The Dead in River City (7 page)

11

Alan pulled away after a few seconds. He certainly
enjoyed the kiss, but he was unsure whether or not it should have happened.
Alan didn’t feel fully right about it, especially after that story she told
him. Even though she initiated it, he felt invasive.

Alan spoke. “What was that for?”

“I… I wanted to.” Kendra replied.

Alan didn’t understand. Why would she want to kiss
him? They were in the middle of a zombie siege, he was just some guy, and she
had a background that would make anyone else cold, distant, and unfeeling. This
didn’t make sense to him.

“Why, though? I don’t get it.” Alan asked her.

Kendra hid her face. “It seemed right.” Her muffled
voice sounded out.

“Really?” Alan questioned her.

“Yes.” Her voice still slightly muffled as she began
to reveal her face again. “You comfort me. You make me feel safe.”

Alan still didn’t quite get it. Kendra was never
this way before. He’d noticed that she was becoming more responsive and open
with him, but he never dreamed that this would happen. In truth, he liked her,
and honestly didn’t mind the kiss so much. It just worried him now that he knew
her story. He felt like anything he did could be misconstrued. It was like
walking on eggshells, even though he had very little reason to.

Kendra was embarrassed. She thought that Alan wasn’t
happy about the kiss. Her thoughts began racing, telling her that she was
stupid to do it. Alan sensed that something was wrong and instinctively held
her, trying to comfort her.

“It wasn’t bad.” Alan whispered with a smile.

Kendra looked up, with small tears beginning to
form. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“But why?” She replied.

“We can talk about it later.” Alan said quietly.

Kendra nodded, and just as they put the conversation
on hold, they both heard a noise from the outside. It was oddly familiar, and
very vague. A few moments later, when they heard the voice, they realized it
was the sound of a megaphone.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are.” Malcolm’s
voice sounded in an eerie singsong voice.

Alan stood, motioning to Kendra to stay down for the
moment. Covertly looking out the window, he saw Malcolm pacing in front of the
building with a megaphone in his hand. His zombie girl was standing beside him
like a soulless automaton, and his crowd of Dead Ones was still standing behind
him.

“How long are you going to hide in there?” He said
through the device.

Malcolm couldn’t have heard Alan even if he had
decided to respond. It looked like Malcolm was ready for a siege, and he was
determined to win.

“Smart move, coming to the library.” Malcolm
continued. “I doubt you’ll find anything useful though. When it comes to
history, I’m virtually a phantom.”

Alan hated to admit that he was right. They hadn’t
found much of anything, and he was sure that they would find nothing more.
Malcolm was still having his one-sided conversation through his megaphone, but
Alan elected to ignore him. His taunts would do nothing to further the
situation. Alan tuned him out and turned his attention to Kendra.

“I’ll be honest, I have no clue how we’re getting
out of this.” Alan confessed.

“I know.” Kendra replied. “I don’t know either.”

Alan thought for a moment. “We’ll need to find food.
If we don’t, this siege won’t last long.”

“Let’s go check the break room.” Kendra suggested.
“It’s a long shot, yes, but it’s all we’ve got.”

Alan nodded and helped Kendra to her feet. Together,
they went down the stairs to the pitch-black first floor. They turned on their
flashlights to illuminate the path to the break room. They were beginning to
shake off the musty smell of the library, but it became replaced with a new
smell.

The library’s break room had the smell of food gone
rotten. The library staff would have kept their food in the refrigerator, and
since it lost its power, there was no way of keeping the food inside from going
bad. Both Alan and Kendra winced at the smell, but tried to ignore it as best
they could.

“Let’s not open the fridge.” Kendra suggested.

“Agreed.” Alan concurred.

Ignoring the fridge, they took to looking in the
cabinets. There was very little to choose from. There were some boxes of
crackers, all of which were stale. Other snack foods were also there, but all
of them were no longer any good for eating. Kendra found a few bags of popcorn,
but they had no real way to cook them. They didn’t seem to be finding anything
that they could eat. Both their hearts sank.

Alan slumped down in a chair next to the table.
“Well that was worth practically nothing.” He said.

