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<span style="font-family:Arapey"> <span style="font-size: 15px">July 23rd | Noon | Hwy 168</span></span>​</div><br/>"What do you mean the airport<i>shut down</i>?!"<br/><br/>"The fuck you think I mean Casey?"<br/><br/>"How? Why?"<br/><br/>"I'll read you the email...<i>All flights scheduled to depart or arrive at the Fresno Yosemite International Airport have been indefinitely suspended following a recent security incident. We understand that this will affect the travels and schedules of passengers, and we apologize for the inconvenience while we work to resolve the issue. Updates will be sent when more information can be shared. Thank you for your patience,</i>" Hailey read out loud, "That's all it says."<br/><br/>Casey looked over at her friend in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me. We've been sitting in traffic for over an hour just for<i>this </i>to happen?" She turned her head back towards the bumper to bumper traffic in front of her, and let her head fall back against the headrest. She looked in the review mirror at the exit ramp 10 cars behind her. "And we just passed an exit ramp we could have taken. Freaking perfect."<br/><br/>"Yeah. I know. This totally blows... I mean what the hell could have happened to cause the entire airport to shutdown?"<br/><br/>Casey felt her skin crawl at Hailey's question. "You don't think... it could be that disease do you?"<br/><br/>Hailey rolled her eyes, "Girl, you have got to stop with that nonsense. You've been on about that for the past<i>three days</i>."<br/><br/>"You weren't on the beach with me. You didn't see what those crazy people did," Casey responded.<br/><br/>"Yeah, and nothing has happened since then!"<br/><br/>"It would make sense though wouldn't it? It's contagious. They wouldn't want it spreading in an airport."<br/><br/>"I'm telling you Casey you are stressing yourself out over nothing. The news loves to over hype this shit," Hailey said, pulling a makeup kit from her purse. She used the overhead mirror to make a few touch ups. "Let's just go back to the hotel and chill. You and I are going out tonight and making the most of our extra long stay in Cali."<br/><br/>As Hailey spoke, Casey noticed movement up ahead. Someone was running. No, there were multiple people running. The passengers in the cars ahead of her must have noticed too, because a man three cars up opened the driverside door and stepped out to look over the door for a better view. A figure down the road ran towards him. The person's movement was erratic, as if they were uncoordinated. The figure stumbled and then fell to the ground, but wasted no time in pushing themself back up and continuing their charge. As the runner grew closer Casey could tell it was a woman with a bloody arm.  The man quickly got back into his car and shut the door to protect himself. In turn, the erratic woman threw herself against the car door.<br/><br/>"Holy shit," Casey said, drawing Hailey's attention to the scene before them. The woman began swinging at the car in a random fashion, using all her strength to batter the vehicle. After a number of blows, she hit a weak point in the window, and it shattered. Her upper body disappeared through the glass as she assaulted the driver. Behind the woman, a good samarian jumped out from a van and ran up to grab ahold of the woman and pull her back. She turned on him after emerging from the window, and took him down onto the pavement. The man in the car crawled out through the passenger side, holding his leg as he got up to limp away.<br/><br/>"The fuck?!" Hailey spoke up, "Oh my god..." She had a right to be afraid, because further down the highway were more of them, randomly mobbing people and breaking into cars left and right.<br/><br/>Casey acted quickly. She pressed on the gas to move the car forwards, colliding into the back of the vehicle in front of her, then she spun the wheel and kicked it into reverse, pulling out onto the shoulder of the highway. Casey looked behind her as she reversed towards the exit ramp. The Lexus she was driving scraped against the concrete wall, and she traded paint with a couple of cars along the way. As she drove, her driver side mirror broke off against a truck she rubbed up against. Hailey was freaking out, but Casey ignored her as she hit the brakes and then took off along the shoulder of the exit ramp. The car bumped over the curb as Casey created her own lane, running the red light and turning right into the cross traffic. She caused a van to swerve behind her, and the driver laid on the horn.<br/><br/>"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!" Hailey screeched, holding onto the dashboard for dear life.<br/><br/>"Did you not see what I saw?!"<br/><br/>"Yeah I fucking did! But jesus Casey you could have killed us!"<br/><br/>"What did you want me to do?!"<br/><br/>"I don't know! I don't fucking know!" Hailey exclaimed. Casey turned down a side road into the suburbs and sped through the neighborhood. "Where are we going?!"<br/><br/>"You think I know? We're getting away!" Casey responded. She made another turn, moving deeper into the suburbs.