by Karen Carr
“Stan, you know the city well,” I said. “Which is the tallest? It’ll be the easiest to find. We can meet there.”
“Is that BB&T or PNC?” Saudah asked.
“PNC, of course,” Stan said.
“Isn’t that the old RBC?” I asked.
“Shut it with the acronyms,” Zeke said. “It’s tall, right?”
“Yea,” I said. “The tallest and newest. Lots of glass, like the Durham Center, with a giant point on the top.”
Zora moaned and opened her eyes. “What are you guys talking about?” she asked.
“Escape,” I said.
“Shouldn’t we be worried that this limo being bugged?” Zora asked.
Huck’s eyes flickered open. “Bugged?” he mumbled.
“They’ll figure out where we’ve gone once they see where the zeroes are headed,” I said. “No matter where we go, they’ll trail me like a moth to a flame.” I lowered my voice. “You guys will have to get out and run fast, as soon as you see a break. Run away from me. I don’t want Mace to threaten me with your lives anymore. If you are not around to kill, he won’t have any more leverage.”
“So we meet at the PNC,” Stan said. “How far up do we go?”
“Zeke knows,” I said. “Same floor we were on at the Durham Center. You guys stay with him.” I grabbed Huck’s hand. “Huck is stuck with me.”
“You know I am,” Huck said.
“I know you wouldn’t let me go on my own,” I said. I didn’t want Huck to die, but I knew he wouldn’t go with the others, so it was better to commit to my partner and not get him killed by indecision.
“I think we should all do one of these before we get out,” Greg said. He produced several small bottles of booze and handed them out.
“Keep mine,” I said. “You’ll probably need it more than me.”
Greg looked grateful, opened the small bottle and finished it in one gulp. “That burns,” he said.
“You ever drink the hard stuff?” I asked.
“Not straight,” Greg said. “I’m more of a Cosmo man.”
“Cosmo, that’s a girl’s drink,” Zora teased.
We spent the next several hours talking and planning and trading stories about the past. The limo would stop and start as Mace’s men cleared the road, making the journey take forever.
Zeke and Huck exchanged hunting stories while Zora and Boa talked about their parents. Stan and Saudah told stories about me and compared notes about my personality. They both agreed I was stubborn but disagreed on the reason why. When they asked me to clarify, I just rolled my eyes and laughed. Greg spoke too, telling us about his large family, brothers and sisters and parents and grandparents and all still alive—up until the apocalypse.
After Greg clammed up, we all became silent and I chose to watch the scenery out the window. Several times we had to stop to relieve ourselves, but never had the opportunity to escape. Every time we left the limo, I was struck by the beauty of the landscape until I was interrupted by a zero’s gargle filled moan and realized we weren’t safe outside. We would wait for the perfect opportunity to escape and then get out together.
Chapter 21
I woke up and looked out the window to see high buildings looming on the horizon just a few blocks away. We had entered downtown while I was sleeping. The limo moved forward at a crawl, the screeching of metal against metal filling the air as Mace’s men pushed through the wreckage.
Downtown was eerily quiet, the setting sun hitting the glass windows and reflecting into the empty street—empty except for the corpses of the ones I had already killed. We were moving slow enough for my virus to have taken effect.
We passed taverns and diners and banks and museums and so many dead bodies that the stench was unbearable. The tank in front of us had crushed them all in our path, so we were driving on a road of dead bodies. The idea made me shiver and I tried not to look down, but my eyes caught too many steam-rolled bodies to count.
“Come here,” Huck said, pulling me close, and trying to distract me from all of the death.
I regarded my friend’s faces, all looked uncomfortable with the sights and the smells, especially Greg and Boa.
“How are we going to walk through all of this?” Zora asked.
“I don’t want to think about it,” I said. I’d walked through piles of zeroes before and it was not fun.
