Wednesday
I turned over and something poked me in my side. I felt on the bed through the darkness for the item. It was my charger. My phone wasn’t on it. I groaned in my effort to find it, but it didn’t take much time to find. It was where it always was: right next to my pillow. I turned it on and nearly went blind. It was 5 o’clock on the dot, and my battery was on 22%. I plugged the charger into it and rolled out of bed. There was no use in trying to go back to sleep. Fifteen minutes would do all of nothing for me.
I started my morning routine as usual. Today’s Wednesday; nothing special at all. I got dressed and was about to head for the kitchen when I heard Mom calling for me. I opened the door and walked into a horrid rush of sewer and rotten banana smell. I tried to hold my breath as best I could, having to push my head outside the door every few seconds to survive.
“Kaylie, I need you to take Falon to school again. I don’t even think I’m gonna make it out of bed. Everything on me hurts and I’m so tired. And for the life of me I cannot figure out why I smell so horrible!” The expression on her face almost made me burst out in tears laughing, but I held it together and tried to focus on the seriousness in her voice. I looked at her; her skin turning a pale gray. Then I looked over at Jason who was lying beside her. He was staring idly at the wall before him, not moving or making any sounds. I looked on his arms which were covered in giant blisters that seemed to be oozing dark yellowish liquid. His skin looked a light greenish color, and I’m sure he contributed to the horrid smell in this room.
“Okay. Am I taking the Audi?” I asked. She replied with a nod. I quickly slammed the door shut, finally pushing out the breath I’d been killing myself to hold in. I went to Falon’s room and told her I was taking her to school again, and she took her time to finish getting ready. When she finished, we hopped in the car and drove off to her school. It was beginning to snow, so I made sure she had on her hat and gloves and all that jazz. I gave her a few dollars to pay for her breakfast at school, and she hugged me goodbye as she hopped out the car and jumbled to the school door.
I was about to head on to school, but I realized that I didn’t even bring my backpack. And I cannot afford to make my History homework another day late. I swung back around to the house and hopped out the car, leaving it running. I ran in the house and up to my room, searching for my backpack. Somehow, it made its way to my closet door. I didn’t have time to wonder how it got there, so I just picked it up and jogged back down the steps out the door. I got in the car and closed the door. As soon as I was about to put the car in gear, the passenger side door was pounded on by great, bear-sized hands.
“Thank you, God! I need a ride!” yelled Ronald through the frost-covered window. I unlocked the door and he immediately piled into the car, weighing down the passenger side.
“Where have you been?” I asked as he got settled. He looked over at me, his teeth chattering from the cold. Before he answered me, he reached over and turned the heat as high as it could go.
“I’ve been in my room making your voodoo doll.” He laughed. I stared at him in amusement.
“Ha-ha that’s awesome,” I said sarcastically, “but where were you seriously? I tried knocking on your door yesterday.”
“I had to go out of town for awhile. My aunt got real sick with that Roamer Disease going around. She was bleeding from her ears and stuff. It was sick.” He shuddered at his words.
“Well is she okay?” I said, finally backing out of the driveway.
“You could say that… she’s dead now.” he said in a low voice. I looked over at him as he looked out the window. I could almost imagine the grief he was feeling. It seemed like only the other day that Grandpa was swinging me around, and then suddenly he’s restrained to his bed. Just then, he looked over at me, seemingly rid of his grief all of a sudden.
“I’m hungry. Let’s stop by McDonalds.” he said.
“I don’t have money.” I said.
“I do. I’ll buy you something, but you owe me tomorrow.” he said. I smiled and nodded. I was hungry; I didn’t eat breakfast before I left. I turned up the radio and we listened to music as we drove. We arrived at McDonalds and went through the crowded drive thru; we were the last in line. When we finally got to order, Ronald ordered at least $15 worth of food, so I just got a McGriddle and coffee. He handed me the money, I paid, got our food, and drove off.
At the stop light, I grabbed my sandwich out of the bag and started to unwrap it. I looked up to check if the light had changed when I noticed an elderly man standing in the middle of the crosswalk… staring straight at me.
“Umm, he gonna move or what?” Ronald said as he stuffed his second sandwich into his mouth.
“Maybe we just scared him.” I kept staring at the man as he eagerly held my gaze. He didn’t blink, nor did he move a muscle.
“Blow the horn.” Ronald said as the light turned green. I honked the horn about three times. The old man didn’t even flinch.
“What the heck is going on with this dude? Is he deaf?” said Ronald, obviously annoyed. He leaned forwards in his seat and strained his eyes at the old man.
“What?” I said.
