by Mike Staton
He stood silently contemplating opening a can of whoop-ass on the door when Judith appeared at his side. She didn’t so much as walk up next to him as simply materialized out of the darkness of the store. “Emptiness abounds in this place.”
“You’re tellin’ me. I assume that means you didn’t find anything?” He tugged his glove off and ran his thumb over the ragged destruction in the middle of the knob.
“Empty shelves and a door that leads upward. I jammed it closed for now. Figured we’d hit floor two together. Who was the jackass who destroyed my ability to pick this door open?” Judith crouched and looked at the door.
“You know how to pick locks?” Percival pulled his glove back on.
“Among other things that are… less than legal. Don’t act surprised.” Judith rose from in front of the lock and moved past him.
“I’m not. Just, well, pleased isn’t the correct word but.” Percival moved after her.
Judith looked over her shoulder, grinned at him, her white teeth practically glowed in the darkness, and pulled her mask back into place in the same movement she pulled her hood up.
“Samuel, left wall from the entrance, meet us at the doorway for the stairwell. We’re checking the second floor,” Percival shouted.
There was a grunt of affirmation and Percival could hear Samuel moving deeper into the building. It didn’t take long to meet with him at the side wall. A metal folding chair had been jammed underneath the knob and propped to prevent it from opening.
“Ladies first.” Percival gestured to the door.
“How chivalrous.” Judith removed the chair and pulled the door open. She drew her long dagger and fed a finger through the ring at its bottom before she silently ascended the stairs. Percival followed her while Samuel came after him.
The stairs opened into a small office with a second door leading out of it. The office was in a similar state of disarray as store below. The bookshelves had been tossed, books lay strewn around the floor. The desk was bare, with papers scattered around it and drawers opened. A metal filing cabinet sat within easy reach of the desk. A second door led out of the office and a comfortable, leather couch lay undisturbed.
“Check the books. One might be useful, a manual or guidebook for medicine or something.” Percival moved to the desk.
“Sure thing.” Samuel moved to check the discarded books.
Without a word, Judith moved to the exit door, checked the handle, and found it secured. She sheathed her dagger, propped her bow, and adjusted her light to hit the knob as she took out two thin pieces of metal and began fiddling with the lock.
Percival directed his attention to the desk as she worked at opening the door. His search didn’t take long. His initial impression of the desk’s emptiness was wrong only in that he found a ballpoint pen in one of the drawers. He checked beneath each and withdrew a key that’d been taped to the underside of the left middle drawer.
“Judith, got that open?” Percival rose from the chair.
“I’m rusty. Not yet.”
“Try this.” He tossed the key to her. “Samuel?”
“We’ve some quality reading material over here. ‘Sparkly Undead,’ ‘My Summer Twilight,’ and ‘Where the Wolf Howls.’ Can I grab ‘em?” His tone dripped with sarcasm.
“Cover Judith.” Percival turned to quickly browse through the filing cabinet. He found it unlocked and, after a quick perusal, filled with documents concerning inventory and tax documents for the pharmacy below. He found employee records in the bottom drawer, but declined to bother to sift through them.
“Door’s open, boss,” Samuel said.
He glanced up at Samuel and closed the bottom drawer. He moved across the small office and followed Judith into a short hallway. The hallway dead ended at a window that looked into a small alleyway. Percival guessed that the backroom of the pharmacy had a door that also led into this alleyway. Two other doors led off of the main hall and a drop panel likely led to the roof. A couple of pictures decorated the hallway: an elderly couple who looked to run the shop, the elderly couple with their son, various family events. Percival pulled his attention away from the pictures and gestured to the first door. “If you’d be so kind.”
The key opened the locked door and Judith opened it to reveal a full bathroom. After a cursory look, nothing more interesting than the Daffy Duck shower curtain was revealed and the group retreated to the hallway once more. They approached the last door.
“Somethin’s dead in there.” Judith waved her hand in front of her mask covered face. “Dead a while from the smell of it.”
Percival nodded. The smell of rotting meat permeated the hallway, getting stronger the closer they got to the door. “Got to check it anyways.”
He didn’t think it was a zombie, not noisy enough, and stalkers didn’t stink like normal zombies, but if it were something new, it wouldn’t do to have it at their backside. He stepped into a position from which he could see into the room on the moment it opened and lifted his shotgun.
Judith slid her dagger out and crept up to the door. The knob was locked, but opened easily with the key he’d found. She held up her fingers in a silent countdown and opened the door the moment her fist closed around her dagger.
The reek of death rolled out of the room, strong enough to cause a gagging response from those in the hall. Percival suddenly wished he’d had Cooper’s gas mask instead of his motorcycle helmet. Coughing, he swept what he could with his shotgun and flashlight.
The door opened on a small kitchenette. Big enough to cook some very minor meals, but not much else. The fridge door stood open with spoiled food spilling noxious smells out as well. Judith slid into the room in a low crouch, keeping his line of fire cleared.
Percival moved after her. The room opened up into a small, studio apartment space. A tiny dining area for two split the room into two separate spaces. Beyond that was a bed with two bodies curled up beneath a blanket. One appeared to be holding the other in an eternal embrace. The bed was thoroughly soiled and soaked with their advanced decomposition. Neither was infected. The infected didn’t rot like this.
