Dying Days (Novella): Family Ties

by Rosamilia, Armand

  “Hey,” Rihanna yelled from the deck.

  Mason smiled and turned around.

  “I know where your sister is,” she said.

  “Where? Does Devon have her?” Mason would fight a hundred Devon’s to save his sister.

  Rihanna shook her head. “Two boys were with her.”

  “I know who you’re talking about. Can you tell me where they took her? Was she hurt?”

  By the look she gave Mason, he knew she was. If Emalee was hurt badly, he’d rip both boys apart.

  “I… I can’t get involved,” Rihanna said.

  “You just need to tell me where she is. I need to find her before… before something really bad happens to her. She’s my sister,” Mason said.

  “Devon will punish me.”

  Mason put his hand up. “I swear, on my honor, I won’t ever tell him you helped me. Fair enough? I need to find my sister. I could really use your help.”

  “I can’t help you,” Rihanna said.

  “Not even to give me a general direction? Let me know if I’m going the wrong way? Please,” Mason said and smiled. “Pretty please with sugar on top.”

  Rihanna laughed. She glanced to her right.

  “I just need a hint,” Mason said.

  Rihanna turned her head again, to the right, as if she was looking at something.

  Mason just wanted to find his sister. He thought time was running out and something bad was going to happen. The boys were no good and they’d hurt her.

  Rihanna put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot.

  “What?” Mason asked.

  “There’s a reason I’m looking in this particular direction, towards a fenced in warehouse area and especially at a building with a giant W on the side in red,” she said.

  At first Mason was going to admit he couldn’t see that far when he looked but then realized she was helping him.

  I’m such a doofus sometimes, he thought. “Thank you. I hope we meet again. I’ll check back here for you soon.”

  Rihanna looked like she was going to cry. She shook her head. “Please don’t look for me and don’t come back to this house. Someone will see you and Devon will want to know who you are and what he can get out of you.”

  Mason nodded, knowing he would never stay away and wanting to see her smile again.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Reading looked really scared, and Emalee didn’t blame him one bit.

  There were even more zombies down below than she’d first seen and they were now mostly jammed underneath the catwalk where the three kids stood.

  Parker was pointing across the warehouse. “Here’s the plan.”

  “I go back inside and stare out the window?” Reading asked.

  “Better plan. You go to the other side of this catwalk and make a lot of noise so they follow you,” Parker said. “Once we’re alone on this side, we’ll run down, grab a few boxes and bring them back up. Nice and simple.”

  “Nice and dangerous,” Reading said. He pointed halfway across the warehouse. “It looks like the beams holding the catwalk up are broken in spots. I don’t even know if it will hold my weight. What if I fall?”

  “Make sure you don’t break anything and make a lot of noise so we can get the food,” Emalee said with a laugh. She was half-joking.

  Reading was staring down at the zombies. “What if we just throw things across the warehouse? Maybe they’ll follow the sound.”

  “They’re not dogs. Stop being such a chicken,” Parker said.

  “Don’t call me a chicken. You know that bothers me.”

  “That’s why I say it. Stop over thinking this, like you do. Just get out there and don’t look down,” Parker said.

  “Why don’t you do it?” Reading asked.

  “I’m bigger than you. I weigh more. It’s more dangerous. Besides, we’re the ones who have to go down to the floor and dodge zombies. Not you. It’s way more dangerous,” Parker said.

  “I still don’t like it,” Reading said. He looked at Emalee and grinned. “Why can’t she do it? She’s smaller than me.”

  “Because I want you to do it,” Parker said.

  Reading threw up his hands. “Fine. I’ll do it. Wouldn’t want to put your girlfriend in danger.”

  Parker balled up his fists and took a step forward.

  Reading wisely began walking across the catwalk.

  “When he’s halfway across, we’ll get ready to go down the steps,” Parker said. At the bottom of the stairs, boxes had been piled up to block the zombies.

  Emalee looked down to see the best way to climb over them without hurting herself. “How are we going to get the boxes we’re trying to grab over the wall?”

  Parker shrugged.

  “Great plan,” Emalee said.

  “I didn’t say I had it all figured out. Maybe we can pile them up near the stairs and pull them one at a time,” Parker said.

  “There are six boxes blocking the way. Why don’t we move them to the side first and use the new boxes to block the path? Then we can go down the stairs and pull them up later. See how many we can stack within reach,” Emalee said.

  “That might work.”

  “Did you ever check the boxes blocking the path?” Emalee asked.

  “Uh… no. I guess we should’ve,” Parker said.

  Emalee couldn’t tell if the faint smell of rot was only the zombies. She was sure this warehouse used to be air conditioned and wondered if there was a lot of spoiled meat and stuff inside some of the boxes.

  From the markings on the packages, it had been a food storage warehouse. She hoped there was enough food to last them a lifetime.

  Maybe she could get used to Parker and Reading. She’d need to find Mason but then the four of them could grow up with all this food, safe upstairs.

  If Reading would stop acting like a jerk, of course.

