Infected

“-apologise that we are experiencing some technical difficulties. Please stay tuned as we work to fix this. We apologise that we are experiencing some technical difficulties. Please stay tuned as we work-”
I flicked to another station.
“-stand by. We are experiencing issues with our broadcast and are attempting to rectify the problem. Please stand by. We are experiencing issues-”
I flicked the dial again. Third time lucky, perhaps?
“-currently off air. We’ll be back shortly. RadioX is currently off air. We’ll-”
I mashed the off-button in frustration. Viola flinched as I threw my arms into the air.
“What are we meant to do, Vi? Are we meant to hide away?” I ranted, talking mostly with my hands as I flailed them about.
“Well, the last we heard was to stay indoors but that wasn’t really an option at my place,” she shrugged. “I guess we find somewhere to hole up and we wait. Try another station,” she urged.
I sighed exasperatedly, “What’s the point?”
Viola glared at me, so I flicked back through the stations. They were all off air but one.
“-believed to infect the body through broken skin, particularly scratches or bites from an infected person. Those inflicted with the virus display symptoms similar to rabies – namely aggression, confusion and unusual behaviour. The CDC is urging the public to stay away from anyone displaying symptoms of the disease and those in highly populated areas should leave if safe to do so. Please keep yourselves safe.
We thank you for listening to the OCPR, the people’s radio. This has been Bradley Simmons with our final programme. We are now ceasing broadcast. God bless you all.”
An eerie silence fell over the car, enveloping us. Viola swallowed.
“Where do we go?” she asked, quietly, her eyes fixed on the road.
“My place. Let’s just lock ourselves in and make a plan,” I replied, sounding much more confident than I actually felt. “I’ve got food and water to last us for a couple of weeks.”

The quiet engulfed us for 10 minutes or so, until an alert blared from the radio, making us both jump out of our skin. Three short, sharp grating noises, followed by a high pitched whine.
“This is an emergency broadcast from the CDC. This is not a test. A warning has been issued for a viral pandemic. This warning is in effect immediately for all states.”
Viola and I looked at each other, the sense of doom in the car suffocating us.
“Symptoms include but are not limited to: increased irritability and aggression, excessive movements or agitation, muscle spasms and unusual postures, and uncharacteristic behaviour. The following instructions are being issued for your safety. Stay indoors where possible and keep doors and windows locked. Do not attempt to make contact with the infected. Those who display symptoms should be quarantined in a safe area. Do not attempt to seek medical attention for symptoms. Await further instructions from the CDC. This message will repeat in 5 seconds.”
I turned the radio off. My stomach was twisting in on itself and threatening to spill its contents. Viola was silent, but her eyes gave away her fear. Her lip wobbled as she stared ahead at the road.
“Vi?” I tested, gently touching her arm.
“Do you think Brendan’s alive?” she asked, her eyes brimming with tears. I didn’t answer. Her husband was in the Middle East, not far from where this all started. What was the chance he had survived? And even if he had, we weren’t seeing him any time soon with the airports on lock down.
“Jesus, Marina. You can’t even pretend he might be okay?” Viola scoffed, irritated at my lack of response.
“I’m trying to focus on keeping us alive at the moment,” I snapped back. “You should be doing the same.”
“Fuck you,” she hissed under her breath.
I rolled my eyes at her, “Just drive to my place, Viola.”

