Least Likely To Survive

by Lisa Biesiada

  I was still lost in my silent praising, and didn’t notice that we were no longer alone. I looked up and eye balled the family pulling up chairs at the table next to us.

  “Hi! I’m Nancy Wells; this is my husband, Bob, and our three kids Riley, Michelle, and Connor.” This was the cheeriest woman I had seen in a long time. She was slim, maybe mid thirties, blond, tan and all smiles for Jack. Bob on the other hand was about the same age, but had the tell tale receding hairline and spare tire of a man who had given up his will to live, as he didn’t even raise his head to acknowledge us, but just began eating.

  I glanced at each child in turn, and figured Riley to be about Ty’s age, and placed Michelle and Conner much younger. They both appeared about five or six, and had to have been twins, as both had matching features. The only way you could really tell them apart was how they were dressed, and that Michelle’s hair was in blond pig tails. They were adorable to say the least, but I knew Riley would be trouble, given the five hundred mega-watt smile he was aiming at Chloe; the kind of smile you expect to see from sexual predators. The look on this kid’s face made me want to reach for one of the guns still strapped to my waist.

  I turned my attention back to Nancy as I fully took her in. Yep, she was the bigger threat with giant obviously fake boobs, acrylic nails, and flawless tan. She looked like Predator Barbie in a hot pink track suit, still grinning away at Jack. I got the impression right off the bat who wore the pants in that family, and was immediately distrustful of her. It wasn’t just her appearance that put me on guard; it was more the vibes she gave off.

  Of course I might have been jumping the gun on my dislike of her, and it very well may be because she looked like she was made of plastic, but considering the only adults I had interaction with outside of school and Jessica’s parents growing up had been dealers and other junkies, I was prone to being careful of anyone I met. You didn’t survive the life I had by trusting people.

  While I continued my inner assessment of the Wells’ family, Nancy spoke again. She spared a politely disdainful glance at the rest of us, and addressed Jack. “And you are….?” I had to wonder if her face would crack if she kept up the Miss America smile and the sickeningly sweet southern drawl.

  Ever the gentleman, Jack put down his sandwich and swallowed the bite he had been chewing. “I’m Jack,” he said as he paused to address the rest of us. “This is Angie, Ty, Chloe, and our dog, Roscoe.” The dog didn’t look impressed at the Wells’ either, and only gruffed as he continued inhaling his plate of meat.

  Nancy batted her eyes, “I don’t mean to be rude, but are you Jack Jones?” I really hoped one of her fake eyelashes would fall off; “that would be amazing…” I thought to myself as I watched their exchange.

  Jack gave one small nod of his head and turned his attention back to his sandwich. He shifted uncomfortably, which said to me that he hated it when people called him out in public. He must have been pretty used to it though, as he was very good at being nonchalant when recognized. However his admission only encouraged her to smile wider, and bat those hideous lashes even harder.

  “Oh my stars! I knew it was you! Why, Mr. Jones, I’m just the biggest fan of your movies there ever was!” She really turned on the accent with that, and I thought any moment now she might actually swoon. “How on earth did you manage to make it here?”

  Mouth full of food he answered, “Uh, we drove.” This time I snorted out loud, as apparently there was a limit to his politeness. I would have thought surely that in a survival shelter anyone would have more decorum than to be a gushing fan. Obviously Nancy hadn’t gotten that memo, as her eyes got impossibly big, and she put a dramatic hand over where I thought her heart surely had to be, (if she indeed had one) drawing attention to that very fake rack.

  “My word! How brave you must be to defend those innocent kids and fight your way all the way here. You must be very strong.” At this she coyly laid a hand on his arm, in a very blatant show of flirting. I was kinda shocked she would flirt with another man right in front of her husband, but a quick glance at Bob, assured me he wasn’t. Fuck, I kinda felt bad for the guy, but at the same time staying married to someone like her was his choice, so I couldn’t be too sympathetic. I decided I needed to step in.

  “And where are you from, Nanny?” I put on the biggest and most fake smile I could muster, as she turned a cold eye to me.

