The Dead in River City

by S. A. McGarey

  “Think anyone is in here?” Alan asked in a whisper.

  “Not sure.” She began. “It’s not a place most people would loot. Anyone that was here is surely dead now. Probably not many Dead Ones, if any at all. We might be safe here.”

  Alan acknowledged her statement, and turned on the flashlight. Scanning the room, he didn’t see any threats, but he knew there could easily be anything hiding in here. Alan thought it best to split up, and divide their tasks so that they could find what they were looking for. They would need to check anything that might have a record of Malcolm Graves.

  “Kendra, check around down here. See if you can find anything on Malcolm Graves. I’ll check the second floor. Come find me if you find anything.” Alan said, heading towards the staircase.

  “Alright.” She replied, hesitant to split up. “Be careful!”

  “I will.” Alan replied, walking up the stairs.

  Suddenly, Kendra was all alone. There was a time, just days ago, when she would have welcomed this solitude. Now it just felt unsettling. Alan had shaken up her life pretty well, and that’s saying something in a zombie apocalypse. Kendra didn’t know how she was supposed to find anything in this place. She was frankly surprised that the books were still in halfway decent condition. She finally decided to try booting up one of the librarian computers. With any luck, she could access the book archive. Maybe she’d find something that way. Hunched over the computer in the dark, run-down room, she prayed that the computer would work.

  Reaching the top of the staircase, Alan stepped into the vast second floor of the library. There wasn’t much up here besides a gargantuan collection of books. Alan was actually pretty clueless as to how to find what he needed in this place. This was Kendra’s idea after all. He would just have to roll with it. Stepping towards the old desk where the librarians would sit, Alan noticed a large phone book. It was the only lead he had, so he sat in the old, creaky chair at the desk, and started searching. Looking under the name Graves, he saw a few names, but no Malcolm. His only idea had ended before it really began. Alan stood and wandered around the floor, pondering any other potential ideas

  Suddenly, a noise from the stairwell caught his attention. He turned and saw Kendra racing through the doorway. “I found something!” She was shouting as she ran to him.

  “What is it? What did you find?” Alan asked in rapid succession.

  “Well, I got the computer downstairs to work, and was able to access the library’s book archive. It shows every book they have. I did a keyword search on Malcolm Graves, and it came back with a single result. It’s a non-fiction book, something about sciences and diseases. Should be somewhere up here.” Kendra told him about her discovery.

  “Lets start looking then!” Alan became renewed in his enthusiasm.

  Minutes of searching ensued. Each of them starting at one end of the non-fiction range and working towards the middle. They looked for the approximate area of the mystery book that referenced Graves. Their search seemed fruitless until Alan and Kendra both met in the middle of the non-fiction section. Scanning the shelf, they found the item they needed. Amongst all the old, damaged books, there was one that was a fair bit newer than the rest. Removing it from the shelf, they saw it was a book about diseases: particularly, the fatal kind. These diseases in the book were ones with no definitive cure. It covered all sorts of things: cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple kinds of STDs and tons of genetic disorders. Flipping through the book, they found on one page a name. That name was Malcolm Graves.

  Each of them reading to themselves, Alan and Kendra looked over the page. The name of Malcolm Graves belonged to a man who worked as a scientist, trying to rid the world of one of its many diseases. It looked as though Graves wasn’t American. Thinking back to the mall, Alan remembered the voice of Malcolm Graves, and it did seem off. It seemed as though he was from a European country, but he couldn’t quite tell which one. Really, this book mentioned very little about Graves living in America. According to the book, after his major attempt to cure a rare genetic disorder failed, he just vanished without a trace. No one knows what happened to him.

  “This doesn’t really seem all that helpful.” Kendra stated.

  “I agree.” Alan replied. “All it tells us is that Graves isn’t from around here, and that he used to be a scientist.”

  “Well, do we really need to focus on him?” Kendra inquired. “Our main goal should be survival.”

