Empty World

by Zach Bohannon

  Paul drowned out the sound of Katrina and Caleb telling the others his plan. He thought of his wife. He hadn’t even been away from her a day yet, but leaving her had already taken its toll on him. Paul had been used to spending hours away from her while he went on supply runs and hunting. And while those situations were dangerous, he had never done anything like this. He felt confident she and the others who’d been left behind would be safe, but what if more bandits came through the city and found them when he was more than a few blocks away?

  You can’t let those thoughts creep into your head, Paul. You will make it home to your wife, no matter what.

  He refocused on the walk, keeping his eyes peeled for any threats that could emerge around them. When they came to the bend in the tracks, Paul said a prayer to himself, hoping they’d find shelter on the other side.

  But as they headed forward, Paul saw nothing. He shifted to try and get a better look, hoping that the straightaway would come into sight and there would be some building for them to find refuge in for the night.

  He heard a familiar noise then and clenched his fist. His nostrils flared.

  Paul saw the large group of Demons before they saw his group, and they were gathered around something. They stood in front of a building, just off the side of the tracks. Paul ducked down, moving off of the rails as he motioned to those behind him. He used hand gestures to tell the others to get down, and he slid down onto the hill on the side of the tracks. Breathing heavily, Paul looked over at Keon.

  “I don’t think they saw us,” Keon said.

  Paul crawled up the short hill and looked over the railroad tracks at the group of Demons. There were at least a dozen of them, but it was hard to tell for sure. They’d gathered in a circle, and the ones in the back of the pack were trying to shove their way through to get at whatever had garnered their attention. Paul saw between the cracks that they were burying their teeth into some large animal, likely a deer.

  On the other side of the deer was a building. The vinyl siding showed its age with several holes and cracks in it. But the roof appeared to be intact, and the place looked large enough to house their whole group for an evening.

  Paul slid back down the slope and lay on his back.

  “That building they’re blocking seems perfect for us,” he said. “We’ve got to clear them out so we can make camp there for the night.”

  “How many of them are there?” Katrina asked.

  “At least a dozen. It looks like they found them some dinner—a deer or something.”

  “Then let’s get those bastards while they’re distracted,” Ronald said.

  “Just because they don’t know we’re here and they’re gathered up doesn’t mean we can jump in there and start slaying them,” Paul said.

  “Why not?” Ronald asked. “Seems simple enough to me.”

  “Man, shut up and listen to Paul,” Keon said.

  “Yeah, let’s wait and try to come up with a strategy,” Julia said.

  “Fuck off,” Ronald said to both Keon and Julia.

  Julia tried to hop over Katrina to get at Ronald, but Katrina grabbed onto her arm and held her back. Others began chiming in, raising the sound level coming from the group. Paul sweat as the noise grew louder.

  “Everyone, shut up,” Paul said. “We’re going to—”

  Out of his peripheral vision, Paul saw something come over the top of the hill. None of the others saw the Demon, and Paul couldn’t react fast enough to stop it.

  The monster snarled as it fell forward, losing traction on the gravel hillside. Ronald was so wrapped up in being frustrated with Julia that he didn’t see the monster before it fell on top of him. The Demon’s head landed on Ronald’s stomach and Ronald screamed.

  Paul jumped to his feet and raised his machete as he hurried over to Ronald. He yelled, “Look out!” to the others before he swung the machete downward, landing it with a blow into the Demon’s back. He pulled out his machete and swung again, hitting it in the neck this time. The third strike sent the blade through the monster’s skull. It let out one fading snarl, then fell limp on Ronald’s body.

  Ronald continued to scream. Paul looked back to see the other Demons had left their prey to follow the commotion.

  “We’ve got to get this thing off him,” Martin said. “Help me.”

  “Jesse, Tim, and Stewart, stay with him,” Paul said. “Everyone else, come with me.”

  Paul charged up the hill, greeting a Demon that was about to slide down the slope. The Demon had the higher ground, so Paul drove both his palms into its stomach, sending it back and giving him more space to get onto the tracks and on level ground with the horde. The Demon had tripped backward on the tracks and fallen onto its back, so Paul turned his focus to the nearest creature. He swung his machete, hitting the Demon in the jugular and severing its head from its body.

  The Demons had spread out, making it easier for the humans to focus on taking out one at a time. Blades swung through the air, and arrows and bolts soared into their targets. Within a couple of minutes, they’d taken down the horde of Demons, including a few others which had come out of the building and moved in from behind it.

  It hadn’t been an easy fight, but when it was finished, no more of the humans had gotten hurt.

  Paul hurried back to where the others were, at the bottom of the hill on the side of the tracks.

  Ronald lay on his back. Blood soaked his clothes, and Tim was pressing a shirt against his stomach. Ronald breathed slowly, his eyes bloodshot, his arms dangling at his sides.

  A grim expression covered Tim’s face as he looked up at Paul. He pulled the shirt back to reveal a bite wound next to Ronald’s navel.

  Paul sighed, looking away from the wound. He covered his face with his hands as Keon and Katrina arrived on either side of him.

  “Goddamnit,” Keon said.

