by Jack Flacco
“What is it?” She asked.
“You didn’t really think I was gonna let you sit with any of the boys, did you Matty?”
“You’re not my father.”
“We don’t need any romantic complications on this trip.”
“Romantic?”
“Romantic!” Jon laughed.
“I saw the way you looked at Wildside the first night you arrived. That ain’t no look of a friend, let me tell you.”
“Where do you come up with this stuff?” Matty turned her head to look out the passenger window. She thought, good, at least he hadn’t said anything about Randy.
In the meantime, in the other vehicle carrying the hitch, the air between Wildside and Randy remained quiet. Wildside’s frown from the night he met Randy returned. Driving always made him think of the past. His mind drifted to his parents then to the home he had.
Randy needed some answers of his own past, which Wildside seemed to have. He didn’t know what to say to get Wildside talking. Should he try to be funny? Not a good idea. Maybe talk about the weather? Kind of boring. He went with the standard, “How much longer?”
“It’ll be a while.” His voice dropped ice cold. He kept his gaze on the road, not wanting to make eye contact with the younger teen.
Randy glanced at him wondering what he could have done wrong within the last twenty-four hours to have twisted Wildside’s attitude toward him. He’ll try to coax a conversation in some other way. “How long have you known Ranger?”
“Not long.” Wildside did it again, he shut Randy down.
Back in the leader vehicle, Ranger noticed Matty shaking her head at his suggestion she had a romantic interest in Wildside, “Maybe I shouldn’t have said what I said. Okay?”
“Is that what you call an apology?” Matty’s gaze remained fixed in one spot through her passenger window.
“Ooh, she’s mad at you.” Jon said.
“I can’t help if I say things that make logical sense.” Ranger bit his lip.
“There’s logical sense and then there’s nonsense.” Matty kept her guard up, but in reality Ranger had her down to her core. It frightened her that he knew more about her than she would let on. She’ll keep her attraction to Randy to herself.
“She’s still upset.” Jon started playing with the dials on the air conditioner.
“I don’t need a play-by-play.” She glared at her brother, who sat in the middle, almost behaving like the referee in a boxing match.
“Okay. Sorry.” He withdrew until the next bout of words.
“C’mon little dawlin’, I ain’t mean no harm. Do you forgive me?” Ranger pouted, more out of acting than being sincere. His determination to win her over may have succeeded.
“I forgive you.” She shook her finger at him, “Just, be nice, okay?”
A smile curled on his face, “Ain’t I always?”
“Does this mean I can talk again?” Jon raised his hand.
Following them in the blue vehicle, the boys kept a watchful eye at Ranger’s truck ahead. With little conversation between them, Randy had nothing to lose by asking the simple pointblank question, “Why are you mad at me again?”
“Who said I was mad at you?” Wildside snapped.
“That’s the point. You’re not saying anything at all.”
“I have nothing to say. I’m driving.”
Randy shook his head. He thought Wildside had dealt with the issue the first night he arrived. Somehow, the issue had resurfaced. Randy wanted to know why. “I’m not sure what I did to you in the past, but if it’s something you need an apology for, I apologize. Whatever it is I did, I apologize. Can you see I’m being sincere here? Things like this translate to problems later on. I don’t remember what happened in the past. I—”
“Well, if you don’t remember, why are you apologizing?”
“Listen, man, I’m trying to be nice. Whatever’s on your mind, you gotta tell me ‘cause first, I don’t remember a damn thing since waking up in the jail and second, you gotta give me something so I can defend myself. Like this, I have nothing to work with. You can sit there and stew all you want. I’m not going to let this affect me.”
At that point, Wildside’s neck bulged, his eyes popped, and his teeth ground together. He hooked the wheel to the right and drove the Range Rover off the road. Randy’s eyes widened and his hands trembled. Had he pushed Wildside too far? What did he say? He said what ran through his mind at the time. He didn’t intend to make it sound like an attack.
