Scarlett and I sat in traffic, wondering what was going on ahead of us. It seemed that there might have been an accident up ahead or people were just not moving, either way, it seemed that we weren't going anywhere any time soon. And I was right as we had been sitting here for about an hour, people were either sitting in their cars talking with one another, standing outside of their cars and conversing with others to find out what could possibly be happening further up the highway. I sat back in my seat, watching Scarlett turn the radio channels, trying to find one that could give us news of what is going on. But it seemed that all we were mostly getting was static, this put both of us on edge as that could only mean that several of these stations had possibly been attacked and overrun. "Blake, do you think those people on the air abandoned the station or --" I shook my head, pleading with her not to finish that question. I didn't want to think about this new reality that we were now facing, Scarlett turned onto another station and continued fiddling with the radio. Scarlett sighed and again started fiddling with the radio until she finally got something. "Turn it up," I sat forward, listening closely to the announcement. "At this time, the military has advised that everyone outside of their homes take shelter now and barricade themselves somewhere safe for the time being. It is not safe outside and there have been more and more reports being called in of people being 'Infected' and attacking others out on the street. If you are currently stuck on Highway US-22, it is highly advised that you stay in your vehicles as we have received reports of an accident involving two cars that collided with one another."
"That crash we heard when we first got here." Scarlett started, "Shit." We turned back to the radio to listen to the rest of the announcement. "Highway US-22 has been backed up due to the accident which happened seventeen minutes ago. It seems that the paramedics have not been able to directly approach one of the vehicles involved in the crash, they have sent for--" The radio announcement was drowned out by the sound of a helicopter, so I rolled down the window and looked up at the sky. "What the hell?" I noticed that the helicopter seemed to be flying toward the front of the highway, its overhead light shining down on the cars in front of us. "That helicopter must have been called in for the accident." Scarlett said, "I'm going to see what's going on up there. We don't know what's going on with that accident, that helicopter might have been called in for a different reason. Stay here." I unbuckled my seatbelt, "Wait, they told us to stay in the car. Do you think it's a good idea to go out there? What if something happens?" Scarlett placed a hand on my arm, stopping me from getting out of the car. "If something happens, then something happens. We need to know what exactly is going on and I'm going to go out there whether you want me to or not. Stay here. Don't open the doors for anyone other than me and if I get infected, lock the car and get out of here." I didn't wait for her to answer and removed her hand from my arm, pushed the car door open, and climbed out of the car. I closed the door behind me, walking away from the car as people were following the helicopter. Since I couldn't see through the large crowd of people, I managed to hop in the back of a pickup truck. I spotted the two vehicles further down from where I was, one was totaled and the other had been flipped over completely. The paramedics were still working on the people from the first car, I noticed that there was one person on the ground being treated and another was covered with a white sheet. The third person I noticed was a young child with olive skin, and long brown hair and she seemed very upset. An officer was standing with her, trying to cheer her up by using her stuffed rabbit as a way of keeping her eyes away from the accident sight. For some reason the other first responders on sight were steering clear of the overturned car, instead of doing anything, they were standing around in a circle, talking to everyone. I noticed that the Fire Chief was out here, he had a megaphone in his hands and was talking with an officer.
"Please, everyone get back in your vehicles. We will get traffic moving as soon as possible. Please-" The Chief was interrupted when there was a commotion behind him and the lady who was being treated was now screaming. The Fire Chief's heart raced as he watched someone from the overturned car come crawling out, growling and stumbling. My eyes widened at the scene as the cops who were standing around started shouting at the person, "Stay right where you are! Don't move!" A cop shouted, he reached for his gun and moved out in front of the cop with the young girl. "That person.. They're infected.. You have to know that.." I watched as the person started to become aggressive and ravenous, growling even louder and with inhumane speed, the 'Infected' person lunged at the paramedic. The Chief quickly radioed for backup, but from the look on his face, I could tell that he knew that it was too late to do anything. The victim had already sunk his teeth into the paramedic's neck, tearing away flesh with wild abandon. The Chief watched in horror, the officers on scene jumping into action as the paramedic was thrown to the side and left bleeding out while the person who attacked him, now moved onto the woman who was there. One of the cops started firing their gun off, shooting the 'Infected' person in the back three times, this however, didn't stop him from trying to get to the woman who was scrambling to get away. Panic set in when the woman was attacked, and everyone rushed to get back in their cars. I watched as more chaos unfolded, cops trying to shoot the paramedic who had now turned and had now attacked one of the other cops. Screams filled the air of those being attacked, my heart pounding in my chest as some of these people were being torn apart.
"Hey!" I looked down from my spot, my eyes landing on two dudes who were trying to get into the truck. I apologized and jumped down, rushing back towards the car when I heard a commotion to my left. I looked to the side, screeching to a halt as someone fell in front of me with another person on top of them. I panicked, realizing that the person on top was Infected, I quickly ran back towards the car, dodging people who were pushing their way to get out of here. I slammed my hand against the glass, startling Scarlett who jumped and held a hand over her chest. "Open the door!" Scarlett looked hesitant, "I'm not infected, open the door!" As soon as she hit the unlock button, I opened the door, climbed into the car, and immediately shut the door behind me. I locked the door once again, panting heavily, and immediately buckled up.
"Blake, what happened out there?"
"The accident was horrible. There was a car overturned and it seemed that one of the people in that car was Infected. They attacked the paramedics and the other victims. We have to get out of here now." I explained.
"How? There are cars behind us."
"Figure it out. We have to go, there are Infected out on the-" The Highway shook heavily, both Scarlett and I looking out the front of the car as we saw a large explosion towards the site of the accident.
"Holy shit.." I muttered, staring in shock as the helicopter went down. More panic ensued on the highway, screams and growls filling the air around us. Scarlett immediately put the car in reverse and drove over the median, separating the highway, and turned the car around. She didn't waste a minute to get us off the highway, driving as fast as possible while dodging people running on the streets and other cars. "Is there another highway we can use to get to Philadelphia?" She asked, I pulled the map out of the dashboard and opened it. At this time, I knew that we weren't going to be able to use our phones to navigate where to go. I flashed my phone light over the map, looking for another highway.
"We can try for Highway US-25," I said, looking up at her.
"Please be advised that Highways US-25, 29, and 40 have all been backed up and nobody is moving." A radio reporter said.
"Fuck!" Scarlett slammed her hand on the wheel, "Well, shit." I looked back down at the map, "What highway?!" She called, swerving as we were nearly hit by a large SUV speeding in the opposite direction of us. "Highway 45! Go to Highway 45." Scarlett turned down a street and immediately booked it, dodging cars and other people. Just as she found another way to get around the people running in the street, a large car accident happened in front of us. Scarlett slammed on the brakes and immediately swerved, going on the sidewalk. We screamed as people tried dodging our car and the infected chasing after them, "Oh my god." I gasped, watching as a plane came down behind us. The plane passes over the top of our car crashing into a building behind us, just a few feet away. An explosion followed, rocking the car as I watched in the sideview mirror. "Drive, Scar. Drive!!" Scarlett slammed her foot on the gas, speeding away.