Amanda Carter in the L.A.Z., life after zombies

by Jo Lee Auburne

  “Good, kid, you did real good,” Roy said, dreading the trek back up to camp in the heat. It would be a bit of a shock after having been in the air-conditioned Jeep.

  Both Roy and Sam worked to reposition the desert camouflage tarp back over the vehicle, and they secured it. It was important that no glint from the metal on the vehicles would alert others to their location.

  O

  Amanda had finally finished her “shopping” list, and it covered two full pages in the composition book. She realized that it was mostly a wish list and that hopefully over numerous trips into town, they would be able to fulfill it. She had then put an asterisk next to the items that she felt were more essential and a double asterisk next to the nonnegotiable items, such as food, water, propane, and gas. She also put a double asterisk before coloring book, as she didn’t want to disappoint Tammy, who would be waiting for it the next time she returned. And disappointing small children was not high on her priorities list.

  Feeling like she had accomplished a lot for the day, she opened the rum bottle and took a sip. She wondered how it was that Maryanne preferred the constant monotony of camp to the excitement of having a chance to leave it. As dangerous and difficult as the runs were, it still gave her something meaningful to do, and it broke up what would otherwise be monotonous day-to-day tasks that would eventually drive her crazy, she feared. And she definitely wasn’t any good at just sitting around because that made her feel more jittery than fighting her way out of a group of creepers. Maryanne, on the other hand, dreaded having to leave camp and only reluctantly volunteered to make a run out of a sense of obligation.

  “You know that alcohol increases dehydration,” Maryanne said, coming to sit down beside her.

  “Yep, want some?” Amanda asked, passing the bottle her way.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Maryanne said. “They’ve been gone a long time.”

  “Not so long,” Amanda answered, casually. “Sam’s just figured out second gear, it’s slow going in the Jeep for now. Besides, I thought I heard the Jeep a few minutes ago.”

  Maryanne took a sip and then recapped the bottle.

  “I always feel like I’m being so irresponsible by drinking in this heat, but it does help to take the edge off of the day,” Maryanne said.

  Red trotted into camp, tongue lolling but barely panting, unlike Roy who walked up clearly winded. Sam was excited and immediately bounded over to Amanda and her mother. Maryanne looked relieved to see her daughter and smiled up to her.

  Even in this heat that could wilt even the most enthusiastic of people, Sam was radiating excitement. Amanda surmised that the lesson must have gone well.

  “I hit the target, and I drove the Jeep in third gear,” Sam said, as if she expected no one to believe her.

  It was clear to Amanda that Sam’s personality was more similar to her own than that of her parents. And that was a blessing, considering that the group could use another fighter.

  Jason and Maryanne were both the type of people that had supported numerous charities, had lobbied for tighter gun control, and had valued diplomacy at all costs. In fact, they had been of the opinion that diplomacy held all the answers to worldwide problems. And that might have been the case, had others believed in that as well. But now they had come face-to-face with three foes that couldn’t or wouldn’t be reasoned with. There were the creepers that no longer had a functioning brain, the raiders who refused to be reasoned with, and the desert that showed mercy to no man.

  People like Jason and Maryanne were like the gems of humanity, but unfortunately, now they required protectors, people that were willing to fight to protect them. Sam was looking like she was a born fighter. Amanda had no idea how they could have survived the initial outbreak and the subsequent rioting because unfortunately, it was people like them that had been the first to be added to the death toll. Amanda was glad that they had survived and pleased with the promise of what they might be able to add to the future of humanity with their kindness. She hoped that one day, the world would be in a position to appreciate their services again. But for now, most of the survivors were out to take care of themselves only and would stab anybody in the back, so to speak, if they thought it would help. Now, the raiders preyed on the kindness of others, setting them up in ambushes.

