Desolation

by Mark Campbell

  “They waited though,” Andrew muttered.

  Jerri blew a lock of hair out of her face and looked over at him. “Hm?” she muttered.

  “They waited,” he repeated. “That’s the part that really bothers me. They waited until I was in the middle of them before they came topside. It was like… well, an ambush they cooked up to trick prey.”

  Jerri looked back out the window.

  “What, so you think shamblers are capable of cognitive thought now?” she asked halfheartedly, amused.

  Andrew shook his head.

  “Perhaps on some herd mentality or…” he felt ridiculous. “I don’t know. It was weird. Okay? It was weird.”

  “What do you propose we do? Go back home?” she asked. “We have to be careful,” he said as he wiped the sweat off of his brow. “First that stuff back at the dorm and now this? We may not understand the course of infection as well as we thought.”

  “Even hiding underground… They’ll still rot and turn to dust. It’s all a matter of time,” Jerri said as she stared at something in the distance. She thought she saw something… but the desert can play tricks.

  “True but you saw the intelligence they demonstrated.” “The supposed ambush you mean? That could just be a coincidence,” she mused.

  Andrew snorted.

  “I stopped believing in those the day I met you,” he said. He looked at her out the corner of his eyes, watching her reaction. Jerri rolled her eyes as she stared out the window. She felt like he was getting ridiculous with his over-the-top attempts at flirtation and she couldn’t wait to ditch him and go her own way.

  Andrew frowned, stung by her reaction.

  Jerri squinted as she stared out the window.

  “Road,” she said in an apprehensive tone before Andrew thought of something to say. “What?” he muttered.

  “Road,” Jerri repeated, pointing ahead.

  Andrew scanned the horizon and saw the interstate just over the other side of a sandy embankment, enshrouded by the desert haze. The interstate looked devoid of any vehicles and didn’t have any high-mast street lights so it blended in almost perfectly.

  “I’ll be damned,” he muttered. The jeep was nearing empty and he knew that if they didn’t get to Tucson soon, they’d be in trouble. He expected Jerri to say something, anything at that point.

  Instead, she remained quiet and stared out the window. Andrew became increasingly unsure how to approach her and bridge the awkward disconnection he felt ever since the morning. Since the change in her attitude happened seemingly overnight, he wondered if she knew about Chris… He didn’t see how; she was snoring at the time.

  He closed his eyes and shook his head as he thought about Chris. He never would have taken him along if he knew the man harbored such deep resentment against him over an accident. He always assumed Chris was a friend; someone who enjoyed his company and looked forward to his random late-night visits. It wasn’t until their altercation during the night that he realized that the friendship Andrew perceived was just smoke and mirrors.

  The man feared him and hated him. It was a dangerous mixture in a man such as Chris. Fearful men strike using subversive means… Andrew had to do it; the man’s ramblings forced his hand. After their heated exchange of words, he knew that Chris planned to tell Jerri about their sordid past just to sow seeds of discontent.

  It had to be done but that didn’t make the act any easier. He tried to think of it like putting down a dog you loved or euthanizing an aging parent. Nonetheless he knew that Chris had managed to undo a lot of trust and it would take some time to rebuild that with Jerri.

  Habitually tapping his fingers on the steering wheel, he tried to think of a way to bring her back around. Flirting wouldn’t work in her fragile mental state. It would take something special…

  Before he knew it, they were rolling on I-19 northbound, making a straight shot towards civilization in the afternoon sun. The highway was half-buried in sand and the desert shrubbery along the median had grown out of control.

  Far in the distance, the darkened remnants of greater Tucson sat nestled in the valley, shadowed by the Catalina Mountains that surrounded the city. The few skyscrapers that composed Tucson’s skyline had been nearly leveled by artillery fire and most of the surrounding buildings had been reduced to rubble.

  Once home to nearly a million residents, he shuddered to think what lurked the city streets during the height of the pandemic. A sedan sat parked in the middle of the interstate a few yards away. Its doors were open and the windows were shattered. Old blood and gore was caked on the asphalt by the driver’s side.

