Rose.
Javier reached for the glove compartment by Rose’s knees and pulled out a crumpled up map. “You tell me. I’m driving, you do the directions.”
Rose took the map and studied it for a moment. “Oh, I see. I know.” She rolled down her window, letting in a flurry of rain, and threw the map out.
“What the fuck are you doing?” asked Javier.
“Me?” asked Rose as she wound the closed the window. “Why ask me? I’m just the pretty little housewife, right? I cook and I clean, and I fuck when I’m told to, but I really don’t know how to do anything more than that.”
Javier looked at Rose. She was smirking, as if she knew the answer to everything. If he wasn’t driving he would’ve wiped that cute smirk from her face, but as it was he had to keep both hands on the wheel. The road was smooth and straight, but the storm was making it difficult, and he was trying to monitor the road ahead for stumblers.
“How about, what the fuck are you doing?” Rose put a hand upon Javier’s thigh. “We had it all, you know. Now it’s all fucked. We could’ve made something of that place, but you had to get all buddy-buddy with them. If it was just us two we might have been able to deal with it, but with so many of them dumb fucks running around, we had no chance. I don’t know what’s got into you, Javier.”
“Keep your God damn voice down,” said Javier. “Don’t blow our cover now. They hear you talking like that, and we’ll find ourselves facing a mutiny. I don’t want to stop this van and open up the back door to find a gun in my face. You?”
“Do you know anything? Jesus, Gabe , the redhead, Erik, he’s a fucking cop. A cop ! We should just off them now.”
Javier swerved the van around a corner and narrowly missed crashing into a stationary tractor that had been left halfway out of a ditch.
“I don’t care what he was before. He’s nothing. All of them. I’m in charge now. They follow me. If we play this right, then they follow us. Get it? You want to get out there, get your hands dirty? Be my guest. Otherwise, listen up. Forgetting the little girl, we have eight people running with us now. That’s a lot of people to watch our backs. Remember the trouble we had getting out of Jeffersontown? Remember Cindy?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“We were forcing it. This is much easier. These people need us. They want us. We string them along just enough to keep them interested, and we have an easy ride. I’m telling you, Mara , that with their help we can get to Canada and start over. Set up home. Really make a go of it.”
“Really?”
Javier could see the hope in Rose’s eyes. By the time they got to Canada and found his brother he intended to be flying solo again. He would use them along the way and dump them when he was tired of them or they became useless. Until then, everyone was going to be at his disposal, and that included Rose. All he had to do was make the right noises, say what they wanted to hear, and he could get people to do whatever he wanted.
“You know,” said Javier quietly. “There’s no reason we can’t keep the girl. You can do the parents. Start with the cop if you want.”
Rose bit her lip. “You’re my eagle. Forever. I’m sorry I doubted you. I just wanted you to fill me in. I thought something must be going on, but it was confusing, and…”
“Never mind that now,” said Javier. “Just look out for a road sign. We need to get out of this storm, some place safe and warm, preferably somewhere without a pack of ravenous zombies on our asses.”
Rose smiled. “On it.”
Javier knew what she was thinking about. She would already be planning who to kill first. He had had to rein her in lately, but as long as she took her time, she could have some fun. He was going to have some fun too. Just for a short while. Once they had regrouped and thrashed out a plan, he could get on the road north. In a couple of days they would be in Canada, and he could free
Javier reached for the glove compartment by Rose’s knees and pulled out a crumpled up map. “You tell me. I’m driving, you do the directions.”
Rose took the map and studied it for a moment. “Oh, I see. I know.” She rolled down her window, letting in a flurry of rain, and threw the map out.
“What the fuck are you doing?” asked Javier.
“Me?” asked Rose as she wound the closed the window. “Why ask me? I’m just the pretty little housewife, right? I cook and I clean, and I fuck when I’m told to, but I really don’t know how to do anything more than that.”
Javier looked at Rose. She was smirking, as if she knew the answer to everything. If he wasn’t driving he would’ve wiped that cute smirk from her face, but as it was he had to keep both hands on the wheel. The road was smooth and straight, but the storm was making it difficult, and he was trying to monitor the road ahead for stumblers.
“How about, what the fuck are you doing?” Rose put a hand upon Javier’s thigh. “We had it all, you know. Now it’s all fucked. We could’ve made something of that place, but you had to get all buddy-buddy with them. If it was just us two we might have been able to deal with it, but with so many of them dumb fucks running around, we had no chance. I don’t know what’s got into you, Javier.”
“Keep your God damn voice down,” said Javier. “Don’t blow our cover now. They hear you talking like that, and we’ll find ourselves facing a mutiny. I don’t want to stop this van and open up the back door to find a gun in my face. You?”
“Do you know anything? Jesus, Gabe , the redhead, Erik, he’s a fucking cop. A cop ! We should just off them now.”
Javier swerved the van around a corner and narrowly missed crashing into a stationary tractor that had been left halfway out of a ditch.
“I don’t care what he was before. He’s nothing. All of them. I’m in charge now. They follow me. If we play this right, then they follow us. Get it? You want to get out there, get your hands dirty? Be my guest. Otherwise, listen up. Forgetting the little girl, we have eight people running with us now. That’s a lot of people to watch our backs. Remember the trouble we had getting out of Jeffersontown? Remember Cindy?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“We were forcing it. This is much easier. These people need us. They want us. We string them along just enough to keep them interested, and we have an easy ride. I’m telling you, Mara , that with their help we can get to Canada and start over. Set up home. Really make a go of it.”
“Really?”
Javier could see the hope in Rose’s eyes. By the time they got to Canada and found his brother he intended to be flying solo again. He would use them along the way and dump them when he was tired of them or they became useless. Until then, everyone was going to be at his disposal, and that included Rose. All he had to do was make the right noises, say what they wanted to hear, and he could get people to do whatever he wanted.
“You know,” said Javier quietly. “There’s no reason we can’t keep the girl. You can do the parents. Start with the cop if you want.”
Rose bit her lip. “You’re my eagle. Forever. I’m sorry I doubted you. I just wanted you to fill me in. I thought something must be going on, but it was confusing, and…”
“Never mind that now,” said Javier. “Just look out for a road sign. We need to get out of this storm, some place safe and warm, preferably somewhere without a pack of ravenous zombies on our asses.”
Rose smiled. “On it.”
Javier knew what she was thinking about. She would already be planning who to kill first. He had had to rein her in lately, but as long as she took her time, she could have some fun. He was going to have some fun too. Just for a short while. Once they had regrouped and thrashed out a plan, he could get on the road north. In a couple of days they would be in Canada, and he could free
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