At The Crossroads

Lourdes just stood there, staring unseeingly into the distance, Nick sitting on the kerb, holding a smoldering cigarette aloft with a shaking hand, threatening to drop it at any second. Traffic roared past, the world hurtling on, unaware it was on a collision course with cacophony. Lourdes pushed the hair almost absentmindedly out of her eyes, the gesture bordering on robotic, an automatic response. The dead were walking, and Nick now had blood on his hands, blood shed in her name, spilled so she would survive.

"Lo," Nick said, his voice cracking, "look at me."

Lourdes just ignored him, only hearing the sound of a single gunshot, the memory reverberating through the caverns of her consciousness.

"Lourdes," Nick reiterated, "I did it for you, and I'll take the blame – I – I take the blame now. But it was done for a reason, and you have to understand that." But he barely understood it himself, how he had done this, killing Calvin, his friend, his mentor, the one who had led him into the light, killing his pain with chemicals.

He had left Calvin lying in a crimson pool, blood breaking the banks of his inert body, Nick dragging Lourdes away. Terror had driven him to Travis, his trembling fingers taking Lourdes's cell and making the fatal phone-call, Travis answering on the first ring, Nick giving their locale and instructing Travis to come alone, before cutting off Travis's torrent of questions, silencing him with the simple push of a button.

Nick took another drag of his cigarette, leg ticcing, feeling like he was freefalling through reality, withdrawel symptons striking him all over again, the nicotine hit barely keeping them at bay. A horn honked, making Nick's head snap up, only to see Travis's truck slow to a stop at the side of the road, Travis and Madison piling out of the vehicle, faces white, the sight of his mother sending Nick reeling to his feet, Travis freezing at the look on Lourdes's face, alarmed by the empty expression in her eyes.

"I told you not to bring her!" Nick yelled at Travis, flinging his cigarette aside, the older man advancing on him, throwing off Madison's restraining hand.

"What the hell have you done to my daughter!?" Travis demanded, lunging at Nick.

"Enough!" Madison cried, throwing herself inbetween them. "What the hell is going on!?"

Nick just stared blankly at her, Travis pulling the still catatonic Lourdes into his arms, his face furious, looking as if he was going to rend Nick from limb to limb.

"Nick, baby, what happened!?" Madison demanded, grabbing Nick by the shoulders, forcing him to face her.

"I – I did it to protect Mother Hen, Mom," Nick whispered, shaking from head to foot, "I – I had to do it."

"Do what?" Madison pressed.

"I – I shot Cal," Nick stuttered, his eyes going wide with almost wonder, "I killed Cal."

Madison looked up at the sky, half closing her eyes, almost as if she asking God for guidance. "Get in the truck," she ordered abruptly, grabbing Nick by the arm, Travis taking Lourdes by the elbow. Before Nick and Lourdes could react, they were being hustled into the truck, their respective parents brooking no resistance. As they then set off, Lourdes and Nick wedged between Travis and Madison, Travis drove, Madison talking ten to the dozen, trying to convince Nick that killing Cal was nothing more than a drug-addled dream. But Nick simply stared straight ahead, her words washing over him like rain, whilst Lourdes tried to stay lost, refusing to come back to reality, but the sound of Madison's voice sliced into her skull, cutting her adrift from denial, forcing her to face facts.

"The dead are walking," Lourdes said in a low voice, making Madison do a double-take.

"What did you say, sweetie?" Madison said, exchanging a worried glance with Travis over their heads, but he frowned, not saying anything, trying to stop Madison from finding out he'd lied to her, even as he refused to believe the bullshit the dead didn't have the decency to stay dead, both him and Madison unaware of the unfolding chaos that was being broadcast on every news channel.

"I said the dead are walking!" Lourdes suddenly screamed, spit flecking the air, making everybody flinch violently.

"Okay, that is enough," Madison said, recovering her cool, "turn the truck around, Travis. It's obvious what's went down here – Lourdes has literally took a trip and Nick is just coming down from his particular high" -

- "It's true, Mom," Nick whispered, still staring ahead, "the dead are coming back" -

- "Look, whatever this is, it stops right here, right now," Madison snapped, "Cal's not dead and the dead definitely aren't walking, and I'll goddamn prove it, right here, right now" -

- "Dad, for chrissake, tell her," Lourdes pleaded, turning to him, tears shimmering in her eyes, "for God's sake, tell her!"

- "There's nothing to tell, Lourdes," Travis said through gritted teeth, swinging the steering wheel round as they headed through the tunnel in the direction of the river culvert.

