Haven (The Breadwinner Trilogy) (16 page)

Ben appeared in the doorway and thrust a hand out, helping him out of the truck and into the corridor.  “Let’s get to work.”

As the group in the building worked on stocking the truck, Andrew drove in circles, attempting to create a distraction while his comrades did their business.  The dead followed after him in almost a comical fashion as he did figure eights and donuts.  The eaters were torn by their options but soon figured out that they couldn’t catch up to Andrew, they made their way back to the building in order to join the existing crowd.  Andrew noticed and cussed, “Shit.”  His
attention turned to the windshield as droplets of rain began to fall.  “Double shit.”  He stopped the truck and fumbled with the wipers.

“That about does it.  I’ll barely be able to squeeze myself up to the front.”  Gary patted Ben’s shoulders with both hands.  “I’ll see you back at Emerald City, safe travels my friend.  You too ladies, especially you.”  He flashed Veronica his signature cheerful grin and climbed back inside the rocking truck.

“You too, Gary.”  Veronica turned and headed for the roof.

“Michelle!”  Lulu called out to her.  “I’ll see you soon!”  Lulu couldn’t see her or make out what Michelle said in response but she heard her, and that was enough, she knew she was okay.  Gary hollered and Michelle stepped on the gas.

Lulu and Catherine took off after Veronica and Ben pulled the fire door closed when he knew the truck was clear.  The door stopped short of closing as an eater shoved its arm inside after Ben.  Ben cried out and attempted opening and closing the door back onto the dead arm to shake it off but it wouldn’t work.  The thing’s arm moved around furiously, trying to get a hold of Ben, screeching and squawking, drawing more of the undead to the door.  There was nothing left for Ben to do, there was no way he was getting that door closed.  He gave the door one last pull and sprinted down the hall, the deafening wails of the eaters filled the corridor and sent shivers down his spine.  He pounced on the ladder and shouted up at the roof, pulling himself up and looking back down only once to see the eaters piling up below him.  He scrambled across the roof and saw the horrified faces of the women he was with.  “They’re inside.  They got inside.”

Catherine jumped up and down, waiving her arms wildly at Andrew and screaming for him.  The truck began to head toward the building as the rain pounded down from cloud covered sky.  Andrew pulled up to the side of the building with a screech of tires, metal scraping the stucco, the passenger side mirror flying off.  The emergency hatch on the roof of the truck flew open and Andrew’s head popped out, “Come on ya’ll!  Careful now, this roof is slick!”  Catherine was the first over the ledge with no hesitation, she dropped the five or so feet down onto the roof with a thud and a yelp, scurrying down into the hatch with Andrew’s help.

“Veronica, go.”  Ben ordered.

“No, you first.”  She bit her lip and crossed her arms over her chest.  “I’m not leaving you like Samson.”

Ben respected her statement and nodded.  He pulled himself over and dropped gracefully to the roof of the truck, holding up his arms.  “Come on now!”

The eaters’ screams from inside the building were getting louder, Lulu began to breathe heavily, panic setting in.  “You go ahead Lulu, they can’t get up here, don’t worry.”  Veronica comforted her and tried to help her over the ledge but Lulu panicked and slipped, falling onto Ben.  Ben tried to catch her but slipped when tumbled onto him.  She cried out as she tried getting up and lost her footing, eaters were running full speed at the truck and ramming into it. 
Lulu slid off the roof of the truck, screaming.  Ben hollered out for her and lunged forward, trying to grab on to her but missing by mere inches.  She hit the pavement with a crack and howled in pain.  Lulu didn’t even have time to register what had happened as in a matter of seconds the eaters were on top of her, ripping into her flesh and tearing her insides out.  She screamed in agony and Ben turned away, appalled at what was happening.  Veronica had already made her way down from the ledge and grabbed Ben’s arm.  “We need to go.”  She yelled over the sounds of the environment.  Between the hammering of the rain, the sloppy sounds of the eaters feasting and Lulu’s shrieks, she could barely hear herself think.  He nodded and scooted over to the hatch waiting for Veronica.  She peered down at Lulu’s twisted grimace as she was eaten alive.  Ben’s eyes widened as he watched Veronica pull the 9mm Gary had given her from her waistband, putting Lulu out of her misery.

