There was a knock on the door. Joni didn’t respond. She hugged her legs tighter and put her head upon her knees, trying to make herself smaller.
The knock came again. “Joni,” said a girl’s voice.
Again, Joni didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure if she wanted the girl to come in and talk to her.
“Joni, it’s me, Ally. Can I come in?”
“Okay,” Joni said.
The door opened and Ally walked in with a lit candle. “Joni? What are you doing in Lawrence’s room by yourself?” With the light she carried, she went over and lit two more candles that were atop the dresser.
“I think I’m shy,” said Joni.
Ally giggled. “It’s okay to be shy, but isn’t it scary to be here alone in the dark?”
“It’s not scary like outside. It’s not scary like what happened to my dad.” Joni regretted bringing him up. She didn’t want Ally to be sad, too.
“That’s true.” Ally took a seat at the foot of the bed. “It sounds like you’re braver than me. There’s a lot of stuff that still scare me.”
Joni lifted her head from her knees and faced Ally. “What are you scared of?”
“Besides those things outside? I’m scared to look at blood, I’m scared of sleeping sometimes because I get nightmares, I’m scared of headless mannequins, I’m scared of wire hangers for some reason—I forgot why. And I’m scared right now.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m also shy. I’m scared that you might not want to be my friend.”
“But I do wanna be your friend.”
“You do?” Ally smiled. “I guess I’m not scared anymore.”
Joni smiled and loosened the clutch she had on her legs.
“How old are you, Joni?”
“Nine. How old are you?”
“I’m twice your age, little girl.”
“Eighteen?”
“Yup.” Ally patted the space next to her. “Sit up here with me.”
Joni got up from the floor and sat next to her new friend.
“How about tomorrow we look for fun things to do? Maybe we can play hide-and-seek or we can try to do some puzzle together.”
“Me, Caitlyn, and my dad use to play hide-and-seek.” The sadness hit Joni again, and her smile went away. “Caitlyn was my best friend.”
Now Ally was sad, too. To Joni, she looked ready to cry. “My big brother Kyle was my best friend. My mom died when I was young and my dad had to go away a lot for his job. He’s gone now, too. My brother took care of me, mostly.”
“We can be sisters,” Joni said, hoping it would make Ally smile again. “How about you be my big sister and I be your little sister?”
“Yeah,” said Ally, “that’d be excellent. I would love to be your big sister.” She put an arm over Joni’s shoulders and squeezed her.
That made Joni laugh.
“There you are, Joni,” said Therese, coming down the hallway toward the room. She had two backpacks, one on her back and one she carried by a strap. “And I was looking for you, Ally.”
“Were you?” Ally stood up from the bed. “What’s up, Therese?”
Therese entered the room and set the backpacks down against the wall. “I understand that this is your house.”
“I guess you can say that. But, really, this is everyone’s house now.”
“I just wanted to say thank you, Ally. Thank you for having us here. You—all of you—saved my daughter.”
“It’s nothing,” said Ally, giving Therese a gentle squeeze on the arm. “I’m really glad to have you two here. And, right now, I should leave you two to get some rest. Is there anything you need? More pillows and blankets? It’ll be cold tonight.”
“No need,” said Therese, “we seem to have enough here.”
“Okay, then, I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
“Goodnight, Ally,” Joni said.
“Goodnight, Joni.” Ally stepped out and closed the door behind her.
“Joni, honey,” said Therese, “you should get some sleep. Why don’t you go ahead and take the bed, and I’ll have the floor.” She grabbed a blanket off the twin-sized bed, unfolded it, and laid down on the carpet, not bothering with a pillow. She didn’t even dress into something more comfortable.
She must be tired, Joni thought.
Joni removed her shoes, walked over to the dresser, and blew out the candles. Therese had forgotten to put them out. The moonlight helped Joni find her way back to bed. She got in the covers.
