He smiles and inches closer to her.
“We’re in a relationship?” He asked playfully.
“You know what I mean doofus.”
His grin grew wider.
“I just didn’t know we were in one, that’s all.
So, are we exclusive?”
“Stop,” she said. “You’re not funny.”
She went to push him away, but he pulled her in
closer. This time she did not resist. She looked up at him, at his infectious
smile. His dumb, adorable, infectious smile. Despite the whirlwind of crazy in
her head, she felt safe, right here in his arms. He leaned in and planted a
kiss on her forehead.
“This past week has been insane. You’re right.
And now that we can actually stop and breathe, maybe now would be a good time
to get to know each other more. Especially since we’re in a relationship now.”
She laughed.
“Seriously, stop saying that,” she said. “You’re
ruining it.”
“Well, you know, since it is the end of the
world and all, maybe it’s not such a good idea to be putting labels on things.
I think all the rules of dating went out the window last week when people
started eating each other. I’ll just be your man and you can be my woman.”
“Oh, please. So what? We’re cavemen now?”
He stepped back and beat on his chest, making
gorilla-like hooting noises. This made her laugh. Again, her soul felt lighter.
He is so goofy.
He stopped his grunting and held out his hand.
“Lexx Stewart Thompson. Pleased to meet you.”
She smiled and reached out for his hand in
return.
“Victoria Rebecca Hays.”
They shook hands and he pulled her into a hug.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“Hey,” she whispered back.
They kissed.
“This is it?” Jeremy asked.
The “job-site” that Josh had been talking about
was more like a mud puddle in the middle of the woods. The steel erections of
the building were up, but not much after that. There were several shipping
containers and office trailers located around the yard, plus the few backhoes
and other construction equipment.
“Yep,” was all Josh said, as he pulled their
truck through the open gate.
“And there’s stuff we can use here?” Jeremy
asked, his eyes looking around for anything of value.
“Oh yeah.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. The place was a ghost
town and it did not look like anything of use was there. Maybe one of the
backhoes, but what were they going to do? Drive that noisy thing all the way
back to the cabin?
Josh pulled the truck up to one of the large,
steel shipping containers. It was a mix of blue and rust.
“C’mon, let’s go,” he said.
They both got out the truck and looked around,
making sure that the coast really was clear. It was and they continued. Josh
led them to one of the office trailers and began walking up the creaky metal
stairs.
“I have to get the key to the container. Should
only take a second,” he said as he reached for the doorknob.
The door swung open and out stumbled a well-decomposed
zombie. With a hard hat on its head and orange reflective vest, there was no
doubt that at one time this was one of Josh’s co-workers. Josh grabbed it by
the vest and swung it in Jeremy’s direction. Not missing a beat, Jeremy brought
his machete down on the creature’s head, splitting the skull open right between
the eyes. Its dark, black eyes rolled back into its head and the body fell limp
to the ground. Jeremy reached down, yanked the blade back, and there was a sickening
slosh of brain-juices as the machete exited.
“Good teamwork,” Josh said.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t really have a choice when
you chunked that thing at me.”
“My bad, I thought you knew what’s up.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes again. The gesture did
not seem to bother Josh at all. He opened the trailer door all the way,
slightly more cautious this go around. After peeking his head in and taking a
look, he motioned it was all clear and Jeremy followed him.
The room smelled of death. The zombie must have
been in there for a good while, because the room was dank with the scent of
rotten meat. Over in one of the corners, Jeremy saw the remains of someone
else. It was impossible to tell who it could have been. Any kind of
distinguishing features were now long gone, given way to bite marks and decay.
Jeremy felt his stomach turn, which surprised him, because it had been a while
since the gore did that to him.
Guess there’s still stuff that can gross me out.
That’s good news, I guess?
Josh didn’t seem to notice or didn’t care. He
went straight to a small, metal cabinet on the far wall. It was cracked open.
He swung the door open and rows of keys filled the cabinet.
