Chapter 2
Morgan
I answered the phone. "Hello?" I drank some of my bourbon. It burned as it slid down my throat.
"Hello? Is this Morgan Kennedy?" the voice on the other line said.
"Yes, this is she." I said. The phone connection blinked out for a second.
"Hello, Miss Kennedy, can you hear me?" he said.
"Yes, I can. May I ask who this is?" I said while taking a sip from my glass.
"My name is George Hammond, and I am a police officer. I found Ben Smithson's cellphone and his wallet. You were his emergency contact, other than a Stefanie Smithson. We can't get in touch with so we called the next emergency contact, we had. Unfortunately Ben was not with his possessions. We can't find him."
I dropped my glass and as it hit the floor it shattered. Skipper began to lick at the liquid, I shooed him away. "What do you mean you can't find him?" Stefanie looked at me, her eyes starting to tear up.
"Well, have you paid attention to the news recently?" asked George.
I nodded and said yes to George as Stefanie shakily looked for a broom to sweep up the shattered glass.
George continued, "You should know that there is a sort of war among the US and some foreign country. Why the reason is, we don't know, but it was on high alert for quite some time. We think he and hundreds of others were... Well, we think that they were caught in the blast. It was about 20 blocks from an office building, but don't panic. We still don't know much about it. If there's anything we find out about Ben, you will be the first to know."
"Th-th-thank y-you," were choked out of my throat, clutching on the tears and deepened sadness in my body. Could it be possible that he...Could he be...? No, I didn't want to think of that possibility, but based on what George said, it's the most probable one. I looked over at Stefanie and she was shielding her face from sight, the broom clattered on the floor. I was certain that she was crying as she overheard the conversation on the phone.
"You're very welcome," George said. "Please keep him in your prayers. We will try our very best to find him for you. It's not the end of the world."
He didn't know how wrong those final words were.
Stefanie
As I overheard my brother's fate, I lost all feelings in my head. My fingers went numb. I couldn't even feel emotions at that point. I couldn't even imagine how Morgan was feeling. She must have felt worse than I did when the news was stated.
'We think that he and hundreds of others were...caught in the blast.'
Those words were still echoing in my head as it ricochets in my head, bouncing from inactive feeling to inactive feeling I have now and stung when it hit my sadness each time. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't even breathe anymore; I couldn't even focus on anything but my brother, missing. I wanted to leave, but when I tried Morgan told me not to. I guess she didn't want me to do anything stupid.
I sat down on the sofa and Morgan sat next to me. She exploded with all that she held back with when she finished talking to Mr. Hammond. She was hysterical and I tried to talk to her, but what could I say. She may have lost her fiancé and me, my brother. So, I asked her, "What do you think is happening now?"
She didn't answer right away, but she yelled at the top of her lungs in a riot. "Dammit," was all that she said after that.
I started for the door and I sat my hand on the doorknob, waiting for Morgan to say something to me. She sat with her hands in her lap, shivering furiously. I turned around and said to her, without looking, "I don't know why things like this are happening. I don't know why this has to affect us like this, but I don't think that you are the only one feeling like this. I bet many others are in pain as well. I don't know if something this fucking stupid is worth it, but I damn sure will not give up hope."
She didn't try to stop me as I opened the door. Once I started down the hall, I heard the door close and I found her following me closely, Skipper following behind her. I slowed down so she could catch up. She didn't say anything, but she had her small messenger bag that I knew was used for emergencies. It contained water, granola bars, a first aid kit, flash lights, batteries and other things needed. She was well prepared. I also knew that in a small compartment there was a 9mm revolver. I didn't know what it was needed for but I knew we may not even use.
I didn't know it would save my life, on countless occasions.
Morgan
I didn't know where we were headed, but I needed to find him. I couldn't lose him. He meant the world to me and always would. There was too much for the police to do, that they wouldn't find him. There was too much for us to lose. I couldn't let Stefanie go alone. It was up to us, to bring him back.
I looked at her. She nodded and pushed open the front door. I followed her into the chaos outside. Just by glancing in the direction of the site, I knew that something was horribly wrong. Not in the sense that there was just a bomb site, but that there was more. I don't know why the entire city wasn't wiped out. But it was a relief that we didn't die as well. Something just didn't feel right. Something was off. Maybe it was better to walk than to drive. I know there had to be some kind of evacuation procedure.
Even then I could hear the screams from the distance. I motioned to Stefanie to look at it and she nodded to me as a signal to go towards the screaming. I didn't know what was expected to see, but I kept a hand on my revolver as a precaution for the worst. There was more screaming as we walked forward and I couldn't have been more nervous. I kept a tight grip on my emergency pack and Stefanie had a tightening grip on my arm. "Let go...," I said in a lowered hiss and she shook her head. I swore under my breath and just motioned to go forward, pained longing in my heart, a few tears in my eyes.
About an hour's walk later, we approached the area where the bomb landed. It was pretty much what I expected: Turmoil, ruined landscaping, toppling and crumbling buildings, but in the distance, I thought I saw survivors. We both yelled to them and I believe that they saw us. They got up from what they were bent over and ran towards us. "Wait," I motioned, "There's no need to run. You all must be in pain still."
They didn't stop.
"Hold on a second," I yelled, irritated.
They kept running towards us.
"Give me a damn sec-,"I spouted angrily, but I froze in mid-sentence as I saw their figures: Clammy looking, clothes tattered, pale. That was expected, but when I looked into their eyes, they were shadowed, but they looked ravaged...and hungry. Stefanie yelled at the top of her lungs as Skipper started barking and grabbed the nearest piece of rubble conveniently close to us and lobbed it at the leader. It hit, but I don't think it phased...it. Instinctively, I yanked out the revolver and released three or four rounds at the approaching bunch. Their heads yanked back disgustingly as they were hit and toppled to the ground. Slowly, we crept to what laid there at the ground. I grabbed an iron bar and gave it to Stefanie and told her to ready herself for anything.
As we stood in front of the fallen, I used my foot to push the thing over to get a good look at its face. I was appalled by what I seen, clearly now. Their eyes were blank and listless, their pupils, nonexistent. "What the hell," I said silently; Careful not to alert the hundreds like this that were bound to be there, I shot my hand over her mouth and told her to steel her nerves to keep her head. "I'm not sure what they are, but until then we both agree to call these beings 'The Contaminated', ok?"
"They're zombies. Point-blank, and simple," said Stefanie, her voice shaky and heavy.
"Fine, zombies. You realize," I said as we both stood up and slowly looked into the mysteriously looming and shadowed city, "that this may be the beginning of the end, right?"
"Y-Yeah. Possibly." She tightened her grip on the bar, the whites in her fingers very noticeable as she made it imperative in that action to be strong for the both of us.
"Good." I stated quickly. Then, we looked at each other, nodded to show our resolve, and slowly started to the entrance of the city, passing what only I noticed as another contaminated, torn apart by its brethren, I'm guessing, to satisfy their abominable hunger.
Ben..., I thought, please be safe. For the love of fucking god, please be safe.