In the Lone and Level Sands

by David Lovato

  “Aw, fuck! It was in my bag, on the plane!” Katie said. “Ring the bell!”

  Layne pressed the button to the side of the door. He couldn’t hear a bell. He turned to help Katie keep the zombies back.

  “She’s not answering.”

  “Cover me,” Katie said. She turned to the door as Layne shot an approaching zombie. Katie pointed her shotgun at the doorknob and pulled the trigger. The knob blasted off and the door swung open, then back to its frame, and then bounced off and rested, open a crack. “Come on!”

  Layne shot a zombie, then retreated into the house.

  “Let’s move this in front of the door to keep them out,” Layne said, pointing to a nearby dresser. “It’s small, but it’ll hold.”

  Katie held the door shut as Layne pushed the dresser. They rested it in front of the door. A zombie outside shoved itself against the door, and the dresser wiggled, but didn’t move.

  “Let’s make this quick,” Katie said. “Keely!”

  “Keely, are you here?” Layne called. They searched the bottom floor and didn’t find anything but some opened drawers and papers and things in disarray. “What’s upstairs?”

  “It’s just one little attic room. She might’ve holed herself in up there.”

  The two went up the stairs and to the door. Katie knocked.

  “Keely, are you in there? Keely?” She opened the door. It was dark inside. They waited for a reply. Katie could hardly stand the anticipation, but she didn’t want to make any brash moves.

  Layne entered the attic. It was mostly full of boxes, but it had a few open areas.

  “Look at that,” Layne said. He pointed ahead. At the back of the room was a bundled mass of blankets and pillows. There was a used bowl and spoon next to a dark spot on the hard wood that Layne couldn’t make out.

  “Keely?” Katie said. She took a few steps toward the back of the attic, trying to be cautious, but wanting to rush over as quickly as possible. Layne followed her. “Keely, is that you?”

  Layne was beginning to fear the worst. Then, he got closer to the dark spot on the floor. “Katie, I think it’s…”

  “Blood. Dried blood.” Tears were already welling in her eyes.

  “Keely,” Layne said. He took a few steps toward the thick bundle. He tapped it with his foot. Katie was beginning to breathe deeply. Layne bent down.

  “Oh my God,” Layne said.

  ****

  Garrett rolled the window up and reloaded his gun. “They’re sure taking their sweet-ass time.”

  Warren rolled his window down and shot a zombie that was getting closer. “I’m sure it’ll work out okay.”

  “Look!” Jessi said from the back seat. Up ahead, Layne and Katie emerged from the house.

  “Oh, God,” Warren said. “They don’t have anyone with them.”

  Zombies rushed toward them.

  “This is bad,” Jessi said. “Can’t we help them?”

  “Yeah,” Garrett said. “We can.” He picked up a bottle from the floor. There was a rag in it. Garrett lit the rag on fire, then opened his door and stepped outside.

  “Are you crazy?” Warren said. But the zombies were all focused on Layne and Katie.

  “Hey!” Garrett said. Layne and Katie looked toward him, raising their guns at the oncoming zombies. Garrett threw the bottle as hard as he could. It landed a good thirty feet to Layne’s right, and a fire quickly spread. Most of the zombies shifted direction and ran toward the fire, and then directly into it. Layne and Katie shot the few that weren’t distracted, then headed for their car.

  The flaming zombies started screaming, and Garrett cringed.

  “I hate that sound,” Warren said. “It chills me to the bone.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Garrett said. He got back into the car and closed the door.

  “I feel bad for Katie,” Jessi said. They watched as Layne and Katie got into the minivan. They could see people moving around inside.

  ****

  “What happened?” Dex asked. “Is everything okay?”

  “We found a letter,” Layne said.

  “She evacuated,” Katie said. “She left just a few hours after it all went down. She left directions and everything. And she said she’s okay… She says she’s fine.”

  “That’s good, so we still have a chance!” Lacie said. Katie’s relief was spreading to the others like an infection. Layne smiled.

