“Yes, I have,” he said, turning back to the road. “Sarah, I realize I fucked up with you. And I can’t change anything I did. But I’m real sorry for the way I treated you.”
“Mhm. I don’t want to talk about it. You’re full of shit, and you know it. You’re not sorry. You’ve never been sorry.” She glared angrily at him. “Just pull over at the next rest stop. Maybe somebody’ll be there.”
“What happened to Max?” Jimmy asked. “Did those things get him?”
Sarah was surprised Jimmy even knew her husband’s name. The last time she’d talked to him (and pretty much every time she’d talked to him before that), Jimmy had called Max, ‘the dick.’ She was starting to agree with him.
“No, those things didn’t get him. They didn’t even get Tom. Tom was trying to protect us. He always was a bit of an attack cat. I tried to get him in the closet before they got close enough, but he was faster than me, and…” Sarah trailed off, lost in the memory.
“And?” Jimmy asked. “Sarah? Sarah, you alright?”
Sarah blinked at Jimmy, as if she were trying to remember where she was. She started to say something, but stopped herself and turned to watch the trees fly by her window.
“Max and Sylvester were already in there,” she continued. “Sylvester was hiding in the back of the closet, spitting and hissing. I tried to bring Tom in the closet, but he attacked me and then hid behind the bookshelf. Well, ‘attack’ isn’t really the right word. It was more like a warning.”
“You think he knew he was sick?”
“I dunno. Maybe.”
“How’d you and Max get separated?”
“I don’t really know, exactly.”
“You don’t really know? What happened?”
“We were loading up the car. Max was in charge of Sylvester and all his stuff. He needs medication, and special litter, and his sweaters…he’s such a baby. I was grabbing clothes, and the people meds, stuff like that. Once Sylvester was in the car, Max was going to keep watch outside while I finished getting our stuff. But I was afraid, being in the house by myself, so I grabbed the pistol first. And it was a good thing I did. My neighbor, Jeff, was in the kitchen.”
“Jeff still lives there? I always liked him.”
Sarah raised an eyebrow. Jeff had only moved in a few months ago, and Jimmy didn’t know any of her neighbors. He was trying to lighten her mood.
“At first, I thought he thought we’d left already, and was scavenging for supplies, but then he turned around.”
“Oh, God. It’s bad enough seeing strangers like that. Seeing people you know like that? I can’t imagine.”
“They didn’t get anyone you know?”
“No, they did. But they just killed them. They didn’t turn them. And I was long gone before they could rise again.”
“Lucky you. I had to shoot Jeff. I called his name when I saw him, and he turned and ran right at me. I shot him between the eyes, and he dropped. When I came out with our suitcases, Max was gone. He took the car, and my cat, and just left me and everything he owned here.”
“Er…wow, what the fuck?”
Sarah scoffed. “What the fuck, indeed.”
“I can’t believe Max just left you like that.”
“Yeah,” Sarah turned to watch the scenery passing her window. “Me neither.”
“What were you saying before?”
“Huh?”
“You said you don’t even understand what happened. What happened with what? With Max?”
Sarah looked at Jimmy. She chewed her thoughts for a minute. Then she said, “I dunno. I must’ve been dreaming. There’s the turn. Let’s see what’s going on at the rest stop.”
———————
When they pulled into the parking lot, Sarah and Jimmy noticed the lights inside of the building were still on.
“Must be a generator. Depending on their delivery schedule, they got enough gas over there in the tank to last them a while if nobody robs ‘em.” Jimmy looked at Sarah pointedly.
Sarah crossed her arms. “Jimmy, in times like these, there are two types of people. The dicks who are only out for themselves and fuck over everyone they meet, and those who want to handle the disaster and rebuild society without the bullshit broken system. If you’re gonna be the first one, just let me know now, so I can figure out another way to catch up to that bastard.”
“You’re seriously thinking about trying to find Max?”
Sarah laughed. It was a bitter laugh, full of anger and sadness.
“I don’t have to try,” she said. “I know exactly where he’s going. Mommy and Daddy have a bunker in the basement of the cabin they’re leaving their little boy. He’s headed there. What’s it gonna be?”
“Whatever you want, baby girl. I’ve always done whatever you wanted.”
Sarah shook her head and pursed her lips.
“Don’t fucking call me that,” she spat. “You lost the right to call me that a long fucking time ago.”
Jimmy looked like Sarah had stabbed him in the heart. Sarah swung the door open and hopped out of the truck so he wouldn’t see how his reaction affected her.
———————
As Jimmy caught up to Sarah, he asked, “What’re you gonna do? Knock on the door? Say, ‘Hey, we’re not zombies, and we’re not criminals. Will you let us in?’”
Sarah stared at him for a minute, then said, “I don’t know. Maybe. Let’s just see what happens, eh?”
