I didn’t try to sugar coat anything, I just explained it plainly. Alison started sobbing even before I had finished. I sat quietly as she pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her arms, crying. I was nervous about being so exposed and looked everywhere around me, checking the front and back windows every few seconds.
While I sat there, I remembered seeing an open garage next to a house not too far away. When Alison finally looked up, her eyes were red rimmed and dull. She began weeping again but after a few minutes stopped, finally crying herself out.
I cringed inwardly and then asked her if she was up to ditching the truck. She nodded tiredly and didn’t take offense to my insensitivity. I started it up and drove to the house I had in mind, immediately backing up the driveway and into the open garage. I killed the engine and got out, shutting the garage door as quietly as I could. It was just pure luck that the door wasn’t electric.
I heard a muffled pounding somewhere outside and my heart sank. “Could somebody please give me a break?” I thought.
After motioning Alison to stay in the truck, I eased the side door of the garage open and edged around the building. The pounding was coming from inside the house. I went to one of the side windows and saw an elderly undead woman banging on the panes, trying to get at me.
I took aim and fired. A small hole appeared in the window and a corresponding hole appeared in the cheek of the creature. I fired another round and this one hit its mark. The body fell against the window and slid down and out of view. After several minutes of silence, I went back into the garage, closing the door behind me.
I sat in the truck with Alison for over an hour. We didn’t talk much. Finally, she looked over at me and thanked me for being so patient with her.
“We must have done something really awful to be left here in a world like this.” she said.
When we finally emerged from the garage, it was almost dark. As we edged around the front of the house, looking cautiously about, Alison grabbed the back of my shoulder and tapped once, letting me know she was ready to move. We made it home without any troubles.
Tonight Albert explained to Grace that Roz went to a place where she could be happy. Grace was upset that Roz didn’t say goodbye, but didn’t cry much. She asked all sorts of questions and I was thankful that I wasn’t the one who had to lie to her.
At 1:42 a.m this morning I woke to what sounded like the sharp rumble of a jet in the distance.
The sound passed over the house headed north and then abruptly stopped. After a moment, I felt the ground tremble. Just as I thought it might be an earthquake, it stopped and was followed by the dull boom of thunder.
Chloe started shaking and nuzzled close to me. I wondered what disaster had happened now. I heard the bedroom door open and Alison came out into the TV room carrying a lit candle. She looked as scared as I felt. We both sat quietly for a few minutes and then speculated in low tones what it might be.
I just hoped it wasn’t a nuclear weapon. We went outside and up onto the roof. We could see a faint glow a mile or two to the north, but nothing more. So much for a nuke. I suppose it could have been a plane, but if it was, it’s the first one I’ve heard in weeks.
We went back inside and listened to Albert’s snoring from the other room. I told Alison that he would have slept through whatever it was even if it landed next door. Alison finally went back to bed.
I’m pretty tired of being scared all the time. I think I am becoming more afraid of life than death. I recalled the elderly couple we discovered dead in their bedroom the other day, and then thought about Roz’s last question to me about whether or not you come back infected after you die. I guess we both know the answer now.
DAY 35
I woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain.
This has got to be the wettest winter we’ve had in years. The undead seem to be less active in this weather so I am not complaining.
Albert and I took Roz’s body next door and buried it in the flower garden behind the pool. There was nothing more we could do for her.
While we set out our buckets to catch more rainwater, I told Albert about the loud noise from last night. He casually remarked that it was probably a crashed satellite. I suppose they’re bound to start dropping out of the sky at some point.
Our propane supply is dwindling but I am not eager to leave the house in search of more. It has been quiet for most of the day. There is a depression hanging over us that even Chloe seems to feel. I tuned into Wayne’s broadcast again. It is the same loop as before. His skewed version of what happened was infuriating to listen to so I turned it off.
We fired up the generator to power the computer and printer. Alison created an inventory template in Excel that we can fill in by hand and we printed forty copies of it. We attempted to get online but couldn’t access the Internet. I guess it’s gone for good.
We also plugged in the microwave oven to make some popcorn. The propane heater I have doesn’t work. Just as well, as we don’t have the propane to spare for it. The skies cleared in the late afternoon and I thought I caught the faint smell of wood smoke in the air. I wonder if there is someone like us living nearby who has survived as well.
I recalculated our supplies now that we have more of them, and one less person. We are adequately stocked for the next month and a half. There is nothing more to write for now.
DAY 36
I came out of the bathroom today to hear Alison and Albert arguing in the kitchen.
As I walked past the livingroom I saw Grace holding Chloe tightly and biting her lower lip. When I reached the dining room they stopped. Neither of them would tell me what the problem was. The world has turned into a shit pile and we still can’t seem to get along…Great.
I asked Albert if he would go with me to find a place to refill our propane tanks. He shook his head and walked out of the room, mumbling something about having to keep an eye on Grace.
I don’t know why, but for some reason, the way he said it made me want to punch him in the face. The tension in the air was tangible. As dangerous as it is to leave the house, at that point, staying would probably be have been worse.
Alison asked if she could go with me. I was tempted to tell her that I didn’t need anyone and was going to go alone, but common sense won out over my immaturity and I nodded to her in response. We agreed to leave after lunch.
I went out back to exercise and let off some steam. As I did my second set of pushups I started to cough, noticing the smell of nearby smoke for the first time. I looked up and realized that the sunlight had a red tinge to it. I went up onto the roof to get a better view and saw the entire valley was bathed in a crimson haze. Visibility was about a half mile.
When I went back inside, both Alison and Albert agreed that there was probably something on fire nearby. I was a little worried by this but I’ve seen burnt buildings all over the city in the last month, so it’s probably not that big of a deal.
