door by the oven, and helped his mother descend the stairs to the communal laundry room. Nichole’s eyes lit up when they reached the landing.
Their neighbors, Juliet, Frederick and Johnny Robinson, were there, so were Ron, Meredith and Belle McKinley along with Jason Cooper. Nichole’s heart leapt with joy. There was still hope. Juliet greeted Nichole with a hug, which shattered their facade of strength and made them sob together.
Billy sat down by Jason who was staring at Ron McKinley.
“What’s up?” Billy asked, desperately hoping that his mother would stop crying.
Jason pointed at Mr. McKinley, “Look,” he whispered, “He’s sweating like a cold can of beer, and he’s shaking. Nervous.”
“Dude, I’m nervous too.” Billy replied quietly.
“Nah man, he’s got it .”
“ It ?”
“The disease that turns you into an eater.”
“An eater?”
“A zombie.”
“No…no way.”
Meredith McKinley sat down next to her husband and began rubbing his back. He wished she wouldn’t, it was hard to hide a wound while people were leering in his direction. The ill man tried not to glower at the two punks who were sitting across from him.
“Honey,” Meredith asked delicately, “You don’t look so good, are you feeling okay?”
“I’m just fine dear,” he snapped in a low tone.
Meredith turned her attention to their toddler, who was sitting in the middle of the room playing with her favorite teddy bear. Juliet and Nichole had calmed down and were trying to figure out how to survive the ensuing nightmare. Frederick was snoozing up against a wall, with his son Johnny sitting next to him, absorbed by his GameMaster.
Ron stood, steadied himself with the wall and barfed uncontrollably. Panic settled upon the small room as hellish sludge splattered on the cement floor. Belle McKinley began wailing from the middle of the room. Meredith put a consoling hand on her husband’s back.
“Ron. Ron ?” stammered the hysterical woman.
Juliet and Nichole were rendered speechless. The commotion had startled Frederick from his sleep, so he began shielding his son from the chaos.
“Ron?” Meredith asked again as the man ceased retching.
Ron turned to glare at his wife, growling slightly.
“Ro-”
Mr. McKinley grabbed at his wife, his fingernails digging deep into her skin.
“Told ya,” Jason said, standing up and pulling a hand gun from his hoodie pocket.
Billy watched in awe as Jason aimed and fired. The bullet hit Ron in the side, making Meredith scream louder. Ron released his grip on his wife and began making his way towards Jason. Meredith ran to her child, whisked her off the floor and scuttled to the stairs as Jason continued to shoot at Mr. McKinley, steadily missing the kill zone.
Mrs. McKinley was bleeding profusely from the nail marks Ron had left on her arm. At the stairs Nichole reached for the toddler.
“Meredith, give Belle to me.”
Meredith’s eyes grew wide with shock. She frantically shook her head, backing up the staircase.
“Meredith, give me the baby.”
“No!”
“Meredith…”
“No!”
Meredith slipped and fell
Shannon McKenna, Cate Noble, E. C. Sheedy