Eloise J. Knapp

THE UNDEAD SITUATION

    All streets, cities, and roads are geographically accurate. Some liberties have been taken with the creation of various buildings and the aesthetics of certain locations.

    Where would I be without some thanking? First, I’d like to thank Alanna Belak for being Cyrus’s first fan, editor, and supporter-she is a kindred spirit when it comes to a love for sociopathic male characters.

    Sam Landstrom, my uncle and author of Metagame, inspired me to finish my own novel after completing his. He is a great influence and always listens to my rambling ideas for novels.

    I’d like to thank my aunt, Laura Landstrom, who took the time to edit The Undead Situation. Despite her lack of interest in the genre of zombies and gore, she trekked through.

    Last, but not least, I thank Angela Berg who unabashedly tore up my grammar until it was close to impeccable.

Well, it happened.

    When it did happen, everything about it was cinematic. I’m sure people banded together and tried to save themselves from their untimely dooms. They found solace in a mall, a house, or bunker, just like in the movies. Desperation and pessimism just prevented them from seeing the film-like qualities of their actions.

    I was sitting in my apartment, alone, when it happened. Downstairs I could hear the banging of pots and pans as the people below fixed dinner. Their kids were whining, but that wasn’t anything unusual. Outside the sky was plagued with deep grey clouds; rain virtually poured from the sky. I left the window open so I could hear the softness of it.

    A train whistled across town. A cop, sirens blaring, sped past the front of my apartment building. I listened to its sound fade away, again leaving me with the noises of my home and of the rain.

    Then it happened. Just like in the movies. It happened all at once, taking the entire world by storm. In fact, because it happened so quickly, people didn’t believe it was true. Needless to say, denial just made the undead count rise alarmingly fast. People who accepted it were considered crazy by those who didn’t. In the end, I bet everyone wished they’d seen a few more Romero movies, maybe been a little less close minded.

    If I were to try and tell you exactly how the whole zombie thing spread, I’d probably have to make up some stuff. No one knew if it was a disease or infection, or why it also made you turn when you died from non-Z related injuries. Oh, experts-especially religious experts-had a jolly good time with their theories, but no one truly knew what was going on. So, as I sat alone in my apartment, the chaos-inducing news of the zombies finally spread to Seattle, Washington.

    People died, then they came back. They ate other people. It’s a cliché way of putting it, but it’s the absolute truth. Suddenly, all of the TV news shows threw up the zombie warnings. (They actually didn’t call them zombies. I don’t know what they did. I don’t have TV. I heard about the news reports from Ronnie, my neighbor.) People were told to stay inside and quarantine anyone who was bit by one of the “infected” people.

    So, what with me being an accepting individual and all, I could buy that the apocalypse was happening now. I got out my box of old Guns & Ammo for entertainment, barricaded my apartment door, and cracked open a can of sweetened condensed milk for the ride. (I’ve got a sweet tooth. Sue me.)

    With my calorically obscene canned goods and a top-story view of Seattle, I watched people die. I watched stuff blow up, stuff break, and the zombies start to gain numbers for their undead ranks.

    My name is Cyrus V. Sinclair, and I didn’t care.

Chapter 1

     Only days after the outbreak started, downtown Seattle was in a state of chaos and disrepair. From my window I watched people from all walks of life, all shapes and sizes, and of all colors get eaten by their fellow man. Some people may think that zombie movies are graphic, but nothing is as stunning as watching that action in real life.

    Really, I suppose everyone’s intestines taste the same. Discrimination wasn’t an issue once you were a zombie.

    It was almost surprising how fast a civilization can fall apart. One minute we were haughty Americans, and the next we were as bad off as every other human being on planet Earth. Despite the government’s claims that they could save everyone, or that they were taking “appropriate measures,” people went berserk and the world went straight to Hell.

    I decided we were all doomed for sure. Before, there was a chance of survival; the military was still trying to get control of things, the electricity was still on, and most people were still acting like…like people. But once the lights flickered and went out, casting the whole city into complete suppressive darkness, I knew it would be just me, myself, and I ‘til the end of days. My ferret, Pickle, would be the only companion who would accompany me for the apocalypse. For days we shared comfortable silence, eating gummy bears and ferret food, watching the mass destruction of mankind unfold before us.

    Even from my view, the entire city was clearly on its way to complete destruction. Looters took advantage of the turmoil and broke into every shop they could. Even the windows of the children’s toy store across the street were shattered, dollies and teddy bears strewn everywhere.

    Unfortunately, I couldn’t watch the free show forever. Not that it stopped showing; it certainly went on and is still going on today, but other matters took hold of my precious time.

    While all or most of my fellow occupants had abandoned their apartments, seeking out impossible refuge in other areas they wrongly thought would be more secure, I waited patiently for the time when I could semi-safely leave the four-story building to get more supplies. I say semi-safely because the threat of getting a chunk bitten out of your ass is always on the rise. Even though there appeared to be no one around after the first few months of massive civil slaughter, I wouldn’t bet my ass on it. It makes sitting a hell of a lot more comfortable.

    And so it was, I thought to myself, after months of self-imposed seclusion. I found myself stroking Pickle’s sleek, albino-white fur while watching the endless Z’s milling on the street below. I placed Pickle gingerly on the floor and moved away from the balcony window of my apartment. She languidly slipped away, not looking back once.

    Despite not leaving the apartment (or maybe because of it), my body was still fresh and lithe. I hadn’t spent a single day running away from animated corpses or fighting my way through hordes of the living trying to escape to a different fate. At twenty-seven, I was as spry as any teenager, maybe even more so. (Undoubtedly, my laidback personality had something to do with it.)

    As I walked through my two-bedroom-one-bath residence, I took mental note of its state. The kitchen and dining room were adjoined and both furnished to the point where someone would think an inhabitant was nonexistent; the short hallway to the two bedrooms was stark, leading to two bedrooms also pretty devoid of furniture. In fact, the only signs of human existence were the empty cans of godly sweetened condensed milk on the kitchen counter, an H&K PSG-1 towering among the empty bags of candy in the dining room, and a scatter of Frank Sinatra records resting on the living room floor with the record player.

    There were many places I’m sure I could have gone to get some goods. There was a convenience store down the street that offered all the candy I could eat. (One might wonder how it’s possible for me to live on sugar. The answer is this: I don’t.) My bedroom is handily overflowing with MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat), the flavorful choice of the U.S. military. Although their flavor isn’t as delicious as a roll of Life-Savers, it keeps me running. Figuratively and literally.

    Call me crazy, but I knew some kind of apocalypse would happen in my lifetime. I wasn’t necessarily preparing for the undead, but stocking up on MREs over time seemed like a good idea anyway. Stockpiling gun after gun since I was sixteen? Well, that was just hobby.

    After finally moseying into the eating area, checking what I did have left food-wise, I went back to the balcony to assess the corpse situation below. The spring air was impregnated with the stench of rotting flesh, a scent not unbearably unpleasant, and within that, the electric undertone of a lightning storm soon to come. Below me stretched an empty street as far as I could see. I figured the dead had better luck indoors where people might still be hiding, which explained the vacancy below.

    There was a mom and pop grocery store across the street from my building, next to the book store. It looked thoroughly looted and I didn’t think otherwise. The windows were nonexistent and rotting corpses were lying on the ground. Really, really dead ones. I figured there had to be some sweets still available in there. Who went for things like candy when the mindless dead were seeking them out? No one, of course, but I get grouchy without a good sugar fix.

    I was also bored and wanted to leave.

    It was risky leaving the apartment, of course. Even though the streets looked abandoned, there was no way the undead weren’t waiting in the shadows for lunch to come strolling by. I’d have to be cautious, to say the least.

    I found a simple backpack that would suffice for the raiding; it was big enough to hold a lot, but wouldn’t get heavy enough to weigh me down. After a thorough search of my apartment, I dug up a crowbar to use as a silent melee weapon. My favorite 9mm, for which I had an abundance of ammo, would be used only if things got rough.

    Weeks had passed since I had last left the apartment. I wasn’t even sure if I could step out of it without getting eaten alive by the pesky undead. But I had to try.

    After unlocking the three deadbolts and removing the extra wooden plank across my door, I peeked out. The hallway was scattered with random junk and the walls were smeared with dried blood. Only one or two of the doors were ajar. Down the hallway was an elevator next to emergency stairs. The elevator was partially closed and half a corpse was wedged between the doors. It was completely still. The door to the stairs was closed entirely.

    When I passed the open doors, I shut them as quietly as possible. I wasn’t sure if the zombies could open doors, but it wouldn’t hurt to close them. One of the rooms revealed a man, undead, who had apparently hanged himself. His throat was torn up, but he still tried to groan in relief at the sight of me. He swayed on his rope as he tried to come after me, overwhelmed that a meal finally stumbled his way.

    His name was Rick Johnson, I remembered as I stared at his face. Years ago, when I moved into the apartment, he tried desperately and fruitlessly to invite me to dinner to meet his daughter. My lack of interest ended in a fight, after which we never spoke to one another again. That suited me just fine.

    I shut that door, writing Rick and that story off all together.

    Except for a dull thudding noise behind apartment 8’s door and the creaking of Hang-Man’s rope, everything was quiet. The silence was ominous, especially when I considered what horrors lay behind the closed doors. My mind suddenly ramped up with thoughts of ghouls eating themselves as a last resort, or just standing around in the rooms forever. Until someone came and killed them, that is.

    My luck held and I made it down the flights of stairs without incident. The main and only entrance to the apartment wasn’t broken in any way, but why would it be? There wasn’t really anything to loot in here. Someone would have to be pointedly desperate to raid a low-class apartment building like mine.

    Before I left the lobby downstairs, I studied the street from my new ground view. Everything was the same as it was from my fourth story, but in greater detail.

    Paper and dark blood coated the sidewalks and the street; I could barely make out the asphalt from all the debris. There were body parts everywhere. Half a torso here, an arm there. One lower half still seemed to be moving, but since it couldn’t do me any harm, I didn’t care.

    The carnage was interesting to look at-in a modern art kind of way-but I didn’t want to spend too much time surveying. This mission was a run in, run out kind of operation. If the living dead were out there, they were out there. No matter how long I waited or how hard I looked, they’d still be there.

    I slowly pushed the door open and slipped through, glancing up and down the street. A single zombie stumbled out of a clothing boutique, but hadn’t noticed me yet.

    His arms were mostly missing, with only a few scraggly tendons and nerves left dangling from his sockets. A hideous smashing of skin, bone, and muscle appeared to be his face, which made me wonder if he could even see. I took advantage of his oblivion and made a dash across the street.

    My boots slapped against the ground and echoed up and down the street loudly. It couldn’t be prevented, but the noise made me cringe. The sound of running was a zombie’s second favorite noise; it meant breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Maybe all three. (A Z’s favorite noise is people screaming-that generally meant he got lucky.)

    I leaned against the brick wall of the store only long enough to reaffirm I wasn’t in immediate danger before inching closer to the broken window. The grocery smelled foul before I even went inside. A thick scent bombarded me, choking me as it hit in waves. It wasn’t just the smell of rotting food; the body I had spotted earlier was slimy and covered in maggots. This one had been dead for a considerably long time and was extra gooey. (I never knew organs took on such bizarre colors when rotted.)

    With my back pressed against the wall, I turned slightly and peered around the corner of the broken window. I couldn’t spot any Z’s above the short aisles, but they could be crawling or crouched too low for me to see. The whole place was the poster child of an apocalypse; only a few items still remained on the shelves, and rotting dairy products had turned green after falling from the refrigerators. There was a puddle of curdled green goop just beyond the doorway. I tried to breathe through my mouth and not acknowledge the stench.

    Without thinking twice, I jogged into the store, stepping carefully as to avoid the wet patches on the ground. I shrugged my pack off and unzipped it, keen on shoving in many goodies as possible. The candy section was practically untouched, save for a lone arm rotting near the Snicker bars.

    As I pilfered the Life Savers, I glanced around and listened intently for any zombies. A soft squeaking noise caught my attention. I couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, but I was positive it was in the store a few aisles down. My attention was drawn to the Hostess cupcakes and Twinkies, which I started packing down in the top of my back. As the squeaking grew a little louder, my packing grew considerably speedier.

    A torso pulled its way along the floor. It was a woman, once, but I could only tell because of her chest. Her hair had come off in clumps, leaving behind a ragged and bloody skull. Somehow some kind of wheel had rubbed her face off, leaving nothing but tattered gore behind. White, foggy eyes bulged out of her skull. The torso wasn’t attached to anything, I noticed, once she hauled herself around the corner. Intestines and other nameless innards followed behind her, creating new bloody trails on the checkered linoleum floor.

    I was quiet and didn’t move a muscle. There was a pool of blood in front of her, hindering her progress. She couldn’t get enough leverage to pull herself through the slick mess. Torso Woman ground her teeth in frustration and let out a loud, teetering groan as her arms thrashed about.

    Somewhere outside a chorus of replies sounded off, reverberating down the street and into the store. My position had been given away. In a world infested with undead, if there were two entrances, then there was only one exit. Most likely, the one you came in would be the one zombies filed on through. Sorry to say, for me that meant no exits. My luck with the immobile Torso Woman would run out once other, more capable zombies saw me.

    After I zipped and secured the backpack, I approached the woman and killed her with one swift whack with my crowbar. No other stiffs appeared to be inside the store, so I went to the entrance and took the risk of running straight out.

    The armless zombie was steps away from me. I darted past him, scanning the street as I went. Behind him another two followed. To my other side, multiple Z’s were staggering out of storefronts, excited by Torso Woman’s call.

    My apartment was just a walk across the street, but on either side, zombies were coming out of the stores, flanking it. If I ran fast enough, I’d be able to shoot right by them without taking time to put them out of their misery. I took that option.

    Gnarled hands grabbed at me as I barreled through, wrenching the door open violently the moment I was close enough. There was no time to lock it since they were literally right behind me, salivating for my flesh. Adrenaline carried me up the stairs faster than a hunted rabbit.

    Right as I stepped into the hallway to my apartment, a body lunged from the side. My sidestep would’ve worked if there hadn’t been a sour patch of blood and other liquids soaked into the carpet where my boot struck. Instead, I slipped and fell onto my back, the undead going right with me. His ridged hands clawed at me while he snapped his jaws at my exposed neck. Crowbar long forgotten, I reached into my holster for the 9mm while I held the pus laden beast away. With one burst of strength, I knocked him off and brought up the gun simultaneously, squeezing a bullet into his head.

    Grabbing the crowbar and holstering the handgun, I scrambled to my feet and rushed down the hallway. All the apartment doors I shut remained shut, except for mine which I had stupidly left open. How could I have done something that dimwitted? I wanted to take my time and check the rooms, but couldn’t risk the delay, so I walked straight in, slamming the door shut behind me. After quickly locking the bolts and dropping the extra board into position, I stood still and listened.

    No noises to give away the position of an undead, but that didn’t mean one wasn’t there. Crowbar on the ready, I leaned to my right for a glimpse into my spare room. It was empty, as was the bathroom next to it. Leaning the other way, I took a step forward, glancing into my bedroom. It, too, was clear.

    I went to the end of the hall, which opened up into the living area, and stopped cold in my tracks. In the corner of the room, near my records, a woman was swaying back and forth, facing the wall. Adorned in a tweed business suit, which was only minutely ripped and stained, she appeared relatively normal. Her hair was still up in a tight bun, revealing mottled gray skin-the only giveaway was a bullet wound through the back of her neck.

    She turned around slowly then caught sight of me. Almost as though her on switch was triggered, she lurched forward and tried to close up the distance between us. I took a step down the hall and watched as she stumbled, almost losing her footing. With steady hands, I gripped the crowbar and raised it above my head, waiting for her to stand up.

    Once she did I brought the curved end down, lodging it into the top of her head. She snarled and gnashed her teeth at me, trying to move forward again, but I held her at bay with the crowbar. It didn’t go in deep enough to actually kill her, but it kept her at a safe distance.

    Thick brown liquid dribbled down her chin as she swung her arms out, trying to get me. I started pushing her back, using the crowbar as leverage, until we were both on the balcony.

Good thing I left that open, I thought in reference to the sliding glass door.

    A slight cracking noise indicated her skullcap was going to give way. I pushed her until she was right at the edge of the railing and gave the crowbar a quick tug, releasing it and a chunk of bone. Before she had the chance to lunge at me, I gave her a hard kick in the chest, knocking her back and sailing down onto the hard asphalt below.

    I bent over the railing just in time to see the woman’s body collide with the ground, her body landing at angles and the back of her skull exploding onto the ground.

    Around her, a sea of zombies had gathered, confusedly bumping into each other as they searched for their escaped prey-me.

    Safe and sound at last, I tapped the crowbar on the railing until the piece of skull and hair fell off before turning back into my apartment. I dumped out my backpack on the dining room table. Candy scattered everywhere, and I began sorting it by level of deliciousness. Like a little kid on Halloween.

    Mission accomplished.

***

    I stopped keeping track after awhile. What was the point in keeping track of days when you didn’t have anything to do? No appointments, no dates, no work. Nothing. I didn’t have a calendar to begin with, so it didn’t matter.

    (Actually, now that I think about it, I didn’t have obligations to begin with. Only nowadays, I couldn’t leave the apartment if I wanted to. That was really the only difference of pre-apocalyptic life for me.)

    Resources were not an issue. The city water had stopped flowing a long time ago, but water was easy enough to collect. I set every container possible outside to catch rain water, which worked out well since I lived in Washington (notorious for its frequent rainfall). I transferred full containers to the bathtub whenever possible.

    Resources simply were not an issue, but entertainment was. Guns & Ammo didn’t last forever, which forced me to search the apartment for something else to do. There were a couple boxes of my old college books, so I set to work on those.

    I read them all once, then I read them again. If I had that kind of determination while in college, I might’ve stuck around. But I didn’t, and I don’t regret it. The apocalypse made me a smarter person; I wonder if the same would be said about other survivors.

    (Ah, the history of college…Instead of finishing my degree in pharmacy, I found a buddy who forged an entire background for me. I got all the benefits of having the degree, without the work or debt. The whole idea seemed clever to me, and landed me jobs in drugstores.)

    After I had finally finished reading all those college books I never read the first time, I finally understood physics. My mind grasped how a light year worked, and I could recount the evolutionary history of man in a heartbeat. Even the lighter books were appealing, like art history or geography. If the world was ever going to get rebuilt, I’d be one hell of a commodity.

    For now, however, book smarts were useless at the end of an apocalypse day, so when I wasn’t reading, I was building my strength. If I let my body deteriorate, I’d definitely regret that. Every day I’d do as many exercises as I could remember, then I’d make up a couple.

***

    Neighbors have books, I realized one blasé afternoon, upon finishing my fifth Guns & Ammo collage. Since my level of boredom was high, I left the hallway when I decided it was safe and ventured into the unlocked apartments, hauling out as many books into mine as I could.

    I avoided apartment 8 and Rick’s place. No need to see him again, or find out what was going on in 8. The thumping was relentless, and it sounded almost automated, and I didn’t want to find out what.

    My book stock refreshed, I set to work. Even the kids’ books were appealing-who knew Nancy Drew had it in her to solve so many mysteries? I had a good thirty or so of those, courtesy of a little girl’s room in 7, and read every one of them twice.

    In time, desperation for entertainment even forced me to read through a mind-numbing trilogy called Twilight. Apparently there was a fourth one, but I was not interested in trekking down to Barns & Noble for that one.

***

    How did I get Pickle?

    Let’s start with this: the average lifespan of a ferret is about seven years. For some personal reasons, two years prior to Judgment Day I decided I needed to get a pet. Seven years seems very reasonable, seeing that it isn’t too long, but long enough to gain some life experiences.

    So, on March 9^th, I found myself in a pet store looking at albino ferrets. Much to my chagrin, they were fresh out of normal ferrets, but hey, I’m not racist. I appreciate all breeds.

    After I brought the tiny girl home, we found ourselves quick companions. She wasn’t afraid of me and appeared to love me despite my strange habits and unusual personality; really, she was the perfect woman.

    And she didn’t ask questions.

    Or speak.

    Or take up space.

    Like I said, the perfect woman.

***

    Sometimes I thought about how other people were handling the end of the world. I doubted most people took things the way I did. (Over the years, I decided my apathy about the whole thing probably meant that I was an anomaly of a man, and came to terms with that.)

    Early in the crisis, my undead neighbors had left their televisions on maximum volume. My sound-proofed walls could barely buffer the nonstop noise since it was coming from below and both sides of me. If it wasn’t for the power outages, I would’ve gone crazy. But because they were on, I heard the “experts” debate on whether the undead were human anymore or not. If they retained memories or some of their personality before they turned.

    I scoffed at some of the earlier attempts to quarantine the living dead to study them, find a cure, and make things okay again. There was no cure. This was it-the end-didn’t anyone understand that? The walking dead were walking dead, and they didn’t have an ounce of anything human in them anymore.

    People had loved ones and friends who turned. In fact, every zombie out there was probably a loved one at some point. People who didn’t want to put a bullet in their loved one’s head were the instigators of the problem, in my opinion. If everyone saw things for what they were, there wouldn’t be a problem.

    I imagined all the remaining survivors of the initial outbreak, hovelling in offices, homes, and other places. They were alone and it must be driving them mad. What I thought was solitude, they probably thought was mind numbing horror.

    They had no food, no water, and no weapons. Most likely, they were slowly dying, fearing the impending death of an animated corpse consuming their still breathing body.

    The differences between them and me were astronomical. I was alive because I wasn’t like other people. If I was, I’d be one of those men, wishing he weren’t alone during his last leg.

    If I were one of them, I’d be dead.

***

    I mused again, this time about my lack of fear toward the living dead. While lounging on the floor of the vacant living room, gnawing on a protein bar, I wondered why I couldn’t muster up an ounce of anxiety.

    The undead were terrifying. At least, they should be. I’d seen so many of them, falling apart and ghoulish. They chomped their crusty, blood-rimmed mouths and thick, strange liquids came out. Some of their stomachs were so distended from gorging on human flesh, they exploded, leaving organs and entrails hanging like jewelry.

    Their collective stench was so putrid. At the very least I should feel nauseous when the breezes from Puget Sound carried their scent through my opened windows.

    Upon finishing the bland protein bar, I crawled over to the dining room table, thoughtlessly reaching up for candy. My hand returned with a bright orange, rectangular package. I made my way back to the living room and collapsed onto the spot my body had warmed.

    As I savored the two Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, Pickle slinked down the hall and over to me. I dropped my head to the side and caught her beady red eyes looking at me.

    “How about you?” I asked. “What’s your position on all of this?”

    Pickle audaciously climbed up my shoulder and onto my chest, where she perched righteously and eyed my candy. The rodent had a taste for candy, which I occasionally indulged. Being the terrible pet owner that I am, I let her have a quick nibble before popping the rest of the chocolate in my mouth.

    Some things would never change. Her sense of entitlement was one of them.

***

    When my books finally ran out-and my capacity to ponder other people’s existence-I just slept.

    There was nothing else to do.

Chapter 2

    Above me was a deep gray early-afternoon sky, a shade typical of Seattle. Wind traveled around buildings, finally reaching me-it was the only movement and life other than my own. It made my jeans and sweater cling to my body, my short golden-red hair rustle atop my head. Enjoying the sensations it brought, I took a moment to inhale the sea breeze and listen to the empty silence.

    Over time, the Z’s from my raid on the convenience store had dispersed. I found that if I stayed quiet long enough, they seemed to forget what they were doing or that I was up there. Sometimes one caught sight of me while I was on the balcony, getting some air, and a horde always seemed to follow; but they would leave within a few days after I returned indoors.

    Then, my peace was abruptly broken. I heard the rapid firing of what probably was an MP5 coming directly from behind the AM/PM down the street. It wouldn’t have been unusual to hear the gunfire weeks ago, but now that everyone was either eaten, a zombie, or gone off to somewhere else, it was a noise very out of place. My attention now fully captured, I leaned against the railing of my balcony and watched as a tactical-gear-clad figure came bolting around the corner of the building.

    From my distance and from what it was wearing, I couldn’t determine a gender; but no woman could’ve made it this far by herself, so I decided to think of it as a ‘he’. The man stopped after a couple of yards and looked around, probably for more threats. Another gust of wind steered through the street, kicking up paper around him.

    Occupying the end of the T-shaped road was the AM/PM, and from either side of it shuffled packs of zombies, undoubtedly lured by the seductive sound of gunfire. The MP5 was let loose again against the right-side army, but without aim so the was ammo wasted. The shooter turned around and ran down the T with a great burst of stamina that even I could admire. The living dead joined their flanking attacks together to form one column of an army. Some of them even moved faster than the others, breaking clear from the slower ones.

They must be the eager ones, I thought.

    While they made their slow and steady advance to lunch, the man made like a rabbit and raced down the street, seemingly unencumbered by the weight of his supplies. After only a few moments, he stood underneath my balcony, looking up. Even from my point of view I could see the shiny reflection of the world around him on the visor of his helmet. And then I realized that ‘he’ was a ‘she’.

    The woman ripped off her riot helmet to reveal a shaved head, but her face had youthful, pretty curves. Not like I cared. I just noted it, is all.

    “Help me!” she screamed.

    I chuckled, amused that she was speaking to me. Amused in general that a woman was running around, bald, and with a gun. “Why? You seem to have a good grasp on the situation,” I called back to her, my voice easily carrying down.

    After she forcefully shoved another magazine of ammo into the gun, pointing it at me, my smile faded.

    The pending storm I prophesized had finally arrived. Rain trickled at first, but turned into a downpour quickly, drenching her and me both. Still, she refused to look away, even as fat droplets of water found their way into her eyes.

    Still fairly calm, she screamed, “Help me or I’ll shoot that fucking smirk right off your fucking face!”

    Clenching my jaw, irritated by the fact that someone, a woman no less, was telling me what to do, I raised my hand and pointed down the street. A good twenty walking dead made their way surely toward her. The woman abandoned her request for help and instead ran to the front of my apartment building, flinging the front doors open and running in. I hoped she’d stall long enough for the Z’s to get her- it would’ve been a phenomenal sight to see someone so fiery try to knock off so many zombies. But that fantasy was shot down once she completely disappeared into my building.

    Through my DIY soundproofed walls I waited and strained to listen for her, debating whether or not to let her come in. I wasn’t a sociable man, so having company would actually be a downer. I wasn’t a defenseless man, so having her join me wouldn’t necessarily improve my defenses. At any rate, it didn’t take long before I decided that if she made it here, she clearly was a human worth living, male or female. Not long after my decision was made, I heard the dull sound of suppressed gunfire through my door. The girl had switched to what must have been a revolver. Moments later she was kicking the entrance to my haven, frantically.

    “Open the door!” she demanded.

    Without further hesitation, I did.

    She took one brief glance at me before quickly stepping in. How blindly trusting, but I suppose if I was normal and the threat of death was impending, I would be trusting, too.

    “Shut the door,” she commanded.

    “But you wanted it open so badly,” I mocked.

    She pointed her little gun at me, again wiping the smile off my face. Unhurriedly, I shut the door, noticing that there were no moans down the hall. After I locked the deadbolts and pulled over the heavy piece of wood that served as extra protection, I turned on her. No one points a gun at me twice and gets away with it without some kind of retribution.

    She, unsuspecting, had turned her back on me and was looking into the living room. Quiet as a snake, I came up behind her, grabbing one arm and twisting it around her back. The gun in her right hand dropped, making a small thud as it hit the grey carpet. I twisted harder and harder ‘til she screamed in pain and dropped to one knee. Pressing my mouth against her ear, smelling damp skin and sweat, I asked, “How does it feel knowing that I could kill you right now?”

    “It doesn’t feel any different than any other one of the past five days, bitch,” she boldly countered.

    I wanted to kill her for her insolence; heaven knew I had killed all kinds of people before, but this one’s spunk was growing on me. Indifferently, I released her and she let herself drop to the ground, panting. I stood my ground and rolled my neck around a few times, cracking it.

    “You’ve been here less than five minutes and you’re already stressing me out.”

    “You didn’t have to let me in.”

    “If I didn’t you would’ve shot me,” I lied, knowing that I could’ve easily evaded her.

    “Sure.”

    Unexpectedly, I laughed and gave her my hand, offering amends. She took it and I hoisted up her light body.

    “I’m Cyrus V. Sinclair,” I introduced myself, the narcissist within me enjoying the way my name rolled from my tongue.

    “I’m Gabriella,” she offered hesitantly. “What does the V stand for?”

    “Virtuous.”

    “You’re fucking kidding me,” the bald teen accused.

    “It was a virtuous act, saving you.”

    We stood there in heavy silence until I, unaffected by social awkwardness, went into the living room to look out the window.

    “We can’t stay here,” she said from behind me, having followed. “They’ll get in, they always do.”

    “I don’t think so, Gabriella.”

    “I do think so, Cyrus. What makes you think here is safer than anywhere else?”

    Pausing for a moment, I turned and looked at her. She was slightly damp from head to toe from the few moments she was outside and was shaking slightly, but I didn’t think she realized it. Across her back was a pack and from it protruded a shotgun. Her MP5 was slung across her shoulder on a strap and was dangling at her side. The only skin revealed was some of her neck and her head; everything else was covered by military gear. Who in the hell was she?

    I silently scolded myself for my sudden burst of curiosity about a woman, or anyone for that matter. I’m not homosexual, mind you, but I’m not exactly popular with women. Why, with having no sex drive, no fantasies, no serial-killer-esque tendencies, I was hormonally blank. Please, call me asexual.

    “My door, my apartment. They’re extremely safe,” I explained.

    “A door? I’ve seen them come through door after door. Yours isn’t any different,” Gabriella opposed angrily.

    “My walls are insulated. My door is custom-made, trust me. The zombies go by sound, but they cannot hear us. They also go by sight, but you killed the ones that were immediately following. As for smell? I suppose they could smell us out, but I’m very sanitary,” I paused and looked at her. “I suppose you could clean yourself up and then it wouldn’t be a threat.”

    Gabriella bit her pouting bottom lip and shook her head in true defeat. “I guess if you say so. You’ve been here since it started, so it must be true.”

    “I don’t plan on going anywhere either.”

    “You’ll have to leave eventually,” she continued.

    Keeping my body shielded from immediate view of anyone undead below, I moved to the side of the windows and peered outside. The dead were dispersing from the street, but it appeared some had found their way into the building, as they naturally would.

    Ignoring her last comment, I said, “Stay away from the windows. I can’t risk shutting the blinds now. They might see it happen and that really drags the whole process out.”

    Flatly, she replied, “All right.”

    Returning my gaze to her, I ran my tongue over my teeth absentmindedly. The previous silence I had been living in was disrupted entirely. By the zombies moaning, her breathing, and Pickle’s frantic running behind objects at the presence of a stranger. Thoroughly exhausted by it all, I heaved a sigh. I told her I’d get her dry clothes, but she said she had some in her backpack. After I pointed her to the hall which led to the bedrooms and bath, she vanished for an hour. By the time she got back the sky was even darker, thunder rumbling through the lifeless city. Rain lulled me into a sleepy state as I lay on the living room floor.

    “What do we do now,” she asked me quietly, leaning against the wall to my side. “Share stories of better times?”

    I laughed, low. “These are my better times, baby.”

Chapter 3

    Sometimes she tried to bring up her past, but I found that awkward and the conversation never progressed beyond an ‘oh’ or ‘yeah’ from me and ensuing silence from her.

    My favorite boredom spot was the middle of the living room floor, which is where she always moseyed to when she was interested in conversation. She usually started things off with a memory of the pre-zombie days, conspicuously trying to interest me.

    Did I remember anything she ever said? No. The only thing on my mind was that my living room was no longer sacred.

    And so I took to lying around my bedroom, door shut, instead.

***

    Gabriella worried.

    It was a natural sensation to have at this point in the game, but my opinion of her declined because of her insecurity. At first the battle-hardened youngster didn’t mind staring at a wall for hours. Without stress, she would sleep away the nighttime and sunlight hours. She was a cool cat, but after a few days she became as jittery as a nervous horse.

    (I hate horses. No zombie apocalypse could ever change that.)

    A few days after her arrival she asked me what is going to happen. We hadn’t spoken even a page of dialogue and the question in mind was one that requested a novelette of text. I shrugged; that answer spoke volumes.

    Gabriella worried, but I didn’t. At the onset of her insecurities I began to wonder why I didn’t care like she did. Why with each passing day she grew more and more and sullen, while I remained linear in emotion. Was it because she coasted on a level of humanity I couldn’t get to? Or was it because I was the one who remained on a higher level of being, one that didn’t require humanity or anything parallel to it?

    “What were you going to do?”

    She asked me that question on the third day. The question itself seemed void of real emotion or curiosity. It was raw, but sterile in a way. Honestly, I wondered why she was even asking if she held no interest. But I’ve never been good at reading people. No zombie apocalypse would ever change that either.

    I replied, “In reference to what?”

    “All this,” she waved her hand around in the air, emphasis on the nonexistent concept. “What were you going to do about the zombies? This isn’t a movie, Cyrus. It’s not like you’re going to find a mall and camp out. You’re not going to get on a boat and sail away, and you certainly aren’t going to Rambo it.”

    Unsure of why she was questioning me, I turned and looked at her quizzically. Gabe, as I had come to call her, was sitting on the kitchen counter staring at me. I felt unsettled.

    “Why do you care,” I asked her.

    “I don’t.”

    “Why did you ask then?”

    “I don’t know.”

    Time clicked away a few more seconds of our lives as we sat in silence, simply looking at one another. I could almost hear the steady rhythm of an imaginary clock ticking away the moments we were throwing in the wind.

    “I was going to wait for them to all rot and fall apart.” Finally, I gave way to her question and responded lamely with the first decent plan that popped into my mind. The girl’s brows raised in obvious surprise.

    “The whole world?”

    “I wouldn’t have to worry about the whole world. Just this general side of the U.S. ”

    “That would take a long time,” she ventured, seeking flaw in my plan.

    “Time never was an issue for me. It isn’t for anyone now,” I rebutted.

    Gabe rolled her eyes, which I found was her way of agreeing or admitting slight defeat. She did it once, and then was silent.

    “Then what would you do? After they were rotted and gone? There would be no one left in the world,” she continued on.

    I grunted and said, “I’ve lived for ten years without the world. It doesn’t need me, I don’t need it.”

    She suddenly laughed, bubbly and out of place in the current situation. It disturbed me. I wanted to look around for a source, something that would cause her such amusement, but my head remained stationary.

    “You’re such an old man. A hermit.” The bald girl laughed, then sighed her joviality away. “What then? Once you have the whole world to yourself?”

    “I’d keep on dying like I am now, until I finally was dead. The only significant difference is that I wouldn’t have to be as social as I am now.”

    The girl clenched her jaw, rage evidently too intense to remain suppressed. She removed herself from the counter and stood facing me, hands flexing in and out of fists. I stood up, accepting her challenge.

    “It’s always been people like you who fuck our world over. People like you who don’t give a damn about anyone but yourselves!”

    She was shouting and it made me edgy. The undead couldn’t hear much better than the living, but when all they cared about was feasting on us, their concentration was a lot higher. Her sudden outburst of hostility was bound to bring them shambling around. However, she was out of line with her emotional issues. I didn’t want to have any part of whatever emotional baggage she was unpacking on me.

    “You act as though I’m the one who has issues. In reality, I believe I’m the one who is still living peacefully.” I stopped and cocked my head to one side, “Excuse me, who lived peacefully. Until you showed up.”

    Gabe didn’t move an inch as I began to walk towards her. Like a stone wall, Gabriella rested, her face contorting with spite for something still unknown to me.

    Closer yet I moved, one small step after another, closing the seven feet between us. I gambled farther into my little speech, knowing it would distract her from my catlike advance. “I believe I saved you. I believe that you are also extremely ungrateful.”

Six feet.

    “Your soul-tormenting issues probably pile higher than the world’s current body count, alive or dead. Right, Gabe?”

Five feet.

    “You’re jealous that I don’t have the petty attachments to normal life like you do.”

Four feet, my voice lowered.

    “You’re jealous of my freedom. My ability to be so cynical without any guilt.”

Three feet, my voice was a husky whisper.

    “You want the life I have; the life of a recluse who can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, even in this chaos.”

    At two feet away I was looming over the smaller stature of the teenager. She tilted her head to keep eye contact, and still held her vow of silence. I leaned closer, stealing away the remaining space that allowed her false protection.

    “And worst of all-for you-is that you know I’m right, isn’t it Gabe?”

    When silence still greeted me, I became angry. I looked for a response and she wasn’t giving me one.

    Impulsively and rapidly, I grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed my head against hers.

    Finally, she screamed in pain and fell straight back all the way to the floor. Unhurt by the head-butt, I quickly dropped to my knees and grabbed her calves as she tried to flip onto her other side and scramble away. I pulled her closer to me effortlessly, my goal to entrap her. Before I scored she managed to bring her knees up and kick out, hitting the center of my chest. I wasn’t expecting it. Air burst from my lungs as I fell backwards, head connecting with the dining room table before meeting the ground. A searing hot pain flashed in my head, and my vision became foggy.

    Gabe had gotten up and was evidently planning on taking advantage of my position; she gave me another kick. She succeeded, but poorly. As her booted-foot joined with my kidney, I grabbed her ankle and twisted hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to break. She yelped and began to lose her balance as I held fast to her now sprained ankle.

    In complete control once again, I twisted around until I could grab her other foot and knock her fully back onto the ground. Resuming my original plan, I climbed on top of her, returning her cheap kick with an equally dishonorable punch of my own. Blood burst from her mouth, droplets splattering onto my otherwise clean carpet.

    With my free hand I grabbed at my belt, easily pulling it from its loops.

    I realized I had been screaming at her the whole time, but I hadn’t been paying attention to the words flying from my mouth. She was screaming too, but I didn’t care what she had to say.

    The belt went around her hands, just as a temporary binding until I could get something better. As I got up I yanked at it, eliciting another scream from her as it tightened and ripped at her flesh.

    “What to do, what to do, what to do,” I murmured as I dragged my hostage from the kitchen into my bedroom. My muscles began to strain from the effort.

    I turned and smiled at Gabe, who in return, let off a string of profanities followed by a projectile of saliva. Still, in the quiet of my mind, not phased by her insanity, I flung the closet open and pulled out a ring of black cord.

    After much fighting, much yelling and hitting, a bloody nose for her and a split lip for me, I had her wrists thoroughly bound in front of her.

    Our final moments, before I threw her off the balcony, were very pleasant.

    “I hope you burn in hell, you motherfucker!”

    Affectionately, I replied, “We’ll burn together, baby.”

***

    Gabe fell two and a half stories down. Well, I suppose falling isn’t the correct term. Initially, I pushed her off, but dangling from the black cord I held her by, she bounced a few times. So I changed tactics and slowly lowered her. Only a few Z’s were on the street, but the louder we were the more that would come.

    The balconies weren’t directly under one another. Below mine was brick wall, but directly to the right was another balcony. It was far enough away that Gabe couldn’t get to it, but it was close enough to remain an idol of false hope. Undoubtedly, she could smell the rotting corpses and see the fine details of their decomposition.

    My actions resulted in a growing irritation with the presence of another human- especially female, especially bipolar. Her little episode forced me to take action, to discipline her. The new world, the world after the zombies, wouldn’t tolerate her kind. If and when Earth recovered from the walking dead, the only people to remain would be the cold, heartless survivors.

Who am I kidding? I just don’t like her.

    “See what happens when you have outbursts,” I called down to her. Her body flailed around as she tried to reach to the nearby balcony with her leg. She stopped a moment and looked up at me. A raw, bright streak of blood washed down her mouth and chin.

    “Let me back up!” she begged.

    Laughing, I shook my head and proceeded to tie the cord more securely to the metal railing in front of me.

    “Why?” I asked.

    “Simple, you dick! The longer I stay here, the more of those things will come. They’ll climb on top of each other until they can reach your damn little safe haven!”

    Her point was a little farfetched. Technically, it held a smidge of validity, but I didn’t care. I wouldn’t be able to stay there forever, as much as I would’ve liked to. Regardless, I shook my head.

    “I suppose they’ll get you first, seeing that you’re down there,” and I stretched my arms above my head languidly, groaning at the pleasant feeling of muscles being pulled, then wincing at the pain in my chest and abdomen. “And Pickle and I are up here.”

    Metallic, putrid scents wafted their way upward. I looked across the building and saw a freakishly obese man walk onto his balcony. His arm was almost entirely out if its socket; hanging on by a thread, and old and coagulated blood soaked his left side. Even a complete idiot would be able to tell he was dead, what with the vacant white eyes and moaning that accompanied his wound.

    I motioned to Mr. Chunk and the zombies that had gathered below her and said, “I guess I’d better leave you to the party. I never was one for parties. Too social for my liking.”

    Gabe’s eyes were frantic and bulging. She began to hyperventilate, but I knew she wouldn’t die from it. Just a little panic attack.

    As I walked back into the apartment I heard the first of her long, hysterical screams. I also felt apathy ebb into my conscious.

Chapter 4

    I was a little boy, once. I had a boyish physique and long, messy red hair. Trucks, trains, and the outdoors were the staple activities of my life. Finding a stick and hitting things with it was prime time fun for little old me.

    In fact, I had parents once, too. When I was young they died in a boating incident, leaving me and my sister orphans. If I remember correctly, she was devastated by their deaths.

    My grandparents gladly took the place of our deceased creators, shipping us off to Alabama to live with them. They were kind, as grandparents should be. My grandfather smoked a pipe and read the newspaper. He drank his coffee black. My grandmother was matronly and an avid Bible reader. She read my sister and me stories. Made us oatmeal cookies on Saturdays.

    The rest of my childhood was arguably idyllic-almost sickeningly so-which brings up one dreadfully vital question: how could it have produced me? I am a fellow of great intelligence and philosophical bent; however, I do have an affinity for violence and destruction. Humanity is a trait I lack, but was one my grandparents had in abundance.

    Why couldn’t my kindhearted grandparents rub off on me? Was it some repressed memory of my parents’ death? Did I see something on the television that said, “Boy, you had better lose your mind and prepare for Judgment Day?”

    I’m not quite sure.

    It must have been a sudden realization that the world was a horrible place filled with horrible people who would never amount to anything. It was filled to the brim with people who were apathetic and money driven with no real goal but to get more money. To live more indolently or to have a bigger TV. Yes, that must have been it. When I saw that the mass majority was flawed, I wrote off trying to be like them.

    The great change in the world shook everything up. No one cared anymore about those things. We were all on equal ground, and that made things interesting.

    In fact, I dare say it made living worthwhile.

***

    Spring wasn’t planning on giving way to summer. It was probably mid-June by now and it was still cold. Through steel-toed boots and thick wool socks, I felt thoroughly chilled. I was wedged into the corner of my bed, which was pressed against a wall, curled up against the sounds of rain outside. Ever since Gabriella arrived, it rained almost constantly, the liquid varying in severity, but relentless nonetheless. Such weather wasn’t uncommon, but I couldn’t stop myself from making foolish correlations between her and it.

