V - Ground Zero
-One Week Later-
"Say cheese!" said Carol.
"Cheese!" smiled Bobby.
Lori's lips smiled as she leaned her head on Bobby's shoulders, while she had her arms wrapped around Bobby's waist. A small flash captured the couple standing in the South Ferry, with a damaged Statue of Liberty in the back amidst the floating pieces of rubble in the bay. Carol grabbed the small Polaroid film and placed it in her pocket, before placing the camera in her backpack. Lori held Bobby's hand and turned around, admiring the view of a partly-intact Jersey City in a clear day. She then looked at Lady Liberty again and found that the torch was missing, and the left face was burned away, leaving darkened spots.
"This is not how I pictured our trip to New York to be like," said Bobby.
Lori let out a soft chuckle.
"What, a destroyed city and a ruined statue ain't good enough for you? It's relationship goals!" giggled Lori. "But seriously, it's still nice being here with you. I love every second we have together."
"Once we make it to Washington, I promise we're gonna have a wedding!"
Bobby gave Lori a soft kiss before releasing his hands from Lori's.
"Have fun in Jersey City," said Bobby. "I'll be there once we figure out how to get past this city."
Lori watched as Bobby and Carol walked away, before she moved away in a different direction– towards the rubble in the bay. The Holland Tunnel was a little too far for Lori, and she had to test out the rubble to see if it was crossable. She tied her hair into a ponytail and prepared to step on the rubble.
Ash flew away from his rubbing fingers as George stood up from the burnt flat crater. There wasn't a real crater in a way that meteorites created, but the airburst nuclear bomb melted everything below it, turning all steel, iron, wood, bone, almost all materials into liquid or dust, The liquid steel has hardened, but a sea of dust was layered over it. A vast amount of buildings in Lower Manhattan were vaporized either completely or partly, causing dust to twirl around like sand. There was one skyscraper that still stood strong despite the damages that it suffered.
"There it is," said David. "Freedom Tower. A small victory in a land of defeat. Warms my heart to see it still stand."
"Seems far," said George.
"Eh, we'll get there fast. Not a lot of things in our way."
Luna, Sam, and Kotaro arrived at Rockefeller Center, finding most of the buildings damaged. There were guns lying around, though all the ones that they encountered were either torn apart or had missing parts. There were also ripped uniforms and boots lying around the sidewalks.
"Let's go to Radio City," said Luna, holding a map of New York City. "I wanna see how it looks like."
"It's not gonna look like the pics we found online," said Sam.
"Unless you want to see a broken down music hall, I suggest we don't look there," said Kotaro. "It's a waste of time."
"I only have one chance to be in this city, and it would be sinful to skip on Radio City!" exclaimed Luna.
"Since when did we care about being sinful?" scoffed Sam. "I don't want my memories of that place tarnished!"
"You don't have to go with me. I'll go on my own."
"Fine. But only because I don't want you to be lonely. You're coming too, Kotaro?"
Kotaro rolled his eyes and nodded. He walked with the girls towards the large music hall, walking past the debris in the sidewalk. All the rubble and debris became unnoticeable to him, even the M4 carbines that were set up in an X-formation by a cathedral.
The bright lights and large advertisements that Luan remembered seeing on pictures online failed to appear in front of her eyes. The empty, dark electronic billboards– some with holes in them– created a haunting atmosphere to a once-busy area.
"Times Square look ugly," said Hana.
"It kinda looks cool," said Becky. "I mean, really! It seems kinda quiet. Kinda… liberating. No one's around. You could do anything here!"
"Yeah, I guess," said Benny. "But I don't know what to do here. This city is depressing the hell outta me."
"I know what would cheer you up," said Luan. "We can visit a couple buildings and find out what Broadway plays there are. Hey, maybe we can star in our own play!"
"We have no time for that," said Hana. "We must find medicine."
"Fine. I have a better idea then. Let's take some of the costumes and scripts from a play. And I just got the perfect play in mind."
"Hamilton?" said Becky.
"Chicago?" said Benny.
"I don't watch plays," said Hana.
"Nope, nope, and you should," said Luan. "The Book of Mormon! Haha, I know Jeffrey and Preston are familiar with it. Imagine Benny wearing missionary clothing? Oh, how handsome!"
