by Michael Blue
Summer - 1 Year Ago
* * *
It all started when someone that was infected managed to pass through one of the guards back at the Quarantined Zone. It was located at Elmhurst in Queens, New York. The US Military managed to take over Queens Center Mall and claimed it under ownership of the government. It was only a matter of time before people were able to move in. The mall was large enough to harbor over hundreds of people. The mall wasn't in the best shape like it was twenty years ago according to the pictures, but nobody cared. The guards didn't have to worry about people stealing clothes or food because it was all already long gone before they even got there. We still had our rations though. Everything was going great for years until that one asshole had to ruin it for the rest of us. My mom pointed out someone twitching and sweating. A girl beside the man, presumably his girlfriend, was trying her hardest to conceal him, but it did him no good.
Later that night, I remember hearing screaming. The same guy that the bitch was trying to protect ended up killing his girlfriend. After he was finished with her, he went on a rampage attacking anyone that ran past him. After that, it was complete chaos. The guards couldn't do anything about it. Trying to calm over six-hundred people was impossible and I remember hearing one of the leaders demanding to "occupy" them. I also remembered getting lost in the crowd apart from my mom and uncle. It was just me and Erlina and we hid underneath a table. Soon after, we started hearing gun shots one after another. It just wouldn't stop. I could still hear it to this day. I remember bodies falling on top of one another like dominoes and I had to make Erlina look away. But it didn't matter which way she turned because everywhere she did, there was bloodshed. I remember they were up to their last person. He shouted, pleading for his very life, he even got on his knees. I remember him being young guy just like me. I don't know why it mattered, but I wanted to save him. He was the same age as I was and I feel like we could've been friends. I felt weak, and technically I was. There was nothing I could do. Within the last few moments of those thoughts, a bullet was placed right into his brain. It was summer, and it was really hot. I remember sweating a whole bunch from stress and anxiety. I put my head down and looked at my palms rested on the floor. That's when my eyes began to water... and I sniffled. That's when I saw a light shine on me. I looked up to see a fully armed guard toss the table from over me and my cousin's head and aimed his stupid rifle right at us. I quickly grabbed my cousin and wrapped her in my arms, hoping to protect her. If he wanted to kill us, he could kill me before he got to her. I closed my eyes and I could feel my cousin whimpering heavily as she clutched my flannel shirt the hardest she could. Within a couple of seconds we heard a loud gunshot. We both jumped, but I didn't feel a thing. I was wondering if maybe that's how it felt to die or maybe I was in some sort of shock. That's when I heard a body fall. I turned to see that the guard fell to his knees and flat to the floor. I noticed a pool of blood pour out from his neck and I turned to the escalator to see my mom with a handgun.
My overly religious mom never believed in violence and she never owned a gun from the get-go. She carried her bible everywhere she went, and it pissed me off how she read it almost every day. She looked startled and frightened and had a look of despair in her eyes. Her palms were the sweatiest of all, and she kept trembling. After that we followed her up the stairs to the main level before the others spotted us. It wasn't easy. I just remember having to hide in a every corner, behind every pillar and as soon as we neared the parking lot that were a couple of levels up, we noticed that some infected had made their way inside the mall. Thankfully (and I can't believe I'm saying this), but if they didn't, we probably wouldn't have made it out alive. They took all the guards attention away from us and every single one of those bastards deserved to die after what they did.
We climbed into my mom's old beige toyota corolla. It's rims were missing and it's dented up bumper was as bad as the hood. It still had gas that we stole a couple of days ago and managed to make it out of the parking lot. I had never seen my mom drive so quickly or swiftly. We heard gunshots, but eventually we made it out of the mall's parking lot and managed to make it unto the parkway. Believe it or not, my brother told me that my mom use to hate driving and hated the parkway, but not there's really nothing to fear about the highway. I could bet my life that she would rather be speeding away on a highway in a car rather than with those things outside.
However, that's when the question about my uncle arose. Erlina asked where her daddy was about five times. My mom didn't answer the first three. That's when it was explained to us that he wouldn't be coming with us. He and many others were taken out during that blood bath. It was like the world around me had gone mute. Erlina placed her head on me in the backseat and began sobbing and gagging. She couldn't stop crying. My mom was driving, but she was just sniffling the whole ride. Of course, I just had tears streaming down my face. I felt bad for the kid. She had to go through life without a mom, and now my uncle was torn out the picture.
What the hell? If this was life's plague to balance and pan out the human population, it was crap.
Summer
* * *
It had already been a year, and it was right back to summer all over again. No one was really sure on the approximate time and date, but it was definitely around early August since the weather started cooling down. This whole time, Joshua, his mother, and Erlina had been camping inside of a really old house Joshua's mom formerly worked at. She would take care of mentally disabled clients, and the very house they were stationed in was attached to two other houses that use to house other clients and workers. Joshua's mother told him stories of how she use to take care of them by bathing them, feeding them, and giving them their daily medication. A couple of months back, Joshua and his mother were chased out of their own house after it was run down by some thugs. Eventually they settled in a quarantine zone, but like most things in the world, it didn't end so well.
