Chapter 1

It Can't Be Happening

"I think that's everything Jake," I said as I brought out the last box from the apartment.

Jake looked at me and asked if I was sure. I put the box into the car and thought about it for a second and then decided I should check again.

"Well let me go upstairs and see if I left anything there." I ran up the stairs and looked around the apartment. There was nothing left.

As I looked around some old memories started to come back to me. Of course not all of the memories were good ones. It was a little over a year since I came to this apartment and a lot had happened in that time. A separation, divorce, kids crying that they wanted me back home, Kim taking the kids to Florida and of course to top it off, I lost my job. Enough of the memories, I had to get back to the car because we had a two day, seventeen hour journey ahead of us.

I ran down the stairs and when I got outside I yelled, "FLORIDA HERE I COME!!!"

Jake looked at me like I was crazy but he knew what I had been through and that Florida would be a blessing for me. We both got in the SUV to start our journey.

"Let's go fat boy," I said to Jake.

He just laughed and gave me the middle finger. It's not like Jake was a fat guy, he was just a big guy. He was six foot four and weighed around two hundred and fifty pounds. Jake was once a football star who loved to lift weights and now it was catching up to him. Jake was not a sensitive guy either so he had no problem with me calling him fat boy.

Jake and I were leaving cold and dreary Ohio and were off to sunny Florida. My car was packed with all of my stuff that I felt I needed until my furniture arrived. I started up the car and turned on the satellite radio.

"What kind of crap are you listening to?" Jake asked as I was banging my head to some music on the heavy metal satellite station.

"Hey, when you're driving you can hear what you want to and when I am driving I will listen to what I want to." I said.

I then asked Jake to turn on the GPS and enter my parents address in South Carolina. It was noon and we had eight hours to go until we reached their house. We left the apartment complex and started our trip south.

About an hour into the trip Jake leaned over and lowered the radio. "Are you going to be alright Ben?"

I sighed and turned the radio back up again.

Jake leaned over and turned the radio off this time. "I will kick your ass if you don't talk to me." He said with a serious tone in his voice.

I felt I had to say something or Jake would do something to cause me to wreck. "I'm going to be ok. It's just been a tough year. Of course I chose the divorce but I didn't realize it was going to be so hard. I love those kids so much and now I changed their lives forever."

Jake could tell that it really hurt me a lot. "You know they still love you Ben," Jake said with a concerned voice, which was rare for his sarcastic ass.

"I know but it doesn't make it any easier. Plus I hurt a nice person like Kim." I could feel myself choke up a little. I couldn't get too emotional around Jake because I would never hear the end of it. "Of course there were many lonely days. Then this January she decided to move to Florida, followed by me losing my job in February. I don't know how I have survived it all."

Jake could tell I was not feeling comfortable talking about this so he leaned over and turned on the music again. He made the music so loud my eardrums were pounding. "Here you go, listen to your stupid head banging music and forget about the past and start living for the future." Neither of us knew at the time that the future would be a big question mark.

Two more hours passed and we were into the mountains of West Virginia. It was beautiful country but you better pay close attention to the road or you could run off a cliff or worse, be flattened by a semi truck. I looked over at Jake and he was passed out. It was kind of gross because he had drool on his face, he was snoring loudly and he had his hand in his pants. I decided to pick up my phone and take a picture of it. Now I had blackmail material for years to come.

I was now listening to shock jock Henry Shaw on my satellite radio and laughing my ass off to him and his great crew.

Then out of the blue I heard something from Henry that I will never forget. "Ok everyone I have some disturbing news that I have to report and this is not a joke. I repeat this is not part of the show and this is not a joke." His voice was serious and he sounded scared as well. "I have just been told that there are some riots going on in the streets of New York. It seems like these riots are going on all over the city and it's getting out of control."

There was silence for a second and then he came back on the radio, "Fans I want to reiterate that this is not a joke or part of the show and that this is real. We are getting word that there are large groups of people destroying property and even worse killing innocent people."

There was another break in the action and then you could hear Henry's ace reporter Jim Wesley whisper something in his ear. Henry came back on the air, "Ok fans its Henry again and there is more disturbing news. I was just informed that this madness is going on in Chicago, LA and Miami as well. I've been told to leave the studio but I will stay here to bring you guys, my fans, the information you need during this crisis."

