End of the Line

by Frater, Lara

  I didn’t respond until Tanya took her shot. I don’t know if she got the head but it went down.

  “Good thing white bread gave me those lessons.”

  “Jim,” said Dave’s voice more concerned and angry. “What the fuck is going on?”

  I sped up and Tanya took the radio. “Nothing Dave, target practice.”

  Dave paused, then said: “Fine, keep us informed, we got some scared women and a kid back here.”

  Tanya put the radio besides her.

  “He’s such a dick,” she said.

  “You aren’t a ray of sunshine.”

  Tanya shrugged and went back to the silent treatment. She did that when things got personal. I got Rachel and Maddie to open up to me. I knew their secrets and sadness. I knew Rachel was bitten by zombie and never became one. That her affair with Dan started before this all began. Maddie came off as bright and bubbly but was secretly depressed. She had four children and a husband of 25 years who was her sweetheart. She taught for almost 20 years. Went to work everyday; watched as her kids vanished from her class, and got reports that most of them died. She stopped going to work, tried to nurse her husband and youngest son, couldn’t get to Eric or her two twin daughters and when she came to CostKing, as far as she knew her entire family and her class were dead. Finding Eric would fix that hurt a bit.

  “Breaker, um—I don’t know how to use these things—“ Speak of the devil, it was Maddie and she was beginning to fade out. “You’re using it,” said Rachel’s voice.

  “Oh, Sweet Jim, are you there?” I really hated being called sweet Jim but I didn’t say anything.

  Tanya grabbed the CB. “He’s driving.”

  “Okay, you let everyone know that Eric arrived here safely. He’s with me and I have my heart back.”

  Tanya held the CB up to me, but first I had to go around two cars crashed in the road.

  “Good to hear, Maddie.”

  “Sorry didn’t get that?”

  “I said, good to hear.”

  Tanya took the CB back. “Sorry, I think we’re goin out of range. Talk again soon.”

  “God bless all of you,” she said and then was gone.

  “We have one good story, I hope we have more,” I said.

  “Bittersweet—turn left here.”

  I did as she asked. Turned left, but then had to stop.

  A white stretch limousine, like those used for proms and weddings, blocked our way. An SUV front with a body so long it blocked the entire street. This one had a miniature airplane tail on the back. There was no way to get around it. My only guess is someone used it as a blockade. The street was narrow, so I had to back up.

  “Anyone behind me,” I said and laughed. I put the truck in reverse.

  Then there was a crash and the sound of something breaking.

  “What the fuck,” came over the radio.

  I thought I backed out straight; there shouldn’t be anything behind me.

  “We backed into a car or something.”

  I went forward again, but I felt like the passenger side was dragging something.

  “Hold up,” Tanya said, she pulled her gun and left the truck but stayed near the door. A moment later she came back. “You came out at an angle, and smashed a car. Move up and try to straighten out.” She came back into the truck. I pulled the truck forward close to the limo but didn’t hit it.

  Then the most bizarre thing happened. The driver’s side limo door opened and a man came out. He wore a driver’s suit over his pudgy frame and round glasses over his Middle Eastern looking face. He waved a truck gearshift stick, of all things, around as a weapon. I thought he saw zombies but instead he came over to my side of the truck. “Get the fuck away from my car, you douchebags!” he yelled.

  I stopped the truck, and didn’t even know how to react to how surreal this was.

  Tanya snorted. “Do you wanna talk to him or should I?”

  “How about I back away slowly?”

  The man moved closer, waving the gearshift stick around, swinging it like a sword into the air.

  “Leave my car alone you dicks!” he screamed.

  “Jim, move it.”

  “He doesn’t scare me.” This guy was a lunatic and I was in a truck.

  “Don’t care about him, look to his left.”

  Sure enough his yelling had brought five zombies who were slowly heading his way.

  I stopped the truck and opened the window.

  “Hey!” I screamed, waving my hands. Tanya was tugging at me to get going. “Move! Zombies are heading your way!”

