Zombie Rock II

Psycho Killer

A couple of times when Lilly and I had first started dating, she tried to get me to take her out for sushi and I'd refused. Finally, when she pushed me to tell her why, I admitted that the idea of eating raw fish sickened me. She'd understood and that had been the end of her asking for sushi.

Now, however, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into the fish Rob was cleaning. I could tell the others felt the same way. I saw them pacing, sticking their hands in their pockets, anything to keep from tearing the fish from Rob's hands. He'd already commissioned a few of the others to sharpen sticks so we could roast the meat like hot dogs. Well, more accurately, so we could get it warm enough so that it seemed like freshly killed meat. Which, now that I thought about it, didn't really work for fish, since they weren't warm to begin with.

I shrugged and picked up a stick. I'd still prefer it to at least be warm. I walked over to where Rob and a couple of the others were finishing up scaling and deboning the half dozen fish they'd caught. It was a testament to how hungry I was that my stomach growled when I saw the guts and nastiness, and didn't lose my appetite for even a second.

"How well is this going to split up?" I asked.

"It's probably not going to make anyone full," Rob said. "But it'll help. And maybe when we're thinking clearer, we can catch even more."

"Lilly and the others said they remembered some music," I told him.

His eyes brightened.

"When we're done eating, they're going to sing."

"Zombie campfire songs?" he joked.

"Exactly," I said. I turned to look back toward the logging trail. I'd been wondering how far Matthew and Roger had gotten. I still thought it was foolish of them to have gone, and I was worried that they might be lost or hurt—though not as much as I would've been if it'd been a couple of my friends who'd gone. Still, I hoped they were making progress. I'd be more than happy to eat crow and tell them they'd been right if they showed up with a way out and some food. If it got my family and friends cured and home again, I'd shout how awesome they were from the mountaintops. My pride meant nothing when it came to the safety of the people I cared about.

"I heard someone say that Matthew and Roger didn't come back," Rob said quietly, almost as if he'd read my mind.

"No, they haven't," I said, knowing that if they hadn't come back by now, it most likely meant they weren't going to. The exhaustion I felt deep in my bones after a day of mostly sitting was mind-numbing. I couldn't imagine how bad it would be if I'd spent the entire day walking. No food. No music. Just trudging along, trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Rob glanced around to make sure no one else was listening. "What do you think the chances are that they'll make it back to town?"

If anyone else had asked me, I'd have smiled and put on a happy face. I might've even done it with Lilly, just so she'd have some hope and wouldn't worry so much about Les. With Rob, however, I felt like I could be honest. And besides that, I needed to say what I thought, if only to hear it out loud and see if he'd tell me I was being too negative. I doubted he would, but anything was possible.

"I don't think the odds are in their favor," I said. "It was close to dark when they left and last night was cloudy. Just staying on the path must have been difficult. Plus, we already know they'd have to go quite a few miles before they even got close to anything that hadn't been explored yet. Under the best of circumstances it'd take a Zombie quite a while to walk that, an underfed human almost as long. Make that an underfed Zombie, and we're talking at least twice the time."