Dead Last (Vol. 1): Dead Last

by Quaranta, Marc

Finally, Nick bumped me on the shoulder and nodded toward the building. No words were necessary anymore.

  The three of us hopped out and were on the lookout for anyone that may be around. There was nobody. A few empty cars, but not a single person. Being in the station not knowing what was happening was weird, but being out in the real world and seeing that there wasn’t a real-world left was terrifying.

  “I’ll grab drinks, Travis, you grab the food, Nick…I don’t know,” I felt weak and beaten. My stomach was in knots and I just wanted to be home in my bed lying down. We went through the sliding double doors and entered the gas station. Half of the store was already cleaned out. There were some water bottles left, at least a couple weeks’ worth, but most of it was sports drinks and soda. The amount of food was decent too, but it wouldn’t be too long before we had to make another trip out to get more. Next time, we’d definitely need to make a run to a grocery store, but hopefully the air will be better then. Hopefully, this would all be over by then.

  We ripped open a box of black trash bags and started loading up. I filled my bag with the water, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, and tea. I would have cracked one open and chugged, my throat felt dry, but it probably wasn’t safe. We’d need to get this stuff back to the station and soak it before putting our mouth on it.

  I saw Travis throwing in bags of chips, donuts, Twinkies, jerky, and all of the other snack foods. It’s all the station had. There were a couple of packaged deli sandwiches that I’m sure weren’t any good, but he threw them in anyways. At this point, food was food. Like Haylea said earlier, we can’t waste anything anymore.

  Suddenly, there was a huge explosion. It sounded like it was right next to us, but was at least a couple of miles away. Sounded like a jet plane or big rig blew up. It startled me and the others. I heard Nick fall back into a shelf of items and fall down onto the ground. I dropped a couple bottles of water that rolled away from me. I didn’t see Travis but heard him scream…like a girl.

  “You alright…” I started to ask Nick, but…fuck.

  Nick’s mask fell off when he dropped to the ground. The string must have been clipped by the corner of the shelf and dropped around his neck. I stared at him and I felt like I swallowed my entire heart. It was worse. He had a cut on his arm. It wasn’t bad, but a line of blood dripped down to his wrist.

  The water bottle that I picked up wasn’t in my hand long. I threw it as hard as I could against the wall. It popped open and water sprayed everywhere.

  “What’s wrong?” Travis came walking over and when he looked at Nick, his jaw dropped to the ground. The bag in his sand inch by inch was falling from his grip and then dropped to the ground.

  Nick stared at us like he had just seen a ghost, like he had been caught cheating on a girlfriend. I could see the fear in his eyes immediately.

  “I’m sorry, Nick,” I said.

  “What? No, no. I’m fine. Jack, I’m fine!” he rose to his feet.

  Travis and I, almost simultaneously, took a couple steps back in case he tried to charge us. He stopped and then took a step back. He knew. He knew what had to be done, but was in shock.

  “Jack, I’m fine. Look at me. I’m fine.”

  “You know we can’t let you back in the station,” I said to him. Even though Travis had to agree, I don’t think he was expecting me to actually say it to Nick.

  “Jack, come on, man. You can’t be serious,” he begged me.

  “You agreed with me back at the station. We can’t let anyone in who’s breathed in the air. You’ve got a cut on your arm, man. That’s going to get infected. You’re going to get infected. I’m sorry.”

  “No! This is fucking ridiculous. You can’t just leave me here!”

  “Come on, Travis,” I said. I stepped closer to Nick, bracing myself ready to swing if he came at me, and picked up the bag he had been filling. I looked him in the eyes, “I’m sorry.”

  I turned and walked away from him and Travis followed behind me. He didn’t say goodbye or that he was sorry. I think he would have broken down if he did. He cut the cord nice and quick and hopped into the back seat of the car.

  “Come on, Jack! Please, man. You can’t leave me here. You can’t,” at this point, there were tears in Nick’s eyes.

  “Don’t come back to the station, Nick. You’ll put us all in danger,” was the last thing I said to him before I got in the car and closed the door.

