Trying to Survive (Part 2)

by C. J. Crowley

I didn’t join Melanie and Anthony as they watched through the window. I hated the fact that I was currently a burden – someone who had to be helped and worried about… Viewed as a weakness.

  Clara’s pitying and fearful stare only made me feel even weaker… She knows I can’t protect her…

  My mind drifted back to when I noticed the shredder behind Walt… I hesitated. If it was dark out right now, he’d probably be dead… Why did I do that? Is it because being with these people makes me feel safe?.. I can’t ever feel safe. The feeling of safety is nothing more than a dangerous illusion now…

  Chapter 4

  Brian looked up from the map, took a large sip of water and turned his head to Jessie. “We’ve been in Lake City for a while now – we’re half an hour away at the most… Man, I feel like if anything was different here we would have at least seen a helicopter or something by now.”

  He’s right…

  Jessie reached for the pack of cigarettes in the cup holder. He flipped open the top, pushed one up with his thumb and brought the pack to his lips. He just held it in his mouth without lighting it and said “Come on, Brian. We all know every state is gonna be the same. Our only real chance is D.C., and we both know if nothings there, well, there’s probably nothing to look for.”

  Brian turned back to address Jenny “No offense, but I’ve been thinking that maybe your father’s research team might have been wrong about how many people carry the gene… The batch of random test subjects could have coincidentally had a high number of positive results – where if you tested a larger batch the percentage could shrink substantially.”

  “Hate to tell you this Brian, but my father actually mentioned that… He said they tested every single person on the base. When the results came back the same, government operatives were sent to random hospitals around the globe to secretly test patients over the course of a few years… They confirmed similar result in every part of the world.”

  Walt remarked “I’d say all you have to do is look around to know they were right.”

  Brian didn’t answer her back, he just kept looking straight ahead. His hands were resting on his knees, and I could see his pants start to wrinkle as he squeezed them out of frustration.

  His eyes moved to the unlit cigarette hanging from Jessie’s mouth. He snatched it away and grabbed the lighter from the cup holder.

  Jessie simply gave him a dirty look and slid another one out of the pack. Brian lit up and then threw the lighter in Jessie’s lap – purposely aiming for his crotch. “Quit chain-smokin, man. You just opened that pack a few hours ago and it’s almost half gone.”

  “Fuck off – I’ll just get more when we run out. Not like there’s anyone around to empty the stores out.” He turned to Brian, smiled and raised his brow. “The world is ours, Brian. We can do or take whatever the hell we want.”

  Brian scoffed “Well, then find us a nice house to stay in – we’ve been driving for a long time. I think we all need some real rest.”

  I was so relieved to hear Brian say those words. After the last week, we all needed a good night’s sleep. Preferably, somewhere we could feel comfortable enough to keep our eyes closed for more than an hour or two.

  The three of us hadn’t said much since Jenny informed us as to what’s really going on and just how grim things actually are. Even though I’d seen it for myself before we ever met and came to the conclusion on my own – I still had trouble believing it.

  I just couldn’t accept that billions of people were either dead or roaming the streets, looking to devour the few us left alive, and that our way of life was gone forever… And it was even harder to accept that it was all part of a plan set in place by nature millions of years ago – if not much longer… I just kept trying to hold onto the thought that we’d eventually come across a protected area where everything is perfectly normal and at peace…

  As Jessie turned onto one of the side streets to search for a place to spend the night, I looked over to Jenny and asked “So, you said even someone like the president didn’t know about this whole thing, right?”

  “Far as I know.”

  I turned sideways in my seat so I’d be facing her. “Okay… Well, we all know there’s a visible part of our government and then a secret side that most people know nothing about.”

  “Pretty much.”

  I felt Walt’s hand brush against the back of my head as he moved forward and leaned onto my seat so he could join in the conversation. Anthony and Clara had fallen back to sleep, but Melanie was awake and clearly interested in what I had to say.

