Yesterday's Gone: Season Three (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER)

up Will’s chair and brought it out into the main room.
    “Thank you,” Will said, sitting down and folding his hands on his lap like he was waiting on a train rather than an impossibility.
    Ed shook his head, “Have you gone upstairs at all?”
    “No,” Will shook his head, his eyes on the floor where the squares of light illuminated the concrete.
    “Wait right here, okay? I’m gonna check up there.”
    “Don’t go,” Will said, his voice almost sad. “You’ll miss them.”
    “Just call me if … er, when they show up. Okay?”
    “Okay,” Will said, smiling.
    Ed shook his head and left Will to wait for nothing. His flashlight probed the darkness of the stairway as he ascended the concrete steps. He didn’t want to leave Will alone for long, so he didn’t bother with stealth. He quickly bounded the steps and checked out the second floor — a tiny bathroom and seven bedrooms with small beds. Without anyone in them, the vacant rooms with their crumbling beds made Ed think of a haunted orphanage. And he felt like the eyes of the dead were on him.
    Once Ed was certain no one was on the second floor, he raced back downstairs and saw Will sitting in the same position he’d left him, and wearing the same stupid grin.
    Ed glanced at his watch. 2:17 a.m. with no sign of anyone. The building was silent as a crypt and he felt a chill in the air. Ed wanted to get out of the creepy building and on the road.
    “I don’t think they’re coming,” Ed said, showing Will the watch. It’s 2:17.”
    Will looked at the watch and the hope in his eyes died like the smile on his face. The shift in mood was immediate; sudden enough to surprise Ed.
    Will stood, his face void of emotion. “Let’s go.”
    Will stepped past Ed. As Ed was about to turn and follow Ed, he caught movement in the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw someone outside walk past the window — a man in what looked like a black uniform — though he was past the window before Ed could be certain.
    “Oh!” Ed shouted, surprised, his heart racing.
    “What is it?” Will asked, looking around.
    Ed ran to the window, rifle ready, but saw no one outside.
    “What is it?” Will repeated, immediately beside him.
    “I think I saw someone out there,” Ed said, then turned back to the open door on the far side of the room. “Quick. Let’s go.”
    The door slammed shut when they were three feet away.
    Will jumped back and Ed raised his rifle. A shadow tore across the floor, racing from the window behind him. Ed spun around, and this time saw the man in black standing in the window, his back turned to them. It looked like a Guardsman in uniform. He was without a helmet or mask, which confused Ed, like the man’s thick and unkempt mop of dark hair.
    What the hell?
    Ed approached the window for a closer look. Just as he was five feet away, the Guardsman turned and revealed a face without any mouth, eyes, nose, or anything . His face was smooth and pale as if someone erased his features, with something, or some things , moving beneath the flesh, pushing at the skin like bones trying to find their way to right.
    Ed raised the rifle.
    Behind him, the door flew open and Will let out a startled yell.
    Ed turned back to the front door and saw Dr. Williams standing there, completely nude, his saggy skin caked in dirt, mud, or something else. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and his eyes were as wide and demented as his hair was wild and crazy.
    On either side of Dr. Williams were two of the infected — now fully devolved, barely resembling the humans they once were — a woman and child found recently in the city.
    “Give us the vials,” Williams said, his voice sounding not like one person, but several, almost like he were speaking while gargling.
    “There are no more vials,” Will said, his voice surprisingly strong and defiant.
    “Lie!” Williams said, pointing an accusatory finger at Will. “I know what you did! I know what you did! You have them!”
    The window crashed behind them, reminding Ed of the man without a face who’d been behind them.
    It was too late to do anything. Ed spun to fire, but the man raised an arm and swung it hard, knocking Ed to the ground. His rifle fell and the thing leaped on top of his body before Ed could calculate a response.
    The thing gripped Ed’s neck tight, choking him and shoving his head back hard into the dusty ground. Ed struggled to pull the man-thing’s hands away, mesmerized by its face, shifting