Section: Quantum

THE DAY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FELL

by Ronel Francis Flaminia

February 26, 2020. It was a normal day for me, I guess. I woke up from a 2-hour sleep,
had some coffee, took a shower, and took off before 7:30. I drove my Ford up to the highway,
only to be met with traffic so worse that I think a snail would even dry up before the last car
could ever get away from here. I glanced at my side mirror and saw more cars queueing up
behind mine. Welp, I guess it will be another bad day for me.

I arrived at work, forty-five minutes late. Had a good yelling from my boss, saying that I
was lazy this, and that, but I didn’t mind. I was used to that kind of stuff.

It wasn’t long when noon break came. I came to the lobby to grab some stuff when I
noticed Morgan. He seemed kinda sickly green. He was leaning against the wall beside the door
to the loo so I approached him, even though a weird feeling of uneasiness flooded into my
system.

“You okay, mate?” I asked as I reached him.

He groaned. “I dunno. I’ve been feeling kind of nauseous since this morning.” He said.

I helped him sit down on a nearby bench.

“What did you do? Been drinking?” I asked.

He nodded, his skin slowly turning pale green.

“Let me guess, you have had too much Mardi Gras. Why don’t you call in sick and rest
back home?” I suggested.

“Seems like a good idea to me.” He grunted as he stood up.

I noticed a tangle of swollen veins on a part of his neck. I was about to ask him but he
said he’d take a leak, so I ended up keeping my mouth shut. Maybe he just had some bad case
of mumps or something.

I glanced at the wall clock, which showed that I had only 5 minutes of lunch break. Then,
my eyes fell on the television. I noticed that the others were also transfixed at the screen.

“Reported cases of aggression and violent attacks have been steadily increasing these
past few hours after the annual celebration of the Mardi Gras. Casualties have been steadily
increasing, with injuries proportionally increasing in severity. WPD is advising the citizens to be
calm and to minimize their exposure to the streets while the riots remain uncontained.” said the
reporter.

“So much for Mardi Gras.” one of my co-workers mumbled.

 I looked up again and saw footages of people attacking each other viciously. It was as if
they have become animalistic. However, I did not mind. I took a deep sigh and returned to my
workspace before I could receive another scolding.

I remained busy for the rest of the day, only taking breaks to take a leak, not minding
Morgan’s retching on the other cubicle, nor the fact that he had been retching for the whole
afternoon. I found myself driving on the highway again, however, it was more trafficked than I
expected. Usually, it is less trafficked during the evening. But seems like it’s a different case
tonight.

Looks like this will take a while, I said to myself as I pulled the passenger seat back to
reveal a container I filled with food. I had this made for my car with the help of a friend because I
have been quite a gluttonous person. I’ve eaten two bags of chips when I noticed people getting
out of their cars. Curiosity peaking, I rolled my window down and stuck my head. I saw a balding
man glancing back as he walked towards my direction.

“Hey! Um, excuse me!” I called out.

He stopped and glanced at me.

“Hey, uh, what’s happening?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I seriously don’t know. They say there’s some sort of checkpoint but, I
don’t know. I guess we’d just stay in our car, just in case.” He said before he took off.

I guess he has a point. Thirty minutes passed and the number of potato chip bags that
were torn open increased. I lowered my window and saw the distant silhouette of the other side
of the city. City lights contrasted heavily with the darkened sky. Neon signs were visible from the
highway bridge, and also–

Fire?

I felt intrigued by the weird tinge of orange on one of the buildings What the hell
happened?, I said to myself.

Three fire rescue choppers flew overhead, as well as a chopper from a news company.
From where I sat, I saw the building explode, making several oohs and gasps from the other
motorists.

Looks like another bad day for someone, eh, I said to myself before raising the window.

I leaned back against my seat and tried to relax, trying to keep that evitable road rage
out of the way. However I cannot help notice why there are so many people running past cars.
Did something came up with the cars in the front of the queue? I sighed wearily. I pushed my
car door open and tried to step out, only to be pushed back by a passerby.

“Goddammit.” I cursed under my breath as I tried to get up.

