“Where is that?” Janice asked.
Vin pointed at the supermarket. “Right there.”
Vin was in the lead as they made their way down the supermarket aisle. The Asian cried out, and Vin turned around and observed that the Asian had slipped and fallen in a pool of blood. Now the woman was the only one of the four without blood on their clothes.
Vin put Emily down, and she promptly grabbed onto his legs, making him uncomfortable. He paused, and the others halted behind him. He looked beyond them for zombies but saw no one.
What and where had the girl been running from? Did she know the boy who attacked her?
The woman saved him by gently taking the girl’s hand off his leg. “You need to let go, honey. I promise I’ll keep you next to me and safe.”
“But he’s Charming!”
How am I going to explain that?
The woman must have picked up on it. “I’ll make sure your Prince is here at all times, Okay? But you need to let go.”
The girl nodded and released him. He could see tears streaming down her cheeks.
She’s a brave little girl, even if she’s concocted a fantasy that I’m Prince Charming.
“Okay,” Vin said. “Follow me.”
When they reached the swinging doors at the back of the store, Vin told them all to huddle while he checked out the break room. He held on to his shotgun as he opened the right side of the double doors with his shoulder. Seeing no people or zombies to the left, he did the same with his other shoulder, and there was no one on the right. He motioned them to come in behind him.
As they all filed in, a toilet flushed in the bathroom.
Vin turned toward everyone and put his fingers to his lips. They all had the good sense not to make a noise, even Emily, who was now clinging onto the woman.
Good, it’s not just me.
He crept over to the bathroom, heel-to-toe, and pushed on the door, but it wouldn’t move. Trying to turn the knob, he discovered someone inside had locked the door.
He called out, “Whoever you are, we know you’re in the bathroom. Are you armed?”
There was a long period of silence before a man from inside called out, “No. Are you?”
“Yes. Now don’t take it personally, but I won’t trust you until you come out. I’ll have my gun trained on the door—”
“Is this absolutely necessary?” Janice interjected.
“There’s no law enforcement anymore,” Vin explained as he raised his shotgun and pointed at the bathroom door. “People are capable of just about anything now.”
“Including you,” the Asian muttered softly.
“I heard that, and I don’t blame you. I have the gun. You’ll have to trust me. You have no other choice.” He paused. “You can come out now,” he announced, projecting his voice toward the restroom. “Slowly, quietly, with your hands up.”
The door opened slowly, and a blonde-haired man dressed in “business casual” emerged. He held open the door before putting his palms up. He looked exhausted, almost ready to pass out, and appeared to be telling the truth about being unarmed. His clothes were dirty and disheveled.
“You.” Vin gestured his shotgun at the Asian. “What’s your name?”
“Jize.”
“Okay, Jize. you frisk him.”
“How come you didn’t frisk me?” Jize asked.
Vin scowled and lowered his gun. He realized he didn’t want to start on the wrong foot with these guys. “Fine. I guess we’ll have to trust each other.” He sighed. “I’m Vin Scoggins, by the way. I’m an engineer from Ella. And this little girl over there is Emily. She’s been through . . . well, a lot.” He let that sink in for a few seconds.
“So what’s your last name?” he asked Jize.
“I’m Jize Chen.”
“Hey, I know you,” bathroom-guy said. “You’re the pianist, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You two know each other?” Vin asked.
“No, I just know of him. He’s kind of famous in certain circles.”
Certain circles? Who does he think I am?
“And who are you?” Vin asked.
“I’m Alexander Williams. I’m a Professor of Microbiology at CalTech.”
Oh. An elite college-type. Lovely. “Microbiology? Do you want to explain what’s going on here?”
“Some kind of pathogen, I think. You all need to be careful not to let any of the infected blood get into any cut or scrape you may have. There was a woman who was ill before she became . . . well, like them. She’s the only one I saw who turned without having their brain eaten.”
“Is that what happened to my parents?” Emily asked. She was no longer clinging to the woman. There was an awkward silence before Vin spoke up. “Way to go, Alexander. Want to frighten any more children?”
Alexander looked like he wanted to crawl away and hide. Good.
“I’m sorry,” Alexander managed to say.
“I want my Mommy and Daddy,” Emily said. “Charming, will you take me to them? I want to go home.”
The woman let go of her hand and knelt down before the girl. “Emily, I’m Ms. Fernley. We’re going to play a game. The game is called, ‘What Happened to Our Parents?’ Can you play that game?”
“I guess so,” Emily whimpered.
“Okay. My parents are in Heaven. They are very happy there. Do you know what Heaven is?”
Emily nodded. “It’s where people go after they die.”
“Yes, you’re right. Now, I need you to be brave for me. When was the last time you saw your parents?”
Emily, in tears, ran over to Vin and grabbed his legs again. He felt awkward.
“She was running when I found her. A young boy had attacked her.” He turned his head downward. “Emily, did you know that boy?”
Emily nodded, her face buried in his thigh. “He’s my brother,” she said in a muffled voice. “I thought he died, but he didn’t.”
“Emily,” Vin said. Careful. “Were you running from home?”
“Yes.”
“Why were you running from home?”
“Because my Daddy told me to before that bad woman
