The Survivor Chronicles (Book 2): The Divide (16 page)

"We were thinking," Riley murmured. "What if it's already in us, or perhaps was already in
them
?"

Al frowned as he reluctantly turned his attention from the slumbering forms. His eyes felt like sandpaper as he tried to blink away the blur that briefly surrounded her. "What do you mean?"

"You know how chicken pox can become shingles, what if it's something like that? What if it's some virus or DNA strand that's inside of us already and something new in the environment caused it to mutate?"

Al pondered her words and then shook his head. "I suppose it's a possibility. There are millions of viruses on the earth, and there's no way to know how many may have been beneath it, or trapped within its crust. These might even be two separate things we're dealing with here. A virus that makes people mindless drones and maybe bacteria that turns them into raving lunatics. There may even be other forms out there that we haven't even seen yet, other manifestations in other people."

There was a moment of cessation of breath as they all stared at him. "Crap," John muttered as he ran a hand through his hair. "Crap, crap, crap."

"Until it happens to one of us I don't think we should worry." Al knew that was easier said than done, but they would drive themselves crazy if they continued to harp on this. "All of these people were in a town that we didn't enter until hours later. They could have been exposed to something we weren't."

"Maybe," Riley said and dropped her head into her hands to massage her temples.

"When I was ten years old I played spin the bottle with a girl who refused to kiss me. Her name was Rosie Dugan and I thought she was the end all and be all of my entire existence. When she wouldn't kiss me I was certain that I was going to die, that the ground was just going to open up and swallow me whole," said Carl.

"Ooook," Riley said after a prolonged silence.

"Before today that was the only other time in my life that I was absolutely certain I was going to die, but I managed to survive it." Riley began to laugh, a low chuckle that she muffled by covering her mouth with both her hands. Al couldn't stop the small bout of laughter that started to escape him and John's head bent as his shoulders shook. "Yeah that's how my friends reacted when it happened," Carl continued.

That only caused Al to laugh harder and Riley was squirming down the door now as she tried to stifle her giggles. "What happened to Rosie?" John inquired in a choked voice.

"Ah well, Rosie just got prettier with age and ignored me until the end of high school. She married an investment banker, had three babies, and last I heard she was living large in California."

"That bitch," Riley said and covered her mouth as she started to laugh again.

"My thoughts exactly," Carl told her. "But I suppose there's a good possibility she might be dead now."

"That's looking at the bright side," John snorted.

"I can't imagine why she wouldn't want to kiss you," Riley said.

Carl shrugged as he ran a hand through his hair. "I wasn't this irresistibly good looking back then."

John grabbed his stomach as he bent over and shook with laughter. It was taking everything Al had not to burst into the loud, belly deep laughter that had been his signature until his wife died. "That explains it," Riley chuckled.

The laughter came to an abrupt halt as a loud bump sounded against the door behind Riley and Carl. They all froze, Al's hand tightened around his gun as he waited to see if some other loon was going to try and break in. Silence followed the bump but it was still a few minutes before he took his first easy breath.

"When I was thirteen I was showing off for a girl on my bike by doing a jump. I ended up face planting into the curb instead. I broke my nose and knocked out my front tooth. I didn't get a kiss that day either," John shared.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Carl said.

"She kissed me a few weeks later though so I guess it was kind of worth it."

"I'm sure that's what your parents thought when they got the dentist bill," Al replied.

"Probably not," John agreed. "My dad thought it was kind of funny though, my mom wasn't anywhere near as amused."

John shifted and became silent as he rested his head against the bureau again. His fingers tapped on his knee as he went back to staring at the ceiling. "Xander stuck me with the nickname Dumbo. Everyone called me that, or D, for a good chunk of my life. I could never quite decide which name I found more annoying," Riley admitted. "People gave me feathers until I was thirteen. I actually got lice from them once; I've never told anyone that before."

"Oh," John choked on a laugh. "That's bad"

"Your ears aren't that big," Carl assured her.

