Zombiemandias (Book 2): In the Year of Our Death

by David J. Lovato

  Three zombies dove in, and two went straight for the living room. The third zombie saw Bailey before the fire and lunged, but she caught it by the wrists. She could almost close her fist around them. Bailey shoved the zombie toward the living room, and it tripped and fell, then crawled toward the fire. Another window broke somewhere. Bailey headed out the front door and started to close it, then decided to leave it open.

  She went for the garage. It was close enough to catch fire, but she tossed her bag onto the concrete inside and then sat down. Now and then another zombie emerged from the street or the woods and joined the blazing house, the second one she’d seen in as many days.

  Bailey laughed to herself. Everywhere she went, fire followed. At least no one got hurt this time.

  “Okay,” Bailey said. “You win. I’m not going anywhere this time.” She stretched out on the cement of the garage, pulled her bag behind her head to use as a pillow, and crossed one leg over the other. She felt comfortable.

  “What’ll it be? The fire goes out and I freeze? The fire goes out and I get eaten? Or maybe Burke’s men see the fire and come to finish me off. Maybe the garage catches fire too.” So many possibilities. Bailey closed her eyes; she was tired, and if she was going to go, she might as well go in her sleep.

  She woke up to a gray sky. The house had burned to embers, but the surrounding snow had melted, and she was too warm to freeze to death. Bodies were strewn throughout the yard, and if anything had survived, she saw no sign of it.

  Bailey sat up and pulled her legs to her chest.

  “Why? Why am I still here?”

  A thought had occurred to her the night before, and she’d lost it. What was—Oh yeah. If only there was some way to make things right.

  Bailey stood up and collected her bag. How foolish she’d been. If she wanted to die, why was she running from Burke’s men to begin with? No, Bailey didn’t want to die. She still had to make things right.

  35

  In Annie’s House

  “Okay,” Annie said, “try to guess this one.” The sound coming from the amp was distorted, and she played a series of notes spread out at first, then speeding up while rising in pitch.

  Will sat cross-legged on her floor. It was midday, and the door was shut to drown out the sound of the amplifier. Will remembered Annie’s parents asking everyone to keep quiet when they’d first arrived, but Annie told him her amp wasn’t loud enough to be heard from the outside, though it sure sounded loud to him.

  “I have no idea,” he said.

  Annie stopped playing. “Senses Fail. ‘Lungs Like Gallows’. Come on, they’re like my favorite band.”

  It sounded vaguely familiar to him then. Annie had let him borrow her iPod so he might find some music he liked, but that was only a few days ago.

  “I don’t remember any of these songs yet,” Will said.

  “Just give it some time. You will.” Annie smiled at him. “Want to try?”

  “You mean the guitar? I don’t think I could.”

  “It’s not like it’s impossible. Here.” She took the guitar from her shoulder, and a series of loud scratchy noises came out of the amp, followed by feedback, until she placed the guitar over Will’s shoulder and he put his hands on the strings. He plucked at a few of them, one at a time at first, then together. He created noise, but he had no idea what he was doing. Annie laughed.

  “Put this finger here, these ones here… Now try it.”

  Will strummed and the sound that followed was actually pleasing.

  “That’s a chord, isn’t it?”

  Annie nodded. “G. It’s pretty basic.”

  Will had been spending most of his days with Annie, and so far was the only one allowed in her room. The first night, he had been so tired from travelling and then letting his emotions out, he had fallen asleep on her bed. Annie had slept on the floor with a bean bag chair for a pillow, but she only laughed when he apologized, and invited him to have another sleepover sometime. Instead, Will had slept in the basement with his other friends, and after a few days, that was the only time he found himself talking to Jeremy and Alex and the others. At dinner, Annie would usually join him on the couch.

  That night after dinner, all of the teens gathered in the basement, as usual. With so many of them doing different things, it didn’t take long for the noise level to rise. Will tried telling whoever was closest to keep it down, but quickly gave up.

