The sun didn’t rise this morning with its golden warmth like yesterday. Instead, gray light seeped from the horizon like blood pools from a corpse. Brad, awake, watched as the cold light slowly illuminated the faces of his shivering girls — huddled between him and Chelsea.
Adam didn’t sleep much either. Shane’s lungs had inhaled the ash from the air all night. He spent most of the night coughing on the other side of the roof, trying not to wake anyone. Shane was already prone to pneumonia, and each breath he took burned in his lungs. His throat and vocal cords were raw. Adam caught his gaze, Shane just smiled a peaceful closed smile. Seeming to say, ‘I’ll be fine, son.’ Adam didn’t believe him, but sympathetically smiled back.
Adam went over to his dad. He removed his sock and the makeshift plastic wrap to reveal a purple swollen ankle. Adam began to rub his dad’s feet gently. Something Shane always requested when Andrew was growing up. It had been a while since he’d asked him — and where Adam typically would begrudge the request, he was eager to ease some of his pain now. Shane’s neuropathy caused his foot to uncontrollably shake. Adam’s disposition fell as the foot trembled. Before the fear and sadness could settle in he heard his dad chuckle slightly, the laugh quickly turned into a cough. Through a raspy whisper, Shane said, “I didn’t think my feet could get any worse.”
THE GROUP BEGAN TO pack what they could for their trip to the subways. Adam created a makeshift bag from the plastic wrap on the pallet. He wrapped a few pounds of food on his back.
Brad, Adam, Kara, Chelsea and Shane had memorized the route to the subway to the best of their ability. The last of their phone batteries died just before they left the roof.
They climbed down the rickety fire escape on the side of the building.
They began walking down the center of the street quietly. The street was covered in light gray ash from the fallen Ikea building. It looked like snow. It started to rain, and the powder turned to a sick mud that smelled of burnt flesh. Brad led them, with Kara and Chelsea huddling the girls close to them just in front of Adam and Shane. Adam supported some of Shane’s weight on his shoulder. He nearly slipped several times in the mud. Brad, Adam, Shane and Kara all held rebar in their hand for defense.
Brad looked for shifting shadows in the alleys. Brad checked cars as they walked by for keys. There were corpses strewn all over the place, soaked and motionless. It was unclear which ones were fully dead and which ones were simply dormant.
Brad discovered a taxi with keys inside. In the backseat was a rotting corpse. Brad opened the door slowly and positioned the rebar directly above the open eye of the corpse. With a sudden aggressive plunge, he lodged the metal rod through its skull. The body remained motionless. He pulled the bar out and slowly dragged the body from the backseat. Chelsea kept the girls from seeing this, and quickly rushed into the back of the car before they could observe the body too closely. Shane shuffled over to the passenger seat and Kara got in the back with the girls. After Brad sat in the driver's seat, Adam went to the door and popped the trunk. He sat in the trunk with his legs hanging over the back bumper. Adam propped the trunk up with rebar, keeping it from bouncing down on his head.
Brad said a silent prayer to himself hoping the car would work. He turned the key.
The car rumbled like a dying cat for a moment, but then the engine caught and began to run. Immediately, several corpses shot their heads up at the sound – others began to run from the shadows.
BRAD DROVE AWAY WITH a trail of zombies running after them. One of the zombies nearby ran fast enough and leapt after Adam in the trunk. Adam grabbed the rebar and thrust it out in front of him. The zombie plunged into the trunk at Adam. The zombie knocked the trunk closed. Brad watched the trunk clamp shut through the rear-view window, “No!” Brad pulled over after creating more distance between them and the other pursuing zombies.
He popped the trunk and ran to the back of the car. Several zombies were gaining on them, about a hundred yards away. Brad reached the back of the car and the trunk burst open. Brad lurched away from it – ready to swing his rebar. Praying his brother hadn’t been infected.
Adam kicked the zombie body off the ledge of the trunk. The corpse slumped to the floor with a fleshy thud. The body lay motionless, with a rebar shoved in his mouth and down his throat. The bar protruded out of his back just left of his spine.
Adam frantically jumped from the trunk swatting at his clothes and body as if covered in spiders, and yelled, “Stay away!”
Adam quickly fumbled backwards away from Brad. Tears began streaming down Brad’s face as he gripped his rebar tightly and watched his little brother rip through his clothing looking for bite or scratch marks.
