A Thousand Miles To Nowhere: An Apocalypse Thriller

by Curfiss, David

  The woman hesitated. “My name’s Tiffany.” She took his hand and shook it with a firm grip. “Come on, then. Let’s go. Levi and Marcos look lost. We should probably go save your friends from their ignorance.”

  Matt wasn’t listening. Instead, he was absorbed by her touch. She left a sweet and flowery aroma on Matt’s skin that lingered around him and floated in the air like freshly sprayed perfume. Her sun-kissed skin shimmered with the faintest sheen of sweat. Her energy created the illusion of a halo that floated around the curves of her lean body. And when she turned to lead Matt down the mountain, she smiled mischievously as if to taunt him.

  He followed her like a helpless puppy a foot behind her heels, and his nose perked up, tracking her scent. It wasn’t until he arrived at the checkpoint and saw his teammates with their arms still raised that he snapped back to a reality that wasn’t nearly as pleasant as the euphoric feeling in his mind, because now he had to explain to Greg and everyone else how he’d managed to get caught. There was no hiding the truth this time.

  11

  Young Hearts and Wild Feelings

  Matt lounged with his butt firmly on the blue fabric of the minimalist-style camping chair. It sat low with his bottom an inch or two off the ground. Next to him, everyone else waited in similar chairs. The situation should have concerned him, but it didn’t. If there was a problem with them being there, Tiff would have had them stripped of their weapons and restrained them. She hadn’t done that. Therefore, he was of the mindset they were good to go. But judging from the expressions on everyone else’s faces, they did not seem to be under that same understanding of the circumstances. Except for Greg.

  Greg seemed utterly disappointed in the situation as a whole. He seemed outright exhausted, with his head leaned back awkwardly over the top of the chair. His face had grown red from the sun and he wore a tired expression on his face.

  “So, Matt,” Steve inquired. “Want to tell us again how the two of you met?”

  Matt sat in his chair, sheepishly smiling. “I told you already, bro. She just sorta snuck up on me.”

  “Okay, that’s what I heard, then. I wasn’t hearing things.”

  “No, Steve, you were not.”

  Tara snickered.

  “What’s so funny?” Matt asked.

  “The face you’re making. That’s what,” she replied.

  Matt realized he was still smiling and slipped back into a more serious demeanor.

  “Oh, don’t go changing it on my account…bro.”

  The jab was gentle, but the point was made.

  Tiffany stepped outside the green and silver camper she had disappeared into moments prior. Behind her trailed Marcos and Levi. Both of them stared back at Matt scornfully. Their narrowed eyes and clenched jaws meant little to him. He returned their gazes with a scoff and a smug smile.

  “So, despite the fact Matthew here had the business end of a rifle trained on my guards, we’ve decided to let you all spend the night to rest up,” Tiffany said.

  Matt watched the relief wash over the team. A slight sigh escaped Jody. He still wore some red lipstick he’d failed to clean off before being escorted back to Tiffany’s camp. Steve sat up in his chair a little straighter. Tara forced a smile. And, Greg lifted his head off the back of the seat, but still seemed displeased about the circumstances.

  “We cleared a small section of the hotel at Whiskey Pete’s, but not all of it. We’ve only been here a few days and don’t plan on staying for very long. So, taking the time to clear the entire casino wasn’t worthwhile. You all can rest there. My group will be staying at the Prim, most of them in their mobile homes. If you need me, you can find me here. We serve dinner at dusk, so in the next hour or so. You can also clean up in the pool yard. We managed to get one of the Jacuzzis working. It’s non-potable, but good for cleaning. I wouldn’t drink it even if you used a filtration system. My opinion, so take it for what it’s worth.”

  “We appreciate the hospitality, Miss…” Greg said.

  “Tiff.”

  “Tiff. Thank you. We’ll head over yonder shortly.”

  Tiff pursed her lips as everyone stood up and headed toward their accommodation. Except for Matt. He lingered, letting his group walk off without him.

