Chapter 24

The lights were on one second, then suddenly the stairwell went black. Omar took out his flashlight and shinned it in Krista and Holden's face.

Their simple plan worked nearly perfectly.

Krista ran up the stairs, Omar chasing her, but careful not to catch up. Holden waited behind the door and as Krista began banging on it, screaming for help (she had always been remarkably good at fake tears), a guard opened the door and Holden grabbed him, yanking him out of the doorway.

Unfortunately for Holden Omar hadn't caught up to them before the guard managed to bash Holden's head into the wall, sending him to the ground unconscious - but at least he was a good distraction. The guard didn't expect Krista to take out her nail file and stab in in the throat and Omar came up from behind and secured the guard's arms as Holden managed to get backed to his feet, dazed and unable to remember the last 15 minutes of his life.

"Did it work?" Holden asked groggily.

"Does it look like we're finished here?" Omar motioned to the struggling guard.

"Oh shit! Where'd he come from?" Holden pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the guard.

"What do you idiots want?" The guard spat at them.

"We want you to calm the fuck down!" Omar ordered.

"Calm down? Fuck you! She stabbed me in the fucking neck!"

"Next time it will be your eye!" Krista screamed.

The three men looked at Krista with surprised expressions. No one had ever seen her try to be angry before, it was like hearing a cat recite the alphabet. They didn't know if they should laugh or be terrified.

"Are there any more guards patrolling here?" Omar asked.

"I said: Fuck you!" The guard hissed.

"Throw him down the stairs," Krista nodded.

"Okay," Omar began dragging him towards the rail.

"Wait! Wait! Correy's up on the electrical floor!"

"Correy?" Krista's eyes went wide and became glossy. "My Correy."

"Krista, there's only one Correy who works here," Omar rolled his eyes.

"Who's Correy?" Holden asked, his head injury now just a dull throb.

"He's my-" Krista began, but Omar immediately cut her off.

"He's the enemy! If they're not with us, they're against us!"

Krista sniffed and looked down, her anger all melted away. "This is so wrong," she muttered to herself.

"Correy's the only other one?" Omar asked, just to be certain.

"Only two guards are patrolling at a time. We switch over every six hours."

"And when the hell does your shift end?"

He didn't answer at first, and Omar started dragging him towards the rail again.

"Okay! Wait! Half an hour! Maybe less. We change over on the hour.

Holden looked at his watch. "That gives us 27 minutes."

"My watch says 25," Krista said.

"Oh fuck. Let's just go with 20," Omar said. "Now knock this bitch out and let's get on with the operation."

Chapter 23

Meagan pulled over a few tables from the cafe and rounded up everybody who had defected – but there weren’t many. Of the fifteen survivors who stayed in the Tower – or survived – only a few had escaped the guards.

There was Omar, the long-time disgruntled employee and stealth killer extraordinaire; Geoff, their former boss who looked like Wolverine in high school (but was really 35 years old); Krista, Elise’s bubbly baby sister; Matt, an overly eager drama student who even Holden described as “way too emo”; and a quiet older Asian man named Tyrol.

“Who the hell is that guy?” Elise nudged Meagan when they spotted him. Tyrol was sitting cross legged on the windowsill when they arrived, staring straight out over the lake. He hadn’t moved since.

“That’s Tyrol. He had a lot of interesting stories when I worked here. I think he worked for the Chinese government before defecting. That’s not even his real name.”

“He looks like he should be selling me a Gremlin.”

“Trust me, he’s useful.”

They gathered their little band of seven now (except for Tyrol, who opted to listen from his windowsill) and stood around a single table, staring at crudely drawn blueprints of the restaurant.

“The power supply is one floor above the restaurant. If the guards aren’t completely stupid they’ll have somebody doing regular patrols of their stairwell to look out for giraffes. Omar, you take Holden and some weapons and hide out in the stairwell. We’ll take out this guard first, then head to the Electrical floor. We’ll cut off their power before we attack.”

Matt raised a gangly arm. “What’s that thing?” He pointed to a stick figure with a dress.

“Oh that’s Krista.”

“What’s my job?” she said.
“I’m glad you asked,” Meagan beamed at her. “You’re our bait.”

“Whoa whoa!” Elise stepped in front of her sister. “Nobody’s using Krista as bait. No way.”

“Sorry Norma Rae but it has to be her,” Geoff said. “Those guards are shallow douchebags; they won’t be able to resist helping Krista.”

Elise shook her head. “No way, I’ll do it.”

“No offense, but look at you. You look like a Serbian refugee.” Geoff turned around and gestured at Krista. “Now look at Krista. She looks like Apocalypse Barbie.”

“Don’t worry Elise, I’ll stuff a bunch of guns under my skirt, it’ll be fine.”

“Fine,” Elise said, shoving her pistol at Krista. “Just how exactly is she going to bait the guards?”

Meagan smiled. “She’s going to be a damsel – or, Barbie, I guess – in distress. Omar’s going to scream at her in the stairwell, and she’s going to wait outside the guard’s door. One of them is bound to hear it, and they won’t resist your sister. And, since it’s Omar yelling at her they won’t be afraid of her getting bitten. They’ll open the door, check out the scene, and BOOM, you grab him.”

Omar and Holden exchanged a glance. “Um, how exactly are we going to do this without everybody hearing the guard’s scream on the way down?”

“Oh you’re not gonna throw them down the stairs. You’re just going to wound them and send them back upstairs with a gash. The other guards will take care of the rest, I presume.” Meagan leaned back and looked around. “Any questions?”

“Yes I have one,” Steve raised his hand. “Why did you spend ten minutes drawing a Juno award on a napkin before you told us this really simple plan?”


Ten minutes later Omar, Holden, and Krista were ready to take their places when Elise pulled Holden aside.

“Look, if anything should happen to—“

“Aww, that’s sweet of you.”

“--To my SISTER, you idiot, I will kill you and feed you to the security guards in a delicious soufflé. Understood?”

Holden playfully shoved her arm. “Yes, I get it. And I knew you weren’t really worried about me. You know how tough I am.”

“I could take you with one arm tied behind my back.”

“Any time you want.”

She glared, but had to smile. Hell, he was probably about to die in the stairwell, she thought. Let him have one.

“Oh and by the way,” he whispered, “Geoff’s wrong. You totally make better bait.”

With that he sauntered away, and took with him all the feeling in Elise’s knees.

Chapter 22

"Who's in charge here? Omar or this Geoff guy?" Elise asked her little sister as they started following Omar towards Geoff. "Geoff's more senior, but I guess that doesn't matter anymore," Krista shrugged. "I dunno, we're listening to both of them." "Well, so I guess as long as no arguments start. The last thing we need is another power struggle." "I can't believe you came all the way to the Tower to rescue me," Krista smiled. "I can't believe you did your makeup during the apocalypse - Wait, no, sorry. Actually I can believe that. That is the first thing that's made sense in the last 24 hours." They walked through the floor, getting odd glances from everyone who hadn't run for their lives. They all looked dirty and annoyed, like refuges, and seemed to spite the newcomers simply because they weren't a proper rescue operation. Many of them had blood on them, from fighting with the security guard. "Shit, you're the only person who doesn't have blood on them. Even Milo has blood on him." "I can't believe you brought your cat," Krista sighed. "He followed me! What happened here anyway?" "The giraffes got in downstairs, it happened so fast... They shut down the elevators right away, but a couple got in." "There are giraffes in here?" "No, they were all killed, and then the guards said we weren't allowed to leave.There was no way in hell I was going to walk down those stairs." "Are you sure they were all killed?" "Well, we're still alive. Anyway, who's the cute guy?" Krista lowered her voice, looking at Holden. "What cute guy? Where?" "The one you came with?" Elise narrowed her eyes, not understanding. "... Steve?" "Oh my god! Do you even see the opposite sex! The tall cute guy! The only other guy you showed up with!" Krista pointed at Holden, who looked at the two sisters in confusion. "Are you two talking about me?" "No." Elise and Krista both answered. "Steve, I don't understand girls," Holden muttered. "Here," Omar led them up onto the raised seating in the cafe, where a tall man with wild black hair sat at a table, looking over some blueprints as a couple hosts were yelling and pointing, clearing trying to get some pressing matter solved. "Geoff, we have company." "He looks like Wolverine," Elise mumbled to Meagan. Geoff looked up at the newcomers in confusion, then saw Meagan. "Good god in heaven. I never thought I'd see you here again," he smiled and got up, then paused. "Why the hell are you here? You don't still think this would make a good hideout in a zombie apocalypse do you?" "We're not dealing with zombies this time." "No, if possible we've been plagued by the one thing even weirder than the dead reanimating." "It wasn't my decision to come here anyway - this one brought me," she pointed at Elise. "Well, sorry we're not exactly a safe haven." "Who cares about safe? I want to destroy those security guards - and I know just how to do it."

Chapter 21

“So the guards just took over?” Meagan said as she wiped off Omar’s forehead. She noticed the blood was well dry – clearly not from the security guard they had just seen. How many people had Omar killed...?

“At first it seemed like a good idea. They had weapons, keys, radios that reached actual police stations. And they were organized. But then, we ran out of food on the lookout level...”

“You RAN OUT of food? It’s only been two days! How many people were up there?” Holden asked.

“In total, we started with forty. Six guards, five staff members,” he looked at Elise then, “including Krista, whose fine, and about twenty or so tourists. Couple tour leaders too. They were the first to go.”

“To go...?” Steve said between gulps of Meagan’s water bottle. She took it back and hissed something about smoking, but he ignored her.

“They tried to escape. Tried to go down the stairs. They were the first, then slowly a couple tourists followed. I don’t know what happened to them, but if you didn’t see them on your way up then just maybe...”

"So where's Krista?” Elise asked impatiently.

“She’s on the lookout level. The guards took everyone that was left, about fifteen, and abandoned it for the restaurant upstairs last night when we ran out of food in the cafe.” Omar looked at Holden then. “There wasn’t that much food to begin with. None that anybody knew how to prepare, anyway.”

