In the Lone and Level Sands (84 page)

“Phil—”

“Shoot me! Before I turn! I don’t want to
turn! I don’t want to turn!”

Phil’s shouting was attracting more zombies
from other areas of the store.

“Come on!” Francine said. “Don’t let him
suffer any more!”

Alan nodded and held up his gun.

“Will you tell him? Will you do that for
me?”

“Of course,” Alan said. “Goodbye, Phil.”

The shot rang loudly in Alan’s ears, and
Phil was dead. More zombies were moving in.

“Let’s go!” Francine said.

Alan rose to his feet. He shot a couple
zombies heading into the aisle. He and Francine went to the back of
the store and grabbed their cart, picking off a few more zombies on
the way. Alan handed the gun to Francine, steadied the boards in
the cart, then pushed it toward the front. Francine covered him as
they left the store.

Alan and Francine headed to the car and put
the wood in the back seat. As they left the parking lot, Alan
looked at Francine.

“After I drop you off, I’m going to come
back and get Phil’s body. I think there’s enough wood here for two
caskets.”

Francine nodded. “Will you let Jesse go if
he wants?”

“I won’t make him stay. If he wants, yes, he
can go.” Alan sighed. “It’s been a long day, already.”

****

Jesse didn’t take news of his father’s death
well, but Alan told him he was going to go back and get Phil’s
body.

“We’ve got to go back now, if we’re going to
go,” Alan said, “or there won’t… be anything left to bring back.”
Jesse nodded, tears running down his cheeks.

Alan and Jesse brought a blanket to wrap
Phil’s body in, then got into Alan’s car.

“I’m sorry about your parents, Jesse,” Alan
said. Jesse didn’t look away from the window.

When they arrived, Alan grabbed a cart
similar to the one they used for the wood, and led Jesse through
the store. There were a handful of zombies around the area where
Phil had fallen.

“You fuckers,” Jesse said. He raised his
shovel and advanced on the zombies. “Get away from him!”

“Jesse,” Alan said, “be careful!”

Alan shot two zombies. Jesse hit a third
over the head. It went down and stopped moving. Alan shot at
another zombie, killing it with the last of his ammo.

Jesse moved toward Phil’s body, but the
zombie he had knocked down grabbed his ankle. He yelled in
surprise. Alan grabbed a sledgehammer from a rack and smashed the
zombie’s head. He looked at Jesse, who was shaking.

“I said be careful.”

“I thought it was dead.”

“You have to make sure.”

“Okay.” Jesse knelt by Phil’s body. He put a
hand on his dad’s shoulder. “Dad…”

Alan gave him a few minutes, then the two of
them wrapped the body and set it on the cart. When they got to the
car, they put Phil’s body in the back.

When they returned, Billy and Alan worked on
the caskets for Martha and Phil. Jesse wept quietly as he took some
of the extra wood and made three crosses. He found a black Sharpie,
and on one cross he wrote:

Phil Emerson 1962-2013 A
great father, husband, and person.

On the second, he wrote:

Angela Emerson 1970-2013
The best mother I could ever ask for.

And on the third:

Martha James, my loving
grandmother.

Emily was alone in Martha’s room. She sat in
a rocking chair by the bed, all tensed up, angry. She had held it
in long enough.

“How could you do this to the family, Mom?
How could you? Times are hard enough! I need you! Your family needs
you! Why did you think you could check out, unnoticed?” Emily heard
footsteps coming down the hall and tried to calm herself. Alan and
Billy carried a finished casket into the room.

“Who are you talking to?” Billy asked.

“No one,” Emily said. She looked at the
casket and smiled slightly.

“How does it look?” Alan said.

“It looks great. Alan?”

“Yes?”

“…I hope you can forgive my actions this
morning.”

“I don’t blame you for them.”

“Well, I do. I was way out of line.”

“Will it make you feel better if I just
agree with you?” Alan asked with a smile.

“Yes, because I was wrong.”

“Okay, then you were out of line. But I
forgive you.”

