ZAHMBIES: An novella: Part I: CH 8-13

8) The Escape

Corey had taken the small pistol from Ellie as they waited aboard the descending elevator. The ride seemed to be taking for ever despite the fact that they were only going one floor below Ellie's place. The plan to get guns from the casual-hunter neighbors and look for a car on the streets sounded reasonably simple upstairs, but now Ellie wasn't so sure. An uneasiness brought by the emptiness of the complex had wiggled its way into her chest as the elevator eased to a halt and the doors slid open with a pleasant DING.
To everyone's relief there was nothing in the hallway.

"Okay, it's apartment 2224," Ellie whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence.

Corey, stepping off the elevator, held up the pistol read to fire at anything that may come their way. They trekked down the hallway close together and eventually made it to apartment 2224. Ellie reached out and tugged on the door handle but it would budge.

"Locked," she concluded aloud, "Why hadn’t we thought about that?"

Everyone stared at the door until Christy hitched the backpack (filled with food items from Ellie's place) higher on to her back. "What now? What are we supposed to do? We can't stay here."

Corey shook his head bit didn't say a word before he reared back and gave the door a mighty kick.
"God-DAMNIT!"

He rebounded, clutching his foot in pain. He had forgotten altogether that he was wielding the gun in the other hand and started swinging it around as he hopped.

"Corey, watch it, the gun man, WATCH OUT WITH THE GUN!" Axel yelped pushing his sister back, "DON'T POINT AT ANYONE!"
Corey, amidst cursing the door managed to slip Axel a friendly "Fuck you."

Axel glared but ignored them comment. "C'mon man calm down."

Corey stopped hopping on one foot and looked at Axel incredulously. "Calm down? CALM DOWN? Really Ax? How the hell am I supposed to calm down when, we a are trapped 23 stories up surrounded by flesh eating crazies, with no weapons, no radio, no nothing? Tell me how am I supposed to be CALM?"

Axel opened his mouth to reply but Corey flicked the gun up to firing position and fired.
He emptied the whole clip, six shots into the door handle successfully disintegrating it to twisted metal, then gave the door another kick. This time it swung open, defeated.

"There, problem solved," Corey snapped as he walked inside.
Seeing and hearing the gun being fired had left Ellie shaking with both adrenaline and fear. She had never seen something like that before, which made her feel strange enough but a bigger thought had come to her. Would she have to be doing something similar herself to escape the city?

They went into the apartment and luckily found exactly what they were looking for. A hunting armory fit for a king. Ellie took the shot gun off the shelf. From what little she knew about guns, she knew that shot guns had good spread and if her aim was terrible she way be able to hit something with it at least. Corey took a hunting rifle and Axel helping himself to one as well. Christy refused to pick one up, but in the end, Axel convinced her to take the reloaded pistol Corey had used. They all helped themselves to the ammunition which was in ample supply. Ellie briefly wondered what had happened to her neighbor but then decided she would rather not know.

Once everyone was set there was only one last thing to do. Get out of the city in a stolen vehicle. Nobody wanted to think about the fact that they would have to go back the streets where the crazies where to get out. Ellie just wanted to get it over with. So, in silence they boarded the elevator and pressed the L button to descend into the lobby.

When the elevator doors opened, Ellie, Axel and Corey held up their weapons. There was nothing there though. No blood raged mobs like before. Not even a sign of movement. Of course, Ellie remembered that the streets had been like that yesterday when they had come through too and the zombies had come from nowhere.

"I think we should be quiet as possible," Ellie muttered, "Maybe we can find something without being seen."

Axel nodded and they started to move silently but as quickly, as they could out of the lobby where Corey's dead truck was still decorating, and into the streets.
Ellie could here Christy literally shaking as the crept down the car littered street looking for something suitable.
Ellie looked back at Christy, noticing she was doing better today, but not by much. The poor girl looked at though she could go to pieces again at any moment and Ellie doubted whether she would have made it this far without her brother and two friends.
Corey branched off for a moment and checked a few cars, disappearing into the forest of abandoned vehicles.

