Scattered Screams: (The Disruption, Book One)

by C. A. Huggins

  “They might not make it no matter when we leave,” Marcus said.

  Marcus was getting frustrated with this conversation. Nobody knew how hard it was to have people constantly look at them for direction. He didn’t want this burden. He’d already thought if it was just him, Nadine, Ali & Vic how their situation and course of action might be somewhat different. But he didn’t have that luxury anymore.

  “What about the others we talked into coming with us tomorrow?” Eddie said.

  Marcus paused. With his adrenaline running due to the explosion and now change of plans, he had completely forgotten about them. He rolled his eyes and said a “fuck” under his breath.

  “We can’t just leave them,” Eddie said.

  “We’re gonna have to.”

  “But they’re depending on us.”

  “We need to leave.”

  “I’m gonna go spread the word,” Eddie said.

  “That’s—”

  “Don’t try talk me out of it,” Eddie turned away.

  Marcus searched for the exact words to say. He wasn’t expecting Eddie to do something this drastic. He doesn’t even know these people, Marcus thought.

  “Just give me a half hour,” Eddie said. “That’s all I’m asking for. I’ll get the word out. Find as many as possible.”

  “It’s dangerous out there,” Marcus said. “At least take Raymond with you.”

  “Fuck you, jack,” Raymond said to Marcus. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Then go with Jesse,” Marcus said.

  Eddie looked down the hall. “No.” He shook his head. “Don’t tell him where I went.”

  Marcus gave him a puzzled look.

  “Remember, thirty minutes and you can leave without me,” Eddie said before he crept out of the door.

  Nadine came back into the living room, now wearing an all black sweatsuit. "We should be ready to go in about five minutes." She halted dead in her tracks and looked at the front door. "Wait..." Then she looked at Eddie's and Marcus's faces. "Did somebody leave?"

  At first she thought Ali went AWOL again, which would've been fairly impossible, because she just left him. But she would never put anything past that boy. But Marcus was there. He'd kill that boy for even mentioning leaving at a time like this.

  Marcus knew he was going to have to fess up sooner than later. "Eddie left."

  "Why?" Nadine said.

  Marcus sighed. "He wanted to let the others in the building and on the block know that we were leaving tonight." He braced himself for her response. "But I gave him only thirty minutes."

  "Not a minute more," Nadine said. She walked into the kitchen to pack more food.

  “Here, I’ll help you.” Marcus followed her into the kitchen.

  Forty-five minutes later Nadine, Marcus, Ali, Esperanza, Vic, Christina, Jesse, and Raymond crammed into the living room. They’d been joined by two other families in the building: Simone and David Irving and Candace and Elton Green with their ten year-old, Tate. Each member with their traveling supplies, typically a large bag, and an object from around the house or a knife to use as a weapon.

  Off to the side sat Ali and Esperanza.

  “Remember, wherever I go, you go,” Ali said.

  Esperanza nodded.

  “I’m serious,” Ali continued. “Don’t leave my side.”

  “Sure,” Esperanza said. "Shit." She smiled. "Aw, how sweet. You're not trying to lose me." She laughed.

  Ali blushed.

  Marcus peeked out of the window.

  “How is it?” Nadine asked.

  Marcus just looked back at her and grimaced.

  “That bad?” Nadine walked over to the window, but Marcus stopped her.

  “Okay everybody,” Marcus said. “You all know the drill. We’re heading to Penn Station. If those monsters are in the street, that means they aren’t in Penn Station anymore. We should be able to make it through the tunnel with no issues.”

  Marcus looked at his watch.

  “Well, it’s been more than enough time,” Nadine said.

  “I know. It’s time,” Marcus said. He turned to the Greens and Irvings. “Where’s your cars?”

  “The street,” David Irving said.

  “Same,” said Elton Green.

  Nadine handed David and Elton each a walkie-talkie. “The batteries should be good.”

  They nodded.

  “Everybody,” Nadine shouted at the group. “We’re heading out. Remember—”.

