Sometimes We Ran (Book 1) Page 8

  Claire put a cracker in her mouth. I think she was stress eating. “Are we in danger? Do you think they’re hiding? Maybe they’ll come back.” She looked around nervously at the darkened aisles.

  “Easy, kiddo. I think the place is abandoned.” I gave her a little smile. “Just keep an eye out. Something doesn’t quite feel right.” After eight months of running for your life you begin to trust your gut feelings about things.

  We decided to check out the pharmacy for drugs. It was pretty wrecked like the rest of the store. Shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash and other items were in huge piles on the floor between the shelves. The medicine area was hit hard, but a lot of unopened items still remained. I also wanted to check out the office where they kept the heavy stuff, like antibiotics and other drugs. The door was open, and most of the pills and other medicines were spilled all over the floor. I also found the decayed body of the pharmacist lying near the shelves of medicine. He had a gaping chest wound, and most of his insides were splattered all over the office. Apparently, the battle had raged in the pharmacy as well.

  I moved to the shelves and found what I needed. Bottles of antibiotics sat unopened on the shelves, waiting to be used. I also found codeine-based cough syrups and other strong pain-killers. Also present were anti-depressants and other mood-altering drugs. There were bottles of pills for blood pressure, kidney problems, heart trouble, diabetes, and impotence. This place was a goldmine. I couldn’t believe our luck.

  Still kind of felt like a trap though. I couldn’t shake the bad feelings.

  I grabbed a small box and started shopping. I took a little bit of everything that I thought could help us out. Very soon the box was full of medicine. I took most of it to resupply my first-aid kit, but I also took extra to trade. Claire and I might meet other survivors who needed medicine.

  I left the impotence drugs on the shelf. “Don’t need any of those quite yet,” I said to myself with a little chuckle.

  I walked out of the office, thanking the dead pharmacist as I left. I found Claire doing a little shopping herself. She came over carrying a small box with assorted toiletries. “Look. Soap, shampoo, toothpaste and some other stuff. All the brands I use. What kind of stuff did you find?” Claire sounded like a kid on Christmas morning.

  “A few bottles of drugs, antibiotics mostly,” I said, showing her the bottles.

  “Cool. That’s just what we need.”

  “Yeah. There’s plenty more in the office.

  We took our new-found supplies over to the camping/hunting section, and established a small campsite. I found a few dry comforters and pillows and placed them on the floor. A few working battery-operated lanterns and candles were placed around our new campsite to chase away the gathering darkness. After we were done, it actually looked pretty comfortable.

  Claire and I then collected a few things for a quick meal. We looked like seasoned shoppers as we took a cart and filled it up with a few items. Peanut butter, and crackers made it into the cart. We found a few cans of hearty vegetables and stew for a main course. Most of the bread and rolls was soggy and moldy, so we skipped that aisle. We also selected some cookies and other prepackaged snacks for dessert. I also found some pretzels and corn chips and cheese in a can to snack on later. A case of bottled water and a few juice drinks rounded out the menu. This was the most food either of us had seen in a while.

  Claire also added some marshmallows. “I thought we could start a small fire at our campsite,” she said as she held up the package of snow-white puffs of sugar.

  “Okay. We’ll give it a try.”

  She also added a six-pack of high-sugar citrus soda that all the young people love to drink. “I got hooked on this stuff in college,” she said a little sheepishly. All I could do was shake my head. She better break the habit. I couldn’t afford Claire’s teeth to decay with no dentists around.

  Actually, I was looking for my own favorite beverage. While Claire wanted a little sugar rush, I was looking for something a little stronger. For the last few months, I’d had a strong craving for a beer or two. I had not been able to find any, even in all the gas stations I’d checked out on the road.

  We stopped at the stone-quiet beer cooler and took a look. I opened a case of my favorite brand and took out a bottle. I paused a minute to feel the weight of the bottle in my hand. This wasn’t just any ordinary bottle of beer: it was a reminder of simpler times when things were good and we were not running for our lives. It was a symbol of the old world.