"Corey get back here!" Axel hissed.

But Corey was already gone. Axel lead Ellie and Christy in the direction Corey had disappeared in and eventually they heard him call from somewhere ahead.

"Guys, I've got one."
They followed his voice until they came upon a fairly open spot where a armored money truck sat with its door open conveniently.

"It's perfect," he said excitedly.

"If we can start it," Axel reminded him, "I hope I can rig it."

Corey held up something, "No need."

He tossed Axel a ring of keys.

"Genius."

"Where did you get these from?" Ellie asked curiously, "Surely they didn’t leave them in the ignition?"

Ellie saw core glance behind himself in a brief flickering of his eyes before he answered, "Meh, I just found them on the ground. Prolly got left behind in the panic."

Ellie could see it now though, the place he had found the keys. Under the truck she could make the brief outline of a corpse. The poor driver probably had gotten half eaten or something. She glanced away from the shadow and looked up at Axel.

"Well," she said, "Lets go, then."

They all piled in. There was plenty of space in the back and MONEY too. Corey rolled in the bills like a child playing in mud as Axel started the truck up. It revved to life and he smiled at Ellie. "To my place, shall we?"

"Definitely," Ellie replied.

Corey peeped out the window a second, "Well you might wanna hurry, here they come."



9) The Shot Gun



"Drive Axel!!!" Christy shrieked.

Axel didn’t hesitate. He stepped on the gas full force knocking Corey and Ellie off their feet. The two of them slammed into the back door of the money truck and the doors sprang open. Ellie clutched onto one of the heavy money purses, anchoring herself down before she fell out of the open ended truck. Corey caught himself on the side of the door, hanging halfway out of the truck, his steel toed cowboy boots scraping the ground as Axel sped onward.

"Axel stop! Stop the truck!" Ellie cried as she stumbled to her feet.

"NO! KEEP GOING! THEY ARE CATCHING UP!"

Ellie barreled over to Corey and grabbed him by his armpits.

"Don't let go of me El," he yelled to Ellie.

Ellie shook her head and braced her feet against the wall of the truck.

"I'm not gonna let those things eat you!"

She pulled with all the strength her swim and gymnastics had given her over the years, using both her arms and her legs. Behind them, all hell had come out to play. Thousands of growling, bloodied zombies poured out of buildings on either side and began chasing after them in the shadows of the evening.

"Oh my God," Ellie breathed.

"Hold on guys!" Axel bellowed from the drivers seat," Left turn!"

A moment later the truck careened to the side, banking on two wheels and sending Ellie and Corey flying. Ellie could feel her grip on Corey loosen as he screamed. She shut her eyes for a moment as the truck slammed back down on all four tires again and kept on going through the streets.

"Pull harder! Pull me up, pull me UP!"
Ellie's arms ached with the effort of hauling Corey up but in a final burst of energy and a scream she pulled him off the bumper to the back of the truck again.

"Thank God," Ellie wheezed as Corey stood up and stared at the mob behind them.

"I think this is a good opportunity to try out my new toy," was all Corey said before he pulled out his hunting rifle from the back and started taking aim.

The sound of the shot was crisp and utterly final as Corey squeezed the trigger and launched a fairly decent shot into the mob, hitting a zombie in the face and making it drop from the running crowd.

"Yeaaah!Woooohooo!"
Ellie thought of her shot gun and dug it out of the money bags where it had fallen. It felt smooth and deadly but in her shaking hands she had a bit of doubt grumbling.

"What are you waiting for El?!" Corey shouted, "Go for it!"

Ellie nodded and held the gun up in a firing position with her finger on the trigger, hoping to hit at least something. She aimed somewhere in the crowd of maddened zombies and squeezed.
The shot exploded, sending Ellie reeling backward into a pile of bags. She hadn't expected that much of a kick back but she was glad to see the buckshot hit several at once in a spray of blood and torn flesh.




