“OK, let’s do this,” Lisa said, looking at Ana. “He really doesn’t hear it.”
Jeff just looked at the two of them as if they were both crazy.
With the two of them, they got Lisa up. She slid out and saw the elevator and got nervous. She had no idea what they were walking into, and the elevator was nothing more than a platform on a cable. But it ascended slowly, and she felt better about it. She also quickly felt good about the people she met. They all seemed to be very nice. She thought she could stay here, hoped it worked out, because she knew she wouldn’t last much longer out in the world. She was thinking of how much Cooper and Ana had risked to help her. She was smiling and tearing up when Ana approached her.
“Hey, you OK?” Ana put her arm around Lisa. “You look like you’re crying.”
“No, these are tears of joy. I was just thinking how blessed I am that you and Cooper found me, not just that he saved my life but that I got to know the both of you.”
“Yeah, he’s cool, isn’t he?” Ana was beaming, staring off across the city. “What do you think he’s doing right now?”
Lisa jabbed, “Probably thinking of kissing you.”
“Shut up.” Ana smiled and hugged Lisa. “You heard they have a shower here?”
“Yes, and I can’t wait to use it.” Lisa was very touched by Ana’s gesture.
Ana stepped back. “I’ll race you!” And she ran all the way to the shower, but when Lisa got there she was holding the curtain open for her. “Sorry, I cheated. I had a head start!”
“Yes, that is exactly why you beat me,” Lisa retorted with a smile. The shower was incredible. She too missed Cooper, a kid she barely knew.
As the sun dropped, it turned the clouds a bright orange. The sky was a deep blue. The world was so quiet, so peaceful, but soon the dark would bring noise and terror to the residents of the parking structure. None of them was prepared for what was to happen to their happy little group.
40.
After driving aimlessly for a very long time, Wendy found a place where she and Sally could rest. It was a fancy office building, and she hadn’t seen evidence of the dead for several blocks. She felt comfortable pulling up to the front and leaving Sally in the car as she checked out the building.
The front doors were unlocked, which was both good and bad. Good because she could more easily check it out, but bad because anything could have entered the building unimpeded. She hesitated before opening the door fully.
Please be empty, please be empty
, she repeated over and over.
The emergency lights were on.
At least it still has power
. Even though she prayed it would be empty, she found it odd, and disturbing, that there were never any people in these sorts of buildings.
She walked over floors of highly polished marble. The lobby was beautiful and well tended. The best part was that the ceiling was all glass and she could see perfectly. Most importantly, the place was clear of the living and the dead, and she could lock it from the inside. A quick search told her there was a lot of packaged food and bottled water to be had.
It had been a grueling few days not being able to sleep, eat, or get comfortable. No matter where she went, the dead were there, making it impossible to get from the car to a safe location.
She hadn’t forgotten about the other girls. She’d followed Banjo to the Costco but didn’t dare get too close. After she was settled, she planned to drive out and see if she could do anything for the others. It occurred to her that they might not want to leave. Pre-apocalypse they’d danced and screwed for food and shelter, so they might already be in the best place for them.
Wendy found a bathroom behind one of the large downstairs offices, an executive bathroom, a private bathroom with a shower. It was well stocked, and when she turned the water on it was hot. “Oh my God!” she said, eyes wide. It was hard to tear herself away from the bathroom to go get Sally.
Wendy opened the doors and looked up and down the street as she walked to the car. It was clear as far as she could see. When she opened the passenger door, she could immediately tell Sally was dead. Wendy didn’t want to accept it. Tears filled her eyes as she took Sally’s hand. It was already getting cold.
“No, no, no,” she repeated to herself as she fell to her knees. She wanted to hug her friend, and she bent forward to hold her. She cried. The only person she had in the world was gone. She was utterly alone—thoughts of the dead, the living, or any threat far from her grief-stricken mind.
Finally, she began to calm down, and as she wiped the tears from her eyes she suddenly froze. She was completely surrounded by corpses. Her heart raced, and she felt the blood leave her face. She was about to be eaten alive. She was on her knees facing her car, and the dead were all within arm’s reach of her. She had nowhere to go. To stand would only put her in their hands that much quicker.
