Zombie Playlist: A Rock Zombie Romance

by Kirsty Dallas

  “I always am,” I murmured as she pulled me up until I was standing alongside her.

  Lawson helped Noah into her backpack, and we strolled around the house and back toward the highway before us. The dirt crunched under our boots, the morning air already warm. It was going to be another hot day. As we ambled down the dirt driveway I cast a final glance over my shoulder and my eyes caught the bright, reflective gleam off the golf club I’d left leaning against the side of the building. My trusty driver. Cullen’s driver. Leaving it behind was kinda symbolic. With me I had a bigger, badder and better weapon, and yeah, I was talking about the gun … and maybe Lawson. As more space stretched out between me and that innocuous object that had saved my life and taken others, I felt the slightest twinge of remorse and guilt. I’d killed Cullen with that club, and my Mom, and just like all the other icky emotions I didn’t like to deal with, I buried it deep. With one last look at our overnight refuge, we hit the asphalt and continued our journey.

  ***

  “Highway to motherfucking hell…”

  Maybelle was held lovingly in my arms as I strummed. Sweat dripped down my lower back, getting caught in the fabric of my cut off jean shorts. Delightful. The souls of my feet were fried through my boots, my legs like noodles, and my mind caught between exhaustion and misery. I hated this road, this never-ending ribbon of dark grey on which a shimmery line hovered above it in the distance. Lawson had dropped back and was walking alongside Noah, carrying her backpack as well as his own and trying to move her forward with silent resolve. He’d been passing her notes which she’d read before shuffling forward and holding high so I could read without having to stop strumming. Lawson’s life story, summed up in a few words. He was no longer in active service because of the accident. But when Red Rage began to spread, he’d packed up his gear and made a trip to a Marine base in Twentynine Palms, California. It had been compromised. In other words, the zombies won. The zombies beat the Marines! If the soldiers couldn’t even win this battle, what chance did we have? Leaving the base he returned to his hometown of Blythe where he checked on his aunt and uncle, his only living relatives. They were gone when he got there, and he could only hope they were healthy and safe somewhere. When he’d returned to his house, the one we had sought refuge in, he found Noah’s note, and worried about two young women travelling alone, decided he’d try and find us. Noah and her fucking note. I guess I couldn’t really be mad, he did save us, and I wasn’t completely opposed to having a little eye-candy on this awful bum-fuck of a road.

  “Shy!” Noah called out.

  Turning on weary feet, I followed Lawson’s pointed finger. A long asphalt side road veered off the highway, and along it were stationed sheltered picnic tables and a building with restrooms. I’d been in such a daze I was walking right past the little sliver of salvation. A rest stop had never looked so good. If the ground beneath my feet weren’t burning like the rivers of hell, I would have collapsed where I stood. But the enticing beauty that was that rest stop gave me the extra little push I needed. It wasn’t much more than a gravel shoulder off the highway, but the shelter if offered from the unforgiving ball of fire in the sky was like heaven. My spirits lifted somewhat at the thought of a break with shade. Noah and I hobbled toward one of the tables, while Lawson walked strong and upright before us as if he hadn’t at all been walking the last five hours. Discarding our backpacks, Lawson began spreading out some food while I helped Noah apply some more sunscreen. Her arms and face were pink, but would have been a thousand times worse if we didn’t have the cream or hat.

  “Can I play Maybelle?” she asked, eyeing my guitar.

  “You know you can,” I replied, reaching out and passing her the instrument.

  Noah had expressed interest in playing a couple of years ago, but my touring and recording schedule meant I didn’t have a heck of a lot of time to spend teaching her. She knew a few basic cords and had a nice strum. Perhaps this forced retirement would allow me to teach her some more. Lawson pointed at my guitar in confusion. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a granola bar.

  “Yes, her name is Maybelle, named after the Queen that is Maybelle Carter. If you had a child you would name it, right?”

  Lawson grinned and picked up his rifle. In the dust on the table he wrote, meet ‘JJ’…Judge and Jury.

  The laughter that tumbled out of my mouth was accompanied by chunks of granola bar. Classy!

  “That’s so bad.”

