The ride home was silent. Eleni's parents weren't home and were out visiting their grandparents, which is why they were okay with her letting Neri stay for a week to begin with. But now that plan went to hell, and neither one had any idea if anyone was safe anymore. Just as they drove to Eleni's home, which was an hour trip from the airport, they saw how the world had been affected.
Robberies and gunmen were running into stores, and the Jeep swerved to avoid a few dead bodies. Fires consumed many of the buildings, and some people were even stealing car parts from other cars--leading them to blow up thereafter. Obviously, no one was obeying road signs or traffic signals. Trucks, vans, and even the occasional Prius went speeding across the road in the wrong lane, or with the head of guns poking out the windows. The final touch was the Restless, which flooded out of hospitals and pharmacies, and began their onslaught of murder. Both women looked away while some people were consumed in front of them, and all they did was swerve to avoid their yells and splattered bodies that would soon rise again.
Neri was going to change as soon as she got to Eleni's, because sweat was starting to drip down her forehead. She hadn't had the chance to change out of her long jeans and sweater. Eleni was dressed appropriately, wearing a Linkin Park t-shirt and jean shorts with worn Converse shoes. The only thing they had in common was their racing hearts, shaky hands, and anxious habits.
"Is the world...actually ending?" Eleni asked, and Neri bit her lip.
She was obligated to be the headstone for Eleni because she was two years older, being 19. But not even she thought she could hold out much longer.
"I..." Neri swallowed. "I don't know."
Eleni's hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, her knuckles getting pale.
It was yet another time lapse of forty minutes before they finally came to her house, and her ravaged neighbourhood. Saying that the virus spread like wildfire was an understatement; it spread like a cloud or fog. Steadily engulfing the entire population, millions by millions, until nothing would be left.
Neri and Eleni had the same question on their minds. How will we get through this?
"Here." Eleni pulled into her parking lot, and shoved the Jeep into park. The vehicle jolted, and they kicked open the doors.
"Aren't you going to shut the engine off?" Neri pointed to it as Eleni jammed her key in the door.
"Nope."
"What? Why?"
Eleni opened the door, and motioned for her to come inside. "We're going to grab some stuff."
Neri ran in. "Like...guns?"
She nodded and took her hand, leading Neri to her basement, where all the forgotten supplies were kept. Eleni began sorting through articles in the corner.
"You have guns here?!" Neri questioned incredulously.
She shook her head. "No, I meant that we're going to have to go get guns."
Neri nodded, mouthing a silent "oh," and walked to another door. While Eleni searched for whatever it was that she was looking for, Neri snuck off to the bathroom to change into cooler clothes. When she came out, she wore a thin blue hoodie with the sleeves torn off, and jean short-shorts similar to Eleni's, with her old, black Puma runners.
Finally, Eleni found two gym bags. They were fairly long, and would be capable of holding more than a few rifles, shotguns, and whatever else they could find.
"They're my old bags when I used to be on a cheer team. They're big enough." She threw one to Neri, who examined the size.
"This is more than big enough... This could hold enough food for like, three days." She nodded, and slung it around her shoulder.
Before they left, Eleni held her shoulder to keep her back. Neri turned around, and she stared at her. "We need to develop a strategy," she finally said in a grave whisper.
Neri turned to face her all the way, and finally realized how torn up they'd both become. Eleni's long, wavy, chestnut hair had lost its luster, and she had a cut trailing across her cheekbone. There was a thin layer of sweat on her face, and her bottom lip had a deep cut in it. Neri wasn't much better, because her shorter hair was sticking to her neck with sweat, and she hadn't had a shower since before she left her house for the airport. Her arms were pretty torn up with gashes, and small droplets of blood that wasn't splattered her right cheek.
"The virus...is real. This isn't the place we used to know," Neri replied, and sat on an old leather sofa.
Eleni sat beside her. "Do you think that it's maybe like the TV shows and movies? Where a shot to the head kills them?"
She tapped her chin. "I'd think so. The brain is the center for all bodily activity, so if we destroyed it, then they should die."
