Only Love Survives (Love and Zombies)

by Renee Charles

“Yep.” Megan wiped her eyes before she joined him, lest he see the tears and ask what was wrong. She wasn’t up for a rehashing of their conversation the night before. He all but demanded she tell him her secret. But Sam would hate her afterwards, and that she could not bear.

  When the elevator doors slid closed in front of them it still made her uneasy, but not like the panicked feeling the first time. Downstairs, Sam led her to the manager’s door and knocked. A rotund man answered and invited them in.

  “Sam and Megan Woods.” Sam reached out and shook the man’s hand while he lied.

  Megan had forgotten about the older couple’s warning and tried not to let the jolt show. To hide her shock, she turned and pretended to examine the flowcharts and schedules that wallpapered the room.

  “Please sit down.” The man showed them to some seats and joined them from across the desk. “So here’s how it works. You will be assigned a job. You have to check in at that job daily. As long as you do, your room will stay assigned to you. If you don’t check in, your room is unassigned, cleaned out and anything left in there is taken to the store.”

  “How are the jobs chosen and what is the work schedule?” Sam lent voice to the very questions that raced through Megan’s mind.

  “The jobs are chosen by lottery. You will draw for your family here in a minute. We try to keep families together even while they are working. People tend to worry less that way. The schedule is sun up to sundown, every other day. There are no weekends. There are no holidays.”

  “Why every other day?” Megan thought it was a strange way to do things.

  “Nobody forgets their schedule that way. People work hard for a day, then rest a day. You are expected to work until the supervisor tells everyone to knock off at the same time. It can be as long as ten hours, depending on the task. There are no exceptions and records are kept. Your accommodations here rely on your participation.”

  “And not pissing off the foreman, it would seem.” Sam had a valid point.

  “Any grievances should be brought here. We don’t want people out there abusing the system. It was designed to be as fair as possible. The idea being, we’re all in this together.”

  “Is there a school set up? I’m a teacher.” Megan threw her hat in the ring.

  “Not yet. We can’t seem to separate the children from their parents. And I know I want my son as close to me as possible at all times.” He leaned back and swung the inner door open enough so Megan could see a toddler napping in a playpen in the next room. “Plus the older children are expected to work as well. Our survival depends on it.”

  “Our survival depends on child labor?” An old familiar anger rolled in the pit of her stomach. The one she felt every time a parent said they were too busy to show up for a parent teacher conference. “Is that what you just said?”

  “Do you have children?” He asked her point-blank.

  “No.” She sat a little straighter in her chair.

  “Then I suggest you pick a job.”

  Megan had a retort ready, but Sam stalled her with the weight of his hand on her arm. “I’ll pick for my wife and I.”

  Sam stood up and his large frame towered over the man who busied himself retrieving a canister off the back cabinet. Sam reached in and pulled out a blue poker chip, then read it aloud. “Laundry.”

  Stepping over to one of his flow charts, the man added their names to a wipe board. “You will get a wake-up call at six. Report to work by seven-thirty. By the way, now that your name is on the roster, your phone will ring every day. An automated system that calls everyone at the same time. It’s up to you to remember if you work that day or not. Turn your chip in to your foreman today so he will add your names to his list.”

  Megan had to darn near bite her tongue to keep from telling the schedule keeper that if he didn’t bother to teach these children anything, in ten years no one would be able to read his stupid charts.

  “Thank you.” Sam guided Megan to the door by her elbow. He leaned in so only she could hear. “Let’s go.”

  “Are we going to the hospital now?” She shivered with dread for his answer.

  “Nope, work first.”

  She let out a breath she didn’t even realize she held. They had a little bit more time together. At this rate, it was going to be a long day.

  ****

  Sam watched Megan’s ass from across the laundry room. She bent over a cart and set the tower of towels she’d just folded in the bottom of it. They’d been required to stay and work that day, so the new plan was to look for his sister tomorrow, on their day off.

