The Dead in River City

by S. A. McGarey

“What about you? Can I ask your story?”

  “You really wanna know about me?” She asked him.

  “Sure. You are my friend after all.” He said with a smile.

  “Ok… here goes.” She said with a sigh.

  Not really knowing where to start her story, she began at the most logical place. She started at the beginning.

  “I was born into a family that never deserved me.” The heaviness in her voice was noticeable. “From an early age, I was abused. My father was a poor excuse for a man. He beat all of us children, and even raped both of my sisters during their young teen years. The bastard never tried it on me until I reached that age, and by then, my sisters had told me enough about it that I was ready to strike back. He wasn’t about to violate me and get away with it. I was 14 years old when he tried, and I decided that 14 years was enough Hell for one lifetime.”

  “What did you do?” Alan asked, heavily invested in the story.

  “One night, he came into my room, and I was awake enough to hear him. If that wasn’t enough, I could smell the whiskey on his breath mixed with the stench of sweat from his clothes. The floor creaked in my darkened room as he approached my bed. He could never have known what was coming next. I was ready for him. When he reached the bed, and was mere moments away from raping me for the first of what would have been many times, I turned over to face him, and pulled my hand from beneath my pillow, revealing a knife I’d taken from the kitchen. It was one of the big ones from the cutlery set, big enough to slash deep through his skin, or even kill him with an accurate stab. In one fluid movement, I rammed the knife through him, and he screamed out in agony and blind fury. In the darkness, my aim wasn’t good. He hadn’t died immediately, but he would bleed out soon. I ran, trying to get as far away as I could. He stumbled after me, screaming, cursing, and threatening to kill me if it was the last thing he did. I just kept running. I ran away from the house, down the street, and hid out in an old hiding spot I’d found as a kid.”

  “What happened then?” Alan asked.

  “I stayed out there until dawn, and when I returned, I found the corpse of my father, bled out just as I thought he would be. Not far from him, were the bodies of my mother, brother, and both my sisters. As I looked around, I pieced together what had happened. After my escape, my father had gone into a rage and murdered the rest of my family. He must have bled out soon after. I felt a degree of responsibility, but I had to survive. I wouldn’t submit as my sisters did. I wouldn’t ignore it as my mother and brother did. It seemed that this was the price I had to pay. I lost everyone I had in this world at such a young age. I was truly alone.” Kendra had a small amount of tears streaming down her face.

  Alan went over to Kendra and hugged her tight. “I’m so sorry, Kendra.” He whispered to her.

  She didn’t respond, simply taking comfort in being held.

  After the moments of silence, Alan spoke again. “So what about the other 9 years?”

  Kendra, still being held, replied. “I lived alone. Since the day I left that bloodbath of a house, I’ve been alone. I drifted around the city, going to different shelters. I was old enough to know that there were places I could go, places that were off the streets. I got food when I needed it, slept when I could, stayed as clean as I could, and did everything I could to survive. By the time I was 16, I’d found a place to live, and a means of surviving on much better terms.”

  “And what would that be?” Alan questioned her.

  “Someone wanted to take me in. I met them by sheer chance. It was a small family, just the two parents and their son. They were a religious family, nice people. They took me in out of the goodness of their hearts, and I accepted. I had very little choice, and it beat living with my original family. I don’t know that I ever trusted them fully. It’s hard to trust a new family when the patriarch of the old family was a drunken, abusive rapist. With the new family, I took a chance.” Kendra continued.

  “Hmm.” Alan hummed. “How did that work out for you?”

  “Pretty good, for awhile.” She replied. “Of course, all good things come to an end. The couple that took me in, Richard and Victoria were their names, were great people. They were nice, caring, and they showed me a lot of love. The son, however, was a different story. He was a little younger than me, about 15 years old, and he was a massive pain. He was the stereotypical rebellious kid, hated religion, and unfortunately for me, seemed to have a crush on me. I can’t tell you how many times I had to smack him for making advances. He’s lucky I didn’t break his hands. After living there for 2 years, I’d gotten so sick of him that I’d decided to leave. Richard and Victoria never knew the real reason I left. I lied and said I wanted t go out on my own. Before I left, they gave me a parting gift of $1000 and told me I was welcome to come around any time.”

