The Collapse Omnibus

by V. A. Brandon

  Uncertainty filled Daniel’s eyes as he turned to Justin. “We do have to eat something,” he said quietly. “I have a few cans of food and a carrot. But is it safe to eat out here?”

  “Yes, yes! It’s fine,” Patrick snapped. He reached up and waved his hands in a “come here” gesture. “Hand over the food. Don’t be greedy now.”

  With a sigh, Daniel gave him an entire can of spaghetti and meatballs, leaving two cans and a raw carrot for the remaining four of them. He then turned around and handed the beef stew to Amy.

  “Can you share with Justin?” he asked. He looked down at the last can – it was minestrone. “My wife and I will share this one.” When Amy nodded, he snapped the carrot in half and gave her the bigger portion. “Take this, too.”

  “It’s too big,” she protested. “You should share that with Marie and Walter.”

  “He has the kibbles,” Daniel answered. He jabbed the air with the blunt end of the carrot. “Here. Take it.”

  Amy murmured her thanks and watched as Daniel returned to join his wife and Walter. She glanced at Justin and gave a helpless shrug. “I feel awful. He’s given us too much.”

  He smiled. “It’s done now, so don’t worry about it.” He pointed at a small shaded spot. “Let’s sit there and eat.”

  ***

  After their quick lunch, they resumed their walk along the road. They now had no food and no water. It was paramount that they find water, shelter, and food soon. In that order.

  Marie suddenly grabbed Amy’s arm, startling her. “What is it?” Amy asked, coming to a stop. “Did you see something? A Runner?”

  “No,” she whispered. She frowned at Walter, who gazed up at her with quizzical eyes. “I thought I saw a diner.”

  Patrick came up behind them. “Are you sure?” He squinted, trying to see better. “I don’t see anything.”

  Had she imagined it? A diner could mean food and water. It would be the answer to their prayers, if the previous occupants hadn’t cleaned out the place already.

  There was a long silence, and then Justin let out an incredulous laugh. “Guys, it might be even better than that.” He leaned forward, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “I think I see a gas station.”

  A gas station! That meant vending machines and convenience stores. Amy’s mind went into overdrive as she pictured herself standing in an aisle filled with packets of cookies and sweets. Foods such as pre-packaged sandwiches and hot dogs would be out of the question, but at least there should be bottled drinks and water.

  And canned coffee. What she wouldn’t give for a sip of that caffeinated goodness. Mouth watering, she resumed her pace. She was so preoccupied that she didn’t hear Justin calling out to her.

  “Hey! Slow down.” He jogged over to her and grabbed her elbow. “Slow down, okay? Don’t separate yourself from the group.” He signaled to the others, and they hurried over to join them.

  Daniel stared into the distance, his eyes hopeful. “Maybe we can use the place as a hideout.”

  “There’s too much glass, though,” Justin mused. “We’d be exposed. But one of the storerooms, maybe?”

  Patrick released a gusty sigh of frustration. “Look, can we go now? Or are we just going to stand here all day?” He pointed a long finger before him. “There’s food over there! And water! So what are we waiting for?”

  After a moment of hesitation, Justin nodded slowly. “All right. Let’s go.”

  ***

  They stood several yards away from the convenience store, eyeing their surroundings warily. The place seemed deserted; the glass windows were crusted with dirt from top to bottom, and the pungent odor of stale urine assaulted their nostrils. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, Amy stepped toward the open entrance and peered into the semi-darkness.

  The place was a mess. She could see empty food packets strewn across the floor; one of the aisle shelves had toppled over and was leaning precariously against the one next to it. Seeing this, she let out a heavy sigh.

  “We’ll be lucky if there’s anything left in here,” she muttered under her breath.

  The others came up behind her and piled inside, glad to be out of the afternoon heat. Justin paused at the threshold and held out a hand.

  “Why aren’t you coming in?” He smiled. “C’mon, let’s see what we can scrounge from this mess.”

  Returning his smile with one of her own, Amy took his hand and entered inside.

