The End Boxset: Postapocalyptic Visions of an Unstoppable Collapse (20 page)

“But, Tobias!” Brian cried.

“He's not here. He might have already left and found help,” Alice said.

“He had a broken leg. There's no way,” Brian said.

“I'm sure it wasn't that bad. Brian, look, we tried to get him, he's not here, and we have to get moving.”

“We need to search the woods for him. Get the police. Somebody!” Brian said.

Alice took his arm and pulled him with her back towards the car. “We're out of time, let's go,” she said.

Alice didn't have to pull Brian far, before he gave-in and followed her willingly to the car. They heard the movement and the rustling of leaves in all directions. Alice couldn't distinguish between natural forest ambiance and the advancement of people around them. They made it back to the car and once behind the wheel, Alice assumed that her real challenge would begin. Brian felt worse than he had before they attempted to rescue Tobias. His stomach hurt. The longing pain and guilt of leaving his friend grew. Tobias’s disappearance left a few certain possibilities: either he was dead, or he was alive. Either he was safe, or he was in harm’s way. Not knowing was the worse. Alice placed her hands on the steering wheel. “I'm sorry we couldn’t Tobias, but I’m sure he’s okay,” she said.

“How would you know?” Brian asked.

“Because he's young and because he’s a survivor,” she answered.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Alice didn’t answer, but continued, “We're going to have to get this car to your sister's school without being mobbed. I need you to be ready.” She turned the ignition key and the car started. Thus far, she had said a little prayer every time before starting the car. She hated having to turn the engine off. The path they had taken into the woods left little room for a three-point turn. Alice's only option was to drive all the way to the road in reverse. She gently pressed onto the gas pedal and the car moved backwards. If Alice thought it was a challenge navigating through the woods with headlights, then driving in reverse was a real treat. “Easy...easy,” she said to herself.

Suddenly two men appeared directly in her path. “Stop the car!” they demanded.

Alice panicked and slammed the brakes, as if by instinct. Just as the men approached the car from its side, she laid onto the gas pedal, jolting the car backwards. “Hey!” they shouted running after her from the front. Alice had her head turned to the rear of the vehicle along with her arm across Brian's seat. She did her best to stay on the path. Her hands carefully guided the steering wheel back-and-forth. In the distance, she saw the end of the path as it connected with the main road.

“Hold on, Brian,” she said. As they came to the road she jerked the steering wheel to right. Several people standing in the road jumped out of the way and landed on the nearby gravel. “Close call,” Alice thought. She put the car in drive, and floored it. A slight lag in the transmission caused immediate concern. “Move!” she shouted. A bright beam from a flashlight blinded temporarily blinded her from the front. It was a police officer, standing directly in front of her. “You there, stop the car,” he ordered. She covered her eyes from his light and drove to the side of him, nearly clipping him in the process. Roads were no longer roads, but mere obstacle courses. Alice had to be ready for everything. “We're going to Kiya's school,” she said to Brian. And they were off.   

If Brian's high school proved chaotic, then Sun Crest Middle School—where Kiya was being held—was a different animal all together. Something was going on at Kiya's school similar, but more massive than what Alice had experienced earlier. There was a crowd formed around the school walls, but no one was getting in. They just seemed to languish together. There were just too many people for her to contend with. Even in the dark, Alice suspected that the crowd was large. Or at least enough to seize her means of transportation.  And transportation was what people wanted. Nearly every person they had passed along the way had foolishly chased their car, begging for a ride. Alice had never seen anything like it. Brian had no clue what to make of it. “Why are all their cars broken down?” he asked Alice. “Something has messed with the computers cars rely on,” she responded.

Alice wondered if she had made a mistake. But she couldn't think of any other way to get Kiya. She slammed the brakes and the car came to a quick halt. Brian flew forward, placing his hands on the dashboard for resistance. Alice switched off the head lights and rested her head against the steering wheel.

“Why couldn't I have just told you two to stay home from school today?” she asked, “Of all the days. Couldn't you both have gotten sick?”

