Autumn's Calling (Book 1): The Outbreak

by Michelle Weese

  “I’m so sorry to give you such bad news over the phone. We didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t feel right just taking Benji from here without trying to contact someone. Where do you live?” I asked her in a calm voice.

  “San Jose… is Benji okay? Does he know his dad is dead?”

  “Not yet. I told him his dad is sick and that I would try to find his mom to come get him. Benji is okay, he’s preoccupied playing with my dog. If you’re in San Jose then it would be at least a day before you could get here. Is his mom closer than that?”

  “Um… his mom has been missing for two days. She disappeared right before the broadcast about the virus outbreak. We don’t know if she’s still alive or not, she won’t answer her phone. Last place anyone saw her was at work.” She said, sobbing now.

  “Oh no. That’s not good. Listen Heather, I live about an hour north of here in Cottage Grove. This gas station is not a secure place to hold up in for long. So would it be okay with you if we took Benji with us to a safer area until you can get here?”

  “Yes, I think that would be best. I will have to find a car because everything here has been wrecked and vandalized including my car. So I’m not sure how soon I can get there, but I’ll definitely come for him. Can I talk to Benji?”

  “Yes, of course. And I’ll keep this phone with me so we can keep in touch. Once again, I’m sorry about everything. This outbreak is turning our world upside down, a lot of us are losing loved ones, unfortunately. You guys be careful and don’t worry about Benji, we will keep him safe until you get here. I’ll put him on now.” I walked the phone over to the boy, “It’s your Aunt Heather, she wants to say hi.”

  “Aunt Hedder!” he squealed and grabbed the phone enthusiastically. There were a lot of “uh huh’s” and “okay’s” on his end, then he whispered softly, “I love you too,” and handed me the phone with sweet innocent eyes. She had already hung up.

  “Well, Mr. Benji. What do you think? Want to hang out with us until Aunt Heather comes to get you?” I asked in the happiest voice I could find at that moment.

  “Yeah! Is Daisy staying with us?” he shrieked.

  “Of course, Daisy is my sidekick, I don’t go anywhere without her,” I replied, smiling down at his big baby blues. “We’re going to take a little drive to my hometown to wait for Aunt Heather. Your dad is going to stay here until he gets feeling better. Now let’s get you and Daisy in the car and strapped in.”

  “Okay, c’mon Daisy, I’m sitting beside you.” He started for the door, my beautiful golden retriever following closely behind, wagging her tail happily. She looked up at me and I gave her a pat on the head and a “good girl” for being such a great babysitter. We all walked to the car, Leland hung the gas nozzle back up on the pump and screwed the cap back on the tank of his car. I got Benji belted in beside Daisy in the backseat and climbed in the passenger front seat beside Leland. Dusk creeped up on us as we pulled away from the station and started back towards the highway. Benji kept giggling in the back seat due to Daisy licking him to death. I looked back at them and grinned. I’d give anything to be five years old again right now. So easy to forget the bad stuff surrounding you at that age.

  Chapter 17

  We drove another hour or so before reaching the exit for Cottage Grove. Weaving our way through town, where abandoned cars and trash littered the streets, my heart sank into my stomach. It was gut wrenching to see my hometown torn apart by this scourge. The local convenience and grocery stores vandalized; left in shambles from people trying to fight for survival. A school bus rested on the middle school parking lot engulfed in flames. I couldn’t believe all of this happened in just a couple of days. Hot tears filled my eyes and trickled down my face.

  “Our hardware store is just up another block on the left,” I said, clearing my throat, wiping my tears and trying to hide my emotions from him. We drove past Mr. Richard’s pharmacy where I used to go after school for candy and soda when I was a little girl. Two zombies shuffled around the front of the store, trying to find a way inside. The large front windows were inky black like an abyss. It looked abandoned, and something about the darkness surrounding the building made my skin crawl. I couldn’t quite place the feeling it gave me, but the hair on the back of my neck prickled and I shivered with goose bumps.

