Come Morning Light

Chapter 1

Sirens screamed so loudly it was a wonder the glass didn’t shatter. Chaos had erupted everywhere. Rescue teams were flooding the city, taking out refugees and piling people up in boats and ferries to remove them safely from the plague that was about to hit the entire world. Renee was trying to listen to everything at once: her brother screaming orders at her to hurry, people shouting outside, chaos in the streets, rescue members ushering people from place to place, and that infernal siren. Sweat beaded on her brow, dripping down her nose and to her lips as she zipped her chosen bag. She licked the salty taste away and swung the bag over her shoulder. As she stepped out into the hallway she noticed her brother emerging from his bedroom, panic slapped clear across his face, his mouth hanging open loosely. Loud crashes echoed and rattle their brains, causing Renee to jump in obvious surprise. Looking over her shoulder to the right her blood ran cold in fear as hands reached through the shards trying to break their way in.

“Daniel!” She yelled clutching her chest. “What do we do?”

Without an explanation Daniel lunged at her, pushing her with all his might backwards into the bathroom.

“You stay in here, do not open this door do you understand?”

“What about you?” She asked holding onto her brother for support.

“I have to deal with whatever finds its way in here, hopefully help will come soon.”

“But I…”

“No! There’s no time just do as I say Renee!”

And with that, Daniel shoved her farther into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. Renee immediately leaned forward and locked it. She felt the cool porcelain of the side of the tub and reaching for it, hoisted herself up and over, drawing the shower curtain around herself. Gathering her senses together for a moment, she reached in her bag and retrieved the kitchen knife she’d stashed amongst her clothes. Shouts and groans flooded her ears. Outside the bathroom she could hear her brother, Daniel, screaming something inaudible. Still with the knife in hand, she reached and covered her ears, leaning her elbows against her knees, and began to rock—humming Free Falling by Tom Petty to herself. She’d heard stories about Hurricane Katrina. Stories of people hiding in their closets and bathrooms swearing they could hear music as the wind howled something awful outside their windows. Renee’s family had gotten out and evacuated to Georgia where they had family, they had been lucky to lose only their home. She felt like she was there then—just hiding in her bathtub, waiting for the storm to blow over while it shook the city streets and the dead flooded every corner and crevice of her hometown. For the second time in her life, the Big Easy was undergoing a major disaster. This one, however, Renee knew it couldn’t ever recover from. A loud crash rippled through, causing her body to tremble. How could it get any louder?

“I wanna free fall out into nothing.” Renee whispered to herself. Something banged against the door causing her to jump and press on her ears tighter. “Gonna leave this…world for a while.”

All within an instant, everything began to unwind, the noises drifted farther and farther away. Renee couldn’t tell if it was over or if she was just going deaf, until she realized that she could hear her own heart pulsing. The yells and the crackles of explosions and gunshots began to recede back away from her like water on the shoreline. Slowly, she pulled her hands away and rested her head against the tub. Renee knew it still wasn’t safe to go outside, but at least now, she could let her body relax for a moment. The porcelain was still somewhat cool against her sweating skin, and slowly she began to shut her eyes.

Breathing in slowly, Renee’s lips parted and she finished the song.

“And I’m free…free falling.”

Dawn crept upon the rotting city, casting bright orange rays of light like fire to everything in sight. Silence came with the light showing no audible sign that New Orleans was inhabited any more by the living. The quiet and exhaustion from her crashing adrenaline had lulled Renee to sleep. When she awoke, one eye opening before the other, it took a moment to recover the memory of last night’s events. Instantly, her heart sank.

‘Daniel.’ She thought.

Standing, she noticed the kitchen knife she had been holding laying beside the tub. Renee picked it up with shaky hands and attempted to prepare herself for what she’d find outside that bathroom door. She wasn’t a trained fighter or a killer; just a regular twenty four year old college student who rented an apartment with her brother close to the University of New Orleans campus. Renee placed her hand on the doorknob, and let her fingers grip the lock. Drawing in a deep breath she twisted it and unlocked the door. Her heart was beating at an alarming rate as she leaned her ear against the door for any possible sounds. She could hear nothing.

“Come on, Renee, pull it together.”

Drawing in a deep breath, Renee opened the door slightly. Through the sliver she allowed at first, she could tell it was daylight and the hallway was empty. She pushed the door open a little wider and let it creak on its hinges. The apartment was completely silent, it didn’t seem like anything was stirring, but Renee was still cautious. Her bag she had dropped the night before was resting at her feet and, still keeping an eye forward, leaned down and slung it over her shoulder. The apartment was completely empty. Belongings were thrown all about and glass shards were under every step she took, the window was busted and the door was opened completely. There was no sign of Daniel what so ever. Renee fought the urge to call for him, she knew if he was there he would have come back for her and she didn’t want to risk making a sound. It was then that a cold realization shocked her mind. Daniel was gone and she was all alone. She had not been rescued. The couch beside her had been over turned and she gripped the side of it to steady herself. New Orleans had been completely evacuated and no one was coming back for her. Daniel knew she was alive, but she seriously doubted an entire rescue team would come back for one person when their boats and ferries were completely full over maximum capacity. Renee didn’t even know where they were being evacuated to. Suddenly something shiny caught her eye. She looked to her left where a beam of sunlight was reflecting off something metal. It was her car keys. Leaning forward and snatching them off the ground she realized that the only way she could get herself out of this mess would be to leave and evacuate herself. Instinctively from all the years of hurricane warnings she thought to the default plan—Georgia. She’d go north 469 miles and pray she’d find her family. That was all she could do. Having a plan made her feel a little bit stronger and gave her the courage to push herself up off the floor. Without bothering to shut her apartment door, Renee walked down the concrete steps to the parking lot where her little maroon Mazda6 was parked. Looking around, she tried not to get emotional as she recognized the bodies of neighbors strewn about everywhere. The stench and the sight were making her nauseous. Without hesitating anymore Renee climbed in her car and put the keys in the ignition. The most dangerous part was starting the car up, but she could not waste a moment. The car thundered to life and in no time Renee was speeding out of the parking lot, thankful she had a full tank of gas. As she drove onto the interstate Renee tried to distract herself from noticing the empty lanes. The usual hustle and bustle of road rage, speed demons, and traffic accidents was now a distant memory. Like an old movie on aged film with the sound all fuzzy and cigarette burns distorting the picture. Shaking the morbid-ness from her mind, she decide once she was safe she could let those tears that were burning the back of her eyes break through, but for now, she turned her car stereo on a CD she had left in it and sped down I-10 E with the windows rolled down and the wind whipping through her hair.