Until the End of the World (Book 1)

  “Here’s my stop,” I said, as he released my arm. “Thanks for walking me.”

  I bit my lip and glanced at him, hoping he’d say something about seeing me again.

  “My pleasure. So, I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch and we’ll make plans?”

  “Okay.”

  We smiled shyly at each other until I realized I should probably go inside. I started up the steps to the door and tripped. I hoped he was gone, but when I turned around he was still there. It looked like he was suppressing a smile. I tried to act flippant, but I wondered how many gaffes I could pull off in one night. This was going to be a record.

  “Go ahead, laugh. I trip about ten times a day. Or knock something over. Or clobber someone by accident,” I said.

  He shook his head, amused. “Goodnight, Cassie,” he said in a soft voice.

  The way he looked at me, like I was something special, something worth staring at, made my legs wobbly. I waved and managed to walk in the door, not into the door, and headed to my room.

  ***

  Nelly lifts the bin lid and takes a deep whiff. “Ah, I love the smell of gun oil.” He probably does, too.

  “So what’s in there, you good ol’ boy?” asks Penny. “Not that it will mean anything to me.”

  Nelly sets the long bin on the ping pong table. He opens the cases and pulls out two revolvers, one nine millimeter and a shotgun. They’re clean and shiny. They look like my dad might have packed them up yesterday. Boxes of ammunition come next. Nelly stacks them according to size.

  “There’s nothing worse than an unloaded gun,” he says.

  He deftly loads the proper ammunition into its respective gun. I help him. The revolver feels heavy and weird in my hands. I haven’t held one in over three years.

  Penny backs away. “Jeepers.” My dad taught her to shoot a rifle, but she’s afraid of pistols. “Didn’t your dad know it’s illegal to have guns in the city?”

  “Sure,” I say with a grin. “That’s why most of them are still up at the house.”

  Penny shakes her head and Nelly laughs.

  CHAPTER 12

  We finish up downstairs, for now. The cabin is only a four-hour drive, but if my dad were here he’d say not to count on that. We need to have enough supplies with us in case it takes days. In case we have to walk. I’m not a light packer, and left to my own devices I’d bring everything. James might be good at helping with it; he has an ordered way of thinking. So does Peter.

  Peter. He’s here, and it seems he’s coming with us. I can’t keep this up much longer. Every minute I spend still officially dating him feels like a lie. I head upstairs. James is intent on my computer. A giggle comes from the kitchen.

  “Yeah, no one goes there anymore. And—” Ana stops talking and looks up.

  I smile brightly. Peter smiles back. Ana looks at my cat sweatshirt with something akin to horror. I’m planning to put it back in my BOB to keep it safe but didn’t want to take it off yet.

  “So, we’ve had a look in the basement, and we have backpacks for everyone. Peter, you have clothes here.” He nods. “You’re going to have to pack things that you can walk in, just in case. Like jeans.” I give Ana a pointed look.

  Peter looks at me like I’m a silly little girl. It’s maddening. “So, we’re really leaving?”

  “Well, Maria said we should. Ana, it’s your mother. She’s not one to blow something out of proportion.” I stop short of telling him he’s welcome to stay in New York if it’s too much of a hassle.

  Ana clearly doesn’t want to agree, but she does. “It’s true. My mom is the most practical person you’ve ever met. We should probably listen to her.”

  The unstated implication is that Cassie is not. She’s spot on with that one; I’m not going to argue. Peter smiles and holds out his hands. I take one, even though I don’t want to.

  “No, Cassie’s not the most practical, but she is the prettiest,” he says.

  Ana smiles at him, but after he turns to me she rolls her eyes. His skin, even in my terrible kitchen light, is gorgeous. But all that aristocratic perfection is boring when there’s nothing behind it.

  “Thanks,” I reply, although it’s not true. Ana could beat me in a beauty contest any day. Personality is another story. “Time to pack.”

