Fingers Under the Door

02 - Shelter and Support

I wait, jaws clenched, arms shaking, holding the door with all my might. Begging myself not to scream when the impact comes. I can hear it getting louder, thundering toward me, wild and ragged as a hurried run and soon I can hear the gasping breath of a madman --

But the hit never connects. Instead, I hear the encroaching footsteps stutter-stop right outside the door, there's a tap as the person stopping touches the portapotty entrace like it's a safe-point in a game of tag.

"DON'TOPENIT!!!" A panicking voice screams from the other side, it is out of breath, but even through the hysteria, I know it is Joel. "IHAVETO... figure.... I have to figuresomething...uh... just--"

"What?" I shout at the door. "Joel, why can't I open it?"

I hear something, a light squeak that slowly begins to travel around the portapotty. It's like a little space-mouse is drawing a bubble of protection around me... no that is fantasy. It must be Joel walking around the portalet. He is thinking, dragging his finger without realizing it, tracing our safe area quickly.

Why is he doing this? I'm afraid to ask him anything else.

"What are you doing?" I whisper.

"Just checking to make sure they cant get to you." Then I hear him gulp in horror, he must have seen or heard something I did not. " SHIT -- I HAVETO FIND SOMEPLACE --AUTUMN I THINK YOU'RE SAFE BUT I HAVE TO -- " He stops for a moment. "I have  -- SHIT! THE TREE!"

"What?" I say but I know the situation merits silence. I stop and listen.

I hear the rustle of a tree very nearby. He must be climbing that tree that is near my little portalet of safety. It was a large tree, I remember thinking, when we were walking up to the portalet that they mush have placed it under the tree for shade -- to keep it cool for the construction workers.

"Psst - listen we don't have much time." I hear Joel's voice, it is oddly clear now, as if he were in the crapper with me. What the?

"Behind you Autumn... the vent!"

I turn around, step up, putting my feet where asses go, careful not to fall into the hole. Man, that would be awful if I fell --

"Do you see me?" He asks.

I squint into the back vent grates of the portalet, it takes a second, but my eyes adjust to the moonlight and I see Joel. He's wrapped himself around a large, snaking branch that's coming off the trunk, around ten feet off the ground, and he's shimmied across the branch and is now around 5 feet from touching the grates I'm looking through. It is probably the closest he could possibly be to me without getting in here.

"How did you?.." I begin.

"Super poor before Dad got the good job, grew up in a trailer. Never told you because I was embarrased! Trees were my playstation. Listen, doesn't matter--" He gave me a sort of weird, crazy smile, maybe musing at his own little revised history. He took his voice to a whisper. "We have about a minute and I have to tell you something you might not believe --"

"If we have just a minute, just tell me godamnit! Quit the prancing and tell me!"

"Alright, fine whatever. Zombies! There! Happy?" He nodded cruely.

"Woah wait what?" I push my nose to the vent to get closer. "OK, maybe a little more priming, what the freak, man? Are you messing me right now? Is that what this is?"

"Oh, I wish. I dont know what else to call them." He cleares his throat as if there is a lump in it, "I followed the sounds down through the trees, you know, the far off set on the other side of the bank, directly across from the portalet door. A pretty short walk. Turns out we're closer to the highway than we thought and there's a rest stop on the other side, you just cant see for the trees. I saw a group of people, like maybe 30 of them, I thought maybe they were hurt because there was this semi overturned still on the road but no cops, nothing, anyway so I'm watching them, and this family pulls up in a minivan and I see the dad get out to -- I guess to ask somone what's going on, or maybe if they need help, I dont know and the group they just..." His voice gets shakey. "They just... it was like when you put fishfood in the bowl, you know," He sniffled, embarrased, he tries to deflect it. "What is that, like swarming? Yeah. They swarmed and he uh -- yeah -- there wasnt even enough time for him to scream -- they just took him apart."

As Joel is telling the story, my mind is snapping through the possible causes of his delirium. Acid? Maybe he'd dropped a hit before picking me up and it was just kicking in? He'd said he was straight edge but who knows. People can lie.

Or what if he was crazy? That would explain why such a hot guy like him had... no, now's not the time to get emo. Then a thought hits me. It's so obvious!

"You had time to get in here with me. Why didn't you?" It was a major hole in his story. Why didn't he just jump in with me if he was so worried? Why would he look for another place? I don't say anything else and watch him.

"Well one of us needs to be out here!" He doesn't hesitate, but still sounds a bit crazy as he replies, or maybe it was just him expressing in his voice that the answer was obvious. "How would we know they were gone if we were both stuck in there? The only place you can see is the vent, and that's not the direction the door opens. No this is good. I dont think they can climb, they are pretty uncoordinated. Plus I need someplace I'm safe and can see them, so I know when we should make for the car. Shit... be quiet! They're coming!"

I get down from the toilet seat and sit squarely. I couldn't look at him any more. His eyes were wide. Like part of him had slipped into itself to hide, leaving a blank stare to watch for danger. So what kind of turn was this? Where had the night gone?

Had my new boyfriend just lost his mind? Or were we actually experiencing the horror epidemic half the people I know genuinely believe will happen some day? I mean, we've spent entire lunches discussing our own personal zombie plan, everyone has one, but... do I actually believe it could happen? Had people gone bad and turned on themselves?

I put the thought out of my head -- can't even believe I was actually considering it as an option --  but... when all those bathsalt murders happened, there was a part of me that...

No. I stop the train of thoughts and put my ear to the door to listen. There is only one way to get to the bottom of this situation, and it isn't by thinking. I have to listen and if nothing happens, I'll question Joel again.

So here I am, listening.

"Brace yourself!" I hear Joel whisper from behind me. "They're coming--"