It was the longest hour of Brody's life to get to Dani’s condo.
He thought the city was in complete total chaos earlier.
He was wrong.
It was in complete total utter chaos now. He was able to speed through some sections of the city that were cleared off by the military. He saw the army and police working together to clear out the sections of the city of the city that were overrun by zombies and had marked those cleared-off areas as safe zones. The cleared-out zones had tall barricades to keep out threats. The height and durability of these barriers were sturdy enough to keep out a swarm of zombies. He saw authorities escorting citizens into these safe zones. Most of the designated drive zones were packed with vehicles, so he got dirty looks as he drove slowly through the no-vehicle areas instead. The crowds of people parted ways, to make way for his vehicle as he slowly drove through the crowd of people that packed together like cattle. They gave him dirty looks as he drove past. The cops were too preoccupied to bother with him.
He needed to get to Dani’s house now. He needed to convince Dani to leave Toronto with him. He needed to leave this city before it got worse.
Once he left the safe zone. He sped up.
He passed through a few intersections until he came up to a road that was blocked off by a temporary fence. A banner tied to the fence read, "DANGER! Don't Enter".
He ignored the sign. He drove the vehicle through the barrier.
What if she was already gone?
This was quicker, screw the detours, he needed to see her now.
He saw the danger up ahead.
A couple of zombies were swaying in the middle of the road up ahead.
He was tempted to run over each of the zombies but decided against it.
It wasn't worth the risk.
Brody carefully drove around each zombie.
----------------------------------------
The evening sky darkened, The light snow suddenly turned into heavy snow, and it was difficult to see what was ahead as the sun disappeared into the horizon and half the lights in the city were out.
He made it.
He quickly parked on the patio grass. He ran up to the condo door and pounded his fist on the door consistently.
The temperature was dropping fast, his body was shivering.
Brody knocked louder.
"GO AWAY" he heard from the other side.
"Please Dani, let me in. I'm sorry. I just want to talk"
He didn't hear any response.
"Please Dani, it's cold"
He looked around, there was no one else around, no notable threats but he didn't want to take any chances staying out in the open too long.
He couldn’t see anything too far out, as the evening darkness was quickly eating away at the light.
"Look Dani, please. Let me say my peace. let's talk inside. I'm freezing out here. I'll be quick then I'll be on my way"
No response.
He started to do some jumping and wigging of his hands.
Brody wished he had a jacket on right now.
He heard a gunshot in the distance behind him.
He looked around.
Freezing and nervous, he was moments away from just rushing back into the vehicle.
He knocked again
"Dani, please let me in"
The door opened.
Dani was frowning but she waved him in. He quickly closed the door for her as he stepped in.
Dani looked like she was about to protest, but Brody spoke first, "I'm sorry, but there's a lot of dangerous…things out there. I don't want them in"
She crossed her arms, "Say what you need to say, then I need you to leave".
"I-
A little girl ran down the stairs and hid behind Dani.
Brody was surprised, he didn't know she had a child, "I…uh, I just wanted to talk for a few minutes. I have a lot to say, then I'll be on my way"
Dani glanced at the child and then back at Brody. She sighed, "Fine".
She led him to the living room and pointed to the couch.
They sat down. She stared at him intensely, waiting for him to speak.
"I know you hate me, especially for everything that happened yesterday…but please listen. I'm leaving this town-"
"Good"
"..I..." Brody started to fidget, "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. You're the only one who comes close to being a friend"
She stared at him, she was about to say something but didn't when she remembered the child was there. So she decided to say nothing.
The little girl sitting next to Dani was trying to take a nap by laying her on Dani's lap.
Dani combed the girl's hair with her hand, "Look Brody, you nearly got me fired at work. I was put on suspension. I'm still mad at you but that anger will have more time to marinate later when I don't have more pressing things to worry about. The news has been nothing but bad all day, to the point where I just had to turn it all off. It was starting to upset my daughter. I don't want to worry about work-life right now and you-” she pointed a finger at him"... being here is not helping."
