After the End

by Bonnie Dee

"Like maybe the pace is accelerating." Lila offered Julie a bandage for a gash on her forehead. "Fast enough that it spread like wildfire, beyond the ability of the authorities to get a handle on it. Now what can they do? Say 'screw civilian casualties' and start bombing infected areas?"

  Carl accepted the cup of tea Ann offered him and sipped it before speaking again. "I've been going over all the research in my mind and I think I see the flaw in the formula. Given a working lab with proper equipment, I believe I could find a solution to stop the mutated blood from causing reanimation." He gestured with his hand, sloshing tea over the rim of his cup. "Obviously it's too late for those already dead, but it could be administered to the newly infected to curtail the effect."

  Deb snorted. "But meanwhile we have zombies running around eating people and infecting others."

  "I believe I could find a solution for that as well," Carl said. "Darts filled with a solution that would stop the reanimates' neural systems. Better than bullets for bringing them down. Of course it would take time to develop these remedies and produce them in the necessary quantities."

  "But you think you could do it?" Joe said. "Find a cure?"

  Carl nodded. "There are files on my hard drive at work with formulas and data that I'd absolutely have to have as a starting point." He turned to Ari, instinctively recognizing him as the leader of the group. "I have to go back. I need to get that research."

  "The zombies are thicker than ever out there. We're really going to have to run a gauntlet to get anywhere." Deb nodded toward Ronnie and Mrs. Scheider. "We can't drag everyone along. I vote a team goes for the hard drive and the rest stay here."

  "No." Mrs. Scheider was as decisive as always. "Once you have what you need, you'll want to keep going out of the city. It would be a waste of time to come back for us, and we don't deserve to be abandoned because some of us are a little slow."

  "I'm not talking about abandoning anyone," Deb argued.

  "A strike team," Derrick chimed in. "That makes sense."

  Ronnie clung to her brother's hand, whining. "Don't leave me. I don't want to get ate up by zombies."

  "That won't happen, honey," Ann comforted her. "We'll be safer here. In fact we should all stay here until rescue comes."

  "What rescue?" Deb snapped. "Get it through your head, no one's coming. But that's fine. You stay behind. You'd be useless in a fight anyway."

  Tempers and voices rose as everyone argued and offered an opinion. Suddenly Ari's voice cut across the din like a knife. "No one's leaving anyone. We move as a team. We'll find a safe place for the group to stay nearby while a few go into the lab and retrieve the data. Then we'll head to the waterfront, find a boat and get the hell off this island."

  Complete silence followed his pronouncement. It was a reasonable plan. Even Deb couldn't argue.

  "Look," Lila said, "Everyone's exhausted. Our nerves are fried so let's get some sleep and talk more in the morning."

  Wired from the influx of new people and information, it took some time for everyone to settle down to sleep. Lila lay awake on her pallet beside Julie rather than Ari and wished he was still by her even if they didn't touch. Just having him next to her had helped her to relax. She watched him standing guard near the window and listened to sounds of occasional screams and gunfire outside. Zombies were on the prowl. Lila expected any minute the door would rattle or the window shatter as they stormed the building, searching for fresh meat inside.

  She prayed to the Organizer of the Universe to please put the world back in order and restore her to the life in which her biggest worry was passing a test or breaking up with a boyfriend. She begged for an end to this nightmare and fell asleep, still praying.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Seven

  "No more arguing. This is the way we're going to do it." Ari clenched his jaw in an effort not to add a curse to the statement. He'd learned a lot from observing his sergeant at basic training. The man hadn't been a screamer, not at all like the "tear 'em down to build 'em up", frothing at the mouth sergeant he'd expected from watching too many movies. When Sergeant Vogt called out a command, he expected it to be obeyed so it was. He was a quiet yet masterful disciplinarian and his unit had responded to it by being consistently at the top of the boards.

  Now Ari appreciated how difficult the sergeant's job was. Getting a group of mismatched characters to work as a team was not easy. Running away from the zombies in the subway, the group had deferred to his lead, glad to follow anyone who they thought could get them out alive. But now their individual personalities and agendas were emerging. Everyone had a different idea about what they should do, the route they should take or what items were indispensible to bring along.

