Strictly Business

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Cassidy,” Mr. Lou says as he starts pacing around my small apartment. I plop down on the couch with my peaches and silently eat as he struggles to explain himself to me. I had told him five minutes and here he is wasting it. He finally stops and turns to face me. He takes a deep breath before speaking, “there is a rumor, from a reliable source might I add, that there is an outpost rising in Minnesota. It’s a new outpost, Cas. A new outlet for trade and communication. Imagine if we can have access to their resources? We can finally start building the United States back to what it used to be! It’ll still be a while but it is a first step toward becoming something better.”

“Okay,” I say with a chuckle after slurping a peach into my mouth. I chew it for a moment before continuing, “I don’t know who you created the speech for but it definitely wasn’t for me. I know you, Lou, I know you don’t give a s**t about any of that and you know I don’t either. Tell me what you really want, Lou, because you’ve wasted enough of my time.” 

“You’re right,” he sighs and collapses onto the loveseat. I watch him as he runs his hands through his graying hair. He lets out a deep breath before looking back up at me, “you know I have three kids. You’ve met Eli and Sandra but my eldest wasn’t living with me when the whole world went to s**t. She had been living with her mother in Michigan.  My source said that my daughter might be the one starting up the outpost. I know it’s just a rumor but I have to hope, right? What is life without hope?”

“Realistic,” I answer before tossing the empty can into the trash can, “so, let me get this straight. You want to send someone across the country for a daughter that may or may not be alive while also claiming to the board something else?”

“I thought we can hit two birds with one stone,” he shrugs but reaches to pull out a paper from behind him, “but I’m not telling any of that to the board.”

“What are you bringing to them? They won’t approve a mission like this for just anything,” I say as he hands me a paper. It’s a hand drawn sketch of a woman of asian descent, much like Mr. Lou. He smiles as he points at it. 

“I think that is my daughter,” he says. 

“This is a wanted poster,” I tell him, “a wanted poster. Do you know how bad a person has to be to get on these? If I bring her here, the board is going to want to put her against the law. There isn’t a single case where they claimed their prisoner innocent.”

“We’ll prove she’s innocent!” he claims. I roll my eyes as I let my head fall back and I glare up at the ceiling. I take a moment to calm myself before turning my attention back to him. 

“We don’t know if she’s innocent,” I say as I look past her sketch and narrow my eyes at her crimes scribbled out below, “she’s a suspected murderer and thief, Lou. Why do you want to bring someone like this into our outpost? It isn’t just me you’re wanting to endanger, Mr. Lou, it is everyone in this damn outpost.”

“I know my daughter, Cas,” he argues as he stands up and grabs my shoulders, “I know she’s innocent of these crimes.”

“You haven’t seen her since zombies took over,” I shove him off me, “you have no idea who she is anymore.” 

“Tell me,” Lou cries out, “what would you do if you found out your parents were still alive?”

“Easy,” I shrug, “I’d stay put and I definitely wouldn’t put others in danger to find them.”

“Cas…”

“What do you expect me to say?” I scoff, “I usually try to stay alive.”

“Let me bring this to the board,” he says and grabs my shoulders again, “if they decide to go through with it, perhaps I can try to get you into a better living arrangement and a better wage of sorts. Come on, Cas, wouldn’t you like some electricity?” 

“Asshole,” I mutter as I lean my head back and glare at my roof. I’ve been doing the same thing for the last three years. I’ve never grown bored of it but perhaps it is time for a change like Zoey, except mine wouldn’t be forced. What if this is just an elaborate scheme for his daughter to take my place as a scavenger? I chuckle softly before letting out a heavy sigh, “why me? There are other qualified idiots that would love to jump on something like this.”

“I trust you,” he shrugs, “so? Are you going to help me?”

“Yes,” I say with a groan and he jumps up in join, acting surprisingly limber for an old man, “but on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“Zoey comes with me,” I say and roll my eyes, “okay, more like two conditions. I’m going to need supplies, gas, and a better car than the beat up truck I’ve been using.” 

“I’ll get you what you need,” he says and lunges forward. He wraps his arms around me before hurrying towards my door. He looks back with a smile before stepping into the cool night air.

I grab the lantern and head back into my room. I set it down on the dresser and fall back against my bed. I turn toward my window and watch the lines of light peering in from the lights of the wall. I used to hate not being able to darken my room but I now find it strangely comforting. 

“What am I getting myself into?” I ask myself out loud as I roll over and wrap myself in my blanket like a burrito. My stomach gurgles but I refuse to head back to the kitchen to munch on more food. More likely than not, I’ll have to bring it on my trip if the board even approves it. I suspect Lou has a twenty percent chance of actually getting them to approve it. 

