When the Dead (8 page)

“Don’t
you have a wife, Jeff?” Markus asked as they brushed their teeth.

            “Yeah
. . . I do. She’s out of town. I haven’t heard from her,” Jeff answered
quietly.

            “I
hope you do then. Hey, thanks for letting me stay here. That second bedroom of
yours is really nice.”

            “Kind
of crazy how most of us were just names on mailboxes to each other before,”
Jeff reflected as he stared at the younger man. Warmth emanated off of Markus,
an instant likeability that Jeff found refreshing, especially when compared to
the cruel relationship he’d recently found his way out of.

            “Yeah,
we can’t ignore each other now,” Markus smiled and left the shared bathroom.

Jill
watched the lights go out in the building for the night. She was lucky that she
kept a fleece blanket in the backseat of the car for emergencies. It was
turning out to be a cold evening. She draped the blanket across her belly,
closed her eyes and envisioned her warm bed on the third floor. She didn’t dare
hope though that she’d see it again.

            “Go
to sleep and good night, go to sleep little baby,” she sang aloud to her unborn
child, repeating the only line she knew, over and over again until she passed
out from exhaustion.

On the
morning of the sixth day, the residents gathered in the common area of the
second floor for breakfast and a meeting.

“Everyone looks like crap,” Isobel noticed.

            “Huh?”
Edward asked as he removed ear plugs.

            “Didn’t
anyone sleep well?” she asked.

            Most
didn’t answer and those that did confirmed insomnia.

            “A
pregnant woman had to sleep in a car last night. I couldn’t stop thinking about
it,” Markus grumbled over his coffee cup.

“Yeah, that was tough,” Rob said.

“Well, was anyone able to come up with a plan or the courage to go
outside for her?” Ben asked.

“Nope,” Jeff said. Moira just shook her head.

“Keep thinking on it then. How is everybody?” Isobel changed the subject
to something she hoped would be more positive.

Ben stood up like it was an AA Meeting introduction, which made a few of
the residents laugh until he started talking. “I miss Anna. I can’t stop
thinking about her.” Ben looked down at his hands, the ones that had gripped
the gun that killed her. “This is crazy.”

“I’m sorry you had to see her like that in the end,” Moira said.

“I’m glad she didn’t bite anyone,” Ben shook his head, “she wasn’t a part
of the problem, you know? That is all the comfort I can find in it.” He started
tearing up and sat down. Moira dragged her chair closer and put a comforting
arm around him.

“Like I said yesterday,” Markus chimed in, “I’m just happy to see living
people. I rented that apartment downstairs because of the view . . . so much
for
that
.” He laughed but his voice took a quiet and serious tone as
Ben’s had before him. “Thank you for coming downstairs, any one of us could
have easily ended up like Juan or Katie.” He stood up, and walked around to
Ben, Jeff, Rob and Isobel, shaking their hands in appreciation. Once he was
back to his seat, Rob spoke up.

“I was worried about Gabe. This is scarier than single-dad type worries. Molly
has been so gracious in watching him and keeping his mind off of the serious
stuff. I feel like we can make it through this, now that I can focus on
helping.”

“Speaking of Molly and Gabe, where are they?” Isobel asked.

“This is a tad too heavy for Gabe so I asked Molly if she’d play a board
game with him.”

Moira, who was still comforting Ben, turned her attention to Jeff. “Where
is your wife Sheila? We haven’t seen her since this started.”

“Don’t you mean we haven’t
heard
her?” Edward muttered.

“Edward!” Moira scolded.

Jeff started to explain. “It’s fine Moira. Sh . . .” But he stopped
mid-sentence, his face a stark white.

“She went out of town with the dog to visit her parents the day this
started, didn’t she Jeff? We haven’t heard from her or seen her yet. Jeff is a
bit distressed about it,” Ben completed Jeff’s sentence.

“Well rightfully so! I bet she is just fine though. She’s a tough lady.
Anyway,” Moira moved on, “we like the new place. It certainly is easier to
sleep without worrying about those assholes crashing through the windows.”

“Moira! Keep your mouth clean. God might still be listening,” Edward
seized his opportunity to scold her back; using his cane to gesture towards the
sky.

