Life After

by Anderson, Jordan W.

  She had now stopped crying, and he could tell by looking into her eyes that she was warming up to him. He knew what a valuable thing that trust was. She was so pretty despite her puffy red eyes. Perhaps it was the fact he had been alone for such a long time, but she had cleaned up exceptionally well. He wondered how she had sustained herself on only blackberries out in the wilderness. He broke a prolonged silence by getting up and grabbing his 22 caliber rifle from the corner. “It’s a good time to hunt squirrel.” He said. “You can stay here. I would appreciate it if you would pack some things for us to take with us. I think we will head for town tomorrow.” She agreed, and with that he left.

  When he returned it was nearing dusk. She had filled his large duffle bag with various items throughout the cabin. He looked through what she had packed taking out some things and replacing them with others. For the most part though, she had done a good job. Dan was proud of her. She had clearly plenty of reason to be a constant emotional wreck, but was proving to be resilient. He wasn't going to ask much of her for now. She needed to regain some strength.

  He had bagged four squirrels. He skinned them and washed the meat. He fried it in a cast iron skillet with some grease he had saved in an old mason jar using his Patent Pending grating. After having rolled it in a bit of salt and flour it was pretty tasty. She was a bit squeamish at first about eating the squirrel, but after Dan coaxing her a bit, they both enjoyed the fresh meal.

  She still wore the shirt and long underwear that he had lent her. They hung on her a bit loosely. She had tied the shirt in a knot at her waist, rolled the elastic waistband underneath, and rolled up the sleeves. Though it was still baggy on her, it outlined more to the contour of her body and accentuated her femininity. He almost couldn’t help but stare at her during their meal. He would occasionally avert his gaze to another random part of the small room to avoid making her feel uncomfortable.

  The intermittent yet persistent rain had caused the temperature to drop some after dinner. Dan got the fire burning strong and heated up the room some but without proper insulation, it was still pretty chilly. Summer was nearly gone and fall was about to set in. It was nearing time to get some rest if they were going to make this trip the next day. Dan got out some extra blankets from the pack. Anika laid down on the place he had made for her on the floor as Dan blew out the candles and the oil lamp that was nearly empty of oil. He gave her all but one of the blankets, which he kept for himself, the also laid down on his cot. Only the light of the fireplace illuminated the room. She looked up at him and saw that he was shivering. “Why don’t we just share the blankets and you get under here with me?” she asked him. He probably could have made it through the night, he had made it through much colder nights before, but what self-respecting man would turn down that offer? He knew sharing body heat would make them both much more comfortable.

  He moved down from the cot and onto the floor with her. He put the last blanket over the rest and climbed under. She turned away from him lying on her side. Dan spooned against her back sharing body heat with her. He wrapped his arm around her stomach just under her breasts and pulled himself closer. She didn’t resist. They just laid there for several moments enjoying the sensation that can only be created by having someone so close. After a bit though, Dan was having great difficulty stifling his sexual urges. He wasn’t about to make any kind of intentional move on her at the moment, but his body was singing a different tune. He backed his crotch away a bit. He felt embarrassed at his inability to control the response to being cuddled up to her this way. He doubted that she invited him down there for that kind of encounter. Maybe she just felt indebted to him for taking her in. He didn’t want her to feel that way. If she wanted anything frisky to happen she would let him know. Dan closed his eyes and tried hard to go to sleep. He wondered if she was sleeping. It was difficult to tell with her facing away from him. He kept his eyes closed for close to an hour before eventually willing himself to slumber.

  He dreamt that night of life before this heinous virus caused him to leave home. He had been working at a call center as a customer service representative. He didn’t really care for the job but it kept his bills paid. In the dream he had an argument with his boss over something insignificant. Still, the nostalgia was comforting.

