When the Dead (27 page)

Later
that night Molly still lay on her couch with a cold washcloth pressed to her
face, wondering if her nose might be broken. Hayden walked by her without a
word and out of the apartment to climb the stairs to Vaughn. When Hayden came
back three hours later, Molly was still on the couch.

“You’ve got to move out of here.” Three hours had been plenty of time for
Molly to decide that her nose was definitely broken and that she no longer
wanted to hold the title of caregiver. Hayden refused to make eye contact and
that was infuriating to Molly who had taken her in; convinced the others to let
Hayden stay in Willow Brook.

“Did you hear me? I want you out of this apartment. I can’t
believe
you went to see him after he did this to me! Let alone after the way he treated
you! I defended you for nothing? Did your parents raise you to be an ungrateful
bitch?”

“They taught me how to eat properly which is more than I can say about
yours!” Hayden finally raised her voice and eyes to meet Molly’s.

            “At
least I can go to therapy for my problem. I don’t think there’s any hope for
you
!”
Molly shot back.

           
“Well that’s one thing we can agree
on. I’m hopeless,” Hayden shrugged.

“We took you in, Hayden! We’ve fed you and sheltered you. Everything you
do still matters here. It matters to all of us,” Molly pled with the teen. She
was tired, her nose ached and throbbed, she was done. “But if you don’t see it
that way, get out.”

Hayden said nothing more as she packed her things and left 204. Molly
slept peacefully that night, despite her injury, with the weight of another
person’s welfare off of her back. Now she could focus on herself again even if the
loneliness was bittersweet.

Hayden
stood at the top of the stairs to the first floor. She could hear the dead beyond
the couches and through the spindly legs of office desks and dining room
chairs. The zombies never stopped moving, never stopped searching. Without
another option, she moved into 305 for good. Vaughn was passed out across the
hall and she wanted him to stay that way for now. A light knock came on the
Cooper’s door and she answered it.

            “Hi,”
Ben said shyly. “I knew you’d be here.”

            “Where
else can I go?” Hayden laughed weakly.

            “I
completely agree. We’re all just kind of stuck and it gets crazier every day.”

            “I
actually have
nowhere
else to go in the building. Molly kicked me out,”
Hayden explained.

            “Oh.
I’m sorry. I’d let you stay with me but I’m not in the position to offer such accommodations.
Can I come in?”

            “Sure.”
Hayden allowed him to pass the threshold. She started walking to the bedroom
but he put a hand on her shoulder.

            “We
can talk for a while. Just as Ben and Hayden. No role playing.” He sat on the
couch in the living room.

            “About
that . . .” Hayden began.

            “What
do you mean?” Ben leaned forward.

            “I’m
pregnant.”

            “I’m
not the father, am I?” Ben turned white at the thought of Vaughn finding out that
he and Hayden had slept together.

            Hayden
considered lying to Ben and telling him the child was his but then she’d be
just as bad a person as Tom. “No! I was pregnant then! That night! The baby is
Tom’s,” she admitted.

            Ben
relaxed. “What are you going to do? You have to tell him.”

            “I
know but it’s never the right time and I’m scared that he won’t want the baby.”

            “Yeah,
for some reason I just can’t picture the guy pushing a stroller and it has
nothing to do with the fact that we can’t take leisurely strolls outside
anymore.”

            Hayden
laughed but inside she panicked each time someone told her Vaughn wasn’t dad
material.

            Ben
could see the trouble in her eyes. He stood up and hugged her. He kissed her
head and came to a decision.

            “If
he doesn’t want you and that baby, I do,” he said and he meant it. “I’d be a
good dad.”

            “Don’t
tell anyone. I’m not ready,” Hayden cried.

            Ben
nodded and led her to the bedroom where they fell asleep, his hand resting
gently on her slowly growing belly.

Isobel
wasn’t used to waking up in an empty apartment. Ben wasn’t around and she was
certain he hadn’t spent the night on her couch. She made herself coffee and
lazed about. She was not religious but she found herself talking to God, asking
for just one uneventful day. Just as Isobel was finishing her cup of coffee,
Ben returned home.

            “Hey,”
he said as he used the remaining hot water that Isobel had heated to make a cup
of tea for himself.

            Normally
Ben talked to Isobel a lot. So much so that it seemed he liked the sound of his
own voice but he said nothing more. He sat down on the couch and picked up a
book to busy himself.

            “So,
where’ve you been?” Isobel asked, the curiosity overwhelming her. “By process
of elimination I have decided your answer will either be ‘with Molly’ or ‘with
Hayden’.”

            “Does
it matter either way?” Ben answered her question with a question of his own.
“You and I aren’t together in any form or fashion so I don’t see how it
concerns you.”

