The Dead in River City (3 page)

5

Kendra searched a few of the rooms, and most of them
were the same: 2 beds, a TV, bathroom, and not much else. Not like the TV would
be much use. Nothing was really broadcasting anymore. But it had the bed and a
bathroom. It would suffice for now. Kendra propped the door open and called out
to Alan, beckoning him to the room she’d chosen.

Alan located the room, and threw the sword and
shotgun down on one of the beds. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he opened the
box with the crossbow pistol and examined it. It was small, but still a viable
weapon. It came with few bolts to shoot, so he’d have to choose his targets
carefully, and re-use them whenever possible.

Kendra sat on the other bed, and looked at Alan. She
could tell just from his eyes that he was in no mood to talk about what just
happened. In a way she was grateful, because she was unsure how she would have
handled another life on her conscious, regardless of how doomed the life itself
was. On the other hand, she was a little upset that he’d been so quick to kill
Scott. Alan seemed so innocent when it came to killing, mostly because she’d
only seen him drop a few Dead Ones and he didn’t look like a murderer. Even
with Scott doomed to turn; she couldn’t fathom why Alan was so quick to murder
him. It gave her a feeling of unease that she couldn’t identify.

They sat in the silent dim room, each thinking their
own thoughts. Kendra observed the white walls and the ugly, dark red wallpaper,
and wondered why the bombs couldn’t have just destroyed that instead of human
life. Alan, meanwhile, cleaned the infected blood off of his blade, and tried
to block out the events of the evening. He noticed the smell of the lobby
wasn’t very strong in the rooms themselves. The rooms had more of a stale
smell, as though they had been closed and uninhabited for quite some time
(which wasn’t far off from the truth).

Kendra wordlessly curled into a ball on the bed, and
rested her head on the pillow. Alan looked up, seeing her movement from his
peripheral vision.

“Everything ok over there?” He asked, genuinely
concerned.

“I’m fine.” She replied, not even turning over to
look at him.

“Are you sure?” Alan said, not quite believing her.

“Yes. I’m fine.” She lied to him, with silent tears
leaking from her eyes.

This day of traumatic events proved to be a turning
point for both of them. Kendra, being generally unattached, was becoming
connected to this person she’d met only this morning. She’d initially tried to
fend off his help, and now realized that she’d be dead without him. She was
learning that she would need others to survive. Alan was unsure of how he felt.
He was happy to not be alone in this horrid world, but he was afraid that the
cycle would repeat itself. He’d lost people before, usually due to his own
actions or their stupidity. Kendra was different. She was intelligent and knew
how to survive, even if she was sometimes difficult to get along with. He
didn’t want to lose anyone else. Plus, he did like her. She kept him sane in
many ways, most of which she might never know.

Alan finished cleaning the blade and sat it aside
with his other weapons. Kendra stayed on the bed, breathing evenly and slowly
drifting off yet again. Alan hoped she’d sleep a little more peacefully than
she did in the car. Alan turned out the lights and crawled into bed. He thought
to himself how much he hated not having anything to sleep in. Dismissing his
thoughts, he told Kendra goodnight. She did not return the sentiment, as she
had already drifted off to sleep.

Hours passed as the two slept. Both periodically
tossed and turned through the night. Sometime close to 2am, Alan awoke. Looking
around in the dark, he could make out the form of Kendra on the bed next to
his. He could see her tossing and turning, but elected to not bother her,
hoping she would return to a restful sleep. He took the keycard from the
nightstand and walked out of the room, looking to explore the rest of the
hotel.

He walked the halls, lit by the dim sconces on the
walls, but didn’t anything massively interesting. He did, however, locate the
housekeeping area. All the soaps, shampoos, and everything else they offered
were there, as well as the washers and dryers. He decided it a good thing to
remember, as they would most assuredly need them. He made his way back towards
the lobby, just to make sure there was nothing amiss. They’d been so shaken up
that they never assigned their night watch duties. Alan guessed this would
count as his. He reached the lobby, still littered with corpses and doused with
blood splatter. He looked around, now taking time to observe everything,
instead of rushing to find what they needed. He found very little of interest:
mostly just cobwebs and dust.

