'Til Death Do Us (A)Part: Love (and Sex) In the Zombie Apocalypse

     Vinnie was apoplectic.

     Perched on the arm of her sister’s sofa, Maddie watched him pace. He strode from one end of the living room to the other, muttering to himself, occasionally yanking a hand back through his hair so hard that she winced in sympathy.

     He hadn’t spoken since they’d discovered that Caleb, along with the car, had disappeared. He’d followed them up the stairs to Jessie’s apartment, eyes smoldering, unaffected by Jessie’s inane chatter. She hadn’t noticed the change in his demeanor, nor seemed to register the loss of their only way out of the city; she’d remembered on the way in that she had “Really, totally awesome danish” somewhere in the kitchen, and all of her inebriated energy had been focused on getting up the stairs and to her pastry stash. She’d squawked with indignation when Maddie had steered her immediately into the bedroom upon entry.

     “Quiet,” Maddie had hissed, closing the door quickly. “Shut up about the fucking danish for a minute.”

     “But I’m hungry!” Jessie had whined. She’d flopped onto the bed, full of drama. “I haven’t eaten all day!”

     “Then I guess you’re going to be pretty sick later.” Maddie had shaken her head, disgusted. Leave it to Jessie to down a gallon of alcohol on an empty stomach. Checking her watch, she’d reasoned they probably had half an hour before it caught up with her and Jessie passed out; car or no car, they weren’t going anywhere any time soon. Not if they wanted to avoid traveling in a cloud of tequila sickness. “Just stay here,” she’d told her sister, grabbing her by the ankles and hoisting the rest of her up on to the bed.

     She’d slipped into the bathroom, listening to Jessie’s continued whining with half an ear, and filled the rinse cup with water. When she came back out she’d seen that Jessie had wriggled herself into a seated position on the bed, reclined back on the pillows, and had nodded with satisfaction. “Drink this,” she’d ordered. “All of it. Try not to puke. I’ll be back in a minute.”

     That had been an hour ago. She’d peeked in on Jessie twice since then, finding her snoring loudly in the bed, and then returned to her place on the couch.

     She wanted to do something, say something, anything that would make him stop pacing and mumbling. She’d already suggested calling the police, to report the car as stolen; he’d glared at her for just a moment, hand going reflexively to the waist of his jeans, before he’d resumed ignoring her in favor of his temper tantrum. She’d thought of the gun, transferred to the glove box, and wondered if it was unregistered. She’d been so out of it that morning, she hadn’t even noticed how he’d explained his possession of it to the police. Maybe he’d distracted them from the topic. There’d been a lot of other things to talk about.

     Was that really this morning? She felt like she’d lived a week in the time since she’d woken up.

     Maybe turning on the television would snap him out of it. She’d waited, mostly because she wasn’t entirely sure where the remote was, but enough was enough. He might be content to talk to himself all night, but she wanted to know what the hell was going on.

     Wrinkling her nose, she started sifting through the clutter on Jessie’s coffee table. Old magazines, empty cigarette packs, something that looked suspiciously like a roach clip (I didn’t see that, I didn’t see that), candy bar wrappers, old tissues – Maddie wondered if her sister ever threw anything away. Not finding what she wanted in the detritus, she turned to the sofa, thinking maybe the remote had been stuffed behind one of the pillows or down in the cushions. That was where hers always ended up, after all.

     “Aha!” She blew couch crumbs off the buttons and turned, holding it up triumphantly. When Vinnie continued to ignore her, she shrugged and sat back down, turning on the television. She clicked away quickly from whatever trashy reality station Jessie had last watched and found the news. What she saw took her breath away.

     Jessie, or rather Roy, had been right. Chopper cameras showed the quarantine blockades, barricades erected in front of both bridges leading out of the city. Armed soldiers stood in front, positioned behind short wire fencing that had clearly been thrown up to keep the masses of people from rushing at them. The shot lingered over those crowded on the other side of the fence, desperation visible even on faces obscured by the ubiquitous cotton masks. The fence trembled with the force of their shaking; Maddie wondered how long it would hold up to the onslaught.

     The shot switched to a grainy on-the-ground camera, positioned on the civilian side of the fence; text at the bottom of the screen indicated it was amateur footage. “Return to your homes.” A uniformed man stood a few feet away, shouting at the crowd through a megaphone. “This is now military property; trespassers will be arrested. Return to your homes. You are under quarantine. Trespassers will be arrested. Return to you-”

     A rock sailed into view from off-camera, missing the man by a wide margin. The screams around the camera operator intensified, and the footage grew shakier as he was jostled by more people streaming toward the front of the fence. Another rock was lobbed, followed by a bottle. As the soldiers came forward, weapons drawn, the footage was quickly cut off and the scene returned to the newsroom.

     “Well, that was…” The anchorwoman cleared her throat nervously, clearly unsettled. “As we said, that was video taken just 20 minutes ago, at the Chesterfield Bridge, where a military blockade has come under attack. We have no word yet as to the status of that blockade. City officials have advised that a statement from the mayor will be released sometime in the next hour, and that citizens are reminded to stay in their homes and away from the quarantine barricades.”

