Stephen Drivick's Blog - Posts Tagged "skulls"
A Passage From Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue
“Could you use some company? Getting kind of cold and lonely over on the other wall.”
I picked my head up, and looked into Claire's smiling face. “Yeah...okay,” I said, moving over to give her some room. It had been a few hours since she had spoken to me.
She sat down with a heavy sigh, and put her head against the wall. “Got to say. Not one of our better trips outside.”
I managed a small laugh. “No. Not very smooth, I guess. Saw you talking to Lyle before. Did you get anything out of him?”
“No,” said Claire with a tinge of sadness in her voice. “He's pretty out of it.” She stretched out her legs, and flexed her injured ankle. “I guess losing everything does that to a person.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
Claire put her head on my shoulder. “You remember the time you and I had to hide out in that candy store?”
“Yeah. That was so long ago. I remember the rain. We were both drenched. The Red-Eyes surrounded the place, and you found that stale fudge with the green fuzz on it in the back.”
Claire laughed softly. “It wasn't so bad with the green stuff cut off. We pigged out.”
“Filled our bellies,” I said. The memory washed over me like an ocean wave. That had been a long night.
“How did we get out of that one?” Claire said.
“The rain got worse, and turned into hail. It drove the zombies back into hiding. We made a break for it out the back door,” I said.
“Oh, yeah...across the field with the black mud,” Claire said. “I remember running over all the bodies buried in that mud. Still have dreams about it, sometimes.”
“Stepping over skulls,” I said. “Are you saying that time was similar to this situation?”
“Maybe. We won't be able to use the back door,” Claire said.
“The cold may drive the zombies away from the bank. Maybe we can make a run for the bus,” I said. It was, at least, a little hope.
Claire took hold of my hand. “Do you think they miss us back home?” Claire was full of questions.
“Oh yeah,” I said. “Maybe they're looking for us right now.”
Claire was silent for a while, like she was thinking. Then she said, “That guy at the Fort. The one I hit with my bat. I killed him, didn't I?”
A chill ran through my tired body. “I don't know...”
She sat up. “Don't lie to me.”
Claire was my good friend. We had been through hell together, and came out the other side. I couldn't bring myself to her anything but the full truth. “It didn't look good.”
Claire looked down, and shook her head. “I knew it. Been thinking about it since we left the Fort.” Disgusted with herself, she continued, “I'm starting to agree with you. What you said before. It's getting too easy to kill.” She began to cry softly, tears running down her cheeks. “We will never be forgiven for what we've done.”
I looked into Claire's deep, blue eyes. The hard years after the zombie apocalypse had dulled them slightly, but they still sparkled with life. The toll of struggle was no doubt written on our faces. There was nothing I would have rather done at this moment than get her home. Get her home to her son. I wanted to get us both back home so we could live again, and try to forget about the bad world outside. She had never killed anyone with her bat before, just the undead. I always dealt with the living with my gun.
“Don't pay any attention to what I say,” I said. “I don't know what I'm talking about.”
Claire returned her head to my shoulder and put her arms around me. We often sat like this in the past when we were on the road together. I put my arm around her to try and comfort her, to comfort both of us. “We've both had a really lousy trip, I guess.” I kissed the top of Claire's head. Even with all the running around and dealing with zombies, her hair still managed to smell like fresh strawberries.
We sat like that for an hour or two, silent. Outside, the dead danced, and shuffled around on the sidewalk of the old town. The moaning and growling was picking up again. To drown them out, I tried to concentrate on my breathing, trick myself into closing my eyes to rest. It was difficult over the noise, but I managed to relax a little. I didn't notice when Claire stood up.
My eyes popped open. “What is it?”
Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue available in the Amazon Kindle bookstore and enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.
http://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-We-Ra...
Till next time, zombie fans.
I picked my head up, and looked into Claire's smiling face. “Yeah...okay,” I said, moving over to give her some room. It had been a few hours since she had spoken to me.
She sat down with a heavy sigh, and put her head against the wall. “Got to say. Not one of our better trips outside.”
I managed a small laugh. “No. Not very smooth, I guess. Saw you talking to Lyle before. Did you get anything out of him?”
“No,” said Claire with a tinge of sadness in her voice. “He's pretty out of it.” She stretched out her legs, and flexed her injured ankle. “I guess losing everything does that to a person.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
Claire put her head on my shoulder. “You remember the time you and I had to hide out in that candy store?”
“Yeah. That was so long ago. I remember the rain. We were both drenched. The Red-Eyes surrounded the place, and you found that stale fudge with the green fuzz on it in the back.”
Claire laughed softly. “It wasn't so bad with the green stuff cut off. We pigged out.”
“Filled our bellies,” I said. The memory washed over me like an ocean wave. That had been a long night.
“How did we get out of that one?” Claire said.
“The rain got worse, and turned into hail. It drove the zombies back into hiding. We made a break for it out the back door,” I said.
“Oh, yeah...across the field with the black mud,” Claire said. “I remember running over all the bodies buried in that mud. Still have dreams about it, sometimes.”
“Stepping over skulls,” I said. “Are you saying that time was similar to this situation?”
“Maybe. We won't be able to use the back door,” Claire said.
“The cold may drive the zombies away from the bank. Maybe we can make a run for the bus,” I said. It was, at least, a little hope.
Claire took hold of my hand. “Do you think they miss us back home?” Claire was full of questions.
“Oh yeah,” I said. “Maybe they're looking for us right now.”
Claire was silent for a while, like she was thinking. Then she said, “That guy at the Fort. The one I hit with my bat. I killed him, didn't I?”
A chill ran through my tired body. “I don't know...”
She sat up. “Don't lie to me.”
Claire was my good friend. We had been through hell together, and came out the other side. I couldn't bring myself to her anything but the full truth. “It didn't look good.”
Claire looked down, and shook her head. “I knew it. Been thinking about it since we left the Fort.” Disgusted with herself, she continued, “I'm starting to agree with you. What you said before. It's getting too easy to kill.” She began to cry softly, tears running down her cheeks. “We will never be forgiven for what we've done.”
I looked into Claire's deep, blue eyes. The hard years after the zombie apocalypse had dulled them slightly, but they still sparkled with life. The toll of struggle was no doubt written on our faces. There was nothing I would have rather done at this moment than get her home. Get her home to her son. I wanted to get us both back home so we could live again, and try to forget about the bad world outside. She had never killed anyone with her bat before, just the undead. I always dealt with the living with my gun.
“Don't pay any attention to what I say,” I said. “I don't know what I'm talking about.”
Claire returned her head to my shoulder and put her arms around me. We often sat like this in the past when we were on the road together. I put my arm around her to try and comfort her, to comfort both of us. “We've both had a really lousy trip, I guess.” I kissed the top of Claire's head. Even with all the running around and dealing with zombies, her hair still managed to smell like fresh strawberries.
We sat like that for an hour or two, silent. Outside, the dead danced, and shuffled around on the sidewalk of the old town. The moaning and growling was picking up again. To drown them out, I tried to concentrate on my breathing, trick myself into closing my eyes to rest. It was difficult over the noise, but I managed to relax a little. I didn't notice when Claire stood up.
My eyes popped open. “What is it?”
Sometimes We Ran 3: Rescue available in the Amazon Kindle bookstore and enrolled in Kindle Unlimited.
http://www.amazon.com/Sometimes-We-Ra...
Till next time, zombie fans.
