89.4 Zombie Radio

`The next morning I got up and got dressed, before the sun was even up. I did my makeup and dug my old school book bag from out of my closet. I was going to need it for this trip. I needed to take a few changes of clothes and some food for the trip. It dawned on me that I hadn't even eaten yesterday, I guess in all the excitement I forgot about it. That wasn't like me, I usually ate at least every half hour. I went out in the living room, and everyone else was up too. Well, everyone except Carter, who I could hear snoring from where I was. Jack was raiding my fridge, Dean was lying on the couch, and Brock was flipping through channels, trying to find some station that was still on.

"I don't think you're going to find anything there Brock," I told him.

"It was worth a shot I guess. We couldn't sleep, British boy, over her snores," he said laughing.

I laughed and made my way to the fridge where Jack was. "Do you have anything that is actually food here? This stuff all sounds disgusting. I mean, I was on that Nutrisystem diet for a few months, and I'd kill for some of that crap right now," he said still looking through the fridge.

"Well then, don't eat any of it. Its delicious by the way. I'm a vegan, this is what I eat," I informed him. "Move out of my way then, I'm hungry," I pushed him aside and he stumbled backwards.

"Hey! That's assault on a police officer," he said joking around.

"You said it yourself Jack, its anarchy right now," I told him trying my best not to laugh. I made myself a big plate of food and stuffed myself. I made sure I wouldn't be hungry again for a while. It was hard telling when I would get another chance to eat again. Nobody else could stomach anything I had. I told them if they tried it they might actually like it, but still there were no takers. I fed Nimel again and put the rest of his food into my backpack. I had to make sure he was taken care of, because I knew none of these guys would.

"First gas station we find, I'll stop and we can stock up on actual food," Jack told the rest of them. We all gathered up what we thought we could use, and finally someone woke Carter up. We made our way back outside, and onto the street. Everyone got their weapons ready, and we started making our way to the parking garage on the next block. The streets seemed a little more quiet than the day before, but maybe that was because it was nine in the morning. Did zombies need sleep? I guess I would find out. We got to the garage and started looking for something to make our getaway.

"I think we should find a nice big van or something like that, something we can all fit in," Jack said.

"No! We are going to find something nice. I'm not riding in a nasty van with four guys and a dog. That is not happening. Find something good, or we'll try another lot," I snapped.

"I agree with her," said Brock who always seemed to be on my side. "We should find something bad ass. This is our one chance to drive a dream car, we should take advantage of it."

Jack sighed and we kept on going through the garage, hoping to find something that fit my standards.

"Do you know how mad I would have been if I would have gotten stuck in that crappy Chrysler you had? I would have screamed," I told Jack.

"Hey! That was a good car alright!? I bought it when it was new. That's how I got my wife in the first place. I used to drive around with the top down all the time. Don't cut on that car!" Jack scolded.

"Well, she had a crappy taste in cars then, I would have never dated you for that reason," I said, again trying to not laugh. I couldn't help it though, I thought it was funny. Jack laughed too, I'm glad he got my sense of humor. Also I'm glad that he seemed over the fact that I killed his wife. Anyone with that kind of taste in cars should get killed anyway if you ask me, but I definitely wasn't going to say that out loud.

We made it to the third floor and still there was no sign of anything even remotely nice, and that's when we heard a noise. It sounded like crying coming from behind one of the cars. Immediately I thought of the evil little girl who tried to kill me.

"Everyone shut up! I'll handle this," I told them.

"Not alone you won't," Dean said, trying his best to be brave. "What's the matter anyway?"

"Don't worry about it, if this is who I think it is, its personal. You guys just stay here," I instructed. Everyone seemed confused, but they didn't ask questions. I made my way over to where the crying was coming from, clutching my butcher knife and praying it was that little brat. When I got close I stopped. I could still hear the sobbing, but it sounded more mature. I started to realize it wasn't the crying of a little girl. It was the crying of a teenager. I put down my knife and turned the corner.

"Hey," I said, "Are you okay? Whats wrong?" She looked up at me, and there wasn't a weird black mark on her head. I still wasn't taking any chances, and kept the knife ready in my hands, just in case.

"I don't know if I'm okay. I think I am, I'm still alive if that's what you mean," she said though her tears. "I survived last night by hiding in here, but I don't know how I made it. I had to fight my way out of my grandpa's house. He got sick with whatever this is and came after me. Took a chunk out of my leg. Its still bleeding, but I'm scared mostly. I guess that's why I'm crying."

I motioned over to the guys, and they came running to where I was. "Can I see your leg?" I asked. She pulled up her pant leg and showed me the wound. It was a big chunk, about the size of a human mouth, with a strange rash surrounding it. She had been bitten, and we all knew what came next.

"Hey, would it be alright if I came with you guys?" she asked. Nobody wanted to tell her the truth. Nobody had it in their heart to tell her that she was as good as dead, and we couldn't risk her coming along. The best I could do, was try and ease her into the fact that we couldn't take her.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Maria," she replied.

"I like that name," I told her. It was clear I was running out of things to say at this point. I've never had to do something like this. Maybe if I just told her the truth it would all work out. If I were going to turn into a zombie, I'd want somebody to tell me.

