We walked away. Everyone was crying, even Janet. And when we made it to the car Tasha and I just sat there, holding each other.
“You look like shit.” she said, laughing.
“Thanks so much.”
“You need a shower, you need to do something with your hair, and you need to eat about twenty meals.”
“Were there warm showers in there?”
“Yeah. At least there was that much.”
“I’m so sorry, baby.” I said. “To have to take you away from so much.”
“Let’s just go home, Becca. Wherever it is.”
“Are you sure you're okay?”
“Yes.” she said. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. “Oh, hey, trade me places.”
“What?”
“It is my car.” she said, smiling a little. “I'm taking it back.”
“Oh.”
“Well we'll share, okay?” she told me. “But I want to drive.”
We swapped positions and she turned the car around in the middle of the road. She didn't even ask how we were getting home. Instead, she followed the signs toward Cheyenne.
“I think you'll want to turn right up...”
“I need to get something first.” she told me.
“Um... what do you...”
“You'll see.” She smiled over at me, then reached out and took my hand in hers.
She drove for what seemed like forever, then stopped in the parking lot of a small strip mall. I was looking around to make sure there wasn't any of those things around. It would suck to be attacked and killed now.
“Becca,” she kissed my hand. “I can't wait any longer.”
“Wh-what?” I looked up at her face.
“You came all this way for me.” She whispered. “The whole time I was in there I couldn't think of anything but you, and then you came and rescued me.”
“Um,”
“And I know I will be with you for the rest of my life now. There's nobody in the way, no reason to wait.”
“Tash,”
“Come on.”
She got out of the car and hurried around to me. She pulled me along, holding my hand, laughing and smiling at me. And then we were inside a jewelry store.
“Let's see if we can find anything that we like.”
“Tasha, are...” I looked at the display of wedding rings and had to swallow the lump in my throat. “Are you sure?”
“Very.”
“But you know we can't really get married?” I asked. I reached for the case, but it was locked. I used the gun as a hammer to break the glass.
“Who says?” she asked.
When we were done selecting the most gorgeous rings I had ever seen, Tasha drove around and around until we found a church. She guided me up the steps and inside, laughing a little at my nervousness.
“I would have liked to find you a white dress,” she said. “But I don't want to wait that long.”
“It's okay.”
“Here.”
She stopped me in front of the altar. And then she started saying impromptu wedding vows, staring deeply into my eyes. I was sobbing like a baby when she put the ring on my finger. And then I repeated it back to her and placed her matching ring on her finger.
“I guess we kiss now.” I said. She leaned forward and kissed me.
“I guess we're married now.” she said.
“I guess so.” I replied. I couldn't stop smiling.
“We should, um, go find a place to, um, consummate it.”
“I'm not,” I pulled her to me and kissed her. “Doing that in a church.”
Wednesday, June 1st
I stared down at my ring while Tasha stopped to get a drink. We’re as married as any two people can be, no matter what the laws are. I suppose if there were any such thing as a government we would have both had to have parental permission, but that doesn’t matter any more.
“Ready to go, my love?” she asked.
“Yep. We should bring a gift. Something for everyone. Maybe cupcakes?”
“And where are we getting fresh cupcakes now?”
“Well they won’t be fresh, but something prepackaged, or something. They’re good.”
“We’ll worry about that later, let’s just get home. It’s so close.”
We approached the hotel. Well, I don’t see any signs of any problems. No bodies piled around it, no fresh blood. That’s good.
“Freeze!” someone shouted as we entered the lobby. “Identify yourselves.”
“What? Who the hell are you?” I asked.
“I’m the one asking questions here.” he said. Some boy, probably around our age.
“Natasha Johnson.” Tasha told him, playing along.
“Rebecca, um, Johnson.” I said. Tasha smiled and grabbed my hand. “I live here.”
“Right. Well since I happen to be a resident here, I think I know better than that.”
“I’ve been away for a while.” I explained.
“What did you say your name was?”
“Rebecca Johnson.” Hey, I’m taking her name. That’s just all there is to it.
“Hang on.”
He lowered his gun, but kept a close eye on us. He reached around behind and pulled a walkie talkie off a clip on his belt. Walkie talkies. Why didn’t I think of that? I’m an idiot.
“We have a Natasha and Rebecca Johnson here.” he said. “They claim to live here. Do you know anything about that?”
“Becca?” I heard Amber’s voice say over the walkie talkie.
“Are you Becca Lang?” he asked me.
“Well, sort of. It’s not Lang anymore, but yeah.”
“Affirmative.” he said into the walkie.
“Are you serious! Let them in, Craig.”
“You can go up.” he said, waving us by.
“And who are you and when did you get here?” I asked him.
“I’m Craig. Me and my group got here about a week ago.”
“Okay. Well it’s nice to meet you.” I guess.
“Nice to meet you, Craig.” Tasha said, extending her hand.
