III.
“In here!” Rowan ushered the group into a darkened park building.
“I’m not going in there,” Gale said with her arms folded.
“What? What not?” Rowan asked in panicked irritation. They’d been trying to avoid a massive herd of zombies that followed them for days, but they couldn’t shake them.
“We don’t know what’s in there. What if it’s more dead people?”
“Or worse, living people,” Olivia added.
Rowan looked at her and furrowed his brow, then shook his head. How could living people possibly be worse than what was chasing them? “Will everyone just shut up and get inside?”
They complied, only because there was nowhere else to go and the herd had been gaining on them in the last hour. As they ran, with temperatures nearing twenty degrees, the simple act forced the chilled air down their lungs and stung like a swarm of bees. Their limbs were stiff and sore.
Whenever the group slowed down out of necessity, the shuffling corpses maintained a lethargic pace and gained on the group, closing the gap they’d worked so hard to create.
Once everyone was inside the building, Lee stayed by the glass doors while the others searched for objects to barricade themselves in. They hoped that if they were quiet enough, the herd would move past without noticing them.
Rowan ran through the second set of doors and into the lobby first. He skidded to a halt and stared out at the darkened room. The floor was littered with bodies.
Carolyn slammed into his back. “Watch it!” she barked at him.
Gale stepped to the front and rested her hands on her hips. When Rowan saw this he stood by her side and did the same.
“It doesn’t look like any of them were bitten,” she said as she knelt down over a man with a handlebar mustache and a crushed skull.
“Be careful,” Rowan hissed. He didn’t follow her any further.
Gale poked the chest of the mustachioed man with the tip of her finger. He didn’t move. “It’s safe,” she said, standing back up. “They’re dead…dead, dead, that is.”
She went over to the information center and opened the door to search behind it. She found a three hole puncher, a crowbar, and a fire extinguisher. She carried her items back out to Lee.
“We can use this ta shove between the handles,” Lee said, picking up the crowbar. “Hold onto this.” He shoved the extinguisher back into Gale’s arms. With his free hands he mimed a bashing. “And this…is basically useless.” He tossed aside the three hole puncher.
“Ah, gotcha,” Gale said with a smile. “Thanks, buddy.”
Lee nodded and turned to watch the parking lot again.
Rowan wandered further into the back of the building to the displays that featured stuffed animals, their marble eyes staring out at him, almost like they were following his every movement.
Carolyn gave a grotesque groan next to him. “Disgusting.”
Rowan laughed and poked one in the face. “You never been hunting before?”
“No,” she said, distracted by a row of ten gallon habitats in the back wall. “My family didn’t do a lot together.”
“What about your boyfriend?” he asked as all thoughts of finding supplies flew from his mind.
“Nope. No boyfriend.” There was a gleam in her eyes.
He gave a crooked smile as he looked down at her.
Carolyn leaned in closer to look at the contents of the tanks. “Should we be worried that these things are empty?” She tapped on the glass with her index finger to see if anything moved.
“I don’t think so,” he said as he read the plaques. “Looks like it was just some snakes, spiders, and scorpions.”
Her eyes widened to show the whites around her light pupils. “What!”
Rowan rushed his hand to cover her full lips while his other arm wrapped around her shoulders. He looked around, forgetting for a moment that they were safe indoors for the time being. He moved his hand away slowly as she stared up into his almond-shaped, honey-colored eyes. The corners wrinkled as he smiled. “Sorry, habit.”
Her eyes grazed over to his other hand that was still rested around her shoulder, one side of her body pressed against his chest and abdomen.
“Just to be safe we should probably keep it down though.” He removed his arm and took a step back from her.
Her smile faded. She turned to peer into the empty tanks again.
Meanwhile, in a room with floor-to-ceiling windows for walls, Gretchen and Dan looked out at the snowy dune hills and trees. They didn’t see anything moving close by yet, but they both knew what was coming.
“Back in the regular world, this would have been a beautiful winter night,” Gretchen said with a forlorn, distant gaze as she reminisced.
“This is the regular world,” Dan said flatly. He was staring out the same window, but seemed to see a completely different view. “And a night like this can get you killed.”
Comments like that were normal from Dan for as long as she’d known him, but what about before then? Was he always so cynical, so hopeless? “How’re you doing?” she asked.
He furrowed his brow as the corners of his lips pulled upward for a quick second before they fell again. “Why?”
“It’s just, you haven’t really gotten a chance to talk about what happened since we found you and I want to make sure—”
“You want to know if I’m going to try to kill myself again?” he finished for her, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
She didn’t want to answer yes in fear that he would close off and never tell her what he was thinking again, but she couldn’t bring herself to say no either, because it would have been a lie. “I’ve just…” she chose her words carefully. “…grown to care about you in the last, what is it?” she counted off the months in her head, but lost track.
“Four months, three days.”
“Wow,” she said, her eyes wide. “Four months. That’s a long time to keep going without letting anyone in.” She let that sink in as she watched the woods outside stand perfectly still. “Anyway, like I was saying…I’ve come to really care for you and I just want to make sure you’re doing OK.”
Dan nodded and gave her question some deep thought. He knew what she wanted to hear—that what he did was stupid and he regretted it, he didn’t know what he was thinking trying to kill himself and he’d never try it ever again. That was a promise he couldn’t make. He didn’t want to lie to her. She’d saved him, though most days he wished she hadn’t.
“I’m doing all right today,” was all he could honestly tell her.
