Dead Living (12 page)

She struggled to find words. “I don't
understand you, Aaron. You seem like a good man, which is hard to
find now. You live out here with the walkers. Why?”

He smiled and took a drink
of water. “The
basics
, Sam.”

She almost hit him. She only had herself to
blame. He wasn't going to tell her anything. Ironically, she wanted
to know.

They ate in silence as the sun continued its
journey over the horizon. Sam thought of how quickly life could
change. The night before she was getting ready to walk the
Lexington fence. Now she was away from home with a man who somehow
lived with the undead.

Aaron leaned back in a lawn-chair and looked
over a pile of books and games he moved earlier to the roof. He lit
a candle and set it down carefully. Soon, that and the moon would
be the only light they had.

“Do you play chess?” he asked.

“No.”

“Checkers?”

She shook her head.

“Any games at all?”

She gave him a look. She was a little jealous
of him, of his ability to smile at everything. “It's hard to
concentrate on games, Aaron, when there are a million walkers
between me and my home.”

“And what is home for you?”

She sat in the lawn-chair next to him and
talked about Lexington. He listened to every word. She told him
about the people, and how they actually managed to work together in
the world of the dead. She told him about how Richardson had taken
an old high school and made it into something special. She even
described her room, and the little things she'd done to make it
hers.

“It sounds like a nice place.”

“Yeah, it is. I didn't really know how much
till I got stuck here.”

Sam tried to think of how she could get back.
If she could find her way to Interstate 295, she could find her way
home. She couldn't read signs, but she knew the way back from
memory and landmarks.

The biggest problem was the undead in the
way.

“So what do you do for fun?” Aaron asked.

“For fun? Well, I don't
know. Most of my
fun
time is taken up by trying to stay alive.”

“You don't have any hobbies?”

“Not really.” She laughed. “Maybe that's why
Richardson is always asking me to walk the fence.”

“Let's play some checkers.”

“I told you. I don't play games.”

“Eh, you're right. You'd lose anyway.”

It was a calculated statement his father made
to Aunt Denise many times when she refused to loosen up. It worked
with Sam too. She looked at him a moment, then a small smile
touched her face. “Teach me how to play.”

They played long into the night. Sam managed
to win her fair share. Aaron noticed her finally relaxing, at least
just a little.

The moon was high overhead when Sam's body
told her it was time to sleep. She stifled a yawn.

“Is it okay if I sleep in one of the
rooms?”

“Of course, but you won't sleep. The undead
will keep you up all night. Only freaks like me can sleep with the
noise. You can have the mattress up here.”

“And where will you sleep?”

“Right here in the lawn-chair.”

She didn't like that. “I always sleep alone.
I don't like people near me.”

He shrugged. “Okay. Either room is fine. I'm
gonna sleep up here. It's a beautiful night. I'll walk you
down.”

“Why?”

“To make sure nothing happens to you. Why
else?”

Sam held his gaze a moment, making Aaron
uncomfortable enough to look away.

Richardson isn't even this nice.

She didn't understand it
at all. How could someone who lived the way Aaron did be so
personable? She wanted to like him, but was afraid to. She was
afraid to really like
anyone
.

Sam knew that like everyone, he would find a
way to disappoint her. Everyone always did. Trust was a hard thing
to come by. She had to watch Richardson for years before she even
began to think he was trustworthy.

Aaron led her back to the house, careful not
to touch her along the way. It was pitch black, and he wanted to
make sure she didn't fall to the living room. He knew undead
behavior better than anyone. While their numbers were thinning from
Sam being on the roof for so long, there were still a good number
in the house. The undead would leave an area if they couldn't see
their meal after a while.

“Good night,” he said.

Sam collapsed on the mattress. “Hey
Aaron.”

“Yeah?” He had almost closed the door.

She almost said it. She
almost threw out a
thank
you
. She decided against it. “Good night
to you too.”

Aaron closed the door and stopped at the hall
closet on the way out. He didn't need any light. He knew where
every single thing in his house was. He grabbed an extra pillow and
sheet for when Sam inevitably decided to come up to the roof.

*****

Sam knew she didn't sleep long. The little
bit of sleep she did get was full of nightmares of the undead. She
could hear them as she sat up on the mattress, even with the door
closed. She didn't want to admit it, but Aaron was right. There was
no way anyone could sleep very well with the undead so close.

She carefully made her way through the hall
and followed the moonlight to the open roof access. The undead
still shuffled mindlessly in the living room. Even the sound of
their footsteps made her hair stand up.

Aaron was fast asleep. He slept on the
mattress with the sheet stopping at his waist. He slept shirtless,
and Sam couldn't help but take a peek at his upper body. He was
attractive.

A spare sheet and pillow waited in the
lawn-chair.

Asshole,
she thought, angry that he was right once
again.

As she settled into the lawn-chair she tried
to think of how she would get back home.

Nothing much came to mind.

The only plan she had that was even possible
was to just survive until Lexington went on another supply run. She
could get Garrett's attention somehow. Lexington didn't exactly
have a schedule, so she had no idea of when that would be. Even if
Garrett did see her, in the vast city streets, would he stop for
her? She knew she wouldn't stop for him.

“I'll never see home again,” she
whispered.

“Why not?”

Aaron's voice startled her. She looked down
at him as he looked up at her.

“I can't get home,” she said. “It's about a
thirty minute drive down 295. There's no way I can walk it, not
with all the undead. And shit, I don't even know where 295 is from
here.”

“Can you drive a car?”

“Of course I can. Why?”

Aaron stood up and stretched his arms. He
motioned for Sam to follow. ”Be very quiet. Don't stir the corpses
up.”

She followed him across the long roof, until
they neared the end of the block. He carefully looked over the
side.