When they first came in the house to escape from the quarantine zone, it was terrifying for her to see that her clients had been left to turn. Some had already died, eating one another. It broke her heart. The house was pore-infested before they settled and aired out the place, and she had enough bullets in her gun to put them at rest. Joshua remembered having to stay behind with Erlina. Of course, there was time where Joshua had to run inside the house to check on his mother's well-being, but she was fine. A little distressed, but fine. She wasted a lot of bullets that day, something that made them realize it was something she had to change. Ammunition and food was like the modern day currency.
* * *
Erlina slowly walked down the stairs after a short afternoon nap. The sun was already high in the sky. Daytime had its pros and cons, but most important of all; there were no infected out around this time. As for Erlina, she was fully armed because she knew what day it was. She had been preparing for it for some time now and it normally took Josh's mom a lot of convincing. Erlina came downstairs clothed in black jeans and brown boots she used for tough, long walks. She wore a white top, but over it was a really thin, short sleeved denim jacket. It took months of scavenging to find the items they have, but it was still never really enough. Erlina wore glasses, and they were still in really good condition surprisingly. Just recently, Josh's mom took the time to do Erlina's hair, and styled them in box braids. Erlina's hair fell a little past her shoulders, and she tied it half up half down style. Everyone believed that in her mind, she looked like a little hunter.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Erlina's aunt asked her.
"Yes, aunty Pamela. I told you a million times already. I have to learn anyway. There might come a time where I'll be on my ow—"
"Don't—Don't say that." Joshua said placing his hand up, signalling her to stop.<
br />
"She's right, you know," Pamela said with her evident West Indian accent. All these years in America and her accent were still somewhat thick.
Joshua walked to the corner of the living room they were all standing in and opened up a closet door that held most of their ammunition and tools. As usual, they were running low. Around Joshua's right thigh, strapped on top of his blue colored pants, he always kept a small shorty in a holster. Unfortunately he was running low on bullets. On top of that, around the right side of his hip was a handgun. On his left hip was a sheath with a concealed machete. He needed ammo that could fit a shotgun. Over his head, he wore a thin black beanie hat.
Reaching in, he got a bow and quiver filled with six arrows and handed it to Erlina. He never knew how to use one, but eventually they learned, and Erlina was the one who got the most experience and training with it. She became a natural quite fast. She was also armed with a small folding knuckle knife; pretty much a brass knuckle and knife in a one. It may sound like something, but Joshua and Erlina were sitting ducks compared to other hunters.
The house was only lit by a few candles and the streaks of light that came in threw the spaces of the boarded windows. They they first moved in, Joshua and his mother had taken the whole day to board up every window the day they first moved in. Then they did the other two, conjoined, houses the following days.
"Why can't Erlina stay and I go?" Pamela asked.
"Mom..." Joshua said in disbelief, "You're in your fifties," Joshua argued, "Who's to say that we come back here and something happens to Erlina? We have a much better chance of you staying here, protecting yourself, and her being with me."
She nodded in understanding and didn't bother questioning him. She knew deep down he felt that way because he cared. She also couldn't disagree on the fact that she was getting worn out. Her bones were beginning to hurt and her lower back problems were getting worse from so much lifting. Don't get it wrong though, that beretta she found on the floor at the mall had done her wonders ever since then. Luckily for her, it was the one gun she found the most ammo for. She used regular kitchen knives for stabbing or whatever, and she also had a rifle that she sat beside in a rocking chair just in case shit hit the fan, especially when spotting the house.
"Be back soon, okay? If you both stay out too long I'll come looking for you," she said.
"Yeah, sure," Joshua said before giving his mom a quick peck on the cheek and walking to the exit.
As for Erlina, Pamela gave her wonderful niece a large, wet peck as well, and Erlina followed on after her older cousin. They both grabbed their bags in order to gather their objects in. They kept things such as bottled water and crackers in it just in case. Joshua had a small brown colored bag and placed it on one shoulder. Erlina had a black shoulder bag with a Hello Kitty insignia on it that hung from her right shoulder down the left side of her body. Her quiver was worn underneath and her re-curve bow was placed over one shoulder. The front entrance was sealed in a customized way in order to prevent strangers from entering the house. Exiting the house, Joshua closed the door behind him.
The street's cars were all rusted up and blocking certain paths in the street. You could tell there was an accident when this was all happening because three of them were technically attached to one another. There were patches of tall weeds growing out of cracks in the pavement. The grasses and bushes grew so high that it hid Pamela's car in the driveway. The car was so well hidden, that Joshua and Erlina forgot it was around sometimes. Turning back to look at the house, they still saw Pamela peeking through the boarded up window. He sighed while rolling his eyes and began staggering off, watching his step as he stepped over broken bottles and whatnot.
"Are we going to search in there?" Erlina said pointing at a large building that was a couple of feet away from their house and across the street.
"My mom told me that was a catholic school. I could only begin to imagine how many infected are in that thing..." Joshua replied not taking his eye off the building.
Erlina began to assume right away that there must have been more dependable items in a catholic school rather than a regular school. Erlina looked down for a moment as she walked behind him and looked back up.
"Let's go in there..." Erlina said looking over at it.
