Loyalty. That, pretty much, is rare to find. Before the Osiris virus came, I mean. That’s why people loved dogs so much. Loyalty defines dogs. They just know that they are supposed to love you and protect you. That’s all they need to know, and that’s what they do for you, every time. So when I knew the world had ended, I had to go back to my place.
There were three reasons I decided it was worth going to my place, despite the risk.
Reason # 1 – To see if there was anyone left in my family alive. Sure, Riley made it sound pretty damn bleak, but I had to know. I blame the optimist in me.
Reason #2 – To pick up a couple things. Selfish again, but there was something there I felt I needed to take with me. Something I considered part of me.
Reason #3 – Loyalty. That’s the whole point of this entry. Loyalty was something people always had issues finding in each other, but no problems finding in Man’s Best Friend.
I’m glad I met Riley first. I don’t think anyone else, of those of us left, would’ve put up with my shit enough to drive me back to my house. Everyone else would have said hell no and floor it in the opposite direction. I think I knew, when I asked her, that she’d say yes. Not sure why; I guess I was thinking the best of her, and I was right. I’m lucky it was her. Especially after what I did end up putting us through that night. I was lucky; WE were lucky; we still are lucky.
People call me a dreamer, the way I see things. AJ’s always questioning it, but hey, I try to find the good in everything, even though I was never able to find it in myself. That night, I think I started to find the good. In the situation, and in me.
Of course, I also found a reason to sing Michael Jackson more often, and that’s always good, too. So, you know, there are silver linings in everything.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
9:20 a.m.
“Turn the radio up; maybe we’ll hear something.”
“Not the radio; it’s my iPod playing through it. Radio’s nothing but static, remember? Everything’s down; I’d been listening for hours.”
“Oh, right, sorry.”
After a long drive through clogged roads and then trying to avoid the plagues of the undead, Riley finally seemed to be making some headway in getting to Nick’s house. Hours had been wasted trying to find alternate routes, fighting zombies, and then trying to once again escape zombies. Riley yawned tiredly with a look of pure frustration. Finally, she pulled behind a nearby building and parked. Nick figured she just needed a well-deserved break, after all that had happened. He watched her, as she rested her head against her arms upon the steering wheel, and said nothing. She stared out, watching as the dead meandered off to darker spots; he noticed they seemed to not be fans of the light. She didn’t say anything to Nick, just sat there, lost in thought.
“You alright?”
“Y-yeah, just, it’s sinking in.” She didn’t look at him; spoke softly, her voice shaking slightly.
“You don’t look okay.” He knew he sounded stupid, but he wanted to comfort her, and his arm went around her gently. It stayed there for a few moments, seemingly unnoticed by Riley as she looked to be gathering her thoughts. Finally, though, she shrugged it off lightly.
“I’m fine; I just needed a moment. That’s all. Looks like they’re backing off a bit.” She gave a bright smile. It was one that didn’t quite reach her eyes, Nick noticed, but he nodded with a grin of his own.
“Maybe we can finally get there.”
She nodded, playing with her sweatshirt, pulling down the hood that had been up the entire time. “As long as we can get through the roads. They’re a mess cause of… well, you know.”
“Yeah…” It was odd how neither could manage to actually say the word that had haunted their thoughts so much. In fact, during the drive, neither of them had talked much at all. They’d been too focused on making sure they were never boxed in, never surrounded, and found ways to go.
But now that they’d been in the car awhile, Nick was able to settle a bit, let everything truly sink in his head. He took a long look at his new companion. Perhaps, his only companion, if the massive leagues of the undead were any indication. She was what he would describe as cute, not gorgeous or stunningly beautiful, but cute. Cute with shoulder-length, blonde hair that was currently ruffled and mussed, and blue eyes that looked tired and shaken. Her face was oval, with a nose just slightly too large for her face, and a sideways grin, rather than full-on smiles. She looked like she had some muscle and meat on her bones.
“Wait, are you okay?” she finally asked, catching his stare.
“Sorry, just thinking.”
“How can you not? This whole thing…” She slammed her fist against the steering wheel angrily. “Fuck!” Wiping her eyes, she took several deep breaths before looking at him again. “I…”
“It’s alright, Riley.”
