EYEHEARTZOMBIES

The three businesspeople were startled by the cop, but quickly recovered. They nodded their heads and mumbled “okay”. The officer led them over to where Bill and the others were sitting so they’d all be together and easy to interview. Bill noticed that Eagle and Sarah had quieted down. Either things had gotten a lot more serious or they had moved on down the tube. He thought about mentioning them, but decided he didn’t really care after all.

“OK, so first things first. Has anyone here seen anything… odd… today?” The cop was obviously nervous when he said the word “odd”. Another word had almost wanted to form on his lips, but he had held himself back. Probably didn’t want to look like some paranoid eccentric jumping to conclusions that movie monsters were running around the city. “Anything that just shouldn’t have been doing what it was doing?”

“Well, it’s kind of odd that the power’s out everywhere and the trains aren’t running.” That was the quieter woman from the stairs, a hispanic woman in her early thirties or so. She was pretty in a black and white movie secretary sort of way. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun and she was wearing a cream-colored suit dress. She looked irritated at the subways more than anything else.

“OK, OK, yeah, that’s definitely odd. We still haven’t found what’s caused the power outtages, but they’re all over the city. Some two hundred square blocks are without power and plenty more with major brown outs and other problems. The trains in this area are de — down because of the power, obviously. We’ve shut down the others so there aren’t any accidents and to conserve the power going to the still-functioning parts of town.” He glanced over at the pit that the trains ran through. “That middle rail should still be hot, though. That has it’s own power supply but all it can do it move the train. Nobody wants to get stuck in the dark….

“Has anyone else seen anything other than the trains? Or the power outtages?” He looked concerned but reserved, like he didn’t want to be the one to tell the bad news. Bill leaned forward and read the name tag. Apparently this was Officer Gumbowsky. Bill raised his hand. “Yes?” the officer asked him.

“We saw something. In the library,” Bill volunteered.

“Yes? What was it?”

“I don’t know that I want to tell everyone. It was — it might cause a panic or something.” Bill almost felt silly, thinking of telling about the little dead girl that had turned the whole day on its head. The cop nodded and held out an arm.

“I’ll tell you what, you come up here and talk to me and my partner, he’s in the squad car. If it’s something that these people need to worry about, we’ll come back down and tell ‘em. If it’s not, then no big deal. Alright? That work?” Gumbowsky had a kind smile and Bill nodded while he stood up. Together they walked up the stairs and into the dim, but bright compared to the subway platform, day.

A squad car was parked near the entrance to the tunnel, actually parked on the sidewalk. Another officer was in the car. Gumbowsky was a man of medium build, gaining a little weight around the middle. He still looked fit, but his partner, who was leaning against the cruiser, put him to shame. This cop — Bill couldn’t see his name tag — was all muscle. His blue shirt was tight across a well-built chest and the sleeves seemed on the edge of bursting from muscles on his arms. His neck and head joined into one pillar of flesh. He definitely deserved the cop nickname “Bull”. Gumbowsky waved at him when they emerged from the darkness below, motioning for him to just stay there and they’d come over.

“Hey, Mike. This guy says he saw something strange at the library back up the street. He thought it might alarm the other people, so I brought him up here to talk to us privately.” Gumbowsky turned to look at Bill, a much warmer face than his partner. “Go on, buddy, let’s hear it.”

Bill looked back and forth between Gumbowsky and his partner, Mike. He had to trust somebody, and a cop was as good as God in this case. He took a deep breath, “Alright. Here goes.”

Both cops seemed bored when told about Seth and Elijah bringing the girl in. A hit and almost-run was interesting, but not odd or strange. Definitely not panic-inducing. They already knew about the power going out, but looked a little surprised at the news that the police headquarters was almost unreachable. “We’ve been gettin’ sent all over the place,” Gumbowsky said quietly. “All day long, ’specially since the power went out.” The news that 911 had disappeared was met with a nod. “Yeah. Their power and phone lines both went out.”

