by RJ Crayton
He sat in the car and waited. Driver’s side. They’d agreed he’d drive. Amadu would ride shotgun, since he was probably most familiar with Illinois and could serve as a decent guide. Josh, Elaan, and his mother riding in the tiny backseat just made sense. The women were more compact.
And within five minutes, they were all settled in the car, and Lijah edged the Prius from the garage and waited for Amadu to lock the house doors. Then, they were all in.
There was silence in the car. Elaan was in the center of the backseat, with Shonda on one side and Josh on the other. His mother looked tense, and he wondered briefly if it just made sense for Elaan to sit in the middle or if Shonda didn’t want to be near Josh.
Lijah stared ahead at the road, but he spoke loud enough for those in the back to hear. “So, you’re sure they’re coming for us?”
A glance in the rearview mirror showed everyone was still anxious over their predicament. Lijah sighed, and Shonda said, “Kingston said he’d secured Josh’s safety in exchange for Elaan’s location, so I imagine they’ll send someone. We just don’t know how quickly that will be.”
Lijah shook his head. Kingston was such an ass. Their little safe haven was gone, but he supposed no place in this new world was really safe. It had all been an illusion. They were all at risk of something. Elaan from the government, him from the disease, his mother from being found out. “Whose idea was it to call Kingston?” he asked, though he’d more been musing this to himself.
“He called us,” Elaan said. “Josh was testing the phone when it rang.”
“I think he was waiting for a signal I’d powered on,” Josh said. “I didn’t think he’d turn us in.”
Lijah kept his eyes on the road. Josh should’ve known what his father would do. Only, Josh had managed a weak spot for his father that Lijah couldn’t manage for either of his parents. He understood exactly who both his parents were. They both had flaws. He wouldn’t sugarcoat their behavior or convince himself that they were kind if they were selfish. Josh didn’t seem to have that ability. “It’s fine,” he said. “We were leaving anyway. It didn’t cost us anything. It just gives us more time to look for a cure.”
His mother shook her head. “Hopefully it didn’t cost us anything. Hopefully we didn’t leave anything important behind.” She turned her head to look out the rear window.
“You got the hard drive?” Lijah asked.
“Yeah, we have all the data. That will have to be enough.”
Chapter 4 - Lijah
Lijah had checked the rearview mirror constantly on the way to Champaign. The idea that they had narrowly escaped a deep threat had lingered. Only, there appeared to be no one coming after them. The drive to Champaign had taken ninety minutes and been uneventful.
Things still had a deserted quality to them, one that made him wonder if they should even worry about Kingston Wells and whoever the hell was still in charge of the government. Charlottesville, Virginia, might as well be a million miles away, not a few hundred.
Wells had turned over their location, but given how few people they were seeing, it seemed unlikely the military left could, or even would, mobilize to look for Elaan. Perhaps whoever was telling Wells his help would be appreciated was just using him. Though, Lijah couldn’t imagine to what end.
They arrived at the sleepy college town with no fanfare. The streets were bare, and there wasn’t anything open that he could see. They had food, so that wasn’t a huge problem. But gas could be an issue at some point. The Prius hadn’t used that much on the trip. But if they needed to go any extended distances, they’d need to refuel. They also needed a place to stay. Amadu guided them to the professor’s house. He’d come to the lake community earlier this year along with a professor who had a summer home there. But the professor also had a home in Champaign. They figured the simplest thing to do would be to try there first. It could have squatters, in which case, they’d leave. Or it could be abandoned, as its owners had left it.
They drove to the tree-lined neighborhood, with Amadu guiding them. Most of the houses on the street looked deserted. A good sign. They pulled into the driveway. The old-fashioned Victorian had tall windows and a small front porch. The house was blue and looked like it would be a peaceful place to live in normal circumstances. Amadu and Lijah both got out, heading to the front door. They knocked. No answer. A peek in the windows gave them the impression it was, in fact, deserted.
