Before the World Ended
My name is Brontë Birch. Brontë like the author, Birch like the tree. I'll be the first to admit it's a unique name. The story behind it is weirder. My parents are both college lit professors and worshipers of the written word. They wanted to name me after a famous author or book character to commemorate their obsession. When my mom went into labor my dad was giving a talk at Stanford University and had his phone off. My grandpa got her call and drove her to the hospital.
When my grandpa got her call he was at the horse track winning big on a stallion named Brontë. After I was born my mom couldn't think of a name and grandpa suggested that. Seeing as Emily Brontë was my moms favorite author she chose the name. We didn't learn the truth until my 9th birthday party when grandpa had a little too much of his 'fun juice'.
Whenever I meet new people I generally tell them the first version of my name rather than the second. The year of my 10th birthday wasn't a good year for my family. My parents got divorced and my dad moved to the Bahamas with his new girlfriend. My mom was let go when the college went through a money drought. We moved from California to Montana and moved in with Gram and Gramps.
Everything changed on February 14th, my seventeenth birthday.
The End of the World
"Did you see the news?" I asked my friend Kelianne. The phones receiver crinkled as I heard her shifting around, probably to turn on the TV.
"Is it more stuff about the infected?" she guessed.
"What else would it be about? They've sent in swat teams to the big hospitals, it's insane."
"Ew, gross," Kelianne gasped. I assumed she'd just turned the TV to NBC news. They were covering a story about an infected woman who bit a chunk off her husbands face.
"I know right, totally disgusting. What do you think the disease is? Like mad cow or something?"
"Who knows, Muldoon has things pretty under control," she said in a reference to our town. Muldoon, Montana took small town to a whole new level. It was a jumble of houses at the base of a mountain, mixed in with a few general stores and a small cinema. Our highschool had less than two hundred students. Back in California there was 2000 some kids going to my school. But since we had a small town it seemed the infection hadn't spread yet. There was a few cases at the hospital of patients seemingly resuscitating only to attack their nurses.
"The good news is school across the country is being canceled for a few weeks until the CDC gets a vaccine released."
"Sweet, you me and Josh should go on a senior year hiking trip then," she suggested. Josh was our third friend, her neighbor. He went to our high school last year but graduated early and now works at the Hunters Boutique, from guns to gear is their motto.
"I doubt my mom will let me out of the house with all that's been going on. She's practically stockpiling and waiting for doomsday," I grumbled over the line. Kelianne muttered 'same.'
We chatted for a few minutes before she had to go have dinner. I hung up the phone and went into the kitchen to help my mom prepare whatever health nut stuff she'd bought today.
...
The fire alarms were blaring, they seemed to get louder each minute. However the fire department was otherwise occupied with the hospital and wouldn't have time to go to the cinema. Practically overnight Muldoon had gone to hell. Josh Kelianne and I were out for a late movie, and then we smelled smoke coming from the consessions room. A second later the fire alarms started, but the exits were locked.
So now me and my three friends are trapped in a burning theater with fifty other terrified people. Everyone is on the phone, either calling 911 who has put us on hold, or calling their family to say bitter goodbyes.
"Brontë!" Josh shouted. I glanced up, him and Kelianne were on the movie. I pulled myself to my feet and yanked my shirt up over my nose to keep some of the smoke out of my mouth. Sweat dripped down my forehead. I didn't know were the fire was, but everything around me felt hot to the touch.
"Were are we going?" I coughed out through my muffled fabric.
"Someone broke on of the doors open," Josh answered and dragged me towards the exit. Kelianne was outside waiting for us with the truck already pulled up, the doors open. Josh slid into the passenger seat and I rushed into the back. Then we sped out of that parking lot like the devil was on our tail. I looked out the window. Flames leaped out of the cinemas roof. It wouldn't be long before the whole structure collapsed. And it wasn't the only building on fire.
It seems an arson had had a field day. Infected wandered the streets, snapping at anyone who crossed their paths. It was so weird looking at them, they stumbled with a lopsided gate and had glazed over eyes. It was like they weren't even human anymore.
"Brontë? Brontë are you listening!" Josh demanded. I snapped out of my thoughts.
"Sorry, what were you saying?"
"Kelianne is dropping me off mat my house, and then at yours. Get your parents and you cars and anything you need - then meet up at the Hunting Botique in two hours," he instructed. I mutely nodded. Everything seemed surreal. I checked my phone, no messages or calls from my mom. Surprising since police sirens were dashing all across Muldoon. I didn't let myself worry, she was the worlds heaviest sleeper.
Kelianne finally reached my house, dropping me off. Her truck took off down the road to her house as I stood slightly miffed on my driveway. Were we actually fleeing Muldoon with our family's? Was this what it had come too? I knew things were bad in the big cities, but I never expected my small town to succumb to such chaos.
Two hours, meet at the Hunting Boutique. A voice in my head whispered. It put some pep in my step and I ran up the driveway, taking the key from under the flwoer pot to unlock the front door.
"Mom!" I shouted the the dark and silent house. "Mom we have to go, infected are everywhere!"
A figure moved in the shadows. At first I thought it was an infected who had somehow gotten inside. But the figure was clearly hiding. I saw them raise something. A chilling sensation told me they were holding a gun. I dropped to the ground right as they fired, the bullet disappearing out the open front door and into the night. Gram and Gramps had both passed years back, but mom left Gramps study relatively untouched. And I knew he kept a loaded revolver in his desk.
