In the Lone and Level Sands

by David Lovato

  “On the bed,” Kara said. Layne almost jumped, and everyone laughed. Kara buried her face in Jessi’s stomach.

  “It’s okay, honey,” she said. “Don’t feel bad, they’re just happy, okay?”

  “Sorry,” Layne said.

  “It’s okay. She’s just shy.”

  Keely got up and walked over to Kara.

  “Hey, kiddo. Your name’s Kara, right?” Keely kneeled down to Kara’s level. Kara cautiously looked at her, and nodded. “That’s a pretty name. My name’s Keely.”

  “Hi,” Kara said.

  “Hey, you don’t have anything to worry about, okay? These people are all nice. We’re your friends, Kara.”

  Kara eyed her for a moment. “Why do you have boy hair?”

  Keely laughed. “It’s just how I like my hair.” She stroked Kara’s. “Yours is pretty, too, though.”

  “I’m tired,” Kara said.

  “I think we all are,” Keely replied.

  “Hey, let’s get ready for bed, okay guys?” Layne said.

  Jessi and Kara took the nearest bed, and Keely took the next one. Katie lay down next to her, and the two hugged. Layne knew he’d be sleeping alone from then on.

  In the next room, Dex and Lacie took a bed. The others stood around the room.

  “How was the water, Dex?” Layne asked.

  “If it ever warms up, it takes its sweet-ass time.”

  “Well, it was worth a shot,” Garrett said. “Let’s just get some sleep.”

  Lightning struck outside.

  “Warren, you can have a bed to yourself,” Layne said.

  “Thank you. But I don’t mind the company, if you change your mind.” He lay down in the next bed.

  “That leaves the four of us,” Layne said.

  “So we’re going to have to share a bed?” Ralph said.

  Layne nodded. “Is that a problem? I mean, you already slept next to a bunch of other guys in the car.”

  “Yeah, but we didn’t really have a choice.”

  “And we do now?” Kyle said.

  Ralph looked at him. “Forget I said anything. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. We’ll be all right. I’m going to go lay down. Whatever you guys decide, that’s fine.”

  The four went into the next room. Layne and Garrett took a bed, and Ralph and Kyle took the other.

  “Think the TV works?” Garrett asked.

  “It’s probably just like the radio,” Layne said. “Nothing but static.”

  “What’s that about, anyway?” Ralph said. “I don’t get it.”

  “No clue. Dex’s satellite watch doesn’t work, either. It’s like all airborne signals just stopped working.”

  “What does it matter?” Garrett said. “It’s no good to us, now. We just have to make do with what we do have.”

  Layne lay awake. The doors between rooms were left open, and he heard a whisper from time to time, but eventually those went silent. He was left with the sound of the rain hitting the windows, the thunder outside, and the occasional shuffle of footsteps in the hallway.

  He thought of everything that had happened, and of the future. Questions were piling up. Where would they go? Would they stay together? How long could this last?

  Layne wasn’t only worried about himself and his newfound family, either. He wondered if there were others out there, other groups of people barely sliding by. Every day the humans grew smaller in number, and the zombies grew larger. Was it only a matter of time before humanity was wiped from the face of the earth?

  Layne tried to shove the questions aside and sleep. At some point, he drifted off, but not nearly as soon as he wished.

  ****

  Layne woke up to the sound of water, but this time, it wasn’t rain. He realized it was the sound of a shower. He sat up and found the room empty, and the door to the bathroom was closed. He could hear his friends talking in the other rooms.

  The sun was out, and Layne wondered what time it was. He found Dex and Lacie sitting on one of the beds in the middle room.

  “Morning,” Dex said. “You’re up late.”

  “What time is it?” Layne asked.

  “Almost one. Hey, there’s hot water after all, it just took a while to warm up. Keely’s in the shower right now.”

  “Where’s everyone else?”

  “In the next room. It’s the only one with a kitchen. Garrett, Kyle, and Katie went out to get more food and ammo.”

  Layne froze. He hadn’t thought anyone would do anything major without him, let alone something as dangerous as heading into the city.

