End of the Line (26 page)

“Here you go,” I said, handing him the letter. “Give this to Rachel.”

Mike smiled but he didn’t take it. “I appreciate the invitation,” he said. “I know Dena’s getting a bit of a cabin fever, but my wife and I discussed it. We aren’t leaving. We feel safe and secure here.”

“If it’s trust—“ I knew Mike had been paranoid when we first met.

“No Jim, we trust you. You are good people. You aren’t the first group that I’ve offered trade for errands, but you were one of the few groups to come back. Most people take the bullets. The reason we can’t go is my dad. He’s not young and he wasn’t healthy before this happened. I don’t want him to take a trip. It’s hard to believe but Westbury sounds like it’s across the country.”

I still held the letter to Mike.

“Take it, maybe one day you’ll use it. You should leave all your options open.”

“We appreciate your visit Jim. We get lonely around here. I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

Mike laughed. “And I’m sorry about your —your husband. It look me a while to learn but love is love, isn’t it. It still weirds me out, but I can tolerate it. We have to stick together to destroy the zombs.”

“Thank you.”

Mike put his hand out and I shook it.

It took two hours to get to Bell Blvd which we would take north to the
Throgs Neck. We took Jamaica Avenue most of the way, although several times we had to drive down side streets to get around wrecks and traffic jams. Now we were seeing more evidence that people tried to flee.

We were on the way to the Bronx, where I would see the New York City skyline and think about Cameron, trapped in the city, dead or a zombie.

“Looking good,” Dave said when he got to the Bell. With the exception of several houses and stores that burnt down, a few piles ups and abandoned cars and small bands of zombies, the road appeared clear. Bell opened up to a more residential area, but still houses were gutted either from fire and wear. It was pretty here, quiet and it didn’t seem like we were part of New York City. The air had become clear and fresh. The population of animals had grown. I saw lots of rabbits and small critters regularly and of course wild hungry dogs. The zombies didn’t seem to like them as much as they liked us. Although I’m sure they would eat anything if they were hungry enough. I wished for it all back, the cars, the traffic, the pollution.

Ashley stared out of her window. I wondered what she was thinking. Dave had to drive on a sidewalk to get around two crashed cars.

“Ashley, are you all right?”

“Yes, just wondering when I get to drive?”

“When we’re out of the city,” Dave said. “The roads will be easier to navigate. We might even be able to go on a highway.”

“It’s going to be difficult to drive all the way to California, right?”

“Right.”

“So maybe I should drive now.”

“Later,” I said. “You have to practice on something easy first, then we’ll work on the hard stuff.”

“Never really drove before. Always relied on the bus, train or my kids. Drove a bit in my twenties until I got married. Never had enough money to pick it up again. I know gas means go, brake means stop.”

“A car goes forward, back and park,” I explained. “Idiots can learn it and you aren’t.”

“I’m going to miss you.”

“I am going to miss you too. You’re a great lady. Are you sure you want to go?  We are your family, you know. Even Dave.”

Dave didn’t say anything.

“I owe it to my son to find him, if I can. He needs to know mommy loves him.”

“I bet he does. Even if you decide to stay with us.”

“You’re sweet, Jim, you know that. You’ll find someone else and they’ll love you.”

I didn’t reply. I went back to looking out the window.

“There’s the bridge,” Dave said, pointing. It was the Throgs Neck and it looked still intact.

Cars packed the entrance ramp, not giving us any way on. “Hold up,” Dave said. He made a u-turn on Bell and drove the wrong way until he found an exit ramp. When we were about to get on, another car came off.

The other car, an old Ford Escort with painted windows, kept honking and did not look like it planned to stop.

Dave slammed on the brakes and we all jerked forward.  The other driver went around us without stopping or slowing down and kept on the horn the entire way around. 

“Fucker,” Tanya said.

Dave started hitting the horn as well.

“Dave, come on,” I said. “He’s an asshole.” And we didn’t want to bring zombies.

Dave looked pissed but he stopped. He moved on to the exit ramp.  Fewer cars littered the ramp and Dave made his way on to the bridge. 

We weren’t the only ones with this idea, one or two cars were facing the wrong way, but we were able to maneuver around them to get on.

On this clear day, I could see the Whitestone, the huge gap in the center and half of the bridges suspensions were broken. Not to mention, it leaned over like it was going to fall.

“Fuck that,” Tanya said, looking at what I saw.

Dave went slow, about 5 miles per hour. There weren’t a lot of cars, thankfully. Most seemed to be on the other side. I guess even in a crisis people followed the rules.

Dave got to the middle of the bridge and stopped.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Let’s take a look.”

I realized he meant to look at New York.

             
“Any zombies?” I asked Tanya.

             
“I don’t see any. Let’s make it quick.”

             
I climbed out of the car. My back stung but I wanted to look. I saw the damage on the Whitestone better. It looked much worse. Both sides were filled with cars. It looked like someone took a big chunk out of it. I doubt it would be up for much longer.