I found a place in the phone book called Colson’s Rentals that advertised propane refueling. They are located about a mile-and-a-half north of my house. I didn’t relish the thought of going into what I considered “Wayne’s territory” but we don’t have much choice.
When we pulled the Yukon out of the driveway, it attracted two undead creatures. We lured them away from the house and let them chase us for three blocks before accelerating and leaving them behind.
On a side note, I clocked them running at around ten miles an hour. I was tempted to see how far they could go before they dropped or lost interest but that seemed a little sadistic and I didn’t want to tempt fate.
We found Colson’s but I parked two blocks away and surveyed it through my binoculars for fifteen minutes before driving into their back lot. The hazy red smoke was everywhere, even blocking out the sun. We were closer to the source of it but I still couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from. The lot had cranes and trailers parked haphazardly. I located their large propane supply tank along the wall of the building. We drove cautiously across the tarmac, weaving between the rental diggers and dozers.
I backed the truck up to the tank and shut off the vehicle, listening to the tick of the engine as it cooled. Neither of us spoke. There were no signs of life (or death) anywhere. Finally, I opened my door and got out. Next to the main tank were two smaller white propane cylinders. The markings on the collars identified them as forty-pound tanks.
They were both empty. I unloaded the empty tanks we had brought, and while Alison stood guard, I began the slow process of filling them. I only had two gauges with me, which made the process even more of a pain. I stopped several times and walked around to the front fence, looking for any signs of danger. The desolate silence was eerie and unnerving.
Finally, we had filled all the tanks. The two forty-pounders weighed almost eighty pounds each full and they were awkward and heavy to load up without help. I was just thinking about how lucky we had been when I heard the unmistakable sound of motorcycles rumbling nearby.
I pulled Alison with me into the gap between the building wall and the main propane tank. It would probably be the last stupid thing I ever did if we were discovered by anyone and they took a few shots at us.
Alison pressed up against me and buried her face in my chest. I watched through the gaps in the equipment as a dozen choppers passed by on the street in front of Colson’s. Hordes of undead ran after them. The noise was deafening. I could feel Alison’s body shake and could almost hear her heartbeat pounding against my ribs.
Finally, the roaring bikes faded into the distance. We continued to hold each other long after they were gone. The contact with Alison was the best feeling I have had in a very long time. We reluctantly pulled away from each other. Alison stared into my eyes for a minute and then looked away. We started to get into the Yukon and I stopped her, pointing to the roof. I grabbed my binoculars out of the truck.
At the corner of the building there was a steel ladder bolted to the wall. A security cover surrounded the bottom eight feet of the rungs but I was able to disengage the latch with my Spyderco.
We climbed up to the roof and cautiously made our way across to the front of the building. I didn’t see any signs of the bikers but through the haze I could see almost two city blocks on fire to the north of us. Dozens of buildings and apartments were burned to the ground and the thick smoke rose up from those buildings still on fire. My stomach churned as I felt the heated winds blowing in our direction. It was time to go.
When we backed into my driveway, I noticed a black Jeep SUV sitting in front of my garage. I secured the gate and went to investigate. Albert came out the back door and greeted me with a wave. I realized that it was Dawn’s vehicle from across the street. I wanted to get the propane unloaded and had Albert help me. How we acquired another vehicle could wait.
As we carried the last propane cylinder around our new vehicle and into the garage, I told Albert that I was surprised the battery in the Jeep still worked. He told me it didn’t so he had gone to where we stashed the gardening truck and took the battery out of that.
“What happened to not leaving Grace alone?” I asked.
Albert looked at me sheepishly and replied, “I didn’t leave her alone.”
“You took her outside with you?” I asked, incredulously.
We set down the forty-pound cylinder and stared at each other.
“Why didn’t you just take the damn dog with you as well?” I remarked. Albert continued to stare at me, his face flushing.
“You took Chloe? What the hell were you thinking?” My last comment was a little loud and we both stopped and listened to see if I had attracted any attention.
Satisfied, I turned back to Albert, whispering this time. “Albert, are you nuts?”
Albert took a deep breath and replied, “I was careful. And if you’re ever gone again and we need to have a vehicle...”
Albert’s mouth worked but no sounds came out. I’m sure he had thought of a great argument for me in his head, but of course, your own ideas always seems logical until you have to actually explain them to someone else.
I wasn’t actually as mad as I was shocked. Albert was so protective of Grace. As I thought about it more, I realized that if the fires kept moving this way we might be forced to leave here for good. Maybe it’s better to expose Grace to the outside once in a while. I was a little pissed that he took Chloe, but I guess the same rules apply to her as well.
Either way, we now have two working vehicles again. DAY 37
Strong winds blew most of the night. This morning the smoky haze was worse than ever. We checked the radio and turned on the generator to check to see if any TV stations were broadcasting. Still can’t get on the Internet either.
The only broadcast is Wayne’s. He added a new twist to his demented propaganda. I won’t go into the details, suffice it to say he is blaming us for the “worst fires in the history of southern California.” It’s funny; I was thinking they might be his fault. I only lasted through five minutes of his ranting before I turned the radio off.
When I went to retrieve water from the pool to fill the toilet tanks, I saw a film of ash covering the water’s surface.
At lunch, we discussed what we will do in the event that the fires continue to move our direction. We talked about the options of north (northern California or points further), south (Mexico), or east (Nevada or Arizona).
None of us considered staying in the area. For me, Wayne and his goons have a lot to do with that. Although nobody voiced it, I think we are all secretly hoping that there is a normal world somewhere out there.
We pretty much unanimously ruled out Mexico, due to the huge population (probably all undead) there. Neither Nevada nor Arizona really appealed to us, due to water and food issues (although the desert is probably the safest place on earth right now). I figured we had settled on north until Albert said, “What about west?”