by James Barton
“Speaking of which, you know that was the storyline in,” I began.
“Queen Z from Planet X!” Shay said, beating me to the title.
“You know, sometimes I hate you,” I said sarcastically. She just wrinkled her nose at me and stuck out her tongue.
“Sometimes I hate you both,” Harvey remarked. I was pretty sure he was joking. Pretty sure.
I pulled the truck into the alleyway that ran along the motel fence and against the adjacent building. I was about to take it around back, when Desmond came rushing outside holding a rifle at us. I quickly rolled the window down and waved at him. He lowered his weapon, clearly confused about the vehicle swap. I turned the key, killing the ignition and stepped out.
“I’ll ask later bout that, but man, we gotta talk!”
“It might have to wait. We need to see Todd,” I said as Harvey staggered out of the passenger seat.
“Is he alright?” Desmond asked.
He wasn’t alright, anyone could see that. I didn’t know what to do about it. It all seemed so easy and mathematical when it wasn’t actually happening. We had always said if someone got bit, bam, the end. When it’s your best friend, I had to hesitate. I just couldn’t imagine having to … kill him. My eyes started to water up thinking about it. I wiped them hard with my sleeve and pulled myself together.
“I need to see the doc,” Harvey said coming into view.
“Oh! He was bit,” Desmond said raising the rifle.
“Wait!” Shay cried out. “We aren’t sure if bites actually turn you. He isn’t a danger to anyone now, so until it becomes an issue we just stay cool.”
He reluctantly lowered his weapon. “Aight, come inside. Like I said, we need to talk.” Desmond pointed at the black truck and cocked his head to the side. “Isn’t that?”
“It’s a long story,” I said.
“What do you mean, gone?” Harvey shouted.
“Well, Todd was out here taking inventory of his medical supplies. He said that he saw some extra supplies in that car outside. I gave him the keys and then I had to help Pablo with one of his jobs.”
“Then what?”
“The car took off down the road. Me an’ Pablo just standing here like, what the hell just happened?”
“Did he say anything before he left?” I asked.
“No and he took a whole case of food and Harvey’s rucksack.”
“What? That brings us down to what, one case?” Shay questioned.
“I hate veterinarians,” Harvey said.
“Well he didn’t take everything though…,” Desmond said flinching.
“What did he leave…,” Shay started.
“I’m a pinball machine!” Peter shouted while bouncing out of his room and ricocheting off of the walls with a bing, bing sound effect.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. I hate kids,” Harvey complained.
Peter ran into his room and came out draped in a sheet. “Hey guys, watch me, watch me do this, watch me,” he prattled.
“I noticed Todd didn’t quite … take to Peter, but I never expected this,” Desmond said.
“Wow,” Shay said. “You know, when he first got here I told him he had cute kids. He corrected me and said kid. He said that his wife hadn’t been faithful and Peter wasn’t really his. He smiled at me and probably lied through his teeth, but he said I love them both the same.”
“What the hell do we do now?” I asked.
“Just keep fighting,” Harvey said. “At least I don’t have to put up with him much longer,” he said while rubbing the wound on his shoulder.
I patted him on the back and he glared at me. We all looked at Peter with a sense of uncertainty as he pranced around covered in a bed sheet. He threw it around him like a scarf and yelled out, “I’m a beauty queen!”
Peter then grabbed Shay’s arm and tried to drag her to his room. “I have something to show you.”
“I can’t believe Nikki went with him and left her brother,” Desmond said.
Pablo said something I couldn’t make out, but I understood the disappointed tone.
“I can’t believe he stabbed us in the back,” I said and shook my head.
I stood at the door looking in at Peter and Shay.
“Lots of dream juice used up,” Peter said while pointing at a medical kit on the floor.
“What do you mean?” Shay asked.
“Dad sometimes gave us a drink with some special pills. It helped us sleep when the monsters kept us up all night. He called it dream juice. I’m a ninja spy! I saw him make Nikki one with a whole bunch right after you guys left. She must have needed to sleep real bad because after a few minutes she was out.”
Shay rooted through the kit and pulled out the darkened bottle and examined the label. She held it up to me. “Some kind of tranquilizers. I guess she didn’t make the choice, he made it for her.”
“I don’t like medicine; I always use my ninja powers to spit it out when nobody is looking.”
“Didn’t you used to take medicine, before … all this happened?”
“I took some, but sometimes I’d spit that out too, it made me feel weird.”
“Your dad told us that you could stay calm and think better when you took medicine.”
“I just use my imagination more now. I like to pretend, because there are no monsters in my daydreams. I pretend we live in a mansion with a pool and those monsters outside are the kids in my class. They are all jealous of our pool.”
“Can I come to your mansion?” Shay asked.
“You and Jim are already there! You have a son named Piper and we play together,” he said with a huge smile.
“Peter … Piper?” Shay asked, giving me a half smile. “How did you get this medical kit? I would have thought your dad would have taken it with him.”
“He did, but I told you I’m a ninja. I wanted to be a ninja doctor so I borrowed it. He said Nikki was sick and he needed to take her to the doctor. He should be back soon,” he said while making a Band-Aid fly through the air like a plane.