We went past him, into the stairs. I glanced over and saw that the hasps had been added to. Now there were two more. I wonder whose idea the extra reinforcement was.
“Becca!” Amber shouted, lunging against me. We were on the landing at the fifth floor. “I’m so glad you’re back.” She let go of me and hugged Tasha. “And you too.”
“It’s nice to see you again, Amber.” Tasha said.
“Did Craig say Rebecca Johnson?” Amber asked.
“Um,” I held my hand up and wiggled my fingers, showing off my ring. “We said our vows. We’re married in our hearts, even if we don’t have a piece of paper saying so.”
“Wow. Congratulations.”
“Thanks. I want to see everyone.”
“There’s a lot more everyone to see now.” she said.
“How many?”
“Um,” She stopped and counted on her fingers. “Fourteen. They were no threat, I made sure.”
“How’d you make sure?”
“Well there’s an eighty year old woman, the boy you met, Craig, four teenage girls, Craig’s Mom, and seven children under the age of ten.”
“Oh my gosh, you’ve all been busy.”
“You have no idea. We’ve had to bring a lot more supplies. And so we’d have plenty of room to stretch out, we decided to build up the bottom door and then use all the floors. So the tenth floor is just a play area for the kids, now. We all take turns keeping an eye on them.”
“Good.”
When we passed the tenth floor I could hear a bunch of kids screaming. I smiled. Life is going on. This is good. There is a next generation.
“Dad.” I said. I was standing in the entry to Mom and Dad’s room.
“Rebecca!” Mom shouted. She got out of bed and hurried over to me. “Oh, and Natasha. Oh, I’m so happy to see you two!”
“It’s good to see you back.” Dad said.
We
spent about twenty minutes talking to them. Dad cried. Both of them kept looking at my hand, at my ring. And when I told them I was now going by Rebecca Johnson they both smiled and welcomed Tasha to the family.
“Oh, oh!” Bridget shouted. I turned toward her just as she ran into me, her arms outstretched. “You’re back.”
“I’m back.”
“I th...o...ne..see...ga...” she blubbered through her tears.
“I’m sorry, Bridget. I didn’t understand any of that.”
“I think she said she thought she’d never see you again.” Tasha interpreted.
“Oh. I told you I’d try to make it back.”
“Don’t ever leave again!” she shouted.
David came past as Bridget was gushing. He poked his head in, smiled, waved, then went on his way. I’m glad he isn’t making a big deal of this.
“Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.” Bridget said.
“Bridge, I’m tired.”
“Come on.”
I followed her down to the tenth floor. She yelled for everyone to come into the hall. A bunch of little kids and several women and girls appeared.
“Everyone, this is my sister, Becca, and her girlfriend Tasha.”
“Bridge,” I said. She turned to me, I pointed at my ring. “Tasha is actually your sister in law now.”
“Oh cool! Anyway, this is Mrs. Banfield.” Bridget said, pointing to the old lady.
“How are you?” she said.
“This is Caroline,” she pointed to the middle aged woman. “Craig and Elena’s mother. Oh, this is Elena.” she pointed to the girl next to Caroline. “Oh, they’re from California. Craig is seventeen, Elena is fifteen. This is Sara, fifteen and from North Carolina, Mena, fourteen and from Florida, and Taylor, fourteen and from... Michigan?” Taylor nodded. “Yeah, Michigan.”
“Hi everyone, it’s nice to meet you.” Tasha said.
“These are Joey and Eddie, nine years old. Twins, obviously. They’re from Arizona.”
“Hi.” one of them, Joey I think, said.
“This one is Austin, which happens to be where he’s from. How old are you?”
“Seven.” he said.
“This little cutey is Chanel. She’s six and from Wichita.”
“I’m Leon.” A little boy said. “I’m five.”
“And he’s from Washington D.C., as far as we can tell.” Caroline said.
“And this is Cherry, we think she’s four, and she’s from California. And then there’s Ann, nine, from Missouri.”
“Wow. So, where are all of you staying?” I asked. “I mean what rooms?”
“Well we’re still putting everyone on the twelfth floor.” Bridget said.
So Craig is sharing a room with David now. Elena and her mother have a room. Mrs. Banfield has a room. Sara and Taylor share a room, Mena shares with Ann. Joey and Eddie share a room with Austin and Leon. I’m not sure how four little boys in one room works, but whatever. If I understand correctly, Cherry and Chanel sort of wind up in a different room each night. Some nights with Caroline and her family, some nights in with Bridget and Amber, some nights in with Sara and Taylor. They’re supposed to be in with Mena and Ann, but nobody is forcing it.
“So have you figured out school yet?” I asked. A bunch of the little ones groaned in displeasure.
“Not yet.” Caroline replied.
“We should set one floor up as classrooms.” Tasha said. “We could figure out what each of us teach them. I mean I’m willing to help out, and I’m sure Becca would. Some of you older girls would probably help too, right?” They nodded. “Of course you all still have some stuff you need to learn, too.”
