Wasting Away (12 page)

The
hairs at the back of my neck rose. I could feel something in the air, a tingling
sensation that kept me on guard.

An
enormous warehouse revealed itself beyond the threshold. Rows of shelves
stacked with boxes, spread out for as far as the darkness allowed me to see. I
began sorting through their contents, hoping to find something of use.

This
was a distribution warehouse, packed with merchandise for several different
stores. I eventually found what I thought I would need to set up a distraction.

I
took a pulley, a bottle of paint thinner and two empty soda bottles from atop a
desk near the main door. After stuffing the supplies into my pack, I went back
up to the top floor and out the window.

Along
an external water pipe that went to the roof, I climbed; hand over hand, using
my feet as leverage against the brick wall. My arms ached and the palms of my
hands were being pinched as I gripped tightly to the pipe, trying to make my
way to the roof.

Every
few feet, I tucked my forearm behind the pipe and rested, waiting for the pain
in my hands to subside so I could ascend just a few more feet before repeating
the process again.

Sweat
stung my eyes and I desperately tried to blink away the burn. From behind, I
could hear the bodies grunting and screaming at the girl on the tower. It took
every ounce of strength I had remaining to hoist myself up onto the roof.

I
collapsed once I cleared the decorative flashing. I rubbed at my hands to
regain feeling. Above me, I saw the power line I had spotted from before and
placed my pack on the flashing to recover the supplies.

Once
I had the pulley mounted on the power line, I used a bundle of paracord from my
pack and tied a quick release knot around the bottle of paint thinner and
looped the other end through an eyelet on the pulley. At the far end of the
cord, I cinched a knot which would allow me to bring the pulley back in case I
needed to repeat the process. I tore a strip off of my shirt and tucked it
tightly into the bottle after I filled it with paint thinner.

With
a flashlight at the ready, I signaled the girl. She waved at me ecstatically
when she spotted the signal. I pointed the light to a cropping of buildings,
letting it fall to where we should meet up. The girl held her hands up,
motioning that she didn’t understand. I pointed again. I used the technique I
had seen earlier at the beach, upturning the bottle to allow its contents to
saturate the cloth.

I
lit the wick.

The
mouth of the bottle leaned forward enough to where it wouldn’t catch the
paracord on fire. As the contents of the bottle sloshed about, I let the cord
go slack in my hand. The flames whooshed as the bottle descended quickly along
the power line toward the dead.

I
held the cord once the bottle was stationed over the crowd and waited for them
to notice. Within a few seconds, the dead caught their first glimpse of
flickering flame and approached with curiosity. They were mesmerized by the
fire as it licked upward towards the electrical line, dancing as black smoke
drifted upward and mingled with the darkness through the light of the flame.

Holding
the cord with my foot, I made the second bottle ready while more of the
Infected approached the dangling cocktail. I gritted my teeth and gave the cord
a quick tug before it melted through.

End
over end, the cocktail plummeted toward the ground. From its initial height,
the bottle broke easily as it slammed against a darkened silhouette. A wave of
liquid flame surged through the air and ignited everything within a few feet.

Enflamed
bodies bumped into one another as they howled. The fire spread from one corpse
to the next - an inferno of writhing bodies. Again, I signaled the girl with
the pointer and flashlight. She nodded her head and made her way down the ladder
as I pulled the cord, bringing the pulley back toward me. 

I
watched as the crowd dispersed like firefly’s, each body running off as the
flames surged upward and back from their movements. They wailed as bits of
burning flesh peeled from their limbs, igniting the dead grass beneath their
feet.

To
my right, I could see the girl run behind the buildings I had indicated as the
dead began to fall. She zigzagged through burning bodies, inhuman torches,
brightening the night. I was amazed to see that only one Molotov cocktail had
done so much damage. I untied the paracord from the pulley and placed it in my
pack, leaving the flashlight in my hand so I could signal the girl once I was
within the safety of the cropping of buildings.

Leaving
the other cocktail on the ledge, I raced along the roof and found a fire escape
at the rear of the building that ended in an alleyway. Bodies popped and hissed
as the flames continued to burn. Their screams receded into the night as I
climbed over the flashing and lowered myself to the first platform of the fire
escape.

The
smell of burnt hair and cooking meat drifted in the air as I lowered myself to
the last ladder that hung precariously above the ground. I readied myself and
dropped from the last handhold, rolling once I hit the ground. I rolled to my
left and leapt to my feet.

I
was off in a sprint, choking as the smoke drifted past. It stung my eyes and
burned my throat as I gasped for air. From my peripheral, I saw a body
shambling along the main street as it made its way from the sidewalk that led
from the park. It stopped, swayed and finally collapsed at the curb line. A
sickening wheeze escaped its mouth as I passed. The body was still sizzling as
I darted past it and ran off into the cropping of buildings where the girl had
disappeared. The smell of burnt hair, acrid and nauseating, wafted from the
corpse.

With
the flashlight in hand, I began to click it on and off to signal the girl out
of hiding. I took to the alleyway between two of the buildings at a jog,
clicking the light as I went.

“Stay
there,” a voice said in a whisper.

I
stopped and guided the light to where I thought I heard the voice. A solitary
face poked out from behind a trash bin; soot covered most of the girl’s
features. Two gleaming white eyes stared out at me through the darkness.

“We
need to get out of here before more come,” I said.

