The China Pandemic (5 page)

Draped in darkness, the autumn hued trees didn’t have their typical daytime appeal. Instead, they resembled the frightening enormous goblins like Dokkaebi, from Korean folklore. They were the mythical mischief-makers that Bang once enjoyed his father telling him about. Afterward, he would have nightmares. His mother would discourage his father from sharing the stories, but Bang just couldn’t get enough of the tall tales.

Bang imagined the tinted foliage of the trees in the descending dusk had the likeness of the fabled creatures. They were known to play tricks on some unsuspecting mortals who traveled as he and Graham were doing now. They would transform out of inanimate objects to challenge travelers to an impromptu wrestling match to guarantee their safe passage. Bang imagined this would be really scary about now. He did not want to find out what would happen if he failed, though winning would often earn you a magical item, if the tale were to be believed. He moved in to ride a little closer to Graham, just in case the Dokkaebi appeared. He thought Graham could probably wrestle better than he could.

As they headed down the street to get to the neighborhood entrance, they quickly approached the main drive. All they could see were stationary vehicles all along the highway overpass, in every conceivable direction, leading up to the gas station. A light could be seen in the distance, but at that point, no one within sight. The ever-present fire glow to the west lit up the darkness in the distance. It seemed to grow a little each day.

Bang missed his mother. He didn’t want to be there at night in the dark. He tried to honor his mother’s wishes though. She told him to obey Graham and to help him where he could. He tried to remember that, but his heart ached for her and he wanted to go home. At first, he hated Graham, but then after he saw him crying in the hallway he knew his heart ached too.
Maybe he isn’t such a bad guy
. He’d already saved Bang from the dogs and because his mother wanted him to trust Graham, he decided to stay with him.

Events forced Marcy and Macy to learn how to drive. It had been weeks now and they were tired of waiting for their dad to show up. They’d discovered their mom dead from the virus the night before last after they broke into her bathroom and found her on the floor. Their mom had locked herself away so as not to expose the girls, but even with the virus all around, in their house, in the air, neither one of them became ill. Afterward, they moved her dead weight over to her bed. They each took one end, stopping several times. Mom weighed more than they had expected. Of course, they were both slight, though, at fifteen, the twins told each other they were really quite strong.

Afterward, they washed Mom’s face with a cool washcloth and pulled the covers over her. Not certain what else to do, they admitted the time had come to make their way to Dad’s house. They took turns calling him, but he never answered. This was not new to them, so they kept at it.

“He has to answer at some time, right?” Marcy asked her sister.

So many were dead in their neighborhood and with Mom gone now, they were getting really scared. After crying themselves to sleep, they woke to a new reality. Dad lived at the apartments in Mountain View. To get there, they would have to drive down the highway, a trip they had done many times before as passengers. So they pulled Mom’s keys out of her purse. “She would want Dad to take care of us now,” Macy said.

The Williams, who had lived next door, were gone, or at least no one answered when they knocked the day before. They did not hear anyone anywhere except for the dog packs. Not only that, but late last night, they were awakened by loud yelling coming from the street outside. Therefore, the girls went downstairs to look out the front windows. They witnessed a man running down their road with several dogs chasing him. He screamed and screamed as he ran out of their view. Only more screaming came after that, and then silence. The girls clung to one another seeking mutual comfort, too afraid to open the door. They were not sure what happened to him. After the quiet had come finally, they both cried themselves to sleep again on the living room sofa.

Too scared even to go to the bathroom alone, the twins made the decision to head over to Dad’s by themselves. Considering the circumstances, they did not think he’d mind them trying to drive. “This constitutes an emergency,” Marcy justified their plan. Macy agreed. “And in an emergency, new rules are made.”

They had seen Mom and Dad do this plenty of times, so how hard could it be? Since they’d probably stay at Dad’s for a while, they both packed overnight bags. They’d both slept in late, so tried to hurry, because they wanted to make it to Dad’s before nightfall.

Macy suggested that she should drive first, to which Marcy said, “You know how it works. We have to play rock, paper, scissors.”

Macy rolled her eyes but started the ritual anyway. Their old ceremonial game seemed childish to her now, but that’s how they resolved their negotiations. Having an identical twin had some drawbacks. Marcy was bossier and Macy figured it was not worth the ensuing battle to point out that they were old enough now to make their own independent decisions.

Macy having decided on rock, Marcy, of course, paper. “You always win,” Macy grumbled.

