by Max Lockwood
Sergio smiled and shrugged.
“I was serious about getting back to work, though,” Carl said seriously, turning to face Matthew. “We did a fine job out there, but the threat isn’t over yet. Let’s wash up, have something to eat, then collect intelligence and start over.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Matthew agreed. He was still disappointed in the team’s performance outside. They fought as hard as they could, but it just wasn’t enough.
When the group returned to the lounge, Genevieve was holding a giggling Marigold while Sally sat with her head bowed. Lucas led Pip to the couch, where she lay on her side. Jennifer grabbed an ice pack from the supply room and lightly pressed it to the back of Pip’s head.
Lucas sat down next to Genevieve and gave her the full rundown of the events of the day in French as she listened intently. The baby thought the language was hilarious and smiled along to their conversation.
The rest of the crew snacked on the foods that Sally had prepared for them. Now that Pip was in the clear, their appetites had returned and they were ravenous. Sergio even sat by Pip’s side and fed her tiny bites of crackers and small sips of soda. After her accident, they clung to each other even tighter than before.
Matthew sat on the ground, wiping a bit of blood from his forearm onto the back of the nearest couch. The atmosphere in the lounge was celebratory, but Matthew couldn’t shake the feeling that there was little to be proud of.
26
The air was thick with the stench of death as the three former soldiers sat on the fire escape. Matthew watched the hoard of zombies wander aimlessly around the neighborhood, waiting for some action. This behavior was a departure from how the others experienced them in person. They had no interest in killing. In fact, they didn’t appear to have any interest at all. They walked around in a trance, as if they didn’t know what their purpose was.
It appeared that their mission did more good than Matthew had originally thought. While the pack that they’d killed was only a small dent out of the larger population, the fallen bodies once again acted as a repellant, masking the smell of the humans inside. But, as with the others, it would not last for long. Eventually, they would be right back where they’d started.
“I’m not looking forward to the next fight,” Matthew said. “How long do you think we can wait before we have to go back out there? Eventually, we’ll have to go on another food run too. They’re subdued now, but there are more of them every day. It’s scary to think about how many people are being turned on a daily basis.”
“I know,” Carl replied. “I don’t know the answer to that. But yeah, eventually, we’ll have to go back out there. Is there anything we could have done to be more prepared?”
Matthew shrugged. “I’m not sure if there is. Our plan worked as intended, but we just didn’t have the fighters we needed to be effective. If we had even three to five more people, we would have taken out so many more. If we had proper equipment, we’d be a lot safer too.”
“True,” Carl said. “I know we give Sally a hard time for not helping, but I don’t know if she would have made a real contribution anyway. We don’t need someone who can make a couple of weak kills. We need a lot of people who can clear through bodies. We can keep doing what we’re doing, but we can’t expect better results.”
“Plus, did you see the zombie that attacked Pip?” Matthew asked. “That thing wasn’t the same as the others.”
Carl grimaced. “It was really big, wasn’t it?”
“It wasn’t like the others at all. It looked more human than anything. What do you think it was?”
“Maybe it was freshly turned,” Sergio suggested. “It could have been a big dude to begin with who got bitten and found us shortly after.”
“Is there any other possibility?” Carl asked. “There’s not some kind of super-strain of the disease, is there?”
Matthew shrugged. “Beats me.”
He didn’t have any reason to think that the zombie was anything more than an abnormality, but the implications scared him. They’d barely managed to handle one of them. If they encountered a whole pack of them, they might not make it out alive.
The unknown of it all scared Matthew. No one had any idea what started the epidemic. It didn’t even seem to be an important topic of conversation. Everyone was so worried about how to protect themselves from the zombies that they didn’t really care about the disease that had started it all. From that, no one was able to understand how they worked, apart from whatever observations could be picked up from watching them.
Plus, the slow spread of information was on par with the pre-radio age. There were very few sources of information, and often, they were fueled by rumor. Any reputable source of knowledge was underground or dead. All TV and Internet was cut off, and whatever radio signals came through were panic-inducing tales. If Matthew wanted to hear someone freak out about something uncontrollable, he’d listen to Ellie worry about having to fight.
“What if they’re just getting better at fighting?” Carl asked. “I’m sure every living creature goes through the same thing—survival of the fittest, right? What if the strongest zombies are surviving to turn other people, and the weak ones are getting killed by people like us? Maybe they’ll all look like that in the future.”
Sergio cringed. “I don’t even want to think about it, man,” he said, looking off to the side of the fire escape. “That’s truly terrifying.”
Matthew supposed that he’d overestimated their fighting skills. After all, he had been proud of how quickly they could tear through a pack, but what if they were really the weakest of their kind? If the new trend for the monsters was the behemoth that tackled Pip, then they were practically worthless. It would be like if the United States military attacked a small island nation. Of course, it would be no surprise that they won. But then, if that same army would have to go up against an alliance of the other world powers, it would have an entirely different result.
