by Stevie Kopas
“I worked as a liaison at the port, not that far from here. International imports, blah blah blah.” Gary used his hand as a puppet to mimic himself. “I’d be here in the states so often that the wife and I decided to buy a place over at the resort. Just so happens that we were here when everything got totally fucked.” He looked at Veronica and Juliette. “Sorry loves.”
Veronica shrugged and Juliette didn’t respond. No one seemed bothered by the language so Gary took it as a good sign and continued. “The main tower is for owners, mostly full, but a lot of people took off for home at the first signs of something being off. Naturally, all international flights had been cancelled so Claire and I were stuck here in Haven. Not a bad place to be I’d say. When things started getting really bad we brought what little guests were in the other wings into the main tower and blocked it off, brought us up to about sixty. No one came in, no one went out.” He stopped for a moment and his face went solemn. “Have you seen anyone turn yet?”
The entire group remained silent, their faces just as serious as Gary’s. Each face told its own story of suffering and loss. “Mind if I have one of those, mate?” Ben tossed Gary the pack of smokes and his lighter. Gary casually lit a cigarette and went into a fit of coughing. He spat over the side of the boat, “Sorry about that, it’s been quite a while.” He returned the items to Ben. “They don’t all turn at the same rate, ya know? We didn’t even realize we had locked ourselves in with the monsters we were trying to stay safe from.” He rubbed his head, as if almost wishing the memories away. “So fucking many of them. And they were so bloody fast. Two whole days had passed before we even knew that anyone had been bitten. Couldn’t have come at a worse time either, middle of the night, pitch black. Oh, we thought we knew what we were doing. We thought we were prepared. But the problem was the fast ones go for your throat, they go for the good stuff. The faster you die the more quickly you turn if you’re not put out of your misery. Claire, myself, and three others, five fucking people out of sixty, made it out of the main tower alive. We made our way to the sky bridge that connects the buildings to one another, the plan was to lead them into the other building, trap them inside and take care of what stragglers were left.”
“How you gonna keep those things from breakin’ through the glass? That don’t make any sense.” Clyde rolled his eyes at Gary.
Samson chimed in. “Seriously, Emerald City is no joke. A lot of money to build the place and a lot of money kept in the place. Trust me, the thing is like a fuckin’ fortress. People with money don’t stay at the Super 8, Clyde.”
“Oh, well excuse me!” He snapped at Samson.
“He’s right, mate.” Gary took a sip from his bottle of water as Clyde glared at Samson. He waved his hand and flicked his cigarette away. “Anyway, the plan we had, it did make sense. It would have worked. We just didn’t have the time to make it work. Running scared like animals through dark hallways and stairwells, the echoes of the dead ringing in your ears and bouncing off every wall, it’s disorienting. We finally get down to the lobby and the goddamned place is crawling with them, we had no idea they’d already wandered in from the outside. Before I knew it, they were all over us. I don’t even know what happened to the other three men but all I know is I heard Claire scream and I forgot they were even with us. I just remember dodging those gnashing teeth and clawing hands, I killed whatever came at me to try and find her in the dark lobby. And then I finally did.” Gary hesitated and cleared his throat. “I spotted her beautiful face amidst the crowd of dead surrounding her and she...she just smiled at me.” His voice was now barely a whisper. He put his face in his hands and exhaled with a sigh. Samson’s chest tightened slightly as he replayed the final moments with his family in his mind. He knew Gary was telling the truth. He could not only hear it in the man’s voice, but he could feel it deep inside of himself. An excruciating souvenir from the end of the world.
“What happened to her?” Juliette finally spoke. She wrung her hands as she sat attentively under Andrew’s large arm.
Gary wiped the tears from his cheeks and his olive green eyes burned a hole in Juliette’s heart. “She shot herself in the head.”
