The girl continued to run, sprinting faster and further along the road until she stopped.
“What the hell?”
The girl quickly spun around, and the full details of her face emerged.
Her brows were the same color as her hair, which made her a natural red. She was young, no older than 18 years old, if even that. She had a long nose and a cleft chin. But most of all, her eyes were blue. Not red.
Atton and Eli kept themselves as they were, stunned at what they saw, uncertain of how exactly to react. The girl stared back all the same, scared and confused. Not hungry. Not angry. Not like the zombies.
“Say something,” Atton called.
She didn’t speak.
“Hello? Can you hear me? Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The young girl acknowledged, but only shook her head. She brought her hands slowly up in front of her, and used them to create symbols in the air.
Eli furrowed his brows.
“What the hell?”
“She’s deaf. She can’t hear us.”
“She heard that gunshot well enough.”
“Felt it, more like.”
“Well, you speak sign language?”
“Do you?”
Eli didn’t say. Atton turned around and raised his shotgun in a white flag position.
“We’re not going to hurt you.”
He gestured for her to approach by taking the first step himself.
“We’re not infected. You have nothing to be afraid of. Everything’s going to be alright.”
To Eli, he whispered, “Lower your gun.”
Eli hesitated for a moment, then he slung his weapon over his back. The girl stepped forward. Then, she walked. And then she jogged.
“We must be on some kinda’ roll finding girls today,” Eli muttered, amazed that after four months of nothing but walking corpses, all of a sudden there were two attractive white girls in the same city. He wondered if the two might have known each other somehow. To have been so close to one another on the same day, maybe they were together at one point before they were separated.
11:55 AM
They brought her back inside the pharmacy. As Atton tried to find ways to communicate with her, Eli glanced from behind several shelves, looking up occasionally whilst loading medicine and bandages into a shopping basket he retrieved from the grocery shop next door.
“Can you tell me your name?” Atton said, slowly enunciating his words, though foregoing having to speak in a conversational tongue. The girl leaned closer to his face, but didn’t seem to discern a coherent message.
“What is your name?” he repeated, slower this time.
The girl gave an understanding nod, but she didn’t respond. She pointed several times at her throat, then shook her head.
“She’s mute too,” Atton told Eli.
“You think she might know ‘bout that other girl we picked up this morning?”
“I don’t know. But it’s a good question.”
“Ask her if she does. Or better yet, ask her if she knows ‘bout anyone else who made it out. Maybe ask her where she’s been stayin’ all this time. And how.”
“Would you settle down? I haven’t even gotten her name yet.”
The girl began kicking her feet in the air. She was significantly calmer now. Still more than a little tense, but compared to when they first met, she was doing much better.
Eli offered a notebook and a pen from the stationary shelf.
“Less she ain’t been to a public school, chances are she can probably write.” Eli staggered. “Well, then again…”
Atton snatched the notebook and the ballpoint pen. He jotted a few words on the first page.
What is your name?
She took the pen and wrote.
Ellen.
“Ellen. Well ain’t that a pretty name.”
Atton wrote, Is anyone else with you?
She responded, No.
Are you alone?
Yes.
Where were you living?
My father’s store, she wrote, and then her eyes wandered around the pharmacy walls.
“This her place?” Eli asked.
“Must have been since the infection broke out. There’s a grocery shop right next door. Plenty of food for one person.”
“Well I’ll be. You’re a smart one ain’t ya?”
She didn’t respond. Instead she mimicked Eli’s lighthearted smile.
“She’s cute,” said Eli. “Ask her how old she is.”
How old are you?
15. She scratched it out. 16.
Is there anything you need?
She read the note, then shook No.
Well, we need medicine, Atton continued. We found someone that needs our help. If you can find us some antiseptic and prescription pain killers, it would helps us out a lot.
Ellen rose from her spot, pulled her hair behind her ears, and made her way over past the counter. She retrieved a few morphine bottles, along with some Percocet. On her way back she retrieved a canister filled with rubbing alcohol. She offered them all along with some cotton balls to Eli, who placed them inside the grocer’s shopping basket.
Thank you, Atton wrote.
She smiled.
You are welcome.
You should come with us. There are others back from where he came from. You’ll be safe there with them.
But Ellen fervently refused.
I am safe here. This is my home. I cannot leave.
Why not?
She wrote again, This is my home. I cannot leave.
“Guess she don’t want to come with,” said Eli.
It is not safe out here on your own.
“She’s been livin’ here well enough on her own.”
“Eli shut the fuck up.”
Eli threw his hands in the air.
“Alright. Fine man. I’s just sayin.’ No need to get mad or nothin.”
Please. Come with us.
She shook again. No.
Atton sighed.
Ellen, there aren’t many of us left. If there’s one thing this experience has taught me, it’s that we all have to stick together. We all have to be there to help each other out. Ever since this infection, I’ve been doing what I can to find and protect survivors. That’s my only mission right now. I swear to you, I will protect you no matter what happens. But you gotta help me too. Please. Come with us.
