End of the Line (Book 1)

by Lara Frater

  She was right. The gate was down but the lock was empty.

  Dave lifted it up.

  The store had newspapers covering the window that were dated last April, the headline reading:

  H311 Flu on the rise, President urges sick people to stay home.

  A headline underneath read:

  Rioting in Dayton, Ohio, National Guard called in.

  My family didn’t live near Dayton and I hope their being in a small town saved them from the flu and zombies. I didn’t bother reading anything beyond the headlines. Newspapers stopped printing about a month later, not that they gave much news at the end. Beyond the newspapers I could see wood. The windows were boarded up as was the door. Dave knocked. He tried the door then looked at Tanya.

  “This one’s locked,” he said.

  Tanya smiled and went to work. She used her body to block the view probably out of habit. I figured it might be a good idea if she taught us that skill. I reminded myself to mention it when we got back to CostKing.

  Before she finished, the door swung open and slammed hard against the display window.

  “Fuck,” she said taking a step back.

  On the other side was a man, in his forties, white, lightly bearded with messy short black hair and had a rifle aimed straight at Tanya’s face.

  “What do you want?” he asked, slowly. Tanya didn’t back away from the gun or looked fazed.

  I held up my hands as did Dave. “We aren’t here for trouble.”

  “So answer my question.”

  “We’re looking for firearms and ammo,” I said. “We currently don’t have anything to trade except for a little food and medical supplies or something.” I sounded like an idiot but there was a gun pointed at us.

  The man laughed. “I got all I need. You think I’d trade for nothing? Do you think I’m stupid?”

  “We can do a favor or something,” I said, trying to think of what possible thing we could do for him. Shine his shoes, polish his guns, count his bullets.

  “I’ll do a bj but that’s it,” Tanya said.

  The man was caught off guard by her comment. I could tell because his face turned bright red and it gave me a hint, he wasn’t a monster but I understood why he wouldn’t trust us.

  “Jesus,” he said. “If you don’t have any supplies I can use, there’s nothing I can do--” Then he added “Sorry.”

  He backed into the store then slammed the door shut. I heard him begin locking the door. It must have a million locks on it. I doubt Tanya would have able to get it open. This place was fortified.

  “Let’s find a place to stay,” I said. I began walking away, looking around for a secure location, when I heard the locks again and door opening.

  The man stood there with the door ajar. He still had the rifle but pointed it down. “You stay in the upstairs apartment next door tonight and tomorrow you run some errands. I’ll give you a list of supplies I need. There’s a couple of places around town to get them. You bring most of my list I’ll give you something fair.” We walked back to the store but gave the man enough space. He didn’t let us in.

  “That seems easy,” I said. “Why can’t get the supplies yourself?”

  “We regularly go out for supplies. One time we did, the zombs got my boy. You get me the stuff I need that means my family is out of danger for this supply run.”

  “Can Ashley stay with you?” I said motioning to her. Ashley put her hand up but didn’t say anything. “She’s not any trouble and I rather she be with people while we’re out.”

  “I can come—“ she said.

  “No,” he said, but not to Ashley. “But she can stay next door while you’re out tomorrow. It’s pretty secure.”

  I wasn’t sure I could trust him, but next door was a good a place as any to stay. Besides if there are some guns and ammo at the end of this, we had to try.

  The man was right about it being secure. The place next door had two apartments, both upstairs. One was boarded up, so we went to the other with the unlocked door. The apartment was small. The door opened to a dusty bathroom directly in front, the kitchen to the left and a smallish living room to the right. When we were inside, Dave locked the door’s two locks.

  The living room had a musty sofa that was once cream color with a matching love seat. I didn’t smell death only mold. No zombies or dead people. Tanya led the way and went into the living room. Next to the living room were two rooms next to each other. Both had open doors. The bigger one had a bed, the other had chairs by the window.

  The living room had a window but it led to an alcove which had access to the windows of three other apartments.

  “We could find something better,” Dave said as he looked at the bedroom with one bed.

