Even after Danny’s C4 reduced the parking lot to nothing, taking a huge chunk of their number, they had continued to attack through the caved-in wall. For a while, anyway. Will found that oddly impressive.
Last charge of the dead brigade…
It took them most of the morning, but they dug Ted out of the rubble and buried him, along with Luke, in a patch of soft dirt about 150 meters behind the strip mall, on a slightly raised hill that had been used to plant a giant billboard advertising the mall’s businesses. They found shovels at what was left of Ned’s, and by the time they were done, the fresh bandages around his and Danny’s hands had turned a sooty gray, forcing them to clean and re-bandage.
They took inventory of their ammo and had exactly seven shells left between them, not the ten he had optimistically estimated last night. There wasn’t a single magazine of silver bullets for the M4A1, which wasn’t good. But at least they still had the equipment they used to make silver bullets. Now all they needed was more silver…
Kate regained consciousness first, but her motor coordination was shot. Will couldn’t tell if it was due to her injuries or something else. The latter worried him. He told Carly to keep a close eye on her.
He and Danny had buried Luke before Kate woke up, so she had only his freshly dug grave to say her goodbyes. It was for the best. He hadn’t wanted her to see Luke with a hole in his head. In her state, it might just push her completely over the edge.
When it came time to visit Ted’s grave, Danny took Carly and Vera himself while Will stayed behind with Lara. She had woken up at 8:05 a.m., and he had given her water until she couldn’t drink anymore. She looked better, but then again, the last time he saw her she was covered in blood. The cuts along her cheeks and nose had started to redden, and by tomorrow they would scab over. In a few weeks, they’d be gone, though one or two may linger as a reminder.
He was surprised by how well she took the news about last night. Maybe it was her nightmarish time with the Sundays, but she seemed to have an easier time digesting the deaths, the firefight, and even her own near-death experience. He kept a close eye on her to make sure it wasn’t just an act.
They sat on what was left of the sidewalk in front of Ned’s. They had changed into whatever clothes they could pull out of the rubble. It wasn’t much, but it was unbearable to spend any more time in their ghoul-blood-soaked clothes. Even with much of the blood flaked off in the sun, the heavy, pungent aroma of the ghouls lingered long after.
She touched the bandage over her forehead, like a kid unable to leave the scab alone. She winced at the contact.
“You probably should refrain from doing that,” Will said.
Lara gave him an annoyed look. “Yeah, thanks, doctor.”
“I’m just saying.”
“I’m the third-year medical student here. If anyone’s dispensing barely credible medical advice, it’ll be me.”
“Fair enough.”
She gave him the briefest of smiles, and he returned it.
“You don’t want to go say your goodbyes?” he asked.
She seemed to consider it, but then shook her head. “I wouldn’t know what to say. I barely knew them, and I don’t want to intrude.”
“Okay.”
“I shouldn’t go, right?”
“Not if you don’t feel comfortable.”
She shook her head again. “I shouldn’t…”
They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying the heat beating down on their faces. It would get cold again soon enough. And after that, nightfall.
Nightfall was always waiting in the wings…
“I almost died last night, didn’t I?” she said after a while. It wasn’t really a question.
“You came pretty close, yeah.”
“They used a car.”
“Yup.”
“I didn’t even know they did things like that.”
“They adapt. They’re very good at that.”
“You were right. They are smart. They tracked you, but they didn’t attack until they had reinforcements.”
“It seems that way.”
“You knew it was going to happen.”
“I didn’t.”
“The guns in the bank manager’s office, the ammo on the floor…”
“I like being prepared. Just in case.”
“Like the Boy Scouts?”
“Something like that. Dead, not stupid.”
“What?”
“The ghouls. They’re dead, not stupid. Just keep that in mind and act accordingly.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” She paused for a moment, then said, “I was a liability last night, wasn’t I?”
“You did good.”
She frowned. “Will, I don’t even know how I’m still alive after last night. All I heard were gunshots, then I remember feeling blood on my face.” She touched the bandage over her forehead and winced again. “Some help I turned out to be.”
“You did fine,” he said.
“Complete and utter bullshit.”
“You did fine, for a first-timer. But I’ll expect more next time.”
“Yes, sir,” she said and gave him a mock salute.
He grinned back.
“What were you in the Army?” she asked. “I mean, what was your rank?”
“I was a corporal. Officially E-4. Which is lower than a sergeant but higher than a private.”
“How long were you in the Army?”
“Eight years.”
“And you only made corporal?”
“Yup.”
“Does that mean you sucked at being a soldier?”
He smiled. “Probably, yeah.”
“But at least it sounds cool. Corporal Will. Okay, probably not that cool. What’s your last name?”
“Does it matter?”
“Not really.”
She was staring at the parking lot, at the skeletal remains of the dead ghouls.
“What is it?” he asked.
“This thing,” she said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever studied. It’s not in the history books, Will. It’s been hiding all this time, somehow managing to escape scrutiny for God knows how long.” She was talking more to herself than to him, he realized. “And the infection itself… How far does it go? Down to the DNA? What happens there? I have so many questions. What about the sun turns them into that? What do you call that?”
He shrugged. “Paste? Mist? Vapor?”
“The UV rays of the sun completely destroys their cells, breaks them down until there’s nothing left. I’ve never seen anything react that way to sunlight in my life. There are allergies that can cause someone to break out in rashes or even blisters when exposed to sunlight. But to do that? I’ve never seen anything like that before, Will. It’s fascinating, isn’t it?”
“It’s something, all right.”
He could see her mind churning, digesting the information before her. He let her roll the questions and theories around in her head for a moment.
After a while, he said, “What happened to your hand?”
Lara held up her hands. “My hands?”
“Your other hand.”
She looked confused for a moment, then understood what he meant. She laughed. “Oh, that hand. I think it’s back in the bank somewhere. We should find it.”
He grunted. “I’ve already changed these bandages once already. I’m afraid you’re on your own when it comes to the digging.”
CHAPTER 28
KATE
What’s the point?
Kate was numb. Her legs seemed to move on their own as she traveled from what was left of the bank, up the side of the small hill, and finally to where they buried Luke and Ted. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say or do, so she stood in front of Luke’s makeshift grave and waited for it to all be over. It wasn’t much of a grave — just some freshly dug dirt and a cross made from two pieces of two-by-fours, with Luke’s name scribbled on top in marker. It was better than nothing, though she had a hard time wondering what the point of it was.