Survival Instinct: A Zombie Novel (25 page)

The bus pulled over to the side of the road and Kara looked out the window to see what stop they were at.  They weren’t at any stop; they had just unexpectedly pulled over.  Those that noticed groaned, most likely thinking the bus had broken down.  The bus driver stood up and addressed the passengers using the little overhead speakers.

“We’re sorry for this folks, but it looks like we’re shutting down,” the bus driver announced.

Kara frowned from her seat near the bus driver, “What do you mean, shutting down?”

“Just what I said, ma’am.”  The bus driver lifted his mic back up to his pudgy mouth.  “I truly am sorry for the inconvenience but there seems to be some sort of public emergency and all public transit has been asked to shut down.”

Several more groans greeted this announcement.  One passenger yelled out asking how he was supposed to get to work.  Another mentioned she had a child waiting for her at home.  Although on the surface these appeared to be normal disgruntled people, Kara was an expert people-watcher and noted the worry underneath.  The bus driver had spoken troubling words.

“What’s the public emergency?” Kara asked what no doubt, most everyone was thinking.

“I don’t know, they didn’t tell us anything.  Just to pull over and tell everyone that public transit has been shut down.  They’ll probably fill us in later, but I can’t say when that will be.”  The bus driver hung his mic back up and sat his plump butt back down into his chair.  He really did look like he knew nothing; the passengers’ worry was mirrored in him.

Riders started to disembark the bus through its doors.  A few tried to get more information out of the bus driver, but he had nothing for them.  The bus driver told some of them they could wait on the bus if they wanted, but that he didn’t expect to move anytime soon.  Once a seat next to Kara opened up, Walter sat down next to her.

“Do you want to stay on the bus?” Walter asked her.

Walter had worked for Kara for the past ten years.  She didn’t know what official title to give him as he was a bodyguard, a butler, a cook, a chauffeur, a maid, a gardener, and an assistant all rolled into one.  Manservant best covered all the bases.  Of course, Kara had hired others to fill these roles formally, but Walter stepped in whenever it was required of him.  Kara had known him since he was twenty years old, and he had stuck around longer than all the rest had so far.  Some of her cousins used to titter about how she always had a young white male following her around, but Kara paid them no mind.  Her servants were usually young because they were eager and more malleable, and male because she happened to get along with males better.  As for the white part, she didn’t even think about it.  Skin colour was never something she paid attention to.  She often forgot that the dark skin she had inherited from her mother made her stand out amid the rest of her white family.  Her skin, combined with her sharp, bird-like features, made her look completely unrelated to the rest of the flat-faced Taggarts.  Kara knew her cousins thought she was one of those people who were deeply into their black heritage and always hired white men as a way of snubbing them in some fashion.  She had absolutely no idea why they thought this, as she never showed any interest at all.  She treated everyone around her equally.

Kara sat and thought about Walter’s question for a moment.  “No,” she finally decided.  She got up and headed for the door.  There was only one other teenage girl left on the bus.  “You’re not getting off?” Kara wondered.

“I’m in no rush to get anywhere,” the girl shrugged,  “besides, I have everything I need right here.”  She patted a backpack sitting on the seat beside her.

Kara departed the bus.  She was amused by the girl who stayed on it.  The last time she had run into someone who wasn’t in a rush to get somewhere was many years ago.  Everyone was always so busy.

“Would you like me to call for a car?” Walter asked once they had cleared the bus.

“No.”  Kara shook her head and strode off down the street.  “At least not yet.  It’s a nice day.  A walk will do you some good.”

Walter nodded and walked alongside her.  Kara knew she didn’t need the exercise; she was incredibly fit.  She swam laps in the indoor pool nearly every day, ate only healthy foods, and never took the elevators or escalators when stairs were easily an option.  She also did yoga on her less busy days.  Walter, on the other hand, was rather pudgy and often gave in to temptation when candied and chocolate goods were present.

“What do you say to wandering through the mall, Walter?”  Kara had noted they weren’t far from one of the more decent shopping malls that were dotted around Leighton.  Kara had seen much of Leighton get built over the span of her life, going from one single, soaring skyscraper, to a decent-sized city with ever-expanding suburbs.  It was truly amazing how fast the place popped up considering its size.  Construction was constant.

“I don’t mind,” Walter replied.

Walter never minded.  You could ask him if he’d like to swim to Antarctica and he’d say he didn’t mind.  The only time he voiced an opinion was when he thought Kara’s safety was involved, or when he thought something would be cutting into her schedule.  Today however, she had nothing planned.  She had taken the bus to her favourite hairdresser and gotten a trim, a pedicure, and a manicure, then got on the bus to head home.  A little side shopping trip would fill out the rest of the day nicely.  Best to make the most of things.

Kara and her servant continued up the street.  When they reached the mall, they didn’t bother walking all the way to the parking lot entrance, but crossed over the little barrier and the little strip of grass.  Even though Kara could easily step over the barrier on her own, she accepted Walter’s offered hand of help.

The two of them then crossed the parking lot toward one of the department store entrances.  It looked like several other people from the bus had also decided to stop by the mall, whether to go shopping or to wait for rides.  For some, this may have been their destination to begin with, and others may actually need the pay phones.  Kara was like them; she didn’t have a cell phone.  She didn’t like the fact that people could reach her anywhere at anytime.  Walter had one, in case of emergencies, but if anyone called it looking for Kara, she wouldn’t accept the phone.  That probably also made Walter her messaging service.

