by Ryan Casey
These boxers felt fucking fantastic.
When he reached the bottom of the escalator, he saw Anna. She didn’t even glance at the creatures behind him. She just scanned him from head to toe, bewildered.
“It’s a long story,” Riley said. “We need to…”
He stopped.
He stopped when he saw what was coming out of the warehouse area of the department store.
He stopped when he saw what was approaching the main door.
Creatures.
Lots of creatures.
All surrounding them.
Riley backed up against Anna, and she backed up against him.
“Hope those undies were worth it,” Anna said.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“I can’t believe this,” Anna said. “I can’t actually believe it. We’re going to die. All for a pair of boxers. All for a goddamn pair of boxers.”
Riley looked at the oncoming creatures and he knew Anna had a point. The creatures were walking to the door they’d come in through—the only door they were aware existed, other than whatever exit was in the warehouse…
Except there was a problem where the warehouse was concerned, too. And that problem came in the form of another bout of creatures, all wandering in their direction.
And then there were the escalators. Only, yeah. You guessed it. More creatures.
So all Riley and Anna could do was stand closely together, weapons raised, and wait to fight off the dead.
“Seriously,” Anna muttered, still going on and on. “All for a pair of boxers.”
“Hey,” Riley said. “Don’t just pin this on my boxers. It was you that dragged us in here on the premise of new clothes.”
“I didn’t find anything.”
“Didn’t find anything? There’s a whole bloody floor of stuff.”
Anna shrugged. “I didn’t find anything I liked okay? Looks like you did, though. So much so you’re showing off your swanky new pair.”
Riley blushed. He knew he shouldn’t be bothering about what he was wearing or how he looked considering the greater implications of the circumstances. But that was what living in a world where you were constantly under threat could do to you. It made you numb to just how much danger you were in. It made you okay with killing. It made you laugh at the darkest things; things you would never have laughed at in the old world.
And that had its positives, in times like this. It had its perks.
But for now, their primary focus had to be on getting out of here.
And preferably not spoiling his new pair of pants.
“I’ll clear the creatures coming from the warehouse,” Anna said. “See if I can calm the flow.”
Riley grabbed her arm before she could run off. “Don’t.”
Anna frowned. “Um, Riley? Let go.”
But Riley couldn’t let go. And it was because he didn’t want to be separated from her again. He didn’t want the pair of them to have a wedge driven between them, just like in the past. They’d been so far apart. They’d lost one another. And even though they’d been back together for half a year, it still felt like no time had passed at all.
Riley didn’t want the honeymoon to end. He didn’t want to let Anna out of his sight.
But he knew he didn’t have a choice.
She pulled away from his hand and he let her. “You watch the door. Just take them one by one, like we trained. A—”
“A crack in the middle of the head, again and again. Right. Thanks, Samurai Jack.”
Anna frowned.
Then she walked off to deal with the creatures that were coming through the warehouse.
Riley turned to face the rest of the creatures. Truth be told, there were more of them than he was expecting to see. There were at least ten coming down the escalator. And there were about the same amount coming through the door, too.
And Riley knew he had the advantage. Anna was right. They had the upper ground of being able to be mindful in the present moment. They had the ability to plan in such a short space of time, whereas the creatures just lunged, senseless in their actions.
And yet the numbers were still scary. They were still intimidating.
And Riley knew damn well that every time he stepped up in a situation like this, he might as well be stepping up for a game of Russian roulette.
The first creature was just a few steps away. He took a deep breath, calmed himself rooted himself in the present.
Screw what Anna said about mindfulness being a cult. She was a hypocrite, because it’d kept them both alive on various occasions, so he was going to milk it for all it was worth.
He pulled back his knife.
Then he slammed the knife through the creature’s skull.
The first of the creatures fell down in a cold-blooded pool.
And then the next one stepped right up. This one looked old, like some kind of hippie guy. His skin was weathered, and his frame was incredibly thin.
Riley cracked his skull like an egg before he could even reach him.
This routine continued for what must’ve been another five, six creatures, one after the other, step by step. Anna kept her method the same too, although she seemed much calmer about it all. She’d clearly learned some skills out on the road; skills in calmness that Riley was still struggling to adapt to.
But things were going okay. He was handling the undead, regardless of how many were coming at him. He just had to take them one at a time.
Then he saw the girl.
The first thing that struck him about the girl was that she was missing an arm. She was short. About half Riley’s height. She had dark hair, and brown eyes.
And it was those eyes that got him.
The way they looked up at him. Terrified. Fearful.
She looked just like Chloë.
He remembered how Chloë had died, then. A sudden flash of her one remaining arm being taken away. That brief look of shock on her face.
And then what Mattius did to her next.