“Hmmm…” Josh said. “If I had to guess, I would
say… This one.”
He pulled a key ring with several keys on it.
“What makes you so sure,” Jeremy asked.
“It has a tag on it that says ‘Container’,” he
said.
“Fair enough.”
The two of them walked back outside, which was
literally a breath of fresh air. Jeremy rubbed his nose, trying to knock out
the last bits of stink molecules. It seemed to be working, or maybe he was just
telling himself that. They walked back over to the container’s doors and after
several attempts; Josh finally found the right key. He swung open the massive
doors and Jeremy understood what all the fuss was about.
Sitting towards the front of the container, was
a large, square, metal box. It was on a two-wheeled trailer, red, and one side
filled with switches. Two flat, black panels were on top of the box, slightly
tilted upwards.
“Is that… Is that a generator?” Jeremy asked.
“Yep. A solar powered one too,” Josh replied,
his smile making its way back to his face. “C’mon help me pull this thing over
to the back of the truck. It’s not too heavy on the trailer.”
He was right. On the trailer, it didn’t seem as
heavy as it looked. The only obstacle was when it came down the step into the
container, but they took it slow and easy. Once it was hooked up to the trailer
hitch, Jeremy looked at Josh.
“Now what?” He asked.
“Let’s grab some of the tools. We can use them
for the fence.”
A crack of thunder ripped through the sky. The
sky had grown darker since they first pulled onto the construction site. Jeremy
felt a single, cold drop of water hit his cheek. Josh looked up and panned the
sky.
“We better hurry,” he said. “We don’t have
long.”
They ran back to the container, the wind picking
up as they did. Once inside, Josh started pointing at what to take and what to
leave behind. Extension cords, spare rechargeable battery packs and chargers,
and of course, power tools. Impact drills, band saws, and a large, concrete
buzz saw. It took two hands to hold and looked rather intimidating in Jeremy’s
hands. It would make a decent zombie-slayin’ weapon. A good alternative to a
chainsaw. Another crack of thunder, this one much closer than the last,
signaled to the two men that it was time to leave.
The rain was picking up speed.
“C’mon, let’s get this stuff on the truck and
get out of here,” Josh said.
A flash of lighting lit up the sky. The bolt had
struck the steel girders on the building, sparks flying off the hot metal. The
corresponding thunder followed milliseconds after.
“Holy crap!” Josh yelled. “That was way too
freaking close!”
A chorus of moans answered the thunder.
Oh shit,
Jeremy thought.
He looked towards the building. Shadows began
materializing from the darkness and made their way towards the truck. Jeremy
didn’t have to squint through the rain to know what the shadows were. They
marched forward in unsteady unison. As far as he could tell, Jeremy couldn’t
see any runners. But in the darkened skies and downpour, the slower undead
looked more menacing than ever.
Jeremy and Josh began piling their loot into the
back of the truck, not taking any time to secure it for the ride back. They
just knew they had to get out of there. With the rain still picking up, and the
dead growing closer, time was short. They rushed back to the cab of the truck
and Josh wasted no time cranking it up. The closest dead were no more than
twenty feet away. Josh put the truck in drive and floored it, sending mud
flying from the back tires.
“Ah crap,” Josh muttered.
“What?” Jeremy asked, but knew the answer as
soon as he did.
The dead were blocking the road out.
Josh looked at Jeremy. Jeremy looked at Josh.
Both nodded in agreement and Josh floored it into the crowd of z’s. The first
few went flying over the hood, but the others were all crushed beneath the
bottom of the truck. Jeremy thought about the time he played chicken with the
zombie at Forsyth Park.
Good thing Tori’s not here,
he thought.
She most likely would have not appreciated
Josh’s running over of many zombies.
Jeremy was amazed at the number of them. They
just seemed to keep coming out from the darkness, not concerned that their
associates were becoming body speed bumps. The fact that the dead were not
deterred by anything is what made them so damn scary. You could shoot them,
hack off vital body parts, run them over with a fucking truck, and yet, they
still kept coming. What other enemy in the history of mankind could do that?