Sometimes, Marcy could read her mind, she thought. Was not it enough they mirrored each other with blue eyes and blonde wavy hair? It just was not fair, but perhaps that’s what had kept them alive and together. Macy felt ashamed of herself for being upset with her sister. It would indeed kill her, too, if Marcy died of the virus like Mom, and left her all alone.

Marcy grabbed the keys out of Macy’s hand and they walked out to the attached garage, making sure the car doors were closed before they let the garage door up. Adjusting the seat so that her feet could just touch the pedals, Marcy checked to see if she could see out the rearview mirror.

Marcy looked over at Macy and said, “Put your seatbelt on, Mace, this might be bumpy.”

Before Marcy could start the ignition, Macy advised her, “You have to move that stick to the R like Mom does.”

“I know, I watch her too.
Watched
her, I mean,” Marcy said, a small crack in her voice. She started the ignition, hearing it complain far too loudly, and then removed her hand. “Oh, I think it’s on now,” she said. Then she moved the stick to R to make it go backwards but nothing happened, except for a slight movement in reverse. “Okay, what do we do to make it go?” she asked Macy.

“Um, you have to use the pedals. I think the middle one is the brake and the right one is the gas. Try putting your foot on the gas a little,” Macy said.

Barely pressing the pedal on the right, she could hear the engine get louder, but still no take off, so she let off the pedal. Perplexed, Macy noticed the other handle next to the drive stick. “This is the parking brake, I think.” She reached over and pushed the button to lower the level. Then they started sliding backwards down the inclined driveway and Marcy screamed, then Macy yelled, “Hit the brake!”

Both girls lurched forward, nearly hitting the dash as Marcy stomped on the brake. Shaking now, they looked out the window, having just barely exited into the road below the drive’s incline. Macy noticed an audience of a single curious boxer dog, sitting on his haunches, panting. At first glance, the dog looked like any once beloved neighborhood pet. This one, she’d seen on a leash walking with its owner many times before in their previous life.

Then she noticed another dog. Macy said, “Look, they’re coming now. Quick, close the garage door so they can’t get in.”

The garage door closed just in time. A blood-stained Akita showed up, baring his teeth at the girls. The noise encouraged his entourage to do the same, even the once docile boxer joined in. “Time to go,” Marcy said, lifting her foot off the brake. The car slid back as the dogs went from a low growl to a ferocious barking which caused the girls to scream again. Then, remembering the brake, Marcy pressed it again, but this time, not so hard. Macy reached over and began to spin the steering wheel to move the car onto the road below, like their mom used to do.

With dogs trailing behind them and jumping up at the windows, Macy pushed the shift stick from R to D and yelled at Marcy, who was too distracted by a German Shepherd snarling at her window to press the gas pedal.

“Press the gas, Marcy!” Macy yelled, trying to get her attention again. Some part of Marcy acknowledged and stomped on the gas as Macy tried to steer from the passenger’s seat. The dog pack chased them down the road, but soon gave up since more accessible prey was available to them.

“Slow down!” Macy yelled and Marcy let off the gas half way. Thankful the road was clear of many obstacles; they soon approached a stop sign.

“Mom made this look so easy,” Marcy said as she pressed the brakes again, which stopped them fifteen feet before the stop sign. At least this time, they only leaned forward a little when she applied the brakes.

“This just takes practice, Marce,” Macy said. “Just move up a little more so we can turn on the main road.”

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Marcy shouted. “You try to do this for the first time with wild dogs trying to get you. I just saved your life, Mace, so you should be grateful instead of giving me a hard time about it.”

“I was not giving you a hard time, Marcy. I’m just trying to help!” Macy yelled back.

Approaching a stop sign, Marcy removed her foot from the gas pedal and stomped the brake again. They both flew forward sharply and then back again. “Marcy! Not so hard.”

“Sorry!” yelled Marcy, clearly frustrated about this driving thing.

With Marcy’s foot easing off the brake pedal, the Grand Am glided slowly forward. This time, Marcy employed her newly learned technique of softly applying pressure to the brake. Both girls leaned forward, turning their blonde curls left and then right in unison, checking for oncoming cars. They’d seen their parents do this many times so they imitated the act. Since no cars were out and about, Marcy turned the wheel, not paying attention to the lines on the road. Her driving was simply an effort to stay on the road, because being in the middle just seemed like a good idea. The closer they got into town, the fewer cars they had to dodge on the street anyway. If one did come the other way, she figured she would pull over then.

