Amanda Carter in the L.A.Z., life after zombies (33 page)

Chapter 56

“
I
see two sets of headlights off in the distance,” Roy said, excitedly jumping down from the boulder that gave the best view of their entrance road. “I think they’re back!”

Roy jumped down from the boulder while Maryanne leapt to her feet, inadvertently tossing Tammy out of her lap. Jason tried to push himself out of the reclining lawn chair but fell back again. He had been having a bad pain day and hadn’t wanted anybody to know. But he realized that he wouldn’t be going anywhere even with help.

Roy and Maryanne both grabbed flashlights, and Roy grabbed the shotgun and his nine-millimeter and began to move down the hill with Tammy following.

Maryanne turned back to her youngest child.

“You need to wait right here for us, okay?” she said to the girl, taking her by the shoulders and looking into her wide eyes.

“Okay, but I want to help,” she said, already turning away from her mother’s grasp to go back to camp.

Boo followed her, like she was the girl’s little shadow.

“Come to your papa, honey,” Jason said, able to commiserate with how Tammy was feeling because he was feeling it himself with not being able to go and greet the returned crew.

Once down to the Jeep, Roy handed Maryanne the shotgun.

“What do I need this for?” Maryanne asked, staring at it in her hands like it was some form of dangerous animal.

“That’s for if it isn’t them,” Roy said, digging the keys to the Jeep out of his pocket.

The headlights were still far enough out that Roy and Maryanne would need to hop in the Jeep to go and meet them. There was a good chance that they would be able to catch up with them at The Trench because it would take them a while to get the trucks across. Roy imagined that the two had probably had a tiring day, and he wanted to help, and Maryanne was unstoppable in her desire to see her daughter as soon as possible and assuage her fears.

O

Sam slowed to a stop before The Trench and then jumped out, leaving the big truck idling in park.

“What’s this?” Cole asked. “Is this your camp?”

“No, this is The Trench, it’s one of the things that keeps us safe in our camp,” Amanda said, opening her truck door and leaving her truck running.

Her muscles hurt, and her legs felt shaky as she climbed out to go to the back of the big truck to collect the rails.

“Sam is so cool,” Cody said excitedly to his father. “She’s killed like fifty creepers today alone, and she drives, and she’s only a year older than me. Can I learn to drive next year?”

“If we have a vehicle by then, then you can learn to drive,” Cole said, looking to his son with surprise.

It had been a while since Cole had seen his boy this happy. He had begun to think that it was a sight that he would never see again. But yet, here Cody was enthusiastically talking a mile a minute about a new friend that he had made.

“I might have exaggerated about my creeper kill count,” Sam said, whispering to Amanda.

“Honestly, Sam, I don’t think that it was an exaggeration after you consider all the ones that you ran over back at that store when they were swooping in on us,” Amanda said, wincing from the pain in her body as she reached to roll up the door to the back of the truck.

“Really, no kidding,” Sam said, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of the metal door rolling up.

“So how do you get the trucks over The Trench?” Cole asked.

“We used to use wooden planks, but we brought back some metal rails from town for this big truck,” Amanda said while pulling herself up into the back of the truck.

She was impressed that their load had not become too jostled about during their drive in on the bumpy road. As she shone the flashlight around inside the big enclosed space, she could see that the caps on the water tanks were still in place, meaning that they had not lost any water either. She smiled. Even though it had been a rough and perilous day, they were coming home with enough to ensure their survival for a while, even with the two new additions to their party, and make it possible for them to be able to take care of their own needs in the future.

“Anything I can do?” Cole asked while peering up into the back of the truck.

“Yes, you can grab these rails when I slide them out,” Amanda said.

Amanda handed down the first rail, which Cole grabbed, while Sam and Cody talked together a little ways off to the side. She knew that for Sam, finding a friend amidst this really messed-up world must feel like a real milestone for her. Cole couldn’t help but feel the same way about it as he listened to tidbits of their conversation.

“Uh, we have company,” said Cole, with worry in his voice.

“What?” Amanda asked, snapping her head up so quick that she began to see stars floating in front of her eyes.

