It started out just like any day, students were walking through the quad going about their many on goings and enjoying their college experience to the fullest. Nothing about today would have raised any alarm had it not been for the literal sirens that started going off in every direction. At first it was like everything was at a standstill, what was it for; a fire drill, bomb threat, a murderer on a spree? Anything would have been better than what it really was.
The sirens stop just in time for a voice to come over the campus speakers. "Students, please vacate the campus and make your way to Atlanta where the city has arranged a safe zone for all of you." The voice pauses for a second. "Stay safe, and may God have mercy on our souls." Laughter erupts around the quad while a small few share panicked glances around. Everything goes back to normal and I like most students continue on their way.
Some dumb kids probably got a hold of the intercom and thought they would be funny. Who do they think we are? "Elijah, can you believe it?" Roderick my giant roommate comes walking up to me near the science building. "Believe what?" I ask looking at his grinning face. "I'm pretty sure that was a Pi Kapp announcing over the intercoms, they have the best sense of humor. I gotta get in with them next semester." He says slowing his stride to walk beside me at my much shorter pace. "You think that was funny? Some kids genuinely looked scared when they heard that." I say looking up at him covering my eyes from the sun above his head. He laughs boisterously, "Oh come on, any idiot that fell for that deserved to get pranked." He slaps his hands to either side of his face before standing stock still. "Oh no, everyone run from the ominous thing!" He jokes causing a few students around us to laugh as well. I wait for a moment to let him get over his hilarity. "Yeah but the sirens? How do you think they managed that?" He looks thoughtful for a second and just as he prepares to answer a piercing scream echoes across the quad causing everyone to stop in their path.
I look up at Roderick and a smirk spreads back on his face. "Seriously, you guys need to learn to take a joke." The scream continues causing a few students to rush off in different directions, some running towards the screams. "Wanna check it out?" Roderick says tugging at my sleeve in the direction of the screams. "Oh yeah, lets run in the direction of the screams, never a bad choice." I laugh beginning to walk with him before my phone rings. "Give me a second, I'll catch up." I say as he runs towards the screams with a boyish joy.
Staring down at my phone I see a name I haven't seen in a while. Emmanuel Calvert, my older brother. To get the relationship between my brother and I you have to know more about my family. My brother and I were born to Lorelei and Joseph Calvert. The two were married shortly after my father found out he got my mom pregnant with Emmanuel. He was a devout Christian who believed that no child should be born outside of marriage. The two were never truly happy but let their fate hold them and our family together. All of my young adult life my father was obsessed with the idea of the apocalypse, so much so that he trained his two sons how to handle weapons and survive as soon as we were old enough to walk. Emmanuel was always better than me at everything and my father took an obvious shine to him. Always belittling me and pointing out how talented my brother was. You would think that would cause my brother and I to be distant, but actually he was the only one who ever stood up for me. Eventually when I got older and came out to my family he stood firmly by my side and wouldn't let them say a bad thing about me. For years I could see the disdain in my father's eyes. My mother and I didn't reconcile things until she was on her deathbed from breast cancer. Even though she was quiet and never stood up for me against my father, I knew she loved me so when she begged my forgiveness I didn't think twice before embracing her one last time.
Shortly after Emmanuel turned 18 he packed up our things and was leaving to the city. My father was furious, he spent his whole life training us and we would abandon him. He threatened to leave us out of his will and disown the both of us but it didn't matter. Emmanuel and I left and that was the last time I saw my father because he died in a car accident weeks later. We spent the next three years of our life attempting to be normal. Emmanuel bounced around from job to job for a while before finding something stable. I on the other hand blended right in with school. Average student but when it came to extracurriculars I was considered something special. Full scholarship ride to a magnet school because of my archery skills that even got me into Mercer University. I suppose I did have my dad to thank for that though I would never admit it. When I left for college though Emmanuel and I spoke less and less, I think our father's death bothered him more than he let on, though we were not close I know the only issues between the two of them was me.
"E?" I ask after finally answering the phone. Not even a moment passes before I hear his deep voice cry back to me. "God damn Eli, it took you too long to answer the phone, are you okay? Where are you?" For a moment I am taken aback looking back at my phone. "First of all, there is no reason for you to be taking the lords name in vain and secondly yes I'm alright I'm at school where else would I be?" I ask getting upset with his current attitude. "Good, that's better than other options. Look, I need you to get in your car and drive to 32.8649° N, 84.8541° W, don't stop for anyone and go alone. The safehouse is only good for you and me. I shouldn't be far behind you if you leave right now." Silence takes up the phone after he says this. I look around at all the students running around campus now realizing the panic seems genuine and the screams are coming from all around. "Eli! Did you hear me?" he shouts into my phone before I recite the coordinates back to him. "Good, get in your car and go now!" I start walking in the direction of my car on campus before I stop in my tracks. "But what about Atlanta? They said they have a safe zone out-" I start before being cut off by my brother. "No! stay away from the city, more people means a greater chance of infection. Just do as I say. Like it or not, we were trained for this." He says staying quite for a second.