10) The Crash Site

It took more than an hour to escape the city. That hour was the longest Ellie had ever felt. It was filled with nothing but the sharp sounds of bullets, spraying blood, and serrated flesh. Ellie knew it was an hour she would never forget, no matter how much she wished she could.

They made it to the turnpike that lead northwest, towards Axel's place. The mobs following them had thinned down either by the bullets of Ellie and Corey, or by pure exhaustion, and they were free to rest for a moment.

Corey sat down on the pile of money bags with a heavy sigh, but left his gun by his side. Ellie didn’t bother to close the hatch of the truck before she joined him, feeling exhausted in more ways than one.

Nobody spoke for the longest time. None of them had the energy or anything particularly important to say and the silence was sort of welcomed after the chaotic sound of gunshots they had endured for the past hour.

"We will have to stop for gas eventually," Axel finally said from the driver's seat, "and to sleep."

"Can't we just keep going?" Corey griped, keeping his eyes closed.

"We need the gas, but we may be able to keep going if you guys can stay awake enough to drive," Axel replied.

"I don't think we should stop for the night," Ellie butted in, "Those things are afraid of the sun, so they will be more active at night. Stopping would be bad I think. In fact, the sun is almost down, we should probably get the gas soon before it's gone."

"Good idea," Axel agreed, "I'll turn off on the next exit. Be ready with the guns just in case, but maybe we will find some normal people."
Ellie dragged herself to her feet and picked up her shot gun, which felt heavier than ever.

Axel pulled off on the next exit which lead to a suburban area with a fair population but nothing compared to the city. Ellie had hoped to see normal people, like Axel said, but the area was just as ghostly as the city.

"There's an Exxon over there," Corey pointed out as he looked oout the back hatch, "Hope you have a credit card though. The store is closed."

"I got it covered," Axel told them as he pulled in to the pump.

Axel jerked the truck into park and looked at the 3 of them. "Ellie and Corey you stay with me for cover fire if we need it. Christy, no matter what, stay in the truck."

Christy, who had been wordless since hitting the city streets, merely nodded at her brother and stayed put. Axel gave her a worried look, but didn’t say anything before opening the truck door. Ellie and Corey jumped out of the back hatch and watched the area carefully for any sign of movement. The sun had almost set, casting long shadows that made any sort of shape a menacing one. Ellie, at several points, had jumped when looking over in the shadowy corner and seeing a black cat skitter back forth.
Axel started up the pump and started filling the tank.

A cold breeze came through the trees, making the shadows shift and sending goose bumps down the 3 friends’ spines. Ellie was sure they were being watched now; she could feel the soul-less eyes of some wraith like creature pricking her very skin.

"Can we hurry Axel?" Ellie mumbled, "I think-"

"-MOM?"

Axel and Ellie whipped around to see Corey take off running, gun in hand as he continued to call, "mom"
"Corey, stop! Wait!"

Corey stopped long enough to beckon them over to the middle of the street, “It my mom's car guys!" And then kept going.
A shock ran through Ellie. Her mom said she was with Corey's parents and that they would meet them at Axel's place. But if their car only made it this far.....
No. Corey had to be wrong; it wasn't his mom's car. But what if it was? She had to know.

Ellie started running after Corey.

"EL! COME BACK!"

He was fast, but she was faster and it only took a few seconds to catch up with him down the street. She wasn’t sure how he had seen the car. It was down in the ditch that ran along the side of the road ad looked  like it was in rough a shape. A red Sudan which had been scraped and hit beyond repair.

"Are you sure it's your mom's, Corey?" Ellie asked breathlessly.

"Yeah, that’s her license plate...and her disco ball on the mirror," Corey said darkly, "I know its hers."

Ellie felt nauseous. Their parents had been leaving together...but here is the car, but they were nowhere to be found. Ellie refused to believe that they might be dead.

