by DeLeon, Jon
"You're telling me that you didn't love her . . . and that she didn't love you?" Tyler asked, determined to prove his point.
"I . . ." Kurt couldn't say no. Inside, the feelings were there.
"Exactly!" Tyler spat out. "Even if you did stop the physical act that night, you still stole her heart!"
"I'm sorry."
"I don't want your apologies. I just want you to unlock this door. Or are you going to murder your last friend alive?"
Kurt stepped forward, key in hand.
"Good. You need me anyway. Like I said, it's my will to survive that has brought us this far. Without me, you won't last a day."
Kurt stopped in his tracks, pausing to think, and let his emotions boil over. A strange sense of calm filled Kurt as he said, "Let's see how your will to survive helps here." Kurt turned and walked away from Tyler.
"Kurt? KURT!" Tyler yelled, grabbing the bars.
Kurt kept walking, never looking back, not even when Tyler's screams and his rattling of the bars changed from anger to anguish as the horde descended upon him. Goodbye, Tyler. Karma is a bitch.
As Kurt turned the corner, he stopped in his tracks. A group of fifteen zombies were coming down the hall toward him. He turned and ran, right into a dead end. There was only the boiler room door at the end of the hall. He unlocked it and slammed it shut. He locked the handle and began throwing everything he could get his hands on against the door. He pulled a tool chest over and leaned it against the handle, propping it shut.
The door started banging in a matter of seconds, rattling from the onslaught of hands, arms, feet and faces slamming into the door as the zombies tried to gain entry. Dents appeared as the door took a pounding. The undead horde were throwing all they could at it.
The corner bent, allowing the screams to come inside. Kurt slid back against the far wall. The wails and screams combined with the angry pounding into an angry chorus. It permeated the air. Kurt could more than hear the hatred in their attack; he could feel it. He could sense the lustful gluttony of their flesh-starving wails as they rattled his bones. The door wouldn't hold out long. Kurt looked around. There were no other doors, only a small window that was barred with thick iron bolted into the walls. Kurt was trapped.
Kurt sank to a seated position and began to cry, covering his ears.
What have I done? Who have I become? It's all led to this. Dying alone in a boiler room in a mental hospital in Russia. Maybe I deserve it. I did just leave my last friend to die, out of anger. I revenged a girl I fell in love with even though it was wrong. Sure I never acted, but Tyler was right, Liz and I had shared something special.
Kurt looked up at a zombie face that appeared through the bent portion of the door. In that moment, Kurt had a strange feeling. He pitied, and envied, the zombies. They were simple creatures. They weren't able to commit the sins that he had.
The banging grew louder. The screams became higher pitched. The banging grew so loud that Kurt's ears hurt. He held his hands tightly to his ears, closed his eyes and screamed at the top of his lungs. Tears ran down his face. Then in an instant, there was a deafening silence. Everything had stopped. No more banging, no more screams, no more hatred filling the air. Kurt was stunned by the sudden absence of noise.
Then the door handle rattled. Something was trying to open it.
What now? Kurt thought, emotionally spent.
Chapter 3
La Vida Dulce: Outbreak Day +95
Ring. Ring. Ring. The alarm on the Zune was ringing incessantly. Ring. Ring.
I'm coming, Kira thought as she reached over to grab the unwelcome noisemaker. Having been pulled out of a deep sleep by the alarm, Kira was not ready to be awake. With an exorbitant amount of mental energy, she dragged herself out of bed and put on her clothes. Her feet felt like one-hundred-pound weights as she climbed the stairs to the main deck, where she found Jolie sitting on the couch, sipping a cup of coffee and reading a magazine.
"Reading that again, huh?" Kira asked.
"Not like I have much of a choice," Jolie responded. "Plus I still can't figure out all the celebrity crossword answers. Who knew People would have such a hard word puzzle? You're up early. It's not even four o'clock yet."
"Today is my first day of work," Kira said, sitting in the chair opposite Jolie, rubbing her face. "Is there any more of that coffee?"
