by Stephens, L.
“What a fucking day,” Jake said as he leaned his head back against the wall.
His phone started vibrating, and he reached in his pocket for it when something moved in his peripheral, causing him to almost drop it as he pulled it out. Jake clumsily silenced the vibrating phone and held his breath, trying not to move. He looked out the corner of his eye and prayed that he held less appeal than the bonfire of the dead. The zombie walked past him and added himself to the group warming themselves by the fire, and Jake decided it was time he got the fuck out this situation before he had no choice in the matter. His head moved like an owl, turning almost one hundred and eighty degrees, as he carefully started to sneak around the back of the crowd. The burning garbage truck and flaming gas line were like crack cocaine to them and they showed little or no interest in Jake. That was until a loud sucking sound replaced the fiery whoosh of the flaming gas line, and the next thing Jake knew, he was five feet in the air flying backwards. Zombie limbs and heads complete with snapping teeth flew past him, and he landed with a crunch, skidding along the ground till he came to a stop against a wall.
“Get up, get up, get up!” Jake whispered to himself.
Instinct made him forget the pain he was feeling, and he got to his feet, scurrying on his hands and feet like a chimpanzee for a few yards as he scooped up his phone and the gun. With phone and gun in tow, Jake began running, not away from the explosion that ripped through the truck and blew him off his feet, but towards it. Running towards the impact zone seemed like the worst idea possible in the moment, so he decided that was probably the best thing to do. It was mayhem, so he decided mayhem ideas were on the table. He dodged the zombies that lay strewn in his path. They reached for him and snapped at his heels as they burned on the ground. Their primal instinct to eat the living overpowered their instinct for self-preservation.
@KillingJake if I ever get the fuck out of here I’m moving to Montana. Fuck this city, fuck you and fuck my life! #NotBlessed #FuckYou
CHAPTER 101: RING, RING
He hated to admit it, but he’d been putting on quite a show for the white folks. The afternoon so far had been a terribly written and, worst of all, a terribly acted Blaxploitation film. He had found himself falling out of character on more than one occasion.
Everyone was at the edge of the building looking down the street at the thick black smoke pouring into the air from what looked to be half a mile away. They had seen the explosion before the echoing boom had reached them. Daryl stood stiff, flexing as best he could, trying to pretend he wasn’t scared shitless at how he was nowhere near in control of his life.
“Oh my God!” Lynne said as she held her hair out of her face. “Look at all that smoke! They’re going to have to put that out. A fire that big is going to spread.”
“They haven’t even tried to put out the fires that are already burning,” Sarah said looking over her shoulder. “Looks like everyone just decided that fire was the best way to kill those things.”
“I can’t believe we haven’t been saved yet,” Lynne said. “Let’s hope that explosion got the attention of someone.”
“I doubt it,” Daryl said as he craned neck, trying to see more of the fire. “Those fucking assholes are going to let this city burn to the ground. I can’t believe I got myself into this shit!”
“I wasn’t talking to you, asshole,” Lynne said as she walked back to the tent.
Daryl snorted as he watched her walk away. He just couldn’t win or be himself with this crowd, even when he tried to be a part of the group they reminded him he was an outcast, but he definitely wasn’t helping the situation.
Daryl pulled out Lynne’s phone, and this time he made sure he had entered Jake’s number correctly before he tapped the “Call” button.
“Hello?” Jake whispered.
“Jake!” Daryl yelled as he almost lurched forward off the building.
Out of the corner of his eye, Daryl saw Sarah’s head move in his direction with such speed, he instinctively reached for the handgun tucked into his waistband.
“Yeah, this is Jake,” Jake said, cautiously. “Who the fuck is this?”
“The guy you fucked over last night,” Daryl hissed. “That’s who the fuck this is!”
Daryl noticed Sarah stand up. She had done it way too nonchalantly for Daryl not to be suspicious about it, but he pretended like he didn’t notice. He kept watching out the corner of his eye as she walked closer to him.
“Oh Daryl! Fuck!” Jake said. “Gimme one second, okay?”
“Wait! Don’t hang up on me!” Daryl yelled into the phone.
Daryl took the phone away from his ear and looked at it. The call was still active. He moved a few steps away as he put the phone back to his ear and checked to see if Sarah would follow, and she did, until she suddenly veered away and walked to the edge of the building, looking out at the smoke again. She posed no serious threat to him, but he was starting to feel nervous about what she was up to, so he walked to the other side of the roof knowing that if she followed him, he was definitely going to have to confront her. Sarah didn’t move this time. She just kept staring out into the distance, and he rested easy for the moment but kept his focus directly on her.
“Okay, I’m back!” Jake said in between breaths.
“Where have you been?” Daryl said, spitting out words like a machine gun. “You don't answer my calls or return my goddamn texts! I fucking almost get eaten by zombies, and now I’m fucking stuck!”
“I tried to get to you, man, believe me!” Jake said earnestly. “But I got into some shit.”
“Oh, you got into some shit?” Daryl said incredulously. “I got into some fucking shit, man! All because of you and that fucking job.”
