She rounded the final bend before descending into Haysberry – and into chaos. Haysberry was on fire. She watched as cars crashed into houses, people ran across the street, and the flames raged out of control.
Petey! Instead of slowing down, Gina only pressed on the gas, heading down the mountain at a dangerous speed. She looked to the neighborhood her block was in. She was barely able to see it through the smoke, but she could tell that the fire hadn’t reached her house. At least not yet, but it would soon. She sped downwards.
The smoke quickly became so thick she could barely see through it, but she kept driving. To her left, a car sped around her, the man inside screaming and raising a fist at her. Then he crashed into another car head-on, and he was gone.
Gina looked back forward, swerving to avoid a woman running across the street.
“Watch out!” she yelled, but the woman either didn’t hear or, or paid her no mind. She followed her normal route home, swerving to avoid a burning car. Her mind raced. What is going on? What’s gotten into everyone?
She wanted to stop, to get her bearings, to figure out what was going on, but she couldn’t: Petey was depending on her, and she would never forgive herself if something happened to him. So she pushed her foot to the floor and sped off, turning into her neighborhood.
Here, besides the smoke, things didn’t look quite so bad. But a few houses on the far side of the neighborhood were on fire, and she could see the smoke and embers blowing ominously towards her house. She pulled up into the driveway, still moving forward as she jerked her car into park and yanked the keys from the ignition.
In the window, Petey was jumping and barking: happy to see her, or panicking, she couldn’t tell. Maybe a bit of both. She walked through her yard, turning around and taking everything in. Even one of the mountains above town seemed like it was on fire, but she wasn’t sure how that was possible.
She was snapped out of her reverie by the continued barking, and she went to unlock her front door. Her hands were shaking, but after a few seconds she got it open. Petey ran out immediately, running up to her legs, licking her and barking lightly. She bent down, pulling him close: he was shaking. He knew something was happening.
“Come on, Petey,” she told him, heading into the house with a final look backwards. She could see that the fire had spread to another house, but it was still a few down from hers. Gina and Petey had a few minutes of safety, at the least, and she meant to put it to good use.
She went to the pantry first, grabbing two gallons of water she’d had stashed there for emergencies. She lugged them to the car, tossed them in the back seat, then ducked back into the house. Canned food that had been sitting in the pantry for who-knows-how-long was next. She wasn’t sure how much food she would need; wasn’t sure what was going on, so she brought all of it. Grabbed Petey’s dog bed, his tub of dry food, and an extra bag just in case. Grabbed cans upon cans of wet dog food, too. When she’d grabbed every scrap of food he could eat, she went upstairs, Petey at her heels.
She went to the bedroom first. She tore the covers off of her bed, left the room, then reconsidered and grabbed a pillow, too. Outside, she saw that the house two doors down was on fire. Time was running out.
“Get in, Petey,” she told him. He obeyed, jumping up into the passenger seat. She turned the car on, putting the air to full blast, and shut him inside. She couldn’t risk him running off when the fire came closer. Gina went back into the house.
She dug through her closet, grabbing extra sets of clothes and stuffing them into a duffel bag. Then she grabbed another blanket, slinging it over her shoulder, and headed into the bathroom. She grabbed a toothbrush and toothpaste, ignoring the soap and shampoo. She grabbed a few towels, just in case, and headed back outside.
The fire was burning Mr. McNeil’s house, directly next door. He was an older man, and she hoped that he was gone from his house. His car was gone, so she hoped for the best. She considered leaving then, but knew she had a few moments left. Was there anything else she needed?
She went back in, the smoke thick now, blowing through the open door. She went to a closet, grabbed a flashlight and an old first aid kit. Then the smoke was too much and she had to leave her house for the last time, coughing and knowing that in moments, it would be gone.
The flames were just licking the side of her house as she stepped out the front door. With a hand on her car door, she turned and looked back, watching as the flames really caught hold. She’d been in that house for years, had bought it with her own hard-earned money. She was conscious of money, so she had saved up enough and paid it off entirely. It was something she was proud of. She had great insurance, but still, she couldn’t believe her house would be gone, and everything in it.
Everything except her and Petey. That was the most important thing. She opened the door – and Petey jumped out and sprinted towards the house.
“Petey!” Gina screamed, chasing off after him and dropping what she had grabbed. The house was fully engulfed now, but she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Petey inside. Without even hesitating, she sprinted through the burning doorway. The smoke was thick inside, and already her couch was an inferno. “Petey!”
She couldn’t see anything, so she dropped to her knees, scanning for him. He was nowhere to be seen. The flames had spread to the carpet, traveling across the room, melting her TV. She didn’t have much time. She crawled forward, towards the kitchen, making her way to where his food usually was. Maybe he had gone there seeking comfort.
