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Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Odd Jobs

ZACH

When did I even set my rifle down? It must have only been a few seconds. And that’s all it took for him to grab it. He was playing me this whole time, waiting for the right moment. He’ll force me to tell him the combo to the vault. Steal my supplies. Or worse. How could I be so stupid?

I raise my hands, my whole body trembling. “Aiden, please—”

“Quiet,” he hisses.

And then he fires the rifle. It’s impossibly loud. The shockwave from the muzzle blast hits me, and I freeze, waiting for the searing impact of the bullet. But there’s no pain. Either I’ve gone into shock, or the bullet missed.

“Get behind me,” Aiden yells as he widens his stance and aims again.

“Wha—”

“Slowly!”

Movement flashes in the corner of my eye. A giant cougar stands no farther than thirty feet to my left. Two hundred pounds at least. It’s in full attack mode, staring intently with ears pinned back, ready to pounce.

Our eyes meet. The icy stare of this massive predator makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

Time seems to expand; seconds feel like minutes. With my eyes locked on the cougar, I slowly get up from my crouch. But as I do, my feet tangle together, and I trip, falling back into the dirt.

The cougar acts immediately. Its entire body compresses, preparing to spring. Its jaws gape open, flashing massive fangs that could rip my throat out in a heartbeat.

As its front claws leave the ground, another rifle blast rings out. A fine mist of blood sprays out as the bullet grazes the cougar’s left shoulder. The impact throws its jump off, and it lands short of me, making a loud screeching sound. The cougar is so close I could reach out and touch it.

Another rifle blast misses the mark, but the cougar recoils at the sound this time. There’s fear in its eyes, the hunter becoming the hunted. Aiden makes himself big, raising his hands and yelling.

The cougar’s had enough, so it turns to run. Even wounded, the speed of the beast is chilling. It retreats to the woods, tail lowered, favoring one side. Within seconds, it disappears out of view.

I turn to Aiden, stunned. In five seconds, my mind went from thinking he was killing me to realizing he was saving my life. I open my mouth to thank him, but no words come out. Yet my expression speaks volumes.

Aiden nods and smiles. “You’re welcome.”

*

AIDEN

For a while, Zach sits in the dirt, stunned. It’s not surprising. I’d be blabbering like a baby after such a near miss. But now we’re on level footing. We’ve both held a loaded rifle while the other stood defenseless, with each of our lives in the other’s hands. The postapocalyptic version of a trust fall.

“I’ve seen cougars around before,” Zach finally says, eyes still wide, hands shaking. “But never like that. Never caught so off guard.”

“I was distracting you. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“You saved me.” Zach has this earnest look in his eyes. “I think I might owe you my life after that.”

“You don’t owe me anything beyond what we agreed to. Supplies for labor.”

I hope he doesn’t lean too hard into this “owing his life” thing. The last thing I need is somebody following me around, thinking I’m a hero.

I keep alert, making sure the cougar is gone for good. Scanning around, a half-eaten rabbit in a snare trap at the edge of the garden catches my attention. “That could be part of the problem.” I point to the mangled rabbit. “The cougar may think of this area as a food source.”

“I put those there to keep the rabbits out of the garden. Never thought it would bring cougars.” Zach laughs nervously. I’m glad he’s getting over the shock and can laugh a little.

Zach wiggles a finger in his ear. “I still hear ringing.”

“I’m sorry I had to shoot right at you. The plan was to shoot straight up to scare it, but then it started charging.”

“I won’t lie. The gun blast scared the crap out of me.” Zach gets up and jumps around, shaking the tension out of his arms and shoulders. “But I think I’m okay now. Let’s keep going.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. It’ll help me take my mind off it.”

He finishes the tour of the outside grounds, showing me the rest of the little world he’s built here. His resourcefulness is impressive. He’s what I’d call a hard-core tinkerer. A MacGyver. I’ve known a few people like that in my life. They’re good to have around in a pinch.

“Where did you learn how to do all this stuff?” I ask.

“My dad owned a repair shop, and I helped him out a lot. I guess it rubbed off on me. He was also an amateur inventor.”

“That explains some of it, but you clearly have a gift for mechanics.”

Zach shrugs. “I guess I’ve always liked taking things apart and putting them back together. My mom would get so annoyed, until she realized things ended up better when I was done.” He lets out a sad laugh and has a distant look in his eyes.

He really does have a gift. With luck, he could stay here indefinitely. But that’s just it. He’ll need a lot of luck. The world is a nasty place now. If you have something worth taking, people will try to take it. You need to protect it. His defenses are enough to hold off a few disorganized looters and an Infected or two. But he couldn’t withstand a real assault.

For about five seconds, I contemplate taking him with me. Like I said, he might be good in a pinch. But then I’m hit by a wave of terrible memories.

I was traveling with Connor, a fellow courier. When we were attacked on the road, he fought back, but I froze up. All I could do was watch him die as he fell off a bridge a hundred feet to his death. He sacrificed his life to save me, and I’ve never forgiven myself for that. I can’t ask anyone to die for me ever again.

Nope. I travel alone. No exceptions.

“Hey, Aiden, you there?”

I come back from that dark place. “Huh?”

“You spaced out for a second. You okay?”

“Yeah.” Memory buried. Focused again. “Let’s get to work.”

*

Zach has no end of projects. First, we work on moving the huge rain barrel he told me about. It’s awkwardly large and heavy. Lugging it over from the nearby house takes our entire combined strength. And it doesn’t exactly make my ribs feel great.

Once it’s next to an overflowing rain barrel, Zach sets up a siphon hose between them. The water in the small barrel flows into the big one until their levels equalize. He has this natural intuition for how things work.