She hesitated, her eyes glaring in the distance, stalling the rest of her mind from making a final decision. Atton kept his gaze, waiting, hoping.
Finally, she took the pen and wrote.
Okay.
12:12 PM
“Now would you look at that? 12:12 AM. Or, I suppose technically it’s 12:14 AM. Stupid locket.
“But whatever. That was the time two minutes ago, so ain’t like it matters all that much.
“Atton’s still back inside helpin’ the girl pack her things. Don’t know how long I’ll have to wait for ‘em again. Better get done soon though. The longer we stall, the likelier it is we’ll run into a zombie. And all it takes is for one to start screamin’ like a bitch to bring in the whole fuckin’ horde. When that happens, if (dear lord let it be if), they’ll start runnin’ at us on all sides.
“They’re like animals, those fuckin’ zombies. They always hunt in groups. It pisses me off.
“I guess it makes sense though. When your brain turns retarded, you probably need numbers to survive. It’s what separates man from the animals. They need groups to hunt. All I need’s a gun.”
Eli toggled the safety on his MP5 as Atton and the girl came into view.
“Ya’ll set?”
Atton as usual took to the driver’s seat. Ellen sat in between them, placing an orange, wool purse beside her feet. As she settled herself, Eli couldn’t help but notice her long, slender legs, and the open toes on her sandals. As he gazed at her long, perfect stems, he realized just how long it’d been since he’d last had sex.
E
li felt warm again for the second time since this morning. He tried to shake it away by diverting his attention.
“Hey Atton, maybe I should take the wheel for now.”
Atton didn’t ponder it for a second.
“No.”
“Why not? You’ve been the only one drivin’ this thing since we got it.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you brother. Just that I don’t trust you.”
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you don’t get to drive.”
Eli scoffed.
“Asshole.”
Ellen observed the exchange with passive curiosity, occasionally turning her head when either of them spoke to the other. Eli propped his arm on the arm rest. His fingers lined up just inches away from where Ellen’s shoulder began. He could feel the aura of her warmth as it soothed his skin.
“Don’t feel so bad about it,” Atton spoke. “It isn’t like me to trust anyone driving but me.”
Ellen gazed at Atton, then at Eli, who synched his face and lips into a cartoony mockery of what Attton was saying.
Ellen snorted the cutest, tiniest laugh.
Eli did his best to suppress himself from an incoming sneeze. But despite his best efforts, he failed.
12:21 PM
They backtracked along the street until the Costco sign was within peripheral distance, obscured by a surrounding of trees and office buildings. The store was located at the edge of the city, nearly four more minutes of driving away from where they were now.
Atton made a right turn into Dominic when Eli immediately took note of something oddly out of place. Cars in the middle of the road. By the busloads from the looks of things. Eli had never seen it before. Not here, where the streets were always empty. Car doors were opened, and there was blood smeared along the sides and hinges.
Eli leaned forward in his seat.
“The fuck?”
Atton’s jaw slacked wide and open.
“Those cars weren’t here before,” Eli mused out loud.
“Path is blocked,” Atton added. And with that, it all came rushing straight into his mind.
“We have to get out of here.”
Zombies emerged from the buildings beside, running just as soon as they came into view.
“Atton get us the fuck outta here.”
Atton didn’t have time to think. He shifted the gear on reverse, swerved to make an automatic U-turn. But there wasn’t enough space to move. And in addition he was spinning far too fast to maintain a modicum of control. By the time his front was facing the opposite side of the street, he crashed his right wheel into a parked sedan. The shock of the impact forced the three to bump against each other.
Eli screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Drive motherfucker!”
Before Atton could react, Eli fired automatic rounds through the windows, holding back any zombies that might have made it close. Problem was that there were at least tens of them, and not enough bullets in a single magazine to take them all.
“Fuckin’ die you piece of shit!”
The zombies climbed on all sides, their added weight pulling down against the truck. Atton held onto the steering wheel when the bloodied arms of the undead came crashing in from his side window and the windshield. He started to drive, but his view was impeded by the face of a hungry 40-something year old man.
Eli fired his MP5 at every which direction, turning the windows into solid white ripples of crack marks.
“Eli, stop!”
Eli didn’t. He continued to fire in a blind fervor of rage until he finally realized what he’d done.
Integrity was falling apart. The barriers that separated them from the zombies were breaking down. Inch by inch by inch by inch. It couldn’t be stopped. Not anymore. The zombies gathered around Atton’s side of the truck. He promptly turned to Eli.
“Get out of the car!”
“We can’t you dumb shit! It’s our only way out! Take the fucking wheel and move it!”
But Eli could see for himself that it was too late. The zombies were already too close. Unless Atton was willing to sacrifice himself by holding out for a few scratches and bites, there was no way of taking back the steering wheel.
“Move!” Atton barked, his eyes viciously cold with a fury that Eli had never seen before.