“Well if you ever want to talk, y’know, about what happened…I’m here.” With that she let it be.
Dan continued to stare out the windows. The minute Gretchen was gone from the room, his eyes welled up with crocodile tears as his mom’s face clouded his mind.
V.
After the doors were secured and the dead bodies had been piled in the back room in front of the empty tanks in the wall, everyone found their place to try and get some sleep. Rowan declared that he would take the first watch and stood by the glass doors in the small entryway room.
Gretchen and Dan sat huddled together, their backs leaning against the lobby desk as they talked in whispers, occasionally laughing.
Lee sat straight with his back against a brick wall with his head leaned back and his eyes closed. Olivia lay on his jacket on the floor, curled into a little ball with her head in Lee’s lap. She clutched a worn-out baseball bat in her hands, cuddled to her close like a teddy bear. Without opening his eyes, Lee rested a hand on her straight, brown hair. He tried to pull it back out of her face, but it kept falling forward. He gave up and went to sleep.
Carolyn had hoped Rowan would sit with her, but it was like just like him to stand up and take the first watch. With Lonnie gone, Rowan was next in line. That power only made her want him more. She sat huddled alone with a clear view of the glass box room. She wrapped her arms around herself. Her long, wavy blond hair covered her exposed cleavage and kept her warm. All the while, Rowan never took his eyes from the view outside. What dedication. She finally zipped her down jacket up to her chin and let her head rest against the fur-trimmed hood.
Gale was the only one not satisfied with closing her eyes. She searched the office behind the lobby desk, but it was empty aside from another small desk, an overturned chair, a broken lamp, and a few framed generic inspirational pictures that hung crooked on the wall. She had hoped to find food stashed away in one of the desk drawers, but she should have known better. Those people who were dead in the back room would have found all the food in the place first.
She left the office and walked further past to check out the bathrooms. In a pinch, the tiny windows they sometimes installed near the ceilings were perfect for a quick escape. If she had to she could shove Olivia, Dan, and Gretchen through one of them. The rest would have to find a bigger way out. She considered if Carolyn could fit, but decided there was no way. Her ass was too big. She laughed to herself with a snort. She’d always liked a nice, round ass to grab onto. Salena’s had been perfect.
The bathroom had two stalls and two sinks. The smell was overwhelming. Gale pulled her dirtied t-shirt over her nose. Even though it reeked of stale sweat, it smelled infinitely better than her surroundings. She kicked open the first stall with her knife at the ready. It was empty. The water in the toilet was thick and brown, smelling of old shit. She wrinkled her nose and held her breath as she kicked open the second door.
There on the toilet was a woman. She was leaned all the way back against the tiled wall and slumped over to the side with her face pressed against the stall. Despite the bloody, smashed side of her head, Gale’s eyes were drawn to the middle-aged woman’s feet. She had on red high heeled pumps.
Gale was taken aback. Who in their right mind would choose to wear heels for the zombie apocalypse? No wonder they died. But she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the shoes. Salena had been wearing an identical pair the day she died. Suddenly, it was all she could think about as she crumpled to sit on the dirty bathroom floor.
VI.
Dan fumbled through his pocket as Gretchen fell asleep on the floor next to him. Her arm was curled up under her head for a pillow and her mouth was parted as she breathed deeply. He stopped for a second to watch. Why was that single small act, the one that allowed a human being to continue living, so incredibly hard to maintain? So fragile and easy to cut off? His fingers found what they were looking for and stood up to make his way over to the front doors.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Rowan’s voiced called out.
Dan held up the crumpled cigarette between his two fingers, ready to put it in his mouth and start puffing away.
“I don’t think so. Get back in there.”
“I just need a quick smoke, guy. I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t care if you think you’ll be fine or not. I care about you making noise out there and drawing those things over to us…and don’t call me fucking guy,” Rowan said in a boorish voice that closely resembled Lonnie’s misguided confidence.
Dan clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Are you serious right now?”
“Why don’t you just go have a smoke in the john?” Rowan turned his back to Dan and looked out through the doors.
“I feel a little claustrophobic, all cooped up in here. I need some fresh air.” Dan bounced on the balls of his feet as he spoke.
It was Rowan’s turn to scoff.
“This is ridiculous, man. I’m going.” Dan pushed past Rowan and grabbed ahold of the crowbar to yank it out from between the handles.
Rowan shoved Dan in the chest with both hands. “Get back.” His volume was normal, but his tone was not. “Maybe it’s time for you to quit.” He grabbed the cigarette from Dan’s fingers and smashed it in his hand. Flakes of tobacco fell to the floor like brown snow.
“You motherfucking…” Dan charged Rowan, slamming him against the entryway glass walls with his body.
Dan was half Rowan’s size, but he knew how to fight. The anger coursed through him and made it impossible to think rationally. His mother’s face still lingered in his mind and that last cigarette had been his only option for a release from the pain inside. What he failed to consider when he threw himself onto Rowan was that the tall, scared man was armed with Lonnie’s AR-15 still. Dan hit the ground hard when the butt of the gun rammed into the side of his temple.
Everything went black. He was aware he was drifting in and out of consciousness on the cold ground. In his mind he kicked and screamed and got back up to his feet, because he knew he should be awake, alert, and ready for whatever might happen next. Who knew what that Rowan guy was capable of doing to him… he could still be beating him with his gun for all he knew. His thoughts faded like a dream.