  “Jack, you fucking bastard!! I would never do this to you! You can’t leave me! Fuck you!” he shouted to me.

  I started the car and put it in drive. I drove by him, almost clipping him with the side because there wasn’t much room to turn around and then headed toward the exit.

  “Please! Please come back! I’m fine! Jack…Jack,” I don’t know if I was too far to hear him anymore or if his shouting faded away, but he stopped screaming for me. I looked in the mirror to see Travis. He was staring out the side window. His face was red. He kept swallowing; I think to fight back the tears.

  “Travis, if anyone asks…we hit a deer, okay? We hit a deer.”

  I looked back, but Travis didn’t respond at all. In my opinion, that means he was on board with that plan. If the group knew that I left a man to die on the side of the road, hit a girl with the van, and then left Nick to die…they would revolt against me.

  I repeated, softer to myself, “We hit a deer.”

  V

  Scott Daugherty, April 18th, 2013. 1:27 p.m.

  I remember having dreams. Every kid has a dream and I was no different. I had dreams of traveling the world or buying a vacation home in northern Montana and spending my summers there. I love Montana, but I'm a homegrown cowboy by heart. I was born and raised just south of Nashville, Tennessee. I got a lot of dreams. Some of them panned out, while others didn't. That's life, though. I can't look back and regret the things I didn't get a chance to do.

  I've got a nice life...well, I had one before all this garbage happened. For about three years, I had a beautiful wife, but unfortunately, just last October we were divorced. We left on good terms, though. Sometimes life brings you an opportunity, not to last you your whole life, but to see what you are made of. Some people are meant to teach you a lesson and then move on. We are still close, though. We have a five-year-old daughter, Marissa. She is my angel, my world. When Marissa's mother and I divorced, they moved up to Indiana to start new.

  I couldn't be away for too long. I tried to start over, myself, but it was too hard. All I could think about was Marissa. She was everything to me. I moved up to Indiana about two months ago and was put in touch with an old friend. He was the building manager at WTIX Indianapolis...the station that I now run. We both ran it together for about a month and a half, but then he moved on. On his last day, he confessed to me that he wasn't hiring a co-manager, but more of a replacement. He trained me in everything I needed to know and then moved up to Connecticut.

  There are still a couple things that I haven't picked up, yet. But I pride myself on being a very quick learner. If there is something I can't do, I make sure I learn it so that I can do it better than anyone. That's why I've accomplished so much. Now, I run my own building, I make my own hours, I set my own vacation time. I'm very comfortable. I'm able to give my daughter the life that she wants.

  That's all gone now.

  I don't know where Marissa is. I didn't get to hear her voice before we lost contact. I was one the phone with my ex-wife, but Marissa was on a play date with some of her friends from school. I guess a couple parents got together and took all the kids to the zoo for the day...they were outside, breathing the air, all morning long. If my wife is still alive, I don't know if I'll ever forgive her. She didn't do anything wrong, but because she wasn't with Marissa I didn't get to talk to my girl when I called...I blame my ex.

  The last thing my ex said to me was that she was going to get in the car and go find Marissa. I remember there were tears in my eyes as she was saying that. I knew she was going to die if she stepped outside, but
a part of me felt that she was going to make it. A part of me was confident that she would get to the zoo and find Marissa safely. I hung up the phone feeling like such a fool. Maybe they made it. Maybe they are both safe taking shelter somewhere like we are. Maybe I will be able to tell them I love them...both of them.

  I was doing a check of all the areas around the station where I thought there might be a possibility air was going to seep through. Everything, though, was sealed up tightly. Nothing was going to get into this building. We would be safe in here. I felt proud for a moment when I thought about how well kept the building had been since I started the job. Whenever a building is inspected in the future the inspector should really just ask, "Can people take cover in your building during an airborne outbreak and survive?" My building could.

  It had been almost an hour now since Jack, Nick, and Travis had left to get us more supplies. I didn't really know any of them. Jack was from Chicago, and even though Nick and Travis worked here, I didn't know them much either. Nick worked overnights and Travis came in at 3:30 in the morning to do the news. I didn't show up for work until around nine every morning. At that point Nick was home sleeping and Travis was out doing an assignment.

