by Raymond Lee
Sky grabbed one of the plastic bags they’d filled at the gas station and clenched it tight in her fist as she watched Torres jog across the street and creep over to the side of the house. He stood on a trash can and looked over the privacy fence encasing the side and back yard. After a few minutes he stepped down and walked to the front of the house. He paused to look through one of the windows then proceeded to the open front door.
Sky held her breath as he stuck his head inside and looked from one side to the other then he slapped his hand against the jamb and stepped back. He stood outside the door with the baseball bat over his shoulder, gripped in both hands and ready to swing. After a moment passed and nothing ran out he disappeared inside.
“I hate when he does that,” Sky whispered, her stomach suddenly feeling very hollow.
“I hate when he does that without us,” Sara griped, her hand on the door handle.
“We’re not supposed to leave the car until he tells us to.”
“I know, but if I hear any screaming from inside that house I’m running toward it whether he calls us over or not.”
“I don’t think Torres screams,” Sky said, earning a laugh. She didn’t understand why as she’d only been stating a fact.
He returned in the doorway, took a quick look around, and waved them over. Sara was out of the car with door closed before Sky even got hers open. By the time she joined her outside the vehicle, Sara was taking quick strides toward the house, her head on a swivel. “We could probably get some food from that school. It would have a cafeteria and it’s not the type of place someone would usually go to for food.”
“I think we’re only staying here long enough for Torres to sleep and to look for coats,” Sky told her, catching up. She folded her arms and braced herself against the cool morning air.
Torres was shaking his head and frowning when they reached the door. He waited for them to enter before pulling the door closed. He locked it and turned toward Sara. “Were you even watching for her?”
“What?” Sara looked between him and Sky. “She was right behind me.”
“No she wasn’t right behind you. She had to catch up to you because you were already moving before she even got out of the car. She’s a kid. You’re supposed to be watching out for her.”
“Are you serious? I was standing in front of her, just like you always stand in front of her.”
“No, you were ahead of her. That’s different than in front of her.”
Sara opened her mouth to respond but snapped it closed. “I’m not arguing with you. Clearly I will never do anything good enough for you.” She looked at the room. “This place is a mess.”
“Yeah, well there’s this little thing called a zombie apocalypse going on,” Torres said. “I did a run-through and it looks safe enough. There’s nothing alive, dead, or undead in here. There’s some blood near the back door off the kitchen and the furniture down here is a mess, clearly there was a struggle, but the upstairs is pretty decent. None of the windows are busted, the doors have good locks, and as long as we’re quiet I don’t see any reason why we can’t recharge here before heading back out on the road. I think even you’ll agree we need a little time not cramped together in that car.”
“I know I do,” Sky muttered as she looked around. The front door opened onto a living room with a staircase to the left. There was a floral patterned couch and loveseat that looked to have been moved away from the wall in some sort of disturbance and now sat at weird angles. A coffee table had been toppled, its contents spilled onto the floor. A flat screen TV lay busted close to it, the wiring still in the wall. A large portrait of a redheaded and brunette family of five hung on the wall, a crack marring the entire length of the glass frame. Smaller individual photos of the various family members had been toppled over on a bookshelf. “Were they killed here?”
Torres followed her gaze to the portrait on the wall. “Can’t say for sure, but something happened here. There aren’t any bodies so either they got away or they shuffled away. The important thing is we have a secure place to rest.”
Sky didn’t say anything but as she looked at the family portrait, noting the chubby cheeks on the little boy, the pretty straight red hair on the girl about her size and the brunette teenager who looked about Raven’s age her throat clogged a bit, but it was the parents who made her eyes water. She imagined them fighting with everything they had to protect their children, as she knew her parents would have fought for her and Raven if only they hadn’t been taken from them so soon, so unfairly. She couldn’t help but wonder how very different everything would have been if they hadn’t died in the crash.
“Hey, pequenuela, it’s all right.” Torres pulled her into his side and kissed the top of her head. “There was no car in the driveway and they didn’t have a garage. Chances are, everyone survived and they got out of here just in time. The blood could have come from an infected person they fended off.”
