The Remnants of Yesterday

by Anthony M. Strong

  “What about another dimension?” Darwin seemed to be determined to come up with one wacky idea after another. “Scientists have theorized that we may be living in one of millions of dimensions, all existing in the same space but on separate frequencies.”

  “This is pointless.” I slammed the empty bean can down on the ground and stood up, glaring at Darwin. “What is wrong with you? You’re just hiding behind stupid theories. Don’t you get it? Don’t you see what’s happening all around us? The whole world has gone to crap. People that were perfectly sane three days ago have somehow turned into mindless killers. Monsters that look like something out of a horror movie are stalking us, and not even the weather is acting right.”

  “Hey, he’s just trying to make sense of things.” Clara reached out and put her hand on my arm. “We all are.”

  “I know.” I sat back down and took a deep breath. It wasn’t Darwin’s fault, but there was steam I needed to vent, and he was the easiest target. “Sorry.” I cast him a sideways glance.

  “Well-” He looked hurt.

  “Come on… I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Fine.”

  “Great,” Clara said. “Can we play nice from now on boys?”

  I nodded.

  “That’s better.” She rummaged in a bag and took out a soda, popping the top and drinking before speaking again. “Let’s all agree that it’s not aliens or mutants, shall we.”

  Now Darwin nodded.

  “I’m sure there’s a rational explanation for all this.”

  “Like what?” Darwin asked.

  “It has to be a virus that turned everyone into Crazies. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

  “Fine, but that still doesn’t explain the Panthers.” Great. Now I was thinking of them as big cats, which we all knew they were not. “Even if we assume the humans fell victim to a virus of some sort, and from what we know it is highly likely, we are still left with the puzzle of those creatures. There’s nothing the right shape or size for an animal like that living in North America, let alone here.”

  “Actually there have been sightings of Cougars and Mountain Lions in recent years.” Darwin spoke softly, probably testing the waters to see if I would go off on him again. “They are scarce, but they would be about the right size.”

  “I don’t see it. Those things looked nothing like a big cat. They looked-” I searched for the right word.

  “Monstrous.” Clara filled in the blank.

  “Thank you. Monstrous.” That seemed to be about as good a word as any. “Besides, what type of virus would make people go mad, then jump species and turn big cats into monsters like that? I mean, it would have to be a physical change, not just a mental one. I’m no biologist, but I don’t think it’s even possible for an infection to do that kind of thing.”

  “If only we had access to the internet,” Emily said. “I bet we could find out what was going on then.”

  “Oh yes, Wikipedia knows all,” I muttered.

  “Sorry?”

  “I was agreeing with you.”

  “There is something else too.” Clara reached out and warmed her hands by the fire. “All the missing people.”

  “We don’t know for sure that they are missing. Maybe they all just went off reservation, went nuts.” My thoughts returned to the woman with the BMW back at the gas station. If she had turned crazy, we would surely have encountered her when we ran across Walter. Then again, Walter could have gotten to her too. That didn’t explain the other odd instances where there should have been people, or bodies.

  As if reading my mind, Clara said, “What about the cars on the highway? You said yourself that the seatbelts were still buckled, the doors jammed. Those people couldn’t have escaped. Same with the pilots in the downed plane. And Emily said that she was alone when she woke up in the school library. There should have been many more people at the school than there was.”

  “I know, I know. I don’t have an answer.” I wished I did. Something else nagged at me too, how we’d all blacked out at the same time. I was about to mention that, but suddenly without warning my phone vibrated.

  I had received another text.

  43

  FOR THE LONGEST time no one spoke.

  We huddled around the phone and stared at the screen, at the text message sitting there in all its backlit glory.

  VIRUS UNSTABLE

  NORTH NOT SAFE

  GO TO NEW HAVEN

  “What does that mean,” Clara asked, finally breaking the silence. “North not safe?”

  “Beats me. It doesn’t sound good,” I said. I read the text again, but it didn’t get any better the second time around.

  “I don’t like the part about the virus,” Emily said. “It sounds like it’s spreading. What if one of us comes down with it?”

  “I guess if that happens, we deal with it then. Thinking about the possibility will do no good, it will only make us feel paranoid and scared,” Clara said. “We stick together, we continue to head south, and we’ll be fine.”

  “Is it from your brother, like the last time?” Emily asked.

  “It’s his number for sure. Other than that, I have no idea.”

  “How can your phone have any battery power left?” Emily asked. “You can’t have charged it. There hasn’t been any power since the first afternoon.”

  “Another good question.” I was as baffled as everyone else, especially since the phone still showed twenty-five percent juice. “I’d like to say it has awesome battery life, but there’s no way it should still be working now.”

  “Finally some contact with the outside world.” Darwin looked hopeful. “Call him back.”

  “It won’t work,” Clara told him. “We tried last time.”

  “Last time?” Darwin echoed. “You mean you’ve been talking to someone all this time?”

  “No.” I punched the number and hit the option for callback, then put it on speaker. After one ring, an all too familiar voice came on the line. Not my brother, but the same automated message as before. “See? It won’t connect. The text messages come in, but I can’t send anything out. It’s a one-way street, so no conversation.”

