Downfall

by Michael S. Gardner

  “Does your stomach hurt, Maria?” Cole offered her the best smile he could.

  She nodded again.

  “You don’t watch a lot of news, do you?” Matt said without even meaning to.

  “What do you mean?” She looked to him with sullen eyes and an expression that would make an infant cry.

  Could this woman be that out of it? Matt thought. Maybe it’s the infection…

  Matt looked down to his gun and knew he was going to have to kill another human. This time it wouldn’t be in cold blood, like with Bruce. That was different. This woman, however, Matt knew nothing of, and he was going to have to kill her all the same.

  “What are you saying?” Maria knitted her brows as she came to understand what they were implying. “That I’m going to turn into one of them?”

  Cole was at a loss for words. Anything said from here on out would be like kicking a man when he was down.

  “Maria,” Matt said, “once you’re bitten by a… what did you call them? Muertos vivientes?”

  She nodded and winced as she tried to stand. Cole urged her to stay where she was.

  “Well, once you’ve been marked…” Matt lifted the pistol and fully intended on ending her right then. It would be easier to go when you didn’t know it was coming, but he couldn’t. Instead, he looked into the moist eyes of the infected woman and paused, seeing Shelley’s eyes staring back at him—it caught him off guard.

  “Wait, what are you doing?”

  “I’m sorry.” The pistol started shaking in Matt’s hand. “There’s no other way. If we let you go, you’re going to turn into what your husband turned into. You’ll surely kill others—those who don’t deserve to die.”

  “But I don’t deserve to die!” Maria said.

  “I know,” Matt said, holding the pistol as steady as possible. “I’m not saying that you do. I don’t want to do this, but letting you live isn’t an option we can entertain.”

  “Please don’t.” Maria held her hands up defensively. “I don’t…”

  “We’re sorry,” Cole muttered.

  Maria’s breathing became more laborious. Matt’s finger danced with the trigger, but he still couldn’t pull it. Maria noticed this and capitalized on his momentary struggle.

  “No.” She got to her feet in record speed. “You’re not going to kill me.”

  “There’s no other—”

  “No. Keep your mouth shut, you fucking gringo.”

  Cole tried to grab her, but failed. Maria slipped out of his grip and slapped him in the face for his efforts.

  Before Matt knew it, the woman was off and running again, heading in the direction of the derelict vehicles. He aimed and fired hastily. The bullet hit her, though nowhere near where he’d intended it to. She dropped to the ground letting out a roar that rivaled a screamer’s and backed up, pushing with her arms. The bullet had struck her somewhere in her right leg. That much Matt was sure of.

  “Why?” she roared. “Why would you try to kill me, you bastards?”

  “You’re infected, Maria. You have to know that,” Matt said.

  “Know? Know! How do you know that I’m infected, you little dick son of a bitch?”

  “You’ve been bitten,” Matt answered, wondering just how delusional—or desperate—this woman really was. “We’ve already gone over this. Don’t you remember seeing anything on the news? Christ Almighty, look at the world around you! You’re marked for death, and I’m gonna give it to you before you kill some poor child or something. Get it?” Horrible words to say, Matt knew, but also true.

  She backed up a few more feet, and it wasn’t until Maria was in motion that he finally realized what she was doing.

  Again, and amazingly, she got to her feet, this time favoring her right leg. Matt was too busy watching the blood trickle to see that she had something in her left hand. Maria was quick, and tossed Dead Mama’s head at Matt. It was a sight for eyes not of this reality: a zombie head chomping at the air with rotten gums as it bowled toward him.

  “Matt!” Cole yelled.

  He ducked, barely avoiding a collision with Dead Mama’s head. There was a gunshot and then another. The first came from Cole, the second from Matt. After finishing what Cole had started and ending that ugly bitch’s existence, he turned to watch Maria grasping her heart so tightly that he almost felt it. She dropped, and Cole walked over and put a bullet in the back of her head just as Dead Mama’s head collided with the road.

