by B. T. Wright
“Pull yourself up, Ty. Pull!” Jake shouted.
“I can’t! One of them has my foot!”
“Pull, Tom! I’ve got you. Pull!”
Tom took a death grip around Jake’s arm. Jake could feel the strain on him as Tom pulled on Tyler. After a few seconds of struggle, Tyler began to slide up onto the roof. Their effort had been enough. Tom made sure Tyler had a solid place on the roof, and then let go. The three of them took a moment to catch their breath.
“Oh God thank you.” Tyler said.
“We have to go. Now,” Jake reminded them.
The three of them carefully rose to their feet.
Tom turned to face Tyler. “You sure you don’t want me around, son?”
Tyler answered with a shout of panic. Jake followed Tyler’s eyes fixed on something behind him, but he wasn’t able to turn his head before it was too late. Before any of them could make a move, one of the infected had come through the window behind them and ran right for Tom. Its momentum was too much for the unprepared Tom to withstand the force of the collision and it took him right off the edge of the roof.
“Tom!” Jess shouted.
Jake rushed to the side of the roof and looked over. He began firing into the crowd of infected, but Tom was like a drop of blood in a pool of piranhas. They had already encompassed him entirely. Blood-curdling screams filled the quiet night, until one of them ripped through Tom’s throat, quieting him too.
“Tom!” Jake shouted, though it was just a reflex. There was nothing he could do.
“Jake, help him!” Jess shouted. But her shout was already filled with sobs. She also knew there was nothing to be done.
Jake moved over and jumped down to the roof of the RV. As much as he hated it, he knew this was the time to move, while the infected were distracted. He reached out his hand to Jess.
“That’s it? We just leave him there? Is that what we’ve come to already?”
Jake could see the hurt mixed with fear etched onto Jessica’s face. He wished he could take the pain away. He wished he could comfort her, but there were no words that would help.
“What do you want me to do, Jess? Shoot them all? Waste our ammo?”
“I want you to make all of this go away.”
She was spiraling. He needed something to get her off that roof. To get her mind off Tom dying in front of her. There was only one thing that would do that.
“I can’t do that, Jess.” The infected began clawing at the RV again. They had finished with Tom. “But we do need to go. If you want to stop by your sister’s house and see if she’s still alive, we need to move.”
Jess’s entire demeanor changed. With all that they had been fighting over the last hour, thoughts of not being able to get ahold of her sister had slipped her mind. She immediately jumped to the RV, momentarily squeezing Jake’s hand, then moving straight down through the skylight. Tyler followed onto the RV with Jake.
“They just ate him alive, Jake. He saved my life, and they ate him alive.”
Jake’s normally goofy and jovial friend was nowhere to be found. The face that Jake normally laughed with was in shock. This entire situation had sucked the life out of Tyler.
Jake put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’re going to find a way out of this, Tyler. We’re going to get to Cincinnati, get on that helicopter, and hole up with the government’s top officials until we figure a way to outlive this. You hear me?”
Tyler looked down at the infected as they desperately tried to reach the two of them. “You really believe that, Jake? After seeing Tom get devoured like that?”
“Do we have any other choice?”
Tyler nodded somberly. Then, he moved past Jake, wiggling his way down inside the RV. Jake wasn’t sure if he did believe his own words, but he was a soldier. All of his training taught him to fight until there was nothing left. And while he didn’t know a lot of things, Jake knew that right now, they still had something to fight for. What surprised him was that an image of Emily came to him with that thought. With all the things they had to overcome to get to Mount Weather, that was the last thing he needed to be worried about.
18
Tyler turned left out of the neighborhood. Jake watched as the infected gave chase, the still-fiery SUVs their backdrop. Jess continued to try to make contact with her sister as she lay on the bed next to Amy at the back of the RV. Amy was still escaping with her headphones, just as Jake had hoped she would. The immediate plan was to stop by Jess’s sister’s house. Jake held little hope for finding Vanessa and her family alive, but he had to check. If for nothing else, Jess would need the closure.
