Dead Highways (Book 3): Discord

by Brown, Richard

  Ted, sensing other people wanted to practice, started doing crowd control. Moments later, many were firing off shots under Ted’s supervision.

  “How did I do?” Naima asked, as I walked her toward the exit.

  “You did good. Better than my first day.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. You should come back tomorrow. It wasn’t so bad right?”

  She shook her head. “I think I could get used to it. Thanks for helping me.”

  “No problem.”

  Not seconds after Naima left the gym, Peaches came up to me with a stunned look on her face like she’d just caught me masturbating.

  She pulled me outside where we wouldn’t have to yell over the gunfire. “What’s going on?”

  “I was just helping Naima learn to shoot. What’s going on with you?”

  “How come you didn’t tell me?”

  “Huh?”

  “How come you didn’t tell me?” she asked again.

  “Why does it matter? Training is what I do now.”

  “Yeah? You get that close with all your trainees?”

  That old Gin Blossoms song played in my head.

  Hey Jealousy.

  “Only the women,” I said, with a wry smile.

  One of these days, I’d say the right thing on the first try. I had a lot to learn about how to diffuse a woman’s anger. Note to self: Don’t make jokes. It’ll only make things worse.

  “That’s not even funny, Jimmy.”

  “How was I getting close?”

  “You had your arms around her.”

  “I was showing her how to hold the gun.”

  Peaches crossed her arms and gazed at me with prying eyes. If I was lying, she was determined to find out simply by studying my every movement. I didn’t look away. Never show weakness. I had nothing to hide anyway.

  “So there’s nothing going on between you two?” she asked, still not satisfied.

  I put on my best serious face, knowing even the slightest grin would set her off. “No. Nothing. She’s just a friend.”

  She remained quiet for a moment digging into my eyes again, and then said, “Okay, I trust you.”

  Doesn’t sound like you trust me, I thought, as she plodded off toward the school.

  Bowser passed her on his way to the gym. “Girl problems?”

  “How’d you know?”

  “The look on her face said it all.”

  “She thinks I like Naima.”

  “Do you?”

  “Not like that.”

  “I had to ask,” Bowser said. “Better get used to it. Women get jealous a lot. Least the ones I’ve been with did.”

  “How’s it going with Zoe? Any luck?”

  “Nah,” Bowser said, chuckling. “She said she’s a lesbian.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Nope. That’s what she said. I don’t really believe it though. So I’m gonna keep trying.”

  “Man, that’s too funny. Sounds like you got bigger girl problems than me.”

  For the rest of the day, I thought of ways I could make Peaches feel better—somehow ease her mind. Naima was certainly attractive, and it was hard not to flirt sometimes, especially for a flirting pro like me, even if the flirting was just harmless fun. I had zero intention of doing anything with Naima, except growing our friendship. Aamod had finally settled down and began treating me nice. The last thing I wanted to do was arm that bomb again. Being my first real relationship, I had no idea how to proceed. It’s not like I could have flowers delivered with an I’m sorry for getting too close to the female trainees note attached. I finally decided to do nothing. Give her space and time to cool down.

  Instead, she warmed up.

  After game night in the library, and the others had wandered off, Peaches tugged me between two of the back bookcases and shoved her tongue in my mouth.

  “Whoa, what are you doing?”

  “I don’t know,” she replied, trying to work the zipper on my pants. “You?”

  Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

  “I’m not doing anything in here.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s a library.”

  “So. No one’s in here but us.”

  She pressed against me, hot and ready, like those awful Little Caesars pizzas. Next thing I knew my pants were around my ankles. I hurried to pull them back up.

  “Someone could come in here and find us.”

  “It’s late,” she replied, fighting for control of my pants. “Everyone is going to bed now.”

  “Yeah, and what if someone can’t sleep? Maybe they come in here to check out Great Expectations or something.”

  “I have great expectations,” she said.

  “You shouldn’t.”

  “We haven’t done anything. Aren’t you ready?”

  “Sure. It just needs to be the right time. In the school library is not the right time.”

  “Fine,” she pouted.

  “I’m sorry.”

  She sighed and walked away, leaving me standing between the bookcases waiting for things to die down. I realized after she left that she hadn’t jumped me because she wanted sex. After being jealous of me spending time with Naima, she wanted to mark her territory. She wanted reassurance that she was the only one. And I gave her nothing.

  Thinking back on that night in the library weeks later, I regretted not going through with it.

  Because sometimes you don’t get a second chance.

  Chapter 111

  “What’s this about?” I asked Robinson.

  “No idea.”

  The six of us—me, Peaches, Robinson, Bowser, Aamod, and Naima—waited outside the gym for the seventh member of the original group. Ted had called the meeting to speak with us in private, said he had some big news he needed to share.

  It had been a cloudy day. A cloudy week, for the most part. And the overcast skies perfectly fit the overall mood of the group. For a few days I could sense there was something going on with Ted. He kept to himself more often than usual, spent a lot of time writing in a small wire notebook. When confronted, he’d say he was just thinking about stuff.

  Stuff?

  A non-answer.