IV
Juliette squealed with every bump and jump as the jet ski made its way to the shore. She held on to Gary for dear life and kept her eyes squeezed shut. She was the last of the group to be taken to shore from the The Dockside. Her companions were already patiently waiting on the sand, smashing the heads of the undead as they stumbled their way through the sand. Gary had convinced them that joining him in Emerald City was the right choice and promised them a fair share of his supplies and a safe place to stay if they'd help him take care of a few of his own problems.
The jet ski came to an abrupt stop. "You ready then?" Gary called over his shoulder.
She nodded, watching as Andrew took a slow moving eater out with his golf club. He swung it up and the hideous thing's jaw went flying off. Samson cracked it over the head with his shotgun, bringing it to its knees. Putrid black blood poured from the eater's face where its jaw once was, painting the once perfect white sand the color of death. Juliette flinched as Andrew brought the golf club down one more time for good measure, the eater finally lie still in a pile of its own fluids.
"Come on now," Gary held out his hand to her. "Before any more of them show up and we can't make it to the tower." She sighed and grabbed his hand, she was light enough for him to hold up over his shoulders to ensure her clothes didn't get soaked, just as he had done with Veronica. The rest of the group would have to worry about soggy pants and sand caked shoes for now. As soon as Juliette's feet were on the ground Gary pushed his jet ski alongside the other that Ben had used to help him bring everyone ashore.
"See? I told you everything was gonna be fine." Andrew beamed at his girlfriend as she ran to him, finding comfort in his arms. She didn't care that he was covered in blood, he was the only place she felt truly safe.
"Right then. Looks like we've got more company." Gary pointed up the beach at a group of eaters that were making their way toward them. "Let's get a move on."
They trudged through the sand as fast as they could, not stopping to deal with the stragglers. Veronica kicked a scrawny dead boy's legs out from under him when he got too close, Clyde was itching to pull the trigger but knew that it would bring the whole undead city of Haven down to the shoreline. The group practically flew up the cement steps once they were off the sand. Gary led the way up onto the pool deck through a large white gate. Juliette's eyes welled up with tears when they passed the pool. The water was a sickening color filled with lifeless, bloated bodies. Everyone but Gary jumped once they got nearer to the buildings as eaters slammed themselves against the glass of the east wing doors. "You get used to it, eventually." Gary ignored the savage beasts slamming their fists and heads into the door.
Samson shivered at the sight of the eaters spitting and clawing, their muffled growls invading his ears. Their milky white eyes darting from human to human, obviously tortured behind the shatterproof glass, their meals standing just feet before them.
Gary motioned for them to continue. "Come on, this way." He ran up to a large potted plant that was slowly withering away and pulled out a large set of keys. He noisily unlocked the west building's heavy glass door and swung it open. "Inside, hurry now." One by one the survivors walked through the doors, marveling at the luxurious lobby they had entered.
"This place is huge!" Veronica didn't mean to speak her thoughts out loud and looked around sheepishly after the enthusiastic words left her mouth. The marble floors, even through their filth, sparkled up at her and the walls were covered in abstract art that she couldn't even begin to wrap her head around at that moment.
“That it is.” Ben stood beside her, taking the emptiness of the building in and lighting a cigarette.
Samson scratched the back of his head absentmindedly with the barrel of the shotgun, turning in a small circle and imagining the vast expanse of the lobby filled
with the bustling of families coming and going as they enjoyed their gulf coast vacations. Clyde threw himself into an oversized armchair and stared up at the ceiling, his eyes fixated on the enormous light fixtures that no longer served a purpose, while Andrew quietly consoled an anxiety ridden Juliette nearby.
"Home sweet home." Gary said as he opened a door labeled 'Laundry'. "Towels? Anyone?" The rest of the group nodded yes and he passed them out accordingly. They stood around and wiped themselves down as best they could, drying themselves off if necessary.
"Any chance there's a set of spare clothes around here?" Ben asked as he wrung his socks out, trying to shake the sand from them.