  CHAPTER 13

  The first thing they noticed after leaving the insanity behind were the golden arches still standing tall and proud just before Ft. Eustis Boulevard. Across the street was a gas station, and behind that lay a strip mall which housed a grocery store.

  Matt turned into the gas station and pulled up to a pump, the brakes squeaking as the vehicle came to a halt. All of the gas cans back at the house were filled or full enough, so they were going to have make do with whatever containers they could find.

  “Pumps are off,” Cole said as he hopped out. He tapped the display screen and pressed a few of the buttons beside it to be sure.

  Matt stepped down and wondered if it was just the pumps being turned off or if this area was out of power. “Hopefully whoever was working here shut down shop before things got too bad.” He walked up to the front door and pushed. Locked. He studied the windows. None appeared broken.

  “Watch out.” Cole picked up a chunk of concrete from some construction along the sidewalk and sent it right through the bottom half of the door. The echo was loud, but nowhere near as loud as a gunshot. He unsheathed his sword and used it to clear the jagged scraps of glass before entering.

  Matt followed behind, unable to help the feeling as if they were being watched. A quick scan revealed no hostile activity. He thought he was being a little paranoid himself, but hey, this day wasn’t turning out to be your average day.

  “Jesus,” Cole said from beside the counter.

  Matt stepped up and leaned over. His eyes went wide “Wow.”

  The store clerk lay on his back, a double barrel shotgun resting in the grip of his right hand. The nametag on his chest read: “Norman.” Matt scowled at the sight of what remained of Norman’s face. A gaping hole expanding from his nose cavity to his right eye and gray bits of matter trailed out beside his head. Matt followed the blood spatter stains from the back of the counter to the cardboard cutout of a busty blond sipping from an icy bottle of beer. A few specks of dried blood had dripped down from her yellow bikini to the ocean behind her.

  “Hmm…”

  “What’s up?” Cole said.

  Matt pointed to the ocean on the cutout. “Ever wonder if what the news said was true?”

  “Which part?” Cole replied.

  “That the virus has spread to other countries?”

  Shrugging, Cole said, “Could explain why there’s been no foreign aid, at least that we’ve seen.”

  “Yeah,” Matt said. “Or they could just be waiting for the last of us to die so they can invade.”

  Cole looked to the right and winced. “Well, then let’s hope it’s not only us. And that it wasn’t a terrorist attack.”

  As Matt turned to take another look at Norman, he spied a set of keys clipped to the man’s pants. “What have we here?” he said as he rounded the counter. Nudging the shotgun away with the tip of his boot, Matt knelt and undid the clip. “Hey.”

  Cole leaned over.

  Matt jiggled the keys then tossed them to his friend. “Maybe we’ll be able to get power to the pumps, and the store.”

  “I’ll check the back and see if I can’t find the breaker box. Maybe our pal Norman here just flipped the switch to make the place look abandoned.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Matt said, eyeing the shotgun.

  As Cole dropped out of sight, Matt retrieved the firearm by the barrel. Amazingly, not a speck of blood was present. He grinned, looking for a box of shells. Shoving aside empty bottles of water and half-eaten bags of chips, he sea
rched the compartments behind the register. Nothing.

  Least we have another gun, he thought as the lights in the store suddenly flickered to life. Matt sighed in relief. He looked to what was left of a man he’d never met and nodded. Matt would not soon forget what they were about to take, and none of it would have been possible if this poor soul hadn’t killed himself.

  When it was all said and done, the cargo area was full of food and drink (most of it assorted junk foods), various supplies and generic vitamin packets, and two five-gallon jugs filled to the brim with gasoline. Cole turned the pumps after topping the van off and kept the keys. They would search for more jugs and fill those on the way back if they were lucky. They now had their own gas station, so long as the power didn’t run out before they tapped it dry.

  “Cole,” Matt said, catching sight of something in the distance.

  “Yeah,” replied Cole, shutting the back doors.

  Matt pointed out to the street.

  “Well I’ll be damned.” Cole pulled out his pistol and stood next to Matt.

