In the Lone and Level Sands

by David Lovato

  “He’ll be moved to the recovery room soon,” Dr. Faulkner said.

  “Can we see him?”

  “Yes, but make it brief. He really needs his rest.”

  “Thank you,” Cynthia said. Dr. Faulkner let them into Evan’s room. “Evan?”

  Evan blinked and smiled. “Hey, Cynthia.” He looked at Mal. “Hi, sweetie.”

  “Hi, Daddy. How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine. A little loopy from the medicine, but fine. I’m just glad I still get to be with you two a little longer.”

  “What are we, chopped liver?” Jason said. He chuckled.

  “You all as well,” Evan said. He laughed weakly.

  “I was so scared, Daddy.”

  “It’s okay, Mal. I’m healing. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Glad you’re gonna be okay,” Daisy said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Evan replied.

  “Well, it’s probably time we get ourselves to bed,” Cynthia said. “Come on, honey.” The others all made their goodnights, but Cynthia pulled Daisy aside. “Hey, take Mallorie real quick, will you? I want to stay a minute longer.”

  “Sure thing, hon,” Daisy said. “Come on Mal, your mom’ll be along soon.”

  “Okay!” Mal smiled at Daisy, then took her hand.

  Cynthia watched as the others and Dr. Faulkner left, and when she knew they were gone, she turned back to Evan.

  “The other day I was talking to Vanessa, and she really opened my eyes. I mean, everything we fought about, all those little problems that tore us apart, they just don’t matter, not now, you know?”

  “Yeah,” Evan said. “I do.”

  “I just wish it didn’t take until today for me to understand that.”

  “Cynthia, why are you talking like I died?”

  “You mean more to me than you know. I know I haven’t been the easiest person to deal with since our divorce, but I realize now it was all just stupid pointless shit I hated you for. I wish we could just erase all of that.”

  “It was a lot of little stuff that we both blew out of proportion,” Evan replied. “Life is just too short…”

  “I still care about you. More than that. I love you, Evan. I understand if you don’t love me, but when you were shot, and I thought I’d lose you… I was so scared.” Cynthia hugged Evan, and he rubbed her back softly.

  “I love you too, Cynthia. I never did stop loving you.”

  Cynthia let out a couple of short sobs.

  “It’s okay,” Evan said. “It’ll be okay.”

  “I know. I’m just so happy you’re okay.”

  58

  Past the Hotel

  Gathering streaks of dark clouds passed before the sun, and Layne wondered if it was going to rain again.

  They had driven a few miles, and the zombies were thinning out, so he decided it was time to pull over and gather his thoughts.

  He slowed the minivan, making sure the other car was still following, and then pulled onto the shoulder, past some overturned cars, and into the grass. The other car pulled to a stop a few feet behind.

  Layne and Katie got out of their car, and Garrett emerged from the passenger side of the other. He was taking his shirt off, and he threw the wet, tattered clothing on the ground.

  “Did we bring any extra clothes?” he asked.

  “No,” Katie said. “We left them in the hotel. We can stop somewhere, we could always use more food anyway.”

  “We can probably just follow this road until we get to a smaller town,” Layne said. “One with a store.”

  They heard a noise from up the road. It was the unmistakable sound of an engine running. They turned their attention toward it, away from the sinking sun. A small car came into view. It slowed as it neared them and pulled onto the shoulder, as they had. It stopped there, idled for a moment, and then shut off.

  The door opened, and a short man with dark hair stepped out. He looked over the car door at them as if confirming they were really there, fixed his glasses, and then shut the door. The man’s shirt was torn, the block-printed ‘FNP’ on the front was deeply faded.

  “Hello,” he said. He squinted, sizing them up.

  “Hi,” Layne said, then looked at Garrett.

  “I saw you leave the hotel back there, and I followed you. Almost thought I was seeing things.” He stepped closer, and Layne noticed a scar on the right side of his head, closely following his hairline.

