In the Lone and Level Sands (19 page)

“I don’t know,” Layne said. The group
stopped walking.

“Is it getting louder?”

Layne listened. “No… there’s just more of
it.”

“Layne, what do we do?” Katie said.

“I… don’t know,” Layne replied.

Shapes appeared in the fog. They were much
smaller than the trees had been, and they were moving. Every few
seconds, several more appeared.

“We may want to find some place to hide,”
Layne said.

One of the shapes stopped. Layne hadn’t
realized how close it had gotten. He could still hardly see, but it
appeared to be looking straight at them. Even through the fog,
Layne could make out the blood all over its clothes.

It made a noise that was halfway between a
moan and a scream. Layne had never heard anything like it before.
It was as though everything that had once made it human was now
gone, replaced by something else.

Most of the shapes stopped. Layne could tell
they were turning toward the survivors. Then they started moving.
The zombies couldn’t run, but they were getting faster; they
approached at what was slightly slower than jogging speed.

“Move!” Layne said.

The one that was closest dove, and Layne
hopped to the side. The zombie landed flat on the road. Layne
turned to make sure the others were following him. As he looked
back, he ran directly into a zombie, knocking them both down.

The zombie turned to look at Layne, then
bared its teeth. It scrambled to its feet, but Katie charged and
knocked it back down before it could do anything. She helped Layne
up.

“Where do we go?” Dex asked.

“Follow me, and stay close!” Layne replied.
He didn’t want anyone to get lost in the fog.

The zombies lunged at the survivors as they
passed. There were more of the creatures the farther the group went
into town.

Layne took a left at Lexington Avenue. The
street forked, and Layne led the group to the right, hoping to lose
the zombies, but there only seemed to be more of them. A left on
Kensington, and there were even more. Layne decided it was time to
get off of the streets. He spotted a big yellow house.

“In there!”

“Gah!” Paul said. He had fallen too far
behind, and was cornered by two of the zombies.

“Paul!” Jessi said.

“Get everyone into that house,” Layne told
Dex. He headed back to help Paul, while Dex led the way to the
front door.

“Come on everyone, this way!” Dex said. He
knocked on the door, but nothing happened.

“Hey! Hey! Over here!” Layne said. One of
the zombies turned away from Paul to see what the commotion
was.

Dex could hear the moans and groans getting
louder, closer, more numerous. He tried the knob. The door was
locked. He kicked it, but all that did was hurt his ankle.

Layne grabbed the zombie that had turned to
look at him and shoved it as hard as he could. It went stumbling
along with no sense of balance or direction, tripped over its feet,
and fell. The other one grabbed Paul, who put his hands up, one on
the zombie’s forehead, the other on its chin. The zombie opened
wide, but couldn’t get close enough to bite.

“Paul!” Jessi said. Layne could tell she
wanted to help, but she was carrying Kara.

“I’ll take her!” Kyle said. He took Kara,
who began crying. Jessi rushed to help Layne and Paul.

Dex tried kicking the door again, and it
felt like it gave a little bit, but it hurt his foot even more.

Layne grabbed the zombie that was holding
Paul and tried to yank it from him. He felt something at his ankle.
The zombie he had pushed had crawled over to him and was about to
make a meal of his foot.

Jessi arrived and took over trying to pull
the zombie off of Paul. Layne turned and kicked his own attacker
square in the face. It barely recoiled. Layne tried to pull away,
but the zombie had a good two-handed grip. It went to bite
again.

Dex raised his leg again, and thrust all of
his weight forward. This time, the door gave. It snapped open,
bounced off of something inside, and almost shut again. Dex
stumbled forward and caught it, though he didn’t think it would
matter; something had to have broken for it to open.

Layne kicked the zombie again, to no avail.
It was like it didn’t feel pain. It dragged itself forward, inching
its mouth toward his leg. Layne lifted his foot and stomped on the
zombie’s head as hard as he could. It smashed into the cement. The
zombie was motionless for a moment, then it moved slightly. Layne
stomped again. And again. And again, until there was nothing left
to stomp. Then he pulled his leg free.

“Everyone inside, after me!” Dex said. He
wanted to go in first to make sure there weren’t any zombies in
there, but as soon as he took a step, he collapsed from the pain in
his ankle.