“So, what’s the verdict?” Carl asked, pointing out toward the horizon. Matthew had momentarily forgotten the reason they had returned to the fire escape in the first place. A simple surveying of the land had turned into a discussion of the very worst that could happen.
“I think that we have a few days until the security situation needs to be addressed again,” Sergio said. “A few days after that, and it’s an emergency. If we sit around for another full week, then I think we’re in real trouble.”
Carl nodded. “And how are we on supplies?”
“If we really ration our food, we can make it another week—maybe longer. But if we keep getting hurt, then we won’t be able to use medical supplies as bargaining tools. We’ll barely have enough to keep ourselves going.”
Carl chewed the inside of his cheek. “Okay. I guess we’ve come to the agreement that we’ll have to take further action somewhat soon.”
“Unfortunately, that’s exactly what that means.” Matthew sighed.
Wordlessly, they got up from their perch and made their way back inside. Matthew was nervous about having to tell the others of their bad news. Everyone was so happy to make it back inside the building alive, and now they would have to start planning their next mission. Matthew didn’t want to think about how Ellie and Sally would react to the news. They would have to step it up even more, seeing as Pip’s ability to participate was questionable.
In the lounge, everyone was relaxed. Jennifer and Pip giggled on the couch as Jennifer cleaned Pip’s hair. She braided it so the wound was more easily exposed for cleaning. When the guys arrived in the room, Jennifer hopped up from the seat, strategically allowing Sergio a place to crash.
Carl gave Matthew a nod, giving him the floor. Matthew didn’t particularly want to break the bad news, but he took the floor anyway.
“We need to talk,” he said morosely. “I think you all knew that, though.”
The others turned and faced him, serious expressions on their faces. He hated having all of their attention on h
im.
“First of all, I want to thank you all for putting in your very best effort. We asked a lot out of you, and you put your minds and bodies on the line for the cause. It wasn’t easy, but we managed to secure the entrance to the building as planned.”
Matthew took a deep breath and cleared his throat, trying to find the right words to say.
“Unfortunately, our work today was more of a quick fix than a long-term solution. If you look outside, there are more zombies who will eventually threaten what we’ve worked so hard to preserve. We will likely have to head back out there very soon to repeat the process.”
Ellie let out a whimper. Sally turned pale and started rocking back and forth in her seat. Even Pip, who was always down to fight, looked dismayed.
“So, the reason I’m telling you this is because we need to work on a plan. We want to hear your suggestions and work on the best possible defense we can. We can always do things the same way, but we’ll likely see a similar result. So, if you’ve got any ideas about what you want out of this group, shout them out.”
“What do you want?” Genevieve asked Matthew.
“Me?” he asked.
She nodded.
“I know I’ve said it before, but I would like for this place to become a fortress for the defense—for us. This place is humongous and we’re only using a tiny fraction of the space. Just think about how nice it would be to recruit other allies to join our cause. We need more bodies if we’re going to stand a chance against the zombies. If we can find a way to bring in as many healthy people as possible, we could form a little community here. Not only is it in our best interests for safety, but we can maybe have somewhat of a normal life. We all have our strengths and do certain jobs well. This building could be like a little self-contained city.”
The others nodded when he finished talking. Sergio cleared his throat.
“That sounds nice and all, but we’re sort of trapped in here. If we want to leave, we have to fight our way out of here. It’s already dangerous to pop across the street to get something to eat. Are you talking about running around the city, recruiting people? Then, once we get them, how do we vet them and decide if they’re okay or not? We’ve already gone through that debacle once.”
“Twice,” Ellie interrupted. “We weren’t so sure about you guys, either.”
“I don’t know,” Matthew said. “Maybe we can find a way for people to come to us.”
“But would they be able to?” Sergio asked. “They would have to fight their way in. That’s not much easier. There’s not really an incentive to leave a safe place, just to encounter zombies in another part of town.”
Sergio had a point. Movement in and out of the building was difficult. If he wanted to create a utopia within the office space, some lives would be at risk.
“It’s just a thought,” Matthew said quickly, ready to change the subject. “Maybe this is something for further into the future. We don’t have to worry about the logistics now. Anyone else have something to suggest?”
Ellie meekly raised her hand.
“Go ahead,” Matthew said.
“I don’t know if all of you know this, but Genevieve and I are scientists who deal with contagious diseases and biological weapons,” she said. “Now, I’m not sure how realistic this is, but if we’re going to be trapped in his building, we might as well do a little research. I, for one, am itching to get back to work. Maybe if we can get our hands on some lab equipment, maybe the two of us can figure out how this thing started. Maybe, if we know enough about the disease, we can find a way to stop it.”
Everyone looked surprised by this suggestion. No one had really thought about anything but killing as many zombies as they could. It seemed a little extraneous to worry about anything else, but they did have a lot of down time. Genevieve was already bound to the couch, so she might as well work on something while the others worked on their next battle.
“I would like to study,” Genevieve agreed. “It’s better than sitting.”
