“Sorry about what?” Mike propped his head up, leaning on his elbow. Ellie tried to keep her eyes from wandering and focused her gaze on his face.
“You know…”
“No,” he said. “I don’t know.”
Ellie gnawed on her bottom lip. “The world is falling apart… There are dead bodies in the street…”
“Yes. I’ve noticed.”
“Well, last night shouldn’t have happened.”
Mike sat up, thinking this over, and then asked, “Why not?”
Ellie shrugged. “It just shouldn’t have.”
“Are you attracted to me?” he asked very seriously.
Ellie grinned and let out a nervous laugh. “Well, yes.”
“Okay…” he said. “I’m also attracted to you… Would you still be attracted to me if the world wasn’t… as you’ve said… falling apart?”
Ellie felt her cheeks flush. “Yes.”
“Then that settles it. I rest my case.”
Ellie grinned.
“Now,” he said. “On a more serious note, we need to put together a survival plan.”
The words, survival plan, made Ellie’s stomach lurch. She knew he was right; they needed some sort of plan. Regardless, the thought frightened her. “Okay,” she said. “What’s the plan?”
“That’s what I want to discuss with you. We can’t stay here.”
Ellie scrunched up her forehead. “Why not?”
“The climate,” he explained. “It’s too hot. Without electricity, the heat will more than likely kill us.”
“Oh,” she said, knowing that was true. “Then where do we go?”
“You’re from San Diego?”
“Yes, San Diego County. I live in Oceanside.”
“The climate there would be more habitable without electricity. Do you have any family there?”
“No. They’re in Florida… I lost contact with them… I don’t even know if…” Ellie hesitated. She didn’t like the odds of whether or not they were still alive. “I, I have a dog, Max. My neighbors are watching him for me… or at least, I hope they still are.”
“Then we need to retrieve your dog. Unfortunately, I don’t think Florida is doable… at least, not at the moment. Once we know exactly what we’re dealing with, we’ll work on a plan to meet up with your family. Okay?”
Ellie nodded. She prayed her family was okay. However, she did feel relieved that they would go get Max. Her poor little pup had been in the back of her mind. She’d been trying not to think the worst. “Okay… we’ll head for Oceanside and go get Max. Then what? Can you imagine the amount of infected people there? The amount of bodies… We won’t be able to stay there. Not long anyway.”
“I’ve thought of that,” he said. “We’ll need to scour the coast for an area with fresh water and a smaller population. Highly populated areas will be riddled with disease from the corpses.”
Ellie’s stomach leapt into her throat at the thought of all the rotting corpses. “We might be able to get a boat,” she suggested. “Do you know how to sail?”
“Um, no. I’m now kicking myself for never having learned,” Mike said. “But that’s not a bad idea. We’ll keep that in mind for a backup plan.”
“What about your family?”
“I don’t have any family.”
“Oh.” Ellie wanted to ask him questions about it. Surely Mike had to have family somewhere. She decided that now wasn’t the time to pry. If he wanted to elaborate, he would. Right now, she’d focus her questions on their survival plan. “How are we going to get to California? I was thinking about that yesterday. I can’t imagine the freeways being clear. Do you have a map? Maybe we can stop at a gas station…”
“I know the back roads,” he said. “I was stationed in Camp Pendleton, quite a few years back. We’d take weekend road trips to Vegas. I know all the short cuts.”
“I see.” Ellie smiled. Since she lived near Camp Pendleton, she’d dated a few Marines in the past and was familiar with the base.
“Let’s eat some breakfast, and then pack up supplies. I’d like to get moving before it gets too hot.”
“Okay,” she said in agreement. “Let me get dressed first.”
“I say we eat first, and then get dressed.” Mike grabbed hold of Ellie’s sheet and pulled her closer to him. “I can use a little dessert.”
Ellie had to admit, she liked his idea better.
