One Hour to Live

by Gary M. Chesla

  “Little change!” Kevin exclaimed, “My God!”

  Lisa smiled, turned her head into Kevin’s chest and gave his chest a little kiss.

  “That was my dad’s reaction too,” Lisa said, “But obviously not for the same reason as yours. I can’t explain it. I guess I was just a late bloomer. Long story short, The first time I came home from school he accused me of spending the money he was sending me for school on breast implants and as he put it, ‘God knows what else I was doing up there.’ He never sent me another dime. I think my mother believed it too, at least it seemed that way by how she looked at me after that. Needless to say, you know how expensive school is. I didn’t want to drop out, so I’ve been working my ass off to pay for school over the last two years. When school and my job both closed down, I was actually happy to have a chance to come home. I was hoping after two years, things might be different once I got home, but they weren’t.”

  “I’m sorry,” Kevin said.

  “Then after how they both lied to me and told me you never came over. They said you had never asked about me and never told me that you were trying to contact me, so I guess I’m a little bitter about that,” Lisa said. “Like I said, I would have never wanted something like this to happen to them, but I guess I really lost them two years ago. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still hurts, but it’s not as bad as it could have been.”

  Kevin squeezed Lisa tight against his body and kissed the top of her head.

  “I’m sorry to hear all of this, I didn’t have a clue,” Kevin said. “I think it’s a crime to treat someone like you that way.”

  Lisa pulled back and looked at Kevin.

  “What do you mean a person like me?” she grinned.

  Kevin’s eyes grew large as the fear of how to answer the question showed in his eyes.

  Lisa waited a long second before that ornery grin appeared on her face as she poked him in the stomach and buried her face in his chest again.

  “I’m just teasing you,” Lisa grinned, “Don’t you dare try to answer that question. Let me live with my illusions as long as possible. Besides your obvious fascination with me, you’re the only person that ever cared about the real me and what was important to me. That’s more than I ever got from anyone else. That’s means a lot to me.

  Of course, your special talents don’t hurt. But that’s just a bonus that I hope you enjoy as much as I do. Maybe it’s why I love to tease you so much.”

  “You do seem to enjoy doing that an awful lot,” Kevin smiled.

  Lisa snuggled against Kevin’s side.

  “More than you know,” Lisa whispered.

  They laid there, enjoying the feeling of being together for a few more minutes.

  “This is nice,” Lisa finally said. “Of all the things we’ve done, we’ve never done this.”

  “Done what?” Kevin asked.

  “Woke up in bed together in the morning,” Lisa replied.

  “I often wondered, with all the schemes and wild ideas you always managed to come up with,” Kevin replied. “Why you never insisted that we stay out all night long together.”

  “Despite all you claims about how I was trying to kill you,” Lisa laughed, “I knew if I made you stay out all night, my dad might actually kill you. I know you thought I was crazy half the time, but I would have never done anything to hurt you or get you in trouble.”

  “How about the time when your parents came home and I had to jump out your bed room window?” Kevin smiled. “Believe me, that hurt like hell.”

  “If you remember, I told you not to jump. I told you I would be quiet and no would ever know you were there.” Lisa grinned. “I said I would keep you hidden under my blanket and would sneak you out of the house after everyone went to bed.”

  “Right,” Kevin laughed. “But there were three problems with your plan.”

  “Name one,” Lisa protested.

  “First of all,” Kevin smiled, “You can never be quiet, not even a little quiet.”

  “I can’t help it when I’m happy I get noisy,” Lisa grinned. “That’s your fault. I can’t help it you can’t behave yourself. Name another problem?”

  “You told me that your mother was always walking into your room unannounced,” Kevin replied. “And my car was sitting in your driveway.”

  “Well, no plan is perfect,” Lisa smiled. “I thought the reward was worth the risk.”

  They both started to laugh.

  Finally, Lisa said, “You’re making me laugh too much. Now I have to go to the bathroom. Is your bathroom down the hall to the right like mine?”

  “Yeah, all these houses are pretty much the same,” Kevin replied.

  Lisa crawled out from under the blanket and began to walk across the room.

  “Lisa,” Kevin said as Lisa reached the door.

  “What?” Lisa asked. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Kevin laughed. “You know, like clothes.”

  “I’m not cold,” Lisa answered.

  “In case you forgot,” Kevin said. “There are three men in this house.”

  Lisa turned and put her hands on her hips. She had that ornery look again. Kevin knew she was playing with him.

  He knew she was doing this to tease him and he knew she loved it as much as he did.

  “So, what’s your point?” she smiled.

  “First of all, the two older men could not survive that sight,” Kevin smiled. “And the younger man isn’t sure how much longer he is going to be able to survive that sight either.”

  “I think the younger man can handle this sight just fine,” Lisa grinned as she pulled a shirt over her head and pulled on a pair of shorts.

  Then she disappeared out the door.

  Bill and Bob were sitting at the table when Kevin and Lisa stepped out of the stairwell and into the kitchen.

