Tallahassee, United States
9:30 a.m., August 16, 2010
Jason was sitting in the classroom.
Physically.
Mentally, however, he was somewhere else.
The teacher was explaining something about algebra at the front of the class, but he did not hear a single word.
Ever since watching the videos Todd had sent him the previous night, his mind had been unable to settle.
His parents had noticed.
Melody had noticed.
Even Todd had noticed.
Normally, Jason greeted classmates, teachers, and staff members in the hallways.
That morning, however, he had walked past everyone as though he were sleepwalking.
It was not arrogance.
It was not disinterest.
His body was functioning on autopilot while his mind desperately tried to fit together pieces that refused to form a coherent picture.
When the bell finally rang, signaling the break, Jason was the first person out of the classroom.
He ignored Todd calling after him.
He ignored Melody’s confused expression.
And he went straight to the library.
Jason sat in front of one of the computers and began searching.
The videos showed things he had only ever seen in works of fiction from his previous life.
People attacking others without reason.
Aggressive behavior.
Cannibalism.
Unnatural movements.
Jason did not want to believe the conclusions his mind was suggesting.
That was why he searched for alternative explanations.
His first search was almost automatic.
Umbrella Corporation.
Nothing.
Only ordinary companies and an umbrella manufacturer.
No pharmaceutical megacorporation.
No secret laboratory.
No biological project.
Jason released a sigh.
He tried another possibility.
Harran virus.
Nothing again.
No city named Harran.
No similar outbreak.
No relevant information.
He ran a hand through his hair.
Then he thought about fungi.
Cordyceps.
If there was even a remotely realistic possibility of something resembling zombies, perhaps that was it.
But the available information did not make sense either.
Besides, it would still be years before that concept became popular in the culture he remembered.
Jason continued searching.
Movies.
Television shows.
Books.
Games.
Fragments of memories from a life that seemed increasingly distant.
Forgotten names began surfacing in his mind.
Raccoon City.
T-Virus.
CDC.
Quarantines.
Infections.
None of them seemed to fit.
Hours passed.
Then something caught his attention.
A local news article from Georgia.
It had nothing to do with the attacks.
Nothing to do with cannibalism.
It was merely a crime report.
Jason almost closed the page.
Almost.
Then his eyes found a name.
And froze.
The air seemed to vanish from his lungs.
Slowly, he read it again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
There was no mistake.
The article mentioned a police officer from King County.
A deputy sheriff involved in a shootout that had occurred a few days earlier.
The name was short.
Simple.
Common.
But Jason felt his heart begin to race.
Rick Grimes.
For several seconds, he simply stared at the screen.
No.
It could not be.
Out of all the possibilities.
Out of all the fictional universes he remembered.
No.
It was impossible.
Because if that name meant what he thought it meant…
Then the rumors about cannibalism were only the beginning.
And the entire world was about to change.
Jason remained motionless in front of the computer.
Rick Grimes.
The name echoed through his mind like a verdict.
“No…
It can’t be…”
His hands began to tremble.
If he was right, the entire life he had built since his reincarnation was about to disappear.
His investments.
His plans for the future.
The company he dreamed of creating.
College.
None of it would matter.
Because in a matter of days, the world as he knew it would cease to exist.
His heart pounded.
For several seconds, panic consumed his thoughts.
Then he took a deep breath.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
“Think, Jason.”
He closed his eyes.
Giving in to despair would solve nothing.
In fact…
He possessed an advantage no one else had.
He knew that world.
He knew the mistakes that got people killed.
He knew which cities would become traps.
He understood the importance of water, food, fuel, weapons, medicine, and shelter.
There was still time.
Not much.
But there was some.
Jason stood so quickly that he nearly knocked over his chair.
As he hurried through the school hallways, he pulled his phone from his pocket.
He needed money.
As much money as possible.
Jason accessed his brokerage account and immediately began selling all his investments.
There was no point in worrying about profits when the financial system was about to disappear.
The moment he left the school, he started running.
He ignored Todd calling after him.
He ignored Melody asking where he was going.
He kept running.
Jason stopped only when he reached his house.
He rested his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
His phone was vibrating constantly.
Missed calls.
Todd.
Heather.
Melody.
Several messages asking why he had disappeared and skipped preseason practice.
Jason opened only his conversation with Melody.
What happened?
Are you okay?
His fingers began to type.
“The world is going to end.”
“The dead are going to come back to life.”
“We need to run.”
He stopped.
Jason stared at the screen for several seconds.
Then he deleted everything.
No one would believe him.
Not even Melody.
In the end, he wrote only:
“Sorry.
Something very urgent came up.
I’ll explain later.”
He sent the message.
Then he accessed his investment account again.