  “Well, we’re here, and we’re real,” Katie said.

  “Right, of course.”

  “Are you alone?” Layne asked.

  “Well, I’m by myself, yeah. But I’m not really alone, I mean, there are zombies everywhere.”

  “I meant besides those.”

  “Of course you did. How many of you are there?”

  “Eleven of us,” Garrett said.

  “Eleven? How did you all manage to stay alive?”

  “That’s a bit of a story,” Katie said.

  “You’re welcome to join us, if you want to,” Layne said.

  “No need,” the man replied. Layne was surprised. He didn’t think anyone would actually choose to be alone, these days.

  “Are you sure?” Garrett said. “I mean, those things are everywhere. It’s not safe to be alone.”

  “I’ll be fine. It’s easier to hide when you’re alone.”

  “Yeah, but it’s easier to kill them when you’re not.”

  “Kill them? Why would I want to do that?”

  Garrett, Katie, and Layne swapped confused glances. “Because they’re trying to eat you?” Katie said.

  “So? Most creatures would, out there in the world. Doesn’t mean driving them to extinction is the only option.”

  “I don’t know if you’ve looked around lately,” Kyle said (Layne hadn’t even noticed him open his door), “but the only thing being driven to extinction is us.”

  “Come what may,” the man said. “Survival of the fittest. This is just evolution, that’s all.”

  “I think you’re grossly understating the situation,” Layne replied.

  “Think what you will. These creatures have rights, just as all should. And if I’m the only person left to acknowledge that, well, I’ll stand alone.”

  Layne was trying not to laugh. It wasn’t funny, really, but he didn’t know how else to respond.

  “Well fuck me sideways,” Kyle said, “he’s a zombie rights activist.” He rolled his eyes and got back in the car.

  “My name’s JD, by the way. Jonathan David. I was a writer. Well, I still am, but an audience is going to be a lot harder to find, I’m afraid. Especially with no internet.”

  And no sense of reason, Layne thought.

  “I’ve never heard of you,” Garrett said.

  “None of you have? You’ve never come across any of my ghost stories on the web?” JD looked around, got blank stares.

  “I’m more of a Stephen Fletcher fan, myself,” Dex said. Most of the others had apparently joined in on the conversation. Some had gotten out of the cars, but most had just rolled their windows down. Jessi was trying to entertain Kara.

  “No matter,” JD said. “Everyone starts out small, I guess. I’ll just have to keep on writing.”

  “Well, you should write a book on zombie rights,” Garrett said. “I’ll have you autograph a copy for me.” If JD saw him roll his eyes, he showed no sign of it.

  “I currently am. It’ll be my second work. I had another one lined up, but, well, things have obviously changed, and this one takes precedence. My first book, it was on—” He stopped and looked at his shirt, as if to confirm it was the right one, then pointed to the big block letters spread across it. “This guy. I had a Wordpress, too. FNP stands for Free Norman Peters.”

  “Who?” Garrett asked.

  “He’s a guy locked up in a maximum security prison in L.A. for voodoo. Can you believe that? For voodoo. Like that actually exists. So he gets the life sentence because some judge has the heebie-jeebies. Ridiculous.”r />
  “I’ve never heard of him,” Katie said.

  “Of course not. You think they’d let word get out to the news media? A few people light themselves on fire, and this guy gets blamed. They somehow convinced the judge he was responsible, as if that were possible.”

  “Yeah, crazy,” Layne said. He was getting bored of JD, especially since he wouldn’t be joining them.

  “People don’t go to jail for no reason,” Ralph said.

  “I’m not a member of this guy’s Kool-Aid camp—” Garrett turned to JD and said “no offense” before turning back to Ralph, “—but people go to jail for the wrong reasons all the time. Especially if they’re not white.”

  “Yeah, look at the West Memphis Three,” JD said. “Or Peltier, or Mumia. People get locked up because other people are afraid of them.”

  “Now those guys I’ve heard of,” Dex said.

