Daniel wasn’t a man of many words but he did keep a conversation going with me about growing up and how he was worried about his and Jamie’s mom and dad in Ohio. He hadn’t been able to get a hold of them before his cellphone lost reception. It was nice not to be stuck in my own head even if the talk wasn’t really any less grim. I guess I didn’t feel alone in my despair anymore.
My parents died a few years back. My mom had inoperable cancer and only a few months later my dad passed away. His heart was so broken after mom’s death that it seemed to just stop. I missed them every day and still found myself about to dial my mom’s number when I wanted to tell her something funny or something cute Jackie did. I’d wanted nothing more than to talk to her last week when I found out about Adam’s infidelity to get her advice and prospective on the subject. The heart doesn’t accept loss easily.
As much as I missed them though this was the first time since their death I was relieved they were gone. Hearing Daniel talk about his worry for his parents, I was relieved they didn’t see this awful turn the world had taken. My relief I’ll admit was also selfish. I don’t think I could’ve survived with two more people I loved out there and not knowing what fate they might meet. It was hard enough just knowing Cate was out there somewhere alive, dead, or eating on other people’s flesh.
In reality though, if my parents had been alive, I’d probably would’ve left Guam after I found out about Adam to stay with them. I had intended to go to my sister’s but part of the reason I had waited was until after her roommate moved out next week since there was no room for Jackie and me until then. I would’ve been with my family now and Jackie would still be alive had that been the case. I tried not to let my mind dwell on what might’ve been, I needed to focus on staying alive.
Daniel got onto the subject of how the government covered this up until it was too late and if they would’ve told us sooner we might’ve had more of a chance. I was confused by the sudden change of subject and didn’t really follow his train of thought having gone so deep into my own mind for a moment.
“They were trying to stop it. They didn’t want a panic from what I heard.” I said, since that was what Dr. Benson had told me.
“Maybe, but it seems to me that they probably knew early on there was no way of stopping this from spreading. They could’ve given us time to prepare ourselves.”
I nodded. “True.”
“They did cover it up. Didn’t you hear about that reporter?” he asked.
“What reporter?”
“There was this reporter in Boston or New York who released a story about incidences with the undead and got fired. The story was mocked and called complete trash and only a few weeks later it turned out to be true.”
I did vaguely remember hearing something about a reporter who got fired over an article about some kind of plague outbreak. It was one of those stories that you hear about and think is completely ridiculous and dismiss immediately. Turns out it was one not to be ignored.
“I thought it was ludicrous,” I said.
Daniel gave off a bit of a laugh, “me too. Thought she must have been crazy, turns out she was right.”
We stopped for a quick bite however it was really more to do with the fact Jamie wasn’t feeling well. She didn’t eat anything, just drank some water. I wasn’t hungry either. I was so hot I felt like I wouldn’t be able to hold much down. Even breakfast felt like it was going to make a comeback sometime soon.
We weren’t making the greatest time which worried me. I didn’t know how long they would still be running the ships out of the Navy base, how many they had or even if they hadn’t already stopped. I felt like I was on an invisible time table and no idea of how long it actually lasted. It was like trying to run against an unseen hour glass and it was driving me crazy. I couldn’t go on by myself and I didn’t want to make these people who were generous enough to invite me into their group feel rushed but at the same time I wished we’d get a move on. The heat wasn’t making it easy though.
After what felt like an eternity, we got on our way. It wasn’t a long walk before we came across the devastation. The main road was littered with cars that were abandoned. To the naked eye it might look like a huge traffic jam but it was more than that.
We slowly made our way through the mass of cars. It was an unpleasant sight. Almost like witnessing a deadly accident. A lot of the cars had blood on the seats. I even noticed the sight of torn muscle tissue in one of them. It felt like a biology class for the demented that wouldn’t end. I felt my stomach drop. A feeling of dread like I’d never known washed over me.
In one of the cars, a zombie sat in the front seat, scratching at the window. It seemed to be trapped by the seatbelt still being buckled. There was torn flesh visible on the zombie’s neck. Where it had come across the other zombie that was responsible was a mystery.
“Come on,” Daniel said for all of us stopped to look at the zombie struggling to get us from the car.
Yet, there seemed to be no other zombies around.
