by Rudolph, J.
He jumped off the edge and walked over to the side of the trailer with me to where Trent was standing.
“Ty, Trent, check this out.” I pointed over to the baby superstore. “It's closed. Not a car in the lot. I'm thinking it's pretty safe. I think that if we do a sweep, just to make sure everything is fine, that getting to shop for the babies and getting what they need could be a huge emotional boost. Jody hadn't been able to prepare at all for the baby and Trisha adopted two kids with very limited supplies. Annali will need stuff too. Then, if all goes well, the older kid store in this chain is across the parking lot. We could totally make a nice little run here and bring some joy to people. Don't you agree?”
Both Trent and Tyreese seemed to really like this idea. We broke the glass doors and ran up and down every aisle making sure there was no one there. We blocked the back storage rooms to make sure that if something was hiding out it couldn't get out. Everything looked fine.
We came back out of the store and went to the trailer. Trent and Tyreese went in to watch the kids while I called out my friends. “Trisha, Mercedes, and Jody? Would you come out here for a little bit?” They climbed out. Jody handed JJ to me to hold while she climbed out. Patting JJ on the back, I explained the thought in my head.
“We need kid stuff. Like stat. This little guy has nothing he needs, Tomisha, Darlynn, and Annali are running on threadbare rags. Let's fix that. Get as much as you can think of that we can use. Unfortunately we don’t really have major furniture storage space right now, but when we get to where we're going we'll hit up a place that does. Go nuts. I'll put it on my tab.” I said, with a playful wink.
Trisha was super excited. She knew the girls didn't have a lot of new stuff in their life. Mercedes looked pleased. Jody had a single tear rolling down her face. She wiped it off and explained.
“I didn't think I'd get to do this with this baby. I kept having the feeling like I was short changing him, that he wasn't going to have anything. I didn't even think he was going to get real diapers anytime soon.”
“Well, we need to get busy then.”
Running though the store was fun. Each of us had a basket. I paired up with Jody and Mercedes and Trisha worked together since Tomisha and Annali were in the same age group. I saw them tossing cute outfit after cute outfit into the cart while I helped grab tons of packages of diapers in newborn to size two while she loaded cans of formula.
“I plan on still breastfeeding, but just in case something happens to my milk supply.” Jody rationalized. Made sense to me. We moved on to infant clothing, having decided to grab many clothes in many sizes. Packages upon packages of socks and shirts that snapped at the crotch were added to the cart. Tons of play clothes and pajamas joined the pile. We went over to the infant carriers that doubled as a car seat and grabbed the one that was patterned in bright colors and had jungle animals all over it. We also got a car seat for a larger child for when he outgrew the carrier one. We found one of the mini play pens that could double as a crib and some bedding for it, which matched the car seat perfectly. We found baby wipes and the disposable washcloths that came with the soap built in and a small tub for baby bathing. We got an assortment of rattles and battery free toys.
Jody was grinning with everything she added to the cart. She was thrilled. She was a mom on a shopping spree. We bumped into Trisha and Mercedes who looked as though they were feeling the same way. This was a nice, mostly frivolous run, and we needed it so badly.
We decided that there was little left that was needed and forgotten, and we wanted to hit the other store before we left. As we walked back to the trailer I asked Mercedes and Jody if they wanted me to pick up clothes for the boys, likely with help from the others that go with me, and they totally agreed.
“Jody? Do you mind if I take Erin with me to get Liam's and Abigail's clothes. I know they won't have any clothes for teens so that will take away some of the fun, but I know for sure she'd like running through the store.”
“That sounds awesome, Cali. I know it will make her feel important to be involved with that. Thanks for thinking of it.” She gave me a hug. We got to the trailer where the kids were playing just outside of the doors. Everyone marveled over all the baby clothes. Darlynn, Tomisha, and Annali squealed with joy that they were going to be princesses. I looked at the outfits in front of them, each with a different graphic of different fairy tale princesses on them. I made the appropriate oh's and ah's as the little ones showed me the various toys they all had gotten. They were super excited. I hoped that Daniel was looking down from the other side and was seeing his girls happy and loved.
It looked like the older kids were feeling a little left out so I let them know they were next on the list of purchases, and I pointed to the store across the lot that catered to kid clothes. I apologetically explained that I needed them to stay behind and keep an eye on things here. Liam groaned for a second. Jody glared at him with the infamous mom look, silencing him immediately.
“Trent and I are on the way there right now. Erin? Would you like to come to help pick out clothes for your sister and brother?” She nodded with joy.
Liam yelled out, “You better not make me look like a nerd!” and we all laughed. He did too, once he realized it wasn't as though there were a band of people judging his clothes like there had been at school.
In a moment of super sweetness, Erin leaned over to where her brother was and said, “Liam, after everything that has gone to crap there is no way I'm letting you look like a dork. This may be the only chance I will ever have to make you look awesome, so I am going to take advantage of it.” She gave him a hug. Jody and I looked at each other and we both had the look that said this is better than perfect.
