'I don't believe this shit,' Frankie muttered.
'What?' Don asked.
'We're following a fucking cat named God, and trusting it to lead us to safety.'
Don chuckled. 'Would you prefer a burning bush?'
They continued onward, their wet shoes rubbing against their feet. They climbed down another shaft, and exited into a tubular passage. Gas mains and fiber optic lines ran along the top.
'We're close.' Pigpen sighed, sounding relieved.
Don stopped and knelt to tie his shoe. Danny, Jim, and Frankie passed him.
'You okay?' Jim asked.
'Yeah,' Don said. 'Just don't want to trip down here in the dark.
Knowing my luck, I'd break my neck or something.'
Danny squeezed his father's hand.
'How about you, squirt?'
'I'm scared,' Danny whispered. His voice was weary. 'It's quiet down here.'
'Maybe that means we've lost them.'
'We'll be safe now?' Danny stared up into his father's face.
'I won't let anything hurt you, Danny. I promise.'
'Anybody else smell something?' Frankie asked.
Pigpen's nose wrinkled. 'You mean besides the sewers?'
She shrugged. 'Good point. Forget it.'
Jim rubbed his hands together for warmth. 'Boy, what I wouldn't give for a pair of gloves right now.'
Frankie shivered in the darkness. 'I hope there's something to wear inside this shelter. I'm freezing my ass off.'
Pigpen shrugged. 'I don't know. There's food. Freeze-dried stuff. And cases of bottled water. I'm not sure if there's clothing, but it is warm inside.'
The flashlight beam flickered. Pigpen smacked it against his palm.
'Batteries are starting to die. I think I saw some of those in the shelter too. Hopefully they're still good.'
'So what's this thing like?' Frankie asked, her teeth chattering.
'Kind of like a big boiler,' Pigpen told her. 'It's made out of steel, and the door is a hatch, like on a ship or a submarine. It's divided into two big rooms. The government stocked it up and then forgot about it. Your tax dollars at work.'
'Lucky for us,' Jim said.
'You can lock the door from the inside,' Pigpen continued. 'So that nobody else can get in. We used to do that, to keep the other homeless out. It's warm and dry. We'll be okay there. Hell, you could set off a bomb right next to it and that steel wouldn't buckle. It's stronger than anything Ramsey ever built.'
Frankie's brow creased in thought. 'Is there more than one exit? I'd hate to get trapped inside.'
'There's a door on each side,' Pigpen said. 'We can lock both of them from the inside.'
Jim thought again of how things had started. Then, he'd been alone, and left the safety of the bunker to find his son. Now, Danny would be with him, along with Frankie, Don, Pigpen, and God.
'God is with us,' he whispered, quietly so that the others didn't hear him. He thought that Martin would have found it funny.
'Not much farther now,' Pigpen reported. 'I bet your feet are tired.'
Frankie, Jim, and Danny all groaned in agreement. Don didn't reply.
'You okay, Don?' Jim asked. 'You're awfully quiet back there.'
'I'm fine,' the zombie answered, and leaped onto his back.
Jim and Don tumbled to the floor. Don clawed at his face, his fingers seeking to rip open Jim's cheeks. Jim rolled, crushing Don beneath him.
He sat up and punched the zombie in the face.
Danny and Pigpen screamed, and God hissed. Frankie grabbed Don's hair in her fist and yanked his head back.
His throat had been cut. Something had slipped up behind Don and slashed it in the darkness.
How long was he dead? Frankie wondered. How long has he been following us?
Pigpen shined the flashlight beam back the way they had come.
Zombies filled the tunnel.
He turned and ran. God raced along behind him.
'Run!' Frankie shrieked.
