This Dying World: The End Begins (6 page)

Chapter Seven

The next hour passed in silence.  Miles ticked by as we drove deeper into the new unknown.  The volume of static vehicles had diminished.  Still, there was no way of knowing what else we would find popping out on the road.  With that in mind, we continued to drive slower than a PTA mom in a snowstorm.

Katie had fallen asleep, her rhythmic breathing having a calming effect on me.  I don’t know how kids can do that.  They could sleep though the end of the world.  Literally.  Abby appeared as if she had no more tears to cry as she stared blankly through the passenger window, the moon highlighting her soft features in the dark cabin.  The shattered mirror drummed away on the door as it swayed in the wind.

Though my home sat in a far suburb of Chicago, it doesn’t take long to find your way to the middle of farmland.  The population had dramatically dropped off, going from gated communities to the occasional farmhouse pushed back from the road.

I thought more than once about knocking on a door or two to warn unsuspecting occupants what lay just a few miles behind us.  It wouldn’t have made a difference if I did, though.  In the scant moonlight, I could just make out the unsteady shamble of the dead walking across barren fields.  The dead were already there.  Knocking on any doors would only be inviting disaster.

We were driving alongside another open field when I suddenly felt as if my eyelids had been surgically replaced with lead.  The adrenalin that had sustained me throughout my less than graceful egress had evaporated, and I was well into the post “flee for your life” crash.

My knee thundered with pain when I tried to move it.  My shoulder didn’t seem as bad as it was earlier.  That was until I moved it again, and sharp needles shot down my arm.  I should have let that sleeping dog lie for a while.

I needed to find someplace to stop soon.

“Radio!” Abby boomed.

“Damnit Abby!  You scared the shit out of me!” I snapped after I brought the car back under control.  Katie stirred long enough to groan a complaint over being thrown around in her car seat.  Seconds later, she was back in dream land.

“Oh don’t be such a baby.  Turn on the radio, maybe we can get some idea what’s happening.” Apparently she was oblivious to the fact that she had just shaved ten years off my life.  Those were going to be the years I planned to use pinching random butts in my nursing home.

It took a few moments before I could unfurl my white knuckled fingers from the steering wheel.  My heart was still racing as I tried to slow my breathing.  A noxious odor began to fill the cabin that even I had to retreat from.  Abby began waving her hand under her nose, trying to wave away the stench as she lowered the window.  The fresh cold air rushed in, causing goose bumps to rise on my bare legs.

“Dan!”

“Hey!  You’re lucky that’s all that came out!  You’re the one who found the brown note,” I said rolling down my own window.  Being a red-blooded American male, farts are funny.  They just are.  Had I been surrounded by my friends, I would probably be celebrated for what my body had been able to turn dinner into.

“Just turn on the radio,” Abby said, holding her nose under her jacket.

Smiling at my small measure of revenge for my lost butt pinching years, I hit the menu select button on the steering wheel.  On the dash a small LCD screen came to life, its light blue background highlighting the orange icons on the display.  It was 3:36am, and a blustery 26 degrees outside.  I was heading north with a slight westerly angle at a speed of 21mph.  Airbags were active, cruise control inactive, and the radio was on.

I was met with either silence or the shrill sound of the emergency alert alarm as I scanned across the AM bands.  We both sat straight in our seats when a live human voice broke though.  The signal was weak and full of static, but it was the first live human voice besides our own that we heard since waking up.

The broadcaster was winded.  His deep voice was dry and hoarse, as if he had been talking for hours.  Given the state of things, he might have been.  He spoke slowly and methodically.  The tremor of his voice betrayed his emotions as he struggled to speak clearly and professionally.

He was scared.

“…are being urged not to approach police stations, government buildings, or military roadblocks as a shoot to kill order is in effect.  Infection rates so far are highest around hospitals, so avoid them at all costs.  If you are in your homes, barricade all outside windows and doors.  If you are outside, or your home is no longer safe, seek shelter in your nearest church, school, or park district building.  From there you will be evacuated to safe zones currently operated by the National Guard.”

“Are there any churches or schools nearby?” Abby perked up.

“Doesn’t matter,” I answered.  “We’re not going.”

“Why not?”

“Think about it Abby.  If you’re hungry are you going to go for the three breadsticks rolling off the table, or the whole buffet?  How many of those things must there be already if they are evacuating the city?  All of them will be looking for that largest source of food.”

“It’ll be a massacre,” she exhaled, deflating back into her seat.

“I don’t know.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  It’s not a gamble I’m willing to take though,” I said.

It took a few minutes for her to mull over what I had said.  In the end, Abby reluctantly agreed.

“Washington is reporting the President and select cabinet members have been moved to a safe, undisclosed location to monitor the situation.  Members of Congress have also been moved to their respective safe houses.  However sources tell us many representatives and their families remain unaccounted for, as many had returned home during the holiday recess.”

