Learning To Live (Zombie Overload Series) (8 page)

He
pulls the truck sideways against the porch steps and close enough
that the handrails dig into the truck. Reloading my handgun and
loading my pockets with more bullets, I lean down inside the truck
and give Will a kiss, promising once again to be careful.

Jake
leaves the truck running and we climb off the top of the truck and
onto the porch. Immediately, a zombie staggers out of the door toward
us and I shoot him in the head. Then we enter the house quietly and
slowly. We clear the first floor, taking down several zombies and
with my heart pounding, we head up the stairs.

For
some reason, I don't think the second floor of this house is
zombie-free. I don't know why I would think that-
maybe because I
can hear grunting and moaning up here!

Cautiously,
Jake and I start at the first door in the long, dark hallway. He
listens first, as usual, then opens the door on each one. We get to a
third door and find it wide open. Inside, I see a pair of legs on the
floor beside the bed. My heart stops, certain we've found Bianca's
dead body. But then I see the legs move and hear loud, intense moans
and grunts.

Shit!
So now I'm gonna have to kill
a friend!

We
sneak over to the bed and I take a deep breath, preparing myself.
Ready as I'll ever be, I step forward and turn, my gun ready.

But
it's
not
Bianca!

The
zombie-whoever she is-is desperately trying to get to something under
the bed. I walk closer and shoot her in the head and she stops
moving. Jake grabs the zombie by its ankles and drags it away. I drop
to my knees, again expecting Bianca-but it's a little boy!

His
eyes and mouth are frozen wide open in terror. I keep my hands where
he can see them, but I don't reach for him, not wanting to scare him
even more. Softly, I tell him he's ok now and we will take care of
him. He doesn't move or respond.

I
look up at Jake, pleading with my eyes for him to do something. He
nods and motions me away from the bed. He takes my place and I listen
as Jake talks to the boy, with a calmness and patience I don't have.
Finally, I see a thin arm reach out for Jake. Jake helps him out
completely and the little boy latches his arms around Jake's neck,
tight.

Poor
little guy.
I would guess he's about ten. Brown hair, brown eyes,
and skinny as a toothpick-all arms and legs. Jake stands and the boy
wraps his legs around Jake, determined not to be let down. Jake pats
his back and looks at me with a deep expression of pain.
I know
how you feel, Jake.

We
leave the room and continue the search for Bianca. I want to call out
to her but who knows what else is up here?

We
reach the last door, and I listen. Hearing nothing, I open the door
and find what has to be the master bedroom based on the size. The
closet doors are wide open but another door is closed. I'm pretty
sure it's a bathroom and I'm praying Bianca is behind it...and still
living. Walking slowly to the door, I tap on it, softly calling out
her name.

With
relief, I hear Bianca respond and the door is flung open. She grabs
me around the neck and almost hugs the life out of me, happy to
finally be saved. I laugh at her and tell her we found Will and that
he's alive. She's very happy about that. She and Will were always
pretty close. She says she can't wait to see him. I can't either, so
we agree it's time to get the hell out of there.

She
goes back into the bathroom and picks up her little dog, Vayda, a
Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix with one blue eye, one brown eye and six
toes on her front paws. We leave the room and make our way
downstairs. At the door, Jake pauses to look around and sucks in a
breath.
Not exactly what I wanted to hear, Jake!

I
move forward and look around his arm. The entire block is filling up
with undead! They have already surrounded the truck on all but our
side, though not from lack of trying. A few are trying to bash down
the wooden handrails, which are the only things, besides the steps,
keeping them from us.

I
suck in my own breath and Bianca lets out a whimper. The boy buries
his head in Jake's neck and cries. I look at Will inside the truck
and he's staring at me, fear for for us in his eyes.

I
look at Jake, confused when he doesn't move, and I see he's just
standing there, staring wide-eyed at the zombies.

Knowing
it won't be long before they get the handrails down, I give Jake a
shove and tell him to get the hell on the truck before it's too late,
and he abruptly returns from his frozen state, leading the way.

With
difficulty, he detaches the boy and places him on the roof of the
truck. The boy starts screaming as he's removed from his savior,
which sends the undead into a frenzy. Jake snaps at him to scoot back
and the boy actually obeys, giving room for Bianca and me to get up.
Jake climbs up at last and the boy throws himself onto him.

I
look around in astonishment at how many I see. They are literally
everywhere!
You have
got
to be kidding me!
I grab up
the shotgun and start blasting. I hear Jake tell the boy between each
shot that he has to go inside where he'll be safe, and after a few
protests, the kid finally goes.

Bianca
tells me to hand her a gun and I give her a handgun. She's not too
bad up close. Jake uses his rifle to take out what he can, but soon
hollers down to Will to give him some of the grenades he had
restocked inside the backseat storage compartment.

One
by one, Jake throws the grenades and we watch as body parts fly in
all directions. Bianca and I are still shooting the ones we can but
they just keep coming! I'm worried about the ammo we have, not
knowing exactly how much Jake has brought with us.

I
tell Bianca to get inside and then ask Jake if we should try what we
had before, him blasting as I drive out of this mess. He agrees,
saying we don't have much choice. I jump inside and scramble into the
driver's seat. The boy is curled up into Bianca's lap, arms around
her neck, face hidden in her chest. Will is next to Bianca, his arm
around her, comforting her-or at least trying to. Looking outside,
there isn't a whole lot of comfort to be found.

Putting
the truck in drive, I ease away from the house, careful not to knock
Jake off the roof or screw up his aim. Grenades go off in front of
us, and I drive through the pockets Jake makes. But all too soon, the
supply of grenades are gone and Jake is dropping inside.

