Wake the Dead

by Vanucci, Gary F.

  “It’s not fresh ground beans, but it’ll have to do,” she finally said after a long bout of silence.

  “No, this is great, really,” Alex responded, smiling and toasting his mug toward her. “And look, I’m sorry for the way I treated you yesterday. I understand that it’s not your fault that you want to go look for your sister. I get it, I just wish you would have said something is all.” Olivia nodded, sipping her coffee quietly in contemplation, looking up at Alex. Finally, she broke the silence.

  “I had a daughter, you know,” Olivia said, “In the old world.”

  “How old was she?

  “Only three. I remember spending time with her after her father left.”

  “Yeah, I’ll bet that was great,” Alex said, thinking of what his life might have been like with a son or daughter with which to share it. “What was her name?”

  “Heather. And It was great. I spent every afternoon with her, watching her take her first steps and say her first words,” she said, tearing up as she suddenly and obviously became overwhelmed by her daughter’s absence.

  “Hey, I'm sorry. I’ve lost loved ones, too. I know what it’s like.”

  “Your wife, I know,” Olivia said, frowning and wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

  “Well, I didn’t tell you this, but my wife was pregnant.” Olivia stared up at him and nodded, crying some more.

  “That really sucks,” Olivia said, looking up at him sympathetically. “I don’t even want to tell you how I lost my daughter.”

  “No, I can’t imagine. Only thing you can do is hold onto the good memories and hope that gets you through.”

  “Not much of those to go on,” Olivia added gloomily, sipping her coffee.

  “No?” Alex said, hearing the sound of Shadow scratching at the door. He stood, listening as she continued and opened a can of tuna for him, dumping it into a bowl. “What did you do? I mean in the real world?”

  “You’re gonna laugh,” she said, looking up at him. “No judging.”

  “Fine. No judging.”

  “I was a stripper.” Alex stared at her and shrugged. “But I was going to go to nursing school. I was just saving up money for tuition.”

  “And then what happened?” Alex said, opening the door and dropping the bowl for shadow.

  “Then I met John, my husband. He came into the club every night to watch me dance and….”

  “Oh, so he took you away from all that, eh? A real Prince Charming?”

  “At first, yeah. But then, he got involved with the club, tended bar there, watched me dance every night, and eventually got us into more trouble,” Olivia said, shaking her head, taking a deep breath and sipping her coffee some more.

  “Mom watched my baby, and eventually, John got tired of me, mom and Heather, and started not coming home, you know. The whole thing.”

  “Yeah, tell me more. Where did you grow up?” Alex asked.

  He listened as she told him her life story, taking up the whole rest of that morning and afternoon. She left on her daily mission to meet her sister, Alex offering to go again and her turning him down.

  So, in her absence, he tended the cucumber patch and tried to figure out the electrical problems with regards to the solar panels, but again that met with failure.

  Olivia crested the hill that evening as the sun faded, and admitted to Alex that the whole thing was frustrating and that she intended to continue doing it every day if she could. They shared a meal together and she gave him some insight into her past but hesitated when talking about her childhood. Alex did not push the issue with her.

  As Alex lay there, trying to fall asleep that night, Olivia spoke once more, breaking the silence.

  “Tell you about my parents tomorrow,” she said, staring at him. He smiled back at her and rolled over before she added, “maybe.”

  “G’nite, Liv.”

  ***

  The next few days were much of the same, Alex trying to open up to her and she doing the same. Alex tried to give her the space she needed when discussing her past, and he would often fall asleep with images of Olivia invading his thoughts in a very similar way as Sara once had.

  The following day, Alex awoke first and did a much lighter workout. He joined Olivia for breakfast this morning and again she explained a bit more of her past to him.

  “My father was not the nicest man,” she began that morning, sipping her coffee while Shadow lay comfortably by her side of the table. Alex looked up from his coffee and beheld a palpable sorrow within her blue eyes. He could tell that this was a sensitive subject for her, and did not want to force the issue.