“I’m good!” Adam said with wide, frenzied eyes. Adam hadn’t been bit. None of the blood on his body was coming from him.
“Okay. Okay.” Brad replied through a deep frown, aggressively wiping tears from his eyes with a dirty sleeve – ash smudging on his hair prickled cheeks.
Brad embraced his brother. Something unusual for the two, Brad typically not being one for long hugs.
Adam looking over Brad’s shoulder saw several zombies only a few feet away.
“Brad!” Adam shouted out as he pushed his brother back towards the front of the vehicle. Brad, noticing the zombies lept back into the driver’s seat. Adam jumped on the top of the car and grabbed the rim of the window frames as Brad sped away. As Brad drove, Adam maneuvered himself from the top of the car into the front seat with his dad.
A couple minutes later the Richards family arrived at the metro station. The station sat elevated above the street on a tall bridge-like structure, with large metal cords drooping down in “U” shapes. Brad knew their time was limited as he saw the train pull into the station. They had twenty to thirty seconds before the metro doors closed.
From the street, through large windows, they could see several zombies standing by the tracks.
Brad told the family to get out of the car. Zombies nearby began moving towards the vehicle. Brad aimed the car at a nearby gas station. The rest of the Richards family huddled together. Adam and Shane surrounded the girls holding out their rebar rods.
Brad slammed a chunk of concrete onto the gas pedal and backed away from the vehicle. The car sped towards the light blue gas station. Smashing into the pumps the entire gas station exploded into flame.
The zombies, drawn by the sound and light, jumped off the bridge-like metro station down to the cacophony. The family burst up the stairs quickly towards the train.
Brad ran behind them and barely got through just as the door closed. The family was one car from the front of the train. Brad and Adam fought off a handful of zombies to get to the front. They broke into the control room at the front of the train, and closed the door behind them.
BARRICADING THE DOORS THEY watched the screens in the cockpit showing live camera footage of the train sections. Many of the individual train cars had zombies on them. Wandering aimlessly. Many zombies were docile and nudged themselves under the seats to prevent the natural light from touching their skin. The zombies pushing on the door eventually stopped when the sun passed between dark clouds. They likewise retreated into the shadows to avoid the direct sunlight.
Chelsea looked away from the screen when she saw an infant alone in a seat drenched in blood. Looking forward she was filled with even more dread. The train was about to plunge underground. The tracks led down a long dark tunnel. Whatever light was keeping the zombies more docile even in the heavy overcast, was about to be completely gone.
As soon as the tunnel passed over them, pitch black filled the train. All the main lights on the train had been destroyed by the zombies on board except for the cockpit. The cockpit glowed faintly with lights from screens and buttons. There was a single chair for the driver and enough room for everyone to sit on the floor. No one sat in the chair due to it being soaked in blood.
The group sat in the silent darkness and ate from their backpacks as they went further into the city. Brad looked concerned as he stared at a glowing map on the wall. “What’s wrong?” Adam asked, seeing his brother’s brow tighten. Brad simply pointed his hand to a few red chinese letters and whispered, “This is where we need to get off. Taipei Main Station.” He confessed with a sigh.“The busiest station in all of Taipei.” Adam felt his stomach tighten.
Several minutes passed of Adam watching over Brad’s shoulder. Adam zoned-out as Brad continued whispering his thoughts out loud. Adam came-to when he heard his brother say, “Are you listening?” Adam’s face answered without him needing to say anything.
“Adam, listen. I’m counting on you. Don’t make me repeat myself.” Brad re-explained his plan.
The plan was to get off at Taipei Main Station, cross through the Chaing Kai-shek Memorial, and through a garden. “That will put us right at the temple.” Brad looked up from the map at Adam. Adam could see the glint of the temple in his eye. “I can’t think of a safer place for us to be tonight. Maybe there are others there, I don’t know.” Adam shook his head resolutely and stared Brad unflinchingly in the eyes, “I got it, Brad.” Brad had him repeat it all back to him one more time.
Brad turned back to the map and Adam turned to look at the others. Shane no longer could conceal the pain he was in. He sat in silence with his eyes firmly shut, rubbing the calf above his injured ankle. Kara held the two older girls close and helped them eat. Chelsea held her one-year-old, Violet, and stroked her head. She was too tired to cry anymore, and had fallen asleep in her mother’s arms.