Warren passed him and looked around. It was
dark, but he saw no movement. He helped Dex up, and the two
entered, followed by Kyle carrying Kara, who was crying loudly.

“See if you can’t shut her up!” Dex said. He
turned and limped back outside. “Lacie!” All he saw was fog.

“Hang on Paul, I gotcha!” Jessi said. Layne
joined her, and the two pulled the zombie from Paul. It fell to the
ground, but pulled Paul down with it. Another zombie caught him
from behind and sank its teeth into his shoulder. Paul
screamed.

“No!” Jessi said. She lunged forward, but
Layne held her back.

“Shit!” Layne said.

Dex limped down the steps, then cupped his
hands over his mouth. “Lacie!” He listened, but only heard Layne
and the others a few feet away.

“Help me!” Paul said. Layne was struggling
to hold Jessi back.

“Paul!”

“Jessi, we have to go! You know what happens
when one of them bites!”

“Get the fuck off of me!” Jessi said. She
broke free of Layne and ran toward Paul. As soon as she got to him,
he shoved her back. “What—”

“He’s right, Jessi,” Paul said. The zombie
seemed to be resting, its teeth in Paul’s skin, like it was
enjoying the feeling, the taste of his blood. Paul was no longer
trying to escape its grasp.

“Paul, you can’t be serious!”

Layne caught up to Jessi. She took a step
toward Paul, and Layne stopped her.

“Jessi, we gotta go,” Layne said. “There’s
nothing we can do, now. We need to get inside.”

“Go, Jess,” Paul said. “Get somewhere safe.”
Another zombie was approaching from his side.

“But Paul—”

“Go!”

Layne tugged at Jessi, and she finally
turned, with tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Paul,” Layne said. The
other zombie reached him, and a third joined in. He made no attempt
to stop them.

“I love you, Jessi!”

“Paul! I love you so much!”

Paul and the zombies became a dark mass in
the fog. It got smaller as Paul presumably fell to the ground, and
the zombies closed in. Layne wasn’t sure if Paul was still
conscious, but he hoped not.

“Dex, let’s get inside,” Layne said.

“Dex!”

Dex turned and saw Lacie rush down the steps
of the house next door. Dex hugged her when she reached him, and he
blushed and let her go.

“I didn’t see where everyone went,” she
said.

“Jessi, get inside,” Layne said. He turned
back to Lacie. “Were you bitten?”

Lacie shook her head.

“Come on, get your asses in here!” Katie
said from the door.

Lacie and Dex went inside. Layne reached the
top of the steps and looked back. Some zombies were looming closer,
but many farther out in the fog wandered away, having lost sight of
the survivors. Layne entered the house and closed the door.

25

In the Cardigan

The group reached the big corner office that
belonged to Daisy’s fiancé. The door was open, and the light was
off. No one was inside. They entered the room, shut the door, and
turned the lights on. It looked more like a condo than a
businessman’s office. Daisy locked the door behind them.

“Nice digs,” Jason said.

“He must be pretty successful to have a
corner office,” Stephanie said as she set her bag down and looked
around.

“Yes. He was.” Daisy turned away, walked
over to the miniature refrigerator, and began unloading things.

“Okay, everybody,” Evan said, “put the
perishables in the fridge, and everything else can go on the
counter next to it. Jason, help me move the desk in front of the
door.”

Evan and Jason picked up all the
knick-knacks that were on the desk and set them in a neat pile on
the floor. Following that were a few books, and the computer. Evan
got on one end of the oak desk, and Jason aided him on the other
side. Together, they lifted it and carried it to the door.

“Should we block those windows?” Jason
asked. He pointed to the windows that framed the door.

Evan pondered for a moment. “No. I don’t
think that’s necessary. They’re not big enough for any zombie to
squeeze through, even if one breaks it. I would stay clear of them,
though.”

They set a filing cabinet on top of the desk
and made sure it would all hold up if jiggled or bumped.

“I’m exhausted, but I don’t know if I can
sleep,” Cynthia said. She yawned.

“We’ll be fine,” Evan said. “We’re up
twenty-some floors in the air, and the only door is barricaded. You
and Mal can take one of the couches.”

