by David Lovato
“It was the only way to get their attention, Layne. Now get our friends out of here.”
Layne turned to the others. “Head straight out through the front door and get into the cars. We’ll be out soon.” Katie led them away. Layne turned back to Garrett. “Can you get out through one of the other rooms?”
“We blocked the doors,” Garrett said. “Besides, there’s too much fire, now.”
Layne had an idea.
“All right, Garrett, I’m going to get you out of there, but I need you to just trust me, and do exactly what I say, okay?”
“Whatever plan you got is better than mine. I didn’t wake up this morning and decide I wanted to be toast.”
“You’re going to have to go through that fire. But you’ll be all right, I promise, okay?”
“Time’s ticking, what’s the plan?”
“I want you to wait about thirty seconds, then I want you to jump down and head for the bathroom. Just head for the hole in the wall. That’s all you need to do, okay?”
“Got it,” Garrett said.
“Good,” Layne replied. Then he was gone.
****
Even with the zombies distracted by the fire, Layne wasn’t sure thirty seconds would be enough. Then again, with the fire spreading into the hall, maybe it was too long.
Some zombies were still trying to climb through the hole in the bathroom wall, though now they wanted to get to the fire. They were plugging it up, preventing any of them from moving. They pushed and squirmed, but no one got anywhere.
Fish in a barrel.
Layne quickly took them out, then moved their bodies out of the way. He didn’t know how much time had passed.
Layne worked his torso through the hole in the wall and into the shower on the other side. He looked at the door and saw the fire was spreading into the bathroom. Garrett would have a harder time than Layne originally thought, but that’s what he was there for.
Layne turned and reached for the faucet handle. He couldn’t quite make it.
Come on. Garrett needs you.
Layne reached again. He had no idea if there were any zombies in the hall near him, or if his thirty seconds were up. He only knew that he had one shot.
Layne reached again, letting his feet leave the ground in the hallway. The broken tile pressed into his side, but he ignored the pain and reached. He grabbed the faucet handle and pulled. Water spouted out of the shower head, soaking his entire top half.
A few seconds later, Garrett shouted. He rushed into the bathroom, his clothes catching fire. Then he understood what Layne had done.
Garrett dove for the bath, nearly falling over, and into the stream of water. He climbed into the tub, lay down in it for a moment, tried to get as much water on himself as possible. He patted out the parts of his clothes that were still burning, and soon was free of flame.
“Come on,” Layne said. “Get your ass out here!”
Layne carefully but quickly backed out through the hole. Garrett crawled through head-first. As he moved forward, the broken corner of a tile latched onto one of the holes that had been burned into his shirt, tearing it, stopping him. Garrett couldn’t free his shirt, so he pulled harder until it tore mostly off, then he climbed through the hole. Layne helped him, and the two piled into the hallway and lay on the ground for a moment.
“You all right?” Layne asked.
“Yeah,” Garrett said. “Thanks.”
“Good. Let’s get out before we get smoked to death.”
They got up and rushed down the hall, which was going up in flames. They made their way past uninterested zombies and into the lobby, and then out through the main door.
The sun looked especially beautiful to the two men who, moments before, hadn’t known whether they’d ever see it again. The cars were ahead of them, full of the other survivors.
“Thanks again, man,” Garrett said. He headed for the smaller car.
“Don’t mention it. Let’s head down the road and find a clear spot, and we can regroup and gather our thoughts.”
“Good plan.” Garrett tapped on the passenger-side window. Warren rolled it down. Garrett handed him the keys. “Do you mind driving on this one?”
“Son, I didn’t expect you to even leave that building,” Warren said. “No problem at all.” He moved over to the driver’s seat, and Garrett got into the passenger seat.
“See you on the other side,” Layne said. He headed for the minivan and got in.
“Good job, Layne!” Dex said. “For a minute, I thought Uncle Garrett was a goner.”
“We aren’t out of the woods yet.”
