Microsoft. End of the world or bust.
Will radioed them right away, asking if they had seen Karen from the windows. They hadn’t.
“Keep an eye out and let me know if you see anything on or off the island,” Will said.
“Will do,” Josh said.
Gaby looked over at the computer setup, then grinned at him. “Didn’t you used to have something like this at home?”
“Something like this, yeah. Wait, when were you in my room?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she said, and gave him a mischievous wink.
Like on the second floor, there were four windows around them, spaced out to give them an excellent, all-encompassing view of the island and beyond. They were both armed with night-vision binoculars that were hanging from hooks along the wall when they arrived. Gaby was over on the south window, which faced the beach. She leaned the Remington shotgun against the wall next to her and tossed two ammo pouches filled with shells on the floor.
“Have you ever fired that shotgun before?” he asked.
“No,” Gaby said, “but it can’t be that hard. Just point and shoot, right?”
“I guess.”
“Danny says there’s supposed to be a big kick.”
She looked comfortable with the shotgun. He hadn’t even wanted to touch the thing. It looked dangerous, like it could go off in his hands by accident if he touched it the wrong way. The Glock, by comparison, looked innocuous.
Josh turned back to the west window and began scanning the trees in the distance with his binoculars. This side was mostly dark forest, with only the occasional glint of moonlight against the solar panels ringing the island.
“See anything?” he asked.
“Water,” Gaby said.
“I got more water on this side.”
“This is not a competition, Josh.”
“I win.”
She laughed.
He was thinking about how much he liked the sound of her laughter when he saw a strangely bright, colored figure darting through the trees in the pitch-darkness.
Karen.
“Ghouls,” Gaby said breathlessly. “Oh my God, there are ghouls on the island.”
Josh didn’t believe her at first, because it was absurd. Wasn’t it? They had seen night fall, and there were no ghouls. Even if Song Island was a trap, he had seen night come with his own eyes and there hadn’t been any ghouls.
So why would there be ghouls now? It didn’t make any sense.
But there they were, flowing across the open grass, dark black shapes rendered clear as day in the fluorescent green neon of his night-vision binoculars.
Ghouls!
There were so many they swallowed up the ground underneath them, dark figures merging perfectly with the surrounding night. They crashed out of the power station and across the clearing and smashed into the wall of trees and seemed to stampede anything and everything in their path.
The radio in Josh’s hand squawked, and he heard Will’s voice shouting (but somehow calm, though Josh didn’t know how that was even possible): “We’re taking them through the hotel to slow them down! Let anyone into the Tower who isn’t undead!”
“Roger that,” Josh said, though he wasn’t sure if what he actually said was “Roger that” or something else. He might have even babbled something unintelligible. It was hard to tell because his heart was pounding and his fingers were numb.
There are ghouls on the island!
Song Island isn’t safe!
He heard movement behind him and looked back and saw that Carly was standing behind them. When did she even come up here? Then she was moving across the room, snatching up the Remington shotgun Gaby had leaned against the wall. She picked up the pouches of ammo as well and walked back to them.
He watched helplessly as Carly took the radio out of his hand and replaced it with the shotgun and ammo, handing the radio to Gaby. “Gaby, you stay up here and keep in communication with Will and Danny. They might need a spotter. That’s you.” She looked over at him, eyes hard, in full command. “Josh, you come downstairs with me. Understand?”
He heard Gaby, surprisingly calm, reply, “Okay, go.”
Then he was moving, following Carly to the door in the floor and hurrying down the narrow spiral staircase to the second floor. The girls were up and sitting on the cot, rubbing at their eyes, looking disoriented.
“Stay up here, girls, and don’t move,” Carly said. “Don’t go near the windows. Don’t move from that cot. Understand?”
They nodded back and didn’t argue. Josh knew how they felt. At that moment, Carly sounded like the voice of God.
Carly snatched up her shotgun from the wall, then disappeared through the door. He heard her moving down the spiral staircase. “Josh, come on!”
He hurried after her. The new set of metal steps under him felt flimsy and undependable all of a sudden. Carly was in front, moving downward with purpose.
“Hurry, Josh,” Carly said between breaths.
He followed her down to the first floor, surprised he didn’t trip or fall to his death on the way down. He could barely feel his legs moving. It didn’t help that he could hear gunshots the whole time. Booming gunshots. Shotguns.
They’re getting closer, leading them right to us…
“Stay calm,” Carly said.
He nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak.
She opened the heavy wooden door and stepped outside. Josh followed obediently, fumbling with the shotgun in his hands.
He knew how a shotgun worked. You pulled the slide back to load a shell into the chamber and you squeezed the trigger. It wasn’t all that hard. Even the dumbest person alive could pull it off. All you needed was the strength to work the slide — or whatever it was called — because the trigger was easy. He had fired a gun before. A shotgun wouldn’t really be that much harder, would it?
They stepped outside, into the night air. It had gotten more humid. How was that possible? It had felt almost chilly back on the third floor. Maybe it was the altitude?
The crash of gunshots snapped Josh back to the present. They were even closer now, coming from within the hotel, less than fifty yards from their position. When Josh looked in the direction of the building, he saw a dark figure emerge from the blackness.
A familiar voice, shouting at them, “Don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot!”
Sarah appeared in a circle of bright LED lights. She was holding Jenny in her arms, the girl clutching her mother’s neck, small face buried in Sarah’s chest. Sarah was running as fast as she could, but to Josh it looked like she was moving in quicksand. Why was she running so slowly? Didn’t she know what was coming?
Josh didn’t remember exactly when he made the decision, but he was suddenly racing toward Sarah, the shotgun slung over his back, the big heavy barrel tapping him over and over again.
Sarah ran straight to him.
“Give her to me!” Josh shouted.
Sarah pried Jenny loose and handed the girl to him. Josh took her, could feel the girl wiggling in his arms, fighting, but he ignored her resistance and began racing back toward the Tower, Sarah running next to him. He was actually running faster than her, even with Jenny and the shotgun, and had to slow down for her to catch up. She was tired and out of breath, but she pushed forward until they finally reached Carly and the Tower.
“Where are the others?” Carly shouted at them.
“I don’t know!” Sarah shouted back.
“Get inside!”
Josh handed Jenny back to her mother and Sarah gave him a grateful nod before she disappeared into the Tower. Josh wished he were right behind her instead of standing out here in the dark. Even with the LED floodlights pouring down from the third-floor windows, he still felt like he was swimming blind.