Apartment 905

by Ned Sahin

  “Stay there!” Toshi yells at them as they take a few steps forward. The man’s one hand is near his chest showing his palm to us, but the other hand is close to his jacket’s pocket. Toshi stretches the bow even more to show them how serious he is.

  I push the trunk down and walk to the passenger door. Toshi jumps off the car’s roof and gets in the backseat.

  “Please! I’m begging you!” the woman says one more time as her voice cracks. Tears flow down on her cheeks. It might be a sign of her good intentions or good acting skills. Either way, it’s still a bad decision to let them in.

  I give them a final look before opening the door and getting in the car. They start running toward us.

  “Go!” I yell to Kathleen. The car starts moving as the man grabs the handle of the back door while moving on the bumpy side curb. It looks like Toshi forgot to lock his door. He tries to keep it closed while the guy keeps pulling it.

  The woman passes the man and slaps my window.

  “Please! I will suck your dick! Whatever you want!” she says. Kathleen wants to speed up, but the pits on the side curb slow us down. Tires get off the ground, and bumpers hit the ground several times as we try to get away.

  I turn back and reach the backdoor lock. As soon as Toshi manages to close the door fully, I push down the lock pin. The man gives up and frowns as he stares at us.

  Kathleen finds an opening on the left lane and finally speeds up, increasing the distance from the couple. They look more desperate as we get farther. The woman sits on the road and holds her head between her hands. The guy continues to stare at us.

  A heavy weight on my chest drops. I hope this was a good decision.

  “Do you think we did the right thing?” Kathleen asks.

  “I hope…” Toshi says from the backseat. He is watching the city buildings getting smaller in the horizon.

  “We do what we have to do to survive...” I say. Whatever we decide, if it keeps us alive, it’s a good decision. I try not to upset myself for the choices we can’t reverse.

  I see a road sign that reads, “Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests.”

  We are in the right direction. There was an alternative way that goes up North and then West, but we wanted to keep going West to drive through the forest instead of deserted open land. Based on the map Rowan gave us, both ways end up at Salt Lake City anyway.

  We plan to drive as much as our gas is good for, but we need to give ourselves a break for the night. It’s almost dark. Kathleen finds an uphill fire trail and drives a few yards into it, so we aren’t visible from the main road. We cover the car with branches and bushes. The car’s dark green color helps it to blend in with nature.

  We eat our sandwiches while talking about our trip so far. We have left half of the road behind. Despite several troubles we have run into and difficult choices we have made, I would call it a successful trip.

  If we find more gas on the way, we can make it to Kathleen’s grandparents in Salt Lake City tomorrow. If we have to walk after the car runs out of fuel, it will take several days to get there.

  I wonder how Sunshine is doing. I move the colorful beads on the wristband she gave me. It reminds me of the two days I spent in heaven on earth. It also gives me the energy to be more hopeful about the future.

  As I watch the stars in the clear sky, I think about our conversations in their home, on the town’s main street and boutique stores. I hope our drawings she had hung in their living room reminds her of our plans to return back to Purple Haze. Visiting her after finding my family in San Francisco is at the top of my travel bucket list. I hope nothing harmful gets near the people of Purple Haze and their peaceful town stays as is.

  Chapter 27

  We might have made the wrong decision about choosing the mountain road. There are not many abandoned cars on this road and the ones we see are already siphoned.

  Our tank is almost empty. The map shows at least 400 miles more before we arrive in Salt Lake City.

  “Maybe we should just hitchhike?” Kathleen says. I like how sarcastic she is even in the most stressful situations.

  “We hide. You convince somebody to pull over and give a ride to all of us!” Toshi says with a chuckle. It’s not the worst idea if there were any cars on the road.

  “Can you please stop a luxury RV, Kathleen? It wouldn’t say no to a nap on a memory foam now,” I say, adding to the sarcastic vibe.

  Kathleen rolls her eyes.

