by bret Wellman
Other than that the room was plain and gray, a place where businessmen came to die a slow lifelong death.
"We are trapped like rats," a short man with jet black hair said, peering out the window.
He is a fool, Dan thought. After everything they had gone through, saying something like that was idiotic.
Dicky went to the office's door and peered out into the hallway. "We have to find the stairs."
The man at the window turned and let out a shrill laugh. "And go where?"
Dicky eyed him: "I don't know, but if I die it won't be because I was caught sitting around."
"This is as close to safe as you will ever be again," said the man. “They are going to flood this building; there is nothing we can do.”
"If that's how you feel, then stay. I on the other hand will be looking for an exit," said Dicky before stepping out of the room.
Given the choice between the man at the window and Dicky, Dan assumed he would have gone with Dicky every time. Zoey must have felt the same way because she followed Dan out into the hall.
The theme of the building seemed to be “boring:” gray cubicles; gray floor; white ceiling. There were glass panes on all the walls allowing you to see through into all the offices.
Apparently, Dicky had no plans to stay and wait for anybody else. He was already turning a corner when Dan and Zoey stepped out into the hall. They had to jog in order to match his pace.
Only ten people were following them, Dan noted as he glanced back. He wasn't quite sure if that was good or bad. He was sure the rest of them would change their minds once the zombies started getting farther up that ladder. He hoped they would be able to find their way; maybe they would head for the roof.
Dicky found the stairs pretty quick, and was a flight and a half ahead of them when they finally entered. He was heading down, which was not the choice Dan would have made.
"Where are you going?" Dan did his best not to shout. He strained his voice to carry the whisper.
"What?" Dicky asked, stopping for a moment.
"Why are you going down? Shouldn't we be moving away from the zombies?"
"Maybe," said Dicky. "I want to get a look around to see what my options are. We can always head up later."
He waited for Dan's nod and then began moving again.
They followed behind, trying to make their footfalls as light as they could. They could hear moans and movement as they passed the bottom two floors. The zombies were beginning to work their way up the building; luckily none were in the same shaft as them.
Dicky stopped when they reached the lobby. He waited to make sure everyone had stopped moving and was completely quiet before cracking the door. Dan moved closer to get a look through the crack.
The lobby looked like the entrance to a spa of some sort. In a lot of ways it was like a very bright cave. The tiles that covered the floor and snaked up the walls were dark brown and looked like flat rocks. There was an artificial waterfall close to the door that stretched up to the ceiling. Because the power was off, it wasn't running, Dan imagined it had once been a soothing relic.
"There aren't that many zombies on Madison Avenue," said Dicky. "We might be able to run across and get to the next building. It will be safer the farther we get from the safe zone."
"There is an oxymoron for you," said Zoey.
Dan assumed the street he was looking at was Madison Avenue. Dicky was right about there being fewer zombies. This street ran horizontal to the ones the zombies were using to reach the safe zone, but that didn't mean they were empty. There were more than enough zombies out there to give chase to them. Dan knew they wouldn't last long if they were trying to run and be discreet at the same time.
"What if we made a run for that?" Dan asked. Kitty-corner to the front of the spa, on the opposite side of the street, was an entrance to the subway.
"The subways are flooded," said Dicky.
"Exactly," said Dan. "Zombies can't swim."
"They can't drown either."
"Doesn't matter, because as soon as we get in that water, they can't chase us anymore."
"Fine," said Dicky. "That sounds just about as good a plan as any."
Dan pointed to a large black flashlight hanging from Dicky’s belt. "Does that thing work?"
"I wouldn't carry around a broken one if that is what you are asking."
"It's going to be dark down there, I imagine having a flashlight will help."
Dicky parted the door a little more and scanned the lobby closer. "I say we make our run for it on the count of ten."
"I'm not going out there," said a plump man who was still standing on the stairs. "No way, you have got to be out of your mind."
"You are more than welcome to head back upstairs," said Dicky.
"Come on, Denise," the man said, snagging an older blond woman by the hand and tugging her to follow him back up the stairs.
The woman yanked her hand free but followed him anyway. "Oh, Harold, would you make up your mind."
Dan turned back towards the door as he heard Dicky counting down from ten. The familiar knot twisted itself into his gut as he waited to run.
"Three," whispered Dicky.
Dan felt the slight push of people crowding in behind him, he felt Zoey's hand slide around his and squeeze.
"Two,"
Dan could feel his heart thumping like crazy. He wondered at what point it would finally just explode.
"One,"
Dicky pushed the door open and ran into the lobby. There were two zombies in the lobby; instead of going for the exit, he went for them. He picked up a wicker chair and broke it over the nearest one.
Dan hit the front door hard; he hadn't expected it to be locked. The initial impact wasn't so bad, it was the eight people right behind him that hurt. Their combined weight managed to push Dan so hard that the window cracked.
As the force began to let off, Dan managed to twist the lock. His wrist throbbed with fresh pain from being twisted against the door; he hadn't even realized it was pinched until everyone had pulled back.