A half-hour passed. Getting sleep wasn’t easy for Joni. She could hear the sounds of the monsters, their faint groans from below, where they banged at the boards covering the downstairs windows. Therese was snoring, loudly. That’s how Joni knew her stepmother would likely sleep for several hours, and wake up sometime tomorrow afternoon. After Caitlyn died, Therese would sleep for up to sixteen hours, and it was always hard to wake her up.
Another half-hour passed. Joni was still awake, and the groans of monsters never ceased. They didn’t sleep.
Something didn’t feel right to Joni. It made her afraid.
She crawled from under the covers and got out of bed. She tiptoed over to her dad’s backpack and unzipped it. Her hand searched around inside until she felt metal. She pulled out the pistol and zipped the bag shut. Therese still snored.
With the gun in hand, Joni walked over to the dresser and slid open the middle drawer. She lifted a few garments, stuck the gun underneath, and buried it with more articles of clothing. She closed the drawer, hoping it was a good place to hide the weapon for now.
4
Shabuka?
Lawrence
Lawrence stared out the window of Helena and France’s room. It was a gray morning and rain fell heavily. The number of the dead things outside had increased the past two days. There were over a dozen of them now, twenty, more or less. Rain fell down on them, soaking whatever tatters they wore and making their gashes and wounds leak black slime. Some lingered about, faces livid and brutish if not disfigured. All day those faces conveyed ferocity, as if mad with hunger. Only the taste of raw flesh would satisfy them. Some of them continued to pound their fists and crash their bodies against any potential openings of the house, the garage door, the front door, and the boarded windows. A few had bloodied, disjointed fingers and hands that hung limply from their arms, due to their incessant pounding. The dead had some intelligence and retained a certain level of memory. They knew they’d find a feast within the house. Lawrence feared they might remember how to use tools. Shovels, rakes, picks, and bricks, lay freely in the backyards of uninhabited properties around Revel Street.
“This is the most I’ve ever seen,” said Helena, peering through the window over Miles’s shoulder.
“We caused a ruckus when Richard and his family came,” said Miles.
“Those things probably searched all the houses around this neighborhood and found nothing,” said Lawrence. “Now they’re flocking over to this house. They know we’re here.”
“But they can’t get in, right?” France stood close to the window but refused to take a glance outside.
“So far they haven’t,” said Helena. “Usually they disperse in a few days when they gain nothing.”
“This might be like the hamster in the maze experiment,” said Lawrence.
“I don’t think I know what you’re talking about,” said Miles.
“What hamster experiment?” France asked.
“Well, it’s like I said,” said Lawrence, “over the months, those things searched through all the houses in the area, except for this one.”
“What does that have to do with hamsters?” France looked puzzled.
Miles scratched his chin, as he appeared to muse. “So you think they’re getting smarter and using common sense?”
“Hard to say,” said Lawrence. “I can only hope not. After breakfast, we should have a meeting.”
“I really don’t understand,” said France. “Why were you talking abo
ut hamsters?”
Kasey
“Food will last for another three months,” said Kasey, “if we maintain our rationing. If we don’t come up with a plan soon, in six months we’ll all be dead.”
Everyone was present in the family room, and all sat stiffly and tense. Nobody liked to hear they’d be dead in six months. Kasey had to throw that information at them.
“Maybe we can have two meals a day,” said Helena, “instead of three.”
“We can do that,” said Kasey. “But, really, we’re just prolonging our survival for another month. I don’t think help will come, and I know most of y’all feel the same.”
“We have enough bullets, don’t we?” Therese said. She appeared the calmest out of everyone, only because she seemed languid.
“Bullets for what?” Kasey didn’t like what Therese was implying.
“Starving isn’t a good way to go, Kasey, neither is being eaten alive.”
“No,” Lawrence said, “no way, that’s not even an option. We have time to think of a plan.”
“We can gather all the supplies we can carry,” said Sonya, “and make for our cars. We can fight those things off. We have weapons. That should’ve been an option a long time ago. Therese, Joni, you guys survived going from place to place. You were able to obtain food and water and found some luck at gas stations and siphoning from cars.”