“I don’t know that He is listening anymore. Though if He is, maybe He can
finally hear us now that the televangelists have shut up,” Rob said.

 “Nah, the moaning of the dead is even louder,” Ben’s tears had dried and
he let out a little chuckle at his joke.

“No more heavy topics like religion and politics. They are a quick way to
breed disagreements. Who hasn’t checked in?” Isobel asked, looking around the
gathering.

            “I
didn’t really,” Jeff said. “It’s nice to have Markus with me. We’re getting
along well. It feels like college.”

            “Agreed,”
Markus smiled.

“So what about Jill? Should we risk our own lives to save someone who
completely ignored our pleas to stay inside? Should we let her stay there to
starve or attempt an escape on her own?” Isobel repeated her worries of the
previous night aloud.

“If we are going to save her we should make a decision before tonight.
She could go into labor any time now. If it happens out there it will be much
harder to rescue her and the baby. She will be exhausted and unable to move
quickly. The baby will need to be carried and it might make noise. The issues
will multiply
.
” Ben had considered so much more than she.

            “So,
tonight or never?” Edward surveyed the group. “It sounds reasonable.” Everyone
responded in favor of the timeline.

            Moira
closed the meeting with appreciation. “Thank you, everyone. It’s a shame the
world had to end for us to meet you all. Let us pray to the Lord that we have
some time to know each other, if He can forgive me for my dirty mouth.”

After
the meeting the group left to their own apartments to brainstorm any possible
rescue options. It was quiet that morning. The sun was shining for some unknown
reason. The heat of it made the stench ten times more unbearable. The corpses
in the street paid no attention to the rays beating down on their decaying,
dripping skin.

The
Cabels could hear movement upstairs.

            “What
could be making all of that noise?” Moira asked as she looked worriedly at the
ceiling.

            “That
Tom Vaughn lives up there. Gruff guy if you ask me. He doesn’t hold doors.”
Edward furrowed his brow.

            “One
person can be that noisy?”

            “Maybe
someone else could go upstairs and see what’s going on. I’m too old to climb
more stairs.” Edward rubbed his knees. He was sore from moving house the night
before.

            When
Edward didn’t move to find a volunteer, Moira stood up and walked across the
hall to Isobel and Ben.

“It’s
kind of you to be worried about Vaughn, Moira. But he wouldn’t do you the same
favor,” Ben said.

“Oh I’m not worried about him. I’m worried about what could happen if he
brought someone else into the building. He could expose us all. Who knows what
type of people he might be friends with too? I’m not eager to meet them.”

“Ha. I’m fairly certain he doesn’t have any friends,” Isobel scoffed at
the idea.

“We’ll go up there after lunch if it makes you feel better,” Ben assured
her.

“Just ask him to keep it down,” Moira requested.

After
eating, Ben led the way upstairs to the third floor.

            “You
know, he’s got more guns than I can count. He could have killed us all and had
the whole building to himself.”

            “Can
we have a bit of hope then since he hasn’t?” Isobel said cheerily.

            “I
just think we shouldn’t give him a reason to change that. Proceed carefully.”

            “Proceeding
carefully,” Isobel said as she knocked lightly on Tom Vaughn’s door. Ben had
his hand on his gun but he moved it when he saw the look on Isobel’s face.

No answer. Isobel knocked once more and waited.

She
tried the knob and it was locked. Ben pointed to her jacket pocket.

“Use the keys from the office,” he said.

“I thought you didn’t want trouble.” Isobel smiled as she unlocked the
door and opened it as slowly and quietly as she could. Whether a living or
undead Tom Vaughn greeted them, she decided, she would be equally terrified.

“Tom?” Isobel whispered. No reply. It seemed as though he wasn’t home.

“Where is he?” Ben asked.

Vaughn’s apartment was messy; at least it
looked
like a mess. On
closer inspection it was incredibly well stocked. He had at least 15 guns and
their respective ammunition, boxes of canned goods stacked in one corner,
almost to the ceiling, and a lot of survival gear. Isobel was stunned.

“It looks like a fucking bomb shelter in here.”

“Yeah, kind of like he knew something was going to happen; like he’d been
preparing for this for a long time.”

