Fortunes & Failures - 03 (20 page)

He considered the undead family, wondering what it must’ve been like to have your entire family turn. Who had turned first, and which poor soul was last? The dad looked like he’d just returned from a round of golf. He still had a visor that was dangling around his neck, its plastic bill crushed and bloody.

He took on the three approaching zombies and realized that they were all three girls. Their appearances—even in death—were too similar for them to be anything other than triplets. Closer inspection and another glance at the little boy standing as a silent, unmoving sentinel gave him a hint that they might be related. That would explain the reason the three girls were in this back yard…sort of. For just an instant, Heather’s face flashed in his mind. These girls were about her age. The he swung, the blade crashing into the first skull with wrist-jarring brutality. He put the others down and trotted across the yard. At some point, the child had begun slapping at the glass along with his parents. That sound seemed to follow him longer than seemed possible.

Finally, his luck held and he went though a string of several empty yards. At last, he reached the row of houses that bordered the park across from the pharmacy where hopefully Aleah and Heather waited.

Kevin was stunned at the sight greeting him when he scaled the fence. Immeidtaely, his eyes scanned the area. He almostexpected to see the girls overcome until it dawned on him that this was, while horrible to look at, really nothing more than a sea of heads with some inert body parts scattered about. Nothing was mobile. Still, he felt a chill when he became aware that the sea of eyes were all staring at him.

After a very unpleasant walk, he reached the park’s edge. A few kills littered the street and sidewalk. His eyes quickly found the newly cut out section at the bottom of the door to the pharmacy.

From behind a car that was riddled with bullet holes, he glanced up the street and was able to admire his handywork. The crowd at the car dealership was migrating towards the multiplex which would take them farther away. Of course there were a few stragglers, including one standing at the window of the pharmacy.

Crossing the street watching the zombie for any signs that it heard him approach, he made his way up behind the loner. He was actually more distressed by what he saw in his own reflection coming off the window. He looked terrible. The splotchy growth on his face was almost embarrassing. He’d never been able to grow a beard, and now that he couldn’t shave regularly, the evidence was there for all to see. Then he noticed something else. The zombie was paying no attention to his reflection. He tested the theory by waving his hands and making all sorts of movemensts that he could see clear as day in the window.

Glancing around, Kevin found a rock a little smaller than a gumball. He held it out in one hand, then dropped it to the sidewalk. The zombie froze and turned his direction in its slow, jerky fashion. As soon as its eyes found him, they locked on and it came for him with outstretched arms.

Kevin moved away and watched how its eyes tracked him. They seemed to overshoot and vibrate back and forth until they had their target. It was weird. As for what he’d noticed as far as the reflection went, he’d need to investigate that more at a later date.

With a quick flurry of movement, Kevin drew his blade and drove it into the creature’s eye. It crumpled, pulling Kevin forward until it slid off the blade.

Continuing to the door, he could see two dark shapes moving about inside. He noticed a few zombies headed their way, but they were still a good distance off. Ducking down, Kevin slipped inside.

“Good because we gotta get moving shortly.” Kevin tilted his head towards the door. “There are a few out there headed our way. I’ll take care of them while you guys get us inside the clinic.

The three crawled out onto the open again. An even dozen zombies were now in sight. Kevin borrowed Aleah’s spear and went to work. The clinic was a little more difficult to gain entrance. A metal gate was in place. The padlock was only a little bit of a struggle as Heather pulled out the bolt cutters. It would’ve been no match for one of those giant pairs like the janitor used to bring to the locker room when somebody forgot their combination, but this smaller pair required almost more strength than she could muster. With a final grunt and squeeze, she snipped the hasp.

“How we comin’?” Aleah asked, keeping her eyes on Kevin as he methodically eliminated each approaching threat.

“Getting the glass cutter now,” Heather replied over her shoulder. As she cut, she caught a glimpse of what looked like something moving around the shadowy room. She stopped for a second, cupping her hands to the glass and peered inside. Nothing. She finished cutting out the square, setting it aside. “We’re in,” she called grabbing one pack then the next. She was half way in when the smell hit her.

Cold hands grabbed clumsily at her. One caught her by the hair, the other a handful of her jacket. Deciding quickly, Heather launched herself in the rest of the way. She heard the zombie make a strange mewling sound as it toppled over onto its back.

“Heather!” Aleah’s voice called, sounding frightened.

She didn’t have time to check in at the moment. Heather fumbled for one of the large knives she had hanging from her belt. The dead person’s hands returned, this time finding Heather’s right arm. Struggling, she felt thick, dead lips brush her wrist where her coat sleeve had ridden up, followed by the click of teeth snapping together.

She knew what being bitten felt like thanks to that disgusting, pervert, Mister Abernathy. He’d had several of her class mates bitten and turned and kept in the basement of Heath High School. Only, Heather was one of the rare people who seemed immune to the zombie’s bite. Immune or not, she never wanted to experience that again.

Jerking away, she slipped free from what looked like a very frail, skinny, old black lady dressed for church. She’d even still managed to be wearing a fancy little hat that was bobby-pinned to her whispy, white hair.

Coming around with the knife, she drove it into the ear, struggling for only a second as the tip of the blade dug in, ground on bone, then plunged deep. Remembering something Mike had taught her back when they’d hidden out in that farmhouse, she dug it around a bit to ensure sufficient damage to the brain and the final death of the zombie.

“You okay?” Aleah was scrambling through the opening, a look of sincere concern on her face.

“Yep,” Heather replied, shoving the body aside. She looked around the lobby for any other surprises.

Aleah joined her, and the two pulled the body out of the way so Kevin could get in. He glanced at the corpse, then Heather, raising an eyebrow in question. Heather shrugged it off and turned to explore deeper into the clinic.

