Stay Dead 2: The Dead and The Dying (29 page)

52 A DEAD CITY BY THE
SEA

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top)

The statue of liberty stood tall
against the cool darkness. As Scott stared out at it he could
imagine a tear rolling down her face and her feet bathed in blood.
Just as dark, but not nearly as tall was Ellis Island. Lower
Manhattan was nothing but shadows. Battery Park looked as quite as
a graveyard. The Staten Island ferries were nowhere to be seen, and
there were no passengers waiting to board.

Governor’s Island seemed to have some
sort of fires burning, and there was no shortage of boats docked
around it.

“
What’s that place?” Chuck
asked.

“
Governor’s
Island.”

“
What is it
though?”

“
It was a military base for
the longest time—army and coast guard I think—then they started
turning it into a national park.”

“
Man, that would be a great
place to hold up.”

“
Yeah, but look. Fires or
lights…something. I think there are probably a few survivors over
there already. Probably even military.”

“
Even better.”

“
I don’t think so, Chuck.
Whoever’s over there is probably looking to protect their claim.
We’re better off sticking to our plan. Less people up north, and
less problems.”

“
Surely others have gone
north as well.”

“
No doubt. Want to put it
up to a vote?”

“
Guys? Anyone wanna weigh
in?”

“
Let’s keep going,” Eddie
said.

“
Can’t hurt to check it
out.”

“
North.”

“
Ditto.”

“
Doesn’t
matter.”

“
Want to bring the matter
downstairs?”

“
Nah, fuck it. You’re
right. Let’s stick to the plan. Get as far away as we
can.”

“
Anyone
disagree?”

“
No, but it can’t hurt to
take us a little closer could it?

“
Not at all,” Chuck said,
course correcting to bring the boat closer to the
island.

“
It’s pretty fucked up
seeing the city like this. I wonder if TC looked the same way, ya
know, before it was blown to shit.”

“
I think everywhere looks
like this. Maybe it’s just making an impact because the city was
always alive with lights, and now they’re all gone. Just hits a
little harder I guess.”

“
You might be
right.”

“
Hey Scott, there’s a
shower downstairs, right?”

“
Sure is.”

“
You know if there’s a
line?”

“
Probably.”

“
I wanna get this fucking
blood off of me.”

“
I bet. I’m just too
exhausted to get up. My legs are jelly.”

“
Weren’t you into hiking
and shit?”

“
Hiking, walking, biking.
All that. But it’s different when you’re not eating right. Or
drinking right.”

“
This is the best I’ve ever
eaten. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“
I think the homeless eat
better than we do. Or at least did.”

“
Hey, guys, take a look. I
don’t want to go in any closer.”

They all stood up and looked over at
Governor’s Island. There were a few fires burning in the distance,
but none close enough to determine their cause.

“
Could be
bonfires.”

“
Maybe they’re burning the
dead—cleaning up the island.”

“
Could be
anything.”

“
Do you see
anyone?”

“
Over there, by the
water.”

“
Where—never mind—those
look like deaders coming out of the water.”

“
Fuck, they
are.”

“
No. Not those. Look,
walking toward the deaders.”

Then automatic rifle fire filled the
air and small bursts of muzzle flashes lit the night
sky.

“
Yup. Someone’s on the
island. And they got firepower.”

“
If that’s the army, why
the fuck aren’t they out helping survivors?”

“
Want to go ask
them?”

“
Fuck no.”

“
So we gonna keep
going.”

“
Onward
Captain.”

Eddie stared at the forms on the
island. He knew they could see them. They were standing there,
watching, as they cruised away.

“
They can see us. If they
wanted to help us, all they would have to do is yell
out.”

“
They’d probably use those
guns on us, if we got too close.”

“
We’ll never
know.”

Chuck followed the coastline of Staten
Island. Staying close enough to feed his curiosity but far enough
away to avoid any potential hazards.

In the cabin, Dawn and Alexis had
decided to start bathing the kids. They took their dirty clothes
and soaked them in the sink with shampoo, trying to wash them as
best they could. There were plenty of t-shirts to go around and
though large they were just fine for the kids to wear till they’re
clothes could be dried.

Alexis made them all brush their
teeth. Not having many toothbrushes they all shared one. She hid
this fact from them so they wouldn’t complain about cooties or some
such.

Frankie had made his way down and in
the bright light of the cabin he could see how filthy he truly was.
Especially when contrasted against the others, most of which had
all showered and changed into new clothes.

When he stood in front of the mirror
he noticed how large his beard had grown and how dark the circles
around his eyes were. He noticed how dark his skin looked and
couldn’t tell whether it was from being dirty or from how much sun
he’d been getting. And then he saw how much blood was on his hands
and arms and clothes. It looked almost like he stuck his arms into
large buckets of paint.

53 JUST ONE MORE
DAY

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top)

Davis did in fact have a small arsenal
stockpiled in his home, which was nearly secured as well as the
Caulfield’s.

“
This is one hell of a
collection, Sheriff.”

“
No more Sheriff, all
right? Please.”

“
So, Bruce, how the hell
did you get all these guns?”

“
Some I’ve bought over the
years, but most of these were recent acquisitions. Once martial law
was declared. I cherry-picked some of these out of the armory, and
some out of the confiscated arms we’re supposed to turn over to the
feds once a year. Feds are gonna have to wait,” Davis
said.

