State of (Book 1): State of Decay
Page 24
“Major, spit it out. I’d be honored to do anything I can for you or any of your men,” I said gently.
“It’s Tex,” he said. My smile faltered.
“What about him?” I knew something was going on with Tex, I just wasn’t sure what it was. Apparently the Major had a better clue than I did.
“He’s leaving,” he said flatly.
I thought I misheard him. “Leaving?” I asked, as if it didn’t make any sense.
Where in the world could he be going?
Major Parsons nodded his head.
“The darn fool has it in his head that he needs to be alone, so he’s planning on heading out into . . .” His voice trailed off.
I knew what he was getting at. Tex was headed out into a world that we really had no clue about, a world full of misery and death, and he was going to do it all alone. I’d done that for six months and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. He was an idiot and I was going to have to knock some sense into his honky-tonk-lovin’ ass.
I gritted my teeth and glanced over at the door that led topside.
“I’ll take care of it,” I said.
“Thank you,” he answered.
I nodded and shook hands with him.
He smiled and walked away to check on the rest of his men. I left to tell Major Tillman that I was going to be MIA for a few. He didn’t question what I was doing, he just told me to be careful. I gave him a smart salute and pulled my knife from its sheath.
He shook his head and sighed.
A few minutes later, I found Tex sitting in an office, staring at a telephone like it might ring at any moment. I could hear a few undead shuffle right outside the window.
“You waiting on a call?” I asked.
He smiled wryly, his eyes never leaving the desk phone. “It’s funny, really. I always hated to hear a phone ring. I despised my cell phone. I’d only gotten one in case Alison needed to reach me. So many people were caught up in their devices, their smartphones, laptops, and such. They tended to forget about real life going on all around them.” His voice lowered as he stared at the phone. “I’d give anything to hear a phone ring again. To hear people bustle about, full of life and dreams.” I took a deep breath, hurting a little for him and his pain. “How’d you know I was up here?” he asked a second later.
I shrugged and sat down on the edge of the desk. “What are you doing, Tex?”
He sighed deeply and raised his eyes to meet mine for the first time. “I’m doing what I need to do right now.”
My mouth flew open and I was ready to rip him a new one when he immediately cut me off.
“I can’t be here, Melody. Not right now. I know you think this is the absolute worst thing someone could do with the world the way it is right now,” he said. “And normally I would agree with you. But I know what I need right now. I know where I’m at, what I’ve dealt with, and how much more I can take,” he said vehemently. “I need this,” he said, his eyes wide and pleading.
I snapped my mouth closed, grinding my teeth.
“All those weeks under Germain and Dax, not knowing if my comrades were alive or dead. Months of lying, fear, and scheming.” He shook his head.
And I understood. Hell, I’d been taking all my emotional baggage out on zombies and clearing out the surrounding area since the day after we’d gotten back.
“I just need to be away from the army for a while,” he said. “I need time away from living in fear that another group will get snatched away under my watch.”
I stood up and walked over to the window, peering out through the blinds.
Two zombies were lumbering around the small RV we’d picked up.
I didn’t want him to go. It wasn’t good for anyone to be out there alone with the way things were. But I couldn’t help but understand where he was coming from and kind of get what he was saying.
Only Tex knew his mind and heart.
Only Tex could make a decision like this for himself. He appeared to be making the decision with a clear head, so who was I to make him feel like crap for it?
“I don’t like it,” I said, as if it made a difference.
I turned to face him. He grinned at me and got to his feet.
“I know you don’t, sweetheart. And I know Major Parsons doesn’t either. But you’ll both let me go, because you know it’s the right thing to do.”
I huffed out a breath and followed him to the door.
“You better not get killed, Tex,” I said angrily.
He smiled wider and reached for the doorknob. “I don’t plan on it,” he said with a wink.
“If it gets to be too much out there by yourself—”
“I’ll pack up and bring my ass right back here,” he finished for me.
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall. He turned the knob and cracked the door open.
“Tex, what’s your real name anyway?” I asked when he stepped through the doorway.
He didn’t turn or look back. “I’ll tell you some other time,” he said.
“Promise?” I whispered.
“Promise,” he murmured and shut the door behind him.
I stood there leaning up against the wall for quite a while after I heard the RV start up and drive off.
I thought about all I’d been through since that first day that the airplane fell from the sky to land in our neighborhood. I thought about all the time I spent alone in the woods, fending for myself and trying to survive day by day. I thought of all the things that had happened to me over the last several days, meeting other survivors, meeting Jude, almost dying a couple of times, meeting Tex, getting shot by my psycho ex-best friend and then having to kill her. I thought about Ghost. About little Ava who was up and running all over the base.
I thought about how much I loved Jude. About how we’d found each other despite the state of the world. Found something special in each other and our love.
I thought of all that, all the horrendous things and all the beautiful and good things and I couldn’t help but to have . . . hope.
Hope that tomorrow would be a better day.
Hope that the world could bounce back from the horrible, gaping wound it had suffered.
And hope that humanity would be able to find its way back from all the darkness, pain, and loss.
The End.
Tex’s story is coming to One Dark Horse Press in May 2020.
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