“Thank you.” Emily sighed and hugged
Alan.

“Hey, Alan,” Billy said. “Let’s get Martha
settled.” Alan nodded, and the two men gently lifted Martha’s body
from the bed and placed it in the casket.

****

Alan and Billy dug the holes. They weren’t
perfect rectangles, but they would suffice.

Everyone gathered outside, except for Alan
and Billy. They went into Martha’s room to get her. After they
brought Martha’s casket out and set it by her grave, they did the
same with Phil’s.

It was windy, but there were few clouds in
the sky. It was a beautiful day. Emily, Francine, and Jesse sat in
a row of chairs brought from the dining room.

Alan was the first to speak. He held
Martha’s photo in his hand as he stood in front of her casket,
collecting his thoughts.

“Even though the circumstances of our
meeting were unfortunate, I don’t regret meeting Martha. I feel
blessed to have known her.” Alan cleared his throat. He knew he
might begin crying at any moment, but he tried his best not to. “I
know I’ve only known her for a matter of days, but I feel like I’ve
known her for much longer. She made me feel like family, she helped
me learn to move on with my life after my own mother’s death. It’s
still not easy, and Martha’s death has made it that much harder,
but I have hopes. I have hopes that things will get easier soon.”
Alan bowed his head for a moment. No one said a word. Alan turned
toward the casket. “I think Martha would want to have this.” He
placed the photo on her chest, by her hands, which rested folded
together. “May you rest in peace, Martha.” With that, Alan sat down
in his chair. Others said a few words after him, and some words for
Phil as well.

Too soon, it was time to lower the caskets
into the ground. Billy had found ropes in the garage, and Alan had
put slits in the sides of the caskets to feed it through. Emily,
Francine, and Jesse helped Alan and Billy lower Martha into the
earth.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” Alan
whispered. He cried when the next words came to his mind, but he
uttered them anyway. “I love you, Mother.” He watched as Jesse and
Billy piled dirt onto Martha’s casket with soft thuds, and all else
was silent but the wind blowing through everyone’s hair that
afternoon.

70

In Los Angeles

The rain was still coming down, and Layne
and the others were lost in Los Angeles. The group hurried for the
nearest building, but found a lobby full of zombies when they
opened the door. They headed a few buildings down and found an
empty post office.

They sat together on the cold floor and
watched the rain streak the windows. Layne stared at a large map of
the city that was on the far wall. It was difficult to see because
there was no power. Lightning struck, and Layne used the brief
second of illumination to study the map. He wanted to know where
they were.

“Our flashlights sure would come in handy,”
Warren said. “But they were in the car when it… You know.”

Katie was leaning against Keely, who
suddenly sat up. “Something wrong?” Katie asked.

“My sketchbook!” Keely said. “It was in my
bag, in the car!”

“What was in it?”

Even in the dim light, Keely looked like she
might cry. Then she turned to the window. “Never mind. It doesn’t
matter.”

Layne felt worse with every word. The only
thing stronger than the pain in his heart was the feeling that he
was close, that he had something that had to be done, and soon.

“I’m sorry, Keely,” Ralph said. “For what I
said to you, when we first met.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s ancient
history.”

Lightning struck, and again Layne used the
brief moment to check the map. Finally finding this search useless,
he returned to the group and sat down.

“So when do we head for the prison, O
fearless leader?” Keely said, trying to smile.

“We don’t,” Layne replied.

“What are you talking about?” Garrett
said.

“I’m not going to do this to you anymore.
I’m not risking your lives again.”

“Kyle was right,” Ralph said. He sounded
somber, out of energy. “It isn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, man,” Garrett said. “You can’t have
known what was going to happen. And anyway, you’re the only reason
any of us got out of there.”

“I’m also the reason some of us didn’t.”

“We’re going to finish this,” Katie said.
“It’s not like we have any better alternatives.”

“Let’s discuss it in the morning,” Layne
said. He was intent on convincing them not to follow, but it would
have to wait. “It’s been a long day.”