  Soon Bill opened the door to the basement, and everyone stopped talking and turned their heads. “Keep it down, guys,” he said. He sounded like he was trying to be kind, but the muscles in his neck stuck out as he clenched his teeth.

  “Sorry, Jim,” Annie said.

  “I’m not in the mood right now.”

  “Sorry, Dad.”

  Bill went back up the stairs and shut the door behind him, and everyone picked up where they left off. They were quieter, but not much.

  Most of them gathered in the middle of the room, sitting on couches or the floor or against each other, all talking. Will felt comfortable, sitting on a couch with Jeremy on one side, and Annie sitting on the arm of the couch to his other. Whatever they talked about, Will hardly remembered any of it; he was content to be with his friends.

  Eventually Annie yawned and said, “I’m going to bed. Later.” She tousled Will’s hair and headed up the stairs. As soon as she was gone, everyone started laughing, except for Will.

  “What?” Will asked. Most of the others were smiling, but Jeremy wasn’t.

  “You spend all your time with her,” Alex said. “In her room, with the door shut.” He raised his eyebrows as high as he could, smiling.

  “We’re just friends.”

  “We’re friends,” Jeremy said. “But just before bed is the only time you ever talk to me. To any of us.”

  “I’m sorry. I just…” Will couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  “Nothing to be sorry for,” Alex said. “It’s understandable. You’re a guy.”

  “It’s really not like that,” Will said. He wished they’d stop smiling. Jeremy still wasn’t, and Kalli wasn’t, but the rest of them were staring, and suddenly Will didn’t want to be around them.

  “I think it’s good for someone to make new friends,” Ed said. “The world isn’t really set up like that anymore, so when it happens, it can’t be a bad thing.”

  “It can,” Jeremy said, “if you start abandoning your old ones.”

  “Abandoning?” Will said. “How have I abandoned you? I’m right here!”

  “Sometimes.”

  “Know what? Ed’s right. I’m not going to apologize for making friends.” Will felt tears trying to come to his eyes, but he pushed them back, and let anger take the place of sadness. “I never had a chance to make friends, I’m not going to apologize for it now.”

  “So you never made any friends? What am I, then, Will?”

  “You know what I mean!”

  “Maybe you should say what you mean better,” Rob said.

  “I never had a chance to make other friends,” Will said.

  “Because we’re just not good enough,” Alex said. He was joking, but Will didn’t find it funny. Hannah didn’t either, and she narrowed her eyes at Alex.

  “It’s really not a big deal,” Will said.

  “To you, maybe,” Jeremy replied.

  “Well where were you, Jeremy? I’ve been here all this time, why haven’t you said anything? Why is it my job to come to you?”

  Jeremy was silent for a few seconds. “I didn’t want to intrude.”

  “That’s not stopping you now,” Will said.

  “I don’t know why I brought it up. You won’t change. Tomorrow morning you’ll go back to Annie’s room, I won’t see you until tomorrow night, we’ll talk for a few minutes, and that’s it, just like every other night.”

  “So why not actually enjoy each other’s company while we can? Why do you have to attack me—”

  “No one is attacking you. You’re be
ing selfish.”

  “I’m being selfish? You’re getting on my case for having a friend!”

  “I’m getting on your case for leaving your real friends.”

  “‘Real’ friends? What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Jeremy?”

  “It doesn’t mean anything. Forget it, let’s just drop it.”

  “It’s a little late for that.”

  “Only if you want it to be.”

  “I don’t think so,” Will said. “For two years I’ve sat around watching you guys argue or make plans or mess things up, and I never said a word. I can think for myself, and I’m sick of being ignored when I do. You don’t get to put me down for it and then just walk away like nothing happened.”

  “Nothing did happen.”

  “Bullshit!”

  Rob spoke up before Jeremy could reply. “If you’re so sick of us, why don’t you just go away?”