  He was so close, he could feel it. He needed to know his baby sister was okay. He was sure Summer was still there. She had to be. Otherwise, she would have come home. The not knowing part tore at him.

  “Nice.” The guy standing to his left noticed Megan’s ass too. “I wonder if she’s in the breeding pool. I might leave my wife for a piece of that.” He laughed at his own joke.

  Sam clenched his fist at his side with every intention of driving it through the guy’s face. On second thought…

  He pushed a cart of towels fresh out of the dryer over to Megan, slid up behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She jumped and turned in his embrace at which point he kissed her, thoroughly. She rewarded him by winding her arms around his neck in response. Just to add salt to the wound of his onlooker, Sam made a point to bend her back in his arms. The women around them hooted and applauded at his endeavor. When Sam let Megan back up, her eyes burned dark and hungry. He turned to go back to his post at the dryer and received a smack on his ass so hard it rang through the corridor. Sam smiled at the fellow and turned to look at Megan over his shoulder.

  “I will repay you for that tonight.” He spoke under his breath.

  “Promises, promises.” She turned back to her job, and whistled a tune that had all the earmarks of being from her classroom, but on her lips, sounded sexy as hell.

  Sam sauntered back to his workstation. When he passed the scumbag who gawked at him, Sam nodded. “Give your wife my wife’s regard.”

  What would happen to Megan when her “husband” left in a few days? Her name might very well go into the pool. Had she thought about that? He needed to convince her she didn’t belong here. She belonged by his side, always.

  Oh shit. He loved her.

  Sam nearly choked on the realization. Of all the women he’d displayed on his arm, dated and seduced, Megan had been the most difficult, opinionated…intelligent, kind, generous… Yep, he loved her.

  Sam pushed a button and watched the industrial size dryer tip forward and dump a load of hot towels into an empty cart. One hung up on the rim, and he reached over to pull it free.

  “Use the stick so you don’t get caught by that door. It can break an arm when it slams shut. It’s happened more than once.” The foreman pointed to the stick on the wall behind Sam. “Be careful.”

  Who knew laundry could be so dangerous. The stick simply hung on a screw, and Sam had to laugh at the lowbrow technology. So, this is what we’ve been reduced to, doing laundry with a stick.

  “That’s the last load coming through today. You guys are done here.”

  The asshole and his buddy next to Sam high-fived and chattered like women as they left the area, but the asshole stopped and turned back toward Sam.

  “No offense man. Your wife is hot.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Sam nodded when they said goodnight and pushed the cart over to Megan. Her crew still had that and one other cart to fold. Sam reached in and pulled out a towel since he wasn’t about to leave her behind. Not now, not later.

  “Is there a trick to this, or will any method do?” He held the towel up by the corners. It burned his fingers, and he dropped it.

  Megan slid her pile across the table. “Try these. They’re cooler.”

  “He’s a keeper.” One of the women on the other side of the folding table commented then several women laughed.

  “Hear that? I’m a keeper.
” He attempted to line the corners up precisely.

  “Yeah, well, not if you take two hours to fold that towel. Do it like this.” Megan flipped the thing in half, then in half again, without matching a single corner.

  “No.” Sam went about his own folding method, and Megan’s stack tripled his in no time. But, his was right.

  Precision was the key to any operation. Attention to detail made all the difference in a conference room or anywhere else. That’s why they were gonna scope out the hospital tonight, Megan just didn’t know it yet, then go in tomorrow. A plan. Everything went better with a plan…and some guns.

  Once all the towels stood neatly stacked in the linen cart, the foreman released everyone for the evening.

  “Dinner?” Megan sounded hopeful.

  “How about dinner on the move? I’d like to do a little recon at the hospital tonight.”

  “Sounds good.” Megan picked up her pack from the floor and fell into step next to him. “Let’s go to the kitchen first and refill my water bottle.” Tap water turned out to be the one thing not rationed.

