Loss

13 Days After First Infection

Zoey's legs started to feel heavy as she stood there, frozen in despair. The gun fell out of her father's hands and dropped to the floor in slow motion. Clattering on the ground and shattering the silence which hung in the air microseconds after the gunshot. The instant reality caught up to her she got hit with an emotional whiplash. That didn't just happen, did it? This must be a nightmare… Zoey fell to her knees, clutching her wrist, tears gushing out in waves as she couldn't hold them back any longer. Her mother and father… both gone on the same day…

She looked down at her hands, her knuckles were white and trembling as she balled them up in tight fists. Zoey punched herself in the face a few times, praying to god it would wake her and take her away from this terrible situation. When she didn't wake up she hit her forehead on the floor of the hospital, crying out in anguish. She felt like a useless waste of space, like a piece of shit who didn't deserve to keep going after failing to save even one of her parents.

'Promise you'll be strong for me, okay?'

Her father's words echoed in her head, snapping Zoey back to her senses. How long had she been on the floor crying? She didn't know why, but those words made everything seem so much… clearer. At the very least they gave Zoey a moment to calm down and wipe the tears from her eyes. She sat up, shakily took a few breaths, and reflected while mourning for a few more minutes.

Zoey sat on the cold floor, just wishing she could have done more to prevent this from happening… Or had done more in general. The more Zoey thought about her mother… how she could still be out there… the more the pit in her stomach grew. She could have even been one of the zombies she had witnessed in the horde earlier. She hated to admit it, but she wasn't as close to her mother as she was with her father. But she still made an effort to call her every other day, her mother was always the toughest on her when it came to her upbringing, and Zoey had pent up resentment because of that. Now Zoey was realizing her mother passed away with the last memory of her daughter being that of a huge disappointment, wasting her life away.

Zoey stood, wiping away the rest of her tears and walking up to her dad's body. She couldn't look at him without getting emotional, but she needed to be strong. For them. She needed to be better. To live up to the expectations of her father, and to exceed the expectations of her mother. She needed to survive this.

She kissed her father on the forehead, then covered his body with the hospital blanket. Zoey wished she could give her dad more than an empty hospital bed to rest in, but they were in the middle of the city, this would have to do.

'You need to be proactive. Promise me baby girl.'

His words echoed in her head. A reminder that only she could ultimately control her own future with her choices. Zoey picked up the gun on the floor, her tears were gone. She felt determined, thinking about his words and how meaningful they felt at this moment. With her bag slung across her back, she turned towards the door, looking back at her father's body one more time.

"Dad, how can I save you… if you don't even let me try…." She took a deep breath, taking a step towards the door. "I love you, and mom, and I promise I'll be strong. I'll survive so your memories will never die with me…"

She knew she had to leave all of her pain in that room, but every step made it harder. Eventually she found her stride though. Walking out of that horrible room, and leaving the hospital.

—-

Zoey didn't notice how exhausted she was until she stepped onto the curb and felt a wave of fatigue throughout her body. She took a moment to sit down on the curb. She had done enough reflection, she needed to come up with a plan to get somewhere safe now. That safe place definitely wasn't going to be in Pittsburgh though. She had her car… but that wouldn't be enough if the horde got close enough to hear it. Zoey hoped that the zombies had left the city by now, since it was so quiet, maybe they'd left for another city or something… that was only wishful thinking though. She decided the car was her best option regardless, they were fast but if she floored it she could eventually outrun them. Still, she didn't want it to come down to a chase.

"Well, holy hell…"

Zoey shot to her feet as an unfamiliar voice spoke from the hospital doors behind her. She drew her weapon and took a step back, aiming it at the old man who had appeared behind her. He was wearing a hospital gown, holding a bag of clothes in one hand and a fire ax in the other. He had an unlit cigarette in his mouth. When she pointed her gun at his head he started to set his weapon on the ground slowly. Afterwards raising both of his hands in surrender. The old man raised an eyebrow, "Nice quick draw kid, but are you really going to fire that gun?"

Zoey stayed focused on the old man, her weapon not wavering even after he spoke. After the day she's had, a half naked old man wasn't going to threaten her convictions even a bit. "Drop the bag too." Zoey ordered.

The old man begrudgingly mumbled. "It's only clothes." He tossed the bag towards Zoey, who rummaged through it with one hand as she kept the gun pointed at the old man. She glanced up as the man flicked the cigarette away. "Bill." He stated his name bluntly.

