by Mark Tufo
Patches and Ben-Ben stayed next to me as we walked slowly back towards Jess. I couldn’t muster much more than that. Patches repeatedly scanned the area in case Mist decided to come back.
“Oh, Riley,” Jess said, putting her fire-arm down.
She hugged me tight around my neck. I was thirsty and dog tired, and I was still shaking from the exertion of getting away from Mist—and I guess even the closeness of my demise—but it was still one of the sweetest things I’d ever felt. Water leaked from her eyes.
“Good to have you back!” Zach shouted from inside the car.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Zach.” Jess let my neck go to check on the baby.
“It’s good to have you back,” Patches said.
“You mean that?” I asked her.
“Not really. And we should get going…the zombies are coming.” She hopped back up into the car and took the front seat. I didn’t have the energy to argue about it with her.
“We have to go.” Jess was looking to the rear of the car.
“The girl is always a day late,” Patches said.
I wanted to ask her what that even meant, but even that seemed like an effort. Jess helped me up into the backseat; I couldn’t make the small leap. Ben-Ben slammed his snout into my backside in his haste to get in the car. Not to get away from the zombies, but rather to be next to me.
“I missed you.” He snuggled close. Normally I would have pushed him away, but right now, his company was very welcome. “The cat’s been mean to me,” he whispered as I drifted off to sleep.
My dreams started off good enough; Jess and Winke were making bacon cookies in our old home. Ben-Ben kept looking from them to the back door. “Riley?” he asked in a strange nasal whine. It was not his normal bacon happiness.
My attention was pulled to the door. Alpha-male was outside, staring at us through the viewer. He looked all right at first and then his skin began to change from its healthy color to that of a late-day blue. I could see this clearly, even though it was dark out. His pale face glowed like the Wolf-Disc. He opened his mouth and his teeth elongated, as did his nose. I was trying to back out of the food room, but my paws kept losing traction on the slippery surface. Jess had her back to the door and was paying no attention at all to the horror behind her.
Winke had stopped moving completely; he was frozen in place, a lump of bloody something in his fist. The only thing not still was the blood that fell from his hand and onto the top of Ben-Ben’s head. At first it was merely drops, and then it began to come down hard. Ben-Ben was bathed in it. Icely was behind me, laughing in his cruel way. A zombie-Mist was staring at me through the viewer now. The handle to the door began to twist as she was letting herself into the house. I yelped loud enough to wake myself up. At first I didn’t know what I was looking at as my eyes adjusted and then I realized it was Ben-Ben’s nose; it was closer to my eyes than my own.
“Hi,” he said.
He was too close to focus so I pushed back and stood up. It was dark out, and at some point Jess had stopped the car. She was outside, sitting on the front of the car with Zach in her arms. He was getting some food, something that didn’t sound so good at the moment as I struggled to let the sleep images go. I heard soft footfalls above me.
“Patches on patrol,” Ben-Ben said when he saw me look up.
“Why aren’t you getting food?” I asked him.
“I don’t want to ever leave your side again, Riley.”
“Ever?”
“Ever,” he reiterated.
“Oh boy, this is going to be fun,” I told him. “Well…let’s go get you some food then.”
“That would be great, Riley because, I really do think I’m starving to death. I’ve only had two cans of food, thirty six cookies, twelve pieces of beef jerky and eighty-nine floor fries.”
“Only eighty-nine?” I asked.
He nodded sadly. “Only eighty-nine.”
Had to give the dog credit, all his talk about food actually worked my appetite back up. “Let’s go see if we can get you another can of food or two.”
Jess slid off the wheeler with her brother. “You guys hungry?” she asked.
Ben-Ben was dancing around crazily, sometimes spinning around all the way.
“There are no zombies nearby,” Patches said from the top of the wheeler. “This is what I’ve been doing while you’ve been gone.”
She was making it sound like I had voluntarily left to stay by the great salty water.
“It’s been me that kept them all safe,” Patches said.
“Thank you,” I told her.
