by Schafer, Jon
This one was wearing a Tampa Bay Buccaneers jersey, causing Steve's racing mind to ask, is this Monday Night Football or something? Pulling his Glock from the small of his back, he shot the creature in the center of its face.
Seeing dozens of the dead right behind it and more coming in from the sides, Steve made a snap decision and tried to yank the left side door closed.
Too late, he realized, as the dead clawed their hands through the gap, reaching for him.
Brain and Meat jumped forward to grab the handle and shut the door, but it was held ajar by three zombies who were trapped with their forearms caught in the opening. One pushed its arm further through and bent it at the elbow, its hand flailing wildly before it latched onto Meat's ponytail, causing him to scream out in pain and revulsion.
From behind him, Steve heard another gunshot followed by Tick-Tock screaming at the zombie Steve had thrown into the foyer to die already, motherfucker.
Steve could see through the Plexiglas that a crowd of the dead was now pushing forward at the doors. For a second, he almost told everyone to run for the stairs. He stopped himself just as the words formed in his mouth when he realized something.
The doors swung outward.
Although the living dead could do simple tasks such as opening the door, they didn’t have the reasoning power to see that as they shoved forward to get at the food, their weight was pushing the door closed from the outside.
Steve let go of the handle and reached up to try and pry loose the dead hand wrapped around Meat’s ponytail. Meat let out a howl of pain and string of curse words so he gave up. Tick-Tock joined them and pulled out a long blade from a sheath attached to his web belt.
"K-Bar," he identified the knife, and with a single swipe cut Meat's ponytail near its base.
The older man fell away, causing Brain to scream in wide-eyed terror, "Someone help me hold the door."
He had his feet planted as he leaned back and was making breathing noises like a runaway steam locomotive.
Steve approached cautiously and laid his hand on Brain's shoulder. "Take it easy. I think it’s okay. They're pushing it closed. Keep your grip on the handle but let off on the pressure."
Looking skeptical, Brain did as he was told and was relieved to see it worked.
Rubbing the back of his head where his ponytail used to be, Meat looked accusingly at Tick-Tock and said sharply, "He only had the end of it. You didn't have to cut off so much."
Tick-Tock said something under his breath that sounded like, "Ungrateful fucking hippie." Looking at the mob of zombies pressed against the glass, Tick-Tock raised his voice and asked sarcastically, "Think they know we're here yet?"
The other three men followed his gaze and looked into a scene straight out of a Hieronymus Bosch painting.
Men and woman dressed and partially dressed in a variety of clothes were jammed up against the glass doors and against the windows on each side of the entry. Hands from the dead crowded behind them reached over, under and between to claw at the glass, some leaving trails of black puss in their wake. Faces were distorted as they pressed and rolled against the transparent partition making hideous faces out of the already grotesque.
Seeing that they were safe for the moment, Tick-Tock walked to his right and knocked against the shatterproof Plexiglas as he said, "Get a load of this. It's the Rhea sisters."
He had pointed out three women in the identical blue uniform of the Church of Scientology, looking in with hunger as they pressed flat against the window.
"The Rhea Sisters?" Brain asked.
"Yeah, Gona, Pyu and Dia," Tick-Tock said.
Nervous laughter erupted from all four men as the built up tension left them in a rush.
A female voice called out from their right, "I hear laughter, so it must be safe." Susan appeared through the door leading to the mechanical room and asked, "What's so funny?"
All four of the men said, "Nothing," at the exact same time, causing them to break out laughing again.
Steve recovered quickly and pointed to the arms sticking through the door, one still holding Meat’s severed ponytail. "We have to do something about this. I don't know how these things think but they might figure out that all they need to do is back up and open the door."
"Any suggestions?" Tick-Tock asked.
Looking around at Susan with a sly look, Steve asked, "Did you happen to see a hatchet in the maintenance office?"
They ended up using a saw.
Tick-Tock did the honors, being careful not to get any of the puss-like black fluid on him. When he first started to cut, he readied himself to jump back when the gunk sprayed out at him. Instead, it only oozed and dripped.
"They're dead," Steve pointed out. "No blood pressure."
Wearing heavy rubber gloves used by the building’s janitor to handle caustic substances, Steve pushed the arm nubs out through the opening while Brain shut and locked the door before more of the dead could reach through. Although only one of the bolts had been secured on the right side door, the dead would have to reach up and pry the door open with a crowbar from the unsecured corner to get into the foyer. No one had ever seen the zombies use tools, so they decided they were safe for the time being. Stripping off his gloves, Steve noticed that in his haste he had forgotten to squeeze the severed hands and arms through the opening before it was secured.
Tick-Tock found a plastic garbage bag and loaded the limbs into it, pausing as he held up the one still clutching Meat's severed ponytail.
"I can get this loose if you want it back. We can try and do some kind of hair weave or something," he said mischievously.
With a disgusted look on his face, Meat spun on his heels and headed for the stairs.
Tick-Tock laughed.
Hours later, Steve was sitting at his desk when, from out of the corner of his eye, he saw an object go downward past his window. Thinking that someone had jumped, he rushed up to the roof to look down and see who it was. His first thought had been to go down to the street but that wasn’t an option anymore.
