Trying to Survive (Part 1) (6 page)

Chapter 6

   We’ve gotten through another three days, and thankfully, nothing bad has happened. No one’s been hurt and we haven’t had any incidents with the infected. We just make sure to stay quiet and inactive once night falls… It was an incredibly boring existence.

   Melanie’s become slightly more talkative, but it’s easy to see that she’s still in shock and deeply depressed due to the loss of her husband. We both completely understood and didn’t try to push any conversation. Having to watch a loved one die, especially in such a horrible way was… I could only hope I never have to experience it.

   Even though the children were staying quiet, Melanie finally got the little boy to tell us his name – Anthony. The girl was like a vault. All she would do is nod or shake her head, and refused to let Melanie more than a foot away from her. She even followed her to the bathroom.

   If I were to guess by their behavior, I’d assume they watched the deaths of their family from that window. Their blank, dead stares that closely matched Melanie’s told me they had witnessed something horrible. Something that would plague their dreams until the day they died.

   Though I guess we’ve all seen things like that, and knew there was most likely worse to come. If anything, I had a feeling that we’ve been pretty lucky so far...

   Walt and I spent a lot of time on the roof watching our surroundings, hoping to see even the smallest sign of other survivors. Instead, we observed as more of the infected were leaving the neighborhoods and making their way out to the main road every day. Just as I feared, they were branching out to look for more people.

   As planned, we used our knives to work out all the bolts holding the ladder to the wall. Hiding on the roof and pulling up the ladder behind us was the one truly safe option we had at the moment.

   The amount of glass in the building never stopping making me nervous. Almost every single room had a large window in it – some even had two. Any sense of security we had while inside that building was completely false – nothing more than imaginary. At times, I even thought about suggesting that we start sleeping on the roof at night.

   Yesterday, we made the decision to run the same distraction plan and get all the food from my house, and the one where we found Anthony and his sister. After all was said and done, we calculated that there would be enough to last us another two weeks at best. A good majority of it was comprised of snacks and the types of food that don’t really fill a person up or give them energy.

   This morning, we awoke to find that the power had shut off. It was the final nail in the coffin of our new reality. We really were all alone – there was no one coming to help. Walt and I both knew it was time to start venturing out and see if we can find anyone. It was no longer a decision to make, it was just something we had to do...

   It was early in the morning, no later than 9:00am. We were at our usual spot on the left side of the roof. The amount of infected people wandering around had more than tripled over the last few days, but many of them seemed to be moving past us – of course, in the direction we needed to go.

   Walt broke the silence. “How can we be the only ones left? We’ve spent days on this roof and haven’t seen a single person or a single car drive by… What the fuck, man?”

   I’d been asking myself the same question and spending a bit of time doing the math. I tried to calculate the number of homes in my neighborhood – then multiply it by the number of streets linking to other neighborhoods in the area. No matter how many times I reworked all the numbers, I kept coming to the conclusion that almost everyone in the area had been infected or killed.

   “Look at how many of them you can see right now… Remember how many of them were in my neighborhood alone. Then match that to the number of houses within a few miles. Then factor in all the people they’ve probably killed.”

   Walt turned to me, a heavy frown hardened his face and his mouth was hanging slightly open. I could see that his mind was hard at work, contemplating what I had just suggested. His eyes darted back and forth, and his brow went even further down.

   “I don’t think all that many people are left, Walt... And any other survivors are probably hiding out – just like we are.”

   Walt began shaking his head, then turned around and took a few steps away from me. He kept his back to me as he spoke. “But if it’s like this everywhere… That means the large, large… large majority of the population is either dead or one of them… That’s just not possible.”

   I bluntly replied “Are you sure? Because we’re up here seeing it with our own eyes, so if you’re right and it’s like this everywhere – then it has to be possible.” I lightly laughed. “Actually, no… If it’s like this everywhere then you’re just right. Plain and simple. Fuck, judging by this place, the population is probably at less than ten percent.”

   “You know, it could be confined to our state. Maybe we should just head north instead of seeing what’s in Daytona.”

   I stood up and leaned against the short wall surrounding the roof. I smoked my last cigarette yesterday, so I was already feeling angry and frustrated. It was almost at the point where I wanted to risk driving up the road to the gas station so I could grab a few cartons.

   “I guess you’re right... We should start out by checking the highway. It could be a complete mess – just riddled with cars and the infected. If that’s the case, we’ll have to hit up a gas station near the exit and see if they have maps so we can find another way.”

   “Well, the power
is
out. You gonna go today?”

   “Yeah… I assume the big Shell station right next to the highway probably has maps. I’ll leave in a few hours. Just let the sun do its thing.”

   Walt shoved my left shoulder back and smiled. “You’re just thinking about getting smokes, aren’t you? I noticed you haven’t had one yet today.”

   “Don’t remind me…”

   He sarcastically remarked “You didn’t cut the power so you could go out and find cigarettes did you?” Then followed it with laughter.

   I smiled. “Oh come on, man, it’s not my fault it just so happened to work out this way.”

   He rolled his eyes. “You should take the opportunity to just quit.”

   I flailed my arms in disbelief. “What are you fuckin kidding me? I’m blind in one eye and I might get eaten alive any minute. I’m gonna have my damn cigarettes, Walt… If it was up to me we’d have some weed and rum too.”

   Walt whimpered like a beaten dog. “We’d actually be able to sleep.”