  “That’s a shame.” Darwin looked crestfallen.

  “Yeah, it is.” I understood his disappointment. It was nothing compared to my own dismay upon discovering that I could not communicate with my brother. In the three days since the world had collapsed around us, my thoughts had turned to Jeff often. I wondered if the texts really were from him. If they were, what was he doing in New Haven? How had he found his way there? I would have given anything to hear his voice, even for just a few short moments, to know he was really, truly safe. The text messages provided a ray of hope, something to grasp onto. After all, who else would bother to send messages to me other than Jeff? It had to be him.

  “I wish I’d heard from my family,” Emily said. “I would give anything to know they are safe.”

  “Best not to think about it,” said Clara.

  I glanced at her, remembering her pragmatic decision not to bother trying to reach her parents in Florida. I wished I could say something that would make her feel better, but what was there to say?

  “Makes me glad I never knew my parents,” Darwin said. “Makes things easier.”

  “You never knew your parents?” A look of sadness crossed Emily’s face. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. I grew up in foster homes.” He looked down into his can of beans. “I spent most of my childhood bouncing from place to place until I reached eighteen and then I was on my own.”

  “That’s awful.” Emily looked shocked. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” He smiled. “Turned out to be a good thing in the end. I’m the only one not worried about anyone else.”

  Emily shot a look at him.

  “Except you guys of course,” he said. “I’m glad you were there when those beasts came. I don’t know what I would have done on my own. Probably be a half digest
ed meal for one of them by now.”

  “And it would probably be high as a kite,” I said. “Judging by the amount of pot you had.”

  There was a moment of silence, and then everyone burst out laughing.

  44

  WE TURNED IN AT AROUND midnight, the text message still weighing heavy on my mind. I wanted to believe it was from Jeff. I didn’t want to think about the contents of the message. Was the storm we just passed through what he was talking about when he said north not safe? I also wondered about the Crazies. Was the virus referencing them, the strange beasts at the motel, or did it allude to some other, more frightening thing that we had yet to discover?

  We only had two blankets, which meant that the girls shared one, and Darwin and I split the other one. Since we didn’t feel safe with everyone sleeping at once, it was decided that we would take turns keeping watch, as we had done the previous evening.

  With one exception.

  Clara and Emily both insisted on taking turns. They had been spared guard duty the night before, and said it wasn’t fair to burden Darwin and myself again. Not looking forward to another sleepless night, I reluctantly agreed.

  Clara took the first shift. She sat down in front of the fire, throwing another log on and stoking it with a long stick until the flames lit the clearing in a comforting orange glow. Darwin would be next up, followed by Emily, and finally, I would take my turn until dawn.

  It was a good arrangement that afforded each of us at least six hours of sleep, and considering the ordeals we had already been through, we would need that sleep if we were to ever reach New Haven, which now seemed just as distant as it had two nights before in the barn when the first message arrived.

  I settled down to sleep, my mind wandering to Clay. I wondered if he was still walking toward Canada, convinced that it was spared whatever misfortune had been wrought on the United States. I hoped the Crazies hadn’t gotten him. If anyone was equipped to fend them off, it would be him. Of course, now we knew that Crazies weren’t the only things to be afraid of, and I feared he might not fare so well on his own against a pack of the motel beasts. I pushed the thought from my mind, and closed my eyes, a fitful sleep finding me within moments.

  45

  SOMEONE WAS MOVING next to me.

  I awoke, groggy and confused.

  For a moment, I wondered why my mattress was so hard. Then I remembered that I wasn’t in my comfortable bed. I was on the floor of a forest in the middle of nowhere, sharing a blanket with a pot smoking desk clerk.

  “Darwin,” I said. “What are you doing?”

  “Shhh. Keep your voice down.” Came the reply. It didn’t sound like Darwin. It sounded like Clara.

  What was she doing under the covers with me?

  “What’s going on,” I whispered. “Is everything alright?”

  “Everything is fine.” I felt a body press against mine, felt Clara’s breasts push into my back. “Darwin is keeping watch now. It was his turn.”

  “Oh.” I was confused, but certainly not complaining. “Aren’t you supposed to be sharing a blanket with Emily?”

  “She looked so peaceful, I didn’t have the heart to disturb her,” Clara said, snaking an arm around me. “Besides, I feel safer sleeping with you.”

  “It’s going to be awfully cozy in here when Darwin comes back after his shift,” I said. “I’m not sure there will be enough blanket for all three of us.”

  “Funny,” she whispered in my ear.

  “I’m just saying.”

  “I told him to take Emily’s blanket when he swaps out with her. It’s a win, win situation.”

  “I see.”

  “Now shut up,” She said. “Go back to sleep.”

  I felt her breath tickle the back of my neck, warm and pleasant. I wanted to roll over to face her, hold her close and look into her eyes, to kiss her and never let her go ever again. Sleep was the furthest thing from my mind at that moment. It was strange how attached to her I seemed to have become in the space of just a few short days. She was an attractive girl, but there was something deeper than that. Perhaps our journey, the things we’d been through side by side, drew us closer. What’s more, I suspected she felt the same way. However I didn’t turn and kiss her. It was not the right time or place. Instead, I just said, “Sleep tight Clara.”

