Hope In Hand

By Krislyn McKeown

It has been 48 days since the killer virus was first announced on ESPN nightly news sending the whole of America and the rest of the world into an uncontrollable panic. 48 days since Luke, Jordan and I have had anything to eat other than non-perishable tins of canned beans, sardines, vegetable soups and anything else we could scavenge from the pantries of abandoned homes on the outskirts of town. 48 days since our normal, uninteresting teenage lives were turned upside down forever.

“Carla Get Down!” Luke yells jolting me out of my day dream. I silently curse myself for not paying more attention to my surroundings. I can see the gang of looters he’s spotted in the clearing about a mile away from us creeping their way towards the house we were scouting in hopes of sleeping in a warm bed for the night. I crouch lower behind the scrub of the bush worried they might catch sight of my light blue tank top through the trees. Our eyes meet briefly and Luke signals for me to start moving. I let out a deep sigh. Now for the long trek back to our camp. We both stumble slowly up the rocky, overgrown hill and almost an hour passes before either of us speak.

Luke finally breaks the uneasy silence. “I wonder if Jordan burnt the Roast Lamb again tonight.” I break out laughing. I know he’s only trying to lighten the mood and it will be canned tuna for us both tonight but I smile at him anyway. It’s been a long time since either of us told a joke. These days where so hardwired into survival mode our only conversations involve never ending arguments about rations, organising food and supply runs or scouting our next camp location.

It’s been 48 days since over 80% of America’s population including both our families perished to an unknown airborne virus. I still remember every word of that first news announcement warning the nation that a highly deadly virus originating in Russia had reached America’s borders. Within 5 days of that announcement people everywhere were dropping like flies. The virus attacks the central nervous system first and then slowly your internal organs begin to shut down. It spread like wildfire and sparked pandemonium throughout the country. People didn’t know whether to isolate themselves inside or to take a chance running and leave the state. There wasn’t enough time to attempt to develop a vaccine or cure and those that may have had the knowledge to do so are long gone now.

Within a month the once vast population of America had dwindled to only 20% of its previous capacity. We still don’t know how many survivors are left outside of America. The few that did survive turned violent and savage almost immediately. Most towns have been picked apart by looters and everywhere we go there is the awful stench of death that lingers from unburied bodies. I found Luke and Jordan only a few days after I buried my parents in our small backyard. I had been knocking on doors in our neighbourhood hoping and praying to find another living person. I knocked on the doors of over 100 houses before finally they answered. There parents and younger sisters had perished to the virus within the first few days of the unexplained pandemic. They were both 2 years my senior and had been neighbours since they were young. I think to myself everyday how thankful I am that I found them.

After some of the remaining survivors began to set fires all over town in fear of contracting the virus from the dead, we decided it was best we stick together and not engage with others. These days we have to focus solely on our survival and getting as far away from the central cities as possible. We still have no explanation as to why none of us died alongside our families from the virus. The last broadcast we managed to tune into on Jordan’s portable radio had explained that an anomaly had been discovered by medical researchers.

Those with the universal blood type (O Negative) had higher immunity to the virus than others. My father had an O Negative blood type yet he still died alongside my mother. Luke and Jordan had never been tested so we were unable to figure out if that theory may be the reason to our salvation. Where almost back at camp now and I can already hear Jordan rummaging through the pots and pans cursing and swearing over the whereabouts of the matches from last night. I don’t want to be the one to break it to him that with other people so close by it would be too dangerous to light a fire tonight. I know one of the few things he enjoys is resting by the fire on the colder nights and counting the stars. Luke spares me the discomfort and tells Jordan there were looters nearby. He looks just as disappointed as me that our opportunity to sleep in a warm bed was gone.

We all agree that we should only remain in the area one more night before we make our journey back to the old beaten down land rover in the morning. We had found it on a property just outside the central of the district. We were lucky Luke was able to drive a manual vehicle as neither Jordan nor I had ever attempted to drive a car before. From there we would make our way further west towards Seattle. That was the last known location that the government had funded and provided permanent medical research and community resource camps that apparently housed enough food, water and medical supplies to assist any remaining survivors for years. We did not know if the camp still existed or if there was anyone left. I think we were just relying on the hope that there might possibly be some kind of safe haven out there for others like us. It was the only thing keeping us sane hoping there might be a chance we would find a home again.

