by Geo Dell
Off to the left a steel door separated another area. He was beginning to panic about Beth. He had been gone a long time, but he forced himself to twist the knob on the door. It led to a hallway. A small office, bathrooms, and the door that lead outside. He walked to the door and locked it. There was a glass wall that looked into the office and his eye caught something he had missed as he walked past. There was a chair that had been pulled over to a window that looked out on the desert. A man sat in that chair.
Billy's heart leapt into his throat, but only for a second. The man was dead. He had ben dead for some time. A gun rested in his lap, his head cocked at an odd angle. Billy backtracked to the door, opened it and stepped inside.
The smell was not that bad, but it was what he had smelled. The dead smelled differently once they rose to their new life. That was all he knew. It wasn't something he could definitely put his finger on, just a different smell of corruption. Billy reached the chair an stared down at the man.
He had dried out in the heat of the desert. Billy grabbed the armrest closest to him and dragged the chair from the office and out into the garage. He rolled it up to the doors and looked them over. Electric, but they could be manually raised and closed. Probably a nod toward electricity that might not always be available in the desert. Billy pulled on the chains that dropped from the ceiling and the door went up, squeaking as it went. He pushed the chair out across the cracked pavement and left it close to one of the other buildings. The SUV rumbled close by, the motor turning over smoothly. He could see Beth, head back against the seat back. A minute later he drove the truck into the garage and then worked the chains, lowering the door down once more.
East of Phoenix
Northland Cemetery
The moon rode high in the sky. Moonlight gleamed from the gravel of the road that lead into the cemetery. Silence held, and then a scraping came from the ground, muffled, deep.
At the edge of the woods, eyes flashed dully in the over-bright moonlight. Shapes shifted among the trees and then emerged from the shadows onto the gravel roadway. One dragged a leg as he walked, clothes already rotted and hanging in tatters. A second seemed almost untouched, a young woman, maybe a little too pale in the wash of moonlight. She walked as easily as any woman, stepping lightly as she went. The third and fourth moved slower, purposefully, as they made their way to the freshly turned soil. They stopped beside the grave, and silence once again took the night, no sounds of breathing, no puffs of steam on the cold desert air.
“Do you think...?” The young woman asked in a whisper.
“Shut up,” the one with the dragging leg rasped. His words were almost unintelligible. His vocal cords rotted and stringy, no air in his lungs to move his words. The noises came once again from the earth and the four fell silent... waiting...
A hand broke through into the moonlight. A few minutes later a young woman's head pushed up, and then she levered her arms upward and began to strain to pull herself up and out of the hole. She noticed the four and stopped, her pale skin nearly translucent, her blond hair tangled and matted against her face and neck. Her lips parted, a question seeming to ride on them.
“It's okay,” the young woman whispered, “it's okay.” She and one of the older ones moved forward, fell to their knees and began to scoop the dirt away from her with their hands.
“It'll be okay,” the young woman mumbled in agreement through her too cold lips.
“It will. It will,” the other woman repeated.
March 18th
Billy and Beth
She awoke with a gasp and sat upright. The movement caused pain to flare inside her head and her hands flew to either side of it as if to hold the pain inside.
“Here,” Billy said from beside her. “Drink this... Coffee.” He handed her the paper cup.
“Oh my God... Billy, my head is killing me,” Beth moaned. She sat carefully for a few seconds longer, holding her head steady, before edging open one eye and looking around her. The blanket that had been covering her slipped down and she reached for it unconsciously, catching it before it could slip off and onto the floor.
She was laying on a table, soft blankets beneath her, her top had been stripped off. Her bra was stiff with dried blood. “Jesus,” she said softly.
“Come on, Beth. Drink the coffee, and,” He held out his other hand. “Aspirin... At least I think it's aspirin. Some off brand, but it'll help that headache.”
Beth tried a small smile on her face, took the aspirin and the coffee and managed to get the aspirin down.
