The Dead Years (Volume 1)

by Jeff Olah

  “Sure, do you know where the Redstone Development is?”

  “Yep, up here off of Morgan Road, correct?”

  “Yeah, that’s it. Mason, do you live around here?”

  “I used to live just three blocks up in Elderbrook.”

  “Used to?”

  “Yeah, my wife… uh… I mean… never mind… yeah, I live close.”

  Defeated and hungry, Mason rolled the car to a stop at the corner of Ranch and Morgan. They both looked out the front windshield in astonishment. There must have been fifty vehicles, one up against another facing all directions. There were even cars up on the sidewalk against the light poles and stop signs, although there was not a soul in sight.

  Mason spoke first. “No chance we’re driving through that mess. You cool walking it from here?”

  “Sure, I don’t see any of those things around.”

  As they exited the car, Mason grabbed the backpack, slung it over his shoulder, reached back in for both kettlebells this time and shut the door.

  Mason walked around the front of the car and handed one of them to William.

  “You may need this.”

  12

  Crossing the street that led back home, April and Justin were exhausted. Not knowing when the next attack would occur or where it would come from, they continuously checked each direction every few seconds. They reached the gated path as Justin slowed to let his mother rest against the wall. He leaned in, slowly opened the gate and looked further down the path that ended near his home.

  There was no sign of any of those things and strangely enough no other people as well. Justin came back for April, again taking the brunt of her weight off the bad ankle.

  “Justin, I think I can do it on my own. You must be really tired. Let’s get you inside.”

  “Mom, I’m good and I don’t have to pee anymore. I can help you. I’m still a kid and have tons of energy… remember?”

  “You’re a teen now and yes you have way more energy than me.”

  “Do you think dad is home yet?”

  “I hope so.”

  Making their way alongside their home between the two eight foot block walls that lined the path, Justin stopped for a moment and held up his index finger motioning for April to give him one second and he ran back down the path to shut the gate behind them preventing any unwanted guest from entering the neighborhood.

  The calm turn to chaos as soon as they reached their street. It seemed every neighbor on the entire block was trying to exit the area at the same time. Some were still packing up their cars in a state of panic and others were already heading down the street towards the exit of the community.

  April tried to pull Justin along to get him to the house as he stood transfixed on the scene around him. April could feel her ankle starting to throb and wondered if something was broken or fractured. She assumed that cruising over to the local emergency room for x-rays was not going to be on her to-do list this evening.

  “Hey neighbor!” They heard from behind.

  This startled April to the point she would have jumped into the air if it wasn’t for her bum leg. Justin also surprised, swung around to see John, their middle aged, overweight neighbor standing there with a shotgun slung over his shoulder.

  “John, put that thing away, you’re going to scare neighborhood kids.”

  “April, most of the families with kids are long gone and even if they were here, it may do some good to put a little fear into them.”

  “Where are Lucy and Max?”April asked.

  “They left for her mother’s place in Nevada about 10 minutes ago in the other car.” Leaning in John continued. “They say it’s a safe zone and the military has set up barriers for miles around.”

  “Are you going?”

  “Yeah, I was just putting the last of the things into my car and then gonna head out… You?”

  “Not sure yet, but with this traffic it doesn’t look like anyone is getting outta here soon.”

  “Alright April, take care and try to leave soon. You don’t want to be bringing up the rear.”

  “Thanks. See you soon John… Tell Lucy and Max we said hello.”

  John trotted off to his car, threw a few items into the rear hatch and pulled out of the driveway to wait in line with the hundreds of others trying to make their way out of town.

  April looked back at Justin, now sitting on the wall dividing the two yards. He was just staring into the mess that had become their neighborhood. She wanted to let him know everything was going to be fine and to try to at least halfway mean it, although that’s not what was bothering him.

  Looking toward the driveway, Mason’s car was noticeably missing.

  “He’ll be here. Your dad ALWAYS does what he says he’s going to do.”

  “That’s not it… what if those things got him? He’s out there by himself.”

  “I’m sure he’s fine. He’s probably stuck in that mess of traffic. He’ll be here soon I’m sure.”

  “Can we get in the car and go check? His work is just a few miles away.”

  “You want to try to get through that?” April said pointing toward the street lined with cars.

  “Well, can we sit out here for a few minutes and wait?”

  “Sounds good, in the meantime why don’t you just try texting your father?”

  “OK!”

  Justin sat on the wall texting away as April looked out over the area praying that Mason was safe and that he would be there soon. She didn’t think they could survive without him. She couldn’t forgive herself for letting her father influence her life with Mason. She desperately wanted to see him again, wrap her arms around him and tell him how much she loved him.

