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I’d been quickly checking in with my mom every few hours to monitor my dad’s progress. He’d been in the hospital for three days, and they said he could go home the next day. I talked to him briefly the day before, even though he was out of it from the painkillers. I told him how much I loved him and that I was glad he was going to be okay. I made my mom put the doctor on the phone and give me all the details. After our talk, I began to believe he might actually be all right. The doctor said it was a minor heart attack, and the blockage was easily repaired. I had confidence in my mom to keep my dad in check by adjusting his diet and keeping him on an exercise plan. For the time being, we were out of the woods.
Ollie and I were in a euphoric state, in bed more often than not. Even though Kirk’s apartment was admittedly much nicer than mine, Ollie moved in with me. The one time we slept over there, I woke up feeling like an intruder. My apartment was home to me, and I think Ollie felt the same way. Frequently, we had long talks about our lives before the quarantine and discussed what we hoped to do if we escaped and swapped stories about past relationships. He told me about his relationship with Dana before the pregnancy, which he described as the only time he’d felt real love. I told him the horror stories about dating in New York that had led to my decision to stop dating. I found it easier to share myself with him as time went by.
We continued working out and playing the games we’d found in Kelly’s apartment. Ollie’s ribs were healing, and his recovery from the beating was progressing well. We’d even ventured out once to check cars on a few streets past the park. But when we came back, his ribs swelled up, and we decided to wait a few more days before trying again.
My relationship with him brought out my nurturing side in a huge way. I hovered around him while he was changing, checking on his wounds and applying aloe or vitamin E oil so they didn’t scar. He was obviously enjoying it, submitting to my caretaking with a pleased grin. I even made us rice pudding as a treat one night with coconut oil and sugar. We savored each bite, Ollie feigning ecstasy over the taste. It was nice having someone around to spoil.
We made another foray outside to gather more acorns and spent a day leaching out the tannins and roasting them. I had Ollie grind a large batch to make acorn flour. The next evening, we went up to the roof with my most recent experiment: ginger cookies made with coconut oil instead of eggs and an extra dash of molasses. I’d splurged, using some of our dwindling flour mixed with the acorn flour. They were really good, but I thought that was probably given the lack of flavor we’d had in our food lately. While we munched, I pulled out the binoculars and showed him the notes on the window.
“See the building with the red parapet right over there, just beyond the park?”
He looked for a second. “Yeah. I see the notes too.” He studied them for a minute then pulled the binoculars down. “I think this guy probably died. Maybe that was a note for someone, warning them not to come back.”
I shook my head. “I think the notes were a signal, letting someone know he was still there until he had to leave.”
“Hmm... could be. I guess you’re more optimistic than I am.” He raised an eyebrow.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a naturally optimistic person.”
“Really? Seems like it to me.” He leaned over to brush a piece of hair off my face and tucked it behind my ear.
I smiled and considered the idea. It felt encouraging that maybe I had changed. Then I heard a light tapping, some coughing, then a distant voice saying, “Are you there? It’s me, Henry.”
Our eyes widened as we looked at each other happily. We ran down the stairs into Barb’s apartment and leaned out the window. He had turned and was walking away looking dejected, pushing his rickety cart. I leaned out farther. “Henry! Up here!” I waved my arms at him.
He turned his cart around, smiled, then walked back. “Well hello! There you are.”
It was good to see him safe and sound. “We were worried about you because of the flood. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I was able to get into the building next door. The apartment you mentioned was empty, so I’ve been staying there. I scoured the apartments that were unlocked, but there wasn’t much food left. I’ve run out. Can you spare some more?”
“Of course,” Ollie said. “Give us a minute.”
We both ran to our apartments and started loading up a large Ikea bag with some tortillas, bottles of water, and more medicine. I was so happy to see Henry alive that I put most of the cookies in a baggie and added those too.
Ollie looked dejected. “Hey, I thought those were for me!”
“I’ll make you more!” I replied.
