Existence

by Jeff Olah

  “Why?”

  “You want the truth?”

  Owen brought the Glock up, pointed it at Kevin’s chest. “Talk.”

  “This thing.” Kevin again looked back toward the window. “This thing ripping our world apart, this thing turning people into monsters, it’s fixable. But without Dr. Dominic Gentry, it gets a whole lot more complicated.”

  “Explain it.”

  “I was sent out three days ago to locate Gentry or anyone else that may know where to find him. I came across you and your wife and then reported back, that was all I was commissioned to do.”

  “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “Marcus Goodwin is trying to get to Gentry, or anyone who might know where to find him. The man is brilliant, but also a self-proclaimed sociopath. There are maybe three people who are capable of correcting Goodwin’s monumental mistake and he wants them eradicated.”

  Owen stepped forward and placed the end of the barrel against the side of Kevin’s head. “So let me get this straight—you’re here to find my wife and in turn this Dr. Gentry? Then what, you hand them off to Goodwin and collect your ransom?”

  “No, I’m not that guy. I jumped ship the day after you dropped me off in the city, when I heard what Goodwin was planning.” Kevin pulled up his sleeve, revealed a three-inch-long incision just above his wrist. “I cut out my tracker and dumped one of my phones near the outdoor lot, made it look like I never made it out.”

  Owen stepped back. “So then why are you here?”

  “If Natalie knows where to find Gentry, we may just be able to do the impossible.” Kevin checked the time once again. “But we should probably get moving, I’m not the only one looking for them.”

  Owen looked to Ava, then again to the door, and finally back at the man in the black leather jacket. “This still doesn’t make much sense.”

  “And it probably won’t until you talk to your wife, so how about we go find her and get this world put back the way it was.”

  29

  Natalie stayed a few paces behind as they ascended the stairs and moved quickly out onto the top deck of the six-story parking structure. She continued to urge Noah along and waited at the last landing as Chuck hurried to a three-foot retaining wall at the southwest corner. He waved her over, motioning toward a light colored mid-size SUV parked near the opposite end of the lot.

  “You see that?”

  Natalie crouched behind the wall, pulling Noah in beside her. It was the only vehicle on the top level and although she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, she could tell from Chuck’s change in demeanor that something wasn’t quite right. “The white SUV? Kind of hard to miss.”

  Chuck leaned into the wall, checked the Beretta, and then scanned the deck, one end to the other. “I think we’ve got company.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, at least one. They dropped behind the rear driver’s side window.”

  Natalie moved to the edge of the retaining wall and took a quick glance. She kept her voice low, turned back to Chuck. “Not much to see, maybe whoever it was—”

  Through the intense silence, the opening of the SUV’s rear hatch sounded vaguely like the racking of a shotgun. Natalie instinctively pulled Noah toward her and slipped down into a sitting position. “What the hell is that?”

  Chuck crawled on his hands and knees to the opposite end of the retaining wall, counted to three, and then looked back toward the light-colored SUV. He turned to Natalie, motioned for her to stay down, and moved to stand.

  The voice came from somewhere close to the SUV, sounding young, maybe a teenager. “I just want to be left alone, please go away.”

  Chuck continued to stare into the distance. He stepped around the edge of the retaining wall, slipped the weapon into his waistband, and held his hands out at his side. “I’m not looking for any trouble. I just wanna get a quick glance at the other side of the city. Can’t get much better—”

  The voice came again. “No, just go away. Please just go somewhere else.”

  Natalie was sure it had to be a boy, young, probably not much older than her own daughter. She asked Noah to stay hidden behind the retaining wall and keeping her voice just above a whisper, said to Chuck, “How many?”

  Out of the corner of his mouth, Chuck said, “Looks like it’s just one.”

  “Gun?”

  “Can’t tell, doesn’t look like it.”

  Natalie sat forward and reached for Noah’s face. She kissed him on the forehead and again told him to stay put. “No matter what happens, do not move.” Her trust in Chuck wasn’t completely gone, but she felt like she needed to play an active role in whatever this was.

