by Shana Festa
Daphne started to growl again and Jake whipped around. "You need to shut her up. This is the last time I'm going to tell you. Noise equals death. If you can't keep her quiet, then you can't keep her."
I felt as if I'd been punched in the gut and the wind knocked out of me. I wrapped both arms around her protectively. "Excuse me? Did I just hear you right? Did you just threaten to get rid of my dog?"
"Like I said to Alicia. Bites are a death sentence. I will protect myself, and you, from that at all costs. If that means making the hard choices, then yes; the dog will go in order to keep you alive. Now let's go. One. Two. Three."
Jake’s momentum spurred me into action, and I hauled ass across the street and to the fence. In our one and only lucky moment of the day, we found the gate unlocked and the backyard blissfully empty. We slipped in and closed the latch quietly behind us. I put Daphne down on the grass as we inspected the yard. She immediately began sniffing the lawn and peed once she found a sweet spot.
I watched her dart across the yard finding what would be the home for her little brown package and was rewarded with the cute little dance she did before dropping her bombs. She circled an area, honed in on a location, then spun in circles before making her deposit. I marked the area in my head for future note so as not to step in it. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice…well, you know how it goes. The simple act of watching the dog take a shit grounded me with a semblance of normalcy. She spent a few seconds kicking dirt onto her new pile and I covered my mouth to avoid an escaping giggle.
The shades were drawn on the windows facing the yard. We examined them for signs of movement before we crept to the back door. Vertical blinds covered both glass panels of the slider. They were opened just enough for us to see into the empty living room. After a few minutes of detecting no activity, Jake tried the door. Locked. We had locked ourselves out a time or two before, and Jake had some experience with getting through our back door.
He lifted the handle and the locking slide lifted out of the catch enough that it made the lock ineffective. Holding the door up, he silently slid it open about six inches, then waited. When no sound escaped the house, he inched the door open just wide enough for us to fit through. Pulling back the blinds, we peered in at the empty house. It was eerily quiet and it took me a second to figure out why. The electricity was off. There were no sounds of the air conditioning running or the buzz of a refrigerator.
The last remnants of air conditioning lingered in the air; the power must have gone out recently. Lit by only the dark sky filtering through the shades, the corners and doorways remained murky and ominous. My mind reeled with thoughts of monsters waiting in the shadows. Jake hefted the crowbar in a defensive hold and we entered a house that was laid out similar to ours. From our entry point we could see into the breakfast nook and straight through to the kitchen and laundry room beyond. To our right was the living room. Sparsely furnished with a single sofa and a television leaning precariously on an old end table near the wall. Daphne weaved between our legs and Jake stumbled over her, causing him to reach out for the back of a kitchen chair to avoid falling. I grimaced as the chair skidded loudly in the quiet home, and Jake looked up at me with anger.
We stood frozen waiting for something to come at us, but there was nothing. I exhaled in relief, but the look Jake had given me made me nervous about the argument that would surely follow. Systematically—room by room—we cleared the house like we were a pair of commandos. Jake’s time in the Army was coming in handy. We were alone in the house. The adrenaline I had been running on all day wore off now that we were safe, and I slumped down on the sofa. My tank was on empty and my body ached all over from my exertions in the car. Jake sat down next to me, body rigid. We were soaked to the skin from rain.
"This is as safe as it’s going to get. I looked out the blinds; we’re not alone. They haven’t noticed us yet, but we can’t get too comfortable. We need to search the house for food, weapons, and dry clothes."
My body protested as I forced myself to stand. I opened the refrigerator in hopes of finding it stocked with goodies, and the still cold appliance cemented my theory on the recent power failure. I was rewarded with a gallon of milk four days past its use by date, a package of bologna, bottled water, and a jar of fancy mustard. This house definitely belonged to a man. I found a loaf of bread on the counter and made us some bologna mustard sandwiches while Jake went on the hunt for clothes. Our selection of drinks were limited to water and, well, water. I grabbed a bottle for each of us and put the remaining four bottles on the counter for later.