“So, what were you before… this?” she asked suddenly, clearly eager to change the subject away from herself. Her hands tapped the steering wheel nervously. He could tell she wasn’t comfortable with the situation in the slightest, but who could blame her?
He wasn’t fond of the question. All it served to do was remind him how he was nothing but a failure and that the only thing which erased that was the true end of the world, when zombies roamed the earth. In his head, it sounded as pathetic as it felt. His hand ran through his own disheveled hair resignedly. It had been a long morning and was getting longer.
“… I… I wanted to be an actor,” Nick finally responded, after deciding the truth was probably best. What did it matter anymore?
“Wanted?”
He nodded faintly. “Yeah, I never got anywhere with it. I just moved back here from LA before all this started.”
“Oh…” Her eyes swung away, and Riley looked completely ill-at-ease and unsure of what to say. “I guess we have something in common then,” she added on after a long pause. A weak smile followed.
“How?”
Riley twirled a lock of hair around her finger idly as she turned more towards him. Her other arm leaned against the steering wheel. Her line of vision focused on him directly now. “I loved being on the camera, too. Hell, I loved the camera period.” Reaching down to the floorboards of her Jeep, she pulled out a small hand camera. “I…” She stopped there, as if unable to say even another word more, and set the camera atop her dashboard.
“So what did you do?” Nick turned the question back on her, after watching her stay quiet and pensive with her uncompleted thought for several minutes.
“A career around the camera…” A sigh followed, regretful and solemn. “I was a TV journalist.” She met Nick’s gaze again. “There was just something addicting to telling a story. To being in front of the camera to tell others that story… I sound weird, don’t I?”
“No, actually, you make sense. I get it.”
Riley nodded, starting up the car. “I think we can keep going now. I know you want to get back; I’m sorry I stopped…”
“You needed a break; fuck, I did too.”
She pulled out from behind the building and pushed her foot on the gas. The car sped off, and they raced down the roads, averting cars when necessary. The car thudded every time she ran down another one of those creatures roaming outside. Nick’s grip tightened on his axe with every thud; he hadn’t let go of it once since his great escape from the hospital. He saw it as his one way of staying alive, and it would have to be pried from his cold dead hands before he’d ever let go. Nick frowned at the choice of words his mind came up with. Would he actually stay dead if he died? Or would he become like… them?
He shook his head, holding the axe close to his side. This shit is crazy enough without you getting morbid, dumbass, he scolded himself silently as Riley continued to drive.
“Sick?” he thought he heard her say, making him turn sharply towards her.
“What?”
“I said, did you want to change the music?” She gave another weak lopsided grin. “I can’t take the silence…”
“Oh… sure…” His hands reached for the iPod, and he scanned through the song titles. Some of her music tastes weren’t to be desired, but others, others were spot on. Within moments, “Bodies” by Drowning Pool was blaring through the speakers.
She raised a brow at him questioningly. “Ironic.”
“I… think I’m in shock still.” He wasn’t lying about that. None of it felt real. No matter how he had been forced to encounter them in the hospital. No matter how he’d been chased down the street and had been saved by her from them. No matter how many of them he’d felt her run over and seen the dents on her hood from them. Still didn’t feel real, even though reality was sinking in, and he knew it was.
With a brisk nod, she focused on the road, but not quite in time. Another zombie slammed against her Jeep, but unlike the many they’d encountered, this one stayed on the hood. Its fists slammed angrily against the glass. He could see the rolls of fat along its arms and body, and the mouth opened to moan just above a saggy triple chin. The dirty t-shirt it wore rolled up to reveal an abnormally large stomach, covered with the violet spots Nick had come to despise in the last few hours. It moaned against the windshield, and Riley screamed as she tried swerving the car every which way, in an attempt to throw off the overweight, dead man.
“Fuck! Get it off! Do something!”
“You think I’m not trying? His fat ass won’t move!” she shouted at him, and Nick could see the panic written plainly across her face. Fat lips were rubbing the window, continuing to make their one noise, as its fists angrily hammered against the glass, which was quickly weakening under its weight. Riley slammed the brake, but it only forced the zombie to slide several inches down the hood, and it continued its attempt to reach its next meal with no trouble at all.
“What now?!” she cried out, accelerating once more. Nick was sure that was only because she had no idea of what else she could do.