“Why do you wish that we got sick?” Brian asked.

“Nothing, son. It's okay. It's not your fault. We're going to get your sister and everything will be fine.”

“Not without Tobias,” Brian replied.

His comment went largely unnoticed, by Alice, whose mind was on other things. “We're going to have to hide the car again. People don't understand yet why their own vehicles are broken down, but once they realize that their cars aren't going to start, they'll stop at nothing to take ours.”

“I get it, mom. Can we get Kiya already and go home?” Brian said.

“Listen. We're going to get into the school, just like we did before. We have to be quick, and remain inconspicuous.”

“Like ghosts?” Brian asked.

“Sure, ghosts. Just like ghosts.”

Alice parked the car among the others on the side of the road. No one within close distance had noticed them at this point. It was a risk, but a risk, she felt, worth taking. Brian took one look at the school. “There are huge walls covering the school, how the hell are we going to get in there?” he asked.

“Brian! Don't talk like that. We have to believe in this. For your sister.”

“How do you know that she's even here? Maybe she left already. Maybe she's home,” Brian said.

“We're going to find out then, aren't we?” Alice said. She opened the door, clutched the flashlight, and exited the car. Brian got out and slammed his door. “Shhhh!” Alice said with her index finger raised to her lips. From outside the car they could hear the loud uproar from the crowd outside the school. The surrounding walls, pure concrete were impossible to scale. The metallic front gate was shut, offering little way of forced entry. Alice listened carefully to the commotion of the crowd as she tried to understand the situation. She approached a restless middle-aged woman waving her fist in the air.

“What is going on here?” she asked the woman.

“
What's going on
?” the woman asked back in disbelief. “What's going on is that the school has our kids in there and they won't release them. They sealed the school off and won't let anyone in. They got damn near about a riot about to go on here.”

“How can they do this?” Alice asked. He voice was drowned out by the chants of the unruly crowd.

“What?” the woman asked.

“I asked how they can do this?” she repeated.

“Beats me,” the woman shouted as the crowd grew louder. “But they sure are doing a good job so far.”

“Look, he's almost over!” a man shouted from the middle of the crowd. Everyone looked up, including Alice and Brian. A burly man scaled the nearby wall of the school with a rope. A hush fell over the crowd as the man neared his destination. “He's going to do it!” a woman yelled. The man made it to the top of the wall lying flat on his stomach as if resting. The crowd cheered ecstatically.

“I knew he could make it!” an excited voiced shouted. The man at the top of the wall stood up on the wall and waved to the crowd below. The cheering was deafening. Alice and Brian had little option but to watch the scene unfold. “Let's do this,” another voice called.

Amidst the cheering and motivation, a distant pop was heard. The man at the top of the wall was struck by something, sending him spiraling to the ground at the crowd’s feet. A gasp came over the crowd following his fall. In a second he splattered to the pavement at their feet. Collective shrieks filled the air. “They shot him,” someone yelled. “They shot him!”

Massive anger came over the crowd. A few people ran to the fallen man to examine him. “They killed him,” a voice said, “Murdered in cold blood!” The noise and calls for justice were overwhelming. Alice soon realized that she was in the thick of a very serious problem. The crowd was going to explode anytime soon, and given the circumstances of today, such behavior would only warrant more brutal force. She knelt down. “We have to find another way into the school, Brian, just like before.” Brian nodded. Alice looked around in fear then squarely into Brian's troubled eyes. “We can do this,” she said.

Chapter 3: Kiya’s Plan

“I ordered them to take any measures necessary to ensure the safety of this school!” Mr. Wright yelled to the Vice Principal, Ms. Foley, as she stood jotting into her notebook.

“They shot a parent scaling the walls. Now the man is dead, and if you thought that the parents were upset before, you've literally enraged them now,” Ms. Foley said.

“No matter,” Mr. Wright declared, rising from his desk, “in another couple of days it won't be worth a hoot what they think.”

“We're looking at the most massive lawsuit this school has ever faced. How could that possibly not matter?” she asked, genuinely perplexed.

