“Ms. Walker! Ms. Walker!” Mark Green came tearing back out of the building behind her.
“Mark?” Abby noticed the fear on his face. “Mark, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Claire,” was all he said before running back inside.
* * *
Abby didn’t like the sound of that. She quickly ran back to the building. Mark knew the other kids from the building; he sometimes showed up when they were swimming. He was usually more destructive though, pulling the girls’ hair and dunking the boys underwater. He was a pest for everyone. For him to be so formal and polite as to call Abby, Ms. Walker, meant that something was very bad indeed.
She went back into the building and saw the two boys by the elevator. She hurried over. Once she reached them, they parted to reveal Claire huddled on the ground. She was soaking wet, still in her bathing suit. She was also bleeding from a head laceration.
“Claire.” Abby knelt down in front of her. “Claire, honey, are you all right?”
Claire just shook.
“Mark, hit the button for the twentieth floor,” Abby ordered as she looked at Claire’s wound. It didn’t look very deep. “I have a first aid kit in my apartment and we can call the paramedics.”
“Okay, Ms. Walker.” Mark hit the button. He kept looking at Claire and was slowly turning more and more green, to match his last name.
“If you can’t stand the sight of blood, don’t look,” Abby told him and his friend.
Mark turned toward the wall. He then took out a can of red spray paint and started spraying the walls. He also sprayed the camera, likely out of habit. Abby didn’t like him vandalising, or his choice of colour, but knew that he was just trying to distract himself. For now, she would let him get away with it, but they would have a talk later.
“Are you okay?” Abby asked Mark’s friend, noticing he was still watching.
“I’m cool.” He kept staring.
“Give me your sweater.” Abby held out a hand.
The boy untied the hoody from around his waist and gave it to Abby. Abby bunched it up and pressed it to Claire’s head.
“Is she going to be okay?” the boy asked.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Abby told him. “I read that head wounds usually bleed more than others, and there doesn’t seem to be much more blood than a nose bleed might cause.”
They reached the twentieth floor and the elevator doors slid open. Abby scooped Claire up into her arms. Mark’s friend helped by keeping his sweater pressed to Claire’s wound.
“Mark, can you get my key out?” Abby asked as they began heading down the hall. “It’s in my front right pocket.”
Mark nodded. He was very careful getting the key, trying not to touch Abby. There was a little silver moon fob attached to her apartment key and it always stuck out of her pocket a bit, so Mark was able to find it and get it out with relative ease.
They reached Abby’s door and Mark unlocked it. Abby carried Claire straight to her dun-coloured couch and placed her gently upon it. The boys stepped over the threshold, but stopped there, almost like vampires, needing an invitation to enter someone’s home.
“You can come in.” Abby gestured with her head for them to come forward. “And close the door please.”
Mark’s friend closed the door but they both looked very awkward being in there.
“Mark, there’s a first aid kit in my bathroom,” Abby instructed. “I think my apartment has the same layout as yours so you should be able to find the bathroom easily. The kit is attached to the side of the sink. You just have to slide it out of the plastic holder.”
Mark nodded and dashed off.
“You, what’s your name?” Abby finally asked as she gingerly took his sweater off Claire’s head.
“Jon.” He took a step forward.
“Okay Jon, go into my kitchen over there. In the cupboard above the microwave is a big plastic bowl. I want you to fill it up with warm water and bring it to me.”
“Okay.” Jon disappeared into the kitchen just as Mark returned with the kit.
“Here you go, Ms. Walker.” Mark handed it to her. “Is she going to be okay?”
“I can’t say for sure, but it doesn’t look too bad.” Abby slid the kit over next to her and popped it open. “Can you get me a face cloth out of the hall closet? They’re on the middle shelf on the right.”
“I meant if she would be okay okay,” Mark mumbled as he headed for the hall.
Abby thought she knew what he meant. Claire hadn’t even made eye contact with anyone. She just kept trembling.
