by Alex Apostol
Liam nodded slowly.
“Why?” she asked harsher than she meant to. “I mean, what could you possibly want from there? We have everything we need here.”
He shrugged his shoulders up and then let them slump back down.
All Christine could do was scoff at his ridiculous response. He didn’t want her to take one step outside, even on the patio two floors up, but he could get in his car and drive to his old place of work for absolutely no reason? What a hypocrite. Then, she remembered Mr. Alexander and how close he was to the entrance of their building. The urge to leave the apartment left her immediately along with her animosity.
“What happened today?”
Liam stood up and walked over to her. He rested one hand on her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back later,” he said. “We’re having people over for dinner.” He unlocked the door and walked out.
Christine was left with her face scrunched in disbelief, nose wrinkled, as her eyes clung to the sight of him until he disappeared altogether behind the door.
VI.
Liam didn’t return until the sun was low in the sky, ready to vanish beneath the horizon for the night. As far as Christine saw, he didn’t return with anything except a tattered leather journal. She wanted to scream at him for being so careless with his life. After all, what was she supposed to do without him if he died, or worse, was bit?
Before she could work up the nerve to tell him off, there was a knock at the front door. The sound seemed alien already, the last time she’d heard it having been when the Ramirens came begging for help a week ago. Christine hung back as Liam opened the door.
“Who wants some wine?” Zack bellowed as he held two bottles in the air. He barged in past Liam.
Behind him, Ralph and his family came in and looked around nervously, as if they expected one of the dead to jump out from the bathroom. Jerry sauntered in after with heavy footsteps followed by Luke Benson. Liam promptly closed the door behind them and locked everyone in.
Christine stared at the group from a distance. She’d never made an effort to get to know her neighbors and only knew Ralph and Luke from her birthday party, which seemed like it’d happened in an alternate universe many years ago, but as she counted in her head it had only been eight days. Jerry hadn’t been at the party, but since the night he gunned down the Goldsteins from his porch Christine made the effort to ask Liam all about him. She smiled at each of them, but didn’t say a word.
Everyone placed what they brought on the kitchen counter and grabbed paper plates to fill up. They used large water glasses to drink the wine out of, pouring it to the brim. Both bottles were drained dry before they all sat down on the couch, window seat, or floor.
Liam handed Christine a full glass of wine and kept one for himself. Neither felt much like eating after what they’d seen earlier, the horrors they’d witnessed their own little secrets to be kept. Christine wondered if Mr. Alexander was still roaming outside, eating whatever rats he stumbled across.
“Let’s get started.” Zack Kran said. He leaned his back against the couch.
“What’s going on?” Sally Sherman asked as she locked eyes with Christine to see if she’d been informed before her. “Why are we all here?”
“It’s the first official meeting of the zombie crew…zombie squad? Zombie corps?” Zack rambled off.
Everyone eyed him with tight lips.
“We’ll figure out a name later. What’s important right now is the rules.”
“Rules for what?” Christine asked with bite. She hated not knowing what was going on in her own house, with her own fiancé.
Liam cut in between them. “We need to keep this building safe if we’re going to stay here, or at least as long as we can stay here. We’ve successfully decontaminated the building this week, but more will come. The five of us,” he said, waving a hand towards the men in the room, “are going to work together to make sure our home stays zombie free.” He said zombie as if it were a made up word he’d just invented.
Christine didn’t say anything. She looked around the room with narrow eyes to judge whether they were joking or not, even though the image of Mr. Alexander eating the rat was still clear in her mind. They weren’t zombies. That was ridiculous. They were sick.
“The first rule, I think, should be that everyone retains their own living quarters,” Liam said to get the ball rolling.
“Me too,” Zack agreed right away.
“Yup,” Jerry mumbled through his food.
Luke looked to Sally. Their eyes both shared the same anxious glare.
Ralph moved his daughter, Lilly, from one arm to the other as she reached out for his plate of food. “Well if everyone is going to be separated, then we should meet in the mornings to make sure we all made it through the night and no one was attacked by one of those…whatever they are.”
“People,” Christine said in a steady voice. “They’re people.”
“These things aren’t people!” Zack responded wildly. “They don’t do anything but walk and eat! They don’t even feel anything.”
“How do you know they don’t feel anything? Did one of them tell you that?” Christine spat over her cup of wine.
Zack rolled his eyes. “’course not. They can’t talk. They can’t do anything but devour people whole and turn them into walking, eating, rotting corpses! Zombies!”
“That’s enough!” Liam yelled, standing to his feet. “We don’t need to be arguing amongst ourselves. We can all agree they’re dangerous and we’re better off without the lot of them. Can we get back to the rules, please?”
Everyone was quiet. They each skillfully avoided eye contact to stare down at their food or take interest in the framed art on the walls.
“Good. Right. We’ll meet every morning at eight on the third floor and work our way down. Now what’s next?” he said as he sat back down on the couch. He took a large gulp of dry white wine.
“How are you getting rid of these people,” Christine said as she eyed Zack.
“Good question,” Sally chimed in as she took Lilly from her husband’s arms. The baby squirmed to get loose, so she could watch her dad eat his food.
