.x.x.x.
Bang! Bang, bang!
The gun jerked in Penny's grip as she fired three rapid shots through the dim apartment. Two missed, burying themselves in the wall. The third found its target.
Time seemed to grind to a halt as the creature froze in midstride before tipping forward and tumbling onto Sheldon. The sudden impact of its weight sent him staggering backwards before he managed to shove the body away from him. It hit the floor with a sickening thud.
The room was silent again, aside from the din of their heavy breathing, but Penny could hear her own heartbeat thrumming in her ears.
Sheldon turned around slowly to face her, his face ashen. Penny just nodded sharply at him, making an effort to still the trembling of her hands.
"Let's find her car keys and get the hell out of here," she said softly, averting her eyes as Sheldon drew in a ragged breath.
He covered her as she went poking around, looking for the old woman's purse. God, she hoped it wasn't back in her bedroom or something. She couldn't stomach the idea of venturing down a dark hallway to paw at the possessions of a dead woman.
Sheldon cleared his throat, catching her attention. She glanced up to see him pointing behind her. Penny reeled around, half-expecting to get her throat ripped open, but instead found a small purse sitting on a console table by the door.
Of course.
She sighed in relief, quickly spreading the contents out across the table. Sheldon crossed the room to peer over her shoulder at the three sets of keys Penny was examining.
"Which do you think it is?" Penny asked quietly, glancing up at him.
He motioned to the only one with the attached fob, "That one but take them all just in case."
Penny nodded in agreement, scooping them up and depositing them in her pocket.
A soft shuffling commotion started behind her but before she had time to question it, she was jostled from behind and shoved into the table.
Bang!
It only took Sheldon one shot to drop Mrs. Vartabedian. Granted, it was at close range, but it was still impressive because this was Dr. Sheldon Cooper. With a gun. Saving her life like it was no big deal. The image of him needing Vapo-Rub and "Soft Kitty" to fall asleep just the night before flashed in her mind, so at odds with the man standing before her now.
When Penny could breathe again, she managed a weak smile and said, "Well, I guess we're even now."
Sheldon acknowledged her words with a slight incline of his head but she could tell he was distracted.
"And I guess we know for sure about the bites," Penny added in a smaller voice, chewing her lip.
"I suppose so," Sheldon said thoughtfully, "I suppose so."
Surprisingly, they made it to the ground floor before they were attacked again.
A lone creature rushed them as they stepped out of the stairwell. They both stumbled backwards, tripping over the stairs and firing wildly. By some miracle, at least one of them managed to hit the creature before it sank its teeth into them.
The sunlight streaming into the lobby gave Penny her first good look at the havoc the infection wrought on the body of the infected. As Sheldon peered out into the parking lot, no doubt calculating things like distance or velocity or something, she studied the motionless form on the ground before her. It was a neighbor, someone she knew and saw at the mailboxes regularly, but she barely recognized the woman.
Her skin was so pale that the veins running through her body stood out prominently; purple and engorged. Blood was caked around her lips and seemed to be trickling from her ears but Penny wasn't sure if that was from the virus or from the gunshots.
But the most startling feature was her eyes. The whites of her eyes were blood red and the iris was almost entirely black. The effect was so disturbing and so far from human that Penny felt her stomach twist violently.
"Sheldon, the eyes…" she whispered, slapping a hand over mouth in an attempt to keep her stomach from expelling its contents.
"Yes, I know," he replied without even turning around.
She wondered how he knew. When had he gotten such a good look at their eyes? Then it occurred to her…Leonard.
"Oh," she gasped as the weight of the realization finally hit her.
He finally glanced her way, his expression unreadable, but the muscles around his temple were twitching. Her heart ached, both for Sheldon and for herself. But she knew this was still not the time to dwell on all that was lost. That would have to wait.
"Well, what is it, what does it mean?" she asked finally, swallowing the aching lump in her throat.
"It appears to be severe subconjunctival hemorrhaging accompanied by complete mydriasis, symptoms often associated with trauma or damage to the brain."
"English, Sheldon," Penny sighed.
He rolled his eyes and translated, "Bleeding in the eye and blown pupils."
"Oh."
"Yes, oh," Sheldon mocked her, but his voice held no edge as he continued, "Penny, we need to leave now."
She nodded as she turned to look out into the parking lot. Two of the infected were milling around aimlessly. The first she recognized as the building manager but the other was a stranger.
"We should reload," she said, not surprised when she glanced over at Sheldon to find him already kneeling over his bag to retrieve a box of ammunition.
Penny exploded out of the door first, putting a bullet through the right eye of the building manager with her second shot and dropping him where he stood. The other creature stumbled over the fallen body of the first and Sheldon took care of him on the run.
Penny's heart was pounding in time with her footsteps against the pavement, her skin warmed by the morning sun. She was almost there, so close, so close.
She spared a glance back at Sheldon to see him jogging awkwardly under the weight of his unwieldy bags and guns. His eyes darted around the parking lot cautiously until they fell on her. He offered her a nervous smile, the fingers of his free hand worrying the strap across his chest.
She couldn't stop the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth in return. They were almost there, almost safe. A warm sensation bloomed in her chest, a sense of relief, as she swiveled her focus back towards the Yukon.
And that giddy feeling disappeared in a puff of smoke as she skidded to a halt, nearly toppling over one of the infected as it rounded the front of the vehicle.
There was a blinding white flash of panic as it launched itself towards her. She fired instinctively as it knocked her on her back, forcing the air out of her lungs. Struggling for breath, she felt its fingers clawing at her skin as its dripping teeth seemed to inch towards her in slow motion. Wrestling an arm free, she shoved the barrel of the gun up into its mouth. Bloodied teeth cracked against cold metal as she squeezed the trigger. For a long moment, she thought nothing had happened. Bathed in icy fear, she squeezed again.