All off a sudden there was dead air for about three minutes and then Henry came back on, "Fans, I think the end might finally be here. For those of you who think that this is some kind of Henry Shaw stunt you are wrong. People are going crazy in the streets and killing other people and it's not only happening here but also in other cities in the U.S. I just heard that Kansas City, Philly and Atlanta are reporting large groups of people doing inhumane things to each other."

You can then hear Larry, the producer, tell Henry that there was a fan on the phone that wanted to report what was going on in Queens. "Ok we have Mark from Queens on the line. What is going on Mark?" Henry said in a rather unusually calm voice.

"Henry it's the freaking end of the world. I was walking my dog and I saw this group of people ruuuuuuun up up up up to a guy and just tore him to shreds. Then my stupid little shitty dog I never wanted, but my bitch of a wife begged me to get, started barking which made the crowd look at me and chaaaaaase me me me me," said a crazed Mark.

Henry started to get agitated and yelled into the microphone, "Mark what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you talking so weird? Just stay calm and finish telling me the story."

Mark answered quickly, "I let go of the leash and and and then ran for my life. I saw them scoop up the dog and rip it apart. Finally that little shit got what it deserved. Ha, ha, ha, ha."

Henry took Mark off the air for a second and spoke to the audience, "My followers, there is something really going on that is not right. I suggest you lock yourself in your houses and wait until this passes."

Larry interrupted Henry and told him to get Mark back on the air again because there was something wrong with him. Henry seemed annoyed at the way that Mark was acting but he realized he needed to keep his audience informed so he put him back on the air.

"Mark please give us your story and stop acting like an idiot." Henry said.

Mark started to laugh like a lunatic, "Ok mister big shot radio star. Like I was saying, after they ripped my dog apart one of the crazies chased me to my apartment and bit me. Can you believe he bit me and you know what, it freaking hurt Henry? Anyway, I was able to get inside but I've been feeling really weird and angry since since since then. AAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

There was dead silence on the phone for a second and then Mark got back on, "Henry, are you still there? I'm feeling feeling muuuuuch better now. Do you think you can come down to my house and visit me you big shot radio star? Wait I hear someone coming into the house. Oh look, it's my beautiful crazy wife. Honey you look wonderful today. Come here and give your favorite husband a hug ." Henry hung up the line because he knew what was coming next.

BEEEEPPPPP. Holy shit, I was so involved with the radio show that I almost ran into a semi truck.

It startled Jake and he looked over and glared at me. "Are you trying to kill me Ben?"

I just stared at Jake and wasn't sure how to break the news to him. I lowered the radio and proceeded to tell him what I heard on the Henry Shaw Show.

Jake looked at me like I was losing my mind. "How do you listen to that idiot Ben? You know all he does is make up shit all of the time." Jake said as he thought it was all a hoax.

Just then Jake's phone rang and when he answered it he held the speaker away from his ear because the person on the other end of the phone was yelling at him. "Mary what's wrong? Why are you yelling? Calm down and tell me what's going on. Who is trying to get into the house?"

I could see the fear in Jakes' eyes as he heard his wife talking to him. "Mary what is that noise? Listen. Lock yourself and the kids in the room. MARY? MARY?" Jake yelled into the phone but got no response. Jake closed the phone and dialed her number again. No answer. He tried three more times and still no answer. Jake looked over at me and then looked out the window with a confused and concerned look in his eyes.

I knew we had to get off the main road and get to a store or gas station to find out what was really going on. Plus, I had to call Kim and the kids to make sure they were all right. Tampa must have been one of the cities that were affected because that's where Mary and Jake's kids were.

Kim, Rose, and Greg were in Lakeston, which was about 40 minutes east of Tampa. So maybe my family was ok. I pulled off the first exit that I saw even though it didn't have any signs for Gas, Food or Lodging. I figured that we might be better off in a remote town away from the heavily populated areas.

We drove for about a mile and all we saw were a couple of cars passing us on the road. There were no stores or gas stations anywhere. I was getting worried because it was three o'clock and the last thing I wanted to do was to get caught in the dark with all of this mayhem going on.

