End of the Line | Part 1

by Levi, Casey

  Kristen could not seem to find her voice to scream. She felt the burn of vial as it crawled up her throat. She hunched over, and dry heaved. Her insides felt like they were coming up, and it took all her energy to keep from falling to her knees.

  “Oh my god, guys!” Julie screamed at them.

  Kristen managed to look at what Julie was pointing at, but instantly regretted it. Running down the entrance of the parking garage, about five or six people were running in their direction, and they were running fast. Julie grabbed Kristen’s hand, and the five them ran towards Julie’s jeep. Reed, Bodie, and Kristen all crammed themselves in the back seat.

  Aran started the jeep and put it in reverse, but the crowd of people ran up to the jeep and started hitting at all the windows, causing one to crack.

  “Aran go!” Julie screamed in terror.

  Aran slammed on the gas, knocking the people out of the way. He flipped it in drive and floored it down the parking garage and up the ramp. When they reached the exit, Aran slammed on the brakes, and Kristen flew forward. She looked up, and gasped. The air was filled with smoke from many fires that could be seen throughout the city, and people were running around the streets screaming. Some were attacking other people, and cars were driving in rage all over the road.

  “What the…” Kristen muttered, not being able to finish her sentence.

  “Hey!” A man hit Julie’s window, and they all jump in surprise. “Please help me!”

  “Uh, Kris? Isn’t that Tyler?” Julie turned towards Kristen.

  “I…” Her voice trailed off as Reed shifted next to her.

  “Kristen, is that you? God, please help me. They’re everywhere.” He hit the window again in panic.

  “Get in the back!” Aran shouted at him.

  Tyler ran around to the back of the jeep and jumped into the back slamming the tailgate closed. “We need to get the hell out of here. This place is going to shit.”

  “Do you know what’s going on?” Kristen turned to face Tyler.

  “No. I woke up this morning to go to the gym and walked out to this.” He waved his hand out in front of him.

  No one said anything else as they stared out the windows of the jeep. Kristen looked straight ahead. The chaos that was breaking out in front of her was too much. The screams coming from outside of the jeep, the burning buildings, the awful high-pitched shrieking. It was like living in a nightmare, and then the thought of Mairland freaked her out. The way she had attacked Bodie, and then that man. She had to force the thoughts out of her head. She was ashamed that they hadn’t even helped that man- or Mairland.

  “We need to get out of here. I don’t care where, but anywhere is better than here.” Aran put the jeep in drive and pulled onto the road.

  Kristen was not sure where they would go, but she did not care as long as it was somewhere far away from here. She stared out the window in horror as Aran flew up the ramp to the highway and swerved around crashed cars. People were running towards them screaming, and some were trying to outrun those who were trying to attack them. California was burning down, and if they did not get out, they would go down with it.

  Kristen’s mind raced with possibilities of what was happening. Could this have been a terrorist attack, and people were going crazy because of it? She even thought of the possibility of it being a zombie apocalypse, but almost laughed at how ridiculous she would have sounded. It had to be a terrorist attack. Right?

  She watched as the highway began to clear the further along they drove, and letting out a deep breath, she leaned her head back against the seat. She wrapped her arms around herself but could not seem to fight off the cold chill that crawled up her spine. Her eyes were heavy, and she tried to keep them open, but found herself nodding off until finally she drifted into a disturbing sleep.

  * * *

  Kristen opened her eyes to see the sun setting lower in the sky. The bright orange and yellow hues lit up the mountain side and was slowly casting dark shadows throughout the valley. She was not sure how long she had been out for but looking around she saw nothing but clear roads and desert.

  Sometime during her sleep, she had cuddled up next to Reed. She welcomed the warmth of his body as it seeped into her cool skin, and she could smell the faint scent of his cologne he had been wearing last night. It reminded her of how close she was to him. She was tempted to move away, but he shifted next to her, and then his lips brushed against her ear.

  “Kristen?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you okay?” His voice was laced with concern.

  “Not really…” She let her voice trail off because she was not okay, and she still did not know if what she saw this morning was real or not. The whole situation was messed up.

  “I’m sorry about last night.”

  Kristen sat up and looked at him. She was not expecting the sudden subject change. “What?”

  “I should have talked to you…”

  She shook her head at him. “Please don’t. You don’t need to say anything.”

  Reed took her hand in his. “But I do. I have been stupid. I should have told you a long time ago Kristen.” She could feel her heart drop. “I do love you, and I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you last night, or any other night. Instead I tried to pick a fight with you, and then Mairland kissed me… I swear to you that it meant nothing.”

  She did not know how to respond to him at first, but then said. “I know Reed. Mairland told me this morning… before everything happened.”

  Reed pulled on her hands until she was leaning into him. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. The smell of his cologne tickled her nose, but he smelled so good that she buried her face in the crook of his neck. He loosened his grip on her and leaned down but stopped just barley an inch away from her lips. His deep blue eyes searched her chocolate brown eyes, and before she could have time to react, he pressed his lips against hers.

