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

by Jo Lee Auburne

  “Well, trust me, it’s true,” she commented.

  “So what’s up?” he asked as he stared out across the nearly dark desert.

  “I’ve had a bad feeling about this upcoming run, Roy,” she said, deciding not to camouflage it with comforting wording.

  “I’d be worried about you if you didn’t,” he said. “It’s Sam’s first time out, and you have every right to be worried.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Amanda said. “Sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether it’s my gut instincts talking or my emotions. The two tend to get tossed around together.”

  “I understand,” Roy said, still staring out across the landscape.

  “I can see why you like to come down here early in the morning, it’s beautiful,” Amanda said, following his gaze.

  Time passed, and the sun had begun to slip slowly over the mountaintops, and the desert floor began to glow. Amanda blew out the lantern, not wanting to waste the fuel. It had been a while since she had been able to find kerosene. It was a shame too because she had had plenty of it in her motor home before somebody or a group of somebody’s had torched it. It was too bad, she considered, that humanity was in such dire straits and that they couldn’t seem to all pool their resources together to survive. There were times that she chose to live with hope for their future, but there were other times when she believed that the extinction of their species was inevitable.

  “Amanda,” he finally said, “the truck isn’t large enough to haul back much in the way of supplies, besides the usual. I mean, between the hundred gallons of water, the planks, tools, weapons, food, and such, there just isn’t enough room to carry too much more.” He was rubbing at the little bit of hair that was left on his head.

  “I know,” she answered. “I’ve already scouted out some transportation prospects. That’s why it’s important that Sam can drive.”

  “I figured,” he commented. “I’m just glad it’s you and not me going out there with such a rookie. I’d be spending the whole time worrying about whether I was going to be able to bring her back to her momma all safe and sound.”

  “Is this your way of saying that you don’t think that she should go?” Amanda asked, feeling more worried than she had before.

  “No, no it’s not that,” he said. “I think that it’s time, given how the world is now. I just wouldn’t want to be the one to do it. It’s good that it’s you. The girl looks up to you.”

  “She looks up to you too,” Amanda said, feeling her gut roil over what lay ahead and the consequences for failure.

  “Yeah, she might look up to me, but she doesn’t want to be me, not like she wants to be you,” he said.

  “Teens are very impressionable even though they act like they’re not,” Amanda said with a sigh. “I guess it’s no surprise that the girl doesn’t want to grow up to be a six-foot-tall black man with great teeth and big hands,” she said and then pretended to punch him in the shoulder.

  He laughed. “So you see what I’m saying now. It’s better that it’s you that’s taking her. You two will do just fine, so even though it’s normal to worry about it, do me a favor and try not to worry too much okay?”

  “Yep,” she said, wishing now that she hadn’t said anything at all because now she was really worried and not about to say it.

  “If you bring yourself back a heavier truck, you’ll need some metal rails to cross The Trench, those wooden planks are barely adequate for this truck,” he said, gesturing with his hand to the planks.

  “Yep,” she answered, “I’ve already thought about that, and I have a few metal rails stashed someplace in town that I think is safe.”

  Red had disappeared for about ten minutes. He returned with a two-foot, coon tail rattlesnake in his mouth. Again, he had killed it by snapping its neck directly behind the head.

  “Would you look at that?” Roy said with amazement. “We have ourselves a hunter.”

  Red dropped the snake and then backed away from it to sit down, staring up at them while wearing a big wolflike grin.

  “I think he’s smiling,” Amanda said with an awed expression.

  “I think he’s going to help keep us in the food,” Roy said, adding a chuckle.

  “It’s a dangerous job, hunting things like that,” she commented.

  “Might be one of the reasons that he’s so proud of his accomplishment, but we won’t be letting it go to waste now, will we?” Roy said, reaching back to grab the shovel.

  “We’ll need a graveyard just for the heads off of them,” she said, hopping down and reaching to grab the shovel from him.

  “This desert doesn’t have a lot to hunt for, but I think if anybody can scrounge about and come up with something, it’s him,” Roy said, pointing to Red.

  O

  “Where do you suppose they are?” Maryanne asked.

  “In the early mornings, Roy likes to disappear down by the vehicles. I suppose that’s where they are,” Jason said. He yawned and readjusted his body on the chair. “You know, these chairs aren’t made for sleeping in, especially long term. When can I be on my feet?”

  “Do you need a pain pill? We have some more,” Maryanne asked, looking at him sympathetically.

  “No, I don’t need a pain pill. I’m just tired of being the patient,” Jason snapped.

  Maryanne’s expression looked pained as she gave her husband a commiserating look. “You’ll be down for a while. I don’t want you on that leg until it’s healed up some more.”

  “Sorry, honey,” he said, giving her a softer look. “I’m just going stir crazy here.”

  “You and me both, Dad,” Sam said, as if she really believed that her situation rivaled that of her father’s.

  “It does hurt like hell,” he said, rubbing his knee, above the injury. “I guess I could use one of those pills.”

  Maryanne produced a pill that she had stashed in the small upper pocket of her jeans.