  In the distance, Tara mumbled under her breath loudly enough to make sure both Tiff and Matt could hear her. “Christ, here he goes.”

  Steve nudged her along with an inaudible command.

  With his team out of earshot, Tiff turned to Matt. “Can I help you with something?” She seemed both amused and annoyed by his presence with her smirk and squinted eyes.

  “Yeah, was hoping we could talk.”

  “Okay…what about?”

  “Well, we haven’t come across a lot of people since we left our camp a few months ago. Just wanted to talk to you about…you know…everything out here.”

  “I don’t know. But, feel free to ask.” Tiffany smiled more genuinely this time and took a seat in one of the small chairs that had been set up for Matt’s group. “You know, Matt, you should consider yourself very lucky for a number of good reasons. I know you meant no harm unless any came to your friends, but imagine if the circumstances been flipped and it was you who had walked up on me. What would you have done?”

  Matt didn’t need to consider that question for longer than it took to spit out the answer. He knew what he would have done. He would have executed the sniper without thought or moral repercussion, then had his guards take the two stragglers prisoner for questioning. He might have had them killed as well. He tilted his head and his smile grew as he considered this. He couldn’t hide the obvious answer, especially from her.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Tiff said.

  “So, why let us live? Better yet, why let us stay in camp with our weapons?”

  “Because sometimes people deserve the benefit of the doubt.”

  Matt huffed. “So, it seems.”

  Tiff stood to walk away, but Matt stopped her. He stood abruptly and said the first thing that came to mind to catch her attention again and keep her engaged. “Where are you going?”

  Tiffany cocked her head and furrowed her brow. “Didn’t know you were keeping tabs on me so soon in our relationship.”

  “I meant, where’s your group going?” he clarified, embarrassed.

  “Where’d you say you all came from?” she asked.

  “Southern California. Up in the mountains.”

  “You sound like you’re from the East Coast. Northern Virginia or Maryland, maybe.”

  Matt smiled at her observation. No one cared anymore where people were from, let alone able to pick up on their accents. “Yeah, actually, I am. Born and raised in Virginia. NOVA.”

  “What brought you out here?”

  The smile dropped off his face and he lowered his head, unable to find the emotional energy to answer the question.

  “Right…too personal. Okay, then, I’ll see you around.”

  Tiffany started to walk away again, but then Matt found it in him to answer. He spoke to her retreating back until she stopped to listen.

  “My family separated when I was a kid. I lived with my mom back east until she could no longer handle two children. I flew out to be with my dad one day, and it just so happened that one day turned in to a lifetime. The last time I heard from my mom was the day all the satellites went down. She’d called my dad on his sat phone. He let me talk to her and my little brother. But before I could talk to Michael, the phone call dropped. Her last words to me were, of all things, ‘Be safe.’ Kind of ironic. Every time she would tell me to be safe, something fucked up always happened. I have no idea what happened to them. At least, not until recently.”

  Tiff turned and faced him, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. He wasn’t sure if her look was complete skepticism or sympathy, but she had every right to be skeptical. He was a stranger. She had stuff they needed. Desperate people did anything to get what they needed.

  “I’m sorry to hear
that. I think all of us from before can relate. We all lost someone close. But I’m curious what changed. You said ‘until recently.’”

  Matt smirked. “Yeah, about that. Long story, but the short version is, apparently my mom is still alive. She sent a messenger out to our camp with a letter to get ahold of me to come find her—”

  Before Matt could finish explaining, she cut him off. “How is that even possible? It’s been how long since you spoke to her, and she just so happens to know exactly where you would be all these years later? What fool would run that errand? I’m sorry, Matt, but I don’t buy that at all.”

  “Okay, don’t, but it is true.” He could feel annoyance at her brash remarks raise his temper. He liked her, didn’t want to test her, but didn’t want to make an ass of himself, either. It was in his best interest to end their conversation where it was. “Listen, I’ll let you go. Thanks for not murdering me with my back turned.” Then, he walked away.

