“What?” I heard Sarah giggle.
I turned my head and repeated, “You’re tired too?”
“Yeah,” she said yawning.
“Well, you’re welcome to climb in with…” I was interrupted by the body landing on top of me and the air being expelled from my lungs. Sarah had made a flying leap and landed on my back. “Me,” I gasped.
She laughed and got under the covers with me. “Come on, we only have a few hours before we have to leave.”
“Then stop squirming and go to sleep.”
“I can’t get comfortable. Will you…”
“Nope.”
“Please”
“Nope.”
“Why not?” she pouted.
“Because I’m tired.”
“But…”
“Tonight.”
“Fine,” she sighed. She snuggled up next to me and we fell asleep.
I woke a few hours later and felt a lot better. I gently shook Sarah awake, “Come on beautiful. It’s time to get up.”
Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled, “Morning.”
“Not quite, but it is time to get up.”
“Ok,” she said yawning and climbing over me.
I shook my head and got up, putting my boots back on I walked out to the living room. “Everyone ready to go?” There was a murmur of assent that traveled through the group. We piled into three trucks and took off down the highway. I was in the lead truck and when we got within half a block of the Library I slowed to a stop and got out of the truck. Walking back I told Matt and Justin, the drivers of the other two trucks, and told them that I would be checking the exterior of the Library before we got any closer.
“You need any help?” asked Thomas.
“Nah, I’ve got Sarah and Liz to watch my back,” I said.
“Alright. If you need some help just call.”
“Will do,” I said jogging back to my truck. “You two ready?”
“Let’s do it,” Liz grinned confidently.
“Looks like someone ate her Wheaties this morning,” I said.
“No, she’s just excited to get at all the books inside,” Sarah said smiling.
“You’re damn right I am,” she said almost bouncing on her feet.
“Well let’s go then,” I said heading to the front doors. Sarah and Liz flanked me and kept a watch as we strode confidently up the middle of the street and reached the front doors. I pulled gently on the handles. “Locked. Ok, let’s check the perimeter and take anything out we might find, quietly please” Liz and I were armed with a bow which meant that Sarah would have to either let us take out any threats or she would have to use a knife. We moved quickly around the block, checking behind cars and between buildings, anywhere a Walker might hide. Once we determined that the area was clear I sent Sarah to bring the truck up and motioned for the other two trucks to follow. Once they had pulled up and gotten out they massed outside the large double doors and waited for my signal to breach the building. I wrapped a knuckle lightly around where the lock would be on the wood doors. I found where the lock was and pointed at it. “Jason, on my say I want you to shoot right here with your shotgun. Matt and Justin, you’ll pull the doors open and Sarah and I will cover the breach. Alright?” I said looking around at the group. They nodded in agreement. “Good.” I backed away so Jason could stand in front of the doors. “Two shots on my mark. Three, two, one, mark” I covered my eyes as the wood splintered. “Alright, Matt and Justin, the doors please.” They moved up and took the bits of remaining handles. Sarah and I moved up and used our pistols to make a crossed field of fire and I said “Ready. Open.” They pulled the doors open and Sarah and I aimed into the seemingly empty building. We got lucky that the building was equipped with dozens and dozens of windows, as well as several skylights. “Alright, let’s move in. Stay sharp.”
As we entered I breathed deeply, I could smell books and dust. But it wasn’t the smells that I could detect that were of note, but the smell I couldn’t find. The library lacked the lingering stench of death.
We moved in pairs, working together to clear the first-floor aisle by aisle. Sarah and I reached the back corner of the building. “Clear,” I yelled. My call was echoed throughout the bottom floor. “Alright, regroup at the stairs.” We met up and moved single file up the narrow staircase. We separated and cleared the second floor. “Ok people,” I addressed them, “Let’s start loading up. Liz, you are free to browse just stay… “
“Safe, yeah I know,” she said running down the stairs and into the stacks.
“Can someone follow her please?”
“No problem,” said Carrie running off after her.
“Great. Let’s go people.”
We headed downstairs and started loading armful after armful of books into the backs of the trucks. We didn’t have the time to pick and choose so we loaded them indiscriminately. After about half an hour passed and I took a quick break, my shoulder was starting to ache. I jumped behind the front desk and took a look around. There were a few different newspapers with headlines about the rapidly spreading disease that was claiming thousands of lives and the subsequent side effects of dying. There were several forms for book orders and a large calendar with a bunch of dates circled and marked for different events. A book fair, a used book sale, school visits, reading labs, they were all marked down in a neat script and each date was circled in red pen. As I turned away I had the feeling that something was wrong. I couldn’t tell what was bothering me until I took another look at the calendar. I glanced over the dates until I found the day we left the school. A school sponsored reading lab was scheduled that day. I didn’t know why it bothered me but it wouldn’t go away. The lock! I thought with mild horror. “Fuck,” I muttered. “Sarah,” I called out. She hurried up to me with an armload of books.