    When I had nothing to do, I thought. Recollections of a childhood, typically consciously repressed, rushed back to me for no apparent reason. Sometimes I thought the memories were significant, but most of them just seemed mundane. Me riding a bike to school or one of grandma’s old church friends’s scolding me.

Drip, drip, drop. Drip, drip, drop.

    From somewhere in the house the steady, maddening metronome-like sound of dripping water drove me insane. I would’ve gotten up and shut a window, found the source of the sound, but what if I couldn’t find its location? I’d grow even more insane, endlessly searching for its source. Really, in the end, it was easier not to bother.

    Isolation made me nostalgic and dizzy, most often with a feeling of stagnation. When I felt like that, thinking about my past was the only course of entertainment, even if said entertainment was odd.

    Pulling the blanket closer, I sighed crossly. Life was a nonstop run for me, so I never paused to mull over my past, present, or future. But why would I? There was nothing in that dark closet that would change anything about me. Reminiscing was nothing more than dredging up old, insignificant memories.

    Boredom knew exactly how to leash me and lead me, nudging me into cynical thoughts and life-questioning dilemmas. No matter how hard I tried to keep my mind blank, I kept returning to how my life really was going to be, especially now that Gabe was around. No one ever mentioned to me having to meet up with another survivor.

Drip, drip, drop. Drip, drip, drop.

    Overlaying the beat of the water-metronome, were Gabe’s moans and the moans of zombies outside the apartment. They provided the bass clef melody to the song of my meaningless thoughts.

    Pickle was rifling through the candy on the dining room table. Seconds later I heard the soft thud of her abandoning the cause. Minutes later she was in the middle of the doorway to my room, staring at me. I brought my hand out from the covers and beckoned her, only to have her scamper off out of sight.

    Gabe had only been hanging outside for several hours, but already masses of undead clambered beneath her, eyes filled with blank, empty hunger. For the first twenty minutes or so she screamed until her throat was raw. For some time she was quiet, then she started up on her grousing once again. At times like this I began to reconsider my actions, but never for very long. I couldn’t change the past, so why think about it?

    Sometimes I wondered if she died and joined the ranks of the undead, but I doubted it; her tone still held life that the others didn’t have, setting it apart.

Drip, drip, drop. Drip, drip-

    “Cyrus!”

    The scream startled me. I turned my neck too fast in the direction from which it came, sending a hot pain that shot up my neck and into my head. The tips of my fingers flew up to my neck, rubbing up and down the hurt nerve, seeking reprieve.

    “Cyrus! Quick!”

    It was Gabe. She was yelling, screaming shrilly. Instantly I knew this scream was different from the others. It didn’t possess the pathetic tone of a plea, but the loudness of authority, not to mention a dash of lunacy.

    Kicking the cold comforter from my body, I rolled out of the bed and scrambled to the balcony, tripping multiple times. Pickle went berserk from my fast, clumsy motions, and took to running around the living room in a blind panic.

    Outside was just as cold as inside. Rain beat down from the sky. The drops were even and dense, cool and refreshing. I tilted my head back into it momentarily before another shout from the bald woman snapped me from my daze.

    “I’ve learned my lesson, Master. Please, bring me up,” she regressed.

    Gabe was looking up at me, smiling. Her teeth were stained an unpleasant tint of pink, her chin and nose dark with dried blood. Cleansing rainfall hadn’t completely washed her clean yet. A completely and utterly pitiable laugh escaped her lips as she looked up at me, head craned up awkwardly.

    “Why are you smiling,” I questioned emptily, looking down at her. “You don’t have anything to be smiling about.”

    Matter-of-factly she replied, “When life sucks the fuck out of you, you just gotta grin and bear it, right? I get it…you’re the head of the pack. I’ll go by your rules. It’s not like I haven’t done that before.”

    I rubbed my face, which was slick with rain, and screwed my eyes shut. It stung keeping them closed, but I welcomed the searing pain.

    Apparently I did as much damage as I could, leaving her there. Maybe I broke her psychologically, which was why she was acting so strangely and willingly. So, when I decided to bring her up, it wasn’t an act of compassion, but a minor one of pride.

    Grabbing the wet, black rope, I began pulling her body up. Once she was at the top, I hauled her over the railing. We went back inside, silently, as though nothing had happened.

    Once settled in, I listened for the water drops that had threatened to take my sanity.

    They were gone.

Chapter 5

    If fate were paying attention and wanted to make things cinematic, the rain would have stopped when I finally let Gabriella back in, representing the cliché concept of a new beginning. The sun would come out, the zombies would all die, and we would repopulate the earth with battle-ready mini-Cyruses.

    I might have said this before, but life isn’t a movie.

    Also, Gabe is too young for me and doesn’t have appropriate genetics for breeding.

    The sky turned even darker when I helped her hobble back into the apartment, and the continuous storm got angrier and blew with all its might. It beat down on the roof so hard we could hear it, even through blowing wind and rumbling thunder.

    Nevertheless, I brought her into the bedroom and allowed her to lie on my bed. I picked up the previously abused comforter from its resting place on the ground and placed it over her, awkwardly. I was no mother, no caring father. I didn’t know how to console the dying or aid the sick.

    Clearing my throat, I looked out the window, a distraction from the situation at hand. The sight that greeted me was no better. A little girl, deceased, stared back from the building next door. Little, bloody hands clawed at her shut window, white eyes gazing at me hungrily. I reached over and tugged at the cord on the blinds until they finally gave way, shutting the disturbing image from Gabriella’s view.

    “Why did you do that to me?” Her hoarse voice barely stood out from the howling wind outside. I looked down at her from my position at the side of the bed, and was speechless. She lost interest in an answer and said, “Never mind, I don’t care. It’s over now. I don’t have anywhere safe to go.”

It’s over now? Who says? I realized Gabe handled the entire me throwing her off a balcony thing a little too lightly. My realization brought into question Gabe’s past and what she was doing before she got to me. If she were hiding something from me, it would certainly make sense to grit her teeth and bear my lunacy.

    Maybe she wasn’t the tough girl she made herself out to be. She did say she didn’t have anywhere else to go, and in a world like this-well, I imagine a person could put up with a lot if it meant they weren’t being eaten alive.

    Thunder boomed outside again and I glanced at the open bedroom door. It wasn’t going to be safe here for long. We’d be able to stay inside the apartment for as long as we wanted, but eventually we’d have to leave for supplies. There might be too many of them to even do that. The word “trapped” sprung into my mind.

    Gabe mentioning somewhere safe to stay challenged my notion of how safe I really was. I thought of the little girl next door, vacant face staring into the room. I wondered if she was still staring. I wouldn’t bet money on it.

    Keeping Gabriella in my apartment was the second most humanly thing I’d done in my life. The first being the fifteen days I spent in the Peace Corps. Helping people for nothing in return except gratitude didn’t work for me. I thought it would be a ‘life changing’ experience like the testimonials said. After that I gave up on being normal.

    A sinking feeling in my stomach made me feel keeping Gabe was a huge, awful mistake. It reflected poorly on my character. Why didn’t I just leave her there? Why didn't I kill her? What about this barely adult girl captivated me? I looked back down at her. Her face was sweaty and pale, her lips chapped and flaky.

    I turned around, eager to leave her to her own thoughts and pains, but she grabbed for me, her fingers barely brushing against my leg. Looking back at her, I caught the gaze of her deep blue eyes.

    Gabe’s face was chalky pale. I noted the sore, deep bruises from the ropes that snaked around her wrists.

    “We can’t stay here. There are too many of them,” she said. “There are hundreds. If we can’t stay here forever, we need to leave soon.”

    Deftly, I replied, “I know. Once you recover we’ll find somewhere else to go.”

    “We will?”

    “Yes, we will, Gabe. I’ll try not to kill you again.”

    Emotionlessly, she laughed. “I don’t believe you. I wouldn’t go making up promises like that. Really made up.”

    “Fine. I’ll try to try to not kill you,” I bargained, knowing I was being stupid. Hell, the sentence didn’t even make sense. Maybe this is what consoling the sick was all about; making yourself look dumb.

***

    I decided to sit by the sliding glass door, watching the sea of undead in the streets below, undulating with movement, growing rapidly. The horrendous weather continued on, the sky turning even darker with the approaching night. Once it became too dark to make out the forms of corpses below, I reluctantly broke from my thoughtless daze and stood up.

    With no warning, pressure and dizziness suddenly clouded my brain. My vision darkened and became fuzzy. I froze, bringing my hand to my head. It could have been a concussion. The blows recently dealt to my head by Gabe warranted head trauma, but I didn’t really know. Noise from the hallway demanded my attention. I glanced to my left and saw the vague outline of Gabriella leaning against the wall.

    “Well? What’s the plan?” she demanded, voice still husky and cracked. The light was strange. Her shadowy figure faded in and out of my visionI if I stared too long, I’d lose her, but if I didn’t focus hard enough, I wouldn’t be able to see her.

    “I didn’t think about it. I was just…” I paused. Sitting there? Staring at the faces of decomposing, once lively humans? Yeah, that was it.

    Apparently she knew my answer without me having to deliver it. “We’ll leave in the morning then.”

    I laughed at her command. “Where are we going to go?”

    “I don’t know. We’ll go on an adventure, Robinson Crusoe style, or something,” she suggested.

    “Have you even read Robinson Crusoe?” My question silenced her temporarily, but she was back at it in the blink of an eye.

I hadn’t read it until a few weeks ago, I thought. But it still makes me better than her. No denying that.

    “Listen, Cyrus, when I was hanging off a building going insane I came to a few life realizations. One, us sitting around in this apartment will result in death. Either you or me, but one of us will probably die, regardless of any half-assed promises. We just don’t get along on a basic level,” she spoke, as high up on her soapbox as one could get.

    Gabe finished her little monologue up with, “Two, I feel like I have nothing to lose. The world as I know it has come to a complete and fucking thorough end. It’ll never be the same, so I might as well live it up while I’m still alive and in decent condition.”

    Though she couldn’t see it, I scratched the side of my jaw in pensive consideration. It was clear enough that she was ready to put our misunderstandings behind and go the route of an insane loner, much like myself. Perhaps throwing that girl off a balcony was the best thing I could’ve done. Now I had a partner in crime. Hopefully our current breakdown of the situation would put her sporadic, bipolar past behind us.

    I’m aware I seem like the kind of person who needs no one, which is correct; I don’t. However, the idea of conditioning someone to be like me, a companion in the new world, wasn’t a thought entirely unappealing. A part of me was very aware Gabriella wasn’t going to put up with me terrorizing her forever, but another part sure hoped she would.

    Then again, she probably wasn’t going to. Whatever made that girl tick was going to keep on ticking until she ran out of batteries. After that, when would I find another woman? Mentally slapping myself for such a ridiculous train of thought, I shoved the ideas away and focused on Gabe’s question.

    Carefully, unsure of the answer I’d receive, I asked, “What’s your definition of ‘living it up?’”

    “I’d like to light a candle first, since its pitch black in here,” she responded, “if that isn’t too much to ask. I’m pretty sure all the zombies in Seattle know we’re here, Cyrus. There’s no point in hiding.”

***

    Twenty minutes later, three matches and a candle found, we were sitting in the living room, discussing a plan. Gabe had a bottle of water and I had my last bag of marshmallows. We were peachy keen, like kids at a campfire. I don’t understand why I spent so long looking for a candle when I had a battery operated halogen lamp. I guess it was for ambiance.

    “I said I wanted to get out of the apartment, but so far it’s held up formidably. Being here is a matter of supplies, not safety,” Gabe said, voice neutral, but behind it a spark of excitement shone through.

    I nodded in agreement, a slightly stale marshmallow rolling around in my mouth. I prodded it with my tongue until it was out of the way, pressing against my cheek, then said, “That door is solid steel. While you were asleep I boarded it up a bit.” I paused a beat and then added, “That would make our only exit the balcony though. It’s fairly easy to get to the roof from there.”

    The bald girl nodded, the wheels in her mind turning. I already had a precise plan formed on exiting the apartment, but it amused me to let her “think” about it. She seemed to like being part of arranging things, so I let her. It wouldn’t hurt anyone.

    The single candle flickered, throwing the shadows on her face into a dancing frenzy. She looked like a monster, but who was I to talk?

    I was laying my stomach, face propped up in my hands. Suddenly I felt a little someone wiggle into the side of my t-shirt and cuddle up against my rib. I pulled down the neckline of the shirt and looked down at Pickle. The candle light barely made it through the white cotton and illuminated her tiny red eyes. Gabe spoke and drew my attention away from the adorable albino at my side.

    “All right. We’ll pack up as much as we can. Be practical, light, and efficient. No bringing a rocket launcher just for kicks,” she reasoned.

    “Why not?”

    Her brows furrowed and she asked, “Do you have one?”

    I grinned and got up-sending Pickle scurrying out of my shirt and under the dining room table-and sauntered off into my spare room.

    We got to packing. Regret pained in my heart as I sorted through what was reasonable to take and what wasn’t. The contents of that room were the closest thing to children that I’d ever have, and here I had to pick between them.

    It was a parent’s worse nightmare.

    At first I beat myself up about leaving the apartment, since there wasn’t a concrete reason to do it. Gabe thought she convinced me, but in the end I convinced myself. Sure, I didn’t need to leave, but I wanted to. Everyone needs a little danger to spice up their lives.

    All of it struck me as funny in that little moment. The teenage feminist and the sociopath, packing our bags before setting out in the morning for a day on the undead town. I didn’t see a single issue with it, and Gabe didn’t either-I hoped. Just because she was on board now, didn’t mean she’d always be. But despite that…

    The world was our oyster. Hell, the pearl inside of it was too, not like we needed it.

Chapter 6

    “Twenty bucks and my MP5. I swear.”

    “No, I don’t want your crappy machine gun, and money holds absolutely no value,” I snapped.

    We sat in the hallway, she on one side and me on the other. I peered down at my wristwatch, clicked the little orange button on the side, and watched as the screen turned blue, revealing the time. Only 11:37 p.m. We had a lot of time to kill before we were going to leave the apartment on our happy adventure.

    I peeled the Velcro back and slid the watch off. There really wasn’t a point in keeping a watch when time didn’t matter. If it were dark, we couldn’t do anything. If it were light, we could leave. Simple as that.

    “Listen, Cyrus,” Gabe tried, “it’s a great deal. Go into the apartment below, baseball bat only, and bring back at least one zombie out onto the patio as proof.”

    The deal was simple. I would swing over, on a rope, to the neighboring apartment balcony. All I would bring with me was baseball bat and a handgun as backup if things went awry. Go in, hit a zombie on the head, and bring it back to the patio. I’d win twenty worthless dollars and an MP5 with three full clips.

    “The deal isn’t sweet enough,” I whined, waving away her poor offer. “Give me the MP5, the clips, and promise you’ll save my life at least three times.”

    Gabe chuckled at the silly notion, but agreed nonetheless.

    “To the neighbors I go then,” I said.

    The weight of the.40 felt reassuring and pleasant in its holster. The titanium bat, on the other hand, felt clumsy and awkward. It stopped raining outside, and as I stood on the wet patio I grinned in pleasure at the chance to finally do something. The moon shone pleasantly from above, round and light giving.

    I retrieved the rope I used to hang Gabe and tied it firmly to the side of the balcony railing. I’d repel down the side of the building, swing over to the neighbors, tie off the rope, and run into the house. Get a zombie, show my bald companion. That was it.

    On the balcony the same obese undead man looked up at us, mouth open and eager. Apparently he was ready for a midnight snack.

    “If you don’t make it back, I’m throwing the rest of your sugar out.”

    Mouth agape in mock horror and shock, similar to Mr. Chunk’s expression, I turned around to see Gabe standing in the door way, arms folded across her chest.

    “You’re kidding? That’s all I have left,” I played along, but saw through her threat instantly. If I died, she would be on her own. Something about that frightened her.

    Thoughts of her bizarre personality and tolerance for me sprung forth once again. People don’t take unjustified beatings and torment without a very good reason. What was her reason? Was she really that afraid of being alone?

    Filing the thoughts away to the backwoods of my mind, I returned the girl’s smile.

***

    A rough sloughing noise made by my boots on the brick was almost covered up by the fiends below me. Words can’t even describe it, but repelling down the side of a brick building is unique in sensation and sound. Z’s moaned in excitement as I went lower and lower. They were hungry and had no qualms about verbalizing it.

    The street was dark. A nebulous, wet mist floated in the air, and clouds blocked out most of the needed moonlight. I could barely make out the undulating sea of undead below me, but I knew they were there.

    My plan was almost working. Except that Mr. Chunk had stayed outside ever since Gabe visited him in the previous chapter of our relationship.

    There was no way to crush his skull in with a bat and hang onto a rope simultaneously. Despite the easily destroyable, putrid brain in his skull, there was still the skull to contend with.

    I looked up at Gabriella who was leaning over the railing, shining light from my industrial flashlight onto me. She shone it on the pudgy, rain coated zombie, the light casting down on the other undead as well.

    One undead in particular caught my eye, as they tend to do on occasion. The entirety of her body was impaled with shards of glass that glinted in the flashlight, making her one sparkly corpse. She had so much blood coating her body, she was nothing but glittering red, gore seeping from her open mouth.

    Drawing my attention away, I said, “I’m going to shoot him. Our deal was that I go into the apartment. I can’t go in if he’s hanging out like that.”

    Gabe nodded.

    I twisted the rope around my arm a few times for extra support and let go with one hand to grab the.40 from its resting place. I was on Mr. Chunk’s level, my body parallel with the balcony, only about six feet away. Turning slightly, I aimed at his head. In a bursting firework of gooey redness, the back of his head flew out from behind him. Dramatically, he fell to his knees, slumping down onto the wet ground.

    With a smirk at my flawless headshot, which wasn’t admirable since it was point blank, I swung myself over to the ledge, easily grounding myself. Entirely alert, I was in my moment. Thoroughly. Avoiding the mass of rotting flesh on the balcony, I tiptoed around him and into the apartment.

This is my time, I thought eagerly.

    Looking through the open sliding glass door, I saw nothing but blackness. Unlike most shmucks, I’m always prepared. Without hesitation, I reached up and clicked on my headlamp. The device looked stupid, but fashion isn’t a concern when your life is on the line.

    Instantly, the whitish-blue glow of light cut through the thick blackness in the house, revealing an empty living room. No zombies in sight. I frowned, distraught. I had hoped to grab and bag one quickly, but now I had to search the damn place first.

    Not a sound coming from my steps, I moved soundlessly about the empty living room, quick glances confirming no zombies in the adjoining rooms. For a moment I stopped and looked around the dark room. Unlike my apartment, this one was furnished with sofas and a coffee table. Nothing about the place was abnormal, right down to the mug resting on a wooden coaster next to a newspaper. A clock was ticking on the wall, one with a pendulum. The entire scene was waiting for someone to open the front door and switch on the lights.

    Casting aside any further consideration of the room, I wetted my dry lips with a swift lick of my tongue. Eyes closed, I listened for the faint, airy moan of a nearby zombie. For the scratching of shredded nails against a door.

    I received the latter.

    The bat clutched firmly in my hand, I moved down the hallway that was an exact replica of my own. The front door was shut, with a bookshelf and armchair pressed against it. To the left, in the room that would have been mine, the soft rhhhiiissss of nails being drug down the plywood door caught my ears.

    I was moments away from opening the door. My fingertips touched the icy doorknob just as I felt hot breath from behind me. I hadn’t checked the other room; I realized, as I flung myself to the side, ready to dodge what I thought was going to be an attack.

Undead are slow, I thought. You can practically walk circles around them. I had plenty of time to spin around and react.

    This time I didn’t. This particular undead, unlike every other one I had seen, was fast. Too fast. It was a woman and she was on me, clawing at my face, her mouth firmly locked onto my exposed neck. I dropped the baseball bat and grabbed her shoulders, shoving her back from me one-handedly as I grabbed the.40 from the thigh holster. This counted as trouble. Fast, crazy zombies? Who expected that? I needed to kill it fast; Gabe wouldn’t think it was cheating.

    The bullet went clean through her skull.

    While I inhaled deep ragged breaths, I stared at the bleeding corpse illuminated by my headlamp. The bite on my neck was pulsating in pain, but it wasn’t the pain that worried me. It was that I was bit-bit. That meant it was the end of the line for me.

    Nausea overcame me and I fell back against the wall, bringing my hand up to the wound. That was the end for me. In a few hours, I’d be just as clever as Mr. Chunk and the woman full of glass outside.

    With one shaky hand, I reached up to feel the slow leak of blood. Yeah, I was bit. Despite my best, best efforts, I was going to be like every other dumb fuck on the face of the planet, because of carelessness. Because I didn’t check the damn room behind me.

    Pickle! My heart imploded right then. Who was going to take care of her once I was gone? The poor thing would have to fend for herself. She’d be even worse off if Gabe decided to try and take care of her.

    Then, as fast as it happened, I realized it didn’t matter. Zombies don’t have breath, let alone warm breath. They bite you; they don’t claw at you. They don’t bleed.

    I reached down and felt the hot blood still seeping from the ragged bullet hole in the bottom of her chin, soaking the carpet. Hesitantly, I rolled her onto her back and looked at her for the first time.

    “Oh.”

    She was human. Really human. Living.

    The rhhiiissss noise was now louder from the door I had originally planned to open. The door that most likely contained the zombie loved one of the human woman I had just killed, quarantined from the rest of the family. She didn’t want to kill me; she wanted to stop me from opening the door, or from killing whoever was in there.

    “Well,” I said awkwardly, glancing around the room. I was still alone, not counting whoever was locked in the room. The bet was still on with Gabe and I wouldn't lose because I accidentally killed that woman. If anything, I was putting her out of her misery.

Mrs. Singlar, I suddenly remembered. Our mail was always getting mixed up because our old mailman couldn’t tell the difference in our names. That’s how I knew her. But what’s done is done.

    At first I scolded myself for not checking the room and not being on better guard. Then I continued my plan-uninterested in trying to fake guilt-and opened the door. A teenage boy, normal looking except for the bite on his neck and blue flesh, grabbed for me slowly. I moved back, allotting myself the distance needed for the bat.

    After the swooshing noise of the bat moving through the air and the crunch of the boy’s skull caving in as it met the bat, there was no more noise inside the apartment. Except for the oblivious tick-tock of the clock.

    That woman I killed was a sign that living humans weren’t as nonexistent as I thought. In fact, that lady was in my own apartment building, for heaven’s sake. There could be people everywhere, still holed up. It made sense, I suppose. Not everyone was as dumb as I thought, though the majority most definitely was.

    I dragged the boy’s body through the blood of his mother and onto the patio. I showed Gabe who laughed and gave me thumbs up, unaware of the life I had unintentionally taken.

If only she knew, I thought, she wouldn’t be laughing. No matter how much I wanted her to, she wouldn’t be.

Chapter 7

    The time had come: Gabe and I were leaving the apartment. I decided before we even woke up to pack the next day that we weren’t coming back. Resources were looking limited, the undead were looking abundant. The noise was too much for me to handle.

    No, we weren’t coming back.

    After assessing the contents in the spare room I realized I had overestimated how many MREs I actually had. My assumption was that I had enough to last at least a year, but I hadn’t factored in feeding Gabe. There was enough to last three, maybe four months.

    When the sun rose just enough for me to see, I went into the spare room to find my G.I. combat pack. I’m an organized person so I found it with my other packs, neatly placed in the closet.

    The spare room was one part of my apartment that I would miss. An entire wall was covered in guns, all mounted and shiny. My Barrett.50 mournfully stared at me from the center of the wall; I wouldn’t be taking that lover with me.

    I caressed my P90, stroked my M14. I admired my collection of side arms, especially the Desert Eagle; it had sentimental value. The G3 looked as sleek as ever, the M4 Carbine reminding me of my younger days. My two shotguns, W1200 and M1014, begged to be fired.

    On the ground a M249 SAW stood, casually left out from the last time I cleaned it. It was too heavy to take anywhere now. It was going to stay alone in my apartment forever.

    The Barrett, though. I couldn’t leave her there with 10 shots waiting to be fired. 10 one-shot, one-kill bullets. Really, I wasn’t on a schedule. The zombies outside weren’t going anywhere. I had plenty of time.

    I pulled her off the wall, put her on my back.

    I stopped into the kitchen to grab a bag of granulated sugar.

    I headed to the roof.

***

    The funny thing about zombies is you have to shoot them in the head. It made things a lot more challenging, but a lot more fun.

    When the TV’s were trying to rationalize why zombies had to be shot in the head, I wondered why anyone cared. They had to be shot in the head, end of story. Knowing why didn’t change the whole ‘have to’ part.

    Anyway, I decided early on that I’d only shoot zombies that looked amusing. The naked man with the shower cap, the teenage band geek. Picking characters was a lot more amusing than just killing unspecific people.

    Shoot, eat some sugar. Shoot, eat some sugar.

    This was the most fun I had had since the time I beat up Gabe.

    While sugar was dissolving in my mouth, I peered through the scope and looked around for my next target. A middle-aged transvestite caught my eye, mostly because of the lime-green ball gown he had on. I exhaled and centered his head, then shot.

No more head for you, prom queen.

    Gabe had been startled by the loudness of the Barrett, frantically running around the apartment looking for me before she realized I was on the roof. She went to the balcony, looking up at me as I peered down to look at her.

    “What are you doing? I thought we were leaving, Cyrus!”

    “Listen, I have thousands of dollars worth of ammo and guns I’ll never be able to use. I can’t take it with me and I’m not wasting it,” I explained.

    She paused, biting her lip. “I noticed you have a really cool little gun. Can I…?”

    I laughed and said “Go for it. You might be too far away to use it from the balcony though.”

    “You’re right. It’s lightweight though. Maybe we should take it with? How about that funky sniper rifle in there?”

    “Sure, I never use it. Good range on it, too,” I replied, totally unaware of what gun she was referring to. That girl sure acted like she knew something, when she really didn’t.

    Gabe disappeared back into the house. I went into prone on the roof, seeking my next target through the scope. What was once a high school mascot of a large bird hobbled down the street. His mask had long since fallen off, bearing his decaying face and white eyes.

    Aim. Breath out. Shoot.

    His head was entirely gone in one burst of old brain and coagulated blood. The other undead didn’t pause to see what happened to their fallen comrade.

    After the ringing in my ears subsided, I heard Gabe yelling up at me.

    “…throw it? You have, like, fifteen of these!”

    I grabbed a hand full of sugar, licking it up from the palm of my hand before glancing down to see what she was talking about.

    She held one M33 frag grenade in each hand. I had bought them in bulk the previous month from a less than legit dealer. Naturally I had no illusions; I knew I’d never be able to use them, but the appeal of owning grenades was just too much.

    “Go for it. It probably won’t kill any, but it sure as hell will be fun.”

    We were a mentally unsound couple on vacation.

    Me on my sniper rifle and Gabe with her grenades.

    I loved every minute of it.

Chapter 8

    “This is it,” Gabe breathed.

    Below us, the street was packed with zombies as far as the eye could see. They knew we were here. They could see us. They wanted to eat us.

    “This…is it,” I repeated.

    We were on the roof in the front of the building, just staring at them. Earlier it had seemed like a piece of cake, Rambo-ing out of the apartment and into the undead riddled world. Now it wasn’t looking too hot; now it was looking like a challenge. Almost too much of a challenge.

    “You still want to get out of here?” Gabe asked.

    The weight of my backpack was heavy. My barely used combat attire was stiff, as I hadn’t worn it at all yet. Under my pocket-laden tactical vest I wore a black Ripstop tactical shirt, with a pair of coordinating Ripstop Tru-Spec pants to finish off the look. When browsing the internet for things like this, anything with the word ‘tactical’ seemed to work out just fine.

    Pickle was trained to stay in small packs without losing it. When the world started to end, I began training her for situations like this. She didn’t like it and was shifting around, but I wasn’t going to leave her in the apartment to die.

    The escape plan was brutally simple. We’d give the zombies the slip. While they were moaning in the front, we’d rappel down the back into the alley and make a run for it. I had a car in the underground parking lot across the street, but there was no way in hell we were going to go get it. Instead, we’d rough it out on foot until it was safe to hotwire a car or until we found suitable transportation.

    Where were we headed?

    Wherever the wind blew us.

    “Yeah,” I replied, “let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

***

    The alley was dark even though it was clearly morning. Not a single person, living or dead, was to be seen. Gabe and I successfully rappelled down the side of the building, not making a single zombie-luring sound as we went.

    Gabe pointed to the two exits of the alley. Right or left?

    Did it matter? We didn’t know what was on either end, but I chose right, just for the hell of it.

    Single file, rifles on the ready, we moved silently around dumpsters and garbage, each footstep taking us farther down the block and closer to the unknown.

    I maneuvered around an indistinguishable pile of gore, opting to breathe through my mouth as we passed. Whatever it was, it was teeming with wiggling maggots. Though it was probably a trick of my mind, I could’ve sworn I actually heard them.

    After avoiding anything that could cause noise, we came to the end of the alley and took in the chaotic intersection before us.

    It wasn’t uncommon to find narrow, cramped streets in Seattle, but the intersection managed to take the word ‘cramped’ to a new level. To the right two Humvees were head to head, completely blocking traffic. The traffic lights were destroyed, creating a bridge between all the wrecked cars beyond the Humvees. Evidence of a fire was obvious; crispy, burnt corpses were half-way out of blackened, melted cars. Even from my angle I could see the glimmering lake of glass surrounding the entire scene, both from broken cars and the surrounding shops.

    The chaos to my right was only mildly interesting compared to the relative serenity to my left. Only the businesses had been looted, and wreckage was sparse in the street as far as I could see. Somehow the government, city, or whoever the fuck tried, managed to block off the street successfully. Farther up, I knew it turned onto the I-5 freeway, which was fortunate for us. It meant there was a clear path out of Seattle.

    Better yet, all the Z’s in the immediate area really were gathered at my apartment. Not a single one of them was milling about on either side of this street.

    I made a left and moved down the sidewalk, careful not to hastily walk in front of open doorways. Some of them were still untouched, as though an apocalypse never happened. A boutique, one that I had passed before on my way to work, still boasted outrageously expensive purses and shoes. The mannequins looked down their noses at me, as grandiose and absurd as they always had.

Fuck you, Louis Vuitton store, I thought spitefully. No one’s going to you now.

    Other shops weren’t as fortunate. We crunched past one that must’ve gone through an outrageous fire. The entire inside was a macabre tangle of burnt furniture and countertops. Old, scorched corpses littered the ground. Maybe they had made a stand there. Or tried to, at least.

    The weather finally got its act together and remembered what it should be doing. Sunlight was breaking through the morning mist and dissipating the grey clouds above. The sidewalks and roads were still darkened from rainfall, and a sheen of little rain droplets covered surfaces.

    Suddenly down the street I could hear the booming roar of a vehicle. By the sound of it I guessed it was a Hummer or something equally big. Gabe and I froze, anticipating the certain moans of zombies to follow.

    “This changes things,” Gabe said quietly.

    I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t. We’re bound to run into people at one point or another. Maybe they’ll want to give us a ride.”

    Sure enough, a jet black Hummer swiveled around the corner, moving steadily down the street. They probably came from the freeway, which would delightfully confirm my suspicions. Confirmation of a cleared freeway would expedite our plans-whatever they were.

    We were in plain sight, standing on the sidewalk. The Hummer was clearly making its way for us. I didn’t bring my M4 Carbine up, figuring they’d feel threatened and run me over. A speeding car headed for me was one thing, surprisingly, I couldn’t avoid. Zombies? No problem. Bipolar teenage girl? Whatever.

    “Oh, shit,” Gabe muttered.

    “What is it?” I sighed.

    “I know them.”

    “So? Shouldn’t that make it easier to get a lift?” I asked.

    She just shook her head.

    Frankly, I didn’t care about her issues, so I waited for the Hummer to pull up beside us, the tinted window rolling down. First thing I noticed: the man had too many greasy, flabby chins to count.

    “Gabriella. Funny thing, running into you here,” he said.

    Her voice was flat, but I could tell Gabe was shook up. She replied, “Yeah, Tyler. What the fuck are you doing here?”

    “Lookin’ for you,” another voice from the passenger side bellowed.

    “Listen, why don’t we talk about this while inside the car?” I ventured, pointing down the block to the zombies that had taken an interest in what was going on. Most of them were coming from the wreckage, trying to crawl over it all, but the rest were coming from the alley we’d just come from.

    An unusually silly crowd of zombies was shambling along toward us, and I suddenly wished I had some way of enjoying it. They appeared to be remains of a football team, their colors black and orange. Some of the players even had helmets on, and I felt a tiny pang of sadness for them. How could they take a tasty, hot bite of living flesh if they had a big ol’ helmet on? Poor zombies.

    “Sure, sure,” Tyler said. “Hop in the back, eh? Pull anything and we’ll put a fuckin’ bullet in your head.”

    He rolled up the window. We heard the automatic locks click. I looked at Gabe, raising an eyebrow. She said nothing and ripped the door open, getting inside. I followed, settling into the leather seats.

    The other man in the car was the comic opposite of Tyler. He was thin and sallow with a viciously hooked nose. His thinning brown hair was slicked back with natural hair gel.

    “Gabby, nice to see you. Been looking for you for a while now,” the skinny one said.

    “Oh really? I’d think you’d be worrying about other things, Larry,” she replied.

    I let my eyes roam around the car, zoning out from their conversation. Why listen to the hired help? You wouldn’t listen to the ramblings of a taxi driver, would you? These clowns would be the equivalent if I got my way.

    The trunk contained an absolute armory. Countless sub machine guns were piled on top of each other, but a few quality assault rifles and shotguns were at the party, too. These fuckers knew how to handle themselves. That, or they were just good at hoarding expensive firearms.

    With impassive interest, I looked away from the goods and up to Tyler and Larry, who were still carrying on with their dull conversation.

    “…just left them like that. We came to get you, you-” Larry was rambling.

    If I shot Tyler in the head…

    “…so we’s come to get you, right? Been chasing you since-”

    No, can’t shoot him first. The car was still on and wasn’t in park. He could hit the gas and run us into a wall.

    “You could imagine how hurt we all were…”

    Hell, I have two handguns! I could hold them both hostage and kill them later.

    “Hey! Ginger-boy, you payin’ attention? We don’t need no extra baggage. Get out of the car,” Tyler was shouting.

    I then noticed the car was further up the street. While I was zoning out they evidently moved away from the Z’s farther back, and wanted to offload me. I looked at Gabe and raised a brow.

    Suddenly Larry was reaching for a gun in a drink holder up front.

    “Okay, okay,” I said, getting the hint, and opened the door.

    “Cyrus,” Gabe started, but I shook my head.

    “Don’t worry about it. I got this. See you boys later.”

    While feigning getting out of the car, my hand went for the knife strapped to my thigh, hidden from the two men. I swung back with lightning speed and flung myself onto Larry, the bigger threat, and rammed the knife in his throat. Arterial spray coated the windshield and my face as I turned and grabbed Tyler’s wrist. He was haphazardly going for the handgun stashed in the drink holder. I twisted his hand, breaking it instantly. I realized I was in an awkward position, half my body in the backseat while my other half tried to take down the fat man in the driver’s seat.

    “What the fuck are you waiting for? Shoot him!” I yelled at Gabe as I fought with Tyler’s other arm.

    Blood from Larry spurted in my direction, getting into my eyes. Before too much of the salty liquid violated me, I squeezed my eyes and mouth shut. I heard the single shot of a handgun and another spray of blood, and this time gore, splashed into my face.

    Dropping my hands from the lifeless body of Tyler, I slid back into the seat next to Gabe.

    “Really? What the fuck, you couldn’t have shot him in the side of the head? How did you even get to that angle? You could’ve shot me.”

    Gabe shot Tyler in the back of the head. Her bullet was a hollow point, effectively blowing up poor old Tyler’s noggin. I wiped the blood out of my eyes and reached over to shut the open door of the Hummer. That bullet effectively coated me in gore, too.

    I looked at Gabe, who was white as a ghost.

    “Well?” I demanded. “What the hell just happened?”

    The front seat and passenger side were bloody. The windshield was bloody. I was bloody. Gabe was perfectly clean. I was getting angry.

    “I…I just…why did you do that…?”

    Uninterested in keeping up with her issues, I punched her in the temple. Hard. She slumped down, but was still conscious. Gabe was about to make another comment, but I punched her again, effectively rendering her unconscious.

    Sweet silence. Some time to think and analyze the situation. A lot had just happened. Two ugly motherfuckers just tried to abduct Gabe and get rid of me. They were now dead, the distasteful and coppery scent of death already filling the car. Gabe was unconscious. I was covered in gore.

    Outside the situation hadn’t grown any worse. No zombies. I jumped out of the car, opening the driver’s side, and pulled Tyler out.

    “Sorry, buddy,” I muttered as I took his place.

    I hunched over Larry and opened that door, pushing him out. No more dead bodies in the car; now that problem was solved. After finding some fast food napkins in the glove compartment, I cleaned off the windshield as much as possible, slightly concerned about the blood seeping into the ventilation system of the car. Would that break it, or something? I know a lot of crap, but nothing about cars.

    So I wouldn’t crush Pickle, I shrugged my backpack off and set it in the front seat. I unzipped it, ready to let her come out on her own time. After watching the opening for a second, I understood she was too scared to get out.

    The car was still running, so I put it in drive and we went on our way. I felt icky and disgruntled, but it wasn’t going to get in the way. I left my apartment, my haven, for a reason.

    Well, I wasn’t sure what that reason was yet, but some day I’d figure it out.

Chapter 9

    As I drove, a few things happened. First, the freeway was shockingly empty, more so than I thought it would be. A few cars congested the entrances, but I pushed through with my new favorite toy, the Hummer, so there was no issue. We were cruising. Pickle was out and sitting in the passenger seat, catching a breather from the backpack and trauma to date. What a trooper.

    Second, and more horrifically, brain matter had dripped from somewhere on my face into my mouth. The taste was not totally unlikable, but the thought that it had been from a fat weirdo was. You win some and you lose some. Whatever.

    It had been a long time since I’d driven out of Seattle. I didn’t know where I was going. In fact, even though I had a car I can’t remember the last time I actually drove it. A few incoherent memories of driving to army surplus stores came into focus, along with driving to the local docks for gun pickups. Nothing out of the ordinary for good ol’ Cyrus V. Sinclair.

    Abandoned scatterings of cars littered the freeway, but there were no zombies as far as the eye could see. I parked the car (stopped it in the middle of the road), turned it off, and got into the back seat with Gabe.

    She was slumped against the seat, her chin touching her chest. She’d have one hell of a neck ache when she woke up. Probably a headache, too.

    I lightly tapped her cheek a few times in attempt to rouse her.

    Nothing.

    I tapped a little harder.

    But before I had the chance to start punching the unconscious girl, her eyes fluttered open. She groaned.

    “Fuck, Cyrus. Why’d you have to hit me?”

    My reply was, “Didn’t feel like putting up with your girly whining. There was man’s work to be done.”

    She rolled her neck, which emitted a series of cracks and pops, then rubbed her temples. “Man’s work?”

    “Man’s work,” I reassured.

    The fuzzy-headed teen stared at me, brow furrowed in pain. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Rubbed her temples once more. Pickle scurried up the passenger’s seat and perched on the headrest, looking at us.

    “Okay, well, what now?” she asked flatly, putting on a terrible attempt of a blank face. She was in pain, which was evident, and probably in emotional turmoil.

    “Don’t know. Head towards the least populated place available, make a Z-Proof fortress…and keep on living, I guess.”

    “How do you want to do that? What city do you want to go to?”

    I thought for a moment, thinking of the best place to go and the best way to get there. We had a stockade in the back, but it wasn’t going to be good enough. Part of me wanted to go back to my place to get the rest of my goods; adding them to what we already had sounded very, very seductive.

    In a nonchalant tone, I brought the idea up. “How about going back to my place and getting the rest of my stuff? The path to the alley is clear. If we plan this right, we can get everything. We would have enough supplies to last quite a while.”

Hey, I thought. Maybe we could even stop at the AM/PM down the street and get the real goods. You know, gummy bears, marshmallows, Dots. The usual. I didn’t run it by Gabe; that idea could wait.

    She hadn’t replied yet, so I prodded. “And the verdict is?”

    “Why bother? We can just raid the ammo shops on the way to wherever it is we’re going,” she reasoned. “And supermarkets, too.”

    Though reasonable, I contradicted. “We can do that in addition to getting the rest of my stuff. If you want, I can leave you somewhere while I go do it. Sure, it’ll make my job a little harder, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. Plus, all those places will be crawling with stiffs or already cased.”

    “Whatever,” she replied weakly, pushing past me to sit in the front seat. Pickle squeaked and ran off under the backseats.

    I win all my battles. Cyrus V. Sinclair. The V stands for victorious. Every time.

***

    On the way back to my place, we (mostly I) devised a plan. Gabe would park some distance away and hang low while I got back into the apartment and brought everything to the roof. On my command, she’d drive down the ally and stand on top of the Hummer while I lowered the goods down to her. Simple, effective, blah blah blah. I just wanted my guns back.

    “So, who were those guys?” I asked casually as we drove along, running over the occasional zombie road-blocker. Their bodies thumped onto the hood and scraped off the roof, leaving slimy residue behind. Nothing the windshield wipers couldn’t fix.

    “Some people I used to work with.”

    “Why were they after you?”

    She exhaled dramatically. “Weren’t you listening? My boss seems to have gone crazy and sent his two dogs to retrieve me.”

    Gabe’s voice was shaky when she answered, and her eyes looked a little too big. Lies were easy to detect if you were really paying attention. She knew I hadn’t been paying attention, but why was she lying to begin with?

    I whistled low and skeptically. “That sounds pretty crazy, Gabe. In the middle of an apocalypse, some manager sent some dudes to get you?”

    “It’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand,” she muttered.

    Curious, now, and eager to smoke her lie out, I prodded. “Try me.”

    “Well,” she started, “he is kind of in the mafia. Real hardcore, killin’ people running drugs, trafficking, whole nine yards. In a time of need, I started working for him. Accidently, knocked off a few of his people when they couldn’t keep to themselves. So that pissed them off quite a bit. Needless to say, after taking a lot of shit the gang-mafia scene threw at me, I told some secrets to some competitors of his and then hit the road. I went across the entire country and he still finds me. Great luck, huh?”

    A little girl in the mafia? Just because the world was undergoing some difficult changes, and she had been through some gnarly stuff, didn’t mean she could feed me a lie like that and expect me to swallow it. However, in a way, it did make sense. Her ability to use a weapon wasn’t too bad, and since she survived as long as she had, well, I suppose it was possible she could’ve been in involved with the mafia or gangs. It would’ve taught her how to be a cutthroat, which could explain why she’d survived this long.

Why am I even entertaining the idea of her having ties to the mafia?

    “What did you do for him, exactly?” I asked.

    She made a face, then rolled her eyes. “What do you think I did? How do you

    think I learned how to use a gun? Fuck, man. I was a hit man.”

    I laughed. “Hit woman.”

    She glared, but I chuckled once more. Little Gabriella; hit woman.

    “Why would he have you knock off people?” I asked. Then, in an attempt to provoke her, “Why not put you in another position, if you catch my drift.”