  As condescending as any one person could possibly say, “It’s Nancy, dear. With a ‘C’, and why, we’re from right here in beautiful San Antone; Annie, was it?” Her smile took on an evil leer as she addressed me, and lobbed the ball right back into my court. I may not have the wealth and entitlement she did, but I could fake it as good as the rest of them.

  I batted my eyelashes right back, and let out a fake sheepish giggle. “Oh dear, I do apologize! How very silly of me!” I turned up the heat on my super fake smile and tilted my head apologetically. “So how did you and your charming family come to be at the Alamodome?”

  She cocked an eyebrow, and I saw the irritation flash in her eyes at my taking over for Jack, but knew he would thank me later. “Well, we were at home when the zombies broke out,” she began dramatically, as if about to tell the best story ever. “And as soon as I saw on the news that there would be a safe zone setup here, I just knew we had to go! I grabbed my guns,” she paused and turned to Jack with another coy smile, “As I am the head of the local women’s chapter of the NRA.”

  Really? Was that supposed to be impressive? Where I was from that would have been creepy, but I chose to keep my mouth closed as she continued.

  “I packed up Bob and the kids into the minivan, and got us here just as fast as could be, even with the Clemmons family from next door trying to break through the glass all the way down the street.” She paused again, seemingly for dramatic effect, and took a deep breath, letting out an exaggerated shudder. “It was just awful! There was violence and gore everywhere, and it was so frightening, but I knew I just had to get my family to safety, and we’ve been here for just a hair over a week.” Finishing her tale, she turned big brown doe eyes on Jack, looking for some form of sympathy and condolence. I wanted to kiss him for just sitting there and not acknowledging her.

  Judging the timeframe of her story, I guessed that they had gotten here just as the largest part of the outbreak occurred, which meant they hadn’t even witnessed the brunt of the disaster in the outside world. Filling as much false sympathy as I could manage into my voice, “Wow, you must have been terrified! How courageous of you to act so quickly,” I said as she raised a brow at me.

  Letting her lower lip pout slightly, she nodded her head in complete seriousness. “Yes, it was truly awful, but by God’s good graces, He has chosen to watch out for us as this Armageddon rages.” She brightened again, and changed topics. “Which reminds me, Jack, will you be attending our worship in the morning? There is a preacher here who is leading a sermon each day.” She chose that moment to take on the same look you see in every devout religious person’s eyes whenever religion enters the conversation. “It’s so important to remember Christ our savior is still with us, and to reaffirm as his soldiers, now more than ever.” She ended her spiel with a resolute nod of her head, as if what she was saying were absolute truth, which I surmised in her mind, probably was.

  Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe everyone has a right to their own faith, but the moment someone tries to shove it down my throat is when we had problems. After all, this wasn’t a plague sent by a vengeful God to wipe out all the sinners, no; this was man shooting himself in the foot. If there was a God, I really doubted he had anything to do with this.

  On that note, Jack shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth, and just about swallowed it whole as he stood plate in hand. “It was nice to meet you all, and I’m sure we’ll see you again,” he looked over at me. “Honey, are you ready?” I didn’t miss the desperation in eyes.

  Standing as well, “Oh yes love, we really should be going.”
I smiled at each of the Wells’ in turn, making sure to amp it into the biggest Cheshire grin I had ever attempted, just to catch the glint of anger in Nancy’s gaze. “It really was lovely to meet you all, and I do hope we meet again.” No I didn’t, and I was certain they caught that too.

  Ty and Chloe just looked at us blankly, as they chewed. I looked down at them, “We’ll be on the patio; will you be okay?” I let my genuine concern bleed onto my face; I didn’t like the idea of leaving them with this urchin.

  Chloe spared a quick look in our direction, “Yeah, we’ll be fine. Catch you later.” That was all she said as she turned to gaze dreamily at Riley. Fuck, this was bad. Hopefully Ty wouldn’t leave her alone with that kid. Surely his big brother instincts would kick in before anything bad happened. I spared one last look at the kids before turning to follow Jack to the window where we put away our dirty dishes. It was vaguely reminiscent of a high school cafeteria, and I couldn’t help but wonder what poor soul was on cleanup duty.

