by Lee Argus
“Well, if someone shows up at a hospital without a name, they call him John Doe. Besides, I like John. It fits.”
“John it is.”
“If you two are done chatting, I could use a break.” said Rachel.
She didn’t look tired, but she probably didn’t want Steph over exerting herself. She sounded kind of annoyed. I hadn’t really included her in our conversation. I’d have to work on that from now.
We were near a tree that was growing next to the road. We took a slightly longer break in its shade. Stephanie ate an entire package of Oreos while we sat there. When she offered me one I took it to be polite.
As I chewed at the cookie, I wondered how far we had come. It must have been at least five miles by now. I hope we could find another car at the truck stop. If all we could find was a tire, it would be a real pain to roll it the whole way back.
When we started walking again the sun seemed to be baking into the asphalt. I felt like a small ant under a huge magnifying glass. Stephanie and Rachel’s hair was frizzy and wet due to a combination of sweat and water. I wonder if I shared the haggard expression I saw on them.
We slowed down noticeably as we went. My pack started to get lighter and lighter as we walked. Rachel carried a smaller one with water, and I doubted it was nearly as heavy as when we had started.
After hours of more travel, the truck stop was finally in sight. We were down to only one more water bottle, so if we couldn’t find anything here, I don’t know what we’d do. I’d taken a second set of pain pills half an hour ago. I wish I hadn’t. It was hard to think clearly on them.
It was about a quarter of a mile off the road. According to the signs that wrapped around the single building, several restaurants were located inside. A few dozen trucks and cars were still parked in the large lot that surrounded the building on the two sides that didn’t have fuel pumps. At least we had a chance to find another car.
We stopped at the road leading to the truck stop. Stephanie looked like she was barely hanging together. She had to give Rachel the shotgun to carry several miles back.
“So, what’s the plan?” Rachel said.
“We’re looking for a car or truck that runs and has gas. It doesn’t have to be pretty, as long as it works. We need to be careful. Everyone is tired, but we can’t make any mistakes. Just keep aware of your surroundings.”
“What if there are Kurus in there?” Steph asked.
“We’ll deal with that if it happens. No point in worrying over things we don’t know for sure yet.” I said.
I felt nearly helpless as we approached the building. I couldn’t do much more than slap someone with the way my hands were bound. I shook my head, trying to clear it.
There were two entrances to the building. One led to a small food court, the other one led to the gas station’s convenience store. The first one was dark, and fairly foreboding. Thick tinting had been placed over all of its large windows. It seemed more likely to be able to hide Kurus than the clear glass of the convenience store.
Rachel tugged at the door. It opened, and we all waited.
“Should we make noise or something, to check?” she asked.
“Hey!” I shouted into the store.
Rachel and Stephanie both jumped at the yell.
“Sorry.”
I listened for anything moving, but nothing seemed to react to the yell.
“Sounds empty.” I said.
Some of the product rows had been knocked over, and something had smashed one of the cooler doors. I wondered if people had come through looking for stuff before.
“I’ve got the gun. Let me go first.” Rachel said.
Before we could stop her, she plunged into the store. I came in behind her, followed by Stephanie. Flies were buzzing around the store in great numbers. The smell of rot was heavy in the air. Stephanie put a sleeve over her face, but Rachel just made a disgusted face.
In the far corner of the store the flies seemed intent on something. I thought it might be a fresh foods section, but I saw that it was a body they were covering. Flies and maggots intermingled over his flesh. The only reason I’d say it was a him is that it had been wearing men’s clothes. The skin had either been peeled off, or eaten by flies. One hand was missing.
Seeing this, Stephanie ran outside, gagging and retching. Rachel stayed near me, but was looking towards the darker eating area. A hallway linked the two sides of the building, and little light penetrated into there.
“Kurus, right?” she asked.
I nodded. It looked like the kind of thing they would do.
“Should we check his pockets for keys?”
She was right. I hadn’t even thought about him having a car or truck outside. With my bad hands there wouldn’t be a way I could riffle through his pockets. Stephanie was too squeamish to come back, so it had to be Rachel.
“You’ll have to check him.” I said, showing my wrapped hands. “Just put the shotgun on that shelf.”
She sat it down where I said and pulled her shirt over the lower part of her face. It made her look like a snow ninja. Keeping as far from him as she could, she pat his pants pockets. The far pocket jingled like keys. She pulled them out. It had a BMW logo on it.
“It looks like we have one to try.” she said.
“We should grab some food and water here.” I said. “Let’s go to the cooler. You can load up my pack with as much water as will fit. Yours can be for food.”
She packed a bunch of large bottles and a few smaller ones. It felt like I was carrying fifty pounds on my back. After the last mile my heel started to really hurt, and the new weight didn’t help. It must have been a blister.