<br/><br/>"Pull over!"<br/><br/>"Here?!"<br/><br/>"We're far away just stop the fucking car!" Hailey yelled. The vehicle screeched to a halt. The two woman sat in silence for several moments, gathering themselves and calming down. Casey ran a hand through her hair, and Haily mimicked her, doing the same. "Let's just go back to the hotel," Hailey broke the silence.<br/><br/>"The hotel? Downtown? I'm not going back to the hotel."<br/><br/>"Why not?"<br/><br/>"That just seems like a horrible idea. If something like what happened on the highway happens again, were going to be stuck there with the city congestion."<br/><br/>"Well then where exactly are we supposed to go?"<br/><br/>"I don't know Hailey! I have no idea. Okay? But I'm still freaking out about what I just saw so I would appreciate it if you just gave me a minute."<br/><br/>Silence befell the car again. Casey propped her head in her hand and took a breather. After another minute, she heard the car door open. She turned to find Hailey stepping out of the car. "What are you doing?"<br/><br/>"If we're just going to sit here, I'm going to check the damage you did to our car."<br/><br/>"<i>That's</i>what you're worried about right now?"<br/><br/>"Casey this is an<i>expensive</i>rental. It is a valid concern," Hailey snapped back, slamming the door shut.<br/><br/>"Ugghh!" Casey groaned loudly, squeezing the wheel in frustration. Hailey walked around to the front of the car. It was easy to tell by her friend's expression and the way she planted her hands on her hips that the damage was bad. The blonde walked around the car, looking at the scratches in the black paint job, and around to the rear of the car, the only part that was left intact. After another couple moments, Hailey returned to the passenger door and opened it.<br/><br/>"We are going to get<b>hella </b>fined," she said with a raised eyebrow as the woman sat back down. She reached out and grabbed the door handle to pull it shut, but instead it was ripped out of her grasp mid way. A body slammed up against the car door, forcing it open. Both woman jumped and the man moaned loudly. His eyes were bloodshot and his mouth and neck were coated red from a previous victim. Hailey screamed and retreated towards Casey as the man lunged at her. His arms flailed and battered the blonde woman, and he dove on top of her to sink his teeth into her flesh. Casey fumbled with the handle, but eventually threw the door open and tumbled out. Hailey tried to follow, but the deranged man grabbed a hold of her leg and arm to pull her back into his deadly embrace. Casey screamed. She didn't know what to do. She watched in horror as the stranger began eating her friend alive. The sound of Hailey's cries for help and the horrible carnage Casey was witnessing froze her in place. Hailey screamed Casey's name, and reached out with a bloody hand towards her friend. Her blue eyes were wide with shock. Casey scrambled to her feet and grabbed hold of her friend's wrist with both hands. She pulled hard, but the sick man held her in place. Hailey's eyes started to glaze over, and then suddenly the man turned his attention to Casey. He crawled over Hailey's body towards the brunette, and Casey let go and fell backwards. She pushed herself to her feet and turned to run, glad she'd decided to wear flats today. With a look over her shoulder, she saw the man crawl out from the driver side and get to his feet. He charged at Casey, and in turn she screamed for help.<br/><br/>"Come here!" a male voice rang out. Casey's head whipped around to find an old, grey haired man standing on his porch. In his hands was a shotgun, and he was beckoning for her to come towards him. The model didn't question it. She turned and ran towards her salvation with the beast of a human on her heels. She passed his mailbox, which read "Dewey", and sprinted up the sidewalk towards her savior. The older gentleman moved down the steps and jogged forwards to meet Casey. "Get behind me!" he called in a slightly raspy voice. As soon as Casey passed his shoulder, Dewey raised the shotgun at her pursuer. "Stop!" he yelled, but the bloodied man didn't react. Three steps later, he was blown backwards by the impact of the shotgun shell. The gun kicked into Dewey's shoulder, and the pursuer's stomach was ripped open as he fell backwards onto the ground. But it wasn't over yet. With wide eyes, Casey watched as the man rose to his feet, seemingly unfazed, and started running at them again.<i> Cha-chink. <b>BANG!</b></i>Dewey pumped the shotgun to eject the cartridge and load another shell. The firearm kicked back into his shoulder again as another blast hit the man in the shoulder. He stumbled, but didn't fall.<i>Cha-chink. <b>BANG!</b> </i>The third shot hit dead into the man's skull and blew his brains across the lawn. The body fell, and Dewey lowered the smoking weapon.<br/><br/>Casey stared at the gruesome scene in front of her appalled and shocked, then she turned and threw up into the grass. She stayed there coughing and gagging on hands and knees for solid minute before nothing else came out. Her vision was blurred from the tears in her eyes, and she spit into the grass to try and clear the disgusting, sour taste in her mouth. A hand was placed on her shoulder, causing the woman to jump. "We should go inside," the old man spoke more softly.<br/><br/>"My friend. Hailey is in the car," Casey told him.<br/><br/>"I'll handle that. You get in the house," he responded, helping Casey to her feet. She nodded, wiping her eyes and her mouth as Dewey ushered her through his front door. She didn't turn around to look at the man, or to the car where her friend was. She didn't think she would be able to handle it.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center"><b><span style="font-size: 26px">One Week Later</span></b><br/>
