Dead Outside (Book 1) (4 page)

“My
aunt found it when she was cleaning through the room I stayed in when I used to
live there.” Her smile was back. “I couldn’t believe it, I thought it was gone
forever!”

“Me
too, shit I remember the day you gave me this old hat,” I reminisced. “How many
years ago was that?”

She
thought for a second, “We were pretty little, like twelve, thirteen maybe?”

“Seven
years ago,” her dad added as he walked past us going inside the house. “I
remember taking her to the store specifically to buy that hat. She used all her
allowance for two weeks on it.”

“Well
the old man hasn’t been wrong yet,” I said sarcastically.

“He
sure hasn’t” she hugged him. “Night Daddy. I’ll be in, in a minute.”

“I’ll
be right back. Just getting a refill,” he raised his bottle of whiskey
slightly, showing its lack of contents.

Sarah
rolled her eyes, “You would.”

After
he went inside we stood there for a second, just staring at each other, with
locked eyes and a smile.

“Well
I’ve got to get going,” I broke the silence. “My flight is in a few hours, and
you know me, still got a little last minute packing I have to do.”

She
laughed, “Have you ever been prepared for anything?”

“Yeah,
yeah, yeah,” I countered. “You just wait, one of these days I’ll be the one who
is actually prepared for something rather than scrambling to get things
together last minute.”

“Sure,”
she responded, with little belief. “One thing though. When you get back, I
think we need to talk about something, something we should have talked about a
long time ago.”

I
was a bit perplexed. Sure we had been friends for years, but other than when
her mom died and the occasional breakup, our friendships had been nothing but one
joke or tease after another.

“What
is it about?” I asked. There was nothing that irritated me more than suspense,
though she knew that and it wouldn’t be the first time she would make me ponder
over something for days, though I could tell from the look on her face this
wasn’t just gossip or a ploy to mess with me, this was something serious.

She
looked down for a second, probably thinking of how to word whatever she was
about to say without giving it away entirely, “It’s about us. I’ll just leave
it at that.” She leaned in and hugged me, then kissed me on the cheek. Granted
this wasn’t unusual, she wasn’t exactly physically shy, and a kiss on the cheek
was how she usually would say goodbye whenever we wouldn’t see each other for a
long period time.

Even
so, this felt different. It wasn’t just a peck, and she held the hug for a lot
longer then she normally did. It reminded me of when her mother died and I was
really the only one she had to lean on while her dad was lost in the bottle.

When
she let go I smiled a little. “Alright, we’ll talk when I get back. See you in
a week or so.”

She
returned the smile. “Don’t fret too much, it’ll all make sense when you get
back. Bye!”

Her
dad came back out with a fresh bottle of whiskey, and saw me walking down the
steps back to my truck, “Tell your dad I said hi Sam.”

I
looked back, “Will do Jerry. See you later.” I opened the door to my truck and
got in, Sarah sat next to her dad and they started talking as I pulled out.
They both waved and I returned the wave and flicked my lights on so I could
see, and headed back home to finish packing for my flight.

Chapter Three:
Ohio

5:00
AM, June 13

I
grabbed my backpack and suitcase out of the trunk and closed it. “Thanks for
the ride Roxie. I’ll give you a call when my plane lands.”

“You
better,” she demanded. “Last time you forgot and I got worried sick.”

“I
apologized for that about a hundred times,” I defended myself as I opened the
door. “It won’t happen again. Remind me again why you don’t have to go?”

“Because,
I have these stupid nursing classes this summer,” she grimaced. “Believe me, if
I had the choice I’d be up there cleaning the cabin.”

“Yeah
I don’t know who you’re trying to fool,” I laughed. “If by stupid nursing
classes, you mean resting around the house and laughing at my misfortune while
doing one homework assignment you could be doing online at the cabin.”

“You
know there’s no cell service or internet at that cabin,” she countered.
“Besides, I’d just be dusting like I always do anyhow.”

“Yeah
but now
I’m
going to have to dust,” I sighed.

“Well,
have fun,” she winked. “Tell Mom and Dad I said hi!” she said as she pulled
away.

I
waved to her and strolled into the familiar Orlando International Airport. My father had worked for the airlines for going on thirty years now and was nearing
retirement, so I’ve been flying as far back as I can remember.

I
waited in the long line to the ticket counter. Luckily I’m a pretty patient
person, so I didn’t really mind long lines. I usually just let my thoughts
drift randomly, although I couldn’t help but notice that several people around
me were discussing some kind of disease outbreak in Asia.

“Yeah
apparently it makes you lose your mind and just start attacking people,” the
woman behind me said to another woman next to her.

“I
think it’s a form of Rabies,” the other woman replied. “That’s spread by bites
too right?”

A
teenager who couldn’t be older then fifteen or sixteen, about four or five
people in front of me in line, turned around and said, “I heard that those
people didn’t lose their minds, they die and come back to life!”

I
chuckled slightly, and so did a few other people who heard him. The boy’s
father shook his head and said, “Now what kind of sense does that make? Dead
things can’t do anything but be dead.”