“We've been through this. I've let you in on all the details about what's going on beyond these walls. We're talking an all-out war. Dozens of terrorist attacks reported around the country.
This
is the moment where we take action and make a difference. You assured me that you would support all of my decisions from here on out.” Mr. Wright said pacing around his office.  “And now here we are, and you're already wavering.”

“I'm not wavering, sir, I just—”

“Make sure to write this down,” Mr. Wright said with a quick turn in Ms. Foley's direction. “I want a kerosene lamp in each classroom. Three jugs of water in every lavatory. In one hour I want each grade escorted to different areas. The sixth grade can have the gym. Seventh grade in the auditorium, eighth grade in the cafeteria. We should keep them segregated for a little while at least.”

Ms. Foley scribbled Mr. Wright's dictation, nodding her head. 

“Of course, we want to make sure that the sleeping cots are set up prior. It will have to be a joint effort between the faculty and the various student monitors we've assembled.”

“About those, monitors,” Ms. Foley said. “What kind of authority have they been granted?”

“They've been relegated to keep order among the students, under my explicit direction. We have to make sure that our students remain orderly and one way to achieve that is at the behest of their fellow peers.”

“It's late and I'm sure the children are getting hungry,” Ms. Foley said.

Mr. Wright looked around his office, the shadow from the kerosene lamp flickered across his face. His harsh blue eyes were enlarged by thick glasses. He removed his glasses and placed them in his front pocket. “Meals will be dispersed as soon as we get the students in their respective areas. Just make sure that everyone is on the same page,” he said.

Ms. Foley closed her notebook and looked down at the ground, slightly troubled. “About that. I should inform you that some of the faculty is not taken to this plan at all,” she said.

Mr. Wright's eyes flared in her direction. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean that several teachers have expressed concern about sealing off the school like this. Many of them want to leave, and feel that we have moved well beyond our authority to keep anyone here after school hours.”

Mr. Wright slammed his fist on his desk. “Dammit Mary, this is your area! I told you to get them under control.”

“We've done our best, but they have families of their own that they want to get home to.”

Mr. Wright scratched his head in a frustrated manner. “Send them to me,” he said. “I want to speak to any faculty member showing signs of non-compliance.”

Ms. Foley paused for a moment. “Get those stupid fuckers in here. Now!” He shouted, startling her. “Mr. Wright. That's no way to refer to the faculty. I would remind you that we're professionals here, and obscene outbursts are not going to influence anyone to your side,” she said.

Mr. Wright's face grew flush. His brows furrowed, veins protruded from his forehead. Rage was building within the features of his contorted face. Then suddenly, he grew calm.

“A point well made, Mary. I sincerely apologize if I offended you. I will...do my best to behave in only the most professional manner. I am, after all, the principal of this school. I should be setting an example.” Mr. Wright studied his reflection in a small 8x10 mirror hanging on the wall. He pulled at his tie, straightening it around his collar. “People have certain expectations of me and my abilities as a leader. Expectations that have to be met in order for us to maintain order and control.”

“We have a lot of different factions to consider,” Ms. Foley added.

“Factions?” Mr. Wright asked.

“Students, faculty, guards, parents, and that's just within the school. Then you have the superintendents, the PTA, the school board, the mayor, and congress. We're going to have to answer to them all at some point.”

“It's a considerable sacrifice consider, Ms. Foley. It's as simple as that. I'm not suggesting that there's not going to be any fall-out as a result of this, but our role as educators carries with it certain responsibilities. How far would you go to keep these kids safe?”

“I'm willing to do anything within reason, Mr. Wright.”

“Excellent, so go round up the defectors and bring them to my office.”

“Excuse me?” Ms. Foley asked.

Mr. Wright laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I'm only kidding. Please tell the faculty members who have questions or concerns to come see me. Thank you.”

His touch on her shoulder felt awkward, but oddly comforting at the same time. Ms. Foley nodded, and turned away. Mr. Wright's eyes followed her on her way out. His smile dropped as she shut the door.