Back at the window, we leaned out, and Henry was doubled over, coughing into a beige towel. When he straightened, the towel had blood all over it. Our spirits deflated. He wasn’t doing well.
“Sorry. That happens once in a while,” he said when he saw our faces.
“How long have you been sick?” I asked. He had an orange wristband, so he’d clearly been infected fairly recently.
“I stayed here to take care of my wife. She wasn’t sick but tested positive for the virus. A few weeks later, she got a fever. I took care of her until she died a month ago. I started having symptoms about that time.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said.
“Thanks. I’ll be with her again soon.” He smiled.
Ollie picked up the bag, held it out the window, then dropped it to the ground.
Henry struggled to pick it up in his weakened state, but he managed to heave it up into his cart. “Thanks. You guys are the best.”
“We put some more medicine in there too.” I paused. “Henry, there’s a bottle of prescription pain killers in that bag. Use them near the end.”
His eyes widened. “Oh, bless you. Thank you for helping me. I would have starved without the food you gave me, and now this. I don’t know what to say.”
“Just take care of yourself.”
“I’ll try.” He smiled at us one last time before heading off with his cart. The sun was about to set, and he shouldn’t stay out in the dark. We waved to him and closed the window. We walked back upstairs, relieved that he’d weathered the storm safely but also disheartened by his sickly appearance. We ate dinner in silence, thinking gloomy thoughts.
While we were washing the dishes, Ollie said, “It’s so hard to see that firsthand. He’s the only sick person I’ve come across. I saw people on the news, but it’s not the same.” He set the last dish in the rack and turned toward me. “You had to go through that with the girls. I can’t even imagine.” He shook his head sadly.
“It was hard.” I couldn’t think of any other way to describe it.
“Did you lose a lot of friends?”
I nodded. “When the Death List came out, most of my friends and co-workers were on it. I don’t even know if it’s really sunk in yet that they are all gone. My friend Lori, who lived a few blocks down, had a dog named Cody.” I paused as tears filled my eyes. “We were close. We’d hang out at least once a week and walk each other’s dogs when one of us had to work late. When I found her name, all I could think about was Cody, as if my mind was deliberately avoiding the reality of the situation and focusing on something easier to think about.”
“I know what you mean. I found a few friends on there too. Not as many as you, I’m sure, but seeing their names was awful, and I kept thinking about their families instead of what they must have gone through as they died.” He looked down for a second then pulled his head up. “It’s nice that you had a friend in the neighborhood with a dog.”
“It was the perfect situation. Zeke and Cody loved each other. On the rare days when Lori worked from home, she’d come get Zeke to play with Cody while she worked.” Thinking about the two of them together brought a smile to my face. “Once, we took the dogs to a doggy swimming pool in Brooklyn, and... Oh my god!” My eyes popped open, and I looked at Ollie with a huge grin. “Oh my god!” I repeated, laughing.
He looked confused. “What?”
“I can’t believe I didn’t remember this sooner! Lori’s ex-boyfriend, Dan, moved out of her apartment to the Upper East Side when they broke up a little over a year ago. He had a car and kept getting parking tickets because of opposite-side parking every other day. We don’t have that in Long Island City, so he asked Lori if he could keep the car here instead. He said she could use it whenever she wanted. That’s how we took the dogs to the pool. What if it’s still there?” My heartbeat raced at the possibility.
“But we don’t have the keys.”
“I have keys to Lori’s apartment so I could walk Cody when she needed me to. We could go to her apartment and see if the car keys are there. They may not be. She could have driven herself to the hospital, or Dan could have gotten the car. But I found his name on the list, too, so that seems unlikely. We should at least go and check.”
A smile lit up his face. “When do you want to go?”
I looked outside at the darkness that was creeping in. “Let’s go tomorrow. I don’t feel safe going at night. I hear things out there sometimes. Creepy things.” I shuddered, thinking about going back out.
“Tomorrow, then.”
