The Zombie Letters (31 page)

              Alvin pointed to a large, easily-visible dark spot near the edge of the moon. “What’s that place called? The one at the left edge? The big, dark one?”

              “That’s Oceanus Procellarum. The Ocean of Storms. My favorite name out of all of them. Always thought Ocean of Storms sounded cool. The big blotch at the top of Procellarum is Mare Frigoris . . . the Sea of Cold.”

              “Awesome names . . . those old-time nerds were cooler than I thought,” Alvin said. That at least managed to get a smile from her, albeit a small one.

              “You don’t have to humor me, you know,” Ana said. “I’ll be okay in the morning.”

              “No, I’m really interested . . .
really.
Teach me . . . please?”

              “Okay.”

              “Where is the Sea of Tranquility? Dennis was telling me about it. He said that after talking to you, it was his favorite.”

              Ana pointed at an area with a smaller, circular inky blotch on the nearly full moon. “Right there.”

              Alvin pointed with a smile on his face. “The oval one at the top right of it? The one that looks like a pancake?”

              “No . . . here,” she gently took his hand and moved his finger. She quickly drew her hand away and put her head down again. “Sorry.”

              “How else you gonna show this new student if you cannot correct him?” he said. “So, it’s that one right next to the one I was pointing at a second ago. Why did Dennis say that’s your guys’ favorite one?”

              “Well . . . that particular part of the moon has a higher metal content in the soil and rocks for some reason than any other place up there. See how if you look just right, it looks blue? When NASA takes photos of it and they don’t filter any color, it looks blue because of the light that reflects off just that one patch. Every picture you see of the moon is actually airbrushed to get that blue tint out of the pictures. The song
Blue Moon
was written about it. Matter of fact, it is a belief that ‘feeling blue’ came from that spot.”

              “That’s the reason?” Alvin said, raising a coy eyebrow to her. He was a very perceptive man.

              “Well . . . most of it. See, Apollo 11 landed there. That’s the spot where human beings first walked on the surface of something that wasn’t our Earth. Neil Armstrong said it was the loneliest place any human being will ever be. Sometimes I wish I could go there whenever I wanted. It’s stupid . . .” she trailed off. Her cheeks blushed. She felt them get warm, allowing that familiar feeling to come back. That embarrassment. Here it comes . . . the forced chuckle, the ridicule, the nice-sounding lecture about how much a waste of time this was. He stayed silent, though. He just continued looking into the heavens with her.

              “I don’t like how you’re treated,” Alvin said, breaking the silence between them. “You’re a nice person. Very intelligent. Why does that man treat you the way he does?”              “I think it is because I can’t have children. He said he wanted kids before we even got married and I didn’t tell him I couldn’t. I was so afraid he’d leave me. There was always an excuse as to why my tests always ended up negative. I had a million of ‘em . . . but I couldn’t take the lying anymore. I told him and over time he . . . changed. I mean, he was always highly-strung, but after that, he got . . .”

              “Violent?”

              She nodded.

              “Despite what you did or didn’t tell him, that is no way to treat your wife. You forgive the ones you love.”

              “Yeah, well . . .” Ana turned to face French. He met her stare and looked into her eyes. She’d never really observed his before. He had deep blue ones. Long lashes for a man, too. They were beautiful. “Well . . . who asked you?” she said as cold as she could, but even she could hear the still-existing uncertainty in her voice.

              “Sorry . . .” Alvin said. His voice deepened and he sighed, returning his oddly feminine eyes to the light of the moon that reflected itself in them.

              “Don’t be sorry. It wasn’t until you, Doctor Miles and Dennis came along that I have actually been around real men. You protected me. I almost forgot what real men were like. I’m afraid of him. I’ve been thinking about leaving for a long time, but I know he’ll kill me. He beat me when I’d forget to lock a door or when dinner was cold. Imagine his reaction to me splitting. Hey, Alvin?”

              “Yes?”

              “Are you
really
interested in this lunar geography stuff?”

              He smiled sweetly. His eyes were still glued to the pale orb hanging in space outside the window. He didn’t turn to face her, but he nodded as he smiled. “Actually, I am absolutely fascinated. Didn’t think I would be, to be honest. It’s the way you put it into perspective. Makes me think it’s not all just names for stuff seen through a telescope. You’re passionate about it. True passion is infectious. Reminds me that those mistaken seas up there
are
actual places.”

              Ana’s face flushed again. She didn’t know why, but the strangest thought popped into her head. She wanted to hold his hand. Happy or unhappy, she was still married and a good, Christ-loving woman. It sounded absolutely childish to her, but just looking at him with that thought in her mind made her shudder. However, as good as it would feel, it wouldn’t be right with God. Even if her husband was a bad man.

              Darin Miles walked up to the both of them with a large smile on his face. He patted Alvin on the back. “Hey, anti-socials! Wanna play poker with Dennis, Vic and me?”

              “I’m in if Ana is. Whaddaya say, kiddo?”

              “What about Christian?” she said, stammering a bit.

              “Guy’s dangerous. He’s outside being fuckin’ weird like usual. He can stay there. Dude creeps me ou . . . sorry, Ana. I didn’t mean any disrespect,” Darin said. “My big-ass mouth. That was mean. Sorry.”

              “It’s okay,” she replied. “Being around you both and Dennis . . . you men are so respectful. I wasn’t allowed any male friends. I feel stronger with you. Like I recognize things I didn’t before.”

              “
So you’ll play??!!
” Victoria yelled from the far-off room where they set up the table.

              “Jesus, you have fucking super-hearing or something, Vic?! Remind me to never talk about you while your back’s turned!” Darin said.

              “
I love you tooooooooooo!
” She playfully yelled back.

             
She said she loves me.

