Part 13: May 22 - Coleman Tower

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It was noon by the time Veer had hauled five cartloads of equipment up to the sixth floor. Sweat was pouring off his face even with the use of the powered hand truck. He had hauled every load of equipment up the nine stories to the main server room. When he dragged the last cartload through the door, he collapsed into the nearest chair, gasping for breath.

He looked around at the techs still sitting or lying where they had been yesterday when he and Coleman had ventured up here. He walked over and checked the woman slumped over her keyboard; her body was stiff with rigor, and the poor lady had no pulse. He propped the door open and, using the chair she had been sitting in, wheeled her out of the room and down the hallway to an office with a placard stating that this was a law office. He propped this door open, wheeled the body in, and left her there. Veer transferred seven more bodies in this manner. Twice he had to stop and dash into the bathroom to vomit. One man was still barely alive, but he placed the man in with the other bodies as well. Sadly, he too would be dead soon. Veer stared at the people and wished them well into the next life. He closed the door and went back to the main server room.

He started setting up his equipment, trying not to think about the feel of the bodies he had transferred to the law office. The worst were the people who were still alive—there was a vibrating tremor running through their bodies. Each time he moved one of these people, the feel of that vibration would send him running to the bathroom.

By the time he had organized his equipment, his stomach had recovered enough that he thought he might be able to eat something. He considered eating more of the repulsive trash food from the vending machines, but he knew he needed real sustenance. He spent more precious time trudging back down to the cafeteria. He prayed he would not run into Coleman along the way. He could still remember the sound of him screaming as he had rushed out of the dining area that morning. But luck was with him, and he was able to make his way back to the cafeteria without running into the despicable man. He collected something for his lunch and piled enough healthy snacks onto a tray to take back upstairs to keep him going until tomorrow morning.

After Coleman had stormed out of the cafeteria, he started to explore the residential floors of the building. The first apartment he entered had the body of the tenant lying on the living room floor. He walked around the body and explored the apartment. The refrigerator had some decent food. He helped himself to a plate of stuffed endive. He smiled. Ah, decent food. He closed his eyes and savored the delicate crab stuffing in the tender-crisp leaves of the endive.

He took the plate and walked back to the large living room windows, scanning the streets below for any signs of life. But even the bloodthirsty bands were nowhere to be seen. He wondered if it was safe to go out and look around but decided to play it safe. He had been lucky those teens hadn’t found him when he stayed out all night.

He finished the plate of stuffed endive and stared at the person on the floor. She must be middle-aged, not very good-looking, and not very shapely either. Well, no big loss for the world there. He went back to the refrigerator to see if there was anything else worth eating. The old broad didn’t eat much—some bottled water and lots of raw vegetables.

Well, there were plenty more apartments, and he’d find one that did have some food—and didn’t have some porky woman lying on the floor that he’d have to walk around.