Mad World (Book 1): Epidemic

by Samaire Provost

  I got out to see what I could find out about the evacuations. I approached a man who was washing his windows while gas pumped into his car.

  “Hey mister, would you know where they took everyone they evacuated from up north?” I asked.

  “No, I don’t know. I mean, I heard on the news they were taking some to area hospitals but that was two days ago. They might have moved them. You all from Bakersfield?”

  “Some of us are from Bakersfield, some from Fresno. We had just got into town and had no idea what was going on. Is there any word about the cause of this emergency?”

  “Not really but I heard there was some kind of infection and rioting to get away from it. They haven’t told us much.”

  Paula stepped out of the van with Mike and Elsie. She approached us while Mike and Elsie went into the little store.

  “Do they still have TV reports in L.A. about what’s going on?” she asked. “Bakersfield went black yesterday afternoon.”

  “Yeah, there are some reports, but I don’t think they know much. Just a bunch of ‘stay in your houses’ and ‘don’t panic’ kind of stuff. I think they’re worried about rioting in L.A. Do you know if this infection travels by air?”

  “I believe it is transmitted by touch, maybe even by body fluids like saliva, but I’m not sure,” Paula said.

  I left them to talk and headed toward the minimart. As I walked, Risa walked up next to me and took my hand. I looked down at her and stopped to give her a hug. Then we walked into the store together. I went up to talk to the cashier, and Risa went to join Caitlyn in picking some snacks.

  “Excuse me, we’re from the San Joaquin Valley. Can you tell us where the rest of the evacuees were taken?” I asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” said the clerk, looking bored as she snapped her gum. “Um, I think they were taken down into the city. Most went to Griffith Park and the schools around there. That’s where the police had set up their communications center.”

  “Thanks,” I said, then turned to join the others. “Hey,” I said, walking up to DeAndre and Caitlyn, “a lot of people were directed to the Griffith Park area, I think we should try there first.”

  “I was wondering about that park, it’s huge. Makes sense they would gather them there,” Jacob said, walking up to us.

  I selected some snacks and several energy drinks and we all made our way back up to the clerk. She rang us up, gave a cautionary dismissal, and we left. As we crossed the parking lot, Mike came up to us.

  “Hey guys, I want to thank you for helping me, but I think I’m going to move on. I’ve got some ideas about where to head to,” he said.

  “Okay, we’re going to head on over to the Griffith Park area. You sure you don’t want to tag along?” DeAndre said.

  As we got to the van, Elsie poked her head out. “Can I borrow a phone? I’m going to call my niece in Pasadena, see if she can come get me.”

  “You can borrow mine,” Caitlyn said, climbing in the van. I turned to Mike again.

  “Mike, do you need to make a call or anything?” I asked.

  “No, but on second thought, I think I will tag along with you guys until Griffith Park, if you don’t mind,” he said.

  “Of course not,” I said, getting into the van and popping open one of my energy drinks.

  “Here are directions to the Park,” Jacob said, handing me the iPad.

  “Thanks,” I said, glancing at it.

  Everyone settled in their seats, and they were all talking about Griffith Park and the evacuations. I started the van and got back on the road.

  “Man, I can’t wait to get there. Finally, we’re going to make some progress. I want to see my parents again, I hate this feeling of being separated from them,” he said.

  “Yeah, me too,” I said, thinking about my mom and brother. I hoped they were okay. As I drove, I felt a renewed sense of energy. I was eager to find out what had happened. I felt a responsibility to Conner, Coach and Emily to discover all I could about the infection that had taken their lives. Everyone else seemed excited too, if the animated chatter behind me was any indication.

  Chapter Thirteen

  We made good time across the city; there was very little traffic. It was odd for Los Angeles, the city that practically invented traffic gridlock. I shivered involuntarily.

  Within fifteen minutes, we were pulling up to Griffith Park. The police had cordoned the area off and were directing traffic around the park. As I pulled up to a stoplight where an officer was directing traffic, I rolled down the window and stuck my head out to ask him a question.

