Her name was Mia. She’d also fought alongside Kyle and me in the Arena. Thinking back to the battle that fateful day, there was a spark that had been lit between the two of them. I remember seeing what I can only describe as an under the surface sync they shared while destroying wave after wave of the Zs. A natural connection, the hardest in life to find. I’ve often thought that, in this world, maybe that’s how true warriors fall in love… in the heat of battle.
Something about the arena, the end of the world, or maybe just loneliness pulled them together. The way Kyle’s eyes lit up when she walked into the room told me how he really felt about her… no matter whether he’d admit it to me or even himself.
“I’ll be here by the radio, making sure we keep solid contact,” Mia said.
“Is that all you radioed to tell me?” Kyle said, still smirking.
When she didn’t respond immediately, Kyle’s face grew more serious as he realized that wasn’t the response she was looking for.
“Listen, we’ll be back by sundown. I don’t think you’ll even know I’m gone,” he quickly continued. He knew that was bullshit. She had that same look in her eyes when they were together.
“Well, get that ass of yours back here safe.”
At this, Kyle smiled and simply replied, “Will do, Mia. You can count on it.”
She then turned her attention to me. “John, you better not let anything happen to that man. No heroic chances…”
The Hummer’s wheels jounced up and down as we ran through a pothole, shaking us back and forth in the truck before Kyle held the mic toward my face. “You can count on it. This is an easy run. We’ll be back before you know it,” I tried to say confidently, knowing I was lying through my teeth.
“Sure… these runs are always no problem,” she replied with a notable hint of sarcasm.
Changing the subject, I asked, “Is everything cleared up from the fire? Any new revelations about how it started?”
“We have a team on it now. The fridge causing the fire is still the ongoing theory. I’ll radio when we know more. Over.”
“OK, thanks Mia. Can you do me a favor and check in on Tyler from time to time? I’m sure Deanna could use the company, and I’d like to know if anything has changed with his health.”
“No problem, John. I’d be happy to check in on that little munchkin.”
Turning her attention back to Kyle, she spoke once more. “I’m not kidding, Kyle. Get your ass back here by sundown, or I’ll be coming out after you.”
“We have to be back soon, no other option. I’ll be seeing you when we return. Over and out,” Kyle responded.
Then the radio went silent.
Rolling over another small tree limb that had fallen across the road, we all bumped up and down in the truck. Jarvis pulled his head away from the window and looked up front toward Kyle and me. “We gotta watch out for people out here, boys. I can’t shake that feeling I got from the Jeep yesterday. Let’s stay sharp. I don’t think they’re one of the good guys, if you know what I mean.”
Fun time was over.
Rodgers shifted his shoulders toward Jarvis, raising his eyebrows before asking, “Who are the good guys, really? Are we the good guys?”
Every once in a while, Rodgers liked to let out his inner teacher. He’d challenge those around him, as if he were speaking to his students, with some sort of provocative topic that always got you thinking. The discussions would always be a reminder that there was more to his brute ready for battle external demeanor than met the naked eye.
Resting an arm on the seat in front of him, and turning to Rodgers, Jarvis responded, “I like to think so. We help people; we protect Avalon.” He was noticeably taken back by the question.
“Yeah, but are we the good guys? Who’s to say we’re good, and others are bad,” Rodgers countered. “I mean, in the end, history is always written by the victor. Doesn’t matter if he was right or wrong.”
“I don’t follow what you mean,” Kyle chimed in.
“Well, we’re all out here trying to survive. Doesn’t everybody feel like they’re on the ‘good side’? I’m just saying, I’ll bet there are a bunch of little communities out there that all think they’re the good guys.”
“That may be true, Rodgers,” Jarvis said while looking back out the window. “I can say one thing though, if you’re on our side, you’re not trying to take from others. We’ve had so many people who show up on our doorstep trying to take from us. Are we bad because we don’t let them?”
Rodgers simply replied, “Don’t know, Jarvis, seems like there really aren’t any ‘good’ sides anymore.”
Looking back at that conversation, he may have been right.
Chapter 8
My first instincts were that this was a lucky break.
We made quick work of the forty-two miles between Avalon and our final destination, and before we knew it, the overgrown walls of the elementary school were in sight. Driving around a dry and brittle rotten tree that had collapsed across what was left of the road leading up to the school, we put the Hummer into four-wheel drive to pull ourselves up the winding path.
I could hear the pickup behind us shifting into gear just as we came into the parking lot in front of the school. Quickly surveying the area, we saw a handful of creatures stumbling through tall, flourishing weeds that had managed to sprout from between the cracks of the unkempt black pavement.
We pulled past a basketball post with a rusted metal hoop and strings dangling from a half-broken backboard. My eyes landed on what remained of an aged white tent as a loose flap slapped back and forth in the wind. The tent had black spots of mold multiplying over a prominently displayed red cross that sat along a set of crippled plastic doors.
“Looks like a medical tent,” Kyle whispered, as if something was listening in the distance.
“Whatever it is, it’s long since been abandoned,” Jarvis said, peering out of the passenger side window.
Parking the Hummer, we waited until the pickup pulled up next to us. Mr. Mullet was already hopping out of the passenger seat, which he’d crammed himself into after the field incident, and up into the bed of the pickup. After briefly glancing down at the dried pool of blood at his feet, he yanked a lever on the weapon turret and pointed the barrel directly toward the front door of the school.
I reached down to place my hand on the hammer resting firmly in my belt. The sky was bright, but this place had a darkness that was clawing at my skin. Something horrible had happened here.
“You were right…” I finally let slip from my mouth, nodding over toward Rodgers.
Kyle and I had made a conscious decision to avoid places like this in the first weeks of the apocalypse. We’d heard radio broadcasts telling people to head to designated areas for food and safety. At the time, we’d figured these “Safe Zones” would just wind up being a giant meat grinder, churning up the masses for the dead to sink their teeth into. By the looks of this place now, I feared that we were once again right.
Not taking his eyes off the school, Kyle said, “No telling what’s still left stumbling around behind those walls.”
“Where did you say the medical supplies are located?” I asked, looking back at Rodgers.
“My guess is the nurse’s office… but I haven’t been inside, so we may have to do some digging.”
There was something off about Rodgers. He sat there, bouncing his oversized glove across his leg. Maybe his face was a shade paler, or his eyes were slightly wider. Either way, I hadn’t seen Rodgers look this anxious or worried before. He, usually, just had two emotions: Happy and rage. This new look on his face set my mind racing as I realized that we’d have a hell of a fight ahead of us if this place were anything like the last Safe Zone we’d encountered.