  Pushing away from the retaining wall, Natalie turned slowly and matched Chuck’s submissive stance. She held her arms out at her side and blinked as the shadowed figure came into focus.

  He walked slow, hunched over, with most of his face covered by a heather grey hoodie. He sported a slight limp and had his left hand tucked into the front pocket. His eyes moved from Chuck to Natalie and back to Chuck as he finally slowed to a stop fifty feet away. “Please … just go, I don’t have anything you’d want.”

  Chuck began to respond, but Natalie stepped around the other end of the three-foot wall and regarded the boy with a warm smile, her voice low and friendly. “What’s your name?”

  The boy, not more than eighteen, turned slightly toward her, and pulled back his hoodie, revealing shoulder length brown hair and a face full of bruises. “Uh …” He seemed to be contemplating his answer. “I don’t want to … uh, please just leave me alone. I don’t need your help and don’t have anything you’d want.”

  Natalie lowered her hands, but kept them out at her sides, palms facing the boy. “We just want to get a better look at the streets from up here; we’re not looking for anything from you. We’ll just be a few minutes, I promise.”

  The boy shook his head, shifted his weight to his right leg, pulled his hand out of his pocket and pointed at Chuck. “He has a gun, and he’s trying to hide it.”

  Chuck stepped back to the retaining wall. “Look.” He slowly lowered his hands, pulled the Beretta from his waist and set it on the ground. “We aren’t those kind of people. We’re out here just like you, trying to survive. Let us get a quick look at the streets and we’ll leave you to it, we don’t even have to talk.”

  The boy took a hesitant step back. He held his hand on his left hip, wincing as he took in a quick breath. “Please, I just …”

  As the boy’s voice trailed off, he leaned slightly to the left and stared past Natalie. His mouth was open, but there were no words. He slowly stumbled forward and dropped to his knees. “Taylor?”

  Natalie turned back, following the path of the boy’s eyes. Noah had come from behind the retaining wall and stood just a few feet away. He ran to her side and tucked in behind her right leg.

  “Mom, is he okay? Is he one of them?”

  Natalie rested her hand on Noah’s shoulder. Under her breath she said, “I think he’s scared. Probably just needs some friends.”

  Chuck stepped away from the retaining wall, started slowly toward the boy. Natalie held out her hand, waved him over. She looked down at her son and brushed the hair away from his face. “Stay here with Chuck.”

  Turning back to the boy now folded forward on his knees, Natalie again held her hands out at her side. She kept her strides even and slow as she approached. “What’s your name?”

  The boy looked up, ran his hand over his face. He was crying, tears streaking his cheeks and chin, cutting through a thin layer of grit almost too faint to notice. “Please …”

  Natalie slowed her pace by half, lowered her shoulders, and again offered a sympathetic smile. “Is it Taylor? Is that your name, are you—”

  The boy slid back into a sitting position. He breathed in deeply and wiped his nose. “No … Taylor was my brother.” The boy’s eyes again drifted to Noah. “But he’s gone.”

  Natalie stoppe
d ten feet from the boy. She waited for him to turn back toward her and then dropped to one knee. “I’m sorry, but I promise we aren’t here to hurt you.”

  The boy again wiped his face, a tremor rolling from his shoulders down into his arms. He looked up, fighting to get the words out. “I don’t … I can’t … my family …”

  A tear broke from her left eye. She stood quickly and moved to him, held out her hand and reached for him. “We can leave if you want us to, but we can also stay and try to help.”

  The boy cried harder, his body quaking as he brought his legs into his chest and buried his face in his knees. “Lucas, my name is Lucas”

  Natalie turned back and motioned for Chuck and Noah. She moved to the boy’s side and put her arm over his shoulder. “You’re not alone anymore, Lucas. We won’t leave you, I promise.”

