The Fog (Book 1): The Fog Read online

  Puzzlingly, though, there was a massive white bust of some stately-looking Greek guy resting smack in the middle of the table. Benjamin squinted and realizing that he had no hope for figuring out who the man was supposed to be, pointed a finger at it. “Who is that?” he asked.

  “Aristotle!” Alex exclaimed. “See; I went through this huge philosophy phase my first semester of college. I decided that I was going to be some stately and elegant, old professor. Really smart and kind of crotchety. As you do. And I was going to start collecting a bunch of cool stuff to decorate my future office with!”

  “And what happened?” Benjamin asked.

  “It turns out I hate philosophy,” Alex said cheerfully.

  “Uh, can you guys pipe down?” Elijah asked. “I missed what the commentators said.”

  “We need to watch the news anyway,” Benjamin said.

  “Dude, my game is on,” Elijah replied, sweeping a hand to the TV. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No, it’s serious,” Alex said. “The zombie apocalypse has finally broken out! Legit, dude!”

  “Sure it has,” Elijah drawled.

  Alex swiped the remote off coffee table between the two sofas.

  “Hey!” Elijah exclaimed.

  Alex mercilessly switched the channel, flipping quickly through the channels until he reached a news station.

  A blonde news woman wearing a bright, cobalt-blue dress appeared on-screen. “Again,” the woman said, “The Center for Disease Control is recommending that everyone stay inside and lock their doors. A very thick fog is filling the air, and scientists believe—at this time—that the fog contains a virus, which results in zombie-like symptoms in people who inhale it. The White House has released a statement, urging people not to panic.”

  “There really are zombies?” Sara asked. “Are you serious?”

  “Holy crap,” Elijah said.

  “Maybe we can reason with them,” Daisy said. “I can imagine that zombies would have lots of interesting things to say.”

  “Until they ate you!” Alex exclaimed, frantically waving his arms. “They tried to eat Benjamin and me!”

  “So I guess we ought to hunker down somewhere,” Sara mused.

  It seemed like Sara was pretty and smart. Benjamin bit the inside of his cheek. A girl like her would never go for a guy like him, but he still couldn’t help but feel a dull ache in his chest. It was if Leslie, his now ex-girlfriend, had created a hole that was begging to be filled.

  “That sounds good,” Benjamin replied.

  “I wonder if all of our stuff has been moved in yet,” Daisy said.

  Amber got up and walked to the window. “It hasn’t!” she exclaimed. “I don’t see the moving guys anyway, but our stuff is all over the parking lot!”

  “What?” Daisy asked.

  “No way!” Sara exclaimed, storming over to the window. “I can’t believe it! Those jerks!”

  The girls crossed their arms and turned away from the window.

  “We can help!” Alex exclaimed, bouncing on the sofa.

  “Help?” Benjamin asked. “There’s a fog with a zombie virus in it!”

  “But the fog isn’t to us yet,” Elijah noted, “And surely, we would not be so rude as to abandon such lovely ladies in their hour of need.”

  “Please,” Sara said, batting her eyelashes. “That would be ever so wonderful.”

  Her eyes were so blue, like the sky on a cloudless day.

  Benjamin felt a lump in his throat.

  “If we leave it there, it might get stolen,” Sara said.

  “That would be so terrible,” Amber added.

  “The most horrible thing since my dad missed Haley’s comet,” Daisy said.

  “We’ll have to be fast,” Benjamin replied.

  They all hurried downstairs and grabbed furniture. Benjamin had never tried to lift anything remotely heavy in his life, and he very quickly realized just how puny his muscles were.

  Watching Elijah and Sara man a massive sofa upstairs was possibly the most emasculating thing Benjamin had ever experienced. Benjamin himself had tried to lift the sofa, but it was far too heavy. And as if that blow to his masculine pride wasn’t enough humiliation, Elijah proceeded to show him up.

  Benjamin’s only consolation was that Alex also seemed incapable of lifting anything very heavy, and like Benjamin, he had been designated to the role of side-lamp carrier.

  Daisy and Amber each carried boxes; they took the elevator. Because their sofa was too big, Elijah and Sara navigated the narrow stairwell with their cargo. Benjamin and Alex took up the rear.