"I could see it," said Hana.
Benny rubbed his shoulders and chuckled.
"Well, then let's go look for the play."
Luan, Benny, Becky, and Hana followed the road in Broadway, seeking out posters that could indicate signs that the play they're seeking was being played before the outbreak. Some of the posters– both paper and electronic– were marked with large red X's, something that the small group took notice of.
Meanwhile, Lincoln, Lynn, Clyde, and Ronnie Anne were passing all the rundown buildings and piles of debris and trash in the sidewalk. They walked past the taxis in the road and all potential sources of gas with one goal in mind– a way through the city. As empty as the city was, with some even considering moving to the city after a cure was found, no one really wanted to take their time going to D.C.
Lynn then stopped on her tracks and found a familiar building– only familiar because the girl has seen it online somewhere.
"Madison Square Garden!" exclaimed Lynn. "Oh man, the home of the Knicks! Let's go inside! Let's see if we can find the basketball court! Maybe shoot a few baskets?"
Lincoln shook his head. Lynn frowned.
"Whatever. Doors are locked anyways."
The kids walked away from the arena. The doors began to jiggle shortly afterwards, as two black pipes in the form of an X locked them.
A lonely cloud hovered in the naked sky, watching over Lori wiping her forehead in an RV park in Jersey City. She unhooked a jerry can from her backpack and took out a siphoning tube. She walked around, looking for the biggest RV she could find, all while trying to endure the rising temperature. Sweat dripped from her face faster when she found a makeshift cross mark made out of scrap metal, with sharp edges and dark-red tips. She quickly shook away the sight of the cross mark and continued back with her goal. A blue RV with no wheels then became her primary candidate, as she opened the fuel tank. She placed the tube inside and sucked into it, but nothing came out.
"Hmm. Maybe there could be some parts we could use to replace the older ones," she sighed. "I would have to ask Lana, though."
Lori walked away from the blue RV, moving on to a gray RV next to it.
Meanwhile, back in New York City, the closest group to her arrived at a tunnel that connects the two states of New York and New Jersey.
"Lincoln Tunnel!" exclaimed Lynn. "What a dorky name."
"Haha. Very funny, Lynn."
"What did the 16th President ever do to you?" protested Clyde.
"Remind me how broke I was," snickered Lynn.
"Ugh, let's just get this over with," groaned Ronnie Anne.
The group walked inside the tunnel, turning their flashlights on. They hopped over the roadblocks and looked around. Ronnie Anne pushed Lynn out of her way, before she pushed back, causing her to bump into Clyde.
"Come on, guys, stop playing around," said Lincoln. "There's a lot of stuff you can hurt yourself with."
"He's right," said Clyde. "Look around."
The young teens scanned their surroundings. Empty cars with open doors stood in each lane as far as the light could reach. Flies scattered around the place, buzzing in front of Lynn's face until she swatted them away. A rotten smell filled the entire area, as if the group were in the sewers. There were corpses plastered against the wall, while partly-decayed skeletons lied in between the cars. Weapons and uniforms also filled the area, and empty cartridges began to appear in the road as the teens embarked further into the tunnel.
"Hey, you hear that?" gasped Lincoln.
"Sounds like shit," said Lynn. "Plop. Plop. Plop."
"That's fucking gross," said Ronnie Anne. "Hmm. But it does sound like something is… splashing. No, wait, it sounds like a waterfall."
"Like water flowing out of a faucet," said Clyde.
Suddenly, Lincoln felt a splash on his shoes. He looked down at the wet road, before looking ahead into the tunnel. A stream of water was flowing out of a small crack in the tunnel. Further into the tunnel, one lane was submerged in water, with some cars being barely visible.
"Dang," said Lincoln. "Looks like it's not so safe to cross this tunnel after all."
"Well, we're already this far," said Lynn. "Ain't quitting now."
Ronnie Anne nodded. She motioned Lincoln to continue leading the group ahead. He nodded and continued his trek through the tunnel.
The lonely cloud hovered above the tip of the Freedom Tower, as Carol and Bobby stared up at the towering skyscraper.