“Wait...” Steve said, rubbing his face. “You’re telling me that there’s still food, but nobody knows how to cook it?”

“I’m from Guatemala, I can cook YOU if I need to,” Omar snapped. “But not without any electricity.”

“But the Tower has its own generators...” Meagan began. Her eyes were darting across the floor as if she were reading something nobody else could see. “We just need to reroute the electricity to this grid only. Each floor has a different grid to prevent surges in case of power outages. All we’d need to do it cut off the power to level four and turn our level’s power back on!”

“Okay this is all great but I REALLY need to see Krista now.” Elise stood up from her perch, knocking a nearly-asleep Holden backwards. “You guys coming or not?”

Steve rose slowly, his mind preoccupied with just how they were going to steal a bunch of crazy mall cops’ power supply without them noticing, or him getting killed. But one thing was for certain – he was gonna be as nice as possible to this Omar kid.

Omar led them all up the glass floor stairwell, and ignored the collective groans when he announced “just one more floor”. “So,” he said to Meagan, “what the hell’s going on down there?”

“The best way to explain it is, tiny giraffes that eat you, and then when you die, you turn into more tiny giraffes.”

“That’s pretty much the ONLY way to explain it,” Elise said.

Omar sighed, and considered asking for more details, but the tiny religious part of him was too afraid to know any more details. At the moment it seemed like a freak accident at a lab gone extremely bad; but just the right details could make it sound like an apocalyptic plague, and he wasn’t sure he could deal with that.

He knocked on the door of Level 3 four times. The door flew open and out jumped a bubbly girl with brown hair, blue eye shadow, and not a single scratch on her.

“Elise!!!” she shrieked. Elise shoved forward and grabbed her sister, then held her at arms’ length.

“Why aren’t you a little more, you know, worse for wear?” She almost sounded disappointed.

Krista shrugged. “Oh I dunno, I didn’t really have to do much, at first we had guards who did the heavy lifting, now we just have Geoff.”

“Wait...” Meagan said as they all piled onto the lookout level. She watched Omar latch the door by renailing a wooden door across the handle, and smiled. “Did you say you have Geoff?”

“Yep. He took the stairs up when it all started to make sure we were okay, then refused to leave us here.”

Meagan let out the first sigh since they’d entered the stairwell. “Where is he now?”

Krista bit her lip and started playing with her rings. “He’s, um, doing some plumbing, I think...”

“He’s trying to break the plumbing on their floor so they can’t use the bathroom anymore,” Omar interjected. “He’s in the men’s room on the other side of the lookout if you want to talk to him. In fact, I’m going to head in and wash up, and tell him about our additions.” He pulled Meagan in for a great big hug. “So glad you made it.”

“So,” Holden said, clapping his hands, “how do we get rid of those guards?”

“And maybe this Geoff person...” Steve grumbled to himself.

Chapter 20

"Omar?" Elise gasped, still trying to catch her breath. They were all sweaty and boiling from the inside out. Elise was almost too exhausted to really acknowledge the fact that she had just witnessed Omar, a man she mostly remembered for that one Christmas party she was invited to where every time she saw him he was holding at least three beers, throw a man to his death. "What the fuck?"

She slumped onto the floor, unable to stand anymore, and Holden joined her, leaning slightly against her, but she barely noticed.

"What been going on here? Where are the security guards?" Meagan asked. Her breathing was just as ragged as everyone else's, but she seemed too concerned to take a break.

"Things got real bad last night," Omar began. "They took over the restaurant and those not wanting to put up with their shit joined me and moved down here."

"Jesus Christ Omar, you start a revolution or something?" Elise asked.

"Wait, no more talk. Water, for the love of god," Steve finally managed.

"We do have a limited supply..."

"We brought guns," Elise held up her pistol.

"And granola!" Meagan offered.

"All right, follow me," Omar held the door open for them and the four weary travellers entered the Tower. "Holy shit. Did you guys bring a cat?"

***

Yesterday:

Krista was working a late shift that day. She started work about the same time Elise was going home, before the outbreak has garnered real attention, before the dead outnumbered the living. When she arrived they were having an oddly slow day seeing it was so sunny outside. That was the first and last warning she would get that something wasn't right.

An hour later she was on the glass floor level, trying to mind her own business and avoid tourists who looked like they needed someone to take their picture. She was terrible with a camera, always had been. She felt like she was doing them a disservice whenever she took a picture for them.

"What's going on out there?" One of the tourists asked, staring down through the glass floor.

Krista peered over the edge and saw a large crowd of people standing around at the base of the Tower. She couldn't tell if they were coming or going, but they all seemed to be moving, buzzing around each other like they were having a rave. Her first thought was that it was a flash mob, but for the life of her couldn't figure out what they were doing.

"Code 99. Code 99, please be advised-" came over her radio, and then it suddenly flared feedback as a good five people started speaking into it at once. She could barely make out anything being said, except for a snippet here and there:

"... banging on the doors..."

"... glass is break..."

"... what are those..."

Mostly it was just jumbled swearing and, she thought, someone started screaming giraffes over and over again. Suddenly she noticed that tourists were looking at her with worry and she turned off her radio, looking around nervously for a captain or a security guard.

"What's happening down there?"

"I, uh, I'm going to find out."

She saw another red shirt wearing host by the elevator and ran over. "Are you listening to the radio? What's going on?"

"Stop that elevator!" A security guard came around the corner and pointed at one of the hosts loading people onto an elevator to go back down.

"Hey, we've been waiting 5 minutes for this elevator," a tourist protested.

"Elevators aren't moving until we figure out what's happening-"

All their radios suddenly transmitted a final, frantic scream, and then white noise droned on until they turned them off.

The silence only lasted a second, before a tourist screamed in panic. The word "terrorist" was screamed more than once.

Krista was too stunned to move, until someone grabbed her shoulders and started violently shaking her. She felt her neck snap back and then one of the security guards grabbed the tourist and punched them in the face. The security guard had a glint of joy as his fist impacted with the man's face and an all out riot was suddenly in motion. Tourists frantic to escape and security guards happily beating them into submission.

All the hosts ran to the next floor up, just in time to see an elevator open, three security guards standing ready as three pigmy giraffes ran out, some sort of gelatinous goo still glazing their bodies. The guards only looked shocked for a brief second before they stomped on the tiny things, crushing them under their great black boots, grinning at each other as they ground blood and fur into the carpet.

When they were finished, the guards turned around at the shocked people.

"Everyone listen up! We're in charge now!"

Chapter 19

“One thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six steps. To the second floor.”

“I’m sorry...” Holden rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “How many floors are there?”

Meagan pulled a metal rod out from her bag. She looked at it mournfully before shoving it through the handle to keep the door locked from inside, and turned back to the group to explain. “The main pod of the Tower has three public floors and four mechanical and service levels. The first floor is the radome, that big balloon looking thing, where we store our Christmas decorations. The second floor is the Glass Floor level but I doubt anybody is there. The doors are too easy to bar and most importantly, there’s no food. The third floor is the main Lookout level. There’s a bar and a tiny cafe and a kitchen, so they might be holed up there. Above that is another restaurant with an even bigger kitchen, but hopefully the survivors preserved whatever food they could and kept it up there, since that kitchen has a massive padlock. Above that--”


“Right. There are windows and there’s food. Okay, upwards then?” Steve said, urging the girls forward. “I think I should go first, Meagan should be behind me to direct. Elise, you stay behind Meagan and keep a look out, and Holden should bring up the rear.” He took the first step and Meagan grabbed his arm.

“You don’t even know where you’re going. I have to be in front.”

“I know where I’m going, I’m going UP, for the next two hours.”

Meagan shook her head. “If those losers from the United Way can do it in half an hour, we can do it in twenty.”

Just beyond the door came a single giraffe wail, a signal call. Steve began pounding up the stairs. “No time to discuss; let’s get the hell out of here!”

Annoyed, Meagan followed, leaving Elise and Holden to stare at the door and listen to the giraffe. “He’s still alone...” Elise muttered, pressing her ear to the door.

“Come on!” Holden said, tugging her sleeve. But she waved him off and hissed, “Hold on a second!”

From the other side, she could hear the single giraffe, but where there should have been several others in unison to join him, there was silence. Just one lonely giraffe, with no response.

“Why do you think they’re not listening to him?” Elise said.

“Maybe he’s the Holden of the giraffe world.”

She glared at him, but he had a point. “Okay, let’s go.”


They started up the stairs, catching up to Meagan and Steve with no problem. They climbed together silently, listening for any sign of struggle or entry from the many doorways they passed. Holden wondered where the doors led to, but he knew Meagan would explain in great detail, and he was just too tired. And besides, being below Elise in the line had its advantages that he wasn’t willing to risk just to have a chat.

Soon the space became more narrow and Meagan signalled they were approaching the first floor. The door was air locked, nothing would be getting in or out. So they carried on above to the glass floor. Elise stopped when she noticed a tiny blue sign marked “L2”

“This is the sign for the glass floor?” she pointed. “How the hell do people see this and NOT keep going up all the way during those charity things?”

“Usually somebody holds this door open. It’s on a magnetic lock but that all fails without power, and it didn’t look like there was any power downstairs.” Meagan tried the handle – it was unlocked.

“Wait!” Holden said, climbing up past Elise. “At least let the guys go first. You girls stay about a floor down; that way if we need to bolt back, we won’t knock you over.”

Too tired to argue, Elise nodded and took a few steps back. Never tired enough to fight, Meagan opened her mouth, but Elise smacked her arm. “Just get down here.”

“I wasn’t going to—“

Suddenly there was a massive bang against the door. It scratched and clawed, and they all knew this was no giraffe.

“What the fuck...?” Elise raised her gun and stepped up towards the guys. Holden held out his hand, then put a finger to his lips.

From beyond the door came shouting. Two men arguing about guns, security. Then another bang against the door. Then silence.

The door opened and Steve stepped aside just in time for the flying body to miss him on its way down the stairwell. The group stared at the dead body, then slowly up to the blood-soaked man holding the door open.