  “Oh yeah! Why don’t you suck your own cock!”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

  “Go!” she screamed. The zombies moved closer to the limo guy. I closed the window and put the stick in reverse. Hit the car behind me so hard, it pushed it out of the way. I kept moving in reverse. I watched the five zombies grab on to the limo driver and pull him to the ground, giving us a perfect view as they tore his guts out. He tried to hit them with the gearstick but it wasn’t deterring them.

  “Shit,” Tanya said. “He’s still alive.”

  One of the zombies, a fat blond woman, had the guy’s intestines in her hand and was eating them. The other zombie, a short skinny redhead was using her hand to dig into his chest. A slightly balding man began fighting with the fat blond woman for the intestine. The fourth one, a blond teenage girl gnawed on his head. Another one, a tall man with a goatee was pulling off skin in one hand and the other gripped a camera.

  I hit the gas harder, even though they were more interested in feasting on the driver than us.

  I managed to back up out of the street and on the main road. I floored it, hoping that a woman with a baby carriage wouldn’t dart in front.

  “Wow,” Tanya said and she seemed exhilarant. “That freak was batty.”

  I couldn’t answer. I had to get my heart rate back to normal.

  “Jim, fucking answer me!” came Dave’s agitated voice over the radio.

  “No need to worry, Dave,” Tanya said, into the CB. “We’re fine.” She turned it off and started laughing. Despite the demise of the poor fellow, the irrelevance of it made me laugh.

  “What about Eli?” I asked.

  “Not about to risk my life for a dead cracker.”

  “Who’s next?”

  Tanya’s crazy demeanor suddenly stopped when she looked at the list. “It’s the kid.”

  Chapter 9

  About 40 minutes later, I made a right on to a quiet street filled with garbage and nothing left of any houses but ashes. Trees were burnt to cinders. Cars were metal frames. No zombies or limos blocked the street. The roads had buckled and were lumpy as we drove over them. The next block was exactly the same. Now I know why Aisha couldn’t get to her house. This place must have been an inferno, especially with no firefighters to put it out.

  “Shit,” Tanya said. “Looks like my old neighborhood. Before the zombs.”

  “I hope her house is still here.”

  “I see black neighborhoods are kindling but whites ain’t.”

  “Stop it, Maddie’s neighborhood was fine.”

  “It’s mixed.”

  “There’s no neighborhoods now, we all survive in this together.”

  “Old things die hard. Look at Dave.”

  “Dave’s a horse’s ass.”

  Tanya started laughing. “Turn right here.” Things looked up as I came across a large strip mall followed by a parking lot which seemed to stop the fire from spreading.

  “Go two blocks.” I kept going. The houses were run down, mostly looking weathered although some were missing their roofs but no sign of burning and only a few bodies littered the streets. I had become desensitized to the bodies, because there was so many. Didn’t know if they were dead of the flu or killed by zombies. I think most people died in their homes or hospitals.

  “Here,” she said.

  I stopped the truck. It was a two story house, not boarded up
and the screen door was missing.

  “I don’t think anyone’s here,” I said.

  “We should see if her mom’s inside.”

  I turned the engine off and pocketed the keys. I would hand them off to Dave. I was going to have lunch in the back after we finished here. It was only two and I was already beat.

  I grabbed the CB. “Hey Dave, we’re at Aisha’s house. We’re going to open up the back.”

  “Copy,” he said. We got out of the truck. I looked around but thankfully did not see any zombies. The air didn’t smell of burning. It was a clear pleasant day with blue skies but the place was desolate. I didn’t think a single person was in a mile radius. The fire must have driven both the people and zombies out.

  I went to the back and opened it. Everyone looked sleepy and shielded their eyes from the bright sun. I guess there wasn’t much to do. Dave came down first and helped Ashley, then Dot. Jake and Annemarie came down without help, and then helped Aisha. Dot moved across the street and lit a cigarette.

  Aisha looked at her house. I guess she could tell it was empty. I touched her shoulder. “Tanya, Annemarie and I are going to check it out. You stay here with Jake and Dave.”

  “You sure about that?” Dave said.

  “We’ll be fine.”