CHELSEA COULDN’T HELP BUT marvel at the sleeping Violet. She had never let her babies get this tired before, always employing black-out curtains, storybooks, lullabies and sound machines to get them to sleep. Violet was out. Chelsea tucked her tiny arm into her chest. She slept so hard she looked like she was dead; the only thing that kept Chelsea’s panic at bay was the tiny rise of her chest during each raspy breath.
Kara had told Chealse many times when she came to visit their home in Arizona, ‘if they get tired enough they’ll sleep through anything.’ Guess she was right.
Every time Kara had said this it usually bothered Chelsea. It always felt like a criticism before, but now to her surprise, as the saying echoed in her mind, a wave of light flooded her heart. Chelsea thought of all the rural Asian women she had seen over the years, their babies fast asleep strapped to their backs and chests cooking food, cleaning, and even chopping wood. There was some comfort in realizing if they lived through this, life was going to become a lot simpler. Less noisy.
Chelsea considered sharing her thoughts with Kara, tears were forming in her mother-in-law's eyes pleading to be released. She yearned to comfort her in some way. She saw in Kara the tenacity to remain strong for these little girls, to remain strong for her.
Before Chelsea could open her mouth to get Kara’s attention, their eyes connected. Her face glowed faintly from the buttons and maps of the cockpit and her tears quickly retreated. Kara observed the little Violet fast asleep in her mother’s arms and mouthed with the faintest smile, “I told you so.” It seemed like Kara had read Chelsea’s mind.
Chelsea's heart burned warmly. Kara leaned forward and continued to mouth, “We’re going to be okay.” The tears immediately returned to her eyes. Chelsea simply nodded as tears streamed down her face as well.
“Do you feel it?” Kara put her hand on her chest.
“It’s like something has unlocked inside of us, something that refuses to quit.” She pointed at the little Violet fast asleep, “It’s in her.” Kara continued as she then pointed to Chelsea’s chest, “And it’s in you too.”
Chelsea looked around at everyone. The girls weren’t crying as they ate, Adam and Brad planned their next move pouring over the map, and Shane was bearing more pain then she thought a human could. Each person had truly become more than they were. Despite all the fear and pain, she could tell something had unlocked in everyone, something that was keeping them alive. She thought back to when she climbed the ferris wheel, and when she leapt from the Ikea to the other building with her daughters.
Chelsea looked at Brad as he memorized the map. Her eyes scanned his body for injuries and paused at his thighs. When Chelsea had sized-up Brad for the first time at college, she remembered being grateful his thighs were nearly twice the size of hers. Though that wasn’t something hard to do given Chelsea’s years of yoga, she took a lot of comfort in Brad being much stronger than her.
ADAM LOOKED AT HIS father Shane. “How are you holding up, pops?” Shane gave him a pressed smile and a nod, yes, that said, ‘please don’t ask me to speak.’
Shane felt useless. Years of, “I’ll work out when I have the money.” Years of, “I’ll do it tomorrow” added up today. He could tell no matter how hard Adam tried to convince him otherwise – that he was a burden. In the moment his family needed him most, his leadership the most, he had become dead weight. Shane wanted nothing more than to be helpful, he couldn’t stand feeling so helpless.
Shane attempted to stand up to look at the map with Brad. Adam put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. “Dad, stay down.”
Brad noticed what was going on. For over thirty years Brad had seen his dad try to be right when he was wrong, sticking to his guns to prove he was dominant or manly, or whatever demons say to embarrassed men. He knew how bad this could get.
“I’m alright son.” Shane replied to Adam. “I want to help.”
Brad intervened, “No offense dad, but resting right now is how you can help.”
In Shane’s mind, Brad may as well have said, ‘you useless man, bet you wish you had been working out now.’
“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Brad.” Shane’s voice shook and rose just that much higher, causing alarm in Chelsea and Kara.
Brad had a career. Brad had a wife who counted on him. Brad had a knowledge of this country, the means to pay for his parents and brother to come visit. Brad wasn’t injured. Brad wasn’t fat.
Adam did his best to keep the peace. His instinct was to calm Brad.
