Last Man Standing (Book 1): Zombie Armageddon

by Max Lockwood

  “I guess she’s not really obligated to show us her possessions,” Matthew said, scratching his head. “I don’t know why, but maybe she’s just a private person. It would sure make things easier if she did, but we can’t pry into her life like that.”

  “She doesn’t want to talk to us about where she came from and what she knows,” Carl argued. “These are basic questions. We told her she could have food when she spoke.”

  “So now we’re holding her hostage,” Matthew groaned. “Great.”

  “We’re trying to strike a deal,” Carl replied. “Look, if you want to negotiate with her, be our guest. We aren’t getting anywhere with her.”

  “Fine,” Matthew said. “Drop your weapons.”

  “Are you crazy?” Pip squawked. “The second we do that, she’s going to lash out. Do we even know that she’s got a real baby in there? I swear, if she’s got a bomb or a gun, I’m going to kill you. That is, if we aren’t already dead.”

  Matthew took a deep breath in an attempt to keep his cool. “My negotiation, my rules. We need to do this quickly. She’s malnourished. The baby has got to be malnourished. If we don’t get her the food and water she desperately needs, she might not make it. Take a few steps back and holster your weapons. I’m serious.”

  Matthew clenched his fists. He was prepared for the others to fight him on his wishes, but surprisingly, they took several steps back and set the weapons on the floor in front of their feet. Carl and Sergio moved in unison, their faces stony. Pip trailed behind, reluctantly setting her axe on the ground. She folded her arms in front of her chest. Though she tried to act tough, Matthew could tell that she was frightened.

  “Ellie,” Matthew said calmly. “Will you please go to the water cooler and get our guest a cup of water? Use one of the big plastic cups from the third floor.”

  She nodded and scurried off, shuffling her feet on the tile floor.

  “Lucas,” he said gently. “In my bag, I have some granola bars. Go ahead and bring me one.”

  “Got it,” he replied before digging through the bag.

  Matthew set his own baseball bat on the ground and walked toward Sally. He moved slowly, as if he were approaching a fawn. His palms faced forward, showing the woman that he did not mean her any harm. Matthew stopped and faced the woman, standing just a few feet away from her.

  “Sally,” he said calmly. “We’re going to get you some food and water. It’s going to be okay.”

  “You said it was safe here,” she protested. “They want to hurt me. I was nervous to start, but I had no other option. I don’t know if my baby would make it if I didn’t find a place to stay.”

  “I understand,” Matthew replied. “Believe it or not, those guys are scared too. They’re just as scared as you are. You don’t know us and we don’t know you. That kind of fear makes tensions run high. We all just need to calm down and act rationally. Can we do that?”

  Sally nodded her head. Matthew didn’t look around to see if the others agreed.

  “What’s your child’s name?” Matthew asked.

  “Marigold,” she stuttered.

  “That’s a lovely name. How old is your daughter?”

  Sally’s lip quivered. “She’s only five months old. I’ll never forgive myself for bringing her into such a terrible world.”

  “We’ll help you take care of her,” Matthew replied. “I even picked up a few things at the store for her. You don’t need to worry. Do you want what’s best for your child?”

  “Of course I do,” she stammered. “I can tell that you have no children of your own. None of you do. Otherwise, you’d understand that no sane person would hurt their child.”

  “No, I don’t have kids,” Matthew said. “If you can believe it, I wasn’t far away from having one of my own. Before the disease struck, my wife and I were seriously talking about starting our own family. I don’t know what it’s like to have a child, but I understand what it means to want the best for someone. That’s why I don’t think you’re dangerous.”

  “Then why can’t you make them understand?” she pleaded.

  He wasn’t sure how to answer that question. He didn’t know how to explain that they were strangers to him, just as she was. He didn’t know how to appeal to people when he didn’t know anything about their personal lives. If he couldn’t convince Sally to be honest with the group, then he would be in hot water. He didn’t want to leave the office building, and he didn’t want the others to abandon him either. He couldn’t explain the need to fit in with other human beings. He just had so much to lose.

