Dead Living

by Glenn Bullion

  “Hurry up before I lose my willpower.”

  She smiled as she wrapped the sheet around her. It felt silly to brush her hair, but she took the brush from his hand. Things felt different between them now, more playful.

  “You can open your eyes now.”

  He didn’t make eye contact with her. He kept his gaze focused on the clothes he held. “I’ve got some tee shirts, shorts, some mismatched socks.”

  “My jeans are fine. It’s my sports bra that got ruined. Aaron, you can look at me.”

  He lifted his head up. Even in a white sheet, she was a gorgeous woman.

  She stepped forward and gave him a hard kiss on the lips. She smiled and took the clothes from him.

  He pulled his shirt off and splashed water on his face from the river. She watched him with a grin. She didn’t know what the future had in store for them, but she knew they would be together.

  Aaron turned to look at her. She was already dressed in her jeans and a tee shirt.

  “Should we take the kids with us?” she asked. “Derek and Amanda are at the school because of you. And we’re both pretty close with Nikki.”

  Aaron smiled. It was amazing how far Sam had come. When he first met her, she wanted nothing to do with anyone.

  He thought it over. “I think the safest place for them is Lexington. But we can ask. If they want to come, I won’t stop them.”

  They went inside one of the old houses to kill time and lay low. They threw another sheet on top of a couch and laid across from each other with their legs intertwined. Both their bodies hurt, but neither of them had ever felt better.

  They took naps and watched each other. Aaron didn’t think Baltimore was a good idea, especially if the children came along. He wouldn’t have a problem, but corpses would be a constant danger to everyone else.

  He smiled as he wondered if Uncle Frank’s cabin was still in good shape.

  “You’ve never been in any danger, have you?” she asked. “Baltimore, all the way back to here.”

  “Well, I wasn’t exactly having a fun time in that slave truck.”

  She was happy, knowing she did save his life.

  “Why did you stay in Baltimore?”

  He didn’t expect that question. “After my family was murdered, I just had enough of people. So I found the place I was sure I wouldn’t find any.”

  She wanted to share something with him, but there wasn’t much about her life he didn’t already know.

  “I’m, uh, glad I found you,” she said.

  It was getting easier to say, but she still felt foolish. She’d always kept her feelings bottled away.

  He laughed at the memory and rubbed her leg under her jeans. She liked that.

  “I found you, actually.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You get what I mean.”

  “I know. Listen,” he lowered his eyes, “are you sure you want to come with me? I don’t have much to offer.”

  She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

  She was quiet, just watching him. He looked up slowly, almost afraid to meet her eyes.

  She caught him by surprise when she dove across the couch. She was on top of him in a second. She pinned her body against him and kissed him. It didn’t take long for Aaron to respond. He kissed her back as their hands roamed all over each other. His ribs throbbed from the beating Garrett gave him the night before. Sam’s shoulder and eye hurt. Neither one of them slowed down.

  Sam sighed quietly as Aaron kissed her neck. They’d been dancing around each other’s feelings for a long time. Something always got in the way, but not anymore.

  “You’ve got plenty to offer,” she whispered in his ear.

  She pulled her shirt over her head. She helped him out of his shirt, and he caressed her sides gently. It felt wonderful to touch her, but he was nervous.

  “It’s been a while for me,” he admitted.

  She held his face and smiled. “Me too,” she said. “But we’ll be fine.”

  Chapter 17

  Aaron and Sam did better than fine, several times.

  She lay asleep in his arms on the couch. They were both still completely naked, only covered by a sheet. Her rhythmic breathing threatened to put him to sleep as well. He smiled as he looked down at Sam’s beautiful face. Now he could finally understand what his father felt, all those years ago, when he looked at Denise.

  Sam was simply an incredible woman. Strong, tough, gorgeous, and whether she wanted to admit it or not, sweet and caring.

  She stirred and gave him a squeeze. She flashed that amazing smile and ran a hand down his chest.

