Survival Paranoia (Survival series) (7 page)

A month had gone by since Lorna left the ruins of the motel and the life she’d hoped to build behind her. She was exhausted, barely sleeping more than an hour at a time for fear of being overrun. She contemplated just wandering into a horde and letting her have them. Life would be simpler, right? No more worries, no more fear, nothing but the mindless desire to wander and feed. But she’d neve
r been the type to just give up. She was a fighter, and if she died it would be because someone beat her, not because she gave herself over to the enemy. That was how she thought of them now… the enemy. This wasn’t just a plague, an apocalypse, a sign of the end of the world. This was a war, and she would, by God, be a good soldier and defend what was left of her country with her life.

She became paranoid.
There was nothing to protect her mind from the Hell of her current situation. Sometimes she even suspected she was still in the institution. Perhaps she’d never escaped at all, and everything she’d done and thought and felt since it all started was merely the result of some really strong hallucinogenic drugs. Other days she was convinced that she was being hunted. The military would want to round up all survivors and study them like bugs under glass. She whispered to herself constantly and she raided a drug store for their entire stock of caffeine pills so she could function longer on no sleep. It made her twitchy and only further fueled the paranoia. She even wondered if she was the only survivor left, as she hadn’t seen another living soul since leaving the motel.

A week after the ‘motel incident’, as she referred to it in her mind, she’d gone back to see if there were any survivors. That had nearly been the thing to snap what little control she had on her sanity. They were all gone, and she couldn’t even pretend that some of them had survived and run off. Their corpses littered the motel rooms, or wandered through the parking lot as though they had somewhere important to be, but just couldn’t remember what it was. She’d killed them one by one, stacking them like cord wood in the center of the parking lot. She’d saved Jeff for last. He still held the crowbar in one hand as though he wasn’t sure what to do with it. She stared at him for a long time, hoping to see some signs o
f humanity within the shell, of the boy she’d once thought she loved. But he was as empty as the rest of them, and she finally tugged the crowbar gently from his grasp and slammed it into the top of his skull, putting him to rest with one blow.

The gas station across the street had lost power, but
someone had been there recently… and died there, judging by the blood and gore. They’d siphoned fuel from somewhere and left the bright red cans stacked beside a little sports car. She put any stragglers down before loading the cans into the back of the SUV and carting them back to the motel. She’d taken the entire display of lighters from the station as well, and used the first of them to ignite the bodies. She said a little prayer over them as they burned, careful to stay upwind as the smell of burning hair was enough to make her gag. Then she climbed back into the SUV and drove aimlessly.

But that was three weeks ago, nearly four, and she didn’t know what to do with herself any longer.
She considered leaving Delaware. There was nothing here for her any longer, and maybe she could find some survivors elsewhere, but this was home. She’d spent most of her life complaining about living in such a tourist trap, but now it was the only thing familiar to her. If she travelled to another state, she would have an even harder time surviving since she wouldn’t know her way around.

It surprised her to realize it was May. She was on Route 1 now, only a five-minute drive from Rehoboth Beach. Last year it would have taken her twenty minutes to drive to the
boardwalk from this spot, but now the road was virtually empty, and her SUV was the only moving vehicle in sight. She decided impulsively to drive to the beach. There was nothing better to do, and she thought sitting on the sand would do her some good. She would have plenty of warning if something or someone came for her, and she longed for fresh air and the smell of saltwater.

It was eerie, seeing what was left behind. That was the thought foremost in her mind as she made the left-hand turn from Route 1 onto Rehoboth Avenue. There was no traffic, with the exception of a few abandoned cars parked curbside, likely once belonging to the shopkeepers on this stretch of road. The firehouse stood quiet, nothing moving inside the open bay doors. She was already regretting her decision to make this trip. Somehow this abando
ned capital of tourism stood as a symbol of everything she’d lost… everything that
everyone
had lost. But she was so close now, and all she wanted was to be alone, feet touching that bright, warm sand.