The
discussion between the women continued until I finally reached the ticket
counter and got my boarding pass.

The
line through security was even longer because of it being the beginning of
summer. People love to come see that mouse. Several people were discussing the
disease and riots in Asia. After a while I just started drowning out all of it.
They just kept repeating the same things over and over anyhow. The only other
conversations going on were how this was one of the hottest summers on record.
I knew how that felt, living in Florida, but I stayed in air conditioning as
often as possible, otherwise I'd lose my mind.

It
took me about half an hour before I finally got to the end of the line in
security. I had already taken off my shoes so that I could just place them on
the tray, and emptied my pockets into another.

I
went through the metal detector without incident, then put my things back in my
pockets, grabbed my bag and walked toward the terminal where my plane was
waiting. Along the way more people were talking about crazed riots, diseases, the
ridiculous heat wave and now something about a soccer game.

I
reached my gate and checked my phone for the time, it was 6:45. My flight
wasn’t for another half hour so I found a seat near a window and sat down. I looked
out at the night sky and all the lights on the runways, planes, and vehicles.

I
was just about to drift off to sleep when they announced for my plane to be
boarded. “Flight 646 to Cleveland now boarding.”

I
stood up, pulled my boarding pass out of my pocket and grabbed my suitcase. It
must be a relatively empty flight I figured, since there were few people
sitting around me. I walked up to the lady scanning the passes.

“Have
a great Flight,” she said with a smile.

“Thanks,”
I said returning the smile. “I’ll try not to sleep through the whole thing.”

While
walking down the tunnel connecting the gate to the plane I stuffed my boarding
pass back into my pocket and pulled my lucky black baseball cap that Sarah gave
me a few hours ago out of my bag. I slid it on my head right before I stepped
onto the plane.

My
seat was about halfway down the plane. I put my bag in the overhead bin and sat
down. I watched as only about two dozen people boarded the plane and since
nobody sat next to me I took the window seat. One guy seemed pretty nervous,
had his arm in a sling and coughing into a handkerchief. It didn't bother me
though, at least one person on every flight is sick, no point in avoiding it. After
I buckled I pulled out a pillow from the pocket on the back of the seat in
front of me and leaned my head against the window.

I
closed my eyes as the Flight Attendant started telling everyone what do if the
masks drop, I’d probably been on more flights then all the other passengers
combined, so I could probably recite the instructions as well as the flight
attendant.

It
didn’t take me long to fell asleep. The last thing I remember, the Flight
Attendant was demonstrating how to inflate the life vest in case the plane
crashed over water.

8:00
AM, June 13

I
woke up to see that the fasten seat belt sign being turned off. I looked out
the window and saw that we had landed already and everybody was getting their
bags out of the overhead bins. I stretched my arms out and stood up to get my
own bag. The man seated across the aisle from me looked at me with a surprised
look on his face.

“Did
you really sleep through the take off and landing?” he asked.

“Yeah,”
I replied without even thinking. “Why?”

“I
get too nervous that the plane will crash or something,” he said with a slight
shake to his voice.

I
let out a chuckle, “More people die in their cars pulling out of their driveway
than in plane crashes. I’ve been flying for twenty years, so I’m just used to
it I guess.”

“Twenty?”
he asked perplexed. “You don’t look much older then twenty.”

I
chuckled again, “Twenty-five actually. I’ll be twenty-six in a few weeks.” I
pulled my bag out of the bin and closed it, “My dad works for an airline, so I
fly all the time.”

“Oh
well this is my first flight,” he said nervously. “I’m just glad to be alive.”

The
Flight attendant opened the door to let people off the plane.

“Well
congratulations for surviving,” I said to him with a smile. “Good luck
surviving the dangers outside.”

“Thanks.”
He said as I walked to the front of the plane to get off.

I
had to go get my bags from the Baggage claim. As I walked past the other gates
I noticed that people were still discussing riots and diseases, but now not
just in Asia but in Europe and Africa too.

I
flipped open my phone and called Roxie so she wouldn’t hurt me later.

“Hey,
did you make it there alright?” she asked right off.

“Yeah,
no crashes today,” I joked. “Isn’t it a little early for you to be up young
lady?”

“It’s
8:00 in the morning. Nick and I are watching a movie.” She answered.

“That’s
funny. I don’t hear a movie in the background,” I observed.

“Oh
that’s right, we’re having sex,” she admitted with an almost sarcastic tone,
obviously trying to make me uncomfortable though I’d accepted her choices a
long time ago and didn’t doubt it was true. “I didn’t mean to lie to you.”

“You
would,” I rolled my eyes. “Have fun, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Will
do!” She hung up. So I slid my phone back into my pocket.

I
stopped to get a drink at a coffee shop and a TV there was showing a news
broadcast about a gang fight in New York where a couple dozen people were
killed and almost fifty more were injured. The News anchor said that it was two
rival gangs apparently attacking regular citizens. I shook my head in
disbelief. Why would two rival gangs just team up and start killing innocent
people for no reason? I got my coffee and continued on.