“What the hell was that??” Steve demanded, grabbing the tan skinned guy by his red collar. “You just KILLED that guy!”

“He killed somebody upstairs over food. And get off me!” The accent was slight, almost imperceptible, but it was there. Even with his face caked in sweat and grim and blood, his expression of complete distain for everything still shone through, and Meagan recognized him instantly. She pushed forward through the group and wrapped her arms around the bloody stranger’s neck.

“Omar! Thank God!”

They're here...

Meagan (not that Meg) found this picture. The girocalypse has begun!

Chapter 18

The instant Milo saw Elise he became attached to her, turning into a blur of fluff that circled around her feet. For a moment she couldn't move without kicking the cat, so stayed still as she smiled at her best friend.

"You weren't picking up your phone," Elise finally managed to say.

"Crap," Meagan hadn't thought to turn her phone back on after they lost contact. "I was saving battery power."

"New rule: If we get separated again, turn on your cell phone."

"Well hopefully we won't have to worry about that again. C'mon, let's go to the elevators and get your sister."

"Seen any of those security guards around?" Holden asked, holding his gun apprehensively. After that encounter with the man on the street he realized just how useless this gun was against a human - unless he was at point-blank range aiming at their eyes.

"It's been quiet-" Steve began, but a noise coming from below cut him off.

"Up the ramp," Meagan whispered, not wanting to waste any more time. Something was in the building with them.

"C'mon Dave," Elise pushed Holden forward, Milo letting up enough to allow her to walk, but not getting more than an inch away from her.

"Who?" Holden looked at her in confusion.

"Dave Holden."

Blank stare.

"Do androids dream of electric sheep?"

Holden turned to Steve. "So, Elise has apparently lost her mind."

"You just noticed?"

"Dave Holden is a character from the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

"For the last time: I am not a literary character," Holden hissed, trying to keep from yelling.

"Tell yourself whatever you want - no one is named Holden in the real world."

They were almost at the end of the ramp when they heard the giraffe's wail.

"Run!" Meagan took off through the security checkpoint that once herded tourists, but was now abandoned, and headed towards the elevators now in sight.

Below them was the gift shop, a railing separating the two floors, and when they took a quick peek over they saw hundreds of giraffes in a nest made of cheap stuffed Moutie bears and the skeletal remains of tourists and staff.

"Fuck me!" Elise screamed. They had just found the motherlode of giraffes, and as she turned around and saw even more giraffes streaming up the ramp towards them she realized there was no escape.

Meagan reached the elevators first and screamed in frustration as the others turned and pulled out their guns to fire at the giraffes and give Meagan enough time to get them out of this situation.

"The elevators are out of order!"

"You told me once they could never break down!" Steve yelled.

"They can be turned off!"

"Plan B! PLAN B!!!" Holden screamed.

"THERE IS NO PLAN B!!!"

"DOESN'T THIS PLACE HAVE STAIRS!?!"

Meagan whirled around until she found the door to the stairwell, a skeleton still wearing black pants and a red shirt gripped keys in his hands. She grabbed them and reached the door, unlocking it and motioning her friends through.

"C'MON!!!"

The others turned and dived through, Steve was the last person, backing up as he kept shooting at the giraffes. They were about to overwhelm him as Meagan slammed the door on their tiny faces.

"Is everyone all right? Anyone bit?" Meagan started grabbing people's arms to check for bite-marks.

"Lay off," Elise pulled away, looking at the first flight of stairs.

"We can't be too cautious," Meagan frowned. She still couldn't believe Elise wasn't onboard with being overly cautious yet.

"Uh... Meagan?" Holden looked troubled. "Exactly how many stairs are we talking about here?"

Chapter 17

Meagan poked another body while Steve watched. "Do you, uh, know what you're doing?"

"No."

"Oh. Okay then." He stood silently, even slipped his hands in his pockets. "You need any hel--"

"No."

"Hey," he said, kneeling down, "you okay?"

Meagan held up wallet and looked at the floor. Steve's eyes took a moment to focus as he stared at the ID, too used to scanning wide open, sunny spaces. But when they did he finally understood. "Oh Meagan, I'm sorry..."

He rested his head on her back and she let out a tiny laugh. "I always hated this guy." Then she looked up at Steve. "Why am I so sad?"

"Because I think this reminds you of everyone you know, everyone whose whereabouts and condition you're unsure of. Like your family. I'm sure the...problem, hasn't spread that far. Both of our families live in remote areas, I'm sure they're okay. But, you know..."

"I know, we have to go." She got to her feet with Steve’s help and dusted off her pants. She smiled weakly and took his offered hand, letting her old boss' wallet fall to the marble floor.

They made it through the last few sets of doors without stopping, each section littered with bodies with no giraffe in site. When they approached the final door in the Skywalk, just 75 feet from the Tower, Meagan had an epiphany.

"The Fornicorner!!" she shouted.

"Bless you."

"No!" she laughed, smacking his arm. "The fornicating corner!" She pointed excitedly to a fence diving the Tower from the train tracks. Steve followed the fence line down a hill to the base of the Tower to a very small door.

"There’s an entrance!"

"Not just AN entrance! The Fornicorner is where people used to go to have sex because it's out of camera range. The only way to see it is from the outside! That's our way in!"

She hurried down the hill against the fence line to the door, Steve and Milo following close behind. "God bless you, filthy restaurant guests!"

"Let me," Steve said, pulling out his wallet. "I’ve always wanted to try this."

Meagan had already noticed the door was unlocked, but she said nothing and let Steve have his moment. And when he finished and pulled the door ajar, she even gave him a congratulatory kiss on the cheek.

The door opened silently, and Steve entered first, staring straight across a beige and blue mezzanine. He could see the main security machines and the elevators, but no people.

“This is strange…” Meagan whispered, walking over to the railing. The mezzanine was a series of bridges that looked over the gift shop, with elevators on one side and security entrances on the other. She looked down out over the store and turned to Steve. “Doesn’t anything about this scene strike you as strange?”

Steve shrugged. “Everything about everything strikes me as odd today. Enlighten me.”

“Well, yesterday was a Friday, in August. What does that usually mean?”

“It should’ve been busy here…”

“But there aren’t any bodies here. And...” she said, walking back to the middle of the mezzanine, “there aren’t any stanchions out to queue people. The Tower opens at nine am, and Elise and I didn’t hear about the giraffes until five pm yesterday. That means that the little buggers might be organized, but they don’t move quickly. They’re inefficient. It took them eight hours to cover what we did in four.”

“Well yes but if we’d stopped at every house to strip the flesh off everything living thing we saw, we’d of taken eight hours too.”

“But they’re just wandering. They’re not moving in any distinct pattern. Out to Scarborough, then back downtown? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well, I,” Steve stopped as Milo began wailing at the door. “Oh shit, Milo sees something!”

They followed the cat to the door as it cried and meowed away, fearing the worst. Meagan braced herself as she approached the door, searching for a lock, when suddenly, from the Skywalk doors, emerged a very tired looking Holden.

“It’s Holden!” Meagan cried. Then behind him came Elise, guns pointed. “And Elise!! They made it!!” She shoved the door open and Steve turned around to keep watch on the mezzanine.

“Try to keep your voice down,” he said, and Meagan blushed and nodded. Then she turned back to the Skywalk and waved frantically.

When Elise saw her she didn’t looked surprised, just relieved. Of course Meagan knew how to get here, and exactly which door she could just waltz right into.

Chapter 16

"This tea is kinda weird. I didn't know green tea was supposed to be... lemony," Holden finished his mug and set it down.

Elise was holding her mug in both hands, holding it up to her face and smelling it in with a peaceful look on her face. "Enjoy it. It might be the last cup you ever have."

"Whatever, it's time to move," Holden got up and Elise nodded, finishing her tea. "What's the plan?"

"The plan hasn't changed. We go to the Tower, and Meagan will do the same thing."

"How do you know?"

"Because she wants to blow it up."

"Wait-what?"

"Time to go!"

"Steve's friends are weird," Holden muttered as they grabbed their gear and cleared out.

Once outside they kept low in the side streets, trying to stick as close to Queen Street as possible. The giraffes were everywhere, but it seemed that they didn't group up unless they were on the attack. The biggest groups they encountered were about five strong, and they were all easily avoided. They were now heading slightly north of the Tower, but Elise wanted to keep their route as simple as possible to avoid losing each other. Besides, she had a plan.

"What do you mean you want to take the Path???" Holden nearly screamed at her.

The Path was a notorious underground shopping mall that connected most of the downtown core together. People going down there for the first time easily lost their way and constantly had to resurface in order to get their bearings.

"That's the worst fucking plan I've ever heard."

"I am downtown every day. I know the Path like the back of my hand."

"But just being underground is not a good idea."

"It's a brilliant idea, because these things are smart."

"Sorry?"

They stopped behind a dumpster while four giraffes crossed in front of them.

"Were you even listening to yourself back at Starbucks? If they do communicate and plan, it stands to reason that they have some understanding of human behaviour. I mean hell, they're driving us out of buildings like cattle."

They made a quick dash across the street and found cover once again.

"As far as their tiny giraffe brains think, nobody's stupid enough to go back underground. So if no one's underground, there will probably be little to no giraffes around."

"A lot of this is hinging on the fact - a fact we don't know for sure - that these things are intelligent."

"Honestly, at this point I just feel safer being underground where I know the hiding places. Being out here in the open gives them too many chances to spot and swarm us."

Suddenly a window shattered across the street and a man fell onto the sidewalk, screaming and kicking as a stream of twenty or so giraffes followed.

"Shit!" Holden dove for cover, but Elise grabbed her gun and started aiming.

"HELP ME!!!" The man, no older than Elise, spotted her and started hollering in pain.

"Leave him!" Holden hissed, but it was too late. The giraffes had already seen her.

She crouched down, took aim, and before Holden could figure out what was happening tiny giraffe heads started exploding with nearly every shot she took.