"At least there are no bodies," Ellie said firmly, "Which could mean they are alive."

"As what? Zombies?" Corey said, his voice shaky, "Look at the car, El. Look at it. It's toast. For all we know they are too."

Ellie ground her teeth together, "You cant talk like that maybe they are alive. Maybe they made their own way like we did. You can’t just give up Corey. You can’t!"

"What's the point of hoping they are alive?! Either we make it to Axel's and they are there or we make it and they aren't. There is no point in hoping in anything."

"Corey_"
A gunshot echoed through the cold air, cutting Ellie's response short.

"Axel!"

Ellie didn’t hesitate a moment. She took off running back to the gas station, her shot gun held ready to fire at anything that came her way.

She didn’t know if Corey had followed her or not. All she saw the armored truck with Axel standing, gun drawn at the front. Before she even saw his target, she heard the growling of several zombies somewhere in the darkness.
She concentrated on making it to him and only that for the moment in time.
Finally, she made it to his side and he automatically moved close to her.

"I can’t see them," Ellie yelped as the peered into the darkness, "But I can hear them."

"The are on the edge of that ditch, I think," Axel replied in a growl, "I got 2 of them though."

"Let's get out of here," Axel said, "I'll watch your back. Get in the truck."

"But Corey isn’t here," Ellie argued.

"We'll find him, get in now."

Ellie walked nervously to the side of the truck as Axel backed up behind her, ready to defend. She crawled inside the truck and Axel jumped in quickly after her.
Axel started the engine and they zoomed away with not a single scratch. They found Corey still by the car. He had crawled inside looking for any sign that his parents had made it, but to no avail. All he did was find his dad's wallet and an empty coffee cup. He climbed into the truck with the wallet and disco ball from the mirror in his hand without a word.

Axel, who was waiting to hear why Corey had not returned the truck, did not press the subject and let it go. He did know where Ellie's and Corey's parent had gone or what had happened to them. Had they made it? Had they been turned to the very things trying to kill them? He knew the unknown fate of their parents must be slow torture and that they may never know. In silence, he pressed the gas pedal harder and headed back to the highway.


11) The Bite

Corey sat in the armored car in silence, playing with the disco ball keychain he had pulled from his moms SUV. Nobody spoke any words of encouragement or tried to tell him it was going to be okay. Ellie couldn't bring herself to say anything hopeful at that point either and it was because nobody really knew. Her mom was with Corey's parents and they had found the wreckage of his parents SUV abandoned in a ditch along a pit stop road.  There had not been any blood or signs they had died, but considering the fact that millions of people were roaming around as mindless, half dead cannibals, it didn’t instill much hope that their families were alive. Or worse.

"Hey look at this," Axel said, making everyone look up.  Even Christy sat up a little to peep out of the windshield. There were flashing blue lights ahead spanning across the 3 lanes of the highway.

"D'you think it’s actually the police?" Ellie breathed, "Helping people along the road where it’s safe?"

"Or keeping the newly bitten out," Corey said with a dark tone.

They zoomed closer and came to a full stop in front of the two police cars. The doors were open and there was blood on the ground. It was smeared in a crimson trail to the drainage ditch on the side of the road.

"Let’s just go around," Axel said quietly, "There's nobody here."

There were two blocking the highway on the other side as well and it seemed as though all four cars were abandoned.

"Did you guys hear that?" Corey said suddenly.

Ellie perked up her ears, tuning them as hard as she could as her hands wrapped around her shot gun even tighter. She didn’t hear anything.
"There," Corey said as he walked away from them, "I heard it again. It’s over here."

Corey started following the blood trail and Axel scowled. "Cor! Wait a minute. You don’t know what you are walking into!"
Axel knew it was futile and grumbled somehting about getting tired of Corey going off on his own.

Corey ignored him and kept walking till he came to the edge of the drainage ditch.
"Oh man! Oh shit!"

