“ Slowly,” his father whispered in his ear. Kyle knew that what he meant was his mother wasn’t ready for Krissy to be exposed to what the world was now. Kyle thought letting her think there was a safe place was worse than the truth.
A Place to Rest
They had traveled about an hour, and Nikki was exhausted. Shane was becoming heavier and slower with every step. Finding a large log, she eased him down so he could rest against it. The groan escaping his throat frightened her. Was he becoming one of them? Would his groan call to them? How would she protect them if it did? Could she kill him if he turned? All these thoughts fought for dominance as she pulled her hand from around his waist. Looking at it, she was horror-struck as it dripped with blood.
“Oh God, we need to get that stopped or you’re going to bleed to death,” she whispered.
As he looked up at her, a smile weakly spread across his face. She was struck by how extremely pale he was. His face was cold to the touch, and his lips and the area around his eyes were deep gray. If she hadn’t been with him, she would have mistaken him for one of the walking undead. He tried to lift his arm but let it fall to the ground. He tried again to point to something behind her. It was more of a vague wave. She turned and looked up. A covered platform was attached to a large tree.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Tree stand,” he answered, his voice barely audible. “Safety.”
“Got it, so up we go.” She began to pull him to his feet.
“No…you…go.” His eyes were unfocused. He tried to push her away.
“ Save what you got left for the climb. I can’t carry you.” She had him on his feet. Half carrying, half dragging, she got him to the base of the tree. “OK, I’m going up; maybe there is a rope or something I can haul your sorry ass up with.” It was difficult getting up to the stand. She was not much of an outdoors person, and her legs reminded her of this fact. To her surprise, there was a moldy-looking length of rope coiled under a small tarp. She tied off the end and scrambled back down to Shane. He was already attempting to make the climb as she tied the rope around him. She hurried back up the stand, spurred on by the moaning and rustling of the woods. Her hands ached and her muscles burned when Shane was finally lying next to her on the platform. Shane rolled onto his back and groaned, “Hope this holds us.” He laughed, but it turned into cough. “Should have left me.”
“ You’re probably right,” she said, trying to distract from what she was about to do. Pulling his shirt up, she fought the urge to be sick. The blood-drenched fabric stuck to the wound. From what she could see through the thick crimson, there was a small hole in his side. It gushed out blood every time he breathed. Taking a few deep breaths and then exhaling slowly, she asked, “Do you have anything to stop the bleeding?”
Shane nodded while trying to reach into one of his pockets. She moved his hand and did it for him. The only thing she found was a long lock-blade knife. Closed, it was about five inches long. He weakly pushed it to her.
“It was my sister’s,” he mumbled.
“ Shh,” she said, putting the knife down and searching her own pockets. “I don’t need to open you up any further. I need to stop the bleeding.” Her hand found some cloth, which she pulled from the inside. It was an old padded bra she had taken from the thrift shop. “Well, at least they are clean. I hope you appreciate this,” she said as she took the knife and cut out the cups. “This is the last clean thing I own.”
Shane gave a weak smile and then groaned as she pushed the garment onto the wound. Holding pressure as she had always seen in movies, she watched Shane’s face. He was semiconscious. After a while the bleeding seemed to have stopped. Swapping to the other piece of fabric, she fashioned a bandage out of the strap that was left over and a cutting from the bottom of Shane’s jeans jacket. It was difficult getting the bandage around him, as she didn’t want him to start bleeding again. He helped as much as he could but finally fell unconscious. Nikki tied off the cloth and frowned at the dirty jacket part.
Shane slept the rest of the day. Nikki was able to nap for a bit. The discomfort from the bark of the tree she was slumped against eventually woke her. She watched the wind blow through the trees for a bit. It felt so peaceful, so different from the fear and violence of the past week—or two; she had truly lost track. She reached out to the knife Shane had given her. She looked it over. It was important—this much she knew. “This was your sister’s,” she whispered. Shane snorted in his sleep. She opened the long blade. It was attached to a black wooden hilt, with brass on the end. On the blade were two cranes beak to beak. “Kissing cranes, huh? Wonder if your boyfriend gave you this,” she mumbled, trying to visualize what Shane’s sister must have looked like.
