by J. N. Baker
“Zoe, thank God you’re all right.” Alec motioned for Trent to steer the boat up next to us. Jade leaned over the side to help pull Josh out of the water. I reached a hand up to Alec. As he started to pull me up, something grabbed hold of my leg and yanked me back down. Alec yelled for help as whatever had me tugged on my leg a second time. The skin on my calf tore like tissue paper and I slipped farther down Alec’s arm.
I gasped. “Something’s got me!”
“Don’t let go!” Alec shouted, his fingers digging into my forearm, drawing blood.
Another tug and I went under. Whatever had me dragged me down, the pressure building in my ears. Blood clouded around me as red eyes pierced the darkness. A sword sliced through the water, but it wasn’t mine. Alec. He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the surface. I gasped for air, coughing up bloody seawater.
“Get her on the boat,” he ordered, throwing his sword over the edge and boosting himself back on board.
The boat rocked as Josh and Cody hoisted me on board. As they set me on my feet, my leg gave out. I winced as I tried to stand, a long talon embedded deep within my calf muscle, piercing the bone. I pried the eight-inch claw out with steady fingers and flung it overboard. Cindy stared at me with wide eyes, shocked into silence, a first for her.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I grumbled, dripping blood on the wooden floorboards.
The city was in ruins—what we could actually see of it. The sun never rose, leaving the world around us in darkness. William was right—the endless night was here.
Unfortunately, my enhanced eyes were more than happy to adjust so I could see every mortifying detail of the shattered world around us. If the gasps and cries from within the boat were any indication, I’d say I wasn’t the only one whose eyes had adjusted to the dark.
The tops of buildings were barely visible above the water. That was, the buildings that were somehow still standing, of which there weren’t many. Debris floated all around us, from chunks of roofs to uprooted trees. A guitar case bobbed alongside the boat and I thought of my own guitar case, now buried somewhere under the abyss. I couldn’t help but wonder what other horrors lay beneath the murky waters. As we coasted farther into the city and the water level gradually receded, I figured I wouldn’t have to wonder for much longer. Hell was rising from the depths.
As the water slowly dropped, the bile quickly rose. I clamped my hands over my mouth and nose—whether to hold the vomit back or keep the putrid stench out, I wasn’t sure. Piles of rubble where buildings once stood began to appear around us, overturned vehicles, and bodies—so many bodies. They popped up from their watery graves, floating around the boat, bumping against its hull. At first, Alec tried to steer around them, but there were just too damn many. We plowed through them. Cindy threw up at Cody’s feet before blessedly passing out. If only I were so lucky.
“Keep your eyes open,” Alec muttered as we passed three survivors huddled on top of an exposed pile of concrete. “Desperation makes people do stupid things.”
They almost didn’t look human with their hunched backs and bloodshot eyes. They watched us closely, like rabid animals. Those weren’t the only survivors we found. Some called out to us for help, begging, pleading, bribing. Others didn’t even notice us, they just sat and cried. And some just stared out at us as if we weren’t even real—as if they were already dead. The ones who freaked me out the most were the ones like the three we saw on the concrete pile—the ones who looked like they’d already lost their sanity along with all humanity.
All the survivors had one thing in common: they didn’t look like they’d be survivors for long.
After an hour of drifting through the destruction, we reached the mouth of the highway, where the water dropped farther, unable to penetrate the elevated mountainside. I wasn’t sure what the plan was. We were well past William’s one-hour window. I could only imagine his level of pissed off right about now. It gave me a sick sense of pleasure.
Without warning, our boat ran aground, sending the humans on board tumbling to their knees. The boat rocked back and forth, teetering as I stepped to the side to look into the water. It was maybe three feet deep. I swung myself over the edge, splashing the filthy water across Tiffany’s face as she leaned out to get a better look. She shrieked and I stifled a laugh.