  “Well, are you going drink it or marry it?” Claire asked, with a little laugh.

  I unscrewed the top and took a long swig. The beer was warm and a little frothy, but it tasted good. All at once, memories of my old life washed over me in a torrent. Football tailgate parties, holiday gatherings, and simple times with friends all came to my mind. It was a little overwhelming. Tears began to well up in my eyes.

  “Man, that’s good. I haven’t had a beer in a long time.” I downed the rest of the beer, and chucked the bottle into the darkness.

  “Can I have one?” Claire asked, reaching into the open case to take a bottle.

  “Depends. Are you old enough to drink?”

  “Does that really matter? The world came to an end. I think the drinking laws are suspended,” she said as she tried to open the bottle.

  I took the bottle from her hand. “Of course it matters. The world may have ended, but I still won’t corrupt a minor.” I twisted the top off the bottle and handed it to Claire.

  “Well, for the record, I’m twenty-two years old and legal to drink,” she said defiantly, as she took a swig of the beer. Twenty-two years old? I really was nearly twice her age. Suddenly I felt ancient.

  Claire finished swallowing the beer and put the open bottle back in the cooler. “Actually, I don’t like beer. I am more of a wine-cooler girl,” she said as she walked away. I grabbed a few loose bottles of my brand of beer and a few wine coolers and put them in the cart with the food.

  We walked back to our campsite, and got our meal together. A few cans of stew cooked on an improvised camp stove, followed by peanut butter and cracker sandwiches with water and juice and some assorted snacks were on the menu. We both ate like it was our last meal on Earth. Who knows when we might come across this much food again? More than once I had to tell Claire to slow down or she might get sick. It was great to feel full again after so many weeks of near-starvation on the road.

  After the meal, I dragged a portable fire pit over to our campsite. It was the kind you put on the patio and sit around with friends sharing stories. Claire held a flashlight up so I could read the instructions and start a fire. After a few false starts, I had a small fire going. It had gotten pretty chilly since the sun went down, so even this little fire was a welcome addition to our camp. Claire thought it was cool, and broke out the marshmallows.

  After a great meal topped off by a few marshmallows, I opened a wine cooler for Claire and one of the beers for myself and settled down for the night. Conversation was light and idle, with many jokes and a few shared laughs. It was a nice change of pace from all the usual terror.

  Claire played with a broken cellphone she found nearby. “I really do miss my phone,” she said wistfully. “Actually, what I really miss is texting my friends. John, did you have a cool phone?”

  “Oh yeah. It was a monster with a big screen. The battery was always running down. I think I was charging it every day. My whole life was on that phone.”

  Claire giggled a little. “I can sympathize. I was always looking for an outlet for my charger. Do you know what happened to your phone? Mine simply ran out of juice.”

  “I know exactly what happened to it. I left it in my abandoned car at the shelter. It’s probably still sitting in the console a useless lump.” Claire and I took another swig of our drinks. Funny how things work out; before the world fell apart, things like cellphones, laptops, and cars were some of the most important things in the world to some people. Now they sit useless, not eve
n worthy of trade. I guess in this new world, if you can’t eat it or kill a zombie with it, you don’t need to own it anymore. Weird how things can change so quickly.

  Claire put the dead cellphone aside. “So John. Before the world went to crap, what did you do for a living?” Before I could answer, she interrupted me. “Wait, let me guess. With your shooting skills and knowledge of anti-zombie tactics, you must have been a cop, or maybe a soldier. Right?”

  I laughed a little. “Actually, I worked in the telecom business. I designed cell tower sites and other things related to voice and data networks. In fact, just before the outbreak, I had gone freelance.” I fished out my wallet, another useless artifact from the pre-zombie world, and retrieved one of my business cards. I smoothed out the card, and handed it to Claire.

  “Cool, you had your own business. Was it successful?” she asked, reading the card.

  “Not too bad. It was actually picking up a little. By the way, keep the card. You might need my services one day.” Claire broke out into a fit of giggles.

  After she composed herself, she said, “Telecom design, huh? Well, how did you learn to kill zombies and save college girls?”