  Marie and Daniel were already pacing here and there, opening cracked cooler doors and grabbing whatever they could find. Patrick was checking out the shelves; judging by his pleased expression, there was a fair amount of food there. Encouraged, Amy went to the next aisle to get to work.

  Several minutes later, the group gathered in the middle of the store, their food in a small pile before them. Bottled water, can sodas, trail mix, packs of beef jerky, chocolate bars, whole-grain crackers, canned chili and stews . . . someone had even tossed in several travel kits containing soap, shampoo, and toothpaste, a pack of green glow sticks, and a box of birthday candles.

  And there was coffee. Blessed canned coffee. Amy almost wept at the sight of it.

  “Where do we put them?” Daniel asked, interrupting Amy from her thoughts.

  Justin glanced around the store. “If we’re planning to stay here, we can move the food into one of the back rooms. There’s still a lot of food left in the store, so we’ll have to find time to make an inventory of it.” His eyes gleamed with excitement. “The food will last us for weeks.”

  One person didn’t look happy about the idea. Marie stroked Walter’s fur, her brows furrowed. “We must take the food and leave,” she whispered.

  Patrick groaned out loud. “Jeez, lady, what is your problem? There’s food and water here, can’t you see? Food and water!” He crossed his arms, his face splotchy with anger. “We are not budging an inch from this place. If you want to leave, you go alone.”

  “We cannot stay here, even if we want to,” Marie continued calmly, ignoring the older man’s outburst. Indicating that they should follow her, she moved swiftly to the back of the store. Not knowing what else to do, the rest of the group obeyed and went.

  Old blankets and mattresses lined the floor. Rumpled clothes, scuffed shoes, backpacks, empty food packets, a blood-stained hatchet leaning in the corner . . . it became abundantly clear at once.

  There were people who had already staked a claim to this place. Meaning their group’s presence would not be welcome here.

  “I saw this when I was looking for food in the back,” Marie explained. “At first, I thought the place was abandoned. Maybe the people had left. But an abandoned place smells dusty and moldy.” Her nostrils flared in disgust. “This area smells strongly of body odor. This means there are people still living here.”

  “Are you sure it’s not us you’re smelling?” Patrick cracked.

  Marie shook her head. “It is not the same.”

  She was right, of course. They had to leave at once. Suddenly afraid, Amy glanced around the store again. After their close encounter with the thugs this morning, she was in no hurry to meet other people, good or bad. The looks on Daniel’s and Justin’s faces pretty much said the same.

  Daniel jerked forward and grabbed two of the bags, emptying them of their contents. Without a word, he rushed back to their pile of food and began tossing them into the bags. Amy and Justin went to help him, Marie trailing close behind.

  Patrick remained standing near the mattresses. “You’re overreacting, all of you!” he called out. “And even if there are people staying here, so what? We’ll use these fake guns to scare them away.”

  “Are you serious?” Amy spluttered. She stood up, glaring at him. “And what if these people are dangerous? They could be gun fanatics, for all we know. And if they are, they’ll figure out soon enough that these are fakes. They could very well kill us for fooling them and for taking their food.” She ran over to the counter and grabbed handfuls of cigarette packs and light
ers. “We need to leave before they return. It’s too risky here.”

  When she came back, Justin gave her a curious glance. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

  “They’re not for me,” she answered, tossing them into the bag next to her. “We can barter them for goods we may need in the future.”

  Daniel shot her a look of approval. “Good idea.”

  Hefting the bags over their shoulders, Justin and Daniel quickly made their way outside. As Marie and Amy hurried after them, Amy paused briefly to look at Patrick.

  “Are you coming or not?”

  With great reluctance, Patrick joined them at the entrance, a perpetual scowl imprinted on his face. “I’m telling you, this is a mistake. You’ll regret not staying here.”

  “Then stay here,” Amy snapped. “I’m done trying to convince you.” And grabbing Marie’s arm, she hurried after Justin and Daniel, not looking back to see if the older man was following them or not.

