Eve

Chapter 22

The roadscape travels fast out the window as Levon drives. His leg's still bad, but his fever's gone, and overall he looks better. He's not talking much, probably on account of the dead kid we just left behind and all.

Gotta figure at least the prospect of flying to the safe haven in New York is keeping some sort of glow of hope alive inside of him.

If only...

I didn't have the heart to tell him then, I don't have the heart to tell him now. Then what? We'll just drive back? To do what? So I can keep on being hungry until I die and Levon can wait around for a bite when he's not looking? Or a pirate?

What? I don't know. I'm not in the mood to plan ahead. I just want to forget about life for a while.

"I never did tell you about me before all this, did I?" Levon says, eyes on the road.

"What?"

"What I did. I was in high school, when it started. Glendale."

"Huh..."

"I wanted to study engineering. You know, if... if all this hadn't happen. That's what I'd do."

"Why? So you could build big, cool robots?"

"Robotics engineering, to be exact," Levon continues, as he drives. "I wanted to work with domestic robots."

We go past a sign reading 'Palms Spring International Airport – 15 Miles'

"I think it would have been really cool. You know, if the zombies hadn't happened and everything. I think we'd all have robots cleaning our houses, caring for our kids and everything, in like a couple of years, probably."

There's nowhere to go. There's no safe place on Earth.

Jesus Christ, I came along because I was hungry, why am I so sad? I never really believed in the safe haven in New York. I never even thought about a cure before this. Why do I feel so crappy?

"I think we'd have pet robots too, after a while. They'd be like dogs or cats, but, you know, you don't have to clean up after them. That'd be cool too."

I'm Eve, the zombie. That's what I've been for months now. There's no cure, there's no way out. Everyone's dead or dying.

"Anyway, my mother didn't care much for it – she wanted me to be a lawyer like she was, and my grandpa. But dad loved it. We used to sit around in the attic all day just building stuff. There was this Facebook page that had instructions on building –"
"Levon..."

Levon stops and turns his eyes at me. "Did you say something? Or was that just like a meaningless grunt?"

I turn to look at him.

"I'll tell you, it's gonna be so much better when they cure you and we can talk. Won't it, Eve?"

Behind him, whatever's left of a small town expands itself in broken blocks and houses with no roofs. Overturned cars, smoke oozing from rumble and bodies, bodies everywhere. My eyes stop on a big ass crater just by a tumbled down water tower, in the distance.

One of the bombed sites.

"Eve?"

My eyes focus back on Levon.

"Won't it? Won't it be better when we can talk?"

I nod. "Yeah, Levon. Yeah, it'll be better."

We rush past another sign – 'Palms Springs International Airport – Next Exit.'