  I pull on his hand. It’s smooth but strong. He does things like faux mountain climbing and running, but only in climate-controlled environments. The one time I cajoled him into walking around Prospect Park with me, he bitched about the mosquitoes the whole time.

  I’ve thrown some of my stuff on his shelf in my closet. Peter tsks at me as he pulls his clothes out from under mine and places them on the bed. Then he closes my door and turns to me with a smile. I bury my head in the closet and mumble something about boots to keep him at bay, but he comes up behind me and kisses my neck. I stiffen just a little, although what I really want to do is swat his hands away.

  I bonk my head on the closet rod as I turn. “Peter, we have a lot to do.”

  He smiles and gently pats my temple. “And no time for a kiss? Come on, I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

  I give him a kiss that’s more than a peck but definitely not a real kiss. I smile and hope it isn’t as fake looking as it feels. “Okay, now, there’s a lot to do.”

  I can’t decipher the look he gives me, but it’s not a happy one. “Fine.”

  I let my breath out, relieved, and find clothes for myself.

  CHAPTER 13

  Peter helps to organize the basement, even though you can tell by the set of his face he thinks it’s ludicrous. We have food and water and water filters. Compasses, duct tape, knives, flashlights, a radio, a tiny stove with fuel, two light tents, and other things for backpacking. Peter’s made a list and checks things off once they’re packed. Whether or not he thinks we’re being ridiculous, he’s being diligent. He’s like a toddler; you have to give him a job or else he’ll pout and annoy you.

  “We’ll have to get the van soon,” I say. “Get it loaded and ready to go.”

  “I don’t know,” Penny says, as she zips up her pack. “I’d feel like we were stealing. Maybe we should cab it to the airport and rent a car.”

  “Julio said I could use the van. Like if I went to Ikea or something,” I assure her. “We’ll be back with it when work starts. Given the circumstances, he’ll be happy we used it.”

  “Julio won’t mind at all, Pen,” Nelly says.

  With urgency James calls to us from upstairs, where he’s mapping out routes on my computer. “I guess you guys can’t hear down there. Come here.”

  The noises grow louder as we climb the stairs. James has opened the street-facing windows in my bedroom. We peer past the decorative wrought iron that covers the glass, but my street is empty. It’s coming from up the block.

  “Let the looting begin,” Penny says, over the sound of breaking glass. “Let’s go up on the roof and walk to the avenue.”

  We pick our way along the attached brownstones to the end of my block and stand at the ledge.

  Broken glass from the storefront windows glitters in the streetlights. Dozens of people cheer as they hand things out to their partners in crime. One guy dances along with his radio as he fills every inch of his car with plunder.

  More figures head this way. At first I think they’re more looters, but they don’t show any interest in the stores. They begin to scuffle with the looters a few blocks down. It must be a group of infected.

  “Holy shit,” James says, coming to the same realization.

  They make their way toward the looters below, who don’t hear the screams that we can barely make out over the din. Finally, a teenager notices the infected, and his face slackens as they arrive. The sounds of rioting fade under the shrieks of fear. He grabs a friend by the back of his shirt and points.

  Some manage to run. Those who don’t notice, or don’t know what the infected are like, or who think they have time to grab one or two last things, find themselves surro
unded. The infected fall on them with their hands and teeth. Hoarse screams rise up and are abruptly cut off.

  “Jesus. Get their heads,” James mutters next to me.

  It’s a massacre. Blood splatters to the street as bodies are ripped open. A few escape after being bitten. I hope they don’t go home to their families and infect them, but I’m sure that’s where they’ll go. That’s where everyone goes when they’re hurt.

  Peter leans heavily on the ledge, looking pale. Maybe now he understands.

  It doesn’t take long until bodies litter the street. Some of the infected wander around like they’ve lost track of what they were doing, while others eat. Some sway in an invisible wind. The only sounds are the awful noises that rise from deep in their throats. I’m certain I can smell the tang of blood all the way up here. I put my cold hand to my forehead and close my eyes.