  Everybody in the station had a reputation, though. Nick was a hard-working guy. He was laid back, though. Somehow always seemed to get his work done, but never seemed to be working too hard. Travis...well Travis isn't really describable. He's got a hot girlfriend, though. Mmm. Jenny. She was a catch.

  "Excuse me?"

  Mmm. Speaking of catches. That young Clark girl was standing behind me looking sexy as ever. I was a bit older than her, about 31-years older, but with everything that had happened, would anyone care? She was so pretty. So young. Everything was still brand new to her...brand new on her.

  "Sorry, Scott?" she interrupted my thoughts.

  "Yea, sweetie, what can I do for you?"

  "My name's Elyse," she said reaching her hand out to me.

  "I know who you are," I took her hand in mine and a shiver ran down my spine. Her skin was so soft. So smooth. She was wearing a pair of jeans so tight they could have been painted on. She was quickly turning me on, but I had to cool it. She was Sam's daughter. If someone my age ever took a run at Marissa when she was 17, I'd kill him. Then I'd do CPR, bring him back to life, and kill him again.

  "I was wondering if there were any blankets around here. It's really cold and I don't have many layers here," she said to me.

  "I can see that," I looked her up and down. She only had a t-shirt that was almost as tight as her jeans. I could see the lining of her bra through her shirt. I couldn't help but stare. I hope she didn't notice, but a part of me, the lonely man inside, hoped she did.

  "So, are there?" she asked. I think she liked that I was checking her out.

  "There should be some in the anchor's dressing room. I'll show you," I waved her along. I was hoping she'd take the lead, but she didn't know where to go so I walked by her side. She kept a little distance between herself and me. Younger girls always play hard to get.

  "I'm sorry that it is so cold in here," I said to her. "Things can overheat pretty quickly because of all the equipment so I have to keep it at a low temperature. It's funny, one room will seem to be 30 degrees and the room right next to it will seem like a hot summer day."

  "Yea, I've noticed that," she walked with her arms folded. She must have been covering her cold chest.

  "But it's almost summer so hopefully things will...get hotter."

  She nodded and I smiled at her. When we got to the room, the blankets were folded on an overhead shelf that scaled the far wall. I pointed to the blankets and waited for her to move. At first, she didn't realize that I wasn't going to hand them to her. I didn't have time to, unfortunately.

  "They're right up there. Take as many as you want. I'm sure there are other people that are getting cold. Make sure the kids are fine, would you?" I asked and turned my shoulder to indicate to her that I was going to walk away.

  "Yes, sure. Thanks..." she forgot my name. It hurt me at first, but I realized it gave me a chance for her to hear it again. I think that is what she wanted. She just wanted to hear me say it.

  "Scott. Scott Daugherty," I smiled.

  "Well, thanks Scott."

  I nodded and she went to get the blankets. At that moment, I decided to stay. I tucked most of my body behind the corner of the wall and watched her. I wanted to make sure she would be able to reach the blankets. She couldn't have been more than 5'5.

  She reached for the top blanket but couldn't reach it. She decided to grab the bottom one and just pull the whole pile down off the shelf.

  She stood up on the tip of her toes and her shirt pulled up over her waistline. Her skin was very beautiful. It was only April and the sun hadn't been too hot so far in the early months of the year, but she was tan. She must have been to a couple tanning booths over the last couple weeks. Maybe her and her girlfriends just got back from a spring break vacation. Maybe she went to Florida and did some drinking, lying on the beach. She definitely knew she was a cute girl so I bet her bathing suits were quite revealing to drive all those boys crazy. I didn't see any tan lines though as she reached for the blankets. Maybe she did go to the tanning booth. She would be naked and that would explain not having any tan lines. Also, with how stretched out she was from reaching for the blankets, I should have seen her panties sticking out of her jeans, but I didn't. I guess she wasn't wearing those either.

  "What are you doing?" Haylea came around the corner and startled me.

