By six in the evening, Matthias had checked the locks on his front door four times.
He knew because Samuel had so helpfully counted.
"That's four times now, man."
Matthias turned away from the deadbolt.
"Thank you, Samuel. I wasn't quite sure what number I was at now," he replied, sarcasm oozing from his tone
"No problem. Just making sure you're aware that if somebody gets through three locks, checking them again probably isn't going to make another one magically appear."
Matthias looked over his shoulder.
Samuel sat sideways on the couch with one leg hanging over the armrest, his phone in one hand and the television remote in the other. A half-empty bottle of water rested against his thigh.
"You want something useful to do?"
"I am doing something useful. I'm calling my mom."
"You've called her twenty-three times."
"Well, excuse me for wanting to make sure my family isn't getting eaten by some fucking lunatic."
Matthias's mouth tightened.
Neither of them said anything for a moment after that.
The television continued talking in the background.
Matthias walked into the living room and lowered himself into the chair opposite Samuel.
His M4 rested against the wall within reach. The Colt sat holstered at his waist. The messer remained downstairs now with the rest of his packed gear.
It was ridiculous.
That morning he had been concerned about whether a journal reviewer would tear apart his argument about localized political authority after the collapse of Roman administration.
Now he had a loaded rifle leaning beside his television.
Samuel looked at him. "You know what really pisses me off?"
Matthias rubbed his eyes.
"I'm sure you're going to tell me."
"We should have your truck."
Matthias lowered his hands. "Don't."
"Seriously, Matt. Of all the fucking weeks for your truck to shit itself, it picks this one?"
"The transmission was acting weird."
"It's an F-150. It should be able to survive nuclear war."
"It's a truck, Sam, not a Panzer."
"Same thing in Texas." he shrugged, going back to his phone
Matthias snorted despite himself.
His black Ford F-150 had been sitting in a repair shop across town since Monday after it started jerking every time he shifted into second.
The mechanic had promised it back by Friday.
Friday suddenly felt very far away.
Samuel pointed toward the front window.
"So instead of four-wheel drive, good clearance, storage space and an actual fucking bed in the back, we're going to survive whatever this is in my Honda."
"Assuming we go anywhere."
"You packed a rifle, a pistol, enough food for three days and that medieval lawn tool you spent an ungodly amount of money on. You're thinking about going somewhere."
"It's a messer."
"Matt, I'm not fucking doing this again," he said, waving his hand in dismissal
Matthias leaned his head back.
Samuel's phone suddenly rang.
He practically launched himself upright.
"Mom?"
Matthias looked over.
Samuel's entire posture changed as he listened.
"Mom, slow down. Slow down, I can't understand you."
He stood and began pacing.
"No, I'm fine. I'm at Matt's place... yeah, Reinhardt. The German one. Mom, Jesus, we've been friends for a couple years now."
Matthias shook his head.
Samuel stopped near the window.
"Claire's with you, right?"
A pause.
His shoulders dropped, tension visibly leaving his body.
"Okay. Good. That's good."
Matthias got up and moved closer.
Samuel held one finger up. "What's it like there?"
He listened.
"There's been what?"
Samuel looked at Matthias.
"Mom says they've got cops all over Longview. Some guy attacked people at a gas station, and something is happening at the hospital."
Matthias crossed his arms.
Samuel went back to the call.
"No, we're not staying here if it gets worse. We're... yeah. Yeah, I know."
Another pause.
His voice softened.
"I'll come home."
Matthias looked toward the television.
Samuel said it again.
"I'll come home, Mom. I promise."
When the call ended, Samuel kept the phone pressed against his ear for another second before lowering it.
"She's scared."
"Yeah, I can imagine. Is Claire okay?" he asked, taking a sip of his water
"Yeah. She's home. Mom pulled her out of school early when all the reports started."
Samuel ran one hand through his hair.
"They're telling everyone there to stay inside too. Longview's not nearly as fucked as Austin yet, but..."
"You want to go."
Samuel looked at him and sighed. "Yeah."
Matthias nodded.
Samuel blinked.
"That's it?"
"What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know. Argue with me. Tell me it's stupid. Do that German thing where you explain how stupid I am or something for fifteen minutes."
"Your family's there."
"Yeah, that's true, but-"
"Sam, my family is on another continent, and I have no way of reaching them physically right now."
Matthias looked down at the phone in his own hand.