  CHAPTER 3

  Dan had forgotten about setting his watch to alarm while he had been hunting the day before, but the watch had not forgotten. It alarmed at 8:00am right on schedule. Dan’s wrist was lying on the pillow they shared between their heads. Though the watch was small it emitted a quite loud and annoying tone when alarming. They were both awakened by the sound. Dan sluggishly pressed the small metal post on the side of the watch in to silence it. He looked down at her as he sat up. She was looking up at him. “Good morning” he said in the middle of a yawn. She simply smiled at him. He gave a purposefully goofy grin back causing her to chuckle. “Well I guess we should start getting ready.” he said as she too began to get up. They took a few moments shake the sleep out of their eyes and get more properly dressed.

  Dan showed her how the simple fireplace cook grate worked, getting her started on some more oatmeal while he went up the hill to retrieve his horse. He once again picked some of the taller grasses on the way up ritualistically sticking them in his back pocket. Midnight didn’t expect him this early two days in a row. He was standing in the corner of the field asleep. Dan whistled loudly and said “Hey buddy! It’s time to wake up!” The horse shook its head in what seemed like frustration with the rude awakening. Dan took the grasses from his pocket and shook them over the gate. Midnight perked up and trotted over to receive his treat. Dan had brought along the horse’s reins. After he had finished eating Dan slipped the bit into Midnight’s mouth and slid the harness over his face buckling it in place. He then opened the gate and led him down the hill.

  Once they reached the cabin Dan tied the horse off to a nearby tree branch. He could smell the scent of the food she was cooking from outside and was growing very hungry. He went inside to eat his breakfast. She hadn’t done a bad job at all, it was better than he had made it. They made plans to leave around 10:00 am Dan figured it would be a challenge for her as he expected she was not a seasoned rider. His little abode was several miles from anything in any direction and riding for that long was not an easy thing to get used to.

  After they finished their meal, Dan cleared the table while Anika repacked the bedding they had used the night before. Dan pulled his saddle from beneath his cot and carried it, along with their pack, outside one at a time. Anika followed closely behind. Dan strapped on Midnight’s saddle stroking his beautiful coarse black mane. He instructed Anika to come over. “His name is Midnight” Dan said. Anika reached up to the horse’s face and he lowered his head so she could pet him on his nose. “That’s a good boy. She is our friend." Then Dan turned to her. "Have you ever ridden a horse on your own before Anika?” She shook her head no. “Well you have to learn. Jump on his back.” Anika shot Dan a look as if she thought he must be crazy. “Come around here, and I will help you up.” Dan said. She walked around to the side of the horse near Dan. He instructed her to put her right foot in the stirrup. “Alright, I want you to pull yourself up by the saddle horn and swing your left leg around to the other side.” She did as she was told. Dan gave her a little push on the butt for a boost on the way up. He grabbed midnight’s reins and led him around with Anika on his back. Dan could tell she was very nervous. “You just have to trust him he has been doing this for a long time. He is probably excited that you weigh a lot less than me.” Dan saying this made her giggle. He led her around for a little while longer until she seemed a little more relaxed then helped her down.

  It was growing near time for them to make way on their journey. Dan led the horse over by the wooden plank porch. He used the porch as a sort of stool to stand on as he tied their pack onto the back of the saddle. He then mounted the horse and pulled Anika up as well. She sat behind him with her arms wrapped around h
is wide chest. It was a very tight and slightly uncomfortable fit. “Are you ready?” Dan asked. “No…” she replied “but let’s go.” Dan let out a chuckle as he lightly heeled Midnight’s ribs signaling him to go.

  Anika was more talkative on this trip than their last. He figured because she was still a bit uneasy with being on the horse. It was nice having someone to talk to. Dan had always been a people person. He could easily carry on a conversation with anyone from a fortune 500 company CEO, to a redneck in a dive bar. They talked about everything. She told him about college, and how she was majoring in English. She had a lot of questions for him as well. He didn’t mind answering them. Mostly about what they were going to do once they got there. There was a lot Dan didn’t know how to answer, but he did his best to keep a positive outlook on things for the sake of her morale.