I wanted someone else to come so they could partner up with Erin since Trent was coming to partner with me. Tanya looked like she needed to get out so I asked her to come. She leaped at the chance. Now that the kid clothes run crew was set we made our way across the lot. Trent broke the glass for a second time and we all took off to get clothes in a mix of sizes again. Denim jeans were going to be a high priority item and we grabbed so many pairs, starting in Abigail's size and ending with the largest they had, that I was a little surprised there was still room in the cart. We grabbed many different t-shirts, both short sleeved and long. We got a boatload of socks and underpants, pajamas with all the latest characters on them, though it hit me, these were the latest nine months ago. No new movies meant no new characters. We got them all booster seats. I had been thinking that while the trailer has been awesome for sleeping when stopped and a great thing to carry stuff it may not be the best thing for transporting every person every time. Even if it was on a rotating schedule. I was looking out for a van or a super large sport utility like the Navigator by Lincoln to present itself and when it did I wanted to know the kids would be safe in it. We found a couple magnetic travel games and those interlocking building bricks in an assorted tub. We figured that it would give an opportunity for the kids to use their imagination.
The sun was just about gone when we left the store, and we kicked ourselves into high gear. We loaded up and got going. For this chunk of the ride I opted to ride in the back with Drew, which had the plus of being able to keep an eye on Jody and DaWayne while helping sort clothes. Tyreese rode with Trent so Trent could show him what he knew about how to drive the truck. Trent had asked me if I wanted to learn and I declined the offer for now, I know my brain is scattered all the time, I couldn't rationalize taking control over the driving on top of everything else. Tanya rode up front with her husband.
In the trailer we all still felt like we were in one of those rock tumbler toys. I started designing ideas for making things more comfortable. I wondered if creating a hammock sling would help. If it did, I could create several kinds of chairs, including one that can hold the infant carrier and sway instead of bounce off the floor.
The hammock failed. The infant carrier rocked while on the floor so we decided that JJ was probably the most c
omfortable of us all anyway, his head was well supported in the carrier. After about an hour and a half we were coming up on Barstow.
Barstow
Barstow was hit very hard by the zombie apocalypse. From the freeway, we could see zombies wandering around on the streets, bumping into one another as though they didn't even realize the other was there. It was there, of course, that the freeway was littered with cars that had been abandoned. I wondered when these cars were abandoned, before or after the drivers were eaten.
We finally got to a point where the cars were packed too closely together to be able to squeeze the truck through. If we were going to get anywhere the road had to be cleared. The only way to get past was to move the cars ourselves. We just had to clear the cars from the right lane so the plan was that we would push them off the road into the side ditch. We hoped that this would be easy and a source of supplies that are always needed. Mercedes offered to watch the kids while Tyreese, Tanya, Trisha, Trent, and I started on clearing the road. We put Trisha to looking into cars in the left lane, while we worked in pairs, husband and wife, on the road clearing project.
We moved the first couple cars without incident. It seemed that people got out and ran, and didn't bother turning off the engines. The cars had completely empty gas tanks and dead batteries. We put the cars in neutral and pushed them away. We had found several things in the cars, mostly canned food and bottled water, both highly prized items in our little world. Some cars had a stash of camping gear. One truck had to be owned by a hunting enthusiast and was probably the best cache of goods yet. We found a rifle, boxes of ammunition, a very large hunting knife, and several of those MRE's in a variety of labeled meals, though beef stroganoff was the main meal in the batch. I wondered what could have happened to make this guy leave such a collection of goods. We took all the stuff that was packed into the truck and loaded it on the side of the road where we had started a pile from the other cars. Trent held onto the knife and gave the rifle to Tyreese.
We walked up to a little compact car ready to pull the same move. We thought that it was odd that the doors were shut. The previous ones were left flung open from people fleeing. We were laughing about moving these cars and wondering why our tax dollars didn't include this project. I walked up to the door and was about to open it when I was startled to find there was something in it.
I jumped back when a near skeleton hand slapped against the glass. The fingers were gnarled and looked like branches from a tree. The skin was leathery and cracked along the knuckles, like worn gloves. The hand slapped against the glass trying to get to me. This zombie had been encased in a virtual tomb, unable to operate the car door latch. Her body was emaciated, her hair had fallen out in clumps, but long strands of blonde hair still remained. Her eyes seemed unnaturally large as her face had been otherwise shrunken. Her cheek bones jutted out in sharp angles. Her mouth was open, emitting the ever popular moan. Her teeth were black with rot, several broken from snapping against the other. I figured that there had been people wandering by that she had desperately wanted to eat. I looked at the zombie and actually felt bad for her. She had not eaten at all since converting to her zombie self. I wonder if she thought that maybe she would be fine, that whatever bit her maybe didn't bite hard enough. Maybe she thought that she could get to the hospital and be treated. Whatever her decision was, it didn't seem to work, and now she was trapped. Her eyes were locked on to me, not wanting to lose the prey that stood only feet away from her.
It struck me in that moment how infant like the zombies were in completing tasks. I thought of Drew as a baby and how his coordination was so limited. His problem solving skills were limited to what he could see. I thought of other zombies we had run across. If they saw us they could track us. As long as they knew where we were they would follow, much like if I had hidden a ball under a pillow in front of Drew, he could find it, but if he didn't see me hide it, the interest in locating the ball was not there and he would find a different thing to do. If the zombies didn't see us they kept looking for something better.
