by Jesse Gagnon
“Uh, clothes.” Jane paused to examine her attire. “I don’t know what you’re asking?” Jane scrutinized Giselle lost at her intentions.
“The perfume, why are you wearing it?” She continued to sniff the air.
“To smell nice; haven’t had a shower in a few days. I feel disgusting.”
“Wipe that shit off. Here, put this on.” Giselle removed a bottle of the masking agent from her bag and handed it to her. Jane smelled it and grimaced.
“I will not!” She protested.
“Yes, yes you will.” Giselle insisted with a glare. She wasn’t wearing her sunglasses because of the dark clouds. Her gray Azrael eyes were terrifying to Jane.
“Why that? It smells horrible.” Jane argued while pointing at the bottle.
“Because that…” She emphasized while dangling the bottle by two fingers in front of her face. “will keep you alive. While the shit you’re wearing will get you killed.” Giselle wiggled the bottle sarcastically and tossed it to Jane. She caught it despite not being ready to catch anything.
“Fine, I’ll wear your stupid fish perfume. You don’t have to be such a bitch about it.”
“It’s what I do.” Giselle curtsied and smiled with pride.
Jane lightly applied a coat of the masking agent on her body. She dramatically prevented herself from heaving as she took in deep breaths of it.
“Take smaller breaths Jane. I can still smell the perfume. Put more of it on.”
“No.” She puked from the stress she was placing on her stomach.
“Wipe some of that on you too, why not.” Giselle laughed. Jane didn’t find it funny at all. She smelled the vomit and threw up again. Afterwards she eloquently dabbed some puke remnants on her lip with a tissue that she retrieved from her bag while gaining her composure standing up tall.
“Okay, can we go now?” She asked.
“Sure. I think you smell better now. Stay close.” Giselle jogged ahead into the city towards the large plume of smoke.
“I thought we were going to meet up with your friends out here?” She questioned gesturing behind them as she sped up her pace to catch Giselle.
“Change of plans. I got a stop I need to make first. It won’t take long I hope.” Giselle explained while trotting ahead and listened for signs of the Azrael. They were everywhere, but she knew that she could avoid them if she needed to. Her ankle still clicked as she moved and she wondered how long it would do that for. Was it permanent? Did it heal that way?
After an hour of jogging and narrowly missing small herds that scoured the city for the uninfected, Giselle finally reached the alley that was in the back of the building Steven was living in. Bodies of Azrael were strewn across the entire stretch of it. Limbs were scattered tens of feet from their bodies while most faces were unrecognizable. Giselle walked over the mangled bodies of the Azrael without pause while Jane gingerly stepped over them. Jane noticed Giselle step on an eyeball that had been popped out from whatever force caused this massacre. The optic nerve was severed from the eye while a single strand of muscle still clung on to the eye. The clear juice inside spouted out from beneath her foot and Jane felt it as her bare foot stepped in it. She was going to puke again. She felt it coming. It came and she threw up all over the crushed head that held the eye. Some dripped down into the empty socket. She looked away and caught Giselle’s eye.
“Are you done? Stop puking on the dead. It’s disrespectful.” Giselle shook her head at Jane with distaste. She turned around and was glad she didn’t break into a smile. She didn’t give a crap about those Azrael.
“I’m sorry. I just…”
“Can it Jane. See that hole over there?”
“Yes I see it.” Jane retrieved another tissue and wiped her mouth with it.
“That’s how we’re getting in.”
An enormous hole in the back of the building provided the only entrance inside. It also was how little Trixie escaped and found her way outside the city walls. She thought about the little girl’s eyes that looked up at her, gray as her own, and the vicious snarl she made desiring to bite her. It angered her and she ran into the hole of the building with her pistol drawn. Jane followed behind her uneasy of their surroundings.
“Is this safe?” She whispered.
“Not with you jabbing those gums of yours.” Giselle paused to give Jane a stern look. Jane nodded and mimed zipping her lips.
