by M. D. Massey
We go past a banquet hall and through an employee area to get to the exit. My heart beats faster with each step. Are the others as freaked out as I am? Everyone looks pretty anxious: weapons held tight, bodies stiff and jaws tense. No one is taking this lightly.
We pause at the exit and Winston looks us all over. “Try not to fire your guns. We don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves.”
“What the hell are we supposed to use?” I ask. “Harsh language?”
“That’s why I gave ya the knife, Blondie,” Angus says, elbowing me.
I curse and stick the gun back in my waistband, then pull out the knife. This means I’m going to have to get close to these things. Someone should have mentioned that upstairs.
“Ready?” Winston asks.
I’m not, but I nod anyway. My neck is so tight that my head barely moves. Winston slowly opens the door and steps out into the alley, and I take a deep breath.
“You okay?” Axl asks.
“I’m fine,” I snap. I refuse to look at him. Don’t focus on Axl, stay alert. Easier said than done.
I step out behind Angus with Axl and Mike, who carries the empty gas can, taking the rear. It’s chilly, which is pretty common for San Francisco, and the sky is overcast and gray. I glance nervously up and down the alley as I follow the others. No bodies are in sight at the moment, but I stay alert. I don’t want to let my guard down.
Winston stops at the end of the alley and puts his hand up, signaling for us to halt. He peers around the corner, then steps back. “They’re spread out, all over the street. Yesterday when we were out they didn’t charge unless we made a noise to draw their attention, so if we stay quiet we should be able to make it to the parking garage without much trouble. Everyone good?”
I nod and the others must too, because Winston dashes into the street. Angus follows him and I stay right on his heels, holding the knife so tight my hand throbs. My eyes don’t rest for a second as we move down the street. I glance from the road in front of me to the bodies we run past, constantly on the lookout for trouble.
My throat convulses and the scent of decay threatens to choke me. The dead are everywhere. Their gray skin hangs loose, and they walk around aimlessly, staring at the ground. They don’t look up when we run by. Even our heavy breathing and pounding footsteps don’t draw their attention. It’s eerie and it makes me more jumpy than it would if they were racing us, because I have no idea what to expect.
We go over a hill and the parking garages comes into view. My heart races. Almost there. It’s only about twenty feet away now, and so far the bodies have barely been an issue. We’re going to make it.
Winston dodges a woman on the sidewalk and jumps out into the street so he can step around her. Angus does the same, but he steps off the sidewalk wrong and twists his ankle in the process.
“Shit,” he mutters.
It isn’t loud, but it’s loud enough for the body of the woman they dodged to hear him. Her head snaps up just as I’m passing her, and her milky eyes look right at me. Before I even have a chance to react, she reaches out and grabs my arm. She moans. I bite down on my lip to keep from screaming as I swing my knife at her. She yanks my arm. It pulls me off balance and I stumble. The blade misses her head and my knife slices through her throat instead.
Black goo oozes from the gash and slides down the blade of my knife as I rip it from her throat. The stink makes my eyes water. She moans louder, but I’m not sure if it’s because she’s in pain or if she’s hungry for my blood. Whatever it is, it’s loud enough to get the attention of a few of the other bodies around us. Two heads snap up, then three more. It’s like a domino effect, and before I know it more of the dead have turned my way. Too many to count while struggling for my life.
My pulse kicks up a few notches and I scream as I struggle with the woman. The bodies are everywhere and we need to get moving. But her grip is strong and her fingers dig into my skin. She desperately tries to pull my arm toward her mouth. I’m trying to free myself from her grasp when Axl runs up and jams his knife right into her eye socket. Her hands go slack and she drops to the ground.
“You ‘kay?” Axl asks, grabbing my arm.
His eyes dart around, surveying the area, and I do the same. Angus is limping, but he stabs an elderly man wearing a hospital gown in the head. Winston has a similar battle going on, only his is with a woman who had to weigh over three hundred pounds when she was alive. He has to slam her in the head with a club several times before she goes down.