“Honey, about your dad,” Shay started. I flagged her down with my arms and mouthed the word “no.”
“What about Dad?”
“Oh, just that we will let you know when he gets back,” she said. Shay snapped the medical kit closed and left Peter with the airplane bandage.
The rest of that day we took inventory of our supplies. The food was low—that bastard had stolen more than half. We didn’t have a lot of time left before we would be completely out. As for ammo, we had actually hit a small jackpot in the truck we had taken. There were numerous boxes that were all nearly full. Shotgun shells, 9 mm rounds, and even some rifle rounds. We counted and in total had raised our ammo from 3 to 112. The medical kit was average, containing some bandages, peroxide, antibiotics, a few pills, and two syringes.
Shay had taken the supplies and did what she could to treat Harvey’s wound. She cleaned it and reapplied the bandages. Even through her treatment, Harvey never flinched. His lack of pain was unnerving. He looked pale, but that could be from all the blood loss, or it could be … I shuddered at the thought.
“Jim, you might want to see this,” Desmond said, coming from the pool area.
I followed Desmond out and he went straight to the gate and pointed at the lock. I saw it and shook my head in disbelief.
“1007? I reset it to zero before we left. When did it have all that time?”
“It must have remembered where it left off. I wasn’t in the bathroom that long,” he replied staring at the floor.
“Good God, if we do the math, one combo every two seconds, he can cover 30 numbers in just a minute,” I said. My eyes focused on an imaginary blackboard and I moved my fingers as I did the math in my head. “You were in the bathroom for more than 30 minutes!”
“Dude I couldn’t help it. I ate Shay’s oatmeal out of her drawer. Plus, I didn’t see you doing guard duty.”
“I had the shift before you,” I said.
&nb
sp; “Oh yeah.”
I put my hand up against my forehead as I let out a sigh and tried to think of what to do next. I glanced up and saw the truck. “What the hell!” I shouted.
We ran over to the truck and I pointed at the rear tire. The rear tire was completely flat with a red screwdriver hanging loosely from the deflated sidewall.
“Who the hell,” Desmond began as he reached for the tool.
Something on the screwdriver caught my eye. “Wait!” I shouted.
Desmond froze in place, “What?” I stepped closer and leaned in to get a better view. As I bent down, I saw a red droplet fall from the handle. My eyes grew wide as I realized what I was looking at.
“It’s covered in spreader puke!” I exclaimed.
“What, how would it be?”
“Is this a … trap?” I asked.
“You don’t think it planned that, do you? It’s a brainless corpse, they don’t set traps.”
“I don’t know, but you were two seconds from touching it. I swear when I find that thing I’ll kill it a second time,” I threatened.
“We almost got outsmarted by a zombie,” Desmond said.
“Shut up D, I’ll take your shift.”
“Hey! C’mon, I’m right here!” I yelled through the black bars. I had the shotgun fully loaded with slugs. I was ready for that thinking zombie to come around here. I was going to paint the street with his brains and see how smart he was then.
“You know, if he’s that smart, I don’t think you screaming ‘come here,’ and waving your gun around is going to draw him in,” Shay said from the poolside chair. She had her sunglasses resting on top of her head and was reading a book, Tale of the Black Sun.
“Well I don’t know what else to do. I haven’t seen a zombie in hours.”
“Just saying, I don’t think that’s going to work,” she said while turning the page.
“So, what is that book about?” I asked still peering around for any activity.
“Zombies, well the necromancer magic kind.”
“Ugh, haven’t you had enough zombie stuff today?”
“No, I like this book. I really liked it back when things were … normal.”
“How does it end?”
“I don’t know. I never actually finished it. It’s a little dark and twisted so I’m not expecting rainbows and flowers in the end. I just hope the necromancer and his love can finally be together.”
“Sounds charming. Helloooo zombies, come get me!” I called. Shay simply rolled her eyes and went back to reading.
Later that evening Pablo gave me a long explanation as he boarded up the last window, an explanation that I understood zero percent of. He mimicked trying to fit through the hole and it was too small. He bent down on one knee and pretended to hold a rife and it was the perfect size to shoot from.
“Oh, I get it now. You are awesome, you know that right?”
“Si, awesome,” he responded.
That night we all gathered around the camping lamp, which was starting to fade as the battery died. Our shrinking group looked weird without the other two. Their chairs were still sitting by the table, empty. Peter seemed to have calmed down without his dad and sister around. He looked upset and just quietly ate his bowl of fruity loops. I never was good with kids and I didn’t know what to say, so I just kept quiet.
“Did you guys run into the Army, too?” Desmond asked.
“Wait, too?”
“Yeah, they visited us today.”
“I would have thought you would tell us that sooner,” I said.
“Sorry, I forgot with all the other crap going on.”
“Well we didn’t run into them physically. We heard a comment about them and the hunters had a piece of paper from them,” I said.
Harvey fished through his pocket and tried to hand the crumpled paper to Desmond but his shaky hands caused him to drop it. Desmond picked it up and looked through it. Shay crossed her arms almost in preparation of ridicule.
