by B. T. Wright
On the next street over, the neighborhood was desolate. They had to weave around the occasional abandoned car in the road, but most were stopped at its side. Jake had no idea how the interstate might look. They may have just escaped the neighborhood, but the road out of town could be completely blocked. He didn’t know what the course of action would be if that were the case. As with most problems that day, they would have to cross that bridge when they came to it.
At the end of his neighborhood in Beaumont they went straight, crossing over Harrodsburg Road. The normally bustling intersection was crowded, but none of the cars were moving. The lights on the Texas Roadhouse sign were still lit, sending a glow of neon red out into the street. For no reason, he pictured infected serving other infected human hearts as they all danced to REM’s, It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). Of course things weren’t fine. The fact that that image played in his head was probably good proof of that.
Tyler was able to use the shoulder to get around the cars. He drove straight through the red light. Just up ahead was Venessa’s neighborhood.
“What’s the plan here, man,” Tyler said in a whisper. He glanced toward the back of the RV to make sure Jess wasn’t nearby. “Don’t you think this is a waste of time?”
“Probably. But wouldn’t you want to know if you had family close?”
Tyler nodded.
“Make a right here.”
Jake’s phone began to ring. It was Emily. Jess popped up from the back of the RV and joined them at the front so she could listen.
“Stop here for a second. I have to take this call without interruption.”
Tyler pulled to the side of the abandoned neighborhood road. Before Jake answered the phone he couldn’t help but wonder where the hell everyone was. Empty streets were the last thing he’d expected to see.
“You safe in Mount Weather?”
“Jake! Thank God. Just made it and got my phone on the charger. I lost battery earlier, before we could finish the call. I’ll text you those addresses as soon as we’re finished here. Are you all right? Are you still trapped?”
“We’re fine.”
The image of Tom being eaten alive washed over him. “Fine” was a relative term at that point.
“We made it out of the house, and I found an RV. We have one stop, and then we are hitting the interstate.”
“Jake, don’t miss that helicopter. It will be leaving here soon to pick up Professor Reed. After seeing the fallout in DC from the helicopter I have to imagine that at some point, the roads will be impassable. Just hopefully not before you make it to Cincinnati.”
“Nothing I can do about that.”
“No, I suppose not.”
There was a pause.
“Jake,” Emily’s tone changed. “I know what you said about your girlfriend, and I respect it completely. And I know this is not the time, but I can’t stop thinking about you.”
It was so quiet in the RV that, even though Jake didn’t have the phone on speaker, Jess heard every word Emily said. Jake reached for Jess’s hand but it was too late. She turned and walked toward the back of the RV.
Jake covered the phone with his left hand. “Jess!” It was no use. He could see the hurt on her face.
He put the phone back to his ear.
“Jake?”
“You’re right, Emily. Now is definitely not the time.”
Jake looked up at Tyler and Tyler had formed his mouth into an O, his eyes showing he wanted the juicy details. Jake just rolled his eyes.
“Listen . . .” Jake needed to focus, because they needed to go. “My brother. He’s alive. But he’s all the way out in Colorado. He’s alone with his sons. Is there anyone communicating from there? Maybe at NORAD? He needs to find some allies.”
“Jake, that is great news that he’s alive. And more good news, I just heard the president on the phone with the vice president. He was in California and they managed to get him to the Air Force base where we still have a small group of survivors. They are flying him via helicopter to Cheyenne Mountain Complex near Colorado Springs. You think your brother can make it there?”
“I don’t know much about Colorado, but I know my brother. If there’s a way to get there, he’ll find it. So there is some military left?”
“We’re not sure how much, but yes. We’ve had several bases that were radio silent check in. They are all devastated, but there’s still some units that we didn’t know existed. They got our warning calls in time to gear up and keep from contracting whatever the hell is going on.”
Jake let out a breath. He couldn’t have heard better news. Through all that was going on, and even though he and Colt hadn’t spoken in a long time, his brother being out there on his own with his boys had been weighing on Jake more than he’d realized.
“That’s great news. I need to call my brother. Can you make sure someone in at the base will be watching for him?”
“Of course. I’ll go right now and speak with the president himself.”
“Thank you, Emily. We’re on our way. Hopefully we will be to you some time in the early hours tomorrow morning.”
“I hope so. Be careful, Jake. If you need anything, please call me.”
Jake ended the call and immediately dialed Colt.
Tyler whispered. “Did you?”
Jake ignored him.
“Come on, man, look at what we’re dealing with here. Give me something fun to think about for a minute at least.”
The phone kept ringing while Jake kept ignoring Tyler.
Tyler kept on. “You did, didn’t you?” He lowered his whisper even further. “You had sex with her didn’t you? Come on!”
The call went to voicemail and Jake’s mind immediately thought the worst. With the world officially ending, it was hard to stay positive.
Tyler noticed the somber look on Jake’s face and stopped with the ribbing. “I’m sure he’s fine. Let’s just check Jess’s sister’s house and get the hell out of here.”