Once Zoey had confirmed the bag had no weapons she threw it back towards Bill, lowering her weapon but still holding it tight. "Alright Bill, I've got some questions for you. You're the only living person besides… besides my dad… that I've seen for hours."

"Your dad huh? And where is he?" Bill clearly hadn't picked up on Zoey's tone when she mentioned her father.

"He's… no longer with us." Zoey didn't expect to have to explain her dad's passing so soon after the fact, but she continued. "The name's Zoey, how are you still alive? The whole city seems to have gone to shit in the blink of an eye…"

Bill scratched his beard, ignoring her line of questioning as he said, "I could really use a smoke right about now… How about we exchange stories inside the hospital, I'm gettin' a bad feelin' standing out here. And not just from wearing nothin' but this damn gown out in the cold."

Zoey looked back at the hospital doors nervously. She didn't want to go back there anytime soon if she could help it, but she knew it would be safer there for the time being. "Fine, go change inside, I'll meet you there when you're done."

Zoey kept watch outside the building and went in after a few minutes. She saw Bill already sitting in one of the chairs, lighting a cigarette. "You know, you're not supposed to smoke in hospitals." Zoey remarked.

Bill grunted. He had changed into a green army jacket with a cream colored shirt, cargo pants, and an army beret. "So kid, I don't know what in the hell is going on here, I'm gonna need your help in painting a picture of what's been happening in the city."

"What do you mean? Haven't you been here? Or seen them?" Zoey was confused and frustrated, she didn't want to be the one answering questions here.

Bill grunted again, "I've seen somethin'. I was coming in for surgery on my bad knee. Before goin' under I saw a nurse go nuts and attack the medical staff. I was able to remain conscious long enough to take er' out. But I blacked out after that, only waking up when I heard a gunshot downstairs."

Zoey winced at the last part of that story. She at the very least appreciated how brief he was with his words, Bill was pretty good at only saying what needed to be said. "You're telling me you were able to resist the anesthesia and fight off the zombies?" She was very skeptical that this old man was able to fight off a zombie while near incapacitated, but she had seen crazier things today.

With another grunt Bill confirmed his story. "Zombies huh? Now I'm gonna need you to explain what you know."

Bill watched expressionlessly as Zoey told her story, she wasn't the best story teller but she gave it her best shot. He sat there with his hands clasped under his chin as he watched intently, but didn't interrupt. He didn't react when she got to the part about her mom and dad, Zoey left out the part about her mom possibly becoming a zombie, mostly because she wasn't ready to confront that possibility herself. She thought she saw his mouth twitch when she described the horde of zombies. What was that about? When she finished, Bill got up and walked outside.

"Where are you going? You're just gonna waltz on out of here after hearing what I told you?"

Bill kept going, looking out towards the west. There were fires spreading in that direction, making a ring of fire which looked like a nightmarish sun. "I'm going to my apartment, and stocking up on weapons," He spoke without facing Zoey, "You can follow me if you want, I won't stop you. But I also won't stop to help you if you can't keep up…"

Weapons didn't sound like a bad idea, but Zoey didn't think she should trust this old guy yet. "We can take my car, I'll even let you drive." She felt in her gut that she would be safer with this guy than the alternative, plus letting him drive would make her less worried about him stabbing her in the back.

Bill turned, nodding at the car with approval. "Just keep an eye out while I drive."

—-

Zoey felt nervous when Bill turned on the ignition. She sat in the front seat, deciding that it would probably make the both of them feel more at ease if they could keep an eye on each other. They were headed to Bill's apartment complex on Holly street. Zoey was still unsure about this whole thing, but she had no other other options. They could just drive out of the city, but that horde was a looming threat they couldn't face if not properly armed, two pistols weren't going to cut it if they had to defend themselves.

Zoey kept her eyes on the road as Bill drove, afraid of looking away. She didn't like how long it had been since she'd seen the horde. Zoey wasn't in a hurry to see it again, but she knew it was inevitable and the anticipation was starting to drive her insane. She felt like if she blinked the zombies would be on top of them the second she opened her eyes again. Zoey needed to get her mind off her paranoia, she decided she would try making conversation as they navigated through the city streets. "So what weapons do you have stashed at your place? Will they be enough?"

Bill grunted.

Zoey sighed in exasperation and sat back in her seat. "I'm letting you drive my car, the least you could do is try to make small talk."

Bill kept his eyes on the road. Zoey had a hard time getting a read on the old guy. It seems like the more she tried talking to the guy the more disinterested he became. Whatever the case, she was at least glad she was in the presence of another living person while she explored this dead city. As frustrating as this person was to try and communicate with.

