by C. A. Hoaks
for the last two years?” Lynette glanced over her shoulder, but Norma’s face was a study of denial.
Lynette opened the heavy wooden door and looked up and down the hallway. When she saw nothing out of place, she stepped into the hall and headed toward the distant stairwell not bothering to see if Norma was following. When they neared the elevator, Norma reached out, pushed the call button and stopped to wait for the elevator.
“No!” Lynette kept walking.
“Why?” Norma followed with a groan. “It’s four flights.”
Lynette opened the door to the stairs just as the elevator doors swished open. She looked back at the sound to see two infected stumbling from the opening. Norma bolted through the door knocking Lynette to her knees.
“Norma!” Lynette got to her feet and turned to see Norma staring at the infected shuffling toward them. She pushed Norma back. “Out of the way!”
Norma stumbled across the landing, and Lynette slammed the door closed. She glanced from side to side looking for a way to jam the door.
“Give me the knife!”
“But….”
“They can push against the handle and follow us!”
When Norma failed to relinquish the blade, Lynette grabbed her wrist and pressed a thumbnail into the nerve at her wrist causing her to drop the blade.
Lynette picked up the knife and jammed it between the door and frame on the floor and gave it a hard kick. She shoved the cane into Norma’s hand.
“Don’t lose it!” She ordered as she headed for the stairs.
Together the two women hurried down the flight of stairs to the third floor landing. Lynette hesitated and pressed her ear against the door. She heard nothing from inside so she turned and headed down the concrete stairs again with Norma following behind. Suddenly the silence was shattered with a body slam against the door overhead. Norma jumped and bumped into Lynette. After a pause, the sound echoed from above again.
Lynette righted herself on the stairs and turned back to Norma with a scowl. Norma stopped in her tracks. Taking a deep breath, she headed down the stairs again.
Lynette snarled. “They can’t get through the door. Stay off my back.”
She got to the next landing and pressed her ear to the door again; she heard nothing. She crossed the landing and headed down the steps ignoring the rasping sound of Norma’s labored breathing. When she got to the bottom floor door, she stopped.
Again she listened but could hear little above Norma’s gasping for breath. She shot Norma an annoyed glance then turned back to open the door into the lobby. The exit door to the parking lot was ten feet from the stairwell. They could cross the short distance then run to her car, only three rows back. With so many people having left the office early, there shouldn’t be many cars and hopefully, few infected.
She opened the door to move forward and heard something. A moment later, Lynette recognized the sound. Someone crying.
She whispered over her shoulder. “Someone is out there.”
Norma sniveled. “What are we going to do? They could be infected.”
“They could also be fine and need our help,” Lynette answered. “Stay here and don’t let the door close. You’ll lock me out.”
She reached for the handle and pulled open the door to exit the stairwell getting her first glimpse of the lobby. The building entryway included an alcove with postal boxes on one wall and a hall leading back to the first floor offices.
A briefcase, two grocery bags and a backpack lay on the terrazzo tile, lost or discarded in the confusion of a quick exit. Contents of a purse lay near the security desk. Lynette leaned into the room to locate the sound. It was coming from behind the semi-circle of the security station.
“Don’t go over there!” Norma grabbed Lynette’s arm. “We should just leave.”
Taking a deep breath, Lynette opened the door wider. She shook off Norma’s grasp as she left the safety of the stairwell.
“Hello? Who’s out there?”
The crying stopped, and the person’s breathing turned into wheezing gasps. Lynette pressed her back to the wall and sidestepped deeper into the room. She could see the infected stalking the streets searching for prey outside the large front windows.
“Are you alright? I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I’m here.…” A timid voice called out. “Behind the desk.”
Lynette groaned softly. She glanced toward the door and front window. Someone had jammed a metal chair leg into the door handles. She glanced at the window one last time then left the shadows to duck-walk across the blood-splattered tile floor. After a dozen hurried steps, she got to the edge of the desk, rounded the corner and stop. A pair of legs stuck out from behind the desk. The lower half of the body wore a pair of khaki pants and leather shoes.
“You’re not alone?”
“My daddy.” The little voice whispered. “I tried to stop the bleeding. One of the sick people hurt him.”