Looking around, he saw on the counter a key ring
with a set of keys attached. One of the keys he was unable to identify, but the
other was clearly a car key. He guessed that the keys belonged to Scott. Alan
pocketed the keys, knowing it would be much more effective to have a car they
didn’t have to hotwire. Deciding he was finished here, he began to head towards
the room to check on Kendra.

As he was leaving the lobby, he heard a banging
noise, as if a person was trying to get inside the front door. He turned to
look, and saw that Kendra’s statement about the Dead Ones being more active at
night was absolutely true. He saw not 1, but many Dead Ones outside. One by
one, they reached the door and began to pound away. The glass on the doors was
strong but wouldn’t hold against a horde of the dead. Alan only had a small bit
of time. He would need something to fight them off. He ran back to the room,
and quietly went in and grabbed the shotgun. He exited the room as quickly as
he came, and went to work on his idea.

Alan had never run so fast in his life. He had
minutes to take care of the small horde outside before they broke inside. He
ran to the food storage of the hotel. Knowing that any cooking supplies would
be there, he had one specific item in mind: a propane tank. Frantically
searching the room, he found a single propane tank. Lifting it up, he could
tell it was missing some… possibly half the propane inside was gone. It would
have to do. Alan took the propane tank, and fled back to the lobby.

Alan returned to the lobby to see that the glass of
the front doors was cracking from the pressure. He had mere seconds to finish
the job. He rushed to the door, dropping the propane tank in front of it. Glass
shattered as the Dead Ones began reaching inside. Barely escaping their grasp,
Alan ran from the door, getting a safe distance back. He turned as the glass
broke away piece by piece. Raising the shotgun, he aimed for the half-empty
propane tank, hoping his plan would work. He had no time to waste. Alan pulled
the trigger and blasted the propane tank.

The resulting explosion was quite spectacular. It
broke the rest of the glass that hadn’t been destroyed by the Dead Ones. The
Dead Ones themselves were not only knocked back by the explosion, but also
engulfed in flames. As their bodies burned, Alan walked forward; putting them
down with the shotgun, making sure each and every Dead One was well and truly
dead.

Outside the front door, the smoke from the flaming
bodies filled the air. Burning, rotting flesh had an acrid smell that overtook
the scent of the cool nighttime air. Seeing that his work was done, he walked
back inside. Before he ever reached the room, Kendra met up with him, still a
little drowsy.

“Alan, what happened?” She asked, seeing the grisly
scene just outside the front door.

“Dead Ones.” He began. “Don’t worry, I took care of
them. I’m sorry I woke you.” He apologized.

“It’s ok.” She said with a big yawn.

“Let’s go back to sleep. I have a feeling we’ll have
a long day tomorrow.” Alan told her.

They returned to their room, with Alan locking the
door behind them. Each climbed into their bed, and tried to sleep for the rest
of the night. The room was silent, save for each other’s breathing, and soon,
albeit, restlessly, they slept.

6

Dim sunlight shone through the window of their room
as Kendra began to awaken. To her surprise, they were both still alive. She was
sure the explosion in the early morning darkness would have attracted more Dead
Ones. She didn’t voice her concerns, and just tried to trust Alan and sleep.
She actually slept better than she had in weeks. Glancing at the clock with her
tired eyes, she saw that it was 6:30am and that dawn was breaking. She rubbed
the sleep from her eyes and got out of bed.

“Alan. Alan, get up.” Kendra said, walking to Alan’s
bed and shaking him to get up.

Alan jolted awake. “Wha… Kendra?” he reacted in
shock.

“You ok?” Kendra asked. “That doesn’t seem a normal
reaction.”

“Guess I’m still on edge from last night.” He
remarked, rubbing his eyes. “What time is it?”

“6:30.” She replied. “We need to get moving.”

