In the Lone and Level Sands

by David Lovato

  Some of the skin on the zombie’s face was a yellowish brown, and black in several spots. The zombie’s left eye also looked burnt.

  Ben had gotten back up to a crouch a few feet away from the window, and then he stood up. He turned around and looked at the others.

  “That’s one gross fucker,” he said. “The face’s burnt all to hell!”

  “Draw the shade,” Sara said. “We don’t want more to know we’re here.” Ben grabbed the pull string and yanked, and the shade dropped in front of the barricade.

  Charlotte sat on the couch near a shelving unit that housed dozens of DVDs. Ben joined her. He looked over at the movies, sifting through them with his eyes. He smiled at the selection, and then sized up the other survivors in his living room. Sara, Al, and Carah sat on a smaller couch nearby. Angus, hyper as he was, moved from person to person, demanding attention from the entire group. A pink, sloppy tongue hung out of his open mouth. He eventually settled down near Sara’s feet.

  “While we’re waiting for them to get back,” Charlotte said, “how about we watch a movie? As long as we keep the sound down, we shouldn’t attract any more of them.”

  “That sounds nice, what movies do you have?” Sara asked. Charlotte stood up, picked quickly through the plastic cases, and withdrew one: The Notebook. Her favorite movie, and she was hoping the others would want to watch it, too.

  “We’ve got a lot of comedies, but this, if you haven’t seen it, you really should. What do you say?”

  Carah nodded and smiled.

  “I haven’t seen that one,” Sara said.

  “Well, it’s one of those movies you have to see before you die.” Charlotte took the disc out and set it on the tray, pressed the “close” button, and then turned the TV on. She waited through the previews (as the disc wouldn’t allow her to skip them) and then configured the subtitles for Carah. Finally, she rejoined Ben on the couch.

  The movie began playing. Charlotte, watching Ben from time to time, was already tearing up. Ben placed an arm around her shoulders, and she leaned against his chest. He was enjoying the movie, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. He noticed everyone seemed entranced by it, especially Al, who was trying to hide his wet eyes. Charlotte didn’t even notice when her father went into the kitchen after a while, but Ben did. He had a thought that The Notebook had been one of Ruth’s favorite movies, but he couldn’t tell if it was a hunch or a memory, and suddenly he felt as sad as Al looked.

  ****

  Throughout the movie, Sara and Carah each had one eye on the door. Fred, Richard, and Randy hadn’t returned from their run, and “worried” wasn’t a strong enough word for what the two women felt.

  About an hour into the movie, a car alarm went off down Drayton Avenue. It was close, possibly a few houses down. The moans of the zombies (which were louder than anyone had realized) and the alarm drowned out the movie.

  Charlotte pressed the “pause” button. Al headed to the front window and lifted the shade. More zombies had joined the burnt one. Maybe the movie had been louder than they’d realized.

  “We’ve got company,” Al said, turning back to the others. “Those three better get back, and soon!”

  “How many are out there?” Charlotte asked. She stood up.

  “A dozen at least, and more are coming.”

  “They should have been back by now,” Sara said. She sat forward, her hands shaking. She tried to keep still, but it was no use.

  He can’t die out there, not like this. He just can’t. But if he’s been gone this long, what could be holding them up? Please, hurry up, Fred.

  Thoughts raced back and forth in her mind, but they slowed when she felt the comforting touch of Carah’s hand on her arm. Sara looked at her. Carah smiled, worried, but hopeful. She mouthed something.

  They’ll be back soon.

  “Thank you,” Sara said. She gave Carah a hug.

  Their hug ended when Sara heard a loud slam; the zombies had begun to pound the windows they could reach. It wasn’t long until one shattered, then another, and then the zombies were hitting the wooden barricades. Angus was sitting in the middle of the floor, growling loudly. A bark escaped every now and again.

