Dead Outside (Book 1) (22 page)

The
last one on my side was a nasty looking piece of shit. It was about a foot
taller than me, and its right arm was torn off at the shoulder. It got a bit
too close and grabbed my gun. I punched it in the face a few times but it
wouldn’t loosen its grip. I heard Roxie fire a few more shots, then she rested
her rifle on my shoulder.

“What
the fuck are you doing?” I asked.

“Don’t
move, I got him,” she took aim using my shoulder as a rest then fired. The tall
son of a bitch crumpled down to the floor dead. My ears rang something awful
from Roxie firing the gun so close to my ear.

I
turned around rather annoyed. “Could you not do that again please?”

“Oh
you mean save your life?” she asked rather smugly. “I’ll try to refrain. Now
let’s get these bags and get the hell out of here before more of them show up.”

Her
enthusiasm took me by surprise. She’d always been pretty good with a gun, but
her side had just as many if not more of them piled up, and she didn’t seem
scared at all, not anymore. “You got it. let’s get these supplies out of here.”

We
grabbed our bags and started running for the door again. We were almost to the
door when I stepped over what I thought was a dead body. Its arm reached up and
grabbed my foot and pulled me down flat on my face. Before I knew it, it was
crawling over the bags and trying to bite me. I was too dazed from the fall to
focus. I tried my best to hold its head away from me.

Blood
sprayed out its right temple with a bang. Roxie was standing over it with a
literal smoking gun. I cleared my now dry throat, “You are frighteningly
effective with that.”

“I
know, lets get the hell out of here,” she said as she helped me up again, “I
think we’ve overstayed our welcome.”

I
got to my feet a little slower than I would have liked. Roxie was glancing in
every direction to make sure nothing else was sneaking up on us. “Maybe not,” I
thought out loud.

“What
do you mean?” she asked, taking the opportunity to put more rounds in her
rifle.

“I
don’t hear them anymore,” I observed, looking around the store, “There are no
more moans.”

She
looked around too and a smirk crept up the side of her face, “I think you’re
right.”

“Well
what are we waiting for?” I pulled the bag straps back over my shoulders.
“Let’s get these bags to the truck and grab some more, no sense in wasting a
good thing. Let’s fill that fucking truck up!”

We
made five more trips before a large group of them started moving its way toward
us from across the parking lot. The sporting goods section had already been
picked pretty clean. We only found a few loose shotgun rounds and a box of
hunting rifle rounds that matched one of the rifles Nick found the other day.

Roxie
was tapping her foot on the way back to the school. For a second I thought it
was nerves, but she still had a small smirk on her face. It wasn’t an arrogant
smile, it was a confident one. She knew the dangers of being outside, but she
was just as ready for them as me or Nick.

I
also had a smirk on my face, we got a lot more food then I was expecting to
get. I was also happy to still be alive. There were a few seconds that I didn’t
think we were going to get out of there.

As
we pulled down the street leading to the school Roxie pulled out the radio,
“Nick or Sarah do you copy? We’re pulling in. Can you head to the auto garage?”

“This
is Sarah,” the radio buzzed. “We’re already here waiting for you guys, Nick’s
going to open the gate as soon as we hear you pull up.”

I
honked as we pulled up to the rolling door. Almost immediately it rose high
enough for us to drive in.

The
door slammed into the ground as I shut the ignition off. I limped out of the
truck only for Sarah to tackle me into a hug. “Easy babe, I’m a little bruised
there,” I whimpered.

“Are
you going to be okay?” she asked anxiously, loosening her grip slightly.

“I’ll
be fine. I just need some time to heal.” I reassured her and put my arm around
her shoulder.

Roxie
was hugging Nick as well. Sarah and I walked around the truck just in time to
see Nick push her away for a second and get down on one knee.

Sarah
squeezed my arm in shock. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t think Nick was actually
going to do it.

“Roxanne
O’Neal, Will you marry me?” Nick had a broad smile on his face. He wasn’t doing
it because I threatened him, he looked genuinely happy.

Roxie
was staring down at him, the smirk that she had grew into a smile, but she
didn’t answer right away. We all stood there waiting for her to answer for what
seemed like forever.

