“You are a dick that I should’ve never paid attention to, ever. I could make it on my own! Home is right over there! I don’t need you guys to get that far!”
“Well, if you really think so, then you go on ahead,” he snapped, pausing. “I don’t see the point of going out of our way to go that way!”
“What’s going on?” Emmy asked, venturing over and looking at us with a bewildered expression. “Why are you guys fighting?’
I felt my eyes stinging, again. I felt uneasy and hurt because I didn’t like the way Harley was talking to me. I didn’t like being reminded that I wasn’t worth anything other than my looks. It was like I was being told this all over again by my exes, and I felt that small part of me cry out for my parents.
“She’s fucking delusional!” he exclaimed, glaring at me.
“He’s a fucking prick!” I snapped.
“Guys, c’mon, whatever it was, we don’t have to do this,” Emmy pleaded as Alex joined her. “We need to stick together.”
“I can’t work with someone like her! I don’t feel like losing my life because she thinks cartoons and movies will save us!”
“This man is depressing and dull, and he can’t bother looking outside the box!”
“The box you’re looking out of is straight out of a mental institution!”
“I think we’re all just freaking out because we’re tired, we’re stressed out,” Emmy interrupted, coming between us. She immediately started crying, and I frowned at her, wondering if this show would even work on an idiot like Harley. “I don’t want you two to fight anymore! I’m fucking attached to you guys - ! I don’t know what to do without either of you!”
“Stop that, that’s not helping anybody,” Harley said gruffly, frowning at her. “Crying’s not going to solve anything.”
“He’s just fucking tired! He was up all night, Edith! And you keep picking on him!” Emmy sobbed, glaring at me. Then she looked at Harley. “Obviously Edith isn’t your typical Walmart creature, Harley, so of course she’s not going to think the way you do!”
“I just think that if we’re going to get through this shit, we all have to think rationally,” Harley said loudly, looking uncomfortable as Emmy sobbed into her hands. Alex looked struck, like he didn’t know what to say or do, looking at all of us with a grimace. “Comparing some of this shit to cartoons and video games hasn’t helped us so far – “
“God, this the only way I know how to get through this, you fucking asshole!” I snapped at him.
“Well, it’s stupid because it’s unrealistic - !”
“And you’re stupid because you’re not - !”
“Quit calling me stupid!”
“Oh my God, you two,” Alex finally interrupted, rubbing his eyes. “Emmy, c’mon, girl, don’t cry. We’re all tired. We could use some sleep. C’mon, let’s just bunk down somewhere and sleep. Maybe we’ll feel differently then.”
“No, I’m not stopping,” I said, stepping away from them. “I’m going on ahead. Harley thinks I’ll kill you all – you guys go back and find shelter.”
“No, that’s not a good idea - !”
“Fine, go,” Harley said to me, over Alex. “Nobody’s holding you back. I’ll get these kids to safety – “
“NO!” Emmy shouted, reaching out to grab my arm. “No, don’t go! Don’t go! Stop telling her that, Harley! We’re not breaking up!”
“If she can do better than us, then that’s it for her. Let her.”
“NO!”
“Keep your voice down,” Harley then hissed.
“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!”
“I can do better!” I declared, managing to free myself from Emmy. I strode a few feet away from them while Emmy cried noisily. Honestly, our voices were ringing throughout the stillness of the area, and I was feeling really uneasy with it. At the same time, I felt a combination of things, and I was never the type to hold it back. I wanted to prove that I could do better without him. “Fuck you, Harley!”
“No! Don’t go, Edith, don’t go!” Emmy unleashed this unnaturally high scream that gave me chills.
“Emmy, calm down - ! You’ll attract something our way!” Harley snapped at her.
“You’re bugging out, man, stop talking to her like that!” Alex snapped back at him, trying to reach for Emmy as she bear hugged me.
“Oh my God, Emmy, chill out,” I complained, struggling to pull away from her. “Honestly, that redneck’s right – he’s better suited for this environment. I’ll just end up slowing you guys down – “
“He’s just tired, Edith!”
“Look, we’ll just hide out here, until morning,” Harley snapped at both of us. “All of us. You too, idiot. Once we get some rest, things will look different.”
“Don’t call me an ‘idiot’, stupid. I’m not staying.”
“Then walk. Walk away!”
“I hope those mechas step on you,” I snapped, freeing myself from Emmy while he pulled her away from me. Emmy sobbed heavily, sinking to her knees, so he had to fight to hold her up. Alex didn’t know what to do, looking from me to Harley with an indecisive expression, so he went to Emmy instead.
“I hope you return to Earth while those things eat you,” he said back, turning away to glare at Scheels.
I flipped him off, then turned and began striding for the freeway. I felt so stupid because then my eyes burned, and I did feel worthless because guys did only want me for my looks, and I was alone in this stupid place and - !
Anyway, I wasn’t going to show that stupid redneck my tears. I broke into a light run because I could still hear Emmy crying after me, and I didn’t want them to hear me start to hiccup.