And it slumped over on the pavement next to her. She shot to her feet, lungs burning for air. Distantly, she heard someone screaming her name. Even more distantly, she could hear the thrumming sound of footsteps slapping against pavement…many footsteps.
She didn't look back as she lunged for the door, the metal of the handle biting into her palm as she wrenched it open. She hurled herself behind the wheel, tossing her bag into the backseat as she dragged the door closed behind her.
Only then did she let herself look back towards the street. The sight sent a chill skittering down her spine.
Dozens of infected pouring into the parking lot, dark eyes frenzied as they headed straight for the only things with a heartbeat. Oh my God, those things could haul ass. Where the fuck was Sheldon?
Just as the thought crossed her mind, he pried open the passenger side door and tried to dive inside only to be held back by the bulging bags over his shoulders.
"Sheldon, they're coming!" she screeched, scrambling to shove the key into the ignition with trembling fingers.
He struggled wildly and one of the bags slipped off his shoulder, allowing him to fall inside the vehicle. He managed to right himself in the seat and then, amazingly, leaned back out to retrieve his fallen bag.
"Shut the door, Sheldon! Shut the fucking door!"
He only leaned farther, his whole body straining painfully to stretch his fingers just a few more inches.
"Sheldon!" she screamed again, jamming her finger down frantically on the lock button as the engine roared to life.
In the rearview mirror she watched as one of the infected charged around the back of the car, heading straight for Sheldon.
With a grunt, he extended himself just far enough to slide his fingers under the strap and drag the bag up into his lap. He slammed the door closed just before the infected creature slammed into the glass, its grotesque face distorted and blood oozing down the window.
Sheldon turned towards Penny with wild eyes, "Let's go!"
Penny slammed the Yukon into reverse and floored it. The large vehicle lurched backwards, tires squealing as she jerked the wheel around to aim for the exit. Over the roar of the engine she could hear sickening thuds and crunches of bodies being crushed beneath her tires. The rear end of the Yukon jerked up at odd angles over the fleshy speed bumps. For at least the third time in an hour, she thought she was going to vomit.
Sheldon took note of her pallid face and twisted the volume dial on the radio up as far as it would go, hoping to drown out the stomach-churning noise of death and destruction.
The soothing sounds of Pat Boone filled the vehicle.
The roads weren't as bad as she'd expected. She figured that most people had been at home when they woke up dead and the living were staying put like they'd been advised. Sure, almost every street was still horrible and treacherous but she told herself that it could have been worse.
Her little car would have never made it but the Yukon soldiered through admirably. It was big enough to nudge the smaller obstructions aside and tall enough to climb curbs and sidewalks without a problem. Penny was proud of the monstrous vehicle. Sheldon was not so thrilled.
He had wrestled on his seatbelt as soon as they'd made their way out of the parking lot.
"Really, Sheldon?"
"It's the law, Penny. If we ignore our nations established laws at a time like this, our society will descend into chaos," his voice was steady but his fingers on the belt were trembling.
"Look around, Moon Pie. It's already chaos."
It was barely 9 am on the first day of the outbreak and the city was already in shambles. They passed buildings that were burning out of control with no one around to stop them. Penny's mind wandered; she wanted to ask Sheldon why fires always went hand-in-hand with chaos. Did people set them or did they just happen? Why would a zombie set a building on fire?
But she kept her mouth shut because he was obviously lost in thought, staring out the window and pointing out even the most obvious obstacles.
"Penny, there's a car in the road ahead of us."
"Yes, Sheldon, I see it."
"Penny, it seems that a multi-vehicle pileup is obstructing this road. Perhaps we should turn around."
"You're probably right, Sheldon."
"Penny, I believe that we are being pursued by a horde of hungry zombies. It may be best to ignore the posted speed limit at this time."
"Okay, Sheldon."
And Pat Boone sang on.
For a while it seemed that Sheldon and Penny were the only people still alive in Pasadena.
But near the city limits, they ran across one living, non-infected person. It was a middle-aged woman with red hair, wearing a black t-shirt and faded jeans. Penny would never forget her face; it was burned into her memory…the way her eyes were wide with blind panic, how her mouth contorted grotesquely in a desperate plea for help. But what really killed Penny was that she was hopeful. When she caught sight of them, Penny thought she could see hope in her eyes.
Penny had slammed on brakes, startling Sheldon out of his mental calculations. He saw the woman immediately.
"Penny, keep driving!" he urged, his fists clenching and unclenching in his lap, "Look away, Penny!"
But Penny couldn't tear her eyes away from the woman. She was staggering towards them, shadowed closely by two of the infected. Penny reached down to unlock the doors but Sheldon's steely grip around her wrist stopped her. The woman stumbled closer.
"Sheldon, we have to help her! She's still alive!" Penny protested hysterically even as she caught sight of the bloody bite wound on the woman's neck.
"No, Penny, she's already dead and if you let her in this vehicle, we're dead too."
He was right. Goddamnit, she knew he was right.
It took all of Penny's strength to press her foot down on the gas and drive away. Rage and sadness clawed at her heart and tears singed her throat but Sheldon talked her through it, his words flying at her so rapidly they blended into a sort of soothing white noise. She thought about thanking him but some part of her knew he was talking for his benefit as well as her own.
Penny forced herself not to look in the rearview mirror until she was positive they had long since left the woman behind. But she still saw her; she figured she always would.