  “Here,” Katie said, handing the letter and a blank sheet of paper to Ralph. “Make a sign so Garrett knows where we’re going.

  ****

  “I wonder what’s going on,” Garrett said.

  Warren pointed. “Look!”

  Ralph was pressing another sheet of paper against the window.

  HOUSE EVACUATED, HEADING ON TO

  Ralph held the paper there for a moment, then took it down and started writing on the other side.

  “Maybe Katie’s girlfriend got away after all,” Jessi said.

  “We’ve got a destination now, anyway,” Warren said.

  “And just a little bit more hope to hold on to,” Garrett replied. “Especially for Katie.”

  “There he goes,” Warren said. Ralph pressed the paper to the window.

  LYNNWOOD STADIUM

  “Sounds good,” Garrett said. He started the car. Layne’s minivan came to life and pulled forward. Garrett followed.

  45

  In Art’s Office, With New Friends

  It was getting later on the sixth day in the Cardigan, and another day of doing absolutely nothing had worn heavily on the survivors, making them all on edge.

  Mal lay curled up in a ball on the couch against the wall. She snored lightly, with Cynthia sitting beside her. She was debating whether to say something. She figured some conversation was better than none at all, so she decided to break the silence.

  “It’s been days, and nothing’s happened. That blanket out there was a waste.”

  “The blanket was not a waste,” Evan said. “If it can get someone’s attention, we’ll be fine.”

  “If it can get someone’s attention. But we’ve been here for almost a week, and—”

  “I know how long we’ve been here, Cynthia. I’ve been here just as long as you have.” Evan gestured to Stephanie and then Daisy. “Stephanie has, Daisy, all of us. We know how you feel, so please stop acting like it’s just been you up here.”

  “It’s just that I don’t think it’s a good idea, keeping Mal here this long. What if one of those things finds us before someone out there does?”

  “They’re not going to find us. We’re too high up. Where we are is just about the safest spot we can be right now. It we did leave, we’d be at risk of running into some of them on our way out.”

  “Well, we’ll have to leave at some point,” Cynthia said. “I mean, when our food is gone, what other choice will we have?”

  “She’s got you there, Evan,” Jason said. Evan shot him a look of vexation.

  Evan and Cynthia continued to argue. Most of the others pretended to ignore it, though it wasn’t easy. Daisy noticed Vanessa sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest, stroking her bloodied dress, and decided she might try some conversation.

  “Hon?” Daisy said. “I can’t express how sorry I am for you. It’s terrible, I know what you’re going through.”

  Vanessa stopped stroking the dirty fabric and looked up. “Don’t pretend to understand how I feel. Please don’t!”

  Daisy was surprised, but that quickly turned to frustration. “But I do know what you’re going through. This is my fiancé’s office. Where is he, you might be wondering?”

  “Daisy, she didn’t know,” Cynthia said. Vanessa’s expression soured, and she looked down.

  “There’s no need for fighting,” Evan said. “Nothing good can come from it.”

  “Are you serious?” Daisy said. “What were you two just doing?” Evan and Cynthia exchanged an embarrassed glance.

  “Still, you didn’t need to be rude,” Cynthia
said. “We’re all friends here.”

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed anything,” Vanessa said.

  “Forget it, we’re all friends here, right?” Daisy said. She walked away.

  Vanessa retreated into herself again. She had thought joining the others would be a good idea, but everyone was unhappy and everyone was fighting. And Cynthia was right, the food wouldn’t last forever. It was only a matter of time.

  Daisy decided to take a shower. She stormed off, and slammed the door, but when she was alone in the bathroom she began to cry. She was sad, even jealous; at least Vanessa was able to marry her love. Daisy and Art didn’t even make it to the altar.

  ****

  The group sat around, mostly in silence. Whenever someone started to talk, it usually turned into an argument, but in silence they were pleasant. It was Stephanie who broke it.