“No,”
she finally said.

Nick
looked like he just got kicked in the balls. He couldn’t even get any words
out. He just stared in disbelief.

I
glanced over at Sarah. Her jaw might as well have been on the floor. I looked
back over at Roxie who was still smiling and said, “I have to admit, I did not
see that coming.”

Chapter Twenty-Two: Storm

4:45
PM, December 11

“No!?”
Nick yelled, standing up from his kneeling proposal position. “After all the
arguments, all your talk about marriage, rings, commitment, and I finally drop
down on that knee for you, only for you to stare at me and say no like you’d
been planning on it the whole time?”

Roxie
shook her head, “No, I really did want this, but now that you proposed I don’t
know, it just feels pointless.”

Nick
let out a sigh, “You’ve got to be shitting me, that’s what I’ve been saying the
whole time.”

Sarah’s
jaw was still dropped. She stopped staring at Nick and Roxie long enough to
look up at me and whispered, “Did you know about this?”

“Which
part?” I asked. “About whether or not Nick was going to ask her to marry him,
or about what Roxie’s reply was going to be when he did?”

Sarah
let out a quick chuckle, “Both.”

Roxie
eyes began to water up, “I don’t need a piece of metal on my finger to know
you’ll always be around. For all we know this could be our last day alive,
every time you go outside those walls I wonder whether or not I’m even going to
see your face again.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks, “I almost died out
there today, and it made it that much more real. We’re together, and that’s
enough for me.”

Nick
was still upset, but he grabbed Roxie into a hug, “That’s all I’ve ever needed.
If you died who the hell would I argue with?”

Sarah
tugged at my sleeve, and then gestured toward the safe room. She wanted us to
give them a few minutes alone.

She
reached into the bed and grabbed a duffel bag to carry. I followed suit and
grabbed two duffel bags myself. Nick and Roxie didn’t break eye contact with
each other, and probably didn’t even notice we were walking away.

The
wind was pretty strong in the courtyard, stronger than usual. “Wind is pretty
strong, has it been like this all day?”

Sarah
shook her head, “I don’t think so. It’s only been this windy for a few hours or
so. Maybe a storm is coming in.”

We
dropped off the first load in the kitchen. Sarah started unloading the bag she
carried up. I took a glance out the window before I started emptying mine and
from the looks of it Roxie and Nick were still in the auto garage. “Maybe we
should wait a little bit before we go back down there, they look a little
busy.”

“Yeah,
they definitely need some time,” Sarah agreed, stacking the new cans of food up
on the shelf. “What do you want to do with all this free time we just
acquired?”

“Do
you remember the last hurricane we had?” I asked, opening one of the duffel
bags I carried up, “The winds were just like this, hell if I didn’t know any
better I’d say we were about to experience a hurricane.”

 “Yeah,”
Sarah agreed, pulling the last can of beans out of her bag. “What was the name
of that bad one we had two years ago?”

 “Like
I’m going to remember that?” I chuckled while opening the second duffel bag I
carried up. “You know how long it took me to remember Katrina don’t you?”

“That’s
true,” she agreed. “You called it hurricane Kaitlin for almost a month. But
that’s beside the point. It’s already past hurricane season, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,
it’s supposed to end in November,” I reminded her. “It’s probably just a normal
storm, it’s not like we haven’t had those before.”

Sarah
came over to help me empty out the last bag of canned food. We put it all on
the shelves. There were still plenty of bags in the truck but Roxie and Nick
were still in the auto garage and I really didn’t want to interrupt what ever
they were doing.

“I
hope you’re right,” she picked up the now empty bags. “If we get hit by a
hurricane now we could be in some serious shit.”

“Well
it is past the normal season for hurricanes,” I reminded her again. “Hopefully
all that hype about global warming isn’t true, and this is just a big thunder
storm.”

“You’re
probably right,” Sarah put the bags down on an empty shelf, and then walked
over to the window. “Looks like the love birds are coming up here, should we
get out of here to give them some privacy?”

“Yeah,”
I agreed. I really didn’t want to listen to them making up in their bedroom,
“Let’s go down and work on my truck for a bit. I could use the help.”