“I don’t know! Keep trying to shake it!” His eyes went to the axe held away from him, but he ditched that thought immediately. He’d have to break the glass. Breaking the glass meant the creature could get in. The windshield shook as the glass splintered, and spider web cracks spread all along the window.
“It’s gonna get in!” The moment Nick heard Riley say that, the windshield shattered. Glass flew at them from all directions as Riley dropped down, and Nick covered his face with his arms. Arms reached in for Riley and gripped her neck tightly as the zombie moaned loudly in triumph. She was pulled forward against her seat belt, forcing her to lose control of the car, as it continued to speed down the street. Her strangled shrieks echoed as she was pulled closer to its mouth. Without a second thought, Nick slammed his axe down on the zombie’s arm, severing it completely.
“Riley! THE CAR!” he bellowed, as she fell backwards in the driver’s seat. She looked up in time to see the inevitable. With a loud cry of fright, she quickly dove down with Nick as they crashed head-on into a pile-up of cars in the middle of the narrow road.
Nick grunted as he was propelled tightly against his seatbelt, still refusing to let go of the axe that had saved him and Riley both now. His head struck the shattered windshield, and he was covered in glass and shallow cuts. He felt a wetness slowly trailing down his face, and after touching it, saw blood on his hands to confirm a new gash along his forehead. Smoke hovered around the crunched-up hood, creating an eerie haze for them to peer through. His eyes went to Riley, who groaned tiredly as she rose again. One of her arms hung awkwardly as she unbuckled her belt. Her face had various miniscule slices from the shards striking them, but overall, she was better off than Nick thought she might be.
“You alright?”
She nodded. “Mostly. I think I dislocated my shoulder in the impact…” Her head motioned towards her right arm.
They heard the moan yet again. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” Nick ranted. “We need to go!”
“Right.” Slowly, she climbed out of the car as he did, hindered by her arm. The overweight undead man had been thrown finally during the impact, but he wasn’t far. Already, he was trying to shuffle between the mangled cars, back over to them. Nick glanced back at Riley, axe in one hand, and his other reached for her left hand.
“We’re not too far from my house! Let’s go!”
“You think we’ll be safe?!” he heard her ask as he dragged her along behind him. Nick’s head throbbed with the beginnings of a migraine. Great, now wasn’t the time for a headache. The back of his head, site of his bar fight injury, was beginning to pulsate with pain as well. Just what he needed.
“Can’t be any worse than here!”
“Well, no shit, Sherlock!” Despite the situation, he couldn’t help but smirk a bit at her.
The two ran along the roads, without any glances behind them. He felt Riley’s hand clutching his own quite intensely, so he knew she was still alright behind him. That was all he needed to know, because looks back could only tell him that the zombie in need of a StairMaster was still chasing him, or that more had joined it. After about twenty minutes of running, he slowed a bit and finally risked a peek behind him. Much to his elated relief, he couldn’t see any of them, and it hit him that the undead didn’t pick up speed, even in pursuit of their pray. They didn’t seem capable of it, and lacked coordination period.
Riley watched him for a moment before actually letting his hand go. “I thought you were going to pull my other arm out its socket, with the way you were dragging me.”
“Sorry; I didn’t want us getting separated.”
“Neither did I. Do you even have feeling left in your hand?” she teased.
“Nah, it’s undead like the rest of the world.” The two snickered a bit and felt a release in the tension that had consumed them throughout the early hours of the morning. Nick felt his body relax just ever so slightly, but it was an upgrade. Even she looked more at ease for the first time since she’d almost run him down hours before.
“Hey… Nick… can you help me out and…” She shifted her eyes down her still-dislocated arm. “…pop it back in? If more come, I’ll be completely screwed like this.” This was the reason he finally set down the axe that had become his lifeline.
“Yeah, sure.” He helped her slide off the black sweatshirt she wore, revealing beneath a snug, white tanktop and toned arms that hinted she could play sports in her spare time. He moved behind her now, unsure of what to say as his hands slid along her arms ever so gently.
“I hope I don’t fuck this up.”
“I trust you, and you better not, cause it’s not like we have another option.” A smirk followed her reply, as her body tightened, and he could see Riley bracing herself. “Okay, go ahead.”
