Dead Paper Birds

by Megan McKinney

  I looked over my shoulder. Maybe if we could get to high ground we could take them out from up there. I have my bow but I don’t know if I had enough arrows. There was just simply too many of them to fight here on the ground. If it had been the other way around where we had snuck up on them then we could have taken them out from a distance. Too bad we didn’t have a tank with us, then we could run them over. If we had a tank I would just run everything over, no regrets.

  None of the houses and buildings around us were what we needed. Yeah, we could run through them but it would only slow the infected not lose them and our luck we would get stuck in a dead end. We sprinted around a corner and to our left was a large building, a school it looked like. “There.” I pointed. Brody nodded, that was all he could do. We turned and sprinted towards it. Beginning to gasp for air I glanced behind me to see what was going on. Richard and Dean had gained considerable ground on us while the infected were still far enough behind us to give us some breathing room. I faced forward again and double timed it. Thank goodness we could all run. If we couldn't we'd be in deep trouble.

  Brody and I reached the building where I yanked on the doors. Locked. I smacked them in anger. I ran alongside it looking for any way in. There was a window that was higher up than I was tall. What kind of window was that? Before I could point it out to Brody, he jumped up and was able to pull himself up and through the window. Before he could turn around to pull me up, someone grabbed me from behind. I screamed and tried to ram my elbows into whatever it was.

  “Dammit girl. Shut up I’m lifting you up.” It was Dean.

  I stopped struggling so he could wrap his arms around my upper legs and lift me up. He was able to lift me high enough that I was able to grab onto the frame and pull myself the rest of the way through. I hopped down and moved away from the window as Dean dropped down beside me. In a matter of seconds Richard was in as well. I looked around me. We were in an old office that looked like it hadn’t seen the light of day in decades. The desk was broken in pieces and the computer monitor was laying on the ground looked like it was an early 90’s monitor, with the huge back and small screen that was broken in the middle. The tower missing as well as the chair. Who would want the tower and a chair? Stupid question Alice. There was several inches of dust on everything. No footprints in the dust except for one set leading out of the room, it looked like it hadn’t been disturbed since it was abandoned. That was a good thing.

  Something heavy dropped outside the door, which was pulled shut. I pulled my machete out. Dean and Richard followed my lead and pulled theirs. Although Richard was hesitant. It was then that I noticed that Brody was gone. I looked around the room and he wasn’t in sight. "Dammit." I growled. It would make sense that the footprints were left by him. Get your brain in gear! I lead the way into the hallway. Still no sign of him. I twirled around looking both ways lowering my machete. Where did he go? It was dark in here, there wasn’t much light being let in from the window behind us. I pulled out a slim flashlight and shined it on the ground. There were more footprints out here, going both ways. I don’t know which set is Brody’s. But I don’t think we’re alone in here. Hesitantly I shined my light both ways down the hallway. It was empty except for us.

  Richard stared icily at me. “Where’d he go?”

  “I don’t know. He went in first and then he was gone.” I growled.

  Richard rolled his eyes while Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. “Does he have a tendency to pull this kind of crap?” Dean sighed.

  I blew air out through my mouth, while sagging my shoulders. “I guess you could say something like that. He’s left me for dead before. I beat the crap out of him for that one and I told him if he did it again, I’d kill him.”

  Dean stared me down as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “So, what you’re saying is that this guy has left you for dead once, and then volunteers to come out here again? That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. How can you even trust him?” He wiped his face with his empty hand. “Should we be expecting you to disappear next, to meet up with your boyfriend?” He was shaking and I don't think it was from fear.

  I shut my eyes and clenched my fist. He was nowhere near being my boyfriend. A crash came from the room that we had exited. The infected had reached the wall and were attempting to climb in. I’d have to put my anger on the back burner. “I would suggest that we get moving. Right now.” Dean and Richard didn’t need to be told twice, they followed me down the hall. Out of the corner of my eye I caught Richard pulling the door shut.

  The hallway was strewn with trash and odd assortments of furniture. Most of which was placed strategically in front of doors blocking them shut. Who knows what was behind them. I definitely wasn’t going to find out.

  Even with the decorations that still hung on the walls, they only seemed to add to the gloom. I shined my flashlight down to the end of the hall. Well at least there was nothing moving. My light passed over student artwork that was still hanging in the hallway. My heart squeezed itself almost painfully. Lily should be going to a school where she can make macaroni art, finger painting and being able to play without being afraid. Where she could have friends instead of sitting at home with her family as her only socialization with the few trips out to play with the neighbor kids. She deserves so much more than this dank world. I pulled my mind back to the situation at hand. Focus Alice. I continued walking down the hall but before we reached the end of it I was acutely aware of how loud the two giants behind me were breathing.

  “Could you guys breathe a little more quietly please?” I whispered.

  They both choose to ignore me. What else was new?

