End of the Line

by Frater, Lara

  I came back upstairs and Olive barked happily.

  “Dave,” said a female voice from the living room. I went in and found Tanya sitting by the window with some candles around. Jim was passed out on the sofa.

  “Took the dog for a walk in the basement.”

  “You want to take the dog with us?”

  “That might be a good idea. She’s a good dog and very obedient.”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Jim okay?”

  “He overdid it. Told him we should drop him at CostKing, but he don’t want to.” I looked over Jim. He seemed paler than before but he was moving around so it couldn’t be that bad.

  “If he’s feeling okay, then don’t bother. Once we get back to Oyster Bay, I got Jake to help with the heavy stuff.”

  “Guess it’s up to Jim,” she said. I really didn’t understand her relationship with Jim. Unless she thought she could turn him straight.

  I went upstairs instead of saying anything.

  We left at dawn. I was anxious to get back to the others. I knew from Ashley that Dot had applied to be in CostKing but had been turned down due to her age. Dot reminded me of my mother, who had been fiercely independent and died a few years before my dad.

  Tanya sat next to me, Jim in the back with Olive. I found her leash hanging in a closet and grabbed what dog food I could. I left a note for the owners that she was safe with me, but I had a feeling they were dead. I didn’t see a car, so they must have gone to a hospital and died. This dog was obedient. They put a lot of training into her. I couldn’t imagine leaving her behind.

  A hundred scenarios went through my head, but it could be any reason.

  We left the Bronx behind. The path on the bridge was still there. I knew we could stop with Mike if needed but I really wanted to get back to the house, to the truck and more safety. We should all be together.

  I turned on the radio, but I didn’t pick up anything. Not even the Ham. I looked around for CD’s but couldn’t find any.

  It didn’t matter, Jim was asleep next to Olive and Tanya looked like she was nodding off.

  I decided to drive a little faster. Getting up to a whole 40 mph without Jim lecturing me. I weaved between cars and drove on the sidewalk. Come on officers, give me a ticket now!

  I slowed down when I saw the bodies. A burnt out car with bodies lying next to it. Zombies or humans, we didn’t know.

  As I drove passed it, I got my answer when one of the bodies moved. I stepped on the gas, even though we weren’t in any danger.

  Proud to say I pulled up in the driveway of the Oyster Bay house as dusk began to settle in. I parked the Nissan behind the CostKing truck.

  “Coast is clear,” I said, looking around. I didn’t see any zombs, but Tanya probably had sharper eyes.

  She didn’t respond, instead got out of the car. She pulled her handgun that now had lots of bullets. She went to the door and knocked.

  I got out of the car and saw Annemarie come out on the terrace. She smiled then disappeared.

  A minute later the door opened. Annemarie and Jake stood by the door. I got out of the car and so did Jim. I opened the trunk.

  “We got more guns,” I said.

  We quickly got the guns and ammo out of the trunk and back into the house without a word.

  “Where did you get all these guns?” Annemarie asked when we were inside. “And what happened to Jim?” She looked over his head which now had a smaller bandaid.

  “We met a nice family,” I explained. “We did some errands for them for guns but Jim got attacked by a dog.”

  “Shit,” Annemarie said.

  “I’ll live,” Jim said. Annemarie looked at the Olive who was standing next to me.

  “Not this dog,” I said. “We found her in Westchester, abandoned.”

  The kid came running down the stairs. She barreled into Tanya and embraced her. “Be care of Jim,” Annemarie said when it looked like she planned him. “He got hurt.” “Where’s Dot?” I asked.

  Annemarie didn’t respond.

  “Dot?” I asked again, both panic and anger filled my voice.

  “I’m sorry, Dave.”

  “They got in?”

  Annemarie shook her head. “It must have been a heart attack or something or maybe she did have cancer. We wrapped up her body in silk sheets, and left it in the basement.”

  I didn’t say anything. I liked that old lady and we could have been together when she died. Instead she died alone while we helped another old lady go off to her doom.

  “This is all your fault,” I said to no one in particular.

