The Sunshine Dame of Doom (30 page)

“Mister Chancellor” Robert Hedgiest politely approached the man in impeccable blue suit, looking out of the window at the beautiful view of the Sugar Loaf Mountain.

“Mister Minister” He returned the courtesy.

“You sent for me, sir?”

“Oh yes. No need to say the stockholders are very unhappy and they are not the only ones. Project Sunshine, North America Site UNO A, failed miserably.” He turned to face his minister. “And I'm holding you responsible.”

“I know that, sir, and I apologize for my mistakes. However, it was just an experiment anyway. Shane was unstable. The important thing is we learnt all we needed from this first experience. Now, we know exactly the vulnerabilities we should address in the other sites.”

“And I fully trust you'll do a better job this time. Your position is rather debilitated right now.”

“I made Project Cleaning work like a charm, didn't I? The virus delivered as expected with a perfect timing. Population of Earth was drastically reduced. Very soon, it will be only a matter of picking up the pieces.”

“I hope so, for the sake of your future in the Undertaking.”

“You won't be disappointed.”

The Chancellor cleared his throat and spoke:

“And I suppose you are very aware of a vulnerability we most certainly shall address.”

“Yes, the girl...”

“She might be a bit of a problem, yes. Try to find out more about her than we already know.”

“Right away, sir.”

A beautiful young assistant knocked on the open door.

“Yes, Miss Tulips” The Chancellor turned to her.

“They are here.” She said with a very congenial smile.

“Oh, send them in!”

“Excuse me, sir.” Hedgiest said and left.

Almost at the same time, a boy and a girl went into the room, four and five years old respectively.

“Grandpa!” They happily shouted and ran to the Chancellor.

“Hey, come here you!” He answered joyfully.

And they all rejoiced in a delicious collective hug.

“When are we going to meet the Big Mambo King, grandpa?” The little boy asked.

“Oh, very soon, Tommy, very, very soon. Where’s mommy?”

After a round of goodbyes, Lily walked to her truck. She opened the door and threw the sheath with the hockey stick inside. She looked around and found strange the fact she was alone in there.

Mate Clarkson was sweeping glass shards off the supermarket floor, but he clearly had his mind somewhere else. Lily went to him.

“Are you coming?” She asked.

“Um, me?”

“Yes, you. Who else? We’re leaving, mate.”

“Do you still want me to go with you?”

“If you want to come. Why, are you giving this second thoughts or something? They’re not building many tennis courts in town, not a priority. Besides, we can always find some nets and flat areas on the way if you want to improvise something.”

“No, it’s not that, it’s just…”

“It’s just what?”

“I wasn’t so sure you wanted me to keep on riding with you. I mean, I really appreciate you giving me a ride and all the first time you saved me from zombies, but…” He choked on his own words.

“I really don’t know where you’re getting at with all this.” Lily walked to him. “What’s your point?”

“My point is you don’t need to cope with me anymore, if you don’t want to. I… I’m safe in here now.”

“Cope with you? What kind of talk is this?”

Lily sweetened her eyes all of a sudden.

“Well, do you want to go with me?” She asked.

“Of course I want. But I wasn’t sure if you wanted me around.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well…” He spoke rubbing the back of his head. “It’s just that sometimes I think you saved my life only out of obligation, like you would’ve saved any lamb from the wolves, and the only reason why you took me in your truck was because you felt sorry for me.”   

“Hoy! So, that’s the problem.”

“Yes.”

“This is nonsense, mate. This is nonsense!”

She came even closer to him and spoke:

“You said once you were my comic relief, you couldn’t be more wrong! When we were captured and forced to split, you were the only one I could think of.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes! In all that time we’ve been apart, I remembered the moments we spent together, and I missed our conversations, I missed how well we do things, I missed… Well, I missed everything about you. I need somebody smart to discuss Pink Floyd’s lyrics! If you are so concerned about my standards, just know that to me, we make a hell of a team! I need you, man.”

“Do you really mean those words?” He asked with tearful eyes.

“Yes, I do mean those words. My life would suck without you.”

“Like Kelly Clarkson.”

“Yes, but especially like me.”

“So, what are we waiting for?”

“Right now, we’re waiting for you.”

“Not anymore!”

Once on the road again, Mate said:

“You need to teach me how to use the boomerang.”

“I’ll do that.”

“And some of your kung-fu moves.”

“Sure, you can be my pupil.”