The limo driver pulled up to an overgrown park with paths and a statue in the middle. It took me a few seconds to realize the building at the far end of the park was the capital building. Mace had done it. We were smack in the front of the capital building in downtown Raleigh surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of dead bodies.
The limo driver opened his sliding glass window. “End of the line,” he said.
Zeke tried the door, but it wouldn’t open. Several guards stomped through the corpses on the ground and stopped at the side of the limo. The driver finally got out and opened the door for us.
“Not yet,” Zeke whispered. “Let things settle down first.”
We followed Zeke out of the limo and stretched our stiff muscles. The air was filled with sounds of parking cars and engines roaring into the area. I watched as several more vehicles drove in and parked on the overgrown lawn. I counted at least twenty vehicles in Mace’s convoy, upwards of a hundred men and women. We were severely outnumbered, but if I could use the zero horde against Mace, odds would be back in our favor. More and more guards were gathering, all wearing combat uniforms, helmets, coats and armed with a variety of weapons.
We stood shivering on the sidewalk together. For a day in May, it had become unseasonably cool. The setting sun meant it would just get cooler.
“Get closer together,” One of the guards said. He, and others, began pushing us together in a group.
Zeke and Huck pushed back, but both received rifle-butts to the gut. We were soon so close together that our bodies were all touching.
“Get the rope,” a woman guard said.
Someone brought out a nylon rope, which the woman took. She found an end and asked another guard to wrap us around it like a lasso. My body was sandwiched between Huck and Saudah with Stan right behind me.
Another guard approached, this one wearing a blue and gray uniform, pretending to be an officer. “Boss wants them on the corner, across from the hotel,” the officer said.
The woman took the tail of the rope and pulled us along. We had no choice but to follow her, or get the butt of a rifle in our ribs. Thankfully, Mace’s men had already cleared the bodies from the sidewalk, so we didn’t have to get stuck in any rib cages.
“Stop here,” the officer said.
We stopped at the corner in front of a large hotel, seven or eight stories high. Zeke cussed under his breath and Huck took my hand. I felt Stan rub Saudah’s back and Greg fidget while we waited for something to happen. I shifted from foot to foot and watched Mace’s guards run about. They were all excited and energized and kept hollering to each other about how they had done it, how they were all dead, taking credit for my good deed. I wanted to spit on all of them, but my mouth was dry.
Finally, Mace pushed through the soldiers and stopped in front of us. He was wearing a heavy coat with fur around the color, making him look like a walrus—he was only missing the tusks.
“Hella, I’m glad you got some rest in the limo.” Mace clasped his hands together like he was truly thankful. “You’ll be staying here tonight.” He gestured toward the capital building. “In front of the capital while I take the night across the street.” Mace pointed to the hotel.
“No room at the inn?” I mumbled and rolled my eyes.
“Hella, are you getting an ego?” Mace asked. He gestured around at the dead in the bushes. “This isn’t all because of you. This is because of me and my men. You might have killed them, but we cleared them. We got you here. Without us, you are nothing.”
Zeke started to laugh and Huck through expletives at Mace.
“You are nothing without
her,” Huck said.
Mace ignored Huck’s comment. “My boys are checking the hotel to make sure you’ve done your job. Once they finish, and once they’ve found me the best suite, you’ll move over there.” He pointed to the park.
“I am not sleeping in a park,” Greg said.
“I hope you enjoy this wonderful spring weather,” Mace said, ignoring Greg. “I want you to kill as many zombies as you can tonight. We’ll check on you first thing in the morning. Meanwhile, your friend Santiago and his men will keep watch over you in case you need a bathroom break.”
Mace made a motion with his hand and Santiago appeared, following him was Ana.
“Good night, Hella,” Mace said. He turned and walked across the street and into the hotel.
Most of Mace’s troops followed him into the hotel, leaving us with a dozen men and women in uniform. Some of the troops wore padded armor and masks, like they had invaded the local swat team and stolen their uniforms.
“Move them under the statue,” Santiago said.