  "Everyone carries something, even Ronnie. We go out the back exit and move through the alleys as much as possible. Quantus Labs is seven blocks from here. That doesn't sound like much, but we may have to fight our way through those seven blocks." And that's just the beginning. How the hell am I going to get all these people to the river alive?

  He'd considered his plan for most of last night. He'd already established that the main thoroughfares out of New York, the bridges and tunnels were too dangerous to travel. It would be too easy to get trapped by the flesh-eaters. But they should be able to snag a boat from the

  79th Street

  Boat Basin marina. Unfortunately they wouldn't have keys so he hoped boats were as easy to hotwire as cars. He'd had plenty of practice on those.

  Ari asked Deb to take point. She was sharp-eyed, fearless and knew the way. She'd had at least one kill now so he felt confident she wouldn't hesitate if she needed to fight. He and Joe flanked the group on either side and Derrick and Lila brought up the rear. The weaker members of the group were clustered in the middle. And he placed Carl dead center, a commodity to be protected at all costs. Ari was well aware this had gone far past mere survival of their group. They now harbored a man who might have the solution to humanity's downfall in his brain and on his hard drive.

  Each member of the group wore a hunting vest. The padding might protect them from tearing teeth. Everyone except Ronnie was armed with knives and a pistol. The group in the center carried backpacks crammed with goods, while the "soldiers" on the perimeter were armed with assault rifles. Their job was to protect. They couldn't be hampered by heavy knapsacks.

  After they were ready to go, with Deb poised to take that first step out the door—a critical moment for it was impossible to tell what they might encounter in the alley, Ann Hanson suddenly decided to melt down at last. To be honest, Ari was surprised she hadn't folded before. She'd raised questions, but for the most part had gone along with whatever the group decided. Now she dug in her heels and refused to budge.

  "I don't want to go. We're safe in here. We should stay and wait for help." Her face was ashen, nearly matching her white-blond hair. Her eyes were huge and Ari could see she'd checked out. She didn't want to see reason or deal with the world they were facing. She wanted to continue believing in cavalry who would ride in and save the day.

  "Ann, you can't stay here alone," Lila slipped an arm around the trembling woman's shoulders and hugged her.

  "I can't go out there. I can't!" Ann protested, her voice rising. Tears trickled down her cheeks. She let her backpack drop to the floor and covered her face with her hands.

  "Snap out of it," Deb ordered. "We're all scared but we have no choice. Now get a grip."

  Ari could see neither Lila's gentle coaxing nor Deb's gruff commands were reaching Ann. She had turned in the blink of an eye from a functioning member of the team to a nervous wreck. He had a decision to make and his stomach rolled as he realized he'd already made it. He couldn't put the whole group in jeopardy by dragging along a basket case. They couldn't hang around here waiting for her to snap out of it. The truth was that despite what people believed, in the military sometimes you did leave a man behind if he was going to jeopardize the mission.

  He stood in front of Ann, took her by the should
ers and stared into her unfocused eyes. "Listen to me." He kept his voice calm and level. "If you truly want to stay here, nobody's going to force you to go with us. But you have to understand you're in far more danger alone here than you are with a group. The zombies will be searching for fresh meat. They're smart enough to realize people are hiding indoors and they'll go through the buildings hunting them. Are you willing to risk that?"

  Ann swallowed and wiped away the mucus running from her red nose. "I'll be quiet, and I'll find a hiding place in case they do get in. Just leave me some food and water. I can wait here until things get better. It has to happen soon. The army will storm the city. They'll rescue us."

  "Jesus. You're crazy!" Deb said.

  Ari held up a hand to silence her. "It's up to Ann. If she's really that terrified or if she's going to freak out once we get outside, then she should stay behind."

  "No!" Ronnie shrieked and threw her arms around Ann's waist, burying her face against her. "I want to stay with Ann."

  Things were rapidly spinning out of his control. Ari felt sick. As if there wasn't enough stress having to face zombies, now he had to deal with a little rebellion of two.