  “Dave,” Annemarie said. “She was old and she died comfortably. Trust me.”

  I didn’t respond. I wanted to blame them all, especially Jim who dragged us on this stupid trip and we didn’t even find his stupid gay husband.

  Instead I marched up the stairs with Olive happily running at my heels. I barely noticed Chinakitty on the stairs, who hissed and ran off.

  Once upon a time I was happy. I had a loving wife and a wonderful little girl, but I always liked to drink and became a mean drunk. It got so bad my wife left and my kid barely spoke to me. I think that if I ever find her, I’ll will actually be a sissy and let her know how much I love her.

  The only person I was close to in CostKing was Eli. I guess we were kind of the same. Eli had money before, his wife and kids didn’t leave him and he wasn’t a drunk. I missed that SOB. I also liked Mindy in more ways than one. I wanted to be her victor when Tom hurt her. She appreciated me looking after her but Abe was her hero and she only wanted sex with Jake. All the girls wanted to be with Jake and look at Jim.

  I went to the master bedroom, threw everyone’s stuff out, locked the door and made myself comfortable on the king size bed. I didn’t think they would leave without me.

  I was surprised there was no fanfare when I heard someone come up the steps.

  A moment later there was a knock on the door.

  “My room now!” I said. I knew I was acting like a kid but I didn’t care.

  “Dave?” It was Jim’s voice.

  “Sorry,” I said. “Not into guys.”

  “Dave,” he said. “You couldn’t have saved her. Even if you were here.”

  “Leave me alone!” I shouted. I was glad to hear him walk away from the door.

  Silence afterwards. I stretched out on the bed. Olive jumped up and sat beside me. Poor thing was probably starved for attention.

  I missed my wife. She always took over most of the bed. That was early in our marriage when she loved me and I drank socially. Olive settled in next to me and put her snout on my leg. So this was it, me and a dog.

  Chapter 19

  Rachel lived on a cul-de-sac of attached brick houses, and Dan lived on the other side. I made a k-turn so we were facing out in case we left in a hurry. Rachel insisted not to bother. She had a strange blank look when she said it. I always thought she was a weirdo. Jim insisted we try. Dan’s daughter was missing and Rachel said both her daughter and husband were dead. Dan originally said not to bother but changed his mind and told us both their addresses.

  The place was deserted. I stopped the truck. Annemarie, rifle in hand, got out.

  I looked around and opened the door. No zombs in sight. I wasn’t as pissed off as I was last night, but I kept quiet.

  “Come,” I told Olive. I put her on the leash. I heard the back of the truck open and moved in that direction.

  They were already outside. Annemarie, Jake and Tanya had their guns out. Aisha was milling around the back of the truck holding the cat carrier.

  “Maybe the girl should stay in the truck,” I said.

  “I wanna stay with Tanya.”

  I didn’t press further and she was right. We should stick together. She took the carrier with her and came off the truck. Jake closed the truck door. Jim looked pale and sweaty but it was a hot day. The back of the truck must be a sauna.

  Tanya moved towards Rachel’s house. The d
oor was closed, but when she pushed at it, it opened.

  “Hello?” Tanya said. No response. Chinakitty meowed and Olive yipped in response. I moved into the house with Tanya. Nothing but a lot of dust. The house smelled faintly of decay but not enough to be a dead body. There were flies around, which meant a zombie was here or had been. Zombies could smell us, but sometimes we could smell them.

  Jim sneezed.

  “I think one of thems here,” Tanya said, her voice a whisper.

  Rachel’s house had a common blueprint. Hallway, living room on the left side, continued hallway until it reached the kitchen. I bet there were three bedrooms upstairs.

  I walked ahead to the kitchen. It seemed to be the prime spot for notes. When I got there, I saw that it was empty. Nothing was here, no sign of life. No notes. Not even notes from Rachel letting others know where she was.

  “Damn,” Jake said, looking at pictures on the wall. “She said she was a lesbian, but she has a family.”