“Can I have some water?” Mal asked. “My
throat’s really dry.”

“Yes, honey,” Evan said. He went over to the
fridge and opened the door. It was packed solid with various goods.
There were eight bottles of water; Evan grabbed one and gave it to
Mal.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“No problem.”

“Can I sleep on the other couch?” Jennifer
asked. “I’ve been having back problems lately.”

“Sure,” Evan said. “There are plenty of
pillows for the rest of us to use.”

“Thanks.”

“Let’s set up camp and get some shut-eye. We
have no idea what’ll happen tomorrow, so we need to be ready for
anything.”

On that, the group moved the pillows around
and made themselves comfortable. It wasn’t long before most of them
fell asleep.

Evan lay on the floor on top of the
decorative shag parallel to the couch Cynthia and Mal rested on. He
was situated on his side, looking up at Cynthia. She hung slightly
over the edge of the couch. Her eyes were glued to Evan’s. “What
are we going to do in the morning?” she said.

“I think we’re going to have to take this
shit one day at a time. We don’t want to make any mistakes. We
should have enough food to last a few days, and we have water from
the tap when the stuff in the fridge runs out.” Evan cleared his
throat and looked over at the window. Moonlight poured in through
the half-closed blinds.

“What happens if we run out of food?”

“We’ll just have to make a trip back down to
the kitchen.” Evan looked back over to Cynthia. “I think tomorrow
after breakfast, we’ll make a big sign and hang it out the window.
Maybe someone will see it. A helicopter, or something. There must
be rescue teams flying around somewhere.”

They fell silent. Evan rolled over, sighed,
and soon fell asleep.

****

Evan opened his eyes at about a quarter to
seven, and looked around. The sun was just beginning to rise, light
filtered through the blinds. Cynthia was on her side with her arm
around Mal; both were sleeping. Jennifer lay face-up on the other
couch. She rolled slowly onto her left side. Jason, Eugene, and
Stephanie were sprawled out across the floor four or five feet from
one another. Evan didn’t see Daisy. That worried him. He looked at
the door and sighed, relieved. The barricade still stood tall and
strong. Then, Evan heard the sound of rushing water. Daisy walked
out of the small bathroom several feet behind Jennifer’s couch.

“You’re up early, hon,” Daisy said.

“Yeah. Guess the body says I’m done sleeping
for now.” Evan stretched and yawned. His eyes watered.

“Sometimes, the body doesn’t know what it
needs. You should try to get some more sleep. Lord knows I’m
gonna.”

“Hey, do you happen to have any ibuprofen?”
Evan said.

“Hon, when you do the job I do, you know
better than to
not
have some pain killers.” She snickered,
and went around the couch to her sleeping area and her purse. She
found a little white bottle and tossed it to Evan.

“Thanks, Daisy.”

“Don’t mention it. Just drop it back in my
purse when you’re finished with it.” She stretched out on the shag
rug, rested her head on the pillow beneath her, and closed her
eyes.

Evan walked over to the fridge and pulled
out a bottle of Aquafina. He downed the two tablets and tossed the
bottle back into Daisy’s purse, made himself comfortable, and
within a half hour his headache had vanished. Despite the relief,
sleep didn’t return to him.

The sun projected harsh horizontal lines
across the room, and everyone woke one at a time. Stephanie and
Jason went to the fridge to eat breakfast.

Evan stood up and headed for the bathroom.
He did his business, and upon exiting, he noticed Cynthia and Mal
were awake.

“How’d you guys sleep?” Evan hoped for a
good answer.

“Pretty good, considering the
circumstances.” Cynthia rubbed her eyes.

“Okay, I guess,” Mal said.

“Good.”

“Are you hungry, Mallorie?” Cynthia
asked.

“Yeah.” Mal yawned and stretched her legs.
Both of her knees popped loudly, and Cynthia cringed. Mal laughed.
Cynthia hugged Mal and pecked her on the forehead.

“I love you, Mallorie.”

“I love you too,” Mal said. Evan sat down
next to her. Mal switched over and hugged Evan. “I love you,
Daddy!”

“I love you too, honey.” Evan’s stomach
grumbled. “Let’s get some breakfast now.”

By the time Evan finished eating, everyone
else had gathered in the main room.