  30

  Owen unfolded a large street map of the city and laid it out across the table. He wasn’t completely satisfied with Kevin’s explanation of the how’s and why’s of his oddly timed arrival, although for the moment that was the least of his concerns. For now, the only thing on his mind was getting back to his wife and his son.

  “Okay,” Owen said. “Where do you suggest we start?”

  Kevin moved to the same side of the table. He pulled the map into what little light bled in from the window in the opposite corner of the room. Pointing toward a cluster of blue circles drawn along the west side of town, he looked to Ava and then to Owen. “Are these the areas you’ve checked?”

  Owen nodded. “Yes, and the ones with a red line next to them, I’ve been there twice.”

  Ava came from the couch, laid three pens on the table, and rushed back to her spot.

  “Thanks,” Kevin said. He reached for the blue pen, drew a line from where the Hummer was abandoned to the street below, circling four buildings each spaced four blocks apart. “Here are the buildings I’ve been through. Pretty much matches most of the places you’ve been.”

  Owen nodded. “Looks like we haven’t seen very much.”

  “That might not be a bad thing, would hate to have wasted any time—”

  “Wasted? You know what we’re talking about, right?”

  Kevin leaned away from the table, shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”

  Owen forced down his first response. Better to continue forward. “Talk fast, I’m not sure I like where you’re headed with this.”

  “You check the buildings east of where you dumped the Hummer?”

  “Wasn’t able to get through the crowds, it was mostly a dead end. We figured they would have circled back and taken Porter Avenue all the way.”

  Kevin turned the map to face Owen. “And where were you headed in the first place? It’s pretty obvious you were trying to avoid the interstate.”

  Owen cut him a look. “Why does that matter? We need to be out there looking for them, not in here playing twenty questions.”

  “Well, if I had to guess, I would think that Natalie and your son would have attempted to get to wherever it was that you were headed in the first place, that she would have thought that’s where you would go.”

  Owen leaned away from the table, looked back toward Ava, and nodded. “He’s right, Chuck knew that we were headed to Cecil’s. He would have taken them there, they may—”

  “Chuck?” Kevin shook his head, the intensity in his voice increasing. “Who’s Chuck?”

  “Our neighbor, well actually our neighbor’s brother. He showed up when all hell was breaking loose, helped us pack up and get out.”

  Kevin closed his eyes for moment, rubbed his face. “You’ve met him before? This is someone you’ve spent some time with?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Dad …” In the far corner Ava pushed away from the sofa and stood. “I think I got a text.”

  Owen wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. Ava had continued to check her phone a minimum of ten times a day, even though he’d explained to her that the cell towers were no longer sending or receiving any signals. He didn’t really understand the technology behind it, but figured once the power had gone out there was little chance of it returning. He hadn’t slept a single minute since losing contact with his wife and son, and now simply figured his mind was playing tricks on him.

  “What? Are you sure?”

  Ava started toward him, held up her phone. “It’s Noah. He sent it from Mom’s phone, but I don’t know when. Here, look.”

  The phone had begun to sleep. Owen quickly keyed the home button, tapped through to the message from his son and started to read. “Ava, it’s Noah. Me and Mom are okay, but she’s sleeping a lot. I think her head hurts.”

  Owen stopped reading, began to smile. He reached for his daughter, pulled her in close and hugged her, fighting back the urge to let the moment take him. And sucking in a quick breath, he continued. “We are in the building down the street from the Hummer. Chuck says it’s the second floor. Last night we made a sign. I hope you see it.”

  Ava took back her phone, stared at the backlit screen for a moment, and let her shoulder slump. She then closed the message app and powered it down. “Signal’s gone again.”

  Owen turned back to Kevin, who now stood at the window. “How’s it look?”

  Kevin started toward the door, reaching into his coat pocket. “We can get back there, but it’s not going to be easy.”

  Ava yawned as if unable to control it. “Dad?”

