Prep For Doom Read online

  “Hey,” a man yelled from one of the cars behind them. The chemistry teacher rose from his half crouch and glanced over his shoulder. A man in a plain t-shirt was standing beside the car behind them. “What’s with the get up?”

  Another car had pulled beside them, originally turning around but suddenly interested in Terry.

  “I asked you a question,” the guy said when Terry didn’t answer.

  “Get in the car,” Lilly said, watching the scene unfold through the back window. “Just ignore him and get in the car.”

  “There’s nowhere to go,” Terry muttered, though he was sure she didn’t hear him.

  “Why are you wearing all that?” the man behind him asked, pointing at him threateningly. “You know something we don’t?”

  Terry stepped to the car’s back door and pulled it open, though his gaze never left the inquisitor. Reaching in, he grabbed the backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

  “Get out of the car,” he said, making sure Lilly could hear him.

  “No, you get in. Let’s just drive away from here.”

  The second car had turned itself at an angle, blocking the westbound shoulder.

  “There’s nowhere to go,” he said louder this time. “Just get out.”

  He stole a glance over his shoulder toward the trees just off the road. With the heavy backpack over his shoulder, he grabbed the handle to their suitcase and slowly pulled it from the car.

  “Are you deaf?” the abrasive man asked as he approached. “How about you take off that suit?”

  Terry hefted the suitcase. Filled just with clothes, it was light, but its hard plastic exterior still gave it some girth.

  “Terry?” Lilly asked nervously as the angry man drew nearer.

  “Get out of the damn car, Lilly!” Terry yelled as he threw the suitcase at the man.

  Caught by surprise, the man didn’t raise his arms as the hard plastic crashed into his face. He collapsed as the latch on the suitcase sprang open, spilling clothes all over the road.

  Terry turned and ran around the car, grabbing Lilly’s hand as she slowly climbed out of the passenger’s side. He pulled her down the incline and into the woods, ignoring the slew of profanity that chased after them.

  * * *

  “Stop,” Lilly said for the tenth time. Her breathing was labored and her shoulders heaved and fell with every weary breath. “I need to stop.”

  Terry didn’t argue. It was almost impossible to get a lungful of air while wearing the gas mask. All he wanted to do was pull it off his face and suck in a few deep breaths, but he didn’t dare. He still remembered the blood seeping from the man’s nose and knew that was only the start. The piles of bodies unceremoniously forgotten on the newscast were where it ended.

  The backpack slid from his shoulders as he came to a stop. He dropped it heavily onto the ground. His back and shoulders ached from the exertion. He wasn’t used to carrying an extra forty pounds under the best of circumstances, and running through the woods in protective gear definitely didn’t qualify as “best of circumstances.”

  He slumped against the tree and rested his hands on his knees. The sweat that had been pooling in his gloves now felt like a lake. As he straightened his back to work out a side stitch and raised his hands over his head, sweat ran freely down his arms.

  Lilly hadn’t moved since they stopped. She had fixed him with an intense stare that he couldn’t properly read.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  For a moment, she was silent. Then she cleared her throat. “I need to pee.”

  He was caught off guard but glanced around anyway, to make sure no one was watching. The woods were empty; they had lost their pursuers long ago, if the men had even decided to enter the woods in the first place. “Then go pee.”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “And just what, drop my pants out here?”

  “That’s the general idea, darling,” he replied with a chuckle.

  “What’s the point of all this protective equipment if we can just take it off whenever?”

  “It keeps us from getting the virus on us,” he explained. “It’s airborne, you know. Technically, it could get in you through a cut on your skin if you weren’t careful.”

  “Is that true?” she asked nervously.

  “I’m not a biology teacher but that’s why you keep a bandage on a cut, to keep out dirt and germs.”

  She hesitated, despite the fact that he could now tell she needed to use the bathroom. “Well, not to sound crude, but as soon as I drop my pants and underwear, I’m exposing a delicate area to the air. You don’t think I could get sick that way, do you?”