  “Yeah, because they got pinned with more down-to-earth stuff. Details on that get out easily. The FBI did a great job covering up the conviction of a guy based on voodoo.”

  “Or maybe this Norman Peters guy didn’t get as much attention because he really is guilty,” Layne said. JD looked shocked. Layne wasn’t sure what he meant, but it got JD to finally stop talking. “Look, it’s been fun, really. But if you’re not going to join us, we’d like to be on our way. It’s been a long day. Not to mention, we’re starting to attract some attention.”

  Layne gestured to a group of zombies now shambling across the highway toward them.

  “Hello there, little guys!” JD said. “Don’t worry, I’m fighting for y—”

  A zombie reached out from under a nearby car, grabbed JD’s leg, and pulled him to the ground. Layne moved, but there was no chance. The zombie sank its teeth into JD’s leg. He screamed.

  “Garrett!” Katie said.

  “Got it,” Garrett said. He raised his gun.

  “Wait, don’t!” JD said, raising his arms as though that would block the shot.

  “Are you insane?” Katie said. JD ignored her and turned to the zombie, who was still chewing a fresh chunk of flesh.

  “It’s okay,” JD said. He turned back to them. “He’s just trying to— Gaah!” The zombie had gone in for another bite. Garrett raised his gun again, and JD waved his arms, this time with noticeably less strength. “It’s just evolution. The food chain. Survival of the… The fittest.”

  “You sure about this?” Garrett said. JD nodded, and swallowed hard.

  “We should go,” Layne said. Most of the others got back into the cars.

  “It is their world now, you know,” JD said. “This is their time. We had ours. Now it’s theirs. Year One A.L. Anno Letum.”

  “What are you talking about?” Layne asked.

  “In the year… of our death.” JD laughed, but broke into a scream as the zombie took another bite, and then he continued laughing.

  “Should I put him down?” Garrett said.

  “No,” Layne replied. “He may be batshit crazy, but this is what he wants. It’s not our place to take that away.”

  They got into the cars and headed down the road, toward the sun.

  ****

  They reached a quiet suburb, and other than the remains of what was probably a little girl beside a bloodied, overturned bicycle with pink tassels hanging from the handles, there seemed to be little sign of danger. Layne navigated the roads carefully, until he reached a store hanging on the outskirts of town.

  “Wayne’s Superstore,” Keely said. “Holy shit, we might be in some luck. Check out the sign.”

  A large banner was draped over the front doors, blocking them off. Upon it were scrawled the most beautiful words Layne had seen in a long time:

  CLOSED FOR CONSTRUCTION

  “It’ll be empty,” Dex said. He unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. “It’s fucking empty! Woo!”

  Dex ran toward the store as the others got out. It was no Wal-Mart, but it was large and looked empty.

  “Be careful,” Layne said. “If it was under construction, there may have been construction workers around.”

  “The cranes are all outside,” Keely said. “If anybody went in or out, they didn’t use this door, or they’d have broken the banner.”

  “Maybe they hadn’t gotten started yet,” Katie said.

  “Whatever the case may be,” Layne said, “be on your guard.”

  He tore the banner down and peered inside. It was dark, but there was no movement. Layne tried the door, but it was locked. An air of disappointment flowed over the survivors.

  “We can break the door,” Garrett said.

  “But then we’ll be exposed,” Layne replied. “And if an alarm goes off, it’ll draw every zombie for miles.”

  “Check that out,” Kyle said. He pointed across the parking lot. Near the side of the building was a semi. The door was open, the body of the driver was hanging out, dried blood was caked down the side of the truck and on the ground below. “Maybe he left his keys. We can bust the door, and then park this in front of it to keep everything out.”

  “Great idea,” Layne said.

  “Anyone want to come with?”

  “I will,” Ralph said. He and Kyle armed themselves and headed to the truck. Ralph covered Kyle as he inspected the inside, then dragged the dearly departed driver out by his hands. It was a fat man, and he landed heavily on the asphalt. Kyle searched the cab, then emerged and gave a thumbs-up.

