Least Likely To Survive

by Lisa Biesiada

  Everyone not including myself, as I was currently elbow deep in shit. About four of the bastards had started to make headway up the passenger side of the car while Jack was playing fireman, and I couldn’t hack away fast enough. I was grumbling to myself about the stupidity of this situation. Here I was, with just a big knife, fighting for my life. I couldn’t help but think this was certainly not in the brochure.

  Just as a shifty little asshole was about to take a chunk from my arm, Jack appeared suddenly and put a bullet in the guy’s skull. Fucking men; always gotta be heroes. I wasn’t about to say that out loud though, seeing as he had just saved my arm and all. I would just have to be bitter on the inside.

  We ducked back into the car, and quickly closed the sunroof, so as to not give anyone else a chance to crash the party. Jack threw the gear in drive, and peeled out of the parking lot so fast the tires squealed and I’m pretty sure he left tread marks on the pavement.

  I sat in my seat and took stock of my limbs, making sure I still had all my bits intact and processed what had just happened. We were now up by two more people and a dog, and this was going to somewhat complicate things. One extra person on my journey was doable, but two kids and a dog was just impossible. I knew there was no way I could keep all of us safe and I had to figure out a plan for the kids. I looked over at Jack, and watched him as he rolled his shoulders and neck, as if to ease the tension of what had just gone down. I then turned my attention to the backseat, and our newest guests.

  I noticed the boy couldn’t be more than mid-teens and probably about 5’7”. He was lean, and looked somewhat athletic, although he was dressed in the standard black tee shirt and skinny jeans of the current generation of youth. His hair was dark; almost black, and hung in his dark brown eyes, which stood out in contrast to his pale, almost sallow skin. I thought that was unusual for Texas, but maybe he didn’t get out much.

  I turned my attention to his sister, and groaned inwardly as she couldn’t be more than twelve, and had similarly chocolate colored locks that hung well past her shoulders and the same pale skin, but the similarities between them ended there, as her eyes were a vivid pale green that reminded me of sea kelp.

  Unlike her brother’s trendy emo attire; she had on jeans and a little pink tank top plastered with Justin Bieber’s face. Both kids seemed lost in thought, as if trying to come to terms with the events of late. I felt my stomach drop at the shock and sadness coloring their features. I knew how they felt; we were all on our own in this nightmare.

  I cleared my throat, threw on the friendliest smile I could muster and began introductions. “Hey, I’m Angie and this is Jack.” I said as I nodded my head in his direction.

  The boy shook his head, as if clearing out a pensive fog. “I’m Ty, and this is my sister Chloe, and the dog is Roscoe,” He gestured back to the animal that was busy investigating the food in the back of the Hummer.

  I nodded at both of them, and continued my line of questioning. “So how did you come to be stranded atop a Taco Bell?”

  Ty swallowed a noticeable lump in his throat, and tried to keep the tremble out of his voice. “Our dad had taken us for lunch a couple of weeks ago, but when we got there, we were attacked.” His voice got so quiet, it was just above a whisper, “He didn’t make it.”

  He was silent for a moment, and grabbed Chloe’s hand as she let out a whimper. “We managed to lock ourselves in a storage room, and climbed up through the ceiling to the roof. We’ve been up there ever since.” He looked out the window at this point, trying to recompose himself. Fuck. These kids were all alone in the world, had witnessed their father eaten by zombies, and I was an insensitive prick.

  I sat back again, and re-evaluated the situation. I had to find a safe place for these kids. We couldn’t just leave them anywhere, and where I wanted to go was just too dangerous. Palm trees swayed across an imaginary breeze in my mind, and I could almost hear the sound of the waves gently lapping azure shores. I wasn’t about to change the plan; I wanted to be on that island more than anything, but my destination would have to wait until I could ensure the kids would be alright. Well, as alright as any of us could be.

  I looked again at Jack, as if to ask his thoughts silently. He was lost in thought while staring at the road before us, and then momentarily looked back at me. I could see his eyes imploring me to not abandon these kids, and to help figure out what to do next. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was, the only difference being was he had been thinking it all along.

