End of the Line (37 page)

             
“Half hour if we’re lucky.”

             
I looked at them, looked at Jim in the rearview mirror. He shivered and shuttered with every bump.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled into the now open gated area of the CostKing loading dock. The last mile the car had been making some serious unhappy noises. I knew zombies were following us, as I heard their moans and saw them as the corner of my eye, but I just focused on the road and getting us to CostKing.

The floodlights were on and in the distance I could see Princess shooting and Harlan next to her. I wonder how much Vicodin this cost. Harlan flagged me into the loading dock next to two other trucks, probably with better starters and behind Eric’s Camry.

             
After I was in, I heard two shots and the gate close.

             
We were home. 

             
In the light, I could see Rachel. She had that morose face on. Now I knew more about her than I ought to. Dan stood behind her with a wheelchair.
             

             
I got out of the car and took Olive’s leash. Annemarie opened the back door and motioned Rachel to her. I looked behind her. Several zombies were at the gate now. They must have followed us. Princess went up to the gates and fired five times. Never said a word or even acknowledged us. When she was finished she vanished back into the darkened store.

             
Rachel ran to the back and began looking at Jim then looked at Harlan and Dan.

             
“He was attacked by a dog, ripped him up his back,” Annemarie explained. “We cleaned out the wound but it got badly infected.”

             
“Help me get him to the infirmary.” She looked at me, then Olive. “We’ll talk later.”

             
I was exhausted. My adrenaline finally crashed. Rachel shooed us out of the infirmary as she set Jim on liquid antibiotics. Tanya kept a vigil outside but I headed to my aisle.
             

             
I took Olive to my row. Everything was the same except for cat poop near the bed. I was used to it. I’d rather have cat poop than rats. Besides with Olive here now, I doubted I’d be seeing a lot of the cats.

             
I put my bag on the bed as well as the rifle. I would have to give the rifle to Rachel later. Olive jumped on the mattress and curled herself up into a ball. The two boxes underneath lifted one end of the mattress up so I could sleep on an angle.

             
I opened up my bag and it smelled of booze. I would have to get a new pack. I wanted a drink so bad. There was plenty of beer here. It shouldn’t matter that I wanted to numb the pain in this horrific world. I wouldn’t get drunk, some nips to keep me going. I was too exhausted to think about it.

             
I took my sneakers off, but left on my clothes. I made sure the safety was on the rifle and I put it next to the bed. I laid down into my mattress and wished to never leave CostKing again. I closed my eyes and then darkness.

             
“Hey,” said a voice. I woke up with a start. It was morning. Tanya was in my room. “Jim should be good, long as it don’t spread to his organs. Rachel don’t think it did, She’s got him on heavy stuff and he’s responding. He’s out of it, so no visitors for a while. She said bacteria got into the wound, could have come from anywhere. I told her what happened to Jake, Ashley, Aisha and Dot,” she paused then said. “She’s pretty torn up but while we were gone Rosa died.”
             

             
“That sucks.”
             

             
“I told her everything,” she said. “Except that we know about blood and what we found in her house. Can you keep it a secret?”

             
“I can,” I said, then took a long pause and looked at my pack. I swallowed hard, not sure if I wanted to share. I’m not a sharing kind of guy. “Can you keep a secret?”

             
She hunched her shoulders. Okay, here goes.

             
“I’m a drunk,” I said. “An alcoholic. No one here knows. I haven’t touched the stuff in four years. It destroyed my marriage and made my temper worse. I’m an abuser.”

             
“Why you telling me?” she asked.

             
“It’s easy for me to start drinking here, no one knows, but if someone does, I think it will help me stay sober.”

             
“I’ll keep your sober. You touch a drink, I’ll punch you in the face.”

             
I laughed. Tanya was right about what she said before. Even though this world was dead, I liked Dave now than I did before.

Part IV

Chapter 24

Tanya

             
Never knew why Rachel defended me. I’d been staying in different places, not really living, but surviving, when I saw the CostKing and figured I’d get supplies. I found people holed up inside and wouldn’t let you in unless you got skills and could behave. I met Dot who asked me if we could go in together, pretend she was some old lady I took care of. When I said no, she called me a bitch.

             
Truth was I didn’t think I’d get in. I don’t hide I was once a thug. In the past I might have jacked any of these people, but not now. I could steal any fucking car, I could take fucking rolls of cash and no one would care.

             
I figured I’d take a chance. Even if they don’t take me, I might get some supplies. I needed to rest. I love to hunt them, wanna rid of the world of them, but it was cold out, winter was harsh, and I’d figured I’d rest for a bit before heading out again. Didn’t think they’d let me in. Rachel and Eli had a huge fucking fight about it. I know that Eli and Ashley voted against me but Jim and Rachel didn’t. For some reason Rachel looked at me and saw somethin’ and Jim was a good guy.
             
Ashley said sorry later and we got along okay after that. I’m glad she had the chance. Eli didn’t cause he was dead.

             
The teachers thought I was gonna be something. A’s in English and math , B’s in everything else through 8
th
grade, honor roll and all that shit. Didn’t transition to high school so well. I still read when I jacked up cars, moved dope and got preggers.
             

