{"id":182,"date":"2013-07-21T12:24:26","date_gmt":"2013-07-21T12:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/?page_id=182"},"modified":"2013-07-21T12:24:26","modified_gmt":"2013-07-21T12:24:26","slug":"chapter-24","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/story\/chapter-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 24"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chapter 24<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Control.<\/i><\/p>\n

That was something I loved to have.\u00a0 It was something I possessed once, before everything went down.\u00a0 When it all happened, I lost any semblance of control, and I almost couldn\u2019t handle it.\u00a0 Seeing others lose control\u2026 I\u2019m used to that.\u00a0 Things not going my way\u2026 I can handle that too, as long as I\u2019m able to control what happens next.\u00a0 But that day, I lost everything.\u00a0 My life, my soon-to-have-been ex-wife, my son\u2026 Barty\u2026 my son\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n

Losing control.<\/i><\/p>\n

It never would have happened before.\u00a0 Never.\u00a0 And even though it happens all the time now, it still hasn\u2019t gotten any easier.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Saturday, April 14, 2012<\/b><\/b>
\n2:00 p.m.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Cape Canaveral was normally only an hour\u2019s drive from Orlando, but they\u2019d been on the road for an hour and a half.\u00a0 Just trying to get out of Orlando had caused most of the delay.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that everyone else was trying to the same\u2026\u00a0 It was that everyone else had already tried to get out, and had died in the process.<\/p>\n

Cars clogged the streets, some parked neatly in the middle of lanes, others stalled on the shoulders or in the medians, and still more crumpled against guardrails, trees, telephone poles, or other cars they\u2019d collided into when their drivers had become incapacitated.\u00a0 In trying to navigate through this mess, they\u2019d seen the bodies, many of them slumped over steering wheels, others simply lying on the ground.\u00a0 And in the quiet houses and darkened buildings they\u2019d driven past, there were surely more.\u00a0 Many more.<\/p>\n

At last, they\u2019d made it to the interstate, where the congestion had gradually thinned the further they got from the city.\u00a0 Now the open road stretched before Howard, not entirely clear, but with enough lanes to allow him to weave in and out of the stopped vehicles in his way.\u00a0 He stared straight ahead, eyes on the road, both hands on the steering wheel, completely focused on his task.\u00a0 He gripped the wheel so tightly, his knuckles were white, and the veins bulged out from the backs of his hands.\u00a0 He did not allow his mind to wander.<\/p>\n

Every now and then, he snuck a glance at his companion.\u00a0 Beside him in the passenger seat, the girl, Kayleigh, stared out her window with as much determination as he watched the road.\u00a0 She stared without really seeing, he suspected.\u00a0 In her reflection in the side mirror, her red-rimmed eyes appeared glazed, unfocused.<\/p>\n

Howard was glad he was the one driving.\u00a0 Not that he would have even considered letting a woman \u2013 a college girl, at that \u2013 drive his custom, amethyst pearl Lexus, but he embraced the concentration needed to plot a course through the obstacles that stood between them and the coast.\u00a0 The cruise control was off, and so was the GPS; he drove the old-fashioned way, flooring the gas and relying on road signs to tell him how much further they had to go and what exits to take.<\/p>\n

They had no exact destination and no definite plans.\u00a0 The drive so far had been quiet, silence permeated only by the occasional sniffle from Kayleigh\u2019s side of the car.\u00a0 The sound of Howard\u2019s hard swallowing seem extra loud in his own ears, but he allowed no other noise to escape him.\u00a0 He had expected the sorority girl to be chattier, even in the hysterical state in which he\u2019d found her, and had been relieved when she had calmed down and lapsed into silence.\u00a0 He was not one for small talk, except when business required it, and he certainly didn\u2019t want to talk about what he had seen in Orlando.<\/p>\n