Tom had had a successful run. He’d managed to gather a lot
more food for himself and also spend a few minutes in the sporting goods store
down the main road. He was clutching a new machete as he climbed the fire
escape to his apartment. He threw his duffel bag into the window and entered
after it. Sweat was running down his face. As he wiped it off he noticed he
wasn’t alone.

“What the fuck are you doing here? How’d you get in?” He still had the
machete in his hand, his knuckles white from the tight grip he had on it.

Isobel was looking at the machete as she answered. “We have keys from the
office. We heard a lot of movement a little bit ago and wanted to check on
things, you know? Make sure you were all right.”

“How sweet of you both, really. But if you didn’t look around, I’m doing
just fine.”

            “What was all the noise about?”

            “Just trying to organize my loot.”

            “So you really have been leaving the building?”
Ben asked.

            “It’s a free country man. I’ll leave when I
want.”

            Isobel had anger rising in her. She was so
pissed off it made her forgot for a moment that Tom Vaughn was holding a
machete in a room full of loaded guns.

 “You could have exposed us to the infection! Not only that, you are
bringing attention to our hideout. The dead will follow you back and destroy
the building trying to come after you! How could you be such an idiot?”

            Vaughn
didn’t know what to say. He’d never been reprimanded so sternly by a woman,
especially while he was holding a weapon. He stared her down while he thought
of his reply.

“I didn’t bring the infection. I’ve brought medical supplies and food. Besides,
staying cooped up just pisses me off more. I feel better now that I’ve had some
fresh . . . well, outside air. I wouldn’t call it fresh; it smells like
something died out there.” He let out a huge laugh.

“The Sergeant has a sense of humor. Who would have guessed it?” Ben said
under his breath.

            “Hey,
I was thinking about using one of the other apartments up here to store some of
this stuff in. My place is getting kind of cramped.”

“Everyone has moved to the second floor so that would be fine if yo-”

“I wasn’t asking for your fucking permission,” he scoffed. “Who died and
made you Building Manager? I was going to ask if you guys could help by moving
a few boxes.”

“Could you spare a few guns in exchange for the help? We don’t have much
downstairs in the way of weaponry.”

“Sure. But don’t give them to the women. No offense Isobel, is it? You
all get too emotional.”

Isobel ignored the comment and she and Ben moved some boxes into 302;
making small talk with Vaughn as they did.

“What’s with the fat girl in the car? Isn’t she from across the hall?” he
asked.

“She isn’t fat Tom, she’s pregnant. She tried to leave with her husband.
He didn’t make it and neither did the car keys. She is stuck out there and we
are trying to decide if we can pull off a rescue.”

“Huh. Every time I ran by she was talking to herself. I thought she was
crazy so I left her alone, you know? Maybe she’d been bitten or something.”

“She is fine. We watched her get in the car. They didn’t have a chance to
bite her. They were after her husband.”

“Do you think she wants back in? I can get her if you guys want.”

“Really? Tom that would be great!” Isobel couldn’t believe what she was
hearing. Tom wasn’t known for selfless acts. She dropped the box she was
carrying and embraced him quickly to show her appreciation. He pushed her away.

“Hey, just because I’m going to get the fat girl doesn’t mean I want to
join the girl scouts. I’m not interested in making friends. I could use a
little excitement, is all.”

Isobel picked the box back up. Everything Tom did was about him, always.
He didn’t care for Jill or for anyone in the building unless it benefited him
in some way.

 “There isn’t a way in through the first floor. We boarded everything and
blocked the stairwell,” Ben got back to business.

“She’ll have to climb the fire escape like I do. If she doesn’t make it,
well, she wouldn’t have made it in the car either,” Vaughn shrugged.

“When are you going out for her?” Isobel asked.

            “Before
dinner, before the sun goes down.”

            “Thanks.
We’ll tell the others,” Ben said.

            “Hey,”
Vaughn said before they returned to the second floor, “you can come back and
visit if you want. I hate to admit it but, it was nice to see your ugly faces.”

            “You
don’t mind?” Ben asked.

            “Don’t
bring anyone else and never,
ever
, let yourselves in again!” Tom
stipulated.