Never give up, never falter; the only thing that stops them is a bullet to the
brain.
At least before, people would surrender.
Finally, the blockade of dead began to diminish.
Jeremy turned to look out the back window. A trail of mangled bodies, mud, and
death followed them. He looked over at Josh, whose hands tightly gripped the
steering wheel, his knuckles white. His face was ashen.
“You okay man?” Jeremy asked.
Josh loosened his grip on the steering and
forced a fake smile.
“Yeah, just shook up I guess.”
The clouds began to part and the storm, which raged
on just minutes before, now seemed to vanish as quickly as it appeared.
“Hey.”
Jeremy looked over at Josh.
“Don’t tell my wife about this.”
CJ watched the dark clouds pass from a distance.
They didn’t seem to be headed his way, but whichever way they were headed was
in for some serious rain. The air had grown cool with the passing storm and he
rubbed the chill from his arms.
I should get a coat,
he thought.
He was sitting on a small flat part of the roof.
He discovered it the other day and had made it his lookout perch. It was
located near the highest point of the house, giving him a clear view of the
surrounding area. The .30-06 sat next to him, ready in case anything unfriendly
popped out from the wood line. The fact that no dead had wandered onto the
property both comforted him and worried him.
Are we really that far out into the country?
He had never really thought about the location
of their cabin. Most of the rides here, he was either playing on his phone or
listening to music. And on his most recent ride here, his mind was elsewhere.
Everyone’s was.
Things were still off. His mom had still yet to
speak. His grandparents for the most part seemed to avoid his Dad. And his Dad.
His Dad seemed to busy himself with every chore, trying to avoid the silence.
CJ was there and knew it was not his Dad’s fault. He did everything he could to
protect them. CJ had watched as his Dad ran out of ammunition and proceeded to
cave in zombies’ skulls with his pistol. It all just happened so quickly. No
one saw the half-corpse crawl from underneath the car and grab his sister’s
ankle. Too quick.
And just like that, she was gone.
His sister’s absence had created an emotional
hole in his family’s psyche. He sat and wondered if they would ever be back to
normal.
CJ looked towards the driveway. His Dad, and the
man and woman were walking back from working on the fence. CJ tried to remember
their names, but nothing seemed to come to mind. The guy seemed alright, a
little goofy at times, but normal. The girl on the other hand, CJ was unsure on
how to read her. He could tell that the wheels were constantly turning in her
head, despite how she tried to hide it. He recognized it because he was the
same way.
As they passed by him into the house, she
glanced up at him and flashed him a quick smile.
She’s pretty too,
he thought.
***
“Man, I am sore,” Chris said, as he sat down on
the bed.
Amy was lying down on the opposite end, her back
to him. She had a pillow clenched up to her chest. She had been crying.
Chris turned to look at his wife and frowned.
She had been taking Hailey’s death hard.
She’s at least moving around on her own now,
he thought.
For the first few days, she seemed to be stuck
in some sort of catatonic state, only moving with the help from others. It
wasn’t until the day before Josh arrived that she started moseying around the
house. She would eat, but not much. Chris worried about her. His wife was
normally very out-going and sociable. He’d never seen her like this before.
But, they have never seen hurt like this before.
Even his own heart ached for the loss of his
daughter, his little girl. Hailey had Chris wrapped around her tiny fingers
from the day she was born. She was her daddy’s princess. What he would give for
a hug from her right now.
He felt tears welling up in the corners of his
own eyes and quickly clenched them shut, forcing them to retreat.
He had not cried since the day they lost her.
The day he lost her.
If he had just been quicker. If he had just paid
more attention to the situation. She would still be here.
CJ tried his best to convince his father that
there was nothing he could have done different, it all happened so fast.
God bless that boy.
