Alive?

by Melissa Woods

  The man shook his head. “No room.”

  Joe raised an eyebrow, but Violet moved closer. “Please.”

  ‘No room’ means more people. Living people. Living people means somewhere safe.

  As long as I don’t eat any of them, we could be golden!

  The man narrowed his eyes, then sighed. “Wait.” He moved away from the gate, holding a walkie-talkie to his lips. “Got some people down here, wanting to come in.”

  There was silence for a moment, and then another man’s voice spoke in reply. “Are they alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are they bitten?”

  The man looked over. “You bitten?”

  “No,” Sam replied.

  “They say no.”

  Joe raised an eyebrow again. “Well, that’s thorough.”

  The walkie-talkie crackled a little. “Open the gates.”

  Sam drove the car up a long dirt road, which seemed to go on for miles. There were woods on either side, and it was only when they were clear of those that Violet finally got to see the house. It was easily one of the most beautiful buildings she’d ever seen. It was as large as the main block at school, with white walls and huge windows. Green ivy grew in patches over the brickwork, which made the building look even more like something from an old movie. As they pulled up outside, Violet could see wide marble steps leading up to a grand, white front door. They climbed out of the car, each taking in their surroundings. People were riding horses down on the green lawn. There were barns not too far away, with a herd of cows grazing nearby. Chickens pecked at the ground near the marble steps. There were at least fifteen people in sight, each regarding Violet’s group with curious, yet friendly expressions.

  “Welcome.”

  Violet and the others turned around. A man was making his way toward them. He had a walkie-talkie clipped to his belt, and the gait of someone important. He was probably in his late fifties, with greying brown hair and a tired but strong air about him. He gave a wide, genuine smile, and held out his hand to shake Sam’s.

  “I’m Robert,” he said, shaking each of their hands now. “I’m sorry for your reception down at the gate. Harold…” He paused, as though he wasn’t sure how to finish his sentence. “Harold has a way with people.” He smiled. “But we’re happy to have you here.”

  “Thank you,” Violet said.

  Robert nodded. “Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”

  Robert gave them a tour of the house to get them acquainted with what he was already calling their new home. Violet certainly didn’t mind. This whole place felt like a dream compared to everything they’d experienced up until that point. Sam asked, almost half-heartedly, about taking some fuel for the car, but Robert waved this idea off.

  “You can’t go back out there,” he dismissed. “We’ve lost far too many good people, and every person lost is another muncher outside.”

  “Why would anyone want to leave here?” Joe asked as they walked through another huge room.

  Robert held up his hands. “It’s understandable; they wanted to go find their families and friends. Thought they could bring them here, but most never make it back.” He looked at each of them. “You’ve all got each other; don’t risk that by going back out there.”

  Robert led the group around the house, telling them his story. “When the dead began to walk, my family and I were the only ones here. This was our house. Although it’s large, we didn’t have many staff. Harold at the gates, he was the gardener. We had a driver and a few people who came to clean, but no one who lived on site. Harold came first when the dead started walking, but as things outside got worse, more and more people from the town found our gates. So I left him down there, and told him to let people in as long as they weren’t bitten.”

  “That was very kind of you,” Violet said.

  “What alternative was there? No one in their right mind would leave those people out there, not with what was happening, and not when we have so much room. As time went on, we became a community. We all work together to make ourselves a life here.” They headed up a huge staircase, and Robert continued. “A family from the town used to use my land for farming, so we’ve got crops, animals, and greenhouses full of food. As more people arrived, they brought canned supplies, so we’ve got those, too. There’s more than enough for everyone, and everyone contributes to the farming and harvesting to make sure it stays that way.”

  “What about water?” Sam asked.

  “We’ve been storing rainwater since the start, and there’s a river at the edge of the woods, so we can boil water from there if needed. We’ve been using a turbine in the river to draw power from the current, and also have hundreds of solar panels. My plan before the world changed was to be self-sufficient out here, which means we already had a steady source of power when everywhere else ran dry. We can even watch movies once in a while.”

  Robert led the group through the countless rooms, many of which contained families.

  “This isn’t just my house anymore,” he said earnestly. “It belongs to everyone.” He waved to an old woman dusting a lampshade, who smiled in return. Matt caught Violet’s eye and raised an eyebrow. She knew what he meant—was this too perfect?

  Robert stopped outside a door in the middle of the hallway. “I do apologize, but we’ve run out of family-sized bedrooms. I can only offer you one of the smaller ones.” He swung open the door to reveal a huge room containing a king-sized four-poster bed, two large couches, a television, desk, bookcase, and a closet big enough for the group to fit comfortably inside. There was also a private bathroom.

  “I think this will be fine,” Violet said, aware her mouth was hanging open.

  Violet learned that there were twenty families in the house, alongside a few people who had arrived on their own. Even though the place was huge, there were too many people living there to all be able to eat in the oversized dining room together. Most people prepared their food at set times, and ate in their rooms. Tonight, however, Robert had invited Violet’s group to come and eat with his family and a few of their close friends. Everyone had been welcoming and polite, but Violet couldn’t help but notice their fantastic ability to talk about everything and anything besides the zompocalypse. She supposed it made sense; when people lived so comfortably away from the danger, they probably didn’t want to be reminded about the fact that others were still dying.

