by Mark Tufo
“Dog food and even cat food, too!”
That was reason to celebrate—the first part at least. Cat food was horrible; my stomach gurgled just thinking about what the feline feasted on.
“Let’s get everyone and eat and then I’ll figure out what we’re going to do. Dad always used to say it was easier to make a hard decision after a good meal.”
I ate more than I can ever remember, even Ben-Ben, who ate like he had a tapeworm, seemed sated. He laid a few paces away from me, on his back with all four paws up in the air, his eyes half-closed.
“I can’t move, Riley,” was all he managed to get out.
Zach seemed much better after a thorough cleaning and his fake milk. Even surly Patches had stopped taking verbal swipes at every one.
“We can’t just leave all this here,” Jess said after we’d all rested for a bit. “I can’t fit this in the car though, no way. Riley?”
She was asking if I wanted to go exploring again. I didn’t want to do much more than let my full belly scrape the ground, but I got up with her.
“Patches, you keep an eye on things?” she asked hesitantly.
“Sure, sure,” Patches barely managed. Her mouth was nearly as closed as her eyes.
Jess shut the door to the food room and we went back out, past the meeting room and outside.
“I wish I knew where they went.”
She shielded her eyes from the sun. We went around to the back of the building. “Locked,” she said as she pulled on a heavy wooden gate. We walked around the whole fence looking for a way in. “That might be a good place to stay for a while.” She peered through to the other side.
All I saw was hard packed ground and another door into the building on the other side.
“Riley, we could be safe in there. This fence is still intact and so are those doors. I could bring the food down here, and who knows, maybe Justin is still around and they’re using that food as well.”
I wanted to tell her that I smelled no signs of the living. Even over all the dead I would have detected something.
“What do you think?”
Anything that was going to get us out of the wheeler for a while was good with me.
She went back to the gate and used her back paw on the handle to help her climb up and over. Once inside she opened the doorway and let me in. She placed a rock so the gate would not close again.
“Shit, these are locked too,” she said as she pulled on the doors. “Think, think, Jess. Okay…I know there is not a way in from upstairs, the windows on the side are barred. It’s this way or no way.” She tapped on a small viewer next to the door. “This leads into a small office and then the basement.”
She grabbed a rock, stepped back and threw it. She missed. Her next throw hit, the smash of the glass sending a crow squawking away. Jess cleaned out the sharp bits and then started climbing through.
“I don’t know if I’m going to fit.” She grabbed a chair and brought it over. She was about midway through when her legs kicked. “I’m stuck!” There was panic in her voice. If there were any zombies on her side she wouldn’t have a chance. “I can’t reach anything!”
She struggled for a while longer, her legs kicking back and forth until there was a thud and a loud ‘oomph’ as she fell through the window and to the floor. She was unhurt, though, as a few seconds later she opened the back door. She twisted something on the handle and also found something to make sure that this door would not shut.
“When did they put a jail down here?” Jess asked as we walked around the entire floor.
There were two of the two-leggers’ bathrooms—one male and one female, which I also found funny. Why did they care so much about not doing elimination in front of the other sex? Besides eating and breathing, it was one of the most basic of living-being functions and they sure didn’t care about doing those two things in each other’s company. I’ll say it again, and not for the last time, what a funny species. According to Jess there was also a pool table—although I didn’t see any water in it—and a racquetball court on this floor.
“This will be perfect. We have plenty of room to sleep down here and this is pretty safe. The only weak spot I can see is in the racquetball court.”
“And the viewer you crawled through,” I added.
“If it wasn’t for those stupid windows in the racquetball court, we’d be all set.”
I’d also noticed how dangerous they were; the cat had been looking down at the both of us. The vision still scared me.
“That’s really the only way in,” Jess said, looking up. “Hi, Patches. Okay let me think about this. I can only lock the door while I’m inside the court and then I wouldn’t be able to get out except by going through that window up there. I’d need a rope or a ladder. I could do that. Lock the door, climb up a ladder, and come back around. That’ll work.”
And that was exactly what she did. First though, she grabbed Zach, brought him down and placed him in the waterless pool table room. Ben-Ben and Patches had followed. The small dog began to look around and sniff everything. I was determined to stay by Jess’ side.
“Do NOT mark anything inside here, Ben-Ben,” I said sternly. He gave me that downtrodden look that let me know that was exactly what he had been preparing to do. “We’re going to be staying for a while, and I don’t want to have to smell you constantly. You can go outside, but stay inside the fenced-in area.”
“We’re staying here?” Patches asked.
“Seems that way.”
I bounded off to catch up to Jess. I don’t know how many trips she made to get the food and supplies, but we were both exhausted by the time she called it a day.
“That’s not even half of it,” she said, looking at the small mountain of materials.
Ben-Ben was guarding it with glazed over eyes, his tongue hanging out, and a strange cocked expression on his face. “Is that all bacon?”
“Found some candles.”
Jess lit them. The room, which had been losing light quickly, was once again illuminated.