  “We’re gonna find them, I promise.” He again smiled, a surge of unbridled optimism forcing down his exhaustion. “Like I said, I can feel it.”

  Ava rubbed at her eyes and only nodded.

  Now at the door, his face pressed into the back of the peephole, Kevin counted under his breath. When he’d finished, he pulled away and moved back to the table. “Looks like we’ve got about ten of them out there, but if you use that thing,” Kevin motioned toward the Glock. “It’s gonna get a whole lot worse, real quick. We’re gonna have to do this my way, and you’re gonna have to trust me.”

  “Right now?”

  Kevin again dug into his pockets. He pulled out three medium sized digital watches and set them on the table. They appeared similar—black rubber, small faces—for the most part nothing out of the ordinary. Although before Owen or Ava could ask, he quickly shoved two of the three back into his jacket, held the third up to the waning light, and began setting the timer. “Yeah, right now.”

  Owen stepped toward the door. “We won’t even make it to the stairs.”

  Kevin scanned the room, not focusing on anything in particular. “Get your things, we’re leaving.”

  “Wait, wait, wait …”

  “No,” Kevin said, “There isn’t time, this is only going to work once.”

  “What are we even doing here?” Owen pinched the bridge of his nose, wasn’t completely comfortable being a step behind on the details. “I’m aware of the urgency—it is my wife and son we’re talking about here—but you have to understand there’s no way I’m walking those streets with my daughter and not knowing exactly what it is you have planned.”

  Kevin was at the door holding the watch. He looked up, made sure to hold Owen’s gaze. “Listen, those streets are filling up faster than I’m comfortable with, and the only way any of this matters is if we find your wife. So for now, the details will have to wait, and besides, we aren’t walking anywhere.”

  Before Owen could respond, Kevin turned away. He held the watch close to his face, pressed one of its buttons, then quickly opened the door and tossed it to the end of the hall. “We’ve got sixty seconds—get ready to move.”

  31

  Natalie stood leaning into the hood of the light-colored SUV. She stared out over the streets and ran her right index finger through the thick layer of dirt that had been building since well before the outbreak. Chuck was turned away, now watching as Lucas and Noah sat near the retaining wall playing with a deck of cards.

  “How can there be absolutely no trace, no
thing? Why wouldn’t they have come looking for us?”

  Chuck put his hand to his mouth, yawning so hard his eyes momentarily closed. “We can’t think about it that way. They might just be stuck somewhere. Or maybe …”

  Natalie lowered her voice. “I’m not even remotely close to thinking about that.”

  “No,” Chuck said, “I’m sorry, that’s not what I was getting at. It’s just that I have this feeling that they’re doing the exact same thing we are, but maybe somewhere else. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but it just makes sense.”

  “You’re right—that’s not what I want to hear.”

  “Listen, I’m not going to pretend that I know what you’re going through or that I know how to fix any of this, but I do know that we need to stay positive, keep our heads about us, and make good decisions. I believe that Owen and Ava are out there somewhere, probably in the same predicament that we are. We just have to stay alive long enough to get back to them.”

  Natalie continued to stare out over the city. While she knew he was probably right, and that getting back to her husband and her daughter was her number one priority, she also needed him to believe that there was a reason to stay. And although he was beginning to fade, she understood that navigating the city alone with her son would most definitely be a death sentence. For the moment, she needed Chuck more than he needed her. She just had to make sure he wasn’t already on his way to coming to the same conclusion.

  “I guess,” Natalie said, “it’s just hard to imagine my little girl out there somewhere. She’s probably scared and hungry.”

  Chuck turned away from the boys, moved to the wall. He looked up, closed his eyes, and was quiet for what seemed like minutes. “You think Owen would have gone out ahead?”

  From the other side of the truck and before she could answer, Lucas said something under his breath to Noah, and the boys stopped playing. Lucas stood quickly and came around the front of the SUV.

  “Uh …” his head was low, his hoodie pulled down to his brow. Lucas now stared at the pavement. “Who is it?”