More than half of his stocks had already been sold.
Good.
There was still much to do.
But it was a start.
The house was silent.
His mother had not returned yet.
At that hour, she was probably still volunteering at the neighborhood orphanage.
Jason took a deep breath.
Now he needed to begin the second stage.
He went to the garage.
There stood the old pickup truck his father had been restoring for months.
The plan was to give it to Jason for his sixteenth birthday, when he would finally be able to get his driver’s license.
The mechanical work had already been completed.
All that remained was the paint job and a few details on the body, which still bore the marks of rust and age.
Jason took the keys hanging from the tool board.
His father had taught him the basics of driving on a few dirt roads.
Besides…
In his previous life, driving had never been a problem.
The engine roared to life after two attempts.
Jason tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
For the first time since his reincarnation, he was not driving toward the future he had planned.
He was driving in an attempt to survive the end of the world.
Jason’s first stop was a camping supply store he had visited since childhood.
The owner already knew him by name.
That was hardly surprising.
Whenever new hiking or camping equipment arrived, Jason would stop by to take a look.
This time, however, his visit was different.
Pushing a shopping cart through the aisles, he began gathering everything he considered essential.
Portable camping stoves and fuel to keep them running.
Solar-powered lanterns.
Sleeping bags.
Multi-person tents.
He also selected three hunting knives, one compound bow, and two recurve bows.
He looked for enough carbon-fiber arrows to complete the set, but the store did not have the quantity he wanted.
When he reached the fishing section, he made another stop.
Jason picked up two telescopic fishing rods light enough to carry on long hikes, along with spare fishing line, hooks, sinkers, bobbers, and a small tackle box containing several artificial lures.
Among them were topwater plugs, metal spoons, and soft-plastic lures capable of attracting different species of fish in rivers and lakes.
Before heading to the checkout counter, his eyes fell on a kukri machete.
After a few seconds of hesitation, he placed it in the cart.
When the cashier began scanning his purchases, the man looked up and smiled in recognition.
“Well, if it isn’t Jason.”
“Hello, Mr.
Carter.”
The man continued scanning the products while observing the unusual amount of equipment.
“Are you going on a big camping trip, or are you planning a hike?”
Jason smiled calmly, although his mind was far away.
“I’m preparing for a few adventures with the Scouts.
I thought it would be best to take advantage of my free time before the season starts.”
The cashier nodded.
“That makes sense.
It’s better to buy everything at once than to find yourself in the middle of the woods and realize you forgot something.”
Jason gave a brief laugh.
“I learned that lesson a long time ago.”
As the cashier bagged the products, Jason cast a quick glance toward the store window.
There was still much to do.
This was only his first stop.
Jason’s second stop was a supermarket on the other side of town.
He had two reasons for choosing it.
The first was to avoid attracting attention.
If he began purchasing large quantities of food near his home, sooner or later, one of the neighbors would comment on it.
Besides, the employees at the local supermarket knew his parents and might mention the purchase to them.
The second reason was even more important.
Once the panic began, the supermarkets farther away would be among the first places to be looted.
Taking advantage while everything was still operating normally was the most logical decision.
Pushing a shopping cart through the aisles, Jason began filling it.
Bottles and gallon jugs of drinking water.
Canned goods of every kind.
Bags of rice, beans, pasta, flour, salt, sugar, and oatmeal.
Dried seasonings, bouillon, cooking oil, honey, and other ingredients with a long shelf life.
If he managed to hunt or fish, he would need much more than meat to prepare nutritious meals.
He also stopped by the gardening section.
Jason selected seeds for lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, onions, potatoes, corn, beans, squash, and other vegetables that were relatively easy to grow.
He also took some fruit seeds that could continue producing for years if he managed to keep the plants alive.
Every item placed in the cart represented a little more time.
A few more days.
Perhaps a few weeks.
Maybe months.
In the end, he stared at the mountain of supplies.
It was still not enough.
Not nearly enough.
But it was the most he could do without attracting suspicion.
When Jason finally returned home, the clock read 7:45 p.m.
Before turning onto his street, he stopped the pickup truck for a few moments.
Jason took an old tarp folded behind the seat and covered the entire load in the truck bed.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than a pile of tools and scrap metal.
He took a deep breath.
It would be better if his parents did not discover any of it yet.
The moment the pickup truck entered the garage, the front door flew open.
Jennifer appeared first.
Her eyes were red, as though she had been crying.
When she saw him climb out of the truck, she hurried toward him.
“Where were you?”
Jason barely had time to open his mouth.
“Do you have any idea how badly you scared us?”
Jennifer grabbed him by the shoulders.
“Your coach called to tell us you never showed up to practice.
Then Melody called asking if you were with us.