  “We need your help to make them understand,” Matthew replied. “You’ve got something next to the baby. We’re aware of it. Do you have anything else on your person?”

  “I have no other earthly possessions,” she whimpered. “I lost everything—everything but Marigold. I feel so much pain. Sometimes, it’s almost too much to bear.”

  “I get it,” Matthew said gently. “We’ve all lost a lot. But we can find strength in each other.”

  She lowered her brows and cocked her head to the side. “Are you spiritual?”

  Matthew wasn’t sure how to answer that question. He wasn’t deeply religious, but he occasionally found comfort in prayer. His life was governed by a decent set of ethics, but not necessarily because he needed to get into a better afterlife—Matthew just wanted to be a good person. But he was often inspired by sermons or scriptures. When it came down to it, Matthew was a spiritual mutt, borrowing ideas from whatever sources appealed to him. The end goal was to do a little good in the world, but every move wasn’t directed by ancient rules.

  “I don’t know—maybe a little. Why?”

  She studied his face. “Some of the things you say sound like the beliefs I base my life around. I am faithful to God and I can usually tell when others are too.”

  Matthew shrugged. “I guess I don’t know how to answer your question. What does your God say about telling the truth?”

  She sighed and bowed her head so low that her forehead touched the top of Marigold’s head. The baby hardly stirred, too hungry to even cry. Without nourishment, it would not survive.

  “I must not lie,” she said. “Oh, but I’m tested every single day. I struggle to obey my Father’s words when the world is so horrible. People did this, and we will pay. I don’t want to lie, but I want to hold on to the little I have left. It’s no use, is it? I can’t get caught up in holding on to material things. If they want my last prized possession, they can have it. I just hope it isn’t wasted on them. I can’t take it into Heaven with me anyway. I must ask God for forgiveness for my sin. In time, I hope that you will forgive me, too. I never wanted to cause trouble.”

  Carefully, her frail fingers made her way to the zippered compartment in the carrying pouch. Without disturbing her sleeping child, she pulled the zipper and tucked her hand inside.

  Matthew’s heart was pounding. He was excited that his negotiation skills were actually working. Finally, he would be able to see what was causing them so much trouble. But at the same time, he was frightened. If he had been wrong and Sally turned out to be deranged and dangerous, he wouldn’t have much time to protect the others from an attack. He wouldn’t be able to handle any more guilt on his conscience.

  Sally slowly withdrew her hand, tears splashing onto her sleeve. Before she exposed the object, she paused and looked up at Matthew, her green eyes peering into his.

  “Hold out your hand,” she said softly. “I don’t know if the others will be able to appreciate this, but I think you might.”

  He frowned. Matthew was concerned by how secretive she was being. She stepped closer to him, as if she was trying to shield her secret from the rest of the room. At this point, even if she did have a weapon, Matthew just wanted the suspense to end. He would have rather held a live grenade in his hand instead of wondering what she was hiding. At least with the grenade, he would know what to do next. The curiosity was killing him.

  Finally, after
much anticipation, she pulled out a small leather-bound book and placed it in Matthew’s open palm. As he took the object, her frigid, bony fingers wrapped around the back of his warm hand.

  Once her sole possession was out of her hand, she sank to the ground and began to cry again. Matthew was stunned but relieved. It took all the strength he had left not to fall to the ground right next to the woman.

  “It’s fine, you guys,” Matthew said wearily. “She doesn’t have a weapon. She’s not a danger to anyone. Now, can we all just relax and show the poor woman a little kindness? I don’t think that’s too much to ask after everything she’s been through.”

  Matthew sat on the floor next to Sally and Marigold, clutching her sacred book. He had gone through so much trouble to get his hands on the object. Now, he wanted to see what was so special about it.

