by Stevie Kopas
“This is it.” She shrugged and looked around the bright white hallway. The power was still on but she knew that would be a short lived commodity.
“How did you get here? You look like you’ve been through hell.” He narrowed his eyes at her, examining her state of disarray. Desmond and Catherine didn’t look nearly as rough as Michelle and Lulu did. Michelle’s multicolored curly hair was all over the place, Lulu’s face was swollen from crying and both of them were coated with the mark of the apocalypse: blood, sweat and grime.
“That was my car out there.” She pulled her hair tie out and tried to get her hair under control.
They were all startled and Lulu let out another scream when the jewelry store’s door burst open at the end of the hallway. An overweight security guard stood with a gun rattling in his shaky hands. He lowered it when he recognized the girls.
“Francis!” Lulu pulled away from Catherine and sprinted down the corridor, throwing her arms around his neck. She sobbed into his chest, in happiness of seeing someone she knew alive, and in misery for the loss they’d all endured.
“Oh my god, are ya’ll alright?” The chunky guard holstered his weapon and hugged Lulu tightly. “Where did you come from?”
“Our apartment. We didn’t know where else to go.” Lulu answered him, her voice muffled in his chest.
Michelle folded her arms. She disliked Francis in every sense of the word. “And now we’re here.”
Francis introduced himself to Desmond and Catherine, ushering everyone into the back room of the jewelry store. He’d obviously been camping out there, food wrappers littered the floor along with empty water and soda bottles. The toilets still worked and the four newcomers took turns relieving themselves in the bathroom. Francis was running low on his supplies and handed the last of his beverages out. It felt good to just simply sit and not feel the sense of urgency to flee anything. Michelle had washed her face in the sink and sat in a desk chair rubbing her temples. She hadn’t counted on running into any other people. She hadn’t counted on having to take in to account any other person’s wellbeing. She wasn’t that type of person. She felt she was lucky enough to be able to get Lulu this far with her. She sighed and sat up straight, staring into the weary faces around her. Those that she knew, those that she didn’t. Regardless of how she might have felt in that moment about anyone, she knew she had to get the gears moving. She clapped her hands together and got everyone’s attention.
“Break time’s over.”
VIII
The group got busy exploring the remaining stores in the building. Michelle and Lulu went to work filling all the sinks in the salon and spa. Francis unlocked the door to the vitamin shop so Catherine could get busy organizing what was needed and what could be tossed aside to make room for more essential nutrients. Desmond wanted to get into the cell phone store to make sure as much technology was charged up as possible before the power went out and Francis went to work in the breakfast cafe in order to salvage the perishable food for the group. Michelle reminded everyone to keep as quiet as possible and stay low near the windows to remain unseen. Once it was dusk, Francis killed the lights and they set upon spray painting the jewelry store's windows. It was a tedious task. They kept having to stop and duck down as eaters would shamble by the store front. Some would pass immediately, easily fixated on something in the distance and others would dilly dally, either staring up at nothing or turning mindlessly in slow circles before moving on. The fumes from the paint were getting to everyone and they decided that the jewelry store would be enough painting for one night. They sat quietly in the kitchen of the cafe as Francis and Lulu utilized the still working stoves, cooking them a lavish meal of eggs, grits, hash browns, biscuits and a variety of breakfast meats. They stuffed their faces and ate as if they were on death row and this was to be their last meal. The group soon became sleepy and made their way to the spa section of the salon, using massage tables and waxing beds to sleep on.
Before joining his wife, Desmond stopped by the cell phone shop. One by one he unplugged the phones, charging cases, back up batteries, and music accessories. He was in the middle of turning them all off when he heard someone behind him in the dark. He turned quickly and recognized the tall silhouette of Michelle and the long, curly hair that framed it.
"Why are you doing all this?" She asked him quietly.
He continued to power down his plethora of electronic devices. "The way I figure it, we don't have many days left with power. This stuff is more useful than you think, even with the cell phone towers off."
She shrugged her shoulders and sat down on the floor with him. "Is this what you did for a living or something?" She began helping him with powering everything down.