***
Even though Benjamin wasn’t Amanda’s child, she protectively kept him wrapped up in her arms throughout the night. Bill had been kept separate from them upon capture. The men had locked them in a small waiting room on the first floor. One man stood outside the door. They appeared to be in military gear, but Amanda knew they weren’t. Whatever they were wearing it was foreign. Several times she’d overheard the men speaking in the hallway. She’d pinpointed three distinct voices. They didn’t know she was eavesdropping. Or, if they did, they didn’t care. She believed the latter to be true.
“We’re not to interfere.”
“Keeping them here is interfering.”
“They’re not aware of that...”
“The traitors were here for a reason…”
“I don’t like the look of the boy. Maybe we should…?”
“Eradicate the problem? Maybe…”
“That’s interfering.”
“Do nothing until we receive orders.”
Sitting in a chair, Amanda had dozed on and off throughout the night. When she awoke in the morning, Benjamin was no longer in her arms. He was sitting in a chair next to her eating a bag of cheese puffs. She noticed two bottles of water, several bags of chips, and what appeared to be chocolate chip cookies, had been left on a chair across from them. She figured that the food must’ve been brought in while she was sleeping. “Where’d you get those?”
With orange cheese coated fingers, Benjamin offered her a cheese puff.
Amanda shook her head. “Um, no thanks.”
“The nice man brought them.”
“Nice man?” she asked.
Benjamin nodded. “He said we can go home soon.”
“He did?” Amanda asked, feeling leery. She got up and walked over to the door. She could hear the murmur of muffled voices, but couldn’t hear what they were saying. They were purposely keeping their voices down. Earlier, they hadn’t seemed to care whether she heard them or not. It made her nervous that everything was suddenly hush, hush. That couldn’t be a good sign. Amanda grabbed a bottle of water and a bag of plain potato chips when the door swung open, startling her. She nearly dropped the bottle of water and caught it in midair. Two men pushed Bill through the doorway. He stumbled forwards, trying to catch his balance before hitting the ground. One of the men walked over to Benjamin and grabbed hold of his arm.
“Ow!” he screamed. “You’re hurting me!” The man squeezed harder and dragged him into the hallway. “You used to be nice!”
“Orders changed,” he replied. “I no longer need to be nice.”
“Ben!” Bill hollered, getting up from the floor. “Leave my son alone!”
“Where are you taking him?” Amanda screamed. The man stepped in front of her, blocking her view.
An unexpected high pitch whistle, that seemed to come out of nowhere, caught her attention. It also caught the man’s attention. He spun around. “What the…” Zap! Zap!
There was another high pitch whistle, louder this time. Amanda took a step back. Zap! An electric charge encompassed the man’s body. He began to convulse right before her eyes and disintegrated into a pile of thick black ash. Benjamin came running back into the room, and latched onto his father’s leg.
A tall, slim man with sandy blonde hair was standing in the doorway, holding one of those guns that Amanda thought looked like a toy. It obviously wasn’t.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“My name’s Liam,” he said. “We don’t have much time.”
“How’d… how’d you do that?” Amanda
stared at the pile of ashes on the white tiles.
“Do you want a lesson in physics or to get out of here before more come?”
Amanda wrinkled up her forehead with confusion, trying to make sense of what’d just happened.
“We’re not going anywhere until you tell us what’s going on!” Bill demanded.
“What are you still doing here?” Susan asked, appearing next to Liam. “We need to move!”
Amanda studied the short, sturdily built woman with dark, shoulder length hair. She felt the woman looked harmless enough.
“They’re refusing to leave,” Liam said to her. “I told you this was a bad idea. We should’ve left them.”
“We want answers!” Bill stated.
“Susan is the one who saved your life,” Liam said. “I would’ve left you. It’s not our place to interfere.”
“It is now,” Susan said, pushing past Liam. “There’s a lot to explain and little time…”
“How do we know you’re here to help us?” Amanda asked. “You just killed, vaporized, or whatever the hell you did, to that guy.”