***

I wake up to the sound of incessant knocking from my front door. I jump up and pull on my pants, tripping in the hallway as I hurry toward it. I curse as I yank the door open and groan when I’m only met with a grinning face of my best friend. She pushes past me and plops down on my loveseat. I push the door closed before heading toward the fridge. I toss a jar of peaches toward Zoey, who snatches it out of the air easily. I grab my own and plop down beside her before turning my head toward her.

“What’s going on? You’re usually not here this early in the morning,” I ask her. She doesn’t say anything as she forces the jar open. She declines the spoon I hold out for her and raises it up to her lips as if she’s drinking from a glass of water. I roll my eyes as I ate mine in a more civilized way as I wait for her to answer my question. She doesn’t look as worried as she did yesterday. Perhaps she already found something else, my brain whispers as she sets the empty jar on the ground. Perhaps she doesn’t want to go to Minnesota with me…

“So, you boss, Mr. Lou?” she starts talking, waving her hands excitedly as she does so, “he stops by my place last night. I got confused because it was pretty late in the evening but I was still awake so whatever, you know? He says that he heard about my firing and asked if I wanted to work for him. Of course, I thought it was going to be as a scavenger but, Cassidy, it’s for something bigger than that. It’s something that can help me better my place here. He didn’t exactly tell me what it was but I’m excited about the opportunity and that he chose me of all people. You’ll be proud of me, Cas, I didn’t say yes. I told him that I have to know what it is first and he promised to tell me within the week.”

“He wants us to travel to Minnesota,” I tell her. Her face goes through three emotions rather quickly. It shifts from confusion to shock and to a strange look of happiness. I raise my eyebrow at her as I wait for her to reply to me. Should I expand? 7

“What?” 

“He chose you because I recommended you,” I shrug. I don’t think she needs to know that I kind of forced him to add her to the mission. I know Zoey and she’ll be all butthurt if she thought I got her the job. She’ll say something about not being a charity case and I should let her succeed on her own and blah, blah blah. 

“Really?” she asks. She looks suspicious and I wait for her to say something about charity. I had tried to get her another job and had to face that lecture. It was as if I was facing my mom again after sneaking out with a boy much too old for me. I smile about it now but at the time I had thought I hated her. I had hated my father too until I realized I would never see them again. I wonder how long they survived the apocalypse or if they were some of the lucky few who died quickly. What if they are zombies? What if their dead bodies are still wandering around Chicago, desperately searching for some unsuspecting survivor? 

“Yeah,” I say after shaking the thought out of my head, “he came to me last night too but probably before he saw you. I told him it was too much for one person so I suggested he pick you to be my partner in crime.”

“Oh, thank you!” she squeals as she lunges at me. I groan as her body slams into mine and she wraps her arms tightly around me, “I’ve been stressing about it all night! So, we’re going on a road trip?”

“Don’t make it sound fun,” I tell her as I shove her off me, “it is a dangerous mission. You really have to think if it is worth it, Zoey.” 

“I’ve already decided I’m going,” she shrugs as she stands up, “you really think I’m going to let you have all the fun? I thought you knew me better.”

“We don’t even know if we’re going yet,” I tell her as I look at my phone, “okay, so, I have to go to the job I still have. I will see you tonight and either celebrate or cry.”

“Sounds like a deal,” she nods, “I’ll stay here and start packing.”

“We don’t know if we’re going yet,” I repeat to her. 

“Be optimistic, bud,” she says with a dismissive wave of her hand. I shake my head as I pull on my boots and head outside. The morning is cool but I don’t bother to hurry inside and grab a coat. I usually move enough to keep warm during my work days. I bound down the steps and hurry down the sidewalk just as a line of trucks started forming outside the gate. I find Mr. Lou’s fire truck and I pull myself into the front seat. Mr. Lou doesn’t say anything as I buckle myself in. 

“Hello, Mr. Lou,” the gate attendant says. I zone out as they talk for an annoying amount of time. Mr. Lou is a talker. I am not. I would much rather spend my time with my head in a book or scavenging for supplies instead of dealing socially with people. It is a solid five minutes before we’re moving out of the gate. Most of the trucks before us had gone their separate ways. We go down the side road that runs around the outpost and out toward another small city that stands a good three hours away. We’ve been moving out farther and farther every week. 

“So, you spoke to Zoey before me,” I tell him after we make it a ways away from the outpost. He glances over at me with a small smile, “did you know that she had lost her job?” 

