It was a great day out, if you could overlook the man-eating walking dead waiting in the shadows for the sun to go down. Shavian was in the passenger seat, as it was the only window that opened up far enough. She was sitting with her butt in the rolled down window and leaned out letting her hair blow in the wind. She looked back to see Elliott watching her nervously.
You would think someone who would drug and kidnap a girl would be ready to take a few risks.
Giving him a smile she turned to watch the road before them. Most people had abandoned the city, either leaving or holing up in their houses, leaving them the only ones out on the road in what would normally be crowded downtown Portland.
The security at the beer festival noticed after the first night that the zombies were far fewer in the daylight. It was how they’d held off the zombies when they broke through the defenses at the hotel. Once the sun started to come up many of the zombies started to find shelter against the light and heat, leaving the day for the living. The hum of the engine, the open road…
“Here!” Aubrey declared so loudly Higgins locked up the breaks and Shavian had to grab the frame of the door to keep from being thrown from the vehicle.
Pulling herself back into the cab, Shavian tried to swallow her heart before it escaped.
“What the hell!” she slapped the back of Higgins’ chair. It started as such a nice day too. She’d seen the way people cringed away from her when things were going wrong. Not liking the fact that the only people she knew considered her a bitch, she was trying to be nicer. These could be our last days after all.
“We aren’t here already, “ Roger said, leaning past her to look up. “This is just the Clear Cut Hotel.”
The hotel stood behind a double layer of construction fencing that worked like a castle wall against the zombies. By using the neighboring parking structure, they were able to save off a huge courtyard against the undead.
“Yes,” Aubrey giggled at Roger’s comment.
Oh, get a room.
The Brewmaster had asked if Aubrey would guide them to the mall, and for some fat Scottish reason she happily accepted.
Jackson on the other hand stayed behind, accepting beer for work. He was working to help salvage some of the hotel shuttle busses. With a better focus for his talents, he seemed to be less interested in being a sexist pig.
“Junie are you okay?” Fipps said from the back of the van, doting on her.
Get two rooms!
It really was like the horror movies: the end of the world comes and everyone is paring up. Shavian looked at Elliott; he seemed rather comfortable for a man having another man trying to poach his girl. Shavian looked around the cab till her eyes came to Higgins. Higgins looked back to her and smiled in a fatherly way. Feeling her cheeks explode she turned to look back out the window.
Up on the top of the parking structure two men looked down at the van warily. Higgins rolled down the window and waved to them, making sure to show off his police uniform.
“Hello, Officer. What brings you to the Clear Cut?” one man bellowed down.
Higgins glanced back at Shavian, but she refused to meet his eyes. “Shopping!” he called back.
The man looked over the truck once more and then motioned them around. “Come to the gate. Let’s get you checked in.”
Higgins looked back to Aubrey for explanation.
“The Clear Cut is kind of the sister hotel to ours. While we have a lot of breweries around us, here right next to their hotel is Portland’s largest mall.” She smiled. “We do a lot of trade business over the river.”
To Shavian’s ears she’d just said, ‘We’ve moved from alcoholism to consumerism. ’
It was her time to excel.