Axel and Ellie took off towards him as he slipped down into the muddy water. A shock ran through Ellie. Had he found one of their family members? She swallowed hard and wrung the barrel of her shotgun.

They dashed to the edge of the drainage ditch and saw Corey bending over a floating body in the water. Guilt laden relief made Ellie finally take a breath. It wasn’t her mother in the ditch.
Axel slid down into the water and Ellie followed him. It was cold and immediately sank between her shoes and socks. She hoped the truck had a heater.

"He's alive," Corey said.

"For now," coughed the big mulatto man in the cop uniform, "My partner..."

Elli looked down the water way a little and saw another form, this time, floating face down in the water. Blood was oozing from his back from a gunshot.

"My partner...he tried to stop these sick people from coming through into the county...ach...and they attacked him. I-I-I killed them. The whole family...they were sick in the head...oh god...

"Easy man," Corey said, "We'll get you out of this ditch."

Corey started to pick the man up but he howled an wiggled out of Corey's grasp.

"NO! NO! NO!" he heaved, "My partner...my partner...you have to kill me. You have to kill me now. Please!"
His lips had turned blue and his eyes were wild with something beyond fear, they gleamed with desperation.

"Look, we can help you maybe," Corey said, "My dad, he's is a doctor."

Ellie looked at the lifeless cop floating a few feet away and saw the dying cop’s panic which lead to  a sickening realization.
"We cant help him," she said as bile rose in her throat.

Corey turned on her with angry eyes. "Why the hell not?!"

"He had to kill his partner," she said, trying not to vomit, "His partner must have gotten sick or exposed to the gas and he had to kill him. Look at the gunshot in his back. But we can’t help him, because I think his partner bit him."

Corey turned, horror-struck to look at the half-dead man, who nodded slackly. "Kill me..."

Corey turned and headed back up to the top of the drainage ditch. "No, man. No WAY."

"Corey!" Ellie called after him, "We can’t leave him like this either!"

Corey walked away, disappearing from view. Ellie heard the sounds of him tossing his gun to the ground and kicking something. Probably the tire of one of the cars.

"Please, please, please..."
The man's pleas were thick with incoming tears. "Kill me."

Axel turned to the unfortunate man  and nodded. "What’s your name?"

"Off-Off-Officer Oliver Davidsen," he breathed.

"Okay Officer Davidsen," Axel said, "Don’t worry, I'm going to help you. But first I have to know if your car radio works still and what is the frequency to the police station?"

"Yessss," he breathed, "Works fine. Ch-channel t-two."

"Thank you Officer Davidsen," Axel said quietly.

"I c-can feel it coming," he said, with a far off look in his eyes, "It’s wild, angry."

Axel held up his rifle and looked at Ellie. "Ellie, maybe you should go back to the truck?"

"No," Ellie managed to say through the tightness in her chest, "I want to stay."
He reminded her of her dad lying there in his uniform. The man didn't have a chance. Just like her dad.

"You shouldn’t get anything in that arm," Axel argued, "Go make sure Corey hasn’t broken his toe. It would make me feel better."

He didn’t want her to see what he was going to do and she couldn’t imagine having to pull the trigger. Would she ever have to? On her own family or friends? Could she?

Ellie nodded and made her way up the embankment to the road. When she was out of the ditch she walked back to the truck slowly.

"It's alright Officer Davidsen," she heard Axel assure him, " Close your eyes now."

She heard the click of the gun cocking into position.

"Godspeed," he told him.

The shot rang out and echoed in Ellie's ears and she knew she would never forget the sound of the bullet that killed Officer Oliver Davidsen.



12) The Frequency

Axel had emerged from the drainage ditch looking paled and shaky, but he did not allow the emotions to take hold for long.

"We need to see if we can get anyone on that radio," he said to Ellie as he walked over, slinging the muddy water off of his boots, "Corey, can you cover my back with Ellie while I give the radio a try?"

