I smiled a fake smile, “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
Chelsea came over and hugged me tight, “We’re going to load the stuff into the cars now.” She pulled me into the kitchen. It was dark until she hit the light. When I looked outside, I noticed that the light was fading, not able to believe how late it had already become. “Start making these,” Chelsea said, holding up a bag for me to see. “I started seasoning them last night without anyone knowing. Those steaks were in the freezer, and I figure that there’s no reason to save them anymore since we’re leaving.” I thought I heard a slight hiccup of sadness in her voice.
Before I had a chance to respond, she was out the door with cans in her hand, followed closely by Zach. I decided not to argue them into letting me help and took out the skillet. I let it heat up for a minute before throwing the steaks on top of it. The hissing of grease being cooked out of the meat filled the room, as did the scent of freshly cooked steak. Coal began to meow, wanting a peace of steak for her own. Little did she know that Chelsea had prepared numerous extra steaks, leaving a lot of leftovers for Coal to feast upon.
“You know, this is kind of like our very own thanksgiving,” Chelsea said when everything was set on the table. “It’s late November, and Thursday, I think. I mean there is no turkey, but I think that this will do.”
“My mom always made ham for Thanksgiving,” Zach said.
“What?” Chelsea said in disbelief.
“I’m not joking. She always made ham for some reason. No matter how hard my father or I pleaded with her to make turkey, it never happened.”
“Isn’t that a Christmas thing?” I asked.
“Yeah, which we did have ham for Christmas dinner, but she was always weird like that.”
“I can put out spam if you really would like that,” Chelsea said.
“No! I hate that stuff,” Zach said flailing his arms. “Steak is so much better, besides this may be the last time that I get the opportunity to have a nice juicy steak, something that I do not want to miss out on.”
“Well,” Chelsea started. “Since it’s our Thanksgiving, are we thankful for anything?”
“I’m thankful that no green beans were made for this delightful dinner,” I said, getting a chuckle out of Zach.
“Oh come on, Daryl. Be serious,” Chelsea scolded me.
“I’m thankful for you guys,” Zach said. “You saved me, and I still owe you for that.”
“Well, Zach, I am thankful for you guys too. Without you, I’d probably have never lasted this long, and you showed us the way to Kansas City,” Chelsea said.
“I think that we’re really just thankful for each other,” I piped in. “We have all saved each other in different ways and have been able to move forward because of it. We are all part of this puzzle that connects with surviving.” A nice wave of calm spread over the three of us. Something between us seemed to click at that moment. We finally understood that no matter what happened, no matter what dangers or fortune came between us, the three of us would be eternally intertwined with each other.
The rest of dinner was excellent. We laughed, joked, and told stories of our lives past. Nobody brought up the shitty situation that we were in, or the probability of the chances to our success, or any of our relatives that had died from the contamination. Instead, I told of when I pulled the emergency shower in chemistry class my senior year in high school, Chelsea told of how she tripped over her own dress at prom, and Zach told video game stories that neither Chelsea nor I understood but enjoyed nonetheless.
The moment of good-nights came with a strong taste of bitter sweetness. Our time of survival in this house was up, the curtain called. We all knew the dangers of the journey that we were about to embark on, but were prepared to do it because of the promise that it held, and we were not about to let anything get in our way.
“Hey,” I said to Chelsea once we pulled the covers over us in bed. “I’m really glad that I got to spend this time with you. Even though it is kind of a crappy way to live, I really did enjoy it.”
She loosed a huge smile, “I loved every second of it,” she replied.
“Even when you were bit?” I asked.
She giggled like a twelve year old girl, “Especially when I was bit. You were so caring and concerned for my health. I’ve never had anyone act like that towards me before. You have been absolutely amazing to me this whole time, and I’ll never forget that.”
I reached over and kissed her on the forehead, not wanting to spread any of my cold. “I would do it all over again for you.”
“Oh please,” she chuckled. “I wouldn’t want you to have to go through that again. Anyways, it is getting late. Let’s get good rest for the morning.” Chelsea kissed me goodnight before rolling over and falling asleep.
I lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. All that I was able to do was watch as Chelsea’s breathing pushed her back up and down as she inhaled and exhaled. I did this for over an hour, unable to take my eyes off of her. Darkness eventually took me, filling my eyelids with weights, dragging them into a deep slumber.
My body was being shaken awake, forcing me from my sleep. “It’s time to go, Daryl,” I heard Chelsea’s soft voice say through the darkness of my eyes. I opened them to meet Chelsea’s looking down at me. “We have to get going.”