  “Sara is really hot,” Alex said.

  “Yeah,” Benjamin replied, more quietly than Alex.

  Sara was quite a way’s ahead of them, and Benjamin doubted that Sara could hear them. Still, it wasn’t worth taking a risk. Benjamin knew he probably didn’t have a chance with a woman like Sara, but that still didn’t mean he wanted to shoot himself in the metaphorical foot.

  “Like smoking,” Alex added.

  “Definitely.”

  “I think she thinks I’m a total goof,” Alex said. “What do I do? Do you think I have a chance with her?”

  “We literally just met,” Benjamin pointed out. “I have no way of knowing whether or not you have a chance with her.”

  “Oh! You’re right!”

  Alex grunted and shifted his lamp, nearly knocking Benjamin in the face with it. “Maybe if I slay a couple of zombies, she’ll like me more. Do you think? Girls like that, right?”

  “I don’t know,” Benjamin replied, wrinkling his nose.

  He couldn’t imagine that many people really liked rotting and bloodied flesh.

  “She might think it was hot,” Alex insisted. “I mean, I’m terrible with words, but I could probably manage to kill a zombie. An army of zombies! That would be super-hot.”

  “Uh huh.”

  Benjamin thought of all the terrible diseases that you could get from blood or decaying flesh. Yeah, zombie slaying was definitely the most romantic thing in the world. Mostly, he was hoping that Sara might be just a little bit impressed that he was helping her carry all her stuff up the stairs.

  Benjamin deposited the lamp in the mostly empty apartment. His arms ached. He looked up and realized for the first time that Sara wore high heels, and she’d managed to carry half of that giant sofa upstairs like she was some sort of Amazonian war goddess.

  Clearly, there was no God. If there was, God would have been merciful and struck Benjamin with lighting just to spare him any more embarrassment.

  “I think that’s everything,” Sara said, putting her hands on her hips. “Nice job.”

  Her smile made Benjamin’s knees feel weak.

  “Great job, Elijah! You’re a lifesaver!” Sara exclaimed.

  Okay, Benjamin was definitely not in a coma. He was in some sort of nightmare or purgatory. The hottest girl he’d ever seen was completely enchanted with another man. Of freaking course.

  “Thank you,” Elijah said. “I try.”

  “So what do we do now?” Amber asked. “The fog is getting closer. I can see it now.”

  “I’m tired,” Daisy said, melodramatically throwing herself over the sofa. “I think we should burn some incense and just have…zen.”

  “Zen?” Alex asked.

  “It’s what she does,” Sara explained. “It’s kind of like meditation.”

  “I see,” Elijah replied.

  “I was thinking more of an end of the world party myself,” Sara said.

  “That’s great!” Alex exclaimed. “I love the idea of having an end of the world party! We’ve got tons of beer in our apartment. And snacks. We have Dorito’s.”

  Sara smiled. “Sounds like a blast,” she said.

  “Yeah! We survived the Mayan calendar,” Daisy said, “So I’m sure we’ll survive this. It’ll be easy!”

  But the Mayan calendar hadn’t actually brought about the end of the world. This fog seemed to be bringing actua
l, brain-eating zombies.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Exhausted, everyone collapsed onto Alex and Elijah’s sofas. Beers were opened, popcorn was popped, and the New Kids on The Block played in the background.

  Every few minutes, someone’s phone would buzz with an emergency alert, but those were quickly silenced.

  At another time, Benjamin might have cared more about the alerts, but he was feeling vaguely heady from the beer he’d drank. Suddenly, very little seemed to matter anymore. If they were all going to die in a zombie apocalypse, why wouldn’t they go out in a blaze of booze and salty snacks?

  “Should we play Truth or Dare?” Alex asked, wagging his eyebrows.

  “What? Are we in grade school?” Elijah asked, rolling his eyes.

  “That might be fun,” Sara said.

  “I think it’s a great idea!” Benjamin replied, seeing his opportunity to one-up Elijah in something.

  Did Benjamin stand a chance against tall, dark, and handsome? Probably not. But he wasn’t going down without a fight. That was for sure.

  “I dare you to kiss… Ben.” Alex told Sara.