I didn’t know what else to say. I think she expected me to fight her. She was more than welcome to pack leader, the position had nearly gotten me killed three or four times. She’d be better at it; supposedly cats had nine lives. She could stand to lose a few; maybe it would make her more humble.
I could feel her gaze upon me as I ate. I let her stew. She was too exhausting to deal with, especially now that I was still weakened. Jess tilted a bottle of water into my mouth and I tried as best as I could to not let any spill. The cool liquid felt so good as it slogged down my throat and into my nearly full belly. When she pulled the bottle away I began to walk a few paces away from the car, Ben-Ben tripping me as he stayed close.
“Ben-Ben, I need to relieve myself,” I told him.
“Okay.” He looked up at me, his tongue dancing around.
“Alone, Ben-Ben.”
“Okay,” he repeated, still keeping pace with me.
“I thought you were kidding about the never leaving my side thing.”
“Nope,” he said honestly.
“I’m going over to that bush alone, Ben-Ben, you follow me under it and I’m going to hold you up by your tail.”
“That would hurt, Riley.”
“I know.”
I crawled under a bush and to a small clearing. Ben-Ben was whining softly from the distance between us. I’d never been pulled up from my tail, but it must hurt if the little dog wouldn’t follow with just the threat of that hanging over him. Then I felt bad that at some point in his life he had experienced such a painful sensation.
“You done yet, Riley?” he asked. I didn’t even get a chance to respond before he spoke again. “What about now? You’ve been gone an awfully long time.”
“I love you, Ben-Ben,” I said, amused.
“I love you, too,” Ben-Ben answered sincerely.
“Get a room!” Patches mewled.
“What’s that mean?” Ben-Ben asked while I was thinking it.
“She’s just angry because of who she is.” I finished up.
Ben-Ben’s head was cocked to the side as I came out. He didn’t know what that meant either. “I really have to go too,” Ben-Ben said.
“Then go.” I looked back to where I had gone.
“You want to come with me?”
“No, but I’ll wait out here for you.”
“I’d like that.”
I could hear him turning and turning as he looked for the perfect spot and then the grunting began as he was trying to force through it quickly.
“It’s okay, Ben-Ben, I’ll still be here when you’re through.”
He grunted louder in response. “Almost done.”
“You’re going to hurt yourself,” I laughed.
He came under the brush, his butt dragging on the ground.
“Riley, you need to talk to him about that,” Patches said from her lofty perch.
Ben-Ben and I walked back to the car.
“How you doing, girl?” Jess asked as she petted down my back.
“Much better now,” I told her truthfully.
“I know you can’t really understand me, Riley,” Jess began “But I’d swear sometimes that you do. I’m tucking Zach back into his chair and then I need to get some sleep. Can you watch out for us?” She put her face next to mine and hugged me tight.
“Yes,” I woofed softly in her ear.
“What does the stupi
d girl think I’ve been doing all along?” Patches asked bitterly.
Jess let me go, scratched briefly behind Ben-Ben’s ear, and attempted to reach up and pet the cat, but Patches moved away. Then she got in the car.
I turned to Patches. “She doesn’t understand, but I am thankful for everything you’ve done,” I told her. I hoped that would calm her down a bit. If the flicking of her tail was any indication, it had not worked as well as I’d hoped.
“Stupid human and stupid dogs they own,” I heard her mumble.
“Do you want to get some sleep?” I asked her.
“Yeah, I’m so tired,” Ben-Ben answered instead.
“Might as well. She won’t know it was me that protected her anyway. You’ll just take all the credit.” Patches jumped down.
“I’m not looking for praise, cat, I’m just doing my best to keep us alive,” I told her. She was starting to get me riled up.
“Says you,” she replied before she hopped up into the car.
“Are you staying out there?” Jess asked, looking at me. I sat down next to her door. She leaned over and shut the back one when Ben-Ben and the cat were inside.
“I’ll be next to you in my thoughts.” Ben-Ben stuck his head out the viewer.
“That’ll be close enough,” I told him.
“Okay.” He ducked back down.