Corey, who after kicking the truck enough to leave scuffs on his boots had taken to leaning against it with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Ellie could see the  disc ball ornament in his fist, peaking between his fingers.

"Cor? You okay?" Axel said as he walked towards him.

"No, I'm not," he said with a quivering voice, "And neither should you be."

Axel frowned, "I'm just trying to keep everyone alive. I'll do what I have to and I can’t afford to get emotional about it."

"Ax you just killed a fucking man!" Corey bellowed, "Shouldn’t you feel at least a little something?! Jesus-fucking CHRIST!"

Ellie saw Axel's jaw set, holding back anger. His hands were shaking worse than before. "Would you have rather have left him to become a monster like all the other people? Your dad wouldn’t have wanted that, he would have put the guy on to a better place."

Corey stiffened at the mention of his father and looked up at Axel with a murderous glare. "Don’t talk about him like he's dead, cause he isn’t."

"Then get up and help me find him," Axel urged, "If we can get in touch with the county police we can see if they have a safe house or base somewhere. Your and Ellie’s family could have made it here for sure."

Ellie watched the two boys carefully. She had never seen Corey so emotional before.  He was normally, gruff slightly rude and abrasive but a good guy. She knew he must be worried about him mom and dad, but how could he be any more worried than her? She had already lost her father in a shooting 5 years ago. He had been on duty in Atlanta responding to a domestic abuse call when the husband shot her father in the femoral artery and he bled to death. The whole scene had just brought back images of her father that she pushed back down. She knew she had to focus on her mother, the alive parent and the only one she had left.
Despite this, her eyes became a little watery. Before she could hide the shine in her eyes, Corey had glanced at her. His face melted from vehement to angry and sad.

"Let's look at the radio," he said finally, "It might give us some help."

Ellie stood at the passenger side door while Corey stood on the opposite as Axel fiddled with the dials on the radio.
He held the microphone to his mouth and pressed the button. "Hello? Is anyone out there? Hello? This is Axel Wheatman, is anyone out there?"

He tried several times but nothing but static replied back at him. Had the whole county been taken over? Was there anyone even left alive? Axel tried one more time.

"Hello? Anyone there? This is Axel Wheatman, do you copy?"
C
orey snickered, "Okay you've seen way to many cop movies, Ax."

Axel made a face and tossed the mouth piece away. "Well, nobody out there is listening anyways."

Axel started climbing out of the car when a cut in the static over the radio made him pause. Another blip made him pick up the mouth piece again. Ellie willed a human voice to come over the speakers. Surely someone was out there.

"AW? I copy, you AW. This is D.D. Do you read?"

Axel slapped the dashboard for joy and smiled. "We read you D.D. You an officer?"

"That’s an affirmative AW. Are you in need of assistance?"

"Affirmatve D.D. "

"Immediate?"

"Negative. Need a safe place, D.D. You got one?

There was a pause between his last transmissions, but finally the mysterious D.D replied.

"You infected AW?"

"Negative," Axel said firmly.

"Alrighty AW. What’s your current position?"

"West bound on I20 on the county line."

"Continue west bound till you reach exit 22 then make a left. Follow the signs to the police station. "

"Thanks D.D"

"Good luck fella," D.D said, "Downtown is a bit messy, but if you can make it here...you'll be fine. D.D out."

Axel crawled out of the car looking slightly better than he had a few minutes ago.

"Alright let’s go."

"Do you think we should be going toward your farmhouse instead," Corey said, "I mean our parents might have made it there. Shouldn’t we check first?"

"This is stop is on the way," Axel said, "besides, I don't know about you but sleep and food sounds great right now. They can probably get that for us at the police station."

Corey nodded and they climbed into the truck. Ellie knew Axel was holding back is main reason for wanting to stop at the station. He didn’t think their parents could have made it by foot to the farmhouse and the police station is somewhere they may be taking refuge.
Ellie prayed that they were there, not just for her own sake, but for Corey's too.