  “Good morning,” Lisa said.

  “How are you this morning?” Bob asked concerned about Lisa after yesterday. But when he saw the twinkle in her eyes as she looked at Kevin, he knew she had recovered from yesterday’s traumatic events.

  “I think I’m OK,” Lisa answered.

  “Would you two like some breakfast?” Bob asked.

  Kevin and Lisa glanced at Bill who was busy eating a bowl of cereal.

  “All I have is cereal,” Bob added. “The power is out so I can’t do better than that right now. Besides, we need to use up the milk before it goes bad.”

  “Cereal sounds great Dad,” Kevin replied.

  “Well, get out some bowels, the cereal is on the table,” Bob said. “I’ll get the milk for you.”

  Kevin grabbed some bowls from the cupboard while Lisa walked over and sat down at the table next to Bill, saving Kevin the seat next to her.

  Bill looked up at Lisa and smiled.

  Lisa almost laughed as she watched milk run down Bill’s chin and drip down on the table.

  “I hope you two slept well,” Bill grinned.

  “We were beat and needed the sleep,” Lisa replied. “It was also nice not having zombies trying to get into your room.”

  Bob walked over and sat the milk carton on the table.

  “Bill, wipe your damn face, you look like a baby eating real food for the first time. You look like you need to be wearing a bib,” Bob growled. “You’ll have to excuse his manners. He isn’t used to having solid food for breakfast. Or using a spoon. If it’s not in a can, it gives him problems.”

  “I don’t like this damn cereal,” Bill grinned, “But since I don’t have any other choice, I thought I would give it a try. Mac says this stuff is five dollars a box, seems like a lot of money for shit that tastes like cardboard.”

  “Quit your bitching,” Bob laughed. “Think about…..”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Bill grumbled. “Think about all the starving kids in Africa that would love to be able to eat cardboard.”

  “That’s not what I was going to say,” Bob replied. “I was going to say think ab
out how hungry you might be a week from now if we don’t round up some more grub. So, eat the damn cereal.”

  Lisa laughed and leaned into Kevin.

  “Is breakfast always this interesting here every morning?” Lisa whispered.

  “You have no idea,” Kevin chuckled. “They’re on their best behavior today because you’re here.”

  “Don’t listen to him Lisa,” Bob said. “Bill is in one of his moods today because we don’t have any more beer. Normally he sits there quietly and just sips his breakfast like a gentleman.”

  Lisa laughed, “Well don’t act any different because I’m here. Just treat me like one of the boys. Right Kevin.”

  “That’s right,” Kevin smiled as he looked at Lisa, “Being with Lisa is just like hanging out with one of the guys.”

  “I don’t think so,” Bill said as he shoveled in another spoonful of cornflakes.

  “Mind your manners Old Timer,” Bob growled, “Or I’m going to toss your ass out on the porch.

  To change the subject, Kevin looked at his dad.

  “Speaking about the porch,” Kevin said. “Have you been outside this morning?”

  “I stepped out after I first got up,” Bob replied. “It still smells like hell, but I didn’t see any more zombies wandering around. Thank God.”

  “You were saying last night that there were a few things you thought we needed to do,” Kevin said.

  “Yeah, I did. I was thinking a little more about that before I feel asleep,” Bob replied. “Let me know if you agree or maybe you have some other ideas. But I was thinking that the first thing we should do is make sure those damn things can’t get in the house if they come back. Shit if they can get in, it won’t make a bit of difference what else we’ve done. After we are sure we are safe here at the house, then we can work on other things like finding food and more ammo.”

  “And beer,” Bill added.

  “Beer would be nice too,” Bob admitted.

  “What about going over to New Florence or Seward to see what it is like there?” Lisa asked. “We assumed that this came from Boston and has spread everywhere. That’s probably true. But what if we are wrong?”

  “It would be good to know the answer to that question,” Kevin added. “It could also save us a lot of unnecessary work.”

  Bob nodded.

  “That it would. If we do all this work around here and then we go over to Seward and find out it’s business as usual over there, then no harm done,” Bob said. “However, if it’s not just here where this happened, and we go to Seward to find out before we make sure we have a safe place to come back to. If we end up getting attacked by those things before we are ready, we could end up dead. I think we should work from the assumption that the whole world has gone to hell. Better safe than sorry. Besides, we should be able to zombie proof this place in one day.”

  “I agree with your dad,” Lisa said looking at Kevin. “I don’t want to end up like that bus at the motel, surrounded by zombies and nowhere to go. What’s one more day of not knowing compared to being dead forever.”

  “I agree too Dad,” Kevin added. “Since you have already been thinking about this, what do you think we should do first?”

  “The first thing I would like you to do is go over to Millers and take that big Oak door off their office and bring it over here,” Bob said. “This back door here is better than nothing, but it isn’t all that strong. Especially those old rotten boards I nailed over the broken window. I was looking at the door on Millers garage, but it’s too heavy for me drag over here by myself. If you would do that for me, it would eliminate our main weak spot. The rest of this old house is solid as a rock.”