  “You ever see ‘em again?” Alan asked.

  “A couple times, yeah.” She continued. “Until the day I went to see them and they were gone. I got inside and saw the house had been ransacked, essentially turned upside down, and generally just really screwed up. A few minutes of searching turned up nothing, save for the bodies of Richard and Victoria. It looked like they had a few stab wounds. I didn’t know what happened, but I knew they didn’t deserve it.”

  Alan was enamored with the story by this point. “Did you ever find out who did it?”

  Kendra continued her story. “Oh yes, I most certainly did. The stupid little prick that they called a son had a group of friends that were far from being pillars of the community. They were as close to a gang as you could get without being labeled a gang. I saw a news report a few days after I found their bodies, and the police had arrested their son, and his little group of friends. They cracked under interrogation, admitting that they were stealing money and valuables from them so they’d have money for drugs. Richard caught them in the middle of the night, and one of the boys stabbed him. Victoria heard the struggle and came out as well, only to be stabbed mere moments later. I ended up going to the funeral, but couldn’t bear to stay for the whole thing. I’ve been on my own since then. Used the money as a few months rent on an apartment, got a job to keep making payments, and had as normal of a life as I could.”

  Alan was still holding her. He had become captivated by her story, and didn’t realize until this moment that he’d never been closer to Kendra. He was comforting her as best as he knew how, and for a moment, they both forgot that they were in the middle of Hell on Earth. There, in that dim library, Alan and Kendra shared stories about their lives. There was no more fitting place for it than here.

  “Kendra, I… I’m so sorry.” Alan offered his condolences.

  “It’s fine. I survived.” She replied, with a small tear rolling down her face.

  “I know.” He said. “But you deserve so much better.”

  “No I don’t. I deserve nothing. I’m nothing. Life has made me nothing.” Kendra said solemnly.

  “You’re not nothing, Kendra. You are worth so much.” Alan replied. “You saved me, you teamed up with me to survive. You survived a really crappy life that most people would have given up on. I don’t think that you’re nothing. I think you’re strong.”

  As the words entered Kendra’s ear, more tears began to roll. She’d not felt like she was worth anything for a very long time, if indeed she did at all. And all of a sudden, in the middle of the end of the world, this survivor, whom she once found annoying, showed much care for her. She laid her head on him, and tried to process this feeling of being cared for. She closed her eyes, and just a moment or two later, she felt the feeling of lips pressed to her forehead.

  Her eyes darted open to see Alan, gently kissing her forehead in the most comforting way. She felt warm inside. She felt what it was like to be really cared for, even though she had no clue why he would care about her.

  “It’s ok.” Alan reassured her

  “Wrong spot.” Kendra quietly replied.

  “What? What do you mean?” He asked, very confused as t
o what she meant.

  “You kissed me in the wrong spot.” Kendra replied, unable to help herself any longer.

  Before he could react, Alan felt Kendra’s lips press against his. “Ohh, that’s what she meant.” He thought to himself.

  There, leaning up against the wall of the dark 2nd floor of the library, Alan and Kendra shared a kiss.

  11

  Alan pulled away after a few seconds. He certainly enjoyed the kiss, but he was unsure whether or not it should have happened. Alan didn’t feel fully right about it, especially after that story she told him. Even though she initiated it, he felt invasive.

  Alan spoke. “What was that for?”

  “I… I wanted to.” Kendra replied.

  Alan didn’t understand. Why would she want to kiss him? They were in the middle of a zombie siege, he was just some guy, and she had a background that would make anyone else cold, distant, and unfeeling. This didn’t make sense to him.

  “Why, though? I don’t get it.” Alan asked her.

  Kendra hid her face. “It seemed right.” Her muffled voice sounded out.