             
Beyond, I could see Manhattan.  From far away it looked perfectly normal, the silhouette was normal, I could see the Empire State Building. It looked untouched. I knew close up it would be a different story.

             
Almost every Saturday, Cam and I would hop the Long Island Railroad, take it to Penn Station and the train to the village where we would drink with friends and have dinner. On pretty nights, we would walk Christopher Street holding hands. Cameron was gone, so were all my friends, even touristy places like Stonewall. Everything was gone.

             
“How you doing?” Tanya asked.

             
“Looks fine from here,” I said.

             
“Yeah.”

             
There was nothing else to see. Dave and Ashley were already in the car. I took one last look and went back.

             
“Dave,” I said when I got back into the car. “Is your daughter far?”

             
“Not much, Fordham road.”

             
“How long has it been since you talked?”

             
“Too long,” he laughed. “I was mad at her. She wanted to be an artist; I wanted her to get a job. I want to tell her, you can be whatever you want, just be alive.”

             
Dave didn’t seem keen before on finding her daughter.

             
“She was always a good girl,” Dave said. “I should have accepted her lifestyle.”

             
I tried not to snicker.

             
“I hope you find her,” Ashley said. “Not like my daughter of course.”

             
I rolled my eyes. Dave didn’t look happy.

             
He slammed on the brakes.

             
“What’s going on?” I looked ahead. There was a truck smashed against a car. It blocked the entire road and the other side looked too crowded to get around. Where the hell did that other car come from?

             
“What do you think we should do?” I asked Dave.

             
“I need you to help me push that car. Hopefully it’s not tangled up too much with the truck. Tanya, watch out for zombs.”

             
Tanya grabbed one of the new rifles Mike gave us.
             
             

             
“Ashley, stay here,” Dave said. She didn’t argue.

             
The three of us got out of the car. All I could think about was my aching back and where that car came from.

             
We walked over to the accident, it was pretty messed up and tangled with the truck. I went to the front and saw a body partial through the windshield and another smashed up in the seat. Gross. The stench was terrible. The bodies were gooey and surrounded by flies. I wondered if that other car came on the bridge, saw this, then turned around. Maybe he was honking to warn us.

             
I reached over the legs of the body, ignored the wiggling of maggots, and put the car into neutral. Then I heard the shots.

             
I turned around. Very close to the convertible were two zombies.
             
             

             
“Jim, Dave!” she screamed. “Move that fucking car.” Tanya shot one of the zombies, got a hit, not a head shot but one good enough to bring it down. The other kept coming.

             
I began pushing hard and so did Dave. One of the tires hit the truck’s fender and my back felt like it was on fire. I heard more shots.

             
I kept pushing and pushing. I thought I felt something tear in my back and felt pain. No time to think about it now. Dave and I gave one final shove before the car was disconnected from the truck. We pushed it to the side enough so we could get through. 

             
“We’re clear!” Dave screamed.

             
A zombie stood between us and the car that had all the guns. Tanya was behind the wheel with Ashley next to her. She motioned for us to move, then slammed on the gas. We ran to where the truck was and the next thing I saw was the zombie fly about ten feet in the air and crash to the ground. It struggled to get up. I didn’t waste a moment and ran to the car. Dave and I jumped in the back. 

             
“What is this Driving Miss Daisy?” Tanya said, then laughed. She hit the gas and took off.

             
“Yeaha!” she yelled and made it the rest of the way over the bridge.

             
“Stop!” Dave shouted as soon as we got to the other side. “I’ll take the wheel. I know where my daughter lives.”

             
Tanya slammed on the brakes and we all lurched forward. She climbed unto the passenger side and Dave slipped clumsily into the driver’s seat.

             
“I wish we hit more—“ She paused and looked at me. “Jim, you okay?”

             
I put my hand to my back, which came away stained with blood, not a lot.

             
“It’s nothing,” I said.
             

             
“You’re bleeding, ain’t nothing.”

             
“There’s still a bandage on it. You can clean it later.”

             
It took an hour to get to Dave’s daughter’s apartment on Fordham road. A car in front of a hydrant had been smashed by a fire truck. No sign of the firefighters only a body in the crushed car. I saw a decayed hand coming out of it. Dave pulled in behind it.

             
“What floor she on?” Tanya asked.
             
             

             
“Third,” he said. He got out of the car and went to the trunk. Dave opened it and pulled out one of Mike’s rifles. I didn’t take one and neither did Ashley. “Let’s rock and roll.” I almost laughed but my back hurt too much.

             
The door to the apartment building was open. A single body lay across the floor in the hallway. Decomposed enough to see he or she died a while ago. The flies and maggots had already gotten their feast.

             
We got to the third floor without any additional incident and made our way to his daughter’s apartment. The apartment building smelled of human decay, a sulfuric smell with a bizarre hint of sweetness. It still made me gag. I know a lot of these apartments had dead bodies.

             
Dave knocked on the door. “Barbara?” he said. He tried the door and it opened. The smell of the dead hit me.
             

             
“Shit,” I said.

             
Dave looked white.

             
“We can check if you want.”