  A loud knocking interrupted her.

  Christina unlocked the door and reached for the doorknob without looking through the peephole.

  “No!” Marcus said.

  The door opened, and there stood a panting Eddie with a group of people behind him.

  “See…” Eddie paused. “…I told you that you wouldn’t leave me.” He grinned.

  Marcus was happy to see him as he had labored over the realization that he would have to abandon Eddie. He reached out his fist, and Eddie bumped his fist with his own. Then, Marcus looked behind him as he instantaneously began calculating how he was going to get the additional survivors transported out of the city.

  Marcus’s quick math was interrupted by another loud crashing noise from outside.

  “We have to go,” Nadine shouted.

  “Right, everybody outside,” Marcus said. All in all, thirty-four people were willing to hinge their fates on Marcus’s leadership.

  The group spilled out of the building’s door and onto the street. People were in the streets racing away from the impending destruction. The fires and mutants were ten blocks away, but they closed in at a rapid pace.

  Marcus, Nadine, and Eddie began instructing groups into vehicles. But it became growingly apparent some people were going to be left out, even if they did “lap it up” as Nadine demanded.

  Eddie pulled Marcus to the side. “What do we do?”

  Marcus looked around. There were no usable cars. Nothing they could even possibly hot wire.

  Now, the mutants were seven blocks away.

  Ali, standing on the street without a means of transportation asked his dad, “What now?”

  Cars whizzed by as Christina and Esperanza tried to flag them down.

  No chance.

  Marcus was about to instruct everyone else to run. But at that moment one of the vehicles driving by stopped. It was a school bus.

  The door slid open and Javier popped out. “Need a ride?” He smiled.

  “Oh shit,” Ali said.

  The smile soon left Javier’s face. “Hurry now! They’re coming!”

  Ali moved toward the school bus, but Marcus held him back.

  “I don’t know about this,” Marcus said.

  “Come on!” a voice shouted from the driver’s seat.

  Ali looked into the dark bus. It was Nasim.

  “It’s cool,” Ali said to Marcus. “These are my friends.”

  “Yeah, it’s all good,” Esperanza said.

  Marcus inspected Javier, Nasim, and the school bus. Concern riddled his face.

  Ali raised his voice. “We don’t have any other choice.” He broke free of Marcus’s grasp and hopped onto the school bus with Esperanza.

  The mutants were two blocks away. And they could be seen leaping down the street and snatching up everything and everyone in their sights. As their victims transformed into mutants the destruction of their once beautiful neighborhood heightened.

  Marcus looked at Nadine. “He’s right,” she said. “Come on.”

  The remaining people got on the school bus. Marcus signaled the other cars to head to Penn Station.

  They sped off as the mutants were one block away ransacking the homes of some of the other escapees.

  Vic stood in the back of the bus staring out the back window as the place he called home got ravaged.

  It was different now. For a week, they strove to return home. And for a brief moment in time, they achieved that goal. But now they moved on without a home to go to. And a
ll they knew was they were going to have start anew somewhere in a place that was unfamiliar to all of them. At the same time, this new world was unfamiliar to all of them. Everything had changed. And everyone was essentially in the same boat.

  Chapter Eleven

  The caravan of cars sped through the streets towards Penn Station. The Pathfinder, with the Irvings, led the way dodging pedestrians and looters along the way. Behind them was the Dodge Charger driven by the Greens. The school bus maneuvered its way ahead of the Malibu. So now it was sandwiched in the middle.

  Their formation remained tight, which was difficult to do as other cars whizzed past them. But it was evident, they all had one thing in common as they were all traveling in the same direction.

  As Ali stood up in the front with the driver, Nasim, he glanced down at a medium-sized black duffle bag tucked underneath his seat. It doesn’t look big enough for clothes, Ali thought.

  “What’s in the bag?” Ali asked.

  Nasim didn’t take his eye off the road as he said, “Supplies.” Then, he smirked.

  In the middle of the bus, Nadine, Marcus, and Eddie gathered to discuss strategies for when they made it out of the city.

