the floor puking their guts up praying for God to help them, but
knowing that it was far too late for that. How many people
were in hiding, scared to sleep for fear that they would be
found and devoured? How many personal dramas were still
playing themselves out as I stood here with my dog waiting on
me to go back to bed with my new naked girlfriend? I looked back east, towards Kingsport and wondered
how life was in the remains of the town built around the now
dead chemical plant. Was my dad still out there among the
survivors? That would be a question that I would have to take a
serious look at sooner or later. He didn’t have a computer so I
couldn’t contact him that way, and when I attempted to call
him tomorrow, what would I do if I got no answer? The only
option that I would have left would be to travel to Kingsport myself and see if I could uncover the truth. Was that a trip I was prepared to take? I wondered about the remaining residents of the Gray safe house. Did they find themselves a leader? Were they safe tonight or was the compound in complete disarray? Should we go check on them at some point or would that end up with us in as much trouble as we found ourselves in the first time we were there? It seemed that this world had too many questions and the answers seemed to be in very short supply. Lou gave a whisper of a bark, more of a woof actually. He wanted my attention. He wanted to go in before the storm came and he could sense that it was close. Another explosion of thunder rolled across the sky and this time I could see lightening flash off in the distance. I went to the tent and followed Lou inside. I lay back down beside Veronica and she muttered something about the cereal being soggy if you didn’t eat it quick and then she was back asleep. Lou looked at me as if to ask, “Is she going to be here all the time?” I told him there was a good chance of it. He turned his back to me and nosed his blanket around until he was satisfied, then he lay down and,
placing his paws over his face, closed his eyes again. I thought he had the right idea. I closed my eyes as well.
This time I went to sleep quickly, and even as the thunder
boomed and the storm raged around me I wouldn’t wake up
until morning.
T H E E N D
David -M- Carroll
AUTHOR’S NOTE
It was my goal to have the two main characters travel a real path, but I fear I fell short on that goal. If you were to walk the route that my guys took you would notice the following differences. Charlie's factory is no longer where it used to be. They moved to Dallas. Across the road from the plant, where the planes crashed now sits that cable company that Charlie talks about. It is their corporate offices just as Charlie thought it would be.
Most of the rest of the differences involve Airport Road. The first difference is the bridge itself. The big metal green monster is no more. The county blew it up and built a new, easier to navigate bridge. As much as I hated driving on that thing, this still saddens me. For some reason, I think of that bridge as the embodiment of this book.
Also, the buildings around the bridge in the book are completely different from how they are in real life. This happened because the way the buildings are in the book is how I remembered them being, but when I drove to the bridge to look inside the minute market I found that I had remembered the whole thing completely wrong. Instead of scrapping what I had written I just decided I would come up with the inside of the store myself because I liked how I had it set up in the book. Speaking of the Charles Atlas Zombie. If you happen to take a drive out to the bridge, something else you will notice is that I exaggerated just how far a fall it is to the land that exists below and that river which I pictured in my head as flowing like the mighty Mississippi isn’t quite as Mississippish in real life.
After the bridge I lengthened the road by at least a mile. Come to think of it the road itself isn’t even the same. The county widened it to four lanes not long ago.
There is a house that sits just after the bridge, but it is only one level instead of the two level house that Daniel and Judy became trapped in. Also, the road that Sass takes which leads up to the burnt building is completely made up.
The Mouse’s Ear burnt down a few years ago, it seems every land mark in the book is disappearing.
I have never set foot in the Gray Farm, Garden and Western Store so I have no clue how that interior is laid out. I made up the layout that appears in the book.
As far as I know everything else exists as written. Of course, time will change all the rest as well.
Www.david-m-
carroll.com
Let me be the first to say "Howdy" to each and every one of you. We have taken this journey together and came out relatively unscathed on the other side. I truly hope you enjoyed your time with Charlie and the mighty Sasquatch.
If you find yourself wanting more please check out my website; www.david-m-carroll.com to learn more of upcoming events, contests and information on the next book.
You can also discover the story that led to Becca and the man in the business suit trying to escape the airport in a free story when you join our newsletter.
As well, if you are need of even more zombie action, we are happy to announce that we have unearthed the web comic that Charlie did once upon a time. The Zombie Simulator now has a home on our site.
We hope to see you online and hopefully at one of the local events if you live near the Tri-Cities (or have some vacation time you're just itching to use.)
A Good Distance From Dying Page 37