He came out of the bedroom draped in a tee shirt, at least four sizes too big, and a pair of baggy sweatpants. I smiled at the image and he smirked back at me. "You think this is bad? Wait until you try to find something in your size." My smile faded as I looked down at my petite frame. At a slender one-twenty, Jake dwarfed me.
* * *
I peeled off my wet clothes and hung them over the shower rod to dry. Ever try to wiggle out of wet skinny jeans? It’s not an easy task, I assure you. Winded from the mini workout the jeans provided, I began rooting through the closet in the master bedroom. Jake wasn’t kidding; the smallest shirt I found was a four-X. The fact that it went down past my knees at least meant that I didn’t have to look for pants. The Nine Inch Nails logo was its only saving grace.
Jake was stuffing the last of his bologna sandwich in his mouth when I came out. Mustard stained the corners of his mouth and a dollop had fallen onto his new digs. I rummaged through the cabinets for bowls and filled one with water for Daphne. I set down the water, and began feeding her pieces of bologna, which she gobbled up greedily.
The sun had gone down and the lack of natural light made it impossible to see. I used the flashlight feature on my phone and rifled through the kitchen drawers in hopes of finding a candle. Coming up empty, I moved into the second bedroom and discovered a closet occupied by a freestanding toolbox. I was so happy; I nearly kissed the box. I found one of those industrial flashlights and turned off my phone light to save battery. "Jake, look what I found," I whispered.
We pulled out anything that could be used as a weapon and settled on a hammer, a huge screwdriver, and the piece de resistance: a large axe leaning against the side of the toolbox. Jake handed me the trusty crowbar and hammer while he claimed the ax and screwdriver. "These things are drawn by sound. The gun is a last resort only, and we need to conserve bullets," he said.
Jake found two backpacks and filled them with the nonperishable items from the pantry, two more flashlights, the four extra bottles of water, and a change of clothes for each of us. A change of clothes for me meant another tent of a tee shirt. I opted for a Godsmack one this time. If nothing else, the owner of the home we currently squatted in had great taste in music. Each of us grabbed a couple pairs of socks, but we decided going commando was preferable to wearing borrowed tighty-whiteys. We put the bags next to our cache of makeshift weapons on the kitchen table by the back door and checked to see if our clothes were dry. Both of our jeans were still drenched and our shirts were damp at best. Hopefully the night would dry them out, but the humidity left me skeptical.
A bump on the outside of the house caused Daphne to let out a half growl, half whimper. I bent down to console her, not missing Jake’s glare. We heard nothing after the initial sound, nothing other than the whipping rain and wind that battered the house. I hit the button on my phone to display the time. It was nine o’clock. I was wiped. In less than twelve hours we had gone from our happy bliss to fighting to survive and looting other people’s homes for basic necessities.
The master bedroom had a weird smell, like funky gym shorts in desperate need of a wash. Smell or not, it was the Ritz compared to what our house had become when we left. We closed the door and Jake slid the dresser in front of the door to reinforce the entry. I shook out the comforter and watched as he moved the tall bureau down the wall and in front of the window. Any intruders would have quite the barriers to break
through should they attempt entry.
The muscles on Jake’s back and arms tensed with exertion. I’d been lying about his ass being flat; his ass was fine with a capital F. I had to stop myself from walking across the room and grabbing me a big ol’ handful of yum. What can I say? My husband was a hottie from head to toe. Even terrified out of my wits, in the middle of the end of the world, I can find the silver lining.
"You need to put Daphne in the closet."
"What?" I couldn’t believe he was asking me to lock her away. "Why?"
"Because it’s not near any windows. And I don’t want to wake up to find her barking at a noise outside. It’s safer for us." He picked her up before I could reach for her and dropped her to the closet floor.
"Jake, stop. She’ll be terrified. I’ll keep her quiet, I promise." My lips began to quiver and I could feel tears coming. Daphne had become like a safety blanket for me through all of this. With her in my arms, I felt more relaxed, more grounded.
