EPTI set down my iPad, slipped my Sol headphones off and onto my neck, and listened intently. There was silence for what seemed like a long while. The sound of sirens went off in the distance and the shouting of several men began to take place. I decided to leave my stepmom in peace. I grabbed my jacket and headed towards the door while plugging my headphones into my Android. A chilly breeze wrapped around me as I walked out.
The voices and shouting were much clearer now. I could see that the Fred Myers off in the distance was on fire. As the sound of sirens filled the air and neighbors flooded into the street the gunshots resumed, although this time there was more than one. They sounded like small arms to me, the kind of pistols you keep locked up at home in case of an intruder. I could hear several neighbors shouting over the noise and speaking of some sort of riot. That anarchy was taking over Portland. Looking back now, I wish that was the case.
It happened in a sort of blur. A woman began screaming somewhere down the street and I followed a group of men to her. She was trapped on the ground at the very end of her driveway as two guys lay on top beating her. One man approached and yanked a fellow off of her.
Lodged inside the man's mouth was chunks of this woman's flesh and meat, dripping down with blood. Everyone was in as much shock and disbelief as I was that we all sort of stood there with our jaws hanging.
I could not believe what I was fucking seeing.
The woman was still crying as the other fellow started to get up. The guy who was pulled off dropped the contents that were inside his mouth and let out a low screech. The man seemed to be frozen in fear as this sick fuck and his buddy stumbled towards him. There was something off about them. They looked disgusting, sort of moldy or something. As if they were decaying.
I didn't stick around to find out what happened, I immediately took off towards our house. I tried getting in but the door wouldn't budge. I forgot that the damned door locks on its own as soon as you close it. As I was banging on door the screaming and shouting grew louder and louder. It rose in intensity as each second passed. As I quickly looked down the street I could see a horde of people coming, at least 20. They didn't look right. They were angry, but not angry like a person. It was sort of an animalistic type of behavior. They were screaming, howling, moaning. In that brief second that I took to look at them, they appeared dead. As crazy as it sounds, and it still sends chills through me every time I think about that moment, they looked as if they were dead.
I grabbed a rock and smashed the window next to the door. I reached around to unlock it and cut myself on a shard of glass though at the time I hardly felt it. I stormed into the living room screaming for Jacquie, and she was nowhere to be found.
By this time I was in some sort of adrenaline rush. Panic mode switched on as I did a quick run through the house, screaming my stepmom's name. Fuck me, I couldn't find her anywhere.
My dad was at work and I had to get in touch with him. I pulled out my cell phone but there was no damned signal at all. Zero frickin' bars. I began to really freak out and took a seat in my stepmom's recliner. I tried assessing the situation but I couldn't hold concentration. I was essentially lost in this batshit insane city. Jacquie's fucking gone somewhere. I didn't know how to reach my dad.
My dad left his only gun with me back in Texas before he moved up to the Northwest and I knew that he never purchased another firearm since. I got up and went straight to their small bedroom. A sleek metal purple baseball bat was partially concealed under the bed, my dad's only defense against intruders. I took that and headed out the door.
I stepped out cautiously and looked around. We just passed the earliest day in the calendar and the Sun had already set. Oddly enough the sky had an orange hue to it, probably because of fires running unchecked throughout Broadway and downtown. Sirens, screaming, yelling, shooting, howling filled the chilly air. The sounds felt as if they were hitting me from every direction. Feeling was coming back to my arm as I began to notice it painfully throb. I hastily made my way down our front steps while trying to ignore the pain.
I stopped at the last concrete step and crouched behind the bushes. Our house was located at the very corner of the street so there were three options that I had. The street was crowded with those decaying fucks, some devouring other people and some just shambling around. They seemed to be slowly making their way down the opposite end of the street towards what sounded like fucking cannons going off. I even saw what looked like a couple soldiers in the crowd.
The neighbor's dog kept barking and attracted a few people from the main group. Poor George must have been left behind. That or his owners were dead. The door had to have been locked because these fellows were clawing at the door, desperately trying to get in.
I could have gone North down the main road but that would take me over the freeway and straight into Broadway. By the sound of things, shit really hit the fan in Broadway. Not to mention it was on fire.
Going down that street would've also taken me downtown, where my dad worked. But I didn't know what building or exactly where. God, I hope he was safe.
I took my last choice and followed the street South.
