In the Lone and Level Sands by David Lovato Page B

own mother. He hid his feelings well; he
blinked away the tears, then spoke.
    “My name’s Alan. We aren’t safe here. We
need to leave.”
    “I could have told you that ,” Billy
said.
    Alan walked up to Beverly and looked down at
her. “I am very sorry for your loss, ma’am, but we really must go.
Look around. We’ve gotten their attention.” He pointed with his
gun. Several of the zombies were moving in. They were slow, but
they were getting there.
    Angela looked at Martha, and a wave of
sadness rushed over her. She decided to close the casket, but
Martha still held Charlie’s hand.
    “Please,” she said, “let him go.”
    “No,” Martha replied.
    “I know it’s hard. But think about the rest
of us. You know we can’t take him with us.”
    Martha didn’t speak any further about it,
but removed her hand from Charlie’s, and Angela closed the
casket.
    “What are these things?” Billy asked. Alan
had begun walking after beckoning to the group. Slowly, everyone
banded together. Martha walked between her two daughters, their
respective families on either side, and Beverly walked behind them,
looking back as she went. She took one last eyeful of the horrible
sight that was her dead husband.
    “I have no idea what they are,” Alan said.
“But I’ve seen what they do . If one of them bites you, it
isn’t long before you’re one of them.”
    “Why didn’t my husband turn into one of
them, then?” Beverly asked from the back of the crowd. She began
walking faster, shedding her blood-soaked jacket. Underneath was a
white blouse, mostly untainted by Tylor’s blood. She discarded the
jacket and caught up with Alan.
    “Because he died before he could, I
suppose,” Alan said. “I guess that’s just how it works.”
    Some of the zombies came closer, and Alan
didn’t want to slow down. He shot a couple of them, hitting them
right in the head. Blood splattered, and they crumpled to the grass
below. Finally, they reached Alan’s car.
    “You parked nearby?” Alan asked. Billy
nodded. Alan turned on his car and flipped radio stations, quickly
finding one that was broadcasting news. Everyone drew close to
listen.
    “—timely and orderly fashion. I repeat: All
nearby citizens, please report calmly to Lynnwood Stadium. The
stadium is being fortified and shelter is being provided to those
affected by the recent events. Please, make your way to Lynnwood
Stadium in a timely and orderly fashion. I repeat: All nearby
citizens—”
    “Yeah, that place was gonna be great,” Billy
said. “Think they’ll ever finish it?”
    “It’ll be great for a whole new purpose,
now,” Alan replied.
    “I say we go for it,” Martha said. “I just
want to make a stop by my home, first.”
    “We have time for that,” Alan said, smiling
at Martha. She and the others began to move toward the cars they
came in. Alan called to them.
    “All right. You lead the way, and then we’ll
head to Lynnwood. The traffic’ll probably be Hell, so we’ll need to
hurry.”
    Martha, Francine, Emily, Billy, and Beverly
all climbed into Billy’s SUV. Phil, Angela, and Jesse climbed into
their car. When everyone was ready, the three vehicles pulled out
of the cemetery parking lot.
     
    ****
     
    It took about twenty minutes to get to
Martha’s house on Amblan Drive. There were at least a half dozen
zombies wandering the streets, sidewalks, and front lawns. For the
most part they weren’t wise to the three cars, but one of them
happened to turn its head toward them and notice the people moving
inside. The zombie staggered toward the SUV. A few of the others
caught on and followed.
    Emily was about to exit the car when she
realized the zombie was heading for it. She slammed the door of the
SUV shut, uttered a short scream, and grabbed Billy’s arm.
    “What’s going on?” Billy said. He noticed
the zombies. “Oh, shit!”
    Alan stopped his car, rolled down his
passenger window, leaned out, and opened fire on the slowly but
surely