In the Lone and Level Sands

by David Lovato

  “Hello?” Katie called.

  “Anybody home?” Keely said. Lacie fiddled with a stack of papers on a desk.

  “I don’t think there’s anyone here,” Layne said. He saw a door labeled “Warden’s Office”, walked toward it, and knocked. “Hello? Is anyone in there?”

  There was no response. Layne tried the door, but it was locked.

  “Okay,” Garrett said. “Let’s break it down.”

  He and Layne got a running start and charged the door, but bounced off. Shoulders sore, they charged again, and this time the door gave. As they fell forward, all Layne saw was clothes. He landed face-first against a moving body and shouted, reaching for his gun, still stumbling. The body moved backward, and he fell forward, saw nicely polished shoes rush toward his head, and then he hit the ground. The body swung back and forth above him. Lacie let out a little shriek when she looked into the room.

  “Don’t worry, he’s dead,” Garrett said. He offered Layne a hand. Layne took it, and Garrett helped him up. Together, they summed up the scene: A balding man in a nice suit hung from the ceiling, his head to one side, eyes rolled back. His suit was clean and untouched, a chair lay overturned a few inches away.

  “Guess he wasn’t a big fan of being eaten alive,” Keely said.

  “I’ll check his desk,” Layne said. His eyes stayed on the warden even as he passed, just for safe measure. When he was a few feet away, Layne turned his attention to the desk. He rifled through it, checked the drawers, searched through papers. Garrett searched a nearby closet, and Lacie looked through a filing cabinet behind the desk.

  “Found it!” Lacie said. She pulled a file from the cabinet and set it on the desk. The folder read “Manifest of Prisoners” on the front, and Layne opened it up. There were a lot of codes and things that he didn’t understand, but he tried to make sense of it.

  He searched through the list, which was alphabetized. “M… N… O… P.” He moved his finger down the page. “I don’t get it. He’s not on here.”

  The group exchanged glances.

  “Maybe you misread it?” Katie said. Layne checked again, then shook his head.

  “That guy,” Ralph said, “the one who told us about him. He said people didn’t want the word getting out, right? Maybe they put him down under a different name?”

  “That’s brilliant!” Dex said, patting Ralph on the back.

  “Maybe,” Layne said. “But we have no way of knowing.”

  He sighed, turned from the paper, and placed his hands on his sides. He stared between the shades, out the window. The sun was shining, it was warm out, and the grassy hills and the buildings beyond them looked peaceful.

  Katie flipped through the papers. “Hey, there’s a prisoner number here with no name on it.”

  Layne turned around and studied the page. There was indeed a number with no name attached to it. He looked through the other info. “Block D. Cell 605.”

  “It’s worth a shot,” Garrett said.

  The survivors headed back out of the office, across the yard, and into the prison.

  ****

  The water hadn’t subsided much while they were gone, and it was still pouring from the sprinklers above their heads. They went back toward the map in the lobby. Their path remained clear of zombies. All that impeded them was the water.

  “Maybe there’s some way we can turn this off!” Garrett said over the deluge.

  “We’ll check for a utility room when we get to the map!” Layne said.

  They went through the barred gate and back into the lobby, where Layne brought them to a stop before the map. They searched together.

  “Here,” Keely said, pointing to a tiny green square on the map marked “Utility”.

  “It’s through one of the cell blocks,” Garrett said.

  “Then let’s hope the prisoners were locked up when it happened,” Layne replied.

  Still itching to get to Cell 605, Layne led the way up the stairs. It was difficult, as a thick stream of water poured down them. They were also difficult to see; there were no windows and the power was out. Emergency lights shone, but were very dim.

  “Watch your step,” Layne said. The handrails on either side came in handy as the survivors trudged step by cautious step up the stairs.

  The stairs led into a huge, open rectangle with walkways before the cells. The walkways were barred to keep people from falling over, but the bottom two feet consisted of solid cement. Water had built up within these walkways and was cascading over the cement like waterfalls. The same went on for several rows of cells upward. Screams and moans could be heard, but just barely. Bodies rested against the bars in some places, floating in the water but too big to fit through the railing and fall to the ground floor below. A few zombies moved around in their cells. Some of them wandered the walkways, but none on the second level, where the survivors were.