“We need to go.”  She said once more to Ben as she waited for him to drop down into the truck before doing so herself.

X

“I never did like plans.”  Michelle said as she exhaled cigarette smoke.  She gazed out through the foggy glass of the sky bridge that connected the parking garage with the central tower of Emerald City.  “End of the world or not, nothing ever goes as planned.”  She spoke in a casual tone with an expressionless face. 

“I’d have to agree with you there.”  Veronica stood beside her, staring down at the mindless dead who milled about the dirty streets, wondering how Michelle would react to Lulu’s death.  She had been the one to put her down, she figured it was only appropriate that she tell Michelle about it.

But Michelle already knew.  She had seen her friend disappear off the side of the truck out of her view and knew that was it.  Lulu was gone, just like everyone else, and there was nothing she could do about it.  Gary’s plan had been simple, but it hadn’t included Lulu’s death.  Michelle’s plans had been simple as well:  eliminate all threats, take control of Emerald Park,
take control of her own life for once.  She saw this new world as one for the taking, but maybe she had been wrong.  She hadn’t planned on more survivors, she hadn’t planned on leaving the building she had called her own, she hadn’t planned on Lulu’s death.  Michelle simply hadn’t planned on the end of the world.  She dropped the cigarette to the carpeted floor and stomped it out.  “Let’s grab a luggage cart and get to it.”  Veronica watched her walk off.

The group remained quiet the rest of the day and evening, even while making countless trips back and forth from the parking garage to the 24th floor, lugging box after box of supplies.  It was dusk by the time they’d finished.  The group reunited with Clyde and Juliette, introducing the two remaining people from Emerald Park.  No one discussed the lives lost.  Juliette and Clyde silently accepted the fact that Samson did not return with them and neither Catherine nor Michelle brought up that anyone else in their group had ever existed.  Everyone ate separately and silently that night.  Taking the time to mourn the last two days in their own way, and taking the time to be thankful for the few things they had left to be thankful for.

Veronica switched rooms, compiling her belongings with Samson’s and washing the blood from his button down shirt as best she could; she would wear it every day.  Andrew asked Juliette to marry him at sunrise and for the first time in as long as he could remember, she smiled from ear to ear, crying tears of joy instead of tears of fear or misery.  Clyde’s wound on his ankle was already starting to heal.  Catherine tended to it and and everyone was relieved to see that the spread of the deadly infection did not include fingernail scratches. 

Over the next month, it was almost as if a sense of normalcy had crept into their lives; cooking, cleaning, recreation, exercise.  They were so far above the pandemonium that they found a way to almost block it out completely.  They took turns on the roof not to watch for signs of trouble or make distractions for the dead, but for target practice with hunting rifles and finding out if
they could hit a golf ball into the Gulf of Mexico from where they were.  They had dinner parties and bonded over common interests of the old world.  Catherine made progress with Juliette with the surplus of medications that they had in their possession and ensuring she filled her time with busy work and healthy activities.  Veronica even began to like Juliette.  Every morning they would run the full span of all 24 floors and nearly collapse with exhaustion and laughter when they were finished.  Clyde and Ben had found the mother lode of marijuana stashes on one of their cleaning expeditions in the central building and decided if they kept it between the two of them, it could last them at least a year.  Catherine taught Gary as much as she possibly could about the basics of first aid, medical care and simple emergency procedures.  Everyone, even Juliette, learned how to properly handle a firearm. 

Michelle was the only exception.  She only hung around when there was alcohol involved or guns being fired.  She casually slept with Gary and swore him to secrecy, ignoring him unless there was something she needed from him.  She spent the majority of her time wandering the buildings on her own and occasionally would spy silently on her fellow survivors.  She studied their movements, the things they said about one another when no one else was around, and she even made a secret discovery of her own:  a stash of liquor in one of the units in the central tower that everyone else had somehow missed.  She wished Lulu was there to share.

