She sat down on the edge of the bed rubbing her neck. “That’s really not a bad theory. You said earlier you had a doctorate. Are you a doctor doctor?”
“I have a doctorate in History, so no, not a doctor doctor.”
“No shit? I studied History in college before dropping out. I wonder if something like this has ever happened before in the past and we just aren’t aware of it.”
“That’s funny.” I laughed.
“Now, now I gave your theory serious thought, give mine some as well.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “My friend,” (I hesitated, which Katy noticed but didn’t say anything) “and I had that same thought when this all started. We were talking about all the mediums that the dead had appeared in. Most of them portrayed them in slightly different ways as well as how to kill them, but we had come to an agreement that more than likely the dead were based on something that had happened in the past that had been covered up.
We picked up as many history books as we could and had planned on going through them to see if we could read between the lines and find that connection.”
She looked out towards the balcony. “What was his name?”
I sobered, “Who?”
“Your friend. They guy I assumed was like a son to you.”
“Oh. His name was Steve, and if you don’t mind I’m not really ready to talk about him just yet.”
“I understand. Had you begun your research?”
“No, we never got that chance.”
“Well” she said as she puffed out her chest and winked “What if I helped?”
I looked at her with suspicion and said “Was that your attempt at flirting with a guy?”
She frowned, “Yeah, why? No good?”
“Well for starters you don’t need to puff out your chest, your, um, chest is ample enough. If you really want to flirt with a guy the best way to do it is with an extremely low cut shirt and a very short dress that shows off your legs and ass.”
“Ah. So guys really are pigs.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
She laughed and said “I’ll keep that in mind the next time I need something from you.”
“I would love if you helped me out with the research when it’s time. But for now I am headed to bed, I have a big day ahead of me.”
She cocked her head at me, “Oh? What do you have planned?”
“Currently I have no water for bathing or just to drink, I only have the drinks you saw in the car and in the other vehicle. I have planned on getting an empty gas tanker and bringing it up here, cutting the top off and using it to gather rain water. It probably won’t happen anytime soon but once the rains come we should have enough to take a proper, if not cold, shower.”
“Oh, that would be lovely. Would you like any help?”
“No, you rest up. You’ve been on the road for a long time you just kind of hang out here tomorrow and as long as I don’t run into any hordes the whole trip shouldn’t take more than an hour.”
“How do you plan on cutting the top of the tanker off?” She asked me.
I stopped. Somehow the idea hadn’t occurred to me. Neither had how I was going to drive a truck anywhere. “I, um, hadn’t though that far ahead.”
“That settles it. I’m going with you, tomorrow.”
“Did I miss something?”
“Growing up, my grandfather taught me how to weld and how to cut metal. I used to love going to the shop with him. I would spend entire days just watching him and the guys weld and cut things. One day, he just sat down and took the time to teach me how to do all of those things. It became a hobby and I actually started creating art with it.
Anyways you are going to need to get some things so that we can properly cut the tanker up and not kill ourselves and it would be easier to just come along so I can gather those tools.”
“Okay, it’s settled. We’ll get a good night’s sleep and then head out in the morning in the other vehicle.”
She laid down on the bed and I sat beside her.
“Plus,” she added, “I need some new clothes. This used to be my favorite outfit and I can’t fucking stand it now. I wouldn’t care if I never wore it again.” She laughed and I laughed too and laid down. I was a little surprised when she turned over, put her arm across my stomach and rested her head on my shoulder.
“Don’t get any ideas mister. I just like to cuddle.”
“Loud and clear.”
***
At this point I must remark just how lucky I had actually been that Katy had come along. Not because she was a woman and I needed that someone in my life. She was something more than that, something deeper. The love I would develop for her was much more akin to a sister than a love interest. She seemed to be everything that I wasn’t. She was tough as nails and except for that one mention of her crying I don’t really recall seeing her cry again. She took everything with a grain of salt. I tended to over analyze everything to the point of annoyance, which she was always happy to tell me, while she simply looked at the situation, assessed it, and came up with a plan to make it work.
If it worked that was great, if not she would assess where we went wrong and correct on the fly. That type of thinking comes in very handy in the dead apocalypse, my line of thinking … well my line of thinking, tended to get people killed because the sane part of my brain seemed to disappear. Katy, for my luck and health, was very patient and very understanding.
She was a good friend. Yes, I realized that I just foreshadowed an event that caused our friendship to end. No I’m not going to tell you what it was. What kind of story teller would I be if I let that out of the bag at this point in the story? It would be like George Lucas telling everyone that Darth Vader was Luke and Leia’s father in the first fifteen minutes of the story.
Sorry, I realize that a lot of people in this new era may not have a clue about what I just spoke of. Damnit, everything that I had come to know before the end is simply gone. There is nothing to reference anymore. We should have been better prepared to make sure that our history would survive. Instead of digitizing everything we should have put in another media that would last.
