by Stephens, L.
Jake had jumped into the cab of the truck and looked at Jennings, waiting for a punch to the face or a harsh comment, but Jennings had just popped the truck into gear and navigated around the wreckage of a sightseeing bus in front of them.
“That was very stupid,” Sarah had said from the back seat. “You could have been killed.”
Jake didn’t know what her deal was. He guessed he never did, but he took the small sentiment as a hint that they were still friends. He had let Benjamin up onto his shoulder so he could see into the back seat.
“But I’m so damn cute, Sarah,” Jake had said in a mock dog voice while he shook Benjamin gently. “Jake had to save me!”
“Puppy!” Ava had squealed from the seat next to her.
Everyone, even Jennings had turned to Ava, who had awoken from her catatonic state to greet the dog. Jake had watched as Sarah reluctantly smiled and gave something akin to a laugh. She had reached forward to pat Benjamin who had licked at her hand and nuzzled his face into her open palm.
@KillingJake did the unthinkable and adopted a pet today, what was I fucking thinking? Who the fuck is going to look after it when I’m out trying to re-start civilization. #JizzInWomb
CHAPTER 149: STEP MOM
Don't touch me please, I cannot stand the way you tease.
I love you though you hurt me so. Now I'm going to pack my things and go.
- Ed Cobb
The sun hadn’t quite set, but the mixture of clouds and dense smoke had brought the worst day ever to a premature end. Sarah was pissed that she was three miles from her house but she couldn’t go back to pick up a few things, namely her phone and a change of underwear. The army guy, Jennings, hadn’t let them detour even when they were super close to her place, but inside she knew she didn’t want to go home. Seeing David as one of those things wasn’t something she wanted to deal with right now, or ever.
Jennings had given them whatever leftover supplies they had at the base, but it was mainly shirts and pants that were entirely too large. They had blankets, food and water, though, and she was definitely glad for that. Ava needed a bath, and a change of clothes. Thankfully in Lynne’s handbag were tiny pairs of underwear and leggings. It was a relief, but it made Sarah incredibly sad. Even after she was dead, Lynne had provided for her daughter, which made her thoughts even more painful. It wasn’t as if Ava was a bad kid, but Sarah just wasn’t ready for the responsibility. Her world had literally just come to an end. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to look after herself, let alone a child. Former child star, yoga teacher, realtor, all didn’t seem like skills you could readily put to work in an apocalyptic society.
Sarah thanked God Daryl’s little tune had stuck in her head and that her violent outburst with Lynne’s phone had not caused any major damage to Lynne’s phone, but deep down she wished it had. She had never had to make the call before, the call to say your loved one is dead, and not only that, they have turned into a zombie and that your dead loved one slash zombie’s child is alive and well and that they need to come pick her ass up. She tried to call the number that filled the recent call list, but it seemed Mark Zultana was not having anything to do with Lynne, and his unreplied text messages told an even worse story. Next most frequent caller that was not a guy was Lynne’s aunt, Rebecca, and it had been one of the most bizarre phone calls in the history of telecommunication. It went a little something like:
“Hello is this Rebecca Williams? My name is Sarah Dale,” Sarah said softly. “I have some bad news regarding your relative, Lynne.”
“What she done now?” Rebecca replied. “I’m guessing she deserved it.”
“Well, I’m calling from Los Angeles, Mrs. Williams,” Sarah said briskly. “You may have seen there has been a catastrophe here.”
“Catastrophe,” Rebecca said quickly. “Her whole damn life is a catastrophe, dear, and she is usually the cause of it. So, where is she, and what has she done?”
“Okay, umm, so,” Sarah stumbled, “she’s not with us anymore I’m afraid. She sadly has passed.”
“Dead, huh?” Rebecca said. “And Ava?”
“She’s with me, poor little thing,” Sarah whispered. ‘That’s actually why I’m calling. I’d like to arrange for you or someone in her family to pick her up.”