"Too bad, Emma. She’s a fucking dog. It doesn’t mean I love her any less, but get something straight. She’s the expendable one." He closed the closet door and my heart constricted with pain. It was silent for all of thirty seconds. The whining began, escalating quickly to desperate, pleading barks. Jake threw the door open and yelled at her. She cowered in the back of the closet in fear.
"Jake, please. I need her." He closed the door again and the sound of her cries cut through me like a scalpel.
"Fine!" he said as he opened the door, fury written all over his face. Daphne didn’t move. The form of Jakes body loomed in the doorway, freezing her in fear. "Go," he commanded, and pointed to the bed. She skulked out of the closet with her head hung low and her tail between her legs, giving Jake a wide berth. As she saw me, her ears perked up and she jumped to the bed and nuzzled into my arms. "One peep, Emma, and she stays here when we leave tomorrow. Don’t try me. I’m not joking, not even a little."
Jake crawled into bed beside me and turned off the flashlight. My body stiffened as he moved behind me and put his arm around my waist. Tears flowed freely from my eyes, the effects of his verbal lashing. The rain continued. I didn’t think it would ever stop.
"I’m sorry, Em."
"Fuck you, Jake," I spat, and shoved his arm off me. I felt his body tense in reaction to my harsh words, and he rolled over and moved further to his side of the bed, leaving a tangible space between us. I cried myself to sleep holding my precious animal tight against my chest and prayed to a God, who probably wasn’t even listening, that my dog would remain silent.
* * *
Chapter 10
Fuck You Helen Hunt
I awoke to the feeling of a bass drum rumbling through my chest. The window panes rattled in their frames and the increasing sound of a freight train roared from every direction. Jake shouted something at me, but the sound was so loud I couldn’t hear him. I picked up my phone to call my mother-in-law, forgetting the phone had no service. Confused as to what was happening, I looked around the room like I was going to find the answers.
Jake got close and yelled in my ear, "TORNADO!" A chill slid down my spine as thoughts of the house being ripped from its foundation and tossed through the sky came to mind. I’d seen The Wizard of Oz. I did not want to end up in the Emerald City, or worse, lay dead under a pile of detritus.
I couldn’t discern any individual sounds, just the single, very loud, roar of the storm. The noise increased to the point of pain. I slapped my hands over my ears and stood looking wide-eyed at Jake. Daphne had run to the closet and was hiding under a row of clothes. Smart dog that she was, she had enough sense to get to an area without windows; so I followed her lead. Jake followed me in and slammed the door behind him.
The small room did nothing to dull the earth shattering sounds. The three of us huddled at the back of the closet. I have no idea how much time passed; all I knew was that one moment my eardrums hurt from the sound, and then they didn’t. All at once, the reverberations stopped and it became silent. We sat in the dark, shaking our heads and tensing our jaws open and closed to pop our ears from the pressure build up, until Jake stood up and opened the door.
On first glance, the room looked normal. All at once the scene snapped into focus and I stood there, mouth agape, and fully bewildered. Rain poured from the ceiling fan, and the wall at the head of the bed looked like it was one of those fountains that ran water down a sheet of glass. I set Daphne on the bed and helped Jake slide the dresser away from the door.
As soon as the door opened, I could smell the scent of fresh rain and ozone. We walked into the living room and were transfixed by the carnage at the front of the house.
The main door stood intact. A lot of good it did since a tree was jutting through the smashed bay window, letting in not only the elements but creating an easy route for the undead masses. Yes, I was now convinced they were zombies. Rabies? Rabies didn’t do this to people! I thought about that movie Twister and wondered who in their right mind would want to chase a tornado having now seen firsthand the destruction they caused.
"Are you kidding me?" I said. "All I’m asking for here is a break. One. Solitary. Fucking. Break." I threw my hands in the air and looked at the ceiling. "Throw me a frickin’ bone, will ya?" A distinct moan floated in through the front window and my mouth went wide in surprise. "Now you’re just messing with me."