As they approached the doors, Sarah could see that they were barricaded. She pulled her .44 out of the holster.
“Go get one of the shotguns. Be quick about it.”
“What about the ammo?”
“It’s loaded, and there are some shells in the case. Go!”
Jimmy came back cursing and carrying the case. “You seriously sent me for a locked case without the combination?”
“Yes. I did. I don’t trust you. Can you blame me? Give me the fucking case. We don’t have time for this.”
Jimmy handed over the case. Sarah backed away and cranked the combination. She stuffed some shells in her pockets, pulled out the shotgun, and handed Jimmy the .44. Then she locked the case again, and hid it behind some bushes.
“Ready?”
Jimmy looked at the gun in his hand, and slowly shook his head no as he said, “Yep.”
“You go right, I’ll go left. Don’t stop unless you run into one of those things and have to fight. I’ll get to you as soon as I can if that happens.”
“In the movies, they always die when they split up.”
“They always die when they smoke pot in the movies, too, but that didn’t stop you from toking up last night, did it?”
Jimmy laughed. “Hey, it was your weed.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “See ya on the other side,” she shot over her shoulder, and started off on her way.
Jimmy stared after her until she disappeared, and then headed in the other direction.
———————
“Sarah,” she heard Jimmy yell just as she rounded the final corner on the way to the other doors. “Run!”
“Hey, sweetheart,” Sarah heard from behind her. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing?”
Sarah cocked the shotgun, checked the path in front of her to be sure it was clear, then spun to face the voice with the gun leveled at his chest and her finger on the trigger. There were two men standing there. One was a frumpy older gentleman in worn out Dockers and a plaid shirt, and the other, the one she was aiming her gun at, looked like he could have played Kevin Bacon’s best friend in Footloose.
“What’s going on on the other side of the building?” she asked, her voice surprisingly steady.
“Sarah? Little Sarah Babinski from Schenectady High?”
Sarah tried to make out who was talking through the darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she recognized the frumpy man standing before her.
“Mr. Bailey? What’re you doing here?”
“Sarah! You’
ve grown up quite a bit, huh? Not so little anymore.”
“I hit a growth spurt my freshman year in college. Grew almost a whole foot that year. Who’s this creep?” she gestured toward the other guy with the muzzle of her gun.
“That’s just Brad. He’s harmless. He’s not even into women. He’s just trying to intimidate you so you don’t fuck with us.” Mr. Bailey turned to Brad, and said, “I told you to stop doing that. Sarah’s a good shot. She won awards for her shooting every year starting in sixth grade. You’re lucky she doesn’t shoot first.”
“Mr. Bailey…”
“You’re all grown up, now, and this isn’t high school. Call me Ralph.”
“Okay…Ralph, what’s happening to my friend?”
“Our people tied him up. They won’t shoot him. Let’s go tell them we know who you are, shall we?”
Ralph produced a flashlight and led Sarah and Brad to Jimmy.
On the other side of the building, they found two broad-shouldered men and a little, brightly colored woman. The men stood in front of Jimmy brandishing weapons as the woman finished gingerly tying his hands, being careful not to break a plastic fingernail. Before all this, Sarah might have laughed at the sight. Instead, she shot Ralph a pleading glance.
“Let him go, Martha,” Ralph said to the woman standing over Jimmy.
Martha glared at Ralph. Rubbing her neck at the base of her skull, she grumbled, “He nearly took my head off.”
“He didn’t know who you were. He was trying to protect his girlfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sarah corrected, a little too harshly. “I’m married. To someone else.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”
“No, it’s okay. You remember Mr. Bailey from high school, Jimmy?”
“Jimmy? You mean…that can’t be Jimmy Herring?”
“Hi, Mr. Bailey.”
“Keep him tied up, then. We’ll have less trouble that way.” Ralph joked.
“It is a good look for him,” Sarah quipped, as she finally lowered the shotgun.
“Okay, now that we’re finished with the high school reunion, maybe we could take this inside?” Martha asked as she bent to untie Jimmy. “Unless we’re still waiting for punch and snacks, in which case, by all means, let me go tell the zombies that they can’t eat us tonight. I’m sure they’ll understand.”
“Yes, Martha,” Ralph sighed as he started walking back toward the doors they used for an entrance. “Don’t mind Martha. She’s still grumpy because she had to take a cold shower this morning. Of course, if she’d have paid attention when I showed her how to start the genny, she wouldn’t have had to take a cold shower, but she was too busy. Doing what, I couldn’t tell you. It was just me, her, and the genny.”
“This must be your lovely wife,” Sarah smiled and extended a hand toward Martha. “So nice to finally meet you. Mr. Bailey was my favorite teacher in ninth grade.”
“Everyone’s favorite teacher, eh, Ralphy? Did you bang this one, too?”
“Excuse me?” Sarah asked.
