by Tim Yingling
After I was done, I walked out of the bathroom to the living room. I wanted to get my boots on before I ate, but that wasn’t possible. I looked out the window to see Adam standing on his walk talking to someone. I had to maneuver to a new spot, but I eventually saw who it was. At first, I thought he was talking to Stone, but it was Tom. I didn’t need to get into that conversation. I got my boots on and walked into the kitchen.
“How was the shower?” Rice asked as soon as she saw me.
Bev snickered off to Rice’s left. I couldn’t help but smile. I also couldn’t help but give the same answer when a question came up of a gag on me.
“Fuck you,” is what I said. I sat down to a fresh plate of bacon with an omelet as a side dish. Although, I think the bacon was supposed to be the side dish. Just as good as the night before. The ladies talked amongst themselves, but I didn’t listen. Rice even went as far as to try to help Beverly clean the dishes. Beverly just shoed her away. And Rice did as she was told.
I was done with my plate shortly after. As I handed the empty plate to Beverly she said to me, “If you brought trouble to our doorstep, then I will find a way to kill you.”
“Is that why you haven’t said anything to me the entire time I’ve been here?”
She didn’t bother to answer. The conversation was over before it began. I would have been able to explain to her the reason why we stopped was because of her and her husband. If neither one of them said anything to us then we would have continued to walk. But they did say something to us. And they did offer us some dinner and a place to sleep. I don’t know where the problem came from with Beverly, but it started with her.
I didn’t say these things to her. She may not like me, but I did have a fondness for her and her husband. There was no doubt there. I didn’t think our paths would cross again, so there shouldn’t be any danger. Stone would follow us and that would be the end of it for these fine folks.
I walked out of the kitchen to get my things. We still had ten minutes to go and we still had to wait for Adam and Tom to get done talking. Rice was already dressed and ready to go. She had her FLC on. I didn’t know when she did it, but she made it so it fit her nice and snug. There was breathing room on her sides, the way most people like it when all they do is where their FLC.
It took more than a few minutes for me to get my FLC ready. I had to take the waist strap out and turn it around. Once that was done, I could keep the front zipped up and put the FLC on like a shirt. This made things easier for me. Most infantry like to keep their FLCs like this, at least they use to before the world came to a stuttering stop.
Adam and Tom came back in as I finished placing the magazines in the ammo pouches. Neither one said anything to Rice or me. Adam went to his wife who had come into the kitchen doorway. Tom went to his pack, chucked it to the side, grabbed his FLC and weapon, and then walked out. I stood to address Adam and Beverly.
“Thank you both for your hospitality.” I offered my hand to Adam who took it. “I’m sorry for any inconvenience that I may have caused.”
Adam’s look told me one thing. Beverly hadn’t told him how she felt. She kept it from him much like she kept her true feelings about me from me. She was playing a dangerous game. One that Adam knows how to win. I didn’t say what I wanted to say. That would just cause them more problems than they can handle.
“Don’t know of any inconvenience,” Adam said, “but it was our pleasure to have you.”
Beverly’s eyes said otherwise. I noticed it, but Adam didn’t.
I turned to see that it was just the three of us in the house. “I better catch up to my… I don’t know what they are.”
“You’ll find out eventually.”
We let go of each other’s hands. I grabbed my weapons, placing the pistol in a different leg holster than I had before, and walked out. I only offered one last look at the two of them from the end of their walk. Tom waved, but Beverly sulked back into the house. I waved before trotting on.
It took me five minutes to catch up to them. Tom was trucking along. Rice struggled to stay with him. I put my hand on his shoulder to slow him down. The turn and shove to the chest were not what I expected to happen.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” he said. The anger radiated off him.
“Stop, Tom.” It wasn’t an order. It was more of a friendly request.
He didn’t stop though. He continued to walk. I trotted up to him and got in his face. “You may hate me right now, Tom, but you have to know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
He did finally stop. Rice stopped as well, looking more relieved than cautious of what was about to happen.
“You need to slow down. You just spent an entire day in a semi-catatonic state. Your system isn’t fully recovered yet. You need to slow down, take it easy today. No more than three miles-an-hour” – we were actually faster than that, surprisingly – “at the most four miles-an-hour. Got it?”
“Whatever.”
He tried to push past me, but I held him steady. “Also, you may hate me for what happened to you, but you never explained what happened to you. Maybe if you did then I would understand what your fucking problem is. Until you want to talk about it and hear from me as well, you can stow your pussified shit and lose the attitude. You know I hate the ‘whatever’ attitude, and if you keep it up I will just leave your ass on the side of the road.”
That seemed to strike a chord with him. He wanted to say something. I didn’t give him a chance to because I turned and walked off. After a few seconds, I heard two sets of footsteps walking behind me. I didn’t bother to look back at them. There was no need. I could see their faces without actually seeing them. Rice was between the two of us. She had the long, disturbed face because she knew she was in the middle, figuratively and literally, of the situation. Tom had the face of impatience. He only wanted one thing. To get away from me.
