Dead Lez Walking

by G. Benson

  Wasn’t it Scott that Natalie had had some gossip to trade for this morning? That seemed years ago now. Decades. Curiosity bit in his stomach, but he could ask later. If he ever got the chance.

  “How were you safe for this long? We’ve seen no one else alive.” Natalie was watching Scott closely, like she didn’t quite trust him.

  Scott, standing a few steps below them so they were all at eye level, shifted uncomfortably. “I was hiding in a cupboard near the elevator.” His gaze dropped down, lips pursing in embarrassment.

  Raj leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “We were holed up in a linen cupboard in Ortho for a while. Then hid here.”

  Natalie shrugged, then flinched at the movement, frustration at herself flashing across her face. “The others were hiding in a supply closet in A&E.”

  “Ayton was in a staff room at the start of this,” Raj said. “She had no idea any of this was even happening.”

  A slow smile crept its way onto Scott’s lips. “Good to know.” The smile faded. “I was with a group at the start.”

  “Why are you alone now?”

  Interest piqued, Natalie sat up.

  Scott stared down the stairs. “We managed to force a door open at the other side of A&E. There were police everywhere. Not normal cops though, these guys were covered in heavy vests and protective gear. They yelled at us to go back. We had some of those—those people behind us. There were maybe fifteen of us. Most people rushed forward.”

  Raj didn’t know if he wanted to hear the rest. “Then what?”

  Scott turned his green eyes on him. “They mowed them down. I was at the back of the group and a few of us managed to fall back. The…the things behind us—they got a hold of the ones that weren’t shot.” Scott looked away again. “I ran. I hid.”

  Natalie seemed to shrink into herself. “Jesus.”

  The silence that fell in the stairwell was heavy, until Scott cleared his throat. “I left the room because I saw something.” His eyes were shining under the dim fluorescent light. “We need to get out of here.”

  “You don’t say, Scott. We should leave? Wow.”

  Raj narrowed his eyes at Natalie’s sarcasm, chiming in in a kinder way. “There’s no way. You saw what happens when we try to leave.”

  “But we need to get out of here.” He took a step down. “Maybe I should just show you. I barely believed it when I saw it.”

  Scott started to walk down the stairs. When no one moved to follow him, he looked over his shoulder. “You coming?”

  Raj and Natalie eyed each other.

  “They should be back by now, shouldn’t they?” Natalie asked Raj.

  “Maybe? Unless they ran into some trouble.”

  “I really hope they didn’t.”

  They both stood and filed down the stairs after Scott, who steered well clear of the door that led through to the A&E corridor. He gestured to a door opposite them that none of them had really noticed.

  “You hid in there?” Raj was staring at it, horrified.

  The door had no handle, only a keyhole, and clearly led to a room that was tiny. There’d been no way to enter it, so none of them had paid it any attention.

  A shudder ran through Raj and Natalie poked him. “Are you claustrophobic?”

  He nodded.

  “I didn’t hide in this one, but one the same. Weren’t you all in here before? I would have heard you and come out if I’d been hiding here.”

  When he said it like that, it was obvious.

  Scott pulled keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it. The tiny space was dimly lit by the tiny window high up on the wall. With a flick of a switch, a bare hanging bulb lit up the room. Barely. Scott bounced back on his heels.

  “I said it was a utility closet.” He gestured to a crate. “Stand on there and look out the window.”

  Raj and Natalie looked at each other, neither one of them stepping forward.

  “Didn’t Taren say they all stuck their heads out a window and got shot at?” Natalie murmured, squinting up at the window in the dim light. Her freckles were stark on her cheeks, and Raj had never seen anyone so beautiful.

  “Yeah, she did,” he said.

  “It’s pretty small,” Scott said softly. “I don’t think they’d be watching it since no one could get out of it. No one was looking at the other one I looked out of.”

