Iwas awake, armed, and ready to go long before anyone else was. I stood at the door as daylight began to dawn, revealing the street outside. There were more zombies than there had been when the sun set the night before. I wasn’t surprised, considering the authorities sent the entire city into the streets last night to evacuate. There were far better ways they could have organized a city-wide evacuation than how they did.
I absolutely hated that I couldn’t convince the Gordons to stay instead of leaving last night. In my heart, I knew that they likely hadn’t gotten far before they were attacked. It didn’t have to end like that.
I turned away from the door when I heard the rest of our group begin to stir in their respective apartments. Sound seemed to travel so far now. I hadn’t realized how loud electricity was until it was gone and I faced true silence.
“What’s the plan, Nic?”
Nico sat up, looking at me and then at Luis. “We go slow and we go quietly. Everyone needs a weapon of some sort to defend themselves, but guns stay with us. We know they’re attracted tosound, so we use them as a last resort only. This isn’t a race. The goal is to get everyone to the evacuation shelter in one piece.”
He got up and looked at the front door, groaning when he saw how much more crowded the street was this morning. “This is going to be a fucking disaster, I can already tell. Emery and her parents come first.” We didn’t need a reminder to know our priorities.
“Why don’t Luis and I try to clear some of them out while you get everyone downstairs and prepped?” I suggested.
“Be careful. Don’t go far from the door,” Nico warned.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Dad.” I pulled out my knife while Luis grabbed a baseball bat. At his nod, I unlocked the door and opened it slowly. Silently, we stepped out onto the front stoop. There were plenty of zombies roaming the street, but if we were careful, we should be able to take most of them out without causing too much of a ruckus. The closest zombies were the easiest to take out, because they were near the steps and still within reasonable cover from the street. After that, we’d have to venture further from the building.
“To that cab?” I asked Luis.
“Yeah, that should be a good spot.”
Together, we darted to the side of the cab, catching the attention of the closest zombie. It let out a screech as it spotted us, causing the other zombies nearby to screech in response as they started shuffling toward us. I stood and stabbed it through the ear to silence it before it attracted even more attention.
“Fuck,” Luis swore.
I turned in time to see him fighting off two more zombies. I went to help him when I felt fingers brush against my arm. I jumped back and turned to put down the next zombie. “Back to back,” I shouted. Between the two of us, we were able to keep from getting overrun. When all of the zombies in the immediate vicinity were dead, we ran back inside. More were comingfrom further down the street, but hopefully they’d wander back toward where they came from once the noise we were making was gone. When we got inside, the entire group was in the lobby.
“We’re supposed to do that?” Liz shrieked. “I can’t do any of that.”
“Come on, babe,” her husband, Jason, said. “It will be just like in our video games.”
“Those were video games, Jason. This is real fucking life, and neither of us has the skills needed to do what they just did!”
“Relax, Liz,” Emery said, rubbing the panicking woman’s shoulder. “Nobody is expecting you to fight them unless necessary. Nico, Miguel, and Luis are going to protect you, right guys?”
“That’s right,” I said. “You just have to follow our orders, and we’ll keep you safe.”
“As I was saying,” Nico said, regaining the group’s attention, “stay silent and stick together. Don’t spread out. We need to attract the least amount of attention possible.”
Nico continued to speak, but I tuned him out as my eyes kept seeking out Emery. I tried not to stare, but it was almost impossible not to. Her messenger bag was packed to the brim and strapped to her back. It had to be heavy, but she showed no signs of strain as she listened to Nico. Emery was dressed simply in a t-shirt, jeans, and combat boots. She had her dark curls pulled into a ponytail under a baseball cap. As I studied her, I nearly jumped when her eyes suddenly met mine. Our gazes stayed locked together for seconds before she broke eye contact to look back at Nico. When she did, I saw a faint pink spread across her cheeks. That was new. The last few days had certainly softened things between us, but I hadn’t expected blushing.
“Miguel will take point with Luis, and I will bring up the rear,” Nico said, capturing my attention again. “Are there anyquestions?” When no one said anything, Nico nodded. “Then let’s move out. Remember, no talking and watch your step.”
We left the building as a group, and there was a bittersweet feeling among all of us. We were leaving our homes, and we would never return. Luis and I pushed ahead, taking out any zombies we came across. Thinning out the numbers earlier had helped, and there weren’t many more that we had to deal with, for now anyway. We navigated through the city and stumbled upon a tech shop about five blocks from our building. It had already been looted, but I decided to check it out anyway. We might be able to find something useful.
“Stay here,” I ordered the group before stepping through the broken glass door. Most of the big-ticket items had been taken already, but I had no use for a big screen TV, and I suspected the looters no longer did either. I sifted through the detritus that littered the floor and cheered silently when I found several walkie-talkies still in their packaging. I grabbed a bag and gathered as many as I could fit, along with extra batteries. These could come in handy.
We continued through the city, carefully picking our way block by block. The evacuation shelter wasn’t that far away under normal circumstances, but since public transit wasn’t operational, we had no other choice but to walk there. Given our need to take detours to avoid more crowded blocks, the trip was taking much longer than it should have. We were about halfway there when we decided to break for lunch. Finding a safe place to stop proved tricky, but we eventually settled on a pizza shop with an intact door.
We went inside, and I checked the back to make sure we were alone and didn’t find anyone. “This should be safe enough for lunch.”
Everyone settled into the booths except Emery and her mother, who took on the task of handing out the food. Lunchtoday was a wrap filled with dried meat, veggies, and rice. It was delicious, and as I ate, I reminded myself to savor the flavor, knowing that good food like this wouldn’t be easy to come by soon.
“So Emery,” Lani said when Emery had sat to eat her lunch, “What’s it like being a bike messenger?”
Emery shrugged as she took a bite of her wrap. “It can be exciting. It’s fast-paced, with no two days the same, so I never get bored. Plus, the money is usually pretty good.”
“Have you ever delivered to a celebrity?” Darla asked excitedly.