  Andrew veered the jeep around the abandoned vehicle and continued onward. “Do you know where the air force base even is?” Jerri asked while starring at the abandoned car as it disappeared in the rearview mirror.

  “It should be near where this highway intersects with I-10,” Andrew said. He was guessing, of course. “It’s somewhere on the eastside of the city.”

  “That helps,” Jerri said, shaking her head. Andrew frowned. As much as her attitude started to annoy him, the surroundings started to put him on edge. He ignored her and kept his eyes on the road.

  Evidence of civilization started to emerge across the desert landscape and discarded trash blew freely across the land. The jeep passed a convenience store covered in plywood and an abandoned RV park.

  After the incident at the plane, he had no desire to go hunting for supplies unless absolutely necessary. The road became increasingly congested with abandoned vehicles. They were parked haphazardly across all four lanes of the interstate and were badly weathered. Skeletal corpses strapped in their seatbelts sat baking inside some of the cars, rotted away underneath the desert sun.

  Andrew maneuvered the jeep between the vehicles, navigating a path through the clogged interstate. Jerri rocked Jacob in her arms to keep him quiet while she stared outside with revulsion and horror. She hadn’t stepped foot near a city since the outbreak and had no idea what to expect.

  Corpses started to claw their way out of the ground as the jeep rumbled past. Many stood and started to stagger onto the interstate, but some crawled across the scorching earth, dragging their dilapidated legs behind them.

  “Andrew…” Jerri said with fear evident in her voice. “I know,” he said, trying not to look at the corpses that were staggering haplessly after the vehicle in the rear view mirror. As he feared, the incident at the plane was not limited to one location.

  Ahead, all four lanes of the interstate were rendered impassable by the countless stalled cars. Cars were even parked in the median from when they attempted to form an additional lane during the traffic stalemate.

  Andrew veered the jeep over onto the shoulder of the highway and floored the accelerator, creating a thick plume of dust as the tires spun-out in the sand before finally taking off.

  Jerri tucked the covered baby against her chest and squeezed her eyes shut as the jeep plowed through shambling corpses and flattered others rising from the ground.

  “What are you doing?!” she shouted above the rumble of the tires as they rolled across the rough terrain. “You’re going to wreck this thing!” “Just hang on!” Andrew shouted, trying to peer through the blood-splattered windshield.

  The jeep sped along the side of the long line of traffic and finally rolled past the source of the massive traffic jam. The entire highway had been barricaded by concrete dividers, sandbags, and razorwire. Six ancient tanks sat parked at the military barricade with their turrets pointed towards the traffic. Shattered halogen flood lamps lay toppled on the asphalt and massive signs read ‘Road Closed – No Thru Traffic – Quarantined Due to Infectious Disease’.

  Beyond the barricade, the highway leading into Tucson was vacant. Andrew steered the jeep back onto the pavement and sped down the road, leaving the vehicular graveyard and the shuffling corpses far behind.

  Jerri stared out her window at a row of long trenches that stretched out for miles on both sides of the
interstate. The trenches were full to the brim with bodies wrapped in white plastic. Dump trucks and Red Cross flatbeds were parked along the edges of the mass graves and were loaded with more bodies. Rusted yellow Caterpillar backhoes sat parked near the end of the trenches and seemed like they were unable to keep up with the demand for more space. The scene was surreal and made her skin crawl.

  Jerri looked away and turned her attention towards Jacob, rubbing his tiny stomach. She knew he was lucky not to know what the world had become.

  Andrew frowned.

  Suddenly, steam shot out from underneath the hood and the engine made an awful knocking noise. As the jeep slowed to a near crawl, Andrew looked down and saw the CHECK ENGINE icon illuminated on the instrument panel and his stomach churned. He smelled smoke coming through the air conditioner vents and heard the engine clank loudly as it struggled to keep running.

  “We have a problem,” Andrew announced dismally. Jerri waved her hand in front of her face and coughed. She looked at the city as it loomed closer each passing second.