I’d done only one trip around the wheeler when I heard him snoring. I noticed Patches glaring at me. She stayed like that for three or four more times around. I made sure to never look up at her—I was afraid she’d attack. Eventually, at some point, she got sick of the game and had gone to sleep herself.
I’d seen a deer and a strange prickly looking thing lumber across the road during my watch. The deer had bounded off quickly; the strange looking animal had looked my way once and kept shuffling along. For that I was thankful. It looked slow enough, but those spiky things all around it looked dangerous.
The burning-disc was just coming up as the cat jumped out of the window and next to me. I was startled; I think she may have laughed. One of Jess’ arms stuck out the window as she stretched.
“I slept longer than I meant to,” she said, getting out of the car. “We could be to Justin’s by tonight, Riley.”
I wagged my tail in response. Anything that made her happier, made me happier.
“We should get going.” She opened the door so I could get in. “Where’s Patches?” she asked in alarm.
“I didn’t know you cared?” Patches said sardonically from across the road.
“Oh…there you are,” Jess said with visible relief.
“Give her a break, cat, she’s doing the best she can.” I hopped in.
“What did you two eat last night?” Patches asked. “It smells like one of Zach’s dirty diapers over here.”
“That would be Ben-Ben,” I said.
“Probably,” Ben-Ben said happily as he watched me get in with him.
Patches sauntered over to us.
“Any day, Princess,” Jess said to Patches. She was getting excited about her potential reunion; it was easy to smell the pheromones coming off of her.
“I would have gone with ‘Queen’ but Princess is a good start,” Patches said as she hopped into the wheeler.
She looked quickly and noted that I was in the backseat. Her eyes got big for a split second before she took the passenger seat triumphantly. I was amused at that. She was welcome to it; there was more room in the back to sleep, something which I planned on doing in the next few moments.
Ben-Ben got down on the floor of the car and was resting his head mere whiskers from me.
“We doing this again?” I asked.
“Yup.” was his happy reply.
“Fine, but no licking this time,” I told him before I closed my eyelids.
Chapter 10 - ICELY
“Fuck I’m cold.”
Icely sat shivering in his car. He had pulled off the highway and onto a turnoff reserved solely for emergency vehicles. He was hidden from only the most prying of eyes where he had parked.
“You cold, too?” he asked the still and lifeless form of Schools. At some point he had stopped to strap the man in position after he had slouched down again.
“You’re not cold? You look like you’re freezing, man.” Icely said.
Fat beads of sweat were running off of Icely’s brow as he shook throughout the night. His rest had been fitful, and more than once he had cried out while he slept. Schools though had kept a constant vigil and Icely thanked him for it when the sun crept up.
“You’re a good friend.” Icely clapped the man on the shoulder before he stepped out. “Fucking birds are chirping, crickets are making cricket noises, I think I saw a rabbit. It’s like a Disney movie out here. Want a smoke?” Icely asked Schools. “Sun feels good…a little too hot though.” His body went from shivering a few moments previous to sweating profusely.
Icely’s head was hanging low; drops of mucous coming from his nose. He would occasionally wipe those away. It was the sticky sensation on the back of his neck that he found the most disturbing; more than once he had reached back there and rubbed, the hand coming back covered in an oozing, viscous, gel-like fluid.
“Got an infection. The fucking cat.” He looked at the goop in his hand. “Doesn’t that beat all, Schools?” Icely asked. “Man-killing dog, and it’s the cat that’s doing me in. Ain’t that a fucking peach? Guess I’m going to need some white-lined antibiotics.” He laughed, as he got back into the car. “Come on, Schools, move a little so I can get in the glove box. I’m not shitting you, man, move!” he shouted when he realized the dead man wasn’t moving fast enough. Icely pulled his gun out and pressed the barrel against Schools’ head, he did so with enough force that Schools fell over.
