by Frank Bates
“What happened to you?” She asked, her voice full of worry as her eyes ran over his bloodied face.
“…No… Good…” He mumbled.
“What?” Amelia asked. She noticed he was fumbling with something. It was a large ring of keys. “How did you…?”
William spent a few seconds looking for the right key. When he found it, he raised the key for Amelia to see. “This… is just for you. Promise me… not to let the others here out.”
Amelia stared at the key wide-eyed. She was so stunned at seeing it that she didn’t hear what William said at first. When she got over her surprise, she turned to him. “What do you mean not let them out? Are you telling me we should leave them to die here?”
“Promise… me.” He grunted.
“William.” She started.
“Only you. You, I can trust. You’re a… good person. The others here are… not.”
“William!” Amelia said but William was no longer listening to her. He opened the door to her cell.
“Let’s go.” He said.
Amelia stepped out of the cell. The ward buzzed with noise. It seemed that the other prisoners had started to notice what was happening. She heard a voice from somewhere down the hallway pleading to be let out. The prisoner in the cell beside hers begged, “Please don’t let us die here.”
Amelia’s heart was torn. She wanted to help them and William could tell. Before she could do something stupid like taking the ring of keys from him and opening the other cells, he grabbed her arm and bodily dragged her towards the exit using what little strength he had left.
Amelia resisted. “We can’t leave them here.” She said.
“I know you want to help them—” William said.
“They’re gonna die here if we don’t help them.”
“—but you know as well as I do that they can’t get out of here. They’re too dangerous.”
Amelia didn’t know what to say to that. She was being stubborn, she knew. She knew better than anyone how dangerous it would be to let the prisoners in her ward out and yet she wanted to.
William saw his former teacher struggling with her moral dilemma. He sighed. “If it’s any consolation to you, I let all the non-aggressive prisoners from the lower ward out yesterday.”
Amelia looked at him and William couldn’t read her expression. She only nodded at him and wordlessly headed for the exit ignoring the screams and cries behind her. William followed her out.
Amelia and William ran out of the prison and passed through the courtyard. Amelia looked over at William who was badly worn out. He was practically leaving a trail of blood behind him.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
William grinned. “Never better.” At Amelia’s frown, he stopped smiling. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
Amelia refrained from telling him the fact that he’s not fine and that he’s probably slowly dying from blood loss as they spoke. She knew that it wasn’t the time to be worrying about anything however. They needed to get out of there first. The rest will come later.
“So, what’s the plan?” She asked.
“From here, we’ll make our way to the main gate. It’s already open. We just have to get there and be off.” He said.
As soon as he said that, two men came out of the minimum security ward and approached them. They did not look friendly. One man was carrying a screwdriver and the other carried a long metal pipe.
Judging that he couldn’t possibly fight with them in his current condition, William opted to run away, directing Amelia to do the same. William was only able to run a few meters when his strength ran out and his feet gave out beneath him.
“William!” Amelia cried and ran over to his side. She turned him over. William was so pale—cold sweat poured from his skin. “Shit.” Amelia cursed under her breath. “William, don’t you fucking die on me now.”
Amelia saw the two men moving towards them and they were getting uncomfortably close. William was clearly in no condition to fight so it was left to her to get rid of the two hoodlums.
The two men snickered and hollered at her. “Hey, babe. Tell us where the exit to this place is and you and your boyfriend won’t get hurt.” The guy with the screwdriver said.
“Or you can also just ditch him and get with us instead. You look like you could use some fun too.” The one with the pipe wiggled his bushy eyebrows suggestively, sliding his hand up and down the pipe slowly.
Disgusting. Amelia was running out of patience with the entire situation. Her friend was dying and there were these two clowns hitting on her. “Fucking idiots.” She muttered under her breath.
Pushing on her knees, Amelia stood. Clapping dust off her hands, she faced them. “Okay, how do you want to do this? I don’t have all day.” She said sounding bored.
The two men didn’t show any surprise at her attitude. They probably thought that she was just putting up a front to look strong and unafraid.
“Ooh. Little lady’s got some balls.” Screwdriver guy said.
Metal Pipe laughed. “Yeah, how about this. I’m gon’ let my friend here go first. Or,” He paused and looked Amelia up and down. The way Metal Pipe looked at her made Amelia’s skin crawl. Oh, I’m kicking his ass first, she thought. “Did you want us to go at the same time?” He said with a nasty smile on his sleazy face.
Amelia gave Metal Pipe a sickeningly sweet smile before punching him in the throat hard. Metal Pipe doubled over, clutching his throat and gagging. Upon seeing what happened to his friend, Screwdriver guy rushed forward saying something about making her pay for what she did to his friend or some other bullshit like that. Amelia didn’t pay him any mind. The guy shoved the screwdriver he was carrying towards her stomach, trying to stab her but she sidestepped it easily. Amelia took advantage of Screwdriver guy’s vulnerable position and hit him with a sharp elbow to his back followed quickly by a powerful knee to the face, whipping the guy’s head back and knocking out several of his teeth. He fell to the ground momentarily losing consciousness.
