She shuddered, almost
turning around. But then she thought about having to wear the same
panties for the rest of her life and kept walking. When she crossed
the street, she actually looked both ways out of habit, then laughed.
They hadn’t seen a car come through here in the past two days.
They’d heard squealing tires and a crash last night, but
nothing since.
Everyone was either
locked up in their houses, barricading themselves against the
infected; or they were dead. Like her parents probably were by now.
She’d left her cell phone in her house, so she had no idea if
they’d tried to call her, but she wasn’t holding her
breath.
Good riddance to her
dad, but she was really going to miss her mom.
It felt so weird to
walk up the front steps of her own house. She never came in this way.
They always parked in the garage or the side of the house and came in
through that side entrance. The front door was hardly ever used.
But that’s where
they kept the spare key. She’d dropped her own house keys
somewhere in Parrish’s house and wasn’t about to go back
over there to look for them.
She lifted the fake
flower from the pot next to the door and reached underneath to grab
the little black key box. Relief flooded through her. It was still
there.
Of course, why wouldn’t
it be? It wasn’t like the rotters knew how to find keys and
open doors. She’d tried not to pay much attention to them, but
Parrish had been watching them every night and reporting back on
their behavior, so she knew they weren’t exactly the most
intelligent things in the world.
Still, she was glad the
key was there. She tossed the fake flower to the ground and slid the
key in the lock.
The inside of her house
was freezing and she hugged herself, rubbing her hands across the
skin of her arms. She must have left the air on high this whole time.
Not that it mattered. Who was really going to come asking her to pay
the power bill? The world had gone to shit. They might as well enjoy
air conditioning while they still had it.
She opened the hall
closet and grabbed her suede coat off the rack. She pulled it on,
knowing she had to look completely ridiculous and almost wishing
there were people alive who still might care about something like
that.
She went up the stairs
and straight to her own bedroom, throwing herself on her waterbed.
She loved that bed. Noah’s dad’s bed wasn’t
completely uncomfortable, but it wasn’t her own bed. She missed
her own sheets. Her own pillows. Her clothes. Her music. Everything.
She sat up and looked
around.
Why couldn’t she
just stay here? She could probably stretch what little food was left
in the kitchen to last her a couple of weeks. And she had everything
she needed here. Her own shower. Her curling iron. Her makeup. Plus,
she had full cable here. No more of that basic cable crap she’d
been forced to watch at Noah’s. Sure, some of the daytime soaps
were fine, but she hated not having access to her favorite reality
shows and fashion tips. He didn’t even have a computer at his
house unless that was what he was keeping in hidden in the basement
this whole time. Totally lame.
Besides, if she stayed
here, she wouldn’t have to deal with an emo Parrish Sorrows.
What was that girl’s problem anyway? She was a dark cloud
hanging over everyone at that house with her black clothes and her
doomsday prophesies. That girl needed an attitude adjustment. It was
hard to believe they’d actually liked each other at one point.
Karmen couldn’t see a single thing the two of them had in
common anymore.
And she definitely
didn’t like the way Noah kept looking at Parrish. There was
something in his gaze that made her so mad.
Karmen had thought
being locked in a house with him for a few days would be a dream come
true, but he’d been acting strange lately too. Besides the
whole end-of-the-word stuff and the mooning-over-Parrish stuff, he’d
been strangely distant, always going down in that basement to do
God-knows-what. Of course, he was still completely crush-worthy, and
the two times she’d caught him with his shirt off had made the
whole camping-in thing worth it as far as she was concerned.
Still, she missed her
things.
She got off the bed and
went in to the bathroom. She took her time brushing her teeth with
her own toothbrush and toothpaste. She washed her face with her
favorite cleanser. Brushed through her hair. Yeah, this was nice. She
glanced at the shower. Did she have time?
If she was going to
stay here, she could take all the time she wanted, but she at least
needed to go back over there and tell them what she was doing. Plus,
she couldn’t just leave Noah’s back door open.
Maybe she’d just
grab a few of her things and stay over at his place for another day
or two. See where things went from there. It was possible the
National Guard or someone would come after them before then, right?
There was talk of it all over the television.
The stations has
started playing reruns on most channels, but every once in a while, a
message or news bulletin would pop up. Survivor camps were being
mapped out in strategic locations, they’d said. Soon, they
would be sending helicopters and buses for all the survivors so that
everyone could live in safety with plenty of food and water and other
supplies.
Parrish and Noah had
been wrong about that. The government was still in control and as
soon as they got things organized, they were coming for all of the
survivors. When that happened, she might not have time to come back
over here and get her things. She’d better grab what she needed
now just in case.
Karmen reached under
her bed and hauled out her large pink suitcase. Nestled inside was a
smaller suitcase and an overnight bag. She set the two bigger ones on
her bed and carried the overnight bag into the bathroom. She emptied
her entire makeup drawer into the bag, then collected all of her
shampoo, shaving gel, razors, lotion and things on the counter. She
was tempted to just dump it all in the bag and move on, but she knew
from experience that all it would take is one bottle of shampoo to
pop open and everything inside would be ruined.
She couldn’t risk
it. Not with these possibly being the last supplies she’d have
for the next few months. There were big plastic storage bags in the
kitchen that would help her keep things from leaking all over. She
ran down the stairs to go get them, but the second she entered the
kitchen, she knew something was off. Goose bumps prickled her skin
despite the fact she was still wearing her coat.
She flipped the switch
on the wall and the room flooded with light. The floor beneath her
feet was streaked with dirt and dark red blood. She followed the
streaks to the back door, then covered her mouth as a scream caught
in her throat.
