Alone (20 page)

When Trish sat down at the table, Tony slid one of the mugs over to her. “Drink up while it’s hot!”

Trish took a sip. “This is good. I like hot tea.”

She took a big gulp, then quickly sat the cup down and started to blow air out her mouth to cool her tongue.

Tony laughed. “You need to drink it slowly or let it cool off a bit before you take a big drink like that.”

“I forgot!” Trish grinned.

Tony pushed a box of cookies over in front of Trish. “These are all yours. They taste good when you dip them in the hot tea.” He took one of his cookies and dipped it in his tea, then put the whole thing in his mouth.

She smiled as she opened her box of cookies and began to eat.

Tony was happy to see her eat without asking him, with every cookie, that it was OK for her to eat it. He was happy for Trish and he was glad to see he might finally be making some progress in getting her trust.

After breakfast Tony climbed to the top of the ladder to their room. Trish filled the small bucket with water from the large buckets Tony had filled this morning. She then carried the bucket to the bottom of the steps and tied the end of the rope to the bucket’s handle.

Tony pulled the bucket up to the room and emptied it into the large bucket. It took Trish ten trips with the small bucket, but they finally had filled the buckets in their room.

After Tony told her she could stop filling buckets, she climbed the ladder and went in the room to join him.

Tony was staring out the window, watching the light rain continue to fall. He turned and smiled. “Good job! That was a lot of hard work.”

“Thanks.” Trish replied looking proud of herself. She blushed a little. She wasn’t used to anyone giving her a compliment. She liked getting a compliment for a change.

Trish went over to her bed and sat down.

“Before you get too comfortable, I have two more jobs for you, if you are still willing to help me?” Tony asked.

Trish jumped up and smiled. “Sure. I like helping.”

“Good.” Tony grinned.

“What’s our first job?” Trish asked.

“First I think we need to get you your own chair. Would you like to have your own chair?” Tony asked .

“My own chair that I can sit on?” Trish asked.

“Of course you can sit on it.” Tony answered. “What else would you do with a chair?”

Trish looked down. “I wasn’t allowed to sit on chairs when Roy and Tom were around. I always had to sit on the floor.”

Roy stood. “Let’s go get you a chair that will be all yours and you can sit on it whenever you want.”

Tony led Trish down to the lawn furniture shelf and let her look through all the chairs until she found on she liked.

“I like them all.” Trish said. “But I think I like this one the best.”

She pointed to a bright pink and yellow lawn chair. The pink plastic straps went horizontal and the yellow straps were vertical.

Tony looked at the chair and thought. “She would pick that one. I’m going to need sunglasses.”

He looked at Trish. “OK. Carry it over to the ladder and I’ll pull it up to the room for you.”

A big smile spread over her face as she carried her chair to the bottom of the ladder.

Trish tied the rope to the top of the chair, then they both climbed up to the room.

Tony pulled the chair up to the room and set it by the window next to his chair.

Trish walked over and sat down and looked up with a big smile on her face. “Thank you for the chair. I never had my own chair before.”

“You’re welcome.” Tony laughed. “The next job I have for you, you can do right from your chair.”
“What job can I do from my chair?” She asked looking puzzled.

“You can be my look out.” Tony said.

“Look out for what?” She replied.

“I have to go outside for a bit and I want you to watch to make sure nothing or no one sneaks up on me.” Tony answered.

Trish sat up and looked terrified. “Why are you going outside? I don’t want you to leave me here by myself. Take me with you, please!”

“I’m just going right out in front of the building and it will only take me five minutes.” Tony said. “There is just one final thing I need to do, then I think we are ready for whatever Roy and the others try to do.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if I went with you?” Trish pleaded.

“Don’t worry, you will be safe in here.” Tony added.

“I know I will.” Trish said then blushed a little. “I’m worried about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Tony pulled two walkie-talkies out of his pocket and handed one to Trish. “We can talk the entire time so you will know I’m OK.”

“Won’t Roy be able to hear us talk? He’ll know you are outside by yourself and he will know I didn’t get eaten by the zombies. He will be really mad.” Trish looked worried.

“He won’t be able to hear us.” Tony smiled. “I set these to a different channel than the ones we talked on before. You just set back away from the window and no one can see you if they are out there.”

Trish still looked scared. “But why do you have to go out there?”

“Yesterday when I was looking outside. I spotted the mirrors on the trucks sitting out front. It reminded me I can’t see what is going on along the side of the warehouse. Someone could sneak up along the side of the building and I would never see them. I thought if I put a mirror down at each corner of the building, I could at least see if anyone came around the sides of the building. It wouldn’t be very clear but I could at least see motion. It might help.” Tony said.

“What if I see someone?” Trish asked.

“Then you push the button and tell me. I’ll be right by the door and will come in right away.” Tony smiled to comfort her.

“OK, but please hurry.” Trish begged.

Tony squeezed Trish’s shoulder, then turned and left the room.

Trish stood at the side of the window and watched down below. She let out her breath when she saw Tony walk into view. She hadn’t realized that she had been holding her breath all this time.