“I may have heard it,” he sighs and shakes his head, “actually one of her ex coworkers came up to me to warn me about her. He thought she’d come to me to try and find work so he wanted me to know about her lackadaisical attitude.” 

“Ah,” I nod, “did your request get accepted?”

“Yes,” he says, “I’ll be seeing them tomorrow so you get the day off.” 

I don’t answer as I turn my gaze toward the window and watch the world speed past me. I can see stumbling shadows as we pass by small neighborhoods that stand in their lonesome. I fight the urge to tell him to stop so I can put them out of their misery. 

I can never make myself truly hate the zombies that torment our lives like Zoey or Mr. Lou. When I face them, I see the people they used to be. I view them more like sick animals than monsters everyone else claims them to be. Sure, I know they are dangerous but I’m not going to play with them like others do.

Like Zoey does. 

“You okay?” Mr. Lou asks.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I reply, keeping my eyes on the passing landscape. I close my eyes for a moment as my mind travels to my parents, as it often does when I stop to think about the beauty of nature. My parents had a need to make me appreciate nature. That was why I was living with my aunt when this whole mess started. My parents had thought I spent too much time in the “concrete” jungle as they liked to call it. They wanted me to spend some time in nature, away from the big city. They hadn’t wanted me to grow up without nature.

Whatever.

I shake the thought out of my head. My parents are gone. They’re either dead or zombified. There’s no point in thinking about them. I’m not like Mr. Lou or the older women in the outpost. While I have a single picture of my parents and my aunt, some people still celebrate their lost one’s birthday or have a literal shrine set up in their rooms. Lingering in the past will do nothing to help today. I would not waste useful resources on a hopeless endeavor like Mr. Lou but...I like comfort. 

“So, if this gets accepted,” Mr. Lou starts, “I will never be able to repay you.”

“If I survive,” I say, finally turning to glance at him, “I don’t think you realize the danger you’re putting us in. You’re just lucky that Zoey is in a rough patch right now.” 

“I suppose,” he mutters before clearing his throat, “See up there?”

I narrow my eyes as we start down a slight decline. There’s a small town up ahead that doesn’t like more than a few houses. I frown as he keeps heading that way. 

“Usually you park and I go in alone,” I tell him.

“I know,” he nods, “but this time is different. There’s medicine in one of these houses, one we are in desperate need of.”

“Okay?”

“But there is also rumored to be a gang of pirates around here too,” he explains, “they told me to offer aid, however-”

“They didn’t provide any extra fire power,” I groan, “What nice people.”

“I know,” he chuckles, “but we just need to be in and out, okay?”

“You’ll stay in the truck for a quick getaway?”

“Obviously,” he shrugs, “you know I’m no fighter.”

“Good,” I smile, “wouldn’t want you to get in the way.”

“Be careful,” he says as I jump out of the truck. I keep my pistol raised as I head toward the first house. It is annoyingly huge, as were the others, and I mentally curse all of their old rich owners. I take a deep breath as I step onto the creaky porch. I take a deep breath before kicking the front door open. Shadows await me as I step inside. 

“Somebody!” I jump as I hear a sharp scream coming from upstairs, “somebody help me!” 

“Shut it!” a rough voice cuts her off and I can hear the sound of a slap from where I stand. I groan as I hurry toward the stairs, forgetting every precaution to help whatever poor soul is trapped in this house. I slow my steps as I make it to the second floor. I raise my gun just as the door closest to me bursts open. 

I don’t have time to react before a body slams into mine. My gun flies from my hand and I push back against the dirty male body. He smiles as he stumbles back, brandishing a knife in his hand. I raise my fists and prepare myself until I see a woman, the one I assume to have been screaming, walk out without a scratch on her. 

“Looks like we caught ourselves another good samaritan,” she coos as licks her own knife, “can I take care of her?” 

“No,” I snap, “neither of you are going to take care of me. I suggest you let me go. I have help.” 

“In the big truck?” she giggles, “he won’t get here in time. There is no escaping, Sweetie. Just give it up.” 

I clench my teeth as I duck under a swing of her knife. She giggles as I sidestep her swings and stumble deeper into the house. The man is following behind but at least he’s keeping his distance. I silently thank whatever god there is that these guys just want to kill me. 

Hopefully. 

I grab her arm just as she moves to swing at me and slam my elbow into her nose. She screams in pain as I charge back, bursting into an empty room and slamming the door shut. I lock it just as a heavy body slams into it. I look over at the large windows and walk over to it. I can’t make a jump like that unless…

There’s a dirty pool still filled with gross, green water.