Lorna
parked indifferently on the sidewalk, wanting to be as close as possible in case she needed to escape. She brought nothing with her but the crowbar, and locked the doors to prevent anyone from slipping away with her much-needed supplies. Then, letting out an eager sigh, she walked across the boardwalk and sat down on the stairs leading down to the beach. She kicked off her shoes and socks before holding them in one bloody hand and sinking her toes into the sand. She let out an involuntary moan of pleasure as the heat seeped into the soles of her feet.

She waded into the water, but she couldn’t relax and enjoy it. She kept wondering if zombies could drown, and feared what might be in the water with her. After only five short minutes, she climbed out and studied her surroundings. The rides from the nearby play area stood silent and abandoned, looking creepy and out of place in the bright sunlight. There should be laugh
ter and music from the calliope. Instead, the only sound was the tide coming in and the screaming of the gulls overhead.

Defeated, sad, she headed back toward the SUV. As she approached the steps, she let out a gasp. Underneath the boardwalk, deep in the shadows, a pair of eyes studied her. She was no longer alone, and the eyes… they belonged to someone alive.

It was strange having someone with her on her travels now, but more so since
she was so little she had to be strapped in a booster seat in the back of the SUV. When the person crawled out from underneath the boardwalk, she was stunned to see that it was a little girl. The child held up three fingers hesitantly when asked how old she was, then added a fourth after some thought. She wouldn’t speak, however, so Lorna didn’t even know her name. She called the little girl ‘May’ since that was the current month.

May cl
ung to Lorna and seemed to trust her without the slightest fear, yet she wouldn’t speak. Lorna wasn’t sure if the girl was mute for medical reasons or if it was simply the shock of her current circumstances, but she was extremely intelligent. How she’d gotten there was a mystery… what she’d been living off of was another.

Lorna had driven her around downtown Rehoboth, hoping something would stir the child’s memory. She asked May if this place or that place was where she’d come from, and the child simply shook her head.
She might have been there for only a day, or it could have been as long as a week… although somehow Lorna suspected it was the former and not the latter.

So Lorna had driven to the outlets until she stumbled across a children’s store. It had doors on either end, and although the first
set was locked, the other was not. She held the crowbar with one hand, May’s hand with the other. Putting a finger to her lips, she’d moved through the store checking for any zombies. She found one in the back room, clearly an employee, and put her down quickly before shutting the door and locking it. May didn’t need to see what was back there.

Then she’d grabbed a couple of the large paper bags behind the counter with the store’s logo on them and started shopping. She checked the clothes May was wearing so she knew what size to buy, and then they moved through the girl’s section and filled the bags. She grabbed two packs of underwear and three sets of socks first before grabbing pajamas. Then she let the girl pick out whatever clothes she liked. Lorna would read the tags and find one in the child’s size before taking them off the hangers and placing them in the bags. When they were done, the girl had everything from shorts and tank tops to sweaters and heavy jeans. She even grabbed a pair of slippers, a pair of rain boots, and a little pair of dress shoes that she could easily slide her feet in. On the way out, Lorna spotted a little pink ladybug and handed it to May, who let out a giggle and clutched it tight to her chest.

They drove aimlessly around Rehoboth, the boardwalk on up to Midway and back down again. She asked May if anything looked familiar, and eventually the child pointed down a side road. A large community was down there, full of houses the tourists kept as summer homes. Lorna followed the little girl’s pointed finger, at first hesitant but then with more excitement. It was five miles away from the beach, but that wouldn’t be
too
tough for a child to walk, Lorna reasoned. And before long they reached a house that made the child bounce up and down in her car seat.

She was cautiously optimistic as she turned in the driveway. This was obviously somewhere the child felt safe, but Lorna was afraid of what they’d find inside.
She started to tell May to remain in her seat and wait for Lorna to check it out, but she underestimated the little girl. The vehicle had barely come to a stop before the back door flew open and May was running to the front door. Cursing soundly, Lorna rushed after her and gripped the child’s shoulder tightly with one hand. The little girl banged her fists on the door, and no one was more surprised than Lorna when the door actually opened. She grabbed the girl and pulled her back as a man dropped to his knees, weeping as he reached out for the child. She struggled free of the restraining hand and launched herself into the man’s arms, and Lorna relaxed.

