by Matt Ryan
“Wooo!” Poly cried out as the Hummer bounced over a dirt mound.
“Drive through the parking lot and get on the main road,” Harris instructed. “And don’t slow down for them.”
Poly followed the advice and drove through a pack of zombies at the edge of the parking lot. The vehicle jumped the curb and landed on the main road through the center of town. Passing by the houses, they saw some zombies still standing on the porch of their last house visit.
Joey looked out the back window, watching the zombies stumbling after them. His attention turned to Julie’s strained face. She rubbed the bottom of her leg. Lucas sat next to her, his hands hesitantly close to her leg. Hank and Harris sat in the back row. Hank looked out the window, and Harris moved his fingers over his Panavice.
“Where we headed?” Poly asked, looking in the rearview mirror.
“New Vegas. Just keep on this road.” Harris spoke without looking up.
Poly nodded and kept both hands on the steering wheel.
“New Vegas.” Lucas rolled his eyes. “New Vegas? Really?”
“What?” Poly asked.
“I don’t know. It’s like, why don’t we just call the Prime Minister of America, who lives at the beige house in Washington A.C. We can meet with him in the square room and share some Alligatorade, eat some Kwinkies and drink some Dan Jackneils.”
Harris laughed. Joey looked back over his shoulder to see it in person and memorize this new expression. Julie smiled too, but quickly went back to tending her leg.
“Julie, how you doing?” Joey asked.
“My ankle’s sore,” she replied. The hummer hit a bump in the road and she winced.
Lucas glanced back and muttered something under his breath. Joey caught the name Ferrell. Another bump and Julie winced taking Lucas’s attention away from the rearview. He moved closer to Julie and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Lie down, Julie, and put your leg on me.”
Once she laid down, he held her foot gingerly on his lap.
“You doing okay, Poly?” Joey asked.
She smiled. “You think I can do donuts in this thing?”
“The rear wheel drive should make it exceedingly easy,” Julie said before wincing from another bump.
“Let me know if you need to pull over and switch drivers,” Harris said in a higher tone than he normally used.
“I think I can handle driving on these roads.” Poly’s head bobbed from side to side. The corners of her mouth pulled back as her lips pursed. When she turned to face Joey, a big smile spread over her face. It was infectious. He found himself smiling and trying to forget Ferrell’s small town and the horrors it held.
A burnt car sat in the middle of the road. Poly slowed down and passed by it using the dirt shoulder. The Hummer bounced as she navigated the large sandbars stretching across the road next to the car. Joey had driven his dad’s truck down the dirt road a few times, but his dad became so nervous he had him pull over.
“I’m okay back here, if anyone’s interested,” Hank said.
“Good to hear, Hank,” Joey replied. “That really takes a load off.”
“How far to New Vegas?” Julie asked after a few minutes.
Harris answered, “About a hundred miles.”
“Is the Alius stone in Vegas?”
“Yeah.”
JOEY STRETCHED HIS LEGS OUT and took a deep breath. He kept his gaze on the landscape as it passed by. With his eyes open, the world seemed normal. Cactuses and bushes . . . nothing in the desert showed what happened to this world. Did the animals know? Did the jackrabbits still run, snakes slither, and vultures scour?
“I guess I’ll be the one who asks the question.” Lucas broke the silence. “Joey, what’s going on with you? How did you move so fast? You were in one place, one second, and in another, the next.”
He kept his forehead against the glass, looking at the desert. He had expected this question from his friends at some point, but he didn’t understand what happened himself, and felt like some freak. “A chill goes over my body and the world slows down. I’m at a normal speed. Everything else is just going slow.” Hearing himself explain it aloud sounded ridiculous. Joey turned his head to look at Poly, but she kept her face toward the road.
“Holy crap, are you serious?” Lucas asked.
“Yeah.”
“You must be moving near the speed of light,” Julie said. “The closer to the speed of light you get, the slower time goes, sort of.”
