When the Dead by Michelle Kilmer

It felt like a
room now instead of an idea.
                Austin
had come into the room. He had his jacket on and the car keys in his hand.
“Don’t start with that again . . . please . There is no way that baby is
coming out of you anywhere but in a hospital.”
                Jill
slowly sat down in the rocking chair and placed a hand on her belly. “Too bad
the baby doesn’t know about the world. If she knew, she could wait for a bit.
Stay safe inside of me.”
                “You
are being weird. Can you focus? The neighbors are going to lock us in here if
we don’t hurry.” He extended a hand to his wife. “We should go downstairs.”
                “Are
you sure about this?”
                “We
can’t risk a home birth without help. I’ve been waiting for nine months to meet
our first child. I’m not going to let what is going on outside take this
opportunity from me.”
     

Really Secured-Access
    The
moving of the Cabels and Markus only took twenty minutes. Ben and Rob brought
hammers and nails down for everyone to share. The decision was made to board up
the doors on the first floor with cabinets, more doors, and furniture from the other
apartments. There were just too many windows to worry about within each unit. It
was noisy work and it attracted a lot of unwanted attention from the dead
outside.
                “Phew.
I didn’t think it would take that long,” Ben said as he wiped the sweat from
his forehead some forty-five minutes after they started.
                There
was one door left, the front entrance, and then the complex would be sealed
from the crypt that was the world. The Coopers were standing by, waiting for
the perfect moment to make a run for the car. Most of the dead had left the
front entrance area for the sides of the building but a few stragglers remained.
                “Are
you ready?” Austin asked his wife as he grabbed her hand and pushed open the
front door.
                She
didn’t answer; she only followed him with her eyes closed tight. She couldn’t
stand to look at what they were running into. But the cold air of the evening
hit her body like a brick and her eyes shot open. An involuntary scream emitted
from her mouth.
                “Shhh!”
Austin shot back as he squeezed her hand.
    The other tenants watched as the couple finished crossing the lawn in
front of the building.
                “I
think they are going to make it!” Isobel cautiously hoped.
                “Look!
The zombies are moving toward them. Austin better pick up the pace.” Rob was
standing next to Isobel at the windowed front door.
               

Front Row Seat
    They
finally reached the car and dumped the bags near the trunk. Austin took Jill to
the passenger side door and, despite his shaky hand, had it quickly unlocked
and open for his wife. Jill slowly lowered herself into the seat and closed and
locked the door. She watched nervously as her husband returned to the bags at
the back of the vehicle.
                The
dead were headed towards the car. Austin was able to get the luggage in the
trunk and get around the car to the driver’s side door. His adrenaline had
kicked in and his hands were shaking more than before. The keys weren’t cooperating
in his hand.
                “Come
on!” Jill yelled. She was trying to lean over and unlock the door for her
husband. In that moment she cursed herself for not getting automatic locks. Her
belly was too large to allow her to stretch across the center console and
driver’s seat to the small lock in the door.
                Austin
leaned down to the window. “I love you, Jill,” he said before breaking into a
run. He planned on doubling back when the crowd of dead had thinned out.
    Isobel was pounding on the thick pane of glass set in the front door.
“Austin, keep