A night stand rested on either side of the bed. Simple and wooden, one was topped with a reading light, ‘Dawn of the Vampyre,’ and three small medicine bottles. The other held two large bottles of hard liquor, another small medicine bottle, and a Bible. Percival shook his head, looking at the scene.
He understood their plight. He guessed that the couple was from the pictures in the hallway. The world went to shit and instead of watching it go, they’d opted to go out on their own terms and with each other.
They’d given up. He’d done that once, and it wouldn’t happen again. “Check the corners and let’s leave them be.”
Judith nodded. Samuel retreated quickly to the hall. Percival held his breath and moved to the bedside. He tugged the comforter up over the elderly couple’s head. As he was moving away from the bed, he noticed a square of white paper poking out from beneath the Bible. He nudged the book away and picked up the paper.
“Dear son,” the suicide note began.
He shook his head once more and slid the note into his pocket.
“We’re… ahem…” Judith cleared her throat, gagged, and tried again. “We’re clear in here.”
Percival nodded once, gestured to the doorway. She nodded and wasted no time at all evacuating from the room. He followed her and pulled the door closed behind him. Once in the hallway, Percival wrenched his helmet from his head and drank in less rank air. He moved down the hallway toward the office.
“Why would someone do that?” Samuel sat on the couch, head between his hands.
Percival closed the door to the hallway once Judith followed him into the office. “Got a note that may shed light on it. They probably wanted to go out on their own terms. Not the crappy ones presented here and now. Same reason we give the option to our infected. Go out on your own terms now or wait to turn and go out on ours later.”
“That�
�s fucked up.” Samuel shook his head. “They weren’t infected. I don’t think.”
“Doesn’t change the terms. Everyone’s got two unalienable rights.” Percival pulled the note out of his pocket, set his helmet on the corner of the desk and propped his shotgun within easy reach. He shed his sledgehammer and dropped into the chair.
“The right to live how you see fit, so long as it don’t hurt s’m’body else an’ the right to die how and when you want to.” Judith sat down next to Samuel. “I don’t want nobody to take either of those rights from me.”
“Me either. I’m not ready to go out yet, still got stuff to do yet.” Percival felt a pang of guilt that he might not get the chance to complete his goals. He’d screwed up and done something incredibly stupid. He’d broken his promise to Sarah in that regard. “Y’all want to hear the note, or should I keep it to myself?”
“Go ahead and read it.” Samuel let his head sink back to his hands.
Judith nodded and set to rubbing Samuel’s back.
Percival skimmed the note to make sure there wasn’t anything terribly personal that shouldn’t be shared with everyone present. He cleared his throat and began.
“Dear Son,
“The Airforce came by and offered everyone a way out yesterday. They said it wasn’t safe here anymore and that they couldn’t remain to protect us any longer. They offered to escort or drive anyone who couldn’t walk away. Our neighbors, Kelly and her boys, have already gone. Turned cannibalistic and violent. The Greys, you remember them? They suffered at the hands of this outbreak of rabies. They were the victims of the littlest of boys.
“Your ma saw one of the Airforce men shoot the boy. Shot him dead in the eye. I don’t think they’re here for our benefit if they’re shooting our sick children. And we’re not going with them. There isn’t much left for us here anyways.
“Your ma’s already given up. With the state of the country, the world even, she’s already laid down to join you and your sister in heaven. I’ll be joining her shortly.
“Just wanted to leave this for you incase you’ve not died like everyone else we care for on this green earth. We love you, Joe. That’ll never change. This world just isn’t what it needs to be for us anymore.
“We didn’t suffer.
“We love you.
“Ma and Pa.”
“They didn’t even know if their son was alive still.” Samuel shook his head without lifting it.
“Do you?” Judith asked quietly.
“I don’t have a son,” Samuel snapped.
“Your folks, do you know about your folks. Do they know about you?” she clarified.
“I trust they’re fine. That they’re surviving just like me. Helpin’ people. They’re not quitters.” Samuel lifted his head and scrubbed wetness from his eyes.
“Not everyone’s as strong as you are,” Percival said. “And who knows what else happened to these two before the letter was written. But we’re not going to debate it.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I’m going to return this note to where I found it and we’re going to wait for Dakota and Anton to arrive.” Percival got up from the chair. He didn’t bother collecting his weaponry, nor his helmet as he walked to the hallway door. “We’ll get through this.”
* * *
Kat shivered. She’d been in the tree for half the day, felt cramped and stiff and cold. She’d followed Percival and his crew down the street and around the corner. She’d kept a watchful eye on them as they crept up the street and into ‘Edison and Son Rx.’ She’d kept vigilant of the town since, hardly moving a muscle and watching for any movement or anything out of place.
In short, it was incredibly boring. She, however, saw it as a vital job. Cooper, down below, had been a distraction at first, but after a few terse answers to shouted questions, he’d gotten the hint and let her observe in peace.
“Anything yet?” he shouted.
