Mr. McKanthor was dead. His head flopped back, lifeless eyes staring at the ceiling. Karli’s hands were shining with blood. She reached down, rummaged through his intestines, and grabbed onto something that stretched and snapped. She shoved it into her mouth. Frozen in horror, I watched her do it again and again. She was infected. She had gone mad. Zoe calling them monsters wasn’t an exaggeration. My mind raced. I needed to stop her, but with what?
As I mulled it over, Sonja sat up. “Hey, what are you doing to—” she began, her voice dying with a sharp intake of breath. Then she screamed. Karli growled at the noise and lunged for her. Without thinking, I leapt off my bed. Jason, who was next to his sister, startled awake. He used his body as a shield, blocking Karli from killing Sonja. I was by his side in two seconds, picking up his metal weapon and hitting Karli as hard as possible over the head.
She didn’t react to the pain. She clawed and bit at Jason, who struggled to keep her at arm’s length. I hit her two more times; nothing. It was as if I were hitting her with a pool noodle. Knowing Jason couldn’t fight her off forever, I grabbed her hair and yanked her back. She snarled at me, thrashing blood covered hands into the air.
She crouched, reminding me of an animal stalking prey. Also adapting a predatory mindset, I was ready when she jumped at me again. My foot hit her square in the chest. She gasped for air and stumbled back, tripping over a cot. Her head hit the hard concrete with a thud. My fingers gripped the metal pipe so hard my knuckles turned white. She unnaturally pulled herself up, a rumbling growl coming from deep inside her throat. Her lips snarled and she flung herself forward. I dodged out of the way, grabbed her arm, and spun her face first into the wall.
“Nooo!” Rebecca screamed from behind me. Ignoring her desperate calls to spare her friend, I advanced on Karli. I didn’t want to kill the girl. I grabbed a fistful of her hair and smacked her head into the brick wall again. She wobbled, attempted to wrap her hands around my throat, but finally sank to the ground.
I heard Rebecca’s sneakers scuffing on the gritty floor. But I didn’t see her launch herself in the air. She landed on my back, knocking the wind out of me. Paralyzed, I lay there in terror. Someone must have pulled her off of me. Padraic’s hand grabbed mine and he yanked me out of the way. I scrambled to my feet, clutching onto Padraic for support. I gasped for breath and turned to see Jason struggling with Rebecca.
Like Karli, she was snarling and growling. Recovered, I sprang forward, pipe still in hand, and drove the pointy end into her stomach. Jason let her go and she collapsed, her body twitching as her blood poured out.
The metal pipe clamored to the ground. I slowly became aware that I wasn’t alone. The children cried and the rest gaped at me in horror. My eyes refused to move off of Rebecca’s dying body. Someone took my hand and gave it a gentle tug. Shaken from my reverie, I faced Padraic.
“I…I” My voice died as I spoke. Shaking my head, I robotically walked back to my bed.
Little Zoe tiptoed over. “You killed the monsters!” she practically cheered. “You are a hero!”
“No,” I breathed. I hadn’t killed two monsters. I had killed two humans, taking their lives and their souls. It had to be done, right?
Jason, Padraic, and two men I hadn’t bothered to learn the names of moved the bodies out of our safe room. Though I was far from tired I laid back down, pulling the thin sheet over me. Clutching her toy cat, Zoe climbed in next to me.
“I feel safe with you,” she whispered. I put my arms around her, suddenly feeling very protective of this sick little girl. We didn’t move while the others went about cleaning the blood. They all left me alone and finally, after what felt like an eternity, I fell back asleep.
* * *
I didn’t ask for my morphine shot the next morning. I went on with my usual yoga routine, showing Zoe the basics of the Sun Salutation. She stayed close to me while we ate breakfast, which consisted of a small bowl of cereal, powdered milk, and canned fruit. I could feel their eyes on me as I stuck the plastic spoon in my mouth. I couldn’t say I blamed them; for many days I had been portraying a pathetic, weak girl, eating only enough to stay alive, getting my drugs and hiding under the covers. Jason looked at me with a doe-eyed expression I knew all too well. I smiled a tight smile and looked back at my meager meal.
Jason was a good kid. He tried to do everything he could to, not only protect his sister, but the others in the ragged group. I didn’t want him getting mixed up with me or the monsters, as Zoe called them. He was too young, too innocent, to take on that much responsibility.
“Is no one gonna talk about this?” a strangled voice choked out. It was the young nurse, the one who spouted out biblical end of days shit. She stood, extending her hand and pointing at me. “She killed two people and no one seems to care.”
“She saved us,” Jason defended. “You saw it. Those girls we let in…” he shook his head. “They weren’t human anymore. If Orissa hadn’t killed them then they would have killed us.”
“You can’t refute that,” Padraic agreed. “Nor forget that they killed first. And we…we can’t let anyone else in. It’s too dangerous.”
“She’s dangerous,” the nurse said. The group had gathered in a circle, sitting on the cement floor near the heavy steel doors. An older man who was across from me rolled his eyes at her. He caught my gaze and winked. Jason and his sister Sonja were to my right, looking back and forth from the nurse to Padraic, waiting for his response.