The back door stood
open and she had a clear view of the backyard. Muddy footprints
covered the walkway around the pool, coming from the back edge of the
yard up onto the back porch.
Karmen spun around,
looking to see where the footsteps led inside the house. The mud
streaked across the kitchen floor and into the hallway. How had she
not seen this when she’d first walked in?
With her hand still
clamped tight over her mouth, she followed the trail.
She stepped into the
hallway and jumped as someone walked by the front door, blocking the
light from the outside.
Karmen stared at the
figure, not prepared to face one of those things by herself.
As the figure took a
step toward her, the room began to spin.
“Todd?” she
whispered.
Her brother stood at
the end of the hall, his arm mangled and bloody. His eyes were
milky-white. Karmen couldn’t even scream. All she could do was
stare at him. He took a step toward her and she felt herself being to
lose it.
She willed herself to
stay awake and alert, but she’d already lost control. She was
going down.
She fell to the floor,
losing consciousness as the footsteps rushed toward her.
“Karmen?”
Noah ran toward her as
she fell to the floor. He’d seen the terror on her face just
before she lost consciousness.
What had she been
thinking, coming here alone?
He shook her gently by
the shoulders and called her name again, but she was out.
She’d probably
seen him and thought he was one of the rotters. And she was lucky he
wasn’t one of them. Here in the cool darkness of this empty
house, it was the perfect place for a group of them to hide out.
Hadn’t he and Parrish warned her several times about coming
over here?
Stupid.
That’s when he
noticed the streaks of blood and dirt on the carpet. Crap. Some of
them had gotten inside for sure. He needed to get her out of here.
“Karmen?”
He shook her harder this time and her eyes fluttered open for a brief
second, then closed again. “Come on,” he said. “We’ve
got to get out of here.”
She moaned, but didn’t
open her eyes. He didn’t have time to wait for her to come-to.
There was no telling if whoever had gotten in here was still hiding
out somewhere in the shadows or not. He’d have to carry her.
He took her arm and
threw it over his shoulder, then put his other hand under her knees.
He lifted her from the ground, noticing again how light and easy she
was to carry.
He brought her out into
the warm sunlight, kicking the door closed with his boot.
Overhead, the sound of
helicopters. Lots of them.
Noah squinted against
the sun. At least half a dozen helicopters passed over him, dropping
flyers that fluttered to the street of the neighborhood. Soldiers sat
at the very edge, machine guns in hand. It looked like four or five
in each one.
Noah stood still,
watching as they passed. Part of him was relieved to see enough
people alive to still form some kind of army, but part of him was
confused about why they were up in the air instead of on the ground
helping them. Where were the soldiers come nightfall?
He put most of Karmen’s
weight against one hand, then bent down to pick up one of the flyers.
He stuck it in his back pocket. He’d read it later. For now, he
needed to get them both inside and out of danger. It was still hours
from getting dark, but they were better safe than sorry.
Quickly, he walked back
across the street to his house and through the back door. He set
Karmen down on the couch in the living room, then went to secure the
door again. This time, he nailed on twice the number of boards.
When he was done, Noah
went back into the living room and sat down on the coffee table,
staring at Karmen as she slept.
He was pissed. How
could she be so careless? What if she had gotten attacked over there?
She’d be dead for sure. And if he hadn’t seen the back
door open in time, the rotters could have just walked right in to his
house and gotten him and Parrish too. They’d all be dead, just
like that.
He ran a hand through
his hair. Of course, he was the hypocrite here. Wasn’t he the
one putting them all in danger?
Exhausted, he sat down
in the large leather chair next to the couch. Somehow he’d
ended up in this position where he was taking care of these two
girls. He felt responsible for them, but he also needed to do what he
could to take care of his dad.
Remembering the
helicopters, Noah reached into his back pocket and pulled out the
piece of paper they’d dumped all over the area.
MANDATORY EVACUATION
This area has been
contaminated by people infected with the super-flu. Survivors who are
showing no signs of illness are required to report to McLean Memorial
Hospital for transport to a designated safe zone. There will be food
and shelter provided.
Each citizen will be
checked for fever, bites, festering wounds and other signs of
infection. Anyone who does not pass the initial inspection will be
denied transport.
Everyone will be
allowed to carry one small bag of belongings with them. Please think
carefully when choosing items to bring with you. Bring only
necessities. No weapons will be allowed in the safe zones unless you
are a registered active duty military or decorated veteran of the US
Military. This includes items such as scissors and knives.
All survivors are
required to report to their designation pick-up point before 3:00
P.M. on Thursday.
This evacuation is
mandatory.
Noah’s hands
trembled as he read the notice.
He thought of his
father in the basement, his stomach sick.
They had four days to
evacuate. Or what? He knew there had to be more to it. Would they be
bombing the area? Coming in with guns and killing everything that
moved? Surely they weren’t planning to just leave the world to
the rotters without some kind of plan.
The nightmare just kept
getting darker. Noah stood, then placed a blanket over a sleeping
Karmen. He needed to talk to her and to Parrish about the evacuation,
but for now, he just wanted another few hours with his dad.
He headed down to the
basement, careful to lock the door behind him.
Parrish brewed a pot of
coffee and waited.
He couldn’t stay
down in that basement forever.
She didn’t even
bother sitting down at the table. She just poured herself a cup,
fixed it up with cream and sugar, and planted herself at the island
in the middle of the kitchen staring straight at the locked basement
door.
Noah had been acting
strange ever since they first got here. Sneaking down to the basement
at all hours. Always locking the door behind him. And when she’d
asked him what he was doing down there, he’d fumbled over his
words, saying he just needed some time to himself.