I nod at Axl and glance over my shoulder. Mike is behind us. He stabs another body in the head, then runs forward.
“Let’s get to the garage,” he says.
I run between Axl and Mike, with Angus limping down the sidewalk in front of us. More bodies have noticed the commotion and are coming to life around us. Moaning, walking or running toward us with arms extended. Winston is in the lead. He bludgeons body after body in the head with his club. He’s not holding back.
“Stairs!” he calls, charging into the dark parking garage.
I pull my flashlight out of my back pocket and flip it on as we run, following Angus and Winston up the stairs. Angus hobbles as fast as he can, but he starts to fall behind.
“Help your brother.” I shove Axl away from me and toward Angus, then turn to Mike. “Can they climb up stairs?”
“Yup, but we’re faster,” he says. “We’ll get up a few floors and block the stairs.”
I nod and pick up the pace. I pass Axl, who is now helping Angus, and charge ahead.
“Here!” Winston yells when we reach the fourth floor.
Rounding the corner, I find him struggling with a Coke machine. I jam my knife back in the sheath and help Winston push the machine toward the stairs. The muscles in my arms ache as I struggle to push it forward. I grit my teeth and shove as hard as I can, screaming in exertion. I’m not sure how much help I’m being, but it slowly begins to move. Then Mike comes over to help and it really gets going. We’re almost to the top of the stairs when Angus and Axl make it up.
“The other one!” Winston calls.
I let the other two men struggle with the machine that’s almost to the stairs and turn toward the other. Angus leans against the wall to rest, while Axl rushes to help. We reach the second machine at the same time. Axl’s face is red and sweaty before we start pushing. We work together, but it’s slow moving. We’re only halfway there when Winston and Mike come to help. Footsteps echo through the stairwell, getting closer by the second.
“Got one!” Angus calls from behind.
I’m not sure if he’s talking about a car or a body, but I don’t look. I focus on getting the machine to the stairs. It only takes a few seconds once all four of us are pushing it, and before the dead even get close we have the stairwell blocked.
“Little help,” Angus calls.
I’m out of breath and exhausted, but I spin around anyway. Two bodies lurch toward him. Before I can even move, Winston steps forward and slams them in the head with his club, one right after the other. Black ooze sprays everywhere and the foul smell fills the parking garage.
“Damn they stink.” Angus waves his hand in front of his face. He nudges the nearest one with the toe of his boot. “Why no blood?”
“Because their hearts aren’t beating anymore.” Winston wipes his club on the dead man’s shirt. “You stop bleeding when your heart stops pumping blood through your body.”
“Damn, Hollywood sure got it wrong,” Axl says, shaking his head.
“Big surprise,” Mike mutters.
I step over the bodies and head toward the cars, pulling my flashlight back out. “Let’s get on with this.”
It only takes us a couple minutes to locate a few vehicles big enough. The parking garage is full.
“We got us a couple minivans and an Explorer. What’d you think?” Angus asks Winston.
“Think we should take two, just in case?” Winston looks through the window of the Explorer.
“Not a bad idea,” Axl says. “Be nice to already have the space if there’s car trouble.”
“Okay then. We’ll take that there minivan and this here Explorer.” Angus takes the club out of Winston’s hand and slams it against the window of the van. It shatters with one blow. “Take care of the Explorer while I get this one started,” he says, tossing the club back to Winston.
Winston looks over toward Mike and me. “Keep your eyes open, we’re making a lot of noise.”
I nod and pull out my knife, scanning the garage. Moans come from the stairwell where the dead pound against the vending machines. They’re shaking and rattling so hard that I start to really worry they’ll get pushed over.
The glass shatters on the Explorer and I let out a little yelp of surprise. Angus rolls his eyes, but I ignore it and go back to scanning the garage. My heart beats so hard in my ears that I can hardly hear anything else.
