Chapter 4

The ride down the rest of the highway seemed slightly less eventful than it had been all afternoon, it was reaching closer to midnight now so I knew things were going to get complicated. Logan had made small talk with us, seeming a bit more comfortable with Scarlett and me, but Liam was quiet. I chalked it up to him just being traumatized, after all, he had just seen his mother, father, and younger sister get killed and torn apart by the 'Infected'. "Where exactly are we going? Shouldn't we find somewhere to settle for the night? It's almost midnight." Logan asked, sitting forward in his seat. "We're heading to Philadelphia." Scarlett answered, "Why Philadelphia? What's there?" Liam finally spoke up, "The military has set up a camp for people to go to. There's shelter, food, and things that we will need to survive this until the military can get this all under control." Scarlett explained. "Do you really think that the military can get this under control? We don't even know what this is." Logan had a point, "When we saw the news earlier, the ICD was trying their best to contain what is going on. All we really know is people are dying, coming back to life, and basically attacking and eating people who aren't one of them. There are two ways that people can be 'Infected, the first way is to be bitten by one of them and the second one is if you get scratched. If you get bitten, you have symptoms of a mild headache, but what kills you is the fever. That's how we can tell someone has just been 'Infected'." I explained, "What if we can't see where the person has been bitten? Or scratched? Then how are we supposed to know this person is infected?" Liam asked, his question made me think.

"That's a good question.." Logan started, "I guess we just look for the signs of them being sick. If they're bound to get a fever when they are Infected then we just have to be super observant of everyone around us." He finished, "I agree with Logan." Scarlett said, I leaned back in my seat and sighed.

"How long is it gonna take to get to Philadelphia?" Liam asked, he didn't look at us rather he kept his eyes on the window, looking at the city.

"An hour, hopefully," Scarlett said. "It might take longer though, most of the highways might be extremely backed up." I turned on the radio, trying to find a station that was still working. Most of them were filled with nothing but static, that is until I managed to find one particular station.

"If anyone is listening, I'm still here. Most of the stations have been shut off or they have been overrun with 'Infected' people. There is not much I can say... We know that the ICD is doing everything they can to rectify this situation and the military has deployed across all the states to try and contain this virus. If you are still indoors, stay put. Gather supplies and board all windows and doors. Don't go outside. And for those who are stuck on the highways, stay in your cars. Try going on another highway or find somewhere to hole up for a while.. Actually, scratch that. I'm receiving new information, the military is asking that all able-bodied person who is not "Infected" should evacuate the city. I repeat, all citizens need to evacuate the city." We were all startled when the radio started blaring out a loud alarm, it sounded a lot like the safety PA announcement that usually came on TV.

"Turn it down!!" Liam covered his ears, I could hear a commotion coming from the forest next to the highway which panicked me. I immediately turned the radio off as Scarlett started driving, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach twist at the thought of what was coming.

"I can't believe they are already calling for an evacuation of the city. I didn't think that they would do it now." Logan said, "Neither did I but I think they didn't have any other choice. If the Military couldn't handle what was happening in the city with the 'Infected' overrunning the streets, then they had no choice but to tell people to evacuate." I looked back at Logan and Liam, who was notably terrified of what was happening. I heard the blare of a nearby car horn, Scarlett slamming on the brakes taking all of us by surprise.

"Scar, what the hell?" I looked out the windshield as Scarlett swerved to avoid the two cars that were ahead of us, the blue car suddenly rear-ending the black car ahead of it. We stopped just a few feet behind the two cars, the car alarms blaring loudly. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the noise started attracting the 'Infected'.

"Shit," I cursed.

"That looks bad, oh god." Scarlett whimpered. All this chaos going on around us was starting to get to her, I put my hand on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze telling her that it was going to be okay. Although, I honestly don't know if things are going to be okay.

"Do we help them?" Liam asked, watching the scene in front of us. That possibility went out the window as soon as the driver of the blue stumbled out of his car and was tackled by another individual. My eyes widened when I realized that it was 'Infected'. The driver and passenger of the black car heard the screams of the other driver and got out of the car, rushing towards the blue car.

"No!! Go back!!" Liam started shouting. The two were about to go help the driver when someone else exited the blue car, practically falling out of the back driver's side.

"We have to help them!" Liam was about to open the car door but we heard the woman passenger start screaming, all of us watching in absolute horror as the scene unfolded.

"Scar, drive!!!" Scarlett immediately put the car into gear and backed up, she pressed on the gas and sped off with Liam screaming at us to turn around and help them.

"We have to go back! Why didn't you go back?!" Liam shouted at Scarlett, who I could tell was having difficulty staying composed as we drove away from the scene.

"We can't help them, Liam! Not unless we wanted to be food for the 'Infected'. I'm sorry but we can't risk it. Not after we lost so many already." Logan snapped, causing Liam to go quiet. I could hear Liam sniffling, which hurt my heart.

"I'm sorry," Scarlett said softly, a tear slipping down her cheek.