by D. K Lake
“Ew, gross!” I said, quickly covering my nose.
Next to the back door there was a bicycle chained up to a pipe, and the bottom of the doorway was covered in dead leaves. Drew tried the door but it was locked and wouldn't budge.
“There must be a window we can get in through.” Drew said, walking further along. He stopped in front of a set of windows, two identical, small windows on either side of a pipe.
“That one's unlatched.” He looked sideways at me, looking me up and down, then back up at the window.
“You'll fit.”
“What?! No, I won't fit.”
“Sure you will.”
“No, I won't.”
“Well one of us has to go in through the window, the back door is jammed shut, we can't break the glass out front, so this window looks like our only option. Once we're in we can unlatch one of the kitchen windows to climb back out.”
We both stared at each other, there was no way I was scaling the drainpipe and squeezing my ass through the tiny window. I'd no doubt get stuck halfway through.
After two minutes of arguing, Drew tried to hand me his crossbow.
“Hold it.” he said.
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“What if something walks out of the trees?”
He looked at me and then glanced at the trees.
“Here, take it already,” he said, pushing the crossbow into my hands, then he grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to face the trees.
He positioned the crossbow in front of me and made me hold it up, it was heavier than I expected it to be. Then he stood behind me with his arms around me showing me where to hold it.
“Hold it up... higher. Can you see through the scope?”
Looking through the scope wasn't the problem, it was having Drew so close with his arms around me. What was that all about?... and butterflies in my stomach? What the hell, Alex, pay attention!!!
“You see anything, you shoot it, you think you can do that?”
I nodded.
“Good, 'cause once I'm inside it might take me a few minutes to suss out the place and kill that thing. I'll open one of the kitchen windows for you to climb through.”
“I'll just hang out here.” I said, looking around.
Before he turned away he helped himself to the knife from my waist belt and held it between his teeth.
“Good job I cleaned that, yeah?” I said.
He tried not to smile as he pulled himself up using the pipe. He then zipped up the pipe like a frigging monkey on crack, grabbed the window ledge, and swung over and hooked his fingers inside the unlatched window. How did he make it look so easy? He was so quick.
“What are you, like, southern Spider-Man. Working in a gun shop was just a cover, right?”
I heard him chuckle as he pushed the window open and somehow squeezed through. Drew was thin and didn't have hips and boobs to get stuck, I could just imagine how embarrassing it would have been for me to squeeze through the window. It was a small window! I may be small but I'm not that small, and flexible either. Drew had no problem pulling himself in through the window and landing softly on the other side from what I could hear.
I turned around and wandered back to the dumpster and stood still watching the trees, waiting for Drew. I heard a little scuffle inside which quickly died down. I got bored waiting and was about to walk back around to the front when I heard a thud. What was that?
I held up the crossbow and edged back the way I had come, all the while watching the trees. A bush rustled somewhere in front, then I heard another thud behind me.
“Drew?” I whispered loudly.
I slowly edged forward, away from the building so I could see the window Drew was apparently going to open for me, it was still shut.
Where was Drew? What was taking him so long?
All of a sudden a deadbie walked out of the trees to my right. It hadn't seen me... yet. I held the crossbow up again, my arms were aching from holding the thing up.
I tried to stay calm as I looked through the scope. Breath Alex.
The deadbie turned its head and groaned. It actually sounded like the thing groaned 'Mmmm', like I was some yummy take-out.
It started to walk toward me and I walked backwards trying to keep the crossbow steady while I aimed at its head. Then something moved in my peripheral vision, making me jump, and I accidentally fired the crossbow.
“Drewwww!!! You scared the shit outta me!”
Drew laughed and we both looked back at the deadbie. The arrow I had fired by accident was sticking out of its chest.
“At least you hit the thing.” he said, walking in front of me and holding up the knife. He grabbed the deadbie's T-shirt and stabbed the thing in the temple and straight into its brain, it took all of three seconds and it was over. Then he let go and the thing crumbled into a heap on the ground.
“Like a pro.” I muttered. “I thought you were going to open the window for me?”
“I managed to get the back door open, it had a bolt across the top and a chain, but the thing was stuck.” He pointed at the back door with the knife before cleaning it off on his pants.