  Julia stumbled down the hill, falling at his side. Her hands quaked as she reached for his face. When she turned back to Paul, tears flooded her eyes.

  “We have to move him into the building before it gets dark and before more of those things come. Anyone, come help me move him.”

  She moved behind him, and Ronald grunted. “No.”

  “We can help you,” Julia said, still not thinking straight. “I just need some help getting you—”

  “No!”

  She looked down at his face. He aimed narrowed eyes at her, but his expression soon changed to one more somber.

  “You have to leave me here,” he said.

  Julia shook her head. “No. Just let us move you, and we can make you more comfortable.”

  “There’s no saving me.”

  Covering her mouth, Julia continued to cry. Ronald reached up and grabbed her arm to get her attention.

  “This isn’t your fault.”

  “Yes, it is. If I wouldn’t have—”

  “If I wouldn’t have been so stubborn, none of this would have happened. It’s not your fault, all right?”

  Julia gave no response. She only cried harder.

  Ronald looked up at Paul. He swallowed, his bloodshot eyes glassy.

  “I’d like to go out into the woods, if possible.”

  Exhaling, Paul nodded. He hated this part more than anything in the world.

  “Clear out the building with Katrina and Caleb and get everyone inside,” Paul said to Keon.

  “You sure you don’t want me to come with you?”

  “I got it. Just make sure there’s no Demons in that place and get everyone inside.”

  Keon nodded. “You heard him. Everyone come on. Me, Katrina, and Caleb will make sure it’s clear, and we’ll gather inside.”

  The shocked group, many of whom were crying, trudged back up the short hill and followed Keon. The only one who remained was Julia. Paul put his hand on her shoulder.

  “It’s okay. Go ahead and join up with the others.”

  She glanced up at Paul, then down at Ronald again. Ronald nodded, smiling at her.


  She cried as she walked away, not looking back.

  “You going to be able to get up?” Paul asked.

  “I think so.”

  Ronald rolled onto his side, gasping for air as he did. Paul kneeled down and helped him up to his feet. The shirt fell off of him, and he didn’t bother to pick it back up. He held his crimson-stained hand over his wound, blood continuing to leak from it.

  Paul walked with Ronald into the woods, keeping his eye out for other Demons.

  “This is fine right here,” Ronald said. He fell to a knee and Paul kneeled next to him.

  “You all right?”

  “It just hurts, man.”

  Paul clutched his shoulder. “It’ll be all over soon.”

  Ronald sat against a tree. When he looked up at Paul, his eyes had turned an even darker shade of red.

  Paul’s stomach turned. He hated this job, but as leader of the group, it was his duty. He couldn’t pass this burden on to anyone else.

  “How do you want it?” Paul asked.

  “Quick. I don’t wanna feel nothing.”

  Paul nodded. If put in the same position as Ronald, that was the option he’d have chosen as well. It was the more comfortable option for him, too. Others who he’d had to euthanize hadn’t wanted to face the blade. Suffocation was much worse on both parties.

  He took a deep breath as he pulled the machete from its sheath. The blood of freshly slain Demons still dripped off of it.

  “You don’t have to wipe it down,” Ronald said.

  “It’s out of respect.” Paul pulled a rag from his back pocket and ran it across the blade, soaking up the blood. “Anything you wanna say?”

  “Tell my wife and my boy that I love ‘em. And tell ‘em that I’m sorry that this happened. But don’t tell ‘em why it happened, if you don’t mind. I don’t want my wife thinking I died ‘cause I was stubborn.”

  Paul nodded. “I’ll be sure they know how much you love them, but I’m sure they already know that.”

  Tears welled from Ronald’s eyes. “Take care of Brooke and your little one. That’s the other thing you can do for me. Make sure you never leave ‘em.”

  Paul cried now. The machete shook in his hand. He wasn’t sure he could do this.

  “I’m ready.”

  Ronald shut his eyes.

  Paul’s hands quaked harder as he raised the blade. He was sure he was going to miss if he kept his eyes shut, and he worried it would only make this more painful for Ronald.

  “I’m sorry,” Paul said as he opened his eyes.

  He swung, and he didn’t miss. The blade cut through Ronald’s throat until it met the tree.

  Paul turned away and threw up onto the ground. He went down to one knee, crying.

  All he could think of was Ronald’s wife and little boy. Of Brooke and their soon to be born child.

  He wanted to have a home for them. To end all this.

  35

  The wind brushed against the trees outside, and it was the only noise that could be heard from inside the building. Everyone sat in silence. Candles had been lit and illuminated the room enough to see the somber looks on everyone’s faces. Outside, the moon hid behind the clouds.

  Shell sat cross-legged on the dusty wooden floor with a small sack of berries on her lap. She stared at the ground instead of the food, trying not to eat the fruit too quickly. Keon and Katrina sat against the wall next to her. Keon ran his hand over the scruffy shadow of a three-day-old beard. When he looked over at Shell, she turned away.

  Paul had settled into a chair on the other side of the room with his back turned to the group. While everyone else crowded around each other, Paul had separated himself. Shell wondered what he was thinking. She hadn’t been told what had happened when they’d left Paul alone with Ronald, but it hadn’t been difficult to figure out, and she’d come to her own conclusion. In the few instances when someone in town had been bitten, Lewis had made her go to her room while the situation had been handled. But she’d always known what was happening. The same thing that had happened when Shell had only been a young girl and her horse, Coin, had broken her leg.

