Playlist for the Apocalypse

Chapter 1: Escape

EVELYN

Evelyn could barely remember a time when she had not felt alone. It had been over a week, maybe two since she'd seen another living soul. It was a depressing thought that tugged at the corner of her mind as she biked down the freeway, weaving between the rows of motionless cars trapped in gridlock as far as the eye could see. On the surface there was nothing out of the ordinary about the 7am traffic jam on the Trans-Canada Highway but that was as far as the illusion of normalcy went. A closer look and the cracks would start to show; the shattered windows, crumbling cell towers, and smell of death and decay in the air were just the beginning. The ghosts in this town were the ones they called "the soulless", some of whom still sat at the wheel as if waiting for the car ahead of them to move. Evelyn's eyes traced over their hollow, greying features and a shiver ran up her spine. How long have they been waiting? She wondered. It had been two years since the Blackout, but many had been infected before then. She struggled to shake the thought from her head, she knew where that kind of thinking would lead. It would lead back to Elliot, to Beth, to her parents and grandparents, to her cousins, and her aunts and uncles. They are alive. She told herself, letting the words become a mantra repeated with every pump of her feet on the pedals. They are alive. They are alive. They must be.

Evelyn's stomach growled as she steered up the exit 29 ramp towards the city. Her body had made a fair complaint, she hadn't eaten since the beginning of the night and now as the morning sun basked the city in gold, hunger and fatigue were ebbing at her strength. The wind stung her eyes like icy razor blades as she peddled down the road towards the twin set of gas stations just off the highway. She readjusted the mask covering her face, thankful for the warmth it provided against the crisp February wind. Her fingers ached numbly in her thin biking gloves, and she alternated pumping her hands in to fists against the handlebars. She knew she'd have to stop soon and rest.

A fallen utility pole had slashed through the roof of the gas station on her left, so she veered right. As she turned, her bike chain caught and suddenly, she found herself sprawling onto the concrete with a startled shriek. The asphalt tore holes in her already well-worn jeans and her palms burned where they had struck the ground. There was little time to recover. She could already hear it, the sound of a car door creaking open and the slow crunch of footsteps approaching her. Terrified to move, her eyes locked onto the reflection in the bumper of an old Honda in front of her. The creature that emerged from the car behind, was balding and dressed in a frayed business suit. His once-white collared shirt was yellowing and stained with blood. His empty, hollow eyes stared unseeingly out of sagging grey eye sockets as he shambled towards where Evelyn lay frozen in place. Breathe. She reminded herself. She forced herself to take a slow, controlled breath. She knew it was a fatal mistake to hold one's breath in the presence of the infected; no human alive could mask the panic of slowly running out of air and in this agitated state, even the slightest display of emotion could set them off. The hollow man shuffled around her, considering her like a predator stalking its prey. His behaviour caught the attention of a few others in their cars who opened their doors to peer out. She shut her eyes tight, desperately wishing she'd had the forethought to have put on her goggles as soon as the light had come up. The goggles had been an uncomfortable fit over her glasses but without them she had not been able to mask the fear in her eyes.

After several tense moments she risked opening her eyes, the hollow man seemed to have lost interest and was shuffling off, likely to find yet another aimless routine he'd once followed in life. The audience he'd attracted returned their attention back to sitting in unmoving traffic. Slowly, Evelyn peeled herself off the pavement and then picked up her bike. Her palms ached where they had struck the ground, and she could feel her pants growing damp from the graze on her knee. With the bike chain clanking against the pedal as she walked, Evelyn made her way towards the gas station.