  Terry blushed, knowing his wife was turning a deep shade of scarlet underneath it all. “I think that falls into the same category as getting an STD by sitting on a toilet seat. I think you’ll be okay.”

  Satisfied, she walked around the back of the tree. He heard snaps being undone and zippers being lowered. After an eternity of her undressing, she finally started relieving herself.

  “What about when we need to eat?” she asked while otherwise preoccupied.

  “What about it?” he asked.

  “We’re going to have to take off our masks to eat. Isn’t that going to expose us to whatever’s out there?”

  Terry paused, unsure how to reply. He had gleaned as much information as possible from the Prep for Doom site and what news he could watch before they left, but some questions were never answered. He didn’t know how widespread the disease had become. It was airborne, but that usually meant it passed from person to person at a distance, rather than through bodily fluids.

  “We should be okay, so long as we eat away from other people, like out here in the woods,” he finally replied.

  “You paused,” she said, as she pulled up her jeans. “That’s what you do when you’re just making up an answer.”

  “I’m not making it up,” he said, though he knew she was right.

  She didn’t argue as she stepped around the tree. “Ready to go, old man? You sure you can handle that backpack alone?”

  “After you, you old battle-axe,” he chided.

  * * *

  They ran into a hiking trail a short while later, one that ran between subdivisions, all the while butting up against the backs of privacy fences. It was deserted and quiet, though he was sure people eyed them warily from the windows of the houses they passed.

  The trail was well maintained, with larger rocks having been pushed to the side, forming a sort of perimeter as they walked.

  After a couple hours of hiking, Terry could feel the pain in his knee flaring. He chose a spot between subdivisions, an area where the trail flitted between the trees and was concealed from sight of most of the houses nearby. He smacked his lips as much as he could and felt his dry tongue scraping across the roof of his mouth. His lips were parched, despite the moisture trapped underneath his mask and hood.

  “I need to rest and we both need to eat and drink something,” he said.

  She didn’t argue as he sat down on one of the paver stones lining the trail. She sat down across from him and watched as he unzipped the bag. He pulled out a bottle of water and unscrewed the lid. Grabbing the filter on his mask, he stared into her eyes.

  “Here goes nothing.”

  He pulled the mask off in a single movement, not bothering to loosen the rubber straps. He gulped air into his lungs like he was a deep-sea diver, surfacing after an eternity underwater. The air was cool and fresh, rejuvenating him with every breath. There was a crispness in the summer air that was a mixture of blooming flowers and damp leaves. He couldn’t remember the New Jersey air ever smelling nicer.

  “I think we’re safe,” he said and Lilly quickly followed suit.

  As she closed her eyes and took deep breaths, Terry chuckled to himself. She opened one eye and arched an eyebrow. “What’s so funny?”

  “You have a line all the way around your face from the mask.”

  “You didn’
t happen to bring a mirror in that survival kit, did you? Because you may want to take a look at yourself before you start teasing someone else.”

  He stopped laughing but the grin never left his face. He took a long drink from the bottle, draining half of it before handing it to Lilly. As she drank, he withdrew a couple granola bars. It wasn’t a satisfying lunch, but it stopped the rumbling in his stomach.

  “What do you think Staten Island will be like?” Lilly asked between mouthfuls of food.

  Terry shrugged. “They’ll probably have some guards, so the sick people can’t get in. The website said they had food, water, and shelter, so it can’t be all bad.”

  “And they’re just letting anyone in?” She sounded skeptical.

  “I would assume they’re letting in people who aren’t sick, for starters. If the news is true, that cuts out a big part of the population. After that, yeah, I do think they’re taking anyone who can make it there.”

