"What do you want?" said Josh.
"I need weed," said Katy.
"What are you trading?"
"I got money."
"Money ain't no good no more."
"I got some cans of beans and some peaches."
"How many?"
"I got three beans and two peaches."
"Not enough."
"Food is hard to come by."
"Not if you got weed."
"Can't I get just one joint?"
"Fine, but don't come back until you got a lot more."
"OK. Just let me in so I can get the joint."
"You know the drill. Wait for the door to buzz. Then come in, put your trade in the slot. We make the trade and you leave."
"I know."
Josh threw the bolt back and then he went through the door behind him and locked it shut with two deadbolts, a chain and a brace. It was a metal door, so he doubted anyone but the military could get through it very fast. Then he pressed the button and the other door buzzed. He watched her through the open slot in the metal door. She came through into the room. She wasn't bad looking for a stoner. He wondered how she had survived this long. She probably had someone taking care of her. That could be dangerous.
She put the cans into the drawer and shoved it closed. He opened it and took out the cans, making sure they were still intact. Then he rolled her a decent sized joint, put it in a plastic bag and sent it out to her.
Katy fished the bag with the joint out of the drawer and turned to go.
"Bring some potato chips and pretzels when you come back. Granola bars and pop-tarts are good too."
"How much will that get me?"
"Depends on how much you bring. Guns and ammo are good. Plus cigarettes and lighters. Marlboro are the best. And condoms."
"What do you need condoms for?"
"Sex."
"Its the end of the world, why bother?"
"If you want to be pregnant for the end of the world that's your choice. I don't plan on having some bitch give me something that makes my cock fall off."
"Who you having sex with?"
"Whoever offers."
"What's that worth?"
"For you. Probably a bag. Plus a few joints while you are here. But it ain't for the meek. I am talking wild animal sex again and again and again."
"For a bag?"
"Sex is out there everywhere. There is a limited supply of weed."
"That sounds pretty sick."
"Don't forget, being thin isn't going to be worth much in another couple of weeks. All them fat girls is starving out there. Be a whole new crop of thin women who been dreaming all there lives of getting laid."
"I'll find you some pop-tarts," said Katy.
She went to the outer door and Josh buzzed her out. Having weed at the end of the world had sure improved his sex life so far and there were a lot more desperate times to come.
He walked into the next room and looked out over his crop. It was almost ready to go. Nearly a thousand square feet of crop. There were some good times a coming.
Six
Carlos thought Manny's wife Tina seemed to be doing alright. Manny Jr wasn't doing so well. He seemed quiet and scared, but what could you expect from a nine year old boy.
He saw a large gas station up ahead. They always had big convenience stores. Carlos knew that they would be able to find supplies there. He had already passed a couple of other opportunities so that Manny could tend to his wife. This was the one. He pulled in past the pumps and right up to the doors of the store.
Carlos couldn't see anyone inside. He reloaded his pistol and then looked back at Manny. "You ready for this?" said Carlos.
"Looks simple enough," said Manny. "Let's do this."
Carlos got out. He stuffed the pistol into the back of his pants and hefted the tire iron. He went to the door. It was locked. That was actually a good sign. There probably wasn't anyone inside. Carlos looked in and saw that everything inside still looked neat and clean. This could be the mother load.
Carlos jammed the tire iron between the door and frame and tried to pry it apart. It wouldn't give. He smashed the bottom half of the glass in and crawled through.
"I'll bring it to the door. You take it to the van," said Carlos.
"Sure thing. Get the cigarettes and chew for trade."
Carlos nodded at him grabbed a plastic shopping basket from just inside the door and went down the candy isle. Carlos had pulled baskets of candy, cigarettes, chips, pastries, soda, water and beer. This place was a gold mine.
He was inside getting some more sodas and water from the coolers when he heard the noise.
"Awww, now look what you gone and did. Are you trying to take our stuff?"
"It's not yours. Come on man, I got a wife and kid. There is plenty left," said Manny.
Carlos got out the gun. He looked out the window. The angle was bad, but there were at least three. They had clubs and knives out, but they may have guns hidden away.
Manny began to back away from the van as the three men approached. Carlos hoped that there were not any more hanging back, because three was already going to be a problem.
The three men reached the open side door of the van. They looked at all the food packed inside.
"Thanks man. We really need this, but you should have gotten more beer."
That is when Tina came out of the van. Carlos didn't catch it at first and no one else paid her much mind. Not until she lurched into one the the men who had an aluminum bat and bit his arm.
The man screamed and shoved her away.
"Fucking crazy bitch," he said and then swung the bat into her head. There was a loud thud and Tina dropped.
Manny charged into the second man and tackled him. Carlos shot the third guy twice. The man dropped. Carlos tried to shoot the one that had been bitten, but he turned and ran out of sight.
Carlos made for the door. He couldn't see Manny and the man fighting on the ground. When he made it to the door, Manny was lying on the ground with a knife in his guts. The man was standing over him. Manny Jr ran over to his mom crying.