“Billy, that really is coffee. Bad coffee, but real coffee.” Beth said. Her eyes were traveling around the room. Vending machines, including a coffee machine with the front pried off.
There was the powder that it's made from inside... I just liberated it and made it over a fire.” He turned and pointed back through the glass into a garage are where she could see he had dragged a stove of some kind and hooked it up to some bottle propane. The small cook surface looked funny with the giant propane cylinder next to it. Billy laughed. “Yeah... Not exactly made for each other, but it's good enough.”
Beth looked Billy up and down. He was dressed in clean clothes. “Where did you go shopping,” she asked as she sipped at the coffee. She swung her legs off the table and a wave of dizziness swept over her. Her stomach clenched and for a moment she was sure the coffee and aspirin was on its way back up, after a short battle it decided to stay. For how long she didn't know, but she did know she had to take it slower.
“Slow, Beth,” Billy said as if he had looked into her mind and stolen her words.
“Got you... Got you,” Beth agreed.
“Clothes in the back, Beth. Lockers. I'm guessing this was some sort of ranchers place... Maybe a big operation... Cattle? Crops? I don't know. Bags of fertilizer, fencing, overalls, gloves, trucks, and about thirty lockers back there, most with clothes still in them.”
Her fingers crept up her head and felt carefully under her hairline. “Are those stitches I feel?” She asked.
“Yeah,” Billy agreed. “Had to. Used dental floss and a needle. You never budged, scared me, Beth.”
“Well if I had moved I would probably have kicked you right in the sac...” She sighed, “Thanks, Billy... What happened... We were somewhere,” Her face clouded but she could not bring the memory.
“That housing project?” Billy prompted.
“Nope,” Beth said.
“Nicer homes... Back toward Phoenix?”
“Nope,” Beth said again.
“We were running at night...”
“That I remember,” Beth agreed.
“Okay, so we stopped to check out this housing project. Like upscale houses out in the desert. It looked empty but it was full of zombies. One got you through the window...”
Beth's hand went to her throat. It was bruised and yellowed in the bright light inside the room. Beth looked around and then up. The ceiling lights were on.
“Yeah... So you do remember,” Billy said.
“Yeah... Fuckers.” Her eyes went to the lights and then back to Billy's face. “So we got away.”
“Barely,” Billy agreed.” He followed her eyes up to the lights. “Generator.” He stopped talking so she could hear it.
“Okay... So that's that sound,” Beth said. She cleared her throat, drank some more of the coffee and then cleared her throat again. “I didn't get bitten did I? You?”
“No... I would have done it if I had to, but no. They didn't get us.” Billy said.
“Would have killed me?” Beth asked.
Billy nodded.
“Billy, it's okay to say you would have... It wouldn't be me... It would be one of those things and I don't want to be one of those things, Billy.”
“I know... I would have killed it. No way would I have let you become that.” Billy swallowed hard and the silence fell, just the generator chugging away.
Beth eased her feet slowly to the floor and tested her weight. Better than ea
rlier, but she decided to sit awhile longer. She drained the cup and Billy took it.
“You want more?” He asked.
“I need water, just plain old water.” She looked around hopefully.
“Got that. A water cooler. You can even have it cold with the power on.” He was back just a few moments later with a new cardboard cup, this one filled with cold water.
“God. Cold water in the desert. I would not have believed that,” Beth said.
“Yeah,” Billy agreed. “Not much longer though. There isn't much fuel oil. That's what it runs on. It was meant for short power outages. It's been on two days now.”
Beth choked on the water. Coughing bought the headache back, slamming into her forehead hard. She nearly passed out. Billy was right there, an arm around her, holding her. She took a breath, another, and she was alright again. She would just have to wait on the headache to retreat once more.
“Come on, Beth. Let me get you in a chair.” Before she could argue he picked her up and carried her to a nearby chair. Not one of the plastic ones scattered around, a leather one. Beat up but comfortable. She sank back into the chair and immediately began to feel better. “Jesus, two days here?”