  “Well, I didn’t know anything at first. I picked up a few things from people I met, and learned a few things on my own.” I raised my beer to my lips and took a sip. My wedding ring reflected the light from the fire.

  Claire noticed my ring. “I didn’t know you were married.”

  I looked at my hand. “Oh yeah. I meant to take that off at some point,” I mumbled.

  “Is she beautiful? I imagine you have good taste in women.” Claire said, scooting a little closer.

  “Oh yeah, she was very beautiful. She was also the best part of my life in the old days.” I retrieved Gia’s picture from my pocket and handed it to Claire. “Her name was Gia.”

  She held up her flashlight to take a look. “Wow. She’s gorgeous. Great hair. How did you two meet?”

  “We met online. Some of my friends thought I wasn’t dating enough, so they put my profile on one of those online dating sites. It was a joke at first, but then she emailed me. We had a date a few days later. A couple of months later, we were married. We were together for two and a half years.” Remembering Gia was causing tears to well up in my eyes. I hoped I wouldn’t start bawling in front of Claire.

  Claire handed the picture back. “She looks like a great lady. Do you know what happened to her?” she said in a low tone.

  “I don’t know. I suppose she’s gone, or one of those things out there walking around.” That did it. I could feel tears beginning to fall down my cheeks. I was actually going to cry a little in the darkness.

  Claire watched the tears roll down my cheeks. After a few minutes of silence, she leaned in and gave me a kiss. It wasn’t a greeting-a-favorite-uncle kind of kiss, but a real kiss. It was a kiss usually reserved for men going away to war or something. Claire’s lips felt cool and smooth. She was a pretty good kisser.

  After a few seconds, our lips parted. We sat there for a few minutes staring at each other in the semi-darkness. I could hear my old heart hammering in my chest, and my face felt hot. Claire’s kiss had set a few things in motion.

  Claire kind of stared at me, with a little half-smile on her face. A deep red blush started to spread across her cheeks. She leaned back in for another kiss, but I put my hand up and stopped her. “No. Claire. We shouldn’t. I mean, we could, but it’s not right.”

  Claire stopped. The blush got deeper. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” She stood up, grabbed a flashlight, and quickly strode off into the darkness of the store.

  I sat there in our dark campsite for a few minutes. My lips still tingled from Claire’s kiss. The girl could really knock ‘em dead. The last time I kissed a woman was my wife Gia about eight months ago. It was tempting to think about Claire in that way, but she was far too young.

  I stood up, grabbed another flashlight, and attempted to find Claire. The store was too dark and dangerous to be alone.

  “Claire! Where are you?” I called into the dank expanse of the store.

  There was no answer at first. After a few seconds, a thin voice came back at me from the darkness. “Over here. Bedding section.”

  I found her sitting on a mattress floor model. The sign said it was the “Comfort Star”, and that it was currently on sale. I walked over, and sat down heavily next to her. The “Comfort Star” lived up to its name. It was really soft and comfortable, but it smelled horrible.

  Claire didn’t look at me, but she began to speak. “I’m sorry, John. I think it was the wine cooler. I don’t know why I did that. Never could hold my alcohol. I thought I saw something.”

  “It’s okay, Claire.”

  “No, it’s not okay.” She turned to look at me. Her eyes were red from crying. “I always do this. My brain shuts off, my hormones take over, and I turn stupid. You must think I’m some kind of a slut.”

  “You’re not a slut. You’re not stupid either.”

  “Still doesn’t give me the right to try and make out with you.”

  I sighed. Claire was still so young, not much older than a teenager. I remember when I was like that. Full of emotions and hormones, I often didn’t make the right choices either. Add zombies and the end of the world to that and it could get a little overwhelming. I felt sorry for Claire. She had to go through all of this while it was still early in her life. It didn’t seem fair.

  I chose my next words carefully.

  “Actually, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about it. You’re pretty easy on the eyes.” She looked up, and started to listen. “It’s just that I’m almost twenty years older than you. It wouldn’t feel right to me. Zombie apocalypse or not, I just don’t like dating women who are almost young enough to be my daughter. I think of you more like a friend or a buddy. We watch each other’s backs. You get what I mean?”

