“I feel kind of bad for him,” Billy said. “Whoever he is.”
“I know, right?” Alex said before getting cut off.
“Yo, Cully, what do you want to do? Should we just hit the road or what?” Steve asked, trying to get back to the matter at hand.
Collin leaned back and took a minute to think. “Okay, well, considering we know that there are zombies here with Alex’s encounter and mine—”
“Wait, you killed one too? What happened? Where?” Alex interrupted.
“Yeah, in Wal-Mart. It was nothing,” Collin answered. He shot a quick look to Steve and continued. “We should really set off tonight, but the camp is set up and secure. Fuck it. We’ll stay tonight, plan our next move, then take off tomorrow.”
“Aye aye, captain.”
“Sounds good.”
“Sweet, ’cause I’m beat.”
They turned to Mike, who was finishing up a bag of chocolate covered pretzels. Melted white chocolate was smeared all over his lips and fingers.
“Got that?” Collin asked. Mike just responded with a huge grin and a slight giggle.
They all sifted through their new stash of food, but no one was nearly as excited or hungry as Mike. Each picked a light snack, then came back to the table, where Steve persuaded Collin to tell his Wal-Mart story again. They all laughed at how much of a coward Dan was, although no one seemed surprised.
“You’re too forgiving,” Alex said with a full mouth. “If he’d done that shit to me, I’d have shot him on the spot.”
“For sure,” Billy said, bumping knuckles with Alex. “No one fucks with our family.”
Shortly after their snack, Billy and Alex went to the back to rest. Steve hopped in his bunk for a quick nap, and Mike sank into the driver’s chair to sleep. Collin wasn’t tired, so he stepped outside, only to be met by the steady dry heat.
As Collin approached the others, he could tell that the excitement around the F-150 was winding down. Michelle reclined the driver’s seat, exhausted from the day’s events. Mandy and Jessica sat in lawn chairs under an umbrella that oscillated between sun and shade. Frank was sprawled out in the back seat of the truck, dangling his feet through the open door and holding on to a bottle of Jim Beam. Dan laid in the truck’s bed, shirt still on, increasing the redness of his neck and arms. To Collin’s surprise, Dan had actually listened to him and finished filling the generator with gas.
“Hey, Dan, listen up. I just talked to Billy and Alex, and they saw signs of infected all around the town. And as you know, I took one down earlier,” Collin said, emphasizing the last sentence. “But we’ll stay the night, and then take off in the morning. I suggest you guys get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”
Dan looked over to see if anyone caught on, but everyone else was too tired. “Well, alrigh’ then,” he said.
Mandy shifted her chair back into the shade. “Jess, you have no idea how bad I want a shower.”
Jessica pulled down her overly large DIOR sunglasses. “I know right? It’s been like forever.”
Suddenly, Michelle came scrambling out from the F-150, acting like a shark that had just smelled blood. “Oh my gosh, girls! I completely forgot ta tell ya’ll!”
Both girls jumped up in excitement.
“What? What is it?”
“Okay, so we were headin’ back to the Wal-Mart, and then I saw it, and it looked like one o’ them desert thingy’s… Darn, what wuz it called?”
The girls looked just as confused as she did.
An oasis, Collin thought to himself. Rather than say it out loud, he wanted to see how long it would take three idiots to figure it out. He figured it might make for a good joke later on.
“Well, whatever. Anyway, so there’s a pool back there!” Michelle exclaimed, pointing past the brick wall into the partially completed hotel.
“A pool? No shit! Oh, we are so going tonight!” Jessica exclaimed. She threw her arms in the air and performed a little dance, snapping her fingers and fist pumping to a beat inside her head.
Frank slid out the passenger-side door of the F-150, holding up two bottles of whiskey. “Yeah, and I got them party fav’res, too!”
At the prospect of bathing, the Texas girls jumped up and down, breasts following the motion. Dan and Michelle hugged and kissed each other, equally as thrilled. Frank took a gulp of liquor.
“Hey, guys! Didn’t you just listen to anything I said? About how there’s probably infected all over this town? About leaving tomorrow morning?” Collin said, patience wearing thin.