Desmond chuckled. "Nah, more like a hobby. Once upon a time I wanted to work with technology. Build tech, fix tech, the whole nine. But then I met a pretty little red head who stole my heart and I decided to become a doctor so I could get to know her better. Over a hundred grand in debt between the two of us, but it was worth every penny."
"A doctor?" Michelle ignored the love story and raised her eyebrows. "Wait, so, you and Catherine are both doctors?"
"That's right. Ain't ya'll a lucky bunch, huh?" He smiled at her.
"Yeah, I guess we are."
The two finished up in the cell phone store and let the back door close behind them. Desmond followed Michelle down the brightly lit fire corridor toward the salon. The lights went dim and flickered for a few seconds before coming back on in full. Michelle exhaled loudly and shook her head.
Michelle took the deluxe spa room in the very back of the salon. She valued her privacy and all the other sleeping arrangements had already been made. Her mind was busy, running a mile a minute, but her body was exhausted and she soon fell fast asleep. The rest of the group was high on the elaborate meal they’d just consumed and slipped off soundly into food comas, with the exception of Lulu who sobbed silently to herself. She mourned for Zach, and for the rest of the lives lost in whatever this sickness was that seemed to be taking over the world. How many people are dead? What are other parts of the country like right now? What is causing this? Is help going to ever come? A million questions drifted through her mind. She said a silent prayer for the world and drifted off, snoring softly.
It seemed as if only a few minutes had passed when Lulu was woken up by Michelle gently tapping her arm. “Good morning sunshine,” Michelle paused and pretended to look at a watch on her naked wrist, “or should I say afternoon?”
“Afternoon?” Lulu rubbed her eyes and sat up, stretching and yawning. “Jesus, I feel like I didn’t sleep at all. Sorry.” She lowered her socked feet to the floor and stood up, stretching once more.
“I wouldn’t sweat it, it’s barely past noon. Come up to the roof, Desmond had a great idea to help us get around from building to building.” She glanced down at both her and Lulu’s feet. “Plus, we need to figure out the shoe situation. Can’t be runnin’ around in socks during the apocalypse.”
Lulu cringed, “Don’t say that word. We don’t know what this is.” She rubbed her eyes once more and followed Michelle out of the salon toward the roof access door.
Up on the roof, Francis and Desmond were fussing with something on the far end to the north of the building. Lulu winced at the gravel digging into her feet. “Definitely need shoes.” She stopped a few feet away from the men and smiled at Francis. The chubby man grinned back at her and gave her a wave. Lulu peered over the side and immediately pulled back, there were about a dozen eaters directly below them milling about. They hissed and groaned, desperately looking for the source of the survivors’ sounds and unable to locate them.
“Don’t worry about them down there, check this out.” Francis called her over.
Michelle watched as Lulu gracefully made her way toward Francis and knelt on the gravel next to him. She rolled her eyes, there was no way Lulu could have a thing for him. Francis was a high school dropout who got his GED at 23 and became a s
ecurity guard at a high end shopping mall. He lived in a trailer park about a half an hour from Emerald Park and could barely even claim the city of Haven as his hometown. He was the stereotypical overweight hillbilly that Michelle hated about the south, not to mention he had written her about a hundred parking tickets since she’d started working at The Luxe Salon & Spa. Yet Lulu had always been so sweet to him whenever he’d come in and ask Michelle to move her car. She’d always make sure her lip gloss was on just right when she’d see him ride up on his Segway. She’d flash him her pretty Lulu smile and even give him a hug on the occasion. Michelle secretly seethed as she listened to Francis explain Desmond’s plan. She didn’t even hear Catherine come up next to her.
“I’m happy to say we’ve got enough supplements to last us about a year!” Catherine said excitedly.
Michelle jumped slightly, startled by Catherine’s presence and enthusiasm. “Don’t vitamins expire?”
Catherine chuckled, “It’s all a money game. As long as you consume them within a safe period of time after expiration, there’s nothing to be scared of.” Catherine’s green eyes sparkled as she spoke.
