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I stumble across the threshold and slam down on a cold, hard tile floor. My breath leaves me with a whoosh, and my gun goes spinning away. Pain sears my chest, and the coppery scent of blood is in my nose as I try to regain my feet, but the hands are on me again, hauling me up off the floor. I kick out and nail the person in the leg. He cries out in pain and surprise, and gives me a shove. I slam into a wall, and have to struggle not to fall to the floor again. I manage to suck in a rasping breath.
“Are you Kenan?” The man is angry, but his voice lacks the undertone of evil intent my subconscious mind had attached to this shadowy figure the moment his hands grasped me from out of nowhere. I nod, forgetting he can’t see me in the dark. He shakes me. “Are you?”
“Yes,” I gasp. I take another breath and cough it right back out.
“Your friend’s been worried sick about you. She didn’t want to come with us, even though that pack of buggers was roaming around out there. We promised her we’d find you, but it didn’t calm her down any. We finally had to carry her away to keep her from going after you. Come on, let’s go.”
What? These weren’t sicko kidnappers? They were trying to keep Katy safe? This unexpected news is too much for my addled brain, so I remain silent and let him guide me through darkened hallways.
After a few twists and turns, I have my breath back, my mind is a little less befuddled, and I find my voice.
“Who are you guys, anyway?”
“Mostly locals. Some city folks, some farm families who moved to the jail for safety. When it became obvious that the bug couldn’t be stopped, the county set all the inmates free and abandoned the jail. It was a safer place than any other around here.”
“So you guys aren’t prisoners?” I feel like the only kid in class who hasn’t done the assigned reading.
“Most of us aren’t prisoners in the way you mean. I was a resident here, and so was one other guy. Everyone else is just an ordinary Joe or Jane. Then again, I suppose we’re all prisoners to the walking roadkill out there.” He sighs. “We’re not giving up, though. A couple of scientists have moved in here with us. The county forensics lab is part of this facility, and they’ve been doing some experiments, trying to understand the bug and see if they can’t do something to fight it.”
I don’t ask if they’ve made any breakthroughs. His tone of voice says it all.
A glimmer of light appears in the distance, and I see we’re in a long, straight hallway. The world gradually goes from black to gray, and I get my first look at my escort. He’s a good six feet tall, and big, but otherwise ordinary-looking, with dark hair and eyes. He glances at me and I think he almost smiles.
“People call me Chap. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.”
“No problem.” I try to force a friendly grin, but I can’t. I’m wondering how the people here are going to react when they realize I’m the one who cut their fence and let the buggers in because I thought they were criminal pervert kidnappers.
“So, if you were a...” I try to remember the word he used. “... a resident here, why didn’t you leave?”
“It was home. I’d been here a few years, and it was actually good for me. I’m not saying it was all good, but I got clean and sober, and I found religion.” He sees the sneer that contorts my face, and now he does smile. “It’s not like that. I discovered religion in general. It’s important to have some sort of faith to support you. I studied up on a bunch of them, and I shared what I learned with the other guys. That’s how I got my nickname; it’s short for ‘Chaplain.’ Anyway, I tried to help the guys who wanted to turn their lives around try and find a faith that work for them.”
“Sort of like trying on a new pair of shoes, huh?” I shouldn’t be smarting off to a guy that outweighs me by fifty pounds, but my embarrassment has made me angry and resentful.
“Sort of, but clothes just change the way you look on the outside. Faith changes who you are on the inside. Or, in the case of some of us, finally reveals our true selves.”
I shrug. I want to ask him to explain how any religion that’s worth a crap could let the world become what it has, but he seems like a nice enough guy, and my anger is already giving way to weariness. I’m suddenly reminded that it’s the middle of the night and I’ve only had a few hours sleep, if that.
“By the way,” Chap says, “you can have your Taurus back if you promise not to shoot me.”
I nod and accept my gun. Its weight feels good in my hand, but I holster it, thinking I’d appear paranoid, if not cowardly, if I were to keep it out.
Chap leads me into a bright, white room with round tables and cheap plastic chairs. Katy is sitting with her head in her hands. A tall woman of middle years has an arm around her, speaking softly to her. They both look up when we enter. Katy’s face transforms from desolation to delight, and I can’t believe that look is for me.
“Kenan! Thank God you’re okay!” She upends her chair in her hast to get to me. Before I know what is happening, her arms are around my neck, squeezing me tight. Her body is pressed against me, and she is sobbing into my chest. I hold her close, hating how awkward I feel, yet praying she won’t let go.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to leave you out there. I told them.”