A minute later no giraffe was left standing and the man scrambled to his feet and ran over to the two, tears streaming down his face.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!!! When did you become Rambo???" Holden looked at the giraffes.

"I was in cadets, we fired guns a a lot."

The man reached Elise, wrapping her in a sudden embrace of gratitude.

"Get off," Elise struggled and soon the man let go of him and went to hug Holden - who held out his hand to stop him.

"No fucking way. You gotta leave. You can't come with us." Holden shook his head, looking around anxiously for the giraffes he knew would soon be drawn to this place.

"Wha?" The man looked confused.

"He can come with us," Elise rolled her eyes.

"He's covered in blood!" Holden protested, and Elise noticed that Holden looked genuinely afraid.

She turned to the man who was still shaking.

"Are you all right?" Elise asked.

"I was hiding, but they chewed their way through the wall."

"Did they bite you?"

"How did they do it man? How did they eat through a fucking wall?" The man was too distracted to notice their questions.

Holden pulled out his gun. "Did they fucking bite you!?!"

The man took a step back, his hand grabbing something on his arm. "N-no." Then he turned to Elise, his blue eyes pleading with her. "Please, don't leave me here."

"He's been bitten!"

"Everyone needs to calm down!" Elise tried to stop Holden advancing. In the distance, they heard the wail of the giraffe.

"He's going to turn into one of them! He's like a sleeper cell!"

"Please, my name's Jeff Hicks, I'm 26, I-"

"Wait-"

Holden shot him in the eye. The pellet wasn't enough to kill him, but Jeff immediately started screaming in pain, covering his face as blood gushed out of the socket. Realizing the gun wouldn't finish him, Holden grabbed a piece of wood from a broken window frame as Jeff's skin began to take on a slightly translucent tinge.

Then Holden began bashing Jeff's head in until he stopped screaming, slumped to the ground, and was still.

Elise stared down at the dead body in horror. He was dead, his skin melting off his body, but the transformation had clearly stopped.

"This is why we can't save people!" Holden screamed at her, and as the wailing of the giraffes got louder they both took off running.

Chapter 15

Steve finally caught sight of Meagan in front of Sobeys. Breathless and keeled over, he reached out his arms. “Meagan...” he coughed out, “wait for...me...”

Meagan turned on her heel and saw the poor guy slumped over, and frowned a little. “I told you smoking was bad for you!” she shouted as she crossed her arms. She squinted in the sun and yelled, “Elise, did you at least keep up?”

“Hey keep your voice down,” Steve instructed as he approached her, hobbling with all his might. “And what are you talking about? Elise and Holden got separated from us back there.”

“Seperated?!” she screamed. “Sorry...separated?”

“You just screamed again!”

“Sorry! Where are they?! They can’t be far away, look behind you!”

Steve turned around expecting to see his graphic artist intern and Meagan’s very angry friend. But instead it was just the stupid cat. “It’s the stupid cat.”

“He’s not stupid! And he wouldn’t have just left Elise. They must not be far behind.”

“Look I appreciate your loyalty but cats aren’t stupid. If he’s away from Elise then that must mean that anywhere NEAR Elise is a bad place t—“ Steve stopped as he noticed Meagan’s face crumpling. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant, you know, maybe e didn’t see where she went, or his path got blocked.” He took her hands and squeezed them, adding, “I’m sure she’s fine. They’re both fine.”

Meagan jerked her hands away and picked up the cat. “I KNOW she’s fine. And we’ll see her soon. But right now we have to focus on getting in the Tower. We’re four blocks away, one north and three west. But Bremner, the street outside the Tower, is a death trap.”

“Why’s that?”

Meagan pulled out a little piece of chalk from the front of her bag and began scribbling on the sideway. “Here’s the street, and that’s the Tower, and this is you and me.”

“Why did you give yourself a dress...?”

“Because I’m the girl. Now, we have to head up through the construction zones through there,” she pointed across the street, “and end up on the east side of the Air Canada Center. If we make it that far we can head through the Telus building lobby, and through the Go Train passages.”

“Whoa, I see a tiny flaw in your plan. Why would we go underground?”

“Because the only way to get to the underground walkway is through seven sets of double doors, and giraffes don’t have thumbs. It’s our one advantage over them.”

“That’s what they thought about the raptors in the first Jurassic Park.”

Meagan looked at Steve very sternly. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

He opened his mouth to protest but she was already moving away. And just to be sure, she kicked away her diagram. They headed towards the massive construction fence and began to scale it. To her amazement, Steve was much faster than she was. When he reached the top he perched on the bar to wait for her and to scout out the rest of their route. “Street looks pretty clear. Also, I quit smoking a few weeks ago, haven’t touched the things once.”

“Yes...well...Good.” She looked down at Milo who had no trouble finding his own way through a hole in the fence and was waiting for them. “Just hold your little horses...” Meagan muttered at it.

They dropped down together and made a b-line for the street. Meagan could hear rustling in the construction zone and figured it was either giraffes or survivors, and she wanted neither tagging along. But when they entered the Telus plaza on the other side her hopes were dashed.

“Clearly you weren’t the only one with this door idea...” Steve said. They looked out onto the long hallway between the first set of doors at a grisly scene. Littering nearly every inch of floor were soggy, bloody bones.

“Okay, so one got in. Or maybe a bitten person got in, and turned while inside. Let’s try the second set.”

Carefully they tiptoed over the dead bodies, the bones rattling against their shoes and echoing off the vast marble walls. The reached the second set and peered in. “Same fucking thing...” Steve whispered. “I don’t think this is a good idea. We’d better find another way.”

“Wait, let me go look. I think...” she trailed off as she opened the doors. She walked in and knelt down, staring at the bodies. “Look at the bones. Notice anything weird?”

“Other than the distinct lack of flesh?”

“They’re all facing the same direction. All the feet are pointed towards the floor, like they were running east.” She stood up and looked at him, fear gripping her. “They were all running AWAY from the Tower.”

Chapter 14

They had a moment to take in the slaughter before two things happened. First the giraffes noticed the small group watching them and like a flock of birds, turned and began charging towards them. Second, a TTC bus burst out the garage of Canadian Tire and made its way toward the road, smashing into cars and pushing them off to the sidewalk as it, also, started coming right for them.

There was a sudden confusion in the giraffes. Their ranks broke up as they tried to both avoid being crushed by the bus and attack it - then there were a few giraffes who completely ignored the bus and just focused on the four unprotected humans.

The bus reached them first, not bothering to slow down and while Elise was still trying to decide on whether to go down fighting or spend the last few seconds of her life fleeing, a hand suddenly grabbed her and started pulling her to cover as the bus smashed into a car, sending it careening to where she had just stood.

She lost sight of Meagan and Steve as she fell to the pavement. Holden stood above her, pulling out a gun and firing into the giraffes. Milo was there one second, but then jumped up and attacked a giraffe that had reached them.

"Get up! Move!" Holden screamed and Elise pulled out her gun and started firing.

The bus slowed down with the added traffic, but still forced its way down the street, now covered in tiny giraffes. Meagan and Steve still nowhere to be seen. Milo was fighting giraffes nearby, but she had no chance of reaching him.

"Come on," Holden grabbed her again, she pushed him off, but he was frantic and didn't let her go, slowly dragging her off and soon she had to follow or be buried under an avalanche of giraffes.

They ran, and didn't look back. The giraffes nipped at their heels and just as they were about to overtake them a wail went up and most of the giraffes suddenly turned and ran. There was screaming somewhere and they thought maybe the bus had been breached.

Holden kept shooting into the giraffes still following them, and after ducking around an apartment building they seemed to lose them, but they could still hear the giraffes calling out to each other.

Elise pulled out her phone and dialed Meagan's number, but she didn't pick up. She pretended the only possibility for that was because Meagan was still fighting off the giraffes and not that she had lost her phone or...

They reached Queen Street. Dozens of giraffes roamed around and they kept in alleys until they saw a back door propped open. They needed a place to hide and gather their thoughts - maybe think of a plan to find Meagan, Steve and Milo.

Once Elise had heard a story about how the day of the attacks on the World Trade Center, people were still lining up in the Starbucks underneath and barristas served them dutifully until they were all crushed underneath the molten steel and concrete. For a second Elise almost expected to see a lineup waiting for frappuccinos, but instead she saw a few dozen giraffes cuddled into a nest.

Without thinking she ripped open her bag, pulled out her Tommy Gun and opened fire. The giraffes woke up, wailing their high pitched shrieks in pain, until finally Elise ran out of ammunition. The giraffes lay dead in a puddle of fur and blood, only one still remained living. It crawled towards the two, its neck had a chunk missing and its head dragged along the floor, its tiny mouth opening and closing, until it too went still.

Holden stepped forward and crushed its head beneath his boot. It crunched like a potato chip.

"Gotta destroy the brain, right?" He asked.

"I don't know. You're thinking about zombies," she looked around the Starbucks to make sure no more giraffes were present.

Holden sat down at one of the tables, needing a moment of silence before he started thinking about survival again. "You know, we need to start figuring these things out. We need to know what kills them and what doesn't. What makes a person turn and why some people just... die..." He trailed off, staring at a skeleton still wearing a green apron. The giraffes had eaten every last morsel of flesh, organ and hair.

"I mean," he continued. "They can communicate, right? Why aren't you guys more concerned about this? Sure, all animals have some way of getting signals across, but these things organize and-"

"Infiltrate."

"Yeah! They seem to be able to get into any building," he cleared his throat, looking around wearily. They shouldn't stay in one place too long.

Elise moved behind the counter, looking for a kettle.

"They drive people out, like that Canadian Tire."

Like my office building, she thought, but she was too concerned with searching through boxes to respond. Holden didn't notice, he seemed wrapped up in his thinking.

"When they need more giraffes they make more giraffes and when they need food," he turned away from the skeleton. "I can't figure out their game plan."

"Giraffes don't need game plans," she turned the kettle on.

"What are you doing?" Holden finally noticed her.

"I'm making tea."

"You're... making tea?"

