Surviving Amid the Zombies

by Jeffrey Littorno

  The inside of the refrigerator was covered by dried juice, and the rancid smell made me gag.

  I had turned to go through the cupboards above the small sink when Taylor said to no one in particular, “My mom used to have a dress with flowers like that.” He nodded toward the pile of clothes near the fridge.

  “My mom used to have a dress with flowers like that,” he repeated.

  I turned back toward him and looked at his blank face as tears began streaming down his cheeks. “I’m sorry,” I said as I put my hand on his shoulder.

  The boy looked up at me with something like gratitude in his eyes. In the next instant, he pulled away as if embarrassed.

  “I’m okay,” he muttered. “I never even liked that dress. It looked stupid. Let’s just find some food.” The teenager jumped up and walked quickly to the other side of the room where there was a door to a tiny storage room.

  Christina ran after him and said, “It’s okay, Taylor. It makes me sad when I think about my mommy too.”

  He glared at her before saying, “I’m not sad. It’s just an ugly dress. Why would I be sad about that? I’m not a stupid little girl!”

  Christina was caught off guard by Taylor’s words. Her small face scrunched up and she took a step back. “I’m not a stupid little girl! You’re a… a big… stupid butt!” She screamed and ran out of the room.

  The expression of guilt was clear on the boy’s face as he watched her leave. I knew that I should say something wise to him about how to treat others or the difficulty of dealing with women. But nothing came to mind so I simply sighed and followed after her.

  I panicked for a moment as I could not find her. Then I saw her messy blond hair.

  The little girl looked tiny sitting in the big black leather office chair. Her frown made it clear that she had been expecting Taylor to run after her.

  “You know he didn’t meant it, right?” I gave a chuckle in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood.

  She stared blankly at me for a moment before spinning the chair around. “I don’t even care what he says,” she said as the front of the chair came back around to me. She kicked the floor to send the chair spinning again. “He’s a stupid boy!” Christina kicked the floor again. The chair spun as she cried out, “Taylor is a big stupid boy!”

  It seemed to me like the whole room was spinning as the little girl in the chair continued to turn round and round as she repeated, “Taylor is a big stupid boy!” I was overcome with vertigo as she revolved along with everything in the room. “Taylor is a big stupid boy!” The only thing that mattered to me at that second was getting everything to stop turning. I needed the world to be still.

  I took a step toward the spinning black chair. “Taylor is a big stupid boy!” My hand stretched out towards the black leather at the back of the chair. Christina giggled as she spun the chair again and sang, “Taylor is a big stupid boy!”

  My fingers pressed into the leather but did not stop the chair as I felt it slid away. I moved closer and pressed harder until the chair came to a sudden stop.

  “Hey!” Christina protested.

  In the next instant, we heard the scream.

  Chapter 11

  Christina started to say something, but I cut her off. “Get under the desk and don’t come out,” I whispered with as much parental authority as I could manage. She climbed out of the chair and under the desk. “I’ll be right back.”

  I moved as quickly and as quietly as I could to the break room. The gun was in my hand as I slowly went through the door, not knowing what to expect. I was holding my breath. Every muscle in my body was tense and ready to snap. That is what made the stillness of the room something of a letdown. I am not sure exactly what I would rather have seen, but an empty break room was not it. My muscles relaxed a little. I wondered where Taylor had gone, and why he had screamed.

  I heard a shuffling sound from the storage room and walked quickly to the back of the room. The door was closed, and I stood next to it, listening for a few seconds before opening it. There was no sound. I reached out and grabbed the handle and yanked the door open.

  I held the gun in both hand in front of me like I had seen in so many cop shows. It was heavier than I thought and my arms got tired as I pointed the pistol into the room. It was not much of a room, about the size of a walk-in closet and the single light bulb hanging from above was off.

  Taylor stood facing me. His face was shockingly pale, and I could see that he was trembling.

  Lowering the gun, I asked, “What’s wrong?”

  He just stood frozen for a moment before trying to answer. “I… uh… I…was--”

  I took a couple of steps toward and stopped. Taylor was not alone in the small room. There was someone behind him. I could see just a bit of a bare elbow pressed close to his back.

  “Well, it doesn’t matter,” I continued to speak while slowly walking toward him and trying to get a better look at who was behind him. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

  As I got closer, it was clear that the teen was trembling. His mouth was moving as if he was trying to say something but was unable to form the words. Without giving it a second thought, I grabbed Taylor’s arm and yanked him forward. He stumbled to my right side, and I raised the gun to face whatever was crouching just behind the place where the young man had been standing.

  My finger tightened on the trigger as I watched the disheveled creature. It was not much bigger than Christina and was huddled low at the dark back of the storage room. I could not see the thing clearly, but it was certainly different than the shells. It was shaking in a way that reminded me of a rattlesnake about to strike. My curiosity kept me from simply firing the gun into the room. I squinted into the shadows and studied the shape until without realizing it I had lowered the pistol and taken a step forward into the darkness.

  “What are you doing?” Taylor asked from behind me.

  Suddenly, Christina was next to me, pushing her way to see what I saw.