“What’s up?”
“Put those down and come with me.”
“What’s wrong?” she said setting the stack of books on the counter.
“Something bad.”
“What?”
“There was a school function here the day we got here.”
“Yeah, so? We haven’t seen anyone.”
“So why were the doors locked?”
“Well…”
“Where would the safest place be in a library? Where could you take a group of kids to keep them from danger?”
She was silent for a moment as she followed me, “The basement,” she gasped.
“Exactly what I was thinking. Come on.”
We ran to the back of the building and to a door marked Basement Storage and I checked the handle, locked. “I got you covered,” Sarah said.
I nodded and stood in front of the door. Taking a look at Sarah and receiving a nod I raised a foot and kicked the door in. I moved to the side so Sarah would have a clear line of fire and waited. She didn’t find a reason to fire and I pulled out my own gun, standing next to her. “I’ve got point,” I said. She nodded and we used flashlights from our packs to light the pitch black staircase. “Stay close,” I said as we moved into the darkness. When we reached the bottom without incident and walked down a cramped hallway lined with boxes. The air smelled of dust and old books. It also smelled of rotten flesh, exactly what I had hoped not to find. “God damn it,” I muttered
“What?”
“Smell that?”
“No, what… Yeah, I do. You don’t think the school kids?” she said letting the threat hang in the air.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I think. Stay behind me.”
We continued down the hallway which opened into a decent sized storage room. There were stacks of boxes, old posters, and chalkboards scattered amongst the boxes. We worked our way deeper and found what we figured was the source of the smell. Lying on the ground was a barely moving Walker. He smelled awful and was little more than a puddle of black goo and bones, but he was still moving and so was a threat. Sarah pulled out her knife and stabbed the things spine, stopping its weak attempts a
t movement. “Well that wasn’t that bad,” said Sarah in a normal speaking voice.
“No, I thought it would have been worse. Why was he down here and how did he turn?”
“Maybe he got bit while opening the Library.”
“Yeah maybe but that still doesn’t answer why he was down here,” I mused and then I heard it, something I hadn’t heard for a while, the clicking of teeth as they snapped at open air, “Hey Sarah,” I said raising my gun.
“Yeah?”
“It’s worse. There are Walkers behind that door, a lot of them, and they know we’re here.”
“How do you…” a large solid thump came from the old wooden door. It was followed by another and then another.
“They heard us.”
“Well, at least they’re locked in that room.”
“I don’t think they will be for long,” I said as the door began to splinter behind the combined force, “We should probably go.”
“Good idea,” she said with a bit of panic in her voice. We turned to leave and as we reached the narrow hallway we heard the door crash to the floor and the Walkers appear at the entrance. The saw Sarah and I and began lumbering quickly towards us. “Oh God,” moaned Sarah, “They’re kids, they’re just little kids.”
“Come on Sarah, we have to go,” She was cracking up, “Come on!” I yelled pulling her hand.
We ran up the stairs, the Walkers right on our heels. How are they moving so fast? I thought frantically. It didn’t really matter at that point how or why they were fast, just that they were and that they were too close for comfort. “Everyone out,” I barked as we ascended that stairs, “Fast Walkers. Everyone out now!”
We emerged into the light of the Library and raced through the stacks, gathering people as we went. No one was firing, there wasn’t time, they were just running. I burst into the light of the street and someone slammed the doors shut, holding them against the flood of Walkers. I took a head count, only eleven. “Fuck, someone’s missing.”
“Liz,” said Matt.
“Fuck. Alright on the count of three I want you to open those doors, I’m going to find her. I’m going in fast so I need you to watch my flanks and try not to shoot me,” I said drawing my second pistol. “No arguments. Ready? One, two, three,” I yelled and they opened the floodgates. I can’t describe with clarity what happened next. All I can say is that I went on a rampage. I killed every Walker who posed a threat, all while calling out for Liz. It didn’t register that they were kids just that I needed to aim lower than usual. I moved quickly and was separated from the rest of the group and the wave of Walkers filled in behind me. I broke free of the wave and looked for Liz. She was at the top of the stairs fighting off her own personal little horde. I could see the look of horror on her face at having to kill, and having to kill children at that, but I was proud that she hadn’t cracked under the shock. I made my way to her location but was soon caught up in the tide of Walkers who decided to turn back for me. I ran out of ammo quickly and settled for clubbing the kids until I was able to draw my knife. I was bloody and tired as I stood amongst the dead. I hoped that I wouldn’t turn since I was essentially bathed in the black blood but I was happy to see that Liz was still alive. She had run out of ammo and without time to reload she had resorted to stabbing with the arrows from her quiver. Smart, I thought as I walked slowly to the staircase. What happened next happened so fast that I hardly noticed it until it was over. I heard Sarah call my name with extreme panic in her voice and I remember thinking Good, she’s safe, and then, Why’s she worried? The next thing I heard was a whoosh of air and felt something gently brush my cheek, like the softest of kisses. I heard a thump and turned to see an adult Walker, the librarian, lying on the ground with an arrow in her eye. I looked up to see Liz standing at the top of the staircase, panting. She was holding her bow. I smiled nervously at her, “Well that was a close one”.
