by Fitch, E. M.
Kaylee allowed herself to take a huge, searing breath before shouting back to Quinton. "They're in!"
Her muscles spasmed again when a shot sounded, the crack echoing and leaving a slight ringing to her ears.
"What the hell!"
Kaylee pushed harder toward the second voice, relief and fear waging equally. It was Emma who shouted, she sounded startled, but fine. For now. Quinton turned, racing back towards the rest of the group. Kaylee could see Jack and Andrew emerging from the mattress store ahead. Both looked startled out of sleep but with forced alertness.
"How many?" Jack asked, directing his question to Quinton.
"Too many," Kaylee gasped in return, running past them both, her eyes still seeking out her sister. "Emma? We have to go!"
Emma emerged from a CVS, her front spattered with blood.
"Emma!" Kaylee screeched, racing over to her sister. Andrew stepped in front of her, blocking her way, and when Kaylee tried to push past, he gripped her around her waist and hauled her off her feet. Kaylee felt her breath rush out of her lungs as Andrew's arms tightened around her middle, but her brain was so fogged with panic she barely noticed. She struggled against his grasp.
"You can't," Andrew said, his arms tight on Kaylee's midsection. "Too much blood!"
"She's fine," Anna insisted, running out behind Emma, her arms full of sterile packaging and orange prescription bottles. But at least she was running, some of the others had yet to move.
"Fine, my ass!" Emma yelled, her face twisted. She scrubbed at her cheek with a sleeve pulled down over her hand. Andrew released Kaylee and she didn't hesitate to run to her sister, grabbing her by her sweatshirt and dragging.
"We have to go, now. Where's Dad?"
"I've got him," Bill said, joining the rest with one arm supporting Nick. "How many are coming?"
"Not sure," Quinton answered just as Kaylee screamed again, "Too many!"
"Fight?" Bill voiced, slinging a bag over his shoulder and picking up his shotgun with his free arm.
"No."
"Roof?" Jack asked.
"Yes," Kaylee breathed, pushing her sister in the direction Jack was pointing. She saw a door, broken off it's hinges ages ago, a small Roof Access sign in fading paint above it. It was tucked into a corner; Kaylee moved for it. She didn't need to be forceful for long. The clacking of bare heels through rotting skin combined with moans and guttural screams was slowly drifting down the hall. The escalator had slowed them, but enough must have scrambled over the rest to make it to the second floor.
The group raced to get their things together. Emma broke free from Kaylee's panicked grasp to retrieve what she had collected so far. She didn't have a bag and pill bottles and lighters and locks, all the things she had been scavenging, cascaded from her arms. She managed to stuff a few in her pockets before Jack grabbed the hood of her sweatshirt and yanked. Andrew had the door flung open for his dad to drag Nick through. The first of the infected was getting nearer, coming at them with a shambled gait, but fast nonetheless.
"Move," Jack yelled, not at anyone in particular, everyone was already crowded at the door, Bill dragging Nick up the stairs as fast as he could.
Jack had his gun out, his back to the rest of the group as he covered their escape. Anna was halfway up the stairs, Emma close on her heels, when Jack fired the first shot. The infected man that lead the rest of the horde fell with a smack on the tile. There was a sound of something ricocheting across the floor and Kaylee felt something tap against her shoe. She had to swallow back her nausea when she looked down and saw the rotted tooth that had broken free of the man's mouth when he fell.
Two more gun shots. Andrew started up the stairs now, Quinton right behind him, shouting for Jack and Kaylee to hurry. Another shot. Kaylee was halfway up. She turned and saw Jack fire four shots, right in a row, but it barely made a difference, they were almost on top of him and more kept coming.
"Jack!" He didn't need her warning. He was already racing backwards, scrambling for the stairs and Kaylee knew the best thing she could do was get to the top and out of his way.