Just then Jake stopped staring out of the window and looked over at me. "I'm sorry Ben. I guess Henry was right. I could hear these mad shrieks in the background while Mary was talking to me and then the phone went dead. I could only imagine what happened to them. It was like something out of a bad horror movie." Jake then stopped talking and went back to staring out of the window. It was really strange seeing this big guy who was never afraid of anything have this fear in his eyes.

I drove for a couple more miles and then I noticed an old store on the left hand side of the road. The store was called Murphy's and it looked like it had been around for years.

Jake stopped staring out of the window again and turned to me. "Where do you have your gun Ben?"

I pointed to the back of the SUV. "The gun is in the trunk and the cartridge and bullets are in the lock box in the back seat. Why?" I asked.

Jake's expression went from fear to insanity, "We have to get the gun out as soon as possible before those things come after us. Does the gun handle well?"

I gave Jake a puzzled look as I answered him, "I don't know. I never used it."

Jake now gave me a confused look, "You have a gun and you've never used it? Not even at a shooting range?"

I threw up my hands, "Listen man, I've been lucky that I never had to shoot anyone and that so called friend of mine, Chase, promised me that he would take me to a range but always backed out at the last second."

Jake smirked, "So what if someone did break into your apartment Ben, what would you have done then?"

I thought about it for a second and then pointed my fingers like a gun at Jake. "I would have blown their fucking heads off."

Jake just shook his head and looked at me like I was crazy. I was a little embarrassed but I also knew that if something were to happen I would be ready to do what I had to do.

We pulled into Murphy's and stopped the SUV near the entrance. The only other car parked there was an old 1950's cherry red pick up truck. We sat in the SUV for a few seconds wondering if it was safe to go inside or not. We finally decided we had no choice but to find out what was going on.

"Let's get the gun out before we go inside. You never know what's going to come out." Jake said with a sense of urgency in his voice.

I agreed and went and got the gun, cartridge and bullets and gave them to Jake. I figured it would be better off in his hands since he had experience with one.

After I gave Jake the gun I noticed that it was eerily quiet outside. "Isn't it really creepy around here?" I asked Jake. "The last time it felt like this was in 2004 right before Hurricane Charley came through Florida."

Jake agreed and then started to walk towards the store but I asked him to wait until I made my phone call to Kim. I picked up my phone and started calling.

The phone rang a few times and finally Kim answered, "Hello Ben, is that you?" For the first time in a long time I was so relieved to hear her voice.

"How are the kids doing? Is there anything going on there yet? Where are you staying?" I rambled on and Kim told me to stop and let her answer me.

"Greg and I are at Lori's house with her family but Rose went to the mall with her friends and I haven't heard from her. I tried to call but her phone is off. I'm so scared Ben and I'm not sure what to do. When are you getting here?" Kim asked with fear in her voice.

I wasn't sure what to tell her but I tried my best, "Well Jake and I are still far away but we are going to be there as soon as possible. Can I talk to Greg?"

I could hear Kim crying as she handed the phone over to Greg. "Hi daddy, I'm scared and I miss you and Rose is not home and not answering her phone and I'm really scared daddy."

I wanted to break down but I had to be strong for Greg's sake, "Listen kiddo, you stay there with mommy and I'm sure Rose will get home soon. I'm sure all of this madness will end and I will get to see you. You can text me anytime you feel scared, ok?"

Greg sighed, "Yes daddy. I will text you a bunch so stay by your phone. Please come here soon because I miss you."

Greg handed the phone back to Kim, "Please get down here as soon as possible Ben and be careful." That was the nicest Kim had been to me since I left.

"I will and take care of the kids. Text my phone when Rose gets home please. Bye." I said as I hung up the phone.

I opened the phone back up and selected the pictures option. I had a bunch of the photos of the kids in there and I scrolled through them and started to have this empty feeling in my stomach. I didn't know if I would ever see them again and it was my fault because I wanted the divorce.

Jake came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder, "Let's go inside Ben. We need to find out what is going on." I agreed and we walked into Murphy's.

When we walked in the store we saw an old man watching the news on his black and white television that was located behind the counter. Jake and I approached the counter and startled the old man.

He lifted up a shotgun and pointed it right at us, "Are you guys one of them? I sure hope not because I'm not really in the mood to kill anyone today."

Jake was ready to lift his gun from his pocket when I put my hand down and stopped him.

"No sir, we actually heard what was going on while listening to the radio in the car. So it's true what their saying?" I asked him in hopes that he would tell me that it wasn't as bad as Henry Shaw was saying.