When
he settles in the seat next to me, I look at him, terror on my face.
There are still too many zombies and there is no way I can drive
through them. This isn't a movie! Real vehicles can't take the kind
of damage the movies portray. And having a vehicle that doesn't go
anywhere is the
last
thing we need!

Jake
just looks back at me and shrugs in defeat.
What the hell!

OK.
That
pisses me off.
What good is it to have a frikken
badass military man if he can't save the day all the time?

I
remind
myself
that this isn't a movie.
Fine.
Then
it's up to me.
I'm not going to just give up and become a
zombie's main course.

My
brain starts kicking into overdrive, and spotting an alley just as we
come to it, I jerk the truck into the turn. Pressing the gas, I take
out a few of the zombies, then yell at Jake to get back up and start
shooting the damn things. He does, and since the alley isn't nearly
as full as the streets, we make it through the next few until coming
to a street that is much less congested with undead than what we left
behind.

Sighing
with relief, I look over at Jake when he collapses back down in the
seat next to me. But then rage fills me.
Justified? I don't know.
Do I care if it is? Nope!

As
low as I can so no one else can hear, I growl at him, "What the
hell was that all about, Jake? Are you done fighting? Want me to let
your ass out right here so you can be chewed on? Be more than frikken
happy to, you dumbass!"
Ok,
maybe I was a little over-the-top, but really? Come on! He's going to
get his own ass killed!

"I'm
sorry
. I just ran out of ideas. It happens, you know. I'm not
Superman! And what the hell do you care, anyway?" he growls back
at me.

"Well,
of course you're not Superman. I never said you were! But being in
the military, fighting in wars, I'd think you would be able to cope a
little better." My frustration is rising.

Sighing,
Jake runs a hand over his head and then down his face. When he turns
his face to me, I gasp in surprise and shock.

"Holy
hell, Jake! You look like shit. I'm sorry. I forgot you haven't had
sleep in a really long time. I'm really, really sorry."
I
am
,
too.
He looks pretty damn bad.

I
suggest he crawl in the very back and get some of that much needed
sleep, and he agrees easily. But I stop him from moving by placing my
hand on his arm. He looks at me-his expression exhausted, but
curious.

Quietly,
I tell him, "I do care, Jake."

Jake
continues to stare at me for a few moments, then shoves my hand off
his arm and climbs over the back of the seat, on a mission to claim
his sleeping area. I watch as the kid follows him and I can hear Jake
talking to him as he makes a bed on the floor for the boy.

Will
tells Bianca to get some sleep, too, and gives her some clean
blankets and a pillow. Then, throwing his own bedding and pillow up
front, he slowly and carefully climbs over the seat.

He
places his pillow on my right leg, lies down, and covers up. I feel
his forehead and am relieved to find it's not near as hot as it was.
I pull the blanket off him and he bitches, but I ignore him. Finally,
he settles down and falls asleep.

The
truck is quiet now since I'm the only one awake-the stillness inside
and the undead outside-sends chills straight through me. It is
so
freakin' eerie! I think this may be the one time so far I've felt
alone in this, even though I know I'm not, but it's easy to feel that
way at this moment. I drive us out of town and back to the highway
and allow my thoughts to wander to...Jake.
Did you even have to
guess?

I
just want to make it clear, to
you
, that I was not trying to
rekindle our "thing"-whatever that "thing" is. I
simply wanted him to know that I do care what happens to him. Jake's
important to our group and he's helped us all, a lot. And since
you're expecting me to lie about my own feelings, I'm going to prove
your ass wrong. I care about Jake because...I
care
about Jake.
Yes, I wanted him badly. Yes, I wanted to be a family with Jake. But
that was before I had Will back.
Will
is the one who completes
my family. He's the original and no one can replace the real deal.
He's my husband, my kids dad, and my best friend. I'm not going to
give him up for someone who even
admitted
he just wanted sex.
I'm not even going to risk it for a one-time-no-one-has-to-know
thing, either. Would
you
? And if you said yes...shut up!

Alright.
I'm done with this subject. Moving on...

Things
are going good on the highway, so I'm stupidly lulled into a false
sense of security, until I see a flash of light to my left. Realizing
when the second flash goes off that it's lightning, I roll my eyes.
Great.
Just what we need.

After
a few more miles, fat drops of rain beat onto the windshield. A
little further, it turns into a hard downpour. I turn the windshield
wipers on full blast, but they barely help, and I'm forced to slow
even less than the forty miles-per-hour I was comfortable with
before.

Damn
rain! Damn cars everywhere!
Damn zombies!
Damn people
who started this shit!

A
very loud clap of thunder makes me jump, which wakes Will. He sits up
and looks around.

"Damn,
Honey. It's nasty out there."

No! Really?

I
give Will a quick glance and a tight smile. Both hands clenching the
wheel, I struggle to see in front of us.

"Yep.
How you feelin', Babe?" I ask him.

"Better.
Just wish I could take a shower."
Oh, how I wish you could,
too!

But
I'm still so thankful he's alive and back with me that it really
doesn't matter how bad he smells. What matters is he's actually
alive. At this moment, I need him as close as possible to me. I need
to feel him to know for sure he's really here.

"Get
over here and touch me," I tell him, stealing the line he always
says when he needs me close. He scoots closer to me and lays his hand
on my leg. I want more than that but this will have to do, for now.

I
hear movement from the back and then Bianca's face reflects in the
rearview mirror. She tells me she has to use the restroom and Will
says he does, too. Personally, I've had to go for quite awhile now
and this damn rain isn't helping any. I tell them we will stop in the
next town if it's not too full of the undead. They agree that they
can wait and then Will turns sideways in the seat so he can see
Bianca after I ask her to tell us her story.