by Jeff Olah
The tall man paused for a moment and then nodded. “My name is Cory. I’m originally from Ohio and moved out here sixteen years ago. I was working as a high school guidance counselor just outside the city when this whole thing went down. I was trapped for thirty-seven days with a few other employees of the school when Tobias and Gavin came through the front doors. They’d cleared the surrounding areas, so when they left I went with them.”
“Uh, that doesn’t really—”
“Okay, now you know more about me than anyone else that’s still above ground. I owe these men for pulling me out of that school and destroying hundreds of Feeders in the process. I would have died in that school over nine months ago if they hadn’t shown up when they did.”
“Cory, why do they want my father?”
He bit into his lower lip and looked back at the building. “Your father, Dr. Eugene Lockwood is still the most important man alive today, here in this city or for that matter anywhere else. I think a better question is who on earth wouldn’t want him.”
“Don’t you realize now that this infection is probably unstoppable, my dad isn’t really that much different from any other human being. Finding a cure will probably never happen and even if it does, there isn’t much of a client base anymore. There won’t be anyone left to sell it to.”
“He’s not looking to sell anything.”
“He who?” Megan said. “The bastard in the chair, that’s obviously telling you all what to do? What does he want with my father?”
“Listen, I’ve said more than I should and more than you deserve. Just because these men have done things that I couldn’t doesn’t mean that they are any worse than I am. We are all trying to survive, you included.”
“I would never have done what—”
“Don’t be so sure. I know you have people in your group that have done some pretty bad things as well. Like I said, we are all just trying to survive.”
“If that’s true, that you are just trying to survive, then your people would have tried to communicate with ours. Instead, you cooked up a plan to catch us off guard. You destroyed our homes and killed more than ten of our people.”
“That’s not exactly how it went down. Tobias gave every one of your people the opportunity to walk away. They chose to stay and fight. And don’t you forget that we lost men in that fire as well. It wasn’t really as one sided as you seem to think.”
Megan didn’t respond. She instead turned to Eleanor and waited for a reaction. Something told her that her friend was still here, that the will to live she’d shown earlier was still present. Megan hadn’t given up and wanted to be sure Eleanor hadn’t either.
After thirty seconds of watching Eleanor stare into the drain below her feet, Megan turned back to Cory. “You are right about one thing; I am just trying to survive. My friends are also just trying to survive, but those men you are with, the ones you say saved your life, they’re different. They don’t care about survival, only about dominating and killing anyone they can. You better hope they never decide that they need something from you.”
“We’re done.” Cory stood and turned. And as he started back toward the building, Megan was able to see around him. The two injured women were slumped forward and lay face down on the concrete. A small river of blood ran from their bodies and pooled near the depression at the center of the walkway.
With the words caught in her throat, all Megan could do was scream. As she watched Cory continue to the door without acknowledging the women, she screamed until her voice dropped off. Unable to continue vocalizing her grief, she shook the door to her cage and kicked against the block wall at her back until she could no longer move.
Back to Eleanor, Megan forced out two barely audible words. “They’re gone.”
Raising her head from her chest, Eleanor focused on the door that had just parted. “I know.”
The man in the chair sat just beyond the threshold as the morning sun flooded into the area. Holding his whiteboard in his lap, he stared at the two lifeless women and then back at Cory.
Cory nodded as if confirming an unspoken command and the man in the chair rolled away from the door and back into the building. As the door closed, the misdirected young man, who once guided high school students, began dragging the first body away from the wall and out of sight.
Using what little strength she had left, Megan pulled herself to the right side of her cage and sat up. Her hands placed across her belly, she looked to Eleanor. “I can’t feel my baby.”
207
He should have heard the horde of more than two dozen. He should have heard Brian moving away from the door. And although Jack appeared to be comatose, he should have heard the three Feeders converging on him. Even through the two thick layers of sound diminishing steel, he should have heard the two men battling for their lives.
Mason pushed through the door and locked it back against the wall. Stepping into the garage, he withdrew his weapon and moved alongside Jack. The nine millimeter felt good in his hand as he put down the three beasts that came in quick as Randy also stepped out.
The garage was cool, although the area stunk of their rotted flesh. The tall ceilings pushed the stagnant air back into the deep recesses and forced the men to cover their noses. Mason moved quickly to Jack and assured he had at least a few seconds, dropped to one knee.
Reluctantly venturing out and using the pair of SUVs as cover, Randy climbed onto the hood of the closer of the two and again shouldered his rifle. The infected throng of arms, legs, and mouths appeared to move toward the entrance and away from him, although it wasn’t until he brought the scope of his rifle to his right eye that the situation revealed itself.
Randy lowered his weapon and spoke only to himself. “Two minutes, just two more minutes. But that’s usually the difference, just one-hundred-twenty seconds. Rest in peace my man.”
Mason called out. “Randy where’s Brian? We’ve got to go.”