  “Hi.”

  He kissed her.

  “Is it late?” she asked.

  “The sun’s still up. We’ve got some more daylight before it gets dark.”

  She strategically rested her hand on his hip. “So we’ve got some time?”

  He smiled as he held her tight and shifted under her, not bothering to fight the arousal he felt.

  Aaron stopped when he heard something outside. Sam saw his expression and stiffened.

  It was a walker moan, followed by dragging feet.

  They both quickly got dressed, staying low to the floor the entire time. He grabbed her hand and they crawled to the shattered living room window.

  Aaron stood up, and Sam felt a flash of panic. She had forgotten that Aaron was entirely safe from the undead. She stayed low, leaning against the wall next to the window. She watched Aaron’s face, and saw his jaw drop.

  She didn’t utter a sound. She grabbed Aaron’s hand and gave it a light pull. He looked down at her, and she questioned with her eyes.

  What the hell is going on?

  “Peek very slowly,” he said in a normal speaking voice. “Don’t make any noise.”

  She carefully moved just enough so she could see out the window with one eye. She didn’t like what she saw.

  Corpses slowly moved down the street toward Lexington High. There were so many Sam couldn’t get a good count. She had never seen that many bunched together all at once, except in Baltimore. They moved with a purpose, slow and steady. It was the most terrifying thing she’d ever seen.

  “The school,” Aaron said. “They have to be heading there.”

  Sam pulled him down close to her and leaned forward to whisper. “We have to go help.”

  Aaron was proud of her. “Yes, we do.”

  He grabbed his bow and quiver from the floor and led Sam through the house to the back door. Aaron kept Sam behind the house with his arm as he stood in clear view for the walkers to see. It was strange to watch Aaron move. She had to keep reminding herself he was different.

  Aaron watched as the horde of corpses kept marching down the street. He knew it had to be a thinker leading them. His eyes went wide as he realized which thinker it was.

  “Oh shit,” he said.

  “What’s going on?”

  He grabbed her gently by the shoulders. “You make your way back to the school. Keep to the backyards. They’re all slow, so you should be able to beat them there. Warn everyone, get them ready. I’ll slow them down as much as I can.”

  “Be careful.”

  He kissed her on the lips. “I’ll be fine. You be careful.”

  Aaron watched Sam as she sprinted away. Richardson told Aaron he feared this day, the day the walkers came in force. He knew the easiest thing to do was go in the opposite direction. But that wasn’t in Aaron’s nature, and not in Sam’s anymore either.

  A horde of corpses destroyed Allister’s camp in minutes. He couldn’t let the same thing happen to Lexington.

  He ran to the street and joined the corpses. He shoved as many to the ground as he could while making his way to the front of the horde. There were so many he didn’t feel he was slowing them.

  He finally pushed his way to the front and saw Sweatpants. Aaron felt a twinge of anger as he realized he was outsmarted by a corpse. Sweatpants had climbed out of the Pit, and simply left the school to
gather more undead.

  Aaron stood on the sidewalk and let loose an arrow. The arrow pierced the thinker’s head through the ear. It fell to the ground, tripping up other corpses.

  The corpse horde didn’t slow down.

  His spirits fell. The corpses already had the scent of flesh in their noses. They didn’t need a thinker to guide them the rest of the way.

  “Oh no.”

  Aaron could see the high school up ahead.

  He tripped some more walkers in the front before sprinting away. He killed a few more as he gained ground, but there were at least two hundred walkers. He didn’t have two hundred arrows.

  As he ran toward the gate he could see two trucks moving in position to block it from the inside. Travis and Larry parked the trucks nose to nose, tight against the gate. He scaled the fence as Richardson ran across the field carrying guns. Sam was right behind him.

  “Aaron!” she shouted as he jumped down.

  She gave him a hug. He saw the stunned look on Richardson’s face as the older man stared at Aaron’s wrapped up arm.

  “I killed the thinker,” he explained. “But they’re still coming.”

