We had done our part. We had exposed all of the people behind the madness. There wasn’t much more that we could do. After all, we weren’t important people. We were just your everyday Joe’s. I do know that we had done something extraordinary but we weren’t saviors. We couldn’t save the world.
Chang came and relieved me from my shift and I quickly went to mom’s room to discuss my thoughts with her. Maybe she had some insight into what needed to happen or what was going to happen. I guess right now I just needed my mommy.
“Knock, knock.”
“Come in honey,” Mom sat on her bed wearing her reading glasses and held a book that I couldn’t quite make out what it was.
“Listen, I wrote John.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah, I asked him about his cure. I wanted to know if he could create one that would turn zombies back into humans.”
“That’s not likely honey. The virus eventually kills people. Once they are dead, they are dead.”
“I didn’t think of that.”
“So what’s on your mind?” She patted her bedspread and motioned for me to sit with her.
“I just feel like we haven’t done enough. I really felt like when we exposed those creeps that it would be the end of it. I guess it didn’t really hit me how many lives were taken. I didn’t realize that there wouldn’t be a cure for those that have completely turned. I guess I thought John could do magic and fix everyone and the world would go back to normal.”
“It’s an easy mistake honey. The world will never be as it once was. There will be years and years of trying to get some kind of government system again. It will take quite a while to get rid of all the zombies so we can live a normal life. I know the U.S. government doesn’t have the man power anymore to handle it. It’s not like they handled it in the first place. They wanted people to die. It’s a sad reality honey. That is why I wanted to expose them so bad.”
“So are you gonna call the U.N.?”
“Yes, I was actually building up the nerve to call them right now.”
“What do you have to be afraid of?”
“Well, how do I know they have my best interest at heart? What could they possibly want from me? I know I put on a brave face in front of everyone but I still have the same fears the rest of you have.”
“You don’t have to do that mom. You don’t have to call them. You can stay in hiding. You heard them, you are pardoned.”
“That doesn’t mean that some very powerful people don’t still want to kill me.”
“That’s true. Well call them and find out what they want. If worst comes to worst we can hide you out with John.”
Mom picked up her cell phone and began dialing the number for the U.N. After waiting on hold for quite some time and being transferred several times she was on the phone with the right person. I left the room to give her some privacy and joined Bre and Brian downstairs.
Surprise, surprise, they were watching the news. There wasn’t much to watch except for new reports on the world’s standings with the Z virus. 50% of the world was now infected but that was just a general report.
The president was still on the run. Not a soul knew where he was or would admit to it if they did. He was such a coward. I hoped someone found him and killed him. He deserved it for all the lives he took. He was worst than Hitler.
Mom came into the room slowly and asked if I could gather the adults of the house.
Chris, Selena and Seth were in the game room so it wasn’t hard to get them. Chang was still on the roof. He looked concerned when I asked him to come down. We gathered around the coffee table and waited for mom’s news.
Grimly she spoke, “I talked to the U.N. finally. They couldn’t be sure it was me without my personal information so it took some time to just verify who I was. They still aren’t completely sure that I was myself and asked for a meeting. They did agree to my pardoning and are offering protection. They said if I were to come to a meeting they would give me ten thousand dollars.”
“Do you think they are playing a trick on you mom?” Chris asked with obvious concern.
“I don’t know but the fact that they were so vague has me second guessing it all.”
“When and where do they want to meet?” Brian asked.
“They want me to meet them in downtown San Francisco at the government building. They said everything would be secure there and there are no zombies for miles. They told me to just get in my car and go nonstop until I get there to safety.”
“So, do you want to go?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“You can’t be serious! You are going to take a risk like that?” Chris was livid.
“Yes, Chris. I am. I’ve been wanted for so long now. If this is the way that I go, then this is the way that I go. I will go down a hero.”
“Ok, let’s do this.” Chang was ready to make a move.
“I am going too. You need to have bodyguards,” I stated.
“Bre and Brian, you need to take care of the manor for me please. I know that you are capable of caring for the kids. It will be good practice since you are due in just 4 short months,” mom winked at Bre.
“Yeah, it’s no problem. We will take care of things. And I will pray for you,” Brian stated.
“Chang and Zoe, are you sure you are up for this?”
“Yes,” we said in unison.
Chang looked at me and winked. We were awesome together.
“OK, so we leave bright and early Tuesday morning.”
It was settled. We were leaving in a few days. This might be our most dangerous voyage yet. I wasn’t worried about it. Anyone who wanted her would have to get through me first.
Chang approached me and grabbed my shoulder. “Hey, let’s go visit Brian’s friend. At least so that we can go undetected until we are in.”
“That’s a great idea Chang.”
So we did. He was able to disguise mom very well. We were all set and ready to go. Now we just had to wait.
