Going around to the side of the building, he sat down on a small retaining wall that was in the shade. That morning had been only slightly scalding, but now it was deadly hot. He preferred the mild summers and cold winters in Alaska. That’d come in time, though. Hopefully, they could finish resting up where they were for a few more days and help out the town, then head on their way.
His mind began to wander and memories from his past life rose to the surface—his family on vacation down in Mexico, their house on the lake in Colorado, going to the sports shows every year, and guiding with his father in Alaska. The memories with his parents hurt the most. It was at times like this that he truly missed them and wished things had turned out differently. That line of thought took him back to the courthouse where he and his brother had tried to rescue their mother.
Images from that night were burned into his mind. One by one, they came back to him as he remembered killing the sleeping men and women, and then seeing his mother beaten and bruised. He recalled the red that obscured his vision over the next few days, the barely contained rage, and his pure hatred towards the people who’d murdered his parents. It’d been easy to kill after finding their father and then their mother. But now those ghosts were haunting him, and he didn’t know what to do about them.
The front doors opened and Neil and Beverly walked out.
“They done in there?” James asked.
“Yeah, Helen just finished up,” Neil said. “We’re heading out to lunch.”
“You should be safe to go in and see Olive,” Beverly said, smiling.
“Perfect,” James said, standing up. “I learned my lesson the last time.”
“You have to watch Helen,” Neil said. “Her bite is just as bad as her bark.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” James said, going to the door Neil held open. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Neil said.
James entered the building and glanced back, watching Neil and Beverly walk across the street. They seemed to be growing closer despite the almost twenty-year difference in their ages. It was good; Beverly was a nice person and deserved someone like Neil, a true gentleman from the previous generation. He wouldn’t be surprised if Neil had been in the military. Even though he was almost sixty years old, he was in great shape. There was also the way he acted with all this, always helping with the kids and never shying away from everything that was going on. Whatever his background, this wasn’t his first rodeo.
“James!” Olive shouted as she exited Helen’s makeshift classroom.
She ran up to him and he bent down, giving her a hug. “How are you doing today, you little munchkin?”
“I’m not a munchkin,” Olive said, smiling up at him.
“Sure you are,” James said as they walked towards the lunch tables.
He was supposed to eat in the Mess Hall, but Helen Olger and the others in charge didn’t mind him eating with the kids. They always brought over plenty of food anyway.
“What’s on the menu today?” James asked Olive as he sat down next to her.
“Sandwiches and chips, like always,” Olive said, making a face.
“What? I thought you loved sandwiches.”
“It’s ham today.”
“Oh, well, I bet you won’t even know the difference.” Olive looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, causing James to laugh. “Fair enough, it’s pretty easy to tell the difference, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, ham sucks.”
“I’ll show you a little trick I use when a sandwich isn’t very good.”
Mark handed out sandwiches, bags of chips, cookies, and juice boxes to all of the kids, including James. He watched the man, noticing how sunken his eyes were. James didn’t know his story or why everyone else was looking so much better when he was beginning to look worse. He’d have to ask Mark what was going on and make sure everything was okay. If he was coming unhinged, he didn’t want that around the kids, especially Olive.
Felix came over and sat down across from them.
“Hey, Felix,” James said.
“Hey, Mr. Andderson,” Felix said.
“How many times have I told you, just call me James?”
“I know, but Mr. Wolfe says that saying Mr. and Mrs. is a sign of respect.”
“That’s true, but after I’ve given you permission not to, you don’t have to keep doing it.”
“Mr. Wolfe is going to teach me to shoot soon, but he said first I should learn how to be a man, and respect is a big part of that.”
“I can’t argue with his logic, I guess.”
“When are you going to teach me to shoot?” Olive asked James, poking at her sandwich.
“Soon, but you’ll have to keep it a secret. I’m already in trouble with Mrs. Olger for mentioning it the last time. Now, let me show you how to make that sandwich better.”
Popping open his bag of Doritos, he lifted the top of his sandwich and lined the inside with the cheesy chips, then put the bread back on top and took a bite.
“See,” he said, his mouth full of food. “Just like that.”
“Manners, Mr. Andderson,” Helen said, walking to the other side of their table.
He looked up, chastised. “Yes, Mrs. Olger.”
That was why he’d hated school so much when he was young. And now, even in the middle of the apocalypse, people still wanted him to behave properly in a place of learning. Maybe he would have liked it better back in the day if they’d been allowed to be kids. Then again, he probably still would’ve gotten in trouble.
Olive giggled as she took the top piece of bread off her sandwich and did the same. She took a bite.
“Better, isn’t it?” James asked.
She nodded enthusiastically and took another bite. James ate his sandwich as well, making sure not to talk with his mouth full again. The whole room was mostly silent, with Mrs. Olger watching everyone like a hawk.