“What the fuck!” Metal Pipe sputtered. “Who the fuck are you bitch!?”
Screwdriver guy came to. He looked around to gather his bearings and when his eyes fell on her, his eyes grew round with fear. “Let’s get out of here.” He said, hurriedly getting off the ground and running away, not waiting for his friend. Metal Pipe clearly did not want to be left behind and without looking back at her, ran after his friend.
“Losers.” Amelia said. There were always people like that around. They think they’re so tough until someone beat some sense into them and then they run away like dogs with their tails between their legs.
Amelia went back to William’s side. He was in pretty bad shape. She had to go and find the main gate fast before something really bad happened to him.
Chapter Seven: So It Begins
It was only six in the morning but the cabin was abuzz with activity. Seth woke up at the crack of dawn and started preparing his stuff for his journey out of the mountains. He was in the kitchen eating his breakfast of buttered toasts paired up with some ham, sausages, and eggs. He checked the TV for some news. There were only a couple of stations that still operated. Most networks had gone off the air. Of the ones that were still broadcasting, the news was that almost half of the country had already succumbed to the virus. About 30% of them had died in the last couple of weeks. No matter which channel he switched to, the same thing was being reported. Basically, it seemed like America was going to have a lot less people in the coming days.
Seth took a sip of his coffee. Thoughts about his family ran through his mind. Were they okay? Were they safe? Were they still alive?
He couldn’t help but be worried about them. His father may be fine—he’s a strong man—but what about his mother and sister? They lived in a rural farm far away from the city but Superpox-99 was airborne and there’s no telling if they’d be safe there. How he wished he could gather them all and bring them to the cabin where they could safe
ly wait out this epidemic.
Seth turned off the TV and went about washing the dishes. After he was done in the kitchen, he went to the living room and laid down the bags he would be using on his journey. His backpack would contain enough clothes and necessities to last him for three days. He’ll use a duffel bag for his various weapons—blades, guns, and ammo. He’ll have another duffel bag carry the extras.
He went to his bedroom and put on his clothes. He put on a holster for his smaller guns. He wore a jacket to cover them up. Next, he picked up the Supergrade off his bed. Looking at it, he hoped his friend Norton was alive so he could still return the gun to his him. He tucked it into his belt along with a few daggers and a butterfly knife. He put on his hiking boots and slipped one slim dagger in. Can never have enough blades.
Once he was done prepping, he made one last check around the cabin, making sure everything was in place. Satisfied, he carried the backpack with his necessities on his shoulder and the two duffel bags to his truck. He shoved them on the backseat. He went back to the cabin to lock it up. He got on his truck and started driving away. He looked at the retreating image of the cabin through his side view mirror and wondered if he’d ever see it again.
*****
Seth stood before the blue pickup with the triple suicide victims that he came across yesterday. He was on his way to the Federal Training Center in Atlanta but when he saw the sign for Boone, he thought to stop there for a while and check up on things.
The pickup still looked the same except for the swarms of blowflies covering it. The stench from the car was enough to make him gag. There was no way he was going to go over there and take a peek but he could guess how the bodies looked like now.
Their skin had turned gray. Their wounds would have already festered, the bullet holes a bit bigger than they were before. Maggots filled their wounds, eating at their dead flesh. The blowflies racing against one another to fill every orifice.
He walked over to his truck and carried away two five-gallon cans of gas. Those were actually his emergency gas for when he ran out but he decided to just wing it. He remembered the abandoned cars on the highway. He could just scavenge some gas there.
He went back to the pickup and promptly poured the gas all over the vehicle, taking care not to spill any on his clothes. The blowflies dispersed as he poured the gas but they returned as soon as he was done.
Seth pulled out a box of matches from his pocket. He lit one match and threw it onto the pickup. The pickup burst into flames. He watched as the car burned; as the blowflies tried to escape from the flames. It was the last thing he could do for the family inside. He never knew them and they didn’t get to have a proper burial but this was the best he could do for them.
Seth wondered how the father felt when they were all in the car, the gun in his hand. How did he feel when he looked at his wife and daughter and pointed the gun at their chests? When he pulled the trigger and watched as the life left their bodies?
He wondered if he could do the same if he had a family of his own. If the world ended and there seemed to be no hope left, would he have done the same? Or would his family stay together through thick and thin and fight against the apocalypse? Well, he thought, it’s a good thing I never married.
Seth checked his watch and decided that it was time to go. The sun had fully risen and if he wanted to get to Atlanta by early afternoon, he had better get moving. He still had to replenish the ten gallons of gas he used to burn the pickup. There were quite a lot of cars back at the highway. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take a lot of time to sift through them.
Seth was about to get on his truck when he heard motorcycles approaching. He looked up and sure enough, there were two motorcycles coming his way. The riders weren’t wearing helmets and he could tell that those two men weren’t from Boone. He had never seen them before. Seth knew most of the people in Boone given that it’s such a small town and those guys definitely weren’t from around there.
