The Trip West: Roadblock (Part 2)

Posted on Tue Aug 27th, 2024 @ 4:47pm by Enrique Duarte Casal & Keola Malia
Edited on on Tue Aug 27th, 2024 @ 5:14pm

1,631 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Road Ahead
Location: Just Outside of Chicago (About 630 Miles Later)
Timeline: September 10, 2010 - 05:00 a.m.

It was hard to think that the Westfield Chicago Ridge Mall that sat just off the 20 was once full of the processed foods that Humans bought and ate with ease. A bustling place of life now reduced to a ransacked, hollowed out husk.

A trail of the bloodied dead led into the mall, Keo had went inside looking for some supplies. He'd started off with a small group but sadly there was a difference of opinion and they parted ways. Sometimes those in the fancy suits just loved the sound of their own voice and were very good at persuading people to follow them. Well, on their heads be it. Keo could survive fine on his own for the time being.

He'd hoofed it there on foot. Chicago had gone to Hell in a hand basket since the virus took hold and all Keola could think was that the only reason he was there was to track his serial killer. Now he was stuck in a part of the country he was quite happy to avoid... very much a lack of sunshine here. Also now given what had happened the roads were blocked by many cars, national guard vehicles and it made travel very difficult. Not to mention all the highways were jammed tighter than sardines in a can. People panicked, fled as fast as they could and didn't think everyone else would do the same thing. So, the whole country's travel network bottle-necked.

He moved outside the mall, his scavenging done.

Enrique Duarte Casal, victim of the twelve-hour layover in Chicago that never ended, made his way out of mall with a backpack slung over one shoulder and a baseball bat held in his right hand. Not the best weapon but they were slow and years of training had made him both agile and fast. Course, there were downsides to spending the majority of one's life in a ballet studio first in Espana (Spain) and later, in New York. He knew some English but it wasn't as good as it could be and neither was his knowledge of the Estados Unidos (United States) outside of New York. And so, a trip to the mall to get a Spanish-English dictionary and a good set of maps.

Now that Berlin and the Stattsballet was on hold, and por favor (please), not forever, he had to figure out his next steps. And who knew what those were going to be. He turned a corner and saw a large man coming out of another exit to the mall and froze, uncertain what to do next.

Keola still wore his detectives shield on his belt. Most of the time he didn't know why but it made him feel that if people saw him it would either illicit one of two reactions. One, they'd possibly trust him more, or two, they'd take a dislike to a figure of authority. There may even have been a third option of where people could think he had taken it off a police officer as a trophy but that would just be a little bit out there...

As Keola had exited the mall there was a small crunch underfoot. This made him immediately place his hand over the butt of his knife but not draw it as of yet. In front of him stood a young man, slim built man much smaller than him. A slight tan to his skin and a look of uncertainty and possibly fear. He also noticed the baseball bat the man held.

He removed his hand from his waist, from his weapon, and raised both hands with palm showing to show no aggression. "Easy friend," he said in a slightly gruff but friendly enough tone. He wasn't going to pick a fight, the baseball bat had more reach that his own weapon, albeit his arms probably would have made up for that difference.

Friend. Amigo (friend). Enrique nodded and visibly relaxed, nodding politely as he did so. Detective. Not a problem was good. He had no real place to put the baseball bat so he moves closer and leaned it up against the side of the building within easy reach in case the dead came by. "Friend," he repeated, "his English heavily accented. Four years at the Joffrey had done little to remove his accent. "No harm."

The accent sparked a little recognition in Keola. "Si (Yes)." he said and pointed at himself. "Amigo (friend).." Keola then placed down his backpack. "You hungry?" he asked making a gesture of eating food before rummaging in his bag and pulling out two bars of chocolate. "Es bueno (It is good)."

"Good, I am hungry," Enrique said as he stepped forward and accepted one of the bars. "Gracias (Thank you)." As he unwrapped a corner, he continue. "I'm Enrique. Studied four years in New York City but," he shook his head slightly, "Mi Ingles(English) is still no bueno (not good)."

