“See something?” Emily said, wiping her eyes as she came up to talk with me. She looked out through the front windshield.
“I don’t know. I thought… well, it was a blur, could have been a dog or something,” I said.
Emily shivered. She looked out the window again, scanning the area. She shook her head, stifling a sob.
“It’s like the whole city is crazy! I don’t know what to expect. I can’t believe what just happened! My God, poor Conner.” She began to cry again. “I’m worried about my parents, my brother … everyone I know,” she whispered. “And where did everyone’s families go? The houses all look deserted.”
I patted her arm with one hand as I drove on with the other. I had the same questions going through my own head, the same sorrow for our friends. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. Although it wasn’t cold, being this freaked out in our hometown, where everything should have been comfortable and normal, was very unsettling. I felt warmth in my chest for my friends. I wanted to find out what the heck was going on. I needed answers. I felt that if I kept moving us forward, we would find those answers, eventually.
Chapter Six
I wiped my eyes as I drove, trying to clear them. Jacob came up behind me and handed me a Kleenex, and I blew my nose several times.
“Hey, Alyssa, stop at my house, there’s several things I want to get to defend ourselves, okay?” Jacob said quietly. I glanced at him. He was the oldest among us, having entered school a year later than the rest of us. His face was pale but his expression was set. He patted the katana beside me, and I understood. We needed defense.
“I’ll go in with you, but I want the others to stay in the van,” I said. Jacob nodded his agreement.
I drove the two blocks back to Jacob’s house and pulled up to the curb.
“Emily, Caitlyn, DeAndre, stay here with Risa,” I said, “we will be in and out fast.”
The others agreed. I nodded my head. “Here’re the keys, DeAndre. Be on the lookout. Lock the doors right after we leave, and keep watch. If you see anything crazy, honk the horn.” I tossed him the keys, and then turned around again. We all looked out at the neighborhood. Everything looked still and quiet. “Okay, let’s go as a unit and stay together,” I instructed. Jacob was next to me. He nodded with a determined look on his face and gripped the seatback. “Let’s go.”
We left the van and jogged across the lawn. Jacob had his key out and quickly fitted it to the door lock. I paused, listening. “I don’t hear anything,” I said quietly. He turned the key, tense. Who knew what was behind that door? Our senses were alert for anything as it slowly opened.
The foyer looked empty. After a quick look around, we determined the house was empty. It looked like Jacob’s family had left too. There was no note, nothing to tell where they had gone. I grabbed a trash bag and loaded it with food and blankets.
Jacob grabbed his father’s rifle and shotgun and loaded up on ammunition.
“Just in case,” he said. I nodded grimly. Food, blankets, pillows, extra coats and clothes. Jacob also grabbed a lockbox.
“My dad’s emergency fund. Several thousand dollars,” he explained.
“Sounds good to me. We’ll need to get gas soon,” I said. We were in and out in less than ten minutes. Back in the van, I blew air out of my mouth.
I got into the driver’s seat, leaning forward to rest my forehead against the steering wheel and close my eyes for a second as everyone settled in. All of a sudden I heard several sharp gasps behind me. My head lifted up and my eyes snapped open.
“Jesus Christ!” cried DeAndre. “Look over there!” and he pointed across the street to where Mrs. Carmichael lived alone with her little Scotty dog. An elderly widow, she had lived there forever and everybody in the neighborhood knew her. I swung around and stared, not sure of what I was seeing at first. Then I gasped.