I half ran, half stumbled, to the kitchen table and threw on my sneakers. Not wasting any time lacing them, Jake and I swung our bags over our shoulders and armed ourselves. I beat Jake to the back door and pulled it open, revealing a rotting corpse standing in my path. Not thinking, I lifted the hammer and, with one hard swing, plunged the tool deep into its cranium. My arm reverberated with shock as the head of the hammer struck bone.
As I pulled the hammer back, its eyes rolled and its muscles went slack. It fell to the ground in a heap, and gray matter spilled out onto the concrete pad. I turned back to Jake to ask where to go and my mouth went dry as I spotted several of the undead crawling through the broken window. Daphne barked a protective warning at the approaching horde, darting forward and snapping at them.
The storm had knocked out a twenty-foot section of fence, taking the gate with it. Zombies swarmed the area, and our only option was to jump the fence at the back of the yard and into an empty lot. Oh yeah, and hope there was nothing waiting on the other side to catch and eat me. Jake lifted me and I peered over. "It’s clear." He shoved me over the top without pause and I toppled to the saturated earth on the other side. My ass struck a rock and I gurgled out a high-pitched screech of pain.
I got up and held my arms up. "Hand me Daphne," I instructed him. He didn’t say anything, and no dog greeted me at the top of the fence. "Jake, hand me the dog." I heard her still barking on the other side and saw Jake’s fingers over the top of the fence, no dog in his hands.
I screamed at him, not caring what attention I was calling to us. "Jake, DON’T DO THIS. Please, Jake, no! I need her. She needs me. She won’t survive on her own." Jake hopped the fence, landing on his feet. I was in shock. I clawed at the fence trying to get back over to my dog, but I was too short to gain leverage. She was going crazy on the other side. I could hear her digging in the dirt to get to me. I knelt and began digging from my side. Her nose stuck through the bottom of the fence, rippling the surface of the pooling rain water with her panicked exhalations. Her cries leaving my soul tortured and twisted, I dug until my fingers bled. There was just enough space that she could see me under the fence.
I spun on Jake and reached for the ax, but he grabbed me and swung me over his shoulders. He began running as I beat my bloody hands on his back and begged for him to stop.
"I’m sorry. Oh, Jesus, I’m sorry," he sniveled as he ran.
Daphne howled in anguish and disappeared from the small opening. "NOOOOOOOO," I sobbed. "Daphne!"
We cleared the empty lot and Jake put me down. Before he could get a word out, I began to run back for Daphne. The opening i
n the fence swarmed with bodies and I knew I would never get to her without being taken down. My knees went weak and gave out. I found myself on all fours sobbing and blubbering out her name.
The splash of his shoes on the wet ground alerted me to his arrival behind me. "Oh, God. What did I do?" He agonized. "It was only a mistake. I made a mistake." His voice was hoarse and came out strangled as he pled for forgiveness. He paused for only an instant before he passed by me at a sprint toward the hole in the fence.
Terror held me in place like a vice-grip and the torture of indecision and fear threatened to crush me. On one hand I was crazed by the loss of my dog. On the other hand, my husband was running to certain death in a foolish attempt to right his wrong.
I opened my mouth to scream for Jake to come back, but before I could call out, a bark sounded. Daphne burst through the opening like a bullet and weaved between the arms of the grasping corpses. She shot by Jake and leapt into my outstretched arms. Tears of happiness replaced my tormented sobs.
"Jake Rossi, don’t you ever pull a stupid stunt like that again." I shoved him backwards with my free hand and waved my finger in his face. "How am I supposed to process what just happened. First you leave Daphne to die then you try to throw your own life away to save her? I don’t know if I should be pissed or proud."
"My, God. I am so sorry, Em. I wasn’t thinking. By the time I knew what happened, it was too late." The look of torment on Jake’s face was heartbreaking. "I love you so much. I love Daphne too, I just, I don’t know. The thought of something happening to you made me insane."
I stepped into him and put my head on his chest. Emotions jumbled around in my head like gum balls. I was angry and confused, but more than that I was terrified. I couldn’t tell him it was okay; not yet at least. Because nothing about this was okay, and I wasn’t ready to deal with it.
