Amanda Carter in the L.A.Z., life after zombies (18 page)

Chapter 32

A
manda made sure to tuck the bucket that contained the cleaning solutions and the bleach bottle into a spot where they would not become tipped over. She did not need to be riding around in a vehicle filled with the smell of noxious and possibly toxic chemicals. But just in case, she had Sam pack the food items next to Red in the other opposite seat so that they couldn’t possibly become damaged if any of the chemicals did spill. Food had become a valuable and rare commodity, and she couldn’t risk losing any of it that they could find, especially not now.

The truck started up with the engine making a gentle purr. The wind was buffeting the truck, rocking it gently back and forth, and Amanda was impatient for the air conditioning to kick in. It had become almost as hot in the truck as it was outside. The sun glistened through the windshield glass, making her think of ants underneath a magnifying glass, frying on a hot day.

She undid her bandana from around her neck and soaked it with water, instructing Sam to do the same. It would be of the utmost importance today that they didn’t allow themselves to become overheated, what with all the physical demands the day was going to be putting upon their bodies. They both ran their wet bandanas over their face and neck, and it offered a large measure of relief, especially because the air from the vents had begun to cool. This made the sensation of the air hitting the moisture on their skin feel heavenly.

“Let’s give Red some water, and we’ll each get our own sports drink, thanks to those poor guys from the pawnshop that don’t need it anymore,” Amanda said, searching around the messy truck for something to put water in for the dog.

She finally settled on cutting an empty two-liter plastic bottle down near the last quarter of it and filling it with warm water.

“Sorry that we don’t have anything colder,” she said, apologizing to Red.

He didn’t seem to mind and greedily lapped up the water but refused more when it was offered to him. Amanda could hear him panting in her ear as he sat behind her. She could relate, as she felt like panting herself sometimes out in the heat of the desert. She looked in the rearview mirror and could see that he seemed content, with water dripping down from his tongue.

She downed her drink as she drove, feeling like there was no time to waste. They needed to move on the next item on their agenda if they had any prayer of making what she knew needed to happen today a reality.

“It’s so weird around here,” Amanda said as the truck rolled over trash that was blowing down the streets. “I’ve never seen it so quiet here. It feels a little eerie.”

“We’ve already killed three creepers today, and I got one of them,” Sam said, sounding excited about it.

“You’re kidding, right?” she answered, looking to the girl with amusement. “Do you remember what it was like here the day that Roy and I got your family out of here?”

“Yeah,” Sam said, and this time she sounded more sedate, probably from the memory of that terrifying episode.

“Well, nothing much has changed around here since then, except that people have become less panicked and more ruthless because they’ve decided to fight, and they’re more desperate now for food and supplies, as things are getting used up. So normally, this town is a much more dangerous place than what you’ve seen already,” Amanda said, trying to help Sam understand how remarkable a day like today was.

“So I guess that you picked a good day to break into that pawnshop then, didn’t you?” Sam said, looking around at the quiet neighborhood that they had just entered.

“Yep,” was all Amanda said as she slowly cruised down the street, carefully surveying the surrounding area.

She was sure that they had not explored this area yet because it had been a part of the grid search pattern that would have been hit by them last. But that meant that there was a possibility that she would be able to find something useful here. But it was equally possible that some other teams of people had already scoured the neighborhood, stripping it of anything that they would need. That was the thing about scavenging; one never knew exactly where to look or what they might find. She hoped that a band of raiders had not settled in here because the last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves around the wrong type of people, especially not today on Sam’s first run.

Amanda watched both sides of the street, not only looking for creepers but looking for possible hiding places that people might have set up camp at. By all intents and purposes, the neighborhood looked deserted, void of movement of any kind, save for the trash blowing around in the wind.

“There’s some dead creepers on that lawn over there,” Sam said, making an observation. “It looks like they’ve been dead for a while.”

“Yep,” Amanda answered, still concentrating on her search.

“No wonder the world smells so bad these days,” Sam said absently. “Should we be burying them or something?”

“Nope, we’d waste all our energy and not even come close to getting half of them in the ground, though I did consider piling them up and setting them on fire to help sanitize things a little.”

“Well, the good news is that after this fire rolls through here, things ought to smell a lot better,” Sam said.

“Then there’s two things that are good about it,” Amanda said, rolling even slower. “We are getting nearly free rein of the town today, and it’ll smell better later.”

“Are you being sarcastic?” Sam said, eyeing her.

“Just a little, but I am happy about how freely we’ve been able to move around today.”

