"You tried to kill Milo!" Elise's voice had become a shrill whip. She gathered the bundle of fluff that was Milo - who had hardly noticed the BB barely missing his head and imbedding itself into one of the shelves - and glared accusingly at Holden.
Holden, a tall thin man with dark hair an blue eyes, who looked to be about the same age as her and Meagan lowered his BB gun. "I'm sorry! I thought it was a giraffe!"
"Are you fucking blind!?!"
"You know what, it's been a pretty fucking crazy day! Their colouring's similar, I just reacted!" He looked towards Steve for help, but Steve shrugged in a manner that said: "I don't really know her - deal with this yourself." Elise looked at Meagan, also wanting someone to back her up, but Meagan was just gazing up at Steve with adoration, so Elise rolled her eyes and went back to glaring at Holden.
"You should be more careful with that thing."
"Why did you even bring your cat? Don't you know it's the apocalypse?"
"He followed me - and he's already taken out more of those damn giraffes today than you ever will with your crappy shot."
"Hey! My crappy shot saved your cat's life!"
Milo had begun to purr rather loudly and started licking Elise's face, which made arguing considerably difficult, so Elise decided to let the matter rest and walk away to pick a gun.
Holden still continued to mutter to himself as she walked away: "Like I ever fired a gun before - I'm a god damned artist."
Elise put Milo down and started stuffing her pockets full of ammo. The first gun she picked up was an uzi replica, but Meagan tsked behind her.
"Don't grab anything automatic, you need to conserve your ammo. Semi-automatic is the best," Meagan said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, looking up at Steve with a smile and Elise realized Meagan was just trying to show off all her insane survival knowledge.
Elise couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as she put the uzi down and watched Steve and Meagan laughing together. After all the insanity they had just gone through to find each other, Meagan was completely ignoring her best friend for some guy.
And who was this Steve guy anyway? Meagan always went on and on about them, but how come they didn't just date? Was Meagan too nervous to ask? Was Steve too much of a jerk to notice her? Were they both just really socially awkward? Actually, that last theory sounded pretty sound.
Elise found a loaded Tommy gun replica and feeling a slight twinge of nostalgia for WWII movies - and never one to follow rules very well - she threw it in the bag Meagan had given her, then grabbed a hand gun to appease Meagan's insistence they only bring semi-automatics. Elise was pretty sure there would come a time when a mob of giraffes would be on them and a Tommy gun would come in pretty handy - even if it was only firing pellets.
Meagan and Steve were discussing their game plan and Elise noticed Milo had gone over to Holden who was petting him. "Traitor," she thought to herself.
"We have to go north," Meagan was still speaking in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Why?" Elise was beginning to feel annoyed and couldn't help but question her logic.
"Because giraffes are from Africa. The cold will kill them. So long as we survive the winter, we'll survive the apocalypse."
"... But it's August."
"Yes, well, winter will come eventually."
"And what do we do until then? Do you have any idea how hard it is to survive in the wild? Not to mention even if we did make it until winter we have no winter camping gear. You know, my sister and I-" Elise felt her stomach twist. "OH MY GOD!!! KRISTA!!!"
She had been so concerned with her own survival she had completely forgot to call her little sister. She had no idea if Krista was alive or dead, but she had to find out. She fished her phone of out her pocket, spilling BBs on the floor that Milo immediately started playing with and dialed her sister's number.
It rang one, twice, three times... Every time it rang Elise got closer and closer to bursting out in tears. Then, finally, miraculously, someone picked up and she heard the scared voice of a young woman answer.
"Hello?"
"Krista! Are you all right? Where are you? Who are you with? Do you have a weapon? You haven't been bitten, have you?"
"Elise? Calm down, I'm fine," she sounded like she was crying. "I'm at work, we're okay. We stopped the elevators and everyone up here is fine."
"Wait... you're still at the Tower?" Krista worked at the CN Tower. When she said she was upstairs she didn't mean on the second floor - she meant on the observation deck over 300 metres in the air. "Jesus Christ..."
"Is she okay?" Meagan asked, concerned that I suddenly look worried.
"Krista, it's okay. I have guns."
"You have guns?"
"Well, they're guns in principle. Look! I'm coming to get you." I hung up, turning it back off to conserve the battery and looked at Meagan. "We have to rescue Krista. She's in the CN Tower."
"Um..." Meagan started.
"Going downtown is not a good idea," Steve shook his head, but he wasn't saying no.
"I like the plan where we go north - away from the things trying to eat us," Holden walked over to them.
"No one invited you," Elise glared.
