by Thomas Baker
"Want to risk a fire to make some coffee or hot chocolate?" JT offered. "I found some packets."
"I wouldn't want to be responsible for burning the hotel down."
JT took another bite of his pastry and sipped his water. "If it burned down, it wouldn't hurt anybody. It's not like you could get in trouble for arson or something. It would probably be years before anyone else even knew."
Hannah smiled at him but the by the look in her eye he knew it was a closed case. He went back to looking out the window. He hoped Hannah wouldn't bring up last night. He wanted to just forget about it and carry on.
"JT, I'm sorry about last night." Hannah started. Fuck. "I've come a long way in a short time since leaving Albright and the church. Not that I have to justify anything to you but without God I would be a wreck right now. I don't need you to have faith in anything except me. Give it time."
She extended her hand across the table and he took it. She smiled at him. The first real genuine smile since Albright he felt. He sighed then reached across to squeeze her hand gently. The sparks still existed, he could almost feel the heat.
"Aww look at the lovebirds," Gus said as he walked in. He put his hands together and tucked them under his chin. JT threw one of the pastries at him. Gus ducked to the side.
"Like you have room to talk Gussy," JT said. He let go of Hannah's hand. "Where is your much better half?"
"Still sleeping. I had to take a crap and thought I better do it down here. So we ain't' stinking up where we live. Then I heard voices on the way to the throne. I also thought I'd grab a nine-month-old newspaper. Always goes easier with some reading materials."
"Gus, we can always count on you for TMI," Hannah chucked.
"You mean TMA? Too Much Awesomeness? I know, how can I help it? See you kiddies in a bit."
JT looked at Hannah and they both shook their heads. Gus grabbed his newspaper and left. As he disappeared down the hall Gus shouted, "Well I'll be darned! Powerball is up to three hundred and thirty million! Old Gussy is feeling lucky!"
Hannah and JT burst out in laughter as they slouched back in their seats.
Later in day JT paced up and down the hallways of the second floor. He was feeling restless and trapped. This was the first time it hit him that the zombies had taken something else from him. His freedom. Before the Outbreak, he was able to jump in his car to get out and clear his head. His mood turned fouler at the realization. He didn't even realize Gus had joined him until he bumped into him.
"You look like a bee whose honey was eaten by a bear. What's going on big guy?"
"Restless I guess, Gus. Being stuck in here."
"Let me walk a little with you JT. Should keep my strength up. Lord knows we will do more walking."
JT and Gus walked side by side at a slower pace.
"You know, being up in the mountains, or wherever we stop, will be a lot like this," Gus said.
JT sighed. "Yeah, I know. I was just having the depressing thought about how the Outbreak also stole our freedom. I can't go out, jump in my car, and go anywhere. I can't do anything. If zombies don't try tokill me, other people might."
"Huh, I never thought of that. JT, you sure are in a funk."
JT shook his head like the motion would clear it out. "Don't I know it, buddy. What am I going to do about it?"
They reached the big window at the end of the hall. JT put a hand against it, feeling the cold seep into it.
Gus put a hand on his shoulder. "I like a beer or two as much as the next man but drinking so much you pass out every night isn't helping. Like my father would say. 'Gotta face things head on or they turn around and bite you in the butt.'"
JT thought he would get angry. He knew he would have before. Now when he felt that old rage, he thought of about the little girl. Or Tyrone. Or the last words Randall said to him. He sighed out a puff of hot air.
"I'm that poor at hiding it, huh?"
"Like you love to point out, I've been around the block a few times. I have seen my fair share of real alcoholics. I also have a good idea what the bee in your bonnet is. Listen, JT. I was around in the church and around Albright a lot more than you. Albright was a slick son of a bitch. My radar broke with Harold but I was picking up and putting down what the so called 'Reverend' was selling right away. Hannah, where she was at the time,she couldn't. She was vulnerable. He pried and pried and won her over. He wanted Tyrone dead. It would have happened without her if Albright wanted it to. He had you and Tyrone under his thumb."