  “I noticed,” she muttered. “How much longer until it craps out on us completely?”

  Andrew shook it head, having no earthly idea.

  As it turned out, it didn’t take very long at all.

  31

  The jeep sat parked on the side of I-19 in the south side of the city. The hood was up and black smoke churned out of the defeated engine. The sun was starting to set in the distance, casting long shadows across the highway.

  Blocks away, Andrew led Jerri down a desolate southern Tucson street. The city’s south side consisted mostly of small restaurants and strip malls with flat adobe roofs. The street they wandered along had most of its stores looted and the rest of them had been burnt down. A few buildings remained covered in clear plastic from FEMA’s involvement shortly into the pandemic. Litter lay strewn across the street and the arid wind whistled through the vacant buildings.

  Strangely, the streets were clear of all vehicles and they hadn’t seen a single shambler since they left the roadblock on the interstate. Jerri held Jacob gently in her arms as she walked. The city made her feel nervous and claustrophobic. She never was a fan of Tucson and the apocalypse didn’t make her gain a sudden appreciation for its Spanishinspired desert charm. The city was always frighteningly boring to her; now it was just frightening.

  Andrew led the way, wielding his depleted pistol in front of him like a sword, sweeping the barrel across every alleyway they passed and pointing it towards the shattered storefronts. It looked to him like the entire city had packed and left in a hurry.

  He couldn’t get over the feeling that they were being watched. He wrote it off as paranoia.

  Jerri spotted a small bodega on the side of the street. The small convenience stores were popular in Arizona and were especially popular in south Tucson where the population was mostly Latino. The bodega looked surprisingly intact; the windows were covered by burglar bars, none of the windows were shattered, and the front door was shut tight and padlocked. Even better, she saw shelves of food through the barred windows.

  “Look,” she said as she stared at the store.

  He saw; he had stopped and was looking at it cautiously. “I know,” he said, scanning the empty street. It would be getting dark outside soon and he knew it would be smart to find a place for the night. Besides, a map could prove useful. “Think it’s safe?”

  “I think safe is a relative term at the moment,” she said, parroting his own words from earlier back at him. She looked down at Jacob and her stomach rumbled. “Besides… I’m tired and hungry. I don’t know how much longer I can go without eating.”

  She already exhausted what little remained of the MRE she managed to save from the night prior.

  Andrew felt the same way. Besides, he needed some alone time with her if he wanted to undo the damage Chris did.

  “You’re right,” he said as he holstered his pistol. “Let’s go secure it.” Andrew rushed towards the store and pulled on the padlock. It wasn’t any use; the lock was a good one.

  He walked over to one of the windows and fruitlessly pulled on the burglar bars. “No wonder the damned place is still intact,” he said, defeated. He stepped back and ran his fingers through his hair, trying desperately to think of a solution. “It’s Fort Knox.”

  Jerri walked down the alleyway besides the building, cradling the baby against her chest. “Jerri! Wait!” Andrew shouted as she disappeared around the corner into the alley. He ran after her, reaching for his pistol out of habit and fear. When he turned the corner and spotted her, he froze.

  Jerri was standing in front of a side entrance into the store that was locked by a simple combination lock. Andrew snatched her wrist and pulled her towards him. Jerri snapped her hand free and glared.

  “Don’t touch me!” she yelled as she reached for her knife.

  “Well then don’t go running down alleys on your own halfcocked whims!” Andrew shouted at her, not backing down. “And don’t go running blindly into a building! Fuck!”

  “What’s it to you?!” she shouted, seething red with anger. “Since when did you become some compassionate saint?! Why do you even care?! I’m not buying your bullshit anymore, Andrew!”

  Andrew gave an aggravated sigh and shoved past Jerri as he broke the cheap combination lock off of the door with the butt of his pistol and stormed into the building.

  Jerri watched him walk into the store, biting her tongue. Despite how she felt about him, she felt guilty for what she said. Perhaps she really did peg him wrong. Either way, her gut instinct was a hard one to ignore but she felt like an idiot for being a total bitch based off of a dream featuring her dead ex-boyfriend. It didn’t make sense to take it out on Andrew. She tucked Jacob into his shawl and followed Andrew into the store.