“Who
are you and why did you save me?” she asked.

“Most
people would just have been happy for being alive,” I said.

“Most
people are dead,” she retorted.

I
laughed. “Listen, I don’t mean any harm. I just saw that you needed help.”

“So
did the last guy that claimed he was trying to save me.”

I
heard screams echo off of the buildings; shrill, hissing screams that made my
spine tingle. “Look, we really need to get out of here.”

The
girl lowered her eyes as if she were out of options. “Fine, but keep your
distance.”

“I’ll
walk ahead of you so you can keep an eye on me, but we need to go now,” I said
as the wailing became louder through the alleyway.

I
clicked off the flashlight and gave the girl a wide breadth as I walked around
her. From the corner of my eye, I could see her gaze following me until I was
far enough along the alleyway for her to feel comfortable with the distance.

At
the next junction of the alley, I took a left and continued towards the street
that lay beyond. The voices of the dead trailed off as we passed overturned
dumpsters and rotten garbage. I kept checking behind us, afraid that the
corpses would find us out.

“We
need to find a place to hide,” I whispered over my shoulder. “I think that’s an
apartment building up ahead.” I pointed towards a dilapidated building in the
distance and along the front toward the doors.

“I
still don’t trust you,” she said.

I
turned and pulled the pistol from my waistband. “Here,” I said, handing over
the weapon. “Does this make you feel better?”

“Actually,
a little,” she said, taking the gun.

Chapter 11

“That
was a pretty big move, trusting her like that,” Mary said. “She could have been
crazy. Hell, she could have taken everything you had.”

“I
didn’t have much choice; it was a risk I was willing to take.” I moved in the
chair and stretched my back. “It was either that or have her wondering about
this strange, dirty man that came out of nowhere.”

“I
don’t know if I would have trusted you either,” she said. “It doesn’t seem like
the thing a rational person would do - saving someone you don’t even know,
especially when there were that many of the dead around.”

“Really,
I’ve seen more than that on a morning stroll.” I smiled.

“I
bet you have,” she laughed.

Like
a captive, I walked ahead of the girl and crossed the street. I was surprised
how the apartment building had fared comparatively to the rest of the
neighborhood. The massive brick and stone structure retained its upper class
status even through a war with the dead. Each floor of the building had a fire
escape that wound along the side, eventually dropping off to stairs, leading to
the next lower level.

The
front doors had ornamental metal bars over the glass facing and a decorative
brass knob jutted out at the center. Cold in my hand, I twisted the knob. With
a faint click, it opened easily. I hesitated at the threshold, sniffing the
air.

The
building had a dank, dusty smell rather than the rotten, leprous odor of the dead
that I had come to know. I breathed a sigh of relief and forged a few feet
ahead, giving the girl room to follow.

“I
think it’s safe,” I said as I looked back at her.

“How
can you know for sure?” she asked.

“It
doesn’t smell of death,” I said, flatly

I
went in first and told her to bolt the door behind her.  With a gentle click,
she turned the deadbolt while continuing to hold the pistol on me. I walked
ahead, sinking into the soft carpet beneath me and watched as dust glistened
upward from my footfalls in the moonlit halls.

My
body ached as the adrenalin receded. Sore, tired muscles retaliated in fatigue
as I made my way past the elevator and to a door marked with a sign that read ‘stairwell’.
Beyond the door, there was nothing but darkness. I retrieved my flashlight,
clicked it on, and guided the beam along the edge of the stairs. A vast expanse
of nothing revealed itself - off white walls and red carpet contrasting in the
glow of the light.

“Don’t
follow too closely,” I whispered, descending to the first stair.

“Here,
you might need this,” the girl said, handing me the pistol.

I
nodded and smiled as I took the gun. The girl’s gaze fell towards the floor in
a way that made me think she was ashamed. I held the weapon out in front of
myself and pointed the flashlight with my other hand to guide the way. As
quietly as I could, I climbed to the first landing and directed the light to
the next flight of stairs. The building moaned and popped, making me stop in my
tracks until the noise subsided.

At
the next landing, I peered through a window just big enough to fit my face at
the center of the door, and gazed into the darkness beyond. I saw a vague
outline of the hallway as I turned the flashlight away, but nothing more.

“Hold
this,” I whispered, handing over the flashlight.

Slowly,
I turned the knob and felt the mechanism release inside the door. With a faint
click, it opened inward and I stepped aside to guide it away from myself. Dull,
stagnant air flowed through, sending up tiny particles of dust into the light
from behind as the girl guided the beam through the doorway.

Doors
lined each side of the hall, totaling four apartments on one side and three on
the side of the elevator and stairwell. Dead center in the hallway, a small box
protruded from the wall with a glass cover. Dust covered the glass, but I could
see the fire extinguisher easily enough. I removed my jacket, folded it into a
neat square and placed it over the glass. With a quick movement, I struck the
jacket with my fist. With a dull crack, the glass broke, sending shards
scattering along the carpet.

“What’s
that for,” the girl asked.

“It’s
for locked doors,” I said, placing the pistol into my waistband. I heaved the
canister out from the box and held it across my chest.

We
quietly made our way along the hallway. I randomly picked a door and checked to
see if it was locked. The knob turned easily. I pressed my ear to the door and
listened. Like some far away ocean, I heard nothing but the sounds of distant
waves and cresting surf.