  His eyebrows wiggled, and it made me laugh again. Cullen and I used to laugh like this, back in the early days, before fame and fortune twisted us into people we didn’t even recognize anymore. The thought of him now gone from this world, dead, it made my heart twist and my stomach roll. Regardless of the shit he put me through, that we put each other through, I missed him. He was as comfortable as a pair of worn sneakers. We’d been together for eleven years. He was my first love, and it didn’t matter how warped and sick our relationship became, we had a solid foundation of friendship that we always seemed to be able to fall back on. When the shit hit the fan, we’d simply dust ourselves off and begin to climb that ladder of love and hate we’d inevitably fall from again one day. Noah laughed at something Lawson had written in his notepad, and my mind was dragged away from bitter sweet memories. Sitting in the shade, eating, drinking, relaxing, I didn’t want to move ever again. I probably would have voted on spending the night here if the sound of a car engine hadn’t sent my heart sky rocketing.

  Track Fifteen: Tears For Fears, Everybody Wants To Rule The World

  CHAPTER 15

  Lawson was first to move, his rifle swung over his shoulder as he gave Noah and I a sharp look, the very same one I’d seen him wear the first time I saw him. It was hard and cold and it clearly meant business. It was almost frightening his transition from light-hearted and playful to dangerous motherfucker in no more than a heartbeat. With clumsy hands, I stuffed our food in my pack preparing us for a quick getaway if need be.

  “If I say run, you run, got it Boo? Doesn’t matter which way, just run hard, and I’ll be right behind you.” I murmured, positioning myself in front of Noah.

  Noah slipped off the table she’d been sitting on, Maybelle abandoned and her terrified gaze on the vehicle that rumbled along the highway. No matter how much I hated walking on this fucking road, I didn’t want to ride with strangers. People, living or otherwise, were a dangerous denominator in this screwed up world. Keep going, keep going, keep going, I said over and over in my head as the vehicle approached. Much to my dismay, the truck slowed and pulled into the rest stop. Lawson moved away from the shelter we were sitting beneath, his rifle in his hands with the barrel lowered. The truck was an older model Ford Ranger. It was dirty, the once dark blue paint faded and mottled. The man driving the car looked ordinary, possibly in his fifties, slim build with a few weeks of growth on his jaw. He was wearing dirty jeans and a red polo shirt, his receding hairline giving him a large, dome shape forehead with eyes that were just a smidge too small for his face.

  “Jesus mother of Mary,” he huffed as he climbed from the cab of his truck.

  He seemed completely oblivious to the gun Lawson had raised and was now pointing at his chest as he wiped his sweaty brow with a rag.

  “Do you know how long it’s been since I saw healthy people?” He went on, coming to an abrupt stop when he noticed Lawson’s rifle. “Weeks.” He shook his head seemingly in disbelief. Lawson glanced over my way, nodding for me to come forward.

  “Where are you from?” I asked, approaching cautiously.

  “Phoenix,” the man said, pointing up the road.

  “What are you doin’ driving around out here?” I wondered, and Lawson nodded, obviously thinking the same thing.

  “Looking for people. I do this is every few days, look for survivors, healthy survivors. It’s taking me further and further away from home all the time because there’s no one left,” he mumbled. “You’re the first I’ve found since the Red
Rage hit Phoenix. It hit us hard.” He seemed to be rambling now. I guess if I had a soldier staring at me through the site of his rifle I might be a tad blustered too. “There are so many infected, they’re everywhere, in the thousands. The center of town has been overrun, they’re like a swarm of angry bees in there. We’ve got a safe place out at Silverleaf, Scottsdale. We took over the club, it’s nice and we’ve got supplies. “

  “How many people?”

  “We’ve got twenty-two right now, Dr. Christopher Buckley is the one in charge. He knows things...” The stranger’s eyes finally dragged away from Lawson’s gun as he took us all in. “He knows about the Red Rage. He has a cure.”

  Lawson eyed the man with suspicion before glancing my way, his brow furrowed with disbelief.

  “There is no cure,” I said, halfway hopeful the man was right.

  There was no argument from the stranger. He just continued to pat down his shiny brow and tell us more about Silverleaf.

  “We’ve got a generator that allows us to have electricity, we’ve got lots of food, and hot water. Y’all welcome to come take a look.”