The old man lowered his gun and adjusted his bifocals. "Well son, it's not looking too good. It appears that some unexplained disease has infected every major city in the world."

Jake interrupted the old man, "You mean it's not just the United States?"

The old man shook his head no. "It's all over the world. At first people thought it was a terrorist attack but every country in the world is having these breakouts. It's even happening in the countries where the terrorists are hiding out."

I looked over at Jake and shook my head. "Maybe it's truly the end of the world. Wow, I figured it would be a lot different than this."

The old man came around the counter and raised his hand to shake ours. "Hi, my name is William Murphy. This store has been in my family for over 100 years. I just hope what is going on in the big cities stays there so this store can be around for another 100 years. So, what are your names and where were you guys headed to?"

Jake shook his hand first, "Hi, I'm Jake Sullivan and we were heading to Florida."

I then shook his hand, "Hi, I'm Ben Fox and I'm the reason we are both headed to Florida. It's a long story that I don't think we have time for now."

Mr. Murphy looked us up and down. You could tell he was a man set in his ways but one who also lived by old time morals that didn't exist anymore. He headed back around the counter.

"I know you boys probably have families in Florida and want to get there as soon as possible but if I were you I would wait here until things simmer down. They are saying all of the major highways are jam-packed and no one should dare go into the cities. The disease is spreading quickly and it is best that everyone stay locked up in their houses."

Mr. Murphy had a good point but I couldn't imagine leaving my kids down there without making an attempt to get there as soon as possible.

Jake walked over to me, "Listen, I know what you're thinking about and I'm feeling the same way. But maybe we should stay around here for awhile until this is all over."

I felt angry that Jake was saying this and then I said something I regretted, "Just because you think your family is probably dead doesn't mean that I'm not going to try to make it to save my family."

Jake took a step back from me. I then realized how selfish and stupid that was. Jake came to Ohio to help me drive down and if it wasn't for me he would have been with his family to help them out.

Jake started to walk away when I grabbed his arm, "I can't believe I just said that to you. Listen man, I am so sorry for saying that. It's my fault you are even here."

Jake looked back at me, "Listen Ben, I don't know what happened to my family but I can understand where you are coming from. Regardless, we have to stick together now because this isn't going to be pretty and we need each other to survive."

I nodded my head in acknowledgement and we both walked back to the counter.

"So Mr. Murphy, do you have any suggestions as to where we can hide out?" Jake asked.

Mr. Murphy stood there for a second and stared at the both of us. He opened the cash register and pulled out a set of keys.

"About a half a mile on the right there is a dirt road that is blocked off by a chain. You will know you are there when you see an old wooden sign that reads – TRESSPASS AND YOU MAY NEVER LEAVE -. I put that up there just to scare off any outsiders that may want to hunt on my property. The brown key opens up the lock on the chain and the silver keys are for my cabin. The cabin is about a mile down the dirt road. Luckily you have a SUV because the road is rough on little cars."

He then reached under the counter and pulled out a handgun and some ammo. "You guys may need some sort of protection up there until I arrive. Do you know how to use this?"

Jake pulled my gun from his pocket and nodded his head yes. Mr. Murphy stepped back for a second and seemed alarmed that we had a gun.

He then leaned over the counter and smiled, "So you guys had a gun all along and didn't use it when I pulled a gun on you."

I smiled too, "I could tell you were a good person Mr. Murphy and you would not use it against us unless we were trouble."

Mr. Murphy was serious now, "I know you guys aren't trouble. That's why I am letting you use my cabin."

He then shut off the TV and instructed Jake and I to take as much food and beverages as we could and load it into the SUV. "Although I have a lot of things in my cabin, you boys also need to take as many supplies as you can as well."

About a half an hour later Jake and I finished loading up the SUV and headed back into the store. We approached the counter and I grabbed the gun that Mr. Murphy gave us.

Jake decided to head to the back of the store, "I'm going to get a case of beer. If I'm going to die soon, I want to at least feel good doing so."

I looked at Mr. Murphy and shook my head in disbelief. Just then the front doors of the store swung open and two guys came flying in. One guy looked like he came straight out of a redneck movie. He wore his work shirt from the local car shop with the name Jay printed on it. He had a cowboy hat on and cowboy boots to match. The other guy looked like a 1980's head banger with his black heavy metal shirt, torn jeans and worn sneakers.

