Ch 7

When I wake the next morning, the vivid green of Beth's eyes feel like they have burnt into my retinas. Julie's head is on my chest, and she's snoring slightly, her golden hair draped down her shoulders and bare back. I decide to keep this from her. No need to add more stress to her plate.

There's a double knock on the bedroom door and Nora's voice calls, "Wake up, love birds, the convoy will be here in ten minutes for weapons check!"

Julie stirs and mumbles grumpily before going back to sleep.

I chuckle lowly and absentmindedly stroke her hair while she sleeps for a second. This is the last time I'll be waking up in this bed next to Julie for awhile. That thought depresses me. My happy little sitcom life is getting a heavy dose of drama.

Well, there'll be plenty time for sulking when I'm alone in Atlanta. Time to get a move on. I nudge Julie's shoulder gently and her sunshine eyes come into view as she looks up at me. "Morning already?" She asks, and ruffles her nose.

"Afraid so."

She sighs dramatically, stretches, and then wraps a sheet around her and waddles to the bathroom. "Convoy on its way?" She asks.

"Yeah," I say, sitting up and pulling on a pair of pants. I grab our packed duffel bags and throw them out into the hallway.

"R?" She calls with the flush of the toilet.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember Atlanta at all?"

"No," I say as she emerges from the bathroom, her hair ringing wet from the shower. She grabs it and balls it onto the top of her head.

She frowns, and looks like is about to say something else when there is commotion outside of our window. Without looking, I know that the convoy has arrived. Six salvaged army tank strong, we will roll into the corpse camp in safety. The remaining Dead have yet to mangle the rolling belts on the tanks. They know better know to stay away.

"You ready?" I ask her.

"Yeah," She says, fluffing out her hair in the mirror. She turns at the doorway and surveys our room. "You got the bags?"

"In the hallway."

"Okay," She says and looks over the room again. "Okay," She says again and walks out the door.

….

Nora hops up and into the tank like she was a born marine. She hasn't said much about M's disappearance, and I hope that she is not so used to loss that she just brushes it aside. Julie is standing next to me as I hand our bags off to Security. A large crowd has formed behind the tanks to see us off. I nod and give a few waves, and Julie hugs a few kids and pats shoulders.

I notice Tom waving to me from the crowd, and the thought occurs to me. It'd only take a second... Rosso would get pissed, but it'd take no more than ten minutes...

I grab Julie's hand and whisper into her ear, "Come with me a minute."

She doesn't question but follows, and Nora is the first to stick her head out of the tank "Where are they going?"

"We'll be right back!" I call.

"R!" Rosso calls after us. "Julie! You're holding up the damn rollout!"

Julie doesn't say anything as we sprint through the streets to her restaurant. I slow as we come up to the building and let go of her hand to dig in my pocket for the key.

"R, what is this?" Julie asks, her eyes wide and head on a swivel.

I smile at her, put the key in the lock, and open the door for her. "Welcome to your restaurant."

Her eyes grow wider as she walks through the doors. It is still a work in progress, but she can see the ovens. "My restaurant," She whispers, putting a hand to her mouth.

"I was thinking we could have booths over here," I say, pointing to the far wall, "and some tables in the middle... and... a sign over the front door that says Julie's Place."

"This is what you've been hiding from me," She whispers, turning around to face me.

I'm surprised to find tears in her eyes.

"I know you've been craving Pad Thai." I say.

"R," She whispers, "I can't believe this."

I walk to her and pull her into my arms. She puts her chin on my chest and smiles up at me. "I love this." She says. "I can't believe you did all of this for me."

I lean down and kiss her, and she wraps her arms around my neck. A blaring horn from outside separates us, and we look outside to see our convoy. I'm surprised they could get those tanks down these smaller streets.

Julie giggles and takes my hand. "Come on, our ride is here."

...

Every time I visit a corpse camp, it seems weird to think that I was once where these people are. I know what they're going through, what they're thinking. We have them all gathered in a group, watching the President's address on the t.v. Some of them seem to be coming around. A handful or so. One of them, a young male lunges at Julie, and I zap him with my taser. Of course this is less effective on the Dead, I'd call it equivalent to a shock collar. But he jumps back and is still.

"No biting!" Julie scolds.

"A...mer...ic...a?" A voice asks from the mass.

"Who said that?" I ask.

At first, all of them just stand there and sway and groan. But then, slowly coming through the sea is movement. A young woman hobbles forward, dragging a broken ankle. She can't be more than twelve with pig tails and wearing a school uniform. "4th of July." She says. "Fireworks."

"Yes," Julie says. "Good."

"Bar..b...que..." Another voice answers.

Julie smiles at me, and I smile back. Nora walks forward, her gun strapped around her shoulders, but a stethoscope hangs from her ears. She walks up to the girl with the broken ankle. "May I?" she asks.

The girl does not respond, so Nora places the stethoscope to her chest and listens. "It's faint," She says after a while, "But it's there."

…

It's nightfall when Julie and I walk around the corpse camp. This is our last night together. In the morning, I will be heading to Atlanta, and she will return home. Julie stops and stares at the Dead mulling around. Staggering into each other. Groaning.

"It is something, isn't it?" She asks.

"What?"

"How long we've come?" She shrugs, "they're kinda like primitive man."

I raise my eyebrow. "So, you're saying I was a neanderthal."

"With a good taste in music." She laughs.

"Oh, come on, I also had a good taste in collectibles."

She laughs, "Yes, you had some very nice mobiles."

I watch a particularly slow middle aged infected man shuffle his way over to our convoy and then turn his head and stare at the sky. "Was I like that?" I ask.

"What, slow?" She asks.

"No... just..." My voice trails off. Maybe I don't want to know the answer. Maybe I should just go on thinking that I was handsome with a speech impediment.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

I don't answer her, hoping she'd drop the subject.

"R," She says.

No such luck. I just shake my head and shrug.

She laughs and whacks me on the arm. "You know how I feel about the shrugging."

Maybe I should just go on thinking that the miracle of Julie falling in love with me happened. There's no need for an explanation. Miracles don't need those.

"So, what should we do with our last night?" Julie asks.

I watch the man staring up at the sky. "I think he has the right idea." I say, and Julie smiles in return.

And so, we lay down right there under the stars. We watch them twinkle and shine, we talk about everything and nothing at the same time. We link hands. We kiss. And just as the stars are vanishing for the evening, Julie is curled next me, asleep.