They passed a building with a giant neon sign that said 'HOTEL.' Bill pulled over next to the building, parking the car and walking out without acknowledging the college girl. "Hey wait a minute!" Zoey got out and jogged to catch up with Bill. "You were really serious about just leaving me behind if I didn't follow you, weren't you…"

Bill turned around and lit a new cigarette, "We're never gonna get out of this city if we lollygag."

"Lollygag? Really? Who even says that anymore?"

One of Bill's eyes twitched. He turned and kicked open a door, leading from an alley into a building adjoining the hotel from earlier. They climbed up a couple flights of stairs, making their way up to the top floor of the building. Bill scratched his beard when they made it to the door to his apartment. "It's been almost an hour and still no sign of 'zombies'…" He mumbled to himself.

"Well don't sound too disappointed…" Zoey muttered back, not appreciating his tone on that last word.

Bill shot her a look before unlocking the door and shuffling inside. Bill headed to what looked like the kitchen, soon he started rummaging through his kitchen cupboards. 'Old guy must be hungry.' Zoey thought. She ignored him and looked around. Bill's apartment was about what she expected, worn and dusty. Fitting.

The young woman walked up to a side table next to the window. It had several picture frames on top, but the images were covered in so much dust she could hardly tell what was on them. All except one at least, this one showed four young men in army camo standing with their arms over each other's shoulders. The picture was in black and white, clearly it was taken a long time ago. The guy on the left definitely looked like a younger version of Bill, she assumed this was from his army days. He looked a lot happier in the photo compared to now, maybe age just does that to a person…

She picked up another frame, wiping away some dust to reveal what looked like a beautiful young woman, she looked to be in her 20's. She didn't know what this woman's relationship to Bill was, but she decided it was probably too insensitive to ask him. She put the photo down and picked up the last frame. It actually didn't contain a photo at all. It was a thin, square shaped container. It held a dried pink hibiscus plant, it looked a little worn, but otherwise it looked decently preserved. Zoey didn't know the significance of this item. She left it alone as well.

"Hey Bill, how about we get a move on-" Zoey's voice left her when she saw Bill walk out of the kitchen holding a couple m16 rifles and some extra pistols. Bill tossed her a rifle and a case of ammo which she almost dropped. He slung a bag over his shoulder and started inspecting his rifle.

"Been a while since I had to use one of these." Bill remarked, looking at his rifle like it was a long lost child. "You know how to use a gun like this?"

Zoey held the weapon like it could explode at any moment, "I've shot rifles before, but just one's used for hunting…"

Bill smirked, "Oh, we'll be doin' some hunting, kid."

The look on Bill's face perfectly resembled the one he had on the old photo she saw. He was excited… This whole apocalypse situation was nothing more than another reason to fight again, to relive those good ol' days when he had to fight to survive. Normally this would be a horrible thing to want, and in any other situation she would want to put as much distance between her and the violent old guy as she could. But she figured this type of behavior could slide in a life or death situation like this one.

Zoey took a deep breath and sighed. "So what now Bill? Do we drive off, guns blazing while we fight our way out of the city?"

The nostalgic expression left Bill's face in an instant, almost like she'd hit a switch. Bill looked like he was deep in his own thoughts for a second before responding to Zoey. "I figure that's one option, albeit a pretty reckless one. We'll save that as a last resort for now…" Bill glanced at his weapon but blinked and shook his head quickly. "Only other option, way I see it, is to just… wait this out…"

"What do you mean wait it out? Most if not all of the city's already been turned, it's not like it's gonna get any better out there!"

"I don't like the idea any more than you do, kid." Bill walked up to the window, lighting another cigarette. "But if the zombies travel in groups like you said they do, and it seems to be that way since we haven't run into a damn thing on the way here. Then that means the horde will either leave the city or get wiped out by the army, one big target like that'll be easy pickings."

Zoey watched Bill take a drag of his cigarette as she considered his logic. "Well… that doesn't sound completely insane… I guess. But we still know so little about them, and-" Zoey couldn't finish her words as she thought about what she'd seen at her parents home. As far as she could tell from the zombies she'd seen, they all looked relatively human in terms of anatomy. But her father's story and what she'd seen was starting to bring concerns. Concerns that she was too afraid to voice. Glowing red eyes… and claws that could slash through solid walls… None of the zombie's out there looked like anything close to that…

"What, kid? If you've got somethin' on your mind spill it, there's no time for…" Bill trailed off as he tilted his head to the side.