            “Molly
would be the more suitable answer but she has a thing for Rob. So what were you
doing with Hayden?” Isobel continued her questioning. “Nothing illegal I hope.”

            “Well
sheriff, no. I did spend the night with her but we didn’t do anything. She
needed a friend, a listening ear. She has a lot more going on with her than you
know.”

            “We
can’t be a team, Ben, if you are keeping secrets from me.”

            “I
won’t be pressured into discussing her issues,” Ben growled from over the brim
of his mug.

            “Fine!”
Isobel huffed. “Just don’t sleep with the girl. God knows what diseases
Vaughn’s given to her!”

Rob knew
that Molly had kicked Hayden out. He’d checked on Molly after Gabe had fallen
asleep the night before. In the morning, once he’d fed himself and his son, he
went to her apartment with a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck.

            “Want
to go bird watching?” he said cheerfully.

            “You
don’t watch birds. There aren’t even birds around to watch anymore. What are
you really asking? You’re not here for more sex are you?” she asked with
accusation.

            “No!
Do you want to come to the roof to see if anyone else is out there? I’ve been
thinking how crazy it is that we didn’t know there were survivors across the
street. We haven’t been paying much attention to our surroundings.”

            “Maybe
they were just as good as we are at staying hidden,” Molly suggested.

            “Do
you want to go or not?” Rob asked impatiently.

            “Alright,
let’s go.” The weather had grown even colder so Molly looked around for a thick
jacket, hat and gloves.

            They
took turns with the binoculars, pointing out anything interesting they saw.
There wasn’t much to make them smile but they were happy in one another’s
company.

            “Look
over there!” Molly gasped. “The mall is completely destroyed. The whole thing
is gone!”

            “Do
you see anything up the road near the hospital?” Rob asked as he strained to
make sense of the shapes in the distance without the aid of the binoculars.

            “There
are a lot of abandoned cars. Bodies are lying in between them. The road is
covered with them.”

            “Let
me see.” Rob took the binoculars from her and raised them to his eyes. “They
are all dead. I mean
completely
dead. Someone must have killed them when
they turned. That might mean there are survivors up there in one of the
houses.”

            “We
couldn’t risk that trip. There aren’t enough of us left and we’re all weak.”

            “I
wasn’t suggesting we try to make contact. But the undead are growing weaker too.
Look at that one over by the crosswalk button.” He gave Molly the binoculars
back.

            The
zombie was trying to walk but his rotten legs made it difficult to achieve any
sort of progress. “He doesn’t look too good.” Molly turned the binoculars on
others to see if they were all having as much trouble. One of the zombies stood
out to her.

            “Isn’t
that Sheila?” she asked, pointing to one of the dead.

            “Where?”
Rob asked. His heart started to pound and he tried to get the binoculars back
from her. “It can’t be. Jeff said she was out of town.”

            “No,
that’s her! I’m sure of it. That is the same outfit she wore to work all the
time and that giant diamond on her finger is unmistakable. Jeff must have paid
a fortune for that thing,” Molly said as she followed the shuffling corpse moving
down the street. “That is so strange.”

            “Hmm?”
Rob asked half-heartedly, hoping she would drop the conversation.

            “It
doesn’t look like she has any wounds. She wasn’t bitten.”

            “Maybe
she took some pills?” Rob suggested.

            “Come
on! She wouldn’t have come back here just to kill herself! And if she never
went out of town and did it here, why would Jeff keep that from us?”

            Rob
could see the gears turning in Molly’s head. She was doing the math and any
moment she would have the answer. He decided to give it to her.

            “He
killed her,” Rob blurted out.

            “No,
Jeff’s a good man. We shouldn’t assume that,” Molly replied.

            “I’m
not making an assumption. He strangled her. He admitted it.”

            “How
long have you known this?” Molly’s voice was rising as she uncovered the extent
of the lie.

            “We’ve
known since the second day when we went door-to-door.”

            “We?
The others know too? How could you not tell me this, Rob?” Rob walked toward
her but she backed away. She was growing more agitated.

            “Listen,
Molly. We wanted to give him a second chance,” Rob said.

            “Murderers
don’t get second chances!” Molly threw the binoculars hard onto the rooftop,
breaking a piece off of the plastic frame. She ran back inside, leaving Rob
alone.

Markus
and Jeff were looking over a map of the city that was unfolded on their coffee
table. They had an address book out and they were going page by page marking
the locations of all of his friends. It was important to be prepared to find
death and therefore ready to move to the next house if they were to set out on
their own.

            “Someone
has to be alive. It isn’t that difficult to survive, is it?” Markus said. He
was worried about his friends, some of them ex-lovers.

            “They’ll
be fine,” Jeff said comfortingly. “But more importantly, we’ll be fine.”

            Markus
leaned across the table and kissed him. “If we stick together, I’m sure
everything will work out.