  Everyone was laughing, joking, telling stories, and generally acting like everything was normal. The reality of the situation was clear enough, though, by the scars on their arms and faces, and the haunted expressions behind most of their eyes.

  Violet didn’t talk much at dinner. She sat at one end of the table, with Matt to her right and Joe to her left, and simply watched the others. Everything felt so relaxed, so…normal? A mother across the table was quietly scolding her son, who looked about ten. He had blond hair and thick glasses.

  “I don’t want you hanging around with those boys anymore,” she said as she spooned peas onto his plate. “They’re too wild for you, and with your asthma—”

  “I’m fine, Mom,” the boy groaned, but his mother shook her head.

  “No, that’s final.”

  The boy sighed, catching Violet’s eye and seeming a little embarrassed. She turned away, but a smile crossed her lips. She couldn’t help it; she was starting to feel safe here. Her friends felt it, too. Joe and Matt were laughing as they spoke to the people around them, Maggie and Toby were deep in conversation with a couple of kids further down the table, and Sam was talking to a pretty girl who sat opposite him. Even Ben seemed happy, sleeping under the table with a couple of other dogs.

  “What’s it like?”

  Violet raised her head. The man sitting next to the mother opposite had asked the question, and was waiting for a response.

  “What?” Violet asked.

  “Out there,” the man clarified, inclining his head toward the window. “What’s it like out there?”

  Vi
olet shook her head. “Bad.”

  What a way with words you have, Violet.

  The man nodded, reaching for a plate of carrots. “They don’t talk about it here. They don’t talk about any of it anymore.”

  After dinner, Violet and her friends went back to the bedroom. Robert had been telling the truth about having enough power to watch movies, and had let them borrow a box full of DVDs. Though Violet was unsure how sensible it was to waste electricity on something as frivolous as watching TV, they were still excited to spend the evening letting their eyes rot away. There had, however, been some disagreement over which movie to watch. Violet and Maggie had wanted an award-winning fantasy movie, which the others had been all for until Violet mentioned that it was Spanish.

  “Wait, so it has subtitles?” Sam asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Violet replied.

  All four of the guys groaned.

  “What?” Maggie asked.

  “I don’t like movies with subtitles,” Joe complained.

  Violet raised an eyebrow. “Why, can’t you read?”

  “Har-har.”

  “What about this one?” Sam asked, delving into the box and holding up an action film. Violet had no idea what it was about, but the fact the box showed a man jumping from an exploding car and a woman in a string bikini holding a machine gun, suggested it wasn’t the movie for her. She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think Maggie and I—”

  “That looks great,” Maggie interrupted enthusiastically. Sam and the others whooped, and the matter was settled.

  Though Violet was excited to do something as normal as watching TV, the novelty soon wore off. The movie itself was just terrible. Violet watched as yet another building blew up, and then got to her feet.

  “I’m going for a walk.”

  No response; her friends were transfixed on the screen.

  “Okay, bye then,” Violet said, a little louder this time.

  Still nothing. Joe laughed as the hero of the movie made another ridiculous pun. “Knew he was gonna say that.”

  Violet rolled her eyes. “I was thinking I might climb over the gate. Have a walk outside? Maybe find a zombie and let them chew on my arm a little bit?”

  “Yeah,” Sam said obliviously, waving her off with his hand. Violet huffed and left the room.

  The night was mild, and the moon full and bright. She walked down the steps outside the front door, making her way to the pen where the horses were kept. She put both arms on the fence, standing and watching the animals for a while. A little brown pony trotted past with its mother, happily throwing its head around.

  She heard movement behind her, turning to see Matt approaching. “Hi,” he said, smiling as he leaned on the fence to her right. “What are you doing?”

  “Nothing really, just thinking.” Violet raised an eyebrow. “You realized I was gone then?”

  Matt’s grin was sheepish. “Yeah…sorry about that. I got a little caught up with all the explosions and violence. It made me feel like a real man.”

  “Why did you leave?”

  “It got really loud.”

  “Wow, you’re so tough.”

  Matt winked, taking a step back from the fence. They began to walk further away from the house.

  “Did I miss anything?” Violet asked.

  Matt thought for a moment. “That guy with the eye patch jumped out of a skyscraper and destroyed a helicopter with his bare hands on the way down.”

  Violet was confused. “Wait, I thought he died already?”

  “They rebuilt him.”

  “From what? He got blown up, didn’t he?”

  “There were some bits left.”

  “It’s literally the worst movie in the world.”

  Matt smiled. The two of them walked in amicable silence for a few minutes. Violet could see the woods up ahead.

  “How are you doing?” Matt asked.

  What you mean is, ‘How’s the zombie stuff going? Want to eat anyone yet?’

  “I’m okay,” Violet replied. “Not about to eat anyone if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “It wasn’t.”

  Violet scrunched her nose, and Matt held up his hands. “Okay, it wasn’t the only thing I was thinking.”

  “That’s more like it.”