  The hallway ended in a T shape. I shined my flashlight to the left and right. No sign of Brody either way. There were still too many footprints to be able discern if Brody had come this way. But which way should we go? We could split up… but even as that thought floated across my brain I knew they would never go for it. I was supposed to be their ‘guide’. Especially with Brody being MIA, I wasn’t going to be leaving their sight and Dean wouldn't be leaving Richard since he was Richard’s bodyguard. So, no, that suggestion would not go over very well. I didn’t want to start another fight. I turned towards the right. Might as well head away from the infected that were outside before they found a way in. Put as much distance between us and them before attempting to leave the building. The more distance we had in-between them the less likely they were to resume the chase the other unsaid option was to wait in here until they left. A building of this size, I didn’t want to stay in for long. There was no telling who or what was in here with us. We creeped along the hallway trying to avoid most of the debris that was littered on the floor and along the walls; desks, trashcans, you name it and it was on the ground. I strained my ears listening for any noise besides the ones that we were making. If we were going to run into anymore infected I wanted us to have the advantage of knowing they were there first. Sometimes the smell would give them away but I didn’t want to take too many deep breaths in here. There was enough mold in here to make anyone sick. As it was I was taking shallow breaths, trying to avoid too much of it.

  All the doors were closed and blocked off. I wasn’t feeling too inclined on opening them. Simply because there was the possibility of running into even more undead or the dead. I’ve seen them before, and by now they’d be bones but it was depressing to run into. But someone must have had to go through here to do this, either recently or just sometime after the outbreak. Not all of the doors were blocked off, just closed. But there was no need to open them and invite trouble in. We passed a set of double doors that had chains wrapped around the handles. I shined my flashlight on them. There was something locked up in there that someone wanted to keep hidden. I shuddered at what could be back there. I picked up the pace. I wanted out of here.

  As if he was reading my thoughts Dean spoke up. “Do you think there’s any of them in here?” He nodded towards the double doors.

  I bit my l
ip. “There’s always the possibility. Always assume there are until you’ve cleared an area. But right now, I just want to find the front door to this place and get out.” No point in sticking around longer than we have to. My mind jumped to Brody. I shook my head internally. No, he made his choice and now he has to handle the consequences of his actions.

  “It feels almost like a tomb in here.” Richard whispered.

  I nodded. “Yeah, most likely people died here. People died everywhere. Let’s just keep going, no playing hero right now.”

  We turned the corner and were faced with a dead end. I groaned in frustration. Wasn’t there supposed to be emergency exits in all buildings? The only way out of this trap house were more of the tall windows that we came in from. On my left there was a door but it was boarded shut. I bet there were some shorter windows in there, windows I could crawl out of no problem. But it wasn’t worth facing whatever was in there. The windows above me were covered in so much dirt and dust that they hardly let in any light. I walked over to them and looked up. I bit my cheek hard enough to draw blood. Did they have to be up so high? What was the point of having such tall windows? Decoration I suppose. I grabbed the end of my braid and pulled hard enough to make my head ache. I didn’t want to back track and go the other way that would waste more time and energy, not to mention spending more time in here. Normally places like this didn’t bother me but today I just wanted to get out. I looked at Dean, the taller of the two. “You want to take a look out there and see what you can see?” I attempted a smile for him. It felt wrong on my lips. I never smiled for strangers. But I could try to be nice. Maybe if I was nicer we wouldn’t have so many problems between the three of us.

  Dean looked at me curiously for a moment before approaching a window that seemed to be the cleanest. He stood up on his toes, and using his fingers to pull him up a bit more, he looked outside a long time, turning his head side to side. I realized I was still biting my cheek and my mouth had filled with blood. Gross. I turned and spit into the corner. I need to find gum or something else to chew on before I completely destroy my cheeks. Dean whispered from where he was looking. “Can’t see much, but from what I can see it’s clear.” He grimaced slightly as he pulled himself away from the window. He wiped his hands on his pants. He looked back at the two of us. “If we move quietly I say let’s go before the bozos who chased us decide to come in.”

  I nodded, choosing to ignore how he called the infected “bozos”. But he was right, we needed to get moving. The infected wouldn’t stop until they were in here and then they would run around like fly’s caught in between a window and screen. Between Richard and I, we found a desk, flipped it over and scooted it under the window. Dean climbed up onto it and tried to pry the window open. He grunted and pulled on it but it wasn’t moving. I pulled out my knife to hand to him to break the window with when he was able to pull the window open. A gust of fresh air came streaming in. I hadn’t realized how stale and dead the air was in here until the fresh air hit. Fresh air had never smelt so good before. I pulled in as much fresh air as my lungs would hold. Dean grinned down at us. “See that’s what muscles can do for you.”

  I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. Dean had shoved one leg and his upper body through the window when someone started screaming on the other side of the building. I turned quickly to look down the hallway shining my flashlight down the hallway but I didn’t see anything. Beside me, Richard took a few steps back, closer to Dean. Dean pulled himself back inside. The man kept screaming, it wasn’t high pitched enough to be a woman’s scream, echoed down the hallway. Intensifying until it sounded like there was a chorus of screamers. “Brody.” Breathlessly his name escaped my lips.

  I started to run back up the hallway. I passed Richard who grabbed me by the waist and held me against him. “No! We have to help him!” I struggled against him, uselessly. His powerful arms pinned mine to my sides. I struggled weakly. Richard wasn’t going to let me go. I had to go help him. But deep down, I knew he wasn’t going to make it. Screaming like that, there was no chance, the infected had already gotten to him.

