“Finn!”
Someone shouts his name very close by. Finn turns his head to see a boy he knows. It’s Dan, the boy from across the street. Dan stares at him with eyes large and scared—but also, surprisingly, somehow determined.
“Come … with … me,” Dan says, the words finding their way to Finn’s ears as distant echoes. “We … gotta … get … out … of here …”
Dan pulls him by the arm, hard, and Finn is surprised to find himself moving along. His eyes are reluctant to obey, though, and his neck turns to get one last glimpse of Lone.
Just as Dan drags him out of the living room, Finn actually sees part of his wife: her hand is sticking out from behind the couch. The skin is greenish. The fingers twitch a few times. Lone is waking up again.
SIXTEEN
Dan hauls Finn out the front door and only lets go of him once he’s sure the old guy will stay on his feet and not collapse.
“Finn?” he says, attempting to catch the swimmy, grey eyes. “Where’s the key?”
Finn blinks dazedly. “The key …?”
“Yeah, the key to the house. Do you have it? Where is it?”
The words don’t really seem to resonate, and Dan is about to abandon his effort, when Finn suddenly goes to the pockets of his shorts. “I don’t … have it on me,” he murmurs. “It’s probably hanging on the nail.”
“What nail?” Dan demands. “Where’s the nail, Finn?”
“In the front hall.”
“Right. Stay here for a moment, okay?”
Dan steps back into the house and looks around. From the living room the screams and bangs have died out—instead he hears the unmistakable sound of someone chewing noisily and wetly on something. Dan doesn’t have to look in order to guess who won the fight. In a matter of minutes, there’ll be three new zombies in the house. That’s why he needs to lock the front door …
His eyes catch the nail in the wall next to the coat stand, and he grabs the key, slips out into the baking sunshine once more, slams the door and locks it.
“Right,” he says to Finn, who’s still standing there, an expression of not-quite-sure-what’s-happening on his face. “They can’t get out.”
“Get out?” Finn repeats in a murmur. “But Lone … Lone is in there …”
The emotion flickering across Finn’s face as he turns to look at the house sends a jolt of empathy through Dan’s heart. The experience of losing a loved one is still all too familiar to Dan, and he sees Jennie’s face before him. He forcefully pushes the image aside—and is surprised to find he can actually do it. “Come with me, Finn,” he says gently. “There’s nothing more you can do for her.”
“But … but I …”
Dan takes hold of his arm and leads him down the garden path. Finn struggles weakly for a moment, then follows along. They cross the street and are met in the driveway by Dan’s grandma, her eyes wide. “Where did you go, Dan? Why would you run out the door like that?”
“Help me out here,” Dan says, avoiding the questions. “He’s unharmed, but I think he’s in shock.”
Grandma takes Finn’s other arm, her eyes ping-ponging between Finn, Dan and the house across the street. “What happened over there, Dan? Where are the paramedics?”
“They … they are still in the house,” Dan mutters, helping Finn inside.
“But why aren’t they helping Finn? And who was that screaming just a minute ago? We heard it all the way over here. I was afraid you—”
Dan suddenly stops listening. Something has struck him with the force of a brick to the back of the head.
The garden door!
“I need to fix something, Grandma,” he says, letting go of Finn and stepping back outside. “I’ll be back in a second!”
“No, Dan! You stay here!”
Dan runs out the driveway. He doesn’t pause to check for any traffic and is almost hit by a station wagon. It honks its horn at him. The window rolls down, and his dad sticks out his head. “What the hell are you doing, Dan? Why are you running around out here?”
“Dad! … I … it’s …” Dan has no idea how to explain the situation in a short amount of time. He looks to Finn and Lone’s house, and at that moment, he sees Lone, as she comes staggering around the corner of the house. Her head is bobbing around on her shoulders, due to the fact that the tendons in her neck have been severed, and still-shiny blood has drenched her flowery summer shirt.
Too late … she already found the way out …
“Come on, let’s get inside,” his dad says. He hasn’t seen Lone yet, and he rolls the car into the driveway before Dan can say any more. Dan follows the car, not taking his eyes off Lone, who is headed this way.
The car’s engine shuts off, and Dad gets out. He sees Lone. “Oh, hi, Lone! We’re not really—” He interrupts himself as he gets a closer look at the neighbor. “What the hell …?”
Dan finally gets his tongue working. “Watch out, Dad! She’s turned into a zombie!”
Dad looks briefly at Dan, then back at Lone, looking as though he’s not really sure what to believe. Some sort of instinct seems to be telling him Lone is dangerous, while another, rational part of his brain can see she’s obviously hurt and wants to help her.
Dan has told the police about the zombies, has explained it all to the shrink and to his parents, has been going over
