Stay Dead 2: The Dead and The Dying (4 page)

“
Even dead, I ain’t too bad
looking,” Ben said, leaving the room.

Walking down the street Ben could feel
where the blood had pooled in his body while he was dying. He could
feel the coagulated blood sticking like honey to his innards as
gravity pulled it down. His legs grew heavy and started to swell,
but still he thought he felt great. The sun was warm, heating his
cold flesh as he walked to the truck. He reached inside his pocket
and found he still had the keys on him. He started the truck and
sat in it for a moment unsure of where to go. His body filled with
sensation and shortly after he knew which way to go. An internal
compass, pointing him in the direction of wherever he could cause
the most damage.

“
Hope you like a little
CCR,” Ben said, turning on the stereo system and skipping
forwarding till Fortunate Son started playing.

Ben turned up the volume and sped down
the road.

4 WHEELS

(back to
top)

Jon-Jon pulled over to the side of the
road. His fuel gauge was teetering towards empty and he knew if he
let go any longer they’d be pushing the van or leaving it by the
wayside.

“
What’s the matter?” Scott
called out as Jon-Jon stepped out of the truck.

“
Just about on ‘E’. You
don’t have a gas can on you, do you?”

“
No. We’re getting pretty
low ourselves. Looks like a few cars up ahead, maybe they gassed up
before they hit the road.”

“
That’s what I was hoping.
You don’t have a hose do you?”

“
I think that kid called
Cups had it with him. We didn’t really have much of anything with
us except our clothes and shit.”

“
You think that
Abdullah-whatever-the-fuck-his-name-is has anything?”

“
He might. He was holed up
with those people from the gas station. Maybe they grabbed some gas
while they were there. It’s what I would’ve done.”

“
Well, I’ll go ask him.
Keep your fingers crossed.”

Abdul-Ba’ith sat idling several feet
behind Scott and Judy’s nearly demolished Hybrid. He’d given
himself enough room to spin the truck around had he needed to. He
sat gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles went pale and when
Jon-Jon approached the truck he did not get out. He simply rolled
the window down half way.

Jon-Jon raised his hand out in a sort
of waving gesture, hoping Abdul-Ba’ith would step out of the truck.
With the glare on the windshield Jon-Jon could barely see
inside.

“
Hey, uh…Abda-Bath, you
wouldn’t happen to have a gas container on you, would
you?”

“
My name is Abdul-Ba’ith,
not Abda-Bath, John. And no, I don’t have any extra gas. We could
use a refueling as well.”

“
Sorry, Abdul…ba—Can’t I
just call you Abdul?”

“
Sure, but I really don’t
understand what is so difficult about my name.”

“
Well, Abdul, it just
doesn’t flow off my tongue, but I promise, if we live long enough
to get to know each other I’ll figure it out.”

“
Don’t bother, we’ll all be
dead soon,” Carrie spat.

“
Fine,” Abdul said,
ignoring Carrie.

“
Do you have a
hose?”

“
I honestly don’t know
what’s in the back. This isn’t my truck,” Abdul-Ba’ith said,
popping the latch and stepping out.

“
We should just leave
them,” Carrie said.

They walked to the back of the truck
and opened the rear door. Abdul-Ba’ith moved several bags of
clothes, a bloodied bat, tire-iron, crowbar, and a few gallons of
water out of the way so they could check the spare-tire
compartment.

“
No hose.”

“
Hey, at least we know you
got a spare and a jack, and…yep, a donut under the spare. If I were
you, I’d also take that other tire-iron out so it’s
handy.”

“
That I will,” Abdul said,
accepting a good suggestion.

“
So I guess we’ll drive up
to this next section of cars and we’ll start checking them. Might
have to ditch the van and go with whatever has a full
tank.”

“
Let’s get to it then,”
Abdul-Ba’ith said, his eyebrows seeming to stiffen at the
thought.

Jon-Jon walked back to the van and
Abdul-Ba’ith hopped back in the truck to return to his statuesque
pose behind the wheel. Carrie, having heard everything the two men
said, still felt the need to ask what was going on. She bit her
nails nervously as Abdul-Ba’ith went over it again. His tone was
monotonous and though one might have found it almost soothing,
Carrie just seemed to be more anxious. Abdul-Ba’ith thought about
knocking her over the head with the tire-iron and kicking her out
of the truck, but decided against it as the convoy started moving
forward again.

Once they pulled in close to the next
section of cars almost everyone got out and armed themselves.
Jon-Jon, Eddie, Joseph, and Frankie went forward without
hesitation. Chung-Hee hung back near the van with Chuck and they
watched behind them and to the sides. Janice stayed in the van,
indifferent to everything that was going on. Dawn walked toward
Alexis and the children, smoking a cigarette as if her life
depended on it. Passing her was Abdul-Ba’ith and Carrie, both
carrying melee weapons from the back of the truck.

Scott and Judy climbed up on top of
their Hybrid, which only increased their vantage point by a few
feet, but it was still better than standing on the
ground.

“
Maybe we should join them,
and look for another car?”

“
I thought you liked this
car?”

“
I do—did—before it got all
bloody. It’s pretty gross, now, I don’t even want to touch the
handle to get in anymore.”

“
How about we take it to
the car wash after they find some gas?”

“
Even during the apocalypse
you can still find some sarcasm. Unbelievable,” Judy said, as she
rolled her eyes.

“
Believe it, babe. If it
makes you feel any better, it’s not my fault. My father was a
sarcastic prick--”

“
I know. It rubbed
off.”

“
See anything?”

“
No. Looks good from
here.”

“
Yeah, me too. Want to go
shopping for a new ride?”

“
Why not? Maybe we can find
a hearse?”