  “We have the key!” Ralph said. Kyle started the engine.

  “All right, then,” Layne said. He looked around for something to break the door with. He found a cinder block nearby, hoisted it up, and brought it to the door.

  “Back up, everyone,” Garrett said. “Don’t want to get cut.”

  The group backed up, and Layne heaved the brick twice (fearing a third time would cause it to fly out of his hands on the backswing) and lunged it forward. It hit the glass and shattered it. The pane fell in a good solid piece, leaving few fragments of concern hanging from the door frame. No alarms blared out.

  “Okay, we’ll go in first and check things out,” Layne said. He drew his gun and entered, followed closely by Garrett, Katie, Keely, and Dex. Nearby, the semi rolled toward the front door.

  ****

  “We should see if they have a generator,” Garrett said. “In this dark, shopping won’t be easy.”

  The group used a flashlight to make their way across the store. They saw no movement, and in the back, they found the maintenance door, clearly marked “Employees Only”. Garrett and Layne entered, and down a few cold, bland hallways, they found the generator room. A few ripcord pulls later, the generator roared and the lights in the store came on.

  They made their way back to the store and saw that everyone was inside. The semi was parked before the door, and Kyle and Ralph were sliding in through the small space between the two.

  “Well, it looks safe,” Layne said. “So…”

  “Shopping spree!” Dex said. Lacie laughed.

  “Just don’t go anywhere alone, and keep within earshot.” With that, the group split up.

  Layne and Garrett wandered the clothes section first, and Garrett found the first shirt his size, ripped the tag off, and put it on. Then he began fishing for more clothes.

  “Do you think anyone else will come through here?” Layne asked. “I mean, I almost feel bad, taking things. What if someone gets the same idea, but they get here and there’s nothing left?”

  Garrett tipped over a partially filled shopping cart, emptying it, and then put his own finds inside. “Well, how would you feel if you got here and it didn’t have anything you needed?”

  “I guess I’d wish good luck to whoever got here before I did.”

  “Exactly. As much as we have to work together, in another way, it’s also every man for himself out here.”

  Out here. Layne didn’t like the way it sounded. It made it seem like this really was a new world, one in which he and the other survivors were the out
siders, one in which they weren’t welcome.

  After the clothes, they moved on to the food section. They ran into Katie and Keely, who had also acquired a shopping cart.

  “How’s the search going?” Layne asked.

  Keely was reading a box of cereal. “Some of this stuff is expired.”

  Layne laughed, grabbed the box, and tossed it into Katie’s cart. “Nothing expires. Not anymore.” He and Garrett moved on, and Katie and Keely began filling the cart with whatever food seemed least perishable.

  “It only gets harder from here, you know,” Garrett said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Right now, we have it easy. What happens when there are no more generators? No more gas for our cars? What then?”

  Layne had tried not to think of such things, but the truth was that they were always there, gnawing away at the back of his mind. He assumed as much for the others, too.

  “Maybe we’ll find some place to settle down, by then,” he said. His mind returned to the other thought gnawing away at him, the one about where they all went from there, as individuals.

  “Settle down? I don’t know, man,” Garrett said. “The only way we’ve lasted this long is by moving. Every time we stop, some horrific shit happens.”

  The two ran into Kyle and Ralph in the book section. They were sitting down, deep in conversation. There were various books scattered around them; some novels, a few comics.

  “I still don’t get it,” Kyle said. “Why are there so many different versions?”

  “Well, it depends on the translation. Like this, this is the King James Version. Because it was put together under King James. And this is a New International Version. It’s sort of like a re-translated version, for today’s English.”

  “Which one is supposed to be right, though?”

  “They’re all right,” Ralph said. “It’s divine inspiration. Hey, let’s go over the differences in DC and Marvel again. I don’t think I really got that.”

  “The different companies put out different comics,” Kyle said. Their voices faded as Garrett and Layne passed.