U.G.L.Y (23 page)

“
Sure,
why
not
” I
said
to
her
“
A
little
booze
can
always
come
in
handy
”

    
Eve
walked
off
towards
the
store
as
I
drove
towards
the
gas
station.
I
needed
to
fill
all
the
gas
cans
and
buy
one
more
while
I
was
t
here.
Cash
was
running
low
and
I
didn't
know
when I
could
get
more.

It
didn't
seem
likely
that
money
would
be
any
good
pretty
soon.
As
society
began
to
fail
there
would
be
less
and
less
opportunity
to
barter
with
money.
Things
that
would
be
more
valuable
would
be
water
and
fuel.

    
Oregon
was
different
than
California
when
it
came
to
service.
At
the
gas
pump
an
attendant
happily
greeted
me
and
offered
to
fill
up the car.
I
agreed
and
explained
that
I
needed
to
fill
all
the
cans
on
top
of
the
car
and
and
get
one
more
from
inside. The
attendant
shuffled
off
to
grab
a
new
can
and another
proceeded
to
fill
up
the
car.

Eve
walked
out
of
the
store
across
the
parking
lot
pushing
a
cart.
I
watched
her
walk
toward
the
gas
station
and
let
my
mind
wonder
what
it
would
be
like
to
be
with
her.
It was a pleasant thought, and I began to fantasize about her.

    
After
all
the
gas
cans
were
filled
and
the
groceries
were
loaded,
we
made
our
way
over
to
a
little
steakhouse
and
made
ourselves
comfortable.
Eve
talked
about
how,
when
things
were
better
she
would
be
a
famous
skier
and
compete
in
freestyle
events.
She talked almost continuously, and I'm not sure if she was saying these things to try to impress me or was just talking to hear herself.

I
asked
her
mindless
questions
to
keep
her
talking.
I
knew
most
of
what
she
said
was
completely
made
up.
I
humored
her
anyway.
Her
banter
reminded
me
of
Amanda's
mindless
self important
ramblings
about
nothing. I had grown to be bitter and normally didn't like people that spoke like that.

If
she
was
intellectual
at
all,
she
chose
not
to
share
it
.
Maybe
she
thought
that’s
what
men
wanted
to
hear.
I
didn't and
I struggled at first not to tune her out. After a while I
was
numb
and
her
pretend
world
seemed
to
be
come a world my mind was willing to go for the moment
.

    
The
meal
was
good,
very
good.
T
he
steak
was
cooked
just
right and it was
smothered
in
sautéed
mushrooms.
I added a
nice
cold
micro
brew,
cheese
bread,
and
another
beer followed.
It
was
a
wonderful
dinner
and it
felt
like
a
date.

It
was
very
odd
to
forget
for
a
time
the
horrors
of
the
last
few
days
but
we
managed
to
clear it away for a moment.
Another
very
strange
thing
was
happening,
and
it
took
a
while
for
us
to
really
notice.

No
one around us
was
talking
about
what
was
happening.
No
body
was.
I wondered h
ow
that
could
be
possible?
There
was
no
way
this
town
was
so
isolated
that
they
didn't
have
news
coming
in
from
the
outside.
They
would
have
to
be
cut
off
from
the
Internet,
satellite
television,
and
radio
would
have
to
be
inaccessible.

But
we
had
heard
the
repeating
news
cast
as
we
came
into
town
and
that
was reporting continuously on
the
fall
of
Los
Angeles
.
I
looked
at
Eve
and
she
smiled
sweetly
at
me. I
decided
not
to
care
and
not
to
ask for now.
We
would
finish
our
dinner,
drive
over
to
a
hotel
and
stay
the
night.
This might be the last time we would sleep in a bed, in a hotel, in a sleepy little town apparently unaware the world was dying.

     We
checked
into
a
hotel
near
the
freeway,
which
seemed
like
a
good
idea
in case we
needed
to
get
out
of
town
in
a
hurry.

“
Shower,
I
want
a
shower
” I
said
as
I
walked
in
the
room
and
dropped
my
bag
on
the
floor.
Eve
was
behind
me
and
acknowledge
my
declaration.
I
walked
into
the
bathroom
and
turned
on
the
water.
The
bathroom
became very warm as steam bellowed from the shower. I undressed and
climbed
over the edge of the tub.
Leaning
against
the
wall
I
let
the
warmth of the water
run
over
my
tired
muscles.
I
heard
the
click of the bathroom door and a light creak as it
slowly
swung
open.
A
thought
flashed
through
my
mind
of
the
possibility
of
an
infected
hotel
staff
member
having
broken
into
the room
and
having
killed
Eve,
was
now
after
me
.

T
he
shower
curtain
opened
and
there
stood Eve
with
the
hotel
robe
draped
off
of
one
shoulder.
I
had
left
the
bathroom
door
unlocked
on
purpose,
hoping
in
the
back
of
my
mind
that
she
would
want
to
join
me in the shower. I was happy she felt the same way.