“What the hell?” Ranger slowed down.
“What’s the matter?” Matty gazed at the dashboard thinking something happened to the truck.
“The boys.” He furiously tapped his finger on the rear view mirror. “They pulled over.”
When the boys’ vehicle came to a final stop, Wildside hopped out, shot to the passenger door, flung it open and dragged Randy to the side of the road.
Randy curled into a ball covering his eyes from the dirt flying from the desert.
“You sonofabitch!” Wildside screamed, about to deliver Randy a blow with his foot.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Before he could do any damage, Ranger grabbed him by the arms, “What are you doing?”
Wildside squirmed but Ranger had him good and tight.
“Stop it!” Matty screamed. “Stop it!”
Ranger lifted the teen into the air and slammed him on the hood of the blue truck. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
Wildside didn’t say a word.
“Answer me!”
“Nothing.”
By this time, Matty and Jon had helped Randy back on his feet.
“I’m going to let you go. Okay?” Ranger shook him. “Okay?”
“Fine.”
Ranger spun him around, pulled him by the lapels and brought his face to where the bill of his baseball cap pressed against his forehead. He studied his face from top to bottom as if he wanted to eat him whole. He released him once he smelled Wildside’s fear seeping from his trembling bones. Fear of Ranger, that is.
Wildside pursed his lips and reseated his clothes on his body.
“What are you doing? The enemy is out there! Damn it! I don’t know what’s gotten into you but you better get your head straight. We’re at war. We can’t afford to lose anyone. You got that?” Ranger repeated his words with a firm and clear voice. “You got that?”
“What is your problem?” Matty joined in, “I thought you were cool?”
The back of Wildside’s neck turned crimson when he realized how he hurt Matty. At the same time, his stomach bubbled and churned with anger. He had a reason to hate Randy. He wasn’t about to reveal it. Not just yet.
Matty helped Randy up. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Ranger tossed his cap on the ground and drove his fist past Wildside’s face, and crushed the top of the blue Range Rover. “Damn it, boy, this is going to end here and now. Get right with yourself. What’s going on in that head of yours? I thought we had this all straighten out.”
Wildside gave Ranger a defiant stare. “His parents killed my parents.”
Matty’s hand went to her mouth, covering the shock. Randy stepped back while Jon stood listening, too young to fully understand all the implications.
Ranger wanted to give Wildside some time to think. So he slowly pulled his fist from the dent on the truck and took his time to walk to where he had tossed his cap. “What?”
“His parents worked at the bank that held my parents’ mortgage. My father lost his job and fell behind on the payment. They tried to renegotiate the loan but the bank would not allow it. His parents would not allow it. They were adamant to not extend the loan. My parents were devastated. Our parents both lived in town. All your parents had to do was sign the papers, that’s all. Nothing more. Your parents were adamant to destroy them. They ended up on the street. I was sent to live with my aunt. When I came back, everything had already changed. I went to my old house to find
their dead bodies, eaten by the zombies. Apparently, they had the same idea I had when everything went bad, to go home. The last time I saw them alive, they didn’t let on anything was wrong. I eventually figured it out myself when I found the bloodstained papers on the kitchen shelf.”
The wind blew hard between all of them. But everyone stayed put. Not a sound came from anyone. It didn’t take long though. Ranger had his opinion and he wanted to let everyone know where he stood. He bent grabbing his cap, dusted if off and settled it back on his head. “Oh, poor you.”
Wildside’s eyes glazed over at Ranger’s reaction. “Wait a minute—”
“No. You wait a minute.” He poked Wildside’s chest with two fingers. “Look around you. Do you see civilization? No, of course you don’t. When you left your town, you knew there was no going back. You know why? Everything that existed before the change died. It didn’t matter if your parents lost their house, if Matty and Jon lost their family or if Randy lost everything he had. We are at year zero. Everything’s reset itself. Nothing you did in the past matters. What Randy’s parents did to your parents, or what you ‘think’ Randy’s parents did, doesn’t matter! It’s all gone. All of it. Gone. We’re the only ones left. And if you can’t get it through your thick head then I’m telling you, nothing you do now will not matter, ‘cause you’re dead already.”