  Richardson sighed as more of Lexington’s men and women ran across the field. Not everyone had a weapon. Aaron wished he had found more guns during his supply run.

  “Carrie’s with the kids,” James said. “We got the bullet out of her leg, but she won’t be walking for a while.”

  Richardson gestured to the horde approaching. “If we don’t solve this problem, she won’t ever walk again.”

  James’ eyes grew wide. “Shit. Samantha said a few corpses were coming.”

  “She exaggerated.”

  James looked at Aaron. “I heard you were dead.”

  “They exaggerated.”

  Richardson held his hands up to get everyone’s attention. He could see the fear in their eyes. They had about fifty people present, and only twenty guns.

  “Okay, everyone,” he announced. “Everyone with a weapon, get up front. Everyone else get behind and hold ammo. Aim for the head.”

  A voice came from the crowd. “We’re all gonna die.”

  Richardson wanted to calm the people he had known for years, but unfortunately, he thought the same thing.

  “No, we’re not,” Aaron said. “We’ve all worked too hard to get where we are to give up now.”

  Sam held Aaron’s hand for a moment, then stood near the fence.

  The walkers were twenty feet away. Aaron heard some cries and whimpers among the crowd. Some of them hadn’t seen a corpse in the wild in years.

  Richardson fired the first shot, and everyone else followed. Nerves and shaky hands were a problem. Only a few corpses fell.

  “The head!” Sam shouted. “You’ve gotta get the head! Come on, guys.”

  The firing continued, and more corpses fell. Aaron fired arrow after arrow.

  It wasn’t enough.

  The corpses made it to the fence. They spread out and pushed against the metal. Sam and the rest continued to fire. For every corpse they killed, another took its place.

  “Reload!” Sam called.

  Aaron handed her a clip.

  He dropped as many corpses as he could. His stare passed over two he recognized. Garrett and Ray.

  Even in the afterlife, Ray followed Garrett wherever he went. Aaron shook his head. They couldn’t even last a full day.

  He shot Ray clean through the head. Before he could kill Garrett, a bullet penetrated his forehead. Aaron looked over at Sam, who had a tiny smile on her face.

  “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that,” she said.

  Aaron grew agitated as he saw Nikki, Derek, and Amanda running across the field. Their arms were full of knives and blades. Amanda carried a backpack.

  “There aren’t any bullets left,” Derek said. “So we brought these.”

  Sam pointed to the school. “Get back to the storeroom.”

  “We want to help,” Nikki said.

  A corner of the fence near the gate started to pull away from the metal framing. Aaron watched in horror as the walkers slowly forced the fence to the ground more and more. Sam killed a few, but there was nothing stopping them from getting inside.

  “Everybody back to the school!” Richardson shouted. “Go to the storeroom.”

  Everything broke down as panic began to set in. Some people ran for the storeroom’s outdoor exit while others ran for the school’s front door. Some tried to get off that last shot, kill that last walker, and paid for it with their lives.

  It took Sam a moment to find the children. She grabbed Nikki’s hand and pulled her along. They had a chain going, as Nikki held Derek’s hand while he held Amanda’s. There were screams of death all around them, but Sam kept her eyes forward, staring at the open doors to the storeroom.

  She saw the storeroom was already compromised. A few walkers trickled inside the open doors. She knew she couldn’t stop. The storeroom was still their safest bet.

  “Wait!” Derek shouted.

  Sam didn’t hear him over the sounds of death and the undead feasting.

  They made it to the storeroom to see three corpses moving toward Carrie and the children against the wall. Larry arrived just behind Sam, and the two of them killed them.

  “Go over with Carrie,” Sam said.

  Derek grabbed Sam by the shoulders. “We lost Amanda!”

  “What!”

  Derek was crying. “I don’t know what happened. She tripped or something.”

  Nikki made a break for the door. “We have to get her.”