"Let's go where?" Joshua exclaimed while turning around. He continued walking backwards and looked at her to make sure that she was talking about somewhere else.
"That school." She said looking up at him, slightly fixing her spectacles back up on the bridge of her nose
"Hell no, are you insane?" He asked her.
"Fine..." she said with a small smile looking down.
Joshua smiled back and continued walking.
"Where are we going then?" She asked.
"I was thinking we could go to that gas station up ahead?"
"Didn't we check there already?"
"Not the garage. It's been barricaded for days and I'm sure there's got to be something we need," Joshua said desperately.
He looked around as they walked the area, Erlina too. Things were different from the pictures he had seen on the refrigerator at his mom's old job. The streets were clear and there were definitely no wild animals inhabiting the area. It was all different now. Deer and monkeys were mostly seen all over the place. According to his mom, there were raccoons in the past, but she could admit there were more nowadays. Hogs were Joshua's favorite thing to catch since the outcome was some kind of pork or bacon. Erlina didn't really have a favorite. She just appreciated everything that came her way; from pork to canned corn.
"There it is..." Joshua said pointing at the gas station.
Immediately, Josh began jogging and Erlina just managed to keep up with him. Once they reached the gas station, they walked past the pumps outside. It made no sense using a pump because it had to be controlled from the inside and they doubted that it was full.
"Where does the gas come from anyway?" Erlina asked after examining the gas dispenser. She removed the pump from the holder and played with the pump, struggling to squeeze and release the handle over and over again.
"Well, from what I remember being told, there's a large gas tank built in underneath the gas station. Every now and then a gasoline truck would drive by and have to fill it up."
Erlina looked like she were going to speak but she paused after a moment or two.
"What?" Joshua said looking at her with a smile.
"I was going to say that we could take that instead, but I guess it weights a ton," she said making a dumbfounded face.
Of course Joshua couldn't hold his laugh in and he began to snicker. Erlina began to chuckle too, but it was brought right to a halt after hearing something bang the garage door with ferocity from the inside. Joshua quickly grabbed his handgun with his right hand and held Erlina back with his left. At that point Erlina already had her bow and arrow intact and was ready to fire. Listening closely, they heard gross croaking noises and knew exactly what it was from the jump.
"Ugh...a clicker's in there?" Joshua questioned in disbelief after placing one of his minimally bruised hand on his forehead.
After a long pause, Joshua finally spoke, "Stay there."
Erlina watched Joshua as he took a step forward. Hesitantly, she nearly took a step forward in fright for what he was about to do,
"...J-Joshua?" she stammered.
Joshua looked back at Erlina, placing his fingers on his lips and giving her the signal to lower her voice. Quietly, he approached the garage door of the as station and looked through the tinted windows. It was dark on the inside, so this only prompted Joshua to near one of the slightly broken windows. Fortunately, the window was small enough to fit as much as an arm through. With one eye open, Joshua peeked through the broken glass as if he were looking through a keyhole. He heard the croaks of a Clicker. He tried to get as much of a view as he could and didn't notice any other infected in the garage. He could see automobiles, tools, and that was probably it. As a test, Joshua k
nocked the garage door, and in an instant, the Clicker crashed into the garage door, repeatedly banging it from the other side.
Erlina gave a soft gasp and hunched her shoulders up fearing the Clicker was capable of breaking the large door.
"Never mind let's go home..." Joshua groaned. Turning his back to garage, without question he walked in the opposite direction of the path they walked to get there.
Erlina straddled behind him. After a long pause of melancholy, she broke the silence,
"Can't you kill it...?"
Joshua sighed and placed his hands into his pockets. He faced her and looked down at his younger cousin,
"Look, there's an open space through the back of the garage and its small enough for you to fit through," he rolled his eyes, "I was going to send you in there to see if you could find a few items; like gasoline and tools or something. I just never knew there was a damn Clicker in there."
Joshua turned away and continued walking. Erlina didn't bother moving; instead she just stood in her spot and kicked a little bit of the dirt around. A breeze picked up and she placed a lock of her braids behind her ear. Joshua no longer heard the smaller footsteps behind him and he slowed down after feeling her presence fade behind him. He took a double take, realizing she hadn't moved.
"I'll do it," she said slightly disappointed.
Joshua watched her in disbelief, although it was inappropriate, he began chuckling. He and Erlina joked around many things, but it turned out that she wasn't joking about this. His smile slowly deteriorated as she walked back a couple of feet to the garage door. Slightly perplexed at her determination, he followed her, completely unsure of what she was going to do next.
"You're serious."
Erlina nodded. She bent down and picked up a jagged rock. She eventually used her arm to toss the rock at the garage door to alert the little sucker that was inside. Out of all the infected, Clickers were the only ones who couldn't see you. Luckily for them, their fugal plates made it extremely hard for any adult to take them on physically, let alone a little girl. An arrow through the head or chest would do a Clicker justice. Either way, Erlina knew she was equipped to exterminate it. Joshua needed to take a moment to connect everything in his head. She paced back and forth. It was something desperate, but was it that important? Important enough to put his eleven year old cousin's life on the line?