  “Really?” Alan questioned her.

  “Yes.” Her voice still slightly muffled as she began to reveal her face again. “You comfort me. You make me feel safe.”

  Alan still didn’t quite get it. Kendra was never this way before. He’d noticed that she was becoming more responsive and open with him, but he never dreamed that this would happen. In truth, he liked her, and honestly didn’t mind the kiss so much. It just worried him now that he knew her story. He felt like anything he did could be misconstrued. It was like walking on eggshells, even though he had very little reason to.

  Kendra was embarrassed. She thought that Alan wasn’t happy about the kiss. Her thoughts began racing, telling her that she was stupid to do it. Alan sensed that something was wrong and instinctively held her, trying to comfort her.

  “It wasn’t bad.” Alan whispered with a smile.

  Kendra looked up, with small tears beginning to form. “Really?”

  “Yes, really.”

  “But why?” She replied.

  “We can talk about it later.” Alan said quietly.

  Kendra nodded, and just as they put the conversation on hold, they both heard a noise from the outside. It was oddly familiar, and very vague. A few moments later, when they heard the voice, they realized it was the sound of a megaphone.

  “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” Malcolm’s voice sounded in an eerie singsong voice.

  Alan stood, motioning to Kendra to stay down for the moment. Covertly looking out the window, he saw Malcolm pacing in front of the building with a megaphone in his hand. His zombie girl was standing beside him like a soulless automaton, and his crowd of Dead Ones was still standing behind him.

  “How long are you going to hide in there?” He said through the device.

  Malcolm couldn’t have heard Alan even if he had decided to respond. It looked like Malcolm was ready for a siege, and he was determined to win.

  “Smart move, coming to the library.” Malcolm continued. “I doubt you’ll find anything useful though. When it comes to history, I’m virtually a phantom.”

  Alan hated to admit that he was right. They hadn’t found much of anything, and he was sure that they would find nothing more. Malcolm was still having his one-sided conversation through his megaphone, but Alan elected to ignore him. His taunts would do nothing to further the situation. Alan tuned him out and turned his attention to Kendra.

  “I’ll be honest, I have no clue how we’re getting out of this.” Alan confessed.

  “I know.” Kendra replied. “I don’t know either.”

  Alan thought for a moment. “We’ll need to find food. If we don’t, this siege won’t last long.”

  “Let’s go check the break room.” Kendra suggested. “It’s a long shot, yes, but it’s all we’ve got.”

  Alan nodded and helped Kendra to her feet. Together, they went down the stairs to the pitch-black first floor. They turned on their flashlights to illuminate the path to the break room. They were beginning to shake off the musty smell of the library, but it became replaced with a new smell.

  The library’s break room had the smell of food gone rotten. The library staff would have kept their food in the refrigerator, and since it lost its power, there was no way of keeping the food inside from going bad. Both Alan and Kendra winced at the smell, but tried to ignore it as best they could.

  “Let’s not open the fridge.” Kendra suggested.

  “Agreed.” Alan concurred.

  Ignoring the fridge, they took to looking in the cabinets. There was very little to choose from. There were some boxes of crackers, all of which were stale. Other snack foods were also there, but all of them were no longer any good for eating. Kendra found a few bags of popcorn, but they had no real way to cook them. They didn’t seem to be finding anything that they could eat. Both their hearts sank.

  Alan slumped down in a chair next to the table. “Well that was worth practically nothing.” He said.

  Kendra stood, pondering over everything, trying to find the way to solve the problem. After a few moments, she began to connect the dots, and slowly, a solution came together. She picked up the 2 bags of popcorn, grabbed her flashlight and darted out of the room, with only a quick “Come on!” to get Alan to follow.

  Alan ran after Kendra, trying not to trip over anything, or run into the furniture. Kendra ran out to the main part of the library, and stopped, looking around and formulating her plan. Alan caught up to her mere moments later, somewhat out of breath. “What… are you… doing?” he asked, pausing between his words.