- "What about the church" -

-"Lourdes" -

"Check your cell, Madison," Lourdes urged,"Google what's happening" -

"Nothing is happening" -

- "Mom, check your cell," Nick begged as Lourdes scrabbled wildly for her own cell, "please, it'll be all over the Internet" -

- "THAT IS ENOUGH!" Madison yelled, grabbing Lourdes's wrist, halting her frantic search. "After I show you what the score is, we are going home and we are going to call the doctor," she hissed at Nick, her fingers digging into Lourdes's flesh. "And then we'll decide what we're going to do next in a rational manner" -

- "Dad, stop the truck," Lourdes suddenly said, "I want to get out."

"We'll stop when I say so," Madison snapped, "now where did Nick apparently kill Cal!?"

"Just fucking let me out! I have to find Mom and Chris!" Lourdes snapped, tearing herself out of Madison's grip, "so stop the goddamn truck!"

A figure suddenly loomed up in front of the truck, forcing Travis to brake to an abrupt halt, everybody flying forwards in their seats, grabbing the dashboard for support. Standing in the centre of the road was what had once been Calvin, Madison doing an almost comical double-take, trying to ascertain the truth of what she was seeing.

"Holy shit," Travis breathed, looking shocked, before undoing his seat-belt, pulling out his cell as he opened the cab door.

"Dad, don't," Lourdes sobbed, trying to hold him back, Travis detaching himself from her death grip with some difficulty, Madison and Nick both grabbing her, stopping her from following him for different reasons, the Clarks caught between the truth and a comforting lie.

Lourdes whimpered into her hands, watching her father approach Calvin, Madison now staring at her in shock, realising too late Lourdes was stone cold sober and not stoned. Before she could say anything, Calvin suddenly lunged for Travis, teeth bared, eyes wild, making everybody in the cab scream, Madison throwing herself out of the truck, Nick yelling at her to come back, Lourdes breaking down into hysterics, losing complete control of herself.

As Travis wrestled wildly with Calvin, the sight of Cal's clouded gaze almost immobilizing Lourdes into imbecility, Madison grabbed Calvin from behind, trying to drag him off Travis. Without warning, Nick suddenly seized the steering wheel, slamming his foot down, driving the truck straight at the trio, frantically honking the horn, Travis casting Cal into the vehicle's path as he hauled himself and Madison out of it.

The truck collided with Calvin, sending him flying, Nick jerking the truck to a halt, staring out from beneath his shaggy hair at where Calvin had stood, his breath coming in ragged gasps, Lourdes curled up in her seat, arms wrapped around her head. Time seemed to slow down, Nick just waiting, waiting, waiting, only to see Calvin stagger to his feet again, approaching the truck with deliberate intent, Nick grabbing the gearstick, throwing the truck forwards, slamming it into Calvin for the second time, only to catch his corpse on its hood.

Gritting his teeth, Nick rammed the truck in the direction of the river culvert, driving out of the darkness and into the daylight, before suddenly skidding to a halt, sending Calvin sprawling onto the concrete in a tangle of limbs, both his legs bent backwards, his arms at unnatural angles. Without a word, Nick clambered out of the cab, moving with uncharacteristic purpose. For a moment, he was a man, but as he drew level with Calvin's twitching cadaver, he faltered, before falling onto his knees, reverting back to the lost little boy he really was.


As Travis sped down the freeway, his face bloodless, eyes wild, Madison frantically phoned Alicia, only to reach voicemail every time, Lourdes experiencing the same setback when trying to contact her mother, brother and Tobias, the tears rolling down her face as she redialled their numbers over and over again. Nick sat between them, hunched over the radio, turning the dial with manic speed, snatches of static interspersed with emergency bulletins shattering the silence.

"I can't believe this is happening," Madison murmured, shaking her head, "it can't be."

"It is, Mom," Nick said through gritted teeth, "so suck it up."

"Don't talk to your mother like that," Travis reproved almost automatically, his hands gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.

"You're not my dad, Travis," Nick drawled, his fingers trembling as he fiddled with the frequency, "so don't act like it."

"Somebody has to keep you in line," Travis snapped, making Madison's head snap up in turn.

"Are you criticising my parenting?" she said dangerously, blue eyes suddenly blazing.

"Just don't, okay!?" Lourdes suddenly screeched, startling them all into silence. "Now is so not the time!"

Travis stared straight ahead, his leg ticcing, thinking of his son and his ex-wife, where they were, if they were even still alive. "This – this isn't real," he muttered, everything he'd observed contradicting reality, turning fiction into fact.

"I told you this shit was going down and you didn't believe me," Lourdes spat, "and I get why you wouldn't – I didn't believe Toby either until it was almost too late. But I faced the fucking facts, Dad, when you didn't. You seen what went down in the church, you knew something had happened there, and you still stuck your head in the sand" -

- "That's enough, Lo," Madison interjected, Lourdes rounding on her, face furious.

