In the Lone and Level Sands (55 page)

Jordan looked at Ashley, but she walked past
him, not granting so much as a moment’s glance. She headed for the
front door.

“Ash, are you—”

“We have to go,” she said.

The others headed outside, but Jordan
stopped Ashley. She met his gaze and sighed. Ashley practically
tackled him, locking lips with him.

Christian stopped at the door and looked
back, noticed them, and then smiled and went through the door.

Too soon, the moment ended, and they stepped
back.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for so long,”
Ashley said.

“Same here, Ash. I don’t know what’s stopped
us. I’m so sorry about your parents, Ash. I wish we could have
gotten here sooner.”

“I’m just glad you could get me here in time
to say goodbye. Thank you for that, Jordan.”

“No need to thank me,” Jordan said with a
smile. He leaned in to kiss her again.

“I love you, Jordan, “Ashley said.

“I love you,” Jordan replied. For a few
fleeting seconds, everything else didn’t matter.

Once time resumed, the two of them headed
out the front door and climbed into the car. Jordan turned the key,
put the car into reverse, and backed out. Seconds later, the cold
ring of a gunshot fell over them. Ashley began to cry, and they
headed back down Benns Avenue.

****

Jordan’s house was in the opposite
direction, not more than a ten minute drive. They pulled up to the
house, and the driveway had one car in it, his dad’s Jeep. His
mom’s Pacifica was gone, so Jordan parked in its space. Jordan went
to the door and opened it. It was unlocked, as usual. He crept
inside, followed by the others. The house was silent.

On the coffee table in the living room,
Jordan found a piece of paper with a red pen sitting on it. He
picked up the paper. There was a letter on the front and a map on
the back. Several little round spots were smudged and slightly
warped.

Jordan,

Your dad and I are fine. A little shaken up,
but we’re fine. We hope to God you see this. We heard about a safe
zone about an hour and a half drive from here. It’s in Big Springs,
Kansas. When you see this, please get there as quickly and safely
as you can. We love you Honey. We love you so much.

We’ll tell them we’re expecting you.

Lots of love,

Mom & Dad

“They left,” Jordan said. “They’re
safe.”

“That’s great!” Aiden said.

“Where are they?” Ashley asked.

“There’s a safe zone in Big Springs, Kansas.
They printed out a map and wrote the note on it.”

“We should head out in the morning,” Evelyn
said. “We could all use some sleep.”

“Evvy’s right,” Christian said.

“Okay.” Jordan looked at everyone, at Alex,
who had been silent since before they’d gotten to Ashley’s house.
He seemed deep in thought. “Are you in, Alex?”

“I’m with you guys.” He smiled. “I’m with
you.”

52

At the Lumber Yard

The sound of a large sheet of plywood
hitting metal exploded out of the back of the truck and ricocheted
off of the walls of the building. Max wondered if any zombies heard
it, too. But then again, that’s what he was there for.

He had spent a few days watching truck after
truck arrive with more plywood until, finally, Ortiz had asked him
to come along. Johns remained back at the campus. Lou and Ortiz
filled the truck with plywood, and Max stood guard.

The wood was stashed inside a large
warehouse, and the place had been cleared of zombies the first time
the soldiers arrived. Max knew the odds of anything getting in were
slim, and that even if it happened, Lou and Ortiz could take care
of it. He wondered how long he’d be doing grunt work for them, but
he couldn’t blame them at all. He still felt more like baggage than
aid. They had mentioned setting up a shooting range for him to
practice on, but he wasn’t sure when that would happen. The walls
around the campus had to come first.

“Max, you ready to go?” Ortiz asked. “I
think this’ll be the last load of the day.”

“Yeah.” Max turned toward the truck, but
something caught his eye. He turned back, looked around the
warehouse. His eyes searched the stacks of wood, the pallet jacks,
the shadows. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for.

“Something wrong?” Ortiz said. Max looked a
moment longer, but nothing happened.

“I thought I saw something.” Ortiz looked
around. “It was probably nothing.”

