Free When the Dead by Michelle Kilmer

know? Make sure you were all right.”
    “How sweet of you both, really. But if you didn’t look around, I’m doing
just fine.”
                “What was all the noise about?”
                “Just trying to organize my loot.”
                “So you really have been leaving the building?”
Ben asked.
                “It’s a free country man. I’ll leave when I
want.”
                Isobel had anger rising in her. She was so
pissed off it made her forgot for a moment that Tom Vaughn was holding a
machete in a room full of loaded guns.
     “You could have exposed us to the infection! Not only that, you are
bringing attention to our hideout. The dead will follow you back and destroy
the building trying to come after you! How could you be such an idiot?”
                Vaughn
didn’t know what to say. He’d never been reprimanded so sternly by a woman,
especially while he was holding a weapon. He stared her down while he thought
of his reply.
    “I didn’t bring the infection. I’ve brought medical supplies and food. Besides,
staying cooped up just pisses me off more. I feel better now that I’ve had some
fresh . . . well, outside air. I wouldn’t call it fresh; it smells like
something died out there.” He let out a huge laugh.
    “The Sergeant has a sense of humor. Who would have guessed it?” Ben said
under his breath.
                “Hey,
I was thinking about using one of the other apartments up here to store some of
this stuff in. My place is getting kind of cramped.”
    “Everyone has moved to the second floor so that would be fine if yo-”
    “I wasn’t asking for your fucking permission,” he scoffed. “Who died and
made you Building Manager? I was going to ask if you guys could help by moving
a few boxes.”
    “Could you spare a few guns in exchange for the help? We don’t have much
downstairs in the way of weaponry.”
    “Sure. But don’t give them to the women. No offense Isobel, is it? You
all get too emotional.”
    Isobel ignored the comment and she and Ben moved some boxes into 302;
making small talk with Vaughn as they did.
    “What’s with the fat girl in the car? Isn’t she from across the hall?” he
asked.
    “She isn’t fat Tom, she’s pregnant. She tried to leave with her husband.
He didn’t make it and neither did the car keys. She is stuck out there and we
are trying to decide if we can pull off a rescue.”
    “Huh. Every time I ran by she was talking to herself. I thought she was
crazy so I left her alone, you know? Maybe she’d been bitten or something.”
    “She is fine. We watched her get in the car. They didn’t have a chance to
bite her. They were after her husband.”
    “Do you think she wants back in? I can get her if you guys want.”
    “Really? Tom that would be great!” Isobel couldn’t believe what she was
hearing. Tom wasn’t known for selfless acts. She dropped the box she was
carrying and embraced him quickly to show her appreciation. He pushed her away.
    “Hey, just because I’m going to get the fat girl doesn’t mean I want to
join the girl scouts. I’m not interested in making friends. I could use a
little excitement, is all.”
    Isobel picked the box back up. Everything Tom did was about him, always.
He didn’t care for Jill or for anyone in the building unless it benefited him
in some way.
     “There isn’t a way in through the first floor. We boarded everything and
blocked the stairwell,” Ben got back to business.
    “She’ll have to climb the fire escape like I do. If she doesn’t make it,
well, she wouldn’t have made it in the car either,” Vaughn shrugged.
    “When are you going out for her?” Isobel asked.
                “Before
dinner, before the sun goes down.”
                “Thanks.
We’ll tell the others,” Ben said.
                “Hey,”
Vaughn said before they returned to the second floor, “you can come