“Now what?” Tiffany snarled, shooting me a venomous glare. I contemplated taking a vote to leave her behind but I wasn’t too sure Josh would go along with it. Besides, I had taken responsibility for her. A decision I was already regretting.
“We need to get to higher ground—someplace fairly level and preferably not under water,” Alec answered.
“I take it William’s got a helicopter?” Trent asked, joining us in the water. Jade hopped in after him.
Alec nodded. “Military grade. We…borrowed it from a couple of Baldric’s vampires after the tsunami hit.”
Josh climbed out of the boat and scanned the surrounding area as he helped ease Tiffany into the filthy water. “What about the highway?” he finally said. “It’s a higher elevation than the rest of the city. We could take it until we find a good landing spot.”
All eyes fell to the highway stretched out in front of us. It was sloped just enough that it likely wasn’t flooded like the rest of the city. Even with any damage from the earthquake, the highway was bound to have some place for the helicopter to land.
“That should work,” Alec agreed.
“Um,” Cindy said, pointing to something in the sky—or a lack of something. “Like, where’d the overpass go?”
Cody leapt into the water like he was about to paddle out and catch some waves. “I’m guessing it’s that ugly ass pile of rubble.”
“Oh my God,” Tiffany gasped, disgust heavy in her voice. “Are we going to have to climb over that?”
“What do you think, princess?” Jade sneered, rolling her eyes. “How else do you think we’re going to get to the other side? Magical fairy dust?”
“Listen up,” Alec said before Tiffany could lunge at Jade. I would’ve liked to have seen her try. Alec tossed the boat keys onto the captain’s chair and slipped into the water beside me. “I will teleport to William and lead him back to you all.”
“You’re leaving us?” Cindy squeaked as she swung her legs over the edge of the boat and dropped into the murky water. Being the shortest of the eight of us, the water reached well past her navel.
“Come on, doll face,” Trent purred, hoisting Cindy up so that she straddled his shoulders. “Wouldn’t want that pretty face of yours to get muddy.”
Cindy giggled and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Don’t encourage her,” I mumbled, and Trent laughed. He didn’t know the monster he was creating for himself.
“I won’t be gone long,” Alec assured her, though Cindy seemed to have already forgotten all about Alec’s impending departure, rubbing her hands over Trent’s smooth head with intense fascination.
Alec turned and reached out for me, taking my hand in his. “Be safe,” he whispered, placing a kiss in my palm.
“Always,” I replied and he gave me a half smile.
“Make sure to stay on the highway,” he said, directing his attention back to the others. “Try to find a spot that’s clear for landing. I’ll get to William and the others and we will be here as quick as we can. And stay together. Got it?”
He didn’t wait for us to respond, vanishing into thin air.
“Show-off,” Trent muttered.
“Cody, where are you going?” I asked as he made his way farther into the water.
“Dude, I gotta take a piss.”
“Ew!” Cindy shrieked.
Below her Trent shrugged. “I mean, I already did but I wasn’t about to announce it.”
“What? It’s not like this is some fancy ass swimming pool,” Cody argued.
“All right,” Jade said, clapping her hands, “you heard Alec. Over the river and through the woods we go.”
“Dude,” Cody s
aid incredulously, “you did not just Little Red Riding Hood our asses.”
Jade simply shrugged and started to trudge up the slope of the highway with Trent and Cindy on her heels, dodging fallen debris and overturned cars that were blessedly vacant.
Josh looked to me for further guidance and I just seconded Jade’s shrug. “You heard her, let’s go, kids. Don’t want to get eaten by any big bad wolves now, do we?”
Cody smirked, bending down as he passed me. “But what if I get hungry?”
I reached up and smacked the back of his head and we laughed. Even Tiffany couldn’t hide her smile. Something about having our feet back on solid ground lifted our spirits. Maybe it was because we no longer thought that at any minute we were going to drown, or the fact that the rain had finally let up. Or maybe it was because for the first time in an hour we didn’t have a dead body within three feet of us. But as we reached the pile of rubble that used to be the small two-lane overpass, all laughter fell away from us.
