by Jason Alters
‘What then?’ My heart pounded as the words escaped his mouth. The last person who told me that they needed to talk to me about something ended up leaving me with tears in my eyes.
‘Tell me over the phone.’
‘This isn’t a phone conversation. It’s a person to person conversation.’
And it just got worse. Was he really going to break up with me? That’s the only reason he could ever need to talk to me in person. Panic set in and I just knew that it couldn’t be good.
Chapter 5
Anton swung the door open before my knuckles could knock for a second time.
‘Come in,’ he said, practically pushing me inside and then slamming the door behind him.
‘You locked up,’ I noted.
‘Yeah. But you’ll want to sit down for this.’
‘Anton,’ I walked over to him and stared him deep in the eyes. ‘If you’re going to break up with me, just get it over with.’
He chuckled. Laughed. And then held his stomach and laughed even more heartily than before. I watched him but didn’t share in on the laughter.
‘I’m not going to break up with you,’ he managed to catch his breath. ‘You think I called you over here to end things?’
‘That’s what it sounded like,’ I dropped his bugout bag on the coffee table and settled down on the couch.
‘No sweetie. Never. I would never break up with you.’
‘Did you find a job? Because if you did then that’s pretty much the same thing.’
‘No.’ The smile disappeared from his face. ‘I didn’t. Not yet, at least. But when I do, I’ll be taking you with me.’
That’s what Anton always said. That when it was time for him to move out of Altoona, I had better be ready too. But he knew that it wasn’t that easy. The selfish part of me hoped that he’d be as stuck in this town as I was. But the better part of me wanted him to succeed, to thrive in an environment less stagnant than this miserable old town.
‘So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?’
He made his way over to the couch and took a seat in front of me. Now, there wasn’t a trace of humor left on his face. ‘What I’m going to say to you might sound crazy but I want you to listen carefully and take my word for it. Can you do that?’
‘I can’t make any promises.’
‘Liz,’ he commanded, ‘you need to believe what I’m going to say to you. I’ve got no reason to lie.’
‘Spit it out already.’ I rolled my eyes.
‘When you left my home last night, something strange happened. Something really, really strange.’
‘Okay…’
‘I know that this is going to sound irrational to you but I saw one of them- one of those zombie like things. Or at least I think I did.’ He pondered for a while; his finger stroking his chin. ‘No. I’m one hundred percent sure that I saw it. There was this loud bang outside and I peeked out the window to see if it was you; if you’d forgotten something inside. But instead, there was one of those things hiding behind the trash can outside. I know. I know,’ he said before I could interrupt, ‘I thought it was ridiculous too. My eyes just had to be fooling me. Anyways, I kept an eye on you while you walked and watched for as far as I could see you. I kept telling myself that I was just imagining things but then the news this morning convinced me that I wasn’t just being crazy.’
‘You mean, you thought you saw a zombie and you didn’t come running after me.’
‘I wanted to but I just didn’t really believe it at the time. You know?’
I watched his actions. The way his hands fiddled with each other. I observed the way his forehead dampened with sweat and his eyes searched mine, hoping he’d see some sense of belief in them. Was it time? Was now the moment that I told someone what I saw or what I thought I had seen. I’d been the one who didn’t believe. Letting on that I thought I saw something would only lead those around me to become even more suspicious than they already were.
‘Liz,’ Anton pulled my thoughts away from the occurrences the previous night and back to him.
‘Yeah,’ I forced a smile.
‘What is it, Liz? Something’s wrong. You look all worried and like there’s something you’re not saying. I didn’t tell you all this to try to scare you. You just need to know that there’s probably more to this than you’re willing to believe.’
‘I saw it.’ The words flew out of my mouth before I could shove them right back in.
‘Huh?’ Anton’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘You, what?’
‘I said I saw it Anton.’ My voice was a little calmer this time.’
‘As in a zombie?’
‘Whatever they are, Anton. I saw one.’
