Dead Living by Glenn Bullion Page A

He could tell she wasn't too fond of him, but at
least she was honest and didn't hide it. She was probably planning
her trip back home, wherever that was. He knew he would help her
however he could, probably even give her the keys to the car. Then
he would be alone once again.
    She was certainly intriguing. Aaron could
honestly say he liked her, but he remembered the last time he had
guests. He had to watch everything he said and did. He couldn't go
on any moonlight walks with Sam staying with him.
    The sooner she left, the sooner he could get
back to his normal life.
    *****
    Sam hated to admit it, but as horrible as
things were going, she couldn't remember the last time she felt so
relaxed. It had been a long time since she had an actual bath. They
had makeshift outside showers at Lexington, but nothing like a
bath. The warm water loosened every muscle. She washed her hair and
took her time shaving. As she dried off she could hear footsteps on
the roof.
    She still didn't know what to make of the
cute bald man. At first, she thought he was crazy, but he didn't
seem to be out of his mind. He was actually intelligent and
thoughtful.
    Still, she couldn't shake the feeling there
was a lot more to him than a hermit in the city.
    She wrapped the towel around her and went to
the bedroom. She picked out some undergarments, a black pair of
shorts and a white tee shirt with words on it she couldn't read. It
was nice to wear some clothes without holes in them.
    She took another look at the undead in the
living room while grabbing the roof ladder. They still waited for
her. Sam had no idea how she would get back home, and tried to push
back the hopelessness she felt.
    But she knew she wanted to go
home.
    The cool breeze touched her face as she took
a step on the roof. The sun was setting, giving the sky a pretty
orange hue. The only thing that ruined the sight was the sound of
the undead all around them. Once again, her jaw hung open when she
saw what Aaron had done. He had yet another mattress, some
lawn-chairs, a grill, some plastic sheets, more water bottles, a
few end-tables, a stack of wood, and a large umbrella.
    “Wow,” she said. His back was toward her as
he worked on the grill. “You got a little paradise going on up
here.”
    He turned to face her with some deer steak on
a plastic knife. He was surprised at what he saw. She was beautiful
before, but even more so now. Her wet hair clung to her face. She
had decided on a pair of shorts, and her legs were very nice and
shapely. He smiled at the Baltimore Orioles shirt.
    He caught himself staring, and mentally
slapped himself for it.
    “Want some dinner?” he said, handing her the
steak. “It's actually pretty good. Salt and pepper will fix
anything. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find salt and
pepper.”
    She took a bite. He handed her a glass of
water. It was quite good.
    Sam gestured around them. “Where did you get
all of this?”
    “Just around,” he said, grabbing a steak for
himself. “There's plenty of stuff here.”
    “Yeah, and there's plenty of walkers too. How
do you do it? You don't even seem afraid. I know people back home
who cry themselves to sleep every night.”
    He bit into his steak.
“We're moving out of the basics again, Sam.”
    “Samantha,” she corrected once more.
    There were sixty people at Lexington, and Sam
figured she'd met twice that many people over the years on her own.
Never once did she feel the need to explain herself to anyone. She
kept to herself, people left her alone, and that was that.
    With Aaron, she wanted to talk.
    “I know how I come across,” she said. “I
really do. I know I'm not very friendly. It's just that I don't
really trust people a whole lot.”
    He smiled and gestured around them. “Look
where I live. I understand. I've got people issues of my own.”
    She nodded. Something about Aaron made her
feel at ease, took the edge off a little. “You can take two people
who have been friends forever, put