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fair that he was alive when everyone else he had loved was dead. Hearing Noah say it made him think about it more. He watched the thing stumbling toward them. It was moving faster now, though not running by any means. It had caught their scent. Simon could make out a few features on the thing’s ashen face.
    A thin layer of dirt covered its face. One eye was swollen shut and looked infected. Its left arm hung limp at its side, and at some point it had lost its pants. What was left of the part that made it a man was shriveled and bloody.
    “You’d rather be that thing?” Simon asked. There was no better way to explain how awful it would have been to have died along with everyone else.
    Noah gave him a small smile and shook his head. “No, I guess not. You want me to go tell Dodge this thing is coming?”
    “I’ll do it,” Simon answered, happy for a reason to get away. He flipped around to put his feet on the ladder and steadied himself a moment before climbing down. His heart hammered with each rung, worried the ladder would slip out from under him. It amazed him to watch the other boys climb the ladders as nimbly as monkeys.
    When Simon’s feet hit solid ground, he sprinted off toward the apartment Dodge slept in. Without even thinking about knocking, Simon rushed in. He was always hit by the familiarity of the apartments. The military housing was set up so the living quarters were all the same. He could see himself at the kitchen table, doing homework while his sister cooked dinner. Simon hated the apartments; they forced him to remember that he was alive and his sister wasn’t.
    Simon shook off the wave of guilt that accompanied the sparse memories and ran straight to the bedrooms. Tech was drooling and flat on his stomach in the first room, and Simon shut the door quietly; no need to wake him. He opened the next door, and shut it again quickly. His face flushed. He knocked loudly on the door, willing himself to forget the image of Dodge on top of the girl. He had a good idea who the girl was.
    “Hold on,” Dodge called, and there was movement behind the door. Simon heard them whispering, then Dodge opened the door wearing only sweats, his dark skin and hair sweaty. “This better be good, kid.”
    “There’s a zombie working its way through the field,” Simon said. He knew he shouldn’t be trying to see past Dodge and felt disgusted at himself for leaning so he could catch sight of the girl. It was Lara, just as he had thought. She was only half under the covers. When he realized he was seeing her breast he jerked back, feeling guilty.
    “It’s still light out,” Dodge answered.
    “It’s there,” Simon assured him. Dodge eyed Simon a minute.
    “Shit.” He bent and grabbed a shirt from the floor, pulling it quickly over his head. He pushed Simon out of the doorway and shut the door, leaving Lara in the room. Halfway across the living room, Dodge slipped on a pair of sneakers. “Show me where.” Dodge waved Simon out the front door.
    Simon hurried back to the wall with Dodge close behind. When the wall came into sight, Simon saw that Noah had stood up, no longer letting his legs dangle freely below him. When Noah noticed Simon and Dodge, he began to wave them over, practically jumping up and down in his eagerness. Dodge reached the ladder first and began to climb up; Simon didn’t hesitate before following him.
    “Move.” Dodge shoved Noah aside as he climbed onto the top of the wall.
    Noah slipped. He landed hard on one knee before it slid out from under him. He caught the wall with his hands, scrambling to get his legs back up.
    “Noah!” Simon dropped onto his stomach, reaching for him. Dodge stepped on Simon as he tried to grab his hands. They were both too slow. Simon watched Noah slip, unable to stop it, useless as always.
    “Simon!” Noah’s eyes widened, and Simon knew exactly why.
    Pressed to the wall like he was, Simon could see nothing but zombies below. Three more had appeared