“Whatever.” Michelle mumbled. “Are we ready to get this show on the road?” She looked at the others expectantly, hands on her hips. “Mama needs a new pair of shoes.”
Desmond looked up at Michelle, blue eyes squinting in the afternoon sun, “I’m pretty sure there are more important things than shoes in these stores, but let’s get to it.” He smiled at her, a genuine smile, and stood up. “Somebody’s gonna have to stay put. We’re gonna need to be let out, locked out and then let back in.”
“I vote Francis. I can’t imagine he’s very fast.” Michelle looked directly at him as she poked fun at him with a smirk on her face.
“Yeah, and who’s got the gun?” Francis shot back.
“I’ll stay.” Catherine put a hand up. “I’m not very familiar with the shopping center, I don’t have a weapon, and frankly, I don’t know if I’m quite ready to be back out there.” Her eyes suddenly looked sad. Desmond walked over to his wife and kissed her gently on the forehead. He held her close and rubbed her back with both of his hands.
“Alright then, we goin’?” Michelle began walking back to the roof access door.
“You know the plan babe?” Desmond asked his wife. Catherine nodded and they embraced once more. “I’ll give the signal, we should be ready in about twenty.”
Lulu caught up with Michelle at the door. “I don’t know if I’m ready to go back out there either.”
Michelle kept walking, but called back to Lulu, “Whether or not you are doesn’t matter. The world obviously isn’t waiting around for you to be ready.”
Michelle disappeared through the door and Lulu felt Francis put his arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll split into teams. I got ya.” He winked at her and she smiled, but on the inside she was terrified.
Back down in the jewelry store, the group gathered whatever empty bags they found in the building and readied themselves to venture back out into eater territory. Desmond and Michelle would head to Target and Francis and Lulu would check out the building directly across from the one they were in. When Desmond gave Catherine the signal, she turned on two different cell phones Desmond had taken from the shop and plugged them into the rechargeable music speakers on the roof. She set them on the ledge and put her fingers to her mouth, whistling loudly. She whooped and hollered, getting the attention of the majority of the eaters aimlessly wandering in the parking lot. She pressed play simultaneously on both phones and preloaded pop music blared from the speakers. Leaning over the side, she nervously watched as the door opened and her group slipped out. She pulled the key Francis gave her from her pocket and patiently waited for the four of them to creep silently into the depths of their separate destinations. She spat out over the roof onto the eaters and cursed them. Desmond’s plan was working.
Catherine ran across the roof and slid carefully down the ladder into the hallway below her. She got to the exit door and slipped the key in, turning it and locking herself inside. Her hands shook as she climbed the ladder back up and made her way back toward the commotion she was causing. A much larger group had formed below the north corner of the roof now. She followed Desmond’s instructions; she was to turn all the electronics off and await his signal once they were finished scavenging the selected buildings.
With the music off, the eaters’ screams were a hundred times louder. Her skin crawled and shivers ran down her spine. She backed away from the ledge and crossed her arms, humming softly to herself in hopes it would take her mind off the howls of the dead.
IX
The eaters at the north end of the building grew bored of their futile attempts at clawing against the stucco walls soon after Catherine had stepped out of sight. The minutes grew into mind numbing hours as she nervously paced on the roof, waiting for a sign from her comrades that they were ready to return. She could feel her fair skin starting to burn under the intense afternoon sun and despite the warmth, she wrapped her pale green sweater around herself to block out the rays. A flash of light off to her right caught her attention and she jogged over to get a better look at the source. Inside Jos A Bank across the street she saw the flash again, she hoped to God that it was Desmond and the rest of the group. She put up a hand and signaled to whomever was in the store that she was ready. Catherine quickly returned to the music set up, yelling the whole way, trying to cause as much a commotion as she could, drawing the attention of the dead once again. She hastily turned everything back on and hit play, the crowd forming once more below her corner of the building. The dead hands in the air, the screams and the gut wrenching smells reminded Catherine of a concert at which she was the main event. She broke her stare away from the empty, deformed faces glaring up at her and scanned the rest of the surrounding lots. There were a few stragglers scattered about here and there, slowly but surely making their way over to see what the fuss was about, but they would simply have to be dealt with accordingly.