She nodded, “I… I did it. I called the target. It… it was amazing. It happened so fast. I didn’t even think about it”
“That doesn’t make me feel better,” I let out a small laugh.
“Sorry, but you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“Could I maybe grab a few more books?” she asked quietly.
I let out a big, loud laugh. I noted how it sounded so out of place, surrounded by the dead, in the Library turned tomb. “Sure, grab a few more. I need to wash up. Jason!” I yelled.
“Yeah?”
“Everyone ok?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Can you come here please?”
They all made their way to the base of the steps. “Holy fuck,” muttered Matt.
“Yeah, I’m sure I look great. Look I need to get this shit off of me. I need someone to go with Liz, she’s still getting books. I need some bleach from the janitor’s closet down the hall from the bathroom. Someone find me some clothes from the lost and found, should be in the office behind the front counter. Finally, I need the jug from the water cooler and any other jugs you can find. I’m going to be in the bathroom taking these clothes off. Everyone go in pairs. After Liz and I are done we’re getting the fuck out.”
I walked to the bathroom and stripped out of all my clothes except my boxers. Justin brought in everything I asked for. “These were the only clothes we could find. Sorry man.”
I took the bundle from him. They were gym clothes that read Astoria High School on the front. I smelled the clothes and drew back, they reeked. “Wow, these stink.”
“Yeah I know. Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Beggars can’t be choosers.”
“True. I’ll leave you to wash up.”
“Thanks.”
I had a jug and a half of water, a bottle of bleach and some stinky gym clothes. This is just great, I thought. I began by clogging a sink with paper towels and mixing a few capfuls of bleach with some water. I used paper towels to wipe away the blood and wash from head to toe. I filled another sink with the same solution and washed again. I rinsed off by pouring the rest of the jugs over my head. I now smelled strongly of bleach but I had gotten rid of all the blood and was hopefully sterilized. I used the paper towels to dry off the best I could and put the gym clothes back on. I walked out of the wrecked bathroom and rejoined the group. I walked over to Sarah and asked, “You ok?”
“Yeah, are you?”
“Just peachy,” I said smiling to hide my real feelings. “Is Liz ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready,” she said calling from one of the aisles.
“Good, let’s go.”
We got into the book-laden trucks and sped home. I was eager to get into a pair of my own clothes. Once back at the house, we piled stack and stacks and stacks of books in the living room and pool room. That night at dinner all were silent around the table. I thought they would be happy with the fact that we had completed the raid with zero casualties and only one close call but they weren’t. They kept sneaking glances at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. I wondered what it was all about but I soon figured it out. “You’re all afraid I’m going to turn aren’t you?” They all looked up and stared at me wide-eyed. “Don’t worry. I’m scared too. I’ll take care of it.”
“James that’s not true,” began Sarah.
“Yes, it is. And I said not to worry. If I turn I’ll make sure you all stay safe. I won’t endanger you.”
“We didn’t mean…” started Hannah.
“I know, I know. You have every reason to be scared.”
I decided that instead of sleeping in my bed with Sarah I would stay in the laundry room with the door secured like we did with Sam. I didn’t think I would get sick and turn but I didn’t want to be around anyone if I did, especially Sarah. I laid out a sleeping bag and pillow on the floor of the laundry room and turned to say goodnight to Sarah. She leaned in to kiss me. I stopped her. “We can’t. If I’m sick then I don’t want you to catch it. Sorry, I couldn’t rub your back like
you wanted.”
She smiled sadly and nodded, “It’s ok.”
I could see that she as close to crying, the tears were threatening to slip free from her lashes that held them like a prison. “Maybe tomorrow ok.”
“Promise?”
I smiled and offered her my pinky, “I promise.”
We sealed our promise and, with one last hug, I closed the door and my temporary cell became dark. I clicked on my flashlight and made my way into my sleeping bag. I rested my head on my pillow and turned off the light. I took a deep breath and stared at the black ceiling. I was awake for a long time thinking about whether I had some virus coursing through my veins, slowly killing me and taking control of my nervous system. Despite these worrying thoughts I eventually fell asleep and for once, I didn’t dream.
Survivors Series (Book 1): Heroes Aren't Born Page 39
