Sam took a few seconds to put his phone aside after the call. What the fuck was that? Was he dreaming or having some kind of hallucination? He got out of his thoughts when a loud sound echoed through his open window.

  He ran towards the sound, but he couldn't see anything except some smoke far away from his home, right in downtown.

  His heart raced inside his chest. Roger was somewhere there. For a second, Sam thought about taking the car and trying to find Roger so both of them could run away together, but he gave up. They already had a plan, and not following it would make things worse. What if he never found Roger there? What if Roger successfully found his way to the cabin, and Sam was not there? Phones will stop working soon, that’s for sure, so they would never find each other again.

  Or even worse: what if Roger didn’t find Sam at the cabin, and then he went after him and got killed? Sam would never forgive himself.

  He locked all the windows and doors on the first floor and picked up his two big suitcases. He packed one with his and Roger’s clothes, and the other with hygiene stuff, food, and other things he thought would be useful.

  His heart was racing, and his mind wouldn’t stop thinking about all the movies and series he watched about zombies. He always told Roger, “Oh my god, if this happens for real, I hope we get the slow ones version of the apocalypse.” He was also unlucky on that one. The zombies they got were fast and very aggressive ones.

  Sam was breathing heavily after finishing packing all the stuff. He looked around to see if he hadn’t forgotten anything when he heard a loud and desperate sound coming from the front door.

  Sam froze in his place, remembering what Roger had asked him. And deep inside, he knew it was the correct thing to do as well. In a situation like that, anyone would have more chances of surviving if they were on their own.

  The knocking didn’t stop. Sweat started rolling down Sam’s forehead, and his heart was almost jumping out of his body. He let out a breath when the person on the other side finally said something.

  “Sam? Roger? Are you there?”

  It was his neighbor from the street. His relief went away after realizing the second voice hidden in all the knocking on the door.

  Her newborn baby wouldn’t stop crying.

  ***

  Sam looked through the peephole just to be sure it was only her and not some kind of ambush waiting for him to open the door and rob him. His survival senses were very high right now, but he couldn’t leave a woman and her baby behind. Roger would need to understand that he couldn’t leave her there. That was not who he was.

  Sam opened the door.

  “Come inside, quick.”

  The woman did as Sam ordered, and he closed the door behind her.

  His heart was still pounding so hard inside his chest that he needed to lean against the wall, close his eyes, and breathe deeply.

  “Hi, Loretta,” he finally said.

  ***

  The woman sprinted inside, holding her baby close to her chest.

  “I … I … I …”

  Sam noticed she was nervous and guided her to sit on the sofa.

  “Sit, Loretta. I’ll grab a glass of water for you.”

  Sam went to the kitchen and came back as fast as possible. He didn’t have much time. Soon, those monsters would be everywhere, and then they would be fucked up and trapped inside the home.

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  Inside his head, Roger was lecturing him about trying to be a hero, but Sam couldn’t leave a woman and a baby behind.

  “Is your husband coming home?”

  Loretta finished drinking the water. When she spoke, her voice was back to normal.

  “Sorry, I panicked. For a moment, I thought you were going to leave me outside. I saw you through the window, walking around and packing. No, Bob is not coming back. He told me on the phone that he didn’t really want a kid, and this was a sign from God that he should follow his instincts. He told me to take care and that he was sorry. Then he hung up the phone. And every time I tried to call him, it went to voicemail.”

  Loretta started crying, and Sam felt bad for her. Straight guys could be the worst kind of human beings when they wanted to. The piece of shit left his wife and newborn baby behind right at the end of the fucking world.

  “Ok, Loretta. I don’t want to sound rude or anything, and I’m really sorry you went through all of that, but we need to go. Can you pack in, like, 10 minutes max? I’ll just finish some stuff. If you won’t be here in 15 minutes, I’ll need to leave you behind.”

  Hearing that made the woman wake up again.

  “Yes, I can do that. Do you think you could keep her for me? It will speed up the work.”

  He could. Sam didn’t have anything else to do but put the suitcases in the back of the car.

  “Ok, but hurry.”

  She gave the baby to Sam and sprinted outside.

  ***

  Sam looked at the clock. The 15 minutes he gave her were almost gone, and he started imagining if Loretta decided to follow her husband’s steps and abandon the baby with him. He wouldn’t be surprised. Sam read many news stories about moms who did something like that, or even worse.

  He was almost putting the baby inside the car and going without the woman when she rushed from the door.

  “I’m sorry, I had to prepare something for her to eat.”

  Sam gave the baby back to Loretta and grabbed the two suitcases she brought with her.

  “Come, we need to move. Every minute counts.”

  Loretta followed him, grateful he was home and able to help her. She was afraid she was going to be left behind by everyone.

  Tears of happiness started rolling down her face as she sat in the back of Sam’s Toyota.

  One minute after she came back, Sam was driving out of his garage.

  “If everything goes well, we should be at a safe place in five hours. I’ve packed some food for a few days, but I’m sure we will need more.”

  Loretta agreed from the back.

  “I’ve packed some stuff we don’t need to keep in the fridge as well,” she said.

  “Good. If we see a supermarket that looks safe, we can stop and try to buy stuff there. But I really don’t think it is a good idea.”

  The clock was now marking 10:15 a.m. Sam was driving on the road, looking at the chaos that was starting to build up in the neighborhood. He was also thinking about Roger. Wishing and even praying that he would be safe. Praying that they could meet up again.

  The rain was falling heavily from the sky. Sam loved that weather. On a normal day, he would just sit on the balcony with his book in one hand, a hot coffee, and his hoodie, appreciating the sound and colors of a rainy day. But today it was different, and sadly, this weather would always remind him of how the end of the world started.

  He looked behind and saw Loretta holding the baby close to her chest.

  “Don’t forget the belt,” he said, imagining what would happen to the baby if he crashed the car. But they would need to count on their luck, because they didn’t have the luxury of driving slowly.

  “Where are we going?” she asked, putting the belt on.

  “To a cabin where Roger and I used to go on our anniversary.”

  “Will it be safe there?” Loretta asked, looking at Sam’s eyes through the rearview mirror.

  “I have no idea, but it is pretty isolated in the woods. We even need to use a boat to get there. The cabin is built on a small island.”

  She smiled and said:

  “That is good … that is very good.”

  Sam could see columns of smoke appearing near the neighborhood now. Those things were getting closer and closer. And they were getting there fast.

  “Where is Roger, by the way? I was so nervous that I forgot to ask.”

  “He is …”

  Something bumped into Sam’s Toyota, making them both scream out loud inside the car.

  He didn’t stop, but in his rearview mirror he saw a person getting up from the ground and starting to run in their direction.

  “My god, they are here already. And they are fucking fast,” Loretta said, looking behind the window.

  She held the baby even closer and tighter to her chest.

  Sam locked the car doors.

  “Better to prevent.”

  The crazy human kept running in their direction for a few seconds and then decided to turn to the left.

  It probably found an easier target to chase.

  Sam looked at his hands and noticed they were shaking.

  Roger, I hope I’ll see you soon. I don’t know if I can do this alone, he thought.