This is the End 3: The Post-Apocalyptic Box Set (8 Book Collection)

by J. Thorn

  “Do you remember me telling you about the infection, grandma? I showed you the news reports. We watched them on TV together. Well, sometime last night you came down with it, and then you went into a coma. You weren’t alone either. While I haven’t shown any symptoms yet, it seems most of the world hasn’t been so lucky. So I decided to join a group of survivors, led by Officer Robinson. Like I said, this is his house. There are others, as well. I know how confusing this must sound to you, but I promise you there is nothing to be afraid of. Nobody here wants to hurt you. In fact, now that you’re awake, we want to help you. We want to take care of you. Grandma, please say something if you can hear me.”

  Still.

  No response.

  I sighed and looked over at Robinson and Bowser sitting quietly in the living room, sneaking the occasional glance my way. I figured they weren’t talking because they wanted to overhear my one-sided conversation with my grandma, or they just had nothing to say to each other. Perhaps a little of both.

  “I don’t know what else to say to ease your mind. I’m not a doctor. I don’t know anything about comas, or how people react when they wake up. Maybe what you’re feeling is normal. Maybe you just need time to rest. I don’t know. I’d like to take the handcuffs off, but I want to make sure you won’t try to hurt anyone. I’ve been your responsibility for so long, but now you’re mine. And you just … you just feel so distant from me right now. Is any of this getting through to you, grandma? If you can’t speak, then nod your head if it is.”

  This was going nowhere. I had lots of questions, but she had no answers for me. Worse, I felt a growing tension between us that I couldn’t explain. The more I talked, the more I felt it. I had never experienced anything like it before in my life. It was as though she was attempting to communicate with me through some other method than words, yet I didn’t have the code to decipher what she was saying. Instead, all I received was electrical fragments of whatever strange, magnetic energy, surged between us.

  I only had one question left. It was, in fact, the only question that really mattered.

  “Grandma, do you even know who I am? Do you remember me?”

  I didn’t expect an answer. I expected more of the same. But this time she gave me an answer. She finally lifted her head and looked over at me. In her face, I saw the same look of indifference she’d displayed ever since she first woke up. Her eyes though … her eyes were what told me the truth. And the truth hurt so much.

  The answer was no.

  She had no idea who I was.

  Chapter 26

  “What’s the verdict?” Robinson asked from the comfort of his recliner.

  I shrugged, sat down next to Bowser on the couch. “There isn’t one. She wouldn’t talk to me. In fact, I don’t think she even knows who I am.”

  “That’s strange. Could be some sort of side effect.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking. Maybe if we give her some time, her memory will start to come back.”

  “While we’re waiting, would you like me to take off the cuffs?”

  “Well, obviously I don’t like seeing my grandma handcuffed to a chair,” I said. Robinson began to get up. “But should you take them off? I don’t know.”

  Robinson relaxed. “She probably just hallucinated. Don’t you think?”

  “I suppose,” I said, looking back over at my grandma in the dining room. She had her head down again. “As much as I hate to say it, I think for now we ought to just keep her where she is. I’ll try to talk to her every so often. Hopefully at some point she’ll snap out of it.”

  “Are you worried about her attacking you again?” Bowser asked with a hint of a smile.

  “Not really. She’s almost eighty. I’d be more worried about her hurting herself. She doesn’t know where she is, or who any of us are right now. She may not even know who she is. So I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

  Peaches entered the room and leaned against the couch. “I put Olivia back down. Is your grandma okay, Jimmy?”

  “No, she’s not,” I said. “But she’s awake, so I guess that’s a step in the right direction.”

  “What about everyone else?” Peaches asked.

  “What do you mean? Everyone else is fine.”

  Robinson sat up in the recliner. “I think she means—”

  “The others,” Peaches interrupted. “The other infected. If your grandma woke up, maybe they did too.”

  “You know, I hadn’t even though about that,” I said. “I haven’t had a moment to think about anything except my grandma’s condition.”

