"Hey look!" Jamie said suddenly.
Randy turned and saw a group of about two dozen people approaching. They were wearing hockey goalie equipment and all had baseball bats.
"Who are you?" the one in front called out.
Randy put his hand on the grip of his pistol; it had been tucked into his waistband. "Why does it matter?" he yelled back.
"Because you're trespassing!"
"We're just passing through!" he called back.
"It doesn't matter! Kill them!" the leader yelled.
Several of them took off running toward Randy and his friends, bats raised.
Randy raised his pistol and aimed at the lead runner. He fired and the runner fell to the street with a cry. Casey, Adam and Jamie all began shooting too and soon they had dropped all but three of the group of thugs.
The leader raised his hands and stepped backwards. "Fine! You can have these streets!" He turned and ran, his two surviving companions beside him.
Randy and the others continued on.
They walked until they reached West Addison Street. Then they turned right and continued on past homes with boarded up windows and shops with broken windows. The desolation was shocking; this was normally a bustling tourist district. Randy noticed more and more body bags as he and his friends neared Wrigley Field. They turned left at Wrigley Field and cut through a parking lot to North Seminary Street. They passed abandoned military tents that were filled with more body bags.
"This is creepy," Jillian said.
Randy nodded.
They walked the final few blocks to West Dakin Street and turned onto the street. Randy’s brother lived in the second house on the left. He looked up at the large stone house. He looked back at the street and saw his brother's car parked in front of the house.
"Wait here guys, I want to be the one to see if...if they didn't make it," he said. He opened the wrought iron gate and walked up the steps to their porch. He paused, hesitant to knock on the door. What if they weren't alive? What if they were dead? What if?
He slowly curled his fingers into a fist and raised his arm. He took a deep breath and knocked. Then he waited. Several seconds went by. He knocked again.
"Todd! Vicki! It's Randy! If you're in there, please let me in!" he called out.
He heard footsteps. His heart practically skipped a beat.
He heard several locks' tumblers turn. The door opened. And there, in the doorway stood his brother, Todd Eccleston.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Randy Eccleston
Day 11
"Randy! You're alive!" Todd practically screamed. He stepped forward and embraced Randy in a tight bear hug.
Randy hugged him back and realized he was crying. "I thought you were surely dead!" he exclaimed.
"I thought you were too!" Todd replied.
"Where are Vicki and the kids?"
"Inside, napping."
"Oh man, I'm so glad you're alive!"
"Who are these folks with you? I recognize Adam and Casey, but who is everyone else?"
Randy turned to the rest of his group. "That's Adam's girlfriend Jillian, that's Casey's girlfriend Missy and that is Jamie, a man we met in Bloomington who saved our lives."
"Hey guys! Come on in! All of you!" his brother stepped aside and they all entered. Once they were inside the house, he closed the door and locked the deadbolt and doorknob and then he moved a book case against the door.
Everyone walked to the living room while Randy looked around at the interior just inside the door, taking it in. His brother had bought a large, old house when his business had started turning a profit. The entrance room had a stairway to the left of the door that went upstairs. To the right was a large, spacious living room with a tiny office tucked into a corner. Down the hall was a half bathroom and the kitchen and dining room. The whole first floor had ten-foot high ceilings and dark chestnut hardwood floors.
He heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Uncle Randy!"
He looked up and saw his nieces, Hannah and Laci, running down the stairs.
"Hannah! Laci!" he exclaimed.
They both wrapped themselves around him in a tight hug when they reached the bottom of the stairs.
"Randy! It's good to see you!"
He looked up and saw his sister-in-law Vicki standing at the top of the stairs. She looked sleepy.
"It's good to see you too Vicki!"
"Okay girls, let Uncle Randy breathe!" Vicki admonished the girls.
They let go and Randy walked into the living room. He saw his friends sitting on two of the couches. He sat down in a recliner across from Todd as Adam recounted their journey.
When he had finished, Randy cleared his throat. "So Todd, have you talked to mom or dad?"