After quickly checking over her body and finding no other wounds, Abby pulled the furry blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around Claire’s small form. Both boys returned at the same time and placed the water and cloth next to the kit.
“Good. Now one of you needs to call the paramedics.” Abby pointed to the phone in the corner.
“I’ll do it.” Mark quickly dashed to the corner and grabbed the phone out of its cradle.
Abby started cleaning Claire’s wound and face with the washcloth. It was already clotting and looked like it would stop bleeding soon.
“It’s busy,” Mark informed her from the corner. Even though the phone was cordless, he decided it was best to stay next to the cradle.
“That can’t be right,” Abby frowned. “Try again.” She took some disinfectant out of the kit. “Claire, honey, this may sting a little.”
When the disinfectant touched her wound, Claire flinched a little and actually looked up at Abby, briefly making eye contact.
“It’s still busy,” Mark once again reported.
Now that was really not right. “Just keep trying.”
“Maybe it has something to do with what’s going on at the concert,” Jon offered an opinion.
“What concert? The charity concert? What happened?” Abby just recalled the strangeness of the streets outside.
“Well, we were going to go down there and try to listen for free,” Jon explained. “You know, stand outside the park? Well, before we even got there, we found out the whole place was being evacuated. We didn’t know what was going on. We didn’t see anything, just a bunch of scared people. Some guy told us there were riots.”
“It was pretty scary,” Mark chimed in.
Jon rolled his eyes at his friend. Clearly, he considered himself far braver. Abby looked over at Mark and gestured to the phone. Mark shrugged and shook his head. He still couldn’t get through.
“Abby?” Claire mumbled.
Abby quickly turned her attention back to the girl. “Claire. How are you feeling?”
“My head hurts.” Claire sank deeper into the couch and tightened the blanket around herself.
“Are you allergic to anything?” Abby asked as she picked up a bottle of aspirin.
“No.” Claire gave a tiny shake of her head. “I got tested when we found out Hillary couldn’t have any nuts.”
“Okay, then you can have one of these.” Abby shook out a single pill from the bottle. “It’ll help your head feel better.”
“I’ll get her some water.” Jon quickly disappeared back into the kitchen. He returned in no time with a glass of water from the sink.
“Thanks.” Abby took the glass from him and turned back to Claire. “Have you ever taken a pill you had to swallow?”
Claire nodded slightly and tried to sit up. Abby’s couch had the ability to eat people so she helped the girl. Claire took a small sip of the water, then took the pill from Abby’s hand. She popped the pill quickly and drank the water at nearly the same moment. She slopped a bit of the water.
“Sorry,” she mumbled looking at the spill.
“It’s all right.” Abby just let it soak. “It’s only water.”
She helped Claire lay back down again and fluffed a pillow under her head.
“Claire, can you tell me what happened?” Abby finally asked the most important question.
Claire’s face scrunched up in pai
n, and then fell into a deadpan expression. “After you left…” Claire whispered so that Abby had to lean a little closer to hear everything. “After… Mr. Fargus showed up. At first, we thought we might be in trouble so we grouped in the shallow end. Then we thought it was funny when he walked into the pool with all his clothes on,” she didn’t sound very amused. “Then… Then…” Tears welled up in her eyes.
“You don’t have to tell us now if you can’t,” Abby told her.
Claire shook her head. “Mr. Fargus attacked Bobby. He bit him. Bobby’s mom saw and got real mad. She started yelling, which made my mom start yelling. I was scared. Mr. Fargus dragged Bobby underwater. There was so much blood. Bobby’s mom jumped into the pool and tried to save Bobby. Mr. Fargus started attacking her then. Bobby floated. Mom jumped in the pool next and tried to pull Bobby to the side. Bobby was twitching. Then Bobby bit mommy. He bit her really hard, in the neck, in the same place Mr. Fargus had bitten him. He then jumped on Nancy and pulled her underwater. They were under for a really long time. The pool was filling with so much blood. I was so scared. I peed in the pool Abby. I know you’re not supposed to but I did.”