41.
“First order of business, you need to scrub yourself with a wire brush and some turpentine.” Dale had the window down and his head out.
“You’re telling me?” Cooper had his head out his window. “I would puke if I hadn’t already emptied my body.”
Dale suddenly took a sharp turn. The truck bounced over a curb and was in the parking lot of a hotel. He drove right up to the fenced-in pool and cursed. “Crap, the pool’s full of eaters.”
He drove around the hotel and back to the main road.
Cooper was feeling more miserable by the second. The stench of the fluids from a hundred corpses was indescribable. He was trying not to move. The liquid was getting cold, and some of it was gelatinous. He didn’t look down either. When he had, he saw clumps of hair, a tooth, a flap of skin…he tried to stifle his gag reflex. He finally had enough.
“Just pull over. Pull over at that gas station.” He opened the door before the truck came to a complete stop, jumped out, and pulled every scrap of clothing off his body down to his underwear. He went down on all fours and prayed the water was still on in this section of the city. He twisted the knob and freezing cold water spewed out of the nozzle forcefully. He spent several long minutes letting ice-cold water beat his skin red, spending a lot of that time on his head and face. He even lay on the rough concrete, cold as it was, and rinsed his body. He looked up to see Dale standing over him. He realized, lying there on the ground, as vulnerable as he could be, that he didn’t know anything about this Dale. He kept an eye on him as he rinsed off.
Dale had gotten out to watch Cooper’s back. The fresh air was nice too. He smiled as he watched the young man rolling on the ground.
Cooper stood. “That’s much better, but I still need a few hours with hot water and a bucket of soap.” He pulled everything he owned out of his fouled clothing and stood there, wet, cold, and smiling.
Dale was now inspecting the truck from a distance. “We need new wheels. This truck is nasty.”
And that was an understatement. What looked like an eye slid down the rear window. Loops of intestine were knotted around the roll bar behind the cab, and several lengths draped from the roof like sick, slimy bunting. Virtually every inch of the exterior was covered with a coating of gore and fluids that still ran down the panels. The truck sat high for off-road use, and torn flesh and clothing hung from every part of the undercarriage. And of course the sizable bed was filled with many heads and a few torsos. Most disturbingly, the heads were still alive and the eyes and mouths moved. That was so disturbing a sight that Dale started walking away the minute he saw it.
“Tug ruined the interior long ago, but the exterior…” Dale walked away. Cooper followed. “Let’s find a place to rest up. Maybe get you some clothes and get cleaned up better. I need to find us some new wheels.”
Cooper hadn’t forgotten his main mission. “I have to keep moving on.”
“Checking on family, huh?”
They found a Laundromat nearby. It wasn’t looted and the door was unlocked. They entered. Dale went first, cautiously searching the place. Cooper closed the door and flipped the deadbolt when Dale gave him the OK sign.
Cooper still felt very vulnerable walking around barefoot and holding all of his stuff with both arms, wearing nothing but underwear. He dropped his stuff on a large table where laundry was folded and grabbed a lone sock that was left behind.
He still stank. On a normal scale of one to ten he was a ten, but compared to his smell before, he was down to a three. He grabbed a bottle of liquid detergent, went to the rear of the place, and turned on the spigot of a large sink. He started scrubbing his body with the sock and the harsh detergent. His skin began to sting, then burn. He tried to rinse it off and it felt better, but he’d already irritated his skin terribly. He smelled a lot cleaner, but he was starting to regret the use of the detergent. He used a very little bit to wash his hair. It felt like straw when he was done, but it was almost smell-free. He was considering getting in the sink when Dale walked up.
“Here, try this.” He held out a small bar of hand soap. “Better wash all that detergent off your skin. It’ll eat into you, literally.”
“It already has.” There were a few spots on Cooper’s skin where the redness was starting to swell and almost blister. The soap did make a big difference. His skin was almost normal after a while. He still had a faint scent of putrescence about him, but he was tolerable.