They reached the entrance to the department store and went inside, feeling the cool breeze of a powerful air conditioner wash over them.  The entrance to the store was surrounded with its usual collection of clothes.  They were inexpensive, but Kara knew that cost didn’t always equal quality or style.  Sometimes she found something she liked in these places.  If it fit and was comfortable, then she’d buy it.  Sometimes though, she would only wear it once before deciding that she didn’t like it as much as she first thought and then would donate it to a clothing drive.  She had donated a lot of clothing over the years.

Kara led Walter past all the clothes, then the watches and jewellery, and then the makeup. 
Finally, they reached the actual mall.

“Is there anything you need?” Kara asked her servant.

“Actually, I was thinking of getting some new sneakers,” Walter told her.  “I’ve been seriously considering joining a gym.”

“Good.”  Kara was an ardent believer in keeping one’s self fit and healthy.  “If you promise to join the gym, I’ll pay for your shoes myself.”

Although Walter lived in her not-quite-a-house-not-quite-a-mansion, and worked with Kara most of the time, he did get time off.  With the prospect of going to a gym, he was likely to get even more time off.  Kara wondered if maybe a woman was involved.  That’s usually how she lost her servants.  They would meet a woman and want more time off than Kara could give them.  If Walter now had a woman, that meant he might be leaving Kara soon.  Although the thought of this somewhat upset Kara, she always knew it would happen eventually.  Perhaps her next employee would be an older gentleman.  Perhaps even someone who had been around for roughly the same amount of time that she had been.

They walked through the halls of the mall until they found a large sports store that sold athletic shoes.  Kara walked up to a man who was busy behind the cash register.

“I’m looking to buy a good pair of running shoes for my associate here,” she told the man.

“All right, but I’m very busy.  Could you give me a moment?”  The man did indeed look to be very busy.  There were a number of customers around the store but not a lot of people seemed to be working there.  In fact
, the man was the only employee that Kara could spot.

“It’s all right,” Walter told the man, sounding almost embarrassed
,  “we’ll just look around.”

Walter walked over to the wall of shoes.  Kara followed him this time.  She believed highly in personal service but if the man was busy, then the man was busy.  Walter started looking over the athletic shoes, picking up ones he liked the look of and turning them over in his hands.  Kara sat down on the bench meant for trying on shoes and watched.  She had recently bought a new pair and had no need to browse for herself.

“What do you think of these ones?”  Walter held out a shoe.

“The neon stripes are hideous,” Kara told him.  And they were too: bright orange with smaller, yellow stripes inside.  Kara couldn’t see how anyone could think they looked good, but then it seemed to her that younger fashion was about being as daring and garish as possible.  Her own clothing choices when she had been younger probably came across the same way.

“Okay.”  Walter put down the shoe.  He picked another one.  “How about this one?”

“Better, but I don’t think the green suits you.”  She thought Walter was much more suited towards blacks and greys, but the man seemed to insist on bright, sometimes hideous colour.  “Try something with blue.”  Blue was better than the red he had turned to look at.

Walter browsed the shoes a little longer and then picked out a white shoe with blue piping.

“Much better.”  Kara still thought it didn’t suit him, but she doubted he would pick out anything that would.

Walter looked at the display shoe’s size.  “This pair is too small. We’ll have to ask someone to get a larger size.”

Kara stood up and took the shoe from Walter.  She walked over to the counter where the man was still busy with something.  “We need this in another size.”  She put the shoe on the counter.

“I’m
still
busy,” the man mumbled rather rudely.  He was trying to ring up another customer’s purchase but was having problems with the machine.

“I can see that,” Kara quipped.  “I’m asking you to find someone else who
can
help us.”

“There is no one else, lady.”  The man finally got the purchase to ring in but he was still agitated.

“You can’t be the only one working here,” Kara huffed.

“Do you see anyone else?” the man snapped, waving his hand to gesture at the rest of the store.

“No,” her eyes narrowed and her voice dropped a degree.  She didn’t like people snapping at her.

“That’s because they all called in sick, or just didn’t bother showing up,” the man complained.

“Well, bully for them.  I still need this shoe in another size.”  Kara didn’t care about this man’s problems.

The man grabbed a key card from one of his pockets and slammed it on the counter in front of her.  “Here.  The back rooms are over there.  You can look for the shoes yourself.”

“Thank you,” she said curtly.  She took the key card and walked toward the back room.  Walter followed her.  He probably felt badly for the man but he had seen Kara do this many times before.  He knew it was best not to argue, and Kara was glad he didn’t utter a sound about it.

Kara waved the card over a device next to the double doors, and the locks inside both snapped open.  They both stepped inside and left the two doors open behind them, in case someone else was sent back here by the cashier.  It was a warehouse-like room with shelves reaching up to the slightly higher than average ceiling.  Every one of them was loaded down with boxes.  They were well stocked.

“So how do we find these shoes?” Kara wondered.

“Umm…”  Walter turned over the shoe in his hands until he found a tag.  “I think we have to find this serial number.”

Walter said ‘we’ but then went off looking on his own.  Kara waited patiently by the door.

“I think I found it,” Walter called from one of the shelves.

Kara found the aisle he was in and joined him.

“Does this look like the same shoe?”  Walter held out an open box.

Kara looked inside and compared the shoes to the one in his hand.  “Yes, that’s the same shoe.  Do you know what size you wear?”

“No, I can only visually tell that it’s larger than the display shoe.”

“Well then, start trying them on,” she sighed.  Unlike the main store, there was nowhere for Kara to sit back here.

Walter grabbed a few boxes of different sized shoes and sat on the floor with them.  He began trying them on one by one.  When he was trying on the third pair, someone slammed one of the doors closed, startling both him and Kara.  They both hurried down to the end of the aisle.  It was the salesman, and he was trying to hold the second door closed against someone trying to get in.  He saw them standing there looking at him.