“Josh!” Ben screamed.
Josh snapped out of his semi-romantic reveries, shifting the truck out of idle. Slowly, the truck crept away from the Victorian home. Ben did his best Bruce Willis impression, diving into the bed. Brit was there to help him in safely. Once his limbs cleared the end of the truck, Brit closed the gate. Josh slammed his foot on the gas. The truck sped off, spitting dirt and grass at the approaching horde.
ENDS
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A DAY LATER…
The truck died just outside of Brown Valley, Pennsylvania, the town Melissa had moved Jake to. The gas light had warned them many miles ago, but since none of them knew where the nearest pit stop was, they chanced it. The Barker Brothers had stripped them of their cellular devices, even though they would have been useless anyway. Ben thought back to the first day everything fell apart and remembered his cell phone refused to find a signal. Things don’t look too different over here, he thought while cruising down the empty, residential streets.
They saw signs pointing toward Brown Valley and Ben told them they were close. As soon as they reached the border, the engine sputtered and finally ceased. Josh cranked it a few more times just to make sure. It choked, but never started.
“Looks like were hoofing it,” Josh told them.
“What if they are out there?” Emily asked.
Josh turned to her. “Then we probably shouldn’t wait around for them, right?”
They were out there. Ben could smell them, that old familiar odor.
“Let’s hurry,” Ben suggested, hopping out of the cab.
The five of them started down the street.
“Do you know where you’re going, man?” Josh asked, following the rest of the group.
“732 Crown Avenue.”
“And which way is that?” Josh asked.
Ben sighed. “I don’t know. But this town isn’t that big.”
“So we’re just going to what—walk around aimlessly until we find it?”
Ben shrugged. “Got a better idea?”
“Let’s head back to the highway. There’s gotta be a convenience store something. Maybe they have a map.”
“That’s backtracking.”
“Sometimes you gotta go backwards before you can move forward,” Josh said confidently.
Ben closed his eyes, shaking his head. “You go. I gotta find my son.”
Victoria looked around. “I have to be honest, Ben. Things don’t look very… lively.” She surveyed the surrounding houses. Ranches. Most of them appeared empty. Abandoned. No signs of life. “Do you think whatever happened… reached here?”
“No,” Ben said immediately. “No, they probably evacuated once they heard about the East Coast.”
“What makes you think your ex and son are still here?” Brittany asked. “Wouldn’t they have evacuated with the rest of them?”
“I told them I was coming.” Ben shrugged. “But they might have. If it wasn’t safe anymore. I’d like to think my ex would at least give me some time to get out here. Things were looking up the last I spoke with her. We had just been saved. Remember?” Ben smiled.
“Saved. Yeah, right. Funny.”
“I wonder what my ex is doing right now,” Victoria asked, hoping to change the subject.
“Hopefully he’s dead,” Brittany muttered.
“Brittany! Don’t talk about your father like that. Not in front of your sister.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I never knew him anyway,” Emily told her.
“Still… that’s not the point.”
“What? He’s a scumbag, drug addict.” Brittany nodded to Josh. “No offense.”
“Oh, none taken,” Josh said sarcastically. He changed his tone immediately. “Ben, I have to protest. We need a map. Otherwise we’ll be here for days looking for Crown Avenue.”
Ben stopped in the middle of the street. While his eyes darted from house to house, toward neighboring streets, an overwhelming, panicky sensation coursed through him. He placed his hands on his knees, preparing to vomit.
“You okay?” Victoria asked.
“Just tired.”
“Ben? Map?” Josh asked.
It took Ben a moment, but clarity washed over him. Nodding, he rose. “We can search the houses. Someone is bound to have a map.”
“I doubt many people have a map of their hometown just sitting around, but yeah,” Josh said. “It’s worth a shot.”
“Better than walking around aimlessly, right?” Brit asked.
“Right.”
“Okay.” Ben pointed to Josh. “You take Brit and Emily. Victoria come with me.”
“I’m not leaving my babies again,” Victoria said sternly.
“Mom—” Brit started to say, her face reddening.
“Don’t Mom me.” Her eyes welled. “I almost lost you two before. It’s never going to happen again. Understand?”
Together, Brit and Emily nodded.
“Okay. I’ll go by myself,” Ben said.
“I’ll go with you,” Josh said.
“No, you go with the girls.”
Josh didn’t argue.
“Five minutes in each house. Not a second longer. We meet back in the street before entering the next one. Agreed?”
Josh and the girls agreed silently.
The first house they stepped foot in had been ransacked. The refrigerator was open and empty. The stained oak cabinets were ajar, unwanted contents tossed haphazardly on the countertop. Pet bowls filled to the brim remained untouched. Chairs around the kitchen table were pushed over. The couch cushions were overturned, a few them on the floor.
“I don’t feel safe in here,” Victoria told Josh.
“Let’s go. It’s impossible to find anything in this mess anyway.”
They quickly rushed out of the house, ran down the driveway, and waited in the street for Ben to finish his search. A minute later, Ben emerged from the front door, looking as depressed as he had upon entering.
“Anything?” Josh asked.
Ben shook his head. “You?”
“Nope. We’re heading to the next one.”
Ben nodded.
He opened the front door, immediately smelling it. Something rotten. Shit. At first he stepped back, not wanting to risk the chance of tangling with dead again. Going almost twenty-four hours without seeing a walking corpse was a streak Ben wasn’t anxious to break. However, he felt something tugging at him. Begging him to enter.
Hesitantly, Ben stepped foot in the house.
The living room was trashed, much like the neighbor’s house. What the hell happened here? His nerves were on edge. What if we reach Melissa’s and it’s like this? It was a plausible scenario, one he wasn’t quite prepared to handle. He kept telling himself that it was okay, that Crown Avenue—for all he knew—was on the other end of town. Maybe nothing bad happened there yet. Yet. Dread set in. His stomach felt hollow. His heart pumped abnormally fast. He closed his eyes, praying to whatever God allowed this to happen, begging Him for his son’s safety.
Something moved above him.
Ben’s eyes shot open. He listened closely. The quiet noise repeated. Ben glanced at the ceiling.
Jesus Christ. There’s someone up there.
Ben sprinted toward the stairs. He bounded three steps at a time until he reached the corridor. He looked down the hall and saw three doors; two open, one closed. Cautiously, he crept down the hallway, passing the two open doors, peering inside the rooms while strolling by. Empty. Well, not quite. Clothes were thrown about messily. Bags of potato chips and candy wrappers littered the floor. Ben could barely see the carpet. The other room was trashed similarly.