“He did,” Shane weakly answered. “How long have I been asleep?” He tried to sit up.
“Don’t know; a couple of hours. How are you feeling?” She was next to him, helping him up.
“Like I’ve been shot, beaten, and stumbled through the woods.” He laughed and then coughed. “How are you?”
“Oh, great except for the punch in the head, absolute terror, oh, and dragging your ass through the woods.” She smiled back at him. She closed the blade and started to hand it back to him.
“No, you keep it. You need a weapon,” he said, closing his eyes.
“What about you?” she asked, still holding the knife out.
He just picked up the gun that she forgot he had and waved it in the air.
“Oh, right.” She brought her weapon back to her and looked at it again. Her boyfriend had given her a necklace once. “Interesting gift,” she said before she could stop herself.
Shane did not open his eyes. “My sis liked knives, and Darren liked my sister. About the only thing he did right.” Shane moved an arm over his face and added, “Other than…end her.” “He killed his—your sister?” she gasped. Shane nodded. Nikki acted as if she couldn’t see the tears that rolled down his face.
“When everyone started dying, I was over at a friend’s house. His mother got really sick and then died, I guess, and got back up. I knew what was happening.” Shane spoke from under his arm.
“I was out at dinner with my boyfriend,” Nikki mumbled.
Shane nodded. “I think it was a Friday. Well, Tammy never would listen to me when I called her. I told her to stay home. She went over to Phil’s house. I guess his family had turned, and she got bit.” Shane paused. Nikki didn’t push. She could feel the prickling behind her eyes. Shane took a deep breath. “He brought her back to the house. I got home…” Shane took another deep breath. Wincing, he gingerly touched his side. “I got home after she had turned and killed our dad.” He swallowed. Nikki felt the first tear fall. “Phil grabbed the knife from her room and ran it through her skull.” Shane lay silently for a moment. “I never liked that guy. We survived for a couple days before he got killed when we were trying to get food.”
“I’m so sorry,” Nikki whispered. Her tears fell for Shane’s sister, for her family, and for Tim. She cried for all the loss.
“You were out on a date?” he asked.
“ Yeah, Tim.” She brushed the tears from her face. “Not sure what happened to him. Or my parents, my brother, my friends. I guess they are all dead now.” She shrugged, her heart aching. “I ended up hiding in an attic above a store for…well, up until three days ago. Not sure how long I was there.” She played with the hem of her jacket. She could see it was frayed in the dying light. “I saw a zombie that looked a lot like Tim when I was running out of town. Didn’t stop to see if it was him.” Silence dragged on.
“Rest. We’ll try to get to my uncle’s tomorrow,” he said.
“You need to rest,” she countered. He didn’t seem to hear her.
“ We need food and water. That isn’t going to happen here,” he stated. She nodded even though Shane still had his face covered. When sleep came, it was a chaotic mess. Zombie Shane was eating Tim’s arm while a young girl who looked like Shane naile
d leathered hands to a roof.
Some Are Here and Some Are Gone
Creepy and Criey had gone, and Mary did not miss them. Chris spent most of his time hanging around Hayley. Gwen just smirked every time she saw this. Mary just found it annoying. Hayley was far too old for her brother. Then petty thoughts like that were drowned out by the moans of the dead from the floor below.
The other apartments around them had been opened up and picked clean. At first Mary and Chris were going to move into one, but their first night was so terrifying that they returned to the group. It got easier after the other two had left. Mary still wished she had a place of her own.
“How much longer do you think we can stay here?” Mary whispered to Chris as they took stock of the food. They were beginning to get down to beans and stale cereal.
“We’re going to have to do a grocery run soon, that’s for sure,” Hayley interrupted.
“No one asked you,” Mary muttered, earning her a swipe from Chris.
“ They may not have. But nonetheless, we need to find food.” Hayley smiled at a red-faced Mary. “There are apartments below us that we know have zombies.” She looked up. “There are also apartments above us that…we have no idea what is up there.”