That realization didn't help the situation much. There was still a zombie in the car that needed to be moved off the road so we could get through. I turned to Trent who came up to me wondering why I hadn't yet started to move the car.
“Aww, man, I knew this was going to happen.” he said with a sigh. “We had been too lucky before with getting these out of the way free and clear.”
I nodded in agreement. “So, what's the plan on this?”
Trent surveyed the scene. “She's still wearing her seat belt. I bet she can't take it off. I'm going to go over to the passenger door and get that opened up. She's going to lunge at me so I'm going to use that hunting knife I found to take care of her. Then I can just slide the shift lever to neutral and it is business as usual.”
It seemed easy enough. The door had been locked so Trent broke the window. She leaned over the seat, struggling against the belt to try to get a hold of him. In a lunge Trent buried the knife to the hilt through her eye socket. She stopped thrashing about. To be extra careful Trent stirred the knife around a couple times, almost as though he was giving her a lobotomy, just to be sure that she would stay dead. He pulled the knife out of her head and grimaced at all the black gloopy gore that had now coated the once shiny blade. He stabbed it through the passenger seat to wipe it off. He put the car into neutral and we started pushing, glad to be done with this particular car.
After what felt like hours of road clearing and scavenging, as well as killing several more trapped zombies, we were on our way. I rode with Trent for this leg of the journey. We were coming up on one of those little strip malls with a mattress store in it.
“Trent, let's get off the freeway here. I want to go to the mattress store, I have an idea.” I said suddenly. Trent has known me for a while and seems to trust that my ideas have some value. He still looked at me as though he wasn't sure what the plan was. “I think those memory foam mattresses would be nice back there. We could cut them to fit the floor and bunks so it would be more comfortable back there.”
Trent looked at me with appreciation. He liked that idea after having slept on the miserable flooring. When we got in front of the store we made sure we were clear of trouble. The process went easier than I figured it would. We used mostly twin and full sized mattresses thinking that it would be easier to fit them that way. We also decided it would be best if we didn't cover the entire floor area, if for no other reason than we needed a place to take off our shoes.
When we were getting ready to leave, I noticed a pair of zombies headed our way. I watched them shamble towards us and marveled at them. One was a child, wearing a filthy hospital gown. Whoever tied it on did a great job since it was still attached. On his wrist was a hospital band. His leg had been dressed in hospital tape holding a square of gauze on by just a corner. It was clear that he had been bitten on the leg, a fairly deep bite at that. The adult zombie had a striking resemblance to the child, even in death, and was clearly the child zombie's father. He was bitten on the shoulder. He had no other wounds. It was easy to imagine the scenario that got them to this point. The boy was bitten on the leg and admitted to the hospital when he had developed the fever. He probably had the seizure and was declared dead. His father held his body close to him when the boy reanimated. The boy would have seen him as a steak at that point and laid into the closest bit of food. The nurses would have separated them but it would have been too late. I wondered if they had been wandering together all this time or did they just bump into each other in the search for food. I am the type that likes to assign emotional value when there isn't really any, so I imagined that they had been walking together all this time.
I called Trent over to see the pair. He stood there with a sad look on his face. The boy was probably just a year or two younger than Drew was. I wondered if Trent saw himself in that situation.
“What are we going to do with them?” I whispered.
“What needs to be done.�
� Trent replied, with a degree of resolution in his voice. He walked over to Tyreese and got the rifle from him. He fired a shot at the adult and it took him down. He had a harder time lining up the shot, or maybe finding the will to do the deed, on the kid. He took a deep breath and fired. He hit the small zombie dead on. I kept trying to think of the kid as a small zombie. I think Trent was too.
“We need to go now.” Trent said quietly. I agreed totally.
We drove out of Barstow. Neither one of us had much to say. We just needed to get to a quiet area and be done for the day. When we got to a stretch of nothingness we pulled over. We ate the MRE's and decided to call it a night. The sun had gone down, escaping its view of our section of the world. I didn't blame it.
The night air was cold. We covered up all the gun ports and vents to try to trap body heat. Each family group cuddled up to one another, not just to stay warm, but to feel reassured that even though the apocalypse happened we still had each other.
Scout
The next morning we woke to a heavy frost that had fallen all around us. We slept much better on the memory foam mattresses but we were still a long ways away from a good night's sleep. Somehow that didn't surprise me at all. I think the days of feeling like you had slept properly were just about over.
We stretched as we stumbled out of the trailer. The brisk morning air swept over us like a walk in freezer, waking us all up. Tyreese responded as though he had been struck by an iced blanket. I laughed. The kids delighted in wearing multiple layers of their new clothes in an effort to get warm. I followed their example.
We pulled out the barbecue to start breakfast going. We were getting down to instant creamed wheat and oatmeal. We should have loaded more cereal for the kids. "We'll have to hit a grocery at some point." I said, to no one in particular. I was answered with a few wordless nods. Trent looked at me with amusement, as though hitting a grocery would be a walk in the park with a semi-truck.