He should close his eyes and he should just…sleep.
Chapter 7
When Mark opened his eyes, it was still dark in the room, but streams of light were flickering in through the blinds. Lines of color and shadow mixed, casting a strange glow on the pale white carpet in the room.
He wasn’t in his bed.
He wasn’t at home.
He wasn’t anywhere and he sure as fuck wasn’t hungover, so where was he?
Then he remembered. Memories of the day before slammed into him and Mark shot up, nailing his head on the low-hanging bunk bed.
“Ouch,” said a masculine voice. “That must have hurt like a bitch.”
Mark turned toward the voice. Kyle. It was only Kyle.
“What the fuck, man? Were you watching me sleep?” The idea made him feel nauseous. Kyle was weird, but was he watch-you-sleeping-weird? Probably not.
“No, I was watching her,” Kyle chuckled and jerked his head toward the bunk where Mark was rubbing his head. He looked up toward the upper bunk, but then Kyle laughed harder and Mark turned to his own bed.
Alice was snuggled up next to him, curled in a little ball. She barely took up any space. Her soft brown hair was spread out around her, and he had barely even noticed she was there. In fact, he hadn’t noticed at all, and that was bad. It was strange. It was unlike him.
Mark prided himself on being aware of his surroundings at all times. He had to. If he wasn’t aware of what was happening, he could hurt someone, or someone could hurt him.
And Mark didn’t want to be hurt anymore.
“What is she doing?” He asked, rolling out of the bunk and onto the floor. He landed silently on all fours.
“You look like a dog.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“You were talking in your sleep.”
“Screaming?”
“Just talking, but you said some messed up shit.”
Mark looked wearily at Kyle, but the young man just shrugged. He didn’t seem to care that Mark was fucked in the head, didn’t seem to mind that the secret was out.
“She just wanted to help you calm down, man. It always works when we’re drinking, so she snuggled you tonight, too.”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you really trying to tell me you don’t know you have nightmares? Like, nightly? Like, constantly?”
Mark paused, searched Kyle’s face. For what? He wasn’t sure. He just had to know. Did Kyle think he was a freak? Did he think he was messed up? More importantly, did Alice? And most of all, why did he care what they thought of him? They were casual friends at best and acquaintances at worst, only Mark knew none of that was true.
He knew Kyle and Alice were the only ones in the world he had.
He knew that without them, he would have killed himself long ago.
“I didn’t know she knew,” Mark said finally.
“We both knew, man. It’s not a big deal, so don’t freak out.”
“I’m not.”
Mark looked back up at the bunk. Alice was still sleeping quietly, curled up like she didn’t have a care in the world.
“I don’t know if there’s something between you guys,” Kyle said, lowering his voice. “But Alice looks after you, Mark. She looks after both of us.”
“Thanks, Kyle.”
They sat for awhile, not talking. Kyle rolled over and pretended to go back to sleep, but Mark knew he was wide awake still. His breathing never slowed, and if Mark had to guess, he’d say Kyle was thinking about taking his inhaler again. Fucking stress-induced asthma attacks. He’d have to do anything and everything he could to keep Kyle alive and well.
He’d have to figure something out.
After a few minutes, Mark got up off the floor and quietly left the room. He walked down the hallway and down the stairs to the living room. The house had survived the night, but that didn’t mean anything. In an emergency situation like this, things could change in the blink of an eye. They had to be ready.
Step one was getting some transport and getting the hell out of Holbrook. A car would be nice, but after the one they wrecked, he wasn’t hedging any bets on getting another. He might have a lot of skills, but hotwiring a car? Yeah, that wasn’t one of them. He didn’t even know if that was something people could actually do anymore, and he certainly didn’t feel like searching through houses looking for keys.
He didn’t know the layout of the town that well, but he thought they were close enough to the outskirts that they could walk. They weren’t incredibly close, but barring any roadblocks or attacks, walking wasn’t impossible.
If Kyle could keep up, they could walk, anyway, but the poor bastard was already struggling to breathe. Maybe they should try to get out of the suburbs. Maybe they should try to push him and try to get away from the remains of civilization.
Or maybe they shouldn’t.
Kyle had such a hard time as it was. Did they really need to be stranded out in rural Kansas? Did they really need to be sheltered in some farmhouse when he couldn’t get air in his broken lungs? Maybe they should look somewhere in Holbrook for a place to stay. Fuck, maybe they should just stay here. The house was big enough for the three of them. It had privacy. It had comfort.
Mark knew it wouldn’t be enough, though.
They would have to leave.
How long would the virus last? Would it burn itself out? Would the people who “turned” eventually die? Or would they live forever until they were killed?
If that was a possibility – and Mark hated to think it was – they would need to be as far away from people as possible. They had a few weapons, but nothing serious. They didn’t have enough to take down a city, and Mark had been a soldier long enough to know there were worse things than dying at a time like this.
There would be other survivors. There was no way they were the only ones. There would be other people with better weapons and lower morals.
