Amanda Carter in the L.A.Z., life after zombies

by Jo Lee Auburne

  Sam scrunched up her face for a second, while she pondered this, and then she brightened. “I get it, I think,” she said, “like I’m thankful that I have my whole family still, even if I’ve lost my friends. Is that what you’re talking about?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” she answered, feeling satisfied that she had been able to get her point across in a way that made sense to the girl.

  “So when do we leave for town?” Sam asked breathlessly, changing gears so suddenly that it threw Amanda off guard.

  “I’m thinking about it, Sam,” she answered. “How about you go and spend some time with your dad? Have him answer some of your questions about town from his perspective, okay?”

  “Sure,” Sam said, hopping up and forgetting all about their game.

  “Is it possible to sweat any more than I am?” Maryanne asked, fanning herself with her hand, as if that would help. “I don’t know about you all, but I’m positively drenched with sweat.”

  “Being in the kitchen with the burner going isn’t helping any,” Amanda said.

  “Well, the rabbit stew isn’t going to cook itself,” she answered. “With Red on the job of hunting us down more food, we just might be able to stay at a healthy weight. And you know that I never thought I’d see the day where I heard myself say that,” Maryanne said. “It used to be that I struggled with my weight a little bit, and I’m not talking about being too thin.”

  “I hear you,” Amanda said.

  “Since when did you ever struggle with being too fat?” Maryanne said, looking playfully but accusingly to her friend.

  “There was a time,” Amanda said, secretly hoping that her friend didn’t ask her to recall when that time might have been because she couldn’t remember.

  “Mom, I’ll be sure to find us some deodorant when I go to town,” Sam said enthusiastically.

  “Oh, you will, will you,” Maryanne said, and Amanda watched as a strange expression flickered across her friends’ face. Amanda figured that was because soon, her daughter would be placing herself in peril, and she didn’t want to think about it.

  Quickly, Maryanne plastered a very fake smile on her face, wearing it broadly.

  “That sounds like a wonderful idea, honey,” she said, trying to match her daughter’s enthusiasm. “I wanted to ask you ladies if you could bring up some more water from the truck. I might as well purify water while I’m already standing here because tomorrow, there won’t be any more drinking water if I don’t,” Maryanne said.

  “Will do,” Amanda said, hopping up and brushing the dirt off of her jeans.

  “When are we going to town?” Sam asked of Amanda.

  “Come on, kid, we’ll talk about it on the way down to get the water,” Amanda answered.

  Chapter 24

  Dinner was a relatively extravagant affair for them, compared to what they were used to, and Red received many accolades for his part in making it happen. The rabbit had been boiled with salt, pepper, Tabasco sauce, peas, and a little bit of dried rosemary seasoning. Afterward, Maryanne handed out candy bars, which were also a real treat. And even though the chocolate was melted, every one of the people enjoyed every bite, being sure to lick the wrapper when they had finished. Tammy sported chocolate all over her face for the remainder of the night, and no one commented on it. It was like, for a short time, they were having the opportunity to feel what normal was like again.

  Red and Boo both seemed accustomed to eagerly watching the cooking process in anticipation of eating with their people. Maryanne did not disappoint. She hooked each of them up with a big bowl of stew after it had cooled. After eating, Red laid sprawled out and satisfied.

  “Why does it stay so hot even after the sun goes down?” Tammy asked, scrunching her chocolate-smeared face up into a frown.

  “Do you remember our oven that we used to have at the house?” her mother asked.

  “Yep,” the child answered, proudly. “You used to bake cookies in it.”

  “Yes, that’s right,” her mother answered, pleased that her daughter had still remembered. “Well, the desert works like the oven. It heats up, and then afterward, it stays hot for a while. Do you remember how I would tell you not to touch it, even after I was done baking the cookies?”

  “Yep, and I touched it once, and it was hot,” Tammy said.

  “Well, honey, it’s like that,” she said, hoping that she had sufficiently answered her youngest daughter’s question.

