After the End

by Bonnie Dee

  The two strangers looked past Ari so he knew Lila had come to join them before he heard her greeting them and introducing herself.

  "Nice to meet you." Marsh held out his hand to shake Lila's.

  For a brief moment, Ari wanted to pull her away from him. He didn't want to share his people or information with these strangers. He didn't want to fall in with their plan and have things change. But that was crazy. They offered a viable solution, just a different course from the one he'd been on.

  "A helicopter," Lila said after Marsh explained his plan. "Would it be big enough to hold all of us?"

  He nodded. "Sure. I've seen the copter come and go from the Sanilac building. It's a Bell 222. It'll carry ten including the pilot."

  "Uh, we already have ten people. With the two of you that makes twelve," Ari said.

  "It's more about weight than numbers. You said you had a couple of kids? They can sit on someone's lap. We'll make it work." Marsh paused. "That is, if you want to go along."

  Before Ari could answer, they were interrupted by more early risers drawn by the sound of their voices. Sleep-rumpled and yawning, Deb and Julie wandered out to the lobby.

  "Shall I wake the rest of them so they can be a part of this discussion?" Lila asked Ari.

  He'd just as soon make the decision without Carl, Gloria or Sondra's input, but they were a part of this. Besides, there was no point in wasting time, repeating everything for their benefit after they finally rose. "Sure. Go get 'em."

  While they waited, they gathered in the sitting area in the lobby. Deb and Julie introduced themselves and Julie went to get refreshments for their guests.

  "We've been running on fumes," Marsh said. "But I'm sure you've had an even harder time feeding this many people. Snack foods only take the edge off. I'd give anything for a hot, cooked meal."

  "Why haven't you guys left town by now?" Joe asked. "It's been days since this started."

  "We were trapped for a while," Streeter said. "Near the hospital there were hordes of the damn things coming in waves. Then the army comes in, ground troops and helicopters shooting the shit out of anything that moved. We couldn't go anywhere. Just had to hole up and wait for the worse of it to be over."

  "Where'd you hide?" Deb leaned against the check-in counter, arms folded. Ari felt her mistrust as if it was a reflection of his own. It made him see his own doubt for what it was, an alpha personality threatened by another alpha entering his territory. He should be grateful these guys were willing to take them along, happy to pass some of the burden to other strong leaders.

  "After we escaped from the gym, we ended up at a school near the hospital. But with things they way they were outside, we were stranded there for a while," Marsh said. "I remembered seeing a chopper land on the Sanilac the day the shit hit. We decided to head there."

  "What about the children?" Julie returned with sodas for the men.

  Streeter shook his head, his gaze downcast. "They didn't make it."

  "None of them? You couldn't take any of them with you?"

  "It was an elementary school. These were little kids. They couldn't outrun the zombies. It was safer for them to stay there. There was school faculty with them."

  Julie dropped the subject. There was enough blame to go around. They'd all left people behind.

  Ari checked the street outside, where early morning gray illuminated a car with its fender crumpled against a light pole, and the windshield ruptured by the driver's body. A crow picked at the woman's face. Ari scanned the block as far as he could see in either direction. It was deserted.

  As he turned away from the window, he came to a decision. They needed the extra protection Marsh and Streeter could offer and the idea of flying with a trained pilot was better than his half-assed plan to hotwire a boat. Of course, the rest of the group would air their opinions, but he knew which side he'd weigh in on.

  Lila returned with the others. Sondra, dressed for bed in an oversized T-shirt with nothing on her bare legs, turned on all her charm around the two new men. She really was a shameless flirt, the kind of girl who didn't know how to dial it down no matter what the circumstances. Gloria stayed only long enough to be introduced and then returned to her room to take care of Ian. Lila hadn't wakened Ronnie.

  "This is Carl," Ari introduced the scientist, who shook hands with Marsh and Streeter.

  "Pleased to meet you. Lila says you got a plan to get out."

  Marsh explained for the third time about the helipad and his ability to pilot a copter.

