Chasing Colorado: (The Zombie Zovels #2) (17 page)

“That's odd, she's still in her uniform. If she turned into one of them while she was in here what has she been eating to survive this long? Don't they starve to death at some point?”

“I don't think she was that starved.” Drew said, juggling with the ketchup and mustard squeezy bottles.

He dropped one and it hit the counter at the same time he tried to grab it and he managed to squeeze the contents all over me.

“Whoops!”

I looked down at the splatter of ketchup on my white T-shirt. I dropped my bag and hastily tugged the T-shirt over my head trying to avoid getting ketchup all over my hair. I threw it on the counter and caught Drew watching me. I looked down to check I had actually put my bra back on when I was in the toilet. I had, thank God. He quickly shifted his gaze, cleared his throat, and picked up his crossbow and walked to the other end of the counter.

“See how long this one lasts.” I said, digging the red T-shirt out. There was only one left after this... another white one.

I walked around the counter and toward the kitchen door.

“Oh, I wouldn't-” Drew started to say.

“Why? What's in here?” I pushed the door open and it knocked into a bone. A bone! There were three bodies on the floor, some in parts, two wearing uniform, one in casual clothes, the floor was a pool of blood and the smell was toxic, it was mostly bones and blood. Now I know what Drew meant by Colette hadn't starved, she had been eating her co-workers! She must have turned really quickly, and come into work ill, she was probably saving those sick days. It looked as though Colette had come to work and turned and her co-workers had locked themselves in the kitchen. But why didn't they just climb out the window? Well, we'll never know now.

To the left, I could see a pantry-type room. I carefully stepped over the blood, trying not to slip on it. The pantry was full of condiments, and ingredients. I think most of the food here was made from scratch. I could see a large chiller at the back...but I wasn't even going to bother looking in there.

The most I found was a packet of breadsticks, a bag of almonds, and two tins of baked beans. It was a small cafe so the shelves weren't stacked full, and I can't imagine they would get many customers out here, but two tins of baked beans, really?

I walked back into the cafe looking for Drew, but there was no sign of him. Then I spotted something moving outside.

Drew.

He was looking at the car, he already had the hood up and was underneath it.

The door to the cafe was wide open and Drew had turned the sign around to show,
We're Open
. I wandered around and picked up anything I thought was useful. I found a handbag hung up near the back door and found a tub of Aspirin inside it, and I quickly chucked two into my mouth. I also found lip balm and hand wipes which I added to my bag. The office was locked but Drew had clearly broken the lock on the door, but there was nothing inside of interest, just a neatly organized desk with a computer and a filing cabinet. The other room was more of a box room, with a miniature two-seater couch, a coffee table, and a mini-fridge. I dared a peek inside the mini fridge and was surprised to find two cans of Coke. When I was done with the cafe, I was glad to be back outside in the fresh air, the cafe was giving me a headache. By the time I walked over to Drew, he was already closing the hood on the car.

“The battery's dead but the gas has been siphoned anyway.” Drew said, pointing at the broken fuel cap.

“Oh, and the front door to the cafe was unlocked.” he added.

“Really?”

“Yup,”

“That will explain why I couldn't find any food or drink. I found, like, two cans of Coke in the staff room and a few tins in the pantry. So someone obviously walked in and took a bunch of stuff and left Colette guarding the premises.”

“Looks like it.”

“Oh, well, this is better than nothing.” I said, rolling a can of Coke between my hands.

“The light's fading.” I looked back at the cafe, it smelled disgusting and I didn't think it was a good idea to be breathing it in all night. “We can't sleep in there.”

He stopped next to me and looked back at the cafe.

“Nope, but we can sleep on the roof.”

“The roof? And how are we going to get onto the roof? I've seen your climbing, you're like a cross between a monkey and Spider-Man.”

“We can use the dumpster.”

“Great, the disgusting dumpster.” I mumbled, pulling the bag around to show Drew.