  ***

  On the way, they stopped to rest at a nearby field. Judging by the eviscerated, rotting bodies of livestock and horses lying half-hidden in the tall blades of grass, hordes of Runners had already been through this place. His expression grim, Justin led the group away from the scene of slaughter and the buzzing flies feasting on the carcasses until the stink of death no longer followed them.

  “We’ll take a quick ten-minute break here, get our energy running,” he said, dropping the backpack at his feet. Without pause, he crouched down and began pulling out can sodas and coffee, trail mix, chocolate bars, along with a handful of kibbles for Walter. After making sure that everyone had an equal amount of food, he sat cross-legged on the grass and tore the wrappings off a chocolate bar, demolishing the melted candy in seconds.

  Amy sat beside him, tentatively opening her own candy bar. She had no appetite; the gruesome scene had left her feeling nauseated. She took a small bite of the semi-melted bar, then grimaced and handed it to Justin.

  “Finish this for me, will you? I just – I just can’t eat right now.”

  “Are you sure?” Worried, Justin opened a can of coffee and handed it to her. “Here. At least have something to drink, then.”

  With a weak nod, she accepted the can and took a few swallows, unable to stop thinking about the poor dead animals. How they must have run. It would have been better if they’d been eaten by a pride of ravenous lions. At least their deaths would have been a lot quicker.

  “Well, what now?” Patrick asked, glaring at them as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Where do we go? It’s going to get dark in a few hours, and we have no shelter!”

  No one said anything, but Amy was certain that they were all thinking the same thing: What if Patrick had been right? What was worse – facing a group of potentially hostile survivors, or a horde of infected cannibals in the dark? They were out in the open and completely vulnerable. Without proper weapons and shelter, they wouldn’t survive the night.

  Despair began to set in.

  Amy drew in a deep breath, striving to calm her racing heart. She could feel herself teetering on the brink of hysteria; if she let herself succumb to this fear, she was afraid that she’d start screaming and screaming. Madness would consume her.

  Daniel rose to his feet and dusted his pants. “Then let us go now,” he said, scrunching up his candy wrapper and stuffing it in his back pocket. He picked up the backpack and gazed at the rest of the group with a steady eye. “We have no time to waste.”

  Nods all around. Marie stood up and held Walter toward her husband. “Carry Walter. I will carry the fire poker and the backpack for an hour.”

  He shook his head. “No, it is heavy.”

  “Take a break,” Amy cut in. “Marie and I will take turns. And Patrick can help Justin with his load.” She turned to the older man. “Right?”

  Patrick snorted, but didn’t argue.

  Amy was grateful for the Korean man’s calming effect on the group. Determined once more, they continued along their trajectory, hoping to find a small building – a motel, a store, even bathroom facilities – where they could safely spend the night.

  Chapter 7

  It was twilight by the time they finally got off the highway and veered toward a street closed off for roadwork and other unfinished construction sites. They stood before a flight of concrete stairs that led to what looked like an abandoned pedestrian tunnel.

  “Where do you think it leads?” Daniel asked.

  Justin shook his head. “I don’t know. But I think it’s an underground city. Or what was supposed to be the beginnings of one.” He shrugged. “It could lead anywhere or nowhere.”

  “So what do we do?” Amy asked. “Go in or go back?” She crouched and peered ahead, trying to see. As expected, the tunnel was pitch-black.

  “We could go and stay in the woods again,” Daniel said half-heartedly.

  “No,” Justin said at once. “We’re not doing that, not without a car.”

  “Then we have to enter the tunnel.” Marie turned to Amy. “We can use the glow sticks from the convenience store.”

  Amy had a better idea. “No, let’s use the lighters instead,” she said. “Glow sticks can be risky, especially if we need to put out the lights and hide.”

  “The lighters will get hot quickly.”

  “We’ll use candles, then,” Amy answered.

  Justin gave them a tight smile. “I guess that settles it. We’re going in.”

