Reset

“Keep in mind, once the sun is blocked out, we have one hour of power or we’re gonna be stranded until the battery recharges.”

“I still say we chance it. Once the reserve light kicks on. We power down or turn around. Either way, I think we need to see.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Nora got back in the driver’s seat and waited for Jason.

They only made it a mile and three quarters before the reserve light kicked on and they powered down the buggy and decided to walk a little farther to see what was ahead.

Nora focused on her footing, more so to make sure they were still on the highway. The deep arms of nature that reached out across the road, lessened some as they moved further.

“Maybe we could have taken the buggy,” Nora said. “What do you think?”

“Possible but…” Jason picked up the pace, just a little and moved ahead.

“What is it?” Nora jogged to catch him. He had stopped and was slightly bent over pulling vines and tossing them to the side.

“Concrete barriers,” Jason said. “They go straight across the highway to the side of the road.”

“You think they’re on the other side?”

Jason shrugged.

Nora assessed. The median strip was apparently trees beforehand and now they were completely full. “We could go see.” She suggested.

“It all depends. I mean, why concrete roadblocks. To stop people from coming in or from leaving.”

“Both maybe.”

Jason climbed over the barrier, waited and held out his hand for Nora.

It was awkward for her, they were just a bit too high for her to comfortably step over. When she did, her foot caught and tangled in something. “Wait. Wait.”

“What’s wrong?”

“‘I’m stuck on something…” She stood balancing on one leg, the other leg was extended on top of the barrier.

“Hold on.” Jason grabbed her ankle.

“Is that a rope?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He pulled it loose, then drew it in, to see where it came from.

Nora brushed off. “What are you doing?”

“I just wanted to see where it went. They barricaded and roped this place off.”

“But where are the cars? Everywhere else had cars right up to the barricades.”

“This is bizarre.” Jason ran his hand over his head and turned clockwise. “What… no.”

The tone of his voice dropped.

“Jason?”

“No.” He took off running.

“Jason, what do you…?” Nora never finished asking. Because she knew what he saw, why he reacted. At just the right angle she caught a glimpse of it, but after running to catch up to Jason, she saw it fully.

“What the hell.” Jason slipped his fingers through and gripped the high link fence. It was thick, at least fifteen feet high with three feet of barbed wire on top and unlike the concrete barriers, it was easy to see that the fence extended to the left and right with no clear end in sight. Beyond it was a sea of cars buried in high grass and bushes. The cars extended as far as they eye could see.

“They put a fence around Nashville?”

Jason visually scaled the fence, and darted to his left. “It’s a gate.” He reached for it and pulled. “Stuck.” He kicked it. Vines and roots had grown around the edges making it impossible to move. When he stepped back he saw it.

A sign or at least it looked like one. It was attached to the fence a few feet above his head.

Ignoring Nora’s questioning, he climbed up and used his hand to clear the dust and dirt on the three-foot metal sign. It was at least two inches thick and he had to use his fingernails to pick it apart.

His legs ached and arm weakened from holding on, but he was diligent, especially after the first portion cleared exposing the word ‘Quarantine’

He lost his breath as the remainder of the words began to clear. Jason peered over his shoulder to Nora. She stood below, her hands on hips, watching him.

“This is where the first plane carrying the virus landed,” he said. “And the reason for the fence.”

“How do you know?”

The rest of the dirt fell, the sign was faded but clearly visible.

The words on the sign were bold.

“Warning. Quarantine Zone. Ground Zero.”

<><><><>

Greg’s impatience worked Meredith’s nerves to the point she just wanted to shake him, yell and blast him to “grow up, the world you knew is gone!” she refrained, and instead she ended up grabbing whatever she could when they left the highway medical camp. What she really needed was more time to decipher the papers, what they were, and dates on them.

She failed.

What she grabbed was useless. Names and numbers with dates that just stopped. It left her to wonder if those who worked the camps quit keeping track all together.

The world had fallen apart but didn’t do so with consistency.

Some areas looked like they were only a year post apocalypse, some looked like years and one area, appeared decades. But Meredith kept that opinion to herself. Grant grew more unhinged the farther they traveled.