             
When we got back from our trip, Rachel asked me to be on her fancy council. I told her no fucking way, but she looked at me all pissed in that way she always does. I couldn’t take care of my baby and my mom, so why the fuck did Rachel think I could take care of these people?
             

             
Then Dave asked to join. She always offered him thinking he’s never say yes. Later Jim came and asked me again, harder to say no to Jim now. He’s got puppy eyes.  
             

             
“Morning, lady,” Jim came into my room. Jim’s gay and pretty brave and smart. He’s also the only one I give a damn about. I mean I don’t want any of these folks dying, I’ll look out for them, but I’d save Jim first.
             

             
“What’s up?” Jim still looked pale. It took him a while to recover from sepsis. Summer was nearly fall and soon we had to hunker down for the winter. Summer was fucking hot as shit. I slept nude on the roof, mostly to fuck with Princess.

             
“Delegation work from the doc.”

             
“I’m all for delegating.”

             
Jim laughed. He was my brother, best friend, calm, cool and level headed. He got me to talk about my daughter, something I promised never to tell anyone. I got to see him break down. In the past, if we passed each other in the street, I would have thought he was a fag and he might have been a scared I’d mug him and we would both be right.

             
You know what’s scary, I’ve changed. I was a fucking drug dealing cunt before this. Now they looked up to me as a leader. I got a full schedule too, shooting, leading, delegating.

             
Dave replaced Eli. They were a lot alike. I liked Dave more. He’s an asshole and doesn’t pretend otherwise. We bonded on the road, we BFF’s now and he saved my ass from that scumbag cop. He still complained but less about me.

             
“What she want me to do?”

             
“Check on how people are doing. That’s what she does every morning, she checks up on people and makes sure they’re okay.”

             
“Who am I checking on?”

             
“Princess, Sachi and Eric.”

             
“Fuck that, Jim, Princess gave me some shooting tips, but I don’t care about that white bitch’s welfare and why don’t you check up on Eric, considering you’re fucking him.”

             
Jim turned red. Turned out Eric was more into Jim than women. Jim and he hooked up, which made me glad cause I was tired of hearing bout Saint Cameron.
             
             

             
I ain’t got no one. Harlan was sweet on Annemarie. Rachel had Dan even though she won’t touch him. I could fuck him but I feel bad for Rachel. Robert rebuffed everything I threw at him. I’m even thought of Dave, but he’s too white-bread. I didn’t have anyone to warm my bed except for a female tabby cat I called Idiot because she knocks boxes over. I missed Jake who occasionally warmed my bed, but he was stupider than the cat. What the others didn’t know was he went ahead of me to get a bike. He wasn’t paying attention and it got him killed.

             
Rachel thought we needed new people, since we’re nowhere near 20. Dave was against it after what happened with Jennifer.

             
“Then walk around and ask how people are,” Jim said. He had a kind demeanor but I knew when I was bugging him.
             

             
I got out of bed, finally getting one of my own. Unfortunately it belonged to Ashley. I thought about her and hoped she got to her kid. I washed my face in a salad bowl filled with rainwater. It felt good. I had a mirror on the table next to my bed. I kept my hair short and natural. No more salons to get braided or weaved.

             
“What does the rest of the council say about letting more people in?”

             
“I’m all for it, Dave isn’t and Rachel seems hesitant. She’s wondering if we should only let two people in instead of four.”

             
“Gonna be winter soon. People gonna be cold in that garage.”

             
Annemarie came into my room. “Hey Jim, some people outside say you know them. You invited them from a gun store in Floral Park? They have a letter.”

             
“Mike?”

             
“Oh god,” Jim said. He rushed out of the room.

             
I didn’t follow. I threw on sweats and a t-shirt then walked towards the front.  I passed Brie and Simon playing checkers. Maddie was keeping a not so close eye on them while she cooked something that smelled good.
             

             
There was a crowd around the door to the garage. Dave, Rachel, Annemarie, Sachi, and Harlan stood by it. When they moved out of the way, I saw Mike. He wasn’t smiling while he shook Rachel’s hand. Hannah and Dena were behind him. Neither looked happy. I didn’t see Jason.

             
I moved forward, got closer to the crowd when Mike saw me.

             
“Tanya!” he called out. He came to me and gave me a tight hug, which kinda freaked me out. “Wish this could be under better circumstances.”

             
“What’s going on?” Jim asked. “Where’s Jason?”

             
“He passed,” he said. “Natural causes, died in his sleep like the great man he was. There is something more important we need to talk about.”

             
“They’re gonna nuke New York.”

             
“What the fuck?” Only the council met in the infirmary. Hannah and Dena sat on a nearby cot.

             
Mike ignored my curse. “It’s been all over the radio. Nuke New York on Saturday morning at 8am. Bob Bam said they’ve already hit Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle. They are heading across the country nuking major cities.”

             
“I didn’t hear anything yesterday,” Jim said.

             
“Came on yesterday evening, been repeating. Attack like this takes months to plan. Typical government warning people last minute. Not like the zombies would do something if they had advanced warning.” Jim left the infirmary without saying anything.