On the next street over, the neighborhood was desolate. They had to weave around the occasional abandoned car in the road, but most were stopped at its side. Jake had no idea how the interstate might look. They may have just escaped the neighborhood, but the road out of town could be completely blocked. He didn’t know what the course of action would be if that were the case. As with most problems that day, they would have to cross that bridge when they came to it.
At the end of his neighborhood in Beaumont they went straight, crossing over Harrodsburg Road. The normally bustling intersection was crowded, but none of the cars were moving. The lights on the Texas Roadhouse sign were still lit, sending a glow of neon red out into the street. For no reason, he pictured infected serving other infected human hearts as they all danced to REM’s, It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine). Of course things weren’t fine. The fact that that image played in his head was probably good proof of that.
Tyler was able to use the shoulder to get around the cars. He drove straight through the red light. Just up ahead was Venessa’s neighborhood.
“What’s the plan here, man,” Tyler said in a whisper. He glanced toward the back of the RV to make sure Jess wasn’t nearby. “Don’t you think this is a waste of time?”
“Probably. But wouldn’t you want to know if you had family close?”
Tyler nodded.
“Make a right here.”
Jake’s phone began to ring. It was Emily. Jess popped up from the back of the RV and joined them at the front so she could listen.
“Stop here for a second. I have to take this call without interruption.”
Tyler pulled to the side of the abandoned neighborhood road. Before Jake answered the phone he couldn’t help but wonder where the hell everyone was. Empty streets were the last thing he’d expected to see.
“You safe in Mount Weather?”
“Jake! Thank God. Just made it and got my phone on the charger. I lost battery earlier, before we could finish the call. I’ll text you those addresses as soon as we’re finished here. Are you all right? Are you still trapped?”
“We’re fine.”
The image of Tom being eaten alive washed over him. “Fine” was a relative term at that point.
“We made it out of the house, and I found an RV. We have one stop, and then we are hitting the interstate.”
“Jake, don’t miss that helicopter. It will be leaving here soon to pick up Professor Reed. After seeing the fallout in DC from the helicopter I have to imagine that at some point, the roads will be impassable. Just hopefully not before you make it to Cincinnati.”
“Nothing I can do about that.”
“No, I suppose not.”
There was a pause.
“Jake,” Emily’s tone changed. “I know what you said about your girlfriend, and I respect it completely. And I know this is not the time, but I can’t stop thinking about you.”
It was so quiet in the RV that, even though Jake didn’t have the phone on speaker, Jess heard every word Emily said. Jake reached for Jess’s hand but it was too late. She turned and walked toward the back of the RV.
Jake covered the phone with his left hand. “Jess!” It was no use. He could see the hurt on her face.
He put the phone back to his ear.
“Jake?”
“You’re right, Emily. Now is
definitely not the time.”
Jake looked up at Tyler and Tyler had formed his mouth into an O, his eyes showing he wanted the juicy details. Jake just rolled his eyes.
“Listen . . .” Jake needed to focus, because they needed to go. “My brother. He’s alive. But he’s all the way out in Colorado. He’s alone with his sons. Is there anyone communicating from there? Maybe at NORAD? He needs to find some allies.”
“Jake, that is great news that he’s alive. And more good news, I just heard the president on the phone with the vice president. He was in California and they managed to get him to the Air Force base where we still have a small group of survivors. They are flying him via helicopter to Cheyenne Mountain Complex near Colorado Springs. You think your brother can make it there?”
“I don’t know much about Colorado, but I know my brother. If there’s a way to get there, he’ll find it. So there is some military left?”
“We’re not sure how much, but yes. We’ve had several bases that were radio silent check in. They are all devastated, but there’s still some units that we didn’t know existed. They got our warning calls in time to gear up and keep from contracting whatever the hell is going on.”
