Mark Tufo - The End Has Come and Gone

Paul was exhausted after what seemed like his fiftieth time up and down the stairs. They had brought mattresses and chairs. Anything that resembled a tarp, all the contents of the vending machine and anything that could help them wait out an extended stay on an exposed roof top. It was on one of the last trips up the stairs that Paul began to ponder this last strategic weak point.

The stairs weren't going anywhere; they were constructed of a giant poured block of concrete. The railing, however, was only attached with hex head bolts. Removing the railing wouldn’t necessarily keep the zombies from making it up the stairs but it could keep a great many of them from staying there . The more zombies that tried to crowd on the stairwell, the more that would keep getting pushed off the edge. If they could never get a big enough thrust to work on the door leading out to the roof, the survivors would have a much better chance of waiting it out and potentially receiving some help.

Finding tools was easy enough, the loading bay was full of tool boxes where some furniture had to be assembled before making its way onto the show room floor. Paul and Alex started the removal process. MJ came to help when they got down to the final two bolts. The railing was in two sections of about 20 feet long, with the second top piece having an 'L' bend to accommodate the landing. The lower piece came off without much of a hitch. As the last screw came undone, it was then gently eased to the floor. The second piece was a little more difficult, Alex and MJ held it in place while Paul unscrewed the last bolt down by the bottom, his arm hanging through the railing as he sat on the stair trying to get more leverage. MJ did not fully realize the weight of the railing he was supporting from the top landing. When the bolt came free below, he nearly went head over heels off the landing. With only the concrete floor to stop his fall, his injuries most likely would have been severe. Just as he neared the breaking point which would decide whether he could continue to hang on a little longer or topple over, MJ let loose of the railing. The force pulled the slick metal from Alex' hands and the resulting crushing force of the railing as it came down almost broke Paul's arm in half. The ear splitting sound of two hundred pounds of metal slamming into concrete was immensely louder than rifle shots.

Joann and Erin came running in. MJ had a mild look of shock on his face, while Alex was checking on Paul who was clutching his arm to his side.

"Paul, are you all right?" Erin screamed from the bottom of the stairs just as the sound finally stopped its incessant echoing from concrete wall to concrete wall.

"Whew, that was close,” Paul said to Alex's questioning stare.

"I'm so sorry,” MJ said, coming down to the middle of the staircase. “I guess I didn't realize how heavy it was going to be. You alright?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I think I'm fine. I could feel the railing, it just about caught my arm and then I pulled it in real quick, tweaked it a bit but nothing serious. Scared me more than anything,” Paul said as he flexed his arm out.

Alex grabbed his elbow and gave a squeeze, “Does that hurt?"

"I'm good, just a little hyper-extended. Could you have set it if it was broken?" Paul asked, concerned now because he had not thought of it before. Could any of them survive what was once considered a basic injury?

"Be thankful it wasn't,” was Alex's reply.

Erin came up the stairs to hug her husband.

"Everything's fine honey, just a close call,” he reassured her.

Eddy took this opportune time to come screaming into the loading bay where the staircase was located. “Mean lady says the zombies are almost in!" he screamed.

Alex was gone like a shot, going to grab Marta and his kids. MJ was right behind him going to grab his tools and box. To each his own.

"Hey Erin, why don’t you and Joann see if there is anything else in this general area you think should go up. I'm going to go lay down some covering fire with Mrs. Deneaux.” "Don’t wait too long,” she told him and gave him a kiss.

"Just long enough for Alex and MJ to get back and up.” Paul hugged her fiercely then let her go and bounded down the stairs.

Shots rang out from the front of the store and, unlike Joann's wild shots a few hours earlier, Paul was under the impression that these were finding targets. He ran to the front of the store. Mrs. Deneaux was furiously puffing on a cigarette while reloading her revolver. Furniture had been pushed back into the store a good fifteen feet. Five zombies lay in a pool of brackish goo.

"Oh, I know what you’re thinking,” Mrs. Deneaux mouthed the words around the cigarette. It looked like something she had been practicing for many a year. “Six shots five kills, not bad.” Paul hadn’t actually had enough time to access the situation, but now that she brought it up, yeah, that was pretty friggen’ good.

"Well, you’re wrong, because the sixth one is behind the big purple love seat, you just can't see him.” And then she cackled.

'That is pretty good,’ Paul thought. He just couldn't bring himself to verbalize it. He began to open fire with his rifle. Zombies as a whole had not yet completely figured out how to run through the maze, but they were beginning to leak through like blood through splayed fingers covering a wound. The flood was being held at bay but this was now a game with a timer attached.

"Start heading back!" Paul shouted to Mrs. Deneaux. MJ had already grabbed his stuff and was almost halfway to the back of the building.

"One more revolver full!" she shouted gleefully. “It's been a long time since I've done anything so fun!"

Paul shook his head. Blowing holes in zombie heads was not supposed to be anyone's idea of a good time.

Mrs. Deneaux’ facial muscles screamed in protest as she forced them into a pose they had not mustered in decades.

'That is one hideous smile,’ Paul thought, ‘but the bitch sure can shoot.’

"Six shots, six kills, huh!" she yelled, “Okay, I'm out of here!"

She wasn't particularly sprightly as she headed away but there was a definite hop to her step as she retreated down the hallway.

Paul waited for three more zombies to appear, dispatching them easily from this distance before hurrying to catch up with Mrs. Deneaux. They had just reached the far wall when the mountain of furniture avalanched down. Zombies streamed through, nothing short of two Gatlin Guns was going to keep them out now.

"Where you at Mike?" Paul asked aloud as he took one final glance back as the enemy poured in. ‘Although I don’t know what the hell even he's gonna be able to do,’ he thought glumly.

The nine of them sat on the rooftop as the rain began to splatter down, the fat droplets incredibly loud under the banner that read 'Sale .' Whether consciously or not, they were as far away from the access door as possible. Alex had set the lock from the inside and there was no access to the mechanism from the roof side. He then propped up some boards to add as a heavy set door stop. It would stop the zombies for now, but it was a temporary fix at best. They now had no egress to the ground. Zombies surrounded the store and a large number were also inside. Life would be measured in moments.

It came as no surprise but it still startled the hell out of each and every one of them when the first resounding thud came from the roof door.

"Our dinner guests have arrived,” Paul said sourly.

"That was horrible,” Joann answered, fairly close to crying.

Eddy was the only one that seemed somewhat immune from the depressing void that surrounded the rest of their band. He wasn't old enough to verbalize it, but it was the reason he left the relative dryness of the banner to stand by the wall facing the highway. The soaking from the depression weighed much more heavily than rain. Eddy watched the muzzle flashes as a series of gunshots went off not too far in the distance.