  “What’s next after this?” Eddie asked.

  “Make it to the Penn Station," Marcus said. “If all of these things are in the streets. That has to be clear. Go through the tunnel.”

  Marcus looked at Eddie as he attempted to think the plan out.

  “And Josefina is probably still there on the other side of the tunnel waiting for you,” Marcus continued.

  Eddie looked up at Marcus. He knew he was trying to manipulate him and make his strategy sound more appealing.

  “It’s your call,” Eddie said.

  “We should be there any minute now,” Marcus said as he looked at the street to figure out where he was.

  “We got a problem,” David said over the walkie-talkie Nadine was holding.

  “What?” Nadine asked.

  “Penn Station,” David said.

  “Fuck,” Nasim shouted.

  Marcus ran up to the front of the bus. Penn Station was on fire.

  “You got another plan boss?” Nasim said to Marcus.

  Marcus had nothing. He knew this plan wasn’t even a good one, but it was all he had.

  “The GW?” Ali said.

  Nasim shrugged. “That might be the move,” he growled.

  Marcus turned to Nadine, “What do you think?”

  “We’re all out of options,” Nadine said.

  “What do we do now,” David said over the walkie-talkie.

  Marcus’s heartbeat now felt like the drums in “Bombs Over Baghdad”.

  He grabbed the walkie-talkie. “Head to the George Washington Bridge.”

  “Side streets?” David asked.

  “No, the FDR,” Marcus said. He doesn’t know why he chose that route, because his gut feeling was to take the side streets. But since everything he’s felt recently has gone awry, he decided to go against his gut.

  The Pathfinder took towards the FDR, the Charger followed, and then the bus with the Malibu close behind.

  In the back of the bus, Nadine consoled Marcus. “You didn’t know. This is probably for the best.”

  Marcus said nothing.

  She continued, “Plus, I didn’t want to go into no dark smelly tunnel away.” She smiled.

  Marcus grinned.

  The caravan drove up the FDR with no issues for ten minutes or so until the Pathfinder got off.

  “What the fuck is he doing?” Nasim as he followed the two cars in front of him.

  “This nigga is bugging,” Javier said to Nasim. “I should’ve drove that truck.”

  “The road was blocked off,” David said to Nadine over the walkie-talkie.

  They continued up Broadway.

  Ali examined Nasim’s bag again. Nasim’s evasiveness only exacerbated Ali’s intrigue. He lightly kicked the bag with his left Timberland.

  Nasim thought to stop the bus in reaction to Ali’s bold move. He didn’t.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Nasim took his now bulging eyes off of the road and onto Ali.

  “What?” Ali said. “You wouldn’t tell me.”

  “For a reason,” Nasim said.

  “Is everything okay up there?” Nadine asked.

  Right as Nasim was about to answer he slammed on the brakes. One of the Hoppers had leaped out of the sewer and onto the hood of the Pathfinder causing it to flip over. The wreck caused the Dodge Charger to swerve and hit a light pole on the sidewalk. Soon after impact, the car exploded.

  Luckily, Nasim’s reflexes were quick enough to save the school bus from a similar fate. So did the Chevy Malibu right behind the school bus.

  Both vehicles were now stopped with a wreck and mutants in front of them, cars behind them, and the mutants possibly still in pursuit.

  Marcus looked around and the first thing that came to mind was to try to make a U-turn and go up a side street or make the rest of the run toward the bridge on foot.

  The Hoppers pounded on the flipped over Pathfinder.

  “What do we do?” Ali asked Marcus.

  More Hoppers arrived and before Marcus knew it the school bus was surrounded.

  “Motherfuckers!” Nasim shouted.

  The Hoppers beat their limbs on the school bus as it rocked back and forth on Broadway and 173rd street.

  “Get your weapons,” Marcus shouted as a window blasted open.

  “We can’t stay in here,” Eddie said.

  Everyone now stood holding their eclectic assortment of objects that they planned on using to fight these ungodly beasts.