Laid out on the side of Mrs. Carmichael’s pristine, manicured Kentucky Bluegrass lawn was what looked like Mrs. Carmichael herself. Three crazies were bent over her, fast at work over her abdomen. She lay perfectly still, and I sent a silent prayer that she was unconscious or dead already. Because those zombies were eating her. From our angle, we could see one of them pull something bloody from her middle and try to chew on it. It sprang back into her and the creature lowered its mouth to my neighbor again. Mrs. Carmichael’s Scotty, Blackie, was throwing a fit, growling and barking and trying to grab one of the zombies by the leg and pull it away from her master. They ignored the little dog, but she wouldn’t quit. No sooner had one of the creatures shaken her loose than Blackie was back nipping at their heels again, growling insistently in a fruitless attempt to save her mistress. I felt my stomach heave and the gorge rise up to the back of my throat before I was able to swallow it back down again. In the back, the others gasped as they pressed their faces to the windows and watched. Emily turned away almost immediately, her hand holding her mouth and her eyes tightly shut. I didn’t blame her. It was impossible to watch. Caitlyn also turned away and they held on to each other and sobbed. Behind Emily, Jacob was fumbling with something in his lap. Suddenly, he jumped up and ran down the aisle and out of the van. Jacob had taken 1st place in the Jr. State Championship SharpShooter trials 3 years running. He poised himself behind the short hood, balancing his father’s high-powered Remington rifle against the cold metal and taking aim through the scope.
I held my breath.
*POP* *POP* The rifle’s shots cracked through the quiet morning air. Jacob had hit one of the zombies in the back and head. The second shot took part of its skull with it. The zombie dropped and was still. The others, however, seemed oblivious to what had just happened a few feet away from them. They ignored Jacob – ignored the rifle shots – and kept at Mrs. Carmichael. I could hear them now, faint though they were: growls and slurping sounds. My stomach heaved again, and I rushed out of the van as the bile rose and exited my mouth onto the pavement, my hand still clutching the katana sword.
Jacob had reloaded and was taking aim again.
*POP* *POP* This time he had hit both of the others in the head.
I looked up just in time to see both of them drop.
“Oh, God,” I moaned, still feeling sick. I could hear Emily crying in the van. Jacob grimly pulled the rifle up and looked around.
“Do you see any more?” he asked quietly. I looked around, wiping my mouth. The neighborhood was quiet but eerie.
“No, but it feels like there may be more around,” I answered.
DeAndre hopped out of the van. “Where did they come from? I didn’t see them when we pulled up,” he said.
“I don’t know, but I was exhausted. It’s not in clear view of Jacob’s house. We probably just missed it while we were inside. I think we need to keep a sharper eye out. Fresno is no longer safe,” I said.
Jacob turned to me. “Mrs. Carmichael was such a sweet old lady. She brought us pie just last month,” he said.
“I know. She was always doing stuff like that for all of us. She’s lived on this street for decades. I can’t believe what just happened,” I said, shaking my head. “If I hadn’t seen that with my own eyes I would not have believed it.”
Holding his rifle, Jacob walked across the street to the corpse. He bent down briefly to examine it, crouching in the grass. He looked around and up and down the street, into the bushes and through the window of Mrs. Carmichael’s house. Everything seemed quiet, like the neighborhood was holding its breath. Then he bent down and scooped up the little black Scotty dog and came back across the street.
“Maybe we can find somewhere where they’re fostering animals in the crisis,” he said as he stepped into the van. He handed the little dog over to Emily, who was sniffling in her seat halfway back. She took the warm, furry body into her arms and clutched it, smiling. Scooter came up to them and stuck his nose into the little dog’s fur. He gave her several licks before settling down at Emily’s feet.
As I got in, I paused, looking around the neighbo
rhood again, my hand gripping the long sword. My eyes settled on the still body across the street. Mrs. Carmichael was motionless. Very obviously dead. I blinked back tears as I remembered my neighbor and how she would bake cookies every Christmas and bring them around to everyone in the neighborhood, wrapped in colorful plastic on a plate. She was such a sweet old lady. She didn’t deserve this at all. Then I thought about Conner and Coach. They hadn’t deserved what happened to them either. I felt tears fill my eyes as I remembered the sight of Conner laid out and attacked by the thing that used to be our teacher. I remember the walls covered in blood that had sprayed when Coach had ripped Conner’s throat out and torn out his jugular. The blood would have poured out like a fountain at the end of a pressurized hose. Conner hadn’t died right away, his leg had kicked out and his voice had gurgled and he must have known what was happening to him. A shudder went through me. I made a quiet promise to myself that I would find out everything I could about what was going on, and about what had caused this nightmare. I glanced around the rest of the neighborhood. Everything looked clear, so I hopped into the van and settled myself behind the driver’s seat again, sword propped up by my leg. I wasn’t going to go around unarmed again. My face felt icy cold and I couldn’t breathe. I felt numb with shock at what I had seen. The others behind me were silent, except for Emily, who was still crying softly, clutching Blackie in her arms. I was glad Risa hadn’t seen Coach and Conner, or Mrs. Carmichael down on her lawn like that. I didn’t think I would ever forget those sights, although I wished I could. I took a deep breath and looked at the dashboard clock. It was closing in on 3 p.m. We had been awake for over 24 hours.
