In the Lone and Level Sands

by David Lovato

  “God, this all feels so weird,” Evelyn said as the four of them walked in a small cluster. “In a thousand years, I’d never dreamt of staying the night in this place. I know I’ve joked about being here so late that I might as well just stay the night, but I never imagined actually doing it. And this… What is this? I wish the radio worked. I bet they have more answers.”

  “You think so?” John said. “You think anyone really knows anything more than we do?”

  “I don’t know,” Evelyn said. She tore a produce bag from one of the rolls. “I’m sure someone has to know something. Like, if it’s some sort of virus, or maybe they have an estimation of how far whatever this is has spread. I don’t know, something!”

  “This can’t have gotten too far. It’s only been a few hours. It won’t last.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” Christian said. “I mean, what if it’s gone farther than Gladstone? Missouri?”

  John frowned. “I feel it in my gut. This is not the end of us, Christian. It can’t be.”

  “Well, I hope not,” Erin said.

  John turned away and put a few more items in his basket. The other three exchanged worried glances.

  Evelyn sorted through their finds. “What else do we need from over here? We’ve got some fruits, some other little snacks, basically odds and ends type of stuff.”

  “I don’t think we need any other food items,” Erin said. “Jordan and his friends are getting more food. Let’s get some first aid stuff.”

  “The only reason we’d need first aid is if one of us were bitten,” John said. “And if one of us were bitten, we’d be doomed.”

  “That’s not true,” Erin said. “One of us could get a cut or something.”

  “Fine,” John said.

  “And maybe we could stop by the liquor department,” Christian said.

  John snorted. “This is an emergency, not a booze run. Soon this mess will all be over, and I’m not returning to hundreds of dollars of our stock disappearing because of—”

  “Johnny!” Christian said. “I was kidding. Lighten up! If you’re gonna be like this, we might just feed you to the zombies.”

  “Let’s just finish this up so I can try to get some sleep,” John said. Christian looked at Evelyn and then at Erin, grinned, and shook his head.

  ****

  “Ash, you doing okay?” Jordan said. He threw a few loaves of bread into the cart. They avoided the corpse of a zombie Christian had shot earlier, as well as any merchandise its blood had splattered on.

  “I’m all right, I guess,” Ashley said. “It’s just hard, getting used to all this. I’m worried.” Ashley hung close to Jordan and the cart. Aiden walked beside her.

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Jordan said.

  “Like my mom, and my dad in Chicago… I don’t know if it’s gone that far, but I don’t know what I’d do if the last thing I said to him was some half-baked ‘bye’.” Ashley stepped a little closer to Jordan, and Jordan looked her in the eyes.

  “I’m sure he knows you love him. I just wish I’d been able to get a hold of my parents.” Jordan shook his head. He tried to drive into more positive thinking. “I’m sure our parents are doing fine.” Jordan looked at Aiden, who had been silent the whole time. “How about you, Aiden? How’re you holding up?”

  “Not bad. Just chillin’. A lot of shit’s gone down. Just kinda wish I knew what to make of it all.”

  “Me too, man. Just try to stray away from the negatives. We’re alive, now.”

  “You’re right, Jord.”

  “Let’s just get the rest of the groceries and meet back up with the others. The sooner we do, the sooner we can get some sleep.”

  As they walked down the aisle, Ashley slinked an arm around Jordan’s lower back, her hand cupped his side, a delicate sigh escaped her lips. Jordan’s skin tingled, and a wave of warmth went over him. He smiled and looked at Ashley, who turned to him. They stopped and looked into each other’s eyes for a moment. Neither of them said a word, but the moment was interrupted by the sound of the others and their cart’s squeaky wheels.

  “You guys about ready to head upstairs?” Christian asked. Jordan and Ashley jolted and turned to him as he and the other three came into view.

  “Yeah, just got the last of it,” Jordan said.