"Well I'm not sure what your style is, but with the amount of clothes I've found so far, something's bound to fit." Gary jingled the keys.
“So what now?” Samson struggled to put his damp polo back on.
Gary smiled slightly at him, "Sorry to say that the elevator's out at the moment, but whenever you're ready, I'd love to give you the tour."
As they climbed the interior stairwell Gary pointed out that aside from the 11th floor, each of the 23 floors up from the lobby held 8 condominiums each. The ground level was made up entirely of offices, maintenance and laundry. It was designed with state of the art security features. The east and west wings were identical in layout and the central building was for owners only, with extra amenities and coded security features on each floor. "Of course all that's useless now, with the power being out and all. But that's why I've got this lovely set of keys here." Gary explained as they continued their ascent to the 24th floor where he’d set up his living quarters. "Each plant at the pool deck, they've got a set of the security keys hidden in them. I keep the extra sets hidden elsewhere. You never know when shit's about to hit the fan. And as of right now," he stopped for a moment and turned to face the group behind him, "The east wing is entirely off limits. I shouldn’t have to tell you why, I think you all saw for yourself.”
Everyone was exhausted by the time they’d reached the 10th level so when they finally arrived on floor 24 they were ready to pass out, especially the men, their clothes both damp and sandy. "The heat's a bit much with the stairs, trust me, I know." Gary carried on in an almost cheerful manner, completely unfazed by the climb. "But you will get used to it. You have to get used to it, unless you prefer jumping balcony to balcony, and I don’t recommend that." He opened the stairwell door to the 24th floor and a gust of wind greeted them, cooling their faces. They stopped dead in their tracks, not expecting the sudden reminder of the grim world they now lived in. None of them had been able to see this much of anything since the world had gone away but now they were first hand witnesses to the complete and utter loss of the world below them. No cars drove along the streets, they sat empty and unmoving. There were no people walking or laughing or going about their day, just empty shells of who they used to be, milling about gruesomely with no purpose but to destroy any living thing they came into contact with. A few buildings in the distance still burned and smoke was ever present on the blue horizon. On the distant highway, nasty accidents that would never be cleared and bumpers touching bumpers were all that was left of the once free flowing system of highways and transit.
Ben lit another cigarette and Clyde followed suit. Veronica twisted a strand of hair and Samson stared blankly. Juliette cried and Andrew gently rubbed her shoulders.
Gary sighed. "I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”
The distant call of seagulls snapped Veronica out of her trance. “The skies belong to the birds, the land belongs to the dead.”
“Not if we take back what we can.” Gary lightly patted her on the shoulder. “Let’s get you to your rooms and find some fresh clothes. No offense, but you’re all smelling pretty terrible.”
“No argument there.” Ben flicked his cigarette out and over the railing. The wind caught the butt and sent it off to land gracefully in an already trash covered street where no one would ever clean it because no one was left to care.
V
Each furnished condominium was elegant and spacious with its own balcony and breathtaking view of the emerald coast. The largest unit on the 24th floor was used for stocking all that Gary had previously scavenged from the building. One bedroom for food and water, another for shoes and clothing. The third was set up as a disorganized medical facility and Gary used the fourth for his own personal sleeping space. Samson wanted everyone to stay close together so they took the two units to the left. Each of them found clothes that would fit from Gary’s homemade walk in closet and took turns bathing themselves in his seemingly endless supply of gulf water.
As Veronica dressed in the room she’d chosen she felt like an alien. This was not her home, and after weeks of death, violence, running and hiding, she didn’t feel normal sleeping in a bed, in some tower and pretending that everything was alright. She walked to the huge sliding glass door and pulled hard on the handle. The door slid open, sunshine greeting her face and the sound of soft waves touching the sands filling her ears. Samson was already out on the balcony, staring out over the water.
“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” He squinted at her over his shoulder as she stepped out of her room. The large balcony ran the length of the entire unit and each room had their own private access doors.