Exiting the stairway, he saw Meat hanging over the parapet wall surrounding the roof. Double suicide, Steve's mind screamed. His old lady jumped and now he is going to.
Before he could call out though, he watched as Meat straightened before turning and bending over to pick up a concrete block from a stack next to him on the roof. Looking over the side as if judging the distance to something, he took two steps to his right, extended his arms and dropped the block over, quickly bending to look down.
Tick-Tock, also having seen something go past the window of the sales office he now used as his quarters, joined Steve.
The two watched as Meat dropped five more blocks over the side at the living dead on the sidewalk below before they turned to go down the stairs.
"I knew he'd get over it," Tick-Tock said.
"Over what?" Steve asked.
"His aversion to killing. Now the question is, which one of us has to teach him to shoot?"
Steve pulled a quarter from his pocket and flipped it in the air. "Loser gets the honors."
"Heads," Tick-Tock said as Steve caught the coin in mid-air and flipped it over onto the back of his hand.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Clearwater, Florida:
Steve cracked the stairway door and looked out through the foyer windows at the few zombies still wandering in the street as he considered whether or not to make his next move. The sun had set and the streetlights were on, casting the zombies in a sickly yellow glow.
The dead seemed to have broken up their mob scene in front of the foyer once no one was here to focus on, so that’s a good thing, he decided. Although the doors were made of structural aluminum and shatterproof plastic, this wouldn't be the best time to test their breaking strength.
Coming to a decision, he turned to Meat, Jonny G and Tick-Tock, saying, "I want to do this fast."
Jonny and Tick-Tock nodded and lifted up the ends of a long piece of canvas they held between the
m to show they were ready. Meat stood a few feet behind them with a stack of plastic lawn chairs in his hands. On the top seat were two rolls of duct tape.
"We do it just like we planned and attract as little attention as possible," Steve said and then asked, "Is everyone ready?"
Affirmative answers greeted this, so after taking a deep breath and letting it out, he opened the door and stood aside. Jonny and Tick-Tock were the first through, shaking the canvas out between them as they made for either side of the glass-fronted foyer. Behind them, Meat carried the chairs, careful not to step on the trailing material.
Going to the front corners of the foyer, they stretched the cloth out and reached up as high as they could, covering most of the glass with canvas and blocking the view inside and out.
There had been some discussion on this as to whether or not to block the glass completely. On one hand, it would keep the dead from congregating at the doors whenever they spotted anyone going through the foyer to the mechanical room or the Galleria. But on the other hand, when anyone came out of the stairwell, they wouldn't be able to see if the doors were still secure. It was more of a psychological thing, but just knowing he couldn't keep an eye on the dead when they were that close freaked Tick-Tock out.
He couldn't quite explain his fear, but he tried to compare it to swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. When he was on top of the water, all he could think about was being attacked by something unseen. He couldn't see any of the dangers that he knew lurked below and this gave him the feeling that at any second something would grab him. In contrast to this, he was an avid scuba diver who often went on dives where sharks were abundant. His explanation was that he could see anything coming at him when he was diving. He knew where the sharks were and what they were doing. He was in an environment where he could react.
He argued that the windows be left clear but was overruled. They couldn't risk a large group of dead constantly pushing against the doors. Eventually they would weaken, and if even one of the glass panels popped out, they could lose control of the foyer and easy access to the Galleria. An additional factor was that only one of the securing bolts was locked on the right hand door.
Meat set down chairs for Jonny and Tick-Tock to stand on and then placed the last two near the middle of the glass wall they were covering. Handing Steve one roll of tape, he took the other. They began working from the center outward as they secured the canvas to the glass and the molding at its sides.
The glass of the foyer stood ten feet high, but the widest piece of material they found in an office under renovation was an old drop cloth that was eight feet by sixteen feet. It would be sufficient to stretch across the front of the foyer but would leave the top two feet exposed. Steve commented that they should be safe as long as a visiting team of basketball players hadn't been turned into the walking dead.
As Meat and Steve were double taping the canvas, Mary called out in a booming voice from the stairway, "Is it safe yet? I want to come out."
Steve turned and shushed her. Seconds later a thumping noise against the glass told him it was too late; the dead had heard. This was followed by more banging, as the zombies realized that food was near and tried to get to it.
“Damn it, Mary, I told you to stay up stairs,” Steve raged. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Poking her head out of the stairway, she made no excuses. With an abrupt, "Fuck you, Steve," she ducked back and slammed the door behind her, the loud boom further exciting the dead.
"She's going to be trouble." Tick-Tock said.
"She already is," Steve said angrily. "She's also a pain in the ass."
After finishing her morning show and not finding Steve available yesterday, Mary had taken over her brother’s office in his absence. After scoping out the situation that first day, and thinking that because she had the seat of power it meant she was in control, she started ordering Jonny G and Marcia around like they were her servants and pulling them away from their duties.