Jake let out a breath. He couldn’t have heard better news. Through all that was going on, and even though he and Colt hadn’t spoken in a long time, his brother being out there on his own with his boys had been weighing on Jake more than he’d realized.
“That’s great news. I need to call my brother. Can you make sure someone in at the base will be watching for him?”
“Of course. I’ll go right now and speak with the president himself.”
“Thank you, Emily. We’re on our way. Hopefully we will be to you some time in the early hours tomorrow morning.”
“I hope so. Be careful, Jake. If you need anything, please call me.”
Jake ended the call and immediately dialed Colt.
Tyler whispered. “Did you?”
Jake ignored him.
“Come on, man, look at what we’re dealing with here. Give me something fun to think about for a minute at least.”
The phone kept ringing while Jake kept ignoring Tyler.
Tyler kept on. “You did, didn’t you?” He lowered his whisper even further. “You had sex with her didn’t you? Come on!”
The call went to voicemail and Jake’s mind immediately thought the worst. With the world officially ending, it was hard to stay positive.
Tyler noticed the somber look on Jake’s face and stopped with the ribbing. “I’m sure he’s fine. Let’s just check Jess’s sister’s house and get the hell out of here.”
Jake nodded and put his phone away.
But there would be no need to check Vanessa’s house. Because standing in the glow of their headlights, head cocked, eyes black as the night behind her, was Jess’s sister.
19
“Jake, why the hell would that woman on the phone say she—”
Jess had walked up behind them, but before she could finish her thought about the phone call she, too, noticed her sister standing there alight in the RV’s high beams. Jake turned and saw the shock on Jess’s face.
“Jess, just go back to the bedroom. You don’t need to see—”
“Uh, Jake,” Tyler interrupted. “I think we’d better get out of here. Like, right the fuck now.”
Jake turned and watched at least a dozen more infected move in behind Vanessa. Jess’s nephew, Brandon, was one of them.
Jess began to cry. “Jesus, not Brandon too!”
She bent over at the knees and Jake caught her before she collapsed to the floor.
“Tyler, get us the hell out of here,” Jake said. “Now.”
“Roger.”
The RV shifted backward as Jake scooped Jess up into his arms. He stumbled when Tyler whipped the RV around, but managed to plod his way back to the bed. Amy was sitting up. The sudden rushed movement of the RV had pulled her from her trance. Jake laid Jess down.
“It’s okay, Amy.” Jake placed his arm on her shoulder. “We’re heading for the interstate now. Enjoy your music. I’ll get you some food in a bit if you’re hungry.”
Jess was bravely trying to hide her tears from Amy so as not to worry her, but she couldn’t hold it in. Amy placed her hand on Jess. It was her turn to do the comforting.
“It’s okay, Jess,” Amy said. “I don’t blame you for crying. This is all so messed up.”
Amy didn’t know about Vanessa just yet, but Jake was sure the words were meaningful anyway. He bent down to try to help comfort Jess, but his phone began to ring. Jess shot up and gave Jake a hard look.
“It’s Colt. I have to take this.”
Jess just laid back down and continued to cry. The RV was swaying left and right as Tyler navigated around the cars stopped in the road. Jake was surprised by how relieved he was to see his brother’s name on the caller ID.
“Colt, everything okay?”
“We’re alive. Okay is another story, I guess. You get out of the attic?”
“We’re in an RV on our way to Cincinnati. Trying to make a helicopter that’ll be flying to Mount Weather in Virginia.”
“Speaking of helicopters, saw a couple military choppers overhead flying toward Colorado Springs. Thought you said there was no military left.”
“I just talked to Emily. She said they received word that the vice president is being taken to Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Said they’ve had a few bases report back since I last spoke with her. Their numbers are devastated, but there are more that aren’t infected than we thought. Hopefully a lot more people not infected than we even know. Where are you?”
“At the neighbor’s. We ran into some . . . trouble.”