"Elijah, behind you!" Roderick screams from somewhere near by causing me to turn and see Bethany Blake, a girl from my Astronomy 1102 class walking toward me. More like shambling to be exact and to make it worse she had a huge chunk of flesh missing from her right shoulder as she continued towards me looking mindless. "Don't let her touch you!" Roderick shouts again getting closer to me from somewhere. I step back running into the science building with groups of students following suit. Once Roderick is inside he looks me over before talking panicedly to the other students. "Eli!" I hear from my phone before picking it back up to my ear. "What are they E?" I ask looking out at Bethany as she walks towards the science building slowly. "Not sure yet, but you don't need to worry about that either. Get in your car and go!" He says with his voice tight no doubt just as afraid as I am.
"Mom? Mom, I can't hear you!" A girl behind me screams into her phone before she angrily mashes her button looking panicked. Other students on their phones have similar reactions before I look down at my phone and realize Emmanuel was gone. He is probably coming to the same realization as I am now. Phone lines were down and we had no way of communicating with each other. I look out the glass doors once more seeing Bethany kneeling over another student tearing away at his opened chest and feasting on his insides before a hand pulls me to the side.
"Dude this shit is real. We gotta get out of here, there is more of them on the main campus." Roderick says looking over my shoulder at the carnage just outside. "Atlanta, the person over the speaker said Atlanta." I hear a girl nearby shout over the murmur of students who immediately begin rushing out of their hiding place back outdoors. Roderick goes to follow but my hand holds his tightly forcing him to stop. "We can't." I say looking out at the other students. "Atlanta isn't safe, my brother was telling me before the phone lines went down." He looks at me for a moment trying to think of, anything. "We need to get to my car; my brother has some sort of safehouse up in the mountains." I look back out in the quad and see most of the students have scattered and the demons have followed after.
I open the door and look out both ways to make sure the space is clear before looking back at Roderick who follows alongside me towards our dorm. As we make our way out of central campus past the arts and science quad I can hear an almost guttural snarl from around the building. "It's fucking crazy man, it's like were in a tv show or something." Roderick spouts from behind me as I peak around the corner to see a group of those demons feasting on students on the grass field. As Roderick continues to talk two of them look up and turn towards us. "Shhhh." I turn back to my roommate pointing ahead at the demons. "They can hear you, if we want to make it out of here we need to be quiet as well as smart." I whisper to him before backtracking to find another way to our building.
After taking the long way around the building we near our dorms noticing that a sound of screams and growls are coming from the parking lot. "Bet that isn't a good sign?" Roderick says with a sad look as we near the back entrance of the dorm. I shake my head doubtful as well but needing to know what options we had. In the parking lot is the goriest scene I have seen in my entire life. Hundreds of students litter the pavement with limbs missing and organs spilling from them as others run them over in their cars begging for a way out of the parking lot as the demons block their way and slam themselves into the cars.
"We can't go this way either." I say looking at all of the carnage ahead of me before a tire screeches behind us. "Roderick?" In a black Dodge Durango are three members of Theta Chi that Roderick was friends with. He in turn lights up at seeing them and rushes to the car with myself in tow. "Are we glad to see you. Have you seen this shit man?" Roderick says pulling open the door and jumping in. "It's fuckin crazy man Kathy Jamison walked in our house and chowed down on Parkers neck like it was nothing." Bruce the driver said looking around hastily. Peter his friend however looked much worse for wear, his eyes weld up and his jaw was clenched shut like he was prepared to break down. "Good thing we came in like fucking knights when we did, now hurry up and get in."
Bruce shouts again as I slide into the Truck closing the door behind me.
The truck pulls out of the grass back onto the road as we head away from campus bumping a few of the demons along the way. "How did this all happen so suddenly?" I ask looking back at the demons as we pass them. "Fuck if I know, before the radio cut out I was hearing how the same shit is happening all over America. California is practically swarmed." Bruce says spitting his dip into a nearby Coke bottle. "It seemed unreal, I mean yeah I heard reports days ago but shit like this doesn't happen man." Peter says finally looking back at us in the rearview. I notice them heading towards the highway before I sit up quickly reaching forward to Bruce.