    “Fuck you, Cyrus. Just because I’m pretty doesn’t mean I have to be a whore!”

    “Who said you were pretty?” I huffed, suddenly eager to end the subject.

    I breathed in the coppery scent of blood that wafted around the Hummer, and made a note to clean up a bit, eventually. Material objects need to be maintained in order to function, and losing the mobile fortress would be terrible.

    My fingers felt icy cold on the steering wheel. I turned the heater on, marveling at the blood that managed to penetrate every crevice of the console. As the heat pushed out of vents, it created ripples in the red liquid.

    We drove in continuous silence until we were a block away from the apartment. I turned the Hummer off, scanning the area. There were no zombies in sight. For an undead apocalypse in a city of thousands, there wasn’t much of a challenge around.

    I heard Pickle climbing up the back of my seat, then felt her on my shoulder. Absentmindedly, I stroked her fur as I considered what route I’d take back to my place.

    “You know how to get to the back alley from here, right?” I asked Gabe.

    “Yeah.”

    I peeled the albino ferret off my shoulder and placed her on the dashboard, then moved into the back seat, checking out what goods I could take on my little mission. After surveying the situation, I decided to leave my Carbine behind and make this bitch challenging by only taking a handgun. Not wanting to be bogged down, I opted not to bring my pack. Before I opened the car door, I snatched a radio from the backpack and threw it at her.

    Sitting on the backseat, preparing to leave, I stared at Pickle who was licking blood off the dash. To my right, Gabe stared mindlessly out the front window, radio in hand.

    “I’d consider laying down back here or something so the Z’s don't see you,” I commented as I slid the clip out, and then pushed it back in. I pulled the hammer back, checking to make sure there was one in the chamber.

    “It’s not like they couldn’t get in if there were enough of them,” she rebutted, turning to look at me skeptically.

    “Probably couldn’t, actually. This glass is most likely bullet proof or something. I don’t think your pimp messes around.”

    “Listen you fuc-”

    Before she could say any more, I was out of the car and jogging down the street. It felt good to truly be alone again, no morally confused woman by my side.

Chapter 10

    It was hard to believe I was going back to the apartment I thought I’d never see again. Less than an hour had passed, but hundreds of zombies had already gathered, seduced from the ruckus we made. I saw them down the block before I turned down the alley, the rope we came down on still hanging from the roof.

    Miraculously, no rotting corpses were down the way. They must’ve come in a group and dispersed at its end. I holstered my gun and began climbing, huffing all the way. Rappelling was a hell of a lot easier than hauling yourself four stories up. Eventually I made it to the top, sweat-covered and out of breath.

Lay off the sugar, Cyrus. I thought, followed by, yeah, right.

    The empty apartment was just as I had left it. Candy wrappers still on the dining room table, a candle on the living room floor. How easy would it be to just stay there? Gabe now had an arsenal in her possession, and a loaded Hummer. It’s not like I’d be leaving her to die.

    Then I remembered Pickle, alone in that gore stained car with a lunatic. So much for staying.

    My spare room welcomed me back with open arms, but I shunned her. I wouldn’t be staying for long. With sensible consideration, I filled began to fill one duffle bag with guns, one for ammo, and one for MREs. Processing everything took longer than I thought it would. More than an hour sulked by before I had three duffle bags completely packed and on the roof. The ammunition bag almost killed me, it was so heavy.

    While wiping sweat from my forehead with one hand, I pulled the radio out from my vest and called Gabe.

    “You alive?”

    “Yeah, I’m here. The coast is still clear, captain,” came her reply, belligerent as usual.

    “Okay, come get me,” I demanded.

    “Hold on. I think I see-”

    The radio went silent, and I stared at the device impassively. Had I lost Gabe already? Did someone come out of nowhere and hijack both her and the Hummer? I leaned over the roof and cast a long look up and down the alley, finding nothing.

    A few moments later I heard the rumbling of an engine getting closer.

    “I have someone with me. He says he knows you,” Gabe said. “I’m on my way. Start lowering. The sunroof is open.”

    I had two bags attached to the rope half way down the building when the black Hummer made its appearance. At first nothing followed it, but a handful of zombies made their dull, inevitable approach.

    My hands were busy lowering, so I couldn’t scold Gabe for being less careful. My mind also wandered to the idea of someone knowing me who just so managed to hitch a ride with her.

    Tires screeching, the vehicle came to a stop. The same tactical-gear-clad girl I had met a few days ago looked back up at me. A second later a man popped up out of the sunroof, too.

    “Stop jerkin’ off, Cyrus! Get them guns down here!”

Francis Bordeaux!

    Shock gripped me and the rope loosened in my hands, sending the bangs speeding to the car. Just in time, I squeezed, stopping them just before they hit the roof. The severe jerk of them stopping strained my arms, forcing me to brace myself. Now, there went my back.

    Gabe and Francis grabbed the duffels, maneuvering them into the backseat. I was already lowering the last one down, eager to get myself down and talk to Frank. Gabe got one of the rifles out and was trying to pick off Z’s that were getting too close. The noise would only draw more, but it was too risky to take no action.

    I rappelled down, noting that all undead in the immediate area caught wind of the action and were ready to participate. Both ends of the alley were choked with dead bodies, happily trotting along.

    My boots touched the roof of the car. Francis was at the wheel, Gabe still shooting.

    “What’s the plan, Cyrus? Reverse or forward?” Gabe asked as she cleanly blew the head off a naked woman missing an arm.

    “Forward! Get some momentum so you can run them over, Francis,” I shouted.

    “You got it, boy!”

    I ducked into the car, yanking Gabriella down with me.

    “They’re going to fly over the car,” I said. Just to keep her guessing, I lied and added, “Don’t want you going with ‘em,”.

    G-force knocked me back a little when Francis put the pedal to the metal. I felt bodies hitting the front of the car, thumping and soaring over the roof. They were no match for the stolen Hummer.

    There were barricades set up back when the military was still trying, which left some roads wide open and others beyond the description of ‘traffic.’ Francis seemed to have a plan, so I didn’t bother questioning him, although I wasn’t sure why we didn’t get on the freeway immediately. Maybe he didn’t know his way around?

    I glanced into the rear view mirror and noted the growing horde following us. A zombie wearing Mickey Mouse ears was in the lead.

    “So, Cyrus! I’m surprised to see you outsid’a that hole you call a home! Did this firecracker ball-n-chain you, or what?”

    If he were anyone else, I would’ve knocked him out for a comment like that. But he was Francis Bordeaux-one might even venture to call him my friend. Hell, I’d call him my friend any day of the week.

    Gabe ejected her clip, checking to see how many rounds she had left. After slamming it back in, she looked at me skeptically, then up to Francis who was still laughing at his ‘ball-n-chain’ remark. “Who is this guy? He was walking around with a knapsack and a shotgun like it was nobody’s business!”

    Who was Frank? In 1993, when I was 16, my grandparents and I had just moved to Little Rock, Arkansas. At this point I was ‘just too far gone’ and was the epitome of a no-good punk. Being unwanted, I packed my few belongings and ran away. I wasn’t smart and didn’t know the area, so I unintentionally hiked up into the Ozarks.

    I must’ve taken a particularly wrong turn and found myself on the property of Francis Jackson Bordeaux with a shotgun pointed at me. Frank was a Vietnam veteran with a mean case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

    Long story short, I lived with him for about a year until I moved onto another chapter of my life. I learned a lot from Francis J. Bordeaux.

    But to Gabriella, I just answered, “Some guy I know.”

    Francis howled in the front seat as he hit a faceless teenager, who flew over the car and into a street light.

    “So, what’s the plan, ya’ll? We gonna bunker down in the mountains?” he asked.

    A plan? I hadn’t really thought of where we were going, specifically, but knew that Frank could probably come up with a fantastic plan at the drop of a hat. I was ready to sit back and let him call the shots, and then he’d be the one listening to Gabe’s incessant complaining. I climbed up into the front seat and cracked open the glove compartment.

    Fortunately, some people still carried maps, though I’m not sure why the Hummer did. It’s sleek, albeit blood covered, GPS didn’t warrant the traditional methods. I unfolded the area most relevant to us and took a look.

    “Looks like if we keep heading east towards the Cascades the population gets considerably less dense,” I said after a brief study.

    “East!” Francis mused. “You know, I got a place up there. I’m the only one for miles.”

    Gabe snorted in rebuttal, “Are you dense? Everyone who decided to leave probably headed that way. It’s probably worse than here.”

    I was definitely glad Frank was in charge now.

    “Only one road that leads to my place. Then it’s a full day’s hike to my cabin,” Francis countered.

    “What about food? Water?” Gabe continued, seeking flaw in his plan.

    My thoughts went back to his home in the Ozarks. Two words: self sustaining.

    He merely chuckled.

    “I don’t think that’s an answer,” she prodded.

    Scowling, I looked back at her and said, “If he thinks it’s a good idea, it is. Stop your bitching.”

    Maybe it was something in my voice, because Gabe stopped her bitching.

Chapter 11

    We managed to drive another twenty minutes on I-5 North before the roads became heavily congested. Cars were bumper to bumper all the way up to nearly impassible wreckage, which forced us to temporarily use surface streets. We finally made it on to SR 522 East. After three hours, we arrived at our first stop, a small town called Monroe. I projected the trip would normally taken 45 minutes tops, sans apocalypse.

    The Hummer was low on gas by the time we got into the outskirts of the town. The roads were clear and we glided down the off ramp into Monroe. It was late into the afternoon, but the sun was still warm and the visibility fairly good. So far, we couldn’t see any zombies, so we took a risk and decided to fill up the tank.

    Francis maneuvered to a gas station without hitting too many cars. More noise, more zombies. The logic was flawless. We all exited the car, Francis on the pump, Gabe and I on guard duty.

    “The pump is electric,” Gabe whispered to me. “How is he going to…?”

    “He’s going to siphon it. Just keep your mouth shut, don’t shoot unless you have to, and watch.”

    A fat kid with huge headphones, still on, shambled out of the convenience store that was next to the gas pumps. His cheeks were almost entirely gnawed off; it was almost unbelievable he still had the headphones. I wondered how long he could walk around ‘listening’ to music until his player ran out of juice. Not really caring, I shot him. Other than that the coast was clear. And, sure enough, we heard the gas gurgling.

    “Hey, ya’ll. We should consider gettin’ something to put more gas in for the road. No telling when we’re gonna get another lucky chance with a gas station.”

    “There’s probably something in the store we can use. Gabe, you stay at the entrance. Francis and I will go in. That okay with you?”

    Frank nodded. Once the tank was full, we approached the building. The front of the store was dimly lit from the windows, but the back was pretty dark. I glanced at Francis and noticed he had no gun or flashlight.

    He caught me looking and raised a machete from his side. “In ‘Nam we didn’t have flashlights, and when we ran out of bullets…”

    He shrugged.

    My ears rang from the silence. The scent was surprisingly mild in the store. Back in Seattle, the scent of multiple rots was everywhere. You’d expect a gas station to be no exception. All it smelled like was stale pretzel and old pizza. The refrigerated section wasn’t bad at all. Metal shelves were only mildly disheveled-it was almost as though no one had come in and raped the entire store like they did back home. Interesting.

    We searched the small auto section and found no gas canisters or anything else of use. The only option would be to empty out pop liters and fill them back up. As Francis and I poured the fizzy drinks to the floor, I noticed the back room.

    “There’s probably something back there. Industrial containers, maybe. I’ll go take a look.”

    Francis nodded absentmindedly, watching red soda pour onto the floor. I didn’t need to wonder what he was thinking about.

    Gun back out, I pressed the door open an inch and listened. No noise. No light, either. Bringing a flashlight out from my side holster, I let it roam across the room. Sure enough, there were large, lidded buckets stacked up against the wall. I confidently strode into the room, lowering my gun.

    Suddenly the lights turned back on.

    I spun around, spots in my eyes from the harsh florescence. A greasy, very rotten man with a beard was waiting for me.

    He caught me off guard and knocked me onto the ground when he lunged at me. Still surprised, I fell back and landed in the buckets, which scattered loudly around us. Stagnant mop water from a bucket nearby tipped over, sloshing onto the ground. Greasy Beard didn’t have a left hand, but he still had a mouth and a right hand which was hazard enough for me. I tried fending him off with one arm while I grabbed for my 9mm, but he dropped to his knees and moved toward me again. The gun was resting in the mop water, too far away for me to reach.

    Putrid breath engulfed my entire face as the zombie groaned, his jaws snapping violently at me. His stump of a left hand streaked old, dark blood on my neck as he grabbed for me.

    The 9mm wasn’t a possibility; there was no way I could get to it and hold Greasy Beard off at the same time. I reached for the other one, the.40, but it was on my other leg which was effectively blocked by the Z. With a surge of strength, I heaved and pushed him off, sending him landing on his rump a few feet away.

    I grabbed for my gun, turning around and-

    There was a machete in the top of his skull. His mouth slowed down then stopped entirely when he was dead. Dead for real, that is.

    Francis put his foot against Greasy Beard’s back and pushed, sending the zombie to the ground. His body struck the ground and old blood sluggishly tried to escape the head wound. Frank proceeded to wipe the machete on the back of the Z’s jacket before letting it rest at his side.

    “Well, now. That was kind of sloppy, wasn’t it? You should’ve known to check everywhere before entering a room,” Francis scolded.

    I grunted and kicked the truly dead undead on the floor before collecting as many buckets as I could carry.

    “What’s with these lights? Did you find a generator or something?” I asked as I exited the back room.

    The rest of the gas station was lit, pop machines and lotto ticket vending machines ablaze. Somewhere speakers were playing static from an abandoned radio station.

    “No, sir. Them lights just turned on by themselves,’ he replied.

    Outside was just as normal looking, except for a smoldering car in the intersection across the street and some dead bodies. Gabe was leaning against the Hummer, looking up at the lit pumps.

    Though the power appeared to be on in our location, it was hard to tell if it was on anywhere else. It was still blazing outside and even if other lights were on, we wouldn’t have been able to tell.

    “Rolling power,” Gabe suddenly commented as we filled the buckets with gasoline. “Sometimes power supplies go into an auto conserve mode if there are errors in the system. It probably powers different sectors of the city every couple of hours or so.”

    If that were true, it explained the freshness of the gas station goodies. Power in the city also implied something dangerous. People would be considerably more willing to stay in the city if their modern comforts were still available, which meant that the city of Monroe was probably overflowing with people.

    My thoughts took me back to Mrs. Singlar. I thought I was the only human alive in the immediate vicinity of my apartment, but I was proved very wrong.

    I voiced my thoughts to Gabe and Francis. Gabe seemed excited by the idea, Francis wary.

    Angrily, Gabe asked, “What’s the problem? More people means help, supplies, and shelter!”

    “How long has it been since this thing started happening, girly?” Francis asked slowly, acting as though Gabe was daft (which in my opinion, she was).

    “Maybe close to three months,” she answered, confused. “It started in April, so it’s about July now.”

    “You ever heard a people living in the woods all by ‘emselves? How crazy they get ‘cause they’re in survival mode?” Frank continued.

    I took over and finished his thoughts, “He’s saying that in a situation like this, people will either become territorial animals, or ‘save-everyone’ do-gooders.”

    “Like you said, there are do-gooders, Cyrus,” she said flatly and hopped into the car, slamming the door shut behind her.

    Francis threw a pained, what were you thinking, look at me and asked, “How have you handled that?”

    “I don’t know, Frank. I just do.”

***

    After consulting the map, we decided to take a back road through the town. It was less likely to be congested and populated. There were straggling zombies here and there, but we either grazed or ran over the ones that got in the way.

    We drove under an overpass and were feeling moderately confident when everything started to go downhill again. That’s because we hit a roadblock of two police cars blocking a roundabout-one which we had to get through if we wanted to continue on our merry way. Stuff couldn’t work out forever, I guess.

    Francis and I left the Hummer with Gabe at the wheel. It was then a I noticed a score of zombies about a block back. By the time we broke into one of the cop cars, put it in neutral, and rolled it away, the Z’s would be on us.

    I was about to use the butt of my gun to smash through the window of the cop car when Francis grabbed my shoulder.

    “Don’t go the hard way when there’s an easy way right in front of you,” he advised.

    He proceeded to open the car door, grinning wisely.

    We began rolling the car up onto a curb and into a small patch of grass when we heard a shout from the Hummer.

    “Get the fu-!” came Gabe’s shrill voice.

    I cranked the E-Brake up on the car and peered over its hood. Some guy (not dead) was at the wheel of the Hummer and driving straight at us, through our cleared path. Gabe was nowhere in sight, but I guessed she was knocked out in the car.

    The gore-covered Hummer soared past us, a husky bearded man glaring at us briefly as he went. My lips curled back in an angry snarl, and I reached toward my thigh holster when Francis set his hand on my shoulder.

    “What’s wrong, Cyrus?” Francis asked. “We can just start over. I got my pack and you got whatever’s on ya. What else do some fellows need? Besides, didn’t look like you were screwing that girl.”

    “That Hummer has my ferret in it.”

    Francis’s face was then somber, and he nodded in understanding.

    Back in ’99 Francis had given me a valuable piece of information. He said, “You think you can rough it on your own, but ya can’t. You gotta love something and hold onto it. It’ll keep you sane, even if you don’t wanna be.”

    The lesson was that even if you think you’re a badass, keeping something close to you to take care of keeps you mentally fit and sound. I was still working on the conceptuality of it all, but it was tough. Bottom line was that Pickle was in that fucking Hummer, and I was going to get her back.

    Our luck improved. The Hummer spun a hard right up a slight incline not too far away from us. Even from where I stood I could tell the sign read, “Monroe Reformatory.” “Survivors” and the ^ symbol were spray painted between the two words.

    The good news was that we knew where the Hummer was. The bad news was that “Survivors” implied multiple.

    I glanced down the roundabout and saw the undead milling towards us. Nothing could be easy, could it? It was unreasonable how many zombies were around these days.

    “Let’s get a move on. This is going to take the rest of the day, I’d imagine,” I commented.

    Francis looked at me skeptically. “Boy, I ain’t as young as I used to be. This sounds like it’s gonna involve a lot of runnin’, and I just ain’t interested in that.”

    My jaw dropped and I stared wide eyed. “You aren’t interested in running? We’re in the middle of Judgment Day and you’re worried about getting sore feet?”

    He shrugged, turned around, and began to walk off in the direction of a used car dealership across the street. “This just ain’t my battle to fight, Cyrus.”

    That’s true; it wasn’t. Maybe I would be better off on my own, anyway. I was faster and, let’s face it, probably a lot brighter. The old man was wise, but lost it now and again. I sighed, withdrew my 9mm, and headed in the direction of the Hummer.

    I thought about how I’d infiltrate. It was reasonable to estimate a minimum population of ten, and perhaps a maximum of thirty. I’m not a god and wouldn’t be able to kill that many, on short notice, with no planning. If I did make it through to the Hummer and Pickle was in it, what would I do about Gabe? Should I go find her?

    Putting my thoughts on hold, I thought about a plan. Step one was to find the Hummer, with a sub-step of finding the keys if they weren’t in there. If I got that far, I’d consider saving her.

    The reformatory wasn’t anything special: tall walls, fences, towers. It seemed like a good idea to tide over in there while the undead were running the earth. However, escape would be difficult, scavenging would be difficult, and if a single zombie got in there, their good idea would turn bad in a jiffy.

    Luckily, I spotted the Hummer on the west side of the grounds within minutes of checking the perimeter. I was spotted by a woman who was missing most of her chest cavity, but I took care of that without any problems.

    It was still light out, but I sensed that twilight would soon be on its way. The sky was getting warmer with the shades of a sunset, and the night promised to be clear. Good weather for a car re-hijacking. I fished my silencer out and twisted it into the 9mm, and made my way to the fence.

    I wanted things to remain as quiet as possible for as long as possible. The moment everyone knew I was in there, my mission would get a lot harder. Always prepared, I took a pair of wire cutters from my vest pocket and set to work. Items like that were necessities-you don’t have to use them solely on wire.

    Minutes flew by until I had room enough to squeeze through. After bending the fence open as much as I could, I shimmied in. Despite my best effort the metal still rattled, and I winced at the sound. It wasn’t too loud, but if anyone was looking for it; well, I’d be screwed.

    Inside, the grounds were wide open and forgiving. Everywhere was either brown from dead grass or the gray stone of buildings. Each guard tower was vacant, as were the windows overlooking the fields of open space. Was everyone inside? The fences were all closed, so maybe they thought there was no threat?

    Too bad for them, there was a threat. Me.

    Still on my guard, but more confident, I walked back to where I spotted my Hummer. It was a welcoming sight, still full of ammo, supplies, and keys. Whatever the hijacker wanted to do, it had prevented him from casing the vehicle. Inside was just as I left it, with two small alterations.

    One, Gabe wasn’t in it. Two, neither was Pickle.

    I looked up into the lighted windows of the prison and frowned. Nothing could ever be easy, could it? I searched the car a second time, but the results didn’t change.

    Disgruntled, I jogged over to the back of the prison to an unloading area I had seen earlier. I figured my changes would be better going through the back, but so far, luck didn’t seem to be much on my side.

Chapter 12

    One of the loading dock doors was actually unlocked, which seduced me into thinking maybe my luck had changed. I opened it, and was assaulted immediately by a flood of cheering that was coming from somewhere within the building. In front of me I could make out a minimally lit hallway. The hallway was sweltering. From the stone walls and the summer heat outside, the place must be an oven around the clock.

    There were no other doors in the hallway, so I had but one choice-forward. At the end of the hall I found a metal staircase that went up and another hall that led to the left. The cheering was coming from down the hall, so I went up instead. (If I were holding a ferret and a bitchy girl hostage, I’d keep them as far away as possible from the general festivities.)

    Upstairs were administrative offices, but at the end of that hallway was an opening into a larger area. The roaring was coming from there, too, but the acoustics downstairs didn’t carry it that far. Curious and taking advantage of my position, I inched over and looked around.

    Below were the actual cells, tiers of them, with huge open space in the middle. I spotted at least a hundred men below, shouting and chanting. They had constructed some kind of podium in the middle of the lowest floor and a priest, black robes and all, held his hands up for silence. Almost of the congregation had some form of weapon slung on their back, as they looked up with reverence at the priest.

What the hell is this? I thought.

    “Fellow Survivors!” he bellowed. The room quieted instantly. “We have gathered enough of them for the Great Beginning! There will be one for each of you, of course, but only the strongest will take multiple!”

No way, I thought, smirking. They weren’t really…

    “We will reproduce and create a new civilization! A greater one, immune to these demons!”

    My jaw dropped, just slightly, and I had to cover my mouth to prevent the building laughter from escaping. I thought about how Gabe would take to being one of their wives.

Oh.

    They didn’t take the Hummer. They took Gabriella.

    While it made sense that a huge number of people would go berserk when a traumatic event-such as the dead rising-occurred, why in the fuck did people have to do things like this? Anyone who watches a movie knows not to do certain things, and say, “Hey, I won’t be a completely useless dick if stuff like this happens in real life.” Apparently they crossed their fingers when they made those promises.

    After the speech carried on another ten minutes, then the group dispersed into the lower levels of the prison. Silence seeped into the building, and I picked up on distant crying and shouts down to my left.

    My back pressed against the walls so I wasn’t close to the railing where I could be spotted, I hurried down the left wing. The closer I got the louder the wails grew. I got on my belly and shimmied to the edge of the walkway and looked down. Cells were filled with women, some just kids.

    Something in me said I should be disturbed by what I saw. These women were going to be forcibly impregnated, then forced to give birth to babies that would undoubtedly be really, really screwed up. I grimaced at the ever-rising conscience within me. Why did it decide to show up during situations where I couldn’t do anything?

    It didn’t take long for the heat to really get to me. Outside the weather was almost balmy, but inside was growing increasingly humid and uncomfortable. I wiped the back of my hand against my sweaty forehead and itched to unzip my tactical vest.

    “Down here!”

    I looked into the cells closer and saw Gabe standing in front of the bars. From her nose to chin blood was thick and caked on. Knowing her, she probably put up a good fight before finally being imprisoned. Around her were a handful of women, crammed into the bunks and sitting far away from her. They glared when she shouted, hissing for her to be quiet.

    Raising my finger to my lips, I hushed her, too. No crazies were visibly present, but that didn’t mean they were out of earshot. I stood up and carefully made my way down a level to her. Not a soul stopped me. This was too easy.

    The women all hushed when they saw me, cowering away into the back of their cells. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for me, so I didn’t take offense.

    “I can’t believe you’re here,” Gabe whispered once I was close enough.

    “Yeah, neither can I,” I grumbled as I studied the lock mechanism to her cell.

    “Why did you come back?” she continued, a faint trace of hope in her voice.

    Eager to crush any ideas, I replied, “The Hummer was an asset I don’t want to lose it. And Pickle was in it.”

    Gabe glowered at me; I grinned at her.

    I set down my gun, studying the lock. It was normally operated electrically, probably from a control room somewhere nearby. The men had improvised, throwing a good ol’ chain and padlock on the sliding part of the cell door to the stationary. During the sporadic bouts of electricity they must’ve disabled the locks entirely so they could use a more manual, primitive method.

    “Who has the key to this?” I asked Gabriella.

    She shrugged and said, “They knocked me out before I was put in here. I don’t know.”

    From an adjacent cell, a middle-aged woman, skin midnight black and glistening with sweat, called out, “Jim-Jones-wannabe has the keys to everything. He don’t delegate, so no one else has a key.”

I like her style, I thought. Straight to the point.

    “Do you know anything else?” I asked her, coming up to her cell.

    With arms more powerful than I could ever predict, she reached through and slammed me up against the bars. My tooth jammed up into my lower lip. I tasted blood. She had my arms through the unforgiving bars with an iron grip.

    “Get his sidearm, Maybell,” the woman ordered to a young girl who looked strikingly similar to her.

    My Glock was snatched from its holster, the teenager expertly stealing it away. In addition to Black-Woman-Arms of Steel holding me hostage, my own gun was then pointed at my head. Another girl came around and took the 9mm I had set down.

    “Listen, boy,” she said in the stern voice of a mother, “I’m not interested in getting knocked up with a lunatic’s baby. I’m not interested in letting it happen to the last of my daughters either.”

    The girl pointing the gun at me instantly began to tear up, but she held the gun steady.

    “Their leader comes by here alone, first, to take his pick of us. Their meeting just ended, so you have about half hour tops before he comes rolling along. You kill him, unlock my cell, give me the keys, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

    I bared my now bloody teeth at her in defiance. “Why the fuck would I do that for you?”

    “Boy, I’m not the one with a gun pointed at my head. I’m not the one who is immobile. And,” she said, lowering her voice, “I heard you taking to that girl over there about a ferret. I know where they keep the animals that come in.”

    As soon as she mentioned my albino companion, I nodded instantly-she hit a sensitive spot. She let me go and I took a few steps back, composing myself. It wasn’t often that I was completely overpowered by a woman.

    I surveyed the area, looking for a good spot to hide.

    “He comes from this direction, usually,” a woman offered, reaching her hand out from the bars to my right.

    There was absolutely nowhere that provided cover, no matter what direction the guy was coming from. I would have to go up or down a flight of stairs to even have a chance.

    “Where does he take you?” I asked the black woman.

    She jerked her head back the direction I came from. “You came through the administration offices connected to the back entrance, I assume. You’ve seen those offices, then. He takes us to the warden’s office. You can wait there.”

    “Well, I’m going to need my gun back,” I informed her, stretching my gloved hand out to receive it.

    “Give it to him, Gloria,” she commanded, nodding her head at me. Gloria handed me the gun hilt first.

    I grinned and turned to leave, but glanced back at her. “How do you know so much about this place?”

    Jaw set, eyebrows lowered, she replied, “Because, honey. I was the warden.”

***

    A couple minutes later I was crouched under a desk, my other 9mm sidearm out and silenced. This was going to be a stealth operation, one hundred percent, until I was driving that Hummer out. I sat restlessly, waiting for the target to arrive.

    Look at me, on a whacky adventure to save a woman I didn’t know or care about. My life was looking more like a morbid sitcom by the minute. Regardless of my mental resistance against grouping up with people, or rescuing anyone, I seemed to be doing it a lot lately.

    “You’re a chosen one,” I heard in the distance, waking me up from my musings.

    “Let me go!”

    “You will produce blessed children.”

    “Screw you, freak!”

    Yeah, it was definitely freakazoid boss and his selection of the night. They came in and the door was slammed. From my vantage point I saw her scuffed tennis shoes and the hem of his robe. He shoved the woman to the ground and she landed right in front of the desk. Fear was brimming in her eyes as she glanced up at me, but wisely kept her mouth shut. Fortunately, she was clearly aware of the plan and wasn’t planning on jeopardizing her safety. Unfortunately, I had to wait for the prime opportunity to strike, which would undoubtedly make her worry and perhaps even give away my location.

    I didn’t have to wait long. He jerked her up and forced her against the desk, muttering about religious courage, when none other than Cyrus V. Sinclair popped out in front of him, gun pointed at his balding, fat head.

    He managed to sound out the letter “W” before my bullet entered between his eyes and remained in his brain. He slumped onto the woman and she began to shake.

    I quickly went to her, pushing him off.

    “Why did you wait so long?” she stammered as she pulled up her jeans over hot-pink underwear. Embarrassed, I turned my head away.

    “I had to wait for the right moment, I guess,” I answered awkwardly, unsure of my sudden shyness.

    Well, I did just save her from being raped, which was a considerably noble act.

    Cyrus V. Sinclair. The V stands for valor.

    It couldn’t be because, even though dirty and unwashed, she had pretty dark brown hair and bright, sea-foam green eyes, right? Or her mellifluous, clean voice?

    Something about all this saving of women messed with my head; that was it. No attraction, just…

    “Thank you,” I heard her breathe and she grabbed me from behind, squeezing me in a hug, “for saving me.”

    For one brief half-second-no, I’d call it a quarter of a second-I melted into her innocent, sincere embrace.

    Then I shouldered it off and bent down to search the dead guy for keys.

    He had them ceremoniously attached to twine around his neck, hanging right next to a wooden cross. I ripped them off, letting the cross slide from the twine and fall onto the ground. There was one key, which meant all the padlocks were the same. That was luck, if I ever saw it.

    I searched him further and found a pistol with full rounds, but nothing else. I stood up and handed her the gun, safety off.

    “You’ll need this. Stay behind me on the way back,” I said gruffly.

    She put on a strong face and took the gun. Before we exited, she grabbed my shoulder and said, “My name is Avery. I just wanted you to know.”

    Despite being weirded out-

Was she hitting on me? Flirting? What the fuck was she doing?

    -I managed a smile. “I’m Cyrus.”

    We left without any more dialogue and made our way back down the office hallway and to the stairs. Right when we got to the entrance to the cells, a single shot echoed through the facility. I recognized it as a.40.

    So much for a stealth operation. I broke into a run, taking stairs two at a time to get back to the cells. Skidding to a quick halt before a bloody body, I glanced at Black Woman and scowled. Blood was dripping down the edge of the walkway; if the gunshot didn’t get someone’s attention, blood everywhere certainly would. I went to my informant’s cell first, unlocking it quickly, then moved to Gabe’s.

    Women poured out from the cell, looking around unsurely. But then Black Woman came out, a strong and powerful leader.

    “We’re taking this place back!” she yelled as the women from the newly unlocked cell flooded out.

    She had my Glock and began gesturing for the women to get back in their cells.

    “We’re going to execute Operation Stealth,” she continued.

    Stealth? Stealth was gone. She shot, point blank, some guy. So far there was no one on the way, but it was only a matter of seconds. But their plan wasn’t any of my concern. I yanked Gabe to my side, shoving my 9mm in her hands and pulling my Carbine over my shoulder.

    “Where is my ferret?”

    With dark, angry eyes shifting to me, she told me.

    “You’re kidding.” I said.

    “No, they keep all animals downstairs in the kitchen for eating. They probably haven’t eaten that rodent yet, because they still got bigger game.”

    She told me where the kitchen was and I ran off, Gabe in tow.

    “Well, thanks for the heartfelt rescue,” Gabriella commented as we jogged along.

    Profoundly uninterested in a conversation with her, I stayed frosty, ready for any crazies that might show up. Which they did, very quickly.

    Two men with.22 rifles came out of a room down the hallway we were in. My presence took them by surprise and I managed to shoot both in the chest before they got one shot off. I heard footsteps behind me and spun around, rifle aimed.

    It was the woman leader, her daughter, and two other women. The daughter had a shotgun, probably from the guy they killed.

    “What are you doing? We’re done,” I spat.

    The two women walked past Gabe and me, snatching up the rifles. One found a hunting knife and proceeded to stab the eye of the almost-dead-man’s brain.

    “Finishing off anything you leave behind. This was my haven before those motherfucking hicks came in here and messed it all up. I don’t want runners on top of it, okay? Just continue on your way.”

    Gabe and I looked at each other briefly, then back to her.

    “Runners?” we asked simultaneously.

    She and her women shared the same look. “Yeah, the fast ones…you’ve never seen any? You must be kidding.”

    “No,” I replied, but my thoughts wandered back to when I was watching the beginning of it all.

    I remembered a group of people running through the zombies, but the zombies weren’t turning to grab them. Were those runners? How the hell was that even possible? They were very bloody-one of them had been missing most of his thigh.

Runners. What a peculiar notion. It was good information in case these alleged running-zombies were real. Since I wasn’t paying too much attention during the whole ordeal, I probably wouldn’t have seen runners anyway. Most of the zombies were old and seemed to be tourists.

    She gave orders to her daughter who then ran back with one of the leader’s henchmen.

    I didn’t have time to ponder the origins of a runner zombie, so I proceeded with the plan. After jogging down multiple flights of metal stairs I headed down the same hallway I entered in; the Warden said that’s where the kitchen was. The closer we got to the kitchens, the more men we encountered. The four of us had the advantage of surprise and made sure we used it.

    As we barreled around a corner, I ran straight into a man holding a bayonet. A fucking authentic bayonet. My reaction time wasn’t fast enough and I ran into it, the knife cleanly sliding into the outer meat of my shoulder. I gasped and pulled back, the blade sliding out, covered in bright blood.

    I raised my rifle to shoot him, but a woman came barreling out of seemingly nowhere, shoving him against the hard wall. His head snapped back and cracked, then he slid down to the ground. Once he was down, she kicked his sides hard before obliterating his head with a shotgun she pulled over her shoulder.

    “I had a bone to pick with that cocksucker,” she remarked as she sized me up with her dark eyes. Before I could get a word in she ran past me, backtracking up to the cells.

    A bone to pick? Well, I didn’t have to think hard about what that was. He was a rapist and she was a woman; enough said. Something about her fascinated me, but the moment she disappeared I couldn’t help but forgot her face.

    Black Woman and her troop covered our backs and we made it to the kitchen without further incident. It was empty save for an overweight cook who took his own life before we even got close to him. And what a stand up guy he was; he saved us the trouble and shot himself in the head.

    Animals were caged everywhere. Cats, dogs, and some traditional farmhouse animals looked forlornly at us. I was a heartless bastard when it came to humans, but the sight of them all waiting to be eaten disturbed even me. The mammals had a chance outside: zombies didn’t eat them.

    I found Pickle first, caged with a couple other rodents including a chinchilla. She was overwhelmed to see me and eagerly scurried up my arm and onto my shoulder. I didn’t have a backpack on, and her being in the open concerned me. Holding her with one hand, I began unlocking cages as fast as I could, and cutting open the ones I couldn’t.

    “Listen, I hate to ruin your reunion, but they know we’re here,” the leader said.

    “Yeah, Cyrus,” Gabe agreed. “We’re done here.”

    I threw my arms out gesturing to the animals, glaring at her.

    “Don’t you have a heart? They’re going to eat these!” I shouted.

    The other women’s faces softened and they looked at each other approvingly, but Gabriella’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

    Considering the situation before me, I devised the most efficient way of saving the animals. Their cages were open but most of them opted to stay inside. All of the crazies were on their way and we had to do something about them, whether I liked it or not. There was one entrance to the kitchen; two heavy steel doors. They couldn’t be blocked because they didn’t have handles. Either way, I had to take them out to save the fuzzy creatures. What could I use to take out a mass of people?

    No one had any grenad-

Propane tanks!

    Of course, there would be propane tanks, this was a kitchen. Grenades would be better, but Gabe and I didn’t think we’d need any and she used them up back at the apartment. I went to the stoves and dismantled the tank.

    “Will that really work?” the leader woman said.

    “What is your name?”

    “Christina.”

    “Christina, my dear,” I answered, “it really does work.”

    The footsteps of our enemy grew louder and echoed down the hall. They were yelling scriptures fanatically and screaming about avenging their lunatic leader’s death. All normal conversation for crazies, though.

    Just as we saw them round the corner outside the doors, I lifted the barrel and chucked it through the doors as hard as I could. It rolled into place perfectly. Crouched behind a counter, I took aim.

    Each time the doors flapped back and forth, they gave me glimpses of the approaching group. I timed the doors, waiting for the exact moment when the savages were at the tank to shoot. The men looked down at the tank just as I pulled the trigger and ducked back down.

    Explosions are loud, big, and hot. Even from where I was the heat washed over me, making my eyes hurt and my skin feel tight. My peripheral caught the red and orange burst of fire in the hall, and I heard the agonizing screams of people getting hit with shrapnel from the tank and burned to well done.

    I peeked over the counter and assessed. Both doors were bent in the middle from the impact and scorched black, melted and warped. The hallway was blackened where the fire wasn’t still live and at least fifteen men writhed on the ground, their skin charred.

    Suddenly, Christina was next to me, shouting. My ears were ringing and I could barely hear her. She was waving a meat pulverizing hammer at me.

    “-skulls. They’re going to come back any second!”

    The propane tank would’ve been a great idea for humans. Humans that didn’t come back to life abruptly after dying, that is. As soon as their souls exited their bodies (or whatever) they would be up and ready to eat me. This wasn’t good news.

    I nodded and stood up.

    A tremendously overcooked face snarled at me. His skin was fresh and crackling, the smell of oily, burnt fat filling my nostrils. Lips were long gone and his teeth gnashed furiously. I raised my gun up to block the oncoming advance and tried to push him away.

    But the Z was too fast. This one was a runner, I guessed. It already had its hands digging into my shoulders, trying to pull me closer. Its strength was no more than it was when it was living, but the determination in its oozing, popped eyes made up for it. The smoldering zombie jumped the counter and knocked me onto the ground. My head struck the tile hard and my vision got spotty.

    Christina’s women came out of nowhere and pushed the cooked beast off me. Their leader jumped into action and smashed its skull in without hesitation. Sticky, ripe brain oozed onto the floor from the open wound.

    I tried to get up, but the knock to the back of my head messed me up too much. As I fell back onto my elbows, my vision grew a shade darker. My hand came away with blood after I pressed my fingers into the throbbing wound. A stinging, sharp sensation reminded me my shoulder was sliced up. My dizziness was due to blood loss and the hit.

    The men in the hall were almost dead and would be runners soon. Even more of them would be showing up, too.

    “Can’t move,” I gasped when Christina came up to me. “Lost too much blood. Concussion.”

    Christina swore, yanked my rifle away, and one-handedly pushed me into a sitting position against the counter, carelessly using my wounded shoulder as her point of aid. She dropped the Glock into my hand, which I nearly dropped.

    “Cover him!” she ordered one of her women.

    I glanced around for Gabe and saw her struggling with a zombie. His stomach had exploded in the fire and chunks of fat were dripping out of it, slapping onto the floor in orange colored slabs. The woman who was supposed to be covering me was shaking, eyes glazed over. I didn’t know where Christina was, or the other woman who was with her.

    Things were not looking good. There was nothing I could do about the bleeding because I was too weak. It took all the limited strength I had just to hold onto the handgun and keep my eyes open.

    After all my caution, things were out of control. I put my head back, glanced to my side, and saw the face of a pig staring at me before I lost consciousness.

Chapter 13

    There were Averys all around me and they were runners, chasing me furiously down the street in front of my apartment. I was gasping for breath through a mouthful of sweetened condensed milk. I couldn’t breathe, so I couldn’t run. I kept glancing back and they gained on me every time I did. One reached out and-

    “Wake up!”

    I was slapped in the face by a cool, delicate hand. Eyes popping open, I looked up at the face of none other than Avery herself. She had her hair up in a tight no-nonsense bun and was looking at me with a concerned expression I rarely saw directed at me.

    My tactical gear was off, leaving me in my undershirt. The shoulder wound was patched up neatly, and I could feel something tied up around my head tightly.

    Awkwardly, I tried to push myself up from the cot I was lying on. My head swam and I fell back down.

    “You’ll be fine. Just a little head trauma and a shoulder wound,” Avery explained, then laughed sheepishly. “Well, you know that.”

    I nodded. Panic washed over me and I remembered the conditions when I blacked out. This time I forced myself up and looked at my surroundings. I was in a cell, just like the women had been, and was laying on one of the bunks. My cell door was open and ladies strolled past the front, guns on the ready.

    “What happened?” I asked urgently.

    Avery pushed me back down and I let her.

    “Christina took care of everything, just like she usually does.”

    “Could you be more specific? Where is my stuff? Where is Gabriella? Where is my ferret and the army of psychos who were set on raping everyone?”

    Avery grimaced at the rape comment, then explained what happened.

    Christina dispatched all of the soon-to-be runners in the hallway and scavenged what guns she could, giving them to the women brought back by her daughter. They proceeded to execute Operation Stealth. It sounded more like Operation Takeback to me, but whatever. Christina was the only one who knew the combination to the gun lockers inside the prison. Fruitlessly, the men had tried to get it out of her, but she held fast. The plan was that once she was free, the other women would still pretend to be imprisoned while Christina got the lockers unlocked. One group of them would be given guns and would start to kill off the men. As the men died, more women would leave the cells to retrieve their guns and increase their ranks.

    It was kind of a bizarre plan, one that had a lot of flaws, but it seemed to have worked. I was still alive, and therefore certainly wasn’t going to complain.

    “As for your stuff, it’s right here,” she said, motioning to the pile of gear on the side of the bed. “Your ferret has taken asylum inside a cupboard in the kitchen.”

    Avery told me that Gabe had almost been dinner for two, but the woman who had been slacking off on her duty of watching me (Therese) had killed both of them and saved her. Apparently Gabe was taking a nap at that moment.

    We were silent for a while, then I spoke up. “Are you a doctor?”

    “Yes, I was actually a heart surgeon before this happened. The man I was working on turned during the operation. I was the only one who made it out.”

    “Wow! You’re a handy one to have on the team, aren’t you?” I commented.

    She didn’t say anything, but looked off into space for a couple moments.

    “I guess so. Anyone who had useable skills before this happened is a high commodity and everyone looks up to them. I don’t like the pressure,” she explained.

    I snorted. “You might not, but I’m pretty sure Christina really enjoys her designated position as ‘Leader of the Renegade Women’.”

    Her face gave way to a little grin. “She sure does.”

    Our eyes caught and we stared at each other.

    “Wow, Cyrus. I think I caught you being human,” a sarcastic, familiar voice called out.

