Once we got back to Andy’s store we took turns pumping air into his new mattress.
“Why didn’t you go home went the store got looted?” I asked while stepping on the pump.
“I live on the other side of the city. South of Rio Grande street. I was too scared to walk. No one would come get me so I just hunkered down and hoped it blew over.”
“No one would come get you?” he shook his head, “No came for me either. Facebook, text messages, phone calls and no one answered. Were your parents in the city?”
I honestly didn’t want to have to deal with Andy again but to keep from running out of estrogen I probably would have to. Maybe I could just ignore him? We would run into each other eventually in the superstore. So go talk to him at his store in the open or randomly bump into him at the superstore in the dark? Not much of a choice.
My new watch said it was Tuesday the ninth day of the month. Long enough for my ankle to be mostly healed. It still ached a little in the morning but that passed quickly. After gearing up with backpack, baseball bat, and machete, I headed out. I took the direct route to his store; scanning cross streets for zombies before dashing across.
I stopped across the street from Andy’s store watching for a minute. No zombies around the store. No zombies up or down the street. Wait there was one. Far enough away that it blended in until it moved. I watched it shuffle a couple of time before deciding it was far enough away to not see me. I crossed to the the store and walked to the front door. One door was still broken but Andy had tied a wooden pallet to cover the opening. I looked around inside.
Content Warning: Zombie child death. Normally I wouldn’t warn about a zombie death but “child” death is a bit different.
I spent a couple of days going from apartment to apartment collecting what food had been left behind. In a couple of apartments, I found small half full cases of bottled water. In the end I had enough to last a few weeks. Maybe, I thought, I didn’t need to go back to the superstore and risk running into Andy. I hadn’t found large stock piles of food and water but it added up. I would have to leave the apartment complex if I wanted to keep finding anything though.
The next day, I walked into the neighborhood that bordered on the apartment complex. Before the zombies, my roommate and I had walked around here for exercise. We had looked at the changing lawn decorations as holidays had come and gone. Judged Christmas lights in the winter and counted flags during the summer.
Now I was looking supplies and hoping to avoid zombies.
We went to school together and even hung out in groups near each other but that was all. It wasn’t until a few years later that we really met.
It was early days for me, only a few months after going full time. Walking around in public still made me nervous but I was trying to get past it. That day I was browsing in the women’s section of the local super store.
I froze as I heard the name I hadn’t used in months. A name that no longer fit who I was now. I glanced up and saw a girl who I recognized vaguely from high school looking at me over the clothes rack. Cynthia, my mind provided after a few seconds.
I panicked. I dropped the skirt I was looking at and began to walk out of the store as fast as I could. She followed me.
The next day my ankle was a bit more sensitive to bearing my weight. I spent time with it elevated while reading and watching outside. The Stand didn’t have quite the same appeal now. I ate cold meals.
Two more days passed in the same way. The bruise on my shoulder ached less and I began practicing with the machete. I tried using my bat in one hand and my machete in the other hand. I found swinging with my left awkward but having an extra weapon might come in handy so I kept practicing.
My previous trips to the superstore insured that I wouldn’t run out of food before my ankle had time to heal but I would need to ration a little. I considered breaking into the other apartments in the complex. Most of my neighbors had left in a hurry probably not taking the time to clear out their pantry. I had avoided breaking in before for much the same reason I had left my roommate’s food alone. I was becoming less concerned with seeming like a upstanding citizen and more concerned with survival.
I said to my immortal wife, “Goodbye my love.”
To me, her immortal wife, she said, “Goodbye, my heart.”
“I’ll see you in fifty years.”
“I’ll see you in twenty.”
“Goodbye my world.” “Goodbye my light.”
Then she left in a ship to the stars.
What is fifty years to a pair of immortals?
We have forever to be together.
In forever, the stars in the sky will be replaced by new stars.
In forever, new worlds will blossom.
In forever, all things old will make way for the new.
Except us.
We will watch the seas dry up.
We will watch the sky rip open.
We will watch the earth die.
We will watch the sun swallow the earth.
To live forever is to say goodbye to everything we know.
To live forever is to see new worlds.
To live forever is to see the universe turn.
How long is forever?
Forever is long enough to be with her.
-end-
Twenty minutes later, I was ready to get moving. Well most of me was. My ankle still hurt when I put weight on it. Andy found a cane for me after I refused to lean on him. I limped out of the store under my own power while he closed the doors behind us.
My bat and machete were still laying near the bodies. I made my way over to my machete watching the corners of buildings for motion. I started to dip down to retrieve my machete when Andy swooped in and picked it up for me.
“Here you go. I’ll get your bat,” he said walking off. I sheathed the machete and stuck my bat in my pack when he handed it to me.
“We should move the bodies,” I said.
After the Doctor left, I took a bathroom break and copied down the address and phone number on a pharmacy receipt. Then I ran water over the card and tore it into several pieces looking for concealed circuity before I flushed the pieces down the toilet. Maybe that was overkill, the card seemed to be just paper, but better safe than sorry.
The rest of my work day was tinged with anxiety but nothing else happened.
I walked past the living room to set my purse on the dresser in the bedroom and sled my shoes. I also reached up behind my back and unhooked my bra and pulled it off through a sleeve. I rubbed the sore area under my breasts from the bra and walked back into the living room.
I found Julie curled up on the sofa watching her medical drama. She lifted her legs so I could sit beside her and then laid them on my lap. I leaned into her for quick kiss and settled back to read on my phone. We were dating right now but even if we hadn’t been we would still be spending the evening together as roommates. I was perfectly happy to let her have other partners but she had a streak of monogamy that had us breaking up when she met someone new and then getting back together when it didn’t work out.
We were in the middle of the parking lot when I saw them. Two zombies shuffling out from between a couple of buildings to the north. I touched Andy’s arm and pointed. He stopped and look at me.
“What do we do?” he asked.
I put a finger over my lips. Maybe we weren’t close enough for them to hear but I didn’t want to take the chance. I looked back at the superstore. We were more than half way across the parking lot. I looked at the two figures. One was about my height with short hair the other was shorter and had long hair. A man and a woman probably. They were angling in our direction.
Could we make a run for the store? Maybe we could walk back to the nearest car and hide. Or we could fight them. I didn’t want to fight them. I looked at Andy and motioned toward the store. I began walking slowly, sideways so I could keep an eye on the two zombies. I heard a thump and Andy grunting. I turned to see Andy half sprawled on the hood of a car. He lifted himself off the hood, which popped back out with another thump. I turned back to the zombies in time to see them turn toward us and begin running in our direction.
We walked out of the electronics and around to the sporting goods section. After a short search, we were found several hooks of plastic encased machetes. Most were simple blades with nylon or canvas sheaths, a few had saw teeth on their back edge or different shapes. One had skulls painted on it. I grabbed the most normal blade I could see that came with a sheathe.
As I struggled with the plastic, Andy pulled out a pocket knife, flicked it open and presented it to me handle first. “Thanks,” I said as I took it and slit the packaging open, “I should probably get a knife for myself.” I carefully handed the knife back to him.