Working My Way Back to You, Chapter 2 by patricia51

(Wichita)

"Oh SHIT! Columbus!"

I collapsed back into the seat, all the pent up energy of the last few hours exhausted.

"What did I just do?" I moan.

"What you did is pretty clear," my sister reminded me.

"Okay, so I know WHAT I did. WHY did I just do it? One moment I was feeling warm and happy. Columbus showed he had a lot more guts than a guppy. He and Tallahassee saved us. I was so excited when you pointed out they had showed up."

The younger girl nodded. "You said we should start working on our apology."

"Absolutely," I agreed. "And I meant it. I was surprised that they came after us but awfully glad that they did. I know Tallahassee likes killing zombies and I understand why he does but Columbus," I hesitated and my heart tightened and it was a moment before I could go on, "Columbus came for us. All the way for us. In spite of what he had to face."

"For you," she corrected me. "He's in love with you. Oh he was glad to see me not being eaten too but that's more because he knew how much it would upset you."

In spite of everything I manage to smile at my sister and for the first time since I lost it at the park I feel a little better. "That's true. When did you get so smart?"

She made a dismissive gesture. "I've always been this smart, even if I don't know who Gandhi and Willie Nelson are." She looked thoughtful. "What did you mean by saying Columbus came for us in spite of what he had to face?"

I could feel the smile fading from my face. Once again, how could I have done what I did? After what he faced? I sighed.

"Columbus is the biggest bundle of walking; talking fears I have ever met in my life. I swear he's scared of everything. Of course as he pointed out that might well be why he has survived this long. He recognizes dangerous situations and he avoids them. But he didn't avoid the biggest one last night."

My sister was really looking puzzled by now. "You mean zombies?"

"No." I hesitated. He had told me this in confidence the night before but I needed to explain just how brave he had been and how little of a guppy he could be when the chips were down. "Columbus' greatest fear is of clowns."

"You're kidding!"

"No, seriously. And it's not all that uncommon. He told me there's even a word for it." I searched my memory. "Coulrophobia," I said triumphantly.

"So when he came for us..."

"Uh-huh. The last zombie he had to go through to get to us was a huge clown zombie. And he didn't have any shells left for his shotgun so he had to tackle it with that 'ring the bell' strongman hammer he grabbed up and used. I was surprised. I was happy. I was so darned proud of him. That's why I hugged and kissed him, not because he had just saved us, although I certainly was happy about THAT. I did it because he showed he's NOT a guppy; that he could face his greatest fear and overcome it."

That, of course, was the perfect opening for my sister to ask the sixty-four hundred dollar question.

"So why are we here and he and Tallahassee back there?"

(Little Rock)

I was very glad that Krista was finally back from wherever she had been for the last few hours. If she was freaked out I had been scared. Very scared.

The two of us have been on our own for a long time, well before the infection and the collapse of everything. We're a team sure but she's the senior partner and I've always depended on her to be in control and to look after me. That's something she's always done too.

I knew perfectly well that she hadn't believed in the idea of Pacific Playland being zombie free, that she was going along with me. And that was even before I heard her confiding in Columbus why she was doing it.

I think she told Columbus a lot of things. Things she had never shared with any one but me and some things she had never told me. So why had we gone roaring away from him?

We're pretty used to roaring away from places. Once I have the cash in hand from the "reward" for finding the lost "engagement ring" that our latest sucker is now gloating about we don't hang around. I mean not a good idea to still be in the same county when the guy discovers that the phone number and address that Krista gave him don't exist. She always parks a safe distance around at least one corner. We set that up ahead of time so I know exactly where she is and don't waste any time getting to her.

After all, we've left some guy gloating how he forked over a few hundred dollars for a ring he's going to get three thousand for returning. And I'm neither naive nor stupid. I know the sight of Krista on her hands and knees with her legs showing and her short skirt tight over her rear end which she always carefully aims at the sucker has his brain so addled he's not thinking at all. Heck even before I show up to "find" the ring, which is of course safely in my pocket, he's still so fixated on her he hasn't realized that she drove off without paying for the gas she pumped.

That's why the timing is so important. I have to get there while he's still imagining not only the money he's going to get but while he's also playing fantasies through his head about being with Krista. I know all about sex. I don't mean that the way it sounded. I mean I understand how Krista uses being sexy to make guys lower their guard and keep their minds bouncing back and forth between the thought of the reward and the thought of her. That has them practically drooling when I find the ring and willing to empty that cash drawer to get it.

When we first started this I asked Krista if what we were doing wasn't dishonest. She didn't give me an immediate answer but rather thought about it a bit first.

"Yes. And no. There's an old saying that you can't cheat an honest man. Think about it. What would really be the right thing for someone to do when a young girl finds an object that someone knows is worth a lot of money if it is returned to the owner and that someone has the address right in his pocket?"

"He should tell her that there's a reward and give her the address to send the ring to."

"Exactly. But these guys don't. They try to get the ring without offering anything. If pushed they'll shell out some money but that's because they're telling themselves that they'll get ten times that amount of money back. They're doing their best to cheat someone. So as far as I'm concerned they deserve it."

Suddenly it hits me. THAT'S why she panicked. That's what she fled from.

Columbus is the guy who'll give the girl who finds the ring the address to send it to so that she gets the three thousand dollars. And Krista doesn't know how to handle someone like that.

(To be continued)

(I know, pretty short chapters but I'm stopping where it seems right to me. Plus I'm trying to get it up as soon as I can. By the way, Coulrophobia IS a real word indicating an abnormal fear of clowns. It's not officially recognized though by the American Psychiatric Association. I was tickled though to find in the Wikipedia article on it that the very first example mentioned of its use on screen was... Columbus in Zombieland!)