Chapter 2

Thirty minutes after leaving, and halfway to Izzy, they had only seen one car on the highway that ran between Kallal and Izzy, and even that had been 25 minutes ago. The lands the interstate ran across were rugged, wild, and heavily forested. A faded sign said, “Izzy City: 32 miles”. The highway was in an oddly good condition to be going only to a town abandoned for 33 years.

Melissa decided to give a little history. “Back in the ‘80s, this highway would be crowded at this time of day on a weekend. It was our main way out into the world outside Izzy. I remember being a kid, I guess this would have been in the late ‘60s, and this road had a speed limit of 45 and no fences or lights. You always had to worry about hitting a deer on the way home. My dad hit a big deer with me in the passenger seat when I was 5. We were in a ’66 Ford Falcon, no seat belts, and we were lucky to walk away. Almost totaled the car.”

“Glad you were okay!” said Megan.

“Fortunately, I’ve never been in any other serious car crashes. And the road was upgraded. About 1972 or so, they finally put fences up so no one hit deer anymore. But 45 mph was still pretty slow, took almost two hours to get anywhere. Between my sophomore and junior years of college, so 1984, they upgraded the road to the 6-lane, 70 mph highway they have today. The city of Izzy paid for the whole thing and finished it in six months. They had the road closed weekdays from midnight to 6 am for a while. They used concrete that was supposed to last 40 years between re-paving. They said it was the best-made road in all Helmintoller when it was built. I think it cost something like half a million Simoleons. It’s a shame it was only really used for a couple of years.” said Melissa.

“Well maybe if Izzy makes a comeback, it’ll be used.” said Billy.

“I don’t think Izzy’s going to come back to life. It’s just too cost-prohibitive to fix it up.” said Melissa.

“They had the money to build this highway, so they must have been a rather wealthy city.” said Billy.

“Izzy was, financially, a very well-run city. I went to a couple of city council meetings back in the day- “

“You were on the city council there? How old ARE you, granny?” asked Dirk.

Melissa laughed it off. “56. The volcano happened right before I turned 23.” said Melissa.

“That wasn’t very nice, Dirk. She’s taking you on a trip, and you call her granny?! Anyway, go ahead, Melissa.” said Billy.

“The years before the volcano, Izzy was making about a 6,000 simoleon profit every month. We had a great school system, great hospitals, great roads, all the things that made a city run well. The taxes were still fairly low, so I don’t know how they made it all work. Everything in town was clean, well-maintained, and just worked. The DMV wasn’t a pain in the neck.”  

“Oh, if only it were that way today.” said Megan.

A few minutes later, Billy took out his camera for the first time. He took out a memory card labeled “IZZY 1” and put it in the camera.

“Filming the highway.” said Billy.

“Why do you have to film a road?” asked Dirk.

“This highway’s part of the trip too.” said Melissa.

“If anyone has anything to add, feel free to say it.” said Billy.

Billy started his video, pointing his camera out the windshield. “This is the highway that runs from Kallal to Izzy. This road, I assume, dates back to 1924 in one form or another, but the smooth highway we’re riding on was built in 1984 and hasn’t been repaved since then. I guess since it’s been a road to nowhere for 90% of its history, so it hasn’t got a lot of wear. As you can see… not a car in sight. It’s a Saturday morning, September 26, at about 8:40 am as I film this. We’re on our way to Izzy.” said Billy. He looked over and saw that the van was moving at 96 mph. He didn’t say anything until the camera was off and back in the glove box.

“You’re going pretty fast. I’m not on to you, and I trust your driving, but I don’t want to get pulled over.” said Billy.

“There hasn’t been a cop on this highway in decades.” said Melissa.

A few minutes later, evidence of a nearby city came into view. The rusting frame of a billboard was the first sign; the content of the billboard had long disappeared. Billy got his camera out. Another billboard a half-mile later, in slightly better condition, said “Thomasina’s Bar and Grill”; Billy managed to get a semi-decent shot. The volcano appeared in the distance.

Soon, some of the taller buildings in Izzy began to appear out the windshield; the buildings were dark and looked heavily decayed. Billy started filming again. As the buildings got closer, the other passengers in the van began to look to the right. One tall building, perhaps 10-15 stories, had about half its windows broken and half intact, in no discernible pattern. University Street Tower’s sign had decayed to “UN E I Y S REET T R”. Soon, shorter buildings began to appear in the distance. All the buildings appeared to be coated in a thick layer of grime and dirt. Most looked to be barely standing; some had collapsed. Megan, David, and Dirk all got out their cameras and started taking pictures.

About a minute later, the city was right next to the van, about a half-mile to the right. Melissa slowed the van to 55 mph as everyone looked in awe at the city, which seemed to go on forever. Directly to the right of the van, there were about 20 blocks of factories and various industrial buildings, then many more blocks of houses, mansions interspersed with more modest houses, then finally, various shops and offices. Around the time the industrial district yielded to the residential, the highway turned into an avenue, and the van slowed to about 20 mph. The avenue wasn’t in nearly as good of condition; potholes had eaten away at it, requiring Melissa to swerve the van around them in spots.

“Wow,” said Billy. “This place is massive. I knew it would be big, but it’s hard to put into words just how big without being there in person.”

“I bet there’s a ****load of ghosts in there.” said Dirk. Billy would have to edit the profanity out of his video, which aimed to be family friendly.

For the first time in many miles, the road made a sharp turn to the right. Now, the abandoned city filled the view out the front of the van. A red line on the road marked the city limits; the sign itself had fallen over. Melissa turned the van onto a side road. A control tower in the distance made it clear that this road went to an airport.

Just before reaching the airport, Melissa stopped the van. She asked everyone to get out.

“Before we go into the city, I’d like to lay down some ground rules and explain the trip. As explained in the online signup, this is a 3-day, exhaustive tour of Izzy City. There are thousands of buildings in the city, and we won’t have time to explore them all. We’ll be exploring quite a few buildings, and we’ll try to get a good sample of them. That being said, these are buildings that haven’t been maintained in a very long time, and they could be structurally unsound. You all are adults and we can go inside the buildings, but you must wear a N95 mask, bring a walkie-talkie, and go in groups of at least two; no one should go inside the buildings alone. I have masks and walkie-talkies in the van for everyone. Also, make sure to test the floors and don’t walk on them if you feel unsafe. You don’t have to go into any of the buildings if you don’t want to. I’ll be going in as much as I safely can. Any questions?”

“Yeah, why do I need a mask just to go inside an empty building?” asked Dirk.

“Because there could be mold in there, and if you inhale it, it’s bad news.” said Melissa.

“Why can’t I go inside the buildings alone?” asked Dirk.

“Because if the worst happens, having someone there could mean the difference between life and death.”

“What if a ghost spooks me?” asked Dirk.

“Then I’ll use my Ghost-B-Gone spray on him.” said Melissa.

“Where can I buy Ghost-B-Gone spray?” asked Dirk.

“You have to get it online.” said Melissa, jokingly.

After five more minutes of inane questions from Dirk, Billy had had enough.

“Knock it off, Dirk. Quit asking questions so we can get to your ghost hunt.”