Oscar's SUV was a modified Hummer H1 and once we were right in front of it, I threw the keys to it over to the old dude who was already waiting impatiently by the driver's door. He caught it without issue but right as he was about to open the door, Kaley grabbed my arm and asked, "C-Can we still drive outside?"
"Yeah—"
Oscar interjected, "We have no other option but to drive, yeah? Well, this country's traffic is one of the fucking worst out there, I tell ya. Before your government puts up bullshit checkpoints or whatever blockades to stop what's coming, we should at least be halfway there— C'mon now! Get in! We gotta stop talking and start moving!"
I let Kaley go first but I saw the vehicle right in front of us.
"Wait a sec, old man—"
"What are you doing, kid?!"
I chuckled as I fished out a set of keys from the doctor's bag I took, "We want to avoid traffic, right?"
"What the—"
The vehicle I was looking at was an ambulance and it didn't even take the whole keychain to open it because I managed to pick out the right key with the first one. Oscar didn't know whether to laugh or cry but he did throw me an approving look when I asked Kaley to sit with me on our newly acquired vehicle.
Right when I put the keys in the ignition and started it up, I put my head out the window and called over to Oscar, "Old man, I think it would be best if you head straight home now and tell everyone to start Project SHTF. Kaley and I will be heading to their house first to get her younger sister but we wouldn't take long. Please, have everyone be at the compound as early as possible and— what am I saying, you know what to do."
"Heh. I know, kid. Are we going now or what?"
"Just a sec."
Oscar just threw me a small salute by using his index and middle finger before he brought his window up and started to back up from his parking spot.
In our case, I was about to back up as well but I looked at Kaley who was eyeing the guns between us. I still have the M4 and the pair of M9s we acquired from the guards, and since I only have two hands, I turned to Kaley after picking up one of the M9s and making sure it was loaded and had one in the chamber.
"Know how to use this?" I said as I stretched my hand out with the pistol in hand, handle first.
"Y-Yeah…" Kaley took the pistol from my hand reluctantly and she let out a deep long sigh after firmly grasping it with her hands. She was lightly trembling for a few seconds but after a couple of deep breaths, the tremble was gone and her eyes were looking sharp.
'She's strong— Well, always has been…'
"Alright, I'm gonna trust you with that but take these too."
I pulled out the other belt that almost had the same items as the one that I was wearing but Kaley looked at me weirdly before she looked at her clothes. I completely forgot that she was still wearing her uniform and even though she could strap it around her waist, it wouldn't be a tight fit.
"Ah—"
"Yeah…"
"W-Well, just keep it close. You can change when we arrive at your house."
"Okay, that works too…"
"My bad, my bad…"
"Ahaha…"
"Haha…"
'I'm a fucking idiot…'
After that, I looked around the inside of the vehicle to get familiarized with its extra features. First things first, it used a stick and it had a few extra buttons for the door, the locks, the siren, and the built-in radio.
I turned the knob to reach channel 9 and I tried to speak on it after pressing the talk button.
-
*bzzt*
"Hey old man, copy?"
*bzzt*
-
*bzzt*
[Hah? Oh, it's— Yeah, copy kid. Why are you taking so long? Come on! I'll follow you from behind. I'll split off at Valenzuela City while you guys head to Bulacan, right?]
*bzzt*
-
*bzzt*
"Yeah, keep close."
*bzzt*
-
After that, I flicked the switch for the siren and Oscar drove after me. It would've been a crawl just to get out of this fucking airport because of the tons of taxis that were overcharging their customers and the other vehicles that were completely lost or turned the wrong way, but we just cruised past the driveway because everyone made way for us.
Kaley let out a short chuckle, "That's a first…"
'At least she's laughing…'
With that said, most of the way went smoothly but we still obeyed most of the traffic laws and drove carefully because we did steal this vehicle along with the guns that belonged to airport security, and one stop was all it would take before we got shot down. However, I couldn't help but enjoy the little things because I barely slowed or pressed the brake pedal.
Oscar was also cruising behind us but some people also took advantage of the situation and formed a line behind us to avoid traffic. I thought it would garner more attention but seeing police cars and several ambulances going in different directions told me that their attention was on something other than us.
After a short bit, we reached Valenzuela City and Oscar split off at one of the intersections. We just gave each other a short bump using our horns and I noticed that Kaley was still keeping tabs on her sister.
"Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she locked all the doors and windows, closed the curtains— you know, what you told me earlier."
"She's doing a great job. Don't worry, we're close."
"Y-Yeah… thanks again…"
"No worries."
Kaley was just looking at me as she nodded and continued to converse with her sister through her phone, and after what seemed close to an hour, we finally reached their house.
From a short distance away, I could see the area where the incident happened with their neighbor but Kaley had already vacated our vehicle and ran straight to their door. We were already getting a lot of attention from coming in an ambulance so I just tucked the M9 inside my pants before getting out of the vehicle.