Some zombies were crossing the parking lot and heading for the cars.
“Well, let’s hit the road, then,” Katie said.
“That’s a damn good plan.” Layne started the car and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway. As the adrenaline started to fade along with the hotel in the rearview mirror, Layne’s thoughts turned once again from near death to the near future, and what exactly the survivors might be headed for.
54
On the Roof of the Cardigan
“What are we painting up here?” Mal asked. She rubbed the rough cement with the toe of her shoe.
“Well honey, we want to get the attention of one of those helicopters, so there’s a special word we can paint,” Evan said. “And we need to make it real big: SOS.”
“‘SOS?’ What does that mean?” Mal looked at Jason, who had set the bucket on the roof and was prying the lid off. The roller lay next to the bucket, and he picked it up, ready to get the job done.
“It means ‘save our ship’, or in this case, ‘save our souls’,” Evan said. “It’ll just let them know there are people living here who need help. No monsters. You know?”
“Yeah,” Mal said with a smile. “So, can I help?”
Jason poured some of the paint out of the bucket into the roller tray. The copper-colored paint made a soft glurping sound as it flowed out of the bucket.
“We’ll let Jason get most of it done, and then you can help him finish. It’s important we get this going. Okay?”
“Okay,” Mal said. She watched Jason begin rolling out a fifteen-foot-tall “S”. It took him about ten minutes before he began working on the “O”.
The others stood around, breathing in the Chicago air. The wind had picked up and felt good running over everyone’s skin, through their hair. Eugene leaned against the door, looking up into the sky. As he watched the clouds, squinting here and there, he breathed more smoothly than usual.
“What do you see?” Stephanie asked.
“A dove,” Eugene said. “They’re a sign of hope, did you know?”
“I did,” Stephanie said, smiling. “Your stutter, it seems completely gone.”
“I tend to relax when I let myself get lost in the clouds.” Eugene’s gaze remained on the sea of blue and white as he took in a slow, relaxed breath. “I don’t know why, but I can focus more easily.”
“We all need something,” Stephanie said. “It’s good that you have that, Eugene.”
“What calms you, Stephanie?”
She thought for a moment. “Music. Music keeps me cool and collected, though I’ve trained myself to just breathe, too. I’ve seen some things on the job. Some horrible things.” She looked out at the cityscape. “But this, this is different. I’ve never seen anything like this.” Stephanie blinked a few times, as if ridding herself of a particularly bad thought. “Damn, what I wouldn’t give for my close friends, Barry White and Johnny Cash.”
Eugene looked at her for a moment, and then back at the sky. The dove he’d seen had begun to dissipate.
“Hey, look!” Stephanie said. “It’s Moby Dick!”
Eugene looked where she pointed. The whale leapt out of the white sea, flipping its tail. It was soon rendered little more than an ambiguous blob.
“My father called the cloudscape ‘the kaleidoscope of the sky’,” Eugene said.
“That’s as good a thing to
call it as any,” Stephanie replied. “You know, I don’t remember the last time I looked at the clouds. It’s nice.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Mal,” Evan said. “You can paint now, if you want.” Evan picked up the roller and dabbed it in the paint tray, then handed it to her. “You just roll the brush over the letters, make them darker and easier to see. Sound fun?”
“Yeah!” Mal crouched and began rolling the brush over the first “S”. She smiled. “Is this good?”
Evan smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.
When Mal was finished, she set the roller inside the bucket and sat beside the sign. Her big blue eyes began searching the clouds for helicopters. “How long will it be?” she asked after a few minutes.
“Not long,” Cynthia said. She jumped when she heard Vanessa utter a strange noise.
Vanessa stood on the lip of the building. It seemed like the slightest breeze would send her over the edge.
“Vanessa?”
Vanessa only stood there, swaying in the wind. The tattered dress writhed against her legs, her hair whipped around her face. Cynthia’s heart rate picked up as she took a couple steps toward Vanessa.