The woman who held our leash dragged us into the park. The guards surrounded us and became impatient with our slow progress, mumbling about how they were cold and didn’t want to stay up all night. Santiago parked us under the statue and his troops fanned out around us, trying to get comfortable in the cold.
“You ok?” Huck asked me.
“I’m fine,” I said, shifting from foot to foot. “But I don’t think I can stand the whole night.”
We stood in silence for a long time, everyone shifting and moving their body in an attempt to keep warm. The night was barely lit by the moon, but I could still see the benches surrounding the square and the large Greek columns at the entrance to the capital.
I thought about how I was going to kill Santiago and then Ana. If we each took two guards, we could kill them all. I could tell these people hadn’t been out in the real world. They were too soft and whiney. Most of them had probably never even killed a zero, let alone a live person. Maybe they had torched a few, but to actually pull the trigger to kill someone was a different kind of cold.
Two guards approached Santiago and Ana and they had a brief conversation before he came over to us.
“Ready to get some rest?” Santiago asked.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Greg replied.
“Change of plans,” Santiago said. “We’re going inside for the night. We’ll get you in and out of the can, and then find a place to keep you.”
Santiago ushered us up the steps of the capital. It was hard to walk, all tied together like we were in a three legged race, except with seven people. We finally made it to the top, where Santiago’s men had already opened the door.
Inside was warmer but it was also darker. Santiago’s men turned on some camp lamps and soon the place was illuminated in an eerie florescent glow. They pushed us through the rotunda and in front of the public restrooms.
Santiago took the rope from the woman. “You’re going to get in, do your thing, and then get out as fast as you can. You better try hard to do your job because you won’t get another chance all night long. And don’t flush.”
Once free of the ropes, we rushed into the bathroom hoping to get a chance alone. Unfortunately, the guards followed us in and watched our every move, so we didn’t have time to talk. Before we knew it, we were out of the bathroom and being lassoed together again. This time, Santiago had his men tie us together by the wrists and ankles in a giant circle. They then escorted us back into the middle of the rotunda.
“Sit down,” Santiago said.
The men surrounded us in a circle again. I thought if we ducked at the right time, we could get them to shoot each other. Ana glowered and raised her weapon, pointing it directly at me. I sneered. It was a nice gun, after I killed her with it, I would keep it.
We sat on the ground in front of a statue of George Washington in a roman general’s uniform. We sat close together with our backs to each other for support. I thought how Mace would probably replace that statue with one of himself as soon as he took over. Around the rotunda were several plaques and busts of other famous men. The guards had given up watching us and were wandering around looking at the statues, mumbling and joking about how they were going to replace them all.
Soon after they inspected the statues, they started grumbling about how tired they were and how there wasn’t any comfortable place to sit. The floor was too cold and there weren’t any benches or chairs or soft fluffy pillows. A couple of the guards raced upstairs and soon popped their faces over the circular atrium above our heads.
“Hey, boss,” a guard called out to Santiago.
“What is it?” Santiago asked. He was leaning against a column and his ever-faithful sister was sitting at his feet staring at us.
“There’s a library up here,” the guard called out. “Third floor. Lots of comfortable leather. And another room with a bunch of rocks behind glass that has a few more lounge chairs. We could make camp up here.”
Santiago lit a cigarette, his yellow eyes flickering in the red glow. He watched us for a while, all tied up like rodeo calves, making ourselves look as unthreatening as possible.
“We’ll take shifts,” Santiago finally said. He extended his hand to Ana and pulled her up. “Ana, and you six.” He pointed to several of the guards, the ones that looked more awake. “You are first shift.”
I tried to contain my excitement as Santiago and the other guards walked up the curving staircase to the second, and presumably the third, floor. We were down to seven. It wasn’t like we could move, they had tied us up pretty good, but if we could get something to cut through the ropes, then we would have a fighting chance.
