by Pam Jernigan
“Oh, I don’t reckon they-”
“Please, Pip. Drive me home.” In the corner of her eye, she saw a Leo-sized object move towards the truck, and climb up into the bed. The truck moved but only a little. He crouched down, hugging the driver’s side, right behind the cab, and she tamped down a smile. So very not-Mindless. Only an arm’s length away. She resisted the temptation to reach a hand in that direction.
Pip frowned, her eyes flicking to her rear-view mirror. “You sure?”
“Yes, please.” Karen stepped back, heading to the passenger side. She climbed in. “Let the soldiers handle this, okay?”
That seemed to get through. Pip nodded once, focused on driving. The truck jerked into forward motion, taking them through the gates and out of the camp. Out of the frying pan. Hopefully not into the fire.
#
They were on the road for five minutes before Karen started to relax. Her heart rate was going back to normal, and she didn’t feel so flushed. She’d been looking out the window behind her seat - both to check for pursuit and to peek at their stowaway - but everything was calm. She twisted around and sighed.
“So I figured out what to do about my shouldn’t be a friend, friend,” she announced.
“Yeah, what?”
“Stop fighting it.” She glanced out the back window again. Only one of Leo’s arms was visible; he had to be scrunched up against the cab. “We can definitely be friends. We already are, I guess.”
“Okay,” Pip said, nodding. She added in a sharper tone, “So what was all that about at camp?”
“Um.” What could she say? She didn’t want to lie, but the truth wouldn’t be a good idea. She settled for being vague. “There was a breakout at the cattle pen.”
“Yeah, you said. I knew having the Mindless in there was a dang fool notion.”
“How else can Borsa figure out how to control them?” Karen asked, staring out the window.
“What?” Pip sounded aggravated. “He’s not trying to control them; that’d be stupid. They ain’t got enough brains to follow orders.”
Not yet. At least not most of them. She looked away, and then down towards her knapsack. Wait, was that a gun under the seat? Could she grab it? She might need one. “You should see his research notes,” Karen said, just a little bitter. “The guy’s a whack-job. Shouldn’t be running around loose if you ask me. The Mindless aren’t the villains, here - they were as much victims as the rest of us. Maybe more.”
“You know, I’m getting an idea why they might suspect you of letting the monsters out.” Pip’s voice grew tight with anger.
“I didn’t do it.” I was tied up at the time. But my friend - one of the so-called monsters - let the others out so he could save me. Oh, and by the way, don’t look now, but he’s right behind you. Yeah, that would go over well. Under cover of gazing out the window, she snuck a peek downward and used her toe to nudge the pistol closer to her knapsack.
This had been a nice suburb, once, and was still mostly undamaged. Probably evacuated rather than attacked, then. She was getting the post-adrenalin rush shakes and tried to breathe deeply. Some evacuations had been more planned than others; the former inhabitants might or might not have left a bunch of stuff behind.
Pip broke the silence. “I might should take you back to the camp, let them decide whether you did or you didn’t.”
Oh, no, that wasn’t good. Karen leaned down to collect her knapsack and came back up with the gun in her hand. It was smaller than her old one, she noticed. “Yeah, let’s not do that.”
Pip’s eyes widened, and she squeaked in dismay. “What the heck?”
“Sorry, but we’re not on the same page anymore. I don’t want to hurt you, okay?” Geez, going from kidnappee to kidnapper in only a few days. Ambitious, aren’t we, Karen? She focused on not letting the gun wobble. And not letting herself wonder if it was loaded. “Just let me out now, and you can get back to camp.”
The truck slowed. “Sounds like a good idea.”
As they came to a halt, Karen made a bit of a production of unbuckling. She caught Leo’s gaze through the back window and pitched her voice a little louder. “Thanks for the ride, Pip, but this is my stop.”
“What the heck are you looking at, girl?” Pip asked, irritably, twisting around a little in her seat.