“And you’ll be my master, I mean, especially because your name is Master and all…”

Clark glanced at her preoccupied.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He grunted. “You must’ve heard this pun several times before; you probably think it’s another stupid playing with words.”

But oddly enough, Lily laughed.

“Actually, it’s the first time I hear that pun.” She revealed. “And I love it!”

“Thanks!” He cleared his throat. “Then, when are you going to start teaching me all your stuff?”

“No hurries. Next ghost city we stop by for supplies, we also try to find a gym.”

“Come on! I can’t wait that long! I want to carry my weight as soon as possible.”

“My truck is carrying both our weights right now.”

“You know what I mean. You can’t do everything alone. Even Apocalily needs to have a functional co-hero.”

“Would you stop talking like this? I’m not Apocalily, nor any road warrior for that matter! I’m also not a street fighter, nor Sonya Blade, Mario Bros, Super Sonic, nor the Oceania version of Resident Evil! I’m just me and you are you! Damn it, I don’t even know who I am!”       

“I know who you are. Do you want me to tell you?”

“Yes, why don’t you?”

“Remember when you first found me on that prairie, with the zombies trying to eat my guts?”

“Yes.”

“Well, before you came, some cars passed by. None of them stopped. I screamed for help with all I got, I’m sure they saw me, but they just kept on going. And there were those who slowed down, not to help, only to get a kick out of my misfortune, some even took pictures to show their friends, perhaps post them on the internet.”

He took a deep breath and continued:

“We live in a shitty world, with some shitty people in it, but there are those who try to be good and they’re all we got. And I’m really glad and even relieved they take you as a role model to change this world. You were the only one who stopped to help me and you didn’t do it because your truck broke down, the same way you didn’t stop by that elementary school because your truck broke down. You stopped because you are just this kind of person. Like father, like daughter.”

“You know something,” She said with tearful eyes “if I was to save just one person to later carpool with him, I’m very glad it’s you!”

“Thanks!”

“But maybe it’s too late to change this world.”

“Are you willing to find out?”

“Yes, I’m not doing anything important right now. Just for fun, we may try to find out more about this Undertaking thing the creepy blonde mentioned.”

“And perhaps stop for an ice cream on the way.”

“I like chocolate syrup on mine.”

And together they rode to the end of the world.

“Now, wait a minute!” Clark screamed. “Not so fast!”

“What’s wrong, mate?” Lily asked.

“I almost forgot. You never told me how you escaped from Shane’s captivity, when she put you chains, with the zombie trying to bite your ear.”

“Oh, that. Nothing to it really. Actually, the zombie did most of the job.”

“Care to explain that?”

“I was there, with my ear glued to the wall, with that creature trying to eat my other ear. I bet you think I just got scared and nearly peed in my pants, right?”

“Well, did you?”

“Yes, of course. But then, the bloody zombie gave up my ear and went for other parts of my body. Eventually, he crouched and tried to bite my ankles, but he ended up chewing off the shackle holding my ankle.”

“Are you meaning to tell me the rotting teeth of a dead cadaver were strong enough to chew through metal?”

“It was a bad quality material manufactured by means of forced labor! You get what you pay for. Anyway, once my ankle was free, I could use my foot to push the creature’s skull to my other ankle. And the silly thing chewed off the other shackle too!”

“Let me guess, you killed the zombie with your feet.”

“Nope, I still needed him to release my hands. Then, I grabbed the critter with both legs…”

“Like Sonya Blade.”

“…sort of, yes. With both legs I brought his head to the shackle holding my right hand. Spine flexibility was never a problem in my family. After he chewed through the metal tying up my hand, I brought his teeth to my other hand.”

“And you were totally free.”

“There was still a strap holding my neck to the wall, but I took care of it myself. I didn’t want that zombie anywhere near my neck. Lucky the bolts holding the strap to the wall were also poor quality. Then I was totally free. All I had to do next was hit the zombie’s head against the wall repeatedly until it cracked wide open. After that, I found a bolt cutter and broke out of the shed. That was when I found the school principal with the three children. And you know the rest.”

“Uh-huh.” He glanced at her. “Is that really how it happened?”

“I’ve just admitted I almost peed in my pants out of fear, why would I say such thing if it wasn’t true?”

“Yes, got a point there, very ingenious of you.”

“Thanks.”

Clark looked out of the window and saw a dead woman roaming around at random.

“Things are just going to get worse, right?” He observed.

“I guess so.”

“What we do then?”

“We ride to the end of the world.”