  “It’s okay if you don’t want to tackle it,” Alex said with a quick grin. “We’ve got plenty of time to chat about these things, so if this is something you don’t want to discuss….”

  She looked up at him and nodded, seemingly understanding his meaning there. “Thanks, Alex, but I have nothing to do but reflect on bad decisions I’ve made and try to understand my mistakes. You know, try to deal with them and move on.”

  “’I’ll even wave my fee,” he replied, looking from her to the wolf and back to her again. She was stoic in her expression, however, clearly not believing it to be humorous at all. “Tough cabin.”

  “Maybe it’s better if I don’t—“

  “It’s okay. I was kidding,” Alex disputed, admitting his regret at infusing levity into a serious conversation. “I say inappropriate things sometimes, I guess. But in all seriousness, If you want to tell me something, please do. I’m here for you. The better I get to know you, the more likely we will remain friends and build trust.”

  “I agree,” she admitted, obviously relieved, as was Alex in that he had righted the emotional ship, so to speak. “When I was a young girl, I have distinct memories of my father hitting my mother. And not only hitting her, but all of us: my brother, my sister, me, but especially my mom.”

  Alex simply shook his head, trying to wrap his head around what kind of an upbringing that must have been like. He maintained eye contact with her, remaining silent, and allowing her to approach the subject at her own pace.

  “Mom always took the brunt of his anger. She was trying to protect us, she always said. But when my brother David was older, he confronted my dad when he hit her, trying to stick up for her and he put Dave in the hospital,” Olivia continued, staring at her coffee and stirring it absently with a spoon.

  “Wouldn’t the cops get involved at that point?” Alex heard himself asking, not meaning to interject, but he did anyway.

  “They would have, but my mother begged David not to press charges, thinking that dad would take it out on one of us.”

  “Alcohol?” Alex guessed, drawing a blank stare from her. “Your dad, I mean. Was he an alcoholic?”

  “No, not an alcoholic. More like a workaholic. We had nice things growing up, but he still beat my mom.” She paused, crying openly now and Alex watched her as she tried to get herself under control. “After that, things went to hell for my family. I started dancing, doing drugs at the local club. Looking back on it, I just wanted to do anything to get away from it and make the pain go away,” Olivia stood and started pacing the room just then, twirling her hair and tugging at it absently. It looked painful to Alex, but again, he remained silent, listening.

  “Two years later, after a failed marriage, and I was pregnant with Heather at the time, I remember Jill coming to me and telling me that dad died. They said he slipped and fell when heading down to the basement, breaking his neck on the way down, but I knew better. My mother was actually devastated.”

  “I can’t imagine,” Alex said, listening intently to her as she sat down and he stood, shaking his head and trying to understand the family dynamic within which she was raised. Alex had a slightly dysfunctional family, though he supposed everyone did to some extent. Despite that, his parents loved and supported him a hundred percent, as Alex was an only child, and probably spoiled compared to most kids he knew growing up. Olivia continued her
story, drawing him from his brief reverie.

  “A few years later, Jill was the caretaker for my mother who came down with a terminal illness, and I found Terry, my current husband, and who I thought was a good guy. He ended up being very much like my father in ways…,” she added cryptically. Another story for another time he supposed, as she did not further explain. “Mom died, only this past November, actually, ironically right before the zombie plague.”

  “Better for her she didn’t have to face this, eh?” Alex asked. Olivia nodded and remained silent a moment.

  “Jill told me not that long ago, that she was the one who pushed my father down the stairs. She said she found out dad was having an affair with someone in his office, was still beating mom too, and she couldn’t take it,” she explained, tears slowly running down her cheeks.

  “No, I suppose she couldn’t,” Alex said sympathetically.

  “Jill was always the tough one.”