He ignored the pain as the door burst open, and pushed himself forward. He stiff-armed the first zombie he came across. It stumbled backwards, pushing two more as it fell.
The street felt a lot wider to the other side, now that he had to run across it, and there sure as hell seemed to be a lot more zombies.
Dan could feel the earth fly by underneath him as stumbling bodies crowded in.
He grabbed the railing around the subway and used it to change his trajectory. He took the stairs three at a time, blowing by a zombie that was standing there confused.
When he reached the last step he dove head first. The frigid water stung his body like a thousand little needles. It was extremely cold and the shock of it burst through his body like a sledgehammer.
He cursed as he came bursting back to the surface. The water was practically raw sewage and he had managed to take in a mouthful of it.
"Come on," he said, as the others came diving in behind him.
He realized he could touch the bottom, the water only came up to his chest. Zoey hit the water first, Dicky last, his one dirty sock flopping against the pavement as he jumped.
Dan knew that there were zombies close by, he couldn't see them but he could hear them. There were maybe three or four, they sloshed through the water towards him. Even so, Dan felt a sense of relief. Unfortunately his new peace was broken by an ear-piercing scream.
He looked around frantically at their group, doing a head count. They had lost two.
Chapter 32
Dicky clicked on his flashlight and waved it through the subway station. The faces of three zombies stared back at them, their gray eyes sparkling against the narrow light. Their skin was pale and rotten, their gums were black and dark purple. Just looking at these water-soaked creatures made Dan want to throw up.
"Let's get this over with," said Dicky. The beam of light shot sideways as he stuck the flashlight in his mouth and bega
n to swim.
As Dan began to swim deeper into the subway, the light coming from the street faded. At first he wondered what could have blocked out the sun, and then he heard the sound of hundreds of bodies wading into the subway. He could feel the ripples they made as they pushed the water.
They are all coming for us, he thought, every single one of the bastards.
The backpack was slowing him down and for the first time he found himself wishing he didn't have it on. It did not take long for the extra friction to make him start falling behind. The good news was that the backpack floated a bit so he didn't have to work as hard to stay on the surface.
Dicky stopped swimming and stood up ten feet from a tiled wall at the far end of the room. He waved his flashlight to the left and right, revealing two dark caves on the opposite walls.
On a better day, that is where the train would have traveled, Dan realized. Dicky must have been standing on the edge of the platform.
"Would you prefer going left or right?" Dicky asked over the echo of insistent moaning. They could see his breath as he spoke.
"Doesn't matter to me," said Dan.
"Alright," said Dicky, swimming to the right.
The water was significantly deeper once they entered the dark cave. Dan could sense it, as if he were more exposed. He was disconcerted by the flashlight, constantly shining its beam on the wall to their right.
There was a slight current over the tracks, just enough to make the long swim a little bit more easy.
"You don't think there are alligators down here, do you?" Dan asked when they were a way into the tunnel.
"I think that's the sewer system you are thinking of," said Zoey from ten feet or so ahead.
"Really?" Dan said, rubbing his fingers together and feeling the slime in between them. "I'm kind of under the impression that this has become the sewer system."
"Let's concentrate on getting eaten by one creature at a time," said Dicky from the front of the group.
Something brushed Dan's leg and he let out an involuntary yelp. The flashlight beam swung around and blasted him in the eyes.
"You alright?" Dicky asked.
Dan was about to shrug it off when he felt something tug on the toe of his shoe. He yanked his foot away, suddenly feeling very, very exposed.
Dan took a gasping breath and looked up to see Dicky wading in the water.
"Stay away from the bottom!" he yelled.
His words had just enough time to echo one time before Dicky was yanked under the surface. When he bobbed back to the top he dropped the flashlight, revealing hundreds of zombies below them.
Their skin looked ghostly white in the murky glow, their faces distorted by the water. Their hair floated around their heads, adding to their ghostly countenance in the dim light. They are hideous, Dan thought.
Dicky was yanked back under where countless hands grabbed him and pulled him deeper.
"Keep moving," Dan yelled, "we have to stay on the surface!"
Dan began paddling into the darkness, fearing the consequences of slowing down and sinking deeper into the water. He looked downward as he passed the spot where Dicky had been grabbed. All he could see was a giant tangle of bodies. And then, as he passed, the glow of the flashlight left behind.
The blackness melted over him, feeding his fears and blanketing his senses.
This isn't a cave, he thought, this is a tomb.
Now that he knew they were there, he could feel them. Ripples bursting against his stomach as they tried to snatch him up.
There was a gargling scream somewhere behind him, it sounded like a woman. She must have been grabbed by a zombie and was now being pulled under.
"Zoey!" Dan yelled. He tried to turn around but his body began to sink; a hand brushed against his foot.
"Zoey!" He yelled again. "Fight it!"
"Dan," it was Zoey, off to his right.