  “Oh, damn it.” The mutter from Natalie was so quiet, but Raj heard it anyway. Natalie stepped into the room. Clambering over brooms, mops, buckets, and who knows what else, unsteady with one arm strapped, she reached the crate.

  She stood for a second. Then more. Raj got antsy, stepping from foot to foot, trying to hold in his curiosity.

  He didn’t last. “What do you see?”

  She stepped down, too quickly with only one arm for balance, throwing her good arm out against the wall to stop herself falling. How was she even paler?

  “I think,” she said, eyes flicking to Scott, “You should see for yourself.”

  They traded places, Raj waiting for her to come out before he clambered up himself.

  What he saw made his stomach turn cold.

  “Scott.”

  “Yeah. I know, I think they want to contain it,” Scott said. His arms were crossed over his chest, as if he could protect himself from the news he’d given them himself.

  “They can’t—they can’t—” Natalie stopped herself, because it was becoming increasingly clear to all of them that they could do what they bloody well wanted.

  “Scott, there has to be a way out,” Natalie said instead.

  He looked grim. “There’s one. It’ll take a bit to get to.”

  “We have to get the others first,” Raj said.

  Maybe it was stupid. Maybe they should get out of here and save themselves.

  “Maybe we should—” Natalie stopped herself, cheeks flooding red. A hint of shame? The same thought Raj had just had? “No. You’re right.”

  “They’re near the canteen, you said?” Scott asked.

  “You have some secret tunnel way to get us there?” Raj shot at him.

  “I wish. The only way I know is through Ortho or Vasc, or via elevator, but I’m not touching those.”

  Natalie seemed genuinely down. “Well.” She bit her lip as she paused, then blew out a breath. “Let’s go get them and get out of here.”

  “And fast,” Scott added.

  Completely unnecessarily, but sometimes some drama was needed.

  Ro

  Seven p.m.—they should be cooking and video calling their sister

  This really wasn’t how Ro’s week was supposed to be going. They were finally out of foster care and living on their own. While their last family had been really nice, they’d only been with them a couple of years before managing to get a job and move out on their own. And that was fine. Carol, the mum, still checked in on them regularly. Used their pronouns correctly. Once or twice she’d even dropped round Ro’s tiny flat with some food.

  But Ro had been working for years. Had saved up some cash. Had, thanks to their government’s support, done an apprenticeship at sixteen and now had a steady job with a guy who didn’t act like a jerk most of the time.

  Ro was so close to getting their little sister to live with them. They’d be eighteen soon, and had a job and a little flat. Would be able to take care of her and get her out of foster care. Their little sister would be doing their homework, right now. She always did it, every night.

  She was responsible. Had to be. Like Ro.

  She’d be feeling bad about the dog bite. She’d be wondering why Ro wasn’t online to chat on the phone, like they always did, every day. But she’d be fine.

  Ro would be, too.

  It had been hairy, those hours stuck up here alone. The sound of the gunshots. The sight they’d seen out the window. The bright blue and blonde hair of one of the bitten people who had insisted on going downsta
irs with the others.

  One that Ro had seen run when some of those zombies or whatever attacked the first few in front.

  Why had only Ro run straight back up to where they knew it was safe? Were the others so desperate for a way out?

  Maybe because Ro was used to biding their time. To waiting out systems. They’d done it for years. You lost your parents when you were ten and your sister was four and you learnt patience. You got put in separate foster houses after a few years because teens were harder to place, and you learnt even more patience. You dealt with only seeing your sibling every few months, but you continued to be patient because those few months would pass and the time would come.

  You waited things out, and it worked. That was what Ro did. Their hand, at their side, flapped.

  And now look. They had a surgeon and two nurses looking out for them. You couldn’t get much better than that in the middle of all this. Except maybe some kind of military person. Strong and muscly, with a big gun and lots of knives. To be honest, that’d be great right about now. But that wasn’t going to happen. So that was fine.