  The raiders had formed initially as an effort to survive. They had not all been born bad, but somewhere along the way, they had crossed lines that led them to do things they would never have imagined doing before. And with no law enforcement to stop them, it had escalated until people fought people, sometimes more than they fought creepers. Personally, Amanda held more respect for the creepers than she did for the raiders. At least, as far as she was concerned, the creepers had an excuse for the way they were, but people had no excuse.

  Amanda, Sam, and Roy were the second rarest types of people to be found in the LAZ They were tough, didn’t back down, able to make difficult decisions, but had as yet not cashed in their humanity as an excuse to survive.

  She made a mental note to talk to Sam about “The Code.” As far as she and Roy were concerned, each person was responsible for developing and maintaining a code to live by. And by staunchly following the protocol of their respective codes, it was easier not to cross lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

  “You aren’t listening,” Sam accused Amanda.

  “What, Sam?” Amanda said, snapping her head up to look at the teen that had come to stand directly in front and above her.

  “I passed my shooting lesson,” Sam said proudly.

  “Only after you clean all the firearms,” Roy said. “I’ll show you how to do it since you’re so eager.”

  “Piece of pie, piece of cake,” Sam said as she swiveled around to trot over to where Roy had all the weapons laid out on a sheet.

  “I’ve watched you and Amanda do this,” Sam said. “I can do it.”

  “You know, Amanda,” Maryanne said, “you and Sam aren’t so very different.”

  Maryanne held her hand out for the rum bottle, and Amanda slapped it into her outstretched palm, wondering if her friend had meant that as a compliment.

  Amanda was finally feeling a little bit of a buzz and decided that was enough rum for her. She didn’t want to have another hangover tomorrow.

  Chapter 23

  “Amanda?” Tammy said, walking up to her and tugging at her hand. “You are going to get the crayons and coloring book for me?”

  Amanda smiled at the girl. Tammy was not one to complain, and she rarely asked for anything. Amanda had been trying to throw pebbles into a red Solo cup that she had placed about six feet away from her. They were seriously lacking entertainment options these days, she thought as she set the pebbles down and reached to retrieve the notebook.

  “See here, it says, ‘crayons and coloring book,’” Amanda said, pointing to her notes.

  Tammy squinted at the writing, trying to make it out. After a fair amount of concentrated effort, it was obvious that she didn’t know what the letters meant.

  “I trust you,” Tammy said to Amanda. “When are you going because I really, really want to color something?”

  “That’s a good question,” Amanda said, reaching her fingers up to tickle the girl on the belly. “I’ll let you know when I know, okay?”

  “Okay,” Tammy said and added a giggle.

  Red trotted into camp, holding a dead rabbit in his mouth. Amanda watched as he lithely moved past her, making a beeline for Maryanne. He dropped the rabbit at her feet.

  “He’s smart,” Amanda said. “He knows who handles the meals around here.”

  “My goodness!” Maryanne exclaimed, staring down at the lifeless animal. “I guess he wants something more than crackers and nuts.”

  “Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Amanda said and then laughed.

  “There you are, Red,” Sam said. “I was wondering where you took off too.”

  “He wanted to go grab some takeout food,” Roy said.

&n
bsp; “Apparently, he has a very high opinion of my abilities,” Maryanne said, still staring at the animal.

  “Do you know what to do with it?” Roy asked, walking up to grab it off of the ground.

  “Not in the least,” Maryanne said, shaking her head. “I always liked to cook. But when I would go to the grocery store, it would all be ready to go. Chickens were plucked and quartered, beef was cut into whatever I was looking for. For heaven’s sake, this thing still has its fur on it, and it’s probably still warm.”

  Maryanne eyed the rabbit that Roy was holding up with skepticism.

  “I’ll show you how to clean it up and prepare it,” Roy said and then offered a wide grin.

  “Looks like Red will be earning his keep around here,” Jason said.

  “We’ll want to make sure that we cook it thoroughly,” Roy said. “But this is going to make a mighty fine rabbit stew. Yes, it will.”

  “I think that Red is going to be helping us out with our food sustainability,” Amanda said.