Kaley was already furiously knocking on their door, "OLIVIA! IT'S ME! OPEN UP!"
A soft voice followed from the other side of the door, "K-Kaley?! W-Wait, j-just a sec!"
I turned to Kaley for a short bit, "Keep your voice down. Some people are already looking at us. We don't want more attention than we need to…"
It didn't take much before Kaley realized what she was doing but we heard a lock come off and a girl came from the other side.
"KALEY~!!!"
"OLIVIA~!!! Are you okay?! Are you—"
"I-I'm fine! I-I-I'm just a little scared but— I-I'm fine!"
Kaley and Olivia just jumped in each other's arms as tears involuntarily came out of their eyes but I continued to inspect the surroundings. The two could share a short moment of peace but my attention was on the bloody marks and streaks on the pavement along with the 'DO NOT CROSS | CRIME SCENE AREA' tapes on the crime scene.
A few residents were still outside, still trying to talk about what happened earlier or just curious as to why an ambulance came and a resident came with a "doctor" instead of an EMT.
I just made myself look as non-threatening as possible but I felt a couple of taps on my back before I heard Kaley's voice.
"Hey, come in. Let me introduce you to Olivia."
"Sure."
As I walked through the door, Kaley locked it behind us and I was greeted by her sister with a small handshake and a quick up-down scan. Her eyes were a little red and she looked kinda suspicious of me but seeing her sister coming here safe and sound, her worries faded by a bit.
"I-I'm Olivia… t-thank you for picking m-my sister up."
"No worries, the name's Sky."
"N-Nice to meet you."
"Likewise."
Olivia looked like a typical high school teen though I could see the similarities of her facial features with her sister—especially that sharp gaze. She almost looked like Kaley when she was younger but she was a head shorter, hair dyed with a shade of brown, and had long colored nails almost matching the color of her lipstick.
She was still wearing her school uniform though the sleeves were folded up, a button or two from her top was unbuttoned, and she was wearing long socks that reached above her knees. Furthermore, her phone never left her hand and it had a strap with several shiny decorations hanging from it.
"Alright, back to business. Tell me all the things you've packed, we need to leave soon," I focused on the task at hand after the small introduction.
A frown mixed with confusion instantly formed on Olivia's face, "W-Wait, where are we going?! I thought you were— I only packed clothes for a day!"
Kaley couldn't believe her sister, "What?! You only packed— I told you on the phone to— Nevermind. I said this to you on the phone but I'll say it again: We're going to his place because it's not safe here anymore. The thing that happened to Mrs. Tan? It also happened at the airport. I was lucky that he was there or else we wouldn't be talking right now, do you understand me?"
"I don't understand! E-Earlier? W-With Mrs. Tan? B-But I watched the news and um— I saw the bit at the hospital too! They s-said it was just r-random acts of violence and umm— w-well— but— my friends at school told me it's probably zombies and I don't r-really believe that— wait! This is a j-joke, right?! Right?!"
Kaley shook her head, "Olivia… I really wish we were joking but I've seen it up close. The guy at the hospital? He's the pilot that was supposed to fly the plane I was supposed to be on right now," then Kaley turned to the small bags on the couch, "What is this?"
Olivia was still processing everything that Kaley told her, "O-Our stuff?"
"Wha— I told you to pack everything! You— C'mon! We'll do this again! Bring a larger bag!"
At this point, Kaley had already disappeared upstairs, hauling large bags and going room by room to take everything of importance. I was still standing by the door and watching outside when I heard another yell from above.
"Olivia! I told you to come with me, right?! Do you want to wear the same clothes for a week?!"
"W-Were really leaving?! How could— but— I still— W-Why are you yelling at me! I'm really scared right now~!"
Olivia seemed to be frozen in place—but this close to bursting into tears—as her mind was struggling with her emotions and the new information she was given but Kaley ran down to calm and reassure her.
"I'm sorry, okay? It's just that I thought you got everything ready by now because we should've been out of here 15 minutes ago. Olivia, we need a place to settle for now and he has something better compared to our house. We'll be safe there until this is all over and I need you, like really need you to stop freaking out. We'll be fine as long as we're together, okay?"
Olivia wiped the tears off her eyes, "O-Okay… I'm sorry…"
Kaley gave her another hug, "Alright, I need you to pack all of your stuff and I need you to grab everything in our medicine cabinets. C'mon! We need to be quick."
"B-But what about M-Mom and Dad? What if they come home?"
I turned to Kaley and I saw that she was just forcing a smile.
"Mom and Dad? Are you serious? If they were here, they're just gonna say that we should worry about ourselves and stop thinking about stupid things."
"R-Right… You're right… I'm so stupid…"
"C-C'mon, we really need to get on packing. Go ahead, I'm just gonna grab something here…"
"O-Okay…"
At this point, Kaley and I just watched Olivia run upstairs but I was the only one who saw Kaley trying hard from breaking into tears. It didn't take long before a few flowed onto her cheek but she quickly wiped them off with her sleeves before she saw me looking at her. She looked like she was waiting for me to do something, but Olivia grabbed her attention by calling her from upstairs.