I scrambled along the floor before pulling myself to my feet and dashing through the house in darkness as two more bullets were fired somewhere. I flung open the study door and wrenched the desk drawer open. My fingers locked around the gun and I spun around right as the intruder froze in the doorway of the study. We both stood still, guns pointed, each of us gasping for air.
I didn't waste time negotiating. I fired.
It didn't register for a few seconds that I'd shot someone. But when the man started screaming bloody murder that snapped me out of my stupor. He dropped his gun and clutched his shoulder. I picked up his gun and smashed it over his head, knocking him into consciousnesses.
"Mom!" I shouted the the eerily silent house. "Please answer me, Mom!"
I found a light switch and blinked at the harsh glare of florescence. Lamps were knocked over and couch cushions flung about. Looks like the intruder had been a robber, and an unlucky one at that. I sprinted about the house. My mom wasn't anywhere. I pulled out my phone and called her four times. She didn't answer once, but I didn't hear her cell in the house meaning she had it with her, wherever she was.
I left a message saying I was meeting Josh and Kelianne at the Hunting Boutique. Then I set to work. I filled on of my suitcases with running clothes, sneakers, socks, underwear, and jackets. I shoved soaps toothbrushes and paste and hygiene products into a Ziploc which I dropped onto the pile of clothes. In another suitcase I loaded up what my mom had been stockpiling after the new stories about the infected started. Canned foods, protein bars, vitamins and medicines alike filled that case to the brim. And in the third suitcase I loaded up my camping gear.
Gramps used to take my camping all the time, so I had some high quality stuff he had given me as Christmas presents over the years. A collapsible tent, waterproof thermal sleeping bags, solar powered flashlights, handheld water purifiers, and anything else I found in my closet that could be used for survival. I wasn't being nitpicky.
I took the three suitcases to the garage and threw them in my moms truck. She had three spare tires in the bed of the truck as well. I ran back inside and grabbed a small backpack. Inside I threw in a family photo album, a few books, and other such memorabilia. My heart was racing, I knew I was forgetting something important.
"Niko!" I practically screamed. My cat, how could I forget my cat? I found her hiding under a bed. I unceremoniously shoved her in my backpack as well, despite her indignant hisses. I dropped the backpack in the passengers eat of the truck and Niko crawled out and made herself cozy on the seat. I grabbed her twenty pound bag of catfood and threw it in the truck bed as well. I still had thirty minutes before I needed to get to the Hunting Boutique.
I put all of grandpas guns in the truck, along with every case of ammo I could find. I grabbed a couple quilts as well for Niko to sleep on. The last thing I grabbed before I left the house was my locket. It wasn't a regular locket, there was a small turner on the bottom. It was a tiny music box that played Fur Elise, my dad had given it to me before he left.
I checked on the unconcious burgalur, he could;ve been dead at this point from the blood loss. I grabbed him by his shoudlers and dragged him outside of the house, he was a lot heavier than I thought and it took all of my strength to get him to the road. Running back inside I took a sharpie I scrawled in giant letters on the main wall of the house: WENT TO HUNTING BOUTIQUE
Then I broke every traffic law known to man in order to reach the boutique. I recognized the two trucks in the parking lot as Kelianne's and Josh's. I parked, grabbed Niko by the scruff, and banged on the front door of the store. Josh opened it a second later and pulled me inside before pulling down the blinds so no-one could see inside from the street. It was insane outside, everyone was running around the streets looking for family as fires blazed from within buildings. Infected hobbled around dangerously.
"Brontë where is your mom?" Kelianne asked, alarmed. I felt tears well up in the corner of my eyes.
"I thought she got my phone call and would be here, she wasn't at home. There was a burglar in my house..." I couldn't continue. Kelianne enveloped me in a hug and rubbed my back. She guided me to a chair and set my down.
"It'll be okay, your mom is fine, I'm sure." she comforted. The tears finally stopped and I was able to compose myself. I glanced around the store. Josh had both his parents and his younger sister with him. Kelianne had both her parents with her, but her older sister was away at college. Hopefully safe. And I had Niko, but no mom or dad. I hugged my cat a little tighter.
"What are we going to do?" I whispered.
"That's what we've been trying to figure out. Muldoon isn't safe. Clearly. But we don't know where to go besides to woods," Josh sighed and rubbed his forehead. The adults were all in a circle arguing. Drive to the coast, no to the mountains, drive to Canada, just start driving.
"My cabin!" I suddenly exclaimed. All eyes were on me. Kelianne clapped her hands, she knew what I was talking about.
"It's a long drive through the mountains, but my grandpa has a cabin in the mountains by a lake. It has it's own generator and water filtration system, and there is plenty of room for all of us," I explained. Silently I added, Plus that's the first place my mom will look for me, if she's out there.
"It might be our best option," Josh's dad amended. Everyone seemed to reach an agreement, my cabin was our destination. We ransacked the boutique of practically everything. It was, after all, a survival/camping shop. We found it quite useful. Before we left I wrote another message for my mom on the walls, telling her where I was headed next. I got in my truck and set Niko down on the quilts. Josh and hi family got in their car and Kelianne and hers got in theirs. I lead the way down the road towards the cabin.