Finally, she rolled the truck to a gentle stop, parking against the curb on what would have been the wrong side of the street back when there were parking enforcement laws. The house that had caught her attention had children’s toys scattered across a brown lawn that sported large dirt patches. A blue minivan was parked in the driveway, looking as if it hadn’t been touched in a long time; it was covered in dirt.

“We’ll try this house first. I have a feeling there might be some things for Tammy here,” Amanda said, taking a final glance around the neighborhood before exiting the vehicle.

“Gotcha,” Sam said, jumping out.

Red whined, but it wasn’t a warning. It sounded more like he was begging to get out.

“Come on, Red, you’ve been cooped up too long in there,” Amanda said, sweeping her arms in a gesture, indicating that he should jump out too. He gladly obliged and quickly made his way to a dirt patch to pee.

“I want to peek in the windows and then around to the backyard and make sure it’s all clear so that I can pull the truck around back there. We don’t want to be visible, just in case someone cruises by,” Amanda said, moving to trot up the three steps to the front porch.

She could hear Sam’s footfalls thumping up behind her and the sound of Red’s panting nearby.
Good
, she thought,
we are all present and accounted
for.

She used her hand to shield the sun as she squinted through the dust-streaked window into what had once been the living room of the family that had lived here. It still felt odd to her, invading the privacy of strangers like this, especially once she was inside their homes uninvited.

“I had a friend that lived over there,” Sam said, nodding across the street.

The girl had a pained expression on her face at the thought of what might have befallen her friend and their family. Amanda watched as Sam visibly shook off the thought, secretly impressed by how well the kid was handling the stress of being in town today with all that it meant and all that it was bringing up emotionally.

All looked quiet in the living room. In fact, from here, nothing looked out of place at all. It was also unusual that no one had made any attempt to board up the windows or barricade it in any way. That probably meant that these people had succumbed early on, most likely before they could even grasp or react to what was happening. This thought gave her a brief feeling of sadness for them, but like Sam, she shook it off.

She peeked in the other window to see a neat and tidy dining room that looked as if it could be used for a dinner party at any moment; it was so intact. Most of the houses that she had been in had been ransacked in some way, either by looters or by the occupants themselves during the crisis, but this one showed no signs of distress and that might bode good things for their search. The thought of full cupboards of food, spices, and a various assortment of beverages accompanied her as she retreated back down the steps and on to the lawn.

But before moving on to the backyard to check things out, she eyed the van in the driveway. Wondering if it was unlocked, she marched over to it, peeking in the windows before trying the driver’s door handle. The door opened.

“Can you check the glove box and any other place useful things could be stashed?” Amanda asked as she pulled the hood latch.

Just as she thought, the van’s battery had not been taken. Truth be told, she considered, the van would probably start right up, should she find the keys. But they wouldn’t be in need of this vehicle, so they might as well take the battery with them for Roy to use in his solar project.

“Found some gum and breath mints,” said Sam, poking her head out of the van to see what Amanda was doing.

“That’s good,” Amanda said. “I want this battery.”

“One battery coming up,” Sam said jovially. “I brought the tools to take it out. Wait a second while I go get them from the truck,” she said, turning to trot away.

“Check around you, and don’t assume there’s nothing out there,” Amanda called after her.

“Roger that,” Sam said, being sure to look around before making it back to the truck.

Amanda knew that Sam was unfamiliar with searching vehicles for supplies, so she began a thorough search starting with the front of the vehicle and moving to the back. It was in the back, when she lifted the hatch that she found stashed in a sack, some bags of peanuts, filled and sealed water bottles, some wet wipes, a small blue towel that was neatly folded, and a bag of unopened beef jerky that hadn’t even passed its expiration date. Amanda sighed with relief, knowing that inside the house, she would find a veritable treasure trove of useful items.

Sam got to work on removing the battery while Amanda stashed the bag in the extra cab of the truck, being sure to leave a spot for Red when he returned.

“Got it!” Sam yelled as she tugged the heavy item out of the engine compartment.

“That was fast,” Amanda said with real amazement. She had not even returned from dropping the bag off yet.

She helped Sam squeeze the battery into a tight-fitting spot in the bed of the truck after she had rearranged the chain and the cargo net.

“Roy wasn’t messing around when he taught you how to do that,” she said, clasping the girl’s shoulder in a gesture of approval.

“I’ll have to thank him when we get back,” Sam said, issuing a wide grin. “I told you I was ready for this.”

“I’m starting to think that you were born for this, as creepy as that sounds,” Amanda said before laughing.

“Do you think the van has any gas in it?” Sam asked, being surprisingly perceptive.

“I think it must,” Amanda said. “It’s been sitting here untouched all this time.”

Amanda optimistically grabbed two empty five-gallon gas cans and the length of surgical tubing and began getting the gasoline out, as Sam impatiently kept watch.