  Even though we are in a good mood and having fun about our situation, our car is not joking around. It loses the acceleration, and the engine all of a sudden goes idle. I pull over right away.

  “This is it, I guess.” I get a closer look at the tank gauge.

  We get out of the car and prepare for the walk. We divide all the food and water into three bags. I take the useless shotgun. Toshi carries the bow. Each of us still has knives that Harmony gave us.

  We wait for about half an hour sitting on the side of the road. As expected, no cars show up. There are only birds, squirrels, a deer family, and a fox around here. They share curious looks with us. They must be wondering what happened to the humans who love hiking and skiing on this mountain.

  After spending the entire night sleeping on the driver seat, my neck and back have been hurting since I woke up. I stretch my arms and legs. We will be on foot again.

  We walk inside the forest, but we keep the road in our sight so that we don’t get lost in this endless jungle. If we hear any vehicle approaching, we can jump back on the road.

  It’s still early in the morning. I think about the best times for our lunch and dinner breaks as well as where we would possibly spend the night at.

  “I can’t wait to see my grandmother and her cat. And her plants!” Kathleen says. She has a different focus.

  “She’s always optimistic. We talked when the virus started spreading in the US. She thought it would be over by the weekend.” Kathleen’s eyes brighten up as the memories with her grandparents come to her mind.

  “What kind of plants does she grow?” I ask. I hope they are edible.

  “Almost everything... Lettuce, broccoli, tomato, green onions… You name it! You will love her sunny spinach salad! I hope she still has almonds…”

  She read my mind. I am glad that her grandmother has a vegetable garden. It would be disappointing to see a whole range of flowers that we can’t do anything with.

  “I am totally fine eating the salad without almonds,” I say.

  Kathleen chuckles while glancing at me.

  “Does she know how to bake chocolate cookies?” Toshi asks.

  It wasn’t the best idea to bring up cookies right now.

  “Oh, man… I used to wait in front of the oven watching the sugar cookies bake!” Kathleen says.

  I remember the ready-to-bake cookies I ate at home. I can feel the taste of the chocolate chips in my mouth.

  “It’s time for lunch, I think?” I say. They both nod without a doubt.

  After lunch, we walk about two more hours. There’s a road sign ahead of us: Wildernest 12.

  We should be able to find a house or cabin outside of that small town to spend the night.

  I hear rustling coming from the road. I raise my hand to stop Kathleen and Toshi. We stay quiet to pick up any non-natural sound.

  Footsteps are coming from different directions.

  “Slowly…” I whisper and wave my hand for them to follow me. Taking small steps, we get closer to the road. There is a sedan on the road with two Ricas slowly walking around it in circles with blood on their faces and hands.

  There is a kid in the backseat. He looks scared. I think I also see a guy in the driver seat. We crouch and share looks with each other.

  I lower my voice to a whisper “Take them down?”

  Toshi and Kathleen look back to the car and Ricas.

  “Let’s do it,” Kathleen says.

  “I will get their attention
and draw them to me. You guys hide on both sides and—”

  The kid sees us and screams before I finish my sentence. Both Ricas turn their heads to our direction. It takes only a second before they see us too. They start running toward us.

  “Toshi!” I yell.

  He moves a few yards away from me. He stretches the bow and waits for them to get closer. I hold the shotgun from its edge to hit them with the handgrip. Kathleen stands behind me holding her knife.

  Toshi shoots one of the two arrows. It misses. He places the second one, but it’s too late. The Rica running in front makes a move to jump on me. I hit his forehead with the back of the shotgun. He falls. Toshi shoots the last arrow right into his head.

  The other Rica pushes me with both hands. I grab one of his arms to keep my balance, but we both stumble to the ground. He gets on my chest and widens his mouth to reveal dark yellow, sharpened teeth. I wrinkle my nose as the foul scent of his breath creeps through my mask. I try to keep his face away from mine, but he fights back and tries to lock my hands to bite my cheek. My heart races as his face gets closer.