  “It’s really not so different from chicken, except it’ll taste gamier,” Roy said.

  “Can I play with you?” Sam asked, referring to the pebble game with the Solo cup.

  “It’s not really as fun as it looks,” Amanda said, setting the cup upright again after a pebble that she threw knocked it over.

  “Look around you, Amanda,” Sam said, making a show of glancing around the camp. “Do you see much going on around here?”

  “Grab some pebbles, kid. I guess you’re not so much into learning how to prepare rabbit?” Amanda said, smirking.

  “Not so much, no,” Sam said. “I’ll have to go find some pebbles. I think you took all the ones from here.” “Let’s keep score,” Sam said. “It’ll be more fun that way, you’ll see.”

  “What’s the chance of one of these cans being a vegetable?” Maryanne asked loudly, holding up a can that had no label. “We have four cans left, and none of them have a label.”

  “Your guess is as good as mine?” Amanda said.

  “Well, I suppose whatever it is, it’ll help us add something to our rabbit stew, won’t it, Red?” Maryanne said, looking to the wolf dog, who seemed to have a grin on his face.

  “He sure looks pleased with himself,” Roy said.

  “His lineage probably hasn’t been domesticated long,” Jason said. “His instincts are sharp, and so are his reflexes, whereas Boo over there is all about hanging out with the people and letting them take care of her. She comes from a long line of domesticated dogs.”

  “Wouldn’t it be funny if it was canned peaches?” Sam said, tossing a pebble straight into the cup. “That’s one for me,” she said smugly.

  “Rabbit ala peaches might be good,” Amanda added, already feeling her stomach growl. “And one for me,” she said as one of her pebbles made it in with a bank shot.

  “I’m starting to hope it is peaches,” Roy said and then laughed.

  As difficult as things are in the LAZ, there were good times, when they all felt close and when laughter filled the camp, thought Amanda, feeling a warm sense of peace inside of her that rarely happened these days. It was moments like these with the feelings that went along with it that made her wish that these precious minutes could last forever.

  “It’s sweet peas,” Maryanne announced, feeling satisfied that she had her vegetable to add to the stew.

  “What are you thinking about right now?” Sam asked of Amanda, looking at her quizzically.

  It’s uncanny how perceptive the girl can be when she feels like it, thought Amanda. She tossed a pebble at the cup, and it went wide.

  “I’m thinking that we’re lucky to have each other and that we’re a lot like a big extended family even if we aren’t related by blood. I was also thinking that I wish that moments like these could last forever,” she answered.

  Sam was quiet, tossing a pebble that knocked the cup over. She was thinking about how things had been before in the LBZ and how messed up everything was now. She reached out and righted the cup.

  “If you say so,” Sam said. “What are some of the things that you miss about before?” Sam asked quietly.

  “I really miss all the good food and how plentiful it was,” Amanda said without even having to think about it. “Remember all those fast-food places all through town, where you could have your pick of whatever you wanted, as long as you had the money to pay for it?”

  “Pizza,” Sam said, “I miss pizza.”

  “Yes, pizza and French fries, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes with real butter, fresh vegetables, bean and cheese burritos, donuts, fresh fruit,” Amanda said, feeling her mouth salivating at the thought of all the foods that she missed, the foods that she may never eat again. “I miss cool, crisp apples.”

  “I miss my friends, the Internet, text messaging, and clean clothes,” Sam said, feeling a pang of grief. “I miss going to the mall in Palm Springs and catching a movie at the theater after I load up on new clothes, shoes, makeup.”

  “What about television, radio, live concerts, hot showers, and cold swimming pools?” Amanda added, feeling surprised at how many things she could think of quickly that were no more.

  “That too,” Sam said. “Do you really think we’ll get it all back?”

  “I know that we’ll get something back,” Amanda said, “but I don’t think that it will ever be like before. But who knows, it might be better than before. Considering what’s happened, we might not want it all back like it was before because something went very wrong with how we were doing things.”

