He hoped the water pipes weren't frozen yet. May as well take advantage of the electricity while I can…
They shared a simple meal of crackers and canned fruit he'd found in the pantry, followed by plenty of water while his clothes finished going the the washer and dryer. They talked late into the night, trying hard to ignore the reality of what surrounded them. The house creaked and popped as the temperature dropped further, causing both of them to jump with every sound.
Eventually his clothes were cleaned and dried and Chad gratefully changed out of the robe. The furnace was running non-stop due to the broken patio door, but the house continued to chill throughout the night.
Now, as he glanced at his watch and saw it was almost sunrise, the weight of his decision back at the airport rested on his shoulders. He could never go back—he would never let the doctors do whatever they wanted to him. That said, he couldn't let the soldiers find him either and now he had Jess to think about too.
But, if he could somehow help the doctors in their fight against the virus, didn't he owe it to the country to do his part?
Yet Chad was scared and he wasn’t sure who to trust or where to go. If he went back, what would they do to Jess?
He folded the blankets carefully back over her as he stood and stretched in the cold confines of the media room. He'd shut the door during the night and blocked the gap at the bottom with throw pillows, hoping to keep whatever warm air they could create inside the room trapped with them. He was surprised when he turned on a flashlight and found his breath floating in front of him like a ghost.
Maybe there’s a way to cover that broken patio door…it’s turning the whole house into a fridge. I wish Dad was here to tell me what to do…
Chad moved the pillows and opened the door to feel a blast of cold air hit him in the face and bring him fully awake. His idea to take refuge in the media room had worked after all—it was freezing out there. He quickly shuffled his way into the bathroom to relieve himself then moved into the kitchen to find their breakfast. When Jess woke, he wanted to be there for her. What would he do with her? He couldn't leave her here now in the freezing house and she was too weak to come with him.
Rummaging through cookies and cups of pudding in the pantry, Chad thought about his next move. He couldn't stay here any longer. His estimate of an eight block search radius meant the soldiers would get to this house sooner or later. If he was in serious trouble for running, he didn't want Jess to be considered an accomplice and punished—she'd already paid too high a price for survival.
No, he thought as he stuffed a canvas bag full of food and bottled water, if I do anything right, I need to make sure she survives. This virus took everything from me, any small way I can beat it will count.
He checked the gaping patio door and stared into the weakening darkness beyond. It was a strange sight: the orange glow from Fort Worth continued to light the sky to the west. In the east, the sun competed with mauves and pinks emerging through the velvet drape of night. Caught in the middle, a crescent moon stood sentinel, still enshrouded by the inky blackness of the night.
Well that's pretty f'd up, Chad thought.
He saw only his own footprints in the dim reflected light outside. Satisfied no one had disturbed the backyard, he carried his bag back to the media room and secured the door.
"What time is it?" asked Jess, her voice already stronger than it had been yesterday.
"A little before dawn. It looks weird out there," Chad reported. "Between the fires and the sun coming up, it looks like its sunrise and sunset at the same time." He handed her a bottle of water and smiled at the increasing steadiness he felt in her hand as she took it.
"That sounds cool. I wish I could see it."
Chad opened a snack pack of cheese and crackers and handed it to her. "Well, you keep getting stronger by the hour. I think that rest did you a lot of good—you might see it for yourself soon."
"You've done a lot for me," she said, her eyes focused on her hands. "I was ready to die… I thought I was dead…"
Chad opened his own bottle of water and took a long drink. "You must be stronger than you look,” he teased.
"Why did you help me?" she asked seriously.
Chad chewed on a cracker for a moment before he answered. "This thing has killed too many people. I don't know…I was mad I guess…I didn't want to see one more person suffer because of this horrible virus." He shrugged.
"I guess saving you kinda felt like flipping off the virus. Does that make as much sense as it did in my head?"
"Yeah," she said, tucking a lock of red hair over her ear. “I guess it does.”
"I can't stay here," he blurted a moment later.
"What?" she asked, struggling to raise herself up on one elbow.
"Wow, that came out more abruptly than I planned. Okay," he said adjusting his position on the soft cushion. "What I mean is, the army's hunting for me out there, right?" he said jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "I think I'm in trouble because I ran off and wouldn't let them do…whatever it is they wanted. I don't want you to get in trouble when they catch me here—and they will. I also can't leave you here in a cold house with a broken door by yourself."
"How do you know they'll find you?"
Chad took note that she ignored the last part of his statement. He shrugged one shoulder. "I stole one of their radios before I left."
"You what?" she gasped. "Why?"
Chad shrugged. "I don't know. I guess maybe I thought if I took it from the doctor, she couldn't call for help right away to get people to track me down or something? I don't know. But I heard them talking to each other before I got here—they're searching house to house. They know I'm on foot and I can only go so far—it's just a matter of time before they find me. And you," he said watching her face.
She looked down at her hands again. "I don't want to be left alone again."