  She welcomed the softness of his full lips, and as his kiss became deeper, more urgent, she opened to him. His tongue invaded her mouth, and for a moment she had completely forgotten that they were in a car full of people. She had wanted this for an exceedingly long time, and now that she had, had a taste of him, she wanted more. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled on it to deepen their kiss until they both had to pull away. Panting for air, they stared at each other intensely, both wanting more but knowing the time was not right.

  Reed softly pressed his lips to hers one more time. “I love you Kristen.”

  “I love you too Reed.” She kissed him back, and then rested her head against his chest.

  Kristen could not help but drift in and out of sleep. This morning was like waking up to a nightmare, and now with her and Reed. It was honestly physically draining for so much to happen in such a brief time. But as she drifted, her dreams only became more disturbing. She wondered if this was happening everywhere, or just in Long Beach.

  ‘What if it was happening everywhere? What would they do? Where would they go?’

  She hated to think about it and tried to push it aside, but her thoughts grew more vivid. She opened her eyes and sat up a little. She could not seem to get the image of Mairland attacking that man out or her head, and it was starting to make her nauseous. She did not want to think about that and everything that she could have done to help that man. She wanted to know what exactly happened to Mairland, and why she had attacked that man and Bodie.

  She looked out the window and stared at the passing scenery to help distract her mind. She tried to take in the beauty of the nature around her, and thought that maybe if the situation were different, she would have loved to take pictures. It was not helping though, all she could see was blood, and the violent images of this morning. She jerked her head forward, and noticed a sign coming up on the right. When they got closer, Aran slowed down so they could read how much further it was to the next town.

  “Barstow is about ten miles out from here.” Aran said as he sped up again.


  “Hopefully, we can find out what’s going on.” Julie said, trying to sound hopeful.

  “Well what about the radio?” Kristen sat up more and stretched her arms out.

  “No, we tried that when you were asleep. All the stations are on standby.” Reed unwrapped his arm from around her and rubbed his hands over his face.

  “What does that even mean?” Kristen bit down on her bottom lip nervously.

  “We’re not sure…” He let his voice trail off.

  Kristen scrunched her eyebrows together and sat back in her seat. What did that mean? Was there no help? Was the rest of the world like California? She huffed out a breath and glanced over at Bodie. She crumpled her brows more at the sight of him. He looked fine, but he was quiet, which was odd for him.

  “How’s your hand?”

  “It doesn’t really hurt anymore.” He looked at her and smiled. Kristen did not understand how he was so calm about it. Just looking down at the soiled shirt, and the image of his hand had her freaking out. She hoped that he would be okay, and that he really was not in pain.

  Tyler suddenly bolted up right from the back of the jeep, and Kristen jumped right into Reed. She had forgotten he was back there. “He’s been bitten!? You need to kick him out of the car!”

  “What? We are not just going to kick our friend out of the car. Are you crazy?” Kristen turned around in the seat at glared at Tyler.

  “If you don’t, he will turn, and then we’re all dead!”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Stop the car now!” Tyler yelled as he started to open the tailgate.

  “Are you freaking crazy? We are in the middle of nowhere.” Julie swung around in her seat. She looked like she was ready to jump in the back seat and slap some sense into him.

  “Tyler what are you talking about? What did you mean by ‘turn’?” Kristen looked at him questioningly.

  “Please, just let me out.” Tyler did not bother to answer her question.

  Aran pressed down on the gas, and Tyler let out a frustrated growl. He turned around to open the back of the tailgate, but as he had it cracked opened, Reed grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled him back and caused the tailgate to slam shut.

  “Are you trying to get yourself killed? You need to calm down.”

  “Don’t touch me! Let me go!” Tyler pulled away from Reed’s grip.

  Aran flipped around in his seat and yelled at Tyler. “If you don’t sit down and shut up, I will pull this car over and kick your ass.”

  Tyler narrowed his eyes at all of them and sat back crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not dying in this car.”

  “Aran look out!” Julie screamed.

  Aran flipped back around in his seat and slammed on the breaks as he swerved the jeep to the left. The back bumper clipped the man that had been standing in the middle of the road. Aran tried to straighten the jeep out, but fishtailed off to the side of the highway, causing the jeep to flip. Kristen flew forward as the jeep turned upside down, and she fell right between Aran and Julie’s seat, smashing her head against the windshield. She let out a loud cry as the jeep continued to roll over and over.

  Everything was a blur, and all she could hear was the smashing of glass, and her friends’ screams. The jeep came to a stop and tipped back and forth for a few seconds. Kristen tried to open her eyes, but she could not see anything. Her head was pounding, and the world felt like it was spinning fast. She leaned up, but bile rose in her throat causing her to fall back. Darkness started to take over her, and then nothing.

  She saw nothing. She heard nothing. She felt nothing.

  7

  Chapter Seven

  There was no sound. No movements. Everything was eerily quiet. Fluttering her eyes, she tried to regain consciousness, but everything was disoriented. Closing her eyes, Kristen’s mind felt hazy. Her head began to spin, and she could feel the nausea crawling up her throat. Keeping her eyes closed, she moved her head to the side trying to remember what happened. It had happened so fast. The man in the middle of the road, Aran swerving, then the sounds of screaming filled her ears. The shattering of glass all around her as the jeep rolled over the paved highway. She wondered for a moment if it was possible that she was dead. The empty silence that surrounded her made the reality of it seem possible, but why didn’t she feel afraid?