  After how good things had been going at the school, I think we were all a little worried that Ted’s news might somehow shatter our good fortune to pieces.

  Ted came out of the school building and walked over, skipping puddles left by a morning rain shower.

  “Hey all.” He glanced around the schoolyard, making sure no one was close enough to hear what he was about to say. “I called this meeting because I wanted y’all to be the first to know. Figured you deserved it, rather than hear it secondhand. So Paul and Susan don’t know yet.”

  “Don’t know what?” Robinson asked.

  Ted took a deep breath and then spat it out. “I’ve decided to leave.”

  “What do you mean…leave?” I asked. “Leave the school?”

  “Yeah.” Our collective frown made Ted drop his head a little. It was obvious he felt terrible about delivering the news.

  “And go where?” Robinson asked.

  “West Texas,” Ted replied. “A rinky-dink town named Sierra Blanca. That’s where I’m from. It’s about ninety miles east of El Paso. I might have mentioned it before.”

  “You mentioned it,” Robinson said. “But why go now? What do you hope to find there?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe nothing. But it’s where most of my family lives…or lived. And I thought it would be nice to at least see my family home one more time. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. But I wanted to make sure everything was good here before I took off.”

  “So…you’re just leaving us then?” Peaches asked. “Are you gonna come back?”

  “I can’t say for sure. You know how it is out there. But I’ll probably try, if things are like I expect back home.”

  “Of course they are, Ted,” Robinson whispered. “You know that.”

&nb
sp; “Most likely. But I have a way about me, ya know. I get restless sometimes. And this is something I gotta do. We…um…um…my family…”

  It was the first time I’d ever seen Ted get choked up. He was normally about as emotional as a potted plant.

  “What?” Robinson prodded.

  “I haven’t really spoken to my family in many years,” Ted finally said. “We had a bit of a falling out, you could call it. It wasn’t all my fault, but most of it was. And I…I feel like I gotta make amends now. I need to reconnect with them, even if they’re no longer there. I think just being in that old house, surrounded by pictures of them, will be enough. It’ll be my way of saying sorry.”

  We all stayed quiet for a moment, upset that he was leaving but sympathetic to his reasoning.

  “I’ll go with you,” Robinson said.

  “What? No, no,” Ted said, shaking his head. “I’m going alone. You have it good here. I don’t want to ruin that.”

  “I don’t care. Everyone else can stay back. But I owe you.”

  “You don’t owe me.”

  “I’m going with you. I won’t let you go alone.”

  “If you’re going then I’m going,” I said to Robinson.

  “No, no, no,” Ted muttered. “Stop this. I’m going alone and that’s the end of it.”

  “No, Ted, it’s not,” Robinson said. “The only reason we’re even here right now is because you came along to help me look for my son. I would have never made it on my own. Shit…we’d all be dead right now without you. So I’m going to return the favor, and we’re gonna get there together. When were you thinking about leaving?”

  “A few days.”

  “Good. That gives us enough time to plan a route.”

  Ted, not the arguing type, finally gave in to Robinson’s demands, and simply said, “Okay.”

  That night I sat in bed and thought about how different things were going to be without the two of them around anymore. They had without a doubt been the leaders of our little group since the beginning, and even though we were surrounded by hundreds of other people now, I couldn’t imagine life without them. The idea that somehow they’d return later on was total fiction. They’d never make it all the way to west Texas and back. Their luck would run out sooner or later. It was just the two of them, after all. The minute they walked out of the school, I’d never see either of them again.

  So I’d decided I’d walk out with them.

  No matter what they said, I’d fight to go. Like Robinson, I wouldn’t take no for an answer. I wasn’t so sure about Bowser, Aamod, or Naima, but Peaches would come along. She’d come this far because of me. She’d go a little farther.

  I’d miss spending my days at the school. The air conditioning. The cafeteria. The super cool solar shower bag. Game night in the library. The new friends I’d made, like Paul, Susan, Jenson, Zoe, Craig, and the girl he liked with the silly laugh, Emily. And all those that I was still getting to know—many of them new people Paul had brought in over the past month. Nor was I looking forward to being on the road again—being in danger every second. Living at the school made me believe in Paul’s vision. We could rebuild. We could survive. We were doing it. But despite all the promise the school held, I still had to go. I had to leave the comfort and safety behind. The strongest relationships always win out in the end, and for better or worse, Ted and Robinson were stuck with me.

  Little did we all know, Ted had other plans.

  The next morning.

  The sun came up over the trees beyond the schoolyard, pouring golden light through the big classroom windows. I yawned and sat up, glanced around the room. Peaches heard me moving around, opened her eyes, and then rolled back over. She pulled a sheet up to hide her face from the bright sun. On the other side of me Robinson had his mouth open, snoring lightly. Bowser’s cot was empty, which wasn’t surprising given he’d started taking on interior fence guard duty lately, anything to get close to Zoe. Half of the other people were gone as well, including my fellow gym rat, Ted.

  No big deal. He was an early riser. I couldn’t remember one day over the last month where I woke before him. He liked to be outside in the fresh air, watch the sunrise.

  Then I saw the piece of paper.

