by Morse, K. A.
“So, besides this motherfucker, I wonder why we haven’t found any other person alive,” Harris wonders out loud.
“I’m questioning that, too,” Carson agrees as he kicks a can that’s in his way in the street, some liquid coming out sprays his feet. “Fuck.”
“Well, you never just kick crap, idiot, and even the ones who didn’t get infected right away could have gotten bitten. If bitten then they would fuckin’ turn, and now we are probably the only ones alive, cuz people are stupid,” I tell them as I see something we should go check out.
The store is huge, looks too big for this town.
“What about that store?” I question, pointing to it. All the guys look at it.
“Shit that’s a huge hunting and fishing place. Carter, good eye,” Metzger says grinning at me.
“Fucking NASA could see that fucking store from space,” Harris chuckles as he makes a beeline for the store, not waiting for any of us.
“Fuck, Harris!” Screaming at him, I chase after him with this stupid suitcase slowing me down. “Slow the fuck down, we need a game plan going in here.”
Why the fuck did I want this suitcase again? Maybe there will be something better to carry all my gear in the store. Harris stops cold as he makes it to the entrance. Then I see it, too, two infected are plastered to the doors. Holy fuck my life right now, this is where half of the town was when Ann hit. It only took one to fucking turn them all. My heart breaks to think of all those people trapped in there. How many more do we not see? The kids! Why does there have to be children? Yes, they are fucking dead, but I can’t bring myself to shoot them. They are still moving like they are alive. I have to look away as tears fill my eyes. Harris can tell something is wrong as he just gives me a huge bear hug without saying anything.
The tears now pour out, “Why the fuck does there have to be kids in that fucking store?” I cry into his chest. “I can’t fucking do this, I can’t.”
Being so strong throughout this has been all I could do to keep hoping Ellabee will be okay, but seeing this breaks me. Everything I hoped for is crushed seeing this.
Harris keeps me in his arms until my tears dry.
“We can just move on and not go in here at all. It’s up to you,” Harris tells me softly as he lets me go.
I feel so stupid showing Metzger and Rockstar this side of me. When in the field, emotions are something you aren’t allowed to show. That is something that I have kept in my mind this whole time until seeing those fucking kids in the window. I have to get away from here, where they can’t be seen by me.
“If you guys want to go in that’s fine, but I can’t. I won’t do it. Even though they are already dead, I don’t think I could pull the fucking trigger. The kids would eat me, and I’d be like them. But I just couldn’t.”
Stupid Map
Brandon Harris
Carter breaking down in front of me is really fucking hard for me to watch. This is something I can’t fix for her. It is fucking killing me, and I try to help her hide the emotions from the other guys. She’s the strongest bitch I fucking know, even stronger than me. The only other time Carter was like this was when we got the news that her husband was killed in action. There was nothing I could do for her then, either, but be there. Just to let her know I’m there for her.
“Metzger, if you want to fucking go in you can, but Carter and I will be looking for a ride out of this hell hole.” I glare at him, trying to look into his soul to tell him that he doesn’t want to do it.
“Yeah, ah, I think we will skip this one. There will be other stores in other towns,” he says almost robotically. “Now I think I might have found an older Suburban that would be perfect for us.”
“Lead the way, fuckhead,” I say, motioning for him to move forward and show us where.
“If the keys aren’t in it, I can hot-wire the vehicle,” Carson speaks up.
He kinda looks like he would know how to do that; I chuckle to myself. Makes me wonder where he got his tattoos. We reach the Suburban Metzger spotted. It’s fucking old, so it should start, unless it just breaks down from being so ancient.
“So, before you just open the doors, asshat, let's make sure there isn’t an infected in there first,” I tell them as I hit the vehicle to see if anything moves inside.
After a couple minutes with no movement, we try to open the doors to see if any are unlocked. Each one of us grabs a handle at the same time since it has four doors. We do it on the count of three. For some weird reason, the only one that’s open is the back passenger side, but at least we don’t have to break a window to get in. Since Carter is the smallest, we make her crawl in and unlock the driver’s side door. She is cussing the whole time but gets it done. Carter winks at me before she pops the lock and dangles the keys in my face.