Chris immediately felt guilty for not spending
more time with CJ. It wasn’t as if he was trying to avoid his son, it was just
that he needed to get things in order here at the cabin. With Mom looking after
Amy and pregnant Laura, and Pops taking care of stuff around the house, it
pretty much left Chris in charge of tending to the outside. They had to get
fences up. They had to keep what zombies they could out. CJ had already killed
three and not far from the house. The thought that there could be more lurking
around within the perimeter was just one more thing that Chris needed to add to
his ever-growing list. He needed to check the property and make sure it was
clear. He was not going to lose any more family members to the dead. He
promised himself that.
Opie, their Boston Terrier, came into the room
and jumped up onto the bed. He trotted over to Amy’s back and nestled in for a
nap. Opie had been Hailey’s dog and since her death, he had been extremely
loyal to Amy. Maybe it was because she looked like an older version of his
owner, or maybe because he simply missed Hailey as well.
Chris gave Opie a rub on his tiny head.
“You’re a good dog Opie,” he said.
Chris took his hand and put it on Amy’s
shoulder.
“I’m going to go jump in the shower hun.”
Nothing.
He stood up and gathered up some clean clothes.
He made his way to the door and stopped to look back at his wife.
Come back to me soon. I don’t know if I can make
it without both of my girls.
***
Josh and Jeremy returned not too long after
Chris got out of the shower. Everyone was ecstatic about the generator. They
found a good, open spot for it in the yard and hooked it up immediately.
Everything else, on the other hand, was ruined. The rain had soaked into the
power tools, causing most of them to short out. The only things that survived
the storm were the gas-powered saw and the extension cords.
“The trip wasn’t a complete wash I guess,” Josh
said after inspecting the damage.
“Lame…” replied Jeremy, obviously not impressed
with Josh’s pun.
“Joshua,” Laura said, sharing Jeremy’s feelings.
Josh just smiled.
“C’mon, let’s gather everybody up inside. We
have things to talk about,” he said.
***
Once everyone, minus Amy, was in the living
room, Josh stood up to talk.
“Okay everybody, let’s get started. For
starters, thanks to Chris, Lexx, and Tori for working on the fence today. You
guys knocked out what you could, with what we had, and that’s awesome. We were
hoping to bring back more tools today, but the rain kind of put a damper on
that parade, which brings me to our first order of business.
We needs tools and lumber.
Of course, we could use some of the trees, but I
feel like that would be adding a lot of noise that we don’t just have to resort
to yet. Plus, if a tree falls in the forest, does a zombie hear it? I don’t
know and I don’t really want to find out.”
Laura rolls her eyes at her husband. He ignores
her.
“There’s a small hardware store and lumber yard
in one of the nearby towns. I doubt that it would be raided. Monday, if he’s up
to it again, Jeremy and myself will make a visit to the store and see what we
can scrape up. If for some reason the owners are still there, we’ll try to
barter with them.”
“Yeah, I’m game,” Jeremy added.
“Good,” Josh said. “I think it’ll be safer to
hit the smaller towns around us. Maybe one day we’ll brave a trip to
Statesboro, but right now it’s probably better to stay away from the more
populated areas.”
“Wait,” Tori said. “Did you say Monday? Why
Monday and not tomorrow?”
Josh smiled.
“Well, that brings me to my next order of
business. Tomorrow is Sunday and it’s the first Sunday we’ve all been together
since, well, since everything started. I think it would be good for us to have
a little worship service, as a family. Of course, you three are welcome, but
don’t feel pressured to come. But for us, with our loss of Hailey, I think it would
be good to spend a little time in worship.”
Everyone in the family nodded silently. Last
Sunday had been different. Josh was still not home yet. Hailey’s death was
still heavy on everyone’s hearts. But this Sunday would be different. There was
much to give thanks for. They were far better off than much of the world around
them.
“Are you serious?”
Lexx’s question sounded harsh against the
backdrop of silence.
“Yes, yes I am,” Josh answered.
This time it was Lexx who rolled his eyes.