"Watch your head," Quinton warned. He fired his gun and glass rained down on Kaylee and Jack and also the infected woman that was grasping for Jack's heel, hissing and teeth snapping. The light overhead extinguished as the glass covered them. The woman behind them faltered in the new darkness, still groaning and reaching but slowing noticeably. The light from the roof slanted down the stairwell and caught some of the infected in its rays. They groaned and scratched at the cinder block stairwell walls. The noise pierced Kaylee's ears. But she made it to the top of the stairs, Jack rushing through right behind her. They both collapsed on the tar paper roof. The door was slammed shut and the cadence of the moaning shifted when the light was taken from them. Several made it to the top of the stairs, Kaylee could hear their fingernails scratching at the metal door. But it stopped quickly as the infected fell to the pull of the darkness.
"Who's got a padlock?" Quinton asked. Emma pulled one from her pocket and Quinton secured the door.
Kaylee lay back on her backpack, the tangle of boots still around her neck, a ragged pain shot through her chest as she panted for breath. But she was safe, they all were. No one seemed able to talk. The only sound on the roof was heavy breathing.
"Why are you covered in blood?"
Kaylee twist her head around at Andrew's question, looking from him to her sister. Emma's features twisted in disgust.
"'Cause Anna can't aim worth a damn."
"Hey!" Anna said. "At least I didn't let you get bit again!" She was leaning back on a metal casing for a vent that was nearly as tall as she was, hands on her knees as she drew in breath.
"There was an infected guy in the pharmacy?" Andrew asked. Anna nodded as Emma yanked her sweatshirt over her head. There was a trail of blood staining her cleavage and spattering the thin tank top she wore underneath. She made an irritated noise of disgust.
"Behind the counter," Anna clarified. "Didn't notice him at first. Emma got caught in the spray."
"Well, warn me next time. I don't have a change of clothes," Emma muttered, using her dirty sweatshirt to try and wipe most of the blood away. Kaylee sat up and pulled off her backpack, tossing it to Emma.
"There's some for you too, Anna." She nodded her thanks.
Before Emma had the chance to rifle through any of the new, clean clothes, thunder rolled overhead.
Raindrops, fat and heavy, splattered on the tar paper. They left spots the size of dimes all over Kaylee's clothes and skin. Her eyes scanned the expanse of the roof, noting in seconds that there was no shelter. Just tall metal vent hoods and the door to the stairs. The rest of the roof spanned dirty black and now shining with spots of rain water against the charcoal grey sky.
Anna pressed back into the metal vent hood, Andrew and Emma were standing stock still. And Jack was still lounging, stretched out on the roof top where he lay since he collapsed. He threw his head back and laughed. It was loud, throaty laughter that cut through the thunder. Soon Quinton could be seen chuckling and even Nick was grinning.
Because it was ridiculous. Stuck up on a roof , pouring rain, no shelter. They hadn't even been gone from the firehouse for two days and already this.
Kaylee felt a smile tug on her lips. Her hair was already plastered to the side of her face. She glanced up at her sister and found her face lifted to the rain. She was smiling too.
"Well, at least now I can get clean," Emma said, her voice loud and carrying over the sudden storm. She turned from the group, moving to duck behind the vent Anna was still slumped against. Before she got there, Kaylee watched her peel her tank top off and toss it over her shoulder, already sopping wet, unto the roof.
The look on Andrew's face pushed Kaylee over the edge and as his cheeks colored, her face split open into a wide grin and she fell to her side laughing.
Chapter Two
It rained for hours.
After the first round of hysterical, disbelie
ving laughter, Bill and Quinton did their best to string up a shelter of sorts. It wasn't very effective. It had stopped raining an hour ago but Kaylee was still shivering. She wanted a fire, roaring, bright, and hot as hell. She wanted clean, and more importantly dry, clothing.
Emma was leaning against her, huddled against her really. It was rare for Emma to do that these days, to touch anyone. Kaylee was glad for the little warmth she leant.
It was a mostly non-verbal afternoon. The storm had drowned everyone out for a while, even when they were crouched low and together by the stairwell, having to avoid the metal hoods when lighting began to cut across the sky.
It had taken Emma fifteen minutes to rinse herself clean of blood. When she came out from behind the vent hood, covered head to toe in the new clothes Kaylee had picked out for her, she scowled at her sister. Kaylee had laughed, remembering the lingerie.
"Blue not your color, Em?" Kaylee teased. Emma rolled her eyes. "Did you find the-"
"Matching panties?" Emma had interrupted through grit teeth. "Yeah, real practical, thanks."
