Theo sat back down against the chimney and stared off into the distance, not looking at anything in particular. Out of the corner of his left eye, Theo noticed something: A faint light coming from one of the rooms in the house next door. It wasn't the house that he and Erica looted, not it was the home on the opposite side. Theo crawled over to the other side of the roof and tried to peer in the windows. There was definitely some light inside the one room. It was hard to tell, due to the dark gray curtains that hung in the window, but it looked to be some type of lantern.
Then, someone or something darted across the room. "Oh shit," Theo said. He tried to temper his excitement. For all he knew, it could have been one of the undead running around in there. Again, something moved in the room. It was a quick blur, but Theo could definitely tell that it was a person.
Theo slid back inside and hurried down to the basement to grab the flashlight. He had to calm himself down as he started down the basement stairs, he didn't want to wake up Erica. Theo grabbed the flashlight and went back to the upper flat. Rather than get out on the roof again, Theo stood in the upstairs and looked across into the house next door. It was harder to make out, but Theo could still see the light.
Theo took a deep breath. "Well, here goes nothing," And then he began to shine the beam from the flashlight into the room next door.
Theo did the standard S.O.S Morse code signal a few times, and then waited for someone to peer out of the window, but there was nothing. Theo tried for a second time and waited, he was beginning to grow impatient.
"Come on, I know you're in there," Theo whispered. Theo tried for a third and fourth time, getting no response each time he shone the flashlight into the house next door. Maybe it was one of the corpses after all.
Theo sighed, "Damn."
Feeling somewhat let down, Theo retreated back into the basement to try and get some rest. He couldn't fall back asleep, however; his mind was racing with the possibilities with what could be next door. Was it another survivor? Or just the undead? Theo decided that he would check it out in the morning. Regardless if Erica wanted to join him.
Erica sat up from her bedding and stretched out her arms and saw Theo sitting on the bottom step. "You okay over there Theo? Usually, I have to wake you up."
Theo cut right to the chase."I think there's someone next door."
"In the house where we got the supplies?"
"No, the OTHER house."
"How do you know?"
"I couldn't sleep last night, so I went out onto the roof to get some air and saw a light in one of the upstairs windows."
Erica was her usual cautious self. "Okay, someone might have left a flashlight on, so?"
"There was movement in there, Erica."
"Could be one of the dead things," Erica replied curtly. She had just woken up, and she was in no mood to deal with this right from the hop.
"Yeah it could be, but it could also be another survivor. They might need some help."
Erica frowned, "Here's the part where you tell me you want to go next door and check it out, right?"
"You know me so well. We should get hitched."
"Yeah. No. Can we have some breakfast first before we go and do something dumb?" Erica asked. "It's too early for this shit, and I'm hungry."
Theo grinned, "Yeah sure, let's go have some lukewarm soup. I'm buyin!"
"Yay," An unamused Erica replied.
After splitting a can of tepid tomato soup and a few crackers, Theo and Erica walked outside, looking around for any corpses.
Theo pointed at the privacy fence, "After you M'lady."
Erica scoffed at Theo. "Nope. You first. This is your idea after all."
Theo jumped over the fence and Erica followed him. "Wow, this really takes you back, doesn't it?" Theo asked Erica.
"What do you mean?"
"I was sitting in this yard when you took me in, remember."
"Oh yeah. A move I regret more and more every day."
"Can it."
Theo walked up the concrete stairs of the back porch and he prepared to knock, but he stopped right before his crowbar made contact with the back door. Theo turned to Erica, "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Erica asked.
"It sounds like there are some dead things around."
"Theo, there's always some dead things around. What else is new?"
"No, I mean like a lot."
Theo and Erica jogged to the back of the yard and peeked out into the alley. There was one corpse that was stumbling at the end of the alley to their right, too far away for Theo or Erica to hear. To the left of them was absolutely nothing. Theo turned and ran toward the front of the house.
"Theo, what exactly are you hearing?" Erica asked him. "Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, but I can't believe you don't hear that."
"What?!? Hear What?!?" Erica was growing more and more frustrated by the second with Theo. She was in no mood to play games.
Theo stopped and grabbed Erica by her shoulders, "Stay still and keep quiet, and just listen."
Erica took a deep breath, exhaled, and perked her right ear skyward. Sure enough, there it was. That sound that most of the dead things made. The moans and groans, the snarling and gnashing of their teeth. The low growls and the shuffling of their feet. It sounded like there were a lot of them, and they were growing closer.
"We better get back inside, quick," Erica told Theo. "We can check for your phantom person in this house later."
Theo nodded in agreement and the two of them bolted back for their house. They both ran to the upper flat and peeked out of the windows overlooking the road out front, being careful so that the corpses didn't see them.
"I don't see anything," Erica whispered.
"Me either. What the hell is going on?"
"I don't....wait, look," Erica replied, pointing to the left, towards Michigan Avenue.
