Cat and the Belle

by Victor Cruz

  “Now, before you all go setting out into the sunrise, I want to take a look at the pickup. Make sure it’s in order. Haven’t gotten to it this week with everything else.” Henry had food in his mouth while chewing as he talked. “Also, Maxson, if you see a new welding torch, would you mind grabbing it? A whole kit would be even better.”

  “No problem,” Maxson figured he had some crazy schematic simmering in his skin. “Finally going to actually work on that bus, huh?”

  Henry’s mustache began to twitch under his flaring nostrils while he swallowed his food, but realized Maxson was just kidding. Even so, it didn’t matter, and he just wanted to vent for the sake of talking. “Don’t give me a hard time. Between working on the bus and the semi, I’m practically pissing oil. Besides the bus has got a cracked head gasket and it’s only a matter of time before it’s out of commission for good.”

  “I thought you could fix anything,” Maxson challenged.

  “Oh, I can, and I will. I’ve got a plan, kid. Ol’ Henry’s always got a plan,” Henry reassured before swallowing the food that was in his mouth. He coughed on the bite he had swallowed for a few seconds before trying to play it off nonchalantly. “You just bring me that welder and I’ll show you what a real man can do with his bare hands.”

  “You got it,” Maxson saluted him loosely.

  “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a pretty little thing waiting for me,” Henry tipped his hat and walked back over to be with Mabel. He fed her a bite off his plate and she sensually accepted it.

  “Aw. Isn’t that cute?” Belle said in observation.

  “Yeah, cute as a radioactive two-headed pig puking,” Maxson said with sarcasm.

  “Ew, stop it,” Belle rolled her eyes while hesitating with the fork in her hand and looking at the end before finally eating it. Even Belle knew the value of food nowadays and its scarcity.

  Maxson spread over the bread some of the mush which was some sort of dried potatoes, vegetables and mystery meat. The meat didn’t have a gamey taste, because it was mixed with so much goopy mixed ingredients that it covered any taste it could have had. Maxson had to guess it was different types of meats because of its consistency and he also knew Colton had trapped a few rodents like squirrels.

  I sure hope there isn’t any mice in this. Maxson thought. It wasn’t out of the question, Mabel and Catalina had made a meal with crickets last summer.

  Even if there were, Maxson was so hungry that it didn’t matter. Smoothing the mush over the bread he took a big bite and enjoyed the taste of something on his tongue. He swallowed it and looked over to Belle who had been much more silent than usual. Something about the way she was eating and hunched over hinted to him that something was wrong. Realizing he should attempt to make some sort of polite conversation rather than just stuff his face he wiped his mouth clean. “Good meal tonight.”

  “Mhm,” Belle gave a faint smile as she took a dainty bite from her plate.

  “What’s wrong?” Maxson knew something was up.

  “Nothing…” Belle’s tone and the expression on her face told the contrary.

  “What is it? Did Eddie do something? I’ll break his neck—,” Maxson began, but was cutoff.

  “No, Maxson. Eddie didn’t do anything!” Incensed Belle-Lyanna, losing her temper for only a moment.

  “Then what?” Maxson put his plate down in his lap to signal he wasn’t going to take another bite until she spoke.

  “It’s just… It’s just annoying,” Belle confessed like she had committed a crime.

  “What is?”

  “I just feel like I get treated like a little girl. I’m going to be 19 soon!” Belle squeaked.

  “What is this all about? Were you hanging around Krystal earlier?”, Maxson wasn’t following where this was going or why she was bringing this up.

  “Why can’t I come with you guys tomorrow? I want to get off this dump too! It’s boring here!” Belle whined. “Nobody ever lets me do anything!”

  “For one, it is too dangerous and you’re not ready. For two, what is it that you want to do?” Maxson asked.

  “Huh? What do you mean?” Belle had broken out of her emotion.

  “I’m saying, you have too much time to think and aren’t busy enough,” Maxson gave her some tough love.

  She hissed, “What-Ever!”

