Harvest, Quietus #1 (4 page)

Why are there no other
people on this route?

This is usually such a busy road.
Maybe there's another accident somewhere further up? I wonder where
James Richardson and his sister are? And if they went this way? I
expect they did. This incident must have happened in between our
departures. I'm concerned about them. I might not like him much,
but still... even so...and then there's his young sister... I
really wouldn't want anything to have happened to them.

This is all so much more
than strange.

Another longer shiver runs up and down
my spine, involuntarily, despite the heat. A sense of something
very, very wrong invades my whole being.

I shrug my shoulders, and sigh
heavily, perplexed, then turn to walk back to my car.

I suppose I should call in the
incident to the police, then I can get on the interstate and head
for home.

At that second, I hear a low hum
behind me and look over my shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief as
I see another car, coming toward me in the distance, surrounded by
a heavy heat haze.

Thank God. Other
people...

As I climb inside the Chevvy, I turn
on the engine and blast up the air con. I'm sticky with the cloying
humidity and need to cool off

Then I look up and see who's coming my
way. I'm not sure if I'm pleased or disappointed that it's their
Land Rover approaching. It slows and edges close until we're side
by side, and he stops. We both open our windows to speak and the
heat rushes in like a furnace.

His face is full of worry and
confusion and I start to panic inside as he explains his
findings.

“The road's blocked on the I-75, in
both directions...and there's cars everywhere,” he gestures wildly
with his hands, and shakes his head, seemingly at a loss. I sit
quietly watching him and trying to listen, my panic levels rising
fast. “...I just don't get it...no people... just empty cars. Tons
and tons of cars... I'm heading to Spring Hill via the minor routes
across to the US 19, it's the only way I'm gonna get through,” he
informs me.

“Really,” I say with a calm voice, covering
my true feelings, “
Well I live in Ocala, so I'm
going in the opposite direction, but I'll keep off the interstate.
Thanks for the tip. So you've no idea what the problem
is?”

“No one to ask. I tried to call the
police but there must be an issue with my network, there's no
signal. I'll check local news later in Spring Hill. I'm guessing
it's a major problem though. I had a real good look from the top of
the intersection. It's the same story everywhere you look. No one
around or anything to explain it. And whats really weird...some of
the car engines are still running. Who'd leave their car running?
It must have been a very hasty exit. Perhaps something dangerous
has spilled up ahead?”

“You think?
” Cold chills
run up and down my spine in reaction. “Well I don't like the sound
of this at all. Look, here's my number.” I hand him a card from the
dashboard storage box. “Call me if you need to, okay?”

“Sure, I will do, and thanks.” He
smiles, and for a brief moment I warm to him suddenly, but correct
myself, my expression telling him otherwise.

“Purely in case of an emergency,
that's all,” I clarify.

He looks at the card.

“Okay, Wynter. Nice name by the way.
Unusual.”

“Thank you.”

“We're staying at the Holiday Inn, on
the US 19 at Spring Hill. Let's see if I can text you my details.”
He sends me a text and my cell bleeps loudly.

“Well your network seems to be working
again.
Let's stay in touch until we're sure
everything's back to normal. Call me when you get to your hotel or
I'll call you. Hopefully it's nothing to worry about. Some weird
military maneuver perhaps.”

“Yeah, it's all weird today. Like the
sky and the raging volcano heat.”

“Mmm, very striking colors for mid
afternoon. Maybe a freak weather system of some kind. A hot draft
blown in from Mexico, at a guess. I know the weather has been
horrendously hot down there this past week.” I try to sound
unconcerned, not wishing to alarm them. Unfortunately, being a
scientist has it's downside. My mind has been running riot up to
that point, connecting the road situation with the strange sky and
the intense heat and coming up with all sorts of scenarios that
were not good at all. I am now praying that it is all a matter of
coincidental events.

“You really think this is all down to a
weather system?” he asks curiously, his face
registering disbelief.

“I'm n
ot entirely sure,
meteorology isn't my forte,” I admit. “But it's my best guess.
Bright color spectra in the sky can indicate an excess of
temperature...or a sudden change in atmospheric conditions...major
weather fronts meeting, all kinds of reasons. And it may be very
strange but it's impressively beautiful,” I say, taking a deep
breath, hanging on my steering wheel and gazing at the sky through
my windscreen for a moment.

“Mmm, very beautiful.” He subtly
flares his eyes at me.

Is he flirting... at a
time like this?

I somehow find humor in the situation.
I almost smile at him, but check myself in time.

I lean forward and look around him to
speak to his sister. “How did it go, by the way? The virgin dive, I
mean...”

“Fabulous thanks. I
completely
loved
it.”

“Well t
hat's good, I was
terrified on my first dive.”

“You were?” James asks in surprise. He
must be taken back that I'd told them something so personal. Either
that, or that I'm admitting I'm afraid of anything. I know I'm
perceived to be such a confident woman, breezing through life
without a worry on my horizon. In truth my hard personal wall is a
charade. I'm often terrified, of lots of things, but I hide it
well.

“I was seven years old,” I explain, “a
little too young for it, in my opinion, but my dad believed in
toughening us up at an early age, whether we liked it or
not.”

He snorts out a laugh. “So that's your
secret, is it?”

She could see he instantly regretted
the words which had slipped out of his thoughts.

“What secret?” I stare at him
directly, my eyes holding his in a hard grip. I'm interested in
what he thinks about my behavior. I know I appear to be tough, hard
and cold, but I don't expect he's going to tell me that.

“You're self assured and very capable,
that's all. I'm sure your dad helped you a great deal with your
character development. He sounds quite a guy.”

