"I, uh, I"m not really interested in a date" It was Nevada, I thought maybe she was a hooker.
"Ha" She chuckled "No, I"m not a wh.o.r.e, just stranded and broke." She smiled at me "I thought I would try to get you drunk and take all your money" she was joking and I knew she was.
"Yea pull up a chair" I signaled at the bartender "My name is Duncan" extending my hand to her.
"Eve, thanks for the drink Duncan" she said. She sat down and looked at me intently "You look rough dude, what happened to you"
I took a long slug off my beer and began to tell Eve what had happened over the last couple of hours.
"I would call you a liar if I couldn"t see it on the TV" She sighed "I"m from La Puenty, just here for the week, but my friends took off this morning all freaked out and I am stuck here with no money and apparently nowhere to go".
"Well, neither do I" I said " Sitting here getting drunk and waiting for our turn to die seems to be as good a plan as any"
She looked at me and frowned.
"f.u.c.k it" she said, "lets raise our gla.s.ses to the end of the world"
We sat there for an hour before the TV signal went out. The last word was that most major cities on the west coast were showing infection. San Francisco was beginning to report infection.
There were several flights that had carried hosts on them. Pilots managed to land at their destination airport without the c.o.c.kpits being compromised. Post 9/11 FAA regulations had required armored doors to be mandatory on all commercial flights. Infected pa.s.sengers could not get into the c.o.c.kpits and harm the pilots so they were able to land.
In this case, however, this only helped to spread the infection beyond the restricted mobility the hosts had, without the cognitive ability to drive a car or any other transportation. They had no cognitive functions, they couldn"t operate a car, or fly an airplane themselves. If they had gotten to the pilots in the c.o.c.kpits, maybe the planes would have crashed and not made it to populated areas. Once these flights landed they couldn"t keep the infected pa.s.sengers on the planes, and the infection spread into new locations quickly.
"s.h.i.t" I said under my breath..."Sigh, I need to leave" I had considered over the last hour that I would rather make a run for Friday Harbor, a small town on an island in the Pugent Sound in Washington.
It had donned on me to go into the hills and hold up. Maybe I would try to survive until this problem pa.s.sed but I knew it wouldn"t. If I couldn"t be with my kids there was no real reason to survive anyway. I didn"t have the will to do it for myself. They were the only reason I had survived this long as it was.
Through deployments to war zones while I served in the Navy, to bouts of depression that occurred over the years, and eventually through my most recent breakdown, I decided that I didn"t get to make the decision to end it myself. G.o.d or life could take me but not my own hand. So I had to live as long as I could, and do what ever it took to do that.
I got up everyday through recovery because my kids needed me to. I needed to keep working and make enough to take care of them. I knew I had to live long enough to get my youngest son off on his own. Then I could die.
But what if I never found them? What if they got killed because their mother was a self serving a.s.shole that only thinks of herself? There was no reason to hide and I decided go for the island since I had no trail now to follow to find the kids.
First I could head for the central valley, then drive North. I always liked the pacific north west so it was settled in my mind, that is where I would go.
"Now?" Eve asked "What do you mean? Do you have a plan?"
"Look Eve, I can"t hide. I have to do something and maybe I"ll find a way to catch up with the kids. I"m going to head up to Washington and work my way to a small island up there. Maybe there"s still something there."
I raised my hand to the bartender and ordered one last beer. "It was nice to meet you Eve and I wish you luck getting back to your life."
"What life? I came up here with some hope of starting over but now... whats the point?" She looked at me with expectation.
Christ. I thought, she wanted to tag along.
"Could you use some company?" She put her hand on my thigh.
I knew she wasn"t interested in me. She was just looking for someone to take care of her. What the h.e.l.l I thought, I could use some companionship and getting laid wouldn"t be a bad thing if she was into it. I could certainly use the release.
Maybe we could make each other feel better if not emotionally, some physical comfort would be worth the trouble.
"OK, finish up and grab your stuff. The cars out front"
-Eve-.
I sat in the car facing the bar and watched my new companion walk out pulling a suitcase bouncing on rollers. She was very pretty. She had a pet.i.te frame, blond, nice body. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were large and perky. I thought they had to be fake.
She didn"t offer up her age but she had to be in her late twenties, maybe early thirties. I briefly wondered how she got abandoned by her friends and why she had been trying to start over up here. Based on the way she talked in the bar I expected she would tell me all about it. She liked to talk about herself.
We headed out of town and started the long trip around the lake and through the hills to the west. After several hours we started heading down into the San Joaquin valley, Into the central valley of California.