“He’s right,” Sara said, craning her neck into the other room. “There was obviously a struggle but the family could have kicked major infected ass. And I just realized how disgusting that sounds.” They looked at each other and laughed, and Sky felt the tension between Torres and Sara ease a little, making the atmosphere a little less hostile.
“I opened closets but didn’t really go through them,” Torres said. “I just did a quick check to make sure no one was hiding inside. You two should go through them and look for coats, sweatshirts, warm clothes we need. I’ll do the same once I wake up, but I’m going to grab some sleep while I can. Stay away from the windows and do not go outside for any reason. I shouldn’t have to tell you that but I am just in case.”
“Are we leaving right after you wake up?” Sara asked. “We should scavenge this area first.”
Torres ran a hand through his hair, scratching his head. “Where? The pizza parlor? We gonna grab some canned olives?”
“We could,” Sara said. “We could also check out that school down the street. Who knows how many canned goods they have in the cafeteria? No one would think to look for food there so there’s probably a ton. I mean, they fed a lot of kids every day.”
“Did you think about finding food there?” Torres asked.
“Yeah, I just said we should.”
“Then clearly someone would think to look there, and I don’t think a school is the safest place to go looking. The outbreak happened really fast in some areas and there wasn’t a single age group unaffected. I’m not exactly aching to go check out any type of building that held hundreds of people in it on a daily basis.”
“It would just kill you to admit I could have a good idea.”
“Please don’t start arguing again,” Sky pleaded. “I have been listening to it since California and that was a bajillion miles ago.”
“The kid is right. We can discuss it after I wake up. I’m tired and irritable right now so I’m going to catch some sleep before I say anything else.” He bent down to whisper in Sky’s ear. “Keep an eye on her. I’m putting you in charge, just don’t tell her or she’ll have a fit.” He ruffled Sky’s hair and started up the staircase. “I’ll be in the master bedroom. Feel free to scavenge the house but do not attempt to leave.”
“And stay away from the windows, blah, blah, blah,” Sara called up to him as she rolled her eyes. “We got it, commander.” She caught Sky’s eye and sobered. “What? I didn’t say anything bad.”
“It’s the way you say things,” Sky told her. “I think you like fighting with him.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Sara scoffed and shoved her hands into her back pockets. “Why would I like arguing?”
“I don’t know but you sure do it with him every chance you get.” Sky entered the dining room off the living room and set her bag of food on the table. “Are you going to take a nap too?”
“No, I’m awake now.” Sara walked past the dining room, into the kitchen and made a sound of disgust in her throat. “Old blood is nasty. I’m going to check for food in
here. He said we could at least scavenge inside.”
Sky followed her into the kitchen, stopped at the entry and looked around as Sara opened cabinets and started searching for whatever they could use. The puddle of dried blood in front of the back door caught her attention and before she knew it she was assaulted with flashbacks of the hotel the last day she saw Raven. She’d seen plenty of nasty stuff since that day but she didn’t think anything could ever compare to the half-body that had fallen from the check-in counter and started crawling toward them. She swayed a little as the scene replayed in her mind.
“Sky! Honey, are you all right?”
Sky came out of the memory to find Sara’s hand clamped around her arm. “I’m fine.”
“Yeah, well, you sure don’t look it. Sit down.” Sara guided her back to the dining table and sat her in one of the chairs. She knelt before her on the floor. “You’re awfully pale. Have you eaten anything other than candy bars since we left?”
“I had chips,” Sky told her. “I’m fine.”
“No, you looked like you were about to pass out for a minute there.” Sara looked through the bag of food Sky had brought in and selected a protein bar. “I know these things are kind of gross but they’re better than candy bars as far as nutrition goes. Eat it.”
“They taste like sawdust,” Sky complained, taking the bar. “I’m tired of these things. I don’t know how Torres likes them so much.”
“I’m pretty sure that before the zombies turned the world into a giant shitfest these were the closest things to a dessert that he allowed himself.”
