Alive

Chapter 8: Planning

The stairs rattled as the monsters in human flesh rattled the metal railing below. They clawed at us through the beams, the only thing that separated them from us as we neared the ground. I made the first shot and surprisingly the man to my side went down, frothing at the mouth as he instantly died. His body was transformed almost immediately into a bluish-green ooze as he twitched arms up into the air.

It bubbled as if burning on the sidewalk, eyes popping out of his concave head.

"Hey, it's working," I gave an odd yet triumphant laugh.

It was either us or them.

"Watch my back," Barry said.

He came up to the wall at the opening of an alley, quick as he did an assessment, and then waved forward. We ran all the while, though things seemed in slow motion. Barry took three down and we stepped around their puddles of death that looked dangerous to the touch, toxic as they were luminous in the shade or sun. A crowd closed in on us when we came up against a fence.

Without thinking I knelt down and supported Ann's foot under my hand so that she could gain leverage on the dumpster. I knew from experience that she was a terrible climber. Then, I saved myself. Barry was already on the other side, magically because he was so good at it, I thought with a tinge of resentment. My heart jumped painfully in my chest as I cleared the other side while at the same time the freaks gathered around the dumpster, thankfully high up and out of reach to them, but just barely so.

Ann looked back at us and then rubbed her hands together.

"Come on already!" I pressed.

It was urgent. She climbed up a few rungs and then tipped the fence and fell over toward us, flat onto her face on the concrete but safe with us on the other side. I helped her up. We didn't have time. We flew down the next street and somehow cleared two more obstacles that were similar, though without the runner-ups at our heels. They had gotten stuck, absolutely incapable of climbing without tearing each other down like crabs in a bucket.

They were strong, but boy, were they stupid!

"In here," Barry said.

He opened the door to a kitchen in a restaurant and bolted it closed.

"Well, I feel good about where we've ended up," I said.

True, I was feeling a false sense of confidence which was quite strange. Had I gotten used to this mess we were in so quickly or was it the literal solution to our problem in my hands? Watching that man go down in a puddle at the end of my gun made me feel powerful. No, he wasn't a man. He was a freak, a monster in human skin. It was the ultimate deception. It was the only explanation for my feeling good about that takedown.

"Yes, we should be safe in here for now," Barry assured.

Ann walked close behind me, a large cooking pot eye-level to her on the gas-lit stove. Usually looking at everything but me and watching for danger, she now looked at nothing but me. Maybe the contrast was making me imagine that she was staring. At least that's what I thought at first.

"You're really quick with the gun there," she said.

"Yesh," I smiled.

This was our saying between yeah and yes after I accidentally typed it in a text to her, and it became our signature nod of approval.

"It's almost like you enjoyed it, killing that man," she shivered.

My head turned to look at what Barry was doing. He was in the other room, opening a cabinet door it sounded like. I didn't know how to respond. I thought to deny it.