Cathy glanced at Jaimee, smiled and took her hand, pulling closer and snuggling as the movie continued. The theatre, cast in shadows and dim light, added to an already heady atmosphere the romance movie created. The two woman’s unconventional love was different from the usual straight relationship depicted on the screen, but the feeling was the same. Many couples in the audience already were paying more attention to each other than the film. Teasing, Jaimee tickled Cathy ribs until she turned toward her, motioning quietly for her to stop. Leaning forward, she then caught Cathy by surprise and kissed her soft lips.
Normally, Jaimee would back off and stop after a quick, sweet peck in an attempt to control her feelings toward Cathy. Now felt like the right time to let go and enjoy…really be herself, and see if Cathy was truly interested. Instead, Jaimee increased the pressure of her urgent lips on Cathy’s. She parted her mouth and nibbled along Jaimee’s pouty mouth. Both breathlessly broke contact and leaned back a heartbeat before burrowing closer and exploring silently with their hands.
“Is this ok?” Cathy whispered as she placed a hand on one of Jaimee’s breasts.
Thrumming with electricity, Jaimee nodded and guided her fingers to a hardening nipple. Exhaling, she rested her face in Cathy’s soft red hair, losing track of a time. A sharp sound from the movie soundtrack brought them back to themselves. Jaimee felt her face burning and was thankful for the dim light of the theater. Neither woman had any idea what was happening in the film any longer and wanted nothing more than to go home and make passionate love. A whispered invitation later found both rapidly leaving the movie, giddy and deciding whose apartment to retire to for the evening. Jaimee agreed that Cathy’s place was the best one to make better memories.
*****
Present Day
Dreaming of soft hair that smelt of flowers and sun-kissed skin, Jaimee reluctantly dragged herself out of sleep. The light the small window had let through before had turned to darkness. Unsure of the time, she flicked the flashlight on briefly to shine it on the Rolex and to check the status of the barricade. The time on the watch read a little after three. The corridor beyond the barricade still echoed with moans and dragging footsteps, but not as loud as before she fell asleep.
Quietly standing and walking to the other side of the room, Jaimee placed her ear on the wall, closing her eyes and listening…as if she could figure out how many were out there pacing back and forth in their slow, plodding, determined gait. I have no idea, Jaimee sighed. There’s definitely less than before…or maybe they’re not sure I’m here anymore. Wait…as if they can think. Rolling her eyes at her stupidity, she decided to pull a few more bags of chips from behind the broken glass of the vending machine to eat. I could use more rest. Maybe they’ll be gone in the morning. Or hopefully there will be fewer of them out there. Easier for me to hack my way through them, Jaimee yawned and settled down to rest, and hopefully sleep, until morning.
*****
Nineteen Days Ago
This was not Jaimee’s first visit to Cathy’s bright and cozy apartment. The living room sat directly off a small kitchen with a soft leather couch situated in front of small flat screen TV and glass coffee table. Curtains covered a window next to the front door and partially closed French-blinds blocked curious eyes from seeing inside the sliding glass door that opened to a third story balcony. They closed the door behind them as they hurried inside to take a seat on the sofa.
“I want you to touch me so badly,” Cathy panted as she pulled Jaimee on top. “I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way about me as I do you.”
Nodding, Jaimee replied, “I didn’t want to rush things. It was so hard to not come on to you like that. But, I couldn’t take it anymore. I’ve wanted you since the first time we met and even more so now.”
Fingers fumbling and each other’s belts, buttons, and zippers they partially disrobed, running fingers along flushed skin. On top, Jaimee kissed her deeply and slid one hand into Cathy’s jeans, teasing the elastic top of her underwear.
“I wonder if the ‘carpet’ matches the ‘drapes’?” Jaimee lamely quipped as she felt the coarse hair and pushed her fingertips through it, parting her inner lips. Cathy shuddered while trying to reply, instead groaning. Bracing with one arm on the couch, Jaimee ran her hand along Cathy’s clit and explored further into velvet wetness.