  “Good, now all we need’s the microwave.” Jordan smiled weakly and rolled the cart toward them, with Ashley by his side and Aiden following close by.

  “There’s one in the break room,” Evelyn said.

  “Lead the way.”

  They headed for the stairs that led up to the break room. “I’ll grab it real quick,” Erin said.

  As she reached the top of the steps, she heard a slight knocking on the door to the left of the time clock. It was the assistant store director’s office. It occurred to her that when they checked for survivors, they forgot to look upstairs. Erin turned the doorknob. Before she could react, someone jumped out. It was Quentin Till, the assistant manager.

  Quentin was not the biggest man, but he could hold his own, and he could hold Erin. Together they fell to the floor, and Erin yelled. Quentin dug his teeth into her neck, grunting as he bore deeper. Blood splattered onto his white shirt. Erin let out one hard scream as Quentin lifted up with muscle tissue hanging from his teeth.

  The others reached the top of the stairs, and Christian quickly sent a bullet into Quentin’s head. He slumped over on top of Erin. Everyone helped move him off of her.

  Erin tried to speak, but nothing came out. Blood gurgled in her throat. John turned away, covering his mouth.

  “Someone get something to stop the bleeding!” Evelyn said. She put a hand over the wound, stopping the blood flow a little bit, but not nearly enough.

  Erin slumped over and stopped moving. She lay beside Quentin’s body, with blood pouring onto the floor from both.

  Above them was a big cloth with a large laminated paper pinned to it. It was used to track how well or how badly each department was doing in sales. Evelyn stood up and took it down, undoing the pins and tossing the laminated piece away. John stood near his office, his hand over his mouth, staring at the break room door. Evelyn began to cover the bodies, and the others helped her.

  “John!” she said. “Get the fucking microwave!”

  John gave her a look that said who the fuck are you to order me around? and then walked off, the keys in his pocket jingling loudly. A moment later he came out of the break room with the microwave in his arms. The cord dangled behind him, dragging across the floor.

  “Let’s just get back,” John said. Not a word was said as the six of them headed downstairs and to the back room. The store was silent, minus the random announcement that played about the meat sale that was scheduled to start the next day.

  They had brought hand baskets to haul the goods up to the conference room more efficiently, as they couldn’t get the carts upstairs. While the others did this, John went to the breaker box and shut off all the front-end lights. Even with the blockades and the locked doors, it was better to be safe than sorry. With no windows in the back area of the store, John felt comfortable leaving those lights on.

  The survivors rested in the conference room. They had moved the table against the wall, with the chairs pushed in on either side, to make room to sleep on the floor. The microwave was plugged in at the end of the table and all the food was organized on a mostly unused shelf. There was also a mini fridge they put the perishables in.

  The room was carpeted with a thin, rough carpet, but it was better than nothing. The survivors lay around in the center of the room on blankets they’d taken from the store.

  Jordan and Ashley were next to one another, and Aiden was on the other side of Ashley, but a bit farther away. He fell asleep first, lying on his side, facing the wall.

  “This shit’s real,” Jordan whispered to himself.

  “What, Jordan?” Ashley asked.

  “Nothing. You as wide awake as I am?”

  �
��Yeah. It’s hard to fall asleep on this, even with these blankets. But I’m also thinking about my parents. I wonder when I can call them.”

  “I know how you feel, Ash. I wish there was something I could do. I just find myself wishing this was a dream, that I’ll wake up soon.”

  “Well,” Ashley said, “at least we’re together in this.” Jordan’s spine tingled, and he smiled.

  “Yeah.” He turned his head to her and saw she’d been looking at him the whole time. “That’s a big part of what’s getting me through this, really.”

  “You know, I always wondered why you never asked me out, Jordan.”

  “I… don’t know. It’s just that we’ve always been good friends. I didn’t want anything to ruin that.”

  “I don’t think it will.”

  “Maybe not.” Jordan smiled and sighed, a weight lifted from his shoulders.

