The Protagonist System

149 This New House

Not surprisingly, we needed the battery to replace the drained one in the truck. Ted also had a lot of fun driving the large truck, too. The oversized tires suspended the main body several feet above the ground and we easily drove over small mounds of rubble, overgrowth, and even the occasional infected without any hassle.

Joan had a smile on her face as Ted drove us out of the city proper towards where they had stashed Joan's old truck. And it really was old. We parked when we reached the spot and Ted and Joan left to inspect the truck and to look for nearby zombies. They also started to gather the supplies they had stashed there for the trip across the country.

I heard the back doors of the truck open and assumed they decided to strip the old truck of everything they could, which was smart of them. I didn't bother trying to go out to help with anything, since I knew they would refuse on pure principle. I was still just a kid in their eyes, after all.

Instead, I sat there and thought about things. It would normally only take about 30 minutes to go from Boston to Lincoln, considering they weren't that far away from each other and in the same state; but, with all of the ruins and mess around, I somehow knew that it was going to take us a lot longer.

Massachusetts was on the east coast of the US as well and I was pretty sure Wyoming was about two thirds of the way across the country to California, assuming my memories were still accurate. That thought also made me realize that it would take us several days to cross that much distance, possibly up to a week or more, depending on the obstacles along the way.

Then again, the front bumper on this thing was solid steel several inches thick and it didn't have any dents in it after all the things we had hit with it so far. Pushing stuff out of the way shouldn't be that big of a problem, since I had done it with a much smaller 4x4 truck.

The pair of smugglers eventually closed the back doors and brought me out of my thoughts. They climbed into the truck's cab and the both of them looked happy as Ted started the truck up again. He started driving out of the city to get onto the interstate and I kept my mouth shut. I didn't ask them what they stored in the back and Joan gave me several searching looks, as if she fully expected me to ask about it.

Honestly, I didn't care what they had. A good portion of my inventory was packed full with the contents of an entire big box store's stockroom of items, shrunken to save space, and I could have fed everyone in the quarantine zone for at least several months and that didn't include the MREs I had from the army base. I wasn't going to tell them I had any of it or would pretend I had a stash somewhere. They weren't worth it.

Ted drove us out into the countryside and we made it onto the interstate with almost no hassle. There had been a car partially blocking the on-ramp and Ted slowed us down as he spouted some nonsense about taking side roads instead. I laughed and told him to just push the thing aside with the bumper, because that was what it was for.

He didn't believe me and I had to spend several minutes convincing him the truck was strong enough to do it. In the end, I just called him a pussy that couldn't even challenge a wrecked car without wimping out. He cursed at me and slammed on the gas in reaction and we rammed through the trunk of the wreck like it was made of tissue paper.

The thing had been rusted out for years and only appeared to be solid. Both Ted and Joan looked shocked and I did not tell them the car had been more of a mental barrier than it was a physical one. They saw the road was blocked and so it was blocked. They had spent so many years going around things that blocked access to what they wanted, rather than dealing with them. Not once did they consider things could be moved out of the way instead.

Crossing part of the state on the highway did take quite a while. Like back in The Walking Dead world, there were long stretches of open road that had no cars whatsoever and then we would come across a pile-up of wrecked cars or one of the cloverleaf turnoffs near a town and the abandoned vehicles would be packed together like sardines in a can.

We had to go off-road a few times to avoid the worst of them and Joan had held her breath each and every time the wheels of the truck left the pavement. By the look on her face, she expected for us to either be attacked or to get stuck, which would force us to abandon the vehicle, and she seemed very afraid of that.

We made it to where Bill and Frank lived and I saw it was a completely fenced in area that was surrounded by homemade traps and things. It was a great set-up and worked very well, if the lack of damage to the fence was to be believed. The zombies never had a chance to gather in force and that was fantastic. I'd have to check them out later to see if I could use them back at the survivor's camp.

I had to stop my runaway thoughts after that, because I remembered that when I went back, I would be bedridden for a few weeks at least. Damn, I was a vindictive idiot. I thought and suppressed my chuckle. Now that I was away from there, I could see the downward spiral my life was becoming and I wasn't going to let that continue.