  Derrick grabbed his sister's arm, pulling her away from Ann. For a moment, Ari thought he'd shake her, but he squatted beside Veronica and looked into her face. "Monkey, you want to try to find mom, don't you? We can't stay here. You've got to be brave and go out there no matter what we have to face. I'll protect you. I won't let any zombies come near you."

  Mrs. Scheider stooped to talk to her, too. "And I'll hold your hand the whole time. We're only going to walk a few blocks. You can do that, can't you?"

  Ronnie sniffled and whimpered, but nodded.

  Ari leaned to whisper to Ann. "Are you coming or not? No one's going to make you, but don't undermine the kid's confidence. If you're staying, say goodbye to her with a smile then go in the other room, wait for us to leave and lock up behind us. But if you're going, pull it together and pick up that fucking backpack right now."

  Ann looked into his eyes, her own red-rimmed from crying. She shook her head and muttered, "I can't do it and none of you should either. You'll be ripped apart out there."

  She seemed to have forgotten that he, Derrick and Hector had had a successful foraging trip yesterday. But maybe hearing zombies running past last night, and the distant screams of victims and gunfire had unhinged her.

  "All right." He stooped to pick up her pack and took out some cans of food and bottles of water. "Here's your share of the provisions. Good luck."

  Lila and Mrs. Scheider each hugged Ann, then Lila whispered to her for a minute, clearly taking one last shot at convincing her it was suicide to stay.

  Ann knelt and hugged Ronnie. "Be good. Take care of Bright." She indicated the stuffed unicorn she'd given the girl in the subway store.

  Ronnie nodded and clutched the rainbow colored animal. "You should come with us."

  "I'm sorry. I can't. Good luck, Ronnie." Ann rose and said goodbye to the others before leaving the back room. The door to the storage room shut behind her with a soft whoosh of air.

  "All right. Anyone else having second thoughts?" Ari slipped his arms through Ann's abandoned knapsack and hoisted it up. He didn't give them much time to consider before giving the order to move out.

  Deb took her place in front, her gun drawn and opened the exit door. She stepped from the storage room into the alley. Ari doubted this way was any safer than the street out front. Their adversaries could pop up anywhere, but psychologically it might give the team more confidence to imagine they were slipping away unnoticed out the back door.

  The alley was deserted except for dumpsters and litter. They took their positions with the stronger people encircling the weak and started down the narrow passage. Ari's gaze swept around them and up at the windows of the buildings. The sense of being watched was palpable. He hadn't felt nearly this much paranoia on their expedition yesterday. His nerves prickled almost painfully. His skin felt too tight and he was distracted by the sound of his own uneven breathing.

  Steady, he warned himself, before you have a goddamn panic attack. Sergeant Vogt had instructed his men in how to deal with the tension of battlefield conditions. He'd advised focusing outside of oneself and becoming completely aware of the environment. "A good soldier is an antenna, eyes and ears taking in information and reacting to it in an appropriate manner. Concentrate on the job and your fears will stay under control."

  That meant no second guessing or feeling guilty about leaving Ann Hanson, either. Ari relaxed his grip on his rifle and kept his body loose yet poised as they emerged from the alley onto an empty side street. Cars were abandoned here, too, although not as many as on the main thoroughfares. Human remains littered the sidewalk. After awhile they stopped trying to step over or around them. There were too many bits and it was impossible to avoid them all. The smell of decay rose in a choking pall from the rotting meat, and Ari imagined how much worse it would be after several more days had passed. They had to get out of the city as soon as possible.

  Ronnie started to whimper again and Mrs. Scheider told her to stop looking down. "Keep your eyes up, honey. Focus on Deb's back or the buildings or the sky. Don't think about where you are. Picture where you want to be."

  Sage advice, except right now Ari needed to mentally be exactly where he was, paying attention to the moment he was in. A sound caught his attention and he looked back over his shoulder. Lila and Derrick, the rear contingent of their cadre, were on guard, scanning the deserted area through which they walked while keeping their weapons ready. Lila caught Ari's look and glanced behind her so they both spotted their followers at almost the same time.