I hugged him, feeling hopeful for the first time about a possible escape. As we slid into bed, that hope began to mingle with nerves. Going to Lori’s would be much farther than I’d ventured in months. What threats were lurking in the shadows? What will we find in Lori’s apartment? I had a hard time falling asleep, and listening to Ollie’s steady breathing that turned into soft snoring was even worse. Why isn’t he as nervous as I am? I finally fell into a dreamless, fitful sleep.
I awoke in the morning to the sound of a mourning dove, and its rhythmic cooing lulled me awake. I felt a weight on my ribs, so I opened one eye to see Zeke resting his chin on me, waiting for me to rise. He raised his eyebrows over his clear brown eyes, obviously trying to decide if he should take the flutter of my eyelid seriously or not. I opened my other eye and convinced him I was really awake. While he burrowed into the covers in excitement, I looked to my left, but the bed was empty. I checked my watch, and it read 11:22 a.m. I couldn’t believe I’d slept that late. I climbed out of bed and found Ollie at the dining table, eating breakfast. A healthy fire was already burning in the fireplace. He turned and smiled then got up and fixed me a plate. I poured my coffee and joined him at the table.
“You slept late. I was getting worried about you. I took Zeke to the roof already.”
“Thanks. I didn’t fall asleep till really late. Nervous about today, I guess.”
He nodded and went back to eating his rice. I wondered if he was nervous, too, especially after his beating—just watching it from my kitchen window had frightened me. We ate in silence then changed and brushed our teeth. I had on several layers of clothing and topped them with my short down jacket. We wore warm beanies and sunglasses to reduce the glare from the sun and pulled gloves onto our hands. I grabbed the empty backpack in case Lori had any supplies we could bring back. It seemed like we both wanted to get it over with. Before we left, I got down to Zeke’s eye level and told him where we were going and that we would be back soon. He whined at me and shuffled his paws. I gave him one last kiss.
When we got to the front door, we looked outside for several minutes, scouting the terrain. We stepped out and listened for a few seconds but heard nothing other than birds singing and the wind blowing. Ollie grabbed my hand, and we darted to the doorway across the street. We looked around, waiting for someone to pop out and attack us, but nothing happened. I motioned to the park, and we crossed the next street, crouching down once we made it across so we wouldn’t be seen from the street. The trees were bare, offering no coverage, but there were still overgrown shrubs near the ground that would help block any watchers. We cut through the park, and I pulled Ollie under an awning on the next corner.
We were both breathing heavily, our chests heaving. We stayed under the canopy for a few minutes, catching our breath and listening for people. I was a bundle of nerves, feeling too exposed. My head jerked toward every twig snapping and every bird taking flight—even the sound of my own breath made me edgy.
I leaned over and whispered, “Two more blocks that way.” I pointed in the direction of the water. He looked down the street and nodded.
We darted out again and ran as fast as we could. The next block was all industrial warehouses that offered no protection. We rushed across an intersection and slipped into an alleyway between buildings. Catching our breath again, we waited and listened. Somewhere fairly close, we heard a noise that sounded like dragging, then some scrambling, followed by silence.
“It’s only two buildings away across the street,” I whispered.
He nodded. I looked out and didn’t see anything, so I grabbed his hand, and we ran toward Lori’s building. As we sprinted across the street, I kicked a metal can that was in the road. It made a loud clanking sound as it tumbled down the street before finally landing next to the wheel of a car. I winced at the noise. Lori’s building had a large alcove at the front door, so we felt more protected as I pulled the keys out and unlocked the door. A powerful stench immediately assaulted us. We quickly shut the door and zipped our jackets over our noses. I wondered how many dead bodies were in the building. I really hoped we wouldn’t find a dead Cody in the apartment. I didn’t know if I could take that.
At Lori’s front door, I fumbled with the ancient lock, having a hard time getting the key in with my gloves on. The smell dissipated slightly once we were inside, leading me to believe that Cody wasn’t there. We looked in every room. I came out of Lori’s bedroom at the same time Ollie emerged from the spare bedroom that Lori used for Airbnb guests.
