When Johnny woke the next morning it took him a moment to register that it was actually almost noon, but the blankets that Kreese had hammered over his small bedroom window were blotting out the sun and making the room almost as dark as night.
His head ached as he sat up, and he reached for the Whiskey bottle that was tucked safely by the bedside cabinet, but found it empty.
He climbed out of bed, padded into the half light of the living room, and saw Kreese peering out through the blinds, holding the blanket he'd nailed to the window frame over his shoulder.
"Those things out there?" Johnny asked, as he looking in the refrigerator, hoping to find a beer.
"No," Kreese replied.
"People?" Johnny asked, looking at the stack of empty Banquet bottles he'd abandoned on the table the night before.
"I haven't seen anyone."
"Maybe the army took everyone away to somewhere safe and we missed it while we were hiding," Johnny said, as he pulled a bottle of orange juice out and set it on the counter.
"No one is coming to save us," Kreese replied. "We have to take care of ourselves. It's going to be just me and you from now on."
Johnny paused a second. "And Robby."
"What?" Kreese asked, finally looking back over his shoulder.
"Robby," Johnny repeated. "We're going to get him tomorrow. That's what you said."
"Tomorrow or the day after, yes," Kreese said.
"Tomorrow," Johnny said pointedly. "I'm going tomorrow whether you come with me or not, man."
"OK, tomorrow," Kreese replied, peering back out into the courtyard.
Johnny picked up the remote and turned the TV back on. He set his glass of juice on the coffee table and started flicking through the channels.
Kreese looked at him disapprovingly. "You know, I'd tell you that you should eat something, but you don't actually have any food."
"There's some Bologna in the refrigerator," Johnny replied, still clicking the remote. "There would have been more, but I dropped the one I picked up yesterday."
Kreese opened the fridge, and pulled out the pack. "It's spoiled."
"Yeah, so was the one I picked up yesterday. It's fine if you cook it," Johnny replied. He dropped the remote on the table and slumped back in his chair. "There's nothing on here, not even that stupid emergency thing."
"Because there's no one left," Kreese replied. "We're on our own."
"The electricity is still on, so there's obviously someone left."
"That'll fail in a few days," Kreese replied confidently. "When that happens we'll be back in the stone age and it'll be survival of the fittest."
Johnny looked over at him. "You say that like you're looking forward to it."
"The world was due a reset," Kreese replied. "People have become soft. This will just weed out the undeserving, and then people like you and me will inherit the Earth."
Johnny walked over to the kitchen and put his empty glass in the sink. "Not sure I wanna live in a world that's filled with people like you."
"I saved your life," Kreese shouted.
"Yeah, and you let me think you were dead all these years," Johnny snapped back. "Where were you when I needed you, huh? Where were you when my mom died? Where were you when I needed to know anyone gave a shit about me?"
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Shelter In Place: Last Coors Banquet Series Part 2
फैनफिक्शनWhen Zombies attack Los Angeles Johnny Lawrence finds himself in a desperate battle for survival as he searches for his son during the first weeks of the outbreak, with the help of John Kreese. A prequel to my fic The Last Coors Banquet in the Vall...