“His ears are bleeding, dude.” he said. I leaned forward to confirm his statement. They were definitely bleeding, and his skin was about as gray as a sewer rat’s.
“He’s got it. He’s got the Roamer disease. Kaylie, just go around him; don’t let him touch the car.” Ronald’s voice sounded panicked. Why was he so afraid all of a sudden?
“Ron, what’s wrong? It’s just a sick old guy. I know it’s contagious but I don’t think –“
“Kaylie Miller, drive this car and don’t let him touch it!” he demanded. I looked at him confused, and then did as he said. I backed up a little bit. Weirdly enough, we were the only ones at the stop light, the whole street it looked like. I rolled past the old man slowly, staring at his film-covered eyes as they followed the car. He lurched towards the car in a swift motion, and it made my heart skip a beat. I sped up and continued along the street, headed in the direction of my school. My heart was still racing, and I couldn’t fully understand what just happened.
“Ron, what just happened?” I said as I turned a corner. I looked at him as he crumbled the food bag and threw it on the floor.
“He was a Roamer. That’s what they called the people who are infected with the disease down in Houston. They have all physical symptoms of someone who is infected…accept they are dead.”
“Are you joking? He may have been sick but he wasn’t dead, Ron. So you’re telling me that the old guy we just saw is dead?” I laughed, thinking this was another one of his tricks. I looked at him, and he stared back at me with a serious expression.
“How is that even possible Ronald?” I said, starting to shake. He took a deep breath, and then continued to talk.
“When my aunt died, we thought that was it. We thought she was just dead, you know. We called the paramedics to come take her, but apparently all of their units were busy. So we stayed there for a few more hours, because we wanted to say goodbye and all of that stuff, too. But after about two hours, she started moving. We thought it was a miracle, she was still alive. But then I looked into her eyes, and they didn’t look the same at all. They were all clouded and gray. Then I noticed she was stinking really, really bad. I knew something was really weird about her, but I didn’t say anything. She reached her hand up slightly and my uncle grabbed it, thinking she was okay. But my aunt started opening her mouth and pulling my uncle towards her.” His voice started to shake, but he kept going.
“My uncle thought she was trying to tell him something so he leaned his ear to her mouth… and she bit his ear off! Everyone started screaming, and my uncle tried to pull away, but my aunt had a super strong grip on him, and she kept… she kept biting him! I was in shock, I couldn’t look away. I just stood there as she tore his face off the bone. My mom ran out of the room screaming, calling my name. I should have walked away when she called me, because what came next was even worse.”
“Okay, okay, stop!” I yelled. I was beyond freaked out. This was unbelievable. If all of this was happening to his aunt in Texas, then it had to be happening in Britain and everywhere else. I stopped right before I pulled into the school parking lot and quickly pulled out my phone. I checked the text messages on my phone; they were from Yana.
“Crap!” I said. I read them and my heart almost sank.
“What?” Ronald asked in fear.
“Yana texted me yesterday and said she was going back to Britain because her little sister and mom were sick. I didn’t check it until today, and she’s probably already on a flight or landing by now. If it’s that bad in Texas, just imagine how bad it’s going to be down there!” I started to panic. I could barely breathe, and I didn’t bring my inhaler. Yana was going into a death trap. There was no doubt in my mind she wouldn’t make it off that flight. Just then I thought about my own mom.
“Holy crap, Ronald! Mom and Jason are sick!” I screamed to his face. He looked at me like I had just jumped off of a bridge and survived.
“Kaylie, you need to get your stuff and get out of that house ASAP. If they turn into a Roamer before you get home, you’ll have no chance.” he said in a calm voice. My head was spinning. I felt like I was about to pass out. All of this stuff at once was driving me crazy. I looked at him, afraid for my life. He looked at me just the same.
“I need to go get Falon.” I said.
“Then let’s go!” he said anxiously. I put the Audi in drive and sped down the street. Luckily, there were no cops to stop me. I probably wouldn’t have stopped then anyway. We made our way past the McDonalds and the place where we’d seen the old man. He wasn’t there anymore. In fact, he was in the McDonalds parking lot beating on a car window so loud I thought it would break in an instant. There must have been someone inside. I didn’t have time to pay attention to that; I had to get to Falon. We zoomed past my house and to Falon’s school.
“What time is it?” I asked Ronald. He looked at his phone and replied,
“Eight.” I breathed out a small, frustrated breath.
“Ugh. She’s barely started class. If I pull her out now, her teacher is gonna want all kinds of excuse notes.”
