End of the Line

by Frater, Lara

  “Fuck that,” Tanya said, looking at what I saw.

  Dave went slow, about 5 miles per hour. There weren’t a lot of cars, thankfully. Most seemed to be on the other side. I guess even in a crisis people followed the rules.

  Dave got to the middle of the bridge and stopped.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Let’s take a look.”

  I realized he meant to look at New York.

  “Any zombies?” I asked Tanya.

  “I don’t see any. Let’s make it quick.”

  I climbed out of the car. My back stung but I wanted to look. I saw the damage on the Whitestone better. It looked much worse. Both sides were filled with cars. It looked like someone took a big chunk out of it. I doubt it would be up for much longer.

  Beyond, I could see Manhattan. From far away it looked perfectly normal, the silhouette was normal, I could see the Empire State Building. It looked untouched. I knew close up it would be a different story.

  Almost every Saturday, Cam and I would hop the Long Island Railroad, take it to Penn Station and the train to the village where we would drink with friends and have dinner. On pretty nights, we would walk Christopher Street holding hands. Cameron was gone, so were all my friends, even touristy places like Stonewall. Everything was gone.

  “How you doing?” Tanya asked.

  “Looks fine from here,” I said.

  “Yeah.”

  There was nothing else to see. Dave and Ashley were already in the car. I took one last look and went back.

  “Dave,” I said when I got back into the car. “Is your daughter far?”

  “Not much, Fordham road.”

  “How long has it been since you talked?”

  “Too long,” he laughed. “I was mad at her. She wanted to be an artist; I wanted her to get a job. I want to tell her, you can be whatever you want, just be alive.”

  Dave didn’t seem keen before on finding her daughter.

  “She was always a good girl,” Dave said. “I should have accepted her lifestyle.”

  I tried not to snicker.

  “I hope you find her,” Ashley said. “Not like my daughter of course.”

  I rolled my eyes. Dave didn’t look happy.

  He slammed on the brakes.

  “What’s going on?” I looked ahead. There was a truck smashed against a car. It blocked the entire road and the other side looked too crowded to get around. Where the hell did that other car come from?

  “What do you think we should do?” I asked Dave.

  “I need you to help me push that car. Hopefully it’s not tangled up too much with the truck. Tanya, watch out for zombs.”

  Tanya grabbed one of the new rifles Mike gave us.

  “Ashley, stay here,” Dave said. She didn’t argue.

  The three of us got out of the car. All I could think about was my aching back and where that car came from.

  We walked over to the accident, it was pretty messed up and tangled with the truck. I went to the front and saw a body partial through the windshield and another smashed up in the seat. Gross. The stench was terrible. The bodies were gooey and surrounded by flies. I wondered if that other car came on the bridge, saw this, then turned around. Maybe he was honking to warn us.

  I reached over the legs of the body, ignored the wiggling of maggots, and put the car into neutral. Then I heard the shots.

  I turned around. Very close to the convertible were two zombies.

  “Jim, Dave!” she screamed. “Move that fucking car.” Tanya shot one of the zombies, got a hit, not a head shot but one good enough to bring it down. The other kept coming.

  I began pushing hard and so did Dave. One of the tires hit the truck’s fender and my back felt like it was on fire. I heard more shots.

  I kept pushing and pushing. I thought I felt something tear in my back and felt pain. No time to think about it now. Dave and I gave one final shove before the car was disconnected from the truck. We pushed it to the side enough so we could get through.

  “We’re clear!” Dave screamed.

  A zombie stood between us and the car that had all the guns. Tanya was behind the wheel with Ashley next to her. She motioned for us to move, then slammed on the gas. We ran to where the truck was and the next thing I saw was the zombie fly about ten feet in the air and crash to the ground. It struggled to get up. I didn’t waste a moment and ran to the car. Dave and I jumped in the back.

  “What is this Driving Miss Daisy?” Tanya said, then laughed. She hit the gas and took off.

  “Yeaha!” she yelled and made it the rest of the way over the bridge.