  Mason had told her he fell in love with her the second he set eyes on her even though she barely knew he existed. They worked together and even though it wasn’t the greatest job, he quit so she wouldn’t have any excuse not to date him. It was his calm demeanor and eagerness to seek out new and exciting ways to better himself that drew her to him and also what eventually tore them apart.

  He could never stand still, always wanting to do things that challenged him, mentally and physically. He was never the nine to five type of guy and this often made April uneasy due to her conventional upbringing. She wanted to settle down and ease into a daily routine of schedules and timelines… that made Mason feel nauseous.

  Their two personalities worked well together for many years until her father, the military man that he was, started to inject his point of view at every opportunity. Mason eventually got fed up and began to resent April for not standing up for him. This made for many awkward family get-togethers.

  She was now angry that she let her father drive a wedge between them, although her feelings needed to be put aside for now. After the conversion she had with her father this morning April thought he knew more than he was letting on.

  He was trying to genuinely help without taking any shots at Mason. She sensed it in his voice and for the first time she could ever recall, he sounded worried. Thinking back to his call, it came in long before any of the news reports had surfaced. He warned her that something big was happening. She still remembered the last thing he said to her.

  “Go get Mason and Justin… and the three of you need to leave the city within the hour.”

  Before she could ask him what he meant, he quickly said he needed to go and hung up.

  April wishes she would have taken his advice.

  13

  “What’s this?” William asked.

  “A pretty effective tool for taking those things down. What did you call them… Feeders?”

  “Not my words, internet news started it.”

  “Here, you get the shiny new one. Try not to bloody it up; I have to train some clients next week.”

  “Somehow I think you may need to postpone those sessions. I don’t think I’ll need it though, my house it just up here to the right”

  “Keep it… just in case.”

&n
bsp; As they made their way through the maze of cars that lined the street, Mason noticed people still belted to their seats, unable to escape and who were trapped in their cars when the horde came through. A few cars were still idling and others had their doors half open as it appeared they were trying to flee on foot.

  Some of the vehicles were empty, indicating a handful must have escaped. Mason glanced over at William and motioned for him to stay closer. They were no more than two car lengths apart when Mason felt something pull at his ankle and the next thing he knew he was face down on the pavement staring into the eyes of a Feeder.

  This thing was hidden underneath a car and pulled Mason toward itself as he clawed at the asphalt trying to get some traction. Mason felt his fingernails shredding against the street as he kicked his legs, not letting his attacker gain an inch.

  He must have let out a gasp as he fell because William was on him instantly, pulling him by his hands as the Feeder continued to pull at Mason’s legs. As Mason cleared the underbelly of the car, the Feeder was still holding onto his legs biting through the fabric of his socks and was now almost clear of the car as well. William gave one final pull backward, leapt over Mason grabbing the kettlebell he dropped and took a long hard swing pinning the Feeder’s head against the rear passenger door.

  Mason sat against the car brushing the roadway off his shirt as William came over. “You were right, it DID come in handy.”

  William extended his hand and pulled Mason to his feet. He shook Williams hand a second longer and smiled.

  “Let’s get home.”

  The pair made quick work of the remaining maze of cars and were standing in William’s driveway with not a soul around, almost as if this street had been untouched by the day’s events.

  “Mason, it looks like everyone is heading out of the city. What are your plans?”

  “I gotta get home to check on my son and my wife, and then I think we are heading out.”

  “Where?”

  “I’m not real sure yet, we’re probably gonna head east into the desert where there’s plenty of wide open land and try to sit this thing out until the government and military get control of this.”

  “You want some company… it’s just my wife, myself and my uncle who lives with us.”

  “Sure, I plan on setting out at dawn. Get your car packed tonight and we’ll meet at the corner here… let’s say six am.”

  “You want to stay here through the night?”

  “I would rather do this when I have some daylight, and the sun is probably going to set in the next forty minutes and I don’t want to be stuck in the dark with everyone else.”

  “Ok, I’m in. Do you think we will be safe in our homes through the night?”

  “These things only appear to be alerted by movement and sound. Close all your doors lock all your windows and stay inside with the lights off. Be here at six ready to go.”

  They shook hands one more time and headed in separate directions. William went up the steps to the front door and turned.

  “Mason, how are we going to get around these cars…? We’re locked in.”

  Mason continued to walk and pointed to an empty field just past the cluster of cars. “There’s our exit!”