Arching her back, Cathy pushed up into her lover’s embrace and then fell back onto the couch as Jaimee rocked forward. She felt Jaimee’s fingers swirling around swelling lips, playing with her clitoris, and then thrusting inside. There was no exact rhythm, which kept her guessing what new pleasure was coming next. Reaching up, Cathy massaged Jaimee’s breasts, the perfect size for her hands, until an exquisite flutter of pleasure caused her to drop her hands and grasp the sofa.
“Please, Jaimee. Oh…,” Cathy panted, thinking of what she could do once her jeans were completely off. She pulled at her jeans until Jaimee smiled and helped remove them. Soon, both women had fully disrobed and Jaimee noted with a grin that yes, indeed the ‘carpet’ matched.
Jaimee slowly kissed her partner and positioned her back onto the couch, spreading her legs with her knee and upper leg. Gently, she lay on top of Cathy and ran her hand down once again into the silky wetness. Using the weight behind her leg, she began rocking back and forth; firmly thrusting her index and middle fingers into Cathy’s slit while rubbing the clit with the base of her thumb. Curling fingers, while moving in and out of her partner, Jaimee tapped on the rough g-spot. She watched as Cathy quivered and moaned in ecstasy, clenching her thighs tightly, shockwaves zapping through her body. Wave after wave, Jaimee felt wetness oozing down her own inner thighs while Cathy clamped her legs together and orgasmed, curving her pelvis upward and pulsing on the palm of Jaimee’s hand.
*****
Present Day
Rubbing her eyes, Jaimee raised herself from the impromptu sleeping nest in the canteen. Memories of Cathy and their lovemaking came flooding back, along with a lonely pulse in the center of her being. It was only a few days after that night, when the first reports of a mysterious virus surfaced in the news. They were watching a national news broadcast one evening that was running a story on archeological dig somewhere in the desert of modern day Egypt, to the south-west of the Valley of the Kings area. The scientists were not sure who lay buried there, but it was not a queen or king. More likely, they thought it was a religious leader.
Regardless of who remained concealed there, mayhem started occurring after they opened a deep, hidden chamber. Other reports said the North Koreans developed some sort of germ warfare and launched it at the U.S. and other western nations – the timing just happened to occur at the same time as the crypt in Egypt was opened. Of course, the fake news rags in the grocery store claimed the virus came from alien experimentation on humans. Who knows what the truth was?
Conflicting reports about the Middle Eastern dig also told of the horror that transpired next. Some say a miasmic gas escaped and killed many of the people digging on the spot, others say it was a classic ‘curse of the mummy’, and yet another said actual undead were waiting for living flesh to visit after a few millennium of darkness. When the workers and archeologists died, they did not stay that way for long. News crews there to report the archeological find of the century instead found themselves filming the walking dead and fleeing for their lives. That was the first recorded instance of zombies, proving their existence to the rest of the world.
I remember thinking it was something straight out of a movie…at least it seemed that way until it got to this country, Jaimee shook her head. Things got bad quickly - really bad. International quarantines didn’t seem to help the spread of them either.
Stretching and working out muscle kinks from sleeping on a hard surface, she stood and quietly listened at the barricaded door. There was still some scraping on the other side, but not as much as last night. Sunlight streamed through the window, enough for Jaimee to see in the dimly lit room. She took stoc
k of the remaining food and drinks in the vending machines. There were plenty of sodas and many bottles of water left. Water was the most important to survival. The machine with food and snacks inside struck her as a goldmine, except for bags of un-popped popcorn. Unless she built a fire and placed the kernels on a pan, they were useless.
Also, the light and the noise involved in popping probably wasn’t the best idea either, Jaimee left the bags untouched.