     “For those of you just tuning in, a quarantine has been instituted for the city and surrounding areas, including Triton, Mayfield and Carrington. Additional areas may be quarantined upon assessment by the CDC and the Department of Health. Citizens inside the quarantined areas are advised that there will be no incoming or outgoing traffic for the duration of the quarantine, which at this time is unknown. The CDC is searching for a Z4N2 vaccine, which has thus far resulted in 150,000 hospitalizations in the city itself, and 100,000 deaths. Emergency medical facilities have been erected at Bayer Stadium, to handle overflow from local emergency rooms. Citizens are advised, in lieu of a vaccine, to procure a flu shot as soon as possible, wear masks in public and avoid being in crowded areas until further notice.”

     The anchorwoman paused, taking a shaky breath before she continued. “Officials don’t yet know how Z4N2 is spread, nor have they provided a timeline for the infection. However, it is known at this time that Z4N2-” Here she cut off, looking away from the camera incredulously. “Is that right?” she asked someone off-screen. “We have confirmation on that?” The answer came, unintelligible, and she closed her eyes. Maddie thought the woman was going to begin crying, live on television. When she opened them again, the fear on her face sent a shiver down Maddie’s spine. “It is known at this time,” the woman said, her voice unsteady, “That Z4N2 has a one hundred percent mortality rate.”

     She looked off to the side again and started to speak, but before she could the picture cut out and the network went to commercials. Maddie muted the volume and turned to look at Vinnie, who had finally stopped pacing.

     “Z4N2,” he said flatly. “That’s clever.”

     At that, Maddie exploded. “Will you stop?” she screamed. “Did you see those people? Those soldiers with their guns? People are dying. What’s wrong with you?”

     He stared at her, unmoved. “Do you know the last time the government quarantined a city?”

     “What?” She blinked, thrown off. “No.”

     “1919. Spanish Flu. They didn’t even quarantine for SARS. Or H1N1. Why do you think they’re doing it now?”

     “Uh, because this is dangerous? More dangerous than the others were?”

     He shook his head. “Sure. That’s why they’re keeping people in with guns.”

     She threw up her hands, beyond patience. “Fine. You’re right. They’re keeping people in because they’re going to eat each other.”

     “And infect each other,” he said. “You know that. What do you think killed your friends? Rabies?”

     Maddie glared at him. “Fuck you,” she said. Rising, she strode across the room, toward the little balcony off her sister’s kitchen. Yanking hard, forcing the seldom-used door open, she stepped outside and breathed deep. The fresh, cold air was a welcome relief. She sat gingerly in an old metal chair and leaned back, focusing on the night sky. She wished she could clear her mind of the images she’d just seen, the sight of all of those people clinging to the fence, begging to be let through. She wondered how many of them were still there, or had been arrested. Or shot. She didn’t know much about the military, but she suspected throwing things at them wasn’t handled lightly.

     She didn’t know how long she sat there before he came out, stepping quietly onto the deck. He leaned against the railing, not looking at her.

     “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I broke our deal. I shouldn’t have said that.”

     She shook her head. “It’s not about the deal.” She kept her eyes on the stars. “They’re dead. He’s dead.”

     “Jack?”

     “Yeah.” She thought for a moment. “I was there, you know. Right before he died. He wasn’t right. He wasn’t…himself.” She laughed suddenly, filled with bitterness. “Whoever that was. I thought I knew.”

     Reaching into his pocket, Vinnie pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “I found these, in the kitchen. Will she care?” When Maddie shrugged, he shook one out and lit it, taking a long drag. He stared at the glowing tip for a moment before asking, “Do you miss him?”

     Maddie was surprised by the question. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “Yes. And no. We were together a long time. I loved him. But it wasn’t…I guess it wasn’t real. I have no idea how long he was sleeping with her.” She chewed her lip. “I miss who I thought he was.”

     “He was a dick,” Vinnie said.

     She sighed. “Yeah. I guess he was.” She rolled her head to the side, watching him smoke. She couldn’t see his face in the darkness, only the glow of the cigarette as it moved toward his mouth and then away. “If you’re right,” she said quietly, “And I mean big, big if. But if you’re right…”

     “Then he’s one too,” Vinnie finished for her.

     “Right.” She swallowed hard. “Bill, and Chrissy. They were my friends. But he was…everything. And I can’t-” She stopped suddenly, afraid she was going to cry. “I can’t think about that. I won’t.”

     He was silent. After a moment he took a last drag, then flicked the butt over the railing, down to the street below. Before going in he paused, turning his head slightly but still not looking at her.

     “You won’t have the luxury of not thinking about it forever.”

     Sitting alone in the dark, she shivered.

     Elbowing her way toward the bar, Maddie tried to think of a way to get her sister down, dressed and out of the building without making a huge scene. Judging by the way she was now grinding herself all over her tequila-dispenser, it wasn’t going to be an easy task.

     Easier than anything else you’ve dealt with today, she told herself. Drunk sister is nothing compared to crazed neighbor, or zombie-hunter chauffeur.

     Speaking of, she felt him at her back, pressing against her as they moved through the crowd. She could feel the weight of his hand on her hip; when they were jostled by a pair of dancers, it slipped under her shirt for a moment, searing her skin. She jumped, reaching back to move his hand; instead she found her own hand grabbed before she could touch him.