“Fuck, Carter let me in!” I scream through the door at her.
“Are you sweating your balls off yet? Cuz I can wait.” She grins as she is sitting in the driver's seat about to start the Suburban.
Carter puts the key in the ignition and turns it. Damn, it starts right up. With a smile and a thumbs up, she unlocks the vehicle.
She yells, “Get in, bitches! I have a full tank of gas and places to be. And don’t forget my shit.”
Carter, of course, couldn’t crawl into the front seat with her gear on. I get in, and the AC hits my face. This is something my ass has missed the last couple of days. Metzger puts Carter’s stuff in the back then hops in behind me.
“Alright, let's get this show on the road,” Rockstar says. “Oh, I have a crazy cousin, Kyle Schweitzer, who is a doomsday prepper. I even think he has a bunker underground.”
“So, where the fuck does he live? And is it on the way?” Carter asks him as she puts the Suburban into drive and heads out.
“Yes, he lives in Hunnewell, Kansas. It’s right on the border of Kansas and Oklahoma,” he tells us as Carter presses on the gas and starts weaving through the other cars in the lot.
“Hunnewell, here we come,” Carter says, a smile on her face. “I kinda know the way but could you get my ‘stupid’ map out.”
Carter sounds annoyed, probably because Metzger hates her map. Not that she really gives a flying fuck. Really, Carter is probably still mad at him for trying to get down her pants while drunk, and she doesn’t forgive very easy. One time, I ate the last of her cheesecake, and she didn’t talk to me for a fucking week. Over cheesecake. After buying her another one, she still didn’t say a word, just glared at me while she ate it all. As I open the map, a tampon falls out. Like really, Carter, can’t you keep those in a different part of your bag? A snicker leaves her lips as she sees what’s in my lap.
“Why are you so surprised to see that in my stuff?” Carter gives me a look. “Just be fucking glad you don’t have to deal with that shit.”
She focuses back on the road still smiling.
“Okay it looks like we will take highway 70 East, then we are going to take 135 South to the 35. It’s a little out of the way, but having wheels now, it won’t be horrible.” I let her know, folding the map. “Especially if this Kyle guy does have a bunker full of supplies. That could fucking really help us out if he’s still alive.”
“Um, guys? I do need to warn you,” Rockstar speaks up from the back seat.
“Yeah, what’s fucking that?” Carter asks as she makes a turn on the highway, for now it looks pretty clear of cars.
“Kyle is a pretty big hillbilly, redneck as they come. Plus a bit out there. So, if he made it, he’s just different,” then he lets out a belly laugh. “But, guys, you’ll be in trouble if Klara is there.”
“Who the fuck is Klara?” he just looks out the window, just saying two words.
“His twin.”
Hunnenwell, KS
Lacey Carter
We made it to Hunnewell in pretty good time. This gas guzzler didn’t do too bad, we only had to make two stops to find some fuel. Thankfully, we are now out of the EMP zone, and there is still power somehow
. So, we are able to get fuel with no problems other than how to turn the damn pump on. Once we got that figured out, it wasn’t a problem. We let Rockstar drive once we get close, since this is his family. Using the map, we stay out of major cities so that we wouldn’t hit roadblocks or hordes of the infected. Metzger mumbles under his breath every time I bring it out, but fuck him and the horse he road in on.
“You can keep your comment about my fucking map to your self, asshole. If I wouldn’t have grabbed it, we would have been in fucking Egypt by now.” I turn around to growl at him since he’s behind me. “I don’t fucking see anyone on the corner we can fucking ask, so please fucking zip it.”
I turn back to the front with a huff. We roll up to Kyle’s land at about dawn, the sun looks beautiful coming up. This is something that I’ve taken for granted and haven’t enjoyed in a long time. I soak it all in as we cross a cattle guard that makes me alert again.
“Wow, I haven’t been over one of those in a long time,” Harris says from the back seat.
“Well, we will have a couple more we’ll pass over till we are on his land,” Rockstar tells us as he makes a right turn down a dirt road.