“Don’t worry,” Sam yelled into the truck. “It’s one of us.”

“How can you be sure?” Cole asked, still sounding nervous about it.

“We know because there’s only one way in and one way out of camp,” Amanda said, reaching for the second rail while still feeling dizzy.

“Oh,” said Cole while grabbing the rail, “that makes it a more defensible space.”

Yeah, right
, thought Amanda.
Wait till he takes a look at our small group, and then we’ll see how defensible against the raiders he thinks that we are
. Amanda didn’t mean anything negative by the thought, but she did know that when it came to an army, they had none.

Amanda heard two doors slam and figured that they had arrived. Naturally, they would have been worried when she and Sam had been so late getting back from town. Additionally, they would have undoubtedly seen the fire even from here because of the massive amount of smoke that it was producing, and this would have worried them more.

It seemed to Amanda that she could still smell the fire, even this far out. And that could be true, she figured, but it could also be true that she had smoke in her nostrils, lodged onto her nose hairs, in her hair, on her body, and all over her clothing, and that could also explain why she could still smell it.

“Sam, it’s Mother!” Maryanne yelled out. “I can’t wait to get my arms around you, sweetheart. I’m so happy to see you.”

“I’m here, Mom, and I have a new friend. His name’s Cody,” the girl said with gusto.

“I see that,” Maryanne said, with a hand up to shield her eyes from the headlights of the big truck.

Maryanne was impatiently waiting on the other side of the trench, eagerly anticipating the placement of the plank so that she could run over there and greet her daughter.

“That’s my mom,” Sam said to Cody, as if he hadn’t already figured that out.

“Wow, you still have a mom?” Cody said, and it was touching to Amanda to hear the awe in his voice.

Amanda knew that many people these days had lost a loved one or more and that it was rare that she shared a camp with an entire intact family.

Cole walked the metal rail to The Trench, careful to place it to where it would line up with the big truck’s tires.

“And who are you?” Maryanne asked, eyeing the man that was so clearly visible by the headlights.

“I’m Cole,” he said, nodding his head.

“I’m Maryanne, Sam’s mother.”

“My name’s Roy,” he said, feeling stunned that they had come back with some company.

Roy did not know yet how he felt about having an addition to their close-knit family because he wasn’t sure that they should be too trusting of an outsider in their midst.

Roy eyed Cole carefully, as if by taking a good look at the man, he could judge his intentions. It failed because after giving the man the twice over up and down, he had still not come to any type of definitive conclusion about Cole’s character.

Maryanne wasted no time in scurrying across the rail and scooping her daughter up into a bear hug. Sam wiggled because it felt to her like a vice had cinched around her body. Finally, the girl managed to squirm away when it appeared that her mother had no near intentions of letting her go.

“I’m sorry, honey, I don’t mean to embarrass you in front of your new friend, but I was just so worried about you, we all were. When we saw that Blythe was on fire and then when you didn’t come home, well, needless to say, it scared your father and I the most.”

“You aren’t going to believe how much stuff we found, it’s incredible. And what a day,” Sam said, stealing a glance to Amanda, knowing that they had some bad news to share too.

“Well, the most important thing is that you’re back safe and sound. Stuff can be replaced, but you can’t,” Maryanne said with conviction.

“Um, stuff can’t really be replaced anymore after this fire finishes,” Sam said. “The fire’s taking everything, and it’s raging through town fast and blowing stuff up too. You should have seen some of the explosions and how all the creepers are drawn to the fire like it was a magnet for them or something. It was real crazy there.”

“Oh my, it does sound like you had quite the day. Is that where you ran into these two?”

“No, we just came across them on our way home. They ran away from a raider camp that was holding them prisoner. They were headed for the river with nothing but two shovels,” said Sam, running her words together because she was speaking so fast.

“Well, I’m sure that there’s a story to that,” Maryanne said. “But first, let’s get you home. You’re covered in soot, and I imagine that you’re anxious to eat something, see your dad and sister, and get some rest.”

“Yeah, but I really want to tell you guys all about what happened. It was amazing and horrible, if those two things can be true at the same time.”

