OUTBREAK

Terminal #11

In the morning of the next day, Hugo was sleeping on the same mattress from the day before.

"Ah!" said a voice. It came from the outside, distant. It wasn't a scream, but part of a larger sentence shouted out loud. Hugo awoke but stayed still with his eyes closed, hoping to go back to sleep. While he laid there, he expected to hear the other kids shifting around as they slept, or maybe one would wake up to go to the restroom, but the air was still. Not even a breath was taken.

Seconds go by, Hugo slowly sat up in the pitch-black room. Feeling around on his mattress, he notices his sister is not there. He flung his legs out and stood up. He felt around for a supply box and grabbed a box of matches.

As he lit a match, he found the room was empty of any humans. Out the door he ran. Through a hall behind the Jurassic Park ride and into the open. In the plaza outside of the ride, two go-carts were speeding off. Their headlights were like signals to everyone around.

"No!" said Hugo. He left the ride and ran through the plaza. Soon only the lights of the carts were visible as they drove between the sound stages of Universal Studios. The groans of approaching wanderers echoed through the streets and drowned out the buzzing of the carts.

CRASH

Hugo followed the noise to the Los Angeles River at the edge of Universal Studios, where one golf cart was overturned in the empty river surrounded by wanderers.

"Hugo!" Tia Marga whispered. Across the river was a golf course, where bushes lined against the river. "Come here!" she whispered. Hugo went around the crowd and as he started to climb up the other side of the river he was spotted. They grabbed his leg and almost had him, but Tia Marga jumped from a bush and pulled him away.

"Old man has the kids," said Tia as they raced across the golf course. The other golf cart was gone, with only a faint light further into the city.

"Where is he trying to go?" said Hugo. The two were sneaking through more alleys and shadows, hoping not to be seen.

"He said there's something else coming. That we needed to leave now and he spotted an abandoned helicopter at a nearby airport."

"All that overnight?"

"He has been acting more strangely over the past few days. When he spat at you it was the most he's acted in such a way," Tia answered.

"So then...which airport?" The two stopped behind a dark corner to think. Tia Marga peaked to the street, finding a bus stop with a map. After carefully approaching, the only airport they could find was the Burbank Airport.

"He won't make it," said Marga. "The streets are too crowded."

Hugo, desperate to save his sister, found the nearest wanderer and pushed it over. As it stumbled to get onto its feet, Hugo dug into its pant pockets and found a remote car key. Clicking the lock button, a car lit up down the street. Though it drew the attention of wanderers in the area, Marga knew the plan.

They set off the car alarm, drawing all wanderers in the area. As the sound of groans grew, it masked the sound of Hugo and Marga snatching a wanderer and picking its pockets. After stealing keys off several more wanderers, the two left the swarm. They speed walked through the streets, locking the lock button on the remotes.

Finally, one car lit up. The two found a Volkswagen Beetle off the side of the road in a dirt patch. Marga got in the driver's seat and turned the car on. The two cheered as they drove through the city, dodging wanderers and broken piles of rubble.

At the airport, they pulled up to a broken-down fence. At the center of the runway was a helicopter and a golf cart.

"He was telling the truth," said Marga under her breath.

The old man and the group of children had crammed into the helicopter. As wanderers drew near the man realized he needed a key.

"Vincent, what is your deal?!" said Tia Marga, angrily approaching the copter.

"Wait!" said another man. He came running from the terminal, holding up a set of keys. "I have the keys! Don't leave me!"

"Is that...Adam Driver?" said Hugo.

"Yes, it's me; Adam Driver," said Adam Driver. "I was about to get on my helicopter, but the wanderers took my family and escorts. Here's the keys, let's just get out of here!" The three ran to the helicopter along with an incoming swarm of wanderers.

"Give me the keys!" said Vincent, holding out his arm to Adam.

"No!" Tia shouted, but Adam had already tossed the keys. "Why'd you do that?!" Marga screamed.

"What?" said Adam. Wanderers began to block the group's path to the copter. "Don't leave us!" Wanderers began to form a body blockade, but Marga was determined.

"Vincent, don't you leave us!" she screamed. The blades on the copter had already started to spin. She grabbed onto a bar attached to the vehicle, but her face was met with the barrel of a rifle.

"Back off," said Vincent.

Marga let go and was forced to retreat before the wanderers surrounded her.

"Hugo!" Lila screamed from the back seat of the copter.

Hugo was far back with Adam Driver, as the number of wanderers was overwhelming. He heard his sister's cry and watched as the copter lifted into the air, flying further north. He ground his teeth, with tension building up in his skull. Adam pulled him through the glass door of the terminal, with Marga arriving shortly after.

They rested on the soft couches of the terminal's waiting area, but the sun had already started rising.