Apartment 905 by Sahin, Ned (best color ereader TXT) 📗

at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow. I will try to get a seat in the truck. Wait for me at the Highway 40 ramp,” I say. Whoever he would be, I hope we can find a way to neutralize the second person in the delivery truck.

“Got it, Matt. I owe you, son.”

Chapter 12

It’s the first time I am driving a moving truck. I have a challenging time switching the gear, especially when I slow down, but it should be a smooth ride once we are on the highway.

“You are doing okay there, Matt?” Toshi asks. Toshi was supposed to be in the delivery pair next week but he replaced shifts with another Savior to accompany me today.

Delivery is not one of my duties in the camp, so I had to go out of line. I told William that I wasn’t feeling well today. He was fine if I stayed in the barracks until noon. Then I had to give my weekly salary to a Savior who was supposed to be in this truck with Toshi today. Everything worked out well so far. William won’t notice where I am at least until noon.

“I’m okay... Thank you for doing this for me,” I say.

“No worries. This is at least something I can do for the good of humanity,” he says. After working for Saviors for weeks, he is fed up with how they treat people. Saving the girl yesterday from patrols encouraged him to do more for civilians.

We arrive at the highway ramp within fifteen minutes. I pull over the truck, but I don’t see Miguel and Diego around.

I notice I told Miguel what time we would leave the camp, but I didn’t tell him what time we would be at the ramp. I hope he did the math.

This ramp would normally be packed with cars going to the major cities in the state. There is only post-apocalyptic silence now. I only hear some birds cawing happily without knowing what kind of world we live in now.

With close to zero human activity, animals started wandering in cities. The whole world is their playground now. I had seen deer, wild turkeys, boars, foxes, and even a wolf in urban areas through the window of my apartment before bugging out.

When there were still news broadcasts, I watched a bear with her two cubs enjoying a mansion’s pool in California, an elephant family chilling on a highway in India, lions playing hide-and-seek at a golf club in South Africa, and kangaroos trying to get on a Ferris wheel in Australia. They took back the world.

Toshi and I both are still in the truck. He scans the front and sides of the truck while I constantly check the mirrors to see a sign of Miguel and Diego.

Several dogs screech aggressively in the distance. It keeps getting louder. On the left rear mirror, I see Miguel and Diego running toward us.

“A bunch of dogs are chasing behind them!” I say while getting off the truck. I run to the back of the truck and roll up the rear door. Toshi gets off as well and runs to the rear edge of the truck. He checks his handgun magazine.

“Get in now!” I yell at Miguel and Diego. They are running as fast as they can, but it’s not enough. Dogs are closing the gap. I see four dogs chasing them.

I first thought those are just abandoned pets who are desperate for food. But these are different. The red spots on their skins become visible as they get closer. Just like the spots I saw on that Rica I fought in the jungle.

Toshi steps forward and starts shooting at the dogs. One of them gets shot in the head. Two others get shot in their bodies, but they keep coming toward us. Another dog was about to catch Diego’s left foot before I ended the canine’s misery with a bullet to his head.

The bullets slow down the other two dogs as they continue closing the distance. They don’t seem to feel pain. Their eyes are filled with anger and hate. It’s the same look I saw in the Rica’s eyes.

Miguel and Diego jump in the truck. I roll down the rear door, but I don’t have time to latch it. I run back to the driver seat. Toshi goes back to the truck as well.

I start the engine and try switching the gear. It doesn’t move.

“Push the clutch as hard as you can!” Toshi yells while trying to move the gear forward. Two dogs jump over each other and scratch my window. Their barks sound more like roars.

“Let’s go!” Miguel yells punching the back of the cabin.

One of the dogs jumps on the hood and manages to crack the front window, which won’t stay intact long. The other one continues to hit his head on my side window while barking loudly to the direction of the woods. It seems like he is trying to call the rest of the gang.

I push the gear one more time, this time with as much strength I can muster. The handle clanks. It’s finally in the right place. The engine buzzes and the truck jumps forward. The dog on the hood hops over the cabin.

I push the gas pedal to the floor. I hear the dog’s body bouncing in the back roof of the truck. Then I see him falling on the road in the mirror. The truck speeds up on the highway.

“What the heck!” I say.

“Looks like animals can become Ricas too?” Toshi says. It looks like animals or at least dogs can get to the same aggressive state of mind if they are exposed to Oxyrica somehow. They must have bitten a Rica unless they decided to go to a pharmacy and asked for the drug.

We didn’t need more problems in this already messed up world, but animals are against us too now. At least some of them.

There are a lot of stalled vehicles on the highway, but we