  19

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Pip mumbled under her breath. “All of this trouble for that little book? I think she’s crazy.”

  “Hush,” Carl whispered at his younger sister. He looked exhausted, though they had all slept well in the past week. “Why don’t you empty your bags upstairs?” he suggested.

  Her eyes lit up. Pip grabbed the bag from the floor and raced upstairs.

  By then, Ellie had returned, balancing several cups of water in her hands. The front of her shirt was covered in dribbles as she rushed toward the group.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked before setting the cups on the ground. She hesitantly handed one to Sally, who greedily gulped the beverage.

  “It’s fine,” Matthew said, a little annoyed with the others. He emphasized the word “fine” in hopes that the others would catch his drift. There was nothing okay about the way Sally had been treated.

  In fact, he found it rather surprising that the other military men acted so rashly. Matthew had learned from his superior officers that the civilians they dealt with on a daily basis were living in tough times, so they needed to empathize. Many of these people would see the soldiers as a threat because they were a part of the conflict. Others were afraid of everything and didn’t trust any authority figures.

  Something that stuck with Matthew was when his commanding officer told his platoon that this may be the only encounter the civilians would ever have with an American. In his platoon, they were drilled over the idea that they should be the best representation of their country that they could be while completing the tasks set out for them.

  In a way, Matthew thought of his group as a group of soldiers working together to keep each other safe. They fought the enemy and helped innocent people when they could. But he didn’t like the way his fellow soldiers were treating the poor woman whose only crime was a distrust of others. That was understandable. What wasn’t acceptable was pointing weapons and screaming at a young mother and her newborn daughter.

  If he had felt more comfortable with his leadership role within the group, he would have yelled at everyone for their poor behavior. But he was still a little worried that everyone would leave him. After all, Carl admitted that he was tired of the military. Perhaps a rigid, controlled lifestyle would drive him away.

  Matthew handed Sally his cup of water. She needed it far worse than he did. He figured that in the time they’d sat there in silence, she had cried the same volume of liquid that she had consumed. Matthew wished she’d stop.

  Curious about her prized possession, he looked down at the small leather book in his hand. It looked to be at least a hundred years old. This was no antique collector’s item, though—it was well-used. Yellowed pages threatened to fall out and deep creases had worn into the broken spine. He had to flip through a few weathered pages to even realize that he was looking at a Bible.

  “This looks really old,” Matthew noted, carefully looking at the pages.

  “It is,” Sally said. She had finally calmed down enough to speak. Marigold woke up and began to fuss. Sally rocked back and forth in her seat on the ground to soothe the child. “It was given to my mother on her wedding day. When I got married, she gifted it to me. It goes back five generations.”

  “Wow,” Matthew replied. “I bet it’s pretty special to you.”

  She lowered her eyebrows. Special was an understatement.

  “The contents are far more valuable. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t read at least a few chapters. Even when we were on the run, I read passages to Marigold.”

  “Every day?” Carl asked. “Doesn’t the story get boring?”

  Sally shook her head. “I can tell when my faith is being mocked. But no, it never gets old. I can find new and relevant meaning every time I open the book. Maybe you should read it. It’s been a huge comfort to me.”

  “Maybe later,” he said. “I have a John Grisham upstairs that I haven’t finished yet. Sorry. I wasn’t mocking you. I’m just not really religious.”

  “It’s never too late.” She smiled. “I’d be happy to share the word of the Lord.”

  “Sure,” Carl said halfheartedly.

  Pip came running back downstairs, her cheeks pink. She brought several open cans of fruit cocktail, peaches, and pears with plastic forks. She set them in the middle of the huddle and backed to the edge of the group.

  Matthew went to hand the Bible back to Sally when a piece of paper fell out from between the pages and floated to the ground. He leaned forward to retrieve the missing page. When he picked up the piece of paper, it felt thicker than the other pieces. He turned it over to find that he was holding a photograph of a young child on a piece of computer paper, cropped to fit inside the bible.

