by Bale, Sarah
Elijah came to a stop and got out of the car. “Since we made it across sooner than I thought, let’s keep going. If we’re lucky we’ll reach Lawton today.”
I went to him. Anger rolled off him in waves and his jaw ticked as he stared at me. Honestly, he had never looked sexier.
“What?”
I grinned. “Just observing how sexy you are.”
“You’re not going to sweet talk your way out of this one.”
I leaned forward, kissing the tip of his nose. “Guess you’ll have to teach me a lesson then.”
“Daisy.” The way he said my name was a mixture of a groan and a prayer.
I took a step back. “Elijah, I know you’re mad that I took a risk, but it paid off. I promise we can talk about it when we get to Lawton.”
He nodded his head. “Then let’s go.”
I climbed into the passenger seat as he got behind the wheel. I’d barely closed the door before he took off. Cooper held onto the oh-shit handle in the back.
“Uh. Is it safe to be going this fast?”
Elijah glanced at him in the mirror. “Yup.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned to face Cooper. “You doing okay? You looked pretty green crossing the river.”
He replied, “Yeah, that’s not my cup of tea. I can’t swim, so of course every bad scenario crossed my mind.”
That made me feel bad.
He went on, “But I’m glad we’re on our way now. I used to love visiting Lawton as a kid. My grandparents would take me to Medicine Park and the Wichita Mountains.”
Elijah said, “I used to go there as a kid, too. Pretty fun.”
Cooper nodded. “I especially loved seeing the prairie dogs.”
“Prairie dogs?” I asked.
He replied, “They have colonies of them in the Wichita Mountains and they are just adorable. You won’t see anything and then all of a sudden they start popping their heads from the ground.”
Elijah snorted. “Don’t mention them to Grey. He’ll want to try to catch them for dinner.”
Cooper’s mouth dropped in horror.
I swatted Elijah’s arm. “Don’t be a dick.” To Cooper I said, “Just to be safe, don’t tell Grey. Elijah’s right – he’ll want to eat them.”
Cooper nodded and I turned back around. The road was mostly cleared of debris, totally unlike I-35.
“Think someone moved the stalled cars off the road on purpose?”
Elijah tapped the steering wheel. “I was just wondering that. Could have happened when the military came through.”
I asked, “What makes you think the military was here?”
He pointed to the west. “Saw some tents with red crosses on them. Figured the military had been here at one point in time. Looks like they’re long gone now.”
We drove in silence. It was eerie not passing a single car. I didn’t want to say it, but I had to.
“What if there’s some kind of group in this area?”
He replied, “Daisy, everything is fine.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. Easy for him to say. The last time we’d traveled on a major highway I had been injured… by a freaking group in the area. Plus, we now knew there were people who used the highways to network and find out information. What if the news of our group had spread?
Elijah touched my leg and I jumped.
“It’s going to be okay. Look, we’re officially in Oklahoma now.”
To the right of us was the pathetic remains of a Welcome to Oklahoma sign. The flowerbed around it was overgrown. And right in front of it three walkers ate what was left of a deer. I really hoped that wasn’t a sign of things to come. Because it kind of felt like an omen. A bad one.
4
DAISY
The drive from the state line to Lawton was a breeze. I’m not sure how we managed to stay so lucky. I still couldn’t believe that this section of the highway wasn’t crowded like I-35. Soon, signs for Lawton came into view.
Elijah said, “There used to be two hospitals in this area. I know one was hit early on by looters.”
“How do you know so much about the area?” I asked.
He tapped on the steering wheel, a gesture that stemmed from nerves.
Finally, he said, “I had a family member who was stationed here at the base, so I came to town to see him on the weekends.” He smiled, remembering. “The bars around the base were always a lot of fun.”
“I imagine so.”
In all my time with Elijah, he hadn’t talked about his former life very much. I could count the things I knew about him on one hand. Any time I mentioned it he would reply that those things didn’t matter now. Maybe he was right. But I still wondered.
“Was it a cousin?”
He shook his head and replied, “I’d rather not talk about it.”
Cooper asked, “Did he die in combat?”
Elijah said, “I lost touch with him right before the outbreak, so it’s very likely that he died. His unit was deployed overseas.”
Ah. I guess I could understand not wanting to talk about it then. An idea crossed my mind.
“I want to play a game.”
Cooper asked, “Like i-spy?”
“No. We each say a tidbit about our lives before the apocalypse. Our goal is to learn five new things about each other before we get to the base.” Both men frowned, so I rushed on. “I’ll go first. As you know, I was an only child. I was supposed to be a twin, but the other one didn’t make it.”
Elijah’s lips twitched. “Two of you? God help us all.”
I poked him. “I am a delight. Now it’s your turn.”
He said, “I hate hotdogs.”
My mouth dropped. “Seriously? But… why?”
He shrugged. “They just gross me out.”
Cooper laughed, “That’s a good one. I used to figure skate in high school.”
I could see him doing that. He moved in a very graceful way.
I said, “I always wanted to enter a wet t-shirt contest, but was too scared. And underaged.”