“I’m more dangerous than what’s out there?” I asked, looking up from my bowl.
“We don’t know what’s out there,” she snapped.
Padraic held up his hands. “Exactly. Which is why we cannot let anyone else in, even if they knock like those girls did. It’s not worth the risk.”
That caused a hush of murmurs amongst everyone. Half seemed to agree, some objected, others doubted there was anyone left to let in.
“It shouldn’t be too much longer until the rescue groups come and save us.” Though he spoke confidently and smiled like he meant it, I knew Padraic was lying. No one was coming. Hell, maybe all of FEMA had died too.
I cleared my throat. “You all can thank me anytime.” I stood, wishing I could make a dramatic exit as I marched away from the group to the corner of the room that housed old wheelchairs. I flopped down in one, bored, annoyed, scared, and on edge. I picked at the crackling foam armrest.
“You didn’t ask for painkillers today,” Padraic said, coming up to me.
“Nope.”
“I’m gonna guess you never needed them.”
“Nope,” I repeated.
“Then why?”
I sighed and shrugged. “Why not? What else am I going to do?” I dug my nails into the foam. I didn’t want to tell him that I hadn’t taken the virus outbreak seriously until I saw it firsthand and until now my plan had been to get out of this Godforsaken basement. “I knew I needed that time to heal, so what better way than to do it in an almost happy, drug-induced coma?”
“You could be more social?” he suggested.
“What’s the point?”
“It’s good for you, for everyone, and I see Zoe’s taken a shine to you.”
When I didn’t answer, he walked away. I stayed in that corner for the rest of the morning, busy being pissed off at everything.
* * *
I accompanied Jason to the storage closet. At first glance, the large pantry seemed to house a lot of food. But when I mentally divided it up among fifty-two—well, now fifty-one—people eating three times a day, it wouldn’t last us more than a week.
Since Padraic seemed to have taken on the leadership role, I pulled him aside after we ate our yummy lunch of microwaved, frozen pizza.
“You told me there was enough food to last ‘awhile’,” I said.
He only frowned.
“Why did you lie? We’re lucky if we make it another week.”
His shoulders sagged. “I know.”
“Then why didn’t you say something?”
“What was I supposed to do?” he begged.
“I don’t know. Go find more?”
“I can’t leave—”
“—my patients, I know,” I finished for him, rolling my eyes. “Great plan. Stay here and medicate the shit out of them while they starve to death.”
“Shh! Orissa, I don’t want the kids to know.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “If we just wait a few more days, maybe someone will come for us like they promised.”
“No one is coming! Don’t you get that?” I waved my hands around. “Don’t you all get that? No one is coming for us, and we can’t stay here forever.” Megan’s baby cried, as if he knew the truth my words held.
Jason nodded. “What should we do?” he asked.
“Get out of here, leave. This basement will be our tomb. The food will run out…and what about when winter comes?”
Padraic took my hand in his. “Orissa,” he said, his accent heavy when he spoke my name. “Come talk to me out here.” He took me out of the safe room and closed the door. “I know we will run out of food. I know it will be cold in the winter.”
“Then why aren’t you doing anything about it?”
“There’s not much I can do; these people are sick, Orissa. They physically cannot survive without their medications.”
“So you’re just going to stay here and die with them?”
“Yes, I will take care of them for as long as I can.”
Stupid, noble Irish man. “Let me bring food,” I offered.
“From where?”
“Anywhere, I think a grocery store would be a good start.”
“We don’t know what it’s like out there.”
“Exactly. It might not be so bad,” I tried.
“Don’t be a fool, Orissa.”
“We have to at least try,” I pleaded, hoping to appeal to his empathetic side. “And I’m not your prisoner. You can’t keep me here against my will.”
“We’re going to set it up so it’s safe here…and safe for us out there, as safe as it can be. Then I’m going with you.”
I rolled my eyes at his chivalry. Objecting might have been the decent thing to do, insisting that he was more valuable here than dead. But I really didn’t want to go out there alone.
Padraic instructed a nurse, more than once, about which patients should receive which medications. He hesitated and stammered; always sure that he had overlooked something. In the end, I think he decided that getting his charges food was just as important as keeping them medicated.
“Let’s go,” I finally said, after Padraic had gone over his lists with the nurse for the hundredth time. She had been taking care of the patients for days. She knew what she was doing.
“Now?”
“No, we’ll wait until the crazies go to sleep. Of course now. When else?”
He nodded. “Right. I’ll go tell the others.”
So far only the nurse knew. She didn’t look happy about the plan, only resigned.
“Hurry up, ok?” I wanted to leave before fear stopped me.
“Alright.” He scuttled back into the room. I leaned against the wall, wishing I was familiar with this town. Several minutes later, Padraic returned. He wasn’t alone. Jason, Sonja, and the two guys who’d helped move the bodies accompanied him.
“They’re coming too,” he informed me.
“No,” I replied shortly. Padraic seemed to be in good shape. I was banking on him keeping up with me. I was quick, a natural athlete, as my grandmother liked to say. I could take care of myself, but five others?