Steve had chosen to include Meat at the lock-in because of his organizational skills and that morning had set him to inventorying all the food that people had brought along, in addition to assigning temporary sleeping quarters in the station’s available offices. Earlier, when Steve and Tick-Tock came back from the successful search for something to cover the glass in the foyer, they found Meat manning the reception desk. When Steve asked where Marcia was, Meat told him that Mary had sent her to the audio library to pull a list of songs she wanted to play the following morning. She had ordered Meat to cover the phones for her. Meat apologized to Steve for not finishing the inventory.
Coldly, Steve asked, "When did this happen?"
Looking miserable, Meat answered, "About five minutes after you left."
Steve checked his watch. He and Tick-Tock have been gone for over two hours. In that time, no one had gotten anything productive done due to Mary. Telling Meat to continue on with the inventory, he used the intercom to call Marcia back to the front desk. When she arrived, Steve explained to her that Mary did not give orders. Not to her, not to Jonny G, not to anyone. If Mary needed something done, then she had to get off her ass and do it herself.
Turning, he caught sight of Mary standing in the doorway of Tom's office with a furious expression on her face. Behind her, looking embarrassed, stood Susan.
Without preamble, Steve said, "I guess you overheard everything I said?"
Mary sneered and gave a terse nod.
Advancing to within inches of her, Steve said in a cold voice, "Good, then I won't have to repeat it."
They stared at each other for a few seconds before Mary dropped her eyes. Turning she shooed Susan into the office then closed the door behind her.
Steve gave their makeshift drape an experimental tug. It seemed secure and appeared to be having the desired effect. Already the pounding and scrapping from outside had lessened. Deciding that it would be safe enough to go about their business, he said, with a slightly mischievous smile, "Brain, go upstairs and let everyone know that the Galleria is now open."
The big man gave a pained expression at the thought of all the stairs he would have to mount, so Steve reminded him it was still okay to use the elevator. Brain brightened but said with a sheepish grin, "Actually, I need the exercise."
When he was gone, Meat commented on the change in the Brain.
"I think he was an outcast most of his life, never really a part of anything. Now that he's been let on the inside of something, he sees himself for what he was and is trying to be the best person he can be."
"More AA philosophy?" Tick-Tock asked skeptically.
"Hardly," Meat drawled, "Just simple observation of the way humans interact with each other. I only went to AA to study the alcoholic mind and how it recovered."
"And the Judge ordered you to attend," Steve added with a smile.
"There was that," Meat replied while nodding thoughtfully.
As he fit the key to unlock the security gate leading to the Galleria, Steve couldn't help but add, "Meat took the quiz, Ten Questions to Help You Determine If You Have a Problem With Alcohol. It was the only test he ever took that he didn't have to study for and still got one hundred percent on."
Tick-Tock thought this was hilarious.
"Well, I think my partying days are on temporary hold," Meat said. "Except for a small amount of mother nature's finest that I brought along, I am on the wagon."
Steve almost commented that Meat would be safe, since the cops had better things to do than bust him for weed right now, but held back as he thought of Heather. He hadn't heard from her in two days, and the not knowing was the worst part. Every time he thought of her missing though, it was also tinged with guilt. He knew he should probably feel something more about Ginny disappearing, but for some reason nothing came when he turned his thoughts to his girlfriend. No drop in his stomach or sense of loss like when he thought of Heather.
The motor whined as it rolled the security gate up, causing them to halt t
heir conversation. Just as it locked into place, Brain came through the stairway door followed by Mary, Susan and Donna, Meat's girlfriend.
"They were waiting at the landing on three," Brain said, explaining his quick return.
"Jonny's on the air again?" Steve asked.
Marcia smiled as she came toward them, "You can't get him off the air. Anytime anyone asks for someone to cover for them, he's right there volunteering."
The group paused at the entrance to the Galleria and breathed in the scent of food. Although the deli and Cinnabun shop had been closed for days, the aroma still permeated the air.
"Before we go in, I want to lay down some ground rules," Steve announced.
There were a few groans at this, so he held up his hand for silence. "For right now, the deli is off limits. It’s got windows that look out onto the parking garage and the outside dining area behind the building. That means those things can see in. The less they know we're here the better. If they see us, they'll try to get us and I don't want them finding or creating a weakness to get in."
Mary waved her arms in distain, "This place is built like a fortress. It's meant to keep people out when it's locked up and I was looking forward to pastrami on rye. Two days of canned beef stew and chili is a little much."
Steve opened his mouth, an angry retort forming, when Brain cut him off. "This building is built to keep people out, Mary, but it's made that way as more of a deterrent. They really have to rely on the police responding to anyone trying to break in. Since I haven't seen any cops around for a few days that might pose a problem. The doors and windows weren't designed to withstand a constant assault by crowds of flesh eating zombies. Eventually, if they keep pounding and hammering and pushing against the windows in crowds of thirty or forty, something's going to give."
Steve said, "Thank you, Brain. Now, as I was saying, the deli's off limits. But I checked it out yesterday, and it has blinds we can drop down to block off most of the view. Once we've done that, we can come and go as we please, but on one condition. If any of the dead see you through the gaps in the blinds, you have to leave the area immediately. None of the other stores have windows, so you don't have to worry when you're in them, just when you're in the deli."