Rationing out healthy portions, Jaimee thought the food could last three days. Eating less would stretch it another two. The police station might be a good place to hole up for a while, but not long. It did not contain a kitchen and Jaimee was not entirely sure it was secure enough against what can come from the outside. Even if it was at the moment, the front entryway had large glass windows. Those would shatter with any large group of zombies intent on getting inside. Out of necessity, Jaimee knew she must move on soon, yet wanted to comb through the rest of the building for anything useful. Rested and hydrated, she ate a large candy bar and squirreled the rest of the food and bottles of water away in the satchel and backpack.
Placing her supplies on the ground in the center of the room, Jaimee took down the barricade blocking entry into the room as quietly as possible. Her plan was to open the door and let no more than one at time through it. If that was possible – sometimes they proved stronger than expected – especially in large groups. She needed to thin the numbers of undead roaming the hallway. Hefting her bat in one hand, Jaimee twisted the knob and opened the door.
A rotting corpse fell at her as the door unfastened its weight temporarily pushing Jaimee back, stifling a scream. Twisting and turning away, she planted both feet and swung the bat hard, pulverizing its right temple. Striking one more time to make sure it would not rise again, she saw a second creature stagger into the canteen, swaying its arms wildly around. Taking another step away, she arched her bat up and chopped down in a vicious overhead shot that split its skull in half, brain matter splattering.
Ugh, so much for being clean, Jaimee tried not to retch.
Now a third zombie came, dragging a leg behind it. Not hesitating, she dispatched it with another overhand chop with the bat. Nothing worked against the creatures unless you destroyed the head. Jaimee remembered a few of the party she fled LA alongside making the fatal mistake of trying to shoot or cut off limbs. This did not stop the undead, they always kept coming until either the living were eaten alive or the zombie’s head smashed in.
Shaking, Jaimee waited. Nothing more came from the corridor into the room. Softly, she walked to the doorframe and glanced both ways. Not seeing anything at the moment, Jaimee knew there were more wandering the building. Those three were not entirely responsible for the noise she heard yesterday after smashing open the vending machines. Before investigating the other rooms in the police station, she once again closed the door and took a few moments to clean the blood and brain matter off her face and clothing…as much as possible.
I’ll never get used to it. Sickening. Shouldering her pack and satchel, dented softball bat in hand, the woman stepped into the corridor and continued onward.
Three rooms down the corridor sat open and empty. They contained tables and chairs, the first door led to limited office space. A door labeled ‘Sergeant’s Office’ was attached to these rooms, with the same red ‘X’ scrawled over it as the janitor closet she saw in the locker area. Shaking her head, Jaimee left and found the processing room with three small holding cells facing a large desk strewn with boxes and paperwork. Although the room was clear, each cell had one or two undead within. The moment she walked inside, they hissed and groaned, clawing the air as far as they could reach from behind bars. Backing out quickly, she shut the entrance door behind her, cutting off the noise from the undead.
Damn. There were beds in those cells. I would love to sleep in one again, but I don’t fancy backing myself in a corner like that. If I woke up and found those things outside the cell waiting for me to try to leave, I’d be screwed. She continued to the last couple of doors along the dim corridor.
Double doors sat ajar next to an exit route. Peeking inside, Jaimee realized this was where the police kept their cruisers. Unfortunately, it lay empty with no cars inside, but she did spy some potentially useful tools that doubled as weapons. The garage doors were open beyond with a few shuffling zombies in the lot beyond. Jaimee wanted to raid for tools, but noticed more movement in opposite corners of the garage. It was not worth the risk. Placing gloved hands on the double doors, she tried to force them closed without success. The door hinges were twisted and sagging, preventing her from moving the heavy doors more than an inch or two.
There’s no way I can secure the building with those doors they way there are. Even for a short time. Frowning, she turned and walked away, Time to get out of here.
She encountered no resistance when she traced her way back to the front of the building. The sunlight was warm on her face as Jaimee turned and continued to the east, using trees and other obstacles in the road to cover her movements from view.
I just have to find a place I can be safe in for a while. There has to be something out there…maybe other people too, Jaimee strongly believed this…she had too…in order to keep sane.
