The Aging: A Novel

by Jack Hunt

  “They’re killing them?”

  “You got it. And of course, then you have those hunting down people for the heck of it. Like a sport. Taking whatever they want, killing under the guise that everyone is infected. It’s a freak show out there.”

  “That’s happening?”

  She nodded. “If the military is to be believed. I mean, it’s not like anyone is going to stop and inspect the bodies of those shot. The risk is too great. People are keeping their distance.”

  “You didn’t,” he said.

  She scoffed and dropped her chin.

  “You weren’t coming for supplies, were you, when you saw us?”

  Her lips curled at the corner of her mouth. “No. I saw you on the video monitors. You have to understand, the people they have inside here are from weeks ago. Some have left but they’re hesitant to take anyone else in. The last person we took in was eight days ago.”

  “So why did you let us in?”

  “That’s the question, isn’t it?” She took a deep breath and placed both hands on the lip of the roof’s wall. “Probably for the same reason you are helping your kids despite your situation.” She looked at him and was about to say something when a gun erupted, a flurry of rounds igniting. Ryan whipped around to see the soldier firing at someone down below.

  “Ma’am, you should get inside, now,” the soldier said.

  “Is it the same ones?” Ella asked.

  “The same,” the soldier said before unleashing another slew of bullets.

  Confused, as Ryan followed her back into the stairwell, he asked, “What’s going on?”

  “Lynch mobs. Well, they’re not exactly lynching people but the outcome is the same. You think the ones spreading the infection are selfish.” She chuckled. “These folks don’t care who you are, if they see you, you’re getting a bullet. I guess some think it’s their job to wipe clean the landscape and put the nation back in order.”

  “I heard that’s what the military is planning on doing in the major cities.”

  “That’s not what I heard.”

  “Yeah, well, they keep changing the story. How come we never saw this mob?” Ryan asked.

  “They were probably around the east side when you entered from the west. As I said, we don’t have many entering as of late.”

  “Explains the torched vehicles outside, and bodies strewn across the lot,” he said.

  As soon as they were inside, Ella was back to acting as if nothing had happened. “So where are you heading?”

  “What?”

  His mind was still on the gunfire outside.

  “You said you were from Jasper. Where are you going after this?”

  “South. To Florida. Franklin County. There’s supposed to be a haven somewhere out in the Gulf Coast. Refuge boats, they’re calling them. A way to get away from infectious areas.”

  “You believe that’s what you’ll find?”

  “My wife believed so.”

  She stopped on the stairwell and looked up at him. “Do you have room for one more?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Josh was a little taken aback when his father told him. She was a stranger. He wasn’t against Ella going with them but he had his reservations, as did Ryan. “She’s definitely not riding in the cab with us.”

  That was one of the conditions.

  “I didn’t say she would.”

  “Good,” Josh replied.

  Although it was an odd request, having a nurse with a bag of meds to watch over Lily after the snake bite was helpful.

  But why them?

  Why now?

  His questions weren’t without reason. He didn’t trust anyone.

  Had his uncle gone with them, the arrangement of having him travel in the rear of the pickup truck would have been the same at least for a few days, while they monitored him.

  Curious, Josh probed for an answer.

  Ryan said Ella wanted out. She was tired. The situation wasn’t improving and they’d lost more people than they were able to help. His father had shown him the dead from the roof. Mounds of bodies piled up like trash.

  It was terrifying.

  So, it was agreed. She would go with them.

  Under the cover of darkness, they’d exited while the lynch mob on the far side were kept busy by soldiers. They made it as far as Acadia Parish. It was a good two hours, and a hundred miles later before they had to stop for gas. They’d traveled south down Highway 26 and east along Interstate 10 without issue. The roads were for the most part barren as the threat of infection forced people back into their homes. They’d passed a group of students whose broken-down sedan was at the edge of the road with steam pouring out of it. They thumbed a ride but his father didn’t stop.

  No one in their right mind would as there were only three types of people now on the streets.

  Those trying to get somewhere safely.

  Those trying to spread the pathogen.

  And those seeking to kill.

  All three were equally dangerous.

  The rest were the dead. Those whose lives were ended by themselves or others.

  That’s what made stopping a last resort.

  Safety was an illusion. And what made it even more challenging was they couldn’t trust the graffiti announcing “safe zones” seen on barns and walls along the way, as there was no way of telling if those were legitimate or a means of luring in unsuspecting victims.

  Traps were set for the infected, and the infected set traps for those who weren’t.

  Both had the same agenda. To kill and survive.

  The truck started coughing, and Ryan tapped the fuel gauge.

  “I thought you said we weren’t out yet?”

  “I know.” He tapped it again. “Damn thing must be broken.”

  The truck rolled to the edge of the road just on the outskirts of Rayne, a place known as the Frog Capital of the World. Ryan reached over and brought up a list of gas stations on the GPS. He got out and collected a ten-gallon gas canister. “It’s only half a mile walk from here to a Mobil station. I’ll get some gas and bring it back.”

  “And leave us here?” Ella asked.