‘When you were leaving my house.’
‘When I was leaving your house,’ I confirmed.
‘You could have been killed,’ his voice trembled with fear.
‘But I wasn’t. I dunno. Maybe, like you, I was just imagining things. I had to be. There was just this rattling coming from the bushes and I thought that maybe it was some wild animal- a raccoon perhaps.’
‘And it wasn’t?’
‘Well. It could have been. My mind could have been playing tricks on me but I could have sworn that it was bigger. Much bugger. More human-like. There were cuts on its back and I thought I saw a t-shirt.’
‘Fuck,’ Anton shuffled closer to me and held me in his arms.
I didn’t relax in his embrace. ‘Anton. I’m fine. Like I said, it could have just been my mind. I mean, this thing followed me all the way home and didn’t attack. That would be kinda strange, don’t you think?’
‘This whole thing is strange.’ Finally his hands fell to his waist and my body was no longer being stifled. ‘But it doesn’t mean it’s not true.’
‘So you’re trying to tell me you’re ready to skip on into the woods and hide out.’ I tried to hint at what mother had planned.
‘Hell yes,’ he agreed. ‘If I had somewhere safe to go, I’d head out of here in an instant. No point in waiting until shit really hits the fan.’
If only he knew what mom had planned. ‘Maybe you do,’ I said quietly.
He laughed. ‘Yeah. I’ll just start digging a tunnel under my house.’
‘Mom’s planning on leaving.’
His back straightened. His eyes widened. He gawked at me as though I’d just dangled a winning lottery ticket in his face. ‘Are you going?’ His lips moved but his face stayed stiff.
I shook my head. ‘I don’t think so.’
Anton’s hands quickly took hold of mine. He squeezed them, ever so gently. ‘You have to Liz. If she really is leaving, you’ve got to go too.’
‘Oh, come on. You really think things are gonna get that bad. So what if a few flesh eating monsters make their way into town? The Sherriff can just shoot them all down.’
‘Have they ever caught one of these things? The answer is no. It seems like you really have no idea how bad things are in Birmingham and soon enough, other places will be in the same state. The bordering regions are already getting the first signs that there really is something out there. We’ve been lucky to only have one attack. So, I’m sorry Liz if I think that it’s best to ditch this place now than to try to get out when every corner is covered with these things. Imagine what would happen if you had to lock yourself in your house and start hammering up boards on the windows. You’d freaking starve to death in there and then these things would eventually make their way in and eat your corpse.’
‘Actually, I’d be good for about a year. I don’t like leaving home that much anyways. So it wouldn’t be a big change. With all the food mom’s been canning and stockpiling, I wouldn’t have a care in the world.’
‘You wouldn’t be able to sleep either.’
‘A full stomach and my bed. I think I’d sleep just fine.’
‘You’re so stubborn sometimes. Maybe I ought to call Miss Sherry and see if I really can tag along. If you wanna stay here then
that’s up to you. But think about it, you won’t be able to kiss these lips for a really, really, long time,’ he smiled.
‘First of all, mom hates when you call her Miss Sherry. So if that’s you’re opening line when you call her, she’ll definitely say no. And second of all, I might miss those lips but not as much as I’d miss my bed.’
‘Then I guess I just won’t kiss you today,’ he teased, covering his lips with the back of his hand.
‘You can’t hold off that long. I’ve got on that chapstick that you really like.’
Anton puckered up, closed his eyes and I leaned in for a short kiss. ‘That’s all you get,’ he smirked. ‘Now, back to this ditching town thing.’
I wanted the conversation to be over. I wanted him to tell me that I needed to be careful walking alone. But I couldn’t deal with being persuaded to leave home. ‘Come on, Anton. Can’t we just skip the talking and keep at the kissing.’
‘Not until you agree to ask your mom if I can come along. Or maybe it’s stupid of me to ask. I mean, it’s more of a family kind of thing and I’m not exactly family.’