There wasn’t a lot for her to grab. She took a few jars and cans, but mostly beef jerky.
“Salt and protein for what we lost today.” She opened one and began chewing a large strip. “Want one?”
She gave me a smaller piece. Chewing it finally got rid of my cotton mouth. We went outside, where Stephanie was sitting on the curb. Nearby was a small puddle of vomit. She held her face in one hand.
“You okay?” Rachel asked. Steph nodded without replying. “You should drink some water.”
She handed her one of the small bottles she hadn’t packed away. Steph looked grateful for it. She swished water around her mouth and spat, clearing the vomit taste. She finished the bottle, and seemed better.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never seen anything like that.” she said.
“It’s okay.” I told her. “It’s not something you can really prepare yourself for.”
That was true, but why wasn’t I shocked or nauseated when I saw the two bodies outside of the hospital? I must have seen that kind of thing before. Maybe I had been a cop or something.
“We found the keys for a Beemer.” Rachel said. “Let’s go see if it still runs.”
There weren’t many cars in the parking lot, so it was easy to find. Rachel pushed a button on the key, making it flash twice and beep. The car was black, and looked almost brand new. She unlocked the doors by remote. The interior was clean except for some junk food wrappers lying on the carpet.
“Pop the trunk.” I said to Rachel. She opened the trunk with the remote. A few suitcases were inside. One had clothes that looked like they would fit me. They were mostly black and grey colors. The other one had what must have been fifty thousand dollars.
We stood there, mouths agape. The money was in bundles.
“He must have thought it would do him some good. He should have bought a gun instead.” I said.
“Should we toss it?” Rachel said.
“No,” I replied, “It might come in handy. We could always use it to start a fire, if it came down to it. Help me take off my pack.”
We stowed the backpacks into the trunk. I rode in the back. The seats were remarkably more comfortable and spacious than the Volkswagen. It had leather upholstery and they didn’t spare the padding. Rachel and Stephanie seemed equally pleased with the front seats.
“Start her
up, we need to know if it’ll run and how much gas there is. If gas is a problem we can always siphon from the other car.”
The car started. The engine sounded smooth and strong. It was just over half full. The car had an iPod attached to the stereo. Stephanie spent the trip back to the VW going through the song collection. She said there was several weeks’ worth of music, although she hadn’t heard of some of it before.
When we got back to the car it took a minute or two for us to transfer everything over. I had to show Rachel how to siphon gas. Stephanie watched, but was still too nauseous to try it. We emptied what was left from the car, filling up the BMW. There were one and a half gallons left in the plastic jugs when we were done.
Stephanie drove after that. The day was sweltering hot, but the air conditioner was strong enough that after a few minutes of running we had to turn it off.
8 CHOICES
The drive seemed more pleasant. Rachel chose some classical music, and I found it very soothing. We pulled off into the next town when the sun had started to set. It wasn’t the smallest town we had gone through, but it was close. I doubt over a thousand people lived there.
There was one grocery store, two gas stations and a Wal-Mart. Other than that, it was only residential areas. A few gated communities were here and there. Near the edge of town was a tract of smaller homes. They looked more promising.
We chose one at random. It hand a chain link fence running around the edge of the property. A dog had been left chained in the back yard. I didn’t say anything about it to Steph or Rachel. I didn’t want to upset them.
The lawn had withered away to nothingness. It had more dead weeds than dead grass. There was a large garage that was next to the large front yard. It might help keep us from being noticed. Who knows if Kurus would notice a new car.
We were more cautious than ever. I was too injured to do much, and Stephanie still seemed exhausted from the long walk we had to do.
After parking we checked the garage. The door was locked, but we were surprised that the house’s front door was slightly ajar. Rachel pushed the door open with the shotgun’s barrel. Even behind the two of them the repugnant and cloying smell that had been contained inside was overpowering.
Stephanie’s pale lack of color became more apparent before she threw up what little she had eaten. The sound alerted something inside, which gave an inhuman wail. Rachel slammed the door shut before turning to comfort her sister.
“We’ve got to get out of here. Is she going to be all right?”
“It’s just been a lot of stress on her. Some food and rest are all she needs.” Rachel said.
Stephanie looked horrible. Her hands perceptibly shook and her eyes had sunken deeply into her skull. We still had a few hours until sunset. We would need to hurry if we were going to find a safe place for the night. This one was obviously claimed by at least one Kuru.
“Let’s get her into the car.” I said.
I helped Rachel half carry; half drag her into the car. We put her in the back seat, where she could lay down and rest. When Rachel and I sat in the front seats we were both feeling more weary and worried.