  They stopped walking. Violet got the feeling Matt had something on his mind. He seemed a little nervous.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “What? Yeah. I just… I was thinking about you… No, not about you. Not exactly… I mean, I was thinking about us and that maybe—”

  “Wait, shut up.”

  “Excellent, this was just how I was hoping this would go.”

  “No, look!” Violet pointed toward the woods. Matt followed her gaze. There was movement just beyond the tree line.

  “What is that?”

  Violet saw a flash of light. “It’s not the dead. It’s people. They’ve got flashlights.”

  “Where are they going?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Without saying a word, Violet and Matt headed toward the entrance to the woods. She could see the flashlights, not too far away, but heading in the other direction.

  “Should we follow them?” Matt asked.

  “Hmm, mysterious people walking into the woods with flashlights…”

  Matt nodded. “We shouldn’t. It’s a terrible idea.”

  “They could be crazy,” Violet added.

  “It would be stupid and dangerous.”

  “You’re right.”

  His dimples popped. “Let’s do it.”

  “Okay.”

  The two of them entered the woods. Though Violet knew it was risky, she didn’t feel too worried, not yet. She knew they were in a safe place; the grounds of the house were surrounded by the brick wall, and Robert and his people wouldn’t be wandering around in the woods if the biters were roaming freely out there. And the people themselves? They all seemed friendly and harmless enough. Sure, walking through the woods at night carrying flashlights didn’t exactly scream ‘normal and safe behavior,’ but what was even normal and safe during the zombie apocalypse?

  Matt and Violet continued, following the light and giggling like children as they tripped over rocks and tree roots. Neither of them felt in any real danger. Violet could see the people more clearly now. There were three of them. They were far enough away not to hear the noise she and Matt made as they stumbled along behind, but close enough to be kept in sight.

  Eventually, Violet saw a building up ahead. It was in the middle of a clearing but still surrounded by the woods. It was a barn, clearly unused for some time. It was old and crumbling, with a thick chain locking the doors. The three figures climbed a ladder leaning against the wall, and then entered a window on the upper level. Matt went to follow, but stopped when he noticed Violet had held back.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve got a weird feeling.”

  “A weird feeling about the three mysterious people entering the abandoned barn during the middle of the night?”

  “So you’re familiar with it?”

  Matt smiled. “It’s probably just some kids sneaking out to smoke or something. We can go back if you want?”

  Violet thought for a moment, then shook her head. They’d come this far. She needed to see what they were doing. Otherwise, she’d just drive herself crazy thinking about it. She made her way over to the ladder, pausing for a moment as her hands rested on the wood, then climbed up. After she crawled through the window, she was met with the confused faces of three people. Two of them were teenagers, one was much younger; it was the boy who had been told off by his mother at dinner.

  “What are you doing here?” asked a boy with a mass of ginger hair and freckles, who was probably about fifteen. Violet saw the other two attempting to stealthily slide some beer cans behind a bale of hay behind them.

  Underage drinking? Definitely better than I was expecting when I saw the creep
y barn.

  Violet was just starting to think everything might be totally normal and fine, when Matt tapped her on the shoulder. “Um…Vi…”

  She followed his gaze. The upper floor of the barn came to a stop a few feet from where they were sitting. She could see one of the dead down on the lower level. He had long black hair, ripped and bloodied clothes, and what appeared to be a red scarf tied around his neck. There were other strips of red tied around his arms and legs.

  “What is that doing here?” Violet asked, raising her voice a little as she turned back to the kids.

  “Relax, it can’t escape,” the redhead said, rolling his eyes as if a zombie wandering around below them was the most normal thing in the world. He continued, “No one even knows it’s here.”

  “How reassuring,” Matt drawled sarcastically.

  “What are you doing with it?” Violet eyed a small pile of red cloth on the floor next to the other teenage boy, who had short black hair. His grin smacked of meanness, and Violet noticed for the first time that he was holding three pieces of straw in his hand.

  “Just watch,” he said. Silently, the kids each picked a straw. It was the youngest, the blond, who ended up with the shortest one. He looked at the creature once more, then got to his feet, taking a piece of red material and moving toward the window. Silently, he climbed out.

  The other two began to shout, drawing the attention of the biter. Violet glanced at Matt, wondering if he was as confused as she was about what was happening. He was watching the barn door, and sure enough, it opened a fraction. The chain was loose enough to allow the small boy to slip through the gap and enter the barn without the biter realizing.

  “Oh God,” Violet breathed, finally putting the pieces together. The boy snuck up behind the creature.

  “What are you doing?” Matt angrily asked the other teens, who were still yelling and taunting the biter.

  The ginger one rolled his eyes again, and Violet thought if he did that one more time, she might have to punch him.

  “Relax,” he said. “We’ve done it loads of times; that thing is slow.” He pointed down, and Violet saw the biter had a severely mangled left leg, which it was dragging as it walked. The boy got closer, holding onto the red cloth. The teens were jeering. The black-haired one was even dangling his leg off the platform to keep the thing occupied. But then, without warning, it spun around and lunged at the boy, knocking him to the ground.