"If I had to conquer my fear of heights, then today would be the day, right?" said Carol, her lips quivering.
"If it gets too scary, then you could just hold my hand," said Bobby. "As long as you hold tight, you won't fall."
Carol looked down.
"Thanks, but no thanks," she said. "You're a married man. Almost."
She turned towards David.
"You have a strong grip, right?"
"Yes, but we're just going to take the stairs," said David as he walked inside the building. "Besides, if you fall, then trust me, we ALL fall."
Carol scratched her head as they began to take the stairs. The view of the destroyed city was much clearer and breathtaking. With each step going higher, Carol began to get nervous.
"When are we going to stop?" she asked. "We've been at this for ten minutes!"
David pulled out a sheet of paper that he pulled out from a uniform lying in the ground earlier. He looked at it.
"Floor 70. There's plenty of floors where they store their medicine, but this one is where they stored antiparasitics."
"Ugh, I forgot I was the one who told you that," sighed Carol. "Fine, let's keep walking."
The clear sky did not reflect the situation in the buses, which were now parked in the south section of Central Park. Mosquitoes swarmed the buses, though Lisa was able to use one of Leni's hairsprays to shoo them away.
"Dr. Feinstein requires immediate medical attention!" exclaimed Dr. White.
"What, at this instance?" shrieked Lisa. "I just lost another patient. I must contain him!"
"I'll treat the dentist myself!" said Dr. White. "Where's the rest of the antibiotics?"
"Medical supplies are depleted."
"What about the anesthesia?"
"Medical supplies are depleted! All out of stock!" yelled Lisa, whose voice was panicked. "How the heck did the malaria spread to Bus 1?"
Dr. White tied a seatbelt around Lisa's patient. He raised his shoulders while grabbing a scalpel and a wet towel. As he rushed out of the bus, a roamer tied to its seatbelt raised its arm and reached for the doctor. He gasped and thrusted his scalpel into the roamer's golden eye. Dr. White yelled and tossed the scalpel into the ground.
"No more rubbing alcohol, either," said Lisa. "I lack a single clue of when the medical groups will be back."
Vonda coughed repeatedly as she dragged herself to her seat. She quickly sat down, before finding a dying Frank Weber next to her seat.
"Come on. Don't die. Please, just… why don't you get a hold of yourself?"
Frank screamed.
"It's burning! It's fucking burning! I'm going to die!"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut. Up!"
Vonda looked into Frank's eyes. They were bloodshot. His face was pale. Blood began to pour out of his nose and mouth.
"Look at me. I snuck us some antibiotics. I usually don't share, but you have a son to look after. We've been on the road together, and I know how much you love him. You have to–"
Vonda turned away and coughed violently into her arms. She looked at it and found tiny splatters of blood before turning back to a whimpering Frank.
"You have to be there for him. But I need you to calm down. Can you do that?"
Frank shook his head and screamed as he began to grab his throat. A large growl echoed out of his voice before he began to vomit blood and bile onto his lap.
"Lisa!" shouted Vonda. "Lisa, over here!"
However, Lisa ran away to treat another dying patient in a different bus. Vonda looked at Frank and covered his mouth with his shirt, as he screamed and coughed.
"Kill… me…" growled Frank.
Suddenly, he grabbed Vonda's hair and pulled it back, causing her to yelp. He reached for an arrow in her backpack, and grabbed it as Vonda shoved him away. Frank thrusted it against himself, the arrow stabbing through his stomach. Blood seeped out of his mouth as he began to cough more violently. She grabbed her arrow back and began to cry softly as a seizure unfolded before her. She quickly lunged the arrow upwards through Frank's jaw, before pulling it out. His body fell against the window, leaving Vonda frightened.
"Hey, we have to get outta here," said Preston. "People are going to start turning in minutes."
Vonda nodded. She grabbed Preston's hand and her backpack before limping out of the bus.
Meanwhile, David and his small group opened the door to Floor 70. They observed the empty office room, only finding crates and a hole in the ceiling. They quickly moved to the crates and moved them around, trying to find the lid to open them.
"Shit, these are empty," said George. "All of them are!"
"No antiparasitics anywhere in this room?" groaned Carol.