  “I can do that right after breakfast,” Kevin said.

  “The only other thing I would like for you to do is with the shutters. You did a good job when you put them on, but I was just thinking I would feel better about things if you could put a few screws through them and bolt them to the window frames so even we can’t open them,” Bob said. “That way I know those damn zombies won’t be able to pull them off. If we can do those two things here, then I know those bastards will never get in my house. Once that’s done, we can talk about some of those other suggestions.”

  “Then maybe you will help me with the shutters on my place?” Bill asked.

  “If we can get all of that done it would be a good day’s work,” Kevin said.

  “I’ll see if I can scrub down the kitchen and get this smell out of here while you boys do that,” Lisa said.

  “And I’ll watch for zombie’s so you guys don’t have to worry about them while you work,” Bill said.

  “Bill, I’m sure that knowing you have their back makes everyone feel so much safer,” Bob laughed. “I think we had all better keep our eyes open while we work and hope we can do this before those evil bastards show up again.

  When they had all eaten breakfast, they all got to work.

  Even though the morning seemed peaceful, they all worked with a sense of urgency.

  Things could change at any time without warning, like it had done over the last two days.

  And like it would again.

  Chapter 16

  September, One year ago

  Kevin put the last screw through the hinge that secured the shutter to the window frame on Bill’s house.

  Bill smiled as he walked up to the shutters and inspected Kevin’s work.

  He grabbed the shutter and pulled and shook it as hard as he could.

  Finally satisfied, he just stood back and smiled.

  “That should keep those bastards out of my house now too,” he said.

  “Yeah, so long as all the zombies are as puny and weak as you, we should be fine,” Bob joked.

  “I agree,” Bill grinned. “If any of the zombies have a fat ass like yours, they just might barrel right through the side of the damn house.”

  “Are you calling me a fat ass,” Bob growled.

  “Do bears shit in the woods?” Bill grinned.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen one taking a shit,” Bob said. “Only perverts hang around watching bears take a shit.”

  Kevin chuckled.

  If he wasn’t used to their daily war of words, he would think that a fist fight would be breaking out any minute now.

  But it always ended the same way with his dad and Bill sitting down and having a beer.

  If these two had to carry on a normal conversation, it would be a quiet uncomfortable talk.

  But he had to consider the fact today could end differently, they drank all the beer last night.

  “This could be interesting,” Kevin thought. “They could both be going through withdrawal about now.”

  “Well fuck you,” Bill replied then he stopped and laughed. “That was a good comeback. I don’t think I heard that one before. You want a beer?”

  “I think that sounds like a good idea,” Bob replied.

  “I didn’t think we had any more beer left?” Kevin asked. “I thought we drank it all yesterday?”

  “We drank all my beer,” Bob answered, “Now we can start on Bill’s.”

  “I don’t have as much beer as your old man,” Bill added, “He goes through twice as much beer as I do. His trash cans are always full of empty beer cans.”

  “That’s because some damn moocher is always over at my house drinking all my beer,” Bob laughed.

  “If you don’t want him to drink your beer,” Bill grinned, “maybe you shouldn’t keep inviting him over and asking him if he wants a beer.”

  “Go get us a damn beer,” Bob laughed.

  “Do you think Lisa would want a beer?” Bill asked.

  “I’ll go find out,” Kevin replied.

  “Don’t take too long,” Bob smiled. “I think Bill only has one six pack left. I’ve seen him drink that much on his walk over to my porch.”

  Kevin laughed and headed for the house as Bob walked up on Bill’s porch and sat down.

  The work had gone a lot fast
er than Kevin had thought it would go.

  Thanks to his dad moving into the twentieth century and buying some battery powered tools, Kevin didn’t have blisters on his hands today from cutting wood or tightening screws by hand.

  In fact, they had already accomplished what they had started out to do for the day.

  The big Oak door on the office over at Miller’s service station was easy to remove.

  The hinges and lock matched exactly with the ones on Bob’s door frame.

  It all ended up being as simple as carrying the door over from Millers and screwing the hinges into place.

  Kevin added a few braces to the door frame to make it even stronger and that job was done.

  It only took an hour to bolt down the shutters on his dad’s house.

  Bill’s house took a little over three hours to finish.

  Bill hadn’t painted or done any maintenance on his house for years.

  Kevin had to replace some boards in Bill’s rotted window frames.

  The shutters Bill had that weren’t in too bad of shape, Kevin just bolted them shut.

  Two others had to be replaced entirely.

  Since they couldn’t run over to Home Depot and buy two new shutters, Kevin had to make new ones out of the boards that had been used to cover Bob’s broken back door window.

  After replacing the screws and latches on the others, adding braces to Bill’s doors, the job was done.

  Phase one of their plans had been completed a head of schedule.

  Kevin walked up on the porch.

  The new Oak door stood open.

  Kevin could see Lisa, down on her hands and knees, scraping something off the floor.