"What is it called? The virus, I mean."
Neri crossed her arms, and thought back to when she was standing in the line for customs. The subtitle under the dissected body was... "DED," Neri responded. "It was called the DED virus."
They both fell silent, letting the new reality sit in. How would either one of them survive this? Most people wanted a zombie apocalypse, but now that it was real--nobody was appreciating it. Eleni sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose, and leaned forward to rest her arms on her knees. "We can't go to a hunting store or anything, because people will have already robbed them. I mean, you saw all the gunmen running around. So the only place that might be worth a try is..."
"Where?" Neri prompted.
Eleni looked up, her brown eyes clouded with fatigue and stress. "The police station. Maybe."
"Why is that a maybe?" Neri pursed her lips.
"Because someone may have gotten there before us, if the stores are already empty."
She jumped to her feet, grabbing her bag and throwing Eleni's in her arms. "Then what are we doing here, sitting around doing nothing? Let's get going!"
When Eleni grabbed her bag, the two ran back into her parking lot, wasting no time getting from the doorway to the Jeep.
After all, they didn't want to attract any of the Restless, or unwanted attention. Some people had been driven mad, and then some. Others had already reached the point of no return.
They slammed the jade doors shut, and strapped on their seat belts. Neri felt slightly out of place and more vulnerable with Eleni, because she didn't know her way around. If it was back in her house in Alberta, where she was finishing up college, then she wouldn't have had any problems. She felt weak, and like a burden, having to rely on Eleni for everything. She felt...lost.
Once the Jeep lurched out of the driveway, actually hitting a Restless man, Eleni punched the gearshift into drive and sped down the road out of the neighbourhood. To distract herself from thinking about how she could be a burden, Neri flicked the FM radio on. Not that there would be music playing, but there was still hope.
Static buzzed, and Eleni frowned. She looked away from the road for a moment to switch the stations, trying to move it up, down, to Sirius Satellite and then back again, but to no avail. When she was about to switch it off, they heard a brief voice before the station switched.
"Wait--go back," Neri said, and placed her hand on the button. She pressed it up a few notches, trying to find the voice that temporarily played.
Both listened intently, and Neri turned the volume up. The static took over the voice, garbling it to be incomprehensible, but the radio snapped back to the right station and it became clearer.
"...Now that I've been stuck in here, I'll make this quick. I'm Michael Murray, from the Monday mix every Monday morning, in case you were wondering. The building is overrun, just like the...oh, God..." He paused, and Eleni and Neri locked their attention on it.
"This...may be the end of the world. I'm stuck in the studio. If anyone's lucky enough to hear me, then come to...on...Avenue 19...uilding full...them..." His voice began to waver again, and Eleni punched the console.
"C'mon, c'mon," she coaxed as she hit it again, and the radio focused again.
"DED has taken over the world. All I can say is... No, oh my God, no... Sorry, all I can say is that humankind needs to overcome this. We have to get through his, before...before..." He paused again, and both women went silent before their hearts dropped in horror.
There was the sound of something busting, and then the mumbling groans and hisses of the Restless.
"No...no... Stay back! Get away from me!" he yelled, and the microphone he was using clattered to the ground with a sharp squeal.
The sounds of the Restless grew closer, and Michael started screaming and yelling, and the sounds of footsteps grew closer. A ripping sound resonated through the air, and both of the girls froze.
"STOP! NO!" he shrieked, and the ripping grew worse.
The mic was kicked to the side with a deep thump, and the animalistic growls grew louder and louder. The desperate cries strengthened, and all they could hear was Michael's screams for mercy--and the sounds of tearing flesh. When the shouts finally faded, all that was heard was the sound of blood splattering and chewing noises.
Horrified, Neri punched the power button turned it off. They both let out terrified short breaths, beginning to hyperventilate.
The Jeep stopped abruptly, and Eleni's shaky hand pulled it into park. She swallowed thickly, and her glassy eyes met Neri's. "We're here."
Outside her window was the police station, and their final chance of survival.