13) The Man Named Dudley Do-Right

Down town in the county of Carrollton was just a few small federal offices, restaurants, fire department, police station and jail, all jammed along an ancient street sandwiched by the railroad tracks that ran throughout Georgia . D.D, whoever he was, had been right, the small downtown area had been obliterated. Evening sun made the remnant skeleton of a building, probably a shop, lie smoldering with scattered bricks all over the road, seem like they were in a war zone. A fire truck sat abandoned, in the middle of the street. Axel had to take a back street to go around numerous accidents and abandons cars.

Finally they saw the police station, where a white flag had been run up the flag pole lout front. Axel pulled in and put the car in park.

"Get your guns and let’s give a knock on the door," Axel said, as he picked up his own rifle.

They all climbed out, even Christy with her pistol shaking in her hands, and they walked up the three concrete stairs to the heavy, bullet proof front door. The stairs had blood splatters all over it. Axel began to knock on the door, but before he could lay a knuckle to it a voice came from above.

"State your business son!"

The four of them looked up to see a man with a bristled mustache, single heavy eyebrow and a cigarrette looking down at them with a shot gun in his hand.

"We were looking for shelter," Axel said, "A man on the police radio said we could find it here."

"You AW?"

Axel nodded, "And you? D.D.?

"That's me, Dudley Draper," he said as he took a long puff on his cigarette, "They used to call me Dudley Do-Right though. Heh."

"So, can you help us out? It’s getting dark," Corey asked, cutting to the chase.

"Yeah I reckon I can, provided none of you have been, touched blood of the crazies or breathed in any of that green gas shit."

"None of us are sick," Axel assured, "If you felt like we were, you would have killed us on sight."

"Smart man," D.D mused, "Hang on, I'll come open the door."

D.D disappeared from the window and Corey looked at Ellie with cutting eyes. "I don’t know about him."

Ellie looked back at him, "We just have to stay till morning."

A buzzer rang and the doors lock made a heavy click as it came open. D.D held the door open and they dashed inside. With a better view, Ellie could see a whole pack of cigarettes rolled in his plain white shirt sleeves, and a pair of cowboy boots on his feet. His badge gleamed on his belt loop.

"Welcome to hell my friends," he said through the cigarette in his teeth, "Glad to see you made it. Its been a seriously messed up week."

"Yeah," Corey said, "We know."

"What happened here exactly? I thought the bombs only hit the cities," Ellie asked, thinking of the smoldering building.

"Ah, well that’s true, but why don’t you come on up stairs and get some supper and I'll tell you."

He fed them oatmeal he "borrowed" from a store and water.

"When the bomb hit that night," he explained, "Everyone went on high alert, but it really didn’t do any good. Especially because nobody knew it was a bio-bomb that let out a gas which rotted away your brains. At first everything was okay here, we even sent some volunteers into Atlanta to help, but with the out flux of people in evacuations, they brought the toxin all the way out here. It gets in your blood stream, and makes you nuts. I guess it makes your blood boil or something, but that shop down the street was, up until this past week, a cover for a methlab. The user shared their needles, even the cook, and went crazy. Then, because nobody was there watching the lab...BOOM. It blew up and they scattered. Fire depot shows up to put in out and they get eaten alive just like that."

Christy looked green and put down her oatmeal.

"So you are the only one left in the town? Ellie whispered.

"My son was in the fire department," D.D said with hollowness, "My wife was in Atlanta."

"We're looking for our family," Corey said quietly, "Has anyone else passed through here?"

He described his parents and Ellie’s mom.
"Eh, no, no," D.D. said, "Sorry kid, haven’t seen anyone like that. I’m just trying to keep us alive."

Ellie  felt a sudden dizzy spell hit her. The whole room was spinning, her eye lids were heavy, and her body even heavier.
"US?" she slurred. Her lips seemed detached from her brain.

Her muscles were leaden and useless as the room spun and then the colors faded to black. She felt her body slam to the floor and that was the last sensation before unconsciousness engulfed her.