"One second Maria, I have to talk this over with the boys," I told her. She nodded to me, tears still running down her cheek. I think she knew what was going to happen. She knew what that bite meant, and she was scared out of her mind. Who wouldn't be?

"That girl is infected, she got bitten on the leg. She wants to come with us," I told them. "I don't know what to do, she has to be scared. What do we do?" The thought of this whole situation made me want to cry. I could feel it building in my throat.

"Well, we can't take her with us. How do you think we should go about letting her down?" Brock asked.

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be asking you guys," I said. It got quiet again. The silence was occasionally interrupted by the girl's heavy sobs. Everybody knew what had to be done, but none of them had the guts to do it. Someone was going to have to tell her, and I was starting to think it was going to have to be me. I took a deep breath, turned around, and decided to tell her the complete truth.

"Maria, I think you're infected. You're going to turn into one of them, and I'm sorry, but we just can't take you with us," I said, choking back the tears with every word. "If there's anything we can do to help you, we'd be glad to, but..."

I couldn't finish, it was just too much. Maria stopped crying for a moment. "I know," she said. "I'm just afraid. I don't want to die alone, and I don't want to be one of those things. There is something you can do to help me. Kill me, and please... Make it quick."

It was a chilling statement, but I knew it would be the right thing to do. I think that's what I would want too. The tears started to roll down my cheek and I lost the ability to talk. Dean seen me and pulled me in close. I buried my head in his chest and let it all out.

"We are going to need a plan, first, let's find a ride out of here. Maria, I'm sorry to ask this, but how would you prefer to die?" Jack asked. The question sent shivers up my spine.

"Just shoot me... please," she said. Nobody responded to request. After a few moments of silence, we started making our way to the third floor, Maria led the way in front of us. Jack never took his eyes off of her, and he kept the gun aimed at her back. None of us had actually seen anyone change before, so we really didn't know what to expect.

"Do any of these cars fit you're standard Jessie?" Jack asked me, trying to take my mind off the situation.

"No," I mumbled. "I'll tell you though, don't worry."

I wanted to keep going for as long as possible. The longer I went, the longer Maria got to live. We walked up two more floors in complete silence and finally, we had made it to the roof. I saw it out of the corner of my eye. It was a beautiful, black, 1969 Impala. That was our car. The sight of it almost sickened me though. It was our way out, and the end of Maria.

"That's the one," I said, pointing it out to the others.

"Impeccable taste Jessie," said Brock. "1969 Impala, me likey."

We made our way over to the car and Brock used a clothes hanger he had found in my apartment to open the locks. The car was surprisingly not alarmed. You would think someone with a car this nice, in a city like this, would pay a few extra bucks to get an alarm system on it. For once though, I was glad people were idiots. Brock got it opened and in a matter of a few minutes, he had it started and ready to be driven off the lot. I looked at Maria. She was so strong, I couldn't even begin to imagine what she felt like. It was probably like being taken to the electric chair, and hearing the priest give your final prayer.

"Well, lets do this," Jack said. "We'll handle this, and then we're going to have to hurry into the car and go. I'm guessing the zombies are going to swarm this place after the shot goes off,"

I wanted to offer her something. I knew she didn't want to die alone. I had to try to make her feel that she wasn't. It was the least I could do.

"Maria, hold my hand, okay? You're not alone. We're all here with you," I told her, wiping a tear from my eye and smearing my makeup in the process. I walked over and took her hand. Then, without being asked to, Dean came over and took her other hand.

"I know this may be awkward for me to say, but you're kind of hot," Maria said to Dean, giggling.

Dean laughed. "Thank you," he replied. "You're a beautiful girl yourself, and any man would be lucky to have had you. You can squeeze my hand as hard as you need to. Its okay to be afraid, we all understand. Just know, that we're here for you, and we love you. I think I speak for everyone when I say, I wish it didn't have to be like this."

That was the Dean I knew. That was the boy I grew up with. Finally his true colors came out. I knew he couldn't be that wrapped up in himself, it just took some time for it to finally show through. Maria squeezed both our hands tight and closed her eyes.

"I'm ready," she said.

"Do you want me to count?" Jack asked.

"No... Surprise me," she replied.

Jack didn't say anything. He just held the gun steady at her head. It was only maybe five seconds, but it felt like an eternity passed. This poor girl, she had so much more to live for, and it was all gone in the course of a day and a decision by a group of five strangers. The shot went off and I jumped. Maria's grip went dead and her body fell to the ground. A puddle of blood started to form around her head, and I lost it. I couldn't help the tears. I felt terrible about the entire thing. I wish we never would have met her, and yet I was happy we did. This could be any of us, at any time. We had to be ready to do this to anyone, no matter how much we cared for them. This was our new reality.

We didn't have any time to grieve. That shot was sure to attract some unwanted attention to us. We all piled into the car and Jack drove as fast as he could out of there. Outside you could see the zombies, starting to gather where we were. We had made it just in time. Now we just had to make it out of the city alive, but the story of Maria, would be forever burned into my memory.