In the Dead: Volume 1 (15 page)

“
New carpet,” he said as he motioned to the expensive beige carpeting that started after a square of ceramic tile at the door. “I’d hate to ruin it, it was trouble to come by the right kind, I can tell you.”

Ashley blinked. “You put in new carpet since the Outbreak?”

He shrugged. “Well, what else did I have to do? This place needed some fixing up, so I fixed it up.”

Meghan blinked. She wasn’t sure what to think of that. Most people had been busy running like hell the past few months, not building walls of garbage and installing new carpeting.

“
Um, well it’s very nice carpet. But we’re looking for something a bit more practical. You see, we’re heading for a cabin in Colorado and we might be staying up there for a long time-”

“
And so you’re here.” He finished her thought as he turned and headed into the kitchen.”Because you heard I can make things.”

The girls exchanged a look before they both toed off their shoes and followed him. The kitchen was a big place with granite countertops and all new appliances and cabinets. When he moved to the fridge of open it, the light went on.

Ashley backed up. “What was that?”

He turned toward them holding a pitcher of tea. “What?” he asked.

He opened the freezer to take out an ice tray and the light went on again.

“
That!” Ashley cried in girlish excitement that should have been reserved for learner’s permits and proms, but had now moved to more mundane things.

“
The light,” Meghan whispered. “I think she means the light. How is there a light? How is there ice?”

“
Oh.” He shrugged as he poured three glasses of iced tea. “Solar generator. I built right when this all started. I don’t overuse it, but it’s enough to run the fridge and heat the water for a shower a few times a week.”

“
Showers!” This time it was Meghan who couldn’t resist the girlish squeal.

“
You’re free to use them, but first let’s talk.” He sat down at the kitchen island and motioned to the bar stools across from his.

Meghan sat down, still stunned by the concept of showers. Ashley grabbed her glass with both hands and ohhed and ahhed over the slippery cold of it before she guzzled the drink in a few long sips.

“
What are your names?” he asked with a little smile.

“
Meghan and this is Ashley.”

Ashley was digging for the ice in the bottom of her glass with her tongue and only managed a grunt.

“
And how old are you?” he asked.

“
Eighteen and fifteen,” Meghan admitted. “But we don’t trade for, um, favors, so if that’s what you want, forget it.”

His face twisted in disgust. “You two are younger than my kids were before-” He stopped with a frown. “Well, let’s just say I’m not interested in that, okay? But I’m worried that you’re on your own. Where are you heading to exactly?”

Ashley looked at him. To Meghan’s surprise her younger sister, who had been shy of strangers since “the incident” in California, was actually smiling at this man.

“
Our parents had a cabin about sixty miles past the border into Colorado,” she said. “We thought they might have run there after the outbreak. If not, we want to stay there until spring and then we might try the house over in Fort Collins.”

He frowned. “That’s a long way to go for such young women. Especially now.”

Meghan rested her elbows on the countertop and met his eyes evenly. “Mister, we came from California all alone. We can make it a few hundred miles more. We just need a little help.”

She pulled the list they’d made in the camp the day before from her pocket and set it face down on the counter. “This is what we need. I’ve put stars next to the things we can find on our own or already have. We’re hoping you can help us with the rest for a reasonable price.”

He didn’t take the note, but just held her gaze. “Why don’t you two try out those showers,” he said. “And there are some clothes in the drawers and closet in the second bedroom to the left that might fit you. I’ll look at your list and let you know what I can do for you when you come down.”

Meghan and Ashley exchanged a glance and her sister shrugged. “We could take turns watching for the other.”

He smiled. “That sounds like a plan, though I promise not to set a toe upstairs. I’ll just be down here.”

Meghan looked at him. She had learned to read people better since the “incident” in California. And with this man, she felt something she hadn’t for months.

Trust.

“
Okay. We’ll hurry.”

The girls got up and moved toward the back staircase that led into the kitchen. But at the bottom of the stairs, Ashley turned to look at him.

“
So if your name isn’t MacGyver, what is it?”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter anymore. They call me Mac when they come see me, so I guess you can go with that, too.”

Ashley bit her lip and seemed troubled, but then she nodded. “Okay. Thanks Mac.”

#

“
Why won’t he tell us his real name?” Ashley asked as she pulled a Skye High School t-shirt over her head and then shook some of the water from her long blonde hair. The shirt was too big and Meghan almost smiled. Her sister looked fifteen right now.

It was so unfair that she couldn’t act like it.

“
I don’t know.” She shrugged as she combed through her own damp locks and then pulled them back using a clip she’d found in the bathroom. “He lost his family to the Outbreak and God knows what else. Sometimes people want a fresh start. And a new name is a definitely that.”

“
Yeah, but we
all
got a reset button pushed on us in August,” her sister insisted. The jeans she was wearing were too big, too, so she rolled them up around her ankles. “And I still use my name. Don’t you worry he’s a serial killer or something?”

Meghan pondered the idea. “I guess he could be. But he didn’t come up here while we were getting ready. We aren’t locked in. We still have our guns. And he doesn’t look at us like we’re… um… fresh meat. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll keep an eye on him. But for now, I think we just have to take it at face value that he’s just a guy that can get things done for people. And that’s how he survives out here.”

Ashley sighed. “Okay, maybe you’re right.”

“
Either way, let’s go downstairs and see what happens next.”

Ashley followed her out. At the top of the stairs, Meghan checked for the gun in her waistband and the knife attached to her thigh by a stretchy piece of lycra she’d fashioned at least a month ago. When she was satisfied she was still armed well enough to handle any kind of attack, she started down the stairs.