“Okay, okay. Let’s work this out!” Jake said. “Where are you right now?”
Daryl did a double take. He had lost his focus, and Sarah had sidled up near him again. She was standing less than ten yards away, pretending to check how the barricade was holding up. He turned so he was looking directly at her and waited for her to look in his direction, and when she did, he gave her a quick smile, letting her know he knew what she was up to.
“Daryl?” Jake asked softly.
“Jake, I fucking texted you where I was,” Daryl whined. “Why don’t you reply to a brother once in a while?”
Daryl and Jake had partied on this street before, many times. It was a popular place to go downtown. Nightclubs and bars littered the one-way street. He walked over to the edge of the building to double check even though there was no mistaking.
“I’m on a rooftop at 6th Street and Spring,” Daryl said looking Sarah up and down.
“No shit? I’m like five blocks away,” Jake said in surprise. “Did you see that explosion?”
“See it? I fucking felt it!” Daryl said with a smile. “Was that you?”
“Kinda, I broke a few ribs and maybe even my spine,” Jake said, grimacing. “But I fucking survived somehow. But man, just like you, I’m fucking stuck right now.”
Daryl spun one hundred and eighty degrees back to where he came from and stood face to face with Sarah.
“Where are you?” Daryl asked as he maintained eye contact with her.
“I'm in some sort of utility closet at a high school,” Jake said. “There are a million of those mother fuckers just outside the door.”
“Ain’t that a bitch!?” Daryl said, smiling down at Sarah.
“Don’t I know it,” Jake said, his voice monotone. “I'll see if I can get to where you are. You got any weapons?”
“Not enough to make a difference,” Daryl said checking that the gun in his waistband was still secure.
“We’ll work it out, brah,” Jake said in a more upbeat tone. “Drop me a pin of your location and I’ll be there soon as I can.”
“Okay, but man, I don't know what is going to be worse for you,” Daryl said a wry smile building on his face. “You trying to get here, or what I am going to do to you if you actually do, you
feel me?”
“Just like old times, brother,” Jake said with a laugh. “Oh, hey, guess what?”
“What, mother-fucker?” Daryl said, seriousness entering his voice again.
There was no response. Just silence.
“Jake, you there? Jake!” Daryl yelled into the receiver.
Daryl looked at the phone and saw that Jake had ended the call.
“Damn it!” Daryl said to himself. “He fucking always does that to me!”
CHAPTER 102: WHAT A KAWINKIDINK
Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality
― Dalai Lama XIV
Sarah had been busted cold but she didn’t care. There had been too much pussy footing around for her liking, especially where this fucking guy had been concerned. Sarah watched as Daryl tapped away at the phone. It was like he was ignoring her or thinking of what he was going to say to her when he finally put it away. The question she had been dying to ask since he had said Jake’s name was burning away at her. Every second was another log onto the fire that was building in her stomach.
“I know you’re ignoring me,” Sarah said stiffly.
“Gimme one fucking second, will you?” Daryl spat, keeping his eyes on the screen.
Sarah put her hand on her hip and casually waited for Daryl to be done, all the while the raging fireball in her stomach growing larger and wilder.
“Okay, what the fuck, do you want?” Daryl said finally as he looked up at Sarah.
Sarah wasn’t ready. She thought she would be, but when presented with the opportunity all her gumption had disappeared. In the back of her mind she didn’t want to know the answer. Nothing good would come from knowing the answer.
“I thought so,” Daryl said as he began to walk away.
“Wait!” Sarah said as she grabbed Daryl by the shoulder.
He spun back at her, and she quickly pulled her hand away. She had been cavalier, touching him for the first time, and as he looked down at her with his angry face on, Sarah knew she was in the shit.
“Girl, say what you got to say?” Daryl said with a smile. “And it better be fucking good, too.”
Sarah nodded her head and summoned the words she needed to get out before she spontaneously combusted.
“Who…who were you talking to?” Sarah asked hopefully.
“None of your fucking business,” Daryl said sharply. “That’s who.”
Sarah flared her nostrils. She was past placating this guy, and she was way past being the nice girl everybody assumed she was.
“Look, we’re going to be here for a while,” Sarah said defiantly. “Can we just leave the attitude and the bravado at the barricade over there? Like it or not we’re in this together, and I promise you, even though you’ve been a massive dick this whole time, I’m on your side, and I really hope you’re on ours because we fucking need you.”
Tears began welling in her eyes as Daryl nodded in agreement.
“Please, tell me,” Sarah said, trying not to burst into tears. “Who were you talking to?”
“If you must know,” Daryl said, turning around to look down the street. “I was talking to my buddy. He’s the fucking reason I’m in this mess.”
“Is his name Jake?” Sarah asked as she moved to stand next to him. “Is his name Jake Meyers?”
Daryl turned towards her.
“I don’t mean to play “Guess Who” with you but…is he about this tall?” Sarah asked, raising her hand above her head to Jake’s perceived height. “Does he wear a stupid razor blade pendant around his neck, and, um, is he an asshole?”