The massive pile of concrete and steel was indeed the old overpass, complete with a handful of crushed cars that were unable to get out of the way in time. If the smell of blood was any indication, those cars were not so blessedly empty. So much for not being surrounded by dead bodies.
“Let’s go,” Jade grumbled, starting up the pile.
We followed, carefully climbing over the broken concrete. When we got to the top of the pile, we sucked in a collective breath.
The highway was…empty. Aside from the occasional smashed or upturned vehicle buried in a ditch and debris scattered across the road, there was nothing.
“Shouldn’t there be more cars?” Trent asked, speaking what was likely on all our minds.
“Did they—” Cindy paused, worrying her bottom lip. “Did they all make it out?”
My eyes swept from left to right, taking in the flattened trees and waterlogged soil on either side of the highway. And then it hit me.
I dropped from the pile into the knee-high water and took off.
“Zoe, wait!” someone called after me. “We have to stay together!”
I sprinted through the water, following the highway a good half-mile until the water dropped to my ankles and I skidded to a stop in front of a much larger, still-standing overpass.
“What the fuck are you—” The words fell away from her lips as Jade rushed up behind me.
It was like one mangled mountain of steel.
Hundreds of vehicles were piled high along the overpass, like someone had dumped out their entire childhood collection of Hot Wheels over it—Hot Wheels, trees, telephone poles, and heaps of garbage. Headlights shone brightly through the darkness, illuminating the destruction.
Cars stacked on cars, stacked on trucks, stacked on more cars. The mountain of metal and debris reached the top of the overpass and stretched out on either side of it, a giant bloody line marking where the wave fizzled and died out.
I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch William in the face. I wanted to do something—it was all I’d ever wanted to do. An anonymous tip, a well-placed bribe to the right scientist, a fucking carrier pigeon. I knew it would have been a risk and I damn well knew that not everyone would have believed the warning, but some might have. Josh had. How many more could have gotten out in time? I punched my fist through the passenger window of what was once a Subaru hatchback, savoring the sensation of the glass tearing into my skin—anything to keep the “what ifs” at bay.
“Holy shitballs,” Cody breathed as he and the others jogged toward us.
“Seriously?” Tiffany whined. “Another one to climb?”
I had her on her back in the filthy water before she knew what hit her. She kicked and screamed beneath me, the water dangerously close to her face, but I held firm to her throat. Somewhere behind me Cindy cried out for me to stop.
I brought my face down to Tiffany’s, keeping her securely pinned beneath me. She was stronger than she looked, I’d give her that. But all the Pilates classes in the world were no match for me. “They’re all dead,” I growled. “Do you understand that? They’re dead and you’re still alive.”
“For now,” Jade added, just loud enough to ensure Tiffany had heard her.
I released her and straightened, rolling my shoulders to release a fraction of the tension. “Be grateful,” I spat, stepping away from her before I did any permanent damage.
“Zoe…” Josh started, taking a tentative step toward me.
“Don’t,” I snapped, holding up a hand to stop him.
With that, I stormed into the maze of mangled metal, thousands of unseeing eyes staring at me as I started my climb.
An uncomfortable silence settled over the group as we huffed and puffed over the mountain of cars and debris. Even the forest around us lay silent, all the animals long gone.
As we reached the top, Cindy scrabbled up beside me, breaking the silence.
“Who is she?” she whispered, head jerking back not-so-subtly. I followed her gaze to a struggling Tiffany. Of course, Josh was at her side, helping her climb over the front end of a busted-up minivan. When I didn’t immediately answer, Cindy poked my arm persistently as she’d always done when she wanted intel. It brought a little bit of normalcy back to my life.
