All That Remain

by Travis Tufo

“Why don’t you just ask her out?” Aurora sarcastically said as she nodded toward the infected. Eli snapped out of it and let off a round. It hit her directly in her left eye, easily ripping its way through her head and leaving behind a gaping crater in its wake. Much to Aurora’s surprise, she was still pulling herself towards them.

  “Oh my god! Why isn’t she dead?” She was panicked.

  “I knew it!” Eli seemed excited.

  “What do you know?” She felt like she was left out of an inside joke.

  “Some of these infected people are more developed; like, they’re further along.” He didn’t sound like a rocket scientist, but he was on to something.

  “Umm...what?” She wasn’t following his expanding theory.

  “Watch this.” Eli gently held a fungal growth on the woman’s shoulder and followed it into her body. Beyond the pale skin where it was burrowed, fungal strands like roots could be seen, they were dark red veins all over the place. It was an elaborate maze of lines and squiggles. He followed this maze till he spotted a deeper red circle, bigger than a heart, in the center of her chest. Within moments he had lined up a shot right at the middle, and let off another round, killing her instantly, along with blowing chunks of flesh onto the road.

  “See! They aren’t really alive anymore. Well, the person’s not at least. It’s like they are being controlled by those weird things sticking out of their bodies.”

  “Wait, they are dead? So it’s like a parasite controlling them?”

  “Exactly. Like a demon possession, an Invasion of the Body Snatchers or something. Their bodies are just vessels.”

  “This is honestly so bizarre! Like some Sci-Fi shit! This can’t be real.”

  “It’s like a movie, except not a zombie movie...which is kind of a downer. I always wanted to survive a zombie apocalypse.” Eli seemed upset that his apocalypse wasn’t as cool as ones he’d read about. Aurora gave him a blank look.

  “Sorry your apocalypse isn’t zombies, but, come on. This is just as terrifying.” Eli laughed at her jab, and then he just looked at the bloody mess he’d made all over the hood. By this point, Aurora had shut off the car. Goosebumps ran over their flesh as they remained frozen in place, contemplating the strange, alien like body and Eli’s possible explanation.

  “Why aren’t we infected?” She broke the stale silence.

  “Maybe we are. I bet whatever this virus or parasite or whatever is, it’s inside of us,” he said. She gave him a menacing look.

  “What? What’s that look for?”

  “Give me a better answer than that, Eli!”

  “Oh, uh, maybe we are immune?” He didn’t seem confident, but it was a possibility.

  “Much better. That means, if this thing is airborne, we’re good?”

  “It would appear so. But a parasite can’t be airborne right?” Eli thought back to his biology class, which he barely remembered taking.

  “Oh…I think you’re right.” The levels of confusion were getting out of hand.

  “I would think it would have to be passed on by direct interactions. But if that’s the case, maybe we really are immune. I got bit, and you’re covered in blood and spores, but so far we don’t have any strange hunger for flesh; not yet at least.” A feeling of relief formed in his gut.

  “Well, for now I say we stick with that! But I also say we aren’t going to get any answers just sitting here, and I doubt the lady on our hood is going to give us any information, so let’s get the hell out of here.” Eli nodded in agreement. Aurora turned the key, but the car wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Ohhh don’t do this!” She turned the ignition a few more times, but it was as dead as the halved slop of flesh on the hood. Her insides were pressed deep into all the nooks and crannies of the engine, gumming up the works.

  “Looks like we are walking.” Aurora’s statement left Eli less than impressed.

  “Shouldn’t I call a cab?” Eli sat there with his eyebrows raised, waiting for a laugh, but instead, got the slamming of her door in his face. He would have minded her abrupt exit, had he not taken that golden opportunity to sneak a peek at her butt.

  “This apocalypse thing might not be so bad after all,” he muttered to himself, wondering why even in a life threatening situation, his fascination with her rear end trumped his terror. He shrugged it off and left the vehicle.

  “Do you even know where we are going?” he said as he grabbed his bag and holstered his gun in his pocket, breathing in that great aroma of smoke coming from the barrel as he did so.