  “A daughter and husband.” Jim looked at Jake. “She didn’t want to have sex with you.”

  “I didn’t need an excuse, she could have said no.” I didn’t think he cared. As long as he had someone’s pants he could get into.

  That’s when I heard the footsteps. They were light and coming from upstairs.

  Everyone stopped talking.

  “I’ll dispatch it,” Tanya said. She headed up the stairs, followed by Annemarie and myself.

  As predicted there were three bedrooms upstairs and a full bathroom. All but one had open doors.

  When we went to the closed door, I could hear it. It began pounding at the door, making that horrific moan.

  “Kill it,” I said, trying to keep panic out of my voice.

  “Ready?” Tanya said to Annemarie. She nodded. Tanya kicked open the door.

  On the other side was a little girl, a zombie, emaciated, sagging skin, sunken eyes but no visible wounds. She shot out the door as soon as it opened but headed to the wrong person, Tanya. Tanya aimed the rifle and fired. She flew back into the room and against the bed. She didn’t get a head shot, but because the thing was so emaciated it didn’t get up. It still moved. Tanya slammed the door.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. “Finish it.” Jim came up the stairs.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  Tanya pointed to a picture on the wall of Rachel and family. I looked at it. Even in this picture, Rachel looked like a sour puss. Her’s husband was taller than her, had a big smile and his arms wrapped around her with one hand on the little girl, the one that Tanya shot.

  “Jim, Rachel’s daughter’s in the room. She’s a zombie.”

  “It’s not her daughter anymore,” I said. “Put her out of her misery.”

  “Maybe Rachel couldn’t do it,” Annemarie said. “Let’s do the deed while it’s down.”

  “Or maybe she left her here alive because she wanted to.”

  What was her problem? I saw Tanya as a person who would shoot her own mother if she was a zombie.

  “Come on,” Tanya said. “Let’s get the fuck out of here and check Dan’s place.”

  “No,” Jim said. “We shouldn’t leave her. Please Tanya, Annemarie, finish the job.”

  Tanya and Annemarie looked at each other, then Tanya opened the door. The thing that had been Rachel’s daughter looked so emaciated, she didn’t get up. Instead she clawed the air. One shot and she was gone.

  Dan’s place looked similar to Rachel’s, only the living room was on the right side and empty. No people, no bodies, no zombies. Pictures on the wall showed a smiling Dan, a black haired bronzed wife and a cute teenage girl with big smile. There was a note from Dan telling his daughter he was at a house with an address in Commack. Jim crossed it out and wrote CostKing.

  Tanya seemed pissed for having to shoot Rachel’s kid.

  I sat in Dan’s kitchen while the others searched the house. I dry swallowed a caffeine pill. This trip had been rough. I was sleeping worse than ever. I missed that stupid CostKing bed.

  I heard them walking around upstairs and doors opening. I knew I should search the kitchen for food, and only decided to when Olive gave me a sad look. I searched the shelves. They were empty, but I found a dusty can of sardines missing the key. I used my Leatherman to open it and gave it to Olive. She barked and then wolfed it down.

  “You gotta take it easy,” I told her. I looked around for more food and came across a bottle of cheap whiskey. All I wanted to do was have a drink for old time’s sake. I preferred beer but I figured it would be hard to find a cold brewski.

  I thought about my ex-wife and my daughter and how I might be with them now if I hadn’t had so many brewskis.

  It was tempting; I was stressed, tired and I wanted a stiff drink to loosen me up.

  I was interrupted by Olive. She yipped. I put the whiskey back and closed the cabinet door. No more food searching.

  I heard sounds on the stairs. I moved to the kitchen and found the others already in the hallway.

  “Place is empty,” Jim said.

  I was in the back this time. Jake drove while Tanya rode shotgun. Despite the caffine pill, my eyes still felt heavy. The heat didn’t help. I slept on the mat with Olive besides me in a twilight but never deep sleep. That dog loved me. I guess I was her savior.

  I wanted a drink.