  “I suppose you’re right. Something just doesn’t sit well with me about that guy.” Alan said.

  “Well this trip was a bust. Should we get going?” Kendra asked.

  “Yeah, I guess.” Alan said, disappointed at their lack of findings. “If there’s anything you want to grab on the way out, I’d suggest you do it now.”

  Kendra silently acknowledged him and descended the stairs. She decided to snag a few books on the way out, maybe something that could keep her mind from falling into complete insanity. Armed with only a flashlight, it was difficult to find anything. She heard Alan come down the stairs and she quickly met up with him.

  “Let’s go.” She said.

  “Ladies first.” Alan replied.

  Walking towards the sturdy glass doors, both Alan and Kendra stopped dead in their tracks. Standing outside the door was another small horde of Dead Ones. At the head of their pack was a man in a duster jacket, average height, and medium length brown hair. The man made eye contact with Alan, and Alan began to put the pieces together. The Dead Ones weren’t attacking, or even moving. He was sure that this must be Malcolm Graves.

  “Stay here, Kendra.” Alan said, walking towards the door, shotgun in hand.

  “Malcolm Graves, I presume?” Alan said as he walked outside, the cool air hitting his face.

  “How perceptive, Alan. You must be a very intelligent individual.” Malcolm replied.

  “What do you want? Why did you follow us?” Alan questioned him.

  “Well, you survived my creations at the mall, and you almost killed someone very dear to me. I’m not a forgiving man.”

  Alan was slightly taken aback. “Are you talking about the woman we found at the mall?”

  “The very same!” Malcolm said. She was resistant to my advances, but I am very persistent.”

  “So that’s why she was in the store. She was hiding from you, and thought we were helping you.” Alan realized what had actually happened.

  “She’s much more cooperative now.” Malcolm casually remarked. “The point is, your little girlfriend in there nearly killed her, and I had to save her.”

  “Wait…” Alan said. “Why didn’t she kill you?”

  “I was the only thing holding the Dead Ones at bay. They would’ve eaten her alive without me keeping them on a leash. Your little harlot of a girlfriend nearly killed her. I nearly lost her entirely.” He elaborated.

  “I can’t say I feel sorry for you.” Alan’s tone became condescending. “She’d be better off dead than around a psychopath like you.

  “I’m afraid you don’t quite understand, boy.” Malcolm said, snapping his fingers.

  At once, a single corpse from the small crowd began to shamble forward. This one looked newer that the rest. Some hair was still clinging to the body, and the flesh was less decayed than the others. Alan observed the body as it moved and noticed that it had a very distinctive feature. It had a slash across its right arm.

  “Hello, darling.” Malcolm spoke to the living corpse. “Alan, this is Jessica, AKA the girl you met in the mall.”

  “You saved her… by making her into a zombie?” Alan said, very confused.

  “Precisely. I have trapped her in this state of un-death, rather than lose her entirely.” Malcolm confirmed. “It’s better to have loved a zombie than never to have loved at all.”

  “I don’t think that’s the right saying.” Alan said. “You’re a sick man.”

  “I’m paraphrasing of course.” Malcolm replied. “Now enough idle chit-chat. It’s high time I adde
d you to my little army of the dead.”

  With a snap of his fingers, the Dead Ones behind Malcolm began shambling towards Alan. If Malcolm wanted Alan and Kendra to join his undead horde, he’d have to make an effort. Alan retreated back into the library, and yelled out to Kendra.

  “Bar the doors!” He shouted. “He’s going to have us under siege.”

  Kendra wordlessly searched for something to hold the door shut with. Her first instincts told her to use a broom or iron rod, neither of which she would be able to find in this infernal darkness. She went for the next best thing. She ran to the door, and shoved her katana into the door handles, preventing the door from opening.

  “That will hold for maybe… 5 minutes.” Kendra said.

  “I’m loving the confidence, Kendra.” Alan said sarcastically.

  Alan stood at the door, aiming his shotgun at the sluggish horde. “Kendra, go upstairs, quickly!”