<span style="font-family:Arapey">July 30th | Morning | Dewey's house</span>​</div><br/>A hot mug of coffee was set in front of Casey. She took it in both hands, giving the old man a soft smile. "Thanks, Charles," she said, taking a seat at the kitchen table. The brunette blew lightly, then began mixing in creamer that was on the table. Meanwhile, the man returned to the coffee machine, placing a new mug underneath and pressing the button on top. Hot dark liquid began filling the cup, but the stream only lasted a couple seconds before the red light went out. A click was heard as the fridge kicked off, and Charles reached over to toggle the light switch beside him. The power had gone out.<br/><br/>"I suppose too many people had the idea to try and make coffee this morning," the old man chuckled. He grabbed his nearly empty mug and turned to the kitchen table, pulling out one of the wooden chairs and taking a seat.<br/><br/>Casey smiled softly, "You can have some of mine."<br/><br/>"No no, it's quite alright" he waved his hand in an attempt to decline.<br/><br/>"No seriously," Casey insisted, "If I drink this much I'm going to get the shakes anyway." She stood up from her seat and reached over, pouring some of the contents of her mug into the other to make it even. Charles accepted the gesture, and nodded a thank you in response. "...So how long do you think it will last this time?" Casey asked after taking a sip.<br/><br/>"The man shrugged. They've been lasting a lot longer these past few days. Who knows if it even will come back." He wasn't wrong. The power outages started just under a week ago, and now it almost seemed constant. Electricity and running water were becoming scarce, and the prospect of completely losing these amenities worried Casey. She tried not to think about it though, holding out hope that this whole crisis would be resolved soon.<br/><br/>The two house mates revitalized themselves on caffeine in silence, and gazed through the open blinds at the empty street that was basked in morning light. California sunrises were nothing compared to its sunsets, but it was still a calm and pretty sight. It was almost eerie how deserted the roads had become as of late. No one really left their houses anymore, not unless they had to, and many of them were abandoned by now, the fate of their owners left unknown.<br/><br/>Casey's eyes drifted over to that spot at the side of the road, where the black Lexus used to be parked. The car was gone now. Charles had retrieved her luggage from the trunk for her, before it was taken away by the soldiers to form a barricade. The military had come through and established a small base of operations nearby in the suburbs three days ago. After securing a perimeter, they'd done a bit of clean up and blocked off the roads with vehicles so cars couldn't come through. Hailey's body was taken away during this process. It was better than seeing the car each day and knowing... knowing that she was lying in there. Charles was too weak to try and bury her, and Casey couldn't stomach it. She could still see her friend's face, the blonde hair stained red... the empty, lifeless blue eyes...<br/><br/>"Casey?" A voice pulled the woman from her thoughts. She turned to see Charles looking at her, as if he'd asked her a question. "Are you alright?" he repeated.<br/><br/>"Yeah. I'm fine," she gave an unconvincing smile and then stared off for another moment before standing up. Casey made her way to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of coffee liqueur, adding some to her drink. She needed it.<br/><br/>"Alright then," Charles spoke up, standing from the table "I'm not staying cooped up in here all day. I'm going to enjoy the nice morning weather while it lasts. It's going to get hot later."<br/><br/>"How do you know that?" She asked him, closing the cupboard and turning around. "There hasn't been a weather report in almost a week."<br/><br/>"I can feel it in my bones," he chuckled, and Casey gave him a lighthearted eye roll. Charles walked towards the front door with his coffee, opened it and bent over to grab his shotgun before walking out. "Feel free to join me," he called back before letting the door close behind him.<br/><br/>Casey wasn't going to join him. She leaned back with her butt against the counter and took a drink of her beverage. It was strong, and that was good.