“Let’s get you back to camp, and you can tell us all about it over dinner. I’m sure that Cole and Cody are hungry too. By the looks of it, they’ve had it worse than us in the food department,” Maryanne said, turning to Cody. “Look at you, my dear, aren’t you just skin and bone? I don’t know what you’ve been used to, but we’ll feed you the best we can.”

“Cool. Can I help with the dishes and the cooking too? I used to watch the cooking channel back when we had TV,” the boy said, and Maryanne felt her heart melt a little bit for this precious-looking, enthusiastic boy with the dimples in his cheeks.

“Sure, you know I don’t have a dishwashing helper or an assistant chef. It’s just been all me. I’d be happy to have the help,” Maryanne said, holding out her hand to shake the boy’s.

“I help sometimes,” Sam said defensively, “like with the dishes and stuff.”

By the light of the headlights, Cody beamed; his dimples had etched themselves deeply on either side of his broad grin.

“Looks like Cody’s already making friends and figuring out how to make himself useful,” Roy said to Cole as he laid the last rail.

“I can’t believe that my son’s a dishwashing chef in the middle of the LAZ. I tried to teach him how to take care of himself, to fight, but he has no interest in that. I worry about him being able to make it out here in this world,” Cole said while sounding obviously frustrated with the situation.

“Some folks just need to be who they are,” Roy said, standing.

Cole double-checked that the tires were lined up and then gave Roy a nod.

“Trust me, I’ve heard that all before,” Cole said. “But I still worry.”

“It seems to me that he’ll find his place and bring something to the table that others want. In return, they’ll look out for him in ways that he isn’t capable of,” Roy said, again looking to his father’s wisdom to help in this situation.

“I hope that you’re right,” Cole said. “I really hope that you’re right, because from what I’ve seen from people these days, I’m afraid for him.”

The two men joined up with the others and announced that it was all clear to begin rolling the trucks over The Trench. Amanda wanted desperately to be back home, and she was the first one in her truck ready to roll. But of course, the big truck was in front of her and she would have to wait.

“Cole or Roy, can you roll up the cargo net so that it doesn’t get stuck on the rails?” Amanda hollered out the window, realizing that in her haste, she had forgotten that step of the journey.

“I’ve got it,” Cole said, not failing to realize that Roy had several splints on his fingers and that it would be uncomfortable for him to do it.

Amanda watched Red, Sam, and Cody all go bounding for their truck, and it looked like they would be getting underway soon. Amanda was glad for this because she felt that she was nearing the end of her physical capacity to function. Fatigue, exhaustion, and weakness were taking a hold of her; it had been a long day, and she had put her body through a lot more than she could rightly expect it to be able to keep up with in the desert heat.

“That’s a great idea,” Cole said, “the cargo net, I mean, to cover your tracks.”

“Yep,” was all Amanda said, as she watched the big rental truck begin to slowly make its lumbering way over the metal rails and to the other side of The Trench.

She found herself holding her breath because she didn’t know for sure that the rails would be strong enough to hold the truck when it was under this kind of stress from the weight of the supplies. But it turns out that she needn’t have worried because it rolled on over without so much as a groan.

Amanda stopped at The Trench and allowed Roy to make a minor adjustment with the rails to accommodate the slightly different wheelbase of her truck. And then they were off on the last leg that would take them home. Roy and Maryanne had stayed behind to use shovels to disturb the sandy earth enough to obliterate their tire tracks on the other side of The Trench. And they said that they would bring the rails back with them.

Even the music seemed to promote further exhaustion in Amanda, and she snapped off the radio, leaving them in silence.

“How long were you and Sam gone for?” Cole asked, by way of conversation.

“We left out early this morning,” Amanda said, noticing that even her jaw felt tired when she spoke.

“Oh,” Cole said, “by the way Maryanne was acting, I would have thought it had been longer. She and her daughter must be close.”

“Today was Sam’s first trip to town, first driving experience on her own, and her parents are real overprotective. And I’m sure, knowing that the town was on fire didn’t help much,” Amanda said, feeling the need to explain the dynamic so that he would be able to understand their situation better.