Apocalypse Asunder (10 page)

She was going to have to fill most of the cans twice; once to pour into the SUV, then a second time to carry as backup fuel.  She knew it, but as she kept with the rhythm of lower, wait, lift, pour . . . the seconds – and effort – began adding up.  In minutes she was breathing hard, and by the time the last of the cans was topped off she was sweating heavily.  Austin had climbed up on the SUV’s roof again, and she heard him shooting often enough that it was fairly nerve wracking; but she tried to ignore that and keep working.  She trusted him.

“Keep telling yourself that.”
Jessica said silently as she kept working.  Every shot made her flinch, and she had to resist the impulse to look up and check what was going on.  The need to hurry, to shorten how long she was out here and they were stopped, kept her focused on what she was doing . . . but every so often while she was paying out the rope down into the tank, she’d snatch a quick glance around.

Austin seemed to have designated a line across the parking lot roughly twenty feet in from the road.  Zombies on the far side he left alone; but when they staggered across it, they were shot.  She was too busy, and catching only glimpses, to look closely; but there was so much carnage that she was still getting an eyeful.

The zombies never bled.  That, she already knew.  For whatever reason, when they died and became walking corpses, their bodies went through a lot of desiccation that rendered most of the ‘juicy’ and ‘sticky’ bits within more like powder.  Bone was still bone, but even the tough skulls were no match for bullets; and Austin’s nine millimeters were more than sufficient to open them up like piñatas.

“Maybe more blood, more sticky stuff, would be better.”
she thought as a gust of wind swirled across the line of twice-dead zombies, stirring up dried out brain tissue into visible uplifts.  For some reason, seeing brains spiraling around in mini-tornadoes was a lot more disturbing than she imagined seeing a couple dozen dead Eckert skulls would be.

That image, though, wasn’t helping; and she thrust it from her mind. 
“Focus.”
she told herself.  It wasn’t like what she was doing could be sped up all that much by narrowing her attention down to just the actions; but involuntary shivers of disgust and twitches as she flinched against distasteful images slowed things down. 
“Do it and get done.”

When all the containers were full, she got up and left the paint cant and its rope laying a reasonably safe ten foot distance from the open tank lid.  Losing the makeshift contraption of ‘can-on-a-rope’ into the station’s underground tank would be more than enough to screw up the entire refueling effort.  When she carried the first pair of two-gallon cans over to the SUV, she saw she’d forgotten to pop the latch on the vehicle’s gas cap.

Swearing silently, Jessica went around to the driver’s door and opened it long enough to reach in for the button.  Emptying the gas into the big vehicle’s tank was almost like resting after filling them, at least with the small cans.  The five gallon cans, though, took real effort to lift and hold in place as they gurgled their contents into the SUV, and she had to use her knee to help steady them as they poured out.

“You okay?” Austin asked when she finished topping the SUV off and flopped back down next to the open station tank, audibly panting.

“Fine, just tired.” she said, wheezing a little.  She’d had time to look around while filling the car up; there were over a dozen ‘fresh’ zombies in view.  Austin seemed to be waiting for each to get as far as the paved lot before shooting them.  Nothing was close enough to be a real danger, but she wanted to be done and back on the road as fast as possible.  Without waiting to take a breather, she looped the rope back around her wrist and started pulling more gas up.

Minutes had long since turned into a good chunk of an hour, but she purposefully didn’t check the watch in her pocket.  No point.  She also realized she hadn’t heard any shooting in quite a while, but she ignored that too.  The sooner she got the gas, the sooner they were on their way.

Jessica tried to keep from slipping into an exercise fugue state – letting her attention drift, even with Austin watching over her, could be dangerous – but she was still a little startled when she finally finished.  The latest paint can of gas spilled over from the full container she tried to empty it in, and when she looked for another to pour the rest into, she realized they were also all full.

“Finally.” she muttered, staggering to her feet.  Dumping the last few ounces of gas in the paint can back into the tank, she began capping all the containers.  It took her longer than she liked to get them all lifted up into the back of the SUV, but she was tired, and five gallon cans of gas were
heavy
.  She made herself slow down and double check the cords as she fixed them into place so they wouldn’t spill; wary of the danger of the cans falling over inside the SUV.

Plus, it would waste the fuel.

“Okay, we’re out of here.” she announced loudly when she finished with the bungee cords.  Scooping the tools and paraphernalia up, she rolled it all back into the garbage bag and threw it in the SUV.

“Watch out, I’m coming down.” Austin replied.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” Jessica nodded.  She used her foot to slide the tank lid back into place.  Leaving it open would allow evaporation and rain to ruin the tank’s contents; but, honestly, she only cared in case they had to come back through here for some reason.  She couldn’t think of what that might be, but all she could think of was needing gas again and finding it was bad because she’d left the tank open.

There were still zombies in view when she took her first really good look around since before starting the fill up; but none were close enough to be a threat.  Jessica waited for Austin to step down to the hood from the roof, then sit and slide off the front of the SUV to the ground.  When he was down, she opened the driver’s door.  “Back seat.”

“I’m going.” Candice said, scrambling back over the center console.  Jessica waited for her daughter to vacate the seat, then got in and closed the door.  She had the engine started by the time Austin made it around to the passenger door and joined her.  The fuel gauge was pegged at the top, which was reassuring.  And the engine was turning over as smoothly as ever, which was equally comforting.

“One more fill up done.” she sighed, taking a long breath as Austin closed his door.

“Sorry.” Austin apologized.  “You did it fast though.”

“We’re done.” she shrugged, dropping the transmission into drive and ignoring the slight exertion-induce quivering in her hands and forearms.  “Let’s check the store real quick, then we’ll see if we can’t find a house or something.”

“Early stop?”