"Here," Jolie said, handing Kira her cup. "I don't really need it anyway. Ricahrd doesn't have me starting my security detail for another two days."
"Benefits of being with the boss," Kira joked as she accepting the mug.
"Not the only benefits." Jolie winked and smiled.
Kira laughed as she took a sip of the coffee. It wasn't good. They had used the same ground multiple times at this point, just trying to extract all the caffeine they could. "Ermph."
"Good, huh?" Jolie asked, laughing.
Kira nodded, stomaching the gulp of coffee she had just taken. "Well I'm glad you haven’t started yet. It may take me a few days to get used to this early schedule. So having you able to watch the ship overnight has been immensely helpful. Are you excited to start your security shifts?"
"Yeah. It'll be nice to be out on the ocean cruising, even if it's just a few hours a day to give the other security guys some rest. It will still be nice to feel like I have a purpose to my days, and have a little freedom."
"True that."
Jolie pepped up as an idea popped into her head. "Hey, try to sneak me something sweet from the kitchen."
A horn honked outside. "That must be the security boat." Kira quickly pulled on her shoes and drank one last forced swallow of the burnt coffee.
"Have fun cooking!" Jolie said, picking up the magazine. "Seriously, see if you can find a treat for your favorite stowaway."
"I don't even get to cook though, just a bunch of prep work. No one's awake yet. It's too early for anyone to be up." Kira smirked.
"Should be quiet at least. Can't imagine you've had much of that in a while with three kids." Jolie laughed, sitting down to read more comfortably.
Kira nodded. "See you when I get back."
"With treats," Jolie said as Kira stepped out the back door.
Kira made the small hop onto the idling security boat next to La Vida Dulce. A burly man greeted her with a smile and a head bob. Kira noted his bloodshot eyes. Must have been up all night. She simply nodded back.
A quick, bumpy ride brought them to an older oil tanker that now sat mostly alone. It operated as the headquarters for the convoy. Its fuel storehouses used to provide for the ship’s trip across the Atlantic and back. The only people around now were a few essential personnel. Most of the oil tankers were at dock, dropping off oil and gas. As they finished their offloading, the captains would come to the ship for meals, but for now, the ship was more of a ghost town. Not a bad way to start and learn the meal-prepping requirements. The security ship pulled up to a small walkway that hung on the side of the tanker's hull. A flight of stairs led upward to a door, leading into the dark innards of the ship.
As Kira disembarked the security ship, her taxi this morning, the man yelled over the sound of the idling engines to her. "Hey, word of advice, even though it's early, around here you never know when people will come in, so be ready with coffee."
"Oh, I'm just doing prep work," Kira said back.
"It doesn't matter. Just always make sure the coffee pot is fresh, full and strong."
She looked at his bloodshot eyes, red from exhaustion, and nodded her head in agreement.
Transatlantic Convoy Tanker: Outbreak Day +98
Kira bobbed her head as she listened to the Zune and removed the husks from corncobs, getting them ready to cook.
"Hello!"
The yell and a hand waving made her jump. She pulled out her headphone. "Oh, hi. Sorry."
"I didn't mean to scare you." An older, portly man with a full gray beard smiled at her.
Kira recognized him as one of the tanker captains. "It's okay, uh, you
're early."
The man laughed. "You're new."
Kira nodded. "Yeah, I just started a few days ago."
"No more Noah?" the man asked.
"I guess he wanted to settle down here and get off the sea," Kira said, shrugging her shoulders. "He trained me in what vegetables to cut and where to store everything before leaving, so here I am. Actually, today is my first solo day. So I figured music would help me be productive."
"Well welcome." The man did a polite head bow.
"Thank you." Kira smiled. "Um, can I help you with something?"
"Maybe." The man removed his captain's hat. His bald head shined in the kitchen's light. He held the hat in both hands, hugging it to his body, trying to assume the best begging position he could. "Do you have any food made early, by chance?"
"I don't," Kira said. "Well I could make some toast. We just got bread delivered today."
"Toast sounds great to me. Please tell me you have coffee."