     “Hey, sweetheart!” The grabber tugged her forward and into his arms, twirling her away from Vinnie before she could speak. “You look like you like to dance.”

     Maddie forced a smile, not wanting a confrontation she didn’t feel capable of dealing with right now. “I’m here with someone!” she shouted.

     “I don’t see him,” the man said, friendly enough but with a slight edge to his tone. He slid her closer to him, wrapping both arms around her waist and jutting her up against his crotch.

     “He was right behind me,” Maddie said. She slid her hands up his arms and onto his chest, then pushed, trying to create space between them. He gripped her waist tighter, his pleasant smile contorting into a leer.

     “I’d like to see you from behind,” he said, leaning in to kiss her ear. She laughed before she could stop herself, startling him into drawing back. “You think that’s funny?” he asked.

     She shook her head. “No. Sorry. I really can’t dance, though. I have to find my date.”

     He opened his mouth to argue with her again, but before he could speak a large hand clamped down on his shoulder. Vinnie jerked him back, shoving him into the crowd.

     “Vinnie,” she said, placing a hand on his arm. He shook her off, ignoring her in favor of glaring at her new friend, who was turning an alarming shade of red as the people around them turned to see what was happening.

     “Hey man,” the guy protested, “No need to be an ass. We were just dancing.”

     “You always grab the women you want to dance with?” Vinnie asked, taking a step forward. Maddie looked at his stance, the jut of his chin, and knew he was going to hit the other guy, no matter what he said. Rolling her eyes, she wedged herself between them and used her body weight to push Vinnie back, away from the guy and into the space that had opened in the crush.

     “Let it be,” she told him. He glared at her; for a moment she thought he’d shove her aside and go back, but to her relief he relaxed and let himself be pushed further away, until the guy disappeared into the swirl of people dancing.

     “Are you okay?” he asked.

     “Seriously?” She shook her head, annoyed. “He was handsy. I could have handled it.”

     “He grabbed you.”

     “And?” She rolled her eyes again. “I’m used to it. I would have kicked him, eventually. It always works.” She looked toward the bar, where all signs of her sister had disappeared. “I’m more worried about getting Jessie out of here. The guy she’s with might not be as easy to kick.” Turning back to him, she saw that he was scanning the crowd, no doubt looking to start his fight again. “It’s not a big deal. What’s your problem?”

     He touched her wrist carefully and she looked away, not wanting to admit that it was not happy about being grabbed, nor with all the pushing. She was half-hoping Jessie had some good painkillers hidden in her bathroom, as she suspected ibuprofen wasn’t going to cut it when she tried to sleep tonight.

     “You’re not so great at defending yourself,” he said.

     She glared, hating his condescending tone. “Drunks in bars are different from crazy neighbors,” she snapped, yanking her hand away from his. “Let’s just find my sister and get the hell out of here, okay?”

     He nodded, and they resumed their push toward the bar. As they neared she noted again that Jessie wasn’t up on the bar top, and for a second she feared that the other woman had slipped out with her inked-up friend while they’d been fighting the testosterone wars. A glance down the line of stools, however, relieved that concern.

     “Um.” Cringing, she stepped toward the guy whose lap her sister was poured into and tapped him on the shoulder. “Sorry!” she shouted at him, leaning in so he could hear her over the music. “I need to borrow your friend!”

     Jessie looked up with bleary eyes, lipstick smeared across her mouth; for a second she didn’t seem to recognize Maddie, then her face lit up. “Mads!” She threw an arm out, losing her balance and threatening to topple to the floor. “Roy! This is my sister!”

     Maddie eyed the guy up again. “Roy? As in ‘Roy’s’?”

     “That’s me!” the guy said jovially. “And you’re Maddie, as in, ‘my sister Maddie is a bitch’!”

     Maddie gritted her teeth and smiled. “That’s me,” she agreed. Reaching out, she grabbed her sister’s arm, squeezing tighter than necessary. Jessie’s grin faltered, and a little of the haze left her eyes. “We have to go, Jess.”

     Jessie shook her head, pouting. “I’m having fun! Roy was about to let me see the back room.”

     “I bet he was.”

     Maddie adjusted her grip and yanked, pulling Jessie off of the stool; the girl stumbled a little, catching herself against the bar. When she straightened up, all of the friendliness was gone from her face. “I don’t want to leave. Go home, Madelyn.”

     “Jessica.” Vinnie stepped forward, shouldering Maddie out of the way. “There’s an emergency. With your mom. You have to come.”

     Maddie watched as her sister leaned in and ran a hand down Vinnie’s arm, the smile she directed at him warm and seductive. “Are you here to take me home, Sergeant?” When Vinnie returned the smile and winked, Maddie looked away.

     “Hey, wait a minute!” Roy protested, trying to rise from his stool.

     “Easy there,” Vinnie told him, pushing the guy back down. Despite his size, in his state Roy was no match for the taller man’s strength; Vinnie’s easy grip kept him in his seat. “It’s a family thing. Okay?”

     “She drank all my tequila!” Roy complained.

