Page 8 of The Pale Rider
I couldn’t believe it, but he actually smiled at me. I didn’t think this grumpy fuck was actually capable of it.
“Yes, I can. When you were in college, you played in a roller derby league. In 2028, it came in fashion for girls who were retiring from roller derby to start a fastpitch softball team. It really caught on. All the fans who enjoyed rooting for them came out to watch the games. You played shortstop, and they called you Speedy when you were playing roller derby too because you’ve always been fast. I’ve never seen you play, but I heard you were a hell of a softball player.”
“I played roller derby and softball?”
“Yes, and roller derby is pretty cutthroat. I knew when I handed you that bat, you’d be able to kill anything that came at you with it, even if it didn’t trigger any memories.”
“Howdid you get my old softball bat? You said you were looking for something at that clinic. If you weren’t looking for me, why did you have my bat and know so much about me?”
“I’ve got clothes from your apartment too, but that’s all I can tell you for now.”
I was about to fire off a million questions, but my stomach twisted in on itself and let out this tremendous growl. I realized how hungry I was. When was the last time I ate real food, anyway?
Aeron bolted to his feet.
“Storytime is over. You need to eat something. I’ve still got deer I hunted in the freezer, and this cabin had a veggie plot when I found it. It was overrun with weeds, but I cleared it out, and I’ve got fresh veggies to feed you.”
He dug around in his rucksack and pulled out a little baggy. He tossed it at me and headed to the kitchen.
“That’s some deer jerky I made. Chew on that while I cook. We aren’t always going to have the luxury of me finding a place like this. We may have to sleep in the woods or a place with no power. I lucked out finding this place.”
I followed him into the kitchen, chewing on the deer jerky. It tasted good, and I was so hungry, I would have eaten just about anything right now.
“Did you put the castle fortifications outside, or did someone else?”
“That was here when I found the place.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to this, but I asked anyway. I had to know who I agreed to travel with.
“What happened to the previous owners?”
“Someone must have gotten bitten on a supply run for gas for the generator. When I found this place, the generator was all gassed up, and there were three eaten corpses and a Rage Head looking for a meal. I gave him mercy and killed him. I buried them out back.”
I just had this feeling he wasn’t lying about that. He wanted to kill the president, but he didn’t kill people for supplies. And he was cooking deer meat, so he wasn’t a cannibal.
I wasn’t sure if I was on board for killing the President of the United States, but he seemed handy to have around during the apocalypse. And he knew more about me than I knew about myself. I decided I would follow him to Washington, D.C.
Chapter 5
A
eron was such a strange man. I knew why he couldn’t talk about my past, but I tried to get him to talk about his as we ate, and he answered me in grunts. He even told me he didn’t have one when I asked him his last name. I tried to ask him more about the people we would be meeting. He said there were three, and they were all specialists in their field. They worked together at first, getting a picture of all of this, then they scattered. He was in Washington, one was in Mexico, one was in Florida, and the other was in D.C. monitoring the president.
He said he had already alerted them he found me and would come to them, but that made little sense. He never left my side since he kicked my door down, and I didn’t see him contact anyone. Plus, I was pretty sure cell phones didn’t work anymore, and that laptop of his didn’t get Wi-Fi. He refused to answer when I asked how.
I was still asking questions when he started clearing plates away. He finally turned to me.
“This place still has running water. Why don’t you go take a shower and change into some real clothes? I’m sure you’re tired of that hospital gown.”
I hadn’t even thought about the fact that my ass had been hanging out of this gown this entire time. Did I get embarrassed about that kind of stuff before? I turned on my heels to find the bathroom with my bare butt on full display, and I didn’t care at all. Should I? Right now, I didn’t give a fuck.
Aeron must have cleaned up this place when he found it because I didn’t see a sign anyone had been eaten here. The bathroom was cozy but neat. I finally got to see what I looked like. I knew my hair was blonde with pink ends, and I had full Alice in Wonderland sleeves tattooed on both arms, but I also had blue eyes, and I wasn’t half bad looking.
When I got the gown off, I found more tattoos. I must have been a big reader because they were all based on fairy tales. I had a scene from The Little Mermaid on one thigh and Little Red Riding Hood on the other. They were all pretty well done. I guess that was one bright side to this. I didn’t know a single thing about my past, but at least I didn’t have shitty tattoos.
The water was cold, but it would be way too much to ask to have a hot shower considering everything that was going on. I washed my hair and body with a green bar of soap that I was pretty sure was Irish Spring. Soap was probably a huge luxury right now, and I was grateful for anything to wash with. I didn’t know how long I’d been in that hospital, but at most, I’d probably gotten a sponge bath, and that was it.
The idea of just sponge baths for who knew how long made this shower a precious thing. And who knew the next time I would get one. I hadn’t been awake for that long, but I wasn’t taking anything for granted. Even the man who cooked me dinner and was sharing all this with me. He might be secretive and grumpy, but he could have left me there to starve. I knew that might change. I wasn’t sure I altogether trusted him just yet, but I was happy to have a hot meal and a place to sleep tonight. And he gave me a little about my past and explained what was going on with the world.