The valley was flat and desolate. As we drove through the foothills I could make out farms stretching into the distance. We headed for the I99, one of two major travel arteries that flowed north through the valley. Eventually we would connect to the I5 freeway which would take us north through Oregon and into Washington. I figured that if I could get to Whidbey Island in Washington we might find some way to cross over to Friday harbor. I was familiar with the area, I had been stationed there in the 1990"s.
As the day wore on we drove north pa.s.sing small farming communities. Most of the communities were small and some seemed devoid of life. Maybe they always looked that way. It felt eery and empty.
We made stops when we needed to, each time I would find a gas can that I could fill and strap to the roof of the SUV. There was no sign of life in some places. In others people were noticeably on edge but had not been affected yet.
My companion was very talkative at first. She went on and on about everything under the sun. I decided she was nervous and not sure about me yet. Eventually she settled down and fell asleep. I was grateful for the quiet, but happy she was getting comfortable enough to feel like she could rest.
As the sun set on the second day I was exhausted and searched for a safe place we could stop for the night. I thought it might be dangerous to stop at a hotel so I turned off the road where there was nothing but farm land. I drove out into a field and parked the car. Eve began to stir, she opened her eyes and asked what was going on.
"we"re going to make camp for the night" I said "out here in the middle of nowhere we should see ahead of time if anyone is coming".
She looked scared, maybe she thought I was going to kill her out here in the middle of nowhere. I laughed to myself then decided to put her at ease so she would relax. I made a fire and we sat across from each other.
I looked at her and started to talk. telling her more about myself, who I was and what I did for a living. I told her about my divorce and the struggle to keep my kids in my life.
I figured I sounded pretty boring and messed up to her. I wanted her to feel that I was not a threat, but I didn"t want her to get attached to me either. If I was clear about being a geeky middle aged scientist that was dumped by his ex-wife and was an emotional mess, maybe there would be no chance that she would consider me worth pursuing. Once we got to a safe populated area she would move on and that was fine.
Interestingly, she had a story to tell herself. She had been married and had a son. But her husband was killed in the military and she couldn"t cope. She said she had a meltdown and left her son with her mother and hadn"t looked back. She hated herself for it but couldn"t bear to be reminded of her husband or the life she had before.
She had been traveling, for years now. Staying with friends and hooking up with strangers. She got into drugs pretty heavy for a while. As she talked she pulled a vial out of her shorts pocket, dipped a nail file in and snorted it.
I didn"t do a very good job of pushing her away. As the night wore on she got closer to me by the fire. Eventually she snuggled up against my chest and wrapped her arms around me.
I didn"t respond, but was very aware at how warm she was and I could feel her b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressed against me. I started to get aroused but quickly focused on something else. After some time she drifted off to sleep and I unwrapped her arms and laid her next to me on the ground.
I didn"t know if we were safe here but I was tired and wanted to sleep. I hadn"t slept in days and desperately needed to rest. The emotional ups and downs of the previous two days had left me feeling raw. The feeling took me back to a time when I wasn"t certain I would make it through the day.
I closed my eyes and pictured the woman from my past. One that I had a clear memory of. Some peace came over me. I faded off to sleep.
18/19.
-North-.
Eve opened her eyes and was facing the smoldering fire. She sat up and looked around, finding herself alone. She remembered what was happening and quickly got to her feet.
"Duncan!" she yelled "Dunc..."
"Shhhhh" I snapped at her as I walked back through tall gra.s.s towards the fire. "Keep quiet, we"re not alone".
"Is it those things on the TV?" she was getting scared now and her voice was wavering.
"No, but these guys might be just as dangerous if they find us".
Over the hill was a group of men that had pulled up in the early hours before the sun came up. I didn"t know if it was worth risking getting their attention by hanging out too long. I headed back to the car to look for my gun.
Its possible they were just a group of hunters, not aware of what was going on and not out to looking for resources. Maybe it was too early for the apocalyptic human desperation scenario to begin playing out.
I couldn"t risk it. I had supplies and a woman with me and if they wanted any of it, they might do anything to get it. I signaled to her to pack up. Just as we finished getting the car loaded, a man walked over the hill and stopped. He was carrying a rifle and wearing military fatigues. My stomach sank, I had a gun but it was in the car and not loaded.
The man raised his arm and yelled "Hi! Sorry if we woke you folks, were just starting out for the day and didn"t know anyone was out here".
"Thank G.o.d!" I said out loud. These guys were just out for the weekend. "No problem" I yelled back "We have been up for a while, just packing up and heading out."
I walked over to the man and shook his hand. I asked him how long they had been out here and the man said they had been camping for three days and were moving from site to site. After some consideration I decided to tell him what was happening and that if they were from an area that might not have been hit yet they should consider getting their families out.