  “All the noise attracted them,” James says. “They heard the yelling. Look at them.” We scan the group below. I don’t know what I’m supposed to see besides all those bodies and all that blood. He gestures to the street. “Look at what they’re wearing.”

  Over half of them wear hospital gowns, the kind they give you when you check in. But they don’t let you leave wearing them, at least not while they’re able to stop you. Penny lets out a gasp.

  “Oh, shit,” I say. My heart sinks as low as the street beneath us.

  CHAPTER 14

  Penny paces the hall with her phone. We sit in the living room, the news and James’s clicking on my keyboard the only sounds. When my home phone rings, I jump for it.

  “Thank God, Cassie,” Maria says. “I’ve been trying you for an hour.”

  “Maria!” I say. Penny rushes in. “We got your text. Are you still at the hospital?” There are shouts and heavy things being dragged around in the background.

  “Yes. Cassie, do you have a speaker on this phone?”

  I find the button and tell her to go ahead.

  “Thanks. Penny? Ana?” Maria’s softly accented voice echoes around the room.

  Penny bends over the speaker. “Mama! When are you coming?”

  Maria takes an audible breath. “Penny, you have to leave the city right now. There’s a man here from FEMA. I’m on his emergency phone. He’s told us they plan to destroy all access out of New York sometime tonight or tomorrow. They can’t control the spread of Bornavirus, so they’re going straight to quarantine.”

  “What do you mean, destroy?” James asks.

  Maria’s laugh is short. “They’re calling it quarantine, but they’re leaving the infection to run its course. Bart, the FEMA guy, says they’re planning to bomb or block off the bridges and tunnels. They don’t want millions of infected spilling out of New York. He was supposed to leave the city tonight.”

  I never would have thought they’d trap us here like that. At least not while there were so many people still healthy. They’re guaranteeing our deaths.

  “So they’ll leave us here to die?” Penny asks incredulously.

  Maria sighs, and when she speaks again her voice wavers. “Yes, they will, mija. They are. There’s more. There’s no treatment. They’re killing the sick. We were euthanizing them with a mix of drugs to the brain stem. But it was too little, too late. The hospital’s been overwhelmed and patients are pouring out the doors. We’re all hiding in the basement here.”

  “We saw them. I was so worried about you. They’re eating people, Mama,” Penny says. A sob escapes, and she covers her mouth. “They’re all just lying dead in the street.”

  “Oh, mija. They may not be dead, as long as there’s enough of them left. All of the infected are dead, or as near to dead as they can be, but still move around.”

  James meets my eyes. There’s no surprise in them but a kind of awe. Like how people must have felt when man first walked on the moon or made a test tube baby. Except test tube babies didn’t want to eat them.

  “The virus is working in tandem with a parasite. The brain is its host. Somehow it stimulates all those processes that are primal: moving, fight impulses, hunger. I don’t know every detail. The CDC’s been studying it for the past month.”

  A month and they still couldn’t stop it. We hear another loud noise on her end and jump. They must be piling up whatever they can find to keep them out.

  “I’m here, I’m here. I have to go. Other people need the phone. We’ve got the morgue and cafeteria. We’ve got a generator. We’re safe here. But you all need to leave the city now and go upstate.” Maria knows all about the stash in my basement and up at the house.

  “You mean we,” Penny corrects her.

  “Penny, there’s no way for me to leave until the infected have wandered away or died or found something to—we’re okay here. I need to know that you’re safe.”

  “So we’re supposed to leave you here? No!” Penny says with a screech. Her mouth is frozen in an O.

  “You can’t wait. Bart wanted those of us with family here to get them out. In forty-eight hours New York will be infected beyond belief.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel better, Mama!”

  “I know, but you need to know how dangerous it is. One little bite, sometimes even a scratch, can infect you. I know how to take care of myself. As soon as it’s safe I’ll head to Cassie’s apartment. If there’s a way out of New York, I’ll head upstate. Cassie?”

  Penny looks at me like she’s wandered into a bad dream and I might be able to wake her up. But it’s not just her nightmare.

