Part 30 of my woefully unedited novel from several years ago. This is also the end of a chapter. Is anyone still reading this while sober?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
——<\/p>\n
As Martin started\u00a0 to rave about his surprise offensive, Daryl closed his eyes.\u00a0 If he was crazy and stuck in his head, then fine.\u00a0 Fine, fine, fine.<\/p>\n
Azizi finally changed tracks,\u00a0 \u201cHave you eaten?\u201d<\/p>\n
The mist cleared and Daryl shook his head, \u201cCookies,\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, okay.\u201d\u00a0 Azizi nodded and sat back down.<\/p>\n
\u201cUh,\u201d Daryl squinted at Azizi, \u201cSo, I guess I should get some food.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u00a0 Yes!\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 You had cookies, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daryl had no idea how hungry he was until he tucked into the sandwich that Azizi quickly threw together for him, turkey and cheese that would be worthless as soon as the power died. Martin, no doubt sensing that his surprise offensive plan was falling on deaf ears, headed out to unload the supplies from Daryl\u2019s van.<\/p>\n
There was a feeling of waking up, of snapping back, as the food hit his stomach.\u00a0 The world had ended.\u00a0 Quickly and without scream or whimper.\u00a0 He was really here, with his friends, in this impossible situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see how it\u2019s possible the three of us could survive,\u201d<\/p>\n
Azizi raised an eyebrow, sitting on a counter across from Daryl with his back against a wall of soda cans in loading crates. \u201cWe did, though.\u00a0 Chance or design, who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think it was a virus?\u201d<\/p>\n
Azizi just shook his head in reply, eyes distant.<\/p>\n
Daryl asked a question that needed to be asked, lowering his voice and leaning forward.\u00a0 \u201cCan we trust Martin?\u00a0 I mean, should we go knock him on the head and then take off for the country?\u201d<\/p>\n
Azizi paused, \u201cWell, you know how he gets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis whole hunting the monsters thing.\u00a0 He\u2019s serious?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t do that.\u00a0 These fuckers are strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azizi nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u00a0 He thinks they\u2019re up to something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wants to head down to DC and do some snooping\u2026 When we were coming up here, we encountered a couple of those jellyheads.\u00a0 They had found another survivor \u2013 \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cYou found another survivor?\u201d Daryl almost shot up and grabbed Azizi.\u00a0 Instead he clutched the table, forcing himself to stay calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cDead,\u201d Azizi replied.\u00a0 \u201cThose freaks were tearing him apart, Daryl.\u00a0 They had cut his throat\u2026or gnawed it or something and were just methodically\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat, so they\u2019re ghouls.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t surprise me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo tell the truth, D, I\u2019d like some answers, too.\u00a0 Yes, they\u2019re organized, but they\u2019re not an army.\u00a0 We know they\u2019re out there, so all we have to do is keep our cool.\u00a0 But if they\u2019re organized, we\u2019ve got to see what they\u2019re doing.\u00a0 This is the new world, man.\u00a0 Think about what it\u2019ll be like when the power dies \u2013 when our civilization dies \u2013 and those things are still crawling around.\u00a0 Then they\u2019ll have the advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martin stuck his head into the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cYour girl\u2019s awake.\u00a0 Get her some water.\u00a0 Azizi, you\u2019re Iranian, what do you know about making bullets so that they explode on impact, or whatever it is they do in the movies?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019ll need a knife and\u2026 Wait a minute, where do you get off \u2013 \u201c<\/p>\n
Daryl allowed a brief smile as he hurried to fill a glass with water and grabbed some crackers.\u00a0 He went out to Molly, who was lying flat on the couch, holding the dripping washcloth to her head.\u00a0 When Daryl knelt down beside her, she opened her eyes and grinned.\u00a0 \u201cHey,\u201d she croaked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey,\u201d Daryl replied.\u00a0 This woman he had been staring at for months like some sort of pervert had become the last woman on Earth. He felt like a fool sitting there, staring at her, letting her get under his skin.\u00a0 There was a sense of power about her, but how much of that was in his muddled brain?\u00a0\u00a0 He pulled the water away from her when she started gulping, a thin smile dancing on his face. When she spoke, he become aware of her eyes, blue-grey,\u00a0 staring hard right back at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what\u2019s going through the mind of my hero?\u201d\u00a0 She smiled again and touched his hair.<\/p>\n
Daryl tried not to look shocked, or uncomfortable.\u00a0 A world of emotions\u00a0 flowed through him and he pulled away from her.\u00a0 She pursed her lips, letting her hand fall back to the couch.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalk to me,\u201d she breathed softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what to say.\u201d\u00a0 He watched her watching him.\u00a0 Her smile grew a little wider then, after a while, she asked him to find her a comfortable bed.\u00a0 He stood, stretched his back, and walked into the kitchen where Azizi was pressing a knife on top of blue-tipped bullets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Azizi didn\u2019t look up from his task.\u00a0 \u201cI just want to say that my family left\u00a0 Iran when I was four.\u00a0 I learned this shit watching TV.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there a bed or something upstairs?\u201d<\/p>\n
Azizi moved his head towards a hallway leading off from the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a daybed in the front office.\u00a0 Everything upstairs is stuffed with stupid chairs and linens for when they rented this place out for snazzy events or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daryl went back and picked up Molly, carrying her to the office.\u00a0 She held on to his neck and grinned mischievously the entire time, then pulled him into the daybed with her.\u00a0 She pressed her body tight against his, but there still wasn\u2019t enough room for both of them, so he lay there, half on and half off the bed, listening to the rain outside and trying to convince himself he was comfortable.\u00a0 She lay curled against him and, eventually, he focused on her breathing.\u00a0 He closed his eyes and knew nothing else until the sun woke him, flooding through the office\u2019s picture window and shining onto the bed.\u00a0 Molly, sleeping soundly, looked a mess in the light.\u00a0 Her hair matted, her clothes wet, the bruise on her brow an ugly purple.\u00a0 Her eyes fluttered open when Martin banged through the sliding double doors with his usual gracelessness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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