"Hey, he lied to you," Lourdes hissed, "about Nick, the church and everything."

"None of that matters now," Madison said, her voice cracking. "All that counts is keeping our family together." Turning away from Lourdes, she tried dialling the school, seeing if Alicia could be reached there, only to hit the same brick wall. Just as she was ready to fling her phone out of the window in frustration, Lourdes's cell suddenly went off, Lourdes frantically answering it, thinking it was her family, only to discover it was Tobias, the terrible relief making her slump back in her seat.

"Where are you?" Tobias demanded, not even allowing Lourdes to speak. "You ditched math class, man!"

"Never mind that," Lourdes snapped, "what's going down at your end!? Are you okay!?"

"The army evacuated the school," Tobias said in a rush, "rounded us up like cattle and sent us home on the school buses. It is truly the end of days, Lourdes, although I am not mourning the end of my education - excepting of course the aforementioned math class."

"Did you see Alicia?" Lourdes asked, motioning Madison to keep quiet, struggling to hear Tobias as the signal fluctuated wildly.

"She bailed on the afternoon torture sessions as well," Tobias said after a brief silence, Lourdes almost able to envision his brow furrowing, "and whilst I do not make a regular habit of keeping tabs on the upper echelons of high school society, I have noticed Matt has been M.I.A, which may perhaps also explain Alicia's absence."

"I - I – I have to go, Toby," Lourdes said reluctantly, thinking that her mother or brother might be trying to reach her, "but stay safe and stay in contact, okay? We'll – we'll make it through."


Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside...

Lourdes locked the front door behind her, before leaning her head against the wood, trying and failing to take back control. Madison had commandeered the car, driving over to Matt's in a desperate attempt to find Alicia, Travis taking the bloodstained truck and heading over to Liza's, hoping against hope he would find her and Chris there. Both adults had instructed Nick and Lourdes to stay in the house and away from the windows and doors, double-checking everything was secure before leaving, the screech of tyres fading into the distance.

"I am not going to the desert with your dad," Nick snapped, peering through the blinds, watching Mrs. Cruz potter about her front lawn, finishing off the final preparations of her nine year old's birthday party, obviously not getting the memo the world was ending, "no fucking way."

Lourdes turned around, tiredly pushing the hair out of her eyes with a shaking hand, barely recalling her father's desperate desire to find sanctuary outside the city, tossing together an escape plan as he drove the truck through downtown LA, envisioning the sidewalks swarming with the dead instead of the living. Ignoring Nick's admonitions, she tried phoning her mother and brother again, praying they would just pick up.

"We should go and tell them," Nick said, staring with almost alarming intensity at Mrs. Cruz now struggling with a tray of soda cans, "they don't know the dead are coming."

Lourdes glanced up from her cell, tears filling her eyes again, trying and failing to stop them falling.

Nick glanced over his shoulder at her, the full weight of her stare hitting him like a train. "Don't – don't look at me like that, Mother Hen," he said shakily, trying to block out the beads of sweat breaking out on his brow, "I had to do it."

"You killed Cal" -

- "He was going to kill you," Nick hissed, rounding on her, "and then me." He swayed on the spot, clenching his fists, fingernails digging into his palms, cutting curves in his skin. "It's kill or be killed," he said slowly, stars starting to explode in front of his eyes, "us or them" -

- "Don't" -

- "We are about to step into a world of shit," Nick whispered, tears filling his own eyes, remembering the church and Gloria with blood dripping from her lips, "big-time, Lourdes" - Before she could react, he suddenly collapsed, hitting the ground at high speed.

"Nick!" she screamed, rushing over to him, rolling him onto his side.

"Turn the volume down, Lo," Nick whined, "please."

"You're relapsing," Lourdes said stupidly, staggering to her feet.

"I – I can't go cold turkey like this," Nick barely breathed, dark eyes dilating, "I – I need to wean myself off it bit by bit, baby steps, man" -

- "I know," Lourdes snapped, trying and failing to pull herself together, "I goddamn know, Nick! Do – do you have a stash somewhere!?"

"Mom flushed it all away," Nick winced, "the toilet getting my tricks."

"What – what about your prescription!?" Lourdes stuttered, clutching at straws.

"I haven't been here for a long time, Lo," Nick said, closing his eyes, "so praying for a prescription won't work."

"I can phone the doctor" -

- "Only to end up in Voicemail Central," Nick sing-songed, "don't waste your credit, little girl."

- "Then what do I fucking do!?" Lourdes screamed, making Nick flinch.

- "You can get me a bucket for starters," Nick said, wrapping his arms around his head. "I think I'm going to throw up. You may need to hold my mane back."