“Yes,” said Therese, “but we lost Caitlyn along the way. There are many risks. Those things out there aren’t the only threat. There are people, bands of them with more weapons than us. They take advantage of the fact that there are no laws. If they see us, they’ll come after us, steal our supplies, rape us, and kill us all.”
“We’ve seen those bad people around the cities,” said Joni. “They looked crazy and acted crazy.”
“There’s got to be plenty of decent people left,” said Sonya.
“I’m sure there are,” said Helena, “but trusting other people won’t be easy. When necessities are scarce, people become animals. It can happen to us, too. It’s human nature. Our necessities will soon become scarce. I shudder at the thought of what’ll happen to us all here.”
Lawrence got up from the couch and began pacing back and forth. “If we took the cars, Sonya, do you have any idea where to go? Supermarkets, convenient stores, and whatever, would’ve already been raided by now. Sure, we can take the cars, but gradually, gas will run out, and there’s no guarantee we’ll find more. Let’s say we’re down to one car—there are ten of us. Are we gonna squeeze into Kyle’s Mustang or ride my two-door hatchback like a clown-mobile?” Lawrence paced faster and faster as he spoke.
“Boy, you’re making me nervous,” said Kasey. “Why don’t you relax? You’ll wear yourself out that way. I’m getting worn out just watching you.”
Lawrence stopped pacing. “Sorry, sorry, didn’t realize I was doing that. But do you all see my point?” Lawrence started to pace back and forth again, and this time, Kasey didn’t bother stopping him.
“I agree with Sonya,” said Kasey, “we’ll die if we don’t do anything.”
“We might as well take a risk,” said Sonya. “None of us wanna stay here and starve, or become animals as Helena mentioned. When we’re down to our last can of spicy sardines, are we gonna try to kill each other over it?”
“Wow, I actually love spicy sardines,” said Charlene. “They’re so yummy.”
Sonya looked at Kasey and Lawrence. “You see? Charlene will try to kill us all.”
Miles had been silent for most of the meeting. He sat slouched on the couch, scratching his chin and stroking his beard. The man was a quiet thinker, unlike Lawrence, who was a noisy-ass thinker who threatened to shred up the carpet with his constant pacing. And Lawrence’s ass is still pacing. If I were trapped in an elevator with this fool, and he were trying to think his way out, he’d probably trample on me to death and not realize it.
“Miles,” Kasey called. “What’s on your mind?”
Miles looked up and rose from his slumped position. “I was thinking, maybe we can take a chance out there. I mean, some of us, anyway. What if we send out a group, four or five of us, you know, however many could fit in a car. That group could search for more supplies or scout around the city. There’ll be risks, no doubt, but they’ll be able to return here safely. We just have to keep finding more sustenance and we’ll be okay.”
“I think that could work,” said Lawrence.
“Yeah,” Sonya seconded.
“It’s a good plan, Miles,” Kasey said. The plan sounded safer than heading out and improvising each day of survival.
“Hey, Tristan,” said Lawrence.
“What?” Tristan replied.
“You know that small shopping center in the rich people area, the one that’s kind of tucked away behind hills?”
“You mean in Westerly Acres? I guess it’s called Westerly Acres Shopping Center.”
Kasey was familiar with the shopping center. She had ended up there once, only because she’d taken a wrong turn while searching for a friend’s house. It was a small plaza, established as a convenience to the Westerly Acres community. It was a few miles away from Revel Street. “I’ve accidentally been there once.”
“I’ve also accidentally been there once,” said Lawrence. “There’s a small grocery store there, Valley Market, I think it’s called. You, me, and Kyle went there, you remember, Tristan?”
“I don’t,” said Tristan.
“That’s because you were high out of your fucking head that night.”
“I still don’t remember.”