“After yesterday, I’d like to leave enough time to really look for something good.” Jessica said.  “This isn’t a race.  We’ve got time to do it right.”

“Good call.”

She spun the SUV around in a long arc that brought it up to the gas station’s convenience store, triple parking right in front of the doors.  They were broken out, along with a number of the other glass panes that made up the majority of the frontage.  She could see merchandise on the floor, most of it free of its packages and scattered or leaked out into a jumbled mess.

“I guess it’s a good thing we’re only looking for a map.” Jessica said as she eyed the scene.  She couldn’t think of why anyone would trash the station like that.  Zombies would beat on things and make a mess, but only when pursing someone.  Maybe that had been it.  She hoped so; the thought of people running around destroying perfectly usable food and supplies wasn’t reassuring.

“Wait for me.” Austin said as she drew the Taurus.

“I can see the maps.” Jessica said as she tugged the pistol’s slide back a little so she could check the chamber.  Yup, there was still a bullet in it.

“Wait.” Austin repeated.

“Mom, wait.” Candice said anxiously as both adults reached for their door handles.

Jessica made herself pause for another slow breath.  She was just tired.  Both of them were right.  She was sure she could be in and out in less than ten or fifteen seconds; but there was no sense in pushing providence.  “Sorry.  Go ahead Austin, but you’re backing me up, not the other way around.”

He got out without replying, moving gingerly around the front of the SUV with the MP5 at the ready.  Jessica waited until he was past the driver’s side corner of the bumper, then looked over her shoulder to make sure the area was clear before she opened her door.  She wanted to go quick, but she still closed the vehicle’s door behind her.  The SUV was guarding Candice for her.

“There’s a whole bunch of them right there.” Jessica said, gesturing toward the rack of maps visible on the front counter.  The station was set up with an island that dominated the center of the store, and wire shelving racks were bolted into place everywhere a register wasn’t positioned.  Most of them were empty, but she saw the plastic wrapped maps.  They looked picked over, but she only needed one.

“Right in, right back out.” Austin said.  “I’ll cover you from the door.  Make sure you check your sides.”  There was a broad corridor of open space from the store doors to the cashier’s island; but flanking it were some shelf aisles.  The whole building looked deserted, but some of the sightlines from out here to in there were a little blocked up.  That made it
possible
something could be lurking.  She didn’t think so, but it only took one mistake.

“Thanks.” Jessica nodded, gripping the pistol in both hands and easing forward.  Her loafers crunched glass shards into the concrete as she stepped on them, but her footing felt good.  She glanced to either side as she crossed the threshold, then again as she slowly moved in deeper toward the island.  The aisles were clear, of zombies at least.  The mess of damaged and discarded food and drink continued along either aisle, but she didn’t care.  She didn’t even mind the sticky, tacky residue of sugared soda that pulled at her feet.

When she was close enough, she paused and lifted herself on tiptoes for as good of a look over the counter as she could get.  Still clear; nothing hiding behind it to make a grab for her.  Making a grab of her own, she clutched a couple of the maps with the vaguely gun shaped outline of Florida into her left hand, then backed away quickly.  She almost tripped when she tried to turn – the sticky floor resisted her attempt to spin her foot across it – but she caught herself with a stumble that merely looked awkward.

“All good.” she said as she made it back to the concrete past the doors.

“We’re gone.” Austin nodded, turning and heading for the other side of the SUV.  Jessica didn’t hesitate, she holstered the gun and got right in.  While she waited for Austin to join her, she pulled at the plastic wrap on the road map.  It resisted her efforts.  There wasn’t a convenient corner she could get a grip on to pull on, with either fingers or teeth.  She studied it unhappily, but Austin interrupted before she could decide what she wanted to try.

“Give me one of those.” he said as he slid in on the passenger side.

Jessica gave up and handed him the sheaf of maps.  As he unsnapped the catch on the big survival style knife sheathed upside down on his right shoulder, she put the transmission back into drive and headed for the street.

She wove around a number of zombies getting from the gas station’s lot to the on-ramp of I-75, ran over a couple of bodies missing their heads courtesy of Austin’s shooting, and rammed a few more out of her way.  The SUV’s bulk was up to the task, but she winced every time she saw an unavoidable impact coming.  By the time she was back on the interstate, Austin had opened one of the maps and was busy unfolding it for a better look.

“Where are we on that?” Candice asked, leaning forward for a better look.

“Are you wearing your seat belt?” Jessica asked sharply when she felt the girl’s breath hitting against her elbow.

“Yes.”

Jessica looked over her shoulder and saw her daughter was telling a half-truth; the belt was on, but Candice had slipped out from beneath the shoulder portion so she could lean up.

“We’re . . . here.” Austin said, tapping a spot.  Jessica spared a quick glance at the map, but she couldn’t make out much detail from this angle.  Not while she was busy driving.  I-75 had been more or less clear so far today, with only the occasional roaming zombie, but she didn’t like not paying attention to where she was going.

Wrecking would put a serious wrench in their travel plans.

“And where are we going?”

“Somewhere down here.” Austin said, moving his finger down the floppy fanfold of paper.

“Sit back, wear the seat belt properly.” Jessica interjected.

“Awww.”

Jessica made herself count to three, reminding herself that she was just tired and stressed.  Even before everything had erupted on Labor Day weekend, the girl had been generally well behaved.  Since then, she’d only rarely been even somewhat difficult to manage.  And Candice was wearing the belt, just not all of it.  There was no sense in making a huge ‘Mom’ scene out of this.

“Candy Bear, please, sit back.  We’re in motion, remember the rule about that?”

“Sorry.” Candice said, sounding reasonably apologetic.

Jessica tossed a smile over her shoulder.  “Thank you sweetie.  It really distracts me when you’re not buckled in.”