  “Hi, we’re looking for the people evacuated from Fresno and the San Joaquin Valley, do you know if they came here?”

  “Go to the Observatory, that’s where everyone was logged in. Here’s a map,” he said, waving us to the left entrance.

  As we started pulling past him, I could hear the radio on his hip go off with a burst of static and then: *kkkkkkkkk BACKUP! OFFICER DOWN! NEED BACKUP AT GREEK THEATRE! KKKKKKKKKKKK* then the static took over and the mic went dead. The officer ran off toward the huddle of other police officers to our left, and the car behind us honked, so we continued down the road toward the observatory. I glanced at Jacob in the seat beside me, and he looked back at me, worried. That hadn’t sounded good at all.

  Four or five minutes later, we pulled up to the Griffith Observatory area. Police were swarming all over and the front of the observatory, which blazed with lights that made us shield our eyes even in full daylight. We parked and got out, locking the van and starting across the grass lawn. As we walked, we could see some commotion off to our right. About a dozen police officers were running toward an open-air theatre next to a structure of some kind. I couldn’t see what was going on, but we heard faint yelling and then nothing.

  “Oh, Jesus,” I mumbled as we walked.

  “Let’s just get to the observatory,” DeAndre said next to me.

  “If that commotion is what I’m afraid it might be, this infection is spreading really fast. Faster than it should,” Paula said behind me.

  Risa came up to me on the right, wiggling between me and DeAndre and slipped her hand into mine. On my left, Jacob did the same. I glanced at him, but he continued walking and looking straight ahead, and he gave my hand a squeeze as we walked. My heart fluttered, and I felt a warm sensation in my chest.

  “Will my daddy be here, Alyssa?” asked Risa.

  “We hope so, Sweetie, but let’s just see, okay? I hope my mom and brother are here, and Jacob hopes his mom is here. Everyone wants to be back with their families,” I said, trudging on.

  As we approached the observatory, we passed the statue of Griffith J. Griffith and I giggled suddenly.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just a silly sounding name,” I said, smiling. Risa giggled then, and soon we were all laughing as we walked up the concrete walkway and to the large doors of the building. It was a welcomed release of all the pent-up tension that had been building up in us for days, and although it seemed misplaced considering what we had been through, we couldn’t help ourselves. By the time we got to the doors, all nine of us were laughing so hard we were having trouble walking. Holly was clutching her big pregnant belly she was laughing so hard. I wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes as I mounted the stairs to the heavy front doors. Releasing Risa’s hand, I pulled them open and we all walked in.

  We entered the observatory and closed the doors behind us and stood there taking everything in. It was carefully controlled chaos. People milled about everywhere, and officials tried to take care of them, but there were too many people. Through a doorway on our right, we could see some kind of triage. Pallets lay side by side with people on them. Some injured people were sitting against the wall. Resources were stretched beyond their limits.

  On our left, we saw a large room that had been set up with bunk beds. A lot of children and a few adults occupied this room, attended by people in military uniforms. Up ahead was an area set aside for dispensing food, and a line of s
everal dozen people snaking back away from a couple of tables.

  As we watched, we heard a man in uniform call out: “The next 50 people, over here!” A group moved off with him. A woman in uniform stood nearby. She seemed to be a guard, and was as likely a candidate as anyone to answer our questions.

  “Excuse me,” I said, approaching her slowly with my hand outstretched and a smile on my face, “we are looking for our families. They were evac’ed from Fresno and Bakersfield. Can you help us?”

  “Go to the rear of the auditorium on your left and see the man at the desk under the purple banner,” she said tersely. “All new arrivals went through that checkpoint. But most of them are being moved to Arizona, that’s what the buses are loading for.”