  “I’m here, Maria,” I answer. “I’ll put the key under the mat. We’ll leave a map to the house.”

  I think of Maria here alone, with a few million ravenous dead people outside. Maria was always like a mother to me, even before my parents died. After they died, when Eric and I were frozen in grief, she handled the funeral arrangements. She made our first Christmas alone bearable. She’s been here any time I’ve needed her. I can’t leave her here when she needs us. “We’re going to get a van from work. We’ll come by and get you—”

  “No! No,” she says again, gently. “It’s too dangerous. I’m sorry, but I have to get off the phone. I love you, mijas. Please, promise me you’ll do what I ask.”

  “Okay, we promise. Please take care of yourself, Mama. I love you,” Penny cries.

  “I promise I will. I love you, Penny. I love you, Ana. More than anything in the world.”

  Penny’s cheeks are wet with tears as she whispers back.

  Ana clutches the table, her knuckles white. “I love you, Mama. It’s Ana. I love you, too.”

  “I love you, baby. Take care of each other, all three of my girls, okay? I know you will.” Her voice breaks under the strain and then she’s gone.

  CHAPTER 15

  We stand around the phone base in silence. They really are dead people. They’ve lost all semblance of order. They’re going to blow up the bridges. Maria isn’t coming with us.

  We’re all thinking it, but James is the one to finally say, “Holy fucking shit.”

  Peter sinks into a chair and stares into space. Penny and Ana hover over the phone like it might start talking again.

  I blink back tears and touch Penny’s shaking shoulder. I don’t know what to say. It might have been the last time she’ll ever speak to her mom. Maria didn’t mention how long it will be until the infection’s run its course. There’s enough food here to feed one person for a long siege, but she has to make it here. I have a feeling that’ll be easier said than done.

  Penny motions to herself and Ana. “We’re not going.” Her eyes are wild and red, daring any of us to object.

  Nelly shakes his head slowly. “What?”

  “It’s our mother. How can we leave her here? I know I promised, but when she gets here we’ll leave with her.”

  I tread carefully. I know I wouldn’t want to leave my mother here either. But I also know Maria would die if her girls stayed in harm’s way because of her.

  “Pen, I promise you we’ll come back for her as so
on as we can,” I say.

  She and Ana exchange a glance. Penny gives me an apologetic look and shakes her head.

  James clears his throat. “Well, then, I’ll stay with you guys. Strength in numbers. We’ll find a way out when your mom gets here.” He shrugs, but his face belies his words.

  We should leave. There’s nothing I want more than to be in a van heading north. But I can’t leave the few people left in the world that I care about. It might not be the smart decision, but it feels like the right one.

  “I’m staying too, then, if you really won’t go,” I say, as Nelly nods. “We’ll spend tonight and tomorrow getting any extra supplies we can. We should still get the van, so it’s close by when we need it. Bring over all the food from your house. We’re not leaving without you.”

  Peter shakes his head and turns away.

  Penny looks from James to Nelly to me. “I can’t have you all risk being trapped here. You must be crazy. No matter how much I want you to stay, I have to make sure you’re safe—” The last remnants of rebellion leave her face. “I sound just like my mom, don’t I?”

  “Yeah,” I agree. “Now times that by a thousand and you know how badly she wants you to leave. The rest of us have to stay because when she gets here and sees you she’ll kill you herself.”

  She gives me the ghost of a smile and runs a hand along the earpiece of her glasses. “We have to go, Banana.” She uses her pet name for Ana. “I don’t want to leave, but Mama will kill us if we stay. We promised. When she gets here she’ll be good until we can come back for her.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Ana argues. “I think we should wait a few days and see how it goes.” Penny tries to speak but Ana cuts her off with a glare. “I know what Mama said, Penny. But that FEMO or whatever guy could be wrong, you know. What are the chances that they’re actually going to blow up bridges in New York City? That sounds like something Cassie would say.”

  It’s heartening to see how she rolls her eyes at my name. Makes me know the real Ana is in there somewhere, dying to get out and disparage someone.