“Sounds
like fun,” Sarah smiled grabbing my hand as we walked.

We
took the long way around to avoid bumping into Nick and Roxie. I noticed the
sky was getting dark, but it wasn’t the sun setting. Storm clouds filled the
horizon to the east.

“That
doesn’t look too good,” Sarah commented, squeezing my hand slightly. “Maybe we
should go back upstairs to the safe room.”

I
considered it, but decided against it. “Nah, it won’t be that bad, just a
little wind and rain.” I said mostly so Sarah wouldn’t worry. “If it starts to
get rough we’ll head back upstairs.”

When
we got to the auto garage we got to work. “Okay, I already did most of the
heavy lifting last night, so all that’s left is connecting the smaller
components like the alternator, air conditioner, power steering pump, and the
radiator,” I told Sarah as I opened the hood of my truck. “After that, we just
needed to put in the wires, pulleys, and hoses that connect them all together
and then fill it with the fluids it needs.”

She
tied her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed a pair of gloves, “Sounds easy enough.
Let’s do it.”

 I
did most of the work. Sarah knew a little bit about cars from her dad, but not
enough for the complete rebuild we were doing. She mostly just handed me tools,
and read from the mechanics for dummies manual whenever we needed help.

It
started to rain after a few hours, but we left the rolling door facing the
courtyard open because the rain wasn’t blowing in.

I
just finished bolting in the power steering pump when the wind picked up. The
wind howled louder then the moans the undead constantly made. Sarah walked over
to the door opening, “It’s getting pretty bad out there. Should I shut the
door?”

“Yeah,
might as well. If the wind shifts we could get soaked.” I set down the ratchet
I was using and grabbed the serpentine belt. “We’re getting pretty close to
finishing this. After I put this belt on we just need to fill it up with oil,
coolant, gas, and then fire it up and see what happens.”

“You
think it’ll run?” Sarah asked as she grabbed the chain to close the rolling
door. “I mean you have done a lot of work on this thing.”

“It’ll
run,” I responded confidently. “I’ve replaced everything that was
malfunctioning and then some, once we fill her up she’ll be as good as new.”

Sarah
ran her hand along the side of the truck, “It could probably use a new paint
job to match.”

I
shook my head as I poured the engine oil into the engine. I’d sprayed the truck
with flat black primer to cover the scratches and chips made by the undead
hoard, but hadn’t quite got around to putting on the next coat, “I think the
stealth look can be helpful if we have to travel at night.”

“Or
maybe you’re just lazy,” she rolled her eyes with a smirk.

“That
too,” I admitted. Before I could say anything else the rolling doors shook
something awful. Sarah and I shot each other a look, the wind speed was picking
up again.

Sarah
walked over to the window next to the rolling doors and peeked outside, “It’s
getting worse out there. I think we should go back up stairs, this storm looks
like it’s going to last for a while,”

I
put the last quart of oil in the truck, and then looked up at Sarah. “As soon
as I fill up the radiator with coolant and give the truck a test fire we’ll go
back up to the safe room.”

I
unscrewed the cap to a jug of antifreeze coolant to pour into the radiator. Sarah
continued to look out the window with a slightly concerned look on her face,
“How much longer is that going to take?”

I
emptied the first jug and then grabbed another. “Five minutes tops, don’t
worry, it’s just a storm.”

Thunder
shook the building. I was so surprised that I nearly dropped the antifreeze
jug. Sarah let out a quick shriek and shot me a look.

“Okay,”
I was convinced. “One minute.” I finished pouring the rest of the antifreeze
into the radiator and then walked over to Sarah who was still by the window. I
opened the door next to the rolling door and the wind flung it all the way
open. Rain poured in like a waterfall.

“Fuck!”
I cursed running into the downpour. Sarah followed me out. I had to yell just
for her to hear me, “We need to get back upstairs!”

“No
shit!” she cursed back, shielding her eyes from the rain with her arm.

We
ran as fast as we could through the courtyard, leaves and small branches were
flying around, most likely broken off the trees in the courtyard. I couldn’t
help but wonder how the undead outside were handling the crazy weather.