“Do you see that red car there?”

With just the moonlight, Sam couldn't tell
what was red and what wasn't. She just followed his finger to an
old Honda Civic parked across the street. She had to look over the
walkers to see it. “Yeah.”

“That car still works.”

She searched his face for his strange sense
of humor. He looked serious.

“Are you sure?”

“I had a few house-guests that showed up in
that thing. They stayed with me a few nights while searching for
some gas. They actually filled the tank up a little, but then they
decided not to listen to me, and went out looking for food. They
never came back. The keys are in my bedroom. I haven't started it
up in a while, but it did run.”

Sam was excited, but guilt started to seep
in. “Listen, I don't have anything to trade. Even if I did, it
wouldn't be worth a car.”

They walked back to Aaron's end of the roof.
They no longer had to whisper.

“I don't know how to drive,” he said. “Just
take it. It doesn't do me any good.”

Sam started to feel
hope.
Maybe, just maybe, I can get back
home.

She looked at Aaron as he settled back onto
his mattress. She was too energetic to lay back down.

“Okay, I just gotta find a map I can actually
read. Hell, one street over is probably a sign pointing to
295.”

“There's a gas station down the block. Maybe
there's some maps there.”

“Why don't you come with me?”

He laughed. “Your first joke. I'm so
proud.”

“I'm serious, Aaron. It'll be good for both
of us.”

“How so?”

“I won't lie. If I try to go alone, I
probably won't make it. I have a better chance if you come
along.”

“Yeah, right. So if the corpses get close,
you can shoot me in the stomach and leave me for dead.”

“No, that's not it at all. I'm not gonna risk
my life for you, but I won't hurt you.”

Her honesty was surprisingly refreshing.

“And what do I get out of our little
trip?”

She laughed too. “Away from here, for
starters. A place where there's some people. You wouldn't believe
all the things we have at Lexington. You won't have to be in danger
hunting deer on the streets.”

He smiled. She didn't know why.

“What do you think, Aaron? Shit, if you don't
like Lexington, just hitch a ride back on the next supply run.
Maybe you can score some supplies yourself.”

Aaron thought about it for at least a minute
without saying anything. He eventually decided he would go with
her, for two reasons. The first was boredom. He'd been in Baltimore
for at least four winters now, and could use a little change. The
other reason surprised him, but he knew it was there.

He didn't want anything to happen to Sam.

“I'll go with you on one condition.”

“What's that?”

“I get to call you Sam with no
complaints.”

Sam smiled. She had smiled more with Aaron in
one day than she had the past year. “Deal.”

Preparations were slower than Sam expected,
but perhaps that was her excitement. The mid-morning sun was up.
She waited on the roof and watched walker movement while Aaron
gathered some things from the house. He packed some books, bottles
of water, a pocket knife, a lighter, his solar-powered watch
compass, the car keys, and perhaps the most important thing, his
framed Polaroids of his family. He also grabbed his quiver of
arrows and compound bow.

He joined Sam on the roof, who looked
impatient.

She gestured to his bow. “Where's your
gun?”

“Don't have one. I never liked guns.”

“You don't like guns?”

He shook his head.

“It's amazing you're still alive.”

“Can you drive that car,”
he said. “I mean,
really
drive it?”

“I can go fast, if that's what you mean.”

“Good. We go down together, and run like
hell. We'll hit the gas station at the end of the street, so I can
grab a map. I'll get us to 295. Then it's all on you.”

“I'll do my part. We'll be at Lexington in no
time.” She had a much better view of the car than the night before.
“It doesn't have any windows. I'm not gonna be able to stop at the
station long. So you'd better be quick. If we can't find a map, we
keep moving.”

He nodded. “No problem. You're the boss.”

Aaron turned and put a hand on the roof
access of the closest house to the car. Sam stopped him by putting
a hand on his shoulder, then quickly pulled it back.

“Aaron, listen. You're not gonna like this,”
she said, her pretty face hardening. “There's forty walkers down
there on the street, and who knows how many till Lexington. I'm not
a hero. If you trip and fall, or slow down at all, I'm not waiting
around. I won't come back to get you. Understand?”

He smiled, which surprised her. “I know where
I stand with you. You're honest.”

She returned his smile, glad that was out of
the way. “Okay, let's go.”

The house they used to get to the street was
empty. They slowly made their way to the front door. Aaron gently
pushed Sam into the corner and peeked out the front window. There
were plenty of walkers on the street, but most were still gathered
at the other end, near Aaron's home. Only ten or so were near the
car, with only three or four right in their path.

“We've got a pretty clear
shot. We're gonna have a few seconds to get to the car. They smell
you, right now, but they don't
see
you. Once we get to the street, they're gonna go
crazy.”

“Why do you keep
saying
me?
They
smell
you
too.”

He gave her an annoyed look. “Yeah, yeah,
whatever. I'm gonna open the door and take a few out while you hit
the car. You ready to run?”

She nodded.

Aaron opened the door casually. Sam ran down
the steps and across the sidewalk. Aaron fired three arrows at a
speed Sam didn't think possible. She'd seen it the day before, but
it amazed her all the same.

Three corpses fell to the ground. One was
directly in front of Sam. She heard the arrow cut the air next to
her ear. She hopped over the corpse and jumped into the Civic.

The undead perked up.

They shuffled toward the car, their song
making Sam's hands shake. She put the key in the ignition and
turned it. The engine started right up. She was shocked. In the
back of her mind, she didn't think it would be that easy.

Aaron ran across the street. He didn't bother
running around to the passenger's side. He jumped head first
through the broken rear window and landed on the back seat. He lost
a few arrows in the jump, but had plenty more.

“Go, Sam, go!”

She floored the gas, burning tire rubber as
they soared down the street.