Randy was embarrassed he’d flinched so hard but what did Lyssa expect? “You startled me. I’m not used to being around people. I’ve been a loner for months.”
“Who were you with before that? A group or an individual?” Lyssa asked. She took a sip of her beer.
Randy sighed. Did he really want to get into this with her? What if she took anything he said the wrong way? What if she was as crazy as she seemed at times? Everyone still alive had had something about them changed. Your body might not be turned into a zombie but your mind had turned into something you never knew existed. The bad part of your thoughts and insight had been warped, and even though Randy was trying with all his might to hang on and stay the same guy, he knew he was trying to fool himself.
The guy he’d been had died a long time ago, maybe even before Raven. He had definitely changed after his last visit with her and Crow’s Hellfire Club.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Lyssa said.
Randy realized he’d been deep in thought for awhile, holding his beer near his lips without taking a drink. He was embarrassed again, with Lyssa staring at him.
“This is a nice night,” Randy said.
Lyssa finished her beer and laughed. “Either you forgot my question or you’re trying to change the subject.”
“I forgot the question, actually.”
“I asked who you were with before you became a loner and the redhead bitch stole your car. Was it actually your car?”
Randy shook his head. “It was a, uh, loaner.” He laughed at his own joke. “I was in Baltimore. I met a girl there.”
“A love interest?” Lyssa asked.
Randy couldn’t tell if she was asking out of jealousy or curiosity. He decided to tell her the truth, which was always easier than remembering what the lie had been.
“Yes, we became lovers. We shared an entire apartment building. It was hers. We were doing well. Staying away from zombies. We had food and water and were having fun, until her ex-boyfriend showed up and took her away,” Randy said.
“He doesn’t sound like he was really an ex if she went with him,” Lyssa said.
“Crow had something for Raven I could never give her.”
“A stupid bird name?”
Randy grinned. “That and drugs. She was hooked. An addict. I thought she didn’t need it any longer, even though she’d hinted about her drug use. You never think about stupid shit like that, you know? Just because the world is filling with zombies doesn’t mean people suddenly stop being druggies and alcoholics and psycho bitches or asshole ex-boyfriends. We all still have our vices and weird shit in our heads. Some people get to play out their fantasies now the law and common sense has fled.”
“You met her after all of this started. Did you love her?” Lyssa asked.
Randy nodded, took a sip of his beer, and stared at the wild grass on the lawn. Except for the unkempt yards and piles of leaves uncovered when the snow melted, the block looked nice and quiet.
“What are you thinking about?” Lyssa asked.
Randy didn’t know if she was trying to change the subject or had her answer by his non response. He didn’t want to talk about Raven and Baltimore. He’d done some really fucked up things back there and he’d been out of his mind for weeks after. Randy didn’t even remember getting on a highway and driving to Harrisburg. One day his mind cleared and he was here, right in time for the redhead to steal his wheels.
“I’m wondering if there’s a working lawnmower anywhere. The high grass is bothering me. How big is the backyard? Maybe we could plant some vegetables. Canned goods aren’t going to last forever.” Randy stood and leaned on the porch rail. He could see some definite potential in the area. They’d need to walk the perimeter and make it seem like no one lived here and no zombies could get in. It would be tough manning it with just the two of them, and, if anyone happening by saw what was going on, they’d be in trouble. Especially a large, hungry group.
“There are a few mowers, and I imagine we could find one that still works. But what for? The house would stick out like a sore thumb. I don’t want anyone to find me. This is where I go to get away from everything,” Lyssa said.
“We could stay and live quiet lives. There’s no reason to go back into Harrisburg. It’s nothing but death and zombies in the city. We can start a new life. Quiet evenings at home. I’m sure if we did a thorough search of not only these streets but adjacent ones, we’d be set for a long time. With two of us, we could cover more ground, too. Set up a security system even,” Randy said.
Lyssa stood and shook her head. “I’ll get the food. You haven’t even touched the snacks. I’ll get you another beer.”
“I don’t want another beer. I want you. I want to protect you from the horrible world, but you seem Hell bent on chaos. I need to know you want the same with me. Please. We don’t have to do anything bad anymore. You standing on top of a building with a rifle, trying to kill everything that moves, isn’t a good life. There’s no end game to it. Why can’t we live together in peace?” Randy asked. He stood and went to hug Lyssa.
She put up her hand and shook her head. “I invited you over for dinner. Most likely sex, too. But I don’t need you to fucking save me. I don’t need a knight in shining armor. This isn’t a bad movie. This is my escape and nothing more. I let you see it. Get a glimpse. Nothing more. You can’t stay and neither can I.”
Randy didn’t understand. “There’s so much potential. I’m not trying to move in on your turf, but I think we have a connection.”
“Did you have a connection with your bird girlfriend?”
Randy nodded.
“What happened to her?” Lyssa asked, taking a step towards the door.
“She turned into a zombie and I killed her.”
Lyssa sighed. “I’ll get us both another beer.”
Chapter Nine
She knew the right move was to leave town. Fill the car with enough supplies to last a few weeks and drive in any direction. Just get as far away from Harrisburg as they could.
