In the Lone and Level Sands (89 page)

“So how do we find the station?” Max
asked.

“I’ve asked around,” Lou said. “A few of the
refugees have listened to the station before. One of them won
tickets, once. He had to go out there to get them. He drew us a
map. Couldn’t remember the exact address, but there should be a big
tower near it.”

“Where is it?”

“Columbia. Not too far, but if this guy’s
alive in there, he probably has the place fortified pretty
well.”

“We’ll find a way in,” Max said.

They packed up the Humvee. Nikki stood and
watched them. Max could feel her eyes burning into the back of his
head, so he turned to her.

“I won’t be gone long,” he said.

“I want to come with you. And don’t give me
that ‘it’s too dangerous’ bullshit.”

“Stay here. Give me something worth coming
back for.”

Nikki sighed. “Fine. As long as you give me
something worth waking up for.”

Max smiled. “Keep checking the radio. We’ll
be back in no time.”

The three soldiers got into the Humvee and
drove away.

Nikki hadn’t bought Max’s “Give me something
to come back for,” but she decided she’d stay to keep an eye out
for Max’s family. He’d spoken of them, so she had a good idea of
what to watch for. Nikki would help run the community, and make
sure Max’s family didn’t miss him while he was away.

She remained glued to the radio, for the
most part. When she helped out around the base, she kept a radio as
close as she could. Late that day, the good news came.

“Fellow listeners, fellow survivors, I have
some important news,” the local DJ said. “I got a few visitors
today, they’re here in the station, and believe me, they had some
trouble getting in.”

Nikki heard Lou’s voice. “Hey, is this
working?”

“Yeah, it’s on. Call me DJ. That’s as
important a name as I’ll get, these days. So you boys are from
outside of Spartanburg?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Johns said.

“That’s quite a drive, and let me tell you,
the streets here in Columbia are pretty busy, if you know what I
mean. But, fellow survivors, these three are soldiers. That’s
right, full-blown United States Marine Corps. There’s still an Army
out there, folks, albeit in the form of a few pockets of
servicemen.”

“We’d like to talk about something we’ve set
up out there in Spartanburg,” Lou said. “We’ve built a safe zone.
We converted a community college into a refugee camp. It’s
well-fortified, and it’s getting stronger every day, everyone who
shows up pitches in. We cleared out the city of most of the
zombies, we’re out in the country. It’s safe.”

“That sounds like a lot of work,” DJ said.
“Again, I want to thank you guys. For doing that, and for coming
out here to share your story with people. Thank you, so much. Your
service to us, to what’s left of this nation… What’s left of these
people, it’s beyond commendable.”

The chat went on for a while. Nikki wondered
when she’d hear Max’s voice. Johns gave directions to the safe zone
and suggested people bring whatever supplies they could. Lou talked
about a few methods of defense against the zombies. The show went
on for about a half hour.

“As you guys know, we get messages from an
AM station,” DJ said. “They can broadcast across the country, but
this little station doesn’t have that power. I’ve given these brave
boys some directions, and they’re going to head out and find our
other radio friend, the one who gives those daily broadcasts I pass
through to you guys. They’re going to try to get their message out
across the country. I hope you’ll all join me in praying for the
safety of these men. Do you guys have anything else you’d like to
say?”

“Yeah,” Lou said. “To those back at the
college, stay safe, and take care. We’re splitting up, so two of us
will be back soon.”

A sudden anxiety rushed through Nikki. She
didn’t want to hear what she knew was coming next.

“Well, that’s—oh, you have something else?”
DJ said. “Sorry, go ahead. Take his mic, I only have the
three—there you go. Christ, kid, you don’t look older than
fifteen.”

“Hi everyone. My name is Max Greenwald.”

Nikki was happy to hear his voice, but she
was afraid of what he was going to say.

“Mom, Dad… if you guys are out there… If my
family is out there, I want you to know that I’m okay. I want you
to head for the college. If you get this, I’ll see you soon. I’m
heading for the other station. It’s pretty far.” Nikki’s heart
jumped into her throat. “Nikki, I’m sorry. I knew you’d never let
me go if I told you. I’m sorry. I’m an asshole, I know.” Max
sounded like he was smiling. “I’ll be okay. I promise. I’ll come
back to you as soon as I can.”