     “Last I saw, you weren’t stopping her,” Maddie told him.

     “Well, yeah, but she said…” Roy trailed off, perhaps realizing he didn’t want to discuss what the tequila trade-off was supposed to be with the sister and large friend of his would-be conquest.

     Reaching into his pocket, Vinnie pulled out a handful of cash and threw it on the bar. “Buy another bottle,” he said. Before Roy could respond they were gone, pushing their way back through the crowd toward the door. Maddie found herself trailing behind while Vinnie hugged her sister to his side, guiding her carefully across the room. Jessie stumbled and giggled, gripping his shirt.

     As they stepped outside, Maddie realized belatedly that they hadn’t thought to grab the rest of her sister’s clothes. Shrugging out of her sweater, she held it out. “Put this on,” she ordered.

     Jessie laughed. “I’m fine. It’s not even cold out.”

     “Someone will see you,” Maddie hissed.

     “Who?” Jessie asked.

     Looking around, Maddie noticed what she hadn’t on their walk down – the blocks between the bar and Jessie’s building were completely deserted. The few shops were closed, which made sense given the hour, but so was the bodega on the corner, and those places never closed. Roy’s appeared to be the only place open, as far as Maddie could see. There weren’t even any taxis on the road here.

     “Where the hell is everybody?”

     “Quarantine,” Jessie slurred.

     “What?”

     “What quarantine?” Vinnie stopped, turning her so that she faced him. When she didn’t answer he shook her slightly, jarring her. “What do you mean?”

     “Uh.” Jessie reached up, holding her head for a moment. “You know. The quarantine. Nobody in, nobody out.”

     “Nobody in or out of what?” Maddie asked.

     “The city,” Jessie said. “It was on the radio or something. S’why Roy gave out drinks.”

     “But we were listening to the radio,” Maddie said. “To the traffic reports. They would have said something.”

     “Not if it happened after we turned it off,” Vinnie interjected. “You got tired of hearing it. We switched to CDs.”

     Maddie looked at him, horrified. “We got quarantined while we were listening to Springsteen?!”

     “Ew,” Jessie said, giggling. “Did you pick that? He sucks.”

     “Shut up!” Maddie threw the sweater at her sister. “Put that on! And shut up!” She grabbed Vinnie’s hand, digging her nails into his palm. “Why would they do this? We have to get home!”

     “Oh yeah.” Jessie looked up from buttoning the sweater, her brow furrowed in exaggerated concentration. “What’s the emergency? Is Mom okay?”

     “I lied,” Vinnie told her. “She’s fine. But she wants you home.”

     “Chrissy,” Maddie said. She realized she’d have to say it. “Chrissy died.”

     “Oh.” Jessie reached out, enveloping Maddie in an awkward, boozy hug. “I’m sorry. That sucks.”

     “Yeah.” Maddie gave a bitter laugh. “Yeah, it does.” She looked over her sister’s shoulder, holding Vinnie’s gaze. “Now we’re stuck here?”

     He shook his head. “I don’t know. If this is from Roy, we don’t even know if it’s true. We’ll check the TV.”

     “Hey, yeah!” Jessie released her sister and beamed. “Maybe Roy was wrong! You can check while I shower. Come on.”

     She hurried down the sidewalk, suddenly perfectly stable despite her heels. Maddie marveled at her ability to deal with being drunk so easily; she knew if she’d just downed a bottle of tequila, and whatever else Jessie’d had to drink, she’d be unconscious.

     “We should tell Caleb,” she said. “Maybe he’ll come up with u-”

     She stopped, nearly tripping in her surprise.

     “What? What’s wrong?” Vinnie held her arm, concerned, then followed her gaze. “Oh son of a bitch.”

     Maddie stared, shocked. Caleb was gone.

     And so was the car.

     It was dark by the time they reached Jessie’s apartment.

     Maddie threw her door open as soon as they stopped moving, anxious to get to her sister and get this trip over with. She hoped fervently that traffic outside of the city wouldn’t be as bad as it had been inside; they’d gotten caught up behind four accidents, the last one a pile-up so large she couldn’t even fathom how it happened. She was exhausted, she was starving, and her wrist hurt.

     Plus, she really, really had to pee.

     Leaping from the car, she took a few steps before she realized she had two more immediate problems: her ass was so sore she could barely hobble, and both of her legs were completely and utterly asleep.

     “AAHH!” Pin wheeling her arms, she tried to reach out to the car for balance, but had gone one step too far for that to work. Her body completed the lean anyway, and she was alarmed to note that she was going down.

     “For Christ’s sake.” Vinnie swept his arms around her, catching her up and spinning her away from the side of the car.

     Maddie ground her teeth, not wanting him to touch her but unable to move away. Everything below both knees was on fire, the pins-and-needles pain so intense she wanted to scream. She settled for digging her nails into Vinnie’s biceps as she leaned against him.

     “Stomp your feet,” he told her.

     “What?”

     “Stomp your feet, like you’re putting out a fire. It’ll help.”

     Feeling ridiculous, Maddie stomped, putting more of her weight against his chest to keep her balance. The first sharp rap of her foot sent a spike of agony all the way up her leg, so intense she thought she’d collapse again. The second, though, was better, and after a few more she was able to wiggle her toes without wanting to cry.