“Yeah.” She stepped up next to him and leaned on the rail. The breeze flowing through her long dark hair.
“You ok?”
She thought about his question. What it actually meant. Was he referring to what happened in Franklin Woods or what happened at The Dockside Bar & Grill? Or did he want to know how she was in general, in light of the world ending. “I’m not ok with any of it. But I’m alive, so I guess I gotta be doin’ pretty well.”
Samson’s mouth was a tight line. His eyes still squinted in the sun, still staring off into the water. He watched as The Dockside gently bobbed in the waves. “I’d say you’re doin’ alright by today’s standards.”
“Are you ok?” She looked at him but he didn’t turn to look at her.
“Today’s standards, Veronica.” He tapped the railing with his wedding band and stopped immediately, looking down at it, the white gold shining in the light of the afternoon sun. Veronica cringed as Samson pulled the ring off his finger, a white tan line taking its place. “We made it this far.” Samson didn’t throw the wedding ring from the balcony; that would have allowed Veronica to see that he had some sort of left over emotion attached to the inanimate object. He simply let go of the ring, not as if he were defeated by it but as if he simply had no more reason to hold on. “Just gotta keep reminding ourselves that we made it this far.” He squeezed her shoulder as he passed her. “Gary’s waiting for us, you comin’?” She nodded and followed him back inside.
The rest of the group was already in the living room. Gary had arranged the furniture so they could all sit in a circle.
“Welcome, welcome!” Gary greeted them cheerfully. “Head to the kitchen before you sit, there’s bottled water and soda, everything’s warm but I’m sure you’re used to it. Some snacks and food, take a can. Help yourself to whatever you’d like.” Veronica’s eyes lit up when she spotted the chocolate chip cookies sitting on the kitchen counter and took the whole bag with her to the couch.
Everyone giggled, it was surprisingly delightful to be able to watch a teenager stuff her face with cookies at a time like this. “What?” She said through a full mouth. “He said help yourself.”
“That I did.” Gary smiled and clapped his hands together. “So, now that we’re all here. Let’s get some food in our bellies and get down to business.” He leaned back in the light green arm chair. “As one man, I can’t possibly stake claim to this entire building. It wouldn’t be right for me to sit here and tell you this is all mine, but I will say that I’ve been a busy lad. Ever since the breach and I lost everyone, I’ve made sure the dead stay out of the remaining building. I gathered every useful item from every single floor and I have spent h
ours upon hours trudging back and forth from the beach to stock up on sea water. I got bored sitting and waiting for someone to show up and so I scouted the area, not too far, I’m only one person. But with it just being me, it made it very easy for me to get around, explore and scavenge the other businesses and homes on this block.” He scratched lightly at his dark beard. “So like I said, I’ve been busy. But I wouldn’t have invited you here to share this all with you if I didn’t need you. I told you on the boat that I needed your help going out in the area for supplies, but I also need your help to clear out the central building.”
“Clear out a building?” Andrew set his Coke can down on the coffee table. “Isn’t that the building ya’ll got attacked in?”
Gary put his hands up, “Hold on, hold on. Don’t get the wrong idea. Yes, we lost the building. I lost everyone. But I need the building back. We need the building back.” He put an emphasis on the word ‘we’ as he spoke to Andrew. “You see this little guy I’ve got strapped to me here?” He patted his gun. “That’s all I’ve got left, and I don’t see you lot with an armory anywhere do I?”
“We had a lot more. A whole lot more. But some asshole locked us out of where we were holed up at.” Clyde joined the conversation. Samson made a face. Veronica stole a glance at him from the corner of her eye.
“So you see? You need weapons. We had a ton of them stockpiled. Nothing fancy, mind you, but plenty of guns and ammunition. Knives and other weaponry, all useful in a time like this.”
“And all this is in the building that happens to be filled with hungry ass dead folk?” Clyde dramatically folded his arms across his chest.