IV - Quarantine
In the darkness of the evening where the lamps no longer had juice to light up the road, the headlights of the RV lit up the dim area.
"Hey, it's getting awfully cramped out there, ain't it?" asked Frank Weber. "Yet it's so empty in this RV here. Kinda lonely."
"It won't be lonely any longer," said David. "We found the others."
The RV slowed down behind Bus 4 and braked by a clustered road with parked cars. The passengers inside the RV stepped outside and walked by Bus 4, looking at the people inside.
"Looks kinda depressing there," said Frank. "I see Mrs. Anderson!"
"I don't see anyone familiar there," said Vonda. "What's wrong with these people? Do they see us?"
"They must be asleep," said George. "Though, the sun just disappeared. Why would they be asleep so soon?"
"Let's check the buses in front," said David.
"Nah, Mrs. Anderson is still awake," said Frank as he opened the door. "Sup! Is everyone asleep?"
"You're not supposed to be here," whispered Mrs. Anderson.
"Why?" asked Vonda. "I just wanted to see if the others were here."
David walked ahead and found some people inside Bus 1 walking around and chattering. They had a lantern and it didn't take them long to notice them.
Lisa, Carol, Clyde, and Dr. White stepped outside. Carol held a sleeping Zoey. Lily cheered as she ran up to Lisa, hugging her sister. Lana followed behind her, also hugging Lisa.
"Wow," smiled Lisa. "I didn't expect us to reunite at this particular night."
But I'm glad we did," said Lana, holding Lisa tightly before releasing her. "Is anyone else here?"
"Jace went to sleep," said Clyde. "But it's just him. There's no one else you really know."
"Well, guess what? I kept his lizards safe. I brought 'em with me, and I bet he'll be so glad I took care of them. Lizzy and Izzy got nothing to worry about now."
"You got the lizards?" asked Dr. White. "You know what happens to be a part of their diet? Mosquitoes."
"Yeah, they eat 'em! That's how I got those pesky mosquitoes off my skin!"
"Try bringing them around the buses," said Carol. "You could bring them into Bus 4, but don't walk inside. They can go– you can't."
"Why?" asked David.
"An outbreak has been occurring throughout our three transportation vehicles," said Lisa. Bus 4 is the quarantine bus."
"Oh shit," muttered David. "We gotta get Frank outta there!"
"What do you mean these folks have a contagious disease?" asked Frank. "You're here."
"I already got my malaria vaccine before the world turned to hell," said Mrs. Anderson. "Chances are, you'll be sick."
Frank and Vonda quickly rushed out of Bus 4 before Dr. White placed his mask on. However, they were stopped by Lisa and Clyde.
"Don't take a step further," said Clyde. "You're infected now."
"Likely to be infected," corrected Lisa. "Still a chance I don't desire to take."
"I ain't feel sick," said Frank.
"Me either!" exclaimed Vonda. "Are you going to keep us here?"
"It's the only way we can protect the others," said Carol. "I want to keep Zoey safe."
"This isn't right!" exclaimed George. "You're putting them in danger!"
"I just want to see my son!" said Frank. "Let me see him!"
"No, go back!" exclaimed Dr. White. "Hey– stop! Stop, go back!"
Frank tried shoving Dr. White away before swinging his fist at him. He then punched him again and again before running to his son. David took out his sidearm and instructed Frank to stop.
"I just want to see my son!" he yelled.
"You have to go back!" yelled David.
Suddenly, Dr. White punched Frank back, before shoving him away. Vonda hopped out of the bus and went in to move Dr. White away. However, David pointed his gun at the girl, causing her to stop.
"Go back!" said David, lowering his gun. "Shit, I'll take care of 'em–"
George punched David before grabbing his shirt and shoving him to the bus. He went in for another punch but David blocked it and kicked his knee.
"Stop!" cried out Vonda.
David grabbed Vonda and dragged her back to the bus.
"Let go of her, you son of a bitch!" George yelled.
He held David by a chokehold and lowered him to the ground as he struggled to break free. Vonda cried out as the group began clammering against each other. The commotion managed to wake everyone in the buses, as George and David continued beating each other as Frank and Dr. White did.
Suddenly, they stopped fighting when Zoey began to cry. Carol sighed as she tried calming her down, but she wouldn't stop crying. David and George panted as they stared at each other. Frank and Vonda looked down at the ground before returning to Bus 4, much to George's dismay.