  I didn’t have to look up to Richard to know he was shaking his head. “We got to go. If he’s screaming then something got to him.” He pushed me back towards the desk and a waiting Dean. “Besides he left us, remember?”

  Seriously? They were just going to leave him! This couldn’t be happening. I know Brody was a dick but he had a family. I could feel the panic racing through my head as I stood poised between Richard and Dean. Between escape and death. This was wrong. I shouldn’t have to be forced to choose like this. It should be a given fact that we go and help him even if he was already dead. Even if it was to just to put a bullet in his brain, just to make sure he doesn’t come back as one of them. If not we, then I. How would I be able to face anybody if I lost someone else? How? I had to at least put him out of his misery. That’s what I would want. Tears began to fall down my face. “You don’t understand I can’t lose him. I can’t lose him while we’re out here. He’s my responsibility dammit!” I screamed.

  Dean spoke from behind me. I could barely hear him over the screaming and my raging thoughts. “Richard’s right. Something found him and we need to finish our mission.” When I didn’t move, he continued. “He left remember? He left us to go off on his own. That was his fault. And if we don’t make it back, what about your family?”

  I turned to see his hand outstretched. “What about his?”

  Dean couldn’t look me in the eyes. There was nothing we could do to save him. But still I hesitated. This is wrong, but in reality, what choice do I have? Hating myself I took his hand and we crawled out of the window.

  Chapter seven… Any day is a good day to go I suppose

  We were walking silently down a road that was winding its way through the Suburbs of the city. With the occasional coffee shop and business thrown in for spice. I hadn’t said anything since we left the building. All of us running as fast as we could to avoid being followed by anything or run into anything that would be attracted to Brody’s screams. His screams echoed in my ears long after they had stopped.

  I was trying not to think about anything. Everything led back to Brody and Brody led back to losing my dad. Why? I tried to do everything right. I followed my rules. I tried to keep people safe. I swore I wouldn’t lose anyone else, and look at what happened, I failed. I failed at keeping people safe. Why should I be trusted with guiding these two when I couldn’t keep anyone alive out here? This was why I never brought Jack out here. If I had he would be dead too. I couldn’t be trusted to keep anyone safe out here. I know it was Brody’s fault, he left but he had experience! He knew what to do out here. That doesn’t mean that he or I had a guarantee of survival but we had a better chance. Jack would listen to me, he would follow my orders but this was just another reason that he wasn’t allowed to come out. My conscience couldn’t handle it. It was already being dragged down by dad and now Brody.

  I dragged my feet along the pavement trying to pay attention to everything around me but it was a blur. People weren’t safe around me, they all died. It would only be a matter of time before these two hulking giants that were walking with me died as well. My brain was whirling with guilt and anger that I couldn’t even try to express into words. I was angry at myself and at Brody. Why did he even leave? Was he trying to secure a path? Was he leading infected away? Why Brody? Why didn’t you just wait for us? Why did you leave without saying anything? Were you trying to save yourself and leave us? Why did you leave?

  Someone cleared their throat, pulling me out of my thoughts. “Look, I know you’re pissed at leaving him but we had no choice.”

  I whirled around to glare at them both. Allowing the anger to show, allowing it to color my voice. “No choice? You truly think we had NO CHOICE! We could have gone back to save him. Or to at least put a bullet through his skull to keep him from turning into one of them. But no, you’re too damn concerned a
bout keeping your skin safe. You come out here knowing your risking your lives, without backup.” I ran a hand across my mouth. “Without helping each other we can consider ourselves as good as dead. We are our own back up.” Tears started rolling down my face again. “He was a chicken shit yes, but he was an honest guy. As close of a friend you can have in this world. I know you’re biased against me because I’m some civilian, and a weak girl compared to you two but I’m not weak. We… I could have helped him. I lost my father because I’m a girl, that’s why… and I made a promise I wouldn’t lose anyone else on my watch. He left but we don’t know why he left, he could have been securing an exit, or who knows why. But because of you-“ I pointed my finger at Richard. “You stopped me from keeping that promise.” I turned away from them, my tears getting the best of me.

  I hated crying. It made me even madder that I couldn’t hold them back. I roughly brushed the tears off of my face. Later when I’m alone for the night I’ll let all of them go. Right now was not the time or the place. I took a steadying breath before speaking up again. “I don’t care how much you two hate me, or how much I hate you. You both are making it back in one piece. I won’t lose any more people because of stupid decisions. Now let’s… go.” Stiffly I put one foot in front of the other. My muscles weren’t interested in walking but standing here in the middle of the street wasn’t an option either.

  Neither one of them said anything in response to my speech. On the plus side it seemed like Richard forgot about what he was saying this morning about them leading this expedition or he wasn’t going to enforce it. At this point I didn’t care. They could lead or I could lead, I just wanted to move on to put all of this behind me. But if they wanted to argue they could do it on the move. After a few moments I could hear them follow me. There was some whispering but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. Their footsteps crunched on the ground behind me.