“I don’t like that.” Jess was staring at the windows, which were beginning to blacken. They were level with the ground, but had heavy metal bars over them, making entry impossible.
“Let’s cover those up. Just because I feel safer doesn’t mean I want anyone to know that we’re here. The light from the candles could attract all sorts of unwanted visitors.”
“Yeah, and they might want to take our bacon,” Ben-Ben said, wrapping his paws around a chew toy Jess had given him.
It was a somber night; on one end, we were all safe, and we had eaten to our hearts content…except for maybe Ben-Ben. On the other, we had lost friends and family along the way, and our original reason for coming here was nowhere to be found. We could stay here for a good long while…and then what? At some point, Jess would want to once again seek out other two-leggers and we would be back on the ever-dangerous path.
Chapter 16 - JESS PLUS FOUR
“Can you believe we’ve been here almost four months?” Jess asked me as she made another mark on the wall.
All I knew was that we’d been here long enough to gain some meat back on our bones. Jess had to actually limit Ben-Ben’s food intake as his belly was coming dangerously close to the floor. He was not happy about it and would continually pester me about sharing with him. He’d attempted to eat Patches food only once; it’d had taken more than three burning-disc cycles for the wound she had put in his nose to stop hurting. Zach was mobile and had started crawling around. He moved pretty well on four legs for a two-legger. I personally thought he should stay that way, two-leggers were not fast runners.
After a few days of being there, Jess and I had gone on a couple of explorations of what remained of the buildings. She’d found all sorts of fire-arms which she always took back with us. There was no sign of Justin, though. And with each passing day, she got a little more morose, although she put on a brave face for Zach and the rest of us. Her body, however, could not hide
the scents of sadness that fell from her. I’d even heard her crying on more than one occasion late at night in the bathroom. We knew nowhere else to go. This place had all we needed except the companionship she craved.
I didn’t know where the zombies had gone, but that they weren’t here was good enough for me. Every once in a while we’d hear shots or engines, but always off in the distance. Jess struggled with going out and seeing who it was and huddling together and staying safe. The weather was getting warmer when we heard an engine that was getting closer. Ben-Ben and I had been out in the fenced-in area chasing a rabbit around. On more than one occasion he’d smacked into the fence as the rabbit had gone back under to the other side. He never quite figured out when to stop, or maybe it was all the added weight he had on him kept pushing him forward.
We were having fun with the rabbit, and I think the small animal knew it as well, because it would come back in from a different part and we’d start the chase anew. Although, when the rabbit saw Patches, it would duck back under and not come back until the next day.
“Want me to kill that thing?” Patches asked.
“You hear that?” I perked up.
“Truck,” Patches said after me. She turned and went back into the clubhouse.
“Almost had him that time,” Ben-Ben said excitedly. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he wasn’t even close.
“Shh.”
He looked over to me and then he caught the sound. “It’s a bacon truck,” he said softly.
“What’s a bacon truck?” I asked, looking at him. “Forget it. We’ve got to hide, it’s getting closer.”
Jess came out the door holding a giggling Zach.
“Bacon truck!” Ben-Ben barked to Zach.
Zach looked to me.
“No clue,” I told him.
“Ben-Ben, Riley, in now,” Jess said sternly.
Once we were in, she immediately shut and locked the door. She put Zach down and grabbed a fire-arm making sure it had bees in it. The truck approached and then stopped. It was on the opposite side of us by the front entrance. The next thing we heard froze us all; footsteps above us. Whoever it was, was now on the top floor of the clubhouse.
“Is anyone here?” the man screamed. Jess jumped as furniture was being over-turned. “I know you’re here!”
Fear coursed through all of us.
“Icely’s dead, right?” Patches asked.
He was…I knew he was! Could this be some of the people that were with him seeking vengeance?
“Mike, I should have stayed with you,” the man said. The screaming was much more subdued and devolved into racking sobs.
The pain in the man’s cries was evident from where we were. Jess stood up.
“What are you doing?” I asked softly.
“Riley, come with me, he needs help.” Jess stood up.
“Are you going to let her do this? This is a bad idea,” Patches, ever the altruistic one, said.
“The two-legger needs help,” I huffed.
“That doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous,” she replied.
And she was right, but Jess was going with or without me. Jess had one hand on the door as she kept looking back at Zach. She was also questioning her decision. It was his next words that made her move.
“O, mí Dios, ayuda me.”
“Come on, girl.” With that, she stepped through the door.
We stayed close to the side of the building as we came around. A large wheeler was still running. The two-legger had driven it halfway up the steps. We cautiously made our way around it and into the front of the building. A two-legger was sitting in a chair; his paws gripped his bowed head, a fire-arm in one of them. Water from his eyes fell to the floor in heavy drops.
Jess and I were no more than a few steps away when he looked up at us with red-rimmed eyes.
“Who…who are you?” he asked as he let his hands drop.
“Put the gun down,” Jess said, leveling her weapon on his chest.