  Aisha had a weird look on her face. Perhaps she thought she could handle it but realized she couldn’t. I thought we might head back to CostKing after this and drop her off. It would delay us but I wanted to spare her more pain.

  Tanya led the way with the rifle out, Annemarie followed carrying Tanya’s handgun. They would switch guns giving the rifle to whoever sat up front. I followed behind Annemarie unarmed. She wasn’t comfortable with handguns; it looked shaky in her hand. She shot skeet with her friends growing up, but I don’t think she ever touched a handgun. I was a little worried about leaving the others near the truck, but the place was desolated and it would take us five minutes to check out the house.

  We got to the front door and were greeted by a number of dead birds on the porch. Annemarie made a funny face because of rumors that the flu epidemic was avian. I think these were gifts from cats. “Hope the door is unlocked.” She moved her hand to he knob but the door was ajar. She pushed it open slightly and it opened all the way.

  The place was filthy. Dirt and leaves covered the floor and it smelled like rotten food and mildew. The house smelled of smoke. Paint chipped off the walls. We were in a hallway. It led to a stairwell on the right, a living room on the left and a kitchen straight ahead. From the living room, I could see a dining room. I didn’t see any zombs or smell any decay, only the smells of no one living here for a long time.

  “Kitchen first,” Tanya said. We walked the hallway. I saw pictures on the wall of Aisha, her mother and sister. They looked like a nice happy family.

  “Here,” Tanya said, entering the kitchen first. “Look.”

  I came into the kitchen. A dry erase board hung next to the refrigerator. On it, in faded letters, obviously not done in dry erase were the following words:

  Aisha, we waited for you, but the fire forced me to flee with your sister. Neither of us got the flu. We are going to aunt May in Centereach. I love you very much! Mom.

  The aunt’s address was below.

  “There’s hope.”

  Tanya shrugged. “That message has been here for a while. Come on, let’s look upstairs so Aisha can come in.”

  “I’m going to check out the kitchen,” Annemarie said. “See if anything is worth salvaging.”

  Tanya and I headed upstairs to find three bedrooms. An empty master bedroom was the first room at the top of the stairs. Ironically the bed had been made and covered by pretty floral bedspread.

  At the other end of the hall was small room which was also opened. Less neat, with pink ponies on the wall. Considering that Aisha’s age, I assumed this room belonged to her sister. The door next to it was closed. Tanya listened at the door.

  “Don’t hear anything.” She turned the knob then threw open the door. Pictures of Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga covered the walls-- Aisha’s room. In the center of the room was her desk with the same message as downstairs.

  “I guess we can get Ais—“ A gun shot, a single one rang out from downstairs. Tanya nearly hopped over the bannister to get downstairs. When I got to the bottom, I found Annemarie sitting at the table, gun in front of her, watching a dirty black cat with big yellow eyes. The cat didn’t seem startled from the gunshot and affectionately tried to rub Annemarie.

  “Thank god, I’m a lousy shot. Stupid cat.”

  I petted the cat who began purring and rubbing me.

  “Least we know where the dead birds came from,” Tanya said. “Place is safe, I’ll get Aisha.” She disappeared out the front door.

  “Poor kitty,” I said and pet it again. I nabbed a bowl from one of the cabinets, put some water from my bottle into it and placed it in front of the cat. Cam was a dog person but I wanted a cat, so we agreed to eventually get one of each. Never did, kept saying we would, but never did.

  “Shouldn’t have wasted a bullet like that. I’m glad I didn’t hit it, but I couldn’t hit it.”

  “You’re better at shotguns and rifles than handguns.”

  “Not as good as Princess. Her folks must have been the mob or something.”

  It wasn’t true, her father owned an investment company and she had been shooting rifles and shotguns since she was a kid. The door of the house opened.

  “Chinakitty!” Aisha yelled and ran into the kitchen. I looked at Annemarie Chinakitty?

  Aisha ran to the table and petted the cat that began rubbing her. She looked at the board at her mother’s message.

  “My mother and sister are alive,” she said. She focused back on the cat. “Can we take Chinakitty?”

