{"id":491,"date":"2009-09-11T08:53:28","date_gmt":"2009-09-11T13:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatsociety.org\/?p=491"},"modified":"2018-10-30T21:02:45","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T01:02:45","slug":"judgment-day-part-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/?p=491","title":{"rendered":"Judgment Day: Part 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miss a chapter? You can navigate easier right here<\/a>.
\n<\/p>\n

Flight<\/em><\/p>\n

He snapped awake, startled.\u00a0 The grey light of a rainy morning filled the van and he felt disoriented.\u00a0 Still in the dream?\u00a0 There had been rare moments, lying in bed, when he could accurately recall his childhood bedroom and, for just those few waking moments between sleep and real life, he could swear that he was in that room.\u00a0 As if he could be anywhere if he put his mind to it.\u00a0 A shift in space that tumbled through his stomach and snapped his eyes open.\u00a0 Ever since the Metro car screeched to a stop last night, he\u2019d been living in those pre-dawn moments.\u00a0 Not fully asleep, nor fully awake.\u00a0 A clouded mind able to calmly transport itself into any memory.\u00a0 If his eyes didn\u2019t open, if, somehow, he were frozen in those moments, would he ever realize the mistake?\u00a0 Would he ever wake up again?<\/p>\n

He had hoped the light of a new day would change things, make them look a little better, dispel the terrors of the night.\u00a0 The morning was always supposed to do that.\u00a0 Just like in all the movies \u2013 if we can make it till morning, we\u2019ll be okay.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be okay.<\/p>\n

Molly was gone and somebody was moving towards the side door.\u00a0 That was this morning\u2019s reality.\u00a0 The silent world and misty grey skies beyond the windows of a dead woman\u2019s van.\u00a0 He grabbed the pepper spray and aimed it at what he hoped would be eye level, staring at the sliding side door with eyes that felt as if they were jittering in his skull.\u00a0 The door opened slowly and Daryl tensed.\u00a0 Then Molly\u2019s face peeked in and he jerked away.\u00a0 She gasped and jumped back, her face dropping.\u00a0 Holding up a roll of toilet paper liberated from the grocery bags, she flashed an embarrassed smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus,\u201d Daryl opened the door the rest of the way and Molly climbed in.\u00a0 She sat against the rear bench, her face still downcast, then carefully replaced the toilet paper back into the grocery bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d Daryl muttered.\u00a0 He stepped out of the van and headed over to the low, concrete wall.\u00a0 The city below remained silent, the cars on the road scattered and abandoned.\u00a0 He had hoped for some sort of change, some sign of civilization.\u00a0 In the morning light, he could make out the bodies.\u00a0 Some were still in the cars and others lay where they fell, untouched.\u00a0 Unaided.\u00a0 How could the world end so completely?\u00a0 Whatever catastrophe had caused this, there had been some time before it hit. Enough time for a lot of people to stop and get out of their cars, or pull over, or even start to help each other.\u00a0 Two people had died in what appeared to be an attempt to pull a woman from a crashed SUV.\u00a0 The three corpses lay there \u2013 the woman half in her car, one of the men still clutching her wrists.\u00a0 The end of civilization frozen in time.<\/p>\n

A steady rain fell from the gunmetal sky, cool and soothing.\u00a0 A cloud of smoke still poured from the entrance to the Metro across the street, the bodies of his fellow survivors scattered around the Metrobus.\u00a0 No sign of monsters.\u00a0 He turned away, looking up Viers Mill.\u00a0 There was a grocery store and a strip mall with a Radio Shack and a pawnshop.\u00a0 The sprawling Wheaton Plaza was behind him, but he had no plans to venture in there without a squad of Marines.\u00a0 No, the little strip mall across the street would be the first stop, then he would head home.\u00a0 If it was a disease, if survival was based on some common factor, then perhaps it was in external factor.\u00a0 Food, vitamins, whatever.\u00a0 He lived and ate with his housemates, so perhaps they shared an immunity.\u00a0 But, if not, then the safest bet would be to get to the countryside as soon as possible.\u00a0 In the movies, apocalypse monsters loved the city.\u00a0 Even if life didn\u2019t imitate art, all these dead people would soon pose a health risk.\u00a0 Without them to run the world, how long would the electricity and the water last?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When the city stopped working, when it died, it wouldn\u2019t be a welcome place.<\/p>\n

He headed back to the van and climbed into the driver\u2019s side.\u00a0 \u201cWhere do you live?\u201d he asked Molly.<\/p>\n

She moved into the passenger seat and hugged herself again, Daryl\u2019s coat draped modestly over her legs.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t really live anywhere.\u00a0 I have a girlfriend in Glenmont\u2026 But I was just sort of crashing with her until I could find a good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve seen you at the Metro for months.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cTemping.\u00a0 Odds and ends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are you from?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOhio.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, well, then.\u00a0 Should we check on your friend?\u201d<\/p>\n

Molly shook her head, sad eyes downcast.\u00a0 \u201cCan I stick with you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Daryl shrugged, \u201cWe\u2019re going to hit the supermarket, Radio Shack and the pawnshop.\u00a0 We\u2019ll fill this thing up with gas, non-perishables, a CB and as many fucking guns as I can lay my hands on.\u00a0 Like in The A-Team<\/em> van.\u00a0 You ever watch that show?\u00a0 You know, the secret panel in the back where they kept all the big guns?\u00a0 Then Starbuck would fill a sedan full of bullets from an M-16 and the five gangsters in the then-exploded sedan would stumble out, coughing, and George Peppard would say, \u2018I love it when a plan comes together!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Molly finally laughed, \u201cI never watched it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan we go to the mall?\u00a0 I need to get some decent clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daryl grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cOh, Molly.\u00a0 Shopping malls and zombies?\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 We\u2019ll go, but we\u2019ll stick close to the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you seen any more of those\u2026things?\u201d<\/p>\n

