Dead Souls

Chapter Four

Meredith stands there, appalled. She had her fair share of run ins with gruff men, but this one was a new sort of gruff. A blunt gruffness. She wonders if her thoughts are written across her forehead from the accuracy of his spoken words.

"I'm headed north, towards Montana. I've gathered the DeSo's aren't big fans of the cold. They thrive more in the heat, from my experience." The man claims with confidence.

"I've heard that claim through the rumor mill," Meredith finally says. "Are there others with you?"

For a moment, the man hesitates before responding. "There's another. We don't typically pick up strays."

And the blows keep on coming. Meredith gathers to be around this man, she ought to have thick skin. A stray? Didn't he run into her?

"Well, I don't typically travel with strange men. I keep away from the camps and keep to myself." Meredith makes to move past him into the shed to grab a shovel. The man's eyes follow her as she begins to shovel dirt near the oak tree. After a few rounds of dirt, she hears over her shoulder, "I take it you really don't favor me or you found the DeSo's meal?" Meredith smiles to herself before baring her teeth at him. "Care to stick around to find out?" Some sass leaked through her typical put together persona. The way he could get under her skin was unsettling.

The man tips back and lets out a soft chuckle. "Well, well, well. Turns out she does have some fire in her after all." He then turns to the house and returns with the DeSo and it's detached head in tow. He tosses it to the side of the partially dug grave before stocking back into the house again. Meredith continues her shoveling without halting, as the man comes back out dragging the deer by the legs. He drops it near the DeSo before grabbing a shovel himself.

Together, they dig in silence. Meredith misses the sound of birds chirping, or children playing carefree. Here, the sound of rustling wind is the closest she can get to a pre-apocalyptic world.  Each pile of dirt gets heavier and heavier, yet she keeps digging. Sweat trickles down her forehead, landing on her hand here and there. She watches the man out of the corner of her eye, admiring the bulk underneath his shirt that is stretched across his back. He retired his heavy jacket prior to the dig, revealing a fit figure. He keeps the bandana over his mouth and nose to keep the dirt from being inhaled.

Stripping off her backpack and jacket, Meredith continues to dig in a tank top, jeans and her leather boots. The sun stares down upon them, waiting for them to yield. Little does it know that Meredith stopped yielding to pain or discomfort years ago. Pain and discomfort are the real reminders that this is all real. This isn't a dream or a nightmare. Her family is gone. Her friends are gone. Her normal life ceased to exist years ago.

"Jax," the man mumbles as he finishes burying the DeSo. He, so kindly, saved Meredith the mauled deer to bury instead. "What was that?" She murmurs.
"My name. The name is Jax." And with that, he puts his shovel back in the shed. He moves to grab his gear when Meredith says, "Are you unpacking here tonight or do you have camp setup nearby?"

"I'm headed out. I have someone counting on me to return before sundown," Jax responds.
"I suppose it was a good thing this grave wasn't intended for you then," she says playfully, adding a smirk.
Jax's features soften slightly. "Take care, No Name. Try to keep your senses alert. Hopefully today taught you that at the very least." Jax appears to have a dry sense of humor. Meredith could appreciate a sense of humor in a world filled with walking creatures filled to the brim with misery.

Meredith finds herself hesitating, wanting to savor this small interaction. Who knows when she will have human interaction again? A DeSo could only contribute so much to a conversation in between grunts and moans. Look at me using his term for the creatures, Meredith thinks to herself.

"Take care of yourself, too, Jax. Hopefully you find what you seek and avoid anymore run ins with damsels in distress. Well, you should avoid any human interactions for a good 50 miles." Meredith stops herself from asking to join. As tempting as it is to seek comfort in companionship, she is aware of the risks in teaming up.

Meredith returns her shovel to the shed and watches Jax as he walks away, seeming to have no worry in the world. What Meredith would do, to not have a worry in the world. But she, like Jax, had someone depending on her as well.

Jane is north. And that is where Meredith plans to go as well.