  "That seems like the way to go," Carl said as he took a seat on the couch beside Sondra and Taishawn. "And it looks like you're well armed." He indicated the rifles the two men had set aside.

  "You know you can't just shoot 'em though, right? You have to cut their heads off to kill them," Derrick said. "I was the one who figured that out."

  "We've taken down a few," Streeter assured him, "haven't we, man?"

  "A few." Marsh leaned back in the armchair across from the couch, looking as relaxed as if this was his own living room. "What was Joe saying about you having some kind of cure?"

  "Not yet." Carl leaned forward, eager to share. "But I have an idea, a modification of the formula that could alter the effects of the original antidote." He launched into an explanation of the cure for A7 and why he thought it had caused this drastic result. "But the solution wasn't totally flawed. I think with slight changes I could create not only a real cure for the A7 virus, but also counteract the effects of the current antidote."

  He would've gone on to explain in more detail than any of them could hope to grasp the specifics of what he intended, but Derrick interrupted. "The information is on a hard drive I got from Carl's computer at Quantus. We were attacked while we were there and I killed one of the zombies."

  Ari rolled his eyes. Derrick seemed intent on impressing the newcomers with his accomplishments as if they were Daddy come home.

  Marsh gave a low whistle. "It sounds like you hold the key to saving the world," he said to Carl. "We've got to get you off this island and some place safe."

  No shit. What do you think I've been trying to do? Ari couldn't help his irritation at Marsh's manner, as if they'd been doing nothing but cooling their heels by the hotel pool until he came along to take charge of things. But once again he suppressed his emotions. This was no time to let personal feelings color his judgment. So his ego was a little bruised. The damn world was at stake here.

  "We have a choice," he addressed the group, cutting across the chatter. "Continue on our way to the marina or try to fly out of here with these guys. The Sanilac building is about the same distance as the river, but in the opposite direction. Once we get there we'll have to climb all the way to the roof and there's no guarantee the helicopter will even be there."

  "You don't sound convinced." Streeter stared at him. "Well, you haven't seen the waterfront yet. It's crawling with flesh-eaters, picking off anyone who tries to get to a boat."

  "I'm only trying to present all possibilities," Ari said. "Everyone should have a complete picture of both options before they decide."

  "I want to fly," Derrick said. "So does Ronnie."

  "I'm in." Sondra leaned close to Streeter. "These guys seem to know what they're doing."

  One by one, the others agreed, some more enthusiastically than others. But even Lila, after pausing to glance at Ari, was on board with the new plan. Even as Ari cast his vote in favor, too, he felt ridiculously abandoned.

  Marsh looked outside where the light had turned from gray to pink. "We should get started. With luck, we can be flying out of this shit storm by noon."

  Maybe to face another shit storm on the mainland. They'd gone days without hearing from the outside world, and Ari dreaded what they would find there.

  As Marsh started giving orders, Ari felt his own authority slipping away. And even though this was what he'd longed for since the beginning, someone else to step up and take control, his sense of desertion grew as people addressed t
heir questions to Marsh or even Streeter instead of him. Damn, he really was pathetic.

  As he gathered things from his room, Lila came to get hers, too. She closed the door behind her and went to him, knocking his backpack from his hands and putting them on her hips instead. She slid hers around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss.

  Minutes later when they finally drew apart, she murmured, "How are you doing? What do you really think about these guys? Dicks, right?"

  He shrugged. "I don't know. They haven't done or said anything wrong. I just don't… mesh well with either of them."

  "I know. But do you think we can trust them?"

  Ari paused to consider. "They haven't tried to take anything from us. They're inviting us to travel with them when they could move faster alone. I can't see any reason not to trust them, although Marsh might be wrong about that chopper and we could go a long way out of our way for nothing."

  Lila nodded. "That's what I thought, but I still feel like we have to give it a try. A helicopter would give us so much more flexibility. We could land anywhere it seems safe. With a boat there's a chance of not finding a harbor that isn't overrun with zombies. But I still don't like Marsh much. He seems really arrogant."