But she had unfinished business, right or wrong.
She knew after last night Randy would do anything she wanted, and she was both happy and mad about it. She wanted a guy with a spine, but not someone who fought her on everything she wanted.
Their lovemaking had been fast and furious, and she’d taken control of Randy. He was submissive in and out of the sack. He’d done anything and everything she’d wanted and more. He’d learned a few things and Lyssa supposed she had Raven and the few other women he’d slept with in his life to thank for it.
Randy hadn’t brought up leaving Harrisburg for good and moving to this neighborhood the next morning when they’d woken and had breakfast. They’d eaten in silence, smiling and grinning like two school kids who’d kissed for the first time.
Lyssa knew he was also in no hurry to leave the safety of the home and go back to cold and unforgiving Harrisburg, and on an intelligent level she understood.
Would it be so hard to just stay and grow old together?
Randy was amazed at the rooms filled with supplies and how organized Lyssa had gotten everything. It was done more out of boredom than anything else. She’d spent long hours in the home during daylight hours with nothing to do except read a few old magazines or romance novels she’d found on the former female occupant’s side of the room in a nightstand.
“What are we, uh, you low on?” Randy asked.
“I’m not sure. I never really took a thorough roll call of what is missing. Only what I have. I suppose more bottled water would make sense. Toilet paper is always a priority as well as feminine hygiene stuff. Not sure what else you need,” Lyssa said.
“I’d really love some clean socks and underwear. More cold beers, even if they’re getting skunked, and hard liquor,” Randy said. He wasn’t much of a drinker.
A shot of bourbon or some whiskey every now and then wouldn’t be bad, though. It might take away the edge for a few hours and she could forget about
what she’d been through. Even for a little while. Lyssa knew she could drink Randy under the table but there was little pleasure in it now. Back in the day, in Iowa, she’d go toe to toe with some of the biggest and baddest wannabe cowboys and put them to shame.
It had been no fun drinking alone lately, though.
“I’m going for a walk,” Lyssa said to Randy.
“Let me find my shoes and I’ll come with you.”
She put up a hand. “I need to take it by myself. I’m not used to you being around, okay? I never liked crowds to begin with, and I enjoy the silence. I’ll be back.”
Randy looked hurt but didn’t say anything.
Lyssa took one of the rifles she had near the front door and smiled at Randy.
“I’ll be back in a bit. Make yourself comfortable. Feel free to eat anything you want, too. If you can think of anything the house might need, there’s a legal pad on the kitchen counter. I usually doodle in it. Maybe instead of wasting the paper you can start us a grocery list?” Lyssa tried not to sound condescending and didn’t know if it was working. She liked Randy but she’d get bored with his submissive attitude really fast, and his hurt puppy bullshit was going to grate on her nerves, too.
Lyssa took off at a fast clip, hoping he didn’t do what she thought he would and try to follow and talk. She wasn’t much of a talker lately.
The air was cool and now she wished she’d taken a jacket or a heavier shirt, but she wasn’t going back until she was ready.
What if she got in a car and drove back into the city, or took off in another direction? Would it be so bad? Lyssa didn’t know. She needed to clear her head.
Randy was a good guy. The sex was good, too. But was it enough? A relationship came with complications, especially now. If she died right now, no one would care. If she got attached to Randy and he died… she didn’t want to face having to feel something about another person. She didn’t see an upside.
Lyssa got around the corner and out of sight from the house before she started to cry.
Why are you such a crazy bitch? Get your shit together. Walk it off and stop acting like a pussy. Lighten up, Cupcake, Lyssa told herself.
A kitten was staring at her from one of the overgrown lawns, little brown and black head bobbing back and forth as it sniffed the air.
Lyssa took a step closer and the cat turned and fled, leaving a trail of disturbed grass and weeds as it moved.
“Wait. I only want to pet you,” Lyssa said. She followed the kitten, running through the lawn as it slapped against her legs and even her thighs in spots.
The front door to the home was slightly ajar and Lyssa caught a glimpse of the kitten slipping inside.
This is where all horror movies get you, she thought. A dark house and a stupid female who goes inside looking for a stupid cat. Turn around and keep walking.
She’d been in the house before. It might’ve been one of the homes she’d kicked the door in looking for food and supplies. They were all starting to look the same as the lawns and trees slowly overtook them, and the animals found new places to live.
Lyssa used the rifle to push the door open.
The entryway was littered with blown leaves and dirt. There were faint footprints in the dust, which were probably hers from the last time she’d been inside. Tiny fresh cat prints were visible, going down the hallway and into the open kitchen.
Lyssa followed her faded prints as she moved quietly, scanning the living room as she passed. There was nothing out of place.
A dusty family portrait was set above the fireplace. She remembered it. Lyssa had stared at the family, mom and dad with two young boys, and wondered where they were or how they’d died. She still wondered. The house had been clean and tidy, as if everyone was at work or school. The food was still in the cabinets and clothes hung in the closet. Nothing out of place.
Lyssa leaned against the wall and couldn’t take her eyes from the portrait.
