Love, Revenge and Zombies

by Travis Cotter

  He walks across the room to the cupboard above the sink and gets out the only cup he owns, it’s a U.S Army coffee mug. Paul walks back to his bottle on the table and pours himself a double shot.

  He stares down into his cup as he swirls the whiskey around and begins to fade away again into memories of the past but snaps himself back before he gets too deep into it. The memories seem to consume his thoughts more and more everyday. He downs the whiskey in an attempt to wash the memories away for at least the rest of the night. The burn of whiskey completely brings him back to reality as he looks around the room that he now calls home.

  There is a double bed against the wall at the back of the room, Paul grabs his bottle off the table and with his cup in hand makes his way towards the bed. He stops at the foot of the bed and kicks his shoes off into the corner of the room; he takes his belt off and sits down on the bed.

  The noise from the television fills the room after Paul finds the remote sitting on the bed. He stares up at the television that is mounted on a stand in the top right corner of the room directly across from the foot of the bed. He looks up and watches a few seconds of SportsCenter before he continues to get undressed and prepares to end his day and get some much needed sleep.

  Paul walks over and sets his cup down on the nightstand next to the bed and pours himself another double shot. He pulls the faded olive green comforter back and sits down on the bed. With the cup in hand he swallows down the whiskey and then pours himself another.

  The bottle is just about empty now so he knows he will be asleep soon, the third bottle of the day has done its job. The whiskey is taking effect, the memories are fading and sleep is taking over.

  He pours what’s left of the whiskey into his cup and then clumsily drops the bottle on the floor. As the bottle falls under the bed Paul puts the cup to his lips and finishes off the whiskey.

  He lays his head on the pillow with his cup still clutched in his hand and passes out to the sound of the TV in the background.

  The whiskey helped him to fall asleep but nothing he did would keep the dreams from coming and tonight they would be as bad as ever.

  It always starts the same, it’s a dark night and there are explosions going off all around him. He’s running through a small village with a shotgun in his hands. Bullets are flying past him as he runs down the dirt road running through the middle of the village. People are dropping dead all around him and screams fill the air in-between the chaos of gunfire and explosions.

  He’s running as fast as he can towards a row of trucks at the end of the road. Before he can reach the trucks there’s an explosion less than six feet from him sending him flying through the air like a human cannonball. Before he hits the ground he wakes up with a violent convulsion that sits him up in bed.

  He’s sweating profusely while the images from his dream continue to run through his head.

  The clock on the nightstand says its five thirty eight in the morning. The night was rough but he felt somewhat rested and was grateful that he slept through most of the night.

  Paul decides he probably won’t be able to get back to sleep; he walks over to the bathroom and turns on the shower. He walks to the mirror over the bathroom sink; the heat from the shower is already beginning to fog it over. He runs his hand across the mirror wiping the fog away. Paul stares at his reflection in the mirror for only a few seconds before it fogs over again. The image he saw was of a man who looked much older than he really was; the past few years have taken a toll on him. The dark circles under his eyes from years of restless nights with little sleep and the small wrinkles forming on his face from the stress of a hard life have made him seem older.

  The shower feels extra warm on his body but it helps to relieve some of the tension in his back. After only a few minutes Paul turns off the shower and steps out.

  He walks out of the bathroom over to two black duffle bags sitting on the floor near the bed. The bags are full of his clothes and what few personal items he still owns. Paul searches through the clothes until he finds a wrinkled set of dress clothes. He lays the clothes out on the bed and walks over to the iron sitting on the counter next to the sink.

  After a few minutes the iron is hot and Paul gets the clothes looking good, he needs to look professional today while he continues the search for a job.

  After some breakfast and a few cups of coffee he’s ready to head out into the world to start another day of searching and hopes that today will be a good day.

  Four

  Paul is standing at the bus stop in front of the motel. He’s waiting on the number four bus that is now two minutes late. He has a lot of places he wants to check out today and hopes one of them will give him a chance to work. After another two minutes the bus finally pulls up, the doors swing open and he steps on to the bus.

  He pays his fare and makes his way towards an open seat at the back of the bus. The bus is almost full and it is a variety of characters that make up his fellow riders. Every age group is covered, from the elderly couple at the front of the bus to the toddlers sitting with their parents in back. There are people in business suits and people covered in piercings and tattoos; it’s a melting pot of culture.

  He makes it to an empty seat near the back and sits down next to a man in his mid fifties. He is a black man with salt and pepper hair, he’s wearing a dark grey suit with a black tie.

  “Good morning,” he says to the man next to him as he sits down.

  “Good morning to you too,” the man in the suit replies. “How are you doing?” the man asked him.

  “I'm doing well, just on a job hunt today,” he replied.

  “Oh I remember those days,” the man says with a smile.

  “The names Nate,” the man in the suit says as he extends his hand out towards Paul.

  He shakes his hand and replies “I’m Paul, nice to meet you Nate.”

  “So Paul, what kind of work are you looking for?” Nate asked.