“He says fruit is a dessert.”
Sara rolled her eyes. “The muscles are great, but I’d rather have a hot fudge sundae every once in a while.”
“You talk about his muscles a whole lot.” Sky narrowed her eyes. “You like him.”
“He is infuriating, but sure. I mean, he let me stay at the bar when I was pretty bad off. I like you too.”
“No, you like him like him. Like kisses and cooties and yucky stuff.”
“That’s ridiculous. He’s not nearly my type.”
Sky raised an eyebrow as she took a bite of the nasty protein bar. She’d selected ones with a lot of chocolate but there wasn’t enough chocolate in the world to make something that tasted like sawdust appetizing.
“He’s short.”
“He’s not that short. He’s taller than us.”
“You’re nine, and we’re girls. I like tall guys. Everybody likes tall guys.”
“Clearly you like Torres-size guys, and he’s not that short. He’s normal sized, except for the shoulders. Those are pretty big.” She took another nibble from the protein bar and swallowed. “If you’re trying to make him like you back you’re doing it wrong. When you keep griping at him it just makes him want to throw you out of his car. I can’t say that I blame him. You both get on my nerves.”
Sara laughed. “And here I was worried about you, you little stinker. I’m going to finish checking these cabinets and see if there’s any kind of canned fruits or vegetables. Maybe we can have a real meal before we leave here. Don’t get up until you finish that protein bar. I don’t want you passing out on me. Lord knows Torres would blame me.” She stood and walked back into the kitchen. “You know what I really miss? Chinese food. What I wouldn’t give for an eggroll and some Lo Mein. What about you? What do you miss the most?”
“My family,” Sky said softly and finished the protein bar, forcing herself to swallow down the dry, flavorless snack. She entered the kitchen to find Sara stacking canned goods on the counter next to the stove. “You never talk about your family, or much of anything else.”
“No family to talk about,” Sara said, continuing her work. “My mom kicked me out years ago when she hooked up with some guy who didn’t want anything to do with her kids. My brother went one way with his crackhead friends and I went the other. I’ve lived in California my whole life and know how to make it on my own. Hell, I was buying my own groceries from the time I was fifteen and got my first job at a little pizza place. Moved in with a guy I was seeing, but he turned out to be also seeing someone else. Moved in with another guy until the same thing happened. If I teach you anything, kid, it’s that guys are fun but they’ll ditch you quick when someone else catches their eye, and someone else always catches their eye. Never trust a man to take care of you.”
Sky frowned. “Torres takes care of me. He wouldn’t leave me.”
Sara paused what she was doing to look over at her, studying her a moment. A deep crease stretched across her brow. “And you swear he has never touched you in any way? You can tell me.”
“I told you a hundred times, he hasn’t.” Sky’s tone took on the anger that rose in her each time Sara started asking questions about Torres as if he were a bad guy.
“Just checking.”
“You already checked.”
“Sometimes girls are afraid to say. Look, honestly, that night I wandered into the bar looking for scraps? I was totally going to leave that night after eating, but I stayed for you. I saw this Latino guy caring for a girl who’s as lily white as I am and too old to be his kid unless he started really young and I had my suspicions. I’ve had bad men claim to care for me and say they’d keep me safe too. Turned out they were the bad guys.”
“Torres isn’t a bad guy.”
“No, he’s probably not. That’s why I continued to stay. That’s why I didn’t snatch you and leave. You got lucky with him being the one to find you in this mess.” Sara checked the small cabinets next to the silverware drawer and grabbed some plastic bags to put the canned goods in. “If anything happens to change that. If he changes, or if you get separated, remember all the things I’ve told you about men. Remember you have to look out for yourself no matter what. Understand?”
“I understand.” Sky squirmed, the topic always making her feel uneasy. Raven had told her about dirty men that liked to do bad things to little girls, and taught her to be careful, but Sara was different. Sara seemed to always be looking for Torres to misstep, and she wasn’t entirely comfortable with the knowledge she’d planned on snatching her away from him. “I’m going to look for coats and lay down. Are you going to sleep? You’re supposed to be switching with Torres so we can hurry to Nebraska.”