She would drink alone and find herself wandering to the doors of the forbidden building.  She’d run her fingers over the lock and imagine what it would be like to bust open those heavy doors and let the dead into their safe haven.  She’d lose track of time staring into the filmy, cold eyes of the eaters on the other side.  Mesmerized by their haunting cries, their fingers clumsily attempting to grab her through the glass.  They’d gnash their teeth at her, their infected mouths opening and closing endlessly, putrid fluids dripping from those open jaws and smearing across the glass.  She would mimic their sounds and movements, laughing at them, laughing at herself.  Sometimes she would hold one sided conversations with them, ask them why they were stuck in there in the first place and if they were ready to leave; one time she even swore one of them nodded at her. 

One morning Michelle woke from a hangover with the glaring light of the sun in her face.  It was probably past noon.  She groaned and stretched, yawning loudly, and headed for the balcony.  The air was heavy and cool this time of year, but on the 24th floor she felt zero humidity.  She breathed in deep and exhaled.  The beautiful white sands were speckled with random eaters with nowhere to go.  The dead knew there was food somewhere near but couldn’t figure out the exact location, so they never strayed far from Emerald City.  On the surface the crystal green waters of the gulf seemed serene and immaculate, but from her elevated point, Michelle could see the dark figures looming under the surface, doomed to wander the seabed and taint its beauty forever. 

She was briefly startled when the door to the balcony one unit over opened.  Clyde and Ben emerged with cigarettes in hand.  She flashed Ben a smile, “Mornin’.”

He lit his smoke and passed the lighter to Clyde, “More like afternoon.”  He shook his head and smiled, taking his lighter back.

Clyde flipped his braids over his left shoulder and scrunched his nose up at Michelle.  “Where you gonna disappear to today Hermit the frog?”  He laughed at himself and Ben snickered.

“Nice, one of the many reasons I’d rather not spend my time around you.”  She leaned her left side onto the balcony and crossed her arms, staring at him.

“Go tie your hair up bitch, you look a hot mess.”  He waived his hand at her, shooing her away.  Michelle rolled her eyes and looked at Ben, he shrugged his shoulders and she disappeared back inside of her condo.

“She’s definitely not a team player, but you don’t need to be so rude man.”  Ben chuckled at his friend.

“Well since Juliette got her shit together, I gotta give somebody a hard time.  Besides, I don’t like her, just somethin’ about her don’t sit right with me.”

Ben laughed again and flicked his cigarette off the balcony, “Drama drama.”

Michelle bathed and brushed her teeth.  Why couldn’t Ben have just come onto the balcony by himself?  She hated Clyde and all his feminine glory.  She found new reasons every day to dislike the people in the group more and more.  Juliette was a stuck up nut job. Catherine thought she was everybody’s therapist.  Gary was too damn happy all the time.  Everybody fawned all over Veronica.  Andrew really didn’t bother her because he was too concerned with Juliette all the time and Ben didn’t pay her any attention.  She examined herself in the mirror.  She was still more beautiful than she could ever hope to be, but there was no catching his eye.

She kept to herself when she went to get food, barely murmuring a greeting to Catherine in the kitchen.  She returned to her condo momentarily to grab a lantern and headed for the 11th floor.  The doors to central were always unlocked now since it had been cleaned out.  She retrieved one of her liquor bottles from its hiding places and headed for the locked double doors on the other side of the building to taunt the dead.

Her favorite eater had probably been a very handsome man when he was alive.  He’d obviously been wealthy, being in a place like Emerald City.  She loved how she 100% controlled his attention as she’d move from one side of the door frame to the other, his cold eyes following her every move as she slowly walked and drank from the bottle of vodka.  Full of stone cold desire.  Ben didn’t look at her like that.  No one did.

She passed the remainder of her time that day sketching in a used art book she’d found in the same condominium as the old liquor bottles.  She drew cityscapes and forests on fire, freehand portraits of the survivors in her group and what she imagined they’d look like as eaters.  A profile of Ben’s face.  Several beautiful silhouettes of Lulu dancing ballet.  Her heart ached for her friend.  Any friend. 

