Alive?

by Melissa Woods

  “Help him,” Violet cried.

  The redhead rolled his eyes again, but Matt grabbed Violet’s wrist before she got to act out her fantasy. The kid continued, “He’s fine. He just needs to keep out of its way until he can knock it over or it falls on its own. Then he ties the cloth around it.” He spoke to her as if she were a child and he an adult.

  “Are you crazy?” Violet spat. “That thing will kill him!”

  The black-haired teen, who’d been laughing and cheering, was suddenly silent. Violet turned back. The blond boy was struggling with the biter. He’d managed to push it off him and onto its back, but now it had hold of his arms and was trying to pull him toward its snapping jaws. Matt got to his feet and ran toward the window. Violet knew there wasn’t time. She scanned for something to use, and saw a pitchfork resting against the wall on the ground floor. After jumping from the platform onto a large hay bale, she got to her feet and grabbed the tool. She kicked the boy out of the biter’s grasp none too gently, and then slammed the fork into the creature’s face. It stopped moving immediately. Violet’s heart was hammering. She heard the chain rattle against the barn door as Matt squeezed through the gap. Leaving the fork in the biter’s head, she went to help Matt get the boy off the floor. The kid was rubbing his arm, but there was no bite, no blood.

  “It didn’t have any teeth,” the redhead muttered from above them. “You didn’t save him from anything.”

  Violet felt anger boiling inside her. She glared up at the two of them, pointing to the corpse. “Do you think this is all a joke? That you can play games with these things? They can rip someone apart just using their fingers! All they want to do is kill you, and not having teeth doesn’t mean they can’t or they won’t! Have some respect!”

  “Are you okay?” Matt asked.

  Violet nodded. “Let’s go.” She scowled, taking one last glance at the dead biter.

  “We weren’t playing,” the redhead called after them. “We were practicing.”

  Violet and the others had been living at the house for a week, and it was really starting to feel like a home. Aside from the incident in the barn, everyone was friendly, normal, and in no hurry to try to murder them. It was a nice change.

  Violet was happy, but it was strange to be surrounded by so many people, especially those who didn’t really have any idea of what was going on in the world outside the huge walls. Children played outside long after dark and people didn’t worry about making noise or lights being on. It was a safe place. Violet knew they were right to relax. She’d seen the wall. It would take a bulldozer to knock down any part of it, and she was pretty sure the dead weren’t driving those around. But inside the grounds, the walls were hidden by acres of fields, and after that, acres of woodland, so it was hard to remember it was there.

  In fact, the woods were part of the reason Violet felt anxious. Even though they were filled with bright flowers and what seemed like thousands of adorable bunny rabbits—hardly nightmare-inducing stuff—they were still terrifying. She didn’t think it was just the fact the woods were home to the biter-barn. After all, the zombie in there was dead now. She thought it was more to do with what they reminded her of, which was the woods she’d been walking through when it all began. That was where she’d spotted her first zombie. Whenever she was alone outside, Violet kept far away from the tree line, even after a week of feeling safe and secure.

  Today, she’d gotten up early to walk Ben through the fields. It was a beautiful day. In fact, it seemed like from the moment they had arrived at the house, the weather had dramatically improved. The sun always seemed to be shining.

  Violet shuffled out of her borrowed jacket and slung it over her arm. Ben trotted happily by her side. She threw the tennis ball she’d taken along for the walk, but though he chased it, Ben soon lost interest and began sniffing at the ground. Violet watched as he caught sight of something and froze. She felt her heart begin to beat a little faster, simply out of habit, but relaxed when she realized it was just a squirrel. Ben, however, acted as though he’d never seen one before. He charged off in pursuit, disappearing into the woods. He certainly wasn’t afraid of going in there. She didn’t follow. She knew he’d come back; he always did.