Kendra stood, pondering over everything, trying to
find the way to solve the problem. After a few moments, she began to connect
the dots, and slowly, a solution came together. She picked up the 2 bags of
popcorn, grabbed her flashlight and darted out of the room, with only a quick
“Come on!” to get Alan to follow.

Alan ran after Kendra, trying not to trip over
anything, or run into the furniture. Kendra ran out to the main part of the library,
and stopped, looking around and formulating her plan. Alan caught up to her
mere moments later, somewhat out of breath. “What… are you… doing?” he asked,
pausing between his words.

“I need you to go find some books.” She replied.
“Find anything in bad condition that is still somewhat intact. If you find any
books that nobody would miss, bring them upstairs. I’ll go hit the non-fiction
books and find some older, virtually useless editions of some books. Find
whatever you can, and bring it upstairs to me.”

“Why am I getting books?” Alan asked, full of
confusion.

“We’re gonna make a fire.” Kendra replied as she
went up to the second floor, taking the steps 2 at a time.

Kendra went upstairs, leaving Alan downstairs with a
dumbfounded look on his face. He went to work following Kendra’s instructions,
finding whatever books were either broken, old, or just plain bad. Kendra
looked around on the slightly better lit second floor, finding old volumes of
reference books, some books about art, gardening, and other random subjects.
She made a pile over in a corner, and then went to find the next things she
would need.

Near the old librarian desk, she found a sturdy
metal trashcan. It was certainly old, and dented in a few places, but it would
suffice to make a small fire. She removed the bag and threw it on the floor.
Then, picking up the can, she took it to the corner and put it beside the
books. She only needed one more thing: a means to start the fire. Returning to
the desk, she rifled through the drawers until she found the thing she needed.
She found a small magnifying glass and knew it could work.
“It may not be matches, but it will have to do.”
She said to
herself.

About that time, Alan came up the stairs with an
armful of books. Kendra took some of the books from his little collection and
lead him to the corner.

“Alan, put some of these books in the trashcan, and
use the magnifying glass and the flashlight to set them on fire.” Kendra told
him.

Alan nodded and went to work. He was slightly
troubled about having to burn books to fix food, but this was survival. He
would have to get over it. He purposely avoided books that he was fond of, and
also stuck to the paperbacks, believing that they would burn much easier. He
placed some of the pile into the trashcan, turned on the flashlight, and angled
the light from the window through the magnifying glass, hoping the books would
burn.

Kendra observed out the window while Alan was
working. She looked upon the Dead horde below and saw Malcolm still down there
with them. They hadn’t moved, instead just waiting for the siege to end. Kendra
gazed up to the sky and knew night would fall soon. Then only the moonlight
would shine through the windows. She thought about the kiss earlier, and
wondered if it was a mistake. She didn’t think it was, but she wasn’t all too
confident after Alan’s reaction. She tried to put it out of her mind for now,
knowing they would probably talk about it later tonight.

Alan worked with the flashlight and magnifying glass
for quite some time. Finally, when he had nearly lost all hope, a small flame
formed and began to scorch the books.

“Kendra, it’s working!” Alan shouted over to her.

Kendra wandered over and observed the small fire.
With time, it would engulf the other books. “Now we wait for the fire to grow.”
She said.

Alan pulled up a chair beside the trashcan. “So
what, are you going to just hold the popcorn bag over the fire?”

“Pretty much. We just need to wait for the fire to
get big enough to pop the kernels.” She answered. “We just need to find
something to pass the time.”

Alan looked her in the eye. “Well, we’ve got time
now. Wanna talk about the kiss?”

Kendra shied away, still embarrassed. “If you want.”

“I really did enjoy it.” Alan confessed to her. “I
just know you must have a biased view when it comes to men.”

“You’re not wrong.” She said. “But I’ve also never
had someone be that protective of me. You make me feel worth more than anyone
ever did. You’re the only guy I’ve really known who saw me as a person and a
friend than as a mere toy. You are the polar opposite of my father. I know you
won’t hurt me. I trust you more than I have ever trusted anyone.”

