The End Boxset: Postapocalyptic Visions of an Unstoppable Collapse (16 page)

“No,” Richard answered.

“Great,” she said, hitting the wheel with her palm.

They followed the road to its undisclosed end point. The roar of the engine was deafening due to the engine hood missing. Alice flipped on the headlights, illuminating their path.

“We’re heading towards a gate,” Alice said. Sure enough, twenty feet in front of them stood a chain-link gate on wheels tied and locked to a fence post with a chain. “It looks like it’s locked,” Brian said.

“Smash through it,” Richard interjected.

“Calm down,” Brian said.

“He’s right,” Alice said. “I want both you boys to strap yourselves in and hold on tight.”

Brian searched around his seat. “There’s no seat belts.”

“Hold on then,” Alice said as she floored the vehicle. Rocks and gravel spewed from the spinning tires as the car charged at the gate in a fury. Brian closed his eyes and felt the forceful smash of the gate against the front of the car. He flew forward, and nearly hit the dashboard.

Profanities littered from Alice’s mouth as she pounded on the steering wheel in frustration. The car had nearly taken out the gate, but not enough. Brian looked over to Richard who lied against the dash board unconscious. “Mom,” Brian said.

“I know,” she said, jerking the car into reverse.

“It’s Richard,” Brian continued.

Alice jerked her head to the side, examining Richard. “Make sure he’s okay,” she said, “and hold on.” With that Alice drove top speed against the gate once again. Brian grabbed Richard, closed his eyes, and screamed. Another violent jolt came to the car. Alice was determined to get through. The fence was bent enough to allow an opening they could squeeze through. The noise was unmistakably loud and noticeable. The tires squealed against the gravel, the engine roared with all its limited might. After a brief struggle they were through the gate and into the clear road ahead. Alice cheered. Brian held Richard as the car shook. They were on a curved road. Trees surrounded them on both sides. Alice looked around for anything familiar or noticeable. She found exactly both of those things as they neared a crossway. To their left was the town. To their right was the front entrance of the school. All around them were the abandoned cars of the townspeople. “This could be trouble,” Alice thought.

“Is Richard okay?” she asked Brian. Brian shook Richard. Richard moaned in an annoyed tone.

“I really don’t know. He’s knocked out,” Brian answered.

Alice looked around in a panic after shifting the car into park. From a distance she could see groups of people looking their way. She jammed it in reverse and drove backwards into the surrounding woods.

“Mom!” Brian shouted.

His pleas were ignored as the car whipped behind a large oak tree. Alice turned the engine off and grabbed Brian, clutching his face between both her hands. “I need you to listen to me carefully. We have to keep this car hidden. I really don’t want to shut it off, but if people find this car, if they find us, someone is going to take this car.”

Brian nodded along, not fully understanding his mother’s tone. Alice grabbed Richard and pulled him out of the car. She cradled him in her arms and nearly stumbled on the uneven terrain outside the car. She leaned into the car to address Brian. “Just wait here. I’ll only be a few minutes. If anyone comes…” Alice hesitated then continued, “…if anyone comes, I want you to leave the car and hide. I’m going to take the key, so no one can take our car. I’ll be back in five minutes.”

Before Brian could respond, his mother slammed the door and was off with Richard. She ducked down almost immediately upon hearing a group of people walking down the road to the side. However, the car was concealed enough to where it was unnoticeable to the casual observer. Once clear, Alice crept up the hill through the brush and onto the road.

Alice gripped on to Richard tightly as she jogged towards the main road. She glanced over her shoulder to see the group of people that passed just moments before, still searching for the car—or what they must have believed to have been a car. Her pace quickened. Richard’s moans continued. Blood ran down his forehead. “There, there,” she said brushing his hair back. At the crosswalk she could see the front entrance to the school on her right. The crowd at the gate only fifty feet away had thinned out considerably. If Susan did what she was told and waited for Alice by the car, she would have her son back as told. If not, Alice would have to take Richard in…or leave him. Such answers were not yet known.