  “Why is she called Chinakitty?” Annemarie asked. I hadn’t planned on mentioning Chinakitty’s brush with death and it seemed neither would Annemarie.

  “Listen to her meow.” She petted the cat a few more times and it began meowing. It had a distinct mao, mao, mao.

  “My dad thought it was funny and named the cat China. I wanted to call her Kitty and she ended up being Chinakitty. You didn’t answer my question, Jim.”

  “I think we can take Chinakitty, if you can find a box.” If we never found Aisha’s family, another cat at CostKing wouldn’t be a problem.

  “Her carrier should be in the basement.”

  “Tanya can go with you.”

  I looked at Annemarie. “Maybe we can stop here for lunch.”

  “Fuck lunch,” she said and threw up her hands. “I think I’ve had enough excitement for the day.”

  12 o’clock and all is well. I wanted to sleep. Dave wasn’t happy about taking the cat but he was even more unhappy at staying the night. He thought we had enough time today to visit two more houses. No one agreed. Aisha could sleep a night in her own room. Tanya stayed with Aisha while Ashley got the master bedroom and Annemarie and Jake took the other kid’s room. Dave and I camped out in the living room with Dave taking the couch and grumbling about not having a bed. Dot stayed in the basement to smoke.

  I had first watch. We were getting up at five tomorrow. I had to stay awake until one and then Jake would cover one to five. Dave could drive in the morning. I planned to nap in the truck.

  Dave passed out on the couch snoring despite a snoring strip on his nose. He was a notorious snorer and sometimes I could even hear him from five aisles away.

  I sat on a cream colored love seat by the living room by the partial curtained bay windows and watched the empty street. It was eerie. In CostKing you felt safe and far from the zombies. Here, the deadness was up close and personal. The street was pitch black. The only light was the three quarters moon that made every shadow a shambling zombie.

  I felt lonely, more than a year since I’ve had sex. Maybe I was the last gay man on earth, doomed to a celibate life like Rachel.

  I wished it was lighter, I would love to r
ead, now I was bored and my thoughts kept going back to Cameron. I needed something to keep my mind off him.

  The press called the first attacks riots that began increasing. By the time the word got out, it was too late. The TV stopped broadcasting. Cell phones and the internet had been slow when it worked at all. Eventually all the servers and cell towers went down. I was never able to get in touch with Cameron. After I ran low on food and escaped a zombie neighbor, I decided to flee-- to find him. I didn’t get far when a panicked driver hit my car. I was belted in, he wasn’t. I’m alive, he wasn’t, but he totaled my car. I ran to the first place I could find, a Smile-Mart. I killed my first zombie with Cam’s baseball bat. Cam loved to play sports, his body so muscular and strong when he held me.

  I fled Smile-Mart and went to the CostKing which was in the same shopping center. Abe let me in when I told him I was a fastidious organizer and I could figure out how to best ration supplies. Also Ashley took some sympathy on me because I was all cut up and bleeding from the accident.

  I didn’t come out of the closet for a long time, it was only after Mindy wouldn’t leave me alone that I admitted it. Abe asked my permission to tell everyone and a promise that I wouldn’t have to worry. He told them I was gay and if they had any problem, it would be his problem. While I had lots of issues with Abe’s leadership, I always respected him for what he did. Only Dave gave me a hard time, but mostly him telling me he wasn’t gay and that I shouldn’t fall in love with him. Believe it or not, I admired Dave for saying that when I knew the other men were trying to be cool and instead internalizing their fears I was going to rape them in the night. And I don’t know why Mindy and Annemarie had a game to see if they could catch me naked. I didn’t think I’m that good looking. Cam was the Adonis.

  I did get lonely. Rachel and Maddie’s friendship meant a lot to me but it didn’t compare to Cam.

  I saw the figure in the moonlight and my heart skipped a beat. I knew it wasn’t a shadow or a tree. The way it moved; this weird dance of something not completely in control of its body.

  I didn’t speak, I didn’t sound any alarm. The back of the love seat faced the window, so I ducked down as far as I could while still being able to look out.