-Aria’s POV-
We had taken a different route after the encounter with that truck. The maps were still working, so it was a plus point for us. The network was also working but not for long, soon the Martial Law would be implemented and there would be only face to face conversations. No phones and media from then on, no communication except for the radios.
I was sitting in the shotgun seat now and Julie was still sleeping, even though she should be full of energy and explore the world outside. I looked in the mirror and saw her sleeping face, she looked cute. My gaze then shifted to look at the outside world. It was desolate, nothing except for the grasslands at the sides of the highway, a few abandoned cars on the highway and a few houses located here and there.
We had left New York at 10:00 A.M in the morning and now it was 2:00 P.M in the afternoon and we hadn't spotted anyone yet but that would soon change.
“John, we need to pull over.” I said and looked at the vehicles through a binocular, abandoned on the highway. It was not just one car or even a dozen, it was more than that.
“Why though? The road is clear as far as I can see.” He said and pointed at the road, which was empty but just a few kilometres ahead there were vehicles.
“Stop the cars.” I radioed to the other four vehicles following us and a few minutes later we were all at the side of the highway. Everyone looked at the abandoned vehicles, a few kilometres away from us as the binoculars passed to everyone.
“What should we do? This is the safest route and the other route would just add more time for us to reach the Base.” John said. We were short on time and the Martial Law would soon be implemented. I showed the map to John and said “Look, Pennsylvania is not far from here and this is the only route that would quickly take us there.” Our plan was simple, to keep going on this route, reach Pennsylvania and then from there to Chicago and lastly reach Yankton. It was a long journey and the abandoned vehicles on the highway were no help at all.
“Right. But look at those vehicles, it seems like a death trap to me.” John said. It was true that the vehicles looked like a death trap but we had to do everything we could to reach the Base as soon as possible.
“I know but we don’t have a choice here. We have to take this risk.” I said while looking at my daughter who was still sleeping. I knew that this was risky but we had to do it because the Base was the only place that would be able to keep my daughter safe in this hellish world.
“Fine. Let’s go, people !” John said and everyone got back in their cars. It would take us at least ten minutes to reach those abandoned vehicles.
-Ten Minutes Later-
“Get ready and do not hesitate to shoot if you see anything wrong.” I radioed as we were about to reach the vehicles. I took out my binoculars and looked ahead, there was space to move through but not enough for all our vehicles to pass in one go.
Just as we were about to reach. I saw a few people coming out of the cars, carrying knives, baseball bats and guns. “Do not engage until I say.” I gave my people the order, as we stopped and got out of our vehicles. I was still carrying the M16A4 and John was carrying one too, we both had silencers on them. The rest had Glock-17 with silencers as well. The information we got from the government was that the infected were attracted to sound.
“What do we have here? Guns, ammo, some supplies and five vehicles.” I looked at the man who said these words. He was carrying a pistol in his hands. There were twenty people on their side, some of them were youngsters. All of them looked like they had gone through hell, their clothes were torn and covered in blood.
“Look. We don’t want any trouble with you, we are just passing through.” John said as he moved forward, while my men aimed their guns at the people in front of us. It was already a dog eat dog world and this kind of thing wasn’t new. These things were done behind a facade before but now, there was no need to hide anything.
“Nah nah, that is not how this will work. You have to hand over your weapons or we will take them by force.” The man said and the people on his side got ready, pointing their guns and clutching the weapons in their hands. There were five guns including the one in the man’s hand. I didn’t know where his confidence was coming from but it was futile. There was no way in hell that I would hand over everything and they looked like amateurs, trying to rob us.
“John, stop talking and just end it.” I said and John looked at me, to confirm the order that I just gave him. “Do it.” I said and he motioned for our men to fire.
Bang Bang Bang………… The firing went on for a minute, one bullet, one headshot. That was all it took to kill everyone. I didn’t care if they were youngsters or hot blooded people or even bandits. Anyone who got in our way would be killed, I won’t spare anyone without a good reason. “Let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time.” I said and everyone got back in the vehicles.
-Half An Hour Later-
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We had passed through the narrow space between the abandoned vehicles on the highway half an hour ago and now we were in Pennsylvania, still on the highway. We were not planning on stopping but fate had different plans that would force us to change our own plan.
-An Hour’s Distance from Aria-
-Young Woman’s POV-
“Henry ! We need to go now.” I shouted at the baffled Henry who was looking at the chaos happening inside the mall. People were pushing and stealing from each other, even beating each other for food and water. The government had issued a message just an hour ago. It stated that there would be no support from the government due to some reason that they did not disclose. The message also said that the power and internet would be cut off soon and that people had to survive on their own. There was nothing the government could do to help us. “I know Linda.” He said.