  I was instantly regretful of all previous bad thoughts about him. He wasn’t the arrogant celebrity I had wanted to make him out to be; quite the contrary; this guy had layers. I was pretty sure he was probably a better person than I, as saving these kids had been his idea in the first place, and I was the one who had been against it.

  I wanted to bang my head against the window beside me for being so selfish and cold. This was the apocalypse, and instead of trying to be a human, and save the lives I could, I was more focused on my own safety and survival. I felt my chin jut out as a hard determination set in. I wasn’t going to be that person anymore. I wasn’t going to turn a blind eye to the suffering around me, and I sure as hell would never be able to live with myself if I continued to behave in this manner. I had to remember we were all damned; we were all fighting to stay alive.

  The quiet in the car continued for a little while longer, until Jack cleared his throat to speak. “Okay, I think we should head into San Antonio, and see if we can’t find some sort of quarantine, or Safe Zone.” He turned his head to look at me as he continued, “There has to be some kind of military outlet setup for any remaining survivors.” He trailed off questioningly, as if asking for my take.

  I snuck another look at the backseat, and said, “I think you’re right. That’s probably our best bet.” I didn’t really want to take anymore detours, but I definitely didn’t want to be responsible for anyone else longer than I had to. Taking care of myself was one thing, but there were good reasons I wasn’t a parent.

  It was that moment Chloe finally spoke up softly. “What’s happening? What are we gonna do?” I turned around, and caught the fear in her eyes as tears started to well up.

  I smiled at her as gently as I could, “How much do you guys know about what’s going on?”

  “We’ve been following the news about the virus, and how it’s spreading, but we had no idea it was this bad.” It was Ty who had spoken, and he paused for a second before continuing. “I don’t think anyone knew it was this bad.” He pushed the lock of hair out of his eyes and reached into the back, absently petting Roscoe.

  I nodded at him before saying “Yeah, right there with you. I barely made it out of my house alive, and I found this one,” I gestured to Jack, “at a gas station in the middle of nowhere fighting off zombies. We were headed to Corpus when we found you.”

  This caught Ty’s attention, as a look of confusion spread across his features. “What’s in Corpus? I haven’t heard of any military down there.”

  I thought for a moment about how much to tell them. If I told them of my destination, would they insist on coming with me? I didn’t even know for sure if Jack was coming with me all the way at that point. I did know that I couldn’t ignore the insane urge I had to get to my island, and I would not be deterred from my goal. I decided it couldn’t hurt to let them in on where I was going; it wasn’t like they weren’t going to figure it out anyway. “Well, I had planned to get to the marina and commandeer a sailboat and head for an empty island in the Bahamas.” I trailed off at the end, trying to make it as nonchalant as possible.

  Chloe tilted her head to the side before asking, “Why would you wanna do that?” I could hear the curiosity in her voice, and knew I had to tread lightly, so as to not get her too interested; I wasn’t too keen on the idea of taking them with me.

  “Um, I just figured it would be a good place to go where there wouldn’t be zombies… So how old are you two?” I congratulated myself on a succe
ssful subject change.

  “I’m twelve, and Ty’s fifteen. Why do you think it would be good place to go?” She countered back at me, not missing a beat. Apparently I had underestimated her; nothing got past this kid. I mentally grumbled to myself before answering.

  “An empty island means no people. No people means no zombies. And I’m willing to bet they can’t swim.” I held her gaze for a moment, daring her to dig further. She stared back at me for a moment, but only said, “Oh. That makes sense,” and turned her attention back out the window.

  I sighed in relief that the questions ended there, as I didn’t really know how much more I wanted to say. What do you say in this predicament anyway? I hadn’t been getting to know Jack for much the same reason as I thought it not wise to get attached to the kids; I couldn’t say for certain who would live, and who wouldn’t. Although I did know that I would do whatever necessary to keep the kids alive, I also knew it was too dangerous to take them with me.