Chad took her hand. "I don't want to leave you alone, but you can't come with me and you can't stay here alone. You can't even stand up. I have to move fast to get as far away as I can. I need to figure out what I'm going to do next."
"What are you going to do next? Why do they want you so badly?"
Chad shook his head. "I don't know. No one ever said. It's just…things were just weird. But that doctor pulled me aside and wanted to put me in quarantine—me, the guy the virus can't touch. They wanted to treat me like some kind of freak—just like the people on the bus said. I panicked, so when I had the chance, I ran."
She squeezed his hand. "I don’t blame you—I would've done the same thing."
Chad nodded, grateful for the reassurance. "I don't know where else to go, so I'm just going to head south." He paused, watching her reaction out of the corner of his eye. "I'll head for Arlington, I guess."
He had no intention of going toward Arlington, but he couldn't risk telling her the truth—he knew the soldiers would interrogate her, illness be damned.
"Is it safe? You said Fort Worth is on fire. What's it like in Arlington?"
He shrugged. "I don't know what else to do."
Chad took another long drink of water. He rummaged through the canvas bag again and selected a soda. He needed something stronger than water. The snap-hiss of the tab top opening brought back memories. He smiled. The last time he’d cracked open a cold soda, he had been sitting by the pool with his dad watching a meteor shower around Thanksgiving.
He held a second can out to Jess. "Want one?"
She nodded, her eyes locked on the can. "Oh, my God—yes."
They drank in silence. At length, Chad spoke again. "I think I know how I can help you—even when I leave."
"How?"
Chad got up and paced the floor—he always thought better when he was moving. "You guys have big trashcans, right? The ones that go out by the curb?"
She nodded. "The city makes us use them. One for recycling, one for trash."
Chad took another drink of soda. "Okay, so what if I pile it full of garbag
e, paper, and stuff, you know? I can haul it out onto the driveway and light it on fire before I leave."
“Why?”
"This whole neighborhood's dead,” Chad said quietly, “and just about every door I saw had a big black X spray-painted on it–"
"You mean someone painted our front door?"
Chad nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. "It's what the government said to do: paint the door of any house that has dead people inside." He swallowed. "A red one means infected survivors are inside."
Jess raised a trembling hand to her mouth and her eyes watered up again.
Chad moved over and sat next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she cried. "I'm sorry…"
She looked up, a sad smile on her tear-streaked face. "No, don’t be. I’m grateful you showed up," she said, sniffing. "You saved my life! If you hadn't come when you did..." She looked at him intently with liquid green eyes.
Chad cleared his throat abruptly and looked away before sighing. "You survived the flu—you should be okay now. Once the army sees the fire, they'll come running hoping to catch me if nothing else. I figure this neighborhood's too close to where they tracked me for them to ignore it."
He felt her head move again on his chest as she nodded. "That makes sense," she said, wiping her eyes. "So you'll just light the fire and run…?"
Chad grunted. "Well, I won't be able to run very fast. I’d like to take as much food and water as I can…"
She laughed softly as she wiped the last of her tears away. "Don't worry about it. I want you to take everything you can—it's not like I'll need it when the army gets me out of here. You can have my backpack, too," she added.
Chad looked at the child's backpack he'd taken from the first house, perched on the edge of the first row of seats in the media room. "Yeah, that's a little small for me, isn't it?"
When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper. "It's so sad—a little kid used that backpack just a few weeks ago…"
Chad forced himself to look back at Jess and speak with a confidence he didn't feel. "I know. But I can't help him now—I can help you."
"You’ve done enough. I’ll be fine. You've done more than anybody else has been able to do for me since this whole mess started. Once my parents…” she closed her mouth and swallowed, blinking quickly. “I was on my own. Until you came along."
She wrapped an arm over his chest and hugged him. He squeezed her back.
Jess sat up abruptly, her eyes wide and bright. "Wait! Why don't you take my dad's car?"
Chad shook his head. "Thanks, but I can't. There's nobody driving around out there—if I got behind the wheel, they'd catch me in a heartbeat with all the helicopters they’ve got up there." He shook his head. "No way. I wouldn't make it through the end of the day."
He looked at the soda can in his hand for a moment. "No, the only way I'll get out of here is on foot. I won't be able to move fast, but I'll be able to hide."
"You think that's better?" she asked, her brows creased in concern.
"It's worked so far," he replied with a shrug.
"But if you carry all your food and everything on your back, it'll take you forever to get out of town."
"I don't know what else to do," he said, idly rolling the empty soda can in his hands.
Jess laughed. "You can take my old bike—it's pink, though…"
It was Chad's turn to laugh. "I don't care about the color. You don't mind?"
"No, not at all. Not like I need it," she said in a low voice. "It's the least I can do to repay you. It’s out in the garage. It's a mountain bike I got for my birthday a couple years ago. It might be a little small—you're taller than me—but you'll be able to move a lot faster than you will just walking."
Chad nodded, the idea gaining traction in his mind. "Yeah…and I could load it up with supplies, too."