  Matt found Whiskey Pete’s Casino and Hotel, where the team was gathered around the first bar in eyeshot upon walking through the main doors. Behind the bar, both Jody and Greg poured a liberal amount of aged whiskey into pewter flasks. They seemed happy.

  “Nice of you to join us, bro,” Tara said.

  He ignored her and sat down.

  Greg grabbed a square-shaped glass with a rifle round embedded in it, then dumped two fingers’ worth of amber liquid into it and set it down with a heavy thud in front of Matt. “Here, son, drink this.”

  Both Steve and Tara had similar glasses, both with most of the contents already consumed. Matt lifted his, swished it, sniffed it, then took a sip. It burned his insides from lip to gut, causing him to cough uncontrollably for about half a minute. His bartenders laughed at him briefly before he took the rest of his glass and consumed it in a single swallow.

  “I’ll take a double.” He slid the glass down the bar at them.

  Jody poured Matt another round, took a swig for himself straight from the bottle, then topped off Steve and Tara.

  “Reckon we should clean up, then go out yonder and eat with our hosts,” Greg slurred.

  The group finished what was left of their whiskey before heading out to the pool yard, where they found a single Jacuzzi partially full of surprisingly clear water.

  “Well, I’ll be goddamned if she wasn’t right about the Jacuzzi,” Greg said, again slurring his sentence.

  Steve located the timer and turned it to thirty minutes. It clicked on, sending little jets of water into the tub, creating a bubbly top layer.

  Greg stripped down to his bare ass before anyone had a chance to say otherwise. His age had started to show in the form of dust-covered, greying body hair. However, to his credit, he was generously endowed and sported a lean, muscular body that represented how well he took care of himself physically despite leading a rough life. A large portion of his backside was scarred with discolored flesh and several holes reminiscent of bullets finding chunks of meat.

  Matt, Steve, Jody, and Chris all joined in. Chris was as quick to strip naked as the men, sparing no second to hop into the already-crowded makeshift tub to rinse himself of the filth they had collected.

  Tara was momentarily abashed before she turned and quickly headed away to wait for the men to finish. Only occasionally did she peek over her shoulder to see if she could spot Steve among the sloshing. When they finished, they departed way back to the bar and let her have a few moments of privacy to clean up. However, by the time she stripped to step in, the bottom of was covered in a quarter-inch of soot. What choice do I have? She sighed, then stepped in toe-first to add to the sediment.

  The water was refreshing to the touch, not as much as the cold creek of Julian, but it did enough to relax her mind and body while cleaning her of bloodstains and other elements. She could have fallen asleep if she hadn’t been too disgusted to sit down. Instead, she closed her eyes and cupped handfuls of water up and over her body. She splashed her face and was surprised to find the water didn’t stink. It left a mineral aftertaste if she licked her lips. She rinsed her body limb by limb, curve by curve, and hoped Steve was nearby keeping an eye on her. She hoped her spontaneous kiss hadn’t been too much.

  She stepped out, taking no measures to hide her nakedness. Her skin beaded with droplets of water and finished with goose pimples, as the cooling day’s air brushed over her body. She put on the same rank clothing she had only moments ago relieved herself of. The stiff texture and foul odor of her panties and bra did little to allow herself to maintain the refreshed feeling she’d had from bathing. But again, she had no choice. They were limited. It wasn’t like she had access to a clothing store. Or did she?

  Dinner was served out of a food truck, the same type of vehicle Greg used to buy carne asada burritos from back before the world became infected. The passenger side opened up to form a canopy and revealed a mobile kitchen. The self-serve cooler no longer offered icy beverages, but drinks were still available. Water bottles had been refilled and resealed with filtered water, all done manually by one of the kitchen aides. Two men in regular clothes and aprons served two-ounce portions of mule deer or a fillet of fish. With it were four ounces of red potatoes and butter lettuce.

  Greg let the warm odor of freshly cooked game meat flow through his body before consuming the entire serving in a single bite. He almost choked on the meat. Jody had to smack him on the back to get his breath back.