“Well, we, um, exterminated the threat,” Liam said in a wavering voice. “As of now they remain in their respective flats until we can decide what to do with them.”
“Let’s just pile them up in the park for now,” Zack said, taking the last bite of the vegetables on his paper plate before he tossed it aside.
“Like trash?” Christine said in a huff.
“Are you going to jump all over me every time I speak?”
Zack looked at Liam for support.
Christine did the same.
Liam took a deep breath. “Everyone’s opinion is valid here. We have to hear each other out and come up with a solution we can all agree on. This is everyone’s home.”
Respect was restored, at least for the moment.
“Only until we figure out if putting them in the ground will somehow spoil the dirt or whatever,” Zack said in a calm tone as he addressed everyone. “What if we want to grow food out there someday and their rotting infectious body juices seep into our crops or something?
Christine had to admit he made a good point, one which she hadn’t considered at all. But she’d never admit Zack was right after his callous take on the sick. She rested back against the couch and raised her glass to her mouth to fill the void from her lack of a comeback.
“Does anyone have a problem collecting the dead and placing them outside until we can come up with something better for them?” Liam asked, calling the rule to a vote.
Sally shrugged her shoulders. “So, does that mean we’re going to…put my mom with them?” she asked, forcing back the tears that crept up on her.
No one said anything. They all looked at her with soft, sorry expressions.
She tried to smile as the corners of her mouth turned up slightly and then fell back down to the frown she’d been wearing si
nce she received the news about her mother. She nodded and then turned her attention back to her daughter, who was trying to pull the collar of her shirt into her mouth.
“Let’s move on,” Liam said. “We’ve got a meeting time, where we’ll live, and how we’ll dispose of the bodies. Is there anything else anyone would like to add?”
“Yeah,” Ralph said, looking at Jerry. “I think everyone should be responsible for getting their own supplies and food.”
Jerry snorted as he rested his fork back onto his plate.
“No, that’s a good one,” Zack said. “We need to help each other out, but I can see it getting ugly if we try to give each other stuff, playing favorites and what not.”
“But we can’t just go wandering about by ourselves,” Liam said.
“Then, we’ll go out in pairs. That way we’ll always have back up in case anything happens,” Ralph said nonchalantly, as if he were talking about going on a fun hunting trip together.
His wife looked at him like he was crazy. “If it’s that dangerous maybe we should all stay indoors.” she said, almost pleadingly.
“And what? Starve to death?” Zack said.
“He’s right, babe. We need food and supplies or we won’t survive. The baby still needs formula, diapers, and other…baby stuff.”
Several pairs of eyes drifted around to glare at the stacks of boxes piled up against the walls of the living room. Liam looked to Christine from the corner of his eyes.
“We don’t even know how long this is going to last,” Christine said, brushing it off. Now that her glass was empty, she had a new found confidence. “The National Guard could come tomorrow and take care of this whole thing.”
It was Zack’s turn to snort as he shook his head at the floor.
“What?” Christine demanded.
“Wake up, Chris. No one’s coming. This is it. This is life now. The sooner you get used to it, the better off you’ll be.”
“Whatever, Zack, like you know everything—” she started to say, but Liam stopped her from going any further with one look. She raised a hand in surrender and slumped back against the couch.
“It’s settled, then,” Liam said. “No one goes out alone, not for anything.”
With rules finally in place, everyone sipped at their wine with wandering eyes, avoiding eachother like the plague. Liam was the only one who dared to glance into every single face. They were supposed to pull together in order to survive. Instead, they were sitting on the floor, arguing with each other over petty differences.
“Why don’t we try to get to know one another a little better?” he broke the silence in hopes of breaking the tension as well. “What did everyone do before…before all this?”
They eyed each other and waited to see who would jump in first. The silence was unbearable.
“I owned the comic book store downtown,” Zack said. He couldn’t watch his friend be ignored like he was. He’d seen how sensitive Liam could be.
“Corporate lawyer,” Christine said, annoyed, still leaning far back and clutching at her wine glass.
“Stay-at-home mom, but before that Ralph and I were in the Navy,” Sally said.
“Really?” Christine perked up. “What did you do in the Navy?”
“We were electricians.”
Everyone’s eyes widened as they nodded their heads, sighing a collective “ahh”.
“Won’t do us much good, here, though,” she added at the sight of their eager expressions. “We can’t keep it going. Once it’s gone, it’s out of our hands.”
The silence weighed on them again. How long did they have left in the light until the power went out and enclosed them in eternal darkness?
Liam looked around and took a breath. “I was a scientist.”
This brought about a bigger, more intense reaction than electrician had. They all stared at Liam, some with their mouths hanging halfway open.
“You’re a scientist?” Sally asked, her voice high-pitched and excited. “Can’t you fix this then?”
Liam couldn’t stop the small laughter that escaped his lips. It tapered off when he saw the hurt look in Sally’s almond eyes. “No, sorry, I’m a plant geneticist. The people to figure this out would be biologists, microbiologist.”
Her entire body slumped downward as her eyes fell to gaze at the empty paper plate on the floor in front of her.