Elijah wiggled his eyebrows. “I can help you with that.” He thought. “I went to Europe on a class trip when I was fourteen and got wasted with the chaperone.”
“I went to Europe, too, but went to the Vatican.” Cooper said. “And then got drunk on communion wine.”
We all laughed.
“Y’all seemed to have more fun than me. The craziest thing I did was smoke a cigarette behind the barn when I was sixteen.”
Elijah replied, “You’re making up for it now, living your best life in the apocalypse. My next one is that I didn’t want to be a surgeon. I did it to piss my dad off.”
“How did becoming a surgeon piss him off?” Cooper asked.
“He was an attorney and expected me to follow in his footsteps.”
Cooper said, “I understand that. My dad had a construction business. When he found out I was going to culinary school he flipped out.” He shook his head. “It was worth it. And, I was able to travel on a cruise ship as a sous chef.”
“You went on a cruise ship and you can’t swim?” I laughed. “Brave man. Okay… my next tidbit is that I was the president of the book club at my junior high.”
Elijah said, “I’m picturing you as a sexy librarian now.”
“Gross.” Cooper fake gagged.
“Hey! I’d make a super sexy librarian, thank you very much.”
Coop grinned. “Now Theo on the other hand…” His smile faded. “Sometimes I forget he’s not here. It feels like he is.”
I replied, “Maybe he’ll catch up to us.”
We both knew the chances of that happening were slim, but it didn’t hurt to hold onto a little piece of hope.
Elijah pointed ahead. “There’s the base.”
I was sad that our game was over, but glad that he had at least played. Even though I hadn’t learned anything major about him, it was still nice. Maybe we could work up to the big things.
We exited the highway.
I replied, “Looks like it’s been removed.”
I prayed that wasn’t a warning for us. We drove until the base came into view. There wasn’t anyone in sight. We parked and got out of our car.
I asked Elijah, “Shouldn’t there be someone here?”
“Not if they all bailed.”
Bailed. Died. Same difference.
Elijah called out, “Stay with your groups. Don’t get cocky and take it slow. We don’t know what’s inside.”
Grey added, “If someone open fires, get to safety.”
I fell in step next to Elijah. Our group consisted of Norm, Jo, and Faith. Grey’s group was most of his men. And Coop and Kat stayed behind with the vehicles. We slowly made our way up the gravel road.
Elijah said in a low tone, “See those burned buildings over there?”
To the right was what was left of two multi-story buildings. Each was covered in black soot and all of the windows were blown out. I nodded.
Elijah went on, “Those were the soldiers’ barracks.”
“Wonder what happened?”
“There’s no telling.”
We made our way up to several single-story buildings. A charred Humvee sat in front of a sign that read Sergeant Major. As we passed it, there was a groan from the vehicle. Inside, where the driver’s seat should have been, was an equally charred biter. There were bits of his army fatigues that could be seen. I shuddered.
We reached the first building while Grey’s group went to the other.
Elijah said, “Guns up.”
Everyone got their weapons ready. He tapped on the door before going through. We entered a lobby that smelled moldy. It actually reminded me of the way my grandparent’s house smelled. Mold and mothballs. Magazines lined a table and there were a few toys for a child on the floor. Elijah went through a swinging door and we followed. There was a long hallway with several doors on each side.
“Norm. Jo. Take the doors on the left. Daisy. Faith. Take the ones on the right. I’ll check the one at the end.”
Nodding, I went to the first door, tapping on the frame. When I didn’t hear anything, I opened it. The room was literally empty.
Faith said, “On to the next one.”
She tapped on it before opening it. It, too, was empty.
I went to the last door on our side and tapped. When I opened it, a huge biter stumbled toward us, knocking Faith into me. Faith pushed at it, but it lunged again. I’d never seen one so big. Regaining my footing, I kicked it backward, grabbing my knife from my belt. Before it could get up, I stabbed it in the head, right through the eye.
Faith said, “You’re being reckless, Daisy! You should have just shot it! Why didn’t you have your gun ready?”
Her face was pale and she looked stunned. I couldn’t blame her. The thing had to weigh at least four hundred pounds! It was amazing the biter was mobile!
I shrugged. “Why waste a bullet?”
I wiped the blade on the rug covered with alphabet blocks. And then I looked around.
“Holy jackpot.”
One wall was lined with baby cribs, bedding and all. There were also diapers, clothes, and powdered formula.
Faith went to a cabinet, opening it. “There’s some pediatric medicine in here. And it’s not expired!”
“Kat’s going to be so happy.”
Elijah said from the doorway, “Found some canned baby food in the room I checked. This must have been a daycare.”
Norm and Jo joined us emptyhanded.
Jo said, “The rooms we searched were bare. Looks like someone raided it pretty good.”
I replied, “We found baby supplies.”
Elijah came further into the room, going to a pink metal cart. He lifted a small box. “We found more than that. This is portable ultrasound machine!”
I grinned and said, “Let’s start packing stuff up to take back.”