“You have a key?” Lijah asked.
Amadu nodded. He was the same height as Lijah and in good shape. His skin was a gorgeous dark chocolate, and his eyes were brown and filled with kindness. Amadu reached in his pocket, pulled out a set of four keys. He’d taken them from the professor’s house when he’d abandoned it to live with Shonda. Amadu tried the first key. It didn’t work.
Lijah turned back to look at the street. It was bright and sunny. Probably only about one o’clock. If they could get inside now, they might even have time to explore the campus. Their goal was to find a working lab, so his mother could get started. The sooner they found the lab, the sooner they could be done. His mother’s plan would either work or it wouldn’t.
He watched the empty street, looking for signs of passersby. They’d planned to arrive later in the day, when it was a little closer to dark. They didn’t want to butt up against the Martial Law curfew, but they also didn’t want to look like they were breaking into a house in broad daylight. Only, now that’s exactly what they were doing.
Lijah heard a click and turned in time to see the front door swing open. Amadu went in first and Lijah followed. The place smelled musty and closed off. A good sign. If the place was empty, it meant at least something was going right.
Amadu reached out and flicked a light switch. Nothing happened. No power. So, not as nice as where they’d come from. But beggars couldn’t be choosers. Amadu and Lijah explored the house. The first floor was typical: living room, dining room, kitchen. Upstairs were four bedrooms. There was a basement, too. It was unfinished. A big empty space. The house was clear. Safe. For now.
Chapter 5 - Elaan
Her mother thought it was a bad idea. The plan had been to get there later in the day, settle in, and then go out the following day to look for a working lab.
“But we’re here early, Mom,” Elaan said. “And there are bikes. Amadu said it’s only a fifteen-minute ride.”
Elaan wasn’t trying to be pushy, but she did feel a tad guilty. She should’ve told Josh the phone was a bad idea. Or she should have gotten him to stop talking earlier. Something. They’d left in a hurry to avoid possibly getting caught. They’d left some of their things there. Nothing that would connect them to Champaign, but other things. Things that would say they had been there. And she thought it would do Josh some good to get out.
Having biked through a chunk of Illinois, she knew that biking meant you didn’t have to think too much. You had purpose when you were riding. You had to follow the road and focus somewhat on what you were doing. Josh could use that type of distraction right now.
“Elaan, our plan was to spend the first day getting settled, and then get the lay of the land the next day. There’s no reason to change that.”
Elaan turned to Lijah. Maybe he’d offer support. “What do you think?” she said. “Any reason why we shouldn’t get a head start?”
Lijah smirked, as if he could think of a panoply of reasons. But he didn’t say anything. He just shrugged. That was the best she was going to get. “See, Lijah doesn’t care. It’s only—” She peeked at her watch. “It’s only two fifteen. We can ride over, do a quick lay of the land and then be home by five.”
“It gets dark at five,” her mother said.
“We’ll be back at four thirty.”
Shonda, who was looking through the food they’d packed and debating whether to put it in the cabinets or leave it in the large plastic box, finally sighed, and said, “Alright. You and Amadu go see what you can find.”
“There are three bikes,” Elaan
said. “Josh can come, too.”
Shonda turned to Josh, who was leaning against one of the walls of the kitchen. She looked as if she’d be happy to be rid of him, and said, “Fine.”
With that, the three of them headed out on the professor’s bikes. Apparently the professor and his family biked. The bikes were all pretty nice. It felt good to be on one, though it was odd not to be on the tandem bike with Josh within arm’s reach. In her memory, their time on the tandem felt like months, but it had just been a couple of days.
They followed Amadu through town. Lots of streets that would have been picture pretty if people had mowed the lawns or generally kept up the area. Amadu had been spot on. It had only taken fifteen minutes for them to get to campus. It was as deserted as everywhere else.
Elaan sighed. The campus should have been full of students. She thought Amadu had said the undergraduate population was 30,000. That was the size of a pretty decent sized town.