Chapter Seven
I took one more look around and turned the key in the ignition. The engine rumbled to life, and I put the van in gear and slowly pulled away from the curb, swinging my head back and forth, trying to see everything at once. After what we had just witnessed, we were definitely in survival mode. I drove quickly through the city streets and made it to the freeway without incident.
In the back of my head something niggled at my thoughts. Where had everyone been evacuated to? I felt a strong pull to my family and wondered where they were right now. On the one hand, I hoped my mother and brother and grandparents had been able to evacuate out of the city to safety. On the other, I hated being separated from them. There was a large part of me that wanted to find out where they were and rush to reunite with them, wherever that may be.
“I wonder where everyone was evacuated to?” I wondered out loud as I pulled onto the freeway. Jacob was behind me, and I half turned my head to him.
“Jacob, take my iPad and try to find out information on where the authorities evacuated Fresno to, okay?” I said. He nodded and got to work. “Thanks,” I smiled.
I headed down the 99 south toward Bakersfield. I figured it was the likeliest place to try and reunite with everyone. The trouble had come from the northwest. East had nothing but mountains and the Sequoias. South seemed the most plausible. I didn’t know if Bakersfield was still there or if people had moved even farther south, but that was the first large city I would check. I looked down at the gas gauge and saw it was close to being three-quarters empty.
“We’re going to need to stop for gas. Okay if we use that money you have, Jacob?” I asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine. It’s kind of what I brought it for, that and food,” he said quietly. “I’m going to check the oil and tires when we stop, too. I don’t want to have a breakdown or a flat tire and be stuck somewhere. Things are too crazy. We have to assume the worst.”
I nodded. We didn’t know what we would encounter, and we had to be ready for anything. Heading south, I looked at the freeway signs and pulled off at the next exit. I knew there were plenty of gas stations off the Jensen exit. As I pulled to a stop at the highway, I looked right and left. Everything looked deserted. I pulled to the left and drove into the gas station and pulled up to a pump. Jacob and I hopped out and soon had gas pumping into the van’s tank. I poked my head into the van window.
“Anybody want anything here? Bathroom visit would be good. We’re not going to be stopping for a while,” I said.
Everyone decided to go into the minimart, so I stayed with Risa. Jacob finished with the gas pump and headed into the store with the others. For a few minutes, it was quiet in the van. I looked down at the sleeping little girl. Her head wound was slightly swollen, but her color and temperature were good. Caitlyn had built a little nest of blankets for her, and she looked so peaceful there. So innocent. I felt an overwhelming need to protect her. To protect them all. I sighed and smoothed her hair against her cheek.
DeAndre and Emily were hopping back into the van right then, so I got up to take my turn at the bathroom.
“Everything look okay?” I asked. They both nodded tiredly.
Entering the store, I greeted the clerk and then made my way to the side bathrooms. Afterwards, I grabbed a couple of energy drinks and brought them up to counter.
“Hey, do you have any word on the evacuations? Where did everybody get directed to?” I asked.
“Bakersfield mostly, although some went to Los Angeles. It’s crazy. I’m splitting at the end of my shift. I stayed only because I’m waiting for my wife and her brother to join me before I leave. If we got split up, who knows when we’d get back together again?” he said.