  “But…”

  “Don’t argue, just go!” Alan shouted.

  Kendra dropped the argument and ran. Never had anyone been so forceful with her. It was new. She actually enjoyed it on some level. She bolted up the stairs, hoping that Alan had some sort of plan.

  He didn’t.

  Alan stood like a stone wall, waiting until he’d have to start shooting. Doing the math in his head, he reckoned that he had roughly seven shots left before he needed to reload, and unluckily enough, the rest of the ammo was in the car. Knowing that facing them down was suicide, he very quickly rethought his plan. He needed a distraction: some thing loud, and preferably very, very hot.

  He ran from his spot by the door and used the flashlight to find another door to the building. A minute of searching revealed a door in the back, where the staff once worked, that let out into the parking lot. Malcolm’s undead army wasn’t near this door, so it was his best shot at his new, yet unlikely plan.

  Propping the door open with a nearby chair, he went outside. Looking at the eyesore of a car they’d been driving, he saw that it had a leak underneath it. He didn’t know what it was, but he hoped it was flammable. He aimed the shotgun at the car, and began to open fire.

  Blast after blast hit the car and the ground beneath it. The car’s body was riddled with holes, and sparks shot up off the ground beneath the car. One of the last shots produced a spark that caught the underside of the car on fire. Luckily, whatever the crap-mobile was leaking, it was flammable. The Dead Ones definitely heard the noise, and would soon be shambling around the corner. In just a few minutes, Alan knew that car would be going up in flames, and he didn’t want to be outside when it did. He ran back inside, and un-propped the door, letting it slam shut.

  Running back out to the main area, Alan saw that the Dead Ones were close to breaching the door. He had one last-ditch idea to stop them in their tracks. Alan knew that some places had security systems that would lock down a building in the event of an attack bombing. Unfortunately for the people that had been here, the system was never activated. He wasn’t even completely sure if a public library would have it, but he knew that if they did, it would be under the front desk.

  Frantically searching the front desk, he found the switch for the lockdown, and silently thanked God that it existed. He just had to hope it would work now. He flipped the switch, and instantly, he heard the sound of heavy locks activating. The glass windows had metal blinders that dropped down over them, rendering the glass unreachable. Now the library was locked and they were trapped inside.

  “Library got an upgrade.” He said to himself, in utter disbelief.

  Alan darted up the stairs to find Kendra and let her know what the situation was. He found her hiding off in a corner, looking more scared than he had ever seen her. She never seemed to be one to hide in fear, but this time, she’d been spooked pretty bad. Before he could talk to her, he heard a loud bang outside. He was pretty sure the car just exploded.

  Alan ran to the window to confirm his suspicion. Sure enough, the eyesore that was their ‘borrowed’ car was now a burning hunk of metal. The Dead Ones that were close to the vehicle when it went up in flames began to burn, and the bodies soon dropped to the ground, finally being destroyed by the fire.

  Kendra’s voice sounded out behind him. “What happened? What did you do?”

  “I saved us.” Alan replied.

  “I mean, what did you do exactly?” She asked, her frustration beginning to show.

  “I blew up the car.” He admitted.

  “YOU BLEW UP THE CAR?!” Kendra exploded.

  “I didn’t have much of a choice, Kendra!” Alan shot back. “I used it as a distraction so that I could lockdown the library.”

  “Lockdown? What kind of lockdown?” She asked him.

  “This building has security measures. In case of an attack, someone can press the button underneath the desk, and it will lockdown all the doors and cover all windows on the first floor.” Alan explained. “The windows up here will stay uncovered, and the procedure runs on backup power. I can lift the lockdown whenever necessary, but that will allow Graves and his creatures to get in.”

  Kendra absorbed the nature of the situation and spoke. “Did you learn anything from Graves?”

  Alan took a moment to replay the conversation in his mind. “Not really. Only that he is definitely controlling these things. He even had them turn the woman we left for dead in the mall.”