  “Someone shut that dog up!” Al said. “It’ll only get more of them interested. Ben, help me move some shit in front of these windows! Those planks won’t hold for long. I’m not dying in this house!” Ben nodded, and they moved the couch that Sara and Carah had been sitting on in front of one window.

  “Let’s get the kitchen table and put it behind the couch,” Ben said. “It’ll block almost the whole window. Those fuckers won’t be able to knock it down!”

  “Good thinking!”

  Sara crouched near Angus and scratched his head, which calmed him a little. Carah stood behind her and Angus. Charlotte tapped Carah’s shoulder. She turned around.

  “Let’s help them block these windows.”

  Carah nodded, and they went off to move furniture in front of the windows. Ben and Al were moving the table; they slid it behind the couch and then pushed the couch into it, holding it in place. The table blocked the entire window, and the couch extended about halfway into the next. Al heard a new noise among the alarm and the moans: A car. He looked through the space in the slats.

  Zombies were growling and pounding relentlessly on the barricades. Beyond them, Fred’s van pulled into the driveway. Several zombies shambled toward Fred, Randy, and Richard as they got out. Shots fired from the three weapons as their owners grabbed their groceries. Several zombies fell. The trio tried to make their way to the front door. More zombies were coming out of the woodwork.

  “Hey! Hey, they’re back!” Al said. He startled everyone, especially Sara, who jumped up, relieved. She motioned to Carah.

  “They’re here! They’re back!”

  Al shouted through the planks over the window. “Come on!”

  “We’re doing the best we can!” Fred said. He shot a zombie. Its head splattered, and the spread shredded another zombie’s chest. The car alarm went dead after that, but more zombies headed their way.

  “They’re coming to the shots!” Richard said. “Let’s get inside!” Fred reloaded, and shot two more zombies. Randy took one out. One broke into the house, knocking bits of the wooden boards inside. It almost grabbed Al. He punched it off of him, then backed away. Richard shot the zombie from outside, and then the three men reached the door. Ben unlocked it and let them in.

  It was nowhere near time to relax. They had stronger barricades to finish building. Ben locked the dead bolt again and then went to help fortify the front windows, while the zombies outside worked to do the opposite.

  Ben and Randy placed a small cupboard on top of the couch to cover a window. Ben went to get more furniture, and Randy wedged the cupboard in place. It leaned away from the window, and some zombies were trying to push their arms around it.

  “Kid, is this what you call boarding a window?” Al said. He pushed against the cupboard, jamming it flat against the wooden boards and keeping anything from reaching in. “These things made entry in no time flat. We could’ve—”

  Fred silenced him. “Give the boy a break. Shouting doesn’t do a bit of good.”

  They finished re-barricading the windows, but with at least a dozen zombies still bumping, clawing, and hitting the barricades, no one knew how long they would hold. The survivors couldn’t stay at the Hopper home on Drayton Avenue for very long, that much was clear.

  It took a while for everyone to begin to relax. When the adrenaline had worn off, the group got together in the kitchen and put together a late lunch.

  ****

  The smell of hotdogs and canned chili permeated the house as everyone sat in the living room with plates on their laps. They ate quietly and nervously, listening to the moans and scratching and pounding of hands.

  “Hey, everyone,” Ben said. “Charlotte and I have been trying to get things between us back to normal, and it’s been hard, but there’s one thing t
hat Charlotte came up with that we want to try. I wouldn’t blame any of you for wanting to stay behind—”

  “Ben, I think I speak for all of us when I say I don’t want to see you two go on your own,” Fred said. He lit his pipe. “We’re coming with.”

  “That’s right,” Sara said.

  “It’s only fair,” Richard said. “Carah and I owe you our lives, so we’re coming. Besides, what chance do we stand here, anyway?”

  “Thanks,” Charlotte said. “So, we’ll leave for Last Station as soon as possible. It’s a little over an hour away.”

  “It’s getting late,” Fred said. “So first light would be best.”

  “That’s fine.”

