by Powell, Lora
“It’s ok. It’s a bunch of people from the group.” Shawn must have felt me tense up. “They’re waiting to try to gather as many people as possible before leaving the building. We’re gonna try to stay together.”
“Bill and Maya? Fallon?” My voice croaked out.
“Bill and Maya are there. Maggie too, I think. I haven’t heard anything from Fallon.”
I sensed rather than saw when we were nearing the group.
“It’s me, I found Bri,” Shawn said out loud.
I realized that not only could I not see any of them, but they couldn’t see any of us either. “I have Luna. She’s ok,” I croaked. The little girl’s small hand was still clutched in my own death grip.
A relieved murmur rose in the dark.
“Thank you,” Maggie was to my right, and she sounded relieved to hear that the girl had been found. “I don’t think that we can wait any longer. The smoke is getting thick in here.”
Compared to back in the main store, the air back here was bliss, but I kept that to myself.
“We need to stay together. Watch out for each other, there will probably be some zombies out back. Does everyone have some kind of weapon?”
A chorus of affirmative answers revealed how many people were standing there in the dark. It sounded like at least a dozen. I picked up Maya’s voice in the crowd.
“Ok, be fast and quiet. We will get through this. Let’s move.”
The distinct sound of the bar on the door being pressed was accompanied by a flood of bright light. Shielding my eyes, I looked ahead to see a familiar outline pushing the door open. Still blinking rapidly, I thought for a second that my eyes were playing tricks on me when the back of his head exploded all over those crowded behind him.
SIXTY
DAY 28
“No!”
I watched in horror as Mark crumpled to the ground. More screams echoed down the hallway as the people nearest to his body backpedaled frantically. I was shoved, and only maintained my grip on both of the hands I held by sheer force of will. I wasn’t about to lose Shawn again. Becoming aware of something wet on my forehead, I tried to wipe it off on the shoulder of my shirt without the benefit of hands.
The door slammed shut, leaving us trapped in the dark once again. Maggie’s voice tried to rise above the chaos, trying to bring the group back under control. I heard her voice shake for the first time since I’d met her.
“Are you ok?” Shawn pulled me closer to talk directly in my ear.
“Yeah. Luna, you doing ok?” I wished I could actually see them.
“I’m ok. What’s going on?”
Thank goodness for small favors. I was glad that the girl hadn’t gotten a good view of what had just happened. “It’s going to be ok. We’ll figure something out.” I turned back to Shawn. “How about you?”
“I’m fine.”
“People, please calm down!” Maggie was still trying to get the crowd under control.
“There has to be another way out. One where we don’t get shot as soon as we open the door!” The voice sounded like Sara’s.
A couple of voices agreed with her.
“I’m going back. We’ll find a way out one of the other stores. They can’t be watching every door,” Sara yelled. Someone bumped into me as they felt their way along the wall. Another body brushed mine as they followed.
“Please! We need to stay together!” Maggie sounded desperate, but it didn’t do any good. Another body brushed by.
“Shawn? Bri?” Bill’s voice was close to my ear.
“Yeah, Bill? We’re here.”
“Ok, just checking.”
The shouting died down as the group split. As far as I could tell, more than half of the group was still standing at the end of the hall.
“Maggie, what should we do now?” That was Charlie. I was relieved to hear from the woman.
“Um, Charlie. Let me think a second.”
The smoke in the hallway was building. It was only a matter of time before the fire consumed the entire mall. We couldn’t stay here.
A bang at the far end of the hallway made me jump. Everyone froze, listening for a clue as to what had caused the noise. A faint orange glow flickered way down there. The fire.
Movement, highlighted by that glow, made my blood run cold. Someone was down there. Someone who moved in startling fits and starts.
An inhuman howl echoed through the corridor.
“Zombie,” I whispered, like any of the others could have missed the new arrival.
It was hard to see, but I thought that the zombie hesitated for one long second before starting down the hall. Midway between us, something clattered to the floor.
Everything happened fast after that. Someone from the group that had split off cursed and the zombie screamed. Footsteps began pounding the hard floor as the people who had left us started to run.
“We have to go now!” Maggie yelled. I looked back up the hall, but other than that flickering glow clear at the other end, it was an endless pit of darkness. Then I saw another zombie amble through the door.
Tightening my grip, I started pushing towards where I knew the way out was. “We don’t have a choice.”
Too close for comfort now, there was the sound of a scuffle and someone cried out. Ignoring the call for help, I pushed towards the door. “Stay together!” Maggie practically shouted in my ear, and then she pushed the door open again.
The light appeared just in time to keep me from stepping on Mark’s body. I was numb, the day had been too much, and I merely stepped over him and into the light. Ahead of me, Maggie was the first one out. She ducked and started running. A bullet whizzed by her and hit the next person in the door. He staggered but stayed on his feet.
Shawn let go of my hand, and I started to protest but stopped when he reached to pick up Luna. Looking at me with wide eyes, he bolted out the door.
I was the next one out. It was a surreal feeling, being sure that you were running straight into the arms of your own death. I was shocked when I realized that I was still alive, despite the bullets that were raining down all around.
