Dead Outside (Book 1) (20 page)
“Do
you want to get out of here?” she asked, running her hand through my hair.
I
couldn’t help but have a ridiculous smile on my face, “I’ve been waiting for
you to say that for a long time.”
6:00
AM, December 10
I
awoke with a smile. Sarah was curled up against me, naked, with only a sheet
covering her. My head ached and my stomach was upset, most likely a hangover
from drinking the previous night. I was also sweating not just from the heat,
but from Sarah’s warm body pressed against mine.
Normally
after a night of drinking I would put a glass of water next to the bed before
falling asleep, but I had more important things to focus on last night. Just
thinking about it made my smile grow.
I
opted to stay in bed for a little while, we didn’t have anything planned for
the day, and so I stretched and adjusted position.
My
movements must have woken Sarah up because she shifted and looked over at me
with squinted eyes. “Good morning.”
“Good
morning to you,” I leaned in and kissed her on the lips. “How did you sleep?”
A
broad smile grew across her face as she answered, “Better then I have in a long
time.”
I
leaned and kissed her again, “Well we don’t have anything else to do today.” I
glanced over at the already open box of condoms from the previous night. Luckily
I wasn’t drunk enough to forget to use one last night.
“I’m
surprised you have any energy left after last night,” she complimented as she
wrapped her arms around me.
“Well
you know me,” I snuck the words in between the kisses. “I’m just full of
surprises.”
4:00
PM, December 10
Sarah
and I were walking the perimeter. She had one of the hunting rifles slung
across her back, and was holding a set of binoculars. I had my rifle in my
hands, ready to fire at a moment’s notice if something were to be broken and
one of them managed to find its way through our defenses.
“I
still can’t believe you traveled over a thousand miles on foot to get here.”
She glanced at me for a second with a look of appreciation, and then looked
through the binoculars to check the surrounding landscape.
“Up
hill the whole way too,” I joked with a grin.
She
dropped the binoculars, and looked at me. Her eyebrows crinkled together, and
she tried to shrink her mouth to keep it from smiling, her classic ‘I’m trying
to look upset, but I actually think what you said was funny’ face.
“I
meant, not a whole lot of guys would do that for a girl.” She fiddled with the
binoculars’ focus dial.
“Well
I wasn’t going to stay in Ohio away from you for the rest of my life. I did it
once and I’d do it again.” I put the rifle’s strap over my shoulder and put my
arm around her shoulders. Her face got a little red, and she smiled broadly.
“I
don’t know what I would have done without you. I mean I know I wouldn’t be
alive today if you hadn’t tried to come back.” She had told me all this before,
but hadn’t talked about it since.
“I
guess the thought of never seeing you again would have been too much to bear,”
I admitted. “I’d rather be dead than live without you.”
Her
eyes were looking deeply into mine. I hadn’t noticed it, but we stopped
walking. She wasn’t quite smiling, but I could see the happiness in her face.
She grabbed my head and pulled me in for a kiss.
We
both pulled away at the same time, both of us were smiling from ear to ear.
Last night and this morning were still fresh on our minds, and I was sure that
it would be continuing for a while to come.
We
continued to walk the perimeter, my arm was back around her shoulder, and she
put her arm around my waist, and rested her head on my shoulder.
After
a while of just walking and checking to make sure the rest of the perimeter was
secure, we started to make our way back to our room. She broke the silence that
we’d comfortably enjoyed for the last half hour or so. “I never thought a guy
could be so selfless.”
“At
least not any you’ve ever dated before.” I realized what I said was less a joke
and more of a hurtful jab after I said it.
She
was obviously not amused, because she pulled away from me right away. “Look, I
get it. I’ve only ever gone out with assholes and two-faces, but do you really
have to keep bringing it up every other day? Hell, they’re all probably dead
now anyways.”
“That’s
not what I meant,” I tried to explain myself out of the situation. “I just,”
She
cut me off before I could say anything else. “You what? You think I chose those
guys on purpose? You think I was trying to hurt myself?”
