“Victor,” Kyle said. “Stay here. I’m going to go see what’s happening.”
Victor didn’t say anything. He stayed in the corner and put his head between his legs. Kyle turned and headed back up to the roof. He stared out onto the streets. They were littered with slain Existing Dead. Some crawled in any direction they could with half their bodies missing or dragging behind them. Others lay motionless. The dead that were pressed up against the garage door remained untouched. They growled and tried to scratch their way onto the roof. Kyle looked away and searched the sky for the jet. It was gone. The other lights were gone as well.
“Looks like they’re starting to exterminate them,” Kyle said softly.
He tried to look toward where he’d parked his truck. It was too dark for him to see it clearly. He prayed that it remained untouched, but he wasn’t holding his breath. With the amount of devastation on the streets, the jet must have dropped thousands of rounds. Kyle turned and went back down the ladder.
“What’s the damage?” Susie asked, startling Kyle. He hadn’t seen her standing at the doorway.
“It’s a mess. There are bodies everywhere on the streets. Some are missing their entire lower body, but they’re still crawling,” Kyle said, quickly.
“Yeah I’ve seen a bunch do that. It’s like they don’t feel pain.”
“I know,” Kyle said, cutting Susie off. “I’ve done a lot worse to one of them, yet it still exists. The only way to put one down is to destroy the brain.”
“Yeah I figured that one out when one of them made its way in here,” Susie said, looking at the ground.
Kyle pushed his way into the house. He stopped for a second and said, “What do you mean one of them got in here? I thought you said it was safe?”
“It is, but the day before Franklin left one of them got in. We did everything possible to put it down. It wasn’t until I shot it through the head that it collapsed on the ground.”
“Is that all that happened?” Kyle asked suspiciously. He started putting the pieces together in his head. She had lied about one of them getting in, Angel was dead in her room, and Franklin left the following day without taking Susie or Angel. Kyle didn’t know how, but he knew that Victor was thinking the same thing.
Victor stood from his corner and walked to Kyle.
“Yeah, that’s all that happened,” she said finally.
“Okay,” Kyle replied.
Susie looked at her watch. “It’s getting very late. If we’re planning on leaving tomorrow we’ll need our rest. I’ll make sure me and Angel are ready to leave first thing in the morning.”
Victor nudged Kyle. Kyle knew Victor must be terrified of Susie’s inability to let go. Angel was dead and she kept talking as if she were alive.
“Can I meet Angel?” Kyle asked.
“You’ll see her tomorrow when we leave,” Susie replied quickly.
“What’s wrong with right now?” Victor chipped in.
“She’s asleep.”
“Are you sure she’s really asleep?” Victor continued.
Kyle put his hand over Victor’s mouth. “Don’t listen to this kid,” Kyle said. “Just go ahead and get some sleep. We’ll meet Angel tomorrow and leave bright and early. If it’s okay, we’ll sleep on the couch.”
Susie nodded. “There are some extra blankets and pillows in the cabinet,” she said, pointing.
“Thanks, Susie,” Kyle said, still holding Victor’s mouth shut.
Susie walked into Angel’s room and quietly shut the door.
Kyle let go of Victor’s mouth. “I can’t believe she can take that smell,” Victor said.
“Yeah, I know. I can smell it from here.”
“What are we going to do?” Victor whispered.
“A part of me wants us to leave right now, and take our chances with the dead outsi-.”
“How many are left out there? If it’s not many then we can outrun them,” Victor interrupted.
“There’s quite a few left. We’ll be running all the way to my truck. And that’s if it hasn’t got all shot up. You heard that jet. But like I said, the other part of me wants us to stay and see what she does in the morning. We are supposed to take Angel with us. I wanna know what she’s planning on doing.”
Victor laughed. “I kinda wanna see that too, but she’s creeping me out.”
“She’s not stable. I don’t think it’ll be smart for us to wait ’til morning. I think we need to get a few hours of sleep and leave in the middle of the night. We’ll have to take our chances with the Existing Dead. Did you happen to catch where that safe zone she was talking about was?”
“I don’t know,” Victor said, shrugging. “I might have been knocked out.”
“I’m going to go ask her. I’ll tell her that I’m planning our route,” Kyle said as he looked up the hall. “Grab some blankets and get some sleep.” Victor nodded and opened the cabinet. “Hey,” Kyle called out, “make sure you take the small couch. And sleep with one eye open,” Kyle teased.
Victor whispered, “Shut up,” as he grabbed a few blankets, enough for both of them. He took them back to the couch and walked into the kitchen. The table had been cleared. Susie must have cleaned up his leftovers. Victor sighed and grabbed a large knife then headed back to the couch. He hid the weapon and nestled himself into the couch.
Kyle walked up the hallway and softly pressed his ear up against the door. He heard Susie singing a nursery rhyme. It gave him the chills. He backed away and knocked on the door. “Susie?” he said.
“Yes,” he heard her call out.
“I’m planning our route for tomorrow. Do you know where that safe zone is? I figure I’ll drop you and Angel off first, take Victor home and then head to California for Jasmine.”
The door to the room swung open. A disgusting odor leaked out, causing Kyle to take a step back. Susie stepped out of the room. She made no acknowledgment of the horrible smell.
“Why does the room smell that way?” Kyle asked. “Aren’t you bothered by it?”
“I’m a nurse, I’ve smelled worse. There was an accident and my daughter defecated everywhere. I’m sorry about the smell,” she replied.
“That’s okay,” he said, “Shouldn’t you take Angel out of there because of the smell?”
“She’s fine,” Susie snapped back, throwing her arms in a defensive mode.
“Okay, sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. So where is this safe zone? The one that Franklin went to for help.”
“Las Vegas,” she said.
“Vegas? That’s about an hour and a half away. Well, if the streets are clear that is. I’m going to plan our route right now. Just make sure you and Angel are ready in the morning.”
“Kyle,” Susie said touching Kyle on the arm. “Where’s Victor?”
“He’s probably passed out on the couch.”
“I’m going to be straight with you.”
“What are you doing taking Victor home? You know his family is most likely dead, and to be giving him false hope like that is probably going to hurt him more. He’s just a kid, Kyle.”
That came out of left field. Kyle wasn’t thinking clearly about Victor. In his mind they were friends, best buds even, and he was giving Victor a ride home. There was no telling what they would find there. He wasn’t sure that Victor put much thought into it either.
“Who knows,” he stated. “His mom or family might have survived, just like you and me.”
Before Susie could respond, Kyle was already walking down the hall and back into the living room. Victor was passed out on one of the couches. Kyle sat down on the other couch and began to think. A million thoughts ran through his head and before he knew it, he was asleep.
“Kyle? Kyle?” he heard someone say through his sleep. “Kyle, wake up!”
Kyle’s eyes shot open. He instantly went for the gun on his holster. Victor stood in front of him, shaking him violently.
“Kyle, get up. We need to leave now!” Victor yelled.
“What’s going on? What time is it?”
“We need to go, get your stuff.”
“Why?” Kyle said still feeling the effects of a deep sleep.