Zach puts his fists on his hips and admires the work. “That’ll hold ten times the water now. Thanks.”

“You’re the brains. I’m just the brawn.” I smile.

The good news is, he’s no longer grabbing for his rifle every time I get near. Closer up and in the sunlight, I get a better sense of what he looks like. He’s not bad-looking per se. He’s just—how did he put it—a mountain man? His wispy beard covers most of his face in weird patches. Layers of dirt cover every inch of his skin, and his hair is a disaster, constantly getting in his eyes. His clothes are all dirty and frumpy, really adding to his hobo aesthetic. But sometimes, in the right light, at the right angle, maybe he’s kind of halfway attractive. Not that it’s remotely relevant to my current situation. I simply need to finish his tasks, get the supplies, and then go. I’ll never see him again.

Speaking of Zach’s tasks, the next one is fixing the chicken coop. One entire side fell over and was too heavy for Zach to lift himself. It’s easier than lifting the rain barrel, but it still doesn’t feel fantastic on my ribs. Maybe agreeing to manual labor wasn’t the best idea.

Rounding up the chickens is interesting. Many are still in the coop, apparently happy with the shelter and soft straw. Lots of others are milling about nearby. Some appear to be victims of certain predators we’ve recently become familiar with. Random feathers and miscellaneous chicken parts are all that remain.

We chase around after the loose chickens. We’re both running around, hunched over, hands stretched out, looking like idiots. To be perfectly honest, we laugh a lot more than catch chickens. Teamwork works best. I distract them as Zach sneaks up from behind and nabs them. We keep at it until all the chickens are safely inside.

We save the most backbreaking task for last, of course—carrying large logs from the nearby forest. We use one of those two-man saws seen in old cartoons to break them down. By the time the shadows are getting long, we’ve got two entire trees cut into sixteen-inch rounds, ready for splitting. My muscles ache after the day’s work. Zach is really trying to get his value out of this deal.

Back at the bank, he flips on some LED string lights illuminating the entire room in a soft white glow. He does it so casually that it makes me laugh.

“What?” Zach says with a sheepish grin.

“It’s just—it’s funny seeing you switching on lights like it’s no big deal. Just another day in postapocalyptic Elk Springs.”

“I can’t help if I’m clever.”

“Don’t let it go to your head.” I laugh. “Plus, if you’re so clever, why don’t you have electric heat? It’s freezing in here.”

With the sun nearly down, the temperature is dropping rapidly. And the stone floors and austere bank interior makes it feel that much colder.

“I’ve tried running electric heaters, but they drain the battery in no time,” Zach says. “Some things are best done the old-fashioned way. Speaking of which, thanks for volunteering to start the fire?”

“Fine. I know what I’m good for.” I roll my eyes but let out a big smile, walking back to the stove.

Once the fire’s going, Zach reheats the leftover stew from lunch. We make small talk about our lives before the Great Collapse. He talks about his family and plans to go to U-Dub, but I avoid saying anything too revealing or personal. Anytime he probes too deeply, I find a way to change the subject.

When we’ve finished dinner, Zach springs up with a smile. “Okay, movie time.”

We drag two chairs over in front of the TV mounted on the wall. With a press of the remote, the TV and the DVD player light up. The Star Wars intro loops, filling the bank lobby with the familiar themes of John Williams. Something about the music is so evocative to me, bringing back childhood memories.

“The TV was already here in the bank. But I found the DVD player and a bunch of DVDs in people’s houses.” Zach runs his hand along a collection of DVDs set up on a table below the TV. “We can watch whatever you want.”

“Star Wars is fine. I haven’t seen that since I was a kid, anyway.”

Zach beams and rubs his hands together. I guess that’s what he was hoping for.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Zach runs off into the vault with a big smile.

This weird little guy sure has a lot of energy and enthusiasm. It’s silly but quite endearing.

A moment later, the whirling of a fan fills the room. What in the heck is he doing? Then loud noises start, almost sounding like muffled gunshots. I jump up from my seat, startled. But then, the popping noises get louder and more frequent, and I laugh.

Microwave popcorn.

Zach comes out carrying two bowls filled with fluffy golden kernels. “I’ve got just a few bags of these. Only for special occasions.”

“I can’t remember the last time I had popcorn.” I grab one bowl. “What’s the occasion, then?”

“My first visitor.”

First? Dang. This guy really must be lonely.

“My lucky day, I guess,” I say.

I toss a kernel into my mouth. And, wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a treat like this. It’s buttery, salty, and crunchy in all the perfect proportions. We have very few luxuries in the emergency medical bunker I’ve been calling my home for the last year. All our meal rations come out of prepackaged bags. Almost no entertainment. Everything is utilitarian and focused on two things only. Survival and medical research.

Zach dims the lights and starts the movie. I saw Star Wars as a child, but it’s been so long that I forgot what a good movie it is. Zach and I feed off each other’s reactions, from C3PO’s first line until Luke destroys the Death Star. It’s the most fun I’ve had in a long time. I’ve been transported away for a moment, almost forgetting the hellscape I live in.

When the world has shifted so much, life becomes all about survival. It’s easy to only focus on the big things. But sitting here, watching movies, sharing a laugh makes me realize how important the little things are too. Even when Marcus was around, life was so altered that we almost never laughed or had any moments like this.

When the credits finish rolling, we sit in silence. I smile at Zach. “Thanks for that.”

“Yep. I need a movie like that to lift my spirits sometimes. But I think you needed it more than I did.”

What an odd thing to hear a stranger say about me. Not only because he barely knows me, but also because he’s right. I did need this. It lightened me a little. This little hobo of a guy has known me for less than twelve hours, and he’s already figuring me out.

“You’re an interesting guy, Zach.”

He grins. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

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