  “Nah,” I said. “This place looks okay. Zombies have trouble with stairs and they have to get through two doors and we can escape out another apartment.”

  “Jim, I can come with you all tomorrow,” Ashley said. “I’m not completely useless.”

  “If we’re running around outside, I rather you stay here. Besides you can keep an eye on things.”

  “He’s right.” Dave said. I was surprised he agreed with me.

  “I’ll be on my own soon enough.”

  “But not yet.”

  I looked through the alcove. The window to the apartment next door was dark. The window in the back apartment was smashed. The one next to ours was shaded.

  That shade went up and I saw the man in the window. Behind him, it looked like a kitchen. I waved, he didn’t wave back. He opened the window, and then climbed to our side. I opened the window for him. He still had the rifle with him but now it was strapped to his back. I guess that meant he trusted us more. He climbed over the couch and planted his feet on the floor before he said anything.

  “You see, nice and secure. Any of them come in you go out the window, but not to my place. I keep it locked and alarmed. Go out that way,” he said, pointing to broken window.

  “By the way,” I said. “We didn’t introduce ourselves. I’m Jim, this is Dave, Tanya and you already know Ashley.” I pointed each of them out.

  “I’m Mike,” he said. He didn’t put out his hand to shake.

  “Good to meet you.”

  “Where you all from?”

  I didn’t want to mention CostKing, not yet. “We’re from around the island.”

  Mike seemed to accept my vague answer. “And where you folks headed?”

  “Manhattan.”

  Mike looked like we had kicked him in the face. “You can’t go.”

  “Why?”

  “Ain’t no way into Manhattan. The government tore down any way to get into it more than a year ago. Knocked over bridges and collapsed tunnels. They even closed off parts of Queens. Blockaded high population areas, everything west of the Van Wyck. It’s a mess, not to mention the high numbers of dead bodies and zombies.”

  “Someone I love is in New York—I have to see if I can find him.”

  “I’m sorry, but there ain’t no way anyone is alive,” his voice rose, not in anger but concerned. “Couple of million people there, either dead of the flu or a zombie. New York is a city of the dead, son. You don’t want to even think about going there. You won’t survive.”

  “My daughter’s in the Bronx,” Dave said.

  “You might have a chance. I think the Throgs Neck Bridge is still there. Haven’t heard it was down. I know they left it up because they wanted to give people an escaped route. The RFK is gone for sure and I heard the Whitestone collapsed from too many cars.”

  “These are all rumors,” I said. I wasn’t going to be convinced so easily. If Ashley could go to California, I could go into Manhattan.

  “Not rumors, son, facts. I got a ham radio and a guy in Queens broadcasts on it and a low FM frequency, you can pick him up if you’re close enough. He puts out news reports. He goes to look himself. Says every way in is gone. They wanted to keep the zombies in.” He looked at me and I guess he saw my determi
nation.

  “The only way into Manhattan might be by boat. It’s a long shot though. First you gotta find a boat. Do you any of you know how to sail?”

  No one answered his question.

  “You know,” Dave said. “I’m thinking this is not a good idea.”

  “I know,” I said. “But I’m doing it anyway. If you don’t want to come, that’s fine. You can take Ashley to Albany. We’ll meet back at home.”

  “Jim,” Ashley said. “Don’t be stupid.”

  “As stupid as you?” I said with ire in my voice.

  Ashley didn’t respond. I guess it was one of the few times I got angry.

  She stayed calm. “I told you before, you’re young. You have your whole life. Don’t throw it away. I don’t know if Martin is still alive, but I know for a fact that everyone in Manhattan is dead. Besides even I’m smart enough to stay away from the cities.”

  “Jim,” Tanya said. She took my hand. Her dead serious face and her calm tone gave me reason for concern. My heart began to beat a little faster, not out of fear but knowing I was about to get bad news. “You know New York City don’t have a lot of survivors right? I’ve never meet anyone who came from the city, ’cept Queens or Brooklyn.”

  I didn’t respond.

