“I really like the seat.” Charlie said.
“Guys, you seem a little jokey.” Audrey said. “Rory just died.”
Charlie looked at her. “Believe me, Audrey. I am devastated, I really am. I loved Rory, he was my brother, but Rory would have hated the idea of me mourning and mourning him for weeks. I am sad, but the truth is, a little bit of me is glad that he doesn’t have to be a part of this anymore.”
Audrey looked shocked.
“Oh. Well, that makes sense, then.”
Jack started up the Badass Bus. The familiar deep roar of the engine greeted Charlie’s ears as the van made its way down the twisting driveway.
Charlie took this opportunity to clean his sword. He hadn’t cleaned his sword for almost 2 months now, and it was starting to get quite dirty. It was covered in dried blood and stringy bits of dried flesh that had attached themselves to the sword.
“God, this is disgusting.” Charlie muttered as he scraped the muck off.
“Disgusting?” Santa said. “Have you forgotten what you used it for?”
“Hmm. That’s true. But I still like seeing this sword as clean as I can possibly make it. You see, it’s so pretty.” Charlie said. “Actually.” He continued. “You never told me how you got your sword, Audrey.”
Audrey smiled.
“It isn’t a very exciting story.” She said.
“Doesn’t matter.” Charlie said. “I want to hear it anyway.”
“OK, prepare to be disappointed.” She said. “A couple of months before this whole thing started, I bought a blunted sword online for about $4000. I know it was a lot to pay, but this was a good-looking sword. Anyway, when I started hearing reports of ‘zombies’ and ‘the dead walking the Earth’, I didn’t believe it at first. But when I first saw them, the first thing I did was sharpen that sword as sharp as I could get it. That is the tale of my sword. What about you?”
“Well, actually.” Charlie said, looking over at Jack. “That story actually begins with you, doesn’t it Jack?”
Seeing Audrey’s perplexed expression, Charlie decided to elaborate.
“My sword originally belonged to Jack.” He said.
“Ah, ok then.” Audrey said. “How did you get it, Jack?”
Not taking his eyes off of the road, Jack answered.
“Basically, that sword has been in my family for years. It originally belonged to my great-great-great-great grandfather, who passed it down to my great-great-great grandfather, who passed it down to my great-great grand-”
“OK, we get the idea.” Charlie said, rolling his eyes. “Get to the point.”
“Eventually, the sword fell into the hands of my grandfather. He was an evil man, never once showing any love for any person that I ever saw. My father had always hated the sword, so when my grandfather died, the sword fell into my hands. While the sword was possibly one of the coolest things I have ever owned, it was a constant reminder of the man I hated, so when the apocalypse started-”
“Whoa!” Charlie interjected. “It’s my turn to tell the story now. So when the apocalypse started, Rory and I were just a couple of nobody’s, and Jack saved our lives with the sword. He invited us to join him and gave me the sword soon after that.”
“Oh. Interesting story.” Santa said.
There was a bit of an awkward silence that followed that, lasting for about 15 minutes.
During those 15 minutes, Charlie thought about what he had said earlier, about not mourning for Rory. It was all bullshit. Charlie was a broken man. He had been forced to shoot his best friend in the face. No matter what he told his group, it would take a very long time for Charlie to fix himself. He would keep the classic, smartass Charlie persona in front of the others, as he didn’t want to worry them, but as far as he was concerned, the day he had been forced to kill Rory MacArthur would remain as the worst day of his life.
Charlie, as if to prove a point to himself, finally broke the silence.
“Are we there yet?” He asked in an annoying singsong voice.
“Almost. About 5 minutes away. But if you ask again, I am going to turn this car around and we will go straight back home. Do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME?” Jack said, yelling the last four words.
“Ow. Yes. I heard you. I am sitting about 2 feet away from you, asshat.” Charlie said.
Everyone in the van gave an appreciative chuckle.
“Oh, shit!” Charlie exclaimed. “I almost forgot! I met these guys a couple of days ago. They reckon there is a cure in Washington! Apparently, even if you have been scratched or bitten, as long as you are still alive they can cure you! Washington! Where did you figure out The house was, Santa?”
“We are in the heart of Colorado.”
“Colorado. Christ. Washington is like 2000 miles away.” Jack said. “Besides, it’s too much of a risk to travel all the way to Washington based on a rumour.”
“You are probably right. Still, I got them to mark where it is on my map, so if we ever need it, it is there.” Charlie said.
Jack, Charlie, Audrey and Santa pulled up outside of an abandoned supermarket. Unlike the gargantuan supermarket where Vanessa had lost her life, this supermarket was a whole lot smaller. They did a quick check. When every thing looked clear, they got to work on the shopping list the others had compiled for them.
Shampoo
Conditioner
Deodorant
Soap
Honey
Batteries
Books, or something entertaining
SEEDS!! Carrot seeds or pumpkin seeds, just get stuff that we can grow!