Chapter Twelve
I sniffled noisily and blew my nose into this jacket I’d found. I was hiding at the top level of one of the theater rooms within the broken ruins of the Sparks theater, and while it was empty, it was dark, quiet, and allowed me to see anything coming and going. There were some dead people piled near the exits, and their quiet corpses reassured me in that I was truly alone.
I felt so angry and frustrated, tired, stressed – I hated that Harley’s words affected me. I hated to see that I wasn’t actually valuable to anybody. I just wanted to go home – I knew I was valuable to my parents. If not anything else in the world, my parents loved me and wanted me home, safe and sound. But I felt awful because I’d lived my life thinking about how wonderful a physical trophy I was to the men I found. My looks got me anything and everything I could ever want – but when it came to someone actually liking me for me – well…that’s why I had a string of exes behind me.
I blew my nose again, and then cleaned carefully. I don’t know why this stuff matters, right now. I guess it took my mind off the events around me. Made things feel a little normal, I guess. Kinda made me forget that people were slaughtered by zombies and giant mechas destroyed small cities. That sorta thing.
Stupid Harley, anyway. I didn’t ask for him to like me. Why should his opinion matter? He’s just a stupid redneck with old, ugly running shoes and a squinting problem. I bet he needs glasses, but he already looks like a dork, and he knows it.
Alex and Emmy were right. We were all super tired. After I found this spot, I’d gone to sleep, and the sun was right over head, casting crazy shadows within the hallway down below. I was starving, but I still had some food leftover from the Patrick place. I figured I’d save that and go get some popcorn, or something, from the broken food area below. I left the theater and found the bathrooms somewhat intact. I had to crouch close to the floor to look into a mirror, water and ice coating the ugly linoleum. There was a couple of corpses in the back stall area, their legs visible – I didn’t go look at them to see how they’d died.
After I cleaned myself as best as I could, I left the theater. The Nugget across the street was unrecognizable from this angle. The buildings nearby – the Silver Club, a couple of parking garages, a couple of the Nugget’s smaller properties – were all crumbled ruins, sp
illing over buckled concrete and abandoned vehicles that people left behind in their haste to escape.
I jumped because I heard a collection of roars, barks and ugly screams that caused my flesh to pimple. Rabid. I knew they were somewhere in the distance, but I felt the immediate urge to run for a high hiding place. An accompanying high-pitched scream of an Usher pushed me into a run, so I went for the Silver Club nearby. The front half of the building pushed down into an incline to the street, but parts of it were intact. I just had to climb up certain parts to reach one of the higher levels.
As I was climbing, I heard the immense sound of people running frantically. I glanced over my shoulder to see a pack of Rabid racing for the theater, in that same flock formation I’d seen earlier. An Usher walked in this crazy pace after them, arms swinging wide. It was exactly as Harley had said – it was directing the Rabid with a series of noises and limb movement. I had to wonder how it knew I was around – I finished my climb and collapsed into a broken room that reeked of cigarette smoke. I pushed myself against the wall and stared out at the freeway nearby. I could hear the Usher grunting and growling, the flock of Rabid moving rapidly in the area. Their barks, screams and wheezing breath made my heart race.
I began to sweat, wondering how the Usher knew I was there. If it would find me within this building. Could it smell me? Hear me?
I held my breath in intervals, too scared to look over the concrete rock pile I’d climbed to look for them. Hearing them was bad enough.
Something emitted a shriek so shrill and ear piercing that I clapped my hands over my ears. It wasn’t close by, and I felt unnatural fear weigh over me, like I’d been spotted. A series of clicks and hisses alerted me that there was something new, down there. I was scared because I didn’t know how I was going to escape this position, and I didn’t want to get eaten. But it continued away from me, suggesting that this thing was down on the street, somewhere. The Usher replied in a lower yodel, and the flock was moving away from the Silver Club.
I was too scared to look, because I knew that if I did, I would be spotted. I made myself into a small ball and just hid, listening to the noises as they eventually faded away.
The sun moved slowly. The silence of the city was unnatural. It was so still. It felt like I was in an alien land, surrounded by things that were only memories of the places I was familiar with. Eventually, I started to relax. I ate a couple of protein bars, drank some water, and picked at my manicure. From my position, I could see the freeway – I figured if I continued along that, I would reach downtown by tonight. I could hide in a car, or something, until day arrived, then continue walking to home.
I should be home by tomorrow. I was excited at the thought of seeing my parents, and I rose, dusting myself off. I almost looked at the mirror above the dresser nearby just to check my appearance, but then stupid Harley’s words came back to me, and I resisted.
It took me an hour to climb down. Things were so much easier when one was hopped up on adrenaline. By the time I made it down to the street, the sun was even further across the sky, and I worried at the thought of not making my schedule. Moving into a brisk pace, I hurried towards Rock Boulevard, towards the on-ramp, there. My feet ached, I noticed. My legs were tired, my eyes were heavy with bags from crying, and I was freaking starving. My hair was in my face, and I felt so clumsy avoiding debris in the road, in climbing over obstacles that tried to prevent me access to the freeway.
