Life Among The Dead

by Daniel Cotton

  Lindsey now sits on the couch with Becka, her arm is around the girl’s shoulders. Dan passes Barbara who is seated on one of the barstools by the counter, absently swiveling around on the cushion. Bill and Hector lean against the counter.

  The soldier opens up his fridge and takes out a few beers. He opens his and slides the men each a cold one.

  “What’s with this guy?” Bill asks hooking a thumb at Hector.

  “He’s deaf.” Dan tells him. “He can read lips, but he doesn’t talk much, especially around new people.”

  Hector doesn’t like to talk because all of his life people have made fun of how his voice sounds. The man prefers to write his communications. It always amazed Dan and Heather that he can read lips in several different languages. They didn’t see how he could differentiate between them. They had asked him, he didn’t know how he could do it either.

  Dan takes a long swig from his beer draining almost half of it. His journey is far from over. He wants to get to his wife and baby.

  “So, I gotta get to the hospital.” He tells the room, fearing the reaction the information will receive.

  “That’s not a smart idea, son.” Bill tells him. “Chances are…”

  “I’m going to the hospital.” He says, cutting the man off, not wanting to face where the sentence was heading.

  “I’m just saying, it will be dangerous.” Bill explains.

  “I know it will.” Dan finishes his beer and places his bottle in the sink. “You all can stay if you want. There’s plenty of…”

  He opens the door to the fridge and looks inside for what he has to offer them in ways of refreshments. It is bare. Heather and Dan were supposed to go shopping today.

  “…Baking soda in the fridge. Or, you can go home. I have a gun and can find a car. If I find help, I will send them your way, I swear.” Dan holds the door to the cooler open as he grabs a second beer.

  “We’re a team.” Bill states. “We’ll travel with you at least as far as the hospital. From there we’ll head home. You and your family can join up with us there.”

  “Fair enough.” Dan closes the refrigerator door and his eyes fall on one of the papers that litter the surface. It’s a picture postcard from his Uncle Bruce. The photo on it is his uncle’s ranch out in New Castle.

  “Bill, do you know where New Castle is?” Dan asks.

  “I think so. Why? Do you want to go there?”

  “Yes, my uncle has a ranch out there.” Dan offers the man a look at the picture. “It’s very secluded, and from Olive Grove hospital it’s a straight shot to the Washington Bridge, and then north to New Castle.”

  “It should have electricity.” Bill says, pondering the notion. “They say Parson’s Dam can run…”

  “Indefinitely.” Dan finishes the thought.

  “It’s a good plan. So grabbing your wife is the biggest obstacle.”

  “Let me worry about Heather. I want you guys to drop me off and just head to the ranch. Tell my uncle I sent you, and that we’ll be along soon enough.”

  “So, Hector,” Bill turns to the deaf man. “Does the ranch sound good to you?” He wishes he had put more thought into that sentence before he had said it. The silent man just nods. Hector has no family in the city, and nothing keeping him here.

  “Will Lindsey want to go?” Dan asks Bill.

  “She’s always wanted to live in the country.” Bill states before finishing off his beer. “What about Becka?”

  The men look towards the girl on the couch with Lindsey. She has her head on the older lady’s shoulder; it looks to them like she’s crying. Dan hates the idea of disturbing her, but he needs to know if she’s in, or if she wants to be dropped off at her home. He walks over to them. Lindsey is whispering to the girl. “It will be all right. Just give it to me.”

  Dan is about to speak when he sees the girl is holding a straight razor in her hands. The unfolded blade reflects the dim light of the candles. He doesn’t hesitate to snatch it away.

  “We did not save your life just so you can take it.” The steel sinks into his thumb as he closes his hand around it and pulls it from the frail girl’s grasp. He lets out a hiss of pain through his teeth.

  Blood flows from the thin wound as he heads to the counter. The slit drips scarlet drops onto the floor. Becka watches him walk away with her knife, her eyes wide with fright.

  “Blood! He’s bleeding! We have to stop it! Stop bleeding!” Becka’s words become more and more frantic. She is on her feet backing as far away from the rest of the people as she can. The wall prevents her from retreating the room entirely.