"If this gets worse, Longview makes more sense than sitting in Austin waiting for somebody to tell us what's happening."
Samuel nodded slowly. "So we're going?"
"Yes, we're going." Matthias looked outside.
The sunlight had started fading into a deep orange behind the houses.
"But not tonight."
Samuel frowned.
"Why?"
Before Matthias could answer, somebody knocked hard against the front door.
Both men froze.
Matthias slowly reached for his sheathed messer, strapping it to his hip, only for another knock to come accompanied by a voice.
Walter Stevens's voice.
"Reinhardt, open this damned door!"
Samuel exhaled. "Old bastard almost gave me a heart attack."
Matthias opened the door.
Stevens stepped inside, carrying his rifle and a heavy canvas backpack.
His eyes immediately landed on Matthias's Colt.
"Hmm, 45, good reliable make and caliber."
Samuel pointed. "You two are disturbingly happy about guns."
Stevens ignored him.
"You boys got water?"
"Bathtub, pots, bottles," Matthias answered.
"Good, what about y'alls food situation?"
"We have enough to last us for a few days."
Stevens looked toward the M4.
"What about your ammo?"
"We have enough, hopefully," Matthias replied, a little unsure at the end
Then his eyes moved toward the stairs.
"Where's that big knife sword thing?"
Samuel's head snapped around.
"Thank you, someone else who thinks it's ridiculous."
Matthias stared at Stevens.
"It's a Messer."
"Whatever the hell it is." Stevens waved his hand in the air
He then walked toward the window and moved the curtain aside an inch.
"I've been listening to the radio. They're putting up checkpoints around parts of the city. Hospitals are getting hit hard."
"Hit by what?" Samuel asked.
Stevens let the curtain fall.
"People, a massive influx of them at that."
"Well, that's helpful, not like the news has said the exact same thing," Samuel muttered
"I don't know what you want me to call them. Sick, high, crazy. Whatever's happening, folks are biting each other and ignoring injuries that should put them on the floor."
Matthias leaned against the doorway.
"Back on campus we had a front row viewing of a similar situation, twice actually, bastards wouldn't go down."
Stevens nodded.
Samuel sat down.
"My mom's in Longview. My sister too."
Stevens looked at him.
"You planning on going?"
"If this gets worse."
"It will."
Samuel's eyebrows lifted.
"You sound pretty sure of the world's end, old man."
Stevens walked over and sat heavily in the chair.
"I've been alive seventy years, boy. I don't know what this is, but I know people. Once they think stores are running out, they're gonna empty them. Once they think gasoline's running out, they're gonna empty every station. And once they think the roads are closing, every stupid bastard in this city is gonna try leaving at the same time."
Matthias folded his arms.
"So I take it you're leaving too, Stevens?"
"Tomorrow, if tonight keeps going the way it's going."
"Where?"
"A friend of mine has property northwest of here. Couple dozen acres. A well that supplies a good amount of water. Along with a hefty generator. Plus, a lot fewer people around those parts, a bonus from what I've seen."
Samuel nodded.
"Sounds a hell of a lot better than this neighborhood."
"That's the idea, brat."
Stevens looked at Matthias.
"If you boys are going east, go early. Before sunrise if you can manage it."
Samuel frowned. "Why not just leave now?"
Stevens pointed outside.
"Because it's getting dark, roads are already clogged, nobody knows what the fuck they're doing, and half the drivers out there are panicking. Austin traffic is bad enough as is. You wanna die because some soccer mom runs a red light doing eighty, be my guest."
Samuel scratched his jaw.
"When you put it like that."
A gunshot cracked somewhere outside.
All three went quiet.
Soon it was followed by another. This time a little further away.
Then three more in quick succession.
A dog started barking down the street.
Samuel moved toward the window.
Stevens grabbed his shirt.
"Don't stand right in front of it."
Another shot sounded.
Matthias walked toward the back of the room.
The lights then began to flicker for a moment, before stabilizing again.
Samuel stared at the ceiling.
"Tell me that's normal."
Matthias didn't answer.
Somebody screamed outside.
This time it was close, too close.
Before either of them could react, Stevens was already moving.
They followed him to the front door, seeing a woman run into the yard.
Barefoot, with dark hair tangled around her face and blood covering both hands.
"Mr. Stevens!"
Matthias recognized her immediately.
Elena Alvarez.
