Dead World (Book 1): The Impetus (8 page)

16

Valentine pulls at her hair with one hand. Bouncing her knee, she sits at the couch with Sasha who is holding Chloe close to her.

The guys left a few minutes ago and her heart is racing. Just sitting in the apartment waiting is killing her. She feels so powerless.

“They’ll be ok,” she says, trying to convince herself as much as Sasha and Chloe, “Isaiah knows what he’s doing. He is strong and they will be safe.”

“Yeah baby, your daddy is going to be safe,” Sasha says to Chloe who is squeezing her and crying. Chloe isn’t old enough to understand everything that is happening but she knows it’s bad. And Chloe knows that something bad might happen.

The not knowing is the worst part for all of them.

They sit in silence for a while. Valentine stands up abruptly and walks over to the kitchen where she starts doing dishes. There isn’t much to do. There wasn’t enough to eat to clean up after. But she needs to keep herself busy. Needs to feel anything but powerless.

Sasha and Chloe remain on the couch holding each other close. Valentine is amazed at how strong they have both been. Despite everything they have adapted to circumstances remarkably well. This is the first time she has seen Sasha sit down. Normally she is up and running around finding things to clean or fold or organize. It seems like she is perpetually looking for some small task to occupy herself.

Valentine knows this can’t be easy for her as a mom. It’s not easy on any of them. Valentine’s parents lived in Texas. They heard that the chaos was widespread but she holds onto hope that they are OK and that they made it somewhere safe.

But, Sasha’s family lived here in Denver, they lived close to her parents. And they haven’t heard anything from them. Sasha tried to call them when the world went crazy and many times after that first day but never got an answer.

They don’t talk about it anymore but Valentine hopes beyond hope that everything is OK for them.

A few days ago the power started to go out. It was intermittent at first, lights sparking and the vents sending gusts of warm air, but eventually it gave way to full on black outs. Now they are using candles and flashlights for everything after dark. Thank god the water is still working or Valentine can’t even imagine what they would have to do.

She does worry about what will happen when it gets colder. Already they are forced to use extra blankets just to stay warm. She has considered asking Daniel to stay with her at night, anything so she doesn’t have to be alone.

Valentine scrubs furiously at a pot that is already clean and stares out the window in the kitchen. Outside the sun shines and if she could avoid looking at the parts of Downtown that were consumed by fire it would seem like a perfect day.

The worst part is the complete lack of noise. Living so close to Downtown for so long she is accustomed to the ever present sound of life out there, the bustle of people, the honk of car horns, an occasional argument that gets too loud, planes flying overhead. All of it is gone and she doesn’t know if it will ever be back.

The last plane she remembers hearing was the one that could have killed them all had it fallen just a little closer. She shudders as she remembers those first few hours of the chaos. Everything had been hard on them since but hiding in her apartment they were able to isolate themselves from a fair amount of the danger.

Most people were not so lucky, she thinks bitterly as she recalls the bodies that were everywhere on their way back to the apartment.

What’s more chilling for her is the fact that from the vantage she has of the street she doesn’t see them anymore. She heard  the same reports as everyone else. The dead coming back. Attacking the living. She had even seen it happen first hand with Margie Greene but her mind refused to process what it actually meant. What the implications were if this was a worldwide issue.

Even seeing them walking around outside. It was a constant struggle for her to see them as anything other than crowds of people. They couldn’t be dead. It’s impossible.

A blaring horn startles her and she drops the pot with a clang into the empty sink. Sasha and Chloe whip their heads around before running over to the kitchen to look out the window. There is nothing to be seen but the report of a gunshot comes quickly after followed by two more.

Sasha clasps her hand over her mouth sucking in a deep breath. Chloe starts crying and buries her head into her shirt.

Valentine rushes over and wraps her arms around both of them trying to pull them as tight as she can. “They will be OK. Everything is going to be fine,” she repeats over and over again.