  “When did they leave?”

  “About two hours ago. Hey, you’re not mad, are you?”

  “No.” Layne looked at the ground, then out the window. There were a few zombies in the parking lot. Off in the distance, as far as he could see, there appeared to be more.

  And he wasn’t mad. Somewhat confused, but not mad. He knew Garrett and Katie would know what they were doing, and Kyle was more than capable of holding his own. For a moment, Layne had felt betrayed, like he was no longer needed, like anyone in the group could split up and leave at any time. No goodbyes, no notice, just there one moment and gone the next. Though the feeling of betrayal fled quickly, the rest of his thoughts remained.

  “Well, you should eat,” Dex said. “There were some sandwiches in the next room. Oh, and we blocked off the doors in two of the rooms. The zombies were rubbing against them.”

  “Thanks,” Layne said. He went into the next room and found a plate of sandwiches on the bar. The rest of his group was chatting, and seemed to be having a good time. Layne took a sandwich, started to eat it, and stared out the window into the sunny afternoon.

  “See, when I was your age,” Warren was saying, “our TVs were grainy, none of this ‘high definition’ stuff. And there was never really anything on. And when I was your age,” he said, pointing to Kara, who was sitting in Jessi’s lap, “we didn’t even have color. Too expensive.”

  “What did you guys do for fun?” Jessi asked.

  “We read a lot of books.”

  “My mom always said books were the devil,” Ralph said. “Except for one, of course. But I always thought she was wrong about that.”

  “She was. I think without Hemmingway and Hawthorne and Tolkien… I think we’d have gone downright mad, as a world.”

  “Would you say the same about TV?” Jessi said, smiling.

  “When TV showed up,” Warren said, “we did go mad.” Jessi and Ralph laughed.

  “Then what do you call all this?” Layne said, gesturing to the world outside the window.

  “Easy. The difference between a mad man and a rabid animal is that one of them still has consciousness.”

  “I don’t know. But I know one thing. If there’s a devil in this world, it isn’t books.”

  “Lucifer,” Ralph said. “It means ‘bringer of light’, which I guess is why my mom hated books. They brought knowledge. So to her, they were the devil.”

  “The Bible doesn’t say Lucifer is the devil,” Keely said. She was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

  “Really?” Jessi said. “I thought that was common knowledge.”

  “Guess my mom should’ve read it more carefully.”

  Keely walked into the room and sat down on the corner of the bed Warren was on. “Guess so.”

  “How do you know, anyway?” Ralph said. Keely looked at him. “About the Bible, I mean.”

  “Katie’s into it. She used to always talk about the stories, about things people are always getting wrong.”

  “Have you ever read it?”

  “Not all of it. I mean, I get to stuff about war and plagues and I just… It doesn’t add up. I mean, I’m a spiritual person and all, but I just… I don’t know. There’s a lot of ugliness in that book.”

  “There’s a lot of beauty, too,” Ralph said. “Look out the window. There’s a lot of ugliness in this world. Would
you say it’s a bad world?”

  “No,” Keely said.

  “Why not?”

  “Because there are some beautiful things in this world that weigh the ugly ones out.”

  “Exactly,” Ralph said.

  “…Like Katie,” Keely replied. She stared straight at Ralph. “Like how two people can love each other, despite great adversary, animosity… Hate.”

  Ralph didn’t say anything. He looked away.

  “How’d Katie get you to stay back here while she went out, anyway?” Layne said.

  “We’re not little girls. As much as I’d like it if she never left my sight, I can understand when a situation calls otherwise. How about you? Why’d you stay behind?”

  “Slept in.”

  “Oh, yeah. There’s still some hot water, if you want a shower.”

  “Actually, I think I do,” Layne said. “Thanks. Knock on the door if anything happens. I’ll be out in a flash.”

  “There’ll be a flash all right,” Dex said from the next room. Everyone laughed.

  Layne took his shower. The water somehow didn’t feel quite as good as the rain the night before, but it was still a relief, and for the first time in a while Layne was able to forget that outside the tile walls was a world filled with creatures that wanted to kill him.