“Harris, what do you think?” Poly asked.
“Isaac manipulated your genetics. I’ve seen many mutations, but nothing like this,” Harris said.
Joey looked at his hands, studying his fingers. He wondered what was under his skin, deep in his cells, all the way to his DNA. He wasn’t normal. Putting his forehead against the window again, he made note of how the hot glass made an interesting contrast to the cold interior.
“I’m still the same Joey,” he said.
“We can call you Flash if you want,” Lucas offered. “Give you some kind of superhero name.”
Joey groaned. He hated this.
“Speedster,” Hank said.
Julie chuckled and added, “Joey Lightyear.”
“Come on, guys,” Poly reprimanded, looking in the mirror. Joey sighed in relief at the end of the names. “Speedy Gonejoey is the obvious choice, anyway.” She reached over and squeezed his hand, giving him a wink.
He laughed at the ridiculous name and saw Poly eyeing him, smiling. She kept her hand wrapped over his and eyed him again, with a softer smile and the look in her eyes gave him a warm feeling in his gut. She pulled her hand back to steer, but he kept his hand in place, looking at it and back to Poly. He watched her glowing face with new eyes.
“Harris, if that small town had all those zombies, wouldn’t a city like Vegas be a terrible place to go?” Hank asked.
“Yes.”
“Are there any . . . regular people left on the planet?” Poly asked.
“There are pockets of people, here and there. They’re usually fortified underground, like Ferrell, or in enclosed compounds.”
Joey adjusted himself in the seat. Hearing Ferrell’s name made him uncomfortable. He glanced back at Julie and she brushed her hair back with a disgusted look. If there were more people like that on Ryjack, he would make sure to avoid them.
Julie, with her feet resting on Lucas, pulled out her cellphone. She sighed and stuffed it back in her pocket. “Hey, Harris, can I have a look at that smart phone of yours?”
“My Panavice? Sure.” Harris took it out of his jacket pocket and handed it over. Her eyes lit up under the soft glow of the screen. “It’s a bit tricky to use the first time, if—”
“Oh my god, you can scan everything electronic around you.” Julie interrupted Harris as her fingers flew across the screen. “I can see the Hummer’s computer, and even my cellphone.” She slid her fingers around the screen. “Ha, I can access my phone and get the data out of it. Lucas, I can get into your cell phone as well.”
“Yeah, well, if you happen to see anything weird in my search history, it’s probably that time my phone was taken. . . .”
“When was your phone taken?” Hank asked.
“Dude, remember that time, like the end of last year?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going near your demented places. I do have some hacking morals, you know.”
Lucas visibly relaxed and Joey thought the whole thing hysterical.
Julie’s face scrunched as she tapped at the screen. “It locked up on me.”
“It’s biometrically attached to me. I can only put a two minute-timer on it for guest users.”
“Oh, whatever.” Julie huffed and handed it back to Harris.
Lucas smiled at the exchange. His browser history was safe.
“I didn’t see one thing about our parents in there.”
Joey looked back at Julie and then to Harris.
“Were you there when it happened?” Lucas asked.
/> Poly hands fidgeted on the wheel and she stared into the rear view mirror more than what Joey would consider safe. But then, he had the luxury of turning around in the front seat.
“I was.”
“Can you tell us what happened?” Julie pushed the issue.
Harris sighed and pulled at the edges of his jacket. “When Isaac came to get you from your parents, he wasn’t counting on them fighting back. It was our best advantage. What we had not counted on was the group of Arracks he brought with him. We had a plan, but it went terribly wrong and some of your parents died in attempt to save your lives.”
“Why the bar?” Joey asked.
“Your parents didn’t think they could explain what happened,” Harris’s voice cracked.
“Yeah, but how did they all get pregnant at the same time, and go into labor on the same day and stuff?” Lucas kept the conversation going.
“That, I’m not sure of. Your parents didn’t talk too much about it.”
