Only Love Survives (Love and Zombies) (3 page)

“Never leave home without it.” He tossed it in the air and caught it in his fist.

“So, how exactly does one prepare raccoon?” She turned and folded her arms in front of her.

“I was hoping you had an idea because yesterday… Let’s just say it wasn’t great.”

“I saw a bottle of mustard back there.” Megan pointed toward the store.

“See if you can find a pan. I’ll get the mustard.”

Not only did she find a pan, but she managed to come up with some canned vegetables and salt and pepper from the back of the stove. Megan had a gourmet meal cooking by the time Sam came back.

“Are those green beans?” He peered over her shoulder.

“Yep.”

“I almost forgot what they look like. Here’s the mustard.” He reached above her head, pulled two plates down out of the open cupboard and set them next to the mustard on the counter. Then with the gun still in his right hand, he rummaged through the drawers until he found two knives and forks. Sam brought those over and set them on the counter as well, then stepped back to observe his handiwork.

“Norman Rockwell would be proud,” she offered and they both laughed. It felt good to laugh again. Megan peeled off her backpack and set it between her feet. With no kitchen table available, they stood at the counter and shared a meal fit for…well, a meal anyway.

She leaned against the counter with one hip and looked at him while she chewed. He’d buttoned up the shirt at some point. What a shame. His rock hard abs went so well with his wild hair. It worked for him. Of course, the fact that he’d saved her, fed her and above all else had made her smile, had nothing to do with the raw attraction she felt at the moment, or the warm sensation that spread from his touch when they both reached for the mustard.

Megan relented and instead, reached down into her sack to retrieve a two-liter soda bottle filled with water.

“You provided the meal, how about I provide the drink?” She held out the large bottle and he took the water like a man trapped in the desert too long.

He’d finished a third of it before he stopped and met her gaze. His cheeks glowed a slight hue of pink as he wiped his chin and held it back out to her. “Sorry, I haven’t found any water in a couple of days.”

“Go ahead.” Megan indicated for him to drink some more. “I’ve had plenty. I camped next to a stream last night.” She left out the part about hiding in a hollow log where she battled creepy crawlies all night. The possibility of sleeping in a real bed had drawn her into suburbia that morning as much as the prospect of food. Guess that plan was kaput.

Sam took a few more swallows then handed it to her. She wiped off the opening with the edge of her shirt and took a drink.

“The sun’s setting. We ought to figure out where we’re going to sleep tonight.” He stated it so casually, she choked on a mouth full of water. Sam patted her on the back and added, “I didn’t mean together, unless…”

His cheeks turned even redder and Megan laughed while she choked, which didn’t help the situation any. “Do you want to sleep inside my car or here in the building?”

She waved him off so he would quit pounding her back and allow her to catch her breath.

“Ah hell, I don’t know how to do this. I mean to say, you are welcome to sleep in my car on your side. No hanky panky. Just sleep.”

“I get it. Safety in numbers.” She cleared her throat one last time. “I like the idea of being locked in a car full of weapons. We should go through the store first, just in case.”

He nodded and his color returned to normal. She packed the mustard, salt and pepper in her backpack then followed him back into the store.

“There isn’t much left.” She grabbed some string, Chap Stick, a package of sunflower seeds she found under a box and looked over to see what he’d found. Sam was filling a milk crate with similar stuff. When Megan turned back to the shelf in front of her, a rat scurried across and a shiver ran down her spine. Seven months ago, she would have screamed and ran. Nowadays there were worse things to scream and run from. She shook it off and moved on.

“You ready?” Sam stood by the door. She nodded and headed out behind him. He loaded his stuff into the back of the SUV and pulled out a worn blanket.

Megan got in and made herself comfortable in the passenger seat. Sam followed and tossed her the blanket.

“I can’t take that.”

“Why do women argue about everything? The world is literally coming to an end…” He turned and stowed his gun behind his seat while he spoke, “…and you can still manage to find something simple to argue about.” Then he smiled at her and she laughed.

“Thank you. Not just for the blanket.” She pulled it up to her chin. Instead of leaning back like she figured he would, Sam started the engine. “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

“Yeah, but I’m moving the car behind the building first, just so it’s off the main road. You don’t want to be an easy target, do you?”

“Not particularly.”

When he drove around back Megan saw what became of the storeowners. One buried, one spread across the grave in an unnatural position. Megan was grateful they were far enough away, she couldn’t see the details of the tragic scene. Without a word, Sam pulled back around the front of the building.

“Thank you.” Megan’s heart ached for the couple.

He gave a quick nod of the head and turned off the motor, but left the keys in the ignition. His hands slid off the wheel and he leaned his seat back, then closed his eyes.

“So you’re a school teacher,” he started, but looked over at her and quickly amended his question. “Were a school teacher.”

“Fourth grade.” She nodded.

“Tough gig.”

“Not really. I loved it. They are smart at that age, but still interested in what you have to tell them.” That same old feeling of wanting to scream welled up inside her and threatened to explode. It always did when she thought about the life she’d led before the epidemic, but there was no point. That life was gone and screaming about it didn’t help. At least she didn’t have to watch her students get sick anymore, and vanish one by one. That first week had been a blurry nightmare. Half her class had disappeared before the school finally shut down.

“And your sister? When was the last time you spoke to her?” Megan couldn’t help but wonder about a guy who just got in a car and drove
“South
” as he put it, to find someone he cared about. Seemed a little cocky, if you asked her.

“Right after this all started, I put a plane ticket on will call and told her to get her ass home. She said ‘yes sir’ and never picked up the damn ticket. When she didn’t get off the plane, I drove straight down there to get her, but she was gone. One of her roommates said she hitched a ride.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It was a hell of a lot easier getting down there the first time around.”