JT took a moment to think over what Gus was saying. Letting it sink in.
"What you are saying is probably true-"
"No, it's true," Gus interrupted firmly.
JT didn't feel like arguing and changed tracks. "I made a promise to take care of Tyrone. I failed. Then I failed Randall. I might fail Hannah, Linda, you. With my track record I probably will."
"Man listen, I'm still here because of you. Don't wallow in only the bad. That's easy. I'm not denying things aren't shittier than a Chinese restaurant's bathroom. You want to know what can help, then take this advice to heart. It's being with Hannah."
JT took his hand away from the window. It was almost numb. He turned, and they walked back down the hallway.
"Hannah? You think one fucked up person plus one fucked up person will cancel each other out?"
As soon as it was out of his mouth, he wanted to take it back. It was too harsh. It sounded like the old him speaking. It didn't seem to bother Gus; he went right on talking.
"I'm saying, you shouldstick with Hannah. She is a woman you can get behind. Or in front of. Or she could get on top of you. It's all good."
JT laughed deep from his belly. It was like a breath of fresh air, light through dark clouds."Gus you are a funny bastard."
"Good thing I am, too, or I'd just be a bastard."
"You're right about one thing, Gus. I am turning into an old sourpuss. I'm a grumpier old man than you are," He wasn't going to dismiss what Gus was saying outright, but he wanted to change the subject. "So you and Linda, huh?"
"What's to say?" Gus shrugged. "I was looking for love in all the wrong places. Who knew the right place was a zombie apocalypse."
JT's cabin fever returned not long after Gus left him. He found himself scavenging through every nook and cranny the hotel offered. He found everything from a closet full of miniature toiletries to what appeared to be a lost and found junk yard. As he was venturing around, he wound up in room 217. The room was left in a state of more disarray than most of the others. There were clothes strewn about, pillows on the floor, even a box of condoms with a couple missing on the bedside table.
He dumped out a black leather bag he found on the floor of the bathroom. The first thing he noticed was the package of mostly used birth control pills, then the small, almost full, bottle of perfume. The words on the glass bottle read "Still by Jennifer Lopez." JT shoved the bottle into the pocket of his hoodie and moved onto the fridge in the room.
"Well, what do we have here?" JT commented to himself. Inside the lifeless fridge was one bottle of champagne and one bottle of red wine. He gathered the bottles and headed back to the third floor.
Upon arriving back at the room he and Hannah shared he found Hannah doing some yoga type stretches out of a fitness magazine. He couldn't stifle his laugh at how silly she looked there on the floor, on one knee with the other kicked leg up in the air behind her.
"I have something way better to loosen you up," JT exclaimed.
Hannah finished her stretch and came back to a standing position. She crossed the room to stand beside him. He had the bottles of alcohol hidden behind his back and brought them around to show her. He could feel her apprehension right away.
"Ok, wait before you say anything I have another gift for you! Now it's no hot shower but you may enjoy it a little." JT pulled the perfume from his pocket and handed it over to Hannah, bringing a smile to her face.
"I want to be mad at your insinuation I really stink but it'
s such a sweet gesture I guess I'll let it slide, thank you!" Hannah startled JT with a kiss on the cheek. JT wanted to grab her and kiss her again but he wouldn't let himself.
There was awkward tension building in the room when Gus came in.
"Well, well, well, looky here! Champagne and wine, you two gonna hit the hot tub later and play honeymoon?"
Hannah gave JT a cheeky look.
"Actually Gramps, I thought you and Linda might enjoy some nice old folk friendly adult beverages tonight. In fact I was just about to deliver them with some fresh-picked strawberries and warm bathrobes."
"Hey oh, watch it, JT. Linda's not old. Don't let her hear you saying that."
Gus waltzed over to the bed with an invisible partner to where the bottles laid. JT was lying through his teeth. He wanted them for himself but felt like he had just been busted by his dad. Gus took advantage of the opportunity to thwart him. He picked up the bottles and with a shimmy of his hips gleefully burst out "Amen, Amigo! I'll tell Linda you will be by to give our couple's massage shortly."
