Free The Remnants of Yesterday by Anthony M. Strong Page B

waiting for the message to come up, and then read it, once to confirm who it was from, the second time to absorb the words, and then I turned to Clara. “We need to wake the others.”

 
    24
     
     
    NEW HAVEN
    GO SOUTH
    VIRUS SPREADING
     
    “What does it mean?” Emily looked down at the phone, her brow furrowed.
    “It means I was right.” Clay said. “Goddamned idiots in Washington went and started something they couldn’t finish.” He paced back and forth, a vein in his forehead throbbing. “I bet it’s the Koreans, or the freaking Chinese. I knew it.”
    “Now hang on,” I said. “We don’t know anything.”
    “We know plenty,” Clay replied. “Virus spreading? That can only mean one thing. Biological warfare.”
    “That’s just jumping to conclusions,” Clara said. “We’re as much in the dark as we were yesterday.”
    “No, we’re not. Those things, those zombies, they are infected with a damn virus.”
    “And it’s spreading,” Emily said. “At least if you believe the text message.”
    “On the face of it we have no reason not to.” Clara looked at me. “Are you sure it was your brother who sent it?”
    “Sure as I can be.” I picked up the phone. “It’s from his number.”
    “Does New Haven mean anything to you?” Clara asked.
    “No.”
    “It would be nice if the message gave us a bit more information,” she said. “The only New Haven I know of is in Connecticut.”
    “Connecticut seems logical, given our location,” I agreed. “And Jeff might be there if they evacuated New York.”
    “Which would explain the text.” Clara looked hopeful.
    “Kind of,” Clay said. “But it doesn’t explain everything.”
    “What?” I looked at him.
    “How come your phone works when no one else’s does?” Clay narrowed his eyes. “Seems mighty odd to me.”
    “I don’t know. When I charged it at the school there was no service.”
    “And now?”
    “A weak signal. One bar.”
    “One bar, huh, all the way out here in the middle of nowhere. Have you called the number back?” Clay asked. “Replied to the text message?"
    “First thing I did. The text bounces back undeliverable, and the number just gets an automated message. The call cannot be completed at this time.”
    “And yet somehow you got that text through anyway,” Clay said, narrowing his eyes.
    “I never said I had all the answers.” I wasn’t sure what Clay was getting at, but he was starting to annoy me.
    “We’re getting off point here.” Clara positioned herself between us, sensing the change in mood. “The real issue is what do we do next?”
    “I say we do what the phone said and go south,” Emily piped up.
    “I agree.” I was getting tired of the discussion. “We should head toward New Haven. If this message is from Jeff, then he must be there already. It must be safe.”
    “There’s no guarantee the message meant New Haven, Connecticut.” Clay seemed determined to argue. “Seems like a waste of time if you ask me.”
    “Well we’re not asking. Come with us, or don’t. No skin off my nose.”
    “Easy there fella.” Clay turned to Clara. “Sensitive one ain’t he, your boyfriend.”
    “He’s not my boyfriend.” Clara shot me a look. “But he’s right. We can’t stay here, and New Haven seems as good a place to go as any.”
    “If you’re smart, you’ll head toward the border.” Clay said. “Canada.”
    “Why on earth would we want to go to there?” I asked, wondering if Clay had lost his mind. “What makes you think Canada will be any different from here?”
    “Of course it’ll be different. It’s Canada.” Clay drew a breath. “Whatever this is, this thing that’s happened, the chances are that it was an attack on the USA. We’re always poking our noses in where they don’t belong. Maybe someone got mad and poked back. Canada is probably just fine.”
    “If it is, and that’s a big if, they will have closed the border by now. What are you going to do? Waltz on