Shane rolled onto his knees, placed his hand on the chair of the cockpit then painfully slid his right leg forward and rested for a moment. It looked as if he was taking a knee on a football field. Shane placed his hand on his knee and pressed down with all his weight. Everyone in the cab could see that no matter how hard Shane pressed down on that knee, he did not have the strength to rise up without help. This signaled Adam.
Adam grabbed Shane’s other hand and helped him rise. With a grunt Shane hobbled to the glowing map and eagerly said, “What’s the plan?” Pretending that Brad wasn’t mad. Pretending his voice didn’t rise in volume, giving him away and catching the attention of the zombies on the other side of the door.
Brad was sick of lying, he had no patience to stroke his dad’s ego right now. Not when everyone’s lives were on the line.
Adam, the peacemaker, stepped forward, and with a finger over his lips, whispered, “It’s alright dad, we’ve got this.”
Shane gave Adam a look that said, ‘test me one more time.’ His eyes wide like a full moon shining in the night.
Shane heard nothing but his darkest thoughts. In the depths of his pain, every word his sons uttered, every time they didn’t maintain the delusion that he could in any way be helpful right now, he was thrown deeper into a desperate rage. A desperate struggle to survive emotionally, his confidence hanging by a thread. His insecurities crying out louder than the zombies rising screeches just beyond the door.
Shane just stared at the glowing map and then up to Brad’s resolute face. He shook his head and threw a charming smile, taking it upon himself to smooth everything over, and said, “Come on. Show me what the plan is.” Not realizing how loud he had said it, how on the verge he was to shouting. The zombies had flown from his mind, all he cared to keep alive right now was his pride.
Brad was pissed. How dare Shane pretend he didn’t just do what he did. How dare he try and rope him into his sad delusion. Yet he knew he couldn’t say a word.
Everyone knew whoever spoke next would light the fire of their death. It was as if the cab had filled with gas, and the next thing someone said that didn’t give into what Shane wanted would be the spark to make it blow. No one could count on Shane to not escalate the situation further. He would fall, he would yell, he would hit, and he would summon the horde of zombies on board.
Kara had seen this many times before. Shane was flooded. His mind had gone. His pills had run out. His rage was blinding, and the only quiet way out was to play along. She looked to Adam as their last hope of survival. Her pleading eyes called Adam into action. Adam had always had a special way of calming his father down. Adam was naive. He had never seen the full extent of Shane’s madness. The full depth of the wounds his grandfather had inflicted on Shane over many many years of abuse. No one was safe from Shane’s pain.
Adam put his hand on Shane’s back. “Dad, you’re not being helpful.”
Shane grabbed Adam by the shirt and slammed him up against the wall. “This is my family!” Shane roared. Brad grabbed fistfulls of Shane’s shirt on his shoulders and pulled him off Adam.
Shane stumbled and fell backwards slamming into the wall and sliding down to the floor.
Adam looked at his dad in the dark, slumped up against the wall, struggling to get back up. Struggling to fight his brother Brad, struggling to survive. His fear had turned him against his own family.
Writhing on the floor, to Adam, Shane almost looked like a zombie.
Brad placed his foot on Shane’s chest and kept him on the floor. He was in a frenzy. Shane began punching Brad’s shin when Kara scurried across the floor. “Shane! Please stop!”
The zombies on the other side of the door began screeching loudly. Slamming their fists and heads on the door of the cockpit. The door was only about an inch thick and wouldn’t last. Shane came-to when a crack appeared on the door. Another heavy slam chipped the door and the top of a zombie's bleeding head crowned through. Everyone’s eyes were trained on the door.
The train came to a sudden stop.
Brad looked to Adam, “We’re here.” They had pulled into the Taipei Main Station.
THEY LISTENED AS THE doors of the train opened and the zombies all fell silent. The banging stopped and the bloody scalp slipped away revealing a large enough hole to look through. Adam watched as the dark figures of the zombies on board shuffled off the train into a dark and silent station.
The sound of a piano broke the silence and echoed through the underground cavern. The song had a peaceful rising joyfulness to its simple melody and only lasted about thirty seconds. It took Adam a moment to remember that train arrivals in Taiwan were always announced by simple tunes played loudly on speakers in every station. Alerting passengers that their specific train had arrived.
What once was another shockingly peaceful feature of Taiwan amongst the busy hustle of the city, now seemed to mock the family. Thirty seconds is all they had. For thirty seconds something louder than the family’s footsteps would echo through the station. Thirty seconds to weave their way through the dark and find their way to the surface.
