I followed her inside and closed the door behind me. “Hey, Harry,” I greeted when I entered the living room, where Jennifer’s husband was sitting.
He looked up from the news and smiled at me. “Emery, you are a lifesaver.”
“My mom is the real hero,” I laughed. “I’m just the delivery girl. I’ve got fried bologna sandwiches, fruit, and juice for the boys.”
“You’re both heroes in our eyes,” Jennifer replied as she handed the baby off to her husband and took the food and juice from me. “We seriously can’t thank you enough for this. I don’t know what we’d do without your kindness.”
“No thanks necessary, Jennifer. We’re more than happy to help. My mother loves feeding people, so you’re giving her something to focus on that makes her happy. It’s a win-win for everyone. Enjoy lunch, and I’ll see you at dinner.” I left their apartment and made my way up to the top floor for my final delivery to the newlywed couple who had moved into the building about six weeks ago.
“It’s open,” Jason yelled when I knocked.
I let myself into their apartment and made my way to the back of the apartment, where I knew they would be. Jason and Liz were gamers, and from what I could tell, they had spent the entirety of the lockdown in their gaming room. “Lunch delivery,” I announced as I stepped into the dark room decked out in neon and twinkle lights.
“Thanks, Emery,” Liz said without looking away from her screen. “We can’t pause the game, so you can just leave the food on the table and we’ll get to it when this match is over.”
I set the food on the already overflowing table, barely resisting the urge to start cleaning up the mess. This wasn’t my apartment, and I wasn’t a maid. “I’ll be back later with dinner.”
“Thanks, see you then,” Jason replied.
I stood there a few more minutes to see if they’d notice my presence, and when they didn’t, I shook my head and left. Those two lived in their own little world. I went back down to the lobby with the final lunch bag. “Last but not least,” I said as I handed the sack over to Luis. “I’m pretty sure Mami put an extra sandwich for each of you in there.” I wandered over to the door to look out at the street. I tried to spend a few minutes with them each time I delivered food, hoping to overcome my anger. We used to be friends, and for the foreseeable future, we would be dependent on each other. I had to believe there was a way back to that friendship on some level. “Anything new happen?”
“Not really. Videos are still popping up of the military getting overrun throughout the city,” Luis replied.
“Which isn’t what the news channels are reporting. According to them, in a day or two, the lockdown will be lifted and life will return to normal,” I scoffed.
“I don’t see that happening,” Nico admitted. “Maybe I’m wrong, but it just doesn’t seem likely. I think this is the start of a new, challenging world, and it isn’t meant for everyone.”
I nodded. I had a feeling Nico was right. Whatever this was, it didn’t feel like it was going away any time soon. The sooner we accepted that, the better off we would be. I scanned the street, looking at the faces of the zombies shuffling around, and gasped when I saw one I recognized.
“What is it?” Miguel asked as the three of them rushed to my side.
I pointed at Mr. Kim as he wandered by. Mr. Kim owned the corner store and had always been kind to the neighborhood kids. In return, no one ever lifted so much as a pack of gum from his store. Everyone respected him and his property because he showed respect for the neighborhood. Seeing him like this now seemed entirely unfair. Mr. Kim deserved a better fate.
“When I was thirteen, I had started getting mixed up with gangs,” Luis said. “And when you’re just getting into it, the older kids like to test the younger ones, so I was ordered to tag the precinct a couple of blocks west.” Luis chuckled as he relived that memory. “I did it, and was obviously caught. I took off running and ducked into Mr. Kim’s store to hide. I dove behind the counter, and seconds later, the cops entered the store. Mr. Kim never turned me over to them, but when they’d left, he made sure to give me a stern lecture about respecting property and myself and not letting others dictate my actions. I’m sure I didn’t take the path he would have preferred, but he never judged me for my choices, and I’ve never forgotten that lesson.”
“Eddie has always been the best big brother,” I said, staring into the distance, “but he was still coded to be a jerk to me now and then, as all brothers are. I remember one time Mami gave us a few dollars to come down to the store to get us each an ice pop. It was the dead of summer, and money was tight, so my parents were determined not to run the AC units unless necessary, which equated to an inside temperature of about eighty-five degrees.”
As I spoke, I swore I could feel the heat from the sun that day on my neck. “Eddie convinced me to get the huge ice pop, and we would split it. As soon as we got outside, he called me a sucker and took off down the street with our ice pop. I was devastated. Mr. Kim saw the whole thing go down and came outside with a new ice pop for me, free of charge. He told me that every princess suffers from big brother syndrome, but that eventually he would stop being a jerk. Until then, ice pops were on the house.”
A couple of lone tears trailed down my face as I remembered the kindness of Mr. Kim—a kindness he hadn’t needed to show, which made it that much more special. Zombie Mr. Kim’s body jerked violently, and he screeched as a sound somewhere attracted his attention. I brushed the tears away, snatched Nico’s gun from the waistband of his jeans, and unlocked the door.
“What are you doing, Emery?” Nico asked with concern. He tried to grab me, but I shrugged him off.
Without answering him, I pushed the door open quietly, stepped halfway through the door, and took aim. “I’m sorry,” I whispered before pulling the trigger and putting a bullet through Mr. Kim’s head. I stepped back inside and locked the door as his body crumbled to the ground. “He didn’t deserve to be left like that,” I said as I handed the gun back to Nico.
Zombies swarmed the door, attracted by the sound of the gun. Hopefully, they would lose interest soon.
“I get it,” Nico replied as he tucked the gun away again.
We stood there for a few more minutes when the lights suddenly flickered. I exchanged concerned looks with the guys. Considering there wasn’t a cloud in the sky today, that was concerning.
“Em, go upstairs and make sure you and your parents have a bag packed in case we need to leave quickly,” Nico ordered.
Before, I would have bristled at the order, but now I didn’t hesitate to run upstairs and do as I was told. Things could turn into a life-or-death situation in the blink of an eye. When the stakes were this high, you didn’t bother arguing on principle.
Chapter six
Emery