I manage to get out of my car. Craning, I tried my best to take a look at the scene. I just
see people running. I did notice that they have mixed expressions in their faces. Some ran with
fright in their faces, some had disgust, and some had desperation.
 “What’s up with them?” I turned to see the same balding man standing beside his car.

I shrugged.

“I don’t know. This might be some marathon or something.” I chuckled.

“They can’t be too dumb to leave their cars like that.” I saw his expression darken.
“C’mere.” He motioned me to the back of his car.

Curiously, I followed him. People continued to rush past me, some even stumbling or
bumping at me as they went. I approached the man and was shocked to see hunting rifles in his
trunk.

“Woah.” I said, backing away.

He took a .22 Remington Browning BLR and spoke.

“I’ve seen the news. That wasn’t just a riot or an act of severe violence.” he cocked the
rifle. “I’ve played the games since I was young. I’ve seen the movies. Now you better take this
gun–“ he handed me the rifle and a bandoleer with mag pouches. “–and come with me, boy.” he
added, taking another Browning rifle with him before closing his trunk.

I looked up and saw my nightmare come true. They were running. I’m not exactly sure
what they were, but they were not human anymore. They’re not even alive. I looked through the
scope and saw dead faces filled with aggression, hunger, and madness. Lips were blackened,
some were ripped, exposing bloodied teeth. Their mouths were agape as they ran, as if they
were catching food from the air. Their eyes were dead–ashen and glossy, to be more accurate.
Their arms flapped wildly as they ran, various scrapes and cuts decorating their pale skin.

“LOOK OUT!” I heard the man yell.

I looked up from the scope and saw a gaping mouth coming at me. My world froze for
second, just before the mouth disappeared into an explosion of flesh. The headless body fell
with a thump at my feet, scattering bits of flesh and blood into my pants and shoes.

“Welp, I think I’m gonna be sick.” I said, looking at the corpse.

“Idiot, run!” the man said, pulling me by the collar.

I gathered myself and ran with him, the bandoleer bobbing as I ran. The balding man
paused and fired once before catching up with me.

“Where should we go?” I panted, the weight of the bandoleer slowing me down.

“Back to the city. We better–“

An earth-shattering explosion followed. Three fighter jets zoomed overhead, dropping

bombs onto the bridge. The bridge exploded with the cars and the infected. I was panting as I
looked at the burning bridge in awe.

However, a distinct sound of cracking concrete quickly removed the relief I felt.
 “Oh shit! Run!” I said to the balding man, tapping his stomach as I backed away from the
pursuing cracks. With all our might, we outran the cracking of the bridge and managed to get to
safety as the bridge collapsed, with a couple hundred corpses falling into the water below along
with scraps of burning metal that were once cars.

The city became slightly chaotic. The sudden turn of events became traumatizing,
causing panic amongst civilians. The man and I managed to sneak into the city as the people
from the bridge that had been held up by the barricade began to become violent towards the
authorities.

“That’s just the beginning.” the man said as we approached a closed convenience store.
“We go in through the back.” he said.

We found our way into the store. He double-checked the locks in his store just as he had
stepped in. That was when I knew that it was his store and that his name was Matt. Typical
name for a bald guy, I said to myself. I placed the gun on the counter and headed for the
shelves.

“Take as much as you want. The city will fall anyway.” I heard him say.

Matt and I convened in a rec room on the other side of the store. There, he revealed a
vast arsenal of firearms and crates of ammunition. It was as if he had foreseen this kind of thing
to happen.

“My obsession with zombies developed into paranoia. Most of these are illegal so, I hid it
here.” he said as he sipped beer from a can.

“Why did you help me?” I suddenly asked.

He cast me a glance. “You were the most ignorant person on the bridge.” he smiled
before turning the TV on.

“A sudden turn of events traumatized the city tonight. Around more than 1000–and
rising–cases of “zombification” have been reported by the NHO and CCCP. This widespread
epidemic had been reported in neighboring 16 states, including Idaho, Washington, Montana,
Nevada and Oregon. The gov–“

The channel changed. The TV briefly showed a news anchor before the screen went
blank.

“This is a special broadcast from the National Security Association. This is not a drill.
Repeat, this is not a drill. Citizens are advised to stay in their homes, lock their doors and
windows, and brace themselves. National security has been compromised and–“

Matt turned the TV off. “Looks like shit’s happening, boy.” he said grimly.