“No Cody or anyone else?” I asked.
He shook his head then went to the kitchen to start our search for the keys. I looked on the key rack, but the only keys were mine and another set I didn’t recognize. I rifled through the small table covered in framed family photos and knick-knacks near the door but came up empty. I turned to Ollie.
He threw up his hands. “They aren’t here.”
We looked through every drawer in the living room but found nothing. “Someone must have taken the car,” I said, crestfallen.
We checked the cupboards and found a brand-new bottle of pasta sauce, a box of rigatoni, and an unopened bottle of red wine. We also took her full can of ground coffee, flour, cocoa powder, and sugar, piling it all into the backpack. There were four cups of Cody’s dog food in a bag under the sink. I threw that in too—Zeke’s food was running low. I’d been mixing it with rice to stretch it out as much as possible. A loud thump from floors above compelled us to look up. Someone was still living there. My skin prickled in fear. Ollie pulled the backpack on and tightened the straps. As we rushed back to the front door, I spotted something sticking out from under the table by the door. I reached down and felt the key fob for the car. I pulled it up and triumphantly showed the keys to Ollie.
“They fell under the table!” I said excitedly. “It’s a dark-blue Kia Sportage, a small SUV. She usually parks it on this street or one of the three surrounding it. The street farther down is always packed, and you can never find parking. We can start on this street and work our way to the others.” We heard another thump, and we both jumped.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said.
I took one last look at a photo on the table of Lori and Cody, and tears forced their way out. I wiped them away and pulled the photo out of the frame, sliding it into my back pocket before I walked out the door. Once outside, we walked to the middle of the street and scanned the parked cars. I didn’t see any blue ones, so we walked farther. All of a sudden, three men appeared at the top of the street. One had a baseball bat in his hand, which he bounced against his other palm. I stopped, fear spreading through my body. We turned around to run in the other direction but halted in our tracks. Two more men were at the end of the street, both holding what looked like wooden boards with nails sticking out the ends.
Ollie’s face was tense, his jaw muscles clenched tightly. I’m sure flashbacks were filling his mind. We both turned back to the three men at the top of the street. I looked around frantically, searching for a way out. I spotted the buildings on the left and had an idea.
As quietly as possible I whispered, “Ollie! See those two buildings on the left?”
His eyes moved to the left, and he whispered, “Yes.”
“There’s an alleyway between them where they keep the garbage cans.”
The man with the bat interrupted me, yelling, “Don’t make us wait! Just do what we ask, and you won’t get hurt. Walk toward me slowly with your hands up. Don’t try anything stupid. We saw you come out of that building. We just want the keys.”
I was shaking, and my breath was coming in short gasps. I felt a trickle of sweat slide down my back. We both raised our hands.
I whispered out of the side of my mouth, “The alleyway has a few turns, and we’ll have to go through a gate in a fence, but it lets out on the next street over. Maybe we can get ahead of them and run back to my building.”
“Come on, ladies. We’re not going to stand here all day. Walk toward me, now!” the man shouted.
“Start walking. On the count of three, follow me down the alleyway. I know where I’m going. I’ve cut through with Zeke and Cody a hundred times.”
We slowly began walking toward the man. His hair was long and greasy, his clothes spotted with stains. He was wearing boots with spikes hammered into the toes. They all had on long-sleeved sweatshirts, so I couldn’t see if they had wristbands. After ten steps, the alleyway came into my peripheral vision. I looked at the man, and he smiled and laughed.
“One,” I whispered. “Two.” We were almost there. I saw the narrow opening. “Three!”
We darted to the left, and I heard the man yell, “What the fuck! You guys are dead! Alex, Dom, go to the left and meet us on the next street. We’ll follow them!”
