Chapter 5: A Grief Trip

In the morning, I woke and went into the kitchen to note that the coffee was dripping happily into the pot. I showered and shaved. After dressing, I went into the kitchen to see that the coffee was ready and Alice was eating cereal for breakfast.

“Good morning, Hank. I’m going to eat cereal until the milk is gone. Without a cow, we won’t have any more.” I realized how right she was and thought to myself that she was quite perceptive.

“Good morning, Alice.” I toasted her with my coffee cup. “That’s smart thinking.”

She smirked. “I was an honor student before school let out forever. I guess we’re in the school of hard knocks now.” I grinned and nodded.

I ate a breakfast of bagels and cream cheese thinking those things won’t last forever either. We cleaned up from breakfast. As we were finishing, Alice said, “I have two things on a list for today.”

I looked questioningly. “One is to get a big truck including teaching me to drive it.” I nodded. “The other is to check on Sharon. Even if we don’t want her around, she knows where we are. I think we should make peace enough that she doesn’t gather a gang and come after us.” I looked a little surprised.

She said, “I learned in school not to leave people without resolving things. A festering sore can become dangerous. One of my friends had an older boy make advances on her and she told him to leave her alone. He gathered a few buddies and they raped her one afternoon. They were caught but she was never the same.” She sighed. “I guess I would like to try to check on my parents. I know what we expect but I would like to attempt closure.”

I nodded. “We can do all of that.”

We cleaned up and left the house. Our first stop was the first car dealership we saw. I picked out a big four-wheel drive dual cab pickup truck. It had many options and sat only moderately high off the ground. I suspected that it wasn’t the most economical thing to drive but, right now, I wasn’t worried about gas mileage but that it could overcome most any obstacle and carry a load while doing it. This one could do both.

We left the dealership and filled its dual tanks. I had a feeling that I knew why it had two tanks. I knew where Sharon lived and headed for her apartment complex. When we arrived there, the gate was open. I think I could have gone through it but didn’t have to find out. I drove to Sharon’s apartment. Her car was parked out front as usual. This truck wasn’t quiet. It attracted attention.

I saw a couple of heads from behind curtains as well as some crazies. The crazies started our way. One of them looked like Sharon’s roommate, Bonnie. As she got closer, I realized that I was correct.

Alice said, “Who is that?”

“She is or was Sharon’s roommate.”

“Shoot her. Shoot them all. Let’s go in.”

We got out and shot crazies. I had to reload. I saved the ejected magazine. The current crop of crazies was now dead. We went into Sharon’s apartment. The door was open. Sharon was there. She was dead and partially eaten. I pushed her eyes closed and we left. That chapter was now closed.

I recognized one of the bodies that Alice had shot was Will. I said, “You shot Will. He was the guy Sharon was cheating on me with when I caught her. Thanks.”

“I’m not sure I’m proud of that but you’re welcome.”

We got back in the truck and left the complex. We had the address of her parents’ friends. I showed Alice how to use the internal GPS and she input the address quickly. We left the area following its instructions. As we drove, I saw many crazies walking around along with many dead bodies on the ground. Many of them were eaten partially or almost completely.

I found it interesting that the crazies didn’t go after the dead bodies that looked to be a day or more old. I figured that they wouldn’t eat any meat that wasn’t fresh. That thought moved up in my mind when I saw two fighting while a dead body was beside them as they rolled on the sidewalk. Finally, one got the upper hand or mouth by biting through the throat of the other. The victim of the two shivered in its death throes as the other feasted on the warm flesh. It was nasty but fascinating at the same time in a sick sort of way.

Alice said, “You were learning something from that, I hope.”

I gave a very small smile. “I think so. There was a dead body close to them that was a day or two old but they ignored it. As sick as it sounds, they only seem to have an interest in fresh meat. That’s good because they will slowly run out of fresh food. It’s bad because we constitute a source of that fresh food. Increasingly, we will become targets for their hunger.”