Twenty

He picked me up once more and started running south.  I didn’t turn my face into his shirt this time.  I couldn’t stop thinking about what reaching the city would mean for him.

“What will you do after we reach Tinker, and I find my family?” I asked, looking up at him.

He stared straight ahead, a muscle in his jaw twitching.

“Tell me about your family,” he said, instead of answering.

“I love them, and they’re fun to be around.  My mom is a hobby jumper.  She’ll try anything. Sometimes the hobbies stick.  Sometimes she loses interest.  There was one summer we tried noodling—that’s where you fish with just your hand. Ryan was really into it.  He loved it. I wasn’t as into touching the fish as he was.”

“What hobby do you enjoy?”

I smiled at the memory the question brought up.

“When Ryan turned thirteen, my mom decided we were both old enough to try Fire Poi.  It’s kinda like dancing with fire on strings.  It’s beautiful to watch and makes you feel so graceful.  That was my favorite. I kept it up until I went to college.”

We were quiet for a few more roads as I remembered the time before the world went to hell.

“And your father? What did he think of your mother’s hobbies?”

“He has stars in his eyes when it comes to her.”

“How did his eyes not burn out if he had stars in them? Are stars not balls of gas in the sky?”

“I didn’t mean it literally. It’s just a saying. It means to him, she couldn’t really do any wrong. He loves her exactly how she is.”

He remained quiet, and I gave into the lash of the wind and turned my head into his shirt.

It wasn’t long before Drav slowed, and I looked up.  Spread before us were the sprawling lots signaling the outskirts of the city.

“You can set me down,” I said quietly.  He seemed more willing to listen this time and set me on my feet.

Together, we started the hide and sprint method of working our way into the city.  With each block, the number of infected wandering around increased. Although I wanted to avoid the densely infected areas, the fastest way to Tinker was to cut straight through them. I wasn’t willing to lose another day. I’d been too late too many times.

Without speaking, I signaled the destination for the next mad dash to Drav.  He shook his head and nodded down the road.  I waited, watching the houses.  A small group of infected suddenly ran from around the side of a house almost a block down.  A chill raced down my spine as they slowed as a group and continued down the street toward us.

Drav laid a hand on my back, the only thing that kept me from freaking out completely.

Why were they moving as a group?  They hadn’t done that before.

In silence, we crouched in the shadows of a truck as the herd shambled past.  We didn’t move until they suddenly sprinted across the yard two houses down.  When they disappeared, I looked at Drav.

He slowly shook his head.  No talking.  Got it.  Then, he lifted me into his arms.

After that, we began a different game of run and sprint.  The infected’s hearing had grown more acute in just a few days.  Most now moved in herds, about four to six in size.  A few shambled individually, which I took as a sign of being newly infected.  I spotted a single infected person dressed in military fatigues further away and swallowed past a lump of fear.

Empty houses lined the streets. Sheets no longer hung out the windows but lay on lawns or bundled up on the curbs.  A few cars still sat in driveways or on the side of the road, but the sight of cars grew a lot less frequent. That meant there’d been human movement since we’d left. That had to be a good sign.  However, the continued presence of the herds dampened my hope.

Oklahoma City was a shell of the city it once was. Dead.

Halfway through the city, the herds of infected we encountered grew larger, making progress more difficult. Even with me in his arms, Drav made no sound as he moved.  I gratefully clung to him, letting him navigate through the danger.

We entered a neighborhood that must have been scheduled for garbage pickup on the day everything went to hell.  Bins lay tipped over in driveways and on lawns.  Litter cluttered the sides of the road and against the houses.

Drav unexpectedly sprinted toward a car and put me down.  Without needing to be told, I squatted beside him and watched the end of the street where he was staring.

A herd of at least twenty infected shuffled into view on a cross road.  Men and women.  Even a child.  They all moved the same…as if coordinated.  They turned onto our road, and I tried to control my breathing and remain calm.  It proved difficult, though. Only Drav’s presence next to me kept me from complete panic as they drew closer with every shuffling step.

The car’s trunk obstructed my view of their progress, which was probably for the best.  Each scrape of their approach made me flinch.  Drav’s hand settled on my shoulder.

One of the shamblers kicked a discarded bottle which rolled under the car and stopped by my foot. The shuffling stopped. My gaze locked with Drav’s. My eyes widened while my breath remained caught in my throat. I started to reach for him, ready for him to take off with me but the shuffling resumed down the road.

I released a quiet breath and offered Drav a relieved smile. Tension lingered around his eyes as he gave me a tight smile in return.  Neither of us moved.