Feeling lonely for the first time that day, she stumbled back to the 24th floor of the west tower, polishing off the bottle of vodka and snacking on stale potato chips as she went.  She had no concept of time as she entered Gary’s condo where everyone normally gathered at night.  No candles were lit, no lanterns on, the place was quiet.  She walked slowly to his bedroom and listened at the door, the soft sound of him snoring greeted her ears.  She sighed and walked back out onto the breezeway.  A clap of thunder suddenly erupted and it began to drizzle.  She leaned forward and looked down into the darkness below her.  A flash of lightning lit up the streets and she saw a glimpse of the eaters, like cockroaches, roaming below their palace in the sky in alarming numbers.  The rain began to fall more heavily with louder and more constant thunder.  She drunkenly wandered into the wrong condominium and closed the door behind her.  She sighed again, rubbing her eyes and grabbed a half empty bottle of water from the coffee table and chugged.  She looked down and noticed a pack of cigarettes, still not realizing she was in the wrong unit, and slipped outside for a smoke.

Her head was swimming.  The cigarette made her lightheaded and the hammer of rain all around her was hypnotizing.  She turned and leaned her forehead on the cold, wet glass of the balcony’s sliding glass door that lead to the bedroom and closed her eyes.  Holding the cigarette up to her lips with one hand she scratched her head through her thick, curly hair with the other, opening her eyes.  She dropped the cigarette when she realized she wasn’t looking into her own empty bedroom, but she was staring directly at Ben as he slept.  Instinctively she jumped off to the side and hid, feeling like a drunken fool and nearly sobering up from her mistake.  She peered in from the side and to her delight he remained asleep, unaware of her presence.  She couldn’t help but smile at him, undoubtedly high as a kite and sleeping peacefully.  She placed her cheek against the glass and watched him as he slept.  The wind began to pick up, the rain getting stronger and the thunder only getting louder.

The door to Ben’s bedroom suddenly opened and Michelle stepped aside again, shocked to find that Catherine had entered.  Ben stirred in the bed and propped himself up, their conversation couldn’t be heard by Michelle over the sounds of the wild storm.  Catherine untied the belt from her robe and dropped the plush, white material to the floor.  She was completely nude, her pale skin almost glowing every time the lightning flashed across the sky.  She knelt on the bed and kissed Ben softly, smiling tenderly at him.  He took her in his arms and the soft kiss transformed into a passionate embrace.  Michelle clenched her hands into tight fists, she seethed with sudden anger and jealousy, completely unaware that any sort of love affair was occurring.

She made herself sick thinking about how Ben rejected her that first time as he watched his hands roam Catherine’s body not in the way that Gary touched hers, but in the way that a man touches a woman when he truly wants her.  Had she ever been truly wanted by anything but the hungry dread, or had she always manipulated her way into everything she’d ever had?

She felt her teeth grinding against one another.  How many times had they made love like this?  How many times had she spent drinking alone and loathing these people?  All but him.  And now she loathed him too.  She was right to despise him the moment he rejected her, but she never wanted to, until now.

“What the hell are you doing?”  Juliette asked with her hands on her hips, the wind blowing her hair around wildly.  “Are you drunk?”

Michelle stared at the blonde, she hadn’t even heard her open the door on the other side of the balcony.  The knot in Michelle’s stomach was suddenly a ball of fiery rage.  “Wrong place, wrong time.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”  Juliette shot her a confused look as she watched Michelle slowly turn toward her, breathing heavily, her fists clenched.  Juliette backed away from her nervously.  Without any implication, Michelle charged forward toward Juliette in one swift motion, swooping down and grabbing her legs.  Juliette’s scream was masked by the raging storm as she was lifted up and tossed over the side of the balcony like a ragdoll.

She screamed the entire way down from the 24th floor but it was a scream that would never be heard by anyone other than the dead that roamed the beach.