There would be other people who would do anything to stay alive.
Fuck.
His week had started off so great, too. He’d gotten ahead of his classes on campus and was doing well managing work with school. He’d been eating every day and not skipping meals. He’d been learning to manage his stress. He’d been doing fine.
And now this.
Motherfucking zombies.
Mark balled his hand into a fist and clenched it. He wanted to punch the wall. He should do it. The floral print wallpaper was ugly as hell, anyway. He’d be doing the homeowners a favor. If they ever returned, they’d have the perfect excuse to change up their décor.
Only, Mark knew they weren’t coming back.
No one was.
He went to the front window and peeked through the blinds.
Nothing.
There was just nothing.
The woman from the day before was long gone and from what he could tell, no one else had come home or left their homes. He wasn’t sure which houses had people holed up inside of them. He didn’t really want to know. It was better not to.
If he knew there were people there, or kids there, he’d want to save them, protect them, and he already had his hands full.
Alice and Kyle needed him and Mark couldn’t let them down. He paced in the living room for a few minutes. They shouldn’t linger, but they weren’t in a rush, either. It’s not like they had anywhere to be. He wished he knew what they were supposed to be doing. He wished he had some sort of guide when it came to shit like this.
Now that he was well-rested, Mark was hungry and thirsty and needed to take a piss. He went into the bathroom on the first floor and relieved himself. He tried turning on the faucet and was happy to see the water was still running. After a few seconds of consideration, he decided to take a shower, too. He smelled like shit, and if there was running water, he’d take it while he had it.
Something told him this was going to be his last shower for a long, long time.
Chapter 8
“Well, good morning,
sunshine.”
Alice sat up, careful not to hit her head on the bunk. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple of times until everything came into focus.
“What time is it?” She asked. Her throat was dry and sore. She wanted a drink. Kyle handed her a warm bottle of water and she took a long sip before setting it down. They should ration that stuff, she knew. They should ration it and be careful, but right now she didn’t really care. She was too tired, too worn out to care.
“Time to get a watch.”
“Funny.”
“You’ve always laughed at my jokes before.”
“Yeah, well, there weren’t undead creatures trying to kill us before.”
“And this changes things between us?”
“Yeah,” she said dryly. “Only a little.”
Kyle laughed and Alice liked the sound. It was good to hear him happy, or as happy as anyone could be given the situation. Kyle was a serious person with a good heart, and Alice thought the world had been cruel to him.
It was only going to get worse, she knew, and she wanted to savor these few moments of normalcy before they had to face what was beyond the house they were hiding in. She wanted to spend a few minutes pretending it was just an ordinary Sunday, that she was going to get some work done or finally start jogging. She wanted to pretend she was going to meet a friend for coffee or start writing that novel she’d been talking about for years.
She wanted to pretend.
Alice closed her eyes and took another sip of water. She crossed her legs and rubbed her hands on her knees, pretending they weren’t in some stranger’s house, in their kids’ beds, hiding from monsters.
“Alice?”
“Yeah, Kyle?”
“Thanks.”
“For what?” She opened her eyes. Kyle was still laying on his bed, but he was on his side, propped up on one elbow.
“For helping me yesterday. You know, the whole asthma thing.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing, but I appreciate you saying it.”
“Everything is going to be okay,” Alice promised.
Kyle just shook his head. His blonde hair shook as he did. He needed a haircut. Alice wondered if she’d have to cut his hair now that the world was dying. Was that something they would even worry about? Would they do things like cut each other’s hair? It seemed like something that was far off, something they wouldn’t have to concern themselves with for awhile, but the thought was strange to her.
It bothered her a little.
“That’s a lie, Alice.”
“Not necessarily.”
“You think saying everything is going to be fine makes it so?”
She shrugged and looked around the room, then set the water bottle on the floor. Alice stood up and wiggled her toes in the soft carpet, then stretched. She smelled. She hadn’t showered and she was gross. She felt disgusting and tired and sloppy.
“Saying we’re all going to die is kind of dark, Kyle.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You’re thinking it, right? This is it for us? You’re thinking we’re all going to try to escape from here today and we’re going to be eaten alive. Is that it?”
“I didn’t say any of that,” Kyle protested. “I’m just saying we need to be realistic.”
“I think we passed realistic about 10 blocks and two days ago, hon.” She went to the window and peeked outside. The back of the house overlooked a wooded area. Horror movies taught her those woods would be crawling with undead, but she knew they wouldn’t. It only backed up to the next house: a few trees for privacy between them.
“Do you see anything?” Kyle asked.
“No, but that doesn’t mean anything. We should probably pack up and get out of here, right? Is that what you’re thinking? We should go somewhere?”
“I don’t know. We need to ask Mark.”
“He’s kind of our leader, huh?”
“I’d follow him to the ends of the Earth if it meant staying alive.” Kyle shrugged as he spoke. He didn’t seem bothered that he was declaring his undying devotion to someone they were only casual friends with, but Alice knew he was right. Mark was experienced. He’d been to war. Alice didn’t know what he’d seen during his deployment, but she knew it had been bad. It had been seriously fucked up and it had messed with his head.