That was how she
’d first met Todd Vine and was properly introduced to Maxine. The formerly mute child was now an effervescent wonder, bubbling over with conversation and laughter as she hugged her daddy close. He couldn’t seem to let go of
her
, either, and tears continued to run down his face as he thanked Lorna over and over again.

He wasn’t much older than Lorna herself. Over a dinner he insisted on providing her with as thanks, he filled her in. He was a single father- Max had been born when he was only sixteen, and she was no sooner born than her mother had
abandoned them. He was twenty now, and Max had run off on her birthday three days previously. She was indeed four, and he was out of his mind with worry. Apparently her cat had taken off, and the little girl followed the cat, or so she told them during dinner that night.

“Thank you,” he said for the tenth time. “Thank you for bringing her back to me. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” Todd lowered his voice to a whisper, flicking his gaze towards his daughter. “I thought she was dead, and I planned to…” He drifted off, but Lorna nodded. She understood
exactly
what he had been planning to do.

She studied him. Todd was handsome in a rugged, redneck way. He wore a ripped flannel shirt and jeans with the knees torn out. He had at least three days’ worth of stubble on his face and his blue eyes sparkled with tears and happiness. His brown hair was shaggy and she could tell he’d been running his fingers
through it relentlessly. As she watched, he lifted one tanned hand and did so again.

“It wasn’t a problem,” she said as she realized he was waiting for her to speak. “I got her some clothes and stuff, since I didn’t know how long she’d be with me,” she added with a shrug. “I’ll bring them in. And thanks for dinner.” She got to her feet, feeling out of place in the warm house that radiated love and comfort. She tugged the hem of the sweatshirt she was wearing, an absent gesture she made when nervous, and the
n tucked her hair back behind her ears. Her last ponytail holder had broken days ago, and she was annoyed with it hanging in her face and blocking her view of her surroundings. As soon as she found scissors, she vowed yet again, she was hacking it all off.

But Todd wouldn’t stand for
the idea of her leaving. He insisted she stay with them, and Max, who hadn’t quit talking since she’d been reunited with her father, quickly agreed. So Lorna found herself tucked into a guest room upstairs, admiring the rose-printed wallpaper of the bathroom while she soaked, enjoying the first bath she’d had in more months than she cared to think about. And that night she slept, deeply and untroubled, for the first time since fleeing the motel.

Lorna was depressed at the thought of leaving the house Todd had made her feel so welcome in, but they couldn’t remain there forever. There were more zombies in the area every day, and it was too dangerous to stay in an unsecured place for long. She shifted nervously at the window, studying the crowd forming near the SUV, and reflected back on her time here.

It had so many things going for it that leaving was the most difficult thing she’d faced since walking through the door of her former home and seeing the ruins of her family. There was a lovely fireplace, and that’s where Todd
done all their cooking. Other than the oatmeal at the motel, these were the first hot meals she’d had in months. Todd enjoyed hunting, so the home smelled deliciously of cooking meat. Unfortunately, that was most likely the cause for the zombies swarming the area.

But she gave him credit.
When she mentioned that the hot food and delicious smell of cooking meat was likely the cause, he put the fire out and they’d begun eating canned foods. Max had a fondness for canned spaghetti, potted meat and fruit cocktail, so they had a rather large supply of those foods. They also had six large jars of peanut butter. There was no bread to make sandwiches with, but it made a nice treat to eat by the spoonful in between meals.

They were able to get Max to explain what happened while she was gone. She’d only been on her own for three days, but that was a remarkably long time for a four-year-old to survive without an adult under
normal
circumstances. Under present conditions it was nothing short of miraculous.

