C11 Berliner Ring

They spent the last night in a little part of the woods just before the entrance onto the Berliner Ring.

Night passed, but Markus had not really slept. It had rather been a continuous snoozing and startling when a branch snapped or the child had moved nervously. His hand had been at the key at once, ready to start the engine. He really needed to piss, actually the entire night already, but had not been brave enough to leave the car and venture into the darkness.

Anyway, the first kilometers were managed and with a little luck it would continue like that. Marie had woken up several times, but after some reassuring words from him had fallen back to sleep. In the early morning hours he gave up his attempt to sleep entirely. So he climbed into the back and rummaged fresh stuff out of his duffel bag. It was not easy to get changed in the middle of all the stuff inside the Defender, but he was not in the mood to change outside just to get caught with his pants down by those insane persons. Marcus now wore some cargo pants and a black sweater, on top of that his good old M16 parka. Still, he felt unwashed and was certain that he stank to high heaven.

“Are you awake already, uncle Markus?”

The little voice sounded still sleepy. Marie had woken up, had sat herself up and was rubbing her eyes extensively. He secretly admired the child and the energy the girl summoned up.

“Sure I am awake already, little one. Would you like some chocolate cookies, hm?”

Without waiting for an answer he extended the hand with the bag of cookies to the back, which he had gotten out of the duffel bag. The girl reached inside the bag hungrily and fished a handful of the crispy sweets out of it for breakfast.

“What happens next? Where are we going to next? Besides I have to pee!”

Marcus ran his hand over his face, feeling the hard beard stubbles on the palm of his hand.

Okay, so we have to leave the car after all. Before he opened the doors, he wiped the foggy windows with his old shirt, looking around extensively. Then they both got out of the car and did what they had to do. Not more than five minutes later they were back inside the car with locked doors. Markus started the conversation again.

“Well Marie, if I only knew where we should go. I think I we‘ll drive south, where I live.”

But first we have to get some gas, he thought to himself, a rather simple task, which now could turn into a deadly test. But it had to be done because the fuel gauge was on reserve already and he did not feel like being on tour on foot in this situation. While Marie was still stuffing cookies into her mouth, he started the engine and drove off.

They reached the next gas station shortly after the entrance on to the Berliner Ring. The dark grey sky was filled with low clouds and it looked like rain and snow. It was the same shitty weather which had been going on for weeks now and was spoiling his mood. It had not been that easy to come so far because all the lanes of the autobahn had been clogged.

Apparently a lot of people had really tried to leave the capitol, seeking shelter in the country. Black smoke was hanging over Berlin. Markus had seen the columns of smoke as soon as they had driven out of the woods. Their dimensions were gigantic. Orange-red tongues of fire were licking into the sky greedily, often followed by a distant rolling thunder. Even here, this far out, it smelled of smoke and burned plastic. This spectacle alone made Markus aware of the range of this catastrophe. They had vacated the capitol, leaving it to the flames. Maybe they even had started the fire on purpose in order to avoid worse.

But those were only assumptions, no matter how hard he thought about it and in the end it did not matter. They had to go south in the hope that this safe zone really existed - a border, behind which everything would be normal again. It was the same kind of hope offered when Doctor Schneider had promised when he had been still a normal person.

Still normal. Not a monster.

He let the Defender roll slowly into the entrance of the rest stop, looking for everything that was moving, looking for life and danger both.

The site was standardized and with a good overview: in front the roofed petrol pumps and behind them the gas station building with the restrooms; to the side the huge parking lot, crammed with all sorts of vehicles. There were also vehicles in long rows at the gas pumps. Nearly all of them had their doors open. On the ground in between there were lifeless bodies in dried dark puddles, some were even still hanging halfway out of their vehicles.

Wind had come up, letting the commercial sign of the oil company rustle. Crows were sitting on the poles of the parking lot lights, scrutinizing the newcomers attentively. He stopped in front of the gas pumps. This time he took some puffs before he left the car. Groaning he turned to the child in the backseat.

“Marie, we’ll do it exactly like the last time. You do not open the doors, no matter what happens. You’ll hide under the backseat and you’ll pull the blanket over your head, if the weird people should show up. Do you understand?”

“Yes, but don’t stay too long, I’m afraid by myself.”

When Markus nodded, Marie took her unicorn into her arm and crawled under the seat.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. Scout’s honor.”

Markus had a bad feeling when he opened the door, stepping onto the wet asphalt. Right away the rotten smell of the dead bodies lying on the ground got into his nose, forcing his eyes to tear up. Disgusted, he covered his mouth and nose with his green-black scarf, gripped the handle of his mallet weapon and marched on.

First order of business was finding out if the gas pumps were still working. Carefully he took a gas nozzle out of its hanger and pushed the trigger. Nothing happened. The numbers on the gas pump were glowing, so power was not the problem. However the liter and euro displays were not on zero. The gas had probably not been paid and therefore the gas pump was blocked.

Systematically he was now examining all of the gas pumps, trying in the process to only get as close to the dead bodies as absolutely necessary. As best as possible he kept an eye on them with a discomforting feeling. Sure, he had seen dead bodies before. At funerals.