"Oh yeah, because I really want an invitation to the suicide run," but Holden still looked slightly disappointed.
"I can't leave Krista. She's all the family I have. None of you have to come with me, but that's where I'm going. That being said..." she looked back at Meagan, pleading with her eyes, "I don't suppose you wanna help me rescue my little sister and a bunch of tourists trapped in the Tower?"
18 August, 2011
17 August, 2011
Chapter 9
“THIS is Steve?” Elise whispered, slightly shocked. “Well I know this guy, he hands out fliers for the Liberals outside my subway station! That’s what you do, you’re a flier deliveryman?”
Steve locked the door and slowly looked over his shoulder. “Yes, I deliver fliers. Did you ever look at who was ON the flier?”
“Steve’s trying to run for Liberal MP,” Meagan said proudly.
“Ohhhhhhh right, THAT’S where I know you. Sorry man. But hey, thanks for rescuing us!”
“Well you’re not rescued yet. Can you climb? And why did you bring your luggage...?”
Elise turned to Meagan. “He talks too fast.”
Meagan ignored her and whispered, “It’s not my hairdryer! It’s a GOOD bag; it has enough food and water for us to survive a month, weapons, batteries, a radio, blankets, Scrabble...”
“Scrabble?” the other two echoed.
“You’ll thank me when you’re trying to remember whether or not there are three E’s in frightened instead of picturing Elise with a snowman army.”
“Right...” Steve said, “Anyway, can you climb?”
The girls nodded, and Steve continued with his plan while ushering them down a long series of corridors. He stopped at a massive set of double doors and brought his story of escaping the giraffes to a close. “So since I was working late, that’s why I was here when the attacks happened, but nobody else was.”
“And where’d you get that awesome crossbow?” Elise said. It struck her how easily she asked the question now that her world had seemingly changed forever, as if she were asking “Hey where’d you get those shoes?”
“I’ll show you. The office is...conveniently located.”
He parted the doors like Moses, and to the girls he might as well have been. Because behind the doors, as far as the eye could see, were guns.
“What IS this place?” Meagan said. Her eyes were practically out of their sockets. “This CAN’T be legal here...”
Steve laughed. “No no these aren’t real guns. They’re pellet guns, mostly for hunting small game. But the convention center is having an Outdoor Sports and Hunting Expo next week and they’ve been storing the stuff here, since we just moved in we had a lot of empty space.”
“I’m gonna need a bigger bag.”
Elise rushed forward like a kid from Scarborough at a Dollerama. She ran her fingertips over the large guns, and even though they were just elaborate BB guns their pellets packed enough of a punch to kill a tiny giraffe. She had seen firsthand how week their necks were, but these guns eliminated the necessity for complete accuracy. “This is better than Christmas...” she breathed.
“Yeah well, get shopping quickly. We have to keep moving. From what I’ve seen those little suckers find a way in, and they don’t stop until everybody is dead. So we’ll grab what we can carry from here and get the hell out. But pack light, because the only way out is over an eight foot tall fence.”
“Agreed,” Elise said. She hurried over to the baggage section to find a suitable backpack – and a travel water bottle for Milo.
Meagan nudged Steve. “So I couldn’t help but notice that window over there looks directly out to the ally you found us in. Did you...know it was me...when you came out there?”
“No.”
“Oh...”
Steve laughed and nudged her back. “Of course I knew it was you. Who else is that small but can still lift their arms over their head?”
“Hey! I resent—“
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JESUS H CHRIST!”
Meagan snapped her head up at the blood-curdling scream that came from the baggage section. “Oh my God, Elise!”
As she ran forward, Steve slipped his hands in his pockets. “Well I guess she’s met Holden.”
Steve locked the door and slowly looked over his shoulder. “Yes, I deliver fliers. Did you ever look at who was ON the flier?”
“Steve’s trying to run for Liberal MP,” Meagan said proudly.
“Ohhhhhhh right, THAT’S where I know you. Sorry man. But hey, thanks for rescuing us!”
“Well you’re not rescued yet. Can you climb? And why did you bring your luggage...?”
Elise turned to Meagan. “He talks too fast.”
Meagan ignored her and whispered, “It’s not my hairdryer! It’s a GOOD bag; it has enough food and water for us to survive a month, weapons, batteries, a radio, blankets, Scrabble...”
“Scrabble?” the other two echoed.
“You’ll thank me when you’re trying to remember whether or not there are three E’s in frightened instead of picturing Elise with a snowman army.”
“Right...” Steve said, “Anyway, can you climb?”