"Thankfully I grew into them, but they were pretty bad when I was younger." Rochelle released a muted snore and rolled over on the bed. "I don't know if I envy them or if I'm scared of them," Riley said in a low voice.

"Both, definitely both," Carl said.

"When I was seventeen I planned an elaborate, beautiful dinner for this girl I was dating, Helen. I was going to ask her to marry me. I was really nervous but I still managed to pop the question. She said no," Al told them. "I'd never been more embarrassed and humiliated in my life."

"Why did she say no?" Riley's voice was a bare whisper.

Al shrugged as he absently rubbed his knee. "She knew what I didn't at the time."

"And what was that?" John prodded.

"She wasn't in love with me, and when I met my wife I realized that I hadn't really been in love with her either. Helen was a good woman, we actually remained friendly for years afterward, but we weren't going to be good together. At the time it was a big step for her, she went against the grain, and her parents, by saying no. I respected her for that but my pride was stung for awhile after that one. When I finally worked up the nerve to ask Nellie to marry me I was so nervous that I couldn't get the words out. Thankfully she was a smart woman and figured out what I was ineptly trying to get at and said yes. That was one of the best days of my life.

"After meeting Nellie I came to realize that Helen's rejection wasn't the worst day of my life, but it was one of the days that made me understand that not everything is as it seems. It made me realize that even the darkest days may bring something unexpected and wonderful."

"Do you think that might happen here?" Riley breathed.

"One can only hope," Al told her, but he didn't hold out much hope. Helen saying no had been one thing, this was something entirely different.

Al rubbed at his knee again as something bumped in the room next door. "I hope the truck's ok," John said.

"You and me both." Carl's bones popped as he pushed himself away from the door and rose up. He stretched his back as he surveyed the room. Though no one, after Riley, had been willing to take a shower, they had all cleaned up the best they could with washcloths and tub water. Carl had tossed aside his ruined work shirt in favor of the hideous Hawaiian shirt that was loud even in the shadowed room. Al was pretty sure Carl shouldn't go out in public, it seemed like he'd be waving a red flag in front of the mindless bulls.

"That is one ugly shirt," John muttered as Carl started to pace the small room.

"Better an ugly shirt than an ugly face," Carl retorted.

"My mom said this was a handsome face."

"It
is
a face that only a mom could love."

John smiled weakly at him and went back to staring at the ceiling as his fingers resumed their tapping. Al shifted and pushed himself into a kneeling position, John moved to help him but he waved the young kid away. He felt every one of his years as he straightened up, but he didn't need any help, not right now anyway.

He walked over to the spot that Carl had vacated and pressed his glasses to the peephole. He could barely see anything out there, just shifting shadows amongst the inky backdrop. He stepped over Riley's legs to get to the window and pulled back a corner of the mattress. He could see shifting shadows sliding through the dark, but he couldn't tell how many people were out there.

He placed the mattress carefully back against the window and leaned against it. "I once ate a worm on a dare," Riley said.

"That's disgusting," John told her.

Riley shrugged but her teeth flashed in the darkness. "It wasn't as bad as you would think."

"You're not helping your case," John muttered.

"I once jumped off my porch roof because I was convinced I could fly," Carl admitted.

"What were you on?" John inquired dryly.

"A lot, I didn't even know I'd dislocated my shoulder till the next day."

"I tipped all my neighbors cows over when I was fifteen," Al said. "It was about as much fun as it sounds."

John stopped staring at the ceiling to smile at him. "My friends and I once stole someone's boat and went fishing all night. We left them a few beers, a thank you note, and some leftover bait. That was a good night."

"Sounds like it," Riley agreed. Carl walked back over to the door and tried to see out. "Maybe we should try and leave now."

There was a large part of him, ninety nine percent actually that desired out of this room so badly that he almost agreed with her. The one percent that was rational, and knew that it would mean almost certain death, wisely kept his mouth shut. "We can't," Carl reluctantly said.

