Better off Undead

Chapter 10: Dia de los Muertos

It felt like an eternity, though in reality it was only a couple of minutes, before the high concentration of abandoned cars finally came to an end and they were able to increase their speed. Eli's small car roared after the leading vehicles, ripping down the streets as quickly as he dared push it.

"It's all back roads from here," the man in the passenger seat said after a time. Eli shot him a glance, but quickly turned his focus back to the road ahead. "I'm Rico, by the way," the man added, motioning to himself with his hand that wasn't holding a shotgun. Then, waving into the backseat, he said "this here is my brother Lucas and my cousin Chuy."

Eli blinked, turning his head just enough to glance sideways into the back seat. "Chewy?" he echoed in disbelief.

"Chewy" was playing with a switchblade, and at Eli's tone he snapped the blade into place and leaned forward. "What, you got a problem, guerro?"

"Oh settle down, niño," the woman to Chuy's left said. "You gonna stab the guy driving the car? See how far that gets you." Chuy shot her an evil glance, but settled down and went back to twirling his switchblade.

"The puta is named Lisa," Rico added, as if as an afterthought.

"Lisa Perez," she added, leaning forward to pat Eli on the shoulder. "They're just angry cuz I kept throwing their worthless asses in lock-up."

"You're a cop?" Eli asked.

"Ex-cop," Rico interjected.

"Still a cop," Lisa snapped, narrowing her eyes at Rico. "You don't stop bein' a cop jus' cuz the world ends."

"I don't know," Eli said. "I think you stop being a cop when there's no more government."

"That's exactly when you have to be a cop," she argued. "You can't let the world jus' fall to shit. You don't want it to be like the old west, people solvin' shit with gunfights."

Eli shrugged, not wanting to debate the issue. "And the rest of you? You're just a bunch of criminals?"

"Man, we're every bit as human as you," Rico answered dismissively. "You could give us that much."

"And yet the four of you end up together as travelling companions? How'd that come about?"

"It's cuz of cop chick here," Rico said, waving his hand in annoyance at Lisa. "She arrested Chuy on some stupid BS."

"Hey," she countered, "possession with intent is not 'some stupid B.S.'"

"Whatever, gringa," Rico said, rolling his eyes. "He needed those guns for los muertos."

"Los muertos?" Eli echoed, raising one eyebrow inquisitively. "Is that some extremely ironic gang name?"

Silence fell for a minute as all eyes turned on Eli. "That's what we're calling the dead," Rico answered at last, his voice quiet and sardonic. "What the hell's wrong with you man?"

"Regardless, I didn't know about the plague at that point." Lisa spoke up, interrupting the moment.

Rico turned to her, his momentary calm forgotten. "You're a cop. Shouldn't you have heard reports or somethin'?"

"Yeah, reports," she consented, "As in, rumors, stories. Nothing concrete. Nothing I could confirm with my own eyes. How was I to know what he wanted the guns for? Someone walks around with that much ordinance, I take them in. That's my job, Rico."

"Yeah, whatever. So like I said: B.S.," Rico concluded. Lisa let out an exasperated groan but did not pursue the matter further. Rico continued on, unfazed, "So me and Lucas show up at the station, to try and get our cousin. That's when they attacked."