  Matt walked around with a paper plate full of food. The fat soaked through to coat his hand. His gut rumbled with the anticipation of eating fresh food for the first time in a while. The MRE’s and scavenged bits were getting old. Despite the team’s ability to tactically clear rooms and handle weapons, none of them proved to be any use at hunting.

  He found an isolated spot away from Tiffany’s crew and his own to consume his meal in private. He needed some time away to reflect. His conversation earlier in the day with Tiff mixed with the two pours of rye had sent his mind down a rabbit hole of emotions. A few minutes away would help him reconnect.

  In the dimming light of the Nevada sunset, outside the perimeter of the Primm Valley Resort and Casino parking lot, Matt found a place to sit against a tree on a patch of dirt that might have once been a patch of grass. Two silver poles stretched up out of the ground like relic monuments of the past, each with a tattered flag hanging limply from their masts. He could barely make them out. The Nevada state flag with its blue banner, and the American flag with its proud red and white stripes yearning to be seen again. He couldn’t help but snicker with a bit of pride.

  The chipped white paint of the resort and casino building was a few yards ahead of him. The “P” in Primm had fallen off the big red sign on the front of the building over the doors to the main entrance. The “Casino” in “Resort and Casino” was also gone. The red-shingled roof was faded down to a salmon color. The building looked like a ghostly skeleton of what it had used to be.

  As a child, Matt had always wanted to visit Las Vegas. His dad had told him stories about visiting the city. Long nights out with the boys, drinking, gambling, and smoking expensive cigars poolside. Matt wasn’t much for smoking, but the stories were intriguing. It was a part of his dad’s life he had never seen firsthand. His stories were better than any novel. And to be so close to something he had once imagined as far away as the moon made his stomach turn with nervous excitement, even if he didn’t get to stop in Vegas and see the casinos for himself.

  “Hey there,” a familiar female voice said in the darkness.

  Matt turned his attention away from the building to a woman standing a few feet away. With the sunlight behind him, she was nothing more than a silhouette.

  “Mind if I sit with you?” Tiff said.

  She took a single step forward out of the shadow of dusk and appeared to Matt in full beauty. Seeing her now, not just hearing her, caused Matt to sit up in a more stoic posture.

  “Hey,” he blurted.

  “Sorry, did I catch you off guard?”


  “Yeah, you did. That’s the second time today. You seem to be making a habit of it.”

  “I can let you be if you—”

  “No…stay. Please. I don’t mind the company,” he lied. As much as he wanted to be alone, he didn’t want to put her off. Aside from being a generous host, there was something about her being around him that made him feel good or at least better about himself.

  He finished chewing the food he had shoveled into his mouth while Tiff situated herself against the tree trunk with him. As she shuffled around, her smell filled the air, once again entrancing him.

  “You were telling me earlier about your mom and brother. I’m still not sure I believe this letter and all. It just seems so farfetched to me, but I’m curious. Where is it you’re headed, exactly? Our group has traveled around most of the states. Maybe we could help.”

  “Greg says we’re heading to Denver,” Matt said. “Not sure if the group she’s with will still be there by the time we arrive, but nonetheless, it’s where we’re going.”

  “I see.” She paused. “How long ago did you get this letter, again?”

  “Not sure exactly. A month or so.”

  Tiffany chewed on her lip. “You know, we came through Denver a few months ago. It was pretty vacant when we left. We didn’t go through the downtown area or anything, but floated around the edges. Didn’t come across any other groups while we were there. Didn’t find any stragglers, either. Honestly, we hadn’t come across anyone in a very long time up until we met you all.”

  Matt inhaled a deep breath through his nose and exhaled loudly out his mouth before setting his plate down. He closed his eyes to contemplate the losses they’d endured, and for what? A bullshit letter from a woman who’d left him for as good as dead. Why now?

  “Look, it’s been a while since we passed through and your letter arrived. Maybe they’re up in the mountains outside the area we searched. There was a larger-than-normal horde coming up from the south as we pushed out of Colorado and into Utah. If her group came up from the south out of somewhere like New Mexico, they would have known that and probably took refuge in the hills.”