When I went back, I was going to live my life and I wasn't going to worry about anything else. Not anymore. If visiting this world taught me anything, it was that people that thought they had the authority to be in charge, were too stupid to be allowed to have that power.

Ted brought us to a stop at the gate and Joan climbed down and aimed her gun around. Nothing came out after her, so she walked over to the security gate and entered the electronic code. The thing buzzed and the gate unlocked and slid off to the right. Ted drove us inside just enough to clear the gate and stopped as Joan hit the button to close it again. I gave Joan raised eyebrows when she climbed back into the truck's cab.

“Hydroelectric power.” Joan said and that pretty much explained everything.

“Lucky bastards.” Ted muttered and drove down the street and past several businesses.

There were no other people around and I wondered why there were so many buildings with lights on and everything looked well maintained.

Joan saw me looking at everything. “Bill and Frank had a lot of free time on their hands.”

Yep, that explains it. I thought with a nod. Staying busy to not go insane makes sense.

We came to a stop at a very nice stately home that was three stories high and looked like a rich person lived there. None of us commented on the wilting lawn, bushes, and flower beds that were out front.

“High alert.” Joan whispered and Ted nodded before they both hopped out of the truck's cab with their guns drawn and they cases the house, looking for any damage.

I rolled my eyes at them being too cautious and closed the driver's side door before I grabbed the keys from the ignition. I climbed down the passenger side and closed that door, too. Joan and Ted were still checking the outside of the house while I walked up to the front door. I tried the door handle and it clicked and opened, so I took out my own gun and slipped inside and silently closed the door.

The air was only slightly stale and there was a thin layer of dust on everything, so that meant whoever used to live here had either left or were dead. No one so diligent to clean up a town because they wanted to keep busy would ever just walk away or let them be caught by the zombies.

I went through several of the rooms until I found the kitchen and saw a large envelope made of parchment. I sighed with relief when I saw Joan's name on it and scooped it up. I didn't open it, even if I was curious about what was in it. I walked back through the house and opened the front door just as Joan was reaching for it.

“This was left for you.” I said and handed her the letter as I tucked my gun back behind my back.

Joan and Ted had surprised looks on their faces, probably because I was inside the house before they finished making sure it was safe to enter.

“There are no roots, moss, vines, spores, overgrowth, or anything at all to indicate there are any possible infected around.” I explained and stepped back with a wave inviting them in. “Me casa et su casa.”

Joan sighed and stepped by me. “You could have been killed, Eli.”

I chuckled and closed the door after Ted entered. “I checked out the first floor and there's nothing but dust to threaten me.”

Ted glared at me and I shrugged.

“I'll check out the pantry and see what they have to eat here.” I said and walked away.

“Hey, wait!” Joan said and followed me.

I slowed only slightly and she caught up to me. “What is it, the current object of my obsession?”

Joan made a sputtering sound and then glared at me.

“That just makes me like you more, you know.” I said and her glare disappeared and her eyebrows went up. I kept walking and entered the kitchen. “Well? What is it?”

Joan stopped walking at the doorway and held up the envelope. “Why didn't you open this?”

“Why would I?” I asked and saw a half-wide wooden door. I opened it on a whim and smiled at finding the galley-sized pantry. “Oh, we are going to eat well tonight.”

Joan watched as I grabbed a bunch of things to bring out to set on the table. “You're not curious?”

I shook my head and went to the refrigerator. “Anything inside won't be addressed to me at all and might not even be relevant to my situation, considering Bill and Frank didn't know anything about me or that I would be here.”

Joan gave me an odd look before she opened the expensive envelope. She pulled out two sheets of parchment and started to read.

While she was busy, I put together a quick salad to tide us over for the main meal of spaghetti and meat sauce made from scratch. They had a bunch of spices in the pantry and almost fresh vegetables in the refrigerator, so it took almost no work at all to make the salads and start on the sauce. I put a pot of tomato juice to boil on the stove and I added another put full of spaghetti noodles on low heat.