            Jeff
sighed happily, relishing the comment. Suddenly Molly barged into the apartment
without knocking. Markus and Jeff jumped to their feet, ready to fight if
necessary.

            “You
fucking MURDERER!” Molly screamed.

            “Molly,
calm down,” Markus said. He looked to Jeff for an explanation.

            “I
don’t know what she’s talking about,” Jeff feigned ignorance.

            “How’s
your wife, Jeff?” Molly asked. “Tell me! Lie to my face!” She ran up to him to
meet his eyes.

            “You
can’t just barge into someone’s apartment and start accusing them of murder.”
Markus stepped into the small space between Molly and Jeff, ready to protect
his boyfriend.            “Well you can’t just strangle your wife, dump her
body, and start fucking a man either! Playing homosexual HOUSE like everything
is normal!”

            “It’s
not your business what I do, Molly,” Jeff said, his face turning red with
anger, “or what I’ve done.”

            “Hold
on. Jeff, is she telling the truth? Because that would be
my
fucking
business!” Markus yelled.

            “She’s
outside right now, Markus. Walking around like the rest of the DEAD PEOPLE but
without a single bite wound,” Molly said.

            Markus
left the apartment. He wanted to see for himself if what Molly said was true.

            “You
bitch!” Jeff yelled at Molly. He tried to grab her but she stepped into the
kitchen, putting the island in between them. Jeff looked for the baseball bat
but the wall where it normally sat was empty. He’d left it outside when he’d
tried to move the dog.

            Molly
could see him looking for a weapon. “Don’t come near me!” she screamed.

            “You
ruined EVERYTHING!” he snapped at her as he ran out of the apartment.

Jeff’s
heart hurt. He hadn’t felt pain when Sheila died but he was feeling it now. Not
because his wife was dead but because all the wrong people now knew it. His
body shook with tension as he stormed down the second floor hallway to apartment
205.
No need to knock
, he thought to himself,
there is no privacy
here anyway.
He turned the doorknob and let himself in.

            Isobel
was in her kitchen, still in pajamas and eating cereal with rehydrated powdered
milk. She almost dropped the bowl when Jeff let himself in.

            “Why’d
you do it?” Jeff yelled.

There was a machete propped inside its sheath behind the door. He wrapped
his fingers around the handle and slid it easily from the cover. He tried to
swing the blade at her but the entry to the kitchen was lower than he realized and
the machete hit the top of the frame with a thud. Bits of paint and plaster fell
to the carpet. Isobel dropped her bowl of cereal. Jeff was about to try again
when someone, he guessed it to be Ben, grabbed him from behind and dragged him
into the living room.

            “What
are you trying to do? You could have split her skull,” Ben said as he grabbed
the machete handle and wrestled it away from Jeff.

            “Fuck
you!” he yelled as he took a swing with a fist. “Who told her? Who was it?”

            Ben
tossed the machete onto the couch and punched Jeff just to get his attention.
“What are you talking about? Why are you acting like this?” he asked Jeff as he
nursed his knuckles which were virgin to fist fights.

            “Who.
The fuck. Told Molly. About Sheila?” he asked in response, his nose bleeding
lightly from Ben’s massive bear paw of a hand.

            “No
one told me!” Molly yelled. She stood in the doorway with the apartment door
propped open, ready to run if she needed to.
“
I
saw her in the binoculars. No bite marks, no blood, just bruising on her neck.”

            Isobel
was cleaning up the spilt milk when Rob and Markus appeared behind Molly in the
hallway. Markus was crying. Jeff, upon seeing the tears, lowered his head into
his hands in defeat.

            “I’m
not a murderer,” he whined. “It’s different than that. She was taunting me and
her damn dog wouldn’t shut up!”

            “That
doesn’t make it ok!” Molly yelled, still extremely upset about being left out
of the loop.

 “You’re anorexic and kept it from us!” Jeff argued back.

“Bulimic,” Molly said more quietly. “And that was different. Not knowing
this about you could have gotten any one of us killed!”

“And starving to death wouldn’t?” Jeff shot back.

 Molly gave him a hurt look, scowled at Rob and left. Markus followed
behind her. Rob shook his head and entered the apartment to sit on Isobel’s
couch. He touched the machete. Isobel closed her apartment door.

 “She confronted me in front of Markus. He doesn’t want anything to do
with me now.” Jeff was crying so heavily he was having trouble breathing.

“I’m sorry Jeff. I thought it would be better if people didn’t know,”
Isobel said, stepping closer. Jeff no longer seemed dangerous, just depressed.

“The dead aren’t keeping secrets anymore,” Rob said. He too was sad about
the fact. Just as Markus wasn’t likely to forgive Jeff, Molly wasn’t likely to
forgive him.