Now it was empty. Grass was long, and many of the buildings were boarded up. They rolled to a stop at a tall, Romanesque building with pillars out front. It had lots of steps, and Amadu dismounted. “There’s a chem lab in this building. In the basement. I suggest we go in and look around, see if there’s power, and if we’ll be able to work in there.”
Elaan and Josh dismounted, and Amadu scanned the room. “Elaan,” he said. “Why don’t you sit tight here, keep an eye on the bikes, while Josh and I will go in and see if there’s anyone in there.”
Elaan stared. “You’re ditching me?”
Amadu shook his head, seeming offended. “No,” he said. “I just don’t know who might be in there. I’m concerned you could get hurt, and I don’t want to have to explain that to your mother.”
She sighed. She understood not wanting to explain to her mother. But did he really think it would be dangerous? “The place seems pretty deserted.”
“That’s why I think you’ll be fine up here. No one seems to be out. If there’s a problem, it will be in there. And then you can charge in and rescue us.” He grinned at that. His humor was subtle enough that sometimes she could only tell he was joking when he offered that smile.
“Alright, I’ll stand guard for you two. But don’t make me have to come in there and use my karate moves.”
Josh raised an eyebrow. “You know karate.”
Elaan shook her head. “I know carrots. But probably not as helpful.”
Amadu started toward the building, but Josh didn’t move with him. He stepped toward Elaan. “I can stay here with you, if you want,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, check it out with Amadu. I’m good standing guard.”
He nodded, then ran to catch up with Amadu. They tried the door, which apparently was open. Elaan couldn’t tell from her viewpoint if it had been left unlocked or someone had broken the lock earlier. Inside they slipped, and they were gone. It was a pretty day. About 55 degrees. Sun shining and not a cloud in the sky. Elaan was wearing a fleece pullover. She’d gotten a bit hot on the bike ride over, but as she stood here, the cool of the day hit her.
She stood near the bikes and eyed the area around her. Perfect for a burgeoning student population. Only there were no students. It felt so deserted that she wondered why all the people had disappeared. Where had they gone? Could they really all have died? And if so, where were all the bodies? Surely there were people who got sick and couldn’t make it to a hospital. Had they all died in their houses? Were their corpses rotting and stinking?
She shivered. Gruesome thought. She decided to try to think about something else. She looked toward the building across the street. It was probably a dorm. Lots and lots of windows, about five floors tall. From the corner of her eye, she noticed movement and turned toward it. Coming from the side of the dorm building was a woman. She’d emerged from — well, Elaan wasn’t exactly sure, but the woman was walking on a path that would go from the side of that building to the street, and then, from the street, she could go anywhere.
There was something really familiar about the woman. Part of Elaan’s brain struggled to make the connection. That’s when the stranger turned and looked at Elaan. The woman stared right at her. They made eye contact, and as her features came into focus, she realized the woman looked sort of like her. Except older. Then it hit her. She knew exactly who the woman was. Elaan started walking toward her and she didn’t move. The woman just stared at Elaan, her lips a firm line.
“Natalie,” Elaan called out. “Are you Natalie?”
That was a mistake. At hearing the name Natalie, the woman turned and ran in the opposite direction, back toward where she’d come. Elaan chased after her, calling out, “Wait, please.” But the woman was fast and gone. Elaan jogged toward the spot she’d last been and peeked around the corner as far as she could see, but there was no sign of Natalie. If the guys hadn’t been depending on her to watch the bikes, she would have looked more. But they were, and she didn’t want to be gone when they came out.
She kicked up a clump of dirt in the too-tall grass she now stood in, then headed back toward the bikes to wait for the guys. She only had to wait about ten more minutes. Amadu and Josh returned with news that there was no power, and the lab appeared to have no equipment.
