After the End

by Bonnie Dee

  "Find me something sharp to cut its neck with," he called out.

  "Use the pole like a spear. Jab into the hollow at the base of its skull. That should impale the medulla." Joe went toward him, but didn't rush to help.

  His suggestion was easier said than done. Ari tried to impale the zombie but it twisted away from his stabbing blows. The broken body thrashed like a landed fish, making it nearly impossible for him to hit the right spot. When at last he drove the pole into the creature's flesh, blood gushed from the wound. The heart must still be pumping. Lila watched in horror as the thing spasmed.

  Ari's arm muscles strained as he pushed against the pole, keeping the dead man pinned to the floor. "Not working. Somebody get a knife."

  Lila dashed back into the store, searching frantically for anything sharp enough to cut through flesh, gristle and bone. There was nothing. She could think of nothing to help. Blind panic. This is what blind panic feels like.

  "One of these shelves," Hector yelled. He swept the items off a metal display shelf and Deb helped him pull the shelf from the frame. Hector ran with the shelf toward Ari and the struggling zombie.

  Joe and Hector's bodies blocked Lila's view. But she didn't want to see any more. She waited beside Mrs. Scheider, her body tense as she caught glimpses of Ari weilding the sharp edge of the shelf over the prone zombie. He grunted as he bore down, driving metal through flesh. The thing that had once been a man made a gurgling noise and lashed out with its arms and legs once more before going still.

  "It worked," Derrick whispered.

  She glanced at the white-faced boy beside her. Although his makeshift weapon was clenched in his hands, he hadn't gone to help. Neither had Joe or Hector. They'd stood nearby, letting Ari do the job alone. Lila realized with a flush of shame she'd done the same.

  Hector moved, affording her a glimpse of Ari standing over the finally dead zombie. He dropped the metal shelf with a clatter and stooped to grab the pole he'd tossed aside. Straightening, Ari walked toward the shop. His expression was grim and his hands blood-spattered. He stopped and looked around at the rest of the group.

  "More of those things may be coming. We've rested long enough."

  No one argued as they gathered the things they'd commandeered from the store. Lila shouldered two totes full of water, juice, and food, their combined weight pulling on her shoulders. She gripped the red umbrella, which seemed totally useless now, but acted as a sort of security blanket for her psyche—something to hold onto.

  When they were all ready, Ari led them upstairs to the street, going first to check that the way was clear. He called back over his shoulder. "I don't think it's going to get any better than this, very few people on the street and no undead that I can see. The way to the store looks clear."

  Lila glanced at Ann Hanson beside her. The woman's expression was calm to the point of blankness. She held Ronnie's hand and bent to whisper to the whimpering child. Lila could see that Ronnie was Ann's red umbrella, something to cling to and take care of while the world fell apart.

  "Move out," Ari called.

  The group climbed the stairs as a tight unit, emerging from the shelter of the underground to the danger of the streets. Ari kept them moving at a fast clip, down littered sidewalk and around abandoned cars as they crossed the street.

  Lila looked at buildings around them, so familiar and normal. This was her city, but eerily empty, as if it was early morning instead of the middle of a busy weekday. Had the people all run for shelter, clearing the streets, or had the government given some evacuation procedure to follow? Maybe there was some location they should be heading. Although they'd only been underground for a short time, she felt like she'd missed an important inter-office memo instructing them on how to respond to a zombie attack.

  The trek from the subway entrance to Superior Sporting Supplies was surprisingly uneventful. Other than having to step around gore, there was nothing to impede their progress. Within minutes all nine of them were safely inside the building. The scent of leather and plastic from shoes, bags, jackets and other gear pervaded the store. It was a clean odor of new things at odds with the primal smells of blood, bodily waste and sweat she'd been inhaling. Lila wished she could scrub herself as clean and new as the store smelled, and scour her mind of all the horrific images that polluted it.