  “Hey, do any of you hear that?” She turned toward the windows and stood there for a little while as the sound grew louder. The others joined her, pressing their faces against the glass, trying to get a view of where the sound was coming from.

  They couldn’t see anything but the city; neighboring buildings appearing untouched by the tragedy. The ground was a graveyard made up of people and vehicles.

  The sound grew louder, and a large Black Hawk came into view outside. Though the people on board couldn’t possibly hear them, there was nothing stopping the survivors from trying to grab their attention. Jason cracked the window and began waving the blanket wildly as he shouted up at the sleek black chopper.

  “Hey! Over here! Survivors in the Cardigan! Please, you gotta help us!”

  Evan and Stephanie opened the other windows and screamed out at the Black Hawk as loud as they could. Evan looked back in at Mal. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and then looked at Evan.

  “What’s going on?” she asked. “Is someone here to help us?”

  “You hear that, honey?” Evan said. He sat beside her on the couch. “That sound in the sky? That’s a helicopter. We’re just calling to it, but I think it’s too high.”

  “They can’t hear you?” Mal said.

  Cynthia sat on the couch and put an arm around her. “We’ll be out of here soon. I bet they’ll hear us and come for us. Don’t you worry.”

  “You promise?”

  “I promise. We won’t be here for too much longer.”

  The others kept waving as the helicopter flew slowly through the sky. It was halfway across the view they had, and Jason rushed away from the window, still holding the blanket, and grabbed a cleaver.

  “Where are you going?” Evan asked.

  “I’m going to the roof. It’s higher, and it’ll be easier for them to spot us.”

  “I’m going too!” Stephanie said. She followed, grabbing a cleaver as well.

  “You coming?” Jason asked Daisy.

  She nodded. “Sure thing.” She looked at Eugene, who had been at the window. He was heading toward the vacant couch. He saw the question in Daisy’s eyes, and cleared his throat before answering.

  “N-no, I think I’ll stay down here. You’ll tell us if someone c-comes?”

  “Yeah, definitely,” Stephanie said. She looked at Vanessa, who had given up on the helicopter and sat down on the floor in the corner of the room. Stephanie would have asked her, but she felt there was no point. Vanessa looked a million miles off.

  Evan wanted to join them, but he figured he’d stay with his wife and daughter. Mal was getting anxious, and this made Cynthia twice as anxious. Evan wanted to be there for them.

  “Are we going to go with them?” Mal asked as Jason, Daisy, and Stephanie began removing the barricade from the door.

  “No, I think we’ll stay here. They’ll come back and let us know about everything, okay?”

  “Okay,” Mal said. She looked at the floor.

  “Don’t worry, Mal. I bet when they take us, they’ll have a nice big safe zone where we can go and relax. There are no monsters there, and we can eat as much as we want, and we’ll be safe.”

  “Really?” Mal asked, her eyes lighting up.

  “Really,” Cynthia said.

  “We’ll be back with a yea or nay on the chopper,” Jason said.

  “Good, thank you guys,” Evan said. “Be careful.”

  The trio left, and Evan pushed the desk in front of the door after them.

  Eugene pulled at his scratchy-looking sweater vest and cleared his throat. Small beads of sweat dripped from his receding hair and down his forehead. He adjusted his glasses.

  “I’m so exhausted,” he said, mostly to himself.

  “Did you say something, Eugene?” Cynthia asked.

  “N-nothing. Just that I’m tired. I haven’t b-been getting much sleep here.”

  “Oh, well, same here.”

  “Is it weird that I’ve gotten some of my best sleep here?” Evan said.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I mean, I’ve slept like a rock the past few nights.”

  Vanessa suddenly stood up and moved to the couch Eugene was sitting on.

  “I just can’t forget the way his eyes seemed to glow when he looked at me.” She looked at the others and then looked away, feeling embarrassed for hijacking the conversation.

  “That sounds terrible,” Cynthia said. “I’m so sorry, Vanessa.” The others offered their condolences.

