The Long Way To Reno (8 page)

Not
long after I’d settled in between bags of wood pellets, managing to pull a
couple of bags over me, the Rabid stormed into the store. Screeching, snarling,
tossing things aside in their haste to find me. I watched from underneath the
bag, barely able to breathe under a combined weight of 80 pounds, as they
sprinted through the aisles. None of them looked up. None of them really looked
down either. They were focused on a point ahead of them, and shifted like some
animal flock when someone veered out of place. It was weird watching them move
as they did – like they really didn’t have too much control of
themselves.

I
don’t know how long I laid there, watching them canvas the store, but they left
as one flock out the doors they’d come in. Just as sudden as they came, they
were gone. None lingered.

I
waited, giving myself time before I could relax. I pushed a bag off me
awkwardly, and the strain in my arm was an odd strain for such a weird
movement. I don’t know if everything had finally caught up to me, but that
stupid movement made me bawl. I cried hard and ugly – mouth open, eyes
tightly shut, neck straining – I cried over that stupid girl I shot, over
the violence done to me, that I’d lost my car keys, that I was not with my
parents, that Earth had been invaded and I was all alone.

Spittle
dribbled over my chin, and my cheeks were wet with tears. I bawled like no one
could hear me, uncaring at that moment. I hadn’t cried like this since I was a
kid, bullied by this stupid older girl in eighth grade. At my age, I was crying
like some frustrated toddler. The sound echoed in the empty store, made it
louder. I was absolutely defenseless if something walked in on me. But I didn’t
care. I just cried.

:
:

            I
don’t know how much time had passed by the time I opened heavily swollen eyes.
It took a few minutes for things to come back to me. I must’ve fell asleep. My
body was so stiff, so freakin’ sore that I didn’t want to move. My eye was
completely swollen shut. I touched it tenderly, and felt the abnormal swelling
extending from underneath my eye, to over my cheek. I wondered if something was
broken there. Couldn’t imagine what.

            My
stomach freaking
ached
. It hurt. I couldn’t breathe very well because of
it. My scalp hurt, from where that guy grabbed my hair.
Everything
hurt
- !

            I
lifted my head from the pellet bag – the store was still completely
empty. Brightly lit. Nothing moved. I couldn’t hear anything beyond the hum of
electricity. But judging from the broken doors nearby, it was daylight coming
in through the broken glass. I wondered what the world looked like, now.

            Slowly,
my body protesting, I rose from my splayed position. I was cold – my skin
was cold to the touch. As in response to this observation, I started to shiver.

            Somehow,
despite my aches and pains, I managed to crawl down from my position. Things
had to be done.

            Some
time later, I was in the women’s bathroom scowling at my black eye. It was a
hideous purple color, my eye swollen to a thin slit. My vanity ordered semblance,
and I’d spent a cautious amount of time searching the fallen racks for warm
clothes. Matching ones, of course. Thermals, better shoes. Thicker socks. My
tactical vest atop of the crewneck, the girlish camouflage jacket I’d found,
with fake fur lining the roomy hood. I was washing up in the bathroom,
listening for any noises – left my hair down because my scalp ached so
much to put it back up. I had hair ties underneath the gloves I wore, because
I’d need them later, when it stopped hurting. I’d even found time to straighten
out my bangs – had to reluctantly leave the straightening iron here,
because I doubted I’d find some convenient outlet where I was going.

            Now
I was looking at my reflection with an opened package of facial cleanser and
makeup wipes at my disposal. I packed those in my vest pockets. I loved my
vest. I’d found some ties and straps used to tie things down in truck beds that
I used to carry my Fubar with; a sling across my back, easily maneuvered in
case I needed it quick. I had on a new pair of jeans with my knife retied to my
thigh. I still looked pretty awesome, like I knew what I was doing.

            Fifteen
minutes later, I added the last of my mascara, and dumped the new tube into the
makeup pouch I was going to take with me. There was nothing happening in this
world that allowed me to let myself go during a zombie apocalypse. I was always
a vain person, and that wasn’t going to die just because millions of people
probably were. I was getting to Reno as pretty as possible, no matter how
stupid it looked or seemed to anybody else.

            …
if
I ever met anybody else.

            I
blinked at my newly done face and attempted to fix my hair so that I at least
looked a little more attractive. I dumped my makeup pouch into the messenger
bag I’d found in one of the abandoned aisles and slung that around me as well.
I struggled for a few minutes with the fleece lined blanket I knew would help
keep me warm by stuffing into the back of my vest, atop of my jacket. The
messenger bag had some water and food in it, and a set of car keys. I was going
to go outside and find the car they belonged to. It had a key remote on it, so
things were looking up for me.

            It
was mid-afternoon when I stepped outside cautiously. I didn’t venture out from
the doorway just yet – I looked for any sign of Rabid or alien, and saw
nothing. It was so freaking quiet. Nothing moved. The parking lot was empty and
still, and the cold was biting and unforgiving. It made me cringe as the wind
swept through, making the bag in the trashcan nearby rattle.

            Seeing
nothing out of the ordinary – save for the general emptiness – I
lifted the set of keys and aimed at the parking lot. I depressed the ‘unlock’
button of the remote, and strained to hear the telltale signal of an unlocking
vehicle. I saw the flash of lights of a red car nearby, and depressed it again.
It signaled to me that it was alert and ready.

