by Morse, K. A.
I quickly grab three keys off the wall and head back out to the boys. They seem to be on the lookout, but this town is pretty dead. I laugh to myself as I step out with the keys, handing them both one.
“What, Carter, we don’t get to be roomies?” Harris jokes with me as he takes his key.
“I couldn’t give two fucks what you want,” I tell him as I make my way to the room that matches the key in my hand. “Besides, your fucking snoring kills me. So, sue me, I just want one good night of sleep if I can get it.
My room is easy to find. Taking a deep breath, I put the key in the door knob of room 114 . The door opens with ease. I’m hit with the smell of musty mold and old cigarettes, but a bed is a bed at this point. I do a quick sweep of the room before I relax. Everything is clear. The room is surprisingly clean, other than the smell. I throw my ammo bag in the chair by the dresser, take my backpack off and throw it on the bed. It’s starting to get dark in the room, so I open the curtains. That doesn’t help much as the sun is pretty much set, my view of this small town is now bleak. I go ahead and open my pack. Grabbing my flashlight and turning it on, then a clean shirt and underwear, before heading to the shower. I take the quickest shower of my life as the water already runs cold. Thankfully, this crap place has shampoo and soap out, so I am able to clean myself off. I’m so grateful to have my flashlight, batteries are on my mental list of things to get when we hit another store if Ann has spread too much farther. Drying myself off, I throw on my oversized shirt and a fresh pair of underwear, not sure what to do with my hair as I didn’t think to grab a brush, I throw it up in some kind of bun on top of my head.
“Oh, shit,” I say aloud to myself. “Why didn’t I think to get a toothbrush or toothpaste?”
Now a couple more things added to my list. Leaving the bathroom, the room is still sticky from the heat of the day. What I wouldn’t give to have the AC on full blast. If this place would have had two stories, then we would have gotten rooms on the second floor that way at least I could crack a widow in this shithole. The covers look safer if I slept on top of them. As I lay down, there is a knock at the door.
“What the fuck?” I yell at the door as I get back up to see who it is. Unlocking the latch, the door knob turns before my hand can reach for it. “Oy, can’t you fuckin’ hold your horses?”
The door swings open. I use my flashlight, and there stands Metzger with a smile on his face. He then proceeds to lean in, trying to kiss me as he wraps his arms around my body. I quickly turn my face, and the kiss somehow lands on my neck. Squirming to try and break free, I head-butt him when there’s an opening. He doesn’t release me but pulls me in closer, blood coming from his nose. Blood is dripping on my clean shirt, which pisses me off since there aren’t many to spare. This fucker is stronger than I thought, I think, getting a whiff of alcohol. Where the fuck did he get booze? Then I remember that we were in the gas station, and he could have grabbed something there. Plus, it clicked he said he wanted a drink.
“Mother fucker,” I say, kneeing him in the groin as hard as I can when he comes back in to try to kiss me again.
Finally, he lets go, so I can get away from him. Flashlight still in hand, I leave him in my room and start running down to find Harris’s room. The pavement under my feet feels weird with every stride. Three doors down feels like an eternity without knowing if Metzger is right behind me.
Both hands are on his door pounding for him to let me in.
“Holy fuck, Harris, let me in!” My voice doesn’t sound like my own, it’s small and weak.
The door swings open super fast with Harris in his underwear, but gun in hand, ready to shoot. “Carter, are you okay?“
Breathing heavily, I push past him into the safety of his room. “Metzger . . . he . . . he’s . . . drunk,” I get my words out between deep breaths.
I recover enough to tell him to just go grab my stuff out of the room, not feeling comfortable with Metzger drunk to be alone.
“I will kill that mother-fucking cunt for thinking he could lay a hand on you,” Harris says under his breath as he is about to leave the room.
“Please, just grab my gear and let him sleep it off. We can make him pay for it tomorrow when we leave his ass here.” Pleading with him now, I say, “Just grab my shit and leave the shithead alone.”