     “Told you,” Vinnie said, his mouth right by her ear. The warmth of his breath sent tingles across her scalp. She was suddenly conscious of the size of the muscles she was still gripping. Army, he’d said. Well. He certainly was…fit.

     “You were right,” she said, stepping back slightly so she could look up at him. His arm remained around her waist, keeping her from moving too far away.

     The corner of his mouth quirked up, the beginning of a smirk. “I usually am.”

     She caught his tone immediately, and just as quickly remembered that, muscles or not, he was a loon. Bristling, she pulled away; he released her easily, to her relief.

     “You should wait here,” she told him. “I’ll run up and get Jess.”

     He shook his head. “I promised your mom I’d take care of this.” He held up a hand when she started to protest. “I know what you think. And I know, if you go up there, you won’t come back out.”

     She sighed. “We can just wait, for the trains to go again. You don’t need to drive us.”

     “Yes, I do.” He put his hands in his pockets, a casual gesture at odds with the tension coming off him in waves. “I made a promise. And besides, you owe me. For this morning. Crazy or not, I saved your ass.”

     “Because you thought he was a zombie.”

     “Does it matter? You saw what he did. How he was. He would have hurt you. Probably worse.”

     Maddie knew that was true. Whatever had been wrong with Webber, he hadn’t torn down her door to borrow some sugar.

     Sighing again, she gave in. “Fine. Come up with me. But no conspiracy theories around Jessie,” she warned. “She’s…easily led. You leave her alone.”

     “Deal.”

     She waited while he gave instructions for Caleb to wait in the car and not touch his radio; as they walked toward the building she glanced back at the kid, huddled in the backseat.

     “You’re just gonna leave him with the keys and your car?” she asked. “He’s a stranger, remember?”

     He gave her a tight smile. “He won’t go anywhere. He believes me.”

     She grabbed his arm, stopping him.

     “I know I seem like a bitch,” she said. “But I’m not. I didn’t thank you, and I’m sorry for that. So thank you. For saving me.” She bit her lip, unsure how to continue. “Everything is so messed up. Everything. And I can’t- I can’t deal with your stuff. So I’m grateful. But you scare the shit out of me.”

     He looked at her for a long while, dark eyes scanning her face.

     “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I shouldn’t have told you. I’m sorry I scared you.” He reached for her hand and she let him take it, surprised at herself. “Let’s just worry about getting you home, okay? We’ll talk about the rest later.”

     She considered, then nodded. “Later. Okay.”

     He was opening the door to the building when she stopped him again.

     “Shit. What time is it?”

     He glanced at his watch. “After 8. Why? Is she at work?”

     Maddie laughed. “You could say that.”

     “Why don’t you call her?”

     “She never pays her bill.” She tugged on his hand, heading back toward the car. “I know where she is. There’s a bar, down the street. Ray’s, or Roy’s, something like that.”

     “It’s a Monday night!” Vinnie said, sounding appalled.

     “You met my sister, didn’t you?”

     “I brought her back, after the wedding.”

     “And you’re surprised she’s at a bar at 8 on a Monday?”

     Vinnie nodded. “Good point. How far is this place?”

     “It should be right down the block. Jessie doesn’t drive when she’s drinking; she’s lucky if she can walk.”

     Vinnie nodded again and went to the car, motioning for Caleb to roll down the window. “She thinks we need to go down the street. We’ll be right back.”

     “Should I go with you?” Caleb asked. He seemed loathe to get out, Maddie thought; just having the window open was clearly making him nervous.

     “They won’t let you in, it’s a bar,” Vinnie told him. “Just wait here. We won’t be long.”

     “Okay. Just, uh, be careful.”

     Maddie gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She still wasn’t thrilled with him, after the day they’d had together, but she felt bad that he was so irrationally frightened. Just a kid, she reminded herself. Everything is messed up for him too.

     “We’ll be fine.” Vinnie reached through the window and clapped him on the shoulder. “Roll it up, keep it locked. We’ll be back.”

     As they headed off down the street, Maddie hoped he was right, that they would be right back. She prayed that Jessie was still genially drunk, and hadn’t entered the horny or angry stages yet. Either one would be a pain in the ass to deal with.

     “So, what did you think?” she asked Vinnie.

     “What’s that?”

     “Of my sister,” she clarified. “At the wedding? I heard you were her date.”

     “Oh. Well, we didn’t talk much. She passed out in the car and slept most of the drive.” He glanced at her quickly, smirking again. “She looked nice, though.”

     Maddie snorted. “I was so worried about that dress. It didn’t matter, in the end.” She frowned. “Chrissy…”

     “I’m sorry,” Vinnie said quietly.

     She shook her head, angry at herself. “I keep forgetting. With everything else, I keep forgetting that she’s-” She stopped, not wanting to say it.

     “It happens,” Vinnie said. “You can’t process too much; your mind doesn’t let you. Prevents overload.”

     She looked at him, intrigued by his tone. “You learn that in your job? My mom said you were overseas.”

     He didn’t answer; instead, he pointed to a sign further down the street. “I think that says Roy’s,” he said. “Bit more than a block.”

