Free After Life by Daniel Kelley

the virus. Her vision was fading — she briefly wondered how the zombies could even see, if her vision was already suffering, before realizing she didn’t give a damn. Her leg around the bite was already completely numb, and she could feel the dead sensation moving up.
    Madison put the paper up to her chest, as high as she could put it without covering her neck or head. Once she had it in place, she opened the stapler and plunged it through the paper, through her top, and into her chest. The first staple went in just above her right breast. Madison cried out briefly, but even that noise came with great effort.
    Shaking, she repeated the staple lower, just below her nipple, then followed suit on the left side of her body. With each successive motion, the pain, in fact the feeling altogether, was less. By the time she stapled a fourth time, she didn’t even feel it go into her skin.
    She felt herself losing consciousness. Madison reached in front of her to pick up the gun, then stopped and left it on the desk. She looked over to Lambert’s body, and shook her head.
    Just before she lost consciousness altogether, Madison muttered, to no one in particular, “I’m sorry, too.”

Chapter 10: We Go, We Shoot, We Leave
    “They still out there?” Donnie asked, shaking as he knelt against the wall. “Haven’t heard any gunshots in a while.”
    “Nope,” said Calvin McRell from his spot by the door, peering through the small crack. “They took off. Heard one of them mention going for a jog. Gotta keep in shape.” He turned to Donnie and scowled.
    Twenty-some years ago, Calvin had been at the head of his class at Annapolis. Before 2010, he had been well on his way to a high-ranking naval career. These days, he still wore his blond hair close to his head, still had his clothes pressed every day, still had the ripped physique that came from strenuous daily workouts. Michelle knew all this because Calvin never missed the opportunity to tell of his exploits.
    Now, she sat at his desk, spinning around slowly in the chair. The room was just like the office Michelle had come from — Madison’s office. Everything was reversed, so that the door to the outside and the door to the inner office were opposite of where Michelle was used to them, and there was an extra desk and chair in a corner, less of a feminine touch to the décor, but constructed identically. Michelle always wondered how Donnie and Cal got any work done. With their contrasting personalities, she was glad she didn’t spend any more time with the two of them together than she did. “Take it easy,” she said without looking up.
    Calvin laughed. “Yeah, take it easy,” he said. “We’ll just kick it here. Never mind that the food stores aren’t in this room, because this place was supposed to be the last safe place, right? So we’ve got, what, a pot of coffee and a can of sugar. Yep, let’s take it easy. No worries.” He closed the door as quietly as he could. His hands on his head, he walked away from the others, facing the wall.
    “I didn’t say ‘Relax,’” Michelle said, stopping the spinning. “I said take it easy. We don’t need the sarcasm. It doesn’t exactly help.”
    “Got a better idea?” Calvin said.
    “What idea? We go, we shoot, we leave. Find a place to hole up. 2010.”
    Calvin spat on the floor. “Brilliant.”             
    “ You got a better idea?” Michelle asked. With Calvin’s silence, she pulled her pistol from her holster. From across the room, Donnie stood up and copied her motion.
    “She’s right, Cal,” he said.
    “No shit,” Calvin responded, rolling his eyes. He nodded and pulled out his own gun, but didn’t move toward the door.
    Michelle looked from Calvin to Donnie. Neither looked likely to make a move, so she headed for the door. Donnie immediately fell in step behind her.
    She stopped at the door and checked her clip. It was full. She looked back at her two companions, but neither met her