  Shell tucked her berries back into her bag and pushed herself up to her feet.

  “Where are you going?” Keon asked her in a whisper.

  “To talk to Paul.”

  “Whoa,” Keon said, reaching up and taking Shell by the wrist.

  Shell’s brow furrowed. “What?”

  “You gotta just let him be. This is his way of coping with this shit.”

  Shell glanced back over to Paul. He was rubbing his face now, burying it into his hands.

  “I can’t just let him sit there by himself like that.”

  “It’s what he wants,” Keon said.

  “Is that what you would want?” Shell asked him.

  Keon thought about it for a moment, and then he shook his head. “But I know that’s what he wants.”

  “Go talk to him,” Katrina said to Shell.

  Keon looked at his sister and shook his head.

  “Maybe he doesn’t wanna talk to you in these situations, because he thinks you’re going to lecture him or something,” Katrina said.

  “What? You think that’s how I talk to him?”

  Katrina ignored her brother and said again to Shell, “Go talk to him.”

  Shell shook her head. “You two are something else.”

  “You just never had a sibling,” Keon said.

  Shell left her bag on the ground and made her way over to the other side of the single-room building. He didn’t notice her when she arrived.

  “Mind if I sit?” she asked.

  Paul looked up from his hands. He cleared his throat and sat up straight, then wiped his face.

  “Um, you know, I’d rath—”

  “You look like you could use someone to talk to.”

  Shell sat down against the wall before Paul could say anything else. She faced him, her knees up to her chin. Paul ran his hand over his face and sighed.

  “I don't know what you want me to say.”

  “There’s nothing, in particular, I want you to say. This just isn’t the Paul I’ve come to know.”

  “So you know me now, huh?”

  “I know that this isn’t you. I know that you’re strong and that all these people lean on and depend on you.”

  “And that’s just it. They depend on me. And why should they when all I do is let them down?”

  “What happened today with Ronald wasn’t your fault. He said as much. He made his own choice.”

  “But the choice to join us on this journey? That was me. He was only in this situation because of me.”

  Shell narrowed her eyes. “That’s bullshit and you know it. Him being in that situation had nothing to do with you. All you’re trying to do is keep everyone safe and protect your family.”

  “And what if I can’t do that anymore? Keep everyone safe. My family safe.”

  Shell shook her head. “Like I said, that’s not the Paul I know. It doesn’t take much time around you to know how strong you are. How much you love your wife. Your unborn child.”

  Paul looked down at the ground and clasped his hands together.

  “You know, the last thing Ronald said to me was to take care of his family. That was all he wanted. He was completely selfless in that way. Why do I get to live on, and he doesn’t?”

  “It’s not your choice to decide who lives and who dies. The only thing you can do is try to help us all make the right decisions to try and survive.”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not exactly the best at making decisions. What kind of selfish prick gets his wife pregnant during the apocalypse? How am I supposed to keep a baby alive in this world?”

  Shell stood up. “If you’re afraid to live, then what’s the point of any of this?”

  She stared at him for a moment, studying his eyes. Then she walked back across the room to try and rest for the evening.

  36

  Shell’s eyes opene
d as she gasped. She sat up and looked around the room. Candles continued to glow, as the sun had yet to come out, and everyone still lay in their bedrolls. Sweat rolled down her cheeks. Her hair was wet. She placed her hand over her heart and felt it racing. Then she put her palm over her eyes and breathed in heavily.

  She’d had the dream again. The same one about seeing her family out in the yard of their house.

  How do I stop having these dreams?

  She lay down on her back and stared up at the ceiling, focusing on the orange glow of the candles dimly lighting the room. Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing.

  Shell’s heart rate had just lowered to a manageable level when she heard something outside. Again, she sat up.

  The wind blew hard outside, beating against the broken building.

  It probably just knocked something over.

  Another strange noise sounded out. Shell instinctively reached for her bow and quiver. Then she put her hand on Keon’s shoulder, waking him. He stirred, groaning, and finally opening his eyes.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “I think someone’s outside.”

  He woke up quicker after hearing that. He sat up and grabbed his crossbow, then sat in silence with Shell to listen.

  “You’re sure it’s not just the wind?”

  Shell shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  They went quiet again. Other than the wind, there was nothing.

  “I think you’re hearing things. The wind is playing tricks on you. Go back to sleep while we can—”

  The door was busted open, and the sound of the aggressive wind was replaced by the collected snarls of a horde of Deads.

  Shell jumped to her feet and nocked an arrow. She aimed toward the door and fired. She hit one of the Deads in the side of the neck, knocking it to the ground.

  Yelling echoed through the building as the others in the group woke. Shell nocked another arrow, but the others blocked her shot as they began to stand, panicking. Then there were screams.

  Deads fell on top of bodies near the door before the people could wake up fully. Between the screams and commotion, Shell heard the tearing flesh between the snarls.

  “Help them!” someone yelled.