  “Thank you,” I said as she turned to help another person. I motioned to the rest of my group and made my way through the auditorium and to the desk she had indicated. We had to weave our way in and out of groups of people to get there, people just seemed to be waiting for something. I searched the faces as we walked, but I didn’t see my family or anyone else I recognized. Some of the faces looked worried and some badly frightened. Others looked bored and sleepy. There were more children than adults, which made me wonder if they had evacuated the schools down here without waiting for the parents. I hoped not. That would make it hard for the parents and kids to find each other. I knew what that felt like. But maybe the officials had had no choice.

  I pushed my way through the last group and found myself at the information desk, the others gathered behind me.

  “Hello,” I said to get the man’s attention.

  “Just a moment,” he replied, turning to the computer in front of him and walking several yards to the side to speak with another official. After several minutes he returned and addressed us.

  “Can I help you?” he said.

  “Yes. Thank you. We’re from Fresno and Bakersfield, and we are looking for our families who were evacuated a day or so before us. Do you have a list of people who were moved here from up north?” I asked.

  “Uh, well, I do have a partial list, but we’ve already begun moving most of the folks from the northern valley and coast. The buses started this morning, and the last of them are loading this afternoon. What are their names?” he said as he began to type.

  We told him the names of each of our family members, and he checked his database. It turned out that most of our families had been routed to Arizona and were likely already on their way there.

  “You can try to check the people waiting to get on the last busses, but they’ve most likely already left,” he finished. I nodded and moved off to a corner with my friends.

  “Guys, I still want to try and check the rest of the people they’re moving, okay? You never know, and I would hate to miss them if they’re here,” I said.

  “I don’t have any family, I lived alone,” said Paula. “I’m going to check with their medics and see if they could use another pair of hands. Mike, you want to come with?”

  “I guess so,” Mike answered, “but first let me go with Alyssa and check if anyone I know is here.”

  Paula moved off to the triage area through the center room. Meanwhile, we made our way through the center area and toward the rear, where the people loading onto buses had gone through.

  We spent about an hour wandering through the crowd of about two thousand people waiting to be moved to Arizona, looking for our families, but with no luck. Moving back through the building, Jacob and DeAndre stopped in the bathroom. Waiting for them, Caitlyn, Holly and I stood with Risa and talked.

  “Maybe it would be good to check the medic center, in case someone’s in there,” Caitlyn said.

  “I was hoping to avoid that, but you’re right, it would be stupid not to check it. Risa, want to get something to eat?” I said as DeAndre stepped out of the bathroom with Jacob following. Risa nodded tiredly, and I took her hand and turned to nod at everyone. We all went to the food counter.

  Sitting at a table we had found, munching on sandwiches and apples, I turned to Jacob.

  “Looks like we may be heading to Arizona next. How’s your money holding up?” I said.

  “Still have plenty left. Do you think we should find some place to sleep here overnight before we drive east? I’m so tired,” he said wearily.

  “I don’t know if we can, because of all the people here from the evacuations, but I wouldn’t mind sleeping in a real bed,” I said, smiling. He smiled back at me and put his hand on mine where it sat on the table. I blushed and took his hand in mine.

  We continued eating and people-watching. There was so much to look at in the observatory, and none of it really had anything to do with the building. It was the people. All different walks of life were represented. People dressed in black and heavily tattooed, and people in business suits and families with small, tired children. They were all thrown together in this crisis. The infection had spread to every social strata: no one had been left untouched. And something told me that things were going to get much, much worse before they ever got better. Wearily, I stood and threw the paper from my sandwich into the nearby trash can.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I’m going to go check out the medics’ room and see if anyone I know is there,” I said. “Who’s coming with me?”

  Risa jumped up quickly, energized by her ten minutes of rest and the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had gotten her, grabbed my hand, and smiled up at me, ready for anything. I smiled back down at her and felt someone take my other hand. It was Jacob. I looked into his eyes and smiled. He smiled back, and leaned forward.

  “Lead the way, Alyssa,” he said, and gave me a light kiss on the cheek. It felt wonderful. Smiling, I began walking toward the medic room. The others, having nowhere else to go and no one else leading them, followed us. We made our way through the crowd and stopped just inside the entrance to the large room where every injured person in L.A. seemed to be gathered.