‘I don’t even know if or when she’s planning on leaving. But if you’re really that worried about getting an invitation you should probably know that she and Brandon already said you could come.’
‘Seriously,’ he beamed.
‘Seriously,’ I said flatly, not even half as enthusiastic as he was.
‘Thanks for the bugout bag, by the way,’ he reached forward and retrieved it from the coffee table. ‘It’s kinda light. Don’t you think?’
‘It’s perfect. You’ll need to pack in an extra suit of clothes, sunglasses and that weapon of yours.’
‘But why is it so light?’ he asked puzzled.
‘Because it’s not supposed to be heavy, silly. It might feel light now, but imagine trekking along with that thing on your back for hours. Eventually the weight will really get to you. In a shit hit the fan scenario, your back shouldn’t be holding you back or else the zombies might get you or something,’ I giggled.
‘All of this is such a big joke to you. But thanks for the info. I always thought you were supposed to pack as much as possible. Good thing I asked you to help out. I’d probably have packed like fifty cans of food.’
‘You wouldn’t have.’
‘I absolutely would.’
‘Then I guess it really is a good thing you’ve got a girl like me.’
‘A prepper girl.’
‘Whatever you’d like to call it,’ I laughed.
‘Is there anything else you’d like to teach me, Madam Prepper?’
‘Oh gosh. There’s plenty. If I had the time, I would start by teaching you how to can. That way, you could help me out whenever mother fills up her veggie and fruit baskets.’
‘Leave it up to you to want to teach me something that lessens your burden.’
‘It’s actually a lot easier than you would think. Once you’re done prepping everything, it’s just a matter of boiling the jars, loading them, covering them up and pressuring cooking hell out of them to make sure that all the bacteria’s gone. And voila, you’re done.’
‘Hmm. Sounds, interesting. You’ve got to show me some time.’
‘Definitely will, but for now, I think I ought to get back home and see what mom’s up to.’
‘You’re not going back by yourself. Let me take you?’
‘It’s nice that you’re so concerned. But no. Brandon insisted that I should call him when I’m ready so I think I’ll just do that.’
‘That’s great of him. I definitely love that he’s always looking out for you.’
‘More like always trying to control me.’
‘Liz. Be grateful. Look at me. I’m an only child. My parents hopped off to Mexico to go live with some guru. You wouldn’t want that.’
Anton was right. Though Brandon and I butted heads quite often, it was indeed nice to know that he was always there for me when I needed him. A life without family, isn’t one that I could imagine and unquestionably not one I would want.
I phoned Brandon who showed up at Anton’s house in a matter of minutes. Of course, he didn’t show up without news. Apparently, more and more residents had spotted those creatures or zombies or whatever they were. This meant that mom’s panic level was at an all-time high. I could only imagine the ear chewing that I’d receive once I arrived home. There was no way she wouldn’t lecture me about the dangers and insist that I stay off the streets for as long as it took to eradicate the threats.
Chapter 6
‘Mom,’ I yelled. ‘This is absolutely ridiculous. You’re going way over board and I don’t think it’s fair for you to try to uproot my life like this. I’m twenty-two years old for crying out loud. I’m not a baby or a teenager or some irresponsible child anymore.’
‘I don’t care what you think you are, Elizabeth, but you’ll always be my little girl. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve been aging right along with you and so there’s still the same age difference as when you were born. If I say that we’re leaving then you best believe we’re leaving.’
‘Brandon. Tell her that it’s not that serious,’ I pleaded.
It was the same story over and over again except this time, rather than just sitting around on the couch talking about leaving, she was actively packing and getting ready to depart.
‘Let’s just go, Liz. It’ll only be for a short while.’
‘It’s not like I’m telling you to leave your boyfriend behind,’ mom continued. ‘Anton’s more than welcome to come with us if he pleases. I’ve already made contact with the others at the bunker and let them know that we might be coming as a group of four.’