I remembered the knife Huck stuck in his boot from Santiago’s bus. It was only a butter knife, but it was better than nothing. Some of the guards paced restlessly around the circle, while others remained still or leaned against a column. Ana watched them all and returned her gaze to us in intervals. She was obviously a trained leader, and had managed to hide her skills.
I clenched my teeth as she approached us. “You’re not sleepy, Hella?” Ana asked me.
I answered her in a string of Spanish swearwords I had learned.
She pointed her gun at my foot. “You should watch what you say to me. My brother trusts me. I can make it easier for you.”
She took a few steps and leaned forward in front of Huck. “Oh my love,” she said. She then looked at me again. “Or you never were. Does Hella know what we did together?”
“I know, and it doesn’t matter,” I said.
Ana touched his cheek and then ran her hand down his arm to where I couldn’t see it. I saw the shocked look on Huck’s face as Ana pulled her hand away from his body. She moved on to Stan and then Zeke, touching them in the same way. One of the guards laughed as she said something in Spanish before she returned to her post. Slut, I thought to myself.
The night wore on without any of us resting. I had slept enough in the limo and had too much adrenaline pumping through my body to sleep. I could tell the others felt the same, as we shifted and stretched and tried to get into a comfortable position. Zeke was especially annoying. He kept fidgeting and moving his arm back and forth and then he would rotate and do the same thing over and over again.
Huck had twisted around to face me, with his shoulder to the center of our group. My own shoulder was resting against his chest.
He touched his lips to my ear. “Gun,” he whispered.
“That would be nice,” I said.
He pressed something cold into my hand. “Gun,” he repeated.
My eyes grew wide. He had given me a gun. The only way he could have gotten it was from Ana. I lowered my eyes so that I wouldn’t look directly at her and to cover my surprise. If she had given Huck a gun, she might have given Stan and Zeke more weapons.
The rope that had been holding us became looser. I held onto it so that it still appeared tight, but gave Zeke a glance over my shoulder. He smiled and lowered his eye
s to his hand. The glint of a knife flashed between the rope—he had been sawing.
Huck had given me his gun and Zeke had a knife. Most likely Stan had a weapon as well, but it wouldn’t be much of a fight against seven soldiers and more upstairs. We had no way to plan, to talk to each other about what to do. The ropes were loose and we could step out of them, but then what?
It was Greg who answered the question for us. Suddenly he made a heaving sound and threw up all over the floor. A guard came forward to help Greg. Stan pulled out a gun and grabbed the guard’s arm, twisting it behind his back. My mouth gaped open as I watched my meek ex-boyfriend shout at the other guards.
“I’ll kill him,” Stan said, holding the gun up to his temple.
“It’s now or never,” Huck said.
We threw down the ropes and all of us charged at the other guards. One of them started shouting, hollering for the others, so I took the gun Huck gave me and shot him. The bullet landed right in his chest. I didn’t mean to kill him, but he dropped dead to the floor.
One of the guards raced up the stairs just as Santiago appeared from the second floor balcony over the atrium. Ana saw him and grabbed me around the neck, putting me in a strangle hold and pointing the gun at my head.
“I’ll kill her,” she shouted. “Huck, I’ll kill her.”
Huck froze, pointing the gun in the air. Zeke and Saudah, who each had tackled a guard, regarded me as well.
“What’s going on, Ana?” Santiago hollered as he made his way down the curved staircase.
Ana pulled me in Santiago’s direction with such force that I tripped over my feet. “He’s got a gun,” she said. She made her way closer to her brother.
“Shoot him,” Santiago said.
Ana took the gun from my temple, and aimed it at Huck.
“Pull the trigger,” Santiago said. Several men appeared behind Santiago.
Ana turned the gun on her brother and pulled the trigger—bulls eye on the forehead. Santiago fell down the stairs with a look of betrayal on his face. Ana shot her own brother. I couldn’t believe it. She had loosened her grip on me. I turned and ran to Huck’s side, my head filled with confusing thoughts.