  46

  I AWOKE WITH an urgent need to pee. Clara was still snuggled into my back with her arm draped over me, her breathing soft and rhythmic. Occasionally she mumbled something in her sleep, and when she did, the fall and rise of her chest became labored.

  She was having a bad dream.

  It was not surprising given all that she had witnessed over the past few days, from the Crazies that tore Emily’s friend Rob apart, to the burned up corpses on the highway, and the creatures at the motel. It was enough to give anyone nightmares, and we were still in peril, which only exacerbated the situation.

  I lifted Clara’s arm and turned over, careful not to disturb her. I stroked her forehead, whispering in her ear until she calmed down and her breathing returned became regular again. Thankfully she did not stir.

  I lay there for a while, watching her sleep. Then, as quietly as I could, I slipped out from under the blanket, tucked it back around her to keep the warmth in, and made my way to the fire where Darwin still kept watch.

  “Hey,” I said in a half whisper.

  He looked up at my approach, dark bags under his eyes. “Couldn’t sleep?”

  “Bathroom break.” I warmed my hands on the fire. “All quiet?”

  “So far.” He nodded toward Emily. “I should have switched with her ten minutes ago, but I don’t have the heart.”

  “You need your sleep as much as the rest of us,” I said.

  “I know I do. I’ll wake her in a minute.” He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. “I’m not sure I can stay awake much longer anyway.”

  “Make sure you do.” I stepped past him in the direction of the woods and stepped between the trees.

  It was darker out of the comforting glow of the fire. I kept to the edge of the clearing, not wanting to stray too far, but also wanting a little privacy to do my business. I found a suitable tree trunk and reached down to unzip, then stopped.

  Something moved off to my left. It was not much, barely more than a brief sense of the shadows shifting, but it was enough.

  I froze, my hand on my zipper, and waited, hardly daring to breathe. Every second seemed like an eternity.

  Had the Crazies found us? Worse, maybe one those beasts, the creatures from the hotel, tracked us through the storm. It didn’t seem likely, but…

  I glanced around, my ears straining for any slight sound, any indication of an intruder skulking around our camp, but there was nothing. Everything seemed normal. Maybe it was my imagination. It was hardly surprising that I was jumpy given the circumstances. I pulled down my zipper and took care of business, telling myself that there was nothing to worry about. I was alone and anything I thought I heard, or saw, was just my overactive imagination.

  Finished, I zipped up, intent on returning to the camp. I had barely taken a step however, before my head started to spin. I felt like I was floating, detached and out of control. It was a weird feeling.

  I reached out and grabbed the nearest tree trunk, waiting for the lightheadedness to pass. I closed my eyes for a moment to stop the forest from spinning.

  When I opened them again, I was not alone.

  Someone was watching me from the darkness of the woods, the same vague figure I’d encountered at the motel. He stood motionless, for somehow I knew the figure was male despite his lack of discernable features.

  He raised an arm and beckoned to me, his lips speaking silent words, just like before, inviting me to come closer.

  I didn’t want to go to him.

  I took a step backward, then another, desperate to run, but not willing to let the ghastly figure out of my sight.

  My heel caught on a root.

&nbs
p; I toppled backward, letting out a small cry as I did so. At the last moment, just when I thought it was too late, that I would hit the ground and possibly crack my head open, I shot my arm out and found a tree branch. I held on, praying it would not snap, and fought to get my feet back under my body. Finally, with much effort, I was able to right myself again.

  When I looked toward the trees, to where the figure stood just moments before, it was gone, and strangely so was my feeling of faintness.

  A cold tingle of fear twisted its way up my spine. What was happening to me? Was I getting the virus, hallucinating? I had no idea. But if I wasn’t, there was only one other explanation. Incredible as it seemed, I might have just seen a ghost.

  47

  WE SET OUT at first light, continuing on through the forest with no clear idea where we were. As long as we were heading away from the motel, any direction worked just fine for me, especially since I figured we would surely come across a road and some point and get our bearings, maybe even find our way back to the highway.

  I didn’t tell anyone about my strange encounter with the ghostly figure in the early hours. I was still not sure what was happening, and until I had something concrete, or at least a workable theory, I didn’t want to alarm the rest of the group, and Clara in particular. Besides, I had managed to reason myself out of the belief that I’d somehow contracted the virus that was turning ordinary people into homicidal maniacs with a taste for human flesh. After all, I still had all my marbles, and the idea of munching on an arm or a nice meaty thigh still repulsed me as much as it did before it all got weird. Not that I’d ever spent much time thinking about such things.

  None of this helped to explain what I’d experienced over the last couple nights, or the sudden dizziness that seemed to accompany the sightings, and that troubled me. In the grand scheme of things, it was merely a side note to the more dangerous issues at hand, such as avoiding Crazies, and making sure we didn’t run into any of the motel beasts.