  “But it’s possible, isn’t it?” Peaches asked.

  “My grandma just tried to kill me. At this point, I think anything is possible.”

  “You had said yourself that maybe whatever was causing people to go into a coma would eventually wear off. Maybe this whole thing is coming to an end.”

  “That would be nice,” I said.

  Bowser stood up. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get on out of here.”

  “Now hold on a minute,” Robinson said. “I wouldn’t go running off into the night just yet. Could just be a coincidence. We should at least wait until morning and then we can see what’s up. There’s still no power, and the roads are a mess. It’s gonna take some time to clean it all up. I say we chill out, get some rest.”

  Bowser reluctantly sat back down.

  “Well, you guys don’t have to stay up,” I said. “I can watch over my grandma. You can sleep in my room if the light out here bothers you.”

  “We could take turns watching her,” Robinson suggested.

  “No, you guys don’t need to suffer. She’s my grandma. Besides, I won’t be able to get to sleep now anyway.”

  No way I was gonna tell them about the crazy dream I’d had—certainly not Peaches, who had played such an integral and disturbing role.

  I got up and went back to the dining room where my grandma sat handcuffed to a chair. Instead of sitting next to her, this time I sat across from her. Bowser took me up on the offer and went to sleep in my room. Robinson, however, remained on the recliner, and in record time was back to snoring his face off. Peaches sat outside, chain-smoked cigarettes for a while, and then headed back to her room.

  And then it was just us. She and I.

  The only two awake.

  I stared at her, bewildered, while she continued to stare into her lap.

  Somehow, my grandma had done the impossible. She’d woken from a coma that I just assumed would end her life. She’d woken … but something wasn’t the same. She wasn’t the same.

  Over the next hour, I tried talking to her some more. I didn’t ask questions. I wasn’t looking for answers. I just wanted to see if she’d speak to me, give me some small sign that she was getting better—that whatever had caused her to act so violently, and now so withdrawn, was wearing off. Please, God, have her say something. Anything.

  But she never did.

  She never said a word.

  Finally, I put my head down on the table and gazed into the burning candles until my eyes got tired—until I faded off to sleep.

  Chapter 27

  I was awoken suddenly by a banging sound coming from somewhere behind me.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Before I could even lift my head, the sound came again.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  I got up and headed into the living room. Robinson wasn’t fully awake, but the sound had caused him to stir. I stopped next to his recliner and watched as he repositioned himself to go back to sleep. Then—

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  No doubt where the sound was coming from now. Someone was outside banging on the front door. Only this and nothing more.

  As I nervously began to creep toward the door, Robinson woke from his slumber and looked over at me.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice hoarse and tired. “Why you making that noise?”

  “It’s not me,” I said. “Somebody’s at the door.”<
br />
  “Huh?” It took a second to register in his brain, and then Robinson leapt up from the recliner and joined me in staring at the front door. “But who would…?”

  I didn’t have an answer for him. And I didn’t need one.

  “Anybody home?” asked a voice on the other side of the door.

  I felt stupid for not identifying the late visitor earlier just by his knock, or closed-fisted bang.

  I stood back as Robinson went to open the door.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  “Stop banging on the door, asshole,” Robinson yelled. “Who are you and what do you want?”

  I stepped forward, laughing a little. “Open the door. It’s Aamod.”

  I think Robinson’s brain was still asleep. Again he looked at me like I had spoken to him in another language, and then finally the light bulb came on. He unlocked the dead bolt and threw open the door.

  “What are you doing here?” Robinson asked.

  Without much light, Aamod was little more than an outline on the front porch. But his Indian accent was unmistakable. “You gave me your address,” he said.

  “Yeah, and you could have waited until morning.”

  “No, I’m sorry. We couldn’t.”

  I stepped forward where Aamod would be able to see me. I immediately felt weird only having on a pair of boxer shorts. “What’s wrong?”

