All Is Silence - Deserted Lands #1

Chapter 9 - Part I

LIZZIE TURNED OFF THE WATER. Her mind raced. What were the odds? She’d totally failed statistics, but the math didn’t matter. It was crazy that she knew someone else still alive. She chuckled out loud. Nev was another one of Zach’s crushes. Maybe things were getting better.

Lizzie walked past Zach wrapped in nothing but a towel for the second time since he’d arrived. How was she supposed to set boundaries like this? Screw it. He would have to deal.

“Nev doesn’t drive either.” Zach’s eyes widened, but she could see him trying to play it cool. “What is it with you people?”

“Bite me.” Lizzie glared. “Anyway. What did you find out?”

“Some people took her in, but they’re ultra-religious nuts and it’s freaking her out.”

“So we could go get her. ROAD TRIP!” Then she remembered the baby. “Shit.” Kids complicated things.

As if on cue Saj toddled in. His eyes lit up when he saw her.

Lizzie swung him up into her arms. “Zach, you go. I should stay with Saj. His butt isn’t up for a day in the car seat.”

“Okay, I should be back tonight—tomorrow at the latest. Don’t know if the freeway is clear all the way down.”

She could see his excitement. “Okay. Get food. Get gas. Get going.”

Zach headed out the door. “I’ll hit a 7-11 when I get hungry.”

“Be safe,” Lizzie said. “Don’t do anything crazy.”

“I won’t, if you won’t.”

Zach waved. The Tank spun out as he gunned it down the street on the wrong side, squirreling back and forth.

Lizzie shook her head. She wrapped Saj in a blanket over his pajamas. He needs more layers than I do. She hadn’t gotten any heavier clothes. Zach had his mission. Her mission would be getting Saj warmer clothes, and setting up someplace for him to sleep.

She needed a car. Easy to drive would be good, with her rudimentary driving skills. Mama’s car was at the hospital, and it was a stick shift. At least the street was empty. She’d tried to learn with Jerkwad; Mama didn’t have the patience. Jerkwad wanted to quit ‘wasting’ so much time taking Lizzie places. It ended badly. The silver lining was that he left her alone for weeks.

The cat lady had a Honda CRV. Maybe the keys were in the house. Lizzie put Saj in his car seat. It was a fight, but less than yesterday. “Sissy’ll be back in a minute.”

The house did not smell of death. It smelled of old lady potpourri and medicine. She had gone to the hospital first and never returned. Her kids took the cats. The musty scent of old books and doilies collected over decades permeated the air. Where would I put extra keys? She examined the area near the front door. No luck.

She wandered back into the kitchen. The calendar was still on September and covered with scrawled cursive. Under it, a gray Honda valet key hung on a key rack, amid a collection of rusty skeleton keys and a modern house key with a leopard print. Lizzie grabbed the Honda key and headed out the door.

The CRV smelled like old lady, too. Lizzie stuck the key in and turned it. The engine coughed a bit and sputtered, but started. She left the door open and got Saj and his car seat. She buckled it in and returned to the front seat. She sat. I’m waiting for what?

“What the hell. Let’s go, Saj.” She’d seen it done enough. She pulled it from P to D and stepped on the gas. The vehicle lurched forward and she slammed on the brake.

The little snake sounds, Saj’s attempt to say Sissie, came from the back seat.

“Yeah, Sissie’s working on it.”

Setting her jaw tight, she tried again. More gently this time; it slipped forward. She tried to give it more gas. The car lurched again, and she ran over the curb. Swearing, she jammed the brake—again. If at first you don’t suck seeds... She could feel herself sweating. “Just breathe, Lizzie.”

Gradually they made it the six or eight blocks to Saj’s house. She pulled up in the driveway. “Sissie’s gonna leave you in here, okay, Saj?” She turned on the radio, then flipped it to CD, and a ‘Doo wop a doo’ came from the speakers. “Ugh. 50’s music. Probably drive me crazy, but maybe you’ll like it.” She blew Saj a kiss and hopped out of the car.

She went around the back and entered the tomb-like house. What should she do with Saj’s mom? Someday he might want to come here and see more of where he was from. Well, maybe she could get help from Zach when he and Nev got back. The three musketeers back together again—stealing from the rich was going to be a lot easier. Or was it the three stooges? Probably depended on the day and the stupid or brilliant things they’d done.