  “Was this you as a child?” he asked, looking at the picture of the little girl. She wore a white satin gown and beamed at the camera.

  She shook her head. “No, that was my daughter.”

  Was. Matthew clammed up. Just when he thought he was getting through to Sally and making her feel more comfortable, he’d made a huge mistake. He felt positively mortified to bring up such a touchy subject. A death in the family was one thing, but the death of a child had to have been exponentially more painful.

  “I’m so sorry,” Matthew stammered.

  “It’s been hard, but at least I know my daughter is in a better place. The thing that upsets me is that I can’t be so sure about my husband’s soul. I know he’s a good person, but the things he did at the end of his life were the work of the devil.”

  Matthew ground his teeth. He couldn’t possibly ask her to elaborate. Thankfully, Ellie did for him.

  “We lived in a tight-knit community,” Sally said, her voice quavering again. “My family socialized with other families from church. We didn’t even own a TV. None of us knew what was going on out there. My husband worked as a mechanical engineer. Someone in his office had a psychotic break or something and attacked everyone. Mark got a nasty bite on his hand when he tried to defend himself. He was so rattled by everything that happened that he came straight home. I was homeschooling Lily and the baby was down for her nap. My husband came in the house and was horribly distressed. I didn’t know what to do.”

  She paused and drank the last sip from her water cup. Ellie was ready with a fresh bottle of water for her. The others sat in stunned silence. Matthew felt voyeuristic for being so engaged in her terrible story, but he was quite curious. He had never known someone so different.

  “I tried to get him to go to the doctor for the bite. Even though it happened just hours prior, it looked infected and swollen. He didn’t want to go. He just wanted to lie down and rest. I needed to feed Marigold so I told him to help me finish Lily’s reading lesson. I should have never asked him to do so. I wish I could have convinced him to talk to someone about his problem.”

  “He turned?” Ellie breathed.

  She nodded. “It took a few hours, but he did turn. I didn’t know what was happening to him. I went to the bedroom to nurse the baby and when I returned to the kitchen, Mark and Lily were gone. I called everyone I knew to keep an eye out for them. About ten minutes late
r, I got a call from our pastor, telling me to get to the church as soon as possible.”

  Pip hiccupped. At first, Matthew thought it was a giggle and turned around to give her a reproachful glare. But when he saw how downtrodden she looked, he turned back around.

  “I think Mark knew that he was in trouble, hence running to the church for protection. But his mind was already too far gone to be reasonable and leave my daughter safe at home. The pastor was kind enough to cover their bodies with a sheet by the time I arrived there. An off-duty police officer heard the commotion and stopped Mark before he could hurt anyone else. Our daughter was his only victim.”

  “That’s horrible,” Ellie said. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  “A parent should never outlive their child,” Sally said, stroking the back of Marigold’s head. “At least God allowed her to pass in her favorite place, amongst friends who could pray for her soul. If there’s a silver lining in any of this, that’s it. I forgive Mark. I know he had no control over himself. It’s just hard to remember him as the man I loved when his last act was so horrible.”

  “I understand,” Matthew said. “That sort of thing can taint a good memory.”

  “But it’s not as if I can’t see past these zombies and see real people behind them,” Sally continued. “That’s why I haven’t managed to use that knife, even if I was inches from death. I can’t help but see those poor creatures and think about the lives they led before their bodies and minds were destroyed by illness. I fear them because they don’t know what they are doing, but I pity them. I cannot kill a person—no matter the form they are in. Not only does my God forbid it, but my soul cannot take what is not mine. These people once belonged to someone.”

  “But we have to stop them,” Sergio said. “Otherwise, we would all die. Do you think we should just let them take over?”

  “No,” she said hesitantly. “I know it is necessary for survival. I think God may make an exception for this rule. I feel blessed that there are protectors out there, and I pray for each and every one of you. I am hurt, but I am encouraged by those God has sent to help me and my daughter.”