  A little further up, Leland cut across the street and parked in front of the hardware store. The car’s headlights lit up our old wooden sign hanging on the front of the building. Repainted a dozen times over the years, it read in bold red letters, Reed’s Hardware Store. I spent most of my childhood in this place, watching my dad show customers how to fix this and that. The memories started flooding in so fast, I almost felt dizzy.

  “You okay, Autumn?” Leland asked me, snapping me out of my trip down memory lane.

  I looked over at him and nodded, “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

  “Good to know,” he said, giving me that perfect smile. “Let’s get inside before we start drawing attention from the biters across the street.”

  I turned to look out the back windshield and noticed they were still roaming around the front of the pharmacy. “Okay. Benji we’re here sweetie, wake up.” I nudged him on the leg. He and Daisy played so hard back at the gas station that they passed out soon after we hit the interstate. He slowly opened his eyes and raised from where he had lay his head on Daisy’s backside, blinking and looking confused for a moment.

  “Where are we?” he asked in a sleepy, dreamlike voice.

  “This is my mom and dad’s store. We are staying here for a while until your Aunt Heather can come to pick you up. We will be safe here, don’t worry. Let’s get you inside now,” I told him as I unfastened my seatbelt and slid my gun in the back of my pants. Stepping out, and keeping a close eye on the “biters” as Leland called them, I opened the back door to grab Daisy by the leash since she was on my side. Leland got Benji unbuckled and picked him up to carry him inside. “We need the stuff from the trunk while we’re able to get it.”

  “Okay, let’s get you guys inside then I’ll come back out to get everything,” Leland said as we started for the front of the store. We made it to the front glass double doors, that were locked, and I knocked on them as quietly as possible but still made it known that we were here. My uncle and mom hurried from the back of the store, which was a hundred feet or so from the front where we waited. The biters finally noticed us and stumbled their way over. My heart raced and I began to panic when I heard the lock snap and felt the wind as the door in front of me swung outward.

  “Hurry up. Get in here.” Uncle Andrew said in a demanding voice.

  We rushed inside and he quickly shut the door back, clicking the lock in place. The zombies kept coming until they bumped into the glass. Then they just stood there, growling and moaning out of frustration from not getting their meal that dangled right in front of them. One was young and tall, about twenty five or so with dark hair. It looked like he’d rolled around in a pig pen and had his right arm ripped off; his shirt hung in shreds off the bloody stump. He gazed blankly at us with foggy unfocused eyes, teeth gnashing at the glass, he just wanted a taste but couldn’t quite get it. The other walking corpse I actually recognized as Paul Brogan. The town’s best mechanic around. He was middle aged, short and skinny, with graying brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. He still wore his navy blue mechanic’s jumpsuit, covered in grease with a dirty old rag hanging from his breast pocket. A bite wound peeped through the material of his jumpsuit ripped up over the knee area with blood stains around it. Frothy green liquid oozed from the corner of his mouth. His eyes were also milky and glazed over. They continued walking into the door and groaning loudly, making no progress.

  “Oh, Autumn. I’m so glad you made it safely. I’ve been so worried,” my mom announced, wrapping her arms around me. She stood my height with shoulder length curly, chestnut brown hair, and emerald green eyes like my own. My red hair came from my dad. It felt so good to have her arms around me finally, I alm
ost fainted with relief.

  We pulled away from the doors and out of sight around the corner, in hope that if they couldn’t see us they would go away. Leland sat Benji down on his feet and turned to me. “You want to introduce us, Autumn?” he asked softly, with a smile.

  “Yes, of course, I’m sorry. Mom…Uncle Andrew, this is Leland, we met at the bed and breakfast I was staying in. He was kind enough to escort me on the drive back here. I couldn’t have made it without him. Leland, this is my mom, Grace, and her brother, Andrew.”

  “Well, I can’t thank you enough, Leland, for getting Autumn back to me. I’m forever in your debt and very pleased to meet you. I can see why she wanted you to come along,” she remarked, her eyes alight with mischief. She shook his outstretched hand and gave him her best smile, batting her lashes at him. First my dog, now my mom… really? I believe he could charm the pants off the president. “And who is this fine young man?” Mom asked bending down to Benji’s level.

