“This isn’t the disease! I need to get this food out of me!” she yelled at herself. She’d remembered what Vaughn had said when they were in the kitchen of the hoarder, digging through her pantry. “If you can’t find a date or if the can is damaged leave it, or it might kill you . . .”
“I don’t want to die!” she cried out. Sitting on the floor, tears running down her cheeks she kept forcing more fingers in. After four fingers to no avail, she gave up. Her stomach was cramping, or maybe she was imagining it, and she was growing tired.
She fell asleep on cool linoleum, an empty garbage bag clutched in one hand.
Tom Vaughn’s New Plan
It was late evening. What evening, Vaughn didn’t know. He might have known earlier what week they were in, what day of it he was living. But now he had lost count of the beers he had downed and with them, the days. He didn’t usually keep track of either of those things anyway.
He was making plans to leave the complex for good. In fact, he had readied Dead Lawn, the house down the road with the dog, over a few days’ time. Tom was sick of the group downstairs. They had become a hassle and he was gladly trading their company for that of Cheddar the Golden Retriever. He’d rather put up with Cheddar’s constant need to have his paw held than any of the other tenants. It wasn’t just the people though. His apartment, which was small before the outbreak, had taken on a coffin-like feel, stifling and claustrophobic. It was definitely time for a change.
He was packing the second of two large duffel bags and going over the plan in his head when Hayden let herself in to the apartment.
“Hey,” was all Hayden said. When Tom heard the word ‘hey’ it told him that she was bored and he hated that. He wasn’t her entertainer.
“Don’t you knock girl?” Tom turned around on unsteady feet. She was playing with her hair and looking around. Her eyes came to meet his and he watched them scan down to the duffel bags.
“What are you doing?” she asked, though Tom was unsure if she was asking specifically about the bags.
“Not much, just hanging out.” All his words came out slurred but he was sober enough to decide not to explain the travel gear. Hayden too had become a hassle and she wasn’t invited over to his new place. He wanted to disappear.
“Don’t you drink something other than beer? Ever heard of water?” she laughed, but Vaughn didn’t think it was funny, just annoying. His anger and impatience with her were beginning to rise and he wanted her to leave.
“Are we going to screw or are you going to get out of here?” His impatience had won and now he was in full jerk mode.
“You shouldn’t talk to me like that. You should treat me better, like Ben does.”
“Ben is a pussy of a man and I don’t have to do anything for you Hayden. If you let him touch you it just goes to show what a slut you truly are. Go away. We’re done.” He tried to push her towards the door so he could continue his packing. She pushed back and smacked his face. He hit her back, almost knocking her to the ground.
“I’m pregnant, Tom!” she yelled; the pain of his slap and his rejection registering and bringing tears to her eyes. Vaughn was too drunk and dumbfounded to figure out what that meant for him. He grabbed his cigarettes and a lighter and went for the balcony. Hayden followed so he climbed down the fire escape, something he knew she wouldn’t do.
Armed . . .
Jeff had to look out for himself again. He was happy he’d removed himself from the group and been able to return to the solitude of his apartment. He found only one issue with his idea of paradise, his food was very low but Isobel would try to convince him to rejoin the social structure of the group if he approached her in need. He wouldn’t ask for sustenance, he would take it. But first he would take a gun and he knew just where to get one from.
Feeling more empowered than usual, something similar to the feeling he felt when he’d killed his wife, he walked upstairs to Tom’s apartment to arm himself. When he knocked Tom didn’t answer, Hayden did.
“Hi, um, Jeff,” she said as she held a hand to her face where it still burned from the impact of Vaughn’s hand.
“Hey, is Tom here?” He looked around the living room.
“No, he went out for a little bit. Can I do something for you?”
Jeff didn’t know if she was trying to come on to him but he didn’t care either way. “I just need a gun.”
“He won’t like that,” Hayden shook her head.