He smiles briefly at me and I can't
help it, my expression changes, softening, and my eyebrows rise
questioningly. I don't know...maybe there's more to James
Richardson than meets the eye, not that I'm the slightest bit
interested in finding out.

“Mmm, he's a real character. Anyway,
I'd better be off, got a lot of video footage to add audio to, and
render up. Take care, and don't forget to send me an update on your
progress, call me, we need to keep in contact, just in case,
okay?”

“I'm in full agreement with that. Very
close contact. Just in case, as you say,” he grins at me in a
manner I find very appealing, much to my disgust. He's far too good
looking for his own good, and mine.

His expression takes me over and
before I know it, a wide smile creeps up on my face. His eyes widen
and his lips part in surprise. It's all very amusing and making me
smile all the more. I know my smile is quite stunning... and
captivating. I'm not big headed about it, but it's been said many
times. I try not too smile too often just in case I stun or
captivate the wrong people.

“Yeah, 'bye then Wynter, it's been
nice meeting you,” he replies in a low whisper. It's a tone of
voice which I'm very familiar with. Sexy undertones.
Proportionally, much too sexy and not so undertoned.

Yeah, you too,” I say pleasantly.
That's not entirely true, but who gives a damn.

I close the window, my captivating
smile still plastered across my face as I leave. I may as well let
it have an airing now he's seen it.

Chapter 2

My smile disappears pretty damn fast.
I don't very get far at all. After a few stops and starts and
encountering blocked routes at every turn, I give up trying to
drive to Ocala. It's at least twenty if not thirty miles away, on
the minor routes, and I'm so hungry I can't think straight. The
nearest town is two miles away from my current position. I get as
far as I can by car, and have to walk in the rest.

I call my mom as I walk, but she seems
to be permanently engaged. So I send her a text to call when she's
finished whatever is so important that she is saying. Then I try
James. It annoyingly sends me to answerphone. I text him an update
on my situation and position.

- Left car outside Floral
City. Walking in for food and water and to see if anyone is there.
How are you doing? Please call me :( - Wynter.

It's so hot and I'm dying for a Coke.
I think I'm hallucinating, seeing one hovering in front of me,
covered in lovely cool condensation drips.

The thought of a large Coke full of
ice makes my mouth water like crazy and my brain fry even
more...I'm getting desperate for a drink. The small bottle of water
I'd brought with me, has long ago been consumed.

I enter the town limits, exhausted by
the walk in the heat. Floral City might have been a nice place to
stop under different circumstances.

On first sight, it doesn't look
promising. I am met with the same things I've been seeing for a
couple of hours. The same abandoned cars. No people whatsoever.
Anywhere. I arrive at a gas station and enter the small provisions
kiosk. The bell on the door rings loudly causing me to jump. It is
overwhelmingly hot inside.

“Hello, anyone home?” I
call out. But my words hang in the heavy, humid silence. I huff a
long drawn out sigh, which I seem to be doing a lot today.
“God,
please
...what have you done with all your people?” The sentence
sounds ridiculous as it leaves my lips, but at that moment the
whole situation is ridiculous.

Wearily, I open the cooler and
retrieve a few bottles of water, and finding no cans of my desired
Coke, I opt for Dr Pepper instead. The drinks don't feel as cold as
I expected. But I really don't care all that much. A drink is a
drink when you're thirsty. I find a bag behind the counter and put
the water bottles in that, then I open my can of soda. It hisses,
spraying my hand with a light mist and enticing me to glug it down
in one big gulp. I try to hold out a little, to five long and
gloriously satisfying fizzy slurps.

”That was just so...mmm,” I say to
myself.

I take a deep breath, getting another
from the cooler.

I'm thinking I'll sit a while and call
mom before I look for food. I'm tired with walking this far. I need
a rest.

It appears the whole area is affected,
by this mysterious event, and has been evacuated. I'm hoping mom
can find some information for me from her side.

Then I think of something, and
wh
y the hell I didn't think of it before, I have
no idea. Google. News channels...

I flick around on my cell and get the
Internet up. The signal is weak and it's slow, but I get there
eventually. I check the major news channels websites for Florida
news, weather channels, just about everything I can think of, but
no luck, with anything.

For a few seconds I look at my cell
phone, praying it would somehow magically give me the answers. But
it's a useless weight lying in my hand. I call my mom, but she's
still engaged. I really do not understand this at all. Who the heck
is she speaking with? I suppose it could be my gran? I try my dad,
my friend Lucy and James again and it's all answerphone or no reply
at all. I'm getting frustrated and anxious now.

I can't help it, as I look out, and
down the road outside, I have a very worrying thought cross my
mind. Maybe I'm paranoid and have seen too many sci-fi movies, but
what if I am discovered here, by some government agency? How will I
be treated, being in what appears to be an exclusion zone? I could
well be infected with something. Anthrax. Plague. Something even
worse than I could possibly imagine. My heart begins to pound
alarmingly.

I rub the worn black leather seat I'm
sitting on, to get comfort from somewhere. But it doesn't do me a
lot of good. It's sticky and hot.

My head is swimming.

I need to find some food, more than
the confectionery and packets of potato chips, which are all that
are on offer here. There's bound to be a grocery store up ahead, or
a restaurant somewhere nearby. Even if no one's here, I can feed
myself and keep trying to call someone.

After I've eaten, I'll find a
motorbike and get going. The thought had crossed my mind before, as
I passed a motorcycle lying on the road, but after David, I
couldn't begin to go there. But now, I'm reconsidering. I need to
get over it, and fast. It may well be the only way I'm going to get
anywhere.