  Mason was happy that William had asked to tag along, he felt banding together with another group was good for their survival. It didn’t hurt that William wasn’t afraid to take action when the time came. Mason also now trusted him.

  “He’s one of the good ones.” Mason thought.

  As he rounded the corner he could see the community of his former home just up the road in the distance. He could tell by the destruction around him that this area was also overrun and prayed as he walked, that his family made it back home safely.

  As he walked along the sidewalk there was a crowd of Feeders still roaming the empty school field to his left and they started his way. He began to quicken his pace until he noticed that the chain link fence separating them proved to be too much. They didn’t appear to know how to get over the fence, they just stood at the fence growling and scratching.

  As Mason came to the entrance of his development the line of cars heading out the exit amazed him. He shook his head as he passed car after car filled to the gills with camping gear and family members yelling at one another. They looked as terrified as he’d ever seen.

  Approaching the last few cars, he saw his old neighbor John. He waved and John put the window down.

  “Hey Mason, I just left April and Justin a minute ago.”

  “Are they OK?”

  “Yeah man, I think April tore up her ankle a bit, but they are fine.”

  “Thanks John.”

  “Don’t mention it… Just go home and get them out of here, we’re heading to Nevada.”

  “Alright man, take care.”

  As Mason continued to walk he noticed garages battered, front doors wide open, and bodies scattered over the first few front lawns. He was confused.

  The closer he got to his home, the devastation tapered off to nothing rather quickly. He figured this must be where the neighborhood took a stand or those things only came in as far as they saw something to attack.

  Either way Mason had a feeling of hope. He started to jog up the street and soon he was able to make out his home and what looked like April and Justin sitting in the front yard. He picked up his pace and began to call out their names.

  April looked up and motioned to Justin. They saw Mason coming, stood and started toward him.

  14

  April appeared to be limping.

  As they got to within 50 feet, Justin took April’s hand and guided her to Mason and the three of them came together in an embrace. April started to quietly cry as she looked Mason over for signs of trauma. She was pleasantly surprised that he was all in one piece even though he looked like hell.

  Arm in arm they walked back to the house as Mason told them of his escape from the gym and Tom’s attack in the parking lot. He left out the atrocious, blow by blow details of his friend’s death and how good he felt taking down the Feeders that devoured Tom.

  He also described his new friend William and how the two were brought together as William was running from what was once his father-in-law.

  They in turn filled Mason in on the events that led to them being chased through the school and seeing the assistant principle being eaten alive. Justin wanted to let his father know how he had helped April across the field and over the six foot barrier that seemed to perplex their attackers and how he was able to handle the two that nearly killed them.

  Mason thanked him for protecting his mother and told him that he knew he could do it and was proud of him. Justin also let his dad know he had been trying to text him with no response. Mason reached in his backpack and withdrew the phone noticing that he had missed five text messages from Justin and apologized for not checking in.

  Reaching the house April swung open the front door and for an instant was caught off guard, but remembered that she had left it unlocked in case Mason arrived first. Mason asked Justin to go around the house and close the shades and turn off all the lights. He carried April into the office since it had no windows to the outside, which he felt would be safer.

  As Justin closed the windows in the master bedroom, he paused and looked out over the field he and April had crossed only a short time before. There were hundreds of those things wandering around. The corner of the field closest to the gym was partly lit from the lights serving the parking lot of the elementary school. For a moment Justin thought he spotted his Spanish teacher among the horde. Whoever or whatever it was turned in another direction and he lost sight of it as it blended in with the others.

  Mason checked April’s ankle and could tell it was only a slight sprain. Justin hurried downstairs after finishing with the lights and shades. He rested against the wall of the office as his mother and father occupied the small sofa. Mason explained to both of them that it would be completely dark outside shortly and for them
to take a quick shower and meet back downstairs. He told April he would wrap her ankle when she was finished.

  April stood and looked at him sideways. “Shower… don’t you think we need to pack and get on the road right away?”

  “Only if you want to sit in line with all the other people waiting for those things to attack. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.”

  “Morning? What if they attack us here?”

  “They only seem to come around when the see or hear something. If we keep all the lights off except for here in the office and stay quiet, we’ll be fine.”

  “Dad, I’m getting in now. I’ll be out in five minutes. You’re on watch.” Justin said in his most stern voice.

  “Yes, SIR! Mason replied as Justin trotted off up the stairs.

  “Mason, are you sure about this… My dad said we needed to leave hours ago.”

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yes… your father was right. If we would have left hours ago, we would have been fine. We are now stuck waiting for all the millions of people to exit the city… and it’s dark, we won’t be able to see those things coming.”