Free Heartland Junk Part I: The End: A ZOMBIE Apocalypse Serial by Eli Nixon Page B

something out of
sight, then flopped back into the driver's seat without shutting
the door.
    "Piece of shit
won't crank," he called. He hopped back to the exposed engine,
banged something, and tried again. "Nothing. Must have blown
something. Dammit!" He was angry, and I had the idea that he was
taking his anger at me out on the truck. I got up to help, already
feeling foolish about my outburst.
    "Leave it, Ray,"
he said. "It's shot."
    "I'm sorry,
Rivet," I ventured.
    "Save it." He
pulled my pack out of the truck and thrust it at my chest, then
grabbed Jennie's. The cat poked its head out of the half-open
zipper and mewed. Jennie trotted over and lifted it out before
taking the bag from Rivet.
    "Who's a brave
kitty?" she cooed. The cat purred and nuzzled her neck. Why
couldn't I be that calm?
    Rivet came out of
the cab with his overstuffed backpack and slung it on, then leaned
in for the shovel. He jammed it into the dirt and retied his
bandana, which had come loose in our struggle. Since I had the
least to carry, I grabbed the duffel.
    "Titan's hungry,"
Jennie announced. "Anybody up for a lunch break?"
    Rivet let out a
slow sigh of frustration, clearly eager to get into town. My own
stomach felt empty. Lunch sounded good. "What do you say, Rivet?
Quick lunch?"
    Rivet steadfastly
ignored me. He said, "I guess I could eat, Jennie." Whatever, I
figured. Let him stew. He had a right to be mad at me.
    Lunch agreed upon,
we broke into the house right beside us and microwaved a pile of
the Lean Cuisines, washed down with apple juice and milk from the
refrigerator. The frozen dinners were already getting soggy in the
duffel, so Rivet consented to trashing the rest of them. We
replaced the space with a dozen cans of beef stew. Rivet made a
quick search of the premises, but all he found was a bottle of
outdated antibiotic ear drops. Some people just don't get sick, I
guess.
    "Find any
cigarettes?" I asked, comfortably full from the meal and aching for
a tobacco aperitif.
    "Please tell Raymond I didn't find any cigarettes," Rivet
said politely to Jennie. She rolled her eyes and said, "And here I
thought I was your girlfriend. Do
you guys think we should look through the rest of the houses around
here? Could be some good stuff."
    Rivet shook his head. "Waste of time. We hit that pharmacy,
we can do anything. Houses we're just pissing. No, we can head back
here for the night, but after we load up at Dinkins. One good thing: At least the power's
holding up."
    As he said the
words, the overhead lights winked off, plummeting the kitchen into
shadow. Without the unheard hum of the refrigerator, the silence
quickly grew eerie.
    "Just had to say
it. No, Titan, that's my food. Here, over here. Here kitty."
    "We can still come
back," I said. "At least we know we can get in and there's nobody
else in here. We can also leave most of the food and the cat.
They'll probably slow us down."
    Rivet nodded
agreement before he remembered that he was mad at me. A short time
later, we all shouldered our lightened packs and headed out on
foot.
     
     

Chapter 10
     
    THE URBAN district
of Joshuah Hill covers roughly two square miles and, due to the
ineffable wisdom of our founding fathers, somehow got mapped into
the rough shape of a lumpy pear on its side with a worm climbing
out the bottom. We came in on foot from the west, parallel to the
old railway farther north and Joshuah Creek to the south, following
River Street past the remaining suburban homes until the familiar
sight of the town park crawled into sight on our left. The hot sun
beamed down just behind us, pooling our shadows onto the pavement
under our feet and making me sweat. Rivet lifted his safety goggles
to his forehead and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. I
was getting thirsty, but didn't want to bother stopping until we'd
got what we came for.
    Ahead, River Street continued into the fat bottom of the pear
and became Joshuah Hill's main street. I think its name was
supposed to