I don’t think I’m that great with people.
That’s probably odd for a reporter to say, seeing as the job was to get people comfortable enough to tell you everything they didn’t want to, so you could get the story. But I don’t think I am. I have issues.
Nick, it’s so funny; he’s freaking great with people. He can get along with everybody he meets, I think. I mean, literally, he does, pretty much. When we arrived at the base that day, he was able to mingle and mesh, no problem, within minutes. I, on the other hand… well, I just have issues. I tend to just make sure I’m fine with just me. I purposely act cold so I don’t make connections. It’s a conscious decision, every time. That way, I know it’s because I chose it, and not because something’s wrong with me. I just always was so worried something was wrong with me, caring so much what everyone else thought, that I prevented it from happening. To avoid the hurt and embarrassment, I did it myself, cause then I had an excuse.
Does that make sense?
I’m not so sure it does. I can’t explain it any better. And now, you really can’t try to isolate yourself.
Actually, no, I take that back. You totally can – just ask Kayleigh. Ugh, I swear to God, that girl… never mind. That’s a whole ‘nother topic.
So yeah, you can, but it’s extremely selfish, extremely stupid, and it puts lives at risk. I’m just saying. So when the world changed, I think I did too. Not instantly; people aren’t like that, I don’t think. But it did start to happen. I saw myself trying to open up, to let people in, and let those connections happen. Felt kind of good to do it, too. The others here, at my current new home – I’m at the point where I consider them family. I’m at the point where I treat them better than I ever did my “real” family, before Infernal Friday. Took time, but it happened. It started with Nick, of course.
Seems like everything started with Nick.
Not sure if that’s a good thing or not just yet.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
7:30 a.m.
“I can’t believe we’re not there yet.”
“Don’t rub it in.”
Riley yawned as she continued along the roads. It was hard going, as, obviously, there were no street lights anymore, the roads were still plenty jammed, and so she was forced to have the Beetle’s brights on. The entire mess was frustrating, as the base wasn’t far; however, getting there was becoming a bigger challenge than she and Nick had originally thought. She glanced down at the gas gauge. They’d started off with a full tank, a lucky break for them.
Another thud slammed against their car, as she hit yet another zombie. She was hitting more and more, the longer she drove. Already, the hood was getting dented in, and small cracks were appearing along the windshield. The car wasn’t going to last much longer. Riley glanced around at their surroundings. An increasing number of the undead continued to head their way, attracted by the spotlights displayed by the car. She muttered curses under her breath as she made a sharp turn to avoid them.
Keeping her eyes on the road, she continued to drive, till finally they hit a spot where it was completely blocked. It was just another accident from when death had hit, and one car after another had hit the mess to cause a massive wreck, a pile-up of cars and twisted metal. They could see some still trapped inside, in undeath, banging angrily against the windows and moaning loudly. Riley slammed the brakes angrily, jerking them both against their seatbelts as the small car halted immediately. “Fuck.”
“We ain’t gonna make it there tonight. We’re just getting more of those bitches on us. With the lights on, we’re not exactly going to be stealth. We’re attracting more than this stupid Barbie car can handle.”
“What do we do then? Like you said, this car isn’t exactly secure.”
“We’ll go into one of the houses, crash there for a few hours, and then we can try later.”
Sighing, she nodded. “As long as it’s a two-story, so we can hear them coming.”
Riley stretched quietly from the king-sized bed, contemplating the night before. They had given up the idea of traveling at night around eight o’clock, according to the car clock, then found this place for momentary shelter. They’d barricaded the bedroom door upstairs, in hopes that the zombies wouldn’t be able to make it up and past it. The two had agreed that sharing a room would be safest and simply shared a bed because when Nick offered to take the floor, Riley told him chivalry had died with the rest of humanity. He slept next to her still, more soundly than she had, and she wondered what it was he dreamed.
She wondered a lot of things. Like if those who’d become the undead had gone to heaven, or if their souls were trapped within the rotting corpses. Riley had never questioned her choice to leave the Catholic religion she’d been raised in after she turned eighteen. She’d had more questions than faith for the religion, and found herself disagreeing with many of the beliefs. She’d become agnostic, much to her devout father’s disappointment. However, she’d held on to the rosary he’d given her as a child. Her mother’s rosary, passed to his only daughter, who looked so much like her. Riley could never let that go. She still had it; actually, it was always on her, kept in her pocket, a touchstone of sorts for her. It gave her comfort when nothing else could. She yawned just a bit as she thought of the poor undead, who likely were trapped souls, and suddenly, a wave of pity came for them. She still had the privilege of a final death and an eternal life, something they did not know and perhaps never would.
Riley reached down for one of their bags, next to where the golden retriever was resting. Spunky lifted her head lazily for a moment before going back to sleep once more. She pulled out the bag and rummaged for the map Nick had thought to grab on their way out. Bless him. She scanned it, looking outside for the street names and an idea of just exactly how far from the base they were. Maybe then she’d be able to think of different routes to get there, and quickly. Setting the map back down on her side of the bed, she eyed the bathroom just feet away. How she craved a shower right then. She wondered if the water worked.