  “I wonder why.” Kendra pondered aloud.

  “Oh I know why.” Alan claimed. “He said he turned her in order to save her. Graves is delusional, and apparently has some sick feeling for her. I’m just guessing that he wouldn’t have a huge problem with necrophilia.”

  “Ewww.” Kendra shivered. “That’s sickening.”

  “At least you didn’t see her. I did.” Alan remarked.

  Kendra shivered again, pausing before she spoke. “So what do we do now? We don’t have anything but the flashlights and your crossbow pistol. Any ideas on what to do?”

  “We aren’t leaving any time soon.” Alan spoke. “Might as well get settled.”

  Kendra went off the sit up against the wall. She dared not look out the window. She’d seen enough of the dead walking around for one day. Alan came over to her and sat a couple feet away.

  “Hey, Alan.” Kendra suddenly said.

  “Yeah?” He asked.

  “Can I ask about you? Like what you were like before all of this?” Kendra seemed interested to know more.

  “Sure. I just never thought you’d want to know.” Alan replied.

  “Yeah, neither did I.” She thought to herself.

  10

  If nothing else, it was a way to kill time.

  Alan began his story, telling Kendra of his life before the Dead Ones, and his life before her. “Where do I even begin?” He asked aloud. “My whole life was in this city. I was born here, raised here, and now I’ll probably die here. Childhood was normal, just like everyone else. I had a good family who took care of me. They’re all dead now though. Luckily they died before all of this happened. They never had to see this world. In the few years before the attack, I’d had a few different jobs. I never went to college, so I never had a lot of hope in getting a decent job. I mostly just did part time stuff. I had a few retail type jobs, and a couple of temp positions, nothing special. I always wondered what I would do with my life. I guess I don’t need to worry about that anymore.”

  “Seems like a pretty standard life. Not a bad one.” Kendra said. “You said you’d lost people before. Was that your family, or were you talking about someone else?”

  “That was after the attack.” Alan replied. “I had banded together with a few friends who survived the initial attacks. They were the only people I had left in this world. I’m actually surprised they banded together with me, considering I was more the outsider of the group as a whole. Although, my best friend was one member of the group, so I guess that counted for something. We’d managed to all find each other when we emerged from our respective shelters
and started our fight for survival. It went on for a few weeks, and everything went as well as could be expected. Then one day we fell into a raider ambush, and 2 of our number fell. A few days after that we ran into a horde of Dead Ones, all due to my atrocious navigation skills. After that incident, it was just down to me, and my best friend, Owen.”

  “And what happened then?” Kendra asked, her interest in the story rising.

  “Well, Owen and I escaped the horde, and made it a few more days on our own.” Alan continued. “We found ourselves holed up in the old Brown Theatre in downtown. We were there for a few days, and our food supply had run out days before we got there. We were starving and we couldn’t make it out of the building, because of the Dead Ones outside. Owen made one final act: an act of sacrifice. He made a loud racket, and did everything in his power to draw the Dead Ones inside while I escaped. He died so I could live, and I’ve been blaming myself since then. I stayed in downtown, and I met you a little over a week after.”

  Kendra was totally floored. “I’m… I’m so sorry.” She said.

  “It’s alright. I’m learning to cope. You’ve actually helped me with that quite a bit.” Alan confessed.

  “Really?” Kendra said, surprised.

  “Yep.” He replied. “Since I met you, I don’t feel so alone anymore. You’ve become more than just the girl I decided to tag along with. You’ve become a friend.”

  Kendra was a little shocked. She had no clue that she could possibly have an effect so great on him. Kendra had never been a major influence on anyone. This was all new to her, and part of her really liked it. She smiled as Alan continued.

  “So, anything else you wanna know?” He asked her.

  “Hmmmm.” She hummed. “I’m not sure. I mean I don’t expect you to give your life story.”

  “I’d hardly call 23 years a life story.” He retorted. “But I do see your point.”

  There was a silence between them before Alan spoke again.