“I've got baked beans and breadsticks for dinner.”

“And I got dessert.” he said, handing me the bag of chocolate chips.

We built a small fire and I warmed up the beans. I took some cutlery from the kitchen that was clean and hadn't been touched. We shared one tin and decided to keep the other one for another day. Drew dipped his breadsticks in his beans, and even licked his bowl clean. He must like baked beans. Drew gave me a leg up onto the dumpster and handed me a stool he had taken from the cafe. He then climbed up next to me and used the stool to get onto the roof. I watched him pull himself up onto the roof with minimal effort like a gymnast. My turn wasn't so graceful. Drew had to intervene and pull me up. It was a slanted roof but not steep enough to fall off. I sat with my knees up and Drew laid on his back leaning up on his elbows. As I watched the sky change color, I felt Drew's eyes on me. Or was I imagining it? I turned my head slightly and caught him watching me. He was quick to look away.
Probably checking for any signs.
I told myself. I'd be a little wary too if I had someone infected sitting next to me. I tried to ignore it, but as soon as I turned my head away I could feel him watching me again.

“Look, I'm not about to turn in front of your eyes, Drew. So quit staring at me, it's weird.”

“I didn't say you were.” he mumbled.

“Then why are you staring at me?”

And why can't I keep my mouth shut?
The last thing I needed to do was get into a row and annoy the one person that kept me safe.

Instead of some ratty response, he reached inside his front pocket of his pants.

“Here, I got you something.” he said.

He held up his hand, the full-moon
pendant
dangled from his fingers.

“Where did you get that?” I asked, but I knew exactly where he had got it from.

The last time I had seen it, it had been hanging from Stacey's neck. Then I remembered right after he shot her he squatted down in front of her, I thought he was just getting his arrow back.

“It looks better on you.” was all he said, the pendant still dangling from his fingers.

So Drew
had
been watching me in the mirror when I was looking at the pendants.

I gingerly lifted the pendant from his fingers. It was so beautiful and unique, I had no idea how old it was, it looked sort of old but I wasn't an expert on jewelry. All I knew was I was somewhat bewitched with the pendant.

“Thanks.” I said with a smile. “Oh, I've still got your pocket knife.” I was about to reach into my hoodie pocket but he shook his head.

“No. Give it back to me when we reach Argon.”

“Sure.” I replied, still looking at the moon pendant.

I undid the clasp and fastened the pendant around my neck, and we settled back down and
shared the bag of chocolate chips while watching the sky darken. My thoughts drifted to Lane. I glanced sideways at Drew, I thought it was strange, the longer I spent with Drew the less I worried about Lane and the others. Drew, even though he wasn't a big talker, managed to take my mind off things. I enjoyed his company... and he made me feel safe... and he gave me a pendant. I couldn't even begin to figure him out, boys were such complex creatures, they did the most unexpected things sometimes. I tried not to read too much into it, he might shoot me next week for all I knew. Even if I was going to
turn
soon, the thought of being with Drew up until the end was oddly comforting. He was so laid back, but not in a stupid, reckless way, he was just easy going, he took it all in his stride, nothing bothered him. He never appeared worried or panicked, even when a deadbie was coming at him. I briefly spared a few seconds to think about Stacey, but there wasn't much to think about. I
really
didn't miss her. And Jasper was still fresh in my thoughts. I loved his dirty jokes, his upbeat attitude, he made days at the prison more interesting, but Jasper was so immature sometimes, he didn't think things through thoroughly. But I was still going to miss him. And Luke, who was the friendliest guy I'd ever met, he never had a bad word to say about anyone. I hoped wherever Josh and Lane were, I hoped they were together, being alone in the outside world was a lonely thing, I should know, I spent a long time on my own... and it was lonely. I used to think being on my own was the best thing for me, it was easy to look after myself and not worry about anyone else, but now I hated it, especially out here. I didn't want to be on my own anymore. I was grateful Drew had stayed with me. I looked back at him, only to find he was already asleep. Very un-Drew-like.
He must be tired.
I thought. I laid down on my back and pulled my hood over my head. No deadbies would spot us up here, and I don't think any humans would be looking for us up here either. I stayed awake longer than I thought I would, watching the stars, wondering how many days I had left. And right before I thought I was about to fall asleep, I started freaking myself out, over thinking the possibility I might roll sideways in my sleep and roll off the roof. I found myself edging nearer to Drew and eventually fell asleep a little closer to Drew than I probably should have been but I felt safer when I was closer to him. He made me feel safe.

