Chapter 16

In the apartment in the city our friends were doing fine. Of course they didn’t have any coke. Or internet. To be honest they were in withdrawal and the abstinence was putting a real strain on everyone’s nerves. But considering the circumstances that was hardly a concern. By mere chance Ridley had discovered that a morning newspaper from about a week ago had gotten stuck in their neighbor’s slot. Since they had not claimed it yet he decided that it was safe to assume they were not home, and therefore had no use of the paper. So he had brought it home.

Reading it had made them all a bit less concerned about their families. It was stated clearly on the front-page that this was the last paper that would be delivered before the curfew, and therefore contained a lot of information about the situation. They learned that their hometowns were not as affected by the infection as the large cities of the east and south. In fact, there was a safe-zone up north, where Mac’s family lived. And the city where Ridley’s parents lived was as of the printing of the paper (zombie) free. Of course they did not use the word zombie, after all – this was not an evening tabloid – but that’s certainly what they meant!

This confirmed the suspicions of our friends regarding the nature of this virus. They were also, to their great relief, informed about how to acquire food. Apparently, you had only to put a sign on your front door and a box with all necessities (filed ration style) would be left outside by the military. Come to think of it Sasha clearly remembered seeing this when they went to look for the school, but she had not had time to think about that.

They even found out why they had no internet. It actually was rather a coincidence. Their internet was provided by the university, and on the day before the paper was printed, someone had stolen the servers! Asher pledged that he would devote the rest of his life to finding out who did this, and then punish him (or her) “old testament style”.

As for the cell phone service; well, nearly all people in the country used the same operator. And it turned out their network was not dimensioned to handle such massive traffic. Up north, in the more scarcely populated areas it was still in service.

“I think we should try to get to this safe-zone.” Mac said

“Yeah, I suppose.” Ridley said

“I think that’s the best we can do in this situation. We can’t just sit here forever, curfew or no curfew.” Sasha said

“I’m worried about my family.” Asher said. “Sure, your families live in the woods where no zombies go, but mine lives right here in the middle of it.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Sasha said

“It’s ok…” Asher said

“We can’t just ignore them.” Mac said. “If we leave we’ll go and see that they’re safe.”

“Yes, absolutely.” Ridley said

“So it’s agreed then, we will try to find a way to get to the safe zone?” Asher asked

“But how?” Sasha wondered

“By car, ideally.” Asher said

“None of us has a drivers’ license…” Mac pointed out

“I think that would be the least of our problems if the police should stop us. Besides, you don’t actually need a license to drive a car.” Asher said

“True. Ok, so who should go and get Drew?” Ridley asked

“Hm. I don’t know. Does anyone volunteer?” Sasha asked

“I could go.” Mac said

“Whoever goes should take my bike.” Asher said

“That disqualifies me.” Sasha said. “On the other hand I have my own bike…”

“I’ll go.” Ridley said

“Are you sure? I mean; it could be dangerous.” Mac said

“It IS dangerous.” Sasha said. “Therefore I’ll go with you.”

“That’s a good idea. No one should go alone.” Asher agreed

“Ok. It’s dark now, so we should go right away.” Sasha said and stood up

As they were preparing to leave, Mac and Asher started to say that if anything happened…

“Oh, stop that! Nothing’s going to happen.” Sasha said with a steel voice

Asher and Mac looked a bit surprised.

“How can you be so sure?” Mac asked

“Because I won’t let it. This is my life. If my life were a movie, I would make it a romantic comedy or a Disney movie, or possibly a drama (a good one). People don’t die in those kinds of movies. At least not the good ones, and that’s us.” Sasha said

“Uh… Ok.” Mac said

“Mufasa died in The Lion King.” Ridley pointed out

“The exception that confirms the rule.” Sasha said, putting an end to the discussion. “Let’s go.”

They went out the door.

“If I were a zombie, and knew she was coming, I’d hide.” Asher said