  “There’s no point all of us going”

  “Or…” Josh said, pointing down the road to several vehicles that were in a ditch. “We could try and siphon gas.”

  “Why do I get the feeling you did that before the outbreak?”

  Josh exited with a mischievous smile. “Give me the tank, I’ll get it.”

  “I think not.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  Josh looked at Ella. Maybe it was her Ryan didn’t trust. If so, it was a little late now to be second-guessing. They’d placed Ella in the back of the truck to be sure she wasn’t a carrier of the pathogen. Her appearance didn’t send that message but they couldn’t risk it. Even though she was in nursing scrubs, hands and face covered when they first met, the only way Ryan would agree to take her was if she got a blood test. That’s what she’d done in the early hours of the morning at the hospital. Apparently, the infection showed in the blood. It was all clear.

  Still, Ryan wasn’t ready to let his guard down. They had no way of knowing if the results were from earlier. For all they knew she could have been infected the day they arrived. Hence the reason she was riding in the back for a few days. “Come on,” Josh said. “I’m gloved, masked, my eyes are covered.” He was wearing shades, an N95 mask, and his hood was up. Lily was still wearing her motorcycle helmet even though she’d been offered a mask. His helmet was on the motorcycle when the barn burned down.

  “No, I’ll do it,” Ryan said.

  “Suit yourself. At some point, you’ll have to trust me.”

  Ryan stopped and looked back at him. There was a moment of reluctance then he said, “All right. Here you go. Just make it quick.”

  Josh grinned as he took the gas container and hose and made his way over to a black Mercedes SUV. It was a good fifty yards away. Another vehicle was near it, the b
ack end crushed. The windows on the side were smashed. One of the doors was open on the passenger side. Josh looked back at them and left the road, pitching sideways down an embankment to get to the vehicles. Cars run off the road were common. The infected used their vehicles to collide with others head-on, others they’d clipped and forced off the road, then swarmed the occupants.

  Holding the empty gasoline canister and tubing in one hand, and the Glock in the other, Josh made his way to the side and peered through the window. A woman was slumped over the steering wheel, face sideways, features turned away from him. Her one ear had dry blood coming out of it. A crusty red stain was spread over her face and neck.

  His thoughts went back to his mother. The videos she sent him of those who had succumbed to the virus. The passenger seat was empty. Nearby was a young boy who’d been shot in the back multiple times.

  Josh scanned his surroundings.

  It was quiet. No one around.

  The gas cap was locked.

  To open it meant reaching in and pulling up the latch on the floor of the vehicle, he wasn’t that stupid. Josh set the gas cans down and slipped off his backpack.

  “You okay?” Ryan shouted.

  Josh gave him the thumbs-up. He fished through his bag for the knife and stuck the tip of it in the thin gap to pry open the cover. It didn’t take much force to get it to pop. He unscrewed the gas cap and stuck the tubing inside and began the process of siphoning out the gas. Gasoline flooded out and he spat it off to the side before letting it flush into the gas can.

  The world around him was peaceful even if it was dangerous.

  The can was almost filled when the sound of birds chirping and breaking away from the trees caught his attention.

  He squinted at the road which had heatwaves vibrating across the top.

  He heard the rumble of the engine before he saw what kind of vehicle it was.

  “C’mon, c’mon,” he said under his breath, looking down into the canister.

  While they had passed other vehicles along the way, the ever-present threat from the infected or those taking matters into their own hands was at the forefront of his mind.

  Ryan had seen it.

  “Josh. Let’s go!”

  “It’s nearly full.”

  “Leave it.”

  He wasn’t about to do that. Not now. If he left it, there was a chance whoever was driving would take it. Without that, they weren’t getting anywhere.

  With nowhere to drive, Ryan, Ella, and Lily got out and made their way down into the ditch and across to the tree line to take cover. All the while he was calling to Josh to leave it.

  As he got the last few drops into the canister, he tore out the tubing and pulled back behind the rear end of the SUV.

  Ryan kept beckoning him to come but the vehicle was too close.

  He would have been spotted if he hadn’t been already.

  Josh waved at Ryan to step back into the tree line as he lifted the unlocked trunk of the SUV just enough that he could climb in. Inside, it smelled rancid, like someone had vomited. He could hear flies buzzing around the driver’s rotting body at the front.

  He found a blanket in the rear and covered himself, looking up at the dark-tinted windows. Listening intently, his hand on the gun, he waited for the vehicle to drive by. “Keep going, keep going,” he said.

  They didn’t.

  Gravel crunched and two doors slammed. Hooting and hollering followed.

  “Jimmy, we got a live one over here.”

  He thought the man was referring to him but there must have been someone alive in the next vehicle farther down. What followed next, startled him.

  A gunshot rang out then someone started singing the chorus to the song by Queen, “Another one bites the dust.”

  “She was a good-looking girl. Such a shame.”

  More laughter followed. They were heartless. Lacking any empathy.

  “Niles, shut up and check the next vehicle.”