Alan nodded without a word and went to the bathroom
to clean himself up as best as he could. The hotel only had so much in the way
of hygiene products that they could use. He tried to finish up quickly so that
Kendra could have a turn. He spent mere minutes in the shower before dressing
back into his clothes from the day before. Stepping out of the bathroom, he
motioned the Kendra that she was free to use the bathroom.

Kendra enjoyed her showed immensely. She couldn’t
remember when she’d last had the opportunity to take one, but it was lovelier
than she remembered. Until she met Alan, she’d been quite limited in her
ability to travel. When she was alone, she spent most of her time going from
place to place, fortifying it, and trying desperately to sleep. She pondered
the recent events as the warm water poured over her body and concluded that while
she initially found Alan to be a hindrance to her own plans, he had actually
been quite useful. She had to concede that Alan was not as bad as she
previously thought. She was even growing to enjoy his company.

Kendra pulled herself back from her mental tangent
and finished her showed. She stepped out of the room, back in her clothes from
the day before. Alan was gathering his weapons. Without looking up, he began to
speak.

“I found the laundry room of the hotel. If we find
some replacement clothes, we might be able to wash our existing ones.” He
explained his discovery.

“I am not sure if we should stay here.” Kendra
interjected. “With the front door being non-existent, and the explosion you
created last night, I expect the threat of the Dead Ones will be too great. We
need somewhere else to go.”

Alan nodded his head. “You bring up a valid point.
Any ideas on where to go or what to do?”

“Well, the prospect of new clothes is a very nice
one. Let’s start there.” Kendra suggested. “Then, let’s find somewhere else to
stay. Preferably somewhere that you won’t blow up.”

Alan shot her a look of disapproval. “Get your
things. Let’s go.”

Kendra gathered her things, and followed Alan to the
door. As the door opened, they both noticed that something had gone very amiss.
Where the building was once silent, there was now an eerie and faint sound. It
sounded of death, and the shambling of killer corpses.

“Alan…” Kendra stopped him in his tracks. “I hear
Dead Ones.”

“Must’ve come in through the front door.” He thought
aloud.

“The noise of the explosion, and the smoke from the
fire must have brought them here.” Kendra hypothesized. “They never found our
room, but the building is infested with them.”

Alan reached into his pocket and retrieved the keys
he’d taken from the reception desk. “Take these, find the car they go to, and
get it ready.” He said, throwing the keys to Kendra. “Don’t stop for anything.
I’m right behind you.”

Kendra caught the keys in her hand, and clutching
them tight, she took a deep breath and started a mad dash for the parking lot.
Alan ran behind her, making sure no Dead Ones ever reached her. As she ran,
Alan’s shotgun blasted out every minute or so, dropping every Dead One that got
even remotely close to Kendra. She flinched at every shotgun blast, wondering
when the gun would fail to sound. She kept running as fast as she could, hoping
she would reach the car.

She ran through the hole where the front door once
existed, and looked frantically around the parking lot. Most cars in the lot
had been abandoned there when the attack happened. She wasn’t sure which car
the keys belonged to, so she ran from car to car, trying to unlock the door of
each vehicle. Alan soon followed out of the building, shooting down the Dead
Ones, holding them off until Kendra found the correct car.

It felt like forever in her mind, as she sprinted
from car to car, each one of them, the wrong vehicle. Kendra felt as though she
would never find the car matching the keys. Her heart rate rose higher and
higher as the panic set in, and everything began to blur together. The only
constant, the thing keeping her tied to reality, was the continuous blast of
the shotgun as Alan worked his way towards becoming ankle-deep in the dead.

Kendra’s struggles went on and on until she finally
got the key to turn in one of the cars, and its door opened as if granting
access to salvation itself. Kendra climbed into the car and pulled the door
shut with enough force to nearly make the damaged driver side mirror fall off.
Her first instinct was to blare the horn relentlessly. She knew it would get
Alan’s attention enough to alert him that she’d found the car. She knew it
might attract more Dead Ones, but right now, she didn’t care. She just wanted
to leave.