The faint red reflective glow of hundreds of zombies' eyes gathered underneath what must have been the speaker playing the tune in the center of the station. The zombies began to pile on top of each other to try and reach the sound.
Brad lifted both Elise and Jennie in his arms and darted out the door through the station. Chelsea followed close behind. Adam lifted Shane and trailed after Kara. Adam straddled keeping up with Brad and not leaving Shane behind. With each step Shane felt he would collapse. The pain in his legs was unbearable.
The song was almost over. Brad saw a mental image of the station in his mind guiding him through the darkness, his only orientation being the eyes of the hoard, and the faintest glow of the sun coming from a staircase tucked high in the right corner of the underground station.
Brad reached what he hoped was an elevator and Chelsea fumbled for a button until she found it. The elevator was their only hope, and would lead the family directly to the surface. She pressed the button and heard the doors of the elevator slide open. Brad stepped inside and stumbled on a corpse dropping Elise into the corner of the elevator. He set Jennie down and shoved the corpse out of the elevator as Chelsea came in.
Kara and Adam reached the elevator. Shane was close, but still needed to take several more painful strides to reach them. The music stopped and Shane’s shuffle immediately drew the attention of the hoard. The eyes of the zombies turned and running towards them was how the family knew where Shane was. His dark silhouette formed against the reflective eyes of the hoard. Adam put out his hand to stop the closing elevator door. Shane hobbled as quickly as possible. Kara shouted from behind Adam, “Faster, Shane! Over here!” Shane pushed through his pain and made it to the elevator. Adam embraced his father.
As soon as Shane crossed the threshold of the doors a buzz whined loudly from within the elevator. Everyone’s eyes turned to three glowing words on the top of the elevator panel: ‘Maximum Weight Exceeded.’
Shane pushed Adam away, stepped backwards off the elevator, and the doors shut between them.
EVERYTHING BECAME QUIETER AS the elevator rose to the surface, everyone’s breathing and the metallic creaking of the elevator faded away. A ringing filled their ears as their minds tried to comprehend what had just happened. The small box began to fill with light from cracks as they neared the surface, slowly revealing the family’s faces to each other. Faces drained of blood, eyes wide and rimming with tears. Brad, Chelsea and the girls realized Shane wasn’t in the elevator, and Brad immediately placed a hand over Jennie and Elise’s mouths. Screams struggled to fight their way up everyone’s throats as tears broke from their eyes.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened to the surface of the Taipei streets. Light blinded the family as they stumbled out of the elevator. Kara fell to her knees.
Adam stood stunned looking forward as his swollen eyes adjusted to the light. Zombies lurked in the shadows and buildings hiding from the light of the sun. The sight of the zombies locked everyone’s screams down and kept them from ringing out.
Brad lifted Kara off her knees and the group began running again. They ran down the street searching for somewhere safe to stop. Brad’s plan needed to change, clouds had begun to fill the sky and they needed to find somewhere safe fast. The family ran past a hospital and could see a Taiwanese woman with a little girl pounding on the doors. Brad pointed them out and they ran up to them. Brad broke into Mandarin and asked what they were doing. The woman had her arm in a sling and explained to Brad that she could see a doctor inside and was trying to get his attention. Brad looked inside and could see the doctor. The doctor saw them and rushed to the doors to let them in.
When they got in, the doctor locked the doors again and led them deeper into the dark hospital. Brad spoke in Chinese to the doctor asking if the hospital had any zombies inside. “It’s okay, you’re safe. But we have to hurry.” The doctor responded in soft yet clear english. Brad looked at Chelsea, they were both surprised he didn’t want to speak in Chinese. They were worried they had offended him.
QUARANTINE TENTS AND CURTAINS littered the hospital floor. They went up to the second floor through a plastic tunnel. At the end of the tunnel there were two heavy steel doors. The Doctor scanned a card hanging from his neck and the doors opened, Brad saw on the card the name Cheng as the doctor directed everyone into the doorway.
This corner of the hospital had been effectively quarantined, and was clearly the safest and cleanest room they had seen since the outbreak. The doctor shut the doors and listened on the other side. After a quiet moment the doctor his ear away from the doors, “We’re safe.”
The family gathered in a hug and cried. There was nothing to say.