But there was no sign of him.
Gina was coughing now. The smoke was choking her. She could feel her head getting dizzy and knew she wouldn’t last much longer. She had to find Petey… She had to.
Then he was in her face, dropping his bone by her hands and licking her face.
“Petey!” she scolded him, but grabbed him tight. She took his bone too and stood up, running out of the blaze. Safe in the yard, she collapsed, coughing wracking her body. Petey was next to her, licking her face, making sure she was okay. She handed him his bone and rolled over on her back, feeling the cool grass on her bare skin. But the flames were spreading fast. Bushes, and then the lawns themselves started to go up in flames. The fire was relentless.
“Petey, let’s get out of here,” she told him. He followed her dutifully, his bone lodged between his teeth. “Did you really need that?”
In answer, he wagged his tail and jumped into the passenger seat.
Gina picked up her supplies, tossed them inside, and put the car in reverse and rolled down the driveway. She paused in front of her house, watching it collapse in an explosion of flames. Petey yelped beside her, and that was enough. She put the car in drive, and rolled away from what was left of her house.
She didn’t know where to go – so Gina just drove. Haysberry was slowly being destroyed, and the fire wasn’t the only thing tearing the town apart. She watched as looters threw bricks through windows, climbing in to steal whatever was inside. Crashed cars and broken glass littered the streets.
An old gentleman was shambling along the sidewalk, slowly, ignoring all of the looters around him. She looked at him, unsure if it was who she thought. The smoke was thick. But after a few seconds, she was sure. She rolled down the window. Petey was immediately leaning his head out, barking at the man.
“Mr. McNeil!” she called. The man didn’t turn towards her. “Mr. McNeil!”
He finally looked at her, his eyes glazed over, as if he wasn’t really there.
“Mr. McNeil, what’s going on? Come get in!”
Mr. McNeil was one of the nicest men she’d ever met. His wife had passed away a few months before Gina had moved in next door, but he’d always had a smile for her. He been a good neighbor.
In response, he turned to his left, walking into an alleyway, and disappeared into the darkness within.
Gina turned back to the road, dejected.
She drove out of Haysberry, heading back up towards Grady. She didn’t kno
w where else to go. When she reached the ridge above Haysberry, she put her car in park and got out. Petey joined her on the side of the road. Together, they stood in silence, watching Haysberry burn down below. The fire lit up the night sky, as if the town she’d lived in was the sun itself.
It would all be gone, soon.
And she still had absolutely no idea what was going on. “Let’s go, Petey,” she told him, and they got back into her car and started to drive.
*
Just as she suspected, Grady was deserted. The few houses that surrounded the hospital were deserted, too. For whatever reason, unknown to her, these families had fled. Was it some sort of disease? If so, was she exposed? Were the explosions she’d heard earlier a way of containing whatever it was? She felt sick with uncertainty.
She parked around back, inside the old parking garage. It had been abandoned months ago, when most of the other hospital employees had been laid off. Now, it was covered in a fine layer of dust, leaves, and other debris that had blown in over time. She shut off her car, thinking about what to do.
After a few minutes of silence only broken by Petey gnawing on his bone, Gina made up her mind. She wasn’t ready to spend a night in her car – not yet anyway, though she suspected that soon enough, she would be. Whatever was happening seemed big, and she had a gut feeling that it wasn’t just happening around here.
“Come on, Petey,” she said, opening the car door. Petey grabbed his bone and jumped out, taking a moment to stretch before running around the parking garage. “Stay close.”
She rummaged through her bags, unsure of what to grab. In the end, she left it all behind with the exception of the flashlight. The hospital would have everything she needed.
Together, she and Petey set out, climbing up the steps and crossing the ancient walkway that connected the parking garage to the hospital. The main power was off, but sometime after she had left, the power generator had kicked in. She slid her key card through the door, the light flashing green and unlocking. She opened the door, letting Petey go in first.
The hospital was deserted, just like it had been earlier in the day. Only essential lights and systems were on, casting most of the hospital in a ghastly glow. “Hello?” she called, but there was no answer. Petey perked up to her voice’s echo, but calmed down when she scratched him behind the ears.
She retreated to the employee’s quarters, in the back of the hospital. She made sure the door was locked behind her – just in case there was someone here. Then, she found one of the rooms she would spend the night in. She kept the blinds drawn. There was no point looking outside – it was all trees, and she didn’t like the idea of someone peering in at her while she slept, though she banished that thought from her mind. That would be ridiculous.