  Heavy footfalls got closer. A shadow lingered near the front. The driver’s door opened at the front of the vehicle he was in. “Oh man, this is rank. Geez, Louise. It’s a no-go here unless of course, you’re into necrophilia.” The guy laughed.

  The door slammed shut and he heard him come around to the rear. Josh’s heartbeat sped up. He wouldn’t think twice to shoot the guy if he opened the trunk.

  Sure enough, the rear opened but only a crack and for just a second before whoever was at the back let it go. “Oh, what do we have here? Hey, Jimmy!”

  Had they seen his father? He wanted to pull off the blanket and steal a look but by the sound of the conversation outside there were at least three of them, two males and a female.

  Three rounds erupted in rapid succession.

  For a second he thought that maybe his father had opened fire on them.

  Taking them out. Ending their pitiful existence.

  But when he heard the strangers’ voices outside he feared the worst.

  As he was about to take a look, the vehicle shifted ever so slightly. Through the thin blanket, he could just make out the shape of two individuals pressed up against the side. Were they making out? Sick. How could anyone get turned on around death? He could hear them slurping up a storm.

  “Hey!” A woman said.

  “Shut up.”

  “Don’t grope so hard.”

  “Stop fussing.”

  A slap followed. “I told you I don’t like that!”

  Josh stifled a laugh. The female wasn’t taking any shit.

  “Remind me again why I put up with your crap?”

  “Likewise,” she shot back. “Asshole.”

  Movement at the back of the vehicle. A hand pressed against the window.

  “Did you find anything, Niles?”

  “Oh, just a little something.”

  Little?

  He heard their footsteps get faint, then doors slam shut and an engine growl as a vehicle tore away at a high rate of speed. Josh waited there for a second or two before he pulled off the blanket and peered around.

  They were gone.

  He got out of the vehicle and double-timed it over to the tree line where he last saw his father. He expected to find all three dead, the victims of strangers. “Lily! Ella. Dad?”

  “Josh,” his father said.

  He whirled around to find them coming out of the forest, just a short distance from where they had gone in. Relief washed over him. “You okay?”

  Josh lifted the canister. “Got the gas.”

  “Next time let me do it.”

  “Be my guest,” he said, thinking about the smell in that vehicle and his heart pounding. “Which way did they go?” Josh asked.

  Ryan pointed in the opposite direction. He took the canister from Josh and emptied it into the truck. They collected some more from the second vehicle, extra so they wouldn’t have to stop again for a while. Josh got back into the vehicle and Lily leaned into him, holding him tight. It wasn’t easy for her. This was no life for a child.

  Ella climbed into the rear.

  Ryan turned on the radio as they rolled out. Some preacher came on talking about the event being God’s way of punishing the world for their sins.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lafayette was a bust. It was to be expected, they’d been lucky so far. A clear shot down from the city of DeRidder, they’d seen a few blockades but none they couldn’t get around. Now with gas in the tank, they were willing to wait until they reached a small town to find food rather than stop in a big city, but that wasn’t to be.

  The sky was blue but with heavy dark clouds rolling in from the west.

  Interstate 10 was the main artery that cut through the city heading east. The wide road had suffered one crash after another. It had to have been the largest multi-car wreck he’d ever seen. It stretched for miles, covering parts of the grassy median.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Ryan said.

  He eased off the gas, bringing the truck to a cra
wl at the sight of the tangled mess. He scanned openings. Was it possible to get through? Maybe, maybe not but getting stuck wasn’t the only thing that concerned him. “We’ll have to go around.”

  “But that’ll add hours onto the day,” Josh said. “Can’t we try to weave through it?”

  “We could try but if there are carriers among that wreckage which more than likely there are, we’d be trapped. No, we can…” he tapped the GPS, narrowing his eyes as he concentrated. “Come off here and join Highway 725 then wing it north on 723 and join Mouton Road east.” He reversed, swung the SUV around, headed across the median, and took them back a mile down the road before coming off an exit ramp.

  Ella tapped on the rear window.

  Ryan didn’t want to explain it again so Josh told her.

  They hadn’t been traveling for more than ten minutes when Lily said, “I’m hungry.”

  “Here.” Josh gave her a granola bar. “Ryan, we’ll need to stop at some point and get something to eat.”

  “It’s dad, not Ryan. And until we make it past this city we aren’t stopping.”

  “If the roads are anything like that back there, we might not have a choice,” Josh replied, thumbing behind him. “It might be best to ride out the night somewhere, eat and continue rather than burn fuel and veer all over the state.”

  “Josh, this is the first exit we’ve taken.”

  “Just saying. It might be the…”

  “I’m driving, okay?”

  “All right.” He waited for a second or two before he added, “You didn’t get much sleep last night, did you?”

  “I got enough.”

  Ryan was irritable. The heat of the day felt stifling. Then of course that close encounter with those freaks on the road had unnerved him. It was one thing agreeing to travel to Florida, another to face the risks. He noted several cars and trucks pass them. He scanned the scared faces inside. Not everyone was out to hurt others, the majority were trying to avoid people, not face them.