    Gabriella was holding Pickle, who struggled angrily in her grasp. Her eyes were set on Avery, and I wasn’t sure what kind of look she was sending to her. Probably some kind of womanly code the meager knowledge of a man could never decipher.

    Avery coughed falsely and excused herself from the room. Gabe launched herself into the chair, taking Avery’s place, then tossed the albino at me.

    “So, what’s the plan? We headed out of this chick fest or what?”

    My jaw dropped. “Are you serious? Isn’t this your dream? A colony of survivors, women no less, living happily in a prison?”

    “Not really. Too much estrogen in the air; it doesn’t work out for me,” she explained, then lowered her voice. “Plus, I really hate that Christina woman. She is an absolute dyke and has a major superiority complex.”

    “Beggars can’t be choosers, Gabe. This is probably as good as it gets. What the hell are you waiting for?”

    She didn’t say anything, but kicked her boots up onto the cot. I pushed them off irritably. Gabriella was proving to be an absolute nuisance. Always being saved, always being a bitch. ‘Chill out’ was certainly a phrase absent from her dictionary.

    “I don’t know, sweetheart. Maybe it’s time we went our separate ways,” I spat venomously. “Your act is getting awfully old.”

    Her breathing quickened and she sprung up, grabbing my wounded shoulder and squeezing. I yelped and grabbed her wrist, prying it off.

    “What is your problem?” I hissed, pushing her away.

    “What is your problem? You have your pet, we have the Hummer. Let’s grab Francis and stick with the plan! Have you developed some change in heart? What happened to the heartless dick who threw me off a balcony?”

    Truth is bitter and it always has been. This whole Prison Break scenario was coming to a close, and some awkward, human part of me wanted to stick around and see it through. The logical part of me knew it was a bad idea and didn’t understand that other, more questionable side. I needed to shut down emotionally and cowboy the fuck up.

    A gunshot rang out from somewhere nearby, followed by a chorus of cheers from the women. They must’ve killed a loner.

    Ignoring the flaming pain in my shoulder, I slung my legs over the cot and grabbed my tactical vest. It was still sticky and metallic smelling from the blood, but I overlooked it. I wanted to get out of there and back into a less emotionally charged world-even if it did have thousands of undead roaming it.

    “All right. I’ll get suited up,” I said flatly. “Meet you at the Hummer in twenty.”

    Gabriella didn’t respond and left silently. I pulled the vest on and stood up. Still light headed, pain coursed through my shoulder and the back of my head. The skylights revealed a dark blue sky, telling me the sun had set fairly recently.

    I wondered where Francis was.

    “I know you aren’t all together, boy,” came the voice of Christina, “so I’ll explain what just happened and what it means for you.”

    The woman was leaning against the railing outside the cell, looking at me with an amused expression.

    “Oh, yeah?”

    “Yeah,” she responded. “That bald chick has the hots for you. Big time.”

    “No she doesn’t,” I laughed as I began checking my weapons for jams and overall well-being.

    “Why do you think she just flipped right out? It’s ‘cause she’s jealous of Avery.”

    I rolled my eyes. “When I met her I beat the hell out of her. Why would she care who I liked, even though I don’t like anyone.”

    Christina stepped into my cell and reached up to the top bunk. Pickle scurried across her arm and onto her shoulder. I guess no one was on my side anymore.

    “Yeah, well she seemed awfully fond of you when she told us how you let her in your apartment and what not,” Christina countered. “And us honeys, we can tell what it means when a man looks at a woman. You like Avery, we all see it. She’s a pretty girl; it’s not hard to understand.”

    I was frustrated with all this bullshit about ladies and feelings and confrontation. Rushing past her, I plucked Pickle from her shoulder.

    “Listen,” I warned, “in a few minutes I’m going to be out of this place and I’m never coming back. I don’t have feelings for Gabriella and I certainly don’t have feelings for Avery. I don’t have feelings at all, period. So, thank you for your hospitality. I’m leaving now.”

    Halfway down the stairs to the lower levels, Christina shouted back to me.

    “You’ll be back. Love always brings ‘em back!”

    Raising my fists in the air, I gracefully raised my middle fingers as a salute to her proclamation.

Chapter 14

    The moment I stepped out the backdoor, moans and groans filled the air. I wasn’t sure if the night brought out the dead or if it was all the ruckus inside the prison that drew them, but they were here in all their slimy undead glory. The stench of rot was overwhelming and I almost choked when I inhaled. Sunny weather made corpses extra juicy and pungent, which was very evident.

    Nights in July-which is what month I figured it was-grow cold, and that night was no different. A chilly breeze rustled the patch of alders adjacent to the prison, making the entire scene just a little eerier.

    I’m not the dictionary-perfect definition of a sociopath, mind you. What Christina said about Gabe, Avery, and myself affected me no matter how much I’d like to deny it. A true, real sociopath would just write it off or not even acknowledge it to begin with. I guess I wasn’t advanced enough of a sociopath to do that.

    My final decision was to forget about it until something reminded me-or forced me-to consider it all. But really, the drama was an unnecessary addition to an already tense plan. Making it another thirty or so miles was going to be difficult enough. The last thing I needed was the same sentimental garbage the rest of the living world had on their plate.

    Gabe had the Hummer idling. I hopped in, moody as hell. “Let’s go.”

    “There’s a gate,” she stated flatly. “With zombies behind it.”

    A woman was knocking on my window. Right when I turned my head I knew I’d seen her from somewhere before. I clicked the button and it whirred down. She was lean and mean with a backpack and a scuffed hunting rifle in her hands. With wild black hair and an angry scar down her right cheek, she was quite the sight.

    I found myself staring into her dark, sharp eyes; I couldn’t look away. She was the woman who violently killed that guy in the hall. When I finally got myself together, I could only say, “Yeah?”

    “Christina is going to lead the stragglers in the back to the front, then you can go through the back gate. We’ll open it for you,” she explained, but I knew there was more to her than a helpful message.

    She was itching to leave and it was evident.

    “Anything else?” I sighed, sensing what was coming up.

    “I’m Oscar mike, sir. I want out of this place and I know you have room for me,” she said in a very, very serious tone.

    “Oscar mike?” Gabe questioned from the driver’s seat.

    Our newcomer raised a razor sharp brow in question. “On the move? Ready to go? On mission?”

    “Its military, Gabriella,” I explained. Then to the woman I asked, “What were you?”

    “Marines, sir.”

    I whistled low and grinned. A woman Marine? Imagine that. There were three of us, why not make it four? At this point everything seemed like a party anyway, but the advantage of having her was that she had skill. Even though I hadn’t seen her fire a gun or make any clever moves, I could tell by the way she carried herself-she’d be useful.

    “All right,” I agreed, despite Gabe’s objection. “What’s your name?”

    “Wright, sir. Blaze Wright.”

    “Get in, Wright. We’re headed to the mountains,” I proclaimed.

    After Blaze Wright commented appreciatviely on our stash in the back of the Hummer, Gabe drove us to the back entrance. As we drove, we saw women herding the zombies to the front gate by walking dangerously close to the fence. The Z’s were going berserk over it. One chick shot a runner who almost made it halfway up the fence. Slow Z’s were too stiff to climb, and instead pressed up against it hopelessly.

    As promised, the back was clear and the gate was opened promptly and closed even faster once we were out. Gabe ripped down the road, shamelessly running over undead as we went. The headlights were covered in blood and gore, creating a pink tinged light and blockage in some parts.

    Undead close to the front noticed us and began a slow march. Some chose to stick with the fence, ‘cause maybe they’d have better luck there. I doubted it, but I wasn’t going to burst their bubble.

    Once we hit the main road where the Hummer was abducted to begin with, I remembered Francis.

    “We need to go to that car dealership and pick up Bordeaux. I’m not leaving him behind.”

    Gabe instantly objected, “He chose to leave-he didn’t have to.”

    Our new friend asked, “Where is he?”

    “Car dealership right over there,” I answered, gesturing in its direction.

    “Do you have any way of communicating with him?” Wright piped in from the back seat. “A short wave radio, maybe?”

    Frank had spoken to me on the radio back in Seattle. There was a chance he still had it, but if I radioed him there was a chance I’d give up his position-if he was in a compromising one. Did it matter? Not really. I wasn’t leaving without him; I already decided on that.

    “Did he take your radio?” I asked Gabe.

    We stopped the Hummer a short distance from the car dealership and found that we were struck with two notes of bad news. Gabriella searched her vest and belt, but ended up finding the sister to my radio in her backpack, meaning we had both radios. So much for that plan. Worse, there were the hundreds of stiffs milling about the lot. They weren’t there before, but I figured they heard the moans up by the prison and came to check it out. The lot was just on their way.

    “I’ve got to get him,” I said, but even I could hear the hesitation in my voice.

    “I’ll go with you,” Wright volunteered immediately. “I can watch your six and hopefully we’ll do this right with no hitches, but I have one suggestion.”

    I asked, “Yeah? What is it?”

    “This mission will be extremely difficult at night. We’ve got no scopes with night vision. Using flashlights will turn us into beacons,” she reasoned. “Plus, there’s a ton of those flesh eaters walking around.”

    I was about to tell her about the rolling power, but I noticed everything was extremely dark. The blocks of time in which sections of the city were lit seemed to be about three hours. Looking far down the street, I noticed the orange glow of street lamps further on. We were SOL in the light department, and she was right about the zombies. I was just being irrational.

    Wright was still talking, so I focused on her. She was saying, “No chance of going back to the prison, of course. That’s where they’re headed. We need to find somewhere else to go, somewhere close enough that we can return easily.”

    “We can go back to that gas station,” Gabriella suggested.

    We all agreed and Gabe navigated us back to the station. After a brief, silent dispatch of some shambling zombies, the three of us headed in. The doors had bolts on the top and bottom which we engaged, offering us mild protection or warning against intruders.

    It had been a while since I ate, so I roamed the aisles looking for anything nutritionally acceptable. There was no point in eating any of my MREs since there was sustenance readily available. With heavy resignation, I settled on a couple of energy bars, washing it all down with a bottle of Aquafina.

    Blaze and Gabe sat on the floor behind the register counter, apart and clearly uncomfortable. I put myself directly between them, working on the chewy mass of granola bar in my mouth.

    Females were strange. While I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why, I certainly felt uncomfortable around Gabe and Wright. Even though neither was speaking, I felt a current of negativity between the two.

    And I put myself right between the two of them.

    Cyrus V. Sinclair. The V stands for vacant. As in my mind is vacant of logical thought-well, it makes sense to me.

    “I suppose we should consider sleeping,” I said. “There might not be time for a while.”

    The newcomer quickly agreed and shifted into a more comfortable position. Minutes later her breathing was shallow. Wright fell asleep almost instantly, and I figured it was from her time in the Marines. She could sleep on command because she had to.

    Gabriella bit her lip and glared at her, then at me. She was having issues and wanted to talk, but I wasn’t in the mood to deal with them, especially after her episode at the prison.

    After I forced down the rest of my food, I stretched onto the cold ground and was glad the counter offered us invisibility from the front of the store. We were safer that way and it made me feel a little more at ease.

    I was worn out, apparently, and fell asleep without another thought.

***

    Unsurprisingly, I woke up stiff and groggy. My head and shoulder protested to the nth degree as I sat up and tried to work the knots out of my muscles. An angry, throbbing headache had brewed while I slept and was working full force to make my life hell in a hand basket.

    It was barely dawn and rain drizzled outside. I smelled cigarette smoke and glanced over to see Wright with one hanging from her lips. Her eyes were shadowed in the dim light, but the tip of her cigarette burned brightly whenever she inhaled, briefly illuminating them. She looked unbearably calm and casual, just sitting there with her knees up and one arm slung across. In front of her stood a fort made of stacked cigarette boxes.

    Gabriella was curled in a fetal position, out stone cold. She was breathing deeply, her face blank with the bliss of a deep sleep. Maybe she’d be in a cranky mood, too, when she woke up, then I wouldn’t be alone in my misery.

    “Sun’s going to be up full in about half hour. We should leave then,” she said, her voice low.

    I nodded as I brought myself up into a cross-legged position. My mind was buzzing in tandem with a prickling sensation traveling across my skin.

    “You want me to take care of her?” Blaze asked, even quieter, and jerked her head toward Gabe’s sleeping form.

    I paused. “Take care of her?”

    “Smoke her,” she clarified, voice absolutely void of any emotion.

Well, I thought, that’s awfully blatant.

    Then I really stopped, and really thought. This woman was offering to murder Gabriella. Although I wasn’t sure of her intentions, it was a good offer. Gabe was becoming increasingly difficult to work with-but was death a fair punishment? Maybe just leaving her behind was better.

    “Why?” I found myself asking.

    “I heard Christina talking to you. Emotional attachments make accomplishing tasks difficult and can muddle your decision-making abilities,” Blaze commented. “You know, I haven’t known her for too long, but if I was in charge, she wouldn’t be here right now.”

    “I’m not attached,” I hissed, then added, “and I’m not in charge.”

    Blaze’s face reflected mild amusement. “I never said you were. It’s all on her part. She’s a loose cannon and could slow us down, maybe even compromise us.”

    Her points were valid but I wasn’t ready to kill Gabe just yet. She could be useful in saving Frank and getting us to our final location. Or was I justifying? I didn’t think so.

    “I’ll tell you what,” I said, “we’ll make a final decision once we save Francis.”

    I wondered if Blaze saw this as a sign of weakness, but it didn’t matter too much what she thought of me. With a barely noticeable nod, she agreed.

    Outside I heard muffled voices. I looked at Blaze and raised my brows.

    “Four living humans,” she answered quietly. “They’re siphoning gas and considering breaking into the Hummer.”

Great.

    “How do you know they’re trying to get in the Hummer?” I whispered, mind already racing for a way to handle this. The situation might not need to be handled if they just went on their way, but that was unlikely if they spotted our formidable cache of weapons.

    “One of them is circling it and looking in. He doesn’t want to break in and have the alarm go off,” she explained. “Common sense, sir.”

    I liked the ‘sir’ part and took the indirect insult lightly. If I were them, I’d take my chances and break in. Maybe they didn’t know how to hotwire it or were just stupid.

    Blaze snuffed her cigarette into the ground and moved into a crouched position so she could look over the counter. She popped up briefly and went back down, her face shy on the side of grim. The staccato sound of rapid fire interrupted her just as she was about to speak.

    “Some runners and slows are surrounding them from multiple directions,” she said in a rush. “I’m not sure how we should proceed.”

    Her last sentence didn’t sound too convincing, as though she already had a plan formed but wasn’t sure I’d agree. Stiffly, I moved into a prone position and gingerly picked my rifle up from beside me.

    “Are you sure about that?”

    Blaze’s grin revealed a dramatically chipped right canine. It gave her character, for sure. Gabe was finally awakened by the gunfire and was wide-eyed and confused. Apparently, we were all ready to go.

    “I say we run out, get in the Hummer, and go. If any opposition is spotted, eliminate it,” she offered, clearly trying to keep the eager bloodlust out of her voice.

    “Okay, sounds good.”

    Gabriella snapped at us. “What the fuck is going on here?”

    Unenthusiastic and irritated by her already, I answered, “Just stay behind us. There’s a threat outside.”

    “I’ll go first,” Wright insisted. “Cover my six.”

    Without another thought she made her way to the door, unlocking it smoothly before pushing the doors open, gun on the ready. I followed her, but gave her a suitable amount of distance.

    Outside, the light was all dim and blue. Since it was summer I guessed it was around 5 a.m. Drizzly, wet mist was thick in the air, limiting visibility and dampening my hands even through the gloves. I could see muzzles flashing by the gas pumps and the form of a big truck. The crazed, jerking movements easily set the runners apart from the humans. Identifying normal zombies wasn’t a chore.

    Breathing in the humid air, I focused in on the glum task at hand. Our Hummer was parked close to the gas by an abandoned Mazda, putting it directly in the middle of conflict. The survivors were all men and had each other’s backs covered, which also meant we were spotted instantly.

    “Army guys!” one of them shouted.

    “Help us!” another chimed in.

    I guess we did look like military since we were so thoroughly decked out. Blaze Wright was even wearing a camo flak jacket with the little nametag and everything.

    None of us answered, but from behind me Gabe opened fire on a runner that was charging us. We were at the Hummer almost instantly and the ragged men were staring at us expectantly. Blaze took a defensive stance, Gabe mimicking her, and cautiously took out undead who were getting too close. I assumed that made me leader, which meant I had to deal with the… issue.

    “Thanks,” an older, graying man sighed. “We thought we were done for.”

    Blaze opened fire, blowing the brains out of a shambling, fat woman. Gabe shot a teenage girl in the leg, then re-aimed and shot her in the head.

    “We can’t help you,” I said. “Get in your truck and go.”

    “W-what?” he stuttered. His three companions glanced over at us. “We need to stick together! I mean, you can’t just leave us!”

    Desperation and guns were a terrible mix. This guy, and his friends, had both factors playing for them. I carefully, and slowly, backed up to the driver’s side of the Hummer and discreetly fished the keys out of my back pocket. I hit the unlock button twice. The lights flashed and Gabe and Blaze immediately jumped in the other side.

    “These fuckers ain’t gonna help us, Steven! Get in the truck!” shouted a gnarly redneck of a man.

    Steven appeared to be close to a breakdown. He barely held onto the shotgun in his shaking hands, and his lip quivered. I guess I traumatized him, or something. In my defense, it wasn’t like I promised to be his savior.

    From inside the car, Blaze leaned over and pushed the door open. “Let’s move,” she urged calmly.

    The men were looking extremely agitated, unsure if we were a more worthy enemy than the zombies. I took my chance and leapt into the driver’s seat.

    “You’re awful!” Steven screamed suddenly, lifting his shotgun at me.

    Right as he pulled the trigger his arm jerked up and he shot the top part of the window, missing me entirely. Thousands of miniscule pieces of glass burst into the car, filling crevices and getting in my clothes.

    What caused his misfire? I looked down and saw that a little girl had sunk her teeth into his side and was vigorously chomping. Blonde pigtails and a pink dress made the scene comic, but I didn’t have time to laugh. With their weak leader gone, the living men tried to make it for the truck but the undead were numerous.

    “Let’s move,” Blaze said again. “We’re surrounded.”

    So we were. Zombies-slow and fast-were making their inevitable way toward the Hummer. Most of them saw the other guys scrambling for the truck as an easier target, but a few noticed we were canned goods.

    Get it? Canned goods? Because we were in the car?

    Anyway…

    I rammed the key into the ignition and the car roared to life. A few unfortunate Z’s were in the way and I ran them right over as I turned hard back onto the main road. The rearview mirror showed carnage unfolding on the unwise survivors. Well, they weren’t survivors any anymore.

    “Well, that didn’t go well,” Gabe announced from the back seat.

    “Most people aren’t meant to survive,” Blaze said in her standard, indifferent tone. “They gave their own position away and brought it on themselves.”

    Gabe snorted. “We could have helped them. If we covered them they could’ve gotten into the truck.”

    Though Gabe couldn’t see it, Blaze’s upper lip twitched, making the scar across her face look uglier than normal. Her feelings were transparent at that moment.

    I answered for her. “They were losing it, Gabriella. Even if we covered them that Steven guy had already lost it. I don’t know if you noticed, but he tried to shoot me.”

    Silence from the backseat, then, “The other three…”

    Blaze jerked her head to the side so fast I barely caught it. She was glaring hard at Gabriella. I looked back to the road, leaving it to them to work the fight out.

    “You or a stranger?” Wright asked.

    “What?”

    She clarified, “You don’t seem to value your life. Would you die for a group of strangers who were at their end?”

    “They weren’t-” Gabe began.

    “It doesn’t matter. Right now, and for the rest of our lives, it’s always going to be you or them. If you stayed, you would’ve died trying to protect them.”

    “You two would’ve-”

    “No, we would not have stayed. He doesn’t care about them and neither do I. Which brings us to the original question: you or a stranger?”

    Gabe was breathing deeply and angrily. I glanced in the mirror and saw her clenching her jaw so hard I could swear I heard it.

    “Well, aren’t you two fucking perfect for each other,” Gabriella snarled and began telling us off in any way she could, like a mother-scorned teenage girl.

    Battle won, Blaze faced forward, an uncharacteristically pleased look on her face.

Chapter 15

    After all the little blips, we were finally in front of the car dealership. It was almost fully light out, which would make the adventure a whole lot easier. Not as easy as I’d prefer though. If Francis could just see us and come running out…well, that would make the situation beyond easy. In fact, it would put our state of affairs into the acceptable zone for once.

    The incident back at the gas station herded most of the undead there, and some of them were even passing us up to follow their zombie friends. I guess they wanted to party there, and I wasn’t going to be the killjoy.

    “What’s the plan?” Gabe asked.

    I tapped my fingers against the steering wheel. What was the plan? I never thought about it too thoroughly and I know neither of the women did.

    Finally, I shrugged. “I guess we just go in and look for him. The faster the better.”

    “Someone should stay in the car,” Blaze piped up from beside me. I was in agreement, but I knew it was because she wanted Gabriella out of the team.

    The stars aligned. Gabe volunteered. “I’ll do it. I’m not risking my life for him.”

    “All right, sounds good,” I agreed.

    Except for the moans of Z’s up by the gas station, the town just looked good old fashioned abandoned. The dealership itself looked fine, almost as though no one had bothered to loot it. Overall, the little town of Monroe wasn’t in too bad of condition. We all exited the car and Gabe took the driver’s side. She locked the doors and lowered the seat for some cover, or maybe some sleep.

    Blaze automatically took the lead, tactically advancing. Everything about her screamed protocol; she must’ve made an excellent Marine. We maneuvered through the lot to the main building where Francis said he’d be. A huge shadow covered the entirety of the lot, preventing the morning sun from burning off the dense fog.

    “You sure this is the place? There’s another dealership down the road,” Blaze said lowly from the front.

    “I saw him walk this way. If he’s not here…” I paused. “We’ll forget about it.”

    She didn’t reply and kept moving. The door to the building was ajar and suddenly a shrill, piercing scream came from within. Blaze motioned to our right around the corner. That side of the building was all windows, showing some of the nicer used cars inside. It also showed zombies crowded around a body, eating.

    We crept back to the open door and moved inside, unnoticed by the undead. The three of them were intent on eating the struggling woman in their grasp. I watched blankly as a decrepit, mottled zombie bit into her thigh, blood pooling around his yellowed teeth.

    It was a woman in a skirt suit, which was gradually turning red from a cascade of blood going down her neck. Another zombie, a teenage girl, was working her way through the lady’s jugular. I glanced at Wright who didn’t seem remotely interested. The metallic scent of fresh blood hit me just as the dying woman gurgled her last.

    I pulled out my silenced 9mm and took careful aim before cleanly putting down one of the Z’s. The other two stood up, stiffly, confirming they were slows. Slows are brutally easy to kill at any distance. They were only an issue when they sneak up from shadowy corners. Popping off another two bullets, each found their way into their Z brains.

    “Francis must’ve gone in through a different route,” Blaze commented.

    Unsure of how she came up with such a theory, I turned and looked at her suspiciously. She kicked a metal chair near the entrance with the tip of her boot. The chair must’ve been wedged against the door before the Z’s finally broke in, sending it a few feet back. So much for an effective barricade.

    For a moment I pictured the three undead banging on the door when they were runners, then slowing down and still trying to get in. Eventually they succeeded; good for them.

    “Maybe not,” I disagreed. “Maybe she put it there after Frank got in. We still need to look around.”

    Wright tilted her chin toward the corpse of the dying woman. Her eyes were fluttering, left leg twitching at even intervals. No sense in letting her come back, especially since she’d be bent on taking a chunk out of me. I walked to her, quickly, and put a bullet in her head.

Consider it a favor, lady.

    The inside appeared to be an open car viewing area. There was a sleek, vintage red Mustang on showcase in the middle of the checkered floor. A sheet of paper was stuck to the windshield, proclaiming the horn to be broken but fixable. Horns weren’t useful anyway, so it didn’t deter my lust for the vehicle.

    “Do you want to split up?” I asked her.

    “Probably for the best. We can get this done faster,” she remarked. “I’ll check down here.”

    She nodded to the discreet metal staircase that led to upper offices. There were huge mirrors instead of walls up there, giving a macabre view of the gore down below. Blaze was already off, so I started up the stairs.

    A loud thumping noise caught my attention. It was upstairs and sounded all too close. With growing caution, I ascended a little faster. Apparently, my caution was for nothing.

    Four assorted undead were scratching, banging, and ramming into a door at the end of the hall. Their assault was relentless, and probably had been, until they saw me. Three of them turned their heads instantly, the fourth catching on a little later. Blood and saliva was dribbling out of their gaping mouths, and I could see the white opaqueness of their eyes.

    Then they howled in rage and ran towards me. Great. Runners.

    I raised my gun, aimed, and took the closest one out. It was an old woman, and she fell in the middle of the cramped hall, blocking the way for the other zombies. As I heard the other undead falling over their comrade, I spun around to run away.

    One of them must’ve vaulted over the dead one because I felt an iron grip on my ankle. I fell face forward onto the stairs, my face shredding like cheese against the metal grating. Just because I was lucky, my weapon fell between the slats of the stairs, clattering to the ground.

    Ignoring the blood pooling in my right eye, I struggled to kick the zombie off my foot. The other two had gotten up and were about to dive on me, too, until a full clip of ammo unloaded into them. Blood and gore sprayed onto the wall behind them and they dropped instantly, two of the bullets evidently hitting their brains.

    Finally, I kicked the fresh zombie off me, my boot landing evenly in the middle of his forehead. I grabbed for my.40, ripping it out of its holster. Just as he was about to lunge for me again, I popped a bullet right between his eyes. He fell to the side, blood oozing from the hole in his forehead.

    I glanced to the left and saw Blaze, gun still on the ready.

    “You all right?” she called.

    I wiped the blood from my eye. The right side of my face felt like a sadist had her way with me, followed by a lemon and some salt. In other words, I hurt like hell. Once again blocking the pain out, I got up. My shoulder wound got knocked up in the process and was bitching.

    “I’m fine. Keep looking,” I ordered gruffly.

    She followed my request without another word.

    Taking the stairs two at a time, I went downstairs quickly to grab my 9mm, and holstered both that and my.40. I opted for my rifle, instead. Just in case.

    Not as confident as before, I walked back up the stairs, stepping around the really dead zombies and into the hallway. Maybe Francis was behind the door they were banging on? If he ran out of ammo or was hurt, he wouldn’t have been able to kill them.

    There were only two other doors besides the one they were attacking, and all of them were open and revealed nothing. When I got to the third one, I leaned in close and listened. I couldn’t hear anything except my own breathing.

    “Francis?” I called and knocked on the door twice.

    There was a shuffling sound and then, a moment later, a loud scratching noise as though something heavy were being moved away from the door. The door opened slightly and a face peeked out.

    It wasn’t Francis.

    “Are they gone?” the boy asked.

    He was about twelve and was emaciated. His face was paper white and wide, dark eyes stared up at me.

    “Uh,” I managed, then coughed, “yes, they are.”

    Sighing in relief, he opened the door fully and came out. I suddenly regretted knocking; it meant this kid was on my hands.

    “What are you doing here?” he asked.

    “Looking for my friend,” I responded and looked over his head into the office.

    It had been a break room. There were vending machines, now broken and empty, and a pop machine. A counter with a microwave and fridge lined one of the walls. “How long have you been in there?”

    The boy spaced out for a moment, then came back into focus. “A while.”

    “Well,” I said awkwardly, shifting my feet. More blood sluiced into my eye and I blinked it away. “I think I’ll be leaving, then.”

    He grabbed my arm as I turned to leave. “Are you looking for that old guy?”

    I nodded.

    “If you take me with you, just until I find someone else, I’ll tell you where he went.”

    Surprisingly, the kid knew what was up. If he understood I didn’t want to take him with me, I wasn’t going to make him think otherwise. Of course, I didn’t doubt that I’d be able to find Francis on my own. Letting him help would solve the problem of him trailing along. We had a ‘deal.’

    Smoothly, I asked, “Is he in the dealership somewhere?”

    He shook his head slowly and explained what had happened, starting with how he got there.

    “My parents are dead,” he stated flatly before continuing. “I’ve been on my own. I was running, looking for somewhere to hide, and Charlene opened the door here and I ran inside. She put a chair under the door and we’ve been hiding up here. She was really nice and took care of me.

    “Then yesterday an old guy tried to come in downstairs, but Charlene wouldn’t let him in. He went around the back but we saw where he went through the window. He led some old zombies here and they’ve been trying to get in ever since.”

    He stopped and a painful expression washed over his face. “They got in. I know they got Charlene. But then when the slow ones got in, the faster ones did, too, and I ran up here like she told me to and pushed the table against the wall. Then you came.”

    “I know you don’t want to take care of me like Charlene did, but just let me go with you until I find a new place to hide,” he begged. “I won’t get in the way.”

    For some reason I’d been doing a lot of things I wouldn’t normally do. Saving bipolar chicks, saving captive women, saving little boys. Next thing you know I’d be gathering survivors and making a big old compound of them. I’d even be the leader, too.

    “Fine,” I caved, wondering why I was agreeing in the first place. “Stay out of the way. If you get bit or behind, I’m not going to save you. I’m Cyrus V. Sinclair.”

    He nodded and the corner of his mouth twitched into a grin. “I’m Oliver. What’s the V stand for?”

    “Venal, apparently.”

    “What?” Oliver asked, confused.

    “We’ll get you a dictionary some day, how’s that sound, buddy?”

    Oliver glowered fiercely before walking right past me into the hall.

    Blaze was waiting at the end looking dissatisfied. She had a cigarette between her lips. That woman sure was a smoker, but who was I to talk? Everyone had their vices. I had a hankering for a can of sweetened condensed milk at the moment.

    “No sign of him?” she asked, giving Oliver a fleeting look before returning her dark eyes to me.

    “No, but this one claims he knows where Francis is,” I said, nudging the boy with my elbow for emphasis.

    “Are we taking him, too?” she asked, only a hint of displeasure in her voice.

    “For the time being,” I replied in the same tone. “He says he’ll find his own way, eventually.”

    She looked closer at Oliver with that ‘I-hate-kids look’ some people seemed to inherently possess. I could read Wright like a book-she didn’t want Oliver there because he’d slow us down. But I’d explained the terms to the kid, so I wasn’t worried.

    Changing the subject, Blaze said, “There are some slows coming down the street. They’ll be here in ten mikes max. No runners yet, but I’m sure they’ll come.”

    Looking down at Oliver, I asked, “Where is the old guy? We’re not leaving without him.”

    Oliver had been staring at the zombies Blaze and I killed. He was miles away, so I elbowed his shoulder roughly.

    “He’d been hiding out back in the garage where they wash the cars. We watched him go in and pull down the door. Charlene has the key to the door.”

    “The garage door?” I asked.

    “No, the door downstairs. It’s attached.”

    “I found that door, Sinclair. I banged on it but no one replied,” Wright shared.

    The three of us went back downstairs, Oliver turning his head pointedly away from Charlene’s corpse. I covered Blaze while she searched the woman for keys. She pulled out huge, jingling keychain.

    “Which one?” she asked Oliver emotionlessly.

    The boy came over and flipped through the keys. He found one with blue plastic edging and handed them back to her.

    “That one.”

    I frowned at the keys, then asked, “Doesn’t one of these go to the front door? Why didn’t you just lock it?”

    Oliver grimaced. “The lock is broken. Charlene said someone used a crowbar on it or something. It won’t lock now.”

    Blaze stood and we all made it one step toward our destination when an alarm went off outside. Then another, followed by yet another. Oliver’s face grew even whiter and a knowing look crossed his eyes.

    “They’re coming over the cars. The fast ones are. They hit them and the alarms go off,” he said in a rush, but it explained everything.

    All our commotion had finally taken its toll. Gabe was outside and might be in jeopardy and we sure as hell weren’t in too good of shape inside, either. Blaze ran to the door, rammed the key in, and opened it haphazardly.

    Francis stumbled out a moment later, looking calm as a clam. He smiled at us. “What took ya’ll so long?”

    “We don’t have time, Francis. We have to get out of here!” I shouted.

    He understood the gravity of our situation, finally, and nodded. A split second later he pulled out a key and pointed to the Mustang.

    “Let’s escape in style, eh?”

    My mouth dropped a little in astonishment, but it was a good idea. If anything, it could provide us with sufficient cover to get to the Hummer.

    Francis rushed to the car, unlocking it and pushing the driver’s seat forward. He motioned with his hand for us to get in. Oliver got in faster than you could say ‘jackrabbit’, followed by Blaze.

    “Shoot the window!” she shouted from the backseat.

    We were going to drive through the window-wall, all movie-like and whatnot. I raised my rifle and put a round through the glass. Spider webs of cracks spread through and a few chunks fell out.

    A group of slows were in the main entrance doorway, shambling with vigor at the idea of our warm bodies. Just as they cleared the doorway, they were abruptly pushed aside by some snarling fast ones. Where the hell were all these runners coming from?

    Not interested in further consideration of that matter, I ran to the passenger side of the Mustang and dove into the already open door. Francis turned the key and the Mustang roared to life. Pedal to the metal, we jerked forward straight through the glass.

    Glass shattered and rained onto the hardtop, bouncing and tinkling away. I scanned the lot and saw the Hummer waiting exactly where we had left it. Zombies, tons of them, were making their way to the dealership building. The runners already were in the building, and there weren’t too many. All the rest were slows, which meant we could evade them a lot easier.

    Francis drove the Mustang violently through the rows of cars, taking the corners sharply. Once we got to the Hummer, Gabe threw open the door.

    “What the fuck is going on?” she yelled.

    I jumped out of the car and went to the backseat of the Hummer. “Things don’t always go perfectly. We got Francis.”

    “Oh, great,” she said sarcastically. “Heaven knows we need him.”

    So I could give her a hard punch in the shoulder, I dropped my hand from the barrel of my rifle and struck her. “Get a grip! We need to get out of here. I’m driving with you. Francis, follow the Hummer.”

    Blaze got into the front of the Mustang and Gabe and I loaded ourselves into the Hummer. Doors slammed and we were on our way. Then I remember Oliver. I groaned and kicked the glove compartment.

    “What’s wrong?” Gabe asked, eyes focused on the road.

    “I found a kid back in the dealership. He strong armed me into taking him with us in trade for information on Francis.”

    A smug smirk spread across her lips. “Strong armed?”

    I ignored her. “Now I need to find somewhere to put him. He knows I’m not letting him tag along.”

    “Why not take him to the prison? He’d die and go to heaven living with all those chicks,” Gabe suggested. That was definitely one of her brighter ideas and I was surprised I hadn’t thought of it.

    We were already a block away.

    “Stop the car,” I commanded, and Gabe complied instantly, if not a little too instantly.

    Before I even exited the Hummer, Blaze was on the passenger side, gun on the ready. We were in an undead-unpopulated area for the time being.

    “Problem?” she asked after I got out.

    I shook my head. “I’m taking that kid to the prison.”

    She nodded in understanding. “Do you need backup?”

    After thinking about it for a beat, I declined her offer. It would be faster for me to run Oliver up there, probably to the opening I made in the gate, and then run back. They could even keep going down the road if they wanted. There were abandoned cars and wreckage in the road, which would slow the Mustang and Hummer down enough to compensate the time.

    “Take the Mustang,” she suggested as we walked back to the car. “We’ll get in the Hummer, that way you won’t be SOL if things don’t go right.”

    “Good idea,” I agreed, and motioned for Francis to get out.

    Oliver began to get out, but I stopped him. “I have somewhere for you to go, kiddo. You’re going to love it.”

    After explaining the plan to Francis briefly, he and Wright went back into the bigger car. Oliver moved to the front seat and I slid into the driver’s, pleased at the condition of the car. It had a full tank of gas and was spotless inside. Not for long, I imagined.

    I did a three-point turn in the road and set back in the opposite direction. The Hummer slowly faded from my sight in the rearview.

    “Where am I going?” Oliver asked hesitantly.

    “There’s a ton of ladies living up in the prison. They’d love to take care of you,” I assured.

    “You mean prisoner ladies?”

    I chuckled, “No, they just happen to be there.”

    We had to drive right past the car dealership since the hill entrance to the prison was directly across from it. All the Z’s must have made their way inside, because only a handful was still in the lot itself. They noticed us, of course, but I hoped I wouldn’t have to deal with them. Sunshine was cresting over the building, shining light on their greasy faces.

    I turned left and set up the hill. Christina’s parting words came back to me.

You’ll be back.

    Since I wasn’t actually going into the prison, just making a drop off, I highly doubted it.

    The prison was almost exactly as we left it, but there were two women standing guard at the front gate. I hadn’t met one of them, but the other one was Christina’s daughter. They raised shotguns to greet us, but didn’t open fire.

    Excited by how easy dropping the kid off was going to be, I almost tripped when I got out of the Mustang.

    “Oh, it’s you,” the black girl said in astonishment. “Whatcha doing back here?”

    “You interested in taking this kid?” I asked, but made it more of a statement.

    Oliver exited the car slowly. He was nervous to be out in the open and I didn’t blame him.

    Somewhere across town a rumbling explosion occurred. We all turned our heads in the direction it came from and paused before continuing.

    “Everyone is welcome,” the unknown woman said, smiling at Oliver.

    “Great, this is all worked out then,” I said, and began to get in the car.

    My young companion didn’t give me a second glance as he entered the gates of the survivor’s colony. I didn’t blame him; even though I saved him, it had been unintentional and he knew it.

    As I drove back, I reveled in the blissful silence. No kids, no companions. Just me. Even though I loved her, not having Pickle there was nice, too.

    The right side of my face was sticky and itchy with blood. I needed to find time to check my shoulder wound to make sure it wasn’t already growing an infection. My feet were killing me; I wanted to take my boots off-I hadn’t done so since Gabe and I left the apartment in Seattle. A tiny, infuriating itch terrorized the arch of my foot.

    Somehow my three companions made it farther along than I thought. I spotted the immobile black Hummer a block up the raod from where I left it. The little Mustang had an easier time weaving between wrecked cars, and I caught up with them in no time.

    Undead hands reached out from open car windows, some of them close enough to my car that I heard their bloody finger tips scratching against the side of the vehicle.

    I saw why they had stopped. They were in front of a junior high. Its gates were closed, but hundreds of undead adolescents pressed up against the chain link fence, trying to claw their way out. For a moment, I marveled in the melancholy of it all; maybe one undead got in while they were trying to shut the school down, and bit someone. That’s all it took, was one bite.

    A bumping noise caught my attention. I pressed my face up against the window and looked down. A drooling, white-eyed toddler was banging against my door. There was a substantial chunk of neck missing and a cascade of old, coagulated blood down his chest. I looked away. While I was zoning out, staring at the mass of dead kids, my radio hissed.

    “Sinclair? What is your status? Over.”

    I grabbed it and clicked the transmit button. “I’m fine, Wright. Got rid of the kid. Over.”

    A moment later Blaze’s voice came back. “What is the plan? Over.”

    “The same. Keep heading East for Highway 2. It’s at the end of town. Over.”

    Another lengthy pause, then, “Can you come get this fucking ferret? It’s going berserk in here, Cyrus!”

    Definitely not Blaze. Gabe’s voice held its usual whiny, loud tone. Sighing, I drove the Mustang closer to the Hummer and got out. Taking a quick glance behind me, I noticed toddler-zombie was gone.

Better keep an eye out.

    Francis unlocked the backseat door and I hauled myself in. The three of them weren’t enjoying each other’s company. Hostility was abundant and extremely tangible. Did I have to be everywhere at once?

    Pickle was scurrying around ammunition and weapons in the back. I leaned over and grabbed her. “You ain’t lookin’ too good, boy,” Francis commented as I shoved Pickle into my backpack.

    Gabe twisted around to join the conversation. A huge, red scratch peeled down her cheek. I mentally congratulated Pickle on the score.

    “Yeah, your face is fucked up.”

    “Very eloquently put, Gabriella,” I sneered.

    “I’m riding with you,” Frank said as he gathered his belongings up. “I’ve had enough of these gals bickerin’.”

    “All right,” I sighed and shoved the door open.

    Gabriella rolled the window down and gestured me over. I walked around the behemoth to her.

    “Listen, I don’t know how much longer I can handle that chick,” Gabe whispered. I knew she was referring to Blaze.

    “One of you can ride with me wh-”

    I felt little hands on the back of my leg. I went to grab my handgun, knowing very well what was feeling me up. From out of nowhere, Gabe brought up a.45 Colt and pointed it downward. She blew the kids head up before I even saw him. Ears still ringing from the shot, I looked back up at her, impressed by her reflexes, but more so of her lack of hesitation. Her killing a toddler, even if it was undead, was a fairly big step in her progress.

    “Thanks,” I managed.

    “Don’t thank me. I owed you.”

    I remembered our bet. She said she’d save my life three times. Apparently she was sticking to it.

    “Two left,” I grinned and walked away.

Chapter 16

    We only made it another ten minutes before disaster struck again.

    The wreckage became a little less thick and our cars navigated around the remaining junk with ease. After the junior high there were some houses and a terrifying nursing home, but nothing too traumatizing. Houses were predictably destroyed or unscathed, and occasional rotting figures lay prone on the ground. Our windows were shut, but I knew very well what their festering scents were like.

    I noticed a street sign proclaiming the road to be Main Street, which meant we were right on track. Right on track was always a very temporary term. Just as we got up to an intersection, the Hummer veered off to the right onto a residential street then halted with a piercing screech. I followed it, of course, and Francis and I stared at the black vehicle, waiting for something to happen.

    Frank picked up the radio and called them. No reply.

    Gabe practically fell from the Hummer, and only a quick grab onto the car door saved her from a face plant. In a more dignified manner, Blaze threw open the other side and strode with a purpose around the car. Her fists were clenched and her mouth was set in a grim line. I knew what was coming.

    Blaze Wright’s first punch landed right into Gabe’s ribcage. She stumbled back just a second, doubling over, before using her low stance to ram Blaze up against the Hummer. I watched as Blaze’s head hit the window on the car, temporarily stunning her. Gabe rammed a fist into Blaze’s stomach, but that was the last shot she got in.

    Fights are short in reality, and Blaze made sure of it. With a good show of brute strength, Blaze shoved off Gabriella, not a wink of effort involved. She let the momentum of that move carry her into a kick even a black belt could appreciate. Her foot hit Gabe in the center of her chest and effectively knocked her onto the ground.

    As Gabriella tried to get up, Blaze lost some of her cool and threw a sloppy kick into her side. It did damage, but wasn’t as precise as her previous kick. My mouth dropped when Wright continued to kick Gabe.

    “Boy, you’d better do something about that,” Frank sighed.

Why me? Why was I the one who had to mediate everything? Why was I the one who had to deal with everyone’s psychotic breakdowns?

    None too happy, I roughly shoved the car door open and ran over to Blaze. I came up behind her and threw my arms around her waist, hauling the wild woman off Gabe. She tried to bolt out of my grasp but, ignoring my protesting shoulders, I squeezed tighter until I knew it hurt.

    “Let me go,” Wright said dead calmly, her voice contradiction her jerking attempts to get free.

    “No,” I denied and began walking backwards with her, creating distance between her and her prey.