“Never mind, dear,” Martha forced a smile that looked as plastic as her press-on nails. “Come inside. We’ll throw together a nice meal, and then you two can tell us what you’re doing here.”
Sarah shot Jimmy a quizzical glance. Jimmy shrugged. They followed Martha inside, shaking their heads.
While Ralph locked up, Martha loudly announced that there would be a community meeting before they walked ‘home.’
“So you’re using the motel as a sort of barracks, then?”
“What better place?” Martha asked without turning around. “Usually, you’d think it’s a cheap piece of shit thrown together to put up cheap people, or people looking for somewhere to lay their head between vacation spots, but not this place. This place is built like Fort Knox to protect business travelers. I used to work here. Brick up the windows, and ain’t nobody getting in. You two are in luck. We’ve got one room left. You’ll have to bunk with me and Ralph tonight, though. We make as little noise as possible at night.”
“We’re not staying.”
“Oh?”
“I mean, we’d like to for the night, if that’s okay, but we were sort of hoping you could spare some gas. I’m trying to find my husband. I’m pretty sure I know where he went, but we’re almost out of gas, and we haven’t been able to find a gas station that hasn’t already been drained.”
“I can’t believe Khalid didn’t have any gasoline in his bunker of a basement,” Jimmy added.
Sarah shot him a look to silence him. Jimmy shrugged apologetically and gestured for Sarah to continue.
“I assume since you’ve got your generator running, you’ve got gasoline,” Sarah said, turning back to Martha. “Do you think we could fill our tank?”
“Oh, Ralph will be glad to hear that. He was worried we were going to have to figure out how to feed two more mouths. Well, then we’ll get you a quick meal, and then we’ll all head home. We’ll set you up with a full tank, a jug, and some hose for siphoning in the morning, and get you on your way. I’m sure there are cars in the traffic jams with gas.”
“Why didn’t I think of that?” Jimmy exclaimed.
“Uh, Martha? I’m sorry to be a bother, but I’d rather not share a bed with my ex-husband. Is there somewhere else I can sleep?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, darlin. Ralph said you were his girlfriend, and I thought he was being serious.”
Sarah smiled at the woman. “The last time Mr. Bailey saw us, Jimmy was my boyfriend. Maybe he just hoped we were still sweethearts.”
Martha looked Sarah over. “Mhm. Well, let me introduce you to Clarissa. She’s got a spare bed in her room. I’m sure she won’t mind you bunking with her. Jimmy? If you’ll head on over to the coffee shop, you’ll find Mitch there. He’ll be glad to take you in for the night. Have him help you and Sarah find something to eat, too.”
———————
After meeting Clarissa, Sarah slid into the seat across from Jimmy in the coffee shop.
“They seem nice,” Jimmy said.
“Yeah, Mr. Bailey always was pretty cool. Martha’s hilarious. The others are scared shitless, but nice, nonetheless.”
“That Brad…” Jimmy said.
“Aww do you have a crush?”
“No, he’s a dick.”
“Ralph says he’s doing it on purpose because he doesn’t trust us. What are we waiting on?”
“Mitch wanted to cook us dinner. I told him we’d be fine with something quick, but he insisted. Said it was leftover from today’s meal, anyway. While we eat, they’re going to gather everyone in here and talk about us, so that should be fun.”
Sarah laughed.
Mitch came out carrying a tray with a couple Bud Lights, some dinner rolls, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn. Sarah groaned as her mouth started to water.
“How long’s it been since y’all had a real meal?” Mitch asked.
“I dunno,” Jimmy replied. “A week? I lost count.”
“Wait, a week?” Sarah asked. “I mean, last night doesn’t count as a real meal, for sure, but it’s been a week? How’s that happen?”
“I never was much of a cook. And I’m sure not gonna go to all this trouble just for me. Last thing I ate before the zombies crashed through my kitchen window was a granola bar and a Milky Way.”
Sarah could tell he was lying, but she didn’t want to press him in front of Mitch. She trusted them as little as they trusted her.
“Well, help yourself,” Mitch said, as he placed the heaping plates on the table. “Let me know if you need anything.”
People started to file in and take seats at the tables around them. Aside from Mitch, Brad, and Clarissa, there were six families with children, a man and woman Sarah’s age who appeared to be a couple, some single adults, a teenage boy whose parents were among the missing, and a few orphaned children who were being cared for by the families and the Baileys.
Sarah and Jimmy tried to ign
ore them as they shoveled food into their mouths.
“Isn’t it good?” Clarissa asked, as she sat at the table across from theirs.
“It is!” Sarah managed between bites.
“So good,” Jimmy grumbled with a mouth full of food.
“Mitch is the best cook,” Clarissa said. “Can you believe that’s left over from our dinner tonight? Even reheated, it’s delicious. I don’t know how he does it.”
It All Comes Down To Zombies: Sarah Page 3