  "Oh, Haylea. Hey. I was just showing Elyse...where the blankets were. Some people are getting cold."

  When I looked back, Elyse had pulled the blankets down and was picking them up off the ground. She bent over, but kept her back side positioned away from me. I couldn't exactly turn to get a good look at her with Haylea standing there judging every move I made. I don't understand who she thinks she is at times. There is nothing wrong with a couple that has over thirty years of an age difference. I wish she would understand that love comes in all forms.

  "Elyse, let me help you," Haylea ran over and took some off the blankets for herself. Elyse thanked her for the help and they left the dressing room.

  "Thanks, Scott," Elyse said to me.

  The two girls walked away from me to head back to the others in the group.

  Haylea turned the corner but before Elyse did, she looked back at me one last time. She didn't smile at me. Instead, she almost looked worried or concerned. I think she was upset that Haylea interrupted us. You might have called me crazy before, but once she looked back at me that one last time, I knew at that moment that she felt the same way about me. We'd get our moment alone soon enough. I couldn't wait.

  VI

  Jack Scoville

  I repeated softer to myself, "We hit a deer."

  Everybody has to do something in life that they don't want to. Whether it's pulling an all-nighter to hit an early morning deadline or biting into that deep-dish pizza knowing it's going to add five pounds to your stomach by the next morning. I've done plenty in my life that I wish I didn't. I have plenty of regrets. There are sometimes when I'm doing something, or even saying something, that I know I shouldn't be. It's hard to stop in the moment though. When your mind is cluttered or your adrenaline is running high, it's hard to shut your body down and think, "Should I be doing this?" So just do it. But that might leave you with a regret.

  With all of that said, I do not, for one second, regret leaving Nick at that gas station. You can look down on me. You can judge me, but the fact of the matter is that Nick Holmes was as good as dead the second that his mask slipped down under his chin. He breathed in the air. He was already infected. On top of that, the shelf cut his arm. Whatever is in the air is not only in his lungs; it's in his blood, under his skin. He's dead. If I brought him back with us he only would have infected everyone in the station.

  Everyone would be dead in a couple of hours just like that guy we pas
sed on the side of the road. Remember him? The guy with the nasty cut on his face. He died on the side of the road because the infection got into his cut. Nick was no different. I had to leave him there. They asked me to go out and grab supplies. That's what I did and in the meantime, I saved their lives by leaving him there. Now I can mind my own business, drink my water and eat my Bar-B-Q chips, and wait for all of this to blow over.

  The windshield wipers didn't have much luck scraping the blood off. Not even the spray was doing a whole lot. I managed to see, but it wasn't easy. There was so much blood. It would be hard for them to say we didn't hit a deer. It's hard for me to believe that so much blood could come from one small woman.

  I didn't bother pulling the car into a parking spot. I just pulled it up to the curb and turned it off so quickly I'm not sure it was even in park. Once I had the car off, I didn't want to move. I didn't want to go back inside and deal with all the pressure and questions from those people. They weren't inside the van with us. They probably wouldn't understand. It's an entirely different world out here. The food chain no longer consisted of different mammals, animals, and creatures. It consisted of humans. Nothing but humans. The strongest survived. Charles Darwin had it right when he said it's survival of the fittest, but I don't even think that poor bastard meant it like this. Nobody knew this was coming.

  "Oh my God. No, no. No," Travis started freaking out in the backseat.

  "What the hell's the matter with you?" I turned to him.

  He pointed out the window and there was a guy getting out of a car. I didn't see him pull up, so he must have been sitting in his car for a while. Was he there all night? All weekend? There was no way.

  He was wearing a gas mask. An actual gas mask that police officers used to go into a smoky room. I guess he had the right idea. The rest of his body was completely covered. He wore a heavy, thick jacket and pants that looked like they were used for bearing the cold while out hunting. He had on gloves and taped the wrists down so no air got between his gloves and his sleeves. The hood to his jacket was pulled up over his head. No part of his skin was visible. He looked like a spaceman or a SWAT officer.