“Is that what all that thudding was, you?”
“Uh-huh.” he said, retrieving his arrow, and chewing on something.
“What are you eating?”
He pulled something from his back pocket. “Chocolate chip?” he offered, holding out a bag to me.
“What is this?” I asked, taking a few to try.
“I dunno, cooking shit you put in cakes and stuff.”
“No, I meant where did you get it?”
“There's some stuff inside.” he said, handing me the knife and taking his crossbow back.
Just before we got to the back door, Drew turned to me. “You might wanna cover your nose.”
“Why?”
“Um..it's..”
“It's what?”
“Just cover your nose.” he said, pushing the door open.
I followed Drew into a dim corridor and wasn't quick enough to cover my nose.
“Ugh. What is that?” I said, trying not to gag.
“Rank food and a deadbie. Here, use this.”
Drew handed me a tea towel from a shelf in the corridor, and was already wrapping another around his face like a bandanna.
There were two doors to the left, with male and female symbols on the doors. There were another two doors further down, I guessed there was an office and a staff room. I pushed the door to the ladies restroom open. It looked rather clean.
“The water's still running.” Drew said, hovering nearby.
“No way. Do you mind if I just freshen up quickly?”
“Go for it, I'll just be out here.”
I went straight over to the sink and turned the faucet on, letting the water run. I dropped the bag on the floor and just stripped off. I desperately wanted a wash, I felt hot, sticky, and dirty. I had told Drew I wanted to freshen up, hopefully, he would know what I meant and wouldn't just walk in at any moment. I cleaned myself up using a ripped off piece of the tea towel and Josh's shower gel that he thankfully remembered to pack. I had no clean clothes of my own so I pulled on one of Josh's clean white T-shirts. What was it with Josh and white T-shirts?
Re-wearing underwear for this long should be a criminal offense. I thought while scrubbing them out in the sink and leaving them to air dry over one of the cubicle doors. It was getting late and I guessed we were probably going to spend the night here so I could grab my panties in the morning. I packed all my stuff away, and turned to leave and saw a female dispensing machine, sanitary pads on one side, tampons on the other. I stood in front of it trying to count the days in my head until my next period, I was pretty sure Mother Nature was due any day now. I pressed the button, I don't know why, though, I knew it wasn't going to magically start working on its own, but I didn't want to ask for Drew's help. I looked around for anything I could use. All I saw that wasn't attached to anything was a t
oilet cleaning brush hidden behind one of the toilets. I lifted it out of the pot and looked at the thing, the brush end screwed off easily enough and I used that end to try and break into the dispensing machine. After five minutes of nothing happening, apart from me getting angry, bothered, and hot from fighting with the machine, the restroom door swung open and Drew stood in the doorway.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I was..um..”
And this was why I didn't want Drew's help, boys get all weird when you mention the word periods.
He looked at the machine then back at me putting two and two together. He walked over to me and looked at the toilet brush stick in my hand.
“What is that?”
“Toilet brush.”
Drew grunted a laugh.
“Hey, shut up, you think you can do any better have a go.”
“Step aside.”
I did as he said and he hit the machine with the handle end of his crossbow a few times and a second later a waterfall of tampons and pads cascaded out of the machine, spilling onto the floor.
“Err.. thanks.”
“You're welcome.”
He left me alone again and I quickly picked up what I needed and shoved it in my bag. I found Drew in the main cafe area, he was walking around picking up random bits and pieces.
“Do you want to freshen up?” I asked.
He shook his head.
Okay. But if I was completely honest Drew did kinda look good with a few dirt marks on his face and arms. Oh, God, what am I thinking?
“Something wrong?” he asked.
“No,” I said, trying to hide the blush that was creeping across my face. “So where's this food you found?” I asked, pulling the tea towel up over my nose as it was slipping, and I wanted to hide my pink cheeks.
“It's through there. I had another look but there's not much that's edible, though.”
He was on the other side of the counter, I could see moldy cakes, worm cakes, and cakes that no longer looked like anything, just furry lumps.
“I'll take a look anyway.” I said, sidestepping around the deadbie, the same one we had seen from outside. I thought it was weird the deadbie was still in her uniform, a pale green, straight fitting dress with a white pinafore, she even had her name tag still on, Colette. Her skin was shriveled and her hair was patchy, some of it I could see on the floor in clumps.
