by Stevie Kopas
In that moment Michelle scooped the gun up from the counter and pointed it at the man. Shocked, it was his turn to drop the cigarette from his lips. Without a further wasted second, without another thought in her mind, she pulled the trigger and shot the stranger in the center of his forehead. In a spray of blood and brains, the man dropped to the floor with a thud. Michelle put the gun back down on the counter and pulled out another cigarette. She rounded the counter and pulled the lighter out of his dead hand. She stared into his wide open, dead eyes.
“Of course I know how to use a gun.”
Part III: This Place Is Death
I
Michelle savored the cigarette smoke, holding it in and exhaling slowly through her nose. She gazed down at the corpse of the stranger she’d just shot in the head with utter fascination. She had watched as his body crumpled to the dingy floor of the liquor store, she marveled at the deep crimson pool of blood as it slowly formed around his head, and she now stared deeply into his cold, lifeless as eyes. Michelle had never killed another human being but her skin was covered in gooseflesh and the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up; every part of her body was white hot with stimulation. The corners of her mouth began to twitch and she fought the urge to smile out of simple respect for the situation.
Desmond had watched the events unfold through the dirty window of the storefront. He initially had a weapon drawn, ready to spring inside at any moment, fearing for Michelle’s life. His jaw hung open as he witnessed her grab the loaded gun off the cashier’s counter and kill an unarmed man without hesitation. There had been no motive, there had been no rhyme or reason for her actions. Desmond heard everything. Michelle baited the stranger and then took his life.
Michelle suddenly felt eyes on her and turned to the window. She glared at Desmond and flicked the cigarette at him. The butt bounced off the glass and dropped to the floor. She crossed her arms over her chest and locked eyes with him. “Well? Are you going to come in?”
Desmond hesitated, unsure of what to do. She continued to stare at him, her eyes full of disdain. He reluctantly pulled the door open and stepped inside the musty store; the smell of copper in the air. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. She hopped up and had herself a seat on the counter, lighting up another cigarette nonchalantly and cocking her head at him, as if trying to read his mind.
“Why did you do this?” Desmond finally found his words.
Michelle gently shrugged her shoulders. “He could have followed us, stolen from us, killed us. Any number of things.”
Desmond was furious, “Bullshit! You didn’t have to kill him!”
She took a long drag off of her cigarette, ignoring him. “Are we going to have a problem?”
Before Desmond could answer, Francis burst through the double doors, a rifle in hand. “Holy hell.” He eyed the body of the man on the floor. “Jesus Christ, what happened?” He looked back and forth between Desmond and Michelle. No one responded, they just stared at one another. “Hey! I asked ya’ll what in the hell happened here?” Francis loosened his grip on the rifle and knelt down beside the dead body. “He sure as hell don’t look like one of them dead things. Will one of you please tell me what the fuck just went down?” His agitation showed in his deep southern drawl and finally Michelle lowered herself down from the counter and dropped her cigarette, putting it out with her shoe.
“He tried to rob me. Problem solved.” She looked Francis in the eye as she spoke calmly to him.
Francis wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed, “Well damn, are you alright?”
“I said, problem solved.” She grabbed her bag and placed it on her back. “Are we good here? I’d like to grab our loot from the gun shop and head back.” Her attention was fully focused on Desmond now.
“What do we do about him?” Francis pointed down at the body.
“Leave him. Let’s get out of here, in case there are more of them.” Francis nodded in reply and started out the door. She slowly grabbed the stranger’s gun off the countertop and walked toward Desmond. He tightened his hand around his own gun and swallowed hard. “You never answered my question.” She stopped in front of him, close enough to feel his breath on her face. “Are we going to have a problem?”
The thick tension in the room was cut by Francis tapping at the glass. “We got company!” He called in to them. Michelle craned her neck and spotted two badly maimed eaters making their way slowly across the street toward the strip mall.