Carlos shot the man standing over Manny twice in the back. Carlos saw the blood soaking the man's shirt. He fell forward on top of Manny. Manny let out a cry of pain.
Carlos looked out through the doorway in the direction that the third man had run, but no one was there. He came out and went to Manny. He rolled the dead man off of him.
"Take care of him," said Manny. "Take care of Manny Jr."
"Sure thing Manny. You hang in there. It's not so bad."
"Yeah it is. This is my last stop. Don't bother burying Tina or me. Just take Manny and go."
Manny began coughing up blood.
"I will take care of him."
Manny stopped breathing.
Carlos went back into the shop and grabbed the last basket he had filled. He took it out and set it in the van. It was a nice haul. But it was costly.
Carlos went over to Manny Jr. He was holding his mother's hand. Carlos really didn't know what to say.
"They are gone Manny," said Carlos. "We have to get going."
"You can't leave them here."
"Your dad said to leave them. It was his last wish. We need to get on the road before someone else comes."
"Are they with God?"
"Yes."
"Then they are in a better place."
"I hope so."
Manny Jr slowly got up and let go of his mother's hand. He got into the back of the van.
"Can I have a candy bar?"
"Sure Manny," said Carlos. He closed the side door and went around to the driver's seat and got in. This day hadn't went well. He hoped it would get better when he arrived at his brother's place.
Seven
The door buzzer sounded. Josh groaned, but got up and went to look out the peep hole. Fuck it was Katy again. She hadn't been gone but a couple of hours.
"What do you want Katy?"
"I want to trade."
>
"What do you got?"
"Sex."
"Do you have condoms?"
"No."
"Fine I have a few, but it'll cost you."
"Whatever. Can we trade or what?"
Josh went back to the inner door. He closed it and locked it. Then he buzzed Katy in. She came in. She seemed a little worse for wear even in the few hours she had been gone. She closed the outer door.
"Okay so here's the deal," said Josh. "You strip naked out there. I check you out to make sure you don't look sick. If I like what I see, all your stuff stays out there. You come in. We fuck, fuck, fuck and then fuck some more. Then you get your bag and go home."
"You said there would be joints while I was in there."
"There will be."
Katy pealed off her clothes. She looked better naked. She had a few bruises, but all her parts seemed alright. Plus he was already getting hard. Marijuana and the end of the world went hand in hand.
He unlocked the door and handed her a joint as she entered.
"Thanks," said Katy. She took a long drag.
Josh locked and barred the door. When he turned around Katy was standing with her back to him. He reached out and grabbed her ass. Then he ran it down and stuck a finger between her legs. She was warm. Katy didn't say anything. Josh was ready.
He took her arm and guided her over to the couch and sat her down. He dropped his pants. She sat the joint in an ashtray. She leaned forward and the fun began.
Katy seemed to be up for anything as long as there was a joint handy. They went at it again and again. Josh kept her busy for a long time.
Eight
Megan was sitting on the couch and holding Yippers in her lap. Her dad sat in the lazy boy. Hank was wandering around the house checking everything out.
"So where have you been?" said Megan.
"We been here and there."
"Are there any safe areas?"
"Not that we've seen. They set up those evacuation camps, but they seem to all have gone to hell. Only zombies or a gang at them anymore."
"You hear from mom?"
"Nope."
"I tried to call you. Your number was disconnected."
"Yeah, had some financial issues. But you don't have to worry about that anymore."
"I couldn't get anyone else either. Not mom or Karla."
"So you been staying here. How you getting along?"
"Stay out of sight mostly. Electricity is still on. Water just went out. Planning to get out of here, just nowhere to go."
"We'll find someplace."
Hank came back out into the living room. "Hey your toilet doesn't work."
"The water shut off just today," said Megan.
"Well I made a big mess. It's going to stink."
"Great. I'll take care of it."
"There are no men's clothes here."
"There are no men that live here."
"I need some different threads man."
"Go down to Wal-Mart."
"You don't seem to be happy to see us."
"I'm not. You come in here acting like a couple of dumb asses. Most likely you are going to get me killed."
"I've killed people for less than that."
"Hank, settle down. She's my kid," said Dad.
"That's the only reason I'm being so civil. How about she makes us something to eat?"
"What did you bring?"
"We didn't bring anything."
"So you two are out there driving around and you didn't even go to a store and load up with food."
"We were a little busy," said Dad.
"Busy doing what?"
"Drinking," said Hank. "And we had some killer blow. You wouldn't have any blow would you?"
"This is how you plan to save me?"
"I am here Megan," said Dad. "Doesn't that count for something?"
"You seem to be on some kind of a road trip and I just happened to be on the way to wherever the hell you think you are going."
"That's not fair."
Nine
Josh woke. He swore that he heard the buzzer. He sat up on the couch and looked around. Shit! Katy was over by the door. She was still naked.
"What the fuck are you doing Katy?" said Josh.