The blade through her skull…
And then suddenly Riley thought about every skull he’d cracked. He thought about the way he’d cracked them just like Mattius had cracked Chloë’s skull.
And this girl.
How he’d have to do it to her.
How he’d have to put her out of her misery, just like Mattius had put Chloë out of hers.
How he’d—
“Riley!”
He saw Chloë in front of him and he felt his body shaking.
“Riley, watch out!”
It was only then that Riley became truly aware of the shouting.
And when he did, he realised he was in trouble.
He’d lost track of the present moment.
The creatures were surrounding him.
He staggered back, tried to regain his footing.
Only he tripped.
He tripped on one of the creatures he’d already taken down.
He reached out for one of the clothes stands.
Only when he grabbed it, the clothes stand didn’t support his weight, and his mangled missing fingers didn’t quite grab hold of it enough.
It just fell down with him.
Landed on top of him.
Knocked the wind out of his body and trapped him completely.
As Riley lay there, the full weight of the clothes stand resting on top of him, he wondered whether this was it. Whether he could make a break. Whether he’d finally found an opportunity to get away.
He started to push the clothes stand up when he felt the weight on top of him increase.
Then increase a little more.
And a little more.
And then he heard the groan.
He held his breath. Tried to push back. He had to break free. He had to get out.
But then he heard something on the other side of the stand, growling loudly.
And then he saw a hand reach underneath the gap towards him, and he knew right then he was fucked.
CHAPTER NINE
Anna watched the clothes stand collapse on top of Riley and she wondered how the idiot had made it this far in this world.
She wanted to run over there and help him, especially now that the creatures he’d been facing were staggering on top of that clothes stand. Fortunately, they were stupid, which meant they were trying to work their way through the clothes stand itself. But there were other problems brewing. The fact that more of the infected were clambering their way on top of that clothes stand was a problem. Because the more that climbed on top of it, the more of a struggle breathing would get for Riley.
Crushed by a mass of dead while wearing his favourite new boxer shorts. As amusing as it would be—when she got over the fact that Riley, who she cared a hell of a lot about, had died—she wouldn’t wish that fate on her worst enemy.
She slammed her blade into the temple of the infected walking at her, cold blood splashing back into her arm. Then she pulled it out, cracked the next one right in the middle of its head.
But she’d let her focus slip. She was losing ground on the infected. There were too many of them; far too many to deal with from her current situation.
She looked around, fear gripping her body. There had to be somewhere to go. There had to be a way to distract the infected from Riley so he could get out of there.
She kept on searching, heart racing, until eventually she saw it.
There was a lift. It was wedged halfway down in an all-glass enclosure. It looked like it’d got stuck there when the power went out. From here, Anna could see flies buzzing around it, and she dreaded to think of the poor soul who must’ve been caught up inside it.
She pushed back another of the infected, but she didn’t have enough ground or time to deal with any more of them now. So she knew what she had to do. She could use that elevator in some way; use it to distract the dead. Maybe she could go over to it, dangle down from it. Just something to make herself seem like an easier target to the dead than Riley was right now.
“I’m getting you out of this mess, Riley,” Anna said. “Just hold on. Hold on a little longer.”
She ran past the crowds of the dead that were swarming towards Riley, rapidly growing in number. There were around thirty of them now. She slashed some of them across the head; others she pushed back with the side of her blade.
But she kept on going, kept her focus, pushing and pushing towards the side of the escalator, which was now empty but for a couple of strays.
She rammed the blade into the back of the head of the first infected. Then she did the same with the next. Only this one took a little more perseverance. This one she had to stamp on to finish it off.
She felt her boots covering with blood and she knew she’d need a new pair, asap. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be such a waste of time after all.
She ran up to the first floor, then over in the direction of the escalator. She chanced a glance over the railing at the bottom floor, just to make sure the infected hadn’t got to Riley yet.
There were around ten of them on top of that clothes stand now. And more were approaching.
Some were getting inside.
Riley didn’t have long left.
Anna ran as fast as she could over towards the lift. And when she got there, she started to wonder whether this was a stupid idea. Whether this was total craziness.
She looked down at the drop and she wondered.
“Screw it,” she said. “Screw it.”
Then she held her breath and jumped down.
She hit the top of the lift with a stronger force than she’d expected. She turned onto her front, then looked at the mass of infected now she was on her knees.
Then she clambered over the side of the lift, started to dangle down from it.
“Hey!” she shouted.
She shook the lift as hard as she could.
“Hey! Come here! Come get me!”
It didn’t seem to be working. Not at first. The infected seemed way too set on Riley for lunch, which Anna took as a personal insult considering how little meat was on his bones.
But she kept on going.