Megan stared at him for a minute. She didn’t suppose she needed to tell him the chances of finding her walking down the highway were slim to none. His sister was probably dead. Megan didn’t dare say that either. Instead, she turned her gaze to the sunset in front of them. He still had hope. Once someone lost that, there was nothing left.

“So, were you married?”

He caught her off guard, and she swung back to gape at him. His expression was innocent as if he’d asked the time. She snapped her jaw shut and answered. “Why would you ask that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” He lifted his eyebrows.

Megan chided herself,
not every man was on the prowl
. “No. Were you?”

He chuckled, but Megan could tell his heart wasn’t in it.

“Nope. Too busy building a corporate empire. Welcome to my corner office, by the way.” He waved his arms to encompass the interior of the Suburban.

They talked while they watched the sun set, and Megan mused at how easy it was to fall back into old habits. Talking with a friend. Sharing a meal. It almost felt normal, but normal was dangerous. Normal made you let your guard down. Then bad things tended to happen.

Megan adjusted her oversized watch and her fingers brushed the scar underneath. The world had hope and that hope coursed through her veins. Her watch served as a reminder that she had a task to finish. She couldn’t risk the luxury of letting her guard down while she sat here and got to know this very, very good looking man.
Ah, jeeze.

Why did her head keep going there? It wasn’t like she’d been all about dating before the epidemic. Although, it would be wonderful to have a companion on her long journey. Male, female, whatever. Someone to talk to would be nice. Not to mention a car, a thought that piqued her curiosity.

“How is it you keep your car running? Mine ran out of gas months ago, and you can’t get gas from the stations without electricity.”

“I have a jiggler.”

“Do I want to know what that is?” She shot him a look meant to say “watch it buddy.”

Sam chuckled. “It’s a piece of hose with a mechanism on it that you jiggle, and it siphons gas without having to suck it out of a tank with your mouth. That’s why I was so close to that city where I found you dangling off a roof. You’d be surprised to know how many people left a car behind in the garage with a half a tank of gas in it.”

“After you find your sister, will you find a place to stay put until they fix all this?”

“Fix this? Who do you think is going to fix this?” He lifted his head off his arm.

“The government, in Las Vegas.”

“Don’t tell me you believe in that bullshit.”

Megan nodded.

“Is that where you’re headed? Lake Mead on foot?”

“So it would seem.” Boy, for a corporate mogul he could be dense. She wiggled further down under the blanket. Once the sun went down, the air had cooled off fast.

“The Hoover Dam is a long way from here. Where did you start?” He reached behind her seat, grabbed a sweater and pulled it over his head.

“Portland.”

“You managed on your own without getting bit in that big of a city for two months?” He shook his head. “You’re good.”

She never said she hadn’t been bitten, but that was a snippet of information she planned to keep to herself.

“It’s going to take you a lifetime to walk to Hoover Dam.” He pointed out, as if she didn’t already have the blisters to prove it.

“You do know there is more to it than just a dam. They’ve built up a city with reinforced borders to keep the zombies out. The dam has enough power to keep the city running indefinitely so long as Lake Mead keeps it powered. The last news bulletins said everyone should head there.”

“I’ve seen what can happen with all those people in tight quarters. It’s snack time for the walking corpses and no way out for us live bodies.”

“What do you propose…we all just wait around to be eaten?”

“No. I propose we fight back. Kill them before they kill us. Show them we are higher up on the food chain.”

“What makes you so sure we are?”

He gaped at her.

“Goodnight.” Megan turned in her seat with her back to him and gazed out the window. Most of Megan’s students had died. She could only imagine what became of the rest. Her mother died during the first month of the epidemic from an infected bite. The antibiotics the doctors gave her didn’t touch the infection, and by the second round she’d developed pneumonia. She never showed symptoms of becoming a monster, just the infection. When it became too dangerous to go to the doctor’s office, Megan sat helplessly by her mother’s bedside and watched her slip away.

There was nothing left of her world, and if this car was any indication, there was nothing left of his. Las Vegas was all they had. She just couldn’t tell him why.

****

Sam woke with a kink in his neck, and he rubbed the sore muscles while he yawned. His gaze fell on the empty seat next to him. The blanket lay neatly folded, and his chest ached a little.
No sense in getting attached.

He’d been alone for a long time. Nothing new about that. He shook his head.
Walking to Las Vegas.

Then it occurred to him, maybe his sister had gone to Vegas too. He’d forgotten about that newscast Megan mentioned. It called for any scientists left to make their way there to help. At twenty-four, his sister carried a Masters in two fields, and she’d been working on her Doctorate. Even though he told her to come home as soon as the chaos started, it’d be just like Summer to ignore him completely and do whatever the hell she wanted.

Summer had a way of getting around him like no one else. Probably because she’d pretty much been the center of his universe since the day she was born. Who needed a puppy when he had a little sister who looked up into his face as if he were Superman. He even wore a cape made of her baby blanket and a safety pin. And when their parents died, that universe became all about making sure they had enough to feel secure again. There was never enough.

He chased that carrot for ten years, and then the world went mad. He worked his ass off right up until the day she didn’t step off that plane, then the money and security no longer mattered. He couldn’t eat it, and it sure as hell didn’t tell him where Summer was.

His last contact from her had been a text that said she was on her way. But the next day, air travel had been suspended. He drove all the way to Irvine and back that weekend to find her. Each day that passed, things spun faster and faster into chaos, and he nearly went insane waiting at the cabin in case she showed up. His only choice was to head south again.