Ortiz closed the back of the truck and went
to the front. Lou had already climbed inside, and was starting the
engine. Ortiz opened the door. “All right. Let’s head out, then.”
He pointed to a nearby pallet. “Hey, can you grab my pack? It’s
just over there.”

Max walked over to the pallet, where Ortiz’s
pack was lying on a stack of wood. Max picked it up. He turned back
toward the truck, and this time he was sure he saw something, but
it was too late.

“Stop!” a voice said. Max heard the sound of
a cocking gun, and froze. He started to turn. “Don’t!” Max stayed
as he was.

“You’re not a zombie,” Max said.

“No shit, Holmes. Drop the bag.”

The voice was feminine, yet firm. Max could
tell whoever was behind him was serious. He set Ortiz’s bag on the
ground.

“Take two steps forward,” the person said.
Max did so. He heard shuffling feet, then the sound of the bag
being lifted.

“My friends are soldiers,” Max said. “I’m
sure they’d be happy to help—”

“Shut the fuck up. I don’t want your help.
Just your guns.”

Ortiz rounded the corner of the truck. “Max,
what’s taking so—”

Max heard the person behind him shift.
“Don’t move,” she said.

“All right, all right.” Ortiz raised his
hands slightly, looked from Max to the person behind him. “What’s
all this about?”

“Don’t talk. I’ll shoot him.”

“No need for violence,” Ortiz said. “Why
don’t you put the gun down, and we can talk through this?”

“Am I not being clear enough?” Max felt the
gun press against his back. “I’m going to blow your friend
away!”

Max looked at Ortiz, who looked back at
him.

“Okay, here’s what I want you to do—”

Max reached back, grabbed the barrel of the
gun, and shoved it to the side. It fired into nothing, and the
person holding it shouted. Max could tell she hadn’t meant to pull
the trigger, but it didn’t matter. He jerked the gun forward and
threw his free fist back, hitting her in the gut. She let go of the
gun. Max turned and pointed it at her. She was already dropping to
her knees, gasping for air.

Ortiz drew his handgun, pointed it at the
girl, and walked toward her. He kept his eyes fixed on her, grabbed
his pack and slung it over his shoulder, then stood by Max.

“Shit, Max. She doesn’t look any older than
you.”

“Who are you?” Max said. The girl looked up
at him, then looked away.

“I don’t think she’s going to answer,” Ortiz
said.

“All right. I’m Max.”

“Like I care,” the girl said. She sounded
far less confident.

“This is Ortiz. We’re setting up a safe
haven.”

“There’s no such thing. Not anymore.”

“We cleared out a community college, and
we’re building walls around it.”

“They’ll get torn down.”

“We’ll build them back up.”

“It’s only a matter of time. It’s always
just a matter of time.”

“Well,” Max said, “if you change your mind,
you’re welcome to come to the campus and see it for yourself. And
bring anyone else you might know.”

She looked up at him. “There is no one
else.”

Max looked at Ortiz. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah,” Ortiz said. He headed for the front
of the truck.

Max turned the gun around and offered it
back to the girl. She looked from it to him, and then took it. Then
he reached into his pocket and handed her one of his extra
magazines.

“It’s not much,” he said, “but it’s better
than nothing.” He turned and started toward the front of the
truck.

The girl scrambled to her feet and pointed
the gun at him.

“Don’t move!” she said. Max ignored her.
“Didn’t you hear me?”

Max reached the door, and the girl fired,
purposely missing. Max turned to her.

“Just so you know,” he said, “there are
people still out there. And if you’re not willing to work with
them, you might as well be working against them.”

“Just shut up! You don’t know anything!”

“If you change your mind, you know where to
find us.”

Max climbed into the truck, and they drove
off.

****

The truck moved along the road with relative
ease. There were few zombies around, and the soldiers had cleared
some paths for it to squeeze through.

Lou turned the radio on. Nothing came out of
it, but he turned the volume up anyway.

“Why do you always do that?” Ortiz asked.
“There’s nothing on the radio.”

