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Destruction is clear through all of the windows of his car. Flames spread throughout the city, cars are flipped and in the way of the sidewalks and many of the roads. Thomas can see people running around the city, some are injured, some just plain scared out of their minds. Thomas can relate to them completely but he can’t let his mind shut down and stop him from getting out of the mess that the city now is.
His brain was still foggy from sleep, it was only thirty minutes ago that he woke up to a loud siren blaring through the entire city. It was one he’s never heard before, he’s used to hearing the sirens for bad weather but never had he heard a siren like this one. It woke him from his sleep and left him feeling disoriented. It didn’t help that his phone was also letting out a god awful screech. He had picked it up to see what was going on and seen the national alerts and texts from his friends and family.
Thomas had been extremely confused, reading over the alert telling him to hide from others and where to go to get to safety. He wasn’t sure what was going on but he knew that he had to act fast. So he did what he could, he packed a bag quickly of clothes while listening to all of the different sounds outside of his apartment. He could hear screaming and loud noises over the siren that was blaring through the thin walls of his apartment. He tried to grab a medkit and some food and water too, unsure how long it would take until he’s safe where he was told to go, but he didn’t really have a lot; just some granola bars and a few bottles of water.
That is what led him here, driving through the city and taking in all of the destruction and chaos. He’s still not entirely sure what happened to cause all of this, but he knows it has something to do with the people in the city. Thomas has witnessed the way people are attacking each other, the way that some people are covered in blood and seem to just eat others. It’s confusing and scary but he tries to keep himself focused on driving and finding a way out of the city.
Every time he takes a turn down a road something is blocking it off, whether it be people, cars, or even the military. He’s constantly fighting to get anywhere towards the highway he’s been instructed to go down. He’s backing out of another street when he just decides that he can’t go that way. That highway isn’t available to him through the city, no way he is going to make it there if every road is blocked off, so he starts going in the opposite direction, towards the side of the city that leads out to the country.
He can’t risk getting caught in the city with all of this going on, he’s not exactly sure what’s going on but he knows that he doesn’t want to be stuck here with people acting this way. Thomas is quick to start driving, knowing that there’s some country roads that will eventually lead him back to the highway if needed. He’s supposed to follow the highway to a safe place that the army has set up a few cities away, he’s sure he can find his way there with the back roads instead.
As he drives and the houses and buildings get less frequent, the destruction that once surrounded him goes with them. Out here it’s like nothing has changed but it doesn’t let him relax at all. His eyes dart around the road as his mind prepares him for something, anything, to happen. It’s like he’s just waiting for someone to jump out at him or for another car to just come out of nowhere and hit him like they were trying to do in the city.
Thomas drives over a hill and as his headlights start to illuminate the road in front of him he sees something out of the ordinary for the first time since he started driving through the country. Two people are at the edge of the road and they seem to be walking, one has an obvious limp and the other is much smaller in comparison to the other. As he gets closer he can’t help but slow down and they seem to turn in his direction as soon as they notice his headlights. As he gets closer he can see that the smaller one is a girl and she looks young. Her blonde hair is in a messy ponytail and her face looks worried as she starts to wave her arms around, obviously trying to signal at him. The boy has his hair in a short ponytail, a dirtier blonde than her. “Hey! Hey! Stop! Please!” She desperately pleads, her voice giving way to how young she is, she can’t be older than eleven.
He slows a bit more, trying to decide what to do. He’s seen how some people are acting now, the ones that are attacking blindly and eating others, Thomas needs to keep himself safe. But also, he feels he could never leave people out here. If people don’t have a car or can’t drive then they’re left with no way to get to safety. Plus, the young girl reminds him of his own younger brother Chuck. He couldn’t imagine how he would feel if someone drove past him if he was on the side of the road with Chuck.
So, against his better judgement, he finds himself pulling to a stop next to him. The girl looks at him with an elated face while the limping boy, who must be his age if not older, looks at him like he’s stupid. He rolls the window down a bit so that he can talk to them. “Do you two need a ride?”