I was already out of breath, and my hands hurt in the cold, from gripping stuff. I was tired and miserable, and all I could think of was sleeping in my own bed. I saw the high freeway wall that rose from Rock, all these vehicles piled around it. There was heavy black smoke coming from the area, and I hesitated because it looked as if I were blocked from entering the freeway at that point. I’d have to climb on the smoking vehicles to do so, and I knew that wasn’t an option. I looked down below the overpass and saw that it was gone – in its place was a giant crater. A footstep from one of those things. I figured I could climb up from there, but then I saw movement.
I crouched quickly behind a Corolla with its driver’s side door open. Peering around it, I saw people moving swiftly with guns and dirtied faces. They were all men with heavy bags, and I felt my stomach clench with anxiety. I decided I wasn’t going to allow myself to be seen by those guys – I turned away from that area and headed back the way I’d come. Only their voices alerted me to their closeness, so I crawled into the back of a truck and flattened myself on its bed. They were going through all the vehicles – I could hear them opening and shutting doors, talking quickly amongst each other.
One of them was talking nastily about finding a woman, others chiming in with glee, so of course my anxiety increased.
All the bullshit horrors happening the world, and these guys were worried about finding a lay. I thought about the harem that Jeff and his crew wanted to start in the warehouse and wondered if those women had escaped.
Eventually they passed, heading further up Rock, but I saw that the day was passing quickly. I didn’t want to get caught in the cold – the temperatures were crazy cold at night. With a heavy sigh, I pulled myself up from the truck and looked back at the gas station I passed. I could go back to the theater. Or to the Silver Club.
Or I could continue ahead and find shelter in one of the cheap hotels ahead, on Victorian. I jumped down and began heading in that direction, looking cautiously for the guys that had passed me by. I was just nearing the gas station when multiple gun shots fired out, and screams erupted. I instantly recognized the sounds of the Rabid, and those guys that had passed by were their find.
They were up Rock, near Prater – too close for my comfort. I could see flashes of movement as the men were hunted down by the Usher and its Rabid. The human and alien screams echoed throughout the area, and I ran because I wanted a head start. The Usher gave a surprisingly loud roar that was directed in my direction – I knew it spotted me. It was similar to the feeling of someone yelling ‘Hey you!’ without using your name. I was nearing a hotel that promised German speakers when I knew I wouldn’t find a place to hide in time. I began trying the doors of the vehicles that had been abandoned, and prepared to leap into the first one that opened.
Before I could jump in, the smell of urine and shit hitting me, a dog leapt out with a loud bark. It almost knocked me down, and I didn’t have that much time to get up and run again, so I made the decision to slide underneath the car. The barking dog caught the attention of the Rabid. Their snarls and barks had the dog racing off in another direction, the flock following it while the Usher roared. The ground rumbled with its weight – from my position, I could see the group moving away from my area. The dog was too fast for them to catch up, the animal running for dear life. I waited for some time, amazed at my luck.
: :
I decided to seek out shelter at Rail City. It smelled foul inside, but it was growing dark, fast, so shelter was necessary at this point. The lights were still on, flashing in this endless way – there were many corpses littering the floor, within the aisles of the machines, near the restrooms, by the restaurant…though some of the machines made repetitive noises that made me nervous, it appeared that this place was abandoned. Despite it all, I stayed because it was warm. This place must have had its own back-up power source when everything else in the city was dead – I had to take advantage of it.
It seemed empty, so I stayed on alert, keeping quiet as I ventured for a good spot to sleep. I found one in the upstairs security office, which allowed me to watch the big screen of the security cameras focused on the outside parking lot, sidewalks, and the entrance doors.
Someone had left a big security jacket hanging nearby, so I wrapped myself in it and stared at the screen in silence.
I felt lost and abandoned at that point. My mind was tired. I was starving. My legs felt like lead, my feet hurt in ways that I felt when I first started working at the warehouse. I kept thinking about my parents so much that I just wished I c
ould somehow teleport home and it would all be okay.
Then I thought about Harley and his mean words, and I felt stupid all over again.
I felt ashamed because of the way I’d lived my life. Putting all material items first and then not really learning, like, essential things. Like knowing what to do in a fucking zombie/alien apocalypse. That sort of thing. It felt like everyone but me knew what to do to survive, and all I was doing was running away from things. Surviving by chance and luck.
I sniffled, tearing up again. I just wanted to be home, at this point. I don’t care what happened after that – I just wanted to be at home, surrounded by the things I was familiar with, and I wanted to hear my parents’ voices. I wanted mom’s fingers in my hair, and I wanted to hear my dad bawling me out for something – I didn’t want to do this, anymore. I didn’t want to walk anymore, I don’t want to run away from things, I don’t want to fight with people that were looking to hurt me. I just wanted to be home.
The Long Way To Reno Page 18