  “I’m open to pretty much anything. I just need a job, the last few months have been pretty rough and I’m just trying to start over,” Paul says as he looks away from Nate and stares out the bus window.

  “Are you afraid of long hours and hard work?” Nate asked.

  He looks back at Nate and responds “no sir, I’m not afraid of hard work and long hours don’t bother me at all. I’m just hoping someone will give me a chance.”

  Nate reaches for his briefcase sitting on the floor between his feet, he opens it up and after a few seconds of searching he pulls out a business card. He hands the business card to Paul as the bus pulls up to its next stop.

  Nate gets up from his seat, picks up his briefcase and says to Paul “come by around two this afternoon and we’ll talk some more.”

  Nate walks down the aisle and just before he exits the bus Paul yells out “thanks, see you at two.”

  Paul looks down at the card as the bus starts down the road again towards the next stop. He turns the card over and reads the front of it, “Nate’s Towing, Inc.” Paul recognizes the street name and knows where he needs to go but it’s only a few minutes after eight so he still has a few hours until he needs to be there.

  He’s hopeful that Nate was serious about the job offer but he decides he will go check on a few of the jobs he found in the newspaper just in case it doesn’t work out with Nate.

  The bus pulls up to the stop that Paul had been waiting for and he gets up and heads off the bus. The first job he wants to check out is a security job at a local mall, it doesn’t pay much but its something for now and Paul feels confident that it’s a job he could do well.

  He left the bus stop and as the bus drove away he headed towards the mall. It was still early so most of the stores inside were still closed so Paul made his way past the stores and headed to the security office.

  He knocked on the door of the security office and waited patiently and after a few seconds he heard movement behind the door and the door swung open.

  Standing in the doorw
ay was a large man with a body built of muscle with a large gut that was still as solid as the muscle that surrounded it. He was an older man in his early fifties but still had that young look in his eyes, even in his older years this guy looked like he could hold his own against most people.

  Paul introduced himself and informed the large man that he was interested in applying for the job that he saw in the paper. The large man introduced himself as Carl, shook Paul’s hand and welcomed him to have a seat in the office. He sat down in the chair in front of the desk while Carl made his way behind the desk and sat down.

  The office was a large room about the size of the average living room in most homes. Half the room was taken up by a holding cell which contained a set of bunk beds, a sink and a toilet in the corner of the cell.

  The rest of the office was a small shrine dedicated to the Marine Corps. There were photos and memorabilia all over the office and hanging on the wall behind the desk were plaques inscribed with Carl’s name. The plaques were for various honors and duties that Carl had achieved during his time in the Marines.

  He noticed Paul looking at them and said “I see you noticing my plaques, twenty years worth of service and dedication to the Marine Corps and our country. Something I'm proud to say.”

  “Thank you for your service and it’s an honor to meet you,” Paul said.

  Carl was grinning as he looked at Paul and spoke, “I appreciate that, thank you but enough with all that. You came to apply for a job so lets get to business.”

  He searched through a drawer in the desk and pulled out an application and handed it to Paul and said “fill this out; I’m going to grab a cup of coffee. I’ll be back shortly.”

  Carl grabbed the coffee cup off his desk and walked out of the office.

  Paul looked around one more time and then turned his attention to the application in front of him.

  He had filled out most of the application and then he came to the part of the application he was nervous about, the section where it asked about military experience. Paul thought about it for a minute and wasn’t sure if he should be honest on the application or if he should leave some things out.

  After some hesitation he decides it would be best to tell the truth and hope for the best. Paul completes the application and nervously waits for Carl to return so he can go over it with him.

  It’s another five minutes before Carl returns to the office with his cup of coffee in hand. He sets the coffee cup down on the desk and sits back down in his chair.

  “So let’s have a look at that application,” Carl said as Paul hands him the application.

  Carl looks over the application for what seems like forever to Paul. Besides the occasional break from reading so he can sip his coffee it is difficult for Paul to figure what he’s thinking. He finishes reading and sets the application on the desk and looks back up at Paul.

  “So there’s something I need to ask you about before I can hire you,” Carl says with a serious look on his face.

  “I know what your concern is but if its okay with you I would rather not get into the details of it, if that means you can’t hire me than I understand,” Paul says with a hint of sadness in his voice.

  “On your application you stated that you were dishonorably discharged from the military, I'm just curious as to what happened to get you discharged. As a fellow military man I would like to know, if you can tell me then there’s a chance I can still hire you,” Carl says with curiosity and concern in his voice.

  “I’m sorry sir, with all due respect I would rather not get into it and I appreciate your time,” Paul said as he got up from his chair and stood in front of the desk.

  Carl stands up and puts his hand out to shake Paul’s hand.

  They shake hands and Paul turns to walk out of the office but before he leaves the office Carl says “I appreciate your service in the Army, you put down on your application that you served ten years.”

  Paul turns to face Carl and responds “yes sir I did but it didn’t work out for me and I would rather leave it at that.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t hire you but take care and I hope you find something,” Carl said as Paul turned away again and walked out of the office.

