Page 34 of Dating After the End of the World
A few people who didn’t see this happen gasp at the realization that someone among us didn’t survive the attack. The illusion that we were safe so long as we all stayed within the fences and people patrolled on night watch is shattered.
“I ... that’s ...” Blake trails off, realizing the error he made and unsure of what to say.
“Casey, is this what the city was like?” Tessa asks, her voice cracking as she tries to figure out whether this is something we should expect more often.
“I’ve never seen this many in a group,” I say as I bend down and rip my throwing star from a biter’s eye socket. The grass is soaked, wet with black sludge and viscera. My shoes stick to the ground as layers of gore build up on my soles. Reaching the second biter I hit, I pull the star from its forehead. Blake watches me as I wipe them against my jeans, cleaning them off.
“I don’t understand why there were so many of them.” Blake sounds frustrated. He continues to scan the bodies at his feet.
JJ approaches from behind, stepping over limbs and carcasses. “This probably explains that downed coach bus we saw earlier,” he says.
My brows shove together. “What are you talking about?”
“There was a bus pulled off to the side of the road a couple miles up. It was a little dented but nothing that would have stopped it from driving. We decided to steer clear in case there were any biters lingering on board, but it looks like the whole bus turned and came this way after we passed by.”
“That’s a relief,” I say, more pleased with this explanation than the alternative.
“Why would that be a relief?” Blake asks.
“Because that means this was a fluke, a one-off from a stray bus. If this was a new phenomenon, biters moving in huge herds like cattle, we’d be in trouble.”
“She’s right,” my father chimes in.
“We should have stopped and checked it out, JJ.” Blake shakes his head, disappointed in himself.
“No, you did the right thing. There were too many for just the two of you to take on,” Dad says, patting Blake on the shoulder.
Elaine walks down the driveway with tears in her eyes and the folded white bedsheets my dad asked for. It’s a uniform fit for a ghost.
Dad takes them from her and hangs his head for a moment before lifting it. “Blake, JJ, come help me with Chris,” he says.
Chapter 17
It’s quiet, minus the sounds of spoons scraping against bowls and the occasional slurp. Ten of us are seated around the dinner table, which is just two large folding tables pushed together. No one has really spoken since we sat down to eat. The only words exchanged were compliments and expressions of gratitude to Elaine for preparing homemade chicken noodle soup and fresh-baked bread. We’re all still on edge, still trying to process what happened today. I don’t even understand it myself. I look up from my bowl of soup and glance at each person. Blake sits across from me. His mouth is a hard line, and he drops his gaze. JJ is seated next to him, staring off at nothing, having barely touched his food.
The front door creaks open, and in walks my dad. He sighs heavily and rakes his hand through his graying hair. Aside from Chris’s family, he’s clearly taking it the worst of all, and I think that’s because he blames himself. But he wasn’t there. He didn’t even see it happen. I did, and now I can’t unsee it. There are some things that stick with you forever, and I think this will be one of them for me. Like my father, I can’t help but blame myself, but unlike him, I could have actually done something to stop it. I should have been quicker, should have gotten to Chris before he pulled the trigger.
“How’d it go, Dale?” Uncle Jimmy asks, straightening up in his chair, positioned at the far end. Aunt Julie sits beside him, her hand resting on the table, clasped in his.
Dad crosses the living room, his footsteps slow and heavy. He stops in front of his chair at the head, positioned between Blake and me, and grips the back of it, like he needs it to stand upright.
“They’re inconsolable, which is expected, and they just want to be left alone to grieve for now. But um ... Helen wanted to thank you, Elaine, for their dinner.”
Elaine nods and says, “Of course, anything they need.”
“How’d the rest of the cleanup go?” he asks the table.
“We moved all the bodies to the far back-right corner of the property, and we’ll start burning them tomorrow morning,” Blake says.
“And Chris’s body?” Elaine asks.
“He’s wrapped in a sheet out in the toolshed,” JJ answers, not looking at anyone in particular.
“Good, because the family would like to have some sort of a memorial for Chris, so we should try to put something together with what we have.” Dad is met with nods as he pulls out his chair and takes a seat. He briefly glances at his untouched bowl of soup but doesn’t reach for it. “This is the first time we’ve lost someone here, and I’d like to say it’ll be the last time, but I don’t think it will.”
A heaviness falls over the room at my father’s words.
“What happened today was a wake-up call for me,” Dad continues. “We are not prepared to survive in a world like this, so things around here have to change, and they have to change fast.”
