December
Avery insisted on going with Tristan to the city to collect more medical supplies and foodstuff. She was cooped up too long and needed to get out, even though he had vehemently protested taking her. They went to the military site first where Tristan bribed a young soldier in Army clothing with a carton of cigarettes and two cases of beer. She didn’t know where he got those things, but she also didn’t ask.
It snowed last night about four inches, which was making everything a wet, sloshy mess, especially the roads. They took his truck, which actually even in four-by-four had trouble on the slick, icy roads. She never realized how much the road crews did to make driving more convenient until now. She also knew it might be a long time before they ever tended roads again, if ever. The overcast sky was so gray it felt like dusk, not noon.
“That’s scorched earth,” he remarked, pointing out his window toward a former shopping center.
He was right. The fire that had swept through the area had destroyed everything.
“Looting? Vandals?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, military. They’re burning the city at night, dropping fire from the sky. Found that out when you were in the hospital. They’re trying to push the crawlers into specific areas at night when they get violent and start going on their killing rampages. I don’t know if it’s going to work or not.”
“I thought they were trying to save people, move the infected to prisons and whatnot.”
He shook his head. “They’re full already, and they’ve gotta do something about the ones that are roaming free. They’ll kill people. They already are killing people, a lot of people.”
“Yes,” she said quietly, not wanting to dwell on that. “You said the other day that you and Spencer saw some out in the open, in the daylight?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but it’s not too often. As long as we’re home by dusk, we’ll be okay. They get really active at night.”
“Like vampires or something,” she remarked as a tremor passed through her. “There sure aren’t a lot of people out right now.”
“No, we’ve noticed that, too. Less and less people moving around. I think a lot of people fled or are trying to stay holed up where it’s safe in their homes.”
“I just want this to be over,” she commented with dwindling hope and stared out her window at the buildings with graffiti covering them and the ones that were charcoaled shells of their former selves. This used to be a nice area of the city to shop or catch a movie with a date or have a romantic dinner, not that she had a whole lot of those experiences.
They hit another military camp but weren’t permitted entrance, which he found odd. He also didn’t know the guard on duty, which he also said was odd. He told her perhaps his friend he’d been paying off in the same manner to get supplies was dead from the virus. She hoped he was wrong. Then they drove to a few spots he and Spencer had already hit a couple times where they were able to pick up supplies, mostly items meant for camping and fishing. He explained that fishing might become important for them to procure food. Avery was worried that eventually, animals would become infected, despite what the CDC had already announced. They didn’t exactly seem to be on top of this situation, or even very trustworthy anymore.
Tristan drove them to another city, Massillon, which wasn’t faring much better than Canton or any other city or town in America according to the news reports they watched each night on television, barring it stayed in tune and kept a signal, which it didn’t always. Tristan and Spencer were worried that America’s technology infrastructure was going to collapse completely soon. She prayed they were wrong. Not because she enjoyed the depressing news reports on t.v., but because she needed to be able to stay in touch with him by phone when he left the house without her and also because she wanted to know if things were going to get better elsewhere. It was like a nonsensical, illogical beacon of light that she clung to. Sometimes their cell phones or television signal or internet didn’t work at all for a few days at a time, and that scared her.
Most of the buildings were boarded up and closed, former businesses like bakeries, small manufacturing plants, restaurants, grocery stores, and pharmacies. The main street through town was lined with orange and black flags on the park-style light poles. On the flags were pictures of young men, most smiling and in football uniforms and looking like handsome movie stars full of promise and expectation for their futures.
“This was a big football town. Well, before,” she explained.
“Yeah, I can see that,” he agreed.
“A lot of these kids would go on to full scholarships, play for big colleges, and even make it into the NFL.”
“Pretty impressive.”
“Their academic record was never so great, though,” she remembered. “My father used to complain about the schools putting too much stock and time into sports and not enough…”
“Jesus!” he yelled, interrupting her as he whipped the truck to the right.