“Vanessa, what are you doing?” Cynthia said. The others watched Vanessa. Mal didn’t look for long, but turned to Evan and buried her face in his shirt.
“Don’t let her fall, Daddy!”
“I won’t, Mal. We won’t let her fall.” Evan looked at Cynthia. “Why don’t you take her somewhere?” Cynthia nodded, and gently took Mal’s hand.
“Come on, honey. Let’s go over there.” She pointed and said, “I think I saw a bird’s nest.” Mal reluctantly took the bait, and they went off as Evan edged closer to Vanessa.
“Please, Vanessa. This is terrible for you, I know, but think about what you have! You’ve got friends here. We care about you, and we’re here for you. You know that, right?”
Vanessa almost turned her head, but instead shook it slightly and remained facing the edge. Evan and the others saw that she was crying.
“Vanessa,” Daisy said, “I was way out of line the way I acted earlier, and I’m sorry. But what you’re thinking about doing, it’s not worth it. Believe me, those dark thoughts have passed my mind more than once in the last few days, but it’s just not worth it.” Vanessa cringed.
“You know,” Evan said, “I don’t think you’ll do it. If you were going to do it, you would have already, right?”
“Fucking try me, Evan.” Vanessa inched closer to her doom.
“Evan,” Stephanie said, “that’s not helping!”
“Just trust me, I know what I’m doing.” Evan took a deep breath. “You won’t. You aren’t that selfish.”
“It’s too late,” Vanessa said. “I just can’t do this anymore.” She turned to look and slipped a little. She let out a small yelp, but quickly caught her balance. Evan moved a little closer. “Please, just let me do this.”
“I will. Go. If you want to be selfish and end your life, do it. What are you waiting for? If it’s attention, you’ve got it. That’s all you wanted, though, isn’t it?” Vanessa’s head bobbed, her answer indiscernible. The wind hit her hard, and her feet slipped. She lost her footing and yelled as she dropped.
Evan rushed forward and grabbed her hands. He pulled her up, and the others hurried to the edge. Once he had her over the lip of the towering building, she began to weep, and then she clung to him tightly.
“It’ll be okay,” Evan said. “You have to believe that.”
On the other side of the roof, Cynthia heard something. It wasn’t just the wind and the faint moans of zombies below; there was an even fainter, familiar sound.
“Do you hear that, Mallorie?” Cynthia asked. She looked from her daughter to the sky. In the distance was another Black Hawk, coming in from the same direction as the previous one. It seemed to be lower as well.
“Is that another helicopter?”
“It is. Let’s go tell the others!”
Mal turned and dashed across the roof, Cynthia followed. Evan and Vanessa had risen to their feet. Mal charged Evan, who crouched down and caught her in his arms. He laughed, caught way off guard.
“Whoa! What’s this all about?”
“There’s another helicopter! Look!”
****
It was loud inside the military chopper, and the two pilots kept a pad of paper between them in case they needed to say anything important. In the back, the two soldiers and the two civilians they’d picked up were fine with just shouting. There was a mother, June, and her teenaged son.
June’s eyes were filled with tears and her hands and arms were smeared with blood. It belonged to her son, who had been shot.
“We’ll be there soon, Jared,” she yelled. “Please hang in there!” She clenched Jared’s hand. He didn’t have a lot of energy, but he was awake and able to talk.
“I’m trying, Mom. I’m trying, but just in case I don’t make it, I love you.”
“Nonsense! Don’t say things like that!” She turned to one of the soldiers. “How far is it?”
“Fort Knox? Shouldn’t take longer than an hour to get there,” Matt Aimes said. He sat on the bench, eyes sharp; he wasn’t going to miss anything. On his uniform, especially around the lower part of his sleeves, was some of Jared’s blood from when Aimes had helped bandage the wound.