Inwardly she is terrified because it sounds like it came from the grocery store where they were going to gather supplies. The hope that keeps rushing through her is that the gunshots could not have come from the dead. As far as any of the reports had said they couldn’t use weapons so she prays that it is some kind hearted soul helping them out.

Her mind refuses to admit that maybe it is an altercation with someone just as desperate as them.

“Should we go find daddy?” Chloe asks, her cheeks wet and her eyes red from crying. Her hair is a mess of black atop her head barely pulled back into a haphazard ponytail.

“No, no honey we can’t go out there,” Sasha strokes her head and gives her a kiss on the forehead, “Your daddy said we need to stay here no matter what. He will be back for us baby.”

Valentine knows that Sasha is trying to reassure herself as much as Chloe but Sasha needs to be strong for her little girl and despite everything she admires the type of woman it takes to be that strong.

“Everything is going to be OK,” Valentine repeats again.

They stay huddled together for a few minutes saying their own silent prayers before the door bursts open startling them all. Chloe lets out a small yelp before Isaiah rushes in. Black blood is patterned across his face and sweater. But he swings Chloe in his arms and gives her a bear hug.

Sasha grips his arm tightly as Daniel follows them in. His eyes are wide and his hands shake,
He looks terrified
but he seems unhurt otherwise. “We need to get some clean cloths and something to bandage him,” he says as he enters.

Valentine gasps as she sees Faraday behind him. His head has a gash and blood covers half his grimy face but it is obviously him. She would recognize him anywhere from the years she spent giving him free coffee and the pastries they were supposed to throw away at the end of the night.

She remembers the first time she actually met him. He had been coming into the store on a regular basis so she was familiar but didn’t actually know his name. She had been walking home from work and a young man in a black sweater with the hood pulled up stopped her. It was late at night, too late.

The guy approached her and she was too afraid to scream, the sound died in her throat. Her mom warned her about moving into a low income neighborhood but she always blew it off.

Suddenly Faraday had appeared. He had a crazy look about him and before anything could escalate he had scared off the guy. Valentine had wanted to thank him but he simply walked away. “Name’s Faraday,” was all he said as he walked back into the darkness of the alley.

Valentine didn’t need to know anything else about him to know that he was a good guy at heart. No matter how rough his circumstances were.

“Yes of course,” she answers Daniel rushing into the back room to find a clean towel. She grabs a small bottle of vodka she had stashed in her closet before she rushes back out to help him clean up.

Back in the living room it is only a few moments before everyone is settled in. They look at the pathetic amount of food they were able to get and Isaiah grimaces as he sees that it still isn’t enough to last them any more than a couple days. Even with bare rationing they will be starving soon.

Daniel and Isaiah quickly recount their tale as Valentine cleans up Faraday’s wound. She is careful to be gentle but he still winces when she daubs the alcohol over the gash. It is shallow thank god, but it is long so that explains all the bleeding. She quickly cleans it up and winds it tightly in an improvised head wrap.

“We can’t stay here,” Faraday finally says after Daniel and Isaiah finish explaining how he arrived just in time to help them. Everyone looks at him for a moment, it’s the first thing he’s said the whole time, before looking back at each other.   

“I think he may be right,” Isaiah echoes, “We tried to find food out there. We could try some more places but I am willing to bet it was mostly grabbed up when everyone tried to get out. The panic must have been even worse than we were aware of up here,” he looks at Sasha and nods his head solemnly.

“Those things,” Faraday begins again, “will never stop. They have only one goal now. And even if you could find food elsewhere being where they are is not a good idea. Sneaking around trying to salvage what was left behind just won’t work for long,” he looks around at the group making eye contact with each of them.

All the crazy stories he had ever come up with thinks Valentine. Of course he was most prepared for something like this.

“Where will we go?” Sasha asks, “How can we even leave?”

“We will travel light and stay moving. If we can prevent getting spotted then we will be ok. If we can find a car on the edge of the city we might be alright to travel into the country,” Isaiah says.

“This thing is big, it’s everywhere,” Daniel says, “We can’t just wait up here. We need to find somewhere safe. Somewhere we can be for a long time.”