  “Mom, this is Benji. We stopped for gas in Forest Park and found him sitting alone in the station. His dad is “sick” and there were no other relatives that live close by, so we brought him with us to keep him safe until his aunt can get here to pick him up.” Benji glanced from me to my mom with shy, sad eyes.

  “Well, Benji, I’m happy you could join us. We have some projects around here to get done and could use some strong arms like yours to help out. How’s that sound? Want to help us?” Mom coaxed him in an exciting voice, hoping to loosen him up so he would feel more comfortable around us, I’m sure. He nodded and she stood up, taking his small hand in her own and walking down the nearest aisle, showing him tools and things boys are supposed to like.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Leland,” Uncle Andrew said, shaking his hand.” Thanks for getting Autumn home safely. I think we should be okay here until this virus is under control. We’ve got plenty of supplies around to last for a long time. Did you guys bring anything with you?”

  “Yeah, some stuff in the trunk that we need to get out, but it looks like we will have to wait for our friends out there to lose interest and move along,” Leland told him.

  “Okay, It’s getting late and I think we all could use some rest. Grace and I set up cots and sleeping bags in the back, so you two head back and claim your spots. I’ll see what I can whip up for us to eat, we have plenty of MRE’s in stock,” Andrew claimed.

  “Sleep sounds wonderful right now,” I answered, dragging my feet along as we all walked to the back past a small camping display set up. A small tent, two fold out chairs, a cooler and a faux fire pit. Our cots were behind the display against the back wall of the store. I collapsed onto one of them and breathed a sigh of relief. Leland sat down on the cot next to mine. Daisy wandered off with Mom and Benji a few aisles down to check out the excitement. I heard Benji giggling and my mom talking in a funny cartoon voice she used with me when I was a child. She’s so good with kids, the best mom I know. I laid there listening to them and couldn’t help but smile. Even though the world outside was falling apart, my mom could always make people around her smile.

  Chapter 18

  Exhaustion found me and I fell asleep on the cot. Then, I woke up to the sound of hushed voices and the smell of food. My stomach growled loudly as I sat up. Getting to my feet with a groan and huge yawn, I meandered over to a table where Mom, Leland, Uncle Andrew and Daisy were sitting. Benji was sound asleep on a cot, all wrapped up in a cocoon of sleeping bag. Everyone at the table ate freeze dried meals from a foil packet… yummy.

  Mom smiled up at me and said, “Hey sweetie, you hungry? We have started our four course meal. The choices on the menu tonight are chicken noodle soup, beef stew, chili or red beans and rice.”

  “Hmm, they all sound so tasty,” I responded sarcastically. “How will I ever choose?”

  “It’s actually not too bad once you get used to it,” Leland claimed, shoveling something that looked like dog food into his mouth. I gagged a little but swallowed the repulsion I felt. Sitting down between Mom and Leland, I grabbed a packet and started to read the directions. Chicken noodle soup is what I decided would be the safest route to go. So I added the water it called for and waited for the packet to warm up.

  “How long did I sleep? Did I miss anything fun?” I asked them.

  “You only slept about an hour. Obviously you needed the nap though so we let you rest. Nothing new yet, still waiting on dumb and dumber to get away from the doors so we can get the supplies and our clothes from my trunk,” Leland joked. He gobbled up his meal within minutes and washed it down with a bottle of water.

  “Well, they sure are persistent, huh?” I asked, taking a teeny bite of the soup to make sure it wasn’t absolutely disgusting before really digging in. But it tasted pretty decent for something that came out of a foil package and was dried up just a few minutes ago. A little bland, but luckily the MRE included little packets of salt and pepper.

  “Yeah, I looked out to see if there were any more of them wandering around nearby, but it’s so dark out I can’t see past twenty feet from the front of the store. I thought about trying to take out the two at the door but didn’t want to draw attention with gunshots,” Leland replied.

  “Well why don’t we use something else? Do we have an axe or something to hit them in the head with?” I questioned everyone.

  “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that,” Uncle Andrew responded, shaking his head. “That’s why we’re glad you two are here, young minds think more efficiently. I’m blaming old age on my part.”

  “Oh, please. You’re barely fifty. Excuses, excuses…” I joked, laughing at him.