“He’s gone,” Randy yelled back as he returned to the scope and attempted to line up the shot that would end Brian’s suffering. “Damn it.” Stepping across the two foot gap and onto the hood of the second SUV, he fired off three quick rounds. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Laying down two Feeders blocking his view, Randy still didn’t have a clear shot.
“Now Randy, while we still have one to save.”
Randy checked the scope one last time before climbing down from the hood and running back over to Mason. “How is he?”
“He’s breathing,” Mason said. “But I can’t find a pulse.”
“What?”
“Let’s get him up and inside. I’m sure he’s fine, he just needs—”
“Wait, are you sure he’s not bitten?”
“I checked him, let’s go.”
The ground appeared to shake as the perverse horde turned its attention back toward the stairwell. Mason looked up as the SUVs began to rock from side to side and the first few Feeders stumbled toward them.
Sliding in close, Mason grabbed Jack’s pant legs. He paused as Randy set his rifle inside the doorway and returned to help. As Randy gripped the younger and smaller man under the arms, he and Mason maneuvered away from the wall and started for the door.
It began to make sense, the actions taken by Brian and what they meant. Mason knew that Brian had made the decision to sacrifice himself in order to save his friend and although Jack’s condition was far from certain, he was at least given a chance.
Brian sealed his own fate when he walked away from the locked stairwell door and led the enormous crowd away from Jack. But it was his choice and Mason knew Brian wouldn’t have wanted to leave this earth any other way. He’d known this since the first night the two groups spent together at Blackmore. Although their conversation lasted less than ten minutes, Mason knew this day would come.
The interior lights dimmed and with both groups fast asleep, Mason walked the halls of the Blackmore Research Facility. From the Command Center, he relieved Sean, who’d bee
n behind the keyboard for over sixteen hours. He sat at the main workstation and ran through the exterior video feeds, not really focused on anything in particular as Brian entered the room and slumped into the chair to his right.
“The shower feel good?”
Brian breathed out slowly and fought the urge to yawn. “So much better than I remembered. I also can’t imagine how we must have looked and smelled driving in here today.”
“No worries,” Mason said. “Each and every one of us has been there, some of us more than once. We’re just glad you all made it here in one piece.”
“Almost all of us.”
“Brian, I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. I know you’ve been through more in the last few months than most of us and losing two of your people this morning had to be devastating. Please forgive me.”
“No Mason, I wasn’t talking about the ones we’ve lost to the Feeders. I was referring to those in my group that have lost their will to live, the ones who decided to stop fighting. I’ve lost more people in the last month than I care to mention.”
Mason nodded. “I’m sure it’s taken quite a toll on you. I can tell you one thing—it never gets any easier. Losing those that you’re trying to protect, it’s worse than anything else this world throws at us.”
Brian sat forward and put his face in his hands. “Oh man, how insensitive of me. You lost your entire family and I’m here burdening you with all the crazy things running around in my head. I apologize buddy.”
“I’ll be honest; this mountain holds nothing but bad memories for me. I cannot wait to drive away from here and never look back.” Mason stopped and began to nod. “So, I welcome this conversation and am here for anything you need to talk about. Our stories and how we got here have made us who we are right this minute, the good and the bad.”
“I wish there were more good than bad.”
“So do I,” Mason said.
“Mason, can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“Do you ever think about how it will end? I mean not like how the world will finally end, but for you as a person. You know, with everything that’s happened, we’re lucky to still be here.”
“You mean like how’s it gonna happen to me? Like will I be shot, or bitten by one of those things, or run over by one of my own? Stuff like that?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Every single day,” Mason said. “It used to drive me nuts. That’s all I focused on for weeks at a time, but now I just try to stay busy. Working around here for the last few months has helped. How are you dealing with it?”
“There are good days and bad, although sometimes the only reason I keep going is because I’m afraid to die. I worry that once that fear is gone, things are going to deteriorate for me pretty quickly. Most days, the only thing keeping me from putting a gun in my mouth are my people.”
“Brian, I hope now that you’ve joined us, you’ll come to me if things get too rough for you to handle alone.”
Sitting back in his chair, Brian smiled. “You know how I want to go, how I hope this world takes me?”
“Uh, I’m not sure this—”
“I want my life to mean something. So, when it happens to me, I want to go out kicking and screaming while at the same time saving my people. If that happens, you can all be content knowing I left this world a happy man.”
Once inside the stairwell, Mason gently leaned Jack next to the bottom stair. He looked back into the overrun garage and for the first time felt something other than grief at someone’s passing.
Under his breath, he said goodbye to his friend and closed the door.
208
Leaning into one another with only a thin layer of cold stainless steel grating between them, Megan ran her hand over her eyes. Her thoughts no longer rested with her safety and although she wanted to be set free, it no longer mattered. Getting back to Randy and reuniting with her family would only bring thoughts of her life before two days ago. She prayed to forget.