  A dark SUV barreled down the highway at an alarming rate of speed, kicking up powdery snow. Matt grabbed for his Sig and turned to Cole.

  “Should we hide?” he asked.

  Cole shrugged and watched as the vehicle closed in on their location. When it was about a hundred yards from the intersection it slowed to a stop, skidding just a few feet. The luminous front lights stared at the two as if to intimidate. Matt felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he imagined all four doors opening and armed men coming out to take everything they’d gathered. He glanced to Cole.

  “Get the rifle and be ready shoot,” he said, and then returned his attention back to the SUV.

  The driver’s window rolled down and a face popped out.

  “Friendly,” the driver yelled as Cole’s door shut.

  Matt cringed as the voice echoed all around them. He turned to Cole and told him to cover his ass and took a step in the direction of the “friendly” SUV.

  “What the hell are you doing?” asked Cole. “They could—”

  “They could be anything,” Matt said. “There could be more out there watching us. I’ll go and be friendly; you just cover my ass.”

  Cole sighed then nodded.

  A minute later Matt found himself in front of a small Asian man with a receding hairline and the thickest glasses he’d ever seen. In the backseat sat a child no older than five. Her long black hair was tied back into pigtails, and she offered him a smile and wave. Matt nodded.

  “I’m Matt Ryland,” he said, extending a hand. When the Asian man extended his, Matt told him, “My buddy Cole’s back at the van and has you in his crosshairs, so don’t try anything funny. Okay?”

  The man nodded and introduced himself as Han and the little girl as his daughter, Amy.

  “Nice to meet you,” Matt said, noticing Han’s gas gauge was already past E. “We found the keys to the gas station over there. Why don’t you pull up so we can get you filled?”

  “Th-Thank you.” Han looked up; his eyes were magnified behind the lenses.

  “Mind giving me a lift back?”

  Han shook his head.

  Matt slammed shut the door and was greeted with a strong pine scent. He noticed the three green trees hanging from the rearview mirror and wondered why so many. The radio was scanning all stations on the AM band, but hadn’t yet found a signal.

  “So,” he said as Han took off, “where you two headed?”

  Han hit the turn signal and pulled into the gas station. Matt had to fight down a laugh. Guess I’m not the only one clinging onto old habits.

  “South,” he said. “There are shelters down there that haven’t been hit.” Han pulled up behind the van, and Cole appeared with the rifle in the crook of his elbow.

  “Hit?” Matt said, noting the man’s slight accent.

  Han put the vehicle in park and motioned to the pump. “Stay here, Amy,” he said. “We’re refueling and will be on our way in no time.”

  The girl smiled and started drawing on the foggy window beside her.

  As their doors shut, Matt introduced Han to Cole.

  “So what did you mean when said other shelters that haven’t been hit?” Matt inquired while Han worked the gas cap and then the pump.

  Han pushed up his glasses and looked to the two friends with an alarmed expression plastered on his face. “You haven’t heard?”

  Matt and Cole glanced at each other and shook their heads.

  “New York’s gone.”

  “Gone?” said Cole.

  Han nodded. “Nuclear bomb.”

  Matt’s heart sank, and he felt a growing pressure in his chest. Most of his family resided in New York, in a small city named Binghamton.

  “How the hell do you know that?” Cole said.

  “Back in Baltimore I met a man with a CB radio.” The pump clicked, and Han set it back in place. “Three nights ago we were listening to various channels and picked up a faint signal.” Han rubbed his forehead and then looked up to the survivors. “A woman from Boston was crying about a gigantic mushroom cloud from that direction. We tried communicating with her right after, but the only response was a loud rumble then static.”

  “Wait,” Matt said, “how can you be sure?”

  Han glanced back to Amy and smiled. “We ran into a group of soldiers in West Virginia two nights ago, back when there were four of us. They told us that the remaining powers in the government had authorized tactical strikes in heavily populated areas. They also said that most of the missions had been unsuccessful, that their men never followed through with the orders.”