    Francis passed me and went to Gabe, giving the battered girl a hand up. Blood was pouring from her nose and mouth, her hands clutching her midsection. Frank guided her to the Hummer and helped her in before taking the wheel himself.

    After coercing Blaze into the Mustang and finding ourselves sitting in silence, I let a shaky laugh escape.

    “You really got her,” I commented, looking over at her.

    Blaze got out of the fight without a busted lip or nose. Of course, I’d Imagine the back of her head was throbbing and her stomach was tight, but beyond that, she was the evident victor. I remembered my fight in the apartment and how Gabe fared a little better with me. A disturbing thought crossed my mind-Blaze could probably beat me silly.

    “Couldn’t finish the job fast enough,” she disagreed in that monotone voice. My eyes caught hers, and she asked, “We found your friend, now what about her?”

    I did promise Blaze we’d discuss the Gabe issue. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how biased I’d become toward Blaze, who I knew drastically less about than Gabe. That didn’t matter, though. Blaze proved more useful and lucid than Gabe had since I met her.

    Shutting away the conflicting thoughts, I started to answer but stopped. I didn’t know what we were going to do about Gabe. Nothing really needed to be done. Just because they didn’t get along, and because I didn’t like her, did not mean we could just kill her. I know Blaze felt quite differently, but I wasn’t ready to be the partner of a murderous psychopath just yet.

    “I’m responsible for her,” I finally said, then added, “I guess,” to make it seem more casual. Wright looked at me skeptically.

    “Responsible,” she repeated and shook her head. “I thought you were better than that.”

    I shrugged and was about to spit out a very good comeback when another rumbling explosion, similar to the one I heard at the prison, echoed down the road. This time it was way too close for comfort. I snatched up the radio and called Francis.

    “Francis, you there?” I called and noticed Blaze muttered “over” when she noticed I wasn’t going to.

    “’Course I am, boy.”

    “That sounded close…”

    “Yee-ah, it did. I reckon it might be some crazies, you know? I think we should hide ourselves and wait for a while.”

    “I agree. No zombies around this area. Let’s take advantage of that. You lead the way, find a house that looks safe.”

    The Hummer shuddered to life and I followed it down the road it originally veered off onto. Only a few minutes later, Francis pulled into a driveway of a rambler. The garage was open and there was no fence guarding the back yard. He drove the Hummer around the side of the house, parking it next to a stagnant swimming pool.

    I did the same. We all stayed still in our cars, listening.

    From across town a loud engine was approaching, but the closer it got, I realized there were many engines. After another couple of minutes they passed by us, but all the motors shut off instead of fading away. Whoever the group was, they were stopping for the day. It was hard to say what the explosions were, but they could’ve been intentional. Humans were difficult adversaries and I wasn’t interested in fighting a horde of them.

    As quietly as I could, I got out of the car, grabbing my pack before shutting the door. Blaze, Francis, and Gabe did the same. Moving as one, we went to the front of the house and slid in through the garage. The door was shut but unlocked.

    Francis took initiative and lowered the garage door, which wasn’t automatic. The sound was a little louder than I preferred, but it offered more protection.

    Blaze brought her rifle up and took point, searching the house. I waited with the other two at the garage entrance. A couple bloody prints adorned walls and ground, and only around the door, but everything else was extremely normal.

    She came back with her gun pointing slightly down, an indicator that the house was clear. Just as she was about to open her mouth, the lights flickered on. That sector of the city was being powered for a few hours, and I was excited. Electricity was extremely convenient, though at the moment I couldn’t think of anything to do with it.

    Transparently angry, Gabe pushed passed us and into the living space, shooting Blaze daggers as she went.

    The house was an older single story home with dark brown carpet and brown paneled wood walls. There was a master bedroom with an attached bathroom, a guest bedroom, and a bigger living space that was all adjoined. Overall, the house was in flawless condition, as though the original owners just left for a quick trip.

    “Blaze, we need to talk,” I stated as Francis and Gabe fell onto the living room sofa.

    She turned to face me, a vaguely irritated expression on her face. Regardless of her emotions, if she really had any, she followed me into the master bedroom and I shut the door behind us. My newfound sense of guilt made me feel like I hadn’t discussed the fight between her and Gabriella thoroughly enough.

    “What happened with Gabe? You could’ve gotten us killed,” I said in a hushed voice.

    For a brief second, her brows came together and she scowled at me, but stayed silent. Patiently, I shrugged my pack off and took Pickle out so she could get some air and exercise. I sat on the bed and Blaze leaned against the wall in front of me.

    “She got on my nerves,” Wright finally admitted. “I had to put her in her place. Why are we talking about this again?”

    Like I hadn’t heard that idea before, and I told her so. “When I met Gabriella, I beat the hell out of her, but it only changed her attitude for a couple days. She gets on my nerves every second of her existence, but-”

    Angrily, she cut me off, “We finished this talk in the car, dad. But since you want to do it again, here, you compromise when you shouldn’t, Sinclair. That girl contributes nothing-”

    “She can shoot. She isn’t as bad as you think.”

    “Oh, really? How many times have you seen her shoot a gun?” Blaze remarked mockingly. “From my point of view, she’s tagging along because she’d die otherwise. She can’t go solo.”

    I shook my head in disagreement. “That’s not true. She was on her own before she came to me.”

    It was Blaze’s turn to shake her head. Her almost-black eyes pierced right through me and I shifted uncomfortably. “No, she was not. Back at the prison I heard her talking to Christina’s daughter. The building she was staying in wasn’t secure. Z’s got in and killed the group she was staying with. When she came running down your street, it was because the people who’d been taking care of her were dead. She was trying to find someone else, probably someone stronger and better suited to take care of a teenage girl.

    “Fuck, Sinclair. None of those guns or gear are even hers. Before the apocalypse happened, she was a plain old prostitute. Those guys you ran into, they were sent by her crazy pimp to scoop her back up for currency in their safe house. Every shot, every punch-it was all out of luck.”

    Why did Gabe make it all up? To make herself look tough? It wouldn’t surprise me. Really, it made sense for her to make up an entirely new identity in this new, chaotic world. She wanted to come off as relentless and strong. If anything, I had to give her credit for the elaborate ruse she managed to pull on me. I felt duped, which I certainly wasn’t used to.

    “Ah,” was all I could manage.

    Blaze pushed herself off the wall and sat down next to me. “She lied to you. What are you going to do about it?”

    I turned to face her and glared, then asked, “Why am I the unofficial leader of our fucked up parade?”

    She shrugged. “Maybe when you decided to unofficially make choices for Francis and Gabe. When you unofficially saved their lives. You’re a hero. It’s disgusting.”

    “What about you?” I asked sarcastically. “I haven’t done anything for you but you’re here.”

    “I’m using you,” she answered frankly. “I want to go east and I know you’re capable of getting me there. When I heard about Frank’s plan, I decided to take advantage of it.”

    “You think you’re going to stay with us?”

    “Us?”

    We looked at each other blankly. What was she implying?

    Her lips broke into a grin, showing that cracked canine. I didn’t know what was funny, so I remained devoid of emotion.

    “You really think we’re all going to make it?” she asked, but behind her words I detected a threat.

    “I guess not,” I replied in all honesty. “I know I will. I never considered the rest of you.”

    “You’re not unstoppable.” Blaze got up and walked to the door, leaving me alone and full of thought.

***

    When the undead craze started, I was a different person. Cold, calculated. I took pride in how much of an icy bastard I could be. As I started saving people, I started giving a damn. Just a little damn, almost insignificant, but it changed me. First with Gabe, then I let Francis Bordeaux and Blaze Wright in for the ride. My old self would consider the new self a complete idiot, a failure. I disagreed-I wasn’t that far gone. If I let every little feeling take control, I would’ve stayed with Avery back at the prison to develop an Armageddon romance.

    But I certainly didn’t. So, I certainly wasn’t far gone.

    As I sat alone in someone else’s bedroom, I thought about my original plan for the zombie apocalypse. I was going to stay in my apartment, alone, and just hang out. That plan still seemed attractive when I was feeling disgruntled, like in that moment, for example.

    Having people rely on me wasn’t what I had planned. Somehow, I let Gabe convince me and my policy changed entirely. How did I let that happen? How could a barely-adult, screwed up liar of a girl convince the great Cyrus V. Sinclair to do anything?

    The V stands for versatility, I guess. Heaven knows I’d been compromising and versatile with my plans.

    I let my eyes wander around the nondescript room. Queen bed with a navy blue comforter. Walk in closet, chest of drawers. Night stands. One of them even had an old glass of water on it. While I stared at the glass my vision went out of focus and I was lost in thought again. Blaze was right-not all of us would make it. Most of my conscience wanted only me to make it, and maybe Francis. No, that was selfish. Francis was the reason the plan existed. Francis could make it, but Blaze? Gabe?

    The women were unnecessary, and no matter how much I defended her, Blaze was right about Gabe. She was a loose cannon and would be a nightmare to live with. Hell, she was a nightmare no matter what the circumstances.

    And Blaze? Her face popped up in my mind. Black hair, long nose, dark eyes, scar on her right cheek, cigarette pressed between her lips. Many words fit her: efficient, callous, and badass. She’d be useful in surviving, but I knew she’d kill me without a nanosecond of hesitation if she wanted to. In fact, I’d bet she’d leave me to an agonizing death-by-zombie if it granted her a few extra minutes of escape time.

    I admired her ruthlessness and, honestly, aspired to be like that. It would make surviving in an undead world a lot, lot easier.

    However, surviving had been brutally easy so far, so did it even matter? We had a gas-guzzling behemoth loaded with weapons, ammunition, and food. Resources weren’t an issue. The only issue was the conflict in the group I was surviving with.

    Out of the blue, I thought about how good Orange Hi-C tastes with Sour Patch kids. Talk about a delightful sugar rush. I’d have to raid a convenience store if it was…well, convenient. Just because most of the world happened to be the living dead didn’t mean I’d skimp on what I liked.

    As long as the situation didn’t worsen, everything would work out. Even if the players didn’t get along, we still had better odds than most people out there. We weren’t afraid of the undead and we could defend ourselves-what more could someone ask for?

    Scratch that question. I know what other people would ask for. The zombies to disappear, life to return to normal, what have you.

    Good thing I’m not other people.

Chapter 17

    After pondering my existence a little while longer, I left the bedroom to find the rest of them sitting around in the living room. Right when Blaze saw me she grabbed her pack and left for the master bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

    She was gone for at least ten minutes, and during that time no one said a word. It was nice to zone out and forget about killing, escaping, surviving, and anything related to those verbs. When Wright came back she plopped down onto the sofa next to Francis and me.

    Francis spoke, breaking the lazy silence. “What were ya’ll doing when you found out?”

    The girls stared at him like he was crazy, and I would’ve, too, if I didn’t know any better. Francis loved a good story and now seemed like a fitting time to share. I knew my story wasn’t spectacular, but it would break the ice for them to tell theirs.

    “I was at work,” I started, then Gabe immediately interrupted.

    “Where did you work?”

    I answered, “24-hour Walgreens. I was a pharmacist working the graveyard shift.”

    Gabe snickered at me and said, “I figured you’d do something a little more evil. Like killing baby animals or evicting people.”

    Ignoring her, I continued. “I was working with another guy named Rick. It was probably two in the morning so there wasn’t anyone in the store. Just a teenage kid figuring out what kind of condom to buy. I heard the doors slide open and this woman shuffled in. She was white with a kind of blue undertone. I didn’t give her more than a glance because I never look at the customers. Just a cursory glance, is all. Rick was on his break and I was encased in the pharmacy section of the store. It’s the kind that’s all decked out with hard plastic, probably bullet proof.

    “I was sucking on a mouthful of cherry Jolly Ranchers, and after I looked at her, I went back to separating the rest of the flavors. Then I heard the Condom Kid yelling. The woman was grabbing at him and he kept pushing her away. She was a zombie, of course, and so she bit him on the arm. Then I really looked at her. Her neck was chewed out and some of her face. The kid started gushing blood and I called the cops.

    “One thing I knew back when things were normal was to never get in the way. I didn’t know she was really a zombie. I didn’t have time to think about it. It’s not like you see something like that and go, ‘Yeah, living dead right there.’ But I did know that if I killed her and played hero, I’d probably go to jail for it. Never mind she was trying to eat that kid. He ran out of the store and she followed him. Ten minutes later the cops showed up, I explained what happened, then took off the rest of the night.

    “Actually, that was the last night I worked. I knew something was wrong. It all felt cliché like in horror movies. I went home and everything happened. The news, power failure, and total chaos. I left a few times to stock up on supplies, but that was it.”

    My story ended on a boring note, just like it started. Not everyone had to have an epic story of how they found out zombies were real, how they survived and coped with it.

    A memory of my childhood popped up. There was a series of books for teenagers at the library called “Coping With.” Coping with divorce, coping with anxiety. I wondered if twenty years into the future there was going to be a “Coping with zombies” or “Coping with killing your undead relatives and friends.”

    “I’d just gotten back from my second tour in Iraq,” Blaze said out of nowhere, her voice distant and a little dreamy. “I had nowhere to go because I’d been in the military for so long. So, I went to my half-sister’s house. She needed someone to watch her son, Joey, and said I could live there if I took care of him. Just until I figured things out for myself.”

    For some reason I pictured Blaze Wright as a different person pre-Zombie era. When she spoke of her previous life she even sounded different-a little less cold and unmoved.

    “I lived there for a few weeks before news of some new virus finally caught wind. Carolyn, my half-sister, was bitten and went straight to the hospital. The TV said people were typically quarantined for a few days. She told me to take care of Joey until she got back. I agreed, of course, because what else was I going to do?

    “Anyway, I woke up and went downstairs. The front door was wide open. Joey was eight and had a tendency to let himself out to play in the front yard. He’d never shut the door no matter how angry his mom and I got. When I went to close the door, I heard noises in the kitchen. You know, the sluicing-chewing noises they make when they’re eating.

    “I shut the door and locked it before going into the kitchen. The neighbor, Bill, was eating Joey. His stomach was ripped up like a grenade got to him. Blood was everywhere. Bill didn’t notice me. I knew what he was-I didn’t have a hard time believing things like that. I picked up Carolyn’s cast iron pan out of the dish rack and beat Bill’s head in. Joey started twitching while I was doing that, so I crushed his skull, too.

    “I didn’t have very many things. I went upstairs and packed my sack and got my gun out of the closet. I just had a little 9mm and a couple of extra clips. I had no idea where to go, but I figured I owed it to Carolyn to tell her about Joey. Maybe save her. If I had taken some time to think about it, I’d have make the connection that she was bit and was probably a zombie, too. If I hadn’t been so stupid, I would’ve realized a hospital was the worst place to go.”

    Blaze paused, then shook her head. “That’s another story, though. The hospital and everything after.”

    Francis looked unusually sympathetic towards her. He asked, “How did you end up at the prison?”

    Her eyes gleamed with sudden rage. “I had a motorcycle at that point. When I got to Monroe, a few guys knocked me off my bike and dragged me into the prison. I killed two of them.”

    After a moment, she shared more. “It’s all so funny, actually. Right when Carolyn left for the hospital she said to me, ‘Bea, you’re almost thirty and you have no kids, no husband. What’s it going to take for you to find that? The end of the world?’ I guess she was wrong, though. End of the world and still no kids, no husband.”

    Gabe, in a mellow tone, piped in. “Did you even want that? A couple of kids, a demeaning husband?”

    Every once in a while, Gabe suppressed her stupidity and said something insightful. This was one of those times. Blaze looked at her and shook her head.

    “I can’t have kids. I got a hysterectomy before I went into the military,” she stated flatly. “As for a husband…most men I’ve met don’t like the fact I have bigger balls than they do.”

    We all chuckled. It was true about her being overly masculine. I couldn’t imagine any normal man wanting to be with a woman who could handle herself better than he could. Most men wanted to protect their women, but Blaze didn’t need protecting. I liked that about her.

    Francis turned to Gabe and asked her, “What about you, firecracker?”

    Blaze’s face went blank and I forced myself to do the same. After what she had just told me, I wanted to kill Gabriella for her dishonesty. Francis, of course, was completely clueless and was still looking at Gabe expectantly.

    “I don’t have a story. It just happened.”

    I was expecting her to lie and make up some half-assed story about the East Coast and her assassin past. Because she didn’t, I wasn’t sure what was going on. She told me the tale easily enough. Maybe it was because she knew Blaze knew the truth? Or she just wasn’t in the mood to talk. I wasn’t sure.

    Out of habit I started patting down my vest pockets, just to take inventory of what I had. One pocket had a little, familiar box in it. I discreetly opened that pocket and pulled out a fun-size container of Dots.

Score, Cyrus.

    Francis, keen on keeping the ball rolling, launched into his story. I chewed on slightly stale, chewy sugar dots and listened.

    “Well I’ve been living down in Little Rock since as long as I can remember. Then I got antsy and moved up here to Washington up in the mountains. Built me my cabin, real good. Then, when I was in town, I heard about the virus and whatnot. I wondered how Cyrus was doing, so I packed a bag an’ made my way to Seattle.”

    Startled, I asked, “How did you know where I was? I didn’t tell you when I left Little Rock.”

    “Tracked you down,” was his even reply. Apparently, that part of the story wasn’t up for discussion.

    Stillness filled the room again, leaving everyone to their own thoughts.

    Moments later Gabe spoke, asking a question that was always in the back of our minds. “Why do you think some of them are fast? Why don’t they stay that way?”

    Francis and I both shrugged. As of late, I didn’t have time to consider many whys.

    “Avery had a theory,” Wright started. “She thought it had to do with rigor mortis. It doesn’t set in until after around three hours, which is about how long the zombies can run. After that, it gets progressively worse, which would explain the slowness.”

    “Rigor goes away after a few days, though,” I opposed. “Technically, they’d be running again after that.”

    Blaze shrugged. “It’s just a theory.”

    Once a few more theories were shared, we stopped talking again. There were things to be considered. Our plan of action, for one. Monroe seemed to be teeming with life, more so than Seattle had been. The cars we heard might be driven by hostiles, just like the men at the prison. Heaven knew I didn’t want to run into a fiasco like that again. Even if they were good Samaritans, I’d rather not deal with it.

    Then there was our mapping of how to get across to the next town. So far, the highways and freeways had been drivable, but if there was a safer, less populated way to get to Sultan (next town) there would be no plausible reason not to take it.

    I voiced my thoughts to the group. Francis immediately pulled out a map from his coat pocket, which was folded too many times to count. He spread it out on the coffee table in front of us and we found our location.

    “We were on West Main Street before we pulled off,” I supplied, setting my finger on the road. “I guess we took a right about here at Morris Street.”

    After some careful analysis, we decided there were three ways to get out of town. The first was to take Highway 2 due east, but that didn’t seem like a good idea. Francis told us it was a narrow, two-lane road and was packed when he came through it months before, so it was probably too dangerous.

    The second route was a road called Old Owen, but it required going across the commercial part of town. Commercial was a synonym for population, which was now a synonym for zombies. So, no go on Old Owen.

    Our final bet was a road close to our current location. It was called Lewis Street. There was a bridge, and then a back road called Ben Howard. It ran parallel to Highway 2, but since it appeared to be a back road, it wouldn’t be too populated.

    “When should we leave?” I asked.

    Francis looked forlorn. “I’m tired, Cyrus. I’m an old man and I can’t deny it. I haven’t gotten a night’s sleep in months now. I’d like to stay until morning.”

    “Are you two okay with that?”

    Gabe and Blaze nodded. Blaze said, “It seems like a good idea since we don’t know about those cars earlier.”

    “I’m going to check the kitchen out, ya’ll. See if I can get us some food. Hell, I can even warm it up on the stove,” Francis said and pushed himself up off the sofa.

    The casualness of our situation was strange. Cities were full of undead, but none of them had caught on to our being there yet. I wondered if that would all change through the night-the living dead have a way of finding you no matter how quiet you are, or how safe you think you are.

    I heard a tiny crunching noise in the kitchen and I leaned back only to find Pickle chomping on old cat food on the linoleum. The little ferret seemed to be enjoying it well enough, so I didn’t stop her.

    Blaze tapped my shoulder. I craned my neck around to look at her. “Yeah?”

    “Let’s clean you up. Your face isn’t looking too good.”

    Oh, yeah. I remembered half my face was gored by a particularly wicked staircase. Just thinking about it made the wounds start to hurt.

    Fatigued, I got up and followed her into the same master bedroom we just had our tiff in. She sat down at the bottom edge of the bed and shrugged her camouflage jacket off, revealing a white, sleeveless undershirt. Dog tags rested just above the low neckline of her shirt. Without the bulk of the jacket she had a feminine frame, albeit a lean one.

    “Rubbing alcohol should be fine for that,” she said, giving a little nod toward my face. “Let’s check your shoulder, too.”

    Blaze reached into her backpack and pulled out a brown bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cotton cloths. She sat down next to me and the bed squeaked slightly.

    Without care for my discomfort, she loaded one of the cloths with alcohol and got to work on my face. The liquid stung and made my eyes smart. I aimlessly stared at her neck as she cleaned me up, feeling a little uncomfortable with the proximity. Her dog tags glinted in the setting sunlight, catching my eye.

Wright, Beatrice.

    “Your name is Beatrice?”

    “Clearly,” she answered flatly.

    “How did you get the name Blaze?” I asked.

    Mild surprise crossed her face, as though she never thought about it. “High school, I guess. I was always blazing up. Cigarettes and arson.”

    “Arson,” I repeated, then winced in pain as she scrubbed a particularly deep gash.

    “I was disgruntled,” she stated as though it explained everything.

    I chuckled bitterly. “Where were you when I was in high school? You’d have been my soul mate.”

    “Is that so?” she muttered offhandedly, then added, “Take your vest off.”

    While I unzipped my tactical vest, I stole a quick look at Blaze. She tossed the bloodied cloths on the ground and got some new ones from her pack, followed by a dark glass bottle. It looked like iodine-I hoped it wasn’t.

    It was unnecessary, but I had the sudden urge to impress the indifferent woman by my side. I pulled my stained, dirtied white undershirt off and turned my bad shoulder to face her. She scanned my body in a single, calculated glance.

    If she liked the way I looked, she wasn’t going to say so. Naturally I was a little hurt; I wasn’t a flabby couch potato. In fact, my time alone in the apartment was so full of sit-ups and push-ups my body was, as the kids say, ‘smokin.’ I thought so, at least. Unfazed, she instead tugged off the old bandage and tossed it with the soiled rags. I knew what was next.

    “Don’t want this to get infected,” Blaze informed me as she uncapped the iodine and saturated a clean cloth with it. “You could lose your arm and this already looks infected. Wouldn’t want that.”

    She pressed the cloth to the cut in my shoulder and I hissed in pain. Iodine, pure iodine. It hurt more than the originator of the wound. Blackness crept into the fringes of my vision as the iodine sanitized.

    “Man up.”

    How would she like it if I aggressively applied iodine to her?

    After she was done, she slapped on a new bandage from her seemingly endless supply of medical materials, and then began to unlace her boots. I did the same, eager to free myself from their unforgiving constraint. Plus it gave me something else to focus on, besides the brutal agony in my shoulder.

    Francis showed up in the doorway, a pot in one hand. He beamed a gap-toothed grin at us. “I made soup. Ya’ll come eat, now.”

    I forced myself to get up (and put a shirt on) and found that Francis had pulled bowls out and everything. He poured a heavy serving of Chef Boyardee pasta into our bowls and shoved them toward us. Eating hot canned goods was even more bizarre than living so nonchalantly in a random house.

    But I wasn’t complaining. I like Chef Boyardee and downtime was good, too.

    We ate on the sofa since the dining room was close to a sliding glass door that didn’t have blinds. If one zombie saw us, hundreds more would follow his lead and try to break in to eat us.

    The meat-stuffed ravioli in tomato sauce tasted better than anything I’d had in quite a while. It used to be a quintessential staple in my apartment before I noticed how fat I was getting off it. Eating it reminded me of better times, and a little bell of sadness rang in my heart.

    Despite everything, with my clean wounds and filled belly, I felt like a million bucks. After we ate, we unanimously decided to sleep since the stars were aligned in regard to our safety.

    “You girls can sleep in the main bed. I’ll take that guest room and Cyrus’ll take the couch, all right?”

    Gabe’s mouth dropped and she snorted. “I don’t think so. I’ll take the guest room. No arguments. I’m feeling…”

    She swayed slightly and brought her hand up to her head. Without another word she stumbled into the room with the small bed, shutting it behind her. A second later the lock clicked and we heard a chair get jammed under the door handle.

    “I’ll take the couch,” Francis said, smiling at Blaze and me.

    Without a word, Blaze turned and went to the room. Was Francis trying to set us up? If so, I thought it was a noble attempt at trying to get me laid. After so many years, he was still looking after every part of my life.

    I followed her in and shut the door, turning the meager lock. It was better if we were all isolated, in case something drastic happened. Both she and I had our small packs and guns in the bedroom, so if we had to bail, it wouldn’t be an issue.

    My toes felt remarkable in the carpet as I walked to the bed. It was like every fiber was massaging them, making them feel renewed. I rolled my neck around, cracking it a few times, then laid down. It was blazing (pun intended) in the room, so there was no need for any covers.

    As I settled into the bed, I exhaled in pleasure. My face and shoulder stung pleasantly from the sanitization and the bed felt unbelievable.

    Blaze laid down next to me on her side, facing away. Her breathing was shallow and I watched form the corner of my eye as her side rose and fell.

    Somewhere in the house, the air conditioner whirred to life, its automatic timing uninterrupted by the end of the world. Our good fortune almost made me sing out loud. We were lucky with the house; no runners or slows had found us, but by morning I’d bet there’d be a few. We had food, guns, ammo, two cars, and a plan! My pulse sped up and I assumed adrenaline was being released into my bloodstream.

Calm down, I chided myself. Just take it easy.

    Breathing a little deeper, relishing further into the bed, I relaxed once again and forgot about my woes.

    A burning orange sunset passed through the beige curtains, illuminating the room. I pictured the sun outside; setting across the city like it always has and always would. Some things never changed.

    Turning on my good shoulder, I let a tiny sigh escape me. I always was a side sleeper. I watched through the curtains as at least an hour had passed and the sun was entirely gone, then drifted into sleep. I don’t know how long I slept, but suddenly I woke up. It was strange falling asleep in a fiery orange room and waking up in a deep black-blue one.

    Blaze was on her back and I saw the silhouette of her face in the glow of an adjacent alarm clock. It was odd having power on so sporadically. I wondered if the town we were headed for, Sultan, also had that going on. It might make things easier for us.

    If Blaze hadn’t spoke, I would’ve thought she was asleep. Somehow she knew I was awake. She asked, “Are you attracted to me?”

    “Uh,” I started, then stopped. Was I? Sure, kind of. Now that I thought about it, I was. But it wasn’t the same way I was attracted to Avery a couple days ago. With her, it had been awkward, physical lust. My reactions to Blaze were primarily respect, a little fear, and awe. Since I rarely felt those emotions toward anyone, it made sense for the word “attracted” to explain it all.

    Unexpected embarrassment filled me. Even though she probably couldn’t see my face, which was contorted in shame, I turned onto my back again. Saving people, making right choices, and now this? Attraction to a female?

    Well, attraction again. (If one considered the brush with Avery attraction. I’d leave it up for interpretation, and my interpretation leans toward the negative spectrum.)

    Maybe I wasn’t as asexual as I thought. Either way, attraction toward her would only confuse things. Plus it would make Gabe go even more loco than she was. She already hated Beatrice Wright with a passion. Whatever the hell was going on would just be fuel to a fire.

    When I finally answered, I shot for a cryptic air and said, “Apocalypses do this kind of thing to you.”

    Bless her soul, all she said was, “They sure do.”

***

    Smoke snaked around the ceiling, looking down at me with mild interest. It was thick up there and made intricate swirling patterns as air moved through it. My lungs felt a little singed. Why didn’t I wake up sooner?

    Another question made its way through my groggy, sleep-addled brain. How could Blaze smoke that many cigarettes? That amount of smoke was more like the house being on fire, not…

Oh.

    To my side, Blaze was sleeping on her stomach. Her head was turned to the side and I saw a glimmer of drool run off onto the pillow. There wasn’t a cigarette in sight.

The house is on fire, I realized.

    “The house is on fire!” I shouted, flinging myself out of bed and knocking my head on the nightstand. A brief show of stars swirled around me before I was up and yanking on my boots.

    Blaze was in motion instantly, both of her shoes on and tied before I got to my second one. I grabbed my vest and pack, pulling them on hastily and grabbed my rifle. Words already on my lips, I turned to tell Blaze to hurry up, but she was standing there as though she lived to be suited up.

    “Calm down,” she hissed and grabbed my arm as I went to throw open the door.

    Instead, she went to the blinds and pulled them aside, just a tad, to reveal the backyard. I came up beside her and looked.

    Dozens of living, armed people were in the backyard.

    The Hummer was pried open and someone was working on hotwiring it. They were going to steal it and everything inside it. Every gun and bullet we had been taking for granted would be gone.

    A shout caught our attention. Some guy in motorcycle garb was pointing at us, waving some kind of machine gun wildly in the other hand.

    Chances of us stopping that many people? Slim. Chances of us getting shot?

    Burned to death?

    Eaten alive?

    Left for dead?

    Very, very high.

Chapter 18

    “Well, looks like we’re royally, thoroughly fucked,” Blaze gritted.

    “What are we going to do?”

    “Fucking kill them,” she stated, her tone a little too eager.

    I turned to see unadulterated bloodlust on Blaze’s face before bullets shattered the window we had just stood at. Shards of glass cascaded onto us as we simultaneously hit the floor and started crawling to the only exit in the room. Now that the window was out, we could hear the bastards outside even better. They wanted to kill us. No surprise there.

    When we finally made it to the door, Blaze reached up and unlocked it, jerking it open awkwardly since we were low to the floor. We crawled through and took cover behind the wall before moving up into a crouch.

    Francis was already by the garage entrance, pressed up against the wall. He glanced at the two of us then across the living room to the guestroom door where Gabe was.

    “I’ll get the other girlie, then we gotta get out of here!” he yelled over the sound of another burst of gunfire in the bedroom.

    He was just about to make a dash down the hall when Blaze grabbed him by the shoulder roughly.

    “She’s gone. She left last night,” Blaze enlightened.

    Francis’s mouth dropped and my eyebrows rose in surprise. Gabriella left? On her own? That defied everything about her true personality of needing someone to take care of her. But if Blaze said she left…

    Glass shattered somewhere in the house. Moans of the undead joined the symphony of yells outside, and so did the frantic shouting of the thieves. Out of nowhere Francis produced a bottle of rum and was shoving a dirty rag into it.

    “Where the hell did you get that?” Blaze snapped.

    “I found it,” he explained as he finished the Molotov cocktail.

    “Of course,” I gritted, clenching my rifle a little harder.

    “We can’t lose that Hummer,” Blaze piped up. “It’d be an unforgivable setback.”

    “If we can run out and manage to get into the car, we can just drive away from all this.”

    Francis and Blaze agreed. We moved down the hallway and into the living room. The sliding glass door that led to the backyard was completely destroyed. A woman was leaning around the corner, getting ready to enter. Suddenly, she was jerked out of sight, followed by a piercing scream.

    Blaze motioned for Francis and me to move forward; I assumed she was going to cover us. I took the left side of the opening and Francis took right. From my new point I could see the group outside being overrun by zombies. So far the living were winning, but once we joined the battle the tides would turn.

    The Hummer was close, but it seemed painfully far away when there was a battle between us and it. But it was time to take chances and ignore the danger. That Hummer was basically my livelihood; I wasn’t letting it go.

    I saw the man still working on hotwiring the car, clear as day. His whole body was shaking visibly from the stress of chaos and a deadline. Centering his head in my iron sight was too easy. A single bullet went into the back of his head and he slumped briefly before sliding out of the car. No one seemed to take notice. My gunfire was masked by the rest.

    Francis lit his cocktail with glee and through it near the biggest group of people, both living and dead. The glass broke and the fire spread quickly onto motorcycles and people. More screeches filled the air.

    Blaze came up and went prone in front of me, firing single shots with amazing precision. Not all of her shots hit heads, but she was killing or incapacitating people with righteous fury. From the corner of my eye I saw her muzzle flash and the dead fall permanently, or the living join them.

    “Let’s move!” I shouted once a path to the Hummer was slightly visible.

    Crackling bodies accompanied with the now familiar scent of burnt human assaulted me. Bodies were dropping where Frank through the cocktail, the wind carrying their putrid scent toward us.

    Breathing through my mouth, I ran out first, making a B-line to the car. However, my B-line fell apart quickly as someone knocked me sideways into the slimy, green pool I’d been trying to avoid. My attacker pushed me into the water, not allowing me enough time for a gulp of air. Shocked and without time, I ended up taking in a mouthful of earthy, thick water as I plunged in. Bubbles surrounded me and I couldn’t see. The chaos above water suddenly sounded muffled and far away. Morning light filtered through the algae-laden pool, putting me in a strange world of green.

    This is fucking Washington! Who the hell has a below ground swimming pool? It rained 256 days of the year, for Pete’s sake! On the off chance I found the blasted owners of it, I was going to put a bullet in their heads right then.

    A tight grip found my ankle and was dragging me down further, to the deep end. I kicked, but it felt sluggish and ineffective under water. The heel of my boot brushed against something round and I assumed it was a skull. I kicked again and the hand released.

Need air. Need air.

    My rifle was gone, making it easier to struggle to the surface. Once my head broke the waterline, I took in a ragged breath of air. I’d been under for only a few seconds, but it seemed like another dozen undead appeared out of nowhere, eagerly trying to snag into brunch.

    I glanced down just in time to see a dark shape move under me and grab both my legs. This time I managed to take a breath before I was jerked back under. Taking the risk, I reached into my boot to pull out my utility knife. The zombie tried taking a chunk out of my covered foot. I felt it even through the dense boot, two rows of hard teeth.

    Knife freed, I ground it into the top of his head. Blood began spreading from the wound and clouding the water. I pulled out the knife and pushed from the bottom of the pool to the surface again.

    No enemies were congesting one side of the pool, so I swam to that vicinity as fast as my sopping wet clothing would allow. Just as I was pulling myself up, a hand grabbed at my leg. Simultaneously, Blaze showed up and caught me by the vest just as I was about to go back under. Hauling my soaking wet self onto the cement, through the water in my eyes I saw a figure sprinting toward Blaze.

    Effortlessly, she let go of me, spinning around, and took the butt of her rifle to the head of a runner intent on taking advantage of her seemingly vulnerable position.

    Blaze took off toward the Hummer and I followed her, wondering where Francis was. The fire pushed the living closer together near the truck, which wasn’t good for us. They instantly took note of us as we got closer, gesturing and shouting. A few opened fire and I grabbed Blaze, pulling her into the cover of an abandoned blue Mazda. How the fuck were they fitting this many cars into the backyard?

    A familiar, loud engine roared to life.

    “Fuck.”

    Blaze’s face was drawn into a tight grimace. I peered over the car just a tad to see the Hummer, our Hummer, crunching over dead bodies and around the house. The hijackers and their team followed, shooting the trailing undead.

    Some of the men and women were getting on their motorcycles and in their cars, speeding up their exit. Once they disappeared around the corner of the house, I heard the roar of engines speeding away.

    “Fuck!” Blaze shouted with a lot more vigor.

    Francis showed up out of nowhere, breathless. His mouth and nose were bleeding, but other than that he was his usual self.

    “We gotta get outta here, ya’ll. Every flesheater in a ten mile radius must’ve heard the commotion!”

    Where were we going to go? And how? I remembered the Mustang and saw that it wasn’t stolen. Well, that was great. We had a useless sports vehicle that paled in comparison to the behemoth of a Hummer.

    Moans and groans caught my ear. Just because the living were gone, didn’t mean we were in the clear. Zombies seemed to be coming from everywhere. Dead bodies were twitching, getting ready to come back as runners.

    “Okay,” I shouted as I scrambled to my feet, “gather up all the guns and whatever supplies are around! Put them in the Mustang. Let’s go!”

    Blaze and Francis nodded curtly and began rushing about, grabbing all manner of weapons left behind. I dodged a decrepit zombie wriggling on the ground as I picked up an old shotgun.

    As the minutes passed by at least ten people would come back from the dead. The thought of ten runners was horrifying, even to me.

    After opening the Mustang door, I shoved an armful of guns into the backseat. Probably not the safest way, just dropping them, but I was bending time as it was. Francis and Blaze did the same, then Blaze slid into the backseat.

    “There’s still more stuff,” I scolded, but was reprimanded instantly by Francis.

    “Boy, I don’t think you’re aware, but there’s a hell of a lot of zombies coming our way.”

    My focus went from him to said stiffs shambling toward us. They were only yards away and closing in fast. Some of the bodies on the ground were twitching with a little more energy, a sure sign they would be rising soon.

    “Right, right,” I agreed before settling myself into the driver’s seat.

    Once we were all secure, I hit the gas and we left the backyard. My heart was thumping wildly and I felt extremely disgruntled. All my clothes, my backpack, and Pickle…

Pickle!

    I slammed on the brakes and shimmied out of my pack, then almost stuck the zipper as I yanked it open. A perfectly dry, pissed off ferret flew out and headed into the backseat. Thank heaven for waterproof.

    Blaze and Francis were staring at me and I returned the look indifferently.

    “She means a lot to me.”

    We were off.

***

    Don’t get me wrong, I like planning. I don’t mind it and certainly wouldn’t bitch about doing it. However, when my plan is compromised…well, that’s a different story entirely.

    Compromise is not having everything you brought from home. Compromise is driving a little car. Compromise is being soaking wet and slimy.

    My mind went to how Gabriella just up and left. She was still supposed to save my life. Twice. Now she was gone. Maybe I was just wallowing in the loss of the Hummer and wanted to pile the bad things up, just to make the wallowing a little more pitiful. But Gabe was on her own now and didn’t need the help of one Cyrus V. Sinclair anymore. Rumor had it that no one needed his help anymore.

    “We might want to find a store and get food. Maybe loot a gun shop,” Blaze commented from the back, breaking me from my destructive thoughts. “Since we’re essentially raped of all our supplies.”

    I shook my head. “There’s no way a store here isn’t already looted or decimated in some way. It’s pointless. I can’t believe you even suggested that.”

    Blaze’s face darkened and she hissed, “Don’t test me, Cyrus. We’re all angry right now, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to be bitches in heat over it.”

    “Sorry,” I grumbled insincerely, mentally blocking her out.

    As we drove aimlessly, I checked the rearview mirror. A small group of Z’s stumbled along after us. Ahead, a house to my right had a sheet hanging from two second story windows. In ragged, blue letters it stated alive inside.

    I doubted that.

    “We could go after them. Get the Hummer back,” I mused, but disregarded the idea immediately. We didn’t leave soon enough to catch which direction they went. It was a 50/50 chance (right or left) but if we chose incorrectly, it would be a futile chase for nothing.

    “Yeah, great idea, captain. We certainly showed them who was boss earlier,” Blaze snapped irritated.

    Francis rubbed his hand along his grey, stubbly beard and then laughed. “Ya’ll are overreactin’.”

    Wright huffed loudly from the back. She didn’t think we were overreactin’. Neither did I.

    “No,” he continued, “really. You didn’t always have that car. What happened was ya’ll got cocky and dependent on it. Ya’ll were actin’ like it was your momma and you couldn’t do a damn thing without ‘er.”

    There was truth in Francis’s comments. Maybe I was being a tad melodramatic about the whole thing. Blaze was, too. Losing everything just made the adventure more challenging. And what was life without a little challenge? We’d lost sight of that with all of our excessiveness.

    In a slightly defeated tone, Blaze admitted, “He’s right.”

    The corner of my mouth twitched into a little smirk. If Beatrice Wright could admit she was being foolish, so could I.

    “I suppose we should continue on with our plan. Go to the bridge, keep heading to Francis’s cabin.”

    Francis and Blaze voiced agreement. Getting to the bridge was easy enough, and I had committed the rest of the route to memory. If the roads weren’t too clogged, it would only take a couple minutes to arrive.

    Older houses with overgrown lawns sat lost and forgotten, looking eerie in the bright sunlight. Some had shattered windows and broken doors, while others simply looked as though the owners left. Or were still inside. I didn’t doubt some of them were, dead or maybe even alive.

    I turned the car left and passed a white minivan. A group of kids turned their heads and followed the mustang as we passed, clawing at us through closed windows. Up in the front seat a set of parents struggled against their seatbelts. Kind of funny, really; a genuine zombie family with a mommy, daddy, and two kids.

    Seeing the people in the van made me wonder about all the Z’s who were stuck in a situation like that. They were too stupid to open doors normally, or unbuckle seatbelts. Hypothetically, if someone tried to get the world back together, how long would it take? How much effort would it take to clear out every house, car, tent, cabin, RV-every location people go to hide.

Probably forever, I thought sardonically.

    “Take a left,” Francis said offhandedly, clearly lost in his own thoughts, too.

    I turned left, glad that he mentioned it. I’d almost forgotten. Houses on this street were burned up into charred, black skeletons. Tuning out the destruction, and any other thoughts, I just drove.

    When we approached the bridge, I stopped.

    There were bodies hanging from the support beams.

Chapter 19

That’s rather disturbing, I thought mildly as we approached the bridge entrance.

    What wasn’t disturbing, in any way, were the sandbags blocking our path. Good luck is generally temporary luck, so I wasn’t too displeased. But beyond the sandbags was a fairly clear stretch of road, void of zombies or other hindrances.

    Corpses dangled above, jiggling about and stretching their grey arms down toward us. I wondered why they were up there, and if they’d gone willingly or were strung up by force or after they died. Either way, a good twenty of them writhed foolishly, thinking they had a shot at getting us. Some were high up, others almost touching the ground.

    Stifling a groan, I stopped the car, my knuckles going white as I clenched the steering wheel. Since the dead started coming back, I had seen a lot of things. Destroyed corpses walking around outside my apartment, people eating and destroying one another for no reason. Yet each time something particularly alarming occurred, I had to stop and ask myself why? Who in the world thought it would be a good idea to do that?

    “If it ain’t one thing, it’s another,” Francis grumbled as he began glancing out the window. Deeming the coast clear, he exited the car and approached the barrier.

    Blaze and I followed, snatching up our guns before we left. Francis was already picking up bags and tossing them off to the side. He was old and I could tell as he strained to pick up each one.

    “Let’s get this done quick before he throws his back out,” I whispered to Blaze before we were in earshot of Francis.

    “That’s the least of our worries,” she said and nodded toward the hanging zombies.

    Now that I was out of the car I could hear their rabid yells along with the rushing, gurgling sound of the river. Any undead in range would hear them and come and check things out.

    Nonchalance cast aside, I jogged up to Frank and started hauling bags. Blaze took the ones I picked up and then handed them to Francis, expediting the process greatly. There were still a lot of bags and the unsettling environment was getting on my nerves.

    Just to my right, a couple yards away, a woman in a ruined set of scrubs was gathering momentum and swaying back and forth. She was nowhere near touching me, but every time she got a little closer I got a little more nervous.