"Sis~! I can't see the bag I used last time but I think I could fit everything in this other bag! Sis?"
"I'm c-coming! Just a sec!"
'Did she want me to— Nevermind…'
Kaley just wiped her eyes with her sleeves a second time before I watched her run upstairs with my eyes, but when I turned to my right I saw the remote control for their TV, and I decided to turn it on at a low volume.
I started flipping through the various news channels but they were all filled with just "violence" reports coming from the airport, the hospital, and the pier. There was still no mention of an outbreak or even the word zombies though the buzz from social media was insane.
'Is the government still trying to hide the fact or are they still ignorant of what's happening here?'
I was scrolling through my phone while listening to the news when I heard Kaley's voice.
"Sky! Can you come here for a sec? First door on the right!"
When I walked through her door, Kaley had already changed from her uniform to her normal, everyday clothes that slightly highlighted her nice figure.
She was now wearing a white shirt, a black sports jacket, stretchable jeans, and pink sneakers made for running. She even changed her hairstyle into a ponytail that had bangs left and right, slightly covering her forehead.
Right now, she finished packing a large backpack with two other suitcases and they were by the door. However, the belt I gave her was still on the bed along with the rest of the items that came with it.
"Hey."
"Need help with something?"
"Can you punch another hole in the belt? It's a little big…"
"Oh, sure. Remind me to give you a proper one when we get home."
"Okay."
Easily enough, it didn't take long before Kaley was all geared up but she asked me to come with her to her parent's room. She became silent when she saw their family pictures on one of the end tables and I figured one more detour wouldn't hurt.
"Olivia said that they haven't come back yet. Are they together or in different places? You know, we could also pick them up?"
Kaley turned to me with a bitter smile but she slowly shook her head, "I wish it could be that easy."
"Hmm?"
"They're always traveling together but it'll be difficult to contact them and much more, locate them. When they retired, they started going on these trips but it's always places where there's no signal. They could be anywhere right now where Dad could do a bit of hunting or fishing…" then Kaley suddenly paused, "Those idiots… always off the grid…" Kaley looked down as her eye's eyes started to water once again but she looked more frustrated and upset rather than sad.
I placed my hands over her shoulder as I leaned slightly to see her face, "Hey, don't worry. They will be alright and I'm sure of it. If they took to the mountains to camp, they would be the farthest from this thing and it might be over once they come back. Also, I've met your dad before, those things would just play dead once they catch a glimpse of him."
Once I said that, Kaley looked at me for a brief moment while forcing a smile but she gave me a short hug before wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeves again.
At first, I thought we were here just to take a few family pictures but I saw her open her parent's closet and reach down. It didn't take long before I heard a click and Kaley was on her knees, removing the bottom part of their closet, then I saw her pull out a large black bag and place it on their bed.
Kaley was just staring at the bag for a few moments but she eventually reached for the zipper and unzipped it all the way.
I instantly gave an approving look, "Damn, that's a nice rifle. May I?"
"S-Sure, go ahead… I remember having more ammo around here somewhere…"
Kaley started looking around but I lifted up the rifle and took a closer look.
It was a Winchester M70, "The Rifleman's Rifle", and it had a 24-inch barrel chambered in .308 cartridges. It came with a nice wood stock, a simple sling, a 3-9x40mm scope, and a suppressor. I wasn't just pleased because of the way it looked but because of the wear it received from use and practice.
"Your dad taught you?"
Kaley turned to me while holding a box of ammo, "Yeah, I'm fortunate that he did."
"Since when?"
"Dad bought one for mom initially but mom doesn't like to use guns as much so this one was left unused for a time. He figured that if mom wouldn't use it, he'd teach me instead. I learned a few things from time to time but it got held for a while when I graduated and started my job. I still have a go at it but not as much compared to when I first started…"
"Did he leave more guns?"
"Uhh, no… It's dad, he definitely brought all of his guns but he'd always leave this one for me… I just hope they come back safely…"
"How about this? You write them a letter telling them that you and Olivia are safe and in that letter, we include my place's coordinates so they could find you guys when they get back. We'll hide it in that compartment in your closet just to be sure and we'll add a few days' worth of supplies just to be on the safe side."
"Ah— That's… We should do that! I… thank you!"
"Also, you forgot this," I said as I handed Kaley a framed picture of her family.
"Oh… thank you… this is something— I totally forgot— thanks..." Kaley was at a loss when she saw their family picture. Tears welled in her eyes once more but she shook her head and took a deep breath.
"I first thought you'd be picking this up but I was surprised when you pulled that gun out. This thing could be over quickly but we never know, I hope you don't take this the wrong way—"
"N-No… I understand..." Kaley was staring at the picture frame when we heard a shout from behind.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!" Olivia never looked so pissed and she was just shaking all over.