  “Maybe. But I feel much older than fifty,” he said wearily. He scooted away from the table and stood to throw out the package from his tasty cuisine. Standing at five-foot-seven with a slight gut to show his age, he had curly brown hair like my mom’s but kept it cut pretty short and what was left were tight waves with a couple of cowlicks on the crown of his head. He looked distinguished with a little dusting of gray hair starting to work its way from his beard and sideburns, up to the rest of his hair. His gray blue eyes, the color of the sky as it turns from sunny to rainy, held a loneliness to them. He was a gentle and caring man, but never did marry or have kids, only a handful of relationships that never seemed to work out. Which I couldn’t understand, he was a good looking man for his age. He stepped up when my dad passed away, helping mom with the store and tried his best to take care of us when we needed things fixed around the house. It was nice to have him around to help pick up the pieces when mom fell apart at the seams from losing my dad.

  “We should check and see what will be the best tools for the dirty job. I’d like to get my stuff so I can lay down for a nice long nap. I haven’t slept since the day before yesterday,” Leland admitted with a jaded look in his eyes. He stood up, stretched his arms high above his head and started for the aisles to see what handy tools we had for bashing in zombie skulls.

  “Wait up, I’ll come with,” I called, tossing my half eaten chicken noodle soup in the trash and jogging to catch up to him. I followed him into the aisle with the axes, picks, shovels, etc. and we both grabbed an axe, testing the weight and getting a feel for them in our hands.

  “Autumn, you don’t have to go out there with me. I can handle this on my own,” Leland said, giving me serious eyes. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “Seriously? I’m not letting you go out there alone. You’re crazy if you think I’m just going to sit still in here and act like “the girl”. Plus, I figured you knew me better than that by now,” I noted, grinning at him.

  He cracked his own beautiful smile, “Yes, I know. I thought it was worth a try. I know you’re a tough cookie,” he replied with a small laugh. His eyes gleamed that gorgeous turquoise in the bright lights of the store. I tried not to get distracted from the task at hand, but he made it pretty difficult. He stopped laughing when he noticed I was staring at him and gave me a steamy gaze that almost stopp
ed my heart. He sat the axe down and walked to me, bodies almost touching and put his hand on my cheek to raise my face to his. “I wish we could have met under much better circumstances. It would be nice to have known such a beautiful and amazing person before this disaster hit. With time to stop and enjoy ourselves instead of fighting for our lives. But I plan on still achieving the get to know you part, either way,” he whispered softly to me.

  My heart thumped so hard against my chest that it was noticeable to the naked eye. A bead of sweat popped out on my top lip and I licked it slowly. He gazed at me with those impossible bedroom eyes. In that moment I screamed inside for him to kiss me, ravish me right where we stood. With much more important things to do than let this gorgeous man sweep me off my feet, I snapped myself out of it. It was one of the hardest decisions to make, but I stepped back from him. His hand fell away from my face as I turned for the front of the store. I knew if I stayed there even for a second longer, that I would let him do whatever he wanted with me. I was extremely attracted to him and felt such a connection that it frightened me. I left Luke only three days ago, and now I’m ready to fall into another man’s arms? That can’t be possible.

  My feet kept moving until I reached the front doors. The two zombies still staggered around outside, in their failing attempts to get inside. Staring at them, my thoughts ran away with me. I felt horrible for turning away from Leland, but it’s what I do. When something scares me or I don’t want to face the truth of how I feel, I clam up and run. That’s why I was so quick to run from Luke. I needed to learn to come face to face with my feelings or I’ll never know the outcome. I really, really liked Leland. But I kept finding reasons to turn away from him, keep my walls up. I know I was still in love with Luke and a part of me would always be, but he was gone.

  Oh my God… Luke was gone. I hadn’t let myself realize until now, that I would never see him again. The last time spent with him was us fighting and him hurting me, and Daisy. I felt such a gut wrenching sadness wash over me that my knees almost gave out. My hands grabbed the door handle for support and I found hands around my waist, steadying me on my feet. Leland stood behind me, hands still on my hips, and a concerned look in his eyes.