They left the laundry and walked down to a sporting goods store. This place had been looted, but there were plenty of clothes, shoes, and socks. Cooper grabbed a few items, replicating his previous outfit. His new outfit was darker, dull, tight where it needed to be and loose in the other places. He took extra clothes too. The smell was still there. He would need to change again.
Dale picked up a black-handled, black-sheathed survival knife. He pulled it out and held it up. To him the quality of the blade was obvious.
“This is one badass knife.” he grinned as he looked at Cooper. “This may come in handy.”
§
They entered a trashed grocery store, looking for food. Dale went in first and then Cooper. Dale was trying to be quiet, but Cooper bent over and picked up a stray can of food. He threw it across the store from where they were.
Smart
, Dale thought. Cooper stood still and quiet. They heard moaning, shuffling, a few items hit the floor.
“C’mon. Help me.” He and Dale closed three of the four doors and made sure they were latched. Cooper ducked outside through the one open door and Dale followed.
In a few moments, the first corpse came out the door. Cooper snapped his baton open. “Dale, draw their attention. Get back from the door a few yards.”
Dale watched as the zombies shambled out no more than two at a time. Cooper split their skulls with ease. When he was done, there were sixteen corpses at his feet. Dale was impressed. Cooper never seemed to panic, never made noise unless it was intentional, and avoided a confrontation but wasn’t afraid of one. It was impressive how he dealt with the dead.
Once inside, Cooper didn’t assume there were no more zombies. Dale watched him enter, and Cooper even looked up. Most people never looked up when they kicked in a door. That could also be learned from playing a lot of video games. They gathered food, and twenty minutes later they were in an SUV.
“So, I’m headed to a cabin in the mountains.” Dale broke the silence quickly. “Do you have anywhere you would like me to drop you?” If he knew the kid better, he would invite him along.
“Seems we’re going in opposite directions. You can let me out up here.” It was just past noon and Cooper still had a lot of daylight.
“Where are you headed?”
“North of here. I’m going to check on my sister.” Cooper was exhausted but had to push on.
Dale felt the same. “I want to get rolling too, but I’m exhausted from dealing with Tug. I think I’m going to find a place to rest up a day or so.”
“I’ve been delayed too many times already. Can I take the SUV while you rest?” Cooper didn’t relish being alone, but he couldn’t delay any longer.
“OK then, if you don’t mind I will just go with you.” It felt creepy as Dale said it. He sensed Cooper’s instant discomfort. He raised his hand. “Sorry. Don’t worry about it.”
Cooper didn’t know Dale and didn’t want to take him to his sister’s place without really knowing him. He was relieved when Dale withdrew his offer immediately.
“Let’s find another vehicle before you take off. I’ll find a place to hang out and wait for two days in case you decide to come back. If not, I’ll take off. I’ll leave a map to the cabin just in case.”
They found a place for Dale, near the airport and not too far from where Cooper had left the girls. Dale boosted Cooper up until he could reach the edge of the roof and pull himself up. Cooper opened the AC unit and bent a fan blade so he could drop down on the vent, push it out of its frame, then drop to the floor. Then he just needed to open the front door.
They talked for a few minutes as they ate, then shook hands and Cooper left. He was so close to his sister’s and he had a vehicle. He would be there in minutes.
Dale knew once he got to the cabin it was going to be pretty boring and he wouldn’t be able to stay put. He would get restless, bored. It would be nice to have people to visit and check on, so he decided he would go meet the folks at the parking structure some time before he left.
§
Cooper was finally getting close to his goal, really close. He couldn’t believe how long it had taken to get here. The streets were clear and he was only minutes away. He was both excited and scared. He was trying not to think of what he might or might not find.
As he approached the apartment complex, he could see the beginnings of an orgy site. This was the most massive he’d ever seen. It dwarfed the first one he’d seen on his own street. The smell was terrible, very, very terrible. He drove with extreme caution through it all, trying to decide the best way in.