Page 24 of Resurrection
She’s pretty, unassuming, innocently harmless, and then BAM! Those allergies hit you over the head like a damn baseball bat!
Yup!Daisyit is.
Perfect.
Any who…
After we plowed through the dirty dozen, we fit as much of the remaining supplies as we could into the car Jax nabbed. Needless to say, although the car is a station wagon from the 1980s and is abeast—in both power and sheer will to live, with the potential to compete as the next Highlander—she’s an ugly duckling. Asmall,ugly duckling compared to the pickup. We could only fit about a quarter of what we piled into the truck. It took some time to filter through what we needed and what we didn’t, but eventually we were on the road again. Which brings us back to the here and now and the current intermission of carpool karaoke: remake edition.
Thankfully, the road hasn’t been too littered with bodies or stranded vehicles since leaving Jax’s town. It also helped that the highway is much larger than some of the more rural roads we left behind, giving us the room we needed to veer away from any obstacles that presentedthemselves. But I know better. I’ve seen it before. It’s only a matter of time. A time that I’m dreading. I stuck to the little towns and hamlets specifically because the hordes were smaller or nonexistent due to smaller populations. But there are plenty of large cities in North Carolina that naturally coincide with the potential to come across a larger undead presence, especially with where we’re headed. I try not to think about it, though.
I perk up when I see a sign for Richlands. I know from my past that it’s not too far from Jacksonville and the military base. It’s been a long time since I’ve been here, but it brings back a ton of memories.
Eight Years Ago…
“Alright, now get closer. There! Perfect! Now say, ‘Marines!’”
The nice lady sitting next to me during graduation offered to take our picture after the ceremony. She’s here with the rest of her large family from Ohio to see her grandson, while I’m here on my own… for Darius.
“Thank you! Oh, and congratulations!” I reply as she smiles and walks away, searching for her own family.
Parris Island, South Carolina. Home of the East Coast Recruit Training Depot for the United States Marine Corps. Otherwise known as bootcamp.
It’s been a long and hard three months. No phone calls. No video chats. No weekend visits. Justhandwritten letters containing all the love and affection they could without going over the postage limit.
We met a few years ago, but from the very first glance, he had me. Like a moth to a flame. Some families had a difficult time picking out their family members from the formations—military garb and similarly styled haircuts would do that—but Darius… I didn’t even have to look for him. His presence alone drew me in. I could have been blind but my skin and ears and tongue would’ve perked up, knowing, without pause, without question, that he was right there next to me.
He turns to me, grasping my thighs as he lifts me into his arms, my legs wrapping around his waist. “Ah, now there’s my girl.” He kisses me softly, so slowly. His voice, one I haven’t heard in so long, is a soothing caress to my soul. A balm to my tortured heart. It’s been three long months of absolutely no physical or verbal contact whatsoever. I relish in the feeling of his lips on mine. His chest pressing against me. His strong arms enveloping me.
I could die right here and now and be happy.
He pulls away, noticing the tears cascading down my cheeks. “Mi alma, are you ok?”
Mi alma… My soul.. He once told me that, when he was gone, he didn’t want me to miss him too terribly, knowing the distance between us would be more than difficult. So I was to keep his soul with me where it belonged, by my heart, forever and always. That same day he gifted me with a necklace. Nothing fancy. Just a simple chain with a small purple crystal attached. An amethyst, he said.
I nod, emphasizing my smile beneath the torrent of tears flooding my face. “Yes. Yes, I’m ok. You’re here now. Everything’s ok.”
He sets me on my feet before bringing his palms up, cradling my cheeks, and wiping the stray tears away with his thumbs, all while staring so deeply into my soul it’s as if he crawls inside and makes himself at home, once again. “I am never leaving you again, Alessandra. I promise.”
After a few more goodbyes to his platoon-mates, we grab his bags and start our journey back to New York. We pass by Myrtle Beach, then Surf City, and then… “Jacksonville? Isn’t that—”
“Where I’m gonna be stationed? Sure is. Just got confirmed.”
“We should totally go there! Check it out! See what we’re in for!”
He gives me a side eye but smiles and takes the offramp. When we finally get within the city limits, I sit up in my seat, eager to look at where he’ll be for the next four years. I have to say, it isn’t much. It’s almost as if the town’s glitched, the buildings repeating themselves over and over again. Barber shop, tattoo parlor, motel, strip club, barber shop, tattoo parlor, motel, strip club. Oh look! Another strip club… attached to a motel….
Classy....
Seeingas we’ve been on the road for HOURS, and my stomach decides right then and there to make itself known via an embarrassingly loud protest, Darius turns and pulls into a steakhouse, smiling as he kills the engine. Instead of getting out, right away, he pulls my hand into his, rubbing the back of it softly, concern in his eyes. “Look, I know it doesn’t seem like much, but we’ll make it fun. There are beaches and… and the ocean’s right there. With you by my side, what else do we need? Whatever little time we get together until I can move off base, we can handle it.” He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes for some reason as his voice lowers to a whisper, almost as if he’s reassuring himself. “We can handle this.”
His determined need to bolster our outlook with respect to this place hits me like a freight train. This isn’t right. I just got him back. Finally get to see him. Touch him. Wrap my arms around him. Be with him. Now is not the time to be a negative Nancy. Now’s the time to make a plan. Tolive.
I pull his face to mine, smiling and pinching his cheeks together as I close the distance. “We will be fine. We just got through three months of nothing but caveman sexting. Crude stick figures and all. The only thing we need is each other. We can do this.”
He exhales slowly, turning his gaze away from mine, but eventually nods back, “Yeah… We can do this.”
Chapter Thirteen