  Violet allowed her mind to wander, thinking about the rest of her group. Everyone had settled in quickly. In fact, she sometimes felt like she was the only one who still thought about what was going on outside. It was almost as though she was expecting something to ruin what they had, like they were all skating on a frozen pond, and she was the only one waiting for the ice to crack.

  And by crack, she meant the moment when she would accidentally go crazy and eat someone.

  Stop. It’s not going to happen. Matt won’t let it.

  That seemed true enough. Matt had stuck by her side since arriving at the house. He was the only one who knew her secret, and he was pretty dedicated to ensuring she didn’t accidentally chew anyone’s face off. But he’d made himself useful to Robert, too, along with Joe and Sam, and had begun to help in the fields with the crops. Sam in particular had really settled in, and he seemed to be enjoying a break from taking care of everyone. He had become particularly close with the daughter of one of Robert’s friends, and he spent much of his time with her. Joe was also constantly surrounded by at least three young women, and Violet soon realized that women outnumbered men at the house. It seemed Joe, young and new, was the most interesting thing to appear at the gates for many weeks. Matt got a similar amount of attention at first, but was less enthusiastic than Joe, and his admirers soon began to leave him alone.

  Toby spent a lot of his time with some of the young boys who lived in the house, and Maggie had formed close friendships with the older women of the group, busying herself most days with household chores. Violet thought at first she’d been roped into it, but realized Maggie liked those kinds of jobs and enjoyed hanging out with the old ladies. Everyone had made friends; it was only Violet who tried to keep to herself as much as possible. It was safer that way.

  She looked back at the woods. Still no sign of Ben.

  Relax, this place is safe. He’s probably waiting at the bottom of a tree for that squirrel.

  Violet knew she was right, but still didn’t want to leave him alone in there. “Ben,” she called, straining her eyes for a flash of white. Nothing. “Ben…” she said, louder this time.

  A high-pitched cry in return.

  He’s hurt!

  Violet took off at full speed toward the sound, her own fears forgotten. She moved further and further into the woods, calling out Ben’s name. She wasn’t thinking about finding her way back out, only about the dog. She began to tire, something that seemed to be happening a lot more quickly these days. She wondered if it was because she hadn’t eaten, really eaten, in a while. It was the blood, after all, that seemed to make her strong.

  Another whimper, closer this time. She scanned her surroundings; Ben was twenty feet or so away, wagging his tail. Relief flushed over her, and Violet jogged over. Ben tried to move closer, then whimpered again, holding his paw up. She crouched, examining it. A sharp twig had become lodged between two of his toes. She pulled it out gently, and watched as he gingerly put some weight on it. He wagged his tail harder, gratefully licked her hand, before trotting off in the other direction.

  Violet got to her feet, realizing now she had absolutely no idea where she was, or which was the quickest way out of the woods. The thing that surprised her most, though, was how calm she felt about it. The woods weren’t nearly as frightening as she thought. Though they had appeared dark from the tree line, large rays of sunlight broke through the gaps in the trees and colored the ground below a golden brown. She could hear birds singing. Not far in the distance, a large family of rabbits were grazing on a patch of clover. Violet felt foolish for being so afraid. It was beautiful in there. With a renewed sense of confidence, she followed Ben, knowing he probably had more idea of where he was going than she did anyway.

  When Viol
et returned to the bedroom three hours later—ironically, Ben’s sense of direction was not much better than her own—the air was tense. Matt, Joe, and Sam were sitting on the couches talking in hushed voices. Maggie and Toby were cross-legged on the floor. Sitting between Sam and Joe was Sam’s friend Rachel.

  “What’s going on?” Violet asked, closing the door behind her.

  Sam got to his feet. “Rachel needs our help.”

  Rachel had clearly been crying. Her blue eyes were red-rimmed, and she ran her fingers through her blonde hair anxiously.

  “I’m sorry,” she choked. “I shouldn’t have come to you with this, but I didn’t know who else to ask.”

  “What is it?” Violet asked as she moved closer.

  “Her brother is sick,” Joe explained.