  “I’m serious. What is it exactly that you want to occupy your time? Mabel can teach you about the garden, cooking… she taught you how to sew. Remember you made me that scarf?”

  “Knitted. I knitted you that scarf.” She corrected him, before adding. “The scarf you never wear. It was supposed to bring you good luck, Maxson!”

  I can never win. Maxson thought realizing he would now have to wear the scarf, but was undeterred to focus on the objective. “Colton could teach you how to hunt, Henry can repair just about anything, make Suzie’s special pie, Diego can build just about anything, Dusty…” Maxson struggled to think about what Dusty actually did. “Never mind Dusty, but you have options.”

  “I know. I just wish I could get off the farm,” Belle admitted.

  “It’s dangerous to go out there, Belle. Right now, things are coming easy, but you never can tell when it all comes apart at the seams,” Maxson said, thinking back on the night at the rec center. “And when it does… it rips apart everything… everyone.”

  “I know,” Belle said in a hushed tone and from a place of understanding. She too, was thinking of the same night and of her father.

  Maxson could see that she wasn’t satisfied, “If it’s leaving the farm, that you want, then I will teach you how to carry a weapon.”

  “Really?” Belle was all ears.

  “Yeah, really,” Maxson stated.

  “Like a gun?” Belle asked.

  “Nah.” Maxson grabbed her wrist and balled up her fists. He then tapped on the side of her head. “These weapons.”

  Belle was slightly confused at first, but understood what he was saying.

  Maxson was sort of surprised that she was so interested in adventure, but was proud of her too. It wasn’t because she was a woman, or that she wasn’t physically fit, but she wasn’t exactly built for fighting like someone like Inez was. Sweet, innocent and nurturing inside and out, it was scary to see her having to see the world outside of the farm.

  However, he could understand the need for freedom. Open roads and open bottles, was his motto at her age.

  “Alright… Well, I guess I have something to look forward to then,” Belle did her best to give a smile.

  Maxson smiled back staring at her for a moment. She was still innocent enough, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to protect her forever.

  “What?” Belle blushed.

  black comanche

  It was the coldest day of fall and the group that would be going to Greenbrook made sure to layer up. Without any of the Essex brothers, the ride there was much more peaceful for Maxson. Slug, Colton and Diego all had come with so they could help load the truck. The two men who were in lean shape, Colton and Diego, had fought over the window seat. Slug being the generous guy he was, ended up in the middle so they could both have one of the coveted windows. The whole thing backfired on the two men with Slug’s round frame resting in the middle of them and essentially pinning them against the doors of the truck.

  Maxson was gripping the steering wheel while Catalina sat next to him in the passenger seat. She was silent and for some reason it made him fidget with the fabric that hung around his neck. Belle had put the scarf over his shoulders and it was feeling like a collar. Especially while sitting next to Catalina, the loose cloth somehow found a way to strain at his neck. Taking it off was not an option though, because if he forgot to put it back on and Belle-Lyanna saw him without it, she would be crushed.

  Sometimes a man has to make sacrifices, in life. Maxson said to himself. Sometimes needing to justify his own choices; or lack thereof.

  Catalina hadn’t been in this direction before and her big bro
wn eyes were taking it all in. She was silent, but somehow managed to exude a majestic wonder without so much as a peep. She didn’t get out much due to feeling the need to coordinate the happenings on the farm. There was just too much to do and never enough time or labor to do it all. A bit if of a perfectionist, made her work and her stresses never ending. Someone had to stress about the group, and somehow, she found herself spearheading that committee.

  The new scenery was a good distraction from Maxson’s own selfish ulterior motives. The two five-gallon jugs of gasoline he had brought were still sloshing in the back of the truck. Catalina never gave him permission to take the gasoline, in order to get that Comanche roaring and the tires soaring. However, technically she never denied him consent either. “How you guys doing back there?” Maxson asked while stifling his laughter. The three men in the back seat looked like they were packed as tight as sardines.