We walked for four and a half hours until we stopped for lunch. Tom scarfed what we found. I took as long as it usually did for me to eat. I was faster than most people but not as fast as Tom. Rice wanted to savor her food. She took the full half hour to eat her food and drink her drink. Still, nothing was said in that five hours.
We got back on the road and traveled, coming across a few people milling around. Every person we came across offered insight to the surrounding area. They told us where the closest zombies were, and where to find supplies if need be. I offered them insight on how to take out the zombies. Our conversations didn’t last much longer than five minutes. Tom wouldn’t allow it. I had to give him thanks for that.
The only other talking was when I had to give directions on which way to go. It only happened when we got into the cities, but it was enough. Traveling a state route caused the cities to be a bit of a distance apart. Most of the people we encountered weren’t even in the cities. They were also along the road. A few were traveling in the same direction we were, they walked with us for a bit, but they had a specific direction. Most all the travelers were either crossing the road or going in the opposite direction.
It was close to five o’clock when one of us finally asked a question. You know it wasn’t Tom, and I would have said something about it by now. That just leaves one person.
“Beverly brought up a good point when I was talking with her last night,” Rice said.
I didn’t slow my pace as I asked, “What was that?”
“I can understand, and I think I helped her to understand, as to why we aren’t driving. But why don’t we ride bicycles?”
And the question finally comes. Surprised it took so long. Oh well, that just means it was time to answer.
“We won’t be able to react in enough time if we ride bicycles. Not to mention the fact that we won’t be able to take as much equipment.”
“That’s horseshit.” This came from Tom. “You don’t want to take bikes because you want to control everything. I never realized it before…”
“Tom.”
�
�Yes, Kate.”
“Shut the fuck up and let Sarge talk.”
I turned to look at them for the first time while walking. Rice ran into my side, but Tom was stopped dead in his tracks.
I didn’t acknowledge Rice for bumping into me. “She’s right, Tom. If you don’t have anything constructive to say, shut the fuck up.” I started walking again. “Also, it’s not because I want to control everything. Let me ask you this Tom, can you fire a weapon from a bicycle while trying to speed up to get away from danger.”
Tom raised his voice a little. “The only danger out there against you right now is Stone.”
“No, that is not the only danger. The biggest danger out there is someone thinking there is no danger out there. We have been lucky so far. I bet if we would be on the freeway, hitting the bigger towns and cities, then we would find that danger. And I bet that in the next three or four days we are going to run into some of those dangerous people, or things.”
“Are you talking about the zombies?” Tom sounded like he wasn’t sure about what I was talking about. “Because if you are talking about the zombies, then there is no danger there.”
I laughed a little. “No, I’m not talking about the zombies. I can handle the zombies. Another question for ya Tom. The animals in the zoo and the likes of, what do you think they have been eating?”
“Probably nothing since the outbreak started.”
“That’s right, nothing.”
“Point.”
Rice took this one. “The point is that the animals are probably hungry, especially the meat eaters. And I guarantee they will find a way out of their cells and hunt for food. That about it, Sarge?”
“Yup.”
“So, what you’re saying is that there are dangerous animals out there?” Tom asked.
I pulled my almost empty last pack of cigarettes out. I only had three left. I needed to find more. But that could wait. I still lit one before continuing the conversation.
“Yes, I am. It’s not that unfeasible, is it? I mean, come on. The animals now have the chance to take the world back. Let’s add in the fact of what would happen if they took a bite out of an infected. Most animals would know to stay the hell away from the infected just because of their instinct, but then you take into account the ones too hungry to give a shit. So, not only is there the danger of the zombies and humans, but you also have the danger of animals.”
“I don’t buy that.”
I couldn’t believe Tom. There is no way he could be this dense. It was either he was dense, or he just wanted to argue with me. I didn’t know which one it could be, but I was hoping it was he wanted to argue.
“Well, you don’t have to see it that way. Eventually, you will see it, though. Hopefully, it won’t be too late for you to see because if it is you’ll be dead. Sorry to say.”
That shut Tom up. None of us said anything for the last two miles we walked. Once I saw the church I knew we found our place to stay the night. Even with the sign showing how close the next town was, we still wanted to stop for reasons I already explained.
Tom and I cleared the church. It wasn’t too hard. The front doors were open. Only two rows of pews were inside; twenty to a side. At the end, on either side of the pulpit, were two doors. The one on the left led to the rectory, I didn’t see anything of significance in there just by opening the door. I didn’t want to go all the way in because there was another door inside. Tom said the other door led down a set of stairs and out the back door. A house stood about half a mile away. I would say the house belonged to the former preacher of the church.
Both Tom and I went into the rectory to fully search it. Tom put his hand on the knob to the other door. I readied my rifle and nodded to Tom. He turned the knob and yanked on the door, but the door didn’t budge. That didn’t make us feel any better. We needed to get into the room to make sure everything in the church was safe before we bedded down for the night.