It took them a few hours to find what they needed. During that time, a small crowd began to amass out front. Kevin found a rear exit that was equipped with a peephole like he’d had on his apartment door and made it a point to check periodically. The rear landing remained empty and he hoped that meant the whole area was clear. Or at least navigable.

Satisfied that they’d located
almost
all of what Peter had requested and all of the priority items, they went to the rear exit. Still clear.

“Okay,” Kevin turned to the pair, rubbing his hands together in nervous anticipation, “when I open this door, we have a covered landing. We’ll need to be careful and you both need to follow me closely. I found an RV dealership. It had a few roaming out front and more inside the lot. We’ll find a nice rig and that’s where we’ll crash tonight.”

“Sounds good,” Heather and Aleah said, almost in unison.

Two hours later, the three were all sprawled in various locales throughout a very plush recreational vehicle. The large, green numbers on the windshield announced a ‘Super Bargain’ with giant numbers $107,630. That was more money than he’d earned in the whole of his life. Most of the luxuries were of no use any longer, including the satellite television and radio, the electric stove and microwave among others. The only feature he cared about at the moment was the fold down bed. And it didn’t even have to be all that comfortable. Only, he never made it out of the plush captain’s chair of the driver’s seat before his chin fell to his chest and his breathing settled into the deep and regular rhythm of sleep.

* * * * *

8

More Good News

“Three weeks!” I yelled, immediately regretting it on several levels. My head instantly felt like it’d been cleaved in two and I think I tasted blood in the back of my throat.

“We’ve been feeding you with a tube,” Dr. Zahn said with a smirk. She
actually
smirked! “I don’t suggest yelling, Steve.”

I glared. As loud as I could. Melissa tried to hide a smile. Jon tried to look like he was inspecting something incredibly and suddenly fascinating under his fingernails.

“The news is not all bad,” Melissa piped up once she felt she could speak without laughing. “You will have the use of crutches, and you are past the dangers of infection.”

“Yippee,” I mumbled, crossing my arms in my best display of childish sulking.

“Yes, Steve,” Dr. Zahn’s icy tone sounded just a bit hostile. “Yippy is the least you should be saying. Had infection set in, you wouldn’t be worrying about a cast. At the least, you’d have lost that leg at the knee. And at the worst…” She left the statement open, but I knew.

“And here I am bitching about sore throats, bed locations, and petty bullshit,” I said after a long and uncomfortable silence. “What I should be saying is Thank you, Dr. Zahn.”

A gentle hand on my arm made me look up. Dr. Zahn allowed a hint of a smile through, but it was what I saw in her eyes that really tugged at something deep down. I saw honest-to-goodness caring, compassion, and…love?

It was like the last time I had seen my grandmother shortly after graduating college. It had only been a month after my grandfather had died, and it had been no secret that I was his favorite. I took her to dinner to the spaghetti place she loved so much. I’d opened doors, pulled out chairs…all the things that my grandfather did any time they went out. It was old fashioned, and I’d always considered it cute, if not a touch quaint. That evening when I’d walked with my grandmother to her door, she had given me a look that had left no doubt as to how she felt about me. She died in her sleep that night.

“You are very welcome, Steve,” Dr. Zahn whispered. “We need you now more than ever. Get some rest.”

With that, the doctor and Jon left. It was just me and Melissa. She was fussing around and asking if I needed anything, and once again I was reminded that something was up. I knew that she liked Chloe an awful lot, and took a perverse pleasure that she had a bit of a crush on me.

“Hey.” I took her hand after she smoothed my blankets for the fourth time.

“I’m pregnant.”

We both sat there in silence. Me, because I was dumbfounded. Her, because I imagined she was waiting for me to react. I looked into her eyes which had brimmed with, and then spilled over, great big tears. Her lower lip quivered, and at that moment I never loved anybody more in my life. It was like something inside of me physically shifted.

“Are you sure?” I finally managed to ask.

“When Teresa got checked, I had a hunch, and asked Dr. Zahn if I could take one of the pregnancy tests, too.” A shy smile crept across her face creating something more breathtaking than the most amazing sunrise I’d ever seen. “I took two more just to be absolutely certain.”



“Papi?” a tiny voice whispered in my ear. “Papi, are you asleeping?”

“I told you, Thalia,” another voice joined in, barely above the sound of a breath. “Dr. Zahn put stuff in that hose in his arm so that he stays sleeping.”

As consciousness bloomed, so did the pain in my left leg. It was like a freight train, a low and distant thing that grew quickly. I opened my eyes, instantly regretting it as it felt like somebody poured moulten silver in the sockets. That’s when I let out a combination of a moan and cry. Two little shadows scurried away quickly, frightened by my involuntary outburst.

“Daddy Steve?” Emily’s face appeared over mine, her eyebrows bunched and her expression stern. “Are you okay?”

“Hey, Emmy,” I managed through clenched teeth. “And where’s my little Thalia?”

“Papi!” Thalia squeeled. Tiny arms wrapped around my neck, jerking my head off the pillow. The distinct sensation of nausea rolled through me and I struggled not to empty whatever there may be in my stomach all over the head of my little girl.

“Hi, princess,” I managed to say around the bile that was rising in the back of my throat. “How are my little girls?”

“Dr. Zahn told us not to wake you,” Emily said with that hint of annoyance in her voice most women are very adept at being able to summon.

“We didn’t wake you,” Thalia said, but it sounded like she was instructing me.

“Where is everybody?” I managed through lips that felt like splitting with every syllable.

“Mr. Saunders, Ian and Billy went out yesterday,” Thalia said. She climbed up on my bed and snuggeld up under my left arm like she belonged there. Emily had come to my right side and was holding my hand in her lap, each of her hands gripping two of my fingers.