  She squeezed my hand tightly. She spoke slowly and softly. “Jim, you gotta know Cameron’s dead, right?”

  That’s when I knew. I knew it. The truth. If Cam was alive, he would come home.

  I broke down and started crying. I didn’t want to admit it but she was true. I sobbed as hard as Ashley when she found Katie. So hard that if the zombies came right now, I wouldn’t even defend myself.

  Tanya embraced me and I felt someone rubbing my back, probably Ashley. Mike and Dave looked concerned. For all I knew Mike was a raging homophobe who would shoot me in my sleep.

  I should have cared that I didn’t look manly but the idea of never again waking up next to Cameron devastated me to the core. Ashley said I was young, but how was I ever going to get over this? For a year, I kept up hope that Cameron and I would be reunited, hope that I knew deep inside wasn’t true.

  Chapter 15

  “Okay, here’s my list,” he said, giving it to me. Mike had come over to our apartment near dawn. I could see the sun low in the sky through the dusty windows and candles illuminated the dark room. I had barely slept last night.

  I looked it over. I would have laughed if I wasn’t so upset about Cam. With a few exceptions, we had everything at CostKing.

  Mike gave Dave a bag. “You’re gonna need a lot of the stuff at the Shop Smart. They got 40 or so people holed up inside. We trade with them for food but they ain’t good people. They won’t murder you or anything, but they’re cheaters. Be careful of them. Don’t let them haggle you down for what I wrote as a fair trade. They need the bullets.

  “There’s an A&P on Jericho,” he continued, “abandoned, might still have some food. There’s some auto stores on Jericho, grab some jumper cables if you can find them.”

  “Anything else we should be aware of?” I asked.

  “Yeah, don’t go to Hillside Avenue until you get to New Hyde Park road. There was a massive pile up and a fire that burned for days. It’s inaccessible.”

  I nodded. Mike pulled out a radio. “Dena, we clear outside?”

  “Yes,” said a sullen teenage voice. I didn’t know how many people lived with Mike.

  “You come back, and we’ll do our trade. If you come back, I’ll make it worth your while.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Mike softened. I don’t think he was a bad person but I didn’t blame him for being suspicious. “No, thank you. I’m glad to not have to put my family in danger for a change.”

  After Ashley promised, she would lock the door and not run away, we piled into the convertible. I sat in the back and allowed Dave and Tanya to have the front. Dave drove, Tanya kept her gun out, watching for zombies but with only ten bullets left, avoiding them would be our best option.

  It didn’t take long to get to the Shop Smart. We parked in front of a blockage of cars and a tower of carts. Someone had knocked off the P in shop and spray painted a T, rename the store, Shot Smart. Tanya opened the door, pulled her gun and went first. Zombies milled around in the street in front, but not near the store. I saw a number of dead bodies around it. I didn’t know if all of them were zombies. A man on the roof with what looked like an assault rifle might be the reason the zombies weren’t coming close. Tanya waved at him three times and he waved back twice. That was the signal we were here to trade and the two waves back meant trade was available. We walked to the pile of shopping carts and began to climb.

  When we reached the top, a man stood there wearing a Yankee hat and holding a the rifle in the air.

  “Whatcha want?” He looked me over, then Dave. Then he licked his lips and looked at Tanya.

  Tanya did the talking. “We’re here for Mike. He needs five cans spam, two towels, four cans of pears and olives.”

  “I don’t know if we have them,” he said.

  “He says you do.”

  “What have you got for me?”

  “Five boxes of shells he says fits your guns.”

  “I don’t know. That’s a lot of food for such small boxes. How about a little boob touch,” he said, looking at Tanya.

  “Sure, if you want to trade hitting you in the balls.”

  This was different from the Tanya offering Mike the bj. The man didn’t get mad, he got excited.

  “I like you,” he said. “Just a little touch? Over the shirt and I promise no haggling. Mike gets the entire list.”

  Tanya rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she said. “You get ten seconds. Get the stuff first.”