“Safety in numbers,” one of the men said with a wry smile. The moment he spoke, I did a double take. It was as if my grandpa, the man who’d taught me so much, was right there with me in the hallway. Everything from his salt and pepper hair, strong jaw line covered in gray stubble, and green and black plaid shirt was familiar. His eyes were brown, reminding me he was just a stranger. I’d gotten my blue-green eyes from Grandpa.
Couldn’t think about my grandpa now…
“Weapons,” I sighed, “You need weapons.” Annoyed no one had thought that far ahead, I went back into the safe room, pulling apart machinery to make spears and shanks. They weren’t my first choice, but better than nothing. “Alright,” I said, examining the two feet of metal I had in my hands. I fashioned a point at the end of the rod I had taken out of the IV stand. “Where is the closest grocery store?”
Jason and Sonja weren’t from this town either. Padraic lived on the opposite side, away from the slums, but the two men were familiar.
“There’s one a block away,” the older of the two men, the one who reminded me of my grandfather, told me. He had a firm grasp on his makeshift weapon, holding it as if he knew what he was doing. “On foot, it’s just a few minutes’ walk.”
“Great, let’s go.” I wanted to know his name, but didn’t ask. What was the point of getting chummy with people who might die? Though he seemed the most capable of the group and constantly looked around us for danger. I led the way up the dark stairs, unlocking the main basement doors slowly. Suddenly dreading leaving the safety of this dungeon, my hand shook as I pushed the door open.
Since I was in front, I peered around the door. This hall was dark as well; dull emergency lights cast shadows on the ransacked hospital. Tentatively, I moved out of the stairwell. I had no idea where we were. Knowing we had to be somewhere in the middle of the hospital, I went to the right. Muscles stiff with anticipation, my eyes darted madly around for any signs of life. Padraic nodded for me to continue. I rounded a corner and froze.
“What is it?” Sonja whimpered.
“Nothing bad just…” I motioned to the glass shattered all over the tile. I was barefoot.
“I’ll carry you over it,” Padraic offered. Knowing how this situation fared for Bruce Willis in Die Hard, I didn’t balk at his proposal. We were a good ten feet past the glass when he finally set me down.
“Thanks. My clothes,” I started, “where are they?”
Padraic didn’t know what I meant.
“The exam room I was in. Where is it?”
“Orissa, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he advised.
“You can’t carry me over every sharp thing,” I added pointedly.
Jason butted in saying, “She’s right.”
“Thank you,” I noted, pressing a smile.
With a sigh, Padraic directed us to the exam room. Bodies littered the hall. The smell was nauseating. Sonja clutched her brother’s arm, not wanting to look at the decaying humans. I slipped into the room. My clothes were still there and I hurriedly got dressed. I dumped the contents of my purse onto the floor, only putting back what I really needed: the notebook, keys, a bottle of hand sanitizer, lip balm, a hair tie and my taser. I debated if I needed my wallet. Not wanting to just leave it here, I pulled out my ID and the little cash I still had, stuffing it into my leather bag. My cell phone had died days ago. Seeing it as useless, I left it on the floor. I slung the strap over my head, pulled on my boots, and dashed out of the room.
Padraic pointed to the right. Silently, we walked through the hospital, passing more bodies. Sunlight filtered through the dirt- and blood-splattered windows in the lobby.
Something scuttled behind the front desk. I whirled around, raising the piece of metal. Sonja let out a muffled scream. She was our weak link, I knew in that moment. And Jason would die trying to protect his sister. He stood in front of her, ready to defend.
“Shh!” I whispered harshly, shaking my head. Sonja pressed her hand over her mouth, tears welling in her eyes. Carefully, I advanced. Whatever was lurking behind the desk grumbled, moved quickly, and rumpled papers. Picking up what was supposed to be a decorative vase from the desk, I threw it as far as I could to the side. It clattered loudly on the ground.
The thing lurched out, seeking the source of the noise. Half of its face was burned and bloody, inhibiting me from guessing its sex or race. One leg was twisted, obviously broken. Still, it moved with impressive speed. At first it was too distracted by the noise. It abruptly skidded to a stop and sniffed the air. Slowly, it turned to look at us, salivating. It snarled and roared before coming after us.
Sonja screamed again, grabbing onto Jason for dear life. I circled around, raising my metal rod to crash it down in its head. The thing turned so fast it startled me. I recoiled, tripping over a fallen stack of medical files, my weapon bouncing out of my hand and rolling away from me. I pulled my knees to my chest and kicked, hitting the disgusting person in the chest. It staggered back. The older man in the plaid shirt that I didn’t know hit it over the head with his weapon: a broken two by four. I was so thankful he came with us.
The thing dropped to its knees. I sprang up, grabbed the rod and drove it through its chest; blood weakly splattered out. I yanked my weapon back, panting. My eyes met the older man’s. “I don’t know your name,” I spat out.
“Logan,” he said. “I’m Logan.”
“Orissa.”
He winked. “I know. I think we all know.”
“Ok.” I nodded. My heart was still racing. “We need to go on.”