Sarah felt uncomfortable as Daryl studied her face but breathed a sigh of relief as a large smile grew across his mouth.
“Yup, he’s an asshole, alright,” Daryl said with a chuckle.
“Well, least he’s still alive,” Sarah said, letting a large breath out.
“You know him, huh?” Daryl said, still trying to keep a tight lid on the information he had.
“Sometimes, I wish I didn't,” Sarah said, looking off into the city.
“Girl, I feel the same way,” Daryl said, nodding his head in agreement.
CHAPTER 103: SHIT
Sarah’s revelation made Daryl hate himself. He was a guy and he was stuck on a rooftop with three different women, all of whom he’d fuck, no question. It wasn’t a rash decision. He’d had time to mull it over and put some serious thought into it. To his chagrin, he had chosen Sarah as his rooftop princess, and that annoyed him thoroughly. He wasn’t averse to being Eskimo brothers with Jake. Hell, he was pretty damn sure he was already, twice over. It was just that he had fallen in love way too easily again, especially when it wasn’t even close to being reciprocated.
“Where is he?” Sarah whispered hopefully.
“Where do you think?” Daryl said, nodding his head towards the smoke.
“Ah,” Sarah said with a smile. “Same old Jake. Leaving a trail of destruction wherever he goes.”
Daryl shook his head slightly. It was typical Jake, girls of every kind just falling at his feet, and Daryl was just the guy in the background who was sweet and seemingly sexy but getting nothing but courtesy likes on Facebook.
“So, you’re the one,” Daryl said solemnly.
“You’ve heard of me?” Sarah said in surprise. “I always thought I was his big secret.”
Daryl let a short burst of air out his nose. She had hit the truth on the head: him dating someone wasn’t a secret, who he was dating was. He didn’t even tell Daryl, but he didn’t blame him, by that time they had drifted apart. Their circle of friends slash degenerates knew something was up when Jake hadn’t been seen at the bars he frequented in more than a month. If it hadn’t been for his text communications, his friends slash degenerates would have filed a missing person’s report. After a couple weeks, they even made Jake call to confirm someone pretending to be him hadn’t commandeered his phone. Strange sightings at obscure locations around L.A. fed rumors and speculation that ran through their crew. Gossip wasn’t a big thing within their group, but it was out of character for Jake to be seen doing normal things like hiking and brunch, and he was even seen at an outdoor screening of Breakfast at Tiffany’s at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and, worst of all, with a girl. For someone so anti-establishment and seemingly single for life, falling in love with some mystery girl had taken on the air of a male celebrity being rumored to be gay. It could be true, but you wouldn’t believe it until you saw it first-hand. To make matters worse for Jake, every girl he had ever hooked up with was out for blood. They wanted to see who this girl was, how this girl had finally tamed the wild beast and what this girl had that they didn’t. After a couple close calls with some pissed off girls, Jake went even more underground, but then a couple months later, he was back, just like normal.
“You’re Daryl, aren’t you?” Sarah said with a smile. “D-Dubs!”
Daryl looked sharply at Sarah. She had taken his power. She knew who he was and, most importantly, who he wasn’t. She knew he wasn’t going to harm her in any way or any of the women on the rooftop, especially now.
“You’re crazy if you think he’s coming,” Daryl said, keeping his tone very cold. “You can’t rely on him. He only looks out for one person, and that one person isn’t on this rooftop.”
“I know, but there is just something about him. He doesn’t live to disappoint; he lives to be unpredictable,” Sarah said, looking back out at the city. “It may sound crazy, but I think the last thing he actually wants is to disappoint anyone.”
Daryl felt a little tinge of guilt. He didn’t want to be the bad guy, and this girl wasn’t the worst one he had come across. In fact she was the only one on this roof he thought he could rely on when shit went bad, and shit was already bad.
“Can you call him or text him?” Sarah said, turning to Daryl, her eyes wide with hope. “Just to let him know I’m safe and I’m up here with you.”
“I ain’t gonna do that, darlin’,” Daryl said with a snick
er. “Last thing we need is that guy thinking with his dick.”
“I don’t understand why you got to be such a jerk,” Sarah said, anger flaring in her eyes. “Jake always spoke so highly of you.”
“It comes with the territory,” Daryl said and spat over the edge of the building again.
“Come on, Jake,” Sarah said to herself.
Daryl grimaced and gave a slight shake of his head. There went another one, lost in trying to change a man who just couldn’t be changed.
CHAPTER 104: DELETE YOUR LETTERS TO PETA
Benjamin had given up. He had narrowly survived on multiple occasions that day. Top of the list was when that new owner had thrown him at the zombie. She was too busy running away to notice that her throw at a target that was ten feet away was never going to make the distance. Sadly for Benjamin, he hadn’t been expecting it, and he didn’t have the reflexes of a cat, so after some brief airtime he landed awkwardly on his front paw. It crumpled underneath him, and he skidded on his side into the pool of blood that led to the zombie. He never stopped though, transitioning to his other paws and scampering down the street, before his potential attacker could reach down and get him.
