Chapter Ten
N
It takes us several more hours to gather up and install the last of what Audrey thinks we need to make the truck actually run. I'm not much help with putting the stuff in place - zombie fingers and all - so I spend most of my time just watching Audrey. She is so graceful. Every move she makes has a purpose and a direction, but she moves so fluidly. I wonder if she used to be a dancer Before but I'm too shy to ask.
She talks a lot too while she's working. About everything. In a matter of minutes I know her favourite colour and song and movie, the top five cities she wanted to visit Before, and the foods she misses most. It's the talk about her past that hits me hardest though.
She tells me about foster homes that she lived in, about temporary families that treated her badly and poor living conditions. One particular story is the worst: a foster father with a thing for little girls. She was sent back to the orphanage after stabbing him in the neck with a pair of scissors to save another girl from his wandering hands. Most of the homes were better than that, but only just. None of these stories are happy and they all end in her returning to the orphanage.
"I don't miss those years at all," she says from her place beneath the dash where she's replacing the fuses, I think. "My eighteenth birthday was the happiest day of my life. I was so glad to finally be free. That I didn't have to go where people told me to and I could finally choose for myself. Course then all this happened and all of my plans went down the shitter."
Audrey climbs out from under the dash and grins. "Okay, I think this thing's ready to go," she says and pats the steering wheel. "Should we try her?" When I nod Audrey plants herself in the driver's seat and then pats the other side of the bench. "C'mon then."
I walk around to the passenger side and open the door - first try, go me! - and awkwardly climb up next to her. Audrey shuts her door and then reaches for the keys that are still sitting in the ignition - clearly whoever owned it took off in a hurry. The engine whines and sputters several times and Audrey curses. "Come on, baby," she says and tries again.
"C'mon b-baby," I echo, rubbing the dashboard affectionately. Audrey laughs as she twists the keys again. The engine clicks, groans, and then miraculously it stutters to life. I can feel it vibrating through the whole truck as the ancient engine chugs, a bass thumping noise reverberating inside of the cab. It takes a second before the sporadic thrumming finally settles into a steady rhythm.
"Yes!" Audrey cheers eagerly, throwing her hands in the air. "We did it, N!"
I close my eyes and listen to the rolling of the engine, patterned like a heartbeat. It's alive, just like Audrey. The radio clicks on and begins playing an ancient cassette tape that's still in there, and the song that comes out makes Audrey wrinkle up her nose. "Ugh, the Captain and Tenille, really?" she says in disgust. She pushes the button so the tape pops out and silence fills the car. Audrey glances over at me and grins as she adjusts the gear shift. "Let's take her for a spin," she says.
"Sh-short," I say, looking out of the gaping windowpanes uncertainly. "N-noise might att-ttract others."
Audrey seems put-out but she nods. "Just around the block. To make sure it actually runs." I nod and she presses down lightly on the pedal. The truck groans as it inches backward, rustling through the bush at the end of the alley. The branches screech as they run along the body, scratching off more paint, and I look around nervously again.
Audrey doesn't seem perturbed as she turns into the alley and shifts the gears again. The truck begins to roll forward and the hum of the engine picks up, faster and freer. She cruises down the alley and then turns onto the roadway. As she drives us out to the main road the wind rushes through the vacant windscreen and I watch the way it blows through Audrey's golden hair, whipping it around her face.
We go twice around the block and then Audrey drives the truck back into the alleyway. The truck gutters as she turns it off and the silence left behind is almost shocking. "W-we should get in-nside," I say.
"Right, let's go," Audrey agrees. We both jump out and she follows me as I lead the way back home. It's a good thing that she still has my blood on her neck because we cross a half dozen Corpses on our way, all of them drawn in by the noise of the truck. It's a relief when I finally shut the door behind us and we're safe inside my house.
Audrey laughs, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "That was great," she says.
"D-dangerous," I point out but she's so happy I don't bother pursuing it. After all, we're safe now so what's the harm? "F-fun."
Audrey smiles as she sits down in her heap of pillows. "It was, wasn't it?" she agrees. She pulls a can out of her food basket and wedges the lid off. Peaches again. I sit down from her, watching her as she pops one of the squishy wedges into her mouth. She glances up to find me staring at her and she cocks an eyebrow. "Want to try one?"