“How will we avoid them?” Valentine asks. She doesn’t give them a name, but everyone knows what she is referring to.

“They travel in groups. We will have to stay together and move quickly and quietly. We won’t be able to drive until we get to the edge of the city though. The streets are all backed up around here,” Faraday says.

“If we get out on foot maybe we can try to head north,” Daniel offers. He still feels awful for freezing up when they needed his help. It’s the second time he was unable to act when his people were in trouble and the guilt is eating him up. He needs to offer something.

“Why north?” Faraday asks.

“Well I just noticed that other than staying out of the sun those things don’t seem to watch the weather,” Daniel says. They look at him quizzically so he continues, “What I mean is, winter is coming. It will be really cold up there. If those things are out wandering around outside they will be frozen solid in a few weeks and then we’ll be safe.”

“But how will we stay warm?” Valentine asks.

“We can find shelter somewhere, maybe up in North Dakota, or Canada or something. Anything to wait out the snow. Besides,” He says, looking around, “I didn’t mention this before because we had agreed to stay but I was up late the last night the radio stopped working. They said there might be safe zones established up there. There wasn’t any information about them other than that. So I didn’t want to get our hopes up,” he says staring down at his feet.

“Well,” Isaiah begins, “I wish we would have known about this earlier. But I can’t say I blame you. We were all hoping that we could just wait this thing out. I think trying for the safe zones is our best bet now.”

“Then we are going to need to leave soon,” Faraday says, “Getting out of the city is not going to be easy. There’s no way of knowing how many of those things there are out there.”

Sasha squeezes Chloe. “Well I guess we don’t need to take a vote then,” she smiles, happy to have direction even if it will be dangerous. “Chloe go and get that backpack we found and fill it with as many clothes as you can. We will all be taking showers tonight before we leave. That includes you Faraday,” her motherly instincts kick in and she is organizing them in moments.

Faraday just nods. None of them are sure how long it has been since he had a shower.

“Then we will get stuff ready and leave tomorrow at dawn,” Isaiah says, glad that they are able to come to a consensus. He feared that waiting around would only last for so long but the impetus of their near death and what Faraday said gave them all the motivation they needed to get moving right away.

17

After a goodnight sleep for the first time in weeks, Daniel moves with new found purpose. He’s up before everyone else trying to prepare things for the journey. He’s still terrified of what waits out there for them but after three weeks of self-pity he finally has something to focus on.

He noticed a subtle change in the others last night too. Freely given smiles, and talking about the way things will be, rather than dwelling on how they are or worse, how they used to be.

In the week spent in the apartment they all slowly succumbed to the hopelessness of the situation. Their days stretched into one another and the lack of news from the outside world grated at them. Tempers were short and they fought as often as they talked.

They needed something to believe in and this was something tangible.

Even if it was going to be dangerous this was better than waiting for hope that was never coming.

With certainty Daniel thinks of the last radio message he heard. It was vague and he doesn’t know if anywhere is really safe, but as he plays it over in his mind he can’t help but make something of it. There are safe zones, people living up there and none of those creatures.

Everything is going to work out.

“Hey do you need a hand?” Valentine startles Daniel as she comes from the living room. She slept on the couch while Daniel and Faraday shared the floor.

The half-light of morning shines through the kitchen window, illuminating her hair in a messy halo. He wants to walk over and hold her tight but he grabs the cans of food instead focusing on what he is doing so she doesn’t notice the way he looks at her.

“Yeah that would be great,” he says, just wanting to be near her even if he fears he will never act on it.

She helps pack up their meager supplies. There isn’t much, a few dozen cans of soup and vegetables, even some fruit that they have been using as desert. She grabs Band-Aids and pain medication out of the cabinet stuffing them in the bag.

“Hopefully we’re able to find more out there,” she says, frowning at how low they are on everything.

“Well we should be able to make it to the other side of the city in just a couple days. If we walk around the outskirts there should be less people to run into, Faraday said yesterday that not everywhere is as bad as here,” Daniel says, “We really are lucky that nothing happened to us in here. From what he said this was one of the harder hit areas he has seen. Of course it’s bad everywhere but it’s like we were in the eye of the storm.”