Sounds of Azrael banging on a door just above the garage levels caused Giselle to pause. She could smell them. She attempted to count their heartbeats. With so many to count she gave up and accepted the fact that there were lots of them. She moved up cautiously trying not to alert the oversensitive Azrael attacking the door. Fortunately for Giselle and Jane their violent attacks hid any sound they made walking up the stairs. She noticed Jane’s bare feet for the first time.
“Where’s your shoes?”
“You’re just now noticing? I haven’t had shoes since we met.” Jane scoffed at Giselle’s lack of detailed observation.
“Why would you not wear shoes? Who does that? You walked through those…” Giselle felt disgusted.
“See, that’s why…”
“Look you need to get outside and find a pair of shoes. You can’t keep running around like this. Why didn’t you grab some earlier?” Giselle asked interrupting Jane while choking down chunks that were tickling the back of her throat.
“From where?”
“Anywhere. With all the Azrael around it’s free game on shoes. Look through all the bodies outside. There has to be a pair that fit you out there.”
“But they already have feet in them. That’s disgusting.”
“Either that or find yourself unable to run away because you got a nail in your foot.”
“I’m real careful. I used to run barefoot all the time when I was a kid.”
“Through this shit?” She pointed at broken glass, splintered wood and crumbled up concrete.
“No, but…”
“But nothing. Get over whatever dumb thoughts you have in there about being a lady. You’re smart. You’re a fucking scientist. You can do it.”
“I don’t know.”
“Jane.”
“Okay, okay just don’t’ do the eyes thing. It’s creepy.”
“What eyes thing? I’m just looking at you.”
“You know what I mean.”
“My eyes are beautiful Jane.” Giselle batted her gray zombie eyes and nothing about them was beautiful.
“Right, anyway I’ll go check outside on those shoes.”
Jane carefully descended back through the hole paying even more attention on her footing than she did before. She leisurely walked through Azrael corpses that were missing limbs. She located a cute pink running shoe on a foot, but it was just a foot. Where the hell was the other one? Jane stood there holding a shoe containing a severed foot and danced it around in the air as she searched for the matching shoe. She walked with it looking for the body. After a few minutes of failure she dropped the foot and looked for a different pair. She located a body that had just hips and legs but at least it had a matching set of shoes. They were pink and gray running shoes. Despite the blood that covered one side of them they were in good condition. She sat down in the driest place she could find near the corpse. She placed her bare foot up against the bottom of the shoe to make sure it would fit. It seemed like it would so she untied the laces and pulled the feet out of the shoes. They didn’t smell as bad as she thought they would. They hadn’t been Azrael that long, she assumed. As she tilted one of the shoes a folded up letter in the shape of a triangle cartwheeled out of it and hit the ground. She wiped the bottom and top of her feet off with the Azrael’s pants and squeezed her feet into the shoes and tied them up tightly. They fit just right. The letter had the name Danny written on the outside and she opened it. She sat there a bit inspecting the letter with her knees to her chest and her chin on top of her knees. Her hands held the letter near her ankles and she read it.
I don’t know why I’m writing you like this. It seems so juvenile. Anyway, I’m just going to get to the point then. I’m leaving you. I’m tired of living like we have been. I know it’s been hard since we lost our sweet Tiffany. Every day we talk about her. We try to bring her back into our lives. I just can’t do it anymore. Every time I look at you I see her face. Everything you do reminds me of her and I just can’t do it anymore. I need to move on. We need to move on. I know you won’t understand because you say every day that we shouldn’t forget our little girl. I want to stop hurting. I want to try again, not to replace her but to start over.
I can’t do that with you Danny. I’m sorry, I don’t love you anymore. I’ll let you keep the place. Just don’t expect me here when you get home. I’ve moved on, there’s someone else.
Cindy
“Damn that’s harsh.” Jane added and folded up the letter. She wondered what Cindy looked like. The top half was missing. She entertained the thought of trying to locate the matching upper half just to put a face to the letter. However, she didn’t have the time. She stood up and stretched her legs by bending over and touching her toes. She leaned to the left and then to the right. She stood up and jogged in place getting the feel of the new shoes. Something about new running shoes made her want to go for a jog. She opened the letter up and laid it on the lower half of Cindy’s body. She wasn’t sure why she did it but it felt like the right thing to do at the time. She trotted over to the hole, climbed up and quietly met up with Giselle on the steps. She was glaring at her.
