U.G.L.Y (18 page)

I
tried
to
avoid a
creeping
desperate
thought
of
what
I would do if
they
weren't
there.
It was a terrible helpless feeling
that
was
lingering
in
the
back
of
my
mind.
I
drove
on,
down
the
winding
road
and
into
the
city.

15
.

-Hopeless-

    
Lake
Tahoe
was
a
resort
town
the size of a
small
city.
It  had
hotels
and
casinos
and
a
thriving
economy
built from gambling and tourism.
Normally
the
population
this
time
of
year
was
pretty
high,
lots
of
tourists
and
gamblers.

There were very few people around as I drove through town. 
The
news
of
the
coming
disaster
was
spreading
and
I
was
sure
the
people
here
knew
what
was
happening.
Maybe
those
that
had
the
resources
took
off. Maybe
they
thought
they
could
find
some
safe
refuge. Maybe
they
made
an
attempt
at
get
to
their
loved
ones
in
areas
that
were
beginning
to
get
overrun.

     I
drove
through town. The main road branched into a series of small streets leading i
nto
residential
areas. I turned
onto
the
street that
Amanda's
sister
lived.

It
was
a
nice
neighborhood.
her
husband
was
a
local
contractor
and
had
done
pretty
well
for
himself
building
vacation
homes. This area always had work for people interested in providing a vacation getaway for the rich.

I could see the house a half a block ahead and in the driveway I could clearly see Amanda’s car.
I
parked
and
tried
to
straighten
my
clothes
up.
I
looked
pretty
rough
after
the
events
of
the
night and I didn't want to scare the kids.

I
walked
up
to
the
house,
took
a
deep
breath
and
knocked
on
the
door.

“
Knock,
Knock,
Knock
”

No
answer,
I
knocked
harder.

“
Knock!
Knock!
Knock!
”

Nothing.
I
pushed
the
doorbell
a
few
times
and
heard
nothing
but
a dog barking in the distance
.
Looking
to
the
right
I
could
see
a
path
that led
around
the
back
of
the
house.
I
jumped
over
the
railing
and
walked
around
behind
the
garage
and
into
the
back
yard.

The
back
entry
was made up of two
glass doors,
easily
eight
feet
tall,
that
opened up
into
the
dinning
room.
I
walked
up
and
knocked
on
the
glass.
I
could
see
the
living
room
and
stairs
that
led
up
to
the
bedrooms on the second floor.

I could see
piles
of
clothes
and
small
items
laying
everywhere. They were spread out
like
a
trail
leading
all
the
way
to
where
the
front
door
was
. They had left in a hurry.

    
No
one
was
there and I
realized that they were gone. T
he
only
vehicle
in
the
driveway
was
Amanda
’
s.
I had to
assume
the
other vehicles
were
in
the
garage.

I
walked
back
around
to
the
side
of
the
house
and
looked
in
through
the
window
to
see
an
empty
garage.
A
trail
of
items
strewn
out
across
the
floor.
They
were
really
gone.
My
stomach
sank
and
an
overwhelming
feeling
of
loss
came
over
me
.
How
would
I
find
them
now.

16
.

-Alone-

   I
was
in
shock
at
first,
and
for
a
while
I
sat
on
the
front
porch
of
the
house
staring
off
into
the
distance.
I
listened
to
the
wind.
I
could
hear
birds
singing
in
the
tall
pines
off
in
the
distance
and
thought
there
was
nothing
left to do. I had
nothing
to
move
forward
for.
Suddenly
I
wanted
a
drink and I
set
off
to
find
some
place
to drown myself
.

     I
drove
into
town
and
came
across
a
bar
that
had
its
front
door
open.
I
stopped
and
walked
inside
finding
a
few
people
sitting
at
small
tables
. A few older men sat
at
the
bar.
Everyone was
watching
news
reports
on
the
television.

It
had
gotten
bad.
T
he
news
was
reporting
a
spread
of
violence
that
had
completely
over
run
southern
California
.
This
thing
was
spreading
so
fast
that
in
one
night
it
had
over
run
Los
Angeles
and all of the outlying areas
. All
of
the
suburban
areas that stretched across the basin had fallen.
There
were
no
resources
left
to
stop
it.
It
was
spreading
south
as
fast
as
the
people
carrying
it
could
get
there.

San
Diego
was now in the grips of complete chaos and
would
eventually
fall.
The infection would easily
cross
the
boarder
into
Mexico
.

“
You
serving?
” I
asked
the
bartender.
It
was
7:00
am
and
most
places
wouldn't
be
open
let
alone
serving
alcohol.

“
Yep,
what
the
hell.
Grab
a
seat
”
The
bartender
replied.

I
ordered
a
beer
and
a
shot
of
rum,
made
my
self
comfortable
and
watched
the
screen.
Helicopters
were
circling
the
fallen
cities
and
the
cameras
showed
thousands
of
people
running
through
the
streets.
They moved in groups, like swarms of bees.