That asshole,
Nikki thought, but she
was smiling too.

“Well, once again, I’d like to thank you
three. Head back up here if you ever need anything, I’ll be more
than glad to help. You know how to get in. I’ll play this recording
now and then, so the word stays out there. Good luck to you, and
Godspeed. Thanks for listening, my fellow survivors. Good luck to
all of you out there. Stay safe.”

There was silence, then.

****

A few long days had passed since Lou and
Johns returned. They told Nikki she could wait by the radio, but
she chose to help out around the base as much as she could. With
every new group of people who arrived, she wondered if Max’s family
was among them.

On the morning of the 12
^th
, the
radio came on. It was the local DJ.

“Fellow survivors, it’s me again. I have a
new recording from our friends on the other side of the country,
I’ll go ahead and play that now. You’ll want to hear it.”

There was a moment of silence, and then a
different voice came through, one that was less clear, the voice of
the AM radio operator the local DJ replayed every day.

“I have an interesting story for all of you,
today. I guess someone out there is listening, because I have a
young man in the studio, he came all the way from South Carolina.
He has a message to deliver. Go ahead.”

“Hi everyone. I’m Max Greenwald. I’m an
American soldier.” Nikki’s heart fluttered. Max was okay. He had
made it.

“I know these times are hard. I know you
feel pretty helpless right now. But I have a lot to tell you. I
want you to know that there’s still safety out there. There are
still things worth fighting for. I’m going to tell you how to set
up safe zones, like the one we’ve set up in South Carolina. But
most importantly, I want to tell you all, don’t lose hope. I want
you all to know the sun will rise tomorrow. You can find yourself
safe again, you can still have your life. No matter how dark, no
matter how hopeless everything seems, there’s always tomorrow.”

~ ~ ~ ~

73

After the Burial

Rain came down over the world, late at
night. Alan lay awake in bed with a lamp turned on. The thunder
relaxed him. He sat up against the headboard and pillow with his
legs pulled up, leaning his notebook against his thighs.

He wrote for a quarter of an hour before he
started to feel tired. He set his notebook down, stood up, and
walked to the window. Water rolled down the pane. Alan pressed a
hand against the cool glass.

He looked down into the back yard. It was
dark, but when a burst of lightning struck somewhere in the
distance, he could see the three grave markers. Alan stared at
Martha’s grave for some time. Tears came to his eyes.

When Alan went to sleep, he dreamed about
Martha.

****

It was Independence Day, and the five
survivors were restless. Alan dreamed of Martha every night, and
every day the dreams replayed in his head. When everyone had
gathered in the living room (as there was little else to do), he
decided to start a conversation.

“What did you guys have planned for the
fourth?”

“We were going to have a barbeque,” Emily
said. “It was a family tradition. We’d invite the whole family. I
always looked forward to the laughter, the poppers, bottle rockets…
Remember, honey?” Emily turned to Billy and forced a smile.

“Oh, yeah!” Billy said, the excitement in
his voice mostly feigned. “We’d have horseshoe competitions. Those
were fun!”

“This year will be the first year in a long
time that we don’t do anything,” Emily said. Francine leaned over
to hug her mother. Emily hugged back, and Alan looked at the floor.
He thought of his dreams again.

“I don’t want to be here anymore,” Alan
said. “Not where Martha left us. Let’s get out of here.”

****

Everyone gathered their things. Alan had
finished preparing to leave before the others, having only one
thing of importance to take with him. He sat on the couch and
looked over his notebook. He’d filled nearly every page with his
messy scrawls.

Soon, everyone was ready to leave. After
gathering in the living room, they visited the little graveyard one
last time.

“We can all fit in my car, now,” Alan
said.

“Sounds good,” Billy replied. Alan looked at
him, and Billy smiled. Alan surprised himself when he smiled
back.