  “Well, you’re still here, Liv. I’d say you’re tougher than you think,” he added with a short-lived smile. She forced a grin through her tears and Alex was relieved to see it. She stood and surprisingly came over to him and sat in his lap, hugging him. He hugged her back and smiled again, believing this to be a good enough start to develop a rapport with her. They were interrupted by scratching at the door, Shadow standing there, wanting to go outside.

  Olivia stood, allowing him to get up and he let Shadow outside, closing the door behind the wolf. She wiped the tears from her eyes and retrieved the pistol from the table.

  “I'm going to the meeting place,” she stated boldly. She stood up and gathered her pack, which she always took with her, and stood at the door, looking back over her shoulder at him.

  “You sure you don’t want me to come?”

  “I could use the alone time,” she said curtly. It seemed to sting Alex more than he let on, but he did his best to hold that smile until she turned and proceeded out the door, saying nothing more to him. He watched out the window as she proceeded down the path and out of sight.

  Maybe we aren’t quite there yet, he mused.

  ***

  Alex spent the next few hours working out and practicing with the bow. He set up the target again with the pillow and proceeded to spend many hours hitting the mark, while Shadow disappeared completely.

  He was alone.

  His anger and frustration slowly faded though as he realized that Liv most likely needed to blow off some steam or get some space. They were getting to know one another pretty well this past week, and he was thankful for the company.

  He found himself thinking about her as a woman and not as an asexual companion and admitted that she was attractive to him, which surprised him, as he hadn’t really thought of her in that light before now.

  He pulled the string on the bow and let the last arrow fly, missing the target and splintering the shaft. “Well, shit,” he uttered to the empty air as he collected his arrows.

  After he retrieved them all again, his peripheral vision picked up a small game animal out of the corner of his eye. In one motion, he set an arrow and loosed it, accurately hitting what he would find to be a possum. “Shadow’s gonna love that!”

  He spent the rest of the day inside, reading his dictionary, thinking about Olivia, and then Sara, and pondering his own humanity.

  Twilight was quickly approaching and Shadow returned, padding up to him and panting heavily. Alex removed the possum and tossed it to Shadow who tore at it ravenously.

  He was more tired than he cared to admit and went inside, nightfall in full effect, but Olivia wasn’t back yet. He tried to wait up for her, but dozed off under the physical and emotional weariness of the day‘s events.

  Sometime later, Alex heard the door open and saw Olivia come in. He recognized that she was okay, but seemed melancholy and heard her sobbing quietly again. He did not want to intrude upon her, and instead, let her have her necessary privacy as he fell asleep once more, rather uneasily.

  ***

  Alex awoke to the sound of the floorboard creaking. He saw a shadow from behind him and spun to face the source.

  It was Olivia, half-naked, topless, wearing only panties. Her hair was loose and hanging, no longer contained by her hair tie and it framed her face in a way that made her look altogether different. But, Alex did not have much time to ponder it as she closed the gap between them quickly. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “It’s no bother, I wasn’t really sleeping anyway. Just startled me is all. Not used to having company other than the wolf.”

  She dropped to the floor to lie beside him and her arms draped around his chest. He glanced over his shoulder into her blue eyes and she smiled warmly again.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m just cold,” she said, hugging him tightly. She seemed to be exploring his body running her hands all along his chest and shoulders at first. But, shortly after, he felt her hand as it began moving gradually down his abdomen and she proceeded further, stopping and feeling him over the top of his jeans, rubbing him gently and slowly. “And I haven’t been with a man I’ve truly wanted to be with in a very long time.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Alex asked reflexively as she rubbed the shaft of his growing erection. It was becoming more difficult for him to give thought to anything else, but he listened as intently as he could.

  “He was an ass, I already told you. We were…not intimate very often this past year or longer. Can’t even remember,” she admitted agonizingly. “I found out he was having an affair with a co-worker just before all this shit went down and I did nothing about it. I was stupid,” she added, her hands working along his shaft gently as they locked gazes. She started kissing him on the neck as he turned to face her and kissed her back, tugging at her panties, swept up in the moment, trying ineffectively to remove them, until finally she assisted him.

