All Is Silence - Deserted Lands #1

Chapter 3 - Part II

The doors to Fred Meyer startled her by opening obediently. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead in the strange silence of the empty store. The deli reeked and the produce swarmed with fruit flies. She found a couple of decent apples, wiping them on her pants. The refrigerators hummed along. Lizzie picked up a frozen pack of burritos and stuffed it in her backpack.

All the good-for-you wheat breads were green and white in their packages. Lizzie selected one of the suspiciously well-preserved loaves of white bread. The milk all expired on the 8th, but she opened one and smelled it. It didn’t stink, so she tipped it back and touched it to her tongue. Not curdled yet. She grabbed some mac and cheese—the spendy Kraft kind—a 2-liter of Coke and some waffles.

She approached the checkout lane, glancing around. She thought about paying, but dismissed the thought with a laugh. Jess was right. Free candy. And nobody to bust her for shoplifting. She shoved handfuls of chocolate bars into her backpack and pockets, then opened a pack of M&M's to munch on as she exited the store.

Outside, she decided to take a different way home. The fading daylight made her quicken her steps; dark rain clouds gathered on the horizon. On the other side of the empty overpass she hurried past the old St. Luke’s branch of the hospital, an outpatient drug rehab and nutrition clinic that had been converted into a makeshift triage hospital. The sign out front said, “Danger! Quarantine! Do NOT enter!”

Lizzie thought she saw movement down Holly Street. Probably another dog. She passed through downtown. Am I really alone? Bellingham was a medium-sized city, half an hour from the Canadian border. She tried to recall how many people lived in the city—100,000 sounded right. But there was no sign of them.

Most of the lights still advertised empty storefronts. Nothing looked disturbed. Just empty.

Jess had told her to find someone, all she had found were pets—how typically “Lizzie.” Animals were easier to deal with than people. She wasn't even sure what she'd do if she did see someone. Run, probably.

The second body she found was at a small mom and pop store. It lay face down. A dark raincoat covered the corpse, but a pool of dark blood-saturated water lay around it. The store window had been smashed. A bat lay amongst the chunks of glass. Lizzie backed away. That one hadn’t died of the plague. She started running, but stopped at the end of the block. Was there anyone alive to chase her?

Lizzie walked to Bellingham High School on the off chance that someone she knew was there. One of the clear-windowed, garage-style roll down doors was open. She walked into the building. A few birds circled inside. Lizzie yelled, “HELLO?”

A white board had the words “School Closed” written across it, along with various locations for hospitals and triage centers and the ever-present “Stay inside” warning. She erased it and wrote a new note: “If you can read this and you’re not infected, come visit me. Lizzie G. 2224 Lincoln St.” The address didn’t exist, except somewhere under the freeway, but she could see anyone looking for it from her house.

She left out the back door onto Kentucky Street. A shape shambled in the distance, odd but unmistakably human. Her brain told her to run, but she told herself there was no such thing as zombies and shouted: “Hello?”

It turned and moved toward her—a man in his mid to late-thirties. He had a patchy beard with a few white hairs, a leather jacket set off with studs, and a spiked dog collar around his neck. His eyes looked wild as he drew nearer.

“Hi.” It was all she could think of. Lizzie could see his mouth working, but no sound came out. She thought maybe he was drunk or stoned, or both.

“Are you infected?”

Nothing registered in his eyes.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. “Wait! Please, stay there.” She warded him off with her hands.

He looked confused, but he did stop, staring at her as she stared back at him.

“Are you hungry?”

That got a response. He lurched forward. His eyes were alive and his mouth looked like he was salivating. She pulled out a Snickers bar and tore it open with her teeth. He ran toward her. Lizzie screamed and backed away. He stopped again. She tossed the candy bar at his feet. He collapsed cross-legged and wolfed it down—she was pretty sure with the wrapper.

Lizzie continued to back away. She pulled the candy bars out of her pockets and dropped them in the path. As soon as she was around the building she broke into a run.

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