  “Oh,” Tammy said, “so why do we live in an oven?”

  Maryanne’s expression changed to one of surprise before she began to laugh.

  “That’s a good question, sweetie, why don’t you ask your father?” she said and then gave her husband’s hand a squeeze, as they were seated together.

  “That’s okay, I want to play with Boo,” Tammy said, turning while the little dog followed.

  “I guess you dodged a bullet on that one,” Amanda said wryly.

  “Kids,” commented Roy with a shake of his head.

  “Who wants to light the lanterns?” Maryanne asked, as the sun had completely dropped and the moon wasn’t offering enough light.

  “I’ll do it,” Sam said, eliciting a surprised look from her mother.

  “You sure have been helpful lately,” Maryanne said, eyeing her daughter suspiciously.

  “I’m just being pitching in,” Sam said, moving off to start the task.

  “Since when is our oldest daughter all about helpful?” Jason asked in a whisper.

  “Honey, it looks like our baby is growing up,” Maryanne said proudly.

  “I guess,” Jason said, staring after Sam.

  “So I talked to Sam today,” Amanda said, feeling like it was now or never to drop the bombshell on the group, “looks like we’ll be headed to town day after tomorrow.”

  A silence fell over the group, as all the adults understood the dangers that this would present to young Sam.

  “Why’s everybody being so quiet?” Sam asked suspiciously after having finished with the lanterns and returning to the group.

  “Amanda just informed us of when you’re leaving on the run,” Maryanne said, trying to sound nonchalant.

  “Isn’t it awesome?” Sam said, and her face lit up with a broad smile.

  “That’s one way of describing it,” Jason said, rolling his eyes, causing Amanda to wonder if that’s where Sam had picked up the habit.

  “About that,” Roy said, speaking of the run, “I have a few more items to add to your list, if you don’t mind?”

  “Sure thing,” Amanda said. “The notebook’s over there,” she said, pointing to her sleeping area. “Just put an asterisk by anything that’s a must-have.”

  “Isn’t anybody else uncomfortable with them leaving so soon for this run?” Maryanne asked, looking around the group.

  “I’m happy,” said Tammy, “Amanda’s getting me a coloring book, with lots of colors too.”

  “It’s not soon, Mom,” Sam said. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

  “We’re doing the right thing, honey,” Jason said. “Even if it doesn’t feel like we’re doing the right thing, we are.”

  “I’m going to try to trust that,” Maryanne said, looking as if she might cry.

  “Sam still needs to be brought up to speed on how the water pump works,” Amanda said. “I would also like it if she could get some practice swinging that bat some, just in case.”

  “I’ll show her how to hook the pump onto the truck battery in the morning,” Roy said.

  “I’ve used that bat before to whack a few of those creepers,” Maryanne said reluctantly. “I guess I can show her how to use it, but I really don’t want her getting that close to them.”

  “All I can say is that I’ll try to keep her out of harm’s way, but that’s no guarantee that we won’t come across any trouble, you know that,” Amanda said, giving her friend a sympathetic look.

  Maryanne nodded her head, slowly at first and the
n more vigorously. “I’ll show her how to use the bat. If she needs it, she’ll be ready and able to use it.”

  “Good,” Amanda said. “If anybody thinks of anything else that we should be sure to go over with her, let me know.”

  “Is there anything that this cripple here can do?” Jason asked.

  “As a matter of fact, there is,” said Amanda. “I want you to sit her down and describe in detail some of our previous runs. If you could, please go over protocol for various types of situations and really help her to understand what is out there. It would be helpful if she’s prepared mentally and emotionally for the trip.”

  “Will do,” Jason said with a single nod. He was feeling better that there would be something for him to do around the camp; he had begun to feel like a burden to his wife.

  “And I’ll give her one more hand-to-hand combat lesson, only I’ll be more gentle on her this time,” Amanda said.

