Day One (Book 1): Alive

by Michael McDonald

  Come on… try to get through that door at me! My mind raced as my finger slid from the narrow trigger guard onto the cold, grooved trigger. I waited silently.

  “There’s no one here,” a voice said.

  “But there has to be,” another argued.

  “There’s not, we need to go and we have to do it now!”

  The sound of the two Strangers nearing the front door filled my ears and it felt good to have one less thing to deal with. I didn’t want to shoot anyone, although putting my Daughter in danger was the quickest way to get me to pull the trigger without hesitation or remorse. I’d kill for my kids… there was no thought about that.

  “But I don’t want to go back out there,” The female voice stated.

  “We have no choice, there’s no one here to help us.”

  “Go away… just go away and leave us alone,” I whispered under my breath. I had no way of knowing if they really needed help or were simply making it sound that way so I would come out and they could rob me… or worse. Kill me. I might not be the smartest person alive, but I sure as hell hadn’t fallen off the stupid wagon yesterday.

  “Why will no one help us?” The female asked. The sorrow in her voice was evident.

  “I don’t know, Sherry. Maybe they’re all scared like we are… maybe they don’t care about anyone but themselves… I just don’t know.” He stated. “But we have to go either way.”

  “I don’t want to die,” She said and began to cry.

  I felt for them, I really did. However, I have a daughter of my own to protect and I couldn’t see risking her life to save complete strangers. I knew it was wrong – felt it down deep in my soul, yet I had to think of her and no one else. I remained quiet with the pistol pointed at the door. If they came into the bedroom, I’d be forced to get nasty with them.

  “Come on, let’s go.”

  I listened intently until I was sure they had left, pulled the diaper bag onto my right shoulder, leaned and picked up my Daughter who barely woke before placing her head into my shoulder and falling back to sleep. She wrapped her little arms around my neck and my heart told me that nothing would happen to her. I would kill the entire population if I had too, but no harm would befall her as long as air filled my lungs.

  I closed the gap to the bedroom door, unlocked it and slowly pulled it open, fully expecting there to be several obstacles I’d have to overcome before reaching my vehicle untouched. That’s when it blindsided me like a freight train. I had no idea and could not remember what I had done with my car keys earlier that night as I got ready for bed.

  And roaming around the living room and kitchen were not the best of ideas with the front door still wide open. Even closing it could catch the eye of someone just out of sight and the fight would be on. I wanted to do things my way and on my terms. If I was going to venture out into the night with my Daughter, then it would be when I was ready… not a second before that.

  “Dammit!” The whole process of escape hinged on me grabbing my keys as we passed the small table just inside the front door. Now that plan was dead in the water, as the keys could be anywhere. If Kember had gotten a hold of them, as she had several times I the past, it would take a shit load of luck to find them this time, and luck was not something I had on my side. The world outside appeared to be falling apart and the longer it took to find them, the worse the conditions could be when I had to venture out in them.

  I knew where my wife put her keys every night and remembered seeing them as I came in from smoking and shut the front door before going to bed. Her vehicle was much larger than mine, which meant it would drink a lot of gas, not to mention the… my words died away as I realized what I hadn’t up until that second.

  It was a full sized SUV with three rows of seating, large amounts of trunk space, more horsepower and far superior to my little car. It was perfect. A slight smile cascaded across my face.

  Crossing the living room, I held the Beretta in front of me, pointing at the open front door and still hoping that I wouldn’t have to use it. Only dim light from the kitchen cast into the living room and it was not bright enough to give my position away as I moved. So therefore, if anyone were to pass by they would certainly not see me by accident. No, they would have to be actively seeking me. That thought gave me a morsel of courage in which to move by.

  The gun was still in front of me like a shield and given the facts and things that had already taken place, I was now positive that at one point or another in the near future, I’d have to use it in self-defense, which was not a comforting thought by any means.

  On the front porch the bite of the cold night caused me to shiver as if something was running up my spine, trying to assault me from the limited shadows. I shook it off, ensured the darkened porch was vacant of anyone hiding and waiting for me to pass by before jumping out. Scanned the darkness beyond and locked my eyes on the two vehicles in the covered garage. The wail of the sirens was much louder now, as were the distant sound of gun fire and screams. What the hell was going on? Was the world crumbling in around all of us?

  I took a few steps backwards and looked into the dimly lit kitchen, watching my flanks and not making myself an easy target for anyone. I could see my wife still motionless on the floor. There was a need to go to her, aid her in some way, although deep down I knew she was already gone and I couldn’t get side tracked or it could cost me. She was dead and I felt the sorrow blossom up around me as tears formed in my eyes. There was nothing I could do to save her. Nothing I could have done. The moment she entered the kitchen, her life was measured in mere minutes. I was broken and hollow, a former image of myself. An image that had been shattered and would never again be. The only thing that kept me going was Kember. We were all each other had anymore.

  Stay strong… I know it hurts, but you have to stay strong and focus on getting the hell out of this place for your daughter. She’s all that matters now!