  Chapter 11: As The World Falls Down.

  Jack and I walked out the doors leading onto the rooftop patio from the back of the restaurant. We didn’t say anything as we headed to the far end, and plopped down onto a cushy bench overlooking the city. Night had fallen, and the sky was hazy with smoke from the various fires that were still fiercely burning throughout the city.

  I couldn’t help but take in the devastation as I surveyed what was probably a really beautiful place not so long ago. Now, even from our vantage, you could see the charred remains, the crashed cars, and not far off the hordes of zombies still casing every building for survivors to eat. It was amazing and horrific to behold all at once. In just a few short weeks, our entire civilization had been brought to its knees, and we were huddling like frightened insects, trying not to get eaten by our own kind.

  I could see the entirety of the city from where we sat, and I wanted to cry out at the injustice of it all. Could I even really call in injustice? We did this to ourselves, and surely we were reaping the backlash of our own blind greed to advance ourselves. I had no idea how this had really started, or where, but the whole world was suffering as a result. It seemed somehow poetic that this is how it would all end; for all the good our preparing did us.

  We had spent so long prepping for terrorist attacks and world war, that we as a people had forgotten that power always has a price. I had to scoff at how everyone, every single one of us were paying the price for the sins of the few, but I guess it was our fault too for letting it happen. We let the conglomerates and the corporations rule our society, and decide what was best for us; it was fitting that we suffered as a result. I sort of wanted to look out over the burning rooftops, and see a crowd of protestors holding signs screaming their outrage back at me, but was met with nothing. We were now in a nothing place, and this was a nothing land. Everything we had spent centuries building, and rebuilding, and shaping, was now left in the hands of the infected, and the rest of us were the minority.

  Maybe this was the act of a God, who was now cleansing civilization in the attempt to tell us we had lost our way, but I just couldn’t fathom a being above us all bringing about this kind of an end. No, this was the fabrication of man, surely as the plagues and wars had been. I found it somewhat ironic that although trained soldiers had survived, so had the few gun savvy, and apparently the video game nerds. Who would have thought Duck Hunt was preparing me for the collapse of civilization? Thanks, Nintendo.

  I was pulled out of my inner rant by Jack heaving a sigh next to me. “Fuck, this whole thing is a fucking mess.” I could hear the weariness creeping through his words, and had to agree.

  “Yeah, it’s a fucking disaster down there;” I didn’t really know what else to say. I was mentally and physically exhausted, and knew I still had miles to go, although was beginning to think I may cool my heels here for a few days.

  He leaned back, and lit a cigarette he had pulled from his pocket, handing another to me. I leaned in and let him the light the end for me, before leaning back into the bench with him. He chuckled as he spoke again, “Thanks for stepping in with Whatshername back there; women like that creep me the fuck out. I never know how to handle them.”

  I turned to look up at him with a smile as I exhaled the smoke from my lungs. “You’re welcome. She was a complete bitch, and I’m a little sad she hasn’t been eaten yet.” I paused briefly after the words left my mouth, and almost regretted them. I felt bad wishing that upon anyone, but at the same time felt some people just didn’t deserve to survive.

  Jack didn’t seem fazed by my callousness, as he just nodded in assent. “Yeah, she’s a real piece of work. Feel bad for Bob.” I giggled at the overly serious look on his face. I knew he was trying to lighten the mood. He grinned like the devil he was before continuing, “I thought she was gonna choke when you called me ‘love.’ Fucking beautiful!” He erupted into full on laughter at this point, as I recalled the same image.

  Giggling, “Fuck yeah! When you called me ‘honey’ her eyes bugged out and I thought her head was gonna explode there for a minute.” Our laughter died down, as the moment passed, and we sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

  “You going to church in the morning?” Jack asked, breaking the silence.