A sleek black SUV sped past them, nearly running into them, followed by a pickup truck being driven just as fast. In the cab of the truck was a young man who looked crazily similar to one of the boys on the football flag they’d just passed. There was a dark-haired girl, who seemed very frightened, riding with him, and in the bed of the truck all their possessions, or so it seemed.
“They’re running from something.”
That made her scared, almost as scared as that girl. “Maybe we should turn back.”
“We’re okay,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of ammo.”
Tristan got them back onto the road again, the desolate road through the middle of town, and made a right turn down a side street that led to a small shopping plaza where a pharmacy was located.
“It’s closed,” she said.
He shot her a look and said, “Nothing’s closed anymore. It’s just a matter of getting inside.”
“But that’s illegal,” she said. “What about the police?”
“See any around?” he responded with a wry expression.
He was right, Avery realized as she glanced out the rear window at the empty, desolate streets and parking lots. There wasn’t much of a military presence in this town, either.
“C’mon,” he ordered and lifted his chin.
It took him about two minutes, maybe less, to get inside the big pharmacy, using the rear entry door. Once they were in, Avery’s nerves kicked up. It was even spookier in the building than outside because there weren’t any lights on other than what little was coming through the windows at the front and along the top of the side walls. It wasn’t much.
The place had clearly been looted quite a bit before the military or police put up warning signs for looters and boarded up the front entry doors. She was pretty sure it was all done a little too late, though. This was the first place she’d been in since the start of all this that she could clearly see signs of looting…and more by the looks of the blood splatter against the wall near her and on the floor.
“This way, Ave,” he said and pushed open a swinging door that led into the pharmacy.
“Do you think there’s anything left?” she asked because it didn’t look it.
“There’s always something,” Tristan told her with confidence. “Even if you find stuff you aren’t sure about, take it anyway. We may be able to trade it for other things we need more.”
“Right,” she replied with steely determination. She had to think of the kids now, not the fact that she was clearly breaking the law.
“I’m going out into the main part of the store. There might be meds and bandaging and stuff out there.”
“’Kay,” she answered, noticing how her voice wavered slightly.
“It’s okay. I’ll hear you if you have trouble. I won’t be far.”
Avery nodded and bit her bottom lip. Tristan leaned into her, cupping the back of her head to pull her close, and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Then he pinched down slightly on the tiny metal clip on her nose, a part of the bluish-green facemask she wore. She was also wearing her mother’s tan leather gloves with the cashmere lining. They were a gift from their father a few years ago, a Christmas gift. This year, in a few days in fact, Christmas gifts would hopefully be safety, a hot meal, and a warm bed without fear hanging over their heads.
She got to work quickly scanning shelves, basically throwing anything she found into her backpack, which used to hold books and articles that she needed for her college classes. She knelt and retrieved a few bottles of medicine from the floor and put those inside her pack, too. She couldn’t even pronounce them. They’d have to figure out what they all were supposed to be used for later at home. Avery walked around the corner toward the front counter where the pharmacist and techs would’ve worked sorting pills and startled at the sight of a long blood smear on the plexiglass partition separating the pharmacy from the customers. There was one on each side of the glass. Something terrible and violent happened here. There was even a bottle of pills tipped over on the counter as if the pharmacist had been in the middle of doling them out into the customer’s smaller, green bottle. She slid the pills back into the large, white bulk bottle and took it, too.
Scanning every shelf and cupboard, she gathered what she could and ended up filling her pack to the brim and had to struggle to zip it. Her parents were never huge fans of prescription drugs and believed that most people could heal themselves through proper diet and exercise, so she really had no idea what most of the medicine was or what it was used for. But if Tristan was right, and he usually was, they could use the pills to trade with other people. If not, if the world went back to normal soon, they could return all of it to this pharmacy for proper disposal.
She joined Tristan where he was in the process of stealing boxes of over-the-counter cold medicine. His pack wasn’t nearly as full as hers.
“It smells so strange in here,” she remarked as a faint water dripping sound came from somewhere inside the structure.