“And I can translate back and forth,” Lucas suggested.
“Where would we get the equipment?” Carl asked.
“Universities would be a good place to start. Hospitals, medical testing labs, and even high school science rooms would work too. Mostly, we’d need a microscope and samples of zombie tissue.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” Matthew said. “We can take the Jeep out and do a little exploring as we go. There’s got to be a lab somewhere close. Maybe we can grab some other useful stuff as we go.”
“I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea,” Sergio said. “It seems really risky for something that might not make a difference in the long run. I mean, even if you find out what’s causing the zombie disease, where will you go from there?”
Ellie shrugged. “Who knows? But we’ll never know unless we do a little research.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Carl agreed. “If they’re going to have to sit up here anyway, they might as well do something purposeful. We can’t make progress if we don’t take risks.”
“We won’t keep our numbers up if we keep getting ourselves killed,” Sergio said softly.
“Well, I’m in.” Carl smirked. “I’d like to be able to do something that inspires progress. Besides, I hate not knowing what’s going on in the world. I can’t stay cooped up in this place for too long.”
“I’ll go too,” Matthew added. “Maybe we can find more survivors along the way. It would be nice to recruit people for our militia.”
“Do you want to come with us, Sergio?” Carl asked. “You know it would be fun.”
“Fun?” He frowned. He looked to Pip, who looked drowsy and was uncharacteristically quiet. “It sounds a little dangerous.”
Carl rolled his eyes. “Weren’t you the one who was so eager to get back to work the second we got off on leave?”
Sergio exhaled sharply. “Yes, but that was different. I didn’t want to be home. There was nothing for me here. Now, I can be useful the same way I was overseas.”
Sergio looked at Pip, who had tucked her hand into his. They had forged a deeper bond after her accident and it would take some real convincing to get him to leave her.
“Come on, man.” Carl smiled. “I swear, if you choose my sister over me, I will never forgive you. Don’t you want to go on an adventure with your army bros?”
Sergio cracked a smile. “You know that wherever you go, I’m going with you. Even if I think this is a bad idea, you know I’ll follow you to the ends of this stupid Earth.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Carl smiled.
What about the rest of us?” Jennifer asked, directing her question at Carl. “You said we’d need to defend the building in the next few days if we want to stay safe. How can we do that without the three best fighters?”
Carl looked at the ground, her eye contact too painful for him. “We’ll try to be quick. But you guys are pretty formidable, even without us. I have no doubt that you’ll be just fine.”
“Just don’t get yourselves killed,” Pip muttered. “I’d be really angry if you guys came back dead.”
Carl chuckled. “Don’t let Pip get into a fight with a zombie until her head’s back to normal,” he told the others. “She might try to wrestle it with her bare hands.”
By then, the debate over whether the three would go or stay had come to an end. No matter how much the others protested, Matthew, Carl, and Sergio had already made their decision. Soon, they would embark on a mission to locate laboratory equipment in hopes that the two resident scientists could make some sense of the world around them.
While Matthew had faith in his companions, he knew that coming up with a solution to their nightmare was a long shot. But if two scientists in an abandoned office building could come up with a cure for the zombie disease, he wanted to be a part of it.
27
Water formed in beads on the glass panes, slowly merging and forming tiny tributaries that went on for
eternity. The grey skies sucked the color from the world, transforming a once-vibrant city into a ghost town. Zombies moved like grazing cattle on the sidewalk, wandering aimlessly through space. The dull droning of their voices permeated the walls of the skyscraper, adding to the cacophony of gloom.
It was leaving day. Matthew had been here once before, though the last time he’d said goodbye to his companions, he had been a younger and more optimistic man. With a brave face, his wife held his hand as they walked from the parking lot to the terminal.
“You don’t have to wait here with me,” Matthew said nervously, rubbing at Rebecca’s thumbnail with the pad of his finger. “I know you have things to do, and if we just sit here in silence, I don’t think it’s going to make things easier on either of us.”
Rebecca gritted her teeth. “Are you sure? I paid for twenty minutes at the meter. I can stay if you want.”
Matthew’s throat felt tight. He shook his head and tried to plaster on a smile. “It’s no big deal. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
Rebecca wrapped her arms around him, careful not to hold him for too long. Anything more than a few seconds, and they would both have to face the fact that they would have little contact with each other for over a year.
“Okay, talk to you soon.”
Once Matthew made it through security and found his departure gate, he made a beeline to the restroom and sat in a stall until he got his emotions under control. The last thing he wanted was for a fellow soldier to see him in an outburst of tears before heading off to war. Matthew wasn’t a particularly emotional person in the first place, but there was something about saying goodbye to someone important and not knowing if you’d ever get to see them again.
The other tours of duty were a little easier, but not much. Goodbyes were always uncomfortable, no matter the relationship with the others in the equation. But if there was any small thing in this world that could console him, it was the fact that he wasn’t close enough to anyone to feel the horrible ache of separation.