  She helped him off with his pants and he climbed on top of her. He worked his hand inside of her and felt the familiar warmth as she continued to stroke him.

  He stared at her and a fleeting thought of Sara entered his mind’s eye, stealing some of his libido, before disappearing altogether just as quickly. She grabbed him and placed him inside of her, oblivious to his brief, inner turmoil.

  She was so wet and warm, and he closed his eyes, allowing himself to enjoy this brief and pleasant respite from this hell of a world.

  He thrust inside of her and she moaned with delight. He started out slow, savoring the sensation, and gained momentum as she grabbed his ass and pulled him in harder. Repeatedly, he thrust himself into her while she grabbed at her own nipples, tugging on them and moaning as he did.

  He felt the end coming and didn’t even hold it back as he let go with a groan of his own. She wrapped her legs around him and let it happen, watching him, soaking it in.

  A moment of silence ensued and she smiled at him as he looked down at her and smiled back.

  “I’m not done with you yet,” she said, sitting up and shoving him to the ground as she put her mouth around him. He wiped the sweat from his brow and allowed himself to enjoy it all. He felt her tongue and the wetness of her mouth on his resurgent erection and basked in the pleasure, her tongue cascading over the tip and then shifting gently over his balls. It wasn’t long before he was hard again.

  He thrust inside of her once more and she threw her head back and moaned in ecstasy as he pumped in and out. He began a slow and steady pace, but she encouraged him to go faster this time and he obliged.

  “Oh, yes!” she whispered delightedly and convulsed as an orgasm overwhelmed her. A moment or two passed and he allowed her to enjoy it, seeing beads of sweat against her skin in the moonlight of the window. It wasn’t until moments later when she stopped her gyrations and stared up him.

  “I want you to cum again,” she said, pushing him out of her, turning to face away from him, getting on all fours. She backed into him as he remained on his knees, spread her legs again, and guided hi
m inside of her as she threw her head back. Alex cupped her breasts in his hands as he leaned over her and began again. His hands moved over her back and ass, grabbing her thighs firmly as he drove inside of her hard. He continued to thrust in and out of her, faster and faster, until his legs and back ached from it. He felt an intensifying orgasm approaching and grabbed her hips tightly, pulling her against him and holding her fast as he climaxed. She smiled, looking back at him over her shoulder with a sidelong glance, her damp hair falling loose over her shoulders.

  “Feel better?” she asked, collapsing to the hard floor and flipping over to face him. Her breasts were perfectly still, her nipples still firm as she wrapped her legs around him again and pulled him to her.

  “Now shut up and just lay with me,” she asked as he was about to offer her a thanks, which would have sounded quite silly. “Don’t say another word.”

  He obliged happily and allowed the weariness and relaxation to claim him as he closed his eyes.

  Chapter 7

  Alex awoke, naked and bundled up beneath a few blankets. He hadn’t remembered the last time he slept so soundly. Olivia sat up staring at him and smiling. “Wasn’t expecting that, eh?” she said, holding his gaze.

  “Not exactly that,” he said, matching her smile.

  “Me either,” she admitted. “It kind of just happened. We’re not boyfriend and girlfriend, though, so don’t go buying me an engagement ring,” she added as she sat up. Alex could not tell if her tone was serious or not, so he said nothing.

  They got dressed and shared a freshly picked cucumber and a can of beef and bean chili mix in relative silence.

  “Got anything to read here?” she asked, wiping gravy from her face.

  “Yep, there’s a few books still in the back room and, I found a newspaper the other day. It’s still inside. They hadn’t got to that one, but they sure stained my dictionary,” he said, referring to the invasion of the zombies a few days prior. He went into the living room and fished out the paper and handed it to Olivia.