  Sam and Larry both grabbed her. Sam scanned the fields. Walkers were still pouring in through the fence. They tackled people within reach and took chunks out of their flesh.

  She almost took a step out of the storeroom. A corpse came out of nowhere, behind the open door. It grabbed Sam’s hair and had its teeth almost to her neck before Larry put his gun to its head and pulled the trigger.

  The closeness of the shot hurt Sam’s ears. She pulled back into the storeroom and dropped to a knee.

  “What the hell is he doing out there?” Larry asked.

  She looked up to see Aaron still among the undead, fighting walkers with his bare hands. He would shoot one at range with an arrow, then knock another to the ground.

  “Aaron!” Larry called. “Get your ass in here!”

  Aaron looked in the direction of the voice calling his name, and so did every walker on the field that wasn’t already eating.

  “Shut the door,” Sam said. “Trust me, he’ll be fine.”

  “What about Amanda?” Derek said.

  Sam said nothing. Her lower lip shook at the thought of the walkers tearing into the young girl.

  Larry grabbed the door to close it, and a hand grabbed his wrist. A walker pulled itself around the door, followed by three more.

  “Help!”

  Sam was on her feet and moving. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled with everything she had, but he didn’t budge. Four more walkers grabbed Larry, one by the shirt collar. More walkers slowly made their way to the open storeroom door.

  Someone tackled the walkers holding Larry from the side. Larry and Sam fell backward onto the floor as the grip on him loosened. She looked up to see Richardson climbing to his feet. He grabbed two walkers that were close to the door and threw them to the ground.

  “Richardson!”

  He took a step toward the storeroom. Larry was climbing to his feet to help him inside.

  No one saw the walker approach Richardson from the side. It bit into his hand and ripped his pinky finger off.

  Richardson screamed in pain as he cradled his hand. Larry shot the walker in the head, Richardson’s finger still in its mouth. More walkers slowly funneled toward the storeroom door.

  He looked at Sam and Larry with sad eyes. His face went stern as he accepted his fate.

  “No!” Sam shouted.

  The last thing Larry saw was Aaron being swal
lowed up by walkers in the distance.

  Richardson slammed the storeroom doors in Larry’s face.

  * * *

  Aaron saw everything from across the field. He couldn’t get to Richardson in time. The undead didn’t harm him, but they were so thick he had trouble moving.

  He finally managed to push through the corpses and saw Richardson lying on the ground not far from the storeroom. A walker chewed on his arm while he beat on it with his free hand. Another walker dropped to its knees and started ripping at his clothes.

  “Get away from him!”

  Aaron threw both walkers off Richardson. The stump where his finger was shot blood across the grass. Aaron hooked him under the arms and started dragging. He only made it a few feet before another walker fell on top of them. Aaron had to let go of Richardson to push the walker away.

  Some corpses still headed for the storeroom door, while others moved toward Richardson.

  “Get out of here, Aaron,” he said.

  Richardson watched as another walker came from Aaron’s left. The corpse didn’t go for the young man at all. It tried to walk around Aaron to get to him. Richardson saw it with his own eyes.

  “I knew there was something special about you.”

  Aaron said nothing. He tried to drag Richardson again, but the walkers were just too many. He shoved one away, but another fell on Richardson’s chest. It took a bite out of his shoulder.

  Aaron kicked the walker and dropped to his knees to put pressure on Richardson’s wound.

  Richardson felt a tugging at his feet. A walker was trying to bite his leg.

  He reached into his coat and pulled out his gun. He slipped it into Aaron’s hand.

  “Saved one bullet for myself,” he said.

  Aaron felt tears welling up in his eyes. He looked down at the man he respected, the man who had spent the past twenty-three years saving people’s lives.

  “You take care of them,” Richardson said. “You and Samantha both.”

  Aaron couldn’t speak. He could only manage a nod.

  Richardson took a deep breath, then gave Aaron a nod of his own, telling him he was ready.

  Aaron put the gun to Richardson’s head and killed for only the second time in his life.