Carl drove a few miles off campus with Pete sitting on Charlotte’s lap due to their hasty exit from campus.
“Do you think we can stop sometime soon? This is very uncomfortable,” Charlotte said.
“Is it safe? We should wait.” Betty said.
“Come on, I’m dying here. We haven’t seen a thing on this road in about five miles. We won’t be long. Stop the car,” Pete said.
Carl pulled the car to the right shoulder and said, “OK, let’s swap positions. Hey, Pete, you want to drive?”
“Hell no. I ain’t been able to stretch my arm for about 30 minutes and, hell, this bite hurts. It was just a little bite, but I guess it broke the skin. Damn it hurts,” Pete said.
“Well, I did study nursing, let me take a look at it,” Charlotte replied as they piled out of the car.
“You coming?” Carl asked Betty.
“No, I’ll wait here.”
“Suit yourself…”
Pete sat in the grass on the side of the road and took his shoe off. Pete’s pale white skin was in contrast to the dark black mark around the small bite.
“It does appear to be a very small bite. It’s a minor cut. No stitches, but it looks like you got a bad infection from the bite. It is all black and blue near the scratch,” Charlotte said.
“Hey, Pete, you have any rubbing alcohol or Hydrogen peroxide in your car?” Carl asked.
“Hey, Carl, do you have any rubbing alcohol or Hydrogen peroxide anywhere near your car? Well, if you had one?”
Carl laughed and said, “I hear you.”
“Can we get on the road?” Betty yelled from the car.
“Yeah, Betty is right, let’s take me home. Y’all know it is about thirty more minutes. My mom will clean it up.” Carl said.
“Y’all heard him, get in the car and let’s go,” Betty screamed.
“OK, let’s get you back in the car. Your foot looks like you can’t drive, so I will continue,” Carl said.
“Ya think?” Pete said.
Charlotte got in the back seat and Pete eased into the front seat so he could extend his leg.
Carl began driving on. They continued to make good time on the country road.
“One of the benefits of living outside of the city is that you don’t have to deal with traffic,” Carl said.
“Yeah, can you imagine how much traffic there is in Atlanta?” Pete said.
Betty’s phone rang. She picked it up. “Dad… I know, Dad. Carl took me.”
Carl was trying to piece together the conversation. He remembered that Betty’s dad never liked him much.
“No, I told you I ain’t dating him, and I am not going to date him. He wanted to…” Betty continued.
Pete looked over at Carl who tried to act like he wasn’t seeing any of the other folks in the car look at him.
“I know you don’t like him, but I told him I was going to wait. No, hold on, he didn’t kidnap me.”
Carl moved from side to side in the seat.
“Well, how about you pick me up at the Z-Mart at the interstate exit 45? It is coming up. What do you mean you can’t come?” Betty continued.
“OK, bye Dad.” Betty clicked the phone off.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Betty said, “Carl, I’m sorry. Thanks for taking me with you.”
The call irritated Carl. He said nothing.
“Did you hear me?” Betty said
“I heard you. Are you thanking me for kidnapping you?” Carl said.
“I didn’t say that, my dad did.”
“Whatever.”
The tension was getting thick when Pete changed the subject and said, “Hey let’s see what the radio has to say about what’s happening.”
Pete turned it on.
“We are advising all citizens in the area to go to a shelter. If you can’t get to a shelter, please lock yourself in. Do not leave the house, and do not attempt to contact any of the infected,” the radio blared.
“The governor said that all air traffic is suspended in and out of Atlanta. City officials have notified this station that there is a mandatory curfew inside of Atlanta at sunset. We will shut down the roads. It is important that you evacuate to safety,” the announcer on the radio continued.
“We’ll be safe at my mother’s house, at least until this thing blows over,” Pete said, interrupting the announcer, who appeared to say something about bites.
“Hold on, wait,” Carl said.
“...by human bites,” the reporter said.
“Bites?” Charlotte yelled while crying.
“Residents are advised to come to one of the area checkpoints.”
“If you can’t reach one of the shelters, please go into your basement and do not allow any infected into your home. The governor deployed The National Guard, and they will aid us in evacuation and protection measures.”
“What did she say about bites?” Carl said.
“I don’t know, everybody was talking,” Betty said.
“Do you think that is why your wound looks so bad?” Charlotte said.
“No, it was a minor bite. We will clean it up when I get home. Let’s get there. We are almost there,” Pete said. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Chapter 9 - Jeremiah Jones