  “Don’t you trust me?” she said, grabbing her bag and rifle as she turned with an ambiguous smile. He gave an uncertain grin back, and those were the last words spoken for the next few hours, minus an occasional small exchange of sick humor. They walked briskly the entire time. The road was strangely lonely and felt close, surrounded by nothing but trees. They sped up when the sound of twigs breaking or rustling from the bushes could be heard.

  “You know Ms. Tour Guide, the sun will be setting soon,” a sweaty Eli said, pointing towards the orange sun dropping in the distance behind them.

  “Ms. Tour Guide huh? Well, if you look to our left you’ll see a very large ‘I don’t give a damn,’ you smart ass.” She smiled at her own comment.

  “Yes I do see that!” he played along.

  “But you know what else I see?” she asked.

  “What?” He looked ahead. She pointed to a black truck in the distance. It took him a minute, but as soon as Eli spotted the truck, he felt relieved and excited.

  “Oh man, finally! Where have all the cars been?”

  “Well, I bet everyone was trying to get the hell out of here when the epidemic hit so they all packed up and left. There wouldn’t have been a reason to pull over on this back road and abandon the car.”

  “Unless they absorbed a person and stalled their engine,” Eli whispered to himself. All Aurora gave in return was a sarcastic look. She then began to jog towards the truck.

  “Let’s hope they left the keys in there for us.” Eli hustled to keep up with Aurora, who had already spent the entire trip a few steps ahead of him.

  “What’s the fun in that?” She said nearing the vehicle. This stopped Eli in his tracks.

  “Uh, what? I mean, the fun in that would be, hmm...I don’t know, survival? But what do I know, right?” She beat him to the truck by a good ten seconds, just long enough for her to realize the door was locked. She smashed through the window and let herself in.

  “I see you prefer the windows down,” Eli laughed at his own joke as he rounded the other side. Much to his surprise, the passenger door was open. He could hear her voice from the other side when she realized his door was unlocked.

  “Oh, of goddamn course it was open,” she said quietly. He smiled and hopped onto the passenger side seat.

  “So what’s the damage? Did they leave the keys?” he asked.

  “Nope.” Short and sweet, like usual.

  “Hmm, a normal, or even sane person might be a little upset about this situation, yet you seem…well, not normal,” he prodded. She gave no response. He watched her begin to do something down near the pedals.

  “No, nope...I don’t believe it,” Eli said. He sat back with an open jaw watching her successfully bring the truck to life.

  “It’s alive!” Her roar was triumphant.

  “How the hell do you know how to hot wire a car?”

  “Did my dad strike you as the type of guy who wouldn’t know how to do this? Maybe he taught me a few things. Listen to this baby purr!” Her smile was ear to ear.

  “I don’t know if I’ve told you this lately, but you, Miss, are a badass.” She gave him her sarcastic bow, then hopped behind the wheel. But before they took off Eli interrupted.

  “Wait a second! If I remember correctly, and correct me if I’m wrong, but you just splattered some creep against our last car,” he said. She got flustered and tried to retaliate, but stuttered a failed excuse.

  “That�
�s right; it’s my turn to drive. Come on little lady, switch sides!” A blushing Aurora had no other options, and she marched her march of defeat to the other side.

  “Much better!” Eli shouted as he settled down into his seat; it felt like a throne to him. He was all ready to go when he took one quick glance to his right and felt a sinking feeling.

  “Ohhhh shit! Come on!” It wasn’t an automatic.

  “Oh my word! Big tough guy Eli can’t even handle a stick shift.” She was near tears from laughing so hard.

  “Why don’t you step aside, little lady,” she managed to spit out past her laughter. Eli, looking down, just shook his head and complied. She laughed the entire way to the driver’s seat and even wiggled a little victory dance when she sat down.

  “Hey, how about we get a move on before those freaks show up and tear our limbs off or muck up the engine!” A defeated Eli said, feeling the sting of being relegated to passenger again.

  “Hey, calm down. That is, unless you want to drive us out of here?” Her comeback was without hesitation.

  “Ugh. Just don’t hit anyone on the way there, okay?”

  “At least I’m in a position to do so.” She was always able to one up him. Her wit was just a little sharper.