When
I finally got to the baggage claim my bag was one of the last ones there. I
grabbed it and saw my Dad already parked in a line of cars out the door.

"How
you been?" he asked as I opened the door to his truck.

"Good,"
I answered with a lie, "How bout you?"

"Great,"
he smiled, most likely seeing through my lie, "Ready for the work
weekend?"

"As
long as you got plenty of whiskey and shotgun rounds I'm ready to go." I
smirked. Even though the point of the weekend was general upkeep and to chop
wood for winter and have it ready for hunting season, we took plenty of breaks
to fire off a few rounds, and once the sun went down the bottles came out and
it was party time.

"Well
you know how we almost ran out last year?" He asked as we pulled out of
the airport loading zone.

"Yeah,
the last night I had to drink vodka," I shivered, not being much of a fan
of vodka.

"Don't
worry we'll have enough whiskey, I bought a case his time." My dad said
rather proudly.

"I
thought you said you we'd have enough?" I said sarcastically.

He
glanced over for a second and let out a deep belly laugh that always brought a
smile to my face.

9:00
AM June 20

I
loaded the last cooler into the back of the truck. We were leaving in a few
minutes, and everybody had something to do. My mom, aunts and grandmother were
inside the cabin doing last minute packing, while my uncles were putting out
the camp fire, and stacking the remainder of the firewood behind the cabin for
next year. The last two days for me had consisted of chopping wood and dusting
everything inside, much to my chagrin. If it hadn't been for shooting off a few
rounds during the day and the drinking at the end of each night I might have
lost my mind. My grandmother had cooked us plenty of amazing meals as well, so
we didn't go starving.

I
slammed the tailgate shut and called for my Dad. He was still loading things
into my grandmothers van.

“Alright
Dad, I’m leaving now so I can gas up the truck.” I opened the door and hopped
into the seat and sat down. I shut the door and rolled the windows down and my
Dad came to the window.

“Well
your grandmother's van is already gassed up, so we'll probably beat you there,”
he said. “I’ll call you when we leave.”

“Okay,
my phone hasn’t been getting service lately, so I probably won’t get your
call,” I told him. “But call anyway. Who knows it might come through.”

He
nodded and went back into the cabin. I shifted the truck into drive and pulled past
the my Grandmother's van and two trucks belonging to my Uncles to get out onto
the road. I cranked the radio to some classic rock, my favorite music to drive
to.

I
drove for about a half hour on curvy back roads contouring to the landscape
which consisted of hills and valleys, all zigzagging around like something a
kindergartener might scribble on a piece of paper. I reached the gas station
located just before the highway and pulled off.

My
dad had given me his credit card to pay for gas, which was a good thing, I
doubted my bank account could afford to gas up my own Ranger, let alone his
full size truck.

As
I held the nozzle for the gas pump I saw the convoy of my parents and uncles
driving past me and onto the highway. I waved to them as they passed and got a
honk of the horn from each of them.

Once
the gas tank was full I got back in the cab and got onto the highway, which
from there is a 3 hour straight shot to my grandmother’s house, depending on
traffic.

After
another hour or so of driving, I noticed several police cruisers and an
ambulance speeding up from behind me. They sped past me and off into the
distance. I didn’t think much of it until another small convoy came about five
minutes later. Then I noticed that several other vehicles were speeding past
me, which was odd, because I was already going about ten miles an hour over the
speed limit. Most of them were loaded up with tons of supplies, almost like
everyone in the state decided to go camping on the same weekend. Most of them
were heading north along with me, though there were a shit ton more headed
south, away from Cleveland.

It
was the summer. People were most likely just heading home from their vacations
or just starting them.

Then
I started to see several Military trucks heading north as well. They weren’t
all supply trucks though. Some of them were loaded up with soldiers, all of
whom had full gear and weapons.

“Now
that’s not something you see every day,” I said to myself, watching the trucks
speed past everybody.

I
was about an hour away when traffic leading away from Cleveland was bumper to
bumper, and fewer and fewer people were heading toward the city, most were
trying to leave. The closer I got the more military and emergency vehicles I
saw going to and from Cleveland. There were quite a few fender benders along
the shoulder of the highway. I even saw two men beating the crap out of each
other, then one guy bite the other on the arm. I didn’t want to get involved in
anything like that, so I just drove past them.

I
was paying too much attention to the opposite lanes, so when I glanced back to
the lane in front of me my eyes widened at the sight of oncoming cars. I veered
hard right just barely missing an SUV. After the SUV flew passed me, a minivan
came out of nowhere and scraped the right side of the truck, taking my side
mirror with him and nearly causing me to spin out. The minivan just kept
driving as if it didn’t happen and I was too busy dodging the other maniacs
driving on the wrong side of the road to even think about trying to go get the
idiot’s insurance information. I got off the highway on the next exit. Dozens
of other cars were following the SUV’s example to beat the traffic in their
correct lanes.