Rising slowly and carefully, so as to let Nick sleep, she walked into the bathroom and was grateful for the small window near the ceiling, letting the light in. Reaching the sink, she turned the handle and pouted when no water came out. That meant the water was down, and no shower for her. “Damn,” she muttered.
She turned, cursing irritably to herself, only to run right into her companion, towering over her by some inches. “Dude, don’t do that!” Riley yelled, jumping back with surprise.
“Good morning to you, too.”
“I wouldn’t call any morning after the dead rose ‘good’.”
He shrugged, yawning. His golden hair was up in tufts going every direction, and he scratched the back of his neck while yawning yet again. It was almost cute, in a teddy bear sort of way. “I’d call any morning I’m still alive a good one these days.”
“Hmm.”
“What?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“No, but you gave me this look. What’s the deal?”
She rolled her eyes, but tried to move past him. This time, he stepped sideways to purposely impede her path. Gazing up at him, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Come on.”
“No, seriously, what was that look for? It meant something.”
“It’s just.. I don’t get you, Nick.” He watched her carefully before stepping aside and following her back to the bed. She faced him as he stretched his arms out lazily. “Like, you’re so freaking optimistic, despite everything; you’re able to crack jokes and sing ‘Thriller,’ of all things…”
“… ‘Thriller’ is always meant to be sung…”
“Not that point. Anyways, you’re just able to take all this shit in stride and act like it’s nothing most of the time, so I don’t get you, how you’re able to do that; that’s all. Why? How can you do it? I just don’t get it, and I keep wondering. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to see if I can’t figure out a route I haven’t tried yet to get us to the base without hitting zombie traffic.”
He stared her straight in the eye, blue meeting blue, without speaking for several moments. His hand reached for hers, and he took it in a gentle, yet strictly friendly manner. “I’ll tell you something I haven’t admitted to anyone, okay?”
Riley nodded, unsure of just how to respond. Even in their short time together, she already knew it was a rare moment to catch Nick being this serious, unless his life was in peril. “Sure.”
“I don’t feel half as happy as I act, alright? With me, it’s like this. I have to crack jokes, or I end up cracking myself. I fall apart. So I act stupid. I’ll sing; I’ll do anything to just not focus on all the shit that’s making me do it to begin with. I mean, I like to joke around anyway, but I do it more when everything goes to hell. Or… ya know, becomes hell. It gets me in a better place, and you too, even.”
She smiled, pulling her hand away in the softest of gestures. “That makes sense. Sorry, I didn’t mean to grill you; it’s just…”
“Habit. Gotcha.” Nick glanced down at the map. “Hey,” he said, pointing at a small street marked on the grid. “We haven’t tried that way yet. Why not go that way?”
Riley paused in amazement. “I didn’t even think of that. It’s such a small side road, that-”
“People wouldn’t use it to outrun the plague. Makes sense, right? Hell, you didn’t think of it.”
“Sometimes, you amaze the heck out of me, Nick.” And she meant it. “You really do.”
“So what are we waiting for? Let’s pack up and get the hell outta here.”
“Agreed.”
The drive was considerably shorter than the previous night’s attempt, and finally, they were getting close. As they pulled up to the base at last, Riley was smacking herself mentally for not thinking of the route Nick had pointed out before. She had taken that exact route to do that interview about two weeks prior. Nick looked at her questioningly as he reached back to pet a whining Spunky, and she simply gave a small smile before turning her attention back to the road. They’d encountered more than enough members of the walking dead that morning; the windshield had cracked into a spider web pattern that made her again grateful for the creator of shatter-proof glass.
“So, where do we go? This place is like a mini city…” Nick commented, as they drove down Bayshore Boulevard. The base was almost picturesque, if one was able to ignore the corpses roaming around.
“I’m not sure. That broadcast didn’t exactly say, did it? Well, shit, screw it.” She slammed her hand down on the horn. Both were expecting something different from what they got. Rather than a legitimate honk, the car issued a small “beep beep” noise expected from a toddler’s toy steering wheel. The two stared at each other, before Nick burst into laughter, causing Riley to join in. Nick had a laugh that was completely infectious; once he started, he couldn’t stop, and neither could she.
“I told… you… this was a… fucking… Barbie car!” he gasped between giggles, because at this point he was, in fact, giggling.
“Must have been… ‘cause of the damage… to the hood…”
They drove on a bit further, running another zombie down, and even then, they couldn’t see any signs of life. They’d heard the message, but Riley frowned, as doubts filtered in. Maybe it had just been a recording, which no one was left alive to stop. Or perhaps they had moved on.