One of his best friends, Nick Clark, was sitting on the opposite side of June and Jared. He was scanning the city below, especially as they flew closer to some of the taller buildings. One in particular caught his attention; he saw a large, painted message, then he saw the survivors jumping up and down, waving their arms. Clark rushed to the cockpit.
“You see those people down there?” he said.
The pilot nodded. “We got time to pick ‘em up?”
“Yeah, plenty. The kid’s wound isn’t all that bad.”
“All right then!”
As the chopper began its descent, June looked to Clark and shouted. “What are we doing? We don’t have time!” Her eyes were wide, and they whipped back to Jared, who was looking down at the building.
“We don’t have a choice!” Aimes said. “We’re going to help these people out.”
“My son is bleeding to death, and you’re going to stop? For people who could very well be infected? Are you fucking thinking?”
“Mom… it’s…”
“Ma’am, settle down,” Clark said. “We’re thinking that these people need our help just as much as you did, and if any of them have been bit, we’ll deal with it. Your son will be fine as long as the bandages hold and we get to base within two hours.”
****
“The helicopter’s landing!” Mal said. Her hair blew wildly around her face.
“That’s right,” Evan said. “I told you, didn’t I?”
“Yep!”
Everyone stood in a semicircle as the helicopter landed on the roof of the Cardigan. The blades blew their clothes and hair harshly. Clark and Aimes and stepped out of the chopper and looked at the survivors.
“We don’t have much time,” Clark said. “None of you guys have been bitten, all clean?” He looked from person to person. Clark sighed when his gaze fell over Vanessa, he found her particularly pretty. He was sad to see the bloody bride with no groom.
“We’re all good,” Evan said.
“We have two civilians, one who’s been shot, so time is precious. Do you guys have anything you gotta grab before we go?” The survivors shook their heads. Clark nodded. “Good, we’ll be going, then. We’re headed for Fort Knox, about an hour away. It’s not going to be a comfortable ride, but we’ll take care of you as best we can.”
“Thank you,” Cynthia said. She and Mal walked past Clark and Aimes to seats near June and Jared. The mother and son looked at the survivors as they filed in.
Eugene stopped cold as he fumbled around in his pocket, where he thought he’d put his inhaler. He quickly flipped around, looking around the inside of the chopper as the sol
diers were about to get in.
“What’s wrong, Gene?” Jason asked.
“I d-don’t have m-my inhaler!”
Aimes climbed into the chopper, took a look at Eugene, and said, “What’s wrong?”
Eugene tried to push past Aimes’s stocky body and get out of the chopper. “My inhaler—it’s d-down—I’m sorry. I need it!”
Aimes stood aside so Eugene could get out, then quickly followed. “I’m going with you. Just in case. Do you know exactly where you left it?”
“Yes! In the c-corner office on the 22nd!”
“No!” June said. “Leave it! My son isn’t going to make it if we wait!”
“I mean no disrespect, ma’am, but no one is leaving anything behind,” Evan said. “Your son seems like a strong boy, he’ll be all right.” Evan felt a bead of sweat drip down his head. June closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. Slowly and as calmly as possible, she let it out.
“Mom,” Jared said. “Please, I’ll be fine. It’s not as bad as you think.” He coughed, shaking a little.
“Don’t worry,” Evan said. “We will get past this.” He felt Cynthia’s hand in his. He met her gaze and smiled.
****
Eugene headed for the door as fast as possible, and Aimes wasn’t far behind, gun at the ready. He moved in front and opened the door. The coast was clear, but as they headed down the steps, the sound of extra footsteps picked up quickly.
“We gotta hurry,” Aimes said.
“Just d-down a few more—” Eugene choked. “—floors!”
When they arrived on the 22nd floor they were greeted by several zombies.
“These weren’t here b-before!” Eugene said.
“They must have heard us land!” Aimes lifted his gun and shot a zombie as it rushed forward. “Stay close!”
Eugene stayed behind Aimes. He was finding it harder to breathe.
“The office is just d-down that hall!” Eugene said. More zombies came down the hall.