Chapter 16: Severity of the Situation (5)

Luke found the radio transmitter in the garage. It was really old and oversized since it was over forty years old, but it still worked. Somehow, Luke still remembered how to make that work… probably because before puberty, he was pretty close to his dad, then he will become kind of a rebellious teen. After that, it seemed that everything he did was nag him.

“You seem pretty used to such a relic,” Amanda’s father said.

“It is old, but it isn’t that complicated… Let’s see, what was the frequency again?” Luke frowned.

Luke totally forgot the frequency his father told him to use, so he had to try several of them. Eventually, he found an answer.

“Luke? Is that you Luke?” A Male voice echoed from the radio.

“That voice… Billy?” Luke frowned while smiling a little.

“Hey, how many times do I have to say… it is uncle Billy, you little rascal,” Billy said.

Billy was one of the oldest friends Luke’s father had. They enlisted in the same year and worked together for over twenty years. They were so close that Billy insisted on making Luke call him uncle, but Luke liked to mess with him.

“It seems you are all right, thank God,” Billy said. “You are all right, right?”

“Yes, I am, but I am worried about my parents,” Luke said. “They said that they would travel around Europe for a few weeks.”

“Don’t worry, I talked with your dad two hours ago, your mom is also fine,” Billy said. “I can’t give you details, but they are safe.”

“I see…” Luke said and then sighed in relief. “Still, without details I can’t go and meet them.”

“You can’t meet them for many reasons,” Billy said. “All the airports are closed and more than half of them have been destroyed by zombies. The other half is surrounded by them. Travel by sea is perhaps even more dangerous since we don’t know how the virus can propagate yet. Even if it isn’t that contagious, flying monsters might make it spread inside ships.”

“So…” Luke said.

“For the time being, you will have to barricade yourself,” Billy said. “Is someone with you?”

“More or less,” Luke said while looking at Amanda’s family.

“More or less? Are the neighbors with you?” Billy asked. “You don’t have to be so ambiguous just because their daughter said that you aren’t her type.”

“What… how did you…” Luke said, visibly surprised, and then he looked at Amanda.

“Well… your parents asked…” Amanda looked away.

“Why would they ask something so specific?” Luke asked.

“Since we study in the same college and you don’t talk about it too much with your parents, they asked me about your student’s life,” Amanda explained. “The only thing I knew about you was that… I hesitated, but your father noticed it seemed interesting, so he convinced me.”

“That old man… always prying on things that are none of his business,” Luke clenched his fist in annoyance.

“It seems that you have an interesting family, Luke,” Rina said.

“Don’t give up, Luke,” Billy said. “This is the perfect change to show your good side.”

“I would rather let myself be eaten by the zombies outside than embarrass myself again,” Luke said. “Let’s stop talking about nonsense…”

“Right… as I told you, you will have to barricade yourself,” Billy said. “The zombies surrounded the airport of Miami and all the exits of the city had been blocked by numerous accidents and zombies. We can’t help from the land thanks to that and we can’t help from the sky because the number of flying monsters is increasing by the minute.”

When they heard that, Amanda and her parents let out a long sigh. Barricades were useless against fire and the fat zombies. It was like asking to be buried alive.

“Did you receive orders to pass that message?” Luke asked. “If you know what is going on right now, you would know that it is a stupid thing to do.”

“Yes,” Billy said. “I am Sorry, but that is the only thing you can do… the higher ups already know how this whole situation is changing the world and the human, so they are spreading this message to all the places they can. I can’t tell you to do anything else…”

Billy was probably being monitored since he knew that it was a bad idea but was saying it anyway. Still, Luke realized by listening to his words that the government wasn’t only fearing the monsters… they were also fearing the humans who were obtaining power by fighting. As usual, politicians are always there when we need them to make things even more complicated. Nevertheless, that wasn’t Luke’s problem. He will find a way to meet with his parents in one way or the other.

“What are you going to do?” Luke asked.

“I can’t give you the details, but our main force is preparing to confront the vast concentration of zombies surrounding Miami,” Billy replied. “Since many other places are also dealing with tough situations, we can’t focus here, but in a few day, we should be able to open a path to let the survivors escape the city.”

Luke once again understood another hidden message among Billy’s words, the main force was going to do that, which means that another group of soldiers was going to do something else, and he had no idea what it was. That was truly troubling…

“I can’t contact you all the time, but I should be available around noon every day,” Billy said. “I might be able to pass you some important information, so always come home around this time.”

“It is easy for you to say that… I can’t carry all this junk and there are plenty of enemies out there capable of demolishing the house,” Luke said.

“Well, if you survived until now, I am sure you won’t go down so easily,” Billy said. “Hang in there, Luke. I will find a way to help you.”

“…Got it,” Luke said after a few moments of silence.