Just like that I have gone off on a tangent. I have gotten old and I am prone to this, apparently even in my writing.
However, all of this does play a larger roll later. When people don’t consider the best way to save information about themselves it will be lost. This, I know, is a bit of foreshadowing, but there are key parts of the world’s past that has completely been lost. Whether the information just disappeared because it was put on a medium that wouldn’t last or was destroyed later by other people when we lose chunks of our history the future is just left guessing, at best, about what happened.
CHAPTER III
When I woke up the next morning Katy was already out of bed. I assumed she would be on the balcony, so I looked there first. There was no sign of her. I got out of bed still adjusting to the sunlight coming in through the window. I went to sleep faster the night before than I could remember since this all started. It was really nice having someone with me, even if it was with someone that I would never have any romantic interests in.
I yawned and then called for Katy but got no response. A small panic caught in my chest. Had she waited until I went to sleep and then got up and stole my car full of gas and drinks and food?
Suddenly anger washed over me as I couldn’t believe that I had fallen for that. Did she have a partner? Was that why she had insisted she was gay? I jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs and into the garage. Both vehicles were still there. I mentally kicked myself. With no proof I immediately assumed the worst about her. That’s one thing I have always been guilty of. I just have never liked, or trusted, people.
I walked back into the house and called for her again. “Katy? Are you in the house?” but I heard nothing. I walked back up the stairs and turned on the electricity, which immediately kicked the AC on. It was going to be another hot day. I walked out onto the
balcony and looked out on the scene before me. It was perfectly quiet. None of the hordes or large groups of the dead were to be seen. I yawned again scratching my stomach.
“Well hello there sleepy head.”
I started and looked down. It was Katy, she was stretching as if he had been working out. She was wearing one of my old college shirts and a pair of my shorts. They dwarfed her, making her look like a young girl trying on her dad’s clothes. Her fire red hair was into a pony tail.
I smiled. “I see you’ve already helped yourself to my clothes.”
“Well I couldn’t very well run in what I was wearing could I?” she said and smiled.
“You went running?” I’m not entirely sure why that surprised me. She definitely looked like she was in shape, but if I was in shape before the end the last thing I would think to do is keep in shape. Fortunately, I was not in shape, never had been (and that’s probably why the last thing I would think to do is to keep in shape).
“Of course. The world may have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean I don’t keep in shape.”
I looked down at my own plump belly and gave it a slight slap. It caused her to laugh, and I smiled. “Fitness was obviously never a high priority of mine.”
“Well” she said, “now that there are no longer any fast food restaurants to fatten you up I could always help you get into shape.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I may not ever be able to eat fast food for the rest of my life, but that is no reason to get into shape. I figure as everything starts breaking down we’ll have to depend more on walking anyways. I will eventually get into shape. Just let me enjoy my fatness while it’s there.”
She started laughing and I joined in. I wasn’t sure if she was laughing at me or because of me and I really didn’t care. It was enjoyable. As were regaining our composure she suddenly snort laughed (which sounded like a pig) and we started laughing hysterically. After a couple of minutes, we finally calmed down enough so that we could talk again.
“Are you ready for our run into town?”
She contemplated the question. “These shorts are a little big on me as is this shirt. I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to move as freely as I need to if we come across some of the dead.”
“Have you thought to check some of the houses in the community? I don’t think all of them were empty when all of this started.”
“I thought about it, but I was concerned there might be some dead in those houses and I had no way to defend myself. Do you have a gun?”
“I do, but I think you’d be better off with Steve’s machete. No noise and with their decreased hearing and seeing capabilities you’d be able to sneak up on any you encounter. It’s down stairs. I still need to get dressed. Do you want to wait until I get dressed so I can go with you?”
“Please, Liam. I don’t need protection.” She looked pissed, but she didn’t seem upset. I can’t really explain her body language. Her right hand was on her hip and her lips were curled in a snarl, but something in her eyes didn’t relay that same sense of anger. I have never been able to read body language, especially from women. I just don’t have that skill set.
“I’m sorry Katy, I didn’t mean to –”
“Oh, chill Liam. I’m kidding, but seriously you go ahead and get ready and I’ll go on and check out the houses.”
“All right, said Fred.”
She looked at me with a very confused look. I smiled, knowing that she didn’t get my reference and walked back into the house to prepare for the trip.
***
After I had gotten dressed I walked downstairs, saw that Katy had grabbed one of the machetes, I grabbed one for myself and walked out the door. Judging by the sun it looked to be about mid-morning, but the heat made it feel like later. It was going to be another long, hot day. Looking around I didn’t see Katy anywhere. It had taken me maybe 15 minutes to get changed. I figured she should have been back by now. Surely, she wasn’t shopping for the perfect fitting clothes. Just grab and go. Though, a pang of guilt did come over me. I had my own clothes and she had literally come to me with just the clothes on her back. I decided to walk up the street to see if I could find her.