Day 7

Sensitive eyes, runny nose... sort of like hay fever symptoms. But on the bright side at least my headaches finally gone.

A loud squawk woke me up. I opened my eyes to the early morning sun, half blinding me. I squinted but could hardly see anything, I shielded my eyes with one hand and tried to sit up, only to find my other arm was trapped... under Drew. He had rolled onto his side in the night and now had his head nestled into the crook of my neck, and his arm hooked around my waist, holding me close.

I tried to wriggle my arm free without waking him up but it didn't work and his eyes shot open. I stopped wriggling and he looked at me a little confused, our faces only an inch away from one another, then it dawned on him I was trying to pry my arm free.

“Uh.. sorry.” he said, quickly moving away and sitting up so he wasn't facing me. He ran his hand through his hair trying to wake himself up.

“The sun's up already, what time is it?” he asked.

“I have no idea, I don't have a watch, remember?”

“Right, no watch.” he said, searching his own pocket for his pocket watch.

Okay, so maybe waking up in each other's arms was a little awkward and unexpected. Drew was certainly acting a bit weird. He mumbled something about wanting to take a piss, and then he scrambled off the roof as fast as his legs would carry him. I was left yawning and stretching, still waking up, wondering what the hell just happened. Maybe he was freaking out because he thought he could catch the virus from being too close to me. Well, whatever it was he couldn't get off the roof quick enough. After I had woken up properly and felt okay to climb back down, I grabbed my bag and crawled back over the roof and dropped the bag on the ground below. 

Halfway down Drew appeared at the bottom of the dumpster and waited for me to climb down, I jumped off the dumpster and Drew caught my arm to steady me, then he pulled his hand away like he'd done something wrong. Today was going to be fun, Drew was being weird and I didn't know why.

“I'm just going to use the bathroom before we leave, I don't know if I'll get the chance to use one again.”

Drew nodded and motioned to a tree he was going to wait beside. I went in through the back door again and ducked into the ladies restroom. I used the toilet and grabbed my panties which were still hanging up on the cubicle door. Then I freshened up at the sink, Josh had no toothpaste in his bag which was a bummer. I rinsed my mouth out with some water, really wanting to brush my teeth, but I thought it was a bit naughty to use Josh's toothbrush in case we met up with him and he wanted his stuff back. Today I could smell something strange, I lifted my T-shirt up and looked at the dressing that was covering the bite mark, I could see a nasty yellow stain starting to appear through it. All my clean dressings were in my own bag which I didn't have, and Josh didn't have anything in his bag except Band-Aids which were all too small and were more for paper cuts. I remembered seeing a First Aid box on a shelf in the kitchen. Great, I would have to go back in there. I left my stuff and went and found the box and carried it back to the restroom. I rolled up my T-shirt and braced myself as I carefully peeled the large dressing off. The bite mark looked infected and was oozing. It had a crusty edge, and it smelled bad.

“Yuk! Yuk! Yuk, and yuk!” I said, throwing the disgusting dressing in the trash can in the corner. I cleaned it up the best I could with paper towels and water, I was tempted to squeeze it but it was so sore, I hadn't noticed until this morning just how sore it was, it felt like a tender bruise. I dried it up and put a fresh dressing on which helped mask the smell. I had managed to get rid of most of the stench, I think most of it was coming from the old dressing I threw in the trash. I tidied everything away and packed everything from the First Aid box that was useful.