  “I need you to go find some books.” She replied. “Find anything in bad condition that is still somewhat intact. If you find any books that nobody would miss, bring them upstairs. I’ll go hit the non-fiction books and find some older, virtually useless editions of some books. Find whatever you can, and bring it upstairs to me.”

  “Why am I getting books?” Alan asked, full of confusion.

  “We’re gonna make a fire.” Kendra replied as she went up to the second floor, taking the steps 2 at a time.

  Kendra went upstairs, leaving Alan downstairs with a dumbfounded look on his face. He went to work following Kendra’s instructions, finding whatever books were either broken, old, or just plain bad. Kendra looked around on the slightly better lit second floor, finding old volumes of reference books, some books about art, gardening, and other random subjects. She made a pile over in a corner, and then went to find the next things she would need.

  Near the old librarian desk, she found a sturdy metal trashcan. It was certainly old, and dented in a few places, but it would suffice to make a small fire. She removed the bag and threw it on the floor. Then, picking up the can, she took it to the corner and put it beside the books. She only needed one more thing: a means to start the fire. Returning to the desk, she rifled through the drawers until she found the thing she needed. She found a small magnifying glass and knew it could work. “It may not be matches, but it will have to do.” She said to herself.

  About that time, Alan came up the stairs with an armful of books. Kendra took some of the books from his little collection and lead him to the corner.

  “Alan, put some of these books in the trashcan, and use the magnifying glass and the flashlight to set them on fire.” Kendra told him.

  Alan nodded and went to work. He was slightly troubled about having to burn books to fix food, but this was survival. He would have to get over it. He purposely avoided books that he was fond of, and also stuck to the paperbacks, believing that they would burn much easier. He placed some of the pile into the trashcan, turned on the flashlight, and angled the light from the window through the magnifying glass, hoping the books would burn.

  Kendra observed out the window while Alan was working. She looked upon the Dead horde below and saw Malcolm still down there with them. They hadn’t moved, instead just waiting for the siege
to end. Kendra gazed up to the sky and knew night would fall soon. Then only the moonlight would shine through the windows. She thought about the kiss earlier, and wondered if it was a mistake. She didn’t think it was, but she wasn’t all too confident after Alan’s reaction. She tried to put it out of her mind for now, knowing they would probably talk about it later tonight.

  Alan worked with the flashlight and magnifying glass for quite some time. Finally, when he had nearly lost all hope, a small flame formed and began to scorch the books.

  “Kendra, it’s working!” Alan shouted over to her.

  Kendra wandered over and observed the small fire. With time, it would engulf the other books. “Now we wait for the fire to grow.” She said.

  Alan pulled up a chair beside the trashcan. “So what, are you going to just hold the popcorn bag over the fire?”

  “Pretty much. We just need to wait for the fire to get big enough to pop the kernels.” She answered. “We just need to find something to pass the time.”

  Alan looked her in the eye. “Well, we’ve got time now. Wanna talk about the kiss?”

  Kendra shied away, still embarrassed. “If you want.”

  “I really did enjoy it.” Alan confessed to her. “I just know you must have a biased view when it comes to men.”

  “You’re not wrong.” She said. “But I’ve also never had someone be that protective of me. You make me feel worth more than anyone ever did. You’re the only guy I’ve really known who saw me as a person and a friend than as a mere toy. You are the polar opposite of my father. I know you won’t hurt me. I trust you more than I have ever trusted anyone.”

  “Why is that? I just treated you like I would treat anyone.” Alan said.

  “Which means you’re a good man. I believe I can trust you, despite my past.”

  “Really?” Alan asked her.

  “Really.” Kendra replied.

  Alan leaned forward and, placing a hand on the back of her neck, kissed her gently, just as she had kissed him before. Each of them became lost in the kiss. Kendra now knew that Alan hadn’t rejected her, and Alan felt more at ease about Kendra. For the first time since life as they knew it ended, they were happy, if only for a moment.