nineteen: broadcast
"What did you do?" Felix asks me the moment he wakes up.
"You talking about my hair or about the dead bastard besides the Jeep?" I answer with a smile as I turn the key and bring the engine to life. I shift the gears in drive and pull out of our snowy refuge.
"The ha...Both! What happened?" Felix says as he jumps in the passenger seat.
"I needed a haircut. Zombie boy just happened to come strolling our way when it happened. Luckily one of us was awake." I make sure to make him feel bad. Imagine more of them had come in the night. We would have been trapped and eaten within minutes.
"Sorry, I guess I needed the sleep." He blushes and I reassure him. I forget to mention that I was scared and that I did want him to wake up. Maybe I forgot on purpose.
Felix plays with the dial and still, we hear no broadcasts. I drive down along the mountainside, continuing our destination north. By nightfall we should reach the Canadian border. About a week ago we saw a survivor walking on the road just before we settled at the bottom of the mountain. He seemed harmless and Felix wanted to stop and help.
I talked him out of that idea. Last time we accepted help, we put both our lives in danger and soon thereafter, I lost David because of it. As we drive along the deserted highway north, I think back to that survivor we didn't pick up. Think of the tension it created since.
"We should talk about what happened. About that man who was stranded."
"Why? You made it clear what you wanted to do if we encountered humans." Felix says and the mood in the Jeep shifts drastically. I instinctively go to brush some hair behind my hear only to realise I can't. Pixie haircut. Forgot.
"I don't want to argue, Felix. We both have different views about this and we should talk it out. Your all I have, Felix. I don't want to jeopardize that."
"You're the one who keeps telling me I need to understand this new world, forget the old. You're the one who tells me I need to man up if we want to survive. I'm telling you now, that we will never make it on our own."
The stenght of his words weigh me down and I'm forced to pull over on the shoulder. Does he really think that? Does he really think we can't manage on our own, survive this cruel world depending on each other?
"We've made it this far haven't we?" I say as the Jeep's engine comes to a roaring stop.
"By sheer luck. If it hadn't been for Aleks, we would have been dead long time ago."
"Right, Aleks. The same bitch who killed David and tried to murder us. That Aleks. Why don't you go and find her, then, if she's so god damn perfect?" I try and hold back the tears but I can't and soon Felix is wiping my cheeks dry.
"I didn't mean it that way. I mean if we align ourselves with strong people, we will have..."
We are both forced silent when odd noises come streaming from the radio's speakers. It can't be.
"Is anyone...We have safe sh...This is not the end...Is anyone out there...We have safe...Not the end. Military base on Fogo Isl...Fo...Land. Be brave"
Both Felix and I remained still in the Jeep, our eyes and ears glued to the radio. Gooseflesh invades my skin and I start laughing. Felix swings over to hug me and I scream. I scream of joy. Joy.
"We're saved!"
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