“Katy?!” a listened for a few seconds and hear no reply. Off to my left I saw a house with its front door open. It was reasonable (in my mind at least) to assume that if she wasn’t in there she had at least been in there at some point.
I walked over to the house and walked up the porch steps and leaned into the doorway. “Katy?” I didn’t want to yell, in case there were dead in the house. In the time I had been in my little community I had never actually thought to check the surrounding houses to make sure they were clear. I had just assumed when Steve and I had first claimed this little community for ourselves that it was completely empty.
Katy hadn’t responded when I called for her. I should have turned around and gone to another house, but something inside me encouraged my feet to walk into the house. Despite my brain screaming that it wasn’t a good idea I found myself walking into the house.
This had clearly been a house someone lived in. There were family portraits hanging on the walls. It was a family of five; mother and father, teenage daughter, younger boy and girl. Immediately my thoughts drifted to the family I had taken care of outside the gate. This family didn’t appear to be them, but it still sent a shudder down my spine.
I was about to take a step when I had the urgent feeling that I was being watched by someone or something behind me. The hair on the back of my neck stood and I immediately got goose pimples on my arms. I slowly turned around …
And there was nothing there. “Shit” I said softly. I was freaking myself out. I called out Katy’s name again and again got no response in return. Ahead of me was a flight of stairs leading to the upstairs part of the house. To my left was the living room with an oversized white couch (I never understood why families bought anything in white. The chance of stains was just way to high. Especially this family with two children under the age of 10), two lazy boy type chairs were positioned next to the large picture window. The couch and chairs were oriented to the far wall that a had large flat screened TV mounted on it. To my right looked to be dining room with a large oak table in the center with five chairs encircling it. Nothing in these two rooms suggested anything about the family that had lived here (whether they were still around or had fled in the early days when you still could).
I decided to test my nerve and walked up the stairs. At the top of stairs was a hallway with four closed doors interspersed. Two of the doors were on the far wall to my left. My assumption was that it was the kids’ rooms. In front of me slightly to the left was a door I assumed to be a bathroom. To my right was another door that I assumed to be the parents room.
All four doors being closed should have told me Katy was either not in the house or never came in. Why would she reclose the doors? The sane part of my mind has slipped back out of sight again. The fear factor part of my mind was trying to take over and help my feet turn around and walk back down the stairs. Unfortunately, the curiosity part of my brain decided to wake up and propelled my feet to the right.
“She’s not here but if she was she’d be in the parent’s room.” I said to myself. The mother in the pictures looked a little larger than Katy but both seemed to be about the same height. Maybe I was wrong, but my mind was still questioning why Katy would close the door if she was in the room or had been in there. “Katy!” I said a little loudly and with force.
She didn’t answer but something did. Rather, it gurgled. I was frozen in mid step, but my brain was still urging my body to move towards the door. I walked the four steps to the door and leaned towards it putting my ear to the door, listening. Above the sound of my heartbeat pounding in my ears I could hear something shuffling in the room and could also hear the gurgling I had heard a moment before. I don’t know whether it was the fear factor, the saneness, or the curiosity but I slowly reached down and grabbed the door knob and turned it. The do
or was unlocked but I wasn’t opening it. The sane part of my mind finally made me slow down and think. If there are dead in the room slowly opening the door wouldn’t do my any good. It was a better to quickly push the door open so that I could prepare for an attack.
I push the door as hard as I could. It opened all the way faster than I had thought it would, hit the wall and slammed back just as fast slamming in my face.
I stood there in unbelief. I had managed to slam a door in my own face. With little control I chuckled to myself. “Let’s try this again.”
I grabbed the door knob, turned it and more gently pushed the door open. It swung half open and stopped. What I saw in front my caused me to gasp. The mother in the pictures was dead on the bed with a bullet hole through her head. The dad, though, was standing in the middle of the room with his back to me, slowly swaying. He was dead. I knew this because most the back of his neck was missing. The curiosity part of my brain wanted to see more and before the sane part could take over I had walked over to the dad and in front of him. He had committed suicide (most likely after killing his wife) but he hadn’t shot himself in the head. For some reason the entrance hole was in his right jaw and went downward causing the exit wound in the back of his neck.
While I had been looking at his horrific suicide attempt (realizing that he more than likely died a very slow and painful death) I hadn’t realized that the dead dad had noticed I was standing there and was walking towards me.
Suddenly, blood sprayed all over my face and the top of his head went flying. It took me a moment to realize that the top of his head had been cut off.
“Christ!” I shouted. The dead dad slumped down, and Katy was standing behind him with a bloodied machete. She had a new pair of clothes on that fit her much better than my clothes she had been wearing.
The Dead Chronicles (Book 1): The Dead Chronicles Page 6