Daryl shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it was just some weird thing\u2026Like an X-Files thing.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019re all gone\u2026\u201d she trailed off.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe,\u201d he started the van and pulled out onto the upper exit ramp, which curved down into the shopping mall.<\/p>\n

JC Penny was right by the road that fed into the mall\u2019s vast parking lot, so Daryl pulled up onto the sidewalk by the main entrance.\u00a0 A line of cars, trying to exit the mall, were left abandoned.\u00a0 Their headlights still shone, but many of the engines had stalled out during the night.\u00a0 He could make out bodies behind the streaked windshields, people doubled over the steering wheels.\u00a0 A few bodies were outside as well, lying scattered about where they fell.\u00a0 One group was clustered around each other on the grass beside the sidewalk.\u00a0 They had lasted a little longer, hugging onto each other as the world fell down.<\/p>\n

The store\u2019s well lit entrance seemed small against the monolithic brick front, which was almost as high as the parking garage it faced.\u00a0 The six doors showed through to a lonely interior.\u00a0\u00a0 Daryl cautiously stepped out of the van and moved into the store, scanning the racks of clothes.\u00a0 \u201cThese damn places are like a maze,\u201d he muttered as Molly came in behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is women\u2019s,\u201d she said, tilting her head towards the racks on the right.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be fast.\u201d\u00a0 She moved into the display racks, pulling pants and blouses off of hangers.\u00a0 Daryl followed, keeping an eye out.<\/p>\n

When Molly hit the jeans she stopped and, without hesitation, pulled off her skirt and shirt.\u00a0 She threw them aside, \u201cEverything smells like the subway.\u201d She muttered over her shoulder, wincing at the sound of her voice in the empty store.\u00a0 She stood with her back to Daryl, only wearing a pair of panties, sorting the clothes she had taken from the racks.\u00a0 He was transfixed by the curve of her back, the spine against the flesh, a tattoo of a complicated Egyptian symbol on the small of her back and two moles beneath her shoulder. Nothing was left to his imagination as he stared and, shortly, she became a bit more self conscious and pulled a blouse off of a rack, holding it to her front.\u00a0 She turned on him, a brief warning in her eyes, and he cleared his throat, moving back towards the aisle leading to the exit.\u00a0 The look of warning faded beneath an impish smile and tossed her hair as he retreated.\u00a0 Her head bobbed through the racks of clothes as she untied her pigtails. After a few minutes, she stepped out into the aisle in front of Daryl and spun around.\u00a0 She had chosen a pair of jeans, a blouse and a warm-looking black jean jacket.\u00a0 Her hair was loose, and she had made an attempt to wipe the soot and grime off of her face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you think?\u201d\u00a0 She asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cApocalypse chic.\u00a0 Very 80\u2019s.\u201d\u00a0 He said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need bandoleers and glacier glasses, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA far cry from the 21st Century subway survivor\u2026\u201d The jeans hugged her figure, the short blouse provided a glimpse of her midriff.\u00a0 Now Daryl was staring again and she flashed him a crooked grin.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust like in the movies, right?\u00a0 The guy and the girl survive even through everyone\u2019s gone?\u201d<\/p>\n

Daryl shrugged.<\/p>\n

Her smile faded and she glanced uncomfortably into the store, \u201cHas it really ended?\u00a0 All of this?\u00a0 Gone in one night?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent our entire childhood living under the threat of nuclear war.\u00a0 When we were kids, the world could have ended in 20 minutes, with a boom much more final than this.\u00a0 That wasn\u2019t so long ago\u2026and the threat didn\u2019t die with the Soviets.\u00a0 It\u2019s still there, the media just has other things to talk about.\u201d\u00a0 He looked across the racks of clothes, towards the mall proper.\u00a0 \u201cOf course, maybe it is just here.\u00a0 Maybe, 50 miles away, there\u2019s an army roadblock, waiting for the air to clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Molly crossed her arms nervously, \u201cYou\u2019d think they\u2019d let us know, then.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey probably would, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was too young for the 80\u2019s.\u201d she said suddenly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you got the glacier glasses right.\u00a0 I had a pair!\u201d\u00a0 He reached out and took her shoulder, the two of them walking towards the doors.\u00a0 \u201cLook, don\u2019t think about the end of the world, Molly.\u00a0 If we stop and think about it, we\u2019ll be on the ground wailing.\u00a0 Whatever happened doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 All that matters is that we got out of it.\u00a0 We\u2019ll get supplies, we\u2019ll get to safety, then we\u2019ll think about what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNext stop, guns?\u201d<\/p>\n

Daryl nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThen we check on my friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe friends,\u201d Molly rolled her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cNot only addicted to bad movies, but a hopeless idealist as well.\u201d\u00a0 She moved ahead, glancing at Daryl over her shoulder, then turned to face him.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s no one!\u00a0 I\u2019m not delusional.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t ready to say Martin and Azizi were dead, or anyone else for that matter.\u00a0 He just stepped around her and walked out into the morning rain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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