  “He has asthma,” Rachel began. “He needs refills for his inhaler, but we’ve run out.”

  “Have you told Robert?”

  Rachel nodded. “Yes, but he says it’s too dangerous to go outside. He doesn’t think Connor’s asthma is severe enough to risk people leaving. He says we can manage it in other ways.”

  “What ways?” Maggie asked.

  “Breathing exercises. We learned to do them for mild attacks if we couldn’t get to an inhaler, but it won’t work if he has a severe one.”

  Sam shook his head. “What about your parents?”

  Rachel frowned. “They agree with Robert. They think it’s too dangerous, and we can handle it without his medicine. They keep saying how he’s been doing so well, and as long as he doesn’t run or do anything else too athletic, he’ll be fine.”

  Matt and Violet exchanged sideways looks. If this was the same boy who had been attempting to attach scarves to the biter in the barn, he wasn’t exactly working hard at ‘taking it easy’.

  “So,” Violet began, not liking where this was heading. “What are you asking, exactly?”

  Rachel sighed. “I shouldn’t ask, I know I shouldn’t, but your group has been outside more recently than anyone else. You lasted out there, and you took care of yourselves. You can handle the munchers. If we could just get some refills for his inhaler, even just a couple for emergencies, it would make all the difference.”

  “From where?” Joe asked. “Is there a pharmacy nearby?”

  Rachel shook her head. “They’ve been cleaned out, at least all the ones around here. In the early days, Robert was sending people out for medical supplies until it got too dangerous. There was barely anything then. By now, it’ll be gone.”

  “So…where?”

  Rachel bit her lip. “The only place I think we can be sure will still have medicine is the hospital.”

  Violet’s shoulders slumped. “Which hospital?”

  “This is great. I was super keen to come back here.” Joe sighed, glaring at the doors leading into the hospital. “Remind me again why we’re doing this?”

  “Because we’re good people, and we want to help a sick kid?” Sam said.

  “I’m not sure that’s it.”

  “Because Sam wants to make out with Rachel?” Violet suggested.

  “Ding, ding! I think we have a winner,” Joe replied glumly.

  “Shut up,” Sam groaned. He nodded to the doors. “We’ll get in, get out, no problem.”

  “Are you still talking about Rachel?”

  Sam’s elbow in Joe’s ribs suggested he wasn’t a fan of that particular joke.

  “It wasn’t exactly ‘no problem’ last time,” Violet reminded him.

  “It will be easier this time.”

  “How?” Matt asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “We have weapons.”

  That was true. They each had a knife, and Matt and Sam also had crowbars.

  Joe still didn’t look so sure. “If I remember right, that place was swarming with zombies. I’m not sure a few knives and crowbars are going to make much of a difference.”

  “We know what to expect this time, too,” Sam added.

  “That’s not exactly a comfort,” Matt retorted.

  Sam sounded irritated. “You guys didn’t have to come. I offered to do it alone.”

  “What a hero,” Joe said sarcastically. “Listen, mate, we’re not about to let you end up as one of those things. But we’re gonna make you regret trying to show off to your new girlfriend right up until the moment we get safely back behind those walls, okay?”

  “Fine.”

  Sam, Matt, Joe, and Violet had been crouched behind a car parked not far from the main hospital doors. Now Sam waved over the rest of their party—two guys around Violet’s age who’d offered to come along and help. Violet didn’t know their names. They’d traveled over in their own car, and had so far made no attempt to engage in conversation. They were friends of Rachel’s, and willing to risk their lives to help her brother. Violet wondered if Rachel was aware of how easily she could charm guys into doing whatever she wanted.

  Toby and Maggie had wanted to come, too, or at least Toby had wanted to and Maggie had offered, but Sam had made them stay behind.