“No,”
I was mentally kicking myself. “It’s not your fault, it’s theirs.”
“Oh
don’t try to sweet talk me,” she glared. “I know what you meant.”
I
let out a long sigh, and returned her glare. “You really have a lot of room to
talk, considering no matter how many times you blew me off for those guys, I
was always right there comforting you when they treated you like shit.”
“I
didn’t ask you to stay at arms length,” she snipped back without a pause. “You
chose to be there.”
“I
was waiting for you to realize that I was the one for you.” Now it was just
turning into a shouting match, I had already lost any chance of this ending
smoothly, so I was just returning all the blows.
“Did
you ever stop to think that maybe I already realized that, and I was waiting
for you to make the first move?” She stormed off back toward our room without
me.
“Sarah!”
I yelled to her, “Come on!” I smacked myself aside my own head. “I can’t even
say the right thing when I’m finally with her.”
Nick
came walking around the corner and saw me leaning against the railing talking
to myself, “Sarah looks pissed. What did you do?”
“Oh
you know,” I said sarcastically. “Taking a perfect moment and ruining it.”
“So
the usual?” he said with a smirk.
I
chuckled, his joke was his way of telling me that it wasn’t that big a deal.
“You really want to make fun of the guy with the gun?” I raised the rifle
slightly to emphasize my response.
“You
two are meant for each other, just because you say something stupid doesn’t
mean its over. I mean to really fuck it up, you’d have to cheat on her, and
that would be a little hard to accomplish considering the only other girl in
fifty miles that ain’t a damn corpse is your sister.”
I
gave him a blank stare. “I’ve never even looked at another girl, let alone
wanted another.”
We
looked at the mass of bodies all reaching up at us, snapping their bloody jaws,
drooling at the thought of eating the flesh off our bones.
Nick
pulled out a flask and took a swig of it, causing him to grimace and shake his
head.
“Alright,
I’m just saying. It gets kind of scary, you know. Knowing you’re with the
person in front of you for the rest of your life.” He said with a slightly
frightened look on his face, staring off into the horizon.
I
grabbed the flask out of his hand and took a swig. The sharp taste of vodka
gave me a burning sensation down my throat.
“Remember
what I said last night, if you break up with my sister, I’m throwing you in
with the zombies.” I smiled and handed him back his flask.
8:00
PM, December 10
We
were all in the living room watching the movie
Predator
. Sarah was still
mad at me and she was sitting on the opposite side of the couch from me to show
it.
There
was a similar distance between Roxie and Nick on their couch. We sat in
silence, when typically we all would be quoting the movie, making jokes, and
laughing. I grabbed the remote and then pressed the pause button.
“What
the hell dude?” Nick exclaimed. “It was just getting to the part where they
unload all their ammo into the trees.”
“How
long are we going to argue with each other over petty things?” I asked,
ignoring Nick’s question.
“Petty?”
Sarah shot me a look. “Insulting me about my past hardly seems petty to me.”
“I
didn’t mean it like that Sarah,” I reached over and put my hand on her
shoulder, “I think you know me better then that.”
She
shrugged my hand off her shoulder, “You’re right. I thought I knew you better
then that too.”
Before
I could say anything else Roxie cut me off, “Nick won’t let me go on a supply
run. It’s not fair that I have to stay here while you guys go out.”
Roxie
took me by surprise, I had no idea she wanted to go on a supply run. “Why do
you want to go? Nick and I can handle it.”
“Give
me one good reason why I can’t go out on a run.” She crossed her arms and
waited for an answer.
I
looked over at Nick. He was already looking at me. I shrugged because I
couldn’t think of any reason why she couldn’t go. He saw this and his face got
sour, “She can’t go because it’s too dangerous. I don’t think she should leave
the school.”
“And
I don’t think that’s your decision to make,” Roxie shot back. “What gives you a
better chance than me?”
“Because
I’m a man and you’re,” he paused.
“A
woman?” Roxie cut him off. “So the fuck what? I can shoot just as well if not
better than you.”