  “So, that means there was no preparation for this in Washington because none of those people were allowed to know, right?”

  Jenny looked off to the side for a moment to think about my question before she began to nod. “Yes, that’s probably safe to assume.”

  I looked at her for a moment and said “Well… Then why are we going there? None of you know where some of their secret underground bases or shit like that might be?”

  Jenny laughed through her nose, raised her brow and said “Even if we managed to find one, I highly doubt we’d be welcome… They shoot on site at places like that – especially at a time like this.”

  “So, then what exactly are we doing?”

  She leaned back in her seat and said “Just looking for more people. We need to group together and form a small army so we can truly protect ourselves, and maybe even try to take parts of our world back… If we can’t find a safe place to live – we’ll have to create one ourselves.”

  Walt replied “I completely agree. We’ve seen more than enough to know it’s going to be like this everywhere we go. We need to make our own safe-zone.”

  Melanie jokingly added “I’m in, as long as we keep going north so we can get away from this heat… remember guys – no more air conditioning.”

  Jenny briefly laughed. “Jessie said the exact same thing right before we found you.”

  “He’s a smart man.”

  Walt said “I second that. I’d rather deal with snow for a few months than sit in my own sweat and stink for eight months out of the year… My, uh… goodies… they’re suffering big time.”

  I groaned out “Tell me about it.” Then turned to Jenny and said “I’m in – but D.C. gets pretty cold. Let’s think about a state more like North Carolina. It seems like the ideal climate for us… and growing food if it comes down to that.”

  Jenny put her hands up and nervously smiled. “Well, we don’t have any set plans yet – just ideas. But D.C. is our main priority at the moment.”

  “I understand… All we can do is keep going and see what happens.”

  Walt said “Other survivors should be at the top of the list. If we ever wanna do something like clean up a town and turn it into a safe environment again, we’ll need a lot of people to help us… Like Jenny said – we need to build an army.”

  When Jessie began to slow down, Brian reached through the window and pointed to his right. “What about that one over there? I don’t see any broken windows, and the front door is closed.”

  I turned away from the conversation so I could see where we were. From what I could make out, it looked like one of the many high-priced, gated communities where Walt and I used to spend most of our time working.

  Aside from the signs of our current situation, all the lawns were perfect, there were very few cars in the road or signs of massacres, and almost every home looked like it would cost close to a million dollars… Why not?

  It was an excellent play to stay for security reasons alone. The only entrance was the gate, and the entire community was surrounded by a decorative concrete wall reaching far above our heads. I was having a hard time believing it, but I hadn’t seen a single shredder since Jessie turned off the main road.

  Walt must have taken a few moments to look around as well. I could hear the faintest amount of excitement in his voice as he said “Nice neighborhood… I always wondered what it would be like to live in one of these
homes.”

  Jenny checked her rifle and put the strap around her arm, then inched toward the edge of the seat in preparation to climb out. “We’ve been coming to these kinds of neighborhoods because wealthy people always have plenty of food… generally have guns too. Though I have to say – this is a few steps above what we usually find.”

  Melanie moaned out “I’ll be so happy to sleep in a bed.”

  Jenny smiled and replied “That’s another upside – really good mattresses.”

  Jessie must have overheard us. He turned back and added “And liquor cabinets.”

  After a few moments of laughter, Jessie slowed down again and pulled into the large, circular driveway of a two story home. I could see the decorative columns coming from the marble front steps and disappearing into a lavishly designed overhang.

  The massive, double front door was rounded at the top, made of solid wood and even had large brass rings meant for knocking. When mixed with the faux-gray brick covering the outside walls of the first floor, it gave the appearance of a small castle.

  Melanie gently nudged Anthony and Clara awake as the rest of us made our way out of the van. Walt and I were the only ones who weren’t in awe of the house and the beautiful neighborhood... We’d been in hundreds homes just like it.