A couple bumps in the ceiling alerted everyone in the room. David looked up, following the source of the noise.
"The fuck was that?" he said.
He then looked at the hole in the ceiling. A roamer collapsed down the hole, before slowly picking itself up, using its arms for help as well. The group stared at the roamer's golden eyes as it growled at them. Then, two more roamers fell down the hole. The first roamer moved its arms back and forth as it began to accelerate towards the group.
David thrusted his knife into the roamer's skull, easily going in. George and Bobby moved ahead and stabbed the two other roamers before they stood up.
"Mother of god," muttered David. "The fuck did I just witness?"
"The roamer… it was running like a human," said George.
More roamers began to fall down the ceiling. David and the others backed up as a banging was heard in the stairwell. Then, more roamers flooded the stairwells, eventually arriving at the 70th floor. And they all began to run after the group in the same formation.
David took out his pistol and began firing at the roamers. The others did the same; George fired his Glock 19, Carol fired her snub-nosed revolver, Bobby fired his Glock 17. The roamers were put down slowly, as many of the bullets flew past their speeding heads. A roamer lunged at George as he held the roamer's arms away. The roamer forced him back to the open window of the building, as George struggled to not fall off. He yelled as he turned around and kicked the roamer out of the window, before another roamer lunged towards him. George quickly leaped out of the way, causing the roamer to run out of the buildings and fall down seventy stories to its demise.
"You see the broken elevator?" exclaimed David. "The empty thing with the cables exposed? Run for it and grab the damn cable!"
George quickly leaped for the cable and began to climb up. Bobby followed him and David was behind him. They all held on to the cable and climbed upwards to the next floor. Carol fired her last bullet to her revolver before having a swarm of roamers chase her.
"These runners won't stop!" she shrieked.
"Jump and hold on to the cable!" shouted David.
Carol leaped forward and held the cable, though she felt herself slide down. George and Bobby leaped to the next floor, making sure that it was clear of roamers. They saw the hole in the floor and kept a lookout for more runners. David then leaped out of the elevator shaft and into the 71st floor.
Carol climbed up and held the cable with her arms and legs.
"Please, I don't want to jump. Please!"
"Jump! I'll catch you!" said David. "Just don't look down!"
Carol opened her eyes and looked down, finding the elevator to be dozens of floors down. She yelped and closed her eyes as she began to slide down slowly. The runners ran to the elevator shaft, each one plummeting down, as they attempted to grab Carol.
"Carol, just jump!" exclaimed Bobby.
Carol leaped out of the pole and towards the open shaft exit to the floor. She bumped her knee against the shaft wall and stumbled downwards, shrieking as she began to fall. Then, David grabbed her arm and pulled her upwards inside the room. Carol quickly crawled closer to the center of the room before standing up. She panted, moving her frizzled hair out of her face as her heart pounded against her chest.
"Jesus, that was close," said David.
"I think my heart stopped for a second there," panted Carol, before letting out a soft giggle. "I'm alive!"
David smiled and looked around the room. There were blood-stained clothing in the ground, and a large generator near the elevator shaft. David walked up to it and noticed that the switch has not been turned on yet. He flicked it on, causing the generator to rumble before making a constant humming noise. The buttons by the elevator shaft lit up and the elevator cable began to move upwards.
"At least we don't have to go down the stairs," sighed Bobby.
The group cheered softly as David walked close to the window. He took off his shades as his jaw dropped.
"What is it–" said George before looking at the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. "Goddamn."
A colossal size of a herd, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of roamers were at the edge of the boroughs. They were crossing the bridges from Brooklyn or Queens to Manhattan. It was only a matter of time before the groups would be overwhelmed by the herd.
The casual streaming of water pouring into the floor of the tunnel was the only noise that echoed in the tunnel. Then, a loud honk boomed throughout the tunnel.
"Did you know that honking is illegal in New York City, except in an emergency? Well, it was…" said Clyde.
"Don't worry, I could talk to the cops when they get here," said Lynn as she honked the school bus horn again. "Any of you know how to drive?"
"Clyde, you're the tallest one out of all of us," said Ronnie Anne. "Plus, you're not stupid. You should drive."