Believe it or not the time passed by very quickly. It was 3am and we were set to be on the road. Chang, mom and I climbed into the Suburban and headed towards San Francisco.
The drive there was uneventful except for the occasional slowing on the highway due to wandering zombies. Other than that the road was clear. I could see the ramp for Oakland and I knew we were getting close.
I had never seen San Francisco before. It was a beautiful city from far away. The Oakland-Bay Bridge was very long. I loved the fact that I could see the Golden Gate Bridge from where we were driving. I hated the fact that we were driving on water.
With the directions they gave mom, it wasn’t hard to find the Business district. Skyscrapers lined the streets as well as parking garages. Before we were even allowed access to that area we were stopped with a breathalyzer test by armed guards.
I couldn’t blame them from taking the added precautions but it was surely inconvenient for any who traveled back and forth to the heart of the city.
We found the building and drove down to the parking garage to park. It was nice to not have to watch our back’s because of wanderers. I still had my gun in arm’s reach though, just in case.
The entrance to the building was plain for a skyscraper. Grey bricks covered the front of the building and the entrance was your average sliding glass doors.
When we entered the building we were met with another armed guard that administered another breath test. I was getting annoyed at the fact that they were too cautious. I sighed as we passed the guard and made our way up to the receptionist.
“We are here to see Mr. Bell,” Mom spoke to the receptionist.
“And your name?”
“Brooke.”
“Last name?”
“Just tell him Brooke is here. He will know who I am. He is expecting me.” <
br /> I could hear footsteps approach just minutes later. A tall, dark and handsome man was accompanied by two guards. His dark brown eyes fell on mom and then he looked around the room.
“Mrs. Thompson, where are my guests?”
She pointed at us.
“Thank you.”
“Brooke?” He reached his hand out to mom.
“Mr. Bell?” She shook his hand.
“Follow me please.”
We followed him up 4 floors. The elevator smelled like his cologne. I was sure by the smell of it that it was very expensive.
“My office is just around the corner.”
We followed him to his office. His secretary sat there typing on the computer and paid us no notice. His office smelled like his cologne. The room was spectacular. He had a corner office with tinted windows all of the way around with a beautiful view of the city.
“Please, have a seat,” he motioned with his right hand toward the sofa. “I would like to keep this meeting informal if that is ok with you.”
“That is fine.”
His body guards exited the room and left us to ourselves. He sat down in a graceful manner and made eye contact with Chang.
“You must be Chang?”
Chang shook his hand. “Yes sir.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. And you must be Zoe?”
“Yes.”
“Brooke, you do not look like your photos. I’m assuming you are in disguise?”
Mom took off her wig and reached into her purse for her case of facial wipes and began to remove her makeup.
“I see. You didn’t want to be noticed,” he assumed.
“No, I didn’t. I wasn’t sure if everyone had watched the news and was still hunting my head.”
“Wise decision.”
Mom smiled at him. “Why have you called this meeting Mr. Bell?” She crossed her legs and put her hand on her knee.
“Brooke, do you mind if I call you by your first name?” He corrected himself once he had realized how informal he was with her.
“Sure. I prefer it.”
“I wanted to bring you here to hear your story. The U.N. wants to offer you protection.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You uncovered a huge worldwide scandal. We didn’t feel right about you wandering the streets as a fugitive after what you had done for all of us. Would you mind telling me the whole story, everything that led up to today?”
“I know our time is limited so I will give you the short version. I was living in Fresno and worked as a nurse when the outbreak happened. Someone came into the clinic I worked at and attacked me. I had no idea what was going on but I went home and began feeling changes in my body. Next thing I know I was being locked up in the Fresno Z clinic. They were giving me experimental drugs and they cured me. I spent a few months there and felt fine but they wouldn’t release me. I asked to go home to my children and they said no, that they were moving me to a more secure facility.
“The day they moved me I managed to escape the building. Outside of the door was a car that was running so I jumped in it and took off. Once I was far enough away I got in contact with my kids and we found a secure place to live. My daughter had access to John Ombie and we were able to get information about what happened so we decided it was in America’s best interest to broadcast it for everyone to see.
“That of course led to us bugging Governor Owen’s office and then you seen what happened after that. I have been in hiding since I left because of the award for my head. I knew the government wasn’t happy with me since I exposed them. But what else was I to do? I knew they were holding a cure but refused to give it to the public. The whole thing sickened me.”
“Wow. The U.N. wants to thank you for all of your hard work. I am sure it was risky for your whole family.”
Mom nodded her head. Just then the secretary busted into the room in a panic. “Mr. Bell, it’s an emergency!”
“Yes?” He stood for the news.
“The state capital has been bombed. It is all gone. The White house and everything in that radius is gone.”
“Please excuse me.” He walked through the door with serious intent.