  He felt the same way, but if they were going to follow Marsh now, they had to wholeheartedly recognize him as the leader. Ari turned and stooped to pick up his bag. "Well, whether he's a dick or not, Marsh is the man in charge now so all we can do is follow his lead."

  * * * * *

  Chapter Fifteen

  "Shut that kid up or I swear I'll gag him," Streeter glared at Gloria over his shoulder.

  "We need to stop for a while," the plump woman replied, breathless from trotting along at the long-legged pace Taishawn set. "Ian needs to be fed and changed."

  "We can't stop every two minutes. We gotta keep moving."

  "Hey," Lila interrupted. "You guys aren't traveling alone now. You had to know a group with children in it might slow you down." She really didn't like these guys and with every step regretted her choice to join them more.

  "We'll call a halt in another few blocks," Marsh declared. "Meanwhile, muffle the baby and keep walking."

  "Here, Gloria, let me try." Julie took the little one in her arms and his wails amped up. She jiggled him and crooned softly but couldn't get him to quiet down.

  "I don't think we have a choice, Marsh," Ari said. "We're going to have to take a break."

  "Fine. We'll get some food as long as we're stopping."

  Their new leader directed them to a convenience store. Ari went inside to check out the interior and returned more blood-spattered than when he'd gone in. He announced it was now clear. He'd taken care of a lone revenant snacking on old body parts. "The thing was pretty weak and easy to kill. I think you're right about them needing fresh meat to survive," he said to Carl.

  The group went inside to ransack the store, while Ari, Streeter and Marsh kept watch. Lila had to admit it felt safer having them there. Not that some of the rest of them couldn't handle the job, but these men seemed at ease with their weapons and a bit more lethal in their bearing.

  Gloria changed Ian's diaper and sat with him in a corner to nurse. Lila brought her something to drink and petted the top of Ian's soft head. "Everything better now, buddy? You got what you wanted?"

  His mother looked up at Lila. "Those men are going to cut us loose. I can feel it. Don't let them do it. Promise me, you'll stick up for me."

  Lila crouched beside her, frowning. "No. I'm sure they wouldn't. Besides, none of us would let them."

  "Oh wouldn't they?" Mrs. Patton spoke bitterly, shooting a hard look at the rest of their company moving around the store. "They'd gladly be rid of the trouble Ian and I cause, his crying and my dead weight, but they could salve their consciences by laying the blame on the new guys."

  "That's not true. Stop thinking like that." The woman was growing paranoid. Coupled with her misery over the loss of her husband it was an ugly combination.

  "We'll see," Gloria muttered, moving Ian to her shoulder to burp him.

  Soon they were on their way again, moving quickly in the shadows of the tall buildings. Lila walked with Ronnie, holding her hand and cajoling her to be strong and walk just a little further. They were within sight of their destination, when a cadre of the undead burst from the bar they were passing.

  A jumble of sensations hit Lila all at once: the door banging open, the creatures' running feet, Sondra's piercing scream, Ronnie's little fingers gripping her hand, shouts, shots, the sharp odor of gunpowder. Lila scooped Ronnie off the ground to carry her, but the child was too heavy to run with and Lila couldn't defend herself with the girl in her arms. She glanced over her shoulder to find Joe intercepting one of the zombies, hacking at it with his hunting knife, then she faced forward and concentrated on hurrying as fast as she could

  After firing an initial salvo of bullets into their attackers, Marsh and Streeter didn't stop to help anyone. They raced toward the Sanilac building, leaving the slower members of the herd to the wolves.

  Lila caught a glimpse of Ari fighting hand to hand with a zombie that had gotten a grip on Gloria. Lila wished she could help, but her arms were full of Ronnie. She had her own mission. Her feet thudded on the pavement, heavy from the extra weight of her burden. Far ahead, Marsh and Streeter were already entering the door of the building with Sondra racing right behind them, her ankle remarkably, completely healed.

  Derrick ran up beside Lila and reached out for his sister. Lila passed her off like a baton in a relay without slowing her pace. Ronnie wrapped her arms around her brother and he darted away with her.

