Warning: Girl talk in this chapter (but not the whole chapter) I'm also not good at girl talk so I apologize for any awkwardness but in the end I needed the bonding moment.
Also since this chapter is kind of short I'm thinking of posting a second update this week, maybe tomorrow or the next day, but what do you guys think?
S5E02: Part 8
Red and Bailey continued to follow the signs for Newmerica but unless they found a working vehicle it would still take them weeks to get there. As night was starting to fall they found a huge truck on the on-ramp at the next highway. It was one of those that carried almost a dozen cars on it and it looked like it had been taking some brand new ones to a dealership. The ones on the bottom had already been hotwired and stolen by survivors probably in need of a ride but the ones on top were still secured to the truck.
"Yeah, that'll do." Red said and Bailey agreed as they both walked to the front of the truck and hopped up on the hood, then the roof, then climbed into the first car on the rack. They leaned the seats back and gazed through the sunroof as the stars started to dot the night sky. Red pulled something out of her bag and Bailey was shocked she hadn't noticed Red stash it on their last supply run. A bottle of wine. Bailey chuckled as her friend also pulled out a sleeve of red solo cups and passed one to her.
"What if zombies show up?" she asked, "Shouldn't we stay sober?"
"It's just wine, and we won't drink that much." Red said as she popped the cork, "Besides only an idiot or a person with a death wish would get drunk in the middle of nowhere in the apocalypse."
As they sipped their wine and talked the conversation started to turn to Tommy yet again. She and Red had grown so close these past couple months that it wasn't awkward anymore to talk about him, if anything it made Bailey feel like the world was normal again and she was just hanging out with a friend on the weekend gossiping about boys.
"When you last saw Tommy. . ." she began shyly, "How was he?"
"How do you mean?" Red asked taking another sip of her wine.
"Was he happy?" she clarified and Red looked at her from over the rim of her cup, and Bailey shrugged as she explained, "He's such a good person, he deserves to be happy."
Red pulled the cup away from her face, swallowed and nodded, "Yes he was happy." Then she chuckled, "He was sitting around with Doc laughing like the good old days."
That brought a smile to Bailey's face, "Good. . . good." She said sipping her own drink.
"Bailey?" Red spoke up and she turned to her, "Tommy never forgot about you. I'd hate for you to think that he somehow replaced you with me, because he didn't. You still have a place in his heart, even if he thinks you're dead."
She hesitated for a minute, she knew Tommy wouldn't replace her but she'd been glad he'd moved on enough to be happy. And she was grateful that Red cared enough about her feelings that she wanted to make that all clear.
"Thanks Red." She muttered before looking back at the stars above them. Red's little chuckle made her turn back and look at the girl who had a small smile on her face.
"You know. . . when things started to get romantic between us. . . he was so awkward about it. There was so much he was shy about."
Bailey chuckled now too, "Yeah, Tommy takes time to come out of his shell, especially when it comes to relationship stuff. Give him a horde of zombies he handles it no problem, give him a woman and he's clueless – and he knows it."
They both laughed a little bit remembering all the simple things that would bring a blush to Tommy's face. Red poured more wine and soon they were talking like they'd known each other forever. By apocalypse standards they kinda did.
"He was my first. Did he ever tell you that?" Bailey asked about halfway through her second cup.
Red shook her head, "No, he's very respectful of all the intimate stuff. When we first. . . you know, he was very slow, like he was gauging to make sure he wasn't overstepping or pushing me too far."
"Mmmm. He puts your pleasure above his own. It's the kind of thing that only makes you love him more." She agreed.
"So? What was your first time together like?" Red asked drinking more wine and raising one eyebrow making Bailey let out a short chuckle before she looked to her lap.
"What I tell you in this car, stays in this car." She said.
Red nodded, "Of course. Girl code."
Bailey laughed and took another sip before she began, "It was good. . . after a while. In the beginning it hurt, a lot. I, uh, lied a little because I knew if Tommy knew, he'd stop, he'd feel guilty and. . . I didn't want that for him. I wanted him to have a good first time and I didn't want to spoil that. And like I said it did feel good after a while and each time after it only got better. But that first time." she chuckled, "That first time I had to walk Tommy through a lot. He was hesitant to touch me anywhere, even innocent places like my arm or my shoulder, but he was a fast learner." She took a sip as she smiled and blushed at the memory, "He made sure I was ready, he was slow, gentle, he got more confident as it went on. It was the kind of first time where, I could feel he loved me. He didn't have to say it, it was like he radiated it, that was probably the best part." she paused and took another sip.
"I was saving myself, even in my twenties and out of college. The reason behind that was more about my anxiety than anything else. But I also know how the world works and how the apocalypse changed things, tomorrow isn't a given anymore. And sure I always had this idea of what my wedding night would be like, but in reality. . . it's nothing like movies or TV portray it as."
"Oh God no." Red agreed sipping her wine again.
