Only Love Survives (Love and Zombies) (14 page)

“Where are you going?”

“We’re going to weave our way back to the freeway to shake them loose.” He indicated over his shoulder with his thumb.

Megan turned around in her seat again. He was right. The zombies weren’t able to keep up, and they dissipated as he dodged up and down the blocks.

A sign announcing the freeway on ramp blew by them. But instead of getting on, Sam slid to a stop directly under the overpass. He turned off the engine, reached over and grabbed her by the wrist. Megan didn’t protest. She let him pull her into his lap.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” He didn’t give her a chance to answer. Sam covered her mouth with his lips and at that moment, surrounded by his strength, Megan couldn’t think of an argument.

She opened for him and he laid siege with his tongue. Megan melted into his embrace, allowing her fears to be alleviated by his touch. Her hands wound up around his neck encouraging his kiss. He blazed a trail of hot kisses down her neck and nibbled on the tender skin under her ear causing heat to pool at the juncture of her legs. Sam didn’t stop until the sound of a car passing them rumbled overhead.

He peered up as if he could see through the roof of the car and the overpass above them. “Sounds too small to be them.” He shook his head.

“Or, they’re hauling the mail.”

He turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

“Well, have you ever seen a Fed Ex or UPS man drive slow?” Megan ignored his rumble of laughter that jiggled her around on his lap. “Shoot, even my mail lady would run you down if you got in her way on Saturday.”

His hand came up to cradle her cheek, his fingers intertwining in the hair behind her ear and the rough pad of his thumb caressed her cheek. “I could stand to sit like this a few more minutes, just to be sure.”

At that moment, the tender look in his eyes was all she needed in the world. Megan sighed. “Yeah, me too.” Sam brushed his lips across hers and her heart melted. In six short days, she’d shared more with him than any other man in her life.
Son of a biscuit baker…

She loved him. The realization stunned her like getting hit in the face by a big, red ball on the playground. Megan drew back with a sharp breath.

“What?” He searched her eyes, and she fought the overwhelming urge to hide her face, lest he see the truth stamped on her forehead. Instead, she kissed him quickly on the lips and climbed off his lap as gracefully as the center console would allow.

“We should get going.” Megan avoided his gaze, although she felt the weight of it. Finally, he turned the key and the engine’s hum filled the silence. Reaching for the seatbelt, Megan dared a glance at him. He was still staring at her. She missed the seatbelt all together and had to look back over her shoulder to find it. When she turned back to click it in place he’d slipped his sunglasses on and gone about the business of adjusting his mirrors.

When he pulled onto the road, Megan drew her feet up on her seat and wrapped her arms around her legs. Now she had two secrets.

Chapter Ten

That was the quickest change of gears Sam had ever seen.

He couldn’t get a read on Megan. One minute she was as warm and willing as he was. The next, she took off marching down the highway to battle the world all on her own. Maybe that’s why he’d been single so many years.
It wasn’t for lack of able bodies.
Sam smiled to himself.
There certainly were no lack of those.

He just didn’t understand women. Every time he got close to Megan, she seemed to distance herself from him. And she
was
hiding something. Of that he was sure.

Sam changed the subject. “I counted nineteen cars in front of that StoreMart.”

“There were at least a couple of dozen…
bodies
… inside the building. Some must have had passengers.” Although she tripped over the word bodies, she seemed eager for the new conversation, so Sam continued to question her for the next few miles. The grim picture she painted made him thankful for her intervention. Sam liked to think he was smarter than those other guys, but evil was evil, and it tended to find its way. Thankfully, Megan had come to his rescue. They worked well as a team.

That’s why it didn’t make any sense.
Why was she so driven to get to Vegas?
Maybe if he found the answer to that question, he’d change her mind and convince her to leave with him after they found his sister.

They drove three hours straight until they finally passed a sign welcoming them to Las Vegas. Sam slowed to a stop and put the Suburban in park. It looked more like a war zone than a city. Only three cartoon-like skyscrapers stood in the distance. The rest of the buildings were rubble, and the earth scorched as if the entire place had been flattened by a bomb.

“Wow.” He reached up and pulled himself out the sunroof for a better look. Burned debris littered the streets as far as the eye could see. Megan popped up next to him and teetered on her seat. Sam reached out and steadied her by wrapping his arm around her waist and drawing her against his body. “So this is the future.”

She didn’t say a word, but he felt her shiver slightly and Sam wondered if she’d imagined it would look anything like this.

The drive through town left Megan close to tears. Trees, bushes, timber…all nearly unrecognizable. Nothing stood taller than her waist. The devastation was akin to the news following a hurricane or tornado. The difference here…this had been done on purpose. Megan watched charred block after block go by and her heart absolutely ached.

She covered her mouth and nose with her hands to protect against the burnt smell, but it didn’t help. What had she expected, a magical city that withstood the plague, even thumbed its nose at it?

Maybe. Just a little bit
.

At least they didn’t have to wonder where to go. A clear path led through the destruction right to the center of the three standing hotels.

“Pick one.” Sam startled her.

“Not that one.” Megan pointed at the traditionally shaped building with a big, drippy, red cross painted on each side, visible for miles.

“All right.” He turned in the exact opposite direction from the makeshift medical building and slowly pulled up to the parking garage of the next closest structure.

Well-armed men stood at every doorway.

Sam stopped at the booth where an attendant in a worn police uniform peered at the windshield then asked, “Where’s your ticket?”

“We don’t have one.” Sam’s hand reached back toward his gun.

Megan rested her fingers lightly on his forearm to stop him. He turned to her, and she shook her head while the policeman prattled on.