  Power was out here, too. Light flooded in from the front windows, while a few emergency lights illuminated the back part of the store. Rows of display racks made dark tunnels down which anything might hide, but they didn't find another living soul in the store. No dead ones either or signs of death. Perhaps the people who worked here had stepped outside to see what was happening and had gotten carried away in the madness.

  "We'll sweep the entire store and make sure it's safe," Ari said. "Lila, wait by the front door and lock it when I give the all clear."

  He put down his makeshift weapon and took something more lethal from the hunting and fishing area, a knife with an eight inch blade. Ari, Hector and Joe went toward the back of the store to secure the storeroom, while Deb and Derrick checked out every aisle in the store. Everyone returned to report the building was deserted and Lila locked the door.

  At the gun counter, Ari chose rifles and ammo from the gun cabinet after he'd found the keys. "That cop's gun might not have stopped that zombie, but if we blow the whole head off, they aren't going to keep going."

  He handed out weapons to everyone except Ann and Ronnie. Ann was helping the little pick out a pair of tennis shoes to replace her sandals. Lila glanced at her own sandals and decided she'd better get better footwear for walking, too. But first Ari gave them all a tutorial on how to use the guns.

  Lila held one called a CVA Buckhorn 290 Magnum. It was heavy. She breathed in the sharp tang of gun oil and metal as she rested the stock against her shoulder. She never would've imagined when she got up this morning with her mind twisted in knots over Doyle that she'd find herself several hours later with a rifle in her hands, learning how to squeeze the trigger. Lila shook off the foggy feeling of disconnect and brought her attention back to what Ari was saying. If she concentrated on the motions of what she was doing, she could keep her panic at bay.

  "We don't want to draw attention with random gunfire. Don't shoot unless you have to and make every shot count. Aim for their heads and don't think of them as people, only targets. They aren't people any more."

  "What if the guns don't work?" Hector, always the pessimist, sighted down his unloaded rifle and squeezed the trigger.

  Ari smiled grimly. "Run like hell." It was the first time Lila had seen him smile and even though his smirk was ironic, it looked good on him.

  He suggested they each find a knife, baseball bat or other weapon. Some did that, while others took the opportunity to make calls on the three available cell phones. The store phone was down because of the power outage apparently of this entire section of the city.

  Lila put down her new rifle and borrowed Ari's phone to call her parents. They were hundreds of miles away in Ohio and hopefully safe if this situation only affected the New York area. She was desperate to believe it was true, although there was nothing to give her any such hope. With something so crazy, what was the likelihood this wasn't a wider phenomenon?

  The phone rang five times, each ring ratcheting her tension up another notch, before her mother picked up. "Hello, Lila?"

  "Yeah, it's me, Mom. Is everything all right there?"

  "Your dad and I are okay. What about you? We've been watching the news. It's terrible! How are you? Are you safe?"

  "A store. I was on the subway with these other people when it was attacked and we escaped. We haven't seen any news yet. We don't know what's going on. The city's a mess. These things are killing people."

  "Oh, sweetheart, we've been so worried about you. I called your cell over and over."

  "I left it on the train with all my stuff when we ran." Hearing her mom's concerned voice made her eyes sting and she blinked away tears. "What'
s happening, Mom? What are they saying on TV."

  "These attacks are happening all over the country. Stories are coming in, but no one really knows anything. You know the media. If they don't have any idea, they bring on experts who make up theories. The general consensus seems to be this is some kind of virus. But you tell me how a virus can make dead bodies rise and walk." She drew a deep, audible breath and her voice was steadier when she continued. "You know I'm not the most religious person, but if this isn't the damn apocalypse, I don't know what is."

  There was a noise in the background and a "give me that" before her dad's voice thundered into the phone as if he was trying to yell all the way from Ohio. "Lila, listen to me. Are you someplace safe? You need to get someplace safe, lock the door and ride this out. That's what your mom and I are doing. Whatever's happening, the army will get it under control soon. You just have to protect yourself until then."