  Besides, after this morning and what they’d seen, Ro wasn’t sure they’d trust military types, anyway.

  Waiting had worked out. Again.

  “Through these doors are some of the zombie things?” Ro asked.

  They hated that their voice trembled. Their entire group stood in front of some double doors. They’d only glimpsed one of those undead things down the stairs. That had been enough.

  “Yeah,” Taren breathed out.

  That breath trembled too, so Ro didn’t feel as bad.

  “And through these doors is the V-vascular Ward?” Their stutter barely bothered them anymore. But of course it showed up in an apocalypse. No better time to feel nervous. Joy had stuttered before, as they’d talked through their plan, and Ro had felt a kinship hearing they weren’t the only one who did that.

  “You got it,” Xin said.

  Ro really liked Xin. She was sweet. And kind. They liked the other two, too, but they spent most of their time staring at the other one when the other wasn’t looking. It would have been funny if not for all the death around them.

  “Why’s there a wheelie bag thing filled with sheets knocked over in front of the door?”

  “We had to…force it open.” Joy sounded strangely proud. Good on her. Joy stepped up to the door, pushing towels and sheets aside with her foot and looking out the window on the doors. “I don’t see any.”

  The sound of another shaky breath being let out. This time from Xin. “Well, let’s do this.”

  “But—wait.” They all stopped and looked at Ro. “Why are we doing this? I just…” They’d sat on it. Listened to them make their plan on how to get out of here. Step by step. Who went first. How they’d quickly and silently move through the corridors. With each part of the plan unfolding, apprehension had spread in Ro’s gut. “It’s safe here. In the canteen. I haven’t seen any infected people. I’ve been safe, there’s food and water and toilets. Why don’t we stay?”

  Xin and Taren were holding the bag of drinks between them, since it weighed so much, plus bags precariously balanced on their shoulders of some of the lighter food. Joy had four bags of food over her shoulders, two hooked on each. Ro had insisted on carrying two in their good hand.

  None of them really knew how long they’d be stuck in that stairwell. As Joy had pointed out, it could be days until they were let out, once those outside knew they weren’t infected.

  Xin and Taren looked at each other, then at Joy.

  “Well, they have a point,” Xin said.

  “But the others,” Taren said.

  Joy rubbed the back of her neck, avoiding Taren’s eye as she stared down. “They really do have a point, though.”

  “Raj and Natalie will be waiting for us,” Xin said, adding the argument for leaving even after pointing out Ro had a point.

  “Wouldn’t they come here when you didn’t show?” Ro asked. “We could wait for them.”

  The silence seemed to eat at them as everyone considered what Ro was saying.

  “Maybe they wouldn’t,” Taren finally said. “Maybe they’d assume we didn’t come back because it was unsafe and something had happened to us. Then they’d be stuck waiting in that stairwell without food and water. And they have Ayton’s insulin.”

  “One of us could go and get them?” Joy supplied. “We got through okay, there weren’t many of the z-zombies to worry about in Vascular Ward.” She paused. “We think.”

  “Shit, we are not splitting up. Again.” Xin gritted her teeth, the tendon in her jaw standing out. “Splitting up is why we now have this conundrum. What if the one who goes doesn’t come back?”

  Ro scratched at the bandage on their arm. It was stinging, now. The pain medication must be wearing off. They glanced back at the entrance to the canteen they’d left behind. Going forward was so unknown. This was so safe.

  “What if we go, take this stuff with us in case, but get them and come back here? We all go?” Taren suggested.

  Ro’s stomach twisted. What if something happened to them on the way? Ro could wait here.

  “I’m okay with that,” Joy said.

  “Me too,” Xin added.

  They looked at Ro.

  Here was safe. “There was only one in the ward?”

  “Only the one,” Taren confirmed.

  “One more than here,” Ro said.

  “That’s very true.” Xin cocked her head at them. “Do you want to wait here? That would make complete sense. You’re so safe here, and you don’t know our friends.”