A smaller pot had a clump of ground hamburger add to it that I had found in the freezer. Joan let out a sound of surprise and she sat down at the table, her gaze staring at the second sheet of parchment. I let her sit there and didn't ask her about it while I kept working. My skills let me perform at a fast pace and she didn't notice how quickly the meal came together.

“The upstairs is clear, except for a single locked door that's the master bedroom.” Ted said when he entered the kitchen. He took in a huge sniff through his nose and let out a moan. “What's that delicious smell?”

I handed him a small bowl of salad with some Italian dressing already added. “Here's the appetizer. The spaghetti sauce won't be ready for another fifteen minutes.”

Ted nodded and sat down across from Joan and started eating without another word.

I put a salad bowl in front of Joan and plucked the letter from her hands. “Here, eat.” I said and gave her a fork. She took it and gave it a look, then she nodded and started eating the salad. With the two of them distracted, I read the letter in only a moment and understood why Joan was kind of out of it. Speed Reading skill for the win!

Apparently, Bill and Frank were lovers and had been together for years. When Frank became sick from a genetic disorder, he suffered for a could years before he chose to die instead of suffering any more. Bill chose to go with him, because he didn't want to live without him. It was sad and heartwarming, priming Joan for the other hits the letter had for her.

Bill told her that caring for and protecting Frank had given him a purpose in his life and that Joan had the same mission as him, protecting those they found that were worthy. He also left her his truck, his weapons, and any supplies she wanted to take.

I folded the letter and set it on the table near her and went back to cooking. By the time I finished cooking the meat, shredded it and added it to the sauce, Joan had recovered from the emotions she had been feeling. I plated up three large servings of spaghetti and meat sauce and gave her the first one. She gave me a very strained smile in return.

I ignored it and gave Ted his own heaping plate full of spaghetti and he nodded before he started eating it. I sat down between them at the table and started eating my own plate of food. After a few moments, Joan started eating as well and didn't saying anything, despite looking like she wanted to say something.

After the meal, I used several smaller containers for the rest of the food and set them into the refrigerator to cool off. They would last a few days and both Joan and Ted looked appreciative of that.

“I'm going to take a long hot bath.” I said and walked over to the kitchen door. “Ted, you're the muscle of this operation, so you can do the dishes.”

“Fuck you.” Ted said with a smile and Joan chuckled.

I waved and went up the stairs and found a guest room with an attached bath. I put a written sign on the guest room's door saying it was occupied and I locked it, braced it with a chair, and stored my clothing in my inventory. I entered the bathroom and spent the next few minutes setting up the bath and climbed into the tub to let the hot water wash over me.

I sighed with contentment and relaxed until the tub was nearly full and I turned off the water. I leaned back against the back of the tub again and soaked in the water without bothering to scrub myself. I could worry about actually cleaning myself later and closed my eyes.

*

Joan's emotions were all over the place ever since she read Bill's letter and it didn't get any better that evening when she went to bed. Ted had tried to approach her and she politely refused, because her mind and her body were not in the mood. She had a lot to think about and she didn't need the distraction.

Ted didn't look happy with her and she didn't care at the moment. Joan knew she could easily make him forgive her and dismissed the worry that he would refuse when she offered to make it up to him. It had been a while since the both of them had showered and were fully clean and Ted didn't want to waste the opportunity.

Joan on the other hand, knew they could stay there for as long as she wanted, because everything was now hers. Could she do that, though? Just tell the rest of the world to fuck off and live out the rest of her life right there in a safe place and she never had to worry about anything except raiders and the occasional infected attack that was easily repelled?

She pondered that until she fell into a restless sleep. She had the feeling there was a lot more she should be worrying about and she didn't know why or what it could be.

In the morning, Joan woke with a soft groan and left more tired than she had when she went to bed. Se turned slightly to see that Ted had his back to her and he wasn't moving, so either he was still asleep or he was giving her the cold shoulder.

Joan sighed and sat up, gave him a sad look, and left the bed. She cleaned up in the bathroom and dressed in her clothes, uncaring that they hadn't been cleaned in over a week. She went downstairs and paused halfway down at the smell of pancakes.