  Aamod didn’t turn to acknowledge me. He kept his focus on Robinson. “May I come in?”

  Robinson moved out of the way and let Aamod come inside the house. Naima followed him. Now I really felt weird about only having on a pair of boxer shorts.

  The four of us went toward the light and sat down at the dining room table. I was the only one to sit on the side with my grandma, even as she kindly raised her head to greet our guests. Aamod said hello to her. When grandma didn’t respond, he looked at Robinson to comment.

  “She’s not feeling well,” Robinson finally said.

  “Then that makes two of us,” Aamod replied. “You see my wife … Naima’s mother … she woke up tonight and—”

  Peaches emerged from the hallway and slowly crossed the living room. It was fitting that she should hear Aamod tell his story, since she was the first to suggest that other people may have also woken from their comas.

  “Have trouble sleeping?” I asked.

  She sat down next to me instead of my grandma. “What’s going on?”

  “As you can see, we’ve got some late night visitors,” I said.

  “Sorry to wake you,” Naima said.

  Peaches started to respond, but Robinson cut her off. “Where is she?”

  “Where is who?” I asked.

  “I’m not talking to you, Jimmy,” Robinson said. “Aamod … where is your wife?”

  Aamod swapped a knowing glance with his daughter. “That’s why we’re here. We don’t know.”

  “What do you mean you don’t know? You said she woke up tonight.”

  “She did. Then she disappeared.”

  “Disappeared?” Robinson inquired.

  Aamod took a deep breath. “Allow me to explain. I didn’t feel comfortable having her in the bed with me, so I laid her down on the couch. Then about an hour ago, I woke up to get a glass of water, and I realized she was no longer there. So I went to Naima’s room, thinking maybe she’d moved her for some reason. But Naima had done no such thing. After that, we searched the house, the yard. I walked up and down the street, calling her name, but…”

  “Go on,” Robinson suggested.

  “But she was gone,” Aamod finally said.

  “Did you check the house for forced entry?” Robinson asked. “Maybe someone broke in.”

  “And what,” I said. “Stole her?”

  Robinson shrugged. “You never know.”

  “I checked the house,” Aamod said. “No windows were broken. And all the doors were locked when I went to bed. I wasn’t taking any chances after what happened earlier.”

  I sure didn’t need an explanation about what happened earlier, but Robinson looked like he wanted one. Fortunately, Aamod wasn’t about to turn either of us in to the authorities for sending Jerry off to hell.

  “I’m certain she woke up during the night and left,” Aamod continued. “Where she went I don’t know. I came here … we came here … because we thought maybe you could help us find her.”

  Robinson sighed and rubbed his eyes.

  I felt bad for Naima. She looked upset hearing her father tell the story, more so after seeing Robinson’s unexpected reaction to it.

  “Is there something wrong?” Aamod asked.

  “No, nothing,” Robinson said. “Other than wondering what you expect me to do? I mean, if your wife woke up and then just decided to run off, how am I supposed to help you find her? It’s not like I can put out a search for her. I’m one man, and she could be anywhere.”

  “I know that,” Aamod said.

  “We just didn’t know where else to turn,” Naima added.

  “One of you should have stayed back at the house. How do you know she won’t return?”

  “I don’t. But we couldn’t stay there.”

  “Well, that’s not my problem,” Robinson said. “You should have waited longer.”

  “No, you don’t understand. It wasn’t safe. The house was surrounded.”

  Robinson leaned in, his eyebrows furrowed. “Surrounded by what?”

  “People,” Aamod replied. “People who wanted to hurt us. We’re lucky to have made it out alive.”

  Suddenly, my Grandma’s whole body began to shake violently, the metal cuffs rapped against the wooden chair.

  “Jimmy, why is she doing that?” Peaches asked.

  But the answer was obvious, as my grandma shook and squirmed and fought to free her hands from the cuffs.

  Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

  She wanted out.