“I don’t know,” Lou said. “Something about
having the radio on just comforts me, whether there’s anything
coming out of it or not. Besides, you never know when it’ll come
back.”

Max stared out through the window. Ortiz
turned to him. “Still thinking about that girl?”

“We could’ve helped her,” Max said.

“She held a gun to you. She didn’t want to
be helped. And by the way, you took an unnecessary risk back
there.”

“I didn’t find it unnecessary at all. It’s a
harsh world. She needed something to defend herself with.”

“If that’s all she wanted, she could’ve come
with us. She’d have been safe.”

“We hope.”

They arrived at the campus and unloaded the
truck. It took until sunset.

“Well, I guess tomorrow we’ll start building
the walls,” Johns said when they had finished.

“I think I’ll take Max into the city,” Ortiz
said. “We’ll start tagging buildings, guiding people here.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Max wondered how long this work would go on.
The soldiers never rested; they were always gathering supplies,
going out to get food, planning what to do next. He couldn’t wait
for the day they’d finally finish building the safe zone, though he
felt even when it came, their work wouldn’t be done. The soldiers
let him rest whenever he wanted to, but he didn’t like feeling
useless.

He thought about the girl, wished she had
come with them. Their plan to gather as many people as possible was
off to a bad start. They couldn’t get her to join them, so why
should anyone follow them based on graffiti?

Because they have nowhere else to go.

Max just hoped they weren’t doing it all in
vain, especially for the soldiers, with how hard they worked. And
also for people like he used to be, out in the world, dazed and
confused, alone.

For now, Max was somewhere between the
two.

A Dead Man’s Thoughts

The sound of water eventually came to bore
Norman. It was, after all, just water. He was instead focusing on
something new: He had come to realize he could feel people, and
what used to be people, like his mind was a blanket and they were
the bugs that crawled around underneath. And, as he sat there
preparing himself, he could feel something else, as well.

Something was coming, some force opposite
his own. Norman listened to it, fascinated by it. A few days after
he discovered it, Norman began to call to it, to beckon it toward
him.

And why not? Perhaps it would bring him what
he wanted. Perhaps he was the action and this thing somewhere in
the world was the equal and opposite reaction, the balance to the
equation.

Norman was, after all, still alive. This new
thing made him one step better; it gave him a purpose.

Or would, at least, until death finally
embraced him.

Part
Five

Anno Letum

53

In Washington

Most of the survivors slept as Layne
followed the map to Bellevue, Washington. It was still early
evening, but they were all tired from the events of the past few
days. Layne wasn’t sure who was awake or who was asleep at any
given time; only he remained conscious as the others drifted in and
out.

“I think we should find a building to sleep
in, for tonight,” Dex said.

“It’s dangerous,” Layne replied.

“So is sleeping in the car. And I figure we
could all use it, at least once.”

“You make a great argument.” Layne could
hardly remember what a warm bed felt like. Even more distant was
the feeling of a warm shower.

He tried not to let the smell get to him,
but all of the dirt and blood of the last few days was adding up.
The only thing close to a bath any of them had had was falling into
the river back in Astoria.

“It’ll rain tonight,” Keely said. “I can
tell. I’ve lived here long enough. It’ll rain hard
.
”

“All the more reason to be inside,” Dex
said.

“There’s a hotel off the exit up ahead,”
Layne said. “We can hopefully find some empty rooms.”

“Do you think they’ll have hot water?” Lacie
asked.

“I don’t think they’ll even have
electricity. But maybe we’ll get lucky.”

The exit came, and Layne could see the
hotel. He checked the rearview to make sure the other car was still
behind him, took the exit, and slowly approached the hotel. He
stopped in the parking lot. Garrett parked the other car behind
him.

There were few zombies around, most were far
away. Layne got out of the car and met with Garrett.

“Are we going in there?” Garrett asked.

“We’re going to try,” Layne said.

“It’s risky.”

“What isn’t, anymore?”

Garrett stretched, then reached into the car
and grabbed his shotgun. “If we do this, we need to stop somewhere
and get more ammo soon. Tomorrow.”