  The pair made their way down the metal stairs, slowly, careful not to make too much noise. With Reading making such a racket, the zombies had already started to drift over to where he was. He’d gotten halfway across the catwalk and was clapping his hands and shouting down at the zombies, asking which one wanted to bite him first.

  Despite Emalee not liking the boy, she prayed he’d be fine and not fall or get in trouble.

  Parker moved two of the boxes on top of the blockade, handing them to Emalee.

  “I might as well run these upstairs. At least we’ll have something,” she said.

  Parker nodded.

  By the time she got both boxes to the landing, Parker had cleared a path between the boxes.

  She joined him. The only real light they had was sunlight through the dirty windows ringing the top of the warehouse walls.

  It was enough to let her know the zombies had moved away from the immediate area.

  Emalee picked up a box and carried it to the stairs, placing it on the pile.

  Parker asked her to help with a heavy cardboard box so he didn’t have to drag it and make noise.

  The next box supposedly had potato chips inside. A dozen large bags. Emalee’s mouth began to water. It was all she could do to not stop and rip it open and eat. She made sure to put the box as high on a pile as she could so she could find it later.

  Parker walked by her with two full packs of bottled water, struggling as he walked.

  “Don’t be a hero,” Emalee whispered as they passed one another.

  “Stop reading all the labels,” Parker shot back.

  She couldn’t help it. There were so many cool things she imagined eating, sitting on the floor upstairs and stuffing her face: boxes of candy, chips, pretzels, tortilla shells, cans of corn and carrots, all washed down with bottled water.

  Emalee picked up a very light box and smiled. It supposedly contained two dozen bags of nacho chips for restaurants. She had loved making nachos with her mom and brother.

  She put the box as high up as she could on a pile, tilting it so when they got up the stairs she could reach down and get it.
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  This was too easy. With the zombies distracted by Reading on the catwalk, screaming and yelling, over half of the warehouse was empty of monsters.

  “How much are we going to do?” Emalee asked Parker as they dragged a large box near the stairs.

  “As much as we can. Just as long as we keep the path clear to get to the first step and can block the way we can pile a ton of boxes. Then it won’t be so hard next time we do this. I’m thinking we pile the smaller boxes on top so we can come down and get them. See what goodies we have,” Parker said.

  “There are other warehouses around, too. Maybe we can find some furniture. A couple of beds and chairs for us,” Emalee said. “Make this nice and like home.”

  “A home with a hundred zombies in the basement,” Parker said with a laugh.

  Reading was still yelling, banging against the catwalk’s metal with his hands.

  “He’s going to lose his voice,” Emalee said. “Which won’t be a bad thing.”

  “I can’t argue with you,” Parker said. “Let’s grab ten more boxes and call it a day. I’m tired.”

  “Me, too,” Emalee said. She turned down an aisle and stopped.

  Three zombies were staring at her.

  At the same time she heard something above her head crack and Reading screamed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Mason saw the giant W as he rounded the hill, cutting through a short stretch of trees and onto a paved road. All around him he could see warehouses, eighteen-wheelers and zombies.

  It wasn’t going to be easy to get to the right building.

  There were zombies in his immediate area but they hadn’t noticed him yet. They were too busy crashing through the underbrush and when one tripped and took a tumble down the embankment, hitting the pavement and literally losing an arm, Mason almost laughed out loud.

  He wanted to see what was on the other side of the building or at least more of the parking lots on either side. Even though he was standing on a hill, he couldn’t see too far.

  Mason looked up at the nearest tree and grinned.

  If my mother could see me now, he thought and began to climb. He’d lost count of how many times she’d caught him up in the old tree in their yard and yelled for him to get down before he fell and broke his leg.

  Mason had nearly broken his arm once but luckily Emalee was standing underneath the tree and had broken his fall. He’d accidentally knocked one of her teeth loose and had been punished, a week without TV.

  This tree was easy to climb, with thick branches spaced close together. He went as high up in the tree as he dared, pushing apart the leaves in his way for a better view.

  A chain-link fence surrounded the property but it had been breached in several spots and zombies had used the entrances to get inside. He could see even more of them wandering around now.

  He knew Emalee was inside with the boys. He didn’t want to reach out to her with his powers and alert them, especially if they were doing something bad to her.

  There was a gap between the building he figured she was in and the next one over where no zombies were congregating, but to get to it he’d have to fight through at least a dozen zombies. He didn’t know if he could be quiet enough to not alert the rest, either.

  Mason was about to climb down when he saw movement on one of the roofs.

  It was three away from where he thought his sister was.

  Four people on the roof, moving slowly and carrying weapons.

  Mason watched until they went out of sight but he was almost sure Rihanna was with them. It meant Devon was the kid in the front, leading the group. It also meant Mason needed to hurry because Rihanna had double-crossed him and told Devon where he was headed.

  He didn’t think rushing across the parking lots and hopping fences with zombies around was the wisest thing to do but he didn’t want to panic and take his time and not save his sister.