“Was this Simon guy involved?” Poly gripped the steering wheel and looked in the rear view mirror.
“No one knew what Isaac was doing. But he must have left something behind because not long after we dealt with Isaac, Simon began his search for you.”
“He’s been searching for us for eighteen years?” Julie asked.
“Yes, and now that he has your scent, I suspect others will be helping him. Simon isn’t the only dangerous person working for Marcus; in fact, he isn’t even the most lethal. You may have all of MM searching for you now.”
Joey turned and faced the front of the car. He slid into his seat and adjusted the seatbelt, exhaling as he stared at the windshield. He wanted it all to end . . . and wished he had never taken the path into Watchers Woods. Anger built and his hand balled up into a fist.
Poly touched his hand and he loosened his tight grip. She glanced at him. “We’re not going to let them get any of us. If we get caught, our parents died for nothing.”
Joey nodded and looked out the window.
A LARGE GREEN SIGN APPEARED on the horizon. New Vegas: 12 miles.
“We’ll see the city after this hill,” Harris said.
Joey saw the large city below. The setting sun reflected its yellow light off the glass of the towering buildings. The thought of going into the sprawling city gave him the chills. Millions would have probably lived there.
“Stop the car,” Harris said. “We better not go there at night. We can camp here and head out in the morning.”
Poly pulled off the road and parked the Hummer behind a dirt bank. Joey gritted his teeth at the idea of wasting more time, but going into the city at night seemed like a bad idea.
Poly cut the engine off, and in the stillness, he realized how jarring the ride had been. His arms and legs tingled as he opened the door to stretch. It did not take long in the hot, dry air to find comfort back in the front seat.
Looking through the dirty windshield, they watched the sunset over the distant mountains. He was getting sick of sunsets. With each passing one, it felt as if he were disappointing Samantha. He was in a different world, a new reality. If he thought about it too much, his brain hurt. He turned to Poly, hoping for a warm smile. She turned and gave him what he wanted.
They made themselves comfortable in the Hummer for the night. Poly and Joey up front, with Julie on the middle bench, and Lucas on the floor underneath. Hank and Harris shared the back seat. The car shifted as Hank struggled to find a comfortable spot. Joey reclined his seat back until Lucas complained.
“What’s your world like, Harris?” Julie asked.
“Vanar? It has some amazing places. The Three Falls of Benri is the most astounding sight I’ve ever seen on any planet.”
“You married?” She was on a roll.
“I was,” he said, putting his hands behind his head in an effort to lean back in the rigid third-row seat.
“What happened?” Julie asked.
“In a way, MM killed her. In a way, it was my fault,” Harris said.
Joey was glad she did not press the questions any further. The awkward silence was better than hearing about a man’s dead wife. If Harris thought he had any responsibility for his wife’s death, how did he live with himself? If Joey got any of them killed he wouldn’t be able to . . . well, just thinking of it tightened his chest.
He stretched his legs and pressed on the floor mat. The city of Vegas filled his view. Somewhere down there was the next step to getting off this planet. He slid his hand into his jacket pocket and felt the velvet box. He thought about going to Vegas at some point in his life, but not like this. He watched TV shows about Las Vegas, how the city illuminated at night with huge screens and millions of lights. New Vegas sat in complete darkness, disappearing into the black abyss.
“We’ll get back to them,” Poly said, touching the top of his arm.
He smiled at her and placed his hand over hers. Some of the tightness in his chest unwound. Poly was an amazing woman, a knife-wielding, hummer-driving, zombie-killing woman. She gave him hope.
“TIME TO GET UP,” HARRIS SAID.
Joey opened his eyes to the dark surroundings, jolted forward in his seat and grabbed his gun on the dash. He scanned the surrounding area but nothing moved. He relaxed and holstered his gun.
Poly stretched and yawned as she woke up. The rest of them rustled from their slumber.
After drinking some of the bottled water, they left their spot next to the mountain and drove back to the main road.
“Drive slower as we get closer to the city,” Harris instructed.
