This Broken City Sky

"Oh my god," Dylan mumbled, as panic began to set into her mind. The cast iron skillet dropped to the floor with a loud clatter, "Oh my god." Her dark eyes widened, and she brought her shaking hands to her face. Meanwhile, Lily hopped to her feet, and stumbled back till she stood next to her cousin. They stared at the dead woman on the floor, and the widening pool of blood that seeped out of her head.

"The hell...." Lily breathed, and Dylan shook her head wildly, causing a few pieces of hair to fall next to her face.

"We gotta call the cops." She whimpered, and flitted past Lily, who simply nodded, keeping her eyes on the motionless body. She expected it to move; to get up and come at her again. The small scratches that etched her face here and there began to stung, and instantly she wondered if what happened to her grandmother, would happen to her.

"Shit!" Dylan nearly screamed, as she slammed the phone down on the cradle. Then she picked it up again, and slammed down on the numbers again. Lily frowned at Dylan, and the panicked expression she wore.

"What?" Lily asked, her voice quiet, and desperate. Dylan shook her head lightly, as she closed her eyes, still holding the phone against her ear, though the line was dead.

"Theres n-...theres no one there..." Her voice broke drastically, and her bottom lip began to quiver dangerously. Lily's expression set into one of disbelief as she traversed the small space between the living room at the kitchen, where Dylan stood.

"Let me see." Lily demanded, and took the phone from Dylan's hands.

"Do you think they're going to answer for you instead?" She muttered, her sea-green eyes now glassy. Lily just pressed end, then 9-1-1. When she brought the reciever to her ear, she heard three different-toned beeps.

"We're sorry, the number you called cannot be reached at this time-" An automated woman said. Lily's blood ran a little colder. This wasn't possible; they had to pick up.

"It's 911, they can't just not answer!" Her voice raised in pitch unconsciously, and she pounded at the phone keys again.

"We need to get the fuck out of here, I can't just-....Just stay in here with her!" Dylan squealed, and quickly walked away from Lily, who was left alone, mostly, with the beeping phone in her hand. Her eyebrows knit in distress, and she let the reciever fall onto the counter with a counter.

"What are you doing?" She called after Dylan anxiously, as she quickly walked down the hall, to the bedroom. Dylan was bent over, digging in the closet.

"She kept-..." She pushed a large box aside, then stood up with a deep breath, "Grampas gun...I know--help me," She was trying to tug down a huge, flat box. Lily stepped in, and supported the opposite end of the box, "Swear, if this isn't it..." Dylan muttered, while they set the box on the end of their grandmother's bed.

"Dylan, what the hell are we going to do with a gun, she's already d-" Just as Lily spoke, and they lifted off the top of the box to reveal a shotgun, Dylan gave her a fierce look.

"Just in case." She said in a calm voice, but the way her eyes widened, said otherwise. Lily frowned deeply, and opened her mouth.

"Are you going to shoot someone, Dylan?!" She spat, as Dylan picked up the long gun. It was a bit cumbersome in her hands at first, but when she pressed the butt against her shoulder, it was steadied.

"Hand me that box," Was all Dylan replied, as she popped open the double barrel, and waited for Lily. She gave her cousin a look of angry apprehension, and picked up the heavy box, no doubt full of ammunition, "Thank you." Dylan said softly, and opened the box with one hand. Lily marveled at the fact that her cousin had any idea how to handle that thing, because even she didn't, and she was better learned than Dylan (or at least she thought so).
Once Dylan had loaded two cartridges into the barrel, she jerked it shut, and grabbed the box of shells.

"Come on..." She muttered, and stepped around the end of the bed.

"Dylan-!" Lily scoffed, and followed her cousin out of the bedroom, then swiftly down the hall. Without a second glance with the body to their right, Dylan swerved into the kitchen, and to the garage door.

"Where are we going to go?!" Lily asked her voice getting a little high with urgency.

"I'm going the fuck home, theres no way I'm staying here." She unhooked the keys to the old boat-of-a-car parked in the garage, and stepped down a step or two. Lily stayed in the doorway.