“Mom, the White House is gone! Does that mean we are in war?”
Mom frowned and then looked me in the eye. “I don’t know what that means honey.”
We sat there in silence as we waited for Mr. Bell to return. It wasn’t long and he was back with us.
“Please excuse my interruption. My secretary is correct, the White House has been bombed.”
“Sir, what does this mean?” Chang asked politely.
“It means impending war. Sources are telling us it is a warning from Russia to give up your leader. Either that or they hoped to kill him when they bombed, probably a matter of both.”
“What is the status of the President?”
“It is presumed he is dead. Nothing in the area could have survived.”
“But I thought he went into hiding?”
“No maam, he did not. He wanted everyone to think he did so they wouldn’t look for him there.”
“You’re telling me that the President was there the whole time?”
“What I am telling you is classified information that is not to be shared. Do you understand how important it is that you not mention any of this information to a single soul?”
“Yes, we do,” Mom answered.
“The United States is without a leader now. A new government would have to be established. Everyone who was involved with the spreading of the virus will have to be imprisoned or killed. We cannot trust people like that in our society. Too many lives have been lost.”
“That is too bad.”
“Back to the matter at hand. The U.N. would like to thank you for your bravery and would like to give you permanent residence in a secure facility. Would you be interested in that?”
“No. I am perfectly fine where I am at.”
“Can we at least pay you for what you have done? I mean, besides the 10 thousand.”
“I won’t object to money. I do have a family to provide for after all.”
“Brooke, can you leave a way for us to contact you in the future?” He grabbed a notebook and began jotting down some information.
“Here’s my phone number. I would like to leave my address undisclosed.”
She handed him the phone number and he handed her a sheet of paper filled with information. On the note it read that 5 million dollars would be deposited into a Bank of America account for her in her name. Tomorrow my mother would be a millionaire.
He shook our hands and led us back to the reception area downstairs.
“It was a pleasure meeting you Brooke.”
“Thank you Mr. Bell. Please contact me if you need anything.”
“I most certainly will.”
He walked away and mom headed to the bathroom to reapply her makeup. She was still conscious of the danger she was still in.
We exited the building with a new spring in our steps. We were excited that the best case scenario was playing out.
“Who wants lunch? I saw this nice looking place just a block away.”
“Sounds good, let’s go!”
So we stopped for lunch. The place was informal which was exactly what I liked. It had been so long since I had had any kind of normal food that I didn’t know how to behave. It was nice to have a hamburger and some fries.
We sat there and devoured our food and stayed for dessert. I knew mom was splurging on our meal since she was newly rich. I didn’t mind. I deserved it for everything I had been through.
CHAPTER 12
BREANNE
They arrived back home about 7pm last night. I was shocked with how the meeting had gone. Aunt Brooke announced that the money belonged to the house be
cause we all had a part in it and we all sacrificed something for the greater good.
I was ecstatic about not having to hunt anymore. I was happy to have money to get the fence fixed and to make it more secure so that we couldn’t get any more animals through the fence. I would be happy to walk in the evenings again with the love of my life.
Today we spent the day at the TV. We watched news reports about the bombing of the White House. The President and Vice President had been confirmed dead. The U.N. announced that they were taking over temporarily until another leader could be appointed.
Russia was behind the bombing. The shared a video of the President of Russia giving this announcement:
“Fellow citizens of the world: We have annihilated the White House in the United States of America. Their leader is dead. We did not do this with the intentions of war. We did this with the intentions to eliminate the President of the United States. If they want to bring a war then so be it. Our country is doing America a favor by taking that despicable pig out. Hopefully America can see this as a new start to government. America will be demanded to release the cure to our country. It would be in America’s best interest to release the cure to every nation. We are taking a stand against this cold and heartless murder the President had committed. We as a nation will not stand for this!”
Aunt Brooke’s cell rang and she left the room to take the call. She returned just a few minutes later asking for John’s email. The U.N. asked her to get in contact with John so that they can have greater access to the cure. Things were beginning to fall into place.
CHAPTER 13
ZOE
We emailed John and he didn’t hesitate to get back to us. He told us he would call the U.N. and find out what they wanted from him. For now all we could do was sit and wait for more information.
For weeks we stayed glued to the television. Not much had changed in the following weeks but it didn’t stop us from watching.
Mom’s bank account was fat as they had promised and we didn’t need for anything. We couldn’t eat how we used to as a lot of things were not available to us anymore but there were some things we could still indulge in.
We were able to hire 8 security guards to watch the property as we had a second fence built around the property. This one would not allow any animals in unless they were the kind that climbed, flew or slithered. The fence also had an electrical current running through it as an added precaution. That was my idea and it was brilliant. It wouldn’t kill zombies but it deterred them. Apparently they were still sensitive to pain even if it didn’t completely stop them.