  “Oh, we’re fine, Maxson, thank you,” Slug answered for the group, completely oblivious to the fact he was taking more than his fair share of the backseat. The other two men looked at him and were perturbed.

  “Looks cozy,” Joked Maxson, who could see Diego and Colton’s agony. “But at least you both got your window seats. Am I right boys?”

  He could hear them both make a noise, but they didn’t say anything. Realizing he might be pushing his luck with two guys he gave them some hope, “We’re almost there, boys, just hang on.”

  “And gals,” Reminded Catalina as she continued to analyze their surroundings.

  “Yup. And gals,” Maxson added. She wasn’t like Inez who would have been annoyed at him calling her a “gal” even if she was one. Women.

  The drive lasted less than five minutes from there and they soon pulled into the town. Without the limping corpses and the town partly scavenged, the town looked even emptier than he remembered. The truck pulled directly into town this time and parked right by the flag in the center roundabout.

  “There are some two-wheelers and flatbeds that we can use at the hardware store that will help us move faster,” Maxson said like a tour guide of the apocalypse, but he was the only out of the group that had been there before. “Load up a couple of them after we’re done. I’m sure we’ll get some use out of them on the farm.”

  Maxson shut the truck off and they all stepped out. The Boomer Blaster was still impressively bumping the bass from all the way down the street. He had used some high-quality batteries, but to have gone all night and day without losing its power made him wonder if he should pick one up for the farm.

  I’m sure Reggie snagged himself one. Assumed Maxson.

  “Rap? I thought rodeo music would have been what have attracted these fine country folks out here,” Catalina stated with melodramatic shock.

  “She’s got jokes,” Maxson grinned.

  “Spooky, no cars around?” Diego asked suspiciously. He had wrapped a rope around his bat so he could sling it over his shoulder. “Nada.”

  Colton was looking up and down the small store fronts that were mostly big windows that were still unshattered, “You don’t think we can take this place over? We could barricade these streets off. There’s really only two we’d have to worry about.”

  “I don’t think the question is so much if we could, but should we?” Catalina said from in front of the entire group, including Maxson. Confidently knowing where she was going even though she had never been there before.

  “Why no?” Diego wasn’t challenging, but sincerely wondering.

  “Compared to where we are right now, this place is right in the open,” Catalina said before stopping.

  “It’s not like we’ve seen a whole lot of people. Have we even seen anyone since we bunkered down on the farm?”, Asked Colton.

  The entire group looked at one another and everyone shook their heads.

  “For all we know, we could be the last people alive,” Colton continued.

  “Well that’s a scary thought,” Maxson really hoped that him and their group wasn’t mankind’s last hope. Especially if that meant that Konrad would be part of repopulating the planet.

  “Well you guys saw that car that one night, right?”, Catalina asked, referred to the evening that a car drove down the highway. Pete, Scott and Maxson were just getting back home and were unable to get their attention to stop. If it weren’t getting dark outside, they would have followed, but chose not to risk it. Henry had the entire group on edge with his tales of shadowy monsters.

  Maxson had almost forgotten about that incident and nodded in recollection.

  “What about Achilles? You don’t think of him as part of the group?” Maxson said to Colton, trying to downplay his nihilistic view.

  “Psh,” Colton half-heartedly mustered out of pity for Maxson’s attempt at humor.

  “And that radio transmission from the radio in the semi you guys brought home. The one they were speaking another language that none of us knew.” Catalina reminded.

  “We also saw that helicopter,” Slug added as he stared up at the blue sky mixed with white clouds that were currently overhead. He swayed back and forth almost losing his balance as he lost himself in its beauty.

  “Konrad shoot at it,” Diego said with improper grammar and with hands demonstrating the shooting of an imaginary gun at something in the sky. He indicated his contempt by ending his spectacle by shaking head.

  “Ah-Hell! Ya’ll know what I was sayin’,” Colton said becoming defensive, hearing everyone have an answer for him, even Slug. “I’m just sayin’ not a whole lot of folk ‘round to figure out what’s going on from.”