Ever since they started drinking together, Mark had nightmares. She and Kyle had talked about it the first night, but promised never to tell Mark they knew. They didn’t want him to be embarrassed. It was obvious he needed a friend, obvious he didn’t realize how bad his dreams were.
That first night they’d slept on the roof after drinking, she had woken up to him yelling. It had seemed natural to try to calm him down. It had seemed right. Alice didn’t consider herself to be very motherly or to have a caring or sensitive nature, but she had gone to him in that moment and wrapped her arms around him. She had sworn to him that everything would be fine.
And it had been, for awhile.
Things had been okay.
Now, though? Now nothing was okay.
Alice got up and left the room without saying another word to Kyle. She needed to think, needed to get some fresh air. It had only been a day, but she already felt like she was suffocating.
Work.
She was supposed to be getting ready for work.
She was supposed to be getting ready for the paperwork she’d have to do and the meetings she’d have to plan. She was supposed to be prepping how she’d handle phone calls and interviews and scheduling.
There were so many different things Alice was supposed to be doing today and none of them were surviving.
None of them were fighting for her life.
None of them were this.
She went down the hall and used the bathroom. She wasn’t going to bother trying to go outside. Mark had barricaded most of the house the day before and if she wanted to go outside, he’d know immediately what she was doing. She wasn’t a dog. She didn’t need to ask permission to pee.
She just needed to feel normal.
Just for a few minutes.
Just for a little while.
She flushed the toilet, then stared at herself in the mirror. Alice had dark circles under her eyes, which were puffy and swollen. She looked like she had been crying. She smiled. Her teeth looked yellow and dirty, and she fished around the cabinet for some toothpaste. Alice eyed the toothbrushes sitting on the counter, but no matter how desperate she was, she couldn’t bring herself to use them.
She used her finger instead. It wasn’t an easy or effective way to brush her teeth, but it made her feel less grimy and more alive. She finished cleaning up, then stared at the sink as she realized what had just happened.
Water.
The house still had running water.
She stripped off her clothes and turned on the shower, then climbed under the water. It was lukewarm, but it was wet, and she let it wash over her body as she relaxed for the first time all weekend.
This felt good.
This felt divine.
She couldn’t believe she was so happy over something so small. She’d taken things like clean, dry skin for granted. As the oils and dirt and grime washed away, Alice began to feel human again.
When she climbed out of the shower twenty minutes later, she realized it wasn’t going to be for long.
Chapter 9
“We need a plan,” Mark said. They were gathered in the living room. He felt clean and slightly awake after the shower. It really did make a huge difference. He was going to miss it. Once they got out of the city, running water would be a near impossibility unless they managed to find a place with a hand-pump well. He wasn’t holding his breath on that one.
Alice’s damp hair was tied back in a tight ponytail. She looked tired despite the shower, worn out. Mark wished there was something he could say to comfort her, to make her feel better. What could he say, though?
“I’m sorry there
are dead people trying to kill us”?
That wasn’t exactly comforting.
Kyle had gotten a shower, too, albeit a cold one. The water had put him in a great mood, though. He was wearing new clothes he’d found in one of the upstairs closets, but Mark and Alice had put their own clothing on. Mark didn’t like the idea of wearing another man’s clothes, especially if that man was dead.
It felt wrong to him.
Not that any of this felt right, but wearing someone’s clothes without their permission felt sneaky. It felt cheap.
“I think we should get out of here,” Alice peered through the blinds. It was all she seemed to do. Mark knew she was nervous, but she needed to chill. They might as well just open the damn blinds for how often the three of them had been peering outside.
“And go where?” Kyle paced. “You think this thing isn’t widespread? You think it’s only Holbrook?”
“I’m sure it’s widespread,” Alice said. “Holbrook is too tiny for something this freaky and horrible to only happen here.”
She was right. No terrorist organization was going to target a small town in Kansas. No biochemical weapon was going to be tested in the Midwest. It just didn’t happen like that, yet here they were.
“I assume other towns are offline, too. I tried using my cell again today,” Mark admitted. “Towers are down, or at least jammed.”
“If everyone is trying to call their loved ones at once, the network crashes. The mobile carriers simply can’t handle that many calls coming through at once. It’s basically network overload,” Alice offered. “Maybe the cells will start working again at some point.”
“Maybe,” Mark sounded doubtful.
“So what did happen?” Kyle asked, his voice low. “Seriously, you guys. What happened? Zombies? Really?”
“Really,” Mark said. “Who the fuck knows? Does it matter?” He wanted to growl, to punch something. He clenched and unclenched his fists. They couldn’t do anything about it now. There was no time left. They were out of time and out of luck.
And if they didn’t figure something out soon, they’d be out of life.
Just Another Day in the Zombie Apocalypse (Episode 1) Page 5