     “That’s probably it then.” She drew a little away, put off by his colder tone. No war talk. Noted.

     He did, however, hold the door when they reached the bar, and gave her a small smile when she entered ahead of him. A smile that faded when they were fully inside, surveying their surroundings.

     Maddie had expected Roy’s to be a dark little place, a watering hole for local drunks like her sister. It was indeed dark, and surprisingly small, but she was pretty sure not everyone crammed into the place was a local. Loud music pulsed out of the speakers; a thick haze hung over the crowded dance floor. Maddie hadn’t smelled cigarettes in a long time. She held her breath, hoping like hell she didn’t start to cough from the smoke; she feared Vinnie would clock her and run.

     “Where’s your sister?” Vinnie shouted, his voice barely registering over the din.

     Maddie scanned the crowd, not seeing Jessie. She was about to muscle her way to the bathroom when the dancers parted, and she got a good look at the back of the room. She groaned.

     “Do you see her?” Vinnie grabbed her arm, pulling her close; his lips touched her ear, setting off tingles again. “Are you sure she’s here?”

     She nodded, miserable, and pointed. He followed her gaze, and as the crowd parted again, they both gaped. A woman stood astride the bar, teetering slightly in sky-high heeled boots. A heavily tattooed guy supported her, pouring liquor down her throat. Her skirt was hitched up, revealing pale skin above the tops of her stockings. Her shirt was off.

     “That,” Maddie shouted, “Is not good.”

     So much for the genial stage.

     Three hours later, Maddie wondered if they’d have been better off walking to her sister’s place.

     Horns blared around them; angry drivers shouted at each other, as if cursing someone’s mother would make the traffic move faster. Vinnie sat rigid, gripping the wheel – he’d given up yelling the hour before, and now the car was filled with a charged silence. Maddie glanced at his white knuckles and clenched jaw, considered saying something reassuring, then thought better of it. She turned her attention back out the window, to the task she’d assigned herself when it became obvious the three of them weren’t going to pass the time chatting.

     She was counting masks.

     The news had said they weren’t required, but it seemed many people weren’t taking chances. She saw old women, children and men in power suits, all wearing cloth masks over their noses and mouths. A young mother strolled by, a carrier strapped to her back, the baby inside wearing a too-big mask that rode up over his eyes.

     So far she’d counted 200; as time had passed more and more faces in the crowd were obscured by the cloth. She wondered if they should get masks of their own, once they got to Jessie’s. If they got to Jessie’s. She was beginning to think they’d sit in this car until they started coughing.

     Feeling hot, she reached out to roll down her window.

     “Don’t open that!” Caleb lunged forward, grabbing her arm.

     “Don’t touch her,” Vinnie growled, not taking his eyes off the road.

     “Sorry.” He released her quickly, then leaned between the seats, his voice adamant. “Just, don’t open the window.” He looked past her, at the people cramming the sidewalks. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who’d been watching the masks.

     “I need the fresh air,” she argued. “Air gets in anyway, doesn’t it? Through the vents?” Getting no answer, she reached out again.

     “Madelyn.” Vinnie shook his head, just a little.

     Rolling her eyes, Maddie dropped her hand. Caleb flopped back in his seat, relief clear on his face. “This is stupid,” she told him, peering into the backseat. “It’s a car, not an air lock.”

     When neither man replied, she crossed her arms, irritated, and looked back out the window. She was counting again when Vinnie finally spoke.

     “He ate her.”

     She jerked her head around. “What?”

     “I heard the cops talking. They tried to be quiet, but I heard them. His daughter – he ate her.”

     Caleb leaned forward, fascinated. “What, like Dahmer?”

     Vinnie shook his head. “No. Like…” He glanced at Maddie, quickly, and she understood.

     “Oh,” she said softly. “Like that.”

     She stared down at her hands, an ache in her throat. She hadn’t thought about Chrissy yet; hadn’t allowed herself to, not since Vinnie had told her. She wanted to be home first. She didn’t want to cry, not in front of these strangers.

     When Vinnie’s hand reached out and grabbed hers, she looked up, surprised. He stared straight ahead, still not meeting her gaze, but his thumb stroked her fingers, gentler than she’d have imagined. She squeezed back, pathetically grateful.

     “He must have heard you knock,” he continued, looking at Caleb in the mirror. “That’s why he came out. The sound must have caught his attention.”

     “Don’t blame that on me,” Caleb said. “She was his neighbor. He must have been pissed, came for her next. A grudge or something.”

     “That’s not how it works.”

     Maddie tore her attention away from the warmth of his hand to focus on his words. “What does that mean?”

     Vinnie finally looked at her, his face tense and serious. “The photographer – Dave? Did he have a grudge?”

     Maddie shook her head. “That was different. His mind wasn’t right.”

     “He was dead.”

     “Yes. But we got him back, and that’s why he…he was confused…” She trailed off, uncertain and suddenly afraid.

     “He was dead.” Carefully, Vinnie removed his hand from her lap and placed it back on the wheel. “He was dead, and then he wasn’t, and then he ate your friend’s face. He bit people. He scratched. And now they’re all dead too.” His eye twitched. “Right?”