Liam looked down at the pile of ash at Amanda’s feet and raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll give you the quick version,” Susan said. “We’re scientists… my name is Susan and this is Liam. You have contracted a virus that is common amongst our kind, just as a cold virus is to yours. Our reaction to the virus is not fatal. Since we’re here only to observe, we have strict orders not to interfere. Interfering is punishable by death under our planetary laws.”
“A virus?” Amanda asked, trying to wrap her head around this outlandish explanation. This wasn’t at all what she’d expected to hear. “You mean this… this infection?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand. Where are you from?”
“Government,” Bill said. “The government did this, didn’t they? They unleashed this thing… Now they’re trying to clean up their mess undetected!”
“Not your government,” Susan explained. “Ours… The Order.”
“Terrorists!” Bill barked. “I should’ve…”
“No!” Liam stepped in. “We’re scientists and this virus was an accident.”
“And you’re not allowed to help us?” Amanda shook her head, baffled. “Why? You caused it. You just said you did! People are dying…”
“There are those of us that want to help you. We’ve formed a resistance,” Susan explained. “We know that we’re responsible for your demise. We’re trying to help you before… before it’s too late.”
Liam stepped back out into the hall and looked to his left. “I thought I heard something.”
“We’d better go,” Susan said. “If we’re caught, they’ll kill us, all of us. Your species is no longer under an order of protection.”
“Your answer isn’t good enough,” Bill stated, patting his son’s back.
“Our species? Planetary law? Who are you?”
“There no time to explain.”
“Why are you helping us?” Amanda asked. “If you’re not to interfere… and why do they want to kill us?”
Frustrated, Susan sighed. She knew she’d better give some sort of an answer. However, they were wasting valuable time. “A new instruction was given by The Order to wipe out what’s left of human kind if the need arises. This virus has spread too far. An intergalactic war has been declared between our two planets. There are those opposed to aiding in the extinction of a planetary race and there are those that see the plentiful resources your planet has to offer us since we’re struggling for survival on our home worlds, and there aren’t many of you left alive… Now, hurry, follow me!”
“Extinction of the human race…” Amanda’s stomach lurched. “Are you telling me…?”
“Yes,” Liam said, answering Amanda’s unasked question. “We’re not from here. We’re not human. Enough questions. Let’s go. I hear them!”
Amanda didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, but wasn’t about to argue with him.
Bill stayed silent, mulling this over while holding onto Benjamin’s hand. He was deep in thought. They quickly followed Susan down the hall, Amanda at Bill’s side, and Liam trailing behind, making sure they weren’t being followed.
Relief washed over Amanda once they exited the building unnoticed. But a new fear replaced the last. “What do we do now?” Amanda asked, thinking of the food and medical supplies inside the hospital. Now she was back outside with no shoes, no antibiotics, no bandages, a swollen knee, no food and no water. Even worse, an alien race wanted to wipe them out.
“Find shelter,” Susan said. “As long as you keep your heads down and don’t bother anyone, no one will interfere. They’ll leave you alone. We’re a peaceful race.”
“Peaceful race? Aren’t they trying to kill us?” Amanda looked nervously over her shoulder. They’d just exited the way she’d originally entered the hospital.
“Peaceful race my ass!” Bill muttered.
Susan didn’t respond. She’d always believed that her race was peaceful. But as of late, she’d been learning otherwise. She’d never gone against the rules before. And as of right now, she and Liam were being hunted by The Order, because she’d been running tests on the boy. She didn’t want to be the cause of the human races’ extinction. She and Liam, along with a select few, had removed their tracking devices. Whether or not The Order figured out why or whom she as examining, she wasn’t quite sure. She hoped that they rescued the boy before reports had been made to the home world.
Liam stepped in. “Go! Before they see us! Keep to yourself and get as far away from the hospital as soon as possible. More will be coming.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Amanda asked.
“If we need you,” Liam said, aggravated that the humans had so many menial questions with obvious answers, “we’ll find you. Go now! Hurry!”