  Fluttering her eyes open, she slowly tried to sit up but let out a cry of pain. Her head began to pulse as she grabbed at her swollen forehead. A warm sticky substance soaked through her fingertips, and as she pulled her hand away, she stared at the dark liquid. Wiping her hand on her boxer shorts, Kristen tried to lift herself up to a sitting position, but something heavy had fallen on her right leg and made it impossible for her to move. She looked around the upside-down jeep, staring at her friends’ unconscious bodies hanging from their seats, but she could not see Tyler anywhere. Looking back down at her leg, she slowly reached out and placed a shaky hand on the heavy object. Tyler.

  After several failed attempts to wake him, Kristen leaned her head back against the dashboard, and took in a deep breath. The sun was no longer in the sky and had left them surrounded by complete darkness in the middle of only god knows where. Her heart rate picked up speed at the thought of being alone out in the middle of nowhere, and a tingling sensation began to sting at the back of her neck.

  She suddenly got the feeling of being watched, and her body felt paralyzed in place. Building up some courage, Kristen slowly started to turn around. The windshield had shattered from the impact of the crash, leaving a huge hole in the middle with spider webbed lines stretching to every corner. Looking out, she could see nothing but the empty highway and endless road. That only made her feel more uneasy as she stared out into the darkness of nothing.

  Kristen had no time to react as a man lunged through the hole in the windshield, but his body got stuck halfway through. She tried to move over towards Julie’s unconscious body but struggled to get her foot loose from under Tyler. The man wildly swung his arms out at her and snatched a chunk of her hair. She screamed out, struggling to get her hair free from the man, but his grip only tightened. As he pulled her closer to him, she screamed louder. She feared that this was going to be the end for her, that this was how she was going to die. She was going to die by being ripped apart by one of those things.

  A groaning sound from the back of the jeep caught her attention as she tried to pull free from the man’s grip, and she screamed louder. Her scream was followed by a loud thump, a string of curses, and then faint movements. At first, she was afraid that whoever it was had passed out again, but when Reed appeared between the seats, she let out a sigh. He moved forward, and without hesitation he sliced at the man with his knife. The man let go of Kristen’s hair, and Reed stood up, and began kicking the man in the face until he was out the window.

  Leaning down, he looked her over. “Are you okay?”

  “I think so…” Kristen looked over herself, and then her eyes landed on Tyler’s body. “My leg is stuck under Tyler… I… I think he’s, dead.” She choked out the last word.

  Reed moved back and rolled Tyler’s body over on his side and off Kristen’s leg. Without saying anything, he shook his head no at her, and let out a deep breath. She could feel the remorse building inside her and pulled her legs up to her chest. She did not know him that well, but he did not deserve that fate. She had never seen a dead person, and in the past fifteen hours she had seen more then she could handle.

  “Bodie’s alive.” Reed said, bringing her out of her thoughts. “What about Aran and Julie?”

  “There okay.” Kristen hugged her legs tighter against her chest.

  Reed moved back to the front of the jeep towards her and kneeled. “You’re bleeding.” He took his shirt off, and gently dabbed at her forehead.

  “I’m fine.” She placed her hand on his to stop him. “It just hurts a little.”

  Reed dropped his hand and stared at her for a moment. “We need to get
out of here. Will you be okay to wake those two up while I get Bodie?”

  Kristen nodded as she set Reed’s shirt down. She waited for him to move to the back of the jeep, and then she slid in front of Julie’s unconscious body. She reached her hand out and started shaking her. “Julie? Julie wake up.”

  Julie stirred. “Kris?” Clearing her throat, she opened her eyes. “Why are you upside down? What happened?”

  “We crashed, and the jeep rolled. Are you hurt anywhere?” Kristen looked over Julie’s body.

  “I think I’m okay.” Julie paused. “What about Aran? Where’s Aran? Is he okay?”

  “Julie Aran’s fine. He’s just unconscious.” She tried to reassure her. “Reed is helping Bodie, and then he will come and help us.

  Julie nodded. They were both silent for a few moments, and Kristen watched as Julie tried to shift herself in her seat so she could look at her. “Kris? Do you really think this could be the end?”

  She did not look up at her. Kristen had briefly thought about the possibility of this being the end to their existence, but now actually thinking about it, she was not sure she wanted to know. She let out a sigh. “I don’t know Jules. I hope not, but if it is…” Kristen couldn’t bring herself to say anything else, so she let her voice trail off.

  The two of them sat in silence, letting the question hang in the air between them. She did not know what to say to her best friend for the first time in her life, and she was not sure she liked the feeling. She wished that she could say something to ease the situation but knew that nothing she said could take away what had happened. Leaning her head forward, Kristen rested her head on her knees. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and fall asleep, and when she woke up everything would be back to normal. Her head was beginning to spin, and she could feel the nausea creeping back up her throat.

  “Kris are you okay?” She felt the coldness of Julie’s fingers on her cheek as she brushed her hair away from her face.