  She glanced over her shoulder, as though suddenly interested in the nondescript trees around them. He knew her mannerisms well, after nearly forty years of marriage.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  She shook her head and raised a hand to her face, wiping her eyes. “I’m just thinking about all the people that aren’t going to make it to the safe zone. There have got to be thousands of people who are sick right now, who don’t have these suits or food or water. People who are just scared to death, hiding in their homes, waiting to die. It’s terrible.”

  “Millions,” Terry corrected.

  She frowned at him. “That entire exchange and all you took away was my underestimation.”

  He shrugged as he pulled his gloves back on. He picked up his mask and started loosening the straps once more.

  “Just a little longer,” she sighed.

  “We need to get going. It’s going to be a long walk to Goethals Bridge.”

  They gathered their belongings and started following the trail once more. It would take nearly a full day of walking before they got to the town of Elizabeth. That was assuming his knee held up to walking nearly ten miles in one day.

  The trail wound farther and longer than Terry had expected. He stole glances between the houses they passed but could see only empty streets. No one was walking around. No kids were playing. There weren’t even any cars driving away. It was deathly quiet.

  As they came around a blind curve in the path, they saw a man standing perfectly still up ahead. Terry placed a hand protectively in front of Lilly, pulling her behind him. Their feet scraped in the gravel and the man turned his head sharply toward them.

  Terry stifled a cry of surprise when he caught sight of the man’s face. His dark hair was unkempt and matted to his head from sweat. He absently wiped his nose on the back of his arm, leaving a streak of blood stretching across his face. His eyes were bloodshot, run through from corner to corner with bright red veins. There were tracks on his cheeks, however faint, that told Terry blood had once seeped from the man’s eyes.

  The man took a halted step toward them, clutching his stomach as though in pain. “Help me,” he moaned.

  “Come on, Lilly,” Terry said. “Just turn around slowly and let’s go back the way we came.”

  Lilly nodded and took a step backward. The man raised his hand, begging them to stop, as he appeared crestfallen. “Please, please help me.”

  “We don’t have anything for you,” Terry said sternly, though he immediately regretted speaking. He shouldn’t have acknowledged the man at all.

  “I’ll take anything,” the man groaned, clutching his stomach again. He took a staggering step toward them, wincing as he moved. “Food, water, anything.”

  “I’m sorry,” Terry said, following Lilly’s lead and walking away.

  “Those suits,” the man said feverishly. “They can keep me safe, stop me from getting sicker.”

  Terry shook his head. “You’re already infected. The suit won’t do anything for you now.”

  “You can’t just leave me here,” the man sobbed quietly, doubling over where he stood.

  “I’m really sorry,” Terry said, turning away and walking briskly to catch up to Lilly.

  “You can’t leave me here!” the man yelled as he ran toward them with a surprising burst of speed.

  Terry turned abruptly but the man knocked him from his feet with a strong forearm. Terry tumbled backward, tripping over a large rock, and falling into the grass. From his position, he watched in horror as the man jumped on Lilly’s back, clawing at her gas mask.

  “Give me the mask!” the man yelled, spittle flecked with spots of red blood flying from his lips.

  The man slipped his fingers under her chin and pulled the mask forward, breaking the tight seal around her skin. She screamed in fear, a noise that vaulted Terry into action. His hands closed over a rock as he stood and he rushed toward his wife. The infected stranger and Lilly turned quickly in a circle as she tried to dislodge the crazed man. As the stranger turned toward Terry, he swung the rock as hard as he could, smashing it into the man’s face. The man slumped to the ground, releasing Lilly.

  “He nearly pulled off my mask,” she said, panicked and seemingly oblivious to the bloody mess that remained of the infected man’s face. “He broke my seal and breathed right on me. Oh God, Terry, he breathed on me. The disease is airborne and he—”

  “Shh,” Terry said. He helped her fix her mask before holding her close, hushing her every time she started talking. He was glad for the layers of the MOPP suit. She couldn’t feel his racing heart or hear the panic in his voice.