Angus works fast. Within minutes the engine roars to life. “This one’s almost full,” he says, hopping down. He winces when he puts weight on the ankle and limps over to the Explorer.
“We got company,” Mike says to me.
Moans of the dead, much closer than the ones coming from the stairs, make me spin around. Two bodies lumber toward us. I inhale sharply, but the stink of death hits me so hard I regret it immediately. My hand tightens on my knife and I follow Mike toward them. He takes the bigger one, a man in a suit, and I take what used to be a teenage boy. The boy charges more aggressively than most of the others we’ve come across, and I swing my knife, catching him in the side of the head. The blade cuts through the bone with a crack and slides deep into his brain. His body collapses, taking my knife with him. When I yank it out I hold my breath so I don’t have to breathe in the stink floating off the body.
“Nice shot.” Mike gives me a big grin. “You’re pretty tough. What’d you do for a living before all this?”
“I was a stripper.”
He throws back his head and laughs. “I would’ve guessed Pilates instructor or something. Them chicks always seemed tough and fit.”
I smile just as the second car roars to life behind us. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Mike nods and we turn back to the cars.
“Explorer needs some gas,” Angus says.
Axl swears and runs his hand through his hair. “Can it wait until we’re out of the city?”
“Doubt it. Got less than a quarter of a tank.”
“Shit,” Axl mutters. “Well, let’s break open a few more cars and see what we can siphon.” He turns to me and Mike. “You okay taking watch?”
We nod and he takes off with Angus and Winston to break into a few more cars. Mike and I follow the others, constantly scanning the garage. Every sound makes me jump, and I have to wipe my palms on my pants. They’re moist with sweat. The dead pound on the vending machines. Their banging and moans echo through the garage. Otherwise, we don’t see a thing.
“Doubt too many people died in a parking garage,” Mike says.
“Probably not.” We keep our eyes open, anyway. I’m on edge. Everything is still so surreal. My brain is having a difficult time registering what’s happening. Bodies trying to eat us. It’s nuts.
I need a distraction. Mike scratches his beard. He’s a burly guy with an arm full of tattoos, a Harley Davidson shirt and a leather jacket. “What about you? What’d you do before this virus hit?”
“Physical therapist.”
“For real?”
He grins and nods.
“I was going to guess tattoo artist or truck driver.”
“Don’t judge a book by its cover, girlie,” he says with a wink.
“This one’s full!” Axl yells from a small, black two-door car.
Angus has the gas can. He limps over to his brother.
The vending machines rattle and the moans get even louder. Are the bodies getting anxious, or are there more of them? I just pray we can get back to the safety of our hotel. Soon.
The screeching of metal fills the air. I spin around just as the vending machines come crashing down.
“Shit!” Mike backs away with his gun raised.
I’m frozen. Dozens of dead spill out of the stairway, tripping over one another, climbing over the vending machines. Clawing their way toward us. Moaning. Screaming. Desperate to get through.
Mike yells, “They’re coming! Let’s get out of here. Now!”
I snap out of it and take off after Mike. The moans follow us as we charge toward the minivan. Fear twists inside me, like something alive, coiling around my intestines. I don’t stop running, but I glance over my shoulder to make sure everyone else is okay. Looking for Axl. He’s with Angus, helping him walk. Angus must have really hurt his ankle.
“Get in the driver’s seat!” I shout to Mike, spinning around to face the horde of undead charging us.
I switch weapons. The dead stumble toward me, their mouths hanging open and their arms raised. Unearthly moans come from their bodies that grow louder with each step they take. The stink of decay floats through the air, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I take a deep breath and aim my gun at the head of the closest one. I squeeze the trigger and barely register the loud boom that echoes through the vacant parking garage, briefly cutting off the moans of the dead. The body drops to the ground and I turn toward the next one, hitting him in the skull. I do the same with another and another, but they keep coming.