  Vanessa sat down. “I just don’t know how to get my mind off of Butch.”

  “Always keep him in your heart, but don’t let his absence tear you apart. That’s a waste. We’re all here for you, so if you need anything, just ask.”

  The smallest smile appeared on Vanessa’s face, and she looked down at her destroyed dress with teary eyes.

  ****

  Daisy, Stephanie, and Jason moved quickly. Luckily for them, there were no zombies on the 22nd floor, but there were a few more floors to get through before they made it to the roof.

  They ran down the hall toward the stairs, past a line of abandoned offices. Papers, pencils, chairs, and various desktop items lay around on the floor as if a tornado had come through.

  Daisy was a few yards ahead of the others. “Come on, guys!” she said.

  “We’re coming,” Jason replied.

  They reached the stairs and climbed them as fast as possible. Their feet slapped loudly against each step. They got to the next landing with no problems, and then the next. A zombie was on the last landing. Its back was facing them, but it turned around as soon as they saw it.

  “Shit,” Daisy said.

  “It’s just one,” Jason said. “We can take care of the fucker.”

  “Let’s get off the stairs,” Stephanie said, “lure it down to the next landing so we’ll have the upper hand on it.”

  “Good idea, Steph,” Jason said. They backed down the stairs, while the zombie watched them curiously. It took a step forward as the trio made it off the bottom step onto the landing.

  “Geeehrr,” the zombie said. It stood there for a few seconds.

  “It’s almost like it doesn’t want to bother us, since it knows it can’t win,” Stephanie said.

  “That’s bad,” Daisy said.

  “How is it bad that the thing isn’t gonna bother us?” Jason asked.

  “It means these things are wising up.”

  “Oh. Shit. Well, you know if we try to get past it, the fucker’ll probably try to get a bite, so we need to kill—”

  The zombie charged at them. It was swift, but without the necessary coordination, it slipped and tumbled, pained grunts escaping its mouth all the way to the landing. Shocked, the trio backed out of the way to avoid being bowled over. They were even more shocked when the zombie started getting up almost immediately after coming to a rest. Its arm was broken. Jason cringed when he saw bone protruding from the skin and blood dripping off of it.

  “You okay there, Jase?” Stephanie said.

  “Never mind, I’ll take care of the fucker!”

  Jason lurched forward with his cleav
er and brought it down on the zombie’s head as hard as he could. The zombie cried out in pain, then fell limp, and Jason removed the blade. The body crumpled to the floor, blood leaking out of its head and arm.

  “Let’s go!” Jason said. The others followed him over the corpse and ran up the stairs to a door with “ROOF” marked on it in white letters. The sound of the helicopter was still loud, and they saw it as soon as they ran out onto the roof of the Cardigan. It had already passed over them, and they shouted and waved, the blanket clutched in Jason’s right hand. Jason waved both arms high over his head, but the chopper was getting farther and farther away. The trio screamed after it as long as they could. After a moment, it disappeared, the sound fading away into the city along with their hopes.

  “Fuck!” Jason said, throwing the blanket down. Daisy laughed.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Ah, nothing. You just looked like some dear old wife waving her kerchief at her main squeeze, as his steam train pulls him away to war.” Stephanie joined in the laughter.

  “Not funny,” Jason said. “Why are you making jokes at a time like this?”

  “Because I don’t know what else to do,” Daisy said. “Do you want me to stand here and bitch about our troubles?”

  “I just want to know why the hell they’re flying through if they’re not even going to look for survivors. Fucking military.”

  “Who knows?” Stephanie said. She looked at the sky, and then her watch. “It’s still early, maybe there’ll be more military coming through. You know what we should do?”

  “What’s that?” Daisy asked.

  “If we found some paint, I bet we could paint a huge sign on the roof. That chopper was low enough that they would have seen it.” Stephanie looked from Daisy to Jason. “And it’d always be here, we wouldn’t have to run back and forth every time we hear someone coming.”