just-big-enough space to slide under and strapped myself into place too. We would go down together. From now on, we would always do things together in order to survive. And this time I wasn’t being a possessive stalker. That was how we did things in my family. We stayed together so we could stay alive together.
“Where are you supposed to stay?” I asked her again. I needed to make sure she got this.
She glared at me through the darkness, her features oddly highlighted by the flashlight down below. “Hendrix, are you kidding me?”
She would get it. I just had help her. “By me, Reagan. Always, by me.”
Her breathing came faster and more unregulated, echoing off the cavernous walls. I hoped that was a good thing for me. She went back to staring at the wall in front of her and we worked silently down the wall until our feet were once again on solid ground.
“We rigged it so it’s not connected to anything, but there’s a barrier to keep it from falling down the shaft. It should hold in place for a while. We’re just trying to confuse them while we get out of here. But if they follow our scent, the elevator won’t hold them for long.” I explained the logistics of the plan.
“Do you think my bloody clothes will confuse them?” she asked and I hoped she meant because she left them upstairs and hadn’t tried to bring them with her.
No, she was smarter than that.
“Probably.” I confirmed.
“Hey, I’m sorry-“
“Not now, Reagan.” We didn’t have time for that and she didn’t have anything to be sorry for. I raised my semiautomatic and she followed suit. We had to be ready for everything. Feeders fed Feeders. That was just how things were. They were mostly lonely creatures until the possibility of food presented itself and then the more racket they made, the more of their kind they drew in. One Feeder could become one hundred Feeders in just minutes. They seemed to crawl up from the cracks in the ground and out of the shadows of buildings. They were everywhere, overpopulating this planet with death and disease.
I didn’t know if there was a long term strategy to exterminating their threat, but there had to be some kind of solution to winning back humanity. We had to be stronger than them. Humanity wasn’t lost- not completely. And we were smarter, more discerning and most importantly, we still possessed souls.
We had to take back this planet- if for no other reason than to keep anyone else from getting infected. Zombie-ism was a true predator- not sparing one single life in the wake of its destruction.
Vaughan, Page and Haley were waiting for us on the ground floor. Page was tucked between them like she belonged there- or rather, like Haley belonged there. Page wore her brave face and met my eyes when I looked at her.
She was just so very courageous and I admired every little part of her.
She didn’t have a weapon on her this time, and hopefully she wouldn’t need one. We had all taught her how to use every kind of gun we had that she was strong enough to hold and she’d had some knife-training too, but that didn’t mean we just let her run around willy-nilly with weapons. She was eight.
And we were trying to keep her alive.
This part of the store stayed secluded from the rest of the departments, so we could hide undetected until the rest of my brothers made it to the bottom of the shaft.
The Feeders swarmed everywhere else though, loud, hungry and single-minded with the need for our brains. They were slow, clumsy and hardly cognizant of anything but flesh, still they were the most dangerous enemy mankind had every fought.
One bite. Just once. And that was it. The poison of the disease infected you immediately and your rational, functioning thought died in the wake of a desperate addiction to flesh, blood and brains.
There was no cure, no immunity, no anything but kill or be killed.
Eventually, Nelson, Harrison and King joined us on the ground, weapons ready and bodies tensed. We moved into position and Vaughan held up three fingers, counting down. Then we were off. I led the way and Reagan stayed directly behind me just as I’d asked.
I always led the way- it was my place. But with Reagan so close and vulnerable, I was suddenly rethinking this position. The rest of my family took up the rear and I had never once second-guessed them or doubted their ability to perform and protect. I shouldn’t start tonight.
We moved as silently as we could, stepping over dead bodies, and around the gore and carnage left littering the floor. I led my group to the outside though the wall we’d blown up just for this very purpose and immediately engaged the enemy.
I had wanted to wait to start shooting until we were closer to the Hummer, since I knew the sound would draw attention our way; but firing shots was unavoidable. Feeders of every size, shape and degree of disease were scattered before me and if I didn’t kill them, then they would come after me in the space of a heartbeat.