“Why is that? I just treated you like I would treat
anyone.” Alan said.

“Which means you’re a good man. I believe I can
trust you, despite my past.”

“Really?” Alan asked her.

“Really.” Kendra replied.

Alan leaned forward and, placing a hand on the back
of her neck, kissed her gently, just as she had kissed him before. Each of them
became lost in the kiss. Kendra now knew that Alan hadn’t rejected her, and
Alan felt more at ease about Kendra. For the first time since life as they knew
it ended, they were happy, if only for a moment.

After a few minutes, the kiss broke, as if they’d
broken it simultaneously to check the status of the fire. The other books were
beginning to catch fire, and the flames were big enough now to affect the
kernels within the popcorn bag. Kendra took one of the bags and held it over
the fire. They would undoubtedly have to wait while the heat penetrated the
bag. There was a silence between them until Kendra spoke up.

“So how are we going to get out of this?” She
queried.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.” Alan replied. “Malcolm has
us pinned here. We’d have to get him to leave, and then find some kind of
transportation. I don’t see much of that happening.”

Kendra frowned. “I can’t say I have any genius ideas
either. We could be stuck here a very long time.” She paused. “We could die
here.” She trembled at the thought.

Alan hugged her. “I’ll find a way. I don’t plan on
my life ending any time soon.”

That gave Kendra some reassurance. She knew he was
fighting for survival, but it also felt like maybe he was fighting for her too.
Alan was noble enough, and a good man. It wasn’t too far flung to assume that
he was fighting for both. Kendra gave no reply, simply taking comfort in the
fact that she was alive, and not alone.

The kernels in the bag began to pop, one by one.
They were slow at first, and then sped up, with multiple kernels going at once.
After a while, nearly the entire bag was popped. Kendra opened the bag and the
smoke rose out of the opening. Milliseconds later, the smell of buttery
goodness reached their nosed. It was a stark contrast from the room they’d
found it in, and they loved it.

They dined on popcorn that night, swapping stories,
and keeping each other company. At one point, they even sang, just to pass the
time. Even with the building in lockdown, Kendra didn’t feel safe from the Dead
Ones. They slept in shifts, watching over each other, each of them pondering
how, if, and when they would leave this place alive.

12

Alan watched as dawn broke. It was a cloudy day, and
the only evidence of sunlight was the small amount that penetrated the clouds.
Kendra was still asleep, and Alan didn’t really want to wake her yet. Peeking
out the window, Alan saw that there were still some Dead Ones outside the
building. Malcolm, however, was nowhere to be seen. Alan thought that his
absence was a bit unsettling, but it did feel nice to have him away. Alan
didn’t understand what Malcolm wanted, or how he could do what he does, but he
knew it couldn’t be a good thing. Alan decided that morning that he would kill
Malcolm the next chance he got.

Wandering over to the slightly diminished book pile,
he looked through them, finding nothing of interest. He could still smell the
burnt books from the fire the night before. The inside of the trashcan was
scorched, but it would hold if they needed to do it again.

He sat by the book pile and became lost in thought.
He thought not of the Dead Ones or Malcolm Graves, or how the world he once
knew was gone, never to return. Instead he thought of Kendra. He thought of the
kiss the night before, and how her eyes looked right after. Those eyes kept him
going when he wanted to give up. He was happy that their connection had grown
so much. He was unsure how far the connection would go, but he hoped that their
relationship would deepen.

While he was lost in his thoughts, Kendra awoke.
Seeing him across the room, she called out to him. “Hey you.” She said, still
waking up.

Alan, caught off guard, turned to see her. “Good
morning, sunshine.”

Kendra stretched and yawned as her mind adjusted to
being awake. “Any change to our situation?” She asked.

“Not really.” He replied. “Still got some Dead Ones
outside, but Malcolm is gone. I’m not sure where he went, but I have a bad
feeling about it.”

Kendra got up off the floor and grabbed her
flashlight. She walked towards the steps not saying much of anything. “Where
are you going?” Alan asked, very confused.