Riley took a deep breath and pulled both of her legs up against her chest. "We robbed a cop's house today."

John's mouth quirked as he stared at her. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," she said with a small grin. "It's how we got our guns. I felt like a bad ass."

"Oh yeah, you're a rebel you worm eater you." John pointed his index fingers at her as he beamed at her.

Riley laughed and grinned at Al as he settled back onto the ground beside her. "Well I never would have done it on any other day, that's for sure."

"I skipped almost every day of my senior year. My parents were so disappointed, but school wasn't my thing. I enjoyed landscaping," John stated.

"I enjoyed many things in my life." A small, reminiscent smile curved Carl's mouth. His watery gray eyes took on a distant look as he drifted into some memory Al was sure none of them wanted to hear.

"I once dropped my son on his head when he was just a year old. He squiggled out of my grasp and plopped right on the floor. I was terrified for years that I'd given him some kind of brain damage," Al admitted.

Riley chuckled as she leaned against his side. "Your wife must have flipped out."

"I value my life too much to have told her about that one. We'd have been divorced, or she would have been a widow."

"Did you do any damage to him?" John inquired.

"Nah they're surprisingly sturdier than you would think."

He settled back against the door and tuned out the noises next door as they continued to share stories and secrets that they'd harbored for years. Though none of them harbored any soul shattering secrets, he realized after an hour or so that they were unburdening themselves. He shared their desire to listen and tell them everything, even if they were strangers.

But they weren't really strangers, not anymore. He hadn't even known them for a whole day, but as the sky began to lighten he realized he knew more about them than some people he'd been friends with for thirty plus years. He also found that he liked them more than he had liked certain members of his own family even. Carl crept back to the window and pulled the mattress down. The growing light of the new day did nothing to help the hideousness of his shirt.

Al tiredly wiped at his eyes and forced himself back to his feet. For barely having slept in the past twenty four hours he was amazed that he was still able to move. "I would kill someone for coffee right now," John muttered.

"Do you really think that was the best choice of words?" Carl asked him.

"Perhaps not, but it's the truth."

Al stepped next to Carl as he pulled the mattress back from the window again. There were still people outside but their numbers seemed to have dwindled. The truck and car appeared untouched but he couldn't see the back of the truck from here. "We might as well wake the two sleeping beauty's and go now. I don't think it's going to get any clearer out there," Carl said.

Riley nodded and hurried over to Lee's side; she grabbed hold of his shoulder and shook him. "Go away," he muttered as he threw his arm back at her.

"Lee come on, get up," she insisted.

Lee opened one eye and looked up at her as Al shook Rochelle's shoulder gently. "Riley? What are you doing in my room?"

"You're not in your room dumb ass, now get up. We have to go."

Rochelle's eyes fluttered open. Her eyes widened in alarm and then her face fell as realization dawned on her. Tears blurred her eyes; she quickly wiped them away and sat up. "Are we leaving?" she asked.

"Yes," Al answered.

"I have to go to the bathroom first."

"Remember not to flush," Carl reminded her.

She nodded as she disappeared into the small bathroom. Lee sat up and rolled his shoulders as he stared at the covered window. "Are you ok?" Riley asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered.

She reached for his shoulder but her hand fell back to her side as the bathroom door opened and Lee climbed to his feet. Al watched the young man shuffle to the bathroom with hunched shoulders. "Do you think he's ok?" Carl whispered.

"I think so," Riley said slowly.

Lee looked a little more revitalized when he reappeared from the bathroom. "We'll move as quickly as possible, I'm hoping we'll still be able to drive both vehicles. Who knows what that lightning might have done to them though. Stay close together, it's the only way we'll all get there," Carl instructed.

Al took a deep breath and adjusted his hold on his gun. He wasn't looking forward to this, but he wanted out of this room so badly right now that it didn't matter how much he dreaded stepping foot outside again. Carl nodded toward them as he slid the chain lock free and flipped the door handle lock. He hesitated before finally flinging the door open on the dawning day beyond.