As the road signs indicated they were getting closer to Cape Canaveral, the unmoving traffic became more dense, and Howard was forced to slow down and concentrate even harder to navigate through it.\u00a0 He passed a convertible with its top down, a young couple slumped with their heads together in death, and steered around a stalled semi truck bearing the logo for Florida\u2019s Natural Orange Juice.\u00a0 He stayed on the causeway for as long as possible, until it merged into Astronaut Boulevard and became congested with the cars of those who had died in the midst of their desperation to flee.\u00a0 Then he searched for side streets clear enough to drive on.\u00a0 Any would do; as long as they kept heading east, they would eventually reach the coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u2026 what\u2019s the plan?\u201d Kayleigh asked, her voice cracking, as Howard passed a Circle K gas station and made a careful left onto a road called Harrison Avenue.\u00a0 Like in nearly every other American town, the side streets were named after the presidents.\u00a0 In this case, William Henry Harrison, whom Howard remembered only as the president who had died of a virus a mere month after his inauguration.\u00a0 It seemed a bad omen, but he didn\u2019t say this out loud.<\/p>\n

Instead, he slowed to a stop in the middle of the road.\u00a0 Even though he knew it was unnecessary, he couldn\u2019t help but check the rearview mirror anxiously, in case there were any cars behind him.\u00a0 But of course, there weren\u2019t.\u00a0 None moving, anyway.\u00a0 He glanced briefly at Kayleigh and then into the mirror again.\u00a0 Speaking for the first time in the last hour, he admitted, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 When Kayleigh didn\u2019t reply, he elaborated, \u201cI thought\u2026 I hoped that, maybe, it would be different here.\u00a0 You know, Cape Canaveral\u2026 it\u2019s on the coast, it\u2019s away from the mainland, and there\u2019s the air force base and the space center\u2026\u00a0 I thought here, if anywhere, there would be some order.\u00a0 But\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He looked around helplessly, the last of his hope slipping away.<\/p>\n

Kayleigh answered his thoughts.\u00a0 \u201cIt looks the same as Orlando did, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard nodded, his throat closing up again.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what are we going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Normally, Howard enjoyed being looked to for answers.\u00a0 He was a CEO, a natural-born leader.\u00a0 He liked to be in charge, to have control.\u00a0 He hated not having the answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll look around,\u201d he decided after a pause, making up his answer on the spot.\u00a0 \u201cSee if we can find any other survivors.\u00a0 Gather some supplies.\u00a0 And then\u2026 we\u2019ll look for a boat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA boat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, it\u2019s more practical than a plane, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Unless you have a pilot\u2019s license you haven\u2019t mentioned?\u201d<\/p>\n

A faint, humorless chuckle.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, then.\u00a0 Neither do I, so flying\u2019s out, unless we happen to find a pilot still alive.\u00a0 Anyone can operate a boat, though, so we\u2019ll start there.\u201d\u00a0 Howard\u2019s mind worked ahead, imagining their next steps.\u00a0 \u201cTravel by water will be easier than trying to drive, anyway.\u00a0 We\u2019ll probably have more luck heading down the coast.\u00a0 If the whole Florida coastline seems affected, we\u2019ll head to the Bahamas.\u00a0 It might not have spread to the islands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kayleigh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cGood a plan as any, I guess,\u201d she said dully, shrugging, and sank lower in her seat.\u00a0 The dove gray leather made a noise that sounded like breaking wind as she repositioned herself, and before Howard could stop the thought from entering his mind, it did:\u00a0 Barty would have laughed at that.<\/i><\/p>\n

He muffled the strangled cry that threatened to escape his throat by revving the engine, throwing the car back into drive.\u00a0 He pulled into an empty driveway and backed out again, turning in the opposite direction.\u00a0 \u201cThere was a gas station back there,\u201d he forced himself to explain, feeling Kayleigh\u2019s questioning eyes upon him.\u00a0 It was difficult to keep his voice steady.\u00a0 \u201cWe should stock up before we go much further.\u00a0 We may not find another one before we reach the coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d said Kayleigh.<\/p>\n