     “I don’t understand-”

     “Yes you do!” he shouted. “Watch the damn news! ‘Drug-fueled rampage, 6 people dead.’ ‘Woman shoots husband after he attacks and bites son.’ ‘Bodies missing at the county morgue.’ It’s all on the news.”

     “That’s always the news,” Maddie argued. “Somebody is always on drugs; somebody always gets shot. People die all the time.”

     “Not like this,” Vinnie said. “This is different.” He slammed his hand on the wheel, making her jump. “Why don’t you see it?”

     “You said…” Maddie chewed her lip, thinking. “You said you had to. Mr. Webber – you said you had to shoot him in the head.”

     Vinnie nodded. “It’s the only way. After they come back.”

     Caleb caught the snap. “You mean, like…zombies?”

     Maddie laughed automatically, mind skittering away from what she was hearing, but when Vinnie nodded again, her jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious.”

     “He was dead, Madelyn.” He was earnest, sincere, with no hint of the madness Maddie expected to see. “He died. You saw it. And then he came back.”

     “Oh my god.” Her stomach rolled. “Oh my god. You killed him. You killed both of them. Because you thought-” She turned to Caleb. “He’s insane!”

     “But – the news. I’ve seen it too.” Caleb hesitated. “That old guy – how did he tear down your door?”

     Maddie closed her eyes, picturing Webber, seeing his face as he’d advanced toward her, snarling. He hadn’t looked right, that much was true. He hadn’t looked right at all. The way he’d kept coming, what he’d done to his daughter – that wasn’t right either. But this…

     “No.” She shook her head firmly. When Vinnie reached for her hand again, she recoiled, pressing herself up against the passenger door. “No.” Her fingers scrambled, searching for the handle. She had to get out, get away from this car.

     The click of the door lock made her stomach drop.

     “Open the door,” she said, wishing her voice didn’t sound so unsteady. “Open it, or I’ll scream.”

     “You could do that,” Vinnie said, his voice so agreeable she felt like the crazy one. “I’d let you out, if you did. But Madelyn – are you sure you’d rather be out there than in here?”

     She looked out the window. It was rush hour now, and the sidewalks were jammed with people heading home. She’d never seen so many people out walking before; the loss of mass transit meant they were all dumped out here, pressed up together as they all tried to move. As she watched, she saw what he’d wanted her to see – people stumbling, and stopping, in the crush of the crowd. People coughing all over each other.

     When she met his eyes again, Vinnie smiled and patted her knee. She flinched at the touch. “I’ll get you home,” he assured her. “I’ll get you home, and then we’ll just…see.”

     She turned to Caleb, imploring, but he kept his eyes down and avoided her gaze. Should have left you behind, she thought savagely. He seemed to wither under her glare, to withdraw into himself until he looked years younger, like the kid that he was.

     Miserable, she pressed her face against the window, focusing on the feel of the cool glass against her cheek. She was trapped in this car, with a kid and a madman, no way to get home. She couldn’t expect the kid to help her. She couldn’t rely on her sister either, once they finally made it to her.

     Maddie realized she had no one to rely on but herself.

     I am so fucked.

     The city police were far more efficient than the others Maddie had dealt with.

     One look at the destruction, and they’d readily accepted Vinnie’s claim of self-defense. They’d ventured next door, to Webber’s apartment, and there made the gruesome discovery of another body. Webber’s daughter, it seemed, had come to visit.

     Maddie sat numb through their initial questioning; numb when they came back, to ask about the woman they’d found. She hadn’t heard anything. She’d never met the daughter. She’d never known Webber to be anything but kind. “He was a nice guy.” Caleb’s confusion was now her own.

     Neither she nor Vinnie made mention of the photographer. Caleb – miserable, contrite, afraid of the cops – also said nothing.

     The bodies were cleared out so quickly that Maddie, had she been in her right mind, would have found the haste unseemly, perhaps a bit off. Part of her thought that; the rest was relieved. They could do nothing about the mess. She avoided looking at it, stared at the wall and, occasionally, Vinnie. She marveled at his calm, the way he handled the police. It came to her again that he was a cop, but he didn’t say so, and neither did they.

     Finally, the last officer prepared to leave. He ascertained that Maddie had somewhere to stay, until the door was fixed, and then he was gone. The squawking of his radio faded slowly; the call to other people, other scenes of danger.

     When he was gone, the three of them sat, eyeing each other. Maddie waited and waited for one of them to speak, but the silence between them stretched on.

     “Why are you here?” she finally asked, cringing immediately at her strident tone.

     Vinnie rose slowly, from his place at the table, and came to where she sat on the sofa. He glanced at Caleb briefly, then held her gaze.

     “Chrissy,” he said quietly. “Your mother asked me to come.”

     She closed her eyes.

     “I thought,” she said, speaking more to herself than to him, “I thought, since she hadn’t…since Jack…”

     Vinnie said nothing.

     “Who’s Chrissy?” Caleb asked.

     Maddie ignored him. She kept her eyes closed, picturing her friend. Chrissy at 12, teaching her how to apply eye shadow. Chrissy at 17, her hair blowing back, riding shot-gun in Maddie’s new car. Chrissy, laughing at Jessie’s dress.

