by Lukens, Mark
“I think he was trying to, but the cell phone was breaking up. Then it quit working completely.”
A few knowing nods from around the room, the trauma etched on their faces like they remembered the exact moment their cell phones stopped working.
James leaned forward, his sharp elbows on his bony knees, his eyes never wavering from Ray. “What did you used to do for the government?”
Helen jumped in quickly. “We’re not here to interrogate anyone.”
“I wasn’t interrogating,” James snapped, sitting up ramrod straight again, looking at the others around the room for backup. “I was just asking him a simple question.”
“We’re just trying to figure out what’s really going on,” Helen said. “We’ve all heard reports of banks closing, of the government shutting down, of curfews, of martial law.”
“People killing people,” Carrie said, her voice trembling a little. She adjusted her glasses like it was a nervous habit.
“Rippers,” Dee said. “That’s what they were calling them on the news yesterday before the cable went out.”
The others began speaking at the same time, their words turning to a jumble of voices.
“. . . a bioweapon, some kind of disease unleashed on us . . .”
“. . . the Iranians, that’s what I think . . .”
“. . . our own government did this to us . . .”
“. . . or they let it happen . . .”
“. . . it’s just nature fighting back . . .”
Helen jumped in to moderate the out-of-control discussion. “Let’s all take turns with our comments so we can hear each other.”
The room fell silent.
“What did you do in the government?” Tim asked Ray, not letting James’s earlier question go.
This time Helen didn’t jump to Ray’s defense.
Ray felt everyone’s curiosity and their impatience, so he answered the question: “I worked for the CDC.”
CHAPTER 11
Mike and Vanessa were awake. Ray had only been gone for thirty minutes, and it was like the kids could tell he was gone, snapping awake and asking where he was.
The room was already brightening up with the direct morning sunlight streaming in from the front windows. Mike was lying down inside their “fort,” reading one of his Incredible Hulk comic books. His head and arms were poking out of their tent. Vanessa was right beside him in the tent, hovering over him as he tried to read.
“Come on,” Vanessa told Mike. “Let’s play fort.”
“I want to read this,” Mike said, trying to shoo her away.
“Let’s play fort. You promised.”
“I need some ‘me time’ right now.”
“Mike,” Kim warned. “Don’t talk to your sister like that.”
Mike didn’t respond, trying to ignore them both and get back to his comic book.
Kim knew the kids were restless, they were scared and confused, and now they were lashing out in their own ways.
“Where’s Dad?” Mike asked again.
“I already told you,” Kim answered. “He went to the neighbor’s house to see if he can find out what’s going on with the electricity.” It wasn’t completely a lie.
“Whose house?”
“Helen’s house,” Kim told him.
“Who’s Helen?”
“She lives next door,” Kim said, hoping to leave it at that. She really didn’t know Helen too well. She had spoken to the woman a few times, waved at her as she jogged by. She seemed to be a nice enough lady.
“I hope he comes back soon,” Mike mumbled.
“I’m sure he will.”
“I want the lights to come back on,” Vanessa said. “I don’t like the dark.”
“I’m not afraid of it,” Mike said immediately.
“Yes, you are,” she teased, smiling at him.
“No, I’m not. You are.”
Kim didn’t jump in this time—she let them argue for a bit, letting them get some of it out of their systems. If their teasing turned into a real argument, then she would step in.
She glanced at the bedroom window that looked out to that empty lot that she always hated so much; it was the only empty lot left in the neighborhood, apparently a lot no one wanted to buy. She thought about peeking out the window to see if she could tell what was going on over at Helen’s house, but she didn’t want Mike and Vanessa joining her to gawk out the window.
Vanessa snuggled up right beside her brother in the tent, reading over his shoulder.
Mike breathed out an exaggerated sigh and looked up at Kim for help. “Mom, could you tell Vanessa to stop?”
“I wanna read, too,” Vanessa sang out.
“Vanessa, give your brother some space.”
Vanessa rolled away onto her back and stared up at the roof of her tent. “Can we have breakfast now?”
“We’re going to wait until your father comes back,” she said. She really didn’t want to start handing out food. She knew they needed to start conserving their food and she was going to plan that out with Ray. He told her that he had set some coolers in the kitchen so they could put the food from the refrigerator and freezer in them, saving as much of the food as they could.
It was a little chilly in the bedroom, and she was afraid that it was only going to get colder. If it got really cold they would have to use their fireplace downstairs, a fireplace they hadn’t used since last Christmas. She wasn’t even sure if it was clean enough to use. Couldn’t the chimney catch on fire if it wasn’t cleaned out? She wasn’t sure. Maybe Ray would know.
“But I’m hungry,” Vanessa whined.
Kim knew Vanessa was testing her. They were all bored and uncomfortable, and the kids were taking it out on her.
Kim was about to tell Vanessa that they were going to wait for their father and that was the last she was going to hear about it, but then she froze. She’d heard a loud banging noise from somewhere downstairs.
Apparently Mike and Vanessa had heard the noise, too. They were just as still as she was, both of them staring at the bedroom door with wide eyes.