This family was gone and no one would remember them. She didn’t even know their names; although, there was a pile of junk mail on the kitchen table she remembered seeing. Everything they’d been working for one day was gone the next. Maybe dad had a big meeting at work coming up, and mom was trying to figure out how to pay all the bills on her husband’s salary while baking brownies for the youngest son’s school party. Maybe they were about to get a divorce and had been talking about who got the children, or trying to decide on a new car. A vacation. Having the neighbors over for Scrabble night. Which one was having an affair?
Lyssa started to cry again. None of this mattered. Living and dying were overrated. You simply got by until it was over. No master plan. Nothing.
She heard the kitten in the kitchen purring.
“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t have Randy in my life,” Lyssa whispered. She needed to live and die alone.
The kitten was behind the refrigerator, purring in contentment.
Lyssa didn’t bother to pull it out. Just hearing another living creature was enough for her. She’d bring it food later and maybe someday it would want to come home with her and hang out. But if it didn’t… it didn’t really matter, did it?
Chapter Ten
Randy woke to the sound of dripping water and a cold morning, his body stiff from sleeping on the cement floor. The dirty pillows and covers were soaked with his sweat. He wished he’d taken some fresh linen but didn’t think Lyssa would’ve let him.
Lyssa.
Something had happened on her walk. Maybe something bad, because she’d looked annoyed and then pissed when he’d started talking to her.
“I need you to get out and never come back,” she’d said. “Take the car and forget about me and this place. If I see you hanging around or trying to get back in, I will shoot you in the fucking face. Do you understand?”
Randy had nodded and Lyssa had forcibly evicted him from her house.
If he’d been smart, he would’ve walked to another home on the other side of the development and hidden away in a nice bed, but he was a chicken-shit and afraid she really would kill him.
Harrisburg was now even worse than he’d thought, once you had a taste of how you used to live. He’d been able to remember the past and now it was taken away, his life back to being miserable and lonely.
Was Lyssa serious or had something pissed her off and she’d eventually come around? He hoped so. While she might be a little rough around the edges and was definitely a little nuts, she was good company. She was also amazing in bed. It wasn’t like Randy could log into a dating website and find another girl to hang out with who liked long walks on the beach, comedies and Chinese food. The dating pool had shrunk considerably, and, even in a crisis of epic proportions, you still needed someone to talk to.
Who are you kidding anyway? It isn’t like you were getting laid on a regular basis before the end of the world, he thought.
Randy decided to wrap up in as many blankets as he could reach without getting up and sleep the day away. What did it really matter anyway? It wasn’t like he had anything to do except stay alive. It was pretty much the only real job you had anymore. Maybe eat something and drink some water. Otherwise, nothing else mattered.
If I die tomorrow will anyone care? Is there even anyone to care? Randy knew he was sinking into morbid thoughts again but he went with it, closing his eyes and putting his head back onto the dirty pillow. He wanted to dream again, of a normal day with people on the streets and cars going by. Kids playing. Noises. A boss yelling at him for being a slacker. His friends calling to come over and hang out and play videogames and drink beers until they ran out and went on a burger and beer run.
He wanted to be normal again.
All of his buddies were dead. All of his family was dead. He was the last Jackson and there would never be any more. He knew he had the stupid thought of Lyssa being his wife and having children and keeping the family name alive, but for what? So his kids could get eaten by zombies? Maybe their kids could be brutalized by
monsters? What kind of world would he be bringing children into?
He closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep. To dream and pretend this was all a nightmare. To know…
Glass shattered in the convenience store.
Randy jumped up and found the baseball bat within arm’s reach. If it was a zombie, he’d need to destroy it quickly and dispose of the body down the block so it didn’t attract more. If it was a living person, he’d do the same. He hoped it was Lyssa with a change of heart.
Something big crashed inside the store.
Randy went to the stockroom doors and opened them a crack.
The front windows, which had been boarded up but still had some glass attached, was breached. At least four zombies had fallen over the window and into the store, and Randy could see more shadows outside.
How had they found him? He’d been careful. He’d been safe.
He saw the slab of rotting meat on the ground near the stockroom door. Confused, he opened the door and kicked the meat as far away as he could, but it wasn’t far enough. One of the zombies turned dead eyes on Randy and started shuffling in his direction.
Someone had thrown the meat into the convenience store. But who?
Randy didn’t have time to figure it out now. He closed the stockroom door, grabbed his bug out bags and unlocked the back door.
It led to a small caged area where he’d first found supplies. The chain-link fence had no gate so Randy would have to climb it.
He heard the gunshot a second before it went past his head and took a chunk of wall out. Randy turned and went back inside. He had no choice but to fight his way out through the front. He was dealing with not only zombies but at least one person with a rifle.
The zombies were making a mess of the store and they’d be inside the stockroom soon enough. Randy had nowhere to hide, but even if he made it past the zombies there was probably a shooter on top of a building ready to put a bullet through his head.
Randy silently prayed it wasn’t Lyssa, crazier than he thought she was, trying to kill him. That would be awful and the worst way to die. She was the last person he’d think would do it, but she was such an unknown factor right now.
Highway To Hell 2 Page 4