"Oh, fuck you too, Santiago," mocked Lynn as she moved out of the driver's seat.
Clyde sat on the driver's seat. He reached for the gas pedal and pressed it, though he could barely see the windshield.
"You know, driving at the age of 13 is also illegal," said Clyde. "Do I just turn the steering wheel to the right?"
Suddenly, a loud cracking came from below the bus. The bus was unable to move, prompting the teens to check it out.
"This isn't good. Not good at all," said Clyde.
"Something's cracking it," said Lincoln, "but I don't think it's the road. It sounds like it's coming from over–"
An explosion of water bursted into the tunnel, shoving the bus against the other side of the tunnel. The water flooded into the tunnel, causing it to tremble slightly as the teens were washed further into the tunnel. The tunnel went dark as the flashlights turned off, though the car alarms started to fill up the tunnel. The headlights turned on and off, revealing the confused and lost teens every second.
Then, rubble began to fill up the place, closing off the hole in the tunnel, leaving only source of flooding water. It was a matter of time before the tunnel would be too flooded to navigate through safely.
The car alarm continued to blare throughout the tunnel, masking Clyde's screams.
"Lincoln!" shouted Ronnie Anne. "Lynn! Clyde! Where are you guys! Clyde, where are you!"
"Right here!" he yelled. "Oh god, my leg!"
Ronnie Anne quickly splashed around the flooding water up to her ankle and found Clyde in the ground with his metallic leg crushed under the rubble of bricks and stone that closed off a section of the tunnel.
"Alright, we have to get outta here immediately," said Ronnie Anne. "Where's Lincoln and Lynn?"
Lincoln quickly picked himself up, wiping the water from his face as droplets continued to fall from his hair. He looked ahead of him, only finding a pitch-black world. He grabbed his flashlight and turned it on, finding a group of roamers in the distance, their golden eyes reflecting back the light. They began to run towards him.
Bubbles blew out of Lynn's mouth as she struggled to navigate through the dark, polluted river. Blood slowly flowed out of her left calf as she swam what felt upwards to her. She then bumped into the outside surface of the tunnel, leading her to tap on it for an opening. Her heart continued to pound as her lungs began to grasp for the remaining oxygen in her mouth. As she felt herself beginning to pass out, she suddenly felt an opening in the tunnel. She went inside, allowing the flow of the river push her into another section of the tunnel, as she gasped for air, coughing out whatever water entered her nostril.
"Lynn! Help!" yelled Lincoln.
Lynn quickly lifted herself up into the flooding road as she pulled out her M1 Garand. The roamers were running really fast.
Luna, Sam, and Kotaro zipped open their bags and began placing boxes of proguanil, chloroquine, primaquine, and even quinine inside their bags. The wreckage of a helicopter sat in the middle of the music hall, with crates containing medicine that has been flung everywhere.
"And you guys said Radio City was a waste of time," smirked Luna.
"Fine, we admit it," smiled Sam. "Radio City wasn't a waste of time."
"Alright, let's go back," said Kotaro. "Keep your bags light. We'll come back for more later."
Luna and Sam nodded in agreement. They closed their bags and walked out of the music hall.
The roamers in Bus 4 began to rise from their seats and bite all the remaining survivors inside. Mrs. Anderson quickly left in a hurry, running towards Bus 3, attempting to seek shelter there. She tipped her glasses up to her eyes and wrapped her brunette hair into a bun. She turned back and saw the roamers leaving Bus 4, stumbling towards her.
"Oh god! Doctor! Everything just went crazy!"
A bunch of survivors limped out of Bus 3, all screaming and crying.
"What? What's going on?" she exclaimed.
A roamer walked down from the bus entrance and grabbed her sundress and her hair, pulling her back. She screamed as a zombified Dr. Feinstein sunk its teeth into the back of her head, as she struggled to remove it from her. Blood squirted onto her sundress, as another roamer grabbed her, dragging her back into the bus. She flailed her legs, crying for help as her body was consumed by even more roamers. Seconds after, her cries died out and her legs stopped twitching.
