She tried to comfort her coworker. "It's not them," Lisa started. She and Helen had worked together for a year and a half, and Lisa had never told the woman about her condition. She was too afraid of what people might think.

"I don't see anything out there," said Speedy. He stood on Lisa's overturned desk as it barricaded the doors, peeking through the hole the zombies had smashed to get in. Lisa's purse had been on that desk.

She knelt down to look underneath. It must have fallen down there. It was completely crushed under the heavy oak. She couldn't get her medicine alone.

Speedy looked down at her, sticking the pistol into his belt like Logan had done before. "What are you looking for?" he asked.

Her breathing sped up again. She didn't want them to worry she might spaz out on them. She pointed under the desk, saying, "My keys."

"It's okay." Speedy dug a set of keys out of his pocket and looked at them sadly. The silver K-shaped keychain was dull from age and wear. "We'll take Kaveh's truck," he said. "He won't mind anymore. Come on." He lay belly down on the desk, stuck his legs through the hole in the door and pushed himself backwards until only his head was inside the bank. Then he was gone.

Helen climbed onto the desk and mimicked the process.

Lisa looked at the clock above where her desk had been. Seven thirty. The pharmacy on Pine Street didn't close until nine. She could still make it. This could still be okay. Then she noticed the snow globe from her desk cracked open on the hard floor.

She followed Helen over the desk. When she finally got her head out of the bank, the sunlight hit her, and she turned around. The sun hugged the horizon, pushing a warm breeze across the town. Up on the mountain, the taller trees overshadowed their neighbors in the horizontal light. Below them, the western walls of every building in town were bathed in orange.

The world was different than before. This one had zombies in it.

The streets were empty, unusual for this time of day. Next to the bank, their cars were in the parking lot, Mister Ballard's Beemer, Lisa's Honda, Helen's Range Rover and an old Chevy pickup. Speedy went for the pickup.

In a way, it was better Lisa didn't have her car keys. It wouldn't be safe for her to drive right now, but squeezing into the cab of that pickup meant one of the women would be straddling the gear shift. She turned to Helen to ask about her car, but she found her coworker staring at the ground with her eyes open too wide.

Lisa looked down to realize she was standing in a pool of blood and clothing scraps.

Her own blood pumped harder. A stained sidewalk was all that was left of Logan Swanson and Pat Ballard.

She couldn't imagine what Helen was going through at that sight, but Lisa had to process what this meant. In some movies, zombies would only eat people's brains, but these weren't that kind of zombie.

"Let's get in the truck," she said and took Helen by the hand. Speedy started the Chevy. Lisa rode in the middle.

They were the only car on the road as they pulled out of the parking lot. "Take a left at the next stoplight," said Lisa, trying to ignore Speedy using the gear shift between her knees.

"I need to check on my family," said Speedy. "And somebody has to tell Kaveh's sister."

"That's important," said Lisa, "but we need to make a quick stop on the way."

Speedy took his eyes off the road. "Why?"

Pine Street Shopping Center was less than a mile away, and the pharmacy would start to close in just over an hour, but Lisa didn't want to say that. There was another reason to head over there. "Pine Street has a gun store."

"We already have--" Speedy stopped at the red light. There was a police roadblock in front of them, three cop cars in the intersection with their lights spinning silently. The cops were gone, leaving only bloodstains and bits of flesh and uniform. The sawhorse signs instructing people to keep back were knocked to the ground and trampled. Nobody said anything, but Speedy drove between the cars and took a left towards Pine.

They drove for blocks without seeing another human being. Helen tried to break the silence. "Where is everyone?" Lisa didn't want to answer, too afraid she would be right.

Speedy turned onto Pine Street and slammed on the brakes. There were more than a hundred zombies in the parking lot of the strip mall, roaming from store to store. Lisa could see the pharmacy from where they were. The lights were still on inside, but the gate was closed. Nobody was getting in there.

Speedy put the truck in reverse and backed away slowly.

Lisa started, "Wait, I need my--" She froze, then took a deep breath and got ready to explain, but she couldn't. She was sure they would freak out. She couldn't bring herself to tell them that she'd been taking anticonvulsants for years, with antidepressants to control their side effects. Between the two of them, she'd been able to keep the epilepsy secret, hadn't had an attack in years. That was the reason she watched monster movies, to remember what might go wrong if she didn't protect herself. She lowered her head. Now that assurance was gone. "Never mind. Just go."