Raya and I had been on the open road for a week now. Our constant chatter turned to long silences. I think we both ran out of things to say. It was still a comfort even in the silence. I learned that Raya was not only a excellent shot, but she knew how to fish and she knew how to hunt. One morning as I was making us a canned special breakfast, she went out and caught us a rabbit. And I have to say, rabbit is pretty damn good. Maybe its because I have been eating processed foods for over a month strait. I missed cheese. But Rabbit was a nice change to the norm. I hoped one day to have cheese back in my life, and condiments. Hell, Id give anything for a hot shower.
I drive along the road slowing as more cars come into my view. "We got some cars up ahead, lets check them for some fuel. Were not going to make it much further."
Raya sits up slowly from her nap "Alright. Hey, maybe we will find something exotic like a joint."
I laugh. "That would be pretty cool. I never smoked before, maybe I should have?"
Raya laughs. "Oh, you definitely should have girl. But its alright, at least you don't know what your missing. How does one go to college and never try weed?"
I laugh, used to her bluntness. "I was boring, what can I say. All study and no play, I was going places or so I thought."
Raya smiles. "You went places alright, at least you accomplished a goal. I never had any idea what the hell I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be an actress but of course small town Texas makes that a dream come true you know."
I smirk. "If you meet someone else you can just say you are one, and then you can be an actress playing and actress."
She laughs. " I like your style Aria, wait what should my name be, it has to be something really like..fu-fu weird."
I laugh as she starts listing out random names.
"Farrah, no too slutty, what about Bianca? No, that is too bitchy."
I roll my eyes "I'm sure you will come up with something."
She laughs "What about something short and weird like Poe."
I park along the cars as close to the gas cap as I can. "Like Edgar Allen Poe?"
Getting out she looks at me weird, "Was he an actor?"
I giggle despite myself and she looks at me "What?"
"Poet actually, He wrote dark and twisted tales, I actually like him. He was interesting."
"Poe is probably too manly. What about Zoe?"
I roll my eyes. "It just sounds like you forgot to say the whole name, Zoey."
Raya laughs. "Well, I will sleep on it, maybe something will come to me."
We work along draining the cars with what we can salvage. I had shown Raya the ropes and she was getting the hang of it. It cut the work load in half for me and I was happy that she is willing to help out and not just make me do all the work. I thought she was going to be a girlie girl, and don't get me wrong she is in certain ways, but she also has grit to and she earns her share. As far as survivors go I think I lucked out. We don't really get on each others nerves, at least not yet. Time shall tell.
I pull into a little town near twilight. I let Raya pick the house this time. We had started a game, every time one of us picks a house we have to try to guess what the people would have been like that lived in it. We give them names and a whole back round story. At least it gives us something to do while we make dinner and sit in the weirdness of some dead people's house. Sometimes we stayed in really nice houses with things I wouldn't of been able to afford. Other times we stay in places that make you feel so gross you don't even want to be around your own self the next day. It was a give and take, where we ended up was where we stayed. We had a system and we had a plan and we knew in what direction we wanted to go. It was something to hold on to. I didn't feel so down and out anymore. I didn't feel great but it was bearable. It was like one really long summer camp and you just want to go home but you cant. I keep hoping to wake up in my old bed and all this was some dream. It was a nice illusion before bed.
When I was on my own, I had so much to do, so many things to worry about. But now that there is someone else around I don't have to worry as much and the things I try not to think about comes up a lot more. I try to put it away. If I let it take hold of me then I will give up, I will stop trying and I will just lay down and rot like the others. I couldn't do that. I survived, for what reason I was unsure but I survived and I was going to make it count. Over the last few days we had talked about where people might have gathered, places we can check on the way to Virginia where there might be some others alive. I marked them on the map and although I think they all will be wash outs, Raya is confident that we will find more people. I hoped she was right. Not that I didn't enjoy her company but I longed for a community. I longed to be in one spot with a plan and things to make sense again. I didn't know how much longer I could make it on faith and hope without seeing it.
As I clear the bodies from the home she picked, a task I still seemed to handle on my own. Raya insisted that we could just leave them in a room. but I did that before and you don't get adjusted to the smell. It was better to get them out. Even if its chilly to open the windows and try to get some fresh air moving about. It wasn't healthy to be dwelling around death, I knew that much. I knew that all these rotting bodies were going to make us sick if we were not careful. I wear a mask and gloves, not that it helps to block out the smell but it makes me feel a little cleaner about it. I don't stay in a bed they died in either. That's just gross. I just stay for the roof and walls and I leave as quickly as I came. I try not to disturb anything and only take what I need. It feels a little like grave robbing but I don't think they would mind if they had a say. I mean, what do they need it for now? Were all that seems to be left.
I was worrying about getting close to Dallas. With the heat the way it is during the day, the stench was going to be horrific. But Raya insisted that we try to see if there is any life left in the big city. I don't think she had been in a city since the outbreak and I doubt she knew what she was getting into. I tried to tell her what it was like but she insists that she can handle it. I'm not sure If I can handle it. I have been around some thick stenches but, time has gone on and its getting worse. It had to be one giant cest pool if there were anyone alive they probably died from the disease that comes with the unburied dead. The thought of getting stuck in there is eating at me, but a promise is a promise and we would be there in another day. All I had to do was drive until she couldn't take it and we could get back on the road. Or so I hoped. But what if she is right and there is others, are they going to be friendly? Are they going to want to come with us or just take what we have or hurt us. I wasn't exactly a trusting person. I would need to be alert. Raya was a rose colored glasses sort of girl, I had to make sure the reality doesn't become our undoing. She will hope and I will worry but were in this together and I do want to find others at the end of the day. I just couldn't help the sense of dread that kept coming up. By now, I have learned to listen to my instincts. Was I making a huge mistake, I don't know. But, we will soon find out just what secretes Dallas holds for us. Hopefully its one we can live with.
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