She glanced out at the clearing, then back to Tony. She wanted to make sure there was no one out there and she wanted to watch what Tony was doing.

She watched Tony crawl up on one of the trucks and pull and twist one of the large mirrors that stuck out from the door. Finally the mirror gave way and broke loose. Next he moved to the other side of the truck.  He came back into view a few minutes later carrying the other mirror.

He looked up at the window and waved.

He carried one of the mirrors over to the corner of the building and propped it up against one of the dead bodies on the ground. He angled it back and lined it up with the side of the warehouse.

He pulled the radio from his pocket and pushed the button. “Trish?”

“Yes” She replied.

“Look at the mirror. Can you see back down the side of the building?” Tony asked.

Trish looked down at the mirror. She strained her eyes. It was hard to see anything from this distance. Finally she was able to see something she recognized. “No. All I can see is the front of the building.”

Tony looked at the mirror and then up at Trish. He moved the mirror, angling it more to the right. “How about now?”

“I think I can see that way.” Trish said. “But it’s hard to see much.”

Tony looked up at Trish. “I’ll walk to the side door. Just tell me if you can see me moving in the mirror?”

“OK. I’ll try.” Trish replied.

Tony walked to the corner of the building, then along the side and stopped in front of the door. “Did you see me walking in the mirror?”

“I could see someone moving but I couldn’t tell that it was you. The mirror is too small.” Trish said.

“That’s OK. I don’t need to see who it is. I only need to see if someone is there.” Tony replied.

Tony walked back to the front of the building, picked up the other mirror and started for the other front corner. “Are you watching to make sure there is no one near the tree line?”

“Yes I’m watching.” Trish answered as her eyes grew large. She was watching Tony so closely that she forgot what she was supposed to be doing. She quickly scanned the tree line and was relieved she didn’t see any movement anywhere.

It took them a few more minutes to get the angle right on the next mirror, then Tony came back inside.

Trish walked over to the top of the ladder and watched him climb back up to the room.

She stared at him when he reached the ledge.

Tony could see the relief in her eyes. “A few days ago if you would have seen me getting this close to you, you would have turned and ran.” He smiled.

Trish looked at the ground. “I think I can trust you a little now.”

“I’m glad.” Tony said.

“Me too!” Trish looked up and smiled. “It feels good to be able to trust someone a little.”

They walked into the room and sat down next to each other in their chairs.

Tony couldn’t think of anything else he could do. He was sure when Roy showed up, a number of things would come to mind that he should have done. But for now he couldn’t think of anything.

Now it was a waiting game. He hoped maybe Roy would just decide to move on. But he knew that probably wouldn’t happen. He also knew that if it wasn’t Roy, eventually it would be someone else. If it wasn’t the dead it would be another Roy. This was what life had become. One way or another life would never be easy. He looked at Trish. She looked back and smiled. Of course he realized, if you don’t give up and keep your eyes open, there were still some good things left. The little things that had always made life worth living. The little things were now more important than ever.

A few days ago he was hoping to find someone to talk to. A few days ago he had seen Trish. He thought it was going to take forever to get her to even let him see her.

He thought about them eating breakfast together at the picnic table. That was a miracle. It least he would have thought so a few days ago.

Now he had someone to talk to. So he decided to talk.

“Trish, did you have a puppy when you were little?” Tony asked.

It had been a cloudy day. The sun was finally just starting to break through the clouds as it disappeared over the horizon. The sky, which started to get brighter, was now growing dark. It had been a quiet day and it had been a day he would remember for a long time. It was probably the best day Tony had had in over a year.

Trish was feeling much more comfortable with Tony. She also hadn’t really talked to anyone in a year. Today she was also happy to have someone to talk to.

Tony had forgotten how much sixteen year old girls liked to talk. He was happy Trish was there be remind him.

Chapter 24

Tom was awakened by the laughing coming from Roy and Debbie’s room. He laughed “Having a good shower apparently had stopped Debbie’s bitching.”

She must have enjoyed the shower. Tom knew he had enjoyed it. It had felt like old times again.

They were all definitely clean now.

The rain yesterday had been a blessing, but Tom was happy to see the sun shining in through his window. It meant that they would be going over to the warehouse.

He was excited to find out what was in there. Roy seemed to think they would find a mountain of food and who knew what else.

Tom was excited about the food, but after seeing the new clothes that Trish had come back wearing, he was hoping to get himself some new duds too. He really didn’t care much about clothes, but his old jeans were getting pretty ripe. They were even starting to gross him out. Some new jeans would be nice.

Tom’s eyes lit up and he sat upright in his bed. A smile spread across his face. “If Roy was right and the dead hadn’t got that little bitch, he might get his hands on more than food and some clean duds today.”

“Damn!” He said. “Today could be a good day for old Tom!”

He knew if Roy got control of the warehouse and had all that food, he would be in a good mood. If Roy was in a good mood, he might not feed the little bitch to the dead. “He might be in such a good mood.” Tom thought. I’m sure Roy would agree to let me have her.”

