“Thanks, but is it a good idea to get drunk?”
“It’s not getting drunk, just a sip to take off the edge,” He said.
I laughed, “Whatever works right?”
I took a sip and was disgusted to discover it was rum. Never my favorite even when it was deluded and mixed with something else.
I swallowed the rum and tried not to show how grossed out I was.
“Thank you,” I said handing it back to him. After I cleared my throat I asked, “So is giving me the rum your way of telling me you’re a pirate?”
He laughed, “I wish but no. Not a big fan of rum it’s just what I was able to find. Alcohol is very hard to come by these days.”
“Yeah, well who wouldn’t want to be wasted these days?”
“Sad but very true. But who can afford to be?”
“Well, everyone since it’s free,” I replied.
He gave out another chuckle, “Not good for the survival though.”
“Who knows? Maybe the zombies are turned off by the stench of someone who is hammered,” I stated.
“I’m not going to take the risk of trying to find out,” He replied.
“Me either,” I said. “So, why the Air Force base?”
He shrugged, “Seemed like a good, potentially safe place to go.”
“You’re not worried they might be on lock down or something?”
“It’s a possibility but kind of running out of options I’m beginning to think.”
“Well, I hope it works out.”
“You know you and Natalie could stay if it’s a safe place,” He said.
I nodded, “Maybe we will. We’ll see what happens.”
We sat in silence for a little while. The night air was nice but not relaxing. It was getting colder and even though there weren’t any zombies nearby we could still hear the growling carrying in the air.
“What’s your story?” I asked just to drown out the growling.
He scratched the back of his head and said, “Just a tumble weed in the wind.”
I knew he didn’t want to tell me so I let it go. I was about to say something else when there was a loud growl coming from just the other side of the van. We both stood up with our weapons ready to take on the zombies.
Pierce signaled for me to stay where I was and he went closer to the noise. A single female zombie came around the van, growling and chomping at him.
He put a knife in her head. She seemed to be alone.
“What do you think happens to you?” I asked. “When you turn? Do you think you have any sense of who you once were or any emotions at all?”
He shook his head, “No, I think you’re just motived by the need to eat our flesh.”
“It’s crazy,” I stated. “What causes it? It seems like such a strange disease.”
Pierce nodded, “Yes, it’s odd. People get fevers before they turn. Like crazy hot fevers. My wife had a fever of 108 before she turned…” He said and trailed off.
I could tell by his face in the moonlight, he didn’t mean to bring her up. I didn’t pry any further than that.
“But what caused it to start? And why is it transmitted by a bite or a scratch. Seems like it should be transmitted in their blood or something. And why is their blood that thick dark black color? I know they’re dead but it seems odd that their blood would be black.”
Pierce laughed at me a little.
“What?” I asked somewhat amused with his amusement.
“You never let yourself ask these questions out loud before have you?”
I chuckled. I hadn’t. I never stopped long enough to wonder about the disease itself. I was always making plans. Thinking about the next run, making lists and thinking of places to go and what was needed. I didn’t put stock in what was really going on. I let survival distract me. Survival was still on my mind but I had finally stopped long enough for the questions to penetrate through the force field my mind had built to deal with what was happening.
“You think they will find a cure?” I asked him.
He sighed, “God, I hope so because if not the whole world will be zombies if it goes on much longer. But who is going to discover it? Is the CDC still up and running?”
“So many questions,” I said. “No answers.”
“There will be answers one day. This will all come to light at some point. Right now we just need to ride the wave of this Dead Sea.”
We sat out there for another hour or so. We did have a couple more zombies come by and visit, hoping for some food. Pierce and I took turns putting sharp objects through their skulls.
Jessica and Joey came out to take their turn at the watch. Pierce and I got in the van. Milo was a sleep on the floor of the van. He began to wag his tail when I got in the van but didn’t make to get up. I patted him on the head as I headed back to the bed to the spot Jessica had vacated.
Cindy and Natalie were both still sound asleep. The bed wasn’t really made for three people but it could be worse. At least it was cooling down outside so it wouldn’t feel like a sauna sleeping next to two other people.
Pierce sat in the passenger side front seat and laid the back down as far as it would go. By the time I got comfortable in the bed, Pierce was sound asleep judging by the snoring.
I slept a little but had dreams that Pierce, Joey, Jessica, and Cindy were robbing Natalie