Jess smiled brightly but the smile quickly faded and she grew quiet, then looked down.
"When do you think you'll leave?"
Chad leaned back against the wall and stared across the room at the great big slab of a TV. "I don't know. I want to get going as soon as possible, but you’re not strong enough to be alone for long. I want to make sure you'll be okay," he added.
Jess smiled at his concern then nodded, suddenly somber. "You have to go soon though, right?"
Chad nodded again. "Yep."
"Today?" she asked, hesitatingly. The light made her worried eyes shine like emeralds.
Chad smiled. He held her hand in his and squeezed. "Not today."
CHAPTER 13
Signal
CHAD SPENT THE REST of the day caring for Jess. He brought her food and water, kept her warm with blankets, talked with her, cried with her again, and rested next to her when she slept. Every time he left to go to the kitchen, she called out after him, just to make sure he was coming back.
He couldn't blame her, he'd have done the same thing if their roles had been reversed. She depended completely on him right now and they both knew it. If he left without signaling the army, she would be dead in a matter of days.
She was still too weak to get up and go the bathroom, so he carried her. She was still too weak to make it to the kitchen to find food, so he brought food to her. She was still too weak to go back to her room to find books to read or photos to show him her family, so instead they just sat and talked.
They shared stories of their past with each other; she described growing up in Louisiana before her parents moved to Texas and the friends she’d left behind there. Chad talked about life in Haslet and how bored he'd been—how excited he was to finish school and move on to college. Both of them agreed college would be great.
At least it would have been…before the virus.
Jess talked about her school, her friends, her teachers, and her on-again off-again boyfriend. She frowned when she mentioned his name. He'd never called—not once—after the virus struck and people started to get sick. She had no idea what had happened to him, but they both knew what probably happened and so Chad avoided the topic as much as possible.
As they settled in and sunset fled before the long cold night, they made the best of the supplies they had and were thankful. Jess curled up next to him and snuggled in, relaxing in the warmth they shared under the blankets.
Chad lay there, watching his breath in the growing darkness as night fell over Euless. He eventually fell asleep, lost in thoughts about his family.
By the time he woke the next morning, Jess was already awake. He opened his eyes and saw her staring at him as she sat propped up in the corner. Her face was wet with fresh tears.
Chad sat up quickly and squinted at her red-rimmed eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay? I'm alive and my whole family is dead," she exclaimed, her arms spread out wide under a sweatshirt that hung off of her bony limbs like a sheet. "Why?"
Chad rubbed his hands together in the cold air. “I don’t know.” He looked up at her. “I ask myself that question every day. Every hour.”
She sniffed. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. “I didn’t think…because you can’t get sick…”
Chad shrugged. “It’s fine.”
“Does it…” she tugged on her sleeves then looked down at her hands. “Does it get better?”
Chad thought for a moment. “No.” He got up, heading for the kitchen. "I’ll go get us some food.”
He rummaged in the kitchen and managed to get the gas stove burning. It felt good to stand there for a moment and warm his hands over the blue flames.
Why am I the only one who didn’t get sick? Why was I spared?
He looked around the well-lit kitchen and shook his head. The hole in the patio door made the house feel like cold-storage. As he put a pot of water on to boil and leaned back against the counter, he couldn't help thinking about his family again and all he’d lost. It didn’t help his mood.
After a meager, subdued breakfast of steaming Ramen noodles and ice col
d soda, Chad set Jess up in the media room with all the remotes she could handle and turned on the TV. While she searched through hundreds of off-air satellite channels, he went to the garage to prepare for his eventual departure.
Today was the day. He couldn’t stay any longer without endangering them both.
Chad stepped into the garage, blinking in the swirling dust motes and handful of flies that buzzed near the overflowing trash cans. The stench, while not as horrible as what he experienced when he’d first broken into the house, was bad enough to make him wish he'd wrapped a towel or something over his face. He worked his way over to the garbage and took a look inside the first big container he found. It was filled with bloody paper towels, rags, and even bedsheets all stained with vile fluids. Bits of food wrappers and common kitchen trash had been stuffed in there along with everything else. It would burn, but he didn't know how well.
I need something else…something that will really catch fire.
He looked around the three-car garage until he found a riding mower buried under winter gear. He carefully stepped through the debris and boxes that cluttered the garage and found half a bag of charcoal and a bottle of lighter fluid near the tractor. He picked it up and was relieved to find it at least half full.
This'll do.
Chad picked his way around the Jeep Cherokee back to the trash and set the lighter fluid on the ground. He didn't want to open the garage door and alert any passing soldiers or helicopters to his presence just yet. First, he would find her bike, load it with all the food and water he could, and stage everything at the garage door. He’d wait to open the door and walk the trashcan out until the last minute, only pouring the lighter fluid and lighting it when he was far enough away from the house. Once he was sure it would put up a good amount of smoke, he'd grab the bike and take off.
The Source: A Wildfire Prequel Page 8