  Claire smiled. It was good to see her smile. “Yeah. You’re right. Of course you’re right.” She put her arm around me. “Friends. That sounds good.”

  “I guess we can chalk it up to the wine coolers, the dark store, and my rugged good looks. Right?” I was joking of course.

  Claire giggled a little. “Right. Still pretty embarrassing though. Can we never speak of it again?”

  “Right after I tell everyone I made out with a twenty-two-year-old college girl.”

  Claire stood up and punched me in the arm. “Very funny, John.”

  I rubbed my arm where she hit me. The girl could pack a punch too. “Now, let’s get back to the campsite. It’s dark and scary over here, and this mattress smells like boiled ass.”

  “Okay.” We stood up, walked over to our campsite, and continued our evening. A few hours later we both fell into a deep sleep to end our day. Another day of being alive.

  Chapter 12

  A Short Rest Before the Horror

  I smelled pancakes. Why did I smell pancakes?

  Slowly, I opened my eyes and tried to focus. The long night on the cold concrete floor had done wonders for my aging joints and back. Everything was hurting, including my head. The multiple beers the night before were not a great idea either.

  Claire, the morning person, decided I had slept long enough. “Time for pancakes,” she said, as she shoved a paper plate with what kind of looked like pancakes under my nose.

  It appeared that Claire had put our kiss last night behind her. Another great thing about her: she was very adaptable. “How in the hell did you make pancakes?” I asked, taking a bite. The pancakes were a little misshapen and doughy, but they were actually pretty good.

  “I worked something out. I found some pancake mix and added a little water, and then cooked them on the camp stove. Cool, huh.?”

  Cool, indeed. Claire was turning out to be a great asset to our team. “Sorry there’s no syrup. I couldn’t find any that wasn’t spoiled. All the syrup smelled pretty bad,” she said, as she dug into her own stack.

  “T
hey’re great. A little raw, but not bad,” I answered, shoving silver-dollar-sized pancakes into my mouth.

  “Glad you like them. I thought we needed a good breakfast. My next batch will have chocolate chips.”

  I watched as Claire started to prepare the new batch of pancakes. She carefully mixed the chocolate chips, the pancake mix, and water into a discarded plastic container. Then she poured the soupy mixture on her improvised grill. As they solidified, Claire used a spatula to flip them, blowing wisps of hair out of her face at the same time. It was downright adorable. When the world was normal, she must have been a real heart breaker at her college. We had only been together for a couple of days, but I was beginning to really like having her around. Besides, an apocalypse is much more fun when you have a friend.

  Claire and I sat in a busted-up store at the end of the world and ate chocolate chip pancakes. Even though the rest of the world was gone, we felt like the luckiest people in the world.

  After our bellies were full, Claire asked her usual question. “What’s the plan, Tiger?”

  I had just about given up on her calling me “Tiger.” The nickname had stuck. “Well, first we’ll get a few supplies together and fill our backpacks just in case we have to bug out. Then, we can check out the rest of the mall. I saw an exercise place a few doors down. They may have showers where we can take a bath.”

  “Sounds good,” Claire said, her eyes sparkling. She really was a morning person.

  We gathered food and bottled water and filled up our backpacks. We chose things that would keep, like canned food and other dry packed foods. We made sure we found some oatmeal cream pies as well. Claire threw in some cans of her citrus soda and some pancake mix. I was tempted to bring a beer or two, but I decided that it wasn’t essential to survival. Between our two backpacks, and with some careful rationing, we had about two to three weeks of food and water.

  Next, we moved to pharmaceuticals and other assorted toiletries. I refilled my first-aid kit with aspirin and other pain-killers from the box I filled the day before. I also added a tube of antibiotic ointment, some assorted bandages, and other medicines that might help us on the road. I also added a small scissor and tweezers set to my kit as well. I assembled a first-aid kit for Claire. It was good to have redundant supplies in case we got separated. I also grabbed a little bottle of bleach for water purification.