  Coming up the street about two blocks behind them were several stumbling, blood-streaked figures. The things were as deadly as sharks silently swimming up behind their quarry. These creatures had that same dead-eyed stare but considerably less grace in their movements.

  "Zombies sighted," he barked at the rest of the group. "Move double time."

  They'd discussed what to do in case of an attack. In the time it took the group to accelerate from a brisk walk to a trot, the zombies sighted them and began to move faster, too.

  "We've been spotted." As the group began to run, Ari fell to the back, ready to protect the rear. He ran alongside Lila, who muttered underneath her breath "Omigod, Omigod, Omigod."

  The zombies raced after them with a stiff-legged gait. Any second they'd catch up. Ari went to phase two. "Go!" he ordered. Joe scooped up Ronnie, Julie grabbed Mrs. Scheider's hand and they raced after Deb and Carl. The group would head for a specified meeting point. Meanwhile, Ari, Lila and Derrick whirled around, ready to fight.

  Time seemed to stand still like in a car spinning out on an icy road. Ari noted details with detached calmness. There were three men, two women and a young child of uncertain gender racing toward them. One man was balding and paunchy and looked as normal as if he'd just gotten up from his La-z-boy to get another beer from the fridge. Another seemed to be missing his jawbone. A pair of glasses hung askew from an ear of the third. One of the women wore a dress he thought was rust brown until he realized it was simply blood-soaked. He took in these images with one assessing glance.

  Ari pointed his rifle and was a hair away from shooting when suddenly Ann burst out of the alley in front of the zombies. She didn't see them, wasn't even looking their way as she ran toward Ari.

  "Wait. I changed my mind. I want to go with you," she called. "Wait!" And then she became aware of the sound of running feet behind her. Her head snapped around and she screamed.

  "Goddamn it!" Ari growled. He couldn't shoot with Ann between him and their pursuers. A second later it didn't matter because the creatures were on her. They grabbed her and dragged her down like cheetahs on a gazelle. Ann's screaming was abruptly cut short. So was the momentum of the zombies as they fought over the struggling woman.

  Lila screamed. Derrick shouted, "Fuck!" and Ari unleashed a round fro
m his rifle at the feeding zombies. The bullets tore through them, knocking them around a little, but not stopping them.

  Ari grabbed Lila's arm. "Run. We can't help her." He glanced back one last time, long enough to take a mental snapshot of Ann's foot clad in a brand new tennis shoe. The zombies were on top of her like a football pileup. One of them tore at her leg and that pristine, white sneaker beat erratically against the pavement. Ari checked to make sure Derrick was with them, then faced forward and ran like hell. Lila did her best to keep up, but soon he was dragging her with him. They soon caught up with the rest of the group, who'd turned a corner headed north.

  Julie caught sight of them first. "You made it! What happened?"

  Ari scanned the way ahead of them, well aware the danger at their back wasn't the only one they might face. "Turn left here," he called to Deb. "We need to get inside somewhere and take a breather."

  She nodded and pointed to a McDonald's. "In there." There were several entrances and plenty of windows from which to keep a lookout. She led the way inside where the stink of fry grease and overheated corpses hit them like a wall. Ari took shallow breaths as he looked around the restaurant for any movement. It seemed to be deserted, at least of the living. He didn't think the zombies were bright enough to lie in wait for victims, but underestimating them might cost their lives so he sent Joe and Carl to do a quick walk through of the building. Meanwhile, the rest of them collapsed in seats or on the floor, gasping for breath.

  Lila bent over in a corner and heaved. The sound of her vomiting started Ari's own stomach churning and bile rose in his throat. He couldn't get the sight of Ann's jerking foot out of his mind. They couldn't have saved her and had to take advantage of the opportunity to escape, but he'd felt like shit leaving her to those monsters. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes.

  "Only four more blocks to go," Deb's smoky voice floated to him. "We can do it. We have to do it."

  God bless the cheerleader. He needed that right now when the situation seemed hopeless. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and opened them. "Okay. Let's see that map again."