Once
we reached the stairwell we were out of the rain. We were so wet it looked like
we just got done swimming.

“Let’s
get inside and change before one of us gets sick.” Sarah said, wringing the water
out of her hair.

10:00
PM, December 11

We
went right inside and changed our clothes. Nick and Roxie were already in bed.
It was more likely that they never got back out of bed after having their alone
time while Sarah and I worked on my truck.

Sarah
wanted to add the new food Roxie and I brought back from our run to the supply
inventory before we forgot, so she was doing that in the kitchen. I was lying
on the couch just relaxing.

I’d
almost fallen asleep when thunder shook the building. I opened my eyes to a
lightening flash. Sarah stood in the doorway, the lightening illuminating her
silhouette for a moment. She was wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt, her normal
sleeping attire, but for some reason it seemed a bit too clean, almost like she
was trying to look good before going to bed. But it was most likely just
because of the rain we had to run through earlier.

“Why
aren’t you in bed?” she asked.

“Just
enjoying the sounds of the storm,” I answered truthfully. “How about you?”

“You
always did enjoy the simple things in life,” she chuckled as she walked toward
the couch. “I’m not in bed because you’re not there.”

“What’s
that got to do with anything?” I asked, speaking before thinking about what she
really meant.

“Clueless
as always,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “Why exactly are you listening to
a storm?”

I
put my arm around her shoulders as she sat down next to me on the couch. “What
do you hear?” I answered her question with another question.

It
took her a second to answer, and even when she did, she didn’t sound like she
completely understood the question, “The rain, the wind, and the thunder?”

“Yeah,
and what don’t you hear?” While admittedly, this question would seem to be the
harder one, it took her about half the time to answer this one.

“No
moans!” she answered almost too enthusiastically. “I didn’t even notice it
until now, but I have felt a little relaxed since the storm started.”

“I
know right?” she leaned in a bit closer, resting her head on my shoulders.
“I’ve always enjoyed the sound of a storm, even before it drowned out the
sounds of the undead.”

She
looked up at me, her eyes tired, but interested, “What is your favorite part of
a storm?”

Even
though I knew the answer it still took me a second to put it into words. “The
rain. It’s comforting, that steady music that helps you to relax, even if it
can be annoying sometimes. What about you?”

She
smirked a bit, “I think for me it’s the thunder. Powerful, protecting, and
somehow always manages to take you by surprise.”

Right
after she said that thunder echoed through the building. After a while we laid
down on the couch, her in front of me, with my arm wrapped around her.

We
laid there for about an hour before she eventually fell asleep. Her breathing
pushed my arm up and down in a slow rhythmic pattern.

"Sometimes,
I catch myself thinking I'm better off now than I was six months ago." I
said softly.

As
far as I could tell she didn't wake up. I didn't intend to wake her up to talk,
but saying the words to her even while sleeping made myself feel better.

"I
don't have to worry about money, working for a douche bag nineteen year old
with an assistant manager name tag, or how I'm going to afford my next
meal." I paused for a moment, letting out a sigh. "Well that last one
still kinda applies but that's not the point. But then I remember all those
things out there were people, they had lives, families, friends. I look at
them, and it reminds me how fragile our lives are. My parents are most likely
dead, as well as everyone I've ever known except for you, Roxie and Nick, and
yet, I feel like somehow I'm better off. I feel like for the first time in my
life I finally have a purpose. I look at you and I see a positive future. I see
us getting through this somehow. My life actually
means
something now.

Sarah
didn't respond. Her breathing didn't change. For a second I thought I even
heard her snore. I laid there for what felt like hours, just staring at her and
listening to the storm. Finally, I fell asleep. After the long day I’d had, I
definitely needed it.

2:00
AM, December 12

A
loud crash startled me awake. Sarah must have heard it too, because she jumped
off the couch almost immediately.

“What
was that?” she asked, hiding behind me as I stood up.

“I
have no idea,” I answered, looking at the window. It was too dark for me to see
anything so I rubbed my eyes so that they would focus a little bit. A flash of
lightning illuminated a silhouette right outside the window. It was a body with
an arm severed near the elbow.