That prompted the last smile to curl Kaylee's lips for the remainder of the afternoon.
"The motorhome looks okay," Bill called out. He was peering over the edge of the roof. "Nothing is scratching at it anymore."
Kaylee looked up from where she was settled against her father's shoulder. She had spent the day there, wedged between her father and sister. But whether due to the storm or the general sense of exhaustion, no one seemed to question her keeping her distance from Jack.
Except Jack of course. But he said nothing, didn't challenge her, barely looked her way even. And Kaylee was grateful, because she couldn't look his way either. The one thing the weather did not wash away was that red dot, still dancing in her periphery even after her nap and even with the rain pounding everything else into hazy insignificance.
Dusk had settled and it was dark and cold. The sun did terrible things to the people growling and moaning on the ground and in the stairwell but at least it had kept some warmth in the air. Kaylee could feel Emma trembling next to her, both girls were soaked through and any hope of clean, dry clothing was erased with one look at the backpack in which Kaylee had stuffed all her bundles of clothing.
Waterproof next time, she thought wryly, staring at the useless thing.
Jack was peering over the side of the roof into the gloom below. Bill came up beside him and Kaylee could just hear the timbre of their whispered conversation. She watched as Jack nodded and then turned towards the rest of the group.
"What do you think, Quinton," Jack asked, calling across the small expanse, "stairs or rope?"
Quinton moved to the door of the stairs and undid the lock. The rest of the group backed away. When the door opened, three bodies fell in a heap on the roof, dragging raspy breath through rattling lungs but looking dead in every other way. He swept the beam of a flashlight down the remainder of the stairs and Kaylee saw in an instant the pileup of infected and jumped when three different mouths hissed at the light; yellowed, bloodshot eyes sweeping in their direction.
"Do we need anything at all from the inside?" Quinton asked, directing his gaze to Anna. She shook her head.
"Nothing I couldn't find at any other pharmacy."
"Then rope," Quinton said, shutting off the flashlight with a click. The bodies of the infected fell back unto the stairwell with a thud, unresponsive. "They're too hungry, best not to risk it."
~
It was better than walking down the stairs and through the mall, because Kaylee knew that walking through the infected didn't really mean through them, more like on them, tripping and stumbling and crashing over the bodies of infected men, women, and children, trying to avoid their teeth at all costs. In her head she could imagine the sound as bones were broken, bodies crushed under sneakers and boots. It was nauseating. And dangerous too. But the alternative was just as nauseating in a completely different way.
They tied a loop in a thin rope. Quinton swore it was made for rock climbing and that it would support their weight, but it felt awfully thin grasped in her frozen fingers. She was being lowered from the roof to the parking lot below where the vehicles waited. Jack had already been lowered down. He descended gracefully, like a bulky spider. His feet connected against the brick of the building and from above it looked as though he had just walked down the outer wall. That wasn't working for Kaylee. She tried to keep her feet to the brick, but she kept slipping. Her body twist in the loop she was sitting in and her shoulder slammed into the cold brick.
The shivering wasn't helping.
"Almost there, Kay," Jack called up encouragingly. His voice drifted up clear through the black of the night she was being lowered through. It made it worse, the darkness. She couldn't see more than the neon colored rope in her fingers and the dull, pale bricks in the moonlight. After the storm that had soaked her for the entire day from steel colored clouds, the sky had cleared some. The stars were winking in haphazard sprays; the moon a sliver standing guard over them. Clouds drifted through the sky, diffuse, thin; but they did block the light, enough that she wasn't able to see clearly, that the ground was invisible as it loomed below her.
Warm hands settled on her waist and she tipped back into Jack's chest.
"Got you," he murmured, helping her get her feet on the ground. She thanked him, untangled herself from the rope, and turned to pick her way through the sleeping bodies of the infected that lay on the asphalt.
The motor home was untouched. Bodies lay scattered all around it, making Kaylee wince when she thought of how they were going to drive away. She popped the door open and checked inside, no one had gotten in. Kaylee didn't waste a moment in pulling off her wet clothing. It felt stuck to her skin. Just the act of peeling it off had her feeling instantly warmer.
The door flew open behind her and Kaylee jumped.