Already tortured by the smoke and heat, my throat screamed as I panted; my breath was racing in and out. I focused on Shawn’s back and just kept running.
Zombies were milling around everywhere. Those that hadn’t been drawn into the store by the fire were now roaming the area. I raced past the guy who had been hit by the bullet meant for Maggie, two decomposing zombies digging their rotting hands into his flesh. Running next to me, Rex snarled at anything that looked like it was going to get in my way.
Focused solely on not losing sight of Shawn, I didn’t take note of where we were going. My only thought was to keep him in sight. When my upper arm started to sting, I ignored it.
Rounding the far corner of the mall finally put an end to the bullets. There were fewer zombies on this side too. Ahead of me, Maggie was swinging a hatchet at a zombie that had tried to go for her. Shawn still carried Luna, and I sent a quick thanks to whoever may be listening that neither of them appeared to have been hit.
A throb from my own arm reminded me that I’d not escaped completely unharmed. The arm still seemed to work ok, I was glad for that. Blood dripped steadily off of my fingers, but it could have been worse.
Gasping breath behind me made me look back, and I almost smiled. I was so happy with what I saw. Bill looked like he was in a lot of pain, but he and Maya had rounded the corner and looked ok. On their heels came Charlie, a guy whose name I’d never learned on our ill-fated grocery run, and a limping Alex.
I kept glancing back, expecting more people to round the corner, but they never came. I gave up watching for them when my inattention almost made me run straight into a zombie. Slashing at it with the machete, I dodged and put on an extra burst of speed to catch up with Shawn.
We must have run for more than a mile before Maggie swerved toward a house. “In here.” She panted as she threw open the front door.
Diving inside, I looked around a little wildly. Running headlong into a building wasn’t a very smart idea anymore.
Seeing the look on my face, Maggie whispered as she pulled the door shut behind the stragglers. “We cleared this one already. It’s our rendezvous.”
I sagged against the wall. A few feet away, Shawn set a very shaken looking Luna on her feet. To her credit, the little girl hadn’t made a sound. But then, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. She had managed to survive on her own for a while before the group found her in her school.
“How bad is it?”
The question pulled me from my contemplation of the girl. I’d almost forgotten the fact that I’d been shot. Apparently, I was still more numb than anything. I looked at my arm. “I don’t think it’s too bad.” I wiggled my fingers as blood dripped onto the floor.
“Let me see.” Alex pushed in between Shawn and me, earning himself a dirty look. The nurse ignored him and reached for my arm.
He poked around at the wound, making it start throbbing to the beat of my heart. “You’re right. It’s not bad, but we should clean it up and cover it.” Alex walked away down the hall. “Maggie, you guys left a medical kit here, right?”
“Yeah.” She was busy looking out the window, back the way we had come.
Most of us moved into the living room. Maggie and Charlie paced from window to window, keeping an eye out for anyone else who may have made it out alive. Shawn sat next to me on the couch as Alex treated my arm. Next, he wanted to look at Bill, much to the big man’s displeasure. Bill was in luck, he had endured the physical activities without tearing his wounds open again.
I was concerned about Alex’s limp, but he assured me he hadn’t been bitten or shot. He quietly murmured that he’d tripped on Mark’s body and twisted an ankle, all the time watching to be sure Luna wasn’t listening.
The afternoon wound into the evening, and there was no sign of Mack or his crazy group. But there also was no sign of any of our people. I worried about Fallon. I hadn’t known about the rendezvous, so I doubted she did either. I wasn’t sure how we were going to find her again.
Maggie became more subdued as darkness descended. I knew she had been expecting more of her people to show up, but as the hours passed, that seemed less and less likely. Finally giving up her watch to let Shawn take a turn, Maggie sank into the couch with a defeated sigh.
SIXTY-ONE
DAY 29
Rex raised his head from where he had been resting it on his paws and growled lightly. That wasn’t all that unusual. Whenever a zombie wandered too close to our hideout, he did the same. It had been going on all night.
Dawn was just starting to lighten the night sky. Dante—I’d finally figured out the unnamed guy’s name—and I were taking a turn keeping watch. I looked out the nearest window, checking for the zombie. There had been plenty of them that went by in the night, but we stayed quiet, and they kept on going. Unscrewing the top of the water bottle I’d taken from the stash of supplies, I raised it for a sip.
Over the top of the bottle, movement from outside caught my eye.
Suddenly alert, I craned my neck to get a better look. The figure ducked behind an abandoned van on the curb. It was definitely not a zombie.
“Hey,” I hissed lowly. No one was really sleeping, only trying to rest, and I heard shuffling in the next room as someone got to their feet.
A second later, Maggie and Shawn both appeared at my side. A questioning look from Maggie had me jerking my chin toward the window.
“There’s someone out there. They just went behind that van.”
I stepped aside to make room for her to look out. “I don’t see―wait.” She looked intently out the window for several seconds before bolting for the door.