  He left the mall and walked back to the bus stop to continue his search for a job but unfortunately it was just more of the same for the next five hours and six applications later. A couple of the jobs told him that they had already hired someone else but the rest were all too eager to ask about his military experience.

  Each time Paul would debate on whether he should just leave it out but knew that eventually the truth would come out so it was better just to tell the truth on the applications. The conversation always went the same way, they would ask about the story behind his discharge from the Army and he would respectfully tell them that he didn’t want to get into it.

  After a lot of disappointment Paul felt like there wasn’t much hope for the interview coming up at the tow yard.

  Five

  Paul boarded the bus once again and found a seat at the back of it. He sat quietly on the bus and couldn’t stop thinking about his interview coming up with Nate but he had to believe that there was a job out there somewhere for him.

  The bus stopped a few blocks from the address on the card; Paul got off the bus and started walking towards the tow yard.

  After a few minutes of walking Paul looked down at his watch, 1:42 pm. He was now in front of the tow yard and still had time to spare. Paul never liked to be late so things were looking good so far and hopefully Nate would see that Paul liked to be early.

  It was a pretty big tow yard with about a dozen flatbed tow trucks parked in front a small house that had been converted into an office.

  Paul walked through the front door of the office and sitting behind a desk franticly answering phones was a middle aged woman with bright blonde hair. She held up a finger as to say hold on a minute, so Paul taking the hint had a seat in a chair against the wall. It was another two minutes before the woman was able to get off the phone and talk to Paul.

  “What can I do for you Hun?” she asked Paul.

  He got up from his chair and walked over to her desk “my name is Paul and I have an appointment with Nate.”

  She looked down at a pile of papers scattered across her desk and sorted through them for a minute.

  “Sorry Hun, I don’t see anything here about an appointment, you sure it was today?” she asked as she looked up from the desk.

  “Yes ma’am, I met Nate on the bus this morning and he told me to come by at two,” Paul said.

  “Oh that was you, Nate mentioned you this morning. I’ll let him know you’re here. Go ahead and have a seat until he’s ready,” she said as she gets up from behind her desk and walks across the room to a closed door.

  She knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before she opened it and walked in. The door opened a minute later and the blond lady walked out and said “you can go in now; Nate is ready to see you.”

  Paul got up from his seat against the wall and walked towards the open door.

  “Thank you very much,” he said as he walked through the door past her.

  He entered the office and saw Nate sitting behind a large oak desk with everything neatly arranged on it. Unlike his office assistant whose desk was a cluttered mess, Nate was very organized. The whole office was actually very clean and organized.

  The office wasn’t very big but it was big enough not too feel cramped. The décor in the office was all sports memorabilia and some of it looked very expensive, especially the baseballs autographed by players that were in a glass case on the wall. Paul wasn’t much of a sports fan so he wasn’t familiar with the names on the baseballs but he could fake it if it helped him get the job.

  “Have a seat Paul,” Nate said as he got up and gestured towards the seat in front of his desk.

  Paul was still staring at the baseballs on the wall while Nate was speaking; it took him a moment to realize that Na
te was speaking to him.

  “Sorry sir, I was just admiring your collection. It’s very nice,” he said and walked over to the desk. The two men shook hands across the desk and then sat down.

  “So Paul I’m guessing you’re still interested in the job since you’re here sitting in my office,” Nate said.

  “Yes sir I’m very interested, I’ll fill out an application if you want me to. I could really use a job right now, times have been a little rough,” he said with a touch of nervousness in his voice.

  Nate looked across the desk at Paul with a smile and said “well son first off just relax there’s no need to be nervous, I’m not worried about paperwork. We’re just two guys having a conversation.”

  Paul smiled back and became a little more relaxed and said “sorry I don’t mean to be nervous or come off desperate but I could really use the work.”

  “Well why don’t you start off by telling me what you did before you ended up here looking for a job,” Nate said.

  “Up until about two weeks ago I spent ten years in the Army,” Paul said with the nervousness rising in his voice again because he knew what question was coming next.

  “With that kind of experience it shouldn’t be that hard to find a job, there has to be a lot of opportunity for you,” Nate said.

  Paul looked away from Nate for a second and decided again that he would just be honest and said “I was dishonorable discharged so when employers find that out they don’t jump at the chance to hire me. I mean it with no disrespect but I would rather not get into the details as to what happened. I still really would love to work for you if you’re willing to give me a chance.”

  Nate looked at Paul for what felt like forever to him and then spoke “I can respect that, we all have our demons and trust me I have stories I would rather not share with other people.”

  “Thank you sir I appreciate you understanding,” Paul said.

  Again Nate was quite for a full minute or two while he looked at Paul and Paul could tell he was thinking it over but the silence was making him even more nervous. He had a feeling that this interview was going to end the same way all the others did. Finally Nate spoke again “I just have a few things I need to know, can I trust you, are you honest and will you work your ass off for me?”