“That's odd, she's still in her uniform. If she turned into one of them while she was in here what has she been eating to survive this long? Don't they starve to death at some point?”
“I don't think she was that starved.” Drew said, juggling with the ketchup and mustard squeezy bottles.
He dropped one and it hit the counter at the same time he tried to grab it and he managed to squeeze the contents all over me.
“Whoops!”
I looked down at the splatter of ketchup on my white T-shirt. I dropped my bag and hastily tugged the T-shirt over my head trying to avoid getting ketchup all over my hair. I threw it on the counter and caught Drew watching me. I looked down to check I had actually put my bra back on when I was in the toilet. I had, thank God. He quickly shifted his gaze, cleared his throat, and picked up his crossbow and walked to the other end of the counter.
“See how long this one lasts.” I said, digging the red T-shirt out. There was only one left after this... another white one.
I walked around the counter and toward the kitchen door.
“Oh, I wouldn't-” Drew started to say.
“Why? What's in here?” I pushed the door open and it knocked into a bone. A bone! There were three bodies on the floor, some in parts, two wearing uniform, one in casual clothes, the floor was a pool of blood and the smell was toxic, it was mostly bones and blood. Now I know what Drew meant by Colette hadn't starved, she had been eating her co-workers! She must have turned really quickly, and come into work ill, she was probably saving those sick days. It looked as though Colette had come to work and turned and her co-workers had locked themselves in the kitchen. But why didn't they just climb out the window? Well, we'll never know now.
To the left, I could see a pantry-type room. I carefully stepped over the blood, trying not to slip on it. The pantry was full of condiments, and ingredients. I think most of the food here was made from scratch. I could see a large chiller at the back...but I wasn't even going to bother looking in there.
The most I found was a packet of breadsticks, a bag of almonds, and two tins of baked beans. It was a small cafe so the shelves weren't stacked full, and I can't imagine they would get many customers out here, but two tins of baked beans, really?
I walked back into the cafe looking for Drew, but there was no sign of him. Then I spotted something moving outside.
Drew.
He was looking at the car, he already had the hood up and was underneath it.
The door to the cafe was wide open and Drew had turned the sign around to show, We're Open. I wandered around and picked up anything I thought was useful. I found a handbag hung up near the back door and found a tub of Aspirin inside it, and I quickly chucked two into my mouth. I also found lip balm and hand wipes which I added to my bag. The office was locked but Drew had clearly broken the lock on the door, but there was nothing inside of interest, just a neatly organized desk with a computer and a filing cabinet. The other room was more of a box room, with a miniature two-seater couch, a coffee table, and a mini-fridge. I dared a peek inside the mini fridge and was surprised to find two cans of Coke. When I was done with the cafe, I was glad to be back outside in the fresh air, the cafe was giving me a headache. By the time I walked over to Drew, he was already closing the hood on the car.
“The battery's dead but the gas has been siphoned anyway.” Drew said, pointing at the broken fuel cap.
“Oh, and the front door to the cafe was unlocked.” he added.
“Really?”
“Yup,”
“That will explain why I couldn't find any food or drink. I found, like, two cans of Coke in the staff room and a few tins in the pantry. So someone obviously walked in and took a bunch of stuff and left Colette guarding the premises.”
“Looks like it.”
“Oh, well, this is better than nothing.” I said, rolling a can of Coke between my hands.
“The light's fading.” I looked back at the cafe, it smelled disgusting and I didn't think it was a good idea to be breathing it in all night. “We can't sleep in there.”
He stopped next to me and looked back at the cafe.
“Nope, but we can sleep on the roof.”
“The roof? And how are we going to get onto the roof? I've seen your climbing, you're like a cross between a monkey and Spider-Man.”
“We can use the dumpster.”
“Great, the disgusting dumpster.” I mumbled, pulling the bag around to show Drew.
“I've got baked beans and breadsticks for dinner.”
“And I got dessert.” he said, handing me the bag of chocolate chips.