Todd didn’t know where you were either!”
Her voice began to break.
“We called you more than twenty times!”
Jennifer pulled her phone from her pocket and showed him the screen.
Missed calls.
Messages.
Voicemails.
“You simply disappeared!”
She took a deep breath, trying to control her anger.
She failed.
“I was already reaching for my purse so I could go to the police station and report you missing!”
Jason lowered his head.
“Mom…”
“No, Jason!
You’re going to listen to me now!”
Her voice echoed through the garage.
“You’re fifteen years old!
You left school without telling anyone, skipped practice, took a pickup truck without a driver’s license, and disappeared for hours!”
Robert approached from behind his wife.
Although he said less, his expression was even more serious.
“Do you understand what could have happened to you?”
Jason took a deep breath.
“Dad…
Mom…
I can explain.”
“Then explain!” Jennifer replied immediately.
Jason opened his mouth.
“The world is going to end in a few days.”
“The dead are going to come back to life.”
“I’m trying to save you.”
The words died before they could leave his mouth.
None of them would make sense.
He remained silent.
Jennifer shook her head in disappointment.
“All it would have taken was one phone call, Jason.
Just one call to tell us you were safe.
That’s all I asked for the entire day.”
Robert placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder before turning his attention back to his son.
“You’re grounded.
No video games.
No going out after school.
And forget about the pickup truck until you have your driver’s license.”
Jason merely nodded.
He would accept any punishment.
Because compared to what was about to happen to the world…
Being scolded by his parents was the least of his problems.
The real problem was that every hour he lost made preparing for the end of the world much more difficult.
August 17, 2010
Another seemingly ordinary morning.
But Jason knew that normalcy would not last much longer.
There were still countless things to do and, worse, very little time in which to complete them.
After breakfast, he awkwardly said goodbye to his parents.
Jennifer still seemed hurt by what had happened the previous day, while Robert merely wished him a good day before leaving for work.
Jason boarded the school bus.
As soon as he sat down, Todd turned toward him.
“Dude, where were you yesterday?
You just disappeared.
Heather said Melody was worried about you.
Even Coach was looking for you.”
Jason had expected the interrogation.
“Sorry.
I had to take care of something personal.”
“What was it?”
“Nothing important.”
Todd narrowed his eyes.
“You’re hiding something.”
Jason merely smiled.
“Maybe.”
Before his friend could press him for answers, Jason quickly changed the subject.
“So, have you decided which play we’re going to use in Saturday’s exhibition game?”
Just as Jason had expected, mentioning football was enough to make Todd completely forget the previous subject.
When he arrived at school, Jason searched for someone in particular.
It did not take him long to find him.
Jimmy.
The son of the mechanic responsible for restoring his father’s old pickup truck.
Jason walked over to him.
“Hey, Jimmy.
How’s it going?”
The boy smiled.
“Hey, Jason.
I’m good.
How about you?
I heard you ran out of school yesterday.
Is something wrong?
You know I still owe you for helping me with Madson.”
“I’m fine.
I just got distracted while planning a new camping trip.”
Jimmy nodded.
He knew Jason had been involved with the Scouts since childhood and was constantly organizing hikes and camping trips.
“Actually, I wanted to ask you something,” Jason continued.
“Go ahead.”
“Could your father install some solar panels on my family’s motorhome?”
Jimmy thought for a few seconds.
“I think so.”
Then he shrugged.
“Actually, I’m sure he can.
He’s done that kind of installation on other motorhomes.”
Jason nodded.
“There’s one more thing.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow.
“My father also wants to reinforce the bumpers.
We’re planning to travel to places with dirt roads and rougher trails.
Does your father do that kind of work?”
Jimmy smiled.
“Yeah, he does.
He often installs reinforced bumpers, brush guards, and other modifications for people who travel frequently or enjoy off-roading.”
Jason concealed his relief.
“Great.
Could you ask when he might be able to fit us in?”
“Sure.
I’ll talk to him tonight.”
“Thanks.”
“No need to thank me.”
After saying goodbye to Jimmy, Jason walked through the hallways until he found Melody arranging books inside her locker.
She still looked somewhat worried.
The moment she saw him approaching, she closed the locker and crossed her arms.
“Are you going to tell me what happened yesterday?”
Jason smiled awkwardly.
“I promise I’ll explain everything after school.”
Melody stared at him for several seconds.
Then she sighed.
“All right.”
“But don’t think I’m going to forget about this conversation.”
Jason merely nodded.
Deep down, he knew it would be one of the most difficult conversations of his entire life.
I’m using AI to translate this story.
English is not my native language.
If you would prefer to read it without an AI translation, you can find the original Portuguese version on this same profile.