  “Stop!” Dave shouted as soon as we got to the other side. “I’ll take the wheel. I know where my daughter lives.”

  Tanya slammed on the brakes and we all lurched forward. She climbed unto the passenger side and Dave slipped clumsily into the driver’s seat.

  “I wish we hit more—“ She paused and looked at me. “Jim, you okay?”

  I put my hand to my back, which came away stained with blood, not a lot.

  “It’s nothing,” I said.

  “You’re bleeding, ain’t nothing.”

  “There’s still a bandage on it. You can clean it later.”

  It took an hour to get to Dave’s daughter’s apartment on Fordham road. A car in front of a hydrant had been smashed by a fire truck. No sign of the firefighters only a body in the crushed car. I saw a decayed hand coming out of it. Dave pulled in behind it.

  “What floor she on?” Tanya asked.

  “Third,” he said. He got out of the car and went to the trunk. Dave opened it and pulled out one of Mike’s rifles. I didn’t take one and neither did Ashley. “Let’s rock and roll.” I almost laughed but my back hurt too much.

  The door to the apartment building was open. A single body lay across the floor in the hallway. Decomposed enough to see he or she died a while ago. The flies and maggots had already gotten their feast.

  We got to the third floor without any additional incident and made our way to his daughter’s apartment. The apartment building smelled of human decay, a sulfuric smell with a bizarre hint of sweetness. It still made me gag. I know a lot of these apartments had dead bodies.

  Dave knocked on the door. “Barbara?” he said. He tried the door and it opened. The smell of the dead hit me.

  “Shit,” I said.

  Dave looked white.

  “We can check if you want.”

  Dave didn’t respond, instead went into the apartment. The door opened to a large airy living room, to the left was a kitchen, the middle a hallway lead to three doors, two closed and the other an open bathroom.

  Dave hung back with Ashley while Tanya and I checked on the two rooms. I don’t know why I volunteered since I threw up when I saw Katie’s body. Tanya followed me without asking as I went to open door number one. I kicked it open but nothing was on the other side but an empty bedroom. I looked at Tanya and we both laughed.

  “Door two?”

  She went to the other door and kicked it open.

  On the floor was a body, even though it was decayed, I could tell it was a man who looked like he died months ago. The head had been bashed in and there was a baseball bat with dried blood next to him. It almost looked like a movie set. On the bed I could see a letter. I went around the bloated corpse to fetch it. It was addressed to mom or dad.

  We both left the room. I closed the door behind me.

  “Is it—is it Barbara?”

  I shook my head. “It’s dead man.” I handed Dave the letter.

  He opened it. “It’s from her.” He read it out loud for us.

  “Dear mom or dad, I am letting you know that I didn’t get the flu and left this apartment safety. I stole a car (sorry dad) but I had to get out. The man dead on the floor is my boyfriend. He died of the flu, then came back. I had to bash his skull in. Don’t worry I’m with my friend Amy. We’re heading up north. I don’t know where. Maybe Vermont or Canada.

&nb
sp; I hope to see you again and that you are both well. Dad, I don’t care what I’ve done or you have, I hope you are alive. Love, Barbara.”

  Dave paused. He didn’t say anything.

  “She’s alive, at least.” I said.

  “This letter’s old. Who knows where they are.”

  “At least she’s alive.” This came from Ashley. “She didn’t die of the flu.”

  Dave looked around the apartment and studied the paintings on the wall. He took the smallest one he could find, removed it from the frame, then rolled it up and put it in his pack. He added a small-framed picture of Barbara that sat on a bookcase.

  “Let’s go,” he said. “Ashley, it’s time for you to learn how to drive.”

  Chapter 17

  Four fender benders later, we crossed into Westchester with Ashley at the wheel, a lot of money owed to Dr. Goldstein, and the three of us holding on for dear life.

  Ashley laughed after she sideswiped a broken down car. “God damn it,” she said. “Why did I give this up?”