“What do you want to do?” Tom asked.
I wanted to get in the door is what I wanted to say. I didn’t. Instead, I said, “We’ll leave it for now.” I pointed my thumb behind me. “We’ll put that in front of the door. If someone is behind the door, we will be able to hear them if they want out. If they’re human that is. If they don’t try to get out before we leave in the morning, we’ll move the desk out of the way.”
Tom didn’t object. We moved the desk to the door. He knew as well as I did that as long as we had the rest of the church secure then this one door didn’t matter if we have it blocked off. I didn’t think there was anything down below, but I could have been wrong. What we needed for the night was not too far away.
Tom was the first to walk out of the rectory. Once I was out, I said to Rice, “You mind staying here for a bit while the two of us go to the gas station and the house to look for food?”
“No,” she said. As I neared the door I heard her finish up with, “If you can find some Funions that would be great.”
I wasn’t too sure about getting her those, but I would if I found some.
Tom stayed back a minute to talk to Rice. They were too far out of hearing distance for me. Once he was outside he asked, “Do you want me to go to the house or the gas station?”
“You said the house was half-a-mile away?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we’ll go there first.”
“Fuck you we will.” The non-humorous laugh hurt me a little, but I wasn’t able to get a word in before he said something else. “The only reason I am still with you right now is because I have something that Stone wanted me to tell you, remember? And until that right moment comes, I ain’t leaving you. There were plenty of places I could have left you today –”
I stopped him. He was wasting daylight. “Then you should have fucking stayed.” I got right into his face. “I don’t want either of us to walk off alone. It is much too dangerous out there for us to do that.”
“Then why are you leaving Kate in there alone?”
“Did you tell her to lock and barricade the door?”
“Yes.”
“I figured as much. Plus, she most likely would have done that in the first place.” I walked down the first couple steps of the stairs then turned back on Tom. “Also, if you want to be away from me so bad, then just fucking leave. Stop dicking around and get gone. I don’t need you to be safe. I was looking out for you. Now, I do feel responsible for Stone torturing you, and I am sorry about that. I never meant for that to happen. But that is his own psycho mind that did that, not me. You want someone to blame, blame him. You want someone to kill, kill him. For now, if you can’t stop being so fucking melodramatic then keep your fucking mouth shut.”
I turned to walk to the house. Before I even got to the bottom of the stairs Tom said, “I never said that it was Stone who tortured me.”
I didn’t have to turn fully around. He was already beside me and walking pass to the side of the church.
I wanted to pursue the matter, but thought better of it. It was the first time Tom didn’t sound pissed at me all day. I should probably let it sink in and get him back on my side.
We stayed to the road to get to the house. There was one house across the street to the north of the church, but it was burned to the ground. We passed a house on the same side of the street not too far from the house we were going to that had all of the windows busted out and the door ripped off its hinges. Neither of us wanted to check that house. Either there were zombies inside or there were squatters. The options didn’t work in our favor.
We got to the next house that looked more intact than the last two. There was another house close by to the one we wanted to go in. I had to stop. Looking back at the church, there was no way Tom could see this house from the back door. Too many trees in the way.
I whipped back around to Tom aiming his pistol at me.
“What the fuck?” I asked. I wasn’t scared. I was more pissed than anything.
“Stone had a message, but it was th
e other guys who wanted me to kill you.”
He was confusing me now. “What other guys?”
“Do you really think I am going to kill you?”
“I kinda hope you wouldn’t.” To this point, I still hadn’t put my hands on my rifle in a threatening manner. I haven’t even tried to get Tom to lower his pistol. I was only trying to talk reason with him. “Why don’t you tell me what the hell is going on here, Tom? I mean, if Stone isn’t the one doing this, then who is?”
Tom still didn’t lower his weapon. “I don’t know who they are or what they want. I just know they caught me heading toward the ocean. Then Stone dropped me in the school you were at. I don’t know why they are doing this to you or for what reason, but apparently, they are afraid of you. They said they will let me go if I kill you.”
“Not Rice though?”
“No, I don’t have to kill her. But I do have to kill you.”
I scoffed at him. “No, you don’t. What we have to do is figure this out, together. Now put the weapon down and explain yourself. That is, while we look for food. Otherwise, I will have to hurt you, because I know you won’t pull that trigger. You can’t do something like that.”
“You don’t know that.”
Actually, I did know that. I saw it in his eyes. I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. I’ve known Tom for a long time. I know what he thinks and how he acts. I’ve seen him in battle on more than one occasion. He was scared. The sweat on his head only beaded, it hadn’t started to run yet. His eyes were the worst part. No dilation to the pupils at all. He didn’t want to kill me. He was acting out someone else’s bidding.
I gently raised my hand to the pistol, sliding the safety down. “Is this why you have been acting like a prick all day? You wanted to stay pissed at me, or for me to get pissed enough at you for you to kill me?”