My need to find my family, to make sure they were safe, was putting both of us at risk.  I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could make it to Tinker without Drav’s help.  But, I was smart enough to know he wouldn’t be able to take me right to the front door.

The other healthy humans at Tinker probably wouldn’t take too kindly to a shadow man. Especially if Charles had made it back. A shiver ran down my spine. The last time I saw Charles, he had shot at me. Yeah, in his own morbid way he had been trying to save me because he thought death favorable over being taken by a demon. That mindset just reinforced why I couldn’t take Drav with me to Tinker. I didn’t want to see him hurt. Yet, as I looked at him, I knew he would resist leaving my side when the time came.

Once the herd of infected disappeared, I jerked my chin toward the fenced in, lit house across the street. After that close call, I needed a few minutes to calm down and let the shaking stop.  Drav nodded and picked me up.  In seconds, we stood by the back door.  The lock had already been broken.  Drav eased it open and moved inside.  I waited until he came back and motioned for me to enter.

“I need to use the bathroom,” I said softly after he closed the door.

He followed me around the corner and stayed in the hall while I shut the door.  With all the stealth we’d been using, the sound of me peeing made me cringe, and I hoped the house was well-insulated.  I didn’t want to be trapped inside, surrounded by a pack of infected.

Not daring to flush, I washed my hands and opened the door.

“Are you hungry?” Drav asked quietly.

“No.  I just want to get to Tinker.  We don’t have much time until the sun comes up.”

I would feel better if he could at least get me to the edge of the compound, but I also didn’t want to leave him stranded in the sunlight.

“Hang on a sec.”

I went to the kitchen and rummaged through the drawers in the buffet to see if they had any sunglasses stashed there. I found a pair of reflective aviators…a much better fit than the sparkly, glammed up glasses I’d found him the first time in the city. I turned and discovered him right behind me.

“Found you a new pair of sunglasses.” I offered them up.

Drav leaned down, and I placed the glasses on his face. My fingertips brushed against his cheeks. I swallowed.  My reflection looked back at me. Wayward strands of my hair stuck out at odd ends.

“They look good on you,” I said with a smile.

He didn’t comment, just held his hand out for me.

Taking Drav’s hand, I followed him to the door while an anxious excitement prickled over my skin. It felt strange not holing up somewhere for the approaching day. But we were so close. Even if my new night-time was slowly approaching, the stress and exhaustion that had pulled at me, melted away. Soon I’d be with my parents and Ryan. I wasn’t sure I would ever let them out of my sight again.

The moment we stepped outside, Drav released my hand and caught me up in his arms. He looked down at me, his expression subdued, and some of my excitement faded as his words came back to me. He’d said he had been lonely but that he hadn’t known it until he’d met me.  Yet, he would willingly let me go and return to that loneliness because I’d asked him to.  My heart hurt for him.

He leaned toward me.  The gentle curve of his lips held my attention.  A rush of hot and cold zipped through me the closer he came.  The world narrowed to the feel of his warm breath caressing my skin.  My heart beat wildly in anticipation, any fear or doubt completely forgotten. At the last moment, he tilted his head and briefly set his forehead on mine. Regret consumed me.  Then, I gently cupped his cheek and returned his version of a hug.

He exhaled heavily, lifted his head, then took a running start to jump the fence.  He didn’t set me on my feet.  Safe in his arms, we left the subdivision and made our way through the rest of the city, clearing the last of the houses well before sunrise.

Beside the road that led to Tinker, he stopped and let me walk.  The infected out here were scarce, and we reached the golf course near the military base without incident.  As we stood in the shadows of the trees, a small, pessimistic part of my brain wondered if we would find the military base under attack by the infected.  But that wasn’t the case.

Tinker lay quietly before us, the area lit by so many utility lights that Drav squinted behind his sunglasses.

The infected weren’t around but neither, it seemed, were the humans.

“It looks empty,” I said softly.

“It does.”

Empty meant safe for me to go the rest of the way on my own.  I studied his profile as he continued to watch the airstrip and the buildings beyond.

“I would have never made it to the cabin or back to here without you,” I said, with an aching heart.  “Thank you for looking out for me.  I hope you find your friends.”  I hugged him spontaneously.  His arms immediately wrapped around me in return.  How had a creature so alien and frightening become so comforting?

When I moved to pull back, he was a little slower to release me.

“I don’t want to wait anymore, Drav.”  Dragging out leaving would only make it harder for him.  For both of us.

“It’s time for me to go.”