Just In Case (Unfinished)

Just In Case

         It had been seven days since the outbreak and five since they had abandoned the cars. They had used the last of their water the night before after they made their dinner of rice and unsalted sunflower seeds.
         "Hey, I think I see a puddle up there! Finally, something to drink!" a blonde boy in a ratty tee-shirt and ripped jeans exclaimed.
         "You can't drink that. It's stagnant." a dark haired boy replied dismissively.
         "It's better than nothing!"
         "No it's not. If it's stagnant there's going to be all kinds of bacteria and probably bug larva swimming around." the brunette girl, who was at the front of the group, retorted.
         "Whatever, I need something to drink." He started walking diagonally towards the puddle in the grassy median of the highway they were picking their way down.
         "Fine. But when you're shitting yourself for the next 12 hours, don't think I'm going to slow down for you." The blonde boy looked at her with a mix of surprise, anger, and distrust. He did, however, angle back towards the other two. With a smug look that only the dark haired boy noticed, she continued to weave between the empty cars that clogged the road.
         When the news broke about the outbreak, there had been a mass exodus from all of the major cities, even though all the warnings claimed that the best option was to stay inside. Where the people in the cars had thought they were going, she wasn't sure. But by the bloodstains dried onto the cement, she had a good idea of what happened once the sun went down.
         "Where are we going, anyway?" When the girl didn't respond, he called up at her louder. "HEY. CHLOE."
         "What?"
         "Where are we going?"
         "I told you last night that there is a lake a few miles up and south. That means there should be other smaller, moving bodies of water nearby. That's where we're going. And if you would shut up and walk we would get there faster." The blonde boy replied with a glare that she ignored as well. The dark haired boy jogged a couple of steps to catch her just as she climbed over a twisted tail-to-nose collision that stretched across the lane.
         "Hey, don't you think you're being a little harsh towards Tyler?"
         "Harsh? No. Harsh would have been leaving him in the middle of the night."
         "Chloe..."
         "Dillon," she replied sarcastically.
         "He's just trying to survive, same as we are."
         "No. He's being a detriment. I am trying to survive. And I'm trying to keep you alive. I never planned on him. If we'd hadn't let him latch on, we would have had enough water to make it to the lakes before we ran out. And he ate my dried cherries."
         "He watched his whole family get eaten, Chloe. We're probably lucky he can even function." She snorted what sounded like "lucky" but he ignored it and continued. "Besides, most people aren't like you. They don't expect this kind of thing to happen and they don't already have a plan set up in case it does."
         "I wasn't expecting-"
         "That's not the point. The point is that most people, including him, are lost and confused and it's really our duty as more prepared survivors to try to help those that need it."
         "......Fine. But you tell him that if he gets into my fruit one more time, I'm going to use him for bait for the next crowd I find."
         Dillon laughed, even though he knew she was partially serious, and dropped back to talk to Tyler. Matching strides with the blonde boy, he opened his mouth to relay what he had been told, but before he could say anything, he heard the other say gruffly, "You know, man, your girlfriend is a real bitch." Dillon's step stuttered a bit in surprise.
         "You know, you're lucky she's been this nice. If she wasn't as good of a person as she is, she would have left your sorry ass back where we found you. Or she could have let you drink that rank water a few minutes."
         "Yeah, whatever..."
         "Yeah, whatever," he echoed good-naturedly, as he started to walk away. "Oh, yeah," he called over his shoulder. "She said next time you get into her fruit, she'll turn you into zombie bait." Trevor paled and Dillon laughed.