“Why didn’t you just do that in the first place?” Icely asked as he reached over and grabbed the cocaine. Icely had just done his second rail and was feeling better when he heard a familiar far off sound. “Pigs? No offense,” he said to Schools. “You still pissed about the whole gun to the head thing, man? That was nothing. Here let me help you up.” Icely propped Schools back into a sitting position. “Man, you want one of these lines? You look worse than I feel.”
Icely’s attention was once again pulled to the noise of the approaching car. “Well ain’t that the shit.” Icely looked at the passing car. A multi-colored cat was staring straight at him through the passenger side window.
“Fuck, Schools, you were right, man. All we had to do was wait for her! Hot fucking damn! Put your seatbelt on, we’re going for a ride!”
He started the car and pulled out quickly, sending gravel shooting out from behind him, his wound slowly draining blood. Icely was too far gone to care.
Chapter 11 - JESS and the GANG
“Icely,” Patches said softly. She may as well have said ‘bath time’ it had cut so quickly through my sleep.
“What about him?” I asked, lifting my head up.
“He was on the side of the road.” Patches turned to look out the rear viewer.
I stood up quickly to share the same view.
“That wasn’t a long nap, Riley,” Jess said as she looked at me through the small reflective viewer. “What are you two so interested in?” she asked. “Oh, God, no.” We all watched Icely’s car pull onto the hard packed ground. “It can’t be.” Her earlier happiness had been completely obliterated. Fear swirled around the wheeler like a tangible force.
I got back down to make sure Zach was strapped into his funny seat. Ben-Ben had got back down to the floor. He was shivering and fear relieving. I did not yell at him. I wanted to do the same.
“He means to kill us,” Zach said to me.
“Figure that out all on your own, Baby-that-should-not-talk?” Patches mewled.
I would have berated her, but Zach hadn’t even seemed to take note of her words. Plus, I could tell she said it just because she was as scared as the rest of us.
“What’s he doing?” Jess asked,
looking into the reflective rear viewer. We all figured it out as soon as the wheeler swung violently to the side from Icely’s impact. I fell to the floor and Zach ‘umphed’ loudly as the wind was knocked from him. Patches hadn’t moved an inch though. I figured she had those razor claws buried halfway into the seat she was on. Jess cried out in alarm as Zach began to wail.
“Are you alright?” I asked him as I got up off of Ben-Ben who didn’t seem to mind the company all that much.
“I’m fine,” he mumbled as my back paw pushed down on his muzzle.
“I meant the baby, but I’m glad to see you are alright as well.”
Zach sniffed, his bottom lip quivering as tears stained his face. “I’m okay,” he said.
“He’s coming back,” Patches said.
I braced for the next hit. Wheeler feet screeched on the hard pack ground. The sound of breaking things was louder this time. Our wheeler went side to side as it appeared Jess was fighting with the wheel.
“She’s going to drive us right off the road!” Patches yelled.
“Like to see you do better,” I said through gritted teeth as I strained to keep myself from once again falling over.
“I can’t lose him,” Jess said frantically. She kept looking in the rear viewer.
There was an explosion as the glass to the rear viewer sprayed into the backseat.
“Oh, my God! He’s shooting at us!” Jess cried. “Zach are you alright?” she asked as she turned around. There were some small pieces of the viewer in his lap and a small cut on his cheek, but other than that, he was fine. “You’re bleeding!”
“It’s just a scratch,” he told her, trying to calm his sister down.
Jess reached back and touched Zach. When she was confident he was fine, she steadied the wheeler and pressed down harder on the go-faster pedal. For the moment at least, she was able to pull away from Icely.
I shook my body and a bunch of the viewer pieces fell away. Ben-Ben was sparkling, he was coated in so much of it, but since he had his head buried under his paws, I figured he was alright as well.
“Cat down! Cat down!” Patches squealed.
I turned quickly around. She had fallen to her seat and was screaming bloody murder—had that same sound I’d heard before at home when the local Toms came to visit her. How she found that irritating sound flattering was beyond me. The noises Zach’s brother made out of his behind were much more entertaining than those wails. Yet she would strut around like Prince Charming himself had come to date her. (I used to really enjoy when Jess read Zach his bedtime stories.)