  I felt my mouth draw into a line, as I thought about the impracticalities of including them. I didn’t know dick about kids; having never really been one myself, and seeing as I had never had younger siblings or children of my own, I certainly wasn’t accustomed to caring for them. I wasn’t even real sure how to converse with them, but so far I thought I was doing okay. I shook my head a little to myself. No, I couldn’t bring them with me. A military base with responsible adults who knew how to take care of children would be safer. I felt a little sad at this thought; I kind of liked the idea of having people with me on that island, but had to think of their safety first. I wondered if this was how being a parent would feel.

  Chapter 6: Our New Family.

  We drove a little while longer and the silence in the car was deafening. I could almost hear everyone’s thoughts; it was so tense. I knew we were all thinking the same things, and asking ourselves the same questions. Questions none of us had the answers to, and probably a few we didn’t want answered. I was plagued by the new dilemma Chloe and Ty presented, and I knew it wouldn’t be easy figuring out where to take them, or if there would be a place to take them at all.

  I looked over at Jack, and studied his face for a moment. He really was beautiful, and I couldn’t help my awe over how decent of a human being he had turned out to be. Here he was, completely alone, save for being stranded with strangers, and yet the guy was dealing with this shit like it was nothing.

  At this point I think I decided he was kinda my hero. But at the same time secretly hated him for being so pretty and so cool, and everything I wasn’t. What a double-edged sword that was; hero worship tainted with jealousy. I suppose that’s how most people feel about someone they admire: we love and hate them for being amazing, while wishing we could be more like them. I had to admit I could see the person I wanted to be reflected in him, yet held out hope he would have a flaw that would make him a bit more real.

  “I need to use the restroom.” Chloe finally spoke up and shattered the silence so abruptly I almost choked on my thoughts.

  Jack turned his head and looked at me after her statement, and I couldn’t stop the blush from creeping up my cheeks when he caught me staring. Busted. “Well, here is probably a good spot; doesn’t seem to be anything around,” He directed at me, as if asking my opinion.

  “Yeah, looks good. Go for it,” I managed to croak out once the bat lodged in my throat began to settle.

  He eased his foot off the gas pedal, and started steering us over to the side of the road. Once we were stopped, he popped the shifter into park, and turned off the ignition. We all sat there for a minute, listening to the ticks of the engine as it tried to cool itself off, and studying the surrounding landscape for any sign of potential threat. We were still out in the middle of nowhere; some miles outside of San Antonio, and there was nothing as far as the eye could see.

  On all sides I noticed there was a scattering of trees and grass, and somewhat rolling hills. ‘Mounds of dirt’ was probably more accurate, but I suppose they could be construed as hills in these parts. I was somewhat surprised to see grass and trees; seeing as this was Texas. I would have thought it would be nothing but sand and cacti; apparently I had seen one too many stereotypical westerns.

  After we bobble-headed it for a bit, we wordlessly determined it was as safe as it could be, started unbuckling seatbelts and climbing down from the car.

  After hopping down, Chloe looked around again and said “I don’t see any restrooms around here, where am I supposed to go?” She looked at me expectantly as though I could magically make an acceptable restroom appear out of thin air.

  I rolled my eyes before answering, “Pick a bush. Or a tree. It doesn’t really matter.” I stretched out my arms, and shook out my legs. Damn, battling zombies really had turned out to be serious cardio. I lamented on not spending more time at the gym before all this started.

  “A bush?! How am I supposed to like, go, outside?!” She stood facing me with her hands firmly planted on her hips and asked incredulously, like I had just suggested she grow another head. I couldn’t suppress my giggle at her teen outrage.

  “Come on, I’ll show you how to pee outside,” I shook my head as I chuckled and grabbed her arm to lead her out into the wilderness around us. “Apparently no one ever took you camping.”

  I led her a little ways out, where I spotted a cluster of trees surrounded by bushes that appeared to be pretty well secluded. I felt like an owl trying to turn my head in all directions at once, looking for anyone that might be around, while also keeping a wary eye on the ground. The ground was almost as important as looking for people, as getting bit or stung by snakes and scorpions and various other creatures wasn’t my idea of a party.