Maybe he hadn’t quite learned his lesson. Maybe kissing him and starting whatever they were doing was the wrong direction. “I don’t know why I’m botherin’ to answer your question. Told you last time that I’d tell you the moment I saw something.”
“Someone’s cranky.”
“Someone’s cold and annoyed. Stop talking.” Kat muttered something extra about putting his lips to better use. She adjusted herself in the tree and panned her view over the town once more. Nothing truly new had revealed itself since her last sweep. Nothing that she could see, anyway.
“Can think of something that’d warm you up…” Cooper called up to her.
Kat rolled her eyes. “You’re going to get pushed back to arm’s length if you keep that up.”
“We both know you don’t want that.”
She grumbled, knowing it was true. She’d come to enjoy the feel of his lips and gentle attentions to her. “You’re distracting me from my duty. And not paying attention to what’s going on around you.”
“You said dooty.” Cooper’s words were accompanied by a childish chortle.
She rolled her eyes again. In the middle of a huffed sigh, she silenced herself and snapped her focus to a spot of movement in the town. She adjusted her rifle’s scope, snapped to the highest zoom possible and focused on four people moving down 19th Street. She lost them as they moved behind a building in the direction of Grey Street.
“Percival’s going to get company,” she muttered to herself. She backed the zoom of her scope off a few clicks and watched for the people to reemerge. There were two more than they were expecting. That wasn’t surprising. They’d brought five people to this shindig with that expectation. She knew that Ian had mentioned by name only two: Judith and Percival.
Both sides were being cautious. Sudden movement atop a brick building a block from the pharmacy snapped her attention to it. The group had split, two going to the pharmacy and two climbing a ladder to the rooftop of the building. She watched the humanoid shadows climb over the lip of the building and move to the edge where they’d be able to see the pharmacy. One swung a rifle, similar to her own, from its back and set up in a kneeling firing position, using the ledge of the rooftop for support. Its companion set up a spotter’s scope, both pointed at the pharmacy.
Kat started rolling through the math in her head to perform a shot at this distance and have it land on target. The exercise stilled the sudden appearance of butterflies in her stomach, and let Cooper’s words roll right off her like water on a duck’s backside.
It didn’t surprise her that they had a sharpshooter pair set up in town. They were likely there for the same reason she was in the tree: backup and insurance. Kat drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She wasn’t a religious person, her grandparents had seen to that, but it didn’t stop her from silently asking for forgiveness if she needed to put a bullet through a living person. It helped her to steel herself for dishing out violence.
She may vomit her guts right out of her center afterward, but in the moment, she was ready to… Murder Cooper. Something small and hard struck her side and broke her concentration.
“What the fuck do you want, Cooper?” She angrily snapped.
“Uh, Kat? Need your full attention down here. This—“
Kat memorized the spot she had in her sights and looked down the tree for the first time since she’d climbed in that morning.
Cooper still stood at the base, but instead of holding her .22 at the ready and looking away, he had both hands on top of his head and was looking up at her. Behind him stood a small figure in dark grey BDUs, wearing a flight helmet. They held a carbine of some sort aimed at the back of Cooper’s head.
Kat’s reaction was immediate: she froze. There was no way she’d get her long rifle swept around in time to do anything about Cooper’s situation. “You in this predicament ‘cause you were busy staring at me instead of watching the woods, Cooper?”
“You got a gun on my people, Katherine?” the woman asked.
“Ain’t my fault she’s so snea
ky.” Cooper dropped his gaze down to the base of the tree.
Kat stared at the woman with a gun to Cooper. The voice sounded distinctly familiar, and the words hadn’t been overtly hostile. If anything, they’d sounded conversational, almost amused. And she doubted that Cooper would drop her full name to a stranger. Not that it would be a stretch to guess a lengthier version of ‘Kat.’
“Cat got your tongue? Rifle down, mask off.”
Kat obeyed the orders, lowered her rifle and lifted her paintball mask. “Who are you?”
The woman’s carbine lowered. Cooper turned and sprang at her. Cooper was large, muscular, fast… powerful.
The small woman was faster. He got one hand on the carbine and pushed it to the side. She twisted with the motion, brought the butt of her gun around to the side of his head. In a motion too quick for Kat to keep track with, the woman kicked Cooper and slammed him into the ground. She did this all without losing control of her weapon, despite Cooper having put a hand on it.
In the blink of an eye it was over. The result had Cooper sprawled on his backside, gasping for the breath that’d been knocked out of him.
“Call your dog off, Katherine. I don’t want to hurt him.” The woman casually had her weapon trained on the downed man once more.
“Cooper, I think it’s in our best interest to not provoke her. Who are you?” Kat kept her gun down, resting in her lap and made no obvious movements to raise it.
Cooper groaned some response. Kat didn’t feel bad for him.
“I know it’s been a year, but, really… I’m hurt. Your ears used to be better than this.” The woman took two succinct steps away from Cooper and slid a hand up to pull her flight helmet off.
“Krista?” Kat’s jaw dropped and she immediately snapped a salute. “Ma’am.”
“Katherine.” Krista shook her head, locks of neatly shorn, wavy auburn hair settled near her shoulders. “It’s good to see you. Now, why do you have a gun on my people?”