Glancing at Shawn, I saw he looked as confused as I felt. I followed her through the dark house. I stepped into the hallway just in time to see Maggie swinging open the front door.
My mouth fell open. Standing in the predawn light, was Colton. He swayed on his feet a little before coming inside and shutting the door. Snapping my mouth closed, I joined the rapidly growing group at the other end of the hall.
“Colton!”
“You’re alive!”
“What happened to you?”
Everyone talking at once was too loud and Maggie shushed the group.
“You need to sit down.” Alex took control of the situation, steering Colton toward a chair.
It was still too dark to see detail, but it was clear that Colton was injured. Blood had flowed freely from a cut to the side of his head, soaking his shirt. The whole mess was dry now, so at least the bleeding had stopped. As he sat down in the offered chair, he winced and listed sideways.
“Other than your head, does anything hurt?” Alex was already pulling on a pair of latex gloves.
“No. It’s just my head. That orange haired a––hole hit me with a bat.” He looked miserable, but to his credit, Colton stayed upright.
Alex had to tell everyone to back up. We had all unconsciously crowded closer, shocked, and relieved to see someone we had thought was probably dead. Watching from behind Charlie’s back, I cringed as Alex began cleaning the dried blood from the side of his head.
The wound was ugly, swollen, and bruised with a long gash. There was no way Colton had escaped a hit to the head like that without a concussion. It was probably some sort of miracle that he’d survived at all.
Alex must have agreed with me. I noticed that he kept asking Colton seemingly random questions. To my relief, as far as I could tell, he was getting the answers right. I didn’t know a lot about treating a person with a bad concussion, but I knew enough to know that he was going to have to be careful for a while.
“Ok, all finished.” Alex sat back and removed his now bloodied gloves.
“Colton, do you think you can answer a few questions?” Maggie moved in closer.
“Yeah, but first, how many of us made it here?” He had let his eyes close but was alert for the answer.
Maggie hesitated. “Um, there’s Charlie, Dante, Luna, Alex, Bri, Shawn, Maya, and Bill. And you and me.”
His eyes popped open. “That’s it?”
Maggie nodded.
He closed them again and slumped further in his seat.
“What happened out there?”
Colton sighed. “I was watching and radioing you updates like we planned. When the first truck got too close to the stand, I ducked down and hid. I was afraid the zombies would hear me and surround the tree. But they didn’t, they just kept on going toward the mall. I thought it was clear and I could radio you again.”
He stopped for a second. He looked a little green and his head had to be killing him. “Then this other truck came flying down the exit. I didn’t even know it was coming until it was already there. It drove right up to the stand and the guy in the back pointed his gun right at me. They already knew I was there.”
I cringed again. Mack’s group had been watching us all along. They had spent the past few days learning about us. I felt guilty. If Shawn and I hadn’t been recognized that day at the store, maybe none of this would have happened.
“They ordered me to come down, and there were three of them, so I did. The big one took my rifle and knife, and then he wanted me to radio you. But I refused to say what he wanted me to say. That’s when he hit me. I don’t really know what happened after that. The truck and men must have left me there because the next thing I knew, I was sitting in the grass, and my head was killing me. A zombie was coming, and all I knew was that I had to get away from it, so I went back up in the tree.”
His voice got quieter. “I, um, I couldn’t remember where I was for a while. By the time I could, the mall was completely in flames, and I knew that there was no way anyone was still in there. And then I remembered this place, so I climbed down and started running.”
There was silence when Colton finished his story. Maggie rested her hand lightly on his shoulder. No one knew what to say. We had all
lost so much in the past hours.
Beside me, Rex had been sitting alertly, his nose working overtime as he smelled the air. The hair on the back of my arms rose when he let out a low, threatening growl.
SIXTY-TWO
DAY 29
The radio that had somehow made it to the rendezvous with us crackled to life. Maggie had kept it close on the off chance that anyone from the group that couldn’t make it to us, could use it to make contact.
Swinging around, she grabbed for the plastic device. Pressing the button, she raised it nearer to her face and then hesitated. A sudden expression of concern crossed her face. She lowered the radio without saying anything.
“Maggie? What if it’s someone from the group?” Charlie questioned her.
“What if it isn’t?” She looked dead serious.
Her look of concern was contagious; it seemed to infect everyone else as her words sank in.
We didn’t have to wait for an answer as the voice that came through was loud and clear and sent a cold shiver down my spine. They were somewhere nearby.
“I’ve been searching through the rubble and rolling over bodies for the past hour. Now, admittedly, it’s hard to be sure what some of them used to look like. You know, the fire and the zombies can do a lot of damage, but much to my surprise, I have not found any of the faces I was looking for. Except one.” Mack paused dramatically, giving me enough time to wonder who he was talking about.
I was looking right at Shawn, Bill, and Maya. Devon was dead. My eyes popped wide with horror when I figured out who he meant. Fallon was the only one unaccounted for, but as far as I knew, she had not been in the mall when we were attacked. At least, none of us had seen her after she left Devon’s burial. I knew we all had been holding on to the hope that she ran and hid when the mall was attacked.