  Dan is running the incision under a cold tap. The water enters the gash bringing a fresh sting. He pats his hand dry and watches the girl meet the wall with her back. She slides down hysterically crying.

  “It’s all right.” He tells her. “I’ve had worse.” A towel from under the sink is wrapped around the infirmed finger.

  “You don’t understand. It’s the blood. They can smell it. They follow the blood.” Becka chokes the words out. Lindsey is at her side trying to soothe her. Barbara has joined, hovering just out of reach. She isn’t sure what she can do to help.

  Dan squeezes his thumb inside the towel to maintain pressure. They can smell blood? He looks to Bill and Hector for corroboration. Bill offers a noncommittal shrug. Hector nods.

  “Tell me.” Dan says to his old friend.

  Hector removes a small notebook from his pocket and waves for Dan to come closer. He writes upon the paper with a four-colored pen. The soldier watches a word appear in red above a stick figure of a man: Derosso. Hector’s boss.

  Hector works in a small Italian restaurant on the first floor of this building. He does prep work, keeps the place clean, and washes dishes.

  A second figure takes form on the page. Above it, scribbled in blue, is the word: Me.

  Behind the representation of Derosso, a rectangle appears. The man’s empty circle of a face is given a frown and a cloud hangs over him.

  “Derosso came in feeling under the weather?” Dan deciphers. Hector nods. Red teardrops fall from the stick man’s thin arm.

  “He was bitten.” Bill points out and receives affirmation from the artist.

  A new page and the Derosso figure is shown lying down on a bed. A black line divides the page signifying that this happened in a different room. Hector is drawn on the other side of the line. He is in the prep area working on a bowl of green scribbles. A TV is displaying the word: News. A storefront window is rendered on the back wall, allowing stick Hector to view a red jumble of chaos brewing outside. Derosso appears now in the prep station, his eyes are black X’s.

  Stick Hector must have been startled because now he bleeds from one of his misshapen hands. Derosso is coming at the employee and receives a knife in his chest. Another Hector appears, running away. The Derosso caricature is following.

  Words give a brief explanation. Knife cut me. I tried to hide but could not get away. He always found me. Stick hector is on top of a cabinet with Derosso looking up at him.

  “So, how did you get away?” Dan asks him.

  Hector grows another arm that wields a big pot. The pot connects to Derosso’s head. He then draws what looks like a big box with fog coming out of it. The artist can tell his audience is lost he debates drawing a thermometer with its mercury all the way to the bottom, instead he just labels the box: Freezer.

  A red square is placed on the floor of the freezer labeled: Bloody rag. Derosso is placed in the freezer and a new Hector appears to close the door.

  “Good work.” Dan tells him. He is rifling through a drawer in the kitchen. “Lindsey, do you know where Olive Grove Hospital is?”

  “On Main.” Lindsey says while she holds the tearful Becka.

  “Main is going to be a mess.” Dan says in a defeated tone.

  “It won’t be too bad. There is a street car that runs right past the hospital.”

  “You want to take the tracks?”

 
; “If they are clear.” Lindsey tells him her plan and goes back to making shushing sounds for the girl. Becka’s head is on Lindsey’s shoulder again.

  “From the hospital you guys can stay on Main, or head around back and take the ramp just passed the industrial park. Either way you can get to the bridge.” Dan tells Bill.

  “We should get going.” Bill suggests.

  “Good thinking.” Dan says, rising off his barstool. “Becka, are you coming with us, or what?”

  “She’s coming.” Lindsey answers for the teen.

  All except Lindsey and Becka carry supplies back across the hall to Matilda’s. The two ladies are holding each other so tightly one might mistake them for conjoined twins.

  The cats have come back into the apartment. Dan sees a white Persian walking into the bedroom where the old woman lies. Its paws are dark with blood. They ignore the felines and head for the window climbing out one at a time.

