Becca

* * *

Kim looked back up at her savior.  “Oh, thank God,” she sobbed, still panicked.  He quickly waved a hand at her as he stared off to the side. She lifted herself, kneeling on the floor of the trunk to see.  The warm summer air was cool on her cheek compared to the oppressive heat of the trunk.  

“Let’s go,” the man whispered, reaching for her arm to pull her out of the trunk.  “We can catch up later.”  

Kim swung a leg out of the back of the car as quietly as she could and stood up.  Her legs were still shaking from the heat and the panic, causing her to stumble.  Her rescuer tried to catch her, but instead was simply knocked back into the car behind them.  He hit it hard and his bow resonated on the hood as he tried to right himself, easily audible over the sounds of Brian May’s guitar solo.

“Dammit, Becca,” he cursed through gritted teeth.  He was staring at the walkers again.  “Move.”

Confused, Kim looked around, expecting to see someone else.  Down the road and between the cars she could see a half a dozen walking corpses surrounding a car, the source of the music.  One of them had heard the man hit the hood and was looking at them.  It started towards them, slowly, almost curiously.  Frantically she started to make her way around the cars, trying to find her balance again and to ignore the sickness in the pit of her stomach.  She paused for breath as her savior came around the car as well, his knees bent low.

“Listen, Becca,” he whispered.  “We’re going to head towards that tree line, there.”  He pointed.  “Don’t get too far ahead of me.  I don’t want to lead them towards my truck and I don’t want to lose you out there.”

Nodding Kim looked towards edge of the road.  She wanted to correct him, or to at least introduce herself and learn his name, but this did not seem a good time.   They both jumped a little when the car’s hatch groaned under stress.  One of the corpses had reached it and was pawing around.  It had to smell her.

“Go,” the man whispered, pushing her away from the car they had sought to hide behind and towards the tree line.  She stumbled, still lightheaded, and then found her stride.  She glanced over her shoulder to see him following.  The walker had seen them moving and was starting to follow as well.  Kim jogged further ahead, then paused.  The man had stopped and lifted his bow.  She watched as he took aim and held his position.  The walker continued to close with them, tripping over its own feet in its haste.  It lurched forward then rocked onto its back as the arrow caught it in the forehead and took it to the ground.

Kim watched in silence.  The guys had tried to make stands, but none of them had ever shown that level of coolness as a walker ran at them.  Gina had shot one with her dad’s shotgun, but all that had done was brought three more on them before she could reload.  A month ago there had been fifteen of them and they were going to show everyone that they could do this on their own.  That morning there were three, including herself.  Now, she reasoned, it was probably just her left.

They made their way through the brush as quietly and as quickly as they could.  Kim was tired, hot and thirsty.  Eventually he called for a stop and Kim put her back to a tree to rest.

“Do you have any water?”

He looked back and then shook his head.  “Not on me.  It’s extra weight when I’m scavenging.  There’s some in my truck.”   He glanced around, taking stock of the area, then up at the sun to get a sense of direction.  “We should able to reach it in half an hour.  Can you make it?”

“Yeah, I think so.”  Her forehead had stopped sweating, and she was starting to feel sick again, but it did not seem to make much sense to say so now.  

He nodded and started off in a new direction.  “We can catch up once we get to the truck.  Till then we should probably keep quiet.  Turning to look over his shoulder at him, he smiled, briefly.  He was young looking, his face round and pleasant, even with the humble starts of a five-o-clock shadow.  

Kim followed, putting a hand to a tree every few yards to steady herself before pressing on.

* * *


Garrett lead the way until they came out again at the highway.  A single Jeep Cherokee was parked just off the road, about two yards before the jam of cars willing the northbound lane.  “I didn’t want to get too close in case the sound of the engine got their attention,” he explained as he crossed out of the brush towards the truck.  He kept watching the road and the abandoned cars as they went.

The back of the jeep had some supplies, but the number of empty boxes in the back seat showed how lean things had gotten over the weeks.  He eased the water cooler bottle over at an angle to pour some into a mostly clean plastic cup for Becca and offered it to her.

She took the cup and began to drink it quickly, swallowing the warm liquid in gulps before Garrett could get a hand out to stop her.

“You have to drink it slow,” he said, withdrawing his hand, a little embarrassed that he had nearly knocked the cup out of hers.  “Chug that all down and you’ll just puke it back up.”

Becca nodded and took a smaller drink.  She looked paler and more shaken than when he had pulled her out of the trunk.  She clearly was struggling not to drink all of the water.  He sat down on the bumper of the jeep and eased his backpack off.  He let her have a few more minutes to drink the water and gather herself.

“Thank you,” Becca said, finally, taking short breaths.  “I haven’t had clean water in,” she paused, “days.”  

“Eat anything?”  Garrett started to look through one of the small canvas bags nestled between the water bottles.

“I’m not sure I should,” Becca whispered, putting a hand to the side of the jeep to steady herself.  She wiped the back of her hand over her forehead.  “I,” she started, her voice low.  “I want to thank you.  I didn’t think anyone could hear me.”

“All kinds of luck today,” he answered, smiling.  “I just can’t believe of all the people to run into up here it’d be you.”

She looked surprised.  “Me?”

“Well,” he continued.  “I only had a crush on you for most of highschool.  I spent most of junior year feeling guilty because you were going out with Ron and that really put you off limits.”

Becca started to look nervous.  “I really appreciate what you did for me, back there, and I hope this doesn’t seem, I don’t know, ungrateful or something,” the words were tumbling out randomly and haphazardly.  “I’m super sorry but I don’t think I know you.”

It was his turn to be surprised.  This had to be her.  Her round cheeks, the green eyes, the dusting of freckles over her nose.  He was so sure it was her.  “You’re not Becca Whitmore?”

Becca shook her head. “Kimberly Coates.”  She twisted her lips into a pained grin.  “I hope this doesn’t mean...”  He was not going to abandon her, though he understood her fear.  The world had changed a lot.  He studied her.  His hand started to reach for her, to touch her and see if she was indeed real.  Blinking he stopped himself and instead folded his arms over his chest.  

“No,” Garrett said with forced casualty.  “I’m sorry.  You do look a lot like Becca, around the eyes, I think.  She has freckles, too, like yours.”  He looked her over again.  “She has darker hair, and it’s shorter in the front.”  

Awkwardly Becca brushed several long strands of blond hair out of her face.  She stood quietly, looking down at the ground.

“What’s your name again?”  Garrett had already forgotten.

“Kim,” she answered. “Please don’t leave me.”  She did not look up at him.  

“Right.”  Garrett stood up and reached for the handle to pull the back of the jeep closed.  “Well, it’s good to meet you.”  He paused.  “Kim.”  Garrett said the name a few more times to himself, trying to imprint it into his memory.  “And no, I’m not going to just leave you out here.  Let’s pull up to the back of the line and see if there’s a smaller car we can move the gear to.  I love this thing but it’s crap for mileage and this far north gas is hard to come by.”  He eased the door down and then closed it firmly but without fanfare.  “And if I say move, we move.  I don’t want to deal with any more walkers today.”

“That’s fine by me,” she whispered in response.