Chapter Text
Dennis and Mac had been driving for a little over a week, and so far, they had not seen any sign of life. They still held on to a little bit of hope that they would see someone… or something. However, that point was proving itself wrong. They both turned their heads when they saw an abandoned car. When the two of them stepped out to investigate, it was empty. Disappointed, Mac and Dennis walked back to the truck and sighed simultaneously.
To break the silence between them, Mac tried to start a conversation. “It’s so odd seeing all of these cars so empty…”
Dennis nodded, still keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him. “No kidding. This is the prime deer hunting area. I haven’t seen either a person or a deer.”
The two of them sighed and fell into silence once more. They weren’t even sure leaving the ranch was a good idea. They used to be ranch hands for a small, family-run farm. Although the boys had come from two different areas, they learned they were similar. The Greersons believed they were inseparable.
Dennis was 23 years old with dark brown, shaggy hair and green eyes. He grew up on the East Coast and applied to work for the Greersons a little after he had left college. At first, he wasn’t excited to leave home, but his parents insisted he would be a good fit there. His father was sickly, and he knew that. It was sad to leave his house alone with him and his little sister. The truck he was driving was the same one that carried him from his home state to where the Greersons’ ranch was. He was lucky it wasn’t too far from his area, but it still took him a while to get there. However, his parents were short on money, and he knew that. They offered to buy him a plane ticket there, but he refused. He sighed as he remembered the look on his little sister's face when she had to say bye to him. He promised her that he would be back as soon as he could. Mac had come to the ranch from the West Coast, having also come straight from college. Like Dennis, he had a family to support, but for different reasons.
He had worked at his parents’ ranch for as long as he could remember. Working for the Greersons was a familiar task for him. He had light brown hair, finger-combed to the side with blue eyes. He was much more lively compared to Dennis, who was calm and collected most of the time. But he and Dennis never failed to get along. Mac complimented Dennis’s calm attitude with spunk and fire. If you saw them at first glance, you would think they were brothers. At times, they did indeed feel like brothers, always helping each other in need. Mac had 4 brothers and 2 sisters, being the middle child of all of them. He was used to living with other people and was no stranger to helping the younger ranch hands in need.
Before they had left, they lived generally peaceful lives. They earned their pay for working there and would send off a bit of their pay to their families. But not everyone the boys could get along with, and everyone knew the main troublemaker: T.J. Collins. He was one of the older and more experienced ranch hands. He could carry what most of the boys couldn’t. Even though he was a great help to the Greersons when it came to the ranch responsibilities, he had a giant attitude to make up for it. Not to mention, also a massive bully. Some of the youngest come in at 14, and they fall as prime victims to T.J.’s bullying. From dumping water on them to blaming his mistakes on them, T.J. knew no limits to teasing and bullying them.
But even despite what T.J. did, there was still peace throughout the place. All until one day when the infection began. There was no internet or television there. As such, the boys would get most of their entertainment through games and the radio. Everyone agreed that one station had to be playing at all times. Petey “The Muskrat” Coltrain always played music befitting of a ranch. It was always old bluegrass music, which is what made him so iconic and unique. One night, however, the music suddenly stopped.
“What the hell? Did the radio die?” One kid from the back table complained.
The other boys started murmuring and hoping that the radio didn’t die. Petey never interrupted a track before, and so having a song suddenly stop was very unlike him.
“Folks,” he finally spoke. “I just received a note from my manager, and I think it’s very important for you all to hear. Our local health authorities have passed this message to every station and have requested me to do the same. I dunno how to tell y’all this, but it seems a deadly disease has been starting to spread like wildfire.”
And just like that, everyone fell silent. The lively mood of the room quickly disappeared and was replaced with an ominous one. Dennis looked over and looked at Mac, whose face had gone slightly pale. Dennis’s eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the radio. He couldn't believe what he was hearing either. Others had mixed emotions about it all. Some were hopeful that it would pass soon. Some were afraid that this would be the end of humanity. Petey continued talking, solemnly.
“As the authorities advise, stay inside your homes as much as possible until it passes, and stay away from big cities. I know you all have loved ones at home you gotta protect. God bless you all, and God bless America.”
He then finished speaking, and it wasn't until a few minutes later that the music returned. The boys, however, remained quiet, as the announcement diminished the happy mood.
Suddenly, there was laughter. Loud, bellowing laughter.
“Are y'all seriously gonna believe that shit?!” T.J. spoke, grinning as he did so.
Something within Mac snapped, and he stood up and faced T.J. “Get off your high horse T.J., this sounds like some serious shit and we can’t just be laughing at it.”
T.J. took that as some sort of challenge and walked over to Mac, towering over him. Yet Mac’s eyes stayed fixated on T.J.’s, not ready to back down yet.
“I don't believe a goddamn word that stupid fuck says. If you believe that rat, then be my guest.” He starts to walk off, seemingly done with Mac.
But Mac wasn't finished with him. “Then what about your poor girlfriend, Jessie? What are you gonna do if she gets dangerously sick?”
T.J. stopped walking and once again turned around to face Mac. “I don't give a rat's ass about what happens to her or her fucking family. So what if she dies first, survival of the fittest jackass.”
He then stormed off, and the room was silent once more. Dennis placed a hand on Mac’s shoulder, and he sat down, sighing deeply.
“You sure chewed him out, that's for certain,” Dennis said, smirking.
Mac mustered a chuckle and turned towards Dennis. “I couldn’t just stand there and have him spout his shit. Somebody’s bound to talk back to him sometime, so might as well be me.” Dennis nodded in agreement and then looked at the radio once more.
That night, Dennis lay awake, thinking about what he should do. He didn't know how bad or contagious this new disease could be, and he didn't want to risk living in a Petri dish. He rolled over on his side, fidgeting with his blanket in between his fingers. “Dennis,” Mac said quietly, “Are you still awake…?”
Mac’s voice was enough to snap him out of his gloom. “Yeah, I am. What's up...?”
“I was thinking…maybe…we shouldn't stay here. I know it sounds mean, but I just-”
Dennis cut off Mac before he could say anything else. “No, it's not. I was thinking the same thing. Hopefully, Petey will give us an update about what the disease is like…”
The boys fell silent, contemplating what they should do. They agreed that they should pay extra attention to the radio tomorrow. Hopefully, by then, Petey would have gotten more information. Dennis and Mac forced themselves to go to sleep so they wouldn't be miserable the next day. When they awoke the next morning, they found they were the only ones still in bed. They dressed themselves and headed into the dining area. There, multiple boys surrounded the radio in horror. However, it wasn't the usual troublemaker in the middle.
A younger ranch hand named Kevin held the mutilated radio in his hands with a crazed look. You could see the buildup of tears in his eyes, and he looked horrified.
“Holy shit, what just happened?” Dennis walked up to another ranch hand and spoke quietly to them.
“Petey stopped the music again to deliver another announcement but…Kev broke it after he had heard the symptoms…” Even the ranch hand looked scared.
Kevin breathed heavily as he let the remains of the radio scatter to the floor. He then fell to his knees and started bawling like a baby. Some watched with sympathy, some watched with confusion. But one watched with amusement as he saw the poor ranch hand struggle to keep it together. Before T.J. could do anything to break the ranch hand even more, a sound came from the doorway of the dining area.
“Now what in the world are you boys doing?”