  With no further thought I made a mad dash for the Pathfinder, reached it, unlocked the door and crawled in with Kember in my arms. I pulled the door shut and put her in her car seat, did my best to buckle her in as quickly as I could and turned to start the vehicle.

  “Shit. Where are the keys?” I looked in the floorboard, thinking I might have dropped them as I got in. Looked in the seat next to me, under both legs with no such luck and pounded my fist into the roof. It made a weird hollow sound. I looked toward the porch and thought about the second set of keys that where in the bedroom on the wife’s dresser. At that point there was no other alternative if we wanted to escape. But losing the keys really pissed me off. I knew I had had them in my hand when we left the house, so what the hell happened to them from the door to here?

  “Dammit!” I shouted and looked back to see if my hostile words had woken her. They hadn’t she was still fast asleep. I chewed over the idea of going back inside and retrieving the second set of keys, hopefully I wouldn’t lose those this time. Yet that meant chancing it once more and tempting fate. If there was anything I have learned in my short life-time, is that you don’t tempt fate… EVER!

  “You either go and get them or sit here all damn night long.”

  I prepared myself for the stupid choice I had somehow already made, even before I noticed the keys were missing. I lept out of the SUV and dashed back up onto the porch, into the house and was almost to the bedroom when I realized that I’d left Kember all alone. I felt stupid. I felt like a failed parent, yet I had already made it that far, which meant I had to finish or we would go nowhere. Back in the bedroom I dared to turn the bedroom light on, thinking maybe I could locate them by touch in the dark. That idea lasted a whole three seconds. I knocked something over and lots of little unseen objects hit the carpeted floor. “Dammit!” I shook my head and flipped the switch. Bright light flooded the room and I shielded my eyes from the glare, unable to see for a few seconds. It was then that I wished I had just stayed in the SUV. The keys had to be out on the ground somewhere and I could find them when t
he sun came up. That way I’d be able to see any threats coming at me in advance. The way I was doing it now left no room for error and that was my specialty. Master screw up!

  I grabbed the keys from the dresser, exactly where they weren’t supposed to be and headed back to the Pathfinder, the .9mm eager to defend me if something were to pop up and try and stop my advance. But nothing did, and I made it out onto the porch, and then five feet from the SUV.

  In my haste, once again, I hadn’t scanned the darkness before rushing to the SUV or I would have seen the figure just up the road see me come out, change direction and run toward me at full speed. The rumbling thunder masked its pounding footsteps that surged toward me driven by rage and something else I wouldn’t lean about until later.

  “Here we go, baby. Daddy got the keys this time,” I said as I opened the driver door to see the keys lying in the crease section of the seat, which separated the lower from the upper.

  “Are you shitting me?” I asked in an angered tone, feeling like a first class idiot let out on parole for good behavior, if that was even possible. I felt even more like an idiot for putting both our lives at risk for losing the first set of keys, not checking very thoroughly, and then going back inside for a second set. Shaking my head, I was about to get in when something slammed into me from behind. Pain rushed through my mid-section and I fought against the urge to drop the handgun and grab at the source of pain. I thought a vehicle had swerved to miss something and hit me instead. I was scared to look down to see that my legs were either gone or permanently part of the SUV now and that I would die a slow gruesome death with my daughter waking up to watch.

  Screaming filled my ears, the same kind I had heard inside when my Step Daughter had attacked me. It wasn’t a vehicle that had nailed me after all. It was one of those things and it had me at a disadvantage and overpowered. I knew that I only had seconds to react or it was going to kill me, yet my mind was blank. I couldn’t think of a single thing except how much pain was shuttering through my body. I needed motivation to perceiver, a reason not to give up and give in. I needed a damn miracle, although I wasn’t going to count on the latter. I might be dumb, but I’m not stupid… that’s what I tell myself anyway.

  With my back to the attacker, I would have to spin around to fight back, giving the thing more than enough time to assault me. It was at that moment I was glad I hadn’t gone into the house and turned the kitchen light on. I wanted to remember my wife as she had been in life. Full of love, laughter and always smiling. I didn’t want the gory image I’m certain was lying in there on the floor roaming through my head just seconds before I joined her.

  Fight god dammit, fight for Kember… fight to keep her alive! My brain screeched. And I did. I dropped to the ground and threw my body to the left, falling in that direction. The attacker lost its grip on me and when I hit the ground I rolled out of the way and got to my feet like a nimble alley cat. The attacker turned and caught the grip of the .9mm across its face, pushing it away from the SUV, giving me more than enough time to enter and slam the door. It also meant I didn’t have to shoot and possibly attract any more of those things. There was a part of me, however, that wanted to unload the Beretta into its face at point blank range. By no means am I an angry person, nor do I go around telling people off or even getting bent out of shape over the smallest thing. I take life as it comes and try to see the best in every situation. This situation, no matter how hard I tried, had no silver lining anywhere.

  The SUV started with no problem and I threw it in reverse and spun out of the open garage. The attacker grabbed the side of the vehicle and clung on for dear life. In the road I threw it in drive and the tires fought upon the wet pavement for traction, found some a few seconds later and they quickly lunged forward.