JT plopped down on the end of the bed and stared at the blank TV screen. Now he'd have to renew his search. Hannah walked by and ruffled his hair with a smile before leaving the room.
When Hannah declared the next day they were moving on, JT was so happy. With a feeling Hannah and Gus were watching him closely, he had had nothing to drink the whole time they were at the hotel and it made his nights miserable.
They loaded the car back up and continued on the highway to Colorado Springs. Hannah was driving, and he sat in the passenger seat, trying to find a way toplace his legs where his knee would feel the most comfortable, while also having the shotgun not poke into him the whole way. He was glad for the car but wished it could have been bigger.
The flat land gave way to what JT guessed you would call foothills. The road gently rose and fell. A dark smudge in the distance at first made JT think another storm was coming in. It came into focus as they got closer. JT realized he was mistaken. Those were mountains.
The sun glared, making it look deceptively like a warm summer day. JT broke out his sunglasses and settled back, trying to relax. He wasn't up for talking; he had too much on his mind today. Missing alcohol, the chat he and Gus had at the hotel, Tyrone, Randall. He even found himself thinking about Jelly back in Gateway City. But mostly it was Hannah on his mind.
He must have dozed off because the next thing he knew Hannah was shaking his arm and saying, "We're at Colorado Springs. We'll skirt around the city if we can and start up into the mountains here. Stay sharp everyone."
JT yawned and looked out the window. The view raced along. It was mostly hotels, restaurants, and car dealerships for now. Behind the buildings, behind the city, rose the massive bulk of the mountain range. JT felt it brooded over the city, the craggy peaks watching over the dead and undead. One of the towering peaks was already white. From the map JT wondered if that was Pike's Peak.
The highway started to have more cars stopped here and there. Hannah slowed her speed down as she swerved around them.
"Glad I don't get carsick. This would make me green in the gills," Gus said from the back.
"Are we going to stop here for the day and start up tomorrow or are we taking our chances tonight?" Linda asked. "I didn't hear any specifics about what we're doing next."
The car came to a screeching stop, and the momentum carried JT forward into the resistance of their seat belts.
"Jesus Christ, now what?" Gus complained in a breathless voice.
JT saw what they had feared. Across the highway in a tight clump, mixed in among the wreckage and debris, was a pack of zombies. Between the pack and the Honda there were no exit ramps. The sound of tires squealing on concrete made the zombie pack turn in their direction.
JT couldn't believe now, of all the times, he didn't have his shotgun on his lap. It had slid down to the floor as he slept. He reached for it and thought better. If they weren't getting out, his pistol would be a better idea. It was in his holster. He reached for it as best he could against the seatbelt as Hannah decided at that moment to floor it.
The car jumped and slipped sideways a little. The engine revved, and it became clear to JT that Hannah was just going to ram her way through. Zombies bounced and careened off the car as it plowed ahead. JT's side of the Honda shrieked as the metal rubbed against one of the wrecks.
Hannah shot through the pack. Somehow one of the zombie had gotten hold of the hood well enough to stick around. JT rolled his window down and reached out. He shot at it and missed as Hannah juked the car left and right.
"JT you idiot," Hannah yelled at him. "Don't do that. If you miss you could shoot me through the windshield."
JT powered the window back up. He wanted to slap himself in the forehead as his face burned. What a rookie mistake. His eyes felt like they were coated in fuzz, along with his brain. Had he been so asleep?
"Get ready everyone," Hannah said, stepping hard on the brake again.
The zombie flew off, skidding hard on the pavement. Rotted flesh on its chest tore off with the shirt,exposing bone in patches all over its torso. It laid there, twitching. JT looked behind and saw the rest of the pack coming their way.
Again Hannah floored it, running over the prone zombie. The car rose and thudded back down. Hannah took the next exit that came up at a speed JT wasn't comfortable with. She turned left on a curving side street. Lucky for them it was empty. The car bounced as it hit some rough road. Hannah turned again and again and then got back on the highway. Looking behind him JT didn't see the pack anymore. Hannah's crazy maneuvers worked.