“Burnt smell,” he told her and led the way back through the store. “The whole side was scorched, most of that half of the store was burned to nothing. Lot of water damage, too, from the firetrucks. Some of what you smell is probably the formation of mold now.”
“I was able to get a lot,” she told him proudly. Then she felt weird for being proud of herself for looting a store and breaking the law. This whole scenario was definitely out of her comfort zone.
“Awesome,” he remarked and shot her a wink over the top edge of his mask. “Let’s head home.”
Tristan took her hand as he led the way with his pistol out in front of them. Avery also wore one on her hip, which felt so out of place. She never wanted to hurt anyone and hoped she never had to again. If it came to protecting her family, she knew she would, though. No questions asked.
She was surprised to see that it was nearly dusk already. They only went to a few places, but the back of the truck was carrying a hefty haul from the day’s take. Tristan told her it was a good day. Sometimes he didn’t bring back quite so much. Paying off his military friend, who was the guard at the checkpoint, was a smart idea. She leaned her head against the closed window of her truck door and thought about the kids at home. She was worried about Kaia.
Avery was lost in thought when someone ran at her door, hitting it, causing her to scream. Tristan kept going, slamming his foot on the gas, causing them to lurch backward.
“We need to get outta’ the city. Fast,” he told her as she twisted in her seat to see the man who’d rammed her door. He was still trying to run after them.
“Was that…” she questioned but couldn’t finish.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Probably the overcast skies bringing them out a little early today. Plus, it’s getting dark earlier every day.”
Avery twisted again when an air raid siren behind them somewhere in the city went off. It was so loud and ominous, foretelling of bad things to come tonight.
“It’s okay, Angel,” he told her and squeezed her hand in his.
Avery wanted to unlatch her seatbelt and climb into his lap. Being close to Tristan made her feel safer, but holding his hand would have to do until they were safely home. He glanced over and tried to offer a smile but failed to achieve the full effect. He looked tired and stressed out. She felt tired and stressed out. She didn’t know how he did this every day. Her mind and body were drained.
Something shook the ground under the truck and boomed so loudly she jumped in her seat so hard it caused the seatbelt mechanism to lock.
“It’s okay,” he reassured her again. “Just the military trying to level the playing field.”
Avery twisted in her seat again to look out the rear window as he sped up to put some distance between them and the city. There were balling, bright orange flames visible above the tallest buildings and deep, black smoke that followed them up, billowing into the dusk sky.
“Wow,” she gasped. “That’s…that’s going to destroy…”
“Yeah, a lot. It’ll destroy a lot. That’s what they’ve been doing every night in the cities. Some of these areas they’re forcing evacuations on. Not sure where they think people are supposed to go. If this keeps going like this, the whole damn country will be a big military base.”
“Do you think they’ll do it by us, too?”
He shook his head. “Probably not. As long as they can keep the infected rounded up more to the cities, then they won’t have to push farther out into the country where we live.”
“Good. I don’t think I could bear to see our countryside destroyed like that.”
“We’ll get through this, okay?”
He gave her hand another squeeze, which she returned and placed her other hand on top of both of theirs. Two hands were better than one as far as keeping contact with Tristan went. He was her anchor in this insanity.
They drove away from the city, and she remained turned in her seat to watch the flames annihilate the already hard-hit town.
By the time they got home, the others were also there, and everyone helped unload the supplies into the garage. It was getting so full in there, but she knew with so many of them living on her family property, they’d need it all to get through the winter.
That night, Tristan didn’t sleep with her because he was on guard duty, which she thought was being overly cautious. Surely, they were safe out in the middle of nowhere so far from the city. But he and Spencer felt it was necessary and shared the duties with Abraham, too. So, unfortunately, she went to bed alone.
Something startled her awake, and the first thing she did was reach for Tristan only to find his half of the bed still empty. Disoriented and carrying the foggy haze of a bad dream with her, Avery rolled over to check the time next- 2:30.
Her throat was dry and scratchy, Tristan was missing from their bed, and she knew she wouldn’t go back to sleep quickly, so she rose and went downstairs.
