All That's Left (Kind of On Hold...)

Story time, Kid -2

Chapter 2-  Story time, Kid

Everyone in the truck sat quiet and almost awkwardly- I would say silent, but the radio kept clicking.  Kyle shifted his gun on his lap and leaned back in his seat, letting his eyes close as his head touched the cool side of the truck. Someone in the cab sighed and the whispered release of breath just about summed up exactly how we all felt. Time to break the silence. I cleared my throat.

"So, Kyle, what do you know about the zombies?" I rubbed my freshly shaved chin, glad that our rations included a shaving kit. That beard was driving me crazy.

"All I know is that it was a disease that spread through infected meat. But they caught it right? Now everything is safe to eat 'cause they know what to look for in the meat. No one else can get infected now, there's just whatever zombies are still out there." He ran his hand through his hair and looked out the window. I blinked and then sat up straighter in my seat.

"Sounds about right. They did eventually catch the disease and stopped it from spreading, so we're all safe except from the remainin' grubs." I laughed, but it was gruff and almost painful- it was more like a bark of emotionless enthusiasm than an actual laugh.

"Why do you keep callin' them grubs?" Kyle asked, letting his gun slide off of his legs to rest on the ground in front of him.

"Oh, well I just don't want to this of them as people anymore...makes it easier to kill 'em." We all shifted uncomfortably in our seats, unsettled by the statement. We sat in silence for a bit, then Kyle spoke up again.

“So, what happened to your family, if you don’t mind me asking? Were you separated? Or are they….gone?” He sounded genuinely curious and a bit worried, so I sighed and leaned forward, propping my elbow up on my knees and resting my chin in my hand- like the ‘Thinking Man’ statue that has long since been destroyed.

“My wife died five years ago, protecting Arie. Her name was Lilly, Lilly Marie. We buried her at Saint Michael’s. Or at least, what was left of her.” My eyes burned with hot tears, but I blinked them away and continued.

“Then there was my son, Zach. I lost him two years ago. He would have turned eight today. He was pulled from a tree and we had to listen to him die.” Pause. “And then we ran.” My face burned as I looked away from Kyle, trying to hold myself together. My hands shook in my lap so I laced my fingers together and pressed my fists into my lap.

“I would’ve gone back for him if it weren’t for Arie. I had to keep myself alive for her and I knew if I’d gone back that I wouldn’t have lived. I couldn’t do that to her.  I couldn’t let anything happen to my little girl.” I wiped the tears away and looked back at him, shot him a watery smile and then leaned back in my seat.

“How about you son, where’s your family at?” Eager to change the subject I prodded him for information. He smiled and shrugged.

“My Dad was killed in Iraq before all of this mess, took a bullet to the head in a firefight.” Kyle pulled on his dog tags.

“I guess you already knew that, I told you earlier didn’t I?” Kyle smiled at me and I nodded.

“I guess you did. Do you have any other family? How about your mom, how’s she holding up?” I reached into my pack and found a canteen of water as I spoke. When I finished talking I unscrewed the lid and took a swig of water.

“It’s been just me and my mom for a while now. See, I’m an only child so I haven’t lost any family that I know of from all this mess. The only thing I’ve lost is my home. We even brought our dog!” His face lit up as he told me about his pet.

“His name is Ripper. He’s a Jack Russell/Terrier mix and is white with a lot of brown spots. He’s really friendly and doesn’t bark much, which is why we’ve been able to keep him pretty safe.” We both laughed at that.