  “Mom’s a doctor, and she can’t even say for sure what happened,” Sam said passionately. “How are we going to know what not to do, if we don’t know what went wrong?”

  “Only time will tell, Sam. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but hopefully over time, we’ll discover enough to rebuild society in some way. I do know that experimenting with viruses for biological warfare is a really bad idea. That I can tell you right now,” Amanda said.

  “Do you think that it was a weapon?” Sam asked.

  “Don’t know, I’m just talking,” Amanda said with a sigh, and the good feeling that she had had a few minutes ago had vanished. She had already known that it couldn’t last forever, but she longed for its return just the same.

  “How scary is it in town?” Sam asked, and Amanda couldn’t tell whether or not the girl was having second thoughts about the trip or not.

  “I’m not going to lie. It’s pretty scary,” Amanda answered, knowing that there was no point in disguising the truth from her when she would find out for herself soon enough. Amanda could only hope that she would be able to protect the girl and bring her home safely should anything go wrong.

  “Do the stores still have anything left in them?” Sam asked, remembering the many shopping trips that she had taken with her mother and how easy it had been to grab things off of shelves and put them in the cart.

  “The answer to that question is yes and no,” Amanda said, realizing as she said it that she was confusing the girl. “Things like food, ammo, guns, weapons, medicines, alcohol, candles, and stuff like that are no longer on the shelves. There are some stores that have been kind of skipped over because people no longer need anything that they have to offer, like there’s a store that sells video games and gaming units. That store is pretty much as it was left, with everything still on the shelves.”

  “I see,” Sam said, looking thoughtful. “So how do we get the things that we need? I know a little bit by the stories that you tell when you get back, but that’s about all.”

  “We have to get creative to find stuff now, especially since the gangs of raiders control a lot of the town’s resources,” Amanda said. “For instance, abandoned cars will sometimes have backpacks full of good stuff, or there’ll be ammo in the glove box or crackers in the trunk, stuff like that,” Amanda said.

  “You go into people’s houses too, though, right?” Sam asked.

  “It’s not like anyone owns the
ir homes anymore,” Amanda said. “Houses are like a thing that people used to call their own, someplace that used to be mostly safe. But now, the people that are left aren’t in the houses anymore. The survivors in town have fortified areas, mostly centered around resources, like gas stations, grocery stores, except now the food is all gone from the stores.”

  “I see,” Sam said. “So when you go out, it’s like a scavenger hunt.”

  “I suppose that’s about right, except all the while, you need to stay alert, watch each other’s back. Personally, I think that the raiders are worse than the creepers,” Amanda said, glad that they were having this conversation because it would help to make her more prepared for their trip.

  “The raiders know what they’re doing, as opposed to the creepers that just do,” Sam said, nodding her head. This was something that she was familiar with hearing over the past months.

  “We’re fortunate to have the Colorado River not too far from us. The water isn’t safe to drink as is, but once your mom’s finished with it, it is. I can’t imagine what we’d do without that river, Sam.”

  “Why is it that you’re always looking on the bright side of things?” Sam said. “You seem to be thankful for so much even with how things are now. I don’t get it.”

  “That’s not always the case, Sam. You’ve seen me in some foul moods,” she answered.

  “You know what I mean,” Sam said, sounding like she was becoming frustrated with trying to get her point across. “I’m angry and disappointed most of the time.”

  “Sorry, I guess I do know what you mean. You see, kid, the thing that might be most important to remember these days, besides how to stay safe, is that our happiness isn’t situational. Even in the LBZ, when people made their happiness situational, they were miserable. Happiness is and will always be a decision that we consciously make from day to day and hour to hour. It helps when you can look around you every day and find something, no matter how small, to be grateful for. Think about it, and give it a try, I’ll be curious to know if that changes how you feel,” Amanda said, feeling spent, and she realized that it was probably just the heat that was draining her because she was very much encouraged by the direction of their conversation.