Amanda Carter in the L.A.Z., life after zombies (16 page)

Chapter 28

T
he burn from the hot coffee to her right hand was a bright pink. She could see that now that the sun had come fully up. It felt as if it were continuing to burn, and Amanda reached her hand out to the cool air coming from the trucks air vents.

“Did you burn yourself?” Sam asked, innocently.

“Yep,” Amanda answered.

“Ouch, that looks like it hurts,” the girl said, bending closer to take a look at it.

“It’ll feel better in a minute,” she answered. “The air is cool, and that’ll take the sting out of it.”

“Oh,” Sam said, but she was already losing interest.

“You know you’ve been different lately, since we decided that you could go on this run,” Amanda said, even as she nodded her head to the beat of the music coming from the speakers.

“What do you mean?” Sam asked, looking to Amanda with curiosity.

“You’ve been acting more responsible and less confrontational. You know, more like a human being instead of an angry teenager,” she answered.

“I’ve been going crazy stuck in that camp all the time,” Sam said, fingering her hair away from her face, like her mother often does. “I just want some freedom, you know, like without all the eyes on me all the time. You try being fifteen and having to stay cooped up with your parents and your little sister all the time.”

“I see your point,” Amanda said. “But it isn’t easy for your little sister either. She’s six and has no one to play with. Have you ever thought of that?”

“I guess you’re right, but she seems to be handling it okay,” Sam said. “I know it’s not easy for any of us. I’m just saying that I really want to get out once in a while. I have a thirst for adventure.”

“Well, I’m sure this trip won’t disappoint on that scale. It never does. I imagine that your thirst will be quenched for a while after today. Every run seems to come with plenty of adventure and usually a few surprises, some good and some not so good, and some are very bad,” Amanda said.

“I hope we come across a few of the good kind,” Sam said.

“Well, whatever the reason for it, I’ve been impressed by the new and improved Sam and would like to see more of her around camp. Do you think that can be arranged?”

“Tell you what, I’ll have a talk to my alter ego and try to sort that out,” the girl said. “I guess you can probably tell that my dad’s a psycho doc, huh? I was raised around all those terms.”

The music played while the truck bounced over the dry washboard road, sending up plumes of dust. Amanda and Sam both began to sing along to one of their favorite tunes when Red joined in with his howling. Amanda could honestly say that this was another one of those moments that she wished could last forever but she knew would end too soon.

“What happens when we run out of stuff?” Sam asked loudly after they had been driving and singing for a while.

Amanda turned the radio down and looked to Sam questioningly.

“Well, nobody’s making new stuff anymore, you know, like products. We’re just using stuff that’s left over. What happens when we can’t find any more of it, or when it’s all gone bad?” Sam said, helping to clarify her question.

At first, Amanda was astounded by the question because she would not have expected someone of Sam’s age to have asked it. The next thing that occurred to her was that it was unfortunate that the children now and the ones to follow would have to answer that question by finding the solutions. But that was how the world worked now, and she decided that Sam deserved an answer.

“The truth, Sam, is that I don’t know what the solutions are right now. But I can say that it’s something that we are going to actively work out as we go, and I think that you can help with that process if you want to,” she answered the girl candidly, hoping that by how she had phrased it, she was helping to empower the girl rather than leaving her to feel helpless and hopeless with the situation.

“I see,” Sam said, nodding her head. “Thanks for being honest with me and treating me like I have a brain in my head. I know that most times adults tell lies to kids to make them feel better, but I’m old enough to know the truth now. I can handle it. I just wish that my parents would realize that.”

“Here’s something else that I’d rather not have to tell you the truth about but I think it best to be honest about,” Amanda said, wondering about how to frame it. “Did your dad talk to you about ambushes?”

“Ambushes?” Sam questioned, making it clear to Amanda that he had overlooked this part of the lesson.

“Yeah, like setups that raiders use to trap you and take all your stuff or worse,” she said, hoping that the girl wouldn’t ask about the worst-case scenarios.

“No,” Sam said.

“Well, when we’re out there in the real world, away from the safety of the camp, there are a lot of bad people around looking to take advantage of whomever they can. They want what we have, food, water, supplies,” Amanda said. “So they use decoys to try to distract you, like a sick child or a woman in distress. Unfortunately, they prey on kindness. Their goal is to get you to stop and pay attention to them, to let your guard down, and then others swoop in with weapons and either kill you and take your stuff or just take your stuff. Either way, it’s bad news.”