The girls nodded, and Steve continued with his plan while ushering them down a long series of corridors. He stopped at a massive set of double doors and brought his story of escaping the giraffes to a close. “So since I was working late, that’s why I was here when the attacks happened, but nobody else was.”
“And where’d you get that awesome crossbow?” Elise said. It struck her how easily she asked the question now that her world had seemingly changed forever, as if she were asking “Hey where’d you get those shoes?”
“I’ll show you. The office is...conveniently located.”
He parted the doors like Moses, and to the girls he might as well have been. Because behind the doors, as far as the eye could see, were guns.
“What IS this place?” Meagan said. Her eyes were practically out of their sockets. “This CAN’T be legal here...”
Steve laughed. “No no these aren’t real guns. They’re pellet guns, mostly for hunting small game. But the convention center is having an Outdoor Sports and Hunting Expo next week and they’ve been storing the stuff here, since we just moved in we had a lot of empty space.”
“I’m gonna need a bigger bag.”
Elise rushed forward like a kid from Scarborough at a Dollerama. She ran her fingertips over the large guns, and even though they were just elaborate BB guns their pellets packed enough of a punch to kill a tiny giraffe. She had seen firsthand how week their necks were, but these guns eliminated the necessity for complete accuracy. “This is better than Christmas...” she breathed.
“Yeah well, get shopping quickly. We have to keep moving. From what I’ve seen those little suckers find a way in, and they don’t stop until everybody is dead. So we’ll grab what we can carry from here and get the hell out. But pack light, because the only way out is over an eight foot tall fence.”
“Agreed,” Elise said. She hurried over to the baggage section to find a suitable backpack – and a travel water bottle for Milo.
Meagan nudged Steve. “So I couldn’t help but notice that window over there looks directly out to the ally you found us in. Did you...know it was me...when you came out there?”
“No.”
“Oh...”
Steve laughed and nudged her back. “Of course I knew it was you. Who else is that small but can still lift their arms over their head?”
“Hey! I resent—“
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JESUS H CHRIST!”
Meagan snapped her head up at the blood-curdling scream that came from the baggage section. “Oh my God, Elise!”
As she ran forward, Steve slipped his hands in his pockets. “Well I guess she’s met Holden.”
15 August, 2011
Chapter 8
As Elise ran down Tansley Avenue with Milo by her side she briefly tried to figure out how she had gotten herself into a situation where she was being chased through the suburbs by hundreds of lap giraffes. She realized it was because the alarm in her office had gone haywire, otherwise she still would have been downtown when the outbreak reached its zenith - and when she thought about why the alarm went haywire she remembered the construction workers holding the frayed wires.
Had the giraffes eaten through the wires? She almost felt like there was something important in that knowledge but she was too focused on running away and not nearly paranoid enough to figure it out.
She was running out of road to run down and the giraffes were only gaining on her. She realized she'd have to stand and fight and wait for Meagan to get there, and as she stopped and turned around she took one look at the orange horde before her and knew this was the end. Still, she raised her golf club and swung at the first giraffe to attack.
The next one, as though it had learned from the mistake of the first giraffe, leaped up at Elise. Their jumping was formidable, but Milo could jump just as high and he intercepted the giraffe midair, talking it back to the ground in a death roll as Elise started swinging wildly at the giraffes.
Too soon the golf club gave in. She missed a giraffe, hitting the pavement and it bent into nearly a 90 degree angle. In a last effort to hold the giraffes at bay she threw the club into the mass, but the giraffes only gracefully leapt over it.
In another second she would have been dead, but suddenly a car tore through the giraffes and came to a stop in front of Elise. A petite blonde was behind the wheel and Elise almost burst into tears as she recognized the driver as Meagan. She opened the back door and dove in, Milo finishing one last kill and jumping after her. Elise slammed the door and Meagan smiled back at her.
"Now who's crazy for keeping a GOOD bag?"
"Now is not the time for I told you so's!"
"Fine, so long as we're clear that I told you so!"
Elise crawled into the front seat. "Are you gonna drive away, or what?"
Meagan looked at the dashboard with a frown on her face. "Hm..."
"What?" Elise felt worried.
"I sped here. All the way here. I barely slowed down to take corners."
"So what?"
"Speeding's not so good on the gas mileage."
"Oh my god... Are we out of gas???"
The giraffes were starting to jump on the car, stomping on the windshield with their miniature hoofs.
"There's the jerrycan in the trunk. We just have to fold down the back seat, grab it..." We both turned to look out the window.
There was no way one of us could go out there to refill the gas tank without being eaten alive.
