End of the Line (16 page)

             
I went to where they were playing cards.

             
“Can I get a deal in? What are we playing?”

             
“Poker,” Aisha said. “Ashley owes me 90,000 dollars.”

             
“I told her I have to get to an ATM.”

             
“You both owe me 200,000 dollars,” Jake said.

             
“It wasn’t my fault Dot wanted to up the stakes.”

             
“I’m the one in the hole for 500 grand,” Dot said, then coughed, a loud hacking one but I’m grateful she didn’t spit. After coughing, she went back to nibbling on the cigarette. We hit a bump and the entire truck shook.

             
“Shit,” Jake said.

             
“Sorry about that,” I heard a voice from the radio, Annemarie, “but it looks like the worst is over and we’re back on a road. Ashley, we’ll be at your daughter’s house in about 20 minutes.”

             
I don’t know if Ashley looked happy or sad. She had a blank look on her face. The heat in the truck had made her sweat and much of the makeup she put on this morning was gone.

             
“Copy that,” I said, into the CB.

             
“Let’s play one more round,” Aisha said.

             
“Total stakes,” I said. “Whoever wins gets 1 billion from everyone.”

             
“Wow,” Aisha said. “You play high stakes.”

             
“I’ll be willing to take out of state checks too.”

             
“No way,” Dot said. “You bitches will all be paying me in cash.”

             
Twenty minutes later, Dot was 4 billion richer and we were in front of Ashley’s daughter’s place in Plainview. Dave opened the back to let sun in. Fresh air entered the musty hot truck.

             
“Is it clear?” I asked.

             
“Seems to be,” he looked around. “The place is still standing.”

             
The sunlight woke Tanya up. She stretched and got up.

             
I jumped down and helped Ashley. Tanya came down and helped Aisha. Jake came on his own and Dave helped Dot.

             
Ashley stood in front of her daughter’s house. Except for some wear, it didn’t look touched.
             

             
“You want us to go first, Ashley?” I asked.

             
She shook her head. She went to the door with the rest of us following. Tanya and Annemarie kept watch for zombies, but the neighborhood was silent except for birds.

             
“The door’s locked,” she said.

             
“I can open it,” Dave said.

             
She shook her head. Out of her pocket, she held a key ring.

             
“Glad I kept it,” she said, then unlocked the door. She had to push it hard but it opened.

             
She went in first and I followed. The house smelled musty. No one had been here in a while. I smelled something else faintly. A smell I didn’t like. A faint smell could mean one of them was inside, but I didn’t hear movement.

             
“Katie?” she called out.

             
I didn’t think Katie was here or had been here for a while.
             

             
“Katie?” Ashley called again. Her only response was silence and the sounds of birds outside.

             
She walked to the kitchen. It was empty, no signs of people or even a note.

             
“I’m sorry Ashley,” Dave said. “No one is here.”

             
Ashley looked dejected. I took her hand.

             
“Do you want us to check the rest of the house?” That smell wasn’t strong but it was here.

             
Ashley nodded. This time she didn’t lead the way. I think she was hoping for something like what Maddie or Aisha got.

             
Without saying anything, Tanya joined me as I headed up the stairs. When I got there, the smell hit me. A body was up here as well. I grabbed gloves from my pack and handed one set to Tanya.

             
“Do you think it’s one of them?” Tanya said. She put on the gloves and then pulled out her handgun from her back pocket. Zombies smelled faintly like the dead but I didn’t hear movement, only the terrible smell. Three bedrooms and an open bathroom greeted us. Only one bedroom door was open. We checked the open bedroom first. It had a twin bed. A dusty 13 inch white MacBook, our best seller, was on the desk. There was a note on top.

             
Dear Rusty,

             
If you are looking for me, I am attempting to make my way to my dad’s house in Oceanside. I hope to see you there. I love you very much.

             
Love Elaine.

             
“Must be one of the roommates?” Tanya said.

             
I wished Elaine had been nice enough to write where her roommates had gone.

             
We opened the door at the end of the hall to find a tiny messy bedroom with a dusty old laptop smashed on the floor, and the horrible smell, but not in this room. There was no note in this room.

             
“Next one,” Tanya said.

             
I knew what awaited us. Tanya appeared calmer than me.

             
We went to the next room. The smell was overwhelming.

             
“You sure you want to do this?” Tanya asked. “I’ve seen dead bodies even before the zombs showed up.”

             
I pushed opened the door before I could think about it.

             
The mostly decomposed body laid on the bed. Long since dead, so much that there were no maggots and hardly any flies. This person died long ago. The room was the biggest in the house: the master bedroom. It must have been the flu. I pulled out of the room quickly, ran to the bathroom, and vomited beans into a dry toilet.