The fleeing survivors were caught by the Bus 4 roamers, some dragged down to the ground as they were being consumed while others were being eaten as they stood upright, only collapsing after they passed out from the pain. Jace and Reggie quickly dodged the roamers and made their way to Bus 1, being the only survivors from Bus 3 to make it alive.
"Close the door, close the door!" yelled Reggie.
Jeffrey leaped to the driver's seat and closed the bus doors, before the roamers surrounded the bus.
"Jesus Christ," muttered Jace as he stared at the dead survivors in the ground.
"Hey, come on now," said Preston. "Jesus ain't have nothing to do with this."
Jace lied on the ground and took a deep sigh as he panted heavily.
"Where's Lisa?" he asked.
Dr. White looked at Jeffrey nervously.
"She ran off with Zoey. You know, as a precaution."
"Precaution for what?"
"Just in case the roamers kill us all," sighed Vonda. "She's got the last remaining medicine. Ain't that right, doc?"
Dr. White looked at Jeffrey, Preston, Vonda, Jace, Reggie, Lana, Lily, Simon Weber, and two other sick passengers.
"That's right. She's got the NIRT cure prototype as well," he revealed. "It was the closest we came to coming with a solution to the infection of the dead. But if it's used to save an infant, then so be it."
"You wouldn't have done it, right?" asked Vonda.
"Me? I'm not the good guy, Vonda. I'm just a man trying to save humanity. And there needs to be sacrifices to be made in order to make that happen. Lucky for Carol, it's not me out there."
The bus became silent as the roamers banged against it. The test tube rack that contained the NIRT cure prototype was empty. And so was the bag of quinine.
-Day 70-
The red coupe arrived at Diamond Point and parked in a lot in front of a five-story building, formerly a hotel, and formerly the safe point of those who arrived. Tim rushed out of his vehicle, while Maria slowly stepped out of it, holding Carlitos close as she watched in shock.
"No, no, no!" gasped Tim.
Maria surveyed the area. She found bodies in the pavement, and lined up against the cars in the parking lot, many riddled with bullet holes. Empty cartridges were scattered across the parking lot, and weapons were all found near the bodies.
Tim ran to the hotel frantically, holding his gun and knife. Maria followed him, escaping the sight of the massacre.
"Stop!" yelled a female voice from above. "Stop running, I said!"
Tim looked up and saw a young female survivor standing by the window, wearing jeans, a dark blue T-shirt, and a blue bandana around her neck, and pointing an HK45 at the two adults. Tim slowly raised his hands while Maria covered Carlitos.
"I'm only looking for my daughter and her mother!" exclaimed Tim. "Are they alive?"
"Holy shit. Tim?"
"Are they here?"
"Stay there. If you try something, I'll shoot you."
After a few minutes, the woman limped out of the front door, her gun in her holster.
"You're Tim Crowley, right?" asked the woman.
Tim nodded.
"I'm Bruna," she said before turning to Maria. "Are you like his new wife or…?"
"No, I'm just a friend. My name is Maria."
"Is Vonda here?" asked Tim.
"I haven't seen her or Sherry here," replied Bruna. "When I came here, it was already like this. This bloody mess you see out here… hell, it's the same thing inside the hotel. I'm the only one here."
"So you have no idea where Sherry or my daughter is at?"
"Maybe at Hudson. But it's been too long. They must be in the Dust Zone."
Tim sighed in relief.
"Jesus, what happened here?" he muttered.
"I have no idea. But this ain't the worst thing. Look out there by the lake."
Tim walked over to field of grass that led to Lake George. By the edge of the field, a couple bodies were impaled with a stick that held them up, each body missing all their limbs. The heads were stabbed, and their torsos were exposed.
Maria covered Carlitos's eyes as she flinched away.
Tim walked around the impaled bodies and found a knife stuck in the back of all the torsos. And behind all the impaled bodies was a flag waving no higher than Tim. It was a white flag with a blue Nordic cross and a blue Saint Andrew's cross.
"K.H.A.N." said Tim.
"Specifically Quirino's men," said Bruna.
"We shouldn't stay here."
"You're telling me."
"Where are we going now?" asked Maria.
"Anywhere but where Quirino and the KHAN are at," said Tim. "I'll explain later. But we're not safe here. We have to go now."