As Eleanor pushed her hand through the gap near the bottom of the cage, they intertwined their fingers and cried together. Neither could speak and neither wanted to. Unable to watch, they turned their heads away as Cory dragged the second body away from the building and then returned with his head down to run a mop over the blood-soaked walkway.
Trying to imagine how long they’d been held captive, Megan began to slip away. As the distorted image of Randy’s face started to come clear before her eyes, the shouting forced her back to the present.
Tobias and the other two men had returned. As Megan looked back toward the building, Cory had vanished and was replaced with the three men heading to the door and up into the building. They moved quickly and leaving the door open, Megan had a clear view of the interior.
As they waited, the man in the chair appeared with Cory at his side. They moved to the center of the room as Tobias began his rant. His voice at an increased volume and seething with aggression, he pointed back outside. “He wasn’t there, none of them were. They must have known we’d come back for him.”
Cory quickly interjected, “How could they? No one even knew—”
Tobias cut the younger man off mid-sentence. “It doesn’t matter how they knew. We just need to find him and bring him back. This is the job we were brought here to do and we’re not leaving until we get him back here.”
Nearly stuttering, another voice came from the corner of the room. “Why don’t we, we should ask the women if they know?”
The room immediately exploded with angry voices debating their next steps and as fast as it started, it was over. Megan leaned forward and although his back was to her, she watched the man in the chair hold up his dry erase board for the others to see.
Tobias moved to the door and pointed to the cages. “Bring the women in. And Cory, go get the children.”
They sat in four folding chairs near the door and watched as the man in the chair wrote out his final directives and rolled out of the room. Megan and Eleanor sat in the center and were flanked by the two other remaining women from their beachside community, Sheila and Elizabeth. Tobias waited for him to exit before turning to the four women and beginning. “Okay, I’m only going to ask you all once. If I don’t get what I want, I’ll bring the children in here and execute the first two and then torture the last until one of you speaks.”
Eleanor started to stand, although Tobias held out his hand, requesting she stop. “Eleanor, you know what I’m going to ask, don’t you?”
Continuing to stand, she said, “Yes, you want Dr. Lockwood.”
“Very good,” he said, “I’m hoping that the reason you’re standing is because you have information for us. If not, I would really suggest you sit back down. I’m not going to be as generous as I was a few hours ago.”
“I am begging you to please leave the children out of this. They’ve been through more than enough. Please, for everything inside you that is still human, don’t do this.”
Tobias laughed. “Eleanor, I feel bad that you still hold on to your irrational beliefs about this world and those that are still left, but you are wrong. There is absolutely nothing left in me that is even remotely human. But you are about to find out.”
“What about the man, the one in the wheelchair?”
“Trust me when I tell you that you really don’t want his input. If he had his way, you’d all be dead by now. I’m not allowed to beat you senseless, but putting a bullet in your head is alright. That man really does have some issues.”
“We don’t know where our people are,” Eleanor said. “I’m being honest. If they’re not at the beach, there’s no way we’d even know where they’d be. Dr. Lockwood hadn’t been home in about a month. We don’t know when or even if they—”
Megan lowered her head as Tobias interrupted. “Eleanor, you’re lying. You know exactly when he was due back, and his son was the one who gave him up. My men moved in a bit too quickly and missed him, but it doesn’t matter. We will f
ind him, with or without your help. This side of the world isn’t so big that he can hide forever.”
“I don’t think he’s hiding from you. I’m sure he and the rest of our friends are out looking for us right now.”
“Maybe,” Tobias said, “But I still believe you or one of these other women know of a few places he may have went. I’ll bet once those kids enter the room, your memory clears up real quick. Now sit down.”
Eleanor took a step back and paused. She held her breath as Tobias turned toward the rear door and shouted, “Cory, bring them in.”
As the door parted, Megan looked up at Eleanor and whispered, “What is this?”
The man in the chair rolled through the doorway first, followed closely by Cory. The children were nowhere to be seen.
Tobias shook his head. “Why are you here? I asked him to bring in the kids. We’re doing this, now.”
The man in the chair shook his head and reached into his lap. He withdrew something neither Megan nor Eleanor could catch a glimpse of and handed it to Cory.
Cory turned to Tobias and then back to the man in the chair and asked, “Now?”
The man in the chair nodded.
209
Standing at the window that faced the northern skyline, he could see where the destroyed city bled into the more rural farmland ten miles away. The sixteenth floor looked almost untouched and as explained by Cedric’s wife Veronica, the occupants of the upper floors were the first to bug out.
Describing the first hour of the infection, her account was straightforward and without the gruesome details usually brought forth when recalling the events of a year earlier. “Cedric called and told me not to ask any questions. He just told me to get in the car and come straight here. Patrick was at home sick that day, so we just got in the car and came here. It was weird seeing so many people running out as we were running in.”