"Dylan..." She murmured. Dylan just unlocked the car, tugged open the driver's side door, and slid in. Lily had no idea what to do; she had no idea what Dylan was doing, and if she should go, or stay. "GET IN THE CAR!!" Dylan hollered, but the sound was muffled by the car windows. She stared at Lily with an angrily expectant expression that was familiar to her cousin. With an uneasy breath, Lily turned her head to get a last glance at the house. Unfortunately, it would be a lasting, grisly memory of the place she'd been so happy during her childhood.
But she stepped out of the doorway anyhow, and trotted over to the passenger side door. Dylan turned the key in the ignition, then buckled her seat belt. The shotgun was sitting on it's end between her legs and the door. Lily buckled up as well, as Dylan shoved the car into reverse, and looked over her shoulder.

"Turn on the radio," Dylan mumbled in her casual, but demanding monotone. Lily pressed the on button for the car stero and a voice met them instantly.

"-are closed. Do not, I repeat, do not try going to the hospital, or the police station. It is much, much safer if you stay where you are, if thats your home or otherwise. Do what you can to board up the doors and windows, so no one can get in. If one of the infected does-" Both Lily and Dylan stared at the radio, the car idling at the end of the driveway.

"Dylan we can't leave..." Lily murmured as gently as possible, so as to not upset Dylan any more.

"No," She snapped, and looked over her shoulder again, "It's fine. We're going to get across the river, and we're going to go find your dad." Dylan stated very plainly, her voice wavering just slightly at the end. Lily's heart dropped when she thought of her father; what had happened to him? Was he safe? Was her mother safe? Her eyes instantly began to burn with salty tears, and she looked out the window as the car sped down the long street. Worry crept into her limbs, cold and unrelenting. Dylan pressed softly on the brakes at a stop sign, and she looked both ways. It would have seemed unecessary, because of the empty streets, but the neighborhood was too empty. Lily looked at the abandonded cars that sat on the side of the street to their right, the doors wide open.

"Lily..." Dylan whispered, and she took one hand off the steering wheel. Lily looked up, to see Dylan staring toward the corner house on the left, where a man was stumbling out of his front door. The two stayed absolutely still, afraid to even breath.

"Go.." Lily whispered in return, and Dylan began pulling the gun from it's hiding spot, "Dylan," She raised her voice, keeping her eyes on the man. He limped very slightly, and his grey shirt was mottled with something darker, "Dylan. Go." She said firmly now.

"Take this." Dylan said, moving the gun awkwardly to Lily, who took the thing from her. Then she hit the gas, and the car lurched forward. Lily watched the man as they passed his house; his face was splattered with blood, and the moment the car passed through his line of vision, his head snapped up.

"GO DYLAN!" Lily yelled at her cousin, even before the man began sprinting after them, his arms and legs pumping with unnatural determination. Lily turned in her seat, clutching the gun in her hands tight.

"What the hell is he doing?!" Dylan glanced into the rearview mirror, just in time to see the man open his mouth, and give a gurgling howl. Lily just watching breathlessly as the man fell back further from the car, and soon gave up the chase. But still she watched him stumble along in the street until Dylan swerved around a corner. The radio was now silent. Lily sighed heavily as she slumped back in her seat. They were nearing the highway, skirting the outside of the downtown area, which was in total disarray. Doors of shops hung open, some windows broken.

"Fuck me...." Dylan whispered, as they passed a car that was billowing smoke from it's windows. Lily shook her head, looking the other way at a smattering of blood across a store front. Before she could even wonder what was happening, Dylan slammed on the breaks. Lily's head jerked toward her cousin, to see her wide-eyed, slack jawed expression. Before them, on the exit onto the 120, were a mass of derelict cars. That would have been their escape route; would have led them to the Lincoln Tunnel and home, and hopefully, to safety. But those were dashed when they laid eyes on the deserted cars, with their open doors, broken windows, flat tires. Dylan slammed the heel of her palm against the steering wheel.

"FUCK YOU!" She screamed, leaning over the steering wheel. Lily just raised her eyebrows at the scene, and a few tears streamed down her face quietly.