“Well, you can count me out.”
“Lexx…” Tori said quietly.
“No, it’s okay Tori,” Josh interrupted. “That’s
fine Lexx. Like I said, don’t feel like you have to participate. I just wanted
to know that you aren’t excluded either.”
Lexx nodded.
“I probably won’t come either, but thank you for
inviting us,” Tori said, adding extra emphasis to the word, “us.”
Josh nodded. He wasn’t sure what Lexx’s deal
with church was, but he was sure he’ll get an earful sooner or later. Before he
could stop them, his eyes wandered over to Jeremy. After their talk in the
truck, he hoped the boy would at least consider it.
“I’ll think about it,” Jeremy said.
Josh nodded again and smiled.
“That’s fine. But regardless, tomorrow we rest.
We’ll pick up work on Monday. Anybody else have anything to add?”
Nobody said anything.
“Okay then. Let’s get something to eat and turn
in for the night.”
***
Jeremy found himself laying on the couch,
staring at the ceiling. It was just him and CJ in the living room, everyone
else retired off to bed. He was exhausted. A day of rest actually sounded just
like what the doctor ordered. Yeah, they had a lot of work to do, but it would
be nice not to do anything for a day. He was not sure how he would pass the
time yet. Josh had a few books here at the cabin, maybe he would spend the day
reading one of those. He could go for a run. For fun, not for his life. Plus,
it would be good to keep his cardio up, just in case he does have to run for
his life.
There was always the church service too.
Church service? Not like they’re really going to
a church.
He thought about going, but wasn’t sure about it
yet. Maybe he would just give the family their space.
“You should come tomorrow.”
Jeremy jumped a little at the sound of CJ’s
voice.
“Holy crap man. I thought you were asleep.”
“Sorry,” the boy said.
“It’s okay. Why do you say that?”
“What else are you going to do?”
Had CJ been reading his mind?
“I don’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve been
to church.”
CJ sat up on the air mattress and stared at
Jeremy.
“We’re just doing it in the backyard. You got a
problem with backyards?”
Jeremy tried not to laugh.
“No. I’m cool with backyards. I’ll think about
it okay?” He said.
CJ nodded and laid back down. Jeremy tried to
think of the last time he went to church. Easter? It was one of the few
exceptions he made for his mother. Easter and Christmas, the two big ones,
those he would give her. Every now and then, he would go with her if she were
particularly persistent. She never forced him; it was always his decision. She
just always made him feel guilty. Not by anything she said, but by the look of
disappointment in her eyes afterwards. He wanted to go for her; he just could
not buy into it like she did.
She was faithful. There every Sunday, sometimes
throughout the week. Wednesday night Bible studies, women’s group, church
socials, she went to all of them. If one thing could be said about his mother,
she was sincerely devoted to her faith.
Jeremy just didn’t understand it. Some parts he
liked. He could get behind “do unto others as you would yourself.” Or “judge
not lest ye be judged.” Those made sense. But eternal judgment in Hell just
because you didn’t want Jesus to be your friend? Jeremy remembered going to
children’s camp years ago and at the end of every week, they would do the same
skit. The pimple faced camp counselors would dress up in black trash-bags and
they would turn out all the lights. Then the “demons” would come in and take
away “sinners” to the “lake of fire.” It was so over dramatic. But Jeremy
bought in for a while. He went down the aisle afterwards and prayed the
sinner’s prayer. He got dunked in the lake and then again back home, just so
his parents could see.
Parents.
Plural.
His dad was never into church either. But for
different reasons. Being a fledgling plastic surgeon at the time, he and his
occupation were not so welcome in the conservative church his mother attended.
He was changing “what the good Lord intended.” Hypocrites, his dad used to say.
One of the last times his dad attended, he pointed out to Jeremy all the women
in the church who came to him for boob jobs and the few deacons who had hair
plugs. His mother overheard and suggested to his father, that maybe he should
stay home the next Sunday.