  The water was more cumbersome than ever, and the walkway they went down led them to another barred gate. This one came down from the cement above, separating two of the cell blocks.

  “Well, now what do we do?” Dex asked.

  “There’s no lock,” Layne said. He looked up again. On the ceiling was a box, where a round yellow light blinked every few seconds. “It’s electronic. Maybe we can force it open.”

  The bottom of the gate was under the water. Layne reached down and tried to lift it. Garrett joined in, followed by Dex and Katie. The cramped walkway didn’t allow for much room to maneuver, and prevented the others from helping.

  After a few moments of heaving, the bars finally began to lift into the thick concrete ceiling. The survivors lifted as high as they could, with Dex and Katie having to eventually let go because they could no longer reach, and the bars seemed to give more and more as they went up. Layne and Garrett gave one final push, hands above their heads, and the bars clicked into place.

  Layne let go cautiously, and then Garrett did the same. The bars didn’t move.

  “Okay, let’s do this quickly,” Layne said. “The utility room should be at the end of this walkway.” He headed beneath the gate, and Katie followed. Garrett went through, but waited there and ushered the others along, keeping a keen eye on the metal bars above. Keely passed by Garrett, followed by Warren and Lacie.

  “Come on, guys, I don’t know how this thing works,” Garrett said.

  Dex passed beneath the bars, and a loud grinding sound rang through the prison. The little yellow light turned red, and the bars slid down. Garrett jumped forward to grab them, but they pulled him down, too. Dex, whose first reaction had been to look up, was hit in the chest and knocked down.

  The bars stopped somewhere beneath the water. Dex lay below them, his torso pinned underwater, his feet kicking and splashing. Lacie screamed.

  “Help!” Garrett said. Layne trudged back to the gate. Ralph tried lifting, still on the other side of the bars, looking for Dex’s face. Layne joined in with the gate, but the bars would no longer move.

  “What the hell happened?” Layne said.

  “It must be some kind of lockdown!” Garrett replied. “It won’t fucking move!”

  “He’s drowning, help him!” Lacie cried.

  Ralph let go of the bars. He searched below the rushing water, felt Dex’s head. He tried to lift it above the water, but it wouldn’t reach. “He can’t breathe! He can’t get his head up!”

  Layne and Garrett kept trying to lift, but the gate wouldn’t budge.

  “Layne, the utility room!” Katie said. “We have to shut the water off!”

  Layne stood up and looked down the hall. He turned back to Garrett. “Okay, keep trying to get him out of there, see if you can slide him out, just do something! I’ll try to shut off the water!”

  Layne made his way down the walkway, the water pushing him back with every step. As he was wrestling the thought that even if he shut the water off, it would never drain in time for Dex to breathe, Layne lost his footing and fell into the water. Now slowed even more by his wet c
lothes, Layne stood back up and kept going.

  A zombie around the corner of the walkway noticed him. Layne reached for his gun and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The gun had been soaked. “Help!” he shouted.

  Back at the gate, the others were still trying to lift the bars. Katie heard Layne and turned to look. “Someone go with him, we’ve got this!”

  “I’m on it,” Keely said. Easily the lightest of the group, the water had the biggest effect on her. She used the walkway rail for support as she made her way toward Layne.

  The zombie had made its way between Layne and the utility closet. He lost sight of it when it fell into the water. He searched for movement, but in the dim light, all he could see was water. He thought he felt something grab his leg, and he stumbled backward, nearly knocking Keely over. She drew her gun.

  “Where is it?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, it went into the water!” Layne kicked his leg around, but felt nothing.

  It had been far too long already. Dex had gone nearly a minute with no air. Keely aimed at the water and fired several shots, each a few yards apart. “I can’t see shit!” she said.

  “We have to keep moving!” Layne replied. “Cover me, keep your eyes open!”