“Good to know,” I said, rolling my eyes.  “Glad President Dipshit is safe, though I think he was already brain dead before this.  He should fit right in amongst the undead.”

“Officials from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta state that all research personnel from local and satellite offices have been called in an attempt to combat this pandemic, so far with little success.  The main Atlanta offices have been in a state of lockdown for the last six hours, and will remain that way indefinitely.  Military spokesmen have confirmed a barricaded checkpoint has been put into place surrounding the labs, allowing only authorized personnel access.  Anyone attempting to breach the checkpoint will be shot.”

I felt numb.  This wasn’t just a national crisis.  The utterance of one word told me everything I needed to know.

Pandemic
.  It was everywhere.

It was the CDC term that was used only when several countries were experiencing the same type of outbreak at the same time.  Pandemic meant these creatures were walking around all over the globe.  With the destruction I had already witnessed, it also suggested that it would be a long time, if ever, before our lives would be close to normal again.

It wasn’t fair.  I looked back at Katie through the mirror.  She was still sleeping, her little rosy face catching the moonlight as it peeked out from behind the clouds.  She was only six years old and here she was running for her life.  Her life, her friends, her future was over.

I cut the wheel to the right and slammed on the brakes.  Katie jolted awake and started to cry.  Abby turned to comfort her as I threw the door open and limped to the front of the CRV.  The cold wind blasted my front, stinging my thighs and sending a breeze up the legs of my boxes to a place cold wind was never meant to go.  I took no notice of my freezing nethers.  It was my turn to have a meltdown.

“It’s not fair!” I shouted.

A primal scream erupted from somewhere within that seemed like it wanted to last forever.  I collapsed to my knees, out of breath and sobbing.  Abby was suddenly there as if from thin air.  Her warm embrace enveloped me and held me tight.  I leaned into her, still bawling my eyes out.

“She’s only six!” I let out after a few minutes of weeping.  “It’s not fair.  What kind of life will this be for her?”

“She’s alive, and right now she’s safe.  That’s better than a lot of people can say tonight,” Abby said softly.

“I guess that is something.  Will it be enough though?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said.  “It will have to be until we figure things out.”

We sat there for a few minutes.  I wanted to try and compose myself before going back to the car.  Katie had been through enough that night.  She didn’t need to see the grown-ups in her life falling apart.  Abby stayed by my side, keeping me warm while I got my shit together.

My legs felt like rubber, and I stumbled a bit when I finally stood.  It had been many years since I had made a major violation of guy code by crying openly in public.  It takes a lot out of a guy.  My knee made a terrible cracking sound as I stretched.  I bent back over to rub the pain out of my knee when my eyes fell on a dark shape on the horizon.  I would have missed it if my headlights had not been angled just right.

I laughed when I looked around to find no shamblers anywhere in sight.

“Umm, crying I get.  The screaming was a bit much, but still understandable.  The laughing is kinda creeping me out though,” Abby said as she made her way back to the car.

“I just found a place for the night,” I said as I pulled myself into the driver’s seat.

“I don’t see anything,” she said, scanning the field as she buckled herself back in.

“Exactly.”

Chapter Eight

I cut right and accelerated into the field.  The vehicle bounced along giving the shocks of Abby’s new car a work out.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her holding herself in place and throwing a death stare at me that could melt ice.  I smiled and winked at her.

I won’t say what she whispered in my ear after that, but I decided it would be better not to antagonize her.  Let’s just say I like some body parts more than others and I wanted to keep them where they were.

The car lurched as the front tire caught on a soft patch of ground.  I alternated between reverse and drive, trying to rock the car free.  With one last rev of the engine we came loose, but not before spitting a few rocks against the side of Abby’s car.

Yup, the glare was back.

The land gently sloped downward, bringing our temporary refuge into view.  Hidden away by the contour of the land was a small dilapidated barn.  Its once bright paint dulled by years of weather and sun.  The roof had partially caved in on one side, exposed planks of rotten wood extending outward like skeletal remains.

The grounds around the base of the structure had overgrown, the weeds long browned in the grip of the winter’s cold.  Farm tools that had not seen work in decades leaned against the side of the barn, rusting into useless junk.  It was the kind of place someone wouldn’t notice as they drove by unless they knew where to look.  We could hide there for the night with some confidence that we wouldn’t be found.

We drove around the back of the building and found the double doors chained closed.  I cautiously stepped out of the car, grabbing my new favorite hammer and motioning for Abby to take the wheel.  She slid into the driver’s seat as I quietly closed the door.  Abby mouthed for me to be careful as I started towards the barn.

