Laying her hand gently on Alan’s arm, she whispered, “We could leave her...”

“No. No. She may be...sick. But we can’t do that. We can’t.” Alan shook his head adamantly. “I can’t do that to her or the kids.”

Shoving her thick brown hair back from her face, Julie took a deep breath. She looked warily toward the open office door. “As soon as she’s asleep, I’ll go get Alice so I can feed her.” Her fingers played with the buttons of her blouse and her faraway expression said it all. Julie was thinking of her own child that was somewhere out there in the dead lands.

Alan seriously doubted if many people were still alive, but he didn’t want to upset Julie by saying so. After giving her a gentle hug, he walked back to where his boys were playing. Squatting down, he kissed their foreheads.

“You can be this truck,” Parker informed him, handing him a model.

“Okay! Let’s smash those zombies,” Alan said, the tightness in his chest alleviating as he felt the love and trust of his children wash over him.

Around twenty minutes later, he saw Julie slip into the office and gently pick up the sleeping baby. Looking away to give her privacy, he continued to play with the twins. They were lying on their stomachs, propped on one elbow as the model trucks plowed through the binder clip zombies over and over again.

Julie’s terrified scream rang through the building, making the kids gasp as Alan leaped to his feet. Looking into the office, he saw Julie clutching Alice to her breasts with one arm as she shoved his office chair at Debbie with the other. Debbie was lashing out, trying to grab Alice. The baby was screaming, her face red as she cried.

“Debbie, leave her alone! She’s trying to help Alice!” Alan rushed into the office grabbed Debbie’s arm and yanked her about.

Debbie’s eyes were devoid of life. Her teeth snapped as she lunged toward him. Alan cried out in shock, but managed to get his elbow up, slam it into her neck, and knock her away. He stumbled back a few feet mortified at what he was seeing, his mind a mix of emotions, primarily confusion.

How had this happened?

“Boys, run!” Alan ordered.

“Watch out!” Julie screamed.

The patter of their sneakers against the concrete floor was a small comfort as Debbie lunged at him again. He caught her arms and shoved her. She hit the doorjamb and fell into the office on her hands and knees. Alice’s cries were desperate and Julie tried to calm her as she sought refuge behind Alan’s big desk. He darted forward and kicked Debbie, knocking her to the floor.

The zombie got her hands under her body and scrambled toward the desk with terrifying speed. Julie cried out in terror, darting into the far corner, her body turned to protect Alice. Alan looked around frantically for a weapon and grabbed his office chair. Lifting it up, he brought it down hard on Debbie, pinning her under it. The zombie’s body thrashed about, trying to get up. Leaning all his weight onto the chair, Alan pinned the snarling creature.

“Get out, Julie! Get out!”

Skirting the desk, Julie ran out of the room, clutching Alice to her chest. Alan struggled to keep Debbie restrained, but she was relentless in her attempt to escape. Unexpectedly, she managed to get a hand under her chest and shoved upwards with a mighty push. Alan lost his grip on the chair and it crashed over onto its side. He ran out of the office, slamming the door behind him. With shaking fingers, he drew out his keys and locked it.

The sound of running feet and the jangle of keys startled him. He whirled about to see Rob darting around the silent conveyor belts toward him.

“What’s going on?”

Alan gestured to Debbie as she beat on the thick glass set in the door. Her mouth was pulled back in a grimace as her teeth snapped together. As he stared at her hands, he realized what had happened with terrible clarity. He felt his chest tighten with despair and anger.

“She let one of them bite her,” he gasped.

“What?” Rob studied Debbie in shock. “What the hell? She’s a zombie?”

“Look at the tip of her middle finger! That’s a bite! When she was over in that damn corner, I bet she let one of them bite her!”

“Why would she do that?” Julie demanded. “Why? That doesn’t make any sense!”

Alan felt tears of anger burning in his eyes. “Because she hates me that much. She wanted to turn so she could….Oh, God! She was willing to kill the boys!”

“Where are they?” Julie looked around nervously. “Hunter! Parker!”