The two of us somehow got out of the chaos inside the mall. We quickly got into our car and drove away from the mall. “Where should we go?” I asked Henry. My husband, we got married just a year ago and now the world is in chaos. There was no one that I trusted more than Henry. He had been my partner for the six years that we had dated each other and we would continue to be partners for the rest of our lives.
“I don’t know.” He said while clutching the steering wheel in his hands. He had been stressed a lot since the message from the government came. “Let’s go to Chicago, I have a friend there who is from the military. He may be able to help us.” Henry said and looked at me. I wasn’t so sure about the idea of driving for so long in this chaos but, Pennsylvania was already over. There was a horde of those infected coming. A video was leaked by some people who wandered off to find the truth and what they saw was something that made everyone feel despair.
“Alright, let’s do that.” I said.
-An Hour Later-
-Aria’s POV-
“Do not stop. If someone comes in the way, kill them.” I radioed quietly to my people as we drove through the highway. There was a mall that I spotted before and from just looking at it, I knew that it was bad news. I looked at the mall, which was dead silent, unlike before when I spotted a lot of people parking their vehicles and entering it.
Our vehicles drove past the mall without a hitch. No one blocked the road or came in our way. Even if they did, their only option was death under our tyres. “Mommy look ! A Mall !” Julie shouted from the back seat, she had woken up a long time ago and was observing the outside world. “I know sweetie.” I said and looked at my daughter as we passed the mall.
The road ahead was clear and there was no need for limiting our speed. We were going over 100 kmph and we hadn’t stopped. We hadn’t even spotted the infected people yet, but that was soon going to change.
-Two Hours Later-
“Stop the car, John. Sweetie don’t get out of the vehicle unless I tell you to” I said to John and Julie. The moment he stopped, I got out of the vehicle with a Glock-17 in my hand, leaving the M16A4 in the vehicle. “What do you want?” I asked the man while pointing the gun at him. He looked to be in his mid twenties with brown hair and brown eyes with a handsome face and a sharp jawline. He was trying to cover a gorgeous woman behind him, she was around the same age as him, with black hair and black eyes.
We were on the highway, trying to figure out the route because the network had been cut off and that was when these two people came out of a vehicle among the other abandoned vehicles on the highway.
“We need your help” The man said while giving the vehicles behind me a suspicious look. “Why should we help you? We don’t even know you?” I asked. Looking at their faces, I knew they were scared.
“I can tell you information that would save you. You just have to help us reach a place. There may even be a spot for you and the people with you to be safe from the infected.” The man said in an urgent tone, like he was trying to hide something. The words that he said made me re-think on whether to help them or not. In the end I decided that information is more precious in this time and can be life saving.
“Fine, we’ll help you but first you have to tell us what you know.” I said and looked at John and nodded. He was sitting in the vehicle behind me, ready to shoot at any given moment. As soon as I nodded he got out of the vehicle with four people coming out of each vehicle and they all came towards me under the suspicious eyes of the two strangers.
“Tell the others to keep an eye out for anything wrong on the highway. The four of you go and protect Julie. John you come with me, we’ll have a long nice chat with these two strangers if they provide us with good information.” I ordered the people that had come towards me and off they went to follow my orders.
I walked towards the two people standing a few meters in front of us, leaning on the car.
-An Hour Before Aria Arrived-
-Linda’s POV-
“Fuck ! Fuck ! We have to leave. These people are crazy !” Henry shouted while taking my hand and dragging me towards our car. One moment we were on the road to Chicago and the next we were going back.
“What happened?” I asked Henry. I was sitting in the car for a while as Henry had gone to look for supplies but he returned empty handed and with all colour drained from his face. The car moved and soon we sped up on the highway, to god knows where.
“Those people are not human at all. The government was serious, I should have believed them.” Henry said while drinking a whole bottle from the side of his door. He was already stressed from the workload and he didn’t have the time to process the reality yet but I guess that he saw those infected and that was what made him turn the vehicle around.
“What do you mean?” I asked but didn’t get any reply. So I stopped asking questions and let him drive until our car was out of fuel.
“What now Henry?” I asked and that was when I spotted a few cars coming our way. From the distance it would take at least a few minutes for them to arrive by the speed they were coming.
“Are those vehicles moving?” Henry asked and I nodded at him. “That’s good, we may have a chance to reach Chicago now. We just need to ask for help from them.” Henry said but I was not sure that they would even help us at all. People during these times were more dangerous than the infected.