Time to get moving. Anything to keep Pip’s attention from the pickup bed. Karen finished unbuckling in a hurry and opened the truck door. She stopped, most of the way out, standing on the running board. Holding the gun in plain view, but not aimed at anyone. “And, hey… be careful around Dr. Borsa, okay? He’s not quite right in the head.”
Pip cocked her head. “Why do you say that?”
Karen jumped down, backwards, while Leo rolled out of the truck bed on the far side. “Because he said he was going to turn me Mindless. Wanted to test his new formula on me.”
Pip blinked. “Say what?”
“He created them, Pip. He’s still trying to perfect the formula.”
Pip snorted. “You’re crazy. Good luck out here on your own.”
Karen slammed the door shut and backed off. “Good luck in there with him,” she muttered.
Pip revved the motor, and the truck sped away, spraying a little dust and debris behind.
Karen looked across the narrow road. Leo crouched beside a bush, looking at her. No cage. No bars. No one there but her and him. A preschool teacher and a zombie. Her breath caught; her stomach clenched. Oh, crap. Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea….
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Leo looked at Karen, only a bit more than a truck-width from him. Two steps away. She stood motionless, staring at him, wide-eyed. Her fear spiked.
She was afraid. Of him.
Shame ripped through him. Almost overwhelming him. His shoulders slumped, but otherwise he didn't move. Careful not spook her further. He groped for the right words to say but was afraid to even speak. You’re safe. No attack.
Karen fumbled with the gun she had somehow acquired, gripping it firmly in both hands. She looked down at it, then back up at him and swallowed hard.
Her fear scraped across all his nerve endings, but he forced himself to stand still. If he moved towards her, if he even stood up, would she run? Never hurt you.
In the quiet afternoon, the roar of the truck diminished away down the street, curving out of sight, out of earshot. Leaving them absolutely alone.
He didn’t know what to do. Not kill. Protect.
Karen’s head whipped around, peering down the road where the vehicle had disappeared. A frown gathered on her face as she glanced once more across the road. She wasn’t thinking of going after it, was she?
She wouldn’t be safe in the truck. She wouldn’t be safe by herself. Maybe he should put his hands up? If he moved at all, would she start running? She wouldn’t be safe if she ran away. Please, Karen. Need you safe.
The engine noise returned, gradually increasing. Karen muttered something and then began to run, but not away. She charged across the street, instead. Directly towards him.
#
Karen barely slowed when she reached him, just grabbing at his sweatshirt, tugging him along with her towards the nearest house. “Hide!” Leo was slow to react but then he followed her up the driveway, alongside the white minivan parked in front of a closed garage door. He ducked, crouching against the corner of the vehicle, between it and the building.
Karen nodded her approval. “Stay there,” she directed, scanning the street. Without waiting for a reply, she moved to the far side of the vehicle, peeking in the windows. Nothing in there she wanted, not without keys and a full gas tank. Although she was tempted to bang her head against the glass. You’re an idiot, Karen. He’s not a zombie, he’s Leo, and he’s your friend, you dimwit.
Pip cruised on past them towards the camp. Karen kept her focus on the vehicle until the truck was once again out of sight. Looking down the empty road, she sighed. Time to face
the music. She walked back up towards Leo. “All right, she’s gone.”
He stood up hesitantly, watching her. “Are you… afraid?”
Karen looked down. “I was afraid that Pip would come back and run us over or something,” she said, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t what he meant.
He said nothing.
She sighed and turned her head to meet his eyes. “Yes, okay, I’m sorry. For a second there I freaked out, because, you know… Mindless. But you’re not Mindless.”
Leo stood straighter, tilting his head. “What am I?”
“I have no idea,” she confessed. “But what I do know is, you’re my fr-” Crap, nearly said it out loud. “my partner in crime,” she finished smoothly. “You’re not a threat, Leo; you’re the opposite of a threat.”
#
The opposite of a threat? That assessment released some of the tension that had been holding him tight. Not a threat. Never a threat.