“Oh,” Sam said in a hushed tone.

“So don’t stop, especially till you’ve been out on a lot of runs and get some more experience, okay?”

“Okay, but what if someone’s really in trouble? Wouldn’t it be bad not to stop?” Sam asked sounding confused.

“At this point, that is not for you to decide. Leave decisions like that up to me, okay?” Amanda said, being sure to sound authoritative to make sure that she was getting her point across. “You need to stay alive long enough to gain the experience to be able to judge situations quickly and come up with the correct response, otherwise, you won’t live long enough to figure it out. That’s why the number of bad people these days outnumbers the good people because the good people are slowly being weeded out of the equation.”

“But what if I was in trouble, or my mom?” Sam asked earnestly. “Wouldn’t you want someone to stop and help us, like you did for us the day we left town?”

“I know that it sounds cruel, Sam, but until you get older and can make some of these types of decisions wisely, based upon knowledge and experience, then you don’t stop. Do you have that, Sam? It’s very important that you understand that, okay?” Amanda said, feeling like she could not emphasize its importance enough, and yet the girl still might not get her meaning.

“Yeah, I got it,” Sam said, sounding like she maybe had not gotten it at all.

Amanda stole a glance toward her direction to see if she could get a better read on her. Sam’s expression was somber, perhaps defiant, but she couldn’t be sure.

“That is why it’s important that we all look out for ourselves first because we never know if there’s anyone else out there that will do that for us,” Amanda said.

“Okay, but I don’t like it,” Sam said, crossing her arms over her chest to stress her meaning.

“Good, I’m glad. I don’t mean to sound cold, but I don’t care how much you don’t like it, just as long as you understand the protocol for the situation,” Amanda said, feeling like a louse for having to come across so hard-nosed on a subject that neglected the basic elements of human kindness.

She hoped that in the generations to come, they won’t be breeding their offspring to grow up cruel and inhumane.
But time would only tell
, she thought sadly, as she glanced at Sam one more time. The girl’s eyes had begun to water, and she looked away quickly so as to give Sam some privacy.

“I’m truly very sorry that I had to tell you this, Sam, but these ambushes have been going on for a while. Be unpredictable but with a purpose. Use your brain, be smart.”

Sam remained quiet for a while. Red positioned himself so as to take maximum advantage of the air conditioning while still remaining in the backseat.

Amanda commented on how beautiful the desert looked this morning and received no answer from Sam. The girl chose to remain reflective, and that was something that Amanda could easily understand, considering the circumstances. Some things required time to process in order to fully understand them.

“So you’ve never helped anybody other than us?” Sam finally asked, sounding perplexed. “I mean, there are a lot of people that need help. There were all my friends and their families, my grandparents, teachers. There were a lot of good people out there, and I’m stressing
were
because they aren’t here anymore.”

“That’s not what I said and not what I meant, Sam. I helped your family, and if I had seen any of them, I would have helped them too. But the point is that, you have to be careful these days, and that’s what I want you to be thinking about. I hope that that makes sense to you,” Amanda said, trying to sound kind.

“You and Roy decided to rescue us, and I’m thankful about that. I just can’t help thinking about the others, you know,” Sam said, sounding like she was on the verge of tears.

“I know it’s hard to consider all those that we’ve lost, but try not to spend too much time wrapping your head around it because it’ll just drive you crazy, is all there is to it,” she said softly.

“I think that I understand,” Sam said and then offered a big sigh as she slumped back against the seat.

“Good,” Amanda said, “just a couple more things, and I’ll give you a break and let you enjoy some more music before we hit town.”

“How many creepers have you killed?” Sam asked, suddenly switching topics and catching Amanda off guard.

“It’s not like a video game where I’m keeping score or anything like that,” she answered.

“I will count them,” Sam said, sounding certain.

“You do that,” Amanda answered. “But remember not to put your count above your safety.”

“What else did you want me to know?” the girl asked, and it seemed to Amanda that the closer they drew to town, the more serious Sam’s affect was becoming. And that was something that she could relate to.

“I want you to drive a second truck on the way home. We’ll need two trucks to bring back enough supplies to help with our efforts to become self-sustaining back at camp. I hope that you’re up for that?” Amanda said, already knowing what the answer would be.

“Cool,” Sam said, perking up. “Can I pick something out to drive? I’ve always wanted a cool sports car, but I’d settle for a cool-looking truck.”

