Chapter 7 #2
Above them stretched the patterned carpet of the floor they had been running on moments before—now looming overhead like a disorienting ceiling.
“We’re on the fucking ceiling!” Derek yelled just as Lionel was processing what he was looking at.
Mads was rubbing his forehead, having pulled himself to his feet, and looked directly upwards. “That’s very strange.”
“Strange?” Derek yelled at him. “This isn’t strange—it’s impossible!”
“Everything that’s happened is pretty impossible,” Lionel pointed out.
This was no more bizarre than the creatures they had fought or the stairwell switching around the floors.
When he stood up, he steadied himself easily and started walking forward again.
He smiled when the light finally started getting closer.
“Come on,” he waved at them before dropping back a few steps so Mads could take him by the elbow.
“It’s letting us walk forward now at least.”
Once they found 907, it became a new problem, trying to even reach the doorknob. Mads, being the tallest, stood on the tips of his toes and reached for the handle, but it was still well over five feet out of reach. Damn these tall ceilings that everyone loved.
“Here, let’s just pick him up,” Derek said, stepping forward. He yelped when his hand was slapped hard enough for the sound to echo around them. Both Derek and Lionel stared at Mads with wide eyes as Derek pulled his hand back, as it was already turning red.
“Don’t touch me,” Mads said, voice stern.
“You’ve literally been holding Lionel’s hand this whole time!”
“You cannot touch me,” Mads corrected.
“I’m taller than him,” Derek argued, waving at Lionel.
“I can get you up higher—” he fell quiet at the look Mads was sending him.
“Okay, then, Lionel,” Derek said, turning to him.
“You pick him up. He’s as thin as a rake; I’m sure you can lift him.
And he can definitely reach the handle if he just gets a boost up.
Put all those hours at the gym to work.”
Lionel turned to Mads with an eyebrow raised in question.
It took them a few minutes and a lot of shuffling, but Mads finally stood up on Lionel’s shoulders. Derek stood behind him, hands out in case Mads fell, but not actually touching him.
Even with the boost, Mads still had to stretch up toward it. Lionel wrapped his hands around his ankles, holding him steady. Finally, Mads’ hand wrapped around the doorknob, rattling it. Lionel’s stomach sank.
“It’s locked,” Mads sighed the words that they all had already realized.
Derek started rummaging through the bag of tools slung around his chest and called to him, “Here, just go at it until it opens.”
Mads took the mallet and did, in fact, just start swinging it against the doorknob.
It took several hits before the doorknob broke with a ‘crunch,’ and Mads was able to push the door open.
Just as Lionel was debating how all of them would get up there, or if Mads would have to go in by himself without any protection, Lionel felt his body suddenly become light, his feet lifting up and off the ground.
All three of them shouted in surprise as they tumbled to the ground, landing in a heap on the floor of the hallway. The carpet dug into Lionel’s palms and knees as he pulled himself up. He quickly turned to Mads, who had landed beside him. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Mads nodded. “I didn’t land on my head if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“I’m also okay, thanks for asking, Lionel,” Derek huffed as he sat up.
“He’s blind!” Lionel said, throwing his hands up. “I’m going to check on him before you!”
“Sure, that’s why,” Derek sighed as he stood up. “Let’s get this medication and go.”
Lionel scowled but got to his feet. He put out a hand to pull Mads up as well before following Derek into the apartment.
It was strange how normal the place looked. It was as though the owners had simply gone to work or school; the comfortable couches and pristine kitchen were just waiting for them to return home. Everything was exactly how it should be, untouched by the horrors they had already experienced.
It was easy enough to find Amir’s medications.
Lionel pulled open each cabinet until he found a small white bag.
When he opened it, he saw several needles and bottles of clear liquid.
There were other things as well that Lionel assumed were important: little white patches similar to the one he saw on the boy’s arm already, along with a small machine he couldn’t even begin to guess what it did.
“Got it,” he called to Mads and Derek.
“Great,” Mads said as he shut the fridge. He had several bottles of water in his arms. “We should also stock up while we’re here. You didn’t have much to grab from your apartment.” Lionel never kept much besides bread and snacks, which were unfortunately not very helpful in an apocalypse.
“Yeah, they’re loaded,” Derek said, coming out from where he had disappeared. “They have a whole pantry of stuff.”
“Hopefully, they have some bags we can use,” Lionel said as he zipped up the white medical bag, making sure everything was secure inside.
They found a few tote bags to fill with water and food that wouldn’t go bad, like soups, beans, and bags of dried fruits and jerky. Lionel thanked Amir’s parents for all the imperishable foods they bought before their world went to shit.
Lionel looked down once they were done, frowning at how many bags each of them had to carry. “We’ve gotta be careful—all of this stuff is going to slow us down,” he warned.
“It’ll be worth it,” Derek said as he carried his items to the door.
Lionel blinked when Derek pulled it open, all of them freezing in place. The hallway outside was completely gone, replaced with an endless darkness. Lionel was sure that if they stepped out into it, they would fall through it forever. Derek slowly closed the door until it clicked shut.
“Well, we can’t go that way,” he said, sounding lost.
Mads sighed as he pushed past the two of them and pushed the door open again. This time, the hallway was back, and when they stepped out of Amir’s apartment, Lionel saw that the doors around them all started with a ‘4.’
“We’re on the fourth floor?” Lionel asked, jaw hanging open.
“I’m not going to ask questions anymore,” Derek said, grabbing the bags and starting a quick jog down toward his own apartment. “Maybe the building zombie gods like us.”
Lionel frowned, feeling like this was a bit too good to be true, but followed with Mads at his heels.
Derek inserted his key with practiced ease, and luckily, nothing looked disturbed inside. “We’re back!” Derek called as the door closed behind them.
They were expecting the door to the music studio to be barricaded—or at least locked—but the door swung open easily when Derek pushed down on the handle.
The smell was what hit Lionel first, his eyes still trying to make sense of what they were seeing. Derek broke the silence first with a gasp, stumbling backwards until he fell hard on his ass.
The room was almost exactly how it was when they left it. But, instead of their fellow survivors, inside, there were only skeletons.