"What are we going to do now..." Lily murmured, listening to the engine rumble. Dylan shook her head.

"Just go back I gue-" Dylan was cut off by a high-pitched scream, like the keening of a hawk. Set on edge, they both looked around rapidly, and Dylan threw the car into reverse. She spun the wheel left before even hitting the gas, and the moment she did, something slammed into the window, splattering it with a dark substance immediately.

"Shit!-..Give me the gun!" Dylan yelled as she leaned away from the window, and the beast that was slamming it's fists against the window. Jilted beyond comprehension, Lily shoved the gun at her cousin, who was squirming in her seat, attempting to unbuckle her seatbelt. The thing outside appeared to be a woman, but her hair was so caked with blood, and matted, it was hard to tell. As her hands clawed and punched at the driver's side window, Dylan managed to shoulder the gun, and cocked it. As the woman outside snarled, Dylan reached one hand to the inside door pannel, and hit the button to roll down the window. Lily inhaled wildly, and watched Dylan position the barrrel of the gun out of the small space of the open window.

"DYLAN!-" Lily screamed, but before she had time to call out anything else, the sound bang of the shotgun cut her off. Dylan dropped the gun instantly, and all was quiet as she clutched her right shoulder, "Is-....Is she gone?!" Lily breathed. Her eyes were like saucers as she watched Dylan rub her shoulder, which was apparently injured. Dylan inhaled, rolled down the window, and stuck her head out. There, next to the car, with most of her face demolished, lay the woman. Dylan sighed, sat back, and nodded.

"Yeah." She sighed, and rolled the window up again.

"Dylan, where are we going to go!" Lily squealed, her voice reaching it's highest pitch with anxiety.

"I don't know, you tell me genius, you grew up here." Dylan snapped as she looked sidelong as her cousin, and shifted the car into drive. She let her right arm lay in her lap, and placed her left hand on the wheel. Lily thought for a moment, seriously considering the statement, though she knew her cousin was being mostly sarcastic.

"The hotel..." Lily said to herself at first, with a frown. Dylan looked over at her, and pressed on the gas, sending them both back in their seats with a jolt.

"What?" She asked, glancing over at Lily quickly.

"The hotel I used to work at! It's not even five minutes from here," Lily said urgently, as the car rolled down the street without purpose. Dylan turned her head to give Lily a flat stare, that said she thought the idea was ridiculous, "Where else can we go Dylan?" Lily knew her tone may convince her cousin.

"Tell me how to get there..." Dylan said quietly, and tried to bring her right hand up to the wheel, but hissed in pain.

"Take a left here," Lily ordered urgently, and Dylan obeyed quietly. Tears were beginning to work their way out of her eyes from the pain, "You alright?" Lily asked, though Dylan's shoulder wasn't her biggest concern at the moment.

"Think it's dislocated." Dylan sniffed, and turned down the street.
After a few more minutes of twisting and turning through the streets of the disaster-stricken downtown area, Dylan sighed the tall building, and it's gold trimmings. All around it was eerily deserted, but at the same time, it comforted the two. Dylan pulled the car under the awning in front of the doors, as if they were simply going to check in for a few nights. Lily unlocked her door, but waited to open it. Dylan did the same, looking over her shoulder to see what her cousin intended to do. They held one another's gaze for a moment, then opened their doors simultaneously.

"Go, hurry up.." Dylan whispered as they jogged briskly to the glass doors. Lily turned her head quickly as they did, checking that they were alone. And they were, for the time being. She held the door for Dylan, and slipped in after her. She ran a hand back through her short black hair, and tried to push her bands from her face a little. Dylan sighed, and reached her hand up to her shoulder again.

"Next time, remind me to hold it right." She gave Lily a small smile. But it was fleeting. Just as they had relaxed the slightest bit, the sound of a gunshot rang out in the large entry way. Dylan and Lily ducked slightly, as the plaster in the wall to their right crumbled a little, with the impact of the bullet. They looked around, for the source, but didn't see anyone.

"Are you one of them!" Someone, a woman, shouted, causing them to look up to the landing above the stairs.