“Really?” she asks, “I guess it’s just hard to feel lucky.”

“Well we’re still alive so there’s that. And we were right in the middle of one of the major changes I think,” He grabs a blanket and puts it into the backpack. They only have three backpacks and they try to distribute the weight as evenly as they can. Faraday has his own pack too but it was already mostly full.

“What do you think caused all of it?” she asks, “Do you think this all happened for a reason?”

“I don’t know,” Daniel says honestly. He hasn’t tried to figure out a cause, just hoping that whoever saved them would have one. “It all seems so random. But I don’t think that’s how things work. I was never a religious person but this all seems so plagues of Egypt or Noah’s ark don’t you think?”

She laughs and brushes the hair out of her eyes. “Doesn’t this type of bad things usually cause people to turn their backs on god? And somehow you are telling me you found Him through all of this?”

He flashes a grin back at her. “No I’m not saying that. Just saying that maybe we lived for a reason. It could be just dumb luck but it could also be someone up there looking out for us.”

“And what about everyone else?” she asks.

“You’re right,” Daniel says, scratching the back of his head, “I certainly don’t feel like I deserved saving. Maybe it is just luck?”

“I guess that makes sense,” she replies, “It’s kinda bleak though don’t you think?”

“Well what if this is our chance to start over?” he offers, “I’m not saying everyone who died deserved it. But if this makes those of us that are still alive change for the better then maybe there is something we can do to salvage all of this after all.”

“So this could be a good thing?” She asks unbelieving.

“No, no I’m not saying that. I guess I don’t know what I’m trying to say. It’s just that since all of this started I’ve seen a lot of bad things. We both have. The whole world going crazy around us, but we were able to hide in here. And we are safe. I don’t know. I guess I just want this all to mean something. I don’t want all those people dying to be for nothing.”

He reaches into the bag again organizing for the hundredth time. He realizes that he hasn’t actually even been packing the whole time. He got wrapped up in the conversation and so did she. It has been nice to just talk. Everything was so quiet for the past week since that night. Everyone just coping, mostly on their own.

“Maybe you’re right,” she says, “It is better to believe that than to think that none of this matters at all. Either way I’m glad you’re here.”

“Thanks” he says “And thank you for saving us.”

“What?” She asks raising an eyebrow.

“Well, I mean you gave us all a place to stay. We wouldn’t have made it without you.”

He grabs a handful of protein bars and stuffs them into a bag. They put all of the clothes they can fit. Isaiah and Daniel have been wearing the same clothes for weeks, washing them in the sink of the bathroom, but they didn’t have any other options. With everything else going on they had much more to worry about.

They pack in silence for a while, finishing things up around the small apartment. The sun is up now and it pours through the open windows casting a warm glow over the kitchen and living room.

Faraday joins them after a while. He is clean for the first time either of them can remember and his wild hair is mostly combed down. Sasha was thorough.

“I think we should get going soon,” he says in his gruff voice.

“Isaiah and Sasha are almost ready,” Valentine says, walking to the back bedroom with a few blankets under her arm.

“Do you think we have everything we can carry?” Daniel asks.

Faraday nods looking through what they have. He is used to living on much less than they are but Daniel knows they need to travel light. Too much stuff will just slow them down. “Yeah I think this should do. It’s the best we can do with what’s here. We only have enough food for a couple days though so keep an eye out.”

Isaiah and Sasha walk out of the room with Chloe in tow. Isaiah throws on the pack and Valentine and Daniel grab the others. He smiles at them broadly and puts his hand on Chloe’s head, tousling her hair.

“Well let’s get this show on the road,” he says. They are more hopeful than they have been in these past three weeks. A nervous anticipation fills them. No one knows quite what to expect. Faraday was the only one on the streets this whole time and he said this was the best option so they believe him. Move or die he said. It is the simplest rule for survival. Never stay in one place for too long.