The doctor said to the Richards, “You can stay here as long as you like. I have food, water and medicine. You’ll be safe here.”
Jennie wiped the tears from her eyes and saw the scared little Taiwanese girl staring at her. She seemed to be Elise’s age and she was clinging to her mother’s leg. Jennie said hello and introduced herself in Mandarin. The little girl's face lit up ever so slightly along with her mother’s when they realized she could speak Chinese. Chelsea felt very proud of her daughter. Elise, in English, pointed to the woman’s pink sweater with a cat on it and said, “I like your shirt.” The woman laughed softly and thanked her. She attempted to move her wounded arm to show the embroidered cat more clearly, and then winced from the pain.
As they walked through the hospital floor they expected to see other people in the rooms and hallways, but they didn’t see anyone. Doctor Cheng observed the family's looks and said in English, “I am the only one. I’ve cleaned the floor and disposed of any bodies. The military made this one of the safest places in Taipei, and then got infected. I managed to lure them out of the building and secure the doors to keep this place safe. It was several days ago. It’s good to see people. Especially you.” The doctor looked warmly at the children.
Doctor Cheng had been ignoring the Taiwanese woman and her daughter. It was subtle enough, but obvious to Brad. The doctor had refused to look at them even once in spite of the woman’s arm being in a make-shift sling and clearly wounded. Brad had received a lot of this kind of treatment being an American foreigner, especially from people in the upper-class, but it still surprised him.
“You can stay in here. The bed is clean in this room.” The Doctor opened the door to a small hospital room. It had one neatly made bed and a window that filled the room with faint gray light. As Adam closed the door the Taiwanese woman began speaking frantically to the doctor in Mandarin. Brad lingered by the door and tried to overhear the conversation.
Chelsea gave a look that begged for clarification. Brad replied, “the woman asked where they would be staying. I couldn’t hear the rest. I’ll ask him later.” Brad was thinking about his father, how the last thing he had done was fight him. Brad prided himself in his ability to put his emotions in boxes and store them away, to process at a time and in a way that was convenient and productive. But Brad was disturbed at a level he didn’t know how to sort. There was no comfort and no escape from the crushing weight of what had happened.
Kara laid down on the bed and began to sob again. Jennie and Elise climbed up on the bed next to her, buried their faces into their Nai Nai and wept. Chelsea, holding Violet, turned into Brad’s chest as sobs began to roll from her. Brad looked at Adam as he wrapped his arms around her. For the first time in Adam’s life, he saw Brad look utterly lost. Adam knew he wouldn’t be getting any comfort from him and went to the window.
Adam looked out the window at the corpses and zombies below. The grief walked two steps behind Adam, it was close, but held at arm's length as Adam searched the streets below for any sign of his dad. He couldn’t stand the sight of seeing his dad as one of those infected creatures, but oddly enough, it was the only comforting thought he had. Even though he was a zombie, his dad was out there somewhere, walking, thinking, feeling. Perhaps some day a cure would come forward and he could find him and bring him back from wherever he was. Maybe somehow this would end and Shane would be okay.
They unpacked some food and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening eating slowly and not speaking. After they cleaned themselves with wipes in the bathroom down the hall, Kara got her ankle wrapped by the doctor and several pills to help with the swelling. Doctor Cheng left the room and came back with two small cups filled with light pink liquid and handed them to Jennie and Elise. He looked at Chelsea, “Vitamins for children.” Chelsea thanked him as the girls sipped the cups empty.
The women prepared the floor with blankets and the children began to fall asleep. Brad stayed up a little later and kept Doctor Cheng from leaving the room, he knew it was important to build some rapport with him.
The conversation moved outside the door in the hallway when Chelsea asked Brad to speak quieter. Doctor Cheng was a younger man who clearly worked hard to get where he was. He had no family of his own, but briefly mentioned his mother. He had gone to school in America and was clearly one of the best in the hospital. Brad noticed earlier in the hallway he had a picture and plaque on the wall heralding his many achievements, “MD, PhD, CIPS, RMSK.” His English was flawless and he was the perfect image of an Asian professional. In spite of living in the apocalypse, his clothes were spotless. Brad recalled his CIPS certification on the wall. Brad’s career was in supply chain management and he knew what it took to get to that level. He said a few things that let the Doctor know his status. Unfortunately, Brad knew this would impact Doctor Cheng’s willingness to help his family survive. In spite of his kind and round face, Brad knew his kindness had more motives than goodwill. To be where he was now, Brad knew the Doctor had to step over a lot of bodies, living and dead. Whenever Brad met men like this he knew the only way to truly win them over was to stroke their ego. These men would do anything to be on top.