“This is just typical Lynne, isn’t it? Did you know her?” Rebecca asked. “She was nothing more than a prostitute who used me and the rest of her family as nothing more than babysitters, just so she could gallivant around town with any man who looked her way.”
“Umm, Mrs. Williams?” Sarah said trying to interject.
“Black sheep, that’s exactly what she is. She was just like her mother, God rest her soul. A free spirit who just couldn’t understand that life did not revolve around them,” Rebecca ranted. “Time and time again I’d have to drop everything and come and look after Ava. Don’t get me wrong that child is a sweet as a freshly plucked strawberry, but I have a life. My kids are all grown and doing their thing. The last thing I ever wanted was to be back changing diapers and spending my weekends looking after a child.”
That’s where Sarah left the conversation. She probably wouldn’t have a choice but to hand over the kid but it could wait. Sarah assumed some government official would take control and remove Ava from her custody, but she had to feel like she had tried to do the right thing, even if in this case, the right thing was completely wrong and downright fucking terrible. She watched as Ava and Jake played with the dog, and unbelievably even more anxiety rushed over her. There was no way on Earth that Jake was going to step up and look after that cute little pup. As usual, she would be guilted into looking after him. Truth be told she’d do the same for Ava. After all, she was a good person, despite her impulsive thoughts.
Since they had arrived at the base, Jake had been distant. He hadn’t ignored her completely, but their interactions had been somewhat tepid. Not exactly cold, but she could feel he was trying to not be in her orbit as much. That was one of her favorite things; he wasn’t shadowing her or lingering when they were together, but she always felt safe that if she looked around it wouldn’t be long before she found him or he looked up to see her. It was like they had this psychic bond that made her feel whole when she was with him and desperately empty when they were apart. She wasn’t falling back in love with him again, that was for sure. Well, for the time being anyway. Everything that had happened today had opened her eyes. She’d been in a ten year coma, not really growing as a human, just going through the motions, one of the hive, doing what she thought was normal but was in fact diminishing who she actually was. This whole awakening wasn’t Jake’s fault. He was just a mere cog in the machine that was working but not really doing anything. He may have kickstarted the process, but without him she’d still be living in this haze, never seeing her life for what it really was.
Right on schedule, he stopped playing with the dog and looked at her. There was no cheeky smile or solemn gaze, there was something new that she hadn’t seen before. It was like she had gone forward in time and met the Jake who had become everything she had always wanted, stable, trusting, there. She liked this look, and it pained her that he was finally showing her this side when she had pretty much given up on him. Typical fucking Jake Meyers. Just when you expected him to disappoint, he did the unthinkable and came to the party bearing everything you had ever wanted.
CHAPTER 150: STIFF UPPER LIP
Jennings’ mind was like sludge. He could barely go through his list of classic cars, and even when he did he knew he was not remembering the details right. He had spoken with command and had been unceremoniously torn a new asshole, but he had something that they wanted: knowledge. He had bargained that knowledge to request evacuation for Jake and the others, otherwise they would have left them there to rot with him. His knowledge was pretty simple; downtown had fallen, and nothing was going to change that, except for a large number of explosives and civilian casualties, but he didn’t tell them that.
For th
e two hours it took for the helicopter to come pick them up, the group relaxed. He didn’t tell them what he had done to ensure their safety and that he was basically sacrificing his freedom for theirs. Not that he thought Jake would give two fucks. Though Jennings did admit to himself that Jake wasn’t anywhere near the loser he had met earlier in the day. The little girl slept, cuddled up with the dog, after they had given both of them a bath. Jennings wasn’t quite sure who need it worse, them or Jake.
Jennings looked at the helicopter and knew his role in this nightmare was just beginning. They wouldn’t court martial him, but they’d probably do something more heinous like promote him and keep him out of the firing line. Right now, they needed heroes, and he fit the bill because there was no one else left. They needed someone down the food chain to say at all the debriefings and senate committee hearings that there was no choice but to reign hellfire on downtown Los Angeles, killing trapped civilians and zombies alike in one swift action. He wouldn’t be a fall guy as such. He would just be the witness and the face of countless deaths that could have been avoided if they had just kept trying.