Bill grabbed Amanda’s arm and tugged. She allowed him to guide her. “There’s got to be an ambulance, a car, or something here. We won’t be able to get far on foot.”
“We won’t be able to get very far by car, either.” When Amanda glanced over her shoulder, Susan and Liam were gone. Bill was spinning around, searching, and trying to figure out what they should do. Then Amanda remembered the golf cart.
Chapter 26
They’d been driving for a couple of hours now and it was hotter than hell. To conserve on gas, they weren’t using the air conditioning. The windows of the SUV were rolled all the way down and scorching hot air, unlike that of an oven, was blasting Ellie in the face. Earlier, she’d tried rolling up her window, but then she felt like she was boiling in her own sweat. She wasn’t sure what was worse, being fried to death or boiled alive. Ellie kept her discomfort to herself because she didn’t want to bother Mike. He was probably just as uncomfortable even though he hadn’t let on that he was. Besides, there was nothing he could do to make their situation any better except for turning on the air conditioning. A part of her was tempted to ask, the other part of her eyed the gas gauge. The last thing they needed was to run out of gas in the middle of the desert.
That morning, after breakfast, they’d filled the SUV with supplies, packing everything from camping gear to batteries to food to water. Mike had a couple of ice chests, and had also obtained one from his neighbor’s garage, to fill with perishables from his fridge and freezer that were still good.
To lighten the mood a bit, Mike had slid a CD into the stereo. Ellie had been surprised when Hip Hop and R&B consumed the speakers. She’d thought Mike would be a Country music sort of guy. She wasn’t sure why she pegged him for country music. She just did. She herself liked pretty much everything. Well, everything except Heavy Metal. She’d never been able to get her groove on with Heavy Metal. Ellie closed her eyes, listening to the music. It was nice to be able to feel a little bit of familiarity in this new, strange, nightmarish world, as she listened to the lyrics to one of her favorite songs.
Feeling pain in her neck, Ellie tried
to move. Her neck was stiff and her shoulder blades ached. She hadn’t even realized she’d been sleeping. The combination of heat, and the stress of the last couple of days, had obviously taken its toll on her. Ellie massaged the knot in her neck while looking around. Mike wasn’t in the SUV with her. They were parked in front of an abandoned gas station, somewhere in the desert. Beautiful, desert mountains against crystal blue skies surrounded them.
Flinging open the door, Ellie slid out of the passenger seat. It was hotter than hell outside. Her skin sizzled as the sunlight hit it. There was still no sign of Mike and she needed to use the restroom. She walked up to the front door of the gas station and gave a tug at the door. It was locked. Ellie cupped her hands and pressed her face to the glass. No one was inside. She was afraid to wander too far from the vehicle in case Mike came back. She didn’t want him to worry about her, or even worse, leave her out there, but at the same time, she felt like her bladder was about to explode.
Ellie wearily eyed the SUV. She doubted Mike would leave her behind. Would he? She couldn’t imagine that he would. Pushing the negative thoughts from her mind, she decided to walk around to the back of the building. Sometimes gas stations had after hour’s bathrooms around the back. Maybe Mike was using the restroom. To her relief, there were two bathroom doors. She grabbed the knob to the woman’s bathroom. It was locked. She then tried the men’s and was happy to find it unlocked, but a little worried that Mike wasn’t there. She peeked inside. It wasn’t very clean, it smelled of sulfur, and it was both dark and creepy. No windows. Knowing it was useless, she tried flipping the light switch anyway. Nothing happened.
They’d packed flashlights, but Ellie wasn’t about to take the time to go search for them. She could either suck it up and pee in the dark, or find something to prop the door open. It’d only take her a minute or two to go. And it wasn’t like anyone was around to see her. From the parking lot, she’d seen small houses dotted all around the gas station, but she figured that if the habitants were still alive, they were probably inside, trying their best to stay cool. She hadn’t seen anyone else wandering around the gas station. So it’d probably be okay to leave the door open.
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