"It's not my first day." Kira smiled at the man, looking like a sappy Santa. "I hope you like it strong."
"Perfect."
"Okay, go sit out in the dining room and I'll be out in a minute."
"Thank you, my dear." The man bowed as he walked out of the kitchen.
"Here you go," Kira said, setting down a plate of toast she had spread some strawberry jam on and a mug of coffee. "I hope you like strawberry jam. It's all we have."
"Looks great. Do you mind sitting and talking with me?" the man asked, pointing to a chair at the table with him.
"Sure. I've got time," Kira said, sitting down.
"What's your name?"
"I'm Kira. What about yours?"
"I'm Captain Thaddeus. Most people call me Thad."
"Nice to meet you, Thad."
The man took a bite of the toast, letting out a happy sound. "Mmmm."
Kira smiled. "You're back early? I thought the tankers would be out for a few more days."
The man washed the toast down with a gulp of coffee. "My tanker was only half-full, so it took less time."
"Only half-full? Is the oil running out?"
"No, nothing like that. I just don't have enough time to fill the tanker completely. I only have two crew members. I need them to sail with me across the ocean. Which means we can't fill up completely in the short turnaround window in Miami."
"I don't understand." Kira asked, "Why does having only two crew make it impossible to fill the ship all the way?"
Thad nodded, swallowing another bite. "We have an oil rig station all to ourselves. It's old and no one else knows how to get the pump going. Just me, last of the old guard. The only issue is that it takes forever to get that thing started back up and drawing oil."
"Why don't you teach someone else to do it?"
Thad shook his head. "It's hard to find people you can trust. Plus the station teases you with the promise of paradise, which can be a hard thing to withstand."
"Teased by paradise?" Kira asked.
"Yeah, just a couple hundred yards away are these little beach cottages on a small island. It used to be a small private escape. I let the crewmen spend a few days relaxing while I run the pump. But we're losing them."
"The crew?"
"No," Thad continued, "the houses are starting to fall apart. We just keep having to spend more time fixing things before we can stay there."
"Uh . . ." Kira pulled her chair closer. "What if I could help with that?"
Thad sat back in his chair. "How?"
"Well after this trip, we don't really have a reason to be traveling the convoy. When Joe, the man I'm traveling with, comes back with Ricahrd, we are sailing back with the convoy to New Miami. We have three small children. I don't want them to spend their whole life on a boat. So maybe we could fix those houses up, maybe after you learn to trust us, even get the pump started earlier, letting you fill your tanker more full. We can fish the waters there too, feeding ourselves and even treating y'all to some seafood when you come back."
"You're with the Army captain from Miami?" Thad asked Kira, eyes squinted.
"Yeah," Kira said, surprised, "do you know him?"
"He had a meeting with Ricahrd on my ship, about a plan to help some people here."
Kira nodded. "After the attack. He and Ricahrd are flying to save his brother right now."
Thad relaxed his face. "I heard about that. I had a brother once. I hope he finds him. Ricahrd's a good man. He's fair and honest, and if he trusts you all, I could too. You got a deal. Only for fixing the houses up for now, but if all goes well for a while, maybe the pump too."
"Really?" Kira sounded like an excited little girl.
"Ha ha," Thad laughed, "just don't tell anyone."
"I won't," Kira said with a big smile on her face.
La Vida Dulce: Outbreak Day +98
"Hey, how was your first day of security patrol?" Kira asked as Jolie closed the back door of the yacht.
"It was pretty good, a lot more, like, mentally tiring than I figured but still nice to be cruising around." Jolie plopped down, lying on the couch. "Are the kids asleep already?"
"A few minutes ago," Kira said, adjusting her seated position on the chair.
"Why are you up?" Jolie asked.
"I'll go to bed soon. I'm actually starting to feel adjusted to my new wake-up time. As long as I'm in bed by nine thirty, I'm okay. So I've got a few more minutes. Today was good then?"
"Pretty simple, actually." Jolie kicked off her shoes, relaxing. "Just checking on ships that get close to the convoy. Only had an issue with one."