"Yes," she gritted her teeth.

"We should probably get going-"

"No, tea first."

"Elise-"

"Look! Toronto's overrun by giraffes! Most of everyone I've ever known is dead! Meagan and Steve are lost! Milo is missing! My sister is trapped in a Tower of certain death that I probably won't be able to reach and I JUST WANT ONE LAST CUP OF TEA!"

The kettle boiled, clicked off, and she messily poured a cup of green tea, then stared at it angrily for a second.

"... Make me one too?" Holden gave her a small smile. "Fuck the apocalypse. It's okay to be civil once in awhile."

Chapter 13

Sunlight crept through the windows and Meagan blinked angrily. “Close the curtains Mom...” she mumbled. Laying about two feet away Steve opened his eyes and smiled at her.

“I’m not your mother.”

“Thank goodness for that,” she smiled back. Then Steve looked over her shoulder and his eyes went so big Meagan’s heart stopped. Oh shit, she thought. But then Steve smiled, and nodded silently behind Meagan.

She rolled over cautiously and propped herself up, and caught sight of something far more surprising and far less likely than a hoard of angry miniature giraffes – Elise fast asleep, draped across Holden’s chest.

“Well I’ll be damned...” Steve whispered, now inches away from Meagan’s ear. “If this were Survivor, they’d be an alliance.”

“Yeah well I wouldn’t count on the moment lasting when Elise wakes—“

“OH JESUS H CHRIST!”

“—up”

Elise shot up, jolting Holden awake as well. “What, what’s going on!?” he said, clamouring to his feet. Elise stared up at him from the ground, looking shaken and violated.

“Nothing,” she snapped. “Nothing. Milo brushed against me in my sleep. Sorry...sorry to scare you like that.”

“Oh,” Holden said, his face softening, “it’s all right. Are you okay now?”

“Yes, I’m fine. We should get packed up.”

“Okay then, let’s move,” Meagan said, oblivious to the tension. She grabbed her bag and began rummaging through, thinking aloud. “We should look for side streets with houses that can provide cover if we need it. And we might be able to salvage some more supplies. We’re probably no more than four hours walk away, tops. And keep the food sealed as much as possible. We don’t know what’s attracting these things.”

“Did it look like they were communicating with each other?” Holden asked. Meagan stared at him as if he’d asked, “Do you think they’ll hurt us?”

“Of COURSE they communicate. All animals can communicate. Didn’t you ever see Jurassic Park 3?” She finally found what she was searching for. She pulled out an old navy blue Maple Leafs hat from her bag and fitted her long ponytail through the back. Elise frowned at her in dismay.

“You have a HAT, in your SURVIVAL bag.”

“I can’t have hair in my face while swinging away at a giraffe, can I?”


The group readied themselves and with Milo at their heels they ventured out together into the streets. Still quiet, and strangely void of giraffes, they made their way along the sidewalk to another side street and headed towards the Tower. They passed ransacked houses, abandoned cars, and stray pets wandering the streets without an owner to take care of them. Every few miles they would hear the distant sound of gunfire, or screams, but they never stopped.

They pressed on like that for three hours without interruption. But nobody mentioned the absence of giraffes. Like a perfect game in the eighth inning, nobody wanted to jinx it.

But as they approached the downtown core along Lakeshore Avenue, a mere ten minute walk away from the Tower, Holden grabbed Elise’s arm.

“Hey! Wha—“

“Shh. Stop,” he hissed. Meagan and Steve turned around. “Listen.”

The group stopped and turned, but nobody needed to ask again. A hoard of giraffes were just ahead, only a hundred feet away, breaking their way into a Canadian Tire.

“Patriotic little buggers aren’t they...” Steve muttered. Then he saw what they were after. “My god, there were survivors in there!”

A group of people streamed out of the doors. They ran together across the parking lot but they were no match for the giraffes. One by one the survivors were tackled, eaten, and then melted away. In their little puddles’ places sprang more giraffes, who on apparent instinct began following the herd. It only lasted a few minutes, but by the end not a single human was left.

The four stood very still against their wall. Steve slipped his hand around Meagan’s waist and pulled her close to him, turning her body towards him to shield her. “We have to keep moving,” he said to her. “It’ll be okay once we make it to the Tower. We’ll be safe there.”

“They thought they were safe...” she whispered.

Chapter 12

When they climbed out onto the fire escape there was a moment of dread as they looked at the blood red sky. The sun was setting.

"How long will it take us to get to the Tower?" Steve looked at Meagan.

"30 minute drive?" Meagan estimated.

"We won't be able to drive downtown," Holden shook his head.

"Why not?" Elise asked in annoyance, but she already knew the answer. They all knew that the main population of Toronto was downtown when the outbreak happened, which meant the cars were all downtown.

"The road's going to be clogged with abandoned cars," Holden still answered.

"Careful Meagan, Mr. Caulfield here might take your job as walking guidebook on how to survive the apocalypse."

Holden muttered something angry under his breath about his last name not being Caulfield, but the others had already started heading down the metal stairs to freedom.

The streets were silent, and they couldn't see any movement. The giraffes were all on the main street, either because they had already been through this area, or because there was something delicious over there left to eat.

"It will take too long to walk," Meagan was shaking her head.

"So we find a place to sleep tonight," Elise said, reaching the bottom first. Steve was next, and he helped Meagan down, the two exchanging awkward smiles and thanks as they moved away.

"Thanks for helping me down," Holden said sarcastically as he jumped down after Meagan.

"Listen you," Elise pointed at Holden, having a hard time keeping her voice down. "Stop complaining and be helpful for the next five minutes or I-will-feed-you-to-my-cat."

Suddenly they heard a high pitched wail and all turned to see a giraffe standing across the street, staring right at them. It made no move to attack, but kept making that noise until three more giraffes appeared, and then three after that.

They all pulled out their guns, ready to defend themselves, when Holden ran to a nearby car. He tried the first door, it was locked, but the second car's door opened and he jumped in.

"Get in!" He called over to them.

They stood for a moment, firing into the giraffes, but soon realized there was no way they could hold back the flood of furry vengeance, so they followed Holden into the car, slamming the doors shut and looking around frantically as the giraffes started jumping onto the hood and roof.

"Great fucking idea! Now what?" Elise punched the back of a seat to keep from punching Holden.

"Look for keys!" Holden suggested, but the fear in his eyes showed he hadn't thought this one through.

"That never works in real life!"

"Fighting doesn't help," Steve sighed, feeling like a man trapped in a car with children.

"Hang on," Meagan pulled out a screwdriver from the glove compartment and crawled into the driver's seat.

"Oh right," Elise rolled her eyes, "you know how to hot-wire a car."

"I do," she said blankly and the three watched on in silence, Milo meanwhile batted at the window in an attempt to fight the giraffes.

Then the car roared to life and everyone was still too stunned to speak as Meagan put it into gear and kicked the gas pedal, living behind a trail of giraffe jelly.

"How the hell did you learn how to do that!?!" Elise finally managed to ask.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I've been preparing for this all my life. I've known how to hot-wire cars since Grade 7."

***

It didn't take long before the cars became so dense they were constantly swerving around them or mounting the curb to keep moving forward. Before long it became too much trouble and they knew they had better find a place to hide soon - a place with food preferably.

Holden started directing them, telling them he knew just the place, and after five minutes of Meagan's road rage they crashed into a parking lot of a Scarborough plaza.

"What is this dump?" Elise looked weary of the place.

"My parents own a restaurant," Holden explained, pulling out a key chain, "and I have the keys.

With a final glance for giraffes, they grabbed all their gear and ran for the door. Once inside Meagan immediately started searching the small dining room for giraffes. As Steve barred the front entrance Meagan started looking around for emergency exits.

The restaurant was small, which made it easy to defend, and the windows had shutters over them to keep any kamikaze giraffes from coming through the window. Best of all - there was food.

Meagan couldn't keep the smile off her face as Steve and Holden started cooking something up for them. The gas was still working, though she imagined this would probably be the last night any of those amenities ever worked again. The thought didn't lessen her spirits.

This was a moment she had not only been preparing herself for, but a small part of her massively enjoyed the fact that she had been right all along. Plus she had her best friend, the man she had been secretly fantasizing about for as long as she had known him, and Holden in case she needed something to distract the giraffes with while she got away. She even liked having Milo around, who purred loudly as he ate two entire salmons in the corner of the restaurant.

If you were going to live through an apocalypse, this was the way to do it.

The night was peaceful, but all of them knew that tomorrow would be hard as they started their hike into the infested city, a city no longer owned by them, but maybe the greatest predator that ever lived - the lap giraffe.

Chapter 11

"Uh, Meagan?" Elise waved her hand in front of Meagan's face as she stared at them blankly, as if they had all disappeared. Her eyes were scanning from side to side as if she were counting something nobody else could see.

"Is...she...?" Holden began, but Steve shook his head quickly. "She used to work there. She didn't like it very much. She never talks about it."

"So many...tourists..." Meagan was mumbling. Elise grabbed her shoulders and shook her, which seemed to help, because in an instant Meagan was jabbering about how safe the Tower might be for them. "IF we can get passed security."

"Yeah but they're like mall cops at best right?" Holden said.

"Imagine if you took thirty highly damaged Iraq war veterans and shoved them into a job with no future, no benefits, no pay. And then you made them younger and dumber. And that's what we have to get passed. The angriest, stupidest brood of minimum-wage earning, baton-wielding maniacs this side of...the tiny giraffes we've been fighting."

"Okay, well that just means we need a plan, which we can discuss when we get moving," Elise said. She was already checking out the windows in the showroom for her exit, and Steve and Meagan followed behind her. "We've got to find a way to convince them that we're there to help them somehow. That'll make them take us in nice and easy without a fight. And besides, not all of them are bad, right Meagan?"

"No they're all atrocious people."

"What about that Allan guy?"

"What Allan guy?" Steve said, but Meagan wasn't listening.

"Shhhhh! Everybody shut up!" she hissed. She inched closer to the window and placed her ear against the glass. Carefully, silently, the other three did too.

