by Ricky Sides
“Fuck no,” Jon replies. “It stinks. I don’t like it at all.”
“Why the secrecy?” I wonder. “Why didn’t Carl tell us himself? You’d think he would…”
“We’ll talk with Stuart in the morning,” Jon says. “Before we leave through the gate. Once on the other side, I’m not making a peep until we are back, safe and sound.”
“I hear that,” I say as we stand in front of my house. We both know we won’t be able to not talk. Talking is our thing. Talking quietly, of course. “Catch ya in the morning.”
“It’ll be an adventure!” Jon says. “A shitty adventure.”
“Night, man.”
“Night.”
I watch him walk off, and then turn and head inside. I find Stella sitting on the couch.
“I thought you were gonna take a bath?” I ask.
“I just said that to screw with Brenda,” Stella replies. “I wouldn’t waste water like that.” She watches me for a second. “What? What happened after I left?”
“I’ve been given a mission,” I say and sit next to her. “I have to leave in the morning with Jon and Stuart. Apparently we need batteries or the grid goes down.”
“So why isn’t Melissa going out?” Stella asks.
“Jon asked the same thing,” I reply. “Brenda gave us some bullshit answer.”
Stella is quiet for a while. She leans against me and sighs. “Who can we trust the most?”
“Why?”
“In case I need allies,” Stella says.
“Allies? You’ve been reading too much John LeCarre from the school library,” I laugh. Then I stop. “Tran and his family. Stubben, maybe? Melissa, of course.”
“Short list,” Stella says.
“Everyone else is in too deep with Brenda. Or Mindy, which is the same as being in with Brenda.”
“Tran and maybe Stubben. Great,” Stella says. “I may call off school until you get back. Hole up here in the house.”
“That could raise red flags,” I say.
“I’ll just say that Carrey is in one of his manic wild phases,” Stella answers. “Which he kinda is.”
We sit quietly for a long time before Stella gets up and takes my hand. “Let’s tell the kids lights out and go to bed.”
“Good idea,” I say. I really hope her idea of going to bed is my idea of going to bed. “I’ll be right up. Let me double check the doors.”
Our little subdivision used to be a never lock your doors kind of place. But this is post-Z Whispering Pines. Even with the gate and all the fortifications, I still make sure all the windows are shuttered and the doors are barred. Once I know the house is secure, then I’ll only wake up like twelve times at night, instead of an anxious twenty times.
First, you have kids and never sleep when they are little. By the time they are old enough to take care of themselves in the morning, or even better, sleep later than you do, the damn zombie apocalypse comes and ruins everything. I doubt I’ll get a good night’s sleep for the rest of my life. And I have a night or two out in the wasteland of Asheville to look forward to. Joy.
Z-Burbia is available from Amazon here