Anarchy on Earth

~10~

Above: Pinedale (District neighbouring Brookevale)

Let's just get one thing straight. That roof jumping stuff you see in the "Murderer's Creed" games... much harder in real life, though Jackson seemed to be doing fine. Actually, Jackson kind of reminded me of... oh, never mind.

"Wait up!" Henry wheezed, as we jumped from roof to roof across one of the last residential streets in Brookevale. I had almost fallen quite a few times, but on the bright side, Jackson's car was in view. Bad news, we had about 30 seconds to drive away before the horde came. We dropped off of the last building, and jumped into Jackson's van, a giant black monster of a thing, with all sorts of junk in the back, ranging from long metal spears, to old Ybox one's.

"Jaysus, man!" Henry said, as he slammed the van door shut, and crouched in the back. "The Ybox One, was so 2015! Everybody's playing the Ybox 720 now!"

"Henry, is it?" Jackson grunted, starting the van, and peered out the window. "Now's not the time."

I looked out the window.

"They're almost here!" I notified.

"Thanks so much." Jackson said, annoyed. He hit the gas, and we were gone, rolling down the main road, and hurtling out of the open gates.

"Where to?" Henry said.

"Pinedale." I said. "We need to find help. Tell people what has been going on."

Jackson clicked on the radio. It was mostly static, but as he tuned, some radio casts peeked out. Some were transmitted, survivors begging for help. Only one was a commercial station, still up.

The mysterious disease that has been spreading through the East coast, has been turning over seventy percent of the population into ruthless hosts, who butcher other victims. Escape all densely populated areas. No safe havens have been located yet. Stay tuned.

The radio went back to static.

"This is not good." Jackson mumbled. "The people I'm with aren't gonna be happy."

"And, who exactly are you with?" Miranda questioned.

"People. We'll be at Pinedale soon." He said. "Anywhere specific you need to go? I'll take you as far as the shopping center. After that, you're on your own."

"You're not coming with us?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, but I have other places in Pinedale to be. I have business near the river."

"Fine. Take us to the Greenway on the corner of Breaker Street." Henry said. "We need to buy some things."

After a few minutes of silence, Jackson broke the silence.

"My name is Jackson Polk." He said. "I used to live in 'The Ghettos'. I'm 19 years old. I used to go to some school in the area... don't remember the name. Couldn't be bothered after I graduated. We got hit hard when the disease rolled around. There was no news about it because... for one, Metoob went down, and then the mobs started, and everyone just thought it was more rioting."

"So, how did you get out?" Miranda asked, and we bumped noisily down the road, traveling through the fields in between districts.

"The people I was with. You know that kid in the video? The one with the monsters?"

"Yeah." I said. Maybe the monsters WERE real... they were strangers.

"Yeah... sure" Henry mumbled, fiddling with the Ybox controller, as if begging for it to work.

"That was my cousin." He said, sadly. "The kid died that day."

I paused for a moment. Unsure of myself, I replied, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Nah... well after we got the news, we started preparing. When the virus hit, I got out. My family got infected. Killed them all in their sleep."

"Intense." I said, noting Jackson's serenity while stating this.

I looked out the window, and noticed we were in Pinedale. The streets seemed strangely empty, like that morning in Brookevale. I wasn't too familiar with Pinedale. It was unfamiliar, the houses slightly better than my district's. There was a lot of stores. A bit too many stores.

Jackson hit the brakes, and the van screeched to a stop.

"Aight. This is it." Jackson said, gravely. "Greenway."

I noticed we were here. I almost didn't want to get out.

"You'll be back?" Miranda asked, nearly dragging Henry out of the van, as he obsessed over the Ybox.

"I'll try." He replied.

"You better." I said, raising my eyebrows. "Bye, Jackson."

"Fair luck." He said, managing a smile. "I'll be back, if I can."

I nodded, and we got out, and he sped down the empty road, and out of our lives. We turned towards Greenway. It was completely deserted. There was little sign of damage around the town. It seemed as if everyone had packed up, and left... unless...

"Strangers... guys! Inside! NOW." Henry said, pointing to multiple packs of strangers that were beginning to follow us down the street, at a distance.

"Get into the store." I whispered. "Now. Head to the back, and hit the emergency door switch. If there's anyone there, we need them accounted for."

We rushed into the store, and locked the glass doors behind us. Inside, the store shelves looked relatively untouched, but it seemed as if a lot of people had rushed in here and bought over half the small shop's items, before running out, just to die later.

"Hurry up with those doors!" I yelled to the back of the store, as I unsheathed my sword, and readied for the attack. Right as the first stranger began to paw at the door, the big heavy steel doors began to descend on the store. The doors locked, and I sighed. Safe?

"We're clear!" Henry yelled from the back.

"Nobody's here?" I shouted back.

"No. Just us."

"Good, I guess. What time is it?"

"About three in the afternoon." Miranda said, walking up to me. "What do we do now?"

"Why do you ask me?"

"I dunno." Henry said, jogging over. "You got us this far. What now?"

I shook my head. "I didn't help any of you do anything."

They thought for a moment. "I guess not. Still, you seem to know what you're doing."

"Okay." I said, nodding. "Take stock of the store. We need to find out what we have, food and water wise. Note any other stuff..."

"Like weapons?" Miranda asked greedily.

"Yeah. Sure." I said, giving up. "And remember, we're just staying here until somebody comes, and this is all over."

They nodded.

"Let's do this."