I spared one extra moment to look down at Reagan and remind her she needed to stay by my side. “With me,” I mouthed and she nodded obediently.
Pride and satisfaction swelled in my chest and I felt a surge of extra energy. I also felt the resolute certainty that we were doing the right thing by going with them.
As I looked around at the Zombies swarming us, from in front of us, down the street or now streaming back down the stairs in order to get to us, I knew with absolute certainty I couldn’t let Reagan and Haley continue on their journey alone.
They needed us as much as we needed them. And I was just starting to realize how much we needed them. And not for any of my own selfish, a-little-bit-delusional reasons. The boys needed women to soften them and Page needed girls to confide in, to teach her how to be a woman. I would dissect my own reasons for needing them, or at least Reagan… later.
I trusted my brothers to take care of themselves and Page. And they trusted me to clear the way. This was my job- eliminating the threat. I was the best shot, had the clearest aim and held the highest kill record- if we were counting… which we weren’t. Well, they weren’t.
I pulled the trigger time and time again. The gun reverbed through my body, making me feel electric, making me feel invincible. Feeder after Feeder dropped in front of me, but it was never enough. They were everywhere, in every direction. There was no end to them, just endless supplies of creatures trying to kill us.
I pushed my body harder, until my ears rushed with the sound of my breathing and pumping blood. My heart hammered furiously and warred with the panting of my lungs. My legs burned with the stretching pace, but this was a pain I enjoyed. My arms stayed steadily raised and my gun expertly trained.
They were run of the mill B-roll. I was a skilled assassin, born and bred for this.
“Reagan, to your left” Vaughan shouted from behind me.
My gun went with hers. Her instincts took over and she started shooting before she had time to process rational thought. I shot with her, avoiding her kill, but making damn sure there were no other Zombies to fill the space of her dead one.
She hadn’t hesitated. She hadn’t let a single misplaced guilty feeling cloud her judgment. She had done what was necessary.
This. Girl.
I was lost to her.
When I faced forward again, the Feeder population had somehow tripled. I felt our ranks close tighter together, filling in the gaps, covering all angles. Page started screaming- or maybe she continued screaming and I hadn’t heard her over my own racing thoughts. Guns started firing more rapidly. And all around us Feeders descended upon us with feral, insatiable hunger.
I ignored their smell, their putrid, peeling bodies and their red, desperate eyes and focused on surviving. Honestly, it didn’t matter what they looked like or who they used to be. The only thing that mattered was that they were a risk and I would never let them touch those I cared about.
The realization that I had gone from singularly obsessing over protecting “my family” to “those I cared about” was not lost on me. But probably it was better to ign
ore that Freudian slip until I had a little more time to think it over.
We reached the old garage where we’d stashed the Hummer and I lunged for the lift gage.
“Reagan,” I shouted. “Haley, help them cover me!” Although I doubted they needed my instruction. Mainly I didn’t want them to think they needed to help me lift this gate.
But goddamn this gate was heavy.
We’d been over this scenario time and time again, but we’d never run through a full practice in which I had to lift the gate by myself.
“Hendrix, we have to get out of here! Now!” Vaughan ordered.
I let those frantic words fuel my effort. With one final grunt I jolted the gate upward, propelling it upward with enough momentum to keep it moving up on its track.
The stagnant, stale air from the sealed garage poured out in a rush of disgusting wind, but it was still better than the stench waiting behind me. I sucked it in deep with a breath of relief and raised my guns again to cover my family so they could climb aboard our vehicle of salvation.
“For real?” Reagan sounded almost emotional with relief after a fast glance over her shoulder.
I took a step into her and aimed over her shoulder.
I felt those same swellings of pride when I answered, “Always have a backup plan, Reagan.” With my free hand, I couldn’t stop myself from wrapping it around her waist and pulling her against my chest. We made it this far. I was determined to get