“It’s
true Nick,” Sarah taunted, siding with Roxie. “You better watch out.”
Nick
shot Sarah a look that I would have punched anyone else for. I would have hit
him anyway, but to be fair Sarah did taunt him. “I don’t give a shit how good
of a shot you are. You’re not leaving this school and that’s final.”
Roxie
didn’t say anything at first. She just stared at Nick and began laughing.
Finally she stopped laughing. “Sorry, I just remembered you don’t control me,
which means I can do whatever I want.”
Nick
was about to yell but I stood up and cut him off. “You’re right,” I said to
Roxie. “You and I’ll go on a run tomorrow.”
I
expected Nick to argue but he was speechless. He and Sarah both had the same
look on their faces, but for different reasons. Nick was obviously upset that I
was siding with Roxie.
Sarah
wasted no time expressing her opinion, “Go on a run tomorrow?” she asked. “You
guys just went on a run. Why do you need to go again?”
“If
Roxie thinks she’s ready then why wait?” I argued. “We can always use more
supplies.”
“I
don’t think this is a good idea,” Nick broke his silence. “Sarah’s right, why
go out again so soon?”
Although
Nick and Sarah had valid points, the tension between Nick and Roxie had been
building for a while, and after what I’d said earlier that afternoon Roxie and
I could both use some time away from our significant others. Going on a supply
run was a perfect opportunity to do just that.
“Look,
we’ll go to the Wal-Mart,” I suggested to help ease their worries. “It’s big,
open, and a lot safer than going through individual houses in a neighborhood.”
“Whatever,”
Nick shook his head. “Just press play already.”
Sarah
wouldn’t even look at me, she just stared at the television waiting for the
movie to continue.
I
grabbed the remote again and pressed play. We went back to the silence we had
before I paused it. I hoped that I wouldn’t regret taking Roxie out on a supply
run, and that Sarah would forgive me for what I said.
10:00
PM, December 10
I
went back to the auto garage after the movie was over. The girls went to bed,
and Nick took watch. Roxie and I were leaving first thing in the morning, but I
couldn’t sleep, so I figured I would get what work done I could.
The
engine out of my old ranger was shot, it could probably have been rebuilt by a
professional, but I was far from that. I had the engine and transmission out of
one of the Rangers we took from the dealership up on movable stands.
Everything
else in the truck ran well enough, I’d already replaced anything that might be
old or worn out. As soon as I put the new engine and transmission in and
connected everything my truck would be good as new.
Having
the truck up on a lift and a shop full of every tool and piece of equipment I
would need made the job a lot easier than it was when I had it jacked up in my
driveway with only a small wrench set.
I
probably should have had Nick help me with some of the lifting and moving
things around, but it was better that he stay on watch. Besides, whenever he
tried to help me he either broke something or got distracted and wandered off,
leaving me under the truck waiting for him to hand me a wrench.
I
worked on mounting the engine first. That took a while, the bulkiness alone
made it tough for me to move by myself, even with the mount holding all the
weight. Once it was in place I bolted it in I started straight away on mounting
the transmission next.
It
was easier to maneuver into position than the engine since it was both smaller
and lighter. I bolted it in place as well then took a break. The heavy lifting
was done, all that was left was to bolt in the smaller components, wire
everything up and she’d be ready to go.
It
didn’t take long for me to lose track of time. It was already past midnight. I
shut down the generator that powered the equipment back there and started
walking back up toward our safe room.
The
school was spooky as hell at night, especially with no light. The banging,
scratching, moaning and growling coming from outside the walls didn’t help. I
didn’t want to go back outside the safety of the walls again so soon, but deep
down inside I wasn’t that worried. When I really thought about it, I didn’t
feel any less safe when I was outside.
Hell,
I always glanced behind me every few minutes just to be safe and I always had a
gun on me for the same reason. It wasn’t that I felt just as safe outside the
walls as inside them. It was more like I felt just as vulnerable inside the
walls as I did when I was outside.
