Existing Dead

stuffed more things into Eddie’s robot themed knapsack.

“Are you going to take my backpack, Daddy?” Eddie asked from behind them, Kyle turned just in time to see Eddie’s eyes water.

“I am, Sport, is that okay? I can look for something else if you want me to. I thought you would be okay with me taking this. Y’know, so I can have something of yours to keep near me,” Kyle said as he reached into his pocket. “I’ll tell you what, let me hold on to your backpack and I’ll let you hold on to my lucky four leaf-clover keychain.”

“Really?” Eddie asked with delight. Even though it was just a fake four-leaf clover encased in plastic, he loved it.

“Yeah, really.” Kyle took the keychain off the metal ring and placed it in Eddie’s cupped hand. The boy closed his hand and put the four-leaf clover in his pocket. Kyle stared back at the small table where he continued packing a few bags of chips and some bottles of water.

“So what are you gonna go do?” Mary asked.

“Nothing that concerns you,” Kyle snapped. He wasn’t in the mood to be asked a million questions. There was nothing that he could say that would get Mary off his back.

“Well, if it’s something that’s going to make you leave your son, then, yes, it does.”

“I’m glad you said it like that because if it was just you and me in here, I would have left your ass a long time ago. I probably wouldn’t even have let you in here. I would have left you outside so they, the disgusting freaks outside, could get you,” Kyle said, not really realizing the impact that those comments would make on Eddie.

And as if on cue, Eddie spoke up, “You’re not going to protect Mommy from the bad people anymore?”

“I didn’t mean that, Eddie.”

“Well, what did you mean, Kyle?” Mary responded. Her eyes turned red with anger. The vein that always appeared on her forehead when she was mad began to make an entrance.

Kyle felt trapped. He was being cornered by his wife and son. “Why don’t you go put on your headphones and play your video game, okay, Sport?” Kyle said.

“Sure, Dad,” Eddie replied and walked to his chair. The handheld video console and headphones were on a countertop next to the chair. He grabbed the earphones and put them on.

As soon as he saw Eddie playing his game happily, Kyle continued, “You know what I meant, Mary. Face it, I don’t love you, and I know for a fact that you don’t love me. The only reason we’re together is because of Eddie.” He stuffed a change of clothes into the backpack. “If he wasn’t here, we would have gone our separate ways a long time ago.”

“So is that what you want now? To go our separate ways? Jesus fucking Christ, Kyle. We’re in the middle of the fucking apocalypse and you’re letting our issues get in the way.”

“Well, maybe I have to. The world looks like it’s ending so this is my only chance.”

“You’re only chance to do what? What is it that’s so important that you would leave your son and me behind?”

“We already went over this, Mary. I wanted to leave you a long time ago, but Eddie always made me stay. I never got the chance to tell you, but I filed for divorce a day before the dead started coming back to life.” Mary was about to interrupt, but Kyle kept going. “I was going to tell you the next day, but I had to start worrying about protecting Eddie. I did what I said I was going to do. He’s safe down here. No one is getting in. Those metal doors are welded shut and the only way out is through the vent I dug. Both of you will be safe here. I’ll only be gone a few days, maybe a little more.” He paused for a moment.

“You filed for divorce?” was all she said, cold and stern.

“I just told you I did,” he replied.

“Where’s the paperwork? I wanna make this easier for you to leave.”

Kyle turned and walked to a small work desk. He opened a drawer and took out a manila folder. He walked back to Mary. “Here,” he said and tossed the folder onto the table.

“I’m going to tell you this right now, Kyle,” she said searching for a pen. “If I sign these papers, I’m never going to let you see Eddie again when the world goes back to normal. He doesn’t need a father who’s going to leave him behind for no reason.”

“If you try to keep him from me, then I’ll take you to court and we’ll let a judge decide who gets him. But keep in mind, Mary, I’m not the one with a drug history, I’m not the one with a criminal background, I’m not the one without a job, and I’m not the one threatening you with Eddie!” Kyle stuffed the last of his supplies into the backpack. “I should have never left Jasmine when I found out that you were pregnant,” Kyle added, instantly regretting mentioning Jasmine in the conversation.

“Jasmine? Who the hell is Jasmine?” Mary’s eyes half closed.

“She’s no one, just a girl from my past.”

“Who the fuck is she?” Mary screamed. Kyle could see the crazed expression on her face. Her eyes continued to glow with anger and disgust, along with that, her complexion began to redden.

“Jasmine is the girl I left because of you!” Kyle screamed. “We were perfectly happy together until you told me you were pregnant.”

“So you were fucking someone after we broke up?”

“You were the one who broke up with me!” Kyle raised his voice louder. He noticed that Eddie looked up from his game. They both stared at their child as he looked back down at his distraction. “You were the one who said you didn’t love me anymore and that I was better off with someone else. After hearing that for years, I finally started realizing that you were right. I was better off with someone else. And when I was, you couldn’t handle that. You kept blowing up my cell phone when me and Jasmine were on dates. You kept leaving me messages of you blubbering, saying you wanted me back. I fell for that so many times, but not anymore! I was finally happy with Jasmine and you fucked that up when you told me you were pregnant!”

Mary started crying. “Fuck you,” she said slowly and softly. “Is that who you’re running off to be with? Jasmine? She’s the one who’s making you turn your back on me and Eddie?”

“No, Mary. You’re the one who made me turn my back on you. The only reason I came back to you was for Eddie. I thought I could love you again, but I quickly realized that I couldn’t. You’re not the one I want to be with. I have to go see if Jasmine is safe. You and Eddie can stay here till this blows over. I’ll more than likely be back before then. If I can, I’ll bring Jasmine with me so we can all wait this out. You can take me to court for Eddie when everything goes back to normal, but I’m more stable than you. You won’t be able to keep him from me.”

Neither one of them truly believed that the world would be able to recover from something like this. It was more of a comforting thought of hope, something to keep them going, a light at the end of their dark tunnel. But neither of them wanted to take the chance that if things did go back to normal, they’d each know what they wanted. They didn’t want to be together anymore, and signing divorce papers was a start.

Mary opened the manila folder. She quickly found where she needed to sign and gave it a quick signature. Kyle’s was already there. Mary closed the folder and threw it to Kyle. He clumsily caught the envelope and stuffed it in the backpack. Kyle knew that just because the papers were signed, it didn’t mean much. Getting divorced was never this easy.

“Now we’re divorced, go do whatever the fuck you want to. But listen to what I’m going to tell you. If you leave, you’ll never see me and Eddie again,” Mary said.

“Whatever. That’s the difference between you and me. If this was reversed I’d never keep Eddie away from you.”

“Well I guess that makes you a better person than me, huh?” Mary said matter-of-factly.

Kyle turned and walked to his gun rack. There were only three guns, but he had an abundance of ammo for each one. First, he grabbed his Glock 24 and a box of cartridges. He loaded all the magazines he had for it, five in total, and put them in the side pockets of the robot backpack. He grabbed the holster for the handgun and put it around his waist, then holstered the firearm. Next he grabbed the .357 Magnum Revolver. He grabbed a box of rounds and began loading the cylinder. He put the .357 on the countertop next to the backpack. He turned to the gun rack and grabbed the Winchester 1300 Tactical shotgun by the pistol grip. The gun was fully equipped with a stock and pistol grip for shooting preferences. Kyle grabbed the box of ammo next to it and loaded eight shells into