“But you won’t tell him,” Jeff grabbed her throat. His hand gripped her small neck hard enough to let her know that he wasn’t there to screw around. “He has so much crap in here he won’t notice.”
Hayden nodded her head as much as she could in his grasp and he let go. She moved out of his way. Jeff picked a handgun; it would do the job he needed it to.
“Knowing how psychotic he is, I bet you he’ll notice the gun is gone. You should think about leaving before he comes back,” Jeff suggested. Hayden thought it semi-psychotic of Jeff to choke her and look out for her well-being in the same visit.
“No, we were talking about something and we weren’t finished.”
“Well, I should go then. Thanks for the gun.”
. . . and Dangerous
“I’m going to bed soon. I feel super drained. Maybe things will look up tomorrow,” Isobel yawned and waited for Ben’s reply but he was already snoozing. She blew out the last lit candle and made her way to her bedroom in the dark. Not twenty minutes later Ben was shaking her awake.
“Isobel, get up. Jeff is here.”
“Tell him we can talk tomorrow,” Isobel said as she rolled over in bed.
“Isob- ” Ben started.
The beam of a flashlight hit her in the face. The brightness blinded her temporarily.
“Get out of bed. Now.” It was Jeff, his meek voice sounding strong and scary to her.
“Can’t this wait? Whatever this is?”
“I have a gun, Isobel. I don’t need it to kill you but don’t make me use it.” His allusion to strangling as an option made him smile and Isobel cringe.
She was out of bed at the word gun, leading the way into the living room, followed by Ben with Jeff and his mysteriously acquired handgun bringing up the rear. Isobel lit a few candles for some light that would be softer than the glare of the flashlight. She discreetly looked around the table and side tables for Ben’s handgun. Jeff saw it at the same time she did. He picked it up and tossed it behind the couch.
“I defended you to everyone, Jeff. Why are you doing this?” Her teeth chattered from nervousness and the nighttime cold of the room. Isobel didn’t want to die but she couldn’t think of a reason why Jeff would actually kill her. Still, a gun in her face had her on edge.
“I just want to live like everyone else and to do that I have to eat. I need you to give me the key to the rations apartment.”
“But . . .” Isobel began to argue. Jeff cocked the gun.
“Are you going to tell me something stupid like ‘you found it first?’ Because I don’t fucking care. No one elected you supreme leader. I’ll bring the key back when I take what I need.”
“Then why the gun? Why are you scaring the hell out of me to take something you are going to return anyway? Borrowing hardly seems like a good reason to threaten a life.”
“I want the extra key to my apartment too,” Jeff explained. He didn’t want to talk to her he just wanted to get the keys and leave. “Don’t say anything else. Just do it.”
Isobel found the key ring and relinquished the requested keys to him. Jeff left backwards, the gun aimed at Isobel and Ben as he disappeared into the darkened hallway and back upstairs.
Game Changer
Vaughn had never been outside with the dead while so intoxicated. It was a trip that messed with his head in a way he didn’t like. Vaughn was stubborn though and refused to climb back upstairs before he finished a cigarette. The sky was dark; it was later than he’d thought. He had to keep walking or the dead would catch him. The mo
re he moved the more tired he felt, the slower he became, like the alcohol hadn’t been fully absorbed until this escapist expedition. He had to go back; this wasn’t working. He would have to deal with Hayden, the girl he’d invited into his life, and face the mistake he had made by doing so.
He reached for the lowest ladder rung. A huge woman came around the corner of the building. Vaughn was struck by her size. She smelled absolutely putrid. Near five-hundred pounds alive, all of that mass was rotting. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She seemed to be coming for him in slow motion but slow was as fast as she could move. In the darkness her face looked like his mother.
“I don’t want to raise a baby. I don’t want to. I just wanted the retarded dog.” He was talking to the thing, hoping for some understanding, looking for a little unconditional love. The alcohol was making him emotional and the tears started falling. They blurred his vision more than the beer; making the monster look even more like his mother. She had her arms open like a hug, an invitation. Vaughn put his arms out in front of him, ready for the embrace. The woman almost had him enveloped when she turned her head ever so slightly and took a giant bite out of Tom’s left forearm.