We built a small fire and I warmed up the beans. I took some cutlery from the kitchen that was clean and hadn't been touched. We shared one tin and decided to keep the other one for another day. Drew dipped his breadsticks in his beans, and even licked his bowl clean. He must like baked beans. Drew gave me a leg up onto the dumpster and handed me a stool he had taken from the cafe. He then climbed up next to me and used the stool to get onto the roof. I watched him pull himself up onto the roof with minimal effort like a gymnast. My turn wasn't so graceful. Drew had to intervene and pull me up. It was a slanted roof but not steep enough to fall off. I sat with my knees up and Drew laid on his back leaning up on his elbows. As I watched the sky change color, I felt Drew's eyes on me. Or was I imagining it? I turned my head slightly and caught him watching me. He was quick to look away. Probably checking for any signs. I told myself. I'd be a little wary too if I had someone infected sitting next to me. I tried to ignore it, but as soon as I turned my head away I could feel hi
m watching me again.
“Look, I'm not about to turn in front of your eyes, Drew. So quit staring at me, it's weird.”
“I didn't say you were.” he mumbled.
“Then why are you staring at me?”
And why can't I keep my mouth shut? The last thing I needed to do was get into a row and annoy the one person that kept me safe.
Instead of some ratty response, he reached inside his front pocket of his pants.
“Here, I got you something.” he said.
He held up his hand, the full-moon pendant dangled from his fingers.
“Where did you get that?” I asked, but I knew exactly where he had got it from.
The last time I had seen it, it had been hanging from Stacey's neck. Then I remembered right after he shot her he squatted down in front of her, I thought he was just getting his arrow back.
“It looks better on you.” was all he said, the pendant still dangling from his fingers.
So Drew had been watching me in the mirror when I was looking at the pendants.
I gingerly lifted the pendant from his fingers. It was so beautiful and unique, I had no idea how old it was, it looked sort of old but I wasn't an expert on jewelry. All I knew was I was somewhat bewitched with the pendant.
“Thanks.” I said with a smile. “Oh, I've still got your pocket knife.” I was about to reach into my hoodie pocket but he shook his head.
“No. Give it back to me when we reach Argon.”
“Sure.” I replied, still looking at the moon pendant.
I undid the clasp and fastened the pendant around my neck, and we settled back down and shared the bag of chocolate chips while watching the sky darken. My thoughts drifted to Lane. I glanced sideways at Drew, I thought it was strange, the longer I spent with Drew the less I worried about Lane and the others. Drew, even though he wasn't a big talker, managed to take my mind off things. I enjoyed his company... and he made me feel safe... and he gave me a pendant. I couldn't even begin to figure him out, boys were such complex creatures, they did the most unexpected things sometimes. I tried not to read too much into it, he might shoot me next week for all I knew. Even if I was going to turn soon, the thought of being with Drew up until the end was oddly comforting. He was so laid back, but not in a stupid, reckless way, he was just easy going, he took it all in his stride, nothing bothered him. He never appeared worried or panicked, even when a deadbie was coming at him. I briefly spared a few seconds to think about Stacey, but there wasn't much to think about. I really didn't miss her. And Jasper was still fresh in my thoughts. I loved his dirty jokes, his upbeat attitude, he made days at the prison more interesting, but Jasper was so immature sometimes, he didn't think things through thoroughly. But I was still going to miss him. And Luke, who was the friendliest guy I'd ever met, he never had a bad word to say about anyone. I hoped wherever Josh and Lane were, I hoped they were together, being alone in the outside world was a lonely thing, I should know, I spent a long time on my own... and it was lonely. I used to think being on my own was the best thing for me, it was easy to look after myself and not worry about anyone else, but now I hated it, especially out here. I didn't want to be on my own anymore. I was grateful Drew had stayed with me. I looked back at him, only to find he was already asleep. Very un-Drew-like. He must be tired. I thought. I laid down on my back and pulled my hood over my head. No deadbies would spot us up here, and I don't think any humans would be looking for us up here either. I stayed awake longer than I thought I would, watching the stars, wondering how many days I had left. And right before I thought I was about to fall asleep, I started freaking myself out, over thinking the possibility I might roll sideways in my sleep and roll off the roof. I found myself edging nearer to Drew and eventually fell asleep a little closer to Drew than I probably should have been but I felt safer when I was closer to him. He made me feel safe.