  “What’s your name?” I asked. His promise of electricity, food, and hot water was tempting, especially after two days of walking on this fuck-stick of a road, but self-preservation demanded we not go running into what could potentially be a bad situation.

  “Terrence, Terrence Steward, ma’am.” Terrence nervously tugged at the bottom of his shirt. “My daughter, Olivia, is there. She’s fifteen.” His eyes lit up as he began talking about his daughter. “Olivia, she’s a straight A student. She’s a good girl. I hate being away from her, but it’s important we search for healthy people.”

  Lawson finally took a few steps back towards us, lowering his rifle just a little, but never taking his eye off the sweaty and outwardly ordinary man.

  “I want to go,” Noah was first to speak with a hasty whisper. Lawson offered me a quick glance before returning his attention to Terrence. “I want a hot shower and real food.”

  “It might not be safe,” I calmly explained.

  “He doesn’t look like a man who’s going to hurt us,” Noah huffed out.

  “This new world makes ordinary people do desperate things, Boo. We have to be careful.”

  Noah flopped down impatiently on the seat under the shelter. She might have been sulking, but at least she wasn’t arguing.

  “Maybe we could just go take a look. They may have other vehicles there,” I finally suggested, checking out the white Ford sitting right before us. “We could cut out weeks of walking. We could share the driving and be in Elmendorf in less than twenty-four hours.” The thought of reaching Nan and Pop’s in just a day, two at most, lit a spark of hope in my otherwise weary heart. With my mind and body running on nothing but fumes, the thought of mingling with people didn’t seem quite so scary anymore. Especially if they had supplies and transportation that we could use. Lawson however didn’t look convinced.

  “They must have gas too.” The thought further fortified my resolution. Meeting this stranger might end up being a blessing in disguise. “If Terrence is going out in his car, they must have a decent supply of it. Maybe we can trade a weapon and some ammunition for a car and some fuel?”

  Lawson shook his head with frustration. Then, he pointed at me, Noah and himself, holding up three fingers. Then he pointed at Terrance and flashed his five digits four times. Three verses twenty. We’d be horribly outnumbered. From what Terrance had said Phoenix was a no go, particularly on foot. That would mean if we didn’t go check out this Silverleaf we’d be walking wide around the next city in front of us which could potentially add days to our trip. Unless we found another car we could boost, and got our hands on some supplies. We really needed supplies, bad. Food, water, fucking cigarettes. My mind was at war with itself, run and hide or take a chance? Noah looked defeated, and yet at the same time, hopeful. She needed to rest, we all did. We needed real food, not cans of crap with little to no dietary benefit. Protein… that’s what we needed. Steak, chicken, eggs, my mouth was watering. Staring at a small mound of dirt in the distance, it began to take on the shape of a turkey. My stomach was quickly onboard with the idea of visiting Silverleaf. The opportunity to eat, and possibly trade for a vehicle almost made me weep.

  “What if we just go check it out, and if we don’t like it, we leave. We may be outnumbered, but we have weapons. We can shoot our way free if it comes down to that. Worst case scenario we are back on foot and we keep to the outskirts of Phoenix and avoid the thousands of zombies waiting to snack on our juicy limbs.” The corner of Lawson’s lips twitched. “You’re a highly skilled badass soldier, Law, we could totally kick their ass.” His face was set in stone, not even a twitch this time, which told me how nervous he was. We both glanced at Noah who was sitting and watching us with rapt attention, her gaze darting from Lawson to me and back again.

  “Whatever we do, I’ll follow your lead. I’m not a soldier, so you have a better understanding of war and battle.”

  Chewing on his bottom lip, Lawson stood with his gaze fixed on the road ahead. Finally he looked my way and gave me a quick nod. Shit, were we really going to do this? Suddenly I was kicking myself for trying to talk him into it. Lawson reached for my elbow and brought me with him to stand before Terrence who stood sweating in the afternoon sun. Giving me a sure nod to speak on his behalf, I said, “we’d like to come, but we won’t be staying long. “ Terrence’s eyes lit up. “If you can offer us somewhere to wash up, maybe a meal, we’ll trade with you what we can, and then we’ll be on our way.”