The sun rose behind the distant mountain range, giving off a faint glow, enough light for him to see the sprawling city and the roads leading to it. As they got closer, the cars lining the road grew denser. Arriving at the bottom of the hill, the road clogged with rusted, aged cars. Poly drove on the dirt shoulder when she had to, which made for a bumpy ride.
He recognized the large pyramid casino, even with its dust-covered glass façade, its white peak shined like a diamond. The morning sunlight spilled over the city, lighting up the massive glass structures, putting life into it. If he narrowed his vision to the reflecting towers, the city seemed normal, as if he could pull into a casino with his friends and turn over the keys to a valet.
Poly stopped the car and Joey jerked his attention away from the towers. Ahead, rows of cars blocked the shoulders and median with no easy way around. It stretched this way for the remaining mile into the city.
“Where do we go now?” she asked, lifting up in her seat and trying to see past the car pile.
“We’re in a Hummer. We off-road,” Lucas said.
“I’ve never off-roaded.” Poly tightened her hands on the wheel and gazed at the open field next to them.
The car roared and the rear tires spun in the dirt. Joey grasped the grab bar over the glove box and gave Poly a sideways look. A small dirt berm on the side of the road became a speed bump as she launched it into the barren desert that surrounded Vegas.
“Yeah!” Poly cheered.
The car bumped wildly as she navigated around the bushes and rocks. The smaller obstacles she disregarded. Joey braced his body for each impact. He searched the dash in front of him until he saw the airbag symbol.
“Take it easy,” Julie warned.
Poly hit a large dip. The Hummer jumped out of it, locking his seatbelt tight against his body as he bounced around in his seat.
“Yeah! Go, Poly!” Lucas yelled from the back seat. Julie punched him.
Poly, with a wide grin, didn’t respond but did slow down. Joey glanced back and saw Harris smiling.
“Poly, you see that house with the pink-painted stucco?” Harris asked, looking at his Panavice.
“Yeah.”
“Take us over there please, and get on Olive Street.”
She saluted. “Yes, sir!”
Joey spotted the house as well. It was hard to miss a pink house in a sea of beige. As they got closer, he saw the windows were broke
n out and sand had piled up against the house. He adjusted his guns at his sides. Nothing moved around the houses, but nothing did in Ferrell’s town at first, either.
Getting closer to the house, Poly slowed to a crawl. He felt the pressure in his chest come back, the danger sensors in his head making their statements. Poly hopped the curb and drove onto Olive Street.
Houses lined both sides of the street. Some had broken windows and graffiti while others appeared untouched beyond the dirt and weeds that grew over them. The desert sand covered a lot of the street, but he made out the yellow line in the middle here and there.
“They spread everywhere,” Harris explained. “Most people weren’t even aware of it until it was too late.”
There was spray paint on some of the houses, an X or an O. Others had slash lines on the front door. He stared at a turned-over Big Wheel in the middle of the driveway. He owned one just like it, but his was red.
“Sometimes they stay in houses, kind of like what you saw in that one house; a lot of them went into hibernation when the food supply ran out. While others never quite rest and roam at all hours. You have to always be vigilant while on Ryjack.”
“How much farther?” Julie asked. She wrung her hands as her head swiveled to each window.
“A few miles, make a left on Tulip Street, coming up.”
The sign below the dead stoplights listed Tulip Street. Poly turned left.
The corner gas station’s windows were all broken, but one displayed No Power, No Food, No Gas in faded paint on the glass. Parked cars filled the gas station’s parking lot, hoses still sticking out of cars.
A skeleton lay on the hood of a blue sedan. It was the first body he’d seen in the city. He gripped his gun. With only a few bullets left, he would make them count.
“Look,” Poly said.
Joey took his fixation off the skeleton to look ahead. A clear lane in the middle of the road opened in front of them, all vehicles pushed to the side. At the end of the street, the backs of the huge casinos lined up along a strip.