He nodded, holding her arm, and rotated it slightly. Taking a deep breath, he turned her arm before forcefully attempting to shove the shoulder back into place. A loud cry of pain escaped her. She screamed in pure agony, jerking instinctively. Nick backed off immediately, arms in the air. He watched her try to control herself and fail miserably.
“Sorry! I’m sorry. Shit, I can’t do this!”
“I’m good, Nick. It’s alright,” she said, tears of pain shining in her eyes. “Not like we can go to a doctor anymore. Just… get it back in.”
With a brisk nod, he held her with one hand, while the other took her arm and began moving it again. This time it was in a gentler manner; he was terrified of hurting her like that again. She turned her face towards his, with only inches between them. “Just do it, Nick.”
“Okay, I got this.” This time, more slowly, he rotated her arm, before trying to force it back into place once more. She yelled out in agony yet again, but this time, he didn’t let go. With a last uncontrollable howl of pain escaping Riley, she took in a long deep breath, and he continued until he, at last, heard a resounding pop and felt her shoulder snap back in. She moved her arm ever so slowly and nodded. She gave a sigh of relief before bending down and handing the axe he had set down back to him.
“Better.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I can move it now. It’s sore, but… better. Damn, that hurt like a bitch.” She tried to sound nonchalant – he could hear her try – but her voice shook a bit. Her hand tried to inconspicuously wipe away the tears in her eyes, but he saw. Yet, Nick chose not to say anything; he wasn’t sure just what he could say anyway.
At last, he took a long look at their surroundings, now that their situation had taken a small leap for the better again. Cars were crashed every which way, Riley’s included. He had always liked the neighborhood, peaceful and pretty in a calming matter. He sighed. How many times had he walked through this neighborhood? And now it was so devoid of true life. He paused at his own thought. This was Nick’s neighborhood. It had taken them awhile, but he’d finally made it home.
“Come on, we gotta go!”
She blinked, staring at him as she rubbed her shoulder. “Okay, where?”
“We’re right down the street from my house!” He tossed Riley her sweatshirt quickly.
She gave him a determined look, one that matched the new surge of energy Nick was feeling, which had come with the realization that he was almost home. Nick had no idea what he’d find, but he didn’t care. He just had to see for himself and was happy Riley seemed to understand that. She tied the sweatshirt around her waist and nodded at him. “Lead the way.”
“Right.”
The two walked along the abandoned streets, both ready for anything else they might encounter. Oddly, Nick started walking behind Riley, in a protective stance, rather than leading, like he knew he should have been. He almost tripped when she halted in front of him suddenly. She turned to Nick, a serious expression upon her face.
“We need to find me a weapon… just in case.”
“Good point.” They looked around. With all sorts of items littered along the ground, it wasn’t hard to find a makeshift weapon for Riley to wield. The first thing they came upon was a discarded crowbar that made Nick wonder if, before people died, they hadn’t tried to take advantage of the chaos by robbing the dying. The entire thought made him sick. He handed it back to her as they continued along the sidewalk, Nick leading now, his trusty axe in hand.
“We may not find anything,” he heard her say softly.
“I know.”
“It may not be pretty.”
“I know.”
“Okay, I just wanted to prepare you.”
“I know. I just… it’s like I said earlier: I have to see it.”
“Just so you don’t keep wondering. No, I know.”
“Yeah… it feels like a dream. I didn’t get to see this happen.”
“I’m starting to think you were lucky that way.”
“I think I’m lucky now.”
“I’m still debating that one.”
“Why? We’re alive, anyway. We ain’t alone…”
“That’s true, but-”
“-Wait.” He cut her off as they turned another corner in the small neighborhood. He pointed to a small, one-story house, just yards away, with a well-kept lawn and a small boat attached to a truck parked out in front. “That’s my house.”
The two headed in, both gripping their only weapons tightly in preparation for what might happen. Nick knew he might have been a bit optimistic, but he’d survived when he’d been surrounded by it in a hospital – maybe his father had survived, too? Not to mention his baby brother. Immunity could have been genetic, for all he knew. He hadn’t thought to ask Riley if anyone in her family had survived, if she’d been able to find out. Nick suddenly felt like an asshole for not asking that, considering what she was doing so he could find out what had happened to his family.