  Lila whirled around, drawing the handgun she carried, and assessed the deteriorating situation. Ari still grappled with the zombie that had attacked Gloria, while Gloria staggered away. Joe was down on the ground beneath two zombies, his arms and legs flailing as he tried to fight them off.

  Carl, too, fought for his life against one of the creatures, a young boy, who'd latched onto his arm with ferocious teeth that threatened to tear through his jacket sleeve. Deb slashed at the back of the boy's neck with her knife. Just as Lila went to help, Deb hit the spot and the zombie went limp. Carl threw him off with a grunt, the boy's body landing in a crumpled heap on the ground. He picked up the precious bag containing the hard drive and ran with it.

  Julie had taken Ian from Gloria, and was encouraging the stout woman to run faster. Deb and Carl joined them. Deb urged all of them toward the building then turned to shoot at several zombies on their tail.

  Lila went to help Joe. She moved behind the two creatures which were crouched over him, ripping at him like a pair of hungry dogs with a steak, completely oblivious to her approach. She shot first one then the other directly in the back of the neck. Both zombies fell still. Lila dragged their corpses off of Joe, straining at the effort of hauling their limp weight. But one look at the doctor's mangled body told her it was too late. At least one of the things had gone for his throat and torn a huge chunk out of it. Joe's blue eyes were staring, fogged over, dead. She could see it without checking his pulse, but she checked anyway. And then, without hesitation, Lila shot him directly through his throat to make certain he wouldn't rise again.

  "Come on." Ari was beside her, tugging on her arm, dragging her with him as he ran. She looked up and saw the others had nearly reached the building. Only she and Ari were left…with a few zombies chasing them. She forced her leaden legs to move faster, every breath like knives in her chest.

  Deb had gotten the others inside before turning to fire at their pursuers until her clip was empty. The shots echoed in the canyon between the buildings. She held the door open for Lila and Ari and they bolted through it. Derrick locked the door behind them.

  Streeter and Marsh moved a desk in front of the door as a barricade. They wrestled it into place while the creatures outside continued to beat against the glass like desperate birds trying to escape a house.

  Lila bent over, ha
nds on her knees, gasping for breath. Nausea overtook her and she wretched and spat bile onto the floor.

  Beside her, Ari recovered much quicker. He straightened and strode toward Marsh and Streeter. "What the fuck? You left us out there!"

  "Back off." Streeter stepped toward Ari, challenging him with a glare and threatening him with his height. "Back the hell off. We all ran."

  "Yeah, but you ran first. You didn't fight or help anyone."

  "Survival of the fittest. If someone can't keep up, they go down."

  Ari's fists were clenched, his body quivering with tension. Lila was sure he was about to throw a punch. "We never should've come with you."

  Marsh moved in beside Streeter. "The same thing might've happened if you'd gone your own way. You still would've been on your own."

  "Bullshit," Deb exploded. "The difference is we wouldn't have been expecting your help. You only brought us along to use as canon fodder, like you probably did with those school kids."

  Lila was as enraged as the others, but the growing altercation wasn't helping anyone and meanwhile, zombies were still pounding on the glass, trying to get in. She moved to insert herself into the argument, holding up her hands and shouting, "Hey! Let's all calm down. This isn't the time to fight. There are those things out there," she pointed at the door, "and for all we know, more inside the building. So get it together and save your arguments for later."

  Everyone still bristled like angry cats poised to attack, but her words got them moving. Marsh and Streeter fortified the door with more office furniture. Ari, Deb and Derrick swept the immediate area to make sure they weren't barricading themselves in with more of the undead.

  Julie held Ronnie, who cried hysterically, hiccupping sobs that shook her body. Carl checked to see that the hard drive was undamaged. Sondra found a water cooler and carried cups of water to Marsh and Streeter.

  Lila moved in a dreamlike haze to Gloria to make sure she was unharmed. She wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulders and hugged her. "We're almost there. Only a few hundred stairs between us and freedom."