  Will looked to Jeremy, but Jeremy wouldn’t look at him. Nobody was smiling anymore, and the air was thick and hard to breathe. Will stood up, and as soon as he did he knew it was a mistake, but there was no easy way to fix it, so he went up the stairs without another word.

  It was dark on the main floor of the house. All of the candles were out, and Will didn’t see or hear anyone. It was chilly, but he could probably sleep in the front room, even with no blanket. Or he could borrow one from Annie.

  Will walked up the stairs and looked down the hall. Light wavered beneath her door. Will crept across the carpet and knocked softly.

  “Come in,” Annie said.

  Will opened the door. Annie was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling.

  “I’m sorry,” Will said. “I… had an argument with my friends, and I don’t want to sleep down there tonight. Can I borrow a blanket?”

  “Why not just sleep in here?” Annie said.

  “That… might not make things any better.”

  “It’d be more comfortable.”

  “That’s not what I mean.”

  Annie sighed. “Oh, Willie. Look, we can’t really afford to hold grudges anymore. Your friends are your friends. Whatever happens, they’ll be there when things get rough, okay? In the meantime… just be who you are. That’s all you can really do, anyway.”

  “Yeah,” Will said, but he didn’t feel much better.

  “Come on,” Annie said. “We can put on a record, talk quietly for a while, it’ll be fun.”

  So Will sat on the bed, and Annie turned the volume down so they could barely hear The Smiths, and they talked, though Will mostly nodded or said a word here and there.

  “You okay?” Annie asked after a while.

  “I think so,” Will replied. “I’m just tired.”

  Annie sat forward and hugged him, then fell to the bed and brought him with her, and he fell asleep with her arms still around him.

  ****

  Will woke up alone. A beam of white entered the room below the blanket over the window. It was daytime, but the sky was overcast.

  He rubbed his eyes, then left the room and headed downstairs. It felt early, but he could hear voices. He found Annie, her parents, Kalli, Steven, Rachel, and Jeremy sitting at the table eating breakfast.

  “Good morning, Will,” Bill said when he saw him. “I was just explaining a few things.”

  “We’re going to the store,” Sarah said. “We’ll be gone for a while, and we really need you guys to be quiet while we’re gone.”

  “We can still hear you at night. You’re being too loud, you have got to keep it down, but especially while we’re gone.”

  “I don’t think Will’s the loud one,” Annie said.

  “It’s best for everyone to get the same message,” Sarah replied.

  “Annie, will you help me set up the cart?” Bill asked.

  “Can I finish eating first?”

  “Yeah.”

  Annie didn’t take long, then she and Bill and Sarah went into the garage. Will went to the counter and made some toast. The bread was homemade, and they never had much else before dinner, but it got them through the day.

  The only open seat was next to Jeremy, and Will took it. He thought about saying something, but he didn’t know what. Instead he turned to Steven. “Where is everybody?”

  “Sleeping, or hanging out. Just doing whatever I guess.”

  Will finished eating, but Annie was still helping her dad with the cart, whatever that was. Old habits took over, and before he noticed what he was doing, Will was sitting at the bottom of the stairs. Soon Kalli joined him.

  “Sorry about last night,” she said. “I wanted to say something, but…”

  “Probably better if you didn’t,” Will replied. “They aren’t wrong, really. I hardly even talk to Jeremy anymore.”

  “They aren’t wrong, no. But neither are you. I think they know it, too. Things are just hard.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What do you do when you’re with her? If it’s okay to ask.”

  “We just listen to music, and talk and stuff.”

  “Do you… like her?”

  Will hadn’t thought much about that. He had been trying not to. “I… think I might. But I also think it isn’t important. We have better things to worry about.”

  “Of course it’s important, if it’s how you feel,” Kalli said.

  “Well, it doesn’t really matter anyway.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t think she feels the same way I do.”

  “You won’t know unless you tell her.”