“Lastly, I want to break into a pawnshop that so far nobody’s bothered to get into, besides a few frail attempts,” she said, ignoring the girl’s question because she already had picked out a truck, and there was nothing “cool” about it.

“I thought that all the stores had been looted already?” Sam asked.

“This one has a metal grate across it that somebody welded shut in multiple places, and it’s going to make a lot of noise trying to get that grate broke open. Noise isn’t our friend out there, so nobody’s wanted to risk it for what they figure won’t be much of cache once their inside. The pawnshop holds mostly musical equipment, construction tools, and electronic stuff. But I think it just might be worth it,” Amanda said, beginning to sound excited about her plan.

“So you think that there’s something good in there, something that we can use?” the girl asked, picking up on some of Amanda’s excitement.

“I think that we’ll find a few very useful things,” she answered. “I hope so anyway because, like I said, it is a bit risky.”

“So how are you going to get in there?” Sam asked.

“I have a plan, but it’s going to make a lot of noise, so we’ll need to make a distraction on the other side of town to buy us some time,” Amanda said.

“What’s that?” Sam said, pointing off into the distance, and there was fear in her voice.

Amanda looked to see plumes of black smoke rising into the air. They were still about thirty minutes from Blythe, but the side of town that bordered Eurenberg Arizona appeared to be on fire.

“Maybe we won’t be needing to create a distraction,” Amanda said, staring at the smoke. “Unless I’m wrong, part of the town’s on fire.”

Chapter 29

A
s they drew nearer to town, the smoke and glimpses of flame were more visible. The good news was they needed nothing to create a distraction to cover the noise they would be making. But the bad news was that the town was on fire, and with every hour, valuable resources and supplies would be burning up, never to be used. There would be no one to put the fire out, and that meant that it might continue to burn, and that would be the worst-case scenario for their long-term survival prospects if they could not become self-sustainable soon. And the likelihood of it spreading was high because the hot desert wind was kicking up; she could feel it as it shook the truck. Fighting the wind would cause them to use more gas too, and that was something that they never seemed to have enough of.

“Well, kid, I hope you’re ready for a really long day. We’ll need to up our time table drastically for getting as much supplies out today as possible because I’m afraid there may not be a town tomorrow for us to scavenge,” Amanda said, and worry wrinkles had come to pop out across her otherwise smooth forehead.

“I’m ready for this,” Sam said, sounding determined, and that helped Amanda to feel better about the upcoming work in town.

“I know that its hot and working in this heat is going to feel unbearable at times, but stay hydrated and stay the course because I don’t know how much of a chance we’ll have if we can’t stockpile as much as possible. I know that we’ll be pushing hard, but it’s still important that we watch our backs and proceed cautiously. We won’t be of any help to anybody if we’re dead or infected. Got it?” Amanda said, hoping to give a pep talk as well as a warning.

“I got it,” Sam said and nodded her head. “Not to change the subject or anything, but doesn’t this way that you’re going take longer than some other ways you could go?”

Sam had seen several dirt roads that turned off toward town, and yet they had passed them.

“Yep,” Amanda said. “It’s longer, but it’s going to put us on the far side of town, away from the fire, and put us right smack on top of that pawnshop that I want to check out. Besides, I haven’t scavenged that area yet, and there might be some goodies that have been overlooked. I was trying to use a grid pattern for searching, but that’s all out the window now that this fire is rolling through so strong.”

Black smoke rolled up, filling the air and beginning to disperse over the city of Blythe like a sinister blanket that would inevitably smother it. They couldn’t help but look in awe at it at times because it did look formidable.

Sam nodded, and Amanda watched the girl squirm around in her seat for the third time. But it was so desperate-looking this time that Amanda decided that it must be more than impatience to reach town.

“What’s with all the wiggling around?” Amanda asked curiously.

“I have to pee real bad,” Sam said, wiggling again, reminding Amanda of what a worm looks like on a fishing hook.

“What are you waiting for? It’s not like we’ll find a public restroom to use in town?” she said, slamming the brakes on and spewing up dust.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I forgot,” Sam said, taking no time at all to bail from the truck and dash around to the rear of it.

Amanda grabbed the baseball bat and exited the truck as well. It wasn’t very likely that Sam would run into any trouble so close to the truck, but she didn’t want to take any chances.

“A little privacy would be nice,” Sam said, sounding irritated that Amanda had not remained in the truck.