"I don't hear anything..." Holden whispered. "Do you?"

"I hear you," Elise glared at him.

Then suddenly, Milo leaped onto the counter, his back arched, hair standing on end. He hissed and growled at the window, and all of a sudden they saw it.

A hoard of little giraffes coming straight for the front door.

"We have to get out of here, NOW!!" Elise said. She grabbed Steve by the jacket. "Where's your offices? There must be an exit from there!"

"There is, it's a fire escape. It's back through the main entrance, we have to go right past the doors."

"Then let's move before they get in. And Meagan!" she said, grabbing her tiny shoulders. "Don't get freaked out by the Tower now. I promise, if you lead us back there, I'll let you, I dunno..."

"Blow the fucking thing up?"

"Yes," Elise smiled. "I'll let you blow the thing up."

They made their way together back up one level to the MP's offices. They were ransacked, as if every other employee but Steve up and left. "They're all gone," he said quietly.

"I'm sorry man," Holden said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure they made it out okay. They had plenty of warning. And maybe we'll see them on our way."

"Oh no," Elise said. "We are NOT adding a bunch of politicians to our little group." Then she leveled her gaze at Holden. "I have enough trouble trusting everyone as it is."

"Okay, look I don't know what your problem is but I've had enough of this crap! Who do you think told HIM there were weapons down there?"

"You almost killed my cat!"

"I THOUGHT IT WAS A GIRAFFE!"

"MAYBE I THINK YOU'RE A GIRAFFE, RIGHT NOW!"

"THAT.....doesn't make any sense."

Elise cleared her throat and smoothed her jacket. "Yes I realize that." They both huffed, embarrassed and tired from fighting, but Elise wouldn't be the first to apologize and Holden was too stubborn. So instead, Elise extended an extra wrist guard she stole from the store. "Truce?"

He looked down at the guard, then up to Elise's brown eyes. Which weren't so scary when she wasn't threatening to kill him. "Truce."

Steve cleared his throat. "Did you guys wannna grab a guitar and sing Hey Jude together, or can we get the fuck out of here?"

"Right! Yes, let's move!" Holden said. Elise shook her head in spite of herself and avoided Meagan's giant grin from across the room. So he wasn't so horrible or stupid. Fine.

"He still shot at my cat," she muttered.

Chapter 10

"You tried to kill Milo!" Elise's voice had become a shrill whip. She gathered the bundle of fluff that was Milo - who had hardly noticed the BB barely missing his head and imbedding itself into one of the shelves - and glared accusingly at Holden.

Holden, a tall thin man with dark hair an blue eyes, who looked to be about the same age as her and Meagan lowered his BB gun. "I'm sorry! I thought it was a giraffe!"

"Are you fucking blind!?!"

"You know what, it's been a pretty fucking crazy day! Their colouring's similar, I just reacted!" He looked towards Steve for help, but Steve shrugged in a manner that said: "I don't really know her - deal with this yourself." Elise looked at Meagan, also wanting someone to back her up, but Meagan was just gazing up at Steve with adoration, so Elise rolled her eyes and went back to glaring at Holden.

"You should be more careful with that thing."

"Why did you even bring your cat? Don't you know it's the apocalypse?"

"He followed me - and he's already taken out more of those damn giraffes today than you ever will with your crappy shot."

"Hey! My crappy shot saved your cat's life!"

Milo had begun to purr rather loudly and started licking Elise's face, which made arguing considerably difficult, so Elise decided to let the matter rest and walk away to pick a gun.

Holden still continued to mutter to himself as she walked away: "Like I ever fired a gun before - I'm a god damned artist."

Elise put Milo down and started stuffing her pockets full of ammo. The first gun she picked up was an uzi replica, but Meagan tsked behind her.

"Don't grab anything automatic, you need to conserve your ammo. Semi-automatic is the best," Meagan said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, looking up at Steve with a smile and Elise realized Meagan was just trying to show off all her insane survival knowledge.

Elise couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as she put the uzi down and watched Steve and Meagan laughing together. After all the insanity they had just gone through to find each other, Meagan was completely ignoring her best friend for some guy.

And who was this Steve guy anyway? Meagan always went on and on about them, but how come they didn't just date? Was Meagan too nervous to ask? Was Steve too much of a jerk to notice her? Were they both just really socially awkward? Actually, that last theory sounded pretty sound.

Elise found a loaded Tommy gun replica and feeling a slight twinge of nostalgia for WWII movies - and never one to follow rules very well - she threw it in the bag Meagan had given her, then grabbed a hand gun to appease Meagan's insistence they only bring semi-automatics. Elise was pretty sure there would come a time when a mob of giraffes would be on them and a Tommy gun would come in pretty handy - even if it was only firing pellets.

Meagan and Steve were discussing their game plan and Elise noticed Milo had gone over to Holden who was petting him. "Traitor," she thought to herself.

"We have to go north," Meagan was still speaking in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Why?" Elise was beginning to feel annoyed and couldn't help but question her logic.

"Because giraffes are from Africa. The cold will kill them. So long as we survive the winter, we'll survive the apocalypse."

"... But it's August."

"Yes, well, winter will come eventually."

"And what do we do until then? Do you have any idea how hard it is to survive in the wild? Not to mention even if we did make it until winter we have no winter camping gear. You know, my sister and I-" Elise felt her stomach twist. "OH MY GOD!!! KRISTA!!!"

She had been so concerned with her own survival she had completely forgot to call her little sister. She had no idea if Krista was alive or dead, but she had to find out. She fished her phone of out her pocket, spilling BBs on the floor that Milo immediately started playing with and dialed her sister's number.

It rang one, twice, three times... Every time it rang Elise got closer and closer to bursting out in tears. Then, finally, miraculously, someone picked up and she heard the scared voice of a young woman answer.

"Hello?"

"Krista! Are you all right? Where are you? Who are you with? Do you have a weapon? You haven't been bitten, have you?"

"Elise? Calm down, I'm fine," she sounded like she was crying. "I'm at work, we're okay. We stopped the elevators and everyone up here is fine."

"Wait... you're still at the Tower?" Krista worked at the CN Tower. When she said she was upstairs she didn't mean on the second floor - she meant on the observation deck over 300 metres in the air. "Jesus Christ..."

"Is she okay?" Meagan asked, concerned that I suddenly look worried.

"Krista, it's okay. I have guns."

"You have guns?"

"Well, they're guns in principle. Look! I'm coming to get you." I hung up, turning it back off to conserve the battery and looked at Meagan. "We have to rescue Krista. She's in the CN Tower."

"Um..." Meagan started.

"Going downtown is not a good idea," Steve shook his head, but he wasn't saying no.

"I like the plan where we go north - away from the things trying to eat us," Holden walked over to them.

"No one invited you," Elise glared.

"Oh yeah, because I really want an invitation to the suicide run," but Holden still looked slightly disappointed.

"I can't leave Krista. She's all the family I have. None of you have to come with me, but that's where I'm going. That being said..." she looked back at Meagan, pleading with her eyes, "I don't suppose you wanna help me rescue my little sister and a bunch of tourists trapped in the Tower?"

Chapter 9

“THIS is Steve?” Elise whispered, slightly shocked. “Well I know this guy, he hands out fliers for the Liberals outside my subway station! That’s what you do, you’re a flier deliveryman?”

Steve locked the door and slowly looked over his shoulder. “Yes, I deliver fliers. Did you ever look at who was ON the flier?”

“Steve’s trying to run for Liberal MP,” Meagan said proudly.

“Ohhhhhhh right, THAT’S where I know you. Sorry man. But hey, thanks for rescuing us!”

“Well you’re not rescued yet. Can you climb? And why did you bring your luggage...?”

Elise turned to Meagan. “He talks too fast.”

Meagan ignored her and whispered, “It’s not my hairdryer! It’s a GOOD bag; it has enough food and water for us to survive a month, weapons, batteries, a radio, blankets, Scrabble...”

“Scrabble?” the other two echoed.

“You’ll thank me when you’re trying to remember whether or not there are three E’s in frightened instead of picturing Elise with a snowman army.”

“Right...” Steve said, “Anyway, can you climb?”

The girls nodded, and Steve continued with his plan while ushering them down a long series of corridors. He stopped at a massive set of double doors and brought his story of escaping the giraffes to a close. “So since I was working late, that’s why I was here when the attacks happened, but nobody else was.”

“And where’d you get that awesome crossbow?” Elise said. It struck her how easily she asked the question now that her world had seemingly changed forever, as if she were asking “Hey where’d you get those shoes?”

“I’ll show you. The office is...conveniently located.”

He parted the doors like Moses, and to the girls he might as well have been. Because behind the doors, as far as the eye could see, were guns.

“What IS this place?” Meagan said. Her eyes were practically out of their sockets. “This CAN’T be legal here...”

Steve laughed. “No no these aren’t real guns. They’re pellet guns, mostly for hunting small game. But the convention center is having an Outdoor Sports and Hunting Expo next week and they’ve been storing the stuff here, since we just moved in we had a lot of empty space.”

“I’m gonna need a bigger bag.”

Elise rushed forward like a kid from Scarborough at a Dollerama. She ran her fingertips over the large guns, and even though they were just elaborate BB guns their pellets packed enough of a punch to kill a tiny giraffe. She had seen firsthand how week their necks were, but these guns eliminated the necessity for complete accuracy. “This is better than Christmas...” she breathed.

“Yeah well, get shopping quickly. We have to keep moving. From what I’ve seen those little suckers find a way in, and they don’t stop until everybody is dead. So we’ll grab what we can carry from here and get the hell out. But pack light, because the only way out is over an eight foot tall fence.”

“Agreed,” Elise said. She hurried over to the baggage section to find a suitable backpack – and a travel water bottle for Milo.

Meagan nudged Steve. “So I couldn’t help but notice that window over there looks directly out to the ally you found us in. Did you...know it was me...when you came out there?”

“No.”

“Oh...”