"That first time with Tommy. . . it felt as close to a wedding night as losing your virginity in the zombie apocalypse can be. The only thing that could have made it better was if it had been my wedding night. And of course no zombies migrating our way to kill us. But even if the world was normal, I would have married Tommy in a heartbeat even if people thought we were young and stupid." She admitted before drinking again, "And now it gets weird because I'm remembering that you're actually the current girlfriend and telling you all this is kind of embarrassing."
Red giggled, "That's what the wine is for."
Bailey laughed with her as they both drank and refilled their cups for the third and final time of the night.
"Tommy wasn't my first." Red admitted when the laughter had calmed down, "I lost mine in high school. He was a good friend and we decided to start dating. He was good to me but. . . I don't know, in high school you think you know what you want and you really, really feel like you know yourself. But. . . after you grow and mature a bit more you realize, there's so much that mattered then that doesn't matter in the big picture. One of my biggest regrets is caring so much about keeping up with everyone else, not wanting to feel like I was falling behind and missing out on things everyone else was experiencing. And I didn't think twice about losing mine to a guy I really cared for, a guy I knew well. Even after I thought nothing of it, I had had a good time and I was glad that I wouldn't be that girl who was being stupid for waiting ."
"People in high school can be so judgmental like that. Even if you know they care more about their lives then your own, it still feels like they're watching you, waiting to make fun of something." Bailey said with a shake of her head.
"Oh definitely, it feels like you need to keep up with everyone or you'll be labeled a loser." Red said before sighing, "And it sucks because I know even if I went back, past me wouldn't listen to future me. She wouldn't know that she had so much maturing to do, because it feels like you've already matured and nothing about you will change. I don't know if it makes sense but. . . I wish back then I had been strong enough to wait, strong enough to really think and say no to the temptation, the peer pressure. Looking back, that younger me looks so weak. I regret it, I regret just going with the flow instead of being strong enough to say: I'm going to do it differently, I'm not going to follow the crowd."
It got quiet and Bailey thought about her words. She wished the past her had been stronger too. Not in the aspect of her virginity, but with her fighting. She remembered the night she lost her family, how if she had been as strong as she was now she could have fought her own battles and they might still be alive. She looked at the wine that was left in her cup then how much was left in the bottle. No, she thought, there definitely wasn't enough to last her through going down that road.
Instead she sighed and muttered, "I wish I'd been stronger too." And took her last sip, thankfully Red didn't push the matter and put her cup down and volunteered to take first watch.
«»
"He has a beard now?" Bailey chuckled as she and Red drove north in an old truck they'd found. The former owners had been zombified in their seats which was why a truck full of gas was left sitting on the side of the road. It looked like they had crashed and the broken glass of the windshield had killed them, judging by the glass poking out of their bloody necks. Thankfully they'd been the old kind of zombies so she and Red had given them mercy and taken the truck; hoping it would get them across Canada and that much closer to Newmerica.
"Yeah and you know, it actually looks pretty good on him." Red told her as she worked the wheel and Bailey had shotgun.
"I just. . . I can't picture that." She replied smiling.
"Well, it just started to grow in and I guess he decided not to shave it."
"Maybe Doc rubbed off on him more than I thought." Bailey chuckled then realized all the men in their group had had beards. Garnett, Mack, Vasquez, Doc, Murphy, Sketchy and Skeezy, even that blend guy who had been hunting Tommy down in the forests of Spokane. So really, was it any wonder he'd kept his? Maybe it made him feel more like one of the guys.
"And did you like it?" she asked.
Red shrugged, "Well as long as he seemed to like it I wasn't going to say anything, and I mean, we did have bigger problems then if he has facial hair or not."
"Yeah. . . but did you like it?" she asked again and Red turned to her with a smirk.
"Back to all the personal relationship questions. Did you get into the wine and not give me any?" she accused with a laugh in her voice.
"Well someone has to be the designated driver." She replied making Red laugh more as she turned back to the road.
"That's not fair!" she giggled.
Then Bailey spotted something up ahead, "Hey, what is that?"
Red slowed the truck down as they saw a wooden sign that read, 'Altura 230 mi. Pacifica 290.5 mi. Heartland 340 mi.'
They looked at each other and Bailey shrugged, "Altura's the closest."
Then Red turned the truck to the left following the sign pointed to Altura. Bailey began to chew her bottom lip nervously.
"I hope he's there." She muttered and Red glanced at her.
"Even if he isn't he'll be okay, wherever he is."
She nodded silently as they drove on. There wasn't much out here, it was mainly forest though every now and then there would be a house, maybe some farmland but none of it looked too thriving and the buildings they passed just looked abandoned. Eventually, the soft hum of the engine started to put Bailey to sleep and she leaned on her fist as she looked back out the window again. Then her eyebrows scrunched together and she sat up straighter at what she saw in the rearview mirror.
"Red?" she asked, her tone becoming alarmed, "What is that?"
Red slowed down before she turned to look over her shoulder and her eyes got wide. "What the hell?"
Behind them high in the sky was a cloud of black. It looked like it could be a flock of birds but as it got wider and started to cover the low afternoon sun they both knew it wasn't anything natural.
"Go, go, go. Go!" Bailey urged Red as she floored it and the truck took off down the dirt road.
"How fast is it spreading?" Red asked doing her best not to lose control of the vehicle.