Jo and Faith gathered clothing and diapers. Norm packed the food up while Elijah and I found a crib that had decent wheels on it. At the last minute, Elijah tossed in an army issued cot. We loaded everything up and made our way outside. Grey and his team waited for us, a few items in hand.
A large grin spread across his face. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
I shook my head and he let out a laugh.
Elijah added, “That’s not the best part. Look.” He held up the box. “I can give Kat an ultrasound.”
Grey’s eyes watered and he nodded, unable to speak.
James, one of his men, said, “Want us to look at the other building while you take that stuff to the cars?”
Elijah nodded. “Thanks, James.”
James’ cheeks turned pink and he nodded, telling the men to head out.
I fell in step next to Elijah. “Looks like someone has hero envy.”
He chuckled. “He’s a good kid. It’ll be nice to have a third, for when Grey can’t help with things.”
We reached the vehicles where Kat and Cooper waited.
Kat asked, “Find anything good?”
Grey went to her, pulling her into his arms. “Look.”
She gasped, putting her hand over her chest. “A crib? Diapers! Oh my gosh, look how cute that blanket is!”
We sat the crib down so she could examine it.
Elijah said, “We also found a portable ultrasound machine.”
She turned to face him, eyes wide. “Let’s do it. Now.”
Elijah said, “I’ll set up the cot.”
Ah. So that’s what he had grabbed it for. He unfolded it and helped Kat as she sat. Her lips trembled and she fought to keep her composure.
I turned to the others. “Let’s give Kat and Grey some privacy.”
Norm asked, “Want to help the other guys search?”
Elijah met my gaze, nodding.
To the others I said, “That sounds like a great idea. We’ll cover more ground that way.”
I prayed that Elijah would be able to give Kat and Grey the news they were looking for. We went toward the building where the men were.
Jo asked me, “What’s wrong with Faith? She’s acting pissed off.”
I glanced over my shoulder. Sure enough, Faith had a scowl on her face and she walked several feet behind everyone.
“We took down the biggest biter I’ve ever seen in my life. She was mad that I didn’t shoot it, but it was easier to just stab it through the head.”
Jo nodded. “She has no right to tell anyone how to take down a biter. I bet she’s only killed three her entire life.”
I replied, “Well, she can get glad in the same pants she got mad in.”
“That’s an… interesting expression.”
I laughed. “My grandma used to say it. Guess she was on my mind.”
Jo said, “I feel ya. I’ve been thinking about my old life a lot. Mostly I’ve wondered if my best friend would be alive now if we had stayed home instead of going to that comic-con in Houston.”
I touched her arm. “You can’t think like that. There’s no going back.”
“I know. It’s just hard not to wonder sometimes.” She smiled. “But, I have Norm in my life because of that comic-con, so I can’t regret my choice.”
James and the rest of the men came from the building.
Norm asked, “Find anything?”
“Nah. Let’s head to the next one.”
We followed his lead. Our search was looking bleak until we found a kitchen with dry goods in it. Coop was happiest of all about this.
He picked up a bag of brown sugar, pressing it to his cheek. “This might be the best day I’ve had in a long time.”
One of the guys said, “Dude… you need to get laid if that’s true.”
I looked at the goods and said, “I’m with Coop on this one. There’s coffee!”
This made the men change their tunes real quick. I opened a can, inhaling. God. When was the last time I’d had a cup that wasn’t water
ed down?
Jo poked my side. “Hand it over. I need a whiff!”
I handed her the can. The look on her face was pure bliss as she inhaled. Soon, the can was passed to everyone, leaving huge-ass smiles on their faces.
I said, “Let’s take what we found back to the vehicles.”
I hoped that Elijah had enough time to do the ultrasound. And, I prayed the news was good.
When we reached the vehicles, I could see Grey and Kat hugging each other. Kat’s body shook as she cried and my stomach felt heavy with dread.
I went to Elijah’s side.
“Well?”
He smiled. “Baby’s fine. Heartbeat was a little slow, but that could be because Kat’s not eating enough.”
“Oh, thank God.” I hugged him and said, “As for the food, we found canned goods, so hopefully that will help. We also found coffee.”
He kissed the top of my head. “That’s damn good news.”
It was silly that something so simple could make everyone happy. I just hoped our good luck could last.
5
DAISY
After our haul at the base everyone was more than ready to get back on the road. It felt like things were finally working in our favor.
Elijah held up his hands, quieting everyone. “This might be our last chance for a good night’s sleep where no one is wanting to kill us. When we get back to the City we don’t know what is waiting for us.”
The men murmured amongst themselves. It was still early afternoon. If we waited then we might be inviting trouble. Plus, we were going to face the same thing in the City no matter how long we put off our departure.
I said, “I can’t speak for everyone else, but I’d rather go now. One night isn’t going to change what’s waiting for us.”
Elijah gave me a look. I’m sure that’s not what he wanted me to say, but that’s how I felt.
Grey cleared his throat. “I agree with Daisy. It’s now or never, Boss.”
Elijah nodded. “Then let’s go. If the road is clear we should get there in two hours.”