She changed out of her dirty clothes, leaving them in a messy pile on the floor. Something told her no one would mind. Then she went into the employee restroom, turning the shower on to full blast. She got the water piping hot and stepped in, grabbing soap, shampoo, and conditioner from a shelf next to her. Petey sat at the edge of the room, standing guard. For once, she felt at ease. Petey wouldn’t let her down.
She stayed in the shower for a long time, uncaring as to whether she was sucking up the rest of the hospital’s power. That surprised her, but there it was. Before everything had spiraled out of control, she’d done everything in her power to stick to the books. She took pride in her job. She never would have left dirty clothes on the hospital floor, or used up all of the hot water. Now, it didn’t matter.
When she was finally done, completely pruned up, she grabbed one of the hospital’s supplied towels and started to dry off. As she did so, she thought of what her next move would be.
Tomorrow morning, at first light, she would gather up as many hospital supplies – medicine, pills, IVs, first aid kits, gauze – all she could think of, and stuff it into her car. She would bring more clean clothes and towels, tools, anything she could get her hands on and that would fit in the car. She had a bad feeling that she would need all of these things in the near future. If not, then she would just return it all when all of this blew over.
Then she would hunt down the gas that powered the generators and some of the other machines here. She knew there were a few barrels and cans of the stuff, hidden out back behind a fence. She would need that to get where she had finally decided on going.
Her destination wasn’t great, but at least she had one now: her stepfather’s house, four hours north of Haysberry. They had never been friendly towards each other, and after her mother had passed away, they’d gladly never spoken to each other again. But he was the only family Gina had left. She might even recognize some people in her hometown. It would be better than being alone, anyway.
So with that in mind, she pulled on some clean scrubs and crawled into a bed. Petey jumped up next to her, leaving the bone on the floor. He snuggled up close, and Gina wrapped her arms around him. Together, they fell into an uneasy sleep.
*
Gina awoke to light streaming through the window. Petey was still sleeping next to her. She lay in silence for a few minutes, straining to hear anything else in the hospital – but she heard nothing. Slowly, she got up. Petey jumped down, then started jumping against her legs. She knew he was hungry, but she’d left all of his food in the car.
“We’ll get you some food soon,” she told him. He gave her a wary look, but stopped jumping on her and seemed to accept that.
Gina wasted no time in ransacking the hospital. Petey followed closely, keeping an eye on her. She filled up duffel bag after duffel bag full of everything she thought she, or anyone else she met, might need sometime down the road. If this thing was widespread, this stuff would soon be in short supply. She ferried the bags back and forth from the hospital to her car.
When her car could fit no more supplies without the need to sacrifice her own seat, she turned her attention to getting gas for her trip. She found the key to the back door in the security office where it always was, mercifully left behind. Already tired and aching, she went towards the back of the hospital.
The smell of smoke was strong in the air when she opened the door, but the fire didn’t appear to be anywhere close to the hospital. For that, she was thankful. She wandered around, looking at all of the stuff laying outside in the maintenance area: gas cans, bottles of oil, a small tool shed packed full of tools. It was all enclosed in a chain link fence, topped with barbed wire. They’d had a few break-ins in the past, but she hadn’t been here when they’d happened, luckily.
She bent down to pick up the twin gas cans, but stopped short as Petey started barking. Gina jumped up, watching Petey sprint towards the fence. Standing there was a man, a pistol outstretched in his hand. His eyes were wide, crazed, and they never left Gina’s face.
“Hello,” she said hesitantly. The gun was trained directly on her chest. Petey was at the fence, snapping at the man, but he couldn’t get his snout through the fence enough to score a bite. “Can I help you?”
The man didn’t answer at first, but then said in a low, reedy voice, “What are ya doin’ in there?”
“I’m a doctor, sir. I work here.”
“Well, ain’t that so. Let me in,” he said, waving the pistol towards the gate in the fence. There was a heavy padlock on it. It had deterred most thieves, but she didn’t know how well it would hold up to gunfire.
“I can’t, sir. The hospital’s closed.”
“Mmm,” the man hummed. He licked his lips. His crazed eyes looked to the gate, then dropped to his pistol, and she knew that he was considering it. “I’m gonna have to ask again, ma’am. Let me in.”
“Sir –”
“LET ME IN!!” he roared. Gina flinched at his outburst, and Petey whined in surprise. The man kicked out, lashing at Petey, but he was quickly back between Gina’s legs, growling.
The man was running towards the gate, the gun outstretched, so Gina turned and ran. She reached the door, turned back and saw the g
as cans that she had left. She made a move to get them, but heard a gunshot and the gate swing open, so she fled back inside the building.
MUNDO (BBW Bear Shifter MC Romance) (MC Bear Mates Book 2) Page 57