“ I don’t know. Mary and I heard footsteps from up there,” Chris offered, earning him a glare from Mary. She had heard them, and that was part of the reason they returned to the group, but she didn’t want them to know that.
“Well, known or unknown?” Gwen had joined the conversation. “We’ll have to deal with both eventually.”
“Well, I vote for the upstairs. We know what is below us,” Hayley offered. Arms crossed, she looked up at the ceiling. “Besides, the thumping I heard seemed quite light.”
“ That makes it easier? Better? What if its…What if there are…” Mary stuttered. She had seen them at the rescue center. They were horrific—little hands covered in blood; the cold, dead eyes; little teeth that could do so much damage. “You don’t understand, there might be children…dead children,” Mary finished in a whisper. The silence in the room told her this was something they had not thought of.
The four of them were at the foot of the stairs, looking up. A motley arrangement of weapons was in their hands: Gwen held a brass lamp base, Chris had a large carving knife, and Hayley had her gun and a baseball bat. Mary held tight to a bread knife. Chris laughed at her choice at first. She explained the logic.
“ If we run into the living, the serrated edge will do a ton of damage. Remember when I cut my hand up washing the one at home?” Chris cringed at the memory. “Plus it is long. I can jab it”—she thrust it out in front of her at eye level—“into an eye socket, and down it goes.” She nodded, as if that explained it all.
“Good strategy,” Hayley affirmed, giving Mary’s shoulder a pat. Mary shrugged it off but was proud of the compliment, and it annoyed Chris.
Now, looking up into the dim stairwell, the weapon seemed laughable as did her bravado. If something came out of the dark at her, she was sure she’d just run. Together they were climbing the stairs slowly, one by one.
“Why are we doing this?” Mary hissed.
“So we don’t starve to death,” Chris grumbled back.
“So we will be more filling when the dead eat us?” she shot back.
“ Shhhh!” Gwen hushed. Mary felt as if she was back with her mother for a second. The thought tugged at her heart. They were at the top of the stairs, looking down a hall that was an exact duplicate of the one they just left. A door halfway down thudded shut. They froze in their tracks; the silence was deafening.
“They don’t close doors; they come after us,” Hayley whispered.
“Unless they get stuck behind the door. I saw one that did that,” Mary replied, quickly releasing Hayley’s sleeve. She wasn’t sure when she had grabbed it. No one seemed to notice.
Gwen ’s hand pushed down the gun Hayley was holding. She moved to the first door and pointed to her eyes and then to Hayley, and then to the door that shut. Chris was ushered to Gwen’s side while Mary was signaled to watch the stairs. Mary glanced over her shoulder to watch in wonder as Gwen jumped up a little while pushing down on the apartment’s doorknob. The door sprang open, and Chris and Gwen jumped back. Nothing happened. The pair disappeared into the room. Mary slowly retreated until she was near Hayley and she could glance into the apartment. Some knocked-over furniture and scattered clothing was all she could see.
There was a sudden pressure against her back. Mary jumped and then realized it was Hayley standing back to back with her. Mary heard a soft whisper. “I’m scared shitless. How are you holding up?”
“No problem,” Mary lied. She thought for a second and added, “No, I am fucking terrified.” She exhaled.
“ Oh, thank God, I thought it was just me.” Hayley sighed. They stood back to back, shaking slightly, until both let out a nervous laugh. Still about to burst from fear, Mary let herself relax a little. She decided to trust and maybe even like Hayley.
Long Road
When the morning came, it was apparent Shane was too weak to move. Even though she didn ’t want to leave the safety of their nest or her weak companion, Nikki descended the ladder. Her stomach told her she really had no choice. They had not eaten since the previous morning. She knew Shane needed her to find something to eat.
Twenty minutes in, Nikki knew she was way out of her element. “What the hell am I doing?” she demanded of the sky. “I should be in Civics right now, not searching the woods in the fall looking for nuts and berries.” She kicked at the leaves and pine needles. Her foot slipped; she moved to steady herself, lost her balance, and hit the ground. Anger flared for a second. She wanted to scream until she saw the mushrooms. Collecting as many as she could, Nikki returned. Along the way she had found a few berries as well. “No nuts, but I got some nonpoisonous mushrooms and berries. I hope.”