She and her husband lived four houses down.
Stevens opened the door.
"Elena, what's going on?"
"Please. Please, you have to help me."
She nearly fell into him.
Matthias caught her arm.
"What happened?"
"It's Luis. He... he came home hurt. There was blood all over him, and he wouldn't tell me what happened. He just fell down in the kitchen and..."
She sucked in a breath.
"He stopped breathing."
Stevens stared at her.
"Elena."
"He stopped breathing. I checked. I know how to check, I checked his pulse, and there was nothing."
Samuel had gone completely still.
Elena wiped her nose with a bloody wrist.
"And then he got up."
A sound came from the road.
Feet dragging across pavement.
Elena turned, and her eyes went wide.
Matthias followed her gaze.
Luis Alvarez stood near the end of Stevens's driveway.
His shirt was drenched dark from his collar to his stomach.
A piece of flesh was missing from the left side of his neck.
Matthias remembered drinking a beer with him on the front porch just two weekends earlier while Luis spent ten minutes complaining about the Cowboys.
"Luis!"
Elena moved forward.
Matthias caught her around the waist.
"Wait."
"Let me go!"
Luis looked toward them.
For one second, Elena stopped struggling. "Luis?"
His mouth opened.
A wet groan came out.
Then he started walking.
Elena's breathing changed.
"No. No, baby, it's me. It's Elena."
Luis kept coming.
Stevens raised his rifle.
"Stay there, Luis."
Elena whipped around.
"Don't point that at him!"
"But, Elena-"
"He's just sick!"
Luis kept moving.
Stevens backed up. "Luis, stop."
Nothing.
"Stop right there!"
Elena started crying again. "Please don't shoot him."
Luis was less than twenty feet away.
Stevens fired.
The rifle cracked through the neighborhood.
Luis jerked backward.
Elena screamed.
"NO!"
Matthias tightened his grip around her.
Luis straightened.
Samuel's face drained.
"Jesus Christ," he said, doing the sign of the cross despite not being catholic
The bullet had hit center mass.
And yet, it did nothing to stop him, Luis just kept on coming.
Stevens fired again.
Another impact to the chest.
Luis stumbled, only to keep going
Stevens's mouth tightened.
"That's not possible."
Matthias stared at the blood spreading across Luis's shirt.
Stevens raised the rifle higher.
Elena saw what he was doing.
"No, no, Walter, don't-"
Bang.
Luis's head snapped backward.
He hit the pavement.
This time he stayed there.
Elena collapsed against Matthias.
Her scream came out raw enough to hurt Matthias's ears.
"You killed him!"
Stevens lowered the rifle, his face having now gone gray.
"You killed my husband!"
She tore herself free and shoved Stevens in the chest.
"You fucking killed him!"
Stevens didn't stop her.
Matthias grabbed Elena before she could swing at him.
"He was coming at us."
"He was just sick, nothing else!"
Samuel was staring down the street.
"Matt."
Matthias looked.
A woman stood near the sidewalk across from them.
Blood covered one side of her face.
Another figure emerged from between two houses.
Then another.
All looking toward Stevens's driveway.
Samuel pointed.
"The shots, I think... I think it attracted whatever those things are."
Stevens saw them and wheeled around, barking an order.
"All of you, get inside, now!"
Elena struggled against Matthias.
"I'm not leaving Luis!"
"Elena," Matthias said, forcing her to look at him. "He's dead."
Her face twisted.
"He already was."
That stopped her.
Matthias didn't know why he'd said it.
But it was just too surreal. By her own admission, he had stopped breathing, and his pulse had stopped. It just... didn't make any sense.
One of the approaching people soon reached the driveway.
Stevens raised his rifle again.
Samuel pulled Elena toward the house.
Matthias stepped backward.
The stranger came faster.
He made for the M4 only to realize it was too far out of reach.
Matthias's hand then quickly went to the long leather scabbard hanging at his hip, and from there, he drew the messer.
The blade flashed beneath the porch light.
Samuel's eyes widened.
"Matt!"
The man lunged.
Matthias swung.
The edge tore into the man's shoulder near the collarbone, and the impact jarred Matthias's arms.
Blood sprayed across his shirt.
But despite his effort, the man barely slowed.
"Wha-"
He grabbed at Matthias.
Matthias tried to pull the blade free.
It stuck.
"Fuck!"
