It All Comes Down To Zombies: Sarah (4 page)

“Now’s as good a time as any to learn. Maybe better.”

“Oh yeah? How do you figure?”

“No cops. I bet they ate them first. Bacon is delicious.”

Sarah allowed herself to relax for the first time since she was left behind. “Looks like neither of us has changed much, huh?”

Jimmy looked at Sarah sadly for a long minute.

“Yes, I have,” he said, turning back to the road. “Sarah, I realize I fucked up with you. And I can’t change anything I did. But I’m real sorry for the way I treated you.”

“Mhm. I don’t want to talk about it. You’re full of shit, and you know it. You’re not sorry. You’ve never been sorry.” She glared angrily at him. “Just pull over at the next rest stop. Maybe somebody’ll be there.”

“What happened to Max?” Jimmy asked. “Did those things get him?”

Sarah was surprised Jimmy even knew her husband’s name. The last time she’d talked to him (and pretty much every time she’d talked to him before that), Jimmy had called Max, ‘the dick.’ She was starting to agree with him.

“No, those things didn’t get him. They didn’t even get Tom. Tom was trying to protect us. He always was a bit of an attack cat. I tried to get him in the closet before they got close enough, but he was faster than me, and…” Sarah trailed off, lost in the memory.

“And?” Jimmy asked. “Sarah? Sarah, you alright?”

Sarah blinked at Jimmy, as if she were trying to remember where she was. She started to say something, but stopped herself and turned to watch the trees fly by her window.

“Max and Sylvester were already in there,” she continued. “Sylvester was hiding in the back of the closet, spitting and hissing. I tried to bring Tom in the closet, but he attacked me and then hid behind the bookshelf. Well, ‘attack’ isn’t really the right word. It was more like a warning.”

“You think he knew he was sick?”

“I dunno. Maybe.”

“How’d you and Max get separated?”

“I don’t really know, exactly.”

“You don’t really know? What happened?”

“We were loading up the car. Max was in charge of Sylvester and all his stuff. He needs medication, and special litter, and his sweaters…he’s such a baby. I was grabbing clothes, and the people meds, stuff like that. Once Sylvester was in the car, Max was going to keep watch outside while I finished getting our stuff. But I was afraid, being in the house by myself, so I grabbed the pistol first. And it was a good thing I did. My neighbor, Jeff, was in the kitchen.”

“Jeff still lives there? I always liked him.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow. Jeff had only moved in a few months ago, and Jimmy didn’t know any of her neighbors. He was trying to lighten her mood.

“At first, I thought he thought we’d left already, and was scavenging for supplies, but then he turned around.”

“Oh, God. It’s bad enough seeing strangers like that. Seeing people you know like that? I can’t imagine.”

“They didn’t get anyone you know?”

“No, they did. But they just killed them. They didn’t turn them. And I was long gone before they could rise again.”

“Lucky you. I had to shoot Jeff. I called his name when I saw him, and he turned and ran right at me. I shot him between the eyes, and he dropped. When I came out with our suitcases, Max was gone. He took the car, and my cat, and just left me and everything he owned here.”

“Er…wow, what the fuck?”

Sarah scoffed. “What the fuck, indeed.”

“I can’t believe Max just left you like that.”

“Yeah,” Sarah turned to watch the scenery passing her window. “Me neither.”

“What were you saying before?”

“Huh?”

“You said you don’t even understand what happened. What happened with what? With Max?”

Sarah looked at Jimmy. She chewed her thoughts for a minute. Then she said, “I dunno. I must’ve been dreaming. There’s the turn. Let’s see what’s going on at the rest stop.”

———————

When they pulled into the parking lot, Sarah and Jimmy noticed the lights inside of the building were still on.

“Must be a generator. Depending on their delivery schedule, they got enough gas over there in the tank to last them a while if nobody robs ‘em.” Jimmy looked at Sarah pointedly.

Sarah crossed her arms. “Jimmy, in times like these, there are two types of people. The dicks who are only out for themselves and fuck over everyone they meet, and those who want to handle the disaster and rebuild society without the bullshit broken system. If you’re gonna be the first one, just let me know now, so I can figure out another way to catch up to that bastard.”

“You’re seriously thinking about trying to find Max?”

Sarah laughed. It was a bitter laugh, full of anger and sadness.

“I don’t have to try,” she said. “I know exactly where he’s going. Mommy and Daddy have a bunker in the basement of the cabin they’re leaving their little boy. He’s headed there. What’s it gonna be?”

“Whatever you want, baby girl. I’ve always done whatever you wanted.”

Sarah shook her head and pursed her lips.