Karen scrubbed her hands against the front of her pants. “So anyway,” she hurried on, “there went our ride. Now what do we do?”
She was asking him? As if he were a source of good ideas. Or any ideas at all. He could only shrug.
Karen grinned. “It’s okay, I’ll think of something.”
She looked up and down the residential street. “I’m not certain where we are, but when the camp guys ambushed us, we were definitely heading south, so I suggest we head north. Not sure if we’d make it by nightfall, but it’s worth a try.”
Seemed reasonable to him. He nodded agreement, trying to figure out what a partner in crime was. The words individually were familiar, now that he’d been reminded, but he wasn’t sure how they fit together.
She squinted into the sky, holding a hand to shield her eyes from the sunlight. “It’s only just past lunchtime now, not that I had lunch. We’ve got hours of daylight left.”
He frowned. “You need lunch.” Suzette had said so to Borsa. Humans ate much more often than the Mindless.
“Oh, I’m fine,” she said, but was immediately contradicted by her stomach growling.
He just looked at her. He couldn’t tell her what to do, wouldn’t want to force her to do anything, but… she needed food.
She huffed a laugh. “Okay, fine, I could eat. In fact, now that you mention it, I’m starving.” She looked at the house, then glanced doubtfully down the road in the direction Pip’s truck had vanished. She dug into her knapsack, tucking away the gun, and came out with a foil-wrapped bar, displaying it to him. “Emergency rations. They’re not that tasty, but they’ll do.”
He nodded, satisfied, as she ripped open the wrapper and began to chew. After the first few bites, she started walking.
Leo joined her, deep in thought. She needed… someone to take care of her. What an odd thought. But he was the opposite of a threat. So maybe…
#
The bar tasted bland and sandy in her mouth, but she knew she needed the calories, if she was going to walk all the way home. Of course, the city wasn’t his home. Just hers. Now there was a curiously depressing thought.
“Do you have a home?” she asked, once she'd finished the bar.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Where is it?”
He shrugged.
“Yeah, I guess this whole thing has you turned around, too. Um… you don’t mind taking me home, to the city, do you?”
He remained silent. Mixed emotions, if she had to guess. She was getting an unhappy vibe, but he was walking as quickly as he could in the direction she’d indicated. “Thanks.”
He shot her a questioning look.
“Oh, I just meant… you don’t have to stick with me, you know?” She watched her feet for a moment, less shaky now with food in her stomach. The conventional wisdom certainly would be for her to try to get rid of him, but… well, this was an unconventional situation. “We’re out, we’re free, we could go our separate ways… if we wanted.”
Leo shook his head. “Protect.”
Karen smiled. “Like I said, thanks.” Pip would never understand - she wasn’t sure anyone ever would - but she felt much safer with Leo than by herself. At least until they reached the city. Her smile faded. She would need to leave him behind at that point; all her old friends would want to kill her new friend.
#
Leo walked alongside Karen in silence for a while, enjoying her company. The only way it would be better would be if she felt the not-fear again. “Tell me… about Katrina.”
Karen brightened, inside and out. “Well, let’s see… she’s four years younger than me. Almost graduated high school, now, but she’s so smart. We have a college in the city that hasn’t entirely fallen apart, and she’s going to go to that.” Karen smiled proudly. “I worked hard to make sure she could get in that program. They don’t get that many students these days, and she hasn’t decided exactly what she wants to study… but I think Katrina might become a doctor. Except she’ll be a good one, not like our creepy friend Dr. Borsa. She loves kids, so I’m thinking pediatrician, but she’s not so sure. It’s all general practice now, anyway.”
Leo listened. It was a struggle to remain focused on the words, rather than basking in the lovely undercurrent of Karen’s feelings. But he wasn’t really Mindless, not anymore - Karen said so - and he was determined to pay attention. She talked about Katrina’s schooling, Katrina’s past, and Katrina’s future, and as the afternoon passed, it gradually occurred to him that something was missing.