What the hell? It's not like it'll kill me. "Y-yes," I say. She gestures for me to hold out my hand and then lays one of the wedges on my palm. Tilting my head, I squint at the slimy wedge suspiciously and then run a finger experimentally over its thin, translucent veins. I can't feel it. I tip the slice into my mouth and bite. Sweet juices explode in my mouth and I can't stop my eyes from shooting open in surprise. It's sweet, overly so, sickeningly so. I spit it back into my palm with a frown.
Audrey laughs. "You don't like it, I take it?" she says, chewing her own slice of peach. In response I drop the half-chewed peach into a nearby bucket. "I guess it was too much to hope for, really. If you guys liked normal food you wouldn't need to eat people."
"S-sorry," I stammer, feeling like I've disappointed her. Maybe I could learn to like the peaches.
"No, it's fine," she says quickly. "It's not your fault, N. That's just the way things are. Nothing we can do about it." Her eyes drift around the room and then they narrow. "What's that?" She grabs something from the shelf and it's only when she's holding it in her lap that I recognise it; the book with the rose cover that I picked up from that house this morning. "Oh, Romeo and Juliet. I love this story."
"H-how does't go?" I ask curiously.
"Oh, it's beautiful," she says eagerly. "It's the epitome of tragic love stories. It's about a boy and girl from rival families who fall in love even though their families forbid it. So they make these plans to run away together but - " She pauses and examines the cover of the book for a minute. "Actually, I mean, I could read it to you. If you want. It's not that long."
"Please," I say hopefully. I've always wondered what stories are hidden away in the books on my shelves, and if she says it's a good story then it must be.
Audrey beams. "Great. Come sit then," she says and pats the floor beside the pillows she's sitting on. I move over and sit down, leaning my back against the wall. She snuggles herself down more comfortably and then opens the book to the first page. "Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene..."
"...For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
It had gotten dark out sometime near the end of the third act - she continued to read by the light of a torch - so it's pitch black outside the windows when Audrey finally closes the book with a soft sigh. I let out a breath I didn't realise I was holding - not that breathing is necessary for me anyhow - and lean back against the wall as the tragic ending settles deep somewhere in my chest.
Audrey traces a fingertip around the rose on the cover and then glances sideways at me. "What'd you think?" she asks.
"I - It - " I frown, struggling to find words for the effect that the love story has had on me. "Sad. Here," I finally say and press my palm against my chest, over the still cavern where my heart should be beating.
To my surprise, Audrey smiles. "Yeah, it gets me every time too," she agrees. "That's why I love it so much. It just makes you feel so much. Nothing does that like an impossible love." She surveys the thin book and shrugs. "But sometimes I wish it had a happier ending."
"Sad," I say again and she nods.
"But I suppose that's the way it works, isn't it?" she says and sighs. "Love stories like this don't exist in the real world, and happy ever afters don't either."
I tilt my head, watching the sadness pass across her face. The defeat in her voice is painful and I wish there is a way I can make her happy again. I touch the book she's still holding and say, "Th-thank you."
Her smile comes back as she looks up at me. "You're welcome," she says. She stares at me for a moment and I think maybe she will say something more, but then she suddenly yawns widely. When she stops she giggles. "It's late, I should probably get some sleep."
I nod and stand up. "G-goodnight," I say and then set off for my nest.
"Night, N," she says, dragging her blanket up over her shoulders.
I place a new record on the player, one of my favourites, and turn it on before I make myself comfortable in my spot. The darkness is heavy around us as I lay down and turn my head so I can watch her. Audrey is curled up in a little ball on her side, her head barely visible over the blue knitting, and the glow from the moon outside casts a bright halo around her golden hair. She is like an angel. I smile.
A sudden, sharp pain throbs in my chest and I sit up in alarm. The pain is gone as quick as it came but I massage my ribs uncertainly for several long minutes later. What was that? Pain? I don't feel pain and yet...
I stretch out again, one hand still resting over my sternum, and muse on the strange new feeling until sunrise.