The Dead Saga (Novella Part 2): Odium Origins by Claire C. Riley Page A

check on him. Let’s not panic.” I use my soothing voice, but it only seems to agitate her further.
    “Easy for you to say. You have your partner here with you. We have families that we need to get to—pets, children even. Oh God, my brother has a little girl, she’ll be at day care.” Another co-worker puts an arm around her shoulder and she begins to sob.
    I bite my lip, refusing to argue with her. I have family: my mother and father, and Chi-Chi of course. She’s at home, and we’ll have to go and get her before we go to my parents’ house. Constance is estranged from her family, so I know she won’t want to go there—which is good, because less stops means we’ll be safer.
    I’ve seen all the horror movies, and I’ve read the survival books. My secret addiction to apocalypse survival is going to pay off after all. I have my bug-out bag ready to go in the bottom of my closet, and go we will—just as soon as we find out how to get out of here. I look across at Constance with a smile. I can’t wait to see what she thinks when she sees my bug-out bag.
     
     

Four.
     
    We huddle together as we tiptoe down the stairs. Every time someone gasps, the entire chain of people stops in fear, all poised and waiting to see what will happen next. We continue down the concrete steps once more, the sounds of our slow shuffles echoing down the dark stairwell. Each of us are using our mobile phones for a light, casting eerie shadows across the plain gray walls.
    “Ladies, if you could all just keep calm,” I ask in a polite whisper. “We’ll be out of here in no time, and you can all get home to your families.”
    Constance squeezes my hand and keeps on walking, the slow shuffle of ladies trailing behind us.
    We reach the lower stairwell, and I see dark stains smeared around the doorframe and pooled at the floor. I glance at Constance, but she’s focused on the doorway, taking deep breaths to steady her nerves. She turns to look at me and then the other women before speaking.
    “You need to prepare yourselves—it’s dangerous out there, I’m talking really dangerous.” She swallows and ties her hair back and away from her face as she continues talking. “Do you all have your car keys and know where you are headed? When we leave here, it’s everyone for themselves.”
    I hear some gasps, and a part of me wants to scold Constance for being so heartless, but deep down I know that she’s right, and I haven’t even seen the outside yet.
    “Let’s do this,” I say firmly, more to her than anyone else.
    These are my co-workers—my friends, for all intents and purposes—and I wouldn’t wish harm upon any of them, but I have Constance to worry about, and Chi-Chi. My poor baby will be so scared, and I need to get to her and make sure she’s safe.
    Constance grips my hand tightly, her fingers entwining with mine. She leans over to me and presses her lips firmly to mine. “You stay with me, no matter what.”
    I nod but she doesn’t seem satisfied.
    “You do not leave my side,” she says even firmer.
    “Okay,” I say seriously. Like I was ever going to be anywhere but at her side at the end of the world.
    I hear sniffles and hiccupping sobs behind me as Constance turns the handle on the door, pushing it open wide and letting in the world of crazy that has now become the outside.
    I look back once, and mouth goodbye to my friends before I’m pulled out of the doorway and I’m running in kitten heels across a sidewalk scattered in body parts and bloody gore. Screams echo out all around me but I focus only on Constance, on her footsteps, on her hand in mine pulling me forward, and I try not to be distracted by everything happening around me. But so much is going on.
    People are being wrestled to the ground by mobs of people—zombies, whatever. Rivers of blood trail the gutters, with stray limbs and bones picked clean of flesh. My stomach flips and turns, but I refuse to be the weak woman in this story. I