  “About the creatures outside. It seems it might be a good idea for one or two of us to stay up for a few hours to watch the windows, in case of problems. We can take shifts.”

  “I’ll take the first one,” Ben said.

  Charlotte looked at him. “I’ll take it too.”

  “All right, good,” Fred said. “At two or so, wake Al and I up, and we’ll go until seven. We’ll leave before eight.”

  “I’ve got a great distraction for us if we need it,” Randy said. He pulled a small lighter from his shorts pocket and ignited it.

  “Fire?” Sara said.

  “Yeah. They’re drawn to it like bugs to a zapper! There was a car on fire back in the lot of the store. Those things were flocking to it!”

  “It would be a last resort,” Fred said. “But, if we need it, we have it.”

  ****

  “Sounds like an army out there,” Charlotte whispered. She and Ben sat in chairs a couple feet apart in the living room. “They sound angry.”

  “They’re hungry, Char.”

  Charlotte sighed. “They used to be people. They had names, jobs. They had families. You can’t help but feel bad, just a little bit.”

  “That could be us,” Ben said. “Just another moan to join the group.”

  “Not us, Ben. We’ll make it, don’t think like that. We’ll go to Cellar Door tomorrow morning, we’ll get all of you back…” Ben was frowning. “What’s wrong?”

  “All this time, it’s like you don’t even know.”

  “Know what?”

  “That I’ve cared for you all the way from Blackwater Falls. I know it’s gotta be hard for you, knowing I remembered almost everything, except for you. Even the damn bag boy. But isn’t falling back in love with you good enough?”

  Charlotte looked at Ben, but couldn’t stand to meet his eyes. She felt incredibly selfish. “You just don’t seem you. I don’t feel the same connection. It’s like the car crash erased that. I must sound selfish, but can’t I be happy? What we had was what I wanted to have forever, and I think we can get that back. I think Last Station has it.”

  “Look, I’m not trying to change your mind,” Ben said. “If it’s what you really want, we’ll go. If you’re right, then great, but if you’re wrong, can we just make this work? A world without you is not one I want any part of. I just can’t do it. I’d rather die a thousand slow, painful deaths before I spend one day on this planet without you.”

  “This’ll work. I know it will.”

  “You don’t sound so sure.”

  “I am. I have to be.”

  ****

  Fred and Al took post at two in the morning as promised. Both held their shotguns. Fred was sitting in the chair Ben had the shift before. Al didn’t want to sit. He paced in front of the window on the right side of the living room as the zombies outside pummeled the barricades.

  “Wouldn’t you be more comfortable in a chair?” Fred said.

  “No, not really. I wanna keep moving.”

  “Fair enough.”

  A chair blocking the window moved slightly, sliding into an even more precarious position than before. The sound startled Al. He jumped and turned.

  “The chair just slipped a bit out of place, Al. It’s okay. But I’ll tell you what, even if we didn’t have a destination your daughter wanted to get to, I wouldn’t be staying here another day. These barricades won’t hold for much longer.”

  “I’m with you on that.”

  ****

  It was nearly seven in the morning when one of the barricades came down. Al and Fred jumped to their feet; Al had been almost asleep.

  “Fire at will,” Fred said. “We’re already in deep shit! I’ll alert the others before it gets too bad here. You got it for a second?”

  “I got it, no problem! Hurry!”

  Al began firing while Fred rushed up the stairs, yelling, “We gotta go! Everyone wake up!” He barged into Ben and Charlotte’s bedroom. They were already hopping out of bed.

  “What’s going on?” Charlotte asked.

  “They’ve broken in! We need to leave, now!”

  Richard was already alerting Carah. Everyone, including Randy, hurried into the living room. Some gathered things.

  There were at least two dozen zombies outside. Fred shot one as it headed toward the downed barricade. The other barricade gave, and Al pointed his gun out the window, toward the oncoming zombies. One grabbed the barrel with both hands and pulled the shotgun from his grasp.

  “God damn it! Fuckshit got my gun!”