“I’m going downstairs to find the bathroom. I doubt
it still works, but we’ll obviously have to do something.” She replied.

Alan knew she was right. There was no arguing her
logic, although she was right, the bathrooms were probably non-functional. Alan
grabbed his flashlight and followed her downstairs.

After a few minutes of searching the pitch-black
first floor, they found a doorway leading to the bathrooms. Alan went to open
the door to the men’s room before Kendra had an idea.

“Wait.” She said. “I have a better idea.”

“What do you mean?” Alan turned to her.

“Well, these are the public restrooms. You know as
well as I do that public restrooms are essentially Hell on Earth. There’s
probably a staff restroom in the back. Theoretically it would be in much better
shape than the public ones.” Kendra explained.

“Good idea, Kendra.” Alan acknowledged. “Let’s go
find it.”

Together, they walked to the back room, being
careful not to trip over each other. It took a few moments, but they found the
door to the staff restroom. Alan let Kendra go first while he waited. While he
waited, he went over any possible way to get out of here, but couldn’t come up
with anything. His frustration was evident, but he refused to stop trying.

Moments later the door opened, with Kendra stepping
out of it. “Well it’s not the best bathroom, but it serves out purpose for now.
I even got it to flush, although it was pretty weak.”

“Alright.” Alan said, stepping into the room. “Be
out momentarily.”

Kendra waited outside the door for Alan. She didn’t
want to just leave him and have him not know where she went. She waited idly
and patiently. Out of nowhere, she heard a noise coming from the main floor of
the library. It sounded like something pounding on a sheet of solid metal.
Kendra knew the building was locked down, but she also knew that, as with any
siege, eventually something would get inside.

She heard the door to the staff bathroom open, and
composed herself as best as she could. “Alan, I heard something.”

“What was it? Where’d you hear it?” Alan asked in
quick succession.

“It sounded like it was coming from the library’s
entrance. Almost sounded like someone pounding on the metal lockdown panels,
trying to break through them.” She replied.

Alan had a stressed look on his face. “We need to
get back upstairs now.” He said.

Grabbing her hand, they jogged back up to the second
floor. Alan wanted to find the source of the noise, and he had a feeling that
this siege was about to end, and probably for the worst.

They bolted up the stairs and reached the second
floor. Alan dashed over to the window to see the situation outside. He saw more
Dead Ones than there were before, and they were beginning to move towards the
entrance. Alan had a suspicion that Malcolm was commanding them to attack the
door, and his suspicions turned out to be true as he saw that Malcolm had
returned. He was moving towards the door, with something in his hand. He didn’t
know what Malcolm was holding, but it was almost certain to get him inside the
building.

“Kendra, we got a problem.” Alan turned to her.

“What is it? What’s happening?” She asked in a
panic.

“It’s Malcolm. He’s back, with his horde. It looks
like he has something in his hand. I’m betting anything that he’s found a way
inside.” Alan told her.

Kendra cursed under her breath. Alan continued
looking out the window. He now saw the Dead Ones backing off from the door, and
assembling a distance away from it. Alan didn’t understand just what was going
on. It was then that he heard an unmistakable noise: the sound of an explosion.

The building shook with the force of the blast. Alan
put 2 and 2 together and came to the conclusion that Malcolm had made some kind
of improvised explosive device. He’d made it through the door, and now Alan and
Kendra were vulnerable, and neither one of them had any clue what to do next.

“We need a way out.” Kendra stated. “Any ideas?”

“Not a one.” Alan replied with his eyes fixed on the
stairwell door.

Kendra frantically looked around for anything that
could possibly help them. They couldn’t exactly fight their way out, as they
had lost most of their weapons and ammo, thanks to Alan. Escape was the only
option, and it looked to be impossible. Kendra kept searching, sifting through
every possibility, just so she could keep living.

Alan watched the door, waiting for either Malcolm,
or his horde to arrive. He remembered that he had one weapon remaining, and it
was the only thing at their disposal. The explosion had almost certainly
destroyed the katana that barred the entrance. He retrieved his crossbow
pistol, and aimed it at the doorway. He had 4 shots, and he’d have to make each
one of them count.

