The Dead in River City by S.A. McGarey Page A

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