She didn’t understand. It wasn’t so much about leaving Anton behind as it was about not wanting to leave in the first place. ‘There’s no reason we can’t stay safe here,’ I insisted. ‘We could all just stay inside, survive off all the food you’ve got in the pantry and ride the storm that way.’
‘Have you not been listening to anything I’ve been telling you over the past few years? We need to leave before things get out of hand. We’ve gone over this, time and time again. When people get scared, the economy goes south. Tell me how many people in our neighborhood have been prepping. Tell me, Liz. How many?’
‘I don’t know. It’s not like I go around asking everybody to inspect their pantry.’
‘Before dad died, we tried to start a prepper associated. You remember what happened, don’t you?’
‘Yes, mom. Everyone laughed in your faces and told you that you were crazy.’
‘Exactly. So of the zero members that we had join, how many of them do you think started to build a stockpile?’
‘Probably none.’
‘And so, tell me, what will happen when the grocery stores close. When shit really gets bad and there’s no food, no water, no anything?’
I rolled my eyes. Did I understand where she was coming from? Absolutely. Did she have a point? Definitely. But we had one attack in Altoona. Just one. This wasn’t enough to think that there was some immense threat. The CDC was pretty good at containing such outbreaks. In no time, they’d swoop right in and rescue us from these things. These people were smart, they had labs of bacteria and viruses and I was certain that before we knew it, they’d have a cure shipped to the places that needed it the most.
‘Tell me Liz. What will happen?’
I picked at an uneven fingernail, trying hard to avoid eye contact. Fighting with her wasn’t a part of the plan but I really didn’t feel like leaving. At least not just yet.
‘When shit gets bad, people start turning on each other,’ I said unenthusiastically.
‘And are you prepared for that? Have you got a gun that I don’t know about? Or are all three of us gonna start shooting swarms of people with Brandon’s gun? Do you know how to dodge bullets? Can you fight, Liz? Can you survive alone in this house when the door’s being pounded down by flesh eating critters?’
‘Okay, mothe
r.’ I finally accepted that there was no way I was getting out of the conversation without agreeing. She wouldn’t allow me to stay and that was that.
Mom took a few steps until she was standing only a few inches in front of me. Her finger touched my chin, tipping my head up. ‘I need to keep you safe, Liz. That’s all I’m trying to do. If I left you behind and something happened to you, there would be no forgiving myself. We’re a family and families look out for each other. So allow me to be your mother; allow me to do what I know is best.’
My eyes filled with tears as the sincerity, the care, the compassion in her voice spoke directly to my heart. I threw my hands around her and wept into her chest. The sound of her heart against my ear was soothing. I wasn’t sure why I cried. Perhaps I was overwhelmed. But I didn’t care. I loved the way it felt having her hold me.
‘Can I call Anton?’ I asked, gently pushing her away.
‘Absolutely. I’ll have Brandon pick him up so that he won’t have to walk over here. We’re planning on leaving at night time, so as to not have so many eyes watching us.’
In my bedroom, I calmed myself down before dialing Anton’s number. His voice was chirpy when he answered. A breath of fresh air after the intense conversation between mom and me.
‘So…’ I paused, trying to figure out just the right words to say.
‘So…’ he chuckled.
‘Mom wants us to leave.’
He took a while to reply. ‘Okay. That’s great. I guess.’
‘And you’re coming with us.’
‘I’m coming with you?’ He sounded surprised. Perhaps he didn’t think I was telling the truth when I stated that mom wouldn’t mind having him come along.
‘Yes. You’re coming with us. Why? Would you rather stay here? Because if you want to I’d be happy to keep you company.’
‘Well. Yes and no. I mean. Yes because I’m hoping that this thing doesn’t get out of hand like it is in Birmingham. No because I want to be wherever you are and I know your mom and brother will tie you to their feet and drag you along if they have to.’