“Don’t mind me. I don’t have any interest in watching you pee, but I do want to make sure that you’re safe,” she said, realizing that it might be the LAZ, but some of their previous habits were still deeply engrained, like the need for privacy and the desire to “hold it” until they happened across a bathroom.

Tammy, on the other hand, wouldn’t even know anything other than the way things were done now. Strange, she thought, how people could adapt and yet hold on to their old belief systems even when it no longer made any sense.

After Sam had finished, she had the girl grab the binoculars, and they took turns looking at the fire. She also made her cursory glance of the desert to make sure that they didn’t have any company, which they didn’t. Many times in the past, she had spotted raiders this way, long before they had spotted her, and she explained this to Sam. She felt the need to begin teaching the girl everything that she had learned, since it seemed that Sam was determined to get herself in the thick of their survival effort. Amanda admired the girl for this, but she didn’t want her to have to pay with her life for her youth and inexperience.

Red barked a single warning, causing Amanda to withdraw the binoculars from her eyes and snap her head around toward him. The wind was hot and brushed across her cheeks without any gentleness. She could see now why the dog had barked. He was sniffing at the air and had picked up on the scent of the fire, once again, proving himself to be a valuable asset. Had they not already been aware of the problem, he would certainly have drawn their attention to it.

“I know, Red,” was all she said as she hopped back into the truck, tucking the baseball bat in beside Sam, who was already seated.

“Is he telling us about the fire?” Sam asked, looking incredulous.

“Yep,” she said. “He can’t see it yet, but he sure can smell it.”

She had left the tuck running and was glad to be back inside with the cool air, even though she could already tell that today was going to be so hot that the truck’s air conditioning would be struggling to keep up. She thought of the others back at camp and cringed. They would have it bad, with nothing but a trip or two to the Jeep to try to stay cool. Perhaps, she considered, they could remedy that with Roy’s solar-powered ideas; that is if she could come back with all the necessary supplies for the project before they were all burnt up in the fire. This thought gave her a feeling of urgency, and she uncharacteristically punched the gas pedal and the truck lurched forward.

“Whoa, some warning would be nice,” said Sam, nearly choking on the water she had been trying to sip out of a plastic bottle.

The nearer they came to town, the larger the fire appeared to be. It was impossible from their current vantage point to tell just how large it was, but with nothing to stop it, and plenty of fuel, it was gaining momentum. The wind wasn’t helping either, blowing across the desert at nearly thirty miles an hour with the potential to climb well over that, sending sparks and flame with it to ignite whatever fuel sources it could find along the way.

“Do you suppose that it’ll burn all the creepers up?” Sam asked.

“I hope so,” Amanda said. “At least if it’s going to take our town, the least it can do is eliminate the threat of being eaten alive, don’t you think?”

“Don’t know,” Sam said, issuing a shrug. “I’m not so sure that it’s that considerate of our needs right about now.”

Sam looked worried, and Amanda could relate to that feeling, as she was having it too.

Amanda drove faster than usual now, knowing that getting as many supplies as fast as possible out of the salvageable parts of town had become a priority. The truck bounced uncomfortably across the washboard road, and several times it fishtailed widely as it hit a soft spot and lost traction. She hated pushing their vehicle like this and knew that it would use more gas driving this way too, but she had begun to feel like she no longer had a choice in the matter.

“This is crazy,” Sam said, hanging onto the “Oh, crap!” handle above her door. “Do you always drive like this?”

“Only when I’m trying to beat a fire to get supplies,” Amanda said loudly because between the noises the truck was making and the radio, she could hardly hear herself think.

The acrid smell of smoke had reached them, some of it making its way through the trucks air vents. She briefly thought about trying to make sure to find a new air filter for it but dismissed it when the truck fishtailed again.

“It is kind of fun,” Sam said, “like a ride at an amusement park or something.” Sam was nearly yelling too to be heard over all the other noises.

“Do me a favor and look in the center compartment, will you?” Amanda said. “There should be some bandanas in there. That’ll help with the smoke, I hope.”

“The smoke’s not that bad,” Sam said, opening up the center compartment and digging around in it until she found them.

“It’s not too bad in here, but wait till we get out,” Amanda said.

“Good point,” Sam said, trying to hand a purple one to Amanda while she clutched a blue one.

“Not now, hold on to it for me. I need both of my hands to drive,” she answered, barely giving the girl a glance.