We woke before dawn the next morning and started our journey back towards the rover. If Luke drove straight with minimal stops for a full day, we would reach the border of Seattle by the next night. The drive felt awfully long and due to the land rovers age and constant rattling from the engine Luke pulled over a few times more than we had planned worried the car might start overheating again. The last long trip we had only driven half a day before the engine started blowing smoke from the front end of the gasket. After that we were very careful not to go too far through the valley without letting it cool down. Despite the extra stops we still managed to reach Seattle by the following night.

We had to abandon the land rover on the outskirts of the city. There were so many cars already piled up blocking any entrance we had of driving directly into the city. From there it was a five hour walk to the resource camp. We had barely walked an hour before the flies were surrounding us and the strong stench of death started overpowering our nose senses. That smell was everywhere throughout the major cities. This was exactly why we tried our best to avoid them at all costs. Now here we were walking straight through the centre of one of America’s larger cities with millions of unburied bodies rotting throughout. It made me sad to think that none of these people had anyone left to bury them after they died.

The last thing my mother had said to me before she closed her eyes was to go to the camp in Seattle. She knew my aunt had been staying there and I think she hoped that even in her death I would not be left alone. My eyes fill with water thinking of my last moment with her. I pull out her gold heart shaped locket and rub my fingers over the top of the shiny surface. A parting gift she handed me a day before her death. Inside was a photo of my mother and father on their wedding day. I knew when she had spoken to me that day with tears in her eyes, she had come to the same realisation I had. In her weakened state we both knew it was only a matter of time. The virus attacked my father more severely destroying almost all function of his central nervous system first. By the third day he was in so much pain he could barely move or mumble a single word and refused water whenever I tried to lift him upright. He took his last breath a few hours after my mother. I never got the chance to say my final goodbye to him. I cried loud howling tears for the both of them all through the night engulfed in the perpetual grief that both of my parents were now dead. I had never felt so alone clutching my mothers lifeless body begging for her to wake up and tell me this was all a bad dream. I finally drifted to sleep in the early hours of the morning.

When I woke, I walked into our small yard and dug their graves side by side next to the old pine tree. I read many prayers aloud before finally laying them to rest. I decorated their graves with many of my mothers beautifully grown roses. I vowed to myself that I would not cry again over their deaths. Three days later I found Luke and Jordan. It took me almost a week to convince them Seattle was the best option for all of us. I know they thought it was too dangerous a journey for the three of us to attempt but after the fires started and violence broke out, they agreed we couldn’t stay there any longer. We all shared hope that there might be others like us left in Seattle.

We imagined finding a large community camp with hundreds of people including families, medics, soldiers and hopefully someone that would be able to answer some of the many questions we had pondered over ourselves each night. What caused this airborne virus? Why were we not warned of this earlier? Was the death toll as large in other countries as it was here? What was the reason behind our unexplainable immunity? We had so many questions and each of us longed for an answer to them. What we imagined the community resource camp in Seattle might be like was very different to what we found that day. I could already see the fires in the distance and my heart began pounding hysterically through my chest. I fought back waves of tears and could not meet Luke or Jordan in the eye.

I just kept walking towards the large flames of fire that were engulfing buildings and homes. Whatever had happened here had only happened recently and looked very similar to our neighbourhood back in Florida. Neither Luke nor Jordan said a word. They followed on walking beside me deeper into the burning city. The smoke became unbearable by the time we reached the next block. We were all inhaling short, raspy breaths by now and knew we would have to turn back shortly or risk passing out from the fumes. I looked down at my mother’s heart shaped locket once again. All hope of finding a home and safe haven in Seattle had disappeared. “I’ll see you soon” was all I could say staring down at their wedding photo. It was the only sentimental item I had left to remind me of home. It signified my past life long before the violence and the virus. A past life that had ended only 48 days ago.