Nick stepped in to find the house almost virtually how he’d left it. That was, until he reached his living room and saw the broken glass door, shards covering the floor. He saw the smears of blood along what remained of the sliding door, and he knew then that his family was either dead or eaten. He swallowed hard, saying nothing to Riley as she stood silently beside him. She simply put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and in her expression, he could see that she had dealt with the same pain before. Her family was gone, too; the look in her eyes answered his unspoken question.
“You warned me it wouldn’t be pretty,” he croaked out. His voice was rough and scratchy. Nick almost didn’t recognize it as his own.
“Nick…”
“No, I had to see it, and I am.” He continued his walk further into the house. He whistled sharply, hoping to call Spunky out like he always had.
His heart sank when he heard nothing. No, not her… After losing everything and everyone else, he couldn’t lose his last link to his own sanity. That dog had meant everything to him, ever since he’d moved to California too many years before. He’d always seen her more as a friend, rather than a pet. He whistled again, silently praying his dog was alive.
A moan reached his ears first, a moan that was closer than it should have been. It was a moan that he couldn’t find the source for, yet it sounded frighteningly close. A small blur lunged for him, forcing him to fall backwards against the nearby couch in surprise, with brute strength beyond what should have been there. He looked down at the thing now crawling along his chest, reaching achingly for his throat, and he screamed in horror.
Matted, light blonde hair.
Eyes the color of the ocean.
A round baby face that, if given the chance to mature, may have charmed many, as Nick had been able to do. As all of the Carter children had typically been able to do.
Violet sores, covering pale, grey skin.
All belonged to a person Nick hadn’t expected to succumb to the terrible fate met by so many others. It was his own, two-year-old half-brother, Kanden Carter. Nick screamed again, tossing the undead toddler off of him. It immediately lunged for Riley. Riley, yelling in shock, swung her crowbar like a baseball bat and sent the two-year-old zombie flying against the wall on the other side of the room. Nick got up, staring in shock at the sight he had just witnessed. He couldn’t move, couldn’t process any of it. This had been that final shock that he just couldn’t take.
“Nick… we need to bail! Nick!”
They were interrupted yet again, this time by a series of loud, familiar barks that were coming their way. A large, furry, golden blur leaped up against Nick, licking him excitedly. He snapped back to reality then, hugging his dog tightly. Had Spunky seen all this happen? She had probably been hiding ever since the virus hit the house. Thank you, he thought silently, thankful that his loyal companion had been found alive and unharmed, when no one else he loved was.
“We gotta go!” Riley’s voice forced him back to the present and reminded him that he couldn’t do anything. It reminded him that he now had someone else to protect.
The zombie version of Kanden rose again, and Spunky growled menacingly at it, challenging it to try and get past her to her master as she bared her teeth. Nick watched in stupefied shock and horror. Could animals sense the difference? Spunky had loved Kanden since they’d come back.
“Nick!”
He nodded, running behind Riley out of the house. Spunky followed them faithfully, looking thrilled to have finally found her master again. They ran down the street, hearing the moans of zombies, undoubtedly attracted by all the noise they had been making. The two – now three – raced down the streets, looking for any safe place to hide.
“She yours?” Riley asked as they ran, jerking her head back at Spunky.
“Yeah! Just glad I found her.”
“We need a plan!”
They upped their speed, running on nothing but pure adrenaline as they fled their pursuers. They continued sprinting away, too afraid of attracting more if they let themselves slow down. The three escaped the neighborhood, running down a set of random streets with no real destination in mind. Finally, after running for twenty minutes with no words, no plans, just the drive to put as much distance between them and the hordes of creatures as they could, they let themselves slow down, and then finally stop.
“We… need… a place… to rest…” Riley pointed out, between short breaths.
Nick looked around, breathing heavily. He spotted the local SuperTarget his stepmother liked to shop at and pointed immediately. “Over there! We can pull down the gates and rest there for a bit!”
With Spunky nipping at their heels, they began running, once more, for the first resting place they had come upon since the dead had risen. The store only took them minutes to reach, and there seemed to be no zombies in sight. Still, they both had their weapons at the ready, having learned their lesson within the past several hours.
“Looks empty.”
“No one would shop while they were dying, right?”
“Let’s hope so.”
Nick glanced back at Riley, to make sure she was safe, before opening the door and heading inside.