Richard was growing heavy in her arms. Alice was to the point of exhaustion. Cars remained where they were the last time she was at the front of the school. She breathed through her nose and exhaled calmly through her mouth, attempting to control her breathing. Her heart rate was racing. She moved throughout the crowd calling for Susan.

The faces of men and women were blurred and indifferent to her. She tried to remember what car Susan would be standing at. But it was of little use. She had to stop and rest. “Susan!” Alice cried out again, when suddenly Susan emerged from between a couple who were staring at Alice.

“Alice!” Susan called out while running. Alice fell to her knees and held the boy the best she could.

“Oh my God, you found him. Thank God,” Susan said. Alice held her head up, feeling great relief upon seeing Richard’s mother in the flesh.

Susan’s face shifted to horror once she took a look at her barely conscious son. She set her youngest child down, dropped to her knees, and grabbed Richard. “What happened to him?” Susan cried.

“He….he’s okay, just a bump on the head,” Alice said.

“Is he bleeding? Oh my God, he’s bleeding!” Susan screamed as she pulled Richard from Alice’s arms. “What did you do to him? My son!”

“There was an accident, he might have an concussion—“

“You!” Susan said rising to her feet, “I trusted you.”

Alice stood up, and gained her composure. “There was some trouble getting out of the school. He hit his head, but I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

“Someone help me!” Susan shouted out, “She hurt my son. I need a doctor.”

Alice looked around her. People were starting to take notice. Susan’s cries for help continued. In a quick flash Alice turned around and ran the other direction, back towards the car. Susan continued her to cry and scream without giving so much as a thank you for the retrieval for her son. But there would be no joyous reunion here. Not with so many people around. Alice ran faster than she had run that entire day. Her head pulsated with exhaustion and dehydration. As she neared the cross walk to the back road, she came across the same group who were looking for the car. Alice slowed her pace, and attempted to look normal. As normal as anyone sweating profusely with sporadic breathing could do. They paid her little attention as they passed by. Alice’s steps grew faster once they were gone, and she jogged down the path back to the car. She ran to the driver’s side door and flung it opened. Brian wasn’t there. “Brian!” she called out. From the other side of the oak tree, Brian came about. “What are you doing? Get in the car,” she demanded.

“I was keeping a look out, mom. That’s all,” he said while making his way back.

“We don’t have much time, now move,” she said. Alice jumped into the car and slammed the door. She rested her head against the steering wheel, dug the key from her pocket, and placed it in the ignition switch. “Please…” she said to herself, “Please start again.” Brian entered the car on the passenger’s side and closed the door. “Does it start?” he asked.

“Be patient,” Alice said. She turned the key carefully and was overjoyed when the engine started without hassle. “Oh thank God,” she said in relief.

“Now we have to get Tobias,” Brian said.

“We have to get your sister,” Alice replied.

Brian opened the door and placed his leg outside the car. “I’m not going anywhere without Tobias,” he said with tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Brian, listen,” Alice said, “Get back in the car. We’ll get to your friend after—”

“No! You’re full of crap. You promised,” Brian said.

“I’m not going to argue with you anymore. Close the door
right now.
”

Brian and his mother stared at each other as the engine rumbled. Brian placed his foot leg back into the car and slammed the door.

“Good,” Alice said. She backed the car up and steered it around to slowly ascend the hill. Her eyes squinted to see beyond the darkness. She wasn’t going to risk being spotted by putting the headlights on; at least, not at the moment. When they reached the back road, Alice drove slowly back to the main road, taking a right, away from the school. Ahead was an obstacle course of empty cars. Alice steered carefully, in and out of the mess, praying that there was a clear path not far. She looked at the fuel gauge repeatedly. There was no telling if it worked completely or not. But she had no choice but to trust that the tank was half full as the gauge indicated.

Brian stared out the window, not saying a word. Inside he felt sick; an overbearing kind of sickness, deep within his gut whenever he thought of Tobias.

“I want you to remember this, Brian,” Alice said, looking intently ahead, “family comes first, always.”