  Until something pounded on the wall on the other side of the shower. Layne jumped, and it pounded again. It sounded weak, leading Layne to believe it was nothing more than a zombie thrashing about in the hall. He tuned it out.

  The water started to turn, so Layne got out. When he entered the rooms again, everyone had gathered in the far one, with the kitchen. Garrett, Katie, and Kyle had returned.

  “How is it out there?” Layne asked. He rubbed a towel through his hair.

  “There are more out in the halls, now,” Katie said. “But nothing too terrible.”

  “Great. Well, I guess now’s as good a time as any to talk about the future.”

  “What do you mean?” Kyle said.

  “Look, we didn’t all hop on that plane in L.A. for the fun of it. We were all coming to Seattle for a reason. Katie found what she was looking for, but what about the rest of you? Does anyone have any family? Any place you need to be?”

  The others looked around. Their faces, their eyes were heavy.

  “Well, Ralph and I have nothing here,” Garrett said.

  “Paul and I were on our honeymoon. Obviously, Kara and I don’t have anything.”

  “Job interview,” Dex said. “I’ve called in, though. Permanently.”

  “My family was going to stay here for a day and then get on another flight to Alaska for a vacation,” Lacie said. She was trying not to tear up. Dex saw this, and hugged her.

  “We were going to visit distant relatives,” Kyle said. “But I don’t even know where they lived. So I guess I’m lost, too.”

  “My wife and I were going to visit our grandchildren,” Warren said. The others looked at him.

  “Well, where do they live? Maybe we can find—”

  “They’re dead.”

  There was a pause.

  “How can you know?” Jessi said.

  “I saw Seattle just as well as all of you did. I see the doubt on your faces now. There’s no sense in searching for an answer I already have based on a hope I’ve already lost.”

  “Isn’t it worth trying?” Kyle asked.

  “They’re gone. I can feel it. I’m better off not knowing how it happened. Besides, I’m not going to risk losing the family I’ve found.”

  “So,” Garrett said. “Where do we go from here, then?”

  “What about you?” Katie asked Layne. “What were you doing in Seattle?”

  There was a crash from the bathroom in the far room. All survivors looked out the door and across the two hotel rooms, but nothing stirred.

  “What was that?” Dex said.

  “Where are the guns?” Layne asked. Katie reached into a bag and handed him his gun. Garrett grabbed his shotgun.

  “Wait here,” Garrett said. He and Layne headed into the next room.

  “Uuuuhhhh.” It came from the bathroom.

  “I heard him earlier,” Layne whispered. “He was pounding on the wall. I didn’t think he could get in.”

  They saw an arm reach forth. A zombie was lying across the tub and the bathroom floor, crawling forward, tangled in the shower curtain.

  “Well, let’s take care of it,” Garrett said.

  “Wait!” Layne said, too late. Garrett pulled the trigger and blasted a huge hole in the zombie’s back.

  “What?”

  “The other zombies will hear,” Layne said, “and there’s a big hole in the wall.”

  Through the cracked and broken tile and layers of plywood, in the dark hallway, Layne and Garrett saw zombies already shambling toward the source of the noise.

  “I think it’s time to move out,” Garrett said.

  He and Layne rushed into the room with the others.

  “Pack up your things,” Layne said. “It’s time to go. Now.”

  “Whoa, what happened to staying a while?” Dex said.

  “It’s not safe,” Garrett said. “They tore right through the wall.”

  “Son of a bitch,” Kyle said. The group dispersed into a quiet flurry of gathering their belongings.

  Garrett went to the bathroom to watch the hole. “Hurry up, guys,” he said after a moment. “They’re coming.”

  “Is everyone ready to go?” Layne asked.

  “The food,” Katie said, “someone get the food!”

  “Working on it,” Kyle said as he went to the kitchen. “Ralph, help!”

  “Oh shit!” Garrett said. He raised his shotgun and fired. “Get your asses in gear!” He fired another shot.