"Wait, Atlanta is a bad idea, my brother was telling me about it before it all started." I say trying to grab his attention. He shrugs off my hand however before glancing back at me. "Atlanta is the best call dude, they have the CDC there and the National Guard prepared to keep any and all of those freaks out." He pressed onward towards the highway and I look up to Roderick to back me up and he guiltily looks at me. "He's right Elijah, we stand a much better chance with the national guard and such. Besides I need to get my arm checked out from where that bitch scratched me." He says gesturing to his bicep which I am just now seeing a long red scratch mark. For a moment I stare at his arm before making up my mind. "Stop the car." Everyone looks at me for a second but Bruce presses on. "Chill out dude, you get out of this car outside of Atlanta and you are as good as dead." I ignore his warning pulling down the handle and opening the door as we ride forward. "Fucking hell man, you trying to kill us all!" Bruce says pulling over outside of a Walmart just outside of Macon. I push the door open and look back at Roderick one last time, focusing closely on his scratch. "You be careful okay?" He looks down at me then back at his friends debating internally. "You sure man? This could be a life or death decision." I nod my head stepping back away from the truck as Bruce shoots me a nasty look driving away.
Turning around I see the parking lot littered with shopping carts and a few of the demons trudging around looking for their next meal. I needed to focus now or I really was dead. So, what did I know about the demons. They were slow, the never seemed to move very fast even if their prey was close. They had great hearing, since they could hear us from across the quad. They can keep moving with limbs missing and serious wounds so they likely didn't feel pain. Can they be killed? I look up again and see that they seem to be drawn towards something on the far end of the lot so I must take my chance now.
Slowly I creep over to the nearest car with my knees bent keeping me low to the ground. My feet crunch on the gravel beneath me but it doesn't appear to be enough to draw their attention. I near a blue Toyota Prius and test the door handle and as suspected the door is locked. I look around seeing the demons are far off. I shrug my jacket off before wrapping it around my fist and balling up a fist to smash the window. I reel back my fist and slam it into the window with nothing apart from a few small cracks in the glass. I can almost hear my father in my mind snickering at me and calling me weak. My brother could have broken the glass, why couldn't I be more like Emmanuel. Feeling my face redden in anger I slam my fist into the door once more seeing the glass fracture further. I reel back once more and slam it again finally breaking the glass but as it falls apart an alarm sounds and all the demons in the area turn towards me.
I must be quick now, I think to myself as I throw myself under the driver's seat to hotwire the car. After pulling off the cover I look at all the wires and feel my chest drop. I hadn't done this since I was 8, how much did I truly remember. I look up out of the car seeing the demons around fifteen yards away. I have no time to question I have to act. Stripping the wires with my teeth I press them together hoping these are the right ones. Nothing. I can hear the snarls closing in as I strip the wires more. Wrapping them around each other I clutch my cross before pressing them tightly together and hearing the engine roar to life. Pleased with myself I sit up in the car and pull the car out of park when an arm reaches through the window at me. The demon snarls as it tries desperately to grab at my flesh. In a panic I slam my foot on the gas ripping the demons arm from its socket and projecting the car right into another car in front on me.
After catching my breath, I look back at the demon as it continues towards my car before throwing the car in reverse and running him down. The other demons are close by so with a quick movement the car is back in drive and I make my way forward on the road. As I make it to the road I see the decayed arm by my feet and quickly throw it out the window. "Gross."
Pulling out onto the highway I see hundreds of cars making their way towards Atlanta on the road with my car being the sole one heading in this direction. "32.8649° N, 84.8541° W." I repeat the location my brother gave me before, that is back home, I may not remember a lot of what our father taught us but one never forgets their homes coordinates when they were brought up like I was. For the specific location I would need a map. I look around the car hoping maybe the owner of this car had such a map. After opening all the compartments, I find no map only guilt at the thought of this woman returning to her car attempting to escape to find it gone, stolen, and leaving her to die. Survival of the fittest, means others die so you can live. I hear the words my father would say in my head when he trained us long ago. Old bastard would probably thrive and love to live in this. Guess he wasn't so crazy after all. Reaching for the radio nob I find that no stations appear to play anything but there is a disc in. "Better than silence I guess." I press play and enjoy the somber tones of Johnny Cash playing me home.
Hours pass and the scene is ever the same. Empty roads with the rare vehicle driving towards the bigger cities. The demons are already congregating near the roads no doubt from the noise of the cars drawing them in. Thank the lord that whomever owned this vehicle opted for a Toyota Prius that managed to stay quiet under certain speeds. At the exit to my small town I see that the town once filled with life was empty and despot. Not a soul to be found, not even the demons seemed to roam here. A few minutes more pass before we come across my father's land, my childhood home. No sign of Emmanuel's car. Maybe he went straight to the bunker? Forcing open the door I look around for any sign of movement from living or otherwise, all seems quiet.
Once inside I go to my father's study to search for a map to get the exact coordinates of our safehouse. In the deafening silence I hear my voice fill the area bringing life to the long empty room. "What have I become my sweetest friend. Everyone I know goes away in the end." The words of Johnny Cash resonating with me now more than ever before. "Bingo!" I mutter after pulling out a map from his side drawer. A few moments later I can determine that the safe house is about a mile away in the woods where our father use to train us. "Deeper down the rabbit hole we go." I say folding the map up and sticking it in my pocket. Being back in the house should fill me with memories and good feelings. In actuality being here only made me want to leave more. My father wasn't an inherently bad man but with him I always felt like a stranger, like a burden, or a failure.