  They stayed close together and moved a few steps forward. Layne saw the closet fifteen feet ahead. Then, the zombie roared as it lurched up from the water right in front of him. Barely able to control itself in the water, it dove for him. Keely put a bullet between its eyes, splattering the back of its head. Chunks floated in the water beside its body.

  “Thanks,” Layne said. “Let’s go!”

  Lacie had started to cry. Warren was trying to help raise the bars as well, but it was no use.

  “He’s not moving around anymore!” Ralph said to the others. He was kneeling in the water. It rushed past him, almost up to his neck. He was holding Dex’s head in his hands.

  “Oh God, please… No,” Lacie said.

  “There has to be something we can do,” Warren said, more asking than telling. Nothing came to mind.

  “God, please, don’t take him.”

  Ralph thought of Kyle. He thought of his friend dying in front of him, begging to be spared the monstrosity that was swiftly approaching, and how utterly powerless he had been to stop it. These were his friends, his family, his closest allies, and another was dying in his arms.

  Only he wasn’t powerless to stop it, this time.

  “Tell Layne to hurry up,” Ralph said. He thought over what he was about to do, then took a few deep breaths. He felt under the water for Dex’s face, took one more deep breath, and plunged his head under the water.

  Ralph placed a hand on Dex’s chest in the most calming manner he could. Then, assuming Dex’s mouth would be full of water, he pressed his fingers against Dex’s nostrils, closing them, and placed his mouth on Dex’s. He sucked inward, and water filled his mouth. Dex seemed weak, and (not knowing what was going on) kept struggling to move his head above the surface.

  Holding Dex’s mouth shut tightly, Ralph emerged, spat the water out, took a deep breath, then went back under. He put his mouth to Dex’s again, and blew air into it. Dex nearly choked.

  Up again for air, then back down, Ralph breathed more air into Dex, who no longer fought. Ralph couldn’t tell if it was because it was working, or because it had failed. But he continued.

  “You’re a genius, boy!” Warren said one of the times Ralph came up, but Ralph mostly ignored it. Lacie had stopped crying and was watching with hopeful eyes.

  ****

  Layne and Keely reached the utility closet. It was locked.

  “Here,” Keely said. She pointed her gun at the wood above the handle and fired. The bullet exploded when it hit metal inside the door, and a tiny bit of shrapnel pierced Layne’s arm.

  “Ah, fuck!” he said, clutching the small wound.

  “Shit, sorry.”

  Layne pushed on the door, and it gave a little. He slammed into it, and the doorknob broke the rest of the way off. Layne and Keely entered the utility room.

  There were several metal boxes marked with different things. Some were fuse boxes, a few were light switches. In the back of the room was a row of gigantic white tanks and a web of metal pipes. In the middle of the set of tanks, barely visible in the dim light, was a huge metal wheel.

  “Think this is it?” Keely asked.

  “Yeah, I do,” Layne replied. He tried to turn the wheel, but it was jammed from years without use. Keely joined in. The two pulled as hard as they could, shifting all of their weight to the right. The wheel turned a little, and then jerked so hard that Layne fell into the water and Keely fell on top of him.

  Keely got up and then helped Layne up. They turned the wheel, which went much more easily, and there was a huge groan as the water moving through the pipes slowed to a stop, and the sprinklers overhead stopped spraying.

  The sound of rushing water continued as the water poured over the walls and down the stairs, but it was quieter in the prison.

  “Let’s hurry up and get back,” Keely said. They headed out, and Layne couldn’t bear to think of what he might find.

  When Layne saw what Ralph was doing, he was thrilled and proud. He wanted to say something, but Ralph was hard at work, and Layne wasn’t even sure if it was working.

  “Any way you can just shut off the gate?” Garrett asked.

  Layne hadn’t thought about it. “There are a ton of boxes in there. I don’t know what they do, it’s dark.”

  “It’s okay, I doubt it would work anyway. They call it ‘lockdown’ for a reason.”