My basement was dark and cold, but it felt safe - for now at least. The drive back had been mostly uneventful, the disorder still focused in the city, but the atmosphere was incredibly uncomfortable. As soon as we arrived and without a word, we’d immediately set to securing the windows and doors and then gathered as many supplies as we could. Containers of water, as much food as we could carry, blankets, a radio, torches and tools amongst other things. Then we’d descended into the basement, the darkness eerily metaphoric for our lack of understanding of our situation. Viola finally caved.
“How long do we stay here? What about our family? What about the girls?” Viola asked, wrapping herself tightly in a blanket for the security as much as the warmth.
“One question at a time, Vi,” I replied, rubbing my temples. “The girls are safe with us. We stay here until we’ve worked out what to do. I don’t know about the rest of our family, last time I spoke to mom she was fine,” I shrugged.
“Well, when was that? She might not be now,” countered Viola, wringing her hands.
“For god’s sake, Vi,” I snapped, her incessant chattering driving me mad. “Mom is not at the top of my list of priorities right now. Hallie and Esther are, and they should be for you too.”
Her head jerked up like I’d slapped her, her eyes narrowed, “Are you suggesting that I don’t think my children are important?”
I groaned, lowering my face into my hands, “You know that’s not how I meant it.”
Viola turned away from me in anger and pointedly began fussing over Hallie and Esther as she stewed over my comment. I shrugged off the atmosphere between us and began digging through our supplies. If we were going to get out of this alive, we’d need a solid plan. The first thing to set up would be the radio. My fingers connected with it in the bottom of a bag and I untangled it from the other contents. I held it up triumphantly for a second before getting to work on the handle. I thanked every deity that I could think of for my hurricane paranoia – that was the reason, after all, that we were so well stocked right now. I cranked the handle on the windup radio for a minute before hitting the on-switch and tuning it. The message from earlier hadn’t changed, still warning people to stay inside and do… well, nothing. I fired up the gas stove and set some water to boil. We could at least have a damn coffee if nothing else.

“Are you serious, Auntie Maz?” Hallie pouted, refusing to look at me.
“Yes, I’m serious,” I replied, sternly. With permission from Zach, I was rifling through the kitchen cupboards, looking for any extra food we could take with us. I’d managed to get my backpack and knife back from Jimmy, my feet were re-bandaged and my mind was set. We were leaving as soon as we were ready.
“I want to stay with them,” she whined, making me roll my eyes.
“You don’t even know them,” I retorted, stuffing a packet of rice into my reclaimed backpack.
“I know they’re better at surviving than you are,” she cheeked, making me shoot her a warning look.
“Hallie, can you not do the stroppy teenager thing? May I remind you that I have managed to keep us alive for the last two years?” I said, rolling my eyes.
“You didn’t keep mom alive, or Esther,” she spat, her tone suddenly changing.
I sighed, “Hallie…”
“I lost my mom because of you,” she continued pushing.
“She wasn’t just your mom, I lost my sister,” I reminded her.
“And I lost my sister. I lost both,” she countered, raising her voice. “They are dead because of you. I don’t have a mother or a sister now because you couldn’t keep them safe. I watched Esther get-”
I slammed the cupboard shut as hard as I could, stunning her into silence.
“ENOUGH,” I shouted, my breathing ragged. “Don’t fucking utter a word to me for the rest of the morning. Do you understand?”
Not waiting for an answer, I turned on my heel, refusing to look at her as I left the kitchen. I ripped the door open and the little crowd that had been gathered there jumped back in surprise.
“Oh, real smooth, guys” I clipped sarcastically, pushing past them all. I stomped up the stairs and slammed the door of the room that had so recently been my prison cell.
“Brat,” I muttered under my breath, before catching myself. She was under my care because of my own failings. We were both doing the best we could, and the kid was eleven. Eleven, I reminded myself. She’s not even a proper teenager yet, and she’s stuck with this life. Stuck with me. I kneeled down by the bed and buried my face into the covers so that my guilt-ridden sobs were muffled.