  “Remaining powers?” Cole inquired.

  “Haven’t you been listening to the radio?”

  Cole shook his head and cracked his thumbs. “Haven’t had a signal in damn near a week.”

  Han sighed. “The president was killed six days ago, along with most of his staff. Some people are saying that he was assassinated, that his plane was shot out the sky. The ‘official’ report is that Air Force One had crash landed somewhere in Colorado, but no one knows for sure.”

  “My family’s in New York,” Matt muttered without realizing it.

  “I’m so sorry,” said Han.

  “And you’re sure about this,” Cole persisted.

  Han nodded and walked up to his door. “We have to go,” he said, shaking Cole’s hand first then Matt’s. “Before those things ambushed us two nights ago, the soldiers were saying something about a fallout shelter in Georgia.”

  “That’s where you’re going?” Matt asked.

  Han nodded again and shut his door. “I can’t thank you enough for the gas. There are a lot of people out there that aren’t as civil as you two.” With that, Han rolled up his window and was in motion.

  My family, Matt thought, they’re… gone. He tried to wrap his head around the idea that they’d somehow managed to survive. That somehow Binghamton was out of the blast radius. That they were—

  A soft pressure on his shoulder brought him back to the gas station. Cole turned him around. “Look, man,” he said. “I’m not sure whether we can believe that guy or not, but we need to focus on getting our supplies and surviving.” Cole’s grip tightened a little. “You know I’m here for you, man.”

  Matt’s eyes watered and his throat burned.

  “But I need you to be here for me now.” He nodded to the parking lot behind the gas station. “There will be time to mull all this over once we get back to the house, okay?”

  “You’re right,” Matt said with a slight nod. But he knew that just the implication of America bombing itself was a sign that there would be no going back to the way things were—if that were even possible before. If the condition of the country was indeed so deplorable, then they really were on their own. Days before, when digging the pit, he’d found himself wondering if his family were alive. Now, knowing that it was likely they’d all perished, he found himself wishing Han hadn’t stumbled across th
em, wishing that he hadn’t heard New York “was gone.” Pushing back the idea that his parents had been vaporized along with most of his relatives, he focused on the task at hand. He wiped his eyes with his jacket and coughed out the lump of mucus gathering in his throat. Surviving, now, wouldn’t just be for him; it would be for all he’d lost.

  “Come on,” Cole said softly. “We’ve got others that need us back soon.”

  Various stores spanned the strip mall behind the gas station, but only one had any real practical use: the grocery store. Matt pulled up and killed the engine. Cole hopped out to survey the area before any decision was made. A gust of wind brought a cold chill that nipped at his face. Matt rubbed his gloved hands together, blowing in them for the warmth, and looked to the sky.

  “Cole, get back.” Matt said as a few clumps of snow plummeted from the rooftop.

  Cole backed away from the soda machines he was eyeing and looked up just in time to see a body in midair, dropping mere feet from where he had been.

  “Holy shit!” he blurted after the thump.

  “Some fucking day, huh?” Matt said dejectedly.

  What remained after the gushy splatter was a joke of what life had once been. The only thing they could tell for sure was that this person had been an employee of this store, and her name was Amy.

  “Amy, huh?” Cole said, scratching the back of his neck.

  “Could you imagine? Waiting for death like that?” Matt looked to the roof, picturing his mother and father on top of their house, surrounded by the hungering dead. And then the blinding flash...

  Cole turned around with a cold expression on his face. “I often worry that that’s how I’ll die, Matt. Don’t you?”

  Matt huffed, tossing away the thought. “I try not to. At least not yet. Too many zombies to kill.” He forced a smirk and walked up to the front door. Cole followed. “Besides, I like breathing. Kinda grown attached to it.”

  Every window, Matt saw, had been broken along the front of the store. The sliding glass doors stood open, and the familiar odor of rot wafted out.

  “Well,” Cole sighed, “if you value breathing, I reckon we better find somewhere other than this place.”