"I'm sorry Mr. Murphy, but we are looting your store." Said the red neck with his gun pointed at both of us.

The head banger didn't have a gun but he did have a baseball bat. My gun was in my front pocket and Mr. Murphy's shotgun was behind the counter.

Mr. Murphy walked towards the two men and tried to be cordial to them, "Jay and Billy Carlson, what in Gods creation are you guys trying to pull? I would let you guys have whatever you wanted. All you have to do is ask."

Jay lifted the gun right into Mr. Murphy's face, "Listen old man. Just because you are Stanley's pop doesn't mean we won't kill ya. As we see it, it's the end of the world and it's every man for himself."

Mr. Murphy was now shaking with anger. I could feel this fury come over me too. I wanted to mess these guys up so bad.

Billy kept pounding the bat into his hand while he walked over to me. "Who are you stranger? Are you here robbing the old man too?" Then he looked back at Jay, "I think you should put a bullet in this guys head right now."

For some reason I wasn't scared at all but I was becoming very irritated at the entire situation. Then the retard had to open his mouth. His two front teeth were missing and I started laughing, "Where the hell are your teeth man?"

Mr. Murphy looked over at me like I was crazy and I just smiled back at him. Jay pointed the gun at me when, WHAM!!, Jake hit him in the side of the head with a fire extinguisher. Jay was out cold.

I then pulled out my gun and aimed it right at Billy's face, "Not so tough now are we Billy Joe Jim Bob?"

Billy dropped the bat to the ground and gave me one hell of a dirty look. Mr. Murphy got his shotgun from behind the counter while Jake went and picked up Jay's gun.

Mr. Murphy aimed the shotgun right at Billy's head and screamed at him, "I never liked you punks! My boy Stanley would still be alive if he never hung out with you losers!"

I could see that Mr. Murphy was so angry that he was shaking. I really thought he was going to put a hole in Billy's head. I had a feeling that if Jake and I weren't there he would have killed them both.

I walked over to Mr. Murphy and asked, "Is there a place that we could lock up these guys so they won't bother anyone else?" Mr. Murphy didn't respond at all as he kept staring at Billy.

Jake now walked over to Mr. Murphy and raised his voice, "Mr. Murphy!!! I don't know what they did to your boy but two wrongs don't make a right. Now where can we lock up this trash?"

At first Mr. Murphy looked over at us with a blank stare and then he came back to earth. "I'm sorry fellows, I don't know what came over me. Yes, I have a storage room in the back that we can lock them in." Mr. Murphy said as he pointed to the back of the store.

We made Billy carry Jay with him to the storage room. We locked them both in there to rot or at least until the police came to take them away.

As we walked away Billy started pounding on the door, "You guys better hope we don't get out and find you somewhere because it will be the end of you."

We all looked at each other and started laughing as we walked back to the front of store.

Jake picked up the case of beer and started for the door when he abruptly turned around and looked at me. "By the way, next time take off the safety when you are ready to shoot someone."

He just laughed and walked out the door. I could hear Mr. Murphy chuckle under his breath too while we both exited and met Jake by the SUV.

"Ok, you boys know where to go now, right?" Mr. Murphy asked as he pointed down the road.

Jake loaded the beer into the back seat, "Yes sir and thank you for all of your help."

Mr. Murphy stuck out his hand to shake Jake's, "I have a good feeling about you guys. I am going to pick up my wife and meet you guys at the cabin in a couple of hours."

He then came to shake my hand, "There is something special about you Ben. I can feel it. You are going to be an important person when this is all over."

I shook his hand, "I think you might have me mistaken with someone who has actually achieved something in life."

He then squeezed my hand tighter and stared me right in the eyes, "No son, I am never wrong with my intuition."

I just nodded and didn't say anything else. Mr. Murphy let go of my hand and started to walk towards the cherry red pick up truck. He turned around and waved at us, got into his truck and drove away.

Jake walked over to me, "He's a really nice guy but that was a little weird at the end."

I looked over at Jake, "Yeah he scared the shit out of me. I don't know what he was talking about. I just want to go to the cabin and wait there for a day or so and then get home and see my kids."

We both got into the SUV and drove towards the cabin.

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