For a second time, Lawrence stopped pacing. “Never mind. What I’m trying to say is, the area is likely deserted. Rich people around there would’ve tried to evacuate when this epidemic started, maybe try to buy airplane tickets to Hawaii—I don’t know—whatever safe place their money can take them. The shopping center could be empty, and it might be the perfect place to raid with minimal threats.”
“That’s all presumption, Lawrence,” said Sonya.
Lawrence shrugged off her disparaging remark. “Yes, but it’s a risk. Weren’t you encouraging a risk earlier? If there’s one place to go scavenging, it’s that place. It’s not far from here. We should at least try.”
“What if Valley Market has no preservable foods?” Charlene said. “Don’t rich people only eat fresh produce and organic stuff?”
“That’s only on TV,” said Ally.
Lawrence stood still and stared at Charlene. “You miss your celebrity gossip news shows, don’t you?”
Charlene pouted. “Yeah.”
“Charlene, I’m sure the market—preservable is not a real word, by the way—I’m sure this place has whatever people need. I recall seeing cereal and bags of chips. I’ve bought some overpriced taco shells there, and I’ve seen a canned food aisle, or maybe it was dog and cat food, but who cares, those are edible, too. We should go for this place.” Lawrence threw up a hand. “Show of hands, who agrees?”
Kasey promptly raised her hand, agreeing with Lawrence’s assumptions. The boy may have been a goofball, in her opinion, but he was sharp. Everyone else, but Sonya, followed with hands up. A few seconds later, Sonya nodded her head and followed, and that made Lawrence grin.
“Then we have a plan?” Lawrence said once everyone’s hand went down.
“Who’d be willing to go out there, though?” Charlene asked everyone.
Before anyone could say a word, Lawrence spoke. “We don’t have to decide now. We have time to think about it.” He smiled and looked around at everyone. “I have a suggestion.” His attitude was upbeat, usually it was. Kasey knew it was his way of masking his fears. That’s why he was the leader. Whether his smile and optimism were false or genuine, it inspired hope in everyone, including her. It was hard to believe the boy was once a janitor.
“Is it appropriate?” Charlene said. “I don’t trust your suggestions sometimes.”
Lawrence’s smile became a grimace. “Be quiet, C
harlene.” He looked at everyone and smiled again. “Thanksgiving’s coming up, and I suggest we forget about rationing and this three spoonfuls nonsense for that evening. Let’s make use of that portable propane stove we never touch. We should eat what we like, eat cooked food for once, you know? In this house, we have each other, we’re alive, and that is something to celebrate and be thankful for.”
“It’d be nice,” said Sonya, “but we can’t afford to do that. Didn’t you hear what Kasey said about our supply?” For once, her comment to Lawrence wasn’t scathing or bitingly sarcastic, it was a tone of understanding, but with doubt.
“Yes, I heard her, Sonya,” he replied irritably. “I was listening. I was paying attention. I wasn’t standing here pinching my balls with my thumb and forefinger.”
“Lawrence,” Miles said, “sorry, pal, but I’m gonna have to agree with her on this. There are ten of us, and if we just ate what we wanted…”
“I think we should do it,” said Ally. “What Lawrence is trying to say is, for one night let’s try to be happy and not worry about anything. Just because the world is shit now, doesn’t mean we should forget about Thanksgiving and everything that day stands for.”
It surprised Kasey to hear Ally’s input. The young girl usually sat back and went along with everything. The only time Ally really voiced her feelings was when Kyle wanted to go out and find Ian David’s guns.
“You always agree with what Lawrence says,” said Charlene.
Ally grimaced at Charlene, for Charlene had the uncanny ability to make others grimace. “No I don’t.”
Charlene smirked. “Yeah ya do.”
“Are you trying to stir up drama?”
“Yup.”
“I agree,” said Helena. “Maybe we shouldn’t go and eat whatever we wish, like Lawrence said, but let’s have a nice, well-prepped meal for Thanksgiving.”
Flesh Ravenous (Book 1) Page 4