Suddenly my cell phone started buzzing. I never put on the volume for my phone. All of those standard ringtones are absolutely dreadful to listen to and should be experienced by no one.
I pulled the phone out of my pocket to see ‘mom’ showing up on the caller I.D. “Hush a minute, mom’s calling.”
Chelsea turned and sat next to me on the couch, trying to catch what was going on.
I hit the ‘send’ button and put the phone to my ear, “Yes?”
“Daryl!” my mom said. “I’ve been so worried. Are you on the convoy back?”
I looked to Chelsea. It had not been planned for us to skip the ride back, but with Chelsea and I staying for the extra three days, two small children and their mother were able to fit on the convoy back. My mother still thought that we were on our way back with grandma.
“About that. Mom, don’t panic, please,” I said, hoping that at the very least she would try to worry as little as possible. “Chelsea and I decided to stay-“
“WHAT?!” mom yelled, a slight hint of hysteria in her voice.
“Mom, chill!” I yelled back. “Gosh. It was us or the Figgins family. Grandma is on her way now and was going to explain this all to you. Besides, the convoy will be back in three days to get us.”
I heard slight worried sobbing in the background. “Oh Daryl. I can’t argue with that. Please be safe.”
I frowned at that. I understand the need for her self-comfort, but did she really think that we would not be safe? “Mom, we’ll be fine.”
“How do you know?”
“Because store obnoxious amounts of canned food in the basement. Realistically we would probably be good for over a month with the way that you prepare,” I said.
I heard a worried sigh, “Just don’t do anything stupid, and stay inside!”
“I will mom.”
“And take care of Chelsea.”
“I will mom.”
“And sleep in separate bedrooms!”
“…”
“Daryl?”
“Mom?”
“I love you.”
“I know,” it wasn’t that I did not love my mom back, I just didn’t like saying it. There was just an awkward feeling to it. Call it my masculinity or whatnot, but it’s probably just not happening. “We’ll be fine mom, I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Okay, but I won’t be able to call you. They’re shutting down most of the phone lines for emergency communication only,” I heard her shuffling open a piece of paper. “For when you get here, we’re in block four of secure area one two two seven.”
“Block four of secure area one two two seven, got it,” I said more to Chelsea than repeating back to my mom. “Okay mom I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Daryl, be careful!”
“Bye mom, I will be.”
“Daryl wait, one quick thing,” she said quickly.
“What is it mom?”
She cleared her throat. “On our way out, from when the National Guard picked us up from the school, I saw Chelsea’s parents,” she paused after saying that. “They were part of the contaminated, fully changed.”
I stopped fully still for a moment, not knowing what to say. The phone was on the opposite ear of where Chelsea was sitting, so she didn’t hear.
“Okay, mom, are you sure?”
“Yes, Daryl. The marines shot them dead right in the street in front of the school. They must have been considered a bigger threat than young children seeing killing right in front of them.” My mom cleared her throat again, “I don’t know if you want to wait to tell Chelsea until you guys are here, or if you just want to do it now. I might wait until you are on the convoy, keep her spirits up for now at least.”
“Okay mom,” was all that I could muster.
“Be careful, Daryl.”
“We will, bye mom.”
“Bye son.”
I heard the line go dead and the phone silent. I hit the end button to clear up the front screen of the device and lowered it to my pocket.
“Any news?” Chelsea asked, completely unknowing to the fact that she had no one left.
I looked to her. Though I cannot say that I loved her, as we were only dating for a few days then, keeping a straight face of basic emotion and not flowing out what I was just told became one of the hardest things that I would ever have to do.
I straightened my head before speaking, one of the only times that I have ever done that before, “Well, she said that phones would be down, something about the military needing full access to communication or something. Probably not necessary but whatever. Oh, do you remember those numbers I told you?”
“Block four of secure area one two two seven?” She replied.
“Yeah, that’s where my family is staying, so don’t forget that when we are picked up in three days!” I said enthusiastically.
“Oh good. Did she say anything about my-“
“Shh!” I said, raising a finger to my lips and covering her mouth with my hand. Chelsea scrunched her eyebrows at me, not understanding why I was doing it. She raised her hands and shrugged her shoulders, questioning my actions.
Then we heard, and both knew. The sirens had stopped, blanketing the town in quiet once more, and noise easily travels in a quiet place. Hell, noise has always travelled easily in my town. It was never too loud.
I had heard a hissing noise coming from outside while Chelsea and I were talking on my living room couch. It was coming from the back part of the