  “On my count—” Marcus said.

  “Hold up,” Nasim said. “I got these.” He opened up his gym bag to reveal somewhere in between a half dozen and dozen handguns, machine guns, rifles and bullets.

  “What the fuck?” Ali said as he looked down.

  “Hey,” Nasim shrugged. “Earlier today, I told you I had to get some things straight.”

  “He doesn’t know who you are?” Javier said to Nasim.

  The group gathered around as Nasim doled out guns like a homicidal Santa Claus.

  The group was now properly armed for what they were about to do.

  “On my count,” Marcus said.

  Nasim readied himself near the latch for the side door. Eddie, Christina, Vic, and Jesse stood by the back emergency exit.

  “1…”

  They gripped their guns. For many it was the first time holding a gun of any sort.

  “2…”

  The bus shook. At one point, Ali braced himself by holding onto a seat as it felt like the bus was going to tip over.

  “3!”

  They forced their way out of the school bus and began to let off fire. The rest of the group in the Malibu couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

  “They had guns all this time?” Mr. Green asked. They shot five of the six Hoppers. More approached as they fanned out to the sidewalk. They were now being joined by other escapees getting out of their traffic jammed vehicles.

  Two Hoppers jumped behind Nasim. Ali took out one, and Jav blew the arm off another.

  More Hoppers picked off escapees including some from their caravan.

  “We gotta go,” Eddie said as the Hoppers swarmed the area.

  “Here,” Vic said.

  Whoever was left slithered down a side street as the people with guns provided cover.

  A few Hoppers gave chase. Marcus gunned one down, Nasim the other.

  “We can’t stay out here for long,” Nadine said.

  They ran across the street. Ali noticed a bodega that had a broken lock on the gate.

  “Come on,” Ali shouted as he lifted up the gate halfway off the ground.

  The survivors hurried to get into the market.

  “Dad! Naz!” Ali hollered as they fended off the group from the Hoppers.

  Marcus then Naz slid underneath the gate. Naz held it up from th
e other side so Ali could get in.

  The remaining group. They had lost everybody except the Randles, a young couple from the next block over.

  “Fuck,” Vic said.

  Everyone in the store stood around trying to catch their breath and staring at one another.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Nasim said. “I knew this wasn’t gonna be easy, but shit.” He paced back and forth shaking his head.

  The Hoppers banged on the steel gate and everyone’s heart skipped a beat. Vic almost accidentally fired his gun he was so petrified.

  “We can’t stay here,” Ali said.

  “I’m not going out there,” Jesse said.

  Then, they heard a noise come from the back of the store.

  “Shit,” someone in the back of the store whispered.

  Javier ran back there with Marcus pointing their guns.

  “Woah!” a man said. He was startled and instantly put his hands up. He stood next to a woman. She ducked.

  “Fuck!” Javier said.

  “It’s just people,” Marcus said.

  “What the fuck are you guys doing?” Javier said to the man, late twenties and skinny.

  “You’re the one with the gun,” the man said.

  Good point, Javier thought.

  “My name is Prakash,” the man said.

  “What are you doing here?” Marcus said.

  “My name is Ava,” the woman said, late twenties, short, curly hair and glasses.

  “It’s obviously his store,” Javier said.

  Marcus looked at him.

  “That’s fucked up,” Prakash said. “You see a brown man in a market and it’s his store?”

  Javier shrugged.

  “We were actually robbing the store,” Ava said.

  “Yeah,” Prakash said.

  “Shit…my bad,” Javier said.

  The four of them walked to the front of the store.

  “These are thieves we found in the back of the store,” Marcus said.

  “Hey,” Prakash said.

  “But you are thieves,” Marcus responded.

  “We’re trying to eat. All of the stores are closed,” Prakash said.

  “What else are we supposed to do?” Ava said.

  They looked like regular people. Clothes were clean. Nasim peeked out of the crack in the gate as the Hoppers still tried to make their way in.

  “Do you live near hear?” Nadine asked Prakash and Ava.