  I had a pretty good idea. I’d rather deal with zombies than Ashley’s driving.

  The car jerked back and forth as she got used to the pedals.

  I was about to lose my lunch. I hoped the transmission would survive.

  “Christ,” Dave said from the front passenger seat.

  Ashley laughed again. She turned on the radio and hit the scanner. I expected the scan to go straight through but suddenly it stopped to a long chipping sound.

  “What is it?” Tanya asked.

  “I don’t know.” I knew that when I scanned the radio every day, I found static. This sounded like the emergency broadcast system. It chirped for a good ten minutes along with crackling before a voice came on.

  “This is Bob Bam, on the ham and low-FM in Whitestone. This is my five minute broadcast, due to power demands, to anyone in my 15 mile range who might be listening. I am also in contact with several other ham radio operators.”

  “Must be Mike’s friend,” Dave said.

  “At least we have something to listen to,” I said.

  “What’s on the ham today? First the weather, it’s a beautiful sunny day.”

  Tanya laughed. “Beautiful, my ass.”

  “Here are the rules for new listeners. Because of power restraints, every hour I try to give five minute reports from what I’ve seen and what I heard from other operators. There is no guarantee I’ll be on every hour. I’m broadcasting from an antenna but also on the ham. If you have news and can send it, please do. If you are looking for someone, contact me. I’ll try to get the name on the air. I’ll give the frequencies at the end of the broadcast

  “For newbies, let me give you to quick run down in four easy points. One, there is no organized government only pockets of the military still fighting, but not all of them are friendly. Two, the west coast is silent, so it’s either been zombiefied or they’re ignoring us; Three, most of the rest of the world is in the same shambles as us and four, beware of major cities which have been abandoned to their fate.

  “On the ham today, we have Floral Park, New York, Atlanta, Georgia, Lincoln, Nebraska, Wilmington, Delaware and Burlington, Vermont. Mike, in Floral Park, you mentioned yesterday that you meet some good people. Do you want to give a shout out?”

  “I met four survivors, Tanya, Jim, Dave and Ashley. They are good people driving a convertible. If you see them, they’re friendlys and safe to trade with.” It was weird hearing Mike’s voice and my name on the radio. I wasn’t sure it was good he mentioned us but none of the others said anything.

  “Good to hear Mike, now on to Burlington, Vermont. How are things there?”

  “We should ask Bob to look out for your daughter.”

  “We should get a ham radio,” Tanya said.

  We stopped for the night outside of Chappaqua, where we would pick up the Taconic parkway. Dave didn’t know how the Hudson River crossings fared felt and it would be easier for Ashley to cross upstate. As the population thinned, there were less cars on the highway but more of an overgrowth of weeds and grass. Also I thought all of the passengers in the car were close to vomiting and needed a break from Ashley’s driving despite that had improved.

  After two houses full of flu victims, we found a nice colonial with an unlocked door and no signs of zombies or dead bodies. The door locked on the other side.

  My back was hurting from the long car ride. Parts of it itched like crazy so I guess it was healing but the deep scratch felt a little warm. I picked a bedroom and let Dave have the master one since he didn’t get it in Oyster Bay.

  “Let me check your wound,” Tanya said following me into my bedroom du jour. I took off my shirt the one I got from Mike that said Islanders on it. Cam was a Ranger’s fan. Blood smeared the back.

  “Lay on your stomach.”

  I obeyed. I winched a little when Tanya pulled off the bandage. She made a grumbling sound.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s no sign of infection but you broke open the stiches and it scabbed over and looks puffy.”

  “It only hurts a little.”

  “Do you want a pain killer?”

  “Nah.” My head felt nice on the pillow.

  “Go to sleep if you want. You always take watch. I think Dave and I can handle tonight.”

  “Okay,” I said and closed my eyes. It was hard to think driving for many hours and pushing a car would be so tiring.

  I fell asleep as Tanya cleaned the wound.