  “Why, thank you,” Sara said, sauntering over to Benjamin.

  Sara leaned down and put her lips to Benjamin’s. Startled, he gasped against her soft lips. She smelled of vanilla and lavender, and her lips tasted like a pumpkin spice latte. Benjamin loathed the taste of lattes, but it might learn to love them if Sara was going to keep kissing him like she was.

  When Sara pulled away, Benjamin gasped for air. He was certain that he was gawking at her with the most atrocious look on his face.

  Obviously, Benjamin couldn’t see his own face, but he just knew it was the most terrible, obviously a loser in high school look ever. Some things never changed.

  Amber and Daisy clapped and whistled.

  “Girl, you have a boyfriend, remember?” Amber asked.

  “He wouldn’t mind,” Sara replied, winking. “He can take a joke.”

  A joke. Benjamin laughed nervously. A joke.

  A boyfriend. Sara wasn’t even on the market.

  Even though they’d just met, Benjamin swore that he felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.

  “Sorry,” Sara said. “You’re cute, but you’re just not my type.”

  “Yeah, she prefers the tall, muscled types,” Amber replied. “Always has.”

  “Hey, it’s been my type since long before I moved here,” Sara said. “In Montana, seeing all these rugged mountain men, and you just get a type.”

  “In college she had posters of Sam Winchester all over her room,” Amber added. “You know. The guy from Supernatural?”

  Oh, Benjamin knew.

  There had been one very memorable instance when someone brought him a laptop, and it had been filled with incredibly vivid Supernatural porn. Although Benjamin wasn’t exactly a connoisseur of the sexual arts, he was almost one-hundred percent sure that no man was capable of all the things that Sam Winchester had done.

  “Well, babe,” Elijah said, “If you like muscles, look no further than yours truly.”

  To prove his point, Elijah flexed, and he did—in fact—have impressive biceps.

  “Those are nice,” Sara conceded, “But I really am happy with Josh. He’s a great guy. As dense as a fruitcake sometimes but a great guy, nevertheless.”

  “Even if he smells like a grandfather,” Amber added. “Ugh. Who even wears Old Spice?”

  Elijah fist-bumped the air. “Axe body spray,” he whispered, winking at Benjamin. “It brings all the ladies around.”

  That didn’t sound right to Benjamin, but he might’ve been a bit sore because he did—in fact—wear Old Spice.

  “Truth and Dare?” Alex persisted.

  “What about we play Twister?” Daisy asked. “That would be fun.”

  Benjamin raised an eyebrow and wondered how Daisy could possibly hope to play Twister in those tight, vinyl pants. That looked like an idea that would end in disaster, but man, there was something very admirable about her confidence.

  “Well, we do have the mat,” Sara replied. “I saw it on top of one of the boxes.”

  And the thought of Sara, in her tight bustier and jeans playing Twister, was a very appealing image.

  “I love playing Twister,” Amber said, with a sigh.

  Benjamin immediately imagined the three girls, all dressed like a triumvirate of beautiful femme fatales, all bending over one another and trying to play Twister. When Benjamin looked at Alex and Elijah, the looks on their faces seemed to indicate that they were both thinking the exact same thing.

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Benjamin said.

  “Definitely!” Alex exclaimed.

  “I think so,” Elijah replied.

  “Oh, I have a great idea, too,” Sara said. “Why don’t we play for money, too? Just to make it interesting.”

  “But Sara, you know I’m terrible at Twister!” Daisy exclaimed. “The last time we played, we ended up losing a ton of money!”

  “Come on!” Sara insisted, waving dismissively. “That was a long time ago! I’m sure you’re better now!”

  “I’m fine with playing for money,” Elijah said, pulling out his wallet and setting a ten-dollar bill on the table. “How do you want to do this? Guys versus girls? Winning team splits the pool?”

  Sara leaned over the side of the sofa and grabbed her purse. “I think we should up the stakes,” she said, adding a twenty to the pile.

  Elijah added another ten. Alex hastily added fifty, took it back, and put down a twenty. Benjamin reached into his wallet and pulled out a twenty also. He rarely carried cash and was suddenly very grateful that he’d just happened to have a few bills when he really needed them.