  The group was surprised by Colton’s abruptness. He was usually such a carefree individual, but was acting out of the ordinary. Maxson could tell something was eating away at his best friend and he had a hunch that he knew what it was.

  “Well this is the first I’m hearing about the helicopter,” Catalina said looking to Maxson with her hands on her hips.

  Maxson raised his hands in preemptive surrender, one was clenching onto his axe, “Don’t look at me! This is the first time I’m hearing about this too.”

  Catalina nodded lightly as if she was storing that information into her memory, “Well, alright, I guess we should probably step to. Maxson?”

  “Yes ma’am?” Maxson gave her his attention.

  “How about you show me this Resort?” She asked, but it was more of a command. She adjusted her plain tan button up shirt that was made for a man. It was unbuttoned and rolled at the sleeves up to her elbows. A pair of cargo pants covered her wide hips and thick firm thighs. She turned on her hiking boot and began to walk off expecting him to follow her.

  Maxson cleared his throat making her stop to turn. He thumbed the direction he began to walk in. “This way, little lady. Follow me.”

  She did as she was told and he showed her the ladder that was for roof access. They had to walk around the stretch of storefronts and by the construction site where the crowd could still be heard groaning at the bottom.

  “They’re all in there?” Catalina said to Maxson with the other three loading the truck and trailer.

  “Hope so,” Maxson said genuinely, but jokingly as well. Once they reached the ladder, he stopped them both. “I’ll go first to make sure the roof is cleared.”

  She pushed him aside and began to climb up, “Oh my god, get over yourself. What am I? Your little girlfriend?”

  Ouch! That one kind of stung. Maxson thought and felt, but followed her up nonetheless. They both reached the top of the same roof that Maxson threatened to toss Konrad off of. “By the way. She is not my girlfriend.”

  “You keep telling yourself that,” Catalina patted at his chest before grabbing at the binoculars that hung around Maxson’s neck. She was tugging to indicate that she wanted them and Maxson obliged by taking them off. “Show me.”

  “You sure are bossy.” Maxson said as he pointed out the direction she should look. She said nothing and put them up to her eyes looking for a few minutes. Maxson asked
, “Do you see it?”

  “Yes.”

  “And?” Maxson felt like he was prying teeth to get her to talk when just moments ago, he couldn’t get her to shut up. A woman that could frustrate him like no other.

  “I don’t know. I’m still looking. Keep yourself busy,” She said to him like he was a child.

  Maxson back away and walked off to cool off in the fall weather. Hands resting on the top of his head he let his underarms catch some air while he took a few deep breaths to regain his composure. Making his way over to the construction pit he decided to take another look to marvel at his plan that he thought was genius.

  Well, maybe not genius, but it worked nonetheless, On second thought, Maxson attempted to humble himself.

  He took a step to put his steel-toed boot and put it on the raised ledge to rest his weight against it. Looking down at the hundreds of creatures he noticed that there wasn’t as many as there were before. There was an increase of the black blood that had no covered almost half of the dirt floor of the pit. Oddly, they were all walking in a circle that was counter clockwise and in completely unison.

  What the fuck is going on? Maxson had never seen anything like it.

  The bald-headed giant corpse that looked like it was crying was still in the pit and standing in the middle being circled by its lifeless comrades. It wasn’t moving an inch and Maxson assumed it was trying to conserve its energy. The rest of the creatures walked around, but amongst them were the largest and strongest that had acted on the same cannibalism as the giant one in the center. It appeared to Maxson that for every ten normal dead there was one larger dead and for the larger one, there was a giant leader in the center. If organized by size, Maxson could clearly see some sort of hierarchy by the dead below. He could be overthinking it and those ratios could be off, but there seemed to be some sort of noticeable balance.

  The mammoth sized leader in the middle and his disciples appeared to Maxson to be herding the rest of the weaker corpses around in a circle of the pit. The larger ones would bump into smaller ones, knocking them aside and it looked like they were attempting to find the next weak link to feast upon.