Catherine almost lost her footing on the way down the ladder. Her heart pounded as she regained her composure on her way to the fire exit door. She heard two back to back gunshots through the door and cursed herself as she fumbled with the key in her sweater pocket. Catherine threw the door open and was face to face with Michelle who shoved her out of the way. Lulu came crashing through the door, arms lined with overflowing shopping bags. Outside, Desmond shoved an overstuffed, red shopping cart in the direction of the door and turned around just in time to thrust his leg forward at an attacking eater. His boot met the thing’s chest with a crack and it flew backward, growling and hissing as it hit the ground. Francis slammed the dead thing back to the ground as it tried to recover from Desmond’s kick and put a round in its head. Michelle grabbed the shopping cart as it rolled toward her and guided it through the building’s door. “Come on! Our cover’s blown!” She cried out to the two men outside. The eaters seemed to no longer be drawn to the music with the smell of perspiring flesh so close by. Francis came flying through the door, bulging back packs on both shoulders, followed by Desmond, just in time for Michelle to slam the fire door safely back into place.
They all collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, unfazed by the pounding fists and blood curdling screams that almost made it inside with them. Desmond kissed his wife hard as she kneeled before him, checking him for bites. “We’re safe babe,” he wiped tears of joy from Catherine’s eyes, “go kill the music, we’re safe.” Catherine nodded and returned to the roof. The remaining four survivors on the floor caught their breath, and looked around at each other. Francis was the first to break the silence as he slapped one of his overstuffed back packs and let out a cry of joy. They fell into a fit of hysterical laughter, completely taken aback by how well Desmond’s plan had worked. They marveled at the bounty they brought back with them, all in the face of death beyond their building’s safe walls.
Michelle fished the red digital camera she grab
bed at Target from her back pocket and it made a soft chirp as she turned it on. “Say cheese!” She snapped a photo of her three companions and they all erupted in laughter once more. “Told you this thing would come in handy.” She went back through the photos she’d snapped through the windows of Jos A Bank. “Catherine’s pretty photogenic.”
“That she is.” Desmond laughed as he agreed.
“Great work out there. I mean it.” Michelle looked from smiling face to smiling face. She didn’t ever think they’d be all sitting around sharing a laugh like this in a million years, but here they were, having every right to celebrate their small victory. “I don’t know about ya’ll, but I’m ready to see what we got!” Her excitement brought another round of hoots and hollers out of everyone, the dead wailing from beyond the fire door had nothing on their cries of triumph.
The group took their belongings to the back of the jewelry store and began sorting through their findings. Cans upon cans of food, mountains of clothing, pounds of dried goods, a plethora of batteries and other useful components, and all the bottles and jugs of water they could need for the next few weeks until they made another run. When Catherine joined them from the roof they started taking their stockpiles to the different locations where they would be stored within the building. Lulu was excited to start up the “Paint Party” now that they had enough spray paint to finish covering up the remaining windows. Michelle went to work touching up her hair in the salon, now that they had more water she didn’t see a problem with using one of the sinks for her own benefit.
Francis went up to the roof to relax and watch the sunset while the others busied themselves in their own interests. He lugged the rolling computer chair up the ladder behind him and made himself comfortable. He pulled a half smoked cigar from the front pocket of his stained white uniform. Puffs of smoke escaped him as he lit the strong smelling Ashton, he savored the bold flavor and closed his eyes. He couldn’t help but think of the current state they were in. The scavenging, the unimaginable amount of death surrounding them all. Here they were, five adults, locked inside of a building as the world they once knew had just suddenly come to an end. Yet they all seemed okay with it. “Why?” He found himself asking aloud. He opened his eyes, aware that he’d brought himself out of enjoying his quality alone time on the roof. He answered himself back, “We are okay with it because we are alive.” If this is what you call living, the heavyset man thought to himself as he slowly exhaled, making O’s in the smoke.