With this list in mind, Charlie, Jack, Audrey and Santa set about checking off as much as they could. Jack and Santa split off into one group, and Charlie and Audrey paired with each other as well. Each group’s job was simple. Jack and Santa were to get the first 4 items on the list, while Charlie and Audrey were to get the last 4 items. They each said their farewells and went on their separate ways.
Jack and Santa looked at their list. They had it easy. Everything they needed would be from the same aisle. Jack quickly scanned the sign above each aisle, telling them a rough approximation of what was in each aisle.
“Aisle 6, no. Aisle 5, nope. Aisle 4, nothing. Aisle 3, no. Aha!” Jack said, quite loudly. “Aisle 2, shampoo’s, deodorants, soaps. That’s it!”
Completely unbeknownst to Jack and Santa, or Charlie and Audrey, Jack’s loud yell had woken an unseen zombie from its sleeping space behind the cash register. And it was coming.
***
“Oh, we got all the annoying crap.” Charlie whined to Audrey.
“Charlie, grow up.” Audrey said, before checking the list herself.
When she did, she too was annoyed.
“Holy shit, your right. We did get all the annoying stuff.” She said.
“See? I told you so.” Charlie said. “Ok, what’s first?” He asked.
“Honey.”
“Yes, sugarplum?”
“No, the first item is honey, dumbass.” Audrey said.
“Oh, ok then. Honey it is.”
They walked towards the aisle where the honey was kept. After grabbing 5 jars of honey, they started looking for the next item on their list, batteries.
“Did they specify what type of battery they wanted?” Charlie asked, holding up a packet of AAs and a packet of AAAs.
“Um, no. Not really.” Audrey said. “Just get a couple of each.”
“Yes, boss.” Charlie said enthusiastically. “A couple of each it is.”
They had no success in finding any books, but Charlie had had little hope of finding any. It was a supermarket, for crying out loud.
They did have a bit more luck in finding seeds. Charlie managed to find a whole treasure trove of seeds, including pumpkin seeds, carrot seeds, watermelon seeds, pea seeds and lettuce seeds.
Quite satisfied with himself, he showed Audrey what he had found.
“Holy crap!” She said. “That should keep us going for a while.”
“Yes, it should. You know, I am pretty damned happy with mys- HOLY SHIT!” Charlie yelled. Audrey spun around and cursed when she saw the previously awakened zombie come lurching for them. Charlie went to grab his sword, but it wasn’t there.
“What the-?”
He had left it in the car, along with his gun.
“Oh, SHIT!” Charlie said, backing up. “Audrey, shoot it! SHOOT IT NOW!”
Audrey whipped out her gun, but the zombie was far too quick for her. The zombie grabbed Audrey and dragged her to the ground. Charlie, completely throwing caution to the winds, sprinted over to the zombie and dragged it off of Audrey. Jack and Santa, hearing the screams, sprinted towards Charlie and Audrey. Santa whipped out his gun and shot the zombie. The bullet hit the zombie in the temple, obliterating the zombie’s skull and sending blood and brain matter all over the darkened floor.
“Christ, Audrey. Are you alright?”
The next word Audrey muttered shook Charlie, Jack and Santa straight to the bones.
“No.” She whispered.
Looking up at the three, she lifted her arm to show them the small, but definitely dangerous bite mark on her arm.
Chapter 18: Home Sweet Home
“Oh, shit.” Jack said. “Oh, shit. What are we going to do?”
Santa, who was already going into parent mode, ran as fast as his 68-year-old body would allow him to go, straight for a stand labelled ‘Bottled Water.’ He grabbed as many as he could carry and ran back to Audrey.
“Here sweetie. Drink some of this.” He said to her.
While Audrey guzzled some water, Charlie grabbed another bottle of water.
“Jack.” He said. “Quickly run and get as much medical crap as you carry. Get aspirin, any other medicine that will kill bacteria infections, stuff like that. All types of painkillers.”
Jack ran to collect these things.
“Santa.” Charlie said. “I need you to get the soap out of your bag quickly, and hand it to me.”
Santa handed Charlie the soap, and Charlie immediately removed the wrapper and started to pour water on the soap. He rubbed his hands together furiously until he had worked up a lather of soap.
“Santa, pour some water on the bite. If we are lucky, then we might be able to save her. The bite is tiny, the zombie barely grazed her.”
Santa looked terrified. “And if we are unlucky?” He said.
Charlie gulped. He didn’t want to think about it.
“Audrey, this may hurt a bit.” Charlie said. Audrey nodded. After Santa poured the water onto the small bite, Charlie immediately cleaned as much as he could out of the wound. Just as he finished, Jack returned. He dumped a whole armful of medical supplies onto the ground in front of Charlie. There were painkillers, aspirins, bacterial medicines and even bandages.