Brody looked away, "Look, it's chaos out there, the military killing monsters, the mass escorting of civilians to safe zones. It’s not safe here or anywhere in the city. You're currently not even in the safe zone"
Brody let that last part settle in before he continued, "Please join me, I'm heading south to somewhere safer until things settle down. It snows too often here and who knows how long food, water, and even how long electricity will be available. No electric, there's no heater. I don't imagine going outside for wood constantly would keep us safe for long. I don't want to hide in the corner during a long winter, fearing whether I'll perish from the cold, or the monsters outside. Who knows, it may be even from a desperate neighbor who kills for food. Maybe things will get back to normal someday when all that is happening outside this home is contained by the government…but, what if they don't? We need to head down south to some warmer weather. Perhaps even near a beach if you wanted. Away from the cold." He leaned forward, "I'm sure there's sand and sunny skies for her-"
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"How do I know you’ll make sure my daughter will be safe out there? I knew you from work but I don't truly know you. How do I know you won't just kill me or my daughter in our sleep someday? I don't know you enough to make such a big decision. I got enough supplies here for two. This is my home and It’s safer here. I know what happens in here, and I don’t know what’s fully happening out there"
"OK, but will you at least spare a moment to think about it?"
"Sure okay, but for now please leave my home, this is all a bit too much right now. Plus, I can hardly look at you without feeling pissed off
Brody slowly stood up and walked towards the entrance. He opened the front door, and a storm announced itself. Snow was quickly piling up on the ground. It would be challenging to leave in this weather, he doubted any snow plow would be in service tonight to clear roads.
Dani appeared behind him, letting out an audible groan of annoyance, "You can stay until the storm calms down". She turned away, walking back toward the lounge area. Brody stood there for a moment before he leaned his back against the wall. He began rubbing his eyes in frustration. The weather just made this worse.
He took a deep breath, and clapped his hands once, before casually walking over back to the seat on the couch that he sat on earlier before. He was sitting adjacent to his former coworker, who was also his former friend. He hoped things weren't awkward for the rest of the night.
Dani turned on the television.
The two of them watched the news on the TV in silence. Dani's daughter slept snuggled up next to her mother. Dani occasionally took out her phones on commercial breaks. Brody cursed himself for leaving his phone back at his apartment.
"Dani, if you see anything else online of importance, let me know. I forgot my phone"
Her daughter started to let out small snores. Brody could only guess that she was about 10 or 11 years old. Brody felt guilty because if he'd known Dani had a daughter beforehand, he wouldn't have stopped by in the first place. He wasn't sure he could guarantee he could watch them both safely.
He whispered, "Hey Dani, I-"
Dani looked at him, a look of concern present on her face, "wait, a thought occurred to me"
Brody raised a brow, "What?"
"How did you know where I live"
Brody shrugged, "I have a good enough memory. Two years ago you asked for a ride home when your vehicle wouldn't start. You couldn't wait for road assistance because you needed to rush home. Now, I can only guess it was probably something to do with your child. It makes sense now why you needed to urgently get home. I-"
"Brody"
"Yeah?"
"Please…stop talking"
The power suddenly turned off.
An eerie uncomfortable silence followed, the sounds of the storm raged on outside.
“Dammit,” Dani stood up. She turned on her phone's flashlight, “Susan, wake up”
Susan slowly awoke from hearing her name, rubbing her eyes, “Mom…what's wrong?”
“Follow me, we need to pack up. I’ll meet you up there in a bit.”
Dani went to the kitchen, she quickly opened up a drawer and pulled out a-
A second light appeared.
Dani held out a small flashlight for Susan, who took the light eagerly.
Dani turned her attention to Brody.
“Look, if you’re going to be here, at least be useful. Guard the door”
“Ok, did you decide-”
“Look, you have no light and you don't know where anything in this house is, just stand by the door. I'm still deciding if I want to stay or go. For now, I want to be packed up and ready to go…just in case"
Before Brody could respond, Dani continued, "From there, I'll decide if we stick together or we go separate ways from here. I need some more time to think about it”
Brody stood by the door, he saw Dani bringing down several bags of food, clothes, blankets, and more. She waved him over and he followed.
They went to the garage to load everything up into her SUV. He debated bringing up the supplies that were already in his car but decided against the suggestion as there were already plenty of supplies in the SUV. If Dani decided that they needed to go their separate ways, at least he'll have his own vehicle ready.
Susan was sitting in the backseat, he attention focused on a tablet.
After Dani and Brody double-checked everything, they looked at each other. She let out a small sigh and just averted her eyes away from his gaze.
Brody waited patiently, not wanting to affect her decision by interrupting.
Dani broke the silence, “So, here's the plan. I could use your help out there just for a while, then we can talk about our situation later once we get to a safe location. From there, we could decide if we should keep working together from there. Right now, my main focus is to make sure we go somewhere safe and warm for my daughter. I don't think the electric company will be able to restore the power anytime soon…or ever. The temperature is starting to drop and this place can easily turn into a freezer in a few hours without a working heater"
Dani glared at him, pointing a finger towards his face, "I need to hear from you that we are going somewhere that Susan and I, especially Susan, will be safe”
Brody nodded, “understood”
She stared daggers at him.