I’m hoping Harris’s temper doesn’t get the best of him. I’m just ready for bed and an early start. Also as much distance between us and Metzger as possible if he’s going to be a total douche. Harris doesn’t take too long and is back with all my things. I’m so glad I didn’t unroll my sleeping bag. We had all grabbed one at the Hutchinson base. He hands it to me, and I unroll it, putting it on the bed.
“Who said you could share the bed with me?” Harris asks me as I flash the light in his face.
“That’s why I didn’t fuckin’ ask you, mother fucker,” I say, letting out a laugh. “Now keep your hands to yourself if you want to wake up with them.”
“Your loss, sweetheart,” Harris tells me with a wink. “Now get that shit out of my face.”
Laying down, I turn off my flashlight. As I close my eyes, Harris is already fast asleep, snoring his ass off. Shoving him off the bed is not an option since he is letting me share it. Feels like forever, but sleep finally comes to me. Harris’s snoring has lulled me enough to see the sandman.
My eyes open to something shining in them. Hopping up quickly, thinking it’s a flashlight, I grab my M9 as soon as I find where Harris put my fucking gear, only to find I’m aiming it at the sunlight coming into the room because this asshat didn’t close his curtains all the way.
“Harris, time to get up and move out.” My voice is rough from last night. Going back over to where he put my stuff, I rummage around. Taking a bottle of water out of my pack, I swig a bit of it, just enough to soothe my throat, not knowing when we will hit the real world again, or if this is our life now. Then I dig out some meds and take a couple to calm my side, thankfully it’s felling better.
“We need to get out of the EMP zone, so we can see if the whole world is dead or just here, Harris. So, get your ass up and, let’s do this. Plus, I’m done with the douche. Up and at ‘em, so we can get out of Dodge before his ass is awake.”
As I’m almost yelling at him, I’m already halfway dressed and pulling a new shirt over my head. Then getting new socks out of the bag, I sit on the bed to pull them on.
“Fuck, Harris,” a low growl comes out of me. “Where are my fuckin’ boots?”
“You have got to be shittin’ me. I fucking thought those were Metzger’s boots.” Harris’s face is looking at the ground. “He was laying in the bed asleep and didn’t have any shoes on.”
“Get dressed and go get my shit, so we can head out.” The look on my face is more than enough to get him moving.
One thing Harris knows about me is that I don’t play games. We have been through so much together, he knows I’ll slap a hoe. He’s ready at the drop of a hat. When he leaves to go get my boots, I pace the room, waiting for him, hoping not to hear gunfire, and never looking to see what is waiting for us out there this morning. My nerves are getting the best of me. Finally, the door swings open to show Harris with my boots but no smile.
“Fucking what?” I ask him.
“Asshat is somehow up and ready to leave,” he explains to me.
My hands come up to my face in disbelief, I don’t even want to see that assface right now.
“Maybe we can sneak out without that fucker knowing?” My hands drop from my face, I go to him and take my boots out of his hands.
Sitting on the bed, I throw them on quickly. Right as I get the second one tied, there’s a knock on the door, and Metzger begins yelling at us.
“I’m not getting any younger out here, you two!” he yells through the door.
“Yell a little louder, I don’t know if all the infected heard you!” I almost scream back at him. “I hope they eat your ass, shithead,” I mumble as I get up and roll my sle
eping bag up. Then putting on my pack, I say, “Okay, let’s get this show on the road. We can eat as we walk.”
Harris just nods in agreement, he knows I’m pissed right now. Pushing past him, I open the door to Metzger’s smiling face. What I wouldn’t give to knock it off his face right now.
“Fucking ground rules, you cunt. You put one more drop of any kind of alcohol anywhere near your fucking mouth again, so help me–” I’m not able to finish what I really want to say. The surprise on his face catches me off guard. “Fucking . . . just don’t. You’re just lucky we are safer in numbers, since we don’t know what’s going on.”
“I’m so sorry–” he starts, but I cut him off.
