“Come on, man. How many times I gotta tell you I have no idea what you’re saying? My Spanish is limited to the Taco Bell drive-thru menu. So unless you’re saying burrito or chalupa…” Seth called to his back, letting his sentence trail off. Sanchez lifted his arm over his head and flipped him off.
“Fuck, now I want a burrito,” he joked.
Having found nothing at the tanker, we doubled back to the Humvees and regrouped. Two of the men drove the fuel truck back to the compound. At least we had completed the original mission, now all we had to do was find Jake and the others. We checked all the surrounding stores closest to the bridge. No signs of Jake or any other living soul…
The last store we entered was The Toy Emporium. From the street, the store looked untouched. I cupped my hands around my eyes to block out the devastation around us, and focused on the beautiful beacon of serenity in front of me. Without the mass destruction in view, I could almost imagine it was a regular Sunday morning. Expectant children bouncing with anticipation of their trip to the monolith, excitement at seeing the endless shelves of toys. The local owner, a pillar of the community, would be busy setting out treats and stocking the shelves.
This shop had been a staple of the community for the better part of thirty years. The sun created a mirror effect on the front windows, and I could see myself and the ruin in my background reflected in its glass. My appearance was shocking. The cold eyes of a killer stared back, my usually soft, compassionate demeanor, dead, like the rest of the city.
The illusion of normalcy vanished as the glass door opened inward. Toys were scattered, most burnt from whatever fire had claimed the back of the store. Plastic dolls took on a menacing appearance with melted faces and mangled limbs. Once plush, the stuffed animal pile had fused together to leave a heap of crispy polyester forms indistinguishable from one another. There was nothing here, other than shattered hopes and dreams. There was nothing to say, and the desolation left us feeling empty.
It was late afternoon when we emerged from The Toy Emporium. The sun would be setting soon. I thought about Jake, possibly alone out here. I didn’t want to leave, but I was smart enough to know staying longer would be a death sentence.
I rode in the back of the truck on the way to the compound. Adam drove the fuel truck back, and I was relieved to not have to deal with his hovering. Concealed in the shadows where no one could see, I cried silently and prayed for my husband. The day had taken a lot out of us. Our shoulders sagged, heavy with failure, and no one spoke when we returned. Daphne greeted me at the door, her wagging tail falling slowly between her legs as she caught wind of my mood. I could feel the other’s eyes on me as I silently made my way to the roof and closed the door behind me.
Laying down on the bed Jake had made for us, I pushed my face into his pillow, yearning to catch a whiff of him.
Later, the door to the roof opened and Adam stepped out.
“I want to be alone, Adam. I need some space.”
He ignored the request and sat down beside me. As he put his arms around me and squeezed, the emotion I had deep inside flooded its way to the surface and bubbled over.
Meg had come up behind him clutching Daphne to her chest like a security blanket. She ran and flung her arms around me. We mourned Jake silently together. The only sounds were our hushed sobs.
Chapter 17
Up, Up & Away
I awoke to the sounds of rifles cracking. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary in this new life, but something was different. I realized they were closer than usual, and they sounded muffled. Adam was standing by the roof door looking back at me, fear evident in his eyes. “What is it?” I asked him.
“The shots are coming from the store. Inside the store.”
“Oh my God, we need to go help. Do you think they got in?” I looked over the edge of the roof and found the gate intact. The parking lot was clear. If they hadn’t breached the wall that meant they came from within. One of us had either gone mad, or worse… turned.
Adam had figured it out too. “Sanchez,” he uttered. “That motherfucker must have gotten bit and then lied to us about it.”
“That was over twelve hours ago. The longest I’ve seen anyone go before turning is three hours. That means he could have been zombified for over nine hours.” I felt a twinge of relief that I had slept on the roof but immediately berated myself for being so selfish.
My mind was in overload. So many questions came bubbling to me at once that I had to hold onto the wall for fear of fainting. Could people turn without being bitten? Do some last longer than others before turning? For a moment, thoughts of a vaccine bombarded me, only to be shoved aside with the reality that we still knew nothing about the infection.
“Stay here,” Adam ordered.
“The hell I will!” There was no time to fight. We could hear the screaming now—screams of terror, screams of pain—as our friends were eaten alive. Adam threw open the door, closing it quickly to keep Daphne out of the fray, and we ran down the narrow stairs that led to the back room. Meg stood weaponless at our backs.
As we passed through the double doors to the store, we were met with a scene so horrific it would be seared into my memory for eternity. Tent city looked like a bear had attacked. The tents were ripped apart and bloody viscera lay in heaps around the camp. To my right, a group of children feasted on several residents of the compound. Straight ahead, toward the front of the store, another group of those we had begun to call friends bore down on several terrified soldiers.
They weren’t shooting anymore, no doubt out of ammunition. Instead they stabbed at the infected with bayonets, while others wielded their rifles like bats and swung wildly into the attackers.
It was too late. There was no coming back from this. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and turned to find I was being stalked by Mr. Talbot. I raised my rifle and fired off a burst on automatic. One of the shots caught him in the eye and the bullet exploded his face. As he dropped, I saw a small group huddling in the corner. Margie held Gabby in one arm and used the other to hold a crazed Mrs. Talbot back from running to her husband. I yelled for them to get to the roof.
They ran along the back wall and disappeared behind us into the back room. I heard Mrs. Talbot screaming her husband’s name as Margie dragged her along. It was then, as she yelled Jim, that I realized I never knew their first names. They had just been the Talbots. I made a random mental note to learn her name if we survived. I turned to Meg and demanded she get to the roof.
There was no room for negotiation. She saw it in my face and turned to run. After losing Jake, I would hold on tight to Meg and make sure she lived even if it meant I died in her place.
Sounds of struggle and death were all around. I saw Lieutenant Dan dragged down as a group of undead piled on top of him and began tearing him apart. “No,” I whispered. He’d been our savior, our rock. I couldn’t let him become one of them. Raising my rifle, I took careful aim. Under the pile of writhing bodies, his face was visible. His features contorted with pain as they tore at him. He saw me right before I pulled the trigger. His quivering lips formed the words do it just before I ended his life.
Adam and I advanced further into the store and began picking off the group ahead of us. We created a gap large enough for Seth and four other soldiers to run through. The sound of whimpers from one of the still-intact tents spun me around and I peered in to find the pregnant woman and her husband cowering at the back corner. “Run,” I shouted at them. “Get to the roof.” They wasted no time and fled in the direction of the stairs.