Steve laughed and nudged her back. “Of course I knew it was you. Who else is that small but can still lift their arms over their head?”

“Hey! I resent—“

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JESUS H CHRIST!”

Meagan snapped her head up at the blood-curdling scream that came from the baggage section. “Oh my God, Elise!”

As she ran forward, Steve slipped his hands in his pockets. “Well I guess she’s met Holden.”

Chapter 8

As Elise ran down Tansley Avenue with Milo by her side she briefly tried to figure out how she had gotten herself into a situation where she was being chased through the suburbs by hundreds of lap giraffes. She realized it was because the alarm in her office had gone haywire, otherwise she still would have been downtown when the outbreak reached its zenith - and when she thought about why the alarm went haywire she remembered the construction workers holding the frayed wires.

Had the giraffes eaten through the wires? She almost felt like there was something important in that knowledge but she was too focused on running away and not nearly paranoid enough to figure it out.

She was running out of road to run down and the giraffes were only gaining on her. She realized she'd have to stand and fight and wait for Meagan to get there, and as she stopped and turned around she took one look at the orange horde before her and knew this was the end. Still, she raised her golf club and swung at the first giraffe to attack.

The next one, as though it had learned from the mistake of the first giraffe, leaped up at Elise. Their jumping was formidable, but Milo could jump just as high and he intercepted the giraffe midair, talking it back to the ground in a death roll as Elise started swinging wildly at the giraffes.

Too soon the golf club gave in. She missed a giraffe, hitting the pavement and it bent into nearly a 90 degree angle. In a last effort to hold the giraffes at bay she threw the club into the mass, but the giraffes only gracefully leapt over it.

In another second she would have been dead, but suddenly a car tore through the giraffes and came to a stop in front of Elise. A petite blonde was behind the wheel and Elise almost burst into tears as she recognized the driver as Meagan. She opened the back door and dove in, Milo finishing one last kill and jumping after her. Elise slammed the door and Meagan smiled back at her.

"Now who's crazy for keeping a GOOD bag?"

"Now is not the time for I told you so's!"

"Fine, so long as we're clear that I told you so!"

Elise crawled into the front seat. "Are you gonna drive away, or what?"

Meagan looked at the dashboard with a frown on her face. "Hm..."

"What?" Elise felt worried.

"I sped here. All the way here. I barely slowed down to take corners."

"So what?"

"Speeding's not so good on the gas mileage."

"Oh my god... Are we out of gas???"

The giraffes were starting to jump on the car, stomping on the windshield with their miniature hoofs.

"There's the jerrycan in the trunk. We just have to fold down the back seat, grab it..." We both turned to look out the window.

There was no way one of us could go out there to refill the gas tank without being eaten alive.

"This isn't a problem," Meagan was muttering to herself, going over the list of all her supplies in her head. There had to be something they could use to distract the giraffes long enough to fill the gas tank-

Suddenly a giraffe wailed in pain as a large wooden bolt ripped through its stomach and threw it off the car. Meagan instantly recognized it as a bolt from a crossbow, though from the looks of it a medieval style crossbow.

"Look!" Meagan pointed towards the direction the shot had come from. A man was standing in an alley, loading another bolt as the giraffes turned their attention to him and began jumping off the car to go after him.

He made some hand gestures to them that Elise didn't understand, but Meagan thought might mean: "I'll be right back."

They could only stare on in silence as the man turned to run and all the giraffes disappeared after him.

"Now!" Meagan hissed and they both crawled into the back of the car and folded down the back seats to get at Meagan's things. It was packed full of supplies and bags and boxes and before they could get a hold of the jerrycan the door to the car suddenly opened and a tall dark haired man stuck his head in.

Meagan's eyes seemed to light up, but before she could say anything he held a finger up to his mouth. Meagan nodded and handed a particularly heavy bag to Elise, grabbed one herself and the two girls and one feline followed the man across the street. He took them around an apartment building to a back door that he carefully opened, keeping his a look out for giraffes.

When they were finally inside, the door safely shut and locked, Meagan started smiling.

"Steve," she finally whispered.

Chapter 7

“Meagan! Get me the fuck out of the city!”

Elise’s voice drummed in her ear as Meagan squinted. “Damn sunlight...”

“WHAT?”

“Nothing, I said it’s too bright. I’m almost there! Where are you?”

Meagan could hear a scuffle and Elise’s breath quicken, and she slammed her foot on the gas even harder. “I have no idea!” Elise screamed.

“I’m coming! And I have Neosporin!”

She waited for Elise to fight off the giraffe hoard and escape outside to find a street sign. “Okay I’m at ninety three Tansley Avenue!”

“Oh that’s near where Steve lives...”

“FOCUS MEAGAN!”

“Right!” Meagan said, shaking off the image of her very attractive co-worker. “Okay just sit tight, I’m coming. Did you get a weapon?”

“Um, yeah, it’s a golf club...”

“Good!” Meagan shouted. “That’s good! Golf clubs are really sturdy. If they can damage a Lexus they can kill a giraffe.”

“A Lexus?”

“Tiger Woods. You know, it wouldn’t kill you to turn on TSN once in awhile...”

“You know I really don’t think this is the time to DISCUSS TELEVISION!”

Meagan swerved out of the way of a passing SUV and stared in horror at the driver. The middle aged man was being mauled to death by a tiny orange figure. “Elise I’m stepping on it. The giraffes are headed your way. They seem to have originated in the suburbs.”

“As most evil tends to do.”

“Okay don’t leave that street. I’m hanging up now, we should conserve battery life. I’ll be right there. And try to grab some chicken!”

“Some chicken?”

“For your cat. Cats can’t eat granola Elise.”

“...right...”

Chapter 6

Elise was dizzy and in pain as she sat up, unsure of where she was. She grabbed for the car's door-handle, opening it and falling out onto the pavement. It took a moment to remember why she was in a car and why there was a dead cyclist on it, and when she did she didn't feel hysterical anymore, because the dizzy feeling didn't go away. She felt her head and when she looked at her hand it was covered in blood. The airbag had deployed, but when she saw the cracked window of the car door she realized her head had hit that instead.

Milo jumped down from the car and began to nuzzle his face against her arm, apparently unharmed from the accident. She thought he was going to scamper away in fear, but he seemed reluctant to leave her side.

Good, she thought, maybe he'll scare away those things.

She got to her feet, looking around at the quiet street. If Meagan had taught her anything it was that the sound of the crash and the smell of blood was going to attract any giraffes within range. She started walking, still too dazed to really care what direction she was going in, and Milo dutifully followed.

Elise used to laugh at Meagan whenever she would start on a rant about being prepared for the apocalypse, but she had been patient with Elise, ignoring her jokes and drilling the importance for survival into her brain. For her birthday every year Meagan would buy her a book; The Road, World War Z, essentially every novel written by John Wyndham, all to get Elise to soak up some knowledge on how to be prepared for when the day came. She in turn would jokingly buy Meagan SARS masks and mace refills.

And now... Elise still couldn't believe crazy-ass Meagan, who always checked for emergency exits when they walked into a room, had been right all this time. She reached for her phone and realized she had left it in the car. It didn't matter, the damn thing was dead anyway. She could find a new one, and while she was at it she could find a weapon as well.

She thought about backtracking, but it was clear that the giraffes were more concentrated in that direction. She guessed that in a panic everyone had started running in the same direction, but they probably hadn't gotten far. The images of the dead she had passed flashed through her head like a slideshow she couldn't turn off.

They reached a crossroad and looked down at Milo who had begun inching towards the right. She always used to say that in an emergency you should follow the animals, so they went to the right. It was a quiet road with large houses. She decided she needed to get a hold of Meagan if she had any chance of making it out of the city alive and walked up to the first one.

The door was locked, so she grabbed a rock from the garden and smashed the front window. She didn't care if she made noise, she didn't plan on staying long. She picked Milo up and deposited him into the empty house. The inhabitants had probably been at work when the attack had begun. Where had it begun anyway? The airport, she imagined. There was were two in the city, one half an hour from downtown. Meagan would probably have a better idea where this might have come from, and more importantly: how far it might have reached by this point.

She found a land line. It was dead. Feeling frustrated she decided find a weapon and a cell phone - which probably meant digging through pockets of dead people.

First she opened the fridge and grabbed some chicken. She unwrapped it and threw it on the floor for Milo to chew on. He deserved a good meal after saving her life. She went to the bathroom to look at the cut on her head. It was hidden somewhere in her hair, but the left side of her face was covered in blood. She tried to wash it quickly and found some Polysporin to rub on the wound. She bet all her money that Meagan would know how to stitch it up.

She found a bag of golf clubs and grabbed the big one, feeling silly that she didn't know what it was called, but she had seen one of these crack open a skull once when she was a kid and had no doubt it would be able to seriously fuck up a tiny giraffe.

Milo hissed and she heard the sound of the wailing giraffes outside. They had begun to wander down the street. Swearing softly she grabbed Milo.

Two giraffes saw her and ran towards the porch. Milo attacked first, but Elise was right behind him, swinging the golf club at the nearest giraffe and sending it halfway down the block where it splattered into a heap of evil giraffe goo. More were coming and her and Milo turned to run - that's when she saw the dead body being chewed on by giraffe. She almost left it behind, but her need to contact Meagan was becoming imperative.

A Blackberry was in his hand and on the other end of the line she could hear a woman's voice saying hello over and over again. She gave the giraffe a good whack and it flew into a tree with a satisfying crack. Then she grabbed the phone.

"Lock your doors and don't go outside!" She yelled and hung up, then she started dialing Meagan's number. More giraffes were appearing from everywhere and she started running aimlessly trying to get away, Milo on her heels.

At the first ring Meagan answered.

"Hello???" Meagan sounded frantic.

"My head is bleeding and Milo is with me!"

"What???"

"Meagan! Get me the fuck out of the city!"

Chapter 5

“Dammit! Hello?!?!” Meagan screamed into the phone, “Elise are you still there?”