Somebody else was being drowned behind them. Whoever it was, their screams were replaced by the sound of bubbles floating up and breaking the surface.
They are right below me was all he could think after that. They could drown and eat me whenever they want but they are not. They want me to suffer in the cold water first, wait until I get hypothermia before finishing me off. Well, they won't have very long to wait.
His entire body was numb; the cold was sucking the life right out of him. With every stroke it was harder and harder to make his muscles work. The tunnel seemed to go on forever. Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into minutes as his sense of time was lost.
"Z-z-zoey?" He chattered when he couldn't take the silence anymore.
"Y-yeah," she responded.
He noted how weak and shaky her voice was. If they didn't get out of the freezing water soon, they wouldn't be getting out at all.
He realized he didn't have anything to say but that he just wanted to hear her voice. "Noth-thing."
"We have to k-k-k-keep going," her voice came through the darkness.
Dan found himself growing more thankful of the current. It was becoming quite obvious that it was their only chance of reaching the next subway station.
His breath began to come and go in ragged tugs after a while. His arms and legs grew still with weariness, his hands were the only things pushing against the water. Eventually he rolled onto his back and let the backpack hold him while he rested.
He bumped something hard, jarring him out of the sleep that had overtaken him. At first he thought he was being attacked but, as he slid along, he realized it was the wall.
How long had he fallen asleep for, he wondered. He hadn't even realized he was slipping into unconsciousness until the wall had jarred him awake. If it wasn’t for the backpack he would have drowned.
Falling asleep was not a good sign, and what was worse was that he couldn’t seem to prevent it. His eyes were already drifting back to half-mast and he was feeling dazed.
"Z-Z-Zoey," his voice came out weak and cracked.
There was no response.
"An-anyone?"
There was no one there to respond; he was all alone.
The idea made the darkness palpable; it was only him and the dead. He knew any moment that one would pop up to the surface. They would look at him through a rotted face with those gray, dead eyes.
"We want you to float with us, Dan," they would say.
A thousand hands would reach out from the water and wrap him up, their rotting flesh tearing open from the strain. He would be drowned and he would be eaten, that is how his life would end.
He knew he was already dead, that is why he was so shocked when the light hit his eyes. It was dim and far away, but it was there. It shone through the subway station as he exited the tunnel. He could see three cement pillars reaching out from the murky water, doing their best to hold up the ceiling. There were two zombies wandering around, the water coming up to their chest. He could not see their faces, nor the texture of the pillars, with the light coming from behind them; they were only shadows.
As he looked around he spotted Zoey, her skin so white that she could have been one of the zombies. She looked to have already gone through most of the stages of hypothermia. Her breaths came out in short puffs, he wondered if she was in shock. She had kept her head above water and that was more than he could have asked.
The others had not been so lucky, only two had made it out of the tunnel without getting snatched up, and they floated face down.
With rising astonishment Dan realized that he should have been one of the people floating face down. The only thing that had kept him alive was his backpack; it had acted like a life preserver. A one million dollar life-preserver that was literally made of money.
He reached out with one frozen hand, and shoved Zoey out of her stupor.
"Light," he said as audibly as he could manage, it came out hoarse and weak.
Her eyes lit up with comprehension; there was still some life in her somewhere.
Together, they were able to keep moving a
nd paddle until they reached the steps.
Dan managed to crawl up onto dry land on shaky limbs that he could not feel at all. He watched in disgust as the dirty water slipped off of him and ran back toward the subway.
Zoey collapsed at his side and curled up into him. They got close, trying to create heat where there was none. Both shivered uncontrollably, neither tried to talk.
Dan watched the two zombies trying to make their move, the water slowing them to a virtual standstill.
We made it, Dan thought, we swam through hell and we made it.
Chapter 33
At first it was just bubbles, disturbing the surface of the water over the train tracks. There were only a few at first but it did not take long for the water to almost look like it was boiling. A few seconds later the water began to ripple and sway. When the commotion was at its maximum, that was when the heads began to rise from the water. They came by the tens, black and blond mops rising to reveal the zombies underneath.
"They followed us," Dan said, his voice still hoarse, "they have climbed up the edge because they are never going to stop."
Zoey was still watching the original two zombies, they were within ten feet of reaching the steps.
"Come on, we have to get out of here," she said, sounding no better than he did.
She began to struggle, using the wall to get herself to her feet. Dan sat there, watching twenty zombies turn into fifty, fifty into a hundred. He wondered how many were down there; had they chased them all the way from the safe zone?
It took Zoey trying to yank him up to his feet to snap him out of his musing. His eyes locked onto the closer two zombies that were now beginning to climb the steps.
Though his arms and legs were still numb, he was able to will them into action. He grabbed the railing and climbed up to his knees, then to his feet, with the help of Zoey.
He wrapped his arm around her and together they began to shamble up the steps.
His ankles felt like they might snap at any moment, his legs felt like they were being stabbed by a thousand knives. He could feel Zoey limping and knew she must have been dealing with the same problem.