Those were different circumstances. In those, one was prepared and the bodies were fixed up. They wore suits and had make up on, making them look like they were sleeping. But this here was raw, real death. It expressed itself through sunken in faces, dull eyes or blackened tongues hanging out and pumped the fallen bodies up with its breath, letting them shit their pants shortly before they finally died.

Marcus noticed that some of the poor souls had gunshot wounds. Head shots to be exact. Not that he knew such wounds from real life but thanks to CSI he thought that he was able to identify them as such. As proof of his point, several shell casings were lying on the ground. It was hard to tell if those were military or came from scavengers who had been trying to get gas for free in this manner. Then he finally got lucky, the numbers of the second to last gas pump were on zero. Hastily he ran back to the Defender and drove up close beside the parked Mercedes, opened his tank cap and fully extracted the hose. The tank of the British off-road vehicle filled up liter by liter.

To be on the safe side he had put the handle on automatic and had climbed the ladder at the back of his vehicle, in order to keep an eye on everything. Beyond the parking lot was the actual service area located elevated on a small hill, which had probably been banked with excavated earth up when it had been built. On the ground in front of the entrance there were plastic containers and cans everywhere, between them more crows were looking for something edible.

There was also not the slightest indication that there were people inside the service area. It was unbelievable. There had to be survivors somewhere! Where were all the people? Where were the millions who used to live in Berlin?

The noisy clacking sound of the gas nozzle let him wince. The tank was full, finally they could move on. He did not even think for moment to go to the cashier and to leave a note for later, when everything would be okay again.

Instead he started up the Defender and let it roll slowly between the trucks across the parking lot. It was getting harder to believe that there would be a tomorrow.

This train has left the station, Markus thought to himself.

At the moment there was nothing that could contradict this thesis. Between the trucks he could then see the harsh reality in the form of the bulging dead bodies of truckers in rancid clothes which were busy pitching into the bodies of a family whose camper was wedged between the huge vehicles.

This was the new reality and Markus did not waste the tiniest thought on whether to stop and check if maybe somebody could still be saved. Looking straight ahead he simply kept on driving. Fleeing from the horrible sight which presented itself to him. Within a few days mankind had plunged to the bottom of the food chain. Becoming food for the hungry beasts.

If Markus and Sabine had not been brought to Platkow by the army they might have gotten it on one of those rest stops as well. Markus was not in the mood to carry on with those thoughts and saw to it that he moved on. He left the dead behind him, which followed his taillights with dull eyes and sagging, silent jaws.

It was dusk already when they reached the interchange from where they would drive south. They had not seen one human soul the last several hours, neither alive nor dead. To make matters worth it had started snowing shortly after they had left the service station and visibility was more than bad.

Markus had seen some unclear shapes on the lanes of the interchange, so he stopped the Defender in order to have a closer look at what was going on. It was wet and cold outside and an unpleasant, biting cold wind was blowing, which let him shiver right away. The trees were rustling and he just stood there for a while, listening to the wind because it was a normal and peaceful sound which emanated no threat.

Then he concentrated on the road ahead of them. Fifty meters ahead the road was blocked with heavy concrete blocks which could only be passed by zigzagging. Some armored Bundeswehr vehicles, mainly Dingos, were standing behind them. In between, there were high poles with strong floodlights, in order to provide enough light. But they had extinguished by now and everything else looked lonely and abandoned. A lot of clothes were lying in front of the barriers, along with an insanely large pile of shoes.

Markus had always asked himself why people tented to lose their shoes when in panic. He had never lost a shoe in his life. But maybe he had not experienced that kind of panic before. There was a temporary exit between the lanes where the triangle was forming. Containers marked with big red crosses and some more military vehicles, which he did not recognize, were standing in the depressed area.

A little further back was the burnt out wreck of a helicopter. The fire had only left the black metal skeleton behind and had burnt the ground on which it stood black as well. However, he saw the weirdest looking shape to the right directly beside the exit.

The soldiers had fenced off a square shaped area the size of half a soccer field with high wire-netting fences topped with NATO wire. At least three quarters of the area was covered with troop tents. Every time the wind was blowing through the tents, it flapped the doors open, allowing him to look inside for a brief moment. Nothing was moving inside, as far as one could tell during this brief moment, but a huge amount of cots and chaos was visible.

Markus came to a conclusion. The containers looked sturdy and in one piece. He desperately needed to rest if he wanted to manage the remaining distance. The containers seemed to be safe enough to spend the night inside of them. But first he needed to check the interior conditions of those things.

He climbed down from the Defender with stiff legs, letting the car roll slowly into the depression. He stopped close to the paramedic containers and pulled the ignition key. He quickly gave Marie the same instructions as last time, took off his jacket and reached for the battle mace.

The containers and nearby area were searched quickly. Only inside a fenced in area there were some decomposing bodies that stunk sordidly and their sight alone scared him but they were dismembered so much that they did not pose any threat anymore. Nothing was moving so he turned towards the containers.