"Fast enough that it'll catch us." Bailey responded with her eyes still on the cloud, "We need to find a place to take shelter."
They both knew their chances of finding a place were slim, however, fate or karma or God, something had been looking out for them and a small blueish grey house came into view. Red veered off the main road onto the dirt path that led to the house. Bailey grabbed the door handle as the momentum pushed her to the side and she glanced back and saw the black cloud dissipating into smaller somethings and something black started to fall from those smaller bits. The memory of that mad scientist she saw at Zona experimenting on a zombie arm came back to her and she prayed that the skin melting substance he'd been testing wasn't what was falling from the sky now.
Red brought the truck to a screeching halt and smoke rose from the hood they'd pushed the engine so hard. They quickly grabbed their bags and weapons as they ditched the truck and ran for the house. Red dashed up the front steps and tugged at the door but it was locked. She was about to drop her bag and take her ax to it in frustration when Bailey shouted at her.
"Red! Here!" and she pointed to the door to a cellar she saw along the side of the house's foundation. She yanked it open and Red ran in before Bailey did, she took one more look at the black rain that was now blocking most of the light from the sun making the world get darker like in a thunderstorm. Then she ran in and shut the heavy cellar door behind her. Both of them waited in the dark, their hearts pounding and their minds spinning not being able to understand anything about what was going on outside.
"Do you smell that?" Red asked and Bailey sniffed. Then she coughed and so did Red. The thin windows of the basement started to patter as the black rain hit the glass but unlike rain it didn't slide down the pane easily. It stuck like mud and tinted the glass darker and darker as more of it rained down and soon the basement was even more pitch black then it had been before. Both of them continued to cough as they put the pieces together.
"It's the rain." Red said through her coughing fit, "That's the smell."
Bailey hacked and wheezed as she took Tommy's red bandana from her wrist and used it to cover her nose and mouth, "Try not to breathe it in!"
Red took her red shawl and covered the lower half of her face but the stench from the substance permeated everything and they continued to cough as it poured down around the house.
Red lost her balance and tipped over onto her knees before catching herself on her hands and Bailey slumped against the wall and slid down onto her bottom as they both passed out from the black rain.
«»
When they both came to the patter of the rain had stopped and the air was clean again.
"Are you okay?" Bailey asked as Red sat up from the cold concrete floor.
"Yeah. . . yeah I think so." She panted as she regained her awareness, "What was that?"
Bailey took a few deep breaths getting the pure oxygen to her lungs, "No idea."
Red turned to the thin window, "Do you think it's safe to go outside?"
"No." Bailey said with a shake of her head, "But we can't stay in a basement forever."
Hesitantly they both headed for the steps and opened the heavy hatch. Bailey was expecting to see the grass, trees and house covered in a layer of black but instead everything looked normal. It seemed even the dampness from the rain had dried once the sun had come back out. Bailey noticed the sun was in an entirely new position than before, it wasn't close to the horizon about to set, it looked like early morning the next day. Had they been knocked out that long? And what had that smell from the rain done to them?
When they had the courage to step outside Red headed for the truck. She tried to rev the engine a few times but it wouldn't start, they'd worked it too hard outrunning the black cloud and were now stuck back on foot again.
"At least it shouldn't be too far now." Red said trying to be hopeful.
"If that rain didn't destroy Altura." Bailey muttered to herself not wanting to bring down Red's positive outlook.
They collected their stuff and searched the house for anything useful before heading back down the road. They spent the first five miles of their trek talking about every possibility their minds could come up with to explain that cloud and whatever it had poured down on everything. Bailey was just glad it hadn't killed them, even if it had made their immediate future more confusing.
Then their conversation was cut short when they heard snarling and saw a zombie stumble out from between the trees ahead of them on the road. Both of them readied their weapons having perfected a technique for killing even the stubborn Mad Z's, long ago. The Z caught sight of them, and like every other dead thing craving brains it ran at them. But when they raised their weapons – Red's ax and Bailey's gun – the zombie stopped and recoiled holding its hands in front of its face. Both of them lowered their weapons in response, maybe it wasn't a Z? Could be an Ender. Did they have those this far north? But once their weapons were lowered the Z came charging at them again, now close enough that they could tell it was definitely a zombie. Bailey raised her gun again and the same thing happened. It was like the Z had enough awareness that it knew it was being threatened but when the threat went away its hunger took over again.
"That's strange." Red commented as Bailey walked closer keeping her gun aimed on the zombie. "Have you ever seen that before?"
"No." Bailey said with a shake of her head and her eyes keeping a sharp eye on the Z.
Red got closer too and examined the weird zombie closer, "She's afraid."
"Of what?" Bailey asked. "Zombies don't feel fear. They feel hunger. That's all."
"What do we do?" Red asked and Bailey gave her a look, "I know. But. . . this is weird."
Bailey sighed, "I lower my gun and she'll attack. That's the bottom line. She's a threat. Besides. . . would you want to be left like this?"
They both looked at the cowering zombie and knew that no one should live like that.
Bailey cocked her gun, "I give you mercy."