  After deeming we were relatively safe, and not seeing any danger, I stopped her by a tree. “Okay, just grab a low hanging branch, and stick out your butt so you don’t splatter yourself.” I proceeded to demonstrate as I unbuttoned my cargos, and assumed the position.

  She followed suit, and soon we were both hanging from a branch with our pants down. This time I did suppress my giggle as I thought about the last time I had done this with another person. It had been at a kegger in the mountains, and my best friend and I had been shit-faced as we dangled from a limb and commented in our drunken slur how pretty the moon looked.

  As the memory reel came to an end in my mind, I felt a lump form in my chest. All those great little moments were lost now, as well as the people that came with them. Our lives were irrevocably changed, and nothing we could do would put the world back to the way it was. I knew no one could ever really know what the future has in store, but for the most part there used to be some consistency. We knew we would get up the next day, and go about our business, and just live our lives in general. But now all of that was gone. I would never hear my alarm go off, and crawl out of bed grumbling as I headed to my day job as Tech Support. I would never flip off another motorist who cut me off, or gripe about my utility bill. It hadn’t even been two days since leaving home and already I was starting to miss the little things.

  “We don’t have any toilet paper,” dragged me back to reality.

  I looked over at Chloe and shook my head as I replied, “We sure don’t. Just kind of shake a bit.” Again with the demonstrating as I did just that, stood and pulled my pants back up.

  She did the same, while stopping to add her own brand of commentary, “There are little skulls on your underwear!” She burst into a fit of giggles, as this was apparently the funniest thing in the world.

  I shot her a death stare, and started to head back to the car.

  “Aren’t you a little old to be wearing those?” She asked as she trotted to catch up with me.

  “This coming from someone wearing a Justin Beiber shirt? Glass house, stones, Chloe.”

  “So, um, is that really Jack Jones?” she tried to start nonchalantly, but I could hear the breathy sigh in her voice and hated that I totally agreed with her. “I thought I recognized him, but didn’t want to mak
e a big deal…” She trailed off as her head tilted to the side questioningly.

  “Yep, that’s him.” I answered with a sigh. I knew where this was going. Her eyes took on a faraway, dreamy look as I waited for her to gush over how gorgeous he was, blah, blah, blah. Because my own inner gushing wasn’t enough to deal with, now I had a tween adding a soundtrack to my thoughts. I could almost hear the pop ballad begin to play in the background.

  “Omigosh, he is so gorgeous!” She swooned as we walked. “I can’t believe Jack Jones saved my life; this is so cray-cray! I wish Twitter worked so I could tweet all my friends; they would be totes jealous.”

  I looked over at her silently, waiting for the lust to subside. The stars in her big eyes and the little smile on her face said it all. I didn’t want to admit the look on her face was actually the same thought I had had the day before when I first happened upon him, but I would take that fact to my grave. I also chose to ignore her use of pop culture grammar; afraid that acknowledging it would somehow rub off on me. Zombies be damned; I’d rather be eaten than ever caught saying ‘cray-cray’.

  “Yeah, I guess he’s okay. Pretty decent with a gun, which is all I care about,” I finally answered with a shrug as she looked at me.

  Stopping, she grabbed my arm, “Just okay?! Even for an old guy, he’s still super hot! If I were 18 I would so flirt with him.” She shook her head to herself and looked at me like I was the weirdest thing she had ever encountered.

  The whole world had been overrun by a virus that caused people to EAT PEOPLE, and I was weird for not agreeing with her. I sighed internally at her version of priorities, and just stared at her silently. There was a calculating gleam in her pale eyes, and I knew there was another layer to her behind the ‘teeny-bopper’ façade, and I couldn’t wait until her guard dropped and she let it out. I couldn’t fault her for not wanting to tip her hand, but wondered if she knew how incredibly annoying the act was. Realizing this, I suddenly felt sorry for any adult who had encountered me at that age, as I was sure I was probably just as irritating.