“No, no excuses. No fucking sob stories of how your dad never loved you,” I growl, blasting past him into the fresh morning air. The smell of rain is in the air, and it smells so good. I try pushing down the worry of Ann still being in the rain. I’m no fucking scientist. Is Ann a one time thing from the rain or more? Hopefully, it holds off until we find a vehicle. Wet and walking for long periods of time isn’t something I enjoy doing.
Supercenter
Lacey Carter
I take the lead, not wanting to see that fucker’s face, still upset with him from last night. How dare he think I wanted anything like that from him? Right now, it’s time to shake off what happened and get back to Kentucky. A smile comes to my face when I hear Harris humming behind me. Motherfucker is probably eating something. With a glance back I see that sure enough he’s popped a Zinger in his mouth. He’s always happy when he eats.
“Hey, fucker, you got any of those for me?” I call back to him.
“Nope, you never share your good shit with me,” he replies, and a low growl comes out of my mouth.
“Fine, dick bag, I’ll remember that when I find some good shit you want. You won’t get a fucking bite, asshole,” I mumble to him as we keep walking.
The walking feels like it’s going on forever. No signs of life or the infected so far. We haven’t hit another town yet, but we should be on the Colorado/Kansas border by nightfall, bringing me a little closer to home and Ellabee. I feel a bit choked up when I think of my daughter.
Finally, we come upon a car, an older-model Ford with peeling white paint and rust spots. It's just stopped in the middle of the road. This is the first one we have come across since we left that shithole town. I’m sure the people that lived there were nice, but the town is all but dead. When I get close enough to look into the car, I notice the windows are down. There is someone in the driver's seat. She’s still buckled in but now infected. The only way I can tell the lady is infected is by her eyes. They are glazed over like Marni’s were when she was coming at me. She’s reaching for me, not flinching when I pull out my M9 and put one round in her head. She goes limp, slumping in her seat, not moving. Harris comes from behind me and pulls her out.
“Okay, I’ll see if this shit will start,” Harris states as he gets in the car.
“You know we haven’t traveled far enough out of the EMP zone yet.” I shake my head. “Just because your lazy ass is tired of walking. You do know we have a shit-ton of ground to cover right?”
He just nods his head at me as he tries to turn over the car. Of course, nothing happens when he does. He hits the steering wheel and curses. All I can do is laugh at him.
“See, fucker? When are you ever going to listen to me?” I’m boasting as he gets back out of the car, glaring at me since I’m still laughing.
Backing up, I run into Metzger, he puts his hands on my hips, making me jump away. I don’t want that fucker anywhere near me.
“Back to fucking walking,” I say as I start walking again, trying to get as much distance between us as possible.
Country roads are so beautiful out here. They would be even more peaceful if the two fuckheads behind me would shut their pie holes. All I want to do is get the fuck away from them both at this point. So, the first town we stayed in was small. Damn, I blinked, and we had walked through it. I have started jogging off and on to pick up our pace, once I saw the sign saying we were still over 100 miles away from Kansas. I’m furious we are so fucking far from my goal, and we won’t make it by nightfall.
“Can you fuckers please keep up?” I yell at the men as I pick up my pace, seeing the next town in my sight. “We can stop and eat some lunch once there.”
And I’ll find all the Zingers in the mother fucking store and not share a fuckin’ bite with you, Harris.
Metzger must be excited, too, as he is now jogging ahead of me towards the town. Then I remember that he likes to be a douche and take the lead when there could be danger, like I’m a delicate fuckin’ flower or something. I can feel the anger bubbling up in my throat, the bile feels like venom I want to spit at him. Trying to calm myself as we approach the town, my M4 comes right up like clockwork. I don’t even realize I’ve done it.
From the looks of it, this town is a little less crappy than the one we stayed at last night. No sign of the infected yet. Over to my left, I see a huge supercenter about a block ahead and get really happy. I can get out of these BDU’s and into some cooler clothes. But how many of the infected could be in there? If there is no light to see, they could be lurking fucking anywhere. For different clothes and shampoo, I will risk it, maybe let Metzger keep his lead, so he can fucking get attacked first. A laugh escapes my lips, and I quickly look to see if anyone has noticed. Thankfully, neither of them have.
