with. And I didn’t appreciate it one bit. But we all got him into this, and maybe it’s not completely his fault. You got carried away in the love scene. We both did. I’m not so sure we should blame him for losing it. I mean, I wish it hadn’t happened but… it was this damn story. We never should’ve asked any guy to play The Reaper.’
‘Would’ve been okay,’ Finley said, ‘if Tony…’
‘Tony didn’t have any track meet today,’ Cora said.
‘What?’ Finley blurted.
‘He lied about it. He just didn’t want to play The Reaper. He said, “I can’t do that stuff to Abilene or to anyone else. Not even pretending.” It’s like he knew what might happen.’
‘He wouldn’t have done that stuff to her,’ Vivian said.
‘Maybe he was afraid he might. I don’t know.’
‘I know one thing,’ Abilene said. ‘He’s smarter than the rest of us; he stayed out of it.’
‘ “A nifty little film. Though I realize you were limited as far as special effects, you managed to carry off the story quite effectively. The cast was great. Very convincing portrayals all around. My regards to everyone involved. I wish you success with your film, and I should think you’ll have a great future in the cinema. Sincerely, Dick.” How do you like them apples?’ Finley asked, grinning up from the letter.
Abilene sneered. ‘Convincing portrayals, huh?’
‘They should’ve been,’ Cora said. ‘Nobody in the whole damn film was acting. You and Harris were really making out, Baxter tried to rape you, and we zombies kicked his ass in earnest.’
‘Turned into cinema verite,’ Finley said. ‘Hope the Institute appreciates it as much as the author.’
‘I’m a connoisseur of such things,’ Helen said, ‘and I think it was fabulous. Especially that one-armed zombie.’
‘You did a great job pulling Baxter off me,’ Abilene admitted.
Helen beamed at her. ‘Pretty good for a fatty, huh? And a dead one, to boot.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Nobody screamed. Nobody fled. Nobody spoke or wept.
They all stood there, staring at the body.
Abilene supposed it came as no surprise to any of them that Helen had been murdered. It was what they had all suspected, dreaded, tried to deny all morning during their search for her. They’d clung to feeble hopes, but they’d known they would probably never find her alive.
Now it was over. There was no more room for hope or denial.
Someone had brought Helen into the shower room and butchered her.
It occurred to Abilene that she ought to be afraid. The killer might be nearby, might come for the rest of them. But she felt no fear. She felt only tired and dazed and numb.
She sank to the floor of the shower room. Slumping back against a wall, she raised her knees and hugged them tight. She was vaguely aware of the white cat scooting by, fleeing as Cora and Finley walked slowly toward Helen’s body.
Cora crouched. Her hand went to Helen’s neck. Searching for a pulse beat, though there could be no doubt that Helen was dead. A few moments later, she straightened up.
Finley, bending over, reached for the knife.
‘No,’ Cora whispered. ‘Don’t touch it. We shouldn’t… disturb anything.’
They both stepped backward away from the body. They turned around.
‘We’d better get out of here,’ Cora said. ‘Whoever…’ She halted in mid-stride. The tire iron dropped from her hand and clamored on the floor. She stood motionless as if frozen stiff. Then, hunching over slightly, she squeezed her arms against her chest, buried her chin against her crossed wrists and shuddered.
Finley put an arm around her.
Turning her head, Abilene saw Vivian standing rigid, fists pressed tight against her thighs.
Finley’s flashlight, in the hand she wasn’t using to hold Cora, shone its beam near Vivian’s feet. Abilene’s flashlight, on the floor beside her, made a bright path across the floor to Helen.
Helen seemed to be watching her.
Wanting her to do something about it. Make it all right. Make it go away.
Too late for any of that. Way too late.
Abilene felt a hand stroking her hair. Raising her head, she saw Vivian beside her. She picked up the flashlight. As she stood, Cora came unfrozen and bent down like a palsied old woman to retrieve the tire iron she’d dropped. Finley kept an arm around her and, together, they staggered out of the shower room.
Vivian took Abilene’s hand, squeezed it.
They got as far as the threshold. Abilene stopped and looked back. She couldn’t see Helen. Only darkness.
‘We can’t leave her alone in here.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Vivian murmured.
‘She’s… scared of shower rooms.’
Finley came back. Her light made Abilene squint and look away. ‘Helen isn’t scared of them any more. Nothing can scare her now. Okay? We need to get out of here.’
In silence, they returned to the car. It seemed like the only place to go. It was a rental car, but it was theirs. It was loaded with their things. It gleamed in the sunlight. It felt to Abilene like a sanctuary. They were safe here. Nothing could get them.
Cora sat on the rear bumper and lowered her head. Abilene sat beside her and watched Vivian lie down on the sloping pavement and fold her hands under her head and stare at the sky.
Finley stayed on her feet. She paced around, taking deep breaths. Then she stopped and reached into a pocket of her shorts and pulled out the package of hot dogs. She raised it in front of her face. ‘Anybody want one?’ she asked.
Nobody answered.
‘Helen won’t be…’
With such sudden violence that Abilene flinched, Finley hurled the package down. It smacked the pavement, wieners blasting apart, juice and pink mush exploding from the wrapper. She stared down at the mess. Then her face turned scarlet and crumpled, eyes squeezing shut, mouth stretching as if invisible fingers wrenched her lips. Abilene leaped up. She rushed to Finley, bursting into tears herself as she hugged her stricken friend.
Some time later, she realized that Cora had her arms around them both. Then Vivian was with them, embracing them, crying. They all were crying. Huddled together, hot arms around quaking backs, faces dripping sweat and tears as they gasped and sobbed and sniffled and whimpered and blubbered.
‘Sounds… like a fuckin’ barnyard,’ Finley cracked after a while.
Abilene laughed once and choked. Her face was tight against the side of Finley’s head. She eased back. Finley’s hair, sticking to her itchy wet cheek, pulled away. She met the girl’s eyes and saw such misery there that she murmured, ‘Aw, Fin,’ and stroked her face with both hands and kissed her eyes.
‘Break it up, you guys,’ Cora whispered. She rubbed the back of Abilene’s head, kissed her ear, pressed her lips briefly against Finley’s cheek, then backed away.
‘Gettin’ awful smoochy around here,’ Finley muttered.
‘Don’t worry,’ Vivian said, her voice high and shaky. ‘I’m not about to…'
With a quick turn of her head, Finley kissed her full on the lips. Vivian didn’t pull away. As she caressed Finley’s hair, Abilene pressed her mouth to Vivian’s wet cheek. It slid, and Vivian’s lips were there against hers, soft and comforting.
‘Come up for air, guys,’ Finley said.
They parted. Abilene gave Finley a gentle punch on the shoulder. She felt exhausted, drained.
Everyone stood around, sniffing and sighing, wiping sweat and tears and slobber from their faces.