         Chloe and Dillon had been watching the news while they ate lunch in their apartment when they heard the first story of the outbreak, although no one knew it was an outbreak yet. The local news played a clip passed down from Chicago taken on what was probably a cell phone. It showed a man covered in blood being gunned down by a couple police officers while a woman on the ground was screaming while bleeding from a large wound on her arm. At the end of the story, the reported briefly mentioned that this was one of what seemed to be a relatively widespread rash of what was believed to be drug-induced attacks.
         They discussed the story idly, and jokingly, but in the back of Chloe's mind something started ticking. About an hour and a half later, while washing the dishes with the news still playing as white noise in the background, the story came back up and Chloe paused to listen again. This time, there was a much more serious and cautious tone in the reporter's voice as they warned viewers to stay indoors due to an unusual number of recent violent attacks in the area. Specific streets were named as places to avoid at all possible.
         "I think I'm going to go fill up the car."
         Dillon turned from the sink and looked at her, thinking she was joking. "What, you want to get gas before the crazies all get there?"
         "Yes. I do. Just in case."
         "Well, okay. I guess I'll go with you."
         "No, you stay here and keep an eye on the news. I'll just be a couple minutes. Better safe than sorry, you know?"
         "Okay....Be careful."
         "Yep, I will. Love you."
         "Love you, too." She reached for her keys, paused, then walked to the bedroom. She came back out with the aluminum baseball bat she kept next to her bed. "Just in case," she answered to Dillon's questioning look.
         The trip to the gas station, only a couple blocks away, was less eventful than Chloe had feared it may be, but it was enough to confirm the thought that had come bubbling up from the part of her mind that held situations that were generally considered impossible.
          "You need to call your parents and anyone else you might want and tell them that they need to go to the west side of the Grand Canyon. It's called ___________," were the first words out of her mouth when she returned to the apartment.
         "I need to do what, now?"
         "Don't look at me like that. I'm serious. There's some bad shit about to hit the fan and if there is anyone you want to  try and eventually see again, you need to call them and convince them to go. We've probably got about half an hour or so before the general population starts to panic and I intend to be on the road by then." By the end of the sentence she had her phone up to her ear and Dillon could just barely make out the ringing.
         "Hey, Mom? Have you been watching the news? Okay, this is going to sound crazy but remember when we were talking about where we would go if there was ever a zombie apocalypse? Well I need you guys to get in the car and go there. No, no, I'm not kidding. I really, really need to listen to me. Yes, I know. ...... Well there's not going to be any work for you to go to on Monday if what I think is happening, happens! ..... Okay, how about this. Get the stuff in the car and drive a couple hours. Until.....3:30. If everything seems normal then I was wrong and you can come back home. But if you think anything is wrong, and I mean anything, please promise me that you'll keep going. ..... Thank you. Make sure to take food and water. But try to pack light. And don't take suitcases, just backpacks. Thank you. I'll try to call you in a couple hours. Get Dad and Liz in the car. Be careful. I love you."
         She hung up and looked at Dillon, who was just staring at her.
         "Well, are you going to call anyone?"
         "Are you out of your mind?"
         "Do I fucking look like I'm playing around, Dillon? Go look out the window. I don't know what's going on, maybe they're not zombies, but people are losing their fucking minds and I'm not going to have my family in the middle of a town with no idea what's going on or what to do. And I'm not going to stay here either. There is a reason I have those packs put together and this is exactly it. Now I'm going to get the stuff together to get the hell out of here and I need you to either help me or call someone."
         "I'm not going to call my parents and tell them they need to up and drive to the Grand Canyon because you think there are zombies out there!"
         She stopped and looked at him with sadness and disappointment in her eyes.
         "Fine. Then don't. I guess that's your decision and I can't change your mind." She looked him hard in the eyes. "I'm going. And I hope that you and your family will too. But I will go by myself if I have to."
         When he didn't say anything else, she turned away and went down the hallway and opened the door to a closet and pulled out two hiking backpacks, which she dropped in the living room. Then she went into the bedroom, returning a minute later with arms full of pieces of clothing. She folded her legs under her and began to roll the clothes to take up the smallest amount of room possible. She packed a pair of jeans, jean shorts, a tank top, a tee shirt, a light sweater, a windbreaker, and multiple pairs of socks and underwear. Dillion hadn't moved from where he was standing, watching her quietly.
         "You're really leaving, aren't you?" he asked.
         "Yeah, I really am. And I really want you to come with me." She looked up at him pleadingly.
         "I don't... How am I supposed to call my parents and tell them they need to pack up and go like a thousand miles because there is a zombie apocalypse starting?"
         "I don't know, Dillion. I really don't. But you need to tel them something and you need to do it soon if you believe me at all."
         "...I'll try." He looked down at his phone, sighed, and dialed. "Hey, mom. Have you been watching the news? Yeah, it's crazy... Are you there by yourself then?... Dad's home already?... Oh, I see. Okay, I need you to listen to me, and trust me. I know how ridiculous this is going to sound but I need you to pack up and start driving towards Arizona... Yeah, you heard me right. Arizona. Chloe thinks some shit is about to go down and that this is going to be a very bad place to be soon and she knows of a place in the Grand Canyon- yes, the Grand Canyon- that she thinks will be safer... I know it's a long way... Yes, she talked to her parents, they're already going... Here, she asked her parents to drive until 3:30 and if everything seems okay, then they can turn around and come back. Can you do that?... I know it's a waste of time, but is there really anything else that you need to be doing instead? Think of it as an improptu scenic drive."
         "Take the back roads!" Chloe inturrupted. 
         "Chloe says to take the back roads... Yeah, I know it's weird and I hope it's nothing too... Okay, thank you... Okay. I'll call you at 3:30... Okay. Love you, too. Bye."
         "So...they're going?"
         "Yes, they're going. Until 3:30."
         "Great. Awesome. Okay, go get some clothes. Or I guess I can get them for you. Do you have a light jacket?"
         "Uh. Yeah. I'll go get it..." He started slowly towards the bedroom, like a person in a daze. Meanwhile, done with her clothes, Chloe pulled a small black harness out from under the couch, where it had probably been, presumably, kicked after their last walk.
         "Izzy, here kittykittykitty. Where are you?" A sleepy sounding meow answered her calls and a small, long haired, white and orange cat emerged from the bottom cubbie hole of the cat tree. 
         "Come here, sweetie. Time for a walk." The cat perked up, having learned that the word "walk," along with the harness being out meant that she got to go outside, a rare and exciting event for an apartment cat.
         "That's a good girl. Come here and let me get you dressed." The cat strolled over to her and rolled over onto her side, letting Chloe move her around to get the harness in place.
         "Hey, Chloe, how many pairs of socks do you think I sho-" Dillion stopped mid-word at the end of the hallway, his hands filled with socks. "The cat is coming with us?"
         "Well, yeah, what else would I do with her?"
         "I don't know, put her outside? She's an animal, she'll survive."
         She gave him a disgusted look. "I'm not going to put her outside. She's coming with me. There's a reason I trained her to walk on her leash."