    Gunshots echoed across town from somewhere. We all paused and listened, but no more ensued.

    “You’re upset she’s gone,” Blaze stated as she came up to me, taking the sandbag in her arms and turning to give it to Francis before I responded.

    When she came back, I asked. “How did you find the time to deduce that between the time I found out, and the time we almost got killed?”

    I shoved the bag at her and she stumbled back a step from my aggression. Blaze smirked, the scar on her right cheek crinkling up. She turned and gave it to Francis. I guess my actions spoke louder than words, because she took that as confirmation.

    Not willing to let it go, I retorted, “You’re not as perceptive as you think, Wright.”

    We continued passing bags for a couple more minutes before she spoke again, and continued lecturing as we worked. “You’re so wrapped up in your image, Sinclair. It seems to me as though you’re pushing yourself to be like this. If you’re upset about the kid, don’t get defensive about it.”

    Snorting in outrage, I said, “Yeah? I’m sure you would if you were me. Being attacked.”

    “I’m not attacking you. And I wouldn’t be upset,” she disagreed, then stopped in front of me, leaning in close. “The difference between you and me is that I don’t have to try and be cynical or impassive.”

    She turned away, pointedly handing the bag to Francis gently. I looked past her and saw an amused grin spreading on his face. Apparently he liked it when I was being told off.

    “If Francis wasn’t here, I’d beat the hell out of you,” I hissed, too low for said man to hear.

    Beatrice stared at me, her eyebrows raised and her dark eyes wide. “Would you, now?”

    “I don’t handle psychological probing well.”

    “Is that what I was doing? Psychologically probing?”

    “It’s as good a term as any,” I replied, once again thrusting a sandbag into her arms.

    This time she held her ground, not budging an inch. She was tall and strong, which I had forgotten about. Recollection of her schooling Gabriella flooded back to me. Blaze had taken care of that instantly and efficiently. I also remembered my previous thought that she could probably whip me good in a fight.

    “I’m going to let you cool off,” she said smoothly. “But if you try to fuck around with me, I will reciprocate.”

    Saying another word would not be wise, I decided smartly. Ceasing my childish behavior, I stopped the shoving and bickering and got down to what was important: clearing a path so we could get the hell out of Monroe.

***

      The opening we created was just big enough for the Mustang to shimmy through. I tried maneuvering around the woman in scrubs, but her hands slid along the side of the car, squelching as skin sloughed off onto the windows.

    No one was speaking. I was unusually troubled by my confrontation with Blaze, and I didn’t want to make matters worse by talking. Wright generally didn’t speak unless necessary, so that explained her wordlessness. And Francis? He’d seen our tiff earlier and probably didn’t want to get involved.

    Up the bridge a bit, a jumble of unidentifiable wreckage was in the way, but I steered around it without any difficulty. As I did, the sound of shoes clamored along the hardtop, then slid off with a loud screech. Glancing behind us in the rearview mirror, I saw bloody legs attached to a pair of heels dangling, almost framed by the back window.

    Sometimes I saw things I didn’t understand, and the hanging corpses was one of them. If they hanged themselves, why would they do it? What did they think they were accomplishing? It was a showy way to go; it seemed easier to just die in your own home. Even if they were forced up there, why would someone force them to begin with? Didn’t they have better things to do? I couldn’t imagine someone thinking, ‘Well, everyone around me is dying. I better start hanging people from a bridge.’

    The bridge was short and we made it across in less than thirty seconds, my thoughts of it ceasing once it was out of sight. I took a left onto Ben Howard Road and saw a blissfully empty stretch of pavement. Not a thing marred it: no zombies, no cars, death, or wreckage. It felt like the three of us were just going on a nice drive through the country.

    From the backseat, I heard Blaze rifling through the guns, the heavy metal of them clunking loudly, and threw a quick glance back to see what she was doing.

    As though she read my mind, she stated, “Checking our inventory.”

    Pickle, from out of nowhere, scurried up my leg and settled into my lap. I stroked her fur, admiring how resilient the ferret was through all of this. Being kidnapped by bigots, almost drowning; she had a lot of close calls recently, but was putting her best paw forward, every time.

    Blaze made clicking and sliding noises as she checked out what we had, and certainly didn’t have. After a few moments, she stopped and was silent.

    “You lost your Carbine, correct?” she asked.

    Sighing, I replied, “Yeah, back at the pool. I have my.40 and my 9mm.”

    I remembered my Deagle, and frowned. I left it back on the apartment roof in Seattle. In my rush to get to the Hummer, I didn’t even take it with me.

That gun was awesome, I thought and scolded myself for being so careless.

    “Luckily for you, I picked one up. If you have ammo in your pack, I suggest taking this. I’ve consolidated another four clips for you. Francis, you still have your rifle and ammo. I’ve got a couple clips for you, too.”

    Feelings about the Hummer tried to wiggle their way back into my brain, but I forced it all away. We wouldn’t even need that much ammunition to get to the cabin. The excess was fortunate, but not necessarily necessary. Hell, I even had a replacement Carbine.

    I really needed to be grateful for the little things.

    The Mustang handled the curvy back road easily. The entire time we only saw one or two zombies, who didn’t even look dead. Just a bite here or there must’ve turned them. Except for their pallid skin and cloudy eyes, they could pass for living.

    My stomach rumbled loudly, breaking the white noise of the engine and my mundane thoughts. I hadn’t eaten since last night, and before that I’d only eaten some junk in that convenience store. Too bad all the MREs were gone. There was at least one in my pack, but I wasn’t sure if the others had food.

    Thinking about food made me even hungrier. A painful craving for sweetened condensed milk, Pop Rocks, and Snickers bars swept over me. Sweets were priority two, compared to actual sustenance that contained protein, fiber, and carbohydrates, despite my constant wishful thinking.

    “What about the food situation, Wright?” I asked.

    Blaze rummaged through all our packs for a couple minutes and came up with one MRE, some gummy bears, a protein bar, and a few bottles of water. The MRE was spaghetti with meat sauce. Appetizing.

    I stopped the mustang and reached back for the MRE. We decided to each take a third of it and share one bottle of water. It would have to do until we found somewhere to raid, or got lucky. Heaven knew luck hadn’t graced us with her presence recently; she was long, long overdue.

    No one wanted the gummy bears, so I took those for myself.

    The spaghetti was edible, but not enjoyable. While in the midst of an apocalypse, a guy can’t care about flavor. Like a man, I swallowed my portion in gulps before passing it to Francis who took more time. All that man ever ate were MREs, so I figured it wasn’t an issue for him.

    A slimy, artificial tomato taste coated every surface in my mouth. I ran my tongue over my teeth repeatedly, hoping to rid myself of it. In that moment I’d easily consider killing Blaze and giving up my first born (not like I’d ever have one) for a toothbrush or bottle of Listerine.

    Ahead and to my left, the brush on the side of the road began to stir. A man in a sheriff’s outfit fell out and onto the ground. Not a heartbeat later he got to his feet and dragged himself toward us.

    There was a gaping hole where his stomach used to be.

    “Time to go,” I stated and turned the car back on.

    Our happy lunch over, we set off again.

    The sheriff lunged toward the Mustang as we passed, and fell yet again to the hard asphalt. With no real interest or concern, I watched in the rearview mirror as he disappeared behind us.

    “We have to think about when and where we’ll stop for supplies,” I admitted, even though trying to drive straight through sounded appealing. “I know your cabin is stocked, but as we all know, things don’t go according to plan. It might take another week to get there. I don’t want to be starving to death during.”

    Francis said, “Depending on how Sultan is, we can look there. We’ll enter the city about a mile from where the town grocery store.”

    “I don’t like the idea of backtracking,” Blaze commented, then added, “If we see any houses along this road, why don’t we check them out? They’re bound to have canned goods in them, if anything.”

    I agreed, and began to verbalize, but Francis cut me off. “The people out here know how to defend themselves. The houses out here, well, they’re probably all boarded up.”

    “We can still try, Frank. Better take chances out here than inside an infested city,” Blaze countered an edge of impatience in her voice.

    On occasion Blaze was alarmingly easy to read. Her story about where she was when hell broke loose showed her lack of concern toward family, or children. Now her general attitude toward Francis showed her great impatience for the elderly. Collectively, it gave me the impression that Beatrice was all about efficiency and everyone being on board for The Plan, no matter what it was.

    “It’s true,” I agreed with Blaze, “if we get lucky out here, we wouldn’t have to worry about it again. We just need enough to last us until we get to the cabin, right, Francis?”

    He chewed on his lip, and then nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess ya’ll are right. Just be wary, ‘cause some strange people live in these woods.”

    The discussion seemed to end and we lapsed into silence once more. A pungent, unmistakable scent wafted into my nostrils. Blaze lit up a cigarette. Francis pawned one off her and they were both smoking the car up. I rolled the window down and let the hot summer air carry the smoke away.

    Sounds of the river and wind whipping through trees seemed quintessential to the season. When the apocalypse started, it was a very rainy and fitting April. Time seemed to fly by quickly when I was on my own, and even when Gabe was with me in the apartment. Now time crawled. Getting from point A to point B was riddled with quarreling and impediments of all sorts.

    When I was a kid, life was painstakingly slow. Summer seemed like a decade, which made going back to school that much worse. As I grew older, a summer was gone in the blink of an eye. That’s how life was for everyone, I imagined. Quick and numb. If I were right, it disturbed me to think of Blaze’s perception of life.

    I glanced at the gas gauge offhandedly. There was only a fourth of the tank left. If we didn’t get gas at some point, we were screwed. If we didn’t get food, we’d be hungry and screwed. If the house we picked was full of crazies: well, a lot of variables added up to one general concept: we’d be screwed.

    Just to comfort Francis, I said, “Three trained and armed professionals versus a few desperate civilians? What’s the worst that could happen?”

Chapter 20

    Not long after we made the decision to find a house, we found one. It was an odd shade of blue with peeling paint and junk strewn about its yard. A black, wicked looking wrought iron fence appeared to circle the entire property. Dense forest shrouded the house, making it look just a little creepier than it had the right to look.

    I drove down a short, gravely road and stopped a couple yards from the front gate. The house didn’t need boarding up. Whoever owned it decided to get bars placed over all the windows, even the second story ones. Breaking in through a window would be impossible, but that didn’t matter; the front door was visible, and had no coverings.

    Something about the place made me feel uncomfortable. Was it the old tricycle on its side in front of the gate? Or the liquid shadows underneath the front porch? How about the curtains in the windows? I could’ve sworn I saw them shift.

    Not letting the spooks get to me, I got out of the car first and reached into the backseat for my new Carbine. Beatrice handed it to me and then slid out, looking at the house with evident suspicion.

    Now that I was out of the car, I noted the sullen absence of birds chirping or other expected noises. Of course, this only added to my sense of unease.

    “How do you want to do this?” she asked, her voice pointlessly low. Maybe she felt wrong about the place, too. Why else would she be whispering?

    She spat her cigarette onto the ground and dug her boot into it before looking at me expectantly.

    “I guess we should just go right in,” I shrugged and strolled over to the gate, trying hard for nonchalance.

    I heard gravel crunching behind me and a car door slam; I knew Francis and Blaze were following. They stopped when I stopped and we all looked at the gate together.

    It was locked. A huge, thick chain was wrapped around the double gates, padlocked several times over. Nothing could be easy. I threw my gun around my shoulder and grabbed the bars, quickly hoisting myself up. They rattled noisily as I climbed to the top and began my decent to the other side.

    After I jumped to the ground, I looked at the two from the other side. “Can you make it, Francis?”

    Gruffly, he answered, “I’m not totally incapable, boy. I’ve climbed more fences than you have in your life.”

    Francis went first, a little slower than me. His boots slipped against the bars, but eventually he made it over. Blaze, as expected, was over in a flash, standing with us and looking at the house again.

    Once we were all on the other side, I took another look at the property. The grass was beyond dead, and everything on top of it forgotten and destroyed. Household appliances, kids’ toys, and other random objects were cluttered together. Somewhere behind the house was the faint humming of a generator.

    I brought my gun up and began walking toward the front door, caution in every step. There was no way I could even consider the house being abandoned; it was too well fortified.

    “Fuck!” I yelled as a loud whining noise started up and petered out. My pulse was throbbing in my throat as I looked for its source. A toy truck was off to my right. It must’ve gone off on its own. Its warped, waterlogged sound scared the hell out of me. I glanced at Frank and Blaze who also looked a bit pale.

    Just as I was about to put my boot on the first step up the porch, a muffled voice called out from inside.

    “Who are you?” it demanded. The voice was old and high-pitched. It was a woman.

    Making a show of things, I lowered my gun and motioned for my companions to do the same. “My name is Cyrus. This is Francis and Beatrice.”

    A few moments later, the voice spoke again. “I like those names. Very honorable. What do you want?”

    “We’re just looking for food. We’re hungry,” Blaze said in a tone I’d never heard before. I knew the real Wright, who used one general, flat tone for everything. This voice was higher and subtly mimicking the woman’s inside. She was quite the actor and psychologist when useful.

    “Oh, oh, oh. Well, I can’t have that,” the voice said through the clanks of deadbolts being pulled. “Can’t have you children going hungry.”

    A nappy, tall old lady stood in the now open doorway. Her hair was a million shades of grey and stuck up in an equal number of directions. She wore a grossly stained floral skirt and a white blouse. Heavy boots completed the ensemble.

    “My name is Judy-Beth. Please come in.”

    I stole a glance at Francis who raised his eyebrows at me before proceeding in. Judy-Beth led the way into her house, not looking back once at her guests.

    The interior of the house was worse than the outside by a long shot. A narrow walkway of a couple feet guided us through boxes piled up to the ceiling. They had words scribbled in black marker, but I couldn’t read any of it. Bare fluorescent light bulbs swung minutely on the ceiling, but somehow everything still seemed dim.

    I wasn’t even sure what part of the house we were in. Living room? Dining area? What the fuck was this? Why was the carpet so unevenly brown? It felt like I walked into a surreal dimension straight out of the Twilight Zone.

    Judy-Beth made a sharp right and Francis soon followed. Just before Blaze fixed to follow, I grabbed her arm. She moved closer to me and leaned in.

    “Something isn’t right,” I whispered.

    Blaze was so close I could see her bloodshot eyes in detail, which were framed with uncommonly long lashes. She blinked and I mentally slapped myself out of admiring her.

    “I know,” she replied, “but don’t make any rash decisions.”

    So far there was nothing apparent to be afraid of. All we’d seen was a white-trash house and an old woman. An old woman! We were on edge because we were letting the surroundings get to us. Oddly colored carpet and shadows under the porch…what was I? Six years old?

    Unable to help myself, I noticed another strange thing to add to my list. The house smelled positively foul. It smelled like the undead-rotten, musky, and overtly disgusting. I made the right turn and found myself standing next to a staircase. The scent wafted down the steps and was stronger there.

    What did she have up there? Dead bodies? Ah, there I was again, a ludicrous thought process allowing my imagination to go wherever the hell it wanted.

    “Excuse me, but please don’t dally,” came Judy-Beth’s voice. Startled, I found her standing right in front of me, teeth bared in a yellow smile.

    Behind her was a kitchen and Blaze and Francis were sitting at a table. Forcing myself to smile, I squeezed passed her, taking a seat next to Frank.

    “You have a mighty fine home here, Judy-Beth,” Francis ventured as he glanced around the kitchen.

    The stained and scuffed table stood upon yellowed linoleum tile that looked as though it hadn’t been washed in its whole existence. Puke-green paisley wallpaper peeked at me from the edges of cupboards and appliances. Sarcasm dictates I should say it was a very quaint kitchen. Perhaps the only redeeming quality was a bubbling pot on the stove, emitting the rich smell of stew.

    Judy-Beth didn’t acknowledge Francis’ comment, but made her way around the cramped space by the stove, where she began stirring whatever was in the pot. We traded looks, but remained silent.

    “You’re lucky you showed up when you did. I’ve been cooking this all day,” she muttered, whispering like she was talking to herself rather than us.

    “If you’d rather, we could just take a few canned goods and leave,” Francis continued, evidently taking the lead on the conversation frontline.

    The snarly woman spun around, waving a spoon at us, and spat, “Don’t be foolish! I’m hospitable.”

    Whoever she was, something was wrong with her. I didn’t want to stick around. What I wanted to do was kill her and take whatever we could use in the house. However, that seemed a little too violent and unnecessary, even for me.

    There was a thump upstairs and all of us, including Judy-Beth, looked up at the ceiling. She mumbled a garbled sentence and turned to the sink, twisting on the faucet.

    “You have running water,” I commented before I could censor myself.

    “I’m off the grid, you hear? I don’t rely on no one,” Judy-Beth hissed and dropped a plate into the sink. It clanked but didn’t seem to break.

    After many unbearably quiet minutes, the woman placed cleaned bowls in front of us and ladled stew into each. It looked unremarkable-in fact, it looked like any other brownish beef stew I’d ever had in my life.

    But it tasted off. Not terrible, but off. In fact, it dredged up memories of freezer burn on TV dinners when I first started living on my own. TV dinners were all I ate; if I could’ve replaced the refrigerator with one giant freezer, I would’ve been a happy camper.

    Judy-Beth watched us intently, then lifted the pot and shimmied around the table to the kitchen entrance. She told us, “I’m going to feed my grandchildren. They’re sick and can’t come down. You, Mr. Cyrus, can get a couple cans of food from the basement.”

    Before she lef,t she gestured toward a door adjacent to the refrigerator. I hadn’t noticed it before since it was covered in the same wallpaper as the rest of the kitchen.

    “All right, thank you,” I said as I placed my spoon on the table.

    We heard the creaking of steps as she made her way upstairs, then nothing. I glanced to the door, then at Blaze and Francis.

    Blaze leaned in and whispered, “This stuff tastes nasty. I say we get out of here.”

    Francis nodded vigorously.

    “I’m still going downstairs to see what I can get. You guys stay here. I’ll be quick,” I promised as I shoved my chair back and stood up.

    The two of them leaned back in their chairs, looking restless. Their bowls of soup remained untouched.

    I hurried to the door and opened it to find a steep, wooden staircase. A coolness washed over me, and I peered into the darkness fleetingly before heading down.

    Normally I never get “feelings” or “spooked” or anything like that. Every situation was the same-just a situation-so, why get bothered? But this house, in the middle of seemingly nowhere, was unpleasant and I wasn’t afraid to admit it.

    The basement was lit by windows along the top walls, letting in natural light. Down there was the same as upstairs and outside: packed with junk. I maneuvered my way around until I got to full-wall shelving near a giant freezer.

    Crazies always know how to stock up. Judy-Beth had the shelves lined with canned fruit, vegetables, and meats. It was practically a shopping center right before my eyes. I searched the area for something to put the cans in, and found an old scratchy potato bag. Lately I couldn’t afford to be picky, but today I took my time and began filling it with my favorites.

Hallelujah! There were a few cans of godly goodness, otherwise known as sweetened condensed milk, behind a stack of peas. I put one in the bag and another in my pants pocket, just in case. It was a tight fit, but it was comforting to have it on my person. The potato sack was bursting at the seams, it was so full of sustenance. Carefully, I lifted it from the cement floor and began to draw it over my shoulder.

    Then the bag broke just as I turned to leave. Irritated, I crouched down to pick up the cans, but quickly withdrew my hand. The scowl on my face disappeared. Even through my gloves I felt a slickness coating the cans. A can of corn slipped right through my hands. I concentrated hard through the darkness and saw dark splotches circling the freezer where the cans rolled under.

    My pulse quickened as I rose, eyes fixated on the freezer. There were no noises coming from it, or movement. In other words, there was no threat. Had I been smart, I would’ve left right then, but I couldn’t bring myself to it. Curiosity grabbed hold and wouldn’t let go.

    I grabbed the edge of the rectangular box and lifted. Cold air slithered out and down the freezer’s metal sides. A frost-burned meat scent assaulted me as I opened the lid fully.

    A dead man resided inside. Ice crystals covered him entirely, filling in his old wrinkles and thickening his hair. He was crammed in with his knees drawn painfully close to his chest and his arm round them. There was a hammer sticking out of his forehead.

    “Oh.”

    And chunks of his arm filleted off.

    Canned food forgotten, I rushed upstairs, feeling nauseated.

    I’d never eaten human stew before. I guess there’s a first time for everything.

***

    “She’s got little kids up there. Fucking dead ones.”

    Before I even got the chance to speak, Blaze was right next to me, mouth right next to my ear. Francis was still at the table, looking sallow and ready to go. Blaze’s chest was rising and falling rapidly.

    “What?” was my stupid response.

    “Her ‘grandchildren are undead, Sinclair. We need to get the hell out of here!”

    “How do you know? Did you go up?” I ridiculed.

    “I was curious. This whole situation is screwed up, and I couldn’t help myself. They’re chained up. She’s trying to feed them that soup.”

    I didn’t need to ask further questions, such as how Blaze got up there unnoticed or why she felt the need to go check things out to begin with.

    Francis looked at my empty hands and asked, “Where’s the food?”

    My stomach lurched again. The human in my intestines wasn’t sitting well anymore. I shook my head, unwilling to tell them what was in the culinary delight served to us.

    “Let’s go,” I managed to command.

    Somewhere upstairs a floor creaked loudly. I slid my.40 out of its holster and took point quickly, moving back through the box-maze. The smell from the staircase, which I now identified as rotting human flesh, seemed even stronger the second time around. That, or I had a good idea of what could be up there. We took a left and beheld the front door: our escape.

    “Where are you all going?”

    I spun around and found Judy-Beth staring at us, pot of foulness in her hands. She had a mean scowl on her lips and a wicked glint in her eyes.

    “Thank you for your hospitality,” Blaze said first, since she was closest to the lunatic, “but we realized we need to get going.”

    Judy-Beth turned and set the horrendous pot on top of a high stack of boxes, then snarled, “You don’t know what hospitality is, you fucking dyke!”

    During this brief encounter, I’d backed up to the front door and pushed it open. I didn’t bother checking my back, which was a terrible decision, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. Stone still, I pointed my gun at Judy-Beth, waiting for someone to make a move.

    She made her move first. I didn’t know an old lady could move so fast, but she did. Judy-Beth snatched up a double-barrel shotgun from the depths of junk littered around us and shot haphazardly.

    I put a bullet in her right shoulder, knocking her back and into a pile of boxes. They descended on top of her, with resulted in a long screech. One shot wasn’t enough, that crazy bitch. Aiming in the general area of her torso, I pulled the trigger four more times until no more noises came from the pile of junk covering her.

    Shaking my bloodlust off, I regained focus and saw Frank leaning against Blaze for support. Blood was staining his army-green pants near the left thigh.

    “She got me in the leg, Cyrus!”

    “Go, just go!” I shouted, motioning them past me. I wasn’t going to risk her pulling another gun out and shooting us up.

    The moment Wright and Bordeaux passed me, I slammed the door shut and took hold of Francis’ other side. We hobbled along to the gate and I swore. There was no way he could climb over. It was over six feet tall and he was losing blood fast.

    Then I spotted dyers and washing machines stacked up to our right. I guided us to them and let go of Francis so I could climb up. The makeshift structure brought us right up to the tip of the fence. Blaze pushed while I hauled him up. Frank’s blood seeped onto the grimy appliances, causing him to slip all the way to the top. Blaze gave the man one last shove and he was on the top with me.

    “Get on the other side. I’ll jump,” Francis ordered through clenched teeth.

    I obeyed immediately and maneuvered to the other side easily. Francis slung one leg over, screamed, and then fell. I managed to break most of his fall, but things weren’t looking good. Blaze landed right beside me and brought Francis’s arm over her shoulder, leading his hobbling body to the Mustang.

    Once he was in the front, seat Blaze took the driver’s side and I went into the back, furiously searching for anything to tie around his leg to stop the bleeding. The car rumbled to life and Blaze spun out, gravel kicking up everywhere.

    “What’s the damage?” Blaze yelled back to me, loud enough to overcome Francis groans and shouts of pain.

    Just as I was about to respond, Francis turned to her and said, “Not fucking well, girlie. I’m going to die.”

Chapter 21

    Blood covered the entire front seat and we were hot-boxing in the tinny scent of it. No one thought to unroll a window during all the chaos. Francis was breathing deeply, drifting in and out of consciousness.

    Little birdies started their singing again, probably now that Judy-Beth, whore of Satan, was dead. Trees covered in bright, summery light flashed by us as we sped to our unknown destination.

And probably our demise, I thought cynically.

    I reassured Francis many times as I wrapped a makeshift tourniquet around his upper thigh that he would not die and that the wound wasn’t as bad as he thought it was.

    But I knew better. His face was washed and rung. The amount of wet red everywhere confirmed a huge loss of blood. We needed to stop and assess his chances and what we would do.

    Did I want to? Certainly not. Nothing was worse than acknowledging a messy, rat’s nest of a problem.

    “We need to get the bullets out. We need to see how big the wound is,” Blaze was telling me. “Can you tell if it’s buckshot?”

    Dazed, I looked at the back of her head and tried to imagine myself out of the situation. Words were coming from her general direction, but it meant nothing. My guilt was what mattered, now. If I had been smarter about this whole adventure, Francis wouldn’t have shotgun wounds in his leg to begin with. Old Man Meat wouldn’t be resting in my large intestine.

    The Mustang came to an abrupt halt, hurling my body between the two front seats. My head almost connected with the radio panel, but I managed to throw my hands up in front. All the sharp buttons on the console dug into my hands, sending hot pain through them despite my gloves. I heard Francis yelp in pain from the stop and Blaze gasp.

    Raising my head, I looked over the dashboard down the road. There was a blockade and soldiers arming it. A Humvee, complete with mounted gun, was centered behind the barbed wire and metal structures, obstructing the road. More than a few men raised rifles, pointing them at us with a mission.

    They weren’t the rotters we were used to. They were the righteous and holy U.S. Army.

    “What is this?” I grumbled as I detangled myself from the front and sat back.

    “Maybe they’ve managed to hold out,” Blaze offered.

    “Why did you stop?”

    She turned and glared at me. “What, did you think I was going to run them over? I turned a corner and there they were.”

    Frank moaned from the backseat, sounding too much like a Z for my tastes. I had no desire to look at him to confirm or deny.

    Some of the soldiers started jogging toward us. They appeared to be giving us the benefit of the doubt, but I wasn’t returning the favor. Not after what happened with that madcap Judy-Beth.

    Blaze broke my thought and said, “Let me handle this.”

    Before I could stop her, she was out of the car and jogging toward them, weaponless. I figured she had some kind of military-related advantage on her hands. They lowered their rifles as she neared and took turns shaking hands.

    The Army guys and Beatrice talked for at least five minutes before Blaze came trotting back, a pleased look on her face.

    “They have the whole town mostly under control,” she explained, then looked at Francis. “They also say they have a doctor who can help.”

    “Good,” I said, not a lick of sarcasm in my voice. “Let’s get to it.”

    Our new friends began dragging the blockades out of the way and Blaze drove straight through, crossing a substantial bridge as we went. The same river we’d been following rushed below us, carrying strange rubble in its currents.

    “This could be a trap,” I griped as we bumped over train tracks. A nonfunctional stoplight loomed overhead as we passed under, crossing the empty intersection. Past the intersection to the right was a Mexican restaurant. My stomach tensed and I swallowed down a burp of vomit.

    Wright didn’t respond, but instead took a left and pulled to a stop in front of a public library. The windows were high up, beyond reaching distance, so they weren’t boarded. A couple soldiers and people in civilian clothing milled about with guns. Blaze got out, slamming the door behind her before I had the chance to exit.

    Irritated, I opened my door and went to the other side to get Francis. Resurrecting my caring voice, used with Gabe long ago, I told him, “It’ll be okay, buddy.”

    Francis forced his eyes open and looked at me skeptically before shutting them tightly.

    “Come on, Bordeaux. Let’s get you out of here,” I huffed as I maneuvered him out of the backseat. His bad leg collapsed under him, forcing me to wrap both arms around him for support. Blaze jogged back to us and put one of Francis’s arms over her shoulders, alleviating me. I got myself into a better position with his other arm around me, and we were on our way, dragging him to wherever Blaze directed.

    “Their resident doctor is in the library. They told me he’ll do whatever he can to help Francis. No cost.”

    “Well, thank the heavens for that. I don’t have my wallet on me,” I snapped, anxiety growing as Francis’ weight grew heavier. He had no ability to support his own weight. Before I could help myself, I looked down and saw a clear trail of blood behind us. How could Frank still be alive? He was losing a gallon a minute.

    There was a woman behind the checkout counter, looking all the part of a librarian. The library, overall, appeared to be in great condition. Even the aged, distinct scent of books was intact. When we approached, she rose and ushered us into a closed off study room.

    The room had been converted into a doctor’s office, complete with a raised gurney. Mobile shelves lined the walls and were filled with shiny, promising medical supplies. A man was waiting for us, a walkie-talkie hanging from a cord on his neck, just below his huge auburn beard.

    “My name is Dr. Kalman,” his deep voice boomed. He waved toward the gurney. “Place him down and leave. I’ll take a look.”

    “I’m not leaving!” I explained. “I’m not!”

    Beatrice grabbed me by the arm and shook her head. “Let him do what he can, Sinclair. You’ll only get in the way.”

    I opened my mouth, then closed it. She was right. There was, literally, no room for me to be in there. No matter how badly I wanted to, I couldn’t help, so I let Blaze guide me from the room.

    Once outside with the door shut, Kalman dropped a sheet over the window, pointedly preventing me from watching what was going to transpire. Grinding my teeth, I was a half second away from going berserk when Blaze grabbed my wounded shoulder and squeezed.

    My hiss of pain was cut off when she said, “Get it the fuck together. Being a little bitch isn’t going to help anything.”

    “You kids look hungry,” the plump librarian we’d met before said, appearing out of nowhere. “Follow me.”

Hungry? I had human meat in my belly, Francis was dying, and I wasn’t sure of anything beyond that. My stomach bubbled and I fought back the urge to vomit again.

    Blaze let go of my shoulder as though she hadn’t caused me excruciating pain, and smiled at the lady. Unaware of what she ate, she nodded. “We’d appreciate it. Thank you.”

    We trailed behind her through the musty library, going through the rows of books. On the way to wherever we were going, the woman told us how Sultan managed to survive. “A military convoy was passing through, early on, and just decided to stay. They destroyed the bridge leading into Sultan, the Highway 2 one, so no traffic could get through. People tried going through the river, but it was spring and flood season. They all got swept away.”

    The lady, who introduced herself as Pamela, continued, “No one was going west, into the big cities, so there was no traffic coming from the east. We were going to blow that other bridge-the one you came over on-today. You’re lucky you made it in time. One of the boys couldn’t find the C4 detonator.”

    She laughed a big, jolly laugh, then sighed. “We have strict rules here. It helps keeps everyone in place, so no rioting or anything like that happens. The curfew is at dusk, and that’s when everyone goes back to the safe houses for the night.”

    “Safe houses? How many survivors are there?” I asked.

    “Oh, there are exactly 159 of us. The safe houses are the ones we put the most effort into fortifying. The library is one of them, and then the elementary school down the street. It houses most of us. There are a few outposts, too, near the entrances to Sultan.”

    As we spoke, I worked off my Hellstorm gloves and began stretching my fingers. Having the digits exposed to the air felt strange, but I savored it. I hadn’t taken them off once since last night, when we crashed at the house in Monroe.

    She took us up a flight of stairs and into another study room. Inside were piles and shelves of non-perishable food items. A small box of brightly colored packages caught my eye, and my spirits lifted.

    “I see you have some candy,” I observed, casually making my way over to the goods. “Mind if I…?”

    Pam eyed me in disbelief, then nodded. “I suppose you can take some. No one eats it. It’s so unhealthy.”

    I shrugged, and said, “I have a sweet tooth.”

    There were some of my favorites: Sour Patch Kids, Dots, Pixie Stix, and Red Vines. I began shoving the delights in my vest and pants pockets. My hand hit the can of sweetened condensed milk as I rammed my hand into a pocket, reminding me of earlier, but I shoved the memory away.

    Blaze took a reasonable bottle of water and a few protein bars. Even though I didn’t want to, I did the same. I’d wash away the gross flavor of bar later with sugar.

    “You know,” Pam ventured, “you three are welcome to stay here with us. A lot of people passing through decide to stay. We welcome anyone.”

    Expecting this, I put a saccharine smile on and declined. “That’s very kind of you, Pamela, but we already have somewhere we’re headed. I’ve got my heart set on it.”

    As if on cue, Blaze put her people-voice on and said, “It’s true. We just want to head into the mountains. You understand, right?”

    The woman’s chins quadrupled then returned to double as she nodded in understanding. She even went so far as to pat us both on the shoulder as we gnawed on our stale lunch.

    “Even so, you can stay as long as you want. Just until you leave. But until then, why don’t you meet some of the folks around here? They’ll be glad to see someone new.”

    Grin still plastered on my face, I said, “I’d be delighted.”

***

    Four hours later we’d received a full tour of the city, walking the entire time and meeting all the significant tenants.

    Most of the buildings were condemned by the Sultan leaders; entry was expressly forbidden. Pam explained that some of the houses were vandalized, boarded from the inside, or contained gruesome scenes no one was willing to clean up or fix. Xs were spray painted on the doors of these places, while blue circles signified a safe location.

    The streets were clean and pleasant, completely void of the gore and destruction back in Monroe and Seattle. Sultan looked more the part of a ghost town than one in the midst of the living dead. Pamela explained that people felt safer when things looked normal.

Normal is over, I thought. People need to realize that.

    But to dear Pam, I said nothing.

    We met the unofficial but proud leader of the survivors. His name was Jack DeFrank, who fit the stereotype of impromptu-apocalyptic-leader to the letter. Even his handshake was what I expected; firm, but not violent. What with his five o’clock shadow, square jaw, and a propensity for wanting to save everyone, he seemed to have stepped straight from the silver screen.

    During our bland tour, Francis was on my mind, but Pam kept telling me to be patient. She told us they’d radio her when the doctor had news. Every time the little walkie-talkie around her neck crackled to life, I assumed the worse, but secretly hoped for the best.

    Pam took us to a quaint white house far from the library. It was set far back from a wrangled, unkempt lawn that was already crispy brown from the summer heat. Each window was neatly boarded, but the front door was blue-circled and unlocked. Behind it was a thick forest and the sound of a river nearby. Pam went in as though she owned the place.

    It turned out she did, because she said, “This is my house. I don’t stay here anymore.”

    Blaze asked directly, “Why not?”

    Pam blushed and waved her hand in air. “I’m afraid of the forest. It’s very small, just a patch, and then the river is there. But I don’t like it. I brought you here so you could take a shower and calm down. Maybe take a nap.”

    “A shower?” I piped up eagerly. “How?”

    “Oh, well, I’m not on city water. It isn’t hot because I don’t have power or anything, but it’s still a shower. Usually everyone comes here for a shower once every few days.”

    “Thank you, Pamela. You’re so kind,” Blaze flattered.

    Evidently responding well to the compliment, she gave us a toothy grin before walking to the door. “It’s nothing, really. I’ll come get you immediately, as soon as I find something out about your friend.”

    When she left, I finally took a look about the place. It was one story and looked like it belonged to Pamela. There seemed to be white lace on everything. The little sitting room had a love seat and two recliners situated around a glass coffee table, adorned with fake, bright daffodils. Huge skylights illuminated the room, as well as the joined dining room and kitchen. And, despite the situation we were all in, the house was extremely clean.

    “She is nice,” I murmured.

    Blaze was already setting off down the short hallway with two doors. Both were open to reveal a bathroom and a bedroom. “I’m taking a shower. Try to relax, everything will be fine.”

    Not bothering with a reply, I slouched onto the sofa and began unlacing my boots. Feeling too burdened, I continued stripping, and took off my holsters and vest, too. It felt good and I relished in the feeling. From the bathroom a gurgling sound started up, then the continuous drone of a shower.

    Just to keep my mind on something mundane, so I could relax, I began counting the seconds Blaze was in the shower.

One hundred sixty…

    I realized Blaze was definitely naked in the shower.

Two hundred twenty…

    She probably had a fantastic body. It was hard to tell through her tactical gear, but I’d bet money that body was as lean and mean as she was.

Three hundred forty…

    Did she think I was thinking about her? Didn’t women know about that kind of thing? What if she wanted me to come in there?

Three-hundred-something…

    I began to chuckle. I’d completely lost it. Here I was, in a stranger’s house, while my father-figure Francis was dying, contemplating whether Beatrice Wright wanted me to come ravish her.

    Just the thought of Francis sobered me. I needed to clear my mind again, because thinking about him wasn’t going to change anything or speed up time.

    After forcibly removing myself from the comfortable couch I walked around the house. After only a few minutes I found myself in the bedroom, looking at a collection of photos on a long, oak dresser. All of the photos had Pamela, some with other people, but most of them at recognizable locations-a pyramid, the Eifel Tower, Big Ben. She looked young and thin in the majority, but the same plump woman I knew graced a few of them.

    Pam was a world traveler, then.

    The bed had a pristine white comforter and two white-lace covered end tables. Useless lamps rested on both, but one of them had a worn paperback on it. I walked over and picked it up. It was a silly romance novel about a vampire falling in love with a mortal girl.

    Talk about cliché. I read my fair share of vampire romance back in Seattle at the apartment. Women and teenage girls were practically falling over themselves for such nonsense, which was evident in their stores of Twilight paraphernalia.

    Noises from the bathroom ceased and I turned to see the bathroom door swing open. Blaze came out in a loose white undershirt and a pair of small men’s boxers. Shocked by her lack of clothing, I turned back around and stared intently at the satin lampshade in front of me.

    I heard her bare feet scratch on the carpet as she went over to the bed, then the rustling of covers being pulled back. From the corner of my eye I saw her pale body slide under the covers.

    “I’m going to sleep,” she informed me as she plumped up a pillow before laying her wet head on it.

    “I’ll take a shower then.” I trotted out of the bedroom and into the bath. A high up, rectangular window produced a muted natural light. Unsurprisingly, the bathroom had a very white, feminine theme. Gripped the edge of the counter, I stared into the big mirror.

    Someone looked like they’d been in traffic for twenty hours straight, had an absurdly long flight layover, or taken a trip to hell and back. That someone was me. The face plant I made in Monroe at the car dealership was a royal, hideous mess. Around the scabbing gashes my skin ranged in colors from deep purple to forest green.

    Weeks of golden stubble graced my jaw. I’d never been great at growing a beard for some reason, so I didn’t look like a mountain man.

    My eyes were saggy and dull. The usual hard, crisp green seemed muted and reluctant. Even my naturally reddish hair looked flat. I inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. My lungs protested from the action, but it hurt nicely so I did it again.

    Carefully, so to not enrage my myriad of angry wounds, I slowly stripped off my dirty clothes and tossed them onto the pink tiled floor. The cool air of the bathroom refreshed my skin and I began relishing in the normalcy of what I was about to do.

    Since I was seventeen I’d been taking cold showers, so when the icy water struck my back I didn’t even wince. The water felt blissful, and I didn’t even mind sorting through a profound collection of girly shower products.

Scalp Nourishing Conditioner? Sure, I’ll try it.

Body Slimming Scrub? Well, I certainly needed some scrubbing.

Skin Enriching Body Wash? I’d love to be enriched.

    By the time I applied everything I could, I felt like a million bucks. There was even a Costco box of toothbrushes under the sink that I helped myself to. I wrapped a towel around my waist and sat on the bathroom counter.

    Everything about making it to Francis’s cabin hadn’t been what I had expected. When he first showed up with his plan, I thought it would be a breeze. Who knew I’d meet other survivors? I thought I was the only survivor. That shows how closed-minded I was.

    To me, there was an unreasonable amount of obstacles between me and my destination. People, emotions, situations-they all stopped me. I hadn’t planned on any of it.

    Speaking of plans, I hadn’t planned on meeting someone like Blaze or meeting up with Francis again. But it happened and a part of me was grateful for it.

    A battery-operated clock directly across from me claimed it was 7 p.m. In a few hours, it would be dark and I wanted to leave before then.

    Woefully, I redressed and exited the bathroom.

    Blaze was out cold.

    As I stood in the doorway, I thought, when she’s asleep and doesn’t have a cigarette in her mouth, she isn’t too bad to look at.

    I wished the Mustang were here. The radios were in it, and I wanted to leave one for her so she knew where I was going. Not like she had to guess very hard.

    Booted up, I left the house and began my walk back to the library. I passed Joseph, a man I’d met earlier, and told him about Blaze in the house. He said he’d patrol it, since I had no way to lock the house. Maybe a community of survivors wasn’t such a bad thing.

Nah.

    The sun was turning golden to the West, while dark, foreboding clouds rolled in from the North. Summer had glorious thunder and lightning storms; the air was always electric and smelled wet. Soon the hot asphalt would be wet and releasing its quintessential summery scent. As a rule, when I was a teenager, I’d stop and relish in such things.

    Not this time. There was something more important on my mind.

    Francis.

***

    “I’m sorry, Mr. Sinclair. I’ve done all I can,” Dr. Kalman apologized, “but he isn’t going to make it.”

    Bile rose in my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to die right then.

    When I arrived at the library, Pamela welcomed me with a sad smile and a pat on the back. She even offered me a small speech about the afterlife, but I couldn’t pay attention to a word of it.

    I walked into the makeshift hospital room and knew, right then, that Francis really was going to die.

He isn’t going to make it. Dr. Kalman’s words ran through my head repeatedly as I stared at Francis’ body. Each limb was tied twice to the gurney, including one around his waist.

    Did this kind of thing happen often in Sultan? I couldn’t help but wonder since they seemed so prepped for it. Someone wasn’t going to make it and a loved one wanted to see them one last time before they turned into…

    Frank opened his eyes and found me sitting on a folding chair next to him. His pant leg was torn up to the hip and his bloody leg was bandaged, but it didn’t matter.

    “What are you doing here, boy? I figured you’d be with your lady friend.” He grinned weakly, then lifted his chin to look at his restraints. “I understand.”

    “Understand?”

    “The map to my cabin is in my knapsack in the car. I wrote some extra directions down, just in case.”

    “What do you understand, Frank?”

    He spoke right over me. “You’ll know it right when you see it. There’s color-coded deadbolts on the door. The keys are in my knapsack, too. Color coded.”

    I bolted out of my chair and yelled, “What do you understand, Francis!?”

    Lips pursed, he shut his eyes and heaved a long sigh. “I’m gonna die, Cyrus. I understand that. Doc said those bullets hit the femoral artery, or some doctor bullshit. I don’t know, but it don’t matter. It’s time I checked out.”

    Tried as I did to deny it, it was true. My only friend-the only man I respected-was about to die in a library because of a crazy lady on a back road to Sultan. Because I didn’t tell him to wait in the car.

    “You’ll take care of me when I go, right? I wouldn’t want a stranger doing me in,” Francis continued good naturedly. His grin returned, then ceased. “I’m serious, though. I’d appreciate it, boy.”

    I nodded once.

***

    Francis fell in and out of consciousness for another few hours. I waited by his bedside, listening to every jumbled word that came out of his mouth. At one point it grew dark and Pamela brought in a Coleman lantern. It cast an unfriendly white-blue glow on everything, creating deep, cavernous shadows around us.

