No. They were infected and upon that thought, Grace slowed down and turned the wheel. She’d find another exit.
Had she not taken one more look at the men, she wouldn’t have seen the man in the white shirt waving his arms frantically at her.
Infected didn’t do that.
She stopped and clicked ‘unlock’
They ran faster to her, looking behind them. Grace grabbed her chest and almost drove off. The horde of raging infected were closing in.
Candice immediately locked her door.
“Baby, leave it open,” Grace said. “They need help.
“But what about—?”
“Let them in.”
With a click, Grace unlocked the door again and Candice pulled the handle, opening her door.
Immediately, the man in the white shirt pulled it open wider, jumped in, squishing against Candice. “Thank you!”
The other man jumped in the back behind Grace. “Drive!”
Grace hit the gas, peering in the mirror. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” the man in the back answered. “I just….” He grunted loud and scream-like, “Uh!”
“What? What?” the white shirt guy asked. “What?”
“She has an infected kid in a car seat.”
“She’s a calm infected,” the white shirt guy said.
Candice shared a seat with the man, he had his arm over the top to give them both room. She peered up to him. “That’s because Mommy gave her Benadryl.”
“That was smart,” he said. “Thanks again. We owe you guys. I’m Eugene and that’s Max.”
“Grace,” she said. “You’re sitting with Candice and Macy is in the back.”
“She’s out cold,” Eugene said.
“Yeah, I doubled the dose. The noise isn’t as bad when she’s sleeping. So I figured she’s not struggling with whatever breathing problem she had. At least not as much.”
“Can I ask…” Max leaned forward. “How you gave her Benadryl without her biting off your hand?”
“She doesn’t attack me. Only Candice.”
“Are you bit?” Eugene asked.
“No.” Grace shook her head. “Why do you ask?”
“They come after me, but not him.” Eugene pointed to Max. “He was bit several times.”
“By accident. I happened to be in the way of their mouth,” Max said. “They didn’t come after me.”
“They don’t come after me and I wasn’t bit,” Grace said. “There has to be something else.”
“Whatever the reason, it’s a sense of safety. Where were you headed?” Eugene asked.
“To a hospital. Trying to find help for my daughter.”
From the back seat, Max huffed.
“What?” Grace looked at him in the mirror, she then glanced at a sleeping Macy. “You don’t know. There may be help out there for them. I can’t give up on my daughter. I can’t.”
“I take it you drugged her because she was violent?” Max asked.
“I did. But she wasn’t violent to me. I held her. She’s still in there.” Grace shifted her eyes to Eugene. “My daughter is still in there. I have to try to help her.”
Eugene reached over and laid his hand on hers. “I understand. I do. I have a daughter. She’s in Denver and I’ve been trying to reach her, then my phone died.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.” Eugene said. “Kind of a shitty thing to happen. To be away from your family, not knowing. She posted on social media that her mother was sick. That was her last post.”
“I’m afraid I’m not a good source of information,” stated Grace. “We didn’t have power and the radio is useless. By the time we got to the car, the news was done.”
Eugene exhaled. “It has to be widespread. I couldn’t reach a tower anywhere.”
“Where were you headed? I mean, after you landed.”
Eugene shrugged. “Off the plane. There was no plan. There is now. We go with you. Let’s go try to find your daughter some help.”
Grace nodded. She was scared and hadn’t the first clue what to do. Undoubtedly she would have figured it out eventually, but she was glad she and her daughters weren’t alone.
It was an instantly crazy world with infected attacking left and right. Even though she didn’t know the two strangers at all, they were an added sense of safety Grace needed to feel in order to keep going.
SIX – END UNIT
Caramount, PA
The world wasn’t dead. Not yet. Granted, there were a lot of infected, but from what Myron saw, there were still some people alive. They hid, peeking out the windows, afraid to come out or just unable to with the risk outside.
Had Myron been one of those ‘prepared’ people, he would have waited it out with his grandmother. But there wasn’t much food and it wasn’t safe for her in their home.
He was glad they made it to the shelter. It wasn’t what he expected. In his mind, he believed he’d step into a well maintained military shelter created in the school. Hundreds upon hundreds of survivors, cots spread out evenly, he’d be given a blanket and care package and told to have a seat, relax, this would be over soon.
That wasn’t the case. There were a few dozen scared and confused people sitting on the floor. What he and his grandmother stepped into was a salvation in its infancy. Someone with good intentions and a good idea was in over his head. That person was Paul. He was a good guy, Myron could tell, and he needed help.
After making sure his grandmother was fine and able to get clean, Myron volunteered to go out with Paul. They were one of four that had the gift of immunity. The other two stayed behind while Myron went out with Paul for supplies.
They needed batteries, food, and some basic medical supplies. Things Myron figured would be there for the taking.
As they prepared to leave, Myron told Paul about his fantasy vision of shelter life.
Paul found some amusement in that, producing a smile. “Yeah, in theory, that’s how it should have been,” he explained as they made their way from the school. “Maybe yesterday, if it was implemented before the city went to shit. Looters burned a lot of it down. There was supposed to be a garage where the trucks were stored. Management was supposed to call up the units to the locations, they get the truck and everything was to be set up. Unfortunately, I kind of thought since the location was the school, we’d have more supplies.”
“You have the cafeteria,” Myron said, “My gram offered to go through that and I’m sure she will.”
“It’s not gonna be enough if we have to wait it out.”
“What do you mean?” Myron asked.
“I mean, more of these Ragers will show up. Eventually, we won’t be able to get out. You and I will, but those not immune won’t. The Ragers are live beings. They aren’t eating food, they’re eating flesh. Eventually they will die.”
“Yeah, what about the ones already dead?”
“I am not convinced they are dead. Just dead… ish.”
“Maybe we need someone with medical training to check one out.”
Paul laughed. “Believe it or not, I was a nurse.”
“No kidding? How did you end up working in this field?”
“Nurses go through phases. It’s a job that beats you down. Some look for the next step, others change careers. I stayed in healthcare, though I stopped caring for patients.”
“Bet you sucked at it,” Myron said. “You don’t seem like the type.”
“I was good. I just hated the bureaucracy of it all.”
“Dude! And you thought taking a county job was gonna be better?”
“It had great retirement benefits.”