The two unfamiliar men stopped just a few meters before the truck. They turned off the engines and got off their motorcycles. The men had decent builds and they seemed strong. They definitely gave off a strong aura. Their clothes looked ragged and dusty as if they had been riding on dirt road for a long time. Their arms were riddled with tattoos and Seth thought that they might have spent some time in prison before. They carried weapons—one carried a knife and the other carried a bat. They wore grim looks on their faces and Seth knew they meant business.
“Give us your truck, man.” The guy carrying the knife growled, brandishing his knife.
Seth stepped back a bit. He didn’t say anything. He watched them carefully, trying to gauge the situation.
The guy with the bat moved forward, dragging his bat behind him. He had an arrogant smirk on his face. “Hey, old man. Give us your truck if you don’t want to get hurt, ‘ya hear?”
As if a bat could hurt me. “Look, guys. This truck ain’t going nowhere so why don’t you move along now, huh?” Seth said.
“You lookin’ down on us? Give us the damn truck or I will slice open your fucking neck!” The guy with the knife yelled angrily, spit flying as he spoke.
Seth noted the almost crazed look in the man’s eyes. Panic. Fear. Need. These guys were scared and Seth understood that. They were just trying to survive despite all the scary shit happening around them. “I can’t give you my truck. Now please, get out of here and look for some other stuff to steal. There’s a lot of abandoned cars over at the highway. You can probably find something good there.”
“Nah, we came from there already. We got all the good stuff we could find,” The guy with the bat said and looked at the truck behind Seth. “But not a good sturdy truck we could load up with our stuff and travel around in.”
“Well, that sucks. This truck is mine. If you want it then you’ll have to fight me for it.” Seth said.
“That’s what we had in mind!” The guy with the knife said and charged at Seth, shoving his knife forward. The guy with the bat swung it over Seth’s head at the same time. Seth was able to block both attacks and he kicked the guy with the bat hard in the stomach. The guy stumbled away and doubled over. Seth twisted the other guy’s wrist and forced him to drop his knife. He quickly followed that with a solid punch on the man’s chest and an open palm hit up the jaw. The other man almost bit his tongue off. Not finished yet, Seth did a leg sweep and the man fell on his back.
Seth saw black for a split second when he got hit by something hard on his back. He turned around and saw that the guy with the bat had recovered and was back on his feet. The guy swung his bat at Seth’s head but Seth swiftly stepped to the side and grabbed the guy’s arm and punched him in the face. The guy’s head flew back and he let go of the bat. Seth took hold of the other guy’s hair and kneed him in the stomach twice. The guy fell to the ground, spewing saliva and blood.
“Enough of this shit.” Seth heard someone grunt behind him followed by a gunshot. He ducked at the sound. Luckily, he wasn’t hit.
The guy with the knife had pulled out a gun. Seth could see that he hadn’t regained his balance yet and was having trouble with aiming the gun. “Seriously.” Seth muttered under his breath.
Seth’s instinct urged him to return fire and kill them. Seth’s conscience told him to just knock them out and leave them there. He briefly wondered if killing them would be more merciful. He shook his head. Whether they lived or they died from the virus was undecided. Killing them right now in the name of sparing them would just be plain murder. His conscience won.
The guy aimed another shot at him and missed again. Seth took advantage of that and rushed towards the guy and tackled him to the ground. The guy flailed and tried to fight Seth off. Seth knocked the gun out of the man’s hand and took possession of it. He lifted himself up and delivered a sharp blow to the guy’s jaw with the butt of the gun. The guy sputtered out blood. His eyes rolled back and fainted.
Seth got off the guy’s unconscious body. He wiped the swea
t from his brow. That was a good exercise. They should have just left when he told them to.
Seth noticed the other guy, the one with the bat, stir. Before the man could come to his senses and get back up, Seth hit him on the back of his neck. The man fell back down.
*****
Seth dragged the two unconscious bodies under a tree. The motorcycles still parked before his truck caught his attention. Those things must have some gas.
Seth was back on the road. He had a fresh supply of fuel plus he’d found some useful stuff from the abandoned cars at the highway and he didn’t have to stay too long there.
The sun shone brightly in the sky. It was probably mid-morning already. It almost seemed like the universe was playing a bad joke. It was such a beautiful day and yet he just fought two guys who were trying to steal his truck, burned a pickup full of decaying bodies and scavenged for supplies from abandoned cars. That just goes to show how the world doesn’t stop spinning just because everything has changed.
With that thought on his mind, Seth continued his journey. In times of turmoil, only the strong shall survive.
Chapter Eight: The Two Convicts
Seth resumed his journey into town. As he drove down highway 325, he made a mental list of the supplies he needed for his excursion.
He had a lot of dehydrated and freeze-dried foods back at the cabin. He brought some with him in his backpack. He had a lot of food but he’d need to find some more. He had fresh water back at the cabin too. There was a small stream near his cabin that was clean. He could use it for drinking. So, water’s fine. The next thing he needed was fuel. Lots of it. He wasn’t able to get much from the truck stealers’ motorcycles. It could be argued that there were a lot of gas just lying around in abandoned gas stations and vehicles but the problem was that gas was only usable for a year or two at most and then they’d be useless. He’d need to do a pretreatment for the fuel he finds. Fuel stabilizers were probably the most important on his list.