Sam tied her bandana on around her neck, being sure to adjust the triangle to fit over her nose.

And then, just like that, the shimmying and the rattling noise stopped so suddenly that it made their ears hurt for a second while they each adjusted. They had made it to the pavement about two miles from town.

“Finally, we’re here,” Sam said, too loudly. “I thought we weren’t ever going to make it.”

Amanda switched the music off, and then the only thing they could hear was the howling of the wind and the sound of the tires on the pavement. Sand was blowing across the road, along with trash and debris, giving Amanda a surreal feeling of entering a ghost town.

“Keep your eyes peeled from here on out,” she said, being sure to scan the distance and their periphery, but she could see nothing to cause alarm.

“I don’t see anything, not even a stray creeper,” Sam said as Amanda slowed the truck to a crawl.

Amanda had to agree that it was eerily quiet and highly unusual not to have come across a single creeper yet because the town was filled with them.

She pulled the truck into a right turn and then a left, stopping in front of the pawnshop. A sign was swinging in the wind, boasting that they had once bought and sold gold.

“This is the place?” Sam asked, sounding excited to finally begin the run.

“Yep,” Amanda said, pulling a hard turn in the street, sending Sam careening into the passenger door. She slammed the truck into reverse and backed up until she had jumped up the curb and was nearly touching the metal bars that covered the front entrance.

“Whoa, you’re not kidding that we’re in a hurry, huh?” Sam said, righting herself in the seat.

Somehow Red had managed to stay in his sentry position throughout all the jostling.

“We’re in a big fat hurry, Sam, but we aren’t going to sacrifice safety,” Amanda said, putting the truck in park. “We’ll leave it running for a minute while we hook up.”

Amanda put a hand on Sam’s arm, causing her to halt her egress from the truck.

“Wait,” was all she said as she turned to rummage in the extra cab portion of the truck.

“What?” Sam asked, looking back to see what she was looking for.

“Here, put this on,” Amanda said, bringing up a thin cotton long-sleeved shirt, “and slip your gloves on.”

“It’s so hot,” Sam said with an exasperated tone.

“It’ll offer a small amount of protection against them,” Amanda said, bringing up a second shirt for herself.

“Can we switch, I like the color of yours better?” Sam asked, handing the shirt back.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Amanda asked, sounding exasperated too, but she switched shirts with the girl.

“Well, this ones like a faded pink color, and I like it better than that yucky green one,” Sam said by way of an explanation.

“Good,” Amanda said after Sam had slipped the shirt on. “Now put your backpack on and grab the baseball bat. Anytime that you get out of this truck while we’re here in town, I want you to have that bat with you.”

“Ooh, I can see one of them inside the store walking around,” Sam said excitedly, speaking of a creeper.

“Try not to sound too happy about it, okay, that’s even creepier than they are,” Amanda said, eyeing Sam.

“Sure thing,” Sam said, but with the same tone of excitement.

“I sure hope that bringing you along isn’t going to be a big mistake,” Amanda said, opening her door and sliding out of the truck.

The wind blew the truck door shut before she could reach back for it.

“You can count on me,” Sam said, hefting the bat and cautiously walking around to meet Amanda at the rear of the vehicle where she was already in the process of hooking a chain up to the trailer hitch that was attached to the truck.

“So what’s the plan?” asked Sam, sounding excited and a little breathless as she surveyed the area.

Amanda could understand that because this was her first trip into town since that day over six months ago when they had run for their lives. Additionally, this was also the first time that she had had permission to leave camp to go more than a couple of miles away for a length of time, without her parents, and for a teenager, that was a big deal.

“I need you to keep a lookout for anything suspicious, any movement, noise, anything, while I hook this chain up. Once it’s hooked up, I’m going to drive forward and pull this grate off. As you can see, we have at least a couple of creepers inside that we’ll need to take care of. Hopefully, you can just leave that to me,” she said, running the thick metal chain through the bars of the grate and attaching the hook back to itself. “Once the creepers are dispatched, we move fast, one of us on the lookout and the other loading supplies. We’ll also listen for Red because he’s got a nose for trouble, and he’ll warn us if he sees or smells any.”

“Got it,” said Sam, already taking her job as the lookout seriously, which offered Amanda some relief. “Hope whatever’s inside is worth it because this seems like an awful lot of work if there isn’t anything we need.”

“We won’t know till we break in, and one break-in is coming up,” Amanda said, motioning that they should get back in the truck.