  Though on the outside he was putting on a positive face, his mind kept wondering to a place of worry. Worry about what they may face once they reached town. What if they hadn’t found a cure? What if they couldn’t get it quarantined? If that was the case the best he could figure to do is just gather any supplies he could, and go back up to his cabin. She could either come back with him if she wanted, or take her chances but that would be up to her. No, he would have to insist she came back with him. If the world was as bad as he thought it could be, they would need to stick together. He felt for her. He realized how terrible it must have been to see a close family member brutally murder another only to have them then turn and try to kill her as well. He could hardly bear the thought that his family may no longer be alive. He knew reality could certainly be a hard pill to swallow. Dan had not yet had any contact with the infected. He knew very little about them. Only what little he had heard on television before he had left home. His little cabin was so remote and up such a steep grade most healthy humans wouldn't try to come up there, not to mention whatever these things were. He knew it had spread fast that, he was sure of. Some places had been overrun but a lot the small towns he had been through on the way up seemed relatively normal. Still it scared him enough that he had decided to take this extended vacation.

  People made fun of him at work for his preps, but Dan didn’t let them get to him. An agent named Dave O’Quinn had even started a nickname for him around the office, Doomsday Dan. He didn’t mind. He kind of wore it like a badge of honor. He made that his name plate on his desk. Some things they knew about like the bug out bag he kept in his locker, o the M.R.Es or Meals Ready to Eat, he would occasionally have for lunch. Others they didn't know about like the hidden gun rack behind the seat of his truck, or the concealed 9mm pistol he carried to work every day against company policy. He just liked to feel like he had given him the best fighting chance should the need arise.

  They had been traveling at least four hours now. Dan decided to give everyone a break. They had not been riding Midnight in much more than a trot, letting him walk at times, but he knew with the extra weight he would need to rest for a while. There was a small stream lined with some long grasses running near the narrow dirt trail on which they traveled. Dan stopped the horse and dismounted after first helping Anika off. He tied the horse off to a tree near the stream. As soon as Dan got him close Midnight began to drink the cool spring water in big sloshing gulps.

  Dan and Anika stretched and bit, then Dan sat himself down resting his back against the base of a large poplar tree. Anika joined him sitting in front of him, between his legs with her back against his chest. Dan was surprised she was so willing to cozy back up to him like this after having basically attached to his back on the horse. Still he wasn't complaining. He enjoyed the closeness. A breeze began to blow bringing the scent of honeysuckle tinged with the crispy start of fall to their noses. The tree shaded them like a beach umbrella from the sun which was beginning to lose its power with the changing season. Dan clasped his hands around her waist. She moved a bit to get more comfortable. Something about this setting to the both of them just seemed to warrant silence. They sat there for a while and before Dan knew it Anika had fallen asleep. He wondered how much sleep she had gotten the night before. Maybe she had been awake longer than he thought. Maybe she had been waiting on him to make a move after all. There was no use in beating himself up now. He still couldn’t be sure. Dan looked at his watch. Thirty minutes had already passed. They couldn’t afford to rest any longer. He shook Anika gently to awaken her. She emitted light groans as she opened her eyes and stretched out her body. “Do we have to go already?” She asked. “Sorry, but I think we do. We have a long way to travel yet.” She agreed and they stood. Dan struggled to get Midnight back to the trail but the horse eventually obeyed.

  They rode until the night fell. Dan had hoped they wouldn’t have to spend the night out in the open like this, but they simply rested too long and the weight of the two of them was too much for Midnight to be able to make very much speed. The stars were twinkling down on them from the sky as they dismounted to set up camp. Dan tied up Midnight next to the stream once more and gathered a few rocks near the water. Making several trips he fashioned them into a circle, gathered some drip wood from a felled tree and built a fire inside. Anika unwrapped the blankets and made them a bed near the fire pit. It was going to be too cold for them to not share a bed once again. Besides that way there were more covers between them and the ground, making it much softer. Dan got the fire burning fairly well and they held some of the jerky over the heat and ate it for their supper. It didn't need to be cooked, but they both enjoyed it much more warmed up and flavored by the smoke. The water from the stream was clean and good for drinking. They made use of it drinking their fill slightly upstream from where Midnight resided.

