her tired eyes, to eating dinner at a quaint little downtown joint. Tears filled his eyes. He blinked, sending them down his reddened cheeks. He missed her so much. The picture he was holding had captured her smile perfectly. He’d do anything to see her again. Feel her. Smell her. Touch her. Anything. Bringing the photo to his lips, he kissed it gently.
He sat staring at it for some time, lost in the past, when Zaun startled him. “Miss her a lot, huh?” he asked.
Jack wiped his cheeks and stuffed the photo back into his jacket. He turned around to see Zaun standing in the doorway.
“You should be sleeping. You need the rest.”
“Tried. Couldn’t. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, thinking. ”
“About?”
“Everything. My life. How I almost got us all killed.”
“Look, about that. I’m not saying I want you to forget it-never forget it-but don’t beat yourself up about it anymore. Okay? It’s been forgiven and in the past. Learn from it. Do it again though… and we’ll have a real problem.” Jack paused. “Sorry I hit you by the way.” He really wasn’t, but felt the need to tell Zaun that he was.
“Don’t apologize. I deserved it and more.”
Zaun came over and took a seat across from Jack. “I hate being seen as weak.”
“Who sees you as weak? I, for one, don’t. Far from it in fact. You could’ve taken some of that coke, but didn’t. Back in your apartment, you survived when everyone else died.”
“I was on my own. Most people had others to worry about. To get to. Being able to stay in my apartment, sealed up tight, made it easy. I had to be selfish. Forget about people. Shut out their cries.” He paused, picking up a cracker, playing with it, but not consuming it. “I’ve always been on my own. Never had others to care about, or had others care about me. I’m not using it as an excuse as to why I behave the way I do. It’s just how I am. Things are different now. I see that. I want to be a part of our group. I want to be counted on. I want to make it out of this hell. And I want you and Maria to make it out too. I’m all in. No more fuck-ups. At least not on purpose.”
Jack’s body lightened a bit. Seeing and hearing his friend talk ing this way was wonderful. “I’m truly glad to hear it. Want a cup of hot tea?”
Zaun shook his head. “No, I think I’m going to head back to bed. See if I can get some sleep. I feel a little better now.”
Jack grinned. “Get going then.”
Zaun stood and took a few steps toward the doorway and stopped. Turning to Jack he said, “By the way, I tried going online, using the computer in the kid’s room.”
“Anything?”
“Nothing.”
Jack nodded.
“Okay, I’m off to bed. See you in a few.”
Jack got up and made another cup of tea. A few more hours and he’d wake Maria.
Chapter 26
Over the next couple of days, Jack and the others sat tight, resting and eating. They passed the time by talking-always keeping their voices low, or playing board games, from Monopoly to Battleship to checkers and chess to card games of gin and go fish, all thanks to the family that had lived there.
No one went near a window to check on the undead. Jack and the others hoped the walking corpses would leave after a few days. If the things didn’t hear them or see them, they might wander off, like they had back in the alley when Jack rescued Zaun. Nothing showed up outside their door, leaving Jack to feel as if they had won some type of sanctuary lotto.
On the fourth day, the group was ready to leave. Food was down to a few MRE’s, bags of tea, and some sticks of beef jerky left by the apartment’s previous residents.
Jack poked his head out the window and checked the alley, seeing only six zombies. Amazing, he thought.
Telling the others, they agreed it was time to leave. Bags packed, they gathered by the window.
“Remember,” Jack said, “ Tasers only. No guns.” He hated having to use the Tasers, wanting to keep them in case someone became infected, but the surest way to keep the undead away was to be as quiet as possible.
The plan was simple: get to the warehouse, then go to the tunnel. Surviving in the city was too dangerous. Their best bet was to go back underground, take the other tunnel and hope it led someplace other than the metropolitan area.
Jack and the others climbed out onto the fire escape. Two zombies were near the dead end of the alley. The other four were gathered two buildings away in the opposite direction.
The group made their way down the steps to the second floor’s fire escape. Jack unhitched the ground-ladder and slowly lowered it to the pavement with Zaun’s help. The thing was heavy, designed to slide down quickly. As hard as they tried, the metal let out screeches, attracting the attention of the undead. The bot-controlled corpses were like paparazzi, working their way to one location hoping for the perfect shot, except here the undead were hoping for the perfect bite of flesh.
“I’ll save us some T aser charges,” Zaun said, and climbed down the ladder. Three zombies waited below, their dried blood-covered fingers inches from his sneakers. He pulled out his sword and began hacking off hands and arms. The zombies didn’t flinch, their vacant expressions remaining the same. Left with only stumps for arms, they continued to reach up, trying to get at Zaun.
Jack felt his blood go cold at the sight.
Able to descend two more rungs, Zaun began stabbing the undead in their heads, each one dropping to the ground after doing so. As the other zombies arrived, standing on the bodies of their downed brethren, Zaun sliced off limbs and pierced skulls. With two zombies remaining, he sunk the sword’s blade into the head of a massive sized corpse. The blade went in halfway and the big guy collapsed, taking the sword with him, Zaun, apparently, unable to hold on.
With one zombie left, an extremely slow one due to its missing legs, Zaun pulled out his T aser and shot the undead thing. He dropped to the ground and retrieved his sword while Jack and Maria descended the ladder.
From there, the group worked its way up the alley, stopping just short of the street. Jack peered around the corner. Three zombies were shambling up the street, facing away from him, but to his right, and coming his way was a lone zombie wearing a crimson-stained mechanic’s outfit.
He stepped back into the alley. “One’s coming our way.”
Zaun pulled out his sword. The Mr. Fix-It zombie came around the corner and Zaun made quick work of it, chopping off its head in one fluid motion.
Jack peered around the corner again, toward 4th Avenue, and saw three more undead coming up the street toward him. He ducked back, unsure if they noticed him. Either way, the situation wasn’t a good one. The area was still swarming with undead. Maybe they should’ve checked the street out front, made sure it had cleared out somewhat. But that didn’t matter now. They were running low on food and needed to leave. It might take weeks before the area was like it had been when they first arrived. But then again the undead might never leave, at least not without a reason. A distraction would’ve been nice. Maybe they should’ve climbed to the roof and tossed a few flashbang’s to another street, get the undead heading in the opposite direction of where they were going. Jack shook his head. Too late now.
“Three coming our way,” he said. “Not sure if they saw me.”
“I don’t like this,” Maria said, echoing Jack’s thoughts. “There’s still too many undead here.”
“Why haven’t they left?” Zaun asked.
“No idea,” Jack said. “We probably just didn’t give them enough time to wander off. The city is vacant. We’re what’s for dinner around here.”
Two zombies came around the corner.
