“It sure looks different than the last time I saw it,” Jim said as he drove up the road.
“I’ve never seen the greens on a golf course grown up like that,” Debbie said. “It looks funny.”
“I think everything looks funny to you right now,” Jim smiled.
“Can we go over and see the lake?” Monica asked.
“Do you need to get out and stretch your legs?” Jim asked Debbie.
“Sure, why not,” she replied.
Jim pulled the car to the side of the road. The edge of the creek was only twenty feet away.
Jim got out of the car and listened, “I can’t remember when I’ve heard things be this quiet.”
“It’s nice,” Debbie replied as she walked around the car.
“OK Shrimp, you can get out.” Debbie said.
Monica and Ed got out of the car and ran over to the lake.
Monica stuck her foot into the water.
“Don’t get your clothes wet,” Debbie yelled then looked at Jim, “We don’t need her getting sick.”
A minute later Monica came running over to Debbie and Jim.
“Ed went swimming, can I go swimming too,” Monica pleaded, “it’s not that cold.”
“I don’t want you to get your clothes wet, you will get sick,” Monica replied.
“Will you hold them for me?” Monica asked.
“OK, but if you start getting cold, I want you get right out so you don’t get sick,” Debbie said.
“I will,” Monica replied.
Debbie nodded and Monica quickly got undressed and ran into the water and started to splash water at Ed.
“I don’t think we will recognize the Shrimp after all that dirt gets washed off of her,” Debbie laughed.
“If the water is cold enough,” Jim smiled, “Maybe she will be too cold to talk for a few hours. I like this peace and quiet.”
“I know the water is cold, but it isn’t that cold,” Debbie laughed.
The two boys ducked behind the shrubs that decorated the area around the lake.
“Where did that car come from?”
“I don’t know? You don’t think they saw us?”
“I don’t think so.”
The boys watched as the car drove closer and finally pulled off the road fifty feet from where they had been fishing.
“Just stay still,” the first boy whispered. “So they won’t see us.”
“Who do you think they are? You don’t think they are here looking for us?
“I don’t know, just stay still and be ready to run.
“Where are we going to run? This place is wide open, they could catch us.
“Then be quiet so they don’t see us.
They watched the people get out of the car.
The younger boy giggled when the little girl got undressed and ran into the lake.
The older boy elbowed the younger boy and gave him a dirty look.
“It’s not them.”
“I see that,” the younger boy laughed.
“Quit being a creep or she might beat you with her diaper. If she doesn’t do it I will.”
“Sorry,” the younger boy whispered. “What should we do?”
“They look like nice people,” the older boy answered.
“Yea, we haven’t seen anybody like that in a long time,” the younger boy replied.
“I don’t think they look dangerous. Maybe we should go out and talk to them? What do you think?”
“OK, but we should be ready to run in case they have a gun,” the younger boy said.
They nodded at each other, stepped out from behind the shrub and started walking towards the car.
Debbie tapped Jim on the arm.
“There is someone coming,” Debbie said nervously.
Jim looked towards the boys.
“Moni, take Ed and get in the car,” Jim called out.
Monica grabbed Ed, held him in front of her and ran out of the water and climbed into the back seat.
Debbie tossed her clothes into the back seat.
“Let me do the talking, Deb,” Jim said.
When the two boys saw that the people at the car had noticed them, they stopped.
“Hello,” the older boy called out.
“Hi,” Jim answered.
“Can we come over and talk with you?” the older boy asked.
“What do you think Sis?” Jim whispered.
“They don’t look big enough to give us any trouble,” Debbie replied.
“Just keep an eye out in case they are just a distraction,” Jim said. “There could be someone else lurking nearby that could be trouble.”
“OK,” Debbie replied.
“Sure, come on over,” Jim called out.
The two boys walked closer.
When they were about ten feet away they stopped.
The older boy looked at Jim, “You look familiar.”
Jim laughed, “I don’t see how, being we haven’t seen another living person in almost a year.”
“I know what you mean,” the older boy smiled. “We haven’t seen anyone either, but you look familiar.”
The older boy studied Jim for a minute.
Jim started to wonder what they were up to.