  A knife enters his head above his left ear. His blood splashes all over my face.

  I throw him off of me and move to the other side. I keep my eyes and mouth closed as water flows above my head.

  “Stay still!” Toshi says. He continues spilling the water bottle.

  I use the bottom of my t-shirt to dry my face before I open my eyes.

  “You okay?” Kathleen asks while cleaning her knife.

  “I… hope so… Thanks...” I say. I look at the Ricas. Their miserable lives are over. I turn my head to the car. Both the kid and man are watching us.

  Toshi collects both arrows. I pick up the shotgun. Toshi approaches the car from the side while I walk toward the rear of the car with Kathleen. The guy opens his door and steps out of the car.

  “Thank you!” he says and lets out a long breath. “We got stuck here last night…” He looks too young for a man who has a kid around ten years old.

  “Only two of you?” I ask, looking around. I don’t see anyone else.

  “Yes. Me and my nephew. We were on our way to Salt Lake City before we ran out of gas,” he says.

  “So were we…” Kathleen says with a shrug.

  “Do you guys mind if we tag along?” he asks. We look at each other.

  “Yes, it’s fine,” I say. We can’t leave a kid behind. Even if we don’t want them to follow us, we can’t stop them coming after us anyway.

  “Thank you… I am Neman. This is Elijah.”

  After we introduce ourselves, we all start walking in the same direction. Even though Neman doesn’t look like a threat, we let him walk in front of us.

  The “welcome” sign for the town finally comes into view. The problem is, there is nothing other than the sign. The entire town seems to be burned down. Not even a single building stands. They are all in rubble. It looks like a bomb destroyed the town. After completing their mission in Denver, the Air Force must have visited this town.

  We keep scanning the area for any sign of life or shelter.

  “Oh, shit!” Kathleen says. I look at the direction she is starting at. There is a Rica with blazing hateful eyes among the rubbles. He sprints toward us.

  Another one shows up behind him. Two more join them shortly after. As they scream out, more Ricas come out of the debris.

  “Run!” Kathleen yells. We turn back and run into the jungle. Neman pulls up Elijah to carry him in his arms. We run as fast as we can, but the Ricas get closer.

  Neman falls behind with the weight of holding Elijah. I go back to help him and get the boy from him. Neman picks up my shotgun. He runs faster now but still can’t catch up with the rest of us.

  “This way!” Toshi yells, glancing back at us. He is leading the way to a trail. We follow him.

  The trail ends in a fenced area. There is an open iron gate. I don’t see any farm or house in the area, except for a small concrete structure somewhere in the middle of the land. A “NOAH’S ARK” sign hangs above the door.

  We enter through the perimeter and close the gate. I put Elijah on his feet while Neman slides the gate’s bolt.

  “Follow them!” I point to Kathleen and Toshi running toward the concrete structure.

  Neman doesn’t hear me. He’s punching the Ricas while also trying to slide the bolt back to open the door. I use my knife to stab their heads and necks.

  “Open the door!” Toshi yells while pounding the structure’s steel door.

  It’s way too protected for only a few feet square area. It must be an opening to some kind of bunker.

  Kathleen and Elijah bang their fists against the door as well. They all yell as loud as they can to be heard from inside.

  We won’t be able to hold these Ricas much longer on the other side of the gate. There are at least fifteen of them.

  My arms feel heavy as I try to stop and annihilate these savages. I hold my breath to avoid inhaling the stench of their tainted blood, but the sound of the steel door squeaking compels me to exhale. “Matt! Come on!” Kathleen yells while they run inside the structure.

  “Go!” Neman says to me. “I will hold them as much as I can.”

  I slash one hand of a Rica who was about to jump over the gate. Another tries to climb over while I give the knife to Neman.

  “Please take care of Elijah!” he says. I look right into his eyes before responding.

  “You will! Not me!” I say. I run toward the door while Kathleen holds it open.