Drew was still waiting by the tree when I emerged from the cafe. He didn't say anything and just started walking, I hitched the bag up my back and trailed behind him. The air was warm, and I used a spare hair elastic I always kept on my wrist, and tied my shoulder length hair into a little bun, just to keep it off my neck. We stayed under the trees and in the shade, but after an hour my legs were feeling yesterday's walking, my calf muscles hurt every time I went to take a step. I tried not to be too obvious, I wanted to keep moving and I didn't want to slow Drew down.

My nose kept dripping which was becoming a nuisance, my hoodie sleeve caught most of the drips 'cause I didn't want to use all the toilet tissue up on my drippy nose.

My stomach had just started to notify me I was hungry this morning. I offered Drew some almonds but he refused and said he wasn't hungry, and didn't like nuts of any kind. So I managed to polish the whole bag of almonds off in less than five minutes, and my stomach was still growling.

I washed it down with a can of Coke. The food energized me to walk for another thirty minutes, and we walked into a ferny area in the forest, I found myself surrounded by ferns and I spotted a patch of mushrooms.

“Mmmm.. a mushroom.” I said, bending down and picking one.

I wasn't a big mushroom eater, but I was hungry this morning and I knew we needed to ration what we had left in the bag. Drew had noticed I was crouched down and quickly walked back to me.

I brushed the mushroom off and opened my mouth about to take a bite when Drew smacked it out of my hand once he realized what I was doing.

“God, woman! Those are poisonous, for fuck's sake.”

“Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know poisonous mushrooms were just randomly growing out here.” I replied while wiping my hands on my leggings.

“Where else do you expect them to grow?” Drew snapped.

What was wrong with him? Had I done something to piss him off and not realized it?

“I was hungry and I'm trying to ration what we've got left.”

“Me too, but I'm not scavenging off the ground.”

“You just told me you weren't hungry five minutes ago.”

“Yeah, I'm not eating that packet stuff you've got left over.”

“We have one tin of beans and a tin of soup, do you want some beans for breakfast?”

“Save 'em.”

I stood back up and stared at the poisonous mushrooms. My persistent stomach was getting the better of me. I can't believe I had nearly eaten a mushroom without thinking about it, of course, some mushrooms were poisonous.

“Maybe someone needs a lesson in mushrooms today.” Drew said, stomping on the mushrooms.

“No, it's okay, I just won't try to eat any more.”

Drew looked around at the forest then back at me.

“I'm gonna head out for a bit.” he said, searching his pockets for his lighter.

Drew was a smoker but nothing like Lane. Drew frowned when he tipped his cigarette box upside down and the last one fell into his hand.

“You going hunting?” I asked.

“Um.. yeah, see what's about.”

I think I was slowing him down, he just didn't want to tell me.

“I won't go far. If you get into trouble, holler and just run, I'll come find you, all right?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Oh, and Alex,”

“Yeah?”

“Don't eat anything off the ground while I'm gone, okay?”

“Yes! I get it, don't eat random shit off the floor.”

He veered off through the ferns and into the trees and it took me two minutes to realize I was walking the wrong way and was headed back the way I had just walked. Damn these identical trees.

I wandered through the trees, not in any rush, I knew Drew would find me again but without Drew in front, I found myself dawdling.

After what I guessed was an hour, I came out near a small stream. I washed my hands and splashed some water on my face to cool down. I filled my empty water bottle, I wasn't so worried about catching anything anymore, what else could I catch? I followed the stream, it was shallow enough
to cross over,
and I climbed up the grassy slope on the other side. The view on the other side was breathtaking. Trees as far as my eyes could see in one direction and in the other direction, if I squinted, I could just about see the tall rocks, and Drew had told me the desert was on the other side. One more day of walking and we would be in the desert.