“Someone stole it,” Amadu said.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Elaan replied. “Why would someone steal lab equipment?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I just know there are no beakers, burners, centrifuges, test tubes, microscopes. Nothing. It’s all gone.”
“Would the university have moved it to storage?” Josh asked.
“I can’t see why.” Amadu retorted. Then he looked up at the sky. “Let’s go home. Your mother will be worried if we’re gone too long.”
Elaan nodded. She’d tell them about Natalie later.
* * *
When they got home, Amadu and Josh told Shonda and Lijah about the lab. After, Elaan piped up and told them about Natalie.
“Are you sure it was her?” Josh asked. “I mean, we only saw the one picture of her, and you were pretty far away.”
“I’m sure,” Elaan said. “You don’t forget what someone looks like when their father stopped by the roadside and offered you a ride because he thought you resembled his daughter. That was definitely the same girl we saw in the photographs when we stayed with Lee at his farm. I want to try to find her tomorrow. Her father’s worried about her. She should know. She should go home and tell him she’s alright.”
Her mother was shaking her head. “First of all, I’m not sure why Josh thought it was a good idea to leave you alone, but it’s not happening again. Tomorrow the guys can go exploring and you’re going to stay here with me.”
Elaan’s eyes widened. She had to be kidding. “What happened to BAMF?” Elaan said. “I can take care of myself standing outside with a bike. Josh and Amadu were fine to leave me. I’m not a damsel in distress, and I want to go tomorrow.”
Shonda turned to Lijah, clearly seeking support, but Lijah stared down at the ground. Shonda sighed and shook her head again. “This is not about you being a damsel in distress. This is about a weird situation and weird people. Nobody just removes all the equipment from a lab. That’s strange. And then you see this girl walking around. That’s strange, too. I don’t like it. And you chased after her today. The only reason you didn’t go further was because you didn’t want to leave your post. Well, I don’t like it. I don’t think you should get involved with this person.”
“But Mom, Amadu and I are the best people to go. We’re immune. No matter who we encounter, we can’t get sick.”
Elaan felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Josh. “Why don’t we table this ’til later? We can sleep on it, decide in the morning.”
Shonda bit her lower lip and said, “Good idea, Josh.”
Elaan decided this was the best she was going to get at the moment. Plus, that was the nicest her mother had been to Josh since the phone call, so she didn’t want to s
poil that. They ate dinner, a cold meal of lentils “cooked” by soaking them in water, along with protein bars they’d brought with them. It was filling, but it lacked in flavor from the stuff they’d had back at the lake.
A couple of hours after dinner, they all turned in for the night. Elaan shared a bedroom with her mother, and each of the guys got his own room. Elaan considered protesting, but she didn’t feel it was worth it. Perhaps her mother would be more receptive to letting her go on the exploratory trip tomorrow if she just did what she was asked, tonight.
Elaan closed her eyes and soon enough, she’d drifted off. She was enjoying her shut eye when she heard a commotion. Someone was shaking her. She didn’t want to get up, but the shaker was persistent.
Elaan opened her eyes. A bright light forced her to shut them again. “Get up,” a stranger said. Elaan held a hand over her face as she opened her eyes to the extreme light beam. She could tell it was still dark, but someone was shining a flashlight on her. The light careened away from Elaan, and she put her hand down.
With just backlit luminescence now, she could see, and part of her wished she couldn’t. Her mother was standing near the bed, a grim line on her face, and a woman wearing military fatigues was pointing a gun at Elaan. “Get dressed,” the woman said. “We’re leaving.”
Chapter 6 - Elaan
They’d been shoved into military jeeps in the middle of the night, blindfolded and driven somewhere. Elaan wasn’t sure who these people were or how they found them.
It could have been as simple as they were followed. Being awakened from a dead sleep and told to dress, being blindfolded and handcuffed, wasn’t the best for helping your brain recognize things. Having been awake and on the road now for a while, she realized the woman who’d held a gun to her had been Natalie.
