window.
“What are you doing?” Panic gripped Rab’s tone and he caught my arm.
“I’m going to yell.”
“And get shot?”
“I’m staying on this side of the stuff.”
“That doesn’t really matter.”
“Says who?”
“Dark Forces 6: Humanity’s Last Hope.”
“I’m taking advice from a video game?”
“You got a better idea?”
“Yeah, I’m going to see if there’s anything alive.”
“Bad idea.”
“Thanks, Monsieur Mario Brothers, for that prediction. Can you do something useful, please, and find us water in the back?”
Rabbit shook his head. “I’m not getting out of this car.”
“Climb over.” I sighed. Unhooked my seat belt.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting out so they can see I’m not sick.”
“Tastier with ketchup that way.” Rabbit grabbed my shirt. “I will leave you here if they drag you away. I am
not
brave.”
“I’m not going to be eaten by zombies.”
“Just consider it a warning.”
“Fine. Let go of me.” I opened the car door and stepped into the heat. The sun baked everything under her rays. I saw heat rippling and felt my scalp prickle. I smelled putrefying flesh and warm sewage. “Hello?” I called at the top of my voice. “Anyone alive?”
I felt like an idiot. But I didn’t like this place. There was something wrong. Something off.
“Come on, Dia.”
“In a minute, I said.”
“I don’t like it.” Rabbit held out a bottle of water over the car door. “We can make it to the next place to get gas—let’s just go on. Someone didn’t want people going in there—I think we should respect that and get the hell out of here.”
A pop sounded, like a car backfiring. The crash of breaking glass forced my feet back.
“Nadia, they’re shooting at us!”
I jumped back into the Jeep and floored it.
For miles neither of us spoke. Breaking the silence, Rab said in a small voice, “I guess we’re not the only survivors.”
For the first time I wondered if that was really a good thing.
Maybe there are worse things than zombies to worry about?
We passed through Four Lakes, and it was clearly close enough that anything of value had been ransacked andcollected by the Cheney crazies. There were no cars visible. The gas gauge dipped slowly lower. Driving through neighborhoods that looked trashed would only waste gas.
What if we run out? What then?
“We keep going.” I nodded, speaking aloud.
“I don’t know that I want to go into Spokane.” Rabbit studied the map in his lap.
“I don’t either, but I’m not sure what choice we have. We have to find gas or we’re going to be walking.” I sped up, hoping that we’d come across an answer if I went fast enough.
“Take the next exit!” Rabbit yelled in excitement.
“Spokane International Airport? We can’t take a plane.” I rolled my eyes.
“No, but lots of people went to airports, right? And left their cars? Isn’t there a parking lot or something we can raid?”
“That’s brilliant.” I grabbed his shoulder and shook him.
“Thank you!” Rab smiled.
Besides, there’s not a lot of supplies and stuff to guard there—low crazy-low corpse factor, right?
I was beginning to understand that assumptions were a bad idea in this world.
I bypassed the parking garage and instead took the exit toward outdoor parking. Fewer places to get trapped. And we could go to the parking garage if we needed to. Monster trucks—the kind with chipped paint, gun racks, and hay in the back—were the vehicle du jour. The good thing was they were easy to siphon gas from, and we were able to fill the Jeep and the extra gas cans.
“Nadia, that’s the same Jeep.” Rab pointed.
I shrugged, not paying any attention.
“They have a rack on top and a bike rack on the back.”
I glanced up. “So?”
“So we can put more gas cans on top, maybe other stuff, too? Right?”
“That’s really smart,” I said. “Any idea how to get them off there and onto ours? Or I guess we could just
“What are you doing?” Panic gripped Rab’s tone and he caught my arm.
“I’m going to yell.”
“And get shot?”
“I’m staying on this side of the stuff.”
“That doesn’t really matter.”
“Says who?”
“Dark Forces 6: Humanity’s Last Hope.”
“I’m taking advice from a video game?”
“You got a better idea?”
“Yeah, I’m going to see if there’s anything alive.”
“Bad idea.”
“Thanks, Monsieur Mario Brothers, for that prediction. Can you do something useful, please, and find us water in the back?”
Rabbit shook his head. “I’m not getting out of this car.”
“Climb over.” I sighed. Unhooked my seat belt.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting out so they can see I’m not sick.”
“Tastier with ketchup that way.” Rabbit grabbed my shirt. “I will leave you here if they drag you away. I am
not
brave.”
“I’m not going to be eaten by zombies.”
“Just consider it a warning.”
“Fine. Let go of me.” I opened the car door and stepped into the heat. The sun baked everything under her rays. I saw heat rippling and felt my scalp prickle. I smelled putrefying flesh and warm sewage. “Hello?” I called at the top of my voice. “Anyone alive?”
I felt like an idiot. But I didn’t like this place. There was something wrong. Something off.
“Come on, Dia.”
“In a minute, I said.”
“I don’t like it.” Rabbit held out a bottle of water over the car door. “We can make it to the next place to get gas—let’s just go on. Someone didn’t want people going in there—I think we should respect that and get the hell out of here.”
A pop sounded, like a car backfiring. The crash of breaking glass forced my feet back.
“Nadia, they’re shooting at us!”
I jumped back into the Jeep and floored it.
For miles neither of us spoke. Breaking the silence, Rab said in a small voice, “I guess we’re not the only survivors.”
For the first time I wondered if that was really a good thing.
Maybe there are worse things than zombies to worry about?
We passed through Four Lakes, and it was clearly close enough that anything of value had been ransacked andcollected by the Cheney crazies. There were no cars visible. The gas gauge dipped slowly lower. Driving through neighborhoods that looked trashed would only waste gas.
What if we run out? What then?
“We keep going.” I nodded, speaking aloud.
“I don’t know that I want to go into Spokane.” Rabbit studied the map in his lap.
“I don’t either, but I’m not sure what choice we have. We have to find gas or we’re going to be walking.” I sped up, hoping that we’d come across an answer if I went fast enough.
“Take the next exit!” Rabbit yelled in excitement.
“Spokane International Airport? We can’t take a plane.” I rolled my eyes.
“No, but lots of people went to airports, right? And left their cars? Isn’t there a parking lot or something we can raid?”
“That’s brilliant.” I grabbed his shoulder and shook him.
“Thank you!” Rab smiled.
Besides, there’s not a lot of supplies and stuff to guard there—low crazy-low corpse factor, right?
I was beginning to understand that assumptions were a bad idea in this world.
I bypassed the parking garage and instead took the exit toward outdoor parking. Fewer places to get trapped. And we could go to the parking garage if we needed to. Monster trucks—the kind with chipped paint, gun racks, and hay in the back—were the vehicle du jour. The good thing was they were easy to siphon gas from, and we were able to fill the Jeep and the extra gas cans.
“Nadia, that’s the same Jeep.” Rab pointed.
I shrugged, not paying any attention.
“They have a rack on top and a bike rack on the back.”
I glanced up. “So?”
“So we can put more gas cans on top, maybe other stuff, too? Right?”
“That’s really smart,” I said. “Any idea how to get them off there and onto ours? Or I guess we could just
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