“Yeah, I would imagine you did,” Jake said. A vision of the infected man toppling Tom off the roof and tearing at his throat came to mind. “Emily is going to let the people at Cheyenne Mountain Complex know you and the boys will be coming. How are they holding up?”
“They’re fine. Look, Jacob, I know you don’t like listening to me much, and I know you’re a highly trained soldier and all, but you’ve got to be smart. Don’t stop till you get to Cincinnati. Don’t miss that helicopter. And don’t worry about us. The boys know how to shoot, and I know these mountain roads pretty well. Just get yourself to Mount Weather. Tomorrow will bring some clarity.”
Colt still spoke to him like he was still the same wide-eyed eighteen-year-old kid from eleven years ago. But at least they weren’t arguing. Tragedy either brings you together or it completely rips you apart. The first tragedy they’d suffered together had broken their relationship in two. Hopefully tragedy they were now facing, whatever the hell it was, would be the kind that would bring them back together.
“Don’t worry about me. This isn’t my first war.”
“Just don’t get cocky. It’ll make you complacent. And that will get you kill—”
Jake heard something in the background, and then nothing but silence.
“Colt?”
He took the phone away from his ear––the call looked like it was still running. He put it back to his ear. “Colt!”
But Colt was gone. Jake ended the call and tried three more times to dial Colt back, but the phone wouldn’t even ring. For the first time since everything had gone to shit, he felt the heavy sting of panic. He looked back at Jess crying on the bed, then over to his right at his goofball friend trying to steer around the madness. If he let this panic grow and get the best of him, they were all dead. He’d seen this kind of thing before in combat. If the leader loses it, everyone is lost. He had to swallow the panic before it got too strong of a hold on him. Other than Colt, everything he loved in the world was right there in that RV. And he’d be damned if he were going to lose anyone else he loved.
For some reason, when he thought about everything he loved, Emily’s smile flashed in front of his mind’s eye. And the smell of her perfume needled at his senses. This had happened several times since they’d said goodbye
last week in Syria. And just as he had the last several times it happened, he did everything he could to put it out of his mind. He dialed her number just to see if it was Colt’s phone that was having trouble. But her phone didn’t ring either.
The sting of panic faded as his will to survive settled in. For Colt, for Emily, and for the three people with him in the RV, it was what needed to happen. The other thing that needed to happen was them finding some other way to communicate. If cell service was really gone and wasn’t going to come back, they needed a backup plan.
Jake walked to the front of the rig and took the passenger seat.
“Thanks for getting us out of the attic back there,” Tyler said.
Jake bypassed his remark. “We need a CB radio. Any idea where they sell them around here?”
“CB radio? Are you serious?”
“Phone lines are dead. Might be for good. How close is Walmart?”
Tyler glanced over. “You’re sure?”
“I can’t get out on my phone.”
Tyler pulled his phone from his pocket, scrolled to Jake’s contact, and pressed CALL.
“Anything?”
Tyler shook his head. “Not even ringing. This just went from bad to worse, didn’t it.”
“Afraid so.”
“There’s a Walmart right up here. You think it’s smart to go in? Probably crawling with those things.”
Colt’s words about not stopping rang in his head.
“You’re probably right, but we don’t have a choice. If we get stuck somewhere on the way to Cincinnati, we might need it, as well as some other supplies. Failure to plan is a plan to fail.”
Tyler laughed. “Okay, Oprah. Good God they really brainwashed you didn’t they? Remember when you used to be cool and not this . . . robo-soldier?”
Jake smiled. “Remember when you used to be able to see your toes in the shower?”
“There he is!” Tyler laughed. “That was hurtful, but at least you’re still in there somewhere.”
Jake wasn’t sure the old him was still in there somewhere. But he did know that whether he was, or wasn’t, he was glad the boring robo-soldier was. Because he knew to survive long enough to make it to that helicopter, they for damn sure were going to need it.