Ranger’s first speech to the group turned into a call for unity. If Wildside couldn’t understand that then they’ve reached an impasse. Ranger wanted the group to remain together. Besides, he also needed Wildside’s technical expertise to get him into Worship Square.
“Well,” Jon finally broke the silence. “At least it’s not raining.”
Randy began to snicker, which then caught like fire and quickly bounced to Matty who then passed it on to Ranger. Even Wildside couldn’t help but laugh. At first reluctant, but laughed hard all the same.
Ranger drew the line. “Wildside, you’re riding with me.”
“I’m still with you, right?” Jon asked.
“Yeah, you’re still with me. Matty, you’re with Randy.”
That’s when they all broke up to their respective vehicles until Wildside spoke up. “Hey, Randy.”
Caught by surprise, Randy motioned to him with a nod. The others froze.
Wildside threw the keys at him. “Drive carefully, man.”
And that was that. No more discussion. From that point onward, they remained friends until the day when one would breathe his very last breath.
Chapter 14
Early in the afternoon, as Randy followed Ranger’s vehicle, Matty sunk into her seat with her feet on the dashboard and quite often gazed on Randy’s profile. She tried hard not to get caught admiring his strong facial features and soft hair.
All he had on his mind was the journey ahead.
“Ranger’s interesting, isn’t he?” She blurted out, not so much to boast of Ranger’s incredible feats with his shotgun, but more to have him look at her.
“Yeah, he is.” Randy kept his eyes on the road, not so much to pay attention to his driving, but more to avoid eye contact with her.
Her excuse for a conversation failed miserably. There’ll be other opportunities, she thought. For now, Randy’s frail appearance kept her occupied. Whatever it was he went through to cause him to forget his past must have devastated him. She saw his sadness as something she could fix. Something she could remove by caring for him as nurse would her patient. At the same time she also found he proved himself strong against the forces of the undead. He definitely could defend himself.
“What happened in that jail?” she asked, giving him a chance to open up.
“It was a dark place. I didn’t like it much.”
“What did it feel like waking up, not knowing who you were, where you were and how you got there?”
“Well,” Randy finally landed his eyes on her. “When I was in there, I had to keep my focus on the next thing I had to do. I needed to get out of the cell. I needed to find food. I needed to stay alive. It was always the next thing. I couldn’t think too far ahead. If I did, I’d go mad. I can’t say I know how it felt to have a past and then not have a past. I woke up with a headache, and realized when I tried to think back at my life, nothing was there.”
“I can’t imagine. I mean, I could never imagine what it would be like to never have known my parents or Jon for that matter.” She bowed her head and stared at her knees.
“When I found out I was the only one left, I felt a deep sadness. I didn’t have a home. I felt alone.”
When she heard those words, she steadied her emotions. Compassion filled her heart and she wanted to express it in some way without being too forward. Huh, Matty, the softie. The best she could do was to extend her shaky hand an inch over his shoulder. It took a moment before she felt safe having it drop and pat him. She withdrew it right away.
He smiled, nodding a thank-you.
In the lead vehicle, Ranger, Wildside and Jon kept their eyes on the road.
“When we get there, what’s the plan?” Jon asked, bouncing in his seat.
Trading glances with Wildside, Ranger’s smirk danced across his lips. “We’ll have a plan once we get there.”
“Will you use the shotgun or do you have something else against the zombies?”
“Not sure.” Ranger read Jon’s face. It looked like it belonged on a kid waiting for his treat at an ice cream truck.
“I know you’re not afraid. Nothing can stand in your way.”