  He nodded and held open the door for her.

  Sam circled the medical building twice in the Suburban, before parking up the street where he could watch the only active entrance without notice. Only military vehicles pulled in and out of the old limo entrance. Men entered the hotel laden with boxes, but then they came right back out.

  Sam pointed to where a soldier walked out empty handed. “You see that?”

  “Yeah?”

  “That means they are not in complete lockdown. If the soldiers can come and go, maybe we can get in the lobby too.”

  “What’s the plan, Sam?” She laughed. “I have been dying to say that all week.”

  Sam glanced at her then back at the building. “Are you done cracking yourself up?”

  “Maybe.”

  Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Would it kill you to know the song that saying came from went ‘make a new plan, Stan?’”

  “I know, but your name is not Stan. My way is more fun.”

  School teachers. “Let’s focus. I think knocking on the front door is our best shot inside.”

  “I agree. No sense in sneaking around until there’s a reason to. You done with these?” She lifted the box of crackers and peanut butter.

  Sam nodded and she turned around in her seat and got on her knees to put them in the milk crate behind them. “By the way, what was that kiss all about earlier?” She paused to eye him suspiciously.

  “Whatever do you mean?”

  “Just who were you showing off for?” Still facing the wrong way, she took a drink from her water bottle before offering it to him.

  “The competition.” He let his fingers graze hers as he took the bottle.

  She burst out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?”

  She climbed over and straddled his lap facing him. “You don’t have any competition.”

  Her sweet breath caressed his face as she spoke. She took his face in her hands and ran her tongue across the seal of his lips. He bumped his arms on the steering wheel when he tried to wind them around her, then reached out and adjusted the tilt wheel behind her and she leaned up to allow him the room to maneuver. Sam wound up with his face buried in her breasts, not that he minded.

  “We have a bed for this now,” he reminded her.

  She looked down into his face. “Do you want to wait?”

  “Hell no.” Sam opened the door and climbed out with her still entangled in his arms. Megan wrapped her legs around him and took his earlobe in her mouth. The sensation of her lips and teeth on his ear sent electricity through his body straight down to his manhood, which woke up and pressed against his pants, demanding freedom. He left the door open and set her on her feet between him and the driver’s seat. When Megan looked up into his face, desire gave her smile a sultry edge, and he seized her lips in a kiss he hoped would leave her knees weak.

  The moan that escaped from her was almost his undoing, but he shivered and regained his control. She tasted sweet, and he could easily drown in her lips if she let him.

  Sam’s mind raced. Megan had become as necessary to him as the air he breathed, and he knew she had no intention of leaving with him. It was time Megan told him the truth, but before he could pull his lips away to demand her to, the high-pitched hum of an engine interrupted them.

  Sam turned and watched another military vehicle pass them on the way to the medical building. A transport held more men in the open back. Some of the soldiers took notice of them as they passed by. Sam turned to make sure Megan was pulled together.

  She smiled. “Reinforcements?”

  “I don’t see any boxes to unload. Change of shift, I expect.” Sam watched the transport pull into the makeshift hospital entrance.

  The soldiers piled out of the transport in well-practiced uniformity, but the orderly shuffle melted into chaos.

  “Sam, look.” Megan trembled and pointed at a pile of rubble the soldiers took aim at from behind the truck.

  Two walking corpses staggered toward the transport. One male, one female, equally tattered in flesh and clothing, with the exception that the female had lost an arm at some point. The remnantsof a tux and an evening gown hung in shreds on their mangled bodies. Even in death they still wandered together. Sam didn’t want to consider the implications of that.

  He reached over the top of Megan to grab his gun just as the troops opened fire. Sam grabbed Megan instead and gathered her under his body across the seat, just in case the zealous soldiers decided to hedge their bets by shooting in their direction as well. Megan screamed and covered her ears. When the rain of gunfire stopped, the only noise he heard was Megan sobbing under him.

