Zombies! (Episode 10): State of Emergency Read Free Page B

ran up to the shutter and started banging on the metal plates. Others crawled underneath, trying to reach up to the lady's exposed arm. With about eighteen inches to go, she couldn't pull it down anymore. While most of the zombies had scrambled out from underneath, the one closest to the door had stayed. It continued to try and get in. Pulling her roughly away, the man yanked the gate up and then yanked it down again. It slammed on the zombie's head. The thing shuddered. The man pulled hard on the chain and the gate came up a couple of inches. A second zombie tried to claw its way in over its struggling peer but the man brought the gate down once more. The first zombie caught the brunt of it and seemed to go slack. Sticking his foot through the narrow opening, the man managed to nudge it far enough away that the gate was able to close fully. Exhausted, the man backed away from the door. It swung slowly closed with the slight tinkle of bells.
     
    "Is everyone okay?" Abby asked.
     
    Everyone nodded. Sam was standing silently next to her, looking from the sales lady to the man. He was trying to figure out if they were part of the group of bad people or if they were friends.
     
    "Do you have a television?" asked the man.
     
    The lady shook her head.
     
    Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone, a sparkling iPhone. He began thumbing and tapping the screen, his expression growing ever more frustrated with every passing second. "There's nothing. The whole network is down."
     
    "What about the regular phone?" Abby asked.
     
    The lady went to the phone and dialed 911. She got a recorded message and shook her head.
     
    "So that's it, then," the man said. "We're stuck in here blind and dead."
     
    They stood there, the three of them, staring at each other. Abby could feel the tension rising in the room. Now that the action was over, desperate brains were beginning to try and work through a way out. When there seemed to be no obvious solution, destructive emotions were taking over. The only sound was the muted pounding of zombie fists against the gate.
     
    The boutique was a little hole in the wall that seemed more suited for the Village than for an off Broadway store by City Hall. There was a selection of wispy clothing as well as different scents and knick knacks. It was everything your young and trendy college graduate wanted in her studio apartment. But it was not for Abby. The lighting was dim and the place was all peach and violet. Sam found a black chair by the cash register and climbed up into it. The man sank to the floor, his back against a wall. His hands were shaking so badly that he had stopped trying to calm them. In fact, he hardly seemed to notice. And the poor sales lady just stood in the center of the store looking from Abby to the man and back. She looked as if she was trying to decide which of them to help first.
     
    Abby, too, felt like panicking. Two things were keeping her together. The first was a too large resume of past experiences with zombies. The other was Sam. She didn't know what to say to her strange companions. She didn't know anything about them. So she introduced herself and her son.
     
    The man looked up at her, then at the befuddled sales lady. Then he started to laugh. Then he started to apologize for laughing. Abby's introduction seemed so ridiculous under the circumstances. But she was right. Since they were entombed together, it made sense that they get to know one another. His name was Vincent Vacarro. He was a middle aged, middle income, middle management guy. He wore a gold band on his left ring finger. Abby looked him up and down. He was tall, but not as tall as Martin. He also looked big but she was sure the suit lent to the illusion. This was not the kind of guy that hit the gym. This was the kind of guy that was proud of not hitting the gym. He'd probably been in decent shape in his youth but age and a more sedentary schedule had robbed him of what nature had teasingly