  Chapter Twelve

  TOGETHER THEY DROVE down a seemingly never-ending road for a few hours when they encountered a strange aroma.

  “Eli!”

  “Whoa, what?” He was alarmed; he had started drifting off.

  “Did you shit your pants?”

  “Oh, uh, let me just check real fast.” His sarcasm was laid on thick.

  “Nope, we are all clear down…oh god!” He, too, caught a whiff of the rancid stench.

  “Oh! My eyes are watering!” Aurora cried.

  “Well, maybe if you weren’t always breaking shit you could roll your window up. Wait, I think it’s coming from over there.” Eli pointed to a faint smoke cloud in the distance.

  “I think we should drive to it,” Aurora said, spotting the cloud. Eli gave her a disapproving look.

  “No, really! That could be a sign of others. Maybe it’s smoke signals or something.”

  “Oh great!” he said, adding annoyance to his sarcasm.

  “What?” she questioned him.

  “So far I haven’t had the greatest experience with the living.”

  “Excuse me. What about me?” She pretended to be insulted.

  “Well, you were about to leave me for dead…twice.”

  “Eli.”

  “What?”

  “Let us not dwell on the past.” She smiled.

  “Fine, but let us also not leave thy friend for dead.”

  “Hey! What did I just say? Also, this smoke could be a good sign. If there are people there maybe they can help us. Or at least tell us what the hell is going on.”

  “Sure. Let’s drive toward the shit cloud pluming up in the distance,” he said, continuing his sarcastic streak. She was just about to come back with some smart ass comment, but Eli beat her to the punch, trying desperately to avoid another burn.“Just drive us there!”

  “You’re something else, Eli.”

  “Hey, I’m just glad my window is rolled up.” Before the smirk was on his face for too long, she quickly jerked the wheel, sending his head crashing against his window.

  “Still glad your window is rolled up? Because I can help you use that head of yours to break it, tough guy.”

  “You weren’t hugged enough as a child, were you?” Eli said, rubbing the new bump on the side of his head. She gave him a look and flexed like she was going to jerk the wheel again; this time Eli braced himself against the window, so instead she slammed on the brakes. His face made a loud thud as it smashed against the dashboard.

  “Oh, oww! Are you alright? You should have had that seat belt on, huh? Need a hug?”

  With a hand on his temple from the first hit and another on his forehead from the second, he responded, “I…think I’m safer out there with those monsters.” She smiled and shrugged and drove on towards the mysterious smoke.

  “Although, I will take you up on that hug,” Eli grinned. She gave him a wink and continued on.

  Chapter Thirteen

  EVENTUALLY THE TWO of them passed a sign indicating they were in Portland, Maine. The smoke was coming from something just over a hill close to them, however, their speed had nearly halted. The highway they were on, which was once barren and carefree, was now packed tightly with abandoned cars stacked bumper to bumper. It seemed that everyone who had tried to escape the epidemic by going north only made it this far. A few times they could just squeeze through by pushing a car or two aside with their truck, but eventually there was no more ground they could cover by vehicle. By the time they finally stopped, they were about a mile away from the strange smoke plume, or at least, from the hill hiding what was creating the smoke.

  “Well, this is about as far as this truck is going to take us,” Aurora said, shutting down the engine behind hundreds of rows of cars. It was a sad noise for Eli to hear. At that point he was just about done with hiking.

  “Damn, we were so close, too.”

  “Well, all we have to do is get off this highway and climb that hill on the other side of downtown Portland,” she said, stepping out of the truck and placing her hands on her hips. She stared at the cloud of thick black smoke. They stood on a high overpass. It was a deadly fall forward to the street below, but it was at least a half mile in either direction to climb down the bramble covered slope of the highway. Walking the half mile forward wouldn’t be so daunting if only it wasn’t so dangerous. Eli could already see infected people inside a few cars ahead of them. They were thrashing around trying to escape, and there was one who had managed to break the window but was secured by the seat belt. They had to move past the jam; neither one of them was up for backtracking.