From the darkness of the doorway, a figure stepped
into view. Alan didn’t wait to shoot. He fired the crossbow pistol at the
figure, and was dismayed at the result. The figure was obviously hit, but it
didn’t slow or flinch. It kept moving into the room, and the light from the
window revealed its identity. It was a Dead One, with a crossbow bolt jammed in
its head. It was soon joined by two other figures behind it. The Dead One
shambled a few feet further and then halted.

“Malcolm is definitely here.
Otherwise, they’d never stop.”
Alan thought to himself.

One of the other bodies shambled towards the spot
where the first one was. Two Dead Ones now stood in the room, but the third
figure moved differently. It walked as a normal person would walk. Alan quickly
reloaded his weapon, knowing full well that Malcolm came to see him personally.

Kendra was in the room still, but hadn’t been
spotted. After minutes of searching, she was running out of ideas. She had only
one potential solution, and it was a long shot at best. She picked up one of
the nearby chairs, and began to move towards Alan’s position, staying out of
sight. As she moved, she heard a voice echo through the room.

“It’s over, Alan. Nowhere to run.” Malcolm’s tone
was almost bloodthirsty. “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“None of your business.” Alan’s tone was cold as he
aimed his weapon straight at Malcolm’s face.

“You’re really gonna shoot me?” Malcolm laughed.
“That’s not going to help you. I control the dead, what makes you think that I
can die?”

“No one is immortal, Malcolm. Death never changes.”
Alan said. “With a last name like Graves, I’m pretty sure you’re already halfway
there.” He quipped.

“I do so enjoy talking with you, Alan.” Malcolm
said, brandishing a 9mm pistol. “I think we’re done here now. Time to go.”

Malcolm aimed the gun at Alan, and Kendra knew she
had to act. Dropping the chair she’d planned to throw she sprinted towards Alan
and tackled him to the floor, just as Malcolm fired. The timing was a matter of
luck, but it worked well enough. Alan took the seconds that his life was spared
to fire his weapon back at Malcolm. The bolt flew from the weapon, straight
into Malcolm’s right eye. Screaming in pain, he dropped to his knees and
dropped the gun.

Almost immediately, the 2 Dead Ones began to move
towards them, along with the crowd of them ascending the stairs. Kendra ran to
retrieve the chair as Alan reloaded his weapon. He fired again at Malcolm, the
bolt striking him in the chest. Malcolm let out a scream of agony and fell
backwards onto his back. Alan didn’t know if he’d killed him or not, and they
couldn’t stick around to find out.

Kendra returned with the chair, and with a mighty
roar, she threw the chair at the window, shattering it into thousands of glass
shards. She grabbed Alan’s wrist and pulled him close to the window.

“What are you doing?!” Alan asked in a panic.

“You’ll just have to trust me.” Kendra said.

Kendra got him as close to the window as she could.
Pointing to the bushes below, she instructed him to jump. Alan was afraid, but
he trusted Kendra enough to listen to her. He jumped down into the bush, with
Kendra tumbling after.

The pain was just about what Alan expected. He’d
landed on his right arm, and slightly on his back. He’d be feeling that in the
morning for sure. He didn’t think he broke any bones, so he worked on standing
up and getting out of the bush. As he struggled to stand, he heard groaning
that undoubtedly came from Kendra. He stood and limped towards where she
landed, and tried to help her up.

“Are you alright, Kendra?” Alan asked, obviously in
pain.

“I think I broke something.” She groaned out.

Alan tried to help her up and examine her to see
what condition she was in. Taking her left hand, he tried to pull her up, only
to hear her yelp out in pain. He knew instantly that the fall had broken her
left arm. Quickly adjusting his plan, he picked her entire body up and started a
slow jog away from the library. They had escaped certain doom, but the
situation had potentially become worse. They now had nowhere to run to, and no
transportation, and on top of that, they were unarmed, save the last bolt for
the crossbow pistol.

Alan carried Kendra away from the building, looking
for someplace to hide until they could figure out their next move.