'Til Death Do Us Part (15 page)

Tomas was straining against his urges as he watched his sister drink her fill. Her eyes never left him as she pulled the life out of the little girl one drop at a time.

“
You must eat
, brother,
”
s
he said to Tomas as she discarded the girl like a used juice box.

The mother was moaning in her unconscious state, her head resting up against Tomas
’
leg. The boy watched as Tomas bent down and almost tenderly placed his lips aga
inst her neck.
The young boy did not move, he did not blink as blood leaked out from around Tomas
’
mouth and onto the carpet.

Eliza laughed as she cli
mbed the four stairs to the boy;
he placed his thumb in his mouth.

“
No
,
Eliza!
”
Tomas said forcibly as he stood after getting his fill.

“
The mother lives
,
Tomas, I can smell her stench of life from here. You are doing her no favors by allowing her
life
.
”

“
We have eaten
,
Eliza, why must you torment them?
”

“
Two of her whelps are dead and she will be weaker than a newborn for the next two days. My zombies
are destroying this entire city.
They
are not nearly as efficient in their feeding as we are
, t
he pain these two will suffer
at their hands
will be far worse than the end I offer.
”

“
You don
’
t get it. You could stop
all
off it,
”
Tomas beseeched.

“
How
did father tolerate one with such a dramatic disposition?
”

“
I
’
m done here,
”
Tomas said
, heading for the door.
He
waited in the middle of the roadway for another five minutes before Eliza walked out
. S
he wiped the blood off her mouth with her fingers
,
then licked them clean.

“
Don
’
t be so sad
,
Tomas, they now live eternally. Come
,
let us
go see
what other fun we can have,
”
s
he said as she grabbed his arm.

BT and Gary

It was long moments before any of them had calmed down enough from their close encounter of the girth kind. The city shone like a dying sun in the rearview mirror.

“
That
’
s really the end of them,
”
BT said looking back.

Gary
’
s eyes were wet with remembrance.

Mrs.
Deneaux
was subdued
,
but it was more
out
of self-preservation than
from
any type of respect. To her
,
Brian
’
s death was a necessity;
he died to save her
. Paul was an idiot that shouldn
’
t have made it any
way
,
and Mike
’
s demise was more of a stroke of good fortune. She realized that he had more than a sneaking suspicion that she was in some way involved in Brian
’
s death
as well as
Paul
’
s disappearance
,
and he would have kept pressing the matter. Especi
ally since Paul had been eaten—
by cats no less. She smiled as she humored herself with the thought.
Who dies by cats in a zombie apocalypse? That
’
s like dying
from
a hangnail during a war.

“
Something funny?
”
BT asked her.

She hadn
’
t realized she’
d been displaying her mood on the outside.
“
I
’
m j
ust happy to be away from there.
”
s
he said
,
recovering smoothly.
“
I mean safely of course.
I am sorry for your loss
, Gary,
”
s
h
e said as motherly as she could.
It
sounded more like a pit viper before it struck a field mouse.

Gary did not hear the tone, only the words.
“
Thank you,
”
h
e
practically
sobbed.
“
I...I don
’
t know how I
’
m going to tell Tracy, the kids, my father.
”

“
I
’
ll be there with you
,
Gary, we
’
ll get through it,
”
BT said as he turned to face him.

“
It should have been me, BT,
”
Gary sniffed heavily.

“
Please tell me you do not plan t
o cry the entire drive to Maine,
”
Mrs.
Deneaux
said. When BT turned an evil eye on her she added.
“
I
’
m merely looking out for the lad, he won
’
t be able to see the road properly and he will give himself a truly bad headache.
”

We lose half our number and she survives, the fates are cruel and unjust
,
BT thought sourly
.
I am going to have to watch her carefully
.

Mrs. Deneaux smiled broadly as Gary
looked at her through the rear
view mirror.

The Pinto may have been the ugliest thing still on the road
,
but it ran and that counted for a fair amount.
They had just crossed over into Virginia on
R
oute 85 almost to the 95 interchange when Gary noticed that the fuel gauge hadn
’
t moved since they
’
d left Old Fort
nearly some
two hundred
miles ago.

“
I think we might have a problem,
”
Gary said.

BT
,
who had been lost in his own thoughts
,
sat up.
“
What
’
s the matter?
”
h
e asked looking around. BT thought Mrs.
Deneaux
might be sleeping but he couldn
’
t tell;
the old bat had one
eye
open.

“
Fuel,
”
Gary said pointing to the dash.

“
It says we
’
re three-quarters full,
”
BT said moving his head so he could see.

“
Yeah…
and that
’
s what it said when we left.
”

“
Then maybe you shoul
d find a place to get some.
Did
I really need to point that out?
”
Mrs.
Deneaux
said opening her other eye.

“
Maybe if we
’
re real lucky
some gas will spill on you
,
and the next time you light a cigarette
,
the world will find
itself a slightly better place,
”
BT said turning to face her.

She lit another cigarette in response.

“
Come on
,
BT
,
we
’
re all we have left,
”
Gary said
,
trying to make peace.

BT wanted to tell him
‘
And ain
’
t that a shame.
’
But he could tell the elder Talbot was already hurting enough. He wouldn
’
t swear it on a stack of bibles
,
but he thought he had seen
Deneaux
stick her tongue at him as he turned back towards the front.
“
Bitch
,” h
e mumbled.

Gary pulled off the highway.
BT made sure his rifle was fully loaded as did
Deneaux
with her pistol
. Gas stations
,
for some reason
,
tended to be a hot bed of zombie activity.

“
Should we siphon some gas or just find another car?
”
BT asked as they pulled into the service lot.

“
Find another car?
”
Gary asked.
“
Really?
”

“
Oh you can
’
t be serious?
”
BT asked back.
“
You like
this
car. This car was a pile of steaming crap when it left the factory
.
They
should have saved the metal and made waste baskets.
”

“
I
’
m kind of attached to it now,
”
Gary s
aid as he patted the dash board
where it instantly cracked as a result of dry rot and ministrations of the driver.

“
Yeah she
’
s a beauty,
”
BT said sarcastically.

“
Well I think
she
’
s a darling little car,
”
Mrs.
Deneaux
said as she hunted for an ally.

Gary pulled up to a pump.

“
What are you doing?
”
BT asked.

“
Getting gas, what does it look like I
’
m doing?
”

“
Do you think maybe you can have the attendant check the oil
,
too?
”

“
What
’
s the matter with you
,
BT, they haven
’
t done that in years,
”
Gary told him.
“
Oh.
”
The light of recognition coming across Gary
’
s visage.
“
The pumps aren
’
t working, sorry just habit.
”
Gary was about to start the car up.

“
Don
’
t worry about it, we
’
ll just find a can and get some gas, let
’
s try to find a screwdriver
,
too, the last time I siphoned gas
,
I drank abo
ut a quart of it,
”
BT said.