  “Hell no, I don’t participate in organized religion. Too culty for me,” I said while still staring at the fires.

  “Yeah me either. I think there’s something up there, but whether I call it ‘God’ or not, remains to be seen.”

  I nodded my agreement. “Jack, I don’t trust that Riley kid. Did you see the way he looked at Chloe?” I turned to him as I said this, concern crinkling my face.

  He frowned, and his eyes got dark like earlier, when we had been arguing. “That kid is fucking trouble, and if he so much as looks at her wrong, I’m going to eat him.” I was startled at the chill in his voice, and how calmly he said this. For the most part he was such an easy going guy; I wouldn’t have pegged him for the protective type, but it made me like him more, which was already too much.

  I looked at him with a smile for a moment longer, before turning my attention back to the city. I knew my feelings for him were getting stronger but I had to ignore them for as long as possible. It wasn’t safe to form attachments right now; not safe for anyone. It wasn’t certain who would live and who would die, and that was assuming anyone survived this.

  I heaved another great sigh as my thoughts drifted back to Jack. I had never met anyone like him, and still wasn’t convinced he was real. He was turning out to be the kind of guy every other guy wanted to be like, and every woman wanted to be with. It amazed me how he just oozed cool, without even trying. Was he even aware of it? Probably not; if he had been, it would take some of the novelty out of it. The cooler you were, the less you were aware of it. I had to wonder what it was like to constantly be confronted by women like Nancy, and getting special treatment everywhere you went, but decided he was probably tired of it, or at the very least, so used to it he didn’t even notice anymore.

  A breeze drifted by us, which under normal circumstances would have been pleasant, except this one carried the stench of rotting flesh and burning plastic. I had to wonder if the world would ever smell good again. I watched as ashes from the various fires were carried along the breeze, and swirled through the air, dancing to sounds only they could hear. Smoke swirled up through the sky, and you could just see the stars peeking out of the haze. It was comforting that amidst all the chaos, some things remained unchanged. Regardless of mankind ending, the stars were still shining, the mountains still standing, and although I couldn’t see it from here, was sure the oceans were still churning.

  Thinking of the ocean made me think of my island waiting somewhere out there for me. I felt my body stiffen, and my face harden as I reaffirmed my desire to make it there. I didn’t want to spend what time I had left in this fortress, fending off the infected, listening to people like the Wells’. I still wanted to hear waves gently lapping around me
, as I dug my toes into powder white sands. If I’m going to live through Hell, the least I can do is make it to paradise on the other end. Besides, I had never seen the ocean before, and wanted to have that experience before I die. Preferably without zombies trying to rip into my flesh.

  “Jack?”

  “Mmm?”

  “How long do you think it will last? I mean, before they die?”

  He looked at me, and then turned back to the skyline silently, as if turning a coin in his head. I could see him reasoning, and figuring out how he wanted to answer, and a few beats later he finally did. “I don’t know. At this rate, they will run out of food within the month, and then it’s just a matter of who dies of starvation first. Us or them.”

  I thought about that statement. Who would starve first? If we stayed here, surely we would run out of food, and I was willing to bet search teams were sent into the city to scour for supplies, even with a city this big, food would run out fast with as many people staying here as there were. The gamble of it didn’t sit well with me. What happened when the zombies had picked off the stragglers out there and they turned their sights on us? Surely they could sense people in here and eventually would attack en masse; assuring that our days of safety were numbered. But how much longer until that happened?

  As much as I hated the idea, I had a feeling I shouldn’t leave Jack or the kids here, at least not for long. I knew they would be safer on that island with me, where we would be away from large populated areas. Coming here in the first place was probably a bad idea, but I was pretty desperate at the time, and thought surely the government would have a better strategy then just holing up survivors in large groups. Once again, I was giving the higher ups too much credit. For all their schooling, and all their degrees and titles, why on earth should I think they would have a better plan than I? Of course it wouldn’t behoove me to spread my idea out; for surely they would all follow, essentially ruining the safety of seclusion. No, better keep my plans to myself.