“Shoot me, I have nothing left to give.”
“I don’t want to shoot you, I just don’t want to get shot.” Jess sounded so sure of herself. She’d grown a lot in the last few months.
“You…you live here?” he asked as he put his weapon down. The words were tough for him to get out of his choked throat. I thought I caught a hint of hope or desperation, I guess those can kind of be the same thing.
“What are you doing here?” Jess asked, wisely not answering his question.
“I used to live here, for a little while anyway. It’s the last place I remember feeling happy. I…I don’t know why I came back. Maybe I figured I’d be able to find it again, the happiness that is. I didn’t, though. It’s gone and I can never get it back.”
“Get what back?”
“My wife and my kids.” He started sobbing again. “I went to get some supplies and the fucking zombies found a way in! Tore them to shreds, and by the time I got back, there was nothing but bones. I buried them, put a gun against my head and pulled the trigger. For a full minute I thought I was dead, gun wasn’t loaded…go figure.” He laughed just a bit, but there was no merriment in it. “I knew it was the easy way out, but after they were gone, what was the purpose of living?” he asked, looking up at Jess. “Everything I did was for them, everything. I came back here. I wanted to die in the last place I had truly felt safe and loved. Now the beauty of it is that I don’t feel any better here than at any point in the fifteen hundred miles I drove to get here.”
“Who are you?” Jess asked, clearly nervous, I think more for the broken man than for herself.
“My name is Alex, Alex Carbonara.”
“I’m Jess, this is Riley,” she said as she touched my shoulder.
I went over to the man. I sniffed at him and his fire-arm on the ground. I gripped the handle in my teeth and pulled it away.
The man’s eyes got large as he watched.
“Smart dog,” was his reply.
“You have no idea,” Jess told him.
“I mean you no harm, I thought I’d be alone when I…” He choked up. “I just thought I’d be alone.”
“What happened here?”
“Isn’t it evident? How long have you been here? Have you been here the whole time?”
Jess shook her head. “I came looking for someone.”
“I’m sure they’re dead.” Alex said morosely.
“Don’t say that!” Jess was on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry, that was cruel. I’ve been tumbling down a slippery slope since I lost my family. Who are you looking for? Some people had to have escaped this devastation.”
“His name is Justin.”
“Talbot?” Alex asked.
“You know him?” There was hitch in Jess’ voice.
“Mike Talbot’s son? Sure I do. I came back and saved them on Christmas Day no less. Then I did the singular most stupid thing in my life; I parted ways with them.”
“They’re…they’re alright?” Jess asked. I could tell she could hardly believe the words coming out of her mouth. Worry and pain scents were intermingled in everything she said.
“They were the last time I saw them. That was a long time ago, though, especially in this world we live in now. Only takes a second to lose everything.”
“But he…they were alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where are they?” She was nearly hopping as she asked.
“Maine I would imagine. Mike’s father and brother have places up there.”
“I have to go.” She almost walked out. I didn’t think it was too particularly wise to turn her back on this man; she still didn’t know much about him.
“Alone? You’re going to go alone? It’s too dangerous.”
“I came from California to find him, I can’t stop now.”
“But not without losses right? I can see them clearly etched on your face.”
“There’s nothing for me here.”
“There’s life, isn’t th
at enough?”
Jess thought about it. “No,” was her solemn reply.
“Maine is a big state. Are you just gonna go door to door?”
“I-I don’t know, I’ll figure it out when I get there. There has to be a phone book or something.”
“There’s badness out there.”
“I know.”
Jess got closer. She lowered her fire-arm and touched the man’s cheek, wiping salty water away. I growled as he grabbed her hand. He let go quickly, although I do not believe he had meant it in a threatening manner.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. It’s been a while since I’ve felt human contact. Thank you for that.”
“I wasn’t frightened, Riley is just a little over-protective.”
“Friends?” Alex asked me, showing me his front paws opened up.
“Not yet,” I told him, not getting close enough for a pet.
“I understand,” he said to me. He looked up to Jess. “Can I come with you? Maybe you’re the reason I’m here. I’m just not ready to die yet.”
“I…I don’t know…” Jess hesitated.
“Mike is one of the most admirable men I have ever had the privilege of knowing. He fought to allow my family to seek sanctuary within these walls when they still stood. Marta mistakenly thought the devil inside of him would be our doom, when in fact, it was that very demon that saved us all. My children loved him…especially when he brought Henry around.
“Henry’s okay?”
“Who is this Henry?” I asked curiously.
“Almost the same breed as your Riley. She an American Bulldog?”
Jess nodded.
“I know he’s an English Bulldog, Riley, but I think you two would get along fabulously,” Alex said to me.
“Like George?” I whined.
George had been at my alpha’s home when I was brought there. I loved him like no other. When he died I was unsure if I would ever get over it.
“If he can help us find this Henry, then I say we take him,” I said as I looked up at Jess.
“You trust him?” she asked.
