“I mean, I’ve had it when I needed it, but I don’t like it. It tastes like wood.”
“Wood?” I breathed in deeply as I took a sip of the wood in my cup. “You’re weird.”
“What are we?” He asked sharply?
The amount of coffee down my throat was too much to swallow without any pain. “What?”
“We need to talk about this? We need to talk about what happened?”
“I didn’t take you for a talker,” I said with a smile.
“Me neither. Having a bottle smashed into my skull has changed me.” He laughed. Having this talk was out of his comfort zone. “But really, is this me against you?” He looked up at the ceiling. He was talking about Elyse and I. “Or is this an us against them thing?”
“Well, I wish it was all of us on the same team, Jack.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want to go against my own daughter,” I interrupted.
“I know, that’s not what I meant.”
“Are you sure?” I was testing him.
“Yes,” he said so matter-of-factly. “I just want to know if this thing between us is worth going through all of this friction with Elyse. Emily, she may not be okay with it. Ever.”
“She may,” I said hopefully.
“Emily, she smashed a bottle over my head. Who knows what she’s going to do next or who she is going to do it to.”
“Me?” I laughed. “You think she’s going to smash a bottle over my head?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Something.”
“Jack, come on. She’s a teenager and she’s had a pretty rough couple of months, wouldn’t you say?”
“Yes, I would. Which is maybe why this isn’t going to work. Not to mention she’s got these…” I knew he didn’t know what to say.
“She’s in love with you,” I said. It left a bitter taste in my mouth.
“No,” he said.
“Jack, she is.”
“That isn’t love. Emily, I’m sorry, but something is wrong with her right now. She doesn’t understand love right now. That isn’t love. She isn’t herself. She’s a creepy, seductive stalker you see in horror movies.”
“Jack!” I shouted.
We both looked at Kylie who was ignoring us for- it was Dawson’s Creek. James Van Der Beek popped up on screen.
“You know what I mean. It isn’t healthy. It isn’t romantic. It is sick.”
“Okay. Okay. Enough about Elyse. Is all of this worth it for you?”
He looked down and started giggling under his breath. He looked up and pointed at his head. I started to laugh along with him.
“Right?” he joked. “I got pieces of glass in my head and I came right back. I’m here Emily.” We suddenly got quiet and his face was convincing. “I’m falling for you, Emily. I noticed you the first minute I got to WTIX and you have given me so much hope for a future that probably shouldn’t be hopeful for any reason. I am all in. I’m falling in love with you, Em.”
I tried to keep my gaze on him, but his words were so beautiful that I had to look away. I dropped my head and closed my eyes tightly. I shed a tear. The same tear that wouldn’t fall for my dead husband was falling from hearing those words.
“I’m sorry. If that is too much.”
“No,” I said still looking down. “No. That’s great.”
“Are you sure? Because you look pissed.”
He could always make me laugh. “Jack, I was awake for almost an hour this morning before Sam popped into my head.” Mentioning my husband’s name pushed Jack back a step. “Every day that goes by, I think about him less and less. I love Sam. I don’t have to think about him every minute of the day to know I love him and that I am always going to love him, but I need to move on.”
“If it is too soon, Emily, we can slow down.”
“No. It isn’t too soon. I have moved on. If I don’t move on, that is what is going to kill me. I can’t be available for a man that isn’t here anymore. Jack, you’re here. Of course, I am falling for you and, of course, I want to keep going in the direction we are going.”
“You sure?” he asked one more time.
“Yes.” I nodded my head at an extreme speed. “I love you.”
Two feet landed on the floor in the other room as if they had dropped from the second floor. Elyse had sprinted down the stairs and hopped to the main floor. Jack stood up straight and was ready to protect himself from any bottle, candlestick, knife, or gun that Elyse might possibly have- even though I knew she’d never stab or shoot anyone no matter what.
She came quickly around the corner, but this wasn’t angry speed. She was dressed to exercise. She had headphones in and an iPod strapped to her arm. I was so happy to have seen the iPods next to our beds. They were also packed with over 10,000 songs each. This place really did have everything.
“Morning, mom. Morning, Jack.” She skipped by Jack and grabbed a bottle of water. She turned on the music and skipped to the front door. “Going for a run! See you guys later!”
She was out the door before we could say anything. We hadn’t even had time to process what was going on. She was bubbly and friendly. She had a light about her and joy in her step. It was something that we hadn’t seen from her in a long time. She seemed great.
“Emily,” Jack said grimly.
“I know.” We looked at each other for almost a minute without saying another word. He knew that I knew what he was thinking. He didn’t want to say it. So, I did.
“There’s something seriously wrong with her, isn’t there?”
He nodded. I nodded. And behind us, I would have killed for a normal love triangle like the one Dawson, Joey, and Pacey were caught up in.
16
Kurt Elkins
W e were able to make it all the way down to Indianapolis and about halfway back to where we started on the one tank of gas. That wasn’t something that was an easy fix. We could have spent time trying to find more gas or a different car, but it died in the middle of nowhere and we didn’t want to waste any time. We began our walk back to civilization.