  I turned to push her back, and at that instant the thing sprang out of the darkness. The movement was caught in the corner of my eye. I spun around as I raised the gun and fired.

  My gun skills were practically non-existent, and my quick spin certainly did not help matters. The result was the shot went far to the left by about a foot. The sound of the gunshot shook the room and made Christina scream. Or perhaps the scream was caused by what she saw in the storage room.

  The small shape had now moved out from the back of the room and was in the fetal position quivering just a few feet from where I stood.

  “What is it?” The little girl asked.

  “Get back!” I yelled at her.

  Without looking at me, she slowly backed out of the room.

  Once again, I slowly raised the gun and pointed it at the thing on the floor. It was wearing a big green hunting coat, but there was nothing wear the head should be. Whatever it was, I intended to kill it before it could hurt us. I shuffled a little to the left to get the best possible shot at the top of its body.

  “Please, go ahead and shoot me.”

  The words were muffled and low, but I heard them clearly. My shock could not have been greater if the thing had stood up and started tap dancing. I lowered the gun.

  “It can talk,” Christina said, once more standing next to me.

  “Get outta there!” Taylor barked at her. “Remember, Kevin said he heard some of them talk?”

  I raised the gun unsure of what to think about the thing in front of me.

  “Say something else!” Christina exclaimed.

  “Like what?” came the muffled reply as the thing sat up and moved its head from inside the over-sized green coat.

  Although I could not remember her name, I immediately recognized the young woman as one of the college interns that worked at the newspaper. Her face was smeared with dirt, and her long black hair hung in her face like greasy string. Any doubt as to whether she had bathed recently was immediately brushed away by the s
trong, sour, gag-inducing body odor.

  I stepped closer and reached out to touch her shoulder. Her eyes darted back forth from the doorway to my hand. As my fingertips came within an inch of touching her, she lunged toward the doorway where Christina was standing. The little girl appeared to be pleased that the woman was charging toward her. She smiled and stepped directly in the path of the approaching stranger.

  “Red Rover, Red--” Christina began to sing.

  The young woman paused for just a second before lunging past the little girl who was pushed to the ground.

  “Hey!” Christina responded.

  The woman scurried away. Taylor glanced at the girl on the floor before running after her attacker.

  “You okay?” I asked, helping her up from the floor.

  Before the girl could answer, we heard a thud and a loud grunt from the hallway.

  “C’mon,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her after me. “I thought you were going to stay under the desk.”

  Her step slowed as she answered, “I was worried about you and Taylor.”

  I stopped to look at her. “Thanks for being worried. but you have to keep yourself safe, okay?”

  Her small face scrunched up as though she was going to cry, but instead she just nodded.

  We were through the break room and looking into the hallway before we saw the source of the sounds. Taylor was kneeling on the floor. Beneath his knees, two arms were pinned, and the woman was on her back staring up at him.

  I could not keep the smile off my face.

  Taylor looked over his shoulder at Christina. He smiled and said, “You need to say sorry for knocking her down.”

  The intern stared blankly at Taylor as if he were speaking a foreign language. She shook her head slightly before answering, “Are you serious? You want me to apologize?”

  He looked again at Christina who was smiling with obvious enjoyment. “Yeah, I want you to apologize to her.”

  A humorless laugh came from the floor. “Okay, I’m really, really sorry. How’s that?”

  Taylor glanced back to see a nod from Christina and moved off of his captive. He stood as Christina ran over and hugged him. The expression of feigned discomfort could not hide his affection for the little girl.

  “You two oughta get a room,” the young woman commented, sliding over to lean against the wall.

  Taylor and Christina looked at her, confused by the meaning of her statement. I was not confused and glared at her, wondering how anyone could be such a bitch.

  There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before the woman spoke.

  “You really don’t remember me, do you, Mister Kennedy?”

  I looked at her with a mixture of emotions, one of which was curiosity. “Of course, I remember you. You are… were an intern in the features department, right? Uhhh--”

  “Kat,” she provided.

  “Kat! You’d think I would have remembered that,” I smiled. “So, Kat, have you been holed up here since--”

  “Since the shit hit the fan? Yeah, been right here the whole time.” She looked around the room, avoiding eye contact with any of us. I could see that she wanted to say more but was not sure if she should. When Kat’s eyes met mine, it was clear that she was fighting to hold back tears.

  I thought about reaching out to comfort her, but I did not want a repeat of what had happened in the storage room. Instead, I simply stood and waited until she was ready to continue.

  “I wasn’t here by myself until three days ago,” she paused and brushed off the tears streaming down her cheeks. “Paul…Paul from advertising…Do you know him? Chubby little Asian guy?” She looked over at me and saw the answer in my blank expression. “Funny, I don’t even know his last name. Spend weeks together, twenty-four hours a day. All that time together, and I don’t even know his last name.” She smiled as a memory came to her. “Anyway, Paul was here until three days ago. He said he could just run out to a nearby store and bring back some food…uh…I hope that he just decided not to come back here. I do. I really hope that he got outta here and figured there was no good reason to get stuck here with me again.” She forced a smile to her mouth and moved her eyes around the unoccupied parts of the hallway.