Jake nodded and put his phone away.
But there would be no need to check Vanessa’s house. Because standing in the glow of their headlights, head cocked, eyes black as the night behind her, was Jess’s sister.
19
“Jake, why the hell would that woman on the phone say she—”
Jess had walked up behind them, but before she could finish her thought about the phone call she, too, noticed her sister standing there alight in the RV’s high beams. Jake turned and saw the shock on Jess’s face.
“Jess, just go back to the bedroom. You don’t need to see—”
“Uh, Jake,” Tyler interrupted. “I think we’d better get out of here. Like, right the fuck now.”
Jake turned and watched at least a dozen more infected move in behind Vanessa. Jess’s nephew, Brandon, was one of them.
Jess began to cry. “Jesus, not Brandon too!”
She bent over at the knees and Jake caught her before she collapsed to the floor.
“Tyler, get us the hell out of here,” Jake said. “Now.”
“Roger.”
The RV shifted backward as Jake scooped Jess up into his arms. He stumbled when Tyler whipped the RV around, but managed to plod his way back to the bed. Amy was sitting up. The sudden rushed movement of the RV had pulled her from her trance. Jake laid Jess down.
“It’s okay, Amy.” Jake placed his arm on her shoulder. “We’re heading for the interstate now. Enjoy your music. I’ll get you some food in a bit if you’re hungry.”
Jess was bravely trying to hide her tears from Amy so as not to worry her, but she couldn’t hold it in. Amy placed her hand on Jess. It was her turn to do the comforting.
“It’s okay, Jess,” Amy said. “I don’t blame you for crying. This is all so messed up.”
Amy didn’t know about Vanessa just yet, but Jake was sure the words were meaningful anyway. He bent down to try to help comfort Jess, but his phone began to ring. Jess shot up and gave Jake a hard look.
“It’s Colt. I have to take this.”
Jess just laid back down and continued to cry. The RV was swaying left and right as Tyler navigated around the cars stopped in the road. Jake was surprised by how relieved he was to see his brother’s name on the caller ID.
“Colt, everything okay?”
“We’re alive. Okay is another story, I guess. You get out of the attic?”
“We’re in an RV on our way to Cincinnati. Trying to make a helicopter that’ll be flying to Mount Weather in Virginia.”
“Speaking of helicopters, saw a couple military choppers overhead flying toward Colorado Springs. Thought you said there was no military left.”
“I just talked to Emily. She said they received word that the vice president is being taken to Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Said they’ve had a few bases report back since I last spoke with her. Their numbers are devastated, but there are more that aren’t infected than we thought. Hopefully a lot more people not infected than we even know. Where are you?”
“At the neighbor’s. We ran into some . . . trouble.”
“Yeah, I would imagine you did,” Jake said. A vision of the infected man toppling Tom off the roof and tearing at his throat came to mind. “Emily is going to let the people at Cheyenne Mountain Complex know you and the boys will be coming. How are they holding up?”
“They’re fine. Look, Jacob, I know you don’t like listening to me much, and I know you’re a highly trained soldier and all, but you’ve got to be smart. Don’t stop till you get to Cincinnati. Don’t miss that helicopter. And don’t worry about us. The boys know how to shoot, and I know these mountain roads pretty well. Just get yourself to Mount Weather. Tomorrow will bring some clarity.”
Colt still spoke to him like he was still the same wide-eyed eighteen-year-old kid from eleven years ago. But at least they weren’t arguing. Tragedy either brings you together or it completely rips you apart. The first tragedy they’d suffered together had broken their relationship in two. Hopefully tragedy they were now facing, whatever the hell it was, would be the kind that would bring them back together.
“Don’t worry about me. This isn’t my first war.”
“Just don’t get cocky. It’ll make you complacent. And that will get you kill—”
Jake heard something in the background, and then nothing but silence.
“Colt?”
He took the phone away from his ear––the call looked like it was still running. He put it back to his ear. “Colt!”
But Colt was gone. Jake ended the call and tried three more times to dial Colt back, but the phone wouldn’t even ring. For the first time since everything had gone to shit, he felt the heavy sting of panic. He looked back at Jess crying on the bed, then over to his right at his goofball friend trying to steer around the madness. If he let this panic grow and get the best of him, they were all dead. He’d seen this kind of thing before in combat. If the leader loses it, everyone is lost. He had to swallow the panic before it got too strong of a hold on him. Other than Colt, everything he loved in the world was right there in that RV. And he’d be damned if he were going to lose anyone else he loved.
For some reason, when he thought about everything he loved, Emily’s smile flashed in front of his mind’s eye. And the smell of her perfume needled at his senses. This had happened several times since they’d said goodbye last week in Syria. And just as he had the last several times it happened, he did everything he could to put it out of his mind. He dialed her number just to see if it was Colt’s phone that was having trouble. But her phone didn’t ring either.