Keola smirked, chuckled a little bit at the thought that a language barrier could be such an issue during the end of the civilisation. The accepting of the chocolate bar made Enrique come closer and Keola got a better look at him. You never knew who was an enemy out here, best to size everyone up to get a measure of them.

Enrique moved with something of a grace about him, Keola was heavy footed and he knew it, but this man moved with easy and an agility a smaller framed man would do. "Keola." he placed his hand on his chest to signify that was his name as his dog tags jostled as he moved. His shirt was open a few buttons so they could be seen clearly if eyes drawn to them. "Mi ingles(English) not so bueno (good) sometimes either man." Keo chuckled. He was semi-fluent in Spanish, he'd been taking classes as the Spanish speaking population in Miami was quite large. "Qué estabas estudiando," (what are you studying) he asked as he took a bite out of his chocolate bar.

"Estudie en una escuela de ballet de la ciudad de Nueva York y ahora me voy a Berlin. Tengo un trabajo en Stattsgart. Compania profesional de ballet. Bueno, yo tenia un trabajo pero no hay aviones que van a Alemania," Enrigue said between bites of sweet chocolate. "Asi que aqui estoy." (I studied in a ballet school in New York city and now, I am going to Berlin. I have a job but there are no planes that are going to Germany. ... so, here I am.)

"Sí, no creo que vuelvas a ir a Alemania, amigo. (Yeah, I don't think you'll go to Germany again, buddy)," Keola replied solemnly. It was sad that the world fell apart, no question about that. Keola had fit in a lot during his time in the marines and then becoming a detective but to see young people still have hopes that the world was going to be alright was sad to see."Viajas con alguien? Vas a alguna parte (Are you traveling with someone? Are you going somewhere?)," he asked, thinking maybe working as a two would be better than alone. After all, he was used to working in a team, and a strong team can overcome anything.

"No, estoy solo. Mi familia está en España, ojalá a salvo de todo esto (No, I am alone. My family is in Spain, hopefully, safe from all this)," Enrique said. Sadness surfaced in his expression as what Keola had said, about not being able to go to Germany hit home. Not Germany and not Spain either, he thought. "Me llamo Enrique. Enrique Duarte Casal. Y tu? (My name is Enrique. Enrique Duarte Casal. And you?)"

"Espero que también, niño (I hope so too, child)." Keola replied at the mention of the kids family. He wasn't going to burst his bubble, hope was just as easy to have as it was to lose. This virus definitely wouldn't have stayed local and was probably decimating the whole world's population. "Keola Malia." he replied with now his full name. "Yo era parte de un grupo aquí pero seguimos nuestro propio camino. No tengo familia aquí, están en Hawaii." (I was part of a group here but we went our own way. I don't have family here, they're in Hawaii). He too hoped they were safe, especially his younger sisters. "En este momento solo estoy tratando de mantenerme alejado de los mordedores (Right now I'm just trying to stay away from biters)."

"Lo mejor sería salir de la ciudad (It would be best to get out of the city)," Henry said. As if the thought of the walking horrors he'd seen would be enough to draw them close, his deep blue gaze searched the nearby surroundings. The moans helped. But sometimes, they didn't talk.

"Lo mejor es alejarse de las zonas muy pobladas, pero lamentablemente es allí donde se encuentran muchos suministros (Best to get away from high population areas, but sadly that's where a lot of supplies are.)." Keola replied with a small raise of his eyebrows as he nodded. "Luchaste contra muchos de los mordedores? (You fought many of the biters?).

"Nadie. soy rapido y cuidadoso (No one. I am fast and careful), Enrique said. "Oyes eso?" (Do you hear that?)

"Suena a motores... (Sounds like engines...)" Keola said looking up at the two men that appeared in the distance.

 

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