The Last Alive

Chapter Twenty-Two - Spending the Night

Chapter Twenty-two

Spending the Night in an Abandoned Hockey Arena

"Damnit," I muttered standing the middle of Fifth Avenue.

"What?" Meaghan asked.

"We're not making it back tonight." I shook my head in utter disappointment.

"Why?" Taz furrowed his brow and cocked his head to the side.

"I'm not spending the night out here. There is no cover. We would chow for the undead," Liz muttered.

"Yeah. I know that but look down there. The entire intersection is covered in them. There's no way we make it through them."

"We can go around." Nathan stood next to me watching them.

"Damn. Emma is right. It's too risky," Liz said, shaking her head.

"We need to get into one of these buildings and block ourselves off until morning." Taz looked around examining the decrepit places around us.

"Where do you think we should go?" Meaghan looked around at the crumbling abandoned buildings. None of them look particularly appealing.

"Somewhere secure and safe where we can barricade a room off." I also scanned the buildings along the street.

A lot of them were overrun with weeds, falling down, or just looked like there may be an unwelcomed surprise or two inside.

"None of these look to great," Nathan mumbled.

I smiled when I spotted my favorite place in the entire city before everything was destroyed.

"The CONSOL Energy Center."

"What?" Liz asked.

"We're going to stay in the arena." I smiled.

"Is it safe?" Meaghan questioned.

"It'll be safer than out here. The locker rooms or box suites should provide a relatively secure place for us to sleep for the night, and we'll only be a few blocks away from the town."

"Will the undead be gone by then?" Meaghan asked.

I shrugged my shoulders at her. "I don't know. I hope."

"What if they aren't?" she asked again.

"If they aren't then we either get comfy here, or we fight our way through."

"I don't want to stay out here any longer than what I have to." Liz pulled out her gun, ready to go.

"Neither do I," Nathan said, walking toward the hockey arena.

I looked up at the giant glass front. I had so much fun in the short time the arena was open. The year of the outbreak the Penguins were on their way to winning the Stanley Cup. They were up in the series and the city was in good spirits. Everywhere you turned there were hockey jerseys or t-shirts. I managed to pack my jersey as a reminder of better days. Hockey was long forgotten though. All sports were long forgotten. A few of the players who did not make it back to their home countries or states took up refuge with the rest of us in downtown. They were just as sad and despondent as everyone else.

"Are you alright?" Nathan asked.

I wiped a tear from my cheek. "Yeah."

"I didn't know this place meant so much to you."

"Memories, Nathan, just really good memories."

"Come on, guys!" Taz pushed open one of the front doors.