"This isn't a problem," Meagan was muttering to herself, going over the list of all her supplies in her head. There had to be something they could use to distract the giraffes long enough to fill the gas tank-
Suddenly a giraffe wailed in pain as a large wooden bolt ripped through its stomach and threw it off the car. Meagan instantly recognized it as a bolt from a crossbow, though from the looks of it a medieval style crossbow.
"Look!" Meagan pointed towards the direction the shot had come from. A man was standing in an alley, loading another bolt as the giraffes turned their attention to him and began jumping off the car to go after him.
He made some hand gestures to them that Elise didn't understand, but Meagan thought might mean: "I'll be right back."
They could only stare on in silence as the man turned to run and all the giraffes disappeared after him.
"Now!" Meagan hissed and they both crawled into the back of the car and folded down the back seats to get at Meagan's things. It was packed full of supplies and bags and boxes and before they could get a hold of the jerrycan the door to the car suddenly opened and a tall dark haired man stuck his head in.
Meagan's eyes seemed to light up, but before she could say anything he held a finger up to his mouth. Meagan nodded and handed a particularly heavy bag to Elise, grabbed one herself and the two girls and one feline followed the man across the street. He took them around an apartment building to a back door that he carefully opened, keeping his a look out for giraffes.
When they were finally inside, the door safely shut and locked, Meagan started smiling.
"Steve," she finally whispered.
Had the giraffes eaten through the wires? She almost felt like there was something important in that knowledge but she was too focused on running away and not nearly paranoid enough to figure it out.
She was running out of road to run down and the giraffes were only gaining on her. She realized she'd have to stand and fight and wait for Meagan to get there, and as she stopped and turned around she took one look at the orange horde before her and knew this was the end. Still, she raised her golf club and swung at the first giraffe to attack.
The next one, as though it had learned from the mistake of the first giraffe, leaped up at Elise. Their jumping was formidable, but Milo could jump just as high and he intercepted the giraffe midair, talking it back to the ground in a death roll as Elise started swinging wildly at the giraffes.
Too soon the golf club gave in. She missed a giraffe, hitting the pavement and it bent into nearly a 90 degree angle. In a last effort to hold the giraffes at bay she threw the club into the mass, but the giraffes only gracefully leapt over it.
In another second she would have been dead, but suddenly a car tore through the giraffes and came to a stop in front of Elise. A petite blonde was behind the wheel and Elise almost burst into tears as she recognized the driver as Meagan. She opened the back door and dove in, Milo finishing one last kill and jumping after her. Elise slammed the door and Meagan smiled back at her.
"Now who's crazy for keeping a GOOD bag?"
"Now is not the time for I told you so's!"
"Fine, so long as we're clear that I told you so!"
Elise crawled into the front seat. "Are you gonna drive away, or what?"
Meagan looked at the dashboard with a frown on her face. "Hm..."
"What?" Elise felt worried.
"I sped here. All the way here. I barely slowed down to take corners."
"So what?"
"Speeding's not so good on the gas mileage."
"Oh my god... Are we out of gas???"
The giraffes were starting to jump on the car, stomping on the windshield with their miniature hoofs.
"There's the jerrycan in the trunk. We just have to fold down the back seat, grab it..." We both turned to look out the window.
There was no way one of us could go out there to refill the gas tank without being eaten alive.
"This isn't a problem," Meagan was muttering to herself, going over the list of all her supplies in her head. There had to be something they could use to distract the giraffes long enough to fill the gas tank-
Suddenly a giraffe wailed in pain as a large wooden bolt ripped through its stomach and threw it off the car. Meagan instantly recognized it as a bolt from a crossbow, though from the looks of it a medieval style crossbow.
"Look!" Meagan pointed towards the direction the shot had come from. A man was standing in an alley, loading another bolt as the giraffes turned their attention to him and began jumping off the car to go after him.
He made some hand gestures to them that Elise didn't understand, but Meagan thought might mean: "I'll be right back."
They could only stare on in silence as the man turned to run and all the giraffes disappeared after him.
"Now!" Meagan hissed and they both crawled into the back of the car and folded down the back seats to get at Meagan's things. It was packed full of supplies and bags and boxes and before they could get a hold of the jerrycan the door to the car suddenly opened and a tall dark haired man stuck his head in.
Meagan's eyes seemed to light up, but before she could say anything he held a finger up to his mouth. Meagan nodded and handed a particularly heavy bag to Elise, grabbed one herself and the two girls and one feline followed the man across the street. He took them around an apartment building to a back door that he carefully opened, keeping his a look out for giraffes.
When they were finally inside, the door safely shut and locked, Meagan started smiling.
"Steve," she finally whispered.
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