The sting of panic faded as his will to survive settled in. For Colt, for Emily, and for the three people with him in the RV, it was what needed to happen. The other thing that needed to happen was them finding some other way to communicate. If cell service was really gone and wasn’t going to come back, they needed a backup plan.
Jake walked to the front of the rig and took the passenger seat.
“Thanks for getting us out of the attic back there,” Tyler said.
Jake bypassed his remark. “We need a CB radio. Any idea where they sell them around here?”
“CB radio? Are you serious?”
“Phone lines are dead. Might be for good. How close is Walmart?”
Tyler glanced over. “You’re sure?”
“I can’t get out on my phone.”
Tyler pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolled to Jake’s contact, and pressed CALL.
“Anything?”
Tyler shook his head. “Not even ringing. This just went from bad to worse, didn’t it.”
“Afraid so.”
“There’s a Walmart right up here. You think it’s smart to go in? Probably crawling with those things.”
Colt’s words about not stopping rang in his head.
“You’re probably right, but we don’t have a choice. If we get stuck somewhere on the way to Cincinnati, we might need it, as well as some other supplies. Failure to plan is a plan to fail.”
Tyler laughed. “Okay, Oprah. Good God they really brainwashed you didn’t they? Remember when you used to be cool and not this . . . robo-soldier?”
Jake smiled. “Remember when you used to be able to see your toes in the shower?”
“There he is!” Tyler laughed. “That was hurtful, but at least you’re still in there somewhere.”
Jake wasn’t sure the old him was still in there somewhere. But he did know that whether he was, or wasn’t, he was glad the boring robo-soldier was. Because he knew to survive long enough to make it to that helicopter, they for damn sure were going to need it.
20
Emily placed the framed picture of her and her sister on the nightstand next to her new bed. Other than some clothing, it had been the only possession she’d managed to take from Syria. Her heart broke as she looked into her sister’s eyes. The picture was the only way Emily would ever see her again, and that reality was weighing heavy. So was the conversation with Jake.
Before the phone call, the helicopter ride in had been surreal. Even crazier was where they’d landed. The Emergency Operations Center in Mount Weather was nothing short of spectacular. She’d heard rumblings about it throughout her life, even seen it mentioned in a few movies. On their way down to the bowels of the mountain in Virginia, the mayor of Mount Weather gave them a briefing.
The man said the operations center sat on 564 acres of mountaintop and it consisted of two parts: the above-ground FEMA complex, and the 600,000-square-foot underground facility where Emily was now. The complex was so big that it had its own police and fire department, and even its own laws. If that wasn’t enough, the underground bunker had its own hospital, crematorium, dining and recreation areas, sleeping quarters, reservoirs of drinking water, emergency power plant, and radio and television studio, which were part of the Emergency Broadcasting System. The facility was meant to accommodate about two thousand people. The mayor mentioned that they were roughly a thousand people at the moment. Helicopters had been coming in from nearby bases all day long––mostly full of soldiers, but a few were civilians who had been lucky enough to be around and survive long enough to catch a ride.
Emily’s helicopter had been the only one to fly in for about an hour before that. It seemed most bases anywhere near them had been overrun. Between the extra supplies the helicopters brought in, and what the facility had already been equipped with, they were in good shape for a long wait if that was what would be necessary. Food and all other supplies were plentiful. Though there were over a thousand people there, as Emily sat on her bed, she still felt alone. And the way Jake had brushed her off . . . she figured that wasn’t about to change, even when he made it to the facility.
She needed something to do. Something to occupy her mind. They were all supposed to meet in half an hour for a strategy meeting, but she couldn’t wait that long. She would go and make sure someone was contacted in Colorado to be sure they were ready for Jake’s brother Colt. That would hel
p her nerves . . . at least for a few minutes.
Emily walked the halls of the underground facility. The only way she knew her way through the maze of all white corridors was the map they’d all been given and the helpful signs posted on the walls. The president had told the mayor to relay the message to Cheyenne Mountain Complex that a man named Colt would be coming with his two sons. She’d heard the mayor communicate this to the radio room, the room that was just down the hall now.
Emily knocked on the door.
“Come on in,” a man’s voice said, and she entered.
“You must be Emily,” the short, balding man said with a smile.
“I am. Any luck contacting the base in Colorado Springs?”
“All set. The vice president is aware of Colt and his sons, and security will be watching for him.”
“Thank you.”
Emily walked back out into the hallway and pulled her phone from her pocket. She was happy to deliver good news to Jake, especially with what he was fighting at the moment. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like to be stuck out there in the madness. She hit send on the text, but almost immediately received a red warning that told her the message could not be delivered. She tried again, same result.
Emily ducked her head back inside the radio room. “Excuse me.”
The man smiled.
“Sorry to bother you again, but I can’t seem to send a text message. Is that because we are so far underground?”
The man’s smile melted. “No. I’m sorry, ma'am. Usually cell service is great down here. But . . . there is no cell service anywhere now. It went out about a half hour ago. There’s nothing we can do about it from here. This Emergency Broadcast Radio is our only line out.”