The obnoxious sound of the car horn filled the air,
echoing through the emptiness of the city. Alan turned and saw Kendra in the
car, and broke out into an all-out sprint towards the antiquated vehicle. He
saw Kendra in the driver seat, and made a mental note to go on the other side
of the car. He had decided it would be an embarrassing death to die because you
tried to get in the wrong side of a car.

Reaching the old car, he threw his weapons in the
back seat and climbed inside, slamming his door shut. Kendra wasted no time in
getting the car in motion. She floored the gas pedal and the car peeled out of
the parking lot, going back onto the street at breakneck speed. Both Alan and
Kendra’s heart rates began to drop to a normal level, as they got as far away
from the Dead Ones as they could. Not a sound was around to be heard, except
for the heavily used engine on the car.

Kendra broke the silence. “Nice shooting back
there.” She complimented Alan

“It was nothing. Aiming is easy when you have a
shotgun.” Alan replied.

“Still… I’m glad you weren’t shooting like you were
when I found you.” Kendra smirked as the words left her mouth.

“Hey!” Alan took offense. “Need I remind you that I
took one out with a single revolver shot?”

“I have no issue with that shot. It was impressive.”
She clarified. “It’s the 5 shots you fired after that, that makes me question
your skills.”

Alan was silent for a moment. “I had an off day…” He
defended himself.

Kendra left it at that. She knew enough to not pry
into people’s lives. She just continued to drive, swerving around the abandoned
cars and working towards their next destination.

“So… new clothes?” Alan asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s a good start. Any ideas where
to go?” Kendra fished for Alan’s opinion.

“Well, there’s the mall. There are lots of clothing
stores there. Also there are plenty of various chain stores around the city.
Mostly just depends on which ones haven’t been picked clean by looters.” Alan
voiced his thoughts.

“Let’s try one of the malls. Most of the clothes
have probably been taken, but they also have a big selection. Let’s start
there.” Kendra decided.

Alan simply nodded, saying nothing. Kendra altered
her course, heading for what was easily the least popular mall in the city. She
pondered as she drove, mostly about how Alan had watched her back earlier. She
was used to being alone, so this whole teamwork situation was new to her. She
slowly found herself glad that Alan had convinced her to stick together.

Alan, meanwhile, pondered his own thoughts. He was
glad Kendra decided to stick around. He knew he didn’t want to be alone in
this. He decided that if the apocalypse was happening, it was best to have a
friend to spend it with. Sure, Kendra was sometimes detached and held a prickly
demeanor, but if you gave her a chance, and gave her some time, she’d grow on you.
Alan thought himself foolish for even thinking it, but there was a part of his
mind that always wandered back to one question: What if he could become more
than just a friend to Kendra? He suppressed the question the only way he knew
how. He focused on the mission. He focused on killing the Dead Ones, and making
sure they stayed dead this time.

Time passed on and on. Roughly 45 minutes after the
panic in the hotel parking lot, their newly acquired car pulled in to the mall
parking lot. As they exited the car, they each grabbed a couple weapons from
the back seat. Both Kendra and Alan grabbed their swords, and Alan took his
crossbow pistol, which he’d yet to test. Neither of them was really sure if
there would be anyone inside, dead or otherwise, but it was clearly better to
be cautious than to wind up dead… or worse.

Alan looked over the car they’d been driving. He
didn’t get a good look at it during their escape, but as he examined it now, he
saw just how crappy this car was. The side mirrors were in terrible shape, the
paint was chipped and the body was warped from various accidents. The odometer
was broken, so God only knew how many miles the car actually had on it, and the
car’s engine sounded anything but reassuring. On top of all that, the color of the
car was arguably the most atrocious color he’d ever seen. The car was
chartreuse, or as Alan called it, puke-y green.

“That’s got to be the worst car I’ve ever seen.”
Alan remarked.

“Stop complaining. At least it got us out of our
sticky situation earlier.” Kendra pointed out. “Let’s get in there and get out.
I don’t want to stay here longer than necessary.”

They made their way across the parking lot, going
inside the mall, unsure of what awaited them inside.