Scattered Screams: (The Disruption, Book One)

by C. A. Huggins

  Marcus thought it was too peculiar. “Stay alert,” he warned.

  A still frenzied Phil lagged behind with his sister.

  “Listen, you’re gonna have to try your best to keep him quiet,” Ali whispered to Clara.

  She nodded. Then she placed her arm around her brother and covered his mouth.

  Phil turned to Clara as he dragged his left leg, “My ankle hurts.”

  “You probably just twisted it when you fell,” she said.

  They advanced one more car. Nobody again. Marcus looked back at everybody and shrugged. He tried to open the door for the next car. It didn’t budge. He looked back at Ali and Vic. They gripped their weapons. Marcus threw his shoulder into the door. It popped open. He was instantly met with the shock of a taser. The 50,000 volts coursed through his body and flattened him right to the ground.

  “We’re humans!” Ali shouted.

  Chapter One

  “Hold on,” a man wearing a wrinkled grey business suit shouted at the police officer.

  “Shit!” the police officer said as he dropped the taser. “I didn’t know.”

  Ali and Vic rushed over to Marcus as his limp body writhed in pain on the floor of the train.

  “Shit I… I’m sorry.” The police officer fumbled his taser as he picked it up off of the ground and stuffed it into his pants pocket. “I didn’t know.” He reached his hand out as a nice gesture toward Ali who took a step away from him. Although Ali sensed his contrition, it didn’t matter to him whether he intended to harm his father or not. The fact that police officer did stun him was enough for Ali to hold it against him.

  “Don’t worry. You’re safe here,” Business Suit said to Ali.

  Marcus gathered himself and slowly sat up. He scowled at both of the men as he eventually rose to his feet. He couldn’t believe the irony of the situation. They made it off the campus and onto this train while beating all of those creatures and all odds only to get brought down by fellow humans.

  “Get him some water,” Business Suit shouted at a crowd of about twelve people behind him.

  A man in jeans and a black t-shirt trotted over and handed Marcus a paper cup filled with water. He hesitated a bit and scanned the cup, but he took a sip anyway.

  “Thank you,” Marcus said.

  “We weren’t expecting survivors,” Business Suit said.

  “Neither were we,” Marcus said. He took a bigger sip. Then offered the water to Ali. “I’m Marcus. This is my son Ali, his friend Vic, Clara, and Phil.”

  Ali, Vic, and Clara nodded at everyone while Phil’s head remained buried under his sister’s arm.

  “I’m Glenn,” Business Suit said.

  “Tate,” the policeman said. He looked back at the rest of the crowd. “That’s… Well you’re not gonna remember them anyway.” He smiled. The rest of the crowd timidly waved back at them.

  Despite the violent introduction the crowd looks harmless enough, Marcus thought.

  He was a bit taken at how upbeat they looked compared to the group of people from the rooftop. For the most part everybody’s clothes were clean, there were no signs of injury, and their faces were devoid of concern.

  “Do you maybe…have any food?” Vic asked.

  “Yes, we do!” Glenn said with a smile. But then he stopped, and his face sunk. “But full disclosure. It’s nothing great though. Mostly vending machine stuff.” He realized he didn’t want to raise their guests’ expectations.

  I guess I should thank them, Marcus thought. He didn’t. Because he knew it was the least they could do.

  “Where’s the train going?” Marcus said.

  “South,” Tate said. “They shut down Frisco.”

  “Who?” Marcus said.

  “The state?” Tate hypothesized.

  “We think it’s the state,” Glenn responded.

  “Shit,” Marcus interrupted. “Not sure really.”

  Tate nodded. “About forty-five minutes ago, the conductor announced he had to re-route.”

  “How are we getting home?” Ali’s shoulders slumped.

  Marcus gazed outside of the window, “We’ll figure something out.”

  Ali said, “Mom, who knows how she’s doing? Espi too. We can’t get in contact with any of them.”

  “Relax,” Vic said to Ali. “They’re both fine. Listen to your dad. Before we know it, we’ll be home. This is just some California bullshit.” Vic looked at Tate and Glenn. “Right?”