“Yes! My brother cut his leg and we were trying to make our way to the safe haven that was set up but I don’t think we’ll make it,” The young girl replies, a British accent clear in her voice.
“Hold on Lizzy, we don’t know if we can trust this guy,” The boy says, glancing at Thomas with a weary gaze.
“I promise I don’t want to hurt you. I’m… I’m not really sure what’s going on but I promise I haven’t been in contact with any of the people that are acting crazy.”
The girl looks at the boy. “We have to trust him, Newt, it’s our best bet,” She whispers, but it’s so silent outside that Thomas can hear it.
Newt looks at him again before sighing. “Fine. We do need a ride. Are you on your way to the safe haven?”
Thomas nods. “I was in the city back that way but all roads were blocked off so I decided to go this way. I know how to get there following these roads. Get in.”
Newt opens the backdoor and ushers his sister inside, closing the door before opening the passengers door and getting in. “Thank you for stopping, we weren’t sure how we’d get that far,” Newt says.
“Of course, I couldn’t imagine leaving someone on the side of the road.” Thomas turns on the overhead light and looks down at the other’s leg, noticing all of the blood. “I have a medkit, it’s in my bag.” He turns and points at the bag in the backseat and the girl is quick to grab it to look for the kit. “It should have some butterfly bandages, it will keep the wound closed until we can get you to a doctor.”
She hands it up front and Newt takes it, opening it and starting to go through it. “He cut his leg protecting me. We woke up to our neighbours banging on our glass door and I went to look but when I got down there they busted through the door.”
“They’re bloody mental. They tried to eat her. Do you have any idea what’s causing this?” Newt asks, grabbing wipes and bandages.
Thomas shakes his head. “The alert didn’t tell me anything. I woke up from the sirens and had a national alert on my phone but it just told me where to go. But I’ve seen how people are acting. Driving through the city I saw the way people were attacking others, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s straight out of a zombie film if you ask me,” Newt mumbles, starting to wipe his wound clean.
He watches Newt do so, wincing when he sees how deep the wound is. The butterfly bandages won’t be enough for that, he’ll really need medical attention as soon as possible. The thought makes Thomas start driving faster, not caring that he’s going over the speed limit now. “I’m Sonya by the way, but you can call me Lizzy,” Lizzy speaks up from the backseat. “Can I have one of these?”
Thomas looks in the mirror, smiling softly when he sees her holding up a water bottle. “Yeah. And I’m Thomas.”
“Newt,” Newt says, still focused on his leg. “Thanks for stopping for us. I really didn’t think anyone would. I don’t know if I would risk stopping like you did.”
“I couldn’t leave you out there, especially not with her. If I was with my little brother out here and I was in your position, I’d want someone to stop for me,” Thomas states, glancing around as he drives.
Now that he has Newt and Lizzy in the car he feels like he needs to be even more careful. He wants to make sure that they’re safe and he needs to make sure that Newt gets the medical attention he needs. “Thank you, a few cars passed by but they just sped up when we tried to get them to stop,” Lizzy says, a frown on her face.
Thomas doesn’t understand how someone could do that, especially not when someone is injured or a kid. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself, he knows that he would feel guilty for the rest of his life. “You don’t have to thank me. No way I could leave you, I’m just not that kind of guy.”
It’s silent as Newt continues to take care of his wound and Thomas focuses on driving. The further into the country they get the rest of the signs of civilization disappear. It’s just open fields now and it’s like nothing world changing is even happening. Everything here looks the same. He can imagine the farmers that were supposed to wake up tomorrow and tend to their crops and help feed the country, how their roosters would wake them up early so they could get a start on all of the work they have to do.
It’s almost easy to get lost in thought about what should be happening right now rather than what is actually happening but the smell of iron, the reminder that someone he barely knows has a serious wound, brings him out of it. A reminder that the world has spontaneously changed into something completely different and all he can do is try to adapt. A reminder that he is now sort of responsible for the lives of Newt and Lizzy. So he shakes his head slightly, trying to shake away any thoughts that could distract him. He’ll get them to safety. Even if it’s the last thing he does.