I nodded and grabbed my purchases and headed back to the van. As I approached it, I saw that Jacob was checking the oil. I put my drinks in the van and then went to get the tire gauge out of the glove box. Jacob went back into the store and came out a few minutes later with a bottle of oil for the engine. I checked the tires, and they all looked pretty good. I packed the gauge back into the van and went to check on Jacob’s progress. He was just closing the hood as I walked around to him.
“I’m just going to go wash my hands?” he said. I nodded and he went back into the store. I looked around again. No cars were on these roads, which were normally pretty heavily trafficked at this time of day. It was eerie. I couldn’t wait to get back on the road and out of this city. I had had enough. I heard a noise and turned. Jacob was coming back. The sound I heard had been the sound of him coming through the door. I must be getting jumpy, I thought. I shook my head and got back into the driver’s seat as he hopped into the van and settled into the seat behind me.
“Alyssa, when you get too tired, let me drive?” he said as he drank a bottle of water. “We should all share the burden of driving, especially with what’s been going on.”
I nodded. “I think I’ll be okay for a while, I’ve got these, I don’t think I’ll crash anytime soon,” I said as I held up one of the energy drinks. I popped the top and took a long sip of the frosty cold drink, then turned again to the front and settled in, setting my drink in the nearby cup holder and buckling my seatbelt. I started the van and pulled out of the gas station. Heading down the freeway again, I felt better. Our van was all gassed up, oil in and tires checked. All of us had gotten drinks and visited the bathroom. I could hear Emily, Caitlyn and DeAndre talking quietly behind me, and Jacob was again looking on the iPad.
Nothing felt as if it were real; it almost seemed like a nightmare. I shook my head and surreptitiously pinched my arm, wincing as pain flooded my head. Well, I thought, at least I’m as awake as I’m going to get. I grimaced and kept driving. It was a straight shot, a lonely drive south towards the bigger city of Bakersfield. In between Fresno and Bakersfield was a series of smaller towns. I debated on stopping in one of them. Looking briefly behind me, I saw that everyone had settled down for the two-hour long drive and no one was restless. I decided on trying to push through to the bigger city, through the flat stretches of agricultural land on either side of the freeway. There wasn’t much in those smaller towns, anyway. Tulare. Delano. Their names all ran together on the map. With my luck, they were already deserted anyway. I sighed tiredly and set the cruise control on the van to 70 mph. The two-lane southbound 99 freeway was mostly surrou
nded by various agricultural lands, and the miles passed by quickly. I had already been driving nearly an hour when I heard a commotion behind me, and someone cried out.
“What’s going on back there, Jacob?” I asked, looking behind me. But Jacob had already unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way to the back of the van. I glanced behind me again briefly but couldn’t see anything. I slowed down to a stop at the edge of the freeway.
As I put the van in park and turned the key to remove it, Emily came up to the front.
“Alyssa, Risa is awake and she needs to go to the bathroom. I’ve given her some ibuprofen and a Coke, but she’s says she’s really uncomfortable and hungry. Is there anywhere we can stop ahead?”
“We’re almost up to Tulare, I’ll pull over there. Tell her it’ll be about 10 more minutes?” I said. She nodded and made her way back to the others. I could hear crying in the back. Risa must have noticed Conner and Coach were missing.
I soon pulled off the freeway and turned down a main road. Half a mile down from the freeway was an open am/pm store and Arco station. It looked like there were a few people there, so I turned into the driveway. I pulled up to a parking place, we were still pretty full on gas and could easily make it to Bakersfield and even Los Angeles if we had to. As I pulled up and stopped the van, I noticed a very pregnant woman on the walkway outside the store. She was tall and appeared to be in her twenties. And she looked very pregnant. We piled out of the van, and Emily and Caitlyn took Risa in to the bathroom while DeAndre, Jacob and I stood around outside waiting. The pregnant woman was talking to a guy who was on his way back out to his vehicle. I heard him say, “I told you: no, I can’t help. We’re already loaded up past capacity,” before he walked on to an old overloaded station wagon where I could see at least five kids, a woman, and two dogs, as well as numerous pieces of luggage and various boxes. The pregnant woman turned away from him, looking worried. Then she saw us and came toward us.
Mad World (Book 1): Epidemic Page 5