Rachel drove us a few miles down and a few blocks over before she stopped. It was a squared off, Santé Fe styled house. A large for rent sign was prominent in the front window.
“There won’t be anything we can sleep on or eat, but it’ll be vacant.” Rachel said.
Stephanie mad a non-committed grunt from the back seat. She had sat up during the drive. I looked back, seeing that she was still pale but had a clarity in her vision that she didn’t have before. A thin layer of sweat had formed on her face, giving it a glossy appearance.
“How will we get inside?” I asked.
“Usually a relator will leave a key in a lockbox attached to the front door. We should check the windows first.”
There was a key, but the metal box looked very sturdy. Any shot that would open it could destroy the key. We checked round the house at each window. The front and side ones were all closed and fastened. One that was in the back was closed, but not locked. The interior was finished except for a stove that hadn’t been connected. Some tools were still left inside on the kitchen counter. Whoever had been working on the house had most likely left the window open to ventilate it but didn’t lock it when they left.
We brought everything inside that we would need. Since there was no bed Rachel laid out what clean clothes there were for Steph to lay on. She fell asleep alarmingly fast but Rachel said that she’d seen it before when Steph had pushed herself too hard.
Since I couldn’t carry anything I stayed inside while Rachel carried in our supplies and sanitized the car and walkway. We only used the back entrance, hoping that it would help mask the smell.
We ate cold food for dinner. It was a disappointment after the meal we had eaten yesterday. Rachel woke Steph up enough to eat a few bites, but she fell back asleep. She roughly coughed several times in her sleep.
“Is that normal?” I asked.
“Her lungs had a rough time today. I’ve heard her worse once or twice, but she’ll need to take some antibiotics. Her lungs usually have a buildup of mucus. The walking loosened it enough to start to work its way back up. She’s probably dehydrated too. Most of our food is pretty salty, and should help her.”
We were sitting in the living room. The new carpet was more comfortable than the hardwood and tile floor that was elsewhere. We had closed all the blinds. Since there was no upstairs, we would have to forgo lights tonight.
Stephanie was lying in the corner with a light jacket draped over her. Rachel got up from where we were eating to go check on her. When she put one hand to her brow she bit her lip in worry.
“She has a slight fever.”
“Is there anything we can do?” I asked.
“I’ve got some antibiotics and some medication to help with the mucus. If we’re lucky it’ll pass in a day or two. If not, we might be stuck here for a while. We shouldn’t move her unless there’s no other choice.” She rubbed at her temples. “Tomorrow I should go get some blankets and food.”
“What do you mean by ‘you’?” I asked. I didn’t want to leave Stephanie alone, but Rachel going out by herself seemed even less safe. “If you go out it shouldn’t be by yourself. You need someone to watch your back.”
“And what about your hands? You can’t do much with them wrapped up the way they are.”
“They’re fine. All I need is some gloves and I can help. It might not feel great but I’m the only help you have.”
“You want me to just leave Stephanie here alone?”
“We’ll just be gone for an hour or two at most.” I said resolutely. “When she wakes up we can ask her.”
Rachel looked like she wanted to argue more but left it at that. We took shifts staying up. Rachel took the first shift. When she shook my shoulder to wake me for my turn it seemed like I had just gone to sleep. She held her hand over my mouth to keep me from speaking. Her lips were close enough to my ear to feel them as she spoke.
“Stay quiet. There are Kurus outside by the car. They haven’t come close to the house, but they might smell some of our lingering scent from the seats.”
She stood up. I could vaguely make out her form when she walked back to the front window. I could faintly make out the soft rasping breath that came from Stephanie. Following her, I walked over as quietly as I could. The carpet muted any sounds that I might have made.
I cracked another blind higher than hers. It was at my eye level. The thin moonlight made everything that didn’t move almost impossible to see. The car looked like a large black mound in the street.
I didn’t see anything at first. I heard a muted grunt, which was followed by a second one. The shape of the car changed as something that had been squatting low on the roof leapt off. I tightened my hand sending flashes of lightning streaking up the burns. It dashed down the street past were I could see. Another shadow flashed from behind the car following the f
irst one. A few howls faded at a distance.
Her lips brushed my ear, sending a light spasm down my spine. I hope she hadn’t felt it.
“They couldn’t figure out where we went and left. It’s about two a.m. now. If you want to take your turn keeping watch I’ll get some sleep.”
I moved to whisper back to her. Without being able to see I accidently pressed my mouth to her lips instead of her ear. She inhaled with surprise and actually pulled my lips tighter to hers. We both jerked back, momentarily caught speechless.
“I….I’ll keep watch.” I said stammering my words.
She didn’t say anything back and I couldn’t make out her expression in the dark. I heard her walk back to her sister, and lay down. I shook my head, and stared out into the dark.