He planted his boot against the man's stomach and shoved, but found no success, with the man's hands catching Matthias's jacket.
His teeth snapped inches from Matthias's cheek as he lunged at him.
Samuel then hit him from the side with both hands.
"Get the fuck off him, you ugly bastard!"
The shove gave Matthias enough room.
He ripped the messer loose, and the blade came free with a wet sound.
The man then turned toward Samuel.
"Aim for its head, Reinhardt!" Stevens yelled.
Matthias didn't think.
He stepped forward and swung again.
The blade struck the side of the skull.
The man dropped immediately.
Matthias's hands went down with him before he released the grip and stumbled backward.
For several seconds he only heard himself breathing.
Samuel grabbed his shoulder.
"Matt."
Matthias stared at the body.
"Matt!"
He looked up.
"We need to fucking move, like, now dude."
More figures were quickly appearing down the road.
Matthias ripped the messer free, and they ran inside.
Stevens slammed the door and locked it.
Something struck the wood less than a minute later.
Samuel backed away.
"Are they following us?"
Another impact.
Matthias looked toward the window.
"Maybe that, or they might be attracted to the noise from earlier."
Stevens shut the curtains as more of those things began to gather outside.
Elena sat on the floor beside the couch, arms wrapped around herself.
She had stopped her loud sobbing. Now, tears simply ran down her cheeks while she stared at nothing.
Samuel grabbed a clean towel from the kitchen and walked toward Matthias.
"Sit your giant ass down."
"Sam—"
"You have blood on your fucking face, Matt. Sit down."
Matthias sat.
Samuel wet the towel and handed it to Matthias, who used it to wipe his face.
"Most of that isn't yours, right?"
"I don't think any of it is."
Samuel just looked at him. "Such a weird fucking day."
Stevens sat across from them with the rifle between his knees.
"It was the head."
Samuel looked toward him.
"What?"
"When I put Luis down, it was his head that finally stopped him. The chest didn't do anything."
Matthias stared at the messer resting on the floor.
"The man at campus took three rounds to center mass and kept advancing."
Samuel nodded.
"And the guy in the hallway. Matt hit him hard enough to audibly break something."
"Yeah, and that didn't stop him in the slightest," Matthias said.
Samuel pointed toward the bloodied weapon.
"You hit that guy in the shoulder and he still nearly bit your face off. Then you hit his head and..." he trailed off
Matthias rubbed his mouth.
"It must be the brain."
Stevens looked at him.
"You sure?"
"No, not really." Matthias glanced toward the front door as something bumped against it again. "But whatever is happening, damage to the body doesn't seem to affect them."
Samuel sat opposite him.
"And the brain does."
"So far, yes."
Stevens nodded.
"Then until somebody smarter tells us otherwise, aim there."
The television suddenly interrupted itself with a loud electronic tone.
All three men looked toward it.
An emergency warning crawled across the screen as residents were advised to remain indoors while avoiding individuals displaying extreme aggression.
The last bit silenced all of them. Do not approach hospitals unless directed. Emergency services were operating at reduced capacity.
Samuel stared.
"What the hell, they're seriously telling people not to go to hospitals."
Stevens's jaw tightened. "Looks like it, kid."
Samuel looked at Matthias.
"We're leaving."
Matthias nodded. "Once early morning comes, yes."
"Why wait for the morning? Let's just go now, damn it."
"No," Stevens said.
Samuel turned.
"Come on, there are people beating on the fucking door."
"Three of them. Maybe four. You go driving around Austin in pitch darkness right now, and you won't see trouble until you're right on top of it."
"We've got headlights, im sure we'll be fine."
"And everybody else can see those headlights too."
Samuel paced once across the room.
"We wait until first light," Matthias said. "Then we leave."
Samuel rubbed both hands over his face.
After several seconds, he nodded.
"Fine, you win."
Hours passed slowly.
Sometime after midnight, Matthias sat at the kitchen table cleaning the messer.
Blood had dried near the guard.
He used warm water and a rag first, then oil.
Samuel sat across from him, stuffing protein bars into a backpack.
"You know what's fucked?"
"Well right now, just about everything."
"How very helpful."
Matthias shrugged and kept cleaning.
Samuel leaned back.
"That thing actually worked."
Matthias glanced up.
"The messer?"
"Yeah, whatever that thing is called."
"You were literally mocking it just this morning."