My heart starts to race, why the fuck did we decide to trust him? Myself mostly. What if he’s taking us to our deaths, and there is nothing we can do to stop it now? Stuck in bum fuck Egypt with Rockstar and these redneck hillbillies. I will have to hurry and grab my M9 and keep it close.
“Alright, guys, we have one more cattle guard, and we will be on his land. Keep an eye out. Kyle may have gone over the deep end.” Rockstar smirks. “Since he has been preparing for something like this since he was eighteen years old.”
As he finishes that sentence, we hit the last guard, so here we go. Who should we be more afraid of Kyle or his twin Klara? Fuck, I guess we will find out shortly. After a couple more minutes of driving, there is nothing to be seen other than trees.
“Um, why the fuck have you stopped?” I can feel myself almost yelling at him. “There’s fucking nothing here.” I search to find anything that looks like a bunker entrance.
“Well, you don’t think he would make it easy to find, do you?” He lets out an almost evil chuckle as he turns the Suburban off and gets out. Following him, we all hop out. As I look up in front of me, out of fucking nowhere, there’s a man in overalls with no shirt on, he’s kinda on the chubby side. He has a shotgun in his hand; seeing this, all I can think to do is throw my hands in the air. Then I hear Rockstar running to my side of the vehicle
“Kyle, fucking Kyle, it’s me Carson!” He’s out of breath as reaches me. “I fucking knew you would make it, cuz.”
Rockstar goes in for a hug, Kyle finally lets go a bit and embraces him.
“What the hell are y'all doing here?” Kyle questions him as they let go of each other. He has a strong southern accent.
“That’s a warm fucking welcome, cuz,” Rockstar sounds pissed at this.
Now I see a woman pop up out of the ground. “What the hell?” comes out of my mouth.
She comes running up to Rockstar and gives him a big bear hug, almost knocking him down. So, all guesses, it’s fucking Klara.
“Hiya, Carson,” she says quickly, accent just as thick as Kyle’s. Then she notices Metzger and Harris.
Now all of her attention is on them, licking her lips and not even hiding her thoughts.
“Rockstar, are you going to ask or fucking not?” I’m so tired and cranky from traveling here. So ready for some sleep.
Rockstar pulls Kyle and Klara aside and explains what’s going on and what our goal is. That we just need a place to stay and some supplies, then we will be on our way again.
“Fine!” Kyle yells, and he starts walking towards where Klara popped out. “But we will talk more once you’ve had some sleep. Grab your shit and come on.”
We don’t ask questions, we just listen and get our shit. Harris already has the back open and hands me my backpack first. I throw it on then grab my stupid suit case cursing myself for thinking this shit was a good idea. As soon as I can, this crap has to go, we have a ride now, so a fucking duffle bag will be a lot better than this shit.
We make it to the entrance, and the door is open. Why the fuck is this a house door? It leads to a stairwell going down into the ground. The lighting shows the steps are made out of, what I can only think of as, school bus seats. Hard to walk down at first, but I got the hang of if it once I realized what it was.
“So, you like my bunker? I made it myself out of school buses and tinhorn pipe,” Kyle questions me as I step into what can only be the tinhorn pipe part.
It’s a round pipe that Rockstar almost hits his head on. “So, how long did this take you to build?”
“About two weeks,” he says as he shows me where I’ll be sleeping.
“Wow, that’s really fucking fast,” I compliment him as I look around at all the work.
How did he cut the holes out to add the different rooms? And this is a fucking long hallway. There is no way he did all this in two weeks. “So, where did you get the stuff to do it all?
“Really helps when your family owns the local junkyard,” he says with a smile as we stop in a doorway. Well, I think he has a smile, he is sporting a mustache and long, brown beard. His blue eyes are hard to see through his brown-rimmed glasses. “Here is your room, honey.”
“You can call me Lacey,” I say, smiling back at him. “But sshh, I don’t let a lot of people call me by my first name.” Giving him a wink, I walk into my school-bus room and shut the door behind me.
With that, a huge sigh comes out of my mouth, this is really the only time I’ve had to my thoughts. After laying down for about five minutes, I just can’t have this. There are footsteps coming by, so I open the door quickly, grabbing whoever the fuck it is walking by.