I don"t think he believed me and said something about Jesus looking over his family. We said our goodbyes and I walked back to the car.
"That guy thinks I am crazy, but at least he"s not dangerous." I said to Eve. "I had to feel him out and see if he and his friends were going to be a problem".
I didn"t feel good though. I thought now that it was a bad idea that I had given away so much information. These guys might be harmless, but the next group wouldn"t be as the world started to unravel. We quickly got back in the car and drove back to the highway.
Getting back on the I5 heading north was a relief. Eve turned the radio on and searched for a station. There weren"t many radio stations in range in this part of the valley. They were in Northern California now getting closer and closer to the Oregon border. As she pushed seek over and over all we heard was static. Eve switched to the AM band, and found a talk radio station reporting on some of the damage that had happened over the last days in the Los Angeles area but it sounded like old information. As the newscast played on, it began to repeat, and it was clear now that it was a recorded report that was playing over and over.
As we crossed over the Oregon border we pa.s.sed the town of Rouge River and then entered into the city of Grants Pa.s.s. This was a moderate sized city that was fairly isolated from the outside with some travel distance to the nearest large city or airport. The chance of infection getting here this fast would be pretty low although inevitably it would be just a matter of time.
-Oasis-.
The car crested a large hill and below us, spreading off into the distance, was the city of Grants Pa.s.s. I had visited here once when I was in the Navy. I had a friend that was from here and I joined him for a visit with his family one fourth of July weekend.
I liked it here, it was a neat little city that was big enough to have things like movie theaters and pizza parlors but still small enough to not be like Los Angeles. I scanned my eyes over what I could see of the town, intently looking for any sign of disruption.
There was still power and people were driving and walking around town. They had to have heard about what was coming, but as we drove through town there was no sense of alarm or even a weariness to our arrival. We pulled into a strip mall that had a few restaurants and a grocery store. On the corner was a gas station.
"We need to get supplies and fuel" I said to Eve " If everything is cool lets take the time to have a sit down meal, it might be the last time for a while"
"I"ll get food" she tipped her head to the side and tapped her finger on her lower lip "Should I pick up some c.o.c.ktails while I"m there?"
She was starting to seem cute to me. She had these little mannerisms that I found attractive. I didn"t like the idea of finding her appealing. I could deal with being physically attracted to her because the thought of simply having s.e.x had some appeal to me. But I had to keep it separate from being emotionally attracted.
I couldn"t stand the thought of falling emotionally, even slightly, for her. I didn"t do emotional attraction well at all and felt almost panic at the thought of falling in love with someone. Love in my experience was painful. I just didn"t deal with it well. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to go out with women and not begin to find them irresistible. So I spent a lot of energy avoiding getting that close to someone.
"Sure, why not" I said to her " A little booze can always come in handy"
Eve walked off towards the store as I drove towards the gas station. I needed to fill all the gas cans and buy one more while I was there. Cash was running low and I didn"t know when I could get more.
It didn"t seem likely that money would be any good pretty soon. As society began to fail there would be less and less opportunity to barter with money. Things that would be more valuable would be water and fuel.
Oregon was different than California when it came to service. At the gas pump an attendant happily greeted me and offered to fill up the car. I agreed and explained that I needed to fill all the cans on top of the car and and get one more from inside. The attendant shuffled off to grab a new can and another proceeded to fill up the car.
Eve walked out of the store across the parking lot pushing a cart. I watched her walk toward the gas station and let my mind wonder what it would be like to be with her. It was a pleasant thought, and I began to fantasize about her.
After all the gas cans were filled and the groceries were loaded, we made our way over to a little steakhouse and made ourselves comfortable. Eve talked about how, when things were better she would be a famous skier and compete in freestyle events. She talked almost continuously, and I"m not sure if she was saying these things to try to impress me or was just talking to hear herself.
I asked her mindless questions to keep her talking. I knew most of what she said was completely made up. I humored her anyway. Her banter reminded me of Amanda"s mindless self important ramblings about nothing. I had grown to be bitter and normally didn"t like people that spoke like that.
If she was intellectual at all, she chose not to share it. Maybe she thought that"s what men wanted to hear. I didn"t and I struggled at first not to tune her out. After a while I was numb and her pretend world seemed to become a world my mind was willing to go for the moment.
The meal was good, very good. The steak was cooked just right and it was smothered in sauteed mushrooms. I added a nice cold micro brew, cheese bread, and another beer followed. It was a wonderful dinner and it felt like a date.
