SEVENTEEN
After calling for Dan for a couple of minutes and getting no reply, Liv is about to stop.
And that’s when Dan’s voice comes back up at her: “Liv! Is that you? I can hear you!”
It’s faint and difficult to make out through the moaning and the scratching of the zombies, but it’s definitely him.
“Dan! Oh, my God, what a relief! You okay?”
“I guess so. You still in the van?”
“I am.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Dan calls back. “I need your help. They trapped me down here. I can’t get out. You’ll have to lure the zombies away.”
Liv moans. “I can’t!”
“Sure you can. You just drive the van slowly away, and they will—”
“No, I mean I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Liv closes her eyes. “It’s empty. The van. It ran out of gas.”
A brief pause. “It did? How did that happen?”
“I … I fell asleep.” She feels stupid for admitting it.
“Oh.” Dan seems to think for a moment. “And you can’t get out?”
“No, they’re everywhere out there.”
“So we’re both trapped,” Dan concludes.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Fuck.”
It’s the first time she’s heard Dan swear.
“Why’d they lock you down there?” she asks. “They didn’t want to try your plan?”
“I never got to speak to Birgit. It was Dennis who locked me down here. I’m not even sure she knows about me yet.”
“Oh, I think she does. She just mad dogged me from the window five minutes ago.”
“I see. Maybe she’ll come and speak to me then.”
“Can’t you call out for her?”
“I already tried; I don’t think they can hear me through the door.”
“So if she decides she doesn’t want to talk, she’ll just leave you down there, and that means we’ll both …” Liv can’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
“Looks that way,” Dan says, sounding defeated. “I can’t … I can’t really see any way out of this, can you?”
Liv chews her lip. “I could try and make a run for it.”
“Didn’t you say they are right outside?”
“Yes, but … I can climb out of the sunroof. If I can jump over them, maybe I can get away clean.”
“How many of them are we talking about?” Dan asks, sounding skeptical.
“I don’t know, not that many,” Liv says, realizing she’s halfway lying, not sure if she’s doing it to comfort him or herself. “Most of them have gone back to the house.”
“Well, they will all be coming for you as soon as you jump,” he warns her. “So you’d better not sprain an ankle or hurt yourself in any other way, or you’ll be in trouble.”
“I know, and I know how to jump.”
“Fine, I’m just saying—”
“Listen, I can do it, okay? It’s just a couple of yards, it’s no big deal.” Liv can hear the fear in her own voice.
There’s a brief pause before Dan says: “Even if you get out clean, how will you move the van?”
“I won’t have to; I’ll just lure away the zombies so you can climb up.”
“I’m not sure the cover can open that way. It’s on hinges.”
“Okay, then I’ll run out to find someone who can help me move the van.”
Dan doesn’t answer, which only prompts Liv to go on.
“We’ll be back here soon and we’ll get the van out of the way so you can get out. Or, better yet, I’ll just bring back a can of gasoline so I can drive the van away myself. That way I don’t need any help.”
As she finally manages to stop herself talking, she realizes her chest is all tight. She breathes out in a long, trembling exhale.
“It’s not going to work,” she whispers to the inside of the van.
“It’ll take too long,” Dan says, confirming her own thoughts. “There are miles between the houses out here. And it’s way too dangerous for you to run around in the open without any weapons or anything.”
“Shit!” Liv spits. “Shit, why’d I have to fall asleep and let the stupid van run dry? I’m such a moron.”
“Stop beating yourself up,” Dan tells her. “That’s no use. We still have time. Maybe—” Dan cuts himself short.
“Dan?” Liv asks.
“Hold on,” he says, almost too low for her to pick it up. “I think I heard something.”
“What?” Liv asks, holding her breath. “Are they coming down there?”
Five long seconds of silence.
Then Dan’s voice comes again: “I think so.”
EIGHTEEN
When Dennis finally stops talking, his mouth is all dry and his palms are all sweaty.
He looks at Mom for a reaction. She just stands there for the longest time, staring back at him, her expression unreadable.
Dennis feels very uncomfortable. He’s certain Mom will explode, scold him badly or even strike him. This is probably the worst he has ever disrespected her authority, and of course there will be a punishment.
But Mom just stands there. It looks like she’s thinking.
“Mom?” Dennis says, moving restlessly on the spot. He wishes for some strange reason that he had brought the gun from the living room—not that he would use it on Mom, not even as a deterrent from her punishing him—but he longs for that feeling of confidence the gun gives him when he holds it. He feels grown-up. Right now, he feels more like a five-year-old who accidentally broke a plate.
Mom still doesn’t answer.
“Would you please say something, Mom?” Dennis urges. “You can yell at me if you want.”
Mom’s left eye grows a little narrower. “Yell at you?”
“Yes,” Dennis nods eagerly. “Or, you know … punish me. That’s okay, I totally understand …”
Mom steps closer to him, making Dennis flinch. But she doesn’t come at him; instead, she just stands in front of him, towering over him.
“You want me to treat you like an adult, Dennis?”
Dennis blinks with surprise. “Uhm, well, yes … I’d like that.”
“Then act like one.”
Dennis considers for a moment. Then he slowly straightens up. He lifts his chin, standing at his full height, which is almost enough to be at eye level with Mom.
“That’s better,” Mom says, her voice still betraying no emotion. And then, with the speed of a striking snake, her hand shoots