“You think this place will last the night?”
Dex asked. “Those windows are glass, and this is a big city.”

“Draw the shades. And we’ll keep a watch, as
always.”

Layne lay on the ground, a half-filled mail
bag as his pillow, and fell asleep. Nobody blamed him.

“Well, who wants to keep first watch?” Katie
asked.

“I will,” Ralph said. “I won’t sleep
anyway.”

One by one, they fell asleep. Ralph was left
alone. He closed the blinds and listened to the sound of rain
hitting the glass and thunder cracking the sky.

****

When Katie woke up, it was still dark.
Everyone was asleep except for Ralph, who was sitting away from the
others. She could hear a shredding sound. Katie got up quietly and
walked over to him. He was tearing apart a pocket Bible. She sighed
and sat down next to him.

“You don’t have to take over,” Ralph said.
“I can stay awake.”

“I think you should get some sleep.”

“I couldn’t if I tried.”

“You’d be surprised.”

Katie took the remainder of the book from
him. He reached for it, but then decided he didn’t care that much,
and returned his hands to his lap. Katie opened the tattered book
and read the first thing she saw.

“At that time, the disciples came to Jesus,
saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling
to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Truly,
I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will
never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like
this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Ralph looked
at her. “What do you think?”

“I don’t think anything,” Ralph said.

“I think we all have a lot to gain.”

“What could I possibly have to gain?”

“Friends,” Katie said. “Family.” She hugged
him.

“I’m glad you found what you were looking
for, but… I don’t mean to be offensive, but I haven’t gained
anything. I just keep losing.”

“You haven’t lost us.”

“Not yet.”

“If we had met any other day, in another
world, you would’ve hated me, Ralph.” Ralph didn’t look up. “I
might’ve hated you, too. But look at us now. Tell me you haven’t
gained anything.”

Ralph sighed and listened to the storm for a
while, then said, “Will you take over the watch?”

“Of course. Go get some rest.”

Ralph went to lie down. He was asleep soon
after. Katie listened to the storm, and for a moment, she grieved
for those they had lost. Then she turned her attention to the
future, and wondered about the things they might gain.

****

Despite all of the times Layne had felt like
he could sleep for days, he didn’t think it would actually happen,
so when he woke up and two days had passed, he felt very
disoriented.

They were still in the post office. Layne
was cramped from the hard floor, and felt like he had hardly rested
at all.

The others were quiet, for the most part.
The post office had only one entrance, and if the zombies found out
they were inside, there would be no way out. The shades were drawn,
and little light got into the building.

Layne was halfway through a granola bar he
had pulled from a green duffel bag when he realized he had no idea
where it had come from.

“Who went out while I was asleep?” he asked.
The others all stopped what they were doing.

“A few of us,” Garrett said. “A few
times.”

“We’ll leave the city today. We’ll find some
cars, and I’ll get you guys out of here.”

The others exchanged glances. “We already
found cars,” Katie said.

“And supplies,” Dex added. “Which wasn’t
easy. The stores around here have all been emptied. We had to check
bodies.”

“Thanks,” Layne said. “But you didn’t have
to do that.”

“It’s fine,” Katie replied.

“So,” Garrett said, “when do we head
out?”

“We can leave soon,” Layne said. “We can use
the city map to find a route out of here.”

“We’ve copied our own map. Heads straight
for the prison.”

Layne looked at him. The others all looked
back. “I told you—”

“And we told you,” Katie said, “we’re coming
with you.”

“We started this together, and we got this
far together,” Warren said. “Now we’ll finish it together.”

“I can’t do it,” Layne said. “I can’t risk
your lives.”

“We’re risking our own lives,” Dex replied.
“This isn’t about you, and it’s not up to you. So sit down, shut
the fuck up, and drive us to the prison!”

Layne laughed, and it surprised him. The
others joined in. In higher spirits, they packed their things, got
into their new vehicles, and headed for the prison.

****

The words “Glendale Maximum Security Prison”
were cast in iron above the main gate, which was locked. Layne
drove directly through it and another gate behind it.