  Lila looked at the rifle and ammo, the scope and night vision goggles lying on the counter beside her. "I'm trying, Daddy. I'm with some people from the subway and this one guy has had some military training. He's kind of our leader. I'm not at my apartment and I can't get there. It's blocks away, all the public transport systems are shut down and the streets are jammed with abandoned cars. We haven't decided what our next move should be yet."

  "Let me talk to this guy."

  Lila glanced at Ari, selecting vests and boots, holsters for the knives and other gear. "He's kind of busy right now. Has the President or someone made a statement yet? Is there something we're supposed to do or something the military is planning on doing? And are you sure you and mom are okay?"

  "We're fine. Don't you worry about us. Our house is so far out of town, we're not in the thick of things. Wouldn't even have known anything was going on if I hadn't happened to turn on the TV."

  "Dad, arm yourself. I know you don't have a gun but you need to get an ax or butcher knife. Anything sharp. We think you have to behead these things in order to stop them. Ari killed one that way, and one of the people here thinks it's about severing the spinal column."

  Ann came up beside her, clearly wanting to use the phone. "I've got to go now. The phones are down here. We only have a few working cells and no way to recharge them. Take care of yourself, Dad. Tell Mom I love her. I love you both."

  "Love you, too. Call again as soon as you can. Let us know what's happening."

  "I will." She hung up and surrendered the phone to Ann, the weight in her chest nearly choking her. She ached to be with her parents right now, secure, loved and safely out of this nightmare city.

  She walked back toward the front of the store. Ari beckoned her to join him. "Try this. See if it fits." He held out a hunting vest, and she slipped her arms into it. He zipped up the front. "It's no Kevlar, but might protect you a little and there are lots of pockets for carrying things."

  Lila looked down at the heavy brown camouflage vest looking ludicrous over her short skirt and wedge-heeled sandals. "I need some pants and shoes, too."

  Ari scanned her bare legs. "I don't know. That's kind of a good look for you."

  Was he flirting? Here, now, in the middle of an end-of-the-world disaster? Her legs burned as if his assessing glance carried the heat of a torch. He met her gaze, brown eyes sparkling, and her stomach gave a little flutter.

  She smiled. "Okay, player. I'm going over there now." She pointed to the shoe aisle, where Deb and Mrs. Scheider were finding good walking shoes to replace their high heels. Her smile disappeared as she reported to Ari what she'd learned on the phone. "By the way, my mom and dad in Ohio say this attack is happening there, too. There haven't been announcements on the news, just conjecture, and the government isn't giving and information."

  Ari frowned. "There must be a battery powered radio somewhere in the building. I'll look for one."

  Lila removed the hunting vest as she passed Hector, speaking in rapid Spanish into his cell phone. She tried to catch the gist of the conversation from his expression. With his thick brows knitted it was hard to tell if he was upset or relieved.

  She reached the shoe aisle where Deb reached to the top shelf for a box. Several other shoe boxes littered the ground around her feet.

  "How's it going?" Lila offered a little smile.

  Deb shook her head. "Great. Not enough to be in the middle of a disaster, but I can't find a pair of shoes that fit." She lifted a white, gray and orange patterned tennis shoe from the tissue in the box and stared at it. "Did you talk to your family?"

  Lila reiterated what she'd told Ari about the situation extending nationwide. "What about you? Did you reach your girlfriend?"

  Deb's expression was as grim as Hector's. "No, but sometimes she turns her cell off when she's at work."

  "God, this is a nightmare." Lila moved down to the six and half section and grabbed a pair of tennis shoes at random. "I keep thinking I'll wake up, that it couldn't possibly be real."

  "Or we're being punked on a grand scale," Deb said dryly.

  Mrs. Scheider came around the corner of the shelving unit wearing a pair of pristine white nurse shoes with her tan pant suit and pearls.

  "Were you able to reach anyone, Mrs. Scheider?" Lila asked.

  "My daughter in Connecticut. She and the children are all right. They've got some kind of shelter set up in the town hall, where everyone is gathering. Soldiers evacuated the houses and are on guard at the shelter. But Christine's husband is in the city and she can't reach him. The connection was terrible and part way through our conversation her phone went dead." Mrs. Scheider's mouth was tight, but her calm voice betrayed none of her worry. Cool under pressure. Lila admired that.