There they were; around a hundred corpses all shambling down the street in a mass of rotten and decaying flesh. Neither Theo nor Erica had seen that many before. Even when Theo lured the corpses over to the house down the road, only around thirty or so surrounded the building. Theo and Erica watched as the dead things wandered down the street. Several of the corpses broke off from the back, bumping into debris and signposts, and sticking around the area.
"What are we gonna do Theo?" Erica asked.
"Just keep low, they haven't seen us. We're okay," Theo replied. He tried to remain calm for Erica's sake, but Theo knew that Erica was probably calmer than he was at that moment.
Two of the dead things that had broken off from the pack, an older man and woman began to move towards Theo and Erica's home, heading right towards the front porch.
Erica gasped. "Oh shit." She reached for her pistol. Theo tried to stop her, but she brushed his hand aside.
"Erica, relax. If you fire, that whole mob of dead things out there will hear us, and then we'll really be in deep crap," Theo told her. Erica quietly agreed and tucked the pistol into the back of her pants. She then pulled out the steak knife that Theo had found for her.
The two of them stood there in the upper flat bedroom watching as the two dead things disappeared under the awning and began walking up the front porch steps. They both heard the corpses' slow and plodding footsteps as they sauntered up the stairs.
"Our barricades are about to get their first tests," Theo said. Erica didn't answer Theo, she closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. "Erica, stay here I'm gonna head downstairs."
Erica's eyes shot open, "What, are you nuts?"
"No, I just want to see what's going on. If anything happens get to the roof, okay?"
"Uh, no. Terrified of heights remember?"
"Okay fine then. Sit here and keep a look out front."
Theo left the room and practically tiptoed towards the stairway. He walked down each step carefully until he reached the bottom step. Theo looked around the corner and into the living room. He could hear the two dead things
stumbling around on the porch, one of the corpses was making a hacking sound. Theo saw the silhouettes of the undead as they walked past the curtains. The male corpse bumped into the edge of the couch that had been sticking out of the window. Theo winced as he saw the dead guy hit the piece of furniture. However, the couch didn't budge at all. Theo wanted to shout up the steps to Erica that their barricades were holding, but he had to wait. After a few more seconds, the two dead things wandered off of the porch and disappeared elsewhere into the neighborhood. Theo trotted up the stairs to rejoin Erica.
"The barricades held," He whispered to her. Theo could see the relief wash over Erica's face as she sat down on the top step.
"Thank fuck for that," Erica replied. "Theo, what in the hell was that all about?"
"What, the dead things all bunched up like that?"
Erica nodded, "Yeah."
All Theo could do was shrug. "Beats me. I gave up trying to figure out these dead fucks since the start."
Erica giggled, "That's a good one. 'Dead fucks' I like that."
"I do have my moments," Theo replied, grinning.
"That had to be close to a hundred of those things outside."
"Yeah, I know."
"It was a swarm of them. A grouping. I don't know what to call it, whatever that was."
"A horde," Theo replied.
"Yeah, that's it."
Theo left Erica on the steps and went over to the living room windows, peeking over the top of the couch and looking outside. There were still some corpses that lingered around the road out front. There were a few stumbling around on the other side of the street as well. Looking next door, Theo saw that there was an older model red Chevy Blazer parked out in front of the house. With everything that had been happening, Theo hadn't noticed it before.
"Hey Erica, you ever notice the truck out front of the house next door?"
"Yeah, why?"
"How long's it been there?"
Erica pulled her hair back into a ponytail and sat down at the kitchen table. "I'm pretty sure that it was out there when I showed up here. Why are you asking? Are you thinking about making some kind of an escape?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna take you and we're going to hit the road and make a daring escape to the river....or up north to the woods.....or even to Canada Providing your passport's in order that is," Theo replied sarcastically. "What I'm saying is, if that truck's been there, that might mean someone's in that house after all. Not a 'phantom' like you said."
"Bite my ass, Theo."
"If you're offering. Are you?"
"No!"
The two of them carefully walked back out into the yard, leery of any undead that might be around. The corpses that had broken away from the horde had mainly stuck to the street out in front of the house. It was now mid-afternoon, and it was hot and humid outside. The smell of rot hit Erica and Theo in the face right away.
Erica covered her nose, "Oh hell, is that awful. That's more than just the corpses, it has to be."
Theo pointed to the four decaying bodies of the undead that they had put down days prior, "Actually Erica, it IS the corpses. The ones that are all the way dead."
Erica glanced over to the bodies, "Yeah you're right. We should have moved them farther out of here."
"I hear ya."
From the next yard, somebody said, "You know, those are really starting to smell."
Chapter 7
Theo and Erica looked at one another in amazement.
Erica looked to the privacy fence, "Uh, hello? Is someone there?"
"Yep," The person answered. To Theo and Erica, it sounded like a younger female with a soft, gentle voice. "You two can come over if you'd like. I won't hurt you."
Theo and Erica hurried over to the fence and hopped up, looking over the top. Sitting on the back steps was a young woman, in her late teens possibly early twenties. She wore a navy blue polo shirt and khaki pants. She sat on the steps barefoot with her dark, wavy, blonde hair cascading down to her shoulders. She had a soft, gentle face and light brown eyes. The girl took a drag on her cigarette and snuffed it out on the top step. She waved for Theo and Erica to join her in the yard.