The pain raced through his arm and into his head, clearing it in an instant. He’d had twelve beers, Hayden was knocked up, and this woman, who was not his mother and not really even a woman had just infected him. He fought his way out of the clutches of the beast and pulled himself up the ladder. Hayden was kneeling on the floor, unpacking his duffel bags and crying. She could see the wound on his arm.
“You bitch! You fucking bitch! Come here!” Vaughn pulled her from the floor by her hair and threw her face down on the couch. He ripped her clothes off and entered her without mercy.
Off
Jeff’s hands were shaking as he stood at the doorway to the apartment upstairs were the food was stored. He couldn’t believe he’d held a gun to two people’s faces! He felt incredible, in control and as badass as Vaughn. Just as he was about to turn the key to unlock the door he heard Hayden screaming from Vaughn’s apartment. He crept to the door of Vaughn’s place and pressed an ear to it. From the noises he heard the two of them were fucking again. Jeff was surprised to be turned on by the sound. Since Markus had left he was unmotivated to please himself but the grunting of Vaughn and the begging of Hayden was far too much for him to handle. He unzipped his pants in the darkness of the end of the hall and attempted to find a heaven similar to the one he’d found with Markus.
Unhappy Ending
“How fast do you think the infection can spread through my entire body? Consider it a gift to you and the baby to show how much I care about you both,” Vaughn whispered into Hayden’s ear. His arm looked like shit and it was dripping blood on Hayden’s back. She was screaming and struggling to get away from him but he was too strong and too determined to see it through to the end. He wondered if he’d have time to find Molly and be with her too before he turned.
“Do you see what you did to me? Huh?” Vaughn only knew anger now. His plans were ruined, his life ending.
“You brought me here!” she screamed. “You did this to yourself!”
As though he hadn’t harmed her enough, when he was finished he flicked on some porn, something he knew Hayden despised, and went to grab another beer.
“Let me go. Let me leave,” she was whimpering on the floor, naked and terrified that Vaughn would turn at any moment into a zombie and try to eat her.
“Oh, you want to go now? I was trying to kick you out earlier but you wouldn’t leave. You know where the fucking door is, whore.”
Hayden picked up her clothes and started for the exit. She saw a handgun on the side table near the couch. She reached for it as she heard the beer bottle drop.
“It’s happening. I can’t believe it. I’m going fucking numb!” Vaughn yelled as he looked at his arms.
She pulled the trigger but her shaking hands and lack of any real firearms skills made for a lousy shot. The bullet hit wall. She ran for the door. She had to get away before the change was complete.
Spent
Jeff had finished and was sitting in the dark enjoying the afterglow when he heard a pop from Vaughn’s apartment. He was still processing the noise when the door was ripped open. He lifted his gun, fearing it was Vaughn himself but Hayden’s nude silhouette stood in the light of the doorway.
She saw Jeff sitting with his pants open in the corner of the hallway. “Help me,” she had just enough time to whisper to him.
Bang
Molly was jarred from sleep by the sound of gunshots. Her body was stiff from lying on the kitchen floor for hours. She felt her forehead with the back of her hand, searching for fever but finding it cool and dry. She stood up slowly, holding onto the edge of the counter for support, expecting to be dizzy and nauseous. She found her feet steady, her vision acute and her stomach still holding its contents.
“Oh, thank the fucking Lord. That was close,” she said, overwhelmed with relief that she hadn’t poisoned herself with bad food. Then she remembered the noise she’d heard and wondered if it had been real. If she wasn’t sick, it must have been.
Isobel too was startled from her sleep. The gunshots sounded as though it had come from within the building. Her watch said that it was only an hour after Jeff’s gun-accompanied visit. She already had clothes and shoes on but she stumbled around to find a fleece jacket because the air inside was freezing.