Okay, stay calm. No reason to panic, Elise said they were giraffes. Think Meagan! How is a giraffe different than a zombie really?

She pulled over onto the side of the westbound lane and this time she noticed a few other crazy people headed towards the city. But they weren’t driving offensively; this was all defence. Something in Petesborough was literally driving people out. The cars drove too erratically, like rats evacuating a sewer. These people were definitely running from something.

Meagan hopped out and opened her trunk. She removed the thick grey tarp her father made her – that looked exactly like the bottom of a trunk – and opened a large black case marked Peavey. “I always knew guitar lessons would come in handy,” she muttered as she dialled in the combination. She had only actually attended three lessons when she was seventeen, and she did show quite promise – until it occurred to her she might actually be seen playing by someone – but she was more interested in the highly secure packing most instruments and amplifiers came in anyway.

She popped the case open and surveyed the contents. Crowbar, GOOD bag (or Get Out Of Dodge), liquefied food she ordered off that bizarre Republican website, and most importantly... the crossbows. Maybe zombies weren’t real, but crazy serial killers were and for whatever reason, crossbows were perfectly legal in Ontario. So she’d bought three of them as soon as she turned eighteen.

“Who’s crazy NOW, mom?” she said, but her triumph was short lived. Behind her came the familiar sound of burning, screeching rubber followed by breaks, and then the inevitable shattering of glass.

She squinted against the sun to see a young couple shove open the door of their Prius about fifty feet behind her. The boy stumbled over to the girl as she hobbled to the curb, and Meagan gave a fleeting thought to just completely fuck off before they saw all of her supplies.

But instead, she grabbed a fistful of granola bars and some water, slammed the trunk shut, pocketed the crowbar, and took off for the kids.

“Hey!” Meagan shouted, waving her arms as much as she could. “Are you guys all right?”

They looked up at her, their eyes completely glazed over. “I, I think so...” the girl replied. “Who are you?”

Meagan stopped ten feet short of the curb. She pointed a shaky hand at the boy and said, “You’re bleeding.”

“I know that. Do you think you could give us a ride to the hospital?”

“...No, I’m sorry. Here just take these. I’m sorry.” Meagan tossed the water at them and slid her crowbar out of her jeans for easier mobility and turned at once to hightail it back to her car. The couple shouted and swore after her, threatening all kinds of bodily harm but she knew they would never catch her.

The boy wasn’t just bleeding.

His face was practically melting, as if his body was rejecting the skin. And the girl didn’t have a scratch on her.

Jesus, Meagan thought. Whatever had sliced that kid open happened before the accident, and it certainly wasn’t getting into her car.

She tossed the crowbar into the passenger side and peeled off the highway, watching in her rear-view for the couple. But they had obviously given up, or were hopefully using her water to tend to their wounds.

As she drove away Meagan had no idea that the “ailment” the boy had suffered was now, quite literally, eating his girlfriend.

Chapter 4

Elise couldn't work in silence, she had to have music blasting out of her speakers at the highest decibel possible. She didn't hear the banging at her door until there was a moment of silence as the track changed. She tried to remember if she had ordered a package or was expecting anyone, but nothing came to mind. And anyway, this wasn't the normal kind of knocking, this was frantic pounding at her door.

She turned her music off, looking at the clock and realizing it was after 6p.m. Milo was still by the windows, pacing anxiously back and forth. The banging wouldn't stop and she got up to look through the peephole. It was a woman in her 40s, someone she had seen a few times in the halls. She looked terrified and feeling obliged to be neighbourly and help out, Elise opened the door.

The woman practically fell on top of her, but Elise moved aside at the last moment as she splashed into Elise's apartment, turning and screeching to close the door. Elise did so, feeling panicked as he looked around for her cell phone. The woman had blood on her hands and face.

"Are you hurt?" Elise saw her phone on the coffee table and went to grab it.

"He's dead!"

Elise froze, turning around slowly as the woman curled up on her floor and started bawling her eyes out.

"Who's dead?" Elise asked slowly.

"They got my husband! He's dead! He melted! HE MELTED!!!"

Elise didn't know what to say, and the woman keep ranting.

"He brought it home! He thought it was cute! I told him to call animal control! THEN IT BIT HIM!!!"

"Brought what home?"

The woman hadn't heard her, she just kept on screaming. "He started changing!!! He melted and... and... another one of those things crawled out of him!!!"

"What thing???" Milo had started hissing at the window again and Elise grabbed her phone to dial 911.

"A giraffe," the woman sobbed, sounding defeated.

"A... giraffe..." Elise paused. Was this a joke? She almost wanted to laugh, but the woman looked serious.

"So... a giraffe crawled out of your husband?" Elise sat down on her couch, trying to think of the scientific possibility of something like that. There was none.

The woman was starting to look sick, her face becoming more and more pale with every tear she shed.

"They came after me... so I ran here."

"That blood on you..."

"They bit me too," she buried her face into her hands and cried.

"Okay," she decided to let someone else figure this one out. There was clearly nothing she could do to help this insane woman. "I'm going to call for help."

911 was busy.

"Sorry, did you really say a giraffe?" Elise looked back at the woman, but something was wrong. She seemed to be... melting. There was really no better way to describe it. Her flesh looked gelatinous and clear and it was all just melting into a puddle on the floor. Milo looked on, cocking his head slightly.

Elise didn't have enough swear words in her vocabulary to describe the fear she felt, but she gave it her best shot as she started screaming.

Then, its head emerged. It was, as far as she could tell, a perfectly formed tiny giraffe. It was a little smaller than Milo, like a lap dog. It was a lap giraffe. A lap giraffe had just crawled out of the gelatinous ooze that used to be her neighbour. It looked at her, its tiny beady eyes glaring at her, then it charged.

Elise was too shocked to move. It reached her, opening its jaws to bite into her exposed ankles, Milo sprang, grabbing it in his own jaws, snapping its long neck instantly. The giraffe wailed as Milo shook it furiously. Then it went still and Milo looked displeased, clearly not liking the taste as it started to hack.

She almost vomited then, but there were noises outside. She went to her window, pulling her drapes apart - and there were dozens more miniature giraffes on her window sill, screeching at her and baring their teeth. Elise shut the curtains, but it was too late. They had seen her and were banging on the glass, a second later one of the windows shattered and the giraffes started pouring in.

With her phone in hand she grabbed Milo and ran out of her apartment. Her phone was ringing, it had been for some time, but she was anxious to get out of there and didn't check it. She opened the doors of her apartment and stopped. The street was littered with human corpse, each one surrounded by tiny giraffes suckling at their flesh.

She saw a car with an open door, the key in the ignition. She ran into it, slamming the door and throwing Milo in the back. She sat there for a moment shaking. The giraffes had noticed her. Slowly turning their necks to stare. She stepped down on the gas pedal as hard as she could, running over a few of them as she drove away. Her phone rang again and she answered.

"What?" She shouted, swerving to miss abandoned cars on the road.

"Elise! Are you still at home?"

"Fuck no, those things got in!"

"Those things? Is it zombies? I told you this day would come!"

"Not zombies! Giraffes!"

There was a pause. "I don't think I have anything in my apocalypse kit for giraffes."

Her phone beeped at her, and Elise realized it was dying. She hadn't thought to bring her charger.

"Doesn't matter," Meagan continued. "I'm coming to get you!"

"Don't go to my apartment! They're everywhere! I left! I'm in a car!"

"Where are you?"

"I don't know!" She hadn't been paying attention to the direction she was driving in, all she knew was that there were less giraffes now. She started feeling less panicked.

"Tell me the street-"

The phone beeped a final time.

"Meagan? Meagan?!?" She looked at her phone, dead. She would have to find a store and get a charger. Suddenly the car jerked and she looked up at the windscreen just in time for a cyclist to crash into it. The glass cracked and she hit the brakes, Milo hissed in the back as the car spun.

Then, there was silence.

Chapter 3

All right, don’t panic. Everything is fine, this is perfectly normal behavior.

Meagan looked out the window of her little Ford and noticed that the traffic that was usually gridlocked heading back into the suburbs was completely gone. In fact, she was the only car on the road. She breathed slowly, her eyes darting around the car for a paper bag or something else she could hyperventilate into as to avoid careening off the side of the road, but alas she was incredibly tidy and found no such garbage. Her cell phone trilled in her purse and made her nearly jump out of her skin.

She reached over, not afraid of losing focus on the totally empty road, and checked it. Apparently Elise had also been able to scoot out of work early that day too.

“That’s odd...” Meagan mumbled to herself. Something about the wiring? What a strange thing to happen in a downtown high rise this day in age. “Totally nothing to worry about,” she told herself, but it was too late. She could feel the panic swelling up inside her and it was beginning to make her vision blurry.

Meagan suffered from acute panophobia, the fear of practically everything. She was constantly counting the steps to every exit; she slept with a baseball bat and a wine bottle opener (for close combat) next to her bed, and she kept two wooden planks and nearly a hundred “extra screws” near her front door all the time. She also had her back door welded shut from the inside, which wasn’t very fun in the summer but allowed her to sleep at night.

So the text from Elise did nothing to help her breathing, and she decided to pull off to the side of the road. Although she could very well have just stopped right on the highway, because she was still the only person heading into Petesborough. Where the hell was everybody?

She shut off the car and got out, shielding her eyes from the sun despite her UV sunglasses. Years of protecting her eyes from sunlight had left her utterly blind in anything brighter than a 60 watt bulb. Nothing looked out of the ordinary except for the traffic. There was no smoke coming from the buildings that lined the stretch of road. She turned back towards downtown, and it was completely clear there, too.

Then she noticed a little construction no man’s land not too far ahead that gave her access to the westbound lane. If the apocalypse was coming, she sure as hell wasn’t going to be alone with a bunch of soccer moms. She slid back into the car and hammered out a frantic text to Elise: “Don’t leave your house, I’m coming over. Something is VERY WRONG!!!!”

Her car kicked up a flurry of dust as she pulled a near 180 to make the construction zone u-turn, and she was barreling back downtown in a matter of seconds.