Dirt crunched under my feet as I walked.  The normally quiet car sounded like a jet in the deathly silence of the wintery night.  I strained my ears, listening for anything out of the ordinary.  The air smelled of soil and rotting wood, the odors of death and tainted flesh was blessedly absent.  I felt the slightest bit of relief as it became apparent that we were alone.

A little bit of prying and the door handles that held the chains in place broke free.  The crack of the long unused hinges when I opened the door sounded like shotgun blasts in the night.  Had anything been within half a mile our hiding spot would have been in jeopardy.  But we had to chance it.  I had to believe hiding spots were in short supply.  The sun would be up soon, and we were all exhausted.  Except for Katie of course, she had fallen asleep as soon as the car came to a stop.

The headlights lit up the interior of the old barn.  Hay littered the dirt floor, piled into small mounds in the corners.  A simple plank ladder that once led to the loft lay on its side against the wall.  Sections of the loft itself had fallen, the remnants scattered throughout the barn.  On the opposite side of the decaying building, a damaged section of roof leaned against the wall.  A mound of snow covered the fallen structure.

Abby maneuvered the car past the doors and around debris, cutting the engine once inside.  The sudden silence rang in my ears as I closed and barred the large doors with one of the many planks of wood littering the floor.

Though we had travelled some distance after leaving our home, I could still smell fire carried on the wind.  The occasional pop of gunfire still broke the stillness outside.  People were close enough to give us pause.  We would have to be quiet and careful.

Abby let her seat back as I covered my legs with my jacket.  Katie snored in the back seat while the radio blared on, listing off “safe zones” and checkpoints.  I sat wondering how this lone voice could keep going in the midst of everything.  Did he have a family?  Would he ever be able to escape the broadcast booth he spoke from?  Was it already too late for him?

I suddenly felt a great deal of sadness for the man who kept us company as we took refuge in that broken down barn on a freezing December night.  The night the world was swallowed up by the dead.

“Abby?”

“Yeah?” she asked, staring into the darkness.

“Was the house really bad?  There seemed to be a lot of those things wandering around. How did you get out?” I asked.

“I had to kill one,” she said in a monotone voice.

“I see.  Are you okay?”

“Tonight, that’s a pretty stupid question.” She glanced at me.

“Sorry.  I guess it is.”

“Anyway, once I trapped the rest of them in the bedroom…”

“The rest?!  How many were there?!”

“You going to let me finish or not?”

“Sorry.”

“Anyway…the rest of the house was empty, so that wasn’t a problem.  But there were too many of those things outside to get to the car.  We just hid and waited.”  Abby looked down at the bite hole on her coat sleeve.  She shuddered and looked out into space again.

“So?  How did you get out?” I was a bit impatient.

“Well,” she said, turning to me with yet another glare.  “There was this loud crash behind the house.  Someone decided that would be a good time to teach the whole neighborhood a new vocabulary.  I guess even the zombies were offended, because they all went to see who was reciting the alphabet of profanity.  I spent the entire walk to the car explaining to our daughter that her daddy would
never
use
that
kind of language.”

“So you lied to her,” I chuckled as I took off my coat and covered my frozen legs.

“I protected our daughter’s perception of her daddy,” she said as she let her seat down.  She rolled on her side with her back to me.

“And you lied to her,” I smirked.

Abby reached behind her, and in one motion ripped my coat from my legs and covered her own.  The cuts on my legs stung as the rough fabric pulled across them, only to be assaulted again by the rapidly cooling air in the cabin.

“What the hell!  It’s cold in here!” I said beyond irritated.

Abby turned, and I swear I actually thought I saw fire in her pupils.

“You yelled at me, threw me through a window, scared me to death when you fell, taught our daughter the dictionary of swear words, and now you’re calling me a liar!”

“I was in a bit of a situation!” I tried in vain to defend myself.  In truth, I was a dead man.

“Well, now you’re in another one.  It’s called staying cold for being an ass to your wife,” she said turning away from me again.

“You are made of bitch,” I said under my breath as I wrapped my arms around myself to keep warm.

“What did you say?” Abby raised her head slightly.

“I said I have a shoulder blade itch.”

“That’s what I thought you said,” she responded, laying her head back down.

“Hey Abby.”

“What, Dan?”

“That thermostat I installed.  The one you said would never last a year.  We moved out before it stopped working.”

“Goodnight, Dan,” she sighed before drifting off to sleep.

**********

Abby must have fished my cell phone from her coat pocket while I was out of the car.  I found it sitting in the cup holder between us.  Punching in the security code, I found twenty-two messages waiting for me.  I flipped through my inbox, a lump in my throat forming as I read each text.  A dark loneliness crept inside me as I realized these could be the last messages I would ever get from the closest people in my life.

“Man wake up and get your ass here!”  Chris.