  When I woke up, it was pitch black outside. I got up. Dozens of candles filled the room. I searched through all the bedrooms upstairs and found them also packed with candles but couldn’t find the others.

  “Hello?” I called out. No one responded.

  “Hello,” I said, again. I headed downstairs and was greeted by more candles.

  I went to the living room where Tanya was supposed to be on watch but it was empty.

  “Tanya?” I said. I looked at the front of the house. The car was gone and the moonlight lit up at least fifty zombies in the driveway, not attacking, but milling around.

  “In here,” said a male voice. It came from the dining room. I went in and found Cam sitting at a table filled with candles. He was a zombie as well with pasty skin and glazed over eyes. Next to him was the dog that attacked me, still covered in the bullet wounds and old lacerations. This time it didn’t growl but wagged its tail. When I pet it, it licked my hand.

  “Glad you could come, Jim,” he said.

  “Cam—I miss you.”

  “Jim, join me. Look I have a dog.”

  “I can’t Cam, you know that.”

  “But I love you.”

  “I love you too. I have to continue with my life without you.”

  He tried to reach out for me with a shriveling hand, but I pulled away. The dog growled and Cam vanished.

  I woke up. The house was dark. One candle burned next to the bed. I could hear Dave’s snoring down the hall. I looked at my watch. It was close to five and I could hear the tapping of rain against my window. Gloomy and rainy, but it didn’t matter. I hadn’t a shower in a week and I needed one.

  I went downstairs. Tanya was by the front window with two candles lit on a nearby table. “Hey,” she said. “Have a good sleep?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Is the backyard enclosed?”

  “Yep.”

  “I’m going to take a shower.”

  “There’s a bathroom by the kitchen, probably has towels.” I walked to the kitchen using the flashlight to find the bathroom. It smelled gross but I found some hand towels and fancy soap. “Jim,” Tanya yelled from the living room. “Wash your back good.”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  I went out in the backyard but stayed close to the door. I took off my pants, underwear, and my socks. My shirt and shoes were still upstairs. My only light the flashlight.

  The rain was heavy and the water seemed clean and pure. Not only did I bathe but I drank the raindrops. I lathered m
yself up, and began masturbating. I hoped I wasn’t giving the others or the zombies a show, but I didn’t care. I thought of Cameron, pretended I was having sex with him. Then he was gone. I had to move on. I knew a small piece of me would always hope, but I couldn’t let it control me.

  I debated shaving and decided not to. I only had a slight beard and mustache. I could shave in Oyster Bay. None of the men seemed to be shaving regularly on this trip. Dave looked like Grizzly Adams.

  I went back in the house and soaked the kitchen floor, and then dried off with the hand towel.

  Tanya came into the kitchen with a flashlight while I dried off. I didn’t care that she saw me nude, but glad my stiffy was gone. She also stripped, and left her clothes in the kitchen.

  “When I’m done, I’m going to bandage your back again.”

  Dawn was almost here. I could see her now.

  “I’m going to see if I can find clothes first.”

  “Yeah and wake up Dave and Ashley. We should go as soon as it’s light.”

  I went upstairs and put on the underwear and the Islander’s t-shirt and which was long enough to cover my bottom as Mike was bigger than me.

  I went into the master bedroom where Dave was still snoring. I went to the closet which had a lot of ladies stuff.

  “Hello?” said Dave’s voice.

  “It’s Jim, looking for some clean pants.”

  “Oh—“ he sounded groggy. “Guy who owns the place is thin and tall, should be okay for you.”

  “It’s raining,” I said, “You might want to get a shower.”

  “Okay,” he said, then went back to snoring.

  I looked in the other closet and found some jeans. I grabbed a belt. I tossed on the jeans. They fit at the waist but were way too long. I rolled up the legs and figured when the house had more light I could find a scissor.

  I left the room and went back to mine. A few minutes later, Tanya came back. Her hair wet but she was dressed. She came with the dreaded bandage.

  I laid on the bed. Tanya swabbed it out. It still stung.

  “How does it look?”