Avery nearly jumped out of her skin when Ephraim’s bird, said, “Woooop! Big cat! Big cat.” He must’ve forgotten him in the atrium again.
“Hey,” Tristan whispered, also scaring her. “Don’t turn on the lights.”
He was near the glass doors, the only set he hadn’t boarded up that faced the backyard.
“Come here,” Tristan urged, to which she complied, padding over on bare feet, the wood floors cold.
“What is it? Is something wrong? I had a bad dream… thought something woke me…”
He was looking out the window through a set of binoculars into the dark void beyond.
“I see lights on over there somewhere.”
She peered hard into the field beyond their yard, not seeing anything. “Where?”
Kaia rushed into the room so fast, she slid on her socks and also managed to startle Avery. She was jumpy as all get out tonight.
“Did you guys hear that?” she interrupted them.
“Hear what?” Tristan asked, instantly alert, his body tensing.
Avery pulled her robe slightly tighter around her middle. Not because she was worried about being indecent because she wasn’t dressed scantily in pink satin pajama pants and a matching button-down pajama top, but because she felt cold all of a sudden despite the low crackling fire behind her.
“On the roof,” she said. “I swear I heard something…”
Avery jumped when something thudded heavily on the roof to prove her sister’s suspicion.
Tristan had out his walkie-talkie in an instant and pressed the button, “Spence, you up? Hey, man, you up there?”
“Yeah, am now,” Spencer’s groggy answer came.
“Could have company,” Tristan cautioned. “Stay inside until we see.”
“Ten-four,” his friend answered from Avery’s apartment. “I’ll scout it out up here on our end.”
“Got it,” Tristan answered. Then he turned to her, “Get the kids in here.”
He left her to check out the house and spy outside. Soon, she and Kaia had the boys gathered in the living room, and Avery ran upstairs to dress into clothing. It was quiet for nearly an hour before they heard the next thump. This one came much more loudly, and it was against the side of the house.
“You still in the apartment?” Tristan asked into the walkie-talkie.
“Yeah, but I’m spying on you guys. I saw something. I think one of them is casin’ the joint. Stay inside.”
This conversation sent a series of chills up her spine. Next to her on the sofa, Kaia shivered. Thankfully, Fin was asleep leaning against Ephraim, who had also fallen back to sleep. Abraham stood on guard with a rifle near the front door.
Another loud clank against the only set of glass doors left, the same ones that led to the backyard.
“Shhh,” Tristan whispered and squatted near them. “Nobody make a sound.”
She didn’t need to be told. None of them did. The boys were awake again, and Finn was curled into her side. She placed her hand over his eyes and stroked his arm softly with her other.
They were frozen in fear as it tried to see in, its bloodshot eyes so sunken and dark beneath. It looked hungry. It looked violent.
Not getting the results it was looking for, it let out a horrific scream and ran off. They exhaled a collective breath of relief, but she knew this night was far from over as she comforted and tried to reassure her siblings. That was all she had left to offer, a reassuring word, a gentle touch of hope, encouraging looks, all lies.
Life was precious. People used to say things like that all the time, but none of them realized how true that saying would turn out to be. Life was precious, indeed. Each person in the room had lost someone or everyone.
They huddled near the fire trying to block out the nocturnal noises, the ice rain, the thunder, the other sounds that could be more than just an animal outside.
Outside, the noises, every last one of them, seemed ominous now, even if they were probably just animals, creatures of the night moving around. Every little sound made people startle now. Every noise a potential threat. Every reverberation in the air a possible harbinger of danger. The howling wind caused the few remaining windows to rattle. It didn’t help the nerves.
Then there was silence. Sometimes silence was even more frightening. Just straining to listen and wade through the silence was often stressful and nerve rattling. The not knowing was sometimes as bad as the knowing.
A commotion, a racket of some kind banging near the garage caused even him to jump. Was it one of them on their property again?
Tristan and Avery will return in book four of: