Dead Summit: Containment

by Daniel Loubier

  Liam waved a dismissive hand.

  “Dude, it’ll be fine,” Ryan said. “Amanda will be there.”

  “I hope she’s there, it’s her house.”

  Ryan couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, well… Ms. Smith will be there, too.”

  Liam stared at his friend. The way Ryan referred to Shelly Smith always amused him and a smile began to form, but it quickly vanished.

  “Yeah, but that means Robert will be there, too.”

  “Who cares? Just hang out and be cool. Maybe you’ll get a chance to say hi to her, maybe you won’t. At least you’ll be there and she’ll have a chance to notice you outside of school.”

  Liam didn’t have a good counterargument and instead changed the topic.

  “You really think anything is going to happen with Amanda?”

  Ryan stood still, his raised eyebrow and hand-on-hip expressing only feigned annoyance. “What… you think I have no shot at her?”

  It was Liam’s turn to laugh. “Well, I mean… I suppose you’ll always have Biology.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Look, I’m not stupid. I don’t expect anything to happen tonight. She’s out of my league, but so what? I just want to have a good time. And you know what? Maybe she invites me next time. Or maybe someone else invites us to their party. Either way, I think it’ll be a good time.”

  Ryan was right about one thing. It had been a good time. For him. Amanda was surprisingly friendly with him—could have been the alcohol—and pulled him around, showing him off in a way. “Hey, this is my super smart friend, Ryan! He got us an A on our science project!”

  Liam resigned to wandering the house alone looking at family pictures and expensive-looking furniture. He kept his head up, though, and tried to look affable and approachable. He bobbed his head to the music that thumped out of the home’s audio system. It was loud and dance-like. It wasn’t his fist choice of music, but he recognized it and adapted.

  Several times he met eyes with someone he recognized and he would offer a salutatory nod, but each time the gesture went unreturned. He began to feel uncomfortable and wished it wouldn’t be much longer until Ryan felt satisfied enough to leave.

  “Yo, dude!”

  Liam jerked his head and nearly spilled his beer. It was Ryan. He was with Amanda and they both looked inebriated.

  “Oh, hey. What’s going on?”

  Ryan looked into Liam’s cup. “Dude… you still drinking that? Ah, man, go get a cold one. It’ll taste better!”

  “Yeah, I’ll probably head back to the keg in a bit,” he lied.

  “Oh, guess what!” Ryan said, slapping his friend in the chest. “Amanda says her younger brother has a sweet PC he uses for gaming!”

  “Oh yeah? That’s cool.”

  “Yeah!” Ryan continued. Then he inched closer to Liam and lowered his voice. “She’s totally a closet Call of Duty fan!”

  Liam was surprised to hear this. “Oh wow, good for you.”

  “I’m just a big ‘ol nerd,” Amanda said laughing. Then she stopped, her visage all at once embarrassed. “I’m not saying you guys are nerds, it’s not like that, I promise!”

  Liam had to admit, she sure was cute. She wore a pretty yellow dress with a pair of sandals and her hair was tied up with several strands falling messily around her face.

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Ryan said, winking at Liam. “We know who we are.”

  “So Liam,” Amanda began, “Ryan tells me you think Shelly Smith is cute.”

  Liam’s face turned pale and he glared at his friend.

  “Dude… really?”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Amanda said, “it’s not like you’re the only guy who thinks she’s cute.”

  “Yeah,” Ryan said, “but this has been a thing with Liam for years.”

  “OH MY GOD, DUDE!”

  Ryan laughed. “What? It’s no secret.”

  “I know her,” Amanda added. “I can throw in a good word if you’d like.”

  Liam huffed and opened his mouth to speak, but there were no words. He couldn’t believe Ryan had just divulged his deepest secret so openly, and in front of the very objection of his own affection. The fact Amanda was intoxicated and likely wouldn’t remember this conversation the next day was a small consolation, and Liam tried to move on.

  “By the way,” Liam said, “What’s the--”

  “Speak of the devil,” Amanda cut him off, “there she is now.”

  Liam turned and, through a hallway and a sea of high school kids, he saw Shelly Smith standing by the front door.

  She looked incredible. Ripped jeans, a pair of worn-in Converse, a short-sleeved striped t-shirt—it was a simple ensemble, but very effective. She looked great in whatever she wore, Liam thought.

  “Ugh,” Amanda uttered. “She brought her man with her.” The way she wrapped the word ‘man’ with disdain made Liam smile inside. It seemed he and Ryan weren’t the only ones who thought negatively of Robert Verhoeven.

  “And now you know why I’ve kept it a secret”—he glared at Ryan again—“for so long.”

  “No,” she said. Her demeanor had changed completely and she moved toward the door. “She said she was coming solo. She wasn’t supposed to bring him. Let me find out what’s going on.”

  Amanda squeezed quickly through the swarm of partygoers and toward the front door.

  “What do we do?” Liam asked.

  Ryan shrugged and put his beer to his lips.

  I guess we just stay here, Liam thought.

  “Hey,” Ryan said, “weren’t you going to get a cold one?”

  “Right.”

  As they turned toward the kitchen, they both heard raised voices. They stopped and looked.

  Amanda appeared to be yelling at Shelly about something.

  “The hell is going on?” Ryan asked.

  Liam stared at the two girls and tried to hear the conversation. The music was loud and he and Ryan were too close to the source that he couldn’t discern the words being shared between Shelly and Amanda.

  Robert appeared in the doorway. His half-closed eyes, cocky smile, and the way his arm draped lazily around Shelly’s shoulders suggested he was incredibly drunk.

  The animated conversation between the two girls continued. Amanda was still angry while Shelly appeared… embarrassed? Her back rounded and her eyes hardly met Amanda’s. Why would she be embarrassed? Robert laughed several times until Amanda addressed him directly. He then took his arm away from Shelly and pointed an angry finger at Amanda.

  “Whoa,” Ryan said. “Let’s go check it out.”

  “What!” Liam asked. He tried to stop Ryan, but his friend was already out of reach and moving through the crowd. “Shit…”

  Liam followed him. Several faces turned to see who had bumped into them. They all seemed to have that, ‘What are you doing here?’ look on their faces. Liam ignored them and only tried to close the distance to his friend.

  The music was farther away now and Liam could now hear pieces of the conversation.

  “…can’t believe you brought him here!”

  “…Amanda, I’m sorry…”

  “…after what he… last time… my house!”

  “…not my fault… crazy bitch…”

  Liam made his way through the crowd and now found himself with a front-row seat to the confrontation. There were many onlookers. To his surprise, none of Robert’s friends had come to try to defuse the situation.

  Ryan reached out a tentative hand and tapped Amanda on the shoulder.

  She whipped around her head. “What!”

  “Oh, uh…” Ryan was startled by her reaction. “Nothing much, um…”

  “Some people are asking if there’s a second keg,” Liam interjected.

  “What?” She was flustered. “No. Of course not. I couldn’t afford more than one. Didn’t people bring their own?”

  “What?” Robert blurted. “No more beer? That’s bullshit! Come on, Shel. Let’s get outta here.”

  Am
anda grabbed Shelly by the wrist. “Wait.” Her eyes locked with Shelly’s. “You are more than welcome to stay.” Then she turned to Robert. “This piece of shit is not.”

  “Oh, I’m a piece of shit? Yeah? How’s this for pieces of shit…”

  Robert grabbed a ceramic planter sitting on the rail of Amanda’s front porch and shoved it into several other planters. They fell from both sides of the rail, shattering on impact with the ground and the wooden porch floor.

  “You son of a bitch! Those were my mother’s! GET OUT OF HERE!”

  Robert simply stared at her. An evil grin formed on his face and he held his arms out as if to say, ‘Want some more?’

  Liam felt bodies push into him and shove him to the side. Three large male classmates who Liam recognized as Robert’s friends stepped out of the house and onto the porch. They had come to rescue their friend from embarrassment.