  When Anthony stepped out of the van and finished rubbing his eyes, his jaw dropped and he yelled out “Is this a castle!?”

  Melanie quickly covered his mouth and the rest of us tensed up, raised our rifles and started scanning the area for any movement. When we realized we the only living things in sight, Jessie said “How can this place be so empty?”

  Brian remarked suspiciously “Not even one shredder around?.. That’s weird, man. The front gate to this place was just hangin open.”

  “And there were a bunch of them in the road, just outside of it.”

  Jenny interjected “Just because we can’t see any on this street doesn’t mean they aren’t around. Something could have drawn them to the other side of the neighborhood – so, let’s hurry and get in that house. We can get a much better view from the second floor windows once we’re inside.”

  Jessie demanded that we stay back while he and Brian found a way through the front door. “We have experience doing this kind of thing. There could be a shredder trapped inside… or someone could be in there waiting to blow one of our heads off.”

  When they approached the door, Brian looked it up and down and raised a brow. “Uh, Jessie? I don’t think we’re getting through this door without totally destroying it. And we gotta be able to lock this place up.”

  “Then we’ll just have to break a window and find a way to block it off.” Jessie said as he walked over to one of the tall windows next to the front door, flipped his rifle around and got ready to break out the glass.

  Jenny said “Hey! Go around back – don’t break one in the front … Think about it, Jessie.”

  Jessie waved her off and started heading around the side of the house. Brian said “Stay here and keep watch” as he followed behind him.

  It was strange to see Walt standing right next to Jenny. In every sense of the word, he towered over her… She couldn’t be more than 5’4’’, but she undoubtedly came across as the kind of person you wouldn’t want to have an altercation with. It was easy to see as she stood there holding her rifle in full uniform.

  I couldn’t even sense the slightest amount of fear or worry. Aside from an occasional smile, joke or brief laugh, her sharp features and conversation rarely ever portrayed anything but the utmost seriousness. She wasn’t cold or abrasive at all – just confident in her intellect and abilities, while also being prone to concentrating on the task at hand.

  She was very attractive, so Anthony immediately took a liking to her. I could even see that she’s had experience with kids and seemed to genuinely enjoy them. The majority of times I’ve seen her break character were when she spoke to one of them.

  When Anthony pulled away from Melanie’s hand, she momentarily panicked, lunged toward him and grabbed his arm. “Anthony, don’t do that!”

  “I’m sorry Melanie. I just wanna ask Jenny something.” Anthony said as he hunched his shoulders.

  Melanie leaned her head back and looked up at the sky. “I didn’t mean to scare you Anthony. I just have to be extra careful so nothing happens to you… I’m sorry too.”

  Jenny walked over and squatted down next to him. “What’s up, Anthony.”

  His eyes moved to her gun and a smile stretched across his face. “Is that a M4?”

  Jenny jerked her head back in surprise and took turns glancing at me and Melanie. She nervously laughed and said “It sure is. Now how do you know that, little guy?”

  “I always pick that gun when I play Call of Duty.”

  Melanie and I both started cracking up, and Clara curled her lips down in disgust as she said “I hate that stupid game. It’s so loud and annoying.”

  Jenny was about to ask Anthony another question when a loud banging coming from the back of the house got our attention. Walt started to head toward the sound and I said “Wait, don’t go. Two able people need to be around for the kids. I’ll go check it out. I think I know what’s going on.”

  “What?”

  “Those windows must be impact-resistant. That’s the sound of him trying to break the glass with the stock of his rifle – it’s not gonna work. He’s just making a bunch of noise for no reason.”

  Walt’s lips barely separated and he titled his head to concentrate on the sound. “Hmm… Shit, you’re right.”

  As I made my way around to the back of the house, the banging suddenly stopped and was replaced by Jessie throwing a fit. “What the fuck is this shit!? It hasn’t even cracked!”

  Brian replied “I guess this guy opted for bullet-proof glass or somethin, man.”