After his conversation with the Doctor, Brad joined his family in the room and fell asleep quickly, his mind haunted by images of his father being eaten alive.
ELISE WOKE TO THE sound of the door opening. She watched as her older sister, Jennie, and her mother, Chelsea, left the room. Elise followed without them knowing. Chelsea was taking Jennie to the bathroom and walked lazily, half asleep. Elise’s little legs caught up to them and grabbed her mom’s hand. Chelsea lept and pulled her hand away not realizing it was Elise. “You scared me.” She took her hand and they continued to the bathroom.
As Jennie wiped her hands with wipes, Chelsea asked, “Do you have to go, Elise?” Elise simply nodded her head no. They went back to the room and fell asleep.
Elise woke up thirty minutes later with her bladder burning. She needed to go now. Elise moved to wake her mom, but Jennie grabbed her hand inches away from their mother. “Let her sleep, I’ll take you.” Elise nodded and the two little girls left the room.
After going to the bathroom, Elise and Jennie walked back towards their hospital room. Standing by the door, just before going back in, they saw a light emanating further down the hallway around the corner that they hadn’t noticed earlier. The girls walked further to see what was going on.
Walking around the corner they saw Doctor Cheng standing with his arms folded looking at a large plastic box filled with light. The box was a perfect square, ten feet in length, width and height with a large light dangling above it. Locked inside the large box was the Taiwanese mother who had been rescued with them earlier, her daughter clearly not with her. The woman was standing in the middle of the box, her back towards the doctor looking up at the light above – her arm still resting in the makeshift sling.
The Doctor noticed the girls, “It’s okay. It’s safe.”
The woman in the quarantine chamber quickly twitched her head and the girls could see her mouth was covered in blood, and her skin was pale and veiny. She was infected. The wound on her arm festered and bled with pus and blood all over her pink sweater. The wound, now swollen, was clearly a bite mark.
Jennie and Elise stepped back quickly. The Doctor didn’t move a muscle and just looked towards them and calmly repeated, “It’s okay. You’re safe. The light is calming her.” The infected woman continued to gaze at the light. She appeared frozen like a deer in the headlights without blinking.
The light was above the box where she was unable to reach or destroy it. Pointing at the light Doctor Cheng said, “Because she can’t get rid of it, or hide from it, she’s fixed on it like a moth.” The doctor pulled out his card and held it up. “She couldn’t get out even if she tried.” The girls looked at the hefty lock on the clear door to the quarantine box.
Jennie and Elise were curious, they were excited to show their parents what appeared to be a cure. “Is she getting better?” Elise asked.
“No. Not yet.” The doctor looked down at the floor. “I know what will cure her though.” He then gave a soft smile looking up at the girls.
The girls returned hopeful smiles as they thought of their grandpa. In Chinese the doctor asked if they had just gone to the bathroom. Jennie, eager to show she understood, replied, yes, in Chinese. The Doctor laughed. “Good! So smart.”
The Doctor’s smile faded and his eyes glazed over. Even at eight years old, Jennie knew when someone was lost in thought. She had seen the look many times on her mother. Doctor Cheng had gone somewhere else in his mind.
Years of English lessons from his mother filled his memory. He could see her rigid finger wagging in his face. Years of cruelty, climbing, winning, proving.
“I had to be perfect.” Doctor Cheng confessed to the girls.
“I still have to.” Doctor Cheng turned to the infected woman and in Chinese said, “Isn’t that right, mom?”
The infected woman in the plastic cell didn’t budge. She was younger than Doctor Cheng and was clearly unable to be his mother. Jennie wasn’t sure she had heard him right, but could tell from the raised pitch of his voice that something was wrong.
Doctor Cheng continued to speak in Chinese to the zombie as if it was his mother. The girls could only detect a word or two.
“Are you proud of me now? Are you proud of what your boy’s become? I’m the only one left. I won. The hospital is mine. But that will never be enough for you, will it? Because I’m not American. I’m not like them. I’m not pure. All I wanted was kindness. All I wanted was for you to love me.”
