OUTBREAK

Sugar and Blood #7

Hugo followed the road up to Universal Studios as planes flew overhead. They continued North-east after dropping bombs on LA. The number of explosions died down as the morning drew near.

Approaching the city-walk just outside of the park, a small murmur of groans came from inside the walls. The gates to the city-walk were shut with dozens of padlocks. When the wanderers saw Hugo, they pressed against the gates, gnashing their teeth at him.

To the left of the gate was the 'Jurassic Parking' structure. Within the shade of the building, a blue car had crashed into the concrete wall. The front bumper was stained red and the interior was empty, the two doors on the left were wide open. On the back seat, a toy clown.

"She's alive," said Hugo in a whisper. He kept the clown in his pants pocket; it was now his only possession.

To the side of 'Jurassic Parking' was a spiral staircase. Thinking there might be a possible way in, Hugo climbed the spiral stairs. At the top there was another wide-open gate, with dead wanderers scattered around it. Hugo stepped over the bodies and found himself on the second floor of the city walk. Wanderers who saw Hugo from ground level could do nothing other than groan and stare.

The second floor was empty, except for a dead wanderer every so often. Most of the stores were left untouched, but the shelves had already been emptied. The Cinnabon across the walk had seemingly already been set on fire and put out. The air smelled of charred sugar and blood.

Hugo continued into the plaza where more wanderers remained. Inevitably, they soon became aware of Hugo's presence and called out to him. The second floor ended with a jammed escalator down to the plaza, and an abandoned sandwich shop. From the look of the broken sign, it was a Subway.

Looking into the shop, the way to the back of the shop was free from rubble or trash. Hugo followed it, finding nothing but looted shelves and expired food.

There was one last door though; the door to the walk-in freezer was clear from rubble. As if it was opened after the outbreak. He opened the door and the stench filled his nostrils. A shiver went down his spine. The floor had a layer of room-temperature water and the shelves were filled with unfrozen bags of spoiled food.

Leaning into the freezer, Hugo spotted something tucked in the far corner. An open vent, a few inches off the ground. Compelled to enter, Hugo tip-toed across the freezer. Water partially leaked through his shoes, trapping moisture in his toes. At the vent, he kneeled down and crawled in.

The smell died down the further he went along with the light, even to the point of pure darkness. The faint groans of wanderers echoed through the vents, sometimes too close for comfort. Hugo felt his way through, hoping luck would get him on the right path.

As he took a right turn, he saw a faint light. Getting closer, the vent led to an opening that faced the entrance to the park. Though it was nailed shut, Hugo could only peak through the covering. He was some 30 feet above the ground.

The entrance to the park was swarmed with wanderers. Even more so than the center of the city-walk. The golden gates were closed though, as Hugo looked closer, there were no wanderers on the other side of the gates.

"She's here," Hugo whispered. He sat beside the end of the vent, still peaking to the outside. "Dammit how do I get in?" Looking around, Hugo spotted a beam that went across the city walk, high above the ground. "Crap." He leaned back, exhaling.

Squeak

The toy in his pocket was squished, and the wanderers hushed. For a moment, Hugo heard his heart beating again. It pounded on the metal of the vents. Holding the toy in his hand, he had an idea.

Crawling through the vents once more, he tried to climb as high as he could. Whenever the vents had a vertical path, he took it. He would press his back against one side and his limbs against the other. Slowly but surely, he made his way to the roof.

BANG

A vent to the roof flung open, and Hugo climbed out. The swarm turned to him as he stood on the roof, watching over them. They groaned at him, reaching out their hands. Slowly the front gate was cleared and the beam was out of the wanderer's sight.

He grabbed the vent cover and held it over the opposite side of the building. With a decent toss, the vent flew onto some outer sidewalk. The wanderers followed the sound, Hugo went to the beam. Stepping carefully onto the metal beam, his foot barely matched the width of the metal. The wanderers were clueless to Hugo; it wasn't long before he was halfway across. From where he balanced, he could see the rest of the northern Los Angeles area.

North Los Angeles, known as the San Fernando Valley, was relatively untouched. Besides the millions of wanderers that are roaming the streets, the bombs had not been dropped there. Gazing over the valley, a chill breeze came over Hugo. The breeze left but the chill remained. Something was off.

Someone was watching Hugo. He looked down, almost losing his balance. The wanderers have spotted Hugo, just now was when their groans became audible to him; but it wasn't the cause of the chill.

Hugo looked back at the wanderers he distracted, seeing them clamoring at the gates once more. He squinted at the gates, there, Homer Simpson watched Hugo. He froze, waiting for Homer to move to tell if a wanderer was inside him, but he was still.

It wasn't a minute until Hugo's legs started to grow tired. He wobbled atop the beam, and a crowd gathered under him. Regaining his balance, he looked back at Homer but he had gone. Hugo looked down, realizing his situation, he hurried forward. When he reached the other side he collapsed onto the roof of the building, hiding from those who were watching.

The sun was starting to set. Hugo's stomach grumbled, and his eyes were crusty from lack of water. With little left to lose, he got to his feet and took a look over the park. Relatively inactive, but Hugo didn't know that.

"I'm coming for you, Lila."