  I rounded the corner and said “Only way you’re getting through that is to shoot it… And it’ll probably take two or three bullets in different spots. That’s hurricane rated glass… Unless you have a sledgehammer?”

  Brian nodded “Oh yeah, window-man.”

  “Yeah… and I guarantee it’ll be hard to find a house in here that doesn’t have them. And don’t bother trying the doors – it’s the same glass. Plus, look at it this way – it’ll be a lot harder for any of those things to break through.”

  I glanced around and saw nothing but empty yards and seemingly empty homes. My ears weren’t picking up any sounds that weren’t related to us, and my eye didn’t register a single movement in any direction.

  “I don’t know how it’s possible, but none of those things seem to be around. I say go for it… If a couple stagger out from hiding, we’ll take care of it... It’s better to know if a few are around anyway – don’t want em sneaking up on us.”

  They looked at each other for a second before Brian replied “I guess he’s right. Just do it.”

  Jessie and Brian took a few steps back and Jessie brought up his rifle. I put my hand up and said “Stop. Let me go tell the others so it doesn’t freak them out. Just count to twenty before you shoot.”

  Jessie nodded in agreement and I limped back to inform the others. As I looked around the neighborhood again, I began to agree with Jessie and Brian… Something’s off… I only see one car in the driveway near the beginning of this street. It’s like everyone here actually got away…

  For a moment, I thought we may have stumbled upon an area that’s been cleared out by other survivors. That people could be watching us right now, and were preparing to make contact so we could join together. When I approached the others and saw that two shredders were coming out from behind one of the houses across the street, I knew it was just wishful thinking.

  They were still far away and I didn’t want to scare the kids, so I just kept an eye on them as I spoke. “Jessie’s about to shoot out that window – let’s start making our way back there.”

  When Walt and Jenny noticed I was staying behind, I put my finger to my lips,
pointed across the street and whispered “Just go, I’ll take care of them once Anthony and Clara get around back.”

  As Jenny turned around, I heard Jessie fire the first shot. After a brief pause, came one more. I could hear the tiny explosions travelling through the entire area, shattering the dead silence and bouncing around between all the homes… Fuck, that was loud…

  Walt said “I always wondered how many bullets it would take to get through that glass.” He laughed. “It’s kinda like the old Tootsie-Pop commercials with the owl.”

  “Yeah.” I said through a chuckle.

  I started to line up a shot and Walt walked up next to me. “Let me do it – just for the practice. I haven’t fired a gun anywhere near as many times as you have.”

  I lowered my rifle and motioned for him to go ahead. “They’re at a good distance, so I’ll take this opportunity to adjust your scope if we notice that the shot is low or high… It should be right on for medium range, but you never know.”

  Walt nodded and brought the scope up to his eye. “Alright… Callin a headshot on the one in the Beatles t-shirt.”

  He fired and the bullet ripped through the shredder’s face, right underneath its nose. It fell to its knees and started moaning and grabbing at the wound. The sight of us and the stimulation inspired the other one to start speeding up. “Okay, Walt… Looks like the shot was pretty low, so aim right at the top of that one’s head.”

  He fired again, and as I suspected, the scope was making his shots a little low. It was something that could easily happen from the rifle being handled carelessly or taken in and out of a tightly packed bag.

  This time, the bullet hit in the center of the shredder’s forehead. “Give me the rifle so I can adjust it. Then test it on the other one – it’s almost back on its feet.”

  As I tried to remember which one of the little dials on the scope I needed to turn, Walt said “It’s movin fast now, man. Hurry up, it looks really pissed off.”

  I handed the rifle back to Walt and waited, hoping I didn’t turn the wrong dial.

  The bottom right side of the shredder’s face was horribly mangled from the first shot. Its jaw was hanging down, only connected on one side, and flapping back and forth as it ran at us. It was trying to growl, but all it did was make a strange, disgusting gurgling noise and spit blood everywhere.