  * * *

  They stopped early for the night, only a couple more miles down the road. The hiking trail had ended and they were forced to follow the asphalt. There were a lot of parked cars lining either side, but they were all abandoned. Still, they walked far off the road and out of sight before setting up a makeshift camp.

  Lilly’s eyes were still wide with fear and she rocked slightly. She clutched her legs through her protective gear, refusing to remove her gloves or mask even as Terry passed out food and water.

  “You need to eat,” he said.

  She shook her head. “He breathed right on me. I could feel his breath across the back of my neck. What if I’m sick?”

  Terry knelt before her and pulled off his mask. With a free hand, he brushed the sweaty salt and pepper hair off his forehead. “You’re not going to get sick. You’ll be fine, I promise.”

  “How can you know?” she said curtly.

  He took her hands and gave them a squeeze. “This thing is like the flu. Every flu season, you’re exposed to the virus hundreds of times a day but you’re not sick every day. It takes all the right circumstances for you to get sick. He might have breathed on you, but you’re going to be fine.”

  She nodded and pulled off her mask with a shaking hand. Nervously, she took the food from Terry and started eating her dry granola bar, washing it down with swigs of water.

  “We lost the sleeping bags with the car,” Terry explained, “but it’s a warm night, so it shouldn’t be that bad to sleep under the stars. Just like when we were first dating, huh?”

  She gave him a weak smile but she wasn’t sufficiently distracted from the chance of getting sick.

  Terry’s smile faded and he lay down on the grass. “I’ll wake you in a few hours. We’ll get moving again when it’s dark. It’s less likely people will make a scene about our suits late at night.”

  She nodded morosely before laying down as well. She rolled away from him, showing her back. Terry was pretty sure she didn’t fall asleep, but he tried his best to close his eyes and get some rest before they had to start again.

  * * *

  A soft beeping woke him. Terry pushed the button on the side of the watch, turning off the incessant alarm. It was nearly pitch black around them. Lights from nearby towns hadn’t reached the middle of the field where they slept.

  He stood, feeling the aches and pains of sleeping on the h
ard ground. He was too old to go camping, something he had given up when they were both still in their thirties. He was a far bigger fan now of memory foam mattresses.

  Lilly was still asleep and he had to shake her shoulder a few times before she gave a soft moan. She rolled toward him and covered her eyes, as though blocking out a bright light that wasn’t there.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, his stomach turning in knots as she tried in vain to sit up.

  “My head is killing me,” she moaned. “It feels like someone stuck a knife in my eye.”

  He rubbed her back as he chewed on the inside of his lip. “It’s just stress. It’s been a really tough day on both of us and we did more exercising in the past twenty-four hours than we did the past ten years combined. You just need a good night’s rest, something we can get on Staten Island.”

  She nodded, but the effort seemed to hurt her head even worse. Slipping a hand under her arm, he helped her to her feet. She stood unsteadily, unable to assist him as he slipped her gas mask back into place. As he tightened the straps on the back of her head, she winced.

  “Sorry, darling,” he said as he pulled down the plastic hood. “Let me carry your water and the backpack, okay?”

  She didn’t put up much of an argument and leaned on him when he offered his arm for support.

  It was dark on the road but he didn’t risk pulling out a flashlight. It seemed that the outbreak had brought out the worst in people and he didn’t want to draw any more attention to them than absolutely necessary. They still had nearly six miles to go to the bridge, which would take them a couple hours if they could maintain a decent pace. He glanced over nervously toward Lilly, wondering if she’d be able to keep up. Her head clearly still hurt and even in the darkness he could see her rubbing her stomach.

  There were a lot of things he wanted to say to set her mind at ease, but didn’t want to spoil the nighttime stillness. They seemed content to walk in silence. He knew she was worried; to a certain degree, he was, too. He had to remind himself of every disease scare he’d lived through: H1N1, Ebola, and countless others he could barely remember. Whenever the media started scaring people about the illness, every symptom seemed like the disease. Someone sneezed and immediately assumed it was Ebola.