"We had the same idea," Emma said, ripping her new shirt over her head. She frowned at Kaylee when she looked down at her new bra. Kaylee couldn't help a laugh through chattering teeth. She thought she saw Emma bite back a grin too before she bent to pull off her sodden jeans.
"Kay, is my-" Andrew choked off as he stepped into the motor home. Kaylee was shrugging into Jack's worn zip up hoodie, which offered some cover at least, but Emma didn't even try for decency. "Geez, Emma!"
"What?" she asked, staring at Andrew.
He didn't answer right away, just averted his eyes from her until he pulled an old flannel shirt from the back pack he had tucked under the table. "Here, put this on," he said gruffly, shoving the shirt into her hands.
"But these are still wet!" Emma said, gesturing to the bra and panties set. Kaylee could have sworn she was trying not to smirk.
"Oh for the love of- I'm riding with Jack," Andrew muttered, shaking his head and exiting the camper, almost knocking into Anna on his way out. Emma sniggered at his retreating back.
"You're mean," Kaylee scolded, but she couldn't keep a smile fully at bay and the statement did not come out as reproachful as perhaps it should have. Emma shrugged.
"Torturing Andrew?" Anna asked through chattering teeth. She raised her eyebrows as she took in Emma's stance.
"A girl has to have some fun!"
Anna shook her head and smiled before stripping down.
They decided not to drive far, just clear of the amassed horde of infected outside the mall. Once clear of that part of town, it became evident that they were in farm country. The suburban homes gave way to pastures and fields, dotted only sparsely with the darkened silhouettes of aged trees. The trees were imposing in their height, dark shadows that stretched over dark meadows. Everything gave off a slight sheen in the limited moonlight, a reflective glow cast from the rain water that still pooled and coat the earth.
Nick was resting on the bed of the motor home, Anna driving. Kaylee was worried about her father. She still hadn't gotten a good look at his injury, not that she wanted to, but it made it hard to gauge just how bad it was. Ann
a insisted he'd be fine, and his spirits seemed high enough when he was awake. But he hadn't been awake often in the last two days. Kaylee hoped it was just the pain killers.
"Quinton's pulling over," Emma said, drawing Kaylee's attention to the road ahead of them. She saw Jack's Hummer pull alongside the tanker truck that Quinton and Bill were driving. Through an open window, they watched Andrew's blond head nod in the moonlight. The Hummer pushed forward then, the tanker gears grinding into place to follow.
The motor home lurched as it followed the other vehicles unto what was once a dirt driveway. Now it was as overgrown as the field, but Kaylee could see the mailbox, silver in the moonlight, tilting from the ground. The remains of a farmhouse stood broken and forgotten, windows smashed through, the remaining fragments reflecting the stars back at the sky. Behind that, deeper in the overgrown meadow, a larger structure stood cloaked in darkness. Jack pulled alongside the shadowy structure. Kaylee recognized a barn, some of the siding stripped away and leaving horizontal gaps in the walls.
Exhaustion swept the group so fiercely that no one spoke. They filed into the barn and up into the loft as directed by Quinton, Andrew not even taking the time to tease Emma for the fact that she was still wearing just his old flannel and not much else. The girls unrolled sleeping bags, setting them in a row. The men swung axes, destroying the one wooden staircase that got everyone up to the loft. Even if they slept in past the sunrise, the infected wouldn't be able to reach them there.
Jack moved past Kaylee's line of sight, throwing his axe on top of a sleeping bag and then striding to the large door that overlooked the meadow. He pushed it open and the night sky shone through. Years ago, the door would have been used to get the hay up into the hay loft. Now, Jack sat perched at its' edge, positioned on a milk crate with a shotgun in his lap.
His back was straight and his stance alert. He must have had a good sleep at the mall, because he looked more awake now than she had seen him in two days. Kaylee let her eyes drink him in. His olive skin shone pale in the limited light, his hair inky black. Maybe it was the exhaustion she could feel pulling at her from the lack of sleep and the day of being soaked in the rain, but she suddenly realized, she missed him. Which was ridiculous, because it had only been two days since they last spoke. Just the two days since their escape from her old city, since her father was injured and her mother killed.