“Thank you so much Jack, you are a lifesaver. Literally.” Charlie said.
Charlie handed Audrey some aspirin, to combat the deadly fever and awful headaches that were definitely going to occur soon. She gratefully took two of the pills and washed it down with some more water. After double-checking that the graze was as clean as possible, Charlie bandaged up the bite and helped Audrey to her feet.
“Can you stand?” He asked her.
“I-I think so.” She said.
“Lets get the fuck out of here.” Charlie said.
Santa and Audrey, supported by Jack and Charlie took the bags and medical supplies and left the supermarket immediately.
***
Jack tore down the roads, eager to get back to The house so they could figure out what the hell to do next.
Due to Jacks insane driving, the return trip only took them about 20 minutes. Once they arrived back at The house, Jack, Santa and Charlie dragged Audrey, who had now fallen unconscious, back into the living room of The house.
“What the hell happened to her?” Jessica said, when she saw Audrey’s unconscious form.
“She got bit.” Jack said solemnly.
“Bit?” Walt said. “Oh, my God. How?”
“We got surprised.” Charlie said.
“WHO GIVES A FUCK HOW IT HAPPENED?” Santa roared. “What the hell are we going to do now?”
“I don’t know.” Jack said.
“Try and wake her up.” Charlie said. “Jack? Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sure, Charlie.” Jack said, surprised.
Charlie led Jack way up to the back of the house, where no one could here them.
“We have to go there.” Charlie said.
“No way.” Jack said, immediately knowing what Charlie was talking about.
“Washington is the only way we can keep Audrey alive, and you know it. Bites are a death sentence, Jack, and unless we can get to a place that may have a cure, Audrey will die.”
“It is such a massive risk, Charlie.” Jack said. “If we leave, we can pretty much kiss this place goodbye. We might never find it again. Also, what about the zombie situation. There are bound to be more out there. There could be herds even bigger than the one we encountered back at my old place.”
“Jack, Audrey will die. Surely that is worth the risk? Think of all we have survived through. We can make it through this as well. Besides, this could be the best thing that has happened to us since the apocalypse started. It could be over for us! We could go back to having peaceful nights, instead of worrying every minute that the next day could be our last. If there is still a government running, then we could be saved.”
Jack looked at Charlie. It was a risk. It was a huge risk to take. On the other hand, however, Audrey was their friend, and she would have done anything in order to keep the others safe.
“We will see what the group has to say about it. If everyone else agrees, then we go.” Jack said.
“Thank you, Jack.” Charlie said, grabbing Jack in a bear hug.
Jack and Charlie walked back out into the living room, where Audrey had regained consciousness.
“Audrey!” Charlie said. “How are you feeling?”
“Miserable.” Audrey said. “I have an awful headache, a really bad fever, and I feel like if I move, every bone in my body will shatter.”
“Well, we may have a solution for you, Audrey.” Jack said. “Tell him, Charlie.”
Charlie cleared his throat.
“A couple of days ago, I met a group of survivors.” Charlie said. “They were heading to Washington. There are rumours that some form of government is still functioning, and that they have perfected a cure. It’s Audrey’s only hope of surviving, but we wanted to tell you the consequences of leaving. There is no guarantee that this base in Washington even exists. We are taking a gamble here. We would have to say goodbye to The house. Once we leave, we leave. It would be too dangerous to get all the way to Washington and then turn around and come back. Also, this trip is going to take about 40 hours. Now, today is Monday, so if we left tonight and drove non-stop, taking shifts to drive, then we could get there on Wednesday afternoon. But, there are a lot of upsides to this as well. As far as running for our lives everyday goes, we could be free from that forever. If this place really does exist, then surely there would be protection from zombies there. So, what do you think guys?”
Walt placed his hand on his younger sisters uninfected arm. “We could save her?” He said.
“Hopefully, yes.” Charlie replied.
“Then I’m all for it.” Walt said.
“I agree.” Megan said. “Anything to save her.”
“I think we should go.” Penny said.
“Me too.” Jessica said.
“If it will save my little girl, then I will do anything.” Santa said.
Charlie looked at Jack.
“That’s everyone.” He said. “What about you?”
Jack looked at Charlie. “Fine. We leave tonight. But make sure you pack everything you need. Like Charlie said, once we leave, we can’t come back.”
A weak voice spoke up.
“No…..P..please, I can’t l
et you risk everything, EVERYTHING, on this…”
“The decision is made, Audrey. We’re doing this for all of us!” Santa said emphatically.
“Dad….I would never forgive myself if…..” Audrey began.
“We are going! All of us! We stick together! Jessica said.
Audrey hadn’t the strength to object further. In fact, she suddenly needed to sleep more than she had ever needed to sleep before, so she merely nodded weakly with a sad, scared twitch of her head.
Life As We Know It Page 15
