When a deadly plague spreads like wildfire, 17-year-old Bren Watts is trapped at Ground Zero of a global pandemic.
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Bren and his classmates are stranded in New York City, now filled with thousands of murderous infected and desperate survivors. F...
MAP OF HARRISBURG (c. July 11th, 2021 - Reclamation Day)
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*It was estimated that around 60,000 soldiers and volunteers fought against the vector horde in the Battle of Harrisburg. Around 24.8 million people (civilians + service members) lost their lives throughout the twenty-day Delaware Campaign.
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The forest's expanse gave way to open grounds of farmlands, farmhouses cropped up here and there, some half a mile apart. I was glad to see them after driving through too much green. The sunbaked road turned to asphalt, the smell of dry grass and tar, the whiskery barley giving way to civilization—a post office there, rotting shacks and barns, street lights, a rural bus stop, a roadhouse diner with the CLOSED sign. We were back on track.
The further we drove, the more the houses pressed against each other until they looked about the same in their dictatorial and manicured HOA kind of way, now sure that we had reached the city's northern suburbs. I glanced down at the map to confirm it: Centennial Park.
The backroad was rarely used by the residents; I could tell from the cracks and gaping holes on the asphalt, just some off-beaten path toward the woods for hikes and trails. There was only one regular road out of the suburbs, a bridge over a small creek south of the neighborhood, and I'm guessing that was where the military would make camp to blockade the area—a chokepoint.
"What the hell happened here?" Alfie muttered behind me. I looked out of the window, watching the half-open houses and their broken windows, the owner's luggage strewn on the front yard, the cars left abandoned on the driveway. Then a cat bounced out of one open window, running through the front yard then the sidewalk, disappearing behind some hedges. The sight wasn't out of the ordinary like other abandoned towns and cities across the Red Zone. However, Centennial Park was an affluent neighborhood with dozens of McMansions, the streets tagged with a high-income zip-code.
"I think they evacuated this neighborhood in a rush," Yousef said. "And a bad job at that."
I shook my head. "They evacuated the rich people out. Yeah. But I think the others broke in and took the shit they left behind." Of what value they are now, I wouldn't know. I doubt printed paper buys luxury these days.
I looked around each corner and intersection and also checked up on the CCTV cameras we set up around the RV. So far, no signs of vectors, but I held on to our luck tighter nonetheless. From the side mirror, I watched our little convoy drove slowly and quietly through the street, the frat boys from the truck gawking and pointing at the nicer mansions. Logan, Miguel, and Jun guarded the tail while driving the Honda Civic.
My eyes landed on the rearview camera, which showed the van with the gnome and the dildos. The passenger side window was open, a woman lounging on the seat with her feet sticking out without a care. Any vector could have reached in and pulled her out quickly. The driver, a man with a goatee, seemed to be smoking, and when he let out a breath, smoke drifted out of the open driver's side window! I groaned inwardly, almost wanting to smack some sense into them. At least Colin and his family had a good instinct to put metal gratings over the minivan's windows even though a few punches would knock it loose. They didn't secure it adequately enough. Things to talk to them about later if we're going to survive this.