  The back stockroom of the store looked barren with the exception of some moldy cardboard Sabritas boxes and empty Jarritos bottles. Some janitorial supplies sat in the corner, collecting dust.

  Andrew cautiously walked through the storeroom towards the door that led into the main part of the store and kicked it open. The store was dark and the shelves were half-full of provisions of all types. The cash register was intact and the freezers were empty. Trash was piled up against the front of the store; it looked like a large rat nest. At the back of the store, a small group of sleeping bags, a camping stove, small lanterns, and melted candles sat in the corner.

  Andrew didn’t like it and alarms started to go off in his head, despite his hunger. Jerri shoved past Andrew and ran towards one of the nearest aisles. The aisle had shelves of cookies and crackers that were mostly in Spanish. She grabbed one of the boxes…

  “It’s empty,” she said as she shook the box, dismayed. She threw the box down and grabbed another. She frowned. “This one is empty too…” She ran her hand along the shelf and knocked a large section of empty boxes down onto the ground. “They’re all fucking empty!”

  Andrew shook his head and backed away towards the stockroom. “This isn’t right,” he said. “We need to leave now!”

  “Quién es usted?!” a man said from behind him. “Mi casa! Entraste en mi casa!”

  Andrew spun towards the voice and found himself at the business end of a .45.

  “He asked who we are,” Jerri muttered, shaking her head. “He said we broke into his home…”

  “You understand him?!” Andrew hastily asked, shocked. Jerri didn’t know why Andrew looked so speechless; growing up in Arizona, speaking Spanish was somewhat a priority. The man holding the gun was a brawny Latino man with sun baked skin and long oily black hair that hung past his shoulders. He had piecing brown eyes and a scar that ran down his stubble-covered chin. He wore a flannel shirt that had seen better days and tattered blue jeans. He held the gun with one hand and the broken combination lock in the other.

  The agitated man held up the broken lock and threw it on the ground at Andrew’s feet. “Entraste en mi casa!” the man repeated, crying.

&
nbsp; Andrew slowly raised his hands in the air and backed away.

  “Easy,” he said in a calm voice. “We didn’t come in here looking for trouble…”

  Jerri bolted down one of the aisles and hid, breathing frantically. She held the baby close against her racing heart. “Dile a la chica para venir aquí!” the man said, keeping his gun pointed at Andrew’s face. He reached down and took the gun out of Andrew’s holster and slid it under his belt.

  “ Fuck,” Jerri whispered between her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut. She knew the man was telling Andrew to make her step out of her hiding spot.

  Andrew shook his head, face pale.

  “I don’t understand,” he stammered.

  Jerri squeezed her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip.

  The man with the gun groaned in frustration and pressed the barrel against Andrew’s head, cocking the hammer back with his thumb. “La chica! La chica!” the man shouted. He pointed at Andrew’s FEMA uniform. “Policia estupido! La chica!”

  “The girl? She has nothing to do with this. Just let her go and take me,” Andrew pleaded. “Let her go and–”

  “Cállate! Ladrón!” the man shouted, face red. His finger started to tighten around the–

  “Alto! Alto!” Jerri screamed as she stepped out from behind the aisle holding Jacob in her arms. “No somos ladrones!”

  Andrew spun towards Jerri.

  “He thinks we’re robbers,” Jerri said to Andrew.

  “Hablas español?” the man asked Jerri, pointing his gun towards her. “Un poco,” Jerri said, rocking the baby. “Por favor. No estamos aquí para robarte.” She turned towards Andrew. “I told him that we didn’t come here to steal from him.”

  The man saw the covered baby and he hesitantly lowered his pistol a little as he tried to see the baby’s face. He kept the pistol aimed towards Andrew.

  Jerri stepped towards the man, smiling.

  The man quickly aimed his pistol at her.

  Andrew started to rush towards the man–