  Soon, they were both tired from the long day’s ride and decided to get some rest. They both left their clothes on and got under the covers, Dan spooning Anika near the fire. Dan had gathered more firewood than he thought they needed and it had ended up paying off. Not long after getting under the covers they both began to get hot. The rocks that Dan had chosen for the construction of his fire pit were radiating quite a bit of heat. In fact it was radiating so much heat that Dan was beginning to feel little beads of sweat forming on his forehead. “I’m burning up! “Anika declared as she wrestled out from underneath the covers. “I was beginning to think maybe it was just me.” said Dan as he joined her. Dan sat on a nearby rock. Anika began quickly losing articles of clothing and to Dan’s surprise soon she was down to just her underwear. They hadn’t shrunk on her like the rest of her original clothes. It must have been the type of material they were made from. Whatever the reason, now sitting before him was a quite scantily clad very attractive young woman. She got back under the covers as Dan sat watching her, still in a bit of a daze, his jaw agape. She looked at him. “Well, are you coming?” she asked with a very subtle hint of seduction that did not go unnoticed. He quickly began to remove his clothing. He stripped all the way down to his boxers that he wore underneath his thermal underwear. He got under the covers with her again, facing her. This was the sign he had been waiting for. It seemed like she wanted him and naturally he wanted her. He pulled his body up against her and gently kissed her lips. He felt her kiss back. Her lips were so soft. He had forgotten how good it felt to just kiss. He pulled away and asked her if she was sure. She simply nodded and kissed him again, this time more passionately. They made love several times that night, under the moonlit sky before passing out in on another’s arms. Dan had heard about love at first sight, but never believed it could be true. This was the closest either of them had felt to anyone in a very long time and even though they hadn’t known each other very long it seemed they had.

  CHAPTER 4

  The little alarm on Dan’s watch sounded at 8 am once again and they both woke up. They were now more than two people who just happened to be in the same circumstances, they were something else. It was in apparent immediately as Anika kissed his cheek and wrapper her legs around his emitting a soft satisfied moan. He expected it may be awkward now but
, oddly it wasn't. Dan normally would let anxiety get the better of him and his mind would race trying to find reasons supporting that what they had done was a bad decision. This time he seemed to swallow these feelings more easily. They seemed stupid to him. He thought of a phrase his father echoed throughout his childhood "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

  They quickly packed up the camping gear and climbed onto Midnight’s back. They were not very far from the town where Dan had left his truck now. Maybe about 3 hours and they would be there. Anika held onto Dan and they talked for the majority of the ride just like yesterday only this time it was slightly different. She had gotten used to Midnight, so she wasn’t talking because she was nervous. She still had a lot of questions, but this time they weren’t about the trip they were about Dan. He didn’t mind answering those either. He had a few to ask her as well. They found quite a bit about each other. Both of them felt like they needed to catch up with the other one about who they were. It made the trip seem to fly by. Dan’s figuring on 3 hours to get there was actually 5, but it only felt like 15 minutes.

  Before they knew it was a little after three o'clock, and they were overlooking the tiny town of Hay City. Both of their hearts sank. It didn’t look good. The town was obviously abandoned. There were cars wrecked sideways in the streets. They saw no people or immediate threats, but there was a feeling in the air of unease. It looked desolate. Dan looked at Anika and smiled “Maybe we can still get to my truck. I have a few supplies in there.” They began descending the steep dirt hillside leading down to the town. Midnight's hooves slipped and a few pebbles would roll down ahead of them. The farther they made it down the worse an awful stench wafted into their noses. Finally they made it to the street, and by the time they reached it the odor was so strong it was all they could do not to gag.