It was her lucky day; she siphoned about eight gallons of gas out of the van.

Chapter 33

A
manda had determined it to be safe to pull the truck around to the back of the house to keep it out of sight. There were plenty of abandoned vehicles around, but their truck would certainly not blend in with the rest of them, considering the large metal water drum and load of supplies that it carried. She suggested that they take this time to eat something by way of a snack, and they both decided to start in on the barbeque chips, as that was a real rare treat.

“I forgot how good these things taste,” Sam said, tossing a chip to Red.

Amanda had let the tailgate down, and even though it was beastly hot, there was something fun about sitting there in this once–happily used backyard, eating barbeque chips alongside a girl that was so enthusiastic about the whole trip.

“You can say that again,” she answered, shoving several chips in her mouth all at once. She felt like a glutton.

“I forgot how good these things taste,” Sam said and then giggled at the joke.

“Too bad we can’t get you a standup comedy gig,” Amanda said, licking her fingers before wiping her hands on her jeans. She was going to abide by the camping rules, like she did every day now.

Red looked from one of them to the other expectantly, and Amanda tossed him several of their precious chips because he was every bit a member of this team as the two of them were.

“How great would it be if I had a bowl of ice cream in this hand right here?” Sam asked, extending her right arm out with the palm facing up.

“That would be great,” Amanda said. “It would also be miraculous.”

“I know, but just imagine it. I can . . .” the girl said, licking her lips as she stared down at her empty extended palm.

“Okay, I see how it is,” Amanda said, deciding to play along. “Mine is coffee ice cream with whip cream, hot fudge, and shaved almonds.”

“Mine is mint chip with whip cream and a cherry,” Sam said, and for a moment, she could remember intensely what that had tasted like.

There was a loud, booming noise that startled both of the women out of their imaginings, and that was followed by another booming noise. The vibrations from the sound were so intense that the truck vibrated with the echo of it.

“What was that?” Sam asked with a gasp, looking very wide-eyed, while Red dodged underneath the truck for cover.

“Oh, that’s a problem,” Amanda said. “I can’t say for sure, but I think that’s a propane tank that exploded from the heat of the fire, and that means playtime’s over. We need to get back to work.”

As if on command, billowing black smoke rose up higher into the sky than it had previously been, and several smaller explosions sounded.

“Sounds close,” Sam said with a shiver despite the heat of the day.

“No, not close yet, but it’s getting closer. The fire just hit the market that sells propane by the gallon, is my guess, and that’s about two miles from here,” she said, already hopping down from the tailgate. “We need to hustle because that fire’s covering a lot of ground fast.”

“Roger dodger,” Sam said, while somehow seeming to make it sound somber.

“Going in these houses can be dicey, so keep your eyes and ears peeled. When we go in, right away we’ll make some noise and be prepared to fight, but stick near the exits in case we’re outnumbered or there’s a problem, until we know that it’s all clear,” Amanda said, heading for the back door to the home.

“I know, Jason already filled me in on the protocol for searching houses,” Sam said nonchalantly.

Amanda halted and gave the girl a perplexed look. “Since when do you call your dad Jason?” she asked.

“Since now, I am almost an adult, you know,” said Sam, sounding defensive.

“I was thirty and still called my dad, Dad,” she answered. “Do me a favor, and don’t start calling him Jason, that’s just weird,” Amanda said, not wanting to feel responsible for the impact it would make back at camp with her parents if she came home from this run calling her parents by their first names. Amanda couldn’t even imagine the impact that something like that would have on her sensitive friend, Maryanne.

“Oh, I don’t know how that’s supposed to work. After all, it’s not like I have a lot of examples to learn from now, do I?” Sam said, sounding defensive.

“Cut the crap, Sam, and stick close,” Amanda said, not wanting to have to deal with any of the girl’s teenage angst while out on the run.

This seemed to be the correct response because rather than being offended, the girl shrugged it off and stepped into line behind her with the baseball bat at the ready.

Amanda instructed Red to sit outside the backdoor and wait for them. She assumed that he wouldn’t have much trouble complying with that because the truck was close, and he knew they were inside the house. Chances were good that he would stick close and warn them if any trouble came their way.

“Do you think there are any creepers in there?” Sam whispered.

“I haven’t the slightest clue, but something tells me that we’re about to find out,” she said, checking the door. It was locked.

The door was a cheap affair with a lock that was subpar, and it easily broke open when she slammed her hip and side into it—fortunately for her, or else that would have hurt.

“That was cool,” Sam whispered, following her into the house.