"Are you okay?" Erica asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," The girl replied. She stuck her hand out for Erica to shake, "Hi, I'm Macey. Macey Douglas."
Erica shook Macey's hand, "Erica Kozan, and this is Theo."
Theo shook Macey's hand as well, "Theo Kinkaid."
Macey smiled at Theo, "I recognize you from somewhere."
"Yeah, I used to live here up until a few months ago."
"I thought so. I used to see you on your way to work from time to time."
"You know, you do look kind of familiar," Theo replied. "I think I used to see you on your way to school. Standing out in front."
"Yep," Macey replied. She stood up, "You guys wanna come in?"
Theo and Erica looked at one another, "Okay," Theo replied.
Macey led Theo and Erica into her home. In the kitchen were empty soup cans and crunched up bags of potato chips scattered about. "Excuse the mess," Macey said, embarrassed.
"Hey, it's understandable given the current state of the world," Theo replied.
"Yeah, it's okay, Macey," Erica told her. "Although it is driving my OCD a little nuts, I'll manage."
Macey laughed and sat down on a stool at the kitchen counter. She lit up another cigarette, filling the room up with smoke. It made Theo want a cigarette so badly, but he resisted the urge to ask Macey for one.
"So Macey, was that you in the upstairs window moving around?" Theo asked her.
"Yeah," Macey answered. "Were you spying on me in my room?"
Theo began to blush somewhat. "No, not at all. I was sitting upstairs for a breather and I-"
Macey stopped Theo, "I'm just kidding, Theo."
Erica looked around the house, "So are you the only one here?"
Macey gave Erica a solemn nod, "Yep. Just me."
"What happened?"
"Erica, come on," Theo said. "Don't ask her that." Both Theo and Erica could tell that something bad had happened to Macey.
"It's okay guys. My parents, brother, and I tried to make a break for it. That's my dad's truck parked out front. We packed up what we could and we were going to hit the road. We were going to try and find an aid station or a military checkpoint or something. As we were leaving, those 'people' out there tore into my parents. My brother rushed out to help, but they got him too.
"I tried to run out to help my family, but my brother yelled for me to get back inside and lock the door. I've been staying upstairs in my bedroom closet ever since. I just didn't know what else to do. Those things out there are all over the place and I've been too afraid to try and leave. I don't want to see what's left of my family out there anyways. If they even are out there that is," Macey said.
"Not that this is any consolation, but there's nothing out there, Macey. No remains, bodies, nothing," Theo told her.
"Okay," Macey replied, wiping away a tear and then snuffing out her cigarette.
"I have an idea, Macey," Erica said. "Why don't you come next door and stay with us?"
Macey perked up right away, "Really? You mean it?"
"Yeah, why not? Sure as hell beats staying here all by yourself. What say you, Theo?"
"Whoa, I dunno. That's way too much estrogen for me to handle," Theo quipped.
Erica slapped Theo's arm, "You dick."
"I'm just kidding. Yeah, Macey, we'd love to have you over."
"I'll go upstairs and get my things," Macey said.
"Grab whatever you think you need. Is there any food left over here?" Erica asked.
Macey pointed to the cupboards above the kitchen counter, "Yeah, in there. Help yourselves."
Macey retreated upstairs to her bedroom to begin gathering her things while Theo and Erica began rummaging through the kitchen cabinets. Theo grabbed a box of cereal while Erica found a couple of packets of green tea.
"Ooh, my favo
rite," She told Theo.
"Any coffee?" Theo asked. "I'm dying for a cup... or fifteen."
"Sadly no. I need a few dozen cups myself."
"Sorry, drank it all," Macey called from the upstairs.
"Maybe we shouldn't take her in after all," Theo joked.
Macey came back downstairs with a maroon colored backpack slung around her shoulders. I'm all packed up and ready to go. You two ready?"
"Oh yeah. Definitely," Theo answered. "Come on, we better get back to our place."
"Yeah. we'll get you set up in the basement," Erica told Macey.
Before the three of them exited the house, Macey stopped and looked back into her home.
"What's wrong?" Erica asked her.
"Nothing. I just want to make sure I'm not forgetting anything," Macey answered.
"Don't worry Macey, it's not like you're miles away," Theo reminded her. He took her backpack from her and assisted Macey over the fence. Erica took Macey into the basement of their home to help her set up some bedding.
"You find a nice spot on that comfy floor?" Theo asked Macey.
"Yeah, I did. But why are you guys hiding out in the basement? Why not upstairs?" Macey asked Theo and Erica.
"It is cooler down there," Theo said. "Not only that, Erica's afraid of heights. Big baby."
Erica rolled her eyes at Theo. "Pardon Theo here. He's an acquired taste."
"Thanks, Erica. That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me."
Macey glanced into the living room and saw Theo and Erica's makeshift barricades. "Wow, brilliant idea with the couch there."
Urban Decay Page 6