  Some of the injuries looked “normal” – like it had happened during a fall or when a crowd had panicked and stampeded. Others looked far worse. Some had head or limbs wrapped; others were unconscious. And some of them were very, very pale – nearly grey. My eyes widened, and I swallowed nervously. Turning to the others, I saw similar looks of worry on their faces. They had noticed it, too.

  “All right guys, be on alert,” I said. “We may have to run at any moment. You know what I’m talking about.”

  They all nodded silently.

  We slowly walked down the aisle, looking back and forth to see if we recognized anyone. We passed one woman who was grey and thrashing. They had tied her to the bed. She pulled at her restraints as several nurses tried to calm her. I wondered if the ties would hold. I prayed they would but watched her carefully as we passed, in case they didn’t. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed as if the infection gave the victims extra strength. Or maybe it numbed their brains, overriding the instinct that tells us to stop pulling/pushing/lifting when our limbs seem about ready to break. This might be turned off in the plague victims. Which would be terrible for the rest of us. They seemed so crazed they would stop at nothing to break free and attack, even if it meant injuring themselves in the process.

  We passed a lot of kids who had been injured in crowd panics. They were a sad sight, but I was glad they hadn’t been infected. Then Paula came up to us, holding a list several pages long in her hand.

  “This is a partial list of patients that were so bad off they were transferred to Cedars Sinai Medical Center,” she said, handing us the sheaf of papers. We clustered together as Jacob leafed through the pages. I was terrified my mom or brother would be on the list, but at the same time I would finally know where they were. I didn’t know what to hope for, but I looked eagerly over Jacob’s shoulder at the names on each page.

  Maybe it was a blessing that no one we knew was on the list. I hoped they were safely in Arizona by now. Unexpectedly, I felt tears well up in my eyes. Jacob looked at me with concern. I just smile
d a watery smile up at him through my unshed tears. It was just so emotional, it was exhausting. He looked at me silently for a moment and then put his arms around me in a hug, handing the list over to Mike so the others could finish checking.

  I put my head on Jacob’s shoulder and my arms loosely around his waist and closed my eyes. We stood there like that for a long time. After a minute, Risa came up behind me and put her arms around me, and then Caitlyn and DeAndre came and joined our hug, and we all just held each other, relieved that our families had not been on the injured list, tired from the days-long ordeal we were going through.

  Suddenly, behind me about 20 feet away, the woman who had been tied to the bed began growling in a low, menacing tone and thrashing so hard against her restraints that her bed came off the floor repeatedly. Several orderlies and nurses were trying to settle her down, and a doctor came running with a syringe that I hoped contained some kind of sedative.

  “AHHHHH!!!!” screamed one of the nurses and backed up, clutching his bleeding forearm. He had been bitten. As we watched, the crazed woman got one of her legs free and flipped her bed over. She was now thrashing about on the floor and had gotten partially free.

  “Let’s get out of here, guys,” I said as I moved down the aisle. The other patients that were conscious all looked toward the commotion with fear in their eyes. They knew what could happen. I didn’t know if these doctors and nurses had been briefed on what the victims of this plague could do. If they had been, I didn’t think they would be that close to the thrashing woman, who was now turning dark grey and nearly free of her restraints. I wasn’t even sure any sedative would work. The plague victims-turned-zombies seemed almost super-human. I wasn’t sure any medicine would affect them. Nothing but brute force seemed to have any impact.

  I hustled us towards the door at the other end of the large room. We were nearly there when we heard a scream from behind us, and I turned involuntarily to see the man on the bed next to the thrashing woman screaming as she clawed and bit him. She had gotten free, and the three nurses and two orderlies had run. The doctor was still trying to give her the shot, but she was wild, thrashing and kicking. The bedridden man continued to scream, and she continued to fight with him. Then the doctor tried to grab her with both arms, to get her away from the other patient, and she turned on him and bit him in the face. As he screamed, blood poured down his neck and she chewed on his cheek and wrapped her hands around his neck to hold on.