Page 19 of Cora

“Oh, no,” Audri said, “you aren’t welcome.”

“Audri!” Jessica hissed. “I’m not happy with him either, but we can’t just leave him!”

“My island, my rules. He shouldn’t have fucked my boyfriend,” Audri replied.

I turned back to her in disbelief. “Are you that much of a vindictive bitch?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m much worse. Something you should have anticipated,” Audri replied. “Let’s go, Kevin.”

Kevin looked at her and then at me. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he turned and joined Audri at the door. She took his hand and shot me a smug smile before dragging him out of the room.

“So am I,” I said, looking at Jessica.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she darted to my side and kissed my cheek. “Please be safe. Get out of the city. It seems to spread faster in populated areas. Don’t wait; just get out now.”

“Jessie!” Audri yelled.

“Coming!” Jessica replied. With a final sorrowful look, Jessica ran out of the room.

I looked around the room in disbelief. My entire life was turned upside down in minutes, and I still didn’t understand why. I turned on the news as I quickly dressed to try and figure out what was happening. Fucking zombies?! The news channels were careful not to use the word zombie, but watching the footage they showed, that’s what it looked and sounded like. I quickly packed a bag of clothes and the essentials, including the toolkit I kept under my bed. I called home but didn’t get an answer. I’d head toward home; small-town Iowa was about as unpopulated as possible.

Before I left my dorm room, my eyes fell on the picture of the four of us. It was taken two months ago when we were on spring break. The girls were in our laps, but I remembered how giddy I felt when Kevin had put his arm around my shoulder. I could still feel how his fingers had lingered and lightly caressedmy skin when he finally pulled away a little slower than he should have after the picture was taken.

I reached for the picture, intending to bring it with me, but as my fingers closed around the cold metal frame, I got angry and flipped it down instead. It was all a lie, and when I left this room, I left those memories with it. I was moving on and would hopefully be better for it.

“Looks like we’re ready to go then,” I said, shaking the past from my thoughts and giving Trent a small smile as I passed him. I lead the way toward the tower, starting with this steep incline up the mountain through the forest. It was steep enough that I found myself using the smaller trees I could almost wrap my hands around as leverage to pull myself up. To take my mind off the strenuous activity, I let my mind drift back to Kevin and the day the world fell apart.

I left my dorm and headed straight to the bus station, hoping to hop on the next bus heading west. As I waited, the TV bolted to the wall caught my attention. I stood and moved closer to it, unwilling to believe what I was seeing. I had gone to Audri’s island house over winter break, and I knew the airport her private plane flew out of. It was the same airport on the news because zombies had overrun it. Kevin! They got out in time. They had to.

“Attention passengers: If you’re taking the bus to Indianapolis, please proceed to lane three for boarding.”

Fuck. That was me. I looked toward lane three, where people were beginning to line up, and then back at the airport footage. “Son of a bitch,” I swore out loud as I left through the front door. I had to be the dumbest fuck on the planet right now to be chasing after the man who essentially left me for dead. I had to see for myself, or at least try to, that Kevin and the girls had made it out. I grabbed an e-bike and headed for the airport. The closer I got, the more chaotic the world around me became. This was such a dumb idea, but I was already close and committed to seeing my task through.

I biked around the back, following the fence line away from the densely populated area of the airport toward the private tarmacs. Once I was away from everyone, I stopped the bike and pulled the wire cutters from my toolkit. I cut a hole in the fence and slipped through it, leaving my bike and bag on the other side. Silently, I crept toward the airplane hanger that Audri’s plane usually sat in. The sounds that carried on the night wind were a terrifying mix of screams and growls that made me want to turn and run for my life. I pushed forward anyway, hoping to see an empty hangar when I peeked through the door.

My stomach plummeted when I saw the plane was still inside. A car with its engine still running sat beside it. Maybe they were all on board, preparing to leave. I could try to sneak aboard and force them to take me to safety. I slipped inside, determined to do just that when something caught my eye toward the side of the hanger. I recognized Kevin’s mop of dark curly hair, but I couldn’t figure out why it was attached to... whatever that was. I crept closer, and it took me a few more seconds to realize that I was looking at what was left of his body. It looked like a bomb had exploded inside of him.

“Kev?” I croaked as I dropped to the floor beside him.

His eyes were open and already held the dullness that came with lifelessness. I leaned my forehead against his, my tears falling onto his brow. He was the first man I had ever loved, and it felt like part of me had died with him.

I sat up quickly when I heard something metal skittering across the floor on the other side of the hanger. I didn’t move an inch as I watched a pair of legs shuffle along the other side of the plane. As they reached the plane’s tail end and came into view, I recognized Audri. I didn’t know where Jessica, the driver, or the pilot were, but I knew I was outnumbered and needed to get the fuck out of there. As I braced myself to stand, I felt something brush against my wrist.

Slowly, I looked down in horror as Kevin began to stir. His head twitched back and forth before turning toward me. His hand slid across mine,and I closed my eyes briefly, wishing this wasn’t the last contact I had with him and knowing I would never forget the feeling of his cold, dead hand sliding across my skin. When his hand began to tighten, I yanked it away before he could take hold of me. I sprung to my feet and ran for the door, catching Audri’s attention. I didn’t dare look behind me as I flew through the door and slammed it shut.

I felt the thud as she ran into the door. I watched through the small window as she threw herself against the door to get to me. She always had been a ruthless bitch. I ran back to my belongings and returned to the bus station, managing to catch the next bus out.

Reaching the top, I doubled over, bracing my hands on my knees as I panted. I thought I was in shape, but holy shit did that test my endurance. When I stopped seeing black spots, I looked around and was surprised to find myself on a dirt road. As the others reached the top, I began to follow the road. This was more like it. It came to a sharp switchback and started to head up in the other direction. I got a little way up and looked back down the mountain. I could see the road below where Isaac and Trent still stood, recovering from the climb, and beyond them, the house peeking through the trees.

“Clever,” Derrick commented when he reached me and looked below. “I wonder if this is an official National Park Services fire watch tower or if the person who built the house also built the tower. It would explain why the road is so close to the property but not visible.”

“I don’t know,” I replied, “but we’ll find out soon enough.” I whistled to get Isaac and Trent’s attention and gestured for them to hurry up when they looked toward the sound. I didn’t want to risk shouting because we didn’t know who or what was within hearing distance, and it’s always best not to attract attention to yourself if you can help it. We continued up the winding road to the tower when they finally joined us. There was a chain link fence surrounding the tower with signage indicating it was NPS property, and trespassers would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that anymore,” Isaac chuckled, tapping one of the signs as we walked by.

We let ourselves in through the gate and began the strenuous climb up the metal steps to the top. I imagined that the rangers stationed here over the years didn’t have to leave the tower very often. I know I wouldn’t if I were them. It would have to be pretty fucking important to get me down these steps, knowing I’d have to climb back up them. When we got to the top, I peered throughthe dirty windows and saw the silhouette of a person or whatever was left of this person.

“I’ll get his attention; someone open the door,” I instructed.

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