“
I reckon they will,”
Walter nodded.

“
Barbara make a decent
shot?”

“
Shoots a lot better than
Jeff, that’s for sure, probably better than me too, but she doesn’t
have to deal with arthritis.”

“
Well, grab whatever you
think they can handle the best. I’m set with these,” Davis said,
hoisting up two police-issued shotguns.

“
Hey Bruce, I think you had
a good idea with walling off the town, but maybe it was too big too
fast, ya know? Maybe if there’s enough of us left in town we can
start small. Start with a building, maybe a street…”

“
Maybe. Right now, I’m
going to start with the station. Honestly I just want to kill as
many of those things as I can. I don’t know if there’s anyone left
besides us so maybe we can talk about this later.”

“
Sure thing. I just wanted
to think out loud.”

“
And Walter, thanks for
going out scouting for folks. If there were more people like you
and your family we might actually stand a chance of surviving this
shit.”

Davis locked up his house as Walter
descended the stairs with several firearms slung over his
shoulders. He handed both his kids a shotgun and handgun each, with
ample ammunition for all. He kept an assault rifle for
himself.

They drove back to the station and
once they got closer the dead had scattered through the streets.
Mostly they stayed together, almost like a pack, but some had
splintered off. Others even went in the opposite
direction.

Davis pulled over to one side, and
Walter the other.

“
Spread out and watch your
fire. Slow and steady, okay?”

Walter nodded, stepping out of the
truck and carrying his rifle at hip level, its weight felt good in
his hands and reminded him of his younger years.

They walked down the street, spread
out and one by one took down the deaders as they approached. The
deaders moved slowly, some dragging broken limbs, other dragging
their intestines along the street. Some moved with twisted ankles
and limbs bent at unnatural angles.

The shotgun blasts roared like beasts
and rifle fire cracked like thunder. The dead dropped to the
ground, landing in writhing twitching messes. At closer range the
shotguns reduced whole heads to red mist.

Soon the street, and the path to the
station were covered in gore and blood.

Jones, Keith, and Clem had all been
killed a second time, their bodies lay in the street like the
others, twitching, trying to come back again.

“
Come on, everybody in.
It’s clear.”

“
Damn, this place is a
mess,” Jeff said.

“
It’s not that bad. Just
the path to the back is pretty nasty. Everything else is okay.
Gonna have to board up those front doors though.”

“
So what now?” Walter
asked.

“
Now, we’re done. It just
hit me how exhausted and hungry I am. I’m going to go home, get
some food and go to sleep.”

“
What about me?” Topher
asked, sounding like hell and sweating bullets.

“
I told you I’d take care
of you, and I will.”

“
Bruce, why don’t you all
come back to our house? We got plenty of food, you can sleep there
and we’ll keep an eye on you. If we’re all that’s left of town, we
should stick together.”

“
I’m too tired to argue.
Danni, whattya say? Want to stick with us?”

“
Yes. I have nowhere else
to go. Thank you.”

“
Sure thing, kid. Bruce,
maybe you want to swing back home, get some clean clothes. We’ll
follow you over.”

“
I can meet you there.
Maybe just take--”

“
No, not happening. Take
your time do what you have to do and we’ll wait outside for you.
Then we’ll follow you back and that’s that.”

“
Thanks Walter.”

Walter nodded and turned to Danni,
“Danni was it? I’m Walter. These are my kids, Jeff, and
Barbara.”

“
Hi…”

“
Come on. Let’s get out of
here.”

They left Davis and Topher in the
station and stood in the carnage outside.

“
How you
feeling?”

“
I feel like hell. You
gonna do it now? You gonna kill me?”

“
What do you want? Do you
think you can make it a little longer?”

“
I don’t know. I feel like
I’m on fire. This is awful, I tell ya.”

“
I’m sure it is. Topher,
listen. I don’t want to have to do this yet, so if you think you
can hold out I think that’d be the best. Maybe a last meal or
something? Maybe you want to down some pills and go out nice and
quiet?”

“
No, I want you to put a
bullet in my brain. That’s the only way isn’t it?”

Davis knew different. He’d seen a good
friend blow his brains out and come back for a taste of the living.
But he knew Topher didn’t need to know that. He just wanted to keep
the man at ease and make it as quick and painless as he could.
“Yeah, that’s the only way to stay dead.”

“
Then that’s how I want it.
I don’t want to come back.”

“
Okay. Let’s get out of
here, maybe take the edge off with a little Jack?”

“
Yeah, that sounds
good.”

Topher started walking for the
door.

“
I’ll be right behind ya,
gonna grab a set of walkies.”

Topher kept on walking. He opened the
door, seeing the others walking over to the vehicles down the
street. He turned to look down the other side of the street and
could see the sun sagging low in the sky. It looked nice, there was
a lot of blue, but some of the sunset colors were starting to come
out. One more day, I can make it one more day. Just long enough to
see another sunrise. I can do it…I can—

Davis blew his brains out of the front
of his head, annihilating his last thought. Topher crumpled to the
ground. Davis fired a few more times till all that was left of
Topher’s head resembled a rotting pomegranate.