  He lifted her up to examine her. “You okay?”

  She nodded, but he didn’t believe her. She shook so hard in his arms he thought her teeth might fall out of her head. Sam peered over at the soldiers who charged into the building without giving Megan and him a cursory glance.

  Against his better judgment, Sam could not keep his gaze from sweeping to where the zombies had fallen in a single pile of torn flesh and fabric. “Let’s go back to the hotel. I’ve seen all I need to here.”

  “Shouldn’t we stay the night and watch?” She tried to pull herself together and pretend nothing had happened, but the tremble in her voice tore at Sam’s armor.

  Sam wiggled his eyebrows at her to lighten the mood. “And waste a perfectly good bed?”

  If Summer was here, she’d still be here in the morning. They’d have daylight and a good night’s sleep on their side. Which was about the only advantage they’d have as far as he could see. Hold on Baby-Girl, I’m coming for you.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The next morning Sam led Megan to the main entrance of the medical building. The red cross loomed in front of them and it gave Sam the creeps. The hotel’s fountains had dried up long ago. Debris, the charred remnants of shrubs and trees and who knew what else, collected in the corners where water once flowed. Megan maintained her composure right up until they passed an assortment of bloodstains on the walkway. When her breath caught in her throat, Sam wrapped his fingers around hers and lent his silent support.

  The ornate glass door felt heavier than Sam expected and when he pushed it open, a medicinal smell slammed into them. Sam coughed out of reflex while he held the door for Megan and she brushed past him.

  “What do you need?” An armed guard demanded before they even got in. Two more fell into position around them before Sam answered.

  “We came looking for somebody.” Sam pulled Megan behind him while a man in a lab coat approached them.

  “It’s okay, gentlemen.” The doctor stepped forward and looked them up and down.

  “Dr. Summer Woods. Is she here?” Sam didn’t back down from the doctor’s scrutiny, but he felt Megan take a step back.

  “Yes. Dr. Woods came to us six months ago. But before you are allowed any further in the bu
ilding, there is the matter of a medical inspection.” He pointed to the screened areas in the lobby.

  “Fine.” Sam answered as calm as he could muster, pretending his dark cloud hadn’t parted, allowing the sun to pour on his shoulders. His overwhelming relief to finally have a bead on his sister crushed any irritation about being poked and prodded.

  Several more doctors showed up, and two females led Megan behind the screen while the soldiers stayed on the other side.

  “Undress to your underwear please.” Sam listened to them giving Megan direction while another medical team escorted him to the next examination area.

  “What are you looking for?” Megan’s voice sounded almost frantic and Sam wondered what they were doing to her.

  “Bandages, bite marks.” The male doctor with Sam answered from their side of the screen while Sam undressed.

  “Let’s get this over with.” Impatience gave Sam’s voice a guttural quality.

  “Lift your arms out.”

  Sam complied.

  “He’s clean.” The doctor hardly took the time to look.

  Sam slipped his shirt back over his head as the doctor walked around the other side to examine Megan.

  “So’s she.” The nurse commented as Sam fastened his pants.

  “Really?” The screen shook and the doctor chuckled.

  “I was just letting her get dressed, Doctor.” The nurse explained.

  The hairs on the back of Sam’s neck stood up. Something wasn’t right.

  “Hey.” Megan shouted and a scuffle broke out next door.

  Sam went through the screen growling, but two big guards got a hold of him before he got a hold of the doctor.

  “Sam?” Megan writhed, breaking loose from one of the nurses grip just as the doctor got the watch off.

  “I’ve got a healed bite wound here,” the doctor called out and the world came to a halt.

  Sam stopped struggling against the guards and stared at her. His gaze fell to the garish white skin on her wrist where the comically sized watch had been all this time, then found her eyes again. He didn’t move, unable to breathe. She’d been bitten.

  “Sam, I…”