Everyone Dies in the End #46

Susan

“Philadelphia is a long way,” she said, gazing from the Bronco’s window at the slowly passing, fallow farmland. She no longer held Artemis’s hand, but knew a bridge had been crossed, and the thought warmed her.

“Really no more than five or six hours,” Arty responded.

“No, she’s right about that, gameboy, Todd inserted. “ Three months ago it might have been six hours, but that was at 65 miles an hour on a clean interstate. We’ll be lucky to average a third of that, and that’s doesn’t count stopping to clear wrecks, rubble, and dead bodies. I say it’ll take a couple of days.”

The thought of clearing corpses from the highway, made Susan shiver. “It’s not as simple as you think, Arty.” She crossed her arms to stop the shivers.

“But,” Todd held up a warning finger, and caught Susan’s eyes in the rear view mirror, “Charlotte is not an option.”

“Why?” Cindy threw out her hands, palms, up. “Why the hell not? We know Charlotte, we had some food, we had some electricity, and we had some water.” She pressed her finger against the window. “That stuff looks to be in pretty short supply out there.”

“Two words,” replied Arty. He held up a pair of fingers, touching each as he spoke the word, “Kill…Dog.”

“That’s crap. You saw them dying.”

“Some of them dying,” Todd interrupted. “Don’t underestimate Kill Dog. Most of the people that have are dead. And what if Kill Dog is dead? What about the folks that killed him? They don’t look too friendly to me.”

“He’s right,” Arty added. “Charlotte isn’t an option. It’s already a struggle to find food, avoid bandits, and stay alive. There is no sense adding a ganger war lord to our problems.”

She nodded and Arty could see her reflection biting her lip in her window. She might agree, but she didn’t feel good about it.

“Why Philly?” Her tone was low, and she didn’t turn to him.

“Susan, you know the answer to that. Why Philly is because of the things we’ve heard. Philly wasn’t nuked, Philly has electricity, Philly has civilization.”

She nodded. “I know, but Charlotte was home.” Finally she did turn her face toward his. Her eyes were moist, and her words halting. “It…felt…good, felt safe.” She snorted, an unladylike half-sob, half-laugh, and gestured toward the barren countryside. “As if anything will ever be safe.”

Arty reached over the seat, and took her hand in his. “You’re safe now.”

Susan rewarded the words with a small smile.

“Philadelphia?” he whispered.

She nodded.

            Arty grinned from ear to ear. He knew it was the best choice. Electricity, civilization, and—he cast a furtive glance at Susan—Battle Tank‘s developer, Game Lords Incorporated. If anyone would have a beta of the next release it would be Game Lords. He fantasized, seeing the game developer’s complex untouched, and inside the coders working hard on Battle Tank II. Hey, he reassured himself, it could happen. He released Susan’s hand and leaned back in his seat, only feeling a little guilty. He really missed his Battle Tank.