Bill straightened up and cleared his throat before he brought up what had happened when the ambulance had arrived. Gumbowsky’s eyes seemd to get wider when the little “woke up”, but Mike’s stayed the same. Bill could hardly believe the descriptions that were coming out of his mouth, but it was what had happened, goddamn it, and it had to be told. He told them about Seth and Elijah and the paramedic Jones killing the little girl again. And about the female paramedic — Mary, he thought Jones had called her — coming back and them having to put her down again. “And then we left, a little while later, once we had our wits again.” He looked at the sidewalk in front of the cop car. He shrugged. “And that’s what happened. Is that strange enough, officers?”

Gumbowsky just stood in silence for awhile, then said “Wow” under his breath. Mike still hadn’t moved. Gumbowsky looked over at him and nudged him. “What do you think?”

Mike, his last name “Jamison” according to the little brass nametag, looked up at Gumbowsky and quietly said “I think we should go check it out. These people will be alright on their own s’long as no new dead people start chasin’ ‘em.” He half-smiled at the “dead people”. Bill had a feeling Officer Jamison didn’t beleive his story. Oh well, he hadn’t really expected them to. Gumbowsky nodded.

“Alright. We’re gonna go check it out, then. Mr…,” he looked at Bill.

“Just call me Billy.”

“OK, Billy, we’re gonna go check out the library. You can go back down there and tell them for us. We’ll come back here when we’re finished. It won’t be long, I’m sure.” Mike had already turned and gotten into the driver’s side of the car.

“Actually,” Bill said, “no, can you come tell them yourselves? I think they’d take it better. I mean, if I go back in there and tell them the police rushed off after I’d told my story, I’m gonna have a lot of explaining to do. And I’d rather not.”

Gumbowsky nodded. “Sure.” He waved to Mike. “Come on, Mike. Let’s go tell these people they have nothin’ to worry about.” Mike grunted and climbed back out of the car. The three of them descended the two flights of stairs into the subway. Everyone turned to look and Bill noticed that Eagle was back on the platform. No sign of Sarah, though. Again, he decided he didn’t really care.

Gumbowsky noticed the new guy, he kind of jerked and nodded when he saw him, but didn’t say anything to him. “OK, people, we just got a call on the radio that we have to go check out. We’ll come back this way, or send another car, when we can. You all can either wait here or start walking home. This part of town seems really deserted, but I know there are plenty of taxis and busses running a few blocks away. Go toward the docks, that’ll get you to the still-working areas the fastest.” He nodded again and turned to leave, Officer Jamison right behind him.

Eagle turned and yelled, “Sarah. C’mere!” again. Those seemed to be his strongest words. Bill saw Sarah emerge from the darkness, buttoning her plaid pants. He could barely make out her shoes and noticed that at least one of them was untied. The pink laces were flapping about when she hop-walked in her still-not-quite-up pants. “C’mon!” Eagle yelled again, his voice echoing hollowly around the landing. Sarah nodded at him and hopped forward again, then disappeared from view. She screamed.

The emergency lights flickered for a second, then flickered again. Eagle rushed forward to the edge, Gumbowsky and Jamison right behind him. Bill ran forward, too, unconciously.

Sarah had tripped on the far rail and falling flat across the other two. Her body was spasming and twitching. “Sarah!” Eagle yelled. He started to climb down into the pit but Mike grabbed him and held him. He was still fighting, almost gaining the upper hand, so Bill grabbed him from the other side.

“Turn that shit off!” Mike yelled at Gumbowsky. He pulled a hand away from Eagle to point to a service hatch on the side of the platform. Gumbowsky nodded and rushed over to it, pulling his keys from their snap on his belt. The rest of the group were huddled together around the bench in the middle of the platform. The emergency lights were still flickering, cycling between bright and off every few half-seconds or so. It gave a slow strobe effect to the whole platform.

Gumbowsky finally found the key and popped the door open. He looked confused, staring at all of the switches and dials. Finally he stuck a hand in and pulled one switch down. The light stopped spasming and so did Sarah’s body. The light glowed as calmly as ever. Sarah lay still, slightly smoking. “Sarah!” Eagle yelled again, pain and frustration in his voice. Bill could see tears sliding down his face. Even a world-hardened punk kid would cry for his girlfriend. Eagle stopped fighting the two men who were holding him and sat quietly. Mike wiped his face and looked over at his partner.