“I know where I saw you,” the older boy smiled, “I saw you down at the school in New Florence. You were walking around the school and had an armful of books.”
Jim looked shocked, “How did you see me?”
“It’s a long story,” the older boy smiled and then laughed. “I thought you were a ghost.”
“My name is Jim,” Jim said. “Who are you two and what were you doing in New Florence.”
“I’m Ricki and this is my brother Denny,” Ricki answered.
Debbie laughed, “Are you by any chance Little Ricki?”
Ricki looked stunned, “Where did you hear that? No one calls me that except for these creeps where we had been staying.”
“Did one of those bastards have a lizard tattooed on the side of his head?” Debbie asked.
“That was Devon,” Ricki replied. “Where did you see him?”
“A better question,” Denny smiled, “is how did you get away from him and his two friends?”
“Were you friends of theirs?” Jim asked suspiciously.
“No way in hell,” Denny replied.
“Good,” Debbie smiled, “because Jimmy fed lizard man and his skin head buddy to the dead and hit their big friend over the head with a brick.”
“This is my sister, Debbie by the way,” Jim added.
“All right,” Denny laughed. “We can stop worrying now about them coming to look for us.”
“Jim, you don’t know how happy we are to hear that,” Ricki added. “We had been trapped inside the Fairfield community center for most of the year with those bastards. In the middle of the night Denny and I got up, stole their car and got out of there before they killed us.”
“Yea, we were on our way to New Florence hoping to join up with someone Ricki had seen at the school when Jamal took him down there to look for supplies. I guess that was you,” Denny said. “But we couldn’t get down off the hill. There were too many of those dead things at the bottom of the hill to get through.”
“We knew they would come looking for us and we couldn’t stay up on the hill any longer, so we bashed two of those dead things over the head and threw them in the car so they would think we were dead when they found the car,” Denny said.
“We saw two bicycles by the house where we were hiding, “Ricki said. “It took us all morning to ride all the way out here. We didn’t expect to see you here? You were living at that school right? Tell me I wasn’t crazy.”
“We were living there until those three creeps showed up and tried to kidnap Debbie,” Jim replied. “We had been thinking of moving on anyway because there wasn’t any more food in New Florence. After our run in with those guys, we decided to take their car and get out of there in case any of their friends showed up to look fo
r them.”
“We were hoping you would let us stay with you when we started out for New Florence,” Ricki said. “But now that we are all here, would you be interested in staying with us. We found a couple nice cabins on the other side of the lake. You could take the cabin next to ours if you would like. It would sure be nice to have some decent people around for a change. Maybe we could help each other.”
“Do you like to play games?” Monica yelled out the back window of the car.
Debbie laughed, “No they don’t want to play games with you and Ed.”
Debbie looked at Ricki and Denny, “Besides, Ed cheats.”
“Who is Ed?” Ricki asked, “I thought your name was Jim.”
Jim laughed, “Ed is the dog.”
“We did find a checker board in our cabin,” Denny said.
“You might want to hide that unless you want half your checkers to disappear,” Debbie laughed. “Ed likes to eat red things.”
“I like checkers,” Monica called out.
Jim laughed, “Moni likes everything.”
“What do you say, Jim?” Ricki asked. “At least give it a try for a day or two. The cabins aren’t too bad. They have beds with blankets and a neat fireplace. The trout in this lake are huge.”
“Have you seen many of the dead up here?” Jim asked.
“None so far,” Ricki replied, “You never know where they will show up, but from what me and Denny have seen, the dead don’t like to climb hills.”
Jim looked at Debbie, “What do you think Sis?”
“You guys aren’t weirdos or anything are you?” Debbie smiled, “I don’t want anyone like that around the Shrimp.”
“I don’t know what the shrimp is,” Ricki said, “but we won’t bother you or any of your stuff.”
Jim laughed, “The Shrimp is sitting in the back of the car with her dog.”
“Oh,” Ricki laughed. “Don’t worry we aren’t like those guys that attacked you.”
“Good,” Jim smiled and held out his hand to shake hands with Ricki, “So why don’t you show us this cabin you were telling us about.”
Chapter 29
Carrie stood beside Bob, the wind blowing through her hair. Her hair flapped in the wind behind her like a flag on a windy day.
