Inside revealed a spacious open lounge. Levi waltzed inside scanning for any sign of struggle or foul play; but found nothing. He ran his finger across the cherry wood table that overlooked the window onto the streets. On the table sat a mess of papers and stationary illuminated by a small desk lamp that soon flickered off; a power cut hitting,
"Ahh, what the fuck." He heard someone panic in the dark and went towards the window and pulled the blinds open, letting an amber glow fill the room. The brief panic receded as they could see once again.
"Its only a power cut," Marcus shouted, the others calming at his gruff voice. Levi moved from the window, rummaged in one of the kitchen draws and pulled out a torch from within. He Illuminated the room and made out the relief on some of the faces now there was a clear source of light once more. He returned once more to the table and glanced at the papers. They read about 'Proto-Germanic languages'. Alongside them lay a stack of textbooks with similar content, various bookmarks and post-it notes covering their pages.
His eyes turned from the mess of the table, and the torch shone on the cartons of Chinese takeaway boxes. They lay in a mess on the singular coffee table atop a carpet, a phone unhooked beside a pen and scribbled paper alongside them.
Levi reached towards the paper and read the scribbles of writing, making out a few names and phone numbers. They included some of the Kendo competition organisers and other university contacts related to the competition. Before the writing degraded as it circled the words state of emergency and new illness.
Levi placed the paper back down as he looked around and saw nothing else in the room. Shortly after the power returned and Levi looked towards the TV that was playing a news bulletin.
"Live, we bring you the reports of devastating violence and civil disorder coming in all across the country. Several states declared states of emergency throughout the day following the rapid spread of a novel infection." The news anchor spoke, and a video appeared on the screen showing the Californian Governor speaking at a press conference.
"The symptoms include a flu-like illness followed by a death-like state. After the state ends, the infected lose all rationality and display extreme aggression," he continued. Then showing aerial images of downtown New York where one man knocked another to the ground and then hunched over his body.
"The military has been called in across the states to control the situation. And refugee evacuation zones are getting established in all the major cities across the nation." A map appeared on the screen, cycling different cities with marked spots.
"The government recommends that all people attempt to reach these refugee zones. Where the military can guarantee people's safety. But those who are unable to leave, for whatever reason, should remain locked in their homes until the situation is resolved, or they are rescued," the anchor finished. At this point, the rest of the group watched the coverage transfixed and Ricky had found the remote and turned up the volume.
"Man I knew it was bad, but this…" he said. Levi heard the others respond, but by that point he had moved from the others and began searching, Eric following behind.
It was a modest apartment and beyond the joint kitchen lounge there was a small hallway that had three doors. His and Maggie's bedroom, a bathroom, and another bedroom they used as a guest room. When he reached the bedroom, he paused for a moment before he pushed the door open, prepared for anything. The first thing he saw though was a blade thrusting towards his face.
Levi jolted back, dodging the blade and slamming the wielder against the door. Any further action stopped though when he saw a familiar pair of green eyes staring at him.
"Maggie." His face melted in relief.
Her eyes watered as she suppressed a cry and dropped the knife before wrapping her arms around his chest. "I knew you'd be okay… I knew you'd be okay." She kept repeating, her grasp tightening as if she felt he'd escape the moment she let go.
"Un, I'm okay." He wanted to say more, but he struggled to find words. All he felt was relief. He hadn't realised how much he'd been on edge, without knowing if Maggie was okay, but now that he did that he did, the rush almost took his legs out.
He stood there, holding Maggie in silence. Ignorant to the world around them. Eric had been polite enough to stay silent and walk back to the others.
After they both regathered themselves, he saw Maggie become conscious after hearing the others react to something said on the news. And realising other people were also inside their apartment her brows furrowed. She looked at Levi questioningly, who shrugged and rubbed her hands.
"Friends picked up along the way. I don't know what you've seen or heard on the news, but I can promise you think you know it's worse." Her eyes went wide at his serious tone. "It's bad Maggie. I can't say for certain right now, but with what I've seen there is a very real chance that things are gonna get worse. A whole lot worse," he said, Maggie unsure what to say.
"Anyway, come and meet them. They'll be here for at least the night anyway, beyond that I couldn't tell you. But we're safer staying with a group of people anyway, now get your best smile on and say hello." She didn't look pleased but smiled nonetheless as Levi dragged her into the next room.