“Yeah, ‘cause we graduated.” I mumbled.
“I think that’s a great idea, dear.” Mrs. Banfield said. “I’m sure we could get some text books from a nearby school.”
I was so exhausted. After meeting with everyone, Tasha and I went to the roof to relax and eat something. Mena showed up after a while.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she asked.
“No. Come, sit down.”
“Bridget is so happy to have you back. She worships you, ya know.”
“It’s a little sister thing.”
“Everyone here worships you. Apparently you saved them all single handed.”
“That’s my girl.” Tasha said, grabbing my hand.
“They’re exaggerating. I mostly just kept them focused.”
“Maybe. So look, I’m not trying to put down your sister, but Bridget keeps telling me I should give Amber a chance, that Amber likes me, that I just have to make the first move.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah. And the thing is, I’m not even remotely interested in girls. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!” She looks embarrassed.
“Relax, Mena.” Tasha said. “We understand.”
“Well Bridget said you would understand.” she said to Tasha. “She keeps telling me you weren’t either, but you gave Becca a chance and I should give Amber a chance.”
“Don’t let her bother you.” I said.
“I just think she’s trying to get me out of the way. Like, because she likes Craig.”
“Oh, and you do too, right?” I asked. She nodded. “I can’t really get involved, Mena. It wouldn’t be fair for me to step into that. Craig is free to go out with any of you he likes. But I will talk to Bridget and tell her to stop pestering you about Amber.”
“Thanks.”
“So what’s the story with this group?” Tasha asked. “How’d you all wind up together?”
“I was wandering around, looking for more people, and Caroline and her group found me. I guess the rest were probably the same.”
“The little kids too?”
“I don’t know how they survived. The little ones cry a lot. They miss their families, and they don’t seem to like any of us all that well right now. I tried to take care of them, but they don’t listen. I’m not forcing them to stay in my room. I have enough problems of my own.”
Tash and I went to bed early. We were exhausted. My room at the end was still waiting for me, so we went to that and went to sleep just after dark. I feel safe here.
Thursday, June 2nd
We were awakened by a kid screaming my name through the door. I hurried over and opened it, finding Chanel staring up at me. She was smiling. I bent down to her level.
“Good morning.” she said.
“Morning.” I said, trying to be pleasant. “Help you with something?”
“Miss Caroline wants help setting up the school rooms today.”
“Okay. Tell her we’ll be right out, okay.”
“Okay.” she smiled and laughed. “Your hair is a mess.”
“Yeah.” I reached out and ruffled her hair. “So is yours now.”
She ran down the hall, laughing. How cute. Tasha and I dressed and found Caroline on the fifth floor. This is where they want to have the school.
“Oh you’re here.” Caroline said. “Good. We’re thinking we can set this room up as a science class, the next one for music. Art can be in the room after that. Then we can send the little ones into a room for all the rest of their classes, and the older children in a separate one for the rest of their classes. What do you think?”
“That sounds good.” Tasha said. “And we can always expand if we need to.”
“I was wondering what you thought about going for some text books today? Amber said you would have to make the call.”
“Oh.” So I’m back to being in charge. Yay. “Sure, we’ll go after lunch.”
“Can I go?” Chanel asked. “I’ll be good, I promise.”
“Oh, I’m sorry honey, I think it’s safer if you stay here.” I told her. “But when we get back you can help put the books in the right classes.”
“Okay.” She looks really disappointed. “Can you bring some candy back?”
“Sure.” Tasha said. “Cupcakes.”
“Yay!” Sh
e shouted, and she hugged Tasha’s legs.
We headed out in search of a school. It wasn’t hard to find, but there were three infected people in the halls when we got inside. I mean it was easy to take them down, but it wears on you having to shoot people. Those are human beings. Even if they are infected and basically inhuman now, they were real people once.
“It’s going to take more trips.” Tasha said.
“Well we don’t have to take more than a couple of books for each subject. They can share.”
“I guess. It’s still going to take several trips. We should have brought, like, a wagon or something.”
“I’m ready to go. You set?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, remember you promised Chanel cupcakes. We have to find a grocery store.”
“There was a gas station a couple of blocks east, I think. They’ll have cupcakes, I bet.”
They did have cupcakes. We filled sacks full of snacks-- cupcakes and candy bars. But when we went to leave we were surrounded by at least fifty infected people.
“We seem to attract these things.” Tasha said. She carefully sat her sack and the books down and pulled her weapon up.
“There’s no way we can shoot them all, Tasha.”
“Any better plans?”
“No.” I sighed. “Why do I always have to make the plans?”
“Becca, I love you, but now isn’t the time to argue that. Okay, so fine,” she picked up the sack and looped the handles over her wrist. She gathered the books. “We pick a spot and start shooting, then just run.”
“You sure?”
“I’m open for anything else you can come up with, Angel.”
“No, let’s just do it.”
“Ready?”
“You know we’re going to get more wounds. What if we’re not as immune as we thought?”
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