It seemed he was going to be the one making all the decisions, but that was fine with him.\u00a0 As long he could keep thinking ahead, he could prevent himself from thinking back.\u00a0 Back to Orlando.\u00a0 Back to the house he\u2019d built for Bree and Bartholomew.\u00a0 He never wanted to go back there again, in person or in his mind.<\/p>\n

The drive back to the station was short, the car silent once again.\u00a0 Kayleigh resumed her stare out the window, and, despite his best efforts to control them, Howard\u2019s thoughts drifted back to his son.\u00a0 The son he had found lifeless within his mother\u2019s arms, both covered in the horrific purple lesions, a mockery of his favorite color and the trademark on the plague that seemed to have consumed Florida.\u00a0 It was a relief when he finally parked the car in one of the gas stalls, and the two stepped out.<\/p>\n

Kayleigh watched him questionably as he slid his charge card,\u00a0 more to get the pump working than out of concern for payment, and then pumped his own car with gas.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are you doing that if we\u2019re taking a boat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust in case there are no boats.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on; I just want to be prepared,\u201d he answered shortly.\u00a0 As he finished, the lights on the screen displaying the price and gallons being pumped flickered sporadically.\u00a0 He placed the pump on the holder with a shrug.\u00a0 \u201cWeird.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two headed inside the station, the lights illuminating the store flickering as well in the same manner.\u00a0 A quick glance at the counter answered their silent questions as to any other life around other than themselves.\u00a0 A man was slumped over the cash register, lifeless.\u00a0 Howard reached for one of the \u201cGreen method\u201d cloth bags and started filling it up with any food he could grab.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry to get stuff that won\u2019t perish easily; we don\u2019t know how long we\u2019ll be on there.\u00a0 Dry foods, lots of water, jerky, stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

She nodded and headed for the coolers, as the lights finally shut down completely around them, encasing them in an eerie darkness, despite the sunlight shining through the windows.\u00a0 Kayleigh shrieked in surprise.\u00a0 \u201cWhy is the power out?\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t want to answer.\u00a0 \u201cNo one left to keep it on, if the roads are any indication\u2026\u00a0 How far has this gone?\u201d\u00a0 He was panicking, not where his companion could see it, but he was all the same.\u00a0 She watched him carefully, gauging his reactions.\u00a0 Control \u2013 he needed to keep control of himself.\u00a0 He forced his breathing to slow, to make himself relax.\u00a0 He could swear he felt his alarmingly high blood pressure finally take a dive back to normality.<\/p>\n

Kayleigh nodded, wiping her eyes discreetly.\u00a0 He caught her gaze sneak down to her phone as she slipped it out of her pocket.\u00a0 Probably still trying to contact her family.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t quite blame her; he wondered if she was an out of state student.\u00a0 That would make it worse, he felt, the not knowing.\u00a0 The hopes and guessing that came from a lack of knowledge and fear for your loved ones.\u00a0 He looked down in his bag, before sweeping half the rack filled with various types of jerky inside.\u00a0 They\u2019d need it later.\u00a0 He did the same for crackers, and even grabbed a second bag to fill with cans of those travel fruit cups.<\/p>\n

He had no idea what was to come, but he had a hunch they\u2019d both be thankful for this stuff later.\u00a0 Kayleigh came back to him after a few minutes, holding two bags filled with nothing but various water bottles.\u00a0 He nodded and led the way out of the convenience store.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait!\u201d she cried, making him turn sharply back towards her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should pay\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKayleigh, he\u2019s dead; it won\u2019t do any good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, it doesn\u2019t feel right.\u201d<\/p>\n