"W-what is it? Do you hea-"

"Quiet!" Bill hissed. He placed his hands on the windowsill before pressing his ear up against the glass. "Somethin's coming…"

"You don't mean the zombies do you?" Zoey's looked skeptical, but before she could get an answer from Bill she started to hear something too, and feel it. It was almost like a low rhythmic rumbling noise, the closer it got the more she recognized what it was.

Lights illuminated the darkened streets of Bill's neighborhood, what followed was a helicopter going the lowest she'd ever seen a chopper fly through the city. It practically flew between the tallest buildings in the street, the sound of the helicopter's blades nearly blew out Zoey's eardrums. She almost thought the glass would shatter from the amount of noise the thing was making as it passed by. Almost on instinct Zoey ran towards the window to open it, hoping to get the chopper to notice them as it flew by. She stopped herself though realizing how futile it would be to try signaling it at this point.

Zoey glanced at Bill, wondering if he'd had the same thought as her. He had a strange expression on his face though, she also noticed that he wasn't trying to look at the helicopter anymore. Zoey looked out the window, trying to follow his line of sight, before she spotted something that made her heart sink.

One of the buildings across from them had one of its doors kicked open. A tall dark skinned man ran out of the building wearing a worn white shirt with a tie and slacks, he was waving and shouting for the helicopters attention. The effort was futile though as the chopper completely passed him by. Zoey could only watch in horror as the man stamped the ground in frustration. She knew what would happen next, the helicopter had made a hell of a lot of noise, and with a beacon of sound flying through the city like that…

Zoey started sprinting down the stairs without thinking, she could hear Bill shouting something down at her as she ran, all she could hear was a 'god damnit' though. She didn't care, her legs moved on their own as she made her way to the ground level. If she didn't do anything she knew she would regret it. There weren't a lot of people left in the city, at least none that she knew of. Maybe he also knew something that could be helpful. Zoey shook her head as she ran, she didn't need to justify it, she was going through with this no matter what.

Zoey made it to the front door and burst outside. She could already hear them coming, they had seconds before the zombies were on them. She needed to act quick or they'd be torn to shreds. "HEY!" Zoey cupped her hands and yelled at the guy across the street. But as the guy turned around Bill pulled her back into the building.

"You're going to kill us!" Bill howled as he pointed his rifle at the approaching man. "Are you armed?!" Bill shouted as he examined the guy up and down.

"What?! No man!" The guy looked shocked he was having a weapon pointed at him given the gravity of the situation.

Zoey stood beside the doorway, ready to step up if she needed to. She didn't know Bill well enough to have any sort of loyalty to him, and as far as she knew he would leave her the second she was caught by zombies. Still, she didn't want to have to betray him either, in his own way he was just surviving like her. Bill took a split second to read the situation before tossing the man a pistol from his holster. "Hope y'know how to use that." Bill grumbled. Zoey could see the stranger relaxing just a bit.

Bill pointed his weapon at the man's head. Immediately the man put his hands up in a panic. "Wait, what the!?" He shouted.

"BILL!" Zoey demanded.

Bill fired, taking out a zombie who was inches from scalping the new guy from behind. Bill pulled the man into the building and shut the door, leaning on it and looking back at his two companions. "Just learned all I needed about you, now pass me one of those chairs!"

Zoey rushed to hand Bill a chair. He used it to hold the door closed, but it didn't look like it would last long. "U-um I'm Louis!" The stranger introduced himself with a nervous tone, his eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

"Zoey, nice to meet you, now's not the time to talk!" Zoey pointed at the door as more fists started pounding on it.

Bill started up the stairs and called back to the two. "We gonna get a move on?! They'll be on top of us as soon as that door gives out!"

He didn't have to ask them twice. They all bolted upstairs, Zoey shut all the doors behind her as they climbed all four floors. When they got to Bill's apartment they heard glass shattering downstairs, along with the clambering sounds of bodies as they flooded the building, climbing at an alarming rate. "W-what are we supposed to do…" Zoey thought she had doomed them all, if they fought back they would only attract more of them with the noise.

Bill walked into his kitchen, moving a large cupboard and revealing a ladder with a hatch at the top. He climbed without saying a word until he disappeared. Louis gave Zoey a confused look before she gulped and followed the war vet up the ladder with Louis right behind her. They found Bill standing at the top, he was observing the scene down on the street below. They could hardly see the street now with the number of zombies which swarmed the building from below.

"One gunshot was all it took to attract all that huh?… " Bill took a drag of his cigarette, then tossed it off the building. He looked back and pointed at the rooftop of the neighboring building, "We'll have to change buildings."