"And now I'm officially willing to admit that buying a giant German knife might not have been the dumbest financial decision you've ever made," he admitted
Matthias simply stared at him. "Say that again, a little louder this time."
"Absolutely not."
"Samuel."
"Enjoy what you got."
Matthias almost smiled.
Samuel's eyes dropped to the blade.
"I take it you knew Luis?"
"A little, not too familiar but neighbors nonetheless."
For a moment, they sat in silence.
Matthias eventually pulled one of his notebooks from a stack nearby.
He opened to a blank page.
Samuel watched.
"What're you doing?"
"Writing something down."
"Now, of all times?"
Matthias wrote the date.
Then beneath it:
Observed multiple individuals remain mobile after severe gunshot wounds and melee trauma. Severe cranial trauma appears to cause immediate incapacitation. Cause unknown.
Samuel read upside down.
"You taking research notes on the apocalypse now?"
Matthias capped the pen.
"I don't know what this is. So, like any good researcher, I'm writing it down."
Samuel studied him for a moment.
"History guy."
Matthias shrugged.
"Something like that."
Before dawn, the house smelled of coffee, gun oil, and stale sweat.
They swiftly loaded Samuel's Honda.
Stevens stood beside his pickup with Elena sitting quietly in the passenger seat. She had family northwest of Austin, close enough to Stevens's route that he agreed to take her.
Samuel looked between the truck and his Honda.
"Now this is just insulting."
Matthias loaded another bag into the trunk.
"Don't even start, man."
"No, look at that truck. Look at it."
Stevens's pickup had space, clearance, and enough room in the bed for half the supplies inside Matthias's house.
Samuel pointed at the Honda.
"Then look at this."
Matthias shut the trunk.
"My F-150 is in the fucking shop. We've covered this."
"I know. I'm grieving."
"You aren't the one who owns it."
"I'm grieving what could've been," he said in mock tragedy
Stevens walked over.
"Keep the rifle easy to reach, kid."
Matthias nodded.
"Don't shoot unless you need to," Stevens continued. "Noise carries, and Ammo doesn't exactly grow on trees. And remember, scared people tend to do stupid things, so be careful."
Samuel leaned against the Honda.
"Any advice for him specifically?"
Stevens looked at Matthias.
"Don't get clever and overthink a situation; this isn't some academic paper, but survival. Simple is best."
Samuel immediately nodded.
"See? That's what I keep saying. The bastard can think himself into a hole."
"Fuck both of you," Matthias said, punching Samuel in the shoulder
Stevens smiled.
Then it faded.
"If something feels wrong, leave. Don't hang around trying to figure it out."
Matthias extended his hand.
Stevens ignored it and pulled him into a brief hug.
Matthias froze for half a second before returning it.
"Take care of yourself, son."
"You too, old man."
Stevens pulled back.
Then looked at Samuel.
"And you."
Samuel raised his eyebrows.
"What?"
"Try not to get him killed."
Samuel smiled faintly, then did a mock salute.
"I'll do my best, sir."
Stevens only shook his head and sighed. "That's what worries me."
The two groups then separated for the last time, each with a destination in mind.
Stevens drove northwest.
Matthias and Samuel prepared to head east.
Before he had gotten into the Honda, Matthias had walked back to his front door and locked it.
Samuel rolled the window down.
"Seriously?"
Matthias pulled the key free.
"What?"
"The city is falling apart, and you're locking your door."
"It's my house."
"We're coming back eventually."
Matthias slipped the key into his pocket.
Samuel shook his head.
"Whatever, just get in, man."
Matthias climbed into the passenger seat.
The Messer rested beside his leg.
The M4 lay within reach in the back, and his Colt 1911 sat in the glove box.
Samuel started the engine.
For once, the shitty Honda turned over immediately.
They drove slowly through the neighborhood.
Luis's body remained in the road, some birds dancing around it but never quite taking any bits.
Matthias watched it through the window until they passed.
Smoke rose above Austin in several distant columns.
Emergency messages continued repeating over the radio.
Samuel gripped the steering wheel with both hands.
"You think we'll be back?"
Matthias looked out at the houses.
The convenience store he visited.
The roads he ran every morning.
The university somewhere behind them.
His home shrinking in the side mirror.
"Yeah, of course, man." He settled deeper into the seat. "Give it a week and I'm sure everything will be normal again."
Samuel nodded.
Then the Honda turned east.