After a little while, the door opened, startling me. I lifted my head from the covers and swiftly wiped away my tears, hoping to disguise my anguish, though I was pretty sure I’d have red-rimmed eyes to give me away.
“Hey,” a voice called softly. I turned around to find it belonged to Jimmy. I groaned softly.
“You’re the last person I want to see right now,” I grumbled. He only chuckled in reply, a laugh that softened my resolve a little. “Is she ok?”
“Well, you made her cry,” he shrugged. I rolled my eyes.
“I gathered that much,” I muttered, feeling guiltier still. “She’s ok, though?”
“She’s alright, Zach’s looking after her,” he replied, sitting beside where I was propped up on my elbows. I looked over at him. He was wearing a tank, his arms on display. They were a canvas of colour, drawing my eye as I inspected them all.
“You do always stare, huh?” he asked eventually, snapping me out of my examination.
“I’m inquisitive, I guess” I shrugged, rising from my knees. “So, you guys are moving out soon?”
He nodded, “Shadows and Bri are back now so we’ll be going as soon as we can. I recommend you do the same, especially after Johnny’s deafening stunt earlier.”
I hummed in reply, brushed myself down and went about trying to fix my hair back.
“Can I ask you something?” he asked, interrupting my styling. “You have a knife?”
“Huh?” I uttered, twisting a hair tie around the braid I’d just swiftly arranged.
“Like, you don’t have a gun?” he clarified.
“Oh, right. No. Too noisy,” I explained, patting my hair over. I was satisfied that it was out of the way for another day but I desperately needed to wash it. God, I missed showers so badly. Jimmy started up again.
“So, whenever you kill anything, you use a knife?” he questioned, his eyebrows knitting together.
“Yeah,” I shrugged, “Is that so strange?”
“So you get right up close to stuff regularly, like you did yesterday with that biter outside?”
“Yep,” I answered, returning his gaze.
“How the hell are you not dead or infected yet?” he asked in disbelief.
I tilted my head to one side, “Your friend said that to me this morning as well.”
He grinned and tapped his temple, “Bet it was Brian, he and I are psychically linked.”
“Right,” I raised an eyebrow. I checked my appearance in a cracked mirror. I had slightly red eyes from my sob-fest but otherwise I’d pass for looking like I had it together. Giving Jimmy a nod, I made for the door.
“Hold up,” he called, stopping me in my tracks. “Are you ok?”
“I’m good,” I replied, bemused, giving him a small smile before heading to the door again. My hand reached the handle when his voice picked up again.
“What happened with your sister?” he rushed uncomfortably, making me freeze on the spot. I blinked a few times, trying to work out how to respond. It was a loaded question, a disappointing end to our otherwise trivial conversation.
“Is that what this little team building exercise was for? To try and ask me about that?” I asked, keeping my eyes trained on the door.
“No, not at all,” he stuttered. “I genuinely wanted to see if you were alright. I was just… curious.”
“You can stay curious,” I responded tersely, pulling the door open and stepping out. I closed it sharply behind me and tried to reign my emotions in. Pushing the thoughts of Viola away, I retraced my steps back to the kitchen.

I passed Matt on the stairs. He looked at my questioningly before shouting up to the bedroom, “Move your ass, Jimmy. We’re heading out.”
I entered the kitchen, where Zach was sat with Hallie. Brian and Johnny were both leaned against the counters, sipping at water.
“Get your pack,” I commanded, “we’re leaving.”
“No,” Hallie replied, her voice short and sharp. Her defiance stunned me for a second, before angering me.
I gritted my teeth, “Hallie, get your pack now.”
“Make me,” she goaded. I looked over at her, her little face was screwed up with determination and hatred. Her eyes bored into me with such loathing that I almost had to look away.
“Do you want to stay here by yourself?” I threatened, picking up my own pack and slinging it onto my shoulder.
“Actually, I’m staying with Zach’s friends,” she stated, boldly. I bit my lip as I prepared myself for the war I was about to start. Marching over, I grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her away from Zach. She tried to pull back as she shrieked in protest. At first, I ignored her and dragged her towards the door, but I turned back after a few steps to tell her to quit the dramatics. She took the opportunity, as soon as I looked back at her, to fling her free hand into my cheek as hard as she could. It stung in more than one way. I relaxed my grip instantly in shock, and she scuttled back to Zach’s side. My hand instinctively went to the warm, pink patch on my face and I touched it gently, feeling where her anger had boiled over and singed my skin. Time felt like it stood still. Everyone was holding their breath. My inner monologue set to work at crumbling my resolve. You can’t give her what she needs. She will undoubtedly be safer with them. Viola would be glad for her to get away from you after all that had happened. It will be better for her with them. You can't help her. She'll be better off without you. You deserve to be alone.

I eventually spoke, trying to silence the harsh words that were winding their thorns around my mind. My voice was soft and defeated as I uttered, “Fine, if that's what you want.”
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as I nodded uneasily.

I turned on my heel and left her behind in the deafening silence, as I headed back to the road we’d been travelling together, alone.

Notes

Finally got a chapter out, hurrah!