“Well would you rather make a fake excuse note or be eaten?” The harsh second option startled me. I turned around in my seat and found a pencil and a folded sheet of paper with some type of notes and Mom’s signature on it. I was so glad when I realized it was in pencil, and I erased it and wrote,
“Falon Miller has a Doctor’s appointment today at 8:15. She may be excused from school.” I left Mom’s signature at the bottom, and held it out in front of me to proof. It looked pretty good to me. I found a parking spot and parked. I got out, leaving Ronald in the running car as I quickly walked up to the door and went in.
I made my way to the main office where I saw the secretary. She was elderly and sick. She had to be infected with the disease. She was staring at the wall, and her skin looked a pale-ish gray color.
“Excuse me?” I said. She just continued to be engaged in that blank white wall. I waved my hand in front of her face.
“Excuse me?” I said louder, this time more stern. She still didn’t move a muscle.
“Hey!” I yelled. She suddenly jumped out of her trance and looked at me, confused.
“May I help you, darling?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m here to pick up my sister. She has a doctor’s appointment.” I handed her the paper as she coughed into her hand. I noticed a couple red spots on it as she wiped it on her navy pants. She looked at the paper, probably studying it for accuracy. After she approved, she made an announcement, calling Falon down to the main office to be dismissed. I waited impatiently, looking at the time on my phone every two seconds.
Finally, Falon showed up and I grabbed her by the arm, practically dragging her down the hallway and out the door. She waited until we got in the car to finally say something.
“What’s going on?” she asked from the back seat.
“We’re going to grandma’s house.” I said, trying my best to put on a positive face for her.
“Why?” she said, clearly confused. “I didn’t even get my homework.” I looked to Ronald to add fuel to my fire. He just looked at me and shrugged. It was obvious I was on my own on this one.
“Because Mom and Jason are sick, and they don’t want us around them. They don’t want us to catch whatever they got.” I said. I was pleased with myself; I finally came up with a decent lie.
“But… school’s not even over yet. Why are we going so early, Kaylie?” she said. This time, I could hear the suspicion in her voice.
“Ugh, Falon! Sit back and put your seat belt on. Stop asking me questions.” I looked in the rear view mirror at her as she did what I said. I pulled off and headed towards the house. We pulled in the driveway and I left the car running as we all got out. I ran to the door and struggled to find my key to unlock it.
“Kaylie…what the heck are you doing? Your door is never locked.” Ronald said. Oh. I was so stressed and paranoid at the moment I had forgotten the one thing I loathed about our family. We never locked anything, and I hated picking up the habit.
I pushed open the door and told Falon to get her bag and pack some clothes and all her other stuff. Ronald followed her to help as I ran after them and parted to my room. I found my luggage bag and started putting everything I could find in it. I didn’t even know what I was putting in there, just picking up the closest thing to clothes or shoes I saw. I went in the bathroom and grabbed me and Falon’s toothbrushes and toothpaste. I ran back in my room and grabbed my brush and makeup and hair ties and a blanket off of my bed. I reached across my bed to pull the charger out of the wall when I heard a loud thud. It came from Mom’s room.
I slowly got up and walked out of my room, standing on the threshold of my door. I looked down the hall to Mom’s room, and then turned my head in the other direction towards Falon’s. Ronald and Falon were looking back at me with the same terror on their faces. I looked back towards Mom’s room, and slowly took one step towards it. I hesitated for a second, but continued to tiptoe towards the door, which was half open. I peeped through the opening and saw Jason lying on the ground. He was dead. I looked up to the bed where Mom lye lifeless also. I gasped silently; making sure Falon couldn’t hear me. I definitely didn’t want her to see this. I gazed for a little longer while I restrained myself from running in there and grabbing Mom. Instead, I reached around the door to lock it from the inside. I closed it quietly and made sure the door lock was secure. I took a deep breath, tucked away my tears that were screaming to break free, and turned around to face Falon and Ronald. They were still staring at me until Falon finally said,
“What happened?”
“Nothing, Mom just dropped her laptop on the floor. She got it now. She doesn’t want you to come in because she’s sick, so she told me to tell you she loves you.” I lied.
“Oh. Love you too, Mom.” she yelled towards the door. I looked at her with a weak smile. I couldn’t believe what I just saw. Mom was dead now; it was just me, Ronald and Falon. What were we gonna do? Where were we gonna go. How in the world were we gonna get there with no money. I had to think of something. Maybe we could go to Grandma’s house. It would be safe. She had a big basement with dead-bolt doors. Yes, that’s what we were going to do. Just make it to Grandma’s house, and we would be fine.
“Come on. We have to go.” Ronald said. I blinked out of my thoughts and followed him and Falon down the steps after I grabbed my bag out of the room.
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