“What about you Jerry?” Ralph asked coolly.
Jerry took his time chewing the last piece of broccoli in his mouth and swallowed before answering. “Retired.”
Ralph’s eyebrows pulled together as he stared and waited for the rest. Jerry pounded a fist on his chest until a low, rumbling belch rose from within.
Sally and Christine wrinkled their noses at each other in mutual disgust.
“Retired from what?”
“Crane operator. Steel mill,” he answered in as little words as possible.
“All right then, see? I have a feeling we’re all going to be great friends,” Liam said with a hopeful smile.
When there was nothing left to say, the Shermans stood up first. Sally thanked everyone for dinner and Christine for having them over.
“Yeah, see ya tomorrow,” Jerry said to the couple on the way out the door.
“Thank you,” Luke said. It was the first thing he uttered since the discussion began.
Christine looked at him like she’d forgotten he was there altogether.
“Bye,” he added and walked out briskly.
Zack closed the door and sat back down on the couch beside Christine. “Sorry things got a little heated,” he said, giving her a pat on the knee. “No hard feelings?”
She cocked her head and glared at him.
He removed his hand carefully.
A slow smile spread across her face. “Sure. We’re fine.”
“Something on your mind, mate?” Liam asked as he put the dirty glasses in the sink to be washed.
“I was just thinking…” Zack started to say, but trailed off.
Christine and Liam both waited for him to continue as the air hung with his words.
“I just wonder…do you think Anita made it? Do you think she’s…alive?” He winced, the words hurt him as he spoke them.
“Oh, Zack,” Christine said and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You barely knew her. She came into the comic book store a few times and what? Only talked to you once?”
“I have to know what happened to her,” he said as he stared at his lap and wrung his hands together. “I think I’m going to try to find her.”
Liam walked to the couch and stood over him. “That’s not a good idea. We need you here.”
“I won’t leave for like days at a time or anything,” he said looking up at his friend. “Just search some places around town during the day after we check the building out. See if I can find her.”
Liam rubbed a hand over his face. He shook his head and ran the same hand back over his messy ginger hair. “I’m not sure…”
Zack stood. He was a few inches shorter than Liam and had to look up to stare him directly in the eyes. “I wasn’t really asking for your permission.”
Liam saw the desperation on his friend’s face. It was worse than the one day a month when Zack used to pay the bills at the comic book store. “All right,” Liam breathed out. “I’ll help you find her.”
VII.
Gale Lewis threw her head back and groaned into the white hot rays of the sun. “How much longer are we just going to wander around aimlessly? My ankles are swollen and we’ve been down this road at least three times now.”
They trudged along the scenic route of highway twelve. Tight knit trees lined both sides, but did little in the ways of providing shade since the sun was high in the middle of the sky. Not a single cloud could be seen, leaving no hope for a brief release from the smoldering sunlight. Up ahead the scenery blurred like a mirage from the heat rising off the pavement.
“How ‘bout you stop worryin’ and shut up?” Lonni
e barked without turning to look over his shoulder. He was sick of all the complaining—first Carolyn and her scratched ankle, Mitch the bitch and his incessant worrying about Carolyn’s scratched ankle and now Gale and, low and behold, her ankles…When would it end? He should have let those things eat the old woman the night he found her.
Gretchen, the newcomer, glared at the back of Lonnie’s wide head wrapped in his wet t-shirt. Sweat dripped down his red neck and white wife-beater tank top. “She’s right,” she called out with solidity. “We can’t keep exhausting ourselves. We need somewhere to go or else what’s the point?” She’d been with the group for a few days and had seen Lonnie order them around and march them through the woods and over the highway without the smallest hint of some sort of plan.
Lonnie stopped and turned on his heels. He marched back to Gretchen, his piercing blue eyes locked on her. Rowan and his long legs made it to her first, but Lonnie waved him off.
His faced softened as he leaned his head to one side and smiled sweetly. “You are absolutely right.” He reached out to brush a strand of her shoulder-length blonde hair behind one of her ears. God, was she beautiful.
“I thought you said staying in the woods was our best shot?” Rowan turned to him. “The uneven ground slows them down and we can always hear them coming. You said being close to people would get us killed. You said…”
No one was listening to Rowan, especially Lonnie, who was lost in Gretchen’s sapphire eyes, her pouty blushed lips, her colorful, tender arms that he wished would wrap around his waist and pull him in close to her.
Gretchen’s breath caught in her chest. The young, stocky man stood so close that she could smell the dried, stale sweat that soaked his clothes and hair. She kept her face stern and unflinching, but inside she wanted to scream. Nothing but unnerving concentration kept her eyes from darting away from his, wanting to stand her ground. “We should gather supplies and find a place to rest, at least for a couple of days.”
She caught a glimpse of Lee from the corner of her eyes standing with his arms crossed a ways behind Lonnie’s shoulder. Why didn’t he say something? Anything? He was just standing there like a useless statue. Was there no one in the group who would stand up to the asshole in front of her? She would love nothing more than to see the hulking man pick Lonnie up with one hand and drop him to the pavement like a ragdoll.