Fuck, it’s Rockstar, but at least it’s not Metzger. I pull him into the room, anyway. “I can’t be in here alone with my own thoughts. Can you please just lay down in here with me till I fall asleep? No touching.” I give him my serious look as I say that. “The bed is big enough for that.”
“That’s fine. Can I at least change into something more comfortable?” he asks, looking at his clothes; he’s still in jeans.
“I guess. I mean you’re not staying here.” Shrugging, I lay back on the bed, looking at the back of the bus.
I pull the blanket up and try not to think. The door creaks open, and Rockstar steps in. Holy fuck, I can’t sleep now, all he’s in are some gym shorts. I turn back over, trying not to stare. My heart is racing as the bed dips with his body weight. His back is pressing against mine, all I’m trying to do is go to sleep, clear my mind and sleep. It’s fucking hard with a body like his right next to me, but I can’t let my lust get to me. Finally, sleep finds me.
But my dreams aren’t far behind. In this dream, Ellabee and me are at home watching TV on the couch. We both turn around to find my husband standing there, but he doesn’t look like Jason at all. He has been infected. I jump up, quickly pulling Ella behind me. Everywhere I look, there isn’t a weapon; Ella is crying–she’s scared and not understanding what’s happening. I scream at Jason to stay away from us, we are blocked into the corner.
I wake myself up still screaming, “Stay away from me!” Tears are running down my face. I can’t get these ones to stop, I’m crying for the loss of my husband, even though it’s been so long, there isn’t a day I don’t miss that man. And tears for my daughter with not knowing how she is. Rockstar slips his arms around me and just holds me as I cry. He never asks me what’s wrong, just lets me get out my pain while letting me know he’s there.
Kyle & Klara Schweitzer
Lacey Carter
There’s a knock on the door along with someone calling my name. Waking from a dead sleep, I can’t move. Fuck, the weight of Rockstar’s arms are still around me.
“I’m getting up, hold on,” I say, trying to get out of this man's arms then crawl over him to get to the door.
; Midway through my crawl, Harris opens the door and gives me a fucking look as he sees me on top of Rockstar.
“Oh, you fucking slut,” he says with the biggest grin on his face. “What have you guys been up to?”
Finally off of the bed, I give him the stink eye, “Really? With all my clothes on, asshole.”
“You don’t have to take your clothes off to have fun,” Harris says with a wink.
“Anyway, fuckhead, you came in here for a reason, right? So, what the fuck is it?” I’m getting annoyed by Harris, even though he’s just joking.
“Kyle made some food. Fucking cooked food, it smells so good, too, so get your shoes on and let’s get some grub.” He’s so excited about this food.
As I turn around, Rockstar is sitting up yawning and rubbing his eyes, “Did someone say food?”
“Yeah, Kyle cooked something that Harris is super excited by. He said we needed shoes,” I tell him as I sit down next to him and put my boots back on.
I was so tired that I didn’t remember taking them off. Once laced up, I leave the room to find Harris waiting on me, making kissy faces at me as we walk down the hall. I shove him hard enough he falls into the tinhorn. He leads me into a room that’s two buses put together. It’s a pretty big room. The table is full of food, wow they are feeding us so well. I see corn, potatoes, bacon, eggs, strawberries. It's a nice spread, sitting down next to Harris, we wait until everyone else is in the dining room. Harris goes to grab for a strawberry, and I smack his hand.
“Fucking rude, you need to wait for everyone to get here.” I scold him as my stomach growls. “See I’m starving, too, but I remember my manners, asshole.”
He just gives me a looks and waits, I’m sure he has a smart-ass remark but doesn’t say it. Klara slinks into the room wearing practically nothing. I mean it looks like a silky bra and underwear set. Her boobs and butt are hanging out everywhere. Klara and Kyle look nothing alike, for being twins. Though, they have the same hair and eye color. Klara’s face is different with a smaller nose but bigger lips. She’s a little on the heavier side which isn’t a bad thing, but I’m not sure why she’s dressed this way, well until she looks at Harris like he’s dinner.