“What took you so long?”
“Took a while to find my size.” She didn’t bother telling her about the letter. It didn’t seem important enough to mention. It was a secret that Jane and Cindy shared, a secret that Cindy had taken to her grave. Maybe that’s where it belonged, she thought.
Giselle returned her focus on the mass gathered on the stairs. Whatever was inside was alive and keeping the massive group outside the doors. The entire stairwell was full of Azrael. There was no way around them to go up. She was at a crossroad that she couldn’t pass. What she needed was a distraction. She looked in her bag and found a four pack of ant foggers that she forgot to empty out from the last time she used it. She removed the box from her bag and handed it to Jane. She looked at her with confusion.
“What the fuck are these for?” She mouthed to Giselle.
Giselle put up her left index finger and mouthed “Just wait. She pointed downstairs and started to descend towards the entrance of the hole. She took the foggers from Jane and started opening the package. She removed all of them and discarded the box. She handed two to Jane.
“Okay, we set these off in order. Wait behind that burnt up van or whatever it is. I’ll place the first one near the mouth of the hole. Then after about a minute I’ll toss the next one up the alley.” She whispered and gestured towards each station as she spoke about them.
“What about these last two?” Jane asked holding each in her hand.
“What about them? We’ve got extra. Bonus, maybe you can use them in your apartment or something. Stop thinking about yourself Jane and focus.” Giselle tried to look genuinely irritated.
“What?” Jane was lost.
“I’m fucking with you. Hold on to them just in case we need them later.”
“Got it.”
“I’m going to place the first. Stay out of sight and quiet.”
Jane gestured zipping her lips again. Giselle gave her the thumbs up with her left hand as she held the other two in her right. She ran over to the mouth of the hole. As she activated the first one she noticed something in the corner. She focused and noted that it was an improvised grenade, one like the ones her brother used to make. He’s here. Is he in that room behind the doors? She continued to wonder about the grenade. Each question followed another one. The fogger started to spray up and startled her. She dropped it and it fell with a loud clanking noise and the fog intensified. She had to move. She slid down the hole and ran into the alley. She managed to get behind the van carcass next to Jane.
“Were you planning on spraying yourself in that stuff too?” Jane inquired smelling and tasting the sourness of the fogger in the air.
“My brother’s here somewhere. I found one of his grenades.” Giselle responded revealing a flicker of normal for once.
“Grenades, where did you guys grow up?” Jane asked trying to figure Giselle out.
“I don’t know if he’s behind that door or not. It’s a high probability but I don’t know for sure.” Giselle seemed flustered.
“What are we doing here? Who are you looking for?” Jane inquired curious as to why they were risking their lives.
The fogger started to fade out and the Azrael that were near it started to lose interest. Jane actuated the second and tossed it towards the middle of the alley among several dead Azrael corpses. The Azrael heard the noise and gathered to see what it was.
“You got to get your shit together Giselle. We’re gonna lose our window here.” Jane insisted.
“Right, sorry I blanked for a minute. Let’s go.” Giselle stammered.
She charged into the hole, snagged the used up noisemaker and tossed it in her bag. They ascended the stairs. She stopped at the battle damaged door and tried to see if she could see anything or if she could get through it. It was impossible to get past. A massive Azrael was wedged in the only hole made. She heard the fogger fizzle out outside and knew that they were coming back.
“Hurry Jane run!” Giselle whispered and they climbed the stairs as fast as they could. Giselle led the way and knew where she was headed. “Ten more stories to go.” She ordered as she passed floor 1.
They hurried upstairs passed floor two and after they got to floor five Giselle figured it was safe to slow down. She paused and listened for movements downstairs. A steady trickle of Azrael found their way back at the door again and continued to beat on it relentlessly as they did earlier.