  Chapter 28

  The seizure-like shaking only lasted about fifteen seconds, but when it stopped, I was afraid it had killed her. Grandma slumped forward, head first to the wooden table, and began gasping for air. Peaches and I lifted her back up hoping that it would help open her airways. We held her upright for the next few minutes, until her pulse gradually slowed and she began breathing normally again. Then we gently laid her head down on the table, her eyes fluttering open and closed.

  She had survived, but not without suffering some injury.

  “Oh, no, Jimmy, look,” Peaches said, pointing at the blood dripping down from the handcuffs. “She’s bleeding.”

  Officer Robinson rushed over to our side of the table to check it out. “That doesn’t look good. The cuffs must have cut into her wrists.”

  “Were they too tight?” I asked.

  “No,” Robinson said. “But her wrists are small and her skin is thin. Most people don’t try to pry their hands out of the cuffs, because this is what happens. With enough force, you could literally fillet the flesh right off the bone. This isn’t that bad, but it looks like it’s already starting to swell.”

  “What is wrong with her?” Aamod asked. “You say she is sick.”

  “She hasn’t been herself ever since she woke up,” I said. “We think it might be a side effect or something.”

  “Side effect of what?”

  “From the infection. From being in a coma.”

  I didn’t think it was possible, but the expression on Aamod’s face grew more serious. Grave, even. “So you’re telling me this woman—”

  “She’s my grandma,” I interjected.

  “Sorry, your grandmother also woke up from her coma tonight? Like my wife? Like Naima’s mother?”

  “Yes.”

  “But why is she in handcuffs?”

  “Because instead of running off, she tried to attack us,” I said. “We handcuffed her to the chair so she wouldn’t hurt herself or someone else. Not much good it did, though.”

  “I suggest we take the cuffs off, Jimmy,” Robinson said. “We need to clean up her wrist
s so they don’t get infected.”

  I nodded.

  “Can she talk?” Aamod asked.

  “If she can, she doesn’t want to, or doesn’t remember how.”

  Aamod turned and faced his daughter. “Then that explains it.”

  Robinson dug deep into his pockets searching for the keys to the handcuffs. “Explains what?”

  “The people outside my house,” Aamod replied. “I figured they must have followed me back after I had gone off searching for my wife. Some rogue group looking to start trouble. I tried to find out what they wanted, but they wouldn’t talk to me. In fact, now that I think about it … they didn’t even talk to each other. Finally, I got my shotgun and threatened to start shooting if they didn’t leave my property. And still they never moved an inch. That’s when we decided we’d better get out of there. They moved in on us when we got to the car. I had to plow through them to get out of the driveway.”

  The room fell silent. Nobody knew how to respond.

  Robinson finally found the keys and juggled them between his hands, waiting for me to give him a signal.

  “So it’s true then,” Peaches said. “It’s not just her. Others have woken up too.”

  “I counted at least a dozen,” Aamod added.

  “That we know of,” I said. “There could be a lot more than that.”

  “What if it’s all of them?” Peaches asked. “There had to be hundreds of millions infected in the U.S alone. What if they’re all waking up as we speak? What if they’re all … different?”

  “You mean, dangerous?”

  “Yeah.”

  I took a deep breath. “Then God help us.”

  Chapter 29

  Despite the damage done to her wrists, we decided to keep grandma cuffed a little longer, at least until we had a better idea what exactly was going on. Peaches helped me clean the cuts as best we could, shifting the handcuffs up and down grandma’s arm so I could lay the bandages. Grandma didn’t even flinch when we dabbed on the rubbing alcohol. She kept her head down on the table, unmoving, but still awake.

  After that unfortunate task was out of the way, everyone paced around, wondering what to do next. We definitely weren’t going back to sleep. Not. Gonna. Happen. Aamod’s story had us more worried than a young Michael after a bad Jackson 5 performance. I even sneaked outside to make sure people weren’t surrounding the house. Luckily, I didn’t see anyone. We were fortunate that Robinson lived in a rural part of town.