     When she opened them again, her eyes were dry.

     “Why didn’t she call me? Why’d she send you?” She was suddenly angry at her mother, furious that she would send this stranger in her stead.

     “She asked me to bring you home,” Vinnie said. “You and your sister.”

     “I can get home myself,” Maddie argued. “I took the train in.”

     Vinnie shook his head. “The train isn’t running.”

     “What?” Maddie frowned. “The train always runs.”

     “The buses aren’t either.” Caleb sat forward. “I tried this morning. I had to take a cab here. Wasn’t cheap.” He blushed under their glares. “I was just saying.”

     Maddie gave him another nasty look before turning back to Vinnie. “The buses and trains – is there a strike?”

     Vinnie looked at her oddly, almost contemptuous, or so she thought. “Haven’t you been watching the news?” When she shook her head, he grabbed the remote. The TV came alive.

     “-cials say the best thing to do is stay home if you’re sick, drink plenty of fluids and see your doctor immediately if you have a fever. Wearing a mask in public places isn’t mandatory yet, but strongly recommended. The CDC and Public Health Department are making flu shots available for low or no cost.”

     The camera cut away from the reporter and footage of an emergency room filled the screen. People packed the chairs, stood against walls and slumped on the floor. Mothers held two and even three children in their laps.

     Everyone was coughing.

     Vinnie turned the TV back off.

     “What in the hell?” Maddie sat, dumbfounded. “What is it, like, H1N1? Some kind of flu?”

     “Nobody knows. Mass transit is down because everybody is sick.” He gestured toward Caleb. “You’re lucky you got a cab; those will go next.”

     “I don’t understand.” She rubbed her forehead, willing the pain to go away, or dull a bit at least. Her ears hurt. Her wrist hurt. She felt tired. “All those people…”

     “We have to leave,” Vinnie said. “Before we get sick.”

     Maddie nodded. The children. She couldn’t stop seeing the children, clinging to their mothers. Coughing.

     “Take me with you,” Caleb begged, his voice high with fear.

     “Why,” Vinnie asked coldly, “Would we do that?”

     “I have nowhere to go! Ask her, I told her. I can’t go back home! There’s nowhere else!”

     Realizing, perhaps, that he wasn’t going to get any sympathy from the stone-faced man, Caleb turned to Maddie.

     “Please,” he said desperately. “I’m sorry I screwed you. Please don’t leave me here. I don’t want to get sick.”

     Maddie looked from one to the other, weighing her options. The kid was a coward, but then, so was she. She hadn’t been hurt, Vinnie had seen to that, and if he hadn’t shown up, well, how long would it have taken for the other doors to give too? Would she have unlocked it for him, if she’d been “safe” and he wasn’t? She thought so, but couldn’t say for sure.

     I didn’t help Chrissy, when she needed it. I didn’t help Jack.

     “How old are you?” she asked him.

     “What?” He looked confused. “Uh, seventeen. Seventeen. Why?”

     “Where are your parents?”

     The kid looked away. “Gone. Long gone. Dave was my dad. He was….he was my dad.”

     She nodded. “Give me a few.”

     Going into the bedroom, she drew out a bag and threw some things in, enough to stay with her mom for a few days.

     “Madelyn.” Vinnie followed her in, watching her pack. “We can’t bring this guy.”

     “He’s just a kid,” Maddie said.

     “He’s an ass! He would have let you get hurt!”

     “He’s a kid,” she repeated, zipping the bag closed and slinging it over her shoulder. “He has no one else.”

     “He’s a stranger! You don’t know this guy, you can’t just-”

     “Why did you shoot him in the head?” she asked, catching him off-guard.

     “What? What do you mean?”

     “You’re a cop or something, right? I thought you were supposed to shoot for the knees or, like, an arm.”

     He laughed, sounding bitter. “I’m not a cop. I was in the Army.”

     “Oh. Oh yeah.” She remembered that now, that Grace had said he was back from a tour overseas. At the wedding, which seemed, in this moment, like a lifetime ago. “But still. You killed him. You didn’t…you didn’t have to do that.”

     He looked at her, and this time she saw it, saw it for sure: contempt. “You haven’t been watching the news.”

     “No!” she said, exasperated. “I already told you, no. What’s that got to do with it?”

     He seemed to think, to weigh his words before he said them, then finally shook his head. “We should go.”

     “Aren’t you going to answer my question?”

     He took her arm and steered her out of the room, toward the front door. Together, he and Caleb lifted aside the plywood that had been propped in the entrance, a makeshift barrier the cops had constructed until her landlord could replace what was broken. She wasn’t too worried about someone coming in; the building was safe.

     Or rather, it had been.

     As the kid headed off down the hall, Vinnie held her back. He waited until Caleb was out of range before bending down to murmur in her ear.

     “If you think about it,” he said, slowly, carefully, “If you really think, you’ll know why I had to. You’ll see that I had no choice.”

     Brow furrowed, Maddie stared at him. Is this guy insane?

     “Think about it,” he repeated. “Let’s go find Jessie.”

     Mulling it over, still somewhat wary, Maddie followed.