“Yeah they came by and showed us the same picture,” he said looking up from the paper. “There was like eight of ‘em. They started off by asking if we had seen this girl, Tiffany Mason, in the picture. When I told them no, they practically pushed me aside and started rummaging through the motel. Bunch of assholes, if you ask me.”
“Did you ask them about evacuation, safe bases, or convoys that will defend this town?” Shay asked.
“Yeah, of course,” Desmond replied. “They basically told me to piss off. One of them pulled me aside and said there was a reward for her return. Anyone who finds her and brings her in is guaranteed a spot on a protected base with a lifetime supply of food. I asked what was so important about her.”
“And?” I asked.
“He said their scientists can harvest her to extract a cure, an immunization.”
“Harvest?” Shay asked, offended. “We are supposed to help them find a young girl and donate her to science so they can pull her apart? For what, the chance they can do something?”
“Isn’t the life of one, worth sacrificing for hundreds of thousands?” Desmond asked.
“Fuck that, I’d trade a hundred of you guys right now for my life,” Harvey panted.
Everyone looked around uncomfortably.
“I miss Nikki,” Peter said with his bottom lip starting to shake.
“I know you do, buddy,” Desmond said. “Why don’t I take you to your room and I can tell you a story.”
“One with a dragon and a princess?” he asked with renewed excitement.
“I was thinking about the time I won the deadlifting tournament, but yeah, we can do dragons and stuff.”
“I need some air,” Harvey said. He got up from the table and went out the front door.
“I think I need to talk to him,” I said. I looked over at his bowl and it was completely untouched. I stepped outside to the sound of frogs and crickets. That was something I hadn’t heard in a long time. Harvey was over by the fence, two zombies reaching in at him desperately. They were chewing at the air. He raised the machete over his head, bringing it down with almost no strength. It came loose from his hands and clambered onto the concrete.
He grumbled as he bent over to pick up his weapon. One of the outstretched arms grabbed onto his shirt and started to pull him in. He jerked away hard and fell on the ground, leaving the zombie holding nothing but air. For the first time ever I could see it—Harvey was sad. His eyes were starting to tear up and he struggled to pull himself up. I extended my hand to him and he swatted it away.
“I don’t need help,” he said pulling himself to his feet.
“Hey man, I need to talk to you,” I said.
He glared at me for a second. “Please don’t, I’m not in the mood.” He took the weapon with two hands and stabbed it at the one zombie’s head. It hit and made a small cut, but pushed the monster back only slightly. The zombie was not even fazed and just continued to reach and claw at Harvey. He fumbled with the machete and I shouted at him. “Harvey, stop it!”
“What’s your problem?” he asked.
“You don’t have to prove anything. I just wanted you to know, that I love you man.”
Harvey was hunched over trying to catch his breath and let out a frustrated sigh.
“I know. We are practically brothers. I’m not pissed at you, but I am pissed. It was supposed to be me and you fighting through swarms of undead, walking out the other side as heroes.”
“You are a hero. You saved my life,” I said.
He tried to smile. “Yeah, I know. I just wanted to make it to the end. I wanted to stare down death, and tell him to fuck off.”
“I, I don’t know what to say,” I fumbled.
Harvey stood looking at me, depressed. Suddenly he clutched his chest and stumbled backwards. He let out a pitiful “urgh” and began wheezing for air. It was stupid I know, but I just lunged in, wrapping him in a hug. I held him tightly as he softly convulsed in pain. He tried to pull away from me, but I just couldn�
�t let him to die alone. He finally mustered enough strength to push me away, just before coughing up blood and mucous onto the poolside concrete. As he stood there shaking, his fists were clenched tightly through the pain. Then his hands relaxed and there was a moment of silence. The sounds of frogs faded into silence. The two zombies outside the gate froze and lost their interest in my friend. A couple seconds passed and they snapped their focus to me.
“I’m … fine,” Harvey said standing up straight.
I reached for the pistol I had tucked away. I couldn’t believe that I was going to have to put my friend down like an animal.
“Please, put … it away,” he said slowly.
“Man, you know I don’t want to,” I said while the two zombies still moaned and reached for me. Harvey walked slowly over to them and they paid no attention. He reached his arm through the bar and put it directly in front of the one.
“What are you doing?” I cried out.
There was no response from the zombie as it nearly looked through his outstretched arm to get to me. Harvey rubbed the back of his hand against its face and still nothing.
“I’m really … really infected,” he wheezed.
“Holy shit,” I said confused.
“I’m just … close,” he said putting his hand to his heart.
“You’re still alive?”
“Barely.”
I flicked the safety off the pistol and kept it pointed at the ground. “I can wait, you deserve every second.”
“What kind … you think … I’ll be?” he said with a weak smile.
“I’m sure you’ll be the most badass zombie ever.”
“I want … to see … that side. You think … I’d still be me?” he coughed a splatter of black mucous onto his fist.
“Wait, you want me to let you turn?”
“Yeah … I’m just going to go … for a walk,” he said. Harvey walked slowly over to the lock and began to fiddle with it. His motor skills were clearly fading as he struggled to pinch the small numbered nubs on the lock.
“Dude, I can’t let you,” I said.
“Why not? I just want … to bite a raider.”