  The road was bumpy, keeping me awake, but I didn’t want to deal with the people in the back. I didn’t mind driving, as it was hot and stifling. The small window wasn’t helping and it was a long trip to the Centereach. Jim leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, while Aisha sat in the middle working on a crossword puzzle with Chinakitty in her lap. There was some hissing and howling between her and Olive but it seemed to have settled down with Chinakitty engaging in an intense staring contest. Annemarie dozed, occasionally letting out a light snore.

  The truck stopped. That’s when I realized I had fallen asleep. A moment later the door opened and Tanya and Jake stood there. The sound woke up Jim and Annemarie.

  “We’re at your aunt’s. No zombies I can see. Let’s move,” Tanya said to the girl.

  Aisha put Chinakitty in a carrier. Tanya helped her down from the truck. Annemarie followed, then Jim, who looked pale. Olive jumped down before me.

  I looked around. Tanya was right, the place was deserted. The aunt’s house looked that way as well. The girl looked upset but didn’t say anything. We walked to the ranch house with peeling blue paint. The door was closed but unlocked.

  Inside was dark, dusty, and musty. There was no smell of dead bodies but no one had been here for a long time.

  Then the quiet broke by the weirdest sound.

  A push lawnmower.

  “What the fuck?” This came from Tanya.

  I located the source of the mower. Across the street, a middle age black man, mowed his fenced in lawn. It would have looked perfectly normal if he didn’t have a rifle strapped to his back. He saw us and waved. His blue house didn’t look worn down like the others.

  “Mr. Greggs!” Aisha yelled out.

  “Surreal,” Jim said.

  I walked over to the man, thinking he must be out of his mind.

  “How you doing, folks?” he said when we got there. “Hi there, Aisha.”

  “Mr. Greggs—“ Aisha repeated.

  “Your mom’s been worried about you.”

  “Where is she?” her voice timid.

  “She and your sis went to the gov’ment camp.”

  “Government camp?” Jim asked.

  “Yep, from what I hear, a former sleepaway camp out in Northport. Red Cross set up something. Got some gov’ment officials and army guys too. They came around a while ago, almost a year.”

  I got excited. I knew the country was still here and the Ham operator was wrong. Maybe this would end soon.

  “Do you where it is?”

  “They told me to come. I didn’t want to. This is my home, and I’m not leaving it. Miss Aisha, I’m sorry to say yo
ur aunt went to hospital and never came home.”

  “Oh,” Aisha said and looked down.

  So the guy was a little bonkers trying to lead a normal life despite the zombs all around.

  I knew we’d arrived when I saw the giant tank. It didn’t look active but it blocked the entrance. The camp fence contained badly put up barbwire in some places and boxes and smashed cars in others. In front of the gate were several barricades that a person could get around but it might prove difficult for a zombie. The camp sign was still there: Camp Hilsbrad sleepaway camp.

  It made sense to come here. The worst part of the outbreak was in May, the sleepaway camp was getting ready for new campers. There were no zombies near the camp but scorch marks on the ground indicated bodies had been burned. I tried to pull the truck as close as possible but it was hard with the barricades.

  “Better be careful,” Annemarie said.

  “I’ll go,” I said. I wasn’t scared of our guys.

  I got out of the truck slowly. I kept my hands in front of me.

  “Hello?” I called out.

  No response.

  “Hello?” I said again. I feared the zombies had already overrun the camp and no one was here. The air smelled of burning rubber.

  “Don’t move!” a female voice said. “Hands where I can see them!”

  The voice came from behind the boxes. I put my hands up. I felt a little shaky, but things would be okay soon.

  “What do you want?” she said. “We’re full.”

  “We got a place,” I said. “I got people in the truck. One’s a girl looking for her mom. A neighbor says she’s here.”

  “Prove it,” she said.

  “Okay,” I said, still keeping my hands up. Hoping there were no zombs around. “I’m going to the truck and getting her. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said. “But one false move and you’re dead.”

  Her desperate tone and youth told me she had an itchy trigger finger. I made my way to the back of the truck and opened the door. The others stood there but didn’t move.