Todd looked at him and the expression on his face told Randy everything.
"What happened?"
"Randy, I don't know. I went to their house a few days ago; I rode my bike. They were both dead. I think," his voice cracked, "I think they must have taken a fatal dose of pills."
Randy’s face fell. His parents were dead. He sat there quietly for a moment.
"I'm sorry Randy!" Todd stood up and walked over to him.
Randy stood up and hugged him.
"I talked to dad for the last time about two days before quarantine was enacted. He was talking about buying a sail boat and asked me if I thought it would be a sound investment."
Randy nodded quietly.
"I don't think they suffered. They were lying in bed embracing one another. I buried them in their backyard. I'm grateful they didn't turn into zombies."
Randy nodded. "What about Vicki's family?"
He stepped back and shrugged. "We don't know. She talked to her dad the same night the quarantine was enacted, she said he told her it would all blow over pretty quickly. She also talked to her brother in Buffalo, but that was weeks ago. I mean, her dad lives in Detroit, her mom lives in New York City, she has two brothers who live in Buffalo, New York and an older brother who lives in Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi."
Randy looked at Vicki. She was sitting down. She looked calm.
"Vicki, how are you holding up?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I'm just living one day at a time."
"She was actually working when it all went down!" Todd exclaimed. "In the ER!"
"Whoa, really?" Randy asked.
"Yeah, it was crazy," Vicki said. "I was there for my normal shift when a bunch of people came in vomiting blood. My boss had us all put on Tyvek suits and face masks and latex gloves. Once I saw how crazy it was, I quit. I had to come home to my family. I barely made it home."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I'm not sure what happened to all my co-workers. I hope some of them made it out okay."
"I'm sure some did," Randy said.
She shrugged. "Yeah, I hope so."
Later, as it was getting dark outside, Randy sat in the dining room with Todd, Adam, Casey and Jamie. The women were upstairs with his nieces.
"So Todd, you owned a brewery?" Jamie asked.
Todd nodded. "Yup. Parachutes Brewery. I opened it in Two-Thousand-Sixteen after I'd been home brewing for a few years."
"Hey, yeah, you guys made Shiver IPA, didn't you?" Casey asked.
Todd nodded. "Yup. We won some awards with that brew. I actually have a few cases out in the shed."
"That's great!" Randy said. "That's definitely my favorite beer!"
Todd laughed. "Thanks little brother."
"Man, when was the next brew fest scheduled for?" Adam asked.
Todd frowned. "The next A Rush of Brew to the Head Festival was scheduled to start yesterday. But, it seems like civilization has collapsed, so I'm not sure I should be that disappointed. You know? It's like when you compare the loss of your business to the apocalypse, it sort of puts everything in perspective."
"Yeah," Randy said. "Have you seen a lot of zombies around here?"
He shook his head. "No, we saw so
me rioters at first, but I think it helped that almost everyone in the neighborhood ignored the quarantine orders and tried to escape. Vicki talked me into staying. She had seen the virus and its effects first hand and she didn't want to risk any of us catching it. The rioters though, they looted some of the houses down at the other end of the block those first few nights, but even that has died down the last few days. No one goes out at night now, so that also makes it easier to watch for suspicious activity."
Randy nodded. "So how much food do we have here? Ammo? Water?"
He laughed. "You worry too much Randy. We've got a healthy supply of beer in the backyard, we have about a hundred gallons of potable water in the basement and we have enough dry goods to last a few months. We’ve also got a couple of compound bows and rifles. We'll stay here as long as we can. And your friends are all welcome to stay too."
"Thanks Todd," Jamie said. "I, for one, appreciate the hospitality."
"No problem Jamie," Todd replied.
Randy stood and walked out onto the back porch. An El-Train line curved over the back half of the backyard, the wrought-iron frame of the trestle had one pillar in the back corner of the yard. He looked up at an old maple tree that stood in the opposite corner from the iron column. The old tree probably stood close to eighty feet high, towering over even the El-Train line. It still had about half of its leaves, all of which had turned yellow or red.