Sara rolled her eyes. “No matter what that man says, he doesn’t want me driving. Even when I do he stays awake fussing at me about how I drive. I’m going to scavenge but I’ll be quiet so the two of you can sleep.”
“You’re not going to leave, are you?”
“You guys are my ride and Torres has the keys,” Sara answered, returning to stacking cans. “Of course I wouldn’t just take off and leave you two stranded here in Colorado anyway. Get some sleep, kid. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Sky watched her for a moment, that uneasy feeling in her gut she was really growing to hate slithering around. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was up with Sara. She liked the blonde wisecracker but didn’t trust her on the same level she trusted Torres, however she didn’t think Sara would intentionally do anything to harm them. Unintentionally, she wasn’t nearly as confident about. Sara didn’t seem to want to follow rules and Torres had given them specific ones, and he’d put her in charge.
Sara turned toward her. “What’s wrong, hon? Do you need something else to eat? There’s Pork and Beans. You can eat them straight out of the can.”
“No, I’m fine.” Sky turned away and entered the living room, going back to the closet she’d passed to get to the dining room. She opened it up and found coats in various sizes. She pulled out a black puffy one with hot pink accents and tried it on. It fit perfectly. She rummaged through the rest of the closet and found a black coat for Torres and a light blue one for Sara. She set them on the couch and closed the closet, seeing no need to grab any of the lighter weight jackets.
She climbed the stairs as quietly as she could so as not to disturb Torres. He was in the first room on the right, l
ying on his back in a queen-sized bed, eyes closed, baseball bat at his side and gun on the nightstand next to him. He still wore his shoes, ready to get up and run to her side if needed. Sky watched him for a moment, wondering if he’d ever taken a moment to truly relax since the day he’d snatched her off the street and appointed himself her guardian. She wondered if Raven had taken a moment to relax, if she were out there somewhere running every day, desperately seeking safety, or if she’d found it, or if she were resting in death, watching her from above with their parents. Sky wiped away an escaped tear and checked her surroundings. The room directly across the hall from the one Torres had occupied was a young boy’s room decorated in firetrucks. She knew there’d be no clothes to fit any of them in the room and the bed was too small even for her to be comfortable so she continued down the hall.
A bathroom was on the right and the last room on the left was the girls’ room. There were two twin beds. One with One Direction bedsheets and the other with plain black sheets. The younger sister’s side of the room continued the One Direction theme while the older sister’s side was tribute to an assortment of music and movies, from Rihanna to Pirates of the Caribbean. There was one desk with a computer they appeared to share. Above that, a shelf supported a collection of Funko POP! figures. Sky looked through the collection, smiling when she saw the Peeta and Katniss figures. She and Raven had seen an early screening of Mockingjay one of their first days in Hollywood and she was thankful they’d at least gotten to do that. Raven loved the series almost as much as she loved David Cook and that was saying something. Raven was always listening to David Cook. She ran her fingers over the figures, wishing Raven was with her. Her sister would probably take the figures, even though they were unnecessary for survival. She considered taking them in case she did find Raven again, but chose not to. If she didn’t find her they would only serve as a sad reminder.
Reminding herself that she needed to be looking for things they needed to survive, not looking for useless collectibles, Sky walked over to the walk-in closet and stepped inside. Each side had clearly been designated for a particular sister, with the one about her age on the left. She combed through the clothes with her fingers, pulling out a couple of sweatshirts and T-shirts. She paused with a One Direction T-shirt in her hand and stared deep into Zayn Malik’s eyes. She had a shirt just like it at home and wondered if she’d ever see it again. Would she ever return to Kentucky? If she did, would she find that someone had gone through her belongings like she was doing now? For all she knew the family was at a military base and would someday return. She left the T-shirt, deciding to take only what was needed and not a shirt she knew the girl would definitely miss.