  Daisy and Amber added their bills. Then, Sara skipped over to her apartment and returned with the Twister mat and spinner.

  The three men grinned at one another. This was going to be an absolute blast. What better way to spend the apocalypse than with three attractive women twisting themselves all over you?

  It didn’t take more than a few rounds of Twister for Benjamin to realize that they’d been hustled.

  Sara and her friends weren’t just good at Twister.

  No, Sara and her friends played Twister like they were some sort of unholy coven of nymphomaniac gymnasts. Benjamin hadn’t known that a woman’s body could bend like that. Even Amber in her vinyl pants had managed to outlast Alex and Elijah.

  Only Benjamin remained. Sara, smirking, leaned over him. Hair blonde her fell past her shoulders and tickled Benjamin’s collarbone. “Ready to give up?” she asked.

  “No,” Benjamin replied, even though he felt like he might be about to pull a muscle in his leg.

  “Are you sure?” Sara purred.

  “Positive.”

  “Come on. There’s three of us,” Amber said, “And one of you.”

  Amber was half-draped over Benjamin and half over Daisy, who had kicked off her astronomically high heels and was bent underneath Benjamin. Daisy had pulled off her jacket, too, revealing some very impressive tattoos along her arms.

  Honestly, Benjamin was having a hard time minding the present situation, even though he was about to lose twenty dollars.

  “Come on!” Elijah exclaimed. “You can do it, Benjamin!”

  “Yeah!” Alex shouted, waving a beer as if in a strange salute.

  Benjamin gulped; his arms shook as he tried to keep himself up.

  “It wouldn’t be so bad if you lost,” Sara continued softly.

  Sara flicked out a finger and spun. “Left foot to red,” she said.

  Benjamin moved his foot to the spot. His whole body trembled with the movement. He could feel his limbs beginning to give out beneath him, and from the way she smiled, he had a feeling Sara knew it, too.

  The women shifted. They seemed remarkably untired.

  “Had enough?” Sara asked.

  “No,” Benjamin replied. “No, because I’m going to win.”

  �
�Are you? I disagree. You see; I never lose,” Sara said, her eyes lighting up.

  Slam! The door smashed open and struck the wall.

  Benjamin fell with a yelp. Sara jumped to her feet and whooped in victory.

  “Ugh!” a loud moan split the air.

  Slowly, everyone turned to the door. There stood a man. He was a short, round man with dark brown hair and gray-green skin. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, and rimmed with yellow. When he opened his jaw, he struggled to lift it again. “Argh!” he screamed.

  “Everyone,” Elijah said, his voice tight. “That’s Ted.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  For a long minute, no one spoke. The room was quiet save to the sounds of the zombified Ted’s grunts and for Elijah’s music. It had been a very rousing rap song that Benjamin had never heard of, but that song ended. Instead, Frozen’s “Let It Go” filled the air. The absurdity of Disney music wafting through the air made Benjamin erupt into a stream of anxious, uncontrollable laughter.

  Why did Elijah even have that song in his library? Benjamin wondered

  “Well, he’s definitely a bit of a fixer upper,” Daisy quipped, waving a hand towards Ted.

  “No one locked the door!” Alex blurted out, suddenly waving his arms.

  “I thought you had it!” Elijah exclaimed.

  “I thought you did!” Alex retorted.

  “Who is that?” Sara asked, backing away and keeping the sofa between her and the zombie.

  “That’s, uh, our roommate Ted,” Alex explained.

  “He’s not an attractive man, but he normally doesn’t look quite so hideous,” Elijah added. “Green really isn’t his color.”

  “Ugh!”

  Daisy and Amber both scrambled away.

  Benjamin stood frozen and alone between the zombie Ted and everyone else. There was a zombie right in front of him, and Benjamin’s heart beat so hard in his chest that he physically ached. But this was a zombie, and a morbid—or perhaps scientific—part of Benjamin was fascinated by the decaying impossibility before him.

  How had this happened? Was it a virus? An act of ecoterrorism? Benjamin wondered.

  With a fierce shout, Elijah suddenly bounded onto the sofa and lobbed the bust of Aristotle at zombie Ted’s head. The bust hit its mark. Ted’s head snapped back with a resounding crack.