“No. Three. It took a day to get the generator going . It wasn't designed to run after the initial time allotted. It would come on, run awhile and shut right back off. I had to wire it direct. Maybe some safety feature so it wouldn't completely run out. I had to fill the tank from fifty five gallon drums, that was a bitch, but once I cut out the safety, filled her up, she started and stayed running. We're down to a quarter tank though... No more fuel oil... So I'm glad you're back.”
Beth upended the cup and drained it. It was amazing how good the water could make her feel. Like new life and strength being poured into her. Billy bought her another and then another before she sat back into the chair. Her eyes fell on a vending machine with crackers, cookies and bagged chips. The door was ajar. Billy followed her eyes.
He laughed. “Cookies, crackers, chips?” He asked.
“Yeah,” Beth said. Hunger had suddenly leapt up in her stomach. She was starved. Billy came back with a couple of packs of each and she ate greedily as he talked.
“Maps out in the garage. I can't tell exactly where we are though. Somewhere to the southwest of Gold Canyon is my guess. I didn't see anything here with an address on it, letterhead, no signs on the trucks. Nice trucks though, so it made money, whatever it was.”
“I'm going by where I think we are. I know we crossed over water before we got here, a bridge across a viaduct, at least it looked that way in the dark. But we didn't cross a highway, and 60 is right there, couldn't have missed it. Of course we could be a little farther north or a little more south. But even so we have to hit 60 it's right there, so I'm pretty sure the next thing up is going to be 60.”
Beth said nothing, the food was like heaven, but the crackers were a little dry so Billy left and came back with a cup of water and a Coke. The Coke was also cold. She nearly drained it in one pull. It was like her body was bent on a mission of replenishing itself in one setting. She made herself stop. “Good, but I don't want to get sick.” She said to Billy's raised eyebrows.
He nodded.
“Any dead... At night? In here when you got here?”
“One dude... Took himself out in the office.” He motioned through the glass. “Put him outside. Turned black in the sun in a day or so.” He stopped and cleared his throat, left and came back with a Coke for each of them. “None of the others. Not one. Nights are quiet... Truck runs good. I gassed it up, swapped better tires onto it too from the rack in the garage. Pretty easy to do. Extra gas cans, oil, a shit load of those blankets.” He paused for a second.
“What,” Beth asked.
“The nights... Days... It's been a blur,” he looked up toward the ceiling, confused. “I don't know, it seemed like there was no day when there should have been... Like the night lasted a long time... Some earthquakes to, I think they were earthquakes at least. Sick... My stomach felt like it came unglued it was so bad.”He took a breath and smiled. “Rained like crazy and then I swear it snowed... It was like a blur,” He shrugged. “Like I said.”
Beth just looked at him. “You were tired.”
Billy smiled. “That's what I said... I said...” He looked at the ceiling again. “I said it was being tired... confused,” Billy agreed.
“You look... Clean.” She had looked down a few seconds before at her gore stained bra and jeans. She'd been in these clothes for far too long.
“Shower in the back. Hot water too once I got the electric on.”
“Christ, and I'm sitting here talking?” She stood from the chair, found her stomach did not intend to give her a hard time and turned to Billy. “Clothes?”
“Sure... I... I don't know if...” He turned red.
“Yeah,” Beth said. She laughed. “No bra, panties?”
“Right,” Billy agreed.
“Well I don't care if it's boxers, a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Clean clothes, Billy” She looked around her... Soap... A towel... That's it. Where is it?”
“Um. Right here,” Billy said as he stepped to the door and pushed it open for her.
Billy returned to the lunch room a few moments later and cleaned up the blankets and empty cups while he waited.
Billy and Beth
March 28th
Billy angled the truck off into a grassy median they had been traveling along Arizona 188, and followed a dirt road into the forested park area. About a half mile in they came to a wide calm lake. The area was completely deserted. No cars, no trucks, and only a few rustic buildings close by the water. A quick search confirmed the buildings were empty. They worked together to gather some dead-fall to build a small fire.