He thought carefully about his next words, “I understand, I promise to make sure that you, and especially Susan, will be safe”.
“Thank you. That's what I need to hear”
There was a roar outside, somewhere not too far away. It was a deep roar. It could be his imagination, but it sounded like a prehistoric roar.
Dani rushed to the driver's side door”
Susan wailed, "Mom, I want my Poke' game”
“I’m sorry honey, be we need to go”
“Mom, I want my Poke' game or I won’t go”
“Listen, we gotta-”
“MOM, I want-”
"Susan, sweetie, STOP”, Dani said with a stern clear voice. “We are going on a trip for who knows how long but it won't be forever. It may be scary out there so I need you to be serious for a while. Please, for me. We are not safe here. We will go somewhere that is safe. Will you help your mommy be serious for a little bit? Will you be my sweetheart and help your mother?"
“Ok, I’ll help, I promise”, Susan had a suddenly serious expression, a few seconds later her eyes suddenly were trying to hold back tears, “I’m sorry”.
Dani nodded in the review mirror to Susan, "Thank you, sweetie, no need to say sorry. You can give me a hug later. Now, keep the seatbelt on"
Dani slowly drove in reverse as the garage door opened.
The storm had slowed down, but they noticed a good 5 centimeters of snow on the ground outside. They drove out, heading out towards the highway. The drive was slow, not only because of the snow, but the darkness outside and the barricades made it dangerous to speed.
When she drove onto the highway, they had to carefully drive around some abandoned collisions, an hour out of the city, they were about to start speeding up as the highway cleared up. Eventually, they saw the headlights of other drivers driving by. This brought the tension down a notch, as Dani and Brody felt relief just knowing they weren't the only other drivers on the highway.
They eventually made it to the United States border checkpoint. They were shocked to see the entrance deserted, there were no border patrol officers in sight. The border looked like it had a small battle that occurred recently.
They drove forward slowly, cautiously preparing for any border patrol agents to stop them or surprise threats of any kind. As they drove further in, they passed by some vacant vehicles. They saw that some of the cars were crushed. They noticed-
Dani yelled, “Susun close your eyes now”
Brody and Susan noticed bodies, lying around, some torn to shreds.
Up ahead, they saw what must've been the root cause of the destruction.
A T-Rex lay on the ground, mouth wide open. Eyes white and glazed over.
Brody’s eyes widened, “Who the heck would wish for dinosaurs? I imagine it was some damn-um, I mean dang kids' wish?”
Dani stared at the scene in silence, slowly driving past it.
Brody slouched in his seat, thinking about his wish. He realized his anger which he informally prayed for for power and respect, but that was out of frustration. He didn't think anyone or anything was listening. He thought about the times he made a birthday wish as a young kid, and those wishes never came true.
Why was yesterday so special?
They drove out and eventually made it to a small town. They fueled up. The town seemed deserted, but the electricity was on so fueling up shouldn’t be a problem.
Hopefully.
Dani pulled the vehicle over and the three of them headed inside a convenience store. They stocked up on drinks and snacks. They were about to head out the door when Susan spoke up.
“Mom, aren’t you going to pay?”
Dani and Brody exchanged looks. Brody peered over the counter, to make an obvious show to young Susan that he made an attempt, “I'm sorry kiddo, but it looks like no one is working here, so no need to pay today”
She gave him a skeptical look.
Dani looked like she was trying to find the right words to say.
Brody spoke up, "Okay, okay Susan, I'll pay.”
Brody left some cash on the counter. He paused as an idea struck him. He walked around the counter to tap on the cashier's tablet. He tapped the screen to add fuel to their pump.
Dani was trying to hide a smirk with her free hand.
Susan started eating her candy bar. They all felt much better with food in their stomachs and seeing the clear roads ahead. Snow didn't hit this area of the continent thankfully.
Video game noises could be heard from the backseat.
They continued to drive south on the dark highway.
Small beep noises could be heard for a while until both Dani and Brodi were startled when they heard a loud Thump sound from behind them.
Brody looked back to see the as a tablet landed on the vehicle floor. Susan fell fast asleep.
Dani slowly sipped her coffee, her eyes dead set on the road as Brody fell fast asleep.