Axl is beside me, pulling my arm toward the van. “Let’s go!”
I walk backward, firing as I go. Two more go down, but there are five left. They move faster, like the sound of our gunfire is driving them forward. Their moans have morphed into angry screams, and their outstretched arms flail around as if they’re trying to grab me from five feet away. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
I throw myself into the van, right behind Axl. Mike doesn’t wait for the door to shut. He hits the gas, peeling out as I pull the door shut.
I’m out of breath. “Are we all here?”
“Angus and Winston are in the Explorer,” Axl says.
“Did we get enough gas?” Mike calls back.
“May have ‘nough to get us out of the city, but I doubt it.”
My hair is sticky with sweat. I rake my fingers through it. My hands shake. “We can always siphon from the other cars and split it up evenly between the three if we have to.”
Axl cocks his head to the side and the corner of his mouth turns up. “Damn girl. How’d you get so smart?”
I shrug. “Necessity.”
21
When the cars pull into the parking lot of the Mark Hopkins, it draws the attention of every body on the street. Before we even have a chance to turn the cars off the dead are stumbling across the parking lot toward us.
Luckily, we aren’t far from the front door. I hop out of the van and charge toward the entrance of the hotel with the others. I make it just as one of the dead grabs Winston from behind. He easily shakes the man off and slams his club against the side of his head. None of the other bodies even come close to us.
We stumble inside and I lean against the wall, trying to catch my breath. Winston locks the door, and I will myself to relax. We made it. Too bad my heart hasn’t figured that out yet. It’s pounding faster than a dozen charging horses.
Axl stops next to me. How does he still look so laid back? “You notice the other car in front of the hotel?”
I shake my head, still gasping.
“Big red Cadillac SUV. Somebody’s here.”
“Maybe it’s Trey and Parvarti,” I say hopefully.
He purses his lips. “Could be. Then we could get the hell outta this city.”
“Well, let’s be prepared,” Winston says. “Keep an eye open for others, just in case. Especially when the elevator comes out on the eighteenth floor. I don’t want to be taken by surprise in case it’s someone hostile.”
“Good thinkin’,” Angus says grudgingly.
> Guess he still isn’t thrilled to be in such a mixed group. Seems like an idiotic concern with everything else that’s going on in the world. He should just be thankful none of us are trying to eat his face off.
“Maybe we should stop on one of the lower floors and sneak up the stairs, just in case?” Mike suggests.
Makes sense. The others nod their assent and we hop on the elevator, riding it to the fifteenth floor. From there we take the stairs, walking as quietly as possible. I’m tense and my heart is racing yet again. I’m probably going to have to get used to it. Seems like things are going to be tense from now on. At least until we find somewhere safe to live. If there is such a place.
When we reach the door to the eighteenth floor, Winston pauses. Luckily there’s a small window so we can get a better idea of what we’re dealing with.
“It’s clear,” he whispers.
No one says anything, and the muscles in my hand clench automatically as I follow him down the hall, flexing around my gun. He slowly swipes the key, turns the doorknob as silently as possible, and pushes the door open. But the deadbolt is on, just like it’s supposed to be.
“Coming!” Jessica yells from inside. Her voice is level and calm, so I immediately relax.
The door swings open. Winston looks past her, into the room. “Everything good?”
“Yeah.” She turns to Angus, Axl, and me. “Those friends of yours showed up.”
I let out a sigh of relief and tuck the gun back in my waistband. “Thank God.”
I hurry inside, smiling when I spot Trey and Parvarti in the sitting room with the others. Good thing Joshua stayed behind since he was the only one here who would have recognized them.
“Thank God you’re okay!” Parvarti says, running over to hug me. “I was so worried when we got here and Joshua was the only person we knew. I thought for sure something had happened to you!”
Trey’s eyes meet mine and he smiles, but it’s strained. His demeanor is different. He seems older and not as soft.