  Deb sat on the floor to pull on the pair of shoes she'd selected. "My girlfriend, Julie works in a research and development lab. It's not far from here. I was going to meet her for lunch today." Her voice grew thick and she swallowed hard.

  Lila knelt beside her and patted her back. "She's probably all right. Try not to worry." Her words were as useless as condolences to the bereaved, but she had to say something.

  "I've got to get to her. I don't care what any of you say. I'm going." Deb tied her shoes with emphatic tugs of the laces.

  "Putting yourself at risk won't help your friend," Mrs. Scheider said. "We must work from logic not emotion if we're going to get through this."

  Lila frowned at her. Wise counsel wasn't what Deb needed at the moment. She settled onto the floor beside Deb to try on her own pair of shoes and changed the subject. "How long have you and Julie been together?"

  "Five years. We had a commitment ceremony last fall. We're thinking about adopting."

  "That's nice." Lila searched for something else to say. Small talk was beyond her at the moment, but she knew Deb needed the distraction. "A baby or an older child?"

  Deb propped her arms on her knees and looked at Lila, her eyes bright with unshed tears. "Maybe a little girl about five or six. There are so many older children who need homes, but they come with a lot of baggage. I don't know if I'm ready to deal with that."

  "Do you work?" Lila continued to ask questions, trying to ease Deb's tension and maybe her own.

  "I have a small, home-based business so I could continue to work but be with the kid when she gets home from school."

  Static blasted from a radio at the front checkout counter. Lila and Deb scrambled to their feet and went to join the others. Ari had found an old boombox and put in fresh batteries. He turned the dial slowly but nothing except crackling fuzz came through the speakers.

  "The main power grid must've been destroyed by something." Joe rested his folded arms on the counter and cocked his head toward the radio.

  The rest of them clustered shoulder to shoulder, concentrating on the slender thread that would connect them to the world outside. At last a broken transmission came from the speaker, a man's voice in short bursts interspersed with snow.

  "Go back, go back! You got it." Hector waved his hand.

  Ari fiddled with the tuner a
nd the antenna sticking up from the boombox until the voice came in clearer, then he turned up the volume. The smooth delivery of a professional reporter was replaced by the shock of a terrified man.

  "Reports coming out of Washington are conflicting. No official explanation for the phenomenon has been given. Indications are that events occurring throughout the United States may be facets of a widespread terrorist attack. Power outages, violent assaults and accounts of…cannibalism have been reported in all major cities. People are encouraged to stay indoors or find safe shelter until the crisis has been resolved. Military troops and transports are deployed nationwide. From Denver comes an unsubstantiated report of a skirmish between National Guardsmen and possibly unarmed civilians causing an unconfirmed number of casualties."

  The reporter's voice was obliterated by static. Ari rotated the antenna, searching for the signal and caught more fragments of the news bulletin. "…at least fifty confirmed dead…witnesses described the attackers as 'zombies'…scientists claim the phenomenon might be… We interrupt this broadcast for a press briefing from the White House…"

  "There! You got it. Stop moving the damn thing," Hector shouted.

  But the announcer's voice almost immediately broke up again. Ari tried for several minutes to get the station back then stepped away from the radio with a curse. Joe took his place, scanning up and down the dial for another signal, but only static came from the radio.

  "If we could find a battery-powered laptop with an air card for satellite reception, we'd have the whole internet for information," Derrick said. "All this stupid store's got is a couple of desktops in the offices in back. I checked. We need to get to an electronic store."

  "No. I need to go find my girlfriend. I'm not waiting any more." Deb shouldered the rifle Ari had assigned her. In the camo-vest and pants she wore, she looked like an entirely different woman than the one Lila had first seen on the train. Her dark face was fierce, her jaw set and her eyes narrowed. She looked like a warrior ready for battle.