             
Tanya stood behind me. She touched the back of my neck. Despite her thinking she was a bad momma, she had a gentle touch.

             
“What’s going on?” said Dave’s voice.

             
We could tell Ashley about the body or lie that the place was empty.

             
“We have to tell her.” Tanya said.

             
So much for my plan.

             
“Hey,” Dave said. “I can smell it. I asked a question, please respond.”

             
Instead of replying, we both went down the stairs.

             
“You need to respond,” Dave said.

             
I ignored Dave and focused on Ashley. “Ashley—I’m afraid we found a body upstairs of the flu.”

             
“Which bedroom?”

             
“The master bedroom.”

             
“Oh, thank god,” she said. I must have had a terrible look on my face, so she added. “Katie rents the smallest room. She’s a waitress at a diner, not a lot of money. The body has to be Miriam. She paid more rent to get the bigger bedroom.”

             
“Can the body be identified?” Jake asked.

             
“It’s pretty decomposed.”

             
“I don’t mind looking,” Ashley said. “Just to make sure.”

             
“There was also a note from someone named Elaine. She doesn’t mention Katie.”

             
“The other girl-- stuck up thing.”

             
That could explain why the note didn’t mention the roommates.

             
“Come on.” We walked back up the stairs. That smell was now wafting through the rest of the house. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, but I didn’t want to rush Ashley.

             
“You don’t have to do it,” Dave said.

             
“But I will never know for sure if I don’t.”

             
She slowly made her way up the stairs and walked towards the master bedroom.  I handed her gloves, but she didn’t take them. She got to the door.

             
And began screaming. My breath stopped completely.

             
“Katie!” she ran into the room and grabbed the corpse, no gloved hands, nothing. I would throw up again if I had anything left.
             

             
“No,” she said, weeping, “No!”

             
When she moved the body, a slip of paper fell to the dusty wooden floor. Tanya, the only one brave enough to enter the room to retrieved it.

             
Tanya looked over the note. “Hey Ashley, your girl loved you. She wrote this in the note. You want me to read it?”

             
Ashley didn’t respond except for sobs.

             
“Okay, here goes.
Dear Mom, I got the flu that’s killing everyone. Miriam died in the hospital and Elaine left. I don’t know if I will survive or where you are. The phones aren’t working and I’m too sick to move. I hope you never find this note. I hope you and I are both at peace. Life has always been hard for us. When dad ran off, when Joey broke off the engagement and my problems. If you survived mom and you are reading this note, I love you. Please don’t let my death ruin your independent spirit. I spoke to Martin a few days ago. He and the kids are okay. We made some kind of peace. I love you so much. Katie.”

             
Ashley almost seemed like she didn’t hear. Tanya touched her shoulders.  “You want us to bury her?”

             
No response.

             
“Ashley,” Dave said from the door. He didn’t look into the room. “Please talk to us.”

             
Ashley did finally respond. The sobbing got more intense. Tanya attempted to disconnect her from the corpse. Then she started shrieking again.

             
“Don’t take me away from my baby!”

             
“She isn’t here,” Dave said. “She’s in a better place.” Ashley finally dropped the corpse but anger made her do it. She turned and faced us.

             
“Better place? She should have been with her momma.”

             
“Come on, Ashley,” I said. “Let’s go downstairs. We’ll bury the body and then leave.”

             
“Leave? Leave and go where? There is nothing for me. I’m a 57 year old cashier who lives in a zombie world and my baby is dead.”

             
“We can be your family,” Dave said. “All of us. We look after each other.”

             
“Oh please,” Ashley said. “You are all nigger this and fag that,” she looked at me. “Did you know that, Jim?  That behind your back, he calls you fag. He calls Maddie aunt Jermina and Tanya a nigger. Is that supposed to be your family, Dave?”

             
Dave turned red. He looked at me, then at Tanya, then he headed down the stairs.

             
“Ashley, never mind Dave. He’s set in his ways. We care about you. You have us. Remember we could have kicked you out, but we didn’t.”

             
“Please, Abe didn’t want to keep me. Ask Annemarie. He’s was really hoping I’d croak.”

             
“He didn’t,” But I didn’t believe my own words. “Let’s leave, we can go to Oyster Bay or Syosset, find a mansion and stay there for a little while or we can take you back to CostKing.”

             
Ashley didn’t respond. She pushed her way out of the room and down the stairs. Tanya and I followed. She got to the bottom. Aisha, Annemarie and Jake looked freaked out. Dot was nowhere to be found so I guessed she was somewhere smoking.
             

             
“You should wash up first,” I said, noting she was covered with grime from her daughter’s body.

             
“Fuck you, Jim,” she said and walked out.

             
She didn’t say a thing about her daughter’s body, so we left it.