Page 110 of His to Burn
Jorge was a nice man and work friend. Bridget and Irv had been together pushing forty years.
“It was him. My Irv. But it wasn’t him,” she said.
“Yeah,” I said.
“He was dead, Asia,” Bridget said.
“I know.”
She looked at me, surprised.
“You do?” she said.
“Yeah. They’re dead. I know that.”
“This is ridiculous,” Caitlin hissed. She shifted where she stood, arms hugging her ribs, her eyes wide. Haunted. Then she shook herself out of it, rolling her eyes hard.
“And what exactly is ‘this’?” I asked.
“We’re sitting here making a grieving widow feel better by pretending that ghosts or zombies or whatever are real,” Caitlin said.
“Caitlin, open your eyes. Have you seen what’s been happening?”
She shook her head. “You don’t know what I’ve seen, Asia. But dead people are not walking. I’m sure the authorities are working on it.”
Jack scoffed, earning him a frown, but Caitlin quickly turned the expression into a flirty smile that seemed positively grotesque given the circumstances.
“What makes you think there are still authorities?” Jack asked.
“We heard something on the radio, but I don’t think…” Miles trailed off and then looked at Caitlin, who frowned again.
“What did you hear?” Jack asked.
Miles shifted from foot to foot. Then, after he cleared his throat, he started.
“It said, ‘This is not a test. No one’s coming,’” the boy said—with a maturity and finality that was far too great for someone as young as him.
“That’s BS,” Caitlin said. “We just have tostay in one place long enough for them to get things back to normal.”
“And that’s why you were looking for a restaurant?” I said.
“Yeah. Supplies. Food and water are important. I thought it would be a good place to stay for a while. So this was my idea.”
Caitlin stared at me, trying to gauge my reaction.
I paid Caitlin no mind on the best of days. And these were far from that.
I didn’t react. I just nodded.
“We probably heard the same message then. It said no help was coming,” I said.
“You believe everything you hear on the radio, Asia?”
“No, Caitlin. But I believe what my eyes show me. And they show me that there’s no help,” I said.
“Help or not—we still gotta survive,” Caitlin said.
Jack stepped in, cutting off the conversation. “Find a seat,” he said, looking at the others. Then he looked at me. “Asia, I need to speak with you.”