  Tate and Glenn looked at each other.

  “How do you know?” Ali said. “How does he know?”

  “I don’t know,” Tate said. “Nobody here has been able to reach our families either.”

  “Oh,” Vic said. This has to be something major if all of the cellphone towers are out, he thought.

  “Don’t worry,” Marcus said. “Everybody is going to be okay.”

  “Everybody?” Clara said.

  Marcus looked down at the sad-eyed girl and her catatonic brother. Then, he realized what he just said, “I’m sorry. We’ll help the both of you too.”

  Clara wept.

  Glenn looked at Clara. Then, his eyes shifted toward Marcus. “We have the first four cars occupied. The next car over is the sleeping quarters.”

  “The kids could definitely rest,” Marcus said.

  “Is he…all right?” Tate analyzed Phil.

  Clara squinted at Tate. “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it.” She shielded him from their eyes.

  Marcus pulled Tate and Glenn off to the side. He whispered, “Their mother was with us. She got caught…by a group of those things. And they watched it all.”

  Tate’s arms hung at his side. His second such gaff in such a short period of time. They rejoined the group.

  “He sprained his ankle when he fell,” Clara said. “That’s all.”

  “Take him to the next car. And you guys can rest,” Glenn said.

  Clara and Phil moved onto the next car. Phil hobbled the entire way as his left leg appeared to be giving him a considerable amount of pain. Clara practically had to hold him up.

  Marcus’s eyes patrolled the train. “We’re gonna want to secure this car.” He was back in Marcus mode. “You know…just in case.” He was aware of his status as a newcomer and the need for their hospitality. So Marcus didn’t want to offend anybody especially fresh off the heels of him and Charles butting heads on the roof.

  Tate looked around as if the idea for more security hadn’t previously entered his mind. “We didn’t think about it. There was one of those things on the train when we took off, but I killed it and together we dumped the body off the train. That’s why I’m low on ammo now.”

  He was visibly proud of himself and totally ignorant to what Marcus, Ali, and Vic had been through.

  “Good thing for me you were low on ammo, right?” Marcus half-joked.

  Tate titled his head as Marcus’s attempt to infuse sarcasm into the situation soared over his head faster than a Gulfstream G4.

  “Why don’t you two rest up,” Marcus said to Ali and Vic.

  Although on the verge of collapsing, Ali didn’t want to leave his father’s side. Despite the appearances, he didn’t trust Glenn or Tate. He also didn’t want to be left out of the loop on the strategy.

  Vic and Ali left for car three to claim a spot near Clara and Phil in the sleep car.

  Marcus made sure they were out of earshot before continuing, “I don’t want to step out of line, but it’s vital we secure this car. Especially if more people…or not people get on board like we did.”

  “Good idea,” Glenn said. “Let’s grab whatever we have and barricade the doors.”

  Glenn, Tate, and Marcus snatched up anything they could find including suitcases, chairs, and even garbage to block off the door. After thirty minutes, they stood and admired their work as Marcus checked if the blockade would hold.

  “Good?” Glenn turned to Marcus.

  Marcus nodded.

  “Why don’t you get some rest?” Glen
n said to Marcus.

  Marcus nodded. “I’m gonna check on the kids and see if I can get a few hours.”

  He went onto the next car and peered over Ali laying down with his eyes closed and Vic curled up, dead asleep in another seat. Clara stared out of the window while Phil snored in her lap. He let out a sigh and plopped down in the seat facing Ali and Vic. And soon after that, he nodded off.

  Ali sat up in his seat. At first he was unsure if he fell asleep or not. He took out his iPhone. It had been forty-five minutes since he remembered checking if the signal had been renewed prior to laying his head down.

  Vic tossed and turned in his seat, but didn’t wake up. And Marcus was slumped over. To Ali, it still looked like his dad was thinking and giving orders in his sleep. Ali looked for Clara and Phil, but they were both gone.

  Understandably, they couldn’t sleep either, Ali thought. He sat in the chair and wondered if he should close his eyes and give resting another try. But it was no use. He pulled out his Discman and put on a Big L “Greatest Hits” mix CD that belonged to Patrice. He turned down the volume to a reasonable level to be sure not to disturb anyone.