I’d never run out of gas before. Back when the world was still up and running, I never let the car get below ¼ of a tank. How much of an inconvenience would it have been to run out of gas? I’d seen people stalled on the side of the road or walking with a red gas can to or from the station. I never wanted to be that person. We used to have hectic schedules in the real world and any reason to slow it down was a headache.
Running out of gas in this world wasn’t much of a headache. Having a running car was a miracle itself so when that miracle ended, we grabbed our stuff and just started walking. It was no skin off our back.
I felt bad about how I left things with Frank. I was ashamed that I just simply let him take Reggie and leave. I should have done more to stop them. I should have sat and had a longer conversation with him. What was he planning on doing? Where was he planning on going?
Did he really expect to find a safe place where just he and Reggie could live? Did he think they’d have enough food to keep them alive or that nobody would come looking for them? Frank was doing an amazing job of protecting and keeping his son alive, but we were the ones keeping Frank alive. When Frank’s back was turned to shelter Reggie, I was the one watching Frank’s back.
I should have done more.
“How’s your head?” I asked Zach.
“It’s fine.” He never had much of a friendly tone, but now he responded like an asshole.
“You don’t have to be a dick about it, man. I said I was sorry.”
“I’m not being a dick,” he said.
“Well call it what you’d like, but get over it. We lost a day. Everyone is fine.”
“You sure about that? You want to bet your life on that?” I didn’t respond to him. I needed to stop myself from being sucked into exactly what he wanted. “Because I’m not willing to bet mine. We still got a long way to walk.”
I wished at that moment that Bryce was about ten years younger an
d that Zach was more protective of him. Maybe then Zach would have taken Bryce away and Frank and Reggie could have stayed. Even if Bryce was ten years younger, Zach wouldn’t have protected him. He would have let the kid die. It wasn’t Bryce he cared for. It was his niece back at the camp.
“Besides, I’m over it.”
“What?” I turned to him.
“I’m over it. I’m not mad. I’m just not a feeling-sharing kind of guy that the rest of you pussies are.”
“Right. I forgot you’re the tough guy, right?”
“That’s right,” Zach said. He just kept walking along hardly paying attention to me.
We came across another street that was now an abandoned car lot like before. We slowed down and started looking into the windows of the cars hoping there would be some supplies we could use or a car with a full tank to get us back.
Most of the doors were opened which told me that the cars died and people thought their best chance of survival was to get out of the cars and leave. There was blood on the street and some on some of the windshields and on the interior. I tried to turn a few engines, but they were dead.
I watched Bryce check a few of the cars along the road. He moved so quickly. He ran around like he had to pee and had been holding it for days. He was a spaz. I had a small bit of faith that Frank and Reggie would be able to survive. If Bryce were on his own, he wouldn’t make it an hour.
“What kind of music did you used to listen to?” Zach asked me randomly from the other side of the car I was peering into.
“What?” I heard him. I just wasn’t sure what is endgame was.
“It’s just a question. I thought I might try this sharing feelings thing you want from me so badly.”
“You’re a fucking asshole.”
He laughed, which was his smug response to everything. “Oh, come on. What’d you listen to? Country?”
“Actually, yes. Mostly. If it was produced before 2000, I’ll listen to rap.”
“You mean you don’t like Lil Yeah, Lil No, Lil Swag, or whatever other rapper throws Lil on his name?” I actually laughed. An honest to God laugh. “I hate it so much, man. Lil,” he said in a small child’s voice. “Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Run D.M.C.”
“Those were rappers,” I said.
“Yes!” We simultaneously moved on to the next car. “You don’t like country?”
“I guess it depends.”
“Depends on what? Whether it is old-school twang country or today’s country washed pop music?” Most people that I came across in this debate disliked how country music was turning into more pop music about country things.
“Actually no,” he said.
“Well, then what?”
“Depends on how drunk I am.”
I would have traded an arm for twenty minutes of good music. The only thing we had to listen to was the sounds around us. Some of it was quite nice. The drifting breeze would rustle leaves across the gravel and sticks would click together. There would be a light whistle from time to time. It wasn’t lyrical or catchy, but nature really did supply us with beautiful music.
But what followed was not beautiful music.
Bryce screamed. By the time I turned around, I couldn’t see him. He wasn’t in our line of sight. We started running through the maze of junk cars and followed the scream. Finally, I could see the top of his head lying on the ground and poking out from behind a tire. We sprinted over to him and knelt to his side.
An arrow had pierced his shin as lay there screaming in agony. Zach told him to shut up and hold still and looked at the arrow. He grabbed it and was only barely able to hold on to it before Bryce screamed louder and pulled away.
“Bryce, you got to calm down! I have to see how bad it is.”
“Don’t fucking touch it!”
“Bryce, relax!” I shouted at him and held his chest down to the ground.
Every now and then there’d be a problem that wasn’t brought on by the living dead. We’d already dealt with it several times. There were people that were out to do harm to others, steal from them, or even kill them. People that had lost touch with humanity. And every time a problem like that arose there was only one thought that went through my mind.
I miss the stragglers.