  “I thought you’d be needing one in the night,” she said, handing him the pill and a glass of water. “Sorry, but you won’t be up on that leg for a while. We’ll need to start some physical therapy for the rest of your body. I should have thought of that sooner. I guess I’ve been distracted lately,” she said, looking to her daughter.

  “What are you looking at me for?” Sam asked. “I don’t have anything to do with this,” she said with her mouth full. She was eating a graham cracker.

  “Don’t worry, breakfast is here,” Roy said, walking into camp, holding up the snake body.

  “Ewww,” Sam said, flinching backward. “There should be a law against having to look at stuff like that so early in the morning.”

  “Fine, if you’re not hungry,” Roy said, dismissing her and looking to Maryanne. “I’ll fix it up and give you a break in the kitchen this morning.”

  “Wait a second. I didn’t say I wasn’t hungry,” Sam said, grumbling.

  “Interesting bit of trivia,” Jason said, “rattlesnakes and maybe all snakes have a particular odor to them. That must be what Red’s smelling and how he knows where to find them.”

  “Makes sense,” Amanda said, leaning in to see if she could smell anything on the snake. Apparently, her senses weren’t as heightened as Red’s. All she could smell was a vague coppery scent from the snake’s blood.

  “Ergo,” Jason continued, “Red’s our early warning system if there’s a creeper around. I want you two to take him to town with you. He’ll help to watch your backs, and that will make your mother and I feel much better.”

  “Sure, can I take him?” Sam said, looking to Amanda for approval.

  “I don’t see why not. In fact, your dad has a point, and I think it’s a good idea,” Amanda said. “It seems to me like he’s got the sense to know when to stay quiet and when to raise the alarm. I doubt he’ll put us in any jeopardy.”

  “Cool,” Sam said, reaching a hand down to scratch Red between the ears. “I’m glad you found them and brought them back to camp. Some people wouldn’t h
ave.”

  “Why don’t you thank him? He found me,” she answered.

  Chapter 26

  Amanda kept Sam hustling for most of the day. She had two goals in mind for doing this: she wanted the girl to be very prepared for their trip so that there weren’t any unnecessary surprises. Secondly, she knew how excited Sam was over the trip, and she really wanted her to be able to get to sleep tonight because the last thing that they all needed was an overtired teenager going out there. By exhausting her today, the girl would sleep tonight and hopefully awaken fresh and ready for the day and her first run.

  Sam began her very full day with Roy, learning how to take the leads off of a car battery and remove the battery. He then had her return the battery and reattach the leads, only to run through the drill again. On the run, their lives would depend upon the speed and efficiency with which they could get what they needed and get out. One of them would be responsible for being a lookout while the other would pull batteries, and since Amanda was the one with the most experience with combat, it made more sense for Sam to be the one pulling the batteries.

  Car batteries experience more wear in the desert heat and could easily have half the average use life than they would have in more temperate climates, especially if they were to run out or low on water. Roy also taught her how to remove the caps over the reservoir to check for the water levels. He explained that the batteries that had not run dry would tend to last longer than ones that had. There would be very little sense to going to the trouble of taking a battery that wouldn’t last very long, especially with so many choices of abandoned vehicles available to them.

  After Roy was satisfied that she had successfully mastered that task, he taught her how to use the portable water pump that was powered by the truck’s battery. As with everything they needed to do, it would be important that Sam would be able to quickly hook up and use the water pump. Roy was sure to impress upon her that any delays could put them in danger and cost them their ability to bring back a full supply of water to the group, which in turn, could cost them all their lives.

  Roy paid particular attention to how this pressure that he was putting her under was affecting her, and he was impressed to discover the she operated better under pressure than she did during regular circumstances, and this would work to her benefit out there where things happened fast and decisions were often a matter of life and death.

  Lastly, he taught her how to siphon gas out of vehicles, using a piece of tubing. The process was slow, and she hated that she had got a mouthful of gasoline by sucking too hard the first time. Roy had just laughed, but she was trying to work out in her head a better way of doing this that wouldn’t involve gagging on it and would speed things along. She watched as small amounts of the liquid dribbled out of the clear hose and into the gas can, knowing full well that they would just be pouring it back into one of the tanks after she had finished her lesson. The sun pressed down on her, and the fumes were leaving her feeling woozy.

  Sam expended a lot of energy on her lessons with Roy and walked slowly back up the hill, without the usual bounce in her step. She was red-faced and soaked with sweat by the time she came to sit under the tarp, exhausted and overheated. She was sure that she would forever smell like gasoline, but she didn’t complain because tomorrow she would be going to town, and that, she felt, made it all worth it. She tried to smile but realized that at this time, it must look pathetic, so she stopped.

  “She did good,” Roy said to nobody in particular, just by way of an update to the group.

  “You’re looking tired,” Amanda said, observing the girl’s sweat-soaked clothing and worn expression.

  “Been practicing, and I got it down. I can do it all real fast,” Sam said a little breathlessly.

  Her mother came over to pour a glass of water over her head and then to hand her another full one.

  “Here, drink this,” Maryanne said, looking her daughter over cautiously.

  “Thanks,” was all Sam said.