“Don’t worry about us, we’ll be okay.  Get your girls out.  Be careful, and tell Katie that gramma and gimpa love her very much.  We’ll see you again either here or in heaven.  I love you all!” Mom.

“Be safe.  I’m holding out for now.  Starting to lock things down here.  Going for supplies soon.  If it gets dicey I’ll try to get there.  Send that address when you can.  Be safe brother.  By the way, you’re still an ass. Lol.” Big Mark.

“Holy shit dude!  It’s crazy here.  We’re fucked man, totally fucked.  What’s that address again, going to try to get there.  YOU BETTER BE ALIVE DAMNIT!” Mattman

“Man, where are you!” Chris.

“DON’T MAKE ME COME AND FIND YOUR ASS!  GET HERE!” Chris

“Got bit.  Been a fun ride, but not into the zombie lifestyle.  Love you all!” Courtney.

And there it was.  The first of many dear friends confirmed lost.  Courtney had been a friend before Abby and I married.  She was just one of the guys, quick witted and funny.  She was the kind of person who was always there for you regardless of how bad things were for her.  She knew the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek.  (In my world…this is on the same scale of importance as food and water.)  She was a good friend, and there was nothing I could do for her.

Then the idea hit me.  I knew Chris would be pissed, but I was tired of feeling helpless.  I needed to try and do something, no matter how small my action might be.  Any lifeline I could throw would be worth it.  I didn’t even know how many people would get my text, but I had to try something.  I furiously punched out the message on my phone, addressing it to everyone in my contact list.

“All.  If you can make it, we have a rally point.  There are weapons and food.  If you can make it, come.  Bring supplies.  Cell network will fail.  Use CB radio ch. 9.  If you can’t leave safely, don’t.  Good luck.”

I tapped in the farm’s address, and stared at my message with my finger hovering over the send button.  I didn’t know if the message would get out.  The cell network would probably be overtaxed, or completely taken over by the military.

“Please,” I prayed as I hit the send button.  I held my breath as my message began to transmit.  I exhaled when the “message sent” alert flashed across the screen.  It was a long shot, but I felt as if for the first time that night I had truly fought back.  I felt like I may just have a chance at helping at least someone.  I felt like…I had to pee!

I tried to get out of the car quietly.  Seeing that I felt like I was two gallons full in a one gallon tank, stealth may have been too lofty a goal.  For once that night I was glad I only wore my boxer briefs.  Phone in hand, I closed the car door, louder than I wanted to.  I glanced back and saw yet another of Abby’s glares as I made my way to the snowy section of the barn.  To hell with writing my name in the snow, I was prepared to pull off the whole Declaration of Independence.  With signatures!

The vibration of my phone suddenly pulled me out of my eye crossing relief.  Although that moment wasn’t the most ideal time for a chat, I couldn’t ignore it.  I didn’t know which would go first, the cell network or the phone battery.  I didn’t want to chance missing any calls that night.  Besides, I just sent out my text message, someone might actually have called back.

“Hello.”

“Where the hell are you?!” Chris sounded like he was talking through a kazoo.  As much as it would swell his head to know it, I was happy to hear from him.

“I’m pissing in a barn.  What’s up?” I asked, trying to sound care free.

“What’s up?!  I’ve been scared shitless and you’re out there…wait you’re doing what?!”

“Pissing in a barn.  Don’t worry no one’s home.”

“Can you stop being a smart ass and be serious for once?” he demanded.

“You know, I answered that question earlier and got punched for it.  So I’m just going to say no.”

“What the hell are you doing in a barn?” he asked.  “And don’t say pissing!” he followed up quickly.

“We had to stop.  I almost killed myself getting out of the house.  Someone shot holes in Abby’s car too.  I thought it would be safer for us to get off the road and rest until its light enough out to see further than my own nose.  I don’t know how long it will take to get there either.  I don’t trust the highways right now, so I’m laying low on back roads,” I said as I walked back to the car shivering.

“Good idea,” he said.  “I’m watching it on the news, those things are everywhere on the roads.  The highways are at dead stops.  Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, we’re going to get some rest and hit it in the morning.  I’ll try and call at least once a day as long as long as the cell network holds.” I climbed back into car and gently closed the door.  No one roused this time.

“Okay, just get here.  And for fucks sake be careful.  Don’t take risks you don’t have to!” He was worried, and that worried me.  Chris wasn’t the type to wear his concerns on his sleeve.

“Really?  But I had this great idea.  Think cow tipping, but with zombies.  Or maybe zombie thunderdome?”  Honestly, I really think zombiedome would be a hit. 

Chris sighed.  “Just get here.  Oh, and thanks for inviting everyone to my house.  You better bring beer when you get here.”

“I’ll see what I can do.  I’ll call every six hours for as long as I can.  I’ll see if I can find a CB radio, now that I told everyone to use one.  You think you can dig one up?”