    Then he stopped talking. Moving. Breathing. Moments passed before movement returned along with violent thrashing and gnashing teeth. Francis Jackson Bordeaux was undead. His eyes were cloudy and white, his skin grayed. All he wanted now was to eat me.

    Pain shot up my arm as I released my 9mm from its holster and pointed it, hand shaking, at Francis’ head.

    I pulled the trigger.

    “I’m sorry.”

    And I left.

Chapter 22

    People I’d known for less than a day tried to stop me and give their consolations. Deep down it enraged me, and I wanted to take a shotgun to each of their heads, screaming, and then beat their bodies into a pulp.

    But all they saw was a stony face unwilling to give them the time of day. As it should be. Indulging my fantasies meant wasting ammunition, let’s be honest. Sometimes it’s a matter of practicality that you don’t go busting caps everywhere.

    I threw open the Mustang door and roared off back to Pam’s house, ready to pick up Blaze and get the hell out of there. If I ever saw Sultan again, it would be far too soon.

    Somewhere in the backseat I heard scratching, and I knew it was Pickle disputing the jerky motions of the car.

    Blaze was waiting outside on the curb, sitting with her elbows resting on her knees. The guy I talked to, Joseph, was sitting next to her. He had a walkie-talkie dangling from his neck, so I assumed they both knew the news. Even if they didn’t, I was in no fucking mood to talk about it.

    Feeling bitter and livid, I slammed on the brakes and skidded in the middle of the road, stopping right in front of the pair.

    “Get the fuck in. We’re leaving.”

    Joseph dropped his head and stared at the cement. A portable lantern to his right illuminated the small space he and Blaze occupied and showed the uncomfortable expression on his face

    Almost as though she had an off switch, her face went blank as Wright stood and stalked to the passenger side and got in swiftly. Not a word escaped her lips as we sped off. The headlights revealed survivors gathering on the roadside, waving and shouting for us to stop. Their pleas fell on deaf ears as I turned onto Highway 2, a grand stretch of clear asphalt in front of me.

    As we cleared the outskirts of Sultan, the thunderstorm I knew was coming finally came to fruition. It was loud and irate, dropping water on us like bricks and clapping its thunder until my ears rang. Lighting flashed and exposed snapshots of the forest flanking the road.

    Only minutes flew by, but it seemed like forever. My jaw hurt from clenching my teeth. My head felt big and sore, like I had a record breaking head cold. I had to make a conscious decision to keep breathing. The scent of ozone filled my nostrils each time I inhaled, and I took it all in, focusing on it rather than on other problems.

    Rain was falling too hard for the windshield wipers to keep up. Visibility was poor; my face was almost pressed against the windshield as I tried to make out the road. Not like it mattered since there wasn’t a single car in sight. What did matter, now, though? Francis was dead. I might not be able to find our way to the cabin, despite his repeated directions and the map. It should’ve been apparent to everyone on the fucking planet that I was as inept as a quadriplegic trying to ice skate.

    No offense.

    Just to add onto my misery, the Mustang began to slow. I looked at the gas gauge and saw the car was running on fumes. Actually, it wasn’t running anymore.

    We glided to a stop.

    Then I snapped. I didn’t realize that I was screaming and beating the steering wheel until Blaze grabbed my hands and forced me to stop. Wrath consuming me, I pushed her away and shoved the door open, walking into the cold night. The Mustang’s headlights cut through the darkness and illuminated some of the barren road.

    “It’s my fucking fault!” I roared into the sky, then kicked the wheel of the car. “I should’ve made him wait in the car!”

    A car door opened and slammed, which meant Blaze got out of the car, but didn’t pay attention. Rain pelted my entire body, drenching my hair and clothing. A brief thunderclap stopped my rant, but then I was back at it once again.

    “I should’ve known. I should’ve known whatever was in that house was fucked up! I could’ve put it together, but I didn’t. Now Frank is dead! I shot him! He died but I had to put him right the fuck down after that!”

    Through the white noise of rainfall, I heard boots splashing and suddenly Blaze was standing across from me. The two headlights separated us and lit her face. Raven black hair clung to her face and water sluiced down her nose. I watched as a drop caught the light and fell.

    “This isn’t how it was supposed to go,” I continued to yell, pacing back and forth. “We were supposed to just make it. We’re too good to just get shot like that! We know how to get guns, how to analyze situation. What the fuck is this? Why-why is this-I just-”

    Despite it being a good dinner bell for the undead, I screamed until my throat went ragged. Once it petered out, I went to the hood of the Mustang and slammed both fists against the metal as hard as I could. Pain shot through my forearms and up into my shoulders.

    “I can’t handle this pressure. Somehow Gabriella became my responsibility. I thought Francis was unstoppable, but he’s an old man. I was responsible for him, too, but I was blind. I’m fucking ignorant when it comes to being a leader!”

    It was probably because I was too far gone because I then added, “And I’m responsible for you now, too. And I’m going to fuck up with you, just like I did with them.”

    A gentle hand pressed against my shoulder. Embarrassment was edging its way into my rage. Naturally I had to have the first hissy fit in my life in front of an ex-Marine named Beatrice Wright, in the rain, during the undead apocalypse. Normally even if I was in turmoil on the inside, I wouldn’t show it. I was flawless at everything I did: killing, surviving, and keeping things on the inside. Normally, I’m fundamentally perfect. In my opinion.

    My name is Cyrus V. Sinclair. The V stands for vainglory.

    Even though it pained me to do so, I turned and looked at Blaze. Her face was softened and lacking the steel aura that typically chilled it.

    “It wasn’t your fault,” she said, even as I tried to cut her off. “There was no way to stop her from shooting him. There was no way you could’ve known she was a lunatic. Bordeaux understood that, Cyrus.”

    When she finished, I tried to choke back an unfamiliar sensation, but it came in waves. I was sobbing. Aggressively, Blaze grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me into an unyielding embrace.

    “He knew you aren’t the sociopath you paint yourself to be. If you were, you wouldn’t be crying right now,” she said into my ear, squeezing me tighter when I tried to refute the tears. “You can be a cocksucker any day of the week, but someone who meant a lot to you just died. It isn’t unreasonable to be upset.”

    I dropped my head into the crook of her neck and laughed, but it came out as a wail. Hesitantly, I brought my arms up around her waist and returned the hug. She had a point, and I was beginning to think it was a good idea to let my façade down every once in a while.

    Blaze’s clothes smelled like cigarettes, but her skin held the scents of Pam’s floral-scented bath products. Underneath it all was a smell I was unused to, but knew; it was the scent of a woman. The perfume comforted me, and I unabashedly inhaled it, pressing my face into the damp skin of her neck.

    “He was my idol,” I whispered shakily. “Now he’s gone.”

    “Depends on what you believe in,” she countered as she rubbed circles on my back. I barely felt it through my shirt and vest. “But let me tell you something: if he’s watching you from some redneck place up in the clouds, what would he say?”

    After a moment of thought, I replied, “He’d say, ‘Boy, you’d better get your ass moving ‘cause we ain’t got time to waste.’”

    Her body shook as she laughed. “I think he’d say that too.”

    Suddenly very aware of our proximity, I dropped my arms and took a baby’s step back from her. Her dark eyes caught mine and she reached out, pushing hair back from my forehead. Blaze’s hands felt hot and damp against my skin.

    “There should be a gas station up here. Francis mentioned it,” I offered, breaking the silence.

    Indifferent demeanor back, she said, “Well, let’s hope the fuck to it, Sinclair.”

***

    A short distance from where we were was a small pocket of buildings. On the left was a McDonalds and a Subway. Both looked out of place and almost funny, but I wasn’t sure why. They were so normal and untouched; it was as though they were just closed for the night.

    On the right was a lonely Chevron, dark and threatening, and a huge auto body shop. The latter was one huge rectangle in shape, with a single door and window in the front.

    A strange make or car I’d never seen before by one of the gas pumps. It was metallic orange and vaguely resembled a baby minivan. We pulled up behind it, two pumps down, and waited for signs of the Z’s. None came: no moaning, no groaning, and no shuffling.

    After exiting the Mustang, I paused. I didn’t know how to siphon gas like Francis did. Maybe out of another car, but not an electric pump.

    Good thing that baby minivan was here.

    “We need to find some kind of tubing so I can get gas out of that car,” I told Blaze. She got out of the car, too, and gazed at the ominous convenience store.

    “That place looks unscathed. Maybe we can find something in there?”

    I looked at it, too, and shrugged. “We could give it a try.”

    Blaze grabbed her Carbine from the back, but I opted for my 9mm. It would be too hard to handle the flashlight and a larger gun. I checked the clip and made sure I had extras in my vest before moving forward.

    The glass doors of the convenience store still had an “Open” sign hanging. I went first, pushing the door inward. Without a sound, it smoothly gave way.

    I gave Blaze a look and said, “This is too easy. Stay alert.”

    Not an item was misplaced, or a shelf broken. My flashlight landed upon pristine aisles and a clean, black and white checkered floor. Only the usual smell-rotted hotdogs and pizza, was out of place.

    It was eerie in there. I remembered the little incident in Monroe, when a zombie almost got me. That place had seemed safe enough and I was almost bit. I knew I had to be more careful than that now.

    Motioning for Blaze to search the right half of the tiny store, I set off for the left and began searching for the expected automotive section most gas stations had.

    After only a few moments, I found myself in the candy aisle. Hundreds of colorfully packaged delights stared back at me, and if there was one thing I really needed that night…

    Well, it was a quick sweet treat.

    My pockets already held candy from Sultan, but why eat that when I had some right in front of me? I had to conserve my resources, after all. I ran my hand down the crinkly, smooth selection of candy and stopped at a box of Sour Patch Kids.

    Now I only needed some orange Hi-C!

    Tube for siphoning forgotten, I began searching for the drink section, which wasn’t too far away. Little orange Hi-C juice boxes beckoned me. I set my handgun on top of the shelves, and tore the crinkly packages open and got to work, alternating handfuls of sour candies with gulps of sweet juice.

    Halfway through the snack, I heard shuffling and a scream from somewhere in the back of the station. I dropped everything, grabbed my gun and flashlight, and ran in the direction of the yelling. It only took a moment to find the back door and kick it open.

    A greasy, teenage kid had Blaze by the hair. He was swinging from a ceiling fan in a back stock room, not unlike the one in Monroe I’d been attacked in previously. My flashlight revealed his mottled blue skin, which was peeling and sagging everywhere. Diseased mouth open and chipped hands clenching eagerly, he didn’t seem to realize he’d hung himself and couldn’t get anywhere.

    (Not like I thought about it every day, but if I were going to kill myself, I’d make sure I could fulfill my zombily duties afterwards.)

    “If I had a camera, this would be a Hallmark moment,” I laughed, not making a move to help her. She could help herself.

    Blaze reached up and grabbed the Z’s wrists. Skin rubbed off, revealing rotted muscle underneath. Her hands slipped and came away with dark, clotted blood.

    I noticed her gun right in front of her, just a few feet away. She must’ve dropped it when the kid got her.

    “Okay,” I sighed in defeat as I raised my gun.

    One shot later the undead was truly dead. My bullet entered his skull through his right eye and went straight through into the wall behind him. Blood and sticky, dark gore coated the wall and dripped down from the back of his head.

Drip. Drip.

    Blaze rubbed her head vigorously and bent over to pick up her rifle. With a displeased glare, she stalked out of the back room and into the store.

    “There’s nothing here we can use,” Blaze called, drawing me out of the room, too.

    She was standing in front of my predicted auto section. There was nothing there we could use either, just windshield wiper fluid, motor oil, and air fresheners. I frowned, and rubbed my hand along my jaw.

    “We could try that auto shop,” I offered. “They must have something. They might even have gas cans.”

    Wright agreed, but stopped me as I turned to leave.

    “There’s a ton of food here. We should take anything we can,” she said.

    Why didn’t I think of that? We had zero food and there was no telling how long it would take to get to the cabin. At this rate it might take days.

    I jogged over to the cashier counter and found a neat stack of moderately sized plastic bags. Behind the counter were endless brands of cigarettes, and I knew someone who’d want to take them-but for my own benefit, I kept my mouth shut.

    Blaze and I roamed the aisles, shoving anything of use into the bags. By the end of our raid, we used up all of the plastic sacks. With a little less caution than usual, we made trips back and forth to fill the empty trunk of the Mustang.

    Things were looking up.

    We decided not to take another chance with our vehicle and drove it behind the auto body shop, entirely out of sight from the highway. The back of the building had one large garage opening and a back door, which was hanging open. Tire marks showed a car spinning out from the back and onto the highway.

    I went first again and moved to the door, which was a pit of darkness. If any noise came from inside, I wouldn’t have been able to tell. The roof was made of metal, and the pounding rain was amplified inside.

    Flashlight raised, I shone it into the abyss.

    It was a small office space with a single, shut door near a reception desk directly across from me. There was no sign of a living or undead anywhere. I took a few steps inside and waited for an attack, which never came. A large couch was against the left wall with a coffee table in front, which still had disregarded magazines scattered about.

    With the sound of Blaze’s squelching boots behind me, I ventured in further. She shut the door, the sound of it which was barely audible through the noise of rain against the thin roof.

So far so good, I thought as I walked over to the only door. It was unlocked and opened easily.

    Everything in the shop was typical: cars on hydraulic lifts, parts on every surface and shelf, and, sure enough, familiar red gas cans. Since things were working out, we also found a hose.

    Blaze and I searched the rest of the area first and happened upon nothing else of interest, but our luck ran true because we had the gas cans. Anything beyond that would have been superfluous.

    There were only two cans, but each carried 5 gallons which would be more than enough for the trip to the cabin. One of the cars in the garage had almost a full tank of gas, saving us the trip back out to the little orange car. We carried the filled containers into the reception office and I paused to yawn.

    “You tired?” Blaze asked as she set down her can.

    I shrugged. “I’ll live.”

    She went to the front door and slid the deadbolt into place before going to the single, rectangular window in the room and closing the blinds. After she secured the immediate area, she turned back to me. The light of her flashlight was pointed down, but it reflected off the white tile and created an ambient light.

    “It’s been a long day,” Blaze noted. “Now is a convenient time to sleep, so I think we should.”

    “We’re so close, Wright. We’re almost there,” I stated, trying to keep my voice firm. My body was drowsily agreeing with the notion of a long nap.

    Blaze shook her head and went to the couch, plopping down and turning off her flashlight.

    “Don’t be unreasonable. I’ll even let you be chivalrous and sleep on the floor,” she said. I shined my flashlight near her and saw a grin on her lips.

    I went next to her and sat on the floor. “That’s supposed to be a privilege, huh?”

    “Sure is,” she mumbled as she reached down and took my light, clicking it off the moment she had it. “Go to sleep. We’ll head out first thing in the morning.”

    The right thing to do would’ve been to continue disagreeing, but I felt strangely comfortable as I leaned against the couch. Maybe a little nap would be fine? I was drowsy. I’d just close my eyes for a second.

***

    Guilt still plagued me and kept from shutting my eyes, let alone sleep. I turned on my side once again, my clothes scraping against the tile floor.

    When I fell asleep earlier, it was only for an hour until my body, without consulting my mind, decided that was a very sensible amount of sleep. Since then, I’d tossed on the hard tile, trying to find a spontaneously comfortable position. No fortune on that front.

    “What’s the issue?” came Blaze’s tired voice.

    I sat up and looked in the direction of her voice. There was no light to make out definite shapes, but I could sense her position.

    “Can’t sleep,” I muttered and crawled onto the couch.

    In the darkness I bumped into her. She was laying down, but I heard her move until she was upright. I sat next to her.

    “How about I talk you to sleep?” she asked quietly, then, “Added to some drugs, you’ll be under in no time.”

    “I suppose.”

    “Get comfortable,” she commanded, feeling out for me and guiding me into a reclined position. My legs dangled off the edge of the couch while my head rested in her lap. I don’t know where she got it from, but a moment later a pill was pressing against my lips. I opened and dry-swallowed it, not bothering to question what it was.

    “What do you feel like hearing?”

    I couldn’t answer. I was too busy thinking about the comfort of the sofa and the warmth of Blaze’s body. Hesitant fingers found my hair and stroked it. We were caught up in intimacy once again, and I wasn’t going to stop it.

    “How about the story of your life?” I wasn’t entirely serious, but she decided to do just that and start from the beginning.

    “My dad was a Marine. When my mom was twenty she got pregnant and my dad, of course, figured he could only have sons. He was just that much of a man. He wanted a boy who could carry on the family name, be a Marine, and do him proud. But, as you can see, he didn’t get a boy.”

    I knew where this was going. I made an m-hmm noise, and she continued.

    “My father still treated me like a boy and pretended I was one. I did baseball instead of ballet. I had toy guns instead of dollies,” Blaze said with a whisper of venom in her voice.

    “When I was eight, my mom had a boy-his name was Beau-and my father was beyond pleased. About thirteen years later, it was evident Beau had no interest in being the man my father planned. I was twenty-one and had no prospects except for the military. So I signed up.

    “I can’t tell you how many letters I received from my father and mother. Mom didn’t care that Beau was gay, but dad sure did. ‘Fucking faggot’ he’d call him. ‘A disgrace to the family.’ All my father had was me, a girl who lived like a man. No matter how much of a man I was, it didn’t matter.”

    “You mean he didn’t even acknowledge what you did for him? That you were serving because of him?” I asked.

    Blaze went silent for a few moments, then said, “He did in the end. Just a few months before all this zombie-shit started happening, I went to see him in the nursing home. At this point I’d been in the Marines for about seven years, not like he knew. I told him I just got back from Iraq and was finished. I wasn’t serving anymore. I told him I’d done it all for him because I wanted to make him proud.

    “He said to me, ‘Bea, you’ve made me proud since the day you were born.’”

    We were quiet, then I asked, “Did you believe him?”

    I felt her body move, so I figured she shrugged. “I guess I do. It would give me closure if I did, wouldn’t it?”

    “It would, but only if you really believe it. Otherwise you’d be tricking yourself,” I said, then changed the subject. “Where is your brother? Do you know?”

    “No. Probably dead, like everyone else.”

    After that, she built a wall and sealed off any more conversation of her family. Instead, she told me about being in the military and her brief stint in college.

    I was interested in her story, but my eyelids were heavy and her hands on me soothing. Just as she was finishing a story about a chicken and a mess hall, I fell fast asleep.

Chapter 24

    Two things woke me up: the sudden absence of rain and a banging noise. Disoriented from the sleeping pill Blaze gave, I opened my eyes and tried to remember where I was.

    The noise was coming from my right. I propped myself up off the bed and looked at the closed window. Minimal morning light filtered through the closed blinds. A lone shadowy figure stood behind the window; it was the source of the noise.

    As I continued to watch, a hand touched to the window and slid down. It was the impact of flesh against the window that woke me.

Just one of them, I thought absentmindedly. Not a big deal.

    Blaze was still asleep and I took the moment to steal a long look at her. She was in the corner of the couch, legs tucked under her. There was just enough light to make out the gentle slope of her nose and the scar down her cheek. She was beautiful in an unconventional way. Or maybe just to me?

    I was thinking crazy thoughts. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and removed myself from the couch. Blaze coughed and rustled, signs of her awakening.

    “There’s a Z out there.”

    She sniffed and wiped a sleeve against her nose. “Just one?”

    I shrugged.

    Gruffly, she said, “There’s rarely just one, Sinclair.”

    “Well, go take a look.”

    With a definite lack of enthusiasm, Blaze strolled over to the window and inched open a single blind. Her face dropped into a frown. She sniffed again.

    “If I told you I was right, would you be crushed?”

    “Crushed is an understatement,” I groaned, bringing my hands up to cover my face. “How many are there?”

    Without hesitation, she replied, “More than we can handle. They’re surrounding the car.”

    Dejectedly, I gave in and looked out. I stopped counting after 20. Some of the Zs had McDonald’s uniforms on, which explained why they were here. They must’ve seen us last night and finally made their way over. Anyone who lacked life would’ve seen them migrating and joined the club. But this many?

    I watched a little longer and noticed figures coming from the forest. What lie in or far from it was beyond me. But there were undead straggling from its shady depths and onto the concrete driveway our getaway car was on.

    “We still need to put gas in the car,” Cyrus stated. “As you can see, there are major preventatives going on.”

    “Just one,” Blaze countered as she rifled around. A split second later she pulled out a cigarette and brought it to her lips. “They’re out there, that’s the only problem. If they leave, we don’t have an issue.”

    One flick of a lighter and an inhale later, smoke was billowing from her nostrils. She grinned.

    “Ah, cigarettes. The breakfast of champions,” I jabbed, then before she could respond sad, “I take it you have a plan?”

    “Affirmative. By the looks of it, they’re all slows. I’ll run out and lead them away. When the coast is mostly clear, you come out and take out any stragglers. Fill the tank up. Turn the car on, honk the horn, and I’ll be on my way.”

    Something tugged at the edge of my mind, but I couldn’t bring it into focus. Instead, I nodded and took out my handgun. I cursed myself for not bringing in a better weapon.

    I guess, though, only one bullet was needed to kill a zombie. One shot, one kill. Caliber didn’t matter.

    “Good luck,” I cooed as she unlocked the door.

    “I don’t need luck,” she shouted just as she flung the door open and ran into the midst of some shocked undead.

    Even though I wanted to watch, I slammed the door shut and locked it, back pressed against the solid metal of it.

    Outside the familiar, eager moans started up. Blaze’s running footsteps faded away, and after a few minutes, all the other noises also.

    I checked the window and, sure enough, the undead had cleared into the forest. If I didn’t take the opportunity to fill the car now, I might not get another. The idea of being holed up in the garage didn’t appeal to me one bit.

    Taking the inexorable chance, I dashed from the office and into the drizzly morning. Crisp air filled my lungs as I closed the short distance between me and the Mustang. Once I arrived I set to work, filling the tank. Gasoline glugged and the noise was far too loud for my tastes.

    The staccato sound of bullets echoed from the forest. Birds took to the air, fluttering in panic as they escaped.

    There was no reason to worry. Blaze could handle herself and a few rounds didn’t mean anything. In fact, they probably killed someone. No need to worry.

    Moments later the tank was filled. I wasted no time in getting the driver’s side, feeling a better sense of protection once I was inside. Expecting a certain loud and unmistakable sound, I slammed my fist against the horn. None came.

    Pickle came out of nowhere and sat primly on the passenger’s seat. Her white fur looked matted and dirty, but other than that her psychological wellbeing seemed just fine. I envied her.

    As I stared at her, a memory came back to me. The sign on the Mustang back at the dealership-the one about a horn not working.

    Frustrated, I hit it again but no sound came.

    Another round was fired somewhere in the forest. It could’ve been my ears playing tricks, but I could’ve sworn I heard a yell as well.

    “Why me?” I mumbled as I grabbed carelessly into the backseat for a more formidable weapon.

    Generic shotgun in hand, I left the Mustang and started for the forest. A few slows were around the edges of the trees. Predictably, their heads turned when they caught sound and sight of me. Each of them, simultaneously, directed their attention toward me and began stumbling.

    I ran straight into the trees, branches of bushes slapping my face until I broke into a small clearing. Noises were everywhere: twigs breaking and moving, zombies groaning. But none of the noises indicated where Blaze had gone.

    Running around aimlessly in the forest seemed like a terrible idea, and that’s because it was. My body was tense and the situation was dour. Blaze could be at the Mustang while I traveled deeper into the woods to find her. One bad call would unravel all the progress we’d made.

    “Can’t get me up here, you fucking cocksuckers!”

Ah.

    A mouth like that belonged to one woman in particular-Beatrice Wright.

    I followed her voice (which continued to insult the Z’s) and found her not too far away. Using a thick bramble of bushes and a dead log as cover, I peered over its edge to assess the situation.

    A score of zombies were gathered around a tree, looking up hungrily at my homicidal partner in crime. Blaze was lax, smoking a cigarette and peering up into the sky. She was wedged between the thick branches of an oak assault rifle slung carelessly over one shoulder.

    Was she waiting for my signal? Or had she given up? Knowing her, which I didn’t very well, I assumed it was a bizarre combination of the two.

    “One, two, three, four! Who do you love?” she shouted down to the Z’s, then cupped her hand to her ear dramatically. “The Marine Corps. Correct.”

    It was all very amusing, but I had to get the undead away and her down. A few months ago I would’ve left her, but when you fall in love, things change.

Love?

    My mouth dropped. Where did that come from? Love? The lack of sleep, food, and sanity must’ve been getting to me because love wasn’t in my vocabulary when it came to a woman. Especially one I’d only known for a few days.

    I erased every thought from my mind and dove out of the bushes, gun up, and a scream in my throat. That is one way to get things off your mind; risk your life boldly.

    Excuse me, unwisely.

    Each zombie turned, eyeing their newer and easier target. The closest one to me was a fat woman with thoroughly charred skin. Glistening shards of glass protruded from the right side of her face. A burned and ragged sundress completed her ghastly appearance.

    I pulled the trigger and blew her out of existence. Thick brain matter exploded onto the man behind her. He looked entirely normal, except his entire head was covered in slimy, rotted brain. His mouth opened and a distended tongue slopped out, licking at the old blood.

    Gross.

    I wanted Blaze to jump down once I’d lured the zombies away, but there was no time to verbalize the plan. Wright was smart and I trusted she could figure it out for herself, so I spun around and jumped off the log back into the forest.

    A few glances behind me confirmed that the zombies were following. I broke into a fast walk, because running was unnecessary. As long as they were behind me and I wasn’t cut off, I could lead them around for a lifetime.

    Rain dripped from leaves and pine needles, splashing onto my exposed skin as I led them along. All the combined scents of a forest washed out the usual smells of decay and apocalypse.

    (The scent of apocalypse, I discovered, was a mélange of oily smoke, rotted tissues of all kinds, and general destruction. If dictionaries were ever revised, I was going to loan a hand in the redefining of the word.)

    More rounds ran throughout the forest, this time from the direction of the auto shop. I took the cue as Blaze’s signal for me to come out and turned my attention away from the slows and turned right into a runner.

    Black and chipped teeth were at my eyelevel, framed by blistered lips. The deceased corpse in front of me was over my height of 6’1”. Intimidating would’ve described him as a living human, but paled in comparison to what he was now.

    His hands shot out to my neck and he began pulling me closer to his putrid mouth. My shotgun was pressed between us, its hilt pressing into my chest and into his abdomen. I pulled the trigger, not seeking damage but a lapse in his concentration. He grunted and stumbled back, his hands lessening in their grip. I took advantage and pumped the shotgun before delivering a buck shot straight into his head.

    In the distance I could hear fast rustling through the forest, including savage howls from what could only be a pack of runners. They didn’t know quite where I was, which gave me an advantage. If I could get out of the woods fast enough, Blaze and I could escape without any more difficulties.

    Now that the undead behemoth was out of the way, I continued forth. A thicket of blackberry bushes lashed at my face, tearing open the scabbing wounds on one side and creating new ones on the other. I barely registered the pain; there was one place I needed to get to and nothing was stopping me.

    Just when I began to think I was lost, I broke into the cement clearing. Blaze was standing a few yards away from the Mustang, picking off runners that were emerging from the forest. Every time I heard a round fire, I saw a runner fall.

    Panting, I slammed up against the Mustang, grasping for the handle.

    “Took you long enough,” Blaze called as she walked backward toward the car, shooting all the while.

    I got the door open and was just about to slide in when I noticed a hand clenching my ankle.

    Intestines trailed behind the torso that was gnawing on my boot. Her face was torn into ragged bits, but her mouth worked just fine. In one swift movement I yanked my foot back and brought it down into her skull, crushing it and breaking into the dead brain underneath.

    I slammed my door shut and pressed the lock down, just for good measure.

    “Get in!” I shouted, lunging for the driver’s door and pushing it open.

    Blaze turned around and tried to dive into the car, but a runner came out of nowhere and latched onto her and fell, too. He looked like an undead hippie from the brief onceover I managed. Long, ratted brown hair straggled around his entire head. Blood coagulated in his rat’s nest of a beard. An oversized tie-dye shirt completed the ensemble.

    Despite the difficulty of yielding the shotgun in such close quarters, I brought it to his head and pulled.

    Empty.

    Still only half way in the car, Blaze was trying to turn over and kick the zombie off, but wasn’t succeeding. I reached down in a flash, grabbing my 9mm, and squeezed the trigger.

    A clean round went straight through his left eye. The smooth, red blood of a recently dead being splattered onto Blaze’s camouflage jacket, soaking the middle of her back. I leaned over and shoved the truly dead body from the car and happened to catch sight of a horde of runners heading straight for us.

    Blaze shifted into place and closed her door, just as one of the undead slammed up against it. A hairline crack, coated in blood, appeared.

    I punched Beatrice in the shoulder and yelled, “Get a fucking move on!”

    “Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” she hissed as she turned the ignition. The blessed engine rumbled to life a second before Blaze’s foot put the pedal to the metal.

    The sudden speed pushed me back into the seat. From the backseat I heard a frantic mewling noise and claws on leather.

When this ends, I thought, I’m building a mansion for that ferret.

    Blaze expertly drifted onto the empty highway and evened out her speed. I twisted around and saw at least fifteen undead curving around the corner of the body shop, rampaging toward us.

    I wondered when they’d slow down and become a normal, pleasingly slow undead.

    “Well, that was successful,” Blaze said as she wiggled uncomfortably in her seat. I heard the wet sound of blood sliding against the hard leather behind her.

    “Sure was,” I agreed calmly, even though my heart was pounding.

    I stole another glance behind us, only to see the Z’s fading into the misty, thick fog of the morning.

    “For a second back there I thought you were going to sacrifice yourself for me, up in that tree.”

    Wright chuckled, an amused grin curving on her lips. “You thought that?”

    It was hard to say whether I thought that or not. Recently I’d been saying words-ones that were relatively meaningless slipped from my mouth without me consciously deciding to say them. If I were going to get it together one of these days, I needed to work on that.

    Decision made, I replied, “No. I suppose not.”

Chapter 25

    An idyllic ten minutes of driving finally brought us to a hole-in-the-wall kind of town called Startup. I remembered seeing it on the map and thinking it was small, but not this small.

    If Blaze hadn’t slowed down as we entered, we could’ve passed through the entire town in less than a minute. But I didn’t blame her for the sudden reduction of speed. There were some sights to behold.

    Grotesque, lopsided crosses lined both sides of the road and were planted in dead, brown grass. Decapitated bodies were nailed to them, crucified. No other whole bodies were to be seen, but thick mounds of gore were spread out in the grass and on the highway.

    Spontaneous memories of my time in Arkansas surfaced. The gruesome scene reminded me of time spent with Frank hunting and gutting deer. We would lay the bodies out on the dead grass in front of his cabin to skin them.

    “This is the worst thing I’ve seen yet,” I breathed as I took it all in.

    “I’ve seen worse,” Blaze mumbled as we slowly moved deeper into the tiny town.

    A small gas station proclaiming ‘kegs to go’ had black crosses spray painted on its side and the cement around it, along with a myriad of other graffiti.

    Blaze stopped the car and pushed the stick into park.

    “Why are we stopping?” I asked, drawing my eyes from the hideous city to her. “Kellogg Lake Road is just up ahead.”

    She leaned back and patted her chest pockets and jean pockets. “I’m out of cigarettes. This place looks abandoned, so I’m going to go in that gas station and grab some.”

    “You’re kidding,” I griped. “I’m not sure why you’re still smoking. Don’t you see it’s contradictory to our entire goal right now?”

    Chuckling, Blaze shook her head, saying, “I don’t know what you mean.”

    “For starters it’s bad for you. You’re going to get lung cancer, which could kill you,” I explained. “Right now we’re trying to survive. You’re being counterproductive.”

    “You win some and you lose some, I guess.” She shrugged, then added, “I need more cigarettes, plain and fucking simple.”

    Shock and disbelief were evident on my face, I hoped, as I shook my head. “We’re too close for a smoke stop, Wright.”

    “Well, Sinclair, you can just stay here. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

    She was out of the car before I could stop her. I watched her blood-stained self jog into the cross-covered gas station, toting an assault rifle; my jaw dropped at her stupidity. Addictions make one do stupid things, I guess.

Speaking of addictions.

    With no small amount of glee, I rifled through my backpack and drew forth the condensed milk I had saved. Its pop-top cracked open beautifully, revealing the thick, sugary substance within. I reached around in my vest pockets until I found my handy pocket knife and flicked it open. While I knifed the godly goodness into my mouth, I read the various markings on the gas station. It all seemed very generic, but each sprawling sentence made me want to get out of there even more.

Hell has come.

Ye shall be purified. We shall be purified.

God’s doing.

    My eyes stopped on one set of words in particular. It read, We are watching you. I gulped down a mouthful of condensed milk. It’s not like anyone really was watching me. So why was my hair standing up?

    Drawing my eyes away from the gas station, I noticed a church to my left. It was old, with a steeple and everything. Metal structures were strewn about the front of the building, and a sign revealed it to be an antique store. Further down the street were some houses and a post office. No other macabre displays of human bodies peppered the scene, or graffiti. Still, my pulse was rapid and I wanted to leave.

    Right then I decided Blaze was taking far too long, and a moment after that she was coming out of the store with a heavy bag in one hand, filled to the top with multiple brands of cigarettes.

    I guess she didn’t discriminate. Good for her.

    She jerked the car door open and tossed the cancer sticks into the back seat, saving two boxes for her jacket pockets.

    “I hope you’re pleased. You could’ve died going in there,” I scolded as I licked my knife clean.

    In a very contradictory tone, Blaze replied, “It wouldn’t have been an issue if you had come in with me.”

    I grunted and flipped my knife closed, returning it to its designated pocket. I pulled the glove compartment open and wedged the can of sweetened condensed into it. It was best to conserve such great delights.

    “You’re looking kind of fat, Cyrus,” she jabbed. “That vice of yours is really taking its toll, isn’t it?”

    “Let’s get going,” I snapped. The comment was lighthearted, I’m sure, but I felt myself grow self conscious despite that.

    Blaze was already lighting up, this time with a new lighter she picked up inside the gas station. It was red with a naked, voluptuous woman on the side. She caught me looking at it and winked.

    Through the cigarette in her lips, she said, “My Zippo ran out of fluid. This one caught my eye.”

    With an irritated sigh, I said, “Great. Let’s go.”

    “Yeah, yeah. You should relax someti-”

    Something rammed into the side of the Mustang and jolted us to the right. The source was a group of zombies who’d simultaneously decided to push against the car.

    Burst lips were pressed against the driver’s side window, moving up and down like a sucker fish. The head it was attached to looked like it had been underwater quite a while; it was greenish blue and leaking something nasty.

    Before I could catalogue any more undead images, the car jerked forward. Blaze didn’t waste any more time; smoke pluming around her face, she stepped on the gas and sent us out of the zombies grasp. We’d only gone a few yards when she slammed on the brakes, sending the car into a skidding stop.

    “There’s blockage up ahead. Boards with nails,” Beatrice stated, voice taking on an unusual sense of dread. “I don’t know where to go. There’s no turns.”

    More zombies shambled out of an antique store to our left, attacking the same side of the car.

    I thought fast. We needed to get out of their sight so they could forget us. There were no undead on my side…

    “Get out of the car over here. If we take off we can let them follow and leave the Mustang. We’ll come back when it’s clear.”

    My plan must’ve been decent-that or Blaze didn’t have a better one-because she grabbed her pack from the backseat and got ready to follow. I did the same and opened the car door, ready to bolt.

    Before getting out of the car, she turned the car off and pocketed the keys. Blaze swiftly exited the car and set off in no particular direction. I slammed the door shut and followed her.

    I remembered Pickle was still in the car, but she’d have to cope as she had been. Better inside the car than with us. Living dead didn’t eat animals, so I wasn’t worried.

    None of the buildings within immediate sight appeared to be formidable or even accessible. Most of the structures were thoroughly boarded up, not granting entry of any kind, or were destroyed beyond all reason.

    After catching up with Blaze I said, “Let’s get out of sight, first. They’ll catch up, but it might confuse them.”

    She nodded and veered off to the right, behind a large square-shaped house. We trampled through tall, overgrown grass and entered an equally tangled backyard through an open wood gate. One lonely willow tree, half dead, loomed in the middle. The small backyard was cut off with a high fence. A single backdoor was the only portal on that side of the house. I shook the handle, expecting it to be locked.

    It was.

    “We could circle back around. They’re probably gone,” Blaze suggested, slinking over to the fence door and pulling it closed. It didn’t look strong-the undead could easily bring it down if they tried hard enough.

    “I doubt it. They were going berserk for us,” I countered. “There’s no way no one else heard them and decided to join the party.”

    Blaze blew out a long breath and shrugged. “Then what?”

    I opened my mouth to say something, but sounds were coming from inside the house. At first they were just scuffling, but louder sounds followed, like furniture being slid.

    The door creaked open to reveal a sallow, fearful visage. It was a man, one who was probably a real big guy before he started starving to death.

    “Get in,” he choked, pulling the door open further. “Before someone sees you.”

    Not this again. Dealing with other survivors hadn’t yielded anything good. On the other hand, we had nowhere to go. And if things started looking shady, we also had guns.

    I moved forward and the man stepped aside, letting Blaze and me in.

    The interior of the house smelled and looked foul. The house itself appeared to be in the early stages of construction; no sheetrock had been laid, and only the skeletons of walls remained. It was dim, despite the two diamond-shaped lights up high on the left wall.

    People, of all ages and sizes were huddled in every available space. I offhandedly counted ten before deciding to stop paying attention. This wasn’t looking good-people who were in bad shape often wanted things from those who weren’t.

    Each of them turned their heads and peered at us, fright and confusion evident. Some of them started whispering the word “military” or “army.” I guess they hadn’t seen anyone as well outfitted as us and were getting the wrong impression.

    The door closed behind us and I turned to look at the man, who I immediately pegged as the leader.

    “I’m Michael,” he introduced, offering a dirty hand to me.

    I bit my lip and looked at his hand, then back to him. Michael squeezed his hand shut and pulled it back to his side. Some people are too kind for their own good, Mike there being one of them. I wouldn’t put it past him to try and save every human being on the earth if someone said he had a shot.

    He already had a good start, which was evident by the numerous survivors crowded around us.

    “We’ll only be staying a little while,” I said. “No need for introductions.”

    Michael’s face crumbled. A woman pushed past us and wrapped bone-thin arms around him. “You’re cruel!” she hissed.

    “No, Angie. It’s fine,” he sighed.

    The woman, Angie, broke away and pointed a thin finger at me. “You think you’re staying for a little while? They know you’re here and it’s only a matter of time before they come to get us. All of us!”

    I glanced at Blaze, who remained as blank as ever, then to Angie. Defeated, I asked, “Who is going to get us?”

    A haughty, pleased look crossed her face. “The lunatics down the street in the church.”

    “The antique store?” I asked.

    Michael chimed in, “No, there’s an old church across from the tennis court.”

    “They’re the ones who started crucifying people,” Angie remarked. “Us. Not dead ones either. They come when we least expect it and take us.”

    Someone in the room weakly added, “They don’t always kill us.”

    Angie said, “They keep the girls and women. Sometimes we escape while they’re taking us to the church.”

    Well, nothing new there. People kidnapping other people during an apocalypse to murder, rape, and otherwise disrespect. I didn’t voice this observation to anyone, of course. No need to upset the natives.

    “And you probably led them here. They have someone who watches from the antique store’s steeple, then they signal the ones in the church.”

    I rubbed my fingers into my temples. A headache was brewing already. Typically, I wasn’t very perceptive of what people want, but in that instance I knew exactly what Michael, Angie, and all the other people wanted from us.

    “You have guns,” Michael ventured hesitantly. “We don’t have any way to defend ourselves. We’re too weak.”

    Angie cut to the chase. “You can kill them so we can take the church back.”

    “Take it back?” Blaze mused. “You must’ve had a dispute with them?”

    Naturally they had to delve into a huge story.

    When word of the Z’s came to Startup, Washington, the entire town worked together to gather resources and fortify the big ol’ church across from the tennis courts. Everything worked out for the hundreds of survivors until zombies actually came strolling into the town. People became polarized on who they thought should lead, what decisions they should make. And, as expected, some people went a little crazy.

    Angie and Michael were married and led the half of the survivors who didn’t agree with the crazy half. They wanted them to get it together or leave, which they wouldn’t. Hence the murdering, crucifying, and general bad behavior.

    Since they’d been kicked out, weeks ago, the crazies had been tracking them down and killing them. None of them, Michael explained, had eaten in an extremely long time. They ventured from house to house when they thought it was safe and ate what they could.

    There were a hundred of them in the beginning, and only forty were left.

    After hearing their story, I wasn’t moved. Surprised? I didn’t feel outraged or too biased toward one side or the other. Actually, I was more eager to get out of there than anything else. I knew it wouldn’t be that easy though.

    “How about this: we give you some guns once we get back to our car. Then you defend yourselves,” I proposed. “We have some shotguns and rifles in the back, with ammo.”

    Michael and Angie looked at each other, exchanging a silent dialogue. Angie glared at us and said, “You’re condemning us to death.”

    Blaze, who picked her fights at the most random of times, stepped forward and into the shorter woman’s space. Angie was at least a head shorter than Beatrice Wright, and probably weighed eighty pounds less, too.

    “You condemned yourselves to death when you decided to hole up in a church with other people. Didn’t you consider the repercussions of cramped quarters and psychologically stressful situations?”

    Angie opened her mouth to speak, but Blaze rammed right on, invading her personal space even further. “No, you didn’t. And now, like the fucking commie you’ve become, you want us to ride in on our white horses to save you. I don’t think so. We’re alive because we aren’t as fucking stupid as you are.”

    Michael wrapped his arm around the demoralized woman, pulling her close to him. “I can see why you’re still alive. You have no heart.”

    Blaze’s mouth twitched, one corner turning up into a smirk. “Exactly.”

***

    A kid was standing near the willow, partially shrouded in the opaque whiteness of fog. She had her back to me, but I’d seen what she looked like earlier when she was still shambling around.

    Besides the vicious slit in her throat, she looked quite normal. Long brown hair, still in pigtails, lay against her back. She was wearing a pink shirt under denim overalls. Ropes were still wrapped tightly around her wrists; evidence of her being one of the crazies escaped victims.

    I’d been watching her for at least an hour.

    After a little more confrontation between me, Blaze, and the survivor leaders, we were segregated upstairs away from everyone. The windows upstairs weren’t boarded, which is why they didn’t go up there. They couldn’t risk being seen.

    Someone made a hole in the wall, which is what I looked through to see the girl. Beatrice wasn’t interested in conversation, so I was left to make my own fun. Watching an undead child wasn’t necessarily fun, but it was something mindless to do.

    When we first were up there, watching the backyard, a handful of zombies broke through the weak gate and shambled in eagerly. They banged on the wall and backdoor for a while, but as per the norm, left upon finding no lunch available.

    I wanted to wait for Pigtails to leave, too. The instant she saw us she’d verbalize and let the rest of the town know about it, too. But there she was, being difficult.

    “She gone yet?” Blaze asked indifferently.