  “I’ll teach her how to siphon gas while we’re down at the truck,” Roy said, thinking of another skill that would invariably come in handy out on a run.

  “That reminds me of something else,” Amanda said, “can you show her how to unhook battery cables? From the looks of your list, we’re going to need to be coming back with a lot of batteries.”

  “No worries,” Roy said. “That kind of stuff is right up my alley, but if you can’t find everything on this next run, then save it for the run after that.”

  “Gotcha. I’m just excited to implement some of our new ideas,” she answered.

  “Me too,” he said, being uncharacteristically chatty.

  “Why do I keep feeling left out of all these conversations?” Sam asked. “It’s like you’re all talking about me, but nobody’s actually talking to me.”

  “That’s about to change,” Amanda said. “By the end of tomorrow, you’re going to be ready to have everyone stop talking to you. Trust me on that.”

  “Sounds fair,” Sam said with a shrug of her narrow shoulders.

  Sam was tall for her age, but her body was slight, especially up through her shoulders that were slanted downward and narrow. She had the look of a distance runner, but brute strength would never be her strong suite, which was something that Amanda could relate to. Amanda was shorter than Sam, and though very muscular, she was quick and agile, rather than strong. Amanda’s strong suits were the fact that she was in such good shape and a smart thinker. She could only hope that Sam would learn how to use her brain quickly to get her out of trouble, rather than to rely upon any strength from her body that she did not possess.

  Roy, on the other hand, was very strong physically, as well as smart, but he lacked the speed, endurance, and agility that Amanda possessed. Jason was smart, but his body had always been weak when it came to athletics and would be especially so now that he would have a leg that would never work quite right again for him. Maryanne possessed the smarts and a fair amount of endurance, but her heart was never posed for a fight, and she lacked much in the way of physical strength as well.

  As Amanda looked around their camp at its members, including the two dogs, it crossed her mind that for their safety, having a few more people with a few more skill types would still be helpful. But it wasn’t exactly like she wanted to advertise for members, considering the pitiful lack of selection that was left out there amongst the survivors.

  Since their escape from town six months ago, they had as yet to come across another viable applicant for camp membership, and that either meant that there weren’t any other suitable types left out there in their vicinity or that they were long overdue to come across them. She secretly wondered which category would prove to be correct over time.

  “Looks like you’re lost in thought,” Maryanne said, coming to sit beside her. “Are you worried about Sam on the run?”

  “No,” Amanda said, knowing that it was a lie. She was worried, but Maryanne was the last person that she was going to say that to, so she didn’t feel too bad about the lie, knowing that it was one of those “little white lies” that people told to save the people that they cared about some grief.

  “I’m worried,” Maryanne said, stating the obvious.

  “I know that you are, my friend,” Amanda said, sounding sympathetic.

  “I just think that it’s too soon, that she’s too young yet,” Maryanne said. “I don’t want her exposed to all that that’s out there now.”

  “I know,” Amanda said, issuing a sigh. “But it’s like this, Maryanne, there’re two types of people left in this world now: the bad-ass good people and the bad-ass bad people. By sheltering her here, you’re preventing her from being able to discover the bad ass in herself, and that’s not going to help her in the long run. And now, while she’s young, we can help to mold and shape her and the decisions that she makes. If we wait too long, then she’ll just grow more angry and rebellious, and we’ll lose that window of opportunity.”

  “It makes so much more sense coming from you when you put it like that,” Maryanne said, issuing a sigh of her own. “But neither Jason nor I are bad asses, we’re intellectuals.”

  “I know that, but you’ve got two bad-ass friends watching your back,” Amanda said, speaking of Roy and herself.

  “And maybe I’ll also have a bad-ass daughter too,” Maryanne said with a laugh. “I wonder which type of individual Tammy’s going to be, an intellectual or a bad ass like her sister?”

  “It’s really too soon to tell, but she already reminds me a lot of you,” Amanda said.