I sat on a rock to rest my legs. I could see everything from up here and felt safe to rest for a few minutes. I let my mind wander and got lost watching the birds. Something dark appeared in the grass to my right, and my heart skipped a beat for a second, not knowing what it was at first. I was about thirty yards away but I still panicked when I saw movement. But there was nothing to panic about, it wasn't a deadbie or another human. It was a frigging moose!
I think
. It was bigger than I expected it to be. It had crazy big antlers, I wondered how it held them up all day and didn't get neck ache.

“There you are.” Drew said, walking up the slope to reach me.

At least he didn't just pop up and scare the crap out of me which is what he normally did.

“Is that a moose?” I asked, pointing at the moose.

“Okay, you're not that far gone that you can't tell if that's a moose or not.”

“Shut up, I've just never seen one before... Well, I have seen a moose before, obviously! I meant I've never seen one up close before, I've only ever seen them on TV and in books.”

“Yeah, it's a moose.” he said, slowly lifting his crossbow and walking around me.

“What are you doing?” I whispered, grabbing his arm before he could get away from me.

“That's breakfast.”

“What! No! That's not breakfast, that's a walking miracle. I can't believe it's still alive.”

“Exactly. We should put it down before it gets eatin' by deadbies.”

“Drew, no. Please don't kill it. I won't eat it if you do.”

“I thought you were hungry?”

“I am but I don't want you to kill it, it's such a beautiful creature.”

“Fine,” he huffed, lowering his crossbow. “I'll go find us something smaller, any requests?”

I shrugged. “I don't know, go find some rabbits or something.”

“Rabbits are like snacks, not much meat on 'em.”

I pulled a face. “Find something else then. Anyway, what have you been doing all this time, didn't you find anything to eat?”

Drew moved past me and began walking back down the slope.

“No but I found something you might like.” he said on his way down.

“Like what?”

I grabbed my bag and hurried down the slope behind him. When I reached the bottom I saw a horse tied to a tree. It was a chestnut brown color with reins and a saddle.

Drew crossed the stream and walked over to the horse, and stroked its nose.

I gingerly approached the horse. The only experience I'd had with anything resembling a horse was a small pony. When I was six the circus came to town and my parents took me to see it one evening, I got to have a ride on one of the ponies, the wretched thing bucked me off halfway around the small field and I fractured my wrist.

“It's a horse.” I said flatly.

Drew looked at me with a smirk.

“I thought you'd like a break from walking.”

“You want me to sit on it?”

“That's normally what you do... Have you ever rode a horse before?”

“No. I rode a pony once and I fell off and fractured my wrist.”

“A pony?”

“I was six.”

“Right,” Drew laughed.

“Where did you find it?”

“I found
her
munchin' grass just further down the stream. She's friendly enough. I don't think she's had any contact with deadbies yet, otherwise, I think she would have tried to run from me. So you wanna take her out for a spin?”

“Are you kidding? She'll probably throw me off and I'll break a leg this time.”

“No, she won't. She didn't throw me off when I rode her back here.”

“Who do you think she belongs to?”

“I don't know, she must have belonged to someone 'cause she's got a saddle and reins, and looks like she's been looked after, but she was on her own. I think whoever she belonged to is gone.”

“How did you even find me?”

“I found the stream and figured if you'd found it you'd probably be relaxing by the water somewhere.”

“Whatever, I only just stopped for a break about two minutes before you showed up.”

“Uh-huh, it looked like you were sunbathing to me.”

“I was not sun-. Never mind.”

“Come on then, I wanna see you up there.”

“You're being serious, aren't you?”

“Yep. You've been draggin' your feet all mornin'.”

“Have not!”

“Have too. A sloth moves faster. Now put your foot in the stirrup and get your ass up there.”

“How do you even know what it's called?” I asked, looking at the stirrup.

“My grampy owned a few horses when I was growin' up, so I know a thing or two about riding.”