"Hannah, I think we're clear," he said, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding in. "Sorry about what I did back there. That was a dumbass move."
"Nobody got hurt, just don't try something like that again you knucklehead," Hannah said, trying to joke about it.
JT fake smiled and wanted to move on. It bothered him though. Why had he thought it was a good idea?
"Nice driving darlin'," Gus said.
"Thanks, Gus."
"For a woman," he added, not missing a beat.
"Linda please smack him," Hannah grinned into the rear-view mirror.
There was a small smacking sound and a 'ow' from Gus.
"I'm going to sue. I had no idea you were so abusive, Linda."
JT chuckled despite himself. Now thathe was fully awake, he scanned the road ahead like a paranoid maniac. Hannah drove on, letting off the speed again, taking it careful around the abandoned vehicles. Dusk fell as the sun lowered itself behind the mountains.
"To answer your question Linda, that little run in tells me we're not stopping in Colorado Springs. Let's try our luck up in the mountains."
JT had a grim feeling that up in the mountains they wouldn't find things to be any better.
Three large brown stones rose along the left side of the road, lit up by the car's headlights. A sign on the middle stone read U.S. Army Fort Carson. A black fence ran along the highway, with a gate closing off the entrance and exit road to the base.
"This could be a good place to stop," JT suggested to Hannah.
If he were in charge, they would stop here. They would be sure to find some small building or a house to hole up in. Driving through wintery mountains at night wasn't something he wanted to keep doing. This was one of those times it was hard to bite his lip and not just demand they all do something he wanted.
"Or, zombies could infest the place, or some another crazy survival group," Linda offered. "Should we go poking around in there, in the dark?"
JT knew Gus liked Linda, but there were times she just got on his nerves. Like when she always questioned every decision. Sure she was smart, she was a nurse, but that didn't mean she knew everything. I know there's beer in there somewhere.
Hannah took his questioning in stride. Hannah's lack of annoyance or frustration just made his that much worse. "I think it'd be okay if we go in for a moment, check things out. If it looks
like it's in bad shape or we see signs that the place is inhabited, we go on. No more fighting."
Luck was with them, the gate stood wide open. Hannah drove in. She did a U turn at the first crossroad then stopped.
"Linda, the three of us will get out. You'll stay here. I want you in the driver's seat."
"Hot damn Linda, you get to be the wheelman!" Gus exclaimed.
Linda cleared her throat. "Don't you mean wheelwoman." She over exaggerated the woman part for dramatic effect. Gus gave her a kiss on the cheek as he slipped out the passenger door.
Hannah pushed the button to pop the trunk and got out. JT stepped out the passenger side. The air outside was bitter after the toastiness of the heater. Linda passed her and slid in behind the wheel. Gus and JT joined her at the trunk. Headlamps on and pistols in their gloved hands, the three of them walked along the road into the base.
"Man, if Dusty was with us, he would have his military boner going for sure," Gus said. "This would be like a homecoming. Or Heaven."
"Can it, Gus," JT hushed at him. "This is supposed to be a stealth operation."
"Why you're channeling ole Dusty britches himself," Gus said, not in a joking manner.
JT wanted to glare at him but in the near total darkness, it would be pointless.
"The both of you need to be quiet now," Hannah said.
They continued on deeper into the base. Their flashlights didn't penetrate the blackness much beyond the confines of the road. They came to an intersection. To the left in the distance JT could tell there were the shadows in the shape of houses.
Hannah stopped them. She held her pistol high, pointed in the air, and pulled the trigger. The shot rang out through the night, echoing all around them. JT waited tensely, trying to look in all directions at the same time. She could have warned them first. He wanted a drink, to take the edge off. Minutes seemed like hours. No zombies came swarming at them. No human attackers came charging out, guns blazing. Hannah nodded, more to herself than to him or Gus, and the three went on straight.