Desmond avoided her question. He pushed himself by Michelle and stormed out the door. She watched as he walked right up to the first of the eaters, placed the barrel of his gun directly against its head and pulled the trigger. The second eater wobbled its way over to him, a low growl escaping its bloody lips. Desmond reared his arm back and pistol whipped it in the face. The eater tumbled to the ground and screeched at him. Desmond hit it again and again, blood spraying his clothing, bits of flesh flying from the dead thing’s face. He beat the eater to a pulp; he beat the eater until it no longer groaned or moaned or made a single move. Francis looked on, horrified that Desmond would put himself so close to one of the undead like that.
“Ah, testosterone.” Michelle chuckled to herself, joining Francis on the sidewalk.
Desmond stomped off toward the gun shop to gather the rest of their things. He called to Francis, “I’ll meet you at the truck.”
Francis scratched his head, confused by the situation at hand, bewildered by Desmond’s behavior. “You sure man?” Desmond ignored him and disappeared inside the store.
“He’s sure.” Michelle cocked her head in the direction of the truck, “Let’s go big guy. I’m driving this time.”
“Nobody drives my truck but me.” Francis protested as he followed her back around the building.
“I said I’m driving!” She snapped back at him and stopped short, hand outstretched and open, waiting for the keys.
Francis’s confusion mounted, he fished the keys from his pocket and shoved them into her hand. “Whatever man.”
The two of them sat silently in the idling truck. Michelle didn’t like that Desmond was taking his sweet time. She chain smoked in the driver’s seat, much to Francis’s dismay. He decided against arguing with her, he didn’t understand her or Desmond’s recent change in attitude. Michelle had always been a royal bitch to him, but something was different about the way she suddenly seemed to carry herself. He chalked it up to the fact that she could be pretty shaken up by the attempted robbery and kept to himself in the passenger seat.
Desmond finally appeared on the road. Michelle tossed the cigarette out the window and gave Francis a push on the shoulder. “Get in the back.” She ordered.
“What the hell for?”
“Just get in the back!” She pushed him again, much harder this time.
Francis threw the car door open, “You’ve got a serious fuckin’ attitude problem.” He waited on Desmond and took the overstuffed black duffle bag from him, tossing it into the bed of the truck before climbing in the back.
Michelle stroked the gun in her lap, nervously biting the insides of her cheeks as Desmond took a seat beside her in the front. He still hadn’t said anything directly to her, he avoided eye contact with her as he buckled himself in and instructed her to drive. She made a u turn and proceeded back toward Emerald Park. The silence in the car was awkward and deafening. Michelle’s mind raced with a million possibilities of how the scenario would play out back at the shopping center. A furious knot began to form in the pit of her stomach and she felt herself growing angrier and angrier with each passing second of silence. She kept glancing over at Desmond, hoping to see some sort of sign in his face, hoping to catch his eye and get a reassuring nod that their little secret would remain a secret. Francis remained oblivious as he stared out the window in the backseat.
“Desmond-“ she began to address him but was cut short.
“You killed a man in cold blood. I have nothing to say to you.”
Michelle slammed both feet down on the brakes. The tires screeched and the truck came to an abrupt stop. Francis yelped as he was thrown forward, hitting his head on the back of the seat before him. He rubbed his head and second guessed the words he heard come out of Desmond’s mouth.
Michelle clenched her left hand on the steering wheel, grinding her teeth. “Let me ask you a question.” She turned her head toward Desmond, his face still full of surprise from the sudden halt on the abandoned highway. “Who’s the better doctor? You? Or your wife?” Her nostrils flared as she awaited his answer.
“What?” Desmond’s hands began to tremble as he unbuckled his seat belt. He didn’t like the way she was looking at him, he needed to get out of the truck.
Michelle raised her voice as she repeated the question, screaming at him now. “Who is the better doctor? You?! Or your wife?!”