Inside, a few turned around from the TV but most were watching intently at the coverage. Levi cleared his throat and got everyone's attention, "We'll settle here for tonight." Relief sounded at those words, everyone's nerves having been on a knife edge, "All y'all need some rest, things are too chaotic outside. We'll give it a night and see the situation tomorrow."
"We need to do something about those doors you knocked down tho. I don't feel comfortable knowing one of those infected could enter at any time," Marcus said, looking over at the door that hung limp. "I'm a deft hand at this sort of thing. I used to do repairs on all my old properties. It saved costs and gave me something to do."
Levi felt a pang of regret at the door he'd kicked open. And nodded at Marcus, "There's some tools under the sink. If you need more, you can check next door. They'll have anything you're missing," Maggie chimed in. The older man giving a curt nod, catching the torch thrown by Levi and he moved towards the sink.
Turning back, he saw Sergio and Ricky wasted no time getting comfortable, and soon everybody else had followed in their footsteps. Besides Garett, who stood looking at Levi.
"I'll stay up with Marcus and help him sort the doors and give the building a check. In a few hours, I'll wake up Garett, and he'll take over–Eddie after that," Levi said. Getting a murmur of assent, as Maggie began marshalling the others and began handing over sheets, pillows and whatever else.
After that, he saw Marcus leave a toolbox in hand and looked over at Garett who was staring at nearby. Levi sighed before he walked over, "You got something to say? Thought you were gonna burn my face off with all that starting you've been doing," joked Levi, but saw his words did little to ease Garett.
"When are we going to look for my family in Roxbury? I'm getting antsy, knowing it won't be tonight." Levi could see he was tense. The others had unwound when they heard they would be resting here for the night, but the opposite was true for Garett. He wanted to keep going, to find his mother. It was admirable, but Levi didn't think it was wise. At least not with the Military entering the city and stamping out unrest with an iron fist.
"Won't be tonight. Too much chaos, especially with the military coming into town with force. I will say if it's not tomorrow, it'll definitely be the day after. I'll have to scope the situation out. I can't leave everyone unprotected here, at least not with Maggie here," he sympathised with Garett. He did, but he had to make sure everything was square here before he could make a move on rescuing anybody else.
"Yeah, I get it…" he trailed off. "Let me know what I can do to help," he offered and Levi smiled.
"I sure will."
The outer door didn't take long to repair. But while Marcus repaired it Levi had to deal with an infected, attracted by the sound, more than once. The second door was more straightforward. They planned on checking the apartments in the building and taking a door from those that no longer needed it. And so they began investigating the apartment complex.
Going around each apartment, Levi began checking for survivors and infected inside. He got no response most of the time and left them for the time being, leaving Marcus at the first door so he could get to work removing it. But on more than a few, his knocking elicited groans and banging from inside. Those Levi had no problem opening, taking out any infected he could find within.
He often recognised them as a neighbour he'd seen in passing, but they all ended up in a pile downstairs regardless. After he disposed dead bodied, he searched the apartments. Levi compiled a list of useful-looking items for Garett and Eddie to collect during their watches.
By the time the clock hit three, Levi had finished clearing most of the apartments with infected and began to feel tiredness creep in. When he returned to the apartment he avoided waking the others, and crept over to Garett and shook him. It didn't take much to wake him, and he got from the bundle of blankets he was sleeping on. Levi left him to get up and went towards the bedroom where he slipped into his bed, where Maggie lay asleep, and embraced the sweet sensation of sleep.
—
The next morning Levi awoke with a sense of surrealness. Feeling like everything that happened the day before was a dream.
He reached across and felt Maggie lying beside him, and everything felt like normal. That they'd wake up, and he'd forget everything like a bad dream. But he knew it was no dream.
Shaking his head, Levi slipped his arm from beneath Maggie causing her eyes to flutter open and hold onto his arm. There was a pleading in her eyes as she saw him trying to leave. The look in her eyes made his heart ache and he touched her hand, before kissing her forehead, "I'm not going to disappear. Go back to sleep," He said.
"It's hard to go back to sleep after you forced me up this early for so long." She finally smiled at him, a mischievous look in her eyes as her grasp loosened.
"I never forced you," Levi said, smiling. "It's not my fault you're such a light sleeper." Getting an exasperated look from her, as she let go of his wrist and allowed him to get up from the bed.