  Glancing back again at the canteen, Ro bit their lip, hand tapping harder at their side. There felt safe. But as the hours had passed, loneliness had sat heavy in their gut. The sounds of gunshots below, the only people they’d known to still be alive now gone. The humming of the fridge, so loud in the silence. The occasional roar of a helicopter outside.

  Alone, the entire time, hiding in that bathroom with fear clawing up their throat.

  That had been worse. There was only one zombie in the ward they would go towards, and these three had made it through okay.

  “No.” They adjusted the bags in their hand. “I’ll come with you.”

  The other three gave them a nod.

  “Let’s go then.” Taren turned back to the door.

  Joy opened the door agonisingly slowly as she tried not to make a noise. Ro held their breath, flinching at the very quiet creak it made—Joy didn’t stop though. She kept pulling it back steadily, slowly.

  Maybe she’d learned patience in an operating room.

  Finally, it was pushed far enough away that they could all walk through. As soon as they were through, Joy followed them, closing it as slowly as she’d opened it.

  They stood in a corridor that went both left and right. The others all turned left, Joy taking the lead again, so Ro followed behind Taren and Xin until they reached another set of double doors, Vascular Ward written in huge block letters.

  Xin and Taren had knives in their hands. Ro loosely held one they’d taken from the kitchen, no idea what to do with it, really. It felt odd in their grip, at their side like this.

  Joy hadn’t taken one, and Taren had reassured Ro she could handle herself.

  Joy paused in front of them, sucking in a breath so deep her shoulders moved with it.

  She didn’t turn her head as she murmured, “Ready?”

  “Let’s do it,” Taren whispered.

  “Raj will not be dead in there,” Joy said softly.

  “No,” Xin breathed out. “He will not.”

  “Nor will Natalie,” Taren added.

  Ro’s breath caught. They all had more people in there. People they literally thought could be goners.

  What a crappy day.

  Turning her head, Joy caught Ro’s eyes. “Ro—we forgot to warn you. Inside is…not nice. There’s a lot of blood. And bodi
es everywhere.”

  There’d been a spray of blood, glimpsed as they’d gone downstairs with the others. There had been bodies on the ground outside the window in the canteen. Bodies that had belonged to people Ro had talked to, laid out on hard concrete. People who Ro had tried to convince to stay. They’d seen bodies. They straightened their shoulders. “It’s okay, I can deal.”

  Lips pressed tight, Joy gave their shoulder a squeeze. She looked through the windows and, presumably seeing nothing, pushed one inward, stepping through to hold the door open again so the others could follow her in.

  Taren and Xin crept through. Ro followed.

  The floor was…disgusting. Ro’s stomach twisted. There were people here, dead. Blank gazes staring past them, staring up, staring at absolutely nothing because they couldn’t see. There was a lot of blood. There was…was that a leg?

  This was nothing like the bodies outside. That had been far away. A distant thing, with pools of darkness spread out around them. Not vibrant red splashed over the walls, the floor—on the ceiling?

  A piercing beeping echoed out, and from the door immediately to their right, the very low murmur of a TV left on. Ro glanced through the door, jaw clenching. A hand was hanging off the edge of the bed, a remote balanced perfectly in the open, unmoving grip.

  They did not follow the line of the arm up to see who was attached to it. Instead, they looked elsewhere.

  Chairs lined the wall outside the room, and a backpack sat spilled open next to one of them. An apple, perfectly untouched, lay on the floor.

  They squeezed their eyes shut, breathing fast.

  Joy must have finally turned to look back because Ro heard a soft, “Shit.”

  That was a lot of dead people. Everywhere. They needed to go back. Back to that bathroom. Away from this. This was a horror show. They stepped back.

  Then someone was in front of them, hands on their shoulders, and Ro opened their eyes. Joy was staring down at them.

  “You’re tall,” Ro said, for some stupid reason.