit of a distance, and quite a few stairs. Claire places her hand along the door at the back of the sleek, strangely shaped boat—it looks like the boats I remember, but much aerodynamic. It is painted all black, save for the silver railing. The deck has a lot of open space. I figure that Robert will probably like this, after all he doesn’t seem to like confined spaces… unless it’s a tent. Perhaps we can set him up a tent up here.
Claire runs her finger down a silver strip and the door slides open. The large control room is revealed. It is very luxurious, soft blue carpet lines the floor and sparkles, mimicking the flecks of sunlight against the ocean. A single seat rests at the far end in front one huge window. A row of monitors line the dashboard. Couches lines one wall, a wooden table sits next to it. A fridge, stove, and sink line the other wall. Paintings of old huge wooden ships fill the empty spaces on the wooden walls. Two sets of spiraling staircases lead downward. I follow Claire down to a hall that leads a storeroom. It seems to be pretty well stocked with a lot of the stuff like bagged meals and canned goods and water.
“We might not need… to stock,” Claire says as she nods. This should be good.
She leads the way to two bedrooms. “Robert pick one, they’re pretty much the same. Ethan and I will take the other.”
She leads us to the very end where a full shower and bathroom reside. Another door leads to the engine room—I’m fairly certain we won’t have to use it, or at least hope so.
Robert chooses the left side, and we take the right bedroom. We toss our stuff onto the bed and head back towards the house. Robert comes back out carrying his assault rifle on his back.
“We’re quite safe, I’m sure…” I say as I think about getting my rifle. I suppose you can never be too safe.
“You never know… killer whales and all that shit…” Robert says as he shrugs and then pats me on the back rather roughly. “Where are we headed anyway?”
“Hawaii,” I say. I’d been giving it a bit of thought. After all, they weren’t killing their Unstables—they had merely quarantined them. Plus, that should be far enough that it should be safe… at least, at this moment it seems like a good idea. “I think, Claire?”
“We’ve… I think… we’ve done that before in this,” Claire adds. “Hawaii is… a good idea.”
“You’ve done really well today, Claire,” I say as I hug her tightly. I know that it is very hard for her when she is struggling with her words. I know how difficult it must be for her. However, despite the pauses—she is doing so well.
“Well let’s go then?”
“We need… the wheel,” Claire says as she shakes her head.
“The wheel…? Like the one to steer the ship?” I ask. “I thought it was all automated?”
“It’s just shaped… shaped like it,” Claire answers. “It’s like a key, it activates everything. Kind of like turning the car on… that way you know, my different mother or I could not wander off to sea.”
“Do you know where it is?” I ask. I knew that things were a little too easy.
“My father’s room,
dresser drawer…”
“Well let’s not wait around for a nuke to hit near us,” Robert says as he begins to climb up the stairs.
We walk back into the house in a rather rushed pace. Robert pulls open the door and we file in.
“Strange…” Claire says as she looks back to the large glass doors. “Shouldn’t… just open?”
“But we’re already inside, that’s why… right?” Robert says with a very worried tone as though he has just done something terribly wrong. “We’re you supposed to open it?”
“It shouldn’t… I don’t remember.”
“Well let’s get the key and go,” I say as I begin to head off to the row of doors at the far side of the large room. “Which one is it?”
“The far left one,” Claire says we begin to turn our walk into a brisk run.
Claire opens up the door to the huge bedroom. “They’re… no… someone is close.”
A strange, terrible smell fills the air. A piece of white fabric hangs across one side of the room—almost like a shower curtain partition. A loud beeping begins to chirp as a red light flashes from behind the curtain—its light appears ghostly, filtered through the thin fabric.
“What the hell is that a bomb or something?” Robert asks as he instinctively pulls his assault rifle from his shoulder and readies it in his hands.
Claire pulls back the curtain. Sitting in wheelchairs, all lined up in a row and hooked up to wires and tubes, sits twelve Catatonics—all large, tall men. “No… Claire whispers.”
“The key…” I say as I reach for Claire and attempt to pull her back. She pushes my hand away and keeps her attention upon the Catatonics.
I begin to search through the dresser—I don’t find anything that fits the description. Robert keeps his gun on the group of Catatonics as the beeping quickens its pace.
I search through another set of drawers and find a silver object; it appears to be a captain’s wheel and has a red LED on the top. “This it…?”
“Calm down…” Claire pleads. “Please…”
“Robert…” I say as I begin to pull Claire back. “I think we have it, let’s go….”