"Nothing, just looking for another joint," said Katy. She was still messing with something.
"Come over here."
"I can't"
Josh reached under the cushion. His hand found the pistol. "What do you mean you can't?"
"They are going to kill Carrie."
"Who is Carrie and who are they?"
"She's my friend. The marauders got us. They made me come in. Please don't let them kill Carrie."
Katy moved the brace from the inner door. Josh raised the gun and shot her twice. He saw the blood and flesh explode out from her. She fell to the floor. He got up from the couch and put the brace back against the door. Katy lay on the floor, naked and bleeding. She was struggling for breath.
"Bitch you better open up!" came a voice from the other side of the door.
Josh picked up the pump twelve-gauge shotgun from behind a board next to the door. He threw the slot in the door open, stuck the barrel through and emptied the gun into the inner room. There was a lot of screams and commotion from the inner room. Then he threw the slot closed and locked it shut.
"We coming for you! You ain't going to like it when we get our hands on you."
Well fuck. So much for the glory days of weed and the apocalypse. It was obviously time to get the hell out of here. Even if they couldn't get in, they weren't going to let anybody else trade him food. Not to worry though. He had always been ready to go, but he still had time and none of his plans had him running out of here naked.
He heard loud banging against the outer door. They were probably using a sledge hammer or some shit. He still had time. Not much time, but time.
The only immediate danger was Katy. When she died, she might turn. He had never seen anyone not bitten turn, but he had heard some stories. Better safe than sorry. He found the handcuffs on the table and slapped one on her wrist and the other around the door brace. Her eyes seemed to follow him. They were sad eyes.
"You were good bitch. We could have had a lot of good times, but you fucked it all up," said Josh.
He put on what passed for clean clothes these days. Got his bag of weapons, his stash and his bug out bag. It had been mainly in case the cops came, but it still worked for marauders and the end of the world.
It sounded like they were at the inner door with torches. It was time to go. He looked back over the growing plants. Well it wasn't meant to last forever, but it was just getting good. He opened the valve that let the gasoline into the watering system. Then he lit the fuse with a lighter. He watched it for just a moment. He went out the hatch and closed it behind him. The tunnel would let him out a few buildings over. He hoped it would be far enough away.
Ten
Carlos drove the van down the streets. Luckily they were empty of people. There were a few zombies that he drove around. They tried to chase him in their slow walking gate, until something else caught their interest.
There were more and more vehicles in the street as he approached the on ramp for the highway. He soon saw why. The highway was blocked with cars. Worse than that he could see the zombies moving around in between them.
Without the highway Carlos didn't know how long it would take to get out of town. Normally he could get to here in twenty minutes, but today it had taken several hours. He had to make a choice. Either he continued on through the side streets, hoping he could make it out of town or he turned back and made another plan, for another day.
Carlos looked back at Manny Jr in the back. He did not think he was ready to raise a kid, but there was little choice now. He turned the van around.
That is when he saw the two pickups coming down the street towards him. He wondered if they had seen him. He could see marauders riding in the back of both of the trucks. If he sat still, would
they just go on by?
Carlos heard the glass break and a bullet hole appeared in the front window. He guessed that was the answer he was wondering about.
"Stay down Manny," said Carlos as he stepped on the gas.
The van started forward, but there really wasn't anyplace to go. More bullet holes appeared in the windshield and Carlos ducked down as best he could.
The trucks pulled up on both sides of a car that was already in the road. Carlos couldn't get past them. So he did what the movies had taught him, he steered the van at where the rear of the car and the rear of one of the trucks intersected and he gunned it. Better to die in a crash than as the plaything of the marauders.
Bullets ricocheted through the van's interior. Carlos kept it pointed at the seem between the vehicles and held the pedal to the floor.
He hit the vehicles hard. The airbag blasted against him and he lost control of the steering wheel. He kept his foot pressed down as the van careened off of the vehicles and swerved to the side.
Carlos fought with the air bag, to see and to regain the steering wheel. A few shots hit the van, but that was the least of his worries. He had to regain control and keep going. His hand found the steering wheel and he held it steady. He punched the air bag with his other hand until he could see the building looming up in front of him.
He turned the van hard, but still scraped into the building. The van seemed to still be able to go, so as it straighted out and found the road once more he gunned the gas. The van sputtered on.
Carlos looked back in the mirror. The trucks where not coming after him. He didn't know why, but it was something. He hoped that there were not any more marauders ahead on the road. Come on baby, get me as far as you can.
"How you doing Manny?" said Carlos. "You okay?"
There was no reply. Carlos glanced back and saw Manny Jr bleeding on the floor of the van. Shit. He couldn't keep a kid alive for even one day. What kind of a dad would he have been?
Eleven
Megan heard them outside after a little more than an hour. She looked out the blinds. There were at least six of them and they had guns.
"I see at least six with guns Dad," said Megan.
"Maybe they will just go by," said Hank.
People Are Not Your Friends (Book 1) Page 2