Desmond slammed his hand down on the dashboard, not ready to accept what he knew Michelle would do next. “My wife!” He screamed back at her, slamming his hand once more down onto the dash.
“Good.” Michelle snatched the gun from her lap and shot Desmond through the temple. Blood, hair and bits of brain exploded onto the window on the other side of his head. The sound of the gunfire smashed through the silence of the car, pounding through both Francis and Michelle’s ears. Francis screamed in the backseat while Michelle sat and watched pieces of Desmond roll sloppily down what was left of the passenger side window. She turned and pointed the gun at Francis only when he attempted to get out of the vehicle. “Sit the fuck down!”
Francis was crying now. He flung the door open and foolishly grabbed for the rifle on the floor of the backseat. Michelle quickly put a bullet in his neck and another in his face. Francis slumped forward, half in the truck, half out. Michelle’s chest heaved as she threw the gun at Francis’ dead body. “You stupid asshole!” She screamed at his lifeless corpse. She jumped out of the truck and hurried to the other side, dragging Francis’s heavy frame out of the vehicle. She opened the door to pull Desmond out but his body fell to the pavement on its own. She stared quietly for moment at the two bodies, not a racing thought in her mind, simply peace.
Michelle climbed back into the driver’s seat and buckled herself in. She put the car in drive and continued on her way back to Emerald Park. She glanced in the rearview mirror only once.
II
Lulu and Catherine watched as Francis’ black truck sped out of Emerald Park from the roof of their building. They stood in silence for a few moments before Lulu began suggesting some activities to pass the day while they waited for the safe return of their friends. The two women grabbed a small table from the festering depths of the café turned bathroom facility and lugged it up to the rooftop. It was too beautiful of a day to spend trapped inside the building, hiding like scared animals; they were perfectly safe up on the roof.
“Bust!” Catherine shouted in glee, throwing both arms up in the air and raising the roof. “The house always wins!”
Lulu smacked her cards down onto the table. “Really? That’s like 10 in a row.” She sighed and crossed her arms over her small chest. “I’m over this game. No more cards, evidently I am terrible at everything.”
Catherine chuckled, “Nah, probably not, just poker and blackjack.” She sipped from a warm bottle of water. “It’s just a learning process, we’ve got all the time in the world.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Lulu sat back in the uncomfortable black desk chair and squinted through her sunglasses up at the sky, there wasn’t a cloud in sight. “What a gorgeous beach day.”
“Oh please,” Catherine put a hand up, “I’m surprised I’m not already turning into a lobster.” She checked her watch casually, “In fact, I think it’s about time I put more sunscreen on.” She got up and rifled through the small bag under the table, searching for her sunblock.
“You just put some on before we came up here.”
Catherine peered over the table at her, “I know I did, and that was over two hours ago. I think I must have left it downstairs, I’ll be right back.”
“Two hours playing cards?” Lulu called after her, “What a waste! We’re doing something else next!” Catherine smiled and headed down the hatch.
With suddenly nothing to preoccupy her, the ambient sounds of the dead infiltrated Lulu’s consciousness and the familiar smell of rot and ruin crept its way back into the attention of her senses. She crinkled her nose and stood, giving her small frame a nice, long, well needed stretch. She rubbed the palms of her hands over her butt and laughed at herself, she couldn’t remember the last time her ass had fallen asleep. She made her way over to the south end of the building, curious to see what had the eaters so riled up today. They were making much more noise than usual and seemed to be excited about something.
“I swear if I see a poor dog down there I’m just gonna lose it.” She mumbled to herself as she slowly strolled over to the ledge.
Lulu’s hand went up to her mouth and her eyes widened. Out of habit, she ducked down and cautiously surveyed the scene in the lot across from her. “Oh my god.” There were people scattered around the parking lot, running for their lives. She scrambled on her hands and knees to the hatch, “Catherine!” She called out for her comrade in a hushed voice. Lulu heard yelling now, frantic, she couldn’t quite tell what was going on or make out what they were saying. “Goddamnit Catherine!” She shouted a bit louder down the hatch, hoping desperately none of the strangers in the parking lot could hear her.