“I have something to show you!” Olive said when they’d finished eating. She jumped up from the table and ran over to a stack of boxes turned sideways along the one wall, which created cubbies to hold the kids’ school stuff.
“No running, Olive!” Mrs. Olger commanded.
Olive slowed her pace to a fast walk, which was just shy of running, and James could tell Mrs. Olger wanted to say something again. Instead, she shook her head in frustration.
“That girl,” she whispered under her breath.
Olive came back, holding a drawing she’d done. She showed it to James, and he was impressed that he could tell what was going on. There was a man in camouflage who was carrying a child in one arm. In the background there were vague, humanoid shapes, and it looked like the man and child were heading towards a cornfield.
“This is you,” she said, pointing to the man. “This is your gun, and that’s me.” She pointed at the child in the man’s arms.
“And all this back here?” James asked, pointing to the shapes in the background.
“Those are the zombies chasing us, of course,” she said, smiling sweetly, as if being chased by zombies was a normal thing to draw. “It’s when you first saved me.”
He could easily see that it looked like that night in Burns. “Wow, that’s amazing,” James said, looking at it more closely. He could even see that the gun resembled an AR-15.
“Thanks,” she said, handing it to him. “I did it for you.”
“Thanks, Olive,” James said, truly touched. “I’ll put it up in our place.”
“You mean that old store?” Olive said, giggling. “I hear it’s haunted.”
“If that’s true, we’ll scare the ghosts off,” James said. “How’s Squeezer doing?”
“Great!” Olive exclaimed. “Mrs. Olger let us feed him a mouse the other day. It was so cool!”
“It was pretty sick,” Felix said.
“You making sure to keep him company?” James asked.
“Yeah,” Olive said. “I hold him every day.�
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“I’ll make sure to tell Connor. He’ll be happy to know that,” James said. “So what’d you learn today?”
Olive started by telling him how Mrs. Olger was teaching them math, science, English, and history. Then she grew animated when she told him about how Mr. Harkin was teaching them about defensive techniques—what to do around zombies, how to stay quiet, and how to survive in different situations. The way she talked about Neil’s teachings confirmed what he’d thought earlier. The man had military experience, and James was glad that someone like that was teaching the kids practical lessons in survival. Olive went on to talk about how she, Felix and another kid, Noah, were the best kids in his class. She beamed when she proudly informed him that Mr. Harkin had told her that she was a smart kid and she’d be able to survive.
James smiled as he watched the little girl next to him talk energetically. One small, seemingly insignificant choice for him to stay and rescue a stranger that night outside the school had brought them to this moment. If James hadn’t stopped and risked his life to save her, she wouldn’t be here, and the thought of harm coming to her broke his heart. It wasn’t surprising to him when he realized he cared for Olive like she was his own daughter. Even though he’d only know her for about two weeks, he’d grown a strong bond with her.
All too soon, Mrs. Olger was telling the kids it was time for afternoon classes.
“You’ll come by tomorrow?” Olive asked, looking at him hopefully.
“I won’t be able to make it tomorrow,” James said, hating to disappoint her. “We have a run, and I’m not sure when we’ll be back.”
“So you’ll come by the next day?”
“I’m not sure, but I promise to as soon as I can.”
“Good,” Olive said as she gave him a hug.
He held her in his arms, cherishing the feeling. He’d always wanted to be a dad, and even with everything that was going on, he’d found little Olive.
“Now, make sure to pay attention in class, especially Mr. Harkin’s,” James said as she walked towards the classroom. “You too, Felix.”
“I will, sir,” Felix said, passing by James.
“Good. See you later, little munchkin,” James said.
Olive looked back at him and rolled her eyes. “I’m not a munchkin!”
“Sure you aren’t,” James said, as she entered the classroom.
He left the building, passing Mark coming in from outside. The man jumped and looked around nervously when he saw James.
“Hey, Mark,” James said. “How you doin’?”
“Good,” Mark said, passing by him and entering the community center.
He’d have to keep his eyes on that man. He didn’t trust him and was surer than ever that something was going on.
James walked back to their place on the other side of town. Luckily, Coutts was so small that it wasn’t a long walk, although the summer sun beating down on him made the few-minute walk almost unbearable. By the time he made it there, he decided he’d have to go visit the neighbors and take a shower before his date later that night.
The date. His first real date.
~~~
Tank lay on his cot in the old store they were staying in. While this place didn’t resemble a home in any way, he was beginning to think of it like that. Chloe was going to stop by before work, and Connor was out loading their gear into Scourge. Tomorrow was going to be a big day by the sounds of it. They were supposed to lead a group of Marines to the two towns they’d scouted and help them recover the supplies. The three of them prepared in their own way for what lay ahead. Connor prepped all their guns and gear, James went on a date, and Tank lay there, waiting for Chloe to start her shift at the saloon so he could do what he did to prepare—drink.