It was very odd to forget for a time the horrors of the last few days but we managed to clear it away for a moment. Another very strange thing was happening, and it took a while for us to really notice.
No one around us was talking about what was happening. n.o.body was. I wondered how that could be possible? There was no way this town was so isolated that they didn"t have news coming in from the outside. They would have to be cut off from the Internet, satellite television, and radio would have to be inaccessible.
But we had heard the repeating news cast as we came into town and that was reporting continuously on the fall of Los Angeles. I looked at Eve and she smiled sweetly at me. I decided not to care and not to ask for now. We would finish our dinner, drive over to a hotel and stay the night. This might be the last time we would sleep in a bed, in a hotel, in a sleepy little town apparently unaware the world was dying.
We checked into a hotel near the freeway, which seemed like a good idea in case we needed to get out of town in a hurry.
"Shower, I want a shower" I said as I walked in the room and dropped my bag on the floor. Eve was behind me and acknowledge my declaration. I walked into the bathroom and turned on the water. The bathroom became very warm as steam bellowed from the shower. I undressed and climbed over the edge of the tub. Leaning against the wall I let the warmth of the water run over my tired muscles. I heard the click of the bathroom door and a light creak as it slowly swung open. A thought flashed through my mind of the possibility of an infected hotel staff member having broken into the room and having killed Eve, was now after me.
The shower curtain opened and there stood Eve with the hotel robe draped off of one shoulder. I had left the bathroom door unlocked on purpose, hoping in the back of my mind that she would want to join me in the shower. I was happy she felt the same way.
I looked into her eyes. She stared mischievously back at me, lightly bit her lip. She let the robe fall around her feet revealing her naked body. She let me take all of her in. For a moment she posed provocatively, and she watched my eyes following her curves.
Her body was quite beautiful, she was pet.i.te but not skinny. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were large for her frame but shaped like tear drops that laid just off to the sides of center. Seeing her undressed now I thought they looked natural, and her nipples were quite beautiful and very erect.
She let me continue to follow her body with my eyes. She had a tattoo of a sun around her belly b.u.t.ton that looked very sensual, topping her neatly trimmed hair line. I followed a thin line of hair like a trail leading to a garden.
She was beautiful and I was very aroused. She silently stepped over the edge of the tub and into the shower. She placed one hand on my hip and the other on my erection. Gently stroking me, she got under the warm water and let it run over her. I touched her smooth skin, goose b.u.mps were covering her entire body.
I ran my hands over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, down her hips and rolled them back, grabbing her a.s.s firmly. She was fit and her body was firm, her curves felt good in my hands as I let them explore her frame. I returned my attention to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, taking her nipples in my fingers one at a time.
She moaned as I let my left hand drop down between her legs. She was warm, and even under the running water I could feel how turned on she was. She felt like silk as the water ran over my fingers and across her skin. I gently let one finger slide inside, first just on the surface then I slid all the way inside of her. She was wet and warm and so inviting, I wanted to take her there in the shower.
I reached down, turned off the shower, and lifted her in my arms. Carrying her across the dimly lit hotel room, I headed towards the queen size bed. Kissing her as deeply as I could, I laid her down on the covers.
I stood above her as she lay with her legs stretched out, spread slightly. Her arms, one over her head and the other lying next to her body. She looked comfortable, her skin glistened in the light that stretched across the room from the bathroom. Her head sat slightly turned towards me so I could see her face.
She looked calm and serene, moving her body in a rhythmic motion. I leaned toward her and gently kissed each of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her nipples rose in response to the stimulation of my lips touch, and she stirred and moaned softly.
I climbed onto the bed next to her and continued to kiss her body, moving downward below her b.r.e.a.s.t.s I slid my body along her curves, keeping pressure on my erection against her skin. I could smell her, and I couldn"t help but get even more aroused.
Her scent saturated my senses as an overwhelming need to take her overcame me. The need to touch her, to press my lips to hers and taste her. I couldn"t hold back any longer, first kissing her gently around her belly b.u.t.ton, I found her trimmed hairline and followed it until I could feel how aroused she was, tasting her on my lips. Kissing her on her velvety surface, I lightly let my tongue explore her, spreading her gently with my fingers. I plunged my tongue as far into her as it would reach.
She moaned loudly now as she moved her hips in rhythm. I couldn"t resist her anymore, I was so excited that I was throbbing. I laid next to her on the bed and Eve climbed on top of me. She held me firmly in her hand and guided me to her. Moaning softly as I slipped inside her, she let out a long gasp and settled down on my entire length.
G.o.d she felt so good to me. I hadn"t been with a woman in some time and longed for the feeling. Eve rocked her hips back and forth, her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s swayed from side to side.