“What’s the matter?” Catherine appeared at the base of the ladder.
“People!” Lulu quickly crawled back over to the ledge, satisfied that Catherine had already begun to make her way back up to the roof.
“No way,” Catherine shook her head at the sight waiting for her below. “How did they know we left the gate for the carts open?” The women watched as the strangers piled into the vestibule of the Target department store across from them. Carts were taken from the opening between the vestibule and the store and piled up strategically in the exterior doorway to block out the eaters.
“I don’t think they knew.” Gunshots rang out as the mysterious survivors defended themselves against the onslaught of the dead. “Jesus Christ, we have to help them.” The eaters were beginning to close in around the entryway and there was a man just standing there. Lulu stood up, “He’s going to get himself killed! Catherine!” She grabbed her friend by the shoulders, “Please, we have to help!”
Catherine’s face remained blank as she continued to watch on. “He’s doing it on purpose.” The screams of agony that emanated from the man’s sacrifice tore through the air and ripped Lulu’s heart to shreds. Catherine turned to her, “You’re right, we need to do something.” Catherine pulled the building key from her pocket. “Francis’ key ring is downstairs. You take this and you lock me out, I can’t let those people die.”
Tears welled up in Catherine’s eyes, she thought back to the beginning of all this mayhem, all this loss from a world torn apart. Her mind drifted back to the abandoned patients back at the hospital, of how she panicked and found no other choice but to escape the crowded and maddening halls of Haven Coastal Medical Center. She had never put her own life before that of a patient’s, but she was one of the only remaining doctors left on the staff that day. She would never abandon the memory of the people in agony that she simply passed by in order to reach her husband and the safety of his arms.
Her colleagues begged and pleaded with her to leave with them in the beginning, attempting to convince her of the futility in trying to aid these disease ridden people. She didn’t want to believe them, she couldn’t understand how they jumped ship like that at first. She would never forget the patient that died in her arms that day. The pale young man, trembling and bleeding to death. She’d never forget the way he gazed up at her and thanked her for being there with him so he wouldn’t have to die alone.
She would never forget how his pupils dilated and how the light in hi
s eyes went out.
How those dull lifeless eyes soon glazed over.
How he awoke from the dead and immediately tried to rip her throat out.
“Catherine, please, we can go together. Let’s go together.” Lulu stood up, shaking her head. The screaming had stopped across the lot. Lulu’s stomach fluttered in anxiety at the sudden silence.
“No. You need to stay here. Not just for me, but if Desmond comes back before I do.”
Catherine stood up and started for the hatch. She was a doctor, it was her job to save lives, and she would redeem herself on this day. She gathered a small bag and stuffed necessary items inside, making her way swiftly to the exit. “Lock me out. Let’s go, hurry.”
Lulu was hesitant to unlock the door in order for Catherine to head out on her own. She stared at the key in her hands, more nervous than she had been since the last time anyone had ventured out of the comfort of their building. Catherine clutched Francis’ ring of keys in one hand and a makeshift hatchet in the other. The two women tightly hugged one another. “No music, the dead are distracted enough. You’ll know when I need to get back. Be on the lookout, don’t leave the roof until it’s time.”
Lulu swallowed the lump in her throat. “Alright. What do I do if Michelle and everyone get back first?”
“Then that means I’ll have more help if I need it. You’ve got this. I know you do.” She nodded at Lulu, her bright eyes full of nothing but determination.
Lulu quickly double checked the small bag strapped to Catherine with medical supplies in it, Catherine held up her makeshift weapon and nodded reassuringly. “Okay.” Lulu counted to three and exhaled with a grunt, shoving open the door. She was relieved to see that they had no stragglers in their neck of the woods. Catherine bolted out the door and was gone in an instant.
