Page 22 of Desiderium
A lot…
Fuck my life.
I decide to jump up and down on my toes, my arms swinging back and forth as I try to psych myself up for another long day.
It’s ok. This is nothing. I can totally do this. No problem. It’s just a little walk.
Yeah... and a marathon is just a fun filled sightseeing tour through the city... I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS!
I shake my head, trying to purge the negativity from my thoughts.
“Shush! If fucking babies can walk, then I, a grown ass woman, can do this without whining about it... too much... or not at all. Nope, totally gonna make this walk my bitch!”
I catch the guys laughing to themselves but I don’t pay any mind to it. I’m in my own little world, kicking ass and taking names. Oh yeah, they’ll see. I’m going to Rocky Balboa this shit. Get to the end then run up to the estate screaming, “Adrian!”
You honestly think we’re going to have the energy to ‘run’ when we get there? Ahem, bitch, thou art mistaken.
Fuck off, skank!
Ok, let’s do this. No better time than the present to put the past behind us. Time to get my ass in gear. It’s not like I didn’t walk all over the damn place before meeting these guys. I mean, Ididwalk from New York all the way down here, so that’s saying something. But what I’m also saying is that Ileisurelywalked town to town. There was no rush. At one point I even managed to keep pace with a butterfly and was just as whimsical about it.
Thinking back to last fall, I can’t fathom what was going through my brain. How in the hell did I think walking my ass all the way down the entire length of the lake was anywhere close to a good idea? Come on now. It was the complete opposite on all counts. Not only was I a teeny tiny bit reckless, putting my delectable ass on display for not only the zombie population but also the douchebag residency, I severely underestimated the distance and my lacking ability to perform the task.
A lot.
It was stupid. Plain and simple.
But walking with these guys? Holy fuck! Didn’t anyone ever teach them how to stop and smell the roses? This isn’t a race. There’s no marshmallow extravaganza at the end of the road. There’s no gumdrop candy mountain, either. At least none that I’ve been made aware of.
Not to mention their legs are twice the length of mine. For every one step they take I have to take at least two.I’m practically running the entire time with these short, stubby, little legs.
My only saving grace is that we were able to make it to the farmhouse on the first leg of the trip. According to Jax, it’s at about the halfway mark. But either way you look at it, it’s still a glass half full/ half empty scenario.
Maybe I can suggest we change the pace from a quick march to, I don’t know… An amble? A stroll? A frolic? Any of those will do.
Oh shit, can you imagine Jax’s broody butt frolicking?
Unfortunately, there’s no time to picturethatawesomeness as Jax steps in front of us with Sadie by his side.
“Ok. Game plan. If we keep up a decent pace, we should reach the estate by this afternoon. Upon arrival, we need to scope the place out, see what’s left, take what there is and move out. We obviously can’t spend the night there, so plan on continuing to the adjacent town to borrow a house for the night.
“Now, when we last left that place, we were swarmed with a horde of undead. Most of them followed us back to the cabin but they may have since returned; we all know they like their patterns. With that being said, keep in mind there may be some lurkers between here and there, so keep a look out and make sure you have your weapons at the ready at all times.
“We’re going to do an arrow formation.” He tents his fingers together, making a triangle shape as he issues us ourpositions. “I’ll take point, while Cole and Hawk take the left and right flanks. Aly, you’re going to keep your cute little butt right in the middle of them. It’s looking like it's going to be a nice, sunny day today so we’re going to take it a little slower than we did coming this far since we don’t have to battle the elements just yet.” He looks to me and gives me just a little smile that I’m not sure the others noticed.
Oh, my Eeyore just earned himself some brownie points!
“Is everyone clear on today’s objective?” We all nod our agreements before he continues. “Alright, let’s move out.”
***
A few hours and a couple of minor pitstops later, we finally arrive at Jax’s old estate. I’m sore and tired, but thankfully not all huffy and puffy like an asthmatic chasing down an ice cream truck for once. Since Jax slowed the pace down to a lovely amble, I’m, happily,notdead on my feet.
Now, did I pull a Rocky and run up the steps like a champ when we got here? Hell to the no. But I still managed to make it here in one piece so I’m calling that a qualified win for me.
Thefour of us plus Sadie stand there on the edge of the property and take in the charred remnants of a life’s work. Soot, ash and debris fill the space where Jax’s home used to be, even after months having passed.
We’re not going to mention that the remnants include varying levels of decaying bodies unlovingly provided by Earl’s brother’s super dead crew, which are perfectly layered amongst said debris, are we…?