  Below them some of the dead linger, but the population is lower than when they first climbed up the steel steps. Slowly the dead must be losing interest, or are finding better prospects. They don’t seem to be looking for the meals that eluded them before, some of those that remain pace the alley. A few stand stationary and just stare at the van.

  Dan wants to get them out of the alley. He is pretty certain it is time for another hair-brained stunt. The soldier dashes back inside the apartment and follows the candle glow to the bathroom. In the medicine chest he locates what he had hoped to find.

  He now has cotton balls and is soaking them in rubbing alcohol. The soggy swabs are wrung out, and then stuffed into Matilda’s pill bottle. Once he has the childproof cap secured Dan makes a hole in the white lid with his knife. He works one last cotton ball into the container through this hole. Half of the fibrous material sticks out of the end, fashioning a makeshift wick. Once back on the metal platform Dan tells the others to get in the building.

  “What’s that?” Bill asks.

  “Matilda’s pills.” Dan answers. “Get inside.”

  Hector reads the man’s lips and complies, pulling Barbara and Becka into the building with him. Lindsey follows soon after them.

  “I don’t…” Bill starts to say half inside the window, but Dan interrupts him.

  “Trust me.” Dan says. As soon as the others are clear he pulls out his Zippo. The white fuse of his invention burns with a blue flame. It is airborne, sailing through the air as the flames spread over the entire object. It arcs towards the Earth like a meteorite. The soldier turns to dive through the window after he watches it bounce off the main street and roll under a parked convertible.

  Bill still stands in his way. The soldier has no choice but to plow through the man, they both fall into the old woman’s apartment. Bill again wants to say something; Dan just pushes his head down. The younger of the two hugs the elder’s head on the floor as they all wait.

  Time drags along and Dan doesn’t understand. He expected a loud bang and a fireball, enough commotion to lure the dead from the alley. He pokes his head up to see the road. A heavyset zombie wearing only a bathrobe stands by the car his improvised incendiary had landed under. The dead man is facing towards the alley watching three zombies walk out. The fat corpse’s robe is open. A breeze causes the fabric and his penis to flap obscenely.

  Dan cannot see the amber container, but is picturing it melting into the pavement, as the white fiber inside turns black. The wick must have gone out, Dan decides.

  “The old lady had a heart condition?” Bill asks with a slight knowing lilt in his voice.

  “Yeah, that was her nitro.” Dan replies.

  “You do realize the medicinal dosage of nitroglycerin is too diluted to explode?”

  Dan has to laugh at himself. “Of course I knew that.”

  “I think they are spread out enough that we can make it down safely.” Bill states.

  “You’re probably right.” Dan feels like an idiot right about now. “Sorry everybody.”

  They all nod that it’s all right. Bill leads them down the series of platforms. Dan and Hector take the rear, both armed as they cover the older man. Bill steps onto the ladder and rides it down to the van; the steel on steel friction makes a horrible screech. Lindsey descends next with the two girls.

  Dan taps Hector’s shoulder and takes his weapon so the deaf man can head down the rungs. He stops half way so Dan can hand him one of the metal boxes of ammo. Bill receives the box from Hector and they lower the second one in the same fashion.

  The dead are starting to congregate around the van. More are entering the alley from the street. It is Dan’s turn to use the ladder after he drops one of the rifles into Bill’s waiting hands. The last muzzleloader comes down with him.

  The zombies’ combined weight jostles the vehicle as they reach for the remaining survivor. Their bodies rub against the fenders in their desperate attempts to grab a meal.

  The engine is already idling as Dan enters through the sunroof. He releases the ladder letting it fly back home. The corpses are trying to claw their way in through the windows. Dan can see one of the zombies by Bill’s window has a hand full of jewelry; every finger is adorned with a heavy ring like a gaudy set of brass knuckles. The hefty accessories weigh down the ghoul’s arms, forcing it to swing from its shoulders like a boxer who has gone a few rounds too many.

  That can’t be good, Dan thinks, but it is too late. Bill’s window smashes inward as the undead lord of the ring’s hand connects just right with the glass. Several sets of hands surge in through the breech. They have him.