Chapter 8: Jeremy: On the Road

It was times like this that Jeremy wished he had a cell phone. He didn’t like the idea of leaving his truck on the side of the road. Just as a precaution he hid the supplies he had in the back of the truck—fuel, water, camping gear—in the nearby woods. Stripped of enticing items, the truck now looked unappealing to any potential scavengers.  The morning sun was inescapable, and the temperature was steadily warming. This was not unusual for fall, but to Jeremy it felt more like summer. The convenience store couldn’t have been more than a mile down the road. Jeremy could see it as he began to plan his next steps accordingly. He would ask to use the phone and call for a tow truck. He would have his car towed to the nearest mechanic shop, and hopefully repaired in a short time. Then he hoped to be on the road before whatever calamity happened.  As time passed, however, Jeremy had the sneaking suspicion that he had been duped. The world was still going on just as normal as ever. It’s not as if this disappointed him, but it made him rethink his entire outlook on fleeing into the mountains. “But things have been getting bad for a while,” Jeremy thought, “Maybe this is for the better.” Regardless, he was severely limited in his options without transportation. “What am I supposed to do, hike five hundred miles?” he said aloud.

Jeremy looked at his watch. It was a little after eleven. The convenience store, his salvation, was in sight. Any minute now his problems would be over. A large and vibrant osprey circled overhead. He looked up in the sky to admire the bird’s beauty. Nature, in itself, was something of beauty, and Jeremy hoped that if things did go south for society, that nature would be left intact. It was during this exact moment that a large, blinding flash illuminated the sky. The force of this phenomenon threw Jeremy on the ground. His bug-out bag tumbled off his shoulders and landed a few feet ahead of him. Then, just as quick as the flash forced him on the ground, it was over. If there was a sound emitted by the flash, it was deafening. As he struggled to his feet, Jeremy temporarily lost both sight and sound. The world in front of him was seen through several bright spots. There was no telling what had just happened, but he instinctively walked over to his bug-out bag, threw it on his shoulders, and kept walking. “I really need that fucking tow truck,” Jeremy said to himself.

When he approached the convenience store, he noticed that it had a more “gas stop” flavor than anything. He was in a very small town which most likely had a small population. Because of this, the odds seemed to him to be more in his favor. Still dazed from the flash, or blast, Jeremy wandered to the small store which housed two gas pumps and one small wooden building. It might as well have been a “country store,” as they were called in the olden days. There was a man at the gas pump, leaning on his four door station wagon looking as hazy as anything. He rubbed his head profusely, and when he noticed Jeremy, he simply turned his head to ask, “What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know,” Jeremy replied, though his own words sounded faded and distant. The man took the gas pump from his car and examined it. It appeared to have stopped working. He then examined the pump thoroughly. He was obviously a man from the town, as his attire of blue suspenders, large gut, and heavily creased net cap would suggest. “Bill! Damn pump ain’t workin’ no more,” he shouted. Bill was presumably the clerk inside, but Jeremy made no conclusions to this. Jeremy walked past the man and into the entrance of the shop.  The lights were out in the store, as if it were closed. Outside light provided dim illumination through the surrounding plate glass windows.

“Howdy,” the unshaven man at the counter said.

“You Bill?” Jeremy asked.

“Who’s asking?” the man asked in a joking manner.

“The customer outside,” Jeremy answered, “Says your pumps aren’t working anymore.”

“Nothing’s working anymore. Power went out and everything.”

Jeremy felt a moment of certainty like nothing he had felt in the events leading up to his journey.

“When did the power go out?” Jeremy asked.

“Oh, about ten minutes ago,” Bill said.

“Everything?”

“Lights went out. Cash register don’t work. I got nothing here. We’ve had brownouts before. Maybe it’s a brownout.”

“Not very likely,” Jeremy said.

“Excuse me?” Bill asked.

“Nothing,” Jeremy said searching the aisle.

There were three aisles to choose from stocked with snacks, canned goods, and hygiene products.  Jeremy went to the standing coolers in the back where the drinks were.

“You travelin’ on foot?” Bill asked.