Page 29 of Creepy
Troy drove me home.When we got there, Arlo sat on the front porch waiting for me.Until I saw his worried face, I’d forgotten I told him maybe we’d see each other yesterday.I told Troy as much as we parked the Camaro in the spot usually reserved for my brother’s truck.
“Is this guy sweet on you?”Troy asked about Arlo.
He looked like a lost puppy waiting on the porch.I shrugged a shoulder.“Can’t tell.”My words rang true.“He’s kind of hard for me to read.He’s real nice and all, but he’s from Seattle.Definitely not a killer or something.”
“You sure?”
“Like you said.He could have by now if he wanted to.”
Troy joked, “I don’t know.I think you could take him.”
Before Troy turned off the engine, Arlo opened my car door, inquiring about my injuries.He’d been all over town looking for me, finding the truck abandoned.Though I didn’t need it, I let him help me to the porch swing as I relayed the entire story.Trailing behind, Troy piped in, telling his parts.Arlo’s eyes widened, listening to us.When I got to the part about my foot getting caught in the zombie, he explained, he hadn’t meant for such a move to be used on the undead but on a man.He’d glanced over at Troy when he’d said, “man”.
Troy bit back with how he saved me.“With this.”He gestured to the rifle strapped on his back.
We ended our story at the part about the diner last night.
“Where’ve you been?”Arlo asked.
He meant all night, but I told him about finding a boot and cleaning out the drugstore.I left it at that.Where I spent the night was none of his business.Keeping his word, Troy kept quiet about where I spent the night too.
Arlo claimed to have found blood and guts, but no corpse at the scene.Troy and I hadn’t disposed of the zombie.We hadn’t been back to the truck at all.To be honest, I hadn’t even worried about Rowan or zombies since Troy rescued me last night.
“When did you find the truck?”I asked Arlo.
He tapped his watch, reminding me it wasn’t working.
“It got ruined in the pool,” I explained to Troy.
“The pool?”Troy sounded as surprised as I’d been when I first heard.Waving off the topic, I mentioned Rowan could have buried the zombie, but we were all thinking the same thing, that Rowan had let enough zombies loose to eat the dead one in a few hours.
Troy spoke up, “We are going to have to find Rowan, put an end to this releasing zombies bullshit.”
Arlo and I agreed, but none of us discussed how to go about it.Troy went to unload his car.
“I’m sorry about making you worry,” I said to Arlo once Troy was out of earshot.
“Don’t be sorry.I’m stoked you’re okay,” Arlo replied, as if me apologizing was the silliest thing ever.“About this dude, do you trust him?”
“So far.”
Arlo, flattening his lips, nodded.That seemed good enough for him.
Troy returned to the porch with an armful.“Where do you want this?”His words hard, he appeared to be in a hurry.
“Come see.”
I put my arm around Arlo, and he hugged me sideways as he helped me into the house and onto the couch.I took off the boot.Propping up my leg, I felt at ease.I was in my own home and well protected.I pointed out where Troy could put the supplies.Arlo, having been here before, left me to go show him.Then he helped Troy carry in the rest of the boxes and bags.
Once everything was out of the car, things got awkward real fast.Arlo sat with me on the couch, under the pillow and my hurt ankle.Troy paced by the door, talking about how we needed to look for Rowan.
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”Arlo asked him.
“Tomorrow, we could be crawling with zombies,” Troy retorted.
It was true.I’d been careful not to open places without killing the zombies inside.If Rowan was running around opening doors, all the ones I left shut, without killing the undead inside, we’d have a problem soon.
“Rowan used to live off Pig’s Pike,” I said.“We could look there.”