The twins darted out from behind some machinery and latched onto Julie. Alice continued to cry, her tiny face contorted in anger and terror. Julie tried to shush her, her hands still trembling.

“I say it’s time to go,” Rob said. “She’ll break out of there soon.”

“Yeah,” Alan agreed. “Yeah. Boys, we need to go.”

Parker and Hunter, too wise for their mere seven years, picked up their toys and walked to his side.

“Do we have to leave Mama?” Hunter asked, looking uncertain.

“She’s a monster now,” Parker decided, staring at his dead mother.

“She always was,” Rob muttered.

“Yeah, boys. We need to go. Your mother…well, she’s one of those things now. We gotta go without her.” Alan rubbed their shoulders with his trembling hands.

“Okay,” the boys answered together. They both were pensive, but seemed to understand.

“Come on, boys. Time to go!” Rob said, guiding the children away.

“Let’s go,” Alan said, reaching out to guide Julie toward the stairs that led up to the roof.

Alice’s cries had settled into a hiccupping sob. The baby snuggled under Julie’s chin, gripping the collar of her blouse with a tiny hand. Julie peered up at Alan, her eyes full of fear and resignation. “Where are we going?”

As they walked swiftly after Rob and the boys, Alan glanced back at his dead wife. She was slamming her head into the glass of the door, desperately trying to get out.

“The Madison Mall,” he said at last. “We’ll be safe there.”

They left the floor of the orange juice factory, climbing toward the roof, leaving behind the undead version of his former wife, snarling, hissing, and slamming her hands against the door. Sadly, he realized, she wasn’t much different in death than she had been in life.

Stepping out onto the roof, he closed the door behind him.

Ken and Lenore’s Story

Ken and Lenore have always been fan favorites since they appeared on the online serial. They enter the story in FIGHTING TO SURVIVE and have important roles in SIEGE. Their friendship was always one of my favorite elements of the story.

I started their first day story online, but I could never figure out the end of their tale. Because I’m an organic writer, I trust the stories to tell themselves through the characters. This time, I was completely blocked. The story remained unfinished for two years.

It wasn’t until I was done with the SIEGE revisions for the Tor edition that I was able to write on this story again. By the time I finished, I realized why I had to wait to uncover the ending. This story and Siege are perfect companion pieces. Together they bring the story of Ken and Lenore full circle and are a wonderful testament to their loving friendship.

Friendship in the Time of Zombies

1.

Lenore

The alarm clock’s annoying scream woke Lenore from her deep slumber and she growled with irritation. Slapping her hand down on the top of the already-battered electric alarm clock, she stared at the blinking red letters grimly.

Seven o’clock.

She hated seven o’clock before the big spring forward time change. It was still dark outside and it didn’t seem right to be getting out of bed before the sun rose. Of course, in just another week that would change and she’d be getting up to bright sunlight and singing birds. But for now, like she had all through the fall and winter, she sat up in bed to be greeted by a cold room and silence.

Feeling grumpy, she threw off her covers and slid to her feet. The furniture in her room was antique and a bit battered. It was what they could save after Hurricane Rita had flattened their old home in Jefferson County. Two trees had taken down their massive Victorian during the storm and not much had been left to salvage.

“Didn’t wanna pay to get the plumbing fixed anyway,” her grandmother had sniffed when they had come from the rescue shelter and seen what had happened to the old home.

Lenore stared into the mirror over her vanity and frowned. She was a big girl with dark skin and eyes. Her hair was short, to her chin, and straightened. Fussing with her bangs, she sighed. She had been trying to emulate Halle Berry. A bad move. A girl at the beauty school had offered to do her hair and had done a good job frying it. Though Lenore had a firm rule not to let a white woman do her hair, they had been in a class on how to do hairstyles for African-Americans and she had thought it would be okay. Her over-processed hair was breaking off at the tips as the result. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with her hair next. She’d have to study the new hairstyle magazines at the beauty parlor. It would have to be a radical move. She’d have to cut it almost to the scalp and restart.