“What was that?” Mike whispered.
“Shh,” Kim hissed.
Another noise from downstairs, a crashing noise.
Someone was inside the house.
CHAPTER 12
“If you used to work for the CDC,” Tim said to Ray, “then you must know what’s happening out there.”
Some of the other people around the room began talking all at the same time again. Ray heard the words: diseases, virus, bioweapon.
“Let him answer the question,” Helen told the group. She had a powerful and commanding voice for such a small woman.
The neighbors quieted down, all of their eyes on Ray, waiting for his answer to Tim’s question.
“I worked for the CDC, but I’m not a scientist. I’m an accountant. I don’t work with diseases, I work with numbers.” He tried a small smile. “I’m just a number cruncher. A bean counter.”
Some of the people in their little group nodded slightly, their hope deflated, but accepting his answer.
But Tim didn’t really seem to believe Ray. “You must’ve heard something at work. Some kind of rumors around the office.”
Ray thought of Doug and his supposed contacts down at the Atlanta headquarters, but he shook his head slightly. “No. Sorry. I work with other accountants.”
Carrie spoke up. “I don’t know what we should do.”
Ray was glad that Carrie was changing the subject.
“We wait until the authorities contact us,” James said. “They’ll tell us what to do. Maybe there’s been some kind of terrorist attack. Maybe a cyber-attack too. Right now we all need to do our part to help, which right now is follow the curfew and martial law.”
Helen looked at James. “Even if this was a terrorist attack, the government has no right to declare martial law and shut down our electricity and cell phones, keep us in our homes. We can’t stand for this.”
&nb
sp; A few of the neighbors nodded, agreeing with Helen, but most of the others didn’t seem to share Helen’s enthusiasm for resistance against martial law.
James jumped to his feet. “This isn’t getting anywhere. None of us knows what’s going on.”
“I think he does,” Tim grumbled, looking Ray’s way again.
James ignored Tim. “There’s nothing we can do right now but sit and wait.” He looked at Helen. “What do you want to do, go and march in the streets?”
Helen looked offended, staring right back at James, her mouth a thin slash.
James looked at the others. “I’m going back home to my family. It’s getting light outside. If they are . . . patrolling, then I don’t want them to see me outside. I’m going to do what we were told, I’m going to be patient and wait.”
“None of you have driven around here this morning, have you?” Donny asked. He’d been quiet the whole time as he sat in his dining room chair with his thick arms folded over his beefy chest. He seemed to be somehow leaning back in his chair even though all four legs were on the floor. The brim of his baseball cap was pulled down low.
Everyone was quiet. Donny hadn’t said a word so far, and both his voice and his words had halted everything.
“What do you mean?” Tim asked him.
“I drove around a little last night,” Donny said. His words came out in a slow drawl. “And a little this morning before I came here. Right before dawn.” He paused for just a second. “You guys don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“Know that the entrance to this subdivision is blocked off.”
“What entrance?” Carrie asked. “You mean our entrance? The entrance to our neighborhood?”
Donny nodded, his movements as slow as his words. But Ray believed the man could move quickly if he needed to. He reminded Ray of a large reptile conserving his energy until it was required.
“The military and cops are everywhere out there,” Donny said. “All over the place. I saw them last night on the roads. And then I saw them again this morning. They’re staked out in front of our subdivision. They’ve got us quarantined. They’ve got some of the other neighborhoods quarantined, too.”
“Quarantined?” Tim asked in disbelief.
“I saw them,” Donny said.
“But maybe that’s a good thing,” Carrie suggested. “If there’s a virus out there in the air, maybe it’s not here yet and the soldiers are here to protect us.”
“They’re all wearing rubber gloves and gas masks,” Donny informed them in his unemotional drawl.
“I saw our crazy redneck neighbor wearing a gas mask all day yesterday,” Dee said. She looked at Donny like she might have just offended him, her face turning red.
If Donny had been offended, he wasn’t showing it.
“Maybe they are trying to protect us,” James said, clinging to Carrie’s theory. “The president said that the authorities would be reaching out to us. Well, they’re here now. All we need to do now is wait. They’ll tell us what to do.”
“You think they’re going to just hand out gas masks to everyone?” Donny asked. He still didn’t have any emotion in his voice, like a man resigned to his fate. “They’re out there to keep us in. To make sure none of us leave.”
“You don’t know that,” Tim said.
“Why don’t you try to leave, then?” Donny challenged.
Tim didn’t respond.
“They might be making sure we don’t leave so we don’t go somewhere and get infected,” James said. “Spread it around.” He stood up. “I’m going back home and wait for instructions. I’m going to follow orders.”
“James,” Helen pleaded.
James didn’t respond. He was already leaving.
Others were standing up, ready to leave, nervousness infecting the group.
“I think we need to talk about this more,” Helen said in one last attempt to get them to stay.
“James is right,” Ned Penetti said and took his wife’s hand as both of them headed for the front door. “There’s nothing we can do right now except wait.”