  I quietly got up and walked over to Ted’s bed, peered down at the single sheet of white paper. On top of the paper was a brown key. I hesitated, knowing what the note said without even having to read it. I knew what the key was for too.

  It was for me.

  Robinson rolled over, rubbed his eyes. “What’s up?” he asked in his best stuffy morning voice.

  “Ted left a note.”

  “A note?” Robinson rose to a sitting position. “What do you mean? What does it say?”

  “I haven’t read it yet. I just saw it.”

  Annoyed by our talking, Peaches came out of hiding and glanced over. “Trying to sleep over here.” She tucked her face back under the sheet.

  “You should get up,” I said. “Ted left a note.”

  A minute later, we sat next to each other on Ted’s bed. I stared down at the brown key in my hand while Robinson read the note aloud.

  “To all my friends,” he began. “I didn’t want to leave this note, but you didn’t leave me much choice. I’m sorry it had to be this way. If I had let one of you come, then all of you would have come, because that’s the kind of loyal people you are. But this is something I have to do alone. I hope you can forgive me. I couldn’t have asked for better friends. Stay here at the school and take care of each other. This is a good place. Jimmy, I left the key to the armory. I let Paul know and he’s cool with it. Don’t worry, you’ll do a fine job teaching people to shoot without me around. I’m proud of you, kid. I’m gonna miss all of you, and I truly hope maybe we’ll see each other again someday. Until then, stay safe. Your friend, Ted.”

  We sat shoulder to shoulder on the bed in silence for many moments, absorbing Ted’s last words.

  I wanted to be mad at him for sneaking out in the middle of the night, not giving us the chance to say a proper goodbye. But I couldn’t be mad at him. I understood. Everything he said in the note was true. We were never going to let him leave by himself. And though I’d never know for sure, I’d keep my fingers crossed, hoping he made it to his family home in west Texas, and once there, be able to make peace with the past that had such a heavy hold on his heart.

  If anyone could survive such a perilous journey alone, it was freckle face.

  Chapter 112

  A few days after Ted departed in the night, a terrible series of events began to play itself out.

  Let me explain.

  The day started no different than any other. I woke up around eight in the morning, used the porta-potty outside, and then headed off to the cafeteria for breakfast. The usual Tuesday specials were on the menu. Corned beef hash in a can. Apple juice from concentrate.

  After breakfast, I headed out to the gym with Craig following along beside me. I had left all the targets out the previous day, and Craig agreed to help me move everything back into the storage room. Without Ted around anymore, I was in need of a replacement to work alongside me at the range. Paul trusted me to pick the right person, most likely someone enthusiastic about shooting but with a good head on their shoulders. I had a few people in mind, but there was no rush. Safety first when it came to firearms.

  “No shooting today?” Craig asked.

  I shook my head. “There’s a basketball game today. Did you forget?”

  “Oh, that’s right.”

  “Aren’t you gonna play?”

  “I doubt it. I have to go on a supply run.”

  “Didn’t you just go on one yesterday?”

  “Yeah, but this trip was unplanned.”

  “What time do you leave?”

  “Around lunchtime.”

  “Yeah, you might not make it back in time. The game is supposed to be around one.”

  “I’m sure you’ll do fine without me.”

 
“Right,” I said, unlocking the gym doors. “Just like I always do. One of these days you’ll have to take me on a run.”

  “You actually want to go?”

  “Sure. Be nice to go outside the fence every now and then. I like it here, but I haven’t left in over a month.”

  “Today we’re hitting some stores a town over. It’s unexplored territory, so who knows what we’ll find.”

  “Just watch out for infected.”

  “Always do. I’m actually going with Paul, Zoe, and Jenson today. Normally I only do runs with the two T’s—Tucker and Thomas. But I guess Ray spotted some people on a flyover yesterday, so Paul asked me to go with them to check it out. We’re gonna raid some stores at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone and whatnot.”

  “Maybe you’ll help sell some survivors on this place.”

  Craig shrugged. “That’s really Paul’s gig. I’ll just be there to keep lookout while they do their thing.”

  It took us thirty minutes or so to carry all the gear back into the storage room. Some of the larger bookcases were heavy, and the two of us weren’t exactly ripping with muscles. When finished, I relocked the gym doors and we headed back toward the school.

  “So…today is the day,” Craig said.

  “Tuesday?”

  “No, I was thinking about telling Emily how I feel about her later this afternoon. After I get back from my run.”

  “Took you long enough.”

  Over the past few weeks, since he first revealed to me his feelings about Emily in the library, Craig had come to me—the school ladies man—with questions almost daily.

  What does it mean when she twirls her hair?

  When she playfully touches my chest?

  When she laughs at all my jokes?

  When she always wants to be around me?

  No idea, Craig. Maybe she hates you.

  “I’m pretty nervous about it,” he said. “You think she’ll say yes?”

  “Are you asking her to marry you?”

  “No, just to be my girlfriend.”

  “Oh, then you should be fine,” I said with a rotten smile on my face. “Unless she’s into girls, of course, in which case you should probably be talking to Bowser instead of me.”