“I still think we should have tried to take the Gateway Clipper,” Carrie said. “That would have been nice.”
Bob laughed, “We were lucky to find this police river patrol boat. I’ll be lucky if I can keep this thing running. I wouldn’t even know how to steer that damn steam boat. It had to be as long as a city block.”
“But we would have had so much room,” Carrie laughed.
“It will be easier for me to keep track of you on this boat,” Bob smiled. “And keep you out of trouble.”
“This boat will be great,” Carrie said, “It’s a lot better than floating down the river on an air mattress.”
“Yea,” Bob smiled, “With all these boats just sitting around for almost a year now, most of these things are no longer anything more than floating junk heaps. Another few months and we wouldn’t have been able to find anything that would have run. We’re lucky to have this one.”
“How long do you think this boat will keep running?” Carrie asked.
“I don’t know Red,” Bob answered. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Then I’m going to guess it will run for at least a year,” Carrie looked at Bob and smiled, “You’re always telling me to be positive, so I’m going to be optimistic.”
“Well I hope you’re right,” Bob said, “and with me driving it instead of you, who knows, it just might last for a year.”
“Smart ass,” Carrie laughed.
Bob kept the boat in the middle of the river.
They soon passed by the shores of the south side.
The dead staggering along the streets turned and moved towards the river as the boat passed by.
They looked a lot different from out on the river than they had looked the last time Bob and Carrie had flown over the south side in the helicopter.
The entire city looked different than it had looked from up on the hospital.
The view from down on the river looked more like what Bob and Carrie had remembered the world to be before they had gone to the hospital.
The time at the hospital had been a brief reprieve from the horrors of what the world had become.
They had been able to see what the world had become, but had felt isolated and protected from the worst of it up on the hospital.
They had been able to feel that way for only a short time, but at the end of their stay, the realities of the world came crashing down around them.
But this time when the world came crashing down around them, they hadn’t lost everything.
This time they both emerged with more than they had before they found their way to the hospital.
Now they had something that neither of them had before.
They had each other.
“Well, I guess I should give up the idea of working on my tan by lying on the front of the boat while you guide us up the river,” Carrie said. “I always wanted to try that.”
“It would have been nice, especially since you don’t have a bathing suit anymore,” Bob sighed, “But I think it would be better if you didn’t.”
“Really,” Carrie grinned.
Bob laughed, “As much as I would have enjoyed that, I think we should keep all of your tanning activities below deck for now.”
Carrie smiled.
Carrie leaned into Bob and watched the buildings and the dead along the shore pass by.
“So where are going to go?” Carrie asked.
“Down the river and as far away from the city as our fuel and those two extra gas cans we found will take us,” Bob replied.
“Then what?” she asked.
“Then we will see,” Bob grinned, maybe a nice cabin in the mountains.”
“OK,” Carrie replied.
“Of course it will have to be a cabin with a lake right outside,” Bob smiled, “so you can lay by the water and work on your tan. Of course it will have to be real close to the cabin, with the world the way it is now, I’ll need to keep a close eye on you, Red.”
“Of course,” Carrie grinned.
They continued down the river. Soon the city started to fade into the background.
Bob pulled the boat closer to shore and stopped the boat.
“What’s wrong?” Carrie asked. “Why are we stopping?”
“Look up on the shore, Red,” Bob whispered.
Carrie looked at the shore. She looked at all the trees and bushes, watching to see if there was anything that they should be worried about.
But if there were any threats up on shore, why did Bob stop?
“I don’t see anything,” Carrie whispered, “what do you see?”
“Red, look straight ahead near the purple flowers,” Bob whispered back.
Carrie looked at the flowers. Then she noticed the little black animal with the white stripe running down its back and up over its tail.
“A skunk?” Carrie asked.
“Yea,” Bob laughed, “A skunk. Maybe we should go ashore and catch him.”
“Why would we do that?” Carrie asked.
“Well Red,” Bob smiled. “You never know when you could use a pissed off skunk.”
Carrie laughed then a grin spread over her face, “I don’t need a pissed off skunk any more. I’ve got you.”
“Gee Red,” Bob laughed, “I’m not sure how to take that.”
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Survivors in a Dead World Page 31