    “No,” I sighed. “I’m about ready to help her along.”

    She laughed with no enthusiasm, then said, “The coast is probably clear, captain. Why don’t you take a look?”

    Stiffly, I pushed myself up and nodded. The hollow upstairs amplified the sound of my boots scuffing against the plywood floor. I pictured everyone downstairs cringing; thinking the crazies outside could hear it. How could they live like that? Rats, scurrying into dark corners whenever a threat presented itself-I’d rather die.

    There were plenty of windows to check the status of our car. Two were on the front wall, and the side walls had one window each. I moseyed over to the front windows, keeping my body to its side, and peered out.

    A chain link fence, one that hadn’t been there before, formed a rectangle around the house and connected to the fence on my side. The other side appeared to be pressed up against the porch. It was like a corral. A few slows were pressed up against it

    How was that possible? I didn’t hear the erection of a fence or the engine of a truck. The walls were thin and I should’ve heard them.

    To top it off, three ATVs were topped off with gun-toting men. Another six were visible, standing around near them. They formed a protective triangle around a big truck with a flatbed. Right below me, on the side of the house, four of them were slinking along the wall. The pleasant sunshine of late morning lit the entire seen very well.

    These must be the begotten followers Michael and Angie were going on about. They certainly looked crazy and on a mission.

    Without further consideration, I returned to Blaze. She looked up at me, and then ground her cigarette into the floor. In that flat, unmoved voice of her, she stated, “We’ve got a problem.”

    I picked up my rifle and slid out the clip. My hopeful wishing paid off; I had a full clip inside the Carbine. To my dismay, both my pack and vest pockets yielded no more ammunition.

    “Yeah. They’re here,” I said.

    “I think we should just stay up here,” Blaze mused as she sat up.

    Downstairs we heard a few loud bangs, like knocking on a door.

    “Why’s that?” I asked.

    “We know they want to come in and steal a few. They’re all down there and there’s going to be a hell of a lot of chaos. The guys might not even come up here, especially if they get what they want.”

    I grinned. “Clever, Wright. Very clever.”

    She leaned against the wall, rifle in her hands. I did the same.

    “You know what Gabe would’ve done if she were with us?”

    Blaze shook her head. Her eyes flashed as she rolled them at me.

    “She would’ve demanded we try to save them. It would’ve ended with the butt of my gun in her head,” I enlightened.

    “You think too much, Cyrus. We just hang out up here and wait things out. Once it’s over with, we leave.”

    “Think too much? I don’t think so,” I rebutted.

    “You should take up smoking,” she suggested, pulling one of her many boxes from her jacket pocket. She handed the silver and red Marlboro box to me, then waggled her eyes. “Never too late to start.”

    The banging downstairs grew louder and people were acting up. A few peeked over the edge of the staircase opening and found two apathetic persons staring back at them.

    Just to please her, I took the cigarettes and put them in my backpack. The idea of pleasing Beatrice Wright, even if it was just a little bit, was very appealing. I wanted recognition that I could please her to begin with.

    “They’re going to get in here soon,” she said. “Don’t lose your cool.”

    Grinning, I replied, “Do I ever?”

    Finally the door must’ve given way. I heard a loud crash followed by screams and scuffling. A yawning sense of guilt ebbed into my mind and I couldn’t push it away. There were people downstairs that were going to-

    Gunshots rang out. A bullet burst through the plywood a few feet away from us, sending dust and shards of wood everywhere. Downstairs the shrieks elevated a few notches. There were commands being shouted, but I couldn’t make anything out at first.

Go upstairs…woman…camouflage.

    My mouth suddenly went dry. I looked at Blaze, who frowned pensively and brought her rifle up, aiming it at the top of the staircase.

    We heard feet pounding up a second before a flood of the grimy survivors from downstairs filtered upstairs, rushing for the corners. Blaze didn’t open fire, but I followed suit and aimed as well.

    Then a man wearing a ski mask, holding a shotgun, rushed up as well. I let Blaze take the shot, which she did very accurately. His head jerked back and blood splattered onto the wood behind him. His heavy body thudded down the stairs, creating new outraged shouts.

    “We need to get out of here!” Blaze yelled. “Alternate route!”

    I didn’t like taking commands, but she was right and a better shot than I. I assumed she would provide cover while I found another way out-which would be where, exactly?

    While pushing skeletal figures out of my way, I ran to the window. My hopes were fulfilled; none of the men on the ATVs, or any others, were visible. They either went into the house or were somewhere else. Where they were, I didn’t care. What mattered was the porch covering right underneath the window I was at. All I had to do was open the window, then Blaze and I could easily jump onto the roof and tumble off onto the yard. It was only a 10 foot drop, and we might get hurt, however…

What other option do we have? I thought. It’s not like we can run downstairs. Who knew what the fuck was going on down there.

    I flipped the tiny lock on the window and slid it open. Lucky for us, it opened to the side which granted a lot more room for movement. Or escape.

    Blaze let off another round, and I spun around to find survivors and crazies alike pushing past each other to get upstairs. All the commotion reminded me of stirring old fruit and watching fruit flies spread out. I wasn’t sure where her bullet went, but I shouted for her as I kicked the screen out and flung a leg over the windowsill.

    Hot sunshine beating down on me, I stood on the roof ready to go. I slung the rifle on my back and shifted so I could help Blaze through.

    Except she wasn’t there. She was being dragged to the staircase by two beefy men. With great vigor she struggled, but the two thugs were taller and definitely heavier. Plus there were two of them; she didn’t have a chance.

    Rage filled me as I clumsily climbed back through the window. The two saw me, clearly understanding my mission, and shouted for help.

    In a swift movement I released my 9mm from its holster and brought it up.

    “Let her go, you fucker!” I shouted.

    They didn’t reply but kept moving toward the staircase. There were only five or six feet between us. Her captor’s bloodshot eyes gleamed and his sweaty, thick hands clenched her arms.

    I squeezed the trigger and a bullet soared right into the left one’s shoulder, knocking him back. He let go of her, but they had already reached the staircase. Two more crazies showed up, dragging her down.

    My emotions got the best of me and I couldn’t see straight. I had to save her. I took aim and fired at the one coming toward me, but I only grazed his arm. Before I knew it, he had me on the ground and was beating my face in.

    Blood suddenly filled my mouth, and a second after that I saw stars. I was being beaten to death and Blaze had been captured by a bunch of fucking lunatics.

    I didn’t see things happening this way.

    Actually, I couldn’t see anything at all after he smacked my head into the ground again.

Chapter 26

    Nothing is worse than waking up from a beating-induced state of unconsciousness. Well, I’m sure some things are worse, but at that moment, I couldn’t think of anything that was.

    Blood was sticky and thick, coating every crevice of my mouth. I inhaled and wheezed in pain at the tight feeling in my chest.

    “He’s waking up,” I heard someone whisper.

    Just because I knew I had to, I cracked my less inflamed eye open and looked around. Dirty, frightened looking people stared back at me. They appeared to be keeping their distance and were pressed up against the walls.

    A face I knew had a name was suddenly hovering over me.

    “They’ve taken two of us. A little girl and a woman,” Angie said coldly. “They also took that woman who was with you.”

Like I didn’t already know, I thought spitefully.

    Mentally bracing myself, I began to sit up, entirely unassisted. My back popped and cracked as I moved, stiff from being on the wood floor for so long.

    Speaking of how long I was out, I turned to Angie and asked, “How long as has it been?”

    Her eyes narrowed. “It’s not like I keep track of time around here.”

    Michael came up the stairs and saw me. His forgiving, kind self smiled gently at me. “I’d say it’s been at least two hours. You were still breathing so we didn’t worry.”

    I didn’t speak a word of thanks. Instead, I stood up and looked around for my rifle. It was missing. So were my.40 and the 9mm.

    “Where are my guns?”

    Michael and Angie looked at each other, then to me. He said, “They took the rifle, but during the commotion Luke got the handguns and hid them.”

    “Hand them over, then,” I said expectantly.

    Angie, the more domineering of the two, spoke up. “No. We’re going to cut you a deal. Everyone go downstairs.”

    As obedient as well trained dogs, the survivors filtered downstairs, and in no time I was along with Angie and Michael.

    “This is going to sound alarming, but we need you to do this for us. We’re not strong enough or skilled enough.”

    Not cluing in on what she wanted, I gave Michael a blank look. I knew I wanted to get the fuck out of there and get Blaze back.

    “We’ll only give you the guns if you kill as many of the others as you can on the way to get your friend,” Angie said, boldly stepping in and acting like she had an edge about her. I could tell the woman was disturbed by her own request.

    I laughed shortly, then splayed my hands in front of her. “What did you think I was planning on doing? Negotiating?”

    They looked at me oddly, then Michael turned away and walked downstairs. I heard talking, but didn’t pay attention. Angie was still staring at me.

    “Do you have a problem?” I snapped. “We need to get this show on the road, sweetie.”

    “I can see why you’ve survived this long,” she said slowly. “You just don’t care about anyone but yourself. That woman, your friend, she doesn’t feel anything, that’s why she’s still around.”

This chick would get along smashingly with Gabe, I thought darkly.

    “That’s not true. I care about Wright,” I disagreed, then added, “Which is why I’m going to go get her.”

    Michael came up the stairs loudly, both my guns in hand. “We counted how much you have left while you were under. Both these clips are full, and you have two clips for each in your backpack.”

    They looked through my backpack? I was about to yell at them, but bit the inside of my lip instead and took the weapons away from him.

    “I want you to know I’m not coming back here. I’m getting Blaze then we’re leaving.”

    Angie’s face went red and I saw her fists close into balls. “I figured as much.”

    “We’d like to thank you,” Michael said, trying for strong but coming off as timid. “We need to be free from all this.”

    I shoved the.40 back in its holster, but kept out the 9mm. Without another word or wasted time, I marched down the stairs and out the door.

    There I was, having to save someone yet again. Not just someone, but indirectly an entire group of people. I don’t want to come off as superior, but I am. Superior, that is. If I wasn’t, why were people chomping at the bit for me to save them?

    Well, I wasn’t sure if Blaze needed my help, but I assumed she did. If the crazies were worth their salt, they’d knock her out and tie her up. Together we could make it out of another impediment of a town together; all I had to do was get her and arm her.

    I remembered Michael or Angie saying the church was across from the old tennis court down the street, but I decided to stop at the Mustang and retrieve a more formidable gun, first.

    The backyard gate was off its hinges and the little girl by the willow was truly dead. Her little head was half missing from what I could tell-her body was hidden in the tall grass for the most part. No undead were in the area, which made me think they followed the crazies out when they left. Unmoving corpses peppered the backyard and a broad radius in front of the house.

    Sure enough, the front of the house was void of a fence or car of any kind. They were efficient when it came to unpacking and packing a kidnapping party. Down the street, my Mustang sat pretty and red, not to mention blissfully alone.

    Fortunately, the door wasn’t locked because Blaze had the keys. When I got to it I jerked the door open, reaching in the back for a shotgun; it would do burst damage which I’d need in the assumed tight quarters of the church. I rifled around for more ammunition, rushing in case an undead spotted me. I considered leaving my pack, but I remembered the Hummer and decided to take it with. Someone could destroy, steal, or mangle the Mustang while I was gone. Then where would I be?

    I felt a prickling on my back and turned to see people staring out of the house I was just in. Angie was one of them, and two men were behind her. They appeared to be studying me, but I didn’t think of it any further.

    Shotgun in hand, I took a brief moment to assess the location of the tennis court was.

    The “tennis court” did not match its title. There was one tall fence still intact, but a few rotting corpses were lashed up onto it. Grass grew in every crevice of the court, which was faded and cracked beyond use. Even its net was decrepit, torn and falling in most areas. The only reason I noticed it was because of the bodies. On either side of it were some baby cherry trees, creating even rows and a small amount of cover.

    My vision went past them and to the large, symmetrical building just beyond. The church had white siding, but was chipping away everywhere. There were evenly spaced windows on both the top and bottom stories, but the bottom ones were heavily boarded. Not wanting to stay in one place too long, I started off toward the left row of cherry trees, assessing the church all the while.

    I had no way of knowing the best choice of entrance unless I circled the building and checked the other sides, which would take far too long. Instead, I opted for the lattice that was in the center of the building, with two two-story windows flanking it. Ivy was dead and withered, which would make it even easier to climb.

    If I got up there, I could break one window and Rambo on in. No prisoners, no negotiations. In fact, no talking of any kind would occur. Just good old fashioned killing and rescuing.

    Saving a damsel in distress. I’d have to tell Blaze that one.

    As I drew closer, I expected to be shot at or at, least for an alarm to go off. None of that happened, which made me wonder what was going on inside. I ran from the trees and crossed a paved parking lot, my boots slapping against the ground a little too loudly for my liking.

    Then I was up against the building, safe and sound. I looked out across the tennis court and saw a few walking corpses ambling out of whatever hiding places they came from, no doubt provoked by my noise and visibility.

    There was no time to take care of them. By the time I got to the top of the lattice, they’d only be halfway across the tennis court, anyway. Unsure of where to put it, I shoved the shotgun between my backpack and the vest, wiggling it around until it seemed fairly secure. Not the cleverest of methods, but I wasn’t going in there without it.

    As predicted, the climb was quick and reasonably easy. I tried not to hit the wall while climbing, or be too loud. Surprise was the most important element; if someone knew I was out there, I was a sitting duck. A kid with a pistol could lean out a window and massacre me.

    Once at the top, I paused and listened. There was no noise coming from the left window, but to the right there were clear wailing noise and some shouting. Moving sideways until I could just peek into the room, I leaned back and noticed the window was slightly ajar.

    It was the reformatory in Monroe all over again. I could only see a small portion of the room, but I saw two women tied to each other, and a little girl standing near them, also bound. The women were gagged and panicked, shoved into the corner. Most of their clothes were in tatters, showing scabbed, bruised flesh underneath.

    A cross was painted on the wall behind them, black and ragged.

    Now that I was closer I heard the yelling more clearly. It was a man shouting obscenities at the women. This presented an issue. I’d have to break the window and kill the man almost simultaneously, assuming there was only one of him.

    The little girl turned and looked at me. I was only a few feet away from her, so I noticed when her blue eyes grew extremely wide. Hanging on to the lattice with one hand, I brought my other up and gave the universal sign for be quiet.

    She almost nodded, but jerked her head toward the yelling, then said, “Take me. I’ll go.”

    The man stopped yelling and a silence followed.

    Blue-eyes turned her head slightly to look at me. I could tell she was trying to reassure me, and I wasn’t sure why for a moment. Then it hit me; she was going to sacrifice herself somehow, probably so I could get in. How did she know I was on her side?

    Maybe it was because I was hanging off the side of the house and not crazy, or kidnapping and raping someone.

    She walked out of my line of sight, but I heard her yell from farther back in the room, “We’re leaving!”

    I was going to save that kid. Blue-eyes was thinking ahead, giving me signals, and creating an in. She deserved to live.

    A door slammed and the quiet was still prevalent. I shifted some more and reached for the window to pull it all the way up.

    The two women closest to me jerked their heads toward me and started to fidget. They weren’t as cool as the kid and might give me away.

    Snatching my hand back, I tried to look nonthreatening and took the risk of speaking. “Michael and Angie sent me.”

    That was a lie, but so what? They calmed down instantly and scooted away from the window. I lifted it all the way and brought my leg up so I could haul myself in.

    There were a lot of them in there.

    I stood before at least twenty women shoved into a tiny Sunday school room. They were all tied up, some of them to each other, and some of them to a heater in the corner of the room. All eyes were on me, the pleading in their souls tangible.

    Cyrus V. Sinclair. The V stands for valiant.

Having a conscience is terrible, I thought angrily as I moved to the closet group of ladies. It really fucks you up.

    Even after I removed their gags, none of them spoke. Once their hands were untied, they set to work on the other women. In no time they were all freed.

    “I’m looking for a woman. Tall, black hair, with a mean scar on her face. They just brought her here a few hours ago,” I said quietly. “Where is she?”

    A middle-aged woman stepped forward, tears welling in her eyes. “Where they take the new ones. To…you know…”

    My stomach tightened. I knew. I laced my voice with sympathy, and asked, “Where?”

    “Down the hall. The white door. Please hurry. They just took Jenny.”

    I brought out my shotgun and pushed past all the women and to the door. It was unlocked, which showed a definite lack of procedure on the crazies’ part. It opened smoothly, revealing a man standing right across the hallway, a Playboy in hand.

    This was the kind of guy who was going to rape Blaze. Beer-bellied, scraggly, and habitually fetid in nature. A delightful rage overtook me as I raised the shotgun and pulled the trigger. His head exploded, gore spraying in a beautiful 360 degree pattern on the stained, white wall behind him. As his body slumped down, I felt a giddy sense of triumph.

    One quick glimpse told me the hallway led off down some stairs at one end and the said white door was at the other. Two more doors were in the hall, but both were barricaded. And, midway toward the white door, was a man tugging Jenny along, who was screaming ballistic.

    He spun around right when he heard the shot, fumbling for the pistol in his jeans pocket. Confusion and panic were consuming him, and he shook too much to get the pistol out fast enough. I sprinted toward him, knocking him to the ground just as he retrieved it. The gun fell onto the tarnished wood floor, right next to little Jenny’s feet.

    Instead of wasting the ammo, I brought the butt of the shotgun into the middle of his head. Again. And again. Blood was bursting from his face from every orifice as I worked, one of my feet against his chest so the fucker couldn’t get away.

Crack went his skull.

    He wasn’t getting away from me.

Burst went his brain.

    He deserved to die.

    When he stopped moving and screaming I heard my pulse beating frantically. Jenny was staring up at me, a spray of blood across her white-washed jeans near the shins. She reached down and picked up the pistol and opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by the white door opening and the thundering of footsteps up the stairs at the end of the hall.

    “This might be it,” I told her frankly. “You and me, kiddo. We gotta cap these motherfuckers.”

    “Okay,” was her weak, high-pitched reply.

    A short man was standing in front of me, a look of shock on his face. I looked past him and saw Blaze tied to a metal bed frame, unconscious. Her jacket was gone and she only wore the white undershirt I’d seen before. I focused on the man in front of me and was just about to pull the trigger when a little someone beat me to it.

    The kickback on the pistol pushed Jenny into the wall, but her bullet hit him at an upward angle through the jaw. The top of his head flew off, blood and brain matter following his skullcap. The little girl slid down the wall, a blank look on her face.

    Nothing was on my mind except getting Blaze. I took a step through the doorframe and was tripped by a sudden leg. There was a man to the right of the door, a baseball bat in hand. I fell partially onto Blaze, stirring her from unconsciousness. She opened her eyes and looked down at me in shock.

    Then I felt a heavy, wooden bat connect with the middle of my back. Pain jolted up and down my spine and I choked on the scream rising in my throat. I rolled off of Blaze’s legs as the man tried to grab me. Legs freed up, Blaze kicked him in the side of the head, her boot connecting solidly with his temple. He fell back against the door, effectively shutting it.

    Thing’s were not looking good and I was smart enough to admit it. Out of desperation, I grabbed the Glock, releasing it from its holster, and shoved it under the bed behind Blaze. I had to give her a chance, at least. I tried to sit up and look for the shotgun, which was just a few feet away in a pile of blankets.

    Two men burst through the doors, wielding hunting rifles. They both saw me and weren’t surprised, wasting no time in giving me a few sucker kicks before grabbing me and lugging me back down the hall. I caught Blaze’s stern face watching me go. The same man who hit me with the bat was up and left the room, following the three of us as he went.

    As I was being dragged-on my back might I add-I saw an upside-down version of the hallway which was lacking a little girl with blue eyes. The door with the women was also shut. Screwing my eyes shut, and having an unusual amount of hope in my heart, I longed for Jenny to keep on being helpful.

    Suddenly, I was being dragged through the bloody mess of the man I’d murdered with the shotgun. I felt thick, sticky blood drench my hair and neck. The iron scent of it filled my nostrils.

    “We got a special deal for you, buddy,” one of the hulks dragging me said. “Oh yeah. We do.”

    We were at the stairs and they kept on dragging. My body reeled in pain as I thudded down the stairs, one at a time. The staircase was no longer than most, but it seemed infinitely long when being pulled down it.

    Once at the bottom, I noticed we were in the main congregation room. Corpses were nailed up on the walls and blood seemed to be everywhere. Since the windows were boarded up, the crazies had taken to lighting fires in metal barrels. Firelight danced on the walls, illuminating the repulsive figures on the walls. It was a regular old house of horrors, not like I was affected by that kind of crap anymore.

    They finally stopped near one of the pews and were jerking me around, tying me to the solid, heavy wood bench. I tried struggling, but the pain in my back made my limbs feel too numb.

    “We’re gonna be right back. We’re gonna get Pastor North and you’re gonna get it.”

    Idle threats. I really didn’t care. My head was feeling fuzzy. I noticed the two main doors were only barricaded with a big wooden slab that rested in slots, which meant I could escape through those easily.

    Hypothetically.

    There were surprisingly few men inside the church. There were at least ten back at the house, but now it seemed as though there was half. And I’d killed two of them.

    I heard a single round of a pistol go off, the one Jenny had, and my spirits lifted. There was no way to know if she fired the round, but I sure as hell hoped so.

    Then a shotgun went off once, then twice, from upstairs. Shouting started up again as well as screams of women. Rage filling me, I pulled at the ropes restraining me, wanting to get up there and get a piece of the action for myself.

    A loud, splintering noise caught my attention. It was coming from one of the boarded windows on the wall opposite the staircase. I kept watching as an axe finally broke through, casting shards of sunlight into the giant room.

    Somewhere near the front of the room I heard muffled voices and wood being slammed against wood.

Something was going on and I was completely defenseless.

    The window was finally gaping open and people began climbing through, some of them with guns and some with melee weapons. Eventually, Michael hauled himself in and I felt remotely better about the situation at hand.

    Then whatever was going on beyond my sight, in the front of the church, happened. A bullet whizzed through the air and struck one of the survivors in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Yelling followed, from the survivors and whoever was shooting them.

    It must be the crazies. The majority that I’d been thinking about before had arrived and there was a classic good versus evil battle going on.

    My restlessness grew and I bellowed for someone to untie me, but none of them did. Each one of them coming through the window was clearly filled with terror and incapable of fighting the better armed, better skilled lunatics.

    I heard noise from the staircase and craned my neck to see who it was.

Blaze. Beatrice fucking Wright.

    The front of her shirt was stained red with fresh blood, but it didn’t look like it was hers. She took a few steps toward me, but stopped when she noticed what was going on and dove behind the pews across from mine. In her hands was the shotgun I had dropped. I looked past her and saw Jenny peek around the wall of the stairs. She grinned at me and waved the pistol.

    That kid was a miracle if I ever saw one. She didn’t need my saving-she could save herself.

    Blaze’s muscular arms twitched, then her whole body went into motion. She did a flawless dive across the aisle separating us and crashed up against me. She dropped the shotgun and wordlessly began untying me, but was making no progress.

    “Knife in my belt,” I rasped. “Hurry.”

    The survivors were dwindling in number and I had no idea if the crazies were, too. But we needed to get out of there regardless.

    Wright finally located the knife and sliced through my bonds in a jiffy, then helped me move into a sitting position. She shoved the Mustang keys in my hands and reached for my 9mm.

    “Shotgun’s out, so is the.40. I need this,” she explained shortly. “I’ll cover you. We’re leaving through the window.”

    I nodded, and adrenaline filled me to the brim again. Standing up, I finally caught a glimpse of the crazies on the other side. There were a few of them, but I didn’t stop to count. They broke in through a side door, which was allowing copious amounts of sunlight in the room.

    Zombies were making their way in, too. Fast ones.

    I closed the distance between me and the window and vaulted through it, hoping Blaze would make it, too. A second later she was out and we were running around the church. Howls of the undead and screams of humans faded away the farther we ran. The tennis court was teaming with slows, so we curved our path around them, making it to the blessed Mustang in no time.

    “Are the roadblocks gone?” I asked quickly as I shoved the key into the ignition.

    “They moved them when they took me,” Blaze confirmed.

    “Good.”

    The Mustang went from stationary to fast in no time. Startup, and all of its problems, disappeared in my rearview window.

Chapter 27

    “That worked out nicely.” Blaze’s voice sounded nasally from the blood still dripping out of it. By the look of it, it might’ve been broken, too.

    “Compared to what it could’ve been,” I replied. “Yes.”

    The forest around us was bathed in golden sunlight. Between the time it took for me to wake up and the time it took to rescue her, hours had passed.

This is all coming to an end, I thought blithely. Kellogg Lake Road, the cabin, is minutes away.

    Just as I finished my thoughts, we drove past a yellow sign pointing to the very road I was just musing about. I let off the gas and began to slow down, but Blaze touched my shoulder.

    “Keep driving. They could drive after us, but if it looks like we’re long gone they might give up,” she said.

    Nodding in agreement, I returned the car to a safe forty miles per hour. My head and torso began throbbing in pain, reminding me of the beating I sustained earlier. A profound lust for a bottle of painkillers overtook me; the feeling itself almost hurt.

    Her voice slithered in the dark car into my ear when she said, “I wouldn’t have left you.”

    I stole a glance at her. The golden hour revealed very slight red strands in her otherwise raven black hair. Bruises were forming all over her face, and blood was drying around her chin and nose. Quickly turning my eyes back to the road, I replied, “Thanks, I guess.”

    We passed trees and the occasional house set back far from the highway. The setting felt so normal; just a drive in the pretty weather in a nice car. Indulging my newly recognized fantasy for normalcy, I basked in it.

    I looked at her again, and she turned her head so that our eyes met. Blaze’s lips curved up into a tiny smile. “You’re not so bad, sometimes.”

    “Oh?”

    She nodded and continued. “I can’t tolerate most people. In fact, I usually want to kill them. You’re different though, so I like that.”

    Suddenly, I remembered back in Monroe when she asked if I was attracted to her. Though I tried to be indirect with my answer, I had a feeling she knew very well that I had the hots for her.

    “I feel the same,” I confirmed, feeling a giddiness come over me, accompanied with a lightness in my stomach.

    “Just because I’m skilled and a better shot than you, doesn’t mean…” I took a quick glance at her again. She was staring out the window, pensively, then finished. “I don’t know. This is all very foreign to me.”

    “What is?” I prodded, wanting something concrete from her.

    “Don’t act like you don’t know. The apocalypse. It forces us to reevaluate ourselves and what we’re willing to admit,” she explained. “I’ve never known how to talk about my feelings, so I certainly don’t know how the fuck to do it now.”

    I laughed and took one hand off the steering wheel to pat her on the shoulder. “You’re not alone, sweetheart. Do you think I find a suitable woman often?”

    “Suitable woman?” she echoed.

    Our eyes met again and I reached up to touch her chin. “Suitable woman.”

    She smiled big enough to reveal her chipped canine. My hand fell away from her face and she turned away. “This is crazy, I never thought-”

    When I returned my sight to what was in front of me, as I should’ve been doing, I noticed something. There was a bridge up ahead. I could see its giant, blue metal structure. In that moment, I wished for nothing more than to make it out of this. To my right, there was a woman who shared mutual feelings for me. To the north there was a stocked, hearty cabin that I could spend the rest of my days in. In the back seat was my furry companion, Pickle, who had put up with her poor circumstances since the undead situation began.

    I thought these things because the bridge up ahead was missing a huge section in its middle. Blown up. I couldn’t remember whether anyone in Sultan told me about this or not, but it was destroyed. I had enough time to view the giant, gaping hole one would typically drive over, and slam on the brakes, but it was all too late.

    The Mustang flew right over the crumbling edge and into the rocky embankment on the side.

***

    Somewhere in the distance, a frog croaked at even intervals, while crickets rubbed their legs incessantly. Rushing, sloshing water was added to the mix, creating a symphony of natural music. Outside was bathed in a pleasant post-sunset dim light.

    If every part of my body hadn’t been vaguely tight, or in excruciating pain, I would’ve taken time to appreciate the ambiance. My body was slumped forward, head resting on the steering wheel, preventing me from any form of relaxation fitting to the music outside. The Mustang was at a downward angle, so my seatbelt dug painfully into my chest and stomach. I slowly became aware of the water that sloshed around in the car. My legs were soaked and cold.

    The smell of gasoline and oil had been giving me a headache while I was asleep, and now that I was awake I could really appreciate it. Both of my temples were knotted and throbbing with red hot pain.

    I raised my head just a tad and saw the windshield, which was cracked into a million spider webs. An old, thick log jutted from its center and slightly into the car. Rotten vegetation coated it, some stray pieces floating in the Mustang.

    Regardless of the pain and effort it took, I turned my head to the right and saw Blaze in a position that mirrored my own-forward and hanging. Blood coated her forehead, curving around the sharp arch of her eyebrow and down the side of her face. Her forehead was split open, probably from hitting the dashboard. The light was poor in the car, but I could tell it was bad. Really bad.

    After a couple moments of intense concentration, I noticed she wasn’t breathing. She wasn’t moving. Her parted lips made no noise. My motion was involuntary as I reached out for her, shaking her limp shoulder. No response.

    “Blaze?” I rasped, my mouth feeling hideously dry and coppery. “Wake up.”

    My chest locked up and I couldn’t breathe. Blaze seemed to be dead. The one woman who I thought would make it through all of this was dead. I didn’t intend for it to happen, but I had developed trust and adoration for the woman. The now dead woman.

    Despite the boiling sense of anxiety within me, I forced myself to get it together. Francis died and I kept on moving. Gabe ran away and I kept on trekking. The death of Beatrice wasn’t going to be a thorn in my side. I was kidding myself about her death, a self-inflicted trick, but if I didn’t repress it now, I wouldn’t be able to make it to the cabin.

    I grabbed my pack from the backseat, along with my rifle, then undid my seatbelt. My body fell forward and I gasped from a sharp pain in my ribcage. Cracked rib, no doubt.

Keep going. Get out of here.

    The 9mm she took from me was protruding from the pocket of her pants. I considered taking it because I knew I’d need it. I glanced in the backseat, seeking weapons and found none. Angie and her people took all of them. Those survivors who used them probably didn’t survive, despite their possession of guns. What was done was done, and I couldn’t bitch about it. The scenario was startlingly similar to the Hummer incident. I stopped thinking about it.

    If Blaze were alive and did wake up, she wouldn’t have a weapon of any kind to defend herself. What if I wasn’t being thorough enough and she was alive? My thought process was scattered and incoherent. I couldn’t commit to her being dead or alive.

    Suddenly panicked all over again, I reached over and pressed my fingers into her neck. If she were alive, I couldn’t feel a pulse. My fingers were shaking and cold. Justifications ran through my head for both leaving and taking the handgun.

    Finally, after the debate, I decided to leave it.

    I heard Pickle scampering around on the back window. I unzipped my backpack and twisted back so she could climb onto my arm, then into the safe, dry bag. She did so without hesitation, for which I was grateful. Any more difficulties and I’d have a mental breakdown.

    It was difficult, getting out of the car. My door was pressed closed by a huge rock, so I slithered out of the window and up onto the gravely bank. The rocks were moist and hot from the heat of the day. The warmth of them seeped through my ungloved hands as I slipped and grabbed, making slow progress upward.

    Once I got up onto crest of the slope, I glanced around. The other side of the river was teeming with undead. They fell into the water in attempts to get to me, but the current on that side swept them away effortlessly, along with the contents of the Mustang trunk, which broke open, releasing all the food Blaze and I had gathered.

    All that candy, gone. All the medicine, food, and water…gone. Collectively, I’d argue that my luck was fucking terrible. I couldn’t hold on to items or people for more than a few days, it seemed.

    Desperate for a distraction, I brought my attention to the bridge. If Blaze was alive, no undead could get her from this side, which was important to me.

    The highway stretched on, unobstructed, into a town I knew to be Goldbar, but that wasn’t my destination. I had to get back across the river and onto Kellogg.

    The top structure of the bridge was still intact; only the cement was gone. I walked to the cutoff and studied it for a moment, before committing to a plan.

    I was going to wait until the Z’s jumped off into the water to get me, then climb over the bridge to the other side. The walk wouldn’t be too far, and before I knew it I’d be on my way again.

    My aching body screamed at me when I sat down hard on the hard road, trying desperately to forget that Blaze was dead in the cherry red car beneath me. Pickle shifted in the backpack, then settled down again. I wondered what position she could’ve found that was remotely comfortable.

    Finally, the sun went away completely, along with my composure.

Chapter 28

    When I was twenty I had a girlfriend. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but it did. At the time I was living in a moderately sized town, teaching community Russian lessons three times a night.

    I speak Russian-forgot to mention it. Seeing that it is the most useless skill to have during a zombie apocalypse, why would I bring it up?

    There was one girl, a blonde, who was always hanging around after class. She was my age, I imagined, but I honestly didn’t care. I wasn’t interested in her, but I could see why others might be. Nice complexion, a curvaceous body that was just shy of being on the skinny side.

    She made quick progress in asking me on a date, which I declined immediately. But try after try, I figured saying yes would get this whole ordeal over with sooner rather than later.

    I was mistaken.

    Her name was Nicky and she decided she was my girlfriend, which meant calling me at odd hours and me paying repeatedly for dinner and movies. Had I known it was going to be that bad, I would’ve killed her to save myself the trouble.

    It was all very funny. I felt as though I had accidentally gotten on the wrong train and had to see it through until it arrived at the next station. If anything, I was just along for the ride, and the scenery and entertainment were strange.

    After a few months, I decided to end things while I still could. I managed to break myself out of the bizarre reality that was my life, and told her I wasn’t interested in her anymore.

    Not like I ever was to begin with.

    Nicky practically had a psychotic breakdown when I told her. I wasn’t a good judge of character; dramatically less than I am now, so it didn’t register she’d been unusually obsessed with me. At the time, I had no clue why she was so dejected by the ending of our relationship-no idea at all.

    Up above, the night was clear and cold. The moon was full and heavy in a sky speckled with thousands of stars. One last splash, followed by an absence of the music of the undead, told me the last of the Z’s had fallen into the water. I got to my feet, taking the last bite of the Snickers bar, and dropped the wrapper off the bridge.

    Remembering what was in my pocket, I withdrew a can of condensed milk from my pants. At least Judy-Beth did that much for me. With a thankful prayer in my heart for pop-top cans, I removed the lid and tossed it into the river. Not bothering with the formality of using my finger to scoop it out, I let the thick sugary concoction slide sluggishly into my mouth.

    Well, now I knew how Nicky felt. The gnawing sense of anxiety that ripped my insides up, with a simultaneous wash of emptiness. My chest was so tight I felt like it might implode on itself. I’m surprised Nicky didn’t just kill herself; it felt so hideous

    It hadn’t taken long for the rest of the zombies to fall into the water. Maybe a half hour tops. They filtered through the woods and onto the highway, making their way to the bridge, before jumping off in attempt to get me. It had been just enough time for the world to shift into the darkness of night.

    Once half the sugar milk was gone, I dropped the rest into the river and licked my lips clean. My sweet tooth was sated and took the edge off my misery.

    After shaking my limbs out to relieve the numbness from sitting, I set to work on traversing the bridge. Its structure allowed for easy climbing, and the work became mindless.

    I couldn’t help but wish I had died in that car, too. Wouldn’t it have been a lot easier? If I had, I wouldn’t have to deal with the boiling pot of emotions inside of me.

    Shocked, I stopped a third of the way across the bridge. Suicide was an option I hadn’t considered before, and it was one that made sense. One bullet, right then, and I wouldn’t have to worry about getting to the cabin or anything thereafter.

    Shame washed over me and I began moving again. Suicide was a big copout. Besides, what would Pickle do without me? I owed it to her not to do it. Blaze wouldn’t have done it, either. If she were still alive and I mentioned the idea to her, she would’ve called me something derogatory and lit up a cigarette. I ran through a dialogue in my mind, in attempt to lighten my mood.

I think I should kill myself.

You would think that, you cocksucker.

No, really.

Well, go ahead. I certainly won’t stop you, you panty wearing fuck.

    I laughed sadly. Making up conversations between us wasn’t going to help my mental state in the least.

    Only ten minutes later I landed on the other side of the bridge, a moonlit expanse of highway before me. After I attempted to clear my mind, I started the jog back to Kellogg Lake Road.

***

    No one was waiting for me. The town of Startup was entirely visible in the moonlight, but seemed as empty as it had been when I first arrived. I didn’t hesitate to make the right onto Kellogg, not interested in investigating that forsaken town again.

    The trees closed in overhead, blocking out a majority of the moonlight. I would’ve been afraid if I wasn’t so deadened already. Fearlessly, I continued my jog up a large hill, paying attention for the markers Francis explained would get me to the cabin.

***

    A few hours later I stopped at an abandoned double-wide trailer for the night. When I woke up, I fed Pickle some cat food I found in the kitchen.

    Then we left.

    All day that day I walked or jogged until I found a yellow, steel roadblock preventing cars from entering a rocky drive. Forests were so dense on either side of the road, they were essentially impassive. Before I got to the roadblock I was concerned I’d have to trek through it; I wasn’t sure how I’d do that. But since I found it, I turned off onto it, following it until the road melded in with bushes and grass, then, finally, trees.

    After that, I started the hike, following every clue Frank mentioned in his death-plagued delirium.

***

    I hiked for days. I wasn’t a decent mountaineer, so it took far longer than projected. Absolutely no undead pestered me on the way; my location was so remote, it seemed impossible for even one of them to come shambling along.

    On the second day, I ran out of food and resorted to eating copious amounts of blackberries and huckleberries. Oh, I wished hard for some kind of animal to come along, but none did. I encountered plenty of streams along the way, so hydration wasn’t an issue. I even took the time to shower in a deep swimming hole I found near one of the bigger rivers.

    Frank carved Fs into trees, and that’s what I followed in the dense forest to get to the cabin. Sometimes they were overgrown, or the trees had fallen, which added length to my trip.

    Then I found it. The cabin. First I found the edge of a tall chain link fence. Emptiness was so prevalent inside me I couldn’t muster up any excitement when I arrived at a gate, which had a padlock painted blue.

    With shaking hands, I shrugged off my backpack and fished out the keys. I inserted the blue one, pulled the lock off, and pushed the gate.

    It opened.

    I had arrived.

***

    As I searched the compound, I realized the memory of my journey was shrouded in fog; it seemed like a hallucination. I shut down so I wouldn’t think of Blaze, but that action seemed to have shut down the rest of me, too. I didn’t mind.

    Francis J. Bordeaux’s cabin wasn’t just a cabin-it was also a bizarrely advanced tree house. One large cabin was formed around a giant maple tree that seemed misplaced in the forest that consisted mostly of pines and firs. A very short distance away from the main cabin was a smaller one, made of tin, that housed the entrance to a formidably sized well.

    His little compound was at the foot of a rocky cliff that I estimated to be about a hundred feet up. The fence provided a good perimeter, both ends stopping at the cliff.

    What was most spectacular was the hatch on the cabin ceiling that opened up to a ladder, which led up into the maple and into a grand tree house. It seemed like a safe house, or a last resort; all it had was a bed and a few other necessities. Two ropes led off the tree house platform; one led up to the top of the cliff and was tied to a tree, while the other lead to a pine outside the fence perimeter.

    It was all perfect when it came to survial. A slightly overgrown garden near the cabin was producing corn-which meant late August-beans, tomatoes, and quite a few other vegetables. I didn’t want to live on candy, MREs, and canned goods (which he had plenty of) forever, and was grateful for it.

    Frank even had a collection of books on gardening, property maintenance, and other useful volumes in the lower cabin.

    My location, physical health, and resources were perfect.

    The only thing damaged, quite honestly, was my heart.

    But I survived, and that’s what mattered. Maybe my chi would realign and I’d be the apathetic motherfucker I was when this all started. That would certainly be easier, wouldn’t it?

    I looked out into the vastness of the forest and sighed.

    My name is Cyrus V. Sinclair. The V stands for-

    Well, it doesn’t matter anymore, now does it?

Epilogue

    Cyrus V. Sinclair leaned back in a comfortable, but ugly, recliner. Warm, golden rays of sunshine filtered in through the wooden slats of the window and onto the smooth oak floor. Birds tweeted outside, having a lovely time in the late October weather.

    He was finally alone. He was glad to be alone. During the first few weeks of solitude he had endured a bad case of cabin fever, but it passed. Now he spent the days tending to his little compound and gardening.

    No one could see him, but he grinned sheepishly. Gardening was the last thing one would expect from Cyrus, but every day he’d go out and work on his year-round garden. Everything had finally settled down and he was alone again.

    For reasons unknown to him, especially under these ideal circumstances, Cyrus’s throat tightened and he choked back a sob.

He was alone again.

    Francis was dead because Cyrus couldn’t think clearly. Blaze was dead because he wasn’t paying attention. And Gabriella…she was gone and probably dead because she needed him to take care of her, to be there, and he wasn’t.

    A wet, foreign substance rolled down his cheeks from his eyes. Angry at himself for such a display, he went to wipe the tears away, determined to stop his crying, but stopped. He stood up on quavering legs and went to the small wooden dresser standing near his bed. He opened the top drawer and pulled out the box of cigarettes Blaze had given him in Startup.

It’s never too late to start.

    That meant a lot, now. He drew one cigarette out and set out to find a match. While he looked, he considered every meaning of that sentence. It was never too late to learn to love someone. It was never too late to grow a conscience.

    Cyrus located a tiny box of matches in the kitchen nook and lit the cigarette. He was vaguely aware of the mechanics of smoking, but he still had to stifle a painful choke. The moment the Marlboro smoke billowed around him, he thought of Blaze once more. How he left her in that Mustang.

    More tears rolled down his cheeks. He took another drag from the cigarette and coughed.

    His lips parted and the stale cigarette almost slipped out. Cyrus thought back to the car accident and Blaze’s body. In his delirium, he hadn’t thought. He hadn’t thought!

    If Blaze died in the crash, minutes after she died she would’ve turned. She would’ve been a mindless flesh eater, chomping at the bit to get him.

    She had been alive!

    The entire time!

    Cyrus spit the cigarette onto the floor and crushed it with his boots. He was going to save the rest of the box for Blaze, when he found her.

    Wherever she was, he would to find her.

***

    When Blaze opened her eyes it was pitch dark outside. Her entire head felt like a batter had used it as a baseball and really, really didn’t hold back.

    For a split second she didn’t know where she was or why she was there, and then it all came flooding back to her. The bridge breaking, the crash. The nothingness.

    She realized she was staring at the driver’s seat. The empty driver’s seat. Where was Cyrus? Did he think she was dead? Because she wasn’t, that was for fucking sure. After some deep breathing and gathering of thoughts, Blaze unlocked her seatbelt and maneuvered herself out of the waterlogged Mustang.

    A strong current pulled at her and she had to latch onto the door to keep from being swept away. It was too dark to tell, but she heard periodic splashing and moaning from somewhere across the river. Blaze could make an educated guess at what was going on there.

    Revelation that she was alone (and with only one gun, one clip) hit her. Cyrus had abandoned her. Whether it was for good reason or not, he left her in a sinking car on the highway to his paradise. That motherfucker.

    She scrambled up the steep, rocky side of the riverbank with only one thing on her mind.

Sinclair.

THE END