A day of walking, running and dodging undead brought Jaimee to Ontario. Keeping off the freeways helped avoid many wandering zombies. Her goal was to find a serviceable vehicle and drive east until finding a safe house. Every time she tried a freeway, it was jammed with cars and usually with a high amount of wandering, decaying automatons. It looked like the entire populace of Los Angeles County had tried to escape using the freeways. At the best of times, they were packed – right now, it looked like the aftermath of ‘Carmageddon’, as newscasters used to quip during large highway construction projects.
Jaimee knew that there was a major airport in town from flying back from a vacation a few years ago. Ontario International was always a great alternative to LAX; if you lived close enough to make it viable. She did not, but had a friend living in Claremont at the time that let her crash at their place until traveling the rest of the way home. Jaimee had a plan in risking entering the airport. If she was going to find a fully fueled car anywhere, this was the place. Car dealerships kept their keys locked up or hidden in areas she never found in the few times she attempted breaking in to find them. The airport should be wide open, and usually car rental booths kept the keys to cars right in the booth, behind the counter. Maybe not all of them, but she had hope and was weary of walking.
Except, to her frustration, things did not go as planned as Jaimee neared a concourse at the airport. A multitude of undead plodded up and down the terminal. Jaimee saw them through the glass windows as she approached.
Well, hell. So much for that idea, Jaimee quickly retreated. I have to find something soon. A car I can secure myself in to sleep too. Walking around sleep deprived is a sure way to make a fatal mistake. I survived this long and plan on living until whatever this is blows over. If it ever does.
Once the undead plague entered the country, civilization as she knew it, unraveled fast. The main immigration areas were the first to be overrun – Los Angeles, New York, Miami, San Francisco, Chicago, and everywhere along the southern border. Jaimee was not sure if the rest of the country had kept out the undead or if they too were flooded with the creatures. Once she could get far enough away from the LA basin, she hoped to find a town with services to find out any news. The few battery operated radios she found so far broadcast nothing but static.
Fatigued, Jaimee walked on until she found a residential area. This may work. I might have to bust my way into a house and through a few zombies, but I bet I can find keys and a functioning car. I don’t care about the gas anymore. If it will get me part way to somewhere safe, I’ll take it.
Zigzagging between cars and brush for cover, she approached a house with shattered front windows. Taking the bat, she moved curtains aside and looked in on a chaotic living room. A
body lay unmoving on the floor leading into a kitchen. Reaching in, Jaimee unlatched the window and pushed it completely open before crawling through. On the other side, she paused, listening. Hearing nothing but the wind rustling tree branches against the home and flies swarming, Jaimee investigated the body first. It was a true, dead body; a bullet hole in between the eyes. The smell was nasty – she never became used to that smell.
At least the guy had a clean death. No shuffling around eating people for him. Jaimee cautiously stepped over the body and moved deeper into the house.
The kitchen looked like somebody already ransacked it for food and supplies. Even the cutlery set had been taken; all that remained was the wooden block with empty slots. Searching further into the home eventually brought her to an office space with a desk and bookcases. Sitting beside a now useless computer was a keychain. Snapping it up, Jaimee was elated to see a car logo on one key and turned immediately to find door access to the garage. There was not a car parked in front of the home. She hoped it still sat parked inside the two-car garage.
Placing her ear on the door leading into the garage, Jaimee listened for any movement. Not that the creatures were always on the move, but sometimes a soft shuffling or clunking noise could alert her to potential danger. Keys in her pocket, she opened the door. Brightly lit by a row of opaque windows along the upper part of the garage door, she could see the area well. Jaimee was elated to find a small, black crossover SUV sitting inside – she had found her ride.
Walking around the car, she checked the undercarriage and peered inside the windows to ensure there was no lurking undead. She unlocked the door and sat inside, smiling. The rope and small handle she needed to pull to release the garage door dangled above the vehicle from the garage door track. She stuck the keys in the ignition and turned them to test the car’s ability to start. It did not turn over immediately, but the engine started up and ran beautifully.
Still Alive: A Lesbian Love Story in an Undead World Page 3