Eli abandoned the truck. Ellen followed, quivering in all parts of her body. Lastly Atton fired a round from his shotgun, and ran straight for the open door. Eli offered his hand and pulled him down.
“What the hell do we do now?”
Atton didn’t stop to catch his breath.
“Find,” he wheezed. “Find cover.”
“Well then get your ass up and follow me. I ain’t waitin’ for stragglers.”
Even as he said it, Eli didn’t know for sure if that was true. Fortunately for the both of them, Atton didn’t wait to find out.
“C’mon.”
Eli ran and fired into approaching zombies. But the speed of his motion made accuracy next to impossible. Short of stopping and taking aim, all he could do was fire in a general area and hope that the bullets hit.
Just as they were about to pass the truck, Eli shot his last remaining rounds on the lock of their trunk.
“What are you doing?”
“Gettin’ ammo,” came Eli. “Without it we’re fucked.”
“We’re fucked if we hang around much longer.”
“Then get your ass over here and help!”
They each took the bags they’d packed with ammunition earlier in the day. Atton shouldered his bag while Eli retrieved a fresh magazine from one of its many side pockets.
Atton motioned for Eli to hurry up.
“We gotta move now!”
Eli strapped his bag, adjusted himself for the extra weight before he ran.
“Stay on my six!”
Atton did, and positioned himself behind the two. Three zombies closed in. Atton was able to stop two on their tracks, but by the third click of his trigger, he was out.
“Where do we go?” Eli asked, struggling in his condition to keep his voice above the gunfire.
“Find a place!” shot Atton.
Eli scanned the immediate neighborhood for any viable position to hide in. The first he saw was a nearby club surrounded by concrete walls. The sign above it read Llegada in a bold red font. There were no windows inside. No immediate weaknesses. And most of all, the only way inside was through the closed, reinforced door up ahead.
Eli fired at the door until he managed to disable the lock, and the entrance opened itself. He pushed the door inward, propped it open for the rest to enter. Ellen ran inside first, followed only shortly after with Atton.
He closed the door, but by this point there was no keeping it locked. He pushed his weight against the door when a shockwave threw him back. Eli fought to keep his place, anchoring his feet on the floor as he forced as much of himself as he could against the door.
“Grab some furniture.”
The club was rife with tables, chairs, and loveseats. Atton hurried to pile them one on top of the other, blocking the door until the weight was able to withstand the pounding pressure beating from the other side. The ravaging went on until in time it faded, and then, before they could anticipate it, it stopped altogether.
“We’re alive,” Eli gasped. His shock turned into a cackle, and then into full-on laughter. “We’re alive.”
But neither Atton nor Ellen seemed to share in his celebration. Ellen even took a few steps away from him, a look of utter sadness and disgust painted on her face.
“What?”
Atton sighed.
“What?” Eli pushed on, his cheery demeanor fast waning to vile impatience. “What is it?!”
Atton swallowed.
“Look at your arm brother.”
Eli looked down. A bite mark two centimeters above his elbow. Eli racked with confusion, and utter horror.
12:37 PM
Eli couldn’t tell when exactly everything around him started to change. But according to the time on his locket, it was precisely 12:37 PM when his once inmate and friend had a shotgun pointed to his face.
Eli trembled, knees shaking.
“What the fuck are you doin’ Atton?”
“I’m sorry brother. But it’s only a matter of time now. You know that as well as I do.”
“Stop pointin’ that thing at me you stupid asshole. I ain’t turnin.’ Look at me. C’mon man look at my fuckin’ eyes!”
Atton did. But the expression on his face did little to improve.
“I’m still fuckin’ me! Can’t you see it?”
Eli sneezed again. His nose started running like a waterfall. Only now instead of phlegm and mucus, it was blood.
Eli gasped.
“The fuck? What the fuck is this?”
“You’re changin’ man. It’s only a matter of time ‘til the infection kills you.”
“So what? You gonna kill me first?”
Atton said nothing, easing the grip on his gun.
“We can work this out.”
“There ain’t nothin’ to work out. I’m feelin’ perfectly fine.”
But they both knew it was a lie.
“You want to stay with us, you have to do what I tell you. Understand?”
“Do what?”
“Bathroom’s over there. We’re gonna lock you in while we figure out what to do. You don’t get out until I tell you.”
“That’s bullshit! I ain’t goin’ in there.”
“It’s either that, or you go outside.”
Atton straightened himself, cautiously aligning the barrel of his gun with Eli’s shifting position.
Eli had no choice.
“Fine.”
Chapter Eleven
Day Five
Thursday
April 24, 2003
12:01 AM
“Funny that. One minute I’m runnin’ for my life. The next I find it’s already gone. I been goin’ it over in my head, and up to now I can’t even begin to tell how it happened. There was so much goin’ on so fast. I didn’t even notice I was bit. How fucked up is that?
Fear of the Dead Page 13