“What about… you?”
She shot him a startled glance. “What about me?”
“What… You….” He struggled to articulate his meaning and fell back on simpler speech patterns. “Katrina, doctor. Karen, what?”
“Oh. Um. I’m a teacher.” She was silent for a few moments. “I guess I’ll stick with that. I don’t have credentials but they’re not real picky about that anymore.”
They were quiet for a few minutes, concentrating as they trudged down a hill. There was a stream at the bottom, and Karen took the opportunity to re-fill her canteen. It would take a little while for the water to go through the filter, Karen said, so they sat down to wait, side by side. Karen took her shoes off and set her feet in the shallow water.
She had nice feet. But then, he hadn’t yet found something about her that he disliked.
She pulled a cloth from her bag and dipped it into the stream. Next she squeezed the water out, which seemed odd, until he realized that the cloth was still wet, like his shirt had been, a few days earlier.
She scrubbed the damp cloth across her face and around the back of her neck, then glanced at him. Leaning forward again, she re-wet the cloth, squeezed, and turned to offer it to him. “Here. You, um, have some…” she gestured awkwardly at him and then at her own cheek. “Just some smudges. Thought you’d like to clean up.”
It hadn’t occurred to him, but he was perfectly willing. He took the cloth gingerly, not wanting to overstep boundaries, then clumsily swiped it across his cheek. It wasn’t quite cold, just pleasantly cool. He did it again, on the other side, and expanded his reach to cover his entire face.
“There you go,” Karen said, smiling approval. “Isn’t that better?”
If she thought so, then yes. “Thanks,” he managed, handing the cloth back to her.
She rinsed it and spread it out above some wild grass. At his inquiring look, she smiled. “I’m giving it a chance to dry before it goes back in my bag,” she explained.
He nodded, and they sat.
“I know I talk about Katrina a lot,” she said after a while. “I think about her a lot. It’s because she’s my baby sister.” She laughed, not entirely amused. “She’s practically my baby. When I was fourteen, Dad died, and Mom couldn’t handle it, and the world was going pear-shaped… isn’t that a cool expression? Pear-shaped? Read that in a book somewhere, always liked it. Anyway. Kat was ten, and I had to take care of her.”
Who had taken care o
f Karen, he wondered, watching her closely. She was looking down at her bare feet, water curling around them on its way downstream. She put her arms around her knees, huddling up a little. He copied her position. It didn’t quite work but seemed close enough.
“Oh, that feels good,” she said, splashing a little with her toes. “You know, that wonder potion really works. I can barely even see any bruising, and it feels a lot better. Good thing, considering.” She smiled at him. “Since we’re doing a lot of walking today.”
“I… could carry you,” he offered, nervously. He would love to hold her again. Didn’t want to scare her though; that was more important. He tried to read her face as well as her feelings.
Her eyes widened, and so did her smile. “I don’t think that will be necessary. But thanks.”
He tried to smile back; it felt awkward. In a good way. Like he was re-learning something important. His offer had made her uneasy, but only for a moment. He stayed next to her, not quite touching shoulders, as they watched the stream in the quiet afternoon.
“Let’s see, what else… I have a boyfriend,” she volunteered, sounding less than enthusiastic. “Jake. He’s okay. We’re not serious, though.” She shrugged. “He’s a biology major. He was with me at the library, but he got away. I hope.”
Leo looked down, remembering the rush of feeling he'd experienced in the library, at those two deaths. "Sorry."
She shrugged. "Not your fault. Anyway… I used to think I’d get married, have a couple of kids of my own… although having kids these days is practically child abuse from the get-go. The world is…” Karen gestured around her, including the abandoned cars, empty houses, and him. “This is it. It’s not going to get better. Why inflict it on a new generation?”
Her emotions had turned darker as she spoke. There was rage and pain and a vast, hopeless sadness. He ached along with her. “Have to… make it better.”