  Mason climbed down the tree and went to his left, away from the building that was his goal, because of all the wandering zombies. He needed to get to the side of a building and use it to keep the zombies and the people on the roof from seeing him.

  A zombie, shuffling along, started to turn in Mason’s direction. He was followed by two more.

  Mason didn’t know how they could see or sense the living but obviously they could, with relative ease. He was walking and now he picked up the pace. The last thing he wanted to do was trip and fall. The zombies could be outpaced by walking but it was when a group came at you from all directions you were in trouble.

  The fence nearest to where he was headed was still up. Mason began angling back to the left so he could get to an opening before a zombie did.

  He’d have to deal with the ones inside the fence once he got there but so far they hadn’t noticed him.

  Mason jumped when a zombie coming at him tripped and went sprawling, his rotting hand coming close to touching his leg.

  Emalee would’ve had a nice laugh seeing him get so jumpy.

  If he’d been in her shoes, he would’ve done the same thing.

  He hoped she was safe.

  If those boys were hurting her in any way…

  Mason pushed the negative thoughts aside for now. He needed to focus.

  Get across the parking lot, around all of the zombies and to the side of a building. All without being seen. Then cross another parking lot, where a lot of zombies were hanging out, and not be seen by the kids on the roof.

  He didn’t even know which roof they were on now, either. It looked really different from the ground than it did high in a tree.

  Mason was either going straight for the one they were on or a couple away. All of these buildings looked the same and, from this angle, he couldn’t see the giant W.

  He wanted to cry. How could you get lost in a parking lot that was empty except for the zombies?

  Three of the zombies that had been following Mason were gaining on him as he stood and thought just inside the fence line.

  “Time to be a hero and save my sister,” Mason whispered, trying to assure himself he was doing the right thing.

  He started to walk fast toward the building he hoped was the right one.

  When he got to the corner, he looked both ways to make sure there weren’t any zombies hiding in a doorway or a horde coming at him.

  It looked clear.

  Mason began moving, looking all around to make sure the zombies weren’t bunching up to rip him apart.

  That really wouldn’t be good.

  If Mason could get around the corner of this building, he’d have a clear view of the building he hoped Emalee was in. Hopefully not in any danger.

  Hopefully she was really inside, too. It would be a real pain to have come all this way only to find out she was already gone or she’d never been here.

  Mason knew she’d at least been here based on the fact Rihanna and Devon were somewhere above him right now.

  “I see you,” a male voice yelled from above where Mason was standing.

  Mason threw himself against the side of the building, willing himself to become part of the wall so he was no longer seen.

  It didn’t work.

  “Make another move, even an inch, and I will shoot you.”

  Mason was about to nod but thought maybe that would be considered movement and he’d be shot.

  “He doesn’t even have anything to shoot you with.” It was definitely Rihanna talking now.

  Mason couldn’t help it. He leaned forward to get a better angle and looked up to see Rihanna, leaning over the edge of the building.

  She was smiling and waving down at Mason.

  Mason waved back.

  Then something heavy hit Mason in the head and knocked him out.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The lead zombie took a shuffling step towards Emalee.

  She didn’t want to take her eyes off of it but she needed to see where Parker and Reading were right now. She might need some help.

  Emalee knew she cou
ld out-run the three zombies but she didn’t want to get turned around or cornered. With all of the boxes in the warehouse, she was afraid she’d go the wrong way. She wanted to kick herself for daydreaming and wandering too far. What was she thinking? Parker had warned her to stop reading all the boxes and just pile them up for later.

  Now she was in trouble.

  All three zombies began to move.

  She could hear Reading yelling for help. He was in trouble. The catwalk he’d been standing on was broken, one side having fallen to the floor below. He was nowhere in sight.

  Emalee turned and stopped when she saw more zombies cutting off her exit.

  “Help. Parker, I’m in trouble,” Emalee yelled. Where had he gone to?

  Another zombie came at her between piles of boxes but he couldn’t quite fit. His hand flapped up and down, trying to grab her. The zombies didn’t groan or moan like in the horrible movies Mason would watch when he thought no one was around.

  Emalee thought not having the zombies say anything or make any noise, except for when they moved, was scarier. You didn’t know they were coming until it was too late.

  The zombie between the boxes was starting to move them forward. He might even knock the pile over and it could hit Emalee.

  She turned just as one of the zombies touched her shoulder and ducked under his arm, sliding away and nearly falling as she panicked and tried to run before her feet were both on the ground.

  Emalee swam her arms in the air, desperate to keep on her feet and not go down.

  There were two more zombies in front of her but they weren’t close together, allowing her to weave in and out of them as she got her bearings and began to escape.

  Then she saw the packed zombies coming down the aisle at her, so tight there was no way she could get between them.

  The zombies she’d just passed were turning around.

  Emalee ran down the aisle, looking for a break between the boxes but there wasn’t one big enough to fit through. The last thing she wanted was to get stuck with her butt or arm sticking out. Mason would think it was funny.