“We’re good. We should move upstairs quietly now. They’re right below. They can’t smell us but they could still hear us if we’re too careless.”
“Got it. The shoes are working well.”
“Did it feel weird looking into the eyes of the dead Azrael whose shoes you took?”
“There weren’t any, just legs.”
“I’m not sure if that’s better or not?”
“It was your idea Giselle.”
“So if I told someone to jump off of a bridge and they jumped off would that make me a murderer?”
“No.”
“Exactly.”
“What’s your point?”
“I don’t know. I just find it funny that you ran down there and stole some dead girl’s shoes.”
“Whatever.” Jane turned away trying to ignore Giselle.
“It’s a good thing for you Jane. You’re changing, adapting to the world.”
“If we don’t change and adapt then we’ll surely die.” Jane remarked while staring off towards a dark corner of the wall as if she were recalling a phrase from a book she read years ago.
“Is that some science quote from some dead scientist?”
“Does it matter?” She snapped with annoyance on her face.
“Exactly. I think I’ve changed you for the better.”
“How much further?” Jane asked while trying to change the subject.
“Six more floors. It’s on the eleventh floor.”
“Let’s stop wasting time then. I’ve got a bad feeling about this place.”
“Me too. Okay, follow.” Giselle agreed and the two climbed the stairs quietly until they finally reached the eleventh floor.
Giselle listened for heartbeats, breathing or anything living. She heard nothing. Smell would serve no purpose here with all of the dead corpses of infected and the uninfected scattered about. Wait, that smell! Giselle smelled a faint hint of fish. She entered the floor afraid to find Steven’s body lying among the dead or worse, but she knew he was
a survivor. He was a bright kid that knew how to hide. That was her only hope that he was hiding and waiting for help to arrive.
Jane walked up to the door and entered the foster care floor. She saw all of the children’s books on the ground under a massive bookcase. She saw a few small dead corpses. She couldn’t tell if they were human or Azrael when they died. It didn’t matter, it was still horrible. She wondered what connection Giselle had to this place. Did she work there? Did she know the staff or was one of the children hers. She watched Giselle walk towards a large sleeping area sniffing the air like the Azrael do. It bothered her a bit.
Giselle followed the scent into a closet in the back of the giant bedroom that several children shared. The door was open and as she looked inside she found crushed fish oil pills on the ground. He was alive, but where did he go? A glimmer of hope struck her like a cup of coffee in the morning after a sleepless night. She exited the massive bedroom, walked passed Jane, exited the floor and returned to the stairwell. A breeze struck her from a location upstairs.
“Jane come on. I think he’s upstairs.” She insisted focusing on the breeze’s location.
“Coming.” She responded now knowing that whoever she was tracking was a ‘he’. Maybe it was her brother.
Jane followed behind quietly, hung her head over the banister and looked down below. The Azrael were still attacking the door further down the stairs. She wondered how they would get passed them a second time. Had Giselle thought about that or had she run in there blindly?
Giselle followed the draft moving at a brisk walk. She listened to what was beyond and heard whistling from the wind blowing through a window up ahead. She heard heartbeats, three slow heartbeats and one slightly faster. She smelled the air and could only smell the Azrael or the dead. She stepped over a shower curtain and followed the breeze into room 1216. The heartbeats were nearby. As she entered she caught a whiff of a dead Azrael in the air. To her right was a hallway that led to a room on the right. The smell of the dead Azrael intensified. As she entered she saw it lying in the doorway of a small room. Its head had been blown open and its brains were spilling on the ground beneath it. The heartbeats were coming from beyond the corpse along with a faint aroma of fish. She walked in, stepped over the corpse, stepped on a bullet casing and lost her balance. Her hands hit the wall with a thud. A small dog barked from behind the wall. The aroma of fish oil intensified as the pheromones of fear amplified the smell. She smiled. Their heartbeats quickened slightly reacting to the unknown visitor heard beyond their sight and the dogs unexpected barking. She heard a teenage girl’s voice try to quiet the small animal.