“It’s okay, it ain’t more than a few blocks away,” responded Michelle.
“Yeah, now why you gotsta be such a downer?” Dan added.
“I know, come on. It’ll be so much fun,” said two Texas-accented voices.
Collin shook his head out of frustration. He knew it was like trying to reason with little kids, so he didn’t press the issue. “Whatever. You guys know what’s out there, so I’m not going to stop you.”
1826 hours
Night fell on Danton, dropping the temperature twenty degrees. A few packets of cumulus clouds rolled over the hills to the North. A breeze picked up, but the air remained dry and uncomfortable.
Dan took out two portable lights and plugged them into the generator. Frank unfolded a card table for the girls to set out their dinner items, a spread of Cheetos, Doritos, beef jerky, Captain Crunch, Twinkies, and bags of M&M’s and Butterfingers. The group sat in lawn chairs around the table devouring their high-sodium, sugar-infused dinner, only to wash it down with swigs of alcohol.
A portable CD player blasted a random hip-hop mix from the tailgate. The effects of the group’s hour long pre-game were highly noticeable.
Dan and Frank, apparently aggressive drunks, broke out into a wrestling match, slamming one another to the ground and up against the fence. Initially friendly, the sparring turned sour as Frank overpowered Dan and threw him into the chain-link fence. The metal scraped Dan’s lower back, leaving a checkered pattern of red lines. Dan curled up his fist and threw it into Frank’s gut, causing the ogre to wince in pain.
Mandy, Jessica, and Michelle moved to the edge of their seats, looking worried. To their surprise, the two rednecks laughed off the injuries and embraced in a brotherly hug. Then, they walked back over to the truck for some much needed rest.
In between huge gulps of Old Crow bourbon, Michelle asked Mandy and Jessica for fashion tips and tricks. The Texas blondes delightfully answered while sipping on vodka and sodas. The conversation went from hair and nails to skin tone and moisturizing, and finally to clothing. Then the Texans’ second fashion show of the day came.
Collin pulled his head back from the RV’s side window, letting the blinds snap shut. “They’re like fucking children,” he said, going back to his meal.
“Let me guess,” Steve said. “Chips and cookies for dinner?”
“I didn’t really see, but I wouldn’t be surprised,” Collin replied.
“And they’re terrible fighters. No technique whatsoever,” Alex responded, critiquing the bout between Frank and Dan. “I’d have picked them apart.”
He didn’t look it, but Alex was a tough kid, fighting everywhere. A few months after the move to New York, he had ended up in a cell for sending a harassing Yankees fan to the hospital. Later, after the charges had been dropped, he had found out that the Angels had beaten the Yankees at home 12-4—icing on the cake.
After a UFC marathon three years ago, he had decided he wanted to be the deadliest fighter in MMA, and had begun training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Shaolin Kempo-Karate. From the day he had gotten his driver’s license, Alex had left his dad’s house every weekend to drive to New York City to train with Billy.
The cousins gathered around the kitchen table and finished a very uneventful dinner of tuna and crackers, canned Mandarin oranges, and Oreos for dessert. To mix things up, Mike added a bag of barbecue chips and peanut butter-filled pretzels to the buffet line.
Still f
inding humor in the prank they had pulled earlier, Alex and Billy continued mimicking the expressions on Collin’s and Steve’s faces.
“Hey, Bill, who am I?” Alex said, putting on his best impression of Collin.
“You have to arch your eyebrows more. Like this,” Billy corrected with a laugh, displaying a more accurate portrayal.
Collin took out one last Oreo, then sealed the bag. “Very funny, assholes,” he said, tossing the bag into the top cupboard.
Steve knew better than to say anything, so he sat back and enjoyed the show.
To even the playing field, Collin joked about Billy’s most sensitive feature: his hair. “At least my head doesn’t look like a penis!”
Billy’s high and tight haircut suggested military, but he didn’t have the discipline to take orders from most people. Years before, he had worked as an electrician, but had grown tired of working for someone else. After he quit, he had become a personal trainer in New York City.
He took out his aggression on weights and punching bags and worked his hours. He liked things his way. Strangely enough, he liked this new world, a world where there were no rules and no one giving him orders or telling him what he could or could not do.