"Issue?" Kira asked, concerned.
"Yeah, he claimed he had a special deal with Ricahrd allowing him to fish near the convoy."
"Did he?"
Jolie shrugged. "I don't know. I was told not to let anyone near the ships no matter what, and if anyone tried to, send the emergency signal. That's it. So I told the guy to leave, and he did."
"Emergency signal?"
"Yeah, radio out the word 'mercy' and the captains of the oil tankers would pull their boats out and we would all leave, without fully depositing the fuel."
"Really?" Kira leaned forward, intrigued by the turn this conversation had taken, and nervous.
"Yeah. It seems like they don't trust this place much. The oil tankers’ captains and crew all stay locked in the control room, when they offload the oil even, in case the king decides to do anything."
"What do you mean ‘do anything’?"
Jolie sat up herself. "I don't know, that's just what I was told, and to never let any of the king's police board the security ship, at all costs. Which is why it was a little stressful today. There are a lot of those police ships sailing around. So I had to stay alert the whole time."
"This sounds like a dangerous place," Kira said, quietly.
Jolie nodded. "Yeah, they even only offload half the oil before they are loaded up with crops. To make sure the trade deal isn't broken."
"I think I like my job better," Kira said, sitting back in the chair. "The only thing I have to worry about is not cutting my finger when chopping vegetables."
"Well there is one awesome benefit of my job," Jolie said. "I have long-distance radio privileges."
Kira furled her brow. "Long-distance radio?"
"Yeah, Ricahrd arranged it to stay in contact with the convoy."
"So you've heard news from the guys?" Kira was forward in her chair again.
"Yeah. They were on a barge or oil platform or something in the Black Sea today. They were about to head into Russia in search of a distress signal they think is Kurt."
"Did they find Kurt?"
"I don't know. That's all he said. But they were safe and seemed to be hopeful."
"Well that's still good news." Kira sat back again, relaxing some, a weight of nerves leaving her body. "Oh, I have some good news too."
"Yeah?" Jolie asked.
"I didn't get to talk to you this morning after my prep shift, but I think I found us a hom
e for after all this." Kira smiled.
"A home?"
"Yeah, a tropical island, free of zombies, that we can live on and just be at peace. It even has cabanas for us to make homes."
"Are you using drugs to wake up early?" Jolie asked, suspicious of the news. "A tropical island? Free of zombies? Cabanas? You know that's too good to be true."
"No," Kira said, "I swear, this old ship captain named
Thad—”
"An old ship captain?" Jolie interrupted. "You sure he doesn't want something else from you?"
"Jolie," Kira said, trying to sell the idea to Jolie, "he's friends with Ricahrd and needs our help."
"Well I guess we'll know if he's telling the truth when Joe and Ricahrd get back."
"You'll see," Kira said defiantly.
"I hope you’re right. Just don't get your hopes too high," Jolie said.
"And maybe you shouldn't be so pessimistic." Kira smiled at her.
"Maybe." Jolie smiled back.
"Well I'm off to bed. Dinner for you is in the microwave." Kira stood and walked toward the stairs heading to the kitchen and bedrooms. "Oh, and there is a special treat. We baked a batch of rolls."
"Shut. Up." Jolie hopped from the couch and rushed to the microwave.
"Night," Kira said from the bottom of the stairs.
"Kira, dream of your island tonight," Jolie said. I wish I could dream of anything other than watching my family die.
Russian Mental Hospital: Outbreak Day +102
Kurt could hear his heartbeat ringing throughout the room. With every blood-pumping thump, he felt his throat tighten. His breathing became a labor. He fought to keep his breathing as quiet as possible. A noise outside snuck into the room. A dragging noise and some muffled voices. Kurt's ears pricked up, jumping at every small noise. The next sound was so loud that Kurt fell backward a foot on the floor.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Kurt stared at the back of the bent door. The light from the dirty, barred window on the wall behind him gave it an orange glow. A beam of cleaner, whiter light shined from the top right corner of the doorway.