Lynette peeked around the corner of the desk and saw a nice looking black man on the floor. She recognized him. He was the lawyer with an office down the hall. Beside him sat a preteen of similar coloring. Her hands were covered with blood. A blood-soaked sweater lay on the floor in a red-brown lump. The girl clutched the man’s hand to her chest.
“My daddy died.” The child’s big brown eyes betrayed her terror and sadness.
“I am so sorry, sweetie.” Lynette held out her hand. “My name is Lynette. We need to go. It’s not safe here.”
“My daddy said we’d be safe from the sick people after he put the chair in the door.” The girl whispered as tears slid down her caramel-colored face.
“Honey, what’s your name?”
“Jacky” She whispered. “Jaqueline Bradford. My daddy’s name is Jackson Bradford.”
“Jacky, your daddy was right. He protected you, but now he would want you to stay safe so you need to come with me.”
“What about my daddy?”
Lynette looked at the man and noticed his eyes were clouding. “We can’t help your daddy now, but he would want you to come with me, okay?”
Jacky nodded and gently laid her father’s hand across his chest. She kissed his face and got to her feet.
Lynette saw a finger twitch on the man’s chest. She held out her hand to the child. “We have to hurry.”
Jacky stepped away from her father and reached for Lynette’s hand. “Where are we going?”
“I’m not sure right now, but away from here.”
They hurried across the lobby to the fire escape. The door was closed. Lynette scowled as she tapped lightly on the metal. “Damn it Norma, get out here.”
Norma opened the door and saw the young, black girl. “Who is that?”
“Her name is Jacky, and we’re helping her.”
“Is your car big enough?” Norma asked pointedly.
Lynette shrugged. “You’d better hope so.”
At the first moan from the lobby behind them, Lynette hurried the pair of refugees to the exit door. Norma stopped and pulled at Lynette sleeve.
“We can’t go that way. What if there’re infected people out there?”
“I know there’s one in here!” Lynette pulled free from Norma’s grasp. “If there’s infected out there; hit ‘em in the head with the metal end of the cane.”
Lynette opened the door and perused the parking lot. No more than a dozen vehicles remained. Her car was in plain sight, with only three vehicles nearby. They would have to hurry since at least a dozen infected stumbled around two cars locked together by front fenders.
She grabbed Jacky’s hand and pulled her close. “Stay close to me. My car is a red Fiesta, three rows back and to the left. It’s straight out and to the left.” She clutched the keys clipped on her bag. “I’ll unlock the doors as soon as I get outside. Jacky, go to the passenger side, and jump in the back as fast as you can. Norma, move your ass and get in the passenger side. If infected get close use the cane on ‘em.”
/> Another groan came from behind them, and Lynette flung open the door and bolted through the opening with Jacky and Norma close behind.
The dash to the car was a clear path until two infected appeared from behind a ten-year-old Buick. The grey sedan had blood smeared across the driver’s door and the front quarter panel. The trio made it to the first row of vehicles before the infected drew close enough to be a threat. Lynette reached into the bag and retrieved the .38. She raised the gun and fired.
An infected man with a blood-splattered, white shirt ignored the report that made all three of the women freeze in place. The bullet shattered a windshield six feet away from the target. A second infected, a blood-splattered woman in a brown skirt, and missing a shoe caught up with the man. Both of the infected focused on Jacky and Norma immobilized by the walking horrors stumbling toward them.
“Move, damn it!” Lynette screamed, and the pair headed for the car.
She fired the .38 again. This time, the left side of the woman’s head exploded. The man continued his steady march toward them without a sideward glance. Lynette turned and ran between cars. Jacky veered off to head for the passenger side of the Fiesta.
Norma rounded a large green panel van and bloodied torn arms reach for her. The clawed fingers grabbed at her fleshy arm, and she spun clear, but fell to her knees losing her grip on the cane. The wood skittered across the asphalt out of reach.
Lynette rushed to Norma’s side, grabbed her arm, and pulled up trying to get the woman to her feet. A skinny infected youth appeared from behind the van.
“Get up!” Lynette yelled as she