"I'm in charge around here," said Carol. "If I say they stay there, they stay there. And if I tell you to stop, you stop! We'll discuss this tomorrow. Settle your differences without this– disorderly conduct shit!"
Mrs. Coleman came out from Bus 1 and cleared her throat before approaching Carol.
"Need help with the baby?" she asked.
"No thanks, I got it. Though, people in here don't seem to think I do."
Carol, trying to calm Zoey, walked away with Mrs. Coleman.
"Geez, I never seen her get this mad before," said Clyde.
Lisa walked next to Dr. White as Mrs. Anderson closed the bus doors.
"I don't know if it's the heat or the stress, but it seems like people are losing their minds," groaned Dr. White. "It's always been like this, but now it seems worse, like a sickness in the brain. I guess that's why they call it the infection of the dead. Death, maladies, and disorder are some of the symptoms caused by the living dead in this new world."
Lisa turned around to Lily.
"I'm awfully sorry you had to witness that scuffle," she said. "It's an adult thing. You wouldn't understand."
"I don't," said Lily. "Can you read me to sleep? I'm scared."
"Sure. We got The Scarlet Letter that Carol has brought with her. You wouldn't understand that either."
Lily sure didn't understand anything. She wondered if she was ever going to understand anything.
In the morning that followed, a different RV made its way to the city of Albany. The cloudy skies did not do much to brighten up the mood inside the vehicle.
Bobby fiddled with the ring in his finger, twisting it around and around. He reached into his white T-shirt pocket and took out a picture of his fiancee, smiling as the sunlight reflected from her eyes, though not brighter than her golden hair. Bobby sighed and looked out the window. He didn't want to return to Albany. The first time he was there, he was with his entire family. Second time he was there, he was with a group, with only Ronnie Anne and Lori and her family as the people he loved. Now, he was only going to be by himself, with a smaller group.
At the same time, Benny missed his girlfriend. It seemed like it was the millionth time they were separated, though it didn't make it easier by any means. Though, whenever Hana wasn't busy sweet-talking to a roamer, she would distract him from his loneliness by training him in martial arts and sword fighting. She even taught him a few tactics, such as how to climb trees faster than he has climbed before and how to keep his footsteps silent.
Though, none of it mattered, since he wanted to see Luan. He would do anything to see her for one minute.
Becky missed Leni just as Bobby did. Her best friend, who was the most humane person she knew, was no longer around. And now, she felt herself losing her humanity. And the reason was because she never felt bad about letting the roamer eat Oliver Jett.
After Hana parked the RV close to the bodega from some instruction by Bobby, the group stepped outside and looked around. The streets were clear, and the area was empty. The door to the bodega was locked, which was strange, since Bobby didn't remember locking it the last time he was here.
"See? Walking distance," said Ronnie Anne as she pointed at the subway station stairs. "Ten minutes of walking and you're here."
"I kinda wish I didn't waste the gas I used to drive here," said Lori, stepping out of Vanzilla.
"There's gotta be plenty of fuel in this city," said Lynn. "I wouldn't worry about it."
Lynn looked at her siblings. She couldn't help but grin.
"Whatcha' smiling a lot for?" she said.
"Still can't believe you were wearing that bulletproof vest," said Lincoln. "And Haley was there for you. And the subway people. And Ronnie Anne."
"It's the will to keep fightin', right?" asked Lynn as she turned around and walked down the stairs. "You know best about that. Shit, I still can't believe it, a fucking bear. I hurt you when I hugged you, right?"
"It's alright," said Lincoln. "Seeing you again made all the pain go away."
"Aww, it's that mushy crap again," chuckled Lynn as she turned towards Lori. "By the way, where are the others? Did we all get split up?"
Lori gulped as she saw the metro maps. They began to haunt her as she hesitated to answer Lynn's questions.
"Lori?" called out Ronnie Anne.
"Yeah, we're split up. But we're all headed for the same place. D.C."
Lynn was okay with that answer so she smiled and continued walking down the stairs with the others. Then, they all heard some noise outside. It sounded like indistinct chattering, though it became clearer and clearer what they were saying.
"I swear I saw the RV come into this city," said one of the voices.
"No one ain't denying you," said a female voice. "Just that we might've lost it, that's all."
Lori and the others climbed up the stairs as quietly as they could, so they could heard the conversation a bit better. But it wasn't anything they liked.