“
Yeah, cause that wouldn’t
freak everyone else out,” Scott smiled.

They laughed and climbed down from the
car, hurrying to join the others.

The first set of cars had been
abandoned, and the area seemed clear. Looking further down the
road, however, they couldn’t tell. The cars started to blur
together. Maybe there was an accident up ahead, a pile up, followed
by cars jamming up the open roadway. They’d know soon enough, so
they returned focus to the task at hand—getting some gas, or a new
set of wheels.

Jon-Jon opened a door on the driver’s
side of a Ford F-350. It was a Mechanical contractors truck—or so
the logo on the side said so—and he hoped there would be something
of use inside; hopefully the key to the back rack toolbox in the
bed of the truck. He rummaged under the seats, under the visors,
and even the glove compartment. Whoever left the truck took their
keys with them. Discouraged Jon-Jon slammed the door
shut.

“
No luck?” Dawn
asked.

“
Nope, and with our luck,
there’s a piece of hose in that box.”

“
Can you pry it
open?”

“
I could try, but I know it
won’t happen. An old friend of mine had one, he lost the key
somehow and we tried to open it with a crowbar. We must’ve been at
it for an hour before giving in a calling a locksmith over. The guy
came and opened it in less time than we spent dicking around with
it.”

“
No sense in crying about
it. Let’s keep looking,” Scott suggested, “Someone had to of left
their keys behind.”

“
I’m sure of it,” said
Jon-Jon, “and I’m sure if we go too far up we’re going to find some
of the people who left these cars behind, and they’re gonna want to
eat us.”

“
What else is new,” said
Frankie, moving on to the next car.

They found no keys in the next one but
the trunk lever worked all the same. Eddie cautiously lifted if
open with the bat he held in his hands. It was full of quickly
packed bags of clothes, photo albums, and bottled water. There were
a few boxes of granola bars, and couple of flashlights towards the
back.

“
I’ll take the food and
water back,” Dawn offered.

She grabbed them and stared for a
moment at the photo albums, wanting to open them, but at the same
time wanting to run away from them. She felt pangs of grief just
knowing that there were photographs in there at all—probably family
memories of good days gone; birthday parties, holidays, picturesque
walks in the park. She shoved the thought aside and made herself
busy with the task at hand.

“
Kind of feels like I’m
stealing.”

“
Try not to think about
it.”

Eddie had walked forward to a black
Lexus with tinted windows. The doors were locked. “Damn, I really
wish the fucker who owned this left the keys.”

“
Hell yeah, we’d be riding
in style,” Joseph added.

Frankie pointed out the car seat in
the back, and the smiles that Eddie and Joseph wore wrinkled into
frowns.

The next car was a clunker, rust
around the wheel wells, lopsided bumper, and a different color door
than the rest of the vehicle. The doors were open, and the key was
in the ignition. The driver must’ve wanted someone to take
it.

“
Eddie, is that wood
paneling on the side?”

“
Yeah it is. I bet the guy
who owned this heap had a mullet too.”

“
Man, I had a mullet when I
was a kid,” Jon-Jon said, looking embarrassed.

“
That’s fine, you obviously
came to your senses.”

Jon-Jon nodded approvingly and opened
the door on the other side. They searched the car quickly and found
very little of use. Frankie grabbed two lighters, Joseph found a
small set of screwdrivers, and Eddie grabbed a backpack that had a
bunch of kids stuff in it—some crayons, coloring books, Hot Wheels,
and some action figures.

Judy had gone to the next vehicle
before the others had finished rummaging through the clunker. It
was an SUV, dark red, with a dent in the driver’s side door. She
peered through the back window. No one was inside and the back was
full of luggage and some other bags. She went to open the back door
but it wouldn’t budge. She went to the driver’s side and tried the
door, it opened and she was able to pop the latch. She took a quick
look around the interior. There was nothing of use in the front but
checked the gas gauge—it was three quarters of the way full—and
only a laptop in the back seat. By the time she returned to the
back of the truck Scott was already searching through the luggage.
Most of it was clothing, but he found a bottle of Tullamore Dew
Irish Whiskey, a utility knife, a pack of new toothbrushes and an
unopened box of toothpaste. He held up the toothbrushes and
toothpaste to show Judy and she smiled.

“
Now we can kiss each other
again,” he said jokingly.

“
And just when I was
getting used to the film on your teeth.”

“
That’s not even funny. I
think I’m gonna be sick.”

“
Shut up.”

“
Please tell me you found
keys for this one. She’s a keeper.”

“
Not yet. I gave a quick
look but I don’t see them. I was hoping they’d have an extra set in
the luggage.”

“
Well, not in this guys
case.”

“
Then check the lady’s, and
I’ll check the visor and floor mats.”

Scott rummaged through the other cases
finding a camera, a carton of cigarettes, and a spare set of keys
complete with the key for the truck.

“
Score!”

“
You found it?”

Scott shook the keys in his hand and
said, “Told you I’d buy you a new car one day.”

“
Give me, I want to make
sure it starts up.”

Scott tossed the keys over to her and
she hopped behind the wheel. The others gathered around while she
started the truck.

“
Damn, if I’d only gotten
here first,” Jon-Jon said.

“
With this kind of luck,
you’ll find something soon,” Scott reassured him.

“
Shit, I hope so. I hate
standing out here like this in the open. And looking inside these
cars is just too fucking creepy.”

“
At least no one’s in
them.”

“
I’d bet one of these cars
has a deader in it.”

5 WE’VE GOT
COMPANY

(back to
top)

Walter took Barbara aside on the porch
while Jeff went inside. Walter put his arm on her shoulder and she
looked away to the dead things staggering closer to
them.