  He nodded with far too much enthusiasm and quickly turned back to his Ford Ranger. Lawson helped Noah and I collect our gear, and we threw the backpacks in truck bed. Then the handsome soldier stood staring at the empty seat beside Terrance. I’d be fucked if Noah and I were going to sit in there beside him.

  Patting Lawson on his shoulder I said, “He’s all yours soldier. Noah and I will ride in the back.” Noah was already trying to lift one foot up on the tray to climb in.

  “I just want hot food!” She confessed eagerly.

  Lawson helped her up and I climbed into the bed of the truck, taking Maybelle from Lawson’s outstretched hand. For a moment, our eyes locked, and the expressive depths of his intense gaze almost knocked me off my feet. Without words, he said so much. He was scared, but determined. He wouldn’t let anything happen to either of us.

  “We got this Law, chill out and get that sexy ass into the truck.”

  His eyes flared, and his cheeks filled with color while Noah fake gagged from behind me.

  “Did you just say Lawson had a sexy butt?” She asked, her voice an octave or ten too high.

  Lawson grinned, his concerned gaze wandering over both Noah and me before climbing into the front of the cab. The motor rumbled to life, and we pressed our backs to the glass window and settled in.

  “I hope they have chicken,” Noah murmured, her surprise at my Lawson comment already gone.

  “I’d like lobster.”

  “Maybe they’ll have some peppermint, chocolate chip ice cream!”

  I groaned long and loud. “Don’t tease me like that, Boo.”

  After a few minutes of silence, I reached over and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

  “Boo, people can be raging assholes who do asshole things, we need to stick together at all times, got it?”

  “Got it,” she said with a sure nod.

  “No wandering off on your own, even if you see a cute boy!”

  “Shyyyyy,” Noah dragged out.

  “I mean it, if Biebs is hiding out at this fancy club you keep away from him and stay right by my side, or Lawson’s.”

  “Bieber isn’t going to be there.”

  “You never know. I’m just covering all bases because, babe”—I wrapped my arm around her shoulder— “You’re the most important thing in my world, and we need to get to Nan and Pop’s.”
r />   Noah rested her head on my shoulder. “I love you too, Shy. Will you sing a Bieber song?”

  “I love you too, Boo, and not a chance in hell.”

  The wind whipped our hair about, but being nuzzled up so close to the cabin protected us for the most part. This beat walking, hands down.

  “You’ve been checking out Lawson’s butt,” Noah whispered in my ear.

  Smiling, I nodded. “‘Course I have. Have you seen it? It’s one damn fine butt.”

  Noah laughed. “I think he likes you looking at his butt.”

  “I’ll let you in on a little secret,” I said in a voice layered with conspiracy and intrigue. Noah watched me with wide, expectant eyes. “I think he’s handsome, too.” Her face lit up. “But don’t tell him that.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because, Boo, it’s important that a girl play hard to get. If you make it too easy for them, they get bored or think they can walk all over you. Remember that in case we see a cute boy in Silverleaf.”

  Noah laughed before nudging me with her shoulder. Then she began singing Bruno Mars’s Count On Me, at the top of her voice. Using my knuckles to tap away on the aluminum floor beneath us, I picked up a beat and joined her. We had no idea what was waiting for us in Silverleaf, but we were owed a god damned break. I had my fingers crossed it was steamy hot water, hot food – lobster if at all possible – and a safe place to just stop and breathe.

  Track Sixteen: B-52’s, Rock Lobster

  CHAPTER 16

  The drive to Silverleaf was long, with so many twists and turns I began to feel a little car sick. Lawson had opened the small window in the glass petition between us and handed me a slip of paper from his notepad. Apparently Terrence was taking the long route in an effort to avoid central Phoenix, where the infected were concentrated. We still saw the occasional zombie, stumbling along the road or curbside with ungainly movements and bloodied clothes. Every now and again their wobbly head would snap into the air and they’d zero in on us as we moved past them. They’d even run in an effort to chase us down which was a monumental waist of effort. The infected didn’t have the brain power to know there was no chance of running down our vehicle, they just saw fresh meat. It made me wonder what made them want to attack the living like that. It wasn’t like they were devouring anything and everything, or each other for that matter. The infected wanted to attack healthy people. Perhaps it was some form of driving need to spread the virus. I made a mental note to ask Lawson once we were alone.