"This city's got plenty of fuel," said a deep-voiced man.
Lynn looked at the group.
"Hey, that van looks familiar," said the same deep-voiced man. "Ain't that the one that we saw back in that sleep town? Medway?"
"Shit, it is, Shawn," said a familiar voice. "Take out your weapons. These guys killed Hunter by the motel, 'member? These shitbags probably worked with the girls in the Humvee too."
Ronnie Anne and Lynn looked at Lori, unwittingly telling her that it was them in the Humvee. And Lori looked back with her face turning pale, unwittingly telling the girls that it was her who killed the marauder, Hunter, back in Medway.
Lincoln took a peek ahead in the street. However, there was nothing, just an endless row of cars. Then, he turned around, and found nothing again, except Vanzilla. When he turned to his left, he quickly ducked.
A gunshot struck the gates that surrounded the stairs. Lori grabbed her revolver, now filled with ammo from the city, and held it by her face as she crouched. Ronnie Anne held her P220 while Lynn made sure her rifle was loaded. Luan kept her katana sheathed and moved closer up the stairs.
"Run back to the van?" asked Luan.
Lori nodded. Luan sprinted out the stairs and ran into the cafe next to the subway station stairs. A few gunshots followed, though most of them hit the cars shielding the cafe.
"Did she just leave us?" asked Lynn.
"No, she's leaving this place," said Lori. "Just like we are."
Lori ran out the stairs, followed by the rest of the group. They all ran into the cafe, provoking a few gunshots to frighten the survivors. The windows were shattered open and wooden splinters from the table and chairs were shot off.
The group opened another door, which led from the cafe to a Macy's store. They ran across the aisles of clothing, as a few more bullets flew across the store. The marauders ran inside the store, guns in their arms, and knives in their belts.
Lynn ducked under a metal shelf and looked into her sights. She aimed at one of the incoming attackers and pulled the trigger, pelting him down, before she leaped out of the incoming gunfire, following the group out of the store.
"Guard the exits!" yelled Darius. "And get the big gun out!"
A few marauders ran back to the entrance of the store while the rest continued chasing the survivors. The survivors turned around, aisle after aisle, finding skeletons in the floor. Then, a stench lurked from the dressing room.
"Go fight off the roamers," said Lori. "I'll hold off these assholes."
Lynn grabbed an arrow from her quiver and swung it down a roamer's skull with full force, breaking its face in the ground.
Luan unsheathed her katana and quickly decapitated two roamers while Ronnie Anne fired her pistol at another roamer.
Two marauders came out from the jeans aisle and approached the dressing rooms. A few moments after, they were met with two bullets.
"Shit, out of ammo," said Lori.
Two more marauders popped out from the jeans aisle with their weapons raised. However, Lori quickly shot them, using up two more bullets.
"Let's go," said Luan, tugging on Lori's vest. "We found a way out."
Lincoln limped out of the back door with the 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' sign with Lori and Luan behind him. They followed Ronnie Anne and Lynn along the small alley, before finding their van in the street a couple feet away.
The survivors quickly entered the van and Lori drove them all away from the street. From the distance, a Humvee was roaring with its giant wheels and an intimidating horn of a machine gun turret. Darius quickly ran out of the employees' back door with his M1911 in his hands and made his way to the sidewalk. The van was gone and the Humvee has yet to pass by the cafe.
Darius coughed as he took out his walkie-talkie.
"Pick me up. We're chasin' these fuckers."
Bobby, Benny, Becky, and Hana turned their heads towards the gunfire. Moments after, the clunky revving of an engine raced closer to the bodega, causing the survivors to hide behind a vehicle. Only Kimi and Reiji were out in the open with the roamer stumbling around the excited dog.
Then, the survivors watched as the blue and white van raced past the street, with a Humvee following behind it moments after. And all the survivors gasped as they tried to grasp what they just saw.
"That was…" stammered Benny.
"...Vanzilla," said Bobby. "They're in danger. We have to follow them!"
"Yeah, but did you guys see who was following them?" exclaimed Becky as she entered the RV. "It was a Humvee! The rogues are after them!"
Bobby looked back at her, trying to see if find the doubt in her eyes.
"Hey," said Becky. "I'm just saying. I just want to make sure you guys are prepared."
Bobby nodded. Hana led Reiji inside the RV and quickly stuffed him in the closet. Kimi then came running inside before Benny closed the door. And just like that, they all got off the neighborhood, and the bodega was seen no more.