            I
hesitated at that moment. I don’t know why – just listening to the
unnatural silence and observing the stillness of a town that, just yesterday,
was bustling with activity, made me feel lost. Alone. I wasn’t used to being
alone. If it wasn’t my parents I was talking to, it was the unknown voices over
Xbox Live – where I lowered my voice to talk as ‘the gay dude with a gay
voice – but still a dude’. I lived in Reno, near the Mount Rose
elementary school, on Mark Twain. Plenty of people abound.
Always
surrounded by people. To not have any around was just…it made me feel like the
only person in the world.

            I
felt overwhelmed. And hungry. I went back inside to look for something to eat.

:
:

I
flipped the last page of an MMA magazine and dusted my hands off. I drank the
last of my Rockstar – still cold – and belched loudly. It echoed
throughout the store, and I laughed at myself. I had plugged in a microwave I’d
found in the houseware section and had warmed up some pizzas, of which I
enjoyed with my Rockstar. I felt like I hadn’t eaten in days.

            I
was ready to go, now. Hit I-80 and attempt to make it to Reno in my newly
acquired Chevy Aveo. I couldn’t wait to get home and find my parents. I pulled
on my new pair of sunglasses – my cheek/eye area still so tender, despite
the ibuprofen I’d taken – and headed cautiously outside. The clock above
the bathrooms said it was nearly two – I had to get to Reno before it got
dark. I didn’t want whatever else was out there to catch me in the dark halfway
there. I didn’t want to be abandoned on the freeway, with nothing around me
– I was afraid of the wildlife. I heard coyotes eat people.

            I
let the car warm up, rubbing my hands together. It was really cold outside, and
I turned the heater on full blast. Looking at the Superstore, I wondered once
more if I should take a gun. But after what happened with that chick this
morning, I really didn’t want to. Not like something like that would happen
again, but I just…didn’t feel confident around guns.

            I
looked around me – there was no sign of any movement anywhere, no
creatures, no massive motherships cruising the skies. I looked back at the
place where I used to work. I hoped those men were dead. After all that
trouble, those bitches I’d rescued better have survived. I’d be so pissed if
they didn’t. I looked at my eye again in the rearview mirror, having to turn it
to do so.

            In
doing so, the guy behind me gave a start at being discovered, and I stared
because I wasn’t expecting to see him. He rushed to the door as I slammed the
gearshift into Reverse. The doors had locked automatically when I did so, and
he fumbled with the handle as I jerked backward. He was one of the guys from
back there, and I wanted away from him.  I was grateful he hadn’t caught
me off guard while I was in the store.

            He
had to let go of the car as I backed out, and even after I tried to run him
over, he managed to get away. I frowned at him as I took off, tires screeching
slightly as I took a turn too fast. That small event had my blood pumping, and
I was extremely nervous as I guided the car towards the stoplights nearby. I
still scanned the area for people.

            In
the McDonald’s parking lot, Rabid flocked in a weird sprinting motion between
cars. I wondered what they were chasing. After what had happened, I didn’t feel
like being a hero to anybody else. I touched my eye, and cruised through the
red light, my blinker ticking away merrily. There were cars abandoned here and
there, and a semi-truck had driven completely over this sedan in the other
lane. Clothes, various items laid scattered on the streets. I managed to get
the car through the pile-up near the freeway on-ramp, and once I got up there,
saw the abandoned line of vehicles on the road.

            I
cruised to a stop, put the car in park. There were trucks in the middle of the
lane; doors opened, abandoned. Various other vehicles were left either on the
side of the road, or parked neatly in line in long stretches.

            I
heaved a huge sigh – I-80 near Fernley never looked so used, so full.
There was a huge pile-up somewhere that had caused this situation before me,
and there was no way I was going to take this vehicle through that chaos. I
drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. I had to take another route. I
thought instantly of West Fernley, and then the Indian reservation that had
another freeway on- and off-ramp. It couldn’t be that hard to drive out there,
find the on-ramp, and hopefully bypass the pile up somehow.

            Mind
made up, I turned the car around, and went back down the on-ramp and made it
back onto Fernley’s main street.

:
:

            I
abandoned the car near the rest area not that far from Fernley. The freeway was
piled with too many abandoned cars. So much for taking a car back to Reno. I
started walking, thinking I’d just settle for the night in a vehicle when it
got too dark. Just hunker down with my supplies, weapon, blanket, and hoped
nothing looked in the windows. It was so freaking cold that I had my hood up,
and I was considering dragging out the blanket I’d stuffed within my vest.

            Nothing
moved. There were so many abandoned cars that stretched for miles, beyond
Painted Rock. Around that bend were probably more. I had to consider that this
entire freeway was cluttered with vehicles left behind. But it made me wonder
– what made people leave their vehicles in such haste? Did they look up
at some point during the night, and see whatever it was that that man had seen,
when he left the building? Were those things still around?

            I
stuffed the ends of my hair into my jacket, as they kept whipping my
face.  I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets, and despite the fact that
I was wearing gloves, my fingers were still cold. I walked briskly, taking the
pace I would if I were picking at work. I yearned for some company. It felt so
weird being by myself. Surely there were people still around – I couldn’t
be the only one left in this world! There had to be others like me, needing to
get to Reno, needing to get
home
.

            I
walked until the sun disappeared behind some mountains. I’d just barely reached
Derby Dam when it happened. The lines of empty cars stretched on beyond my
sight. I stared at the bends in the valley ahead and felt completely exhausted.
The wind was picking up, and a dog barked in the distance. I couldn’t see it,
and the sound seemed to echo, so I didn’t really know where it was. Hopefully
it was friendly.  Hell, I’ll take its company if I could find it.