“Don’t fucking call me that,” she spat. “You lost the right to call me that a long fucking time ago.”

Jimmy looked like Sarah had stabbed him in the heart. Sarah swung the door open and hopped out of the truck so he wouldn’t see how his reaction affected her.

———————

As Jimmy caught up to Sarah, he asked, “What’re you gonna do? Knock on the door? Say, ‘Hey, we’re not zombies, and we’re not criminals. Will you let us in?’”

Sarah stared at him for a minute, then said, “I don’t know. Maybe. Let’s just see what happens, eh?”

As they approached the doors, Sarah could see that they were barricaded. She pulled her .44 out of the holster.
“Go get one of the shotguns. Be quick about it.”

“What about the ammo?”

“It’s loaded, and there are some shells in the case. Go!”

Jimmy came back cursing and carrying the case. “You seriously sent me for a locked case without the combination?”

“Yes. I did. I don’t trust you. Can you blame me? Give me the fucking case. We don’t have time for this.”

Jimmy handed over the case. Sarah backed away and cranked the combination. She stuffed some shells in her pockets, pulled out the shotgun, and handed Jimmy the .44. Then she locked the case again, and hid it behind some bushes.

“Ready?”

Jimmy looked at the gun in his hand, and slowly shook his head no as he said, “Yep.”

“You go right, I’ll go left. Don’t stop unless you run into one of those things and have to fight. I’ll get to you as soon as I can if that happens.”

“In the movies, they always die when they split up.”

“They always die when they smoke pot in the movies, too, but that didn’t stop you from toking up last night, did it?”

Jimmy laughed. “Hey, it was your weed.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “See ya on the other side,” she shot over her shoulder, and started off on her way.

Jimmy stared after her until she disappeared, and then headed in the other direction.

———————

“Sarah,” she heard Jimmy yell just as she rounded the final corner on the way to the other doors. “Run!”

“Hey, sweetheart,” Sarah heard from behind her. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing?”

Sarah cocked the shotgun, checked the path in front of her to be sure it was clear, then spun to face the voice with the gun leveled at his chest and her finger on the trigger. There were two men standing there. One was a frumpy older gentleman in worn out Dockers and a plaid shirt, and the other, the one she was aiming her gun at, looked like he could have played Kevin Bacon’s best friend in
Footloose
.

“What’s going on on the other side of the building?” she asked, her voice surprisingly steady.

“Sarah? Little Sarah Babinski from Schenectady High?”

Sarah tried to make out who was talking through the darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she recognized the frumpy man standing before her.

“Mr. Bailey? What’re you doing here?”

“Sarah! You’ve grown up quite a bit, huh? Not so little anymore.”

“I hit a growth spurt my freshman year in college. Grew almost a whole foot that year. Who’s this creep?” she gestured toward the other guy with the muzzle of her gun.

“That’s just Brad. He’s harmless. He’s not even into women. He’s just trying to intimidate you so you don’t fuck with us.” Mr. Bailey turned to Brad, and said, “I told you to stop doing that. Sarah’s a good shot. She won awards for her shooting every year starting in sixth grade. You’re lucky she doesn’t shoot first.”

“Mr. Bailey…”

“You’re all grown up, now, and this isn’t high school. Call me Ralph.”

“Okay…Ralph, what’s happening to my friend?”

“Our people tied him up. They won’t shoot him. Let’s go tell them we know who you are, shall we?”

Ralph produced a flashlight and led Sarah and Brad to Jimmy.

On the other side of the building, they found two broad-shouldered men and a little, brightly colored woman. The men stood in front of Jimmy brandishing weapons as the woman finished gingerly tying his hands, being careful not to break a plastic fingernail. Before all this, Sarah might have laughed at the sight. Instead, she shot Ralph a pleading glance.

“Let him go, Martha,” Ralph said to the woman standing over Jimmy.

Martha glared at Ralph. Rubbing her neck at the base of her skull, she grumbled, “He nearly took my head off.”

“He didn’t know who you were. He was trying to protect his girlfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sarah corrected, a little too harshly. “I’m married. To someone else.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s okay. You remember Mr. Bailey from high school, Jimmy?”

“Jimmy? You mean…that can’t be Jimmy Herring?”

“Hi, Mr. Bailey.”

“Keep him tied up, then. We’ll have less trouble that way.” Ralph joked.

“It is a good look for him,” Sarah quipped, as she finally lowered the shotgun.

“Okay, now that we’re finished with the high school reunion, maybe we could take this inside?” Martha asked as she bent to untie Jimmy. “Unless we’re still waiting for punch and snacks, in which case, by all means, let me go tell the zombies that they can’t eat us tonight. I’m sure they’ll understand.”