“First time here?”

“Yep.” Sam put both his hands back on the wheel, his knuckles turning white. Megan took a deep breath. Who could blame him for being a little bit jumpy?

The policeman reached into his stand and pulled two raffle tickets off a big spool. “Here are your tickets. Make sure they match.” He handed Sam a piece of tape. “Tape one to the window. Don’t lose the other one. When you drive outta here your ticket will be checked and if it doesn’t match you walk. There is no car swapping here.” If his demeanor wasn’t so serious, Megan would have laughed at the low tech security system. “And no excuses. I don’t care if you had to eat your ticket. You don’t have it, you don’t drive this rig out of here. Understand?”

“Yep.” Some of the tension left Sam’s shoulders as he taped the ticket to the windshield.

“Okay, park where ever you like. The elevators still work.”

His words felt like a bucket of cold water. Megan leaned forward and asked, not sure she’d heard the man correctly, “There’s electricity here?”

“Yes ma’am.” The guard smiled at her with his chest puffed out.

“One last thing.” He turned and addressed Sam directly. “No guns in the building. Leave ‘em in the car.”

Electricity?
Megan sat back in her seat and let it soak in.
Lights. Air conditioning? Oh Jeeze, maybe even a hot shower.
The possibilities were endless.

Sam parked in a corner and turned off his car.

“That part was easy.” He turned his head and smiled at her. They both broke out in laughter.
As if anything about their life now was easy
. Megan reached behind her and grabbed her two packs. She unloaded a few of the heavier cans and tossed them on the floor behind her seat.

Sam watched her. “You can leave all that here, at least until we check things out.”

“You know my rule. Leave not, want not.”

He shook his head, and stuffed a small gun in his pants.

Megan stared in disbelief.

He shrugged.

“Yeah, well the same rule applies. I don’t know what we’re gonna find in there. Besides it’s just a little gun.” He emphasized with a pinchy motion of his fingers. He locked up the Suburban, and they strolled to the elevator. The door magically opened and then closed behind them.

When it lurched to life, the entire experience felt foreign to Megan.
Not to mention, confined
. A small part in the back of her brain started to scream.
Trapped.
She needed to get out before something else got in. Panic mixed with bile burned the back of her throat. She grasped the handrail, and took a deep breath to steady herself.

“Hum de hum de hum de humde hum…” Sam broke into a rendition of
The Girl From Ipanema
.

Megan turned to him and glared. “Are you really humming that?”

He shrugged. “It
is
elevator music after all. Besides you looked like you were about to have a heart attack.” The doors slid open in front of them, and they were greeted by opulence that would have blown Megan away before the epidemic. Sam nudged her in the back with his shoulder. “Let’s go, tourist.”

“Bite me,” she answered over her shoulder but took a step forward.

“Hummm, maybe later.” He passed her and went on to the front desk. Megan straggled behind taking in the grandeur. Gilded walls, ornate vases and elegant furniture filled every alcove. It was an odd contrast to the people milling around in rags. She joined Sam at the desk, where he discussed sleeping arrangements with the clerk.

“One room is fine.”

“Here are your punch cards. You each get one per month. It allows for two meals a day and one personal item from the shop a month. If you lose it, you won’t get another until the first of the month, no exceptions.” She handed one to each of them.

“We understand.” Megan tucked it in her pocket and zipped it shut.

“As far as living quarters go, since there are only two of you, you’ll get a small room to yourselves. We save the suites for large families.”

“That’ll work.” Sam answered.

“Thank you.” Megan responded at the same time.

“You will be expected to report to the management office…” She pointed to a door behind them, “…within three days, where you will be interviewed. Then assigned a job based on that interview, which will contribute to society as a whole, for which the resources shared with you here will be compensation.” She stopped her little speech for a second. “Get it? No pay. Just a roof over your head and food.”

“Seems like a fair trade.” Megan wondered how anyone
could
expect to get paid.

“Your names?”

“Sam Woods and Megan Fletcher.”

“You remember that?” Megan was flabbergasted.

“I wouldn’t be much of a corporate mogul if I couldn’t remember names, now would I?”

“A-hem.” They turned to the clerk. “Room 712. Here is your keycard.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, don’t lose them, we get it.” Sam’s patience was wearing thin, and Megan hoped for everyone’s sake, they were almost done.

“Actually those you can replace.” The girl went back into speech mode. “You are required to report any bites or fevers, at which time you will be directed to the medical building.”

“About that,” Meagan asked. “Why didn’t they just use a local hospital? Why the hotel?”

The girl’s face lost all pretense of indifference, the distress instantly aging her beyond her years. “The hospital was overrun by the epidemic. That’s where everyone went in the beginning. They lost control of it and so, in their infinite wisdom, they burned it to the ground with everyone inside.”

“Who did?” Sam demanded.

“I’m not sure. There are rumors that the military did it. Nellis Air Force base is still operational about fifteen miles north of here. Soldiers come and go at the medical building, but they keep the public out. Personally, I think it was just a crowd of scared people that lit the fire, like a modern day attempt to burn out the monster.” She straightened the piles of paper on her desk as she spoke.

“And what if I want to visit someone at the hospital?”

The clerk’s head snapped up, and she peered at Sam.

“Why? Do you know someone who’s sick?” The girl glanced at Megan, then back to Sam waiting for an answer.

“No, I was just wondering.”

“Nobody visits anyone who is sick. It’s too dangerous.”

“Thank you for your time.” Sam tapped the keycard on the counter. He must have recognized he wasn’t going to get anywhere with her. “Room 712?”