World of the Dead

A Poorly Lit Neighborhood

At first Paul suggested that they wait until the next morning to head for the school, as it was beginning to get late, and it would be dark by the time they managed to get there. Liam pointed out that it would be best to just hurry up and go to give them a better chance of reaching the shelter before it got full, which Quinn begrudgingly agreed with. Debbie seemed fine with either plan, pointing out that it would be good to get there as soon as possible, but it would be safer to travel with more light.

After much debate they agreed that if they couldn't reach the school by 9pm, they would find somewhere to hold up until morning. Where exactly was still undecided, but Liam claimed to know a few abandoned buildings where he and his friends would hang out and do whatever so there was that.

The main problem with driving was that the roads were pretty crowded with cars, making their progress slow and difficult. Debbie cussed more than once under her breath though Kevin didn't seem to hear her; he had been staring out the window silently the entire time.

While his wife slowly maneuvered the car through the maze of vehicles, Paul was trying to get the radio back working. Sadly, it seemed as though no one was broadcasting anymore; he only got dead silence or faint static.

"Why isn't the radio picking anything up? Do you think something happened to the station?" Quinn worriedly asked as Paul furiously turned the knob.

"Maybe. But what probably happened is that the power went out." Liam answered. He was surprisingly unhostile at the moment.

"How come?" asked Kevin, surprising them all.

"Who knows. Car ran into a pole, nobody managing the power stations, something else altogether. With all the crap goin' down it'd be hard to guess."

Quinn leaned back. "You think everywheres' having this? The mayhem, I mean."

Paul sighed. "Most definitely. If things are bad here, you can bet its worse in the bigger cities. I mean, you guys saw the traffic jam that happened when everyone tried to leave. The entire city trying to go the same way at the same time in a state of panic was the worst possible thing. With the infected coming from the back and sides, only people who were lucky enough to be in the front had a chance. The rest...well I think you can imagine. All the shouting and honking was pretty much a dinner bell."

"What about the soldiers? Couldn't they have-"

"All the soldiers either ran or were killed in the crash," Liam interrupted. "The ones who tried to help got overwhelmed by the infected or got attacked by crazy idiots. I saw it happen. Some poor guy was just trying to direct the flow of people and got taken down by some asshole and two other guys. Don't know if he made it, but I'm not optimistic."

Kevin let out a distressed noise and Lian stopped talking. Paul turned around in his seat and murmured reassurances to him. Quinn didn't say anything else, not wanting to upset the kid anymore. Instead, she fiddled with her necklace and let her mind wander, which was probably a mistake but what else is there to do?

The locket reminded her of Bekka, which made a surge of worry and fear ripple through her. Did she and her family find a way out? Could they have found a way out? She recalled how crammed the street of their neighborhood was and the infected that had found their way there. The sounds of people screaming and begging for help still rang in her ears.

If they saw what was going on, she reasoned, they would've stayed in their house and holed up. Wait everything out for as long as they could. The might've even heard the broadcast on the radio or something and headed for it. Maybe they're already there, safe and sound.

She relaxed a little, trying to ignore the nagging doubts in the back of her mind that whispered the other possibility. At an attempt to empty her head, she gazed at the street and did her best to concentrate on her surroundings. This was a mistake though; the first thing she saw was one of the infected with their lower body ripped off. She could see the entrails as they dragged themselves down the pavement.