  “Good night, Jordan.”

  “Night, Ash.”

  Ashley turned on her side and put an arm over Jordan’s chest. They fell asleep within minutes of one another.

  Jordan dreamed a lot, mainly old memories stored deep in his mind, random details a little stranger than they had actually been. They were of Ashley, for the most part; there were birthdays and family outings, but they would always go back to Ashley. Jordan had never realized how important she was to him, but just like the world around them, Jordan had changed. His eyes were a little more open, and now he would never let her go.

  28

  In the House in Astoria

  Layne turned around. It was dark in the house, but he was able to count everyone who had survived the ordeal. They were all breathing heavily. Jessi was still crying. She was hunched over, and she lurched a few times before throwing up.

  Warren stood up and took a deep breath. Katie was surveying the area they had just confined themselves within. Kyle stood somewhat apart from the rest of the group, in the entryway of another room, and he looked like nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Layne turned his attention to Jessi.

  “Hey, I’m… God, I’m sorry.”

  She hugged him. He could hardly recall seeing her without Kara in her arms. Kara was being surprisingly quiet, and it worried him.

  “So,” Warren said after a long silence, “what do we do now?” The group looked around at each other. There was a slight tap at the door.

  “I guess we barricade this,” Katie said. She and Layne pushed a nearby shelving unit in front of the door.

  The shades of all the windows were already down, and what little light entered the house was dark blue. Layne could make out a set of stairs directly in front of the door. To the right was the doorway Kyle was standing in, to the left was an open area with two tables in the center. The chairs were stacked on top of the tables, and all of the room’s furniture had been pushed into the middle, against the tables. Layne assumed it was for easy movement in the dark. Light was far too much of a risk, as was one’s escape route being obstructed.

  “Hey, do you think anyone is still in here?” Jessi asked. Her hand was already searching for Kara’s, and without looking, she found it. It was a motherly instinct that Layne was surprised to see in someone who was not anyone’s mother.

  “We should find out,” Dex said. Kyle peeked into the room he was near.

  “Hey, anyone in here?” he said. No response. Layne could see the left side of the house well enough to know that no one was there.

  “I guess that just leaves the upstairs,” Katie said. Layne looked up the staircase, which ascended into darkness.

  “All right, then. Who’s coming with me?”

  “I’ll do it,” Katie said.

  “Okay. If anything happens down here, let me know, all right? Stay safe, guys.” Layne and Katie headed up the stairs.

  “So what should we do?” she asked. “I mean, on the grand scale.”

  “I don’t know,” Layne replied. “We obviously can’t stay here for long.” They reached the top of the stairs. A hallway extended in both directions. It had a door at each end, and some along the way.

  “Split up?” Katie said.

  “Too dangerous.” They headed right. “We can stay the night, but if we get a chance to get out of here, we should take it.”

  They reached the first door. It was on the left side of the hall. Layne pressed his ear against it, but heard nothing. He knocked softly. Still nothing. He turned the knob and opened the door.

  It was a normal bedroom. It was dark, with the shade pulled over the only window, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

  Layne closed the door, and they headed to the next one. They looked inside. This room was also empty.

  “Every room has a queen-sized bed,” Katie said. “Remember how many chairs there were in the living room, and the tables? This place is probably a bed and breakfast. Maybe we could hang out here a few days after all.”

  “There aren’t enough beds for each of us to have our own,” Layne said. He smiled. “Some of us would have to share.” Katie laughed.

  They made their way to another door and cautiously checked the room beyond it. It was empty.

  “So what put you on that plane to begin with?” Layne asked. Katie took a deep breath.

  “I was on my way to Seattle to see my girlfriend,” she said. Layne paused. She looked at him. “Something wrong?”

  “No, of course not. I’m just… I didn’t know, is all. When I said that stuff about sharing beds and… I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  Katie smiled. “Not at all. I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. Didn’t seem like a good time.” She sighed. “I do wonder if she’s okay, though.”