“I should go, too,” Carrie said and got up to leave.
Me, too,” Tim said. He and Carrie left the room together. Donny was on his feet, following them out.
Ray was the last one left. He stood up. “Thank you, Helen. I know you were just trying to help.”
She touched Ray’s arm, stopping him. “Please wait a moment.”
Ray didn’t respond, but he waited.
“Let me just check the front door,” she said. “Make sure it’s locked.”
He nodded.
Helen darted out of the room. She was back in less than a minute, obviously satisfied that the front door was secure.
Ray was ready to go, ready to get back to Kim and the kids. He felt odd being in Helen’s house, asked to stay by a woman he barely knew. But she was looking at him in a strange way now.
“Could you stay for a few minutes?” she asked.
“I really need to get going.”
“It was you who I wanted to get here,” she told him. “I called everyone together hoping to get you here. Hoping you’d see everyone here and come over.”
CHAPTER 13
Another crashing noise sounded from downstairs.
Vanessa bolted out of their homemade tent and jumped onto the bed with Kim, clutching onto her.
Mike was out of the tent, too. He stood in front of it, staring at the bedroom door.
There was another banging noise from downstairs. This one sounded even louder, closer.
“Mom . . .” Vanessa whispered, still clinging to her.
“It might be your father,” Kim whispered. She didn’t really believe that, but she hoped she was convincing Mike and Vanessa of the possibility. But she could already tell they didn’t believe it was Ray down there, the noises were too loud, too violent. It sounded like someone had broken in through one of the windows or doors. And now it sounded like stuff was being thrown around down there, furniture being tipped over, knickknacks being thrown and crashing apart.
Maybe it was more than one person.
Mike still watched the door, frozen in the middle of the bedroom. “That’s not Dad,” he said.
Someone was coming up the stairs now, stomping up them, not even trying to be quiet.
Kim bolted into action, rushing to the bedroom door. She made sure the doorknob was locked, and then she pushed at the heavy dresser, trying to get it back in front of the door to block it. The dresser was heavy, and it was difficult to push it across the thick carpeting of their bedroom floor, but she put all of her strength into it, pushing like a football player trying to move a tackling sled.
Mike was beside her in a flash, helping, grunting with effort.
Finally the dresser was moving across the floor and they got it in front of the bedroom door. Maybe it wouldn’t stop someone completely, but it would slow them down.
Slow them down for what? Where were she and the kids supposed to go? Jump out the window?
Kim saw the golf club Ray had brought up yesterday, it was leaning against the wall. She grabbed it, gripping the handle like it was a baseball bat. She looked at her children and they stared back with wide eyes of terror. She gestured at them to run to the master bathroom, mouthing the word “go” at them.
Vanessa was already crying and Mike hugged her, whispering something into her ear that seemed to calm her down just a little. He guided his little sister to the bathroom.
Kim looked back at the bedroom door behind the dresser.
The doorknob rattled slightly behind the dresser. Someone was testing it.
The rattling stopped.
It seemed like the silence stretched out for a long moment, the person on the other side quiet for a long moment.
Kim stood very still in the middle of the room, the golf club in her hands. She stared at the dresser in front of the drawer, willing the person behind it to go away, hoping that the locked door woul
d discourage him.
A ripper—that’s who it is out there. One of the infected ones, a ripper coming to tear them apart with his bare hands, to eat them.
For another few seconds Kim watched the door. She had begun to believe that the intruder had moved back down the hall, but then whoever was out there began pounding at the door.
Kim wanted to believe it was Ray at the door. She was waiting for the three knocks, followed by two more—Ray’s code identifying that it was him. Maybe he’d forgotten the code; maybe he was panicking and beating at the door because it was locked. But no, Ray would call out to them; he would call their names. It wasn’t her husband on the other side of that door.
Kim hurried over to the bathroom door and looked in on Mike and Vanessa. They were over by the bathtub. Mike held Vanessa, comforting her. She was still crying, but at least she wasn’t wailing. Maybe if they were quiet the person (ripper) on the other side of the door would just go away.
“I want Daddy,” Vanessa whimpered, her voice sounding so loud now.
“Shh,” Mike whispered to her. “He’ll be here soon.”
Kim hoped that was true, but then she was afraid that there might be more than one intruder out there. Maybe Ray could fight off one of them, but not three or four of them. And what if they had guns? She was afraid she was going to hear a gunshot at the door at any second.
She looked at her kids again and gestured at them to stay put. She hurried across the room to the window that looked out at the vacant lot. She saw Helen’s house but she couldn’t see any activity over there, nobody in the windows.
How far was it down to the ground? She looked down at the grass two stories below. Could she drop her kids down there without them breaking their bones? Would jumping out of the window be their last resort if this person broke into the bedroom?
That person behind the door was relentless, the constant pounding maddening.
A moment later the door’s wood splintered near the doorknob like the person had finally managed to kick it in. The door crashed open a few inches, slamming right into the back of the dresser, and that piece of furniture was the only thing keeping their intruder out, but it wasn’t going to hold him back for long.