All was quiet, but the stench of death was loud and screaming at her. The house had been closed up for a prolonged period of time, and the smell of death had saturated the place, made worse by the extreme summer temperatures.

“How can you stand the smell?” Sam said, scrunching up her little button nose at the noxious odor.

“I do what needs to be done,” was all she said by way of an answer.

“Then that’s what I’m going to do too,” Sam said with an air of conviction.

O

“What are you doing, sweetie?” Maryanne asked her youngest daughter.

“I’m practicing my drawing,” the girl said, looking up with a serious face. “Amanda is going to come back with a coloring book, and I need to practice so I don’t mess it up.”

“Oh, that’s nice, you’re quite the artist,” her mother commented, while secretly wondering if there would be a place for artists in this new world. “Jason, I wish that you could come over here and see Tammy’s artwork, it’s beautiful.”

“Thank you, Mom,” Tammy said seriously. “But I know that it’s not that good yet. That’s why I’m practicing for when they come back.”

“Well, aren’t you precocious,” Maryanne said, feeling a hint of pride.

She hoped that Amanda wouldn’t forget this small item because her daughter would be positively devastated; even though in the scope of things, these days it would seem like one of the lesser important details to chase down on the run.

But more importantly, she just wanted them both back safe as soon as possible, and then and only then would she feel like she could take a full breath again.

“Hey, I don’t really want to worry anyone,” Roy said, and his voice sounded serious, causing Maryanne to jerk her head up toward his direction.

“There’s a lot of smoke coming from Blythe. I think the city is on fire,” Roy said incredulously.

Roy had climbed up the boulder to look around with the binoculars. He and Maryanne had been taking turns being the lookout during Amanda and Sam’s absence. It was a job that he wanted to talk to the group about covering normally too. Sure, it was true that they had been safe in this location up till now, but it seemed like they were pushing their luck by not watching their back a little more to make sure that nothing was going on out in that desert that would qualify as a nasty surprise.

“What!” Maryanne exclaimed, and the worry was clearly evident in her stressed voice as she ran toward the boulder.

“Be careful, Maryanne,” came Jason’s voice, fearing that she would either twist an ankle or spike her blood pleasure to a dangerous level.

Maryanne had never been an athlete, and she had been taking high blood pressure medication for years before the event that now made it impossible for her to be properly medicated. Jason figured that it was bad enough that he was currently as incapacitated as he was; the children didn’t need anything happening to their mother, and this little group certainly didn’t need anything happening to their doctor. But to be more truthful about it, he was just as worried and anxious about Roy’s news as she was—only he didn’t want to show it.

Maryanne didn’t even wait for Roy to remove the binoculars from around his neck to hand them to her, so he nearly fell off of the boulder dragging her with him when she snatched them out of his hands and tried to put them to her eyes.

“Oooh, sorry, Roy,” she muttered, releasing them and giving him a chance to disentangle himself.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “I get it. That’s your girl out there. I understand.”

“Oh my,” Maryanne said, feeling like someone had just punched her in the stomach as she watched the smoke coming from their town.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked, clearly worried, and the matter was compounded by the fact that he was immobile and unable to go and see for himself what the problem was.

O

“You chose this house because of the kid’s toys in the yard, didn’t you?” Sam asked, whispering.

They were standing just inside the house on the linoleum floor of the kitchen.

“Very perceptive of you, Sam,” Amanda said, “and I’m not being sarcastic. The best place to find stuff for kids is in a home that had kids.”

Had
being the operative word, she thought, cringing a little at the thought of what had invariably happened to this family.

“Sam, why are you whispering?” Amanda asked.

“Because we just broke into someone’s house?” Sam answered, as if she wasn’t quite sure herself.

“What we need to do now is make some noise,” Amanda said. “If there are any creepers loose in the house, then they’ll come, and we can get it over with, like with no surprises,” Amanda said, beginning to pull out drawers under the counter until she located the one she was looking for.

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Sam said, nervously looking around. “It just feels weird, you know, like we shouldn’t be in here or something.” She said this while continuing to whisper.

Amanda pulled out the tableware drawer until it was free of the cabinet, and then using both hands, she upended the drawer, sending the knives, forks, and spoons clattering to the floor. And even though the floor was made out of a series of relatively soft linoleum tiles, it made a loud clatter.

“Now, get ready,” Amanda said. “Put your back to mine, and then we’ll have a clear view of whatever’s coming for us.”

But as they stood there, sweating, and Red barked twice from the noise, nothing came.

“I can’t say that it’s all clear, but there’s nothing close, maybe upstairs, but we should be able to hear something coming from up there, so stay alert,” Amanda said. “This place doesn’t smell bad for no reason.”

“Gotcha,” Sam said. “What now?”