I look out at the car in the front yard and decide against leaving it there before pulling it around the back of the house to hide it from any possible onlookers. I may not have gotten along with my father but his teachings would certainly come in handy now. Don't trust nobody, any unwanted attention could lead to you right to the bottom of a shallow grave. I hear my father's words echo in my head. People weren't all bad but I couldn't be the reason someone came and took the safehouse from my brother and I.
My sneakers grow damp after plowing through the woods for about fifteen minutes before I see a big bolder in my path. This is too random not to be a landmark I question to myself before looking around the area. Sweeping away at the ground around me I see a handle in the actual ground. "It's underground, seriously?" I groan reaching for the handle. As I pull up the door doesn't budge an inch. Sweeping away the debris more I see the likely cause, just off to the side is an automated lock with a space for four numbers. I can't help the exasperated noise that escapes my lips. "You couldn't tell me about the lock code E?" I say out loud to no one in particular.
Staring down at the panel for a moment I think over any numbers that would have been important to my father. His birthday? Nothing. Maybe his anniversary? Nilch. My brother or mines birthday? Nada. Exasperated I sit on the ground before looking up at the sky and pulling out my phone. Dialing in Emmanuel's number again I get the same dead signal I got before. The sun was beginning to go down and I only had minutes of light left before I was going to be out with the demons for the night. Growing panicked I clutch the cross around my neck that my mother gave me I pray. "God, if you can hear me, I need your guidance. Give me something to work with to discover what my father could have possibly set this code as. Please lord, give me confidence in the face of fear and refugee in your…." I trail off my prayer looking back down at the panel. No way? I think before slowly putting in the numbers to one of my father's favorite bible verses. 1…4…2…6. An audible click sounds beneath the door and quickly I pull up on the handle to open the hatch below. With the entrance open now I ponder what this means. I suppose in his final weeks dad found God again, I suppose it really was a genius code to use. No one but our family would think to use a pin code from a bible verse about refuge to open an underground bunker.
Stepping inside I am momentarily consumed by darkness before with another step a white light envelops the bunker and I can see everything as the hatch closes above me. "Wow." I mutter stepping further into the room with my hands reaching for my mouth to cover my dropped jaw. In the bunker was everything needed to wait out an apocalypse. Weapons of all kinds decorated a wall just beside the entrance. Ammunition was not a concern either since the drawers underneath were pulled out to display bullets of many different sizes. Scanning further in the space I see a small kitchen and living space with only the necessities available. It made sense, couldn't exactly have a Television and Dishwasher in the apocalypse but as I walk closer I am glad to see that the stove top works with a flick of the switch. Turning down a small hallway I can see three doors labeled with the names of my father, brother, and I. Pushing open the door with my name slowly I see a small bed and closet space. However what surprises me is not that the clothes in the closet are nearly my sizes if not a bit more on the baggy side, it was the compound bow resting on the wall above my bed.
For a moment I stand stock still before inching towards the bow running my finger down the lower limb. It was the adult version of the same bow I used when I was younger. It had a hunting stabilizer, arrow rest, and even the bow sight I was familiar with. I pull it down from the wall and give the draw string a test still marveling at the thought he must have put into this. I suppose Emmanuel and father must have kept talking after we left because I was only just beginning to train with the bow when we moved. He never knew just how proficient I was with a bow, at least I never told him. Setting the bow back on the wall I walk out of the room noticing the quiver and arrows placed behind the door as well. He really thought about everything when planning for the end didn't he?
Feigning hope I push open my brother's door to see it empty save for a bed and closet just like mine. No personalized weapon here, not that Emmanuel would have needed it. He could use any of those guns and been perfectly fine. Closing the door back I settle with my confirmation, I must have beat Emmanuel here. In a few hours he would be here and we could discuss the next steps to take.
Walking past my fathers closed door I go into the living room and sit in the couch thinking about what awaited us in the future. God would protect us, but we had to pull our own weight, we would need to find something, some way to make the world right again. We couldn't let my father's teachings become real. As I sit in silence I hear what would likely be thunderous explosions far away from the bunker. Pausing for a moment I press my palms together and pray, I pray for the safe arrival of my brother, for the protection of my friends, and for an end to the madness outside. I was alone in the bunker but with God I had my refuge, I only needed to hold out now. Another explosion sounds outside causing me to flinch. "Just a little bit longer." I say out loud hoping my words would be true. Unfortunately for me, the bad was just beginning and I had a lot longer to deal with the new world I was living in.