“His girlfriend,” I mumbled, failing to keep the resentment out of my voice. I failed. It wasn’t like I thought Josh would never have a girlfriend or that he wasn’t able to get one. He could, and with very little effort. I just wasn’t quite ready to share him with someone else, not yet. Not that I had any claim to him.
I stepped carefully onto the cracked overpass. I was fairly certain the only thing holding it up was the cars that were jam packed beneath it. The concrete creaked underfoot in a few areas as we tiptoed across it. But, surprisingly, it held. When I reached the other side of the overpass, I risked looking down at what was to come.
An overturned big rig stretched across the width of the highway below us. If I had to guess, it was knocked off the overpass during the tsunami, if its caved-in side was any indication.
A hissing sound rose from within the truck and we froze.
“What is that?” Cody asked, but I was already scrambling down to the truck, hopping from car to car.
The heavy scent of death hit me hard as I climbed onto the side of the truck and tore the warped passenger door off the cab. Dropping in beside the very dead driver, I searched for the source of the hissing noise. I was almost positive I knew what it was. I followed the sound of static to where the CB radio had torn free of its metal cage and landed on the still flooded floorboard beside the driver’s feet.
I pulled the radio as far as the cord would allow, trying to put space between the dead man and myself. I got as far as the edge of the passenger seat before the cord tugged me back. I set the CB radio on my lap and tried to find the volume knob. The radio hissed more static.
“Popula—” Static. “estimation ninet—” Static. “—cent dead.” Static. “World disas—” Static. “kills all.” Static. “The en—” Static. “is here. May God—” Static. “—ve merc—” Static. “on our—”
White noise scratched at my ears as the transmission cut out.
“Looks like communication’s gone,” Josh mumbled.
“Everything’s gone,” I corrected, tossing the radio back into the cab before hopping down from the tall truck.
No electricity. No connection with the outside world. No chance for a new life. Soon the last remaining remnants of our world would be extinct. Gas would run dry, clean water would be scarce and food would become stale. People would struggle just to stay alive. The small percentage of survivors would continue to dwindle until it reached practically nothing.
Most of the people we’d seen wouldn’t last more than a couple of days—if that. A lack of medication would lead to infection, and inevitably, death. Not to mention the effect solitude could inflict on a person’s sanity. Suicide would wreak havoc among lone travelers, and there’d be a lot of those.
&nbs
p; The world would be a much different place than it once was. Nothing would ever be the same again. Soon, even the memories would die. The past would be forgotten. The present would challenge even the most skilled survivalist; and the future, well, it was uncertain, to say the least.
“We should keep going a little farther,” I said over my shoulder. “The highway isn’t quite level yet.”
No one argued. Maybe they all wanted to get away from the dead just as much as I did.
After about forty-five minutes of sitting in complete darkness on an empty stretch of highway with nothing but the forest and each other to keep us company, the sound of chopper blades sliced through the silence.
Jade and I heard it before the others, standing and searching the blackened sky.
“What’s going on?” Josh asked.
Trent turned his ear up to the sky and I thought I saw something shift on the side of his head. “The helicopter is coming,” he announced for us.
A minute later, the large military helicopter came into view, its spotlight fixed on the seven of us, illuminating the highway as it eased out of the sky and touched down.
A window near the front of the helicopter slid opened and Ryuu popped his head out, flashing a wide grin. Was that the muzzle of a machine gun under his chin? “It’s about time you joined us,” he said.
The metal sliding doors on the side of the aircraft flew open, revealing Alec standing in the opening, illuminated by the interior lights of the helicopter. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.
One by one, we filed into the large chopper, strapping ourselves into the two rows of seats. I took my seat beside Alec in the front row along with Jade and Trent. Cindy, Cody, Tiffany, and Josh took the ones that backed up to ours. William and Annie were side by side in the cockpit, headpieces strapped securely over their ears. Ryuu reclined in his chair, which was most definitely a gunner chair, his feet propped up on a very large machine gun. William flipped switches on the large dashboard and the helicopter slowly lifted into the air.