  “I hope so,” Layne said. They reached the door at the end of the hall, and Layne pressed his ear to it and listened. It was silent.

  “What about you, then? What got you a seat on that flight?”

  “Well, I was—” Layne opened the door, and Katie screamed, but stifled it with her hands.

  A decimated body lay on what was otherwise a well-made and beautiful bed. All of the limbs had been massacred in some way, and Layne could barely make out a head. There was blood on the walls and floor around the bed.

  “What the fuck,” Katie said. She was trying not to throw up. Layne was trying pretty hard as well.

  “Maybe we should get out of here,” he said.

  “Wait, look!” Katie pointed to the wall behind the bed. There was a message scrawled in what Layne could only assume was blood.

  SAFE ZONE

  GO TO CHURCH

  HEAD NORTH ON 12TH

  The blood faded toward the end of the message. Layne and Katie looked to each other. Layne wasn’t sure what was more disturbing: The body on the bed, or the fact that whoever the body used to be couldn’t possibly have written the message on the wall.

  “So how safe do you think this safe zone is?” Katie asked after the two left the room and closed the door tightly. There was a loud thud from downstairs.

  “A lot safer than here,” Layne said. They rushed to the stairs and descended carefully but quickly. “What’s going on?” Everyone was staring at the door.

  “We’re not sure,” Jessi said. There was another thud.

  “Something knows we’re in here,” Warren said.

  “Shh, it could’ve just been zombie luck,” Dex said. “You know, something just bumping against a door it thinks is pretty.”

  The group listened, but heard nothing. Layne walked over to the window and peeked out, but he didn’t have a good enough view of the porch.

  “Should I check?” he asked.

  “I really don’t think we should open that door,” Kyle said.

  Layne thought for a moment. “We don’t have to.” He walked over to the door, pushed the dresser away as quietly as he could, hunkered down, and lifted the mail slot. A moment later he closed it, stepped away from the door, and pushed the dresser back in front of it. “There was one of them on the porch, but it left.” The others sighed in relief.


  “So what exactly are we going to do?” Warren asked.

  “There’s a safe zone set up at a church north of here. We’ll rest here for the night, and in the morning we’ll head out.”

  “How do you know?” Dex said.

  “Found a note,” Layne replied. “Katie and I are going to check the rest of the rooms and figure out which ones are safe.”

  Layne and Katie headed up the stairs again. They checked the rooms on the left side of the hallway, and all were clear.

  “So that leaves five queen-sized beds,” Katie said.

  “Jessi and Kara will probably share a bed. So will Dex and Lacie, if she’s comfortable with it.”

  “So Warren and Kyle get their own beds, and you and I will take one. Deal?”

  “Sure, if you’re all right with that,” Layne said. The two headed back down the stairs and informed the others.

  “Nobody go near the room at the end of the hall on the right,” Layne said. Nobody even questioned why not.

  It wasn’t late, but everyone went straight for their rooms. Since most of their belongings had been dropped when they started running, Layne stayed downstairs and gathered food and water from the kitchen. He gathered everything into a pile he could easily find later, even in the dark, and then went to his room. Katie was lying down on the bed, but she was awake.

  “Can’t sleep?” Layne said as he sat down and removed his shoes.

  “If I had a choice, I’d never close my eyes again,” Katie said. Layne could sympathize.

  “I just hope this church is safe. And I hope it has some answers for us. Our plane, the people on the helicopter, Astoria… God, could this thing be all over the world?”

  “I don’t know,” Katie said. “I really just don’t know.” Layne lay down next to her, watched the dim light slowly become pitch black, and eventually fell asleep.

  ****

  When Layne woke up, the bed was empty. He sat up. The room was dark. He could hear muffled voices through the floor and footsteps coming from the stairs. He got up and left the room. He met Katie at the top of the stairs.