  Ali bobbed his head while he gazed outside of the window. He pictured his mom sitting quietly safe at home, but watching the news nervously as she couldn’t get in contact with them. He wished there was some way he could reach her to let her know they were okay. As his anxiety grew, he directed his attention to the pitch black scenery.

  Were those things still out there lurking? he thought. His preference was to never see one of those green-eyed creatures again. Then, he smirked as he knew he’d walked away with some great stories to tell. He skipped to the next song and stood up.

  Ali explored the rest of the train in search for the restroom. He didn’t remember seeing it in car four when they came in, but he thought he could’ve missed it. It wasn’t there, but he noticed the new barricade and instantly knew it was his father’s doing. He walked over to car two. No bathroom there either. By the look of the other train passengers pristine clothing, he knew they had not witnessed or experienced the same things they had.

  Ali spotted one woman as she rifled through a suitcase. “Excuse me,” Ali asked. “Where’s the bathroom?”

  “In the front dear,” she responded. “Just keep walking and you’ll see it right on your right.”

  Ali looked to the next car and then back at the woman.

  She nodded, “Keep walking. You won’t miss it.”

  “Thanks,” Ali said before he made his way over to the first car. On the way, he noticed how the second car had a lot more people in it. Some ate and talked as if it were a regular train ride. He made eye contact with Glenn who instantly got up and walked over to Ali.

  “Ali, right?” Glenn asked.

  Ali looked him up and down. “Yep.”

  “Are you okay? Still hungry?’

  Ali thought it was weird that he was acting like a waiter trying to earn a great tip. “I’m good. Just heading to the bathroom.”

  “Oh…okay,” Glenn said. “It’s straight ahead.”

  “Got it,” Ali said. He shook his head and walked. Something is up with that guy, he thought. Probably still feeling bad about the taser shit.

  Ali made a mental note to pay closer attention to him and discuss with Marcus later. He seemed suspicious. Being too nice was always a red flag for Ali.

  Ali approached the bathroom door. It read “vacant”. He opened the door. Phil sat on the sink with his left pant leg rolled up to his knee as Clara used a wad of paper towels to wash out a gaping gash on his lower leg. He was limp like a ventriloquist’s puppet.

  “Oh sorry,” Ali said before he realized what was going on.

  A stunned Clara looked up at Ali. Phil’s skin was a jaundiced color, and Ali couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or rolling into the back of his head.

  “Is he okay?” Ali asked.

  “Yes. He’s fine,” Clara said.

  Unconvinced, Ali asked Phil, “Are you okay?” He spoke louder hoping to evoke a response.

  Nothing.

  Ali was afraid to touch him. So he repeated, “Phil…are you okay?”

  Phil mumbled something inaudibly.

  Ali turned around, “I’m going to get—”

  “No,” Clara said. She wanted to shout, but also didn’t want to draw attention to the bathroom.

  Ali stopped.

  “I’ll take care of this,” Clara said. “It’s just a scratch. Plus, you don’t want to worry anybody.”

  Ali could read her face. She was scared to death. Scared for Phil. Scared for herself. Scared of what anybody would do to Phil if they found out.

  “But—” Ali said.

  “Please,” Clara’s eyes welled up again.

  Ali didn’t want to break her trust. Even though it wasn’t his fault what happened to Nelly, he felt for Clara and Phil. Emotions that were probably a result of the concern he had for his own mother.

  “All right,” Ali said. “Promise me if he gets worse, you’ll tell me. We can figure something out. You’re not alone.”

  Clara nodded as she rubbed tears off of her cheeks.

  Ali inspected Phil one last time to see if he was the least bit responsive. Phil looked back at him and shook his head. His body still weak. His face still sickly.

  “You should lock the door,” Ali said as he backed out of the bathroom. As soon as he closed the door, Clara got up and fastened the lock. Ali watched as the sign went from “vacant” to “occupied”. He took a step and second guessed his decision of sworn secrecy. He turned back and walked toward the sleep car. After a few steps, he realized he didn’t go to the bathroom. Now he was forced to hold it.