   We both got out a good laugh... It was first time I can remember genuinely laughing or smiling since this all started. It was a nice feeling, but short lived. Walt glanced to his left and something caught his attention.

   The smile on his face faded and he began walking towards the edge of the roof and pointing. “Look over there.”

   When I joined him and looked across the street, I instantly felt a spark of hope. Three of them had killed one of their own and were just about done eating it. They were all on their knees, wildly tearing into it and spreading pieces of its body everywhere. Two others nearby were making their way over as well.

   Walt mumbled, “So, they will attack each other.”

   “Must only be if they get hungry enough.”

   “So, we might be able to just wait this out after all.”

   “I don’t know about that. Remember, it could also make them more vicious and intrusive at night. I think we should look at this as a good thing, but we shouldn’t let it make us feel safe. They’re still more of them showing up around here every day, and now, none of the street lights work… We won’t be able to see what’s going on out there at night anymore.”

   “Fuck, I know... And this place has way too many windows.”

   “Exactly.”

   After that, we exchanged very few words until the sun reached its highest point, signaling that it was time for me to leave. I don’t know what he’d been thinking about while we stood around and stared off into the distance. But just as I have on many occasions, I wondered if his thoughts were optimistic or full of death and suffering like mine.

   For whatever reason, I knew that this wasn’t contained to our state. And I knew that I was right to think most of the population is infected – or whatever this is. I don’t know how I knew… I just did.

   The sun seemed larger and brighter than usual – like it had somehow moved a few thousand miles closer to the Earth. I couldn’t keep my eye open without squinting, and the core of my body felt like it was on fire. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and slung it to the side, then pulled at my thoroughly soaked shirt to make it stop sticking to my body.

  
Well… I can’t say this isn’t the perfect day to do what I need to do.

   I turned to Walt and said “I’m outta here. Why don’t you go spend a little time with them? You know Melanie gets worried when we’re gone for hours at a time. I’m sure the kids do too.”

   “Yeah, you’re right, I will… I hope she understands we aren’t just being assholes. If we don’t spend all day up here we could miss military trucks or other people looking to join up with survivors. So much could happen in just a few seconds that I’m afraid to leave, you know?”

   “Of course… Why the fuck else would I stand out in this heat?”

   “I know.” He pushed my left shoulder back. “Remind me again why we moved here?”

   “Uh, money… You know, that green paper that used to rule everyone’s lives?.. Funny to think it doesn’t matter anymore. I went through so much to afford that house, and now I can just pick anyone I want for free. We could even go to the beach and post up in one of the four story monsters overlooking the ocean… Isn’t that some bullshit?”

   Walt raised a brow and smirked. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”

   We both laughed and headed for the other side of the roof. As I climbed over the wall and started making my way down the ladder, Walt remarked “Make sure to take the shotgun with you too. Crowd control if you need it.”

   I jumped down the rest of the way instead of using the last three steps and grunted out “Yep” as my feet hit the ground.

   When we made it back inside and Melanie saw me pick up the shotgun, she said “You going out to search for more people?”

   I simply nodded. I didn’t want to upset Anthony and his sister by discussing all of our problems and my personal fears in front of them.

   Melanie looked off to the side and started shaking her head, then stood up and lashed out with angry sarcasm. “You know, it would be
really
nice if you told me what you two were thinking or planning.”

   I turned to Walt. “Watch them for a second.” Then I motioned for her to follow me into the hall.

   Melanie was thin, pretty, and generally had kind eyes and a welcoming face. It would always show, even through all the tragedy surrounding her. I could tell she truly cared for those two kids and would do anything to protect them. Though today, I saw nothing but frustration that was quickly turning to anger.

   She stood there favoring one leg with her hand on her hip. She didn’t have to speak for me to know she was demanding answers – not asking for them. “Why are you treating me like a little kid that can’t handle knowing what the hell’s going on? It ends now, got it?”

  
Maybe because we don’t have a fucking clue?

  
“We don’t mean to leave you out of everything… we just figured you were still… That you still needed time.”

   “I appreciate that, but I can handle it. If anything, not knowing is just letting my imagination run wild and scaring me even more.”

   “You’re right, I’m sorry. I won’t do that to you anymore.”

   I took a deep breath and closed my eye before I spoke again. I was wondering if I should tell her about the conclusion I came to by comparing the number of people infected to the number of houses in the area… I decided against it for the time being…
Shit, I wish I didn’t know…

   “Since the powers out, we can only assume no one’s coming to help us. That society has officially shut down. Yeah, we can stay here, but we don’t know what’s going to happen once these things get really desperate for food.”

   I pointed through the doorway across the hall. “See that big window? Well, every single room has at least one. If they ever decided to storm this place we’re all dead… If we make a loud noise on mistake during the night, or one of them gets curious and starts poking around – it could all be over... Something as simple as a sneeze can literally get us all killed.”

   “I agree. Not to mention, we can’t be the only survivors. There might be large groups of people with a lot of weapons and food working to keep each other safe. The government could have places set up, or something like that... We just have to get out there and look for them.”

   “Well, that’s what I’m planning to do. I’m gonna go check and see if the highway is clear – if not, we’ll find another way… But Walt and I decided it’s best to head north. There’s a possibility this could be confined to Florida. The government might be waiting to take us in at the state line or something.”

   She folded her arms and looked off to the side. “You
really
think this is only confined to one state?”