  Layne felt stupid for not flipping every switch in that room to try to save Dex’s life, but not knowing what it would cause, he decided it was probably better that he hadn’t.

  Finally, the water level started to lower as the water in the walkways rushed down the stairs. After a few minutes, with Ralph becoming noticeably more tired, he went from diving into two feet to only a few inches. Then, the moment came when Ralph was able to lift Dex’s face out of the water.

  “Dex! Can you hear me?” Layne said. His hands were pressed against the bars, he wished he could be on the other side.

  Dex coughed a few times and spat water. The ensuing cheers nearly drowned out his “Sure… thing, Pop.”

  “Dex, you’re going to be okay. We’re going to find some way to get this gate open, okay?”

  “It’s hard… to breathe,” Dex said. The bars were pressing hard enough to pin him down, and Layne hoped they weren’t pressing hard enough to kill.

  “Thank you, thank you so much!” Lacie said. The others were offering Ralph their praise. Ralph sat there, not really understanding at first what he had done. Then, he looked down at Dex, who was becoming less and less submerged.

  “Thanks… man,” Dex said. And then it hit Ralph, and tears came to his eyes. It had worked, he had saved his friend’s life.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Garrett asked.

  Layne thought for a moment. “We need to find something to get these bars off of him.”

  “You go on ahead,” Warren said. Layne looked at him like he was crazy.

  “We need to stay with him,” Lacie said. “He’s stuck, and in the meantime, he’s defenseless. At least some of us have to stay.”

  Warren drew his handgun. “I’ll go look for a strong enough lever to get this off of him. The rest of you go on ahead. Go find cell 605.”

  Layne took a few seconds to gather himself, then said, “Okay. Be careful, and watch out for each other, okay?”

  The others nodded. Layne, Garrett, Katie, and Keely headed down the walkway.

  ****

  The sound of falling water had nearly stopped, and for a moment Layne thought he heard the song from his dream somewhere in the dripping echoes.

  The survivors went up the stairs, careful not to slip. At the top, Layne saw the big black “D BLOCK” painted on one of the walls, and entered that walkway.

  Right away,
a zombie rushed at them. Katie shot it, and it fell to the ground. The four stepped over its body, reading the cell numbers as they went. Another zombie came down the walkway, and Layne raised his gun and pulled the trigger, forgetting it didn’t work. He shoved the zombie over the railing when it arrived, and it growled as it fell to the ground five floors below, where it landed with a crunch and lay still.

  “Hello? Is anyone out there?” a voice said. The group stopped to listen. “I need help, please!” The voice was weak. The group stopped before cell 602, where a man was on his knees by the door, clutching the bars. “Please, help me. I’m starving, I need food, please.”

  “What can we do?” Garrett asked.

  “We have to help him,” Layne said.

  “Oh, God. Thank you.”

  Layne knelt down so he was level with the prisoner. The man looked weak, thin, and pale.

  “Careful, Layne,” Keely said.

  “My name is Layne.”

  “I’m Vince. Are you with the Army?”

  Layne looked up at Katie, then back at Vince. “There is no Army, Vince. We’re just… passing through.”

  “Can you get me out of here?” Vince asked. “I swear, I won’t hurt anyone. I just want out.”

  The four looked around. Layne sighed. “I have something to do, here. When I’m done, I promise, I’ll get you out of there.”

  “You’ll really let me out? You’d let me just go free?”

  “We’d let you come with us,” Katie said.

  Vince was wide-eyed, hopeful yet suspicious. “But I’m a prisoner. You’d trust me, just like that?”

  “As long as you’re able to contribute,” Layne said. “There are people… Things trying to kill us. You saw one in the walkway just now. We can handle ourselves, if you’re dangerous. As far as I’m concerned, you’ve done your time.” Vince stared at him, and then started to cry. He reached his arms through the bars, startling the others, and embraced Layne.

  “I never wanted to hurt anyone. I’ve been in here for years, no chance of parole. Drunk driving, I killed a family.” Vince sobbed. “But I never wanted to hurt anyone, and I swear to God I’ll never hurt anyone again.”