Not wasting any time, he simply kicked them open after he had pushed down the handle. This made more sense than wasting any time sneaking up to the containers if there should be sick or resurrected monsters hiding in them. It resulted in the same thing one way or the other.

Inside the container there was chaos. Comparable to Platkow, the interior was separated by dividing walls, stretchers and medical equipment were located between them. Apparently, they had abandoned this base hastily because papers and equipment were scattered everywhere on the floor. Beds were turned over and dividing walls had been shifted. Some of them were even smeared with blood. There was a sealed iron door at the back wall. Markus assumed that it was the passage to the next container. To the left of the passage door there was a large desk with a huge pile of patient files on top of it, which had been filled out hastily.

Above it there was a whiteboard attached to the wall. Someone had ripped off the notes carelessly and had written a last message with a red marker in rushed handwriting:

“Abandoning the street blockade. Situation is hopeless. All medications are failing. Infected are highly contagious. WARNING, they get up again. Next meeting point Airport Halle/Leipzig. Avoid big cities under all circumstances! Good luck!!!”

Those words were not emanating confidence, that much was certain. Presumably, his way would lead him past the mentioned airport. The Bundeswehr and probably the entire population were therefore on the run.

A tiny, folded up letter was stuck under the message on the wall. Markus had almost missed it. He had no clue why he had seen it at all. Curious, he moved closer and removed the note from the wall. A key fell out as he unfolded it and it fell to the floor. The jingling sound made him freeze and immediately his tense senses were listening for suspicious sounds. But nothing happened, so he paid attention to the piece of paper in his hands again. The handwriting was identical to the red words above the desk but this time it was written hastily with a dull pencil.

“Survivors in the back room!”

Markus frowned, looking automatically at the door beside the desk. He calculated backwards. If there were really healthy humans behind the door, he asked himself, why they had not taken them with them? That made no sense at all. On top of that, how long had they been in there already? Since the outbreak or merely since yesterday?

Tired and with cracking knees he picked the key up but he actually was in no mood for another confrontation because everything could be lurking behind the door. Or nothing at all. But on the other hand there was the hope for company and for not being by himself anymore.

There was strength in numbers, and it would be nice to speak with another adult person or to take turns driving.

Deep in thought he sank onto the office chair, turning the key between his fingers indecisively. He only knew that it got dark outside and that he had to bring the child inside. And that he needed sleep himself. That was more important to him now than anything that was behind the wall waiting to be released.

And besides that his prioritizing bought him some time in order to postpone the decision he had to make at some point. Some of the beds were pushed together quickly. He placed some of the dividing walls in a manner that they would not be easily detected in the event of an attack because the walls did not really provide any real protection. But in case of an emergency they could buy them some precious seconds. After he had collected some blankets he brought in Marie, already asleep, and laid her onto one of the beds before covering her carefully. Finally, he took off her shoes. Marie should have it as comfortable as possible.

The outside door could be locked from the inside without any problems because the lock was still functional, but to be on the safe side he placed two beds in front of it. The windows had grates on the outside as well, so there was no danger to be expected from there. He shut the blinds and walked back to the desk in order to sit on the chair, exhausted. Habit forced him to check but there was still no message on his mobile. So he started to type another message with the tiny keys.

>> Please get in touch so that I know that you are okay. Berlin is burning. Maybe I’ll manage to get to you by tomorrow. I love you. M.<<

Sleepy, he watched the display get darker and finally go out completely. When it peeped twice in short intervals directly beside his ear he startled like being hit by lightning and nearly fell backwards with the chair.

Damn it, he had actually fallen asleep!

Without orientation he looked around in the dim light of the display, but it did not manage to cast the darkness from the room. Markus got up and staggered, looked for support and found the edge of the desk. Then the light went off again already and everything was swallowed by the darkness again.

His heartbeat got faster und pressed against his chest from the inside, wanted to have some space because with the darkness came the images. And with the images the fear. He felt like he was sitting in the middle of hungry monsters that were only waiting for him to turn on the light. Of course no monsters were lurking here but he still needed to be sure. That was what his head demanded.

Agitated he felt around the tabletop, looking for the tiny device and finally found it. Now he only had to press the little button on the right side of the casing. While he was still thinking about it, the display came to life by itself and lit up the room with a weak light.

They were still by themselves inside the container and it was so silent that he could hear the sleeping child’s regular breathing. It took him a good while before he realized the beeps meant that he had received a message.

His heart jumped inside his chest.

>> Please come home fast!! I’m so alone. I fear for your safety. Here, everything seems secure. Soldiers are walking the streets. Curfew. Often hear gunshots and see flares in the night sky. It’s supposed to be really bad in the north. I need to go out soon because I need to get food and water, somehow. I love you. A.<<

Then it went dark again. Annette was still alive and she was healthy. He pressed the button again, but the display stayed dark. The damn battery was empty again. Nonetheless, he held the tiny device in his hands like a precious treasure and closed his eyes, relieved.

She was alive, waiting for him at home. Tomorrow he would be able to take her into his arms and everything would be just fine.