Ollie and I were already halfway down the first leg of the alley when I heard feet slapping the pavement behind me. We hit the turn and made a right. I was hoping the men didn’t know where the alley led. There were three garbage cans blocking the path up ahead. There would be no time to move them. When I got close, I launched and pulled my legs up as though I was jumping a hurdle. I barely cleared the cans and fell on the other side, my ankle pounding in pain. Ollie landed a few inches past me, and he reached down and pulled me up. After another ten feet, we reached the next turn and spun to the left. Before we turned, I looked back. The men were at the garbage cans, pushing them to the side. We had a little time.
When we got to the gate, Ollie pulled it open, and we rushed through. It had a U-latch, so I pulled it down and pushed the pin through, praying it would slow them down. We turned and kept running. I could see the exit up ahead and ran faster. I heard the men swearing at the gate. They could have opened it easily if they were familiar with U-latches, but it sounded as though they were climbing over instead. As we ran, I looked back and saw one man fall over the fence to the other side. We darted out the exit and looked to the end of the street. The other two men were standing there looking for us. They spotted us and sprinted in our direction. We dashed to the cross street and kept running toward Eleventh. We were on my street and just had to run two more blocks to my corner. We both turned to check their progress. The two men were only about twenty yards behind and gaining on us.
I felt my ankle getting weaker, but I pushed through it. All that time running up and down the stairs was paying off, I thought, as I felt a second wind coming on. As we neared Eleventh, I saw the edge of Henry’s cart. Oh my god, no! I pointed at it, and Ollie saw it too. We looked at each other, worried. Henry peeked around the corner. Our eyes locked, then his eyes moved to the men chasing us. He looked back at us and waved his hand, indicating we should keep going. As we ran past him, we turned and saw that the other three men were now running behind the two on our tail. Once we passed Henry, he pushed his cart into the street, between the men and us.
“Henry, no!” I screamed.
I stopped running and turned around. Ollie grabbed my hand and tried to pull me forward, but I stood my ground and watched. Henry coughed loudly and yelled, “I’m sick. Someone please help me.” He reached his hand out to the men and coughed some more. “Please can you help me?” He waved his bloody towel in front of them.
They stopped in their tracks and backed up a few steps, covering their mouths with their shirts. The man with the bat said something under his breath to the other men then pointed the bat in our direction. They backtracked toward the cross street and turned right. Henry looked back at us and raised his eyebrows, grinned, then waved his hands in a shooing motion.
I yelled, “Thanks, Henry!”
We turned and ran the last block to my apartment building on the corner. I was out of breath when we got to the stairs, and Ollie had to pull me up because my ankle finally gave up the fight. When we were back in my apartment, I lay on the couch while Ollie inspected my ankle. It was starting to swell again. He elevated my foot on a few pillows then rose to leave. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” I asked, but he didn’t respond.
He walked out the front door, leaving me gaping in his wake.
I waited ten minutes with Zeke standing in front of me, licking my hand and whining. I got up and hobbled to the kitchen, looking for Ollie. Finally, the front door opened, and he came into the kitchen. He frowned at me leaning on the counter, my foot pulled up off the floor.
I expected a scolding for walking around on my ankle, but he said, “I spotted them a few streets over. It looked like they were pounding on doors. But I think we’re safe for now.”
“I can’t believe that just happened! And we didn’t get to search for the car.”
“We’ll have to go look another day. I’m not going back out there. They’re still looking for us. We really pissed them off. How’s your ankle?”
“Numb,” I said.
He picked me up and plopped me back down on the couch. I lifted my foot up onto Ollie’s lap, and he examined it.
“How bad is it?” I asked.
“I can’t tell. Let’s wrap it up and get you some ibuprofen.”
While he left my side to get supplies, I thought about how nice it was to let someone take care of me for a change. I’d always been the caregiver in my relationships, but I wasn’t carrying the load for both of us—I was allowing him to carry it with me. I had never done that before.
My nerves were shot from our expedition outside, but I smiled anyway. My head dropped back onto the arm of the couch. I sighed and fell asleep.