“Enjoying the scenic view?” Todd asked as he stepped out onto the back porch.
Randy chuckled. “Yes. So elegant.”
Todd laughed.
“How long do you think we’ll be able to hold out here?” he asked.
Todd shrugged. “Well, I had initially made my projections assuming I only had myself, Vicki and the girls to account for. That said, I think we have enough food and drink to last a few weeks. We can always go forage if we need to.”
“Adam told you about Bloomington, right?”
Todd nodded.
“So what happens if a hostile group comes along and tries to take our supplies?”
“We’ll fight them off.”
“Todd, I mean really. What happens if a well-armed group comes along?”
“We’ll leave then.”
“Do you have a backup plan?”
Todd laughed. “You worry too much Randy. We’ll be fine. We’ve got the means to gather food, we’re probably in the best place to go foraging, we have some ammo, and we’re in an obscure location. You can’t even tell anyone lives in this house from the street.”
Randy nodded. He wasn’t sure he was fully convinced. “If you say so Todd.”
“Trust me little brother. We’ll be fine.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Andy Gibson
Day 33
At 10:00 am on November 30th,the familiar whir and hum of machinery that had been silenced in advance of the approaching hurricane more than a month before, began again. Andy watched movies in his room, trusting that the platform was in good hands with Kenny leading Fire Team B.
At some point he fell asleep.
He was suddenly standing near Lifeboat D.
“You ready to go?” Sterling asked.
“I am. You? You know this is a one-way trip?” Andy replied.
“Yeah. I can’t wait to punch someone at Corporate in the face.”
“Same here.”
“Could be worse though. At least we didn’t have a blowout. I’d hate for this to be the next Piper Alpha.”
Andy was awakened by the phone in his room ringing. He looked at his watch. It was 6:42pm, eighteen minutes before the test was to conclude. He answered the phone.
"Hello?"
"Andy, it's Kenny. We have a situation," he said.
"What, what is it?"
"The well is blowing out," he said gravely.
Andy sat upright quickly. "Blowing out?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes. It's spraying mud out of the top of the derrick. Nothing's on fire yet," Kenny replied. “The gas alarms have been going off for a few seconds.”
"Has someone activated the blowout preventer?"
"Nathan's supposed to be doing it."
"Well get it done!" Andy exclaimed. "The last thing we want is for an-"
The whole platform shook violently as he was thrown forward out of bed. He landed on his chest on the floor at the foot of the bed. The deafening roar left his ears ringing.
He pushed himself to his feet, dazed. "Oh no," he cried, "Please no, please no!"
Andy ran out of his room and saw others in the hallway, dazed.
"What just happened?" someone yelled.
"Get to the lifeboats!" Andy yelled back. "There's been an explosion!"
He went back into his room and hurriedly threw on his overalls and a hard hat and then he ran down the hallway to the stairwell. From there he ran down to the main deck. When he opened the door, he gasped. Flames enveloped the derrick and adjacent crane as liquid mud rained down. Bodies littered the deck. Where was the Fire Team?
"Help me!" someone screamed. Andy ran to where the screaming had come from and found Royce lying under a fallen beam.
"Are you okay?" he yelled as he lifted the beam.
"Yeah!" Royce nodded. "Just got knocked down by the beam!"
"What happened?"
"A blowout!" he yelled.
"Get to the lifeboats man, we're going to have to abandon ship!" Andy yelled.
"Not without you!"
"Where's the Fire Team?"
"I don't know! Nick had them all out over by the drilling shack!"
Andy turned and saw the drilling shack engulfed in flames. "I hope not," he said.
“What can I do?” Royce asked, interrupting his dark train of thought.
"Well, if you're going to be out here, help me get the fire-fighting measures activated! Go down to the Control Room and have those numbskulls activate them!" he yelled.
