Apartment 905 by Ned Sahin (best summer books txt) 📕

the door near the doorknob, but it doesn’t move. I kick it again. We may be able to open it from the other side. I try to break the small rectangle window to reach the handle on the other side. The window doesn’t even crack. It seems to be military-grade.

I hear Kathleen’s scream.

She tries to push the Rica while finding a way to pierce the shard of glass she is holding into his head. The paper towel tears apart, and the glass cuts her hand. Blood seeps from a thin line of cut on her hand.

“Hold him!” I yell.

Kathleen tries to keep him still. I shove my fork right into his forehead. I try again but this time faster and more targeted. The fork sticks to his right eye, and he roars in pain. Kathleen pushes him with both hands and adjusts her mask as he falls on the woman behind him. The woman loses her balance with his weight.

I take off my t-shirt and use it to hold the piece of glass Kathleen dropped. I jump on the woman before she stands up. She fights back to get up. I push one knee on her chest, locking her on the ground. Kathleen tries to stop her arms from moving. I wait for an opening and then stick the glass right in her temporal. She spreads her eyes open before they are closed forever.

My heart is racing. We pause a moment in our positions to catch our breath. Kathleen gets closer to the dead woman’s face and points to the bite on her neck. I turn to the guy’s body. He has bites on him as well.

“They were… fine… Something turned them to Ricas,” Kathleen says. Her chest keeps moving forward and backward as she tries to get in more air and pump enough blood to catch up with the action.

“They can…turn others now?” I ask. We look at each other. This is the last thing we needed.

Music continues. People are still screaming and running around. We hear several shots. This place is nowhere near the military discipline as it was in the past.

Kathleen stands up to get ready to run back to the other side of the corridor.

“Hold on. Let me check your hand,” I say. It looks like she lost a lot of blood. I use my t-shirt to stop the bleeding. This should buy us some time until we get out of this place.

We go back to the dance floor. A soldier is lying on the floor in a pool of his blood. I can’t find his handgun. I check his pockets. They are all empty. I check the magazine holder on his belt and find a bunch of keys attached to a chain.

Two Ricas are beating and biting somebody on the floor. Another one is punching a woman in the corner. Several people are trying to run away from the Ricas chasing them. I see a soldier hitting a Rica’s head with the back of his rifle.

I hold Kathleen's hands. I don’t want to lose her in this dark room. We run through the dance floor while stumbling upon others. I hear Ricas snarling and grunting around. None of them picks us as a target yet.

We go to the lounge area where it’s lit up better. That’s where I see him.

Toshi.

He is on somebody’s torso. His hands are on the victim’s bloody face. Glancing toward me, he bares his teeth and swings a piece of the victim’s skin from his mouth. Red spots are all over his face.

I freeze. I can’t breathe. I can’t stand. Kathleen grabs my arm and tries to help me keep my balance.

Toshi, or whatever he is now, continues to stare at me. It’s like he wants to say something, but he has no control of his mouth. His eyes look dull, but I can still see my friend’s smiling eyes behind a smoky curtain.

Kathleen takes a step forward and pulls me with her. I push myself to walk, but I can’t take my eyes off him. It’s not because I am afraid of him even though I should be. It’s because I can’t accept the reality of it all.

Toshi keeps watching us as we take another step. Then he turns his head back to the victim and sticks his teeth on their neck. I can’t look at him anymore. I close my eyes and follow Kathleen’s lead to the front door.

As she opens the door, bright sunlight goes through my eyelids. I take a second to wait for my eyes to adjust to the daylight. The fresh air gives me the strength to absorb everything happening at the moment.

I look around. The Humvee is still there.

“Give me the keys,” Kathleen says. I hand the keychain to her. She helps me get to the passenger seat, then gets behind the wheel.

She tries to fit one of the keys in the ignition. It doesn’t fit. She tries another one.

A Rica comes out of the building. He scans the area before seeing us. Another Rica shows up behind him. This is the bald guy who opened the front door. Blood drips from his beard to his belly while he opens his hands and shakes his fingers to prepare for his attack.

“Fast!” I say.

Kathleen tries for the third time. This one gets into the switch. She rotates it. The engine revs up loudly. Both Ricas roar before running toward us, but another one gets in front of them to block their way. It’s Toshi. He extends his arms on both sides with palms facing backward to keep other Ricas behind.

He stares at me like he remembers me. I look at him one more time before Kathleen speeds up backward and turns the Humvee to the gate.

I close my eyes as she accelerates on the road toward the sun going down on the horizon.

Chapter 32

WELCOME TO UTAH

LIFE ELEVATED

After seeing more deaths today, my only wish is life to continue even if