  It beat against the driver window and for the first time I was able to get a clear look at my attackers face. The eyes that stared hatefully back at me were dilated, which was impossible. That amount of dilation was reserved for only the dead, yet here this thing was hanging on as best they could to the SUV when they should be motionless somewhere in a casket.

  “What the hell?” I spoke aloud. “There’s no way… no damn way you’re alive!”

  I blew through a stop sign and continued down the road with the attacker still trying to get in. I figured pointing my .9mm at it would cause it to let go, no such luck is what I found. It was completely unphased by the act, as though it was either extremely courageous or insanely stupid. It continued to scream and bash at the window and I was sure that the glass would eventually give way and it would be in on me in seconds. Luckily though, I spotted a parked car a few hundred feet ahead and planned my next move.

  “Get off my vehicle, asshole!” I demanded. “Get off or I’ll peel you off!”

  I pressed hard on the accelerator, speeding up and at the last moment swerved across the road and collided with the side of the parked car. The impact wasn’t as violent as I thought it would be – forgive me, I guess I’ve seen too many action movies in my life. And there was no shower of sparks to rain upward into the darkened sky, which sucked. I was hoping to see that in real life, but the screaming attacker was sheered from the SUV in a brutal side-swipe. That was real.

  “Got you, asshole!”

  I watched in the side mirror as it rolled down the road and stopped. A smile began across my lips, yet halted half way, as it got up and quickly gave chase. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. There was no way in the world that the attacker was still alive. It should have been killed, injured badly at the least, but it was completely unharmed.

  “There’s no way… there’s no damn way you are still alive.”

  Focusing on driving, feeling the ever present fear surround me once more. I wasn’t safe in the SUV like I had first thought. And as far as I could tell and see, there would be no place on earth where we would be safe. I was essentially running from one problem into the dangerous arms of another at lightning speed. There had to be somewhere that I could lay my head safely without having to worry every three seconds what thing had made the noise that had woke me.

  An idea floated into my head.

  Through another stop sign, I turned left on Fifth Street and head four blocks until Main Street appeared. From there I turned right and drove down the main drag of the small town I had grown up in. It wasn’t a place to brag about unless you were full country at heart and had very little expectations in life. And I was far from a farmer or farm hand. That would be like taking a professional race car driver and giving him a position as a street sweeper. It was ridiculous.

  The drizzle blotted the windshield, so I turned the wipers on; they arched upward and flung the stationary droplets off into the night. As the hum of the wipers cried out, I quickly noticed a few cars up on the sidewalk, twenty feet ahead. I slowed to see if they were okay or needed some assistance, but no one was within the vehicles.

  “What in the hell is going on?” I asked aloud. At that very moment, someone stirred within and I stopped. Instantly the occupant saw me and darted out of the vehicle, slipping on the wet sidewalk and falling. Their head struck a small foundation block, snapping their neck and I cringed from the blow and in horror of watching someone die. To my surprise though, they stood up and began to wail. I floored it.

  A police cruiser shot across from the side street just ahead and continued out of sight. I followed them until the Police Station came into view and hurried toward it, a smile creeping across my face. I savored the moment in all its glory, but realized that several times before I had gotten my hopes up only to be let down swiftly.

  I had to be safe before I could believe I was safe and where else would a person be as far from harm’s way than in a police station. I grabbed the door handle and was about to get out when I thought about my sleeping Daughter. Would she be fine by herself, for only a moment, or was I about to make a horrible decision that I would soon regret?

  An Officer stepped outside,
as the vehicle lights were shinning into the front window. The Officer drew his holstered weapon and approached cautiously. I stepped out, killing the lights, allowing the Officer to see me.

  “Get back into your vehicle and leave!” The Officer shouted.

  “My wife has been attacked, I need help for her!”

  The Officer cocked the hammer of the H&K USP.9mm. “I said leave, now or I’ll shoot you where you stand!”

  “I have my two year old daughter with me,” I said in a pleading manner, raising my hands slowly. “We need help. There are crazy people out here running around.”

  “There’s nothing I can do to help you,” The Officer said.

  His words stuck in my head like a clogged drain and I couldn’t for the life of me believe them. It was their job to serve and protect, so what part of that did he not understand. “You can’t just leave us out here!” I was growing impatient.

  “Get into your vehicle and drive away. Get out of the city and head for the interstate.”

  I shook my head, subconsciously lowering my hands. “I’m not going anywhere! We need help, not directions!”

  “The National Guard has set up a containment area at the interstate. If you’re looking for help, you’ll find it there. Now go before it too late.” He kept the pistol trained on me.

  “What is going on?” I asked.

  The Officer approached me and stopped with the barrel of his pistol just an inch from my face. His eyes were filled with something I had never seen before and it frightened me. He pushed the gun against my head and spoke slowly but with a deep tone. “Just… go.”

  I wasn’t about to argue with an armed man that looked as though he had just seen what lies beyond the gates of hell. I backed away slowly and got into the SUV, eyeing him as I put it in reverse and backed up slowly.

  The Officer backed toward the station, his gun never leaving the direction of my face until he ducked back into the red bricked building.