He got out of the room and quickly turned off the lights. He said it was for our safety. I
decided to retrieve the Browning he lent me. Just as I had picked up the rifle, a bang from the
metal roll-up door that covered the front of the store. Matt came shuffling in with a flashlight.

“Do not make any noise.” he said, his tone is grim as the banging continued to increase.
 We spent the rest of the night silent, taking shifts guarding just in case things happen.
Explosions here and there, screams over there and gunfire over here. Morning came and the
city was silent. No banging, no explosion, nothing. It all seemed like a perfect normal day. Matt
and I packed. We decided to get out of the city because he said that a nuke might end up killing
the two of us. I agreed with the idea.

After checking the back alley, we locked ourselves out of the store. Matt carefully pulled
a drop-down ladder that led to the roof of the store. We climbed to the rooftop, where a grisly
sight was revealed. The street was littered with bodies. Cars here and there lay like Hot Wheels
toys. Rubble was scattered in the streets. I can make out corpses of military men among the
corpses of civilians.

“Look at this place.” Matt said.

I scanned the streets, looking for any sign of life. My eyes caught movement just several
feet from where we stood. I aimed the Browning at the direction where I saw the movement.
With one look at the scope, I knew what I was looking at.

It was one of the infected. It wore a torn suit and tie, and bloodied pants. With a pull of a
trigger, a sickening crack signaled the fall of the infected as its head exploded into bits of flesh.

“We need to head north. The military probably held on.” he said before we descended.

The streets were now empty, apart from the bodies and rubble. Matt and I managed to
peacefully cross through five blocks when a whooshing noise made us look up. Three fighter
jets whizzed overhead, probably scanning the city for any sign of life.

A pair of choppers followed, flying low. I felt a twinge of foolishness and hope when I
saw the choppers.

I began to absentmindedly chase the choppers, not hearing Matt’s call.

“HEY! OVER HERE! WE”RE NOT INFECTED! HEY!” I yelled, waving my arms mad.

I felt my body go down, as well as gunshot. It took me a while to realize that an infected
had tackled me to the ground. Everything was in bits and pieces because of shock. Soon
enough, I found myself running and shooting at the same time.

A whole multitude of infected was after us. All of which had grotesque and mutilated
bodies that made them look like ragdolls made of flesh. Some had limbs hanging from their
torsos with only an inch of skin. Some had missing chunks of body parts or even the whole limb.

We continued to run past bloodied corpses and rubbish, stumbling and tripping. Gunfire
continued to ring across the streets, further alerting more infected people.

“Goddammit, you idiot boy!” Matt cursed.

“I’m sorry, for Christ’s sake!” I yelled as I pumped a round at the infected with my
automatic rifle.

“Go! GO! DO NOT STOP!” Matt yelled.

 My legs and my lungs strained as I continued to run. This time, we are running past
more infected than we have been before. After a short while, my arms have strained from all the
pushing.

I felt my knees buckle.

“GET UP BOY!” he screamed as he fired a round of ammunition.

Without warning, a mammoth explosion from the other end of the street behind us
erupted at the same time a jet fighter whizzed past the buildings. Fear and panicked gripped
me. They are bombing the city.

“They are bombing the city!?” I exclaimed.

“RUN! RUN!” Matt screamed as another explosion followed.

Desperation filled us as we frantically ran for our lives. Two more explosions erupted as
two more jets whizzed past overhead. I caught a glimpse of several bodies being flung into the
air by the explosion, as well as large chunks of concrete.

“Oh shit.” I heard Matt curse.

I looked up and felt my blood run cold.

As if everything was in slow motion. Two fighter jets whizzed two blocks away from us
before two, relatively small objects fell from the underside of each jet. Before we could react,
everything went red hot and painful.

Everything became a blur.

I stirred. I found myself surrounded by inferno. America has fallen, I guess. The infected
continued to rise, even though they are burning. More explosions were audible behind the
crackling flames. Is this my end? I looked around for Matt. I don’t know where he is.

All I see is fire. And infected people rising from the sea of flames.

And the last thing I felt was another surge of red hot pain.