He rolled his eyes, not so much frustrated with her as with the hopelessness of the situation.\u00a0 It had hit him then.\u00a0 Money was worthless.\u00a0 Everything he worked for was worthless.\u00a0 Everything he had was gone.\u00a0 The realization slammed against his mind and shook him terribly.\u00a0 Howard set a bag down and reached for his wallet.\u00a0 He slapped a hundred dollar bill upon the counter, tucking it under a drink cup near the dead clerk\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere.\u00a0 Now let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard stowed their supplies neatly in the trunk, and they piled back into the car.\u00a0 They turned once more down Harrison Avenue and continued east, hoping they would run into a port with a boat once they reached the seaboard.\u00a0 \u201cIf my sense of direction is correct, I believe both the Air Force base and KennedySpaceCenter are to the north,\u201d Howard thought aloud as he drove.\u00a0 \u201cI think we should follow the coast north first and check out both.\u00a0 If they\u2019re as deserted as the rest of Cape Canaveral, then we\u2019ll set a course southeast, toward the Bahamas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kayleigh didn\u2019t object.\u00a0 She was still staring out the window, and Howard wasn\u2019t entirely sure she\u2019d comprehended a word he had said.\u00a0 No matter.\u00a0 He was talking more for himself, anyway.<\/p>\n

Harrison Avenue stretched only a few blocks across the narrow width of the cape, but it took Howard another half an hour just to reach its end, due to the cars parked on both sides of the street and abandoned in the middle.\u00a0 Worse yet, there was not a port at the shore, only a stretch of beach.<\/p>\n

Howard sighed in dismay.\u00a0 \u201cSee any boats?\u201d<\/p>\n

Kayleigh looked left, then right.\u00a0 \u201cNope.\u00a0 But I do see water.\u00a0 Where there\u2019s an ocean, there\u2019s gotta be a boat.\u00a0 We just have to find one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard looked doubtfully into his rearview mirror, begrudging the thought of turning around and trying another side street.\u00a0 But when he reached for the gearshift to put the car in reverse, Kayleigh\u2019s hand clamped down on his.<\/p>\n

\u201cForget driving; let\u2019s just go on foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn foot?\u201d Howard repeated skeptically.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, on the beach.\u00a0 We shouldn\u2019t have to go far.\u201d\u00a0 Kayleigh was already opening her car door as she spoke.\u00a0 She climbed out, slamming the door shut behind her, and Howard had no choice but to follow suit.\u00a0 \u201cShould we take the supplies now, or come back for them?\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard sighed as he remembered the bags they\u2019d stuffed full of food and water.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose we should just take them with us.\u00a0 If we do find a boat, we\u2019ll want to leave as quickly as possible.\u00a0 Coming back to the car would only delay us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kayleigh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cOkay.\u00a0 Pop the trunk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard did so, and they split the load.\u00a0 Kayleigh took most of the food, leaving Howard to carry the water.\u00a0 As they set off for the sand, Howard took one, lingering look over his shoulder at his purple Lexus.\u00a0 He felt deeply uncomfortable about leaving it behind, just parked in the street that way, but he supposed Kayleigh was right.\u00a0 It would be quicker to just walk until they found a boat.\u00a0 Surely, there would be a dock with one nearby.<\/p>\n

Before stepping onto the beach, Kayleigh stopped, set down her load, and removed her shoes.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d Howard asked, watching her slip her feet out of a pair of platform sandals, which, he noticed for the first time, were probably the most ridiculous choice of footwear he could imagine on a girl he\u2019d found running down a street.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I\u2019m gonna walk through sand in these?\u00a0 No, thank you!\u00a0 Besides, it\u2019s more fun to walk barefoot through the sand and feel it squish in your toes, don\u2019t you think?\u201d\u00a0 She offered him a girlish smile.<\/p>\n

Howard shuddered inwardly.\u00a0 He hated the feel of anything squishing between his toes, except perhaps the foam of a nice, hot bubble bath, or the three-hundred thread count linen of his favorite bedsheets.\u00a0 He left his dress shoes on as he waded after her through the sand.<\/p>\n

They walked north along the shoreline for about ten minutes, lugging their burdens, before they spotted a dock jutting out into the water, with a small yacht anchored next to it.\u00a0 Kayleigh immediately picked up her pace, hurrying toward the boat with a new spring in her step.\u00a0 Howard dragged along behind, wincing at the gritty feeling beneath his socks from the sand that had filled his shoes.<\/p>\n