  “And then what?” Will said. “What if she stops talking to me?”

  “Do you think she’s that kind of person?”

  “No.”

  “Then what do you have to lose by talking to her? Wouldn’t you rather know for sure?”

  “Yeah,” Will said. “I think I would.”

  Kalli smiled, then stood up. “I’ll see you later, Will. I have to go think about taking my own advice.”

  Before he could ask her what she meant by that, she was gone.

  Will went into the garage. The door was open, and in the driveway was the cart. It was made of wood, and had big wheels and a handle, like an ox cart. The handle was big enough for at least two people to push.

  “That’s how you guys get stuff and bring it back?” Will asked.

  “It’s hard work,” Bill said, “but it works.”

  “Is it safe?”

  “This wooden bar surrounds us on all sides. By the time a zombie thinks to go over or under, we’ve taken him out.”

  “Need any help?”

  Bill looked around. Annie came around the house with a can of grease and set it next to one of the wheels.

  “Why don’t you help Annie with that? The wheels have been kind of chunky lately, we’re greasing them up.”

  “Sure,” Will said.

  Annie handed him a brush, and they set to work greasing the axles of the cart.

  “Did you guys build this?” Will asked.

  “Hank did most of the work,” Annie replied.

  “Hank?”

  “My dad. How long have you known me?”

  “Right,” Will said.

  “Things better with your friends?”

  “Some of them. Maybe all, I don’t know. I haven’t talked to most of them.”

  “You should talk to them. Nothing ever gets solved by avoiding it.”

  “Yeah,” Will said.

  They finished the wheels, then Sarah and Bill got between the large wooden beams, took the handle bar, and pushed. Annie waited outside to watch them leave down the street. Will sat on the porch steps. The air smelled like rain and the sky was white.

  Finally, Annie turned to him. “Hey, you okay? You look a little… preoccupied.”

  “I’ve been thinking about stuff,” Will said. Annie sat next to him on the step. A roar of laughter went up inside the house, and Will and Annie turned toward it. “We really are loud.”

  “Yeah. Being out here makes all the differenc
e.”

  “We should tell them to be quiet.”

  “Sure.” Annie stood up and took a step toward the garage, but Will caught her hand. With her on a lower stair they were about the same height. Annie turned to look at him. “Something wrong?”

  Will leaned forward and kissed her, or at least that’s what he tried to do, but it was more like he put his mouth on hers for a second or two, then pulled away.

  “Will…” Annie sighed. “I like you. You’re a cool kid, and you’re a great friend. But…”

  “But that’s all,” Will said.

  Annie forced a smile. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I shouldn’t have—”

  Annie hugged him. “It’s all right, Will. Come on, we need to go tell those guys to shut up.”

  Will felt dizzy, and his skin was hot. He had a sudden urge to take up Annie’s guitar and make as much noise as he could, but then he remembered they were supposed to be quiet. Another roar of laughter erupted inside the house. Annie turned to shut the garage door, but Will kept walking. He wasn’t sure he could ever look at her again.

  Will went up the stairs and found everyone in the living room, and they stopped talking when they saw him.

  “Keep it down, guys. I could hear you from out—”

  Everyone jumped at the unmistakable sound of glass breaking.

  “Where did that come from?” Ed asked.

  “If you’d shut up we could listen and find out,” Rob replied.

  “Quiet,” Steven said, then they heard a moan, and everyone headed to the front room.

  Pieces of the window lay about the carpet, and the blanket flapped around as a zombie reached into the house, trying to climb in.

  “Get a knife,” Steven said. “Quietly.”

  The zombie took the blanket in both hands and pulled. It tore free from the nails pinning it to the wall and fell to the ground. Light filled the house, and several teens covered their eyes. Then the zombie saw them, and it cried out and scrambled to pull itself onto the window sill.

  Will realized Annie hadn’t followed him into the house. A second later he saw her through the broken window, standing in the side yard, holding a pair of shears.