Much to their relief, they didn’t have to test their car horn a second time. A large Hummer had pulled up in front of them, the window rolling down for a moment, and someone was waving at them to get their attention. The arm was heavily tattooed. Its owner, the driver, cut the engine, glanced around, opened the door, and jumped out of the car. He was armed with several types of guns and was far from what either of them had expected to greet them. His hair was receding, and they could see the remains of mussed eyeliner around his eyes. His fingernails were painted black, and he wore ripped jeans with a torn and bloodstained shirt. He stared at the car with a roll of his eyes, as Nick and Riley stepped out of it.
“I gotta ask, who the hell drives around in a frou-frou toy car that looks like every annoying socialite of the former shallow world threw up on it and decorated it with shower decals when the world is overrun by fucking ghouls? And how the hell did you ever survive in that thing?”
Nick grinned broadly, glancing around with his axe in hand. “Very carefully. Only a real man can handle zombies in that car.”
Riley turned on Nick, raising a brow. “What’s being a man got to do with it?”
“Um… we need to get our stuff.” Nick ran back to the car, while she chuckled to herself.
“Thought so.” She turned back to the other man. “Riley Blake.” She held out her hand, while he seemed to struggle with the decision of accepting the hand or not, before finally taking it.
“AJ.”
“I’m Nick!” Nick called out, as he grabbed both their bags and held the door open for Spunky to jump out. Spunky barked happily, running up to the Hummer. AJ stared at them, looking unsure of just how to handle the three new arrivals, yet no one could say anything more, as they were soon greeted by the harmony of moans they already knew so well.
They all scrambled into the Hummer. Nick sat up front, while Riley climbed into the back with Spunky. Nick tossed the bags back to her, as AJ started up the vehicle again, running down every zombie he could as he drove through the base.
“You guys got guns?”
“Not exactly. I got my axe, and Riley’s got a crowbar.”
“I’ll toss you both one when we get to the church; that’s where we’re holed up. Heh, where’d the dog come from?”
Riley patted the canine’s head, which lifted back up, as if Spunky knew she was being discussed. “She’s Nick’s. She’s good about the undead, though. She senses ‘em, acts like an alarm. And she’s good about tripping them up.”
“Heh.”
“So, what happened to you? How’d you get here?” Riley asked, curious, since he obviously wasn’t military.
AJ cast a look in her direction. “Same thing that happened to everyone else.”
He didn’t say much else until they arrived at the church. The drive was quick and riddled with bumps, caused by everything he drove over without hesitation. AJ cut the engine and looked back at the two blondes. Despite the rough appearance and distant act, his eyes were a stark contrast. They were soulful and brown, reminding Riley oddly of a doe’s.
“You know how to shoot?” AJ asked as he handed them each a handgun, out of the several kept on him and atop the dashboard of the vehicle.
“Not well.”
“Nope, I hated hunting,” Nick said, while Riley handed him one of their bags. Spunky started barking yet again, but these were angry-sounding, short, and sharp. They were about to have some unwanted company if they didn’t hurry.
“Keep your asses close to me, then. Don’t shoot unless you have to. Run for the door.”
They burst out of the car, running for the church doors, while AJ shot beyond them. Zombies fell, one after another, before AJ turned to catch up to the two of them. He banged on the door repeatedly, yelling, “It’s AJ; open it up!”
A young Hispanic girl opened the door, and they hurried in as she shut it behind them. She looked no older than twelve to Riley, yet the look in her eyes belonged to someone three times her age. It hurt to know this poor girl had had to witness all this.
“I told you that I heard people out there. Oooooh!” she squealed when she spotted Spunky. She ran over to the golden dog and was greeted by happy licks and yips.
Nick beamed as others came over to them. “That’s Spunky.”
Riley noticed the others now: an older Hispanic woman who had to be the girl’s mother, simply from the way they interacted. Beside her was a tan man, approaching them with a sort of snobbery that was surprising, given the current situation. A young girl, around college age, was huddled in the far corner of the room and made no effort to move. Then, of course, Lieutenant Richardson, the same man she’d interviewed the last time she was at the base.
As Nick went to greet everyone, Riley chose to hang behind by the door. Nick became the center of the conversation, and she stayed a bit outside of it. That suited her just fine. She wasn’t sure exactly how to introduce herself just yet, wasn’t sure what to say beyond her name. Yet the people around her seemed all right, and it confirmed for her what Nick had said before. They weren’t alone.
“And that’s Riley… Ryyyyye, come here! After that trip in that damn pink Barbie car…”
Riley walked over, feeling a bit out of sorts with herself. Nick grabbed her arm and pulled her over, giving her a bit of a sideways hug, as everyone introduced themselves and started talking in general. There was an air of relief amongst them all that there were more people out there.
“See! We found more people; we’re alive. I’m not that crazy for being an optimist.”
“I’m not saying you were right, Nick.”
“But I was!”
She smiled to herself. It was good to be around other people, to have a group, of sorts, fighting to survive with her. They’d all be working together, she knew, to figure out how this had happened and how to live now. It was good to just not be alone, but in that moment, she had a realization that she hadn’t expected. It was a thought that entered her head simply, naturally.
I’m glad that I met Nick first.