“Shit!” Tom said out loud again as he started to laugh.

He couldn’t wait to get moving.

He dropped his feet down to the floor. He grabbed his pants and stepped into them.

He was just starting to pull on his shirt when he heard the door to Roy’s room creak as it opened.

He hurried to tie his shoes.

Tom went down the stairs as he heard Roy and Debbie talking in the living room.

He took the steps two at a time.

Tom walked into the living room.

“You have a big smile on your face this morning.” Debbie giggled. She looked at Roy. “Almost as big as the smile on your face.”

Debbie jumped and squealed as Roy pinched her in the butt.

“I have a feeling today is going to be a good day.” Tom laughed.

He walked over and sat down across from Roy and Debbie. “What’s your plan for today?”

Roy bounced Debbie on his knee. “I thought about how to do this today. After thinking about a lot of ways we could do this. I decided it would probably be best to just keep it simple.”

“I like simple.” Tom laughed and looked on anxiously. “What’s the simple plan?”

“We’ll take all the stuff we got at the mine.” Roy started but Debbie interrupted him.

“You’re not going to make me carry that heavy pack again are you? My back is sore.”

Roy grinned. “No, I’ll carry it over to the warehouse today since you have been such a good sport.”

Debbie grinned.

“We’ll take all the stuff in case we need it, but I think you were right Tom.” Roy said looking at Tom. “I think the axe and pick might just do it for us.”

“Yea?” Tom asked.

“I think we just go over there and come around from behind the building. I don’t remember seeing any other windows in the place, other than the one that guy sits at. He can only see what is going on out front. We should be able to walk right up to the door on the side of the building without him seeing us.” Roy said.

“How are we going to get him to come out?” Debbie asked.

“We aren’t going to fool around trying to get him to come out.” Roy grinned. “We’re going to go in and get him.”

“I like that.” Tom said excitedly.

“When we walk up to those doors, we should be able to breakdown the door and get inside before he knows what is going on. I think if we use the axe and bust off the door knob, the door will open right up. We’ll be inside before the asshole knows we are there.” Roy laughed.

“What if the door doesn’t just open right up after we knock off the lock?” Tom asked.

“Then we just finish busting up the door until it opens up or falls off its hinges.” Roy replied. “It shouldn’t take us too long to do it that way if we have to, but I think once we bust the lock, we’ll get in real fast.”

“But the guy is armed. He could shoot us.” Tom said looking concerned as he thought about going in the door after giving the guy time to figure out what was happening.

“I’m not too worried about that.” Roy said. “As far as I can tell, all he has is a bow and a BB gun. The bow isn’t any good in close quarters. What’s the worst that could happen if he shoots you with that damn BB gun?”

Tom laughed. “We could end up looking like Debbie’s ass. I think I can handle that!”

Roy started laughing. “I know you can handle that.”

Debbie turned and playfully slapped Roy, then she started to laugh too.

“I can’t wait to see what all we find in there.” Tom said. “I was thinking I might get some new duds too.”

He thought about catching Debbie’s little sister in the warehouse too, but he was waiting for Roy to be in a good mood before he brought up that subject. Roy could be stubborn. If he got Roy pissed off thinking about how she had escaped from the dead, he might get his mind set on revenge. Then Roy would never change his mind and let Tom have her.

“I think we still have three cans of vegetable soup left. Deb why don’t you go open up those cans so we have something in our stomach before we get started.” Roy said.

“Sorry.” Tom said sheepishly. “I ate those last night.”

Roy looked annoyed. “Do we have anything left?”

“I think we have some beans left.” Tom started to say.

“Shit, I hate eating beans in the morning.” Roy complained. “They give me gas for the rest of the day.”

“We also have one can of Spaghetti-O’s left too.” Tom finished.

“Good. I’ll eat those and you two can eat the beans.” Roy said sounding a little more upbeat.

Tom breathed easier. He didn’t want to start the day on Roy’s bad side. He wanted to keep Roy in a good mood for a little while longer.

They sat in the living room and ate out of the cans, using the spoons they found in the kitchen drawers. When he had emptied his can, Roy threw his can behind the couch, in the corner. Trish’s corner. Anger flashed across his eyes.

Tom noticed this and held his breath. Tossing his can in the corner had made Roy think about Trish. It hadn’t made him very happy to think about her. He hoped Roy wouldn’t linger on that thought for long. It could ruin everything.

“I’m excited to do this!” Tom said, trying to distract Roy and make him think about more enjoyable things, like going in that warehouse.

Roy looked up. “Me too. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Tom and Debbie got up and followed Roy out onto the porch. Roy picked up the back pack and threw it over his shoulders. He handed Debbie the axe and the pick to carry.

Tom grabbed the handle on the left side of the box they had carried back from the mine.

He looked at the clear sky as he waited for Roy to take the other handle. “Looks like we are going to have a great day for this. All the clouds have moved on, there is nothing but blue skies.”

Roy smirked. “It’s a great day to bust that asshole’s head!”

Roy grabbed the other handle and they lifted the box off the ground. They started across the road and began to work their way across the field.