  “Got it!” Kyle said. Ralph slung a bag of food over his shoulder, and Kyle grabbed another. “Let’s go!”

  “I’ll hold them here and follow you guys,” Garrett said. He fired another shot. “Go, now!”

  “I can’t leave you by yourself,” Layne said.

  “You have to get them out of here. Now go!” Garrett fired another shot, then the gun clicked. He scrambled to reload as a zombie got through the hole in the wall and lunged. Layne shot it in the head, Garrett finished reloading, then fired a round to clear the closer zombies. He turned to Layne and nodded his thanks, then returned to the hole.

  “Okay,” Layne said. “I need you guys to follow me, as close as you can. I want at least two people gunning at the front and back of the line. Who’s up front with me?”

  “I’ll do it,” Kyle said.

  “Keely and I will take the back,” Katie replied.

  “Okay. Watch out for each other. Let’s go!”

  Layne opened the door to the hotel room and looked down the hall. The zombies were filing toward the hole in the wall, and Layne saw a spray of bullets come through it along with bits of zombies. Some fell to the ground, but many pushed on. Layne looked the other way down the hall, toward the lobby and front door, and saw almost as many zombies. Some noticed him, too.

  Layne drew and fired, missing the closest zombie the first time, then hitting it right in the head. It fell to the ground. He took a few steps, and Kyle followed closely behind. The two fired at the oncoming zombies, moving down the hall slowly.

  Kara started to cry. Jessi tried to calm her down, but it wasn’t working.

  “Hey guys, we might want to get a move on!” Keely said from the back of the line. She and Katie cleared some of the zombies from the hole, but not nearly enough.

  “We’re going as fast as we can!” Kyle said.

  “Hey, where’s the bag of weapons?” Dex said. “I’ll make one of those Molotovs and see if we can get the zombies distracted!”

  “We’re too close to each other,” Layne said.

  “We’ll be fine, I’ll throw it down the hall! It’ll give Garrett a better chance!”

  Warren dug through the bag and grabbed a bottle, which had been part
ially emptied, and a rag. He handed them to Dex.

  “Toss it here!” Garrett said. Layne couldn’t see where he was, but he sounded closer than the bathroom.

  “Garrett, get out of there!” Lacie said.

  Garrett was at the back of the middle room. Zombies poured in through the hole in the bathroom, despite Katie and Keely trying their hardest to take them out from the hall.

  Dex wrapped the rag around the bottle and tied a small knot, then threw it over the zombies. Garrett caught it. He quickly opened the bottle and stuffed the rag inside.

  “I need a light!” he said. Dex tossed him a lighter.

  Layne wished he could tell what was happening, but the zombies up ahead commanded his attention. He kept firing and inching the group forward.

  “Try to throw it into the room next to you!” Dex said. “That’ll clear you a path!”

  “Sorry, Dex,” Garrett said. “That won’t work.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Garrett shot a nearby zombie. “That’ll get them off of me, but not you guys.” He shot another zombie, then climbed onto the bed. The zombies reached for him from all sides. Garrett lit the rag, then threw the Molotov straight at the ground in front of the bed.

  “No!” Lacie screamed. The hotel room burst into flames.

  “What’s happening?” Layne said.

  The fire spread through the room quickly, running along the carpet and toward the wooden shelf that housed the TV. It started to creep up the bedsheets and window shades.

  The zombies stopped reaching for Garrett. Most of them reached down, toward the fire, and several of them were already beginning to catch. They groaned and growled, and seemed to be in pain, but they couldn’t help themselves. The zombies in the hall could see the glow emanating from the room, and rushed toward it. Most of them completely ignored the survivors they passed.

  “Garrett!” Layne said. As soon as the hallway ahead was clear of zombies, he headed for the hotel room. The fire was beginning to spread into the hall. Layne looked inside the room as zombies passed him up. Garrett was standing on the bed, the fire was slowly climbing it.

  “Get out of here, Layne,” Garrett said.

  “We’re going to get you out of there. Garrett, God damn it! You didn’t have to do this!”