  Little late to save face now, Liam thought.

  “All right, big guy,” one of them said. “Let’s get on home.”

  The three guys took Robert by his arms and started to walk him down the porch steps as he shouted back at Amanda.

  “How’s that for a piece of shit!” he shouted again. Then he laughed like a maniac.

  “Easy, fella,” another of his friends said. “Don’t want to get the neighbors’ attention.”

  Robert wasn’t small, but he was no match for the three guys who escorted him away. He eventually walked with them but not before calling out to Shelly.

  “Shel! Babe! Come on. Let’s go.”

  “She’s fine,” one of his friends reminded him calmly. “She’ll find a way home, it’s not far from here.”

  Robert offered no further argument and slid into the backseat of a car. The other three guys jumped in and the driver called out through the window.

  “Sorry about this, Amanda.”

  As the car backed out of the driveway, Liam could hear Robert say from the backseat, “Don’t say sorry!”

  The car left and Liam was baffled by the effects alcohol could have on a person.

  “Well, that’s what a few too many beers will do to you.” Ryan appeared next to Liam. He put an arm around Amanda. “Come, let’s sit down inside. I’ll clean this up for you.” As he walked in the door with Amanda, whose face was full of tears yet still just as pretty as before, he stole a glance at Liam and shook his head. Liam only returned the same gesture.

  “That guy,” Liam said. “What an asshole.” He saw Shelly turn toward him and he immediately regretted his words. “Shit… I’m sorry.”

  Shelly waved off the apology. “No, it’s okay. You’re right. He’s been acting like an asshole all night.”

  Liam nodded, thankful that his comments had been pardoned so quickly. He looked out into the night and assessed the evening’s events up to now. He never wanted to attend this party, and Robert’s outburst confirmed exactly why he didn’t care to be there. He had no interest in mingling with these people. There was nobody here that he needed to see.

  Except for Shelly.

  He watched her in his periphery. She hadn’t moved the whole time. Nobody came outside to see if she was okay. She looked… alone. Vulnerable. And for reasons he couldn’t explain to himself, Liam felt brave enough to talk to her.

  “Does he get like that a lot?”

  “Who, Robert?”

  Liam nodded.

  “I guess so. I mean… yeah. He gets like that when he drinks a lot.”

  “Mm.” He looked down at the cup in his hand and wished he hadn’t been drinking. Fortunately the cup was still half-full, and he hoped Shelly had noticed that as well.

  “I’m Liam, by the way.”

  “I know.”

  His heart felt warm when she said this and he wondered how much more she knew about him, if anything.

  “I’ve seen you around,” she continued. Her eyes dipped toward the red cup in his hand. “Are you really drinking that?”

  “Oh, this?”

  “Yeah. You’ve been out here a while and I haven’t seen you take one sip yet.”

  So she hadn’t simply noticed him, but had apparently been aware of his presence this whole time. He steadied himself and tried to think of something to say that would sound cool, but ultimately nothing came to mind. He eventually leaned on his humor.

  “Honestly, I’ve been holding this half beer for almost three hours now.” She started to laugh. “I think it’s as warm as my core temperature.” She laughed even louder. And it sounded lovely. The way her lips parted and her perfect teeth gave way to such a wonderful sound confirmed every assumption Liam ever had about the way he might feel if he ever heard her laugh.

  “That’s too funny!”

  He tilted his head to the side and said, “Aw, shucks.”

  “No, really. You are funny.”

  Her smile melted him and seemed to brighten up the entire porch. Where before he had been counting the minutes until Ryan would be ready to go home, now he couldn’t think of another place he wanted to be than exactly where he stood.

  He hadn’t realized until now that they were the only two outside.

  “Well, thank you,” he said. “I have three older sisters. They’re my biggest fans.”

  “That’s so sweet.”

  He smiled back and held her gaze for a moment until he realized he had nothing to say. He became lost in her blue eyes, the gentle slope of her nose, the way her hair curled from the top of her head to her chin. She was angelic in a way and he thought for a moment that maybe this was all a dream from which he would wake up at any time.

