"Remind me again why we live here?" mused Amanda from the very back. "I mean it was cute at first but who thought putting the library in a neighborhood with zero parking was a good idea?"
She had a point. Greg had to parallel park three times and do a nine-point turn just to get the van situated halfway up on the curb. Soon they were piling out into the downpour, struggling with all the gear.
"Quick...before it's all soaked through!" called Ben as he hurried past with an armful of shotgun shells. They dashed after him, sloshing through growing puddles. Inside the library doors, Diana waited anxiously with the dog, who went wild zipping between them all, tail wagging his whole behind.
"Thank goodness you're all back safe," said Diana with evident relief. "I was worried sick... it's really coming down out there now. Did you find anything useful at least?"
"Useful?" scoffed Amanda, dropping her duffel to unwrap a Snickers. "Try invaluable. Show her, guys!"
They proudly displayed their haul - med kits, tools, body armor, boxes of ammo, even a bandolier of grenades which Greg promptly confiscated from Jake with a stern look. Diana's eyes grew wide taking it all in.
"My goodness... I leave you alone for an afternoon and you come back fully tooled up like the A-Team," she laughed. But then a seriousness crossed Sarah's face. "What's our next move from here? It can't be safe staying in the city for long."
Greg stepped forward, all business. "We got in touch with some other survivors hunkered down at City Hall. Main Street is overrun but they said there's still room at their position if we want to join up."
Diana frowned at this, drawing absent patterns in the rain on the window. Truth be told many of them weren't keen to hole up anywhere inside these limits with the dead roaming free. But before anyone could voice this, Tom beat them to it.
"City Hall's too crowded already and an easy target once the zombies find them. We'd be sitting ducks."
"Well what's your brilliant plan then?" retorted Greg.
Tom opened his mouth but hesitated, glancing at Sarah for backup instead of answering right away. Sarah knew what he was thinking - the same idea she'd been mulling in the car. Leave the city limits behind altogether, try their luck on the open road where it was safer to spread out. But voicing dissent now would only risk arguments further in this already heated debate.
Fortunately Ben spoke up reasonably, just like a diplomat. "Why don't we vote democratically? All in favor of heading to City Hall?"
A few scattered hands went up - Greg, Jake, and Amanda optimistic as ever. Diana and Sarah abstained, waiting to hear other options first. But most of the hands stayed resolutely down.
"Alright...alternative proposals then?" asked Ben calmly.
Tom took a breath. "I say we load up the van and head west. Find an empty town out in the country, fortify a safe house somewhere with...some room to breathe."
This appealed to Sarah and a few others, but not Greg it seemed. "And get picked off on open roads with no backup? No strategy or intel out there? It's reckless."
"Reckless?! At least out there we won't be trapped like sardines awaiting the tin opener," Tom fired back.
"You might as well paint a target on the van!" Greg shot back. "No defenses, no supplies, no plan - we'll last a week tops."
The dog let out a low woof of agreement as the arguments flew. Sarah tossed him a kernel which he caught in mid-air, quite the talented pooch.
Amanda piped up, "Greg's right... we need a real strategy. City Hall has security, people, a whole courtyard we can fortify."
YOU ARE READING
The Boss Is Dead
HororAll Sarah wanted was a cry in private after her wedding was called off. Instead, she finds her co-worker rising from the bathroom stall - with an insatiable hunger for human flesh. ~~~ Sarah had locked herself in the office bathroom, sobbing after h...