“Boys,” I call to them, also taking a second to catch my breath. “We. Need. To.”
Wow, am I winded. For a moment, I just stop talking to control my breathing.
“Now I know what you sound like after a nice romp in the sack, Carter.” Harris smirks.
“May be true, but that’s as close to a romp as either of you fuckers will ever get.” I smirk back at them. “Now, we eat then go into the supercenter for any supplies we might need. I know I need shampoo and deodorant for sure. Also some cooler clothes. This shit is not cutting it.”
“I would kill for some fucking shorts right now,” Harris agrees as he heads over to a grassy area to eat. I’m close in tow.
I sit down next to Harris and want to scream at Metzger as he sits right across from me. What doesn’t he fucking get about me not wanting to see his face? Holding my tongue, I grab an MRE out of my pack and prepare it to eat. I got spaghetti again, which is totally okay. I could eat them all day, everyday.
Once done with my food, I rummage through my ammo bag to find those damn Reese’s Pieces. Finally, at the bottom of the bag, I feel them and pull a bag out. Harris and Metzger both eye them. I open the bag, pour them out into my hand, and I lick all of the pieces, glaring at the guys not to dare trying to take one. Happy with myself, I start popping them into my mouth. Melty and all.
“I’m not going to touch that one,” Metzger says and starts laughing. “While you enjoy your soggy Reese’s, I’ll go check the perimeter of the building.”
With that, he was gone, leaving me and Harris in peace. I, for one, am glad he’s gone. Now I don’t feel I have to be on guard as much, with his ass at least. The infected threat is something that isn’t going away anytime soon.
“So, do you think we are going to see anyone else that isn’t infected by this bullshit?” Harris asks as he takes a couple of my candies. He gives a shrug, “What? I’ve eaten worse than your cooties,” he says, popping them into his mouth.
He wasn’t wrong. I’ve seen the shit he’s eaten. He gives me a reason to smile today in this hell. Well, until Metzger comes back. He returns huffing and puffing but no worse for the wear.
I dig again in my pack for some more ibuprofen and take another swig of water with them as Metzger talks.
“So, the outside of it wasn’t too bad. I found a couple of stragglers but also found this fucking metal stick that takes them out pretty good.” Metzger tells us as he holds the stick up for us to see, super proud of himself.
I stand up and roll my eyes at the sam
e time, ready to get in the store and out of these BDU’s. Harris takes the lead this time, and that’s fine by me. We close in on the store front, and there are two bodies on the ground. Drag marks are visible from where they have been moved away from the door, so we can get in. Since this bio weapon has just been released, the smell of rotting flesh hasn’t started yet. I, for one, am thankful for that. With the summer heat, the smell will be overwhelming, especially in a bigger city. Shaking my head, I bring myself back to what is going on right here.
“So, these doors are automatic, we will have to break the glass to get in there,” Metzger explains to us.
I step back while pulling Harris back, so Metzger can break the door open. Metzger first tries with his new handy dandy stick that does nothing. I might have laughed at him a bit too much, since he shoots me a dirty look.
“What, fuckhead? Work smarter, not harder,” I tell him as I bring up my M4 and pop two rounds off into the glass, shattering it upon impact.
Metzger utters a few choice cuss words at me once he gets back on his feet. He fell backwards, seeming to think I was going to shoot him. That may have crossed my mind, but I’m not a murderer, just a ‘kill or be killed’ chick. With a wink and my flashlight out, I walk into the supercenter. First stop is the luggage area. This ammo is a bitch to carry. Finding something with wheels will help me out a lot, then I don’t have to worry about those fuckers helping me at all. Slow and steady for me, as this place looks just as bad as that shit gas station did. Shit is just thrown everywhere, like it was a free for all. Some bad shit must have gone down here, and they were locked in.