  Nope. This is totally happening.

  Just before the silence became awkward, he leaned over the side of the porch and dumped the rest of his beer on the ground.

  “Who am I kidding?” he asked. “Nobody’s drinking that shit.”

  “How come you don’t talk more?” she asked, laughing again. “Like in school?”

  Liam shrugged.

  “You should.”

  Liam gave her question some thought before answering.

  “I guess I just… don’t think anyone will listen.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “How so?”

  “Well,” she said, “I’m listening.”

  His heart quickened and he opened his mouth to speak but froze. He needed to choose his next words very carefully. This was the moment he had only dreamed about until now. Liam never had some clichéd fantasy that involved Shelly running away from Robert and into his arms and then kissing her. That stuff only ever happened in movies and romance novels. This moment was actually quite simple, but nonetheless critical.

  This was the beginning.

  The next words from his mouth would chart the course for everything that could or would happen later. He inhaled and slowly opened his mouth to speak.

  “Shelly!”

  Two girls emerged from the house and out onto the porch. One of them grabbed Shelly by the shoulders.

  “You have to come! Amanda is getting sick. Some guy is trying to take care of her.”

  “Um…” Shelly hesitated.

  “Come on!” the girl insisted. She started to pull Shelly into the house.

  “Shoot.” Then she turned to Liam and frowned. “I’m sorry. Let me go take care of Amanda.”

  “Sure,” Liam said. “No problem. I hope she’s okay.” He meant it.

  Shelly offered an apologetic smile before she disappeared into the crowd.

  A few seconds later he swore he heard her call out, “Talk to you later!”

  He lingered on the porch a few minutes. The door closed and the cacophony of the party inside carried on like a disorganized orchestra. He looked up at the clear night sky, at the millions of lonely stars and considered all the ways this night could have transpired. He and Shelly might have stayed out on the porch and talked longer. Maybe for an hour. Maybe two more hours. He might have gotten to know her more personally. She might have finally realized what a terrible boyfriend
Robert was and somehow become romantically interested in Liam.

  As he stepped off the porch and headed home, he continued to look up at the stars. It was a beautiful night.

  Chapter 19

  Present Day

  "Hey Chief,” Ryan whispered into the two-way radio. “It’s Ryan. Looks like we've got Roy over by the lake, here. Want us to put him down? Over."

  There was a delay on the other end before Robert’s voice came through. "Aw, Christ man! I thought you guys took care of him already!"

  He eyed Liam ominously. “Shit. He’s pissed.”

  “Just tell him we got it,” Liam said.

  “Right.” Ryan put the radio to his mouth. “You got it, Chief. We’ll take him out.”

  Ryan returned the radio to the leather pouch on his hip. His rifle hung idly at his side, his hand on the stock.

  Killing was not in his blood, nor was it in Liam’s, but he knew that by hesitating, he was only prolonging one of two inevitabilities: either he or Liam would eventually have to summon enough courage to kill the zombie in front of them, or they would let it go and face the unholy wrath that would be unleashed upon them by their fathers for not upholding their responsibility to the containment initiative.

  He and Liam had been assigned a simple task: find and kill Roy, along with any remaining zombies they encountered. And if they ran into any living humans about whom they were unsure, kill them, too. Do not hesitate.

  Liam and Ryan were not yet teenagers when their fathers made them both swear to protect the secret. They were fully aware of the consequences if the secret ever got out or if they chose not to fulfill their obligation; failure to maintain the secret, including a lack of desire to do so, meant excommunication or worse. The problem was they simply did not care.

  Until now.

  Both Ryan and Liam had been told that Roy ignored containment protocols. This made him a liability and, therefore, he needed to be ‘contained,’ as Robert’s father, James, had said. James and the other elders used words and phrases like ‘contain’ and ‘silence’ and ‘take care of’ much to the disgust of Ryan. They were too stubborn and ignorant to admit that what they were really doing was committing murder.