  “Well, since going back isn’t an option, I guess we should keep heading north on foot. I can see a spot where the overpass ends; we can get down that way.” He was pointing up the road, but she wasn’t listening. Aurora was too busy looking over the overpass guardrail, down at the street below.

  “I can see a few of those freaks ahead so we should be careful when we go,” he went on. Again she didn’t respond.

  “Hello?” Eli was trying to get anything out of her.

  “Oooor...we could speed things up a bit and avoid all the cannibals by jumping.” She never took her eyes off the street, which was about twenty-five feet below. He was puzzled by her response.

  “Uhh, we made it this far, Aurora, we could sure as hell go out in a better blaze of glory than splattered on the road.” He was only half kidding.

  “No you fool, come look!” Reluctantly he approached the railing and peered over.

  “Yeah, that’s a pretty good drop onto solid ground there. Crazy!”

  “Not at the ground! Look at that.” She pointed at a farm truck loaded with hay bales in the back.

  “Ohhh...no! No way.” Eli waved his hands in disapproval and backed off.

  “Don’t be such a baby,” she taunted with a wicked smile on her face.

  “A baby? Ha! This overpass ends in a short hike just that way with the bonus of no broken ankles, free of charge.” The next thing he knew, Aurora was taking the intense jump. His jaw proceeded to hit the concrete.

  “You’re nuts!” he yelled as he ran towards the railing. As he set his hands on the railing to look over, he was nearly scared to death. A hand reached over and grabbed his wrist tightly. His face went deathly white. He couldn’t see who was attached to the hand, but it was Aurora who had managed to catch herself on the edge of the guardrail when she jumped. She was there hanging on. A little girl scream caught in his throat. With one great pull, she heaved him over the railing by the arm. With the pull, she let herself go limp. They swung outward; the combined effort sent them both flying toward the truck. One large thud, sending dirt and hay everywhere, and they were both safely in the bed of the truc
k. Other than a few hay splinters and Eli’s shattered ego, they were unharmed.

  “No, no! We can’t. No. You can’t do these things to me! What’s broken? Am I dead? Oh man, I bet I am dead. This is what it’s like!” Eli was frantically looking around for anything that was out of place or missing as if he were an action figure with detachable limbs. However, all he managed to spot was Aurora sitting up on his lap, where she had landed. Eli’s back was against the hay bales, and Aurora was facing forward sitting across his thighs.

  “That was like those drop machines at the carnivals!” She seemed to have enjoyed the fall, smiling ear to ear. Eli, on the other hand, was too preoccupied with staring at her perched on his lap. She noticed the awkward situation and quickly hopped off, blushing in the process.

  Within a split second, her cutting self-defense mechanism switched back on. “Once your balls drop back down from where ever they went, we should get moving. We have to make it all the way through downtown, and the sun is almost gone.” It seemed like she’d dismissed the moment with a quick insult. Eli just smiled at the fact that she was blushing.

  “What are you smiling for?” She was getting angry.

  “Oh nothing.”

  “Tell me!”

  “I just could tell how much you liked that ride...or at least the landing,” he joked, referring back to her being on his lap.

  “You know Eli, sexual jokes like that might lead to something else,” she said in a very provocative way, even throwing in a cute little move where she pulled her hair behind her ear.

  “Really?! Like what?” Eli was wide eyed and clearly very interested.

  “Like me slashing your throat. Now let’s keep moving, you ass.” Her entire demeanor changed on a dime. Eli was left upset by her answer, slightly embarrassed, and even a little aroused. As she turned away to get off the truck, another smile crept onto her face, she knew she’d won. Together they got off the truck and headed towards the smoke once more. The odor was nearly unbearable, it was like nothing they had ever smelled before. It was rancid to the point of bringing tears to their eyes once they got a big enough whiff. The whole downtown area was foggy with the smoke, making it hard to see very far ahead of them. They went from street to street, moving quickly and silently. There were infected all around them wandering aimlessly. They could never catch a good glimpse of one; they sped up as they heard the infected near them and never took their eyes off their destination. However, getting lost in the thickening smoke, they accidentally stumbled down a dead-end alley trying to avoid some shuffling they had heard approaching them.