But she has.
THIRTY-TWO
“They just … they just left,” William hears himself say as he stares out of the driveway after the van has disappeared from sight, leaving the night quiet around them.
“We need to hurry,” Dan says, his tone urgent, and William turns to see him run into the house.
Liv is just standing there, hands to her mouth.
Birgit is lying in the gravel, bleeding from the crater in her gut. Dennis is huddled over her, sobbing. She’s obviously already gone, judging from the way her eyes are staring into nothing, her mouth slightly open.
“They fucked it all up,” he mutters, feeling the last, tiny piece of hope still in his heart evaporate. “She’s gone, and now we’ll never get the cure.”
Liv shakes her head. “I can’t … I can’t believe it … he just … shot her.”
“Oh, Mom …” Dennis cries.
Dan comes running out again, carrying the bowl of water.
“What are you doing?” William asks, thinking for a crazy moment that Dan will attempt to pull Birgit back from death using the not-even-ready potion. “She’s gone, dude. There’s nothing we can—”
William cuts himself short as Dan places the bowl in the gravel next to Birgit and puts her hand over it. It finally dawns on William what Dan is attempting.
“She will be the sacrifice,” Liv says, as it apparently also falls into place for her.
“I’m sorry, Dennis,” Dan says, picking up Birgit’s dagger. “But I have to do this. You might want to look away.”
Dennis barely seems to register what Dan is saying, but he turns his head in the other direction nonetheless.
William has never seen Dan move with such confidence before. He turns Birgit’s wrist up, then places the blade against it, his hands not shaking at all. As he applies even a little pressure, the blade punctures the skin with no difficulty and slides it open. The blood spills out and into the water.
William swallows and wants to look away, but if Dan can be such a tough guy about it, who’s he to pussy out?
“How much you think we need?” Dan says, looking up at William and Liv. “Any idea?”
Liv—still wide-eyed—shakes her head. “She didn’t say.”
“It can’t be all of it,” William says, clearing his throat and struggling to sound unaffected. “Maybe that’s enough now.”
The water in the bowl has already turned thick and red and has almost reached the top.
Dan removes Birgit’s hand and places it gently on the ground. He then places his own hand on Dennis’s shoulder. “I’m very sorry, Dennis.”
Dennis looks up briefly, his face wet from tears and snot. “She’s dead …”
“I know. We’ll try and make sure she didn’t die for nothing.”
Dennis looks down at the bowl, apparently only now realizing what Dan has been doing.
Suddenly, Ozzy starts barking.
“They’re coming back!” Liv shouts.
William jolts back into action, running instinctively for the rifle.
“Get back inside!” Dan says, getting up while carrying the bowl carefully. “Liv, get Dennis!”
William picks up the rifle and spins around towards the driveway, expecting to see the van come rolling back into the courtyard. Instead he sees a horde of zombies.
“Oh, shit!”
Dan is already headed for the front door. Dennis lingers by his Mom, Liv tugging at him. “Come on, Dennis! We need to go!”
William runs over to them, kicking Dennis’s leg. It turns out a lot harder than he intended, but it works; Dennis is pulled from his stupor and looks up at him, then over at the approaching undead.
Liv drags him up, and William follows them into the house, slamming the door and twisting the lock before any of the zombies can reach them.
THIRTY-THREE
Dan puts the bowl on the kitchen table, careful not to spill any of the potion. He lets out a breath, then looks at the others.
William and Liv both look back at him, William holding the rifle, Ozzy by his side. Dennis staggers to the wall, leans up against it, then glides down to the floor as though his legs melt below him. His expression is blank. The tears have stopped flowing, at least for now. Dan can’t help but feel a deep sympathy for the poor guy; he knows all too well what losing a parent feels like.
Dennis looks up, meeting Dan’s eyes. “I feel funny,” he mutters.
“You’re okay,” Dan assures him. “You’ll feel that way for some time.”
Dennis looks at him for a bit longer, then lowers his gaze.
Outside, the zombies gather in front of the windows, resuming their endless clawing and pushing against the glass. Through the window where William removed the board, they can see their dead faces staring in at them.
“Well, we got what we needed,” William says, putting the rifle on the table and running a hand through his hair. “Only question is now, does it work?”
They all look at each other for a moment.
“We still have our test subject,” Liv says, pointing to the living room.
Dan nods. “We’ll give it a try.”
He picks the bowl back up and carries it into the living room, the others following him like a parade, only Dennis stays in the kitchen.
The zombie in the tarp bag is still wriggling and moaning but has made no visible progress in getting himself out of his prison. So, Dan puts the bowl on the table, then looks at William and Liv. “You think we need to say anything?”
Liv shrugs. “She said something with ‘rise’ when she did it the first time around, but I can’t remember the rest.”
“Just try it,” William offers. “We’ll see what happens.”
Dan nods. Then he sticks his fingers into the bowl.
“No, wait!” William exclaims.
“What?”
“Dude, are you just gonna use your hand?” William says, a look of disgust on his face.
“This was how Birgit did it,” Dan says. “And it’s just blood.”
“Just