The building next to theirs had a lower rooftop than theirs, Bill didn't hesitate as he dropped onto the second rooftop. He looked up at them and gave them an expression that looked like he was trying to say, 'Well?'

Zoey and Louis followed him, and they proceeded to pass through three neighboring rooftops by climbing fire escapes and dropping onto lower roofs. They stopped at a building with a tarp on top and the letters, 'S.O.S' painted on the roof. Hopefully whoever wrote that message had found their way out of the city, it was unlikely though. They looked down at the street and saw a humvee sticking out of the side of the building. Zoey was curious about what had happened in the building, it couldn't have been good.

Scanning the rest of the street brought a bit of relief. Not as many zombies, their numbers seem to have been concentrated at the source of the sound in the original apartment building. Thankfully the helicopter was also still attracting a vast majority of the horde in the city, now they only had to worry about the ones who were brought by the single gunshot. Although their numbers seem to have thinned out it still left them with a lot of bodies to deal with.

"Looks like this is the building we're stuck with for the time being." Bill remarked, "Two buildings around us are too tall to climb without some kinda ladder."

"That helicopter really screwed us." Zoey sighed, "What's that lunatic doing flying around the city anyway? They're just making the zombies sweep through the city!"

Louis rubbed the side of his head. "Well, now that we're finally able to take a breather maybe we can take a minute to properly introduce ourselves." Louis pointed his thumb at himself, "You already know my name, Louis. Thanks for saving my butt out there. You didn't have to do that, but since you did I know I can trust you guys."

Zoey crossed her arms and tapped her foot on the floor impatiently. "What were you thinking, chasing down that helicopter? Without us you would be roadkill right now!"

She looked over at Bill as he sat on the edge of the rooftop, pulling out another cigarette from his coat pocket. "Not to mention Bill over here was a second away from shooting you himself."

Louis's eyes gleamed as he learned the old man's name, "Ahh Bill! I gotta admit I was nervous for a second there, but thank you for not shooting me."

Bill looked up at them, probably wondering himself why he'd decided to help the two survivors in the first place. "Only reason I didn't shoot ya' on sight is cause the second you opened your mouth I knew you weren't a threat."

Louis looked like he didn't know whether to be offended or grateful. Zoey gave him an amused look. "Well I'll take that as a compliment then." Louis decided.

Bill continued, "Don't get it twisted, I could have easily left you to the wolves if I wanted to, and that's still a possibility if you threaten our chances of survival…"

"And you had to ruin it…" Zoey murmured.

Louis looked unphased though. "I'd be dead without you two, so you don't have to worry about me. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure we ALL make it outta the city safe."

Bill raised an eyebrow at the confidence Louis had in his own words. "And how do you plan to do that?"

Louis smiled, "Going down to the street may not have been the smartest move, but it did let me see something that I think you'll find very interesting." Louis explained to the group how the helicopter had been circling the city for the entire day, and always took the same path when he saw it every couple hours. "I took a risk, I figured if I couldn't get the chopper to stop for me I'd be dead if I stayed in this city alone anyway."

"Not the smartest idea, you've seen how fast those zombies are." Bill remarked. Zoey elbowed him on the side of his head, tipping his beret.

"You're right, but being in this city alone as those zombies passed by… I gave up hope, telling myself I'd leave it up to fate whether I survived or not." Louis shook his head at the thought. "The things I saw, one second this was my city, the next it was hell… In the blink of an eye, the most horrible stuff imaginable…" Louis looked Bill and Zoey in the eyes, the pain in his eyes was suddenly masked by warmth as he continued. "Then you guys helped me out, so I guess fate, or God, or whatever you want to call it has bigger plans for me!"

"And I'd do it again." Zoey said, thankful that Louis didn't make her regret her choice. He was genuinely a great guy, the perfect person you'd want watching your back in a situation where trusting anyone could lead to a knife in the back, at least according to the movies.

Louis looked over the side of the building and down the street. "Anyways, I saw something you guys might think is interesting. The helicopter always takes the same route, and it always disappears down the street." He pointed at something down the street, back at where they just came from. "I couldn't see where it ended up because the buildings were always in the way, but when I was on the street I got a clear view of where the helicopter had been stopping at the end of its runs."

Zoey gulped as she realized where this was going, and all sorts of thoughts were flooding her brain at once; irony, regret, and dread. "You don't mean…" She said helplessly.

"The tallest building in the city." Louis confirmed, "Mercy Hospital."