“Which way did it come from?” Zach asked.
“Bryce, which way did it come from? Which way were you looking?”
He didn’t respond. As Zach played with the arrow more trying to remove it, Bryce started to lose consciousness. He was still shaking and trying to break free from my pressure, but after a minute he gave in and passed out.
“He’s out,” I said. “If you’re going to do it, do it.”
Zach nodded and looked down at the arrow. “I think it is stuck right in his bone, man.”
“It is your call,” I said to him and he didn’t take long.
With one strong pull, he ripped the arrow from Bryce’s leg. Bryce woke up immediately screaming louder than he had a few times before. His voice cracked and before his scream ended, he was unconscious again.
Blood splattered on Zach’s face and on my hands. It poured from his leg like a punctured water bottle. Zach pulled a dirty shirt from his bad and pressed into the wound. He didn’t look confident with his decision to pull the arrow out, but he didn’t really have much of a choice.
We still weren’t sure of where the arrow came from, but at least we were low enough behind the cars that we would be protected from another one flying through the air. We were too busy dealing with his leg that we weren’t thinking about what else might happen.
I heard a chilling thud, thud, thud. Heavy boots coming quickly. I turned around and indistinctly saw the butt of an ax coming toward me.
17
Scott Daugherty
I reached over to the far side of the bed and opened my eyes when I felt nothing but blankets and mattress. I lifted my head and looked around the apartment. Suddenly, I began to panic like the last time I’d woken up. This time, however, I knew exactly what was going on. I knew where I was and why I was there, but I was alone. Why was I alone?
I sat up and looked around the apartment. My eyes struck every corner, every wall, every inch of floor that was available to stand on or sit by. There was nobody in there. Why? What had I done that was so bad? Did I go too far? Did I do something that was wrong? Suddenly, thoughts of what I had done back at WTIX were crawling across my brain and I feared that I had gone back to that place.
I heard the toilet flush and all of those fears were washed away. I felt a calming presence take control over me and I chuckled at not only the thought of being who I used to be at WTIX returning but that those fears could still startle me so greatly.
Sarah walked out of the bathroom a few moments later drying her hands. I must have been smiling like an idiot because she looked at me for a long second and then started laughing quietly. Her tiny nose scrunched up.
“What?” I asked her.
“What you! You’re staring at me,” she responded.
“Sorry.”
“I’m just so beautiful, huh?” She twirled her hair and then stuck her tongue out to make sure I knew she wasn’t a girlie-girl.
“No, it’s not that.”
“Excuse me?” She wasn’t a girlie-girl but still didn’t appreciate someone telling her she wasn’t beautiful.
“No, I mean you are beautiful.” I laughed and tried to put into words what I was thinking. “I forgot you’re here.”
“Wow. Pretty wasted, huh? Or I’m just not that memorable in bed.”
“No, neither! I mean both. What?” I rubbed my forehead and scrambled my brains. “I wasn’t that drunk and you are very memorable. It has been a crazy couple of days.”
“Relax, Scott. I’m kidding. Relax.” She pulled on her pants and started to put her shoes on.
“I just mean, I woke up and thought you’d already regretted this and darted out of my place.”
“Your place? You already sound comfortable here
.”
“Yeah, I guess I am. I mean, I’d like to be. I’d like to hang around for a while.”
She was done tying her shoes and stood up to grab the bar’s set of keys and stuffed them in her pocket. She looked at me and smiled. This was the awkward moment when neither person knew what to say at the end of a one-night stand except…
“I hope this wasn’t a one-night stand,” I said bluntly.
“Is that what you think of me? You think I do this all the time with new people who just stroll into town.”
“No, I don’t think that. I just want to make sure. I like you.”
“You don’t know me,” she said.
“No, but I’d like to. Really. I’d like to see you again.”
“Well, you may not have looked around much, Scott, but I’m not going anywhere. Are you?”
“No. No, I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good. I know it’s far, but you know where I work. Come by any time and see me.”
“I’ll do that,” I said. “You come by any time and see me, too.”
“What? For another one-night stand? Sorry, I’m not that type of girl, Scotty.”
She was out the door in the blink of an eye. I laid in bed for another fifteen minutes replaying what had happened the night before. I was being honest with her when I claimed I wasn’t drunk, but I did finish four beers before we came upstairs, so I was tipsy. So, I laid there trying to make sure I could put together every piece of what happened. It was an amazing night from the moment I stepped into the far until the minute we fell asleep. I wanted to make sure I had every single one of those memories.
I showered and was happy to see some spare clothing in the closet and drawers. Whoever had been staying in this apartment last had all kind of things. Nice clothes, work clothes, exercise clothes, pajamas, winter clothes, and then I began to realize that it must have been storage for extra clothing. There were dozens of sizes and styles. Men’s clothing and Women’s clothing were stuffed in drawers.
I found a casual outfit that somebody might wear to church on a Sunday and got all dressed up for the interview with Glen. I don’t know if interview was the right word, but he wanted to see me bright and early and discuss the details of my new job.
Dead Last, Vol. 3 Page 10