  Patrick crossed his arms, a stubborn expression on his face. “I’m not going down there. There could be Runners. We don’t know where the tunnel leads. For all we know, we could be trapped in the dark for hours.”

  “The other option is to stay out in the open. At night, when the Runners are most active.” Amy understood the older man’s trepidation, but his resistance was only delaying the inevitable. “Going underground is still better than being out here.”

  When no argument was forthcoming, she took out candles and a lighter from one of the backpacks and lit them as fast as her fingers would allow. After handing a candle to each person, she turned to face the group.

  “What are we waiting for?” she said, trying to sound braver than she felt. “Let’s go!”

  Justin gently took hold of her arm and pulled her behind him. “Stay close. Daniel,” he called, “cover the rear. Patrick and Marie will stay in the middle.” His eyes narrowed. “Everyone, stay as quiet as you can.” Then he reached out to scratch Walter behind the ears. “You be quiet, too, okay? Good boy.”

  The dog whined softly in response, as if it understood the dire situation they were in.

  Taking a deep breath, Justin pulled out the baseball bat from his backpack and began walking down the stairs. “Okay. Here we go.”

  The others followed behind him, huddling as close as possible.

  As suspected, the candle flames weren’t enough for the enveloping darkness in the tunnel below. Amy could barely see three feet ahead of her. She tried not to stare at the flame too much; it was causing light spots to dance across her vision. Blinking hard, she tilted the candle horizontally to avoid the hot wax sliding down onto her fingers.

  “I can’t see a damn thing,” Patrick whispered, breathing hard into Amy’s ear as he gripped her shoulder. “Where the heck are we going?”

  Amy said nothing, but she reached back and gave him a pinch on the arm, firm enough to get her message across. Stop talking.

  Understanding instantly, he refrained from speaking again. But he kept his trembling hand on her shoulder, unwilling to let go. Amy didn’t shrug him off. If the physical contact gave him a small measure of comfort, then she wasn’t going to take that away from him.

  They must have walked for more than five minutes. Slowly, Amy’s eyes adjusted to the dark, allowing her to see the outlines of what looked like a half-constructed subway station, with ticket booths and platform stairs that led farther below the tunnel. Nervously, Amy quickened her footsteps. The space was too big, and there were too many hiding pla
ces. What if there were Runners lurking beneath those stairs? She bit down on a groan and walked on.

  To make things worse, the tunnel soon forked into two passageways. The group stood there, flabbergasted.

  “Where do we go?” Daniel whispered. He raised his candle to see better. “There are no signs anywhere.”

  Amy heard Justin scratching his head. “If we make the wrong choice, we could get into serious trouble. We could end up trapping ourselves.” He sighed heavily, at a loss. “Guys, I’m open to suggestions here.”

  “I say we go left,” Patrick said.

  “Why left?” Amy asked.

  “Just a gut feeling, I suppose.”

  That wasn’t good enough. Their lives could be at stake here, and Amy certainly wasn’t going to base a critical decision on someone’s “gut feeling.”

  “I say we go right,” she murmured. She raised her candle, peering into the darkness. “The passage on the right looks much wider, which could have shops and even lead to more passageways or exits. If we do run into Runners” – she paused to lick her dry lips – “we’ll have more room to run or hide. I don’t like the idea of being trapped in a dark, narrow tunnel with Runners.”

  “If there’s a wider network of tunnels, we could end up getting separated or lost if we’re attacked,” Justin mused.

  Amy shrugged. “Maybe, but I’d rather be lost and alive than trapped with no escape route.”

  No one had an answer to that. The truth was, they knew nothing. Everything that Amy had said were mere guesses only. The narrow passage on the left could very well widen into a larger tunnel or lead them out into a safe building. And the passage on the right could be a dead end, filled with Runners. It could turn out to be the trap that she was hoping to avoid.

  Daniel shifted, his expression grim. “We will vote on it.” The small flame beneath his face gave him a ghoulish appearance, and Amy let out an involuntary shiver. “Who wants to go left?”