“You always gotta resort back to the hair, don’t you, Cully? Not cool, man,” Billy said, immediately stopping his impersonation. He ran his hands through his hair. “It’s not like I can go get it cut somewhere. I don’t trust you assholes, so I have to do it myself.” Mike sat in the corner, meticulously preparing two blunts. He set up three stations in an assembly line system. The first station had whole marijuana buds; the next was where he used a tool to crush the leaves, and at the last sat two blunt wraps, cherry and vanilla. He didn’t look up once at Alex and Billy’s comedy show.
As much as he tried to remain an innocent spectator, Steve knew it was only a matter of time before he got involved in the harassing, willingly or not. He knew Billy would be looking for someone to divert the attention to.
“Well, we can’t forget about Steve,” Billy said, pumping his arms to mimic Steve’s run around the corner. During this particular impression, Billy’s arm accidentally knocked some of the marijuana to the carpet.
“Hey, man, watch out for the weed, okay?” Mike snapped, bending down to retrieve the leaves.
“Chill out, bro,” Billy said, leaning back casually. “Man, I’m bored as hell. Alex, bring over some of that whiskey, okay?”
Alex was already up and throwing away empty cans of tuna into a large black trash bag. “Oh, for sure. We gonna get a little trashed tonight, Bill?”
“We’ll just have to see where the night takes us,” Billy replied with a smile on his face.
As Alex brought over a bottle of twelve-year-old Macallan, the side door swung open. Without an invitation, the two Texans came inside and began dancing to the faint music from stereo outside.
“Who’s ready to party?” Mandy shouted, trying to hold back a hiccup.
Jessica brushed past the others and snuggled next to Mike. “Yeah, ‘cause we feel like gettin’ a lil crazy in the pool tonight.”
Alex took the bottle and poured five glasses of scotch into some Dixie cups. “What? You guys are going to a pool?”
“Yeah, silly! Michelle saw one not too far from here,” Mandy replied, taking her finger and sensuously caressing Alex’s face. Alex, unaware of the obvious tease, quickly downed his glass and poured another.
“Wait, I mean, you guys are coming, right?” Jessica asked the group, her attention focused on Mike.
“Hell yeah, we’re going!” Billy exclaimed, moving in closer to Mandy.
Mike licked the joint one final time and slid it behind his ear like a pencil. “You know I’m there.”
“I think I’m going to stay,” Steve said taking a sip of the whiskey. He tried sending Collin a psychic message that this outing was a bad idea.
Collin seemed to have picked up the transmission, because he quickly replied, “Yeah, me too.”
“Okay, well, whoever is coming, meet us outside in a half an hour for some fun!”
Jessica gave Mike a sensual kiss on the ear, then followed Mandy out the door.
While changing into their bathing suits, Mike, Billy, and Alex threw back five shots of whiskey.
“All right, don’t be out too long, guys. We have a long day tomorrow,” Collin said. “And be safe.”
“Don’t worry, I never leave home without it,” Alex responded, caressing his favorite Springfield .45 handgun.
Billy followed suit and pocketed his .45 Smith and Wesson, along with the rest of the Macallan. Mike, on the other hand, was clearly more worried about remembering to bring his freshly wrapped joints.
As the guys piled out of the RV, Steve held up his cup. “Later, guys. Have fun and watch your backs.”
Once the others were gone, Collin and Steve attempted to diagnose the radio’s reception problem from earlier. On their last hunting trip, Tom had surprised the guys with new radios. They looked like something the secret service would wear, small and compact, but with a far range.
Steve had the back shell of the radio opened and was staring into the circuit board and wiring. “I’m thinking battery, but just want to make sure there’s no other damage. What are you thinking?”
“I’m just worried,” Collin replied.
“Dude, this radio isn’t a big issue,” Steve began to say, but stopped when he looked up at Collin. He quickly realized his cousin wasn’t talking about the radio. He wasn’t even looking down at it. His attention was focused outside. “Oh, the guys. They’ll be fine, right?
“I hope so. I just have a bad feeling,” Collin replied, returning his attention to the radio.