  The dead are grabbing at the older man. Their moans are higher in pitch and eager. Many of the occupants of the van start to scream, Becka out of horror, Lindsey out of concern. Bill is screaming in agony.

  “No!” Dan goes to the window with his 9mm drawn. Hector is trying to keep Bill in the van against the attempts of the dead to rip him from it. Dan fires into the corpses, but more join in the effort to claim the prize.

  Dan snatches the red can from the floor and pops up through the sunroof. One of the dead has climbed onto the hood and the soldier comes face to face with it. The corpse clutches either side of Dan’s head and pulls violently. The 9mm enters the thing’s open and hungry mouth. All it gets to eat today is a bullet.

  Gas is poured along the left side. The survivor flips open his lighter and sparks the flame to life. He touches the flame to the foul smelling liquid and the van becomes an inferno.

  Inside the cabin Hector falls backwards into Dan’s legs as he rends his new acquaintance from the undead mob. The soldier’s ribs slam into the edge of the roof; he almost loses the gas can and lighter. He falls back into the crowded space.

  “Drive! Drive! Drive!” Dan bellows. He sees the extent of Bill’s injuries. The man’s right ear is missing and there are deep furrows gouged into his check as if the zombies were trying to remove his face. His neck has a large chunk missing and his shirt is soaked through with blood.

  The van speeds backwards out of the alley and makes its turn onto the road. Dan is thrown into the seats in front of him while he tries to find material to dress Bill’s wounds. Hector takes off his shirt and offers it to him. Barbara has moved to the back to be of assistance.

  “Barbarella, hold this to his neck.” Dan tells the little helper.

  The girl applies pressure to the waded garment, giving her neighbor an encouraging smile. Though he winces through unbearable pain, Bill returns the smile trying to look brave for her. “I guess it’s a good thing we’re already heading to the hospital, huh?”

  Dan tears strips from Lindsey’s shirt, he would use his but the material is too rough and not really absorbent. Cotton works best. The injured man’s wife drives, her eyes pour tears down her face.

  The donated material is put against the man’s head where his ear should be. Bill holds it there himself. Dan catches Hector’s attention, drawing his eyes to his lips. Hector’s eyes are wide, he knows what happens after someone is bitten. Dan mo
uths the words: How long?

  The quiet man writes on his notebook: Hour? Hour and a half?

  “Is he all right?” Lindsey asks, trying to see her man in the rear view.

  “I’m fine.” Bill assures her, but his voice gives away that he is lying. He speaks through clenched teeth and searing pain. The gouges in his right check stretch and widen as he talks.

  “Don’t you dare lie to me, William.” She says in a stern tone.

  “He’s bitten.” Dan reports.

  “No.” Lindsey cries the word as if he was already dead. In the back Dan can hear Becka say the same word only she says it out of fear. She is afraid of the man turning into a zombie anywhere near her. Dan has to admit to himself, he fears the same thing.

  The soldier looks ahead of them through the cracked windshield. They are coming up on their turn onto Vermont. The intersection is clogged.

  “What’s the plan?” Dan asks the grieving woman behind the wheel, she ignores him. He puts a hand on her shoulder. “Lindsey?”

  “Hannah’s.” She waves him off as if he was interfering with her train of thought.

  Hannah’s is an open-air shopping center consisting of several buildings connected by elevated walkways. Dan doesn’t quite get it right away. He can see the mall coming up; before he can put two and two together the van is careening into the wide courtyard.

  The white vehicle dodges large cement planters and kiosks selling phones and bamboo plants. It darts around stone pillars and fountains. Despite the fact she strikes a slushy stand, spilling multi colored beverage all over the ground and running over numerous undead shoppers, Dan is impressed. She clearly comes here often. He remembers trying to do his Christmas shopping here a few weeks ago. And, I thought that was a nightmare. Something troubles him, as he recalls the side of the mall that opens onto Main Street has a large staircase.

  The courtyard ends at a cliff. A wide set of stairs looms before them and they are not slowing. Metal railings are erected down the center of the long series of risers. The van is able to avoid them as it leaves solid ground. All the passengers become weightless.