With all of the survivors huddled in blankets, Jennings ushered them towards the waiting helicopter. He kept them in a tight group and got them in safely. Sarah jumped in first, carrying Benjamin, followed by Jake, who was carrying Ava. With Sarah and Ava settled, Jake reached out his hand to pull Jennings in, but Jennings didn’t take it. He just smiled at him. He was kind of proud of the man he had molded in the small time that he knew him. The piece of shit asshole had become something a little bit more human, and that was worth everything he had been through. Jake’s transformation no matter how small had given Jennings hope that he had made a difference and could still make a difference.
Jennings quickly took off his shirt and handed it to Jake, leaving him wearing the standard white tight-fitting undershirt.
“What you doing, man?” Jake yelled over the din of the helicopter.
“Give that to whoever is in charge,” Jennings yelled. “I’m not going to leave the city! There’s still hope out there! I know it! I need to try; that’s all we’ve got left. You stay safe, asshole! Don’t make me come after you. I got better things to do than save your fucking ass again!”
Jennings gave Jake a quick nod of his head and ran away from the helicopter. He wasn’t sure where he was going or what he could actually do, but he knew he’d rather die fighting for change than as an old man drowning in medals and regret.
CHAPTER 151: OF GODS & MEN
Max had destroyed property values from Santa Monica to San Bernardino. He had ruined countless lives and uprooted millions of people, and all because he was just too out of touch with reality. This was where Joy would really have come into her own. She would have helped him, subtly, and not made him feel like a dumbass. She wouldn’t have let him make such a glaring mistake, but she would have castrated his idea, watered it down and more than likely put an end to it. Before all this, Max had rarely left his Bel Air estate, and if he did, it was in the warm cocoon of his limousine, busy watching Bloomberg rather than keeping an eye out the window. To him, downtown Los Angeles was a joke. A barren wasteland that no one in their right mind lived or went. This wasn’t an unpopular opinion. It was actually a typical viewpoint of a lot of older Angelinos, stuck in their ways and too comfortable in their local habitats to venture out into the city they called home. He hadn’t taken into account the uptick in new fashionable restaurants, the sexy lofts and apartment complexes, let alone the cheap office spaces that made downtown L.A. a new hot spot. You didn’t see gentrification in Bel Air or need it, but downtown and the surrounding areas had begun a slow but sure turn around over the last ten years. It was no longer an undesirable location to call home or visit, until today, until Max had unleashed a plague on the city.
Sirens could still be heard in the distance, and spotlights from what he assumed was the Beverly Hills police helicopter occasionally flared through his window. For the most of the day he had wondered why the F.B.I. had not busted down his door and taken him away, but deep down he knew his downfall would be easier than that. General Gordon would cover his own ass and have him assassinated before anything like that happened.
The mouse of Max’s computer clicked through the pages of his Internet Explorer browser as he assessed the situation in downtown Los Angeles. Headlines like “HELL.A.” and “Disaster Downtown” were common, but one thing was obvious; no one really knew what was going on.
Why should I be ashamed of this? he thought, the hint of a smile brewing on his lips. Why should I see this as another failure? This is a glorious moment, maybe the most glorious of all my life. I did this. This is all me. Why shouldn’t I just embrace it? The grin that had slowly formed between gulps of whisky was now ear-to-ear as he closed the browser and put the archaic computer to sleep.
Something drew his head up to the TV mounted on the wall in front of him. She was there. She was haunting him. Max picked up the remote control and turned the volume up as a replay of Joy denouncing Greytech’s involvement filled the screen, while the ticker scrolled across the bottom with bullet points of what was going on currently. Max had watched it live and had seen it a few times throughout the day, but it still didn’t stop him from wanting to watch it again. By no stretch of the imagination was she the love of his life. The truth of the matter was that he was the love of his life; his opinion and actions were what resonated with him, no one else’s.