She mentally sighed at screwing up so much with how she treated Eli, then she berated herself because of how she had allowed Ted to treat him, too. If Eli hadn't been ignorant of how the world really worked, she might have taken it easier on him and made Ted do the same. Instead, they tried to instill the proper caution of the danger they were in that he should have learned years ago.

“Morning.” Eli said when Joan entered the kitchen. “Butter and syrup?”

Joan nodded and sat at the table. She gave him another unsure smile as he served her like a butler and she didn't know how she was supposed to react to that. He did it so smoothly that it was uncanny and it made her uncomfortable. How did he learn something like that? At the military academy?

She barely held back her moan as she ate a forkful of the light fluffy deliciousness that were the pancakes. How in the world did he make them taste so good?

“I found a few interesting things in the basement.” Eli said and sat across from her with his own plate of pancakes. He copied hers and added butter and syrup.

“Interesting how?” Joan asked and didn't notice that there wasn't a plate set on the table for Ted.

“Like a fully stocked armory interesting.” Eli answered and she nodded, letting him know she knew. “The maps, battle notes, and information on everything and everyone important in the next few states were interesting, too.”

“Bill and Frank were the best at what they did.” Joan said and then her expression turned sad. She had just realized how many people were going to suffer without him acting as the hub for all of the goods and services that usually passed through the state.

“It's okay, Joan. You don't have to be sad.” Eli said, his voice bright. “With all the things here and permission to take it all, everything is going to be great from now on.”

Joan forced a smile onto her face, even though she didn't feel like smiling. Her own contacts didn't go much further than Bill and Frank and she wasn't sure how she was going to continue her own efforts to piss off the FEDRA soldiers with them dead.

Eli saw her face and he slowly stood, not wanting to startle her, and he walked around the table. He carefully took her hand and she still startled slightly at the touch. He smiled warmly at her and helped her to her feet, then he led her over to the basement door and let her hand go before he motioned to go down the stairs ahead of him.

Joan went down the stairs as her mind went over how long it was going to take to pack everything up that was in the basement and get it loaded onto the truck. If she let Eli help, it might only take a few days. They reached the bottom of the stairs and Joan hit the lights to turn them all on. She walked into the room and smiled at all of the survival equipment and weapons mounted on the walls.

“You remind me so much of my common-law wife that I kind of regret doing this.” Eli said from behind her.

“Wh-what?” Joan asked and turned around, only to freeze and stare down the barrel of a gun.

“I can't even kiss you to send you off with a good memory, because my own thoughts would hurt me if I voluntarily betrayed Amy.” Eli said.

“E-Eli, you... you don't want to do this. You really like me and we... we could do things... when you're ready.” Joan said in her best sexy voice. It wasn't great, since she hadn't used it in a long time.

Eli's smile disappeared and his face blanked. “There you go again, reminding me of how big of a bitch you are. Manipulating a teenager and using their own rebelling and changing body against them? You're despicable.”

Joan felt angry and glared at him. “I'm being a bitch? Who's the ignorant one here? You have no clue what I've had to go through to survive!” She spat at him and the gun never wavered. She calmed down and let out a sigh. “What do you want me to say, Eli? How can I convince you that I'm not your enemy?”

Eli gave her a deadpan look. “Tell me you're deeply in love with me and that you want to have my babies.” He said and smiled slightly. “And make me believe it.”

Joan sighed again and took a deep breath to psyche herself up for the best performance of her life. She nodded and opened her mouth to say exactly that. The gun fired and blew the back of her head off.

“Like I would ever believe anything you said.” Eli said and holstered the gun behind his back. “Every time I mentioned the resistance's medical facility, you ignored me and never once said you would take me there.”

Eli looted her pockets of what little they had, not bothering to grope her, despite his thoughts of her flesh still being warm for a while. He pushed those morbid thoughts aside and stood up to observe the basement fully.

Bill had a lot of things there, like computers loaded with everything from electronic books to media files of shows, cartoons, and movies. Tools and equipment, ammo making devices, tubs of chemicals, and a bunch of other things that a person would need to survive the end of society. It was a treasure trove and Eli took it all.