“It’s all right.” I stroke her hair and absorb her warmth. “I’m just glad you’re not hurt. I thought you’d been taken.”
“I was.” She takes a deep breath, and her body trembles. “I mean, not in a bad way, but I didn’t want to go without you. They took me inside before the buggers could get to me. I didn’t want to go.”
“I know. I saw you. And heard you.” Her shoulders give a little heave, and I think I’ve actually made her laugh. “I’m here now. We’re going to be all right.”
She looks up at me. “So, how did you get in here?”
“He cut the fence and Kevin got bit!” The angry shout echoes through the room. A big farmer-looking dude comes stomping in. His face is red and glistening with sweat. His livid eyes bore into me as he makes a beeline to where Katy and I stand. Several other people are coming in behind him, but I don’t really notice anything about them. I’m too busy trying to decide whether or not to shoot this guy before he wraps his giant hands around my neck and pops my head like a zit.
Chap saves me the trouble of deciding by stepping in front of farmer guy and putting a hand on the angry man’s chest.
“Calm down, Carl. He was just trying to get to his girlfriend.” Chap isn’t as big as the other man, but he looks like can handle himself. “Just take a breath and settle down.”
Even though I should be worrying about whether or not I’m going to be strung up for cutting a hole in their fence, I steal a glance at Katy to see if she’s going to tell them I’m not her boyfriend. It’s stupid, I know, but I can’t help myself. She doesn’t object, but watches the two men.
“Settle down! Hell, we weren’t doing nothing to that girl. All we were doing was keeping her safe.”
“I know that, Carl, but he didn’t know that.” Chap’s voice is calm, like he’s soothing an agitated animal. “He saw me carrying her away, and her screaming and fighting. What would you have done if you were him and that was Marion being carried off by some strange man?”
Carl stares at Chap, his jaw working like he’s chewing his cud or something. Finally, he hangs his head. “You know Marion’s dead.”
“You get my point. What would you have done if you were him?”
Carl stares at the floor a moment longer. He finally looks up long enough to give me a hate-filled stare. “Hell!” he mutters. “I’m going to go see about Kevin.”
“Good idea,” Chap says. “I’ll be along in a minute.” The others in the group all stare at me, some with compassion, but most in disgust, then follow Carl out the door. Chap turns to me and Katy. “Everyone’s upset, but they understand. Just give them time. The morning will be better.”
“Is the guy who is hurt, Kevin, going to be okay?” Katy must not have caught on to the fact that the guy was bitten. Nobody recovers from that.
“We’ll see,” Chap says kindly. He glances at the woman who had been sitting with Katy. She’s still seated at the table, and she, at least, doesn’t look like she hates me. “Gale will take care of you, and set you up with a place where you can get some rest. I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
Gale leads us into a room lined with three tiers of jail cells. I wonder for a moment if they’re going to lock us up for the night, but then she opens the door to a small side room with a large plexiglass window overlooking the cells.
“This was the guards’ office,” Gale explains. “It gets pretty dark in here, but there’s a flashlight if you need it. There’s a sofa in this room, and a cot in the back.” She gives us directions to a pit toilet in the old exercise area, and assures us that, should we need anything, someone will always be on duty in the common room from which we had just come.
I give Katy the bedroom and stretch out on the sofa. It’s old and musty, but I’m too tired to care. I toss and turn, but my brain won’t shut off. I wonder what will happen tomorrow. How will the people here treat me now that I’ve pretty much caused the death of one of their own? I wonder where I’ll go next. I can’t stay here, obviously, but what will Katy want to do? It’s crazy; less than a day together, and I’m already thinking of us as a pair.
This is stupid. I helped her get to safety, but a girl like Katy is not going to be interested in a guy like me. Everybody loves her. She’ll probably fit right in with these people, and become a part of their happy little community or whatever they call it, while I go my merry way.
Does it really even matter, though? Wherever I go, my life will be the same: running, hiding, and killing zombies. Repeat. What is the point of it all? Is there any purpose at all to living? I’m lost in thought when I hear a whisper in the darkness.
“Kenan, are you awake?” I can’t see her in the pitch black, which makes her voice crystal clear. There’s a tremor of fear there and a hint of uncertainty.
“Yeah.” My voice sounds weak, tentative, and I hate it.
“Can I sleep in here? It’s creepy back there all alone.” She doesn’t wait for me to reply, but slips down onto the couch and snuggles up against me. I wrap my arm around her and for a little while, I forget there’s anyone, or anything, in the world except the two of us.