1905 hours
As planned, the pool bound group met in front of the F-150 before setting off. A full moon lit up the desert, so the group only bothered with a few flashlights.
“Stick close together, and don’t go wandering off,” Billy said, knowing the hicks and Texas girls didn’t have much common sense.
The construction zone behind Wal-Mart looked as though it had been interrupted almost as soon as it had started. The ground around craters, plumbing lines, and deep ditches was dusty and weed-ridden. Dozens of Bobcats, cranes, and concrete trucks sat inactive. The large industrial-sized dumpsters were filled to the top with dirt and other construction debris.
The group took their time making sure nothing lurked behind any of the obstacles; the last thing they wanted was something to kill their buzz.
The pool building was connected to what appeared to be a new, partially-completed hotel. The sixty-plus stories of the hotel-to-be were completely exposed, containing nothing more than concrete floors, metal rods, and drywall. The other half the complex was still under construction. Lucky for the group, the indoor pool annex had been completed. The top of the water glistened in the moonlight.
Dan grabbed the handle to the emergency exit that they hoped to use as an entrance and shook it violently. “Shit, iz locked, but not fer much longer.” Before allowing anyone else to check it, he pulled out his gun and shot the glass, shattering it into hundreds of tiny shards. “I always wanted to shoot me a winda like that. Ya know, like in da movies?”
Billy grabbed Dan by the shirt, spun him around, and shoved him against the door’s metal frame. “What the hell was that for? Do you want zombies to come looking for us?”
“Yeah, you hick-ass idiot,” Alex said, backing up his cousin and checking the perimeter for any immediate threats.
For a second, it looked like Frank was going to step up to Billy, but Dan intervened. “Now ya’ll, look. We done found this here pool and we’re gonna do what we like. If ya’ll gots a problem with the way we wants to party, well, ya’ll can just leave. Me, on the otha hand, I’m a gonna get fuck’d up. Now who’s gonna join me?”
Rather than try to argue with an idiot, Billy let it go. “Next time, don’t go popping off rounds, got it?” Billy said, releasing his grip on Dan.
“Fine by me,” Dan replied. Carefully, he reached through the broken glass and unlatched the lock.
As the party neared to the pool, their flashlights revealed a major glitch. The pool, a four-lane, Olympic-sized swimmer’s wet dream, was a disaster. Algae covered the walls, and the water was clearly a cesspool of bacteria and disease.
Billy and Alex walked over to a large circular section of the floor covered by a dark blue tarp. They unhooked the spring-release hinges, revealing a spa. Like the pool, it was massive; according to a placard on the wall, it could hold fifteen. Strangely enough, it was completely clean and free of algae.
How the hell is this clean and not the pool? Billy thought. Curious, he left the group and walked over to the pumps and service units.
With the moon and flashlights set up around the spa, the room was lit like a dive bar. The low hum of music from their portable stereo speakers added to the ambiance.
“Damn, I really wanted to swim around a bit,” Frank moaned, staring into the sea of green.
“Yeah, and maybe you still should. You’d probably clean off some of that Shrek odor,” Alex whispered to himself.
“How do ya’ll suppose this spa is still clean?” questioned Jessica.
“I don’t mean to be rude, Jess, but I am too darn excited to care!” Mandy exclaimed, already taking her shirt off and putting her legs in.
Billy arose from the panels, scratching his head, equally as stumped. “I don’t know about the pool, but the spa seems to be running on a separate unit, probably to cut down on power and maintenance or something. Give me a second to check it out.”
Alex followed Billy through another door, leading outside of the building.
The rest of the group wasted no time getting the party started. Mike sat on the top of the stairs leading into the spa, lit up the first of two massive blunts, and passed it to his left. In between gulps of bottom-shelf whiskey, Frank indulged in a few hits. The vanilla-flavored pot made its way to the Texas girls next. After one deep hit each, they coughed and giggled for the next five minutes. Lastly, the blunt found Dan and Michelle, who took a few puffs and went straight back to making their own soft-core porn scene. The cycle continued once more before Billy and Alex returned.
The Longest Road (Book 1) Page 7