             
Alvin placed a hand on Ana’s shoulder. She felt a strange sensation echo through her. She wanted to pull away; embarrassed by her vulnerability at the present moment. She kept still, pretending his touch had no effect on her. “Listen,” he said, “you are smart, capable and a hell of a lot tougher than you think. Any person that can survive what happened to the world is no one to fuck with, in my opinion. I’ll protect you. We are a family now . . . ok? All of us. If a member of that family mistreats another, they’re gonna get a permanent dent in their forehead.”

              “Why, though? Why take it upon yourself to protect someone like me?” she said. “You didn’t even know me until just recently. Before this all happened, you would barely say ‘hi’ under your breath if you saw me on the street.”

              “You may not believe this, considering what you’re used to, but you are a
woman
. I respect women and if one is ever mistreated and pushed around, it is my duty as a human being . . . as a
man
to make damn sure it never happens again. You’re part of this little family now . . . and no matter where we go or what happens to us, we
don’t
split. As long as you want us, you got us. So . . . how about playing some five-card draw? I broke open a change machine a few days ago and I have a whole bag of quarters we can use as chips. Kind of useless items now, but hey . . . what’s a rich guy gonna do when money is useless, huh?”

              “Come on,” Darin said. “Have fun with us.”

III

              He sat outside in the grass . . . a fresh game of solitaire going. There was no wind outside, so the cards stayed put. Solitaire was never much of an outdoor sport, but tonight it worked. This game always helped him think. His mind was a steel trap lately. Christian Garner was rattled, yes, but he was nothing if not calculated. The physically stronger men outnumbered him . . . but like Dad always said,
keeping enemies close is one thing, but never let anyone know what you’re thinking. Even friends. Friends can become enemies quicker than anyone.
True. Keep yourself small. That’s the ticket. Christian had let too much of his anger slip already. Some damage was done, but not enough to permanently fuck up the plan taking root inside his mind. They were inside having a grand ol’ time. That bitch. Standing there, talking to that faggy-looking rich-boy pilot about all that moon horseshit. Probably just wanted to fuck her. From the way she looked at him, she’d probably enjoy it. Those guys can pass her ass around like a peace pipe for all he gave a shit. She had fucked his life up for long enough.

              Christian glanced at the planter in which Archie now sat. “How ya doin’ over there, Archie?” he said. “You and I are a lot alike, you know. Yeah . . .” he heard his own voice bounce off the exterior walls of the building. What echoed quickly past his ears sounded like the talking of a madman. The sound of his voice was frightening. Perhaps it was just the jitters of what was to take place tomorrow. “Tomorrow’s gonna be an interesting day, Arch. Gotta finish this game here and get crack-a-lackin’. The cavalry will be arriving tomorrow. Gonna make ‘em feel welcome. Maybe throw them a little welcoming party, what do you say?”

              “Who are you talking to?” the voice startled him. Christian reached for the large knife he kept strapped to his leg when Darin Miles walked up and sat in the grass across from him.

              “Oh, just thinking. Planning out a . . . strategy.”

              “Yeah,” Darin said. “Solitaire is a game of the mind, man. Very overlooked and underrated strategic exercise. Never been really good at it myself. I always have to find some way to cheat. I guess not all doctors are smart at everything, huh? Well . . . you’re a doctor too, I’ve heard.”

             
He didn’t hear what I was saying. Close one . . . wasn’t it, Archie?
Christian thought, taking his hand off the Velcro strip at his ankle. “Yeah. Always had kind of a fixation with solitaire. Not a lot of people know that there are about a million-and-a-half different ways to play it.”

              “Garner,” Darin interrupted with a deep and slow breath. “Everyone’s afraid of you. Especially Ana. Dennis says you haven’t said three words to her in weeks and you spend nearly every waking second by yourself. I wanted to tell you that I understand, man. Believe me, I do. Nothing about the world is understandable anymore. It does crazy things to a person. I’ve had my moments too. I wanted to tell you that I get it. I mean, I really
get
it. Dennis says we’re a family now and I agree with him. We all should watch out for each other. Even you. I know you’re hurting, buddy. If you need to talk to someone who won’t judge . . .”

              Christian halted Darin by putting his hand gently in the air, as if to physically halt the words coming out of the doctor’s mouth. He put on the best smile he could, softened his voice and put on his good-guy eyes. “I’ve been the jerk-off here . . . for a long time. Things are difficult enough and I am just making things more stressful. I came out here to think . . . do a little soul-searching and I promise . . . man to man, that I’ll start making it up to everybody tomorrow. It’s about time I became a part of the solution for a change.” Darin didn’t seem to pick up on Christian’s acting skills. He swelled inside with pride.
Good fucking acting. I’ll have my Oscar, please. You love me. You really love me.

              Doctor Miles stood up and clapped his hands together. A nice complacency was on his face. “Awesome, man. And if you need help, I’m here. You wanna get a jump-start on it? Play a little game with us? More than welcome.”

              “I’d love to . . . but I have a couple things I gotta do before I turn in. Kinda put off my chores today. You all have a good time tonight. We have a lot to celebrate about. The Army rides in tomorrow. I just want to take care of a few little things before we go.”

              “No problemo, Christian. You know . . . what scares me the most about all this that’s happening?”

“What?”

“Man, I knew that formula like the back of my hand. I studied every single side effect. I can manufacture that stuff in a lab like I’m baking a cake. Teel told me how they spread to other countries. Those things walked on the bottom of the fucking ocean like some kind of biblical plague. You know what bothers me so much about it? I can’t explain how. I can’t explain how Archie’s extract works, I can’t explain how they can take all that tremendous pressure at the bottom of the sea without flattening like pancakes, but bullets seem to stun them. I know so little and I
created
this stuff. “