  “I don’t know if that’s a comfort or not,” her friend answered, “knowing what’s waiting for her out there, knowing that if she were like me and her father, then she’s part of a very small minority.”

  “Well, it’s like Jason says . . .” Amanda began.

  “She’ll be the most adjusted of us all,” Maryanne said, finishing Amanda’s sentence.

  “Yep,” Amanda said with a smile. She looked around the camp, to see that Tammy had already put herself to bed, without asking for her usual bedtime story from Amanda.

  “Trust me, once all the creepers are gone, we’re going to need the intellectuals.”

  “You know, Amanda, if you and Roy hadn’t risked your lives to get us out of our house, none of my family would be here,” Maryanne said, and the kindness in her voice touched Amanda deeply. “Thank you.”

  “Roy and I are in the bad-ass good guys’ category,” Amanda said and then issued a laugh.

  “Roy had been our neighbor for years,” Maryanne said. “But you had never met any of us, and you certainly didn’t have to do what you did.”

  “Let’s hope that Sam will grow up to be like Roy and me,” Amanda said, starting to feel uncomfortable with her friend’s accolades.

  “That’s a scary thought,” Maryanne said, and Amanda couldn’t tell if she was joking or serious.

  “Come on,” Amanda said, hopping up. “I’ll help you with the dishes. It’s been a long day for both of us.”

  Chapter 25

  Amanda and Roy were the first ones to wake, a full hour and a half before the sun rose. Roy was accustomed to waking early, but Amanda was not, and she had no idea why she had suddenly popped up nearly fully awake at such an early hour. Perhaps, she thought, it could have been a dream that she did not remember upon waking. She ran her hands through her hair, using her fingers as a brush. She was convinced that they did not even have a hairbrush amongst any of them, unless Maryanne had been holding out on her. Her fingers became stuck in a knot of hair, and she worked it out. If she wasn’t careful, as her hair grew out, she’d have dreadlocks like Roy had sported for so long.

  The night had not cooled down much, and neither of them had slept very well. Roy had already made a weak substitute for what Amanda would consider coffee. There were enough grounds to make a few more pots of the weak brew, if they rationed it carefully. She wished that she wasn’t so attached to the substance because when it was gone, she was sure that she would have to endure a mourning process. It wa
s hard to believe that there had once been a coffee house readily accessible all through the town. She let out a sigh and pushed herself to her feet.

  Roy had suggested that they walk down the hill to the vehicles where they could be free to converse without waking the others. Roy would often wake early and go down there himself because he valued his private time, something Amanda could really understand with them living so closely on top of each other all the time.

  Together they pulled the tarp off of the truck, and he let the tailgate down. Amanda had carried a lantern down with them to light their way, and this she set down behind them in the bed of the truck. Red had followed them down, opting to sit on the ground, in the dirt, rather than join them on the tailgate.

  In the predawn hours, the desert has a particular beauty that they all sat silently enjoying. Even though it was still hot, with the sun down, it gave them the impression of at least being bearable.

  “Is there something that you wanted to talk about?” Roy finally asked of Amanda.

  “Why would you think that I wanted to talk about anything?” Amanda asked, giving her head a nod to the side and eyeing Roy closely.

  “You’re doing that thing that you do when you want to say something but don’t know when to do it,” Roy said matter-of-factly.

  “What thing?” Amanda asked, perplexed because he had known that she wanted to talk and couldn’t think of what he might be referring to as the tell from her.

  “You’re drumming your fingers on your leg,” Roy said, “or don’t you know that you’re doing it?”

  Amanda looked down at her right hand to see that she had been drumming her fingers on her leg.

  “We are all spending way too much time together if you ask me,” she said. “I’m confident that we all know more about each other than most couples would in a lifetime.”

  “I can’t speak to that as I’ve never been involved in a live-in relationship,” Roy said without making it sound as if he had any regrets about it. “I had girlfriends, sure, but nothing ever too serious.”