Royce nodded. "Got it boss!" He ran to the accommodation structure.
Andy turned and looked up at the geyser of flame jetting upward toward the darkening sky. Thick black smoke rose upward from the flaming column. He turned and ran to the Fire Room and was dismayed to see no one in it.
"What if they all got killed?" he asked himself. He ran back outside and to the Control Room.
"Get everyone to the lifeboats!" he yelled. "Why isn't the alarm sounding?"
Andreas, one of the Control Room technicians looked up at him. "I'm sorry! I didn't know what to do!"
"Hit the alarm! Activate the blowout preventer! And get to a lifeboat!" Andy yelled, infuriated.
The alarm klaxons began blaring, echoing through the facility.
Where was the Production Crew? The Drilling Crew?
He descended the stairs to the production deck past pipe work that snaked through the floor. The sound of oil rushing through the pipes droned near his head as he descended. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw the Production Manager kneeling and weeping among the pipes.
Andy coughed. The air was filled with gaseous vapors.
"Josh! Are you alright?" he yelled, running up to the kneeling man. "What happened?"
"We tried to get them!" he yelled mournfully.
"What are you talking about? We've got to get out of here!" Andy said urgently.
"No, no. We tried to get back at Cypress for abandoning us! It was just supposed to ruin some of the drilling equipment!"
"Are you saying you caused the blowout?" Andy yelled.
"Yes! We caused it!" he howled.
Andy balled up his fist and punched the man in the eye. He fell backwards.
"You killed good men!" Andy screamed. He bent down and grabbed the Production Manager by the shirt collar.
He was weeping. "I'm so sorry! I am so sorry!"
Andy yanked him to his feet. "Come on! We've got to get out of here!" he yelled as he released the shirt.
Andy ran toward the stairs expecting Josh to be behind him. Suddenly he was knocked off hi
s feet by another explosion. Dazed, he sat up and looked back. Josh was lying face down on the deck enveloped by flames shooting from a nearby pipe.
"Josh!" he yelled. He realized that if Josh was somehow still alive, he was too grievously wounded to survive the trip to shore. Andy ran back up the stairs to the main deck where the whole platform was in disarray.
He saw someone who was in flames leap over the safety railing and off the platform.
"We're all going to die!" someone screamed.
"Get to the lifeboats!" Andy yelled again.
Suddenly, another blast knocked him off his feet. Dazed, he sat up. His ears were ringing. No one else was moving on the deck. He saw flames all around. He slowly stood and stumbled to the North Lifeboat Deck. He stepped over dead bodies and broken machinery. Small explosions went off all around him as cylinders of gas detonated and rocketed skyward.
When he reached the deck, Andy saw from the stairs that it was ablaze. He ran back toward the South Lifeboat Deck as his sense of balance returned. The whole platform was bobbing up and down in the sea. He realized that soon the whole spar would be on fire as the millions of gallons of crude oil stored within the floating structure ignited.
He descended to the South Lifeboat Deck and saw that both lifeboats there were gone. He looked out and saw three lifeboats a few hundred yards from the platform. He looked down over the railing at the sea. If he jumped, he’d fall about eighty feet; the fall might kill him. He looked back and saw a wall of fire behind him. He turned again to the precipice.
He took a deep breath and leapt from the platform. As he fell through the cool evening air, he felt an intense sense of calm sweep over him. He pointed his toes downward, squeezed his legs together and reached upward.
Andy felt a shock as he plunged into the cool Gulf water. He descended downward. He looked up and opened his eyes. He could see the burning platform above, its image distorted by the rippling water. He waved his arms and kicked and managed to surface. The roar of the inferno overhead was nearly deafening. He could see the rainbow sheen of oil on the water nearby.
He kicked again and looked for the lifeboats. Where had they gone?
He swept his arms forward and began to swim in the direction he thought the lifeboats were in. Behind him, more explosions took place as the platform burned. Flaming debris splashed in the water nearby. Andy swam all the more furiously.
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