The sunlight gave light to move on from an awkward night and begin a new day. The scientists were outside, working on a few experiments that would produce gas toxic in enclosed spaces like a bus. The others were taking care of the sick or were trying not to get sick. And a few were out foraging or scouting for a town– and maybe looting it if they found one.
The chattering inside and outside the bus were indistinct. It was all mumbling and noise to the organism– if it even knew what that was. Then, it opened its eyes. What used to work with Leni when sewing clothes opened its glowing golden eyes. What used to take care of Carol's baby daughter growled faintly. What used to be Mrs. Coleman stood up and lazily stumbled towards the passenger across it.
"Hey, what's wrong?" asked the passenger.
But then she realized. And it was too late. She screamed and flailed her arms as the roamer grabbed her arms and began clawing at her. She cried as she tried pushing the roamer away but it managed to overcome her weak strength and land her teeth in her collar. Her screams were all just noise to the roamer.
After a short drive in the RV, David and George stepped outside and began to scout ahead, guns in their hands. David held his Remington 870 while George held his Mossberg 590.
"Listen, David, about last night–"
"It's alright, George. I get it. Things got crazy and– I would've done it too, if it were my son in that bus."
George sighed. David looked at the wrecked buildings around him. He then found one that stood tall.
"But you know, someone had to be in control of the situation. Seems like they have a large problem– a large problem that we don't want in our hands. Now, we gave 'em the medicine we had, so that'll keep the people in the quarantine safe for now. And that means Vonda will be fine for now."
"Well, it's not just about that," said George. "David… did I ever tell you about Cassie?"
David and George entered the building and turned on their flashlights before climbing up the stairs.
"I don't think you ever did," said David.
"Well then," said George. "Imagine a normal high school girl, straight black hair, tan skin, attracts the wrong kind of boys. And not too far from where you lived, she lived in the Bronx. Anyways, just picture this innocent girl getting kidnapped while she's buying small groceries. She took the wrong alleyway and a bunch of dudes just put a bag over her face and she fought back, but she lost. Just… beat to a pulp. Then, imagine this girl being kept as a sexual slave for months on end while her parents looked for her. It's not easy, but she's fighting for her life by keeping her mind intact. She hasn't lost her sanity. Then, I come in."
David looked at George, who only stared upwards as he continued climbing the stairs.
"And the leader of this operation decides to have us executed by roamer bite. But we fought back. She and I pulled through– and we killed the roamer. Then, they beat the shit outta me while she's forced to watch… then they rape her violently. But she's still pulling through. This once innocent girl is pulling through. My god what a strong survivor…"
George cleared his throat.
"You know she grew up with a brother in prison? She grew up in a shithole of a rent-controlled apartment. Her best friend of seventh grade was murdered before her 13th birthday party. But she fought through it all."
The two adults were closer to the rooftops.
"She had the willpower, the strength, the courage to overcome any hell that was thrown at her. But I realized that was no match for disease when I found her dead in our cell from an infection she got from the roamer we fought."
David looked down as he slowly climbed closer to the top.
"It was quick too. And at the end of the day, she turned into one of them. Just like that."
David and George stopped before the door to the rooftop.
"I don't know what I would do if that happened to Vonda. After what happened to my Emma, I tried to protect Cassie. And now I'm trying to protect Vonda."
George opened the rooftop doors.
"I know why she has to stay in the bus. Still doesn't mean I'm okay with it. But I'll–"
"Hey, George. Awfully sorry to interrupt but… what the hell happened there?"
George and David looked ahead from the roof of the twenty-story building. Ahead was rows of burned structures that became more damaged the further it got, until it seemed like it was burned into rubbles of steel and concrete.
"I think that's supposed to be New York City," said George. "Looks like a war destroyed this place."
Unbeknownst to the two men, a speed limit sign showed drivers to not go above 65 miles per hour on the highway, but the back had a large X on it. It wasn't spray-painted. It was marked by blood.
End Credit Song
Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's
Wow, what a relief it was to finish this chapter! Next chapter (which is going to be a long one like Chapter 15 and 16) is going to be pretty crazy. Really... fucking... insane! Set at a really familiar location (maybe even at home for y'all New Yorkers).
P.S. oh, the irony of this chapter. I couldn't have picked a better chapter title to describe my life during the past two months.