Ben was awake in the living room, wrapped in a thick bathrobe, and sitting upright listening for some further disturbance.
“Who do you think that was?” Isobel asked.
“I don’t know. Jeff, maybe? I don’t hear screaming or running or anything,” Ben answered.
“You think he took his life?” Isobel hoped that was the case. It would solve a few problems.
“Like I said, I don’t know.” Ben shrugged.
“Let’s go find out.” Isobel unlocked her apartment door to find everyone else, the small group that they were, in the second floor hall already. They all looked just as bewildered; no one had answers.
“Who are we missing?” Ben asked. He had his gun, recovered from behind Isobel’s couch, and a flashlight, one in each hand. He shone the light over the bleary-eyed group, trying to recognize the shadowy faces of those surrounding him.
Jeff wasn’t in the hallway with the others. Rob had Gabe wrapped up in a quilt. Molly stood alone, looking stressed and tired.
“What’s wrong with your face, Molly?” Rob asked her, noticing strange markings across her left cheek.
“What?” She raised a hand to her skin and felt shallow, long, and strangely geometric indentations there. “Oh. I fell asleep on the linoleum.”
Rob didn’t ask for further clarification. It was an answer that made sense for the marks but why would she be on the floor? Molly saw him thinking over her response.
“I felt hot and it was the only cool place I could find,” she added.
“Are you feeling better now?” Isobel asked her with motherly concern in her voice.
“Much better. Thank you,” Molly answered only to end the conversation. She hated it when Isobel talked to her like a child.
“Has anyone seen Jeff?” Isobel inquired. She didn’t know if he’d asserted himself with anyone else in the time since she’d been threatened by him.
“I already tried to check his place but the door was locked and if he was in there he didn’t answer,” Rob said.
“Hayden’s not here,” Ben said, his heartbeat growing more rapid.
“Only one place it could have come from then. Ben, can you lead the way to the third floor?” Isobel asked expectantly. Ben said nothing but walked to the front of the group to take point.
“I think Gabe and I will stay here, if that’s alright? If Vaughn has a gun I don’t want it pointed at my son.”
Isobel turned to him in the dark of the hallway. “We could really use your help, Rob.” Isobel didn’t feel safe with just Molly, who’d turne
d against everyone, and Ben whose attachment to Hayden might lead him to angering Vaughn. She needed another stable person with her and Rob was the only option.
“Gabe, can you promise to stay in the apartment until I come back?” Rob asked as he rubbed his son’s shoulders through the blanket that enveloped him.
“I’m scared, dad. What if you don’t come back?”
“I’ll come back. I pinky promise.”
“But what if you don’t come back,” Gabe worried.
“I will but, if I don’t, someone else will come. Maybe Molly.” Rob looked at Molly and she nodded lightly.
With Gabe safe in 203, Rob followed the others up the stairs with heavy feet and foreboding. It was dark on the third floor except for Ben’s flashlight and the light coming through the open doorway of Vaughn’s apartment at the end of the hall. A nude form was lying on the floor, halfway in the apartment, and halfway in the hall. In the corner opposite, Ben could see Jeff sitting, clutching his knees to his chest. When the flashlight hit him he drew his legs in tighter and tucked his head deeper out of view, like he was hiding.
“Oh!” Molly cried out but then covered her mouth. It was difficult to tell if it was Hayden but the body on the floor couldn’t be anyone else.
“Jeff! What happened? Is Hayden ok?” Isobel asked as they all moved forward. From their new position, just one apartment away from the body, they could tell for certain that it was the teen.
“Is she alive, Jeff? Is she breathing?” Ben asked with growing worry in his voice.
Jeff lifted his head slowly. “Shut up!” he whispered. “He’ll hear you!” A strange growling noise came from Vaughn’s apartment. Everyone turned to the doorway, expecting Vaughn to emerge but nothing happened.
When the Dead Page 25