“It’s okay, Claire,” Abby had to whisper. Her throat had dried up like a desert while listening.
“Mr. Fargus grabbed Julie then. I don’t know what happened to Lucy, I didn’t see. Her floater was empty. My mommy… My mommy tried to grab me. She had a big hole where her neck was supposed to be. I was scared and started to swim to the deep end. She came after me, but it was as if she had forgotten how to swim. The water was so red. I climbed out of the pool. I ran away. I went through the boy’s room. I didn’t want to go around the pool so I went through the boy’s room.” Tears streamed down Claire’s face in rivers but her expression never changed.
“How…” Abby’s voice choked out and she swallowed hard. “How did you hurt your head?”
“I tripped in the change room. I hit my head on a bench.” Claire reached for the glass of water again. “May I have a drink?”
“Sure.” Abby handed her the glass and let her hold onto it. Her hands trembled slightly.
Everyone in the room was silent. Abby wondered if Claire had just hit her head harder than it looked, or if it was actually true. She remembered how Mr. Fargus was missing.
A loud thump hit the door and startled everyone.
“It’s him,” Claire whined sinking deeper into the couch. “Mr. Fargus killed everyone else and now he’s after me.”
Abby quickly got up and headed for the door. Mark actually took her place at Claire’s side and started whispering comforting words to her. Jon took over the phone duties.
Abby looked out the peephole. At first, all she saw was that the door across the hall was open. She looked toward the floor then and saw the stocking-covered legs of a woman, and a man, her neighbour Andrew, in a housecoat reaching for them. Andrew’s mouth was wide open and red. Blood red. Abby quickly pulled open her door. The woman had been leaning against it and spilled inside. Abby grabbed her arms and pulled her all the way in. Andrew’s teeth snapped on air, which had previously been occupied by the woman’s ankle. Abby quickly slammed the door and locked it before he could crawl any closer.
“Thank you,” the woman gasped breathlessly on the floor.
Abby helped her to her feet and over to a chair. From the door, a repetitive scratching started as Andrew reached it.
“What happened?” Abby found herself asking for a second time in the last handful of minutes.
“Andrew killed Jack and then he tried to kill me.” The woman in business attire put her head between her knees and took a few deep breaths. “I don’t know why.”
“It was Mr. Fargus,” Claire squeaked from the couch.
“Who?” The businesswoman just noticed the kids.
“Claire and her family were attacked by the doorman,” Abby told her. “We’re trying to call 911 but so far the line has been busy.”
“Yeah, they’re probably dealing with the attacks happening in the streets.” The woman accepted a glass of water that Jon had gone to get. He was quite the water fetcher.
“The streets? I heard the problem was in the park,” Abby frowned. The scratching at the door wasn’t ceasing.
“Well it’s in the streets now.” The woman took a large swallow of water. “I’m Jessica, by the way. Jessica Clay.”
“Abby Walker.” The girls shook hands. “This is Claire, Jon, and Mark.” Abby pointed to each of them.
“He’s trying to get in,” Claire whined. She was staring at the door with eyes wide with terror.
“Mark, Jon, can you boys move her into my bedroom? I’d also like you to stay with her once you’re there.” Abby thought it best to get them as far away from the front door as possible.
“Sure thing.” Mark helped Claire to her feet.
Claire kept the blanket wrapped tightly around herself and would not take her eyes off the door until they were out of sight. Once they were gone, Abby turned her attention back to Jessica.
“So tell me everything.” Abby wanted to – no, needed to – know what was going on.
Jessica told her about what she and Abby’s other neighbour, Jack, saw from the building, and about the guy on the street. She concluded with the attack across the hall. Abby listened intently but despite all her learning, she just couldn’t put it together in a way that made any sense. Andrew and Jack were one of the most in-love couples she had ever met. Why would Andrew ever attack Jack? And what did that have to do with what was apparently happening outside and with Mr. Fargus?