  When he returned to his seat, Marcus and Ali were there as he left them. He reached into his backpack and popped in his Freestyle Fellowship “Innercity Griots” CD into his Discman. Then, he rested his head on his backpack and chilled out to the smooth jazz rhythms of “Inner City Boundaries” as an attempt to escape everything.

  Ali replayed the promise he made with Clara in his mind hoping he made the right decision. Was this information his father needed to know? he thought.

  Marcus was going to have to find out for himself. Ali didn’t want to be a snitch and he hoped either Clara or Phil would come clean sooner rather than later.

  Ali peeked down at his charging iPhone. Still no signal. He raised the volume of his music two levels. Then, a man’s voice came over the train’s intercom.

  “This is your conductor,” the voice said. “I just received message from the station in Santa Clara. They abandoned the station. The tracks are covered with… Well, they don’t know what they are yet. And nobody has come up with a name for them yet. But as a result, we will be diverting eastward. I’m sorry for the confusion, but you can be sure, we will get you to safety.”

  A mild stir from the passengers shifted throughout the entire train.

  A bleary-eyed Marcus looked at Ali. “Did you hear that?” Ali said to Marcus.

  “Not all of it,” Marcus said.

  “We’re going east!” Ali grinned. “The train has been redirected.”

  Vic joked, “Maybe it’ll take us straight home.”

  Marcus stood up and even though he just woke up, he was still serious. “Actually, it probably won’t take us all the way to New York.” Ali always argued that Marcus probably has serious dreams. “But the closer the better. Let me find out exactly what’s going on.” He marched towards some other passengers and asked them what happened. They were all clueless. He refused to give up and moved onto the front of the train where he met Tate.

  “You hear the news?” Tate said to Marcus.

  “Yeah, I want a confirmation from the conductor,” Marcus replied.

  Tate placed his hand on Marcus’s chest. “Sorry, you can’t see the conductor.”

  Marcus scowled. His eyes tracked back and forth between Tate’s hand and his face. Tate jerked his hand away.

  Marcus moved forwa
rd. “I have some questions.”

  Glenn sensed something was going on and rushed over to Tate and Marcus.

  “He wants to see the conductor,” Tate pleaded to Glenn.

  Glenn bit his lip. “No…you can’t do that.”

  “Give me a good reason why not,” Marcus said.

  “Safety,” Glenn said. “Nothing personal…but we can’t have people waltzing into the control room.”

  Marcus nodded.

  “He’s responsible for everyone on the train,” Glenn continued.

  Marcus paused. The explanation made sense to him, and Glenn knew it.

  “Can somebody find out why we’re redirecting?” Marcus asked.

  Glenn shrugged, “I can’t get in there.”

  “Me neither,” Tate said.

  Glenn gauged Marcus’s dissatisfaction from his answer. “Listen, I’ll do my best to find out something.” He looked at Tate. Tate looked as if he had no clue how Glenn would come through on that promise.

  “Fine,” Marcus said. He returned back to his seat. “Where’s Phil and Clara?”

  Ali froze. “I don’t know. Maybe they’re eating?”

  Marcus scanned the train car.

  “Did you find out anything else?” Ali said.

  Marcus shook his head.

  “I wonder how long it’ll take us to get home?” Vic said.

  “We’ll probably have to stop for gas somewhere,” Ali said.

  Vic’s head snapped up. “There they are.”

  Marcus and Ali turned around. Clara walked and Phil, sporting the same limp, made his way back into the train car.

  “Are you okay?” Vic said looking down at Phil’s leg.

  Phil fixed his mouth to mumble something, but Clara stepped in. “It’s a little swollen. He’ll be fine.”

  “That happens to me all the time when I’m hooping,” Vic said. “I’m always rolling my ankle.”

  “That’s cuz you’re wearing those wack ass Jordans,” Ali said.

  “Shut up.”

  “He should probably try to sleep,” Marcus said. He turned to Ali. “Go get him an icepack. And maybe see if you can find some Advil or something.”