Beth piled the dry wood next to a large stone fireplace, and Billy carefully arranged some wood inside the fireplace, over some smaller twigs and crumpled pieces of paper, while Beth opened the rear of the truck and pulled out the sleeping bags, as well as some metal camp utensils they had picked up earlier when they had passed through a small town. They debated on leaving the tent, but decided to set it up instead, close to the fireplace. The buildings were dark and deserted-looking, and not the least bit inviting to either of them. The tent would not offer anywhere near as much protection as the empty buildings, but to them it was much more appealing.
Once Billy got the fire going he began to set up the tent as Beth started dinner.
“What are you making?” Billy asked, as he walked back to the fireplace.
A large steel pot sat directly over the metal grating of the outdoor fireplace, and the aroma from it was all he could smell as he finished setting up the tent. His stomach was growling.
“Well,” she asked, “how does it smell?”
“Pretty damn good,” Billy replied, “in fact about the best thing I've smelled in a long time. I mean I lived alone, strictly fast food. Burgers, tacos, you know. What is it?” he asked again.
“Well, it's nothing great, beans and corned beef,” she looked at him and shrugged her shoulders as if to say, who knows? “Smells good though, huh?”
Billy nodded his head in agreement, and said aloud. “It's got fast food beat, that's for sure... It's going to be a few minutes, right?” Billy asked.
“Probably more like an hour,” she replied, “That's why I've got it off the heat, simmering. Why?”
“Well,” Billy said, “that lake looks pretty good. I'm thinking seriously about jumping in it and washing some of this road grime off.”
Before he could say more Beth jumped up and said, “Race ya!” Billy stood dumb founded as she raced away towards the lake.
He caught up with her next to the water, slightly out of breath, and laughing. When she started to remove her clothes, he nearly choked on the laughter though. Beth seemed not to notice, and after she had stripped down to her bra and panties she dove gracefully into the water and swam out into the lake, toward a wooden raft that was anc
hored about fifty feet off shore.
Billy got over his initial shock, stripped down to his briefs, and also dove into the water. The coldness of the water shocked him, but it helped in a way to. He hadn't realized just how beautiful she was, and his body had begun unconsciously to respond. The cold water ended that though, and he turned over on his back and floated as he kicked with his feet towards the raft. When he turned back over as he sensed he was nearing the raft he saw her sitting, looking back at him as he swam towards her. She smiled, and he couldn't help but smile back. Cold water or not, he thought, she is a beautiful woman.
He had guessed she must be in her late thirties when he had met her, but now he thought he might be wrong. Maybe it had been the dingy apartment building, which had contributed to his observation. Whatever it had been, he was pretty sure he was wrong. She looked like maybe she was only in her late twenties, maybe, he thought, only a few years older than I am. It was more the way she looked now, he realized, that made him think she was probably a lot younger than he had initially thought.
In the apartment building, she had been wary and tired-looking. She seemed more alive to him now though, and the smile went a long way towards smoothing out the lines that had seemed to be embedded in her forehead. He supposed that to her he must seem awful young at twenty-two, maybe even immature. The few women he had gone out with in Watertown had been much younger than himself, girls really. He had been in a common law marriage in Mexico that ended badly, and that was his extent of knowledge when it came to women.
Beth sat on the wooden surface of the small raft and watched Billy turn back over on his back, as he continued to float towards the raft.
She had liked Billy almost from the first, when he had convinced her to open the door it had been a big deal to her. It was something she would normally never do at all, under any circumstances. Nevertheless, she had let him in. He seemed honest, she told herself, and reminded her of herself. She had started life honest anyway, it was just that she couldn't be as honest as she wanted too, she reminded herself. Life was just that way, she decided.
Billy was different. She knew it was stupid, here she was entertaining what she had told him to forget, but even as the thought entered her head she knew it wouldn't work. It was comfort she needed. It was sexual attraction. He didn't move her inside like she wanted to be moved. She wondered if she could be moved that way by any man and the thought caused her smile to slip away.