In English, the Doctor spoke to Elise and Jennie, “You’re kind. Your parents love you, I’ve seen it. You’re pure. I would do it myself, but my mother …” Doctor Cheng spat the words towards the zombie, “... made me into this.” He ripped the card off his lanyard and stared at it.
He spoke with the same measured cadance he had used for years explaining various diagnoses to patients, “They just need kindness. They need you to be kind and they’ll be healed. It’s the cure. I thought the daughter would be able to do it, but it didn’t work.” Doctor Cheng gestured casually towards a body bag the size of a small child. “I hoped it would, I hoped my mother was wrong. But she was right. You need to be American.”
Doctor Cheng swiped his card on the door of the quarantine chamber. A light on the lock turned green and the door popped open an inch. He grabbed Jennie and Elise by the arms. They began to scream. Elise bit Doctor Cheng’s hand and he let go. Elise fell backwards on the hard cold floor and scooted against the wall. Still holding Jennie, Doctor Cheng opened the door and pulled Jennie inside with him. Jennie grabbed the card from his hand and threw it out the door towards Elise. Doctor Cheng threw Jennie to the corner and went to retrieve the card. Elise kicked the door closed trapping Jennie and the Doctor inside with the zombie.
Jennie slammed into the plastic wall of the chamber and the light above began to flicker on and off. In response, the zombie began to flinch, blink and snarl. Jennie curled up in a ball and screamed even louder, as the scream bounced around the small quarantine chamber the zombie broke its gaze and flailed her arms – breaking free from the soggy sling. The wet and infected arm hit Doctor Cheng in the face. Doctor Cheng, his face pressed in disgust, backed against the wall opposite the door.
“Jennie, quick! Hug her!” He screamed in Chinese. Elise grabbed the card off the floor and scanned it on the lock. She pulled the door open in time for Jennie to crawl out of the chamber, and then slammed it shut again.
The light stopped flickering when Elise slammed the door. The zombie reacted to the light again. At first she tried to reach and destroy it, then slowly calmed and stared at it again. Doctor Cheng stood entirely still.
Brad, Adam, and Chelsea came hurling around the corner having heard the children’s screams. Kara had stayed behind with Violet. As soon as they appeared Elise and Jennie ran to Brad.
“Let me out, hurry!” Doctor Cheng shouted. The yell was muffled because of the thick chamber walls, but Adam still understood. Adam went to the door and tried to open it. “The card!” Doctor Cheng pointed to the girls. Adam looked at Elise. She had the card and Jennie began yelling and sobbing, “No! He tried to trap me!” She then pointed at the body bag. Everyone looked at the bag. Adam walked over and zipped it open.
Inside was the little Taiwanese girl. Her head mangled with bite marks from her mother rolled out of the bag. Adam vomited and Chelsea looked away. Brad helped Adam put the head back into the bag and then vomited as well. Chelsea pointed at the woman, “Her sweater! Brad, look at her sweater.” Wiping their vomit from their lips the brothers realized it was the child’s mother.
The Doctor began to cry. “I’m sorry, I thought it would work. I need them, I need them to cure her!” He pointed again at Jennie and Elise.
Brad and Adam stared at the zombie. “Why isn’t she moving?” Brad asked. Jennie replied, “the light.” The Doctor for a moment looked proud of Jennie and nodded his head yes. “Yes, the light has made her docile. To cure her, your daughters must show her kindness.”
Doctor Cheng had a wild look in his eye. His sanity had broken. “My mother can be saved. I just need them.”
Brad was at a loss for words. He could see this man was clearly sick. While Adam contemplated saving him, Doctor Cheng could see on Brad’s face that he would not be getting out.
“Fine. Maybe I can save her. Perhaps I am pure enough.” The Doctor looked directly at the zombie. He took steps towards her and held his arms out preparing to embrace her.
Chelsea buried her face and covered Jennie and Elise’s eyes. Kara came around the corner with Via just in time to see the doctor embrace the zombie. The zombie held completely still, continuing to stare into the light. Holding her tenderly the doctor began to sob and mumble, “I’m pure. I’m pure.” The doctor tightened his grip. “You love me.”
The zombie blinked, twitched and sunk its teeth into Doctor Cheng’s neck. The doctor roared in anger and pain as he was torn to pieces.
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