She kept on banging against the side of the lift.
She kept on shouting, screaming, trying desperately to get the attention of the infected, all the while holding onto this lift for dear life.
And then they started to move.
She saw them. She saw their attention turn in an instant, like a hive mind taking control.
They looked at her and she smiled. This was it. She had to get back up. She had to rush down the escalator. Then she had to get out of here now Riley had a chance to get out from under the clothes stand.
“Almost there!” Anna shouted , as the infected started to stagger in her direction, their groans echoing around the interior of this place.
She went to pull herself back up onto the top of the lift.
“Almost—”
She heard it before she realised what was happening.
The snap.
A deafening snap, coupled with movement.
She didn’t understand what was happening. Not at first.
It only clicked truly when she looked up and saw that the lift was dangling on by a tiny, thin piece of wire.
“Shit,” she said.
She scrambled to reach the side of the wall.
The final piece of metal snapped.
The lift went tumbling to the floor below.
And Anna went along with it.
She’d got the infected’s attention.
She’d done that, alright.
Only problem was, she was going to be down there too, as the lift crashed against the floor and everything went silent.
CHAPTER TEN
Anna looked at the group in the distance and she knew what she had to do.
It was cold. Very cold. Nearly a year had to have passed since Heathwaite’s fell, but she couldn’t be sure how many months exactly. Honestly, it felt like a lifetime ago. In a sense, it was.
She’d spent all this time surviving, mostly alone.
And sure. There had been people she’d run into along the way. She’d made friends. One of those friends—Gary—had taught her the skills she was so adept at today. Mindfulness. Rooting herself in the present. She’d always thought meditation was a bit of a cult, so she’d gone in with a sceptical mind. But eventually, she’d seen merit in some of the teachings. Some of those teachings had kept her alive. She knew that.
Oh, and she’d learned how to use melee weapons really fucking well, too. That was another skill Gary had taught her.
She remembered the first time she’d met Gary, as she perched there staring through the rain at the camp. She’d been reluctant to bond with new people. But right away she felt at ease with him. The way he’d walked up to her, smile on his face, hands raised. The way he’d told her he was going to look out for her; educate her, even.
And she’d been resistant at first. Naturally, really. When a bloke appears out of nowhere promising to “educate” you? Well, that’s hardly the best pickup line there is.
But Gary’s sincerity had soon revealed itself. He was a good person. Probably the only person she’d run into since the end of her time with Riley and the Heathwaite’s group that she’d actually felt any sort of real connection with.
And these people in this camp had killed him.
She looked around at the camp. There were four tents. Anna knew there were four people at least. She’d seen them. They’d been the ones to make Gary raise his hands. They’d been the ones to steal from him, then stab him in the stomach and leave him to die.
And what had Anna done?
She’d watched.
She’d stood there with her pathetic one eye, that Gary had always told her didn’t have to hold her back, and she’d watched.
The best thing that had happened to her since the collapse of Heathwaite’s. The man who had restored her hope. Gone. Stabbed and left to die like he was one of those monsters.
; And now she had a chance to put things right.
Now she had a chance to get the revenge—the justice—that Gary deserved.
She tightened her grip around the axe. It’d taken her some time to get used to it. Sometimes, she argued with Gary that she’d never learn. She’d never really be totally adept with it.
But she’d got used to it. She’d adapted.
Just like everyone in this world adapted.
She took a deep breath. The air was cool and smelled fresh. It wasn’t going to smell fresh for long. Not once she went into this camp and did what she had to do.
But that was something she was ready to face.
That was a sacrifice she was happy to make.
It was all in the name of justice.
She waited until the two men sitting around a fire disappeared inside their respective tents.
Then, she stood.
She brought herself into the present moment as she walked down the hill, over towards these small tents. They wouldn’t fit more than two people in at a time, so there couldn’t be any more than eight people total.
It didn’t matter. She could deal with eight. She was confident about her ability to deal with eight.
The further she got down the hill and the closer she got to the tents, the more Anna wondered whether she was doing the right thing. She heard Gary’s voice in her head. He was screaming at her, begging her not to do this, crying out at her to just forgive and forget.
But how could she?
How could she forgive those who had taken him away from her?
How could she forget the moment the light of such a beautiful life had gone from his eyes?
So she kept on going. She disappeared into that present moment, which Gary so often told her to go to. But she didn’t use it for peace. No. She embraced it for chaos. She used it to detach herself from all the knowledge of what she was about to do.
Because it was going to be messy.
It was going to be ugly.
It was going to be evil.
She stood outside the first of the tents and waited. For a while, she considered turning around. Walking away. Keeping this energy built up inside her and taking her anger out on the infected instead.
But no.
The infected could wait.