  He nodded. “Wait here.” There was a ladder at the top of the carts that lead to the entrance of the store. He went down it, then pulled the ladder away. Even so, there were still two guys down there with guns. In the background I could hear music and male laughter.

  “You don’t have to do this,” I said.

  “I hope you do kick that guy in the balls,” Dave said. Tanya seemed surprised that he came to her defense.

  “Shit, I’ve dealt with much worse. A little touch won’t hurt me. Besides I can’t hit him in the balls and jeopardize his deal with Mike.”

  “Still ain’t right.”

  “What’s right about a world filled with zombies? Besides we need ammo.”

  The leech man came back with a plastic bag filled with stuff. He opened it so we could see the supplies were inside. Everything was there.

  “Now, let’s have the bullets and the touchies,” he smiled. I wanted to throw him off the roof.

  “Jim, Dave, turn around and count to ten,” she said.

  I looked down and began counting to myself. I think Dave did as well. The guy giggled like he was a fourteen year old getting boob for the first time. I did everything in my power not to take a crowbar and bash his brains in like the zombie in the garage. When I reached ten, I heard a slap.

  I looked up, the man held his cheek. Tanya had the bag of supplies. She left the boxes of bullets, then hopped away down the carts. We followed, when we were all safely at the bottom, she pulled out a cart causing a bunch of them to collapse.

  “Feisty!” the man yelled but Tanya wasn’t listening. “Come back anytime!” We walked quickly back to the car and were glad to see zombies heading to the carts after being attracted by the noise. I wished they would tear him to shreds. When we got to the car, I heard shots. I got in without looking back.

  It didn’t take long to get to the A&P. The front was completely smashed open and it looked like most of the shelves were empty.

  “Nothin’ here,” Tanya said.

  Dave pulled the car as close as possible but the parking lot was a mess of cars. A single zombie littered the parking lot was no threat to us since someone had removed its arms and legs possibly as a joke. Tanya smashed its head in with a crowbar instead of shooting it. I admi
red how brave she was while I had a panic attack trying to kill one almost broken in half.

  We made our way to the A&P. The shelves weren’t completely empty and the place smelled like moldy bread, rotten milk and animal feces. I found a partly opened bag of rice on the ground that looked like someone dropped it and it opened. I tied up and put it in my bag.

  “Hey,” Tanya said, she held up two dented cans with missing labels. “Mystery food.”

  “Stop joking around,” Dave said. “Let’s get what we need and get out. This place is unsecure.”

  “Yes, dad,” I said.

  Dave gave me a funny look.

  “Bet if we lived in a state with a smaller population, there would be plenty on the shelf,” he said.

  “I like our CostKing,” I said. “Plenty of food and good people.”

  I looked and began moving towards the back of the aisle, surveying the shelves for anything. I found more dusty mystery cans.

  “Jim—“ said Tanya’s voice. I turned to her. She stood a good ten feet from me. She stood straight, at attention with a horrified look on her face. Her handgun was out.

  “Jim—“ she said. “Don’t move.”

  “How many?”

  “Ain’t zombies,” she said. “Dogs.”

  Dogs? Doggies. I had a dog growing up, named Butch. He loved me. He liked to lick my face. Cameron wanted a purebred dog, I wanted a cat.

  I heard a growl. No one moved.

  “What should I do?”

  “Walk over to me slowly.”

  I nearly seized up from fear. “How many dogs?”

  “Three.”

  “Small ones?”

  She shook her head.

  I took in a deep breath and walked down the aisle to her. The growling got louder. Dave stood behind Tanya. Then I heard angry barking.

  “Run, Jim!” She screamed.

  I did, but halfway down the aisle something large leaped on me, knocked me to the ground and I whacked my head hard against the floor. I felt something heavy on my back and clawing on my jacket, biting and snarling and drool.

  Then there was gunfire, a lot of it. Tanya must have used all ten bullets. I heard a whimper then the sound of dogs running off. My head felt heavy and my back was on fire. “Oh god, Jim,” Tanya said. They ran over to me and lifted me up. Something wet was in my eyes and it wasn’t water.