The group headed back through the house, to
the front door. Alan opened it. The first thing they saw was a few
zombies. One was in the front yard, two more were just past the
sidewalk. They looked bored.

“When did they get here?” Jesse asked.

“Who knows?” Alan said. The zombie in the
yard spotted them and grunted loudly. The other two took notice,
and all three shambled toward the house. Alan dropped the notebook
and readied his shovel. Billy raised his own.

Alan took out the zombie that had been in
the yard. The blade sliced into its head and got stuck, and the
zombie fell to the ground. It continued to grunt and scramble, but
Alan pried the shovel free and struck the zombie again, and it
stopped moving. Billy hit the next zombie to arrive, slapping it
across the face with the shovel. It fell and didn’t move, either
dead or unconscious. Billy killed the third zombie while Alan
picked up his notebook.

“What happened to the gun you got when you
were at the hardware store?” Billy asked.

Alan shook his head. “I ran out of
bullets.”

“Bring it anyway. We might be able to find
some ammo along the way. Speaking of which, we should hurry, before
more show up.”

Alan nodded and rushed into the house. He
returned with the gun, and the survivors got into Alan’s car.

****

Alan drove until he got tired. Billy offered
to take the wheel. They switched places and pressed on.

Alan wrote for almost ten minutes before he
noticed Emily had turned back to watch him. He stopped writing.
“How are you doing, Emily?”

“I’m fine. I’ve just wondered for a while
now… What are you writing in that notebook?”

“Well,” Alan said, setting the pen down on
the page, “it’s mostly a dream log, kind of a journal.”

“That’s great,” Emily said. She smiled.

Billy went to turn up the AC, but
accidentally turned the volume knob instead. Static filled the
car.

“Oops,” Billy said. Before he could turn it
off, there was a small fragment of a word. “Shit, did you hear
that?”

“Turn it up!” Emily said. Everyone sat
forward.

“Is the radio working?” Jesse asked. Billy
turned it up. The static was strong, and only a word poked through
now and again.

“—someone out there can hear me … It’s a …
story, and … ve in common, me … there, anyone b … yone able to …
ive. A few … ing … in ways we coul … ed. And in the c … died. A lot
of … what you might not know … ppened, that night. W … everyone,
every—”

The voice was overtaken by static.

“We lost reception!” Francine said.

“Back up,” Alan said. Billy stopped the car,
put it in reverse, and drove backward until the voice came back.
Then he stopped the car.

“You can call … It’s our … The world w …
killing each o … cannibals … crazy, then. But … everyone out … I
want … I’m going … as long as I’m … offer some help … and a
dangerous one. But it’s … I wish … ck. Remember, th—”

After that there was only static. The voice
was gone.

But the radio was back.

No one in the car said anything for several
minutes.

“That was very… inspiring,” Emily said. “I
wish I knew what he said, but…”

“Just knowing,” Alan said. “Just knowing
someone else is out there, someone else is alive, someone else
still feels pain.”

“Yeah,” Emily said.

Alan smiled. Billy started the car and drove
on as the orange sky darkened with the setting sun.

~ ~ ~ ~

Life After Death

Warren and Lacie had wedged a metal chair
beneath the bars and gotten Dex out. He was breathing heavily, but
otherwise okay.

“How did it go?” Warren said. The four
somber faces told the tale, and the sadness spread to the others
like a disease.

Layne read the message on his bracelet. Hope
Perseveres.

They made their way to the lobby, where they
used the map to find the control room. The sky outside was
beginning to darken.

“Some of us will have to go back up to
Vince’s cell,” Layne said. “When the cells open, some of the
zombies will get out.”

“I’m on my way,” Garrett said. Dex and Lacie
followed him. The others made their way to the control room. There
was an emergency cell release switch, which Layne flipped.

Most of the zombies had starved half to
death and the rest had gone the whole way, so it didn’t take long
for the groups to join up again. Vince showered Layne with his
thanks, but Layne’s mind was miles away.

They gathered in the lobby and left the
prison. As they walked across the yard toward their cars, Dex said,
“Hey, guys?”