Levi moved towards the blinds and fingered a gap for him to peer out. It had a stillness that felt unusual in Boston. Though, technically, it was Cambridge. If the unusual quiet didn't confirm the events of yesterday, the plumes of smoke and infected ambling through the streets did.
There was more on the streets than yesterday. They moved aimless. Sometimes moving towards after the helicopters flying overhead or chasing the occasional car that slinked through the wreckage, trying to take advantage of the morning quiet. More than a few had the same idea and Levi saw many cars trying to speed past, stirring the infected.
Maggie came across and looked through the window. Her voice hitched, "Are those them?" Levi nodded, closing the blinds after meeting an infected's eyes.
"What happens now?" Asked Maggie, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her head against his back.
"We hole up and see how everything plays out," he said. Maggie assented and unlatched herself and they both made their way out of the bedroom.
As they entered the lounge, they saw Eddie, who gave a curt nod. He caressed a pistol as he watched the door with hawkish intensity. Marcus was also up, sitting alone at the table reading one of Maggie's books. He raised his cup in greeting when he saw them. Old-timers always seemed to be early birds.
The rest were dead asleep. Eric and Ricky slept on the couches while Sergio and Garett lay on the carpet in whatever blankets Maggie cobbled together the day before. It didn't look comfortable, but they were too exhausted to care.
Elise wasn't present as she took the guest room. An implicit agreement of sorts reached the night before that she, as the only female amongst them, took the room.
Levi flicked the switch to the coffee machine, grunting when he heard Marcus say, "The power went down for good last night. I doubt it'll be back on."
Instead, he settled for trying the water, which still ran and filled a glass. Thinking they had to start bottling water as soon as possible while the water still ran. He sat down at the table next to Marcus after grabbing a morning bar he kept in one of the cupboards.
Maggie gave him a weird look seeing him eating one of those, 'abhorrent', breakfast bars as she liked to call them. She sat beside him with a bowl of chocolate-flavoured cereal, munching aloud as she did habitually, prompting Levi to nudge her. Maggie gave him a confused look before he mimed her chewing, and she turned a shade of pink as she looked towards Marcus, who looked away with tact. However, his raised lips didn't escape Levi's vision.
Food began to wake the others as it often did, and soon Garett and Eric were both up and helping themselves. By this point, Levi had finished and moved towards the mound of items that Garett and Eddie had hauled up during the night.
The building had eight apartments, two on each floor, with four floors; three of which contained infected. They had managed to scrounge up a decent array of things, including a decent amount of non-perishable food, cans and such. There was also a torch or two, some tools and even a baseball bat.
On the whole, there wasn't a lot, but it was something. He was sure the others would find stuff they could find a use for. But the first thing they had to do was secure the building. This would be their home for the time being.
Others might complain about their families, but besides Ricky and Garett, nobody else had any family in the city. And they were the reasonable sort. They'd see the necessity of having somewhere safe before they began running around on rescue missions.
And almost as if on cue, Garett hovered over to him. Taking a look at what he'd collected overnight and saying, "Almost broke my back, ferrying this shit up and down the stairs." Before he continued, "also saw one of your neighbours. Some woman peered her head out from apartment 202, scared the shit out of me. Almost threw a can of beans right at her forehead."
Getting a smile from Levi, who said, "That's Meg If I had to bet. She's a recluse. She's barely left that apartment after her husband and child died a few years back." Garett's eyes widened at that tidbit.
"Oh. Guess it's true that every face has a story," Garett intoned before he paused and asked. "you intend on securing this place?" Making Levi stop and turn before nodding at his words.
"Yeah. Roxbury is miles away. Depending on how bad the city is, it could take me all day to get there and back. It wouldn't sit right with me if I left everyone vulnerable while searching for people who might not even be alive." Garett's eyebrow furrowed at that.
"What's your plan?" Garett asked.
"Get all the apartments open and secure today, scrape together what we can find. Also, see if we can block or destroy the stairwell. I don't see the infected being able to climb. After that, loot what else we need to keep us supplied for a week. Then tomorrow, or maybe even later today I will head for Roxbury," Levi said, after contemplating for a moment.
"Sounds like a plan," Garett said with a touch of reluctance.
---
Discord: https://discord.gg/yaY4fpUTNv
P*treon: https://www.p*treon.com/ForeignSeeker (10 chapters ahead)