Thirty
Simone
“You were right, the fresh air is nice,” I whispered the next day.
I was again wearing the bulletproof vest, overkill in my opinion, but a condition Rubin had put on this trip outside. I’d have given him anything to go out, but I’d let him put it on me grudgingly, if only to prove a point.
I’d been scared yesterday. Now I wanted to rip my clothes off to feel the air and sun on my skin. Not even the persistent stink, the gunshots, the clamoring of the dead I could hear behind the wall made a difference.
We were in the courtyard, traversing the fenced area that spanned the jail.
The visitors’ gate had been barricaded, and the space between the first gate and the main gate was clear save the debris scattered about.
I looked toward the gate. “There are barricades. Would it be possible to expand the perimeter?” I asked.
“Depends. Why?”
“Well, the interior walls are low because the assumption is that this outer perimeter won’t be breached. Maybe we can reinforce it and find a way to scavenge resources. Build this place up.”
“The issue is the calories it would take for that kind of heavy construction might not be worth it.”
We continued to walk, Rubin undoubtedly keeping his strides slow to accommodate me.
He walked on the outside of our little group, with me between him and the perimeter wall.
I would have preferred being on the outside.
The noise behind the wall was persistent and unnerving.
I’d glimpsed the dead through the windows, seen those inside the jail, but hearing them, a clamoring horde I’d somehow not noticed the day before, spiked the nerves I’d been managing to keep at bay.
“This isn’t sustainable. The food’s almost out,” he said, looking at me.
“It’s not,” I said, glad to speak the thought I hadn’t been able to escape.
“What should we do?”
He sounded like he really wanted to know what I thought. I looked at him, my brow arched.
“Why do you look surprised? I’ve always asked your opinion. It even landed me in prison.”
“That’s why I’m surprised,” I whispered.
He shrugged. “You will pay for what you did to me. But there’s nothing that says you can’t be useful in the meantime.”
That was how I’d sold myself. Useful. But what the fuck did I know about surviving the apocalypse? Nothing.
I told him as much. “I could lay out options I know you’ve already considered, but that’s a waste of time, so why don’t you tell me what you’re thinking, and I’ll give you an opinion on that?”
“I’m thinking I need to be ready for anything,” he said, to my surprise. I hadn’t expected a response.
“That’s a given,” I said.
“And I’m thinking that those guards will probably eat each other alive before they even get to me. But they might not. So why am I wasting resources and trying to guard against them? Trying to protect this place. I should leave here, barricade the exits, and let them starve to death.”
“What about the other inmates?” I asked.
“What about them?”
“They might turn on you.”
“They could try.” He spoke it like a fact he’d accepted and didn’t feel anything about one way or another.
“Still, you do something like that and they could easily conclude they’re no better off with you than the COs. Restraint might help you win them over completely.”
“This isn’t a charm offensive, Simone,” he said.
“Of course not, but never hurts to be liked.”
“It’s not something I care about,” he said.
His face was set in the stubborn expression, but I didn’t let that deter me. He was angry, but surely he could see. I’d make him see.
“Rubin, I—”
My words drowned in a concussive thud that grew into a deafening crash.
Rubin
The wall moved a half an inch but settled into place. I didn’t feel relief though and didn’t waste more than a second before I pulled Simone close and ran back inside.
Lorik was waiting at the door. “Krye! Come quick!”
We raced up the stairs to the fourth floor, Simone at my side the entire way. I stopped and peered out the window, wondering what horrors I would see.
I stared at the scene, the handgun tight in my grip. The weight of a gun in my hand was as familiar as taking a breath, but the weapon was useless. An ambulance lay on its side against the prison wall where it had clearly crashed, one wheel spinning.
The vehicle hadn’t been big enough to knock down the wall, but that wasn’t good.
Because what it was, was the perfect height for those things to climb on.
They’d been gathering for days, a few more each day, and the noise of the crash drew them to the ambulance.
It was a garish show, watching them clumsily move toward the ambulance, only to fall and be stepped on by others, creating a perverse step ladder.
“Should we shoot them?” Besnik asked.
“No,” I said. “Too many.”
The first to make it to the top of the ambulance fell over and tumbled down into the courtyard.
Then the next.
And the next.
So many that the conclusion was impossible to ignore.
I turned to the men, who all looked at me.
Glanced at Simone but quickly looked away.
“Check the exits and make sure they are secure. The courtyard is gone.”