Macy checked behind. No more dogs followed them. Turning back to face front, Macy knew there had been a few straight miles ahead of them before they got to the highway turnoff. She began to look around the suburban town. Up ahead, the first stop light intersection came into view and there were cars stopped in one lane, even though the light had turned green.

Marcy slowed down as the lane divided, one for going straight, the other for turning. She came to a stop trying to assess the situation. They waited behind the gray SUV in front of them at the green light. They had rehearsed this scenario many times in the past and both girls thought the guy should have started moving by now, but he did not.

“Honk the horn,” Macy suggested as the idea came to her.

Marcy studied the steering wheel, looking for the button to press. She finally noticed the horn icon and pressed it, allowing the intrusive sound to disturb the afternoon silence all around them. Birds flew up in haste along the street side where they were searching for French fries, long gone by now.

Once the sound had dissipated onto the late afternoon horizon, Macy put the drive stick back into R. Marcy then depressed the gas pedal, rolling backwards several car lengths. After applying gentle pressure to the brakes again, to keep herself and her sister from flopping around like ragdolls, Marcy came to a complete stop. Macy moved the drive stick to D again and Marcy rotated the steering wheel left and pressed the gas pedal a little to pass the parked car.

Slowing as they approached, Macy could see the driver slumped over the steering wheel. Though the girls could not see the face, they both knew what had happened and now the reality settled on them. This was not just their home, their neighborhood, their town. It was all of that.

“I hope Dad’s okay,” Macy said, never having thought of the possibility that he too could have become a victim of the virus as well.

Driving through the intersection that led to the highway entrance ramp, the girls noticed several cars in the way. As Marcy snaked the car through, its bright red paint scraped along a gunmetal gray Suburban, the horrible screeching sound continued as the car forced itself through the space between it and the guardrail.

Marcy continued to wind her way, having gotten the hang of the driving thing by now, she pulled between parked cars in every direction. Macy sat high in her seat to help navigate ahead until the cars became so crowded, they even filled the empty spaces in between.

Marcy, unsure of the next direction to take, killed the engine and after scouting around the area for dogs, Macy rolled down her window. She pulled herself through the narrow opening to stand on the windowsill, gaining a better view of what lay ahead. With wide-eyes, she returned to the cab and rolled up her window again.

“What? What’s out there?” asked Marcy.

“There’s a roadblock, so we can’t get through this way. We’re stuck, Marcy. We’ll have to walk from here,” Macy said.

“No! What about the dogs?” Marcy asked.
How could Macy forget so quickly
?

“That’s what I’m saying. We can’t stay in the car. There are big concrete bricks up ahead with police cars on the other side with their lights on. We’re not going to make it this way,” Macy said.

Sitting in silence, both girls tried to solve the dilemma, knowing they did not want to leave the safety of the car.

“I think we should take our stuff, leave the car here and walk over to the barricade. Climb over and see if there is a car on the other side that we can take. The road is clear over there,” Macy said.

Marcy’s jaw dropped. “We can’t steal a police car. Are you crazy? You can go to jail for that. The police are over there. Maybe they can take us the rest of the way.”

“Marce, things are different now. Look around you. We’ll leave a note or something to let the owner know that we’re borrowing it. This is an emergency and like you said, we have to make new rules now. They’ll understand. They’re probably dead by now anyway. In fact, we haven’t seen anyone alive since that guy ran from the dogs last night, remember? It’ll be okay. Dad can explain it to them if they turn us in. If they are alive, we’ll ask them to take us to Dad’s, okay?”

Pausing in the silence to give it a little more thought, Marcy conceded, “Well, I can’t think of anything else better, so let’s get started. The sooner we get to Dad’s, the better.”

The twins gathered their belongings and Marcy said, “We need something to fight with in case those dogs come at us again.”

Looking around in the car for potential weapons, they came up with an ice scraper on the floor in the back seat and Macy’s jewel -toned metal ruler. She’d been looking for it a while back. Obviously, it had dropped out of her backpack.

Then Macy lowered her window once again and scouted out the easiest path of escape through the cramped car spaces. She saw a few places they’d likely have to climb over, like bumpers while they wound their way to the concrete barrier.

Climbing back into the car, she said, “Okay, it should not be too hard. Just follow me and we’ll run as fast as we can. Stay close and don’t make any noise. We don’t want to attract the dogs’ attention.” She added a second thought. “You need to come out my side since you don’t have any room over there. Don’t slam the door, just push it in softly.”