“What happened to the girl?” Jessica asked at the end of her story.
Abby gave Jessica a condensed and far less detailed version of the story she had just heard.
“None of this makes any sense,” Jessica spoke the words Abby had been thinking. “I feel like I should wake up or something.” Her hands were trembling. She put the glass of water down on a nearby table and held her own hands tightly together.
Abby got up and went to the door.
“Don’t open it,” Jessica’s voice was heavily threaded with terror.
“I’m not,” Abby assured her new guest, as she looked though the peephole.
Outside she couldn’t see Andrew anymore, although the sound let her know he was there. The scratching was getting higher so Abby figured he was slowly getting to his feet. She couldn’t see Jack through the open door, but she was sure that was a spreading pool of his blood on the floor. A shadow moved through the apartment, past the open door. Abby was paying too much attention to the blood pool to notice any details, but it was human-sized.
* * *
“Hey,” Abby spoke to Jessica without diverting her attention from the peephole. “Are you sure there was no one else in the apartment?”
“Well I didn’t look around or anything, but I didn’t see anything to suggest there was.” Jessica got up and stood closer to Abby. “Why do you ask?”
“I just saw someone over there.”
“What?” Jessica nudged Abby out of the way and took a quick look. “I don’t see anyone.”
“That’s ’cause they only just passed by.” Abby then nudged Jessica out of the way and looked again herself. As she was looking, a hand reached up and clawed across the peephole. She flinched back.
“What?” Her reaction didn’t go unnoticed by Jessica.
“Your friend Andrew seems to have made it back to his feet.” The scratching became a thumping.
“What do we do?” Jessica asked.
“How should I know?” Abby shrugged. “I’m worried about Claire’s head. She needs to get to a hospital where they can check it out properly.”
“It would take forever to get there on foot,” Jessica reminded her.
“I have a motorbike.” Both women jumped when Jon spoke from behind them. “It’s in the garage. I can take her on it.”
“Jon-” Abby was going to object.
“No it’s okay,” Jon cut her off. “I can driv
e on the sidewalks to get around stalled cars. I even have an extra helmet ’cause Mark rides with me all the time.”
“Maybe I should drive her,” Abby told him.
“Have you ever driven a motorcycle?” Jon cocked an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Abby gave him a smug look. Other people Abby had met were surprised when they found out about that side of her.
“When was the last time?” Jon questioned her further, not surprised at all.
“Several years ago,” she had to admit.
“I drove it today. And yesterday. And hundreds of yesterdays,” Jon pushed. “You should know that a recent rider would do better than someone who hasn’t ridden in years. Have you ever ridden one?” he turned to Jessica Clay.
Jessica shook her head. “I hate the things.”
“I’ve been riding dirt bikes since I was little,” Jon told them. “I can handle it. I even know the fastest route to the hospital.”
Abby sighed and gave in. “Well, okay, that’s fine, but how do we get out of the apartment?” she brought their attention back to Andrew thumping at the door.
“Do you have a baseball bat?” Jon suggested.
“Okay, let’s talk to Claire first.” Abby headed down the hall. She didn’t really want to think about the baseball bat idea, but it was an idea. If Claire was completely stubborn and unmoveable though, then there was no point in thinking about it at all. A small part of Abby wished this were the case.
She walked into her cosy, mismatched bedroom and sat on the bed next to Claire and Mark.
“Hey, Claire?” Abby placed a hand on her shoulder. “We need to get you to a hospital to get your head checked out. Would you be willing to ride on a motorcycle with Jon?”
“I don’t want to go out there,” Claire shook her head.
“We have to go,” Abby informed her.
“I don’t want to.” Claire held firm.
“Claire,” Mark got her attention, “you should go. There will be police officers at the hospital and they’ll make sure no one like Mr. Fargus gets you.”
Survival Instinct: A Zombie Novel Paperback Page 8