Playing With Death - Part 1: Traffic Jam

"Howya doin today Ms. Wynona?" 18 year old Cody asked the customer, as he bagged the woman's groceries.

"Oh, not feelin' to well for some odd reason. I developed some sort of fever this morning, but I had to do some grocery shopping." She replied, looking a bit uncomfortable.

Cody smiled, "Aw, don't worry, I don't mind bein' around sick people. In fact, I quite enjoy helping them more than anyone else."

She smiled, "well, thank you."

Cody finished bagging her groceries, Ms. Wynona paid for her groceries, and the headed outside.

"It's a beautiful day today..." Cody commented.

"It really is. Such a wonderful- oh!" She stopped, and lost her balance. Cody quickly responded, catching her before she fell. He avoided getting to close to her mouth, not wanting her to breath on him and get himself sick.

"Gosh! Are you okay!?"

She nodded. "I'm fine... just fine. Thank God you were here... I just got dizzy so quickly."

"Should you call someone to come pick you up?"

"No, no!" Ms. Wynona laughed, "I'll be fine. I'm alright now. Thank you so much for your help. You have a good day."

Cody nodded. "You too Ma'am."

Walking back inside, he noticed his manager, Mr. Yosez, A respectable black man in his mid forties, talking to the woman working in the office for the day, Jasmine, a bigger white lady. She was wiping sweat off her forehead, and looked very weak. Gosh, is everyone sick today? 

Before Cody had the chance to walk away, Mr. Yosev stopped him. "Cody, things are slow, and you only have half an hour till your off, so go ahead and clock out."

Cody smiled. "Awesome. Thanks, have a good day sir."

Cody clocked out quickly, then called his Mom to pick him up. It rang five times before it went to voice mail. He tried his dad, but it was the same deal. He called them both again, but still, no answer.

"Hey Cody, need a lift?" It was Jack, one of his co-workers.

"Actually, yeah, I do. Thanks man."

Jack smiled. "It's all cool."

It was only three minutes to Cody's house, but surprisingly, there was a ton of traffic along the way.

"Damn," Jack said, "this is jacked up, there's never traffic like this man..."

"Hey," Cody said, "There's no one behind us, I'll just walk home, and you can get outa here, kay?"

"Alright. I'll talk with you later man."

Cody smiled and nodded, and exited the car.

As his former ride drove off, he examined his surroundings. He noticed the most peculiar thing: the cars were all empty. What the heck? Where'd everyone run off to? Not a person was in sight. He pulled his phone out once more, and tried calling his Mom, but again, no answer came. "Mom," he said on the voice mail, "it's Cody. On my way home by foot. Call me please." What is going on...?