When he finally reached the dock, Kayleigh was already on the boat.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s perfect!\u201d she shouted down from the deck.\u00a0 \u201cCome on board!\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeling uncertain as to whether he would prefer this new, animated Kayleigh over the silent, sullen girl he\u2019d driven there, Howard hauled his bags across the dock and stepped cautiously onto the yacht.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know how to drive this thing?\u201d Kayleigh asked, as he set down the supplies and went to inspect the controls.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can\u2019t be too difficult,\u201d replied Howard with confidence.\u00a0 \u201cWe just need to find the key to start the engine\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

After half an hour of searching the yacht and knocking on the doors of the houses on the beach behind it, they gave up on finding the key.\u00a0 \u201cWe can find another boat instead,\u201d insisted Howard, and he and Kayleigh continued north on foot.<\/p>\n

On the next decent boat they came to, another small cabin cruiser, they found the key tucked under the driver\u2019s seat.\u00a0 Praising his good fortune, Howard stuck it in the ignition and turned.\u00a0 The boat\u2019s engine grinded and turned over once, before finally revving to life.\u00a0 The deck began to vibrate beneath their feet.\u00a0 Kayleigh gave a cheer.<\/p>\n

Howard reached for the throttle and suddenly swore under his breath.\u00a0 Kayleigh\u2019s smile disappeared.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at the fuel gauge,\u201d Howard replied flatly.<\/p>\n

Kayleigh looked.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s almost on empty?\u00a0 Ugh!\u00a0 Are you telling me we need to go and get gas for it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGas or diesel\u2026 it won\u2019t matter, because we\u2019re not getting either with the power out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\u00a0 Kayleigh cocked her head in confusion.<\/p>\n

Howard felt impatient.\u00a0 \u201cThe gas pumps are powered by electricity,\u201d he explained brusquely.\u00a0 \u201cNo power equals no pumping action, which means we can\u2019t refuel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich means we\u2019re up shit creek without a paddle,\u201d Kayleigh added miserably.\u00a0 There was no humor in her voice, only despair.\u00a0 Howard could practically see the light of hope flicker and die in her eyes, which suddenly filled with tears.<\/p>\n

In an instant, the Kayleigh who had briefly seemed to have forgotten the horrors of that morning was gone, replaced by a girl who went from weepy to hysterical.\u00a0 \u201cThis was stupid; this whole plan was stupid!\u201d she cried.\u00a0 \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be here.\u00a0 I<\/i> shouldn\u2019t be here!\u00a0 I should be back on campus, with my sisters\u2026 with Brad.\u00a0 They need me!\u00a0 They\u2019re sick!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re dead,\u201d Howard said without emotion.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re all dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo they\u2019re not!\u00a0 Don\u2019t say that!\u201d Kayleigh cried, pushing at his shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you ever say such a thing!\u201d\u00a0 She was irrational now, and he knew better than to fight her.\u00a0 Yet he didn\u2019t know what to say to comfort her, either.\u00a0 Howard was not a man on whom tears had much effect, nor was he one who knew how to console a crying woman.\u00a0 Bree had been more of a screamer than a crier.<\/p>\n

\u201cControl yourself,\u201d he told Kayleigh, not sharply, but firmly.\u00a0 \u201cHysterics aren\u2019t going to help the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Control\u2026 always, he fought for control.\u00a0 But the situation was far out of his control, and Kayleigh wouldn\u2019t stop crying.\u00a0 Feeling helpless, and bewildered by the feeling, Howard shrank back and watched her sob.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

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Chapter 24 Control. That was something I loved to have.\u00a0 It was something I possessed once, before everything went down.\u00a0 When it all happened, I lost any semblance of control, and I almost couldn\u2019t handle it.\u00a0 Seeing others lose control\u2026 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":8,"menu_order":24,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":183,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/182\/revisions\/183"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/undead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}