ChapterOne
ONE MAN SHOW
TRENT
To some, the apocalypse took away everything. Their happiness. Their family. Their will to live.
I guess I got off easy, because I didn’t have anyone to lose. I go through life much the same as I had. It’s just quieter and with a lot more vermin.
Unfortunately, I have a feeling the sole respite I have in this undead world is about to go belly up.
“Take me with you!” Susan’s desperate eyes stare back at me, hollowed and dark from her vices.
I almost feel bad about leaving.
Almost.
“Can't. I'm a one-man show.”
“That's bullshit!” she screeches, and for a moment, I think she sees through my bluff. “Haven't ya ever heard the saying ‘there's strength in numbers?’”
I peel off the condom, toss it in the trash, and take a peek out the window, hoping like hell the area is clear so I can make a clean getaway.
Sue comes up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist. I hate when she touches me. When she’s close.
“Maybe we could leave the city,” she pleads. “I bet there aren't as many dead in the country.”
“I don't know. Seems like it would be a heck of a lot harder to find heroin.” I look over at her pile of filthy needles.
“Why ya gotta be like that?”
“Be like what? Honest?”
Her face falls. “Like you’re better than me.”
“I’m not better than anyone.”
I sling my sword into place and holster my gun.
“I can’t bear to see you go again.” She wipes tears from her eyes. “It gets so lonely being by myself.”
“Well, ninety-nine percent of the population died, so don’t expect that to change.”
“I’m scared.”
“You have no reason to be. I bring you food and supplies, and you’ve found enough drugs to taint the entire ocean. You never have to leave.”
“It's not enough anymore—it’s never been enough. It's me and you from now on, through hell or high water. I'm not letting you walk out of here without me again. We'll make a home for ourselves and have real sex. Not just blow jobs.”
Motherfucker…what the hell have I gotten myself into?
I thought getting her food would be enough, but fuck, she wants the white picket fence in the goddamn dead apocalypse.
And I’m not about that. Even if she was clean and sober, I’d be out that door once I got what I came for. It’s just my way. But of course, she has to complicate matters, making it about more than it actually is.
The only thing left for me to do is set her straight.
“I want to make this clear. Once I walk out that door,” I point to the exit leading into the hall, ”I am never coming back, so you better figure out how to find food real quick.”