Shane was able to lift himself up on one elbow to inspect her find. “Not bad.” He smiled. “None of this will kill us.”
“ Unlike everything else in the world.” Nikki frowned. After splitting the meager items, with her secretly giving more to Shane, they ate in silence. After their meal, Nikki felt even hungrier, if anything. By midafternoon Nikki was helping Shane replace the soaked bandage.
“What is this?” he asked, placing a torn piece of his T-shirt over the hole.
“ You mean what was it?” Nikki replied with a grimace as she threw the blood-soaked former bra cup over the edge. “It was a bra. I grabbed it in this shop on my way out of town.” She looked at the smirk on his face. “What? It was clean. You’re just lucky I had it,” she grumbled, scratching absently at her side where she could envision her current garment was filthy against her skin.
“Well, thanks. I appreciate your sacrifice.” Shane laughed and immediately regretted it. He moaned and lay back down. “Damn it, I shouldn’t have let you toss that over. Might bring them here.”
“ Great time to think of that.” She frowned. She clambered down the ladder. It took her several minutes to find the soiled bandages. She took them far away, returning with more mushrooms and berries. The berries were sour, and the mushrooms were disgusting. They had no water; Shane had warned her not to drink from anything she found in the woods. On her return, she found Shane was asleep. His shallow breathing made her nervous. As the day wore on, the weather turned colder.
You’ve seen enough movies to know we need to share body heat , she told herself. Then the little voice in the back of her head spoke the fear she was trying to avoid. If he dies, you’ll be that much closer. Then the third voice she never wanted to hear spoke up. Yeah, and if I die, then at least this will all be over. She shivered with cold and fear. “Looks like it’s two against one,” she muttered. She moved next to him, trying to decide the best course. She ended up lying against his back. It was only slightly warmer.
Between the shivering and the sound of the undead in the forest, Nikki slept very little. She was gl
ad she had taken the bandage away. The morning sun found Shane pale but moving better. “God, if I look half as bad as you…” he began but was silenced by her giving him the finger. “Sorry.” He laughed, flinching as he did. “I think we need to find a new place to stay.” He was in a seated position.
“You think you can make it down the ladder, you big sissy?” she asked as he groaned.
“I won’t be running any races, but I think we can get moving, yeah.” He had already slowly made his way to the ladder.
“Should I go first, just in case?” she asked.
He scoffed. “In case what? You gonna catch me?”
“No, in case you fall, I can get a better view as you bounce,” she shot back at him.
“ Please don’t make me laugh!” He laughed anyway, holding his side. Nikki made it down and waited as he descended the ladder slowly and joined her at the bottom. Nikki was looking around and then at him, expectantly.
“So which way?”
Getting his bearings, he pointed to the north and began to limp off. She followed close behind, helping him every so often over logs. After about an hour, they reached an embankment. Shane struggled to make it up, Nikki helping as much as she could. “Remind me not to like you,” she grunted, pulling him the last couple of feet.
“Noted,” he gasped. Catching his breath, he sighed in relief at finding they were on a road. He looked to his left, then right, and then left again.
“I don’t think anyone is coming,” Nikki noted.
“Huh?”
“It is safe to cross.” She pointed to the other side.
“ No, I think we can follow this, but which way?” he muttered. After several moments he made up his mind. He turned right. Nikki followed. They made better time on the flat surface. Nikki liked the feeling of safety of walking in the middle of the road. She knew it was only slightly safer, but being out of the woods made her a little happier.
Slowly they crested a hill. What they saw did not cause them to increase their pace. Up ahead they saw a truck half off the road. Pulling their few weapons, they approached cautiously. The truck was smashed into a tree. There were a couple of gallon jugs lying on the road. Abandoning caution, Nikki rushed to them. She quickly opened one. The smell was overwhelming as she opened one. “Gas—they are all gas,” she whimpered.
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