  “We need at least a couple of us back at the house so no one gets suspicious,” he had explained, though Violet thought it was more that he didn’t want to risk the lives of the youngest members of their group unless necessary.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Sam said. Walking together and trying to look in all directions at once, they headed inside the open doors to the hospital. They made their way through the darkened hallways once more, a destination in mind this time. When they had last been there, Lorin the midwife clearly had a large store of medicine in her living space. It was an area of the hospital they knew how to get to, and would hopefully mean a short trip. Of course, it was almost certain Lorin and Tom were both dead now, and none of the group were overjoyed at the possibility of running into them.

  The hospital was quiet as a grave, but Violet knew this was an illusion. The dead were there somewhere. Beside her, Joe whispered, “So how long until we’re running for our lives?”

  “Shall we make a bet?”

  “I’ve got a Milky Way that says it’s within five minutes.”

  “I’ll get in on that,” Matt said, joining them. “A box of cookies says it’s ten minutes in.”

  Violet thought for a minute. “Fifteen minutes in, and I’ve got a pack of gum.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Sam insisted through gritted teeth.

  Joe ignored him. “Next question, who gets us spotted?”

  “Me,” Violet said immediately. “I’ll step on some glass or something and they’ll hear us.”

  Joe nodded. “Interesting. Matt, what do you think?”

  “Oh, it’ll be Violet.”

  Violet slapped him on the shoulder. Matt grinned. “Sorry, but you’re so clumsy. It’ll definitely be you. I’m gonna go with Violet stumbles into a piece of medical equipment, they hear us, and then chase us.”

  Joe tapped a finger on his chin. “I’m thinking Violet trips over her own feet, swears loudly, and then they chase us.”

  “Thanks for your support,” Violet said sarcastically.

  “We’ll be fine,” Sam repeated.

  “Thank you, Sam.”

  Sam nodded, but then added, “But if we do get killed, it’ll definitely be because they heard Violet.”

  “Great.”

  The two strangers were regarding each other with confused expressions, but said nothing. The group made their way up the darkened staircase and toward the breakroom. Sam went in first. It was much the same, other than the huge bloodstain on the couch where Tom had once been. There was no sign of either him or Lorin.

  “That’s not good. I was hoping his body would still be here,” Joe said, pointing to the stain.

  “Why, because it would mean he was fully dead and not a zombie?” Violet asked.

  Joe didn’t blink. “Yeah. Sure. That’s what I meant. Obviously. Not because I wanted his watch.” He scuttled to the other side of the room.

  Sam was rifling through the medical supplies,
shoving them into his bag. He got to his feet. “I’ve grabbed it all, but it’s not what we need.”

  “Wonderful.” Violet sighed. That meant they had to keep going.

  They stepped back outside, following Sam down the next hallway. As they rounded the next corner, they could see at least ten biters, all facing a door at the end of the corridor. Sam held up his hand to stop the others, and they froze where they were. He gestured for them to back up, and they did. Unfortunately, Sam kept his eye on the biters, which meant he wasn’t watching the floor. He put his foot down on a glass vial, smashing it. The dead all looked over, crying out.

  “Ha,” Violet burst out. “It wasn’t me!”

  Matt grabbed her hand. “Congratulations, run!”

  They all charged back in the direction they had come from. Violet could hear the dead close behind, hissing and screaming as they ran.

  “Split up,” Sam yelled as they came to the stairs.

  “What a fuc—” But Joe didn’t finish his sentence. More biters poured down the stairs. Joe, Violet, and Matt ran down the other staircase, and Sam and the two new guys continued along the hallway. Violet could hear feet on the stairs behind her, so she knew at least some of the dead were following.

  “Run faster,” Joe yelled, glancing over his shoulder.

  Thanks, Joe, I never thought of that.

  Left. Right. Right. Left. Right. They continued through the maze, the sound of the things behind them never waning.

  “This way,” Matt cried, pulling the two of them into another room. Joe tripped as he ran inside, crying out as he hit the floor. Matt slammed the door closed, locking it behind him. Violet looked around. They were in a disabled bathroom. “Lovely.”