Mac was still at the kitchen island. He had their list spread out over the counter and was leaning over it, his brow wrinkled. When Meghan entered the room, he looked up and smiled.

“
Better?” he asked.

Both girls nodded. “Are you sure taking the clothes is okay?” Meghan asked. If they were his daughter’s, she didn’t want to walk out with them without verifying.

He shrugged. “Sure. Might as well use them.”

Ashley stepped forward. “Look, I appreciate the use of the shower and the iced tea. But we need to know, can you help us? Because if you can’t, we have to get on the road before we run out of light.”

His eyebrows both lifted and then he smiled. “Well, you
are
direct aren’t you?”

“
You kind of have to be nowadays,” Meghan said with a quick glance at her sister. “So can you help us?”

He held up the list. “You want a modified vehicle.”

Meghan nodded. “Yeah.”

“
You realize that motorcycle isn’t going to cut it. I can’t do anything useful with it.”

Ashley shrugged. “We’ll go get a car. We saw one on the way in.”

“
Stripped it a few weeks ago.”

Meghan stared at him. “How do you know?”

“
Is it the red car on the exit ramp about twenty miles back?”

Ashley pursed her lips. “Yeah.”

“
Stripped. Trust me, I have a lot of people coming here to get my help. Somebody stripped it. But, I do have something you might be able to use.
If
you do something for me.”

At that, Ashley’s gun was out of her holster and she pointed it across the counter in Mac’s face. “Seriously?”

He leaned back. “Not that, little girl. How many times do I have to tell you?”

“
Then what?” Meghan asked. She hadn’t reached for her gun like her trigger-happy baby sister, but she was ready to do it if she felt like the situation got messed up.

“
I need you to get something for me. Something from my house.”

Ashley lowered her gun and shot Meghan a questioning look. “Your house? Isn’t
this
your house?”

He barked out a laugh. “This? No way. I was here doing some work when the Outbreak happened. The guy who owned this place was killed and I locked myself in. I haven’t left since.”

Meghan blinked. “But-then how do you know that your family is dead?”

He shrugged, but his face was now a mask of blank, emotionless control. “My wife managed to make it over here on the second day. She was bitten, but before I had to… take care of it, she told me the girls were dead.”

Meghan swallowed. She hadn’t had to kill anyone she knew. She could hardly imagine having to make that kind of decision about her parents. Or worse…

She looked at Ashley and found that her sister was staring at her. They were thinking the same thing. They never talked about it. But it was clear that would change as soon as possible.

“
I’m sorry,” Ashley whispered as she looked away from Meghan. “I’m so sorry.”

“
I want a picture,” he said without acknowledging Ashley’s attempt at comfort. “From my house.”

Meghan wrinkled her brow. “But you’ve had people coming to you for weeks and weeks. Why didn’t you ask one of them for it?”

He shifted. “You girls are almost the same age my girls were. Just a few years younger. And seeing you reminds me… Look I just want the picture. If you get it for me I’ll help you.”

“
How far is your place?” Meghan asked.

He shook his head. “Not far. Ten miles Northwest.”

“
Why don’t you get it?” Ashley asked.

He bit his lip. “I don’t leave.”

Meghan wrinkled her forehead. “You don’t leave? What do you mean?”

“
I don’t leave,” he said, this time through clenched teeth. “I’m safe here. I don’t leave.”

Ashley tilted her head. “But you’re… you’re a grown-up.”

Meghan sighed. “Doesn’t mean he can’t be scared.”

He frowned but didn’t debate that. “So is it a deal? You get the picture, I’ll get you the car.”

“
And a solar generator like yours,” Ashley said.

Meghan turned toward her. “Ashley!”

“
We need it. The cabin will be cold and dark. It would be good to have limited access to electric for certain things.” Ashley held out a hand. “Is it a deal?”

Mac laughed. “You’re a natural negotiator, my dear. It’s a deal.”

Meghan sighed. “Well, I guess we better start out. The sooner we go, the sooner it will be over and we’ll be back.”

Ashley nodded. “Get the car ready. We have a picture to find.”

#

“
The GPS says to turn right on the next street,” Ashley said over Meghan’s shoulder and Meghan steered the motorcycle the way her sister said. “It should be on the right… 1910, 1912, there it is… 1914.”

Meghan cut the engine and pulled the revolver from her waistband. “Stay sharp. These are exactly the conditions where we’re going to find zombie pods.”

Ashley nodded as both of them climbed off the bike. Ashley dug the key from her jeans pocket.

“
Where did you get that?” Meghan asked.

Ashley shrugged. “Mac gave it to me while you were getting your boots on and he was setting the GPS. He wasn’t sure if his wife locked the door behind her.”

Meghan squeezed her eyes shut. “When she was getting attacked by zombies, you mean?”

Ashley shivered as they approached the front door. “Yeah. There’s that. Cover me?”

Meghan nodded and readied her gun as Ashley turned the knob. It opened without the key, so her sister tossed it over her shoulder. It clinked against the sidewalk and into a flower bed. When Meghan glared, Ashley shrugged.

“
What? It’s not like anyone needs it anymore.”

“
Good point, now pay attention. Reno. Think Reno.”

Ashley straightened up and the barrel of her gun was suddenly very straight. “Go,” she whispered.

Meghan kicked the door in and flattened against the wall on the other side like she’d seen done in a million cop movies over the years. Her sister did the same on the other side and closed the door. Meghan reached around to lock it and took a deep breath. The house was dark because the shades were drawn and it smelled faintly of death and decay.