Her cat had taken off, as she’d explained over dinner that first night, but she filled in more details with some prompting. Sourpuss, her tom cat that they’d taken in a year before, had ripped the screen on her bedroom window. He often made attempts to escape as he wasn’t neutered yet, and that night was no different.
Max often chased him down when he took off, so she thought nothing of doing the same. Somewhere along the way she’d gotten turned around, and she couldn’t find her cat, either. There were “scary bad people” chasing her, she told them matter-of-factly, and since “they smelled really yucky” she hid whenever she saw them nearby or smelled them approaching.

Eventually she made it to the beach, not realizing how far she’d managed to get from home. Todd told her whenever she was lost to stop somewhere she recognized and then wait for him to find her, so that’s what she’d done. A nearby candy store had a broken window, so she ventured in there and ate her fill whenever she was hungry. She slept under the “borewalk” as she called it,
and only ventured out when she heard the sound of approaching feet. Eventually that had led her to Lorna, and finally back home.

She didn’t understand how amazing it all was, but Lorna’s blood ran cold whenever she thought about all the things that could have gone wrong. If Todd had been less of a father, she probably would have played in the ocean and gotten swept away. If he hadn’t warned her about strangers, she might have walked with open arms to her death. Lorna shivered, and judging by the paleness of Todd’s face, some of those same thoughts crossed his mind when he looked at his daughter.

After a week of baths, good food, and companionship, it was time for them to go. Todd’s truck was too small for them and their gear, so they agreed to leave it behind and take the SUV. He liked to tinker with vehicles, he said, so he packed his tools to bring along in case the needed to make any small repairs. He also had a couple baseball bats and a nice gun collection. He packed all the guns as well as the ammo for them, but Lorna reminded him that the noise would draw the zombies to them, so they were a weapon of last resort. He bowed to her knowledge, as she’d been surviving out there while he stayed in one location.

She’d taken a liking to him, she admitted to herself as she gathered up her supplies and wandered the house to see if they needed anything else. He was upstairs helping Max pack, and she
smiled as she thought about what a wonderful father he was.
Most guys his age were all about the next party and the next piece of ass,
she thought cynically. But he cared only about his daughter and seeing to her needs. She admired a man who was responsible.

Lorna shook her head, grimacing at the direction of her thoughts. She was coming perilously close to wanting him, and that she couldn’t allow. 
Their continued survival was all that mattered. The only reason they were together now was his gratitude for saving his daughter, and maybe because he thought there was safety in numbers. Beyond that, nothing else mattered.
And why would he be interested in a girl still three weeks from her eighteenth birthday?
Logically, he probably saw her as a child, and before long he’d try to take over and be the one in charge. It was a guy thing, she knew, but either he would
have
to let her lead, or she’d split with her supplies. She was going to do it to Jeff, after all. She would do it to Todd, too, even if it meant abandoning him and Max to their fates. She had to look out for herself first… no one else would.

She felt guilty, and jumped a little as father and daughter came back into the room with their supplies loaded into two duffel bags. Smiling at them, she held up the box of canned good
s she’d decided would be useful, heavy with items Max preferred to eat, and they prepared to leave.

“Stay here,” she hissed at Todd as she peeked out the window and saw the handful of zombies surrounding the SUV. He frowned but nodded, one hand on Max’s shoulder as he opened the door for Lorna. It closed silently behind her as she raised the crowbar and waded in. It took five grueling minutes to clear a path, but she was determined. Finally she turned to the door and saw the curtains twitch- Todd had been keeping an eye on her while she worked, and he opened the front door, carrying Max in his arms. Her face was buried against his chest so she wouldn’t have to see the bodies, and that made Lorna smile reluctantly. She couldn’t be protected from this forever, but he was doing his best, and she admired that.

Lorna glanced in the rearview mirror at the tiny girl who had her face snuggled into the belly of a stuffed cat. The SUV was full of supplies, they had plenty of weapons on hand, and a full tank of gas. It was time to move on from here… hopefully to somewhere safer.