Before leaving the mechanic’s shop, Tom had told him that he had something in mind for Frostmourne and it would only take him a couple of days. Tank was grateful to get anything that even resembled the iconic sword of the Lich King. Just thinking of the sword reminded him of the week the outbreak started. He and his guild were just about to beat the Wrath of the Lich King expansion in WoW. Then he was back at work and that man, John, had come in bleeding from multiple bites. Not until John woke up from the dead did Tank have any idea of what was happening. It didn’t take him long to gather his crap and get out of FoCo though. Well, actually it had taken days, and he’d joined with a good group. They were all dead now, other than Chloe. The brothers hadn’t even been able to meet Garett, and that sucked, but that was just life now. It was rarely pleasant and usually ended up with someone getting hurt.
As the afternoon stretched on, Tank got off his cot and walked outside, itching for something to do. It was hard to just sit around like he used to. One of the LAPVs like Scourge drove by from the north, heading towards the makeshift helipad. The black-uniformed men watched Tank as they drove by. Those damn people gave him the creeps. Tank and his group still hadn’t learned who those men were or what they were doing there. They’d been told to treat them like the military, and that meant to stay out of their way. So he did. But it still irked him that he didn’t know. Maybe the brothers were right; something might be a little fishy around there—like all those helicopters coming and going multiple times a day.
He glanced at Scourge. Their vehicle looked exactly like the rest of those unmarked LAPVs, and it was time to make this beasty their own, officially. He needed to do something to make it stand out, so he started off down the road.
“Where you goin’?” Connor asked, climbing out of Scourge.
“To find that artist here in town,” Tank said. “There’s somethin’ we need to remedy. You done?”
“Just finished,” Connor said, stowing his ACR in the passenger seat.
“Let’s go,” Tank said, walking off.
Connor shut the door and followed. “What’d you have in mind?”
“We need to mark Scourge, make it ours.”
“Good idea.”
They only had to knock on two doors to get directions to the guy they were looking for. Finally, on their third try, a young Hispanic man with full sleeve and neck tattoos answered the door. He wore a beanie on his head even though it was over eighty degrees out.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“You Angel?” Tank asked.
“Yeah, what ya need?”
“I hear you’re a helluva artist.”
“The best in town. You need some new ink or somethin’ painted?”
“Painted, somethin’ on the side of our vehicle.”
“I can do that. Meet me at the garage.”
He shut the door and they walked around to the side where the garage was. Angel opened the door and they walked in. There was a tattoo chair in one corner with pictures of his previous work. The rest of the walls were covered in layers of graffiti, creating a chaotic collage of sorts. It looked badass. There was a representation of Cthulhu, some video game characters, and other crazy stuff painted on every surface. This guy was talented.
“What ya thinkin’?” Angel asked, standing in the middle of the room as Connor walked over to flip through his book of tattoo designs.
“Not sure, honestly. Somethin’ badass,” Tank said
“Any ideas?”
“You know those black armored rigs that are all around town?”
Angel nodded.
“We have one of those, and I want to make it different than the rest.”
“How different?” Angel asked with a look in his eye.
“Enough to stand out. I was thinkin’ about an emblem on the side. We don’t really have much of a way to pay.”
“At this point, I’ll do it just to do something.”
“Tank,” Connor said, “come look at this.”
He walked over to Connor and didn’t need Connor’s finger pointing to the image for him to pick it out immediately from the page. It was perfect!
“Oh, hell yeah!”
8
The Date
James left his place a little before seven and walked over to get Alexis for their date. He’d thought about driving, but with the oppressive heat of the day abating, it was actually comfortable to walk, and she didn’t live far from their destination. Now that he was actually on his way, he felt some of his anxiousness dissipate. The fresh air really did something to calm his mind. He was still a bundle of nerves, but he wasn’t scared like he’d been earlier. It was more of a nervous excitement. At twenty-one, he was finally going on his first date. While it hadn’t been his choice to stay single during high school, there hadn’t been that many girls to choose from, and he was weird back then. After graduating, he’d decided to continue to wait for the right one to come along, but that hadn’t happened until the apocalypse, so here he was.
Before stumbling into Coutts and learning more about what was going on in the nation as a whole, he’d thought the world had ended. Now he’d learned that wasn’t quite true. The world may be ending, but it was far from over. The apocalypse hadn’t even affected the entire world yet, from what he knew—just North America.
Turning onto South Avenue where Alexis lived, he reined in his thoughts. His mind was trying to distract him from his nervousness, and he didn’t want to be distracted. Whatever the outcome of this night, he wanted to remember it for years to come. Arriving at her house, he took a deep breath and walked up to the front door.
~~~
Alexis left the bathroom and walked into her bedroom where Chloe waited. She only had an hour before James would be there—less than that if he was early, which she guessed he would be. He was too much like her dad, and the thought made her smile. They always said girls went for guys who were most like their fathers.
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