The journey from coffee boy to destroyer of cities—no, destroyer of planets—would be a story that parents told their children as they huddled for warmth around campfires in a post-apocalyptic landscape. Max would orchestrate a leaked conversation or two, coupled with an anonymous email to lead some investigative reporter to finding out what really happened, but it would be well after the fires had been put out and the city was shown to be lost beyond repair. I’ll be remembered, he mused. All the lives lost and all the people affected will not. Sure, they will be a part of my legend but that is the most they will ever be.
“I am a god,” he whispered to himself as he used the remote to turn off the TV.
He grabbed the glass, almost knocking it over in the process.
“A fucking god,” Max slurred, before he downed the remnants of his drink.
He took his time with the swig. The effort he took to get that last drop betrayed the half bottle sitting an arm’s reach away, and it wasn’t as if it was an expensive bottle. Well, to a Scotch enthusiast a two-grand bottle of scotch was something they would never open, except on a very special occasion, but to Max, it could have been an average bottle of Cutty Sark.
Max wasn’t much of a drinker, and he was a sloppy drunk right now. He leaned back, mouth open to the sky, as he poured the remnants down his throat, and he caught himself as he swallowed. A twinge of embarrassment burned through him for what he had done. No, not the destruction of Los Angeles, but the ungentlemanly gulp he had just taken. It sobered him up. He remembered who he was and slowly lowered his glass to the table.
CHAPTER 152: THE LUCKY ONES
Jake looked at the folded-up shirt that Jennings had given him and turned to Sarah. He was bummed. He had definitely let the big galoot get a stranglehold on his heart, or what was left of it. It seemed time was too precious now, and no one had the patience for his shit anymore. Sarah handed him a headset and motioned for him to put it on.
“What did he say?” Sarah asked, her voice filling his ears with the slightest of delays. “And where the hell is he going?”
“I don’t know,” Jake said. “I couldn’t hear him over the sound of the helicopter!”
“You all strapped in?” the pilot asked through the intercom.
“Wait!” Sarah said. “We need to wait for him.”
“He gave you his shirt ma’am,” the pilot said. “He’s gone AWOL.”
Before Jake knew it, they were one hundred feet off the ground.
“Woah,” Jake said looking out the window. “I guess
we’re going.”
He wished to hell he had heard what Jennings had said, because he knew he probably would never see him again. He cursed himself for not taking the time while they waited for the helicopter to give him one final thanks. Mostly because he felt they were on good terms, and he didn’t want to jeopardize that with one of his shitty jokes. Sadly, there would be no bar called Jennings & Jake, but the idea filled Jake with warmth.
From the sky, the city of Los Angeles had a large black hole right in its heart, and in that moment, it seemed apt. Jake guessed the power to downtown L.A. had been turned off or had simply imploded. The helicopter’s spotlight ran over the various places that Jake had created havoc, as if it was giving a PowerPoint presentation of his path of despair and destruction. Sarah pointed out a couple flares and small fires on the rooftops and apartment balconies from other survivors via her headset, but her concerns were met with silence from the pilots.
Sarah cozied up to Jake as they looked out the window. Ava was in between them, but Sarah sought his touch as best she could. He told himself that anyway. He was just happy that she was with him and that she didn’t completely hate him.
“Look,” Sarah said while pointing out the window. “There it is!”
Her arm sat on his as she pointed. He took heart that she was still relaxed with him, and Jake smiled as he looked to where she was pointing. It was the rooftop where she had spent the better part of a day, where she had met his best friend and been a part of his demise, or the cause, he still didn’t know. That information he would glean in the future, hopefully when they were drunk and in bed, able to talk about this mess without having to look over their shoulder to see if there were any zombies chasing them.