  “Neman!” I yell. He turns his head at us for a moment before the Rica that climbed over jumps on him. Another one slides the bolt back and opens the gate. The Ricas on the other side of the gate gather around him, kicking his body to a pulp. One Rica sticks his thumbs into Neman’s eyes. He screams in pain until he loses his voice.

  Some Ricas run toward us showing their blackened teeth in their roaring mouths. I can’t stop looking at Neman’s face as blood oozes out of his eyes.

  “Matt!” Kathleen yells. She pulls me inside while an elderly man shuts the door and rotates the wheel to lock it. It looks like a 20-inch thick blast-proof door to withstand a direct nuclear strike. I am pretty confident that Ricas can’t get through it.

  “Follow me.” He climbs down the ladder, and we follow him through a cylinder corridor.

  I feel like we are walking inside a tanker that is lighted up with small bulbs hanging on top of us every few feet.

  He opens another thick door and moves to the side before entering it. “Come in,” he says.

  Once we step inside, dozens of kids stare at us with curious eyes.

  Chapter 28

  “One-hundred and fifty kids!” Kathleen says in disbelief while taking another bite from her bunker made wheat bread.

  “Yes, pretty lady. Almost 150…and we can have 50 more,” Murray, who let us in the bunker, says. In his 60s, this young soul has more energy than all of us.

  Murray and his late wife had started building this shelter in the 1970s. They bought used shipping containers and giant fuel tank trailers. By connecting them in the shape of a comb, they had built this shelter in over three decades.

  Their purpose was to provide a self-sustainable shelter in a nuclear war between United States and Russia. Even though the threat significantly decreased after Soviet Union had collapsed, they continued building this shelter as they thought about solar flares, EMP attacks, supervolcano eruptions, and other catastrophic events.

  What makes this shelter unique is its residents— almost all of them are kids except Murray and his two adult sons Logan and Owen. The virus took Murray’s wife, but he made it to the shelter with his sons before things got worse. They have been hiding underground for three months with these kids who are the future of the world as they call them. That’s why they named this place Noah’s Ark.

  “Where are their families?” I ask. I don’t think all these kids lost their p
arents or all of them are coming from orphanages. We are nowhere near any big cities that would have a significant children population anyway.

  “Well… That’s a good question,” Murray says, nodding and lowering his eyes down to the table. People call a question a good question if it challenges them. I wonder why it’s a hard question for him.

  He takes another spoon from his soup. Kids who are having their dinners in the cafeteria can’t stop staring at us. They probably haven’t seen anybody new here for months.

  “Their parents agreed on leaving their kids with us. God bless them. I hope they are safe outside,” he says. Some of the parents probably were among those Ricas who chased us here.

  “We only saw the entrance and this cafeteria, but this place must be huge to house this many people,” I say.

  “It is. Logan will give you a tour after dinner,” Murray says.

  Logan smiles as he nods. Owen is still in the kitchen filling the meal trays with soup and rice for kids.

  “And I will show Elijah his bed,” Murray adds. He seems to be happy seeing a new kid on the block. It’s quite annoying that he didn’t mention us, though. Does that mean he doesn’t want us to stay?

  “We don’t want to bother you, but we would appreciate it if you let us stay tonight,” Kathleen says. It looks like she read between the lines as well.

  “Be my guest!” Murray says.

  It’s a relief, but I hope he is sincere in saying it.

  “Thank you, sir!” Toshi says.

  After dinner, Logan shows us the compartments in the bunker. Most of the livable space is used for beds. These small size beds are stacked on each other in three rows at both sides of each room. He said there are 100 beds in total, which means they can host 200 kids by having day and night schedules. It’s a great idea.

  Apart from bedrooms and the cafeteria, they have a classroom, playroom, library, laundry room, and several storage rooms.

  “You are welcome to sleep tonight in the playroom. Kids in the night schedule are older. They don’t use it,” he says.