  “It’s okay,” Christina announced as she marched over to where Kat was sitting and leaned down to give her a hug. This time the expression of discomfort at being hugged was much more sincere. Finally, the little girl stepped back and said, “We all think about somebody that’s not around anymore.” She looked over at me and then Taylor and then back to Kat. “But the most important thing is now we have each other.”

  “How old are you?” Kat asked.

  “Six…almost seven,” she answered proudly.

  “Great! A six-year old kid is giving me advice,” the young woman replied with a forced, fake smile. “Could my life be any more fucked?”

  “Hey! That’s a bad word!” Christina com-plained.

  A sudden wave of parental concern washed over me, and I said, “Yes, it is. Now, why don’t you stand over by Taylor for a minute while Kat and I talk.”

  Christina flashed a knowing grin as she slowly walked over near Taylor, all the while keeping her eyes on the young woman.

  I moved close to Kat so that I could speak quietly to her. The smell of body odor forced me to take a step back. “These kids have been through a tough time. They don’t need any more…uh… any more crap to deal with.”

  Kat stared at me as if not sure she understood what I had said. “Well, I don’t think any of us need to deal with any more crap.” In case I missed her sarcastic tone, she used her fingers to make air quotes around the words “any more crap”. Kat smirked as she continued, “I mean, we’ve all had a whole fuckin’ bunch to deal with.” She grinned as if her words were particularly clever.

  At that moment, I wanted nothing as much as I wanted to smack that smug look from her face. Instead I took a deep breath that should have helped me to calm down but did not and hissed, “I need to make this real clear. I promised Taylor and Christina that I would protect them from those things, and that’s what I’m going to do, no matter what else happens.” I watched Kat to make sure she was catching the meaning of my words.

  She started to say something but then stopped and just nodded slowly.

  I continued with vehemence, “Now, if you want to help out, I’m glad to have you. Otherwise, get the fuck out of my sight!”

  I must have spoken more loudly than intended, because I glanced over to see Taylor and Christina staring at me.

  I turned back to Kat and, for just a second, thought I saw a break in her hard expression. In the next instant, any sign of genuine emotion was gone. and the scowl which had been affixed to her face since our first meeting was back.

  The scowl curled into a humorless grin, and she said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Kennedy. Sure don’t wanna mess with your little family here.” The grin grew. “But the fuckin’ thing is, I was doin’ just fuckin’ fine here by my fuckin’ self before you fuckin’ got here.” Kat stood straight and defiant as she looked straight into my eyes.

  I heard a snicker behind me and turned to find Taylor and Christina watching with obvious amusement. Their reaction did nothing to reduce the rage that filled me. I turned back to Kat. One look at her pale, smirking face pushed the rage beyond my control.

  The flood of rage swept me out of the office building and back to my classroom at John Adams High School.

  “So we’ve all heard the To Be ot Not to Be soliloquy, right?” I looked around and grinned at the rows of desks filled with students in various stages of disinterest. “Well, it is perhaps the most discussed excerpts of literature of all time.”

  “Does that fuckin’ mean you’ll stop talkin’ about this shit then?” The question came from the occupant of a desk at the back of the room.

  Without having to look, I knew from precisely where the comment had come, and my feet reflexively walked to the side of the desk.

  The grin w
as still plastered on my face, concealing the fury which bubbled throughout my body. I looked at the slouched figure of

  Michael Campbell. My words escaped slowly and carried a chill that contrasted with my burning rage.

  “Mister Campbell, I assume you realize that you are in English class, and this is where we read, discuss, and write about literature.”

  The boy stared straight ahead for a moment before chuckling and saying, “Well, I guess I’m in the wrong fuckin’ place!” He smirked as he raised himself from the desk and moved close to me. “So fuck this school, fuck this class, and fuck you!”

  Surprise flickered in his eyes for an instant as I shoved him back toward his desk. The sneer had just returned to his face when my fist hit his cheek.

  Just like that my mind sent me speeding back to the office of the Marin Gazette.

  Christina was at my side, pulling on my arm. “Kevin, it’s okay. She can help us.”

  I suddenly became aware that I was standing over Kat who was curled up on the floor in something like a fetal position. It was clear that she was trying to protect herself from me. The realization made me sick, and a wave of nausea swallowed my entire body. I turned away from the sight and looked straight into Christina’s eyes.

  “What happened?” I asked without really wanting to hear the answer.

  Taylor chuckled as he said, “What happened is you smacked the sh—, uh, smacked the crap out of her.”

  I turned to look at him, and his grin instantly disappeared. “I…uh…I hit her?” I asked

  Kit spun around on the floor to glare at me and yelled, “Yes, you hit me! What the fu--” Her words were cut off by the crash of something falling to the floor in the office.

  We all spun around to look at the door leading to the hallway leading to the office. Christina let out something like a moan and a whimper. Taylor was immediately next to her.

  “It’ll be okay,” he whispered, pulling the little girl closer to him.

  I took a few steps over toward Kat who made a show of backing away before I offered my hand. She took it slowly and got to her feet. The glare never left her face, and I did my best not to make eye contact. Right now, we had bigger concerns than the problems Kat and I were having.