  “Take mine!” Randy said.

  “No, I got another. On the floor over there!” Al pointed to a pistol across the room. Randy nodded and rushed for it, then handed it to Al.

  “How are we getting out of here?”

  “We’ll have to use that fire of yours!”

  Randy nodded. “Ben, do you have any glass bottles, anything that could make a good explosive?”

  “There’s some beer in the fridge, and some gasoline in the garage. I’ll get the bottles, Charlotte, the gasoline!” Charlotte nodded and ran to the garage.

  The place was dark, and several fists were being thrown against the garage door. There was a work bench near it, and underneath, in the cabinet, was the gas. Charlotte went to it, and a second later, a hand shot through a small window on the door. The glass shattered and the hand flailed around for a moment, the skin sliced in several places. Charlotte jumped and gave a little scream. Ben rushed downstairs.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I-I’m fine,” Charlotte said, watching as the bloody hand pulled out of the hole in the door. Charlotte grabbed the gas, Ben went to a box full of old grease rags.

  “Thank God. Hey, we’ll need some of these.” He pulled out a few rags, and the two of them went back upstairs, locking the door behind them.

  “We throw a couple of the fire bombs, and they’ll go running for the flames,” Fred said. “The plan is, we run to the van, quick as possible. We’ll take the groceries too, but we need to be fast. There may be more coming, and they may not care about the fire.”

  Everyone nodded. Ben had Angus on his leash, and he was growling. He tugged on the leash, trying to get at the intruders.

  Randy made a Molotov cocktail. “I never thought I’d be using one of these in real life.” He chuckled as he finished another. “Used them all the time in Left 4 Dead.”

  “What’s that?” Fred said.

  “Just a video game.”

  “Forget it,” Al said. “Are you ready?”

  “These should do it. Where can I throw them from?”

  “Use our bedroom,” Charlotte said. “You’ll have a good shot from the window up there. Throw them to the left of the driveway though, and don’t let the fire get to the street.”

  “Okay.”

  “Come right down when you’ve thrown all of them,” Fred said. “We’ll wait for you.”

  Randy nodded, ran up the stairs, and headed to the master bedroom. He opened the window and stuck his head out to get his bearings.

  “All right, let’s start a fire,” Randy said. He tipped a bottle to soak the rag, and then lit it. He reared back, took in a deep breath, and hurled the explosive. It landed on the grass in the middle of several zombies, engulfing them in flames. They writhed as the
fire ate at them, but they didn’t try to escape it. It spread to a few other zombies, and some from the house stopped what they were doing and ran to the patch of fire. The survivors could hear their screams over the moans of the rest.

  Al headed for the door, ready to lead the charge. Some zombies didn’t see the fire. They continued to push in through the windows.

  Angus pulled free and rushed for the window. Ben and Charlotte both went for his leash, but he turned and ran back into the house. A zombie leaned in, found an arm, and sank its teeth into it.

  Blood poured. Ben and Charlotte hit the floor. A gunshot rang out, drowning Charlotte’s painful scream. She knew there wasn’t much time.

  64

  In the School

  That night, Layne had a dream.

  A song was playing. It sounded very far away, and he couldn’t tell what it was, but it sounded happy. Layne was standing in several inches of water, but when he looked down, he saw nothing. Ripples expanded from his ankles, but the entire world was white.

  “Where am I?”

  His voice echoed, but when it returned to him, it wasn’t his voice, and they weren’t his words.

  “The noosphere?”

  He meant to say “What?” but instead said “Why?”

  “Because you’re aware now.”

  Layne realized the world wasn’t empty. A few feet away, a wall extended infinitely in either direction. It was cold when he touched it. He could see no way to get to the other side of it.

  And he wanted to get to the other side. The music grew louder.

  He wasn’t sure why, but he was supposed to. Layne looked around, but the answers wouldn’t come to him. Then he realized the answers were on the other side of the wall. He was frustrated. The music grew louder.