  “You have worn that child out,” Maryanne said, speaking to Roy.

  “It can’t be helped. It will be hot out there tomorrow too, hope she has the endurance to hold up for it,” he said, eyeing Sam.

  “I thought you said that I did a good job,” Sam said with a whine. “I have what it takes to get the job done, haven’t I already shown you that?”

  “You did a fantastic job, girl, but that was just a very small part of what your day is going to look like tomorrow, and I hope that you’re up for it,” Roy said.

  “I’m up for it,” Sam answered, sounding determined, as if she were taking that as a challenge.

  “That’s what I wanted to hear,” Roy said.

  Amanda nodded and then gave the girl a smile, while her mother looked at Amanda skeptically.

  “Once you’ve cooled down, I want you to go spend time with your father and have him regale you with stories of the runs. Be sure to ask questions. He’ll fill you in on the protocols that we stick to and how we keep ourselves safe out there. Okay?” Amanda said.

  “Sure,” Sam said, already looking more refreshed and ready to go.

  Jason was thrilled to have the opportunity to put his talents to use and spent several hours with her. Curious, Amanda checked in from time to time and was amazed at what an apt pupil the teen was. Sam asked many intelligent questions and participated with input, as well as being able to sit quietly and listen for prolonged periods of time. After witnessing this, Amanda felt that her initial gut instinct, that the girl was ready for the job, had been correct and that she needn’t worry so much. At least, I’ll try, she told herself.

  Sam didn’t complain for the entire day, and the girl had shed her teen attitude in favor of a much more agreeable and eager one. It was clear to Amanda that the girl did not want anything to keep her from being able to make this trip into town.

  Amanda went over a few more close quarters fighting skills, including how to use the knife, and this time she took it easy on the girl, so as not to injure her. Amanda didn’t want Sam fighting with the knife just yet, as it would take a much closer fighting distance than the baseball bat even, but she did want the girl to be familiar with how to use it in the event of an emergency that she hoped would not happen.

  Sam proved to have a lot of endurance and a good recovery time between exercises, which would also prove to be one of her strong suits out in the field. Runs were, without exception, long days of exhausting work, with the heat adding to the difficulty level.

  As the day passed, into the early evening, Maryanne took her daughter out for another driving lesson and upon their return went over some combat moves with the baseball bat. Maryanne would allow her to take the weapon to town with the hopes that she wouldn’t be in need of it, but knowing that the opposite was more likely the reality.

  Amanda struggled throughout the day with periodic misgivings about their trip that would give her stomach an uneasy, queasy feeling. But each time, common sense won out, and the feelings would dissipate, leaving only the typical feeling of hunger in her belly.

  Sam managed to stay awake through dinner, which was a small serving of canned pork and beans with beets. But before she could set her plate down, she had begun to yawn and then excused herself to get some sleep.

  “If your intention was to keep her so busy and get her so worn out that she would get some sleep tonight then it worked,” Jason said, watching his daughter arrange her sleeping area.

  “That was the plan,” Amanda said, partly wishing that she had put herself through something nearly equally grueling and exhausting because she felt that sleep would not come easy tonight.

  “I don’t know if I’ll get any sleep at all tonight,” Maryanne said, also watching her daughter getting ready for bed. “A part of me wonders if this will be the last time I ever see her, but the last thing I would want to do is make a big fuss over her. She hates that, and I don’t want her to think that I think that.”

  “Honey, you need to try and sett
le down over this,” Jason said, but his voice lacked conviction. “The world is a dangerous and uncertain place these days. We are equipping her. If there is any chance at all of her having a future, we’re helping with that by preparing her and sending her out there with an experienced supervisor.”

  “So you say,” Maryanne said with a huff. “But look at how you came back to me, all broken up.”

  “At least I came back,” Jason said with an edge to his voice. “And don’t forget that we have Roy and Amanda to thank for that.”

  Maryanne sighed loudly, letting her shoulders fall into a defeated gesture. The look on her face spoke volumes; the fine lines around her eyes appeared deeper, and her usual smile had dissolved into a chagrined expression.

  “I know. I know, and I’m thankful, don’t think that I’m not. It’s just that . . .” she said but then found it difficult to finish her sentence and stopped midstream.

  “I know,” Jason said. “You’re scared, and I am too. It will be okay, and I know that we’re doing the right thing as crazy as that would have sounded six months ago. I know that it’s the right thing to do today and tomorrow and the next day after that for as long as we have. If we don’t create capable young people, then they don’t stand a chance. You know that, and I know that.”

  This time, it was Jason’s turn to slump back, exhausted from his long-winded speech. Jason also looked older and more defeated than usual.

  Amanda wasn’t about to interject anything, and Roy stayed typically silent, pretending to study a book that he had been working on for a while. There was a tense, thick feel to the air around the camp that had nothing to do with the heat, and Amanda didn’t want to have anything to do with inflaming it any more than she already had because she had been the one initially to suggest that Sam go on the run in the first place.

  After a while, Roy came to sit with Amanda.

  “I wouldn’t sit here spinning myself up about this if I were you,” Roy said in a whisper.