How could Ranger tell Jon he doesn’t condone the use of force? Does he have to say it outright or let the kid understand on his own? What kind of example did he set when all that existed between peace and war was a shotgun? “You know, Jon, solving problems with violence is not the answer.”
“That’s right, Jon.” Wildside nodded. “Sometimes it’s the only answer.”
“You have to remember, violence breeds violence.”
Wildside nodded again. “And violence is the only thing these monsters understand.”
“What are you doing?” Ranger asked Wildside.
“I’m trying to tell the kid there’s more than one opinion on the table.”
“You’re discrediting my comments.”
“I’m qualifying them so he can make an informed decision.”
Jon’s head popped back and forth between them as they volleyed passing comments.
“You are so discrediting my views.” Ranger shook his head.
“Wait a minute, guys. Hold on.” Jon waved his hands in a timeout. “Are you two having a girlie moment? ‘Cause, if you are, you might as well drop me off and I’ll hitch a ride with my sister.”
Everyone went quiet. Ranger and Wildside stared at each other then turned and stared at the road. Wildside’s face grew flush, as did Ranger’s.
Keeping pace with Ranger’s truck on the highway, Randy smiled at Matty. He said, “So your brother likes classic horror movies.”
“Yeah, he enjoys the black & white ones. He says they have more atmosphere than the movies produced today.” She shook her head realizing movie studios no longer existed. “I mean, with recent movies.”
“Atmosphere?”
“He enjoys watching those because he says the rain in black and white gives more of a spooky feel to a film than color. I don’t know, I’ve never been much of a fan of movies, so I can’t judge if his opinion is great or not.”
“It sounds like you value his opinion because otherwise you wouldn’t have remembered what he said.”
“Huh, I never really thought of it that way.”
He smiled, spraying the windshield with washer fluid to let the wipers do their thing. As the bugs disappeared, his eyes darted back and forth on the wipers. His hands gripped the steering tightly. A few drops of sweat coursed from the back of his neck into his shirt he had on. He gulped. “Did you have a boyfriend?”
Matty turned cherry red, straightened in her seat, and rubbed her forehead with her open palm. “I ha
d one boyfriend. I was thirteen and he was fourteen. We liked each other but it wasn’t anything serious. His mom never did like me so I stayed away from her.”
“What was it like?”
“What do you mean?”
“Having, a relationship—I mean a boyfriend.”
“It was nice. We knew each other at summer camp and a year later, we went to the same school. It’s funny. All my friends thought I was crazy for having a crush on an older boy. I didn’t think anything of it, though.”
With one eye on the road and the other on her lips, he wondered. More subconscious than anything else, he traced the contours of her smile with his gaze.
She answered his silent question. “One day, we were at a beach party and it started to rain. It poured all over the presents, food and cake. The parents weren’t too happy. They ran into the boat house with the other guests. All they could do was watch everything being washed away. We didn’t follow along. He led me by the hand under the wooden stairs that led up the deck to the house. So much water flooded the party, but we were dry. Well, relatively. I died knowing he was alone with me without the parents.”
“What happened next?”
She covered her face with her hands. “I don’t believe I’m telling you this.”
“I promise not to tell anyone.” He chuckled knowing the town he came from had a population of two people, and the others he knew rode in the two vehicles on the road.
“Well, okay then.” She placed both hands on her lap. “He, uh, well, he told me how beautiful my eyes looked.”
“Oh?”
“And he told me how gorgeous my